mercy he is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 1 Cor. 1.3 The Father of Mercies Ephes 2.4 Exod. 20.6 Psal 51.1 and the God of all consolation He is rich in mercy He hath mercy for thousands He hath a multitude of mercies It would aske much time to manifest this through the whole mine of sacred Scripture I will onely bound my speech within a few rich veynes of Ore in the Psalmes In the 59. Psalme you shall finde Gods preuenting mercy In the 23. his following mercy In the 40. Psalme his tender mercy In the 119. his reuiuing mercy In the 26. his redeeming mercy In the 6. Psalme his healing mercy In the 86. his confirming mercy In the 103. his crowning mercy If I should spend many houres in recompting the particular mercies of God and had that * That yeelded seauen Ecchoes Heptaphon of Olympus yea the tongue of men and Angels you might say vnto me vpon the close of my speech with the Queene of Sheba 1 Reg. 10. Thou hast not told vs the one halfe Behold so abundant are the mercies of our God and therefore poore sinners neede not come to this blessed fountaine like the people to the poole of Bethesda one at once but be they as many as the starres in the firmament or the sands on the sea-shore let them approch together to the Mercy-seate and they shall finde that God hath in readinesse a mercy for euery misery as it were a present salue for euery sore The Lord keepeth a continuall Iubilee his Court of Chancery standeth alwaies open his euer-flowing and ouer-flowing fountaine Zach. 13.1 is still set open for sinne and for vncleannesse Where the spirit and the Spouse say come Reuel 22.17 and let him that is a thirst come and let whosoeuer will come and take of the water of life freely Againe as Gods mercies are many in the discreete so are they great in the continued quantity Yea they are exceeding great 1 Sam. 24.14 Gods mercy as one saith well hath all the dimensions Psal 36.5 Thy mercy O God reacheth vnto the heauens there is the height of his mercy Psal 86.13 Great is thy mercy and thou hast deliuered my soule from the lowest hell there is the depth of his mercy Psal 104.24 The earth is full of thy goodnesse there is the breadth of his mercy Psal 98.4 All the ends of the world haue seene the saluation of our God there is the length of his mercy Yea the mercy of God is transcendent and beyond all dimension and no more possible to be comprehended by vs then the heauens to be compassed with our spanne Therefore when Saint Paul doth pray that the Ephesians may know the loue of Christ according to these dimensions he addeth which passeth knowledge Ephes 3.18.19 Though God be excellent in all his workes yet is his glory most eminent in his mercy His punishing rod is of Iuory Psal 2.9 Exod. 25.17 but his Mercy-seate of pure Gold Gods mercy must needes be great which extendeth it selfe in some sort euen to hell and to the damned Rom. 11.22 First in his patience towards the vessels of wrath waiting for their conuersion till he be pressed as it were a cart vnder sheaues Amos 2.13 Secondly in his indulgence in punishing a sinner For whereas ex se materiam sumit miserendi as Bernard saith He taketh occasion onely forth of his owne goodnesse to shew mercy yet no mans sinne is punished without his iust demerits Thirdly euen to the damned in hell there is a priuatiue mercy extended quoad intensionem wound except you will be like desperate Porus Iustin lib. 12. who would not suffer his wounds to be drest We reade in in the sixe and fortieth of Ezechiel that they which went into the Temple at one dore were commanded to goe forth at another It is no improbable coniecture that they might not turne their faces from the Mercy-seate That is an excellent speech of Augustines or rather Anselmes Aug. Medit. 38. Etsi Domine ego commisi vnde me damnare potes tu tamen non amisisti vnde me saluare potes O blessed Lord though I haue committed those transgressions for which thou maiest condemne me yet thou hast not lost those compassions by which thou maiest saue me Psal 130.1 Out of the deepe haue I called vnto thee O Lord saith Dauid Abyssus abyssum inuocat saith Bernard One deepe calleth vpon another O let the deepe of misery call vpon the deepe of mercy If your soules were in such a straight that you saw hell opening her mouth vpon you like the red Sea before the Israelites the damned spirits pursuing you behinde like the Aegyptians on the right hand and on the left a thousand dreads and dangers yet would I say vnto you in Moses words stand still Exod. 14. and behold the saluation of the Lord For he that putteth his trust in the Lord Psal 32.10 mercy imbraceth him on euery side This mercy of God is like the Sanctuary to the legall offendour like Mount Ararat to Noahs tossed Arke like Noahs hand to his weary Doue like Assuerus golden Scepter to the happy petitioner O come then and with Queene Hester touch the top of this Scepter so shall you be receiued with her into the Kings presence yea into the Kingdome of heauen where all your petitions shall be turned into gratulations your prayers into praises and your Elegies into Hallelujaes which mercy the God of all mercies grant vs euen for Iesus Christ his sake our alone Sauiour and Redeemer to whom with the Father and the holy Ghost three persons and one immortall God all honour power praise Maiestie and Dominion be rendred and ascribed by all the seruants of God in heauen and in earth this day and for euer Amen AMEN FINIS
