Selected quad for the lemma: mercy_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
mercy_n	death_n	lord_n	sinner_n	2,648	5	7.4070	4	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A00831	A very fruitfull exposition of the Commaundements by way of questions and answeres for greater plainnesse together with an application of euery one to the soule and conscience of man, profitable for all, and especially for them that (beeing not otherwise furnished) are yet desirous both to see themselues, and to deliuer to others some larger speech of euery point that is but briefly named in the shorter catechismes. By Geruase Babington.	Babington, Gervase, 1550-1610.	1583 (1583)	STC 1095; ESTC S108401	209,221	568

déede but ●ead blotted out and quite extingui●hed Sée nowe howe guiltie I am e●en of the first thing that is commaun●ed mee in this commaundement The seconde thing is that I should ●eare thée aboue all the thirde is Feare of God ●hat I should pray to none but to thée ●he fourth to acknowledge thee the ●uider and gouernour of all thinges ●f whome I receiue all the benefites ●hat I haue and therefore that I trust ●nd stay vpon thée alone Fiftly that 〈◊〉 should labour to knowe thée out of ●hy worde so fully and perfectly as ●hou hast reuealed thy selfe therein ●ecause of knowledge all these other ●●llowe And lastlie that I should for ●ll benefites giue thankes onely to ●●ee and in such full manner and ●easure of féeling as any way is due to that blessing which I receiue In which points as in other moe which might yet be named O merciful father I here before thée confesse I am no better than in the first I dare not cleare my selfe I cannot I ought not O Lord giue me eyes to sée my wants for I haue feared men and their threates more than I ought I haue feared the losse of their fauour more than I ought I haue feared the losse of worldely commodities more than I ought and haue not as thy blessed Apostle taught me by this example Philipp 3. accounted those thinges that were vantage vnto me losse very doung for the excellent knowledge sake of Iesus Christ my Lorde Sometimes Satan hath rocked this soule of mine in the chayer of securitie that I haue euen slept as it were a dead sléepe and not considered of thy iudgements against sinne as I ought neyther taken the profite by thy extraordinary works in the ayer in the earth in the bodies of men and beasts that I should but passed them ouer with a litle woonder or motion for a short time When my sinnes haue béene touched or appeared vnto me I haue flattered my ●wne soule and put vpon them honest ●ames as clokes to hide them withal The plaine pride of my heart and mere ●anitie I haue iudged clenlinesse or necessary for my estate Miserable coue●ousnesse haue I iudged lawful care for ●hings necessary and so forth a manifest token of a dead heart within and ●oide of tasting any horror in sinne By ●ll which and many more thinges that my minde may easily sée it is apparant ●o me that I haue euen broken this ●oint also of thy Lawe in not fearing ●hee so as I ought Alas Lorde what ●hall I say of the rest of the braunches ●f this commandement named euen nowe Am I any perfecter in them ●han in these No no I haue sinned against thée in them all and that most grieuously so that if there were no mo ●f thy commandements but euen this ●ne the first of al yet doth my conscience ●ell me I am before thée guiltie good Lorde most fearefully to bee touched But there are nine moe spreading out their braunches to all sinceritie and holinesse both in bodie and minde toward God and man with threatened cu●●es to all flesh that shall doe contrarie And therefore when I viewe my cou●se euen at the first to bee so crooked O deare Father what shall I thinke i● 〈◊〉 appeare when I shall bee iudged in them all Shall I boast of merites and kéepe no fyttle of thy commaundementes Shall I challenge saluation for my workes and euerie braunche of thy lawe doeth call mee cursed because I haue so fowlie and often broken the same No good Father no this little viewe of my obedience to thy hestes doeth plainely tell mee I haue no merites or good workes to come before thée withall much lesse am I able to doe workes of supererogation that is more than I neede to doe but of sinnes and euill workes alas I see a number With Dauid may I crie Psal 34. They are more than the haires of my ●eade and my heart hath failed mee I ●ay truely saye with the prodigall Sonne I haue sinned against heauen ●nd against thee and I am not worthie 〈◊〉 bee called thy childe I may say ●ith the Publican God bee mercifull 〈◊〉 mee a sinner