Selected quad for the lemma: mercy_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
mercy_n	faith_n	grace_n	repentance_n	2,335	5	7.5639	4	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A36539	A collection of texts of Scripture, with short notes upon them, and some other observations against the principal popish errors; Abrégé des controverses. English	Drelincourt, Charles, 1595-1669.; Comber, Thomas, 1645-1699.	1688 (1688)	Wing D2160B; ESTC R14004	125,272	218

Faith to teach many Mediators though inferior to Christ as to teach many Gods though subordinate to the Supreme God. So 1 Cor. 8. 5 6. For though there be that are called Gods whether in Heaven or in Earth as there be Gods many and Lords many but to us there is but one God the Father of whom are all things and we in him and one Lord Jesus Christ by whom are all things and we by him In opposition to the Pagan Idolatry in worshipping many inferior Gods and Lords together with the Supreme God either as sharers with him in the Government of the World or as Mediators with him for Men. But we are to worship and in Worship to apply our selves to no other but this only Lord God and our Saviour Jesus Christ For Acts 4. 12. Neither is there Salvation in any other for there is no other Name under Heaven given among Men whereby we must be saved not yet in Heaven neither John 14. 6. I am the Way the Truth and the Life no Man can come unto the Father but by me And Vers 13. Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my Name I will do it that the Father may be glorified in the Son. And John 16. 24. That your Joy may be full This is the only direction which our Saviour gave his Disciples a little before his Death to ask in his Name and to come to the Father by him to which and to no other way of address is the Promise of Audience made So that for any to address themselves to Saints or Angels as Mediators must needs be presumptuous and vain Ephes 2. 18. For through him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father And Ephes 3. 12. By him we have boldness and access with confidence through the Faith which we have in him There can be no need then of other Mediators since the Son renders the Father accessible and favourable to us so that we may come to him with an holy boldness and confidence Heb. 4. 15. For we have not an High-Priest that cannot be touched with the feeling of our Infirmities but was in all points tempted like as we are Sin only excepted We cannot address our selves to any one that knows our Necessities better who hath more compassion of our Miseries or who is better able to do us good or who is more nearly allied unto us For we are Members of his Body of his Flesh and of his Bone Ephes 5. Vers 16. Let us therefore come boldly unto the Throne of Grace to the immediate presence of God whither we may immediatly direct our Prayers through the Merits and Intercession of Christ not to the Shrine of any Saint by the way that we may obtain Mercy and find Grace to help in a time of need And Heb. 10. 19. Having therefore boldness to enter into the Holiest by the Blood of Jesus by a new and living Way which he hath consecrated for us through the Vail that is to say his Flesh and having an High-Priest over the House of God let us draw near with a true Heart in full assurance of Faith. But to use the Mediation of Saints and Angels and directly contrary to this boldness and assurance which we should have in our access to him by Christ For that sets us at a greater distance from God and implies as if we did not dare to approach his Presence without the Intercession of a Favourite Saint Heb. 7. 24 25. But this Man because he continueth for ever hath an unchangeable Priesthood wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him seeing he ever liveth to make Intercession for them Where the Intercession of our Saviour is made an act or part of his unchangeable Priesthood not to be imparted to any other And by this Intercession of his we obtain Eternal Salvation So that there can be no need of any others Intercession The Mediatory Intercession of Saints then is an invasion of Christ's Priestly Office and doth also plainly imply the insufficiency of our Saviour's Intercession contrary to the Apostle Heb. 12. 24. We are come to Jesus the Mediator of the New Testament and to the Blood of Sprinkling that speaketh better things than that of Abel Note that Jesus Christ is the Mediator in virtue of his Blood. Which doth not cry for Vengeance against his Brethren as Abel's did but by which he intercedes and calls for Mercy Grace and Peace for the greatest Sinners who have their Hearts touched with Repentance and therefore none should be discouraged from approaching this Mediator 1 John 2. 1 2. I write these things unto you that ye sin not but if any Man sinneth we have an Advocate with the Father Jesus Christ the Righteous For he is the Propitiation for our Sins and not for ours only but also for the Sins of whole World. Where Christ is described as the Advocate the only Advocate appointed for us in the Court of Heaven and the Advocate General of all Christians And the Holy Spirit joins Intercession and Propitiation together and founds the former upon the latter to teach us that whosoever is not a Mediator of Redemption and Propitiation cannot be an Advocate or Mediator of Intercession It is his Mouth alone then by which we speak to the Father and that in the virtue of the Propitiation which he hath made So again Rom. 8. 34. It is Christ that died yea rather that is risen again who is even at the right Hand of God who also maketh Intercession for us The Intercession of Christ is founded upon his Death It belongs to none other but him who shed his Blood upon the Cross to appear for us within the Heavenly Sanctuary It is his part only to present the Prayers of the Church of God who can cover their Defects and render them acceptable to God which was formerly shadowed in the Person of the High-Priest who was to carry upon his Miter a Plate of pure Gold in which was engraven Holiness to the Lord. Exod. 28. 37 38. Thou shalt put it on a blue Lace that it may be upon the Mitre upon the fore-front of the Mitre it shall be And it shall be upon Aaron ' s Forehead that Aaron may bear the Iniquity of the Holy Things which the Children of Israel shall hallow in all their Holy Gifts and it shall be always upon his Forehead that they may be accepted before the Lord. This is fulfilled in Christ alone who is the Substance and the Truth of all the ancient Figures All the Psalms of David and all other Prayers both in the Old and New Testament are directed to God alone and not one Supplication made or one Hymn bestowed upon any Tutelar or Patron Saint or Angel throughout all the Scripture Which is very strange among so many devout Men and their Devotions that are mentioned if the thing had been allowable 2 Kings 2. 9. Elijah said to Elisha Ask what I shall

