Selected quad for the lemma: justice_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
justice_n	law_n	peace_n	statute_n	3,455	5	7.8676	4	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A03519	Certayne sermons, or homelies appoynted by the kynges Maiestie, to be declared and redde, by all persones, vicars, or curates, euery Sondaye in their churches, where they haue cure. Anno 1547.; Certain sermons or homilies appointed to be read in churches. Book 1.	Cranmer, Thomas, 1489-1556.; Church of England.	1547 (1547)	STC 13640; ESTC S110029	106,479	184

to it Thus it is declared vnto you what true charitie or christiā loue is so plainly y t no mā nede to be deceiued Which loue whosoeuer kepeth not only towardes God whō he is boūd to loue aboue al thinges but also towardes his neighbor aswel frēd as foe it shal surely kepe him frō al offence of God iust offēce of mā Therfore beare well awai this one short lessō y t by true christiā charitie God ought to be loued aboue all thinges all men ought to be loued good euill frend and foo to all suche we ought as we maye to do good those that be good of loue to encourage and cherish because they be good and those that be euill of loue to procure their correctiō and due punishment that thei may therby either be brought to goodnes or at the leaste y t God and the common wealth may be the lesse hurt and offended And if we thus direct our life by christian loue and charitie then Christ doth promise assure vs that he loueth vs that we be the children of our heauenly father reconciled to hys fauor very membres of Christ and that after this short time of this present and mortall life we shal haue with hym eternal lyfe in his euerlastynge kyngdom of heauen therfore to hym with the father and the holy ghost be al honor and glory now and euer Amen ¶ Against swearyng and periury ALmightie God to the intēt his moste holy name should be had in honor euermore be magnified of the people commaundeth that no man shoulde take hys name vainly in his mouth threatenyng punishmente vnto hym that vnreuerently abuseth it by swearyng forswearyng and blasphemy To the intent therfore that thys commaundemente maye be the better knowen and kepte it shalbe declared vnto you bothe howe it is lawfull for christian people to sweare and also what perill and daunger it is vainly to sweare or to be forsworne Firste whē Iudges require othes of the people for declaracion of the truth or for execucion of iustice thys maner of swearynge is lawfull Also when men make faythfull promises with attestacion of the name of God to obserue couenaūtes honest promises statutes lawes and good customes as Christian princes do in their conclusiōs of peace for conseruacion of common wealthes priuate persones promyse their fidelitie in Matrimonie or one to another in honeste and true frendshippe and al men when they do sweare to kepe cōmon lawes or locall statutes and good customes for due ordre to be had and contynued emōg men when subiectes do sweare to be true and faythefull to their Kynge and souereygne Lorde and when Iudges Magistrates and officers sweare truely to execute their offices and when a man woulde affirme the trueth to the settynge furthe of Gods glory for the saluacion of the people in open preachynge of the Gospell or in geuyng of good counsayll priuately for their soules health All these maner of swearynges for causes necessary and honest be lawfull But when men do sweare of custome in reasonynge biyng and sellynge or other daily communicacion as many be common and greate swearers suche kynde of swearyng is vngodly vnlawefull and prohibited by the cōmaundement of God For suche swearyng is nothyng els but takynge of Gods holy name in vayn And here is to be noted that lawfull swearynge is not forbidden but commaunded of almightie God For we haue examples of Christ and Godly men in holy scripture that did sweare themselfes and required othes of other likewise And Gods commaundement is Thou shalte dreade thy Lorde God and shalt sweare by hys name And almighty God by his prophet Dauid sayeth all men shalbe praysed that sweare by hym Thus did oure sauior Christe sweare diuerse tymes saiyng verely verely And S. Paule sweareth thus I call God to witnesse And Abraham waxyng olde required an othe of hys seruaunt that he shoulde procure a wyfe for his sonne Isaac whiche should come of his awne kyndred and the seruaunt did sweare that he would perfourme hys Masters will Abraham also beynge required dyd sweare vnto Abimelech the king of Geraris that he should not hurte hym nor his posteritie And so likewyse did Abimelech sweare vnto Abraham And Dauid did sweare to be and continue a faithfull frende to Ionathas and Ionathas did sweare to become a faithfull frende vnto Dauid Also God once commaunded that if a thynge were laied to pledge to any man or left with him to kepe if thesame thing wer stolne or lost that the keper therof should be sworne before Iudges that he did not cōuey it away nor vsed any deceipt in causyng thesame to be conueyed away by hys cōsent or knowledge And s. Paule saieth that in al matters of controuersy betwene two persones whereas one saieth yea and the