N00657:53
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
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.
In the mean time, you the Student• here, are concerned to bewail the Breach which the Lord has made […] ⟨p. 36⟩you. If you slight and make light of this hand of the Lord, or do not make a due improvement of it, you may fear, that God has not done with you, but that he has more arrows to shoot amongst you, that shall suddenly strike some of you ere long. But Oh that the Lord would sanctify what has happened to awaken you unto serious thoughts about Death and Eternity. Who knows but that God may make these sudden Deaths, an occasion of promoting the Salvation, & Eternal Life of some amongst you. It is related concerning Waldo, (He from whom the Waldenses have that Name given them) that the occasion of his Conversion was the Sudden Death of one of his Companions. The sight of that made him serious. He did not know, but that he might die suddenly too, and that he was therefore concerned to be always fit to die. So did he turn to the Lord, and became a great Instrument of Glory to God and good to his Church. Oh! that it might be so with you. Wherefore I pray you; yea, and I Charge you in the Name of the Lord; as my beloved Sons, I warn & charge you, that every one of you endeavour that you may be able to give a good Answer to three plain, short Questions.
In the mean time, you the Student• here, are concerned to bewail the Breach which the Lord has made 〈…〉 ⟨p. 36⟩you. If you slight and make light of this hand of the Lord, or do not make a due improvement of it, you may fear, that God has not done with you, but that he has more arrows to shoot amongst you, that shall suddenly strike some of you ere long. But Oh that the Lord would sanctify what has hapned to awaken you unto serious thoughts about Death and Eternity. Who knows but that God may make these sudden Deaths, an occasion of promoting the Salvation, & Eternal Life of some amongst you. It is related concerning Waldo, (He from whom the Waldenses have that Name given them) that the occasion of his Conversion was the Sudden Death of one of his Companions. The sight of that made him serious. He did not know, but that he might dy suddenly too, and that he was therefore concerned to be always fit to dy. So did he turn to the Lord, and became a great Instrument of Glory to God and good to his Church. Oh! that it might be so with you. Wherefore I pray you; yea, and I Charge you in the Name of the Lord; as my beloved Sons, I warn & charge you, that every one of you endeavour that you may be able to give a good Answer to three plain, short Questions.