Ezekiel 33:11 Sermon, 1765

Date1765

ms number765900.10

abstractSermon by Occom on the verse, "Say unto them, As I live, saith the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live: turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways; for why will ye die, O house of Israel?".

handwritingHandwriting is small, yet largely clear and legible.

paperSmall sheets are folded into a booklet and bound with thread or twine. The paper is in good-to-fair condition, with light-to-moderate staining and wear.

inkBrown ink is somewhat faded.

Persistent Identifier

https://doi.org/10.1349/ddlp.1067

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1765

Goſhen Ezek — 33:11

Turn ye trurn ye from your Eveil Ways, for why will ye, o Houſe of Israel —

The Whole deſign of the ^word^ of god is, to turn him ^a Sinner^ from Satan to god, from Sin to holineſs, from the Kingdom of Satan to the Kingdm of god —

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In Speaking to theſe words I Shall endeavour to Show Several particulars, that are Implyd and expresſ'd in this text —

I.
It plainly Implys y.t man as he is a Sinner by Nature, is departing from god, in his degeneracy he is gone from his Innocency, has loſt the Bleſsed Image of god he is gone from his love to god — he is departed from the Covenant of god — he is gone far from the Commands of god — He is

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Strayd from his obedience— He is Gone from his Sweet Devotions to god — He is gone from the Delight of Prayer [illegible]to god — from Praiſe — from adoration — from Thankſgivig from Self Dedication and reſignation — and as he is de‐parted from god his Chief good — he is now ptacing his Affection^s^ upon Vanity — &c — —
II.
our text Implys, that as man ^[below]˄^ is Departing from god, He is in Deaths Road the way that they go is the way of Death to Soul & Body

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and they are not only in ye way of Death, but are Spi‐‐ritually Dead, they are dead to god, they have no activity towards him in a way of Love and obedience, yet activity Enough and ^[below]˄^ Enough againſt him, they are Dead to Com‐munion and Enjoyment of God, they are Dead to the wor-ſhip of god, they ^have^ no deligh^t^ ^in^ Prayer, either in Sacred Privet or Publick, if they atend upon Some Religious Duties — they are very Cold heavy and Dead Exerciſes, —

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they are dead to the Law of god, that is, they have no Sence of the Holineſs, Juſtneſs and Goodneſs of God's Law, — they are not Senceable, that they are under Condemnation of the Law of God, and that the Curſes of the Law are out againſt the^m^ — They are So dead, the Thunders of Mount Sinaih, acompanied with Earth Quake, and Lighting that flaſhes in their Conciences, don't move them,— they are in Such love with Sin they are drun^k^ and Stupifyed with it, and they will go on in the Practice of them, tho' god Says, in Plain

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plain terms the Soul yt Sins Shall die, and again Curſed is every one that Continues in all things writen in the Book of the Law to do there — again Sinners ^yt^ will run the Downward Road, they muſt Die a Miſerable Death as to their their Bodies and Souls they muſt be caſt from the Glorious Preſence of god — and from every good, — to Hell and to all Evil — to all Eter‐nity —

III our text expreſsly tells us that Sinners Will their

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own Death. why will ye die Again they are Dead to the Sweet Calls of the graci‐ous Goſpel of Jeſus X they have no Sence of the amazing Condeſention of god in Chriſt, nor the way of Salvation in him — They are Dead to Heaven and Heavenly Things, the Bleſsedneſs of Heaven — They are Dead to Hell, ie, They have no Sence of the Torments of Hell &c —

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III.
God tells us, that Sinners Will their Death, Why will ye Die, Saith god, — The way Which Sinners take is the way of Death, and it is their Voluntary Choice, they are not force't to it by god, and neither are they Drag'd to by the Devil — but it is their free Will & act— Adam acted Voluntarily ^in^ what he did —

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IV.
God expreſsly tells us in our text and Context, that he has no Pleaſure in the Death of a Sinner, but yt he turn and Live — god wills the Life and Eter‐nal Salvation of Poor Sinners turn ye turn ye for why will ye Die — God is Sincere, Hearty, and Earneſt in his Will, it is plainly to be Seen and under Stood by word, which is his Revealed will to the Chil‐dren,— in particular his amazing Will to Save Sinners — ^is^ to be Diſcoverd in his Sending

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his Dearly Beloved and only Begoten Son into this World in a^mazing^ Manner as he Did — god from Eternity ^willed make^ to man — and he knew, Man woud Will his own Death, But god Willd his Salvation, and god Calld a Councill in the Court of H — upon his will, in the [illegible]Days of Eternity, — and me thinks here, we may Imagin to hear the Eternal Jehovah begining (the Heavenly [illegible]Hoſts being Si‐lent and attentive) thuſ my will is to make man In our own Likeneſs and

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Image, — But I know he will, Will his Death and Diſtruc‐tion — But I will his Salvation and Eternal Life, — But then, the Query ^was^ Put to the Heavenly Worlds — Whom Shall I Send, who will go for us — me thinks the Heavenly [illegible]Hoſts were Si‐lent — — — They look upon one another — unable to Anſwer Such Important Queſ— — Till at Lengt[illegible]h the Lam^b^ of god Stood forth and Anſwerd the Eternal Queſtion, — Saying ^Loe I Come^ it is writen in the Volumn of me in the Volume of thy Rock of Eternal Decrees