other nay so as no due profe can be had of the truthe the ende of euery suche controuersy muste be an othe ministered by a Iudge And moreouer God by the prophet Ieremy saieth thou shalt sweare the Lord liueth in truth in iudgemēt in righteousnesse So that whosoeuer sweareth whē he is required of a Iudge let hym be sure in his cōscience that hys othe haue these thre condicions he shall neuer nede to be afraied of periurie First he that sweareth must sweare truly that is he muste secludynge all fauor and affeccion to the parties haue the truthe onely before hys eyes and for loue thereof saye and speake that which he knoweth to be truth and no further The seconde is he that taketh an othe must do it with iudgemente not rasshely and vnaduisedly but soberly considerynge what an othe is The thyrde is he that sweareth muste sweare in righteousnesse that is for the very zeale and loue which he beareth to the defence of innocency to the maintenaunce of the truth and to y e righteousnes of the matter or cause all profite disprofite all loue and fauor vnto the persone for frendship or kyndred layed a parte Thus an othe if it haue with it these thre condicions is a parte of Gods glory whiche we are bounde by his commaundement to geue vnto hym For he willeth that we shall sweare onely by his name not that he hath pleasure in oure othes but like as he commaunded the Iewes to offre sacrifices vnto hym not for any delight that he had in theim but to kepe the Iewes from committyng of Idolatrie so he commaūdyng vs to sweare by his holy name doth not teache vs that he delighteth in swearyng but he thereby forbiddeth all men to geue his glory to any creature in heauen yearth or water Hetherto you se that othes lawfull are commaunded of God vsed of Patriarches and Prophetes of Christe hymself and of his Apostle Paule Therefore Christian people muste thinke lawful othes bothe godly and necessary For lawfull promises and couenauntes confirmed by by othes Princes and their countreys are confirmed in

raunsome for what is it els to go freely then to bee set at libertie without paiment of raunsome This reason is satisfied by the greate wisedome of God in this mistery of our redempciō who hath so tempered his iustice and mercie together that he would neither by his iustice condempne vs vnto the perpetuall captiuitie of the deuill and his prison of hel remediles for euer without mercie nor by his mercy deliuer vs clerely without iustice or paiment of a iust raunsome but with his endlesse mercie he ioyned his moste vpright and equall iustice His greate mercy he shewed vnto vs in deliueryng vs from our former captiuitie without requiryng of any raunsom to be paied or amēdes to be made vpon our partes whiche thyng by vs had been impossible to bee doen. And where as it laie not in vs that to do he prouided a raunsome for vs that was the moste precious body bloud of his awne moste dere and best beloued sonne Iesu Christe who besides his raunsom fulfilled the lawe for vs perfectly And so the iustice of God his mercie did embrace together and fulfilled the mistery of our redempcion And of this iustice and mercie of God knit together speaketh saincte Paule in the .iii. Chapiter to the Romans al haue offended and haue nede of the glory of God iustified frely by his grace by redempcion whiche is in Iesu Christ whom God hath set furth to vs for a reconciler peace maker through faith in his bloud to shewe his righteousnesse And in the .x. Chapiter Christ is the ende of the law vnto righteousnes to euery man that beleueth And in the .viii. Chapi that whiche was impossible by the lawe in asmuche as it was weake by the flesh God sendyng his awne sonne in the similitude of synfull fleshe by synne dampned synne in the fleshe that the righteousnesse of the lawe might be fulfilled in vs which walke not after the flesh but after the spirite In these foresaied places the Apostle toucheth specially three thynges whiche muste concurre and go together in our iustificacion Upon Gods part his greate mercie and grace vpon Christes parte iustice that is the satisfaccion of gods iustice or the price of our redempcion by the offryng of his body and shedyng of his bloud with fulfillyng of y e law perfectly throughly and vpon our part true and liuely faithe in the merites of Iesu Christe whiche yet is not oures but by Gods workyng in vs. So that in our iustificacion is not onely Gods mercie and grace but also his iustice whiche the Apostle calleth the iustice of God and it cōsisteth in paiyng our raunsome and fulfillyng of the lawe and so the grace of God doth not exclude y e iustice of God in oure iustificacion but onely excludeth the iustice of man that is to saie the iustice of our woorkes as to be merites of deseruyng our iustificaciō And therefore sainct Paule declareth here nothyng vpon the behalf of man concernyng his iustificaciō but onely a true and liuely faith whiche neuertheles is the gift of God and not mannes onely worke without God And yet that faithe dooth not exclude repentaunce hope loue dread and the feare of God to be ioyned with faithe in euery mā that is iustified but it excludeth thē frō the office of iustifiyng