Selected quad for the lemma: cause_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
cause_n	according_a	good_a	work_n	2,753	5	6.1002	4	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A77155	Zeale for Gods house quickned: or, A sermon preached before the assembly of Lords, Commons, and Divines, at their solemn fast Iuly 7. 1643. In the Abbey Church at Westminster. Expressing the eminencie of zeale requisite in church reformers: / by Oliver Bowles, Pator of Sutton in Bedfordshire. Published by order of both Houses of Parliament.	Bowles, Oliver, ca. 1577-1646?	1643 (1643)	Wing B3884; Thomason E63_6; ESTC R9592	34,766	57

writers and fruitfull in all manner of wickednesse wherein the Pope got up on horseback What saith a good writer of the Clergy of that time What do we Ministers who are so much the more inferior to others in holinesse of life as we are more eloquent in words who stirring up others fall asleep our selves Ansb. in Apoc. lib. 5. c. 11. holding out light to others are so much the more darkned in our selves So when did Antichristianisme and Mahometisme grow to their full maturity An. Dom. 1300. Hug. in Ps 104 was it not then when the Prelates became I doll shepherds when the Pastors became Wolves and the Angels of the Churches Devills Was not the wickednesse of the Priests a principall in-let of the Saxons to expell the Brittains out of this land Brittany Vide Gild. a p. 58. ad finem saith a good Author hath priests but foolish ones they understand not Pastors as they are called but indeed Wolves ready to slay the soules of the people not seeking the good of the people but the fulnesse of their owne bellies c. So for matter of Doctrine when the Saxons invaded this land Beda lib. 1. c. 7. the Pelagian heresie had with a filthy contagion defiled the Brittaines faith Should not zeale bestirre it selfe when such evils as these overspread a State The second Head to be considered is what influence zeale ought to have into Reformers First Zeale will and must doe her work throughly It is Gods work men must not halve it there is danger least corruptions grow againe unlesse pull'd up by the roots Experience hath taught what sad persecutions a partiall reformation hath made way for What hope doth such an imperfect proceeding give to the enemies that wee will come on to them againe Secondly Zeal must and will summon all the powers of soul and body and all that we can prevaile withall to further the work God delights in men of activity he cares not for the dull Asse to be offered in Sacrifice the neck of it was to be broken It was earnest Baruch that had the prayse above the rest The twelve Tribes did serve God 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Neh 3.20 Act. 26. What should wee be earnest for if not for God and his cause Wilt thou be earnest for thy friend thy profit thy pleasures and cold for thy God Thirdly Zeale after she is convinced of the justice of the cause over-looks all dangers though never so great So Caleb when hee heard of the difficulties resolves Let us goe up at once So Esther If I perish I perish So Saint Paul What doe you weeping and breaking my heart It also treads under foot all allurements all hope of great things God doth now as good as say That which I have planted Ier. 45.4 5. I will pluck up and seekest thou great things for thy selfe 2 King p. 26. Is it now a time to receive money and to receive garments and Oliveyards and Vineyards and sheep and oxen Fourthly Zeale helps a Reformer against the tentation of being alone This prevailes much especially where the devill and our carnall friends carch us at an advantage and amplifie the discouragement How have the mighty been here overthrown Zeal takes notice for the support of her selfe of Ioshua his resolution Chuse yee whom yee will but I and my house will serve the Lord So of Elias his complaint that he was left alone 2 Tim. 4. Vnitos est fundamentum numeri So of Paul At my first answering no man assisted me Zeale takes notice that numbers begin in one and had there not beene one first there had never been two Fiftly Zeale commands perseverance and holding out in the work Many begin in the spirit but end in the flesh how many brave worthies that blossom'd faire come on as promising great things yet have split them upon the rock of an unfound heart withered away if not in the end proved false to God and their Countrey worthy Patriots for a time but their hearts failing them they prove 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 such as relinquish their station In Christianis non initia sed fines laudantur He only receives the Crown that overcomes That heat in a Reformer that is from heaven will hold out not that which is meerely adventitious set on work from outward causes The third Head how zeale must bee qualified 1 It must bee founded in knowledge the understanding is the eye of the soule As mettall is dangerous in a blind horse so zeale when not directed by a judgment well informed zeale as fire must have light as as well as heat It is Hell where there is heat and no light but utter darknesse