Selected quad for the lemma: mercy_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
mercy_n	faith_n	grace_n	repentance_n	2,335	5	7.5639	4	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A40658	Two sermons the first, Comfort in calamitie, teaching to live well, the other, The grand assizes, minding to dye well / by Thomas Fuller ...	Fuller, Thomas, 1608-1661.	1654 (1654)	Wing F2420; Wing F2476; ESTC R210330	100,765	342

Hand is absolutely necessarie to the taking up of any small thing especially if ●ying in plano on a Floore or ●●at place I say I must dissent from those who make God such a Tyrant as sportingly and ●pightfully to proffer Grace to wicked men when by a previous act without any ●ault or refusall of theirs he hath rendred ●hem incapable of the acceptance of that which he offereth unto them No surely God doth no way before-hand maime or ●isable them from enjoying the benefit of ●race tendred unto them but on the o●her side is prepared to encrease their ●●ore and adde to them which use the ut●ost of their power to encrease those Ta●nts which they have alreadie received ●nd this will appeare to be true when the ●ookes shall be opened Fourthly No man hath made that improvem●nt of Grace offered which he ought and might Many a time he hath stayed at home when he should have been at Church Many times he hath been at Church ei●her sleeping or not attending there ●any a time he hath attended yet afterwards forgotten what he heard many times he hath r●membred it and it hath been his Remembrancer yet he hath quenched the heat in his Heart and Light in his Vnderstanding And all this wi●l appeare true when the Bookes shall be opened Fi●thl● Upon our not improving Gods Gr●ce ●ffered us in his Word God qui non des●rit nisi deseratur who leaves none unlesse he be first left by them is not bound to adde more Grace yea he may justly withdraw what he hath given and which is more may judicially harden those from whom his Grace is withdrawne for making no better use thereof when tendred un●o them And all this shall appear when ●he ●ookes shall be opened In a word the transactions of that Day will be a perfect Comment on those words of the Prophet Hosea 13. 9. O Israel thou hast destroyed thy selfe but in me is thine helpe All such who are condemned shall cast the blame thereof on themselves whilest those whom God shall be pleased to save will in their Consciences confesse they might most justly be damned when the Bookes shall be opened And seeing a Saviour hath by his Death purchased for them Repentance Faith and Perseverance to the end because he would not trust the perverse-freedome of their will with the acceptance or refusall of Grace they shall for ever sing Hallelujahs to the praise of the undeserved mercie and goodnesse of God in their salvation But some will say How shall God proceed against Infants at the Last Day of Iudgement when the Bookes shall be opened namely such Infants of Christian Parents who dye in so happie a juncture of Time as the intervall betwixt their baptizing and before it is possible for them to commit actuall sinne For will some say The Bookes when opened are effectually not opened in relation to them all the Bookes will be but Blankes and White Paper as containing no Charge against them For firs● for Originall sinne some hold that that in Baptisme is washed away and all the world will be their Compurgators that such Infants neither have nor can commit actuall transgression and therefore how can God with Justice proceed to the condemnation of such Innocents This Argument hath prevailed so farre with some Learned and Religious Divines as to make them charitably judgemented of the finall estate of all such Infants Give me leave to stand Neuter in this Point onely this I will adde If God in the Last Day should be pleased to condemne some of such Infants he will render such a Reason thereof Rom. 2. 5. in that Day of the revelation of the just judgement of God as shall appeare satisfactorie to Angels Men and Devils to the admiration of the good and confusion of the bad who shall be present thereat And here give me leave to discover dange●ous Error lurking in the brests of most men We are generally jealous that God at the Last Day will not come off with that Credit which we could wish and desire We suspect that his Name will haerere ad metas that his Iustice will not appeare so cleare as we both desire and expect if he should condemne such and such persons whom we in our narrow apprehensions conceive uncondemnable according to the proportion of Justice as we doe measure it But know that this suspition hath a double mischiefe therein First The owners thereof are jealous over God with an ungodly jealousie fearing where no feare is and it proceedeth from a Principle of Atheisme seeing it springeth from the same Root to denie a God and doubt that God will appeare just in manifesting his owne Proceedings Secondly This takes off mens thoughts to take care for themselves what they shall plead in their owne behalfe and how they shall manage their owne Defence at the Last Day and maketh them employed where they ought not troubling themselves about that wherein they are not concerned If it be a hainous offence and punishable by the Lawes of man 1 Pet. 4. 