Selected quad for the lemma: mercy_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
mercy_n	abel_n	blood_n	cry_v	2,397	5	9.4770	5	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A66362	Eight sermons dedicated to the Right Honourable His Grace the Lord Duke of Ormond and to the most honourable of ladies, the Dutchess of Ormond her Grace. Most of them preached before his Grace, and the Parliament, in Dublin. By the Right Reverend Father in God, Griffith, Lord Bishop of Ossory. The contents and particulars whereof are set down in the next page.	Williams, Gryffith, 1589?-1672.	1664 (1664)	Wing W2666; ESTC R221017	305,510	423

a fervent prayer for us so Esay 53.10 when it pleased the Lord to bruise him as the Prophet saith he offered up his bloud in a sweating fervour and his body to be broken for our sins 2. He offered up his body to be broken and his bloud to be shed for our sins Levit. 17.11 Heb 9.22 and as the Angel whose name was secret kindled the fire upon the Altar and at length the flame increasing himself also ascended in the same so here in this agony of Christ our Saviour kindled the fire of his love and then as a faithfull high Priest he offered up himself as a sweet smelling sacrifice unto God And seeing bloud must make an attonement for the soul and as the Apostle saith without shedding of bloud there is no remission therefore this our Priest shed his own bloud to procure the forgiveness of our sins the bloud of his head when he was crowned with thornes the bloud of his heart when he was pierced with a speare the bloud of all parts when he was whipped and the bloud of his whole body when he sweat the drops of bloud not a watry dew but nimbus sanguinis a bloudy showre when as totus sudore defluit it passed through and through his garment and trickled down to the ground Ps 130.7 as Saint Luke testifieth that there might be as the Psalm saith plenteous redemption And as Eleazar the high Priest was to take the bloud of the heyfer with his finger and sprinkle of her bloud directly before the Tabernacle of the Congregation seven times Num. 19.4 Levit. 8.11 so Christ our Priest shed his bloud seven times to purge away our sins 1. In his Circumcision 2. In the Garden 3. When he was crowned with thornes 4. When he was whipped 5. That Christ shed his bloud seven times to cleanse us of our sins When his hands were nailed 6 When his feet were fastned to the Cross 7. When his side was pierced with a speare And then as the sin of man was maledictio terrae the curse of the earth so this bloud of Christ is medicina terra the medicine of the world And therefore the Apostle faith Heb. 12.24 that the bloud of Christ speaketh better things then the bloud of Abel for by the shedding of Abels bloud Gods wrath was kindled but by the shedding of Christs bloud Gods wrath was appeased the bloud of Abel gave life onely to himself but the bloud of Christ gives life to all beleivers the bloud of Abel cryed for vengeance against his brother but the bloud of Christ cryeth for mercy unto his enemies and the bloud of Abel cryed a while and then ceased and then it was no more availeable but the bloud of Christ still cryeth and never ceaseth and is available for us for ever And so you see how Saint Luke proveth Christ to be the Priest which is to be the Priest for ever after the order of Melchisedeck and therefore he is here understood by the calf that was the chiefest sacrifice of the Priests 3. By him that had the face of a man 3. St. Mark is understood by him that had the face of a man Mark 6.3 John 10.33 the fathers do understand Saint Mark because his principal aime was to shew that Christ was a true and perfect man the son of a poor Carpenter and in all things like unto us sin onely excepted And this truth was so manifest that his very enemies confest it and would have stoned him because that he being a man made himself a God for their eyes saw that he had flesh and bloud like other men and that he did hunger and thirst and was weary and touched with all the blamelesse passions and affections of other men and therefore Saint Mark is very short in his Gospel not above sixteen Chapters in all because he needed not to use many Arguments when as all that saw him did readily confess it 4. 4. Saint John understood by the flying Eagle By the flying Eagle all the old Interpreters do understand Saint John because that when Ebion and Cerinthus two Jewish Proselites denied the Deity of Christ he purposely wrote his Gospel for that main end to confute that damnable errour as Eusebius and others testifie and therefore in the very Frontispiece of his work he mounteth up like an Eagle and saith in the beginning was the word John 1.1 and the word was with God and the word was God and so throughout his whole Gospel you may easily perceive his chiefest aime is to prove that the son of Mary is the son of the eternal God coeternal and coequal with his father and especially because he proveth him 1. To be the Creator of all things c. 1. 