Selected quad for the lemma: mercy_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
mercy_n	father_n	sin_n	sinner_n	3,110	5	7.5131	4	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A01935	Certaine sermons preached upon severall occasions viz. The vvay to prosper. The vvay to be content. The vvay to vvell-doing. A summer sermon. A vvinter sermon. Vnknowne kindnesse. The poore mans hope. By Iohn Gore Rector of Wenden-lofts in Essex.	Gore, John, Rector of Wendenlofts, Essex.; Gore, John, Rector of Wendenlofts, Essex. Way to prosper.; Gore, John, Rector of Wendenlofts, Essex. Way to be content.; Gore, John, Rector of Wendenlofts, Essex. Way to well-doing.; Gore, John, Rector of Wendenlofts, Essex. Summer sermon.; Gore, John, Rector of Wendenlofts, Essex. Winter sermon.; Gore, John, Rector of Wendenlofts, Essex. Unknowne kindnesse.; Gore, John, Rector of Wendenlofts, Essex. Poore mans hope.; Gore, John, Rector of Wendenlofts, Essex. Oracle of God.	1636 (1636)	STC 12071; ESTC S120526	199,234	334

Iacob that we are lesse than the least of all Gods mercies there is not the least of Gods mercies but it is too great and too good for us And yet t is strange to see how few there be that thinke ill of themselves and well of their estates I meane that are well contented with Gods allowance but rather with the Prophets wife 2 Reg. 4. 6. who desired one vessell more when all was full before Nay some are so unreasonable and unsatiable that as the Prophet saith they enlarge their desire as hell some mans minde is like hell it selfe which though it swallow up a world of soules yet t is never satisfied but still gapeth for more that is the reason such a one can never be contented because though he may have a house full of money he can never have a heart full of money for why He hath a hell in his heart that never can be filled with meanes nor monies Why hath Satan filled thy heart saith Peter to Ananias when he lied to the holy Ghost to save his money Act. 5. 3. There is the hell in the heart that mans heart which is filled with the devill filled with covetousnesse and ungodlinesse must needs have a hellish heart yea his heart is a hell it selfe the very habitation and house of devils and woe be to that sinne that brings a hell into a mans heart in this world and brings a mans heart and soule into hell in the world to come Thus you see what comes of being covetous where God would have men to be contented Learne therefore from henceforth to set bounds to thy appetite to moderate your cares for the things of this life and to frame your desires to Gods appointment and that is the way to be content I have not yet done with this point for as I searched more narrowly into the originall word I found that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 goes before 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that selfe goes before sufficient which put me in mind of another consideration and that is this namely That a man must be himselfe ere he can be sufficient I meane a man can never attaine to any true reall sufficiencie or contentment of mind till first he be himselfe Every man is not himselfe not onely fooles and mad men and drunkards are not themselves as we say not their owne men but every unconverted unhumbled unwakened sinner As it is said of the Prodigall sonne Luke 15. 17. that when he was converted Then he came to himselfe which implies that before that time when he lived in riot and excesse and in that wastfull way of wickednesse when he was glad to feede upon those siliquae daemoniorum those huskes of Devils which the text speakes of all that while he was not himselfe he never began to come to himselfe till he began to come to his father so to speake properly a man never comes to himselfe till hee come home to God by true repentance he is never his own man til he be the Lords Three things there be that make a man not himself and consequently make him unsufficient and uncapable of true contentment 1 Nabals drunkennesse 2 Nebuchadnezzars madnesse 3 Satans villenage That 's the reason that the Scripture cōpares unregenerate men to drunkards and mad men and slaves who of all others are truely said to be not themselves S. Paul saith 2 Tim. 2. 25. that a Minister that hath to doe with refractory sinners must waite if at any time God will give them repentance 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that they may awake out of their drunken sleepe and become sober so the word signifies implying that as long as we muzzle our selves in our ignorance and goe on securely in our sinnes not grieving for them not striving against them not making conscience to reforme them all that while we are like drunken sots void of understanding we are not our selves As there is a wet drunkennesse too common in these dayes God forgive the world that sinne so there is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a kinde of dry drunkennesse as the Prophet saith in another sense Esay 51. 21. Thou art drunke but not with wine Every sin that a man is bewitched unto doth for the time so infatuate and besot him that he is not himselfe hath not power over himselfe to refraine or repent of it till God awake a man out of this same drunken sleepe and give him wisedome to see into his sins and grace to forsake them Then and not till then doth hee come to himselfe Now as some are not themselves through drunkennes so others are not themselves through madnesse The heart of man saith Salomon Eccles 9. 3. is full of evill and madnesse is in his heart while he lives Now mad men are of two sorts 1. Some are furentes furious or raging mad like those Pharisees Luke 6. 11. that were filled with madnesse at the sight of the miracles which Christ wrought or like those that stoned Stephen Act. 7. 54. They gnashed upon him with their teeth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is the word they grated and ground their teeth at him as if they had bin cutting with a saw for so the word signifies they were so mad and devillish that they could have found in their hearts to have sawed him torne him with their teeth Such mad men as these let them be never so little stirred or provoked or crost either by God or man how bitterly doe they curse sweare and rage and damne themselves to the pit of hel that it would make a mans heart ake and his soule tremble to heare and see it for feare least God should take them at their words Cursed be their anger for it is fierce and their rage for it is cruell Gen. 49. 7. 2. Others are Amentes foolishmad I have said of laughter thow art madnesse faith Salomon is it not a mad thing for a man to laugh when he should weepe to sing and shoute when hee should sob and sigh to make himselfe merry with that which makes God and his Angels sorry Though we account this cheerefulnesse the holy Ghost accounts it madnesse Lachrimanum causas tripudiantes peragunt ridentes mortis negotium exequuntur saith a Father They that make a sport of sinne doe but dance a Galliard about the brinke of hell and if that be not the madnesse of folly judge yee Too many such mad men there are in th● world of both these sorts and kinds I pray God of his mercy convert them and bring them into a better minde that they may see and bewaile their owne miserable estate through sin before God and so may come to themselves for yet they are not themselves and consequently can never attaine to any true contentment Adde hereunto those that are the servants and slaves the drudges and vassals of sinne and Sathan You know a servant is totius alterius is not his owne man is not a man of himselfe Even so and more

