Nepenthes evangelicum. A brief essay, upon a soul at ease; in what piety will bring both parents and children to. : A sermon occasion'd by the death of a religious matron, Mrs. Mary Rock. Who having entred the eighty first year of her age, withdrew from us. 30d. 7m. 1713. / By Cotton Mather, D.D. ; [One line from Matthew]

Nepenthes evangelicum. A brief essay, upon a soul at ease; in what piety will bring both parents and children to. : A sermon occasion'd by the death of a religious matron, Mrs. Mary Rock. Who having entred the eighty first year of her age, withdrew from us. 30d. 7m. 1713. / By Cotton Mather, D.D. ; [One line from Matthew]

Table of contents

Title page

A SOUL at EASE. BOSTON-Lecture, 1 d. 8 m. 1713.

APPLICATION.

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NEPENTHES Evangelicum. A brief ESSAY, UPON A SOUL at EASE; In what PIETY will bring both PARENTS and CHILDREN to. A SERMON Occasion'd by the DEATH of a Religious Matron, Mrs. Mary Rock. Who having entred the Eighty first Year of her Age, withdrew from us. 30 d. 7 m. 1713.

By Cotton Mather, D.D.

Matth. XXVI. 13.

It shall be told for a Memorial of her.

BOSTON: Printed by Thomas Fleet, for David Henchman at his Shop in King-Street. 1713.

A SOUL at EASE.
BOSTON-Lecture, 1 d. 8 m. 1713.

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Psal. XXV. 13,

His Soul shall dwell at Ease; and his Seed shall inherit the Earth.

THE Text I now Read, had not been Readd unto you, if the Providence of God had not furnished me with an Extraordinary Commentary upon it. Yesterday there took her Flight from us, an Excellent Handmaid of the Lord, in whose Dispositions and Circumstances, my Text had a most Emphatical, and Observable Commentary. And I shall do but what is required in the Fifth Commandment, if I take this Opportunity of doing [Page]a Justice to the Memory of a Just One, whom we all agree to Honour as a Mother Israel: And for whom we are this Day, Bow'd down heavily, as One that Mourneth for his Mother. A Person, who was One of the First-born, if not the very First of her Sex that was Born, in this famous Metropolis of the English-America: And who deserves to be Honourably Mentioned, as long as BOSTON shall endure, which, I hope, will be unto the second Coming of our Saviour. May it be an happy Omen, that Many Daughters of this our New-English Jerusalem will do Virtuously, when we see the First of them, like another M [...]am, (her Names-sake) leading them in the Praises of God.

I will not lose the Sight of Her, tho' I will for an Hour seem to address nothing but the Text, that I have chosen on her Occasion: A Text, wherein I see both the Blessings of the Upper-Springs, and the Blessings of the Nether-Spring, flowing unto us. Our God has this in His Order for our Meeting this Day; Gather the People together, and I will give them Water. O Congregation, Sing hereupon [Page]the Song of Israel; Spring up, O Well; Sing ye unto it!

I verily believe, that Blessings to be received in another World, are here engaged unto the Fear of God. But, I find, Interpreters do generally understand certain Blessings to be received in this World. And I know, That Godliness has the Promise of the Life that now is, as well as of the Life that is to come. I am willing so far to comply with the Voice of the Board of Interpreters, as to employ first a Discourse on certain Blessings, which Piety will obtain for us, in the Life that now is. But I foresee, that before I have done, the Blessings which Piety will obtain for us in the Life that is to come, will break in upon our Meditations. We shall be unavoidably, and as it were by Surprize, led into the Meditations of them.

You may behold here, a Conjunction of Blessings: An Aspect full of Happiness. One is, An Easy Soul. The other is, An Happy Seed. Indeed there is a very great Adaptation in the mention of these together. They are very Aptly joined. Our departing Soul does not fall into Uneasiness [Page]on any Point more sensibly, than the Condition of our Seed. That which makes us very Uneasy, is, our Thoughts, What may become of our Children. O Godfearing Man, Fear nothing; let thy Soul dwell at Ease; thy Offspring shall be well provided for.

This is the DOCTRINE that is now ready for you.

To Live in the true Fear of God, is the way to Lodge in a sweet Ease of Soul: And they that fear God have this good Thing particularly to make them Easy, that their Children after them shall fare the better for them.

¶ We will begin with the Advanage which our Piety will bring to Our selves: The Advantage of, An easy Soul The Fear of the Lord will be the Ease of the Soul that has it. Piety will rescue the Soul from Disturbance, from Vexation, from such Troubles and such Tumults, as will else Discompose it wonderfully.

We will first of all take Notice of some General Instructions, about the Ease [Page]of Soul which Piety will be attended withal. If Ministers would accurately consult the Languages wherein our God has written His Oracles unto us, they would often find such Hints, as would otherwise pass unobserved, tho' most highly worthy of Observation. Here is an Instance. There is an Instructive Elegance and Emphasis, yea, a Variety of Instructions, in that Expression, His Soul shall dwell at Ease.

First. The Ease of Mind obtained by Piety, will be a Lasting Ease. Our Soul will Dwell in it. Our Abode will be in Ease. We shall have an Abiding Ease. There will be a Continuance of our Ease. We enter into it, at our First Conversion unto Piety; we shall remain in it, unto all Eternity. It won't be the short Blaze of Thorns Crackling under a Pot. When, I pray, when will it come to an End? Not until the Soul it self come to an End: A Lamp of God, that shall Burn forever. The Account is a Joyful One, a Pleasant One: Psal. XVI. 11. Fulness of Joy, and Pleasures forevermore.

Secondly. The Ease of Mind attain'd by Piety, is to be enjoy'd in the Darkest[Page]Time that passes over us. Our Soul shall spend the Night in it. This is the English of the Hebrew Word used here. When 'tis with us, a Night of Darkness and Sorrow, even then we shall be at Ease. There shall arise unto us Light in Darkness. We shall meet with such Things as will give us Ease, and Revive us, when we Walk in the midst of Trouble. When 'tis a very Dark Time with us, and a Midnight of Confusion is on our Affairs, and our Flesh can See nothing but Hazard and Horror on every side, Now is the Time that Piety will give Ease unto us. It will do that Thing; Job XXXV. 10. Give Songs in the Night.

