Selected quad for the lemma: mercy_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
mercy_n	earth_n	great_a	lord_n	5,368	5	3.8783	3	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A20217	The ruine of Rome: or An exposition vpon the whole Reuelation Wherein is plainly shewed and proued, that the popish religion, together with all the power and authoritie of Rome, shall ebbe and decay still more and more throughout all the churches of Europe, and come to an vtter ouerthrow euen in this life before the end of the world. Written especially for the comfort of Protestants, and the daunting of papists, seminary priests, Iesuites, and all that cursed rabble. Published by Arthur Dent, preacher of the word of God at South-Shoobery in Essex.	Dent, Arthur, d. 1607.; Culverwell, Ezekiel, 1553 or 4-1631.	1603 (1603)	STC 6640; ESTC S117456	184,102	332

away as a scrole when it is rolled and euery mountaine and I le were moued out of their place Vpon the opening of this sixt seale very dolefull and fearefull things which doo followe As earthquakes the darkening of the Sunne the obscuritie of the Moone the falling of the Starres the rolling together of the heauens the remouing of mountaines Iles out of their places the howlings and horrors of kings and captaines other great potentates of the earth which all are things very terrible and fearefull to beholde and all these do represent and figure out vnto vs the most fearefull tokens of Gods high displeasure and most heauie indignation against the wicked world Very grieuous things fell out vpō the opening of the 2.3 4. seales but they are farre more grieuous which followe vpon the opening of this sixt seale for this sixt seale containeth an aggrauation and encrease of all the former iudgements For now after the crie of the Martyrs for vengeance GOD the auenger of the bloude of the righteous doeth shewe himself from heauen and declare his wrath in more fearefull manner then before euen to the great astonishment of all the creatures in heauen and earth So horrible a thing is the sheading of the bloud of the Christians For now we see plainely that God heareth the cries of his Martyrs and commeth as a Giant or as an armed man to take vengeance of all their enemies For Pretious in the sight of the Lorde is the death of his Saints and hee is much mooued with the crie of their bloud as here wee see And therefore now threatneth to holde a generall Assises wherein hee will make inquisition after bloud and arraigne and condemne all such as are founde guiltie thereof according as the persecuting Emperours and many others did finde and feele by wofull experience For if God be angry but a little who may endure it Now although the Stories do report that in those dayes which was aboue 300. yeares after Christ there were many great and fearefull Earthquakes in diuers nations and cities of the world yet it is apparant that the Earth-quake here spoken of cannot bee taken literally nor any of the rest here mentioned For there was neuer any time neither is it mentioned in any Chronicle that euer the Sunne was as blacke as sacke-cloth of haire or the Moone turned into bloud or the Starres fell from heauen or the Heauens rolled together like a scrole or that Mountaines and Ilandes were mooued out of their places Therefore of necessitie all this must bee vnderstood metaphorically that is that God did in so straunge and fearefull a manner manifest his wrath from heauen by tumults commotions seditions alteratiōs of kingdomes as if these things of the Sun Moone and Starres had bene visibly represented to the eye An earth-quake in this booke and other bookes also of the scriptures doth by a borrowed speech signifie commotions of common-wealth troubles tumults vprores and great alterations of states kingdoms The darkning of the Sun Moone and Starres rolling together of the Heauens do by a metaphor in the scriptures signifie the fearefull wrath and angrie face of God which they being not able to endure are said here to blush at to couer themselues to hide themselues to be ashamed of thēselues to remoue out of their places no more to do their offices c. For as birds doo hide themselues and thrust their heads into bushes when the Eagle commeth abroade And as all the beastes of the forrest doo tremble and couch in their dennes when the Lyon roareth And as that subiect doth hide himselfe and dare not shewe his head with whom the King is displeased So here it is saide that the whole earth doth tremble and all the celestiall creatures are amazed and confounded with beholding the angry face of God against the worlde in so much that they do as it were drawe a canopie ouer them hide themselues vnder a cloude and surcease to do their offices The darkning of