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	lord_n	redeemer_n	2,002	5	9.8210	5	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A26870	A breviate of the life of Margaret, the daughter of Francis Charlton ... and wife of Richard Baxter ... : there is also published the character of her mother, truly described in her published funeral sermon, reprinted at her daughters request, called, The last work of a believer, his passing-prayer recommending his departing spirit to Christ, to be received by him.	Baxter, Richard, 1615-1691.	1681 (1681)	Wing B1194; ESTC R1213	62,400	127

and trouble upon my spirits and well it may be so for the sins of this day have been very great My heart hath not answered the expressions of thanks which have been uttered by the mouths of those that spake them to God No no my heart hath not stirred and been drawn out towards my God! The thoughts of his love have not ravished my Soul Alas I scarce felt any holy spark to warm my Soul this day This day which was a day of the greatest mercy of any in all my life the day in which I have had an opportunity to give thanks for all the mercies of my life and thanks it self is a greater mercy than the rest All other mercies are to prepare for this This is the work of a glorified Saint even a Saint in heaven before the blessed face of God It 's his everlasting business to Sing the Songs of Thanksgiving and Praise to the Most High But my thoughts have not been filled with the sweet foretasts of this blessed work which I might have had this day O God I beseech thee forgive my sin and lay not my deadness to my charge but overlook all my transgressions and look on me in Jesus Christ my Saviour I am thine Lord and not mine own This day I have under my Hand and Seal in the presence of Witnesses nay in thine own presence who art Witness sufficient were there no eye to see me or ear to hear me Thou Lord that knowest all things knowest that I have devoted my All to thee Take it and accept my Sacrifice Help me to pay my vows Wilt thou not accept me because I do it not more sincerely and believingly O Lord I unfeignedly desire to do it aright O wilt thou strengthen my weak desires I believe Lord help my unbelief Thou that canst make me what I am not O make me what thou wouldst have me be In thee there is all fulness and to thee I desire to come by Christ. Wilt thou now cast me off because I do it not unreservedly Lord I confess the Devil tempteth and the flesh saith Spare something what let all go And I find in me a carnal selfish principle ready to close with the temptation But thou canst prevent and conquer all and speak death to these corruptions and bid the Tempter be gone It is thy pleasure here to suffer thy dear children to be tempted but fuffer not temptations to prevail against thy Spirit and Grace If temptation be like a torrent of water to smother quench or hide the flame yet wilt thou never let all the sparks of thy Grace be put out in the soul where once thou hast truly kindled it But Lord suffer not such floods to fall on my soul where the spark is so small already that it is even scarce discernible O quicken it and blow it up to a holy flame Most gracious God! O do it here who hast done it for many a soul O what have I said that I have a spark of grace why the least spark is worth ten thousand times more thanks than I can ever express and I have been dead and unthankful as is before confessed And is that a sign of grace Unthankful dead and dull I have been and still am but yet it must needs be from Gods gift in me that I have any desires after him and that this day I have desired to devote my self to him and that I can say I would be more holy and more heavenly even as the Lord would have me be Nay I do know the time when I had none of these desires and had no mind to God and the ways of godliness and do I not know that there be many in this condition who have no desires after Christ and holiness Here then is matter of comfort given me from him that doth accept the desires of his poor creatures even the Lord Christ who will not quench the smoaking flax nor break the bruised reed I see then that I have yet matter of rejoycing and must labour to be so humbled for my remaining sins as may tend to my future joy in believing but not so as to be discouraged and frightned from God who is longsuffering and abundant in mercy Rouze up thy self then to God my soul humbly but believingly repent that thou hast been so unthankful and insensible of the benefits this day received up up and lie not down so heavily God hath heard prayers for thee and given thee life and opportunity to serve him He hath given thee all the outward mercies thy heart can desire He hath given thee dear godly able friends such as can help thee in the way to heaven yea he hath set them to beg spiritual mercies for thee who prevailed for temporal for thee and oft for many others why then shouldst thou not watch and pray and wait in hope that he hath heard their prayers this day for thy soul as formerly for thy body They are things commanded of God to be asked and we have his promise that seeking we shall find It may be this night many of Gods dear children will yet pray for my soul I doubt not some will and shall I not be glad of such advantage I heard this day that I must not forbear thanks because the mercies are yet imperfect else we should never give thanks on earth Though therefore my Grace be yet but a spark and weak my body weak my heart sad all these administer matter of thanks and praise as well as of supplication Let me therefore keep close to both they being the life of my life while I live here and having daily need of supply from God let me daily be with him and live as in his presence Let him be the chief in all my thoughts my heart and life And let me remember to be earnest for my poor Relations and dear Friends and the Church and people of God in general And let me strive to keep such a moderate sense of sorrow on my soul as occasion requireth I have now cause of sorrow for parting with my dear friends my Father my Pastor He is by providence called away and going a long journey what the Lord will do with him I cannot foresee it may be he is preparing some great mercy for us and for his praise I know not but such a day as this may be kept here on his account The will of the Lord be done for he is wise and good we are his own let him do with us what he pleaseth all shall be for good to them that love God I have cause to be humbled that I have been so unprofitable under mercies and means it may grieve me now he is gone that there is so little that came from him left upon my soul. O let this quicken and stir me up to be more diligent in the use of all remaining helps and means And if ever I should enjoy this mercy again O let me make it appear that this night

