Selected quad for the lemma: mercy_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
mercy_n	act_n	soul_n	zion_n	14	3	8.7105	4	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A27017	The saints everlasting rest, or, A treatise of the blessed state of the saints in their enjoyment of God in glory wherein is shewed its excellency and certainty, the misery of those that lose it, the way to attain it, and assurance of it, and how to live in the continual delightful forecasts of it and now published by Richard Baxter ...	Baxter, Richard, 1615-1691.; Herbert, George, 1593-1633.	1650 (1650)	Wing B1383; ESTC R17757	797,603	962

Law of the most high God dishonorable to him and destructive to the sinner Now the sinner reads and hears no more the reproofs of sin as words of course as if the Minister wanted something to say to fill up his Sermon but when you mention his sin you stir in his wounds he feels you speak at his very heart and yet is contented you should shew him the worst and set it home though he bear the smart He was wont to marvel what made men keep such a stir against sin what harm it was for a man to take a little forbidden pleasure he saw no such hainousness in it that Christ must needs die for it and most of the world be eternally tormented in Hell He thought this was somewhat hard measure and greater punishment then could possibly be deserved by a little fleshly liberty or worldly delight neglect of Christ his Word or Worship yea by a wanton thought a vain word a dull duty or cold affection But now the case is altered God hath opened his eyes to see that unexpressable vileness in sin which satisfies him of the reason of all this 2. The Soul in this great work is convinced and sensible as of the evil of sin so of its own misery by reason of sin They who before read the threats of Gods Law as men do the old stories of forraign wars or as they behold the wounds and blood in a picture or piece of Arras which never makes them smart or fear Why now they finde it s their own story and they perceive they read their own doom as if they found their names written in the curse or heard the Law say as Nathan Thou are the man The wrath of God seemed to him before but as a storm to a man in the dry house or as the pains of the sick to the healthful stander-by or as the Torments of Hell to a childe that sees the story of Dives and Lazarus upon the wall But now he findes the disease is his own and feels the pain in his own bowels and the smart of the wounds in his own soul. In a word he findes himself a condemned man and that he is dead and damned in point of Law and that nothing was wanting but meer execution to make him most absolutely and irrecoverably miserable Whether you will call this a work of the Law or Gospel as in several senses it is of both the Law expressing and the Gospel intimating and implying our former condemnation Sure I am it is a work of the Spirit wrought in some measure in all the regenerate And though some do judg it an unnecessary bondage yet it is beyond my conceiving how he should come to Christ for pardon that first found not himself guilty and condemned or for life that never found himself dead The whole need not the Physitian but they that are sick Yet I deny not but the discovery of the Remedy as soon as the misery must needs prevent a great part of the trouble and make the distinct effects on the soul to be with much more difficulty discerned Nay the actings of the soul are so quick and oft so confused that the distinct order of these workings may not be apprehended or remembred at all And perhaps the joyful apprehensions of mercy may make the sense of misery the sooner forgotten 3. So doth the spirit also convince the soul of the creatures vanity and insufficiency Every man naturally is a flat Idolater our hearts turned from God in our first fall and ever since the Creature hath been our God This is the grand sin of Nature when we set up to our selves a wrong end we must needs erre in all the means The Creature is to every unregenerate man his God and his Christ. He ascribeth to it the Divine prerogatives and alloweth it the highest room in his soul Or if ever he come to be convinced of misery he flyeth to it as his Saviour and supply Indeed God and his Christ have usually the name and shall be still called both Lord and Saviour But the reall expectation is from the Creature and the work of God is laid upon it how well it will perform that work the sinner must know hereafter It is His Pleasure his profit and his Honour that is the natural mans Trinity and his Carnal self that is these in unity Indeed it is that Flesh that is the Principal Idol the other three are deified in their relation to our selves It was our first sin to aspire to be as Gods and it s the greatest sin that runs in our blood and is propagated in our nature from Generation to Generation When God should guide us we guide