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
A49242	The dejected soules cure tending to support poor drooping sinners. With rules, comforts, and cautions in severall cases. In divers sermons, by Mr. Christopher Love, late minister of Laurence Jury. To which is added, I. The ministry of the angels to the heirs of salvation. II. Gods omnipresence. III. The sinners legacy to their posterity.	Love, Christopher, 1618-1651.	1657 (1657)	Wing L3151; ESTC R215529	168,974	219

wicked men make pardoning grace a means of presumption but pardoning grace rightly applied is the most genuine way for the breaking and troubling of the soul Beloved lay thy self in the arms of Christ on the bed of his love and that 's the way to break thy flinty and stony heart A child of God cannot choose but to bathe his sins in the tears of contrition that knoweth his sins to be bathed in Christ's blood in a way of satisfaction I now come to give you some consolatory Rules which are four Is there comfort to a man that doth find his heart hard that seldome or never findeth his soul disquieted under the sense of sin First Be comforted if what thou wantest in godly sorrow for sin thou makest up in holy care and watchfulness against sin if a child of God hath not a weeping eye for sin yet if he have a watchful heart against sin that is pleasing to God if tears be not in thine eye for sin yet if weapons of defence be in thine hand to contest and conflict with corruptions that is most pleasing to God The Captain of our salvation Jesus Christ he had rather see a fighting weapon against sin then a weeping eye for sin that is one comfort A second comfort is this That the want of trouble of soul for sin doth not always arise from a stupified conscience but from an ignorant mind if Conscience had an eye to see sin Conscience would have a hand to smite for sin Conscience doth therefore want a hand because man's judgement wanteth an eye to discern what is evil A third comfort is this That though a good man may not for some time be troubled for sin yet at that time and in that case there is a great difference between him and a wicked man he is not troubled but he would be troubled a wicked man is not disquieted and he would never be disquieted a godly man doth not mourn but he would mourn and would love that Minister that should pierce his heart a wicked man cannot endure him there is a great difference between the one and the other A good man dares not stitle the checks of Conscience a wicked man when Conscience begins to trouble him he doth what he can to still the crys of Conscience when Conscience doth arrest a wicked man for debt they run not unto God they make conscience drunk with sensual pleasures and vain delights that so they may run away from Consciences arrest but godly men dare not do thus but they cry to conscience excuse me when I do well and accuse me when I do ill this is the behaviour of a godly man Lastly Take this for comfort though thou hast not so much trouble for sin as thou dost desire yet thou hast so much as God doth accept this is a true rule in Divinity that the desire of any grace is the grace it self for to believe is faith and true desire to repent is repentance and true desire to mourn for sin is a mourning for sin if thou dost desire a troubled heart that is a holy trouble this is a great mercy that in Scripture account the desire of any grace is the grace it self It is worthy your observation you read of Nehemiah ch 1. 11. O Lord I beseech thee let now thine ear be attentive to the prayer of thy servant and to the prayer of thy servants who desire to fear thy Name and prosper c. Compare that place with ch 5. 15. But the former Governours that were before me were chargable unto the people 7 c. but so did not I because of the fear of the Lord. To note that a desire to fear God is a fearing of God a desire to repent is a repenting a desire to be troubled is a holy trouble provided it be a solemn sincere and an insatiable desire after any grace this we read of Abraham when God comes to deal with Abraham What saith God to him Because thou hast done this deed I will do so and so to thee why he had not done this Divines gather that in God's account the desire and intent of doing a good thing is the doing of it therefore when Paul records Abraham's act it is said by faith he did it Beloved it should be a great discomfort to ungodly men that the Scripture should say thus to us that a desire to do a sin is the sin it is all one to God therefore Christ telleth you Mat. 5. 28. He that looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery in his heart The desire and the act is all one to God though not to men God looks on the lust of the eye to be as the uncleanness of the act he that is angry with his brother 1 John 3. 15. Whosoever hateth his brother is a murtherer and no murtherer hath eternal life abiding in him God looketh on the desire for to kill a man as if thou hadst kill'd him now on the other hand it should be a great comfort to godly men that the desire of grace is grace it self I mention this to you that grieve because you cannot grieve that do not mourn but would mourn Thus much for the Consolatory Rules I shall only give you this Use Use and so I shall finish this doctrine about the disquietings of the soul and that is a use of caution to perswade you to take heed you do not run into false mistakes touching soul-disquiet for sin the Divel may paint that which is not grace and which is not trouble of Conscience and disquiet of mind for sin like it which is my caution to perswade you that you would not be mistaken in this matter Five Mistakes I shall give you Cautions to take heed of First Take heed you do not mistake a natural Melancholy and take that to be a godly sorrow and trouble of mind for sin many people whose tempers are sad heavy and dumpish they apprehend Melancholy to be a godly sorrow there is a great difference between natural Melancholy and between spiritual trouble First natural Melancholy hath many apprehensions in the fancy in the imaginations but spiritual trouble ariseth from the Conscience upon the sense of God's wrath and the frowns of the Almighty and the greatness of sin and the evil thereof Secondly Melancholy is cured by Physick Gallen is a proper help for a melancholy man but all the Physick in the world cannot allay the disquiet of a godly man's soul Thirdly Melancholy maketh a man sad but he cannot tell for what but a man under spiritual trouble saith thus It is this sin gauls my Conscience and such a failing grieves my soul which a Melancholy man cannot do he cannot tell that it is such a corruption I am guilty of Fourthly Melancholy is discerned by his natural complexion a heavy eye a grizly look but spiritual trouble on the Conscience may be in the man that is of a merry pleasant amiable Countenance therefore