into which they are infranchised There is that blessed society innumerable Angels Heb. 12.22 the spirits of iust and holy men and Iesus Christ the mediatour of the new couenant to whom they are ioyned There are those 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 1 Pet. 5.4 those thrones and crownes of glory that shall neuer fade Yea there the sonnes of God shall shine like the Sunne in the kingdome of their father In a word Mat. 13.43 from this Adoption it is that the children of God haue an interest in all the comforts and all the creatures that heauen and earth doe yeelde according to Saint Pauls epiphoneme whether it be Paul or Apollos or Cephus or the world or life or death 1 Cor. 3.23 or things present or things to come they are all yours because you are Christs and Christ is Gods Behold here the admirable and comfortable aduancement of Gods children And therein behold the blessed condition of the Peace-maker who is so estranged from the world that he doth not in some degree desire aduancement and who is so voide of iudgement that hee doth not preferre this honour before the greatest aduancement in the world Aug. in Psa 84. Habetis patrem habetis patriam habetis patrimonium saith Saint Austin If you be the sonnes of peace you are the children of God you haue a louing father a rich inheritance a goodly patrimonie When the Apostle Peter speakes of this he breakes forth into this vehement acclamation Blessed be God 1 Pet. 1.3 euen the father of our Lord Iesus Christ who hath begotten vs againe to an inheritance incorruptible and vndefiled that fadeth not away but is reserued for vs in the heauens Giue me leaue now to make some Application of what I haue deliuered and so I will finish this maine point And first I hope that this discourse hath not beene heard of you without comfort We hold it a great cause of ioy to be the children of Nobles and to be admitted into the fauour of Princes and surely they are great temporall blessings that men may lawfully reioyce in But let me say vnto you in our Sauiours words Reioyce not in this Luke 10.20 but rather reioyce because your names are written in heauen let it be your ioy that you are the children of God and in fauour with the King of Kings as the Apostle saith Reioyce in the Lord Phil. 4.4 and againe I say reioyce Againe are wee the children of God farre be it from vs to vnder-value the glorious inheritance of the Saints of God in life Farre be it from vs to dis-esteeme it like that carnall Cardinall Cardinall of Bourbon who said he would not giue his part in Paris for his part in Paradise Let vs not be like profane Esau who for the satisfying of his appetite lost his birth-right Heb. 12.16 But rather let vs say resolutely with Naboth 1 Reg. 21.3 God forbid that I should make away the inheritance of my fathers So God forbid that for all the vaine and transitory profits and pleasures vpon earth we should depriue our selues of those riuers of pleasures which the Saints of God doe enioy in heauen Bernard saith truely of the best things of this present life possessa onerant amata inquinant amissa cruciant The possession of them burdens vs the loue of them defiles vs and the losse of them vexes vs And the time will come when either the day of death or the day of iudgement shall swallow them all vp as the Ocean doth the riuers For the glory of this world passeth away like a shadow 1 Cor. 7.31 Againe are wee the children of God then let vs indeauour that our carriage and comportment may answere this dignity It becomes not the children of Nobles to be conuersant in base actions And how vnfit is it for the children of God to become like the Indian drudges to be taken vp with the corruptions of this euill world and to haue their affections in caeno when they should be in caelo Our Sauiour hath taught vs better in the fift of Matthew Let your light so shine before men Mat. 5.16 that they may see your good workes and glorifie your father which is in heauen To conclude Let vs as the Apostle Peter exhorts 2 Peter 1.10 Rom. 8.16 study to make our election sure by good workes Let vs get the euidence of our adoption sealed vp to our soules and consciences by the spirit of God Then let the earth totter and her pillars tremble vnder her let the sea roare euen to astonishment let the heauens burne to dissolution and the elements with vehement heate be consumed this our adoption shall be our comfort on earth and our crowne in heauen for euer more The third part The appropriation of this aduancement BVt what is this Adoption tyed onely to the ornament of Peace Surely no Gal 3.26 For Saint Paul saith You are all the sonnes of God by faith in Christ Iesus And Saint Austin in largeth the meanes Per gratiā per fidem per sacramentum per sanguinem Christi De verb. Dom. ser 63. saying We are the sonnes of God by grace by faith by the Sacrament by the blood of Christ Euery faithfull Christian is made one with Christ whereby he becomes the childe of God He hath the image of God stamped vpon him And as our natural birth makes vs the children of our earthly parents so our supernaturall and new birth makes vs the children of our heauenly father May not I then say of the Peace-maker as Saint Paul of the Iewes What is then the preferment of the Iew So Rom. 3.1 what is the aduantage and aduancement of the Peace-maker Yes and answer with him in the same place much euery way Though Iesse had eight sonnes yet was Dauid onely the Lords darling Though Christ had twelue Disciples yet was Iohn the Disciple whom Iesus loued Though all Iacobs children were deare vnto him yet was Bemamin the son of his right hand So may I say that howsoeuer all the faithfull are the children of God and consequently blessed yet the Peace-makers haue that honour in a more especial kinde because they doe in a more liuely manner resemble almighty God in that which is most excellent For as amongst the diuine attributes some of them are quoad nos more excellent then others as namely those of mercy and peace which are the sanctuarie to a distressed sinner so all those who doe in a more especiall manner come neerest to God in the same are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 by a kinde of eminency called the children of God For as Bernard saith Deus Deus pacis Bern. ergo pacifici filij Dei iure optimo vocantur God is the God of peace and therefore those who are Peace-makers are the children of God by especiall right Though the body of man consist of diuers humours yet the denomination of the