spirit of a man is the candle of the Lord it implyes that a man naturally walkes in darkenesse which is full of error and full ofterrour till God in mercy set up a candle in his soule I meane endues him with knowledge and grace from heaven that hee may shew him the path of life and to avoyd the snares of death Now you know that a candle naturally burnes upwards if you take it and turne it the wrong way and hold it downewards is dyes and goes out alone so fares it with 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Graces and gifts of God as Witt and Wisedome Knowledge and Learning and all these are the candles of the Lord and are purposely given us to light us up to heavenward but if wee take Gods candles and hold them downeward turne them the wrong way and apply and abuse them to sinne it is much to bee feared the light of God will goe out and thou shalt be left at the length in a place of utter darkenesse Therefore as thou tenderest the favour and good-will of God and the eternall welfare of thy owne soule deale not with the graces of God as Iehu dealt with Iehorams messengers 2. Reg. 9. doe not turne them behind thee and make them serve against their owne masters but remember that if the sonnes of Iacob would not endure to have their sister abused Gen. 24. vlt. how dost thou thinke thy God will endure to have his grace abused and to be prostituted to every sinne In a word as Ruben said to his distressed brethren Gen. 42. 22. did not I speake unto you saying Sinne against the child and ye would not heare Oh be not you like them monitoribus asperi so carlesse and regardlesse of divine admonition but remember that you have beene spoken unto that you have beene warned of God not to sinne against your owne soules in this too common kinde but if the Lord have betrusted you with his grace labour to cherish it and as the Apostles word is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 2. Tim. 1. 6. to blow it or stirre it up as we doe a dying fire to kindle and quicken it by the use of good meanes but in any case ne abutaris abuse it not 5. Lastly seeing thou hast to doe with the grace and favour of God ne diffides doe not distrust it doe not make any doubt or question of it but it will bestead thee and befriend thee and be firme and sure unto thee at any time of need It is the Apostles owne advertisement 1. Pet. 1. 13. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 trust perfectly on the grace that is revealed and brought into the world by Iesus Christ It is a thing that a man may leane his whole weight upon and venture his whole estate upon and paune his life and soule upon the certainety the truth and the infallibility of Gods heavenly grace to all that make their peace and put their trust in him Feare not Mary said the blessed Angel to the blessed Virgin for thou hast found favour with God as if he had said Let them feare that are out of Gods favour let them be distrustfull that are wicked and deceitfull that make no conscience of their waies but live in the displeasure of an angry God paveant illi let them feare but noli tu feare not thou be thou stead fast unmoveable in thy affiance to God for why Invenisti gratiam thou hast found favour with him in whose favour is life and whose grace will bee thy guid unto the day of death In a word then to close up this point As I said before so I say it over againe 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 gird up the loyues of your mindes and trust perfectly to the Grace of God doe it not in any wavering or timerous or unconfident manner as if God were like the Poets ●enedos Stat●o malesida carinis a trustles Anchor-hold to the seabeaten travailer or like those deceitfull Iewes Ioh. ● 24. to whom our Saviour durst not commit himselfe though they seemed to beleeve in his name Oh let not thy heart entertaine the least suspition the least jealousie of the faithfulnesse and fidelity of thy God but try him by thy prayers and trust him by thy faith and urge him with this Text that now is preached unto thee as S. Austin saith his mother Monica did Chyrographa tua ingerebat tibi Lord saith he shee urged thee with thy owne hand-writing tell him but how hard the world goes with thee and then say ere God have done with thee if thou dost not finde his Grace to be sufficient for thee And so I am come in the third place to shew you the efficacy and vertue of the Grace of God how and wherein the sufficiency thereof doth consist 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 saith the Text My Grace is sufficient The principall things whereunto the Grace of God and besides Gods Grace nothing else under heaven is available or sufficient are these that follow 1. Ad Condonandum to pardon and forgive us all our sinnes which would bee the bane and destruction of all our soules Grande est barathrum peccatorum meorum saith a Father sed maior est Abyssus misericordiae dei Great is the gulfe and whirlepoole of my sinnes but greater and deeper is the bottomlesse sea of Gods Grace and mercy see that place Rom. 5. 20. where sinne abounded Grace did much more abound Hast thou abundance of sinnes let not that disharten thee God hath abundance of Grace if thy sinnes be great his Grace is greater than thy sinnes and farre more sufficient to justifie than all thy sinnes are to condemne thy soule Onely ne desis be not thou wanting to God in thy prayers and repentance and his Grace shall never bee wanting to thee in thy pardon and forgivenesse What a golden sentence is that of S. Chrysostome 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Thou dost not thou canst not so much desire to have thy sinnes forgiven thee as God doth desire to forgive thy sinnes unto thee I forgave thee all thy debt because thou desiredst me said that gracious Lord to his ungracious servant Mat. 18. 32. intimating unto us that if God doe not forgive us ous debts if he doe not pardon and remit our sinnes we may thanke our selves the fault is our owne because wee doe not desire him for if we desired him he would doe it In a word then As our Saviour asked the ●riple Iohn 5. 6. Wilt thou be made whole so wilt thou bee made holy and cleane and fit for absolution from God dost thou desire in sincerity and truth to have thy sinnes remitted and thy soule absolved by the blood and death of Iesus Christ to have all thy misdeeds expunged and blotted out that they may be as if they had nev●● beene Then take the Prophet Esaies counsell Esay 43. 25 26. put God in remembrance of these things it is a pregnant place I pray reade it and remember it I even I

by the mercy of God to save the soule of every true beleever if our workes were but answerable to our faith and our lives correspondent to our Religion we might truely 〈…〉 to 〈…〉 a 〈…〉 nation indeed admired and unparraleld of all the world according to that of the Apostle 2. Thes 1. 10. God will bee glorified in his Saints and Admired in those that beleeve Two sorts of men are to blame amongst us the first are Nullifidians men of no faith that neither beleeve in God nor in his word onely passe on their times more su● after a fashion such as it is but for matter of faith and Religion they desire to have nothing to doe with it these men the Apostle termes unreasonable and absurd it is an absurd thing you know for a man to bee without that which he hath universall use of as for a husbandman to bee without a plow a Carpenter without a rule a Preacher without a Bible it is an absurd thing and so is it for a Christian to be without faith which hee hath universall use of and without which it is impossible to please God it is a thing unreasonable and absurd How can such a one repeate his Creede I beleeve in God c. but he must multiply lies as fast as hee multiplyes words every word hee speakes is a lye to God to the world and to his owne soule I hope there be but few of this sort amongst us if there be let them heare their doome and reade their Necke verse Iohn 3. 