What do you think?
Rate this book
The Saints' Everlasting Rest
In the throes of a long illness and confronting the possibility of death, 17th-century theologian Richard Baxter found comfort in the reality of heaven that awaits believers of Christ. During his recovery, Baxter wrote about the afterlife in what would become his best-selling book.
The Saints' Everlasting Rest meditates on what Scripture reveals about heaven, helping believers live an abundant, God-honoring life in anticipation of eternal rest. Baxter encourages listeners not to become distracted or discouraged by the temporal as he refocuses their minds on the eternal. Confronting difficult topics including sin, suffering, and fear of death, he also emphasizes God's sufficient grace and how the promise of heaven enriches life on earth.
The Saints' Everlasting Rest meditates on what Scripture reveals about heaven, helping believers live an abundant, God-honoring life in anticipation of eternal rest. Baxter encourages listeners not to become distracted or discouraged by the temporal as he refocuses their minds on the eternal. Confronting difficult topics including sin, suffering, and fear of death, he also emphasizes God's sufficient grace and how the promise of heaven enriches life on earth.
192 pages, Hardcover
Published May 17, 2022
About the author
Richard Baxter
493 books110 followersRichard Baxter (1615-1691) was an English Puritan church leader, poet, hymn-writer, theologian, and controversialist. Dean Stanley called him "the chief of English Protestant Schoolmen". After some false starts, he made his reputation by his ministry at Kidderminster, and at around the same time began a long and prolific career as theological writer. After the Restoration he refused preferment, while retaining a non-separatist presbyterian approach, and became one of the most influential leaders of the nonconformists, spending time in prison.
Librarian Note: There is more than one author by this name in the Goodreads database.
Librarian Note: There is more than one author by this name in the Goodreads database.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 52 reviews
June 10, 2024
A really fantastic read, I highly recommend!
“Oh, what passions it would raise within us if only we were thoroughly persuaded that every word in the Scripture concerning the inconceivable joys of the kingdom and the inexpressible blessedness of the life to come was the very word of the living God and will certainly be performed even to the smallest detail.”
“Oh, what passions it would raise within us if only we were thoroughly persuaded that every word in the Scripture concerning the inconceivable joys of the kingdom and the inexpressible blessedness of the life to come was the very word of the living God and will certainly be performed even to the smallest detail.”
June 6, 2022
Classic Puritan soul-medicine. I cannot commend this new edition enough.
May 7, 2025
The Puritans are becoming my spiritual besties.🤞🏼🤞🏼 There are too many quotes to name - but here are a few!
“Take your heart once again, and lead it by the hand, bring it to the top of the highest mountain. Show it to the Kingdom of Christ and the glory of it. Say to your heart, ‘all this will your Lord bestow on you. This is your own inheritance, this crown is yours, these pleasures are yours, this company is yours, this beautious place is yours. All things are yours, because you are Christ, and Christ is yours.”
“Nothing will enliven our love for God more than our belief of His love for us. Therefore, get a truer understating of the loving nature of God. Store up all the experiences and discoveries of his love to you. And then see if it will not further your heavenly mindedness.”
“Be a careful observer of the movements of the Spirit. Do not quench His motions or resist His urging. Do you not sometimes feel a strong impulse to retire from the world and draw near to God? Do not now disobey, but take up the offer and hoist the sail while you may have this blessed Gail. The more of this Spirit we resist, the deeper it will wound. The more we obey, the faster our pace.”
“When a man is in a strange country and far from home, how glad he is to find one of his own nation. How delightful they find it to talk of their country, their mutual acquaintances, and of the air of their home. You may have such a discourse with such a heavenly Christian. For He has been there in the Spirit and can tell you of the glory and rest above. If you travel with this man on the way, he will be directing and quickening you in your journey to heaven. He will be counseling you to lay out everything for the imperishable treasure.”
“Be up and doing. Run, strive, fight, and hold on. For you have a certain glorious prize before you.”
“O my soul, there is love in Christ’s eyes. Listen. Does He not call you? He bids you stand here at His right hand.”
“Are you leaning earthward, when heaven is before you.”
“Is it a small thing in your eyes to be beloved of God? To be the son, the spouse, the love, and the delight of the King of Glory? Christian, believe this and think on it. You will be eternally embraced in the arms of that love that is from everlasting to everlasting.”
Know this, believer, to your everlasting comfort. That if these arms have once embraced you, neither sin, nor hell can ever pluck you from them. You are safely locked up for all eternity. You no longer have to deal with a shifting, unfaithful, inconstant creature, but with Him in whom there is no varying, nor shadow of change.”
John 10:28-29
“Christ has not bought you with so dear a price to trust you with yourself anymore. His love to you will not be as yours was on earth to Him, seldom and cold, up and down, mixed with burning and quaking, with a good day and a bad. No, Christian, He who would not be discouraged by your enmity, by your loathsome, hateful nature, by all your unwillingness, unkind neglect, and grudging resistance will not cease to love you, now that He has made you truly lovely. Indeed, you may be as confident as Paul was before you, that “neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor demons, nor things present, nor things to come, will be able to separate you from the love of God in Christ Jesus.” Romans 8:38-39
“Come now, as near as you’d like. For the enmity is taken away.”
“Rejoice in the creature. But only so far as it comes from God, leads to Him, or brings you some token of his love. Always remember, that even when you have what you desire, this is not heaven, but merely the first fruits.”
“Your life is hidden with Christ in God.” Colossians 3:3. Where must you go for life except to Christ? And where is He, except in heaven? If you lack life and heat, why are you not more in the sunshine? If you would have more of that grace and life that flows from Christ, why are you not more with Christ? Your strength is in heaven, and your life is in heaven, and everyday you must fetch it from there.”
“Practice is the end of all sound doctrine; and all right faith ends in duty.”
