A26786:363
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.
But those who are partakers of the Divine Nature, the holy and heavenly taste, and see how good the Lord is, and according to the Illustrations of the Mind, such are the Impressions upon the Heart; the Love of God in their Breasts here is like smoking Flax, but in Heaven 'tis a ⟨p. 304⟩triumphant Flame. God is the first Fair, the Original of all amiable Excellencies, in whom they shine in their unstained Lustre and Perfection; when he fully reveals himself, and displays the richest Beams of his Love and Glory, how transporting and endearing is that Sight? Our Affections that are now scattered on many things, wherein some faint Reflections of his Goodness appear, shall then be united in one full Current to him, who is all in all. In Heaven the immense Treasures of his Grace are revealed: That when Man for his rebellious Sin was justly expelled from Paradise, and under the Sentence of Eternal Death, God should not only pardon, but prefer us to the dignity of his Children, and prepare such a Glory for us, and us for such a Glory. This will inspire the Saints with such ardent Affections, that will make them equal to the Angels, those pure and everlasting Flames of Love to God.
But those who are partakers of the Divine Nature, the holy and heavenly taste, and see how good the Lord is, and according to the Illustrations of the Mind, such are the Impressions upon the Heart; the Love of God in their Breasts here is like smoaking Flax, but in Heaven 'tis a ⟨p. 304⟩triumphant Flame. God is the first Fair, the Original of all amiable Excellencies, in whom they shine in their unstained Lustre and Perfection; when he fully reveals himself, and displays the richest Beams of his Love and Glory, how transporting and endearing is that Sight? Our Affections that are now scatter'd on many things, wherein some faint Reflections of his Goodness appear, shall then be united in one full Current to him, who is all in all. In Heaven the immense Treasures of his Grace are reveal'd: That when Man for his rebellious Sin was justly expell'd from Paradise, and under the Sentence of Eternal Death, God should not only pardon, but prefer us to the dignity of his Children, and prepare such a Glory for us, and us for such a Glory. This will inspire the Saints with such ardent Affections, that will make them equal to the Angels, those pure and everlasting Flames of Love to God.