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

Can I perceive substantiality in the dark terrene appearances, which are but mutable lifeless matter agitated and used by invisible Powers and shall I think of those unseen powerful substances as if they were less substantial for being Spiritual, or were not Objects for a knowing Thought. Are the Stars which I see less substantial than a Carcass in a darksome Grave? The Lord that appeared in shining Glory, hath Members in their measure like himself; and hath promised that we shall shine as Stars in the Kingdom of his Father: If some degree of this be here performed in them who are called the Children of Light, and the Lights of the World, how much more will they shine in the World of Light. They that call Light a quality or an Act, must confess it hath a substance whose quality or act it is. Alas, what a deceived thing is a sensual Unbeliever; who spendeth his Life in the pursuit of fugitive shadows, and walketh in a vain show, and thinks of Spiritual glorious substances, as if they were the nothings or delusions of a Dream?

Can I perceive substantiality in the dark terrene appearances, which are but mutable lifeless matter agitated and used by invisible Powers and shall I think of those unseen powerful substances as if they were less substantial for being Spiritual, or were not Objects for a knowing Thought. Are the Stars which I see less substantial than a Carkass in a darksom Grave? The Lord that appeared in shining Glory, hath Members in their measure like himself; and hath promised that we shall shine as Stars in the Kingdom of his Father: If some degree of this be here performed in them who are called the Children of Light, and the Lights of the World, how much more will they shine in the World of Light. They that call Light a quality or an Act, must confess it hath a substance whose quality or act it is. Alas, what a deceived thing is a sensual Unbeliever; who spendeth his Life in the pursuit of fugitive shaddows, and walketh in a vain shew, and thinks of Spiritual glorious substances, as if they were the nothings or delusions of a Dream?

§ 6. Christ, Moses and Elijah here visibly appeared as three distinct individual Persons: This tells us that it is a false conceit that Death ceaseth Individuation, and turneth all Souls into one: (of which before:) Perfect indivisible infinite Unity is proper to God: From this One is multiplicity. Reason forbids us when we see the numberless individuals in this World, and see also the numerous Stars above, to imagine that all the Worlds above us have so much of Divine Perfection, as to be but one undivided substance, and to have no multiplicity of Inhabitants. Yea, some of those Sadducees hold that the Stars are Worlds inhabited as the Earth is. And