So that although thei be all present together in hym that is iustified yet thei iustifie not all together Nor that faithe also doth not exclude the iustice of oure good workes necessarily to bee doen afterward of duetie towardes God for wee are moste bounden to serue God in doyng good deedes commaunded by hym in his holy scripture all the daies of oure life But it excludeth theim so that we maie not doo theim to this intent to be made good by doyng of them For all the good workes that we can do bee vnperfecte and therfore not able to deserue our iustificaciō but our iustificacion dooth come frely by the mere mer●ie of GOD and of so greate and free mercie that whereas all the worlde was not able of their selfes to paye any parte towardes their raunsome it pleased our heauenly father of his infinite mercie without any our deserte or deseruyng to prepare for vs the mooste precious iewelles of Christes body and bloud wherby our raunsome might be fully paied the lawe fulfilled and his iustice fully satisfied So that Christe is nowe the righteousnesse of all them that truely doo beleue in hym He for theim paied their raunsome by his death He for theim fulfilled the lawe in his life So that nowe in hym and by hym euery true Christian man maie be called a fulfiller of the lawe forasmuche as that whiche their infirmitie lacketh Christes iustice hath supplied Before was declared at large that no manne can be iustified by his awne good workes because that no manne fulfilleth the lawe accordyng to the full request of the lawe And saincte Paule in his Epistle to the Galathiās proueth thesame saiyng thus If there had been any lawe geuen whiche coulde haue iustified verely righteousnesse should haue been by the lawe And again he saieth if righteousnesse bee by the lawe then Christe died in vain And again he saieth you that are iustified by the lawe are fallen awaie from grace And furthermore he writeth to the Ephesians on this wise by grace are ye saued through faithe and that not of your selfes for it is the gift of God and not of workes lest any man should glorie And to bee shorte the summe of all Paules disputacion is this that if iustice come of woorkes then it commeth not of grace And if it come of grace then it commeth not of woorkes And to this ende tēdeth al the Prophetes as saincte Peter saieth in the tenthe of the Actes Of Christe all the Prophetes saieth saincte Peter do witnes that through his name al they that beleue in him shal receiue the remission of synnes And after this wyse to be iustifyed onely by this true and liuely faithe in Christ speaketh all the olde and auncient aucthors bothe Grekes Latyns Of whom I will specially reherse thre Hillary Basill Ambrose Sainct Hillary sayeth these wordes plainly in the ninth Canon vpon Matthewe Faithe onely iustifyeth And saincte Basill a Greke aucthor writeth thus This is a perfect and a whole reioysyng in God when a man auaunteth not hymselfe for hys awne righteousnes but knowledgeth hymself to lacke true iustice and righteousnes and to be iustifyed by the onely faithe in Christ And Paul saieth he doeth glory in the contempte of hys awne righteousnes and that he loketh for his righteousnes of God by faythe These be the verye woordes of sainct Basill And sainct Ambrose a Latyn aucthor sayeth these wordes This is the ordinaunce of God that he whiche beleueth in Christ should be saued without workes by faithe onely freely receiuyng remission of his synnes Consyder diligently these woordes without

common tranquillitie and peace By holy promises with attestacion of Gods name wee bee made liuely mēbres of Christ when we professe his Religion receiuyng the sacrament of baptisme By like holy promise the sacramēt of matrimony knitteth man and wife in perpetuall loue that thei desire not to be seperated for any displeasure or aduersitie that shall after happen By lawfull othes which Kynges Princes Iudges and Magistrates doo sweare common lawes are kept inuiolate Iustice is indifferently ministered innocent persones orphanes widdowes and poore men are defended from murtherers oppressors and thiefes that thei suffre no wrong nor take any harme By lawfull othes mutuall societie amitie and good ordre is kepte continually in all commonalties as boroughes citees tounes and villages And by lawful othes malefactors are searched out wrong doers are punished and thei whiche sustein wrong are restored to their righte Therefore lawfull swearyng cannot be euill whiche bryngeth vnto vs so many Godly good and necessarie commodities Wherfore when Christe so earnestly forbad swearyng it maie not so bee vnderstanded as though he did forbid all maner of othes but he forbiddeth all vain swearyng and forswearyng bothe by god and by his creatures as the common vse of swearyng in biyng sellyng and in our daily communicacion to the intent euery Christian mannes worde should be aswell regarded in suche matters as if he should confirme his communicacion with an othe For euery Christian mannes worde saieth sainct Hierome should be so true that it should bee regarded as an othe And Chrisostome witnessyng thesame saieth It is not conuenient to sweare for what