N01426:35
Maternal consolations. An essay on, the consolations of God
Maternal consolations. An essay on, the consolations of God; whereof, a man whom his mother comforteth, receives a shadow; and all the children of God, enjoy the substance. Made on the death of Mrs. Maria Mather, the consort of the Reverend Dr. Increase Mather, and the daughter of the renowned Mr. John Cotton, who expired on, 4 d. 2 m. 1714. In the seventy third year of her age. / By Cotton Mather, D.D. & F.R.S. and a son of the deceased gentlewoman. ; [Three lines from II Corinthians]
Boston: printed by T. Fleet for Samuel Gerrish, 1714
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.
Thirdly. God the Holy Spirit will Comfort His People. 'Tis indeed His Office to be their Comforter. We read Joh. XV.26. The Comforter is the Spirit of Truth. Surely, we cannot but be comforted, when we feel our Minds Purified, Rectified, and brought into an Holy Order, & an Heavenly Temper, and the Storms raised by our Irregular Appetites appeased, and succeeded with the Peace of God which passes all Understanding. We cannot but be comforted, when we are satisfied, That our Sins are forgiven to us, and that our Souls are bound up in the Bundle of Life, and that Goodness and Mercy shall follow us all our Days, and ⟨p. 25⟩we shall dwell in the House of the Lord for ever and ever. None but a God, can give such Consolations. But, Oh! Holy SPIRIT, Thou art God, and these are thy Consolations!
It has been a little Surprising unto me to find, That in some of the Primitive Writers, the Holy Spirit is called, The Mother. Tertullian uses this Denomination for the Holy Spirit; The Mother, who is Invocated with the Father and the Son. The Denomination was justified by this; That we are Born of the Holy Spirit. And it has a notable Coincidence with it; That when the Holy Spirit comes to take a full Possession of the Church, and in doing so, has formed the Heavenly City; Then is this Prophecy fulfilled; As it is with a Man whom his Mother comforteth, so will I Comfort you. Then the Holy Spirit of God in His Church, will do the part of a Mother, in Cherishing the Souls of His People, and comforting of them, with God becoming their exceeding Joy! A City which is the Mother of us all, so intimately possessed by the Holy Spirit, ⟨p. 26⟩that He becomes in a manner One with it; What Consolations will it bring unto us? In the mean time, To be filled with the Holy Spirit, is to be always full, full of matchless Consolations!
It has been a little Surprising unto me to find, That in some of the Primitive Writers, the Holy Spirit is called, The Mother. Tertullian uses this Denomination for the Holy Spirit; The Mother, who is Invocated with the Father and the Son. The Denomination was justified by this; That we are Born of the Holy Spirit. And it has a notable Coincidence with it; That when the Holy Spirit comes to take a full Possession of the Church, and in doing so, has formed the Heavenly City; Then is this Prophecy fulfilled; As it is with a Man whom his Mother comforteth, so will I Comfort you. Then the Holy Spirit of God in His Church, will do the part of a Mother, in Cherishing the Souls of His People, and comforting of them, with God becoming their exceeding Joy! A City which is the Mother of us all, so intimately possessed by the Holy Spirit,