Selected quad for the lemma: truth_n
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A49383
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The exceeding abundant grace of God displayed in the conversion of William Gymer a penitent malefactor and murderer, who was executed on the Castle-Hill in Norwich, Sept. 4. 1696. Written by John Lucas minister of the Gospel.
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Lucas, John, 1624 or 5-1703.
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1696
(1696)
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Wing L3393; ESTC R217744
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21,497
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35
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Sacrifice to Legal Justice But the Divine Wrath must be appeased and mercy obtained by a better Sacrifice and that is the Blood the most precious Blood of the Son of God our Saviour Jesus Christ This Blood is the only Medicine of Blood-guiltiness Lord wash me from this and I shall be clean And I should be in a higher degree of hope to obtain this blessing could I but hear you say as I hope you will to this prayer say Amen which is the most humble desire of a sorrowful Soul in Prison William Gymer Some have doubted and so have I whether these Lines were of his own inditing and composure yet I question not if the words were not but the sense was his own and his heart was in them He writ also a Letter to his Wife see p. 11 12. and another for his Child as I have been told which he never saw it being but about three quarters old for its use if the Lord should let it live and give it understanding He leaveth a paper also for others that may read it wherein he seems to be much affected with the sorrow and sufferings of Christ and prays that God would take away our stony hearts and give us to consider what he suffered for us Thou saith he whose property it is to have mercy hear and have compassion We commit our hearts unto Thee our God And let us as he addeth O my Friends take that due care to bring forth fruits that are meet for Repentance Matth. 3.8 The foundation of a holy life is true Repentance and where that is we may believe there is remission of sins and eternal life succeeds O then let us not put off our Repentance from day to day for to morrow is none of ours O let us repent to day for the day is at hand when we must render an account not only for one day but for our whole life Let us truly call upon God that he would turn his face from our sins and pray unto him that our sins may depart from us For sin is the distemper of the Soul which moved David to cry out Heal my Soul for I have sinned against thee Psal 41.4 Let us call upon God that he would not cast us away from his presence but restore unto us the joy of his salvation Psal 51.12 O let us not count calamity and punishment evil for many times good proceedeth from them Nay they may be called good because they are God's Messengers and proceed from him who is the Fountain of all good Moreover they lead us unto the chiefest Happiness which is life everlasting For Christ by his Passion entred into his glory and Christians by tribulation enter into the Kingdom of God Acts 14.22 O then let us count nothing evil but sin because it draws us from that which is good The Sinner is accused by his Conscience which he hath defiled by his Creator whom he hath offended and by the sins he hath committed Let us beg of God that he would grant us Grace to repent and endeavour to make our Calling and Election sure My Friends I leave these Lines behind me heartily desiring you to avoid all sin and to avoid Lying which I believe to be the fore-runner of other sins Solomon bids us Prov. 23.23 buy the Truth but doth not tell us what it must cost because we must get it tho' it be never so dear We must love Truth both shining and scorching Thus he writes and thus he spent part of that space of time given him for Repentance and owned scorching Truth in a free confession of those Crimes which he knew would cost him his life He admonished such as came to see him to take heed of Lying and Sabbath-breaking and let him saith he that standeth take heed lest he fall For I little thought or intended to commit those grievous Crimes I am guilty of half an hour before the commission of them And then he burst out into tears He was frequent in Prayer with Thanksgiving I do confess saith he it might be but Justice in thee to damn my Soul but O Lord I pray thee in Justice remember Mercy and in thine Infinite Mercy pardon me 'T is dreadful to lose the Body but O how much dreadful to lose the Soul to all Eternity Let my Soul praise thy Name for what thou hast done for me For I hope and do believe thou hast been at work upon my Soul in helping me to repent for which I give thee hearty thanks and am desirous to be most humble under the sense of my sins for they are very dreadful to me As he prayed so his prayers were mixed with Faithand a humble confidence He would tell me he had comfort in God upon his praying He often found the Lord ready to give what he asked and more ready to receive the contrite in heart into favour as he acknowledged then they to offer themselves by unfeigned Repentance Prayer was the employ in which he spent much of his time and he heartily desired the earnest prayers of Ministers and all good and pious Christians that he might grow more and more in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ and many were put up for him The great mercies of God made his heart glad and the Company of those who came to instruct and help him forward in the way of Life was very acceptable to him and he would entreat them to come again and not leave him while he was in the Land of the Living His words were but few but his ingenious Confession and meek Conversation and his Works that declared his unfeigned Repentance won the hearts of many to him His Wife told me he writ twice a week to her In his last Letter to her he writeth thus My Dear Love THIS being the last Letter that ever I shall write I write to you to look to your Eternal Stat aend to prepare for it before it be too late which is my hearty prayer to Almighty God that you should so do and that you may not be found as some I once read of who cryed out O miserable Souls that we are How hath sin and the world blinded and bewitched us that we could not see our condition before it was too late God hath kept me in the thoughts of death for some time Once I thought my self just at the Graves side but he that laid me down was pleased to lift me up again But now he seems to be speedily finishing my days to whom through the infinite mercy of Jesus Christ I call with some comfort and boldness saying Come Lord Jesus come quickly And so farewel my Friends and Relations farewel eating and drinking and I hope within a few days to say Farewel sin and sinning And My dear I commend you and my poor Babe to him who hath promised To be a Father to the Fatherless and to plead the cause of the Widow And so I earnestly desire you to
