The Hope of Heaven

“It has pleased our Father to open his counsel and to let us know the very intent of his heart and to acquaint us with the eternal extent of his love; and all this, that our joy may be full and we might live as the heirs of such a kingdom [of heaven].  And shall we now overlook all this, as if he had revealed no such matter?  Shall we live in earthly cares and sorrows, as if we knew of no such thing?  And rejoice no more in these discoveries than if the Lord had never written it?  If your prince had promised you some lordship, how often would you be casting your eye upon it and making your daily delight to study it, until you come to possess that dignity itself.  And has God promised you heaven, and do you let it lie there, as if you had forgotten it?  Oh, that our hearts were as high as our hopes, and our hopes as high as these infallible promises!”

-- Richard Baxter, Practical Works (London, 1838), III:276.  Style updated.
HT: Ray Ortlund, Jr.