“This is the Lord who has blessed you with His benefits. Who has spread your table in the sight of your enemies. Who has made your cup to overflow. This is He whom angels and saints praise and whom the host of heaven must magnify together.”
“So if you do not feel the stirrings of love, lead your heart further and show it still more. Show it the Son of the Living God; whose name is Wonderful Counselor, Everlasting Father, Mighty God, and Prince of Peace (Is. 9:6). Show it the King of saints on the throne of His glory. He is the first and the last (Rev 1:11), who was and is and is to come (Rev 1:8), this is the one who was dead, and behold, He lives forever more (Rev 1:18), He has made your peace by the blood of His cross (Colossians 1:20), go on then, for the field of love is large, it will yield you fresh content forever, and be your eternal work to behold and love.”
“Proceed further on, the soul who loves will ascend frequently to run through the streets of the heavenly Jerusalem to run through the streets visiting the heavenly patriarchs and prophets, saluting the apostles, and admiring the armies of martyrs and confessors.”
“Take your heart once again, and lead it by the hand, bring it to the top of the highest mountain. Show it to the Kingdom of Christ and the glory of it. Say to your heart, ‘all this will your Lord bestow on you. This is your own inheritance, this crown is yours, these pleasures are yours, this company is yours, this beautious place is yours. All things are yours, because you are Christ, and Christ is yours.”
“Nothing will enliven our love for God more than our belief of His love for us. Therefore, get a truer understating of the loving nature of God. Store up all the experiences and discoveries of his love to you. And then see if it will not further your heavenly mindedness.”
“Be a careful observer of the movements of the Spirit. Do not quench His motions or resist His urging. Do you not sometimes feel a strong impulse to retire from the world and draw near to God? Do not now disobey, but take up the offer and hoist the sail while you may have this blessed Gail. The more of this Spirit we resist, the deeper it will wound. The more we obey, the faster our pace.”
“When a man is in a strange country and far from home, how glad he is to find one of his own nation. How delightful they find it to talk of their country, their mutual acquaintances, and of the air of their home. You may have such a discourse with such a heavenly Christian. For He has been there in the Spirit and can tell you of the glory and rest above. If you travel with this man on the way, he will be directing and quickening you in your journey to heaven. He will be counseling you to lay out everything for the imperishable treasure.”
“Be up and doing. Run, strive, fight, and hold on. For you have a certain glorious prize before you.”
“O my soul, there is love in Christ’s eyes. Listen. Does He not call you? He bids you stand here at His right hand.”
“Are you leaning earthward, when heaven is before you.”
“Is it a small thing in your eyes to be beloved of God? To be the son, the spouse, the love, and the delight of the King of Glory? Christian, believe this and think on it. You will be eternally embraced in the arms of that love that is from everlasting to everlasting.”
Know this, believer, to your everlasting comfort. That if these arms have once embraced you, neither sin, nor hell can ever pluck you from them. You are safely locked up for all eternity. You no longer have to deal with a shifting, unfaithful, inconstant creature, but with Him in whom there is no varying, nor shadow of change.”
John 10:28-29
“Christ has not bought you with so dear a price to trust you with yourself anymore. His love to you will not be as yours was on earth to Him, seldom and cold, up and down, mixed with burning and quaking, with a good day and a bad. No, Christian, He who would not be discouraged by your enmity, by your loathsome, hateful nature, by all your unwillingness, unkind neglect, and grudging resistance will not cease to love you, now that He has made you truly lovely. Indeed, you may be as confident as Paul was before you, that “neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor demons, nor things present, nor things to come, will be able to separate you from the love of God in Christ Jesus.” Romans 8:38-39
“Come now, as near as you’d like. For the enmity is taken away.”
“Rejoice in the creature. But only so far as it comes from God, leads to Him, or brings you some token of his love. Always remember, that even when you have what you desire, this is not heaven, but merely the first fruits.”
“Your life is hidden with Christ in God.” Colossians 3:3. Where must you go for life except to Christ? And where is He, except in heaven? If you lack life and heat, why are you not more in the sunshine? If you would have more of that grace and life that flows from Christ, why are you not more with Christ? Your strength is in heaven, and your life is in heaven, and everyday you must fetch it from there.”
“Practice is the end of all sound doctrine; and all right faith ends in duty.”
“This is the Lord who has blessed you with His benefits. Who has spread your table in the sight of your enemies. Who has made your cup to overflow. This is He whom angels and saints praise and whom the host of heaven must magnify together.”
“So if you do not feel the stirrings of love, lead your heart further and show it still more. Show it the Son of the Living God; whose name is Wonderful Counselor, Everlasting Father, Mighty God, and Prince of Peace (Is. 9:6). Show it the King of saints on the throne of His glory. He is the first and the last (Rev 1:11), who was and is and is to come (Rev 1:8), this is the one who was dead, and behold, He lives forever more (Rev 1:18), He has made your peace by the blood of His cross (Colossians 1:20), go on then, for the field of love is large, it will yield you fresh content forever, and be your eternal work to behold and love.”
“Proceed further on, the soul who loves will ascend frequently to run through the streets of the heavenly Jerusalem to run through the streets visiting the heavenly patriarchs and prophets, saluting the apostles, and admiring the armies of martyrs and confessors.”
April 17, 2023
Soul food. One of the most enjoyable books I've ever read.
Read
November 13, 2025If heaven doesn’t often enter your thoughts, you are probably in good company. Puritan Richard Baxter may convince you that meditation on our heavenly home is worth more than a passing reflection. Drawing on the excellencies of heaven’s rest and the life-focusing results of thinking often about eternity, Baxter unpacks many benefits – and methods – of setting our minds heartily on our eternal home. Don’t be nervous about seventeenth-century prose; this edition is carefully modernized without any loss of Puritan passion. Highly recommend!