put your whole Trust and Confidence in him who hath promised all them that so do never to leave them nor forsake them Which God Almighty grant he never may for the sake of his dear Son Christ Jesus our only Saviour and Redeemer into whose hands I commit you all bidding You and all the World adieu VVhich may be added to those he spake on the Ladder mentioned in the Epistle At last he concludeth his life with these words as may be seen in one of his Papers I resign up my Spirit most chearfully into the hands of God hoping to find mercy with him through Christ I know no other name under Heaven whereby I may be saved but his alone who was dead and is alive again and liveth for evermore And therefore I am confident of his most precious promises which I believe to be faithful and true as he is for pardon and immortal Life Therefore I beseech him to accept of my most hearty thanks for his great mercy shewn unto me hoping he will receive me into the Company of Spirits of Just Men made perfect to give him thanks for ever And as I desire to find mercy with him so I forgive all mine Enemies beseeching God to forgive them and to bless and comfort all my Friends that at last we may live together in everlasting life From the whole of this Narrative and Discourse we may learn 1. To despair of none tho' never so ignorant and ungodly but while the sinner is on this side the Grave let us use the means of Divine appointment It is the good pleasure of the Almighty here and there to cull out from among the Children of men the chief of sinners Sometimes he lays hold upon the most unlikely and draws them by his Spirit to his Son Sometimes he calleth the deformed and most despicable and hath a time of love for them Sometimes he rectifies by his Grace such as are of as crooked a Nature as is in Nature to be found and renewes in them a right Spirit Sometimes he who sweareth by himself that he hath no pleasure in the death of the wicked but rather that he return from his evil ways and live turneth the heart of a Swearer a Lyar a Thief and Murderer to mind his Salvation in good earnest O the unfathomable depth of goodness and mercy of the most High and Holy One of Israel I have more than once or twice read of such as have cryed out in the sense of Superabounding Grace Let none despair of the worst of sinners for our sake 2. Let not any dare to presume in a course of sin because God is gracious His mercy is over all but his special and saving mercy is bounded with his truth and granted only to the truly penitent If thou be a self-willd wretch and resolved to persist in the way of sinners I pray ask leave first of the Great Lawgiver before thou go any further Ah! but with what face darest thou beg such a liberty But if thou wilt go on without his leave then go out of his sight Jer. 23.24 where he cannot see thee but whither canst thou flee from his presence Can any man hide himself in secret places that I shall not see him saith the Lord. Do not I fill Heaven and Earth saith the Lord. He threatens presumptuous ones that fear not his glorious and fearful Name to make their Plagues wonderful * Deut. 28.58 59. chap. 29.19 20 c. But if out of his unspeakable compassion he plucks here and there one as fire-brands out of the fire yet he usually makes such know by sad and bitter experience the evil of their ways and doings and what 't is not to fear this glorious and fearful Name The Lord thy God he will wound the hairy scalp of those that go on in their wickedness and tho he healeth some whom he seeth walking in destructive ways yet ordinarily he lays the foundation of the cure in trouble and anguish of spirit and deep distress of mind 3. Let us bless the Lord with our Soul who leadeth captivity captive and makes a Thief and Murderer happy in turning to him and sets him up as a monument of his stupendous Grace that we may behold and wonder Our Converts are so few and rare among those that walk at liberty that it cannot but be lookt upon as a singular Example of rich and special grace when we can find but one among those that are bound in Fetters truly converted Fishers of men that have not the liberty to cast their Net in the broad Waters or if they have find little success are glad to see what they can get in the narrow Straights And if they can get but one Soul they count the gain more worth abundantly than all their toil and labour Some heretofore have ransackt Prisons to rake out such wretches as they found willing to swear against their own Consciences to ruine others But it 's more refreshing to a Servant of Christ to find out one that will speak the Truth in his heart and from his heart tho' it be against his own life One that confest and gave glory to God one that prayed much and obtained great Faith greater than is found among many of a long standing in the profession of the true Religion and loved much because much was forgiven and his consolations thereupon were not small That wicked one at first prevailed with him but the good Spirit at last overcame the Devil Greater is he saith the Holy Apostle that is in you than he that is in the World 1 Joh. 4.4 The blessed Spirit inclined and enabled him to repent of his Evil Works and Wickedness but Satan could not make him repent of his ceasing to do evil he was not able by force or fraud to make him repent of his Repentance or of the forsaking of his sins or of his doing works meet for Repentance Converting Grace is the Sinners rescue and deliverance from the God of this World and Christ's subduing his iniquities Henceforth 1. The sincere Convert is one blessed of the Lord with all spiritual blessings He is one of the number of the Father's peculiar ones one among Christ's Brethren and Friends one in whom his Holy Spirit abideth He is one that hath the mark of God's Election upon him and the seed of everlasting Love in him that will never die nor leave him till it spring up to Eternal Life A sincere Convert was once a Prodigal that had wasted all and brought himself to a starving condition but now he is come to himself and returned to his Father humbly confessing his Folly and Wickedness and is made welcom He was as one wounded and lying in the High Way in his blood and Filth but now he is healed cleansed and revived Should you see a Christian among the Turks used like a Horse or a Dog would not such a sight make your bowels yearn towards him Why a poor