Casuistical morning-exercises the fourth volume /

'Tis true, God by the transcendent Excellence of his Nature is uncapable of suffering any Evil, and there are few in the present State, arrived to such Malice, as to declare open Enmity and War against God. In the Damned this Hatred is explicit and direct, the Fever is heightened to a Frenzy, the blessed God is the Object of their Curses and eternal Aversation: If their Rage could extend to him, and their Power were equal to their Desires, they would Dethrone the most High. And the Seeds of this are in the Breasts of Sinners here. As the fearful Expectation of irresistible and fiery Vengeance increases, their Aversation increases. They endeavour to raze out the Inscription of God in their Souls, and to extinguish the thoughts and sense of their Inspector and Judge. They wish he were not All-seeing and Almighty, but Blind and Impotent, uncapable to vindicate the Honour of his despised Deity. The Fool hath said in his heart there is no God: The Heart is the Fountain of Desires, and Actions interpret the Thoughts and Affections, from whence the Inference is direct and conclusive, that habitual Sinners, who live without God in the world, have secret Desires; there was no Sovereign being, to observe and require an account of all their Actions. The radical cause of this Hatred is from the Opposition of the sinful polluted Wills of Men, to the Holiness of God; for that attribute excites his Justice, and Power, and Wrath, to punish Sinners. Therefore the Apostle saith, They are enemies to God in their minds through wicked works. The naked representing of this Impiety, that a reasonable Creature should hate the blessed Creator for his most Divine Perfections, cannot but strike with Horror. O the Sinfulness of Sin!

'Tis true, God by the transcendent Excellence of his Nature is uncapable of suffering any Evil, and there are few in the present State, arrived to such Malice, as to declare open Enmity and War against God. In the Damned this Hatred is explicit and direct, the Fever is hightned to a Frenzy, the blessed God is the Object of their Curses and eternal Aversation: If their Rage could extend to him, and their Power were equal to their Desires, they would Dethrone the most High. And the Seeds of this are in the Breasts of Sinners here. As the fearful Expectation of irresistible and fiery Vengeance increases, their Aversation increases. They endeavour to rase out the Inscription of God in their Souls, and to extinguish the thoughts and sense of their Inspector and Judge. They wish he were not All-seeing and Almighty, but Blind and Impotent, uncapable to vindicate the Honour of his despised Deity. The Fool hath said in his heart there is no God: The Heart is the Fountain of Desires, and Actions interpret the Thoughts and Affections, from whence the Inference is direct and conclusive, that habitual Sinners, who live without God in the world, have secret Desires; there was no Sovereign being, to observe and require an account of all their Actions. The radical cause of this Hatred is from the Opposition of the sinful polluted Wills of Men, to the Holiness of God; for that attribute excites his Justice, and Power, and Wrath, to punish Sinners. Therefore the Apostle saith, They are enemies to God in their minds through wicked works. The naked representing of this Impiety, that a reasonable Creature should hate the blessed Creator for his most Divine Perfections, cannot but strike with Horror. O the Sinfulness of Sin!