Samson Occom, sermon, Ephesians 5:20

Author Occom, Samson

DateUnknown

Call Number003221

abstractA sermon on Ephesians 5:20 — "Giving thanks always for all things unto God" — about how, where, and when to give thanks to God.

handwritingHandwriting is clear and legible. There are some crossed l's, uncrossed t's and dotted e's that have been corrected by the transcriber.

paperSmall sheets folded into a booklet and bound with thread or twine are in good-to-fair condtion, with light-to-moderate staining and wear that results in some loss of text.

inkBrown ink varies in intensity throughout.

noteworthyThe sermon is undated. It mentions 2 Corinthians 9.6.7, Isaiah 1.2, Psalms 116.12, and Genesis 32.

Persistent Identifier
Ephe V. 20
Giving thanks always for all
things unto God,
 Perhaps there is no Duty
incumbent upon Intellagent Crea‐
tures, more frequently Calld for, in
the Providence of God, than this
Duty of giving thanks to god,
there is nothing So Reaſonable and
Becoming in Dependant &Creat as this giv‐
ing of thanks, to their great Preſer
ver,— Yea all the Creation, even
the Inanimate Creation Seems to
manifeſt this Duty, to the great
Creator —
 We may at once Perceive
Something very great and weighty
in theſe few Words, if we doe but
liſten and attend to them, and
Shou'd find work enough all ˄ day
and a Glorious work too
In the firſt Place, upon Reflecti[gap: tear][guess: on]
we find the work it Self or the Duty
Giving thanks, Se[illegible]conly, upon
inquiry to whom we are to give
thanks, we may find object,
unto GOD; Thirdly we find,
the Time when, this Duty, of
giving Thanks is to be Done it is
Always Fourthly we find the
Matter, or for what we are to
give Thanks; for all Things
Theſe four Particulars I
Shall endeavor to repreſent
in the following Diſcourſe
  • 1.
    Firſt then, I will endea‐
    vour Repreſent to you the Duty
    it Self, to Give Thanks,
    This, I Conclude is well under‐
    ſtood by all, that are grown
    to Years of underſtanding,
    It is to have a grateful Since
    and Right apprehention of
    the Benefits Conferred upon us
    and an Acknowledgment of &
    Confeſſion of our Oblications
    to our Benefactors with glad
  •  
    gladneſs of Heart, attended
    with Humility, and a Careful
    and Right uſe of the Benefits
    we Receive, even agreable to
    the Mind and Pleaſures four
    of Benefactors for which they
    beſtowd their Bound upon us
    The work Anong Men, the
    work of the giver is one, and
    the work of the Receiver is a
    nother,˄ we are dependent Crea
    tures upon one to another, the
    greateſt of men Can't well live with‐
    out the vulgar Sort, and we,
    as Sotiable and Fellow Creatures,
    give and receive Benefets one
    from another, The giver has
    [illegible: [guess: one]] Precept from God the great
    Benefactor, as we find the Duty
    in 2 to the Corin 9.6.7 and many
    other Places in the Word of god —
    and the Receiver has another
    Command or Precept from God th[gap: tear][guess: e]
    Great Benefactor, their wor[gap: tear][guess: k]
    is to Receive Right, and to be [gap: tear]
  •  
    be truely Thankful, in the firſt
    Place to God the only giver of
    all good things, and next to god
    we are to be thankful to the
    Inſtruments by whom we have we
    Received Benefits, — let the Second
    givers or Inſtrumental Benefactors
    give as they Pleaſe whether out
    a right vew or not, that is none
    of the Receivers Buſineſs, they
    ought to See to it, to do the work
    that is Lay'd upon them, by their
    Benefactors, to be Truely Sincere‐
    ly and Hearltyly thankful, both
    to god and to his People by wi
    whom they have received bene‐
    factions — But man is Such a
    Creature, many of them when
    they Receive a Kindneſs from
    their fellow Men, they are Ready to que‐
    ry and wou'd know whether the
    giver, gave freely and Cheerfully
    or Grudgingly and of Neceſſity,
    and if they Suſpect the Sincerity
    [gap: tear][guess: of] the Doner, they are Ready
  •  
    to diſpiſe the Benefits and the
    Benefactor, and are Ready to fling the
    gifts back in the Face of the
    giver with a Surly Countenance —
