Selected quad for the lemma: mercy_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
mercy_n	pardon_v	sin_n	transgression_n	2,321	5	9.8948	5	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A93724	The wels of salvation opened or, a treatise discovering the nature, preciousnesse, usefulness of Gospel-promises, and rules for the right application of them. By William Spurstowe, D.D. pastor of Hackney near London. Imprimatur, Edm. Calamy.	Spurstowe, William, 1605?-1666.	1655 (1655)	Wing S5100; Thomason E1463_3; ESTC R203641	126,003	320

not prescribe and limit any in their choise but leave them to the free use of such Scriptures and promises as themselves by experience have found to be full of life and sweetnesse yet it will not be amisse to recommend the use of some few eminent promises of divers kinds out of the full store-house of the Word which may serve as so many meet cordials to revive the spirit of drooping Christians amidst the several kindes of necessities that may afflict them Are any burthened with the guilt of sinne so as that their soule draweth nigh unto the pit of despaire What more joyful tidings can ever their eares heare then a proclamation of free mercy made by the Lord himselfe unto beleeving and repenting sinners What more glorious and blessed sight can their eyes ever behold then the Name of God written in sundry of his choice attributes as in so many golden letters for them to read The Lord the Lord God merciful and gracious long-suffering and abundant in goodnesse and truth keeping mercy for thousands forgiving iniquity and transgression and sinne Exod. 34. 6 7. He is the Lord who only hath jus vitae necis the absolute power of life and death in his hands but he is the Lord God merciful who far more willingly scattereth his pardons in forgiving then executeth his justice in condemning like the Bee that gathers honey with delight but stings not once unless she be much provoked He is gracious not incited to mercy by deserts in the object but moved by goodnesse in himself his love springs not from delight in our beauty but from pitty to our deformity He is long-suffering bearing with patience renued and often repeated injuries which he might by power revenge upon him who is the doer He is abundant in goodnesse grace overfloweth more in him then sinne can do in any Sin in the creature is but a vicious quality but goodnesse in him is his nature He is abundant in truth as he is good in making the promises so is he true in performing them when men deale unfaithfully with him he breaks not his Covenant with them He keeps mercy for thousands former ages have not exhausted the treasures of his mercy so as that succeeding generations can finde none there are still fresh reserves of mercy and that not for a few but for thousands He forgives iniquity transgression and sinne not pence but talents are forgiven by him not sinnes of the least sise are onely pardoned but sinnes of the greatest dimensions And as this promise in which the Name of God is so richly described doth fully answer the hesitancies doubts and perplexities of such who fear their iniquities for number to be so many for aggravation to be so great as that sometimes they question Can God pardon sometimes Will he ever shew mercy to such a wretched Prodigal So likewise may that blessed promise made unto beleevers Hos 14. 5 6 7. exceedingly support such who mourne under their want of holinesse and complaine of the weaknesse of their grace fearing that the little which they have attained unto goes rather backwards then forwards God himself having promised that he will be as a dew unto them which shall make them to put forth in all kindes of growth They shall grow as the lilly and cast forth their roots as Lebanon their branches shall spread and their beauty shall be as the Olive-tree they shall revive as the corne and grow as the vine What more comprehensive summary can there be either of Gods goodnesse or of a beleevers desires then there is in this one promise wherin he hath promised to make them grow in beauty like the lilly in stability like the Cedar in usefulnesse like the Olive whose fruit serves both for light and nourishment in spreading like the vine and in their encrease like the corne God himselfe being both the planter and waterer of all their graces To them who are full of fears through the approach of dangers which they have no hope to avoid or power to overcome How full of encouragement and comfort is that promise of protection and safety When thou passest through the waters I will be with thee and through the rivers they shall not overflow thee when thou walkest through the fire thou shalt not be burnt neither shall the flame kindle upon thee Isa 43. 2. Water and fire are two evils in which none can be with their nearest friends without perishing with them Who can save a Jonah when cast into a boisterous sea but God And who can walk in the fiery furnace with the three children and not be consumed but the Son of God In the prison one friend may be with another in banishment he may accompany him in the battel he may stand by him and assist him but in the swelling waters and in the devouring flames none can be a reliefe to any but God and he hath promised to beleevers to be with them in the midst of both these that so in the greatest extremities which can befall them they may fully rest assured that nothing can separate God from them but that he will either give them deliverance from troubles or support them under troubles Martyres non ●ripuit sed nunquid descruit saith Austin He did not take the Martyrs out of the flames but did he forsake them in the flames Lastly to them the meannesse of whose condition may seeme to expose them above others to hunger cold nakednesse evils that make life it self far more bitter then death how full of divine sweetnesse is that blessed promise of provision The young lions do lack and suffer hunger but they that seek the Lord shall not lack any good thing Psal 34. 