Selected quad for the lemma: cause_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
cause_n	bishop_n	pope_n	power_n	1,636	5	5.0155	4	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A95605	Some prison meditations in the 7th moneth, 1657. Being a free-gift sermon mainly touching the religious robbers, or spiritual murtherers, the sermon and prayer-sellers of the the former, later and present times; even to the whole company of mystery-Babylons merchants and members a warning.	Taylor, Thomas, 1618-1682.	1657 (1657)	Wing T582; Thomason E929_1; ESTC R207617	12,954	24

you exceeded in oppression in injustice in cruelty and false judgment all your fore-fathers the Pope nor Bishops hardly ever brought forth such things but the Lord will reckon with you and plead the cause of the oppressed against all you oppressors yea and will give unto you a recompence of reward according to your works ye that have exalted your selves against the innocent shall be brought down to the dust of misery and the Saints shall reign and rejoyce over you when the Kingdom of Christ Jesus the Lamb shall be set up over you all and your beastly power dashed to pieces as a Potters vessel when he whom you have persecuted and his followers shall rule with a rod of iron and break you asunder and this shall shurely come to passe therefore consider it ye that thus deal in your anger against the Lord and his chosen for the Lamb shall get the victory over the Beast and over you all that seek to defend him and that strive under his power for they that are with the Lamb are Called and Faithful and Chosen O! therefore be awakened be awakened ye heads and Judges and Rulers of the people remember and repent the Lords hand is stretched forth against all oppression and oppressors and his wrath is kindled against the wicked ones and his power to overthrow his dominon which long hath reigned in the Nations and now though he seeks to defend himself against the Lamb and his followers by injust dealing yet the out-stretched arme of the Lord shall bring deliverance to his chosen who hath been made havock upon in their liberties and in their estates some cruelly suffering in prison and others by spoiling of their goods and none of these for evil doing but upon false suspitions and envious jelousies and secret surmisings without any ground of occasion given but by wickednesse have many of you sought occasion to make offenders by laying snares for the feet of the harmlesse and innocent you have made men offenders for a word and perverted innocent words and actions that you might make to your self a ground to persecute and have sought a cloake to cover your cruelty in the sight of men but naked and bare are your hearts made manifest in the sight of the lord who hath looked down from heaven and considered these things and hath regarded the unjust sufferings of his people whose liberties and estates and good names have been spoiled through injustice by grievous burthens laid upon some because they could not pay Tythes that hainous oppression to satisfie the unmercifullnesse of cruel men and many suffers at this day unjustly in the sight of God and illegally also in the sight of men and some suffer the spoiling of their goods rather by way of robery and theft than by just execution of judgment in proceeding of just law this can largely be witnessed and this is brought forth by subservant Officers to you that are set to judge and you to them are evil examples and strengtheners of their malitious hands some of them are not ashamed to take six times the value of what is unjustly claimed for the use of a false teacher and deceitful hireling who rides upon the beast and make you their servants to oppresse the poor to uphold them and maintain them in their pride and vanities but the Lord hath considered these things and he hath numbred the oppressions against you wherewith the just have been grieved and oppressed under you he hath counted this cruelty and recorded all your unjust dealing which you have or suffered to be brought forth yea the day of account hastens and the tearm draws near upon you wherein the just and righteous Judge of heaven and earth will call you to account who will plead the cause of the poor and of the unjust sufferer and oppressed against you all who are oppressors the innocent prosecute against you and the begging of the poor is heard which calls for vengeance upon you In the Record of justice what account will you give to the highest-Highest-power who rules over heaven and earth for imprisoning just men for crying against sin and declaring against the wickednesse of this age this shall be proved against you in the day of the Lord Is your answer ready or will not your mouthes be stopped and you speechlesse when righteousnesse it self pleads against you And what can you plead for fining men and imprisoning them for not respecting your persons and bowing with hat and knee and because they could not swear this hath some of you done will you have any thing to say in the cause of these things when Christ Jesus comes to reign and his Saints with him unto whom the government and the authority and rule shall be given though now they are persecuted and as the refuse of men accounted by you unto whom they are become a prey to act your oppression and cruelty upon and because they render not evil for evil therefore is the impudencie of some men the more encreased and their hardnesse of heart enlarged and because judgment is not speedily executed therefore are the hearts of some men set in them to do evil O! what a sad reckoning in that day and what large indictments and verdicts for your oppression will be read against you and proved to be just in the sight of God and men a sad thing will it be upon you when laid to your charge by the Lord for causing men to suffer because they could not swear nor respect persons nor uphold the deceits of false worships and teachers nor cease to cry against sin in your Townes and Steeple-houses O! be stirred up out of your security you Heads and Rulers and Judges and Officers even all you be awakened who have turned your sword against the peaceable and been a terror to righteousnesse as much as you could which you ought not to have been and so your power you have abused and subverted it to another end than wherefore it was committed to you instead of defending the upright you have offended him and instead of being a terror to the wicked his hand hath been strengthened through your wicked presidents this is the truth as the light in all your consciences shall witnesse in the day of the Lord O! how hath justice and true judgment been neglected and oppression and cruelty abounded the like in generations past hath not been known but the Lord is now arisen and hath said I will ease me of my enemies and take vengeance upon my adversaries who have done wickedly against him and his people till the patience of the Lord is near an end and his longe suffering finished and his judgments will he make known upon his enemies in this generation that ages to come forever may be warned not to oppresse the innocent as these have done by false accusations and unjust judgment and wicked proceedings and because of it the wrath of the Lord is kindled and his viols of indignation shall be

