N00431:195
The wonderful works of God commemorated. Praises bespoke for the God in heaven in…
The wonderful works of God commemorated. Praises bespoke for the God in heaven in a thanksgiving sermon; delivered on Decemb. 19. 1689. Containing just reflections upon the excellent things done by the great God, more generally in creation and redemption, and in the government of the world; but more particularly in the remarkable revolutions of providence which are every where the matter of present observation. With a postscript giving an account of some very stupendous accidents, which have lately happened in France. / By Cotton Mather. ; To which is added a sermon preached unto the convention of the Massachuset-Colony in New-England, with a short narrative of several prodigies, which New-England hath of late had the alarms of heaven in.
Boston: printed by S. Green & sold by Joseph Browning, 1690
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.
A People must be with God, or God will not be with them. And here also, to prevent Mistakes, Let that one Text be always carried in our Minds; Neh. 9. 18. Being merciful, thou for sookest them not; there is Mercy in the Whole of this matter. Let it be noted, That tho' this Condition seems to be im••sed upon us; yet it is Grace, pure Grace, rich Grace that helps us, when we are helped unto the performance of it. When a people have so been with God, as that He has been with them, they are to shout, Grace, Grace! concerning all. It is also to be noted, that this Benefit dos not depend upon that Condition, as an Effect upon the real and proper cause of it. When a people has been with God, this does not merit, and so procure that God should be with them; but that is barely the Antecedent unto which, this is the Conse••••.
A People must be with God, or God will not be with them. And here also, to prevent Mistakes, Let that one Text be alwaies carried in our Minds; Neh. 9. 18. Being merciful, thou for sookest them not; there is Mercy in the Whole of this matter. Let it be noted, That tho' this Condition seems to be im••sed upon us; yet it is Grace, pure Grace, rich Grace that helps us, when we are helped unto the performance of it. When a people have so been with God, as that He has been with them, they are to shout, Grace, Grace! concerning all. It is also to be noted, that this Benefit dos not depend upon that Condition, as an Effect upon the real and proper cause of it. When a people has been with God, this does not merit, and so procure that God should be with them; but that is barely the Antecedent unto which, this is the Conse••••.
Having premised this I must now affirm, God is with you, while you are with Him. We need only reflect on the People of Israel, for an Instance of it. That whole History, which almost fills the Bible, proclaims nothing more than this; it loudly declares, That while a people are with God, God will be with them; but that He will be very Terrible in His providential Dispensations towards such a people as do forsake Him.