Selected quad for the lemma: mercy_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
mercy_n	let_v	lord_n	magnify_v	2,538	5	10.8447	5	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A19037	The parable of the vncleane spirit pithily opened, and plainly applied; wherein is shewed Sathans possession, his dispossession, and repossession. A worke needfull for these secure times, in which the most neglect the meanes oftheir salvation. Preached, and now published, by Edmund Cobbes minister of the Word of God.	Cobbes, Edmund, b. 1592 or 3.	1633 (1633)	STC 5454; ESTC S116664	66,367	214

thou art freed out of this miserable condition Ply Christ with thy prayers and take no nay at his hands till he set thee free hee hath the Keyes of Heaven and hell and if Revel 1 18 Ioh 8 30 he make thee free thou art free indeede Confesse thy selfe to bee a wretched creature and without his helpe undone powre forth thy soule in sence of thy misery before the Throne of grace and say Father I have sinned Luk. 15 18 against heaven and against thee and not worthy to be called thy sonne O my God I am ashamed and blush to lift up my face to thee my God for my iniquities are increased over my head and my trespasse is growne up into the heavens Ezra 9. 6. crying for vengeance to fall downe upon me Lord I am a sinfull creature and thou art a God of infinite puritie and holinesse Sinne hath left me no good thing all is wounded all is poysoned how shall I appeare before thee whose glory the Angels cannot behold I was conceived in sinne borne in sinne and all my daies have lived in sinne My heart is a seed-plot of sinne and corruption my eyes the windowes of vanity my eares the eares of folly my mouth the mouth of deceipt my hands the hands of iniquity and every part of my body and faculty of my soule which thou hast created for thy service hath dishonoured thee My understanding apprehendeth nothing but sinne my will delighteth in nothing but wickednesse my memory retaines nothing but evill things which dishonours thee As for thy holy precepts and heavenly ordinances I have not observed but have prophaned thy Sabbaths contemned thy Sacraments and lived in contempt of thy providence all my dayes I have beene so farre from keeping any part of thy law that I have added transgression unto blindnesse malice to ignorance and rebellion to sinne And because thou hast spared mee and wayted for my repentance and hast suffered me with such patience to run on in my sinnes and because thou hast beene so mercifull unto me and multiplyed thy favours towards mee I have tooke liberty to my selfe to commit great sinnes against thee so that the same medicine which thou hast appointed to purge out my sinnes I have made a provocation unto sinne Yet Lord for thy names sake thy mercy sake thy truths sake take away all mine iniquities and magnifie thy mercy in the pardoning of my sinnes which I have committed against thee mine owne knowledge and many motions of thy Spirit and purposes of my heart I doe acknowledge I have beene dull and unprofitable in thy service I have not had care and zeale which I should have had to serve thee I have beene weary of well doing and have not taken to heart my misery as I should nor mourned for my transgressions against thee my God as becommeth such a notorious offender as I am but have hardned my heart against thy judgements and have walked stubbornly before thee in the light of thy countenance Psal 90. But though I am full of wickednesse yet thou art full of goodnesse Lord thou madest me at the first of nothing save mee now I pray thee which am worse than nothing It is thou O Lord which knowest my heart and it must bee thou which must renew and change it Take it therefore into thy owne hand and take from it the hardnesse deadnes and dulnesse which the custome of sinne hath brought upon it and frame it according to thy owne liking cast out of it all the cursed fruits of the flesh which fight against thy grace and my soule Enlarge my understanding and encrease my knowledge that being guided by thy wisedome and assisted by thy Spirit I may understand and perceive those things which may please thee and refraine those things which may dishonour thee that so being directed by thy grace and guided by thy Spirit I may clearely see what thou requirest of mee and what may make for my peace and future happinesse Lord this must bee thy worke for I confesse that my reason is blinde my will is froward my wit is crafty ready to deceive me my understanding is quite estranged from thee but Lord dispell these clowds of errour and ignorance and rectifie the perversnesse of my understanding and indue me with thy holy Spirit of grace and wisedome that my soule may be cleansed from the corruption of this sinfull world and the eyes of my understanding opened to embrace the mystery of redemption by Iesus Christ Make thy word unto me like the starre which led the wisemen to my Saviour in the time of his infancy make thy benefits and graces like the Pillar which conducted thy people to the land of promise Kindle thy love in my heart that