Of Cods mercie. hehath ftepped no where, in heauen, in earth, or inthe feas; batheLordbath left Come print(ibis mercie behind him, ifwecouldfollow him in thofe paths hewent in.Secondly, theearth doth not onely receiue this printofGodsmercie,but repayesmercie tovs agame: and furely,ifthe creatures fhould not betnercifullto vs,tnen werein aneuill cafe.Now be- aiercieis ei- caufe all mercieconfineth either ingiving or forgiving ; and there is nomercie buck is in theringifting oneof thefe rico, therefore in refpe&ofboth their we ¡hall feehow the Lord efteemes it. or forgiving. Firft, for theinereieofforgiveneffe, Matdi.6. òurSauiour Chrifthis aduife is, thatifwe pleafeGod in this kind ofinercie,euen in theimmediate worfhip ofhis name,he is content tobreake offal! hisright tohimfelfe,that wemight paythis debtofinercytoourbrethren, which is more acceptable to the Lord,then any kind offacrificewhatfoeuer.And tardyall our facrificestendtothis one facrificeofinercy,and thereforemercy is better thenal other facrifices.So thatthis penfion is fogratefull to the Lord,thatperformance of this (Ball flay all other. On theother fide, slsenthis is notdone weIce, Matelso S. the bringingofour felues in debtwith theLord, even to the fumure of a thoufand talents Both not fomuch grieve him,asthe retayning ofehis penfion from the Lord; wherefor the feruantsdebt no manee of mill wordsaregiuen, butall isforgiven, but after when this tenant denies the penfionof mercy, then the Lord takes the matter hotly, and the other debt didnorfo much grievehimus this.Butto examine there things in thebalianceofouroene reafon : if Tesfi°nof two men are to pale bya place, wherelid no final! danger by reafon of thehotpurfuit ofmessires ha theirenÿinies, andone ofthemgoingouerbya bridge efcapeth, and whenthis other is toff edmtd efcapeby the fame nieanes, he drawes vp the bridge afterhim, asnot .contenttheother 6ethrrr. fhouldbeedeliuered with him, wee would condemne this faft. The fameis our cafe : we simile. efcape firne the common enemieof ourfoules, onely by thebridge of mercie : and now Baste. wee areefcaped fafely,- our brother is to comeosier thefamebridge, andwepuiitvp,thfs is afingularinhumanitie, anda high point of profoundmahgnitie, thoughthe Lord in- deede willsnakehim a new bridge ofinertie, howfoeuerwee Phew:our maliciousmiude. Now to come to our felues whether is it notvlàall withvs to facrifice with Caine, and yet toknocke Abedon thehead ; and whether wee fay not, Lord forgiue, butweeforgiue not:we forget,but weforgivenot we forgivebut weforget not : as it pleafeth vs thus to Giving. diftinguifh ? and !et thefe things CI; cake whether we bane mercieor no. And for giving, which is theother part, that itbecertaine, that Godfhewes hiswill herein, thathe would Berrie to rho haueour bowelsopened co thepoore, becaufehe might haue madeall rich, aswell asone rich,but that he left loose Pooreto trievs.He had enough inftore,and couldhaue made the pooreftequal' with thelichen, but that he had met with vs, that we needs not to corn- plaine, and fay (asfomemight haplyhuedone) we wantfome, towhomwe might (hew our'thankfulneffe. Thewhole earth is the,Lords,and what can we giuehim, ourweldoing extendethnot tohim, beneeds knot, we can doe himnogood,but for hisfake olithatwe Pfal.i6: might doegood tomen.For this caufe lfay,the Lord bath giuen the poorea bill ofhishand for the receeungof hisright,which is duetohimfelfe,in theft words:whatfoeuer meredoe to oneofchefslittle ones,theydoe it to me. Neither bath the Lord only ¡hewed hislikingofthis kindofinercie,he limb giuen vs reafons why wefhouid fo doe,as Luk.6. Give anditfha lbe peen toyouvine : therearebrethren,and therefore infeparable;ifwegiue,it(hall begiuen vs againe. lethal we willdrive away famine from theland, we malt giue, fo that with this facrifice thebenefite achewhole covntrie is purchafed.But betide this, Mattht9.it is fated, Glue tothepooreandyeßlol1 dame treafurein heaven.So that we (hail not onely haue mercie,if we (hew mercie, but the Lordhhnfelfe will Thew himfelfe exceedingly thankful! te, vs for thefame.Andyet we fee ourdiffidence herein: And as thefeed is not the groundsthatre ceiues it,but histhat fowesit ; fo that,which is beftowed in mercie,isnot foMuchhis,vpon whomthe gift is beftowed, but his that beftoweth it. So here is another reafon, wernuit giue becaufe wehone receiued it, the Lordrequires nothing but this one, lie requiresno- thmgto begiuen,but thatwe havereceiuedofhim and thereforewe feeoffhevi thatrecei- ved taleüts,the Lordrequires nothingto berepaid but hisown. There is and bath bin there manydayes acomplaint againft thepaftors ofthe land, be.aufe they feed as though they fed not, andfor this there is greathatred againft themfprung vp from thepeople, which though 323
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