Selected quad for the lemma: mercy_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
mercy_n	glory_n	vessel_n	wrath_n	3,740	5	9.3244	5	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A19657	The confutation of the. xiii. articles, wherunto Nicolas Shaxton, late byshop of Salilburye [sic] subscribed and caused to be set forth in print the yere of our Lorde. M.C.xlvi. [sic] whe[n] he recanted in Smithfielde at London at the burning of mestres Anne Askue, which is liuely set forth in the figure folowynge. In the nexte page shalt thou finde the contentes of thys little boke.	Crowley, Robert, 1518?-1588.; Shaxton, Nicholas, 1485?-1556.	1548 (1548)	STC 6083; ESTC S105139	70,962	161

called in theyr tyme and the weake and yonge scholers in Christe made strong and myghty souldiours to fyghte against our aduersaries the world the deuill and our own flesh By the princes and publyke ministers are the lawes ministered to the auauncemente of Gods glorye whether the lawes be wycked or Godly For by the administration of the Godlye lawes the wycked are plaged amd by the wycked lawes the Godly are chastised and scourged that they maie haue the more cause to renne vnto theyr shepherde Christe for succour Thus can not these ordinaunces be vnprofitable yea they can not be but moste profitable redoundynge alwaies to the glorye of God Yea as I said before thei folow of necessitie and can not but be For if Goddes holye predestination and prouidence had not preserued the scriptures to be the lanterne of lyght to the fotesteppes of hys people how should it haue commen vnto vs thorow the handes of so manye tyrantes as haue borne the swerde to scourge the flocke of Christe neglectinge theyr shepherdes pasture How could it haue bene that so great rude multitudes of barbarous nations shoulde haue submitted thê selues to be vnder lawes and rulers had not Gods predestination driuen thê to it Ye that most declareth the diuine prouidêce how might it haue bene that in al times of most cruel persecutiō certaine haue not spared to speake the trueth shede theyr bloude for it if Gods predestinatiō had not bene the cause thereof Thinke you maister Shaxtō that it hadde be●e possible for the womālike weakenes of 〈◊〉 Askue to stād so māfully to the truth whē your fatherlye wysedome forsoke it if Gods predestinatiō had not bene to confound the wysdome and power of this worlde by the foleishnes and weakenes of a womanne And I praye you what caused you to forsake that whych you saied you would sticke to if he that told Peter that he shoulde denye hym had not also determined to declare in you what the greatest of vs can do without his assistence Well here foloweth yet an other inconuenience that is this If al thinges be done of necess●tie why should any mā be blamed for misse doynge Why should any man be dampned sythen all they do is but the ordinaunce of God and that more is they canne not auoyde the necessitie whereby they are cōstrained to do al that they do Wherefore if they should endeuour to refrayne the euyl that they do it were but all in vaine for they are predestinate eyther to do it or els to leue it vndone Iustly therfore can they not be cōdem●ned bycause the euill they do is not of thē selfe but of the ordinaunce of God To this muste we answer in this wise If God were an inferioure to any superioure power to the whiche he ought to rêder an accomptes of his doinges or if anye of vs were not his creatures but of an other creatiō besides his workmanshyp thê might we charg him with tirāny bicause he cōdēneth vs appointeth vs to be punished for the thinges we do by cōpultiō thorow the necessitie of his predestinatiō But for asmuche as he is subiecte to no superioure power we be al his creatures so that to what end so euer he hath framed vs we are his instrumentes to do the worcke that he appointed to be done whye shold we stād vp reasō with him to know his purpose in creating vs or why he made vs to this or that fashion to this or that vse to be preciouse or vile For this one thynge we may be sure of that God hath by his eternal wisdome created nothing nor appointed nothing to be done but the same shal redound to hys glory in the end seme it neuer so cōtrary in the meane time Let vs herkē to the wordes of Paul to the Romayns in this matter What if God saith he wyllyng to Roma .ix. shewe what hys anger can do and to make hys power knowen be very well contented to haue vesselles of wrath prepared to vtter destructiō to the e●tent he myght declare the rychesse of his glory towardes the vesselles of mercye whyche he hathe prepared to glorye et cetera The electe numbre of God therefore do cōmit thē selues wholye to the will of God and desyre rather to be damned as Moyses Exodi .xxxii did then that the glory of God should by any meanes be obscured or darckened These mē do not say let vs geue ouer our selues to do the lustes of the fleshe for either we be certaynly predestinated to be saued or damped And to liue an harde life here wyll not helpe if we be appointed to be damned and to folow the lustes of the fleshe shal not hurte if we be predestinated to be saued But they haue alwaies in their