Thirdly. The Soul is the Seat of that Ease which is attain'd by Piety. Our Body may be ill at Ease, notwithstanding our Piety. A Pious Man may have a Diseased Body; a Body, that shall be as they said the Laborious Calvin's was, An Hospital of Diseases; a Body that shall Feel, as Timothies did, Often Infirmities. Lord, One whom thou Lovest, is Sick! But the Soul may be at Ease, when the Body is in Pain. When the Outward Man is even broken to Pieces, Piety will enable us to [Page]say still, My Mind is Easy! Our Soul shall be Sedate, yea, Solac'd, when our Outward Man is never so much off the Hinges. If Piety would only Ease the Body, we should call it, A Physician of no Value. 'Tis the Soul, the Soul, that most wants to be made Easy. Easiness in the Outward Man indeed cannot be expected here: This is a World that has Thorns every where growing in it. But now, the Boast of Piety is that; Luk. I. 46, 47. My Soul does Magnify the Lord; my Spirit has Rejoiced in God my Saviour.

We will now go on in the next Place, to Enquire more Particularly. What is that Ease which Piety brings to the Soul? And, Whence that Ease of the Soul arises? Diverse MAXIMS of PIETY are to be taken into our Consideration, and for our Encouragement in the course of Piety. By these MAXIMS, the Enquiry will be sufficiently answered.

I. Piety brings us to Dwell in a Good State: And, Oh! the Glorious Ease which belongs to the Soul of that Man, who finds himself to be fixed in a Good State for Perpetuity! What we render, His Soul shall Dwell at Ease, is in the [Page]Original, His Soul shall dwell in Good. It is an Ease flowing from a Sense of Good. A Good State makes the Mind Easy. By the Fear of God we are brought into a Good State. And that our Mind may Dwell at Ease, the Fear of God will bring us to Dwell in a Good State. We shall be fixed in it. The New Covenant is a Good Covenant. It is called, The Better Covenant. Piety settles us under the Covenant of Grace. A Soul settled under the Covenant of Grace, may Sing that Song; Psal. CXVI. [...]. Return to thy Rest, O my Soul, for the Lord has deals Bountifully with thee. My Friend, what is there now to Disquiet thy Soul? Thou art in a Covenant, which makes over the Alsufficient GOD unto thee for thy Portion: Surely a most sufficient Portion! A Covenant that puts thee into the Hands of a most Powerful and Merciful Saviour: And none can Pluck thee out of those Hands! A Covenant, that provides a full Supply of all thy Wants, a full Relief of all thy Fears, a Defence from all Damage in this World, and a Perfection of all Blessedness in the World to come. Soul, Do but now sincerely say, Great GOD, [Page]Be then my God; And Glorious JESUS, let me by thy Merit, and thy Conduct, be brought home unto God! So from this Moment, this will be thy Covenant. A Soul in such a Covenant, may Dwell at Ease; and always think, I am well, I am well; I have all that my Soul can wish for! 'Tis a Soul that Inherits all Things: A Soul that has GOD for a Father: One whose Father is, The High Possessor of Heaven and Earth: To be the Heir of such a Father, the Care of such a Father; Soul, take thine Ease; thou hast Goods laid up, not for many Years, but for Eternal Ages!

II. To Dwell in CHRIST and in GOD, is to Dwell at Ease: Piety brings us to such a Dwelling. It brings to what may be the Version of the Clause we are upon; His Soul shall dwell with the GOOD ONE. And who that is, we know very well. By the Fear of God, we come to Dwell in the Glorious ONE, who is Goodness it self. The Note of the Fear of God is that; Lord, Toon hast been our Dwelling I lace in all Generations. Oh! most Easy Dwelling Flace! Piety brings us to Dwell in a CHRIST; And so to do, is to Dwell in a Rock. The Believer flies [Page]to a Christ as to a Rock, and says, Here will I Dwell, for I have desired it! Such an one, Dwells in me, and I in him, saith our Lord. It may be said unto the Believer, what we Read; Num. XXIV. 21. Strong is thy Dwelling-Place, and thou puttest thy Nest in a Rock. Oh! the Safety of such a Dwelling! Oh! how exceeding Wise the Soul that makes Choice of such a Dwelling! A Feeble Soul, that has made an House in such a Rock, may well be an Easy Soul! O Soul in Christ; What, what should hinder thy being a Soul at Ease? The Great GOD becomes the Habitation of such a Soul. We Read, 1. Joh. III. 24. He that keeps His Commandments, dwells in Him. And how excellently Accommodated must the Soul be, which Dwells in God! Certainly, in the Infinite GOD, there is enough to make an Happy Soul; and therefore an Easy Soul. A Soul in GOD, is a Wellsheltered Soul. He who Dwells in the secret Place of the most High, and abides under the Shadow of the Almighty, such an one will say of the Lord, He is my Refuge, my God; in Him I will trust. The Intention of all this Metaphor is thus much; [Page](for I will uncloath it:) By Piety we Repair to God in Christ; We Secure His Friendship, His Favour, His ready Succour; We Converse with Him continually; We are taken under His Protection. A Soul dwelling here; may Dwell at Ease. What can there be to Annoy such a Soul?

