N00619:39
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.
And indeed, there is hardly a Family among us, wherein there ha's not some Terrible Thing or other, fallen out, which will cause particular Persons, to go Drooping, with Sorrow to their Graves. T'will be Endless to Enumerate the Temptations, that we have all had in this Wilderness: But as it was said of Miriam, that seems to have been a Figure of the Church then with her in the Wilderness; Numb. 12.14. If her Father had Spit in her Face, should she not be ashamed? Thus, O New England; Thy Father has been Spitting in thy Face; but, Oh! Let thy Tears now run down that shamed Face, let thy Tears ⟨p. 28⟩wash that shame of thy Face away for ever. If we did thus Pour out Water before the Lord, we might at last, as the Scripture speaks, come to Forget our Misery, and Remember it as Waters that pass away.
II. May the Prayers of a fervent SUPPLICATION, be from this Day, raised among us, upon the manifold Occasions for such Prayers. I do not ask you to Fast on this Day, as the General Assembly of Israel did, on the day, when they were all together. But those things may be Uttered on this Day, and Resolved on this Day, that many a Day of Prayer, with Fasting, may be the effect of this Day: And it may be, a General Assembly, will before they break up, some time or other set apart a Day, for Prayer with Fasting, together, before the Lord; that so a whole Province together at once, may Hear what God the Lord will speak unto them, Some think, that when the General Assembly of Israel, did pour out water before the Lord, they did it, as a symbol, expressive of the Devotion with which they made their Prayers before Him; as the devout person could say, in 1 Sam 1.15. I have poured out my Soul before the Lord. And indeed, they seem to me so intent on pouring out their Prayers, that they would pour nothing, not so much as a little water, in. For such Prayers unto the God and Father of our ⟨p. 29⟩Lord Jesus Christ, I do this Day make my most zealous Addresses unto you, O Inhabitants of New England: I Address you, That you would Pray always with all Prayer and Supplication; and that with a public Recommendation of public Supplication, to be maintained by our Churches, in a successive and a repeated practice thereof, Household Prayer, and Secret Prayer, may be conscientiously practised by all sorts of men.