thy cry he will hear it he will answer thee Here is Gods promise upon their humiliation then in ver 22. Ye shall defile also the covering of the graven Images of silver and the ornament of thy molten Images of gold thou shalt cast them away as a menstruous cloth thou shalt say unto it Get thee hence God maketh his people to mourn for sin and to cast them down for sin and to humble them under the sight and sense of sin and to make them to have indignation against sin and then to cast sin from them as a menstruous cloth And as it is with nurses when they would wean their children they will put some bitter thing upon the brest as Wormwood or Gall thereby to make the child to forsake the brest So God he puts bitter things upon those things which we account sweet he puts bitter potions upon the brest of our sinful delights that so he might wean his people from sucking any more at those poysonous brests which we so highly esteem in our corrupt nature You read of the prodigal son in Luk. 15. 16. when he was brought to those great straights and trouble that he desired to feed of the husks with the swine after he came to himself he desired to eat bread and be as one of the hired servants in his fathers house When God doth make his people smart for sin as the prodigal did in his absence from his fathers house when they are laid low for sin under the sense and sight of their sins as the prodigal was when they come to themselves again then they would be glad with the prodigal to prize their fathers house So the soul when he comes to be brought very low for sin then they come to set a high esteem on Jesus Christ It is very observable where humiliation for sin is mentioned there it is joyned with a detestation and segregation from sin Jam. 4 8. Joel 2. 12. Thirdly God puts sinners under the sight and sense of sin because it puts the soul to cast themselves and to rely upon Jesus Christ it is our necessity that puts us first upon the persuit after and relying upon Jesus Christ because we see that we are undone without Jesus Christ It is with us as it was with the Leprous persons that we read of in 2 Kings 7. 3. And there were four Leprous persons at the entring in of the gate and they said one to another Why sit we here untill we die If we say We will enter into the City then the famine is in the City and we shall die there and if we sit still here we die also Now therefore come and let us fall into the h●st of the Syrians if they save us alive we shall live and if they kill us we can but die I apply this here to this case here is the case If I die in a Christless state I am gone forever and undone to eternity and if I rest in confidence in the world that can afford no safety I wil therefore run to Jesus Christ that there I may have relief and that there I may ease me of my burden by resting upon Jesus Christ in his promise Fourthly God doth cast his people down under the sense of sin That so he might suppresse the lifting up the pride of our own hearts in the sight and apprehension of our own gifs when the Lord doth see a man to be lifted up within himself with pride with his gifts then God will hide his gifts and shew him his sin and lay him low and make him humble So was it with Paul he was a man of exceeding great parts and great gifts above other men even above all other men but only Jesus Christ and yet for all that he was apt to be proud and to be too much lifted up within himself in the apprehension of his own gifts and for this he had a thorn in his flesh to keep him humble lest he should be exalted above measure 2 Cor. 12. 7. So you read likewise in Psal 9 20. Put them in fear O Lord that the nations may know themselves to be but men Men of the greatest gifts have the greatest fears to keep down pride The Swan that hath white feathers hath black feet So those that have the greatest excellency shall have some manifest infirmity to keep them down as Heman was a man of excellent gifts 1 Kings 4. 31. yet see how God humbled him Psal 88. 7 15. ver Now God to cure his people of this distemper of spiritual pride he layeth them low and casteth them down under the sight and sense of sin Fifthly That thereby he might bring the hearts of his people to a more cleer sight and sensible and lively feeling of pardoning grace and mercy the deeper God is pleased to cast his people under the sense and sight of sin and the lower he layeth them under humiliation the higher will they exalt God in his pardoning grace and mercy After men are tossed at Sea in a tempest they prize the harbour God doth take that course with his people as t is reported Astronomers do take they do not lie on the tops of high mountains when they would take a view of the skie but they lie in the lowest vallies not in places which are nearest the heavens but in low places most remote from the heavens So God he doth not lift up his people at all times as upon mountains but layeth them low in the valley of humiliation and casts them low under the sight and sense of sin that thereby their hearts by faith might take a more cleere view of and sensibly and lively feel the free mercy and pardoning grace of God God doth cast you into low pits of humiliation that by that you may see the more cleerly Gods mercy and grace God plungeth his people under humiliation as you may read in Psal 44. 25. Our soul is bowed down to the dust our belly cleaveth to the earth And in verse 26. Arise O Lord for our help and redeem us for thy mercies sake Here you see the Church complains of the deepness of her sorrow the greatness of her humiliation their soul was bowed down even to the dust a great degree of casting down But what was Gods end in this greatly humbling of them it was to put them upon a more sensible feeling of Gods pardoning mercy and grace as it appears in these words Redeem us for thy mercies sake Mercy was precious and pardoning grace was precious when that they lay low under affliction and were deeply humbled sense and sight of sin and misery under which they lay made them to prize and highly esteem pardoning grace and mercy and this is an other reason why God doth lay his people low under the sight and sense of sin that they might esteem pardoning grace Sixthly To make them confess that there is more evil in sin then ever there was