18. He that beleeveth not is condemned already hee needes no further triall or conviction his sentence is past and though he live in the world like a thee●e in a common ●ay●● ●ee is a condemned man in the sight of God But what is their no reliefe no remeady no redemption for such a one but he that 〈◊〉 now an unbeliever must of necessity be damned eternally God forbid I would be loath to interclude the hope of salvation to any man whatsoever and therfore take this comfort with you you know there is alwaies a space of time some distance betwixt the condemnation and the execution of any Malefactor during which time if he can worke meanes to procure a pardon his condemnation is disanulled so that though a prisoner be cast by the ●ury and condemned by the Iudge yet no man can say directly hee shall suffer death because the mercy of the King may pardon and release him In like manner though an unbeleever bee condemned by the verdict of his owne conscience and by the sentence of Gods word which shall iudge a man at the last day yet there is a latitude a space of time I meane the terme of this life betweene the condemnation and the execution and this space is spara miser●cordi● the compasse or circuit wherein Gods mercy and our repentance ●●●ves if in this Interim a man can make meanes to Iesus Christ to procure him a pardon from God as that he hath promises to procure for any poore sinner that makes meanes unto him for it is his office to bee our Advocate and you know a good Advocate doth alwaies helpe a bad cause I say if he can out 〈◊〉 out his pardon before 〈…〉 of his 〈…〉 his some shall bee 〈◊〉 before the 〈◊〉 of God and his 〈◊〉 shall bee as i● they had never beene So much by the way o●●●e comfort of such 〈◊〉 are 〈…〉 faith The second sort are 〈◊〉 men that have nothing else but faith that make profession of faith and a good conscience but have no other vertue no manner of good 〈◊〉 to commend them to God or to the world The 〈…〉 adde to your 〈◊〉 vertue 2. Pet. 1. 7. because though the excellency of a 〈◊〉 lye chiefely in his faith wherby he 〈◊〉 hold upon ●esus 〈◊〉 for life and salvation ye● this ●aith is not complea●● 〈◊〉 perfect and right ●s it ought to be unlesse it have belee●e added to it As Solomon saith Eccle. 7. 11. Wis●●ome is good 〈…〉 it doth well without it but better with it so doth ●aith with vertue And the reason is ●aith hath 〈…〉 a drawing property it drawes home grace and mercy to a mans owne soule as a loadstone if it bee not rubbell with Garlike will draw so will faith if it bee not suffyed with sinne vertue hath 〈…〉 and 〈…〉 our 〈…〉 that vertue was gone out of him he did not keepe his vertue to himselfe but was content it should goe out of him that others might be bettered and amended by it Have but patience a little and 〈…〉 you the 〈◊〉 that 〈◊〉 bee ●dde● to ou●●aith by the 〈…〉 of those whose 〈◊〉 was commended by our Saviour Christ himselfe tobe a 〈◊〉 and a saving ●aith 1. Fides 〈◊〉 Mat. 〈◊〉 The faith of the woman with the blood● 〈◊〉 ●●ee came creeping 〈…〉 our Saviour and drew vertue ●●cretly from him and went her way and made no words of it And our Saviour saith unto her Go thy way thy faith hath 〈◊〉 th●● whole what kind of faith was 〈…〉 was a private a secret faith a ●aith that can go to ●od and make no 〈◊〉 of it that can draw vertue from 〈◊〉 make no boast of it that is one property of a saving faith 2. Fides 〈◊〉 th● faith of the 〈◊〉 wo●an Mat. 15. to whom our Saviour promised such an unlimited Bo●ne what 〈◊〉 of ●●ith 〈◊〉 here it was a patient and an humble faith she 〈…〉 to be 〈◊〉 to be despised to be called a dog to her own face any thing whatsoever so that shee might but 〈…〉 ●avour and wring some 〈…〉 the hands of God This is ●●other vertue of a saving faith it makes a man 〈◊〉 humble in all discourtesies no man living can thinke so basely or speake so 〈◊〉 and 〈…〉 as he thinkes and speakes of himselfe his enemies and he are well agreed they 〈◊〉 h●● and he 〈◊〉 himselfe 〈…〉 and ●ee reviles himselfe they 〈…〉 of him he thinkes and speakes as ill o● worse of himselfe and so the 〈◊〉 is quickly ended This also is a vertue that mu●● be 〈…〉 〈…〉 you know how 〈…〉 at 〈◊〉 that wa● as one 〈◊〉 interpr●●s it that God through Christ ●ight looke upon her and ●he through Christ might look● upon God 〈…〉 washing his 〈◊〉 with 〈…〉 with the hayres of her 〈◊〉 well ●aith our 〈…〉 thy way th●●aith hath saved thee what kinde of faith was he●● it was a weeping a 〈…〉 faith without 〈◊〉 will 〈…〉 the repenting ●aith that is the saying 〈…〉 4. Fides 〈◊〉 the ●aith of the 〈◊〉 leaper Luke 17. Th●● 〈◊〉 and gave 〈…〉 God and to ou● Saviour 〈…〉 Go● thy way thy 〈…〉 of ●aith was his it was a 〈…〉 to 〈…〉 witho●● 〈…〉 without expression o● ou●●uty to God will 〈…〉 that is the saving 〈…〉 be added to our faith 5. Fides Bartim●i the faith of Bartim●ius the blind begger Luke 18. that cryed so improtunately to our Saviour Christ Iesus thou sonne

soule such a one is a very felon to himselfe and a very theefe to his owne soule Ier. 17. 17. as a Partridge ●itteth on egges and hatcheth them not so hee that getteth riches and not by right meanes nor to a right end shall leave them in the midst of his dayes at his end shall be a foole that is all he gets by his miserablenes he leaves al his goods behind him carries nothing with him but his sins so coram domino vacuus apparet appeareth before the Lord empty I meane of grace good works how can such a one hope to be welcome to God Others spare like him Luke 12. that they may say to their soules in future times Eate drinke take thy case c. such men God commonly disappoints when they thinke to take their pleasures God sends some evill Angel to take away their soules and then ●ujus c. whose shall those things bee that thou hast layd up Others spare pretending to have to keepe them when they are sicke that is not amisse yet many times God punisheth them in that they shall spend their meanes upon Phisitians as the woman with the bloody-issue did and be never the better Others spare to leave enough to their children that is good but if that be all see Iob 20. 10. ●lij ●ius placab●nt ●●ndicos his children shall flatter the poore for bread i. an other shall possesse his meanes and his children come to poverty The onely true and right end of thrift and frugality should be to maintaine good workes and hospitality when a man spares from himselfe that he may have to give to him that needeth according to that of our Saviour Luke 11. 41. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 after our owne necessities are served then give almes of those things that are within saith Christ that is within our power or within the compasse of our abilities so Pro. 5. 15. first drinke the water of thy owne ci●●er●e that is provide for thee and thine and then let thy fountaines flow forth first for our owne use then for the use of others For though Charity begin at home it must not end at home but imp●rt it sel●● to the good of others And these b● 〈…〉 ●●intayne good workes One thing onely remaines and that is the reason why they are to be maintained as David answered his brother 1. Sam. 17. 29. when hee questioned him why hee left the sheepe and came into the campe I● there not a cause saith hee so say I If you desire to know why good workes must bee maintained Is there not a cause specified in the text These things are good and profitable unto men I could shew you divers other good causes and considerations for the maintenance of good workes I will but name them and conclude 1. Propter placentia● Dei for the pacifying pleasing of God Heb. 13. 