Selected quad for the lemma: mercy_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
mercy_n	heart_n	lord_n	way_n	4,954	5	4.7237	4	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A01883	The fall of man, or the corruption of nature, proued by the light of our naturall reason Which being the first ground and occasion of our Christian faith and religion, may likewise serue for the first step and degree of the naturall mans conuersion. First preached in a sermon, since enlarged, reduced to the forme of a treatise, and dedicated to the Queenes most excellent Maiestie. By Godfrey Goodman ...	Goodman, Godfrey, 1583-1656.	1616 (1616)	STC 12023; ESTC S103235	311,341	486

death as a passage or gate to a better life cupio dissolui esse cum Christo hee will bee thus faithfully resolued non sunt passiones huius vitae condignae ad futuram gloriam c. The miseries and passions of this life are not to bee respected in regard of that crown of glory which God hath prepared for his Saints Deo gratias THE FALL OF MAN THE THIRD PART OVt of the deepe haue I cried vnto thee O Lord Lord heare my voyce one deepe cals vp an other the depth of my sinne cals for the depth of thy goodnes the depth of my misery cals for the depth of thy mercy in stead of all my worldly vanities giue me O Lord the sweet comfort of thy spirit and the solid foundation of thy ioy guide me in these my darke and slippery wayes by the assistance of thy power Open my lips and my mouth shall speake forth thy praise kindle my heart that I may enlighten and enflame others conuert and confirme me that I may strengthen my brethren forsake me not O Lord in mine old age when I am gray-headed vntill I haue shewed forth thy glory and praise to succeeding generations heare me O Lord for thou art my God and my sauiour in whom I doe trust thou art the strength and horne of my saluation If there were no other argument to perswade me of the naturall corruption of man but onely the implicite and secret confession of man himselfe concerning himselfe together with the daily practice of his actions this were sufficient For in what course or condition of life would you suppose man wherein you should not finde an euident proofe of his corruption If man be solitarie and alone then you shall finde him melancholy discontented and in some dislike with himselfe as it were for want of others picking quarrels and fighting with himselfe now place him in the company and society of others and presently hee falles to banding and factions Wherefore serues such a number of fencing-schooles or the nature of combates and duels now at length reduced to the rules and forme of an Art and such as will not aduenture their bloud in a quarrell they must contend in suites of law to the impairlng of their substance Histories are daily written which discouer the subtilties and trickes of state but sure it is that there is as much false dealing close practises cunning suggestions dissimulation breach of promises and euery way as much dishonesty in a petty poore base paultry Corporatiō for the choice of their towne-Clearke their Bailiffe or some such officer as you shall finde among the great Bashawes for the vpholding and supporting of the Turkish Empire The whole world is distracted with factions and therefore surely the ould time was much to be commended in tolerating or rather giuing occasion to some countrey may-games and sportes as dancing piping pageants all which did serue to asswage the cruelty of mans nature that giuing him some little ease and recreation they might with-hould him from worser attempts and so preserue amitie betweene men Vpon the abolishing of these you could not conceiue in reason were it not that we finde it true by experience for sometimes things which are small in the consideration are great in the practise what dissolute and riotous courses what vnlawfull games what drunkennes what enuy hatred malice and quarelling haue succeeded in lieue of these harmlesse sports and these are the fruits which our strict professors haue brought into the world I know not how they may boast of their faith for indeed they are pure professors but sure I am they haue banisht all charity In our dealings and contracts with men sometimes we blame the complections and lookes of others solemnly protesting that we dislike their visage and will admit no dealings with them sometimes wee dislike their names sometimes the whole kindred the stocke and the familie sometimes the whole nation is condemned Whereas all this time we are much mistaken and deceiued for either the hate and dislike should be extended and generally comprehend whole nature whole mankinde for God sawe all the counsels of men that they were full of impietie and wickednesse or else we should contract our hate and begin first and principally to hate our selues as consisting equally with them of the same corruption But behold for our selues wee haue found out some lurking holes some retiring places some speciall priuiledge and indulgence proper to vs if all other goodly and godly pretenses doe faile then we can boast of our ancestors that we are descended from honest noble parents Which certainly we would neuer doe were it not that implicitly we confesse the basenesse and vilenesse of our owne nature in generall and therefore we seeke to couer and conceale our owne shame in particular Heere we vse scutchions and armes beasts forsooth must discouer our conditions and qualities they must shew our parentage whereas indeed