N00524:37
The day, & the work of the day. A brief discourse, on what fears…
The day, & the work of the day. A brief discourse, on what fears we may have at this time to quicken us; what hopes there are at this time to comfort us: and what prayers would be likely to turn our prayers into hopes. With reflections upon time and state, now come upon the Church of God, and collections of certain prophecies relating to the present circumstances of New-England. Uttered on a fast, kept in Boston, July 6th. 1693. / By Cotton Mather.
Boston: printed by B. Harris, 1693
Title page typeset from the transcription.
The Day, and the Work of the Day. › Proposition 2 › Question 1: The First Question.
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.
The First Question.
What is that Prayer-quickening Fear, which must not be Rejected?
What is that Prayer-quickning Fear, which must not be Rejected?
For Answer, What Fear, but the ⟨p. 22⟩Fear of God? even that Fear, which is in the Oracles of Wisdom, so ofte• Celebrated as, The Beginning of Wisdom? We read in Psal. 111. 10. The Fear of the Lord, is the Beginning of Wisdom, and a good Understanding have all they that do His Commandments. Among the Things Commanded by our God, there is none more Notable than that of Prayer•• now 'tis the Fear of God, which help men unto the Understanding, to […] such a Thing. When it is here said, Thou hast cast off Fear, it is by some Translated so, Thou hast cast off Religion. The Fear of God, is a• principle of Religion in the Heart of man; a principle of Respect unto the Commands and Praises of the Great God. It is an Old Testament Name, for the whole of Religion; but this Fear of God, includes a Love to God, a Faith on God, a Joy in God, as well as a Fear of Him. This is the Fear, that must not be Rejected. More particularly, This Fear imports, A dread of those Mischiefs that ⟨p. 23⟩