N00619:31
Things for a distressed people to think upon. Offered in the sermon to the…Things for a distress'd people to think upon. Offered in the sermon to the…
Things for a distressed people to think upon. Offered in the sermon to the General Assembly of the province, of the Massachusetts Bay, at the anniversary election. May, 27. 1696. Wherein, I. the condition of the future, as well as the former times, in which we are concerned, is considered. II. A narrative of the late wonderful deliverance, of the King, and the three kingdoms, & all the English dominions, is endeavoured. III. A relation, of no less than seven miracles, within this little while wrought by the Almighty Lord Jesus Christ, for the confirmation of our hopes, that some glorious works, for the welfare of his church, are quickly to be done, is annexed. / By Cotton Mather.Things for a distress'd people to think upon. Offered in the sermon to the General Assembly of the province, of the Massachusetts Bay, at the anniversary election. May, 27. 1696. Wherein, I. the condition of the future, as well as the former times, in which we are concerned, is considered. II. A narrative of the late wonderful deliverance, of the King, and the three kingdoms, & all the English dominions, is endeavoured. III. A relation, of no less than seven miracles, within this little while wrought by the Almighty Lord Jesus Christ, for the confirmation of our hopes, that some glorious works, for the welfare of his church, are quickly to be done, is annexed. / By Cotton Mather.
printed by B. Green for Duncan Campbel, 1696
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.
Some have made such a profession of Righteousness, that much Notice has been taken of them; others have been ready to think, Well, Christianity, is just such a Thing, as the Lives of these men do Represent it. Now the Falls of these men, before the Wicked, are just as if one should throw p•ison into the Well that all the Town is to fetch Wa•er at. So were the Heathen of old Poisoned, when they said, Christiani sancte vixissent, si Christus sancta docuisset! Oh! Lamentable Thing! Satan, who is often the Executioner of the Wrath of God upon a sinful World, ⟨p. 21⟩hath Desired, leave to single out some high Professors of Religion, & push them on to some scandalous Iniquities: he would fain do the part of a Devil, it may be, on some one man, that he might poison all the Town, by the Falls of that man. The Dreadful Justice of God, who gives none account of His matters, hath said, Go, Satan, go make an Experiment upon them? And lo, upon the Experiment, some strict, and it may be, some old Professor, that had been formerly Troublesome to all the Sinners that were about him, He not only proves a Covetous Worldling, but he acts as driven by an Unclean Devil, or by a Cheating Devil, or by a Lying Devil: and he plays the Devil horribly. Such Doleful Instances there have been among us, as would poison a whole Neighbourhood, yea, a whole Colony, with Atheism, […] the Lord Jesus Christ, had not an Almighty Arm, to secure His own Religion. Woe, way woe, to Hundreds of Souls, in the midst of thee, O New England, for the Offences that are given by some of thy Church-members; Lo Them think of the rest. But, Oh! how should we all come to such Lamentations, My Eyes do fail with Tears, my Bowels are Troubled. The scandalous Fall of David, is by as transcendent a Mystery of Divine Sovereignty Recorded, as i• was Ordered. Some of the Pagans in the Primitive Times, would not be Christians, because ⟨p. 22⟩•avid, forsooth, was one of our greatest Saints tho' he did such Damnable Things; and, many of the Christians would then Sin Damnably, pleading, Si David, cur non et ego? Why, mayn't I, as well as David? I believe, There are a million of men in Hell, whose Damnation was occasioned by the Fall of David, tho' David himself be gone to Heaven after all. Ay, but this David therefore comes to cry out, I water my couch with my Tears, mine Eye is consumed!