N01545:110
Two discourses showing, I. That the Lords ears are open to the prayers of…Two discourses shewing, I. That the Lords ears are open to the prayers of…
Two discourses showing, I. That the Lords ears are open to the prayers of the righteous. II. The dignity & duty of aged servants of the Lord. : Also, a preface in which the Congregational discipline of the churches in New-England is vindicated, with the authors dying testimony there-unto. / By I. Mather, D.D. ; [Four lines of quotations]Two discourses shewing, I. That the Lords ears are open to the prayers of the righteous. II. The dignity & duty of aged servants of the Lord. : Also, a preface in which the Congregational discipline of the churches in New-England is vindicated, with the authors dying testimony there-unto. / By I. Mather, D.D. ; [Four lines of quotations]
printed by B. Green for Daniel Henchman, 1716
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.
1. Aged Servants of the Lord should be humbled for the many Sins of their Life past. A Man that has lived long in this sinful World, how many Sins has he been guilty of? Innumerable evils, more than the hairs on his head. ⟨p. 121⟩How many Sins of Commission in Words, Thoughts, and Deeds. And much Sin also in respect of Omissions. Alas! how little good have we done in the World! Our famous Dr. Usher had been a great blessing in his day, not only by the Sermons he Preached, which were instrumental in the Conversion of many, and among others of several Young Scholars when he resided for some time in Oxford, but also by the Books he wrote, by which many thousands have been Edified, yet when he drew near to his End, his Prayer was, The Lord forgive my Sins of Omission. Moreover, The vanities of Childhood and Youth, should be matter of Humiliation in Old Age. They were so to David, whose Prayer was, Remember not the Sins of my Youth, nor my transgressions, Psal. 25.7. Nor has our Elder Age been without Sin. It was an humble Expression of one of the Ancients, Diu vixi•. diu paccavi. I ⟨p. 122⟩have lived a long time, & I have been a Sinner a long time. It is not enough for us once to have confessed our past transgressions, but the remembrance of them, should cause us to go softly in the bitterness of our Souls all the days of our life. We should go Mourning for them to our Graves. It is reported of Old Austin that he dyed reading the Penitential Psalms.
1. Aged Servants of the Lord should be humbled for the many Sins of their Life past. A Man that has lived long in this sinful World, how many Sins has he been guilty of? Innumerable evils, more than the hairs on his head. ⟨p. 121⟩How many Sins of Commission in Words, Thoughts, and Deeds. And much Sin also in respect of Omissions. Alas! how little good have we done in the World! Our famous Dr. Usher had been a great blessing in his day, not only by the Sermons he Preached, which were instrumental in the Conversion of many, and among others of several Young Scholars when he resided for some time in Oxford, but also by the Books he wrote, by which many thousands have been Edified, yet when he drew near to his End, his Prayer was, The Lord forgive my Sins of Omission. Moreover, The vanities of Childhood and Youth, should be matter of Humiliation in Old Age. They were so to David, whose Prayer was, Remember not the Sins of my Youth, nor my transgressions,