N00619:56
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.
Secondly, Are we sure that we have no Secret ⟨p. 46⟩Sins to be Repented of? Let us, with all Humility of Soul, Enquire after them, that so, nothing may be wanting to the Reformation of the Land. There was once a People in a Wilderness, who being harassed by sore Desolati••s, could thereupon say, in Psal 90.8. Thou hast […] our Secret Sins, in the Light of thy Countenance. •here is at all Times, a Room for that Exclamation, How Unsearchable are the Judgments of […]! And at some Times, tis peculiarly difficult […] us, vain Mortals, to Search out the causes of •hose Judgments. There were such Diabolical practices among the Israelites of old, that it is said, •herefore the Lord was very Angry with them, and removed them out of His Sight: and yet it is also […], of those things, in 2 King. 17.9. They did secretly those things, which were not Right, against […] Lord their God. Yea, There was a Time, when the Judgments of God, made all the Armies of Israel to fly and fall before them, so that •he Hearts of the People melted, and became as […] : No doubt, the Sins usual in other Armies, •nd an abundance of Debaucheries and of other Disorders, and Distempers were among them: Nevertheless, These were not the Accursed Thing, that procured 'em all their Trouble; nor did any one man among all their Leaders understand what was that Accursed Thing, until God Wonderfully helped them to discover it. Yea, There was a Time, when the Judgments of God ⟨p. 47⟩pursued a whole Company of Sea faring people; a Storm came upon them, that had like to have Sunk them all: No doubt, they were as faulty and as vicious, as any other Sea-faring Folks use to be: Nevertheless, the Storm came for the Sins, of that person, that one would have least suspected among them all; than man was the Jonah, whose Error had Exposed them all. So Uunsearchable are the Judgments of God! And that which renders them yet more Unsearchable is, The wondrous Distance of Time, which the Lord may take, to punish a people, for Former Iniquities, and even (as that passage of Scripture which I am now quoting, may be Translated) for the Iniquities of those that have gone before them. The Children of Jacob were once brought into astonishing Distresses; and in those Distresses, Then Josephs Bloody Coat is laid before their Eyes;