Selected quad for the lemma: cause_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
cause_n	apostle_n	speak_v	word_n	1,386	5	3.9429	3	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A03589	A learned sermon of the nature of pride, by Richard Hooker, sometimes fellow of Corpus Christi College in Oxford	Hooker, Richard, 1553 or 4-1600.; Jackson, Henry, 1586-1662.; Spenser, John, 1559-1614.	1612 (1612)	STC 13711; ESTC S121048	9,720	22

A LEARNED SERMON OF THE NATVRE OF PRIDE BY RICHARD HOOKER SOMEtimes fellow of Corpus Christi College in Oxford AC OX AT OXFORD Printed by Ioseph Barnes and are to be sold by John Barnes dwelling neere Holborne Conduit 1612. ABAC 2. 4. His minde swelleth and is not right in him But the iust by his faith shall liue THE nature of man beeing much more delighted to bee led then drawne doth many times stubbornely resist authoritie when to perswasiō it easily yeeldeth Wher vpon the wisest Law-makers haue endevoured alwaies that those lawes might seeme most reasonable which they would haue most inviolably kept A law simply commaunding or forbidding is but dead in comparison of that which expresseth the reason where fore it doth the one or the other And surelie even in the Lawes of God although that hee hath given commandement be in it selfe a reason sufficient to exact all obedience at the handes of men yet a forcible inducement it is to obey with greater alacritie and cheerefulnesse of minde when wee see plainely that nothing is imposed more then we must needes yeeld vnto except we wil be vnreasonable In a word whatsoever we be taught be it precept for direction of our manners or article for instruction of our faith or document anie way for information of our mindes it then taketh root and abideth when wee conceiue not only what God doth speake but why Neither is it a small thing which we derogate as well from the honor of his truth as frō the comfort ioy delight which we our selues should take by it when wee loosely slide over his speech as though it were as our owne is commonly vulgar and triviall wheras he vttereth nothing but it hath besides the substance of doctrine delivered a depth of wisdome in the verie choice and frame of words to deliver it in the reason whereof being not perceived but by greater intention of braine then our nice mindes for the most part can well awaie with faine wee woulde bring the world if we might to thinke it but a needlesse curiosity to rip vp anie thing further then extemporall readinesse of wit doeth serue to reach vnto Which course if here we did list to follow we might tell you that in the first branch of this sentence God doth condemne the Babilonians pride and in the second teach what happinesse of state shall grow to the righteous by the constācie of their faith notwithstanding the troubles which now they suffer and after certaine notes of holesome instruction herevpon collected passe over without detaining your mindes in any further removed speculation But as I take it there is a difference betweene the talke that beseemeth Nurces amongst children that which men of capacitie and iudgement doe or shoulde receiue instruction by The minde of the Prophet being erected with that which hath beene hitherto spoken receiveth here for ful satisfaction a short abridgement of that which is afterwards more particularly vnfolded Wherefore as the question befores disputed of doeth concerne two sorts of men the wicked florishing as the Bay and the righteous like the withered grasse the one full of pride the other cast downe with vtter discouragement so the answere which God doth make for resolutiō of doubts herevpon arisen hath reference vnto both sorts this present sentence containing a briefe abstract thereof comprehendeth summarily as wel the feareful estate of iniquity over exalted as the hope laid vp for righteousnesse opprest In the former branch of which sentence let vs first examin what this rectitude or streight nesse importeth which God denieth to be in the minde of the Babylonian All things which God did create he made them at the first true good and right True in respect of correspondence vnto that patterne of their being which was eternally drawne in the counsell of Gods fore knowledge Good in regarde of the vse and benefit which each thing yeeldeth vnto other Right by an apt conformitie of all partes with that end which is outwardly proposed for each thing to tend vnto Other things haue ends proposed but haue not the facultie to know iudge and esteeme of them and therefore as they tend therevnto vnwittingly so likewise in the meanes whereby they acquire their appointed endes they are by necessitie so helde that they cannot divert from them The ends why the heavens do moue the heavens themselues know not and their motions they cannot but continue Only men in all their actions know what it is which they seeke for neither are they by any such necessitie tied naturally vnto any certaine determinate meane to obtaine their ende by but that they may if they will forsake it And therefore in the whole world no creature but only man which hath the last end of his actions proposed as a recompence and reward wherevnto his mind derectly bending it selfe is tearmed right or straight otherwise perverse To make this somewhat more plaine we must note that as they which travell from city to citty enquire ever for the straightest way because the straightest is that which soonest bringeth them vnto their iourneies end So we having here as the Apostle speaketh no abiding City but being alwaies in travell towardes that place of ioy immortality and rest cannot but in every of our deeds words and thoughts thinke that to be best which with most expedition leadeth vs therevnto and is for that very cause tearmed right That Soveraigne good which is the eternall fruition of all good being our last and chiefest felicitie there is no desperat despiser of God and godlinesse living which doth not wish for The difference betweene right and crooked minds is in the meanes which the one or the other do eschew or follow Certaine it is that al particular things which are naturally desired in the world as food rayment honour wealth pleasure knowledge they are subordinated in such wise vnto that future good which we looke for in the world to come that even in them there lieth a direct way tending vnto this Otherwise wee must thinke that God making promises of good things in this life did seeke to pervert men to lead them from their right minds Where is then the obliquitie of the mind of man His mind is perverse cam and crooked not when it bendeth it selfe vnto any of these things but when it bendeth so that it swarveth either to the right hand or to the left by excesse or defect from that exact rule whereby humane actions are measured The rule to measure and iudge them by is the law of God For this cause the Prophet doth make so often and so earnest sute O direct me in the way of thy commandements As long as J haue respect to thy Statuts I am sure not to tread amisse Vnder the name of the Lawe wee must comprehend not only that which God hath written in tables and leaues but that which nature also hath engraven in the hearts of men Else how shall those heathen