2. To be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the knower and searcher of the secrets of our hearts c. 2.25 3. To be the worker of such miracles as the raising up of L●zarus and the like which none could do but God And it was requisite that the mediator betwixt God and man should be God and man Man because man had sinned and therefore meet that man should make satisfaction and not Ziba make the fault and Mephibosheth bear the punishment which should be very unjust and God because our nature should but could not bear the burthen which was the weight of Gods wrath for our sins But God as God could but ought not and therefore seeing the one ought but could not and the other could but ought not God and man must be joyned together in one person that man might do what he ought to do and suffer what he ought to suffer and so goe thorough the work of our redemption And therefore as Saint Mark had proved Christ to be a man so Saint John proveth him to be the true and eternal God And so you see that by these four Beasts we are primarily to understand the four Evangelists Secondly all the good Magistrates and Ministers are understood to be like these four beasts 1. Like the Lion Jos 1.7 Secondly As the four Evangelists are in the first place to be understood by these four Beasts for the reasons before shewed so likewise all Magistrates and all Ministers ought to be like these four Beast As 1. Like the Lion for courage without fear Confidens ut leo absque terrore for so the Lord commanded Joshua to be strong and of a good courage saying Onely be thou strong and of a most valiant courage and so Jethro tells Moses That his Judges should be men of courage and undaunted Quia timiditas Judicis est calamitas innocentis So when the Jews told Pilat if thou lettest this man go Thou art none of Caesar's friend he was afraid and through that fear he condemned the Son of God And so doth fear cause many others to wrong the Innocents And therefore to you that are the Judges to settle the disturbed Estates of this Kingdom I say that it cannot

for it Num. 14.19 Moses prayed unto the Lord and said Pardon I beseech thee the iniquity of this people according to the greatness of thy mercy so when Sennacherib came against Hierusalem 2 Chron 32.20 Hezechiah the King and Isaiah the Prophet prayed and cryed to heaven And his prayer is set down 2 Reg. 19.15 and when the Moabites and Ammonites in a huge multitude came against Jehosaphat he set himself to seek the Lord saith the Text and proclaimed a Fast throughout all Judah and made an excellent prayer to God 2 Chron. 20.6 usque ad vers 13. which I desire you to read and observe it well so Daniel after he had made confession of the sins of the people makes an earnest and most fervent Prayer to God for the remission of their sins so David saith unto God Dan 9.16 usque ad 20. ver look upon mine adversities and miseries and forgive me all my sins and Christ biddeth us to ask and we should have Mat. 7.7 And if we thus unfainedly confess our sins Psal 25.17 and fervently beg pardon and constantly forsake our sins God is faithful saith the Apostle that is faithful because he promised 1 Joh. 1.9 to forgive us our sins 2. As we are to seek the Lord externally with all the parts of our bodies so we are to seek him internally 2. With all the faculties of our souls with all the faculties of our soul and as David concludes this manner to his Son Solomon it must be with a perfect heart and a willing mind for otherwise to seek the Lord with outward profession and not with inward obedience is but meer hypocrisie 1 Chro. 28 9. like the Religion of the Jews that were ever handling of holy things but without feeling and drew near unto God with their mouths and honoured him with their lips Isa 29.13 when they called upon him and prayed unto him but removed their hearts far from him And therefore God abhorred their devotion and said I hate I despise your feast daies and I will not smell in your solemn assemblies though you offer me burnt offerings Amos 5.21.22 Isa 1.11 and your meat offerings I will not accept them neither will I regard the peace-offerings of your fat Beasts and as the Lord saith in Jerem. When they fast I will not hear their cry Jer. 14.12 and when they offer burnt offering and oblation I will not accept them but I will consume them by the Sword and by the Famine and by the Pestilence Outward profession what it is like because this outward profession is none otherwise than a shadow that is something in show but nothing in substance or like Zeuxis and Parhasius Pictures whereof Zeuxis deceived the birds with his counterfeit grapes and Parhasius deceived his fellow Painter with the Picture of a Sheet But let not us deceive our selves with a sheet or a shadow of holiness and think that currant which is but counterfeit for we must seek the Lord with all our hearts or otherwise if we offer Sacrifice with Cain and pray with the Pharisee and fast with the Jews to strife and