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
A42831	Some discourses, sermons, and remains of the Reverend Mr. Jos. Glanvil ... collected into one volume, and published by Ant. Horneck ... ; together with a sermon preached at his funeral, by Joseph Pleydell ...	Glanvill, Joseph, 1636-1680.; Horneck, Anthony, 1641-1697.; Pleydell, Josiah, d. 1707.	1681 (1681)	Wing G831; ESTC R23396	193,219	458

that native Majesty and splendour in the face of universal mankind That He who made an humble stoop from the Throne to the Manger from the Government of the World to the life of a mean subject should at last be illustriously advanc'd as much above the heights of humane grandeurs as then he was below them 'T is fit that That Holy and Divine Person who was buffeted and affronted condemned and crucified by an abusive and injurious world should righteously judge his Judges That Herod may see that he persecuted not the Infant King of a little Province but the Soveraign of Angels and men And that Pontius Pilate and the Jews may be convinc'd that He whom they called King in scorn is really a greater Emperour than Caesar And that those who were scandal'd at the Cross and a verse to the belief of an humble Saviour may see the shame and confutation of their Infidelity and their Folly in the exaltation of the Holy Jesus above all the possibilities of worldly glory Upon this account 't is reasonable and becoming that the Man Christ Jesus should be the Judge And it is so upon another viz. 2. Because He contracted an alliance with our Natures and experimentally knows and felt the Infirmities of our state If the Supream naked Deity should judge us immediately we should be confunded and astonished at the Mjaesty of his presence his greatness would make us afraid For who can bear that dazzling Glory who can stand before a Throne surrounded with incomprehensible Light and Flame This Glory is therefore allay'd by the interposal of humane nature and this Light wears a veil upon it to encourage our approaches Yea 't is our Brother and our Friend that loved us and dyed for us who is the man ordain'd to be our Judge He hath the same compassion as when he wept over an obstinate City and the same love as when he bled and dyed for a rebellious World He knows the strength of our temptations and the weakness of our natures and will make abatements for them So that the faithful may hearfully appear before his Throne confessing their sins and relying upon his Love He that loved us and was like us is to take our Accounts 'T is our Redeemer is to be our Judge Thus may believing Penitents incourage themselves before him and hold up their heads in that Day of terrours as much reviv'd by the apprehension of his humanity and meekness as the wicked will be dejected by the knowledge of his greatness and power And for this cause also 't is congruous and fit that the Man Christ Jesus should be Judge when mankind is at the Bar. I Come now to the IV. General to be consider'd He will judge the World in Righteousness viz. 1. By a Rule Not by unaccountable humour or arbitrary Will Not by hidden Decrees or secret scrowls of Predestination But by those plain and open Records that are in our Houses and our Hands that are Preached in Publique places and declar'd in a language we understand The Books shall be opened Rev. 20. 12. and the Books the Rules of Righteousness are the Law and the Gospel The one strictly requires perfect obedience the other accepts of sincere Now while our actions are tried by the Law and measured by its Righteousness our straightest Lines are crooked and uneven and our greatest services are very scant and defective The best are like the dust in the Ballance and the rest are lighter than Vanity For as Magnifying Glasses betray roughness and a ragged surface in the best polish'd Marble So this Glass of the Law discovers wrinkles and deformity in the fairest and most even vertue And while mens lives and actions are compared with this Rule all mankind is distrest and a cloud hangs upon the brow of the most religious and most innocent The Law concludes all men under sin and sin under wrath So that by this all the world is cast and were happiness to be had upon no other terms strait would be the Gate indeed and so narrow the way that none would find it And while no other Book than this is opened all the Generations of men fall prostrate before the Throne condemn'd by the Law and by themselves Nothing is to be heard but an universal groan and the suppliant cry of Mercy Mercy Lord When loe the other Book is opened and out of it is read Grace and Peace and multiplyed Pardons to all the followers of the Lamb who have believ'd in the Crucified Jesus and testified that Faith by their Repentance and sincere obedience But shame and darkness and new confusions Death Horrour and everlasting Destruction from the presence of God and of his Christ to all the stubborn rejecters of His Grace who would not have him to Rule over them nor accept of His offer'd Salvation These are the Declarations of this Book and these the measures of that Righteousness whereby we are to be judg'd As the Judge himself hath told us John 12. 