Selected quad for the lemma: heart_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
heart_n	incline_v	law_n	mercy_n	16,911	5	10.2109	5	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A29204	The right way to safety after ship-wrack in a sermon preached to the honourable House of Commons, in St. Patrick's Church, Dublin : at their solemn receiving of the blessed sacrament / by John, Lord Bishop of Armagh.	Bramhall, John, 1594-1663.	1661 (1661)	Wing B4231; ESTC R35340	13,261	27

the Creator of Men and Angels No man can doubt but the Romanists have gro●● abused Confession by tricking it up in the Robes ●● a Sacrament by obtruding a particular and plen●● enumeration of all sins to Man as absolutely ne●●●sary to Salvation by Divine Institution by mak●●● it with their commutations a Remedy rather for Confessors Purse than the Confitents Soul by in●●●sing ludibrious Penances As Chaucer observed knew how to impose an easie Panance where he l●●ed for a good Pittance by making it a Pick-Loc● know the secrets of States and Families Scire 〈◊〉 secreta domus atque unde timeri by absolving b●● ●hey enjoyn Ecclesiastical Satisfaction by reducing to a customary Formality as if it were but the ●oncluding of an Old Score to begin a New So on ●he other side it cannot be denied that our Protestant Confessions are for the most part too General We ●onfess we are Sinners and that 's all which signifies nothing And a little too presumptuous They that dare not trust their own Judgement about their Estates without the opinion of a Lawyer nor about ●heir Bodies without the advise of a Physician are wise enough for their Souls without any other Dire●tion And a little too careless as if we were telling Story of a third Person that concern'd not us We ●onfess light Errors willingly which neither intrench ●pon our Credit nor threaten us with punishment ●ut greater Crimes where the discovery brings with fear of ignominy and disgrace or suffering for them ●e conceal and cover with as much art as may be ●astly Even whilst we are confessing we have too ●ften a minde to return with the dog to his vomit and ●ith the sow to her wallowing in the mire What 〈◊〉 this but a plain mocking of GOD Far from ●●y Hopes of Mercy For though Covering alone be ●sufficient Cause of Punishment He that covereth ●●s sins shall not prosper yet Confession alone with●●t Forsaking is not a sufficient Cause of Mercy But 〈◊〉 that confesseth and forsaketh shall have mercie Not ●●rbears them in natural or onely by an outward ab●●inence but forsaketh them as a man would cast a ●nake out of his Bosome with detestation An outward abstinence is not the true change of a Christian like a Dog that is muzzel'd or a Thief that is manacled which still retain their former dispositions When the unclean spirit returns to his old habitation and finds it swept and garnished not throughly but superficially cleansed by an outward Reformation without an inward Renovation he brings with him seven other spirits and the latter end of that man is worse than the beginning He that absteins from an old sin not for Conscience towards God but for fear of shame or punishment is like that Wolf whereof the Father speaks which came unto the Sheepfold to kill and to devour the Shepherd waking the Dogs barking scared him away indeed but altered not his wolvish nature Lupus venit fremens Lupus redit tremens Lupus est fremens tremens So forsakes them not forbears them Again Forsakes them not conceals them Penetration of Bodies is a Monster in Philosophy an Heart inwardly replete with secret sins hath no room for Grace A good Lesson or a good Motion to it is like a Spark of Fire falling into a Vessel of Water presently extinguished or like good Seed falling among Thorns soon choak'd What fellowship hath Light with Darkness or CHRIST with Belial In natural Transelementation there must be some affinity between the Bodies as Fire and Air not Fire and Water for the too great contrariety but in spiritual Conversion no disparity can hinder the change The greatest sins do often produce the most signal conversions as it was in Saul changed in the height of his fury from a Persecutor to an Apostle from a Wolf to a Shepheard from a Pyrat to a Governour We cannot live as Amphibians in two such contrary Elements as a resolved course of sin and of Godliness such half Converts who have nothing but a few idle yawning desires can expect nothing at the hands of God but to be spewed out of his mouth for their luke-warmness the mouth of Hell is full of such vain Wishes and Wishers which use no serious means to gain them liberty but onely thrust their heads out of the Grate to look about them A man may break all the Commandments of God and be guilty of none if it be against his resolution if he be heartily sorry for it It is not so much Sin as Impenitence for which men are damn'd And on the other side