Selected quad for the lemma: mercy_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
mercy_n	good_a	sin_n	sinner_n	3,410	5	7.5691	4	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A41355	The marrow of modern divinity touching both the covenant of works, and the covenant of grace, with their use and end, both in the time of the Old Testament, and in the time of the New : wherein every one may cleerly see how far forth he bringeth the law into the case of justification, and so deserverh the name of legalist : and how far forth he rejecteth the law, in the case of sanctification, and so deserveth the name of Antinomist : with the middle path between them both, which by Iesus Christ leadeth to eternall life : in a dialogue, betwixt Evangelista, a minister of the Gospel, Nomista, a legalist, Antinomista, an Antinomian, and Neophytus, a young Christian / by the author, E.F. ; before the which there is prefixed the commendatory epistles of divers divines of great esteem in the citie of London ; whereunto is also added, the substance of a	Fisher, Edward, fl. 1627-1655.; Hamilton, Patrick, 1504?-1528. Patricks places.	1646 (1646)	Wing F997; ESTC R1839	130,516	286

heaven and happinesse whereupon I concluded that I had as yet done no more then they and withall I considered that our Saviour sayth Except your righteousnesse exceede the righteousnesse of the Scribes and Pharisees you cannot enter into the Kingdome of God yea and I also considered that the Apostle sayth Hee is not a Jew that is one outward but he that is one within whose praise is not of men but of God Then did I conclude that I was not yet a true Christian for sayd I in my heart I have contented my selfe with the praise of men and so have lost all my labour and pains in performing duties for they have been no better then outside performances and therefore they must all fall down in a moment I have not served God with all my heart and therefore I see I must either goe farther or else I shall never be happie whereupon I set about the keeping of the Law in good earnest and laboured to performe duties not onely outwardly but also inwardly from my heart I heard and read and praid and laboured to bring my heart and force my soule to every duty I called upon the Lord in good earnest and told him that whatsoever hee would have mee to doe I would doe it with all my heart if hee would but save my soule and then I also tooke notice of the inward corruptions of my heart the which I had not formerly done and was carefull to govern my thoughts to modeate my passions and to suppresse the motions and risings of lusts to banish privie pride and speculative wantonnesse and all vain and sinfull desires of my heart and then I thought my selfe not onely an out-side Christian but also an in-side Christian and therefore a true Christian indeed and so I went on comfortably a good while till I considered that the Law of God requires passive obedience as well as active and therefore I must bee a sufferer as well as a doer or else I could not bee a Christian indeed whereupon I began to bee troubled at my impatience under Gods correcting hand and at those inward murmurings and discontents which I found in my spirit in time of any outward calamity that befell mee and then I laboured to bridle my passions and to submit my selfe quietly to the will of God in every condition and then did I also as it were begin to take penance upon my selfe by abstinence fasting and afflicting my soule and made pittifull lamentations in my prayers which were somtimes also accompanied with tears the which I was perswaded the Lord did take notice of and would reward me for it and then I was perswaded that I did keepe the Law in yielding obedience both actively and passively and then was I confident I was a true Christian untill I considered tha● those Jewes of whom the LORD complaynes Esay 58. did as much as I and that caused mee to feare that all was not right with mee as yet whereupon I went to another Minister and told him that though I had done thus and thus and suffered thus and thus yet I was perswaded that I was in no better a condition then those Jewes ô yes sayd hee you are in a better condition then they for they were Hypocrites and served not GOD with all their hearts as you doe Then I went home contentedly and so went on in my wonted course of doing and suffering and thought all was well with mee untill I bethought my selfe that before the time of my conversion I had beene a transgressour from the wombe yea in the wombe in that I was guilty of Adams transgression so then I considered that although I kept even with GOD for the time present and to come yet that would not free m● from the guiltinesse of that which wa● done before whereupon I was much troubled and disquieted in my minde then I went to a third Minister of Gods holy word and told him how the case stood with mee and what I thought of my state and condition he cheered me up bidding mee be of good comfort for howsoever my obedience since my Conversion would not satisfie for my former sinnes yet in as much as at my Conversion I had confessed lamented deplored