15. to be a busie-body in other mens matters how great is the offence to be busie in the Mysteries of the God of Heaven Let us leave it to him to act his own part Look every man on his owne things Phil. 2. 4. God grant we may but come off so well at the Barre as God doth at the Bench and appeare righteous by God in Christ whilest God will appeare so of himselfe in himselfe And here let me advise men to be modest with sobrietie and not to be over-prying into the Mysteries of Gods Proceedings The Chronicler of the Citie of London Stow in his Survey of London pag. 137. telleth us a remarkable Storie of one Sir Iohn Champneyes Alderman and Major of London who built a faire House with an high Brick ●ower in Tower-street Ward the first that ever was built in any private mans house to over-looke his Neighbours in the Citie For before his time there were no Towers in that Citie but such as belonged as Steeples to Churches Covents or else pertained to the Kings Palace But his ambition herein saith our Author was pub●iquely pu●ished falling blinde some yeares before his death so that he who would see more then all saw lesse then any of his Neighbours Take heed of Towring Thoughts and Aspiring Inquiries to mount up if p●ssible into Gods Minde there to seeke and search the Causes of his secret Will and Pleasure Such Curiositie is commonly severely punished it being just with God to deprive them of that Light they have who affect Knowledge above the bounds of Sobrietie Such professing themselves to be wise often become fooles and forfeit the Eyes of their Soules for their immoderate prying into forbidden Mysteries Vse 1. Are all then to appeare before God when the Bookes are opened This serveth in the first place to confute such who conceive God will hold Malefactors guiltlesse because he doth not presently inflict his Judgements upon them

all these parts onely I will make a Decoction of them all so to make them more Cordiall into one Staple Doctrin● when first we have explained something necessarie thereunto God his writing downe of the actions of Earth proce●deth not from his want of Memorie as if he intended to make use of his Notes for the benefit thereof There be two expressions like in sound yet so different in sense that applyed to God the one importeth Blasphemie the other sound Divinitie namely Ancient and Old God is termed in Daniel The Ancient of Dayes expr●ssing his everlasting continuance from all Eternitie But Old he cannot be termed as appropriated ●o Creatures they wax old as doth a Garment and carrying in it more then an 〈◊〉 of impairing and decay God hath all the perfections of Age Knowledge Gravitie Wisdome without the infirmities thereof Weaknesse Frowardnesse Forgetfulnesse Wherefore he reciteth downe mens Actions not out of any necessitie to helpe himselfe to remember them but partly out of State as Ioseph made use of an Interpreter though understanding his Brothers language partly that the producing the ●ame in Evidence at the Last Day may silence and confound the more impudent Malefactor These Actions thus written amount to many Bookes and we finde seven severall Bookes mentioned in the Scripture First the Booke of Life whereof frequent mention in Gods Word Phil. 4. 3. Whose Names are in the Booke of Life This containeth a Register of such particular persons in whose salvation God from all Eternitie determined to have his mercie glorified and for whom Christ merited Faith Repentance and Perseverance that they should repent beleeve and be finally saved Secondly the Booke of Nature This mentioned by David Psa● 139. 16. Thine eyes did see my substance yet being unperfect and in thy Booke all my members were written which in continuance were fashioned when as yet there was none of them Thirdly the Booke of Scripture and here behold it and happie were it for us could we but as zealously practice it in our hearts as we can easily hold it in our hands Fourthly the Booke of Providence wherein all particulars are registred even such which Atheists may count triv●all and inconsiderable Math. 10. 