A26786:428
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.
1. There is an exquisite Wisdom shines in all God's Works, in disposing them for the ends to which they are appointed: and is it not monstrously absurd to imagine, he will admit into his Presence and Kingdom, those that are absolutely unqualified for its Blessedness, and opposite to its Purity?
1. There is an exquisite Wisdom shines in all God's Works, in disposing them for the ends to which they are appointed: and is it not monstrously absurd to imagin, he will admit into his Presence and Kingdom, those that are absolutely unqualified for its Blessedness, and opposite to its Purity?
2. His invariable Justice excludes for ever all unholy Persons from Heaven. For in the last Judgment God will be glorified as a Governor, in the distribution of Rewards with respect to the Obedience and Disobedience of Men. 'Tis worthy of observation, that the Actions of God on the reasonable Creatures are of two sorts. Some proceed from his sovereign good Pleasure, of which there is no motive or reason in the Subjects on which they are terminated. Thus by a free and insuperable Decree (when all Mankind, lapsed and miserable, was in his view) he chose some to be Vessels of Mercy, and by privilege separated them from the rest that finally perish. Now what induced him to place a singular Love on the Elect? There was nothing in them to incline his Compassion, being equally guilty and depraved with the rest of the Progeny of Adam. This difference therefore is to be resolved into his unaccountable and adorable Will, as the sole cause of it. Thus God declares it to be his glorious Prerogative, I will have Mercy on whom I will have Mercy, and I will have Compassion on whom I will have Compassion. And this is no unjust ⟨p. 368⟩acceptance of Persons: For as a Benefactor, he may dispense his own Favours as he pleases. A Gift from mere and arbitrary Bounty may be bestowed on some, and not on others, without injustice. But there are other Actions of God for which there is an evident reason in Men on whom they are terminated. Thus as the supreme Judg, without respect of Persons,