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Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
cause_n	body_n	soul_n	spiritual_a	1,721	5	6.6792	4	false

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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A15694	A sermon vpon the xii. xiij, and xiiij. verses of the xiiij. chapter of Ezechiel Wherein are chiefly shewed both the originall & accidentall causes of euerie dearth and famine, and especially of this dearth in England now 1608. and 1609. With the effects and fruites of the same, as also the helpes & remedies therof, if they be speedily and effectually practised. Preached at Strowd in the countrie of Glocester and published for the good of the church melitant. Whereunto is added a like meditation of the same author, vpon the 26. verse of the 11. chapter of Salomons Prouerbs, which may be called the Poore mans plea. By William Woodwall, minister and preacher of the word. 1609	Woodwall, William.	1609 (1609)	STC 25970; ESTC S104842	41,160	78

Famine of Breade nor a thirst of water but of hearing the word of the Lord. Which famine euen in these our daies of dearth scarsitie hath not bene a little threatned and which thirst is tē thousand times worse then the former For this is the famine of the soule and the spirituall drought that the Prophet Ieremy speaketh of Chap. 50. ver 38 saying Siccit as super aquas A drought is vpon his waters and they shall be dryed vp c. For by how much the soule is more precious then the body by so much the more is the death or famine of it to be lamented then of the other But heere it may bee demaunded whether that the same bee the causes of the one as the other no for as the thinges be different so the causes are likewise cōtrarie yet being considered in a spirituall thought we shall finde them verie correspondent the one to the other For as disobedience corrupting vnthankfulnesse are the causes of the one so reiecting neglecting are the causes of the other Euen as the Israelites when they were cloyed with Manna murmured and had Quailes so manye amongst vs at this day beeing drunken with superfluitie but not of Wine haue spewed vp againe that which was good at the first receauing and haue longed for that which was worse as the Israelites did for the flesh-pots of Egipt Now concerning the third cause which I haue assigned to vnthankfulnesse for as much as the Lord in a maner looketh for nothing else at our hands for all the benefits that hee hath giuen vs appeareth by Dauid Psalm 116. verse 12. 17. where he saith What shall I giue or render vnto the Lord for all his benefits towards mee The answere is I will offer to thee a sacrifice of praise and will call vpon the name of the Lord as if he would say I will giue him thankes and praise his name And againe Psame 63. vers 5. 6. As long as I liue I will magnifie thee on this manner and will lift vp my hands in thy name my soule shall bee satisfied euen as it were with marrowe and fatnesse when my mouth prayseth thee with ioyfull lippes Yet our mouthes cannot so doe because they are otherwise filled with Oathes Cursses Blasphemies and other prophanes or else vtterlye mute and silent as I haue shewed Thus much concerning the causes both origninall and accidentall of Dearth the Metaphores or phrase of speech the sense and meaning thereof and the Misteries and Doctrines therein contained And so now I come to the effects and fruits thereof And I will send Famine vpon it this Famine as you haue heard is to bee taken two manner of waies that is eyther for the defect of Spirituall or of Corporall foode Concerning the first which I holde moste proper vnto this place the whole scriptures are pregnant shewing how God not onely threatned but also brought the same to passe in all ages punishing sometimes therewith some particular places and persons sometimes whole Nations and sometimes the whole world as wee read in Ge. Ch 12. 26. 41. 47. How the Lord visited the South in the daies of Abraham and Iacob Egipt in the daies of Pharaoh Samaria Ierusalem other Nations from time to time The prophets Esay Ieremie and Ezechiel in one and the selfe same Chap viz. the 14. as if they had spoken al three with one mouth as they did by one spirit doe shew that the Lord will kil the root of Palestina and not leaue the rebellions of Iuda Ierulem vnpunished with famine How iust true the Lord is in al his promises propheseings our own experiēce can best of all bear witnes who haue tasted the twigs of this rod three seuerall times within the space of twentie foure yeres wherein we haue or might haue heard and seene the poore miserablye crying and dying through the extreamitie