N00619:46
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.
Nor is it Unlikely, no, but all Things conspire, even to Demonstration it self, That the last Half Time, or, Hundred and Fourscore years, of the Papal Kingdom, Entered at the Reformation in the Former Century. All the Schemes, that put off this most Happy Period, unto further and future Ages, are easily convicted of manifest Inconsistencies: And therefore, I question, whether there be so much as one Judicious and Considerate Student, in those Prophecies, which, Blessed are they that Study, but ⟨p. 36⟩what concurs to this Expectation, That the Kingdom of God is at Hand. Lift up your Heads then, O you that Love the Appearing of the Lord Jesus Christ: For there seems as if there were an Age of Miracles now Dawning upon us. Proper Miracles were continued in the Church of God, for Two or Three Hundred years together, even until the Antichristian Apostasy was come on to some Extremity. And when that Apostasy is over, tis possible, there may be a Return of proper Miracles; those, Powers of the World to come. Such Miracles have been lately Wrought, more than two or three of them, in the City of London, that, what if they should be a Few Drops of the Spirit of the Messiah, falling before a Mighty Shower of that Spirit? Persons who have had their Limbs miserably disjointed, Persons that have had Inveterate Palsies, Incurable Fistula's, Desperate Leprosies; These Persons, as they have been Reading the Ancient Miracles of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Spirit of Christ hath wonderfully given them, the Faith of His doing the like for them; and Behold, they have, to the Astonishment of mankind, been by the like Miracles, perfectly and presently recovered out of all their Maladies. What shall we make of these things? Do not Sinfully Expect Miracles; and yet say I, That the Lords Name is Near, His Wondrous Works declare! However, They may be Symbolical Representations, and Exhibitions, ⟨p. 37⟩of the Miraculous Things, which the Lord is going to Do for His People: For, I do again assure you, The Trumpet is going to Sound, that shall make the Kingdoms of this World, become the Kingdoms of the Lord, and of His Christ.
Nor is it Unlikely, no, but all Things conspire, even to Demonstration it self, That the last Half Time, or, Hundred and Fourscore years, of the Papal Kingdom, Entred at the Reformation in the Former Century. All the Schaemes, that put off this most Happy Period, unto further and future Ages, are easily convicted of manifest Inconsistences: And therefore, I question, whether there be so much as one Judicious and Considerate Student, in those Prophecies, which, Blessed are they that Study, but