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A26800 A sermon preached upon the much lamented death of our late gracious sovereign Queen Mary to which is added The address of condolence to His Majesty by the dissenting ministers / by William Bates ... Bates, William, 1625-1699. 1695 (1695) Wing B1118; ESTC R2534 14,062 32

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change for a moment Absolute necessity of Existence invincibly infers the infinity of Existence For the limits of any Being are determined by the productive cause of it Of Created Beings some excel in one thing some in another according to the Will of the Maker Every change in the substance of things is either perfective or corruptive and both are equally impossible in God For nothing can accrue to Infinite Perfection and nothing can be wanting to it Any accession to his Excellency implyes there was a defect before if any impairing there would be a defect afterward From hence it follows either that he was not God before or that he shall cease to be God afterward it being absolutely impossible that any Perfection be wanting in the true God The absolute simplicity of the Divine Nature does infer the immutability of it 'T is true the Perfections of God are exprest by different titles and are apprehended by us under different conceptions yet they are all the same Infinite Nature There is no composition and mixture of Wisdom and Power and Goodness in God but he is all Perfection in the Unity of his Essence Eternity is a resultance from his independent Nature For we cannot conceive of a Being necessary in it self but it must be Eternal From everlasting to everlasting thou art God Whatever is made is perishable either from the principles of its composition as the Bodies of Animals which being made of jarring Elements dye by Natural Expiration or may be destroyed The Angels tho' Spiritual Substances are mortal to God he can by a word annihilate them Nay their Immortality depends upon his Power the productive and conservative cause of their Beings He only has Immortality the inseparable Perfection of his Nature and bestows it upon others The Eternity of God is inseparably connexed with his Immutability For that Being that cannot change cannot cease to be These Attributes infer and illustrate one another Those things which Time bestows it takes away Flowers that are of a springing accomplishment gradually wither But the Sun shone with as much lustre and force the first day as ever since and continues in its perfection God was from Eternity and therefore is alwayes the same in himself He is not more Powerful when he Works nor Wise when he Governs nor more Just when he Punishes nor more Good when he bestows his Benefits The Immutability of the Divine Nature is proper to every Perfection I will mention some of them The Divine Wisdom is so perfect there can be no addition to it From Eternity it fixed the best end of all things the Glory of the Creator and appointed the fittest means to obtain it His all-discerning Eye with one imperious view comprehends all events necessary and contingent He sees all real effects and all possible in himself For he perfectly understands his own Power and his own Will To his Coeternal Knowledge nothing is past or to come Nothing occurs new or appears old The Divine Power is not capable of accession or diminution In the Lord Jehovah is everlasting strength 'T is a Perfection inseparably inherent in his Nature O Lord be exalted in thine own power The Lords arm is not shortened With the least strain of his Power he can do all things We have a constant visible demonstration of the unchangableness of these Attributes For the same Infinite Wisdom and Power are requisite to manage the World as to make it Without his directing Light and supportting Power that Frame of the World would disband and the full Harmony of it be turned into confusion He upholds all things by the word of his Power The manner of sustaining and governing this great World is as Divine as the thing it self For no less than Infinite Power can do things by a commanding Word The Mercy of God endures for ever This is renewed every Morning and Moment 'T is from his never-failing Compassions that we do not fail This is our continual Advocate to deprecate the Evils we deserve and obtains all good things for us 'T is Mercy supports and sweetens our Lives that are so frail and so often forfeited The unwasted Treasure of Mercy supplyes our Wants satisfies our Desires allayes our Sorrows The Divine Mercy vanquishes our Fears comforts us in the Hour of Death and crowns us after it with Everlasting Life The Holiness of God the brightest Ornament of his Essence is unchangable 'T is without spot or wrinkle that may stain its Absolute Purity This is the Radical Fundamental Rule of Order in the Divine Government 'T is as impossible the Will of God should decline from Moral Good as that his Understanding should not discern it From hence our Saviour declares That Heaven and Earth shall pass away before the Law shall be abolished If the Pillars of Heaven should fall and the Foundations of the Earth be overturned there would be no loss to God For by one Act of his Will he can Create a New World but if the Law the Copy of his Holiness were altered or abrogated it would be an Imputation upon his Holy Nature as if it were Arbitrary and Mutable and consequently he should cease to be God Briefly Divine Immutability is the full and constant State of Perfections in the Deity And the Blessedness of God that consists in the fruition of himself has a necessary connexion with this Attribute Immutability is the ground that supports it and the perfection that crowns it Secondly The Churches hope in its extremity is supported by the unchangable Perfections of his Nature that establish his Covenant with his People 'T is stiled An Everlasting Covenant ordered in all things and sure This will be evident by considering the Immutability of his Counsels and Decrees and of his Words and Promises 1. His Counsels and Decrees that concern the recovery of the Church from its despised and desolate State The unchangable Perfections of his Nature are the Foundation of his unchangable Decrees For there can be no change of them from within and no controlling of them from without The Perfection of his Knowledge is such that he can never be surprized with a sudden new event that should induce him to alter them And his Power that is truly Infinite will effect them His Decrees are exprest to be the Council of his Will those Determinations being most compleat that are the product of Council There are no Temporary Decrees that begin upon an unforeseen emergency for it would then follow there were a Change in God But they were before the Foundation of the World and shall be accomplished in real Effects either immediately by his own Power or by secondary means The Counsel of the Lord shall stand The Decree of Election the Original Spring of all the good his People enjoy or expect is of infallible accomplishment 'T is the Observation of St. Austin that although the number of the Elect shall not be actually compleat till the end of
