Selected quad for the lemma: mercy_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
mercy_n	heart_n	keep_v	minister_n	2,849	5	9.2045	5	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A51311	A plain and continued exposition of the several prophecies or divine visions of the prophet Daniel which have or may concern the people of God, whether Jew or Christian : whereunto is annexed a threefold appendage touching three main points, the first relating to Daniel, the other two to the Apocalypse / by Henry More ...	More, Henry, 1614-1687.	1681 (1681)	Wing M2673; ESTC R5104	236,862	422

of Ierusalem and then relaxate their Captivity and observing also that Cyrus had now appeared and cut off the race of Nebuchadnezzar and reckoning from the time of his own Captivity and the beginning of the Reign of the Kings of Babylon he did rationally conceive hopes that the day of their deliverance was now nigh at hand and accordingly he betook himself to his devotions to hasten it as follows 3. And I set my Face unto the Lord God viz. Toward the Temple at Ierusalem as he did Ch. 6. v. 10. which is a demonstration it is no Idolatry to direct a Mans devotions towards one certain place To seek by Prayer and Supplication with Fasting and Sackcloth and Ashes Not lazily expecting as if because God had once promised he would be faithfull and be sure to perform it let us behave our selves as we will but preparing himself for I look upon him as the Representative here of all the people of the Iews by earnest Prayer hearty Repentance and sincere Humiliation and fitting himself thus to receive so great a mercy and blessing Which singular piety of Daniel all those that wait for the deliverance of God's people from the Captivity of the Mystical Babylon should set themselves faithfully and conscientiously to imitate and break off their sins by Repentance and make it their business that the Man of Sin may be slain in themselves and the Spirit of everlasting Righteousness and holy Love be raised in them and then will it come to pass that even the external Antichrist will be consumed by the breath of Christ's mouth and by the brightness of his appearing Not by might that is not by an Army nor by power but by my Spirit saith the Lord of Hosts This was the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel Zach. 4. 6. No force nor rebellion becomes the people of God in their Captivity under the King of Babylon as Ieremy also inculcates unto them But they are patiently to wait till some good Prince like Cyrus moved by the good Spirit of God and their own good behaviour do relaxate their Captivity in the mean time they are to be obedient to the Supreme Magistrate in all Secular matters but as for their Religion to be as firm in it as Daniel and the Three Children 4. And I prayed unto the Lord my God and made my Confession and said O Lord the great and dreadfull God Which expressions shew with what fear and reverence we are to make our addresses to him and that from our very heart and inward sense not in words and composed looks only Kéeping the Covenant and mercy that is The mercifull Promise in particular of redeeming thy People from the Babylonian bondage To them that love him and to them that kéep his Commandments i.e. If we were fitted for so great a blessing by unfeigned Love and Obedience to him 5. But We have sinned and have committed iniquity The whole Prayer and Confession following is plain of it self and wants no interpretation only we may observe from the very form We have sinned c. that Daniel here sustains a publick Person and represents the whole Body of the Iews as I noted before we will pass therefore to the Twentieth Verse 20. And whiles I was speaking and praying and confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel This passage also shews that Daniel in his Prayer represented the whole Body of the people of the Iews Which he did certainly with the profoundest humility and the purest sincerity conceivable as all such addresses in such like circumstances are to be made And presenting my Supplications before the Lord my God for the Holy Mountain of my God that is For the restoring of the exercise of their Religion to the Iews and the rebuilding of the Temple 21. Yea whiles I was speaking in Prayer even the man Gabriel viz. The Angel Gabriel in humane shape Behold the efficacy of humble earnest and sincere Devotion that by a kind of Divine Magick does attract unto the Supplicant not only the gracious illapses of the Holy Spirit within but also the external and visible converse of Angels Whom I had seen in the Uision at the beginning namely at Susa near the River Vlai or Vlaeus Ch. 8. v. 16. Being caused to fly swiftly As if Angels were winged Creatures But they are so described only to signifie the speed of their ministry Touched me about the time of the Evening oblation that is About the Ninth hour of the day the time heretofore while the Temple stood allotted for Sacrifices and now the Temple was down it was made choice of by the Iews for the time of Prayer which is a more Spiritual sacrifice 22. And he informed me and talked with me and said O Daniel I am now come forth to give thée skill and understanding namely Touching his People Religion and Temple for which he was concerned with so much zeal and earnestness 23. At the beginning of the Supplications the Commandment came forth Thou hadst no sooner set thy Face to seek God in behalf of thy People thy Religion and the Holy Mountain but it was given to me in charge to come unto thee And I am come to shew thée Not only how Cyr●…s King of Persia will relaxate your Captivity but how the Messias the true Shepherd of Israel will come to relaxate his people from the Captivity of Sin and Satan For thou art greatly beloved That is one sense of the Hebrew Text which verbatim is Thou art a man of desires which may signifie as well actively as passively and denote the earnestness of his Spirit in matters that concerned the glory of God and the welfare of his People Which holy desire is as I said a certain Divine Magick of the soul to attract the influences of the Spirit of God and the ministry of Angels Therefore understand the matter and consider the Uision viz. This Prophecy here ensuing of the Seventy Weeks which is expresly called a Vision in such a general notion as Prophets are called Seers It is Grotius his note upon the Text Nam ut Prophetae Videntes ita omne Prophetiae genus quocunque modo ●…omini innotescat Visio dicitur Which Vision of Daniel considered well it does more than abundantly answer the Scope of his Prayers which concerned only the relaxation of the Babylonish Captivity for which they obtained a Decree in the very first year of the Reign of Cyrus But in the ensuing Vision as it is called there is granted them the injoyment of their Religion and Laws for the space of about Five hundred years and the promise of the coming of their Messias for greater purposes than were otherwise ever designed for the People of God This might Daniel collect by understanding the matter and considering the ensuing Vision which is this 24. Seventy Wéeks That Seventy Weeks of years are understood and that it is as much as if he should have said 490 years all Interpreters are agreed

