A26786:339
The four last things viz. death, judgment, heaven, hell, practically considered and applied in…
The four last things viz. death, judgment, heaven, hell, practically considered and applied in several discourses / by William Bates.
London: printed for Brabazon Aylmer, 1691
Modern spelling is a reading aid: the words are the author’s, only the spelling is modernized. Original shows the page as printed, with the transcription marks.
This will appear by considering whatever is requisite to constitute the complete Blessedness of Man, is fully enjoyed in the Divine Presence.
This will appear by considering whatever is requisite to constitute the compleat Blessedness of Man, is fully enjoyed in the Divine Presence.
1. An exemption from all Evils is the first condition of perfect Blessedness. The Sentence of the wise Solon is true, Dicique beatus Ante obitum nemo supremaque funera debet. ⟨p. 278⟩No Man can be called happy whilst in this Valley of Tears. There are so many natural Calamities, so many casual, which no humane Mind can foresee or prevent, that one may be less miserable than another, but none perfectly happy here. But upon the entrance into Heaven, all those Evils, that by their number, variety or weight, disquiet and oppress us here, are at an end.
1. An exemption from all Evils is the first condition of perfect Blessedness. The Sentence of the wise Solon is true, Dicique beatus Ante obitum nemo supremaque funera debet. ⟨p. 278⟩No Man can be call'd happy whilst in this Valley of Tears. There are so many natural Calamities, so many casual, which no humane Mind can foresee or prevent, that one may be less miserable than another, but none perfectly happy here. But upon the entrance into Heaven, all those Evils, that by their number, variety or weight, disquiet and oppress us here, are at an end.
Sin, of all Evils, the worst and most hateful, shall be abolished, and all Temptations that surround us and endanger our Innocence shall cease. Here the best Men lament the Weakness of the Flesh, and sometimes the violent Assaults of Spiritual Enemies. St. Paul himself breaks forth into a mournful Complaint, O wretched Man that I am, who shall deliver me from this Body of Death? And when harassed by the buffets of Satan, renews his most earnest Addresses to God to be freed from them. Here our Purity is not absolute, we must be always cleansing our selves from the Relics of that deep Defilement that cleaves to our Nature. Here our Peace is preserved with the Sword in our Hand,