in respect of thee and thy service I may despise whatsoever is against thee and thy truth Confirme my faith in thy promises that by thy Spirit I may be assured that thou hast forgiven my sinnes and that thou wilt not reject me a poore sinner that relyeth wholly upon thee Lord thou desirest not the death of a sinner but hast promised that if I repent thou wilt bee pleased thou onely canst raise me out of the grave of sinne for I am dead and buried in trespasses and sinnes quicken mee by thy grace that I may praise thy name Let mee not want any mercy whereby I may be fitted for thy service and so dispose and guide the remainder of my life in such manner as that thou mayest bee honoured and my soule comforted which grant unto me for the Lord Iesus Christs sake my blessed Saviour and Redeemer Amen Thus wee have proved the truth ●f the proposition that Sathans ●ower must give place unto Christ We have also confirmed it by Scrip●ure proved it by reasons and have made use and application of it to our selves In the next place wee are to examine the measure of his going out Sathan is so expelled out of the godly as that hee shall never returne againe But he goeth out of hypocrites so as that he still remaineth For if hee were once reallie cast out as wee have heard he could never returne againe But this speech of going out is rather a forme of speaking than a reall action This phrase of speech is used with other of like signification as Heb. 10. 6. If wee sinne willingly after wee have received the knowledge of the truth there remayneth no more sacrifice for sinne Againe the same Author saith It is impossible for those which were once inlightned and have tasted of the heavenly gifts and were made partakers of the holy Ghost and have tasted Heb. 6. 4. the good word of God and of the power of the world to come if they fall away to renew them by repentance Then from hence I reason thus If a man may receive the truth and yet sinne willingly and then forsake the truth be inlightned and tast of the heavenly gift and be made partakers

that wee may stand fast make use of these or the like directions 1. Be carefull to avoyde the least sinne least it usher in a greater for sinne and Sathan as you have heard winde themselves in by some small temptations till at the last like the sores of the body which at first are vicious humors then swelling tumors and after that impostumate and so become uncurable so the sores of sins waxe greater and greater till they breed bring eternal death therefore when thou art fallen thinke of our Saviours counsell remember whence Revel 2 thou art fallen repent and amend confesse your sinnes daily and crave pardon for them Let a man turne by Redcat h●●o ●er quotidian●●●menta unde corruit per van● d●lecta ment● Aug. de temp Ser. 182. daily lamentations to that from which he is fallen by vaine delectation Take heede of lukewarmnesse in religion and of backsliding If Christ have washed thee in his blood bathed thee in his wounds and cured thee with his stripes and tooke off this burthen from thy shoulders take heede of lading thy selfe againe by new transgressions but if thou be made whole sinne no more least a worse thing happen Ioh 5 14 unto thee 2. Take heed of sinne in generall so in a speciall manner take heed of vilifying the worke of grace that shines in Gods servants and is made evident to your consciences by the word or worke of God This was the fearefull sinne of the Iewes that daily saw the divine power of Christ shining in their consciences yet they did oppose themselves against him and charged him that hee borrowed helpe of the divell and that hee cast out divels by Beelzebub the Prince of Divells 3. Take heede of in constancy in religion and of time-serving Some thinke that if they bee young Saints they may proove old divells therefore they slacke their zeale in youth to conforme themselves to the time and resolve to bee more religious in their old age but wee see such flutter with Noahs Raven and hardly recover themselves againe but if wee finde our affections running with an irregular motion let us stay our selves and make a league with religion as Ruth did with Naomi resolve never to part 4. What vertue soever you finde in the Saints endevour to imitate and what God reveales unto you be carefull to practise God lookes that his talents should be imployed to his glory therefore let not your knowledge swimme idlie in your braines for vaine speculation but let it be fruitfull in your lives for others imitation 5. Labour for the Spirit of prayer and suplication for this is an invincible bulwarke against Sathans darts Crave daily the Lords assistance and commit your soules unto him daily in well doing and daily examine your heart by the rule of Gods word by which try whether you have faith to beleeve Gods promises if you have it will make you carefull to obey his Commandements thus he that keeps the forte of faith towards God and a cleare conscience towards the world Sathan may assault him but shall never Oppugnat diaboluine●●●●ugnal subdue him for whosoever can practise