10. The Septuagint renders it the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the great wealthy men of the earth who like beasts of prey live upon spoile and rapine who think that in the hardest times that can come they shall be eaten up last they shall be bitten with hunger and perish by famine when they who fear the Lord shall be in want of nothing The widows little barrel of meale in the famine yielded a better supply then Ahab his storehouse and granary her cruse had oile in it when his Olive-yards had none Oh! how securely and contentedly then may a beleever who acts his faith in such promises lay himself down in the bosome of the Almighty in the worst of all his extremities not much unlike the infant that sleeps in the armes of his tender mother with the breast in his mouth from which as soon as ever it wakes it draws a fresh supply that satisfies its hunger and prevents its unquietnesse SECT 3. Rule 8. Consider of the examples to whom promises have been fulfilled The eighth direction is in the making use of any promise to parallel our condition with such examples which may be unto us as so many clear instances of the goodnesse and faithfulnesse of God in his giving unto others the same or

the like mercies which we seek and beg for our selves As the promises are useful to strengthen faith so are examples to confirme and assure sense which is continually apt to implead what faith beleeves and to question what God hath spoken God hath promised that though our sinnes be as scarlet they shall be as white as snow though they be red like crimson they shall be white as wooll Isa 1. 18. But sense suggesteth What possibility is there that ever such a change should be can sope nitre water make scarlet to be as white as undipped wool no more can it be that the ingrained spots and staines of sinnes so often reiterated so long persisted in should be done away and the sinner be cloathed with the white robe of innocency God saith He will heale backslidings and love freely Hos 14. 4. He will love freely without respect of persons he will pardon freely without respect of sinnes but sense that shutteth the doore of hope which he hath opened Sometimes calleth in question his power Can he work wonders among the dead Can he raise from the rottennesse of the grave such as have laine long putrefying in it Sometimes disputeth his mercy Will he ever remember the chiefe of sinners Will he be gracious to the rebellious that have both neglected and refused the tenders of salvation which have been often made Now when a beleever beholds the pregnant examples both of his power and love set forth in the Scriptures in his converting a stubborne Ma●asseh in his translating into Paradise a bloody robber in his casting forth of devils out of Mary Magdalen a notorious harlot in his changing Paul a persecutor into an Apostle in his compassionating and healing Peter that sealed his backsliding with a curse in his bringing salvation to Zaccheus a hateful extortioner then the expostulations of sense and carnal reasonings are put to silence then he concludes with confidence that the promises are a sanctuary for the penitent and lifts up his feet with chearfulnesse to runne unto them then he pleads the bounty and faithfulnesse of God in the performance of his promises unto others as a strong argument to shew the like mercy unto him Thus David in his low condition strengthens his faith and hope in God from this ground Our Fathers trusted in thee and were not confounded Psal 22. 6 7. This direction is alwayes of use to beleevers in the ordinary and daily application which they make of the Promises because examples as they are powerful in perswading obedience to every precept which commands it so are they also efficacious to strengthen confirm faith when exercised on any promise But it is chiefly useful in extremities when dangers which are insuperable do at any time inviron us Besides the promises which faith useth as a support it is good to have in our eye some such example as Daniel whom God preserved in the lions den sealing up their mouthes by his power that they should not hurt him before the King had sealed the mouth of the den with his signet that he might not come forth When sad desertions and temptations do afflict us it is usefull to call to our remembrance some such instance as Heman who complaines that he was laid in the lowest pit that he was afflicted with all Gods waves that he was ready to die from his youth up that he was distracted while he suffered his terrors Psal 88. And yet afterwards he becomes the Kings Seer in the words of God to lift up the horne 1 Chron. 25. 