January 20, 2026
One of the best puritan books I’ve read and made very accessible. Some incredible encouragements and strong exhortations. Don’t read this unless you are committed to thinking of heaven and the glories to come.
July 23, 2022
Preserving and updating the classics of Reformed theology is one of Crossway Publishing’s hallmarks and this abridged volume of “The Saint’s Everlasting Rest” is a prime example.
In its original version from 1650, this book weighed in at over 850 pages and 350,000 words. I tried to read it while in college and found the challenge considerable. I’m a bit of a grammar geek and wasn’t dissuaded by the complex, compounded sentences. It was the Old English spellings, capitalizations and printing that made the task daunting and ultimately unconquerable. Pages 20 & 30 of this book have a small reprint of from the original text for you to see this for yourself.
Tim Cooper, Ph.D Univ Canterbury, has been able to take the formidable 17th century masterpiece, preserve the message, simply and modernize the language and gift new generations about heaven and meditation. The message is positive, tho’t provoking and challenging. Each chapter ends with a few questions for reflection that by themselves could be hours invested.
One of my favorite parts of this volume is the Outline Cooper provided. It provides the highlights from the text and an easy way to work thru the book if you should choose to use it for a group or personal study rather than a read thru. Besides the outline, Joni’s foreword provides perspective from a contemporary person with chronic illness on this work. An introduction provides the historical information needed to understand a bit about Baxter’s motivation and frame of reference. A general and scriptural index complete this handsome hardcover volume that sports a sturdy, attractive, if subdued, dust jacket.
All things considered, a small volume of eternal consequence that will require your full attention📚
In its original version from 1650, this book weighed in at over 850 pages and 350,000 words. I tried to read it while in college and found the challenge considerable. I’m a bit of a grammar geek and wasn’t dissuaded by the complex, compounded sentences. It was the Old English spellings, capitalizations and printing that made the task daunting and ultimately unconquerable. Pages 20 & 30 of this book have a small reprint of from the original text for you to see this for yourself.
Tim Cooper, Ph.D Univ Canterbury, has been able to take the formidable 17th century masterpiece, preserve the message, simply and modernize the language and gift new generations about heaven and meditation. The message is positive, tho’t provoking and challenging. Each chapter ends with a few questions for reflection that by themselves could be hours invested.
One of my favorite parts of this volume is the Outline Cooper provided. It provides the highlights from the text and an easy way to work thru the book if you should choose to use it for a group or personal study rather than a read thru. Besides the outline, Joni’s foreword provides perspective from a contemporary person with chronic illness on this work. An introduction provides the historical information needed to understand a bit about Baxter’s motivation and frame of reference. A general and scriptural index complete this handsome hardcover volume that sports a sturdy, attractive, if subdued, dust jacket.
All things considered, a small volume of eternal consequence that will require your full attention📚
May 11, 2025
An impressive abridgement that really allows the "clean sea breeze of the centuries" to blow through our 21st century minds. Abridged, it is only about a tenth of the size of the original, but it certainly feels complete. Baxter's focus is on persuading and instructing believers in the specific work of meditating on their eternal Sabbath rest. Reading this after A Heart Aflame for God: A Reformed Approach to Spiritual Formation felt very appropriate and provided a real case study in the kind of word-centered meditation Bingham ascribes to the Puritans. One of the chapters here is even called "How to Fire Your Heart by the Help of Your Head." This volume will definitely feel foreign to today's readers, and that is to commend it.
November 18, 2022
Normally I don't approve of abridged books, but if anyone can make a case for abridging books, it's the Puritans. I greatly enjoyed Baxter's exhortations to meditate on the joys of heaven, but I do disagree with his constant comments about looking forward to being free of the constraints of a physical body. It's not good to be more spiritual than God, and the Bible's promise of rest is a physical, bodily experience, not just spiritual. We're not looking forward to the disembodiment of our souls to go to Heaven, but to the day our bodies are resurrected and the entirety of creation restored and redeemed.
March 17, 2023
Good pick to read with the Puritan Authors Book Group. Live well now with an eye on heaven.
February 13, 2025
Convicting. Encouraging. Enlivening. If your faith is growing stagnant, if you're apathetic toward eternity with Jesus, or even if your heart is burning, read this! In a season of transition, I slow read this and am trying to meditate on heaven like the author describes and it is so good.
I underlined tons, but here are a few lines I'm keeping close to heart:
Chapter 11
Go on until you can say, " I see a glimpse of the glory! I hear the shouts of joy and praise!"
Chapter 12
Ah, my drowsy, earthy, blockish heart! How coldly you think of this reviving day! Do you sleep when you think of eternal rest? Are you leaning earthward when heaven is before you? Would you rather sit down in the dirt and dung than walk in the court of the palace of God? Come away! Make no excuse, make no delay. God commands you, I command you: Come away!
My flesh will rest in hope until you raise it up to the full possession of the saints' everlasting rest.
I underlined tons, but here are a few lines I'm keeping close to heart:
Chapter 11
Go on until you can say, " I see a glimpse of the glory! I hear the shouts of joy and praise!"
Chapter 12
Ah, my drowsy, earthy, blockish heart! How coldly you think of this reviving day! Do you sleep when you think of eternal rest? Are you leaning earthward when heaven is before you? Would you rather sit down in the dirt and dung than walk in the court of the palace of God? Come away! Make no excuse, make no delay. God commands you, I command you: Come away!
My flesh will rest in hope until you raise it up to the full possession of the saints' everlasting rest.
April 26, 2026
I cannot recommend this book enough. Seriously so good. Every Christian should read this book, and heed Baxter’s advice.
“A heavenly mind is a joyful mind. This is the nearest and truest way to live a life of comfort. Without this you must unnecessarily be uncomfortable.
Can a man rest beside a fire and not be warm?