hertes thys hūble cōfessiō Lord we are the worckmanshyppe of thine handes made to do the thinges wherunto thou hast appointed vs by thy serrete wil and purpose Thy will be done in vs. Thou hast reueyled vnto vs the thinges that do please the thou hast shewed vs also the worckes that thou doest hate but onlesse thou pull vs backe by thy grace Lord we folow vpō the worsse though oure cōsciēces alowe the better We confesse Lord that whē we walke in thy wayes thou arte our guide and gouernest our fote steppes But when we go astraye thou leauest vs to our selues that by oure sore falles we maye know what nede we haue of the. Thus for oure profite doeste thou suffer vs to fall yea and doeste caste vs downe headelynge that we maye feare the. And yet mencifull father thou leaueste vs not thus but so sone as we cal thou hearest outcry Thou settest thine holie Angels to go before vs and to lead vs thorow the sea of thys world euē as by drye lande Thou feadest our bodies and geueste vs clothinge and the heares of our head knowest thou by nūbre If we walke in thy pathes thou art our leader though we go astray yet are we thine Do with vs Lord euē what thy wil is as thou hast appointed to mag ●ifie thy name so be it Thus do the electe of God cōfesse theyr owne inhabilitie weakenes Goddes almighty power puttinge thē selues whollye into Gods hande to do with thē what shall please him confessinge also that thoughe he thrust thē into the depe ●yt of hell yet sheweth he greate mercye vnto theym in that he sheweth not hys myghte more vpon them whiche is to adde yet an hundred fold to the paynes of hell As for the other sorte that set vp thē selues against god say that they are in their own hādes as men that woulde not lose the hier of their worckes but loke to be rewarded for the good as they are punished for the euell they are deuided in two The one part iustifie thē selues by theyr workes and wyl be sene to haue chosē Christ rather thē that Christ hath chosē them

SEcrete Auriculer confession is expediente and necessarie to be reteyned continued frequented in the churche of Christe Crowley If you had sayed in the churche of Antichrist I would haue holden well wyth you For in deede it is so necessarie therein that wythout it that whoryshe church could not lōg cōtinue In this corshrift are wrought al theyr maliciouse misteries In it be the pore simple creatures taught to delyght in ignoraunce and to be ware of the readynge or hearynge of the scripture in the Englyshe tonge contrarye to Christe Iohn .v. In thys secrete schole are they confirmed in the hope of the popes pardōs to be set abrod agayne contrarye to Christ in Math .xxiiii. Here are they enstructed to beleue that your masses diriges are meritoriouse boeth for the quycke the dead cōtrary to the .ix. and x. chapter of S. Paule to the Hebrues Here are they commaunded to multiplie prayers and repete oure Ladies psaltare vpon theyr beades Or if they dare not occupie beades to numbre theyr prayers on theyr fyngers contrarye to Christe Mathew vi Chapter Here learne they to putte difference betwene daye and daie and meate and meate contrarye to Paule in the .ii. chapter to the Collossians Here are they taughte to worshippe God in Images the makynge and hauyng wherof is not only forboden but also accursed of God hym selfe in the .xiiii. chapter of the boke of wisdome and the .xxvii. of Deu. In thys hel house are the simple people taught to yarne heauen by theyr wyll worckes As by buildyng and enrychinge of Abbays by fonndynge of chauntries and Anniuersaries by payntinge and gildinge of postes and by geuynge of boke bell chalice and other ornamentes as you call them to youre Turkishe temples contrarye to the Lordes expresse commaundemente Deut v. chapter Here are they taught to thynke them selues well iuoughe and theyr consciences cleant discharged of all synne whereof they haue made relation to the priests though they neuer falte any parte of true repentaunce but do incontinent returne to theyr olde vice as the sowe to the puddel and the dogge to his vomite contrarye to Peter in the .ii. chapter of his .ii. epistle To be briefe in thys hell they learne all superstition vaine trust in their own workes inuētions forgette all the true sure trust that they ought to haue in the only sauiour redemer Christe How necessarie an implemēe this is to be retained in the churh or cōgregatiō of Christ let thē iudge in whō the spirite of God dwelleth by whose inspiration they know what the church of Christ is I am certayne by the scriptures that as it is vsed it is abominable in the sight of God And therfore not to be so vsed as it is And how it should be amēded otherwise then by taking it clean away I can not see vnles we haue newe ministers appoynted whych are no fauourers but enemies to the abuse It is necessarye therefore that thys order be retayned yea newlye begonne in the churche of Christe that wounded consciences maye seke theym an experte and learned Phisitian to whome they maye open theyr payne and griefe and at whose hands they maye receiue the confortable medi●●●●●s of the spirite gathered out of the pleasaunte garden of the scripture