him all my days 2. And an humble heart that I may be taught of God who looketh on the proud afar off 3. And a tender conscience that I may fear to offend him and hate all sin 4. And strength so to resist temptations that I be not led by Satan to dishonour God or to provoke him 5. And a meek and quiet frame of spirit that I may be contented to bear the afflictions that God shall lay me under without murmuring or repining § 3. This being that which she gave us in I find under her hand this secret renewal that same day of her Covenant with God which I annex This being a day set apart for returning thanks to God for his mercy in delivering me from the gates of death these people being they that have earnestly supplicated the throne of grace on my behalf I here now renew my Covenant with Almighty God and resolve by his grace to endeavour to get and keep a fresh sense of his mercy on my soul and a greater sense yet of my sin I resolve to set my self against my sin with all my might and not take its part or extenuate it or keep the Devils counsel as I have done to the wronging of God and the wounding of my own soul. I resolve by Gods assistance to set upon the practise of known duty and not to study shifts and evasions to put off those which are either troublesome chargeable or likely to render me dishonourable and vile in the eyes of the carnal persons of the world And this I do upon these considerations and for these reasons 1. My life hath been a life of great mercy God hath preserved it more than this once and hath done exceeding great things for me which engageth me more than many others though all rational creatures are obliged to live to God their Maker 2. God hath not only given me life but in some measure ability and opportunity to do him service yea and already some encouragement in the hopes of the success of some of my poor endeavours I suppose on some of her servants 3. God hath more engaged me to himself by taking me into his Family and planting me in his Garden and watering me with the dew from heaven He hath set me in a fruitful soil He hath given me the high priviledg of a part in the hearts and prayers of his people and I may say that I live to speak it That God is a God hearing prayers and hath heard and answered them Though the Tempter be busie to make me think diminitively of this mercy yet I must not but must acknowledg the greatness of it 4. As all these and more engagements are upon me so I am already engaged by the Baptismal Covenant to God the Father Son and Holy Ghost as my God and chief Good and only happiness and as my Redeemer Head and Husband and as my Sanctifier and Comforter and I have renewed it in the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper and how can I go back that have thus far engaged my self and daily receive from God more obligations Yea God will expect more from me than from many others Let me therefore see that I be in good earnest with God and think not to put him off with hypocrisie let me not deceive my self for God will not be mocked what I sow I shall reap if I belong to God though I suffer whilst I am in the body they will be but light afflictions and but for a moment but the everlasting Kingdom will be mine inheritance and when this life is ended I shall reign with Christ I shall be freed from sin and suffering and for ever rejoyce with Saints and Angels But should I prove an hypocrite I lose my labour I lose my God and damnation with Devils and damned ones will be my reward for ever and rhis the greater as my mercies have been abundant and great Therefore I here desire this day to renew my Covenant with God and to beg the prayers of this people that God will not leave me to my self but help me by the sufficient Grace of Christ to keep the Covenant which I have made And I intend to keep this Paper by me to help to remember me and quicken me to duty and hinder me from sin and encourage me to go on cheerfully against temptations looking still to Christ who forsaketh not those that by faith and repentance come to him To all this let me add these Considerations of the vanity of the creature and of all false hopes It is contrary to the nature of the creature to be our peace they are our discomforts and troubles further than they help to lead us to the Creator Let me not forget the time when I seemed near death What comfort had I then in creatures What ease from them Was not all my hope in God All creatutes shewed me that side on which vanity was written and they had nothing that could satisfie my soul Though I had as much mercy in means and friends as I could possibly desire yet all this was nothing to me the trouble of parting with them was much more than the comfort of enjoying them and so it will be with me still which should teach me to keep my heart loose from the Creature and not over-love any thing on this side Heaven Why should my heart be fixed where my home is not Heaven is my home God in Christ is all my happiness and where my treasure is there my heart should be Come away Oh my heart from vanity mount Heavenward and be not dead or dull if thou wouldst be free from trouble and tast of real joy and pleasure Hath not experience yet taught thee that creature-comforts though they may be Roses have their pricks canst not thou be content to look on them and smell them at a distance and covet no other use while thou art in the Garden where they grow and be content to leave them there behind thee If thou must needs have them in thy bosome thou must scratch thy fingers to get them and when thou hast them though the smell a while delight thee they will quickly wither and are gone Away then O my carnal heart retire to God the only satisfying object There mayest thou love without all danger of excess Let thy love to God be fixed and transcendent Amen § 4. Though these were the strivings of her heart towards God her fears and troubles did not so pass away setled peace of soul doth seldom come quickly to young Converts though their sincere resolutions may be setled I find among her Papers yet more of that days work upon her after examination and review Bear with the length if I transcribe it as I find it under her hand Christ saith In the world you shall have trouble in me you shall have peace Something of both now I find at this time This night after returning thanks to God for my recovery I find my heart sad

