Selected quad for the lemma: book_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
book_n	time_n	world_n	write_v	2,689	5	5.2806	4	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A87152	True religion in the old way of piety and charity. Delivered in a sermon to the Lord Major and Court of Aldermen of this city of London, at their anniversary meeting on Munday (commonly called Easter-Munday) at the Spittle, 1645. / By Robert Harris B D. pastor of Hanwell, Oxon. and a member of the Assembly of Divines.	Harris, Robert, 1581-1658.	1645 (1645)	Wing H878; Thomason E277_4; ESTC R200002	31,992	44

power and beyond their power 6. Yea God takes notice of the least degree of mercy that is shewed by his Servants to any of his people even to a little cake of bread as he does in the Book of Kings in the Widow and to one cup of cold water as he he does in the Gospell verily if a man give but a cup of water water that is a cheap thing cold water no matter either of cost or paines sayes he if he gives such a cup of water to the least of mine it shall not be forgotten it shall be rewarded So that God you see takes particular notice writes downe books downe every act and work of mercy that is done by his people I could be large in proving of this now but I shall not need to say more to such an understanding auditory I must hasten in regard of the time and my owne strength Reas. 1 What may be the grounds and reasons of this that God does thus book and write downe every work of mercy The reason is not from the worth as we said before of prayer So here not from the worth of our works and of those Almes that we are able to give as the Farmers of merit in another world and in another Church use for to speak who are very high in their expressions this way touching their Mercy their Alms their good Deeds for which they expect a great deale of thanks and respect frow God but without reason for certainly as one hath well observed it is very true that many of those things which they called works of merey were indeed the works of ponance and were but mulcti fines amercements laid upon them by their Confessors for faults that they had committed and certaine it is that many of those that they did so bragge and boast of are more ours a great deale then theirs However the Doners were cainted and sun-burnt with some particulais of Popery yet in the maine many of them were moreours then theirs So that they have no reason to bragge that way In truth what is a mans mercy to God our goodnesse reacheth not to him whac can we give him but what is his owne already and what he hath given us first So that that cannot be the reason why God respects our niercy for any worth or dignity that is in our Almes But the reason is this God is pleased in Christ to look upon our persons and then next to accept of our sorvices for Christs sake Affirmat 2 and so in particular of our Almes God is pleased to respect them because they are expressions of Christs Spirit and the fruits of his owne Spirit and because they are Seales of our obedience and of our thankfulnesse unto him and because that they are meanes of refreshing the bowels of his poore Servaints For these causes and under these names and notions it is that God takes notice of our Almes and Works of mercy and daignes to regard and write them Write them how not to help his owne memory that needs not but to help our Faith and to help our Love that we should be encouraged in this way to doe works of mercy I have spoken as briefly as I can unto the point and yet I think sufficient for so plaine a point as this is All the businesse here lyes in the Application and the Use of this Use 1 And the Uses Honoured and Peloved are these If this be so that God takes particular notice and writes downe every work of mercy that is done then this speakes but sad newes unto divers sorts of people The first are such men as are meere strangers unto merey and the fruits thereof they were never guilty of such a thing as Mercy and Almes-deeds If you compare the Books Gods and theirs together you shall find the Books much what alike unto some Almanacks that are full of letters both red and black bloody on one side but on the other side there is fair paper a waste empty blank that is all that is to be found there Even so it is with many a mans books if he be a true recorder of his works of mercy On the one side you shall find Item so much spent upon Pride and so much spent upon Lust and so much spent upon Revenge and so much spent at Dice and so much spent in Playes and so much spent upon sinne and Wickednesse this side is full of what hath been laid out touching themselves and for themselves in pursusuance of their lusts But now when it comes to a work of mercy what have you done for God what for Christ what for the members of Christ what for the advancement of Religion or any pious work or service what shall you sind there Even a blank meere cyphers nothing else Oh miserable men how will these fare when they shall be called to an accompt for their Stowardship when they have laid out all for themselves and upon themselves and their lusts and laid out nothing at all for God and for the love of God This is one sort But then there is another sort worse then these and they are such as are not onely strangers unto mercy but are Opposites Enemies as it were to mercy at loast they walk in a quite opposite way unto the way of mercy These why these do not feed the poor but they flay them they do not cloath them but they strip them they make not any provision for them but cast how utterly to ruine and to undoe them In stead of healing them they wound them in stead of relieving them they oppresse them and in stead of being to them any ease and comfort they lay upon them heavy burdens heavy pressures This is a black crying firme and will prove so at the last day what if they in Math. 25. as Austin well inferres thence if they shall be shut out of Heaven and sent from the presence of God with a curse who have not fed the hungry nor cleathed the naked nor visited the imprisoned c. Oh then where shall they appeare and what shall become of them that are so farre from this that they have done what they could to suck out the very blood of the poor members of Jesus Christ This is a second sort Nay in the third place let this be a matter of humbling to the best of us for certainly we are all short in this businesse and have cause even to blush and hang downe our heads betwixt man and man when it comes to a contribution and we see other men underwrite it may be so many crownes or so many pounds we are ashamed to appeare in the same Roll and to have our names listed where farthings and half-pence are set upon our heads much more should we blush when we bring our selves into the presence of God and there consider that God sees all we doe all that others have done he writes downe every