of a Priest nor was it exacted or required as a Matter of necessary Obligation And as for what St. James says Chap. 5. 16. Confess your Faults one to another and pray one for another that ye may be healed Note that he directs to this only in case of bodily Sickness accompanied with an afflicted or distressed Conscience in order to the obtaining the more fervent Prayers of those who are made privy to their Case for their relief and help from God but he does not appoint it for an universal standing Rule for all Men and of absolute obligation upon them in all Cases for the obtaining of Remission of Sin by a Priestly Absolution And note that when our Saviour says John 20. 23. Whose soever Sins ye remit they are remitted and whose soever Sins ye retain they are retained It can only be meant of such Sins as might happen to come to their knowledg and in such Cases wherein they might be able to make a right and sure Judgment of Mens Repentance of or pertinacy in Sin which the Apostles were sometimes enabled to do by special Revelation and then they had an extraordinary Power given them by the Holy Ghost to inflict extraordinary Punishments upon Men and to take them off again as they saw cause upon Mens Repentance Acts 5. 3 4. 13. 11. 1 Cor. 5. 5. 2 Cor. 2. 6 7. But the most that any Priest now can do who is not invested with those extraordinary Gifts is to pronounce Men absolved from the Guilt of their Sin upon condition of their Repentance or condemned for their not coming up to it And here is no Institution of Confession to be necessarily made to a Priest nor the least intimation given that the Sins of Men cannot be otherwise remitted if so be they perform the condition of a sincere Repentance in themselves There is no trace or track of it in our Saviour's dealing with Sinners though he had to do with very great ones Nor yet in the Apostles And St. Peter himself when he sinned we hear of him only that he went out and wept bitterly by that Sign expressing the real Contrition and sincere Repentance of his Heart but we read not a word of his going to a Priest to make Confession In case of publick Scandal indeed given to the Church a publick Confession is very needful and was always the Discipline of the Ancient Church And in case of perplexity of Conscience for the disburdening of that and as an help to Repentance a private Confession of the Sinner and opening his Case to some Spiritual Guide is also very useful But that a particular private Confession of all Mortal Sin with all its Circumstances to a Priest is of perpetual and necessary obligation to all in order to the obtaining pardon of Sin can no where be proved And therefore is an horrid Imposition and intolerable Tyranny upon Mens Consciences and is to change the Terms of Salvation from what God himself has appointed and to make that both easier and harder than he has made it either as it is said that Confession is enough with bare Attrition or that it must be added over and above to true Repentance it self And note that the priestly Absolution when it is given is not Authoritative and Judicial For so to absolve Sinners and forgive Sins belongs only to God Mark 2. 7. Isa 43. 25. who is the only Lawgiver Jam. 2. 12. or to Jesus Christ who hath the Key of David who openeth and none shutteth Rev. 3 7. who alone hath the supreme independent and absolute Power and Authority to do all things in the Church And whereas he hath likewise given unto the Pastors of the Church the Key of the Kingdom of Heaven they then open Heaven when they declare the Grace of God to repenting Sinners they shut Heaven when they declare the Judgment of God to impenitent Sinners But if they be ignorant or wicked let them pardon the Impenitent and excommunicate the Good that which they do on Earth is not ratified in Heaven The Authority they have to pardon Sin or to absolve the Sinner being only ministerial declarative and conditional upon the profession and supposition of the Sinner's Faith and Repentance Of the Merits of Good Works and Works of Supererrogation CHAP. XXII That the Good Works of Justified Persons are truly and properly Meritorious and fully worthy of Eternal Life Council of Trent Sess 6. chap. 16. Can. 32. THese Good Works are said by them indeed to be done by the Grace of God and Merit of Christ But then it is the good Works themselves that are truly meritorious of Eternal Life And the Grace of God and Merit of Christ have only a remote or mediate Influence towards the procuring Eternal Life viz. by giving us Grace to enable us to act And that being done the Acts or Works themselves which justified Persons perform do truly and properly deserve Eternal Life Contrary to Rom. 6. 23. The Gift of God is Eternal Life through Jesus Christ our Lord. He said The Wages of Sin is Death Sin deserves Death But he doth not say by way of opposition the Wages of Righteousness is Eternal Life but the Gift of God is eternal Life To teach us that Eternal Life is a free Gift to us and not merited by the Righteousness and good Works of any For free Gift and Merit cannot stand together So Luke 12. 32. Fear not little Flock it is your Father's good Pleasure to give you a Kingdom The Kingdom of Heaven is represented as a Gift and that as flowing from the Father's good Pleasure and therefore not from their merit So again John 10. 28. My Sheep hear my Voice and follow me and I give unto them Eternal Life This is given to Men upon their hearing and following of Christ It is not their following of him doth deserve it Ephes 2. 8 9. By Grace are ye saved through Faith and that not of your selves it is the Gift of God. Both Faith and Salvation it self which is the End of Faith is all of Grace and Gift not of Works lest any Man should boast So Tit. 3. 4 5. After that the kindness and love of God our Saviour toward Man appeared not by Works of Righteousness which we have done but according to his Mercy he saved us by the washing of Regeneration and renewing of the Holy Ghost that being justified by his Grace we should be made Heirs according to the Hope of Eternal Life Regeneration is of Grace and Justification is of Grace and free and we have the hope of Eternal Life as Heirs partaking of the Adoption which is free and not as Mercenaries by Work and Merit And the whole of our Salvation from first to last is of meer Mercy Thus Exod. 20. 6. Shewing Mercy to thousands of them that love me and keep my Commandments Those that love God and render the most obedience to the Commands of God have yet need of his Mercy