16. To doe good and to distribute for get ●o● for with such sarifices God is well pleased if we that so oft and so many waies displease anger God by doing ill will not some times and some wales endeavour to please him againe by doing good how can God take it well at our hands 2. Propter 〈◊〉 fidei for the evidence and manifestation of our faith as it is said Acts 14. 17. that God left not himselfe without witnesse in that hee did good c. his own good workes are his own witnes to testifie and prove the providence of his goodnesse to the sonnes of men so were our Saviours Opera 〈…〉 me my owne workes testifie of me that I came out from God so must wee have good workes to testifie the truth and goodnesse of our faith though as Saint Iohn saith 1. Ioh. 5. 10. Hee that beleeveth in the sonne of God hath the witnesse in himselfe that inward testimony is sufficient for a man● owne satisfaction but not for the conviction of others therefore saith Saint Iames shew me thy faith by thy workes thou maist shew it to God in another kind but to mee thou must shew it by good workes For ubi opera non apparent extra fidem non 〈…〉 esse intr● saith a father where I see not good works without I will never 〈…〉 any 〈◊〉 within 3. Propter 〈◊〉 adversary our adversaries the Dapists they upbraid us as Peninnah did Ha●●ah with our unfruitfulnesse they crake that all our Churches all our Hospitalls and Colle●ges are theirs and albeit enough is said and done to breake the teeth of their slanders yet if it be possible let us as Saint Peter adviseth 1. Pet. 2. 15. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 muzzle them quite stop their mouthes and put them to silence by doing more good for so is the will of God saith he that with well-doing ye should put to silence the ignorance of foolish men 4. Propter indigentiam mundi the poore we have alway with us wherefore but that as the Israelites in the wildernesse did helpe one another in gathering of Manna whence it came to passe that he that gathered much had nothing over and he that gathered little had no lacke so saith the Apostle ● Cor. ● should it be among Christians one mans wealth should supply anothers want that God may have glory from both as I said before 5. Pr●pt●r consequentiam commodi from the profit and benefit ●●●ing from good workes which is the reason added in my text These things are good and profitable unto men The heathen man could say Ad utïlitatem omnes rapimur neque aliter ullo modo possimus All men living run hedlong after profit neither can they possibly doe otherwise now if ye will beleeve the Holy Ghost there cannot bee a more profitable thing then well-doing both for this life and the life to come not that I care for a gift saith the Apostle Phil. 4. 17. but I desire fruit that will further your account Every good worke that a godly man doth is put upon his score it stands upon his account so that when God and hee shall come to reckon at the last day hee shall have nothing to answer for but all his evill workes shall be forgiven him and for the good workes that he hath done shall he heare that heavenly voyce from the mouth of Iesus Christ Come thou blessed of my father inherite the kingdome prepared for thee c. To which kingdome God of his mercy bring us for Christ Iesus sake to whome with the Father and the holy spirit bee given and ascribed all honour and glory be done and performed all service and duty from henceforth for ●ver more Amen FJNJS A SVMMER SERMON VPON ELIAHS PRAYER Preached in the Cathedrall Church of St. Pauls in LONDON on the last Sonday of Trinity Terme in the after noone being a time of 〈…〉 and drought By John Gore Rector of Wenden-lofts in Essex Printed at London by Thomas Cotes for Thomas Alchorn and are to be sold at his shop in Pauls Church-yard at the

part of that service we owe to God as our Saviour intimates in the Gospel where he saith that Mary hath chosen the better part It is the doing of Gods Will and the fulfilling of his Word that makes our service entire and compleate and such as God would have it This lesson if we will not learne it by the Scriptures we may learn it of the very sencelesse creatures of the very Snow in my text for saith Iob God doth but speake to the Snow and say Be thou on the earth and there it rests till God removes it This is my second observation that the Snow is nuntius dei the messenger and servant of God and may teach man obedience to his Maker Therefore Christ expostulateth it as an absurd thing in men to cry Lord Lord i to professe and ingominate a verball subjection whereas really and indeed they would not doe so much for God as the very sencelesse and bruitish creatures 3. Moreover Iob tells us Cha. 38. 22. that God hath Thesaures nivis Treasures of Snow which he reserveth and keepeth in store against such time as the earth shall stand most in neede of it and so you shall observe in Scripture that God hath treasures in store for all kind of mercies He hath a treasure of raine as Iob tells us in the same place that is in the scorching heat of Summer when the earth doth even rend and split and gaspe for want of moysture as if it were ready as it w●re to give up the ghost then doth God goe to his Treasurie and fetch out that same pluviam munificam Psal 68. 9. gracious ●●●●ching raine that refresheth the bowels of the earth and maketh the very Vallies as David spakes even to laugh and sing The same Prophet David tels us Psal 17. 14. that God hath Thesaurum alimonia a treasure of foode and provision for the belley Whose bellies thou fillest with thy hid treasure that is In time of dearth and famine when the city shal be forced to cry to the country as the man did to Paul Act. 16. 9. Come out of Macedonia and helpe us and when the countrey shall thinke as that Nobleman did 2. Reg. 7. that the scarcitie of provision is so great that if the Lord should make windowes in heaven it would all be little enough to fill the bellies of the people then doth God of his goodnesse provide for the poore then doth he goe to his secret and hidden treasure and by wayes unlikely and unexpected doth God take order for their reliefe that put their trust in him Beyond all these God hath one Treasure more more worth than all the rest and that is Thesaurus Gratia the treasure of his grace and goodnesse which he hath hidden and laid up in the Breast and Bosome of Iesus Christ Colos 2. 3. In him saith the Apostle are hid the treasures of wisedome and knowledge Therefore as in Egypt they that wanted any corne went all to Ioseph who had the Treasures and Storehouses in his owne keeping so let all that want grace repare to Iesus Christ who is the Lord high Treasurer of the graces of God Now these treasures of grace are said to be hid in Christ not as Moses body was hidden by the Angel to the intent that it should not be found but as the woman in the Gospel Mat. 13. is said to hide her leaven in the meale that the vertue of it may be diffused and dispersed into every bit of her bread In this sence doth God hide his graces in the heart of Iesus Christ that all we that are his sinful members may have a taste and a relish of the same graces that are in him according to that Ioh. 1. 16. Of his fulnesse we all receive grace for grace that is as one sweetly expounds it as a child in generation receiveth 〈◊〉 his parents member for member or as the paper from the Presse receiveth letter for letter or as the glasse from the face receiveth Image for Image so do we from Iesus Christ receive grace for grace that is for every grace that is in Christ appertaining to a generall sanctification as humility zeale devotion c. there is a grace in us if we belong to him in some measure and proportion answerable and agreeable to the same in him Thus ●re we through Gods mercy partakers of the same treasure with our blessed Saviour and we carry it about as the Apostle speake 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in earthen vessel therefore it stands us in hand to take heed of knocks and fals I meane into sin whereby the treasure of Gods grace may be endangered in us Thus you see that God hath treasures for all mercies and indeede his treasures are all and onely for mercy as for that same treasure of wrath Rom. 2. 