III. To Dwell in Peace is to Dwell at Ease. Piety brings us to Peace: The Pathes thereof are Pathes of Peace. To be at Peace with God, This, this is to be Easy; and hereby, Good shall come unto thee. Now, by the Fear of God we come into it. We Read; Psal. CXIX. 165. Great Peace have they which love thy Law, and nothing shall Offend them. Piety brings us to the Pardon of our Sin. The Guilt of Sin, is the most heavy Load that ever was heard of; A Load enough to break the Back of an Angel! What would a Soul thoroughly Awakened, and horribly Terrified with the Guilt of Sin, give to be Eased of such a ponderous Load? Piety carries the Laden Soul to the Sacrifice of that Saviour, who says, Come to me, and I will give thee Rest! O Soul coming to Piety and Repentance: The [Page]Voice of Heaven to thee, is that; Math. IX. 2. Be of good Cheer, thy Sins are forgiven thee. 'Tis; Be at Ease, the Lord has put away thy Sin; Thou shalt not Die. A Soul Glorifying the Holy God in the ways of Piety, is a Soul Reconciled unto GOD. The Wrath of GOD is turned away from that Soul: That Soul, being Justified by Faith, has Peace with GOD. The Song of that Eased Soul may be, I will Praise Thee, O Lord, because tho' thou wast Angry with me, Thine Anger is turned away. And what follows? Thou dost Comfort me. A Peace of Conscience! A Soul dwelling at Ease, is a Pacified Conscience, a Peaceable Conscience; A Conscience, which from the Blood of a Saviour sprinkled upon it speaks Peace to the pardoned Sinner. In the Wisdom of the Ancients, the Note was, Haec est Animae Suavissima ut Saluberrima Requies. A Conscience Raging and Roaring with Guilty Apprehensions, is of all things the most Intolerable: Such a Wounded Spirit, who can bear it? who can bear it? The Soul is Eased, when the Painful and Grievous Wounds of the Conscience are healed. A Conscience quieted, by the Blood of the Son [Page]of God Cleansing from all Sin, this renders an Easy Soul. Piety brings a Quiet unto the Conscience. It speaks Peace to the Soul. Soul, Dwell at Ease, when thy Conscience has in it, that Peace of God that passes Understanding. A Soul at a continual Feast, surely is a Soul dwelling at Ease. A Good Conscience is a continual Feast.

IV. Holiness brings Ease to the Soul, by Healing the Distempers of the Soul. The Fruit of Piety is an Healed Soul; therefore an Easy one. An Holy Soul, is an Healed Soul. The Fear of God is Health to the Soul, and Marrow to the Mind; It makes an Healthy Soul. The Passions of the Soul, are the Things which will not let it be Easy; Things which break the Rest of it. Hence 'tis that we Read; Isa. LVII. 20, 21. The Wicked are like the troubled Sea, which cannot Rest; There is no Peace, saith my God unto the Wicked. Piety Cures our Passions; Moderates them; Regulates them. In Piety the Soul is brought into Order; The Disorders of the Soul are mightily Rectified. This makes an Easy Soul. A Lust in the Soul, is a Thorn in the Soul. The Soul cannot be at Ease, while a Lust is Inflaming and [Page]Enraging of it. Piety pulls out the Thorn. Our Holy Saviour does in the Piety which He Works in us, Redeem us from all Iniquity. Piety will teach the Soul to Love nothing in this World Inordinately, and makes us willing to deny our selves of every thing that God would have us go without. Piety will teach the Soul to lay aside all Inordinate Care; It will help us to cast all our Care upon God, and put our Trust in Him for the Issue of all. Oh! the Ease of the Soul, that can do such things! Content makes an Easy Soul; yea, it is an Easy Soul. A Soul Dwelling at Ease, is a Soul contented with the Condition which God has appointed for us. Piety brings us to Contentment. A Grand Lesson which Piety teaches the Soul, is that; Be content with such Things as you have. It brings the Soul to this Easy Frame; Lord, Not my Will, but thy will be done. We Read; 1. Tim. VI. 6. Piety with Contentment is great Gain. Piety will be with Contentment; and therefore it will bring us to great Ease.

V. Piety puts the Soul upon that Course, which Usually, yea, Naturally brings Ease to the Soul. The Fear of God [Page]will always produce and excite Prayer to God. Every one that is Godly will Pray. Now Prayer is the truest Hearts-Ease. When the Soul is not well at Ease, the kind Invitation of Heaven unto us, is that; Psal. LV. 22. Cast thy Burden on the Lord. Piety will do this thing; and this throws off the Burden; This Eases the Soul. Whatever Distress be upon the Soul, Piety will say, Well, I will go tell my Father of it! If the Soul be in any Grief, Piety will Vent the Grief, in a Prayer to the Father of Mercies; A Prayer to the God who does not willingly Afflict or Grieve the Children of Men. The Resolution of Piety is, To be careful for nothing, but in every thing to present a Request unto the Lord: Then follows, Phil. IV. 7. The Peace of God shall Garrison your Heart and Minds thro' Christ Jesus; at such a rate, that the Enemies of your Tranquility shall not be able to break in upon you. Indeed, the Heart knows its own Bitterness; and we often know the Plague of our own Heart; A Grief that is known to none but our own Heart; none but we our selves are privy to it. But now, Piety will put this Grief into a [Page] Prayer, and so carry it unto the Lord. A Grief carried thither, is eased by being so. Either the Ground of the Grief is removed, or else the Sense of [...] the Grief is asswaged; when it is by Prayer spread before the Lord. We Read of one who was of a sorrowful Spirit, 1. Sam. I. 18. She could say, I have poured out my Soul unto the Lord; And anon, Her Countenance was no more Sad. Oh! No such Anodyne, for an unquiet Soul! A Praying Posture is an Easy Posture for the Soul. To fall down on the Knees, this eases the Soul. It was urged, Psal. LXXXVI. 4. Rejoice the Soul of thy Servant; for unto thee, O Lord, I do lift up my Soul. Verily, To lift up the Soul unto the Lord, this Comforts the Soul, Gladdens the Soul, Eases the Soul: A Praying Soul takes the way to be an Easy Soul. There is no Case but Prayer will suit it: It is the Universal Medicine.