the Sunne and Moone is taken in this sense in the second of Ioel and also in the second chapter of the Acts of the Apostles For there God promising and foretelling that in the last dayes he would abundantly powre forth of his spirit vpon all flesh which is to be vnderstood of the plentifull preaching of the Gospell in the Apostles time and the aboundance of grace that was giuen with the same addeth that for the contempt of so great grace and mercie he would shewe wonders in heauen aboue and tokens in the earth beneath Bloud and fire and the vapour of smoake the Sunne shall bee turned into darkenesse and the Moone into bloud before that great and notable day of the Lord come The meaning of the Prophet is as Peter also dooth expound it that God from heauen will shewe such apparant signes of his wrath against the worlde that men should bee no lesse amazed then if the whole order of nature were inuerted And this was performed when as the Iewes for the contempt of Christe and his Gospell were most miserably destroied by the Romanes Euen so here vnder the opening of the sixt seale God dooth threaten that for the murdering of his sonne Christ and his Apostles and innumerable Christians hee would bring straunge iudgements and extraordinarie calamities vpon the worlde according as all stories do shewe that those times were full of bloud-sheads commotions famines pestilence and miseries of all sortes I am not ignorant that the darkening of the Sunne and Moone and the falling of the Starres from heauen are sometimes in this booke put for the obscuritie and corruption of pure doctrine and the falling away of the Pastors of the Church from their sinceritie and zeale But in this place the circumstances will not beare that sense First because heere the darkening of the Sunne and Moone c. is ioyned with an Earth-quake the rolling together of the Heauens and the mouing of Mountaines and Ilands out of their places which argueth a most horrible confusion and concussion of all things Secondly because afterward in the eight chapter hee doth of purpose speake of the corrupting of pure doctrine the falling away of the Ministers referring it to that chapter as his proper place Thirdly because the kings and captaines of the earth here immediatly mentioned would neuer haue bene cast into any such perplexities and horrours vpon any corruption of doctrine and the ministrie as here we reade of For commōly men are not any whit touched or moued with that or such like things Last of all because the scope and drift of the holy Ghost vnder the opening of this sixt seale is to describe corporall not spirituall visible not inuisible iudgements For he doth orderly and of purpose handle them in the next chapter Now whereas it is said in the last three verses that the Kings of the earth and the great men and the rich men vers 15 and the chiefe Captaines and

is verie carefull that his owne children might not be infected with those damnable heresies which now alreadie vppon the stopping of the course of the Gospell beganne to be hatched and afterward did spring and growe vp in the Church both thicke and three-folde And I heard the number of them that were sealed vers 4 and there were sealed an hundred fortie and foure thousande of all the Tribes of the Children Of the Tribe of Iudah were sealed twelue thousand c. Now Iohn heareth the number of them that were sealed and hee reckeneth vp the whole Church militant consisting both of the Iewes and Gentiles Hee saith that of the Church of the Iewes there were sealed 144000. Wherein he putteth a certaine number for an vncertaine and a definite number for an indefinite for his meaning is not that there were iust so many and neither moe nor lesse sealed but this number doth arise of twelue times twelue in that hee saith of euery Tribe twelue thousande for twelue times twelue thousande make an hundred fortie and foure thousand Neither yet may we thinke that of euery Tribe there were an equall number sealed not moe nor lesse of one Tribe then an other but this number of twelue is vsed as the perfect and full number in as much as the Church of the Iewes was founded vpon the twelue Patriarkes vnto which our Sauiour had respect when for to gather the dispersed and lost sheepe of the house of Israel he chose twelue Apostles Now here we are to obserue that notwithstanding the horrible persecutions and calamities which fell out vpon the opening of foure of the seales yet God had his Church euen of the Iewes which in the iudgemēt of reason a man would haue thought long ere now had bene vtterly extinct and abolished But the Apostle saith God hath not cast off his people which he had chosen that is vtterly cast them off It is therefore a most sure and certaine position