Selected quad for the lemma: cause_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
cause_n	call_v	grace_n	work_n	1,789	5	5.8920	4	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A23660	The danger of enthusiasm discovered in an epistle to the Quakers : in which 'tis endeavoured, to convince them of being guilty of changing God's method of bringing men to salvation / by one who is no more an enemy to their opinions, than their opinions are enemies to them themselves.	Allen, William, d. 1686.	1674 (1674)	Wing A1058; ESTC R13150	64,102	137

they are said to be born of the Immortal Seed of the Word 1 Pet. 1. 23. Because that is God's Instrument Of his own Will begat he us by the Word of Truth Jam. 1. 18. And the Gospel is the Ministration of the Spirit and the Sword of the Spirit as it is called because it is the great Instrument or Means by which the Spirit doth its Work upon men Indeed the Work of Grace in men is most properly attributed to God to Christ though other Causes concur to the producing of that Effect because he is the principal Cause of it and all other but subordinate and yet the Effect is sometimes attributed to subordinate and second Causes also though less properly Thus Christ the principal Cause of it is said to be The Light of the World the Light of men because he by his Gospel as the Author of it discovers and reveals to them a future everlasting Happiness attainable in another World and the way to it and yet the Gospel it self yea the Apostles and Pastors and Christian Professors are also said to be the Light of the world as subordinate Causes under Christ of the Illumination of men in the knowledge hereof Mat. 5. 14. 2 Cor. 4. 4. Phil. 2. 15 16. All which had you well considered you would never have opposed mens being enlightened and taught by Christ as ye do to their being taught by the Scriptures or by men and all because forsooth the Illumination of men is attributed to Christ This very thing here suggested to you would in great part reduce you and set you to rights if you could be but willing to receive and own that for truth which cannot without great absurdity and contradiction to the Scriptures be denied But for want of distinguishing between things and things which in some respect seem to be the same but in other respects greatly differ you run your selves into Error and great Absurdities I will upon this occasion instance in another thing not much unlike to that but now mentioned wherein you greatly mistake for want of distinguishing and that is touching the Presence of Christ in men For because the Scriptures speak of Christ's being in men and because Christ is God and God euery where present and so in all men from these thus jumbled together you infer that therefore Christ is in all men and that being so you farther infer that all men are taught by him himself immediately without external Teaching In doing of which you confound things together which are distinct to the darkning of them in your understandings and the misguiding you in Judgment You do not distinguish as you ought to do between the Essential Presence of Christ as God and his Virtual Presence as Mediator God-man For although Christ as God is present to every man in the exercise of common Providence in the world My Father worketh hitherto and I work saith he John 5. 17. yet in respect of his Virtual Presence as Mediator as when he rules and operates in mens hearts by his Authority and by the Evangelical Law in this sence which yet is doubtless the sence in which Christ is said in Scripture to be in men and to dwell in them I say in this sence he is not in all men For men are said to be without Christ until they are converted to Christianity Eph. 2. 12. And it is by Faith which only some and not all men have that Christ dwells in any mans heart Eph. 3. 17. It is by that Faith that his Authority in his Doctrine and Law is owned and where that 's sincerely owned there Christ is said to dwell Not that Christ as Mediator God-man dwells personally in men for in that sence and respect he dwells in Heaven and is at the right hand of the Majesty on high And therefore as Teacher of his Church he doth not teach men now immediately in person but by his Gospel which he sends to them by which he enlightens them in the way of Salvation Ye do therefore err not knowing or understanding the Scriptures while you attribute those effects to the Essential Presence and immediate operation of Christ in men which are wrought by him indeed but it is by the Instrumentality and Agency of second Causes the Gospel and the Ministration thereof by men I wish that by these Instances you could be made sensible of your great weakness in despising Distinctions as if they were but effects of Carnal Reason and Fleshly Wisdom for sith Words that are the same in sound are often used to signifie things of a different Nature and words different in sound to signifie things of the same Nature instances of which the Scripture abounds with they must of necessity be perpetually liable to Error and gross Mistakes that throw away distinctions as useless which is your own case in many other things besides these now instanced in Since then it was God's Method in the Apostles dayes to bring men to salvation by believing and obeying the Doctrine preached by them as I have shewed It is marvellous that any that pretend to know any thing in Christianity should deny this Doctrine to be the Rule of Faith and Christian Practice whenas that 's the very end and Reason of the promulgation of it to direct men what to believe and do that they might be saved and to excite them to believe and do accordingly When St. Paul saith Whereto we have attained let us walk by the same Rule doth he not by Rule mean the Apostles Doctrine whenas in the next words he proposeth himself that lived according to what he taught as an example for them to follow Phil. 3. 16 17. It was the great commendation of the primitive Christians that they continued stedfastly in the Apostles Doctrine Acts 2. 42. And St John said Whosoever transgresseth and abideth not in the Doctrine of Christ hath not God And to transgress sure is to swerve from the Rule 2 John 9. This Doctrine of Christ is called the Gospel of the Kingdom Mat. 4. 23. and 9. 35. and 24. 14. For it is that Rule by which Christ our King doth rule and govern his Subjects both in Heart and Life as the Laws of the Land are the Rule according to which Earthly Kings do govern theirs The Sum and Substance of the Doctrine which the Apostles preached one as well as another and in one place as well as another is called The Form of Sound Words 2 Tim. 1 13. The Principles of the Doctrine of Christ Heb. 6. And this Form of Doctrine was delivered to the Christians to rule and govern themselves by Rom. 6. 17. But now have obeyed from the heart that Form of Doctrine which was delivered to you And it was so much a Rule to them that they were commanded to mark and avoid such as caused Divisions and Offences contrary to the Doctrine which they had learned Rom. 16. 17. And forbid to receive into their Houses such as brought not this

