N00617:45
The Christian thank-offering. A brief discourse on the returns of gratitude & obedience whereto…
The Christian thank-offering. A brief discourse on the returns of gratitude & obedience whereto men are obliged, by the mercies of God. Made on a solemn thanksgiving, kept in a private meeting of Christians, on the occasion of some deliverances. / By Cotton Mather. ; [Five lines of quotation]
printed by B. Green for Michael Perry, 1696
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.
II. But there is an Exhortation to be now pressed upon us; That the Mercy of God may now Cause us to do, what it Calls us to do. I Beseech you, Brethren, by the Mercies of God, that you be thence prevailed withal, to become the Devoted Servants of the Lord Jesus Christ, in all New Obedience, which is to Present your selves a Sacrifice unto Him. The Africans o• old, would foolishly Worship the Creatures which did them any Benefit, as our Americans at this Day do the Fire, because of the Singular Benefit which they have therefrom. Yea, the People ⟨p. 22⟩of Troas worshipped the very Mice, because they had received a notable Benefit by an Army of Mice, gnawing asunder the Bow Strings of their Enemies. But how unnatural then, will it be for us, to forget the Benefits done to us by our Lord JESUS CHRIST, or to decline th• Service of Him that has done the Benefits: Indeed we cannot requite the Mercy of God unto us, by doing of any thing that shall be for His Advantage. Tho' the parts of Thankfulness are well-distributed by Aquinas, into Recognition, and Valuation, and Retribution, of the Divine Benefits; Yet, for this last point o• Thankfulness, if the Son of Sirach might justly say, How canst thou Recompense thy Parents, the things they have done for thee? Much more may we say, 'Tis impossible for us to Recompense our Saviour, the things He hath done for us: And the Light of Nature it self dictates, as Bellarmine himself allows, That no man can, Paria reddere Deo; or, make Equal Returns unto the Lord We must say to our God, as in Psal. 16. 2. My Goodness extendeth not unto thee. Nevertheless there are some Things, which the Lord graciously calls Retributions; and those are the Fruits of Obedience, which the Showers of Mercy falling upon us, from Heaven do bespeak our yielding of. The Mercy of God is the Tillage which He Employs upon us; O Earth, Earth, Earth, Hear the Word of the Lord! Now the Retri•••ions which we are to make unto Him, are those ⟨p. 23⟩which the Apostle mentions, in