Selected quad for the lemma: mercy_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
mercy_n	grace_n	lord_n	spirit_n	4,882	5	4.6741	4	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A14008	The true trial and turning of a sinner. Or, three plaine and profitable sermons teaching the search and triall of our waies, repentance of sinne, and true turning vnto God. The summe whereof was preached at Feuersham in Kent Aug. 3. 1606. By Thomas Tuke.	Tuke, Thomas, d. 1657.	1607 (1607)	STC 24317; ESTC S111515	67,815	193

the Lord are right his commandements giue light vnto the eyes By them are his seruants made circumspect and purchase vnderstanding Thy word saith Dauid is a lanterne vnto my feete and a light vnto my paths the righteousnesse of thy testimonies is euerlasting and all thy commandements are true Gods precepts must be our practise and his law must bee the line of our obedience His word must bee the rule of our workes and the determiner of all our waies All is not gold which glisters all coine that hath Caesars image vpon it is not currant but sometimes counterfet neither is all good corne that so seemeth Wee must therefore take vnto vs the Touch-stone of Gods word and the Fanne of his law and make our triall by them and so wee shall discerne which is gold which is gilded copper which is of Gods owne stamping and which hath come from the Mint-house of our flesh and from the forge of the diuell and which is good and cleane wheate and which corrupt and chaffie The consideration of these points teacheth vs in the first place to bee carefull to know and vnderstand all the commandements of God legall and Euangelicall because by these we must prooue our waies as malefactours are tried by the Law Dauid saith I wil meditate in thy precepts and consider thy waies Open my eyes that I may see the wonders of thy Law and teach me thy statutes Thy testimonies are my delight and my counsellers Giue me vnderstāding that I may learn thy commandements Shall we labour to know the lawes of men to ●●derstand the secrets of nature and shall wee not labour to learne Go●● law and to vnderstand the secr●t● thereof Shall we get stones to trie our golde whether it be pure mettall or but base and shall we haue scales and weights to proue whether it bee light or weightie And shall we not get the knowledge of Gods worde that wee may proue our waies It will shew vs their nature and is able to sound our hearts to the bottome Therefore all ignorant persons are farre frō the performance of this weightie dutie Secondly the consideration of these thinges serueth to conuince and condemne the multitude of negligence and frowardnesse Some cannot trie their waies because they want the eye of vnderstanding and the true touchstone of of all truth and falshood of vice and vertue therefore though they sometimes attempt to trie theyr waies yet because their eyes are out and gesse by groping as Isaac did in an other matter they are vsuallye if not alwayes deceiued as well or rather worse then hee Some againe will not make this triall like many men that haue run long much on the score cannot endure to heare of a reckoning Thirdly there are some that dare not view the Lawe it seemes vexed with the gripes of a guiltie conscience and possessed with the spirit of slauish feare like the Elephant who being guiltie to his owne deformitie cannot abide to see his face in faire water and like slaues that being afraide of the whip cannot endure to haue theyr offences scanned or themselues examined Finally some will indeede trie their waies but not throughly onely coldly and ouerly and some will trie one way but not an other some but not all Whereas the Prophet exhorteth vs to make an exact and perfect triall of all and not of some onely and therefore he saith Let vs trie our wayes and not way or some of them Wherefore brethren let vs vse all care and conscience in this dutie Let vs learne to knowe Gods will and labour to vnderstand his commaundements and withall let vs faithfully try All our waies so neare as is possible by them Wouldest thou see the face of thy soule then behold it in the Glasse of Gods lawe and thou shalt easily perceiue whether it be faire or foule whether pale or fresh Wouldest thou discerne the bottome of thy heart whether it be cleare and grauelly or muddie and clammy sound it with the long line of Gods lawe with the weightie plummet of his precepts and thou shalt obtaine thy desire Wouldest thou know the condition of thy waies then measure them with the met-wand of his word and examine them by the old and auncient way of the faithfull Patrairkes and Prophets chalked out in the sacred scriptures Wouldest thou turne out of by-pathes and walke aright and with an euen foote then view thy waies with diligence I haue considered my waies saith Dauid and turned my feete vnto thy testimonies Surely that man which proueth his waies aright is in the high way to heauen and in a faire forwardnesse to make a sound conuersion Now hee proueth his waies aright that doth it sincerely cheerefully diligently maturely constantly and in conscience of Gods commaundement desiring pardon in the name of Christ for the imperfection of his worke and striuing daily to amend it And thus much for this third Doctrine A fourth followeth In that Ieremy saith Let VS search and trie our waies I gather first that no place or priuiledge no calling or discent whatsoeuer can exempt a man from the performance of this dutie These were Israelites the seede of Abraham men of diuers ages degrees and himselfe a Prophet The yoke of Gods commaundements is lai● vpon euery necke And why should not gold be tried as well as meaner mettall 2. I conclude againe that pouertie penury crosses and calamities must not so dismay vs as that wee doe forget or should thinke it too late to searche and examine our waies as if God had vtterly cast vs off These people were in extreame distresse Ierusalem was become a tributary Iudah was carried away captiue All the habitions of Iacob were destroied Their children and sucklinges swooned in the streetes and perished in their mothers bosom through hunger The women were constrained to eate their owne children The olde men lay in the streetes the young men and virgins were slaine with the sword The tongue of the sucking childe claue to the roofe of his mouth for thirst They that were brought vp in scarlet embraced the dung The hands of the pittifull women did seethe their owne children for meate They dranke their water for money and their neckes were vnder persecution Their Princes were hanged vp and their Elders were disgraced All the pallaces of Israel were consumed Ierusalem was hissed at All their enemies barked against them The Temple of the Lord was prophaned The Prophets were slaine in the sanctuary No mercie was shewed to the Elders and no reuerence giuen to the Priestes Yet notwithstanding all this their miserie the Prophet exhorts them to searche and trie theyr wayes and to returne vnto the Lorde thereby shewing that there was hope of recouerie and no time past to ransacke and reforme themselues For the Lorde is rich in loue the doore of his grace and the bowels of his mercie