Or sit in the sunshine and not have light?
Can your heart be in heaven and not have comfort?”
“Your strength is in heaven and your life is in heaven and everyday you must fetch it from there if you are to have it.”
Praying with Baxter, “While I have a thought to think, do not let me forget you”
“A heavenly mind is a joyful mind. This is the nearest and truest way to live a life of comfort. Without this you must unnecessarily be uncomfortable.
Can a man rest beside a fire and not be warm?
Or sit in the sunshine and not have light?
Can your heart be in heaven and not have comfort?”
“Your strength is in heaven and your life is in heaven and everyday you must fetch it from there if you are to have it.”
Praying with Baxter, “While I have a thought to think, do not let me forget you”
November 7, 2024
This book is so helpful that I would like to do a study group on it. However, Baxter uses language that isn't normal for today's readers, like that of Charles Spurgeon. As with any book, the language becomes easier to read and comprehend as you continue to read. The information within the pages is profound and applicable today just as in the past. This book will be a return to read for me. I will be sharing these nuggets of wisdom in my daily walk and talk.
August 4, 2024
Beautiful jewel of a book that is both profound and practical. Wonderful thoughts on meditating on God's Word and how much we miss out on when we don't have our minds set on things above. What an eternal inheritance we have in Christ! We should be walking in light of it every day and be encouraged by the promises of God.
September 13, 2025
Wonderful meditations; encouraging and convicting! Every believer should read to stir up one’s affections for heaven and the joy that awaits us in Christ’s everlasting presence. If you take the exhortations to heart, not only will your heart be stirred, but your life will be affected to live in light of eternity.
January 8, 2024
This book is filled with many nuggets that lead a Christian to meditate on the joys of their everlasting rest. I can see why Baxter is so often quoted - his writing style is so enduring and beautiful!
September 11, 2024
“Turn your thoughts from the pursuit of vanity, bend your soul to study eternity, busy it about the life to come. Make such contemplations a habitual practice.”
That’s what Baxter helps us do in this jewel of a book.
That’s what Baxter helps us do in this jewel of a book.
September 19, 2025
Maybe a couple details that I disagreed with.
But overall, one of the most heart-stirring books I’ve read. It is a modernized and abridged version, but it’s so good for the soul when considering our death and everlasting rest.
But overall, one of the most heart-stirring books I’ve read. It is a modernized and abridged version, but it’s so good for the soul when considering our death and everlasting rest.
January 22, 2024
Overall wonderful work of Baxter that has been updated and abridged expertly by Tim Cooper.
September 18, 2024
This was like drinking from a rich, rich well. I will be returning to its deep waters as often as I can, until the 'gales of grace' have blown me into that sweet harbor.
November 8, 2024
Amazing!
Full review at https://www.instagram.com/p/DBw61b9M9...
Full review at https://www.instagram.com/p/DBw61b9M9...
May 30, 2026
The Saints Everlasting Rest by Richard Baxter (1650) - Updated and Abridged by Tim Cooper
Another must read book for the serious believer desiring to prepare himself for eternity and while progressing in his/her pilgrim’s progress.
I have been a believer for many years and never challenged to meditate until being challenged by Baxter.
Baxter was motivated to write this treasure after a near death experience he encountered in the winter of 1647.
That experience “forced me to the work of meditation that he had formerly found so profitable to my soul.”
Baxter defines meditation in this way:
“Meditation entails the set and solemn acting of all the powers of the soul. I call it set and solemn to differentiate it from that which is only occasional and cursory. I charge you to make this meditation a con-stant, standing duty, just as you do in hearing, praying, and reading the Scripture. You should solemnly set yourselves to it-and while you do it, make it your whole work. Do not mix other matters in with it any more than you would do with prayer or other duties.”
“Meditation puts reason in its proper place of authority. It helps deliver reason from its captivity to the senses and sets it again on the throne of the soul.”
Some observations:
Overall the book is well written in our current English making it very easy to read unlike the unedited versions.
It has Baxter’s complete outline spelled out in tbe appendix which is helpful to review before reading the book in its entirety.
Excellent questions at the end of each chapter to be easily used in a Bible study or in a one-on-one discipleship format which I highly recommend for anyone discipling those new to the faith. Also, there is a Subject index and Bible index which is missing in most Christian books written today. I appreciate the additional effort to be complete in this area of book-writing with these 2 comprehensive indexes.
Here are a few comments summarizing the overall thrust of his book.
“There remains therefore a rest for the people of God" (Heb. 49).
This text is his conclusion after various arguments to that end, and it remains a useful conclusion for the believer today. It contains the ground of all his comforts, the end of all his duty and sufferings, and the life and sum of all gospel promises and Christian privileges. Thus you may easily see why I have made this verse the subject of this book. What could be more welcome to men under personal afflictions, tiring duty, and a succession of sufferings than rest?
Baxter brings the practice of meditation to the forefront and calls it “the great duty of heavenly life.”
He observed that in his day (1600’s) and I would add,our day as well, that it is rare for believers to practice daily meditation on Heaven.
But that effort to apply meditation “brought gain for him” and he challenges both you and I to follow suit and make this practice part of our everyday spiritual diet.
“But if happiness is thin on the ground in Baxter's world, joy is still to be found. Indeed, it is one of the main benefits of his method.”
"That which will make us most happy when we possess it will make us most joyful when we meditate on it"
Joy is the reward for those who will take Baxter at his word and practice his method of daily meditation on our future rest. "You will find that there is indeed sweetness in the work and way of God and that the life of Christianity is a life of joy.”
“The practice of daily meditation is the key. A heavenly mind is a joyful mind. This is the nearest and truest way to live a life of comfort; without this, you must necessarily be uncomfortable" (p. 96).”