5. that is ours and none of Gods God treasures up nothing but mercy it is we that store and fill his treasure with wrath as the Apostle saith Thou O wicked man after the hardnesse of thy heart treasurest up wrath for thy selfe against the day of wrath God doth not treasure up wrath for thee nor for any man else but thou treasurest and storest it up for thy self and therefore if God pay 〈◊〉 home in thy own coine and 〈◊〉 thy treasure upon thy own head thou must thank thy selfe In a word though God keepes the treasures of mer●ie yet we keep the key at least we may if we will our selves for God hath given us a key that will open any treasure that God hath and that is humble prayer it is Clavis 〈◊〉 the key of heaven gates onely take heede that we doe not suffer the wards of this key to grow rusty for want of use least in the day of extremity when we come to the doore of mercy our key will not open it These things have I noted upon occasion of Iobs expression touching the Treasures of the Snow which God layes up in store for the earth against the time of neede that is in sharpe and bitter weather when the fruits of the earth lie naked and bare and have nothing to defend them from the cold and killing blasts of the winde and frost then doth God bring forth the snowes out of his treasury or out of his wardrobe as a vesture of Wooll to keepe warme the corne that it take no hurt as it followeth in my text Dat ni●em sicut lanam He giveth Snow like Wooll And why like Wooll I suppose for two principall reasons 1 Propter albedi●●m for the whitnesse of it That Metaphor it pleaseth the holy Ghost to use elsewhere Psal 51 7. Punge mee with Hysope and I shall be cleane wash me and I shall be whiter than Snow to shew what a blessed change and alteration Gods mercy and our repentance makes in the soule of a poore sinner who can tell where the spot was when the skinne is rinsed now the onely washing-lye for the heart and for the inward

onely promising him to be his exceeding great reward now if God should have failed Abraham when hee was in a strange place he had beene utterly undone but Abraham gave credence to his Word and wholy cast himselfe upon the Promise and the Providence of his God and this was counted to him for righteousnesse Hence I gather hee that beares a true faith to God dares repose and cast and roule himselfe upon the mercy of his God and the merits of his Saviour for the pardon of his sinnes the preservation of his life and the salvation of his soule he that dares trust his God in a case of exigence and extremity when if God should faile him hee were undone by it I dare say that man is a righteous man in Gods account 3 The next shall be Let of whose righteousnesse you read ● Pet. 2. 8. That righteous man dwelling among the Sodomites vexed his righteous soule from day to day with seeing and hearing their unlawfull deeds Now wherein did his righteousnesse consist the text saith in vexing and grieving at the unrighteousnesse of others Try thy selfe by this Art thou vexed and grieved at the heart to see the unlawfull deeds and the ungodly courses of the world Dost thou mourne in secret as Samuel did for Saul so dost thou mourne for those who in mens understanding are in the high way to hell and destruction is it an Hazael to thine eyes and a griefe to thy heart to see that men should have no more grace nor care to serve and feare the Lord but to dishonour and provoke him every day and dost thou wish in sincerity before God Oh that it lay in thee to further the cause of God and to hinder the increase and growth of Satans Kindome in the world art thou thus minded thus affected as Lot was in Sodome then take it as an undoubted testimony to thy soule that God who counted it to him will count it so to thee for righteousnesse Whereas he that can make himselfe merry with that which makes God and his Angels sorry is farre from Lots disposition and consequently farre from being righteous in Gods account 4 Come next to Job who saith of himselfe Iob 29. 14 15 16. I put on righteousnesse and i● cloathed me meaning that his soule was clad with righteousnesse within as his body was clad with cloathes without but how did that appeare I was eyes to the blind feet to the lams and a father to the poore These be the true 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the infallible markes and badges of a righteous man 1 He must be eyes to the blinde Ignorant em 〈◊〉 saith Lyra by giving counsell direction and advice the 〈…〉 can to them that are ignorant and simple here signified by the blind which are not able to guide themselves without Seer 2. Hee must be feete to the lame Impotent●m adjuvando by giving countenance helpe and assistance the best he can to them that are impotent and of meane ability here signified by the lame for he that wants his limbs cannot stir without some helper and supporter He must be a father to the poore Indigentem subl●vando by giving reliefe and protection the best he can to them that are destitute of friends and meanes like poore Orphans or Fatherlesse children that are not able to provide for themselves nor to live without the charity and the mercy of good minded people These are the objects of the care and compassion of the righteous and these are the touchstones and trials of undissembled righteousnesse He that lends his eyes to the blinde to direct them his feete to the lame to support them and his bread to the poore to sustaine them that 's a Iob-like-disposition and a righteous man without doubt in the sight of God 5 Looke next to Phineas of whose righteousnesse you may read Psal 106. 31. Phineas stood up and prayed and the plague ceased and this saith the text was counted to him for Righteousnesse Now what was it that made Phineas a righteous man It was his praying or his pacifying of God for so the Greeke word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifieth and in the vulgar Latine it is St●●●t placavit he stood up and pacified or appeased God and this was counted to him for righteousnesse Hence I gather He that labours to pacifie God by prayer when he is provoked and displeased by sinne he that takes a speedy course to reconcile himselfe and others and to make attonement with God by a sound and serious humiliation when hee sees that wrath is gone our from the Lord that mans name is surely recorded in heaven amongst the number of the righteous in the Booke of God Whereas he that goes on daily to provoke God and never goes to pacifie God is farre from Phineas disposition and farre from being righteous in Gods account 6 It is said of Zachary and Elizabeth Luke 1 6. They were both righteous before God How did that appeare the text saith They walked in all the Commandements of God though no doubt they had many a rub many a slip many a fall yet still they kept on their way and walked in all the Commandements of God But how did they walke the text saith 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 unblameably or unoffensively sine querel● non sine peccato as a Father saith not without sinne but without blame not that God could find no fault with them but that men could not charge them with any open crime and herein consisted their righteousnesse before God Hence I note they that make a conscience to frame their lives according to Gods Commandements to keepe themselves unspotted of the world and to be innocent