Selected quad for the lemma: mercy_n
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A20276
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A sermo[n] preached before the Quenes Maiestie, By Maister Edward Dering, the. 25. day of February. Anno. 1569; Sermon preached before the Quenes Majestie
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Dering, Edward, 1540?-1576.
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1569
(1569)
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STC 6699; ESTC S113502
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20,738
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44
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when to reforme religion he sent forth Leuits into the coastes of Israel Thus did Ezechias at the entraunce of his kingdome when this was his first care how the Leuites might be prouided for But of al other Moyses who had receiued the commaundement of God hym selfe as appeareth did especiallye sée what was the necessitie of the Minister In the. 33 of Deuteronomie a little before his death thus he maketh his praier Let thy Vrim Thumim be with thy holy one whom thou diddest proue in Masah and didst cause him to serue at the waters of Meribah who sayde vnto his father and to his mother I haue not sene them neither knoweth he his brethren nor yet his own children but they obserued thy woord and kept thy couenaunt They shall teach Iacob thy iudgementes and Israel thy law They shall put insense before thy face and burnt offeryng vpon thyne aulter Blesse O Lord his substaunce and accept the worke of his hands Smite through the loines of them that ryse vp against him and of them that hate him that they rise not vp agayne Marke I besethe you both his great care how the Leuites might prosper and his notable describing of them what manâ—…r of men they shal be First he praieth that true knowledge and vnderstanding be neuer remoued froÌ„ them that their affection towards Gods Sanctuarie may be such that neither father nor mother wife nor children do keepe them backe from obedience to the lawe and couenaunt O that our Ministers were suche as Moyses praied for then no doubt God would blesse them according to their request and coÌ„found their aduersaries that rise vp against them And here also marke his great zeale for their prosperitie He was the pacientest man and had the miledest nature of all the people of Israel yet could he not suppres his good and great affection but brake out into these wordes Smite through the loynes of them that rise vp against him of them that hate hym that they ryse not vp agayne O Lord if Moyses had liued in our dayes and seue this adulterous generation that so spoileth the Leuites how woulde his zeale haue bene inflamed against them He would haue cried out as good Nehemias cried Plage them O Lord that defile thy Priesthood And good were it for these synful men that God would send his plagues vpon them while yet they haue time to repent Now we want a Moises to pray for their punishmeÌ„t for they sleepe in their sinnes and God I feare hath reserued them to a greater punishment The Lord graunt vs grace to remember the latter end and now looke while it is yet time to the good order of the Ministerie When God â—…sed to establish his mercies with his Church he promised thus as the greatest token of his loue I wil geue you Pastors according to my hart that shal feede you wyth knowledge and vnderstanding When he would haue them haue sure hope that he was their God and they were his people he said he would geue them Leuites that should teach his people the diâ—…erence betwene the holye and the prophane betwene the vncleane the cleane he promised them this as a perpetual couenaunt The lyps of the Priest shall keepe knowledge and they shall seeke the Law from his mouth For he is the Messenger of the Lord of hostes And this was the charge that God gaue straightly vnto the Priesthood That they should tell hys people of their synnes and the house of Iacob their offences A miserable common wealth muâ—…t needes be and farre seperated from God and his mercies that hath blynde leaders who cannot leade them selues Who so feareth the Lord wyll surely looke vnto it that he mayntaine no suche â—…es within his kingdome nor nourish any suche sores in the body of his country If a man be once called to the Ministerye let him attend vpon his slâ—…ke and feede them as his duty bindeth him with the â—…de of life or let him be remoued Christ sayde Paâ—…ce pasce pasce Feede feede feede This charge he hath geuen