Selected quad for the lemma: mercy_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
mercy_n	let_v	lord_n	name_n	9,327	5	5.7485	4	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A90811	Authentēs. Or A treatise of self-deniall. Wherein the necessity and excellency of it is demonstrated; with several directions for the practice of it. / By Theophilus Polwheile, M.A. sometimes of Emmanuel Colledge in Cambridge, now teacher of the Church at Teverton in Devon.	Polwheile, Theophilus, d. 1689.	1658 (1658)	Wing P2782; Thomason E1733_1; ESTC R209629	246,682	521

were any way in the World to make it lawful And thus do many when the thoughts of sinne do lye in the way to any thing they have a minde to they try if it may be otherwise they will see if they can bring down Gods mind to theirs because they are loath to bring up their minds to Gods that so God may deny himself because they will not The Apostle p Ephes 5.10 exhorts us to prove what is the good and acceptable will of God for this end that we may obey it but selfish men prove what is not the will of God because they have no minde to obey it and therefore are glad if they can finde it to be no duty because they list not to practice it and no sin because they are loath to bee restrained from it Thus we see what course men take when they reason with Self in a way of consultation and therefore this is not that reasoning whereby Self is denied this is so farre from Self-denial that it is the veriest self-pleasing and self-seeking that is in the world Self must not bee consulted withall when we are called to come after Christ Abraham when he was called to go out into a place which hee should after receive for an Inheritance obeyed and went out not knowing whither he went Heb. 11.8 When once wee are certain of the command 't is too late to ask counsel In retam sancta non est deliberandum Let us then go on to the second particular 2 A reasoning of contestation this is the reasoning here meant we must not reason with Self in a way of consultation but in a way of contestation This is a principal part of Self-denial for the opening whereof consider these two particulars 1 Self will affirm that which is not to be affirmed both of sins and duties persons and things it will q Esa 5.20 call darkness light and light darkness it will call that which is evil good and that which is good evil it will put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter First it will call darkness light it will say of the grossest errour it is the most glorious truth thus it calls Antinomianisme a Honey-combe Familism the rule of perfection and Arminianisme Gods love to Mankind Secondly it will call light darkness it will say of the most glorious Truths they are but the dreams and melancholly fancies of a company of ignorant and silly people Thus it decries the holy Scriptures as a dead Letter a beggerly Element incky Divinity and a Humane invention Thirdly it will call that which is evil good it will commend the foulest Vices for the fairest vertues thus it calls Drunkenness good fellowship Covetousness frugality and Pride magnanimity Fourthly it will call that which is good evil thus it calls Preciseness hipocrisic and Zeal vain glory Fifthly it will put bitter for sweet thus it says of Religion that it is but a melancholly dumpish thing voyd of all true pleasure and comfort Lastly sweet for bitter and thus it says that the only way to peace and comfort is to make conscience of nothing Thus Self speaks many times in bare affirmations only without arguing of the case or urging what it says by the strength of seeming reason And this is from hence that in Natural men not only through ignorance but also many times through a wilful and inordinate love of that which is evil and inveterate hatred of that which is good this unjust sentencing of truth and falsehood and good and evil is not so much as called in question so that it being taken for granted what Self says there needs no further urging of it But now if that an Ipse dixit a bare affirmation will not prevail there being some conviction or other in the Conscience that gain says it then 2 Self will endeavour to prove what it sayes by strength of argument it will not only say of evil that it is good and of good that it is evil but it will alledge such and such Reasons why it must needs bee so and these Reasons it will urge with much vehemency and importunity pressing them not only upon the judgement for the gaining of the affections but upon the affections also for the winning of the judgement and by this means it so farre prevails with many that the most powerful and convincing preaching will not work upon them Our duty in this case is Two-fold 1. To distinguish 2. To deny 1 To distinguish seeming reason from that which is reason indeed Self produceth its strong reasons as they are called Isa 41.21 but their chiefest strength is the colour and vizard of true Reason wherewith they are disguised strip them of their cloathing and they dis-appear presently they seem