Selected quad for the lemma: mercy_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
mercy_n	father_n	holy_a	sinner_n	9,874	5	9.5686	5	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A30271	Causa Dei, or, Counsel to the rich of this world to the highest part of the dust of the earth : to which is prefixed an humble address to the King's Majesty.	Burgess, Daniel, 1645-1713.	1697 (1697)	Wing B5696; ESTC R15481	49,787	144

Guide while you travel in Turky This World is Turky a wild and strange Countrey And he who has opened you a way through it unto Heaven he has appointed you Ministerial Guides to lead you therein Guides guided themselves by that Heavenly infallible One whose Conduct you may expect in your due use of them Guides of whom your Saviour hath said He that heareth them heareth him and he that despiseth them despiseth him To be very often upon bended Knees To pray is to desire as Malefactors desire their Pardon and as Lepers desire their Cure A short-liv'd Vapor cannot be such a Prayer But what is sincere and without ceasing it is never failing It hath the promise of the King and therefore is sure to take the Kingdom of Heaven Ask and ye shall receive To take the Oath of Allegiance i. e. Your Baptismal Covenant and Oath Whereto your thorow Consent and sutable Walk are all real Religion The Lord have Mercy on the mad Multitudes of which some do place their Religion in no better than the very Spots and Blemishes of Religion And others in no more than the meer Fashion and Dress of it Vain is their Religion by whom this Oath is not taken tho their Sect be ever so strict Be their Christianity of this or that Form Christ shall profit them nothing Their Hearts be not cleansed by the Inspiration of the Holy Ghost but deluded by some Angel of Light or of Darkness Baptism doth now save us not the putting away of the filth of the Flesh but the answer of a good Conscience towards God by the Resurrection of Jesus Christ Finally it shall not be lost Labour To keep your Hearts at your right Hands To join Contemplation and Action in all things of Religion Not to consider what you do is most Inhumane and not to perform the Duty you have considered is most Profane It is an Unclean Creature that either chews not the Cud or if it does divideth not the Hoof. To act without Counsel is to go upon four Feet To consult and not to act is to send your Brains a Woolgathering Whatever your Hand finds to do do it with all your Might Your Holy things you must do with Holy Thoughts and Pains Strain the Nerves of your Mind and of your whole Man And of all things look you well to your Aims Never go ye into the Church as Boys go into the Thames not to wash and cleanse but to divert themselves Hear Sacred things striving to understand make Religious Vows resolving to perform them desiring no longer to live than you do so Look on Flatterers as so many Murderers turn you from them and from your very selves when you turn Flatterers to your selves Be not the Apes of such a Monster as Vitellius who upon the Approach of his Ruin raised no other Fortification but that of a drunken Mirth which kept out the Noise and Report but hastned the Stroke of it Remember that wilful Sin if any must be your Death Being that neither God's Decrees or Satan's Devices do commit any rapes on your Souls If you do not all that is here named as many as are themselves any wiser must pronounce you Wilful and tremble at your hastning Wo Every Prisoner in Hell cries out of his Will Not complaining that his Judg was an hard Master but his Heart was an hard Milstone Not able to say that he perished thrô meer Deceivableness or otherwise than thrô his willingness to be deceived And may it not now be hoped that your Minds are inlightned too much to be incensed against this Advice That your Enmity against your God is abated and your Fear of him encreased Justly or otherwise it is hoped so And for the just and true Conquest of both your Fear and Enmity you are presented with these Considerations The God to whom you are called is as merciful as can be desired For he is Infinitely so Indeed our Misery and not our Sin is the Object of his Mercy Sin is most contrary to his Government yea to h●● Godhead and cannot but be the Ob●ect of his vindictive Hatred Pecca●um est Deicidium Sch. Our Misery is the Object of his Mercy Of the blessed Compassion of which he provideth a new and living Way of Salvation and being provided he is most ready to save the very chief of