Domini Luke 2.30 The salvation of the Lord or rather the salvation from the Lord from the Lord for man Hence David rapt in the spirit and desiring to see the sonne of God incarnate pour's out his request to the Lord with an Ostende nobis misericordiam tuam et salutare tuum da nobis domine shew us thy mercy O Lord and grant us thy salvation Psal 119 41. thy mercy and thy salvation because from thee but thy mercy and our salvation because for us And this Salvation for us was a mighty salvation So runnes the prophecy Blessed be the Lord God of Israell why Hee hath raised up a mighty salvation for us in the house of his servant David Luke 1.68 A mighty Salvation and therefore a mighty Mercy such a mercy as the Apostle cal's Divitias misericordiarum riches of mercy mercie so wonderfully rich that it is above all Gods workes all his workes of nature or miracle or glory or mystery In his workes of nature there was only flatus or spiritus Dei the breath of the Lord used what breath his Dixit et facta sunt which were the breathings of the Almighty upon his creatures he spake and for the most part they were made and where they were not so he spake and breath'd and they were made good So God breath'd into man the breath of life Gen. 2.7 and man was a living soule Gen. 2.7 In his workes of miracle there was digitus Dei the finger of God so in those done before Pharach and his wisemen When magicke was at a stand and all her spells and inchantments non-plust in the production of lice out of dust the Sorcerers and Wizards insteed of manifesting their skill acknowledge their impotence and that great Master of their blacke art who had hitherto tutor'd them in lyes now lectures them a way to truth with a digitus Dei hic This is the finger of God Exod. 8.19 In his workes of glory there is manus Dei the hand of God so those roling torches of the firmament those bright eyes of Heaven Sunne Moone and starres with all that spangled and glorious hoast the Apostle calls the worke of Gods hand Heb. 1.10 But in his workes of mystery especially in this greatest of incarnation as if nature and miracle and glory were subordinate and the breath or hand or finger of the Almighty too weake for so mighty a designe there was Brachium Dei the arme of God his mighty arme the strength of his mighty arme And therefore the blessed Virgin Mary in a deepe contemplation of it professes Stella in 1. Lucae Dominum potentiam in brachio forti demomstrasse The Lord hath shewed strength in his mighty arme Luke 1.51 In that ransome of the Israelites from the Egyptian vassalage the text sayes he did it with his arme his outstretched arme Psal 77. with his arme why not as well there with his finger or his hande as with his arme why Their freedome from that temporall captivity by Moses was a type of our redemption from our spirituall slavery by Christ and therefore as the arme was exercised in the one so in the other too Wee were in our Egypt here in darkenesse darkenes so thicke that it might bee felt made slaves to the grindings of a Tyrant though not a Pharaoh yet a Prince as he was of darkenes and worse then hee was then of utter darknesse under his Iron rod and scepter all the fetters and manacles of sinne and Sathan till God by the vertue of his Arme knock'd off those yron shackles and brake asunder the bands of death and darkenesse And herein was the worke of his Arme his mighty Arme the Strength of his mighty Arme nay it was not so properly the strength of his own Arme as that strength which is the Arme it selfe the Arme JESUS And here in two Prophets meet Paravit Dominus brachium suum and Dominus in fortitudine ventet brachium ejus dominabitur The Lord hath made bare his Arme so Isaiab His holy Arme hath gotten him Victory so David And why hath the Lord thus made bare his Arme or what is that Victory his holy Arme hath got What Isai 52.10 All the ends of the world shall see his salvation Isa 52.10 And His salvation is made knowne in the sight of all the Heathen Psal 98.2 Here then still Psal 98.2 this Arme is Salvation and this Salvation Mercie and this Mercie Eminent and this Eminencie in Truth All the ends of the world shall see it and it shal be made known in the eyes of all the Heathen all the Heathen all the World all shall see it shall See it but not enjoy it and yet to see it is the way to enjoy it and that we may finde that way and at length enjoy it as we should Isa 52.9 Breake forth into melody sing together ye waste places of Ierusalem and not onely those but the whole Earth Sing aloud unto the Lord all yee Lands the round world and all that therein is ye sowles of the Ayre Psal 98. that sing among the branches ye Beasts and Cattell upon a thousand Hills yee that sport also in the deepe Psal 104. v. 8. 