5. That is he as a Prophet is especially employed to set forth the mighty acts of Gods power in Psalmes and Songs of praise and thanksgiving When sore afflictions are multiplied upon us which for their weight are more heavie then lead for their bitternesse more bitter then gall and wormewood it is good to have in our thoughts some such example as Job that we be not wearied and faint in our minds Take my brethren the Prophets who have spoken unto us in the Name of the Lord as examples of suffering affliction and of patience saith the Apostle James 5. 10 What a mappe and spectacle of myserie is Job made above others How various and how great were the afflictions with which he was exercised Sabeans Chaldeans destroy his substance fire from heaven consumes his servants a great winde smites the foure corners of the house and destroyes all his children ulcers boyles break forth upon his body keen and unjust censures from his friends vex his soul And yet the happy close and end that the Lord makes with him is as famous as his miseries were His riches and substance are doubled his number in children equalled his body healed and his name cleared by God himself These and such like instances when suited with a beleevers condition do contribute much to the suppressing and keeping of that despondency and dejection of minde which the extremity of trials in any kinde is apt to subject the best of Christians unto and cause them to renew their confidence in the promises and in hope to expect the performance of them because that others in the same or not unlike case with themselves have found the faithfulnesse and goodnesse of God in his supporting them under their burthens and giving perfect deliverance from them according to his promise SECT 4. Rule 9. Preserve communion with the holy Spirit entire The ninth rule or directions is To keep and preserve entire our communion with the holy Spirit The dependency which every beleever hath on the Spirit is very great he being unto the soul as the soul is unto the body the originall and principle of all spirituall life and motion What are any untill he quicken them and by his power fashion them unto holinesse but as so many livelesse lumps of undigested clay And what are the best without his continual breathings upon them but as so many disjoynted and weak members which have neither constancy nor uniformity in their motions or actions Grace in its vigour and strength abides in the heart as light in the house by way of emanation and effusion rather then by inherency An instrument when it hath an edge set upon it doth not at all cut any thing till it be guided and moved by the hand of an artificer no more doth a Christian when he hath an habituall aptitude through grace to work yet do or performe any service without the concurrence and assistance of the Spirit of Christ quickning exciting and applying the habitual power unto particular duties Necessary therefore it is that beleevers be circumspect in maintaining their communion with him and not to provoke him to stand at a distance from them who is the fountain both of their grace and comfort But the necessity of it will more particularly appear if we consider in how much need we daily stand of the constant assistance and powerful operations of the holy Spirit to make the applications of all

like milk in the breast of the Nurse that hath received a concoction and is thereby made a more facil and pure nourishment to the childe that partakes of it Thirdly let thankfulnesse for the precious promises be expressed in a most affectionate blessing of God for the Lord Jesus Christ by whom all that is wrapt up in them is given unto us He is the first matter as it were out of which God hath framed all our good He is the receptacle in which all blessings are laid up and the Well-head from whence they all flow By his blood the promises are purchased for us and by his most powerful intercession they are made good unto us Alas how little efficacy would all our prayers have if they were not presented to God the Father by his hand How small acceptance would our persons finde if God did not look upon us in him How uncertaine would all our comforts be if the root of them were not in him if he were not as the tree of life upon which they grow Yea how quickly should we spie an hell that might amaze us between heaven and any other ground of confidence that could possibly be imagined by us out of Christ When therefore we do at any time make a thankful recognition of Gods goodnesse to us in the particular mercies of the promises of the Gospel let us be sure to put the Name of Christ to all When we blesse God for blotting out our iniquities for pardoning freely all our sins let us set this crown upon the head of the mercy that he hath done it in Christ When we blesse him for sanctifying of us let us ever adde for his sanctifying us in Christ When we praise him for our Adoption and Sonship let us blesse him for doing of it in Christ When we honour him for the assured hopes of life and glory in heaven let us say as the Apostle doth Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ Ephes 1. 