Meditation is so important to Baxter and the Word of God, He ends his book by stressing the art of soliloquy, namely preaching to oneself in the power of self-talk.
We are to honestly preach, or reason with ourself, coaxing our hearts with sufficient reasons to move our corrupted affections.
In another chapter, Baxter piles on reason after reason-fifty reasons to persuade believers in the work of meditation and serving our Lord in the very short time we have on this earth.
Here are some of my favorite quotes from the book:
“A heavenly mind is a joyful mind.”
“There is the encounter with our own sinfulness, for a start, that confronts us every day: "We can barely open our eyes, and we are in danger" (p. 66). Thus the church, he says, is like a hospital filled with groaning patients.”
“Today we are in esteem, tomorrow in disgrace; today we have friends, tomorrow none; today we are in gladness, tomorrow in sadness" (p. 61). Put in these terms, the prospect of everlasting, unchanging rest sounds more and more appealing.”
“What an astonishing thought it will be, to think of the immeasurable difference between what we deserve and what we receive, to look down on those in hell and see the vast difference free grace has made between us and them (unbelievers).”
“We know to whom the praise is due. Indeed, it was to this very end that infinite wisdom cast the whole design of man's salvation into this mold of purchase and freeness, so that the love and joy of man might be perfected and the honor of grace most highly advanced. The thought of merit will neither cloud the one nor obstruct the other,
And on these two hinges the gates of heaven will turn. So then. Let Deserved be written on the door of hell, but on the door of heaven
and life itself, The Free Gift.”
“Should the pot not be wholly at the service of the potter and the creature at the service of his great Creator? Are we his children, and do we not owe him our most tender affections and dutiful obedience? Are we the spouse of Christ, and do we not owe him our observance and our love?”
“If you knew that this was the last day you had to live in the world, how would you spend it? If you knew when you went to bed that you would not rise in the morning, would your thoughts of another life not be more serious that night?”
“If you are weary of your labors, let it make your thoughts of rest more sweet. Is your body refreshed with food or sleep? Remember your inconceivable refreshment with Christ. Do you hear any news that makes you glad? Remember what happy tidings they will be to hear the sound of the trumpet of God and the absolving sentence of Christ our Judge. Are you delighting yourself in the society of the saints? Remember the everlasting, amiable fraternity you will have with perfected saints in their rest. Thus you may see the advantages to a heavenly life that every condition and creature affords us, if only we had the hearts to apprehend and improve them.”
As I said before, Baxter concludes his book by describing what true meditation looks like.
“The object of this meditation is rest, or the most blessed condition of man in his everlasting enjoyment of God in heaven.”
“Soliloquy has its component parts and its due method in which we stir up our affections one by one. I cannot attempt to explain either parts or method fully because it would take up more time and room than I intend or can allow it. But I will say this much in brief: just as every good master and father of a family is a good preacher to his own family, so every good Christian is a good preacher to his own soul.”
“Soliloquy is preaching to oneself. Therefore, the very same method a minister uses when he preaches to others is what a Christian should use when speaking to himself. Do you understand the best method for a preacher? Observe the most affecting, heart-melting minister, and set him before you as a pattern to follow. Consider how he moves the hearts of his people, and take the same way with your own heart.”
This is part of a prayer that Baxter closes his book with….
“Oh, do not allow me to spend another day in strangeness and averseness to you my Lord while I endure my pilgrimage. While I have a thought to think, do not let me forget you. While I have a tongue to move, let me speak of you with delight. While I have a breath to breathe, let it be after you and for you. While I have a knee to bend, let it bow daily at your feet.
Let me die the death of the righteous (Num. 23:10). Let my last end be like his, even a removal to that glory that will never end. Send forth your convoy of angels for my departing soul, and let them bring me among the perfected spirits of the just (Heb. 12:23). Let me follow my dear friends (and my loving wife) who have died in Christ before me. When my friends are weeping over my grave, let my spirit repose with you in rest. And when my corpse lies rotting in the dark, let my soul be in the inheritance of the saints in light.”
I love these closing words… May I be found with the same heart-felt convictions as I progress, loving my Lord, in my very brief life here on the corrupted earth.
Chas Morse
Another must read book for the serious believer desiring to prepare himself for eternity and while progressing in his/her pilgrim’s progress.
I have been a believer for many years and never challenged to meditate until being challenged by Baxter.
Baxter was motivated to write this treasure after a near death experience he encountered in the winter of 1647.
That experience “forced me to the work of meditation that he had formerly found so profitable to my soul.”
Baxter defines meditation in this way:
“Meditation entails the set and solemn acting of all the powers of the soul. I call it set and solemn to differentiate it from that which is only occasional and cursory. I charge you to make this meditation a con-stant, standing duty, just as you do in hearing, praying, and reading the Scripture. You should solemnly set yourselves to it-and while you do it, make it your whole work. Do not mix other matters in with it any more than you would do with prayer or other duties.”
“Meditation puts reason in its proper place of authority. It helps deliver reason from its captivity to the senses and sets it again on the throne of the soul.”
Some observations:
Overall the book is well written in our current English making it very easy to read unlike the unedited versions.
It has Baxter’s complete outline spelled out in tbe appendix which is helpful to review before reading the book in its entirety.
Excellent questions at the end of each chapter to be easily used in a Bible study or in a one-on-one discipleship format which I highly recommend for anyone discipling those new to the faith. Also, there is a Subject index and Bible index which is missing in most Christian books written today. I appreciate the additional effort to be complete in this area of book-writing with these 2 comprehensive indexes.
Here are a few comments summarizing the overall thrust of his book.
“There remains therefore a rest for the people of God" (Heb. 49).
This text is his conclusion after various arguments to that end, and it remains a useful conclusion for the believer today. It contains the ground of all his comforts, the end of all his duty and sufferings, and the life and sum of all gospel promises and Christian privileges. Thus you may easily see why I have made this verse the subject of this book. What could be more welcome to men under personal afflictions, tiring duty, and a succession of sufferings than rest?
