Selected quad for the lemma: mercy_n
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A42367
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A thanksgiving-sermon preached at St. Michaels Crooked-Lane April 16th, 1696, upon occasion of His Majestie's deliverance from the late intended assassination of his sacred person in order to a French invasion / by James Gardiner.
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Gardiner, James, 1637-1705.
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1696
(1696)
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Wing G228; ESTC R26742
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7,453
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28
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us But let us not mistake our selves the Word of GOD threatned still remains true and shall do so for ever and therefore tho' he hath shewn his Prerogative at this time in the dispensation of his Mercy towards us and suffer'd himself to except us from the General Rule by Proclaiming his Name the Lord the Lord Gracious and Merciful abundant in Goodness Yet if we abuse this his Mercy this so great Salvation it will be bitterness in the Latter End Judgment without Mercy Secondly May we all by this happy Deliverance be provoked to Unity and Peace We are deliver'd from being devoured by our Enemies and shall we be our own destroyers It was Barbarous in the Priests of Baal to cut and slash themselves but much worse it is in us to cut and Slash one another Let us learn this Wisdom I beg of you of our Adversaries since there is One Soul and Spirit possesses them to ruin us to Love and Unite that 's the best Association for mutual Safety GOD has in Mercy it 's true diverted the Blow at present but it 's as true that onely the Power of our Enemies is abated not their Malice and Bloody Minds not their Pride or their Expectations We need not a Prophet to tell us what is spoken in the King of Syria's Bedchamber They stick not yet to say They shall have a day for it and if it should not happen in their Time they have provided that their Malice may survive themselves thus one Depth will call for another and their Children after them are to imbibe their Sowre poysonous Principles and revenge their Quarrel Like the plodding Spaniard at his game of Chess who having not Success or Time to give Check c. leaves it to be play'd out by his Successor But what need they to be so very earnest and hot Let us but alone and we shall destroy our selves by our Differences and Divisions and it 's a wounding reflexion to consider that Men should not see it plainly but cause Schismes and Factions and pursue them too on purpose to make our Ruin unavoidable If therefore we are sensible how Industrious Politick and numerous our Enemies are in whose Heart still it is to destroy and cut off Nations not a few If we have any Sense of the Dangers that our Divisions and Animosities may bring upon us which next to Apostacy from GOD have always proved fatal to a Church or Nation If we have any Honour or Respect for our Country our Religion or Posterity and GOD forgive them that have not let these be perswasives to Unity and Peace Let all petty Interests and Bones of Contention be sacrific'd to the Publick Benefit and though it is an Unhappiness at present that we cannot syncretize in the Minutes of Religion and Worship yet ought not this to prevent our being Publick-spirited or that we should not labour after the things that make for Peace And was this but heartily once put in Practise I doubt not in the least but through the Blessing of GOD and the Prudence and Goodness of our Governours but the effect would be the Security of the King Church and State maugre all the Attempts and Designs of Our Adversaries Thirdly Let this Discovery be a Warning how we engage in Factions and Conspiracies Our Business my Brethren is to be Quiet and Governable and not to fill our Noddles with Politick Whimsies or interest our selves with men of Roving Heads and unsettled Minds who cannot tell themselves nor any body else for them what they would have but are restless and uneasie in all Reigns Such Conversation is infectious it makes men Peevish and Proud c. with the froward men will learn frowardness and unawares draws them into Plots and Rebellion and what the Consequence of that is let the Tree speak For what Suetonius reports of such as stabb'd Julius Caesar is generally true of all Traytors Ne quisquam sua morte defunctus est not one of them dy'd a Natural Death or went down to his Grave in Peace And the reason why a Sevenfold Vengeance was threatned more upon him that should kill Cain than was upon Cain himself though a bloody Fratricide