the Prophet hath better described it radix tua generatio tua ex terra Canaan pater tuus Amoreus mater tua Cethea tuque ex corrupto semine thy father was an Amorite thy mother was a Cethit and thou art borne and conceiued in sinne all thy other coates are but counterfeit sometimes bought with a price let thy armory consist of a Lyon and of a Lambe the Lyon of the tribe of Iuda to enable thee with fortitude and courage and let the lambe of God teach thee true humility and meekenesse Now in our actions consider the enuie and malignitie of our nature how apt we are to offend each other and being once prouoked how readily we returne euil for euill how irreconcileable is our hate we crie for nothing but reuenge to preach of mercy and forgiuenes durus hic sermo this seemes to bee a hard saying though indeed it should soften our hard hearts habet musca splenem the meanest and basest vassall will meditate and thinke of reuenge if he sustaines the least supposed wrong from his master and Lord. It should seem● that our nature being wholly inclind vnto euill we cannot forbeare to doe euill and in the suffering of euill we must needs repay euill according to the similitude and likenesse of our nature when both action and passion are performed by one and the same qualitie for heate working vpon heate the greater will allure and draw forth the lesse and it is onely christian religion which takes away the corruption of our nature and giues vs this precept to ouercome an other mans euill with our own good But you will say that common iustice requires as much in effect to returne euil for euil that the reward might be agreeable to the desert heerin consists your error that you suppose iustice which is a commendable vertue that it can reside betweene vices There is a proportion I confesse but an euil proportion in things that are wholy euill iustice would rather square out malum culpae to

this appeares not only in the seuerall persons of men whō you may taxe with affections who might mistake in their ends but consider whole mankind and you shall obserue that some nations thinke other nations to be happy in respect of themselues stockes families kindreds do the like and generally all the states of men seeing no iust cause in themselues wherein they might glory begin to commend and desire an other state and condition of life nemo sua sorte contentus The Marchant commends the life of a scholler a schollar desiring some practicall imployments in his speculatiue studies desires the life of a souldier the souldier crie● dulce bellum in expertis and hee desires the lawyers gowne and that his combat might only consist in words and his quarrel be tried at the bar T●us we finde a dislike in our owne and suppose some contentment in theirs like sicke men who sometimes turne on the one side sometimes on the other now in the cha●●e then in the bed straight in this roome immediatly in that roome seeking ease and rest but faile in their purposes Seeing we are thus well perswaded of other mens states and courses of life though otherwise wee are in some dislike with our owne I cannot sufficiently discharge mine owne dutie and conscience vnlesse I shall speake of those miseries which are proper and peculiar to euery state in particular As I hope I shal not prouok whole mankind against me when I discouer their fall and corruption so without exception I may speake of the vices and miseries of each state in particular For it is proper to misery to groane proper to sinne for to cry for vengeance neither misery nor sin can long be concealed and it is our greatest misery that we thinke it a shame and a disparagement to our selues to haue them discouered We are not ashamed of the corruption but that it should be made manifest here is our griefe whereas the first degree to the cure is the right knowledge of the disease Heauen and earth standing in opposition to each other the deeper you sinke in the one the more remote you are from the other Suppose these worldly ioyes to be the shadowes of true ioyes as indeed they are no more then the shadowes if I set the shadow before me then the light is behind me if the light be before me the shadow is behind me respecting the one I neglect the other the loue of heauen and of earth cannot together subsist no man can serue two masters The shadow of the earth causeth the eclipse of the Moone and the Moone very fitly resembles the state of man as being the lowest of the celestiall Orbes and in regard of her mutable and changeable condition If I desire to prepare man for a heauenly blisse needes I must first weane him from the moderate loue of his owne fl●sh laying open the miseries which are incident to whole mankind from which no state is exempted herein I shall follow the example of God himselfe who mixeth all our ioyes with the spice of sorrow and in the last clause of our liues before our death desiring then especially to draw vs to himselfe his prouidence hath so appointed that long diseases should better instruct vs of the true state of this world then all our experience in the whole course of this world Then we see our weakenes our miseries and what we are in our selues then we see the vanity of all our worldly ioyes that so detesting and abhorring them esteeming them no otherwise then indeed they are our whole comfort might reside in the onely hope of his mercy and we be as willing to forsake this world as euer we were to enioy it Thus necessity may seeme to enforce me that I leaue nothing