of dearth and famine Oh! but happilye you will say I neuer heard or saw any such Ans But I haue who am both auritus and oculatus testis that is both an eare and an eye witnesse thereof Indeed I think that many of superiour place haue not seene so much for as the common saying is Aquila non capit muscas the Eagle taketh no Flies because shee soareth so hye And so doe many of the richer sort of this world sildome or neuer beholde nor heare or thoroughlye feele and vnderstand the State of the poore distressed As Diues little felt what were Lazarus paines or hūger But in as much as the Lord hath said he wil send famine vpon the land that committeth a trepasse against him let that bee one proofe Like as that wofull fact of that Woman in Samaria that sodde her Sonne one day and complained to the King that her Neighbour would not doe the like for her next day But heere it may be demaunded vnto what maner of persons this dearth of ours is a Plague or a famine Ans Not vnto the rich I suppose for they feele it not no more then Pharaoh did the dearth in Egipt and therefore it may well be called the poore mans plague for so it is But what you wil then say haue not the rich sinned as well as the poore yes And haue not they procured this plague as wel as the poore yes Why then are not they punished as the rest My censure you shall see First I say with the Apostle Saint Peter that iudgement beginneth at the house of God Secondly like as Pharao felt not the stroake of dearth in Egipt nor his iolly courtiers about him yet you see how afterward hee and they were all destroyed in the red sea So when God hath visited the poore which are his owne house hee will come vppon the mighty with greater iudgemēts afterwards for as Salomon saith the mighty shal be mightily tormented Sap. 6. 6. And Dauid saith He will not verily cleere the wicked It followeth And I wil destroy both man and beast forth of it Such is the iealousie and wrath of Almightie God that when sinners will not repent he not onely doth punish their sinnes to the third and fourth generation but also extendeth the same aswell vnto the vnreasonable creatures such as the Beasts and Birdes are as vnto the vnsensible earth and fruites thereof by making it either as hard as yron vnder foote or else the Heauen as brasse ouer head q. d. Both shall bee vnfruitefull and vnseasonable so that by their distemperature the Beastes or Cattel shall likewise be destroyed As for example what murrens of Cattel and rots of Sheepe haue wee had in this Land within the space of these fewe yeares past And as for the persons that dyed that way who can tell the number or names of them And so I come to the third and last part of this Text wherein are set downe the helpes and remedies of this dearth now beeing if they may be effectually put in practise It followes

the Staffe of bread amongst vs I would say with Salomon In quo quis peccat in eo punietur that is wherin a man offendeth or sinneth therein or thereafter he shal be punished Sap. 11. 13. whereunto Moses astipulateth saying Pro mensura peccati erit plaga that is according to the measure of the trespas or hurt the punishment shall be Deu. 25. 2. Now if the equitie both of deuine and humane lawes be such that wherein a man sinneth or trespasseth therin or therafter he shal be punished then although the least of those sinnes before recited haue deserued to haue our Staffe of bread broken yet more properly to define thereof I may say that as the Lord hath three manner of waies broken our staffe of bread so there may be gathered three speciall causes more iustly procuring the same then the rest Like as we read that the sinnes of Sodome and Gomore were pride fulnes of bread that is gluttony and drunkennes aboundance of idlenes and not strengthning the hand of the poore yet when we rightly consider of their punishment we shall finde that as they burned in vnlawfull lust one towards an other so were they burned and consumed with fire and brimstone from heauen like as our late Arch-traytors that intended to blow vp others with Gunne-pouder were some of them stroke downe with the same and others so scorched that they carried it to their graues So righteous is God in all his waies and holy in all his workes Thus in like manner may we suppose that of this threefold breaking our staffe of bread there may be gathered three capitall crimes or principall causes aboue the rest As first our great contempt of the heauenly Manna and sweete foode of our soules our disobedience to the word of God I meane so plentifully and purely preached amongst vs. And this dooth DAVID most plainely prooue in the ps 81. verse 13. whereas he saith