of wicked designes As when a man will runne on desperately and sinne euen because he will sinne small or no occasion mouing him thereunto For the lesse the occasion and temptation is the greater is the transgression This was a further circumstance which made Adams sinne so m Gen. 3.2 hainous that hauing free accesse to all the other trees in Paradise hee must needes taste of the forbidden fruite As it was vile in n 1 King 21.4 Ahab that hauing many goodly possessions of his owne hee must needes be sicke for Naboths vineyeard and it doth much aggrauate the offence when a rich man shall deale deceitefully in word in waight and measure Thus when a man is rather transported by his owne rebellious will then inforced by any vrgent necessity is rather caried forward by a prompt and peremptory inclination then by any violent and coactiue temptation this is to sinne willingly When Sathan no sooner tempts but the sinner as readily yeeldes as the etymon of the word imports 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Indulgeo When it is not by constraint but of a ready minde as Saint Peters opposition o 1 Pet. 5.2 doth manifest 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 So is the Apostles speech of sinning willingly here to be vnderstood Doe what we can whilst wee carry about this masse of corruption sin will haue her residence in vs but Saint Paul warnes that wee suffer it not to raigne in our mortall bodies that wee should obey it in the lusts p Rom. 6.12 thereof If it violently ouer-rule vs we must not willingly let it rule ouer vs If it compell like a tyrant wee must not let it command as a King Wee must sigh vnder the bondage and grone vnder the burthen of it like the Israelites vnder q Exod. 2.23 Pharaoh Wee must not say as those people professed to r Ios 1.16 Iosuah All that thou commandest vs wee will doe and whether thou sendest vs we will goe for if we doe it will command that which is dangerous and damnable and will send vs to hell for our hyre The wages of sinne is ſ Rom. 6.23 death we must all acknowledge with Saint Iohn 1. Epist 1. t 1. Iohn 1.8 If we say that we haue no sinne we deceiue our selues yet wee must take heede we be not such as hee speakes of in his third Chapter 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 u 1. Iohn 3.4 which settle and sell themselues to worke wickednesse For if such a one cannot be renued by repentance Non est excusatio infirmitatis sed culpa x Anselm in Heb. 6. voluntatis he can pleade no excuse of infirmity but must needes lay all the blame vpon the wils iniquity There are some as Salomon notes y Prou. 2.14 sic Tremel Which doe euen reioyce in doing euill and delight in peruerse courses Yea they cannot sleepe except they haue done z Prou. 4.16 euill but this reioycing is odious and this delight exceeding dangerous Lord how opposite are these men in their affections to our Sauiour Christ a Iohn 4.34 It was his meate and drinke to doe the will of God but it is their meate and drinke yea it lulls them a sleepe to doe the workes of the diuell What a malepert speech is that of Sauls Courtiers b Psal 12.4 Our tongues are our owne and we will talke they will because they will Stat pro ratione voluntas Yea they are ready to say with c Apud Sueton Iulius Caesar Caesar iacta est alea fall backe fall edge they are resolued to persist in their sinnes What a desperate resolution is that of wilfull wretches in the sixt of d Iere. 6.16 Ieremie Who being thus louingly exhorted and gratiously promised Walke in the good way and you shall finde rest to your soules doe answere as wickedly as peremptorily we will not walke therein Well may it be said of these men that they sinne willingly which so rashly forsake the way of saluation and so readily step into the path of condemnation Such resolute sinners were the Iewes whose stony hearts and flinty soules neither Christs teares could e Luke 19.40 mollifie nor his threatnings terrifie therefore is their habitation become desolate for euer Such resolute and dissolute sinners were the Sodomites who could not be restrained by Lots submisse f Gen. 19.7.8.11 petition his more then lawfull motion nor the Lords extraordinary affliction but still persisted obstinately till euen extreme wearinesse inforced them to leaue their wickednesse And what then could they else expect but that fire and brimstone from heauen should be their portions Hoc Deum maxime irritat This saith g Chrysost in Psal 108. Chrysostome dorh mightily prouoke God when men doe sinne with such a pre-meditation and setled resolution So saith Dauid in the eighteenth Psalme h Psal 18.26 With the pure thou wilt shew thy selfe pure but with the froward thou wilt wrestle for so the Hebrew word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is well translated by Tremelius Thus God will wrestle with the wicked not