Selected quad for the lemma: cause_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
cause_n	believe_v	love_n	truth_n	1,575	5	6.0356	4	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A01736	A short treatise against the Donatists of England, whome we call Brownists Wherein, by the answeres vnto certayne writings of theyrs, diuers of their heresies are noted, with sundry fantasticall opinions. By George Giffard, Minister of Gods holy Word in Maldon.	Gifford, George, d. 1620.	1590 (1590)	STC 11869; ESTC S114289	90,151	124

not deceyued but knowe for certaintie that they be full and rancke Donatists and Anabaptists in part I knowe it is complayned of that there be so many and so diuers Sectes and Heresies dayly springing vp where the Gospell is preached for it seemeth a foule disgrace both to the Gospell it selfe and to the Preachers There are say some at the least fifty seuerall sectes Behold say others how the people are lead without ground and haue no stay but are caryed without ende from one thing to another What is the cause is not the preaching is there any thing deliuered which is certayne are not the fruites of theyr Sermons factions and Schismes These speeches do so abash and trouble some that they are driuen backe and retyre into flat Poperie as into a safe hauen which yet in truth is the gulfe of all Schismes and abhominable heresies Others are so much displeased that they become Atheists and care not much for any Religion though of both they doo rather fauour the Poperie A third sort there be which did runne and now stand still and wonder they knowe not whether they were best to goe backe or forward Their loue and zeale is decayed and readie vtterly to be quenched It is wonderfull that there should be such blindnes in men and want of wisedome to consider rightly of all causes and effects The Scriptures are cleere that light is come into the world and men loue darknesse more then light because their works be euill And what followeth heerevpon because they receyue not the loue of the truth that they might be saued God doth send them strong delusion to beleeue lyes that they may be damned 2. Thess 2. It is the heauie iudgement of God vppon the wicked world that Satan is let loose to seduce and leade into error Men are worthie of such a plague and it doth come vppon them to the full for they be not able now to discerne the truth but do reproch and blaspheme it seeking the disgrace of such as do bring it Moreouer the Scriptures do shewe that God hath an other purpose in sending strong delusion and the efficacie of error and that is touching his elect for they be clogged with the fleshe slowe and dull to search out the truth they be readie to leane to their owne wisedome and seeke not vnto God When Schismes and Heresies arise it doth awaken them causeth them to search more diligently yea to seeke vnto God and to depend wholly vppon him for light and instruction It causeth them to feare and tremble in humilitie and to make precious account of the truth when they haue once found it seeing the Deuill laboureth so mightely to depriue them of it by quenching the light I heare sayth S. Paule that there be Schismes among ye and I do in part beleeue it for there must be Heresies that such as are approued may be made manifest 1. Cor. 11. When we see it come to passe that through the malice and craft of the Deuill and his instruments such confusion doth ouerspread all let vs not loue the Gospell the worse let vs not blaspheme it but knowe it standeth vs vpon to be more carefull The blessed Apostles themselues had to encounter with Heretikes and false Apostles and full cunningly did Satan winde in himselfe in their dayes When they were taken away what troups of Heretikes did he send foorth what blasphemies and detestable furies did he vtter and spread by them how were all the auncient Doctors and holy Fathers in the Churches set on worke to confute them and to defend the true Christian people from infection Why then should we nowe be daunted or why should it be any reproch to the holy Doctrine now more then of old that the Diuell where any light is shewed doth followe it by and by at the heeles to worke disgrace Let the ministers of Gods Word looke diligently to theyr flockes and teach them the wholesome pure Doctrine and the way of Sanctification Let true zeale spring afresh which nowe suffreth great contempt because there is a mad bedlem risen vp which nameth her selfe by her name There be diuers which cry out against zeale very naughtely when it is most certayne no man can haue ouermuch godly zeale especially in these dayes wherein who almost hath any hote loue for the glorie of God and the saluation of his people If Christ should speake what other sentence can we looke for but that which he vttered of the Church of Laodicea Reuel 3. Thou art neyther hote nor cold But let vs come to the matter in hand A breefe sum of the profession of the Brownists _1 WE seeke aboue all things the peace and protection of the most high and the kingdome of Christ Iesus our Lord. 2 We seeke and fully purpose to worship God aright