euen as we loue him so to see it executed Say what we wyl say and the more we say it the more impudently we shal lye if we say we loue him while we keepe not his commaundementes Would to God we were wise to vnderstand it Christ said they are the salt of the earth what shall be done with them if they can season nothing Christ said they are the light of the world and what heape of miseries shal they bring with them if they them selues be darke Christ said they be the watchmen and what case shal the City be in if they do nothing but sleepe and delight in sleeping Who seeth not these inâ—…e sicknesses that can sée anye thing They aâ—… the Pastors and how hungrie must the flocâ—… bee when they haue no foode to geue themâ—… They ar the teachers and how great is their ignoraunce where they them selues knowâ—… nothing They are the Euangelistes or Messengers of glad ridings how little hope haâ—… they and what slender faith whose Messengers cannot tel what the Lord saith The Lord enlarge within your Maiestie the bowels of mercy that you may once hauâ—… pitie vpon your poore Subiectes This cogitation made Paule say to Timothie a paynful Father vnto a careful Childe I charge thee before God and before the Lorde Iesus Christ that shall iudge the quicke and dead at his appearance in his kingdom preach the word be instant in season and out of season reproue rebuke exhort c. Of al miseries wherwith the Church is gréeued nohe is greater then this that her Ministers be ignorant and can say nothing What coulde Ieroboam do more then this to strengthen al his Idolatrie then to make hym Priestes of the lowest of the people What coulde haue made Asa being otherwise religious so soone to haue turned away froÌ„ the seruice of God sauing onely he suffred his people to be without a Priest which could teach theÌ„ the woord of God What plage did God threaten greaâ—…er against a rebellious people then that he would take from them their true Prophetes When were the peoples syns so ripe to proâ—…ure vengeaunce as when their Preachers were dum Dogs and could not barcke And what I beseche you is our condition the betâ—…er Or what bee manye Ministers of our time and country other then dumme Dogs Surely as Ahijah said of the people of Israel so we may saye of our Ministers Haue we not made vs Priestes like the people of our countrie Who so euer coÌ„meth to consecrate with a yong Bullocke and seuen Rams the same maye be a Priest for them that are no Gods And so surelye if wee serued Baal a great number of our Priests at this day wer tollerable but if we serue the Lord what do they with that function they cannot skyll of Let them returne againe to
¶ A SermoÌ„ preached before the Quenes Maiestie By Maister Edward Dering the .25 day of February Anno .1569 ¶ Imprinted at London by Iohn Awdely ¶ A Sermon preached before the Queenes Maiestie by Maister Edward Deryng 1569. ¶ O Lord open thou my lyps and my mouth shall shewe forth thy prayse PSALME 78. 70. ¶ He chose Dauid his seruaunt also tooke hym from the shepefoldes euen from behinde the Ewes great with yong tooke he hym to feede his people in Iacob his inheritance in Israel So he fed theÌ„ accordyng to the simplicity of his hart guided them by discretion of hys handes THe Prophet declareth in this Psalme howe God of his iustice for the great syn of Ephraim tooke from that Tribe both the Tahernacle and the Scepter gaue them to the tribe of Iuda whom then according to his mercy he had purposed to blesse with al pefect happynes In which we learne not to abuse Gods mercies least they be taken away from vs as froÌ„ the tribe of Ephraim they were And then what helpeth it vs that in times past we haue bene happy And least this should happen also vnto the tribe of Iuda to fal from Gods mercies into hys displeasure the prophet in this place stirreth them vp to thankfulnes that they might be found worthy to haue continued toward theÌ„ so great blessinges And this he doth by example of Dauid in shewing both how mercifully God had delt with him and how obediently Dauid walked before the Lord. And herein he vseth as it were thrée reasoÌ„s to moue them withall The first is of Gods great mercye whence he had called Dauid The seconde is of Gods intent and purpose whereunto he called him The third of Dauids own person how faithfully how truly he did execute that wherunto he was called The first argument or reason he comprehendeth in these wordes He chose Dauid hys seruant tooke hym from the Shepefolds The second in these wordes He chose hym to feede hys people in Iacob his inheritaÌ„ce