O that my people would haue hearkened vnto me That is vnto my word preached amongst them and Israell had walked in my waies Marke the answere verse 16. Then would I haue fed them with the fat of wheat and with hony out of the rocke would I haue sufficed thee As if he would haue saide because ye haue not hearkened to my word nor obeyed the same I haue scanted your bread and broken the staffe thereof But heere haply you will say of what manner of persons is the word of God so despised as you speake of First of the Recusant Papists that will not heare it read nor preached except it be ofa Masse priest and that in the latine tongue Secondly of the Precisian that cares not to heare it read in the church at all nor preached except it be of such a minister as doth refuse subscription Yea but those are esteemed and taken for the most zealous professours of al They would indeed be so accounted but I finde by experience that they haue done more harme in the Church thē euer the Recusant papists did that would not come to church at all For heereby the ministery is reproached the word despised and the people so destracted that wheras before they were very attentiue to the word read and preached and duely resorted to their seuerall parishes now they runne some one way and some another as it were so many sheep without a Shepheard not suffering wholesome doctrine but hauing their eares itching do after their owne lusts get them an heape of teachers euen as S. Paul long since prophesied 2. Tim. 4. verse 3. The third and last sort of them that contemne the word are those old and cold protestants that do vsually and daily come and sit before the minister heare but how none otherwise then those Isralites of whome the Prophet Ezechiel maketh mention saying For they come to thee as the people vse to come my people sit before thee and heare thy words but they will not doe them for with their mouthes they make iestes and their heart goeth after their couetousnes and loe thou art vnto them as a iesting song of one that hath a pleasant voyce and can sing well for they heard thy words but they do them not And thus is the word of God contemned in a manner of all or at the least of the greatest part of the people amongst vs. The second cause of this our staffe of breade broken is as I take it the corrupting or abusing of those good creatures of Wheate and Barlye which God so plentifully hath heretofore powred downe vpon vs as for many yeares past they haue bin But happily you wil say wherin or how haue we abused thē Behold I wil shew you First of wheat wherwith the Lord hath made as a sure promise to feede vs with the finest Flower therof haue not we turned it from the right vse thereof in filling our bellyes vnto the fineing of our necks by chāging it from making of bread into making of starch a most vile and abhominable abuse when you shall haue in some one little town in this Land as much wheat weekly spent in making of Starch as in making of bread and as for the other graine of Barlie who knowes not how many waies it is and hath bin mispent of many some feeding their Hogs some their Dogs and Horses therewith where as Christ himselfe was content to feede himselfe therewith feasted many thousands Others conuerting it into mault in such excessiue manner and measure as passeth to speake of then transporting it who knowes whether that both the price is enhaunsed therby as you see drūkennes dayly maintained for what is it to haue an hundred bushels of Mault brewed in one little Towne euerie weeke in the yeare where as twentie would suffice One of the sinnes of Sodome was as you haue heard fulnesse of bread so I may say that one of the chiefe sinnes of this land is fulnesse of drinke and surely not the least nor in the last place of those which haue caused this our Staffe of breade to be broaken For if a man do but note the abhominable quaffing and carowsing with kneeling on their knees to their God Bacchus I suppose as it is vsed in many places in taking of their liquor it would make any Christian heart to ake to beholde or heare thereof This I say I take to be not onely the cause or one of the causes why the staffe of our corporall foode is broken but also of our Spirituall in so many places scanted through the strength of many who are strong to set vp drunkennesse as the Prophet Esay writeth Capter 5. who should bee rather dealing and distributing of that liquor of the which if a man once taste or drinke of hee shall neuer more be a thirst as our sauiour showeth Io. 4. 14. This is it that the Prophet Amos meant saying Chapter 8. 11. Beholde the daies come saith the Lord that I will bring a Famine in the land not a