3. Fourthly Let thankfulnesse for the promises appear in strong desires and vehement pantings after the plenary possession and perfect enjoyment of all that felicity of which they are the earnests and pledges given us by God In this life we are but as Kings in the Cradle the setting of the crowne upon our heads is reserved till we come to heaven Here we are but as espoused persons and not as the Bride in her best clothes in the other life we put on the robes of glory which shall make our bodies shine ten thousand times brighter then the Sun and our souls ten thousand times brighter then our bodies Here we are but as invited guests to the feast and supper of the great King we sit not down at his table till we come to heaven and then Christ bids us eate O friends and drink abundantly O beloved While therefore we are absent from the Lord and do by the eye of faith only peep into the things that are within the vaile and enjoy a few foretasts of glory and immortality we should shew how highly we prize the promises by longing after and wishing for the final accomplishment of all Oh! when will it be that I shall see him in whose blood I was washed by whose stripes I was healed by whose Spirit I was sanctified by whose merits such great things are prepared for me How long Lord holy and true will it be ere death shall be swallowed up in victory and mortality put on immortality Thus Bernard upon those words of our Saviour John 16. 16. A little while and ye shall not see me and again a little while and ye shall see me passionately expresseth himself Pie Domine modicum illud vocas in quo te non videam O modicum modicum longum Good Lord dost thou call that a little while in which I shall not see thee O long long little Such desires as these are true evidences of a thankful heart CHAP. XXI Motives to act fath in the Promises THE fifth and last application is to stir up Believers to act precious faith as the Apostle calls it 2 Pet. 1. 1. upon the precious promises without which what are the promises in the Word but as sugar in the wine that lying unstired doth not sweeten but as full breasts undrawn that do not nourish but as beds of spices that being unblown upon do not lend forth their fragrant and delightful odours It is the exercise and skill of faith that fetcheth out the vertue and sweetnesse which lies h●d in them as it is the industry of the Bee that extracts the honey from the flowers The Bee would starve notwithstanding all the flowery meadows if it did not labour and so would a Christian languish and pine away notwithstanding all the precious promises if faith should be idle and unactive O then that I might prevaile with Believers to cast aside every weight that hindereth and to set on work this noble and divine grace of faith whose glory and worth is not to be seene in the habit but in the acts of it What doth Samson differ from another man while he sleeps in the lap of Dalilah But when he awakes out of his sleep and breaks the wit hs and cords that bound him as a thread of towe when it toucheth the fire and carries away the beam and the web in which his locks are fastened then his strength appears in its greatnesse to be matchlesse And so in what is a Believer distinguished from another man while the habit of faith lies asleep in his bosome and is not actuated on the promises But when it stirs and rouseth up it self to take hold of God and Christ in his Word how apparent is the strength of the one and the weaknesse of the other made to every eye What burthens doth the one stand under and carry away upon his shoulders under which the other sinks what temptations doth the one overcome unto which the other without resistance yields What viper doth the one shake off his hand into the fire without the least hurt which fasten upon the other and sting him unto death It is faith which makes us to rejoyce in tribulations Rom. 5. 3. It is faith which maketh us to possesse our souls in patience infiery trials Heb. 10. 36. It is faith which makes us resolute in desertions Ionah 2. 4. It is faith which makes every condition of life comfortable Hab. 2. 4. But that I may yet more fully prosecute this exhortation which hitherto is as a vessel upon the wheel of the Potter that hath not received it perfect shape I shall propound some particular arguments and considerations that may animat Believers to live the life of faith which stands chiefly in two things First in a knowledge of and a familiar acquaintance with the Word so as to have it in readinesse for direction Secondly in a right improvement and exercise of faith

that is taken up in the lips of talkers and is the infamy of the people Ezek. 36. 3. When others are in their name as beautiful as Absalom who from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head had no blemish in him he is as Job on the dunghill overspread with defamations that are as so many putrid ulcers When others are cried up as the glory of their times he is decried as the filth and off-scouring of the world 1 Cor. 4. 13. When the actions of others are blazoned as their vertues his that are in themselves commendable are censured as full of pride hypocrisy affectation and singularity Where is then the blessednesse of his condition that you spake of How can his estate that is overcast with a more pitchy darknesse then that of the night be better then the best of theirs that hath not the least shadow of any such evil stretching out it self upon it True it is that none are more evil spoken of and blasted in their names then beleevers but the ground of it springs not from their just deservings but from the worlds malice and enmity to God which is derived to them for his sake Let Nehemiah and the Jews set upon the rebuilding of the Temple and the repairing of the waste place of Jerusalem and Sanbullat upbraids them with intentions of rebellion Neh. 6. 