N01545:97
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.
Inst. 2. If Old Age when found in the way of righteousness is honourable, ⟨p. 98⟩then they that despise Aged Servants of the Lord, are guilty of a great Sin. Has God set a Crown of glory on their heads, & shall Men despise them for it? If Men are Aged there is a reverence due to their Age, supposing that to be all their honour, but much more if they are adorned with godliness. Not to show an Aged Man the respect which his Age calls for, is a great Sin. An heathen had so much of Natural Religion in him as to say, That if a Young Man did not rise up to show respect to an Old Man, it was a crime Mort piandum, which deserved to be punished with nothing less than death. But then to treat Aged Persons with disrespectful and disdainful Language only because of their Age, is a very criminal offence in the sight of God: yet how common is it to call this or the other Person, Old such an One, in a way of contempt on the account of their Age? Do they not ⟨p. 99⟩offend God, who is styled, the Ancient of days? Thus did the Children of Bethel to Elisha, 2 King. 2.23. They Mocked him, and said, Go up, thou bald head, go up, thou bald head. After this manner did they treat that Aged Prophet, Thou Old bald head, it is pretended that thy Instructor Elijah is gone up to Heaven, Lets see thee go up after him: Go up if thou canst. Bears came out of the woods & tare above Forty of those Children. The Judgment was extraordinary, and that was a sign that the Sin was more than ordinary. To deride Aged Persons because of those Natural Infirmities which Age has brought upon them, is a great Sin. It may be they are become weak and childish, as the Proverb says, Once a Man & twice a Child. They that laugh at them on that account, perhaps if they should live to their Age will be as childish as they. And would they be willing then to be made a ⟨p. 100⟩laughing stock, by those that are Younger than they? Or, if there are Moral Infirmities which their Old Age is attended with, they ought to be covered with a Mantle of Charity. It may be they are pettish and hard to be pleased. To expose Fathers for such Infirmities is to be like Ham, who discovered his Fathers Nakedness. But it is in a most peculiar manner true concerning Children with respect to their Aged Parents, Any way to despise them in their Old Age, is a wicked thing. To disregard the Advice of an Old and a Godly Father, is great Impiety.