N00524:62
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.
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.
APPLICATION.
Well then, Let our Fears this Day Stimulate and Animate our Prayers; and let us therefore Entertain just Fears, that we may thereby Enliven our Prayers. Our Fear is this Day to deal with us, as Jonahs Master did by him; 'tis to come and say unto us, What meanest thou, O Sleeper? Arise, and call upon thy God. Fear is a passion, which the All-wise God, who Forms the Spirit of man within him, has most wisely put into us. When that passion comes to be well placed and well acted, we then become highly Reasonable; when Sanctified, we become Eminently Religious. That passion is the Engine which I would Employ this Afternoon, to fetch those Prayers wherein we now ⟨p. 38⟩are, To pour out water before the Lord.
Well then, Let our Fears this Day Stimulate and Animate our Prayers; and let us therefore Entertain just Fears, that we may thereby Enliven our Prayers. Our Fear is this Day to deal with us, as Jonahs Master did by him; 'tis to come and say unto us, What meanest thou, O Sleaper? Arise, and call upon thy God. Fear is a passion, which the All-wise God, who Forms the Spirit of man within him, has most wisely put into us. When that passion comes to be well placed and well acted, we then become highly Reasonable; when Sanctified, we become Eminently Religious. That passion is the Engine which I would Employ this Afternoon, to fetch those Prayers wherein we now ⟨p. 38⟩are, To pour out water before the Lord.
I am directed in Jude 23. Some Save with Fear. It is very certain, That we cannot be Saved without Importunate Prayer unto our God. Saved, said I? No, we cannot but be Destroyed, but be Ruined, […] be Plunged into inextricable Confusions. Well, 'tis by the Fear of this, that our Prayer should be now Invigorated.