Selected quad for the lemma: mercy_n
Text snippets containing the quad
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A30062
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The watch-man's voice, giving warning to all men of the dreadful day of the Lord, which he apprehends to be at hand that they may take a due care to save their souls and lives that they perish not therein, and that their blood may not be required at his hand / written by Digby Bull.
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Bull, Digby.
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1695
(1695)
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Wing B5413; ESTC R2715
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42,396
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48
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Idols nor false Gods to our selves lest we have this return to our Prayers when we cry to God in the needful time of Trouble And we are to make no Idol of our Wealth nor to place our trust and confidence therein we are are not to confide in and to rely upon an Arm of Flesh and make mortal Man our hope and confidence and so to rob God of his Glory in not making him as we ought the only Rock of our defence These things seem to be branches of our duty and highly necessary for us to set upon and practise whensoever we apprehend a dark and dismal Day of Wrath and Vengeance to be coming upon us And now to draw to a Conclusion Seeing we have no reason to expect that we should be exempted from the Judgments of God if we do wickedly but must look to be dealt with as others have been if we are as sinful as they were and are to look upon the threatnings of Judgments in the word of God as Threatnings and Menaces against our selves when our case is the same with theirs against whom they were threatned And seeing our Sins and Iniquities do appear to be very great and we are now actually warned that the Judgments of God do now hang over our heads and are ready to come upon us let us lay these things to heart and mind the things that belong to our Peace before it be too late Let us not be like Solomon's Fool Prov. 17.16 that had a price in his hand to get Wisdom but no heart to it But let us make a good use of our time while we have it while the long-suffering of God waiteth for our repentance and amendment Let the great Terror and dreadfulness of the Judgments of God awake us out of our careless and vain security That we may take such a course for our Peace and Safety as is prescribed in the Word of God while his great Goodness doth yet afford us some time for it and let us speedily and seriously set our selves to the practice of these things that I have shewed to be enjoined by that sacred Word at such a time Let us turn to God with Fasting and Weeping and Mourning and call to mind and repent of all the sinful deeds that we have done and resolve through Divine help never to commit such any more and make satisfaction for all the injuries and wrongs that we have done to others Let us cease to do evil and learn to do well and set more strictly upon a righteous and pious course of Life and take pleasure and delight in the works of Mercy and Goodness and shew our selves merciful to others when we are in a more extraordinary manner seeking for Mercy at God's hand Let us be constant and earnest at our Prayers to Almighty God for pardon and mercy for help and succour in all our necessities and distresses and that we may be accounted worthy to escape the things that shall come to pass and to stand before the Son of God whensoever he shall come to punish the Inhabitants of the World for their great Sin and Iniquity Let us seek the Lord while he may be found as saith the Prophet Isaiah 55.6 and call upon him while he is near before he shuts up his Mercy in displeasure and stops his Ears at our Cry Let us put to our helping hand to keep off all publick Judgments from our Land and Nation by the innocency and uprightness of our Lives by begging pardon for our own and the transgressions of the whole Nation and by our earnest Prayers for the Peace and Prosperity of our Church and Kingdom Pray for the peace of Jerusalem saith the Psalmist Psal 122.6 they shall prosper that love thee And so let us pray for the peace and good of our Church and Nation that they may not become a prey to our Enemies and be totally swallowed up by them If we could all-amend and a general repentance were effected our Peace and Happiness would then I hope be secure and we need not fear the evil Machinations of Men against us nor any Judgment of God coming upon us For we may see that the Ninevites obtained Mercy by Repentance after the Judgment was denounced against them And the Prophet Joel here sheweth that if the course were taken that he prescribeth there was hope to obtain Mercy at God's hand Joel 2.18 Then will the Lord be jealous for his Land and pity his People And so we may conclude that he would deal with us if we would take such a course But so long as our Sins cry to Heaven against us and we persist in them we can have no security of Peace and Prosperity And therefore let us set earnestly upon a Righteous and Holy Life and live like those that expect shortly to die and to be called to Judgment that we may do what we can to prepare for our own safety and security against such a dreadful Day of Darkness and may endeavour to keep off all publick Judgments that we may be instrumental in procuring a Blessing and not a Curse upon our Land and Nation Such as are not better instructed may exercise themselves in reading these Chapters and meditating upon them and learning what good Instructions they can from them Isaiah LVIII Jeremiah IV. Joel II. Jonah III. Matthew X and XXIV Mark XIII Luke XII and XVII and XXI 2 Peter III. Revelation II and III. And in the Book of Common Prayer they may find a great deal of good Matter for their Prayers even against such a great Day of Judgment to which they may add these two Prayers that follow For Repentance ALmighty God and most merciful Father we miserable Sinners do here humbly acknowledge before Thee That we are unworthy of the least of all thy Mercies We confess O Lord in the bitterness of our Souls that we have grievously sinned against Thee that all Orders of Men amongst us have transgressed thy Righteous Laws that we have hitherto rendred both thy Mercies and thy Judgments ineffectual to our Amendment It is of thy meer Mercy O Lord that we are not consumed for which our Souls do magnifie and bless thy Name O God who hast hitherto spar'd us to the end that thy Goodness might lead us to Repentance let it be thy good pleasure to give unto us all that Godly Sorrow which worketh Repentance to Salvation not to be repented of that thou mayest turn from thy heavy displeasure against us and mayest rejoice over us to do us good through the Merits and Mediation of Jesus Christ our Lord and only Saviour Amen For Peace and Vnity O Lord God our only hope in time of need Save and deliver us we humbly beseech thee from all those Dangers that threaten us Give Peace in our days O Lord if it be thy will and prevent the effusion of Christian blood in our Land Reconcile all our Dissentions and heal all our Breaches Preserve that Holy Religion we profess together with our Laws and Antient Government Unite us all in unfeigned and universal Charity one towards another and in one and the same Holy Worship and Communion That with one heart and one mouth we may glorifie thy Holy Name and shew forth thy Praise from generation to generation And this we beg for the sake of Jesus Christ thy Beloved in whom thou art well pleased to whom with Thee and the Holy Ghost be all Honour and Glory now and evermore Amen In these Papers I come as a Messenger of Peace among all my dear Country-men and therefore I request that I may find a kind reception among them and that they would seriously lay to heart what I have here written that I may do them some good Service at this great juncture of time for the Preservation of their Lives and Souls when they are in so great Danger FINIS
