Selected quad for the lemma: mercy_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
mercy_n	abel_n	blood_n	cry_v	2,397	5	9.4770	5	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A02525	Contemplations vpon the principall passages of the holy storie. The first volume, in foure bookes by J.H. ...	Hall, Joseph, 1574-1656.	1612 (1612)	STC 12650; ESTC S122621	82,503	377

For Adam though in Paradise hee could not bee innocent yet was a good man out of Paradise his sinne and fall now made him circumspect and since hee saw that his act had bereaued them of that image of God which he once had for them hee could not but labour by all holy indeuours to repayre it in them That so his care might make a mends for his trespasse How plaine is it that euen good breeding cannot alter destiny That which is crooked can none make straight who would thinke that brethren and but two brethren should not loue each other Dispersed loue growes weake and fewnesse of obiects vseth to vnite affections If but two brothers bee left aliue of many they thinke that the loue of all the rest should suruiue in them and now the beames of their affection are so much the hoter because they reflect mutually in a right line vppon each other yet behold here are but two brothers in a world and one is the butcher of the other Who can wonder at dissentions amongst thousands of brethren when he sees so deadly opposition betwixt two the first roots of brotherhood who can hope to liue plausibly and securely amongst so many Cains when hee sees one Cain the death of one Abel The same diuell that set enmity betwixt man and god sets enmity betwixt man and man and yet God said I will put enmity betweene thy seed and her seed our hatred of the serpent and his seed is from God Their hatred of the holy seed is from the serpent Behold here at once in one person the seed of the woman and of the serpent Cains naturall parts are of the woman his vitious qualities of the serpent The woman gaue him to bee a brother the serpent to be a manslayer all vncharitablenesse all quarrels are of one author we cannot entertaine wrath and not giue place to the Diuell Certainely so deadly an act must needs bee deepely grounded What then was the occasion of this capitall malice Abels sacrifice is accepted what was this to Cain Cains is reiected what could Abel remedy this Oh enuie the corrasiue of all ill minds and the root of all desperate actions the same cause that moued Satan to tempt the first man to destroy himselfe and his posterity the same moues the second man to destroy the third It should haue beene Cains ioy to see his brother accepted It should haue bene his sorrow to see that himselfe had deserued a reiection his brothers example should haue excited and directed him Could Abel haue stayed Gods fire from descending Or shold he if he could reiect Gods acceptation and displease his maker to content a brother Was Cain euer the farther from a blessing because his brother obtained mercy How proud and foolish is malice which growes thus mad for no other cause but because God or Abel is not lesse good It hath beene an olde and happy danger to be holy Indifferent actions must bee carefull to auoide offence But I care not what diuell or what Cain bee angry that I doe good or receiue good There was neuer any nature without enuy Euery man is born a Cain hating that goodnes in another which hee neglected in himselfe There was neuer enuie that was not bloody for if it eat not anothers hart it will eat our owne but vnlesse it be restrained it will surely feed it selfe with the blood of others oft times in act alwaies in affection And that God which in good accepts the will for the deed condemns the will for the deed in euill If there be an euill heart there will bee an euill eye and if both these there will be an euill hand How earely did Martyrdome come into the world The first man that died died for religion who dare measure Gods loue by outward euents when hee sees wicked Cain standing ouer bleeding Abel whose sacrifice was first accepted and now himselfe is sacrificed Death was denounced to man as a curse yet behold it first lights vppon a Saint how soone was it altered by the mercy of that iust hand which inflicted it If death had beene euill and life good Cain had beene slaine and Abel had suruiued now that it begins with him that God loues O death where is thy sting Abel sayes nothing his blood cries Euery drop of innocent blood hath a tongue and is not onely vocall but importunate what a noise then did the blood of my Sauiour make in heauen who was himselfe the shepheard and the sacrifice The man that was offered and the God to whome it was offered The spirit that herd both saies it spake better things then the blood of Abel Abels blood called for reuenge his for mercy Abels pleaded his owne innocency his the satisfaction for all the beleeuing world Abels procured Cains punishment his freed all repentant souls from punishment better things indeed then the blood of Abel Better and therfore that which Abels blood said was good It is good that God should bee auenged of sinners Execution of iustice vpon offenders is no lesse good then rewards of goodnes No sooner doth Abels blood speake vnto God then God speaks to Cain There is no wicked man to whom God speakes not if not to his eare yet to his heart what speech was this Not an accusation but an inquiry yet such an enquiry as would infer an accusation God loues to haue a sinner accuse himselfe and therefore hath he set his deputy in the brest of man neither doth God loue this more then nature abhors it Cain answers stubbornly The very name of Abel wounds him no lesse then his hand had wounded Abel Consciences that are without remorse are not without horror wickednes makes men desperate the murderer is angry with God as of late for accepting his brothers oblation so now for listening to his blood And now he dares answer God with a question Am I my brothers keeper where he shold haue said am not I my brothers murderer Behold he scorneth to keep whom he feared not to kill Good duties are base and troublesome to wicked minds whiles euen violences of euill are pleasant Yet this miscreant which neither had grace to auoid his sinne nor to confesse it now that he is conuinced of sinne and cursed for it how he howleth how he exclaimeth Hee that cares not for the act of his sinne shall care for the smart of his punishment The damned are weary of their torments but in vaine How great a madnesse is it to complaine too late He that would not keepe his brother is cast out from the protection of God he that feared not to kill his brother feares now that whosoeuer meets him will kill him The troubled conscience proiecteth fearefull things and sin makes euen cruell men cowardly God saw it was too much fauour for him to dye he therfore wils that which Cain wils Cain would liue It is yeelded him but for a curse how oft doth God heare sinners in anger Hee shall