    this Plainly Argues the Horrid
    and Helliſh Ingratidtue, in the
    unworthy Wrectch, Such cannot
    be thankful to god, for they don't
    Conſider that all theſe good things
    are from god, for it is he that
    opens the Hands, if not the Hearts
    of his People, to give to the Nee‐
    dy, and therefor Thanks and Praiſe
    is his Due Chiefly; and But if
    the Receiver Cant be thankful
    to their fellow Creatures that have
    Shown kindneſs to them; how Can
    they be Truely thankful to god —
    Isa[illegible: [guess: i]]. 1.2
    But thoſe that are
    truly Thankful are melted
    Down with the Benefets they have
    Receiv'd, it excites [illegible]true humi‐
    liation and Self Loathing in them
    As we find holy Pratrearch Jaco[gap: tear][guess: b]
    Confeſſing his unworthineſs of the
    Leaſt of gods Mercies Gene.32 [gap: tear]
  •  
    again an ungrateful wretch. Sets
    Price upon the Benefits he rece.s
    , or has a Scale as it were, So he
    wou'd Put the Donations in the one
    and Propotionable thanks in the other
    or rather his Blank Indgratitude —
    the ungrateful Pharaſee thought
    he did enough in Religion ˄ —
    But the Grateful Man Sets no
    Price upon the Benefits he receies
    nor limits to his thankfulneſs, he
    thinks he Can never be thankful
    enough for Favours received —
    Thus we find the truely thankful King of
    Israel, the Psalmeſt, Psal 116. 12
    what Shall I render unto the Ld for all
    his Benefits towards me? it Seems
    by theſe words, that the holy Psalst
    found himself unable to make Suta‐
    ble Returns to God for all the Kind‐
    [illegible]neſs he had receivd from god
    from him, and it was his Dili‐
    gent Search or Study to find a way
    to manifeſt his gratitude by unto
    god, as his holy thanksgiving Psas
    abundantly Show, — if we oſerve
    David in his great work of giving
    Thanks, According to his Psalms
  •  
    we may Eaſily find his experimental
    Notice and his wiſe Conſideration
    of the Benefits of god towards him
    and this begets a grateful Sence
    of the Favours of god, and that
    breaks forth into Publick Praiſes
    and thanksgiving — Yea upon find
    ing himſelf unable to give Sufi
    cient thanks to god for all his
    goodneſs, he Calls all Creatures
    both in Heaven and Earth to Join
    with him in his great work of
    giving thanks and Praiſe unto
    God; and indeed it Reaſonable and
    Right that Dependent Creatures
    Shou'd be truely thankful to their
    up holder and only Benefactor,—
    This Seems to be inate in the very
    Dumb Beaſts of the Feald, they
    Manifeſt a kind of Gratitude to
    their Benefactors or Maſters, by
    a Certain Noiſe, or the Motion
    of their Bodies,— the Fowls of
    the A[illegible]ir Mount up to wards hea‐
    ven and Sing forth their Artleſs [gap: tear]
    to God, — Toads and Frogs, and
    all the venomous Kind, have their
    way of giving thanks to their Mas[gap: tear][guess: ters]
  •  
    yea the very Inſects of the Earth
    Seing their various Notes of Praiſe
    to god, if all theſe Creatures give
    thanks and Praiſe to god, how
    ought Man who is Endow'd to give for whoſe sake thanks and
    Praiſe to the God of heaven, it
    is Mans Beauty and Glory as well
    as Duty, to give thanks and Praiſe
    to Heaven, and it is his happineſs
    So to do —
  • 2.
    Secondly let us tConſider
    the object, or to Whom we are
    or ought to give thanks, it is
    unto God, the Great Creator of
    Heaven and Earth, and the upholder
    and Governor of the Same, and the only
    Benefactor, unto him we are to give
    thanks,
    Even
     To him we are to give thanks
    that Curiouſly and Wonderfully
    Fraim'd our Bodies out of the Duſt
    of the Earth —
    To him, that Breathed into
    our Bodies the Breath of Life, yt
    Cauſed us to become Living Souls
    [gap: tear][guess: w]e are to give thanks.
  •  
    To him we are under Infinite
    obligations, who Confers, not few and
    Small Inconſiderable Benefits up
    on us, but very all godod things
    not at times only, but Continualy
    To him we are to give thanks