bewayled and forsaken them God according to his rich mercy and gracious promise had mercifully pardoned and forgiving them Then I returned home to my house againe and went to God by earnest Prayer and supplication and besought him to give mee assurance of the pardon and forgivenesse of my guiltinesse of Adams sinne and all my actuall transgressions before my Conversion and as I had endeavoured my self to be a good servant before so I would still continue in doing my duty most exactly and so being assured that the Lord had granted this my request I fell to my businesse according to my promise I heard I read I prayed I fasted I mourned I sighed and groned and watched over my heart my tongue and wayes in all my doings actions and dealings both with God and man But after a while I growing better acquainted with the spiritualnesse of the Law and with inward corruptions of mine owne heart I perceived that I had deceived my selfe in thinking that I had kept the Law perfectly for doe what I could I found many imperfections in my obedience for I had been and was still subject to sleepinesse drousinesse and heavinesse in prayer and hearing and so in other duties I failed in the manner of performance of them and in the end why I performed them seeking my selfe in every thing I did and my conscience told me I failed in my duty to God in this and in my duty to my neighbour in that and then I was much troubled again for I considered that the Law of God requireth and is not satisfied without an exact and perfect obedience and then I went to the same Minister again and told him how I had purposed promised striven and endeavoured as much as possibly I could to keepe the Law of Ged perfectly and yet by wofull experience I had found that I had and did still transgresse it many ways and therefore I feared hell and damation O! but sayd hee doe not feare for the best Christians have their failings and no man keepeth the Law of God perfectly and therefore goe on and doe as you have done in striving to keepe the Law perfectly in what you cannot doe God will accept the will for the deed and wherein you come short Christ will help you out and this satisfied and contented mee very much so I returned home againe and fell to prayer and told the Lord that now I saw I could not yield a perfect obedience to his Law and yet I would not despaire because I did believe that what I could not doe Christ would doe for mee and then I did certainly conclude that I was a Christian indeede and not before and so have I beene perswaded ever since And thus Sir you see I have dcclared

therefore it belongs to me yea and say with PAUL I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave himselfe for mee Hee saw in mee sayth Luther on the Text nothing but wickednesse going astray and flying from him yet this good Lord had mercy on mee and of his meere mercy hee loved mee yea so loved mee that hee gave himselfe for mee who is this mee even I wretched and damnable sinner was so deerly beloved of the Son of God that hee gave himselfe for mee ô print this word me in your heart and apply it to your own self not doubting but that you are one of those to whom this me belongeth Neo. But may such a vile and sinfull wretch as I am be perswaded that God commands me to believe and that hee hath made a promise to me Evan. Why doe you make a question where there is none to be made Goe sayth Christ and preach the Gospel to every creature under Heaven that is go tell every man without exception whatsoever his sins be whatsoever his rebellions be goe and tell him these glad tydings that if hee will come in I will accept of him his sins shall bee forgiven him and hee shall bee saved if hee will come in and take mee and receive mee I will be his loving husband and hee shall bee mine owne deare Spouse let mee therefore say unto you in the words of the Apostle Now then I as an Ambassadour for Christ as though GOD did beseech you by mee I pray you in Christs stead be yee reconciled unto God for hee hath made him to be sin for you who knew no sin that you might be made the righteousnesse of God in him Neo. But doe you say Sir that if I believe I shall bee espoused unto Christ Evan. Yea indeed shall you for faith coupleth the soul with Christ even as the Spouse with her husband by which means Christ and the soule are made one for as in corporall marriage man and wife are made one flesh even so in this spirituall and mysticall marrriage Christ and his Spouse are made one spirit and this marriage of all others is most perfect and absolutely accomplished betweene them for the marriage between man and wife is but a slender figure of this union wherefore I beseech you to believe it and then you shall be sure to enjoy it Neo. Surely Sir if David sayd seemeth it to you a light thing to be an earthly Kings son-in-law seeing that I am a poore man and lightly esteemed then surely I have much more cause to say seemeth it to you a light thing to bee a heavenly Kings daughter-in-law seeing that I am such a poor sinfull wretch surely Sir I cannot be perswaded to believe it Evan. Alas man how much are you mistaken for you look