N00213:42
A call from heaven to the present and succeeding generations or A discourse wherein…A call from heaven to the present and succeeding generations or A discourse wherin…
A call from heaven to the present and succeeding generations or A discourse wherein is showed, I. That the children of godly parents are under special advantages and encouragements to seek the Lord. : II. The exceeding danger of apostasy, especially as to those that are the children and posterity of such as have been eminent for God in their generation. : III. That young men ought to remember God their creator. / By Increase Mather, teacher of a church in Boston in New-England. ; [Nine lines of quotations]A call from heaven to the present and succeeding generations or A discourse wherin is shewed, I. That the children of godly parents are under special advantages and encouragements to seek the Lord. : II. The exceeding danger of apostasie, especially as to those that are the children and posterity of such as have been eminent for God in their generation. : III. That young men ought to remember God their creator. / By Increase Mather, teacher of a church in Boston in New-England. ; [Nine lines of quotations]
Boston: printed by John Foster, 1679
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 Lord hath established his Covenant not only with Parents, but with Children also. Gen. 17. 7. I will establish my covenant between me & thee, and thy seed after thee, in their generations, for an everlasting covenant, to be a God to thee & to thy seed after thee, The Saints in all ages are concerned in Abraham's covenant, under which children are comprehended. To say that the Covenant was extended to Children under the Old Testament, but not under the New, is to lessen the grace of God in these days of the Gospel. Yea then the Jews would hay been great losers by, believing on Christ. If they could have said, in former times our Children were interested in the gracious ⟨p. 8⟩Covenant of God, but if we embrace the Gospel, they shall have no part in the Lord, this would have been such an objection against believing as could never have been answered. Wherefore, we shall find that those Scriptures which relate to Gospel times, expressly declare, That not only Believers themselves, but their children also, are subjects of the Lords gracious covenant with his people. Isai. 61. 8. 9. I will make an everlasting covenant with them and their Seed shall be known among the Gentiles, & their off-spring among the people, all that see them shall •at-Knowledge, that they are the seed which the Lord […] blessed. And Chap. 6. •. 23. They are the Seed of the Blessed of the Lord, and their off spring with them. Now this consideration is a great encouragement to seek the Lord. So it was to them, Jer. 3. 22. We come unto thee, for thou art the Lord our God. We are thy Covenant people, and that doth encourage us to come unto thee. And this did encourage David to seek and hope for the Lords salvation. Psal. 86. 16. Save the son of thine handmaid. And the Apostle did encourage the Jews to repent and return unto the Lord, from this argument, viz. in that they were the children of the covenant. Act. 3. 19, 25