N01905:28
A vision in the temple. The Lord of Hosts, adored
A vision in the temple. The Lord of Hosts, adored; and the King of Glory proclaimed; on a day of prayer kept (May 10. 1721) at the opening of the New Brick Meeting House in the north part of Boston, by the ministers of the city, with the Society which built it, & this day swarmed into it. / By Cotton Mather, D.D. and F.R.S. ; [Two lines from Isaiah]
Boston: printed for Robert Starkey. And sold, 1721
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.
Furthermore; Our SAVIOUR, is, The Lord of Hosts, in the Congregations of His People, inasmuch as His Providence is at Work about them; His Providence is very conspicuous in disposing of them. Whatever happens in the Congregations, 'tis the Lord of Hosts, who is the Doer of it. The Condition of our Congregations tis what, The Lord of ⟨p. 21⟩Host, has determined. One Congregation shall be Bigger, another shall be Smaller. One Congregation shall be Growing, another shall be Waning. One Congregation shall be Richer, another shall be Poorer. Tis all, as the Lord of Hosts would have it; all as our SAVIOUR determines it. The Masters of the Assemblies, must Glorify the Lord of Hosts, in the whole condition of the Auditories which tend upon them; and of the Congregations which they are Servants to. They must have an Entire Satisfaction, in the Congregations that are assigned unto them; & this Thought is to Quiet their minds. All is just as my SAVIOUR will have it; Just as my dear, Wise, Kind, and Sovereign SAVIOUR has ordered it. There is none brought into our Congregations, but it is our SAVIOUR who brings them in. There are none taken out of our Congregations, but it is our SAVIOUR who takes them out. What Instructors are bestowed on our Congregations, it is our SAVIOUR who bestows them▪ They are the Gifts of our Ascended SAVIOUR. Tis the Lord of Hosts, who ⟨p. 22⟩does Commission them, Enable them, incline the People to affect them and invite them. They are His Officers. When our Congregations are Bereaved of the Men that Led them in the Paths of Righteousness, tis The Lord of Hosts who Sends the Bereavements; who deprives the Hosts of their worthy Leaders. This gives me occasion, without any Digression, to say; The Masters of the Assemblies, or, if you will, the Pastors of them, if they be Men full of a CHRIST, when they see the Lord of H•sts, it may be Scattering their Flocks, and bringing them to little or nothing; these can bravely & nobly and with an easy mind, say upon it, O Glorious Lord of Hosts, Thy Will be done on Earth as tis done in Heaven. I don't ask to minister unto one more, than thou shalt order for me. All my Opportunities to do Good, tho' they are the most precious things I have in the World, yet I can Cheerfully Resign them all unto thee.