our selves when he should be our Soveraign we rule our selves The Laws which he gives us we would correct and finde fault with and if we had the making of them we would have made them otherwise When he should take care of us and must or we perish we will care for our selves when we should depend on him in daily receivings we had rather keep our stock our selves and have our portion in our own hands when we should stand to his disposal we would be at our own and when we should submit to his providence we usually quarrel at it as if we knew better what is good or fit for us then he or how to dispose of all things more wisely If we had the disposal of the events of Wars and the ordering of the affairs of Churches and States or the choice of our own outward condition it would be far otherwise then now it is and we think we could make a better disposal order and choice then God hath made This is the Language of a carnal heart though it do not always speak it out When we should study God we study our selves when we should minde God we minde our selves when we should love God we love our carnal selves when we should trust God we trust our selves when we should honor God we honor our selves and when we should ascribe to God and admire him we ascribe to and admire our selves And instead of God we would have all mens eyes and dependance on us and all mens thanks returned to us and would gladly be the onely men on Earth extolled and admired by all And thus we are naturally our own Idols But down falls this Dagon when God doth once renew the soul It is the great business of that great work to bring the heart back to God himself He convinceth the sinner 1. That the Creature or himself can neither be his God to make him happy 2. Nor yet his Christ to recover him from his misery and restore him to God who is his happiness This God doth not onely by Preaching but by Providence also Because words seem but winde and will hardly take off the raging senses therefore doth God make his Rod to speak and continue speaking till the

is the Fathers good pleasure to give thee this Kingdom Seest thou this astonishing Glory above thee Why all this is thy own inheritance This Crown is thine these pleasures are thine this company this beauteous place is thine all things are thine because thou art Christs and Christ is thine when thou wast married to him thou hadstall this with him Thus take thy heart into the Land of Promise shew it the pleasant hills and fruitful valleys Shew it the clusters of Grapes which thou hast gathered and by those convince it that it is a blessed Land flowing with better then milk and honey enter the gates of the holy City walk through the streets of the New Jerusalem walk about Sion go round about her tell the towers thereof mark well her bulwarks consider her palaces that thou mayest tell it to thy soul Psal. 48.12 13. Hath it not the Glory of God and is not her light like to a stone most precious See the twelve foundations of her walls and the names of the twelve Apostles of the Lamb therein The building of the walls of it are of Jasper and the City is of pure gold as cleer as glass The foundation is garnished with pretious stones and the twelve gates are twelve pearls every several gate is of one Pearl and the street of the City is pure Gold as it were transparent glass There is no temple in it for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the Temple of it It hath no need of Sun or Moon to shine in it for the Glory of God doth lighten it and the Lamb is the light thereof and the nations of them which are saved shall walk in the light of it These sayings are faithful and true and the Lord God of the holy Prophets hath sent his Angels and his own Son to shew unto his servants the things that must shortly be done Rev. 21.11 12 13. c. to the end 22.6 What sayest thou now to all this This is thy Rest O my soul and this must be the place of thy Everlasting habitation Let all the sons of Sion then rejoyce and the daughters of Jerusalem be glad for great is the Lord and greatly is he praised in the City of our God Beautiful for scituation the Joy of the whole earth is Mount Sion God is known in her palaces for a refuge Psal. 48.11 1 2 3. Yet proceed on Anima quae amat ascendit c. The soul saith Austin that loves ascends frequently and runs familiarly through the streets of the heavenly Jerusalem visiting the Patriachs and Prophets saluting the Apostles admiring the Armies of Martyrs and Confessors c. So do thou lead on thy heart as from street to street bring it into the Palace of the Great King lead it as it were from chamber to chamber say to it Here must I lodge here must I live here must I praise here must I love and be beloved I must shortly be one of this Heavenly Quire I shall then be better skilled in the musick Among this blessed company must I take my place My voice must joyn to make up the Melody my teares will