in mercy as he did with Iacob i Gen. 32. when hee supported him but in iudgement as Iacob did with Esau when he supplanted him If the sinner will be wilfull God will be as wilfull if froward God will be as froward If hee will wrestle with God in disobedience God will trip vp his heeles in vengeance and cast him downe with the rebellious spirits into the lowest hell As in the time of the Law there was no Sanctuarie for wilfull murtherers So was there neuer any Sanctuarie of mercie for wilfull sinners If a subiect shall be carried violently in a rebellion much compassion is to be shewed but he that runs voluntarily with the disloyall deserues to be seuerely punished so when a poore sinner can say with the Apostle I k Rom. 7.23 would not willingly doe that euill I doe It is the law of my members that rebels against the law of my minde and leades me captiue to the law of sinne hee may looke with comfort towards the mercy seate For l Hieron in Mat. 16. peccata non nocent si non placent sinne shall not hurt vs if it doe displease vs. But when it may be said to him as it is in the fiftieth Psalme Simulac vides furem As soone as thou seest a theefe thou runnest with him Yea when hee shall commit all vncleannesse with greedinesse m Ephes 4.14 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 euen couetously when his heart shall be as eagerly set vpon his wickednesse as the couetous mans on his wealth what can he hope for but that the gate of mercy should be shut against him Therefore is the Lord so resolute n Deut. 22.19 that if a man will goe confidently and wilfully on in his sinnes blessing himselfe and promising peace to his soule he will not be mercifull to him Yea he hath
expos Epist ad Rom. inchoat Origen c. Fathers besides those which haue already beene produced but I haste to that point which I haue euer affected and in the beginning promised and propounded namely the reconciling of diuersity in opinion It is a distinction of the u Gerson pars 2. compend Theo. log de septem vitijs capital Negatiuè Priuatiuè Contrariè Schoolemen a sinne may be called irremissible three manner of wayes negatiuely priuatiuely contrarily Negatiuely which can no way be pardoned as the sinnes of the reprobate Angels Priuatiuely when the sinne by congruence of merit deserues to be punished though by congruity of Gods mercy it may be pardoned of which nature is euery ordinary mortall sinne Contrarily when the sinne hath a disposition contrary to pardon and remission and such is the sinne against the holy Ghost For it doth directly resist and reiect the grace of God as Bellarmine confesseth x Directè resistet repudiet gratiam Dei Bell. de poenit lib 2. cap. 17. It hardneth the heart so that those which commit this sinne are vsually giuen ouer to a reprobate sense and forsaken of God as Iudas was so that they cannot repent as Anselme y Ita quod non possint poenitere Anselm in Mat. 12. affirmeth Yea it hardneth a mans heart like a stone so that he cannot be helped by the prayers of the Church as P. Lumbord z P. Lumb lib. 2. dist 43. b. reporteth Bonauenture a Bonauent in 2 sent dist 43. quaest 1. Potestatem dispositionem poenitentiae priuat Ibid. quaest 2 cals it a sinne to death because it taketh away the disposition of receiuing life which consisteth in the imbracing of repentance Yea if it be strictly taken and considered saith hee it depriueth men both of the power and disposition of repentance so that there is left neither inclination nor habilitie to repent And therefore as Catharinus b Cathar in Heb. 6. ◠Epist Ioh. doth acknowledge this sinne to be vnpardonable so doth Sixtus Quintus c Sixt. Quint. vbi supra and yeeldes the same reason that others doe saying By reason of mens impenitency this sinne becomes absolutely and simply vnpardonable And Gerson d Vbi supra saith that in this respect it can by no meanes be remitted Yea that finall impenitency doth certainely cleaue to this blasphemous Apostasie Dionysius plainely affirmeth e Dionys Hug. Card. in Mat. 12. and yeelds two reasons for it Yea Hugo Cardinalis giues eight reasons of this impossibilitie of pardon Stella f Nunquam de facto remittitur quanquam possit remitti Stella in Luk. 12. and Iansenius g Non negat remissionis possibilitatem sed euentum Iansen Concord Cap. 49. indeede being willing to say as much as they can for the power and possibilitie of pardon for this sinne are constrained to confesse that actually and indeede it is neuer remitted although there be some possibilitie that it may be remitted Alas that is a poore possibility that is neuer reduced into act Such possibilities are but idle Chimeraes euen ridiculous conceits There is a similitude vsed by diuers yea by some who seeme to contradict the vnpardonablenesse of this sinne which similitude doth indeede expresse it with the reason and manner of it and it is this As the man which is sicke h Ludolph de vita Christi par 1. cap. 73. Bonauent in 2. sent distin 43. quaest 2. Gerson vbi supr Greg. de Valent. disp lib. 1. qu. 4. punct 3. Bellarm. de poen lib. 2. cap. 17. if he be in that case that he can neither take foode nor Physicke may rightly be said to be vncurable so he that is infected with the sicknesse of this sinne being through his impenitencie vncapable of Gods mercy and Christs merits may truely be said to be vnpardonable The medicine and meanes of recouery is neither weake nor wanting to him that hath grace to apply it but he that wants this grace is wanting to himselfe God doth not worke alwaies to the vttermost extent of his mighty power i Phil. 3.21 whereby he is able to subdue all