N01270:29
A discourse concerning the death of the righteous. Occasioned by the deaths of the…
A discourse concerning the death of the righteous. Occasioned by the deaths of the Honourable, John Foster Esqr. who dyed at Boston in New-England Feb. 9th. 1710,11. And his pious consort, Mrs. Abigail Foster. Who departed soon after him, viz. on the 5th. of March. / By I. Mather, D.D. ; [Four lines from Revelation]
Boston: printed by B. Green, 1711
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.
It may be Enquired, But what Righteous are they whose Death is a sign of Evil to come? And when is it so?
Quest. 1. What Righteous Men are they whose death is a sign of Evil to come?
Answ. This is especially true of such Righteous Men as are Eminent Ones. The Hebrew word here used is Hatzaddik, noting such as are Emphatically, The Righteous. We cannot say, that the Death of every Righteous man is Ominous, but of Some it is. Judicious Interpreters conceive, that the Prophet Isaiah Preached the Sermon wherein my Text is, presently on the death of Hezekiah. He was an Eminently righteous man, So that after him was none like unto him among all the Kings of Judah, nor any that were before him. And his death made way for a Miserable change in the Nation. Prodigious Apostasy and Prodigious Calamity quickly followed. In the days of his Successor a formidable Army of Assyrians came and ⟨p. 18⟩made dreadful havoc in the Land. The King endeavoured to hide himself in thickets, but the Assyrians took him there, put him into Fetters and carried him into Babylon, and what distress was the whole Kingdom in then? 2 Chron 33 11. Hezekiah's death made way for all that evil. There are some Righteous men who are Eminent in respect of the Station which God has set them in. They are in a Public Capacity and Eminently qualified with Gifts and Grace for the discharge of the duty incumbent on them. The death of such Righteous Ones is ofttimes Portentous of Evil to come. It is mentioned as such in the third Chapter of Isaiah, when the Lord threateneth that He would take away the Judge, and the Prophet, and the Prudent, and the Ancient, and the Honourable Man, and the Counsellor. The Righteous Man whom the Lord has lately taken away from us, was an Honourable Man, and a Counsellor, a Judge and a Prudent One, as we all know. Such Men are Pillars, and therefore the removal of them is many times Ominous to the building, lest that should be weakened and fall.