N01310:102
Thoughts for the day of rain. In two essay's
Thoughts for the day of rain. In two essay's: I. The Gospel of the rainbow. In the meditations of piety, on the appearance of the bright clouds, with the bow of God upon them. II. The Saviour with his rainbow. And the covenant which God will remember to his people in the cloudy times that are passing over them. / By Cotton Mather., D.D. ; [Seven lines of quotations]
printed by B. Green, 1712
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.
I pass on, to take notice, in the Fourth place; of some Lessons which the Rainbow may give us, concerning the Covenant and the Kingdom of our Saviour. Some of the most Judicious Men in the World, and such as have been the farthest from indulging and humouring a roving Fancy, have ye noted such Things as these. The Rainbow never fills a Circle, nor makes more than a Semicircle. The Kingdom of our Lord in His Church, has in this thing a Picture ⟨p. 33⟩of it. It is part on Earth; part Above. Our Saviour was on Earth when He Suffered for us, and began His Kingdom; He went up from Earth to Heaven; and will come down from Heaven to Earth again. The Afflictions attending the Kingdom of our Lord in the World, and the Enemies not yet all wholly subdued, make the Condition of a Semicircle too agreeable unto it. The Circle will not be filled up, till the Kingdom shall be delivered up unto the Father, and God shall become All in All.
And since the Rainbow is not a Perfect Circle, if Moreover the Servants of God are Warned from thence, of the Imperfection, which will attend all Sublunary Things, we shall but go on to make an Improvement thereof, that some Wise Men have made before us. Look upon the Rainbow that wants Perfection, [its nearness to the Earth allows it not!] and say, I have Seen an End of all Perfection!
But, Finally, Let our Meditation carry us over, to another World, that has it. The Excellent Alsted advises us, from the Rainbow, to form a Meditation, of the Glory that shall be imparted by our Saviour, to our Bodies, at the Resurrection of the Dead. After this manner he gives us the Noble Reflection. Si Deus per Solem in Nubibus Excitat tam Splendidum Meteorum, multo magis ipse tanquam […] Justitiae in Corporibus ⟨p. 34⟩