11 12. that goe up as high as the mountaines and downe to the Valleyes beneath Let the Sea roare and the fulnesse thereof let the floods clap their hands and the little hills dance for joy Let the Nations also be glad let them sing upon the harpe upon the harpe with a Psalme of Thankesgiving Praise him on the Cymballs ye sons of His praise him on the Wel-tuned Cymballs with trumpets also and shawmes praise his Name Powre out all your acclamations and shouts of Joy all your Hosannahs and Hallelujahs yee Saints of his Sing and sing aloud unto the Lord that his mercie is thus made knowne upon Earth and his saving Health among all Nations And here we cannot complaine of the Lord as the Prophet did of old Isai 63.15 Where is now the sounding of thy bowels and thy mercies towards us For it is gone you heare into all Nations but rather where is the sounding of our Thankfulnesse our singing aloud in Magnificats and Regratulations unto him Misericordias Domini in aeternum cantobo saith David I will sing of the mercies of the Lord for ever Psal 89.1 And certainely if they be Mercies of the Lord they are Mercies for ever Psal 89.1 and if Mercies for ever great Mercies and if Mercies and Great and For ever too worthy for ever to be sung by all those that are in misery even by Kings by David himselfe if a King as he was in misery For Misery hath aswell a For ever as Mercy hath And therefore it was necessary that God's Mercies should be infinite because of our miseries and it was just that our miseries should be infinite because of our sinnes Here then Abyssus abyssum invocat One deepe cryes unto another and here Altitudo
at the very heeles by the Hue and cry of two foule sinnes Murder and Adultery is at length brought unto the barre and after arraignment and conviction done calls for his Psalme of mercy and insteed of an Exaudi me Domine hee comes with a miserere mei Deus 'T was before Heare me O Lord for thy righteousnesse sake as if hee stood upon termes of justification but now both the Tune and the Plea is alter'd And therefore have mercy upon me O God after thy great goodnesse according to the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my offences Psal 51.1 Here we finde Saint Bernard againe with his Magna misericordia and his Multitudo miserationum great sinnes require great goodnesse offences that are not common the multitude of Gods mercies the multitude of his tender mercies and according unto those Have mercy upon mee the Psalmist cryeth upon mee thy servant thy Prophet the man after thine owne heart My sinnes are such that they require thy goodnesse thy great goodnesse my offences so capitall that they looke for thy mercies thy tender mercies the multitude of thy tender mercies for their sake and onely for their sake blot out these my foule corruptions which if they should still continue in that uglinesse which they now are whither O whither should I flye No flesh is righteous in thy sight nay no righteousnesse in me as man meerely but is as flesh in thy sight fraile imperfect rotten not able to indure the touch of thy judgements If thou shouldest marke what is done amisse who should be able to abide it Psal 130.3 Surely not flesh blood not I I that am the miserablest of flesh and bloud I cannot answer thee one for a thousand Job 9.3 not one for a thousand thousand so desperate are my sins without thy goodnes thy great goodnes so hainous my transgressiōs without thy mercies thy tender mercies the multitude of thy tender mercies And this ever was will be the plea of Gods Children in their great extremities all their thoughts words endeavours then tread no farther the way to heaven than a miserere mei Deus If any brain-sick or upstart speculation have found out a newer cut or a neerer for mine owne part I give it the Pasport and good speed that Constantine did the Novatian Hereticke Tollescalas Acesi Socrat. lib. 1. cap. 7. in coelum solus ascendas let Rome suggest me it is in him that willeth or Geneva in him that runneth Saint Pauls miserentis Domini carryes the Palme at last It is not in him that willeth nor in him that runneth but in God that sheweth mercy Rom. 9.16 Those vaine-glorious opinions of merit and perfection here are but the dreames or delusions rather of two opposite and wayward Sisters Popery and Puritanisme Non sum dignus Nonsum dignus was the true and ancient ensigne both of sanctity and martyrdome And therefore the great Patriarch of the Romish Church was inforced at last to come in with his Tutissimum est It is most safe most safe Cardinall Bellar. de justif lib. 5. cap. 7. most just In sola Dei misericordia only in the mercy of God to repose our hope our confidence our eternall exectation And to this purpose one of the candles or rather stars of the same Church speaking of the mystery of our redemption Stella in 1. Lucae calls it mercy Quia tale tam divinum opus sub nullo merito comprehenditur sed sola divena misericordia factum est He that hath heard of Bellarmine or Stella knowes where the Quotations lie Heere then mercy and mercy only is embrac'd and those old