from the great offence as David speaketh Psal 19. so that though they cannot be free from sin will endeavour to live unoffensively and to be free from blame these are surely righteous in Gods acceptance though they fall short of that righteousnesse which Gods Commandements doe require 7 Lastly to come home to my text if ye would know what kind of qualited man David meant by a righteous man Hee expounds himselfe in the very next words to my Text and saith He is ever mercifull and lendeth There be lenders enough in the world such as they be but they be unmercifull lenders that lend upon usury whose lending is as unmercifull and for the most part as unrighteous as a Robbery The mercies of the wicked are cruell saith the Scripture Viscera impiorum as it is in the Originall the very bowels of the wicked which are the tenderest parts about them and if their bowels be so cruell Oh how cruell are their Bills and Bonds if there be cruelty in their mercies Oh what cruelty is there in their malice and if their best dealings be so bad Oh how bad how vile are their worst This unmercifull kind of lending is farre from making or shewing a man to be righteous in Gods account But then there is another sort of Lenders which are

who are meant by the seed of the Righteous Secondly whether none of the Righteous seed ever ●ame o● ever shall come to beggery 1 The Scripture speakes of a twofold seed Genesis 3. th● seed of the woman and the seed of the Serpent that is an holy seed and an unholy seed by the one are meant the Generation of the Righteous by the other the Generation of Vipers as Iohn Baptist calls such Reprobates Matthew Chapter 3. verse 7. who like Vipers eate out the very bowels of their Parents that is waste their substance grieve and gnaw their hearts and are a meanes as Iacob said Gene. Chap. 44. verse 31. to bring downe their hoary head with sorrow to the grave Now it seemes to mee that this S●m●n in my Text this seed here spoken of is principally if not solely and onely meant and to be understood of the Holy seed of the Righteous generation that is of such children as are of the same Religion and of the same righteousnesse that their parents were For if you marke the Scripture you shall finde that wicked and ungracious children though they be begotten of righteous and religious parents yet they are not esteemed nor accounted as their seed As you see Gen. 16. 12. that Ishmael that ungracious younster whose hands was against every man and every mans hand against him Hee is called the seed of Hagar not the seed of Abraham though hee came out of his loynes as well as out of her wombe onely because the promise of blessing was not made to him but to Isaac who is therefore called the child of promise and Rom. Chapter 9. verse 7 8. Wee have an expresse place for to prove viz. That the children of the Promise onely are counted for the seede Others though they come of righteous parents according to the flesh yet in Gods account they are not reckoned for their seed And therefore Cajetan hath a good conceit upon that promise of God to Abraham Gene. Chap. 13. verse 15. The land which thou seest I will give unto thee and to thy seed for ever It is saith hee as if the Lord had said quandu erit semen tuum c. as long as they shall bee thy seed I will give them this land therefore when they beganne to degenerate from Abraham both in faith and in good life and were not his right children as our Saviour told the Iewes Ioh. 8. but rather by their wicked manners the children of the devill God was no longer tied to his promise but did disinherit them of that good land which they might still have enjoyed had they continued to be Abrahams seed and followed the stepps of his righteousnesse The like place we have Psal 132. 11 12. The Lord swore unto David of the fruit of thy body will I set upon thy Throne that is one of thy children shall still succeed thee in thy kingdome but marke what kinde of children God meant onely such as should keepe his Covenant and doe as their father had done If thy children will keepe my Covenant saith God and my Testimony as thou hast done their children also shall sit upon thy Throne for ever-more so that the promises of blessing though they seem to be made promiseuously to all the children of the righteous yet are they peculiarly restrained to such onely as tread in the steps of their parents vertues Therefore in the Iewish Talmud an ungracious sonne is called Ben ve lo ben filius non filius a sonne and no sonne as an Eunuch is said to be a man and no man and a Batt a bird and no bird and a Pumise a stone and no stone so a disobedient● childe is a childe and no childe a childe according to the flesh no childe according to the Spirit a childe in mans account no childe in Gods It is storied of Augustus Cesar that hee had three untoward sonnes whom he used to terme tres vomicas tria carcinomata his three impostumes or his three ulcerous cancers they were such an eye-sore and an heart-sore unto him so may all ungracious children be truly termed as being no better than ulcers and cancers to those that breed and bring them up as Esau was to Rebeccah Gen. 26. ult So that on the one side whereas it is said God will visite the sinnes of the fathers upon the children it is meant onely of wicked children such as do patrizare and follow the tracke of their parents wickednesse and so draw upon themselves their just-deserved punishments so on the contrary whereas it is said in my text that God will never forsake the righteous nor their ●eed it is meant onely of good children that follow the coppy of their Parents righteousnesse and so bring themselves within the compasse of their parents happinesse It is indeed a great happinesse to be borne and bred of righteous parents for as manie a good child smarts for his fathers wickednesse so many a bad one fares the better for his fathers goodnesse as Cham was saved in the Arke not for his owne but for his fathers sake And I doe verily beleeve that the more vertuous predecessours a man hath the greater mercies he shall receive as the blessings of Abraham Isaac and Jacob all three together were more availeable for their posterity than if there had beene but one single of them therfore Iacob saith to Joseph Gen. 49. 26. The blessings of thy Father shall be stronger than the blessings of my elders for he had his fathers blessing and all the rest concurring therewith as on the contrary I feare that the more evill Ancestours one hath the greater punishment he shall receive if his owne sinnes be also added to theirs Therefore let all children that have good parents thanke God for them be obedient unto them and take heede they doe not degenerate from them for as it little benefits a river to come from a cleare spring if it selfe be muddy or as it little benefits a blinde man to say that his parents could see or a feeble man that his parents were strong so it s little comfort and lesse credit to any young person that his parents were worthy and vertuous if he himselfe be unworthy and vicious for this blessing which is here reported of the seede of the righteous belongs you see of ●ight to none but to the righteous seed that is to such children as are righteous and religious as their parents have beene for the other in Gods account a●e none of their seed 2 The last question is whether none of the Righteous seed ever did come or ever shall come to beggery because David saith He never saw their seed quaerentes panem seeking or begging their bread I dare not but say that this generall Rule may admit of som exceptions for we know that Lazarus was a Righteous man for immediatly upon his death his soule was conveied by Angels in Abrahams bosome and yet he lay begging at Dives gate So was Bartimeus no