48. The words that he spake the same shall Judge us in the last day And God will judge the secrets of men saith St. Paul according to my Gospel Rom. 2. So that believing Penitents that are not perfect according to the Law of Works may plead their sincerity their Faith Repentance and new obedience which is their perfection according to the Law of Pardon And this will be accepted by the Judge with a gracious Air and the sweet reviving voice of Well done ye good and faithful Servants He invites them to Him with the voice of pity and endearment and ravisheth their souls with the pleasant sound of Come ye blessed of my Father Matth. 25. 34. O the Ecstasies that are in that Sentence O the killing harmony of that voice Can a Finite spirit bear such excess The pleasures of Eternity crouded into a moment Did unfaln Angels ever know such another or can there be more transport in ten thousand Hallelujahs Certainly the boundless imagination it self cannot form an Idea of that rapture nor the Tongue of a Cherub express it The summ is The World shall be judg'd in Righteousness viz. according to a Rule and not by meer power and will A Rule not the strict and severe one of the Law but the sweet and gracious one of the Gospel whose Righteousness is Faith and sincere obedience which in the Great Day shall be accepted and gloriously rewarded 2. God will judge the World in Righteousness viz. with impartial equity To evidence this let us consider the Judge in the three great qualifications of his WISDOM JUSTICE and POWER 1. He is Wise and cannot be abused by Witnesses nor mistaken in Law cannot be imposed on by false allegations nor cozened by fair pretensions He intimately understands the Fact and the Cause and cannot be deceived by malice of enemies nor subtilty of excuses 2. He is Just 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 A pure Mind without interest or affection He cannot be aw'd by

of his Fathers Glory and the express Image of his person who did as never man did spake as never man spake even he came unto his own and they received him not they many of them believed not his words nor would they abide his Counsel but gave him occasion to lament their hardness with tears of compassion when he drew near the City he beheld and wept over it saying If thou hadst known even thou in this thy day the things that belong to thy peace and then grief and tenderness breaks off the sentence they would not know the things belonging to their peace though the Prince of Peace was the Preacher of them and therefore elsewhere he passionately expostulated with them upon the score of the same perverseness O Jerusalem Jerusalem thou that killest the Prophets and stonest them that were sent unto thee how often would I have gathered thee as an Hen gathereth her Chickens under her Wings and ye would not The Son of God himself could not prevail upon a City to which he made his frequent and earnest addresses all he could do by the Methods of his Graces was to bewail their obstinacy resolved impenitency and unbelief But Jonah succeeds on one as wicked and much greater in the very first attempt he makes on it v. 4. And Jonah began to enter into the City a days journey and he cryed and said yet forty days and Nineveh shall be destroyed and the very next words are those of my Text So the people of Nineveh believed God and proclaimed a Fast and put on Sack-cloth from the greatest of them to the least of them c. In discoursing of this wonderful change and conversion of the Ninevites I shall 1. Consider their sins and 2. Their Reformation in the two main parts of it Their Faith They believed God Their Repentance exprest by Fasting prayer and turning from evil ways And 3. The universality of both From the greatest of them to the least of them And As I go shall humbly compare their Circumstances with our own and consider what duties are suggested to us by that comparison I begin 1. With their Sins those were great and the cry of them was loud Their wickedness is come up before me Chap. 1. 2. What their sins were in particular we are not told but from the circumstances and the severity of the judgement threatned we may conclude they were very grievous St. Paul tell us that at the times of Ignorance God winked 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 He over-lookt in comparison he made abatements and had respect to their frailties He considers our Frame our Impotency and Temptations and is not so severe in judging and punishing men under those circumstances of disadvantage According to the same Scheme of Speech our Saviour speaks If I had not done the works that no man ever did they had had no sin viz. theirs had not been so great not such in comparison But now notwithstanding the allowances the divine goodness makes for a state of Ignorance and consequent Infirmity the sins of these Ninevites were such as called for the severest judgements even desolation Destruction Nineveh shall be destroyed What this destruction was in particular whether Fire from Heaven such as destroyed Sodom and Gomorrha or an Inundation of waters