presumptions of merit casheird by some of their greatest Rabbies Now if I could but reade or heare of so much modesty or so much mercy from some Perfectists of ours men so pretendingly immaculate and pure as if their hands and hearts were wash'd in innocence and they could goe boldly to Gods Altar as if they rather dar'd his justice then implor'd his mercy I might at length beleeve as I doe not yet that it were possible for a sincere or a learned or a not discontented man to turne Chatharist and so finde out a new way to Heaven by the spirit of opposition and singularity If any such Pharisees there be here standing about the Temple which yet dare vaunt in their plumed righteousnesse and tell God sawcily to his face that they are not as other men Extortioners vnjust Adulterers no not as this Publican let them enjoy the fruite of their insolent and uncharitable devotions whilst others and my selfe addresse our Orizons to God in his pensive and humble posture where wee may find a heart more stooping then a knee and a looke then either an eye so dejected and intent that it dares nor so much as glaunce where it offended as if one cast of it towards heaven were enough not only to dazzle but confound him Besides a hand so trembling or rather so feeble that it moves only to the striking of a sinfull breast no higher thoughts so mortified and gesture so lowly and language so modest that wee can discover nothing but penitence and submission and these rather express'd by groanes then words or if words broken ones Luke 18.13 God be mercifull to mee a sinner And here by the way we must remember that as mercy and truth meete so peace and righteousnes must kisse too nay righteousnes and mercy God is as well a righteous as a compassionate God a God of justice as of mercy nay his mercy sometimes shines the cleerer for his justice as the Sunne doth neere a storme or thunder-clapp His mercyes saith the Prophet are above all his workes All his workes Psal 145.9 That as you have heard is without Quaere not all his attributes too No though the Apostle seemeth to intimate so much Misericordia Dei super-exaltat judicium mercy doth super exalt or gloryes above or as some reade it Against judgement James 2.13 There is nothing in God majus or minus His attributes as I tolde you are himselfe and therefore to make one lesse or greater then another were to make God lesse or greater then himselfe God is summe simplicissimus not only one but very onenesse and therefore whatsoever is in himselfe must be himselfe and if himselfe therefore infinite infiinite then his justice as well as mercy and all his attributes as either and yet though mercy and justice as they are referr'd to God may bee styled infinite and are yet in relation to his workes they have such a reason of their magnitude as the worke it selfe is either proceeding from mercy or justice And therefore when God suffers sinnes to passe by unpunished as sometimes hee does hee is sayd to bee exceeding mercifull But when hee doth scourge a little his justice was not home to the desert of the offender so that his mercy is said to be greater than his justice though both be infinite
eye they coozen it Iustice no doubt is as visible as Mercy but that Flesh and Bloud is apt to turne the perspective the contrary way and so beholds Iustice in a small letter but turning it againe views Mercy in a large print In such a case I should rather chide than counsell did not the Sonne of Syrach put in his caveat here Ecclus. 5.5 6. concerning Propitiation Bee not without feare to adde sinne to sinne and say not His mercie is great he will be pacified for the multitude of my sinnes for mercy and wrath come from him and his Indignation resteth upon Sinners Ecclus. 5.5 6. 'T is true the Mercies of the Lord are infinite but his promises of them are for the most part conditionall and restrain'd like as a Father pittyeth his owne children so is the Lord mercifull Psal 103.13 but to whom Timentibus eum to those that feare him Psal 103.13 So againe the mercyes of the Lord are throughout all generations All generations How Timentibus eum to those that feare him throughout all generations Luke 1.50 No feare then no mercy But is there alwaies mercy where there is feare yes this Timentibus eum joyn'd with a Credentibus ineum if feare goe with beliefe and filiation with feare not else Yea but the Divells beleeve and tremble too is there not mercy for them Origen will say there is and after some expiration of yeeres Salvation too And for the better colouring of his tenet he hath as well text for the Divell as the Divell had for Christ Hath God forgotten to be gratious or will he in his anger shut up his tender mercyes for ever Psal 77. From which words he endeavours to lenifie those often breathings against the wicked Vt terribilus dicta quam verius as if they had more horrour in them than truth and us'd only to awe malefactors not to punish them