debate or with the Rebels to plunder and murder Isa 58.4 and hear as many Sermons as the precisest Hypocrite and yet forsake not our sins and obey not Gods Ordinance to submit our selves to the higher powers but Rebell against Gods Anointed we may with Esau hunt for a blessing but catch a curse and seek the Lord for mercy but find him in his justice when he shall say unto us 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 I know you not whence you are Luke 13.27 depart from me all ye that work iniquity 2. We are to seek the Lord most dilig●ntly 2. As we are to seek the Lord totally with all the parts both of our bodies and of our souls so we are to seek him not frigide coldly and carelesly but with all diligence as the woman that lost he● g●oat lighted a candle Luke 15.8 and swept the house and sought diligently till she found it and therefore St. Chrysostome writing upon these words of the Apostle work out your own Salvation with fear and trembling saith he doth not barely use the simple word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Phil. 2.12 work it out but he saith 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is as the Father doth interpret it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 accurately precisely and with a great deal of care and study even as Saint Paul saith the twelve Tribes served God 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Acts 26.7 instantly saith our Translation day and night and surely not without great cause for as in the civil policie salus populi est suprema lex the safety of King and People is principally to be regarded so in the life of a Christian hoc est unum necessarium this ought to be our chiefest care to seek the Lord for as Seneca saith of Philosophy sive aliquid habes O jam Philosophare sive nihil hoc prius quaere quam quidquam so much better may I say with the Prophet whether thou hast somewhat or nothing yet seek the Lord before thou seekest any thing 2. The object of our seeking the Lord. 2. The Object of our seeking is the Lord a Subject much farther exceeding the former than the Coelestial globe is larger than the Center of this earth and therefore he might easily be found if he were but carefully sought for Jupiter est quodcunque vides and the Spirit of the Lord filleth all places being not far from every one of us Acts 17.28 seeing as the Apostle saith in h m we live and move and have our being how then can we mi●s to find him without whom we cannot choose but lose our selves But such is our misery that we seek him not for as the swine do eat the acorns yet never look up to the tree from whence they fall so do we deal with the blessings of God we gather them and yet are ignorant of him and do sacrifice with the Athenians 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and therefore we thank him not because we know him not and we know him not because we seek him not but many of us seek our Lady and not the Lord What men do seek after and pray to her and offer sacrifice to the Queen of heaven more and better than to the Lord of heaven other● seek to neither Lord nor Lady but to their servants that here on earth are commonly prouder than their Masters to the Saints and Angels others mounting not their thought any higher than the earth do only seek for the things of this world quaerenda pecunia primum some for riches some for honours and some for revenge which is the worst some of all and others seek knots in a bulrush great doubts in needless points for I will not touch on those overwise men How many men search for trifles that seek to

wholly frustrated because he knew Way 1 God was of pure eys and could not endure rebellion and disobedience to his commands and therefore thought he if I can seduce Adam to eat the forbidden fruit I shall evacuate that design of God and break that Gordian-knot all to pieces And when he saw that this Plot could not prevail to annihilate the decree of God to love and to unite man unto himself but that the wisedom and goodness of God found out a way to verifie that saying qui struit insidias aliis sibi damna dat ipse he that digs a Pit for another shall fall into it himself when God said Gen. 3. that the seed of the woman which Satan had seduced should break the Serpents head and so bring more damage to the Devil then to either Man or Woman then Way 2 2. He inticed Cain to kill his owne Brother Abel still to provoke God against Man and to hinder this Union betwixt God and Man and when he saw that God in mercy had granted another seed by the birth of Seth then he thought to work more wisely and more generally to corrupt the whole World and to make the Sons of God whom he loved to run a Whoring after the Daughters of those men whom he hated And seeing this device that was so devilish yet would not do the deed that he desired but that Noah found favour in the sight of God to preserve the generation of mankind and that God which is the God of truth would not alter the thing that is