6. Let Paul make known the Gospel of Christ and the Jews that beleeve not cry out that he is one of them that turn the world upside-down Act. 17. 6. Let the primitive Christians that cannot safely meet in the day take the opportunity of the night to worship God and the Heathens asperse their Assemblies to be full of uncleannesse and cruelty and that they have suppers not much unlike that of Thiestes as Tertullian shews in his Apology Now in these sufferings for God there are such promises from God made and fulfilled to them as that there is more sweetness to be found in the reproaches that they undergo for him from the world then there can be contentment in its smiles or favour And therefore Moses chose rather to suffer reproaches with Israel then to enjoy treasures in Egypt Heb. 11. 26. The contumelies slanders which they undergo on Christs behalf serve both to make the present comforts more sweet and their reward hereafter more glorious Blessed are ye saith our Saviour when men shall revile you and persecute you and shall speak all manner of evil against you falsely for my Names sake Rejoyce and be exceeding glad for great is your reward in heaven Mat. 10. 11. And now speak O ye worldlings that judge happinesse by as false a rule as they do that measure their height by their shadow Who is in a true estimate the better man Elijah that runs before the chariot or Ahab that sits in it John the Baptist that is cloathed with camels haire or Herod his Courtiers that are arrayed with robes and costly garments the poor whom God hath chosen to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdome James 2. 5. or the man that hath the gold ring and hath the chief place in Assemblies given unto him Which condition is now more desirable to be a stranger to the world and to be the Lords freeman or to be an Alien to God and the Covenant of promise and to be a Denizon onely of the world To be rich to God and poor to men or to be rich to men and poore to God To be the favorite of heaven and to be contemned on earth or to be the darling of earth and the enemy of heaven O therefore learn to judge of happinesse not by the light of sense but by the lamp of the Sanctuary and in time bethink your selves that nothing can be a foundation of happinesse unto you that hath not its stability from the promise of God CHAP. XX. Grounds of thankfulnesse for precious promises A Fourth application is to exhort beleevers that are made partakers of such great and precious promises to abound in all thankfulnesse to God and Christ who are the sole fountain from whence these streams of living waters do flow When old Isaac had eaten of his sonnes venison he blessed him that had prepared it for him how much more should they that have tasted how good God is have their mouthes filled with the blessing and praising of his Name that hath poured forth his love and mercy in such rich promises as are to the soul more sweet then marrow and fatnesse To this duty holy David doth quicken and stirre up himself Psal 103. when he summons all the faculties of his soul to praise the Lord Let all that is within me blesse his holy Name Vers 1. And that he may make the deeper impressions of Gods goodnesse upon his own heart he frames a short but yet a pithy compendium of his love towards him in his pardoning and healing grace Vers 3. He forgiveth all thine iniquities and healeth all thy diseases In his redeeming and saving grace Vers 4. He redeemeth thy life from destruction and crowneth thee with loving kindnesse and tender mercies In his supporting and renuing mercies Vers 5. He satisfieth thy mouth with good things thy youth is renued as the eagles And of all these blessings are beleevers made partakers in the promises it therefore becomes them to pay unto God a tribute of thankfulnesse and that upon these grounds First the end of Gods goodnesse to his creatures is his glory and that which he chiefly delights in Trumpeters love to sound where there is an echo and God loves to bestow his mercies where he may hear of them again For man to make the end of his actions in any kinde to be his own praise doth not onely taint and flie-blow his services with hypocrisie and pride so as to marre the beauty of them but also transformes them into vices that are hateful unto God and man For it is not meet that he who derives his being from another should have his actions to terminate in himself He that gives the being gives also the rule and end of its working by both which the goodnesse of its actions are denominated The rule of its working is the law and will of him who gave it a being and the end of all its actions is his glory But God who is the fountain of his own being can have in all his works no other end then his own praise and glory This is his end in all his works of creation Prov. 16. 4. The Lord made all things for himself And this is the great end of all his works of grace in Christ Ephes 1. 6. That we should be to the praise of the glory of his grace All the eternal purposes of God concerning mans salvation from the first to the last do ultimately resolve themselves into his glory Secondly to give unto God praise and thankful acknowledgements for his great and precious promises is all the return that