and passions under a constant watch and obedience to God and know first whether God command them and allow them § 7. And this History may teach us that though God usually begin as is said our conversion in fears and penitent sorrows it is holy and heavenly joy which it tendeth to as more desirable and we should chiefly seek and should labour to moderate fear and sorrow and not think we can never have enough It is too common an error with honest souls to think that a hard heart lieth most in want of sorrow and tears when as it lieth most in want of a tractable compliance and yielding to the commands and will of God and in an iron neck and obstinate disobedience to God and to think that a new and tender heart is principally a heart that can weep and mourn when it is chiefly a heart that easily receiveth all the impressions of Gods commands and promises and threats and easily yieldeth to his known will § 8. And this may greatly warn us to fear and avoid self-willedness I mean a will of our own that runs before the will of God and is too much set on any thing which God hath not promised and knows not how to bear a frustration or denial but saith as Rachel Give it me or I die We must learn to follow and not to lead and to say The will of the Lord be done not mine Lord but thine and in every estate to be content There is no rest but in Gods will § 9. Yet this tells us that God dealeth better with his weak servants than they deserve and turneth that oft times to their good which they deserved should have been their greatest suffering § 10. This History and my great experience saith that there is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother Prov. 18. 24. and that it was Gods spirit that said Prov. 27. 10. Thy own friend and thy fathers friend forsake not neither go into thy brothers house in the day of thy calamity for better is a neighbour that is near than a brother that is far off § 11. This History tells us how great a mercy it is to have a body meet to serve the soul and how great an affliction to have an unruly inclination from the bodies temper and what a tyrant excessive fear is and how great a blessing it is to have such a passion as Faith can rule and easily quiet § 12. It tells you also how manifold temptations and afflictions Gods servants are liable to in this life § 13. And it tells you that our greatest good or evil is nearest us Next God the best is in our souls and there is the worst and next in our bodies and next in our nearest friends And it may teach all to expect their greatest sorrows from those or that which they most excessively love and from whom they have the highest expectations Only God cannot be loved more than he deserveth Sorrow beginneth in inordinate love and joy in good § 14. And it tells us that Gods service lieth more in deeds than in words My dear Wife was faulty indeed in talking so little of Religion in company expect it were unresistibly to confute in few words an opposer or reviler of Religion But her Religion lay in doing more than talk § 15. Yet her example tells us that it is one of Satan's wiles to draw us to one sin to avoid another and to make us think that nothing is a due that hath great inconveniences or which we can fore-see some men will receive hurt from and so to be unrighteous by being righteous over-much and leave much undone for fear of doing it amiss by which Rule we should scarce ever do any thing that God commands He that observeth the winds shall not sow and he that regardeth the clouds shall not reap Eccles. 11. 4. I speak this on her at last confessed error of omitting seasonable speech and duty to avoid hypocrisie and ostentation which my great friend Judg Hale was just so guilty of as I know and the Writers of his Life confess He would make no great shew of zeal in Religion lest if he did any thing amiss Religion should be reproached for his sake Cardinal Ric●lieu was wont to say as is written of him that he hated no Counsellor more than those that were alway saying Let us do it better by that hindering the doing of much at all § 16. You see here that suitableness in Religious judgment and disposition preserveth faster love and concord as it did with us than suitableness in Age Education and Wealth but yet those should not be imprudently neglected Nothing causeth so near and fast and comfortable an Union as to be united in one God one Christ one Spirit one Faith one Church one hope of Heavenly Glory yet accidental unsuitableness should be avoided as far as may be § 17. There are some great men who know their own names who as I have most credible information have to greater than themselves represented me not only as covetous but as mutable for my Marriage To whom I now give this satisfaction 1. As to Covetousness my Vindication is a matter unfit for the ears of the world if Reverend mens backbitings the same that troubles our common peace did not make it partly necessary Through Gods mercy and her prudent care I lived in plenty and so do still though not without being greatly beholden to divers friends and I am not poorer than when I Married but it is not by Marriage nor by any thing that was hers before 2. And as to my mutability Whereas one of them reports that I said to him that I thought the Marriage of Ministers had so great inconveniences that though necessity made it lawful yet it was but lawful that is to be avoided as far as lawfully we may I answer that I did say so to him and I never changed my judgment yea my Wife lived and died in the same mind And I here freely advise all Ministers that have not some kind of necessity to think of these few reasons among many 1. The work of the sacred Ministry is enough to take up the whole man if he had the strength and parts of many men O how much is there to do oftentimes with one ignorant or scandalous or sad despairing soul And who is sufficient for all that 's to be done to hundreds or thousands In the primitive Church every Congregation had many Ministers but covetousness of Clergy and people will now scarce allow two to very great Parishes I did not marry till I was silenced and ejected and had no flock or Pastoral Cure Believe it he that will have a Wife must spend much of his time in conference prayer and other family-duties with her And if he have children O how much care time and labour will they require I know it though I have none And he that hath servants must spend time in teaching them and in other