A26807:26
A short description of the blessed place and state of the saints above in…
A short description of the blessed place and state of the saints above in a discourse upon the words of Our Blessed Saviour, John XIV, 2, in my father's house are many mansions, if it were not so, I would have told you, I go to prepare a place for you / by William Bates.
London: printed by J.D. for J. Robinson, 1687
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 stability and firmness of it. The Apostle saith, 'Tis a City that hath Foundations, whose Builder and Maker is God. Cities that are raised by the greatest Kings, who are corruptible, and mortal, are so slightly built, that they may be consumed by Fire, battered by Storms, and without external Violence, yet from an inward principle of Decay, sink into Ruins: but Heaven is the City of the living God, the Seat of his eternal Empire. This present World is like a Tent pitched for a time, whilst the Church is sojourning in the Wilderness: the most solid parts of it,1 the visible Heaven, and Earth, shall perish, either by an entire Consumption, or their ruin shall terminate in a renovation to a better State. But the third Heaven is above the dominion of the Elements, ⟨p. 13⟩exempted from all changes, and for ever remains. 'Tis an inheritance incorruptible, undefiled, and fades not away: The integrity, purity, and glory of it are always the same. 'Tis the habitation of God's Throne,2 He sits in Heaven secure from all the tumultuous Conspiracies of his Enemies, and derides their impious Attempts, against his Son, and Church. His Throne is unshaken there, notwithstanding things below are turned about in a vertiginous Circle. And as the House, so the Inhabitants, and their felicity, are eternal. Glory, Honour, and Immortality,3 are the Reward of all that patiently continue in well-doing. Our Saviour assures his Disciples, Because I live, ye shall live also. He tasted Death for them, and swallowed it up in Victory. He declared in Vision to St. John, Behold, 4I am alive for evermore. The Lord of Life will uphold the Saints in that blessed State for ever: They shall never fall ⟨p. 14⟩out of the Arms and Bosom of a gracious God. He will never withdraw his Love, and they shall never forfeit it: for Sin is from the perverseness of the Will, and disorder of the Affections, joined with some error of the Mind. But in the Light of Glory, and full enjoyment of God, the Understanding is so perfectly illuminated, the Will and the Affections so exceedingly satisfied, that 'tis impossible they should apprehend erroneously, or desire irregularly.