But this wilde fancy of his the Church long since spewed out as erronious and interprets that anger of God which he formerly urg'd in the behalfe of the damned not any divine perturbation but their owne damnation which is frequently in scripture call'd anger and that anger endlesse and therefore the Psalmist sayes Inira sua non ad finiendam Lib. 4. dist 66. or post iram suam as the Master glosseth it And doubtlesse as the glory of Gods children is endlesse so is the destruction of his enemies The text oftentimes resembling their torments unto fire fire unquenchable everlasting fire Everlasting in respect of time though sometimes not of rigour And herein is mercy still though no salvation mercy in that there is a qualification of punishment not salvation because no termination of time for that punishment Hereupon Saint Augustine in his enarrations upon that of the Psalmist The mercy of the Lord endureth for ever Psal 106. From a double version of the word ever gathers a double observation of mercy The Septuagint reades it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 In aeternum Saint Ierome whom the Father followes In seculum Now there is a mercy saith he Qua nemo sine Deo beatus esse potest by which no man can be blessed without God that is not injoying him And this he calls mercy 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 In aeternum There is a mercy besides Quae miscris exhibetur which is afforded to men in misery such a mercy as either involves barely a consolation or else such a mercy as presupposes freedome and this he calls mercy In seculum D. Aug. ad Psal 105. that is as he interprets himselfe In finem seculi in quo nòn decrunt miseri quibus misericordia praebeatur At the generall and dreadfull assize at the last day some shall not cease to be miserable to whom mercy is allowed and so to the Divell his Angells and the reprobated drove there is a mercy granted a mercy not of inlargement but relaxation and so that mercy may be said to be eternall on their eternall misery Non aeterno supplicio finem dando Lomb. lib. 4. dist 66. sed levamen adhibendo not by Ending but by Easing their everlasting torments And here D. Aug. ut sup Quis audeat dicere saith the Father who durst say this Easing is not Mercy or this Mercy not Eternall His mercie endureth for ever His mercy endureth for ever His mercy endureth for ever 'T is the burden and under-song the Prophet useth thrice in one Psalme and 26. times in another Whither then O God shall wee flie from thy Power or whither so flying but to thy Mercy If wee climbe up to Heaven Mercy is there If we goe downe into Hell Mercy is there If we take the wings of the morne and flye to the uttermost parts of the Earth Mercy is there also 'T is in Glory Exile Torment Psal 118. Above beyond under us with thy Friends thine Aliens thine Enemies thy glorified thy dispersed Psal 13. thy condemned Mercy Before the world and Mercy After the world Mercy From everlasting and Mercy To everlasting Mercy when there was no Time and Mercy when there shall be Time no more Mercy from that immortality which hath No beginning and Mercy to that immortality which hath Noend Infinite Incorruptible Aeternall For his Mercy endureth for ever for his Mercy endureth for ever for his Mercy endureth for ever Well then Is God the God of Mercie And Christ the Christ of Mercie Are we Christs and Christ God's Let us then be the Sonnes of Mercy too being mercifull as our Father in Heaven is mercifull forgiving one another as God for Christs sake forgave us Let there not be a Nabal murmuring within us no heart of stone for the hammer of the Law to batter but hearts of Flesh soft and pliable to the miseries of others And as God hath powred out his bowells for us so let us powre out our bowells for our brethren our bowells of Pitty and Compassion Remember what the counsell of S. Ierom was to Demetriades the Virgin S. Hieron parte 3. Tract 5. Ep. Epist 17. Laudent te esurientium viscera non ructantium opulenta convivia Let the great mans Voyder be the poore mans Basket the emptying of his Abundance the Accommodation of the others wants Hunger will not be fed with Ayre nor misery with good words they must have a taste of the Meale in our barrell and of the Oyle in our Cruse Let 's abate somewhat of our superfluities to supply their necessities Sint tua supersiua pauperis necessaria Sen. ad Lucil. Ep. 51. Bleed this Plurisie of ours and Cordiall their Consumption Let the Naked be cloth'd the Hungry fed the Impotent provided for the Sicke visited Give not for Bread a Stone nor for a Fish a Scorpion But let our hands speake what our hearts meane our Almes tell that our thoughts are compassionate And not like those flinty professours which turne Gospell into Law Christianity into Barbarisme A poore widow
