N00657:10
A discourse concerning the uncertainty of the times of men, and the necessity of…
A discourse concerning the uncertainty of the times of men, and the necessity of being prepared for sudden changes & death. Delivered in a sermon preached at Cambridge in New England. Decemb. 6. 1696. On occasion of the sudden death of two scholars belonging to Harvard College. / By Increase Mather, president of that college. ; [Two lines from I Samuel]A discourse concerning the uncertainty of the times of men, and the necessity of being prepared for sudden changes & death. Delivered in a sermon preached at Cambridge in New England. Decemb. 6. 1696. On occasion of the sudden death of two scholars belonging to Harvard Colledge. / By Increase Mather, praesident of that colledge. ; [Two lines from I Samuel]
printed by B. Green for Samuel Phillips, 1697
Dedication: TO My Worthy Friend Mr. JOHN EYRE, One of His Majesties Justices of the Peace, at Bosto…
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.
THE Love which is in the Heart of a Father towards his Children is no small Love: and thence the Sorrow for their Death is no little Sorrow. We see it in Ephraim, of whom it is Recorded, that when his Sons were taken away by an Immature Death; Their Father Mourned many Days, 1 Chron. •.22. An Extraordinary Mourning is expressed by that of Mourning as one that Mourneth for an Only Son. Zech. 12.10. It is a bitter aggravation of the Death of Children, when there is no ground to believe that they are gone to a better World. ⟨image ?⟩No doubt, but that was the Reason, why David was so much moved when he first heard of the sudden Death of His Absalom. 2 Sam. 18.33. He wept, and as he wept, He thus said, O my Son Absalom! my Son, my Son Absalom, would God I had Dyed for thee, O Absalom! My Son, my Son. So it does very much alleviate grief, when we can Mourn not without Hope, of seeing our Children at the Right hand of Christ in the Resurrection at the Last Day. As for your Son who now is not, I could never observe any thing in him, but what was Laudable; and his Worthy Tutor gives him the like Character. Although Death found him using Recreations (which Students need for their Healths sake) they were lawful Recreations. Nor was he willing to divert himself at that time, without a particular permission from his Superiors, as I understand: and therefore let not the Circumstances of his Death make too great an Impression on your Spirit. Had Death found him Sinning, the Evil whi•h f••l upon him suddenly, would have been much sadder.
THE Love which is in the Heart of a Father towards his Children is no small Love: and thence the Sorrow for their Death is no little Sorrow. We see it in Ephraim, of whom it is Recorded, that when his Sons were taken away by an Immature Death; Their Father Mourned many Dayes, 1 Chron. •.22. An Extraordinary Mourning is expressed by that of Mourning as one that Mourneth for an Only Son. Zech. 12.10. It is a bitter aggravation of the Death of Children, when there is no ground to believe that they are gone to a better World.