gon out of his mouth Then Way 3 3. He puts off the shape of the Serpent and leaves to play the Fox and putteth on the Lions skin and like a Lion indeed he seeks by his cruelty at sundry times and in divers manners to destroy that blessed seed from whence Christ the God and Man should spring As 1. When he stirred up and moved wicked Pharaoh Exod. his first-born Tyrant to kill all the male children of the Israelites from whom God had promised unto Abraham the blessed seed should spring And then raised up proud Haman to root out all the Jews and the whole off-spring of David to whom God had sworn and made a faithful Oath that the Messias should come out of his Loyns and after that caused Antiochus whose sirname Epiphanes signified Illustrious but his deeds were most odious to persecute all the Jews and to butcher the best of them that so he might hinder the birth of that blessed Seed and crush the Chickin while it was in the shell And when all this his subtletie and cruelty could not serve the turn but that Christ was born indeed and had hypostatically united our flesh un●o his deity Then Way 4 4. He playes the Devil indeed and stirreth up Herod to kill all the Children that were in Bethlehem and in all the Coasts thereof that so by that means he might kill Christ and when he seeth he could not kill him he laboureth to corrupt him to make him to forsake his God as he had done and to throw himself down from the Pinnacle and to break his neck or to fall down and worship him for he knew this if he could effect it would unty the knot and hinder the progress of Gods purpose But as holy Job affirmeth non est potestas quae comparetur ei Job 42.2 and saith Job 24.2 to God I know that thou canst do every thing and that no thought of thine can be hindred Quia non est consilium contra Dominum because no counsel can prevail against the Lord therefore his counsel did stand and his will is done and the Word is made flesh John 1.14 and we saw his glory as the glory of the onely begotten of the Father full of grace and truth And yet for all this though he seeth the Promise of God fulfilled and his truth accomplished and God united to our nature he still persisteth in his pride and prosecuteth his malice against man to frustrate and oppose the will of God And though Christ by his death which he brought him to hath overcome death and led captivity captive yet doth he never leave to hinder men to reap the benefit of Gods favour and the fruits of the death and passion of Jesus Christ but fostering still his pride and rebellion against God and his malice against man he entereth into the hearts and possesseth the very souls of all wicked men so that he maketh some of them to become meer Atheists scarce to believe that there is a God and many more to deny the mysterie of Christs Incarnation as do the Jews and Turks to this very day and others he bewitcheth to believe most damnable errors as with that Dog Servetus to deny the humanity of our Saviour Christ and others to blaspheme against his Deity as that accursed Arius and his followers and so he still laboureth to hinder this truth to be believed at all or at least not to be believed in that manner as it should be Zanchius de Operibus Dei l. 4. c. 2. And all this you may more amply see in Rupertus Tuitiensis de victoria Verbi Dei and in Zanchius de Operibus Dei de peccato Angelorum And this consideration of the Pride and Rebellion of the Devil against God and his implacable malice against man should teach us all to take special care to beware of him and to pray to God to bless us from him and not to have him so often as we have him in our mouths nor especially in our hearts So you have seen that although by nature the Devils were good and so created good by God yet by their pride and continual rebellion against God they made themselves Devils and the Authors of all evil for evermore Yet lest we should erre about their nature Two points to be considered about the nature of the Devils as they are now in statu corrupto corrupted by their own wickedness we are to consider these two points 1. That there are many things that in themselves are good in them 2. That all those good things are perverted and corrupted by them to a perverse and wicked end For 1. You must understand that by their fall they have not Point 1 lost all those endowments and excellencies which God had given them in their creation and whatsoever they do retain which they have had from God the same is and must needs be good but their natural substance and their natural qualities as their knowledge their understanding wisdom agility invisibility immortality strength and the like are all given them by God and they are the works of God and these in themselves simply considered must needs be good because all that God made were and still are exceeding good And therefore let not wicked men oppressors Church-robbers Adulterers proud persons and the like That men should not think it enough to have some good things in them