Selected quad for the lemma: law_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
law_n	heart_n	incline_v	mercy_n	16,797	5	10.2482	5	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A95721	Church reformation, a discourse pointing at some vanities in divine service. Delivered in two sermons at Bridgnorth: Sept. 30. 1660. Being the Lords Day; and the time of the assizes held there for the county of Salop. By Mich: Thomas, rector of Stockton in the same county.	Thomas, Michael, rector of Stockton.	1661 (1661)	Wing T968; Thomason E1055_17; ESTC R203930	25,323	52

to the evidence of the Word of God to acknowledge that to be sin which the Word of God condemns for sin and to yield that to be a Duty which by the light of Scripture appears to be so When we come to the House of God we should be ready to say as the Prophet Samuel did Speak Lord for thy Servant heareth That is as Mendoza glosses that place Speak Lord what thou pleasest and I am ready not only to hear but to obey it Such a readiness appeared in St. Augustine Da Domine quod jubes jube quod vis O Lord give me grace to obey and command what thou wilt And now shall I be so bold as to inquire whether the Feet of your Souls be in that obediential posture as the Lord expects you should be Solomon speaks in general terms in the Text but it may be expedient for your better edification that I instance in some few particulars Lay the two Tables of the Law of God before you and examine your selves whether ye are henceforth resolved to conform your lives according to those sacred Rules First art thou resolved to have no other God but the God of Heaven Wilt thou no longer serve the God of this World Mammon for the wages of unrighteousness Secondly art thou resolved never more to dishonour God by worshipping him in or before some graven Image Wilt thou never hereafter disguise and palliate thy Idolatry by a nice distinction Thirdly Art thou resolved that henceforth thou wilt not take the Name of the Lord thy God in vain Wilt thou not swear rashly and customarily Wilt thou not make a false Oath in the Courts of Justice to take the righteousness of the Righteous from him Fourthly Wilt thou hereafter remember to Keep holy the Sabbath day never mo●e to profane it by idleness or drunkness or feasting or luxury or worldliness Fiftly Art thou resolved henceforth to Honour thy Parents To Honour the King as the common Parent of the Country To Honour the Ministers of God who have begotten thee in Christ To Honour thy natural Parents who have brought thee into this world and bred thee up in it in care and sorrow Sixtly Art thou resolved that henceforth thou wilt do no Murther That thou wilt not take up Arms against thy King and destroy thy fellow subjects upon the mistaken quarrel of Religion and Liberty Seventhly Art thou resolved henceforth never to commit Adultery never more to pollute thy body which is the Temple of the Holy Ghost by unclean thoughts or actions Eightly A●t thou resolved henceforth never to wrong thy neighbour in his goods neither violently nor fraudulently Wilt thou not hereafter use false Dice nor false Weights nor false Measures nor false words nor over-reach thy neighbour in any matter Ninethly Art thou resolved henceforth never to bear false witness against thy neighbor Wilt thou not for fear or favour nor for a bribe give a false testimony to blind the eyes of the Judge and to pervert the course of Judgement Lastly Art thou resolved never hereafter to covet any thing that is thy neighbours Wilt thou hereafter restrain thy self from all covetous practices and labour to be content with such things as the Lord in a gracious providence shall please to allow and assign to thee In this Glass in this perfect Mirror you may see whether the feet of your souls stand right whether they be wash'd and cleansed from all purposes and resolutions to sin For let me tell you Unless ye can say with David and say truly Oh Lord my heart is ready my heart is ready I will have respect unto all thy Commandments I am purposed that I will not offend Unless I say ye are in this ready posture for holy Obedience all your prayers and all your Fasts and all your days of humiliation are but the sacrifice of Fools they will avail nothing either to remove the guilt of sin or to appease the wrath of God Let me give you but one Note more in this Point This resolution which I have been speaking of will be best discovered by your constancy and fervency in prayer both in private and in publick for Mercy in regard ye have transgressed the Laws of God and for Grace that the Lord would incline your hearts to keep them And therefore it was a pious provision in our Church Liturgy that after the Minister hath repeated the several Commandments as from the mouth of God the whole Congregation are enjoyned to say Lord have mercy upon us in that we have broken those Commandments And incline our hearts to keep them that is give us grace to do so no more Bucolcerus tells us of Henricus Auceps one of the Emperours of Germany that when his City of Mersburg was assaulted by a vast Army of the Hungarians he slew and put them to flight his Souldiers crying out with a loud voice Lord have mercy upon us Lord have mercy upon us And truly I do not know a better defence against temptation to sin then to pray with David Oh Lord incline my heart to thy Testimonies nor a better remedy against the guilt of sin then to pray with the poor Publican in the Gospel Lord be merciful to me a sinner The Feet of our Souls are well kept when we have taken up a firm resolution of obeying the Commandements of God but yet we must take one step further We must keep the Kings Commandment also this is certainly a Duty however some men endeavour to distingu●sh themselves out of it I counsel thee says Solomon and surely the counsel of so wise a man is worthy to be heard and regarded as if he had said I Solomon who require obedience from mine own Subjects do counsel all Subjects to yield obedience to their Kings And St. Paul delivers the same Doctrine Let every Soul be subject to the Higher Powers not onely for wrath but for conscience sake But wherein are the Commands of Kings to be obeyed Must we yield up our selves in a blind obedience to observe and do whatsoever the Higher Powers shall impose upon us This is a busie question and there is a short answer to it We must either Obey or Suffer If the Commands of Kings are consistent with the Laws of God our Obedience is indisputable yea I may say that in that case we do not so much obey the King as God So that the Tryal of our obedience to Kings lyes for the most part in such matters which we call indifferent which are neither positively commanded nor forbidden by the Law of God Such as are matters of Decency and Order in Divine Worship and such as are of absolute necessity namely the payment of Tribute and Custome for the preservation of his Person and his Honour and his People and his Kingdome to boggle at such Commands as these is as I am informed from very learned and pious men a rejection of this counsel of Solomon and that exhortation of St.