A26786:587
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.
God's Justice is not satisfied in depriving them of Heaven, but inflicts the most heavy Punishment upon Sense and Conscience in the Damned: For as the Soul and Body in their State of Union in this Life were both guilty, the one as the Guide, the other as the Instrument of Sin; so 'tis equal, when reunited, they should feel the penal Effects of it. Sinners shall then be tormented wherein they were most delighted; they shall be invested with ⟨p. 530⟩those Objects, that will cause the most dolorous perceptions in their sensitive Faculties. The Lake of Fire and Brimstone, the blackness of darkness for ever, are words of a terrible signification. But no words can fully express the terrible Ingredients of their Misery: The Punishment will be in proportion to the Glory of God's Majesty that is provoked, and the extent of his Power. And as the Soul was the principal, and the Body but an Accessary in the Works of Sin; so its capacious Faculties shall be far more tormented than the limited Faculties of the outward Senses. The fiery Attributes of God shall be transmitted through the Glass of Conscience, and concentered upon damned Spirits: The Fire without is not so tormenting as the Fire within them. How will the tormenting Passions be inflamed? What Rancour, Reluctance, and Rage, against the just Power that sentenced them to Hell? What impatience and indignation against themselves for their wilful Sins, the just cause of it? How will they curse their Creation, and wish their utter extinction, as the final Remedy of their Misery? But all their ardent ⟨p. 531⟩Wishes are in vain; for the Guilt of Sin will never be expiated, nor God so far reconciled as to annihilate them. As long as there is Justice in Heaven, or Fire in Hell, as long as God and Eternity shall continue, they must suffer those Torments, which the strength and patience of an Angel cannot bear one hour.
God's Justice is not satisfied in depriving them of Heaven, but inflicts the most heavy Punishment upon Sense and Conscience in the Damned: For as the Soul and Body in their State of Union in this Life were both guilty, the one as the Guide, the other as the Instrument of Sin; so 'tis equal, when reunited, they should feel the penal Effects of it. Sinners shall then be tormented wherein they were most delighted; they shall be invested with ⟨p. 530⟩