these directions shall be sure to stand fast and firme The application doth now follow Even so shall it be to this wicked generation Wee have at large shewed you Gods mercy to the Iewes and their ingratitude to him againe and that God hath paid them home and made them spectacles of his wrath for all ages to looke upon therefore we will leave them unto G●ds mercy and in his good time to open their eyes that they may behold their crucified Saviour and see what may make for their everlasting good and apply this doctrine to our owne soules If I should begin to number the mercies the Lord hath continued unto the Land in generall I might spend much time and yet not report the one halfe of an infinite number take a few We were all possessed with the spirit of blindnesse as other nations were and were tempted to as much uncleanenesse as ever the Pagans were but yet it pleased the Lord to expell the darkenesse of Popery and to send the light of the Gospell amongst us which we have enjoyed in peace and purity this threescore and thirteene yeares so that we have had peace within our walls and prosperity within our pallaces and no complayning in our streets And by the powerfull preaching of the Gospell Sathan this uncleane spirit hath beene cast out of us now let us take heede least hee creepe into us againe by hypocrisie and unthankefulnesse for the Lords mercies and so make us thinke that our religion stands in shewes and consists in outward formality least wee abusing the Lords mercies and grow leane and ill favoured after wee have devoured so many yeares of store and plenty under the powerfull preaching of the word wee arme our enemie against us who regaining entrance brings seaven spirits worse than he did before and so fortifie his habitation with hypocrysie and other foule sinnes for our unthankefulnesse for the Lords mercies and then there shall bee more prophanenesse than there was before But that this fearefull judgement may not overtake us let us speedily amend our lives and turne to the Lord with all our hearts and then our latter end shall be better ●han our beginning Walafridus Strabo lib. de rebus Ecclesiasticis Siquid in hoc Lector placet assignare memento ●d Domino quicquid displicet hocce mihi What here is good to God ascribed bee What is infirme belongs of right to mee FINIS

and so justify thy selfe in thy transgression or on the contrary canst thou not be quiet and at rest till thou hast humbled thy selfe before God and craved pardon for thy sinnes And then canst thou more comfortably rejoyce in the favour of God than in any earthly blessing whatsoever Then if thou canst finde these or the like markes of salvation in thy soule then I pronounce unto thee out of the word of God that this uncleane spirit is gone out of thee For if hee held thee under his bondage he would not suffer thee to take notice of thy darling sinnes but rather to justifie thy selfe in thy transgressions Hee would not have thee question thy want of faith inward pride malice covetousnesse or foolish speaking conforming thy selfe to the corruptions of the time These with many other sinnes he would not have thee take notice of by which thou maist conclude that God in mercy hath freed thee from the bondage of this Tyrant Hath Christ by the powerfull worke of his Spirit cast this uncleane spirit out of thee Vse 2 Then be exhorted all yee that feare God to submit your selves unto Christ to bee guided by his word for he is able to 2 Tim 1 22 Rom. 14. 18 keepe that which is committed to him And by this meanes yee shall be accepted of God and approoved of men else wee shall be in danger to revolt and then wee may see our 2 Pet 2 21 fearefull case and condition Therefore having received so great a benefit let us bee sure to give God the Revel 12 10 praise of his mercies for he deserves it and it is all that he lookes for and Psal 50 15 there is great reason he should have it Gratiarum Actio est ad plus dandum in vitatio Chry● in Gen. Hem. 52. because we shall neede his helpe another time And thus much for the former uses Come we now to the latter which is an use of terrour unto all that are under Sathans bondage Vse 3 Come hither and behold thy fearefull estate and condition thou whoever thou bee that remainest in this fearefull bondage and slavery Sathan is their god which hath blinded 2 Cor. 4 4 the eyes of all unbeleevers least the light of the Gospell of Christ should shine unto them He is thy Father and Ioh. 8 44 workes his owne worke in thee and 1 Ioh. 3. 