are neuer shut vp against the penitent His mercie is ouer all his workes and hee will not alway chide neither is his loue remoued from his children when hee doth visit their transgressiō with the rod their iniquitie with strokes Therefore no affliction how grieuous soeuer must daunt our spirits and dull the edge of our courages and make vs abstaine from the performance of these workes as if all labour herein were spent in vaine 3. Furthermore hence I gather that euen those which are actually conuerted regenerated had need to search and trie their waies and may very wel be exhorted therevnto The Prophet was a holy man of God not onely by vertue of his speciall calling by being a Prophet sanctified and set apart for the seruice of God but also in respect of his generall calling for without doubt he was the child of God and so no question were some of those to whom he speaketh The Romanes and Corinthians were many of them truly sanctified yet Paul bestoweth many exhortations vpon them and some not much vnlike to this There is no riuer without some mud no way without so●e mire dirt or dust so there is no man without some corruption and no mans way voyde of all vncleanenesse therefore euery man how good soeuer had neede to search himselfe and proue his waies Furthermore as there is no ground so fat which may not sometimes bee wel watered with a showre of rain so there is no mans heart so fertill but may abide the sweet and wholsome dewe of heauenly exhortations Is there any vine without some superfluous sprig or any tree without a water-branch so there is no vine in Gods vineyard no plant in all his Orch-yard here vppon the earth but hath his fault For there is no man as Salomon affirmeth that sinneth not Now godly exhortations are as pruning kniues to lop off the superfluous braunches of sinne and as the riuer Nilus is to part of Aegypt so these must be as manure to fatten and as water to moysten the barren and drie grounds of our hearts Which things no doubt shall be effected by them if it please the Spirit of God to open the pores of of our soules to receiue them in and the blessed Sonne of righteousnesse to shine vpon vs with the beames of his loue and to warme vs with the heate of his grace Wherefore we ought with all reuerence and obedience both heare and beare the word of exhortation Lastly from this word vs I conclude from the Prophets example who includeth himselfe in this exhortation that it is fit and commendable in the Minister though hee stand in the roome of Christ sometimes to include himselfe in his exhortations Though it be lawfull to say with Dauid Examine your owne heart and with Paul Let euery man examine himselfe yet it is neither vnlawfull nor vncommendable for vs to say also with Ieremy Let vs search and examine our waies For first Ministers are way-faring men as well as others secondly they are subiect to erring as well as other men Helias was as Iames saith subiect to such passions as other of Gods children are Peter sinned as other pro●essors did Thirdly by this meanes their exhortations will be more forcible seeing they perswade them to do no worse then they eyther would or should doe themselues Lastly shall the wicked say to a man Come with vs cast in thy lot among vs wee will lay waite for blood Shall the harlot say Let vs take our pleasure in dalliance Shall vngodly men exhort and incourage one an other to commit wickednesse and shall not the godly Minister animate exhort himselfe with others to doe that which is commanded of God commendable among men and comfortable to the conscience Hee that speaketh not vnto himselfe as well as to an other is eyther like a clocke that tells the time for others or like a marke in the way which rotteth it self whiles it stands to direct others Therefore as Iacob set party-coloured rods before the sheep that they might bring forth young of party colour and so they did so let all Ministers set before their eyes the practise of this Prophet that they may walke in his steps and do as he hath done before them And thus much for this seuenth instruction Moreouer though the Prophet knew full well that God had ordeined and ordered all things in an eternall and immutable decree and therefore had eternally determined who should search and try their waies and turne to God and who should not yet he doth exhort them all indifferently to the performance of this duty Gods counsell must not make them lazie his decree must not make them doe nothing or keep the Prophet from preaching to thē For as he hath decreed the end so he hath determined the meanes way thereunto As hee hath ordeined a mans saluation so hath he subordeined his conuersion calling and iustification As he hath eternally set downe who shall turne vnto him so he hath eternally set downe that hee shall search and examine his waies God did meane that Paradice should be a fatte and fruitefull place and therefore he prouided a riuer to water it which went out of Eden God had decreed that the wals of Iericho should be cast downe and so withall for the effecting of his purpose he did appoint that seuen Priests should sounde seuen trumpets and that all the people should shout very loude and so the walls should fall flat downe So God hath decreed that his Church shuld be a faire and fruitfull Garden and to this purpose he hath appointed that it shoulde bee watered with wholsome exhortations and hath appointed his ministers to keepe and dresse it God hath from all eternitie purposed that the gates of hell and walles of sinne should in some be flung from their hinges and shaken to the ground and to effect his purpose hee hath commanded ●is Prophets and Ministers to sound out the ●rumpet of his law and gospel at the sound whereof he raiseth the dead f●om the graue of sinne and dri●eth downe when and in whom he pl●ase●h the ●owers of pride the bulwarks of concupisence the castles of iniq●i●y sorely shaketh if not shiuereth all the muniments and foretresses of the diuell First therefore let all Gods Ministe●s with this holy Prophet remember to performe their office notwithstanding the immutabilitie of Gods eternall counsell Secondly let all men be careful to vse the meanes as wel as they are desirous to attaine vnto the end for otherwise they may iustly feare the wo●st For the holy Ghost faith that the sonnes of Eli did not obey their fathers voice Because the Lord would slay them Therefore ●f we sha●l contemne the counsell of the Prophet it is to bee f●ared that God hath a purpose to take vs away in our sins Thirdly all those prophane and godles wretches are to be condemned that