The minde and so zeale cannot bee good without knowledge The Jewes zeale defective in that not according to knowledge This zeale must not be conjecturall Rom. 10.1 probably seeming such only as wee have received from others without examination Nothing more ordinary then plentifull allegations of Scripture to carry a cause it matters not how specious and frequent quotations of Scripture there bee as what they prove upon found tryall You whom God hath betrusted with this work take not all for gold that glisters 2 It must bee ordered with wisdome zeale must bee wary as well as warme Fire is good but in a wise mans hands that will not put it into the thatch fire is good in the Chimney but if it catch the rafters of the house it sets all on fire Sapientis est videre non quid debeas solùm sed quid possis In the encounter with vice to bee Reformed wisedome will not have a Reformer to set upon the Reforming Quando necesse id ut sit impar vitio that will but enrage vice more Many mischiefes men that meane well are subject to even their good endeavours Eccl. 10. but wisdome is profitable to direct Beware here of that overwary discretion that destroyes reale 3 It must bee tempered with love zeale is apt to bee harsh but love lines the yoak and makes it easie to bee borne fit zelus said my Author but non immoderate saeviens August in 6. Galat. c. Love takes us off from all bitternesse to mens persons Dilige dic quod voles love and say what you will Love allowes us to be warme sharp home in our reproofes but not scalding hot The stomack admits not that which burnes the lips nor the eare that reproofe that is contumelious Love calls upon us as to bee zealous for the truth so to make it our work to endeavour to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace Ephes 4.3 What should rend and divide us one from another whom the Lord hath united with so many bonds as to meet in one God one Christ one Spirit one Faith one Baptisme one Heaven Farre be it from us on whom the Apostle hath laid so many charges if any consolation in Christ Phil. 2.1 if

any comfort of love if any fellowship of the spirit if any bowels and mercies fulfill my joy that ye be of one accord and one mind Doe not our Adversaries studdy to make rents among us shall we gratifie them weaken our selves Doe not they cry out that if they can but devide us they shall conquer us It is memorable what is reported of Iulian Amian Marcell de Julian lib. 22. that hee did nourish dissentions among Christians ut non timeret postea unanimem plebem Vse 1 If zeale bee so requisite a grace in him that God calls to bee a Reformer then we must give diligence that our zeale may be of the right stamp As every grace so zeale may and often hath its counterfeit as First If it want a true light There be false lights that mislead men over bogges and dangerous places we are exceeding apt to be misled when prejudiced by mens persons their learning or holinesse antiquity or novelty as if we were necessarily to receive a thing because ancient or to reject it because new a Inter iuvenile Iudicium s●nile praejudicium perit veritas by a hasty engaging of our judgments before we be able to judge and an unwillingnesse to retract when we have judged by an b Non tam an licet quam ut liceat undue enquiry when we rather seek that things may be lawfull then whether they bee lawfull or not when transported by selfe conceitednesse of our owne opinion it is onely the eye-salve of the spirit by the Word must guide us To the Law and to the Testimony Esay 8.20 Secondly If it suffer not it selfe to be ordered by wisedom This takes in right meanes as conducing to a right end there is a precipitaney in zeale whereby hee that hasteth in his matters sinneth There is a spirit of deliberation and counsell consider consult then give sentence Eccl. 10.25 then practise A good cause often miscarries by indiscreet bandling The labour of the foolish wearieth every one of them because he knoweth not how to goe to the City Ignorance of the right meanes tires out men in their endeavours to no purpose Thirdly If it easily fall into wrangling and quarrels Love that is and ought to bee the orderer of zeale suffereth long 2 Cor. 13. beareth all things endureth all things love knowes that a little breach will quickly bee a great one It prevents them or speedily makes them up It gives the water no passage no not a little zeale for God is tenderly respectfull of mens persons It is wild-fire and not zeale Dan 5.15 Acts 26.24 that casts fire-brands and arrowes and deadly words and sayes I meane no harme Prov. 26.18 19. Fourthly If zeale bee right she will not bate ought of what lies under the command of God no not a hoofe its false zeale that cryes neither mine nor thine but let it hee devided that makes nothing of small matters True zeale drives on the work of Reformation so as it leaves not the least remnants of Baal removes all high places as considering that great persecutions have been raised upon small matters and that conscience is a tender thing as the eye the least moat troubles it Fifthly If our zeale