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I Delight to do thy Will O God,— thy [illegible]Will be done— Thy Will is my Will— Send me, and I Will go— here me thinks the Heavens Shouted — Saying Worthy is the Lamb, to take ^ye^ Book and to Loſe the Seven Seals thereof — and in the full‐neſs of time God made man and gave him Will — his Will was to keep his Commands for his Life and happineſs forever —

But man woud not keep

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god's but he took his own Will, and Will'd his own Death — But god reveald his gracious Will to him — Promiſd him a Saviour — from ^yt^ [illegible]time he raiſd his Servants the Prophets riſing Early and Sending them to Proclaim his will go[illegible]od Will to the Children — Concerning the Meſiah — — And in the fullneſs of Time he did Send his Send his Son into this World — he layd a Side as it

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it were the Robes of Glory, took leave of Hea‐ven & — Enters into this World, with a Body like our own &c ^was an Itenerant Prea^ch^^ — and was here till he finiſh'd his grea^t^ work &c — —

Improvement —
Is it ſo as we have heard, that man by naure Strayd Creature and in a way of Death, and is not this Caſe with many of you in the Aſembly —

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Dolefull Condition —
Yet hark [illegible] ye hear God Callindg after ye to return to him, — turn ye turn ye from your Evil ways and Querying with you — for why will ye die ^[illegible]^ of O Houſe of Israel, give^[illegible: [guess: r]]^ why you Chuſe to Die, you yt are of the Chriſtian Church has not god done Enough han't X Sufferd Enough

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han't you^r^ means Sufficient, is not Heaven Deſirable — and the Company of god — and of Angels and the Bleſsed Eternity you old — Why —

has not god been [illegible: [guess: S]] ending his Dear Servant [illegible: [guess: to you]]

Samson Occom was a Mohegan leader and ordained Presbyterian minister. Occom began his public career in 1742, when he was chosen as a tribal counselor to Ben Uncas II. The following year, he sought out Eleazar Wheelock, a young Anglo-American minister in Lebanon, CT, in hopes of obtaining some education and becoming a teacher at Mohegan. Wheelock agreed to take on Occom as a student, and though Occom had anticipated staying for a few weeks or months, he remained with Wheelock for four years. Occom’s academic success inspired Wheelock to open Moor’s Indian Charity School in 1754, a project which gave him the financial and political capital to establish Dartmouth College in 1769. After his time with Wheelock, Occom embarked on a 12-year mission to the Montauk of Long Island (1749-1761). He married a Montauk woman, Mary Fowler, and served as both teacher and missionary to the Montauk and nearby Shinnecock, although he was grievously underpaid for his services. Occom conducted two brief missions to the Oneida in 1761 and 1762 before embarking on one of the defining journeys of his career: a fundraising tour of Great Britain that lasted from 1765 to 1768. During this journey, undertaken on behalf of Moor’s Indian Charity School, Occom raised £12,000 (an enormous and unanticpated amount that translates roughly to more than two-million dollars), and won wide acclaim for his preaching and comportment. Upon his return to Mohegan in 1768, Occom discovered that Wheelock had failed to adequately care for his family while he was gone. Additionally, despite the vast sums of money that he had raised, Occom found himself unemployed. Wheelock tried to find Occom a missionary position, but Occom was in poor health and disinclined to leave his family again after seeing the treatment with which they had met while he was in Britain. Occom and Wheelock’s relationship continued to sour as it became apparent to Occom that the money he had labored to raise would be going towards infrastructure at Dartmouth College, Wheelock’s new project, rather than the education of Native Americans. After the dissolution of his relationship with Wheelock, Occom became increasingly focused on the needs of the Mohegan community and increasingly vocal in criticizing Anglo-Americans’ un-Christian treatment of Native Americans. In September of 1772, he delivered his famous “Sermon on the Execution of Moses Paul,” which took Anglo-American spiritual hypocrisy as one of its major themes, and which went into four printings before the end of the year. In 1773, Occom became further disillusioned when the Mason Land Case was decided in favor of the Colony of Connecticut. The details of the Mason Case are complicated, but to summarize: the Colony of Connecticut had gained control of Mohegan land early in the 18th century under very suspect circumstances, and successfully fended off the Mohegan’s 70-year-long legal challenge. The conclusion of the case came as a blow to the Mohegans, and further convinced Occom of Anglo-American corruption. Along with David Fowler (Montauk Tribe), Occom's brother-in-law, and Joseph Johnson (Mohegan), Occom's son-in-law, Occom helped found Brothertown, an Indian tribe formed from the Christian Mohegans, Pequots, Narragansetts, Montauks, Tunxis, and Niantics. They eventually settled in Oneida country in upstate New York. Occom moved there with his family in 1789, spending the remaining years of his life serving as a minster to the Brothertown, Stockbridge, and Mohegan Indians. Harried by corrupt land agents, the Brothertown and Stockbridge groups relocated to the eastern shore of Lake Winnebago, though Occom died in 1792 before he could remove himself and his family there. Occom's writings and legacy have made him one of the best known and most eminent Native Americans of the 18th century and beyond.

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Ezekiel 33:11 Sermon, 1765