Sinners turning into that way Insomuch that let us suppose any single one to have committed all the Sins of Adam and of his whole Progeny The vast Ocean would not so easily and presently quench one spark of Fire as the Divine Mercy would forgive all those Sins upon the Sinner's believing on Christ Jesus The Blood of our Saviour is as Satisfactory and Meritory as can be desired For it is as the Holy Oracles name it the Blood of God i. e. of him who is God equal with the Father as well as Man like unto his Brethren And this hath given more honour to God than hath been taken from him by the Sins of Devils and Men. So that without the least loss to his Glory God may save the worst Soul that Repents and Believeth on him that shed this Blood And in giving the Crown of Heavenly Glory God giveth no more than his Son hath bought and paid for The Power of the Holy Ghost to convert and to comfort is as great as can be desired For he is God equal with the Father and Son and cannot but be Omnipotent If we are Hells of Sin and of Sorrow he can make us Heavens of Purity and of Joy Of Satan's Dunghils he can make us God's Temples There be no Hearts but what he can cleanse by his Inspirations The Precedents and Examples of the most bloody Sinners saved are as great as can be desired Sirs as bad as your selves have been saved by the Mercy of the Father by the Merits of the Son and by the Power of the Holy Spirit For Manasses a Monster of Impiety and Villany is now a Star in Glory And not a few of them who murdered our Redeemer on Earth are now with him in Heaven What a Catalogue have we 1 Cor. 6.9 10 11. Fornicators Idolaters Adulterers Effeminate Abusers of themselves with Mankind Thieves Drunkards Revilers Extortioners The Promises made to save other Rebels are as great as can be desired For there is not any one sort of them to be named but upon their Repentance and Faith have Salvation promised to them Yea as great Salvation as any other And lest any should imagine themselves to be excluded most if not all sorts are expresly mentioned Mentioned in the great and precious Offers and Promises of Salvation upon their Conversion The very Name of God is as sweet and encouraging as can be desired The Name expressing his good Affection towards the most hainous Sinners when relenting and returning For it was this that was given his Servant Moses for the heartning of such Merciful and Gracious Longsuffering and abundant in Goodness and

in Truth keeping Mercy for thousands Forgiving both Iniquity Transgression and Sin A Name one would think sufficient to drive Despair out of this World And confine it to Hell its proper Seat The Commands of God for the worst of Sinners to hope and to repent are as great and as bright as can be desired None are more absolute none more express The words of a late excellent Author are Sun-beams To prescribe Repentance without a foundation of Forgiveness were inconsistent with God's Excellencies Nor is there any Cause why any Man under a call to Repentance should doubt of Forgiveness Unless God be ready to forgive the Sins of Penitents his Patience is meerly subservient to Wrath and a Resolution to destroy But this would reflect unspeakable Dishonour on him If a Man deal thus it is a token of as evil a Mind as can be in him The Intreaties God sendeth to the most lewd Sinners to turn to him are as kind as can be desired As significative I mean of his astonishing Love and desire of their Salvation upon his gracious Terms O bottomless Depth and amazing Height of Divine Love God beseeches God prays you to be reconciled and saved Soveraign Majesty even courteth Worms Infinite Mercy wooeth very Vipers The Parable in which God hath given the Picture of his Heart towards Penitents is as moving as can be desired Luke 15. Review it behold a Brother of yours an horrid Prodigal relents and humbles himself And what 's the next News His most merciful Father beholds him compassionates him runs toward him falls on his Neck and kisses him calls for the best Robe for him for a Ring for Shooes on his Feet and for a Feast to be made The Wall of Fire God has made to keep you from your pernicious Follies is as aweful as can be desired For this Wall is Hell and Hell is Torment of Extremity unto all Eternity Wherewithal wo'd you then be held from your destructive Courses if the Fear hereof will not curb your Lusts The Kingdom God offers you to draw you to his Love and Service is as rich as can be desired For it is high