The Danger of ENTHUSIASM Discovered IN AN EPISTLE TO THE QUAKERS IN WHICH 'T is Endeavoured to convince them of being guilty of Changing God's Method of bringing men to Salvation By one who is no more an Enemy to their Opinions than their Opinions are Enemies to them themselves LONDON Printed by J. D. for Brabazon Aylmer at the Three Pigeons in Cornhil 1674. AN EPISTLE TO THE ENTHUSIASTS Or the People called QUAKERS Sirs I Have cause to think that your unmeasurable Confidence of the Truth and Goodness of your own Way in opposition to the best men that differ from you and the scornful entertainment the best Endeavours of men have met with to convince you of Error and Mistake have discouraged many of those from attempting it who are best able herein to serve you But my Love to your Souls and Desires of recovering you to a sound mind being stronger than my hopes of effecting it by any Endeavours of mine have prevailed with me to offer a few things to you however whether you will hear or whether you will forbear not being without all hope but that it may have such effect upon some among you or inclining to you as may be worth my Labour § 1. You know it was said by our Blessed Saviour That straight is the Gate and narrow is the way that leadeth unto Life and few there be that find it And I little doubt but that an Appearance at the first of a greater Strictness and Narrowness in your way than in theirs that differ from you was a Temptation to some injudicious persons I have known and probably to many other such to strike into it as supposing it must be the best and safest because the narrowest and fewest of it Which Snare I presume they would easily have escaped had they been but wise enough to have considered these two things First That that Narrowness and Strictness consisting in outward Austerities and Incivilities wherein you differed from other Sober Christians was no Narrowness or strictness of God's appointing but a piece of Superstition of your own devising when you placed Religion in it And you are not the first that have been deceived with such Appearances several Orders among the Papists have been built upon the same Bottom long before your way was heard of in the world And we read of others long before them also who subjected themselves to like Ordinances of men such as touch not taste not handle not Such things having a shew of wisdom in Will-worship and Humility and neglecting of the Body not in any honour to the satisfying of the Flesh as the Apostle speaks Col. 2. 20 23. In respect of which and other like little things that had no real worth or goodness in them the false Apostles pretended to more strictness than was in the Apostles of Christ themselves whom they represented but as men walking according to the Flesh in comparison of themselves 2 Cor. 10. 2. And the Pharisees before them by reason of some Austerities they used about Fastings external Purifications and shunning the company of Publicans pretended to greater strictness in Religion than was in Christ's Disciples yea than in Christ himself whom they accounted to be but a Gluttonous person and a Wine-bibber a friend of Publicans and Sinners in compare with themselves By such appearance of extraordinary Zeal and Strictness though alas it be but in things that do not tend at all to the bettering or perfecting men in their Nature Deceivers are wont to procure to themselves a Reputation among people of weak minds by advantage whereof as of a Bait that covers the Hook they obtain a ready reception for their more dangerous Doctrines Again They would not so easily have been overcome with the aforesaid Appearances of Narrowness and Strictness if they had but well considered that in reference to those things wherein the Narrowness and Strictness of Christ's way to Life doth most consist and wherein he hath tied up his followers to strictness indeed ye have taken liberty to walk loosly and to cast off his Yoke and that is in not governing your Spirits Passions and Tongues according to the Laws of his Kingdom and Government He hath strictly enjoyned his Followers to be humble and lowly in heart to esteem others better than themselves to speak evil of no man but to shew all meekness to all men yea and in meekness to instruct even those that oppose themselves to bless those that curse them to overcome others evil with their good not to judge and the like But quite contrary hereunto your very Leaders and such as have been esteemed most eminent among you have by their examples taught you to rail on and revile if not bitterly to curse such as wished you no harm but sought your good and proudly to exalt and justifie your selves and to despise and set at naught yea to judge condemn and sentence to eternal destruction such whom ye ought to have honoured as probably much better than your selves What less signifies such Language as this Thou accursed thou Beast to whom the Plagues of God are due a Reprobate a Child of Darkness thou art thou disobedient one upon whom God will render vengeance in flaming fire thou dark blind Hypocrite thee man that is Cain with the Light of Christ thou art seen and with the Life judged and condemned thou Sorcerer thou dead Beast and so art not justified before God nor never shall be But such polluted filthy Beasts as thou Thou polluted Beast who art a Reprobate and thou shalt find him to be thine eternal Condemnation thou dark Beast and Conjurer thou dark sottish Beast Works of Edw. Burroughs p. 29 32 33 34. With abundance more in other of your Writings This truly is Language more like to proceed one would think from such presumptuous daring arrogant men whose mouth speaketh great swelling words as Peter and Jude describe than from men inspired with any of that Spirit of Meekness and Gentleness which was in Jesus Christ If Humility Charity and Modesty were the prevailing Constitution of these mens Spirits as it is of those who have been taught of Christ as the Truth is in Jesus and are made one Spirit with him I should think they would by no means speak at this rate And yet this and such like is not the Language only of some bold rash heady women or of men less considerable among you transported with furious Zeal but even of Ed. Burrough himself one of the Chieftains among you in his time And that not upon any sudden surprize of Passion but upon so much deliberation as men use in writing of Books and upon no other provocation than a bare propounding certain Queries touching some points of Doctrine about which you and others differ And truly in vain do you boast of the Light within you if you have not so much left as to discern this behaviour altogether unbecoming not only a man of Note among Christians nor only of