by some is thought to be this because Cain was a Prince and being eldest Son to Adam was Heir apparent to the Crown of the whole World The Sum of all is thus much All Treacherous Plots are founded in a deep Malice and Ambition upheld for a time by Large Expence and vain Confidence and end in an unexpected discovery a just Punishment and perpetual Infamy My Son therefore fear thou the Lord and the King and meddle not with those that are given to Change And let us all put up the Church Prayer which is not to be found in any of the Roman Missals that from all Sedition Privy Conspiracy and Rebellion GOD would deliver us Fourthly Let this Deliverance oblige us to put our future Trust in GOD and to place our Confidence in Him that raiseth the Dead from whence in a Figure we have been raised This is our meet right and our bounden Duty nay whither would our Reason direct us but unto that GOD whom we have found a very present Help in Trouble and from whom comes every good and perfect Gift Who can no more suffer a change in his Mercy then in Himself but is yesterday to day and the same for ever Fear not then Thou Worm Jacob fear not then little Flock if the Wolves assault thee rely upon thy experienced Keeper that neither slumbers nor sleeps if the clashing of Armour or the Threats of the Proud affright thee trust thy self and Cause to the Lord of Hosts who does great things and unsearchable marvellous things without Number and has promis'd to be a Sun and a Shield to them that walk uprightly Psal 84.11 A Shield to defend and a Sun to extinguish the fire of the Adversaries Fury by shining upon it In short they that know his Name and Nature will put their Trust in him for the Lord never forsaketh them that seek him Lastly Let us pray to GOD for His Majesty King William in whose Life all our dearest Interests are bound up and of whom we trust he hath Sworn by his Holiness that he will never fail him that as he hath now wonderfully preserv'd Him that was appointed to die so He would still keep him as the Apple of an Eye and hide him under his Feathers and suffer no Weapon formed against him to prosper That he would Crown his Arms with Victory and Success that at last he may have rest from all his Enemies on every side and leisure to pass his Old Age in comfort and safety serving that GOD without Distraction whose Mercies all along have been so eminent towards him and then be received up into Glory Which GOD of his Infinite Mercy Grant c. FINIS Sermons New Published and Sold by B. Aylmer in Cornhil THE Bishop of Gloucester's Thanksgiving Sermon before the House of Lords at Westminster-Abby April 16th 1696. Mr. Stephens of Sutton in Surrey his Thanksgiving Sermon Preach'd before the Lord Mayor and Aldermen at Bow-Church April the 16th Mr. Showers his Thanksgiving Sermon also upon the 16th of April Mr. Strypes of Low-Layton his Thanksgiving Sermon the same day
of a Sling and are perish'd in their own Corruption and have consulted Shame to their Houses The Mischief is return'd upon their own Heads and the wicked are silent in Darkness and we are sure that the Judgment of GOD is according to Truth against those which commit such Things Oh the Depth of the Riches of the Wisdom and Knowledge of GOD How unsearchable are his Mercies as well as his Judgments and his Ways past finding out Of a Truth the Lord has not forsaken the Earth Hear O Atheist perceive and understand and be Converted The Lord GOD of Gods he knows his Eyes behold and his Eye-Lids consider He narrowly observed all their Thoughts and watch'd their Motions when they wafted over into France and conferr'd at Versailles and St. Germains He marked the hissing of the Bee of Assur to the Fly of Egypt all the Intelligence I mean that passed betwixt a discontented Party amongst us and an Unworthy Monarch whose Character will be infamous to the End of the World as he is now the Scandal of his Age for this last Unnatural Conspiracy notwithstanding his Manifesto's and Fulsome Gazettes and the Industry of all his Ministers abroad to perswade the World which no body will believe of His and some Bodies else pretended Innocency and that They knew nothing of the Matter and the Mischiefs which they design'd for others like over-charged Pieces hath recoyl'd upon themselves their own Counsel hath cast them down So true is the Observation of the Historian Livy Consilia callida primâ specie laeta tractatu dura eventu tristia Treacherous Counsels are kindled with many sparkling Hopes with great difficulty preserv'd and kept in and go out in as much Stench and Danger Thus has GOD made the Wrath of Man as well as do their Vertues and Graces to praise him and the remainder of Wrath he will restrain The LXX in their