as he hath commaunded in his holy worde 3 We seeke the fellowship and communion of his faithfull and obedient seruants and together with them to enter couenant with the Lord. And by the direction of his holy spirite to proceed to a godly free and right choise of ministers and other officers by him ordained to the seruice of his Church 4 We seeke to establish and obey the ordinances and lawes of our Sauiour Christ left by his last will and testament to the gouerning and guiding of his Church without altering changing innouating wresting or leauing out any of them that the Lord shall giuevs sight of 5 We purpose by the assistance of the Holyghost in this faith and order to leade our liues And for this faith and order to leaue our liues if such be the good will and pleasure of our heauenly Father to whom be all glory and praise for euer Amen 6 And now that our forsaking and vtter abandoning these disordered assemblies as they generally stand in England may not seeme strange or offensiue to any man that will iudge or be iudged by the worde of God we alledge affirme them hainouslye faultie and wilfullye obstinate in these foure principall transgressions 1 They worship the true God after a false manner their worship being made of the inuention of man euen of that man of sinne erronious and imposed vpon them 2 Then for that the prophane vngodly multitude without the exception of any one person are with them receiued into and reteined in the bosome and body of their Church c. 3 Then for that they haue a false and Antichristian ministery imposed vpon them retained with them and maintained by them 4 Then for that their Churches are ruled by and remaine in subiection vnto an Antichristian and vngodly gouernment cleane contrary to the institution of our Sauiour Christ G. G. 1 IN my former answer vnto these your articles which ye call A breefe sum of your profession I kept the same order in which they stand But now I begin first with your heauy accusation of the foure heinous transgressions for which ye condemne and abandon all the assemblies as they

being necessary ought to be abhorred of true Christians especially such reliques as maintaine superstition but to reade other mens bookes to God in stead of true prayers and stinted seruice were deuised by Antichrist and maintaine superstition and an Idoll Ministerie therefore ought to be disallowed The prayers and worship of such Ministers and people as stand vnder a false gouerment are not acceptable nor haue any promise in Gods sight not only because they aske amisse but because they keepe not his commaundements G. G. Read prayer is one chiefe thing for which yee condemne our worship as Idolatrous and most detestable and for that cause to be annexed vnto this first accusation God is a Spirit and must be worshipped in spirit and in truth The Brow THE Scripture doth most briefely and pithily seuer all fantasticall deuises of man from the pure and sincere worship of God prescribed in his Word For seeing all flesh is grasse and the wisedome thereof foolishnes with God it must needes follow that mē earthly minded should please themselues in such pretended religion as agreeth nothing with the diuine nature of God It is needfull then in the worship of God that we thus alwayes consider with our selues we haue to do with God himselfe and not with men who is so farre differing from vs that those things which are most easy and pleasing vnto vs is a wearisomnes and abhominable sacrifice in his sight and although God dwelleth in the heauens in his diuinitie incomprehensible yet haue we a perfect rule whereby we know what is agreeing to his will namely his written word for that we may be heere taught 1. That all hipocrisy in such things as hee hath commaunded be carefully auoyded 2. That wee attempt not to do any thing in his worship whereof we haue not speciall warrant from his word of which sort we take all manner of stinted prayers offered vp as a worshipping of God disagreeing from the nature of God which seeth in secret and so agreeth with our fleshly nature that we can not pray as we ought so we seeke to help our selues with such a broken staffe wearying our selues with our owne deuises without any promise to receyue blessing thereby And therefore where you affirme that a man may pray in spirit and truth with sighes and grones proceeding from faith when prayer is read that is not true for if their sighes came from faith it would minister matter and prayer without a booke yea no doubt a troubled mind is the penne of a readie writer and to worship God in spirit is when the inward faith of the heart bringeth forth true inuocation and it is then in truth when simply it agreeth with Gods word But you would teach men in stead of powring forth their harts to help themselues vpon a booke yea to fetch their cause of sorrowing sighing from an other mans writing euen in the time of their begging at Gods hand We graunt that prayers conceaued without faith ar not acceptable yet may the same be called spirituall because it is the gift of the Spirit though not sanctified in him that so hipocritically