in mercy to all that call upon him will be a Father to thy children a Guardian to thy orphans and while thou art above with God in glory God will be beneath with them in mercy that they shall never feele such want nor fall to beggery It is a blessing promised to the poore Psal 107. 41. That God will make them families like a flocke of sheepe which implyes that they shall thrive with a little maintenance even as sheepe grow fat and gather flesh and fleeces though the plaines and leas they feed on be but bare and short I know that generally all parents have a naturall desire that their children should prosper and doe well when they themselves be dead and gone Oh that Ishmael might live in thy sight saith Abraham to God Oh that thou wouldst be pleased to take him into thy favour and mercy that he may never cast off thee nor waste his meanes and so come to want and beggery Now if thou wouldst be upon a sure ground for thy childrens welfare labour to become a righteous man thy selfe and to bring thy children to righteousnesse too and then there is no feare but all shall be as well as thy heart can wish for it is not wealth and money but it is honesty and piety that must keepe a mans seed from want and beggery it is not rents and revenewes without but it is Righteousnesse and Religion within that entailes Gods blessing to thy childe and keepes the begger from the doore This then is the onely comfort that though parents shall not know how their children ●are when themselves are dead and gone For Abraham our father is ignorant of us and Israel knowes us not Isa 62. 16. 〈◊〉 the father of the faithfull above knowes not his own children till they come into his bosome nor how the world goes with them and Iob 14. 24. His sons come to honor and he knowes it not and they are brought low but he perceiveth it not of them I say though the Righteous shall not know what becomes of their children after that themselves are gathered to their fathers in peace yet here 's the comfort and the assurance that they have in God that if they have brought them up in the feare and nurture of the Lord and see them towardly and well-disposed to goodnesse they may comfortably depart without feare of their miscariage for as God hath bin a Father to them so he will be to their children and though they leave them behind on earth they shall finde them againe in heaven At which blessed center God of his mercy grant we may all one day meet where we shall never be divided any more but shall live together and love together in eternall solace in eternall felicity world without end Amen FINIS THE ORACLE OF GOD. A SERMON appointed for the Crosse and preached in the Cathedrall Church of St. Paul in London on the 20. day of December being the Sunday before Christmasse Anno Dom. 1635. By Iohn Gore Rector of Wenden-lofts in Essex LONDON Printed by Thomas Cotes for Thomas Alchorne and are to be sold at his shop in S. Pauls Church-yard at the Signe of the Greene-Dragon 1636. Perlegi hanc concionem cui titulus Gods Oracle in quâ nihil reperio sanae fidei aut bonis moribus contrarium Tho. Weekes R. P. Epi. Lond. Cap. Domest TO THE RIGHT HONORABLE CHRISTOPHER CLETHEROVV Lord Major of the honorable City of London whose dignity and prosperity God long continue WHat it pleased your Honour to desire may it please you also to accept a poore mans Sermon J have no other plea nor other hopes nor meanes to finde Grace in your eyes seeing J am a stranger but onely for that Grace's sake which is the Theame and subject the pith and marrow of my text Jn a word therefore As Iacob prayed heartily for his sonnes when they went to present themselves before Ioseph Gen. 43. 14. God Almighty give you mercy in the sight of the man such i● my hearty prayer to Almighty God God Almighty give mee mercy in your sight and you in his sight Oratum est Your Honours poore servant and suppliant IOHN GORE THE ORACLE OF GOD. 2 COR. 12. 9. My Grace is sufficient for thee IT is well knowne that this Sunday and some of the rest that are gone before are commonly called in our Liturgie by the name of Advent-sundayes as you would say in plaine English Comming Sundayes And wote you why because therein wee doe thankefully celebrate and solemnize the blessed time and memory of our Saviours comming to us in the flesh and his arrivall from heaven in this vale of misery If any man desire a reason why we celebrate the comming of our Saviour in so solemne so sacred and so settled a maner being gone and past 1600. yeares agoe Saint Iohn hath given me an answere to my hand Because grace and truth came by Iesus Christ Iohn 1. 17. When Iesus Christ came from the bosome of his Father he came not empty-handed nor unprovided but brought Truth and Grace into the world with him Truth to direct us to heaven and Grace to deliver us from hell and that 's a Congiary that deserves commemoration to the worlds end If any man shall yet further inquire what is this Grace to us or what are wee the better for the Grace that hee brought For that my text will resolve you and make it evidently appeare unto you that Christ is no niggard of his Grace neither doth he keepe it to himselfe as Nabal did his victuals but doth graciously impart it and mercifully bestow it so much upon every one as he seeth in his wisedome to be enough and sufficient for him My Grace is sufficient for thee And let that suffice for the occasion and choyce of my text that it is not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 not altogether unsutable and impertinent to the time Come we now to the text it selfe which is nothing else but The Oracle of God or Gods owne immediate voyce not disdaining to utter it selfe from Heaven for the comfort and satisfaction of his poore distressed Suppliant here on earth For thus stood the case Our Apostle at this time was punished with two strange and strong afflictions the one internall the other externall the one he termeth the Thorne in the flesh the other the Messenger of Satan that buffeted him By that same 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Thorne or splinter in the flesh I suppose hee did meane his owne concupiscence his owne corruption and lust which is as painefull and vexatious to a tender soule as a thorne in the hand or a splinter under the nayle is irkesome and grievous to the tender flesh By that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the messenger or the angell of Satan must needs bee understood the Devills temptation for before that wicked one come himselfe he sends his Messenger or his Angell before him to make way for his entertainement and as Elisha said