warning of this Judgment I doubt not but that he should have had warning that he might have been saved and preserved from this Judgment But such are the ways of those that are hardened in their wickedness and have sold themselves to work evil that no warning of Judgment will work upon them as we see it would not upon Lot's Sons in law And saith Abraham in the Parable concerning the Rich Man's Brethren Luke 16.31 If they hear not Moses and the Prophets neither will they be persuaded tho' one rose from the dead And if the contemners of God's Word will not be persuaded to repent by one rising from the dead and warning them of the fearful Judgments of God in another World which he hath been an eye witness of we may be sure that the temporal Judgments of this Life though dreadful enough will not be able to work upon them but that they will be surprized still with them after they have had fair warning as Lot's Sons in law were When God destroyed the Inhabitants of the Land of Canaan they seem to have had warning of it by the Armies of the Israelites approaching towards them and abiding near them and by that fear that God sent upon them And we may see that Rahab the Harlot that feared God took warning hereat and made preparation that she might escape this Judgment of God upon them Joshua 2.9 And she said unto the men I know that the Lord hath given you the Land and that your terror is fallen upon us and that all the Inhabitants of the Land faint because of you for we have heard how the Lord dryed up the water of the Red Sea when ye came out of Egypt and what you did unto the two Kings of the Amorites And upon her hiding of the Spies saith she v. 12. Now therefore I pray you swear unto me by the Lord since I have shewed you kindness that ye will also shew kindness unto my Father's house and give me a true token And that ye will save alive my Father and my Mother and my Brethren And saith the Apostle Heb. 11.31 By faith the Harlot Rahab perished not with them that believed not when she had received the Spies with peace The Harlot Rahab sheweth that they had warning of this Judgment of God upon them and she took warning and escaped When God was determined to destroy the Ninevites if they had not repented he sends the Prophet Jonah to warn them that the Judgment of God was coming upon them that they might repent and amend and so prevent their ruin and destruction Jonah 3.1 And the word of the Lord came unto Jonah the second time saying Arise go unto Nineveh that great City and preach unto it the preaching that I bid thee So Jonah arose and went unto Nineveh according to the word of the Lord. And v. 4. And Jonah began to enter into the City a days journey and he cryed and said Yet forty days and Nineveh shall be overthrown This warning did God give them of their approaching ruin and destruction that they might prepare against it and by a general Repentance and Reformation prevent it And here we may see that the Ninevites took warning and repented and turned from their evil ways and so prevented this Judgment of God from coming upon them after it was denounced against them Jonah 3.5 And if the old World and the Inhabitants of Sodom would have done so there is no doubt but that they might have prevented the heavy Judgments of God that befell them God sufficiently declared his proneness to Mercy in the matter of Sodom when he told Abraham Gen. 18.32 That if he found but ten righteous Men in Sodom he would spare the whole City for their sakes Again we may see that the Jews had warning of that Judgment and Destruction that came upon them after our Saviour's death by the Romans Our Saviour warned them of it when he was with them Luk. 13.1 and told them that they should perish as the Galileans had done if they repented not And in several places we may see that he warned his Disciples of it Matth. 24-32 Now learn a Parable of the Fig-tree when his branch is tender and putteth forth leaves ye know that Summer is nigh so likewise ye when ye shall see all these things know that it is near even at the doors Verily I say unto you this generation shall not pass till all these things be fulfilled And the fiery Sword that hung over them some time before and such signal Acts of Providence did warn them that what our Saviour had foretold was coming upon them And by these and some Divine Admonition which the Christians had as some conceive at the withdrawing of the Roman Armies from Jerusalem the Christians took warning and fled all from thence beyond Jordan and were preserved and there were no Christians in Jerusalem when Titus came against it and besieged it as is reported By these and such Examples we may see that God doth give notice and warning to his People and Servants and such as will take warning and usually to all others when he is bringing any Judgment and Destruction upon a place that they may repent and provide for their Security at such a dreadful time And righteous Men do take Warning and are preserved using the Means that God ordereth for their preservation and some do repent at such a time and so avoid the Judgment that is coming upon them But some will take no warning but still proceed on in Wickedness and after all the Warning that is given them will still through their unbelief be surprized with Destruction before they are well sensible that it is coming upon them And as for our selves besides what I have said before Archbishop Usher that Reverend Prelate hath long since told us what a dreadful Time is coming upon us and the great preparations that are made for War and the Noises of Guns that are heard and the several Attempts that have been made and other Occurrences wherein there seems to me to be something of the Finger of God do admonish and warn us that Misery and Destruction are ready to come upon us and call us all to a speedy and deep Repentance And by all these let us be awaked out of our Carnal Security and Vain Confidence that we may not be surprized like blind Fools but may be wise betimes and provide for our own Preservation and Salvation that we perish not And III. We have here the Duty which the Prophet exhorted them to upon the coming of this Day of the Lord upon them briefly in these Words Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble And this Duty he more largely insisteth on in this Chapter And here we see that the Exhortation is general and all are to be concerned and moved to fear and trembling at the coming of this Day From hence I shall endeavour to shew something of the Duty which we