Selected quad for the lemma: mercy_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
mercy_n	despair_n	promise_n	undervalue_v	88	3	15.6859	5	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A51443	The preachers tripartite in three books. The first to raise devotion in divine meditations upon Psalm XXV : the second to administer comfort by conference with the soul, in particular cases of conscience : the third to establish truth and peace, in several sermons agianst the present heresies and schisms / by R. Mossom ...	Mossom, Robert, d. 1679.	1657 (1657)	Wing M2866; ESTC R32966	363,207	375

on when all temporal supplies fail and all humane help is gone then does the religious heart see a fulness and allsufficiencie in its God 2 Cor 3.5 9.8 To put our trust in God is an act and exercise of faith whereby we take our souls off from all carnal and worldly props and devolve them upon God through Christ to obtain present support and future salvation And we thus devolve our souls upon God through Christ in his Word of promise and in his Works of providence 1 In his Word of promise without which neither the goodness of God nor the fulness of Christ would administer firm rest and solid comfort to the soul of man for that we can no further extend our faith then God reveals his will nor draw our line of hope beyond his rule of promise 2 Cor. 1.20 § 9. Now the sure foundation of all the promises is the love of God in Christ So that in their nature they are free and gracious in their vertue quickening and purifying in their value rich and precious Yea the all-glorious Majesty in a gracious condescendment of mercy hath obliged himself unto his creature He hath past his word not only promissory but also federal He hath made his word a word of promise his promise the promise of a covenant his covenant a covenant confirmed by oath that oath and covenant sealed with blood even the blood of the Lamb yea of the Son of God and that word promise covenant oath blood and all we have confirmed yea sealed over again in the blessed Sacrament And wherefore is all this but that with David we may with the greater confidence of faith put our trust in him 2 His works of providence Jer. 23.24 in which he is powerfully present by an immediate and intimate operation at all times and in all places with all things § 10. For that God does not do with the World as the Workman with a Watch that is when by the divine art of his all-powerful hand he hath finished each wheel and fitted each part then to winde it up by a Law of Nature and set it by him to observe how the time spends how the ages pass no Gods providence is not a bare and naked view but an actual and efficacious administration so that rather he does with the World as David with his Harp when artificially made and accurately strung he tunes the Creatures as so many strings unto an unisone consent of divine harmony by an obediential power to his holy will And then by his hand of providence he strikes each string in its due place whereby it hath a particular Note in the universal Melody of the Worlds Hallelujah Ps 103.22 § 11. Now our trust in God as to his works of providence is an act of faith eyeing that infinite power and wisdom whereby he preserves and governs all things in order to his glorious mercy and justice And hence it is that no extremity of danger or of distress can nonplus the Saints faith in establishing their trust because they know nothing can pose Gods wisdom Jer. 32.17 27. or puzzle his power to accomplish their deliverance for that either by an absolute power he can create succors out of nothing or by a wonderful wisdom of his providence he can bring light out of darkness Isa 45.5.7 comforts out of discomforts life out of death salvation out of destruction As in the Red sea he can make the swelling waves a fencing wall Exod. 14.22 and the swallowing Deep a Champian plain In the fiery furnace Dan. 3.25 Jon. 2.10 he can make the consuming flames a refreshing heat and in the raging Ocean a devouring Whale a safe Port. This this the wisdom and power of his providence Isa 28.29 who is wonderful in counsel and excellent in working § 12. Now that God doth work oftentimes without means and oftentimes against means it is to teach us to trust in him even when we see no means for that hereby as God declares his soveraignty so does he exercise our dependance and encourage our faith encourage I say our faith this being the chief Basis of all our comfort that Gods powerful providence serves his gracious purpose even his purpose in Christ of saving us Rom. 8.28 so that all things work together for good to them that fear him all things all gifts and graces all blessings and benefits yea all crosses and calamities all afflictions and persecutions and to go further all their infirmities and failings Satan and his instruments all are awed and ordered all are overswayed and overruled by the wisdom and power of Gods providence to further his intendment of grace and love unto his Saints § 13. Thus faith overlooks the Creatures and fixeth it self purely and perfectly wholly and solely upon the Creator And this is the reason that in all changes in all extremities in the deepest of the worlds distress and of worldly mens despair the Saint and Servant of God he hath his heart fixed trusting in the Lord trusting in him Ps 112.7 in his word of promise and in his works of providence Wherefore now O God let the mercy and truth of thy promise let the wisdom and power of thy providence attract the force and quicken the vigor of my faith that when I see nothing in the Creature for temporal safety nothing in my self for eternal salvation I may then see all things in thee and thy Christ for both And thus shall my faith be the more pure and firm and thy glory the more perfect and full § 14. Wherefore make we God the object of our trust Isa 12.2 26 4. Exod. 34.6 7. God the great Jehovah who hath his being from himself and himself gives being unto all things He a God gracious and merciful just and holy powerful and wise wonderful and glorious and that which is incommunicable even to the best of creatures he is eternally infinitely and immutably such God alone then is the fit object of our trust earthly objects have no proportion with the heavenly soul As soon may the chest be filled with grace as the heart be satisfied with wealth and assoon may we fat the belly with ●ir as fill the soul with honor Indeed we may not trust in the Creature which is none otherwise good then in not being trusted in Nothing we say can act beyond its sphere what then can outward comforts of the world do to solace spiritual griefs of the soul § 15. Yea look we inward to the gifts of Nature and those streams we find can ascend no higher then their Spring-head and as for the gifts of Grace take the whole New creature yet it is but a creature and therefore no fit object of our trust God alone then who is the Author of our life is fit to be the object of our trust as being the fountain and fulness of all our comfort and strength all our grace and

