N17286:320
The saints everlasting rest
The saints everlasting rest: or, A treatise of the blessed state of the saints in their enjoyment of God in glory: extracted from the works of Mr. Richard Baxter, by John Wesley, M.A. late fellow of Lincoln College, Oxford.
Philadelphia: printed by Prichard & Hall, 1790
Part 2 › Chapter 6: An Exhortation to Seriousness in seeking Rest.
Modern spelling is a reading aid: the words are the author’s, only the spelling is modernized. Original shows the page as printed, with the transcription marks.
14. Moreover, it is a course that all men in the world either do, or will approve of. There is not a man that ever was, or is, or shall be, but shall one day justify the diligence of the saints. And who •••ld not go that way, which every man shall applaud?
It is true, it is now a way every where spoken against, and hated; but let me tell you, 1. Most that speak against it, in their judgments approve of it; only because the practice of godliness is against the pleasures of the flesh, therefore do they, against their own judgments, resist it. They have not one word of reason against it, but reproaches and railing are their be•• arguments. 2. Those that are now against it, whether in judgment or passion, will shortly be of another mind. If they come to heaven, their mind must be changed before they come there. If they go to hell, their judgment will then be altered, whether they will or no.
If you could speak with every soul that suffereth those torments, and ask, whether it be possible to be too diligent and serious in seeking salvation, you may easily conjecture what answer they would return. Take the most bitter derider or persecutor of godliness, even those that will venture their lives to overthrow it, if those men do not shortly wish a thousand times that they had been the most holy, diligent christians on earth, then let me bear the shame of a false prophet for-ever.