vnsearched where happines might be concealed or hid consider likewise the principall intent of this Treatise for I did propose vnto my selfe foure things in this second part 1. That in discouering our miseries both in our selues and in respect of the creatures we might truly confesse them to be the punishments of sin 2. That our miseries being once discouered and we our selues being truly acquainted with the state of our nature wee might take some dislike and distaste in nature whereby from the depth of our sorrow we might haue safe refuge to the depth of Gods mercy 3. Least there should bee any obstacle in the way to hinder our approch vnto God I thought fit to set our owne tents and Tabernacles on fire to make our home-bred ioyes and delights vanish in smoake for they are but vanities such as should not with●hold vs from the pursuit of our happines 4. That being touched with the miseries and no way puffed vp with the vanities we might acknowledge God in both expecting a time of liberty and freedome when God shall wipe away the teares from our eyes and according to his mercy in stead of this shadow shall impart the truth of his happines Intending to speake of the s●u●r●ll states of men to search where I might finde out true ●oy and contentment in nature I must confesse that as in all other things so here especially I shall be most defectiue least an offence should be taken where an offence is not giuen God forbid that I should so far wrong mine owne soule and mine owne conscience as that I should iustly offend the least of my brethren though true it is that sore backes must not be touched yet if I shall intend the cure needs I must lance the impostume Suppose I should speake of their miseries with great diligence and good obseruation yet certaine it is that as the actuall sinne of euery man in particular is much more grieuous then his originall so assuredly the iudgements which befal euery priuat man in particular are much greater then these which are incident to the whole nature in generall And of these particular punishments I cannot take any due knowledge but must leaue them tanquam terram remotam incognitam to be searched out by the godly and daily meditation of euery religious and deuout man who in the clause and latter end of the day calling himselfe to the account of his forepassed life together with the actions of that present day shall therein finde the vndoubted fruit o● Gods iustice and if our sins haue past without remorse of conscience then this examination wherein we call our selues to account shall serue as a sufficient occasion to stir vs vp to repentance and sorrow vnà cum nube testi●●● with a cloud of witnesses all our distilling teares all our sobs and our sighs confessing our sins For the common sort of men I might well reckon them among beasts vulgus hominum inter vulgus animalium they are alwayes carried with shewes and neuer apprehend the truth their delights are al beastly they seeme not to haue the least sparke of a spirit this common sort is likewise the poorest sort so

comfort the merits of Christ the ransome and price of my redemption is infinit and doe as farre exceede the number and weight of my sinnes as the goodnesse and power of God exceeds my weaknesse and frailtie the mercie of God is infinite able to couer the whole multitude of my sinnes the hate of God vnto sinne is infinite and therefore he will leaue nothing vnattempted which may serue to cut downe the body of sinne the desire which God hath of my saluation farre exceeds mine owne desire of saluation seeing his glorie and the manifestation of his mercie which was the scope and end of my creation is a farre greater good then my particular soules health The greater my sins are the greater occasion may God take to manifest his mercie for God himselfe hath appointed my saluation not to consist in not sinning or to be free and innocent from all sinnes but in the repentance for sinne and in the satisfaction of his deare Sonne and therefore to assure mee of this mercie it is one of the Articles of my Creed which not to beleeue were not to be saued that I should bouldlie and confidently beleeue the remission and forgiuenesse of sins Yet conceiue me aright for some there are who laying hould to soone on Gods mercy as it were snatching at his mercy do indeed loose the fruits of his mercy when laying the whole burthen of their sins vpon Christ as it were making long and deepe furrowes in his backe themselues continuing in their owne sinnes in the impenitency and hardnesse of their owne hearts do indeed dreame of saluation My sinnes are innumerable yet before I was borne before they could be committed God did foresee them notwithstanding his foresight when hee might haue preuented my sinnes and left me to my first nothing yet in his gratious goodnes and mercie hee made and created me he hath giuen me my life my strength my health my senses my wit and al my temporall blessings together with the knowledge of himselfe the plentifull and powerful meanes of my saluation notwithstanding my sinnes be they neuer so great yet these are the tokens of his fauour the pledges of his loue the assurances of his promises and the earnest of my future happines Why should I then despaire of Gods mercy though I haue lost that sanctitie and holinesse wherewith I might be saued yet God hath not lost that vertue and powe ● wherewith he might saue a penitent sinner and behold the fruit of this power if I do but speake or name God it is