to bee reason but indeed are not Like as in a picture of fire wipe off the colours and nothing remains In all the Arguments that Self brings two things are warily to be observed First what it lays down for a principle or rule and Secondly how it doth apply it The fallacie lyes in one of these two and where the fallacy is wee must be sure to deny 1 Sometimes the fallacy or deceit lies in the principle Self hath many wicked and cursed Principles whereby it misleads the generality of the world As 1 Beleeve no more than you can see reason for 2 Moderation in Religion is most commendable whatsoever is beyond it is Hipocrisie 3 Take up a form of hodliness but deny the power thereof 4 Do many things but keep thy Herodias still 5 Perform religious duties but allow as little time for them as may be 6 Engage no further in the cause of Religion than there is a way open for a retreat 7 Every man for himself and God for us all 8 I may make the most of my own 9 Let the buyer look to himself 10 Flesh and bloud cannot endure it 11 I scorn to be beholding 12 Shall I want while I have and when I have it not too 13 Qui nescit dissimulare nescit vivere Hee that cannot dissemble knows not how to live All these are false Principles 2 Sometimes the fallacy is in the application of the Principle as for instance sometimes Self pleads for Prodigality under the name of Liberality for Covetousness under the name of Frugality for foolish Pitty under the name of Lenity and Mercy for Superstition under the name of Devotion for Censoriousness under pretence of Zeal and lastly for Licentiousness under the name of Christian liberty Here the principle is good but the application naught As suppose when a man is profuse in his expences wasting his estate in unnecessary entertainments c. if the question be put whether he do vertuously or not Self will tell him hee does vertuously and to prove it frames this argument Hee that spends liberally does vertuously but thou spendest liberally Ergo. Here the Principle is good for Liberality is a vertue and he that is liberal deviseth liberal things

with whom hee hath all things freely given to him Rom. 8.32 All things that pertain to life and godliness 2 Pet. 1.3 Hee is sometimes called to forsake father and mother brother sister yea even all that hee hath for Christs sake Luke 14.33 but hee is no loser for by so doing hee gaineth an hundred fold in this world and eternal life in the world to come Matth. 19.29 Behold I pray you f In a letter to certain godly Brethren Act. Mon. l. 10. 1666. saith Mr. Philpot what hee loseth who in this life receiveth an hundred for one with assurance of eteternal life O happy exchange Perchance your outward man will say If I were sure of this great recompence here I could be glad to forsake all but where is this hundred fold in this life to be found Yes truly for instead of worldly riches which thou dost forsake which are but temporal thou hast found the everlasting riches of heaven which bee glory honour and praise both before God Angels and men and for an earthly habitation thou hast an eternal Mansion with Christ in heaven for even now thou art of the City and Houshold of the Saints with God For worldly peace which can last but a while thou dost possess the peace of God which passeth all understanding and for the loss of a few friends thou art made a fellow of the innumerable company of Heaven and a perpetual friend of all those that have dyed in the Lord from the beginning of the world Is not this more than a hundred fold Is not the peace of God which wee in this world have through the faithful imitation of Christ which the world cannot take from us ten thousand fold more than those things that most highly bee esteemed in the world without the peace of God The peace of the world is no peace but meer anguish and a gnawing fury of hell The tenth Excellency of Self-denial 10 It is that which fits a man to do the greatest good Self-denial is a communicative grace that which inables a man to give forth freely that which hee hath freely received It makes a man a good Steward of the manifold grace of God 1 Pet. 4.10 To give a portion to seven and also to eight Eccles 11.2 It is a Key that unlocks the heart and unlocks the head unlocks the hand and unlocks the house and makes all things common as there is occasion for the good of others Act. 2.44 A Self-denying man like Job will not eat his morsel alone but invite others to partake with him Job 31.17 Hee is not churlish as Nabal 1 Sam. 25.11 but courteous and liberal as Boaz Ruth 2.8 Self-denial will inable a man to love his neighbour as himself not onely him that is his friend but him also that is his enemy It will inable him to bless them that curse him to do good to them that hate him and to pray for them that despightfully use him and persecute him as it is required Matth. 