poured upon the beast and upon the false Prophet and all their power shall be smitten in one day And O what wickednesse hath abounded in the people also to help up the measure of the Rulers sins that may receive the recompence together how have the people of all sorts abused the innocent lambs of Christ whom he hath called What beatings and stonings and bruisings and other abuses in Townes and High-waies and Steeple-houses its hard to be expressed and large to be declared some have been wounded nigh unto death others bruised till blood have gushed out and others cast down in the dirt and punched with feet and troden upon and many have been in danger of their lives some have been knocked down with staves and thir cloaths rent and their hair torne off their heads and some have been pursued after with throwing stones and dirt at them and many halled and tumulted and lugged and hurried up and down in cruel manner to the danger of life and oppression of the creature and others have been whipped and lashed and put into cruel torment of their bodies by engins framed of purpose to torment the bodies of the harmlesse as Chester and Carlile may witnesse and others have been halled before rulers and falsly slandered to the taking away of life if the Lord had not prevented more than mercy of men and having been unmercifully and unjustly sent to prison there have they suffered cruelties from the Goalers or their servants by beatings or punnishings or threatnings or cruel words and casting into dungeons and great abuses shamefully acted upon them and other prisoners have made a prey upon them by t●king away their cloaths and meat and beating of them and abusing them divers waies and murtherers have had more priviledge of freedom in prisons and in tryals than these who are innocent and these things thus acted contrary to their own law hath passed without reproofe from many in Authority though it have been brought to their door and in this manner have the children of God the Lamb and his followers been persecuted without cause or any evil works brought forth by them and legally proved against them but for well doing and not for evil hath the wicked vented their malice against them that the more the Beast and his power hath fullfilled wickednesse the sooner may be his destruction And O what scorning and reviling and lying and slandering and evil speeches with mockings and cruel words of envy and tearms of cruelty against the innocent hath this generation brought forth in this day wherein the dragon with his Angells hath joyned battel against the Prince of righteousnesse and they that follow him and whole Gog and Magog is gathered together to compasse the Camp of the Saints about and to fight against the beloved City the Judges and Rulers with their train of subservant officers as Bayliffs Clarks Goalers Constables with all that to those belonged have with a high hand persecuted and laid oppressions by hard-heartednesse upon the backs of the poor and distressed and the scorners and liers and prophane wretches have bent their tongue against the just in uttering lies slanders reproaches back-biting nick-namings and false-accusing and all manner of evil speehes and false reproaches and the just have been burthened by all this and thus they that have been departed from iniquity have been a prey to Rulers to act their injustice upon and to the people to utter their slanders and to do cruelty against and the teeth of evil doers have been set on edge to bite and devoure and to satisfie their maliciousnesse upon the sufferings of the upright people and from the Judge upon his throne to the begger upon the high-way all have had their hand dipped in this cause of cruel and unjust persecution and the Lord hath considered and harkened from his holy habitation and numbered up the summe of all your iniquities that he may repay and recompence upon your heads wo unto you unjust Judges and corrupt men who have abused your power And wo unto all that do oppresse by hard dealing who have offended the just and defended the unjust Wo unto all you scorners liers back biters and reproachfull tongues the Lord is coming to take an account Your sins cry for vengeance against you and though your hands and tongues have been strengthened to speak and act ungodlinesse by the evil example of your rulers yet your own iniquity shall you bear in the day of the Lord and though your rulers and judges have been strengthened in their unjustnesse and mercilessenesse by the false lying teachers and diviners of false visions which have seen vanity yet their own iniquity shall they bear every man shall die for his own sin Wo unto your teachers they have eaten up the sin of rulers and people and covered iniquity and transgression by flattering and lying words they have daubed with untempered morter and healed up the wound deceitfully and cryed peace peace to the wicked that have walked in the imaginations of their own hearts when unto such the Lord never spake peace And now whereas the Rulers and people have stretched forth their hands to vex the Lords people and have through unjust judgment and grievous oppressions and unmercifull dealings troden the innocent under foot and made them a prey to their mouth and divers waies have persecuted in cruel manner the followers of the Lamb yet also have the wise men of this world even the Priests and Teachers who have led the people and have caused them to erre and have set themselves as in battle array against the Lord and his way and people How have you hardened your hearts and made your forehead as brasse against the Word of the Lord and you have been as the fountain of all this wickednesse acted against the just and strengtheners of the hands of ungodly men the Heads and Ruler you have strengthened in their cruelty of false judgments by your arguments of strife in subtiltly you have been as nursers of all this persecution and wickednesse and have interceded for oppression to cause the just to groan whom the Lord hath raised to testifie against you the judges they have given regard unto you and the people they have taken you for examples who have been cursed presidents to the Rulers and people who have followed your cruel steps of malice and envy and from the head to the tail they have drunk in your poisonus doctrines and made themselves drunk therewith and out of reason in their furious zeal of madnesse and all have taken council together to slay the harmlesse from off the face of the earth some by false judgment and oppression and others by cruel abusings as beatings and stonings unheard of or unequalized in generations of late O ye Priests and Teachers and wise men and Scribes how many of you in this Nation joyned hand in hand to betray the innocent by your false doctrines and lying divinations and have filled and sought