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

And as we shall have Sense in Exaltation as to power and act, so we shall have sensible Objects. God himself delighteth in all his works; and so shall we: we must not on pretence of taking the heavenly Jerusalem to be merely Spiritual, deprive our selves of all the sensible Idea's of it which God's description offereth to u• Light is sensible: Christ glorified there is sensible: Moses and Elijah were sensible to Peter, James, and John. Lazarus and Abraham were sensible to the Man in Hell, Luke 16. Stephen saw Heaven open and Christ sitting at the right Hand of God: And all Eyes shall see him at his glorious return. Heavenly Glory is not enjoyed only by mere THINKING and knowing, nor as in a Dream: but by the most eminent Intellectual sensation exalted and invigorated.

And as we shall have Sense in Exaltation as to power and act, so we shall have sensible Objects. God himself delighteth in all his works; and so shall we: we must not on pretence of taking the heavenly Jerusalem to be meerly Spiritual, deprive our selves of all the sensible Idea's of it which God's description offereth to u• Light is sensible: Christ glorified there is sensible: Moses and Elias were sensible to Peter, James, and John. Lazarus and Abraham were sensible to the Man in Hell, Luke 16. Stephen saw Heaven open and Christ sitting at the right Hand of God: And all Eyes shall see him at his glorious return. Heavenly Glory is not enjoyed only by meer THINKING and knowing, nor as in a Dream: but by the most eminent Intellectual sensation exalted and invigorated.

§ 6. Say not then, O my Soul that this Kingdom of Glory is so far above thee, that thou canst have no Idea of it: Think not that it is therefore unmeet for thy desiring and joyful hopes, because thou canst not know what it is: Hast thou no conception of the difference between Light and Darkness? If thou hadst been but one Year kept in absolute darkness, wouldst thou have no desiring thoughts of light? The Blind think themselves half dead, while they are alive. Indeed the Faculty and Object must be suitable: Light may be too great for our weak Eyes, as heat may be torment in an unsuitable degree: but when our Souls are perfected, they will be suitable Recipients of a more glorious Light than we can here endure: Moses is not there covered in a cleft of the Rock, because he could see but as the back parts of God's Glory. We must see here but as in a Glass: but there as Face to Face. Though these Organical Eyes as Spectacles shall be laid by, we shall have Media more perfect suitable to our perfect state.