    who hath Created ye Lights for our Eyes
    the whole world for our Sakes —
    To him we are under greateſt
    obligations, he that hath made the
    Pleaſant Light for our Eyes, he that hath
    Made the Herb of the Field, and
    all the Fruits of the Earth for
    the life of Man, He that hath
    made all manner of Four footed
    Beaſts and Creeping things and
    the Fowls of the Air, and the
    Fiſhes of the Seas. He that hath
    given and Deliver'd all theſe Crea‐
    tures unto us, to him we are to ˄
    unfeigned thanks
    To him we are to give moſt
    humble thanks, into whoſe Juſti[gap: tear][guess: ce]
    we have forfited all Mercyies, yet
    Continues his Mercies to us thr[gap: tear][guess: o]
    the Mediator
  •  
    To him, in whom Live Move and
    have our Beings, we owe all
    Poſſible Thanks —
    To him, who hath given his
    only begotten son into the World, to
    Save us vile Sinners from everlaſt
    Ruin, to Eternal Happineſs, I Say
    to him we are Bound to give moſt
    Sincere and humble, Yet Joyful
    Thanks —
  • 3.
    Thirdly let us Conſider the
    Time, when, this Duty of giving
    thanks is to be done, it is allways
    there is no Limited Time, or a Certain
    T. in of our Life to give thanks, but at
    all Times; this is altogether Reaſon‐
    able, for we always Receive bene‐
    fits and Mercies of various kinds
    from god, we live and Move and
    have our Being in him Continualy—
    all the Faculties and Powers Both
    of Soul and Body are Maintain'd
    in us by god Continualy, the food
    and Drink [illegible]which we Continualy
    Uſe is the Lord's, the Earth upon
    which we have Always Liv'd is the
    [gap: tear][guess: Lor]ds the Air in which we always
  •  
    Breathe in is the Lords; and So in
    return, as we always live upon
    a goodneſs of God, So Shou'd our
    thanks be always to God — further
    this giving of thanks always may
    Suppoſe or require a thankful
    Fraim of Heart to God always —
    to have grateful Sence of the good‐
    neſs of god Always, — and to have
    holy reſolution to [illegible]go on in giving
    thanks to god always, as David
    abundantly Shows in his holy P[illegible: [guess: salms]]
    his reſolution was to Praiſe God —
    all this Time; So Shoud all rational
    Creatures reſove, — again we Shou'd
    always be very Strict in attending to Cer‐
    tain Seaſons or Perticural Times
    of giving Thanks to God;, whether
    PrivetPublick Privet or Secret; yea
    as there is no Minute of our lives
    empty of Mercies from god, So Shoud
    we fill every Minute of our lives
    with thanks [illegible]to god, I [illegible] David Says
    I will Praiſe God Seven Times a
    Day, or give thanks Seven Times a
    Day, — So Shou'd we give thanks to
    god, not only Seven Times a Day
    but Seventy Times Seven
  •  
    I mean to have a Thankful Fraim
    of Heart all the Day Long —
    we don't mean in all this that we are
    obliged to Manifeſt our thankfulneſs
    [illegible]always in one Continued Act either
    by word of Mouth or by the Poſture
    of the Body for this is Impoſible
    in the Preſent Settuation of our Life,
    we are Neceſſarily Calld to other
    enmediate Acts of Duty from
    Day to Day, we Neceſſarily spend Som
    time in Sleep, But this need
    not, yea Can't Break off our thank
    fulneſs if we are true thankful—
    —As a Wiſe Man, is a Wiſe Man,—
    always whether he Sleeps or wakes
    whether a broad or at home, he
    is Still the Same [illegible]Wiſe Man—
    So a thankful Man is always
    So —
  • 4.
    Fourthly and laſtly let
    us Conſider the Matter of our
    thankfulneſs. It is for all things
    for Every thing that we have Receivd
    and any thing that we now Poſſes
    and Enjoy, and for all things yt
    we for hope to Receive hereafter—
here we may be Naturaly Lead
to Conſider three Particulars, for
which we are to give thanks to
god
  • 1.
    Firſt for Creation
  • 2.
    Secondly for Preſervation
  • 3.
    Thirdly for Redemption
Firſt then we [illegible] are to give thanks
for our Creation of our
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