such as had over-whelmed divers Cities and Countreys whether an Earth-quake such as swallowed Corah and his company a sudden surprize of Foreign Enemies such as that of the Barbarous Nations among the Romans or of the Europeans on the Americans or else any unexpected violent commotion among themselves by Massacre or Rebellion whether to be extraordinary and miraculous or in a plain and visible course which of these it was whether any of them in particular we are not told only destruction is threatned Things were come to a sad issue with them their sins were full and ripe for vengeance Let us now in the Name and Fear of God humbly compare this with our own case Our sins also are very great great as theirs in their Nature and Quality in their circumstances and aggravations much greater and more heinous Blasphemy Prophane Swearing Perjury Luxury Uncleanness Drunkenness Disobedience Murder Treason Violence Oppression all the deadly sins whatever is contrary to found Religion and true Doctrine Reign Triumph brave the Sun are fashionable almost creditable Fear and Shame all the Restraints are gone men make a mock of sin glory in it are ashamed of nothing But Virtue Sobriety Religion Religion matter of the best highest truest honour despis'd buffoon'd exposed as ridiculous Atheism the greater the less formerly hid its head the Fool of old said only in his heart there is no God but now it appears openly and boldly claims the reputation of wit the only wit and good sense men like not to retain God in their knowledge but dispute his Being Attributes Providence and you are beholding to them if they do not bluntly tell you There is no such thing or do not say at least with those in the Psalmist Tush God seeth not he careth not is there knowledge in the most high Such we are and thus do after Miracles of Mercies and of Judgements after mighty Calamities and equal Deliverances frequent warnings and Importunate Calls to Repentance And now we have not indeed any immediate extraordinary Prophet particularly sent to thunder against us but we have the warning of Moses and all the Prophets of Christ his Apostles and Ministers of all sorts besides all which the Providence of God and the Circumstances of our affairs and all things about us call loudly that we should prepare our selves to meet the Lord coming to reckon with us but alas how shall we do this Strength is weakness Policy is Folly and Infatuation when he is angry his power is not to be resisted Hast thou an Arm like God or canst thou Thunder like him Job His presence is not to be avoided Whither shall I flee from thy Spirit Ps What shall we do then must we sit down in despondency in despair of Mercy is there no Remedy no way Blessed be God there is one the same that was taken by the poor Ninevites who did not summon their armed Forces nor put their wits upon the Rack for Stratagem and Counsel for publick Safety means that may be used and ought in their place No they lookt on the Evil threatned as from the Lord with whom there was no contending against whom there was no contriving and applyed themselves to appease the offended Majesty and they took the right course to do it for They Believed God c. This was 2. Their Reformation the second thing I was to speak of in which I consider First their Faith They believed God his Being Attributes Providence Love of Virtue Hatred of Vice and that the way to appease him when he was angry was by the use of Prayer Fasting and turning from evil ways These they understood without a Prophet and believed before the preaching

of Jonah God hath conveyed some main knowledge of himself to all his world and hath not any where left himself without a Witness his Laws are written upon the hearts of men and all of those we call most Heathen Rom. 2. What is to be known of God is manifest Chapter the first of the same Epistle all the World is his the Souls of men especially so of his Family his Off-spring as it were Bone of his Bone Flesh of his Flesh and he provides for his own they are worse than Infidels that do not He takes care for Oxen for Sparrows for Lillies much more then for the Souls of his Reasonable Creatures the very hairs of our Heads are numbred certainly then the Souls of men are every one considered every one some way or other provided for The Summ is God hath dispersed some Light some glimmerings at least of Light and Truth among universal Mankind and these men of Nineveh had their portion and by that were prepared for more that alone was not sufficient and therefore God sends them a Prophet not an Angel to destroy like those sent to Sodom not a common ordinary Messenger from among themselves their case required more but an extraordinary person one from far when men are prepared for Repentance they shall have the proper means God will not be wanting to his Creatures when the ordinary means will not do they shall have such as are extraordinary and uncommon when the Native Light and convictions are not sufficient they shall have an external Preacher such was Philip to the Aethiopian Eunuch Acts 8. And an Angel sent to Cornelius to direct him to an Apostle