God that speakes in my heart ipse praesens facit se quaeri I had thought I had lost him but behold he is present and inuites me to a banquet where he himselfe is the feast conui●a conuinium Lord I am not worthy with the dogs to licke vp the crummes vnder thy table yet giue me O Lord that property of dogs that licking mine owne woundes I might heale mine owne sores that my tongue may serue to cleanse my vncleannes confessing my sinnes I may disgorge and cast out my sins where they shall lie as a heauie burthen vpon thy sonne for he hath taken vp my sinnes and borne mine iniquities my sinnes are no longer mine Mea sunt per perpetrationem Christ● sunt quoad obligationē satisfactionis indeed I committed them and so they are mine but Christ alone hath entred into bands for the discharge of them he hath canceld the hand writing of the lawe he hath satisfied the rigour of thy iustice by the shedding of his bloud by his death and passion and therefore O Lord thou wilt not demand a second payment of vs he hath imputed his righteousnesse to vs and thus euery true penitent stands rectus in curia acquitted in thy consist●ry Giue me leaue to compare my selfe that am the meanest of all men to Alexander the great and this my present treatise wherein I labour to shew the fall and corruption of man to the conquest of nature me thinks I haue subdued the little world and brought man as a captiue or sl●ue through much misery and sorrow at length to the place of his execution and hauing now possest my selfe of the fairest fortresse or tower in nature man that is a little world I cannot here content my selfe but I begin to enquire whether there are as yet more worlds to be conquered and behold in the second place I will fall vpon the great world and I will attempt with Archimedes to shake her foundations to threaten her ruine in this generall corruption and dissolution of man for this punishment morte morieris though it principally concernes man yet the whole world cannot be exempted from it being directed and ordained onely for mans vse containing in it selfe the very same seedes and causes of death and destruction and as it is most fit and agreeable to our present condition that being corruptible in our selues we should likewise dwell in houses of corruption For proofe and demonstration wherof I must ascend from the indiuiduals and singulars to the species and kindes of the creatures and among all other kindes assuredly man is the most noble and therfore best deserues to be the subiect of our knowledge wee should be best acquainted with our selues which makes for the certainty of our knowledge and speaking of things which so neerely concernes our selues we should much desire to bee better informed in our owne state and condition now if the whole kinde and species of man seemes daily to decline and decay which shall appeare by the comparison of times past with times present of our selues with our ancestors then assuredly the whole world cannot be excused from corruption but as it dies daily in the singulars so at length it shall faile in the vniuersals and in the kindes of the creatures This truth seemes to relie vpon these three foundations 1. Man as all other creatures being immediatlie created by God as he comes nearer and nearer the first mould so is he more and more perfect and according to the degrees of his distance so he incurres the more imperfection and weakenesse as the streames of a fountaine the further they runne through vncleane passages the more they contract the corruption 2. It would implie a contradiction in nature if the parts and the whole were not of like condition but how wonderfull is the difference if you will suppose a corruption of the singulars and an eternitie of the kinde for whereas the recompence shuld be made by succession or equiualencie we must consider that succession may well prolong the corruption adding more degrees proceeding more leasurely but cannot wholie exclude the corruption 3. The generall intent and scope of nature wholie ●ends to corruption for I would gladly aske why should not nature either renew mans age or preserue him in a state of consistencie the answere is because the iuyce and sap which we receiue from our food or our nourishment is not

the corruption certainely intended our cure can wee conceiue in reason that wee should bee thus left to our selues left destitute of all possible meanes to relieue vs that God in his mercy hauing first made vs of nothing should notwithstanding that mercy suffer vs againe to fall vnto nothing it cannot be it cannot be here then I will first conceiue hope and rousing vp my spirits I will say with the Prophet Ieremie 8. 22. Nonne est resina in Gilead Is there not balme at Gilead Though I am inwardly sicke at the heart for all the faculties and powers of my soule are corrupted though I am outwardly sore wounded for all the actions of my bodie are tainted yet here is my comfort there is balme in Gilead there is balme in Gilead and balme hath this propertie that it may bee taken both inwardly as a soueraigne medicine to heale my maladies and outwardly it may bee poured into my wounds as an excellent salue to cure my infirmities here then I see there are sufficient meanes for my recouerie why should I perish But where at length shall I finde the Physitian Mee thinkes I am borne blinde conceiued in sinne and iniq●itie and I may truly say with the Iewes Iohn 9. 