Selected quad for the lemma: mercy_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
mercy_n	hear_v	lord_n	sin_n	15,720	5	5.7661	4	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A62978	Mixt marriages vindicated: or A discourse of mixt marriages by way of dialogue between A. and B. Who are of the same profession in matters of religion: but of different apprehensions in the point of marriage. First, shewing, that for persons to be joyned together in marriage, who differ about institutions in matters of religion, is contrary to no law; and therefore lawful. Secondly, that in case such marriages were the breach of a law, yet there is no rule left for the church to excommunicate persons for so marrying. By Stephen Tory.	Tory, Stephen.	1680 (1680)	Wing T1943A; ESTC R34668	40,517	65

you direct your Prayers And being agreed about this Holy Duty you may with Zeal perform it and in Faith wait for a Blessing But yet in the close of my Advie if thou findest a person in the Church holy and humble prefer such an one before Riches and Beauty for both these are vain and perishing but Vertue will abide and be both a Comfort and an Ornament Whoso findeth a Wife findeth a good Thing and hath obtained favour of the Lord Prov. 18.22 which is to be understood of a Good Wife which otherwise can be no Blessing as hath been shewed in the second particular way of Advice And further Solomon hath it Prov. 19.14 Houses and Riches are the Inheritance of Fathers but a prudent Wife is from the Lord. Now where Piety and Prudence are in a Man or Woman it is a great Blessiing to their Yoke-fellows but much the greater when they agree in the Principles of Religion even about Institutions For where the Man and Wife differ about Baptism and the Lord's Supper there will many times arise unpleasant Discourse and it may be let in Contention and Strife if not prevented by much watchfulness on both sides And tho' Wisdom may so govern that the Gospel may not be reproached by it nor the Church offended at it yet you may want of your own Comforts by means thereof And you do without all doubt lay your selves the more open to Temptation and may the sooner be led into a Snare See Exod. 4.25 26. I therefore beseech you have a care in your Choice and marry if you can with Baptized Persons and such as are prudently zealous for their Profession And let me tell you it will be a great Comfort to you when you can go together to hear the Word and to partake of the Ordinances of God in his Church How may you discourse of what you have heard from the Preacher And what sweet Communion you had at the Lord's Table And with what Comfort and Vnity may you go to the Throne of Grace and return thanks to God for that days Mercy Which Comfort will be all lost or much hindred where the Man and Wife differ about Institutions and more especially about Baptism and the Lord's Supper And again you cannot so well instruct your Servants nor tutor your Children where you have this difference which you may to your grief sind unpleasant to you when it is too late And again For a Baptist to marry with one of another Perswasion is not so honourable in the esteem of Brethren nor doth it declare so high an esteem of your Profession as you ought to have and more especially in a Man who hath the liberty of his own Choice My Advice therefore is as you tender your own Peace your Reputation the Honour of God and Religion make your Choice in the Church For tho' I say that if you do not the Church ought not to deal with you yet God Almighty may and certainly will at some time or other and in some kind or other if his Name be dishonoured thereby And further let me tell thee that if thou shouldest in the Church be decived yet thou wilt find a great support to help thee under thy Burthen when thou canst truly say thou madest this Choice upon the account of Religion and not for Worldly Advantage But perhaps some will Quaery why this Author followed not this Advice himself when it was his own Case To which I freely Answer it was my Folly and that which I commend not in my self and seeing the inconveniencies am the better able to give Advice to others that they grieve not their Brethren as I have done nor make themselves work for Repentance tho by this I would not be thought to reflect upon her that never was an opposite to me in Religion but a help and through Gods Grace her self soon embraced the Truth praised be his Name Now be sure that you mind to chuse the Vertuous that you be not prevented of your Comforts And the good Lord direct your hearts that in this great Work you may do nothing to your own grief and Gods dishonour but on the contrary all may be done First To Gods Honour Secondly Your own Comfort the comfort of your Friends and the credit of Religion Which is the hearty Prayer of Your Friend and Brother Stephen Tory. POSTSCRIPT AND now my Dear Brethren and Sisters bear with me a few words in which I make bold to direct you how to Marry as well as who to Marry And first To you my Brethren I pray you be advised in a few things First When you think to change your Condition consider whether you be fit so to do Think how you can maintain a Wife For if thou canst not maintain thy Self thou doest but abuse that Woman whom thou marryest unless she can maintain thee and hath not an expectation from thee which is seldom known And let me tell thee the want of this Consideration hath been a grief to many when it hath been too late But I seldom knew any that had cause to repent