N01488:93
Several sermons wherein is showed, I. That Jesus Christ is a mighty Saviour. II.…Several sermons wherein is shewed, I. That Jesus Christ is a mighty Saviour. II.…
Several sermons wherein is showed, I. That Jesus Christ is a mighty Saviour. II. That God converts his elect some at one age, and some at another, commonly before old age. III. That when godly men dye, angels carry their souls to another and a better world. : With a preface in which there is a brief and true character of the Reverend Mr. Thomas Bridge a lately deceased pastor in one of the churches in Boston. / By Increase Mather, D.D. ; [Four lines of quotations]Several sermons wherein is shewed, I. That Jesus Christ is a mighty Saviour. II. That God converts his elect some at one age, and some at another, commonly before old age. III. That when godly men dye, angels carry their souls to another and a better world. : With a preface in which there is a brief and true character of the Reverend Mr. Thomas Bridge a lately deceased pastor in one of the churches in Boston. / By Increase Mather, D.D. ; [Four lines of quotations]
Boston: printed by B. Green for Benjamin Eliot, 1715
GOD Converts His Elect, Some at one Age, and some at another, Commo… › Application 1: USE I.
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.
USE I.
We are to be Cautioned against judging the Final Estate of Men, or to conclude Peremptorily that they will never be Called, because they are not Called so soon as some others have been. Suppose a Sinner to be come to his Eleventh hour, who knows but the Lord may Call him then? We are to judge nothing before the Time. Life time is a time of Mercy, until that is ended we know not what God may do for miserable sinners. It is true, that we may judge of the present state of Men, we may certainly know that they are for the present in a sinful state, in which if they shall dye, they will perish Eternally, Peter said to ⟨p. 82⟩Simon Magus, Thy heart is not right in the sight of God, for I perceive that thou art in the gall of bitterness and in the bond of iniquity, Act. 8.21, 23. And our Saviour Christ has said, You shall know them by their fruits, do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? Mat. 7.16. If a Tree does bring forth Thorns, we may know that it is not a Vine. So if Men live ungodly lives, we may know that they have not Grace in their Souls. Hence the Apostle says, In this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the Devil, whosoever does not righteousness is not of God, neither he that loves not his Brother, 1 Joh. 3.10. From that Scripture our Famous Hooker observes 1. That there are two sorts of Men in the World, the Children of God, & the Children of the Devil. 2. That these may be known. 3. That he that is a batter of Saints, and a worker of Iniquity, has a brand mark of a child of the Devil, whereby he may be discovered. But although' we may judge of Mens present estate, we may not judge of their future and final estate. For that's a Secret known