Rivers of Oyle will be in the Canaan above The earthly Jerusalem may abound with Silver and Gold and Arabian spices But what are These to the gates of pearle to the streets pav'd with precious stones Sheba and Tharshish and Ophir may supply her both with treasure and delight Ivory and Apes and Peacoks 1 King 10. But these are comparatively Toyes in respect of those rich and glorious Constellations which shine in the heavenly Ierusalem The Emerauld the Saphire and the Chrysolite are there The Iacinth the Topaz the Amethist are above Rev. 21.20 Honorificentissima praedicantur de Te Psal 87.3 O Civitas Dei Summè honorifica Great and excellent things are spoken of Thee thou City of God Thou everlasting City Great and excellent indeed for there is neither true Greatnesse nor Excellency but There where we shall grow up to the perfect Man Indeed as S. Paul tells us And to the measure of the ture of the Fulnesse of Christ Ephes 4.13 when we shall lay hold on that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 That Aeternum pondus Gloriae The excellent and eternall waight of Glory 2 Cor. 4.17 No Defect there no Sinne no Temptation no Lust no Infirmity no Sorrow but we shall be filled with all the Fulnesse of God Ephe. 3.19 The Sun shall not burne us by day nor the Moone by night Nay there shall be no need of Sunne and Moone for the Glory of God shall shine there and the Lambe is the light thereof for evermore But whilst we wander as strangers and pilgrims here on earth there will be a daily tempest betweene the Flesh and the Spirit a wildernesse of sin must bee past through and a fiery pillar requir'd to guide us in our night of errors And though God by his great mercies in his Sonne Christ Iesus hath brought us out of darkenesse into his marvelous light yet even in this light darkenesse sometimes over-shadowes us And therefore as in the Creation of the greater World God ordained two principall lights the one to rule the day and the other the night So in the restauration of this lesser World Man God hath set two lights also a Sunne and a Moone Christ and his Church the one to governe him by Day when the beames of the Spirit doe enlighten him the other in the Night when the fogs and mists of the Flesh doe overspread him and as those naturall Planets doe sometimes meet with their Clouds and Eclipses so doe these mysticall also Now as the interposition of the Earth betweene the Sunne and the Moone causeth an Eclipse in the Moone and as the interposition of the Moone betweene us and the Sunne causeth an Eclipse in the Sunne So the interposition of the Flesh which is as our earthly part betweene God and the Soule causeth an Eclipse in the Soule whereby her saculties are over-clouded and the interposition of concupiscence or lust betweene our Spirit and the Spirit of God causeth an Eclipse in the Spirit whereby Grace is darkned and that Sunne of Righteousnesse which would otherwise arise in our hearts is many times over-shadowed by our corrupter motions insomuch that the best Saints and Servants of God have often groan'd within themselves and powr'd out their complaints in bitternesse of Soule with an Vsquequo Domine Jesu usquequo How long Lord Iesus how long How long this Tyranny of the Flesh this bondage of corruption this body of Death this captivity to the Law of finne Psal 120.5 Wretched wretched that we are who shall deliver us Woe that we are thus constrained to sojourne in Mesech here and to dwell in the Tents of Kedar But even in these spirituall convulsions they have their lucida intervalla their Divine solaces and refreshments this being not the language of desperation but complaint Ieb after all his passionate expostulations with God tell 's Bildad that hee knowes his Redeemer liveth Iob 19.25 And Saint Paul after his sad and manifold disputes with his owne frailties here can give thankes to God through Iesus Christ our Lord Rom. 7.24 which sacred ejaculations of theirs preach no other Doctrine and use but this That wee feeling this thorne in the flesh and the messenger of Satan ever ready to buffet us 2 Cor. 12.7 should not be exalted above measure but when wee begin to bristle and advance our selves in the whitenesse of our feathers swell in the opinion of our owne Justice and perfections wee should cast downe our eyes upon the blacke and ugly feet of our infirmities and so humble the pride of our imaginations with the modest language of the Prophet Lord blot out my transgressions as a mist and as a thicke cloud my sinnes Isai 44.22 Melior est peccator humilis quam justus superbus D. Aug. serm 49. de temp a sinner in his humility is a more acceptable Sacrifice than a just man if such a one may be in his pride And yet as we should be thus sensible of our infirmities how daily how hourely how minutely how unavoidably they are so we should not humble our selves below our selves forgetting the great Pilot and Anchor of our Soules but whilst we have armes and Oares and plankes to waft us in let us not voluntarily plundge our selves in that depth