mocketh with God But what maketh this to our question of stinted read prayers in Gods worship But say you to make read prayers only to serue for meditation is false doctrine wherein me thinke you offer great iniurie for we affyrmed that it had such vse as other of mēs writings haue But it seemeth you make little cōscience to slander vs and heere you fall into an error your selfe affirming and going about to proue that reading of prayers is not for meditation at all the proofe you bring is that Christ said not to his disciples whē ye meditate say thus Our Father but when you pray say thus c. Where beside that you make no difference between your owne Liturgies the holy word of God which is not of any priuate interpretation Besides this I say you seeme to proue that the Lords prayer all other prayers in the Canonicall Scripture serue not at all for meditation Well you haue hereby made the matter apparant that read prayers vpon a booke are as acceptable as faithfull prayers conceiued by the spirit vttered with vnderstanding You say that prayers read or conceiued being void of faith is but vaine babling we say the same but what of this forsooth you cannot see by what censure it can be called Idolatry If false worship cannot be called Idolatry let the first and second Commaundements be witnesses so that it is not our pennes but the penne of Gods own finger that hath iudged all deuises of man hipocriticall worship of Idolatry And although all the breaches of the first Table were not Idolatry yet you know that to worship our own deuises is Idolatry Is not prayer a speciall part of the first Commaundement and our Sauiour Christ comprehendeth all the foure first Commandements in this that we loue God aboue all the transferring of any part whereof from God must needs be idolatry But say you if we do thus hold withall that no idolator can be saued thē surely are all lost c. This is countrey diuinity if the Salt haue lost his sauour what should be sesoned therwith we hold that no idolator cā be saued without true repentance renouncing their sinne so far as God shall shew it thē yea craue with Dauid for pardon for their hidden secret sins And doo you thinke any man liuing is void of idolatry either inwardly or outwardly so long as we liue or that we can keep any one cōmandement in perfection The Lord therfore giue vs repentance for in some things we sin all Methinks this should not be M. Giffords language to be so ignorant in the principles of religion if you haue waighed our arguments no better then your preface it shall be greeuous to me to make any aunswer To condemne and ouerthrow read prayer yée bring as the ground or foundation of all your matter this sentence God is a spirit and to be worshipped in spirit Iohn 5. This scripture indéed is cléere and strong to cut downe all carnall worship as disagréeing from the nature of God And if any doo maintaine that the very bodily action of reading prayer is the worship of God it may fitly be alledged against them But to apply it in that manner which you doo against red praier is friuolous vnlesse as I say yée could prooue that a man cannot pray by the spirit of God with sighes and grones procéeding from faith when the praier is read vpō the booke or vttered after a prescript forme To this you reply with diuers arguments The first is that if the sighes and grones were of faith it would minister matter of praier without a booke This reason by a connection is drawne from and dependeth wholy vpon the force and effect of faith to minister matter of prayer It is to be framed thus If the prayer with sighes

ouercome Then yée turne your selues to those poore soules as yée terme thē whom we like miserable Physicians séeke to cure and your Counsell you giue them I doo allow it for it is the same in effect if you could sée that I gaue them before I would to God the people did follow it we should not then haue one Brownist The Deuill counterfaiting Christs voice in hereticall schismatikes should not be able to allure and call away the shéepe from their shéepeheards Now remaineth the last point onely that I shew some reason to prooue our Ministery to be of Christ The ministery of the Gospell which bringeth the worde of faith and reconciliation betwéene God and the worlde is the true ministerie of Christ for the Deuil and Antichrist ordeine no such ministerie Nowe the ministerie of the Church of England doth bring no word nor doctrine but the sacred scriptures It preacheth faith in God through Christ and the doctrine of repentance deliuering the holy sacraments as seales to confirme the same Let all the schismatikes in the world barke against it and say we haue no word nor Sacraments yet this is the holy word God so loued the world that hee gaue his onely begotten sonne that whosoeuer beleeueth in him should not perish but haue life euerlasting It may be sayde that many ministers in England doo not nor cannot preach the Gospell how then is their ministery the ministery of reconciliation Héere note that as we must distinguish betwéene the ministery and the man himselfe which is the minister for the