N00526:71
Unum necessarium awakenings for the unregenerate. Or, The nature and necessity of regeneration. Handled…
Unum necessarium awakenings for the unregenerate. Or, The nature and necessity of regeneration. Handled in a discourse designed for the service of any that may be thereby assisted in the grand concern of conversion unto God; but especially the rising generation. : With an addition of some other sermons relating to that important subject. / By Cotton Mather. ; [Five lines from Ezekiel]
Boston printed: printed by B.H. i.e for Duncan Campbell, 1693
Title page typeset from the transcription.
AWAKENINGS FOR THE UNREGENERATE. › Proposition 2: The Second PROPOSITION.
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.
II. A second Consideration useful for you, may be that in Isa. 1.2. Hear, O Heavens, and Give ear, O Earth; for the Lord hath spoken; I have Nourished and brought up Children, and they have Rebelled against me. CONSIDER, That until you are Born again, all the more than Fatherly Mercies of God are both Ill bestowed, and Ill Requited. The God of Heaven has dealt like a Father with you, all your Days hitherunto: and you speak but Reasonably, when you say unto Him, Our Father! It is He that has produced you from Nothing, into Being, and it is He that has preserved you in Being from Threatening and Invading Mischief. They are Gods Creatures which Comfort you, and Cherish you; 'tis His Air you breath, 'tis His Ground you tread, they are His Clothes that Cover you. It is He that every Hour defends you from a Million Deaths; and supplies you with multitudes of Conveniences both for Inward and Outward Man. And what is the Language of ⟨p. 52⟩all this Kindness? 'Tis that in Rom. 2.4. The Goodness of God, Leads thee to Repentance. By Regeneration we should now come to behave ourselves like Children unto a Father so favourable, so compassionate! The voice of all the Divine Benignity unto us, is that, O live unto that God, from whom, and on whom it is that thou livest at all! The Israelites could say to such a Benefactor as Gideon, in Judg. 8.22. Rule thou o•er us, both thou and thy son, for thou hast delivered us. How much more ought we to become Regenerate, by resigning ourselves unto the Government of that God, who has been our Deliverer all this while, and who has Redeemed us from all Adversity? Be sure, till you are Born again, all the Bounties of God are utterly lost upon you; Gods Corn and Gods Wine is given unto Baal; and you are continually Fighting against God with Weapons of His own. As David said of an Unthankful Nabal, In vain have I kept all that this Fellow hath; so may the Lord say of an Unholy Sinner; All my Mercies to this Wretch, are merely thrown away: He makes me no suitable Returns for all my Benefits. Never was any Ingratitude so monstrous, as that of Unregeneracy! To continue in REBELLION against God, amongst His most wicked and cursed Enemies, after all that He has done