in diuinitie that God hath alwaies his that is in all ages in all times in all places in all countries euen in the middest of all troubles and flames of persecution yet God hath his hidde and inuisible Church euen vpon the face of the earth As it was in the daies of Elias As was in Christs time when the shepheard was smit and the sheepe scattered And as it was in the daies of the great Antichrist as afterwarde wee shall see Moreouer it is to be obserued that in the enumeration of the 12. Tribes the Tribe of Dan is left out and the Tribe of Leui taken in The cause of the omission and skipping of the Tribe of Dan was their continuance in Idolatrie from the time of the Iudges at what time the first fell into it euen vnto the captiuitie This Tribe is also omitted in the Catalogue of the Tribes mentioned 1. Chron. chap. 2.3.4.5.6.7 Then the reason of this omission is first their vnworthinesse And secondly that there might be a place and roomth for the Tribe of Leui to be taken in which in this Catalogue for singular reason a speciall mysterie might not be pretermitted For although the Tribe of Leui had no portion or inheritance amongst the other Tribes in the earthly Canaan yet now the Priest-hood being transferred vnto Christ the holy Ghost doth expressely affirme that the Tribe of Leui as well as others hath his part and portion in the heauenly inheritance and the celestiall Canaan After these things I behelde and loe a grat multitude which no man could number of all nations vers 9 and kindreds and people and tongues stood before the throne and before the Lambe cloathed with long white robes and palmes in their hands vers 10 and they cried with a loude voice saying Saluation commeth of our God c. This is to bee vnderstood of the Church of the Gentiles they are said to bee an innumerable multitude of all countries natiōs For although the church of God in respect of the reprobates is very small and as an handfull vpon the face of the earth yet in it selfe simply considered it is very great and large for euen out of Adams cursed race God hath chose many thousands to life And here still we are to obserue the great goodnes and mercie of God that notwithstanding former persecutions the great blindnes which afterward did inuade the Church in the preuailing of errours and heresies yet Iohn heareth and seeth such an huge number sealed vp to saluation through Christ both of the Iewes and Gentiles The Church of the Gentiles exceeding in number the Church of the Iewes are here said to haue lōg whiterobes in token of their puritie and innocencie and Palmes in their hāds in signe of their victorie ouer the world flesh and the diuell For Palmes in auncient time were ensignes and badges of victorie After this is set downe how the whole Church of the Gentiles do praise worship God freely vers 10 acknowledging saluation to be onely of him through Christ vers 11 vers 12 And all the Angels of heauen do applaude subscribe say Amen to the same as we haue heard before in the 4. chapter vers 11 The 4. beasts are here mentioned againe whereby is meant the Angels both because they are said to haue wings chap. 4. which agreeth to none but Angels Esa 6. and also because they are expressely named interpreted to be the Cherubins Ezech. 10. If any man muse why the Angels should bee called beasts let him be resolued with these 4. reasons First because they are compared to beastes before as the Lyon Calfe c. Secondly because Ezechiel calleth them so in as much as they draw Gods charriot of triumph Thirdly because the Prophet Zacharie compareth them to red speckled and white horses Fourthly because the same Prophet calleth them Gods coach-horses and the multitudes and societies of them hee calleth Gods chariots which came out of two mountaines of brasse that is they went forth at his decree which standeth as fast vnmoueable as a mountaine of brasse to comfort and deliuer his Church out of the captiuitie of Babilon and also to succour and helpe the remnant which were left behinde in Iudea Now in the Prophets these chariots and chariot-horses are saide to carrie the Almightie most swiftly throughout all the world And therfore in Zacharie it is said of the Angels These are they which goe through the whole world In Ezechiel it is said that the beastes ranne and returned like lightning And againe vers 7 that they sparkled like the appearance of bright brasse and the wheeles of Gods chariots were moued with vnconceiueable swiftnesse euen as fast as the Angels did flye Let these reasons and scriptures then satisfie vs touching this that the Angels are called beastes After all this one of the 24. vers 13 Elders asketh Iohn what they were from whence they came which were thus araied in long white robes