elm. XCIV. The Mercy of God. 707 gainft our Sovereign; but as we fin againfi the mercies of God, we injure'our Benefactor. This makes our fin to be horrid, and aftonifhing, Ifa. I. z. Hear heavens ! andgive ear, 0 earth! I have nourifhedand brought up children, and they have rebelled again({ me. All the Mercies of God are aggravations of our fins, z Sam. r z. 7, 8, 9. And Nathan Paid to David, thus faith the LordGod of Ifrael, 7 anointed thee King over Ifrael, and deliveredthee out of the hands of Saul, and Igave thee thy mailer's houfe, and thy mafler's wives into thy bofom, and gave thee the houfe of Ifrael, and of Judah, and if that hadbeen too little, Iwould moreover have given thee finch and fuch things. Wherefore hall thou defpifed the commandment of the Lord,. to do evil in his fight? God reckons up all his Mercies, and from them aggro:- votes David's fin ; I Kings la. 9. He takes notice of all the unkind returns that we make ro his Mercy ; and 'tis the worft temper in the World not to be wrought upon by'kindnefs, not to be melted by mercy ; no greater evidence ofa wicked Heart, than that the Mercies of God have no effects upon it; Ifa. z6. Io. Let favour be 'hewn to the wicked ; yet will he not learn righteoufnefs. Ufe 3. Let us imitate the merciful Nature of God. This branch of God's Goodnefs is very proper for our imitation. The general Exhortation of our Saviour, Matt. 5. 48. Be ye therefore perfetl as your Father which is in heaven is perfeel, is more particularly expreffed by Sr. Luke, Luke 6. 30. Be ye there- fore merciful, asyour Father which is in heaven is merciful. Men affect tomake Imá- ges, and impoffible Reprefentations of God ; but as Seneca faith, Crede Deos, cum propitii fitliles fuif%e. We may draw this Image and Likenefs ofGod we may be gracious and merciful as he is. Chrift, who was the exprefs Image of his Father, his whole Life and Undertaking was a continued Work of Mercy ; be went about doing good to the Souls of Men, by preaching the Gofpel to them ; and to the Bodies of Men, in healing all manner of Difeafes. There is nothing that he recommends more to us in his Gofpel than this Spirit and Temper ; Mat. 5. 7. Bleffed are the merciful : for they fhall obtain mercy. How many Parables doth he ufe to fen forth the mercy of. God tous, witha defign to draw us to the imitation of it ? The Parable of the Prodigal ; of the good Samaritan; of the Servant to whom he forgave i0000 Talents. We fhould imitate God in this ; in being tender and companionate to thofe that are in mifery. This is a piece of natural, indifpenfable Religion, to which pofitive and in- ftituted Religion muff give way Amos 6. 6. I defired mercy, and not facriftce which is twice cited and ufed by our Saviour. Micah 6. 9. He hath (hewedthee,, 0 Man, what it is that the Lord thy God requires of thee, to dojuffice, and love mer- cy, and to walk humbly with thy God. This is always ,one part of the defcription of a good Man, that he is apt to pity the Miferies and Neceftties , of others. Pfal. 37. a6. He is ever merciful and lendetb. He is far from cruelty, not only to Men, but even to the brute Crea- tures ; Prov. ¡a. io. A righteous Man regardeth the life of his haft. There is no- thing more contrary to the Nature of God, than a cruel and favage difpofition, not to be a$èded with the Miferies and Sufferings of others ; how unlike is this to thefather of mercies, and the God of confolation 1 When we can fee Cruelty ex- ercifed, and our Bowels not be furred within us, nor our hearts be pricked ; hów unlike is this to God, who is very pitiful, and of tender mercies ! But to re- joyce at the miferies ofothers, this is inhuman andbarbarous.Hear how Godthrea- tens Edom for rejoycing at the miferies ofhis Brother yacob;:Obadiahso, It, sa, 13, 14. But to delight to make others miferable, and to aggravatetheir .fufferings, this is devilifh ; this is the temper ofHell, and the very-fpirit ofthe Defiroyer. It becomes Man above all other Creatures to be merciful, who bath had fuch ample and happy experience of God's mercy to him, and loth fill continually Eland in need of mercy from God. God bath been very merciful to us. Had it not been for the tender Mercies of God to us, we had all of us long fnce been miferable. Now as we have received mercy from God, we Ihould thew it to others. The Apofile ufeth this as an Argument why we fhould relieve thofe that are in mifery and want, becaufe we have had fuch experienceof the mercy land love of God to us; a john 3. 16, t7. Hereby perceive we the love of God, becaufe Xxxxz . he
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy OTcyMjk=