But to be bounde to resorte perelpr to suche blynde pottcaties as do neyther knowe symple from compounde nor medicine from poyson is neythere tō be retayned nor suffered in Christes church Shaxton The .xiii. Article THe prescience and predestination of almyghty God although in it self it be infallyble induceth no necessible to the action of man but that he maye frelye vse the power of hys owne wyl and choyse he sayd prescience and predestmation notwithstandynge Crowley Considerynge that menne of greate learuynge haue erred in thys youre laste article and haue wrytten greate volumes in the defenc of theyr erroures therein yea and that there be at thys daye manye and that mea of a feruente zeale to wardes the trueth that are of your opinion I can do no lesse but ●● deuoure wyth all diligence so farre as God shall assist me to set forth the true beleue of the diuine prescience and predestination Firste therfore it is to be confidered that as God is eternall without beg 〈◊〉 ende so is his prescience or for knoweledge also 〈◊〉 That is there neuer was nor shall finde wherin he hathe not or shal not knowe all things paste and to come then as though then w●●●styl presente Vpon thys 〈…〉 knoweledge he hath 〈…〉 all tymes predest●●ted appoynted before al thynges in heauē earth and heth that haue bene are or shal be And as hys prescrēce forknowledge is infallible cānot be deceiued to is his predestinatiō most certaine and can not be altered chan̄ged or letted in heuē earth or hel for al they are hys creatures and are at hys commaundement In whose power it is to rule altare and ch●●●ge to suffer and 〈…〉 strengthen and weaken all thynges at hys pleasure and when he doeth any of all these thynges he doeth it accordynge to hys prescience and predestmation nothyng altering nor chaunging the ordre of thynges whiche he hath by hys ●r●eknowledge and 〈◊〉 wrsoonte appoynted from the begynning thoughe it do sometyme seme vnto vs that tho●●●de our sy●●es God is 〈…〉 and 〈…〉 as in dede if he were 〈…〉 to our 〈◊〉 and 〈…〉 and as 〈…〉 it were not 〈…〉 our 〈◊〉 shoulde do it yet is he 〈…〉 For as the 〈◊〉 of tyme 〈◊〉 make hym eider one day then he is an other bycause tyme was not from the begynning wyth hym nor shal be wyth him to the ende but shall cease at the tyme appoynted and therfore hath no power ouer him as ouer al creatures euen so is he not subircte to anye maner alteration or chaung but is euer one and the same shewynge mercye vnto thousandes and plagyng the vessels of wrathe prepared therunto euen from the beginning and before the foundations of the worlde were layed These vessels of wrathe shall not escape the vengaunge prepared nor the vesselles of mercye be confounded God hath hys numbre appoynted and theyr names wrytten in the boke of lyfe who be so certaynely electe and chosen that it is not possible for them to Math .xxiiii. be seduced be they neuer so muche tempted stirred and prouoked for the almyghty hād of God theyr father shall alwayes susteine them and defend theyr weakenes frome the cruell rages of theyr enemies hys aduengynge spirites and shall brynge them salfe thorowe the stormye sens of thys world into the sure porte or hauen of death and then receyue them into the laude of pleasure incōparable there to reygne wyth hym for euer The other sorte whom he hath ordeyned the vesselles of wrathe he shall geue ouer to their enemies the deuil the world and their own flesh reserning thē to the day of wrath that thē the wrath wherunto they are prepared may be more

lawe to the contrarye I am sure For if there were they woulde not do it be ye sure for they knowe that the breach of euerye lawe is deadlye synne And where no lawe is there is no synne Wherefore if the lawe forbid them not to make such priestes they maye lawfullye make them and cōmit into theyr handes the benifices whiche they maye by the same libertie heape togither Thys church I ●aye you take for the church of Christe But for as muche as it bearethe not the badge of Christe that is to saye contempte of thys worlde doueyshe simplicitie serpente lyke wysdome humblenesof spirite babyshe submission longe sufferaunce mutuall loue towardes all men su● a●uynge of wronges distrust of them selues constaunte and sure trust in the merites of Christe the preachynge settynge forthe and confissynge of hys worde reiecting the fonde inuentions of men we can not but say They wente forthe from vs but they were not of ●s Yea that more is we are constrained to take them as they be in dede for Antichristes because we se thē wear the badges of the enemie of Christ in steade of the badges of Christ In stede of the con●ēpt of this world they haue put on vnsaciable desire as appeareth by the benifices they heape togither In steade of doueyshe simplicitie they haueput on vultours rauen●e as appeareth by the swifte suite they make vpō the simple preachers setters forth of Gods truth In steade of the serpētes prudēce they haue put on more then brutishe negligence sufferyng theyr sensuall appetities to leade theim captyue into al abhominations In stede of hūblenes of spirite they haue put on such haūt ues of hert as hath led them vp aboue Emperours