things to himselfe but distributeth or denyeth to euery man so as seemes best to his diuine wisdome and workes as it is in the Philosophicall Axiome according to the capacitie of the patient making men desirous of saluation where hee doth grant it and capable of grace where he doth impart it In which sense it is said our Sauiour could not doe many workes amongst his Countrimen because of their vnbeliefe Marke 6.5 T is true as Chrysostome saith k Chrys in Gen. Hom. 19. there is no sinne so great that it can ouercome Gods mercy if we repent and aske pardon in due time but if a man haue no power to repent then God hath no will to pardon The Lords hand is not shortened that he cannot helpe but mans heart is hardened that he cannot repent and this makes the sinne vnpardonable so that the question is not of Gods power and mans will but of mans power and Gods will There is no man that hath more iudiciously decided this controuersie then l Beda in Mar. 3 Beda and m Ludolph de vita Christi par 1. cap. 73. Ludolphus with whose words being consonant to the truth and concluding what I haue at large deliuered I will conclude The spirit of blasphemie shall not be forgiuen a man Sicut nunquam ad remissionem ita nunquam ad poenitentiam peruenturus est not because remission is denied him if he repent but because that such a blasphemer through his iust desert as he can neuer obtaine remission so can he neuer come to repentance And so much for the searching of the wound The third part The binding vp the WOVND IT remaineth now in the third and last place that I binde vp the wound with Application not with hope to cure it which if I should promise I might be like those Lawyers who for their fees doe vndertake mens causes though they know them to bee vnconscionable and those Phisitians and Surgeons who take in hand the cure of those patients whose sores and sicknesse they know be incurable I may say of this sinne as Ieremie saith of Babylon n Ier. 51.9 We would haue cured Babylon but she could not be cured forsake her and let vs goe euery one into his owne Countrey This sinne cannot possibly be cured therefore let euery one in the feare of God haue care that he may auoide it The Apostle speaking of this sinne to the Hebrewes saith o Heb. 6.9 Confidemus de vobis meliora delectissimi and so doe I say to you beloued I hope better things of you all and such as belong to saluation For were your hearts possest with this sinne you could haue small delight in this sacred assembly and holy exercise Now although there be no place of application for cure yet is there
reproued the delinquents and reformed the abuse comes with a new Petition to the Lord of the Sabbath saying Remember me O my God concerning this and pardon me according to thy great mercy Of whose speeches I may fitly vse Bernards words concerning Saint Paul Sic vniuersa depromit Super illa verba Rom. 14.17 Serm 2. sic intonat spiritu virtute vt in serie ordinem in sensu plenitudinem in vtroque connexionem mirabiliter extendat In such a powerfull and pithy manner doth he vtter his words that you may behold in his method order in his matter copie and in both an admirable connexion Which that wee may the better obserue we will consider the words 1. First in their excellent connexion and therein I note 1. A notable harmony 2. A naturall precedency 2. According to their euident distribution therein I obserue a double petition 1. The one put vp in the Lords Court of Exchequer Remember me O my God concerning this Wherin I note 1. The subiect What he doth desire Remember me 2. The obiect of whom he doth desire it O my God 3. The motiue why he doth desire it Concerning this 2. The other in the Court of Requests Pardon mee according to thy great mercy Where I note 1 The matter hee desires to be granted Pardon me 2 The manner how hee desires to haue it effected According to thy great mercie The Harmonie AS skilfull Physitians doe so commixe their medicines that whilst they comfort the stomacke they may not inflame the Liuer And as good builders will haue care that in raising one part of the house they doe not cast downe another so doth worthy Nehemiah a singular patterne of piety and wisedome in these his Petitions For whilest he prepareth a cordiall anodyne Remember me O my God concerning this least the same might puffe him vp hee mixeth with it this corroding plaster Pardon me according to thy great mercy Whilest he raiseth the Fort of his confidence in the expectation of a blessed reward he laies the foundation thereof vpon an humble conceit Thus must we vnite our vertues in a golden chaine 2 Pet. 1.5 as Saint Peter exhorteth and see that our actions doe symbolize like the elements in compounded bodies as the Phylosopher speaketh I may truely say of these two Petitions that here is in them concordia discors Yet like different ingrediences they make a soueraigne medicine like discordant notes in Musicke they yeelde an excellent harmony and consort with Dauids ditty in the hundreth and first Psalme Psal 101.1 I will sing of mercy and iudgement to thee O Lord will I sing For here is a straine of mercy and a straine of iudgement and both sung to the Lord. To come with the first straine alone Remember mee would suppose too much presumption to come with the other onely Pardon mee might argue a totall neglect of a Christian conuersation but being both vnited they are like sweete flowers bound vp together and yeelde a delicate smell they are like the present carried by Iacobs Sonnes into Aegypt Gen. 43.11 they finde gracious acceptance Meâ—â—re in danger saith Saint Augustine sperando