Selected quad for the lemma: cause_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
cause_n	aaron_n	author_n	sin_n	41	3	5.3461	4	false

Text snippets containing the quad

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

Christ and to the people as it appeareth Iohn 21. 15. where Iesus Christ sayth to Peter after his resurrection Simon sonne of Iona louest thou me more then these He sayde vnto him yea Lorde thou knowest that I loue thee he sayde to him feed my Lambes He said vnto him the second time Simon the sonne of Iona louest thou me He sayde vnto him yea Lorde thou knowest that I loue thee he sayd vnto him feed my sheepe Christ said to him the third time Simon the sonne of Iona louest thou me Peter was sory because he sayde to him the third time louest thou me said vnto him Lord thou knowest all thinges thou knowest that I loue thee Iesus sayd vnto him feed my sheepe Whereby it is euident that those which feed not loue not Christ Seeing then that feeding or preaching is so plaine a token of the loue that the minister oweth to Christe it is most necessarily required if any do preach and yet not vpon this loue they haue their condemnation 3 The church of God is begunne and grounded by the preaching of the worde and therefore necessarie Paule sayth Faith commeth by the word preached Againe he counteth his preaching amongst the Corinthians a planting of them in faith and religion S. Peter sayth We are borne a new not of mortall seed but of immortall by the worde of God who liueth and endureth for euer And presently addeth This is the worde which is preached among you 4 By preaching y e Church of God is not onelye begunne but also amplified builded and enlarged It will not onely make vs Babes in Christ but strong and spirituall men It hath not onely milke for the weake but strong meate for them that are at age By it we are brought not onelye to the beginning of Christe and firste rudimentes of Christian religion but also we are ledde forwarde vnto perfection The holye Apostle affyrmeth this when as he sayeth that Iesus gaue some to be Apostles and Prophetes and some Euangelistes and some Pastours and Teachers for the gathering of Saintes for the worke of the Ministerie and for the edification of the bodie of Christ vnto a persect man and vnto the measure of the age of the fulnesse of Christ 5 The Church of God begun and brought to that perfection which can be in earth is also stayed strengthened vpholden and preserued by the preaching of the word against sinne and errour And therefore for these causes also the preaching of the word is most necessary yea and that dayly and continually because some are weake and haue neede of dayly strengthning some fall into errours and some into greeuous sinnes from the which they are to bee drawne out by the effectuall preaching of the worde This doth the holy Apostle confirme whereas he saith that The whole Scripture is profitable to teach to improoue to correct and to instruct in righteousnesse that the man of God may be absolute beeing made perfect vnto all good workes 6 Againe to the pure preaching of the worde the Lorde hath promised a blessing the minister shal be blessed the people also blessed thorough it They that bee wise sayth Daniell shall shine as the brightnesse of the firmament And they that tourne many vnto righteousnesse shall shine as the starres for euer and euer The wise and faithfull Steward that giueth meate to the housholde in due season when his master commeth he shall be blessed and made partaker of exceeding ioy glory Take heed saith y e Apostle to thy selfe and to learning continue therein for in dooing this thou shalt both saue thy selfe and them that heare thee God so blessed the preaching of his Seruaunt Ionas that through it the Niniuites beleeued God humbled them selues and forsooke their former wicked wayes At one preaching of Peter there were wonne to the Lord about thrée thousande soules Thus doth the Lorde blesse his owne order the minister by pure and faithfull preaching dischargeth his owne soule obtayneth peace in conscience and so is blessed in this life but shall bee farre more blessed in the life to come when hee hath finished his course he shall receiue an incorruptible crown of glory The people also by this means are many waies blessed they receiue knowledge fayth saluation their eyes are opened they are tourned from darknesse to light and from the power of Sathan vnto God Al these great and notable blessinges do ensue the preaching of the word and therfore required most necessarily in euery minister 7 On the other side without this both the minister and the people are accursed the bloud of the people shall be required at his handes because he hath not as a faithfull watch-man forewarned them of daunger and yet they shall dye in their owne sinnes The Lorde complayneth by his Prophet Hosea saying My people are destroyed for lacke of knowledge because thou hast refused knowledge I will also refuse thee that thou shalt be no priest to mee To this agreeth our Sauiour Christ If the salt haue lost his saltnesse it is good for nothing but to be cast out and to be troden vnder foote of men And if these ministers which sometimes haue had salt in them zeale and knowledge to season the people and by negligence and carelesnesse decaye and loose it If these I say be worthie to be cast out how miserable and curssed are they which neuer had nor yet haue any Salt in them It must needes be fulfilled of them which our Sauiour speaketh in an other place They be blinde leaders of the blinde and if the blinde lead the blind both shall fall into the ditch that is both the ignoraunt Minister and the ignoraunt people shall perishe And in an other place it is sayde Caste that vnprofitable Seruaunt into vtter darknesse there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth And here it is sayde Woe be to me if I preach not the Gospell Seeing then that euery way there hangeth so many greeuous cursses both vppon the minister and people where the worde is not preached it is most requisite and necessarie that euery minister looke to this euen as hee will escape the fearefull and heauie cursse of God 8 Moreouer the chiefe ende and vse why the Scriptures were written doth require preaching They are left for our comfort instruction and edifiyng But we are most comforted instructed and edified if they be opened and applyed vnto vs and therefore moste necessarie that they be so vsed 9 Also the corruption and dulnesse of our nature requyreth the same We are dull ignoraunt and carelesse wee please our selues in our owne sinnes the Deuill goeth about continually to deuour vs and therefore we haue neede to haue continuall preaching of the worde The naturall man perceiueth not the thinges that are of Gods spirit Dauid after he had sinned continued in his sinne vntill the Prophet reprooued him for it yea