Selected quad for the lemma: mercy_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
mercy_n	good_a	sin_n	sinner_n	3,410	5	7.5691	4	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A07215	The anatomie of sorcerie VVherein the wicked impietie of charmers, inchanters, and such like, is discouered and confuted. By Iames Mason, Master of Artes.	Mason, James, M.A.	1612 (1612)	STC 17615; ESTC S112409	64,423	108

the word of God Wherefore whatsoeuer action it bee let men pretend what they will if it haue no warrant out of the scripture it is but a meere imagination of their owne braine springing either of their own corrupt nature or else of the suggestion of the diuell and therefore is wicked and sinnefull The which thing if it be so it followeth of necessity that the seeking vnto sorcerers charmers inchaunters and all such like wizzards albeit men beleeue neuer so much that they may lawfully do so yet because that it is not onely not allowed but also condemned in the word of God therefore this their beliefe is no true faith but a vaine diuellish presumption and most abominable in the sight of God Neither will ignorance which they pretend serue their turne to couer their offence herein albeit it may sometimes extenuate and lessen the fault as our Sauiour Christ saith in the 12. chapter of the Gospel after S. Luke vers 47. 48. That seruant which knew his masters will and prepared not himselfe neither did according to his wil shall be beaten with many stripes And he that knew not his masters will and committed things worthy of stripes shall be beaten with fewe stripes So that here wee see that there is no defence for ignorance but whosoeuer he be that sinneth whether it be of ignorance or of knowledge must needes bee punished for it For Cursed are all they which doe not continue in all the commandements of God as it is in Deuteronomy cap. 27. vers 26. And the Apostle Saint Paul saith in the 2. chap. to the Romanes vers 12. that as many as haue sinned without law shall be punished without law and as many as haue sinned in the law shall be iudged by the law Wherefore as dutifull seruants in those things which wee know wee ought to bee diligent to put the same in practise and if we be ignorant of any thing we ought to seeke and inquire what the will of God is out of his word and not to rush forth into those actions which we know not whether the Lord doth allow or not But if we seeke for knowledge in those matters no doubt but God wil instruct vs therein by his holy spirit by his word as our Sauiour Christ saith Matthew cap. 7. vers 7. Aske and it shall be giuen you seeke and ye shall finde knocke and it shall be opened vnto you And truely if we would vse zealous prayer and godly meditation comming vnto them with faith and humility and such like wee shall finde the scriptures not to be so hard and obscure to be knowne vnderstood as we take them to be but most plaine euident for our comfort and instruction both in this point concerning those vaine friuolous arts whereof I haue so much spoken and also in all other matters of faith good workes what we should follow and what we should eschew as God in the 30. chapter of Deuteronomy verses 11 12 and 14. saith This commaundement which I commaund this day is not hidde from thee neither is it farre off it is not in heauen that thou shouldest say who shall goe vp for vs to heauen and bring vs and cause vs to heare it that we may doe it but the word is very neere vnto to thee euen in thy mouth and in thy heart for to do it So that it is our own pride negligence contempt or such like sinister affections which is cause of this our ignorance and that in some more and in some lesse according to the outward meanes of knowledge and as they are inwardly mooued in this behalfe In so much that we may hereof gather two kindes of ignorance to be in men One is that which although it be not without the afore said euill affections yet they doe little appeare in their actions no not to the parties offending themselues and much lesse vnto others thinking that to be good which is euill and that to bee euill which is good And such was the ignorance of Saint Paul before he was illuminated by the spirit of god as he saith in the first Epistle to Timothie cap. 1. v. 13. that he was before-time a blasphemer a persecutor and an oppressour but hee was receiued to mercy because hee did it ignorantly through vnbeliefe And yet notwithstanding for all this hee accounteth himselfe the chiefe of all sinners for the same and most worthily doth attribute his conuersion to the wonderfull and exceeding great mercy of God alone who had not onely forgiuen him this his sinne but also had made him a fit vessell to cary his name abroad and to preach the Gospel among the Gentiles whereas he had reiected other of his countrimen which offended of ignorance as well as he as it is in the 10. cap. of the Epistle to the Romanes vers 2. where speaking of the Iewes or Israelites he hath these words I beare them witnes that they haue a zeale but not according to knowledge The other kind of ignorance is that wherein malice and hatred doth preuaile as it did in the chiefe of the Iewes which crucified our Sauiour Christ as it is in the 15. cap. of Ioh. ver 22. in these words If I had not done those things among them which no other man did they should haue had no sin but now haue they seene and hated both me and my father And to say the truth not onely this latter kind but also all of vs before we are regenerate are by nature so corrupt that we cannot but bring forth most vile fruites of wickednesse and therefore we doe couet naturally rather to be ignorant of gods lawes and commaundements thereby thinking to couer the hainousnesse of our sinnes wherefore our Sauiour Christ in the Gospell after Saint Iohn cap. 3. vers 19. saith this is the condemnation that light is come into the world and men loued darknes more then light because their deedes were euill Whereupon the Lord in his iust iudgement in times past seeing they regarded not to know him euen so he deliuered them vp into a reprobate minde to doe those things which are not conuenient being full of all vnrighteousnesse and so forth as it is in the 10. cap. of the Epistle to the Rom. vers 28 29 and 30. Euen as he saith also of the Scribes and Pharises Math. cap. 15. vers 14. and in them to all other such like in these words Let them alone they are blind leaders of the blind and if the blind lead the blind both shall fall into the ditch As if he should haue said These men are void of the right knowledge of religion and true seruice of God and yet they wil be instructers of others so that by this meanes they are not onely wilfully ignorant themselues but endenour to bring those that will follow their doctrine into the same condition Wherefore let them alone let them goe on still therein and in the end you shall see