VI. Piety Assures the Soul, that those Things, which most threaten the Ease of the Soul, shall but promote the Good of it. The Fear of God will bring us to Dwell in Good, because it assures us, that nothing shall befal us, but what shall [Page] do us Good. So to Dwell in Good, is to Dwell at Ease. That which will not let us be Easy, is the Calamity whereto we are obnoxious. Our Disasters do spoil and break our Ease. We think we are Hurt, or we fear that we shall be so. But Piety brings us under the covert of that Word; Rom. VIII. 28. All things shall work together for Good, unto them that love God. Ah, Soul, that cannot be Easy! The Affliction which Discomposes thee, and will not let thee be at Ease, will do thee no Hurt. It is a Faithful God, who sends thy Affliction upon thee; One who says, I will do thee no Hurt: And thou shalt certainly find, That God has meant it unto Good. An excellent Servant of God, sadly tortured with the Stone, would in the midst of his Affliction cry out, I am upon my Fathers Rack. Child, Tho' thou mayst be upon a Rack, yet it is thy Fathers Rack! Afflicted Soul, Consider this; Realize this; My God is doing of me Good, by all His afflictive Dispensations! Why shouldest thou not be at Ease, when thou art sure, that anon thy Experience will be that; Psal. CXIX. 7. It is good for me that I have [Page]been Afflicted. Oh! Be at Ease; Thy Poverty comes to make thee Rich in Faith. The Reproaches on thy Name, are to fit thee for a Crown of Glory. The Loss of thy Friend, is that thou mayst have the Good part that cannot be taken away. Be Easy; This Affliction, which for the present is not Joyous but Grievous, will Afterwards, Afterwards!—be found for thy Benefit. The Fruits of it, will be such as will Express the Righteousness and Faithfulness of God, in all His Dealings with thee: Peacable Fruits: Oh! let thy Soul be at Ease, and in Peace, from the Prospect of them! That Hope, All for the Best, All for the Best! Methinks, it may always keep a Soul at Ease. A Soul ever Sailing on the pacific Sea; while Bound unto the Port which I am now presently to tell you of.

VII. Piety will provide a Dwelling for the SOUL, after Death; and so good a Dwelling, that the Ease of Soul in it, will be Wonderful! Wonderful! Wonderful! The Blessings of the Life to come, are now, as I foretold, come unto us. The Fear of God provides an Easy Dwelling for the Soul of the Good Man, at the [Page]Time when his Seed Inherits the Earth. At the time of our Death, it is that our Children enter upon the Inheritance that we leave unto them, and make their Division of it. At this time the Soul of a Good Man shall have a Dwelling in Good; It shall dwell in a good State, and in a good Place, and therefore dwell at Ease. I am obliged unto the Famous Alting the Younger for this Illustration. The Immortality of the Soul is plainly Confessed and Asserted in this Expectation. The New-Testament has most plainly Testified this Article of our Faith: It is not possible for any Words to be plainer or fuller for this Purpose, than those Words of our Saviour; Matth. X. 28. They that Kill the Body, are not able to Kill the Soul. But Sirs, you see the Old Testament also acknowledges it; An Easy Dwelling for a prepared Soul, when it leaves the Body. Let no Man be now so Bruitish, as to make any Doubt, whether he has an Immortal Soul or no. There is a late Infamous Bigot, whom they will needs have to pass for a very Learned Man; that for a notable Proof of his Learning, has written a Discourse [Page]to prove from the Scriptures and the First Fathers, that the Soul is a Principle naturally Mortal. You have seen the Scriptures Condemn that Foolish Man; and one cannot well Imagine, with what Face, he could call in the Fathers to Patronize his wicked Opinion. I may not be allow'd here to Digress for the Confutation of an Assertion made with so much of an Impudence, that cannot be accounted for: But I hope, Justin Martyr may pass for one of the Fathers, who in his Apology, over and over again asserts, All Departed Souls to be in a state of Sensibility; All of them to have a Sensation continued unto them. Well, but what comes of a God-fearing, and so a prepared Soul, when it must no longer Dwell in the Body? The Soul is by Death, turned out of its Dwelling; turned out of Doors. But a Regenerated Soul, a Sanctified Soul, a Purified Soul, finds a Dwelling at its Departure hence; A Comfortable Dwelling; A Dwelling where it shall be comforted. Our Saviour who is gone to prepare them for us, has told us, Luk. XVI. 9. When ye fail, they shall receive you into everlasting Habitations. [Page]Our Sin has brought us into Debt unto the Justice of God. When we Die, the Creditor comes upon us for the Debt. Then we fail; we are Broke; we are Bankrupts. Our Dwelling is taken from us. We are turned out of All. But Then! our Compassionate Saviour has Habitations for us, in His Heavenly Mansions. An Excellent Minister in Hereford-shire, not very long ago, uttering these Words, We know, that if our Earthly House of this Tabernacle were dissolved, we have,— There he stopt; There he faltered; There he expired. Instead of Speaking the rest, he went unto it. I will now speak it.— A Building of God, an House not made with Hands, Eternally in the Heavens. Would you know where the Dwelling is? Our Saviour said unto the Dying Penitent; Luk. XXIII. 43. This Day thou shalt be with me in Paradise. Piety will bring to Paradise. The Dwelling of a Soul distinguished by Piety, shall be in the Paradise of God: That which Tertullian calls Locum Divinae Amaenitatis recipiendis Sanctorum Spiritibus Destinatum. Soul, During the Sleep of Death, and in the Days of Darkness, This, this [Page]will be the Lodging of the Soul: A Paradise, where no Sin, and by Consequence, no Sorrow will cleave unto the Soul. A Paradise, where the Soul will be elevated unto such Contemplations of Him, as to render it after some sort, present with the Lord: A Paradise, where the Soul shall Feed on the Tree of Life, and be refreshed by the Principle of Grace, which God has planted in it. O most easy Dwelling! We Read of the Dying Saints; Isa. LVII. 2. They enter into Peace, they rest in their Beds. Of the Soul Dwelling in such a Paradise, we Read, It is Comforted. There is nothing to render the Dwelling of such a Soul Uneasy, but only its remaining under that part of the Curse; Its Body left Rotten in the Grave; and the Delay of the Resurrection of the Dead, which it is waiting and longing for. But even this Matter of Uneasiness is made Easy, by some Visions of a Glorious CHRIST in the mean time enjoy'd, and the glad Assurance of being er'e long Raised, and then taken into the City of God.

¶ But we will proceed now, to the Advantage which our Piety will bring [Page]to Ours: The Advantage of an Happy Seed. Good Men have this good Thing to make them Easy; their Children after them shall fare the better for them.

Let us Inform our selves upon what Account!