and adde thereunto a ●reat and grieuous sinner I may say ●ith Ieremie O Lorde though mine ●●iquities testifie against mee yet deale ●hou with mee according to thy name ●or my rebellions are many And with 〈◊〉 I haue sinned Iob. 7. what shall I doe to ●●ee O thou preseruer of men Yea ●ell may I say I lye downe in my con●●sion and my shame couereth mee ●or I haue sinned against the Lorde my GOD from my youth vp tyll this ●ay and haue not obeyed his voyce ●o conclude I may looke about mee ●nd from a wounded soule crie vnto ●●ose that can giue mée counsell In re●●ect of my sinnes men brethren what ●●all I do And sée how neuer the Lord ●●rsaketh those that want his helpe aide ●oe I not euen nowe remember what he aduiseth me and all sinners in my case to doe Prou. 28. Hee that hideth his sinne saith the Lorde by Salomon shall not prosper but he that confesseth his sinne and forsaketh it shall haue mercie And sée in Dauid the proofe and tryall of it For when I helde my tongue saith hee my bones consumed Psal 32. or when I roared all the day For thy hande is heauie vpon me daie and night and my moysture is turned into the drought of sum●mer Then I acknowledged my sin vn●to thee neither hid I mine iniquitie For I said I wil confesse against my selfe and thou forgauest the punishment o● my sinne Therefore O Lorde I hearken to thy counsell and though I ha●● sinned aboue the number of the sand o● the sea as plainely I sée I haue if I 〈◊〉 charged with euery branch of thy com●maundements how I haue kept them though my transgressions be multipli●ed and are excéeding many so that I am not worthie to beholde the heigh● of heauen for the multitude of m● vnrighteousnesse yea I say thoug●● I haue prouoked thy wrath and doone euill before thee and not kept any ●ot of thy commaundementes so fully as I ought yet knowing Thou desirest ●he death of no sinner but rather that he should repent and be saued and hast ●hewed the trueth thereof in forgiuing Dauid and manie mo confessing truely ●heir sinnes before thee Therefore O good Lorde and sweete refuge full of mercie pitie and compassion I bow the ●nees of my heart with king Manasses ●nd all sorrowfull sinners and begge ●hy mercie I haue sinned O Lord I ●aue sinned and I acknowledge my ●ransgressions but I humbly beseech ●hee forgiue me O Lorde forgiue me ●nd destroy me not as I haue deserued ●e not angrie with me for euer by re●eruing to me euil neither condemne ●e into the lower partes of the earth For thou art the God euen the God of ●ll them that repent and on me thou ●●ilt shewe mercie My sorrowe good

should we escape and yet God be iust too It is euen the wisedome we extoll in others and that we striue continually to attaine vnto our selues to haue neither ●rue eie true heart nor true tongue but onely to séeme to haue all to euerie one whose worde wealth or authoritie may gaine vs anie thing in this cursed worlde And so man is our strength our pollicie is our GOD flesh is our arme and what Paul so reioyceth in we laugh at as vile and too sily simplicitie Dauid assureth himselfe the Lorde will defende them that are true of heart Psalm 7.11 Psalm 32.11 Psalm 36.10 Psalm 64.10 we verily thinke if we be true of heart wee cannot nor shall not be able to liue in the worlde we must Critisare cum cretensibus that is we must smooth it and sooth it and carie two faces vnder one hoode or else wee are not so wise as we might be Thus sinne we I am sure of it some more and some lesse and the reward of the least sinne is eternall death But it is the Lordes great mercie to moue vs from anie sinne For dull are our heartes to feare any iudgement till it be vpon vs. 1. Iohn 1.7 And therefore to him I commende vs to open our eies that we may euen earnestly sée and consider effectually howe impossible anie feloweshippe is euer to be had for me holowe subtill guilefull hypocriticall and s● foorth with a God all trueth sinceritie simplicitie and open assured faithfulne●● it selfe For the seconde which was telling of tales wee haue heard it before shewed and our owne knowledge doth assure vs it is a branch of the breach of this commandement which shall burne both bodie and soule in the fire of hell And yet sée do we feare it or flie it Alas we knowe I am sure of it we haue béene too too secure in this point and our securitie not séeing and weighing the wickednesse of the vice hath stayned both heart and tongue horriblie Looke about the worlde and veiwe the generall course of all Feareth anie man to discredite his neighbour priuily and to whisper vpon hearesay or his owne imagination what tendeth to the