Richard Baxter's dying thoughts upon Phil. I, 23 written for his own life and…

8. Yet further, To Depart from such a Body is but to be separated from an accidental Enemy, and one of our greatest and most hurtful Enemies: Though still we say, That it is not by any default in the work of ⟨p. 81⟩our Creator, but by the effects of sin, that it is such: What could Satan or any other Enemy of our Souls, have done against us without our flesh? What is it but the Interest of this Body, that standeth in competition against the Interest of our Souls and God? What else do the profane sell their heavenly Inheritance for, as Esau his Birthright? No Man loveth evil, as evil, but as some way a real or seeming good? And what good is it but that which seemeth good for the Body? What else is the Bait of Ambition, Covetousness and Sensuality, but the Interest and Pleasure of this Flesh. What taketh up the Thoughts, and Care which we should lay out upon things Spiritual and Heavenly, but this Body and its Life? What Pleasures be they that steal away mens Hearts from the heavenly Pleasures of Faith, Hope, and Love, but the Pleasures of this Flesh? This draweth us to sin: This hindereth us from and in our duty. This Body hath its interest which must be minded, and its inordinate Appetite which must be pleased; or else what murmurings and disquiet must we expect? Were it not for Bodily Interest, and its Temptations, how much more innocently and holily might I live? I should have nothing to care for, but to please God and to be pleased in him, were it not for the care of this Bodily life? What Employment should my Will and Love have, but to Delight in God and Love Him, and his Interest, were it not for the Love of the Body, and its concerns? By this the mind is darkened, and the Thoughts diverted; By this our wills are perverted and corrupted, and by Loving things Corporeal, contract a strangeness and aversation from things Spiritual: By this Hea•• and Time are alienated from God; our Guilt is increased, and our heavenly desire and hopes destroyed; Life made unholy and uncomfortable, and Death made terrible, God and our Souls separated, ⟨p. 82⟩and Life eternal set by, and in danger of being utterly lost. I know that it is the sinful Soul, that is in all this the chief cause and agent: But what is it but Bodily Interest that is its temptation, bait and end? What but the Body and its Life, and Pleasure is the chief Objective alluring cause of all this sin and misery?