bee only flashy like those unnaturall heats that come and goe by flushings it is not right wee have many that begin well are hot and eager while in such a company while they have such props while carried on by such hopes while not assaulted with such-tentations while they thought the cause would goe thus they were hot and eager in the work of Reformation but as things alter from without they alter from within even to the totall remitting of their zeale Sixthly If true zeale as that which hath the cause of God in the eye then tract of time multitude of discouragements falsenesse of men deserting the cause strength of oppositions will not tire out a mans spirit zeale makes men resolute difficulties are but whetstones to their fortitude it steeles mens spirits with an undaunted magnanimity Vse 2 If zeale be so necessary in a Reformer then wee are all first to blesse God for that fire of zeale the Lord hath kindled in many of your hearts right Honourable and beloved whereby you have been willing to spend and to be spent for the common cause We may read your zeale in your unwearied paines in your deniall of your selves in matter of profit and pleasure in the many hazards you have runne even of all you are have or may expect in the railings and speakings against of men Have not we cause to be thankfull for that zeale of yours whereby you have taken off unsufferable burthens from our backs for the many snares from which you have for the discovery of and delivery of us from most dangerous ruining plots for the many precious Ordinances of Parliament that have issued out for the common good Have not many unworthy scandalous and soule-starving Ministers been displaced and good ones placed in their roome Hath not the Lords day been restored to its pristine sanctification and by burning the book of Sports with other Commands for the better sanctifying of the day been vindicated from all those former unsufferable profanations How have superstitious monuments been defaced secret Idolatries suppressed Seducers of the people been banished the Land For all these and many more everlasting honour shall be upon the head of you our Reformers Goe on and prosper You Noble Parliament Worthies doe worthily in our Ephrata and be famous in our Bethlehem so shall the Lord make your names as a savotry ointment crowne you with his best blessings make your Families flourish when you are dead and gone remember you according to all the good you have done for Gods cause But above all that you have found out a way in these distracted times wherein Religion it selfe groanes under the wantonnesse of our people loathing the Manna and hunting after Novelties under the uncouth and irreligious opinions crept in among us under the bitter divisions that overspread City and Countrey to call an Assembly of able and Worthy Divines with whom you might advise for the settling of Doctrine Worship and Discipline Oh that this work had been sooner in hand Not only have you found such a way but you have embodied many worthies from among your selves with us Have not we a double benefit hereby first you by this your association put honour upon us who should without you in the eyes of many carnall men have been very despicable secondly by this happy conjunction you both help to order us who are ignorant of the nature of such meetings and withall by a seasonable interposall may stay divisions among us Only wee have a double suit to you 1 That you would not suffer the work to be either spun out beyond what is meet or yet hastily slubber'd over Not the first for that the enemy is sowing tares and much harme may be done

inability to help themselves in their passage from Babylon to Ierusalem So we being now upon a further progresse not from Babylon as some have unjustly slandered us but from the remnants of Babylon to the new Ierusalem our work is the Lord assisting to humble our soules before him in a more then ordinary way Oh that the Lord would put us into such a posture of abasement as might make both our persons and services acceptable before him so should we not doubt but the Lord Christ would be in the middest among us The words read unto you are for the latter part taken out of the sixty ninth Psalme uttered by David as a type of Christ as appears by this application of them Consider in the verse first the Scripture alledged secondly the meanes whereby it came to be alledged For the latter it was an act of a sanctified memory in the Disciples calling to minde what was written whereunto the fact done did serve as a remembra●cer Observe Observ That conscionable reading of holy Scriptures shall be attended with seasonable remembring That is conscionable reading when we take up reading the Scriptures in the severall seasons which the Lord commands as an act of obedience unto him this shall have seasonable remembring for so is the promise of Christ Iohn 14.26 The Comforter shall bring all things to your remembrance How industrious then should we all be in frequent search of Scriptures Are not they the Paradise of God wherein growes the Tree of Life Ambr. Ep. 