then be wiped away my groans are turned to another tune my cottage of clay will be changed to this Palace and my prison rags to these splendid robes my sordid nasty stinking flesh shall be put off and such a Sun-like spiritual body put on For the former things are done away Glorious things are spoken of thee O City of God There it is that trouble and lamentation ceaseth and the voice of sorrow is not heard O when I look upon this glorious place what a dunghil and dungeon me thinks is earth O what a difference betwixt a man feeble pained groaning dying rotting in the grave and one of these triumphant blessed shining Saints Here shall I drink of the river of pleasure the streams whereof make glad the City of our God For the Lord will create a New Jerusalem and a New Earth and the former shall not be remembred nor come into minde we shall be glad and rejoyce for ever in that which he creates for he will create Jerusalem a rejoycing and her people a joy And he will rejoyce in Jerusalem and joy in his people and the voice of weeping shall be no more heard in her nor the voice of crying there shall be no more thence an infant of days nor an old man that hath not filled his dayes Isa. 65.17 18 19 20. Must Israel on earth under the bondage of the Law serve the Lord with joyfulness and gladness of heart because of the abundance of all things which they possess sure then I shall serve him with joyfulness and gladness who shall have another kinde of service and of abundance in Glory Deut. 28.47 Did the Saints take joyfully the spoiling of their goods Heb. 11.34 and shall not I take joyfully the receiving of my good and such a full reparation of all my losses Was it such a remarkable celebrated day when the Jews rested from their enemies because it was turned to them from sorrow to joy and from mourning into a good day Est. 9.22 What a day then will that be to my soul whose Rest and change will be so much greater When the wise men saw but the Star of Christ they rejoyced with exceeding great Joy Mat. 2.10 But I shall shortly see the Star of Jacob even himself who is the bright and morning Star Numb 24.17 Rev. 22.16 If they returned from the Sepulchre with great Joy when they had but heard that he was risen from the dead Mat. 28.8 What Joy then will it be to me when I shall see him risen and reigning in his glory and my self raised to a blessed communion with him Then shall we have Beauty for ashes indeed and the oil of joy for mourning and the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness Isa. 61.3 When he hath made Sion an eternal excellency a joy of many generations Isa. 60.15 Why do I not then arise from the dust and lay aside my sad complaints and cease my doleful mourning note Why do I not trample down vain delights and feed upon the foreseen delights of Glory why is not my life a continual Joy and the favor of Heaven perpetually upon my spirit And thus Reader I have directed thee in Acting of thy Joy SECT X. HEre also when thou findest cause thou hast a singular advantage from thy Meditations of Heaven for the acting of the contrary and more mixed passions As 1. Of thy hatred and detestation of sin which would deprive thy soul of these immortal Joyes 2. Of thy godly and filial Fear least thou shouldest either abuse or hazard this mercy 3. Of thy necessary grief for such thy foolish abuse and hazard 4. Of thy godly shame which should cover thy face for the forementioned folly 5. Of thy unfeigned repentance for what thou hast done against thy Joyes 6. Of thy holy anger or

Hope our Diligence of all Mercies of all Ordinances as before is proved It is not for themselves but for this Rest that all these are desired and used Praying is not the end of Praying nor Preaching the end of Preaching nor Beleeving the end of Beleeving these are but the way to him who is the way to this Rest. Indeed Christ himself is both the way and the Rest the means and the end singularly desireable as the way but yet more as the end If any thing then that ever you saw or enjoyed appear lovely and desireable then must its end be so much more SECT II. 2. IN order of Good the last is still the Best For all good tends to perfection The end is still the last enjoyed though first intended Now this Rest is the Saints last estate Their beginning was as a Grain of Mustard-seed but their perfection will be an estate high and flourishing They were taken with David from the sheep-fold to reign as Kings for ever Their first Day was a day of small things but their last will be an everlasting perfection They sowed in tears but they reap in Joy If their prosperity here their res secundae were desireable much more their res ultimae their final Blessedness Rondeletius saw a Priest at Rome who would fall down in an Extasie when ever he heard those words of Christ Consummatum est It is finished but observing him careful in his fall ever to lay his head in a soft