Selected quad for the lemma: mercy_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
mercy_n	jesus_n	sin_n	sinner_n	3,659	5	7.4408	4	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A47298	An help and exhortation to worthy communicating, or, A treatise describing the meaning, worthy reception, duty, and benefits of the Holy Sacrament and answering the doubts of conscience, and other reasons, which most generally detain men from it together with suitable devotions added / by John Kettlewell ...	Kettlewell, John, 1653-1695.	1683 (1683)	Wing K369; ESTC R14112	224,392	528

Thoughts and resolving to shew Kindness both in Word and Deed to all about us nay to all Men as we have ability and opportunity but the Poor especially who ought not to be forgotten at such times which is the Great Thing required of us and becoming us in this part of the Service So that when we come to the Holy Communion where we are called to remember Christ particularly in his Death to seal the New Covenant with God and a League of Friendship with our Brethren we may do well to express our selves joyfully and affectionately thankful for all his Kindness especially that in Dying for us and resign up our selves both Souls and Bodies to his Service and repent of all our Sins making him faithful and unfeigned Promises of amending all our Faults particularly those wherein we are most liable to do amiss and shew our selves in Peace and perfect Charity with all Persons By these things we shall duly answer the Ends of this Feast and in them lies the great Worthiness of our Carriage at it And this our Church has sufficiently intimated to us in her Publick Catechism when in return to that Question What is required of them that come to the Lords Supper It gives this Answer To repent them truly of all their Sins stedfastly purposing to lead a new Life to have a lively Faith in Gods Mercy thro' Christ which as we have seen is thorowly exercised from the beginning to the end of this Holy Sacrament to have a thankful Remembrance of his Death and be in Charity with all Men. When we come therefore to the Holy Sacrament whilst the Minister himself is Communicating or whilst others are Receiving we may lay out our selves on these things and spend the time in the Exercise of these Duties acting them in Devout Prayers and Holy Meditations in our own Hearts Or if we are not able of our selves but need the Help of others to suggest Thoughts and to go along with us in this Service let us joyn heartily in the Churches Prayers which it has appointed for this purpose For in them we have an Exercise of all these Virtues and they have excellently provided for our Needs in this Case so that we may duly express these Tempers if we are careful to joyn fervently with the Minister in all the Parts of the Communion-Service And because it may be of use to some to see how all these Duties are exercised in it that so being aware of it they may particularly design them when they come to it I will shew it of them all particularly 1. It leads us on to an affectionate Thankfulness and joyful Praise the first great Qualification in a strain which truly to me is most transporting For thus it helps us to give Thanks before Receiving It is very meet right and our bounden Duty that we should at all Times and in all Places give Thanks unto thee O Lord Holy Father Almighty Everlasting God Therefore with Angels and Archangels and all the Company of Heaven we laud and magnifie thy Glorious Name evermore praising thee and saying Holy Holy Holy Lord God of Hosts Heaven and Earth are full of thy Glory Glory be to thee O Lord most High And thus again after it Glory be to God on High and in Earth Peace and Good Will towards Men. We praise thee we bless thee we worship thee we glorifie thee we give Thanks to thee for thy great Glory O Lord God Heavenly King God the Father Almighty O Lord the onely Begotten Son Jesu Christ O Lord God Lamb of God Son of the Father that takest away the Sins of the World have Mercy upon us Thou that takest away the Sins of the World have mercy upon us Thou that takest away the Sins of the World receive our Prayers Thou that sittest at the Right Hand of God the Father have mercy upon us For thou only art Holy thou only art the Lord thou only O Christ with the Holy Ghost art most high in the Glory of God the Father All which are words expressing joyful Praise and affectionate Thankfullness so meltingly that better I think have not yet been thought of 2. It leads us also to resign up our selves both Souls and Bodies to his Service in the Prayer immediately after receiving in these words And here we offer and present unto thee O Lord our selves our Souls and Bodies to be a reasonable holy and lively Sacrifice unto thee humbly beseeching thee that all we who are partakers of this Holy Communion may be fullfill'd with thy Grace and Heavenly Benediction 3. It leads us in professing an humble and hearty Repentance of all our sins and making God our Faithful Promises of new