now, Reader, whatever thou art, young or old, rich or poor, I intreat thee, and charge thee, in the name of thy Lord, who will shortly call thee to a reckoning, and judge thee to thy everlasting unchangeable state, that thou give not these things the reading only, and so dismiss them with a bare approbation; but that thou set upon this work, and take God in Christ for thy only rest, and fix thy heart upon him above all. May the living God, who is the portion and rest of his saints, make these our carnal minds so spiritual, and our earthly hearts so heavenly, that loving him, and delighting in him, may be the work of our lives; and that neither I that write, nor you that read, this book, may ever be turned from this path of life; _lest a promise being left us of entering into his rest, we should come short of it_, through our own unbelief or negligence![1] [Footnote 1] Hebrews iv, 1. § 2. The Saint's rest is, 'the most happy state of a Christian;' or it is, 'the perfect endless enjoyment of God by the perfected saints, according to the measure of their capacity, to which their souls arrive at death, and both soul and body most fully after the resurrection and final judgment.' According to this definition of the saint's rest, a larger account of its nature will be given in this chapter; of its preparatives, chap. ii; its excellencies, chap. iii; and chap. iv, the persons for whom it is designed. Farther to illustrate the subject, some description will be given, chap. v, of their misery who lose this rest; and, chap. vi, who also lose the enjoyments of time, and suffer the torments of hell. Next will be shewed, chap. vii, the necessity of diligently seeking this rest; chap. viii, how our title to it may be discerned; chap. ix, that they who discern their title to it should help those that cannot; and, chap. x, that this rest is not to be expected on earth. It will then be proper to consider, chap. xi, the importance of a heavenly life upon earth; chap. xii, how to live a heavenly life upon earth; chap. xiii, the nature of heavenly contemplation, with the time, place, and temper fittest for it; chap. xiv, what use heavenly contemplation makes of consideration, affections, soliloquy, and prayer; and likewise, chap. xv, how heavenly contemplation may be assisted by sensible objects, and guarded against a treacherous heart. Heavenly contemplation will be exemplified, chap. xvi, and the whole work concluded.