30. But the very haires of your head are all numbred And where is their number summed up Even in the Booke of Gods Providence Fifthly the Booke of Conscience This Booke is Gods as the tr●e Owner and Proprietarie thereof yet so as he lend●th it to man in this Life to make use thereof Sixthly the Booke of mens Actions Hence that frequent expression in Scripture Psalme 51. 9. And blot out all mine iniquities intimating that all our ill deeds are fairely written til God in Christ doth crosse or delet● them And if our ill deeds be registred surely our good deeds be recorded God not being like those envious and ill-natured persons who onely take notice of what is bad passe by and neglect what is good in another Seventhly the ●ooke of mens Afflictions Some account this onely a distinct Tome or Volume of the former Booke others an intire Booke of it selfe Psal. 56. 8. Thou 〈◊〉 my s●ittings put my teares into thy Bottle are no● all these things written in thy Booke And if the white teares of Gods servants be botled up surely the red teares are not cast away but their innocent blood causelesly shed shal though ●lowly yet surely and severely be punished on the causers thereof These Bookes are for a time concealed and not opened till the Day of Iudgement First because some of them are not finished and compleated till that time Finis is not as yet affixed unto them and it is absurd that a Booke should be published before it is perfected The generations of mankind continuing till th● Day of Iudgement such Vol●mes as concerne the Quick at that Day are not ended till that Day Secondly God conceales them for a while untill the Day of Iudge●ent that then his owne Honour may be the more advanced and his enemies the more confounded at the unexpected opening of these Bookes The maine Doctri●e is this All men must at the Last Day be tryed so as to be saved or condemned by the Bookes Th● truth hereof will appeare by an induction of all mankind which fall under a generall Division of Pagans and Christians Be it here premised That all Mortalitie shall be tryed by one of these two Statutes either the Statute of Infidelitie or the Statute of Vnconscionablenesse The former we have set downe Marke 16. 16. He that beleeveth and is baptized shall be saved but he that beleeveth not shall be damned By this Statute shall no Heathen man be tryed because God is not so austere how-ever others may accuse him to reape where he did never some Invincible Ignorance shall so farre excuse them that it shall never be charged on their Account that they never beleeved who never had the meanes conducing thereunto The second Statute is the Statute of Vnconscionablenesse expressed Romans 2. 14 15. For when the Gentiles who have not the Law doe by nature the things contained in the Law these having not the Law are a Law unto themselves Which shew the workes of the Law written in their hearts their consciences also bearing witnesse and their thoughts the meane while accusing or else excusing one another Now b● this Statute shall all Heathen be tryed that they have been wanting to that light of Nature bestowed upon them In proofe whereof we divide the Heathen into Heathen Heathen and Civilized Heathen By the former we understand those pure-impure Pagans who are meerly wilde without any Art or Learning to cultivate or instruct them The Southerne point of Africa is knowne to Mariners passing thereby by the Name of the Cape of Good Hope which in relation to the Natives inhabiting thereabouts may more truly be termed the Cape of sad Despaire for they are but one Degree or Remove from brute beasts Yet even these have more Light then they have Heat and their Naturall Vnderstanding dictates unto them many cleare and straight Rules from which their darke and crooked practice doth swerve and decline For although the Morall Law may be said to be written in them to use the phrase of a Critick literis fugi●ntibus in dull and dimme Characters partly because in a great measure obliterated at the first by Originall Corruption at the Fall of Adam partly because defaced since and ●retted out with the Rust and Canker of Barbarisme contr●cted by l●ng Cust●me in severall degenerating G●nerations Ye● still so much of the Morall Law remaines legible in their hearts as may convince their practice to be contrarie thereunto In a word though they come farr● short of other refined Heathen in knowledge yet their knowledge as little as it is goeth farre beyond their performances so that justly they may be condemned when the Bookes are opened on the Stat●te of Vnconscionablenesse Civilized Pagans succeed such who by Art and Education as