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

Had thou not given me, O Lord the LIFE of Nature, I should have had no conceptions of a Glorious everlasting Life: But if thou give me not the Life of Grace, I shall have no sufficient delightful inclination and desire after it. Hadst thou not given me Sight and Reason, the Light of Nature, I should not have thought how desirable it is to live in the Glorious Light and Vision; but if thou give me not the Spiritual Illumination of a seeing Faith, I shall not yet long for the Glorious Light, and beatifical Vision. Hadst thou not given me a Will and Love which is part of my very ⟨p. 249⟩Nature itself, I could not have tasted how desirable it is, to live in a World of Universal, perfect, endless LOVE: But unless thou also shed abroad thy LOVE upon my Heart, by the Spirit of Jesus the Great Medium of LOVE, and turn my very Nature or Inclination into Divine and Holy LOVE, I shall not long for the World of LOVE. Appetite followeth Nature: O give me not only the Image and the Art of Godliness; the approaches towards it, nor only some forced or unconstant acts; but give me the Divine Nature, which is Holy Love, and then my Soul will hasten towards thee, and cry, How long, O Lord, How long! O come, come quickly, make no delay. Surely the fear of dying intimateth some contrary Love that inclineth the Soul another way; and some shameful unbelief and great unapprehensiveness of the Attractive Glory of the World of LOVE: Otherwise no frozen Person so longeth for the Fire, none in a Dungeon so desireth Light, as we should long for the heavenly Light and Love.

God's Infinite Essential SELF-LOVE, in which he is Eternally delighted in himself, is the most Amiable Object, and Heaven itself to Saints and Angels: And next to that His Love to all his Works, to the World, and to the Church in Heaven speaketh much more of his Loveliness than his Love to me. But yet due Self-love in me, is his work, and part of his natural Image; and when this by sin is grown up to excess, (through the withdrawing of a contracted narrow Soul, from the Union and due Love to my fellow Creatures, and to God) I must also, I cannot but, enquire after God's Love to me, and by this my desires must much be moved: For I am not so capable of ascending above Self-interest, and Self-love, as in the state of Glorious Union I shall be. I am glad to perceive that others do love God; and