which may occasion our everlasting shipwracke diffidence and despaire but knowing that Prophers and Disciples themselves have beene in the like Tempest the Ship ready to sinke and her Great Steeres-man asleepe they crying amazedly we perish we perish yet if we invoke him by our zealous importunities rouze him with a Master Master hee shall awake at length and rebuke the churlish windes and the waves Luke 8.24 and a blessed calme shall follow The greatest servants of God have had their great infirmities and yet none so great but have had a faire audience in his Court of mercy and met both with excuse and pardon from the mouth of a compassionate Iudge who acknowledgeth that their spirit is ready though their flesh be weake and their minde following the Law of God though the Flesh the fraile Flesh bee led captive by the Law of sinne And this peculiar Plea of Gods chosen Servants is at length become an Apologie for the customary sinnes of those who in their conversations are most wicked and deprav'd the prophanest Esaus Pet. Mart. in cap. 7. ad Rom. v. 25. the loosest Libertines that are Illae pestes furiae temporum as Peter Martyr calls them those plagues and furies of the times lay title to it and 't is made not onely the excuse of their sinnes but their very patent and priviledge of sinning who under the colour of their carnall frailties can blanch and palliate their deepest enormities make Scarlet Snow and Crimson Wooll crying out with those wretches in the times of S. Augustine Vide D. Aug. Serm. 46. de Temp. Ser. 13. deverbis Dom. Serm. 6. de verbis Apostol Non nos sed Caro non nos
those vertues which so make you shine in the opinion of others and me The unworthiest of your Honourers HVM SYDENHAM Osculum CHARITATIS OR MERCY and JUSTICE KISSING PSAL. 85.10 Mercy and Iruth are met together Righteousnesse and Peace have kissed each other EVery Attribute of GOD is God himselfe and God himselfe is principally discovered by those Attributes Now where we finde Mercy and Truth and Righteousnes and Peace and all these meeting and kissing in one substance we cannot conceive lesse than a God there the true God for the true God is the God of all these Had the words run onely in the Concrete mercifull and true and righteous and peaceable David perhaps or who ever else was Author of this Psalme might have understood here some earthly God a King a Good King as David was for these also meet and kisse in a religious soveraignty But since they are in the abstract mercy and truth and righteousnes and peace there is a greater Majesty inshrin'd A King of Kings and a God of Gods And what is that God here In Generall and at large the * Triune Triune GOD the One God in Three persons In Speciall and more particularly the second person in that One God CHRIST For if we sunder and untwist the Attributes as they now lie folded in the Text and so set Righteousnesse to Truth wee shall finde God the Father if Mercy to Truth God the Sonne if Peace to Truth God the Holy Ghost In Righteousnesse there is the Creator in Mercy there is the Redeemer in Peace there is the Comforter in Truth All Three But if we ranke them again as they stood in their first order and so make Mercy Truth meet and Righteousnes and Peace kisse they kisse meet properly in the Anointed and the Saviour the King and the Priest the God and the Man and the Iudge betweene Both CHRIST JESUS Mercy there 's the Saviour Righteousnesse there 's the Iudge Truth there 's the King Peace there 's the Priest or if you will have it Peace there 's both King and Priest Thou art a Priest for ever after the order of Melchisedech Heb. 7.17 Now Melchisedech was King of Salem and Salem signifieth Peace so that he is not onely a Priest but a King of Peace a Priest and a King so for ever When the Earth was first in a generall Combustion and her sinfull Rebellions smoaking against Heaven when between God and Man or rather from God to Man there was nothing to be expected but Fire and Sword Christ stands betweene like Moses in the Gappe He is the Attoner and Pacifier the Propitiation and Reconciliation for all our sinnes 1 Joh 2.2 And here was Peace indeed and this Peace could not be procured without Mercy an infinite Mercy for a Sonne to interpose betweene an angry Father and an obstinate offender nay a wilfull enemy for so was Man then was an Argument of Mercy you 'll say But to hunger and to bleed and to dye for him and to dye ignominiously and in that death to beare the Curse due to the malefactor too was an infinite mercy Thus God commendeth his Love towards us his exceeding great Love that when wee were yet Sinners Christ dyed for us Rom. 5.8 I will not trouble the Text nor Time nor you nor my selfe with a Division what God hath thus ioyned together let not man separate Mercie and Truth meete Righteousnesse and Peace kisse and let them meete and kisse still onely give me leave to shew you How Mercy and Truth have met and in whom and How Righteousnesse and Peace kiss'd and For What. Mercy and Truth are met together Righteousnesse and Peace have kissed each other I beginne with Mercy and there doubtlesse we shall finde Truth Mercy and Truth have met together FOr Mercy here the Originall hath the word Rachen from Racham which signifieth Diligere to Love but such a Love as is inward and from the very Bowells Now the Bowells you know are the Seate of Mercy and therefore S. Paul presses his Collossians with an Induite viscera misericordiae Put on the Bowells of Mercie Col. 3.12 But because of this Mercie there are manifold Effects the Greeke hath it usually in the plurall Origen in cap. 12. ad Rom. 1. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Mercies Ad judicandam immensam Dei misericordiam To shew the Greatnesse saith Origen and not onely so but the Tendernesse of Gods Mercies And therefore wee reade sometimes Miserationes sometimes viscera miserationum sometimes Viscera miserationes so Phil. 2.1 If there be any Bowells and Mercies where the Text hath not only the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Cornel. a lap in cap. 2. ad Phil. v. 1. which are the same with the Hebrew Rachamim miserationes for Viscera misericordiae So Christ when he saw the people scatter'd in the wildernesse 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 sayes the Text His bowells did yearne or He had pitty on them Mar. 6. Hence compassionate men are call'd 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Bonorum Viscerum Men are good bowells which we translate Tender-hearted or mercifull Ephes 4.32 So mercifull that touch'd even at the marrow and intrails for the miseries of another they could poure out their very Bowells for him And such were the Mercies of God to Man when he powr'd out his owne Bowells His onely begotten Son for us So the Evangelicall Zachary Prophetically of Christ By the tender Mercies of God where the vulgar reades Per Viscera misericordiae Dei By the bowels of the mercy of God the Day-spring from on high hath visited us Luk. 1.78 And to this purpose Saint Paul labouring the conversion both of Iew and Gentile Rom. 12.1 doth beseech them by the mercies of God as tender-hearted mothers their immorigerous children per abera et ventrem suum Pet. Mart. in cap. 12. Rom. saith Peter Martyr by the wombe that bare them and by the paps that gave them sucke Nay more per viscera misericordiae by the bowells of mercy farther yet per viscera Iesu Christi by the bowells of Jesus Christ hee that is wombe and bowels and paps and all mercy God is my record how greatly I long after you all in the bowells of Iesus Christ Phil. 1.8 And certainely if there were ever bowells of mercy his were or ever miseries for those bowells to worke on ours were when hee not only pour'd out his affections but his very bloud for us us then his enemies and without him perpetuall captives and gally slaves to sinne and Sathan And therefore the Evangelist having it seemes no word more Emphaticall to expresse the mystery of incarnation by calls it mercy Luke 1. vide St llamin cap. 1. Lucae and the Apostle charity Rom. 8. Mercy and Charity the Analasis of heaven and earth God and man epitomiz'd nay God the man and therefore those two great vertues or rather attributes Symeon in his song calls salutare
altitudinem invocat One height cryes unto another this Height and Depth will make up Infinitenesse Now infinite Sinnes cry unto infinite Miseries there are the two Deepes Againe infinite Miseries cry upon infinite Mercies and infinite Mercies upon infinite Truth there are the two Heights Once more Shame is a consequent of Sinne and death of Shame and of such a Death Misery here is a Great deepe On the other side the strength of Goodnesse is Power and of Power God and of God Eternity There 's a Great Height Now between this Height and Depth what Medium have wee Mercy still and how this Mercy but from Truth and how this Truth but from God and how from God but as a Father And therefore S. Paul calls him Pater misericordiarum Deus totius consolationis The father of Mercies and God of all Consolation 2 Cor. 1.3 2 Cor. 1.3 Marke he is not barely Pater misericordiae but Misericordiarum Generall offences presuppose generall Pardons and therefore the Father of Mercies not of Mercie and he is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Father of them there is no other Besides he is Deus totius consolationis Vniversall distresses require universall comforts S. Ber. Serm. 5. de Natal Dom. and therefore not only the God of This or That but the God of All comfort Againe he is call'd Miserationum non ultionum Pater The Father of Mercies not of Revenge For in this he were rather a God than a Father and a severe Judge than a God A Father then of Mercies not of Judgements Quià non tam decet patrem indignari quà m misereri filiorum saith S. Bernard Mercy is more proper in a