〈◊〉 then bee chargeable or burthensome to any friend or stranger and by this meanes it came to passe that what he wanted at home he found it abroad and Gods grace that was with him did ever supply him with that which was enough and sufficient for him Is it so with thee Thou that art a poore man art thou also an industrious and a painefull man that as Iacob got the blessing in the garment of Esau which signifieth Working so dost thou worke and take paines to get the blessing of thy God dost thou labour with thy hands the thing that is good that thou mayest rather bee charitable then chargeable to him that needeth and will not thy honest labour maintaine thee nor suffice the charge that daily lies upon thee Take comfort by this Text that now is taught thee and let not thy wants nor thy necessities dismay thee for there is a God above that hath sufficient for thee contrarily if thou beest one that live in pleasure as Saint Paul saith of that widow 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 she was dead even while she lived one that spendest thy time in this world no otherwise then that Leviathan doth in the sea onely by taking thy pastime therein or like those lyllies that our Saviour speakes that neither labour nor spain but onely make a faire shew as long as it will hold Then as Iehu said to Ioram What peace so may I say to thee What grace or what favour canst thou looke for at the hands of God 4. Saint Paul was Homo in aerumnis a man full of cares I doe not meane of carnall or worldly cares or such as Martha's were for the things of this life for these he had cast upon God and had learned in whatsoever estate he was therewith to be Content but I meane of spirituall divine religious cares for the health and welfare of the soule such as he commends in the Corinthians 2 Cor. 7. 11. as being the first fruits of Grace and godly sorrow 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 What carefulnesse it hath wrought in you how much it wrought in them I know not but sure I am it wrought in him a marvellous and a manifold care and that of the better kinde first an immediate care for himselfe and his owne soule least after he had preached unto others himselfe should be a cast-away 1 Cor. 9. 27. secondly a charitable and that a Catholicke and universall care for all Churches Christian soules under the cope of heaven 2 Cor. 11. 28. Non aliter in ecclesias quantumvis remotas affectus quam si illas humeris gestaret as Beza said of Calvin hee was no lesse tenderly affected for those Churches that were remote and far-off than if he had borne them upon his owne shoulders and carried them as nurses doe their babes in his owne bosome But his third and most especiall care was for the soules and saving health of his little children as he calls them Gal. 4. 20. Of whom he traveiled in birth till Christ was formed in them His care was greater for them than either for himselfe or any others and he gives his reason 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for saith he I stand in doubt of you Good Parents the more they love their children the more they stand in doubt of them least they should fall to any defection or decline to any corruption or come to any disaster when they themselves are dead and gone This made Saint Paul in such perplexity for them and yet were they but his spirituall children what care then may we thinke would he have taken for them if they had beene his naturall children too then might he justly have used that word and said 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 I am in doubt of you for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in Greeke signifieth both dubius and pauper doubtfull and poore for none have so much reason to be doubtfull of their childrens welfare as they that are poorest and have least to leave them They may justly feare as the woman of Tekoah said to David 2. Sam. 14. 7. least their coales should bee quenched for so shee calles her child her coale for as coales either warme or burne as they are used so doe children either comfort or crosse their parents as they prove now when a poore man shall dye and leave his coales I meane his Orphans behind him such is the world that where you shall light of one good body that will bee a meanes to cherish and maintaine and keepe them alive there be twenty to that one so unchristianly and uncharitably minded that they care not how they use them yea though they quench and crush and put them cleane out And hence come those 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 those perplexities and doubtfull cares of tender-hearted parents for their children Hast thou therefore many little ones and little to leave them and doth thy heart even yearne with care and feare to fore-thinke what shall betide them when thou by death art taken from them I will give thee the same counsell that I desire of God to take my selfe and that 's this Cognovisti Gratiam Dei saith our Apostle Colos 1. 6. Thou knowest the Grace of God thou knowest that to bee a sure stay when all other props and stayes are done away That Anchor will hold when all other tackling breakes Make tryall of that Doe by thy Children as Saint Paul did by his brethren Acts 20. 32. Commend them to God and to the word of his Grace Lay them downe at the feet of Iesus Christ as they in the Primitive Church laid downe their money at the feet of the Apostles desire God to bee their Father Christ to be their Guardian the Holy Ghost to bee their Guide and when thou hast don● so then as David saith Psal 116. 7. Revertere ad requiem Returne unto thy rest O my soule then settle and assure and resolve thy selfe that Heaven shall want mercy and earth meanes before any of those that are under Gods protection and patronage shall want maintenance Never bee in doubt what shall become of them knowing that His Grace is sufficient for them I might adde hereunto many particulars as that Saint Paul was homo in vinculis a man in bonds but the grace of God unloosed them all that he was Homo in necessitatibus a man in wants but the Grace of God supplyed them all that he was Homo in periculis a man in many perills and dangers but by the Grace of God he escaped them all that he was Homo in tentationibus a man mightily troubled with temptations but by the Grace of God he overcame them al All these I purposely overslip which perhaps might comply with many a mans condition and conduce to his comfort but there is one behind that is of greater value than all the rest that S. Paul was as I pray God of his mercy make me and thee and every Christian soule to be 5. Homo in Caelestibus a man of an Heavenly disposition though his bodily abode was upon earth yet his 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 his soules commerce and conversation was in heaven Phil. 3. 20. no marvell then that being so much acquainted with God as hee was and so conversant in heaven which is Gremium Gratiae the lap and bosome of Grace if as t is said of Saint Iohn that leaning in the bosome of Christ he thence suckt out his heavenly knowledge so S. Paul being so intimate and so entire with God who is the God of all Grace whatever else hee wanted could not possibly want Grace sufficient for him In a word then Is it so with thee though in a farre inferiour degree Art thou as every good Christian is and ought to be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a Citizen of heaven dost thou account that thy home and this but the place of thy pilgrimage for a time and as our Saviour set his face to goe to Ierusalem Luke 9. 51. dost thou set thy face to goe to heaven doth thy heart stand heaven-ward art thou bound for that coast as Paul went bound in the spirit to Ierusalem Acts 20. I meane dost thou set thy affections upon things above upon God and his Grace and not on things below upon the world and her goods which drowne mens soules in perdition Art thou one of that same Generis Aquilini of that Eagle kinde whereof our Saviour speakes Mat. 24. where the body is thither will the Eagles resort the body of thy Saviour thou knowest is in heaven and doth thy soule resort often thither dost thou wish as Macarius did 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that thy soule might goe up into heaven with thy prayers and there abide for ever with God Then what Nathan said to David in a case of conviction I dare apply to thee in a case of comfort Thou art the man whom God delighteth to favour and therefore as the Patriachs are sayd Heb. 11. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 even to kisse and embrace the promises of Christ so doe thou even claspe and hugge this promise of Grace to thy selfe and let neither thy wants nor thy weaknesses dismay thee for both in life and death thou shalt finde Gods Grace to be sufficient for thee which God of his mercy grant unto us all c. Amen FINIS