Translation have wittily exprest the last words the Remainder of Wrath 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 shall keep Holy Day unto thee i. e. shall rest from its Labour shall be so curb'd and bound up as never more to break out but give his People opportunity to Land and Magnisy his Glorious Name Which naturally leads me to the Consideration of some few things which this Grand Deliverance of ours does more especially oblige us all unto which I shall do with that freedom and plainness that becomes the Place I now stand in And First Let not the Horror of the intended Mischiefs chill the just Triumph of the Day but let us be affected with and raise an Altar of Praise and Thanksgiving to the Known GOD for this so seasonable but unexpected Mercy What think we can be the design of it but that we should talk of his Loving-kindness in the Morning and of his Faithfulness every Night and make known to the Sons of Men his Mighty Acts and the glorious Majesty of his Kingdom Awake awake Deborah and arise Barac the Son of Ahinoam Glory and Honour and Thanks to him that sits on the Throne Hallelujah For the Lord Omnipotent Reigneth Nature it self if there was no Bible reads us a Lecture and prompts us to this Duty Hear one of her High Priests Senec. de Benef lib. 3. cap. 1. Ingratus est qui Beneficium accepisse se negat quod accepit ingratus est qui dissimulat ingratus qui non reddit ingratissimus Omnium qui oblitus est That Man is ungrateful that denies a Benefit received and so is He that dissembles it nor is he any better that doth not requite it but he is most of all that hath forgot it GOD by no means will admit that his Mercies should be writ in Sand to be washt away by the next coming in of the Tide but expects they should be thankfully had in remembrance Let us not therefore look upon Publick Mercies as we do upon Publick Duties That which is Every mans work is no mans but let us rejoyce in the Good of GOD's Chosen and glory with his Inheritance And since this bitter Cup is past from us let us take the Cup of Salvation and praise the Name of the Lord. This is a Day wherein Praises should wait for him Tibi silet Laus Pagnine renders it Praise is silent to Thee O GOD in Sion such a Throng of Praises and so great that they were unutterable and therefore silent praise as we say of Cares Leres Loquuntur ingentes stupent Yet supposing they should be more than we can express we ought however to endeavour to express them to GOD as well as we can And we do it in the best manner when we walk answerably to such Loving Kindness The Riches of Gods Goodness should lead us to Repentance and a Pious Improvement of them this is the way to hallow his Name and not onely to preserve his Mercies but to Praise him into greater But Fatal it would prove if we should count that we are deliver'd to commit Abominations This will cause GOD to be weary of us and as he hath done great Things for us so to do great Things against us to let loose our Enemies upon us again and to suffer them to strike us home to execute their Malice and quench the Light of our Israel When Joshua aggravates the Sin of Achan he seems to play the Herauld Jos 7.1 for we are told that Achan was the Son of Carmi the Son of Zabdi the Son of Zerah of the Tribe of Judah Had Achan been a poor ignorant Heathen his Sin even in these lower Circumstances would have incensed the Wrath of the Almighty and have pull'd down Judgment upon him But Achan that was a Jew and that no mean Jew but of the Royal Tribe of Judah and descended from such Noble Progenitors as Carmi Zabdi and Zerah for him to commit a Trespass of this Nature his Priviledges and Advantages exceedingly aggravated his Sin and rendred him obnoxious to a double punishment which were both inflicted as you may read at your Leisure To apply this to our selves If we who call our selves Members of the best Church in the World and comparing our selves with other Nations and Churches Experience the Portion of our Mercies to be like that of the First-born double to what they have at any time enjoy'd if therefore We who have received much instead of loving much provoke him by our Iniquities what can we expect but that he will pour out upon us the abundance of his Fury You only have I known of all the Families of the Earth certainly that People must be blessed indeed that could thus call him their Lord and their GOD no very far from it therefore will I visit upon you all your Iniquities Strange Punishment says Job Chap. 31.3 is to the Workers of Iniquity i. e. extraordinary and unusual That Wee have and continue to be such is too notorious to be deny'd Yet instead of Strange Punishment inflicted We have had Strange Mercy conferr'd upon