Baxter brings the practice of meditation to the forefront and calls it “the great duty of heavenly life.”
He observed that in his day (1600’s) and I would add,our day as well, that it is rare for believers to practice daily meditation on Heaven.
But that effort to apply meditation “brought gain for him” and he challenges both you and I to follow suit and make this practice part of our everyday spiritual diet.
“But if happiness is thin on the ground in Baxter's world, joy is still to be found. Indeed, it is one of the main benefits of his method.”
"That which will make us most happy when we possess it will make us most joyful when we meditate on it"
Joy is the reward for those who will take Baxter at his word and practice his method of daily meditation on our future rest. "You will find that there is indeed sweetness in the work and way of God and that the life of Christianity is a life of joy.”
“The practice of daily meditation is the key. A heavenly mind is a joyful mind. This is the nearest and truest way to live a life of comfort; without this, you must necessarily be uncomfortable" (p. 96).”
Meditation is so important to Baxter and the Word of God, He ends his book by stressing the art of soliloquy, namely preaching to oneself in the power of self-talk.
We are to honestly preach, or reason with ourself, coaxing our hearts with sufficient reasons to move our corrupted affections.
In another chapter, Baxter piles on reason after reason-fifty reasons to persuade believers in the work of meditation and serving our Lord in the very short time we have on this earth.
Here are some of my favorite quotes from the book:
“A heavenly mind is a joyful mind.”
“There is the encounter with our own sinfulness, for a start, that confronts us every day: "We can barely open our eyes, and we are in danger" (p. 66). Thus the church, he says, is like a hospital filled with groaning patients.”
“Today we are in esteem, tomorrow in disgrace; today we have friends, tomorrow none; today we are in gladness, tomorrow in sadness" (p. 61). Put in these terms, the prospect of everlasting, unchanging rest sounds more and more appealing.”
“What an astonishing thought it will be, to think of the immeasurable difference between what we deserve and what we receive, to look down on those in hell and see the vast difference free grace has made between us and them (unbelievers).”
“We know to whom the praise is due. Indeed, it was to this very end that infinite wisdom cast the whole design of man's salvation into this mold of purchase and freeness, so that the love and joy of man might be perfected and the honor of grace most highly advanced. The thought of merit will neither cloud the one nor obstruct the other,
And on these two hinges the gates of heaven will turn. So then. Let Deserved be written on the door of hell, but on the door of heaven
and life itself, The Free Gift.”
“Should the pot not be wholly at the service of the potter and the creature at the service of his great Creator? Are we his children, and do we not owe him our most tender affections and dutiful obedience? Are we the spouse of Christ, and do we not owe him our observance and our love?”
“If you knew that this was the last day you had to live in the world, how would you spend it? If you knew when you went to bed that you would not rise in the morning, would your thoughts of another life not be more serious that night?”
“If you are weary of your labors, let it make your thoughts of rest more sweet. Is your body refreshed with food or sleep? Remember your inconceivable refreshment with Christ. Do you hear any news that makes you glad? Remember what happy tidings they will be to hear the sound of the trumpet of God and the absolving sentence of Christ our Judge. Are you delighting yourself in the society of the saints? Remember the everlasting, amiable fraternity you will have with perfected saints in their rest. Thus you may see the advantages to a heavenly life that every condition and creature affords us, if only we had the hearts to apprehend and improve them.”
As I said before, Baxter concludes his book by describing what true meditation looks like.
“The object of this meditation is rest, or the most blessed condition of man in his everlasting enjoyment of God in heaven.”
“Soliloquy has its component parts and its due method in which we stir up our affections one by one. I cannot attempt to explain either parts or method fully because it would take up more time and room than I intend or can allow it. But I will say this much in brief: just as every good master and father of a family is a good preacher to his own family, so every good Christian is a good preacher to his own soul.”
“Soliloquy is preaching to oneself. Therefore, the very same method a minister uses when he preaches to others is what a Christian should use when speaking to himself. Do you understand the best method for a preacher? Observe the most affecting, heart-melting minister, and set him before you as a pattern to follow. Consider how he moves the hearts of his people, and take the same way with your own heart.”
This is part of a prayer that Baxter closes his book with….
“Oh, do not allow me to spend another day in strangeness and averseness to you my Lord while I endure my pilgrimage. While I have a thought to think, do not let me forget you. While I have a tongue to move, let me speak of you with delight. While I have a breath to breathe, let it be after you and for you. While I have a knee to bend, let it bow daily at your feet.
Let me die the death of the righteous (Num. 23:10). Let my last end be like his, even a removal to that glory that will never end. Send forth your convoy of angels for my departing soul, and let them bring me among the perfected spirits of the just (Heb. 12:23). Let me follow my dear friends (and my loving wife) who have died in Christ before me. When my friends are weeping over my grave, let my spirit repose with you in rest. And when my corpse lies rotting in the dark, let my soul be in the inheritance of the saints in light.”
I love these closing words… May I be found with the same heart-felt convictions as I progress, loving my Lord, in my very brief life here on the corrupted earth.
Chas Morse
May 30, 2022
My Thoughts:
Tim Cooper explains the original book written by Baxter in 1650, held 853 pages and 35,000 words. Cooper has edited and omitted some from the original work. He omitted the heavy use of semi-colons and colons. He omitted repeating words and teachings throughout the book. The original book at 853 pages has been narrowed down to 192 pages.
The history behind the writing of the book is fascinating and important. Baxter wrote the book in the years following his serving as a chaplain during the Civil Wars (1640s). He was an eyewitness to war and its brutality. Both before and after the war, he was a minister at Kidderminster. He was an author with a total of 140 published books. He suffered from ill health in his life. He served a sentence in prison is 1685 because of his political and religious beliefs.