First. The Piety of Parents does bring their Children into the Covenant of God. Pious Parents give up Themselves unto God, in His Covenant. But then, they give up their Children as well as Themselves; their Children as a part of Themselves. The Result is that; Gen. XVII. 7. An everlasting Covenant, to be a God unto thee, and unto thy Seed after thee. Oh! the Rich Inheritance of the Children thus brought into the Covenant of God, and of Grace! To Inherit the Earth, yea, to Inherit the whole World, is not so much as to have the great God in Covenant with us, for our Inheritance. It follows; If these Children Die in their Infancy, they have a Claim to all the Blessings of the Covenant, in the Eternal World. When the great GOD says, I will be the God of these Children, He intends, I will bring them to a part in the Heavenly City. O Pious Parents, your Dead Children [Page]are but gone before you, into the Suburbs, and some Foretastes of that Inheritance, which you have secured for them. Yea, this Clause, They shall Inherit the Earth, must be a little more nicely thought upon. There is an Earth to be Inherited by these Children: Even that New Earth, wherein shall dwell Righteousness; that New Earth, over which they shall Reign, of whom is the Kingdom of Heaven. These Children of Abraham, are to be Heirs of the World; But in the World to come. When you Read of, Inheriting the Earth, O Saints, look forward, as far as that World, for the Explaining, and the Fulfilling of it. If these Children should survive their Infancy, the Covenant has ensured this, That they shall have an Offer of the Gospel; That Christ, and Grace, and Heaven, shall be Offered unto them. Unto them first is that Saviour sent, that would Bless them in turning them from their Iniquities. O Invaluable Priviledge!

Secondly. Piety in Parents, does dispose them to pursue a Good Education for their Children. Of a Pious Parent, it was said in Gen. XVIII. 19. I know him, [Page]that he will Command his Children, and they shall keep the way of the Lord. Even so, Such a Parent, I know him; He will instil the Principles of Religion into his Children: They shall be well Catechized Children. Such a Parent, I know him, He will inform his Children how to fly from Sin, and turn to God, and close with Christ, and walk in a Conformity to the Doctrines of the Christian Religion. Such a Parent, I know him, He will Advise his Children against the Pathes of the Destroyer, and restrain them and rescue them with all possible Agony from those Destructive Ways. 'Tis a vast Felicity, to have such an Education! But there is one Point of Education more, that such a Parent will bestow upon his Children. He will find out a fit Employment for his Children: He will have them taught some Employment, by which they may Inherit as much of the Earth as may be needful for them, and they may be Useful in their Generation: He will not bear, that they should be brought up in Idleness, and prove meer Drones in the Hive of the Common-wealth. He makes to the [Page]World, an Honourable Present of Well-educated Children!

Thirdly. Piety is a Prayerful sort of a Thing. Pious Parents will Pray for their Children. Pious Parents are Praying Parents. They lay up a Stock of Prayers for their Children. We Read of such an One; Job I. 5. He offered Sacrifices according to the Number of all his Children.— Thus did Job continually. The Prayers of an Abraham for his Ishmael, O my God, That my Son may Live in thy Sight! The Prayers of a David for his Solomon, O my God, That my Son may have a perfect Heart given to him! There is a mighty Efficacy in these Prayers. They avail much; Pious Parents are always Travailing for their Children with them. Children, These Prayers will not be lost. It will be your Fault, if they be! The Relations that have been given in the Histories of the Church, concerning the Success of Prayer made by Pious Parents for their Children, before and after the Days of Monica have been many and Marvellous. I will now single out One, which perhaps you have not met withal. I know the Name of a Worthy Man, who liv'd [Page]some while since in the County of Cornwal; and who had a Son wandring from God, and from him, under a very Vicious Character. He procured a Number of Ministers to join with him, in a Day of Prayer for the Conversion of that Prodigal Son. On that very Day, Behold, the Prodigal returned, with a new Temper and Biass of Soul given to him. God blessed a Calamity that befel him, for his Awakening and Conversion; And from that very Day he became a New Creature, and a Servant of God. Afterwards this Worthy Man, when he lay a Dying, said, I have Ten Children, whereof Nine are in Christ; God has converted Nine of them to serious Piety. I Die Believing for the Tenth; He also shall be brought home unto God. And this also was accomplished. Verily, The Children of such Parents, are not soon to be despaired of!

Fourthly. The Piety of Parents, does often bespeak Prosperity for their Children. We Read; Prov. XX. 7. The Just Man walketh in his Integrity; His Children are blessed after him. 'Tis often so; Pious Parents have their Piety often Rewarded [Page]in the Prosperity of their Children. They get their Estates Honestly; they wear well; their Children Inherit the Earth which they leave unto them; the Third Heir it may be Rejoices in what was left by his Grandfather. More than this; Pious Parents devote a Good Portion of their Estates to Pious Uses. Yea, I must say unto you, They ALL do so! I say again, whatever Havock the Assertion may make among some Covetous Hypocrites, They ALL do so. Now, this lays up a Good Portion for their Children. The Parents devise Liberal Things; the Children reap the Harvest of that Liberality. The Alms dispensed by the Parents, are a Seed sown in the Earth for the Children. 'Tis to cast the Bread-corn into moist Ground, [which we are directed to do, Eccl. XI. 1. For 'tis to be Translated so:] It will be seen after many Days. The Children will have the Crop. After their Parents are laid in the Earth, even then the Children, as the Reward of their Piety, do Inherit the Earth. If the knowledge of their Children doing well, should arrive unto the Souls of the Parents Dwelling at Ease,— But [Page]these are Secret Things. And I know, of whom it is said, His Sons come to Honour, and he knoweth it not.

APPLICATION.