nedeth vs to sweare when it is not lawfull for one of vs to make a lye vnto another Peraduenture some will saie I am compelled to sweare for els men that do common with me or do bye and sell with me wil not beleue me To this aunswereth S Chrisostome that he that thus saieth sheweth hymself to be an vniust and a deceiptfull persone for if he wer a trustie man and his deedes taken to agree with his wordes he should not nede to sweare at al. For he that vseth truthe and plainnesse in his bargainyng and communicacion he shal haue no nede by such vain swearyng to bryng hymself in credēce with his neighbours nor his neighbours will not mistruste his saiynges And if his credence bee so muche loste in deede that he thynketh no man will beleue hym without he sweare then he maie well thynke his credence is cleane gone For truthe it is as Theophilactus writeth that no manne is lesse trusted then he that vseth muche to sweare And almightie God by the wiseman saieth that man whiche sweareth muche shalbee full of synne and the scourge of God shall not depart from his house But here some menne will saie for excusyng of their many othes in their daily talke why should I not sweare when I sweare truely ▪ To suche men it maie be saied that though thei sweare truely yet in swearyng often vnaduisedly for trifles without necessitie and when thei should not sweare thei be not without faulte but do take Gods moste holy name in vain Muche more vngodly and vnwise men are thei that abuse Gods moste holy name not onely in biyng and sellyng of small thynges daily in al places but also eatyng drinkyng plaiyng cōmonyng and reasonyng As if none of these thynges mighte bee dooen excepte in doyng of theim the moste holy name of God be commonly vsed and abused vainly and vnreuerentely talked of sworne by and forsworne to the breakyng of Gods commaundement and procurement of his indignacion And aswell thei vse the name of GOD in vain that by an othe make lawfull promises of good and honeste thynges and performe thē not as thei which do promise euill and vnlawfull thynges and do performe thesame Of such men that regard not their godly promises confirmed by an othe but wittyngly and wilfully breaketh theim wee do reade in holy scripture twoo notable punishementes Firste Iosue and the people of Israell made a league and faithfull promise of perpetuall amitie and frendshippe with the Gabaonites notwithstādyng afterward in the dayes of wicked Saule many of these Gabaonites wer murdered contrary to thesaid faithfull promise made Wherewith almightie God was so sore displeased that he sent an vniuersall famyne vpon the whole countrey whiche continued by the space of three yeres And GOD would not withdrawe his punishement vntill thesaied offence was reuenged by the death of vii sonnes or next kinsmen of kyng Saule Also whereas Sedechias kyng of Ierusalem had promised fidelitie to the kyng of Chaldea afterwarde when Sedechias contrary to his othe and allegeaunce did rebell against kyng Nabugodonosor this Heathen Kyng by Gods permission inuadyng the land of Iewry and besiegyng the citee of Ierusalem compelled thesaied kyng Sedechias to flee and in fleyng toke hym prisoner slewe his sonnes before his face and putte out bothe his iyes and bindyng hym with cheines led hym prisoner miserably into Babilon Thus doth GOD shewe plainly how muche he abhorreth breakers of honeste promises confirmed by an othe made in his name And of thē that make wicked promises by an othe and wil perfourme the same wee haue example in the scripture chiefly of Herode of the wicked Iewes and of Iephthah Herode promised by an othe vnto the dam●sel whiche daunsed before hym to geue vnto her whatsoeuer she should aske when she was instucted before of her wicked mother to aske the hedde of sainct Ihō Baptist. Herod as he toke a wicked oth so he more wickedly performed thesame and cruelly slewe the mooste holy Prophete Likewise did the malicious Iewes make an othe cursyng themselfes if thei did either eate or drinke vntill thei had slain s Paule And Iephthah when God had geuen to him victory of the children of Ammon promised of a foolishe deuocion vnto GOD to offre for a sacrifice vnto hym that persone whiche of his awne house should firste meete with hym after his returne home By force of whiche fonde and vnaduised othe he did sle his awne and onely doughter whiche came out of his house with mirthe ioy to welcome hym home Thus the promise whiche he made moste foolishly to God against Gods eternall will and the lawe of nature moste cruelly he performed so committyng against God double offence Therefore whosoeuer maketh any promise bindyng hymself thereunto by an othe let him forese that the thyng whiche he promiseth bee good honest and not against the commaundement of GOD and that it be in his awne power to performe it iustely And suche good promises muste all men kepe euermore assuredly But if a man at any tyme shall either of ignoraunce or of malice promise and sweare to do any thing whiche is either against the lawe of almightie God or not in his power to performe let hym take it for an vnlawfull and vngodly othe Now some thyng to speake of periurie