Selected quad for the lemma: cause_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
cause_n	church_n	faith_n	great_a	1,696	5	2.8785	3	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A33727	Noah's dove with her olive-branch, or, The happy tidings of the abatement of the flood of England's civil discords as it was delivered in a sermon preached at Preston in the county-palatine of Lancaster on the 24th of May, 1660, being the publick day of thanksgiving for the restoring of His Sacred and Most Excellent Majesty, Charles the Second / by William Cole ...	Cole, William.	1661 (1661)	Wing C5037; ESTC R40846	32,990	45

power Iob 29. he tells us he delivered the poor that cryed the fatherless and him that had no helper the blessing of him that was ready to perish came upon him and he caused the widows heart to sing for joy he was eyes to the blind and feet to the lame he brake th● jaws of the wicked and pluck'd the prey out of his teeth And thus and by this means his glory was fresh upon him How blessed a thing is it thus when it may be truly spoken of our Supreme Authority as it is by Pontius Diaconus concerning Cyprian in the management of his Ecclesiastical power Nulla vidua reversa est sinu vacuo nullus indigens lumine non illo comite directus est nullus nudus auxilio de potentioris manu non illo tutore protectus est for to this end hath God raised them up and set them as the Sun in their respective Worlds to communicate to truth and holiness justice and whatsoever hath a Moral or Theological excellency and goodness in it the whole emanations of their light and influences The Author of the Records of the life of St. Cyprian tells us that he that at that time was to be Bishop of Carthage had need to be such an one Qui doceret poenitentiam lapsos veritatem haereticos unitatem schismaticos and therefore concludes upon the fixing of him in that imployment benè benè tunc verè spiritualiter contigit quod vir tam necessarius tam bonis rebus ● martyrio delatus est Happy was that providence that saved such an hopeful person fitted for such a necessary holy work I may truly say That that sacred person whom God hath re-invested in the Throne of these Kingdoms had need be such an one and more then such as having not onely a collapsed and disjoynted and disordered Church but divided and disparted State to set in order and therefore need to be such an one as Cyprian was Ingenii spiritualiter temperati qui inter resultantes collidentium fluctus iter medium librato limite gubernaret I remember Iustinian the Emperour in one of his Letters to Mennas Patriarch of Constantinople tells him that the end of his Office as Imperator was this 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to keep the faith of Christ from being perverted and the friends of Christ for in those elder times the name of the Church was not appropriated to the Clergy from being persecuted and he adds 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 made it our principal care 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 For which cause onely we are satisfied we are both put and prospered in the possession of this Throne This then being the end the pursuit hereof is the excellency of all Power and Principality 2. That is the Glory and Crown of Magistracy which is and tendeth to the greatest happiness of the people that live under their Government and Authority He is the Minister of God to thee for good 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Rom. 13. 4. It is not unsuitable for Christian ears that saying of Metellus Numidicus a Roman Censor Dii immortales plurimum possunt sed non plus velle nobis debent quam parentes the gods may do more but they should not desire more good and profit to their people then their Princes should And it was no small part of the reason of the deifications of many of the Heathens gods that they had contributed some remarkable benefit to their people The Jews themselves will mourn if a Ruler dye or be afflicted that loved their Nation and built them a Synagogue The Sun it self is more glorious not so much by that light it hath but gives and communicates to this dark be-nighted Globe in which we live It is no unusual thing for the fondest people to deal with their Magistrates as the Frogs in the Fable with their King when they prove or by prejudicate vulgar opinion come to be mistaken as unprofitable or destructive to common benefit I would not have the people to be the Censors of the manners or deportment of their Princes so as to suck in the apprehensions of the discharge of their allegiance upon the supposed inconsistency of their Authority with common good but however it hence is manifest that the glory of their motion in that Orb of Supremacy in which they are fixed by God depends upon their beneficial communications to the real welfare and happiness of those that are concerned in the fatal effects of their Conjunctions Aspects or Eclipses Let me add then that your greatest benefit you can reap by any Authority over you is this in the Text when by the influence of that Power you become a City of righteousness holiness and truth having thereby the free distribution of justice amongst all and the full establishment of Truth in Doctrine Purity in Worship and an encouraged justified holiness in all that profess the name of God Alas the good that you should have by Magistracy doth not lie in the enjoyment of liberty to serve your lusts and the profane principles of a graceless spirit to set up the Idols and Errours of your own hearts and to enforce your will-worship or superstition upon the Consciences of others but it lies in the enforcing of duty holiness righteousness and reformation and the perpetual discouragement of whatsoever intrencheth upon the interest and propagation of grace and truth as it is in Jesus Christ. He doth you most good that makes you most good most Holy Orthodox Sincere living up to the fulness of your light and putting a soul into your Worship and Profession by the Spirit and Power of Godliness I am not unsensible upon what foundations many thousands of persons do bottom their joy in the deliverance of this day I wish their joy were grea●●●● but their grounds were better and that as their gladness is bottom'd on the expectations and hopes of some future good so that that good were somewhat of more Divine extraction and real excellency then what is in the eye of most of men Oh! what if we shall have a King and yet fear not the Lord what then should a King do to us what if we shall have no more Wars with men and yet still have the most fatal Wars with God what if we shall lie under less of suffering and yet live under more of sin what if we shall have better Laws but worser Lives what if our Liberties and Estates and we shall meet again and yet Christ and our souls shall part for ever and never meet more what if we shall have plenty but no piety a lawful merciful gracious King to Rule the outward man but a bloud-thirsty implacable Tyrant the Devil to hurry the souls of men to destruction Oh! Christians think of it There are too many who scandalize our Government and cast dirt upon the royal Scepter in promising to themselves I know not what licentiousness without a Curb revenge without a Law destruction of others without distinction Popery