Obedience in the invitation to Communicate and the Confession of Sin before receiving in these words Ye that do truly and earnestly Repent you of your Sins and intend to lead a new Life following the Commandments of God and walking from henceforth in his Holy Ways draw near with Faith and take this Holy Sacrament to your Comfort and make your humble Confession to Almighty God meekly kneeling upon your Knees Almighty God Father of our Lord Jesus Christ c. We acknowledge and bewail our manifold sins and wickedness which we from time to time most grievously have committed by Thought Word and Deed against thy Divine Majesty c. We do earnestly Repent and are heartily sorry for these our mis-doings c. And to prepare us for this profession of Repentance in this place of the Service I think it very adviseable to take what time there is whilst the Bread and Wine are in preparing before the beginning of the Office to recollect our particular Sins which we are most liable to incur and at every one of them to make God promises and six Resolutions of amending them in our own minds after which we may the better say in General we Repent of them and will no more Commit them and thereupon beg Pardon for them and receive Absolution as it is in this part of the Service 4. And lastly it leads us to act Peace and Charity to all men when in the Exhortation before receiving it tells us we must be in perfect Charity with all Men and in the invitation calls such as are in Love and Charity with all their Neighbours at which words our hearts may strike in with it and earnestly profess they at present are and are fully resolv'd at all times after so to be Thus doth the Church it self in our Publick Service go before us and lead us on in these great Duties of joyful Praise and Thankfulness of Resignation of our selves of Repentance and Faithful purposes and promises of Obedience and of Charity to all Persons which are to render us welcome Guests and worthy Communicants Nay it doth not only call us to and bear us Company in these chief Duties wherein above all consists a Receivers worthiness but also in most others mentioned above so that scarce any

them and are ready to repeat them on the next occasion they will come unworthily whilst they are in that state and not be made the better but the worse for it But if they have broke loose from them and have been acted by Gods Fear and led new Lives for some time and are still putting out more indeavours and praying for more Grace to do this yet more perfectly they are the Persons whom God calls to this Feast and may justly expect to receive an hearty welcome at it Nay if their Return to God has been so late as that they have not yet had time sufficient for well-doing but only for holy purposing that they will do well as often as they shall have occasion yet if out of a serious Conviction of the detestableness of every sinful Course they are resolv'd to leave it and after a due Consideration of every part of their Duty they are fully and without all reserve resolved to practise it I doubt not but that this will and purpose before the time and opportunities for Practice come will render them welcome Guests and worthy to Communicate For what●ver Rigors afterwards came in not from the Nature of the Sacrament it self or the Necessity of the thing but only through the Discretionary Power of the Church and the Rules of Discipline thus I think 't is plain it did in the Apostles times For the three thousand Souls whom St. Peter Converted at one Sermon did not stay till they had opportunities of performing but were admitted that very day upon their inward change and resolution to the Apostles Fellowship and therein to the Holy Sacrament which was a part of it They that gladly received his Word says St. Luke were Baptized and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand Souls And all these continued stedfastly in the Apostles Doctrine and Fellowship and in breaking of Bread and in Prayers Act. 2.41 42. And when the Apostles went about to Convert the World they admitted men presently to Baptism and the Christian Worship upon their Profession of Faith in Christ and b●ing Penitent without staying to see them practise what they had promised as appears in the Converts now mentioned and the story of the Eunuch and when they were admitted to the Christian Worship they were admitted to the Communion too because in the Apostles Days as I have shewn that was an ordinary part of it and always went along with it If any Persons then have already left their sins and do not willingly allow themselves in any of them if th●y have been striving long against them and are daily gaining ground and making a more perfect conquest of them Nay if they who since their return to God have not had time to perform all this are yet fully and deliberately purposed and without all Reserve resolv'd in themselves so to do they are the Persons whom God invites to this Feast they are worthy to come to it and will be sure to meet with a