able to save unto the uttermost all those that come unto God by him Let thy Conscience then O dejected Penitent object the hainousness of thy sins and raise them to the greatest height by all aggravating circumstances as being committed against the dictate of reason and the light of knowledge as being reiterated again and again after solemn resolutions and the gracious enlightenings of the Spirit here thou being truly sensible of thy sin mayst not despair of mercy seeing Christ is not only able Heb 2.17 but also willing to save those who come unto God by him Rev. 12.10 even unto the utmost of what their Consciences can accuse or Satans malice aggravate The Rules of Direction 1. Raise thy faith and this by a frequent meditation upon the promises of grace and life By which meditation the soul shall the better suck out the sweetness and digest the nourishment of Gods mercy and truth And because Pattern prevails above Precept take this Instance for thy imitation Suppose thou fixest thine eye and thoughts upon that blessed truth and comfortable Text of S. Paul's This is a faithful saying 1 Tim. 1.15 and worthy of all acceptation that Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners of which I am chief Upon this let thy soul dwell a while by serious meditation and in these or the like expostulating thoughts let thy faith gather strength and renew its vigor How Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners What was this the very end and purpose of Christs coming in the flesh and suffering on the Cross that he might bring men sinful men to salvation O divine Cordial to an afflicted soul O sweet comfort to a penitent Sinner I am convinc'd the words are gracious but how shall I be assured the saying is true Why it is the Word of God and shall I then distrust its truth Vain heart be not so deceitful it is a faithful saying this a saying as firm as God is holy as true as Truth it self But what right have I I so vile a Wretch to so divine a Truth Why my right lies in Gods mercy which here extends to all That Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners it is a saying worthy of all men to be received Of all men sure then in that all I am included my particular is involv'd in this general Ps 78.41 Isa 59.1 for who shall limit the Holy one of Israel Ay but will God have respect to so hainous a sinner Have not my grievous sins made me unworthy of so gracious mercy Jam. 2 13. Yes unworthy but not uncapable It is the glory of Gods mercy to forgive sins the greater then my sins the greater his glory in their forgiveness Though then I be the chief of sinners I will rely upon my God in my Jesus for his chief of mercies and so resolve to apply the truth and comfort of this Evangelical doctrine delivered by the Apostle that this is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation that Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners of which I am chief Thus in thy greatest dejections endevour to raise thy faith by meditation on the Promises to the greatness of thy sins opposing the riches of Gods mercy to the horror of thy guilt the fulness of Christs merits both unmeasurably infinite and gracious And as the skill of a Physician is the more eminent in curing a dangerous sickness Rom. 5.20 so is the goodness of Gods mercy more glorious in pardoning and the power of his grace more evident in healing hamous sins Bonitas invicta non vincitur infinita misericordia non finitur Gods invincible goodness is not by sin conquered nor his boundless mercy by guilt limited And therefore may he alone despair of pardon who can be more wicked then God is gracious And as for the merit of Christ it is a superabundant merit Though the purity of all the Heavenly Host is not able to wipe off the stain nor their death sufficient to expiate the guilt of the least transgression Joh. 1 29. 1 Joh. 1.7 2.2 yet is the least drop of the blood of the Son of God an expiatory sacrifice for the whole World how much more then shall these his streams of blood be sufficient in their fulness of merit for the most hainous sins of a relapsed Saint There may be then some disease of body which is opprobriū medicorū past the Physicians skil to cure but no wound no distemper of soul can pose or puzzle the mercy of God or merits of Christ to heal We cannot then dishonor Christ more then to distrust his grace and love to undervalue his merits and blood Joh. 15.13 Rom. 5.8 especially he having given so great a testimony of his love by his death and made so firm a Conveyance of the merits of his death in his promises yea and vouchsafed so sure a seal of those promises and of that merit in his Sacraments Be it so then O thou dejected and afflicted soul be it so that thy troubled Conscience does rage as the sea with uncessant accusations be it so that sin and hell besiege thee round with the bitter terrors of everlasting death and that now the waves and surges of temptations swell and overflow thee yet shalt thou not faint not sink not perish 1 Pet. 1.5 whilst the Son of God supports thee through faith in his merits a faith fixt upon the promises of grace and life in which promises thou mayst behold thy sins thy hainous sins thy mountain-sins swallowed up in the Sea of his blood yea thou mayst behold thy guilt thy horrid guilt long since cancell'd on Golgotha Col. 2.14 and expiated by the death of thy Redeemer 2. Renew thy Repentance and this in a deep contrition of heart and sincere humiliation of soul There being no flying from God but by flying to him no flying from his wrath but by flying to his mercy for which we have the comfort and encouragement of a gracious Advocate of a perfect Mediator 1 Joh. 2 1. 1 Tim. 2.5 Christ Jesus blessed for ever This of Contrition and Humiliation is that God calls for from revolting Judah Joel 2.12 and which he requires of all backsliding children even that they turn unto him with all their heart with fasting weeping and mourning Sighs and tears they are the Penitents best oratory for so saith David Ps 6.8 The Lord hath heard the voice of my weeping Know then O thou afflicted soul though thy relapses into sin may hide Gods countenance yet upon repentance renewed they shall not banish thee from his presence though they beget a strangeness for a time yet shall they not beget a parting for ever And so however Satan aggravating thy sin may cloud the Joy yet shall he not take away the God of thy salvation Now to further thy raising thy faith and renewing thy repentance look upon the