A26796:271
The harmony of the divine attributes in the contrivance and accomplishment of man's redemption…
The harmony of the divine attributes in the contrivance and accomplishment of man's redemption by the Lord Jesus Christ, or, Discourses wherein is showed how the wisdom, mercy, justice, holiness, power, and truth of God are glorified in that great and blessed work / by William Bates.The harmony of the divine attributes in the contrivance and accomplishment of man's redemption by the Lord Jesus Christ, or, Discourses wherein is shewed how the wisdom, mercy, justice, holiness, power, and truth of God are glorified in that great and blessed work / by William Bates.
London: printed by J. Darby for Nathaniel Ranew and Jonathan Robinson and Brabazon Aylmer, 1674
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.
2. The Doctrine of the Gospel exceeds all practic Sciences in the excellency of its end, and the efficacy of the means to obtain it.
The end of it is, The Supreme Happiness of Man: the restoring of him to the Innocence and ⟨p. 120⟩Excellency of his first state. And the means are appointed by infinite Wisdom, so that the most insuperable obstacles are removed: and these are the Justice of God that condemns the guilty, and that strong and obstinate aversion which is in corrupted man from true Felicity. Here is a Mediator revealed,1 who is able to save to the uttermost: who hath quenched the Wrath of God by the Blood of his Divine Sacrifice: who hath expiated Sin by the value of his Death, and purifies the Soul by the virtue of his Life, that it may consent to its own Salvation. No less than a Divine Power could perform this work. From hence the superlative excellency of Evangelical Knowledge doth arise: all other Knowledge is unprofitable without it, and that alone can make us perfectly blessed;2 This is Life eternal, to know thee, and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent. I will briefly consider how ineffectual all other Knowledge is, whether Natural, Political, or Moral, to recover us from our Misery.
The end of it is, The Supreme Happiness of Man: the restoring of him to the Innocence and ⟨p. 120⟩Excellency of his first state. And the means are appointed by infinite Wisdom, so that the most insuperable obstacles are removed: and these are the Justice of God that condemns the guilty, and that strong and obstinate aversion which is in corrupted man from true Felicity. Here is a Mediator reveal'd,1