he that breaks but one Commandment habitually and resolvedly is guilty of all I fear this is many of our Conditions we rather cover our sins or forbear them than forsake them we desire rather to make a Truce with God than a Peace We do with our sins as Servants do with their fires when they go to Bed put them not out but rake them up so when we come to reckon with Conscience and to make up our Accompts with God we do not desire to take an everlasting farewell of our sins ab hoc momento in Aeternum as St. Austin saith but onely a Coverfen to hide them in an heap of Devotions for the present whilst we are doing some superficial Duties to God or whilst the blessed Sacrament doth strike a kind of Reverence into our hearts with a purpose to re-assume them upon the first opportunity as the Serpent doth her poyson which she had left behinde her in her Den. Can any man think that such a fained show of forsaking our sins can be acceptable to God O no! it is too hollow-hearted That conversion which findes mercy must be serious and sincere Gods forgiveness and our forsaking go still hand in hand together Forgive us our trespasses there 's the one And lead us not into temptation there 's the other Turn thy face from my sins O Lord there 's the former And make me a clean heart there 's the latter Lord have mercie upon us there 's forgiveness And incline our hearts to keep thy Law there 's forsaking That brings me to the last Part Shall have mercy One might ask Which of all gods Mercies The Air we breathe the Light we behold the Ground we tread upon the Meat we eat whatsoever we are or have or hope for it is his mercie By it we live and move and have our being Thou hast crowned me with thy mercie saith David it is a Metaphor taken from a Garland which is composed of many and different Flowers Gods mercie was the onely motive to our Redemption his merciful Grace preventing us and assisting us is the onely means to apply this Redemption the consideration of this mercie is that which incourageth us to Repentance As Christ prayed Father forgive them the poor Thief grew bold Lord remember me Mercie is the end of our Repentance that we may finde forgiveness Mercie is our supporter in all our sorrows for sin that we roar not out with Cain My sin is greater than that it can be forgiven nor betake our selves desperately with Judas to an halter Mercie is our onely plea when we do repent we cannot say we have done such and such good offices for the time past we are too unprofitable Servants we dare not promise of our selves to be more serviceable for the time to come we are too desultory creatures Lord forsake not us least we forsake Thee Mercy is the object of our hopes the total sum of our desires both Grace and Glory do depend upon Mercy So mercie is the beginning the middle the end of our happiness But St. John will tell us what mercy this is If we confess our sins he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins This Mercy then is forgiveness of sin That which is called Mercy here is called Justice there It is Mercie to make a gracious Promise bus it is Justice to keep it Without this Mercy of Forgiveness all the other Mercies of God are no Mercies but Judgements In this Mercy true blessedness doth consist Blessed is the man whose iniquities are forgiven what confort can a person sure to be condemned have without hope of a pardon The best musick in the world is Son thy sins are forgiven thee when GOD shall stretch forth the Golden Scepter of Mercy that is to all those who for his love do mortisie their earthly members and forsake their own Lusts For he that hideth his sins shall not prosper but he that confesseth and for saketh them shall have mercie Now among all the means ordained by God for the obtaining this saving mercy mentioned in my Text after Baptismal Grace there is none more efficacious than the blessed Sacrament of the Body and Blood of Christ the very conduit-Pipe of Grace to all worthy Communicants the Manna of Life and immortality the precious Antidote against the sting and infection of the infernal Serpent that inestimable Love-token which Christ at his departure left to his Church to keep in remembrance of him the true pool of Bethesda wherein we may be cured of all our infirmities Preparation of our selves is necessary before the performance of all holy Duties but especially before the holy Sacrament We ought to repair to the participation of this with as great care and anxiety as if we were immediately to depart out of the world It was death for an uncircumcised person to eat of the Paschal Lamb we must circumcise our eyes our ears our hands and our hearts and take heed how we come to this Wedding Feast without the Wedding Garment O Lord Be merciful to all those who prepare their whole hearts to seek Thee though they be not purged according to the Purification of the Sanctuary FINIS