their careful proceeding in this matter Nor speak I this to cause dispondency in any honest sincere hearts who in a low condition use their endeavour and trust in Gods providence but I speak this to warn the unwary and to curb the presumptuous Secondly Consider how thou canst govern a Family How thou canst govern Servants and Tutor Children and behave thy self to a Wife That as the State of Marriage is an Honourable State so take heed it be not dishonoured by thy inadvertency Thirdly Take heed that you make no promises of Marriage and when you have done draw back and break your Vows made in secret For know that Vows and Contracts made in secret are known to God who will not fail to do right and therefore take heed of breaking your Vows Nay my Advice is to all men to take heed of making shew of Love to any person whom they do not really intend to marry there is many times great grief comes by this means and therefore be advised Fourthly You my Sisters be Wise consider whether you be able to perform your Duties in your places and also take heed of foolish Fondness Think not that every man that speaks friendly to you or looks pleasantly upon you is in Love with you and hath a mind to live and die with you Neither be proud and disdainful nor unfaithful but consider you are about a great Work ordained of God for you to do and therefore do it in his fear and by his advice Take advice of your Friends and the wisest of your Acquaintance and also make your Prayer to God for his Assistance and wait on him for Counsel and this is the way to prevent miscarrying Fifthly and lastly I advise you both Brethren and Sisters let the outward Ceremony be performed according to the Law of this Land or other Country where you dwell And seeing the outward part is appointed by the Law to be performed by the Clergy make use of their Authority Without which tho I will admit you may be honestly brought together without sin yet not safely nor with that Reputation as you may be otherwise These few things I thought good to spread before you leaving the Answer to all Objections about this part of Advice till I see some made against it Farewell A Second POSTSCRIPT by way of Advice to all those that either have or hereafter shall marry with such as are of contrary Minds in the Matters of Instituted Religion MY Friends let me advise you that you take heed you forsake not the Truth to which you have attained be not drawn away by your Yoke-fellows that are contrary minded but know it was that very thing of which God forewarned Israel Exod. 34.16 Deut. 7.4 and not only told them the danger of being drawn away but the punishment that would follow thereupon Jos 23.16 Secondly Let me advise that you so be have your selves with such Christian Respects Meekness and Sobriety as may prevail upon your Yoke-fellows to embrace the Truth or at least to prevent them from thinking evil of the way you profess because of your uneven walking Thirdly My Advice is that you forsake not the Assemblies of your Brethren nor the hearing of the Word preached neglect not any good Duty be not careless in your Devotion nor remiss in any good Work let not your Zeal cool nor your Love decay but let it be seen you have yet the same Assections towards God his ways and people that ever you had and that you do not profer your sensual Pleasures and carnal Delights at that rate to put you out of love with the ways of God and let not the Frowns and Discontents of some of your weak Brethren put you out of the way and cause you to neglect those things which your own Consciences incline you to And all you that have left your Congregations and neglected your Duties I advise you to return and redeem the time you have lost and make peace with God and as much as in you lieth with your Brethren Fourthly I advise you that you forsake not the Lord's Table voluntarily and when you are forbid to partake of that Sacred Ordinance by any of your Brethren bear it with patience and make your humble Addresses to the Church for a Reconciliation and wait a while with patience and let your Brethren see your love to them and your desire to enjoy your former Priviledges and when you have waited from time to time and cannot prevail then you that live where you may find other Society as all those in London may I advise that you apply your selves to some other Congregation of your own Profession where you may be entertained that you may thereby be preserved from those Decays which you will be apt to fall into if you use not the greater diligence Which that you may do the Lord bless what hath been said that you may be kept from falling and may be preserved to his Heavenly Kingdom which is the hearty Prayer of your Friend and Brother S. Tory. FINIS

