N01545:111
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.
2. Let Aged Servants of the Lord be watchful against what ever will be a blemish to that Old Age which God has crowned them with. Nothing will really blemish our Age, but only Sin, and that will do it. It is not the natural decays & infirmities of Age, but Moral and Sinful Infirmities that will prove a blemish and dishonour, which we ought to watch against. And the rather because some Eminent Servants of God have miscarried very scandalously after they have been Old. So, did Solomon, notwithstanding he was ⟨p. 123⟩beloved of God, and therefore had the Name of Jedidiah, which signifies beloved of the Lord, given to him, yet 'tis said that when he was old his Wives turned away his heart, 1 King. 11.4. So Asa in the time of his Old Age, when a sore disease was upon him, sought to the Physicians, but he sought not to the Lord, 2 Chron 16.22. He Persecuted an holy Prophet, and oppressed some of the People at the same time: by these things he greatly blemished his Old Age, which has caused some to question whether he was a sincere godly Man. Aged Persons should be far from those Sins which are directly contrary to the Virtues which ought to be the Characters of Persons who are stricken in Years. Aged Men and Women may do well to read the Second, and Third, and Fourth Verses of the Second Chapter of the Epistle to Titus, and there they will see what Qualifications and Virtues ⟨p. 124⟩become their Age; I shall not mention them all, but Gravity is one of them. The whole deportment of such as are in Years should be attended with a becoming Gravity. Levity in Words, and much more in Actions is unsuitable and a shame to them, considering their Age, and stains their glory. For Old Men to be gay and youthful in their Apparel, or if Aged Women dress themselves like young Girls, it exposeth them to reproach and contempt. Again, The Apostle sayeth of Aged Persons that they should be Temperate. For such to be overcome with Wine or any other Strong Drink is very lamentable. There have been some Old Men, and Old Professors of Religion also, who supposing their Age required it, have indulged themselves in drinking of Drams to a sinful Excess, whereby their hoary heads, have been dishonoured, & a blemish has been left on their ⟨p. 125⟩