Acts 10. Thus was Jonah sent to the Ninevites and doubtless many other good Heathens were so assisted He went though after a Repulse of the divine commission and they were more ready to hear than he to preach in that they both believed the Messenger and the Terrible Message that he brought We alas believe what we like what is grateful and agreeable to us and our Faith is much in our affections but they believe what was dreadful and amazing the truth was most opposite to their corrupt Inclinations and carnal Interest and this their Belief is interpreted as faith in God To believe his Messengers coming in his name and with his Truth is Believing him as our Saviour saith He that receiveth you receiveth me and he that receiveth me receiveth him that sent me and again He that despiseth you despiseth me he that despiseth me despiseth him that sent me The Ninevites did not so by Jonah or his Message consciousness of their own guilt and their Natural Apprehensions of divine justice made them apt to receive Impressions of dread and doubtless they had ill Abodings in their minds before by which they were prepared for such a Message and a Prophet one coming from another Countrey to appear with so much Resolution and to speak with so much Authority and assurance affected them more than if they had been used to such preachers of Errours nor are we to suppose that he only repeated to them these dreadful words Yet forty days and Nineveh shall be destroyed No these more likely were but the Summ the Text the Burden of his Sermon which probably he amplified with all those Considerations that were apt to move and awaken and possibly the Mariners that were with him in the Ship and threw him over-board upon the Lot that saw the Fish swallow him and the Tempest quieted upon it might have come into Nineveh before him diverted from their intended voyage by the Storm meeting him again after they had seen him plunged into the Ocean might certifie the people of the Miracle and they thereby assured that he was an extraordinary person and was come to them in an Extraordinary and Divine Errand but whether this were so or not whether they credited the Prophet on these Motives or any other is not certain but this is They believed upon the preaching of Jonah And now As God daily preacheth unto us by his various Messengers so he doth by his Providence by which we are sometimes brought into great straits even to the Brink of Ruine and when it is thus with us when we are in a state of perplexities under present Evil and Fears of greater let us not abuse our selves with false confidences put far from us the evil day and cry Peace Peace when there is no Peace let us not impute our Troubles and disorders to accident and common causes but consider that the Hand of God is in them who is then about to reckon with us for our sins and a voice sounding from thence Repent Repent for your Iniquities will be your Ruine Let us not be deaf and stupid as the careless old world were till the Flood came and swept them away or as those Mockers the Apostle speaks of who scoffingly said where is the promise to them it was threatning of his coming when he was at the door but let us humbly be affected as these poor creatures were who believed upon the preaching of Jonah And what was this Belief of theirs was it cold indifferent unconcerned assent only no it was a Faith powerful and active that wrought a mighty change and produced the blessed Fruits of Repentance and Reformation their Faith had been dead and unsignifying if it had not wrought and wrought this way if they had past a Complement on the Prophet that they believed him and gone on in the same course as before if they had believed God and continued in their provocations of him their Faith had been an aggravation and might justly have heightned and hastened their ruine it had then been a great argument of their Impudence and Obduration but theirs was not a Fanatical Pharisaical Faith without works but a Faith Operative and Fruitful and the Effect of it was Repentance and the expressions of that Repentance Fasting and Prayer and turning from evil ways 1. Fasting This is a Rite of Humiliation and Repentance in which we acknowledge our unworthiness and our vileness that we merit not common mercies but deserve the greatest punishments and this anciently and in all times was also exprest by Sack-cloth and vile cloathing whereby these Ninevites likewise set out their wretchedness and ill deservings God Almighty hath so made us that we are apt and cannot help it to represent our inward Affections by outward Expressions and here is the ground in Nature and in Reason of Sacrifices and all the Rites of External Worship and particularly of this by which the men of Nineveh declared their abasement before God and we have need of some eminent signal way to humble our selves before him in acknowledgement of our greater and more aggravated crimes we have sometimes publick Fasts and days of publick Humiliation But are they such as God hath chosen do we in them afflict our souls with penitence and Godly sorrow do we as much as impose any penance upon our