A. or B. but both endeavour a decision by the Written Word of God and to which I hope we shall both be willing upon conviction to submit our selves What is here said by A. I pray examine the Scriptures and see if they do not bear Witness for him and where the Scripture is silent have recourse to Reason and see if it be not on A's side And as for B. there are some Learned Men on his side as Dr. Fuller in his Treatise on the Book of Ruth So that if thou rightly consider thou mayest make a favourable construction of us both and conclude we are not willing to take things upon trust but to lay out our selves in our Endeavours to attain the right knowledge of the Truth which all wise men will account our Commendation I leave what I have said to thy kind acceptance and remain Thy Friend to serve thee to my Power Stephen Tory. A DISCOURSE OF Mixt Marriages A. WELL met Brother B. how do you do How doth your Wife and Family B. Well in Health blessed be God A. What makes you then look so disconsolate B. I am troubled at something that hath hapned in our Congregation of late A. Pray what may that be B. We have many persons among us that have offended in Marriage whom we are constrained to deal with and withdraw from and many more I am doubtful will fall under the same censure And that which adds much to my Trouble and the Trouble of divers of our Friends is that there are some that seem to justifie them in their Disorder or at least to hinder the Church from proceeding against them Nay some Congregations there are that when we have excommunicated a Man or Woman for the Sin of Marrying out of the way of God will notwithstanding receive them into their Communion which makes our Dealing Vseless and Ineffectual This is my great Trouble and the Trouble of many A. I hope Brother there is none of you oppose Marriage for Marriage is honourable in all Heb. 13.4 The Ordinance of God Gen. 2.24 Why then should you be offended at Marriage B. We are not offended at Marriage but as I told you at marrying out of the way of God A. Why hath any used any profane or unlawful Customs that are offensive or scandalous in their Marriage Or have any married within the Line of Consanguinity contrary to the Law Levit. 18. from ver 6. to the 20th compared with chap. 20. v. 11 12 14. 17 19 20 B. No there is nothing of all this but those I speak of have married persons that are not of the Faith are not Members of the Church are not baptized are not such as we can look upon to be in the Lord And this is our Trouble A. But are the Persons they have married rude and profane or are they Sober persons of a good Life and honest Report B. They are generally Honest Sober Persons some Presbyterians some Independants and some of the Church of England A. Why good Brother is this your Trouble I am sorry for your Weakness I think it 's more cause of Joy than Sorrow that we who but a few years since were accounted not fit to live should be so much in the Favour of those persons as to make Marriages with Us and more especially we should take it well from them who have the Government in their Hand and we ought to be thankful to God for such a Mercy B. Do you account it a. Mercy that we are allowed to commit Sin and break the Law of God and that our Members do it A. I am not advised of either of these For Sin it cannot be unless it be the breach of some Law and I am ignorant of any such Law and think you and others mistaken and look upon it to be an effect of the heat of your Zeal and Passion B. It was always contrary to the mind of God that his Children should marry with the Children of Men. Marriage is a sacred thing and ought to be well considered before it be performed and we see when God made Woman he made her a help meet for man and if for a meet help it must be in the best things For where the Man and his Wife oppose each other they are so far from being meet helps that they are no helps at all So that such Marriages are contrary to the first Institution of Marriage and the very End of God in making of Woman Gen. 2.18 I will make a help meet for him and he made a Woman and brought her to the Man ver 22. Who said this is now Bone of my Bones and Flesh of my Flesh she shall be called Woman because she was taken out of Man ver 23. Therefore shall a man leave his Father and Mother and cleave unto his Wife and they shall be one Flesh ver 24. A. Take the Text in your Sence yet I fear that Baptism doth not always qualisie persons so as to make them meet helps in the best things but if it did yet that was not the Disign of God Almighty in Creating Woman For if it had you see how contrary the first Woman proved she being first in the Transgression and a Temptation to her Husband Gen 3.6 12. Secondly its plain that the Design of God in the making of a Woman was Propagation God having made all the other Creatures Male and Female found that he who was to have Dominion over all the rest Gen. 1.26 was wanting in the principal part that might enable him thereunto For if Beasts Birds and Fishes did encrease and man was yet alone Man did not only come short of Beasts in his Delights and Pleasures but was also wanting in Power and so could not have Dominion over the rest Now the only Wise God saw man wanted a help for this end which you see was Propagation and not Devotion as you imagine For so saith the Text Gen 2.20 But for Adam there was not found for him an help meet And if you ask for what end It s plain Gen. 1.28 And God blessed them and said unto them be fruitful and multiply and replenish the Earth and subdue it and have Dominion over the Fish of the Sea and over the Fowls of the Air and over every living thing that moveth upon the Earth Which could not have been without such a help in his kind as other Creatures had in their kind And the Lord said it is not good that the man should be alone I will make him a help meet for him Gen. 2.18 And he made a Woman and brought her unto the man ver 22. And Adam said This is now Bone of my Bones and Flesh of my Flesh * Flesh ●lesh Spirit spirit mind that Flesh of my Flesh and not Spirit of my Spirit and Soul of my Soul Therefore shall a man leave his Father and his Mother and cleave unto his Wife and they shall be one Flesh not one Spirit And therefore where