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A19748 A confession of Christian religion; Protestation against popery by way of a confession of Christian religion collected for the benefit of private friends I. D., fl. 1607.; Dunster, John, attributed name. 1609 (1609) STC 6172A; ESTC S114690 21,349 54

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Heresie of Photinus as Drantes Cant. 11. dell inf reporteth but he was factione Gibellinus saith Bellarmine and therefore his Testimony against this or any Pope not available Zepherin was a Montanist in Tertulliaus iudgement Marcelliuus an Idolater according to Bellarmine himselfe Liberius an Arrian and consented to the condemnaiion of Athanasius Yea flat Apostats witnes Liràn in Math. 16. Legimus multos pontifices apostatâsse à fide and this Bellarmine doth in some sort grant when he faintly denieth it if not rather insinuateth the same Non est propriè haeretica ista sententia puta papam errare posse Est erronea haeresi proxima it may be an erroneus a scandalous an offensiue position but nō est propriè Haeretica They are his owne words 6 The true markes acd badges of this Church are only two the 1 sincere preaching of the word the 2 lawfull dispensation of the Sacraments not Antiquity nor multitude nor miracles nor the rest which Bellarmine repeateth to the number of foureteene 1. The sincere preaching of the word to which we admit no body but him that is lawfully call'd by the Church and Christian magistrate we knowe where it is written No man taketh this honor vnto himselfe Nisi vocatus vt Aron and that our Saviour did not intrude himselfe into the office of priesthoode Missus sum à patre à Meipso non veni his letters patens are in these words Thou art a Priest for euer after the order of Melchisedeche and to that Demande whether the calling of our first Reformers were ordinary or extraordinary I answere it was in this respect Extraordinary that when the ordinary Ministry was corrupted God raised vp some of his better servants to reforme that which was amisse and I deny that al such who haue this extraordinary calling haue all of them alwaies the gift of miracles Iohn the Baptist did no miracles Ioh. 10.41 And whereas they reply that God did a miracle in his birth and 2. that hee was of the linage sacerdotal To the 1 I answere the miracle which God did in his birth was knowne only to few 2. was done a great time before the Exequution of his charge To the 2. that the charge which he entred vpon had nothing commō with the Leviticall Priesthoode wherefore his extraction could not authorize him to baptize Neither yet do I see how the Papists can obiect vnto Luther and other ministers in the Reformed Churches to haue no lawful calling seeing they receiue their ordination from themselues and we do not deny but the Popish Bishops in creating Ministers howsoever they vse more ceremonies thē need of truely to conferre the office vpon whō they lay their hands I professe that Ministers thus called haue a right to the vse of the Keies The keies of the Church are the power of binding and loosing of retaining and remitting of sinnes I beleeue that sinnes are only remitted by God for I acknowledge it to bee his incommunicable property to forgiue sinne according as he proclaimeth of himselfe Ego ego sum qui deleo iniquitates tuas propter me c and that mā hath but a secundary and ministeriall power to wit to publish forgiuenes of sinnes to those whom God in heaven hath forgivē for we are but Embassadors and doe intreate for Christ sake Reconciliamini Deo otherwise if the minister doe take vpon him 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 vpō any absolute power resting in himselfe to forgiue sinnes the sinner to be absolued may say vnto him as Augustine hath it Quid ego homo nisi aeger sanandus vis mihi esse medicus mecum quaere medicum for hee sinfull man as he is hath need of one to forgiue his sinnes likewise I acknowledge power in the minister to retaine sin and to award Excommunication against desperate and scandalous offenders only I could advise they would remember and practise these few rules following 1 That such ecclesiasticall curses be denounced according vnto the worde of God 2 That they put a difference betweene privat and publike sinnes betweene delicta scelera 3 That they be not too sharp in their censures remembring that of Chrysostome Si Deus est tam benignus vt quid sacerdos eius tam austerus Against the first the Bishop of Rome highly offendeth when euery Easter day he excommunicateth the Reformed Churches before his solēne Masse for whereas the Pope denounceth his curse against vs Quòd haeretici wee know the cause is false therfore the curse not effectual seeing as it is in the Prouerbs A curse causelesse shall not come Neminem ligare debet iniqua Sententia Gelasius and therefore wee saie with Tertullian Dum à vobis damnamur à Deo absoluimur 2 The second note of the Church is the rightfull administration of the Sacraments Now Sacraments are onlie two 1 Baptisme 2 The Lords supper I confesse Baptisme to be a seale of the covenant of grace and therefore children being contained in the covenant promissio facta est vobis et liberis vestris are to receiue the seale of the covenant and to be baptised howsoever first the Pelagian and since the Anabaptist with great fury and greater phrensie teach the contrary and yet when I say Baptisme is a seale of the covenāt of Grace I do not any way extenuat the efficacy of Baptisme For I confesse Baptisme to be not only a signe or token what we receiue but also an instrument or meane whereby wee receiue Grace and to bee the dore of our actuall entrance into Gods house the first apparent beginning of life 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Bazil a seale to the grace of election before receiued but to our sanctification heere a step that hath not any before it The efficacy of Baptisme I giue you in Tertullians wordes Homo per aquam Baptismi licet à foris idem esse videatur Tert. doc●r resurrect intus tamē alter efficitur cum peccato natus sine peccato renascitur prioribus perit succedentibus proficit deterioribus exuitur in meliora innovatur persona tingitur natura mutatur And with the Poët 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 So farre am I which Campian impudently chargeth vpon vs frō making Baptisme Adiaphoron Si habeas recte si careas nihil damni Yet doe I not avouch that Baptisme is simply necessary to saluation for I am perswaded that child may be saued which is prevented in his Baptisme by suddaine death and that saying of S. Bernard alwaies was of authority with me Non priuatio sed contemptus Baptismi damnat and that of S. Ambrose Qui Sacramentum omittunt to wit in the case aboue specified gratiam tamen non amittunt and I thinke that S. August if soberly vnderstood is not so much my enemy in this point as Papists and some Protestants do beleeue For I doe conceiue that St. Augustine was more peremptory in this point thereby to