Aug. Tract 33. in Iohan. desperando Some fall by presumption and some are cast downe by desperation but here is a preseruatiue against both that Scylla and Charybdis It is Sathans vsuall practise hauing himselfe passed through great extreames as being cast down from heauen to hell and changed from a glorious Angell to a damned spirit still to be labouring men to extreames Zeph. 1.12 If hee cannot make them frozen in their dregges like the Israelites hee will seeke to possesse them with too fierie spirits as he did the Disciples Luke 9.54 hee will either seduce men by precisenesse euen to needelesse contention or induce them to prophanenesse in a wicked conuersation either worke them to loose behauior with the filthy Libertine or to vaine ostentation with the vaunting Pharisee But there is a golden meane to be kept betweene these extreames and happy is hee who with worthy Nehemiah can finde it He that will saile safely must aswell looke to the balase of his Ship as to his sailes Faith and Hope are the sayles Feare and Reuerence the balase of the soule Faith hoiseth vp saile and maketh forth for the prize and price of the high calling Phil. 3.14 calling for her reward Remember me O my God concerning this Feare and Reuerence doe moderate her pace lest she dash against the rockes of presumption and cryeth Pardon me according to thy great mercy Thus shall you see all Gods seruants sayling towards the hauen of eternall blisse of whom Saint Paul is a notable president Rom. 7.25 In my minde I serue the law of God but in my flesh the law of sinne In my minde I serue the law of God here commeth in Remember me O my God concerning this But in my flesh the law of sinne here commeth in Pardon me according to thy great mercy As the vnregenerate man being totally transported to vanitie and iniquitie hath nothing to say but onely pardon me so the most sanctified seruants of God so long as they carry about this masse of corruption hauing a double motion like the lower spheares the one of grace the other of nature as they haue some thing to aske reward for so haue they something to craue pardon for If therefore at any time your mindes be deiected with a sence of your frailties get the testimony of a good conscience that you haue seriously and sincerely inclined your selues to the seruice of God so may you say with comfort Remember me O my God concerning this and if with the Swanne you begin to swell in viewing the feathers of your imperfect perfections cast downe your eyes vpon the blacke feete of your many infirmities and that shall make you say in humilitie Pardon me according to thy great mercy This if you be the Lords seruants will be the mixture of your actions this if you come into the Lords Court must be the tenour of your Petitions The Precedencie AGaine as these Petitions doe yeeld an excellent harmony so must we note their natural Precedency First Remember me then pardon me For euery one should indeuour a restraint of sinne before the remedy and propound to himselfe a reward of piety before a pardon for infirmitie We must first affect by our desires and effect by our indeuours that which may imbolden vs to say Remember me O my God concerning this and then wherein our fraile indeauours come too short of the marke we may opportunely supplicate the eternall Maiestie with the Petition following Pardon me according to thy great mercie This is Saint Iohns method for holy conuersation My little Babes 1 Ioh. 2.1 these things I write vnto you that you sinne not but if any man sinne we haue an Aduocate Iesus Christ the righteous Here the first and fundamentall care of a Christian
some good O what a blessed houre shall that be wherein your soules shall expire with Hezekias words I beseech thee O Lord Esay 38.3 remember how I haue walked before thee in truth and with a perfect heart and haue done that which is good in thy sight Then may you say with Deborah Iudg. 5.21 O my soule thou hast marched valiantly Yea then may you say with Dauid Psal 116.7 returne vnto thy rest O my soule for the Lord hath rewarded thee Death is the worlds strict doore-keeper and will see that as you brought nothing into the world 1 Tim. 6.7 so you shall carry forth nothing againe Yet can he not hinder you from that happinesse which the Oracle of heauen hath proclaimed Reuel 14.13 Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord they rest from their labours and their workes follow them Consider I beseech you that onely your good workes will be your companions to heauen They shall be your honour in life your comfort in death and your crowne at the last Resurrection And so much for the first Petition The second Petition 1. The matter of it PLutarch and diuers other Historians report of Manlius Torquatus that when his sonne Manlius Plutarch in vita Quint. Faebij Max. contrary to his Edict had valiantly encountred and slaine an enemie he first crowned him for his valour and then beheaded him for his disobedience So standeth the case betweene God and vs whilest he seeth something in vs which may be rewarded he findeth something also which deserueth to be punished As Saint Augustine saith Aug. in psal 100 Nisi Deus per misericordiam parceret non inueniret quos per iustitiam coronaret Except God should spare vs in mercy he should finde none whom he might crowne in iustice This maketh Nehemiah when he hath cryed out Remember me O my God concerning this to adde this next Petition And pardon mee according to thy great mercy Desiring not to be Rewarded with young Manlius in strictnesse of iustice but as Dauid prayeth Psal 103.4 to be crowned with mercy