Charity would be illustrious Her wise Redemption of Time from unconcerning Vanities for Domestick Affairs was the Effect and Indication of her tender and vigilant Conscience She consider'd her Glass was continually running and all the Sands were to be accounted for How should this great Example correct those who are lavish of nothing so much as of Time which being lost is irrecoverable The Sun returns every Day but Time never returns In her Sickness Patience had its perfect Work Her Disease was uncomfortable yet with resigned Submission she bore it When the Danger of it was signified to her she had no fearful Thoughts about her future State 'T is a cruel Respect to sick Persons especially to Princes to conceal from them their Danger till Death steals insensibly upon them Indeed considering their past Lives and their present Anxieties the Advice of approaching Death is an Anticipation of it But the Spirit of this excellent Saint was not afraid of Evil-tidings but fixed trusting in the Lord. Her Care had been to secure the Love of God in the best time of her Life this mixed Cordial Drops in the Bitterness of Death In short to finish my Discourse all the blessed Vertues were eminently seen in her that might render her Government an entire Happiness to the Kingdom This erected her a Throne in the Hearts of her Subjects and the Honour the wise Poet attributes to the Emperor Augustus Victorque volentes Per populos dat jura That he rul'd a willing People may more truly be said of this excellent Princess She was Queen of the Affections of the People and governed them without Constraint Her Praise-worthy Actions will eternize her Memory when other Princes devested of their secular Pomp shall either be buried in dark Oblivion or condemned in History The Earthen Vessel wherein all these Treasures were deposited is broke and the instructive Providence should perswade us to look to our living Strength the blessed God fixing our Trust in him He bestowed this rare Instrument of his Goodness He can preserve his Servant our Sovereign Lord who by the Divine Assistance has the Honour of establishing our Religion and Liberties at home and gives hope of restoring it abroad from whence it has been so cruelly and perfidiously expell'd FINIS THE Address of Condoleance TO His MAJESTY BY THE Dissenting Ministers May it please your Majesty THO we come in the Rear of the Train of Mourners to pay our Tributary Tears for the unvaluable Loss in the Death of your Royal Consort and our most Gracious Queen yet our Resentments of it are with as tender a Sympathy as are in the Breasts of any of your Subjects This gives the sharpest Accent to our Passions that the Considerations which are most proper and powerful to allay our Sorrows exasperate them for while we remember what She was how general and diffusive a Blessing to three Kingdoms the severe stroke of Providence in taking Her from us is most afflicting Such a Concurrence of high Perfection shin'd in Her Person and Actions that would have made Her Illustrious in a low Condition and in Her exalted Station they were attractive of the Eyes and Admiration of all Her Mind was above the Temptations that attend the Throne Majesty was mix'd with that condescending Humility that tender and beneficent Goodness that She was easily accessable to all for their Relief and Support Her Piety and Purity were so conspicuous Her Affections were so composed and temperate that the Court that is usually the Centre of Vanity and Voluptuousness became vertuous by the Impression of Her Example Her Conversation was so regular that Her Enemies if Goodness in such a bright Eminency had any could not fasten a Taint upon Her Her Royal Endowments for Government Wisdom Magnanimity Vigilance and Care in managing Affairs of State without which the highest Princes are but civil Idols useless and unprofitable to the World these were in such a degree of Excellency that in your Majesty's constrained Absence while you were defending the Interest of Christendom against a potent Enemy abroad with the Sword of War She sweetly ordered all things at home with the Scepter of Peace She is gone and must return no more O astonishing Grief But it becomes us with humble Submission to acquiesce in the Divine Disposal The Will of God is always directed by Infinite Wisdom and is the Rule of Goodness We must refresh our Sorrows with the hope that She is entered into her Saviour's Joy whom She imitated and honoured and that She is made happy in the Love of God and the Light of his Countenance for ever We humbly beseech your Majesty to accept the renewed Assurances of our inviolable and constant Fidelity to your Person and Government and that we shall influence all that are within our Compass to persevere in their Duty We shall earnestly pray to the blessed God to keep you in the best Protection his encompassing Favour to support your Spirit with Divine Comforts and to continue long your precious Life so necessary for preserving the pure Religion and the Civil Rights of this Kingdom FINIS ADVERTISEMENT THE four last Things viz. Death Judgment Heaven Hell practically considered and applied In several Discourses By William Bates D. D. Printed for Brab Aylmer Rev. 1. 4. Isa. 44. 6. Exod. 3. Mal. 3. 6. 1 Tim. 6. Psal. 21. Esay Heb. 11. * Adhuc usque in finem seculi multiplicandi justificandi sunt Tamen verba praeteriti temporis posuit de rebus etiam futuris tanquam jam fecerit Deus quae jam ut fierent ex aeternitate disposuit 2 Pet. 1. 1 Sam. 15. 29. Deut. 7. Psal. 102. Eph. 3. 10. Luke 15. Psal. 39. Lam. ● 19 20. Psal. 82. 6 7.