dreams he had not bin solde if he had not bene sold hee had not bin exalted So Iosephs state had not deserued enuie if his dreams had not caused him to be enuied Full little did Ioseph thinke when he went to seek his brethren that this was the last time hee should see his Fathers house Full little did his brethren think when they solde him naked to the Ismaelites to haue once seene him in the throne of Aegypt Gods decree runnes on and while wee either think not of it or oppose it is performed In an honest and obedient simplicity Ioseph comes to inquire of his brethrens health and now may not returne to carry newes of his owne misery whiles hee thinks of their welfare they are plotting his destruction Come let vs slay him Who would haue expected this cruelty in them which should bee the Fathers of Gods Church It was thought a fauour that Reubens intreaty obtained for him that hee might be cast into the pit aliue to die there He lookt for brethren and behold murtherers Euery mans tongue euery mans fist was bent against him Each one striues who shall lay the first hand vppon that changeable cote which was died with their Fathers loue and their enuie And now they haue stript him naked and haling him by both armes as it were cast him aliue into his graue So in pretence of forbearance they resolue to torment him with a lingring death the sauagest robbers could not haue beene more mercilesse for now besides what in them lyes they kill their Father in their brother Nature if it once degenerate grows more monstrous and extreme then a disposition borne to cruelty All this while Ioseph wanted neither words nor teares but like a passionate suppliant bowing his bare knees to them whom hee dreamed should bow to him intreates and perswades by the deer name of their brotherhood by their profession of one common God for their fathers sake for their owne souls sake not to sin against his bloud But enuy hath shut out mercy and makes them not only forget themselues to be brethren but men What stranger can thinke of poore innocent Ioseph crying naked in that desolate and drye pit only sauing that he moystened it with teares and not be moued Yet his hard-harted brethren sit them down carelesly with the noyse of his lamentation in their eares to eat bread not once thinking by their owne hunger what it was for Ioseph to be affamisht to death Whatsoeuer they thought God neuer meant that Ioseph should perish in that pit and therfore he sends very Ismaelites to raunsome him from his brethren the seed of him that persecuted his brother Isaac shal now redeem Ioseph from his brethrens persecution When they came to fetch him out of the pit hee now hoped for a speedy dispatch That since they seemed not to haue so much mercy as to prolong his life they would not continue so much cruelty as to prolong his death And now when he hath comforted himselfe with hope of the fauour of dying behold death exchanged for bondage how much is seruitude to an ingenuous nature worse then death For this is common to all that to none but the miserable Iudah meant this well but God better Reuben saued him from the sword Iudah from affamishing God will euer raise vp some secret fauourers to his own amongst those that are most malicious How well was this fauor bestowed If Ioseph had died for hunger in the pit both Iacob and Iudah and al his brethren had died for hunger in Canaan Little did the Ismaelitish merchants know what a tresure they bought carryed and sold more pretious then al their balmes and mirrhes Little did they thinke that they had in their hands the Lord of Egypt the Iewell of the worlde Why should wee contemne any mans meannesse when we know not his destiny One sinne is commonly vsed for the vail of another Iosephs coat is sent home dipped in blood that whiles they should hide their owne cruelty they might afflict their Father no lesse then their brother They haue deuised this really to punish their olde father for his loue with so grieuous a monument of his sorrow Hee that is mourned for in Canaan as dead prospers in Egypt vnder Potiphar and of a slaue is made a ruler Thus God meant to prepare him for a greater charge he must first rule Potiphars house then Pharaohs kingdome his owne seruice is his least good for his very presence procures a common blessing A whole family shall fare the better for one Ioseph Vertue is not lookt vpon alike with al eyes his fellows praise him his maister trusts him his mistresse affects him too much All the spight of his brethren was not so great a crosse to him as the inordinate affection of his mistresse Temptations on the right hand are now more perilous and hard to resist by how much they are more plausible and glorious But the heart that is bent vppon God knows how to walke steddily and indifferently betwixt the pleasures of sinne and feares of euill He saw this pleasure would aduance him Hee knew what it was to be a minion of one of the greatest Ladies in Egypt yet resolues to contemne it A good heart will rather lye in the dust then rise by wickednesse How shall I doe this and sinne against God He knew that all the honours of Egypt could not buy off the guilt of one sinne and therefore abhors not onely her bed but her company Hee that will bee safe from the acts of euill must wisely auoide the occasions as sin ends euer in shame when it is committed so it makes vs past shame that wee may commit it The impudent strumpet dare not onely solicit but importune but in a sort force the modesty of her good seruant She laies hold on his garment her hand seconds her tongue Good Ioseph found it now time to flee when such an enemy pursued him how much had hee rather leaue his cloke then his vertue And to suffer his mistresse to spoile him of his liuery rather then hee should blemish her honor or his maisters in her or God in either of them This second time is Ioseph stript of his garment before in the violence of enuie now of lust before of necessity now of choice Before to deceiue his father now his maister for behold the pledge of his fidelity which hee left in those wicked hands is made an euidence against him of that which he refused to doe therfore did hee leaue his cloake because he would not doe that of which he is accused and condemned because he left it what safety is there against great aduersaries when euen arguments of innocence are vsed to conuince of euill Lust yeelded vnto is a pleasant madnesse but is a desperate madnesse when it is opposed No hatred burnes so furiously as that which arises from the quenched coles of loue Malice is witty to deuise accusations of others out of