and kynges In steade of babeishe submission they haue put on sturdye obstinacie as appeareth by the greate tumulties that they haue alwayes sterred vp to holde themselues out of the reach of Emperours and of Kynges In steade of longe sufferaunce they haue putte on swyfte reuenge●●uēt yea preuētion of treaspase as appeareth by the commissions that they haue purchased for the examination of certayne suspecte persons whome they haue by theyr subtyle circumuentions tra●ned into theyr snares and made awaye with the innocente membres of Christe In steade of vnfayned loue towards al men a cone●t priuie hatred toward al that be eyther hinderaunce or let to theyr mooste vaine glorye as appeareth by theyr persecutynge of those personnes that seke the 〈◊〉 of these thynges ●he abuse whero● is the ●pholdyng of theyr glory In stede of sustayning wrong● playne extortion and open bribourye as appeareth by theyr beaderolles masse pence and dirige grotes wyth other more then popeishe pillage In stede of distruste in them selues cōtempt of Goddes mercies as appeareth by the aboundaunce of merites that they haue continuallye solde to other In stede of the constāt trust in the merites of Christ distruste in the same as appeareth by the cōtinual sacrifice they offer for synne In stede of cōfessyng preachinge settyng forthe of Godes worde persecutynge of the confessours preachers and setters forthe of the same In stead of the reiectyng of mens inuentions the preferrynge of them before Goddes moste holy worde as appeareth by theyr shyton ceremonies whyche must take place ▪ whē Goddes moste holy word muste stande abacke Oh Shaxton here maiste thou beholde the Image of thy churche lyuelye counterfayted whoe maye as they are wycked ordeyne wyckedlye ministers for the vpholdeynge of theyr wyckednes But the true churche of Christe neyther doeth nor maye ordeyne anie other ministers then ministers of the Gospel If the Gospel therfore nede no such sacrificeyng priestes tel me thē howe the church of Christe may ordeine any such The Gospell sayeth that all sacrifice was ended in Christe sauyng onely the sacrifice of thākes geuinge whyche euery true christian muste continually offer vpon our aultare Christe in the tēple of hys owne her●e If the church therfore may ordeyne any ministers for any other purpose then to preache no doubte it muste neades be to supplye the rowme of Stephane And to supply that rowme they must be full of the holye Goste myghtye in good worckes able to confound the dispitfull enemies of the churche thoughe not by the gyfte of preachynge yet by the gyfte of exhortynge and myghtye declaration of the hope in Christe Iesu Such ministers doeth the church of Christ stand nede of that they baptisyng ministering sacramētes myght do all thinges of knowledge not of superstition declaryng also to the people the efficacie and strength of euery thing they minister that the people also might receiue their ministrations of knowledge not of superstitiō But to haue such a rout of reguler rutterkins some bellowinge in the quire some muttering at the aultare an other sortiettynge vp and down to wayte when my Ladie shal be readye to se a caste of theyr office If these be the priests of your church tel me whether they be the priests of Christ or not The Prophet O see sayeth in the person Osee .iiii. of God that he will refuse that prieste that refuseth vnderstandynge and such one shall be no lōger hys prieste Malachie sayeth also Mala .ii. that the lyppes of the prieste must be sure of knowledge that men maye seke the lawe at theyr mouth Then tel me whether christ wyll alowe thys rablement of rorynge bulles wyth the other iettynge gentylmen that knowe and professe none other lawe but the mooste blasphemouse statutes of that abhominable baude theyr whoreyshe mother of Rome But hearke what the Lorde sayeth of Osee .iiii. thys whoreyshe mother of yours I wyll brynge your mother sayeth he to scilence And whye Bycause my people peryshe for lacke of knowledge Nowe take youre pen in hande declare if you cā that these drone bees that swarme so thycke in euery church be not the priestes that the prophete speaketh of Declare that your mother the holye churche of Rome is not thys mother that shall be put to scilence If you can not denye but it is she and that these dombe doges you wot whō I meane be hyr chyldren then reuoke youre Article and saye wyth the christian congregation that the churche of Christe maye ordeyne no ministers but suche as be full of the holye Gost myghty both in word and operation Shaxton The .xi. Article PRiestes beynge once dedicate to God by the ordre of priestehod and al suche men and women as haue aduise dlye made vowes to God of chastitie or wyddowehod may not lawfully marye after their orders receyued or vowes made Crowley You seme in thys Article to assigne two impedimentes of mariage One the dedicaon vnto God by the receyuynge of the ordre of priestehode The other the vowe of chastitie aduisedlye made For the fyrste I woulde gladelye knowe of you wheiher it were not the same maner of dedication that was vsed amonge the Iewes in the tyme of Moyses lawe that you speake of