Moses there was sent to them 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 an old man of Athens a venerable Sophist I warrant you to give them to understand that this Image which they were so affrighted with was but the Image of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Iupiter Olympius that is of the God of Heaven Olympus signifying Heaven with them and Zeus that God which according to the notation of his name is the living God and gives life and motion to all things and that their very Law or Scripture calls their God the God of Heaven also so that they will worship but the same God still and thus the whole Kingdom of Antiochus will be of one Catholick Religion the Iews joyning with the rest in the same worship Which will be much for the honour safety and peace of Antiochus his Kingdome And as for the worshiping of the Image would that reverend Sophist say that we directing our intention aright the worship of the Type passes to the Prototype and that we do not give divine worship to the Image but such as it is capable of nor to the rest of the Inferiour Gods whose Altars might be set in other parts of Iudea but such is meant to them as they are capable of and no more At which grave Harangue of this old Greek the Apostate party might find themselves much edified and it may be others drawn in but the sounder sort it 's likely would cry out To the Law and to the Testimony and that those that spoke not according to that word there was no light in them And certainly it is most safe to hold to the plain and obvious sense of that Doctrine which is delivered by Inspiration And the like just and safe appeal there is of the reformed Churches to Scripture given by Divine Revelation in the plain and apert sense thereof against the Church of Rome But by the Sophistry of that old Athenian if they will listen to his deceitfull speeches they may be seduced to worship not onely Iupiter Olympius but Pluto also and all the Fiends of Hell with their most deformed and affrightfull Images such as the Indians Idols are in reference to that great and terrible God as he is in judgment as well as infinitely sweet and alluring in mercy under pretence of their being the ministers of his wrath and that we intend no higher worship to them than is due Wherefore the worship of God is the most safely bounded by his own inspired word not by the humour some or fraudulent and self-interessed prescripts of men or by their subtile and perverse Interpretations of Holy Writ which is abundantly plain in any thing of moment touching Divine worship But now for this Idol of Iupiter Olympius its proving an Abomination of desolation it was so in that it caused the Temple to be left desolate and deserted of all good men driving them into secret places wheresoever they could fly for shelter and it is said 1 Macc. 4. 37. How the Sanctuary was desolate and shrubbs grew in the Courts as in a Forrest or one of the mountains 32. And such as do wickedly against the Covenant shall he corrupt with flatteries Eos qui sacerdotium sayes Grotius contra legem nundinati sunt blandimentis eò perducet ut ad Idololatriam conniveant Those that had merchandized and given money for the High Priesthood contrary to the law by fair insinuations and flatteries he would further persuade to comply with his Idolatrous designs Where we may observe Earthly-mindedness Covetousness and Ambition in the Priesthood what an occasion it is of and what a prop to Idolatry and the corrupting the worship of God But the people that do know their God Calvin well upon this place says Cognitio autem hîc non tantundem valet ac frigida Imaginatio sed accipitur pro fide quae radicem vivam egit in cordibus This knowledge says he of God is no frigid Imagination but is Faith that has a living root in the heart which implies a purity there from whence all firm assurance of knowledg in Divine matters doth arise And that is pitifull knowledg indeed that has not firm assurance For how can we be said to know what we are not assured of that it is true It is vain Imagination and conceit but not knowledg such as a man will adventure any thing upon And hence it is that men crumple so in persecution in that they do not know God with any assurance their hearts being not purified sufficiently for such a kind of knowledg and real sense of God as it were according to that saying of our Saviour Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God and act always as in his sight and presence which will give them invincible courage and fortitude whiles they are assured that He looks on in whom they trust and for whom they suffer and who will plenteously reward their fidelity to him Shall be strong and doe exploits that is by the strength and power of God and by Faith in his assistance they will not be forced through the threats of mortal men be they never so great and potent to forsake the law of God or to relinquish their loyalty to him who brings these persecutions on his people on purpose to try them Wherefore if they prove faithless and disloyal to him the note of condemnation is branded upon their own consciences whereby it shall be either enraged with everlasting disquietness or hardened into eternal deadness and stupidity Which is a sad thing and worth our serious consideration But as for the fullfilling of this Prophecy touching the exploits they doe that truly know God and are not mere sons of talk and Imagination besides both the Books of the Maccabees Iosephus also witnesses to it lib. 12. cap. 7. where he says though many of the Iews partly of their own accord and partly to avoid the punishment threatned by King Antiochus to them that disobeyed his command which command was to disobey Moses and embrace Gentilism they submitted to what he decreed 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which are here the people that knew God they listened not to him but had more regard to the Law of God than to the threats of King Antiochus against those that Disobeyed his Decree and accordingly they endured murders and tortures rather than they would forsake the law of God Which is a lively Type of the sufferings of Gods people under Antichrist for adhering closely to the law and will of Christ and avoiding that Pagan-like worship of Idols that Antichrist has introduced into the Church of God 33. And they that understand among the people shall instruct many These that understand among the people are those that before were said to know their God from such a principle of life in their heart and not in dry Imaginative opinion These therefore being assured of the truth whether Priests or Lay-men instructed many For so Gasper Sanctius says Hi vero non sunt