I. Let the Antithesis now be call'd in; An Admonition Hearken'd to, that is to be Trembled at. The Soul of a Wicked Man may not be at Ease; nay, cannot be at Ease. Ah, Impenitent Sinner, Where, where is thy Dwelling? Thy Dwelling is under an Old Covenant, which speaks to thee none but very Uneasy Things; even those Things, Isa. III. 10. Wo unto the Wicked, it shall be ill with him. It was of Old said, Wo to them that are at Ease in Zion. But, O Sinner in Zion, How can you be at Ease when you think on the Wo that lies upon you? Is it not an Uneasy Thing, to lye under the Wrath and Curse of God? An Uneasy Thing, to be a Slave unto Sin, unto Satan, unto the most Cruel of all Task-masters? An Uneasy Thing, to be in hourly Danger of being siezed by the Messengers of Death, and forced away before the Tribunal of a Righteous and a [Page]Terrible God? Ah, poor Soul, Unreconciled unto God; There is Danger, lest thy Dwelling be quickly in a Place of Torments; in the Place of Dragons! The Revelation which never deluded any Man, has forewarned thee of such a Place: 'Tis no Delusion! Oh! Who can dwill with everlasting Burnings? But Sinful, and secure Soul, thou are in hourly Danger of going down to such an uneasy Dwelling. How, how canst thou Dwell at Ease, in this Condition? It was demanded of such as you, Jam. V. 1. Weep and Howl for the Miseries that shall come upon you. Verily, The first and the best Thing to be desired for you is, That you may not have a Soul dwelling at Ease in this Condition. I Wish thee very well, my Friend; But I cannot express a more Charitable Wish for thee than this; That thou mayst feel no Ease in thy Soul, till thou art got out of this Condition. Good God, make thou the Souls of our Unconverted Children, very Uneasy, while they continue so!

II. But now, let none that Fear God, be Enemies to the Ease of their Souls. [Page]O Pious ones, don't refuse to be Comfored. Don't reject the Legacy of your Dying Saviour. Don't give way to any Overwhelming and Unreasonable Uneasiness of Soul. That the Exhortation which now speaks unto you, as unto Children, may obtain, you have three Things incumbent on you.

One thing you have to do, is this. Your Title to an Easy Soul should be cleared up. You should get a clear Sight of it, and a well-grounded Assurance, That you are in good Terms with Heaven. Wherefore, Examine your selves; with an Impartial Examination faithfully Search and Try your selves. Ask, Have I so Renounced all my Idols, that the great God is now on the Throne in my Soul, above them all? And that He sways more with me than any of them? Ask, Have I embraced my Lovely Saviour in all His Offices, and earnestly Repaired unto Him for all the Benefits of His Great Salvation? Ask, Do I walk in the Fear of God, aw'd by His Eye upon me, lothe to Displease Him? Have I an Undissembled Love unto my Neighbour, and a Joy in his Wellfare? Is this World of less Account with me than the World to come? [Page]To put it out of Doubt, that these Things are in you, Renew, Repeat, Revive those Acts of the Soul, which may make you feel the Presence of them. Do those Things in a way of Mourning for Sin, and Turning to God, which when they are done, your Souls may & should then Dwell at Ease; The Things which accompany Salvation. And now say; Psal. XLIII. 5. Why art thou cast down, O my Soul? And why art thou disquieted within me? Hope in God, for I shall yet Praise Him.

Another thing you have to do, is this; Don't listen to Temptations that would give causeless Disturbance to the Ease of your Souls. A busy Tempter, who seeks Rest and finds none, is he who breaks yours as much as he can. But as you Read; Psal. XI. 1. In the Lord I put my Trust. How say ye to my Soul, Flee as a Bird unto your Mountain? Thus Repel them who Trouble you: ‘How say ye to my Soul, Thy Sins are too many, too heinous, to be Forgiven? I put my Trust in the Blood of the Son of God, which cleanseth from all Sin? How say ye to my Soul, The Spirit of God is utterly departed from [Page]thee? I put my Trust, That I have the Spirit of God at Work upon me, even in my Fears of His Departure? How say ye to my Soul, Thou hast such an hard Heart, as carries the Mark of one Rejected of God? My Trust is, That my Heart begins to Soften, inasmuch as I begin to feel the hardness of it.’

A third Thing you have to do is this; Lye down upon a Pillow stuff'd with the Promises. A Soul supplied with, and applying of the Promises, may soon come to this Easiness? Psal. IV. 8. I will lay me down in Peace, and Sleep; for O Lord, thou alone makest me Dwell in Safety. In the Poetical Antiquity and Mythology, there was a Celebrated Nepenthes, [or No-Grief] an admirable Remedy, which put an end unto all Sorrow and Anger, and caused People to forget all their Exercises. No Man could Weep (said the Poets) in the Day that he tasted it, tho' he had lost the Dearest Friend in the World. The Phylosophers try to have the Properties of it answered in Opium. No, Sirs, 'Tis nothing but our Glorious Gospel, that will after all, afford the true Nepenthes. In the Promises of [Page]our Glorious Gospel alone it is, that we have a genuine Cure for all that brings any of our Uneasiness upon us. My Brethren, There are Promises that will suit all your Occasions of Uneasiness. Are you Uneasy, because you see Poverty coming in like an Armed Man upon you? Take that Promise, and make a Living upon it; Psal. XXXIV. 10. They that seek the Lord, shall not want any good Thing. Does the Death of any Desirable Relatives make you Uneasy? Take that Promise, and what it brings with it, instead of them all: Heb. XIII. 5. He hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee. Does the view of your own Approaching Death make you Uneasy? Take that Promise, for a Rod and a Staff, to walk thro' Hazar-maveth withal; Psal. XXIII. 4. Tho' I walk thro' the Valley of the Shadow of Death, I will fear no Evil; For thou art with me. Are you Uneasy because of Perils that you are near to, and must go thro'? Take that Promise, and make a Cordial of it; Isa. XLI. 10. Fear not, for I am with thee; Be not dismayed, for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee, yea, I will help thee, yea, I will uphold thee with the [Page]Right Hand of my Righteousness. Do the Thoughss of the Orphans, which you are, you know not how soon, to leave in an evil World, make you Uneasy? Take that Promise, and look on it, as a competent and perpetual Fund, for them to subsist upon; Psal. XXVII. 11. When my Father and my Mother forsake me, the Lord will take me up. Who can be Uneasy in the midst of such Accommodations; or be in Straits in the midst of such Sufficiency?