blemish of his name whom he speaketh of Feareth any woman when shee hath mette with her gossippe to tittle tattle to the slander of an other this thing and that thing which yet hath no certaintie and which full both she would haue saide of her selfe vpon like coniectures No ●o we sée to much the cursed course of lawlesse tongues in euerie place though the Lorde in mercie giueth some consciences and a thousande times I begge that we would sée our sinne confesse our sinne and rippe vp our guilt in this respect Why should wee be so dull and without féeling If it be a vertue thus to prittle and prattle of euerie bodie vncertaine tales but most certaine discredites then prooue it so and vse it but if it bee a branch of false witnesse that doth truly witnesse gods wrath to hang ouer vs for it good Lorde shall we still be polluted with it Shall hell haue vs without anie helpe Will not the dread of dolefull day strike such a filthie fault into the waning and by litle and litle cut quite the throte of it and make it bléede to death in vs I hope the best and I wish the best the Lorde in his mercie set a watch before our mouthes and kéepe the dore of our lippes for euer hereafter Next commeth hearing and beléeuing to be considered of faultes in necessitie also if telling false tales hath before béene iustly blamed For there is nothing that so nurceth and nourisheth vp a tale teller as doth the credulous heart and attending willing eare of the hearer And therefore if the one be a vice the other certainely is no vertue Nowe howe guiltie are we in this againe howe stayned howe blotted before our blemishlesse God if he shoulde enter into iudgement with vs For Christ his sake let vs weigh it let vs viewe it and euen earnestly thinke of it and fearing to be damned let vs feare to sléepe soundly in the sinne that ●eadeth to damnation We doe not discountenance the whispering carper we doe not eschewe the reportes of péeuish pratlers but we itch to heare and take pleasure in hearing what true charitie in our heartes towardes our brother ●hould make vs abhorre to heare and wéepe to haue it true And for beléeuing marke and consider if you dwell amongest neighbours whether you haue ●ot gréeuously offended towarde many ●f them in this respect Howe haue you ●uffered a false tongue to fire your ●eartes with beléefe of your neighbour ●hat could neuer yet bee extinguished ●●nce you heard it and yet you doe not ●nowe it Alas is this charitie which who so wanteth wanteth God Is this to loue thy neighbor as thy selfe When full sore it offendeth mee that any man should credite a surmise of me if it be not true O eies O heartes where is their sight and féeling What loue can my neighbour beare me or with what heart can a seruant serue me when he séeth whisperers still about me and findeth my nature so credulous of them as that all his faith and trueth all his traueile and labour all his affection and loue were it neuer so sincere and vpright and euen flowing from the rootes of his heart and the verie bottome of his soule yet is in hazarde euerie houre of vniust condemnation of vnkinde regarde and most vndeserued reproofe Truely as I haue said before it is the verie tried cutthrote of all amitie friendshippe or faithfull louing seruice to haue a listening eare and a credulous heart without maruelous good discretion And I am most assured o● it there is no plague nor infection gréeuous in the worlde comparable to this poyson in estranging alienating and in the end quite driuing awaie from me those heartes that were mine owne with bodie and all worldly abilitie in trueth in honestie in alleadgeance in God in Christ and in all good meaning to the death Who loueth for gaine and serueth for hire he is a slaue to the thing that he gapeth for and to make vp his mouth he will carie any thing but to whome loue is gaine and due regarde of his poore true heart an abundaunt rewarde the deniall of it discourageth his meaning grindeth his soule in sunder and raketh him vp in dust by vntimely death And therefore since it offendeth God hurteth our brother and verie greatly indamageth our selues O that we would sée it consider it and as God by grace shall strengthen our fraile natures scoule vppon the spéeche that practiseth manies harme and couenant with our heartes to knowe before wee credite so would God blesse vs manie report well of vs and true hearts of neighbour friende seruant or whosoeuer neuer leaue vs. Passing then on in this examination further wee may not forgette the publishing of our brethrens priuate offences a displeasing thing vnto the Lorde