N02155:21
A call to the tempted. A sermon on the horrid crime of self-murder, preached…
A call to the tempted. A sermon on the horrid crime of self-murder, preached on a remarkable occasion, / by the memorable Dr. Increase Mather. ; And now published from his notes, for a charitable stop to suicides. ; [Five lines of quotation in Latin]
Boston: printed by B. Green, 1723
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.
Quest. 1. THE Distresses and Temptations that often put Men upon the Sin of Self-Murder: What are They?
I. SOMETIMES Men are Tempted unto this Evil, that so they may not fall into the hands of those, that they think, will put them to a Miserable Death. This was the Temptation of the Gaoler now before us. According to the Law among the Romans, if the Gaoler let his Prisoner go, he was to suffer the same Punishment which the Prisoner should have undergone. Hence, Act. XII.18, 19. When Peter escaped, the Soldiers that were set for his keepers, Herod ordered them, to be put to Death. Sinful Creatures think with themselves, that if they Live a while longer, they shall be put to a more Miserable Death; and therefore it ⟨p. 4⟩may be said of them, Sin hast thou chose rather than Affliction! They will Destroy themselves, rather than stay for other Men to do it. We have several Instances of this in the Sacred Scriptures. Saul, Bloody Saul, was one of them: He will Die by his own hands rather than the Philistines. Ahithophel was another of them. He might well conclude, when his Counsel was not hearkened to, that David would prevail, and then he must needs Die for his Treasons. What is it that we read of Zimri? 1 King. XVI.18. When he saw the City was taken, and he must fall into the hands of his Enemies, he burnt the Kings House over him, and he died. Humane History gives us many other Instances. Among the rest, Hannibal poisoned himself, that he might not fall into the hands of his Enemies. Demosthenes did the like. The Wicked Jews Blasphemously imagined, that the Holy Son of GOD, the Blessed JESUS, would have killed Himself, for fear of falling into Their hands: Joh VIII.22. Then said the Jews, will He kill Himself!
I. SOMETIMES Men are Tempted unto this Evil, that so they may not fall into the hands of those, that they think, will put them to a Miserable Death. This was the Temptation of the Gaoler now before us. According to the Law among the Romans, if the Gaoler let his Prisoner go, he was to suffer the same Punishment which the Prisoner should have undergone. Hence,