III. The Children of Pious Parents, must attend unto the Counsils of God. YOU, my Children, have something to do, that you may be the better for your Parents. And I will tell you, what that something is. You must lay hold on the Covenant of God for your selves; and heartily say unto the Lord, Thou art my God. You must come into this Disposition; O Great GOD, has my Parent chosen thee? I also do make Choice of thee, to be my God! And, Child, Wilt thou not from this Time, come into that Resolution, Lord, Thou art my Father, and thou shalt be the Guide of my Youth? Truly, the Language now expected from you, is [Page]that; Exod. XV. 2. The Lord is my God, and I will prepare Him an Habitation: My Fathers God, and I will Exalt Him. Herewithal, you must Conform to the Defires of your Pious Parents. Thwart them not; Grieve them not; cause not an Heavy Heart unto them; Don't make them Uneasy. Be not the Sons of Eli, who hearkned not unto the Voice of their Father. You know the Doom, and the Death of those miserable Children! Yet more; Your Pious Parents have pray'd for you; have made Thousands of Prayers for you, with strong Crying and Tears. But you must Pray for your selves, if you would fare the better for the Prayers of your Parents. Nor can you fare the better for your Pious Parents, except you tread in the Steps of their Piety. Remember Their Piety will but aggravate your Perdition, if you continue Impious. We Read of One in Hell, which cryed out, Father Abraham, I am Tormented in this Flame. O Children whose Parents have been the Friends of God, If you are found among His Enemies, as your Impiety will declare you to be such, you will be thrown into Hell, and your Damnation [Page]there, will be the more Exquisite and Horrible for the Parents which you are descended from. Your Parents will become your Torments: And the Remembrance of what they did for you, and how you have Sinn'd against it all, will Torment you wonderfully; the Smoak, and the Cry of such Torments, will Ascend for ever and ever! So did the Thundring Baptist, warn the Children of Pious Parents; Matth. III. 9, 10. Think not to say within your selves, we have Abraham to our Father. Every Tree which bringeth not forth good Fruit, is hewn down, and cast into the Fire. I see, I see, Oh! what Numbers of our poor Children, in a Course of Impiety, throwing themselves down into that Unquenchable Fire. A most Lamentable Spectacle! O Lord, I beseech thee to deliver their Souls!

¶ But it is time for me, in my Historical way, which one would think should be a very Significant way, to Clinch the Nails which I have hitherto been driving. And I may upon a due Reflection, make this Report unto you, That the Religious Matron who yesterday withdrew from us, was One, in whom the [Page]Truths which have now been delivered, concerning a Soul Dwelling and preserved in Ease by a Piety, and an Offspring rendred, and by themselves and others esteem'd, Happy, in Pious Parents, have been in a very Conspicuous Degree exemplified. Such a Good Report she has of all, and of the Truth it self. I also must make a Record of it, and my Record shall be true.

We are not Bribed by the Riches of them who Dye and are buried, for to bear any flattering and fulsome Testimonies for them. Nothing without a Shining Piety in our Friends, can obtain our Testimonies: Tho' sometimes Public Stations, or such things as place Persons in the Light of more Public Observation, may invite us to Enlarge upon them. Philip de Comines complaines of it, That when he expostulated with a Carthusian, for putting the Term of a Saint on one that had been a Person of a very evil Character, his Monk replied upon him, Syr, We always make a Saint of a Benefactor. I hope, that you will find Us clear of that Scandal; and that you have often found us most Expatiate in Commending [Page]such Saints as have laid us under no Temporal and Personal Obligations.

The Excellent Father of this Gentlewoman, and of this Country, (whose Life makes a Great Article among the MAGNALIA of New-England,) would in her Childhood, often present her to them that came to see him, and say with a peculiar Satisfaction, This is my New-England Token! because a good God had sent her to him, as a Token of His Favour to his Family, so soon after his coming to New-England. And I know not why New-England should not now present her to the World, as a Token of the Divine Favour to a Country, which He has adorned with such bright Jewels, as do surpass those of the Orient. When she lay at the Point of Death in her Minority, and was indeed given over for Dead, while Mr. Cotton was at Prayer with her, the Heart of her Father was raised unto a particular Faith for it, which he immediately declared, That the Child should Live! And now, having out-lived the Eightieth Year of her Age, I have an Opportunity to tell you, what sort of a Life it was, which that [Page]Prayer of my Grandfather, had its Remarkable Answer in. It was a Life of the most exemplary Piety in all the parts of it; And my Sermon has all along done little more than tell her Story, when it has told you, what the Fear of God will do, and what Ease and Peace it will bring unto.

While she was a Wife, to a most valuable Servant of God, Mr. SAMUEL DANFORTH, the Pastor of Roxbury, she was no Stranger to Afflictions; especially in the Infirmity and Mortality of many Children. But by being thus Afflicted, she was but the more improved in that Piety which made her Honourable in the Eyes of all that have the Fear of God at all directing of their Sentiments.

As those Holy Women that bore a part in the First Voyages to this Wilderness, were those Good Things, than which the World had not many to show, that were Better, or more worthy to be had in Everlasting Remembrance: Thus our Land hath not many Things to be more boasted of, than a set of Holy Women found among their Daughters, who have been [Page] Polished Stones in the Temple of God, and Patterns of the Things that are Holy, and Just, and Good. WOMEN, that have most entirely given themselves up unto God, and studied and practised Holiness in all manner of Conversation: Women, that have known and lov'd a dear SAVIOUR, and liv'd by the Faith of the Son of God: Women, that have walk'd with God, in the Religion of the Closet, and set an high Price on Communion with Him in the Assemblies of Zion: Women, that have been Wise, and Good, and most Obliging in all Relations, and bestow'd upon their Children an agreeable Education: Women, that have with incomparable Patience and Meekness, entertained the Cross that has been ordered for them: Women, that have been Blessings to their Neighbours, and been helpful in a Thousand kind of Offices among the Distressed in their Neighbourhood. Such was this Handmaid of the Lord; and among such, a Star of the first Magnitude.

