N00196:32
Pray for the rising generation, or A sermon wherein godly parents are encouraged, to…
Pray for the rising generation, or A sermon wherein godly parents are encouraged, to pray and believe for their children, preached the third day of the fifth month, 1678. which day was set apart by the Second Church in Boston in New-England, humbly to seek unto God by fasting and prayer, for a spirit of converting grace, to be poured out upon the children and rising generation in New-England. / By Increase Mather, teacher of that church. ; [Seven lines of quotations]
printed by Samuel Green, 1678
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 Truth is evident in that the Blessing here spoken of, i• an everlasting Blessing. Eternal good things are the chief: so is this Blessing of the spirit, upon whom he is poured, upon them, and in them he remaineth for evermore: The Hebrew word [Greek or Hebrew] •atzak which is here translated Pour, signifieth to Fasten as well as to Pour: I will fasten my spirit upon your Children. That indwelling of the person of the Holy Ghost in Believers, which the New-Testament speaketh so much of, is everlasting: He abideth with them and in them for ever, John 14.16. And the graces of the spirit, which he doth pour on his People are everlasting: common gifts may cease, but special grace abideth to eternity. It is a seed of God that is incorruptible, which liveth and abideth for ever, 1 Pet. • 23. As the Holy Fir• (which signified the Holy Ghost, his coming down from Heaven into the hearts of his People) it never went out; no more shall grace dye, or be totally ••••inguished in a Believing soul▪ Hence, true Grace is compared ⟨p. 11⟩unto living (i. e. spring) water, which never runs dry; yea unto great Rivers in respect of their perennity: great Rivers are always running from the beginning of the World to the end thereof; so is true saving-grace of an everlasting nature, Isai. 41.18.
2. The Truth is evident in that the Blessing here spoken of, i• an everlasting Blessing. Eternal good things are the chief: so is this Blessing of the spirit, upon whom he is poured, upon them, and in them he remaineth for evermore: The Hebrew word 〈non-Latin alphabet〉 •atzak which is here translated Pour, signifieth to Fasten as well as to Pour: I will fasten my spirit upon your Children. That indwelling of the person of the Holy Ghost in Believers, which the New-Testament speaketh so much of, is everlasting: He abideth with them and in them for ever,