N00213:43
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.
3. There are special promises belonging to such children. Not only the Covenant in general which is, as it were, a Constellation of glorious promises, but there are peculiar Promises made concerning them. There is a promise that they shall be blessed above other children. […] ⟨p. 9⟩Generation of the upright shall be blessed. And that […] from one generation to another. Psal. 102. •8. The children of thy servants shall continue, and their feed shall be established before thee. In another place, David speaking concerning the children of Gods servants, and that in the days of the Messiah, saith, A •eal s•all serve him it shall be accounted to the Lord for a generation. Psal. 22. 30. intimating that the Lord will uphold among the children of his people a certain number that shall be owned as a race of Gods Children. And therefore we have a promise of converting grace to be bestowed on such children. Deut. 30. 6. The Lord the God will circumcise thy heart and the heart of thy seed. There is a promise for grace as well as to grace, as to those that belong to the election of […]. Circumcision of heart implieth Regeneration, which is promised to the Lords Servants with respect unto their children. And that was one reason why the Lord did of old appoint Circumcision to be applied to the children of his people, that so this promise of converting grace in due time to be […] might be sealed. The same thing is promised, Isai. 44. 3. I will pour my Spirit upon thy Seed, and my blessing upon thine off spring. And the Lord hath made a blessed promise of salvation to such children, Isai. 49. 25. I will save thy children. Hence it is promised that the seed of the Lords Servants shall […] Psal. 69. 36. Which word is made good in these days of the Gospel, by giving heaven to the children of believers as their everlasting inheritance. Now albeit these promises do not absolutely respect all the children of every godly man, only the elect amongst them, yet they are generally and indefinitely propounded; and that is encouragement as to Parents to pray for their children […] for […] of them, as it was to David, 1. Chr.