Selected quad for the lemma: lord_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
lord_n	heart_n	incline_v	law_n	17,568	5	7.8253	4	false

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

Others make Satan their Cover and cast their Sins upon his Score The Devil may sollicit us but he cannot necessitate us He could not thrust the Apple by force down Eves Throat nor push Christ by violence down from the Pinnacle He hath a sleight of perswading not a power of compelling He blows the Coals but the Fire is our own He bites but it is those which thrust themselves into his Jaws Resist the Devil and he will fly from you Lastly Some make GOD himself the Cover for their Sins of all Covers this is the worst So Adam The Woman which THOU gavest me Such are they which make all things in the World even Sin it self to come to pass fatally inevitably by virtue of a necessitating Decree of GOD. Such are they which make their Redeemer their Pack-Horse be it spoken with Reverence to bear their presumptuous Sins as if he had shed his precious Blood to purchase our Liberty that we might turn Libertines Deceive not your selves to whom Christ is made Redemption to them he is made Righteousness and Sanctification This is the fourth Cover the Transferring of our Sins upon Others The fifth Cover is Hypocrisie This was Absalom's Cloak for his Rebellion Such Covers were Cain's Sacrifice Esau's Tears Jezebel's Fast the Pharisees Alms the Harlots Vow the Traytors Kiss The World is full of such Juglers and Mountebanks in Religion of all Sects who cry Great is Diana and magnifie the Image that fell down from Jupiter meaning nothing but their Profit Who cry aloud Lord Lord and mutter to themselves Da mihi fallere da jus●um sanctumque videri Give me grace to cheat and to delude the Eyes of the World painted Sepulchres very Glow-Worms which have a counterte it Light without any Heat Pictures with double Prospectives that to the Light presents an Angel the other from the Light a Devil We have pulled down other Pictures to set these up in our Churches Nothing is more odious unto God than to make a stalking-Horse of Religion Christ throws out seve● woes against Hypocrites Other Sinners may be converted the Hypocrite hardly because he hath converted Conversion it self into sin Such as devour Widdows houses under a colour of long prayers shall receive the greater damnation The sixth and last Cover is Impudence to defend our Sins and glory in them which is used by none but those who have already gotten one Foot within the Gates of Hell Periisse puto cui pudor periit Past Shame past Grace St. Austin bewails his Youth led in the Streets of Babylon where when he heard his Companions boasting of their lewdness he was forced to feign those things he never did least he should appear so much more vile by how much he was more innocent That which was his Detestation is now the onely Garb for a Gallant Such a Gallant was Cham that gloried in the Nakedness of his own Father whilst his more modest Brethren covered it with their Faces backward Such another Gallant was Caligula who said He liked nothing better in his own Disposition than his Impudence A Voice fitter for a Hangman than an Emperour It was the height of Israel's sin That she had a Whores Forehead and refused to be ashamed Shamefastness is the praise of Nature the Harbinger of Grace the Ensign of Honesty the Seat of Virtue the Witness of Innocencie But glorying in sin is the next Link to Damnation They that use such vain Covers as these shall one day wish for another cover even the Mountains to fall upon them and the Hills to cover them from the presence of the Lamb. So unprosperous is this course of concealing That 's the next part Shall not prosper First He shall not prosper in his sin he shall not finde that Happiness and Content in it which he expects Amon was sick of love until he enjoyed Thamar that moment passed his Love was dogged with Hatred and Repentance What a deal of conveniencie and hearts ease did Ahab promise to himself in Naboth's Vineyard and the very first time he goes to take possession of it he meets there with the Tidings of the utter ruine of Himself and Family Herod violated all Laws of God and Man burthened his Conscience waded through a Sea of Blood all to settle the Kingdom upon his Son and he proves an Unthrift offers half of it to a wanton Minion for a Dance So Goods ill gotten are like a Coal of Fire in a thatch'd House Remember Herod Before Judas had fingered that beggerly sum of thirty pieces of Silver his Desires were upon the Rack he forgot his Duty to God his Fidelity to his Master his care of his own soul. But when he once had it he could not indure to look upon it as being the cause of his bane he casts it away as an infectious Rag he disgorgeth it in the very Temple his detestation of that poysonous Morsel was greater than his reverence to that Holy Place When Pharaoh's lean Kine had devoured the fat they were still no better favoured themselves Let us all but look back to our former Excesses and unlawful Pleasures and see if we may not sighing say with the Apostle What profit had we of those things whereof we are now ashamed So he shall not prosper in his sin Secondly He shall not prosper in his Affairs not in his temporal Undertakings Jer. 22. 30. Write this man childless a man that shall not prosper in his days Israel could not prosper so long as the accursed thing remained hidden in Achan's Tent. The eleven Tribes prospered not against Benjamin until they had humbled themselves by fasting Jonas prospered not in a Ship until he had reconcile himself to God then he found safety in the Belly of a Whale Neither shall he thrive or prosper in spiritual Graces No Man can serve both GOD and Belial These hidden Sins do choak the Seed of the Word they hinder the Efficacie of our Prayers they make the blessed Sacrament to become poyson and our Fasts and Humiliations to be meer Mockeries The Grace of God will not suffer Mates to be chamber-fellows and fellow-commoners with her in the same Heart To ask for which of our sins things have succeeded unprosperously with us were to seek a man in Athens at noon day with a Candle and a Lanthorn The Lord sanctifie our sufferings to us until then we cannot prosper in our Affai●s Thirdly He shall not prosper in his concealment God will bring it to light 2 Sam. 12. 2. Thou didst it secretly but I will do this thing before all Israel and before the S●n For nothing is covered which shall not be revealed Luk. 12. 2. Almost incredible are the ways which God useth for the Discovery of crying Sins especially of Murther Whilst the Earth is covered with Snow the Ditches and Dunghills and Deformities thereof are hid but by the melting of the Snow they are discovered So the vi●lanous Projects of Dissemblers are so covered over with