N00766:131
The everlasting Gospel. The Gospel of justification by the righteousness of God; as 'tis…
The everlasting Gospel. The Gospel of justification by the righteousness of God; as 'tis held and preached in the churches of New-England: expressed in a brief discourse on that important article; made at Boston in the year, 1699. / By Cotton Mather. ; And, asserted with the attestations, of several Reverend and eminent persons, now most considerable in those churches.The everlasting Gospel. The Gospel of justification by the righteousness of God; as 'tis held and preach'd in the churches of New-England: expressed in a brief discourse on that important article; made at Boston in the year, 1699. / By Cotton Mather. ; And, asserted with the attestations, of several Reverend and eminent persons, now most considerable in those churches.
Boston: printed by B. Green for Nicholas Buttolph, 1700
Title page typeset from the transcription.
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.
Our own Righteousness will prove but out own Confusion, if we Expect thereby to be Justified. What shall we call the Man, who builds upon his own Righteousness? We have the Name, and the Fate of that Man, in Matth. 7.26, 27. A Foolish Man, who built his house upon ••e Sand: It fell, and great was the Fall of it. Should men Live wholly without Religion, they would indeed not be able to Live: the very ⟨p. 42⟩Bars of the Pit would break, and the smoke of Hell would fly in their faces, and they would walk about as Cain, with ghastly marks of Reprobation upon them. Wherefore, like Herod, men will do many things: but, alas, while they go to make a Righteousness, of these things, they still fall short of Entering into Rest.
Our own Righteousness will prove but out own Confusion, if we Expect thereby to be Justified. What shall we call the Man, who builds upon his own Righteousness? We have the Name, and the Fate of that Man, in Matth. 7.26, 27. A Foolish Man, who built his house upon ••e Sand: It fell, and great was the Fall of it. Should men Live wholly without Religion, they would indeed not be able to Live: the very ⟨p. 42⟩Bars of the Pit would break, and the smoke of Hell would fly in their faces, and they would walk about as Cain, with ghastly marks of Reprobation upon them. Wherefore, like Herod, men will do many things: but, alas, while they go to make a Righteousness, of these things, they still fall short of Entring into Rest.
O our Beloved People; may we say it of you, That you are Striving to get rid of Sin, Striving to have more broken Hearts, and Striving to lead more exact Lives! We wish, we may say it. But then, we must also say, W, Oh! Woe, unto the man that shall rest in these things. Men may go far, very far, in shows of Piety; but after all, if they go to make a Righteousness out of all, they are still among the Unrighteous, that shall not Inherit the Kingdom of God.