Here is a well-known book that has benefited many through the last three hundred and fifty years. Richard Baxter is the famous minister of Kidderminster in Worcestershire. He wrote the book whilst still in his thirties and facing what seemed to be imminent death. There is an edition still in print which is the full text containing about seven hundred pages, it is published by Christian Focus, but the edition I mention above is the abridgement done by J. T. Wilkinson about sixty years ago and contains about one hundred and eighty pages. This is more manageable for today’s readers and focus’s the reader upon the rest of heaven, the joys of the presence of God and various methods by which the reader can meditate upon heavenly things. Reading this book challenges so much that is more common in the life of the churches of today. Just the exhortation that we Christians should spend at least half an hour each day pondering upon heaven, using the energies of our souls to focus upon the beauties and benefits of heaven sounds like strange counsel in contrast to the kinds of expectations laid upon the people of God today. I suspect that there are few who would find this book an easy read, it is one that demands close attention and a repeated re examination of certain paragraphs so that the sense of the subject matter is made clear. It was written when the author only had a bible and concordance to hand and this is evident. There is something of the atmosphere of heaven about it but perhaps more so, the sheer logical reasoning which compels the reader to agree deeply with that which is written. As we read we are convinced of the necessity to live in the light of the rest that remains for the people of faith and spend time in contemplation of heavenly things that will be a spur to a life free from sin and the grip of the things of this world. There are short chapters towards the end of the book which are a kind of directory to assist a person in contemplation of heavenly things, meditation and the use of the imagination and the reasoning powers of the mind, the commanding of the heart and soul to obey in contrasting the things the Christian now enjoys with those that will come in that everlasting rest and all conspiring together to increase the love of the heart towards God and to purity of life. In conclusion, the words of an older chorus come to mind, ‘the things of earth will grow strangely dim, in the light of His glory and grace’. That somewhat sums up this book.