42. and the leaves are good to heale the Nations Are not Scriptures as that Poole whereunto God hath promised a vertuall power wherein we may wash and be cleane Scriptures are that golden Mine wherein we may dig riches that may make us rich to God that enrich us to life eternall Luther in Gen. 19. So zealous was Luther to have the Scriptures read that he professed that if he thought that the reading of his Books would hinder the reading of the Scriptures he would burne them all before hee died But thus much of these things briefly the Scripture it selfe alledged being that which I intend principally by Gods help to insist upon And in this Scripture alledged in the Text three particulars offer themselves 1. The grace Zeale 2. The Object whereabout it was conversant Gods House 3. The Degree wherein it seized upon David and Christ they were eaten up with it Quest First then for the Grace it selfe What is Zeale Answ It is a holy Ardour kindled by the holy Spirit of God in the affections improving a man to the utmost for Gods glory and the Churches good Zelus est intensus gradus purae affectionis It is not so much any one affection as the intended degree of all Affections are the motions of the Will as carried out to the prosecution of good or avoiding of evill They are as the Philosopher speaks exitus animae the out-goings of the soule What the Wheeles are to the Cart the Sinewes to the Body Wings to the Bird the Wind to the Sailes spread such are the Affections to the Soule implanted by God to carry it hither and thither as the objects do more or lesse affect Man lies like a logge the soule moves not but as the Affections stirre For their order they are so placed in the soule as that they are subservient one to another the irascible to the concupiscible When the desiring faculties flag grow remisse by intervenient impediments then comes in the irascible faculties as removens impedimenta as taking away the impediments and is not this that which is properly called Anger This made Luther to say Ira suo loco est optimum Dei donum The second thing is the Object Gods House the house of God under the Law was all the externall pledges of Gods presence the Altars Temple Tabernacle Ark c. The house of God under the Gospel is as the people of God elsewhere so the Ordinances of God here The third thing is the Degree hath eaten me up a metaphor taken from men that receive nourishment and the meat after its severall concoctions is assimilated into the nature of them that receive it Zeale doth totally surprize us in what concerns God we so minde the things of God as if we minded nothing else What was said of Peter that he was a man made all of fire and of Saint Paul in respect of his sufferings that he was a spark of fire burning in the middle of the sea Flamma inextinguibilis in medio mari that may be much more said of Christ when he was upon the work of Church-reformation The Text thus opened this proposition offers it selfe Doct. That Church-reformation doth call for utmost zeale Our love to promote that work must be such Can. 4 12. as many waters cannot quench Our desires must be enlarged Ps 119 20 as those which break through all impediments admit of no deniall give me my request or I die Vers 171. our hope must be more longing our endeavours full of activity our hatred of the opposites more perfect our anger in removing the hindrances more violent These stirrings of the Spirit expell Lukewarmnesse induce Zeale Zeale sets on work the whole tide of our affections Psa 87.7 All my springs are in thee in promoting the good of Gods Church David had a spring-tide of his affections they all ran in that channell To what dangers hazards and censures did Christ here in the exercise of his zeale expose himselfe in the case of Church-reformation Davids zeale for the setling of the Ark how did it make him deny himselfe in his most necessary refreshings I will not goe into my house c. Psa 132.3 his house was no house his bed no bed his rest no rest so in his worldly credit I will yet for my Gods sake 2 Sam. 6.22 bee more vile So in those innumerable heaps of gold and silver 1 Chro. 29.3 which out of his earnest zeale he had prepared and set apart for the building of the Temple Nehemiah that Embleme of Reformers what a measure of zeale did he discover in leaving all his Court preferments putting himselfe in his owne person upon a hazardfull and tedious journey in the encounters and oppositions both open and secret he met withall in his expensefulnesse and that to prodigality as it may seeme for the common cause in his unwearied persisting in the work till it was accomplished How iron-like was the spirit of Elias how did he out of a spirit of zeale against the Idolatry of Baal set his face against Ahab Iezebell and all the Priests of Baal how was he driven to flie for his life some Geographers compute his journey at many hundreds of miles How great were the exigences he was put unto even near affamishment to a wearinesse of his life Iohn the Baptist of what an invincible spirit he was his encounter with a generation of vipers