Selected quad for the lemma: mercy_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
mercy_n	prepare_v	vessel_n	wrath_n	3,005	5	9.3678	5	false

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

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

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

plētuously poured out vpon thē wherby the mercy shewed to the other appeareth more abounda●●t This is the true beliefe of the presoience and dest●●atiō of God groūded vpō the scriptures as shall hereafter appeare Nowe as cōcerning your Article You graunt that the prescience predestinatiō of God be infallible that is that God doth so certainlye knowe before predestinate thynges that they cānot otherwise chaunce thē he knoweth hath appointed yet you deny the necessarye cōsequēce whiche is that al thinges are done of necessitie ge●●nge man power to vse the libertie of his owne wyll and choise If you leaue the scripture in this matter sticke vnto arte I woulde haue you shewe by your arte how you cā graunt this Anticedēt and deny the Argumēt What so euer God forseeth predestinateth must necessarily come to pas for his presciēce predestinatiō are infallible But he forseeth predestinateth al thinges Ergo al thinges muste come to passe of necessitie The maior you haue graunted in your Article If you will deny the minor I shall not sticke to proue it by manifest scriptures And then I reporte me to all Arcitoures what I maye conclud Euen that al thinges are done of necessitie And consequently that man hath no such power as you would gene hym to vse fre libertie of hys wyll choyse Nowe to proue the minor that God forseeth and predestinateth al thinges I thinke ther is none that hath so ●rreuerēte an opinion of the Godheade that he woulde once thynke that God shoulde not alwayes se all thynges be they paste presente or to come euē as they were styl presēt But if any man wyl be so beastly let the same heate the psal who saieth Lord thou hast proued me halt ●sal .cxxxviii knowē me Thou hast knowē my down sittynge and myne vprpseynge Thou vnderstodeste my thoughtes longe senee Thou hast searched my path and my couch round aboute and hast forsene also my wayes For loe ther is not a word in my mouth behold thou hast knowen althynges c. None therfore wyll denye the prescience of God to be suche that he seeth al thynges as present be they past or to come Then remayneth onely thys thyng That we proue by the scriptures that he hath also predestinated and appoynted before howé all thyngee shal be done euen tyll after the ende of al tyme. Whyche thynge shal be easye to do if we maye fyrste proue that such thynges as be already past were done by hys appoynsrent and predestination I myght be short saye that for asmuche as God sawe befoe● what ishue and ende all thynges shoulde come to and dyd vpon that forknowledge create them and appoint them to be in theyr tymes by hym appoynted he dyd also in thys creation predestinate theym to the pshue and ende that they be or shall come to But bycause I wyll not barelye affirme that whyche you denye wythoute any testimonie of scripture to beare me I wyll firste begynne wyth the fyrste man of whome is written in Genesis and descend to this time pronyng by the scriptures that such thinges as haue beene done hythereto haue bene so predestinated and appoynted of God that they could not be altered or lefte vndone And bycause the greateste contention riseth aboute the predestination vnto euyll that most men thyake it impietie to say that God who is mercifull and iuste shoulde predestmate anye man to be wycked I wyll take suche examples chiefelye as do proue that the mooste wycked persons that haue bene were of god appoynted to be wicked euē as they were and that he neuertheles remaineth both mercifull and iuste Fyrste of all therefore let vs consider Adam the fyrst man whether he were predestinated of God to eate of the forboden fruite and so to make him selfe and all his posteritie the childrē of damnation and the enemies of God or not The frewil men wyl saie no. And for their assertion they bring a scripture Ecle .xv. and that is this God made man from the beginnynge and left him in the hande of his counsell He game him hys commaundementes and preceptes If thou wylt obserue the commaundementes and kepe acceptable fayethfulnes for euer they shall preserue the He hath let water fire before the reach out thine hād to which thou wilt Before man is 〈…〉 But bicause I perceiue that the whole boke is none other but a certayne wholsome doctrine pathered oute of the bokes of the lawe and grophetes I am persuaded that the spirite of God was hys leader in the wrytinge hereof And therefore I dare not reiect it as no scripture but wyll wyth al re●e●ēt feate seke an interpretation whyche maye declare the wryters meaning to agre wyth the doctrine of the prophetes and Apostles Let vs therfore scanne hys wordes with indifferent iudgement Fyrst he saieth that God made man and lefte hym in the power of hys own councel 〈…〉 that Moyses hath in the .xi. and xxx Deute Wher are blessinges promised to them that kepe the cōmaundementes plages threatened to the trannsgressours And he sayeth Before man is set lyfe and deathe good and euyll Loke what hym liketh shall be geuen vnto hym If these wordes do set man at libertie to chose wether he wyll keepe the cōmaundemente or not then tell me how they agre wy●h that whyche foloweth He hathe cōmaunded no man to do vngodly neyther hath he geuen anye man leaue to synne We must vnderstand therefore that the sonne of Sorach entendeth not to teache that man of his owne strength is able to chose good and leaue euyll but that thorow oute the whole lawe and prophetes there is no commaundemente to do euyll neyther anye libertie of sinne geuē To thē that obserue the cōmaun dementes are promised blessynges and to the tra●●sgressours are threatened plages Then is it sayed vnto man To whych thou wyl● strech out thy hande what soeuer thou likest shal be geuen vnto the. As though he should haue sayed Loe thou vnderstandeste what is good and what is euyl Thou seest that the blessynges promised to the obseruers of the cōmaundementes are good and the plages threatened to the cōtrary are euil If thou be led of the spirite therefore so that thou delite in the obseruation of Gods commaundementes then stretch out thy hand to the blessyngs they shal be geuen vnto the. But if thou be led of the fleshe so that thou delite in the traunsgression of Goddes cōmaundementes thē stretche out thy hand to the plages for they shall be geuen vnto the. This is the true meanynge of this place For neyther Moyses nor thys Iesus went about to establyshe any power of mans free wyll but theyr entente was to set forthe the iustice of God whych is to rewarde the spirituall hys electe wyth the blessynges promised the fleshlynges the reprobate with the plages thretned Otherwyse if these wordes shoulde sette man at libertie to synne or not to synne