place he suspected the dissimulation and by the threats of a cudgel quickly recovered him But methinks the fore-thoughts of that Consummation and last estate we speak of should bring a considering Christian into such an unfeigned Extasie that he should even forget the things of the flesh and no care or fear should raise him out of it Surely that is well which ends well and that 's Good which is Good at last and therefore Heaven must needs be Good SECT III. 3. ANother Rule is this That whose absence or loss is the worst or th● greatest evil must needs it self be best or the greatest Good And is there a greater loss then to lose this Rest If you could ask the Restless Souls that are shut out of it they would tell you more sensibly then I can For as none know the sweetness like those who enjoy it so none know the loss like those that are deprived of it Wicked men are here sensless of the loss because they know not what they lose and have the delights of flesh and sense to take them up and make them forget it But when they shall know it to their Torment as the Saints do to their Joy and when they shall see men from the East and West sit down with Abraham Isaac and Jacob in the Kingdom of God and themselves shut out when they shall know both what they have lost and for what and why they lost it surely there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth He that loseth Riches may have more and he that loseth honor may repair it or if not yet he is not undone He that loseth life may save it But what becomes of him that loseth God and who or what shall repair his loss We can bear the loss of any thing below if we have it not we can either live without it or dye and live eternally without it But can we do so without God in Christ As God gives us outward things as auctuaries as over-plus or above measure into our bargain so when he takes them from us he takes away our superfluities rather then our necessaries and pareth but our nails and toucheth not the quick But can we so spare our part in Glory You know whose Question it is What shall it profit a man to win all the world and lose his own Soul will it prove a saving match Or what shall a man give for the ransom of his Soul Christians compare but all your losses with that loss and all your sufferings with that suffering and I hope you will lay your hand upon your mouth and cease your repining thoughts for ever SECT IV. 4. ANother Rule is this That which cannot be given by man or taken away by man is ever better then that which can And then I hope Heaven will carry it For who hath the Key of the everlasting Treasures And who is the Disposer of the Dignities of the Saints Who saith Come ye Blessed and go ye Cursed Is it the voyce of God or of meer man If every good and perfect gift cometh from above from the Father of Lights whence then cometh the gift of Eternal Light with the Father Whose priviledg soever it is to be Key-keepers of the visible Churches here below sure no meer man but the Man of Sin will challenge the Keyes of that Kingdom and undertake to shut out or take in or to dispose of that Treasure of the Church We may be beholden to men as Gods instruments for our Faith but no further For what is Paul or who is Apolio but Ministers by whom we beleeved even as the Lord gave to every man Surely every step to that Glory every gracious gift and act every deliverance and mercy to the Church shall be so clearly from God that his very name shall be written in the forehead of it and his excellent Attributes stampt upon it that he who runs may read it was the work of God and the Question may easily be answered whether it be from Heaven or of men Much more evidently is that Glory the gift of the God of Glory What can man give God or earth and dust give Heaven Surely no! And as much is it beyond them to deprive us of it Tyrants and persecutors may take away our Goods but not our chief Good our Liberties here but not that state of Freedom our Heads but not our Crown You can shut us up in Prisons and shut us out of your Church and Kingdom but now shut us out of Heaven if you can Try in lower attempts Can you deny us the light of the Sun and cause it to forbear its shining Can you stop the influences of the Planets or deny us the dew of Heaven or command the Clouds to shut up their womb or stay the course of the flowing streams or seal up the passages of the deep how much less can you deprive us of our God or deny us the light of his countenance or stop the influences of his Spirit or forbid the dew of his Grace to fall or stay the streams of his Love and shut up his overflowing ever-flowing Springs or seal up the bottomless depth of his bounty You can kill our Bodies if he permit you but try whether you can reach our Souls Nay it is not in the Saints own power to give to or take away from themselves this Glory So that according to this Rule there 's no state like the Saints Rest.