5.44 thereby approving himself to bee the childe of God who maketh his Sun to rise on the evil and on the good and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust vers 45. Self-denial suffereth long and is kinde Self-denial envieth not doth not behave it self unseemly seeketh not her own but is of publick and general influence for common good making a man willing to spend and bee spent for the Church and State where hee lives though the more abundantly hee love them the less hee bee loved of them 2 Cor. 12.15 Oh what an excellency is here what an excellency doth this put upon a man Vir bonus commune bonum and bonum quo communius eo melius A good man is a common good and good the more common the more excellent it is God delights to imploy such persons in the most honourable services and usually doth the greatest things by them as wee may see in the story of Moses Joshuah and David Saul sought himself therefore God removed him and raised up David to bee King in his stead to whom also hee gave testimony and said I have found David the Son of Jesse a man after mine own heart which shall fulfil all my will Act. 1. ● 22. But how did hee it It is said Hee served his generation vers 36. This is recorded as Davids excellency The excellency of any thing is in the usefulness of it It is the excellency of the Angels that they are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Heb. 1.14 and this is the excellency of Saints that they are fitted for their Masters service and that which fits them for it is Self-denial If a man purge himself from these hee shall bee a vessel unto honour sanctifyed and meet for the Masters use and prepared unto every good worke 2 Tim. 2.21 The Eleventh Excellency of Self-denial 11 It is the greatest preservative of union Is there any excellency in Union Behold saith David how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity It is like the g Hac similitudine sen exemplo 〈◊〉 fragrantissimae ●●avitas uti litas pacis concord●ae ostenditur precious oyntment upon the head that ran down upon the beard even Aarous beard that went down to the skirts of his garments h Monet David hac similitudine jejunam ae sterilem h. e. miseram fore hominum vitam nisi fraterno consensu foveatur Moller in loc As the dew of Hermon and as the dew that descended upon the mountains of Zion Psal 133.1 why then there must needs bee an excellency in Self-denial for there is no such preservative of union as Self-denial It is a soddering uniting grace it takes away all that divides and keeps at a distance Several Expedients have been thought on for the reconciling of the present differences amongst Professors in these dayes but certainly there is nothing like to Self-denial for the effecting of it If men could but deny themselves there would not bee that causeless giving and taking of offence as there is the only causes of all the Divisions that are amongst us You see what a manifold Excellency there is in Self-denial Now to help you in the practice of it take these following Directions SUBSECT II. Directions for the Practice of Self-denial The first Direction 1 BEE exact in the examination and trial of your own hearts and wayes for the finding out of the selfishness that is in them Self-trial is a duty necessarily requisite to the practice of Self-denial This is clear in that exhortation of the Prophet Jeremy Lam. 3.40 Let us search and try our wayes and turn unto the Lord. To turn unto the Lord doth necessarily presuppose the denying of our selves for there must first bee a turning from Self before there can bee a turning unto the Lord. Now that wee may do thus saith the Prophet Let us search and try our wayes as if hee had said It is a grievous affliction

and calamity that is now upon us and surely it is not for nothing Wee cannot expect that the Lord should turn unto us in a way of mercy and blessing unless wee turn unto the Lord in a way of repentance and obedience Let us therefore consider our wayes if they bee not the wayes of the Lord that wee now walk in we must of necessity turn out of them before wee can turn unto the Lord and this wee cannot do unless wee search and try them for those that are out of their way and yet think they are right will never turn back but go on further and further till they quite lose themselves It is evident then from this Scripture how needful it is in order to the practice of Self-denial that wee search and try our wayes And certainly if ever wee mean to do any thing to purpose herein wee must make a thorough search and scrutiny into our hearts and wayes an exact inquiry into our principles our rules our ends and aimes in all our undertakings wee must throughly sift our thoughts affections that wee may see what bran of selfishness lyes at the bottome For how can a man deny himself that doth not understand any thing in himself that should bee denied The first step toward a cure is to finde out the disease It would bee very advantagious therefore and that which would much conduce to our success in this work to have much in our thoughts these two things The possibility of being deceived and the difficulty of the discovery The one would provoke us to jealousie the other would quicken