Father than Indignation and therefore a Father of Mercies still or if these be sometimes mixt with Indignation Tamen miserendi causam sumit ex proprie ulciseendi ex nostro The cause of being mercifull is from Himselfe of being angry from us and our sinnes On the other side He is Deus totius consolationis The God of all Comfort S. Ber. ut supra Quià micificè dum misericordiam exercet omnes mortales consolatur He hath a Salve for every wound a Cordiall for every languishment for every calamity a Comfort And therefore according to the diversities of Benefits we receive from him we returne him as well diversities of Attributes as Thankes In Weaknesse wee call him Strength in Sicknesse Health in Misery Mercy in Distresse Comfort In time of War he is the Sword and the Bow Psal 18.2 of danger the Buckler and the Shield of Persecution the Castle and the Tower of Trouble Psal 27.1 the Rocke and the Sanctuary And here the Apostle belike calls him The God of hope and peace the God of Patience and comfort Rom. 15.5 13. Of Peace in Warre of Hope in Danger of Patience in Trouble of Comfort in Persecution Of all These he is a God that is Largitor saith Theophylact the Benefactor or Disposer his very Deity doth include Comfort Theoph. in loc and by his Essence he is not onely Tota but Totus consolatio or rather Totum consolationis a full Tide and Sea of Comforts which hee powres out in this life upon his Servants in Tribulation with such a bountifull hand that mortall heart is not capable either of receiving or expressing it but inforc'd to cry out with that blessed Martyr Satis est Domine Satis est Lastly he is call'd Pater misericordiarum intransitivè that is multum misericors or by the same Hebraisme Misericordissimus as both Cornelius and Carthusian glosse it Father of mercies Cornel. a lap in 15. cap Rom. v. 5.13 for most mercifull or full of mercies and in that sence he is said to be the Father of them as elsewhere hee is the Father of Raine Job 38.28 't is a quaint speculation the Iesuite hath because his blessings come in showers and are not so properly drop'd as powr'd downe upon his inheritance Iustin Gen. in 2 Cor. cap. 1. Moreover 't is the nature of raine to cherish and refresh the dry and barren ground and of Mercy the languishing and thirsting Soule And therefore the Psalmist cryes My soule gaspeth unto thee as a thirsty Land Psal 143.6 Psal 143.6 Now the thirsty Land gaspeth after him as the God of Raine but the thirstie Soule as the God of Mercy And yet these as they are one in substance so oftentimes in effect and operation too Mercy extends as well to the unjust as to the just Mat. 5.45 So doth the Raine He raineth saith the Evangelist as well on the unjust as the just Mat. 5.45 And doubtlesse both the just and the unjust want it and desire to be refresh'd with those two dewes of Heaven Providence and Mercy Hence is that elegant similitude of the Prophet As the Hart brayeth after the Rivers of waters so my soule panteth after thee Ps 42 1. Here the Sic wil answer punctually the Sicut the Hart you know for 't is a trodden observation when he is hard chas'd wounded immediately betakes himselfe to the next water or River which is to him both balme and refreshment and the heart of man when it is sore chas'd and wounded by his manifold sins flyes to the water and the River too the River of everlasting waters and these waters everlasting comforts comforts from him that is everlasting the God of comforts and who is that God of comforts but he that was before the Father of Mercies And who this Father of Mercy but he that is the Father of Raine From the noise of whose water-spouts streame all those blessings which we here call Mercies and Comforts and these sometimes both in measure and manner extraordinary And indeed it was requisite saith Saint Bernard that many should be Gods Mercies and Comforts because many were the tribulations of the just and so Miseria nostra multiplex non medo magnam misericordiam sed multitudinem quaerit miserationum as the Father in his 5. Sermon De natali Domini a manifold misery doth not onely require a great but a manifold Mercy And therefore David touch'd it seemes at the quicke with the smart and sence of his transgressions gives not off his suit with a single importunity but closely prosecutes the Lord with a Fac mihi gratiam fac mihi gratiam Domine Be mercifull unto me O Lord be mercifull unto me Psal 57.1 And why this doubling upon mercy except his miseries were double And doubtlesse they were doubly double and therfore be mercifull unto me be mercifull unto me why thus unto me unto me why Because my soul trusteth in thee in the 1. v. of that Psalm Now in what or in whom should it trust but in the Father of mercies Or from what or whō should it expect redresse but frō the God of comfort hereon the same Prophet wounded in soul and under the bitter pangs convulsions of a griping conscience dogg'd and pursu'd