upon God and upon your self with the eye of reason and so standing in relation to each other according to the tenour of the Covenant of Works whereas you being now in the case of Justification and Reconciliation you are to looke both upon God and upon your selfe with the eye of faith and so standing in relation to each other according to the tenour of the Covenant of grace for sayth the Apostle God was in Christ reconciling the world unto himselfe not imputing their sinnes unto them as if hee had sayd because as God stands in relation to man according to the tenour of the Covenant of works and so out of Christ hee could not without prejudice to his justice be reconciled unto them nor have any thing to doe with them otherwise then in wrath and indignation therefore to the intent that justice and mercy might meet together and righteousnesse and peace might embrace each other and so God stand in relation to man according to the tenour of the Covenant of Grace hee put himselfe into his Son Jesus Christ and shrowded himself there that so hee might speake peace to his people Sweetly sayth Luther because the nature of God was otherwise higher then that wee are able to attayne unto it therefore hath hee humbled himselfe to us and taken our nature upon him and so put himselfe into Christ here hee looketh for us here he will receive us and hee that seeketh him here shall finde him This sayth God the Father is my well beloved Sonne in whom I am well pleased Mat. 3.17 whereupon the same Luther sayth in another place We must not thinke and perswade our selves that this voice came from heaven for Christs own sake but for our sakes even as Christ himselfe sayth John 12.30 This voyce came not because of mee but for your sakes the truth is Christ had no need that it should be sayd unto him this is my well beloved sonne he knew that from all eternity and that he should still so remain though these words had not beene spoken from heaven therefore by these words God the Father in Christ his Sonne cheereth the hearts of poore sinners and greatly delighteth them with singular comfort and heavenly sweetnesse assuring them that whosoever is marryed unto Christ and so in him by faith hee is as acceptable to God the Father as Christ himselfe according to that of the Apostle Hee hath made us acceptable in his beloved wherefore if you would bee acceptable to God and bee made his deare childe then by faith cleave unto his beloved Sonne Christ and hang about his neck yea and creepe into his bosome and so shall the love and favour of God be as deeply insinuated into you as it is into Christ himselfe and so shall God the Father together with his beloved Sonne wholy possesse you and be possessed of you and so God and Christ and you shall become one entire thing according to Christs prayer That they may bee one in us as thou and I are one and by this means may you have sufficient ground and warrant to say in the matter of reconciliation with God at any time whensoever you are disputing with your selfe how God is to be found that justifieth and saveth sinners I know no other God neither will I know any other God besides this God that came dow from heaven and clothed himselfe with my flesh unto whom all power is given both in heaven and in earth Who is my Judge For the father judgeth no man but hath committed all judgement to the Sonne so that Christ may doe with mee whatsoever him liketh and determine of mee aecording to his own minde and I am sure hee hath sayd Hee came not to judge the World but to save the World and therefore I doe believe that hee will save mee Neo. Indeed Sir if I were so holy and so righteous as some men are and had such power over my sins and corruptions as some men have then I could easily believe it but alas I am so sinfull and so unworthy a wretch that I dare not presume to believe that

tidings that is to say that God to whose eternall knowledge all things are present and nothing past or to come foreseeing mans fall before all time purposed and in time promised and in the fulnesse of time performed the sending of his sonne Jesus Christ into the world to help and deliver fallen mankind Ant. I beseech you Sir let us heare more of these things and first of all shew how we are to conceive of Gods eternall purpose in sending of Jesus Christ. Evan. Why here the Learned frame a kind of conflict in Gods holy attributes and by a liberty which the Holy Ghost from the language of holy Scripture alloweth them they speak of God after the manner of men as if he were reduced to some straits and difficulties by the crosse demands of his severall Attributes for Truth and Justice stood up and said that man had sinned and therefore man must die and so called for the condemnation of a sinfull and therefore worthily accursed creature or else they must be violated for thou saidst say they to God in what day that thou eatest of the tree of the knowledge of good and evill thou shalt die the death Mercy on the other side pleaded for favour and appeales to the great Court in Heaven and there it pleads saying Wisdome and power and goodnesse have been all manifest in the Creation