8 makes thee to resemble him in pride and disobedience and to fight for him against God and his word which he makes thee to hate and to oppose and to draw others from the worship of God and to lay a stumbling blocke Revel 1 15 in their wayes to cause them to sinne Deut. 32 33 And so makes thy best workes like the poyson of Dragons hatefull unto God and dangerous unto men Besides all this hee holds thee as a slave and keepes thee in ignorance and Ephe. 4 18 2 Cor 2 14 Luk 8 12 robbs thee of the use of Gods word And while thou remainest in this miserable estate there is no goodnesse in thee nor nothing good can come from thee Thy reason is blinde thy heart is rebellious and thy wisedome is enmity against God and Rom. 8 7. art uncapable of the meanes of salvation and art given over to a reprobate sence to worke all uncleannesse with greedinesse And remaining in Ephe. 4 19 this estate thou art without Christ and so a stranger from the covenant of promise having no hope and without God in the world So long as thou continuest in this estate thou art under the rigour of the Law which exacteth at thy hands the performance of all it requires and also the blessings of the Lord they tend to thy damnation for so he saith I will Mal. 2 2 curse your blessings yea I have cursed Pro. 1 32 them already Againe The prosperity of fooles destroyeth them And as All Rom. 8 28 things worke for good to Gods children so all things worke thy hurt and ruine Thy table is made a snare and that Psal 69 22 which should have beene for thy welfare Rom. 11. 9. is become a trap Yea Christ himselfe which is unto the godly a sweet smelling savour of life is unto thee a stumbling stone and a rocke of offence Rom. 9 23 Crosses and afflictions which God useth to purge out the sins of his children these work in thee hatred against God stirres up thy corruptions to murmure to be impatient and still to shun the gracious presence of God and to hate the meanes of salvation Thus wee see the miserable estate of all those which are under Sathans bondage how miserable they are in this life and how miserable they shall be in the world to come But alasse how may wee lament the desperate estate of many in our age who though they remaine in so fearefull an estate yet they are unwilling to come out of it Tell the drunkard that this uncleane spirit must bee cast out of him else hee shall not inherit the kingdome of God and hee will for your paines give you a squib or watch opportunity to doe you a mischiefe Tell the Prophaner of the Lords Sabbath and the filthy livers of our time that this uncleane spirit must be cast out of them and you shall heare them roare like the divell in the Gospell that they will not be tormented before their time Oh! what a lamentation may we take up for the desperate sinnes of our time which furiously march to hell under Sathans colours and will not be reclaymed God hath offered them the meanes and hath shewed them the way how they may be freed from this fearefull bondage and yet they will not but had rather be Sathans vassalls in the Egypt of sin than the Lords freemen in the land of Canaan The servant under the Law that would not bee free from his masters service when he might was to have his eare boared through with an aule and so to bee made a servant for ever So it is just with God to let such willing and carelesse men to be slaves to Sathan for ever Question But may some say if their state be so miserable how comes it to passe that they doe not see and feele their miserable condition Answer Sathan blindes their eyes with the pleasures and profits of sinne which are very agreeable to their nature that they never consider of their miserable condition and so at last the Custome of sinne takes away the insuetudo occandi ●llit sensum ●eecate feeling of sinne Againe they were never sensible of any better estate and therefore no marvaile if Sathan hoodwinkes them to their destruction Let the consideration here of moove all men to labour in time to see their miserable condition and to repent least they bee plunged under Gods judgements before they are aware Spare no paines then and give no rest unto thy soule untill thou art assured that

that a man should repaire to the place of Gods worship or converse with good company hee knowes the power of the word and godly conference are to convert a desperate sinner therefore if he can finde his opportunity he will remoove him from all meanes whereby he might be saved and harden his heart and dead his affections till hee hath plunged him under the wrath of God unrecoverablie 2. His state is worse in regard of himselfe while he was mantled under the garment of piety and was cloathed with the lambe skin of outward profession so long he injoyed a good estimation among the godly and enjoyed the benefit of their prayers but when his counterfeit holinesse appeares to be double wickednesse as before his hypocrisie deceived the world so now his Apostacy hath deceived himselfe therefore his estate is worse As before he did but counterfeit his repentance so now he hath got not onely a whoores forehead that he cannot blush but also Ier. 3. 3. he hath gotten a brazen face that he can no more blush than a blacke dogge 3. His estate is the worse in respect of God who will turne him out of his protection when God seeth that he esteemes the dung huske and trash of this world above him then hee forsaketh his dwelling being so injuriously used and will not let his providence any longer take charge of him but let him wallow in his sinnes with all greedinesse and so the further hee goes from Gods mercy the nearer hee comes unto his justice God cannot endure backeslyding but will severely punish it Carnall men they thinke nothing of the slacking of their zeale but God accounts it as a grievous thing if any draw backe his soule shall have no pleasure in him Heb. 10. 