and louing kindnesse If thou dost well shalt thou not be accepted Genes 4.7 saith the Lord to Kain Or as Tremelius translateth it Nònne erit remissio shalt thou not be pardoned The Hebrew word yeeldeth both significations 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the present text doth challenge both For Gods Remission and his Remuneration like Mercy and Truth must meete together Psal 85.10 like Righteousnesse and Peace they must kisse each other According to that of Ambrose Ambros lib. 7. in Luc. Arbiter omnium dedit pietati praemium infirmitati remedium The Iudge of all the world hath prouided both a reward for piety and a remedy for infirmity Thus Daniel commeth into the Lords Court where hauing deepely deplored the Israelites misery and earnestly implored the Lords mercy hee knitteth vp his Petition in this manner Dan 9.18 We doe not present our supplications before thee O God for our owne righteousnesse but for thy great tender mercies Thus Iob dareth not stand to his tryall at the barre of Gods Iustice Iob 9.15 but will call for a Psalme of mercy and will supplicate his iudge Infinite are the places throughout the passages of sacred Scripture where the most sanctified seruants of God doe confesse their infirmities disclaime their merits and appeale to Gods mercies and reason For as S. Augustine saith Woe to the most laudable life of men if it be examined in strictnesse of iustice Suppose beloued we be not conscious to our selues of any grosse sinnes that wee haue neyther the crying sinnes of the Sodomites Genes 18. nor the crimson sinnes of the Israelites Esa 1. Act. 8. nor the bitter sinnes of Simon Magus Yet alas many are the infirmities of our soules many the deformities of our liues yea many are our secret sinnes In our best actions we scatter many imperfections and still we faile eyther in the end the matter or manner or measure of our obedience So that if our best actions should come to a strict tryall Lord how ignorant would our knowledge be found How froward our patience How superficiall our Repentance How proud our Humility How wauering our Hope How fraile our Faith How cruell our Mercies Wee may well say with Dauid Psal 130.3 If thou O Lord be extreame to marke what is done amisse who can be able to stand Vtique illud quis nullus est Chrys in ps 130. saith Chrysostome Surely that who is no body at all Iob indeede in the vehemency of passion desireth to dispute his case with God Iob. 23.4 but vpon cold blood God biddeth him gyrd vp his loynes and arme himselfe with arguments Iob. 40.2 For he knoweth that Iob is not able to answere one of a thousand but must come into the Lords Court of Requests with this Petition Pardon me according to thy great mercy Pardon me The Hebrew word Vecusah being deriued of Casah 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to hide doth very well expresse the manner and nature of our pardon For according to the vse of the word in the sacred Scriptures it may haue reference eyther to Gods eye or his Act His Eye and then it noteth his conniuence like that in the seauenteenth of the Acts. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Act. 17.30 God winked at His Act and then it implyeth the couering of our sinnes with the mantle of Christs merits Psal 32.1 and both import an absolute pardon without relation to merit punishment or satisfaction and indeede it is as oposite to them as the two tropicks are to another as contrary as Fire is to Water This Pardon is expressed in the Scripture with great variety of the like phrases Sometime God is said to passe by our sinnes Amos 8. To put them away Esa 44. To cast them into the Sea Mich. 7. To forget them Ierem. 31. Not to mention them Ezech 18. To wash them away Psalm 51. To cast them behinde his backe Esay 38. To couer them Psal 32. and to pardon them as it is here and in many other places Thus God passeth by our sinnes as though he saw them not Putteth them away that they hurt vs not Casteth them into the Sea that they drowne vs not Forgetteth them so that hee punisheth them not Doth not mention them as though they were not washeth them away that they defile vs not Casteth them behinde his backe as though hee regarded them not Couers them that they appeare not and pardons them that they condemne vs not Behold here an absolute pardon for our singular consolation and the Papists extreme confusion For they depend vpon a ridiculous pardon of the sinne with reseruation of the punishment wherein they would make God an hypocrite like themselues with their mentall reseruation To whom I may say in Daniels words to Nebuchadnezzar Dan. 4.16 Let the
dreame be to them that hate thee and the interpretation thereof to thine enemies so let this pardon be to all trecherous and incendiary Papists and the reseruation of punishment to them who are enemies to the grace of God and our gracious Soueraigne Miserable O miserable were our condition if our pardon were not absolute For as one bad humour left vnpurged may be the death of the body one small cranny vnstopped may be the drowning of the shippe so the least sinne vnpardoned must needes be the death and drowning both of soule and body in the lake that burneth with fire and brimstone for euer But blessed be God Colos 2.14 we know that Christ Iesus hath fully satisfied the iustice of God Reuel 1.5 cancelled the bond of our debts and washed vs in his precious blood Hee was condemned that we might be iustified hee was punished that we might be pardoned Bern. in Cant. Serm. 22. Non gutta sed vnda sanguina largitèr per quinque partes corporis emanauit as Bernard saith