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Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
cause_n	aaron_n	author_n	people_n	34	3	5.1383	4	false

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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A01701	A fruitful sermon preached at Occham, in the countie of Rutland, the second of Nouember. 1583. By Thomas Gybson.	Gibson, Thomas, M.A.	1584 (1584)	STC 11839; ESTC S112170	27,150	83

iudgements condemnation of the wicked I finde then that the impenitent and such as continue in their sinnes could not be saued God could not forgiue them Herevpon some haue sayde and do say still of mee that I preached that God could not forgiue sinnes I sayde and I say againe the Lord is as true in his iustice as in his mercie Christ saieth Except yee amend yee shall all perish And agayne He that beleeueth not is damned Saint Paul sayth No whoremonger nor adulterer no vnrighteous or vncleane person shall inherite the kingdome of heauen This is as much as I sayde and in effect all that I sayde Wo be to me if I preach not the Gospell Nowe Repentance is a part of the Gospell and that wee may repent it is needeful to knowe our sinnes and as the sinns of al men must be reproued and the iudgementes of GOD threatened against them so especially the sinnes of publique personnes as Magistrates and Ministers And if this in no case will be borne but hee that doth it is straight way blamed alasse what shall we doe If we speak against the people they are greeued they say we deale hardly with them but looke not to our selues or to the higher powers If wee deale against Gentlemen and great men wee are hated euill spoken of and abused If wee speake againste the ignoraunt and carelesse Ministers they are also offended and say wee lacke discretion charity and modestye Thus daungerous a thing it is to preache the Gospell yea euen amongst them that glorie in the Gospell so that as our state standeth it may bee said cleane contrarie to the saying of the Apostle in this place Woe to them that preache the Gospell and happy are they which preache not the Gospell and they are counted wisest which either holde their peace or else meddle not with this parte of the Gospell But the faithful Minister howe soeuer hee seeme to be discouraged by suche wicked and vnthankfull dealinges of the worlde yet hee is to comfort him selfe in the Lorde and to feare God more then men It is farre better to discharge our duties faithfullye with a good Conscience although we procure displeasure of men then by leauing our duetie vndone or by doing the Lords worke negligently and vnfaithfullie to procure the displeasure and heauie cursse of God The holie Apostle hath spoken it Wee be to me if I preache not the Gospell And to aunswere them somewhat which blame vs for dealing so hardly and openly against the sinnes of the ministers Is it not a part of discretion to reprooue their sins which doe mest hurt and are the causes of many other sinnes this is that discretion which was vsed by the holy prophets euery wher They cry out aganst the negligence of the Priestes against their ignoraunce carelesnesse and leud conuersation Amongst many and infinite places I referre you to that one place in the Prophet Malachie who dealeth so hardly and particularly with the priestes as thogh al sinne had béene in them No doubt there were many sinnes amongst the people and yet in al his prophesie he seemeth to deale specially almost onlye against the Priestes beeing in deede the causes and the authours of the sins of the people yea and these were such Priests as were ordained of God as were the successors of Aaron and the tipes of Iesus Christe and yet are so sharpely publiquely reproued by the Prophet This discretion was vsed by Christ himselfe Howe often times togeather doeth he pronounce woe against y e Scribes and Pharises calling them Hipocrites fooles blinde guides Serpentes and generation of Vipers yea howe oftentimes doeth he most sharplye and openly rebuke his owne Apostles Perceiue ye not yet sayth he neither vnderstand haue you your harts yet hardened haue you eyes and see not haue ye eares and heare not and doe yee not remember Are not these my brethren very hard words such wordes as are vsed in the Scriptures against the very reprobate yet the Lord Iesus vseth thē against his own apostles In an other place he reprooueth them for their vnbeliefe and hardnesse of heart How sharply doth the Apostle deale in al his Epistles against false Apostles nay did he not reprooue openly to his face Peter the Apostle and his fellowe minister because he went not the right way to y e truth of the Gospel So that it is not onely lawful but also necessary that the sinnes of all estates and specially of the greatest and of the ministers be sharply and openly reprooued The holy apostle saith Them that sin openly rebuke openly that the rest also may feare But are not the sins of our ministers open Is not their ignoraunce apparant Is not their idlenes and carelesnesse knowne Doth not the common sort of people see it And are not some of them faine to seek for instruction in other places Doe not many complaine of the liues of the ministers Doe they not say commonly of them they speake well and doe enil they bee as conetous as other they haue neuer ynough doe not the people see this and a great deale more Are not these open offenders Doth not duetie discretion and charitie bind the Preacher if he wil faithfully preach the gospel to reprooue them seuerally which giue cause of such offences The Apostie vseth this modestie against himselfe Woe be to me if I preach not the Gospell which woe signifieth no light small or easie matter but y e grieuous curse of god in this life and that feareful condemnation in the life to come Can they be too sharpely reprooued or can any speeches be too hard for them which are ignoraunt and carelesse in so great a light of the Gospel after so long profession which shoulde be guides to others which haue so many excellent meanes so great helps of knowledge offered to them by the Lorde in these dayes which we liue in Can they be too much or too often spoken against which are ignoraunt and will be ignorant which mislike those that reprooue them which hate all that are not like them selues which seeke to deface the painfull minister yea and stande in defence of their owne wickednesse Is not this to bind sinne together with Cart-ropes Sinne not twise saith the wise man for one sin shall not be vnpunished and therfore take heed in time and amend or else you perish say what you wil thinke what you will the Lord is my witnesse I speake the truth I know I might be better thought of to passe ouer such matters but Woe be to me if I preach not the Gospell But it may be yet that some will saye although this be true that you haue spoken yet all truth is not to bee spoken at all times in all places and to all persons The minister must cut the worde of God aright Like a wise Stewarde he must giue meat in due season To these men I aunswere that no necessarie truth is to