mercies which I here received then shall behold the glory enjoyed there which was the End of all this O what a blessed view will that be O glorious prospect which I shall have on the celestial mount Zion Is it possible that there should be any defect of joy or my heart not raised when I am so raised If one drop of lively faith were mixed with these considerations O what work they would make in my brest and what a Heaven-ravished heart should I carry within me Faine would I believe Lord help my unbelief Yet further consider O my soul How sweet have the very ordinances been unto thee What raptures hast thou had in prayer and under heavenly Sermons What gladness in dayes of thanksgiving after eminent deliverances to the Church or to thy self What delight do I finde in the sweet society of the Saints To be among my humble faithful neighbors and friends To joyne with them in the frequent worship of God To see their growth and stability and soundness of understanding To see those daily added to the Church which shall be saved O then what delight shall I have to see the perfected Church in Heaven and to joyne with these and all the Saints in another kinde of worship then we can here conceive of How sweet is it to joyne in the high praises of God in the solemn assemblies How glad have I been to go up to the house of God Especially after long restraint by sickness when I have been as Hezekiah released and readmitted to joyne with the people of God and to set forth the praises of my great deliverer How sweet is my work in Preaching the Gospel and inviting sinners to the marriage feast of the Lamb and opening to them the treasures of free Grace Especially when God blesseth my endeavors with plenteous success and giveth me to see the fruit of my labors even this alone hath been a greater joy to my heart that if I had been made the Lord of all the riches on earth O how can my heart then conceive that joy which I shall have in my admittance into the Celestial Temple and into the Heavenly Host that shall do nothing but praise the Lord for ever When we shall say to Christ Here am I and the children thou hast given me and when Christ shall present us all to his Father and all are gathered and the Body compleated If the very Word of God were sweeter to Job then his necessary food and to Jeremy was the very joy and rejoycing of his heart and to David was sweeter then the Hony and Honicomb so that he cryeth out O how I love thy Law it is my meditation continually and if thy Law had not been my delight I had perished in my troubles O then how blessed a day will that be when we fully enjoy the Lord of this Word and shall need these written precepts and promises no more but shall in stead of these love-letters enjoy our beloved and in stead of these promises have the happiness in possession and read no book but the face of the glorious God! How far would I go to see one of those blessed Angels which appeared to Abraham to Lot to John c. Or to speak with Henoch or Elias or any Saint who had lived with God especially if he would resolve all my doubts and describe to me the celestial habitacions How much more desirable must it needs be to live with those blessed Saints and Angels and to see and possesse as well as they It is written of Erastus that he was so desirous to learn that it would be sweet to him even to dye so he might but be resolved of those doubtful questions wherein he could not satisfie himself How sweet then should it be to me to dye that I may not only be resolved of all my doubts but also know what I never before did think of and enjoy what before I never knew It was a happy dwelling that the twelve Apostles had with Christ to be always in his company and see his face and hear him open to them the mysteries of the Kingdom But it will be another kinde of happiness to dwell with him in Glory It was a rare priviledg of Thomas to put his fingers into his wounds to confirme his faith and of John to be called the Disciple whom Jesus loved on whose brest at supper he was wont to lean But it will be another kinde of priviledg which I shall enjoy when I shall see him in his glory and not in his wounds and shall enjoy a fuller sense of his Love then John then did and shall have the most hearty entertainment that Heaven affordeth ●f they that heard Christ speak on earth were astonished at his Wisdome and answers and wondered at the gratious Words which proceeded from his mouth How shall I be affected then to behold him in his Majesty Rowse up thy self yet O my soul and consider Can the foresight of this glory make others embrace the stake and kiss the fagot and welcome the cross and refuse deliverance And can it not make thee cheerful under lesser sufferings Can it sweeten the flames to them and can it not sweeten thy life or thy sickness or naturall death If a glympse could make Moses his face to shine and Peter on the mount so transported and Paul so exalted and John so rapt up in the spirit Why should it not somewhat revive me with delight Doubtless it would if my thoughts were more believing Is it not the same Heaven which they and I must live in Is not their God their Christ their Crown and mine the same Nay how many a weak woman or poor despised Christian have I seen mean in parts but rich in faith who could rejoyce and triumph in hope of this inheritance And shall I look upon it with so dim an eye So dull a heart So dejected a countenance some small foretastes also I have had my self though indeed small and seldome thorow mine own belief and how much more delightful have they been then ever was any of these earthly things The full enjoyment then will sure be sweet Remember then this bunch of Grapes which thou hast tasted of and by them conjecture the fruitfulness of the Land of Promise A Grape in a wilderness cannot be like the plentiful Vintage Consider also O my soul What a beauty is there in the imperfect Graces of the spirit here so great that they are called the Image of God and can any created exceellencie have a more honorable title Alas how small a part are these of what we shall enjoy in our perfect state O how pretious a mercy should I esteem it if God would but take off my bodily infirmities and restore me to any comfortable measure of health and strength that I might be able with cheerfulness to go through his work How pretious a mercy then will it be to have all