Baxter’s subject and theme of The Saint’s Everlasting Rest is a Christian’s hope and focus is on heaven.
Several reasons why I love this book:
1. I love the organization of it. An outline of the entire book is located in the back. This shows all the points, lists, and general themes in the whole of the book. I am a notetaker and love to stay organized by what the author is teaching. To have an outline in a book is a bonus.
2. This is an uplifting, encouraging, hopeful, joyful book. There is a feeling of expectancy and assurance.
3. At the end of each chapter there are four questions for reflection. Each question has multiple questions included in them.
4. Baxter’s writing style is honest and straightforward, but he is also tender and gentle. So, he writes with conviction. His writing is approachable. He has a perfect balance.
5. I love the Bible verses used as reference. For example, 1 Corinthians 6:20. Revelation 21:27. Acts 3:20.
6. One of my favorite chapters is Chapter 6. In this chapter he is bold enough to state, why we are “unwilling to die.” And this quoted verse made me laugh out loud because is it both brash and honest.
“Our reluctance to depart clearly shows that we have been careless loiterers, that we have spent too much time to little purpose, and that we have neglected a great many warnings.”
I’m a guilty loiterer.
Other favorite quotes:
On focusing our thoughts on heaven. “…bathe your soul in heaven’s delights,” Chapter 7.
“Lastly, consider that there is nothing else that is worth setting our hearts on. If God does not have our hearts, who or what will have them?” Chapter 7.
This book could make an excellent daily devotional. It would need to be organized as such. However, I believe this is a solid use for pulling some of Baxter’s writings (especially this one) and edit it for use as a devotional.
Format: E-book.
Source: I received a complimentary e-book from Crossway. I am not required to write a positive review.
Audience: Readers who enjoy Puritan writings.
Rating: Very good. 4 to 5 stars.
Tim Cooper explains the original book written by Baxter in 1650, held 853 pages and 35,000 words. Cooper has edited and omitted some from the original work. He omitted the heavy use of semi-colons and colons. He omitted repeating words and teachings throughout the book. The original book at 853 pages has been narrowed down to 192 pages.
The history behind the writing of the book is fascinating and important. Baxter wrote the book in the years following his serving as a chaplain during the Civil Wars (1640s). He was an eyewitness to war and its brutality. Both before and after the war, he was a minister at Kidderminster. He was an author with a total of 140 published books. He suffered from ill health in his life. He served a sentence in prison is 1685 because of his political and religious beliefs.
Baxter’s subject and theme of The Saint’s Everlasting Rest is a Christian’s hope and focus is on heaven.
Several reasons why I love this book:
1. I love the organization of it. An outline of the entire book is located in the back. This shows all the points, lists, and general themes in the whole of the book. I am a notetaker and love to stay organized by what the author is teaching. To have an outline in a book is a bonus.
2. This is an uplifting, encouraging, hopeful, joyful book. There is a feeling of expectancy and assurance.
3. At the end of each chapter there are four questions for reflection. Each question has multiple questions included in them.
4. Baxter’s writing style is honest and straightforward, but he is also tender and gentle. So, he writes with conviction. His writing is approachable. He has a perfect balance.
5. I love the Bible verses used as reference. For example, 1 Corinthians 6:20. Revelation 21:27. Acts 3:20.
6. One of my favorite chapters is Chapter 6. In this chapter he is bold enough to state, why we are “unwilling to die.” And this quoted verse made me laugh out loud because is it both brash and honest.
“Our reluctance to depart clearly shows that we have been careless loiterers, that we have spent too much time to little purpose, and that we have neglected a great many warnings.”
I’m a guilty loiterer.
Other favorite quotes:
On focusing our thoughts on heaven. “…bathe your soul in heaven’s delights,” Chapter 7.
“Lastly, consider that there is nothing else that is worth setting our hearts on. If God does not have our hearts, who or what will have them?” Chapter 7.
This book could make an excellent daily devotional. It would need to be organized as such. However, I believe this is a solid use for pulling some of Baxter’s writings (especially this one) and edit it for use as a devotional.
Format: E-book.
Source: I received a complimentary e-book from Crossway. I am not required to write a positive review.
Audience: Readers who enjoy Puritan writings.
Rating: Very good. 4 to 5 stars.
January 23, 2023
A perfect abridgment of this essential devotional work. Baxter’s emphasis on savoring heaven by thinking of it now through intentional meditation is a fitting recalibration of the mundane numbness to it that the world so easily overtakes the Christian’s soul with. Only in actively pursuing eternity will we seize upon its goodness.
April 15, 2023
Grateful for the service of Mr. Cooper; his abridged version of Baxter’s imprint, but very long book, will be a blessing to many modern readers.
September 13, 2025
My favorite book this year. I listened to the audio and it was sweet to my soul. Here are a couple quotes from the final chapter:
“This was the aim of free redeeming grace, this the purpose of eternal love. This joy was purchased by sorrow. This crown was obtained by the cross. My Lord wept so that now my tears will be wiped away. He was forsaken so that I might not now be forsaken. He died so that I might now live. This weeping, wounded Lord will I behold. This bleeding Savior will I see. I will live in Him who died for me. O free mercy that can exalt so vile a wretch. Free to me but dear to Christ.”
“Let me follow my dear friends who have died in Christ before me. When my friends are weeping over my grave, let my spirit repose with you in rest. And when my corpse lies rotting in the dark, let my soul be in the inheritance of the saints in light. O hasten that great resurrection day when your command will go forth and none will disobey. When the sea and earth will yield up their hostages and all who sleep in their graves will awake and the dead in Christ will rise first. When the seed that you sowed corruptible will come forth incorruptible. And the graves that received nothing but rottenness and retained nothing but dust will return to you glorious stars and suns. Therefore, I dare to lay down my carcass in dust, entrusting it not to the grave, but to you. My flesh will rest in hope until you raise it up to the full possession of the saints everlasting rest.”