slaundered and euill spoken off and therefore to cleare my selfe from such false reports to satisfie my friends which are ready to answere in my cause to let the enemies knowe I haue spoken nothing wherof I am ashamed but dare put it to the witnessing and testimonie of the Christian reader and also to resolue morefully the weaker sort in such thinges as at the first seeme strange and absurde For these and such like causes I saye I am content and willing that this my trauell come to light although the whole or most part of this Sermon is vnsauorie vnpleasaunt to the greater sort and specially to the ignorant people to the hipocrite to the idol or dumb minister yet this is that which chiefly misliketh and greeueth them because both in the place where I preached this Sermon and also else where I sayd affirmed that the minister which preacheth not and hath not those giftes which the lord requireth in his Ministers that such a one is no Minister approoued of GOD neyther hathe any right and authoritie from the Lorde to minister his Sacramentes Which matter hovve straunge and absurde soeuer it seeme to ignoraunte and carnall men yet I hope it is heere sufficiently confirmed by authoritye and examples of the holy Scripture I coulde alleadge further the allowaunce and iudgement of moste famous and pure Diuines and such as are generally receiued and allowed of all true Christians Master IOHN CALVIN aboute the latter ende of his Catechisme which is allowed by her Maiesties authority saythe in playne wordes that the ministration of the Sacramentes belongeth to them who haue the charge to preache openlye in the Church For the preaching of Gods word and the ministration of the Sacraments be things ioyntly belonging to one kind of office these be his very words which are as plaine as may be M. Rodolphus Gualter in his 118. Homely vpon Mark speaking of the institution of the Lordes supper and of the right order in ministring that sacrament amongst other things sayth on this maner Peccant qui coenaem absque verbi predicatione peragunt adeoque illam huic praeferunt quasi vel ad dei cultum uel ad salutem plus conferat quam verbum cum tamen huius maiorem quam sacramentorum rationem habuerunt Christus Apostoli They sinne against the institution of Christ which doe minister the Supper without preaching of the worde and so preferre the Sacrament before preaching as though that auayled more to saluation and seruice of God then the worde preached whereas notwithstanding both Christe and the Apostles esteemed more the preaching of the Worde then the Sacrament These are his wordes I might alleadge many other testimonies for this cause not onely from the moste worthye Godly and learned diuines both old and new of other nations but also from famous Martyrs and Byshoppes in this our land in their sermons and writinges published and priuiledged by authority I hope then there is no cause why this doctrin shold not receiue a fauorable intertainment allowaunce as of your honors so of all faithful christians hauing such warrant from so pure and learned men and from the testimony of the holy worde What soeuer I spake in deliuering and vttering this sermon I haue here set it down so neare as I could remember both in forme and matter To conclude I moste heartely desire in the Lord the christian reader especially your honors to accept this my poore trauel I am bold to ioyn you both in one not onely because the Lord hath ioyned you together in the bonde of friendship and in a care of my good estate but also that which is greatest of all in a zeale of Gods glory furtherance of his religion Now the very God of peace sanctify you through out and I pray God that your whole spirites soules and bodyes may be kept blamelesse vnto the comming of our Lord Iesus Christ Amen Your Honours in the Lord THOMAS GYBSON Hearken with feare and reuerence to the worde of the Lorde written by the holy Apostle Saint Paule in his first Epistle to the Corinthians Chap. 9. verse 16. Woe be vnto me if I preach not the Gospel OUR Lorde and Sauiour Iesus Christ in the 17. Chapter of the blessed Euangelist Luke amongst many other excellent thinges vttereth and propoundeth this parable Who is it of you that hauing a seruaunt plowing or feeding Cattell woulde saye vnto him by and by when he were come from the field Goe and sit downe at table c. And afterwardes in the tenth verse applyeth it on this maner So likewise yee when ye haue done all those thinges which are commaunded you saye we are vnprofitable seruauntes we haue done that which was our duetie to doe The holy Apostle and seruant of Christ in this place auoucheth and confesseth in him selfe the saying of his Master to be moste true For although amongest many good workes there is not a more excellent or better work then the preaching of the word of God which was done most purely effectually and diligently by the Apostle yet he is so farre from accounting it meritorious that he sayeth a necessitie is laid vpon him that duetie bindeth him to do it In the former verses from the beginning of this Chapiter S. Paule sheweth and that with diligence and large copie of wordes that beeing amongest the Corinthians he was content to giue place to his owne right to forbeare that which he might lawfully doe to take no maintenaunce at all from them least be should giue occasion of cauilling to the false Apostles as though hee vnder the presence of the calling of an Apostle should seeme to seeke his owne gaine and lurre Amongst other thinges he hath sayde and that in the former verse It were better for me to dye then that any man should make my reioycing in vaine The which wordes may seeme to proceed and flow from an ambitious and vaine glorious spirite And therefore it might bee sayde What now Paule What needes all this Thou art wont to glory in Christ alone doest thou now glory in thine owne doinges To such a question or obiection the Apostle aunsweareth qualifiyng his former speach as if he should sa● although it be an excellent worke to preach the Gospel and that freely yet take not my wordes so as though I repose any merite of saluation in this work for I am called to it and bound to it by duty and commaundement from my maister Christ And if I doe it not I prouoke and procure the anger of God and the sentence of his cursse and condemnation on me Woe be to me if I preach not the Gospell Of these words being but a part of the verse I haue taken vpon me to speake at this time From whence I meane by Gods grace to speake o these three pointes First I will gather some description of preaching that you may know what it is Secondly I meane to prooue the necessitie of