us to diligence 1 The possibility of being deceived Wee should enter upon the examination of ourselves with such a supposition as this ' There may be much more of Self in mee than I have ever yet taken notice of It is good to have a holy jealousie of our selves this would make us very cautelous and wary in the trial of our selves as when a Magistrate meets with a suspicious person it makes him inquire the more narrowly into him that so hee may discover the better what hee is Object But I have been of the opinion a long time that I have denied my self and have had much peace and comfort in it why then should I suspect my self and thereby create new troubles in my conscience Answ 1. When the strong man keeps the house all is in peace Luke 11.21 So long as Self bears rule and there is nothing to disturb him no wonder that all is quiet 2 Some that have thought so have notwithstanding at the last found that they were deceived Matth. 7.22 3 It is more than probable that thou art the man because that thou art unwilling to come to the trial Joh. 3.20 21. 4 Unless thou hast very good grounds so to think of thy self it is but a meer fancy and imagination Jer. 44.20 5 The comfort that this gives will quickly vanish Eccles 7.6 and leave the greater anguish and vexation behinde it Isa 50.11 But 6 Grant it bee true as thou sayest yet let him that standeth take heed lest hee fall 1 Cor. 10.12 A self-doubting Christian will stand when a self confident one will fall Give mee leave therefore to set before you a few instances out of the word the serious consideration whereof may provoke you to jealousie 1 It is possible for a man to have a forme of godliness and yet to bee altogether under the power of Self 2 Tim. 3.2.5 For men shall bee lovers of themselves having a i 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 speciemant imaginem Grot. L'apparerce Fren. A lively image or face of godliness drawn to the life form of godliness Self and the Form do very well agree wheresoever they meet for though to live in the least sin cannot consist with the power of godliness yet to live in the greatest may consist with the form of godliness because there is nothing in the form to contradict self 2 It is possible for a man to hear the Word and to receive it with joy and yet not to have learnt in any respect truly to deny himself as hee that received the seed into stony places Mat. 13.20 21. Herod heard John Baptist gladly 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 sweetly Mar. 6.20 yet hee could not deny himself hee kept his Herodias still and for her sake afterwards beheaded him vers 27. 3 It is possible to bee much conversant in the performance of the strictest duties and yet to have respect to the satisfying of some base self-end in all that is done as they Isa 58. of whom God saith They seek mee daily and delight to know my wayes as a Nation that did righteousness and for sook not the Ordinance of their God they ask of mee the Ordinances of Justice they take delight in approaching to God vers 2. and yet hee tells them Behold in the day of your East yee finde pleasure and exact all your labours Behold you fast for strife and debate and to smite with the fist of wickedness vers 3.4 4 It is possible to desire and endeavour after spiritual gifts and yet to aime at nothing else but self-advancement in ones endeavours after them as Simon Magus Act. 8.19 5 It is possible to be a zealous preacher of Christ and yet to preach onely out of envy and strife and not of good will Phil. 1.15 16. 6 It is possible to pretend much to liberality and to speak much on the behalf of the poor and yet bee very covetous as Judas Joh. 12.6 7 It is possible to bee zealous and active in reformation and the execution of justice and yet to do all to serve ones own turn as Jehu 2 King 10.16 8 It is possible to bee zealous in reproving of others and yet continue in the same or worse evils at the very same time as the Hypocrite Matth. 7.3 4 5. and the hypocritical Preacher Rom. 2.21.22 9 It is possible to bee very confident of cleaving unto Christ and yet afterwards to deny him to save ones self as Peter who when our Saviour told the Disciples that they should all bee offended because of him presently returned this answer Though all men shall bee offended because of thee yet will I never bee offended and yet afterwards hee denied him thrice and twice with cursing and swearing Matth. 26.70.74 Many more instances might bee given but these may suffice to shew how easily wee may bee mistaken in our selves and our actions and therefore how needful it is to begin and to proceed in this work of self-trial with a godly jealousie More may possibly bee discovered than at first wee could have imagined was in us and yet when wee have done all much will lye hid And therefore there is another thing that should also bee much in our thoughts and that is 2 The difficulty of the discovery The heart of man is deceitful above all things who can know it Jer. 17.9 Two things there are which render it very