kind and hearty entertainment God and they are fully agreed in their own Thoughts and the Terms of Reconciliation betwixt them are consented to on both sides for he proclaims Mercy upon Repentance and they thankfully accept it he offers to return into Favour with every Sinner that will amend his Faults and they are glad of the joyful News and fully resolve to do it And since they are both agreed upon the thing what should hinder them from coming to the Sacrament which he has appointed for this very end that therein they may give their express consent to this Agreement and mutually make this Declaration Thus is every man who has left his sins and begun to lead a New Life or who is fully purposed in his own mind and absolutely intends so to do a welcome Guest at this Feast and worthy to Communicate so that no apprehensions of unworthiness ought to put him by it And as for those who neither have left all their sins nor are determined in their own hearts and wholly bent upon it they are plainly Impenitent and thereupon most unworthy to Communicate But then 3 ly That Impenitence which unfits them for it is no excuse at all for the neglect of it Impenitence will excuse a man in no act but is it self a very great aggravation of it It is no extenuating Plea but a Damning Fault so that no man must ever hope to escape the easier after he has omitted any Duty by giving it as the Reason for it When God calls us to the Sacrament to promise him that we will amend our Faults and lead new Lives thenceforward if we return Answer that we come not because we are Impenitent that is as much as to say we come not as he bids because we will not which is certainly the worst plea that ever was made for any offence and can never render his Case better but much worse that uses it As for those then who keep away because they are Impenitent they are left without all Plea and have no excuse at all to make for their not coming to the Holy Sacrament The only thing that can stand them in stead either as to it or as to any thing else is their Repentance and Amendment which they will not delay if they consider in how great need they stand of it For as I said 4 ly Impenitent men who are unworthy of it if they understand the danger and misery of their state can by no means continue in it but must forthwith Repent and Amend and then this hindrance is gone and they may worthily approach to it If they understand the danger and misery of their state I say they cannot continue in it For so long as they remain Impenitent in many or in any one known sin they are not only unfit to receive the Sacrament as I have shewn but also to say their Prayers to give Thanks to make Vows or to have any thing to do with God in any other part of Religious Worship and Service They are shut out from all benefits of Religion they have no Salvation by Christ nor any hopes of Heaven if they happen to dye suddenly whilst they are in this state or are call'd away before the work of Reformation is finished as 't is greatly to be feared they may if they put it off for the present and as in all likelihood they will if they delay it till their Death-Bed at which time 't is a very rare thing for any man to go through with it they will go to Hell there to be tormented with the insupportable Anguish of a wounded Conscience and unsatisfied Appetites and a Raging Fire and all the Terrors and Disconsolation of Darkness and the utmost malice of Devils and Damn'd Spirits and the highest Shame and Confusion of Face all which they must undergo without any Eye to Pity or Friend to Comfort them or any one to refresh them or any Abatement or Intermission for evermore

desire to be forgiven O Holy Jesus according to thy boundless Mercy accept of these small returns of thy poor Servant which though very mean alas are yet the best I have to offer thee and supply me with a more abundant measure of thy Grace that I may be able to pay back something more worthy of thee Let this Holy Sacrament be the Comfort and Refreshment of my Heart conveying Pardon and Peace to it and the Enriching and Establishing of my Spirit with all the Benefits of thy Blood make it a great increase of present Grace to me and a certain pledge of Immortality to assure me that I shall even live with thee and be near to that Heart which Dyed for me Be it even so for thine own sake Blessed Jesu Amen In these or such like words may we act over all those Virtues which are to render us worthy Communicants before the Holy Mysteries are brought to us And at the receipt of them we may lift up our Hearts to God in these or the like Expressions After the Receiving of the Bread we may say to our Dearest Lord with an Affectionate Heart I Receive this O! my Lord in remembrance of thy Death and thank thee most intirely for laying down thine own Life for me O! how I rejoyce in thy marvellous Love and in this Remembrance of it I will always live to thee and utterly renounce every sin whereby I have most ungratefully pierced thy bleeding Heart and