Selected quad for the lemma: mercy_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
mercy_n	look_v	lord_n	soul_n	5,124	5	5.4191	4	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A78145	Reformed religion, or, Right Christianity described in its excellency, and usefulness in the whole life of man by a Protestant-Christian.	Barker, Matthew, 1619-1698.	1689 (1689)	Wing B777aA; ESTC R42840	61,592	137

may be a Temp●ation to himself or a stumbling-block unto others He is not led by the Examples of Men ap●roves not of any evil because practised by ●he multitude but having found out the Rule ●f his walking he follows it though against the ●ream of a corrupt Age. Again He studiously avoids vain Scoffing ●nd reproachful Nick-names especially about ●atters of Religion as being the Evidence of ● frothy mind and tending to beget pro●haneness and Atheism in Mens Hearts Further Though his Conversation is civil ●nd courteous towards all yet he especially ●onours them who fear the Lord and chooseth ●ch to be of his more intimate Acquaintance ●d Society wherein he doth delight He bridles his Anger that it may not trans●rt him to any excess either in words or ●tions neither will he suffer the Sun to go down upon it so as to lodge with him lest it grow up into malice or inveterate hatred Remembring herein the wise Mans saying Anger resteth in the Bosom of fools And he also hath that Rule over his Spirit that he is no● easily provoked to wrath He will not easily take up false Report against any much less divulge them most o● all not raise them but seeks to preserve anothers Reputation as his own knowing tha● he ought to love his Neighbour as himself and therefore he will not entertain ground less Jealousies but puts all things under th● most favourable Interpretation according t● the Rule of Christian charity He is not wise in his own Conceit but judging humbly of his own Parts he readily hearkens to other Men and over-weens not his ow● understanding He will not rejoyce and triumph in othe● Mens Calamities nor trample upon the● when they are fallen not knowing how so●● their case may be his own and the trya● which are upon them may come to his ow● door He makes it his care to preserve Pea● within in the midst of all the troubles th● attend him from without and sets befo● him the Joys of Heaven as a Relief against t● Worlds sorrow He looketh upon the Providence of Go● as superintending and guiding the Affairs the World and therefore is not dismayed by the signs of the Heavens gives not heed to Diviners and Soothsayers as the Heathen did and which was forbidden by many Christian Emperours and becomes not the Christian Profession Neither doth he ascribe Events to blind Fortune the Power of exorcisms or to the Connection of second causes any further than they are influenced by the first cause and therefore he doth not perplex his Thoughts about future things which are not in his Power but in the discharge of his present Duty leaves them all in the hand of the only wise God. Again Though he is diligent in the affairs of his Calling yet he suffers not the things of this World so to ingross his Time Heart and Thoughts as to be diverted from all Communion with God and attending the great Concernments of his Soul and will what he can avoid the incumbrances of the World that his Heart may be more free for the Duties of Religion and the service of God. And seeing that he was not made by himself or for himself he is careful to serve the end of his being which is to glorisie his Creator and for that end is diligent to improve the several Talents wherewith God hath intrusted him whether natural acquired civil or spiritual and considering also himself as bought with a price he glorifies God both in Soul and Body which both are his which is peculiar to a Christian And lastly He knowing that his Time is short upon Earth he is making Provision for his latter End that he may dye in Peace Whereupon he lives not in continual Bondage to the fear of Death nor hardens himself against it by a Roman courage but looking upon Death by Faith in the Death of Christ he seeth the Sting of it taken away and it made a Passage into Eternal Life And knowing also that the coming of the Lord draws nigh he comforts himself in the Expectation of it as hoping to find mercy of the Lord at that day I should here have added one particular more which the Christian Religion doth oblige all Men to which is Obedience to Rulers and Magistrates but I shall make it a distinct head to speak of afterwards Now Reader By these things and such things as these for I cannot possibly mention all thou seest what it is to be a Christian and what an Excellency and Purity is in the Christian Religion and what brave Men it would make us both towards God our selves and one another Whatever moral Vertues the Heathen Philosophers boasted of or whatever Goodness or Truth there is in natural Theology whatever is consentaneous to the purest Reason or whatever moral goodness there is in the Law of Moses whether Moral Judicial or Ceremonial or in any Religion professed in the World we have it all comprized in Christianity Here we have an account of the true Happiness of Man and how to attain it And where an Expiation may be found for the sin of his Soul And how he may be supported under all the Calamities of this present Life which three things the Minds of the Philosophers were so exercised about It is a Religion which endows men with higher Principles and sets before them higher Motives against the practice of evil and for performing that which is good than any other in the World and was it Exemplified in the Lives of Men instead of Oppression Injustice and Violence instead of Animosities Divisions and Contentions instead of treacherous plotting and contriving the destruction of one another we might enjoy our selves and live together in great Tranquility Love and Peace whereas now the lives of most who are called Christians are the publick scandal of the World and as great Atheism Prophaneness Irreligion and all sorts of Immoralities are found among us as where the Name of Christ and the Gospel were never heard of And in many things worse than Infidels which makes the old saying true Aut hoc non est Evangelium aut nos non sumus Evangelici Either this is not the Christian Religion we profess or else we are not Christians And will not Christ be ashamed of them who are a shame to him and his Name that is upo● them As a Parent who hath a vile and wicked Son is ashamed that he should bear hi● Name And as some have probably thought● that those shall come first to Judgment s● they are likely to fall under the severest judgment in the day of Christ The Heathen o● old upbraided the Christians with their Name Cajus Sejus bonus vir sed Christianus but now it may be said Cajus Sejus Christianus sed no● bonus vir which is a real Reproach which th● other was not And may we not complai● as Salvian in his Time In nobis patitur Christus opprobrium in nobis patitur Lex Christian● maledictum Christ