and Anger and Justice they have been magnified in mans misery that he is now plunged into by his fall but I have not yet been manifested O let favour and compassion be shewed towards man wofully seduced and overthrown by Sathan O said they unto God it is a royall thing to relieve the distressed and the greater any one is the more placable and gentle he ought to be But Justice replied If I be offended I must be satisfied and have my right And therefore I require that man who hath lost himself by his disobedience should for remedy set obedience against it and so satisfie the judgement of God Therefore the wisdome of God became an umpire and devised a way to reconcile them concluding that before there could be reconciliation made there must be two things effected first a satisfaction of Gods justice secondly a reparation of mans nature which two things must needs be effected by such a middle and common person that had both zeal toward God that he might be satisfied and compassion toward man that he might be repaired Such a person as having mans guilt and punishment translated on him might satisfie the justice of God and as having a fulnesse of Gods spirit and holinesse in him might sanctifie and repaire the nature of man And this could be none other but Jesus Christ one of the three persons of the blessed Trinity And therefore he by his Fathers ordinacion his own voluntary susception and the holy Spirits sanctification was fitted for the businesse whereupon there was a speciall covenant or mutuall agreement made between God and Christ as is expressed Isa. 53. vers 10. That if Christ would make himselfe a sacrifice sacrifice for him then he should see his seed he should prolong his dayes and the pleasure of the Lord should prosper by him So in Psal. 89.19 the mercy of this Covenant between God and Christ under the type of Gods covenant with David are set forth Thou spakest in vision to thy Holy one and saidst I have laid help upon one that is mighty or as the Chaldee expoundeth one mighty in the Law As if God had said concerning his elect I know that these will break and never be able to satisfie me but you are a mighty and substantiall person able to pay me therefore I will look for my debt of you as Paraeus well observes God did as it were say to Christ What they owe me I require it all at your hands Then said Christ Lo I come to do thy will In the volume of thy book it is written of me I delight to do thy will O my God yea thy Law is in my heart Thus Christ assented and from everlasting stroke hands with God to put upon him mans person and to take upon him his name and to enter in his stead in obeying his father and to do all for man that he should require and to yield in mans flesh the price of the satisfaction of the just judgment of God and in the same flesh to suffer the punishment that man had deserved And this he undertook under the penalty that lay upon man to have undergone and thus was Justice satisfied and Mercy magnified by the Lord Jesus Christ and so God took Christs single bond whence Christ is not only called the Surety of the Covenant for us Heb. 7 22. but the Covenant it self Isa. 49 8. And God laid all upon him that he might be sure of satisfaction protesting that he would not deale with us nor so much as expect any payment from us such was his grace And thus did our Lord Jesus Christ enter into the same covenant of works that Adam did to deliver believers from it he was contented to be under all that commanding revenging authority which that Covenant had over them to free them from the penalty of it and in that respect Adam is said to be a type of Christ as you have it Rom. 5.14 Who was the type of him that was to come Unto which purpose the 〈◊〉 which the Apostle gives these two Ch●ist and Adam are exceeding observable he cals Adam the fi●st man and Christ our Lord the second man speaking of them as if there never had been any more men in the world besides these two thereby making them the head and root of all mankind they having as it were the rest of the sons of men included in them the first man is called the earthly man the second man Christ is called the Lord from heaven The earthly man had all the sons of men born into the world included in him and is so called in conformity unto them The second man Christ is called the Lord from heaven who had all the elect included in him who are said to be the first-borne and to have their names written in heaven Heb. 12.13 and therefore are oppositely called heavenly men so that these two in Gods account stood for all the rest And thus you see that the Lord willing to shew mercy to the creature fallen and withall to maintain the authority of his Law took such a course as might best manifest his clemencie and severity Christ entred into covenant and became surety for man and so became liable to many ingagements for he that answers as a surety must pay the same sum of money that the debtor oweth And thus have I endeavoured to shew you how we are to conceive of Gods eternall purpose in sending of Jesus Christ to help and deliver fallen mankind Ant. I beseech you Sir proceed also to the