38. Nebuchadnezzers Dan 4 fall was great when hee was stript of his Empire and in stead of ruling men was turned into the Wildernesse to live among the beasts but Apostates and backeslyders they goe from the society with the godly to wicked Atheists worse than beasts yea to the company of divells Nebuchadnezzar for all his fall had a stumpe Vers 13. left in the ground which after seaven yeares should sprout out againe and so should returne to a better estate than hee had before but those that are revolters and backsliders have no stumps at al left in the ground but are unrecoverable For if wee sinne willingly after that we have received the knowledge of the truth there remaineth no more sacrifice for Heb. 10. 26 27. sinnes but a fearefull looking for of judgements and fiery indignation Nothing doth so provoke the vengeance of God against men as Apostacie doth For a man to fall from riches to poverty from honour to abasement is a matter of nothing God loves a man never the worse for his abasement in the world as may be seene in Iob on the dunghill or Lazarus at the rich mans gate but when a man falls from piety to prophanenesse from the society with the Saints to be companions with divels this is a lamentable thing Against these men the Lord complaynes because they have changed their glory Ier. ● 11. for that which doth not profit Therefore hee tells them Thine owne wickednesse shall correct thee and thy backslidings shall reproove thee know therefore and see that it is an evill thing and bitter that thou bast forsaken the Lord thy God and that my feare is not in thee saith the Lord God of hosts How fearefull was Iudas fall to come Vers 19. from a Preacher to bee a Traytor Demas from a Gospeller to bee a worldling So fearefull is the case of all those which have entred into the way of Godlinesse and have made a good beginning and yet leave off the race in the midds such men as they are not worthy of the crowne so also they disgrace not onely themselves but also the godly and procure to them great reproach For when a man falls from the profession of the truth the world sees hee was but a painted hypocrite when he was at the best hence it comes to passe that they loose their honour and their glory is turned into shame And if shame rested upon them alone it were well but their falls opens the mouths of prophane men to insult and triumph and say These are your professors and Scripture men they are as bad as any are therefore I will trust none of them for such a mans sake Now if the spyes which brought an evill report upon the land of Canaan were never suffered to enter into the land because they discouraged the people so the Apostate because hee hath laid a stumbling blocke in Gods Childrens way deserves to bee shut out of the Lords rest whereof the land of Canaan was a type Thus you have seene the fearefulnesse of sinne let us now make application of it to our selves Is the decay of grace in the soule Vse the greatest decay and to fall from religion the greatest fall because the things that are lost are the most precious and the ruines of the soule which is the most noble and excellent produces dishonour to God and shame to religion then what a controversie hath the Lord with many of us which with the Church of Ephesus have forsaken our first love How many are there to be found which formerly have shined like the morning starres by their bright profession which now are turned retrograde like wandring Planets and so their glory hath ended in shame because like the foolish Galathians they began in the spirit and ended in the flesh If a righteous man turne from his righteousnesse committeth iniquity all his righteousnesse shall be forgotten Ezek. 18. 24. Lots wife had beene as good have stayed in Sodome as to have gone out and be turned into a pillar of salt for looking backe 2. Seeing the sinne of Apostacie is so dangerous then be exhorted all ye that feare God if yee would not have a great and shamefull fall then take direction from Iude the servant of Iesus Christ to Build up your selves in your ●de 20 most holy faith striving every day to be better and better for we are like a boate that goes against the streame if we doe not labour with might and maine to row upward wee shall be carried by the streame of our affections downeward therefore if wee would receive the crownes of life we must continew faithfull unto the death For he that continueth unto the end shall ●evel 2 10. ●ath 24 ●3 he saved Therefore in the compasse of our profession we must goe a puncto ad punctum from point to point from Alpha to Omega from the first to the last Let us dig deepe and lay a good foundation that wee may be able to ●ould out when the stormes of poverty affliction disgrace and contempt beate upon us For these many times come like a wirlewinde and will be ready to overturne us if we be not well grounded therefore