For near Twice seven Years before she Died, her Sight was utterly taken from her. But, Oh! the Light arising to [Page]her in all her Darkness! Some that have been Blind all their Days, have yet been such Illuminated Persons, that they have been Eminent Preachers of the Gospel, yea, most notable Writers, for the Defence and Service of it. Among such Sons of Bartimaeus, I know not that the Armies of the Living God, ever had a more Illustrious Champion than that most accomplished Literator, the present Professor of History in the University of Glasgow: [Mr. WILLIAM JAMESON.] A Sampson by whose Hand God pulls down the Temple of the Romish Philistines! I snatch at an Occasion to mention this Miraculous Man, because I have really wish'd and fought an Occasion to Express my Desires that his Learned Books were more Common among us Others there have been, who have only lain Blind in their Latter Days; but yet have in the Light of God so seen Light that they have been able to Guide others in the ways of God, and shew them the Pathes of Life. And such an One was this Handmaid of God; One under Total Blindness, yet Gloriously Resembling the Living Creatures that are full of Eyes! [Page]When the acute Milton had lost his Eyes, he Comforted himself with this; Orbitatem certe Luminis quidni leniter feram, quod non tam amissum, quam Revecatum intus atque Retractum, ad acuendam potius mentis Aciem quam ad hebetandam sperem. 'My Sight is only call'd Inward, that it 'may be sharpened there. And he argued, That as Man lives not by Bread alone, but by the Word of God, we see not with our Eyes alone, but by being under the Wise and Kind Conduct of God. Thus this Pious Person had her Sight, but as it were turned the more Inward and Upward by her Blindness, and fixed upon those Things which had hitherto been the Object of her Faith. She gained a stronger Sight of Him that is Invisible; a clearer View of the Things which are not seen and are Eternal. Cicero affirms, Democritus easily comforted himself under the loss of his Ey-sight by this; That if he was not able to distinguish Black from White, yet he could perfectly well discern Good from Ill, Right from Wrong. This Pious Person, One more Wise unto Salvation than any that the Roman Orator had ever heard of, when God call'd [Page]her to make her Sight a Sacrifice unto Him, had this Reparation of her Blindness, that she had the more Lively Sight of Things in the Kingdom of God; she more distinctly view'd those Things, which if they could be seen with our Eyes, we would find the Love of them Wondrously raised in us. Every one will Delight and Wonder saw, A Soul dwelling in Ease! Her Submission to the Will of God: Her Admirations of what she saw in a most endeared JESUS: Her Thankfulness to them who brought the Word of God unto her, which was continually done by one or other, almost all the Day long; Her Chamber a very Chappel wherein something of Devotion was ever going on; A little Anti-Chamber of Heaven! The unexpressible Pleasure she took in Prayer to God: Her Fruitfulness in Religious Conferences: Her Affectionate Love to the Children of God: Her profound Humility, perpetual Self-Abasement, Self-Abhorence: And her lively Anhelation after the Heavenly World, with a most finishing Resignation to her Saviour, for His own Time, and His own Way to bring her unto it.

[Page] It was impossible to see her in her Dying Hours, without seeing the ghastly Visage of DEATH Gloriously altered; and the meaning of, O Death, Where is thy Sting? tendered in a most noble Illustration of it. And now, when her sense of every Thing in this World, was in a manner gone, if either CHRIST, or HEAVEN, were but mentioned, it seem'd as if the mention of those Two Words, infus'd a New Life into her. She made me think of that Excellent Lady, Olympia Fulvia Morata, who in her last Moments declar'd, That she had now got the Sight of a most Excellent Place, and a very Delightful one; ever Shining with an Astonishing Light and Brightness; Hastening whereto, her Triumph was, Tota sum laeta; I am now as full of Joy as I can hold; A Singular Happiness did she [...]ow and long enjoy in her Children, and their Tender and Helpful Behaviour. Her Two Sons, have long been Faithful and Painful and eminently Serviceable Ministers of the Gospel: Her Two Sons-in-Law have been as well Sons-in-Love unto her: And her Daughters have been worthy to be call'd Hers.

[Page] And now her Soul is gone to Dwell in Ease, her dutiful Offspring, will doubtless Inherit so much of the Earth, as will Reward the Duty which they have so Examplarily paid unto her. But this is not what they so much propose: 'Tis the least of their Desires; as it was of Hers for them. An Heavenly Inheritance will be theirs; A Better and a Lasting Substance in Heaven!— If they go on to prefer and pursue That, as I hope they do, and walk in the steps of Parents, who have laid up so many Thousands of Prayers, That they may do worthily in Israel. And their Experience, how remarkably God has been a Father to them, since their Excellent Father left them Orphans in a difficult World, I hope, will be considered as an Encouragement for all Godly Parents, and for their Children.

FINIS.

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Title statement

Nepenthes evangelicum. A brief essay, upon a soul at ease; in what piety will bring both parents and children to. : A sermon occasion'd by the death of a religious matron, Mrs. Mary Rock. Who having entred the eighty first year of her age, withdrew from us. 30d. 7m. 1713. / By Cotton Mather, D.D. ; [One line from Matthew]

Mather, Cotton, 1663-1728.

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Text Creation Partnership,

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2009-10.

ID [DLPS]

N01367

ID [TCP]

N01367

ID [STC]

Evans 1624

ID [NOTIS]

APX2558

ID [IMAGE-SET]

1624

ID [EVANS-CITATION]

99019293

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Early American Imprints, 1639-1800 ; no. 1624.

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(Evans-TCP ; no. N01367)

Transcribed from: (Readex Archive of Americana ; Early American Imprints, series I ; image set 1624)

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— Nepenthes evangelicum. A brief essay, upon a soul at ease; in what piety will bring both parents and children to. : A sermon occasion'd by the death of a religious matron, Mrs. Mary Rock. Who having entred the eighty first year of her age, withdrew from us. 30d. 7m. 1713. / By Cotton Mather, D.D. ; [One line from Matthew], Mather, Cotton, 1663-1728..

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48 p. ; (12mo)

Printed by Thomas Fleet, for Daniel Henchman at his shop in King-Street.,. Boston: :: 1713.. (Caption title: A soul at ease.) (Running title: A brief essay upon a soul at ease.)

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