as Heaven durable as Eternity delightful as Joy in Extasy And lastly The Admonition given you of all these Particulars is as plain as can be desired That which you have the refusal of in the Sacred Oracles is a very Light and Lamp And what you have in Ecclesiastical Writings is not given in Clouds and Darkness Both are set before you in such a Light that none of you can be blind save only those who will not see Neither can the most violent of you take Hell by any Force without loving Darkness rather than Light Sirs your Lives are Vapours your great Estates are great Snowballs Those are vanishing these are melting Your carnal Comforts like your drunken serving-Men will be out of the way when you do most need them For your rotten Sticks be not Fire your Gloworms be not Stars your shining Dust is not Heaven And your present excuses of Sin like other Thieves at the approach of Light will be sure to be gone Neither are your Breakfasts of it so full of Honey as your Supper will be of Gall. Vanities are very Changelings Absalom's Hair now is his Pride but anon it is his Halter Jezabel's Paint makes her Face a heap of Charms for a while but 't is not long before 't is washed off with her Blood and she is trod under Foot Herod's Robes are now resplendent and Royal but by and by they are over-run with Vermin which eat up his miserable Majesty like Carrion and make a sad Figure of his Sceleton Sirs say not that I roll in railing Rhetorick and tumble in ugly Tropes You do hate no Boanerges now as you will hate your Parasites one Day The Day wherein the Root of your Merriments will be found to be Rotteness and their Blossom shall rise up as the Dust Wherefore haste haste Gentlemen The worst of Men are willing to be Good as Austin was to be Chaste And the most of them do stay till they are in the Jaws of Hell before they consider what is the worth of a Soul Wherefore you are left with the words of the best Master spoken to the worst Servant very kindly they are spoken to you What you do do quickly Then may it be said to you that live in Prosperity Peace be unto you and Peace to your Houses and Peace unto all that you have as David's Youths were commanded to greet the Great Man of Maon whose Possessions were in Carmel Be doing therefore good Sirs and say not of your humble Monitor as Cardinal Mattheo Langi concerning Luther viz. That thô the Romans needed a Scouring it was not fit that they should take it from so sorry a Hand Forgive me the Apostrophe in which I leave you So that our Worshipful our Honourable and our Right Honourable Lepers may be cleansed and made wise to Salvation Send O my Lord I pray thee by the Hand of him whom thou wilt send Make no long tarrying good Lord but send some Eliphaz or other with a more radiant Eloquence to tell them that They are destroyed from Morning to Morning They perish for ever without any regarding it their Excellency which is in them goeth away They die even without Wisdom O send before it be said to this Gallant and to that The Fruits that thy Soul lusted after are departed from thee and all the things which were Dainty and Goodly are departed from thee and thou shalt find them no more at all In one hour thy great Riches are come to nought Thy Soul is required of thee and whose shall the things be which thou hast provided May such as are deaf to a lesser Timothy be made to hearken to a greater Paul or Peter And they who have been as wicked turn to be as wise as that Son who said to his Father I will not but afterward he repented and went CHAP. IV. To the Formal and Hypocritical THE highest Elements are the purest the topmost Boughs of Trees bear the soundest Fruit and the Hill-Countries have much the cleanest ways But Men of highest Degrees be not so much of cleanest Morals Great is their Britain or painted Nation He is generally but a Pict among them who is not a very Saxon not more than a Pretender to Religion if any less than an open Enemy to it To every such Pretender God Almighty speed this Chapter Gentlemen It is not Apostolical to bite poor Mens Sores and lick yours Nor is it possible in your Case to decline Lance and Caustick What must profit you is the Plainness which you name Rudeness the Liberty which you deem to be Cruelty the very Method wherein the Holy Prophets and Apostles hewed their Hypocrites Not ala-mode Talk which as Pills lapped up in Pap and Sugar have no bitter Relish nor any sweet Effect You have therefore what follows And with the self-same Accent