32. Since the beginning of the world it was neuer heard that any man did euer open the eyes of him that was borne blinde I must therefore ascend to some higher power and if I looke vp to the Angels they cannot iustifie themselues In angelis suis inuenit malitiam God spared not the Angels which had si●ned 2. Pet. 2. 4 and euen the best of them are but mess●ngers and ministring spirits I will rather goe to the fountaine For where should I finde refuge but vnder the shadow of thy wings O blessed Lord God now in this time of darknesse this time of corruption wash mee with bysope and I shall bee whiter then snow cleanse me from all my sinnes my secret sinnes the sinnes of my youth the sinnes of my nature which together haue increased with the hayres of my head with the minutes of my age leade me forth in thy waies let thy word bee a lanterne vnto my feete and a light vnto my pathes and with thy powerfull assistance keepe mee from falling O blessed Lord God write thy lawes in the tables of my heart binde them as chaines to my necke as bracelets to my armes stirre vp and strengthen my weake faith that I may know thee to be the onely true God and Iesus Christ whom thou hast sent to be the onely propitiation for our sinnes hee is the word of thy truth the word begotten in thy vnderstanding from all eternitie thy onely begotten Sonne the wisdome and power of the Godhead now at length in the fulnesse of time become the sonne of man God in our flesh made like vnto vs in all things sinne onely excepted whom thou hast appoynted whom thou hast prepared before the face of all people to be a light to enlighten the Gentiles and to be the glorie of the people Israell Deo gratias AA The Corollarie IN the former treatise I did not only tie my selfe to speake of the Subiect which was the fall of Man the generall corruptiō of nature how creatures haue declined by degrees since their first beginning and institution but likewise to proceed in such manner forme as that my proofes might serue to inforce the naturall man by the light of his owne reason to confesse his owne corruption Now lest I might seeme to be wanting or defectiue to my intended scope lest I might seeme to confound the fall of man with the manner circumstances and accidencies of his fall and tentation therefore I thought fit to ioyne this present Corollarie to the Treatise making it to differ from the rest of the parts for here I must ingeniously and truly confesse though mans knowledge discerneth his fall yet by the same knowledge he cannot possibly conceiue the manner of his fall For in Christian religion such things as belong to our knowledge I will ranke in three seuerall orders First some things there are wherein nature her selfe may informe vs viz. to condemne the corruption of our owne flesh to practise the Morall law c. Secondly some things there are which though not appearing to reason at first sight yet being supposed and examined by reason they shal be found most probable and most agreeable to the grounds of reason Thirdly some things are of a higher degree much aboue the reach or comprehension of reason as are the secret and hidden mysteries of faith and heerein reason being naturally taught to humble her selfe shal acknowledge her owne darknesse and these things infinitly to transcend her naturall power To the second ranke and condition of things I will referre the manner of mans fall which reason cannot apprehend of her selfe for it supposeth matter of historie and this wee receiue not by our owne discoursiue reason but only by report and tradition from others In this historicall narration of mans fall we must conceiue the free-will and election of God which being no way determinated might impose lawes at his pleasure then the free consent of mans will which according to the circumstances and present occasions might incurre the breach of those lawes for punishment whereof the iustice of God might bee allaied and tempered with mercie according to Gods owne appointment without any certaine measure or rule Thus many wayes supposing the free-will and election both in the law-giuer and in the offender in the inuisible God and in the visible creature we can no more iudge of our selues or as I may so say prophecy of their forepassed actions then others can now probably gesse or cōiecture at our future contingent euents for things which are not limited in nature reason cannot prescribe a certaine determinate course for their limitation As in generall for the whole scope and truth of Christian religion so in particular for this and all other accidents notwithstanding our ignorance yet the vnconstant and wauering minde of man may finde staiednes and be safely built vpon a sure rocke and foundation examining those grounds and assurances which wee haue for our Christian faith whereby the naturall and distrustfull man is fully resolued and perswaded by signes working of miracles euents of prophecies truth of histories succession of times the immediate and special prouidence of God whereby his Church hath continually been preserued and all other sects and schismes scattered and dissolued and could neuer endure the touch-stone insomuch that I may well say with Gamaliel Act. 5. 39. If this truth be of God then who can resist it Whereunto I will adde the generall consent and verdict of the whole world of Iewes Gentiles Turkes c. when as religion her selfe makes but one body of faith the seuerall parts and mysteries whereof as they are directed to each other so they serue to strengthen each other I shall not neede to bring