am Friends with all the World for thy sake and will extol thy matchless Bounty whilst I have a Tongue to speak giving all Honour Glory and Praise to thee the Lamb of God who wast slain and now sittest upon the Throne for evermore And in like manner after the receiving of the Cup. THe Remembrance of thy Blood-shedding O! sweetest Saviour is dear to me I can never forget it since it was altogether for my sake and I owe my very Life to it In all the Affection of an infinitely obliged heart I humbly thank thee for what thou hast done and gladly consent to those Terms of Life and Mercy which were purchased by it and will never willfully yield to do any thing that is unworthy of so great a Benefit and embrace all my Brethren with open Arms since thou so requirest it and desire after this sort to fulfill thy will in all things and adore thy Glorious Goodness and shew forth thy boundless Praise to my Lifes end O! keep me unalterable in this mind may a Devout Soul then go on and never suffer my own Corrupt Lusts to turn me from it I have now O! Holy Saviour taken thee into my Heart O let thy Presence banish them away that they may never pretend to it again since now 't is Holy to the Lord nor ever appear to pollute that place wherein so Divine a Guest is lodged Now thou art pleas'd to enter under my Roof have me always in thy keeping for I am safe in no other hands Preserve the place thou hast taken possession of and let not thy Enemies and mine any more invade it Pour into my Heart all the Benefits of thy Crucified Body and Blood since now by thy wonderful Grace I am made Partaker of them Thy Blood was shed for the Remission of sins O! let me know and feel that mine are all forgiven It obtained the Assistance of thy Spirit and Grace O! let me ever enjoy that as I stand in need of it It was the Price thou payedst down for Eternal Life O! let that finally be my Lot since thou hast paid so dear for it Bid me hope assuredly O Blessed Jesu that all this shall be made good unto thy Servant because now thou hast given thy self to me and fed me with thine own Body whereby mayest thou ever dwell in me and I in thee Amen And when this is done whilst others are receiving we may employ our selves in some of the foregoing Devotions or when we have enough of them joyn heartily in the Prayer which is made at the Delivery of the Bread and Wine to others or strike in affectionately with the Psalm of Praise which for the ease and exercise of all but of those particularly who have already received is wont at that time to be sung in most Places After this sort then may we lift up our Hearts to God and discharge all those Duties which are required in every worthy Communicant When we have no other helps we may acceptably express them all in a Devout Concurrence with the Churches Prayers since in them as I have shewn there is an actual exercise of all these Duties But when we can do more either by the help of Books or our own invention we may act them over still more fully in these or such like forms of Devotion And when all this is done and this solemn Feast is concluded we must not think tho work of worthy Receiving is at an end for one thing still remains that must employ us always afterwards and that is a careful performance of all those Promises which we made to God in this Holy Ordinance In the Sacrament as has been shew'd we seek not only a Pardon for what is past but also vow and promise Amendment for the Future and these Promises must be made good afterwards and it must be our care whilst we Live to fulfil them This we are higly concerned to do and it will greatly increase our Guilt and Condemnation if we fall short of it For if we return to our former sins again after we have thus solemnly vow'd to forsake them We are false to our Word and treacherous where we seem to be most sincere and seek more especially to be trusted We break our Faith with God and go about to delude his Expectation had he been capable to be imposed upon and believed as we would have had him which is as great an abúse as we can well put upon him And this doubles the sin which we commit and sets God further off from being intreated for now we have not only the Fault it self to answer for but also this Perfidiousness and breach of Vows which adds a new one to it and makes it greater So that after every Sacrament if we still continue Impenitent our Guilt is aggravated and our Souls more endanger'd and we are greater sinners than we were before Thus highly are we concerned to perform the Promises which we made at the Table of our Lord. And this we shall be very like to do if we think often of them every day for some time especially after we are gone from it Indeed if we forget all we did and all the Vows we made there to Almighty God we are like to be the same men still and must not expect that it should amend us For the Sacrament as I have shewn doth not better us without our own Care but by helping and ingaging us to Good endeavours after it is over It works not as a