man may be of the Deuill and yet his ministery of God so must we also distinguish betwéene the function it selfe and the execution of the same For when one is called to bee a minister of the Gospell which is able and dooth not preach the defect is not in the function but in his negligence about the execution Likewise when the office or function is layd vpō him that cannot preach the function it selfe is entyre the defect is in the execution thereof through his disabilitie I say therfore that the Ministerie of England is the Ministerie of the Gospell though some doo not and some cannot Preach Then further such as haue the calling and ordination of the Church haue the Ministerie of Christ for it is giuen to the Church to haue power to call and ordeine Ministers Now if the Church doo falt and breake either by error or negligence in some rules which are to be obserued about this calling and ordinatiō yet the power is not disanulled nor the function destroyed vnlesse we will hold that where there is transgression either of ignorance or otherwise the whole is ouerthrowne and so conclude that there is no praier nor worship of God nor any true seruice doone vnto him vnder heauen because all is with errors and faults In England the Ministers haue their calling and ordination by the Church of God For that people which hath forsaken heresies and false worship and imbraced the doctrine of the Gospell hath in it the true Church which hath the power And the Ministers intrude not themselues but haue the power giuen them by the hands of the Bishops who doo it not by their owne authoritie nor by any authoritie from Antichrist but as committed to their trust by publike authoritie Moreouer that is the Ministerie of God which is to bring men to the faith and to build vp the body of Christ The Ministerie of England is to none other end For the whole drift the whole scope and burthen laid vpon them is to féede with wholsome doctrine and to guide in the waye of godlinesse the shéepe of Christ walking before them in godlye conuersation The Brownist will not take himselfe héere conuinced but will say these causes are but pretended and are not in truth I will therefore now reason from the effect together with that which is properly adioyned to the Ministerie of Christ That Ministerie with the execution whereof there is ioyned the effectuall grace power blessing and operation of the Holy-ghost to the true conuersion of mens soules is not a Ministerie of the Deuill nor of Antichtist nor commeth not in the life and power of the beast but is indeed the true Ministerie of Christ I thinke the Brownists will not be so beastly as to affyrme that the grace and operation of the holy Ghost to the conuersion of mens soules is ioyned to that and worketh by that which is of the Deuill and commeth in the life and power of Antichrist Then it remayneth only to shewe that there hath béene and is this grace and worke in the execution of our function If the Brownists will deny that euer they felt that maiestie and power in the preaching which can not be in the words of man but only in that word which is sharper then any two edged sword and pierceth so déepe as to be a discerner of the thoughts and secret intents Or if they will denie that euer they haue béene driuen by it vnto hatred sorrowe and remorse for sinne and raysed vp with comfort and hope of forgiuenesse and with the promises of eternall glorie Yet vnto many other which by it are conuerted vnto the Lord in déede which vnto feare and trembling doo féele the power and swéetnesse of the liuely word it may be sayd as S. Paule speaketh to the Corinths for when his aduersaries did denie him to be an Apostle the Corinths by his Ministerie were begotten in Christ wherevpon he sayth If I be not an Apostle vnto others yet am I vnto you for you are the seale of mine Apostleship in the Lord 1. Cor. 9. ver 2. Euen so if the Ministery of Englād be not the Ministery of Christ vnto others yet you can not doubt of it your faith your repentance your ioy in the Lord are the seale of it You can not but sée and knowe that they be vile blasphemous wretches which beare ye in hand that it is not the word of God nor the grace of his spirit which worketh in ye but the power of the Deuill and the spirit of Antichrist You knowe it is the direct way which the Deuill taketh by his ministers to bring in flat Atheisme to disgrace and throwe downe the credite of the ministerie But doth it not make against the Ministerie of England that many of the Brownists confesse they haue béene greatly moued at sometimes with the power of the preaching and at the administration of the Sacraments for may it not bée sayd héerevpon that it is but a deceyuable shewe of grace and power for if it had béene in truth it would haue continued I answer it is sufficient to proue the Ministerie and that the power of the holy Ghost goeth with it when men haue bin so moued although they do not continue séeing the reprobate do féele the power and taste the swéetnes of the word for a time Hebr. 6. He that hath therefore felt the power of God in his soule by the