in Israel The third in these wordes So he fed them according to the simplicitie of hys hart and guided them with the discretion of his handes These argumentes wil I speake of as God shall geue me vtteraunce And if they shalbe now more effectual to moue vs then they were then to moue the people of Israel then be we profitable happy hearers If not it is good right and reason that as we haue bene in the fellowship of the same sinne and iniquitie so we shoulde be partakers of the same reward punishment that if God shal so deale with vs that we loose againe both the Tabernacle the Scepter as they haue done before vs we can say no other but the Lord is righteous and behold we haue eaten the fruit of our own labours Let vs therefore consider of these argumentes and styrre vp as we may the gift of God that is in vs that at length we may learne by them more holy obedience The first argument is the good consideratioÌ„ of Gods mercies whence he called Dauid Which argument alone is so effectuall and strong to styr vs vp to the obedience of our calling that it is able ynough to rayse vs againe though we were neuer so deepe soonken in rebellion A sure proofe of the efficacie of it may be vnto vs the oft continual vse of it in the sacred scriptures For seyng that Gods spirit in his holy word doth so oft aply it both as a helpe to confirme the godly and as a present remedy to turn againe the most obdurat and wylfull synner from hys obstinate purpose surely except al the dewes of gods mercies be marueilously dryed vp in our barren hartes the same argument if we can well thinke of it wyl be effectuall in vs to woorke our regeneration in the newnes of lyfe 〈◊〉 God would haue Abraham to forget his coun try and hys fathers house to go that long and weary iourney into the land of promise wher he and his posterity should dwel after him hâ—… conâ—…med him wâ—…th thys saying I am the Lord thy God which brought thee out of Vâ—… of the Chaldeans By this remâ—…brance of hys former benefits he perswaded Abraham to aduenture al that he presently enioyed vpâ—… hope of a better promise which yet he had noâ—… sene but which should be fulfilled When God would moue the children of Abraham that is the children of Israel to turne againe from their great iniquites that they has so long practised in the hardnes of their hart he vseth but this argument to tel them of all the miseries that they were borne in their country to be a cursed country their fathers idolaters themselues geuen ouer to al voluptuousnes and pleasure not regarding God nor seking his religion In which woful estate when the Lord God did behold them he pitied their misery said euen then vnto theÌ„ You shal liue By which promise their former wo vanished away and in stede of nakednes they were clothed with broidred worke they wer couered with siue silke deâ—…ked with â—…ny ornaments had a crowne of beuty vpon their heades Now therfore that they should not walke in their own waies or coÌ„mit Idolatry as other Gentiles did nor treade such benefits vnder their féete this argument as a strong medecine the Prophet repeated often and with many wordes Thus God delt oft with the Kings of Israel and of Iuda when they began to fall away walke as others nations walked that were rounde about them He called them back by putting theÌ„ oft in mynde how hys mercy had bene with them and from what low estate he had raysed them up Thus the Prophets of God delt often wyth the people Iosua when he had brought them into the laÌ„d of Chanaan to the end they might feare God and so make theyr dwelling sure he made vnto them a loÌ„g repetition of Gods benefites that by remembraunce of them theyr dull spirites might be styrred vp the more obedientlye to followe God Samuel when he was afraid of Gods heauy displeasure towards the people of Israell because they had asked a king for them to thâ—…nd they might turne a way Gods anger from them by their spéedy repentaunce he tolde them what God had before done for them as a ready way to make them beware afterward how they did willynglyâ—…â—…end so louing a father Steuen when he woulde haue perswaded those whose iniquitye was now growen to so ful measure that they haâ—… crucified Christ as though in this alonè were the greatest hope of amendement he chose no other way to coÌ„uert them but this to show in long exhortation what God had done for theÌ„ for their fathers And this as in the beginning it was geuen by the holy Ghost to man as a soueraygne medecine to keepe him far from vnthankfulnes so it hath bene continu ed by the same spirit