There flowed out of fiue parts of his body not droppes but euen streames of blood that with him might be plenteous redemption and he might redeeme Israel from all his sinnes Auant therefore to the Merchants of Rome with their stained Merits their super-arrogant workes of supererogation their blasphemous satisfactions to God What needeth there a miserere where there is a mereri What neede is there of mercy where there is merit A man may fitly say of these men as Bernard speaketh of the boasting Pharisee Bern Annunci Domini Serm. 3. Nimirum plenus est nec habet in eo gratia Dei locum surely these men are so full of their merits that they haue no roome for Gods mercy Againe how miserable is the condition of those men who doe daily run through as many grosse sins as there are signes in the Zodiacke yet haue no power to finde remorse or seeke for remission and those who in stead of this humble Petition Pardon me according to thy great mercy do take vp Kaines desperate complaint My Sinne is greater then can be pardoned Farre Gene. 4.13 O farre be it from vs thus to abuse Gods mercy Let vs be truely penitent for our sinnes and then let vs put vp our Petition and craue pardon for the same yea let vs neuer be quiet till wee haue our quietus est Psal 39.8 euen a generall acquittance for all our transgressions And here againe I must briefly aduertise you that you must resume the former compellation to this Petition Pardon me O my God It is odious to God and dangerous to men to seeke for Romish indulgences it is impious to thinke that wee may appeale from God to the Virgin Mary for mercy Bernardino de Busto It is blasphemous to affirme that Christ hath imparted to his Mother the disposing of mercy and reserued to himselfe onely the dispensing of Iustice Gabriel Biel in Canone Missae as certaine Papists teach Hee that rewardeth vs must also pardon vs according to that of Esay Esa 43.25 I euen I doe put away doe put away thy iniquities Here that I so redoubled is emphaticall and exclusiue as it is in the eleuenth Verse I euen I am the Lord. I euen I as if he should say I and none but I. We indeede by preaching of the word may draw your pardons but God in mercy must grant them and by his spirit must seale them 2 Sam. 12.13 according to Nathans words Dominus transtulit the Lord hath put away thy sinne Giue me leaue in a word or two to passe from the act to the person Pardon me Me here the comfort is more ample and excellent in the originall then in our translation and no maruaile for no translation can keepe a proportion quoad pondus with the originall the Hebrew which we translate me 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is gnalai vpon me or ouer me as if hee should say let thy pardon protect me and let thy mercy be spred ouer me like the glorious Canopie of heauen Let it be like the clowdie pillar which was as a vaile and couering to the children of Israel So that Nehemiah craueth here a protecting Pardon both a protection and a Pardon and the Lord granteth them both in one Patent It is like Dauids wordes in the fift Psalme For thou Lord wilt blesse the righteous Psal 5.13 and with fauour wilt compasse him as with a shield Here also the Hebrew fountaine runnes fuller of diuine comfort then the English streame for the Hebrew word signifieth to compasse with a crowne 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Thus with Gods pardon there goeth his protection with this protection his crowne and benediction all these comforts doe flowe from the fountaine of his mercy as it followeth Pardon me according to thy great mercy The manner VVHen I come to speake of the mercy of God I enter into a Labyrinth without end and diue into an Ocean without bottome It fareth with mee as with the traueller who hath farre to goe and little time to spend but let mee craue your patience and I will hast to the end of my iourney The word Kesed here translated mercy plus est quam 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 S. Pagn è Rab. Kimchi saith a learned Linguist it is more then naturall loue which you know runneth with a strong current Therefore when you heare of Gods tender mercies thinke vpon the affection of a tender hearted mother and remember yet that the mercy of God doth as farre surmount the same as the resplendent Sunne exceedeth the little sparke of fire in brightnesse No man hath seene God at any time yet hath he manifested himselfe vnto vs by his Sonne incarnate Bern. in Cant. Serm. 61. Per cuius vulnera patebant viscera through whose side wounded with the speare you might behold the bowels of compassion wounded with loue Gods mercy seldome goeth alone but vsually it hath some epithet annexed to it as here it is called his great mercy Rab quantitatis qualitatis est say the Hebrews 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 so that it comprehendeth all whatsoeuer hath excellency in quality or amplitude in quantity 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 It is Kerob casdeka secundum multitudinem according to thy many mercies as diuers doe translate it or secundum magnitudinem according to thy great mercy as here we reade it and neither amisse For as the Hebrew word so Gods mercy haue both the discreete and continued quantity When Iacob had got the blessing of Isaack as we reade Genes 27. Esau said to his Father in the anguish of spirit Hast thou but one blessing blesse me euen me also my Father Yet the good old man though an indulgent father had but one that was worthy the name of a blessing But happy are wee our heauenly Father is not so penurious He hath more then one