of Christ in the Gospell Etiam pater quia sic placuit tibi Non dicit qua ratione sic patri placuit sed tantū gratias agit patri quod sic illi placuit Chrys Or to speake to the capacity of the ignorant but the alone absolute will of God ordeining and as I may so speake adiudging to distruction the wicked before they were presented vpon the stage of the world or had done either good or euil For hath the Potter power of a lump of clay to make a vessell to dishonour and shall not the Almighty Iehouah by his vnlimited and transcendent power ordaine vessells of wrath for the euill day and for destruction Seeing he is the Lord in the parable of Matthew who said An non licet mihi quod volo facere in meis Yet againe I confesse that God condemneth not into hel any man but for sinnes and trespases for I hold this to bee a true position in Diuinity that sinne is not the cause of reiection yet may be and indeed is the meritorious and impulsiue cause of damnatiō wherfore whosoeuer thou art that settest thy face against heauen and openest thy mouth in blasphemies against God lay thy hand vpon thy mouth and looke backe vnto the fall of Adam Looke vnto the Rocke whence yee are hewen and to the hole of the pit whence yee are digged Is 51.1 v. and consider what thou broughtest with thee from thy natiuity and from thy Fathers house Doe not censure God in thy blasphemous thoughts as if vpon lust only and not of deserued iustice he did award sentence of condemnation against thee and I could also wish that many men would be more sparing to scan this doctrine and chose rather to admire and magnifie then strictly to examine by the Canon of our reason the secret and hidden will of God saying with St Paul O the deepnesse both of the wisdome and knowledge of God how vnsearchable are his iudgements and his waies past finding out And with St Augustine Disputare vis mecum mîrare mecum exclama ô altitudo Ambo consentiamus in pauore ne in errore pereamus Concerning the second I beleeue that al mē being infected from Adams sinne not only with imputatiue guilt as Pighius would haue it but by naturall corruption also as St Paul avoucheth haue iust cause inhering and residing in thē at their birth for which they should bee reiected of God left weltering in their filthy blood to the contempt of their person yea to be sent into hell to haue their originall impiety expiated with brimstone but that God for the glory riches of his mercy being loath to wreak his fury in the general perditiō of al mākind not of foreseene either workes or faith but of his good pleasure and only meere mercy hath called some out of the cursed estate of all mankinde on whō to bestow fauour the kingdome of his loue ordaining them in his secret counsell to be Citizens with the Angels of the heauenly Ierusalem and heires of blisse and coheires with Christ And doth call them at due time some at the third hower and some at the eleventh if not outwardly all by his word yet inwardly all by the hidden vertue and efficatious power of his holy spirit out of the power of darknes to be of the houshold of God in the bosome of the Church there to be consecrated by Baptisme nourished at the Lords table instructed by the word governed by his spirit even then he bestoweth vpon them his Beloved and with him 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 he giveth remission both of sinnes and punishment and all the benefits and merits not of his passion only but of his incarnation also and hath giuē vs the hand of faith to reach and apply them vnto our selues yea to owne possesse them as truely as if ours not by imputation only but originally and by inhaesion so that before God all the company of the faithfull are accounted as only one Numerical body with Christ Sicut corpus vnum et membra habet multa sic Christus 1. Cor. 11.12 where by Christus is ment Ecclesia Christi the Church of Christ head and body the vine and branches for the spirit of God by his sanctifying power by little and little doth worke away the old mā of our corruption doth put on vs a new creature making vs really partakers of the substaunce of the flesh yea of the whole person of Christ his proper ornaments and graces as righteousnes and sanctification The which great blessing of our every way vndeserued redemption whē I seriouslie revolue with my selfe I cannot but breake forth into praise in the words of Zachary Blessed be the Lord God of Israell because he hath visited redeemed his people c. And to vse those words of admiratiō otherwise applied I cōfesse in the book of Numbers According vnto this time it shall bee said of Iacob and Israel what hath God wrought Man having receiued these rich favours of God in his creation and redemption hath nothing charged vpon him for his tribute but only to shew a good faithfulnes to adorne his christian profession and to be carefull to shew forth good workes Wherefore I confesse vnto the glory of God that every one of Gods children which hath his sinnes washed away in the bloud of the Lamb Extra causam Iustificationis nemo potest b●na opera ●atis magnifice commendare Luth. hath it not left vnto him as Arbitrary but hath a necessity laid vpō him to do good works and that in these respects following 1. In respect of God it being his will commandement that they should be done by such our obedience to testifie our thankfulnes for his great mercies of Creation and Redemption 2 In respect of our selues that wee by these fruits of Sanctification as by certaine markes in the Kings high way for they be viae regni Ber. may knowe whether wee bee in the way of saluation or no and be led backward to a certainty of our Iustification and effectuall Vocation and Election so finding our names written in the booke of life may be perswaded Certitudine fidei cui non potest subesse falsum of our future glorification 3 In respect of others 1. Ne quis de nobis conqueri possit Philip. cap. 2. 2 That other men seeing our good workes may be allured to glorifie our Father which is in heauen to say as the Gentiles to the Iewes in the prophesie of Zachary Ambulabimus vobiscum for we haue heard that God is with you This truth being alwaies resolued on that our best workes are not perfect in their owne esteeme value if examined according to the precise rule of the Decalogue lex spiritualis est ego autem homo carnalis and in the district iudgement of God and therefore away with merit and let vs say with S. Augustine Vae laudabili etiāvitae hominum si