thou and all thy servants This is a president worth the deepest consideration of such Kings who have been forced from their Throne as David was Ignoscere pulchrum est jam misero poenaeque satis vidisse precantem and so it comes to pass as is the observation of Bias 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 fear not more their Prince then they are solicitous for his good and afraid of evil to befal him 3. They were such as preferred the peoples good above their own their Subjects were more dear unto them then their Scepter their Kingdom then their Crown When Ioshua divided the Land for the inheritance of the people it is remarkable he kept not a foot of it for himself nor had he any but what the children of Israel gave him Ioshua 19. 49. And when they put him as Masius judges by the advice of Eleazar the High Priest to ask for himself he fixed upon a very mean and contemptible place so mean that St. Hierom speaks in his Epitaph of Parlea that she was amazed when she came to the Tomb of Joshua quod ipse possessionum omnium distributor montana sibi aspera loca delegisset had ask'd for himself such a mountainous and mean possession in comparison of that of others No less remarkable is that of David 2 Sam. 24. 17. Let thy hand be against me and against the house of my fathers but as for these sheep what have they done and Moses Exod. 32. 32. who would rather wish to be blotted out of the book of God then that his wrath should break out against the people Such Princes are indeed not princeps but patres the Fathers of their Countries and do exercise as Seneca calls it potestatem patriam But further 4. They were such as were zealous for God and godliness set and sharpned the edge of their royal sword against sin and wickedness How passionately zealous in the cause of God was Moses when he sees the Idolatry of the people how earnest in his adjuring and exhorting the people to stick fast to their Religion before he went up to Neb● to dye there Ioshua could not 〈…〉 till first he had engaged the people to God in a sole●● Covenant Josh. 24. David he fetched up the Ark of the Lord to Ierusalem and bought a place for the future Temple of it and Solomon he built it an House Quis mente sobrius regibus dicat saith St. Aug. Nolite curare in regno vestro à quo tueatur vel oppugnetur ecclesia domini vestri quis velit esse religiosus vel sacrilegus This is the glory and excellency of Princes that as they are Gods and Gods Vicegerents upon earth so nothing should be more sacred to them then the interest of truth and power of godliness and what mercy greater can befal a people then such a Magistracy For if the delirium regis the miscarriage of the Prince do cause such punishments on the whole body if the excellency and glory of any Government lie in the serviceableness thereof to promote and honour truth and godliness to discountenance and discourage errour and prophaness if as generally it is an holy Prince makes an happy people how great then is this mercy when God shall restore thee such Judges as at the first and such Counsellors as at the beginning But to conclude 5. They were such as what they were the same they continued to be till the end of their race till death it self made their sacred heads to stoop to its impartial stroke Indeed in the latter days of Solomon there arose some cloud upon the splendor of his former Government occasion'd by the influence of his Idolatrous Wives upon him so hazardous a thing it is for Kings to marry the Daughters of a strange god but yet he recovered himself from that declination and rose up to as great an altitude of holiness and zeal for God as ever formerly when his own experience had enabled him to pen the Book of Ecclesiastes Moses and Ioshua and David their care of their people lived till they died and what they were at first they were till the very last in their personal graces and profitable Government It is usual for Kings to begin their Dominion with more acceptance then to continue it Mitissima sors est regnorum sub rege novo That Quinque unium Neronis is famous in that story of the Roman Caesars for so long none so good for ever after none so vile and wicked True it is that greatness is a sad temptation to put the best of men upon exorbitances Aeneas Sylvius in the Council at Basil contended stifly against the Pope when he got that Chair himself he was no more Aeneas Sylvius I shall not need to lay open the disadvantages of vertue that fall upon Princes when peaceably setled in the Throne the Lord I hope will give us to see the piety and integrity the moderation and clemency the unalterable zeal to the Protestant cause the fixed detestation of debauchery and prophaness the right understanding and apprehension of the principles and deportments of honest men however now aspersed all these and more then these precious pearls in the Imperial Crown of his sacred Majesty shall yet keep their orient lustre and unspotted brightness notwithstanding what attempts may be made by temptation to eclipse them or shadow off their vital influence from the people Such Princes were these who were the older better the longer they lived the more deeply did they love their people and the more dearly were they loved by them and went to their graves with common lamentation 4. I might add if God do restore to a people such a Government then their Government is vested in the hands of such as have parts and abilities from God for the fitting of them to manage their Authority God had put of the spirit of Government upon Moses and Ioshua and David and the whole earth came to hear the Wisdom of Solomon He himself that had had the experience of what was necessary for the Ruler of such a people cries out Eccles. 10. 16. Wo unto thee O land when thy King is a child viz. for Wisdom Soberness Judgment and Understanding and to the same purpose is Isa. 3. 4 5. But I shall conclude this with this Observation As the giving to a people of such a Government is a blessing so the restoring of it is much more for so the Text speaks I will restore or I will cause to return as the word imports thy Judges as at the first c. I have touched at some inconveniences of the force that may fall out upon legal gracious rightful Authorities And what woful effects do attend such violences and usurpations and therefore shall add no more But in such a day as this when God doth not only give but restore and cause to return a separated Husband to the bosom of his disconsolate Wife a banished Father to the arms of his