“This was the aim of free redeeming grace, this the purpose of eternal love. This joy was purchased by sorrow. This crown was obtained by the cross. My Lord wept so that now my tears will be wiped away. He was forsaken so that I might not now be forsaken. He died so that I might now live. This weeping, wounded Lord will I behold. This bleeding Savior will I see. I will live in Him who died for me. O free mercy that can exalt so vile a wretch. Free to me but dear to Christ.”
“Let me follow my dear friends who have died in Christ before me. When my friends are weeping over my grave, let my spirit repose with you in rest. And when my corpse lies rotting in the dark, let my soul be in the inheritance of the saints in light. O hasten that great resurrection day when your command will go forth and none will disobey. When the sea and earth will yield up their hostages and all who sleep in their graves will awake and the dead in Christ will rise first. When the seed that you sowed corruptible will come forth incorruptible. And the graves that received nothing but rottenness and retained nothing but dust will return to you glorious stars and suns. Therefore, I dare to lay down my carcass in dust, entrusting it not to the grave, but to you. My flesh will rest in hope until you raise it up to the full possession of the saints everlasting rest.”
May 4, 2026
6.0/10 - It’s a kind of book that commands respect before you've read a word: 1,500 pages, 460,000 words, written in the 1600s. I read Tim Cooper's abridgment (Crossway), brought down to a 5.5-hour audiobook. It must have taken an enormous effort to get it down to that.
Even so, it felt like there were only ~2.5 hours of actual substance. Baxter circles, restates, and belabors in a way that even the best editorial hand couldn't fully rescue. It was a real slog.
To be fair: we have to give him the era. Jonathan Edwards comes ~100 years later. Moody another 100 after that (both which I read recently). Baxter was pioneering I’m sure — and I tried to keep that in view.
His pessimism about the physical world is pervasive, and it's not hard to understand why. He's writing through the British Civil War, and personally nearly died after doctors decided his nosebleed was a problem of excess blood, then bleeding him to the brink of death. Add a lifetime of physical ailments on top of that, and you have a man with every reason to distrust the body and this world.
There are certainly quotes where he earns a special place. But I couldn't find much enjoyment in his ethereal communication, despite efforts. I’m probably inculcated in fluffy spiritualistic churchese language and therefore a little desensitized to enjoy or be changed by it.
My real hat tip is to Tim Cooper for creating the entry point for moderns to meaningfully intersect with Baxter.
Even so, it felt like there were only ~2.5 hours of actual substance. Baxter circles, restates, and belabors in a way that even the best editorial hand couldn't fully rescue. It was a real slog.
To be fair: we have to give him the era. Jonathan Edwards comes ~100 years later. Moody another 100 after that (both which I read recently). Baxter was pioneering I’m sure — and I tried to keep that in view.
His pessimism about the physical world is pervasive, and it's not hard to understand why. He's writing through the British Civil War, and personally nearly died after doctors decided his nosebleed was a problem of excess blood, then bleeding him to the brink of death. Add a lifetime of physical ailments on top of that, and you have a man with every reason to distrust the body and this world.
There are certainly quotes where he earns a special place. But I couldn't find much enjoyment in his ethereal communication, despite efforts. I’m probably inculcated in fluffy spiritualistic churchese language and therefore a little desensitized to enjoy or be changed by it.
My real hat tip is to Tim Cooper for creating the entry point for moderns to meaningfully intersect with Baxter.
January 20, 2026
This book is a treasure. Classic Puritans, taking verses you've read before and concepts you thought you understood and opening your heart to see them and wonder at them in a new and wonderful way.
I would say this book does an excellent job at what it proposes to do: encourage the Christian to delight in the habit and responsibility of contemplating heaven and the comfort and joys that come with that practice. However, I also think it increased my desire to contemplate, period. Meditation is such a neglected privilege!
Baxter talks of self-talk a lot, which my soul needed. I also think some of the ideas here work well with Brother Lawrence's The Practice of the Presence of God, which I should probably reread.
I would say this book does an excellent job at what it proposes to do: encourage the Christian to delight in the habit and responsibility of contemplating heaven and the comfort and joys that come with that practice. However, I also think it increased my desire to contemplate, period. Meditation is such a neglected privilege!
Baxter talks of self-talk a lot, which my soul needed. I also think some of the ideas here work well with Brother Lawrence's The Practice of the Presence of God, which I should probably reread.
July 7, 2025
This book rocked, plus it felt super accessible and clean in the abridged version. Not sure if I could handle the original.
Essentially Richard Baxter was on his deathbed so started meditating often on heaven - he wrote this book to essentially be his funeral sermon. Ended up living another 45 years - but never stopped meditating on heaven.
All about the hope of heaven and what it looks like to draw our minds to it often. Only critique is that it misses out on the reality of living the heavenly reality here and now - on earth - which I think is essential. Still totally worth reading
Essentially Richard Baxter was on his deathbed so started meditating often on heaven - he wrote this book to essentially be his funeral sermon. Ended up living another 45 years - but never stopped meditating on heaven.
All about the hope of heaven and what it looks like to draw our minds to it often. Only critique is that it misses out on the reality of living the heavenly reality here and now - on earth - which I think is essential. Still totally worth reading
February 21, 2024
Beautiful meditations on the Christian’s hope in the life to come. This version is thankfully modernized and abridged (one tenth the original length!) from Baxter’s original work. I would recommend it as a comfort for anyone suffering, and a much needed conviction for those who are at ease with this world. It would be a good Puritan book to read with someone as the editor has added helpful questions at the end of each chapter.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 52 reviews