Selected quad for the lemma: mercy_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
mercy_n	let_v	lord_n	prayer_n	9,235	5	6.5766	4	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A56698	A sermon preached on Saint Mark's Day MDCLXXXVI in the parish church of St. Paul's Covent Garden by Symon Patrick ...	Patrick, Simon, 1626-1707.	1686 (1686)	Wing P844; ESTC R7041	18,815	51

and passions be mortified and we shall not fail to know the truth nay all our differences will be at an end or if any remain they will not be destructive either to Charity or that blessed Unity which all good Christians desire to see in the Church of Christ If all will not take this course yet they who do shall stand as unmoveable as a Rock though there be never such strong Winds and violent Gusts of Doctrine abroad that would blow them about For it is only Chaff and Straws and such like light or loose things which are carried about with the Wind Solid and well-built Houses stand firm and unshaken And so will all they who are deeply grounded in holiness and humility They will be stedfast and unmoveable and never be perswaded to follow any other Doctrines than those they have received in this Church though pressed with never so much earnestness because no Doctrines whatsoever can make them better than they are and by the Grace of God intend to be And this truly is a plain Direction whereby to judge of those Doctrines which trouble the Church Do they tend to make men at all the better if they do believe them Will their hearts be more purged from all bad affections Will they become more holy more humble more meek more modest more dead to this World more kind loving and charitable to all men by entertaining those Doctrines which are superadded to the Christian Faith into which we were baptized Or on the contrary Do they not give mens vices greater liberty Do they not puff them up as all windy knowledge doth Will they not dispose us to be more highly conceited of our selves more arrogant more angry more impatient of contradiction more uncharitable and censorious more loose in our conversation more unpeaceable and ungovernable If we find these to be the Fruits of such Doctrines we are assured thereby that they are not the true Christian Doctrines which have the quite contrary effects and make men of another Spirit To conclude There is one piece of Christian piety wherewith all our works must be begun continued and ended and that is earnest Prayer to God whom we must constantly beseech to pour the Grace of his holy Spirit upon us that we may not fail to follow all these Directions and that they may be effectual for our preservation To him let us address our selves with all humility and fervent affection imploring his gracious presence with us at all times to inlighten our minds to guide us in judgment according to his promise to give us understanding in his holy Word to bestow upon us a spirit of discerning that we may clearly perceive the difference of things and not take evil for good falshood for truth but the way of lying may be removed from us and he may grant us his Law graciously But above all things let us beseech him to give us honest and good hearts unbiassed by any carnal or worldly affections Let us pray with David in the Psalm now mentioned cxix 36. that he would incline our heart unto his testimonies and not unto covetousness turn away our eyes from beholding vanity and quicken us in his way For where the love of the World prevails any gainful errour may easily find entertainment And whensoever we find our selves begin to be unsettled in the belief of that which upon the most serious and deliberate consideration we have judged to be the truth whensoever the resolution we took upon that judgment begins to waver and shake let us remember that we are under a temptation and that every temptation is a deceit and would put a cheat upon us for every man is tempted saith St. James when he is drawn away by his own lust and inticed and thereupon let us apply our selves to God with the greater diligence and earnestness for his Grace to purifie our hearts that we may not be seduced by any bad affections but building up our selves in our most holy Faith praying in the Holy Ghost we may keep our selves in the love of God looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life S. Jude 20 21. Finally the Church it self hath put a Prayer into our mouths in the Collect for this Day in which let us not cease to make our humble and hearty requests to Him saying O Almighty God who hast instructed thy holy Church with the heavenly Doctrine of thy Evangelist St. Mark Give us Grace that being not like Children carried away with every Blast of vain Doctrine we may be established in the truth of thy holy Gospel through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen FINIS