vnwoonted deluge or ouerflowing of waters or else the fire had consumed them For this generation was farre more sinneful and wicked then those that dwelt in Sodome Here wee see that this Iosephus who was an eye-witnes and partaker of that misery and calamity which he wrote of doth reckon magicke and iugling or charming for one of the chiefe capitall sinnes for the which the cittie of Ierusalem was destroyed And doubtlesse when men are come to this passe that they maintaine and practise magicke and sorcery it is a signe that they are come in a manner vnto the highest degree of wickednes For here they seeme to make as it were a publike profession of the religion and seruice of the diuell whereas they doe not so altogether in other sinnes except it bee in open blasphemy wherefore when this is generally practised without controlement in any cittie or countrey it cannot possibly bee but that the Lord must needes bring a vniuersall destrustruction vpon the same The which I beseech God to keepe farre from vs for I am perswaded that this kinde of wickednes albeit the good and wholesome lawes which are made against it was neuer more practised amongst vs especially for the recouery of health For many I might say most men now a daies if God doe not restore them to health when how they thinke good they will leaue Gods ordinarie meanes by physicke and will goe to sorcerers that is to the ministers of Satan which is all one as to go to Satan himselfe And although it may be that they will answer me and say that they whome they goe vnto for remedy doe vse good meanes and godly words in these cases Yet it followeth not as I haue said before that they are therefore no sorcerers For no doubt those which Iosephus speaketh of vsed as good meanes in outward appearance and so do the sonnes of Sceua in this place But because this pertaineth not so directly to the verse which I haue in handling I will passe to the next words where I shall haue fitter occasion to speake of this matter when I come to the 15. and 16. verses In the which as I haue said before is set downe the issue or euent of the practise of these lewd sorcerers and that in two respects First in regard of that which was said vnto them in the 15. verse And secondly what was done vnto them in the 16. verse The wordes which were spoken vnto them are these Iesus I know and Paul I know but who are ye The which is an answer of the foule spirit vnto the aforenamed sorcerers being as much in effect as if hee should haue said in this manner Whereas you sorcerers the sonnes of Sceua doe charge and commaund me so straightly by the name of Iesus to goe out of this man I see no reason why ye should doe so Indeed I know Iesus to be the sonne of the eternall God yea God himselfe equall to the Father as touching his godhead and therefore of sufficient might power euen of himselfe to driue me out of possession where I am And likewise I knowe Paul to be sent and to haue lawfull power authority from him to cast me out But as for you and such as you are I acknowledge you for none such neither by your selues nor by any commission from God to commaund me to goe out but ye are onely vsurpers and presume to doe that which ye are not able to performe For although God doth bestow this grace of casting such as I am out of those men whom we haue possessed vpon some men whome it pleaseth him vpon speciall occasion yet ye are none of the number of them to whome he hath granted this gift Therefore in vaine doe ye take in hand to dispossesse me with your goodly and glorious wordes for it is not the words which is able to worke such wonders but it is onely the working power of God which bringeth such mighty things to passe as ye shall well see and so hee caused the man which hee had possessed to run vpon the said sorcerers and all to beat them and wounded them as it followeth in the next verse Thus wee may perceiue that God doth not tye his power of working miracles vnto words or characters whatsoeuer or howsoeuer vsed for then might euery one be a worker of miracles which could vse those meanes But God bestoweth that grace vpon the person and that not vpon euery one nor vpon the most part but only vpon some particular and that vpon especiall occasion as I haue said before and this place doth most euidently prooue especially in the next vers where it is said The man in whome the euill spirit was c. We must not thinke that it was this man alone heere spoken of which dealt thus with these sorcerers For could one poore silly man be able to ouercome so many being young no doubt and lusty men who as it appeareth plainely by the words of the text did not stand still and suffer themselues to be thus shamefully intreated and handled but resisted what they could For it is heere said that he ouercame them as it were in the combat and so preuailing against them did driue them out of the house both naked and wounded wherefore it was the diuell which was the chiefe actor in this fray and vsed the man possessed as an instrument to bring this matter to passe Where we see that the Lord doth oftentimes especially punish that sinne wherein men doe take most delight and thinke that it should be most for their honour commoditie or pleasure euen that doth God turne to their greatest shame and confusion and to his greater glory So our first parents when they had thought to haue gained pleasure profit and wisedome by eating of the forbidden fruit they lost themselues and their posterity with all good things els had not the Lord to the great glory of his mercy saued some of them by the promised seed of the woman And those men in the old world Genesis cap. 11. which imagined to keepe themselues from being dispersed by building of that huge tower and citie of Babylon were by the same occasion scattered into all partes of the world So the faction of Corah Dathan and Abiram dreamed of honour and preferment by resisting of Moses in the 16. cap. of the booke of Numbers but it was the cause of their euerlasting shame and ouerthrow as it is there set downe There are infinit examples in the scriptures which doe inferre the truth of this point but I will let them passe and come to the text it selfe where we may behold these sorcerers most extreamely and shamefully beaten of him euen of the diuell by whose seruice in this action they had thought to haue obtained greatest credit Neither are we hereby to gather that Satan was grieued with this profaning of the name of Christ Iesus or with this sorcery of theirs But because God bringeth as