Christ Jesus without making use of any Sub-mediators either of Redemption or Intercession not mentioned in the Gospel and herein he considers God not only as a Creator or in the absolute perfections of his Being but as reconciled in the Blood of his Son related as a Father and ingaged by a special Covenant He is one who waits and prays for the help of Gods holy Spirit to lead him into the presence of God and to help his Infirmities therein and approacheth not to him meerly by the impulse of natural Conscience much less by the help of Pictures or Images forbidden by the Law of God but by the Spirit of Adoption inclining his Will moving his Affections and crying Abba Father in his Heart Again He reckons upon Suffering with Christ as well as Reigning with him of bearing his Cross as well as wearing his Crown and of Denying himself as becomes a Disciple of Christ and therefore Arms himself for it that he may not be surprized by it or faint under it and as he will not rashly thrust himself upon sufferings so neither decline them when necessarily called thereunto wherein he will have respect to the goodness of his Call of his Cause and of his Conscience Further He is one who when he is Reviled reviles not again patiently bears affronts and injuries for Righteousness sake seeks not privately to revenge himself but commits his Cause to him that judgeth righteously Again He embraceth Religion for its own sake and not for any politick end and abhors to make use of it as an Art to serve any Covetous Ambitious or Treacherous designs He is one who believes a Judgment to come and therefore lives in continual awe of it and endeavours so to manage the whole course of his actions that he may be accepted of the Lord in that day and not fall under the wrath to come and thereupon is less concerned about being Judged of men or of mans day Again He believing the Immortality of his own Soul the Resurrection of his Body and hoping for the Eternal Life of the World to come Life and Immortality being brought to light by the Christian Religion he is seeking to make it sure to himself and thereupon is less concerned as to his temporal Life and his short stay in this present World looking upon himself as a stranger here on Earth He is careful to examin himself about his State towards God and to know the inward frame and temperament of his own Soul and the Actions of his Life in the Principle Rule and End of them that he may not be found among Hypocrites and that counterfeit Grace may not be mistaken for that which is true His Zeal in Religion is not rash and precipitate hypocritical and treacherous violent and cruel so as to transgress the Rules of Humanity Charity and Sobriety but is grounded upon Knowledge and regulated by sound Judgment Wisdom and Discretion and his greatet Zeal is about the great things of Religion and of the greatest certainty He is one who hath a regular Conscience extending to one Duty as well as to another and therefore will not strain at Gnats and swallow Camels nor be scrupulous about Ceremonies and of conforming to some outward Forms of Worship and yet can practise injustice oppression lying fraud intemperance backbiting malice and such moral impieties not becoming Christians And if he hath a Conscience of Conformity to the Church he makes Conscience of the moral Duties of Religion and will not be found guilty of swearing cursing drunkenness fornication scoffing at piety blasphemy false accusation or persecution for Conscience sake of the truly conscientious c. And though his practice in Religion is according to his best Light and judgment yet he confines not the Church of God or monopolizeth Salvation to the narrow limits of his own private Opinion but judgeth charitably of men who Conscientiously differ from him as knowing that as in several Nations so under several Opinions He that feareth God and worketh Righteousness is accepted of him and therefore he can love and honour true Piety Sincerity and Goodness and real Worth wherever he finds them as the Phylosophers called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 studied to extract the good out of every Sect of Phylosophers and rejected the rest Again He beholdeth the Creator in the works of his Creation and adores his wisdom power bounty and goodness shining forth therein and as a Christian he can look upon the Creator of the World as the Redeemer of it and as his God and Father in Jesus Christ and in special relation to him and hereupon to have his Heart engaged to love him honour him fear him and trust in him which is more than the most learned Heathen by the light of Nature could attain unto Further He considering the Dominion God hath given Man over the brute Creatures he useth them with Thanksgiving but will not abuse them as a Tyrannical Lord and is stirred up to the more chearful service of God by those brute Creatures which are daily serving him He knows that not only Faith is required of a Christian but outward Profession and therefore he conforms to all the Ordinances and Institutions of Christ in his Church and attends there diligently for his Edification and that God may be hononred by the Divine Worship of the Publick Assemblies of his People according to the dictates of the universal Law of Nature and therefore as he will not have Communion with any Church in that that is evil and sinful so he is ready to hold Communion with all Churches in that which is lawful and good that he may not fall under the just charge of Schism or unwarrantable Separation and seeks the maintaining of his whole profession unspotted and without rebuke and therefore He keeps his Foot when he goes to the House of God demeans himself with all seriousness and Reverence in Gods publick Worship will not be found talking gazing whispering laughing or sleeping when his mind and thoughts should be directed towards God that he may carry himself suitable to that great Presence wherein he is and the solemnity of that Service he i● engaged in He carefully avoids all Tempting of God by presuming upon his Power and Mercy for the good either of his Soul or Body without using suitable and rational means or such as may be appointed of God for that end neither will he pray or hope to receive what God hath never promised to give and thereby be also a tempter of God. Again He being a Christian is careful to observe the Christian Sabbath not the Seventh day of the Week as the Jews but the First according to the example of the Apostles and the first Christian Churches whereby he owns Christs Lordship over the Sabbath to change the day as well as the Ordinances of Gods worship therein and therefore he remembers to keep it Holy by abstaining from bodily Labours and by the exercise of his mind and thoughts