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	false_a	true_a	2,707	5	5.6928	4	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A08271	A christian familiar comfort and incouragement vnto all English subiects, not to dismaie at the Spanish threats Whereunto is added an admonition to all English Papists, who openly or couertly couet a change. With requisite praiers to almightie God for the preseruation of our queene and countrie. By the most vnworthie I.N.; Christian familiar comfort and incouragement unto all English subjects, not to dismaie at the Spanish threats.	Norden, John, 1548-1625?	1596 (1596)	STC 18604; ESTC S106050	48,283	77

Philistines amongst the children of Israel to whom they were as prickes in their eyes and thornes in their sides because they preferred humane policie in preseruing them to Gods commandements in extirping them They argue against our trust in God euen to our faces affirming vs to haue no such cause of hope of our deliuerie as Israel had and yet say they and it is true Israel was plagued with sword and captiuitie for their sinnes being the peculiar people of God and how can we escape that are as they say fallen from the Catholike Church Which is false but from Rome which is Babell from papistrie which is bondage and from the traditions of men meere idolatrie and idolatrie worshipping strange gods was the cause why Israel was within the space of 339. yeares six times oppressed by their enemies when they went a whoring after straunge gods then and not else were they oppressed And although no doubt wee cannot excuse vs of offending our good God by our manifolde sins which doth deserue correction yet assuredly God is amongst vs and by many true Christians of England sincerely honoured his Gospell truly preached his word freely imbraced and thereunto the liues of many truely conformed And on the contrary let these Locusts that are flowen abroad out of the bottomles pit into this land not onely the wicked Iesuits but also obdurate papists who so much obrayd vs with our euill liuing learne this that they only in their idolatrie blasphemie spiritual whoredome are aptly compared to Israel in their falling from God and not in the weakenes of flesh only falling as did Dauid Salomon and many other whose kingdomes in the best seruice of the liuing God were not free from sinne wherein no flesh can be cleered But holding the maine point the Christian and true Catholike religion sincerely preached amonst vs and generally imbraced of the most vnles it bee of such as like subtile serpents stoppe their eates confirmeth strongly that the presence of God himselfe is still with vs assuring vs also that his hand for their rebellion against his trueth is turned against them And therefore let no man beleeue them howsoeuer they dispute to defend their owne holines which is onely outward their hearts being inwarldly seared with the yron of obstinacie the marke of the beast of Rome deprauing vs by reason of our frailtie But it is necessarie such prickes should be amongst vs to the ende our liues but especially our religion should bee the better approued for trueth appeareth then most plaine when it is opposed by error How is the Romish religion discouered by the sincere writings of sundrie learned and deuout men to bee a spirituall bondage who seeking the sincere trueth in the light of the sacred word haue left testimonie vnto all posterities thereof which the most learned of the aduersarie can neuer confute but in striuing to maintaine their darknes they haue vndermined themselues are readie to fal by their wonderful stumble at the view of the heauenly light which glimmereth in their eyes as a candle farre off in the darke How many sillie men whose hearts haue been inwardly taught by the holie Ghost without learning haue stopt the mouthes of these Catholike Doctors approuing their faith by the fire which they haue imbraced without feare or fainting not as desperate Seminaries suffering as Iudas did for treason but as patient Christians testifying their faith builded vpon the vnresistable trueth by martyrdome as Stephen did This truth hath broken the neck of Papisme and this trueth will put him from his glorie and his glorie from him that seeketh to depriue vs of this trueth Why then should wee distrust God and thinke that hee will deliuer vs into the hands of this Romish nation Admit our sinnes do deserue puhishment and surely we cannot nor dare iustifie our selues as they that haue nothing but meere deseruings in them can of themselues atchieue hauen by their own works we only rely vpon Christs merits and disclaime our owne worthines wee stand to bee defended by the power of God and not by our owne strength like this inuincible nation whose trust is in themselues wee trust in God they stand dissolute by the delusions of Antichrist who pretendeth to coniure the seas to be calme the winds to be prosperous vnto his Catholike armie and we rely vpon the meere blessing of God that by the breath of his mouth did lately blow them from our coasts as hee did the swarmes of lice from the Egyptians at the praier of Moses and Aaron hee cast them into the sea as Christ did the swine And let vs assure vs that in the same his mercies hee will performe it in a greater measure that his glorie may more appeare in being the protector of his owne But what if wee please our aduersaries in his vaine hope a little confesse our weaknes as they pretend it saying our gouernour is a woman and therefore weake and the people in her not strong our Nobilitie are not many and our Martiall men fewe and therefore the kingdome weake But let them know withall that wee haue in her Maiestie vnder GOD whom she serueth absolute hope that she is the Iudith that GOD hath ordayned of cut off the head namely to dispoyle the man of sinne of all his glorie she is the Iael that shall pearce his stemples with the naile of consufion if at last he refuse to haue his hart pearced with the trueth of Christ whō now now he persecuteth And if weak Debora got such honor in deliuering Israel from Iabyn king of Canaan by Barake notwithstanding his 900. chariots of Iron will it not bee honourable to Queene Elizabeth to breake the force of the inuincible nauie of Spaine and if it pleased the mighty of mighties to assiste Deborah beeing a woman of no such reckoning for the shewe of her outwarde glorie dwelling but vnder a palme tree yet fearing God shall hee not assiste Queene Elizabeth his annoynted his chosen and her that hee of meere prouidence preserued and aduanced to that high calling the gouernour of his people of England whom by her as by the hands of Moses he brought out of most cruell bondage vnder that purple harlot of Rome and vnder her hath this 37. yeares preserued vs from all forraine inuasion affoording vs peace in his apparant truth But these Romists degenerate not from the ground of their religion which is al outward they relie only vpō flesh bloud arguing therein that God is exempted out of their companie that is full alreadie they are mighty enough and strong enough and need not his helpe They reason as Senacherib did that because he was strong God could not resist him and therefore shall they receiue as Senacherib did They forget how God chose Gideon a poore labourer to be a captaine of his people who also at the first began to reason with flesh and bloud as they do saying

wealth of your owne countrie to the vttermost of your powers Much more are you tyed to this duty sith the truth it selfe the bond of al obedience calleth you back from your disloyall thoughts wherein you seem to steale couertly away from the substance of naturall loue to run after the shadow of impious zeale zeale not onely without knowledge but zeale builded vpon meere treason Antichrist himselfe being the head corner stone And therefore doubtlesse your vnderstanding is much obscured how wise soeuer you seeme in your selues and howsoeuer you bee flattered by them that would make vse of your wickednes And you can no more perceiue their cunning as appeareth then Dauid could conceiue of the cause why God prospered the wicked in his daies and punished the godly But as hee found it out by entring into the sāctuary of God so seek you how to apprehend your true duetie by becomming conformable to the true word of God casting away the idle inuentions of the man of sinne And as Aaron might not enter into the sanctuary where God did answer vntill he had sanctified himselfe So sanctifie your obedience and enter into league with Christ by becomming loyall subiects to his annoynted And beleeue them not that giue you counsell to lie as you do lurking to looke for a good houre as you are made to beleeue it beware it will bee a dismall day vnto you that you so greedily gape for by what badge soeuer you seeme to be distinguished you will be vnknowen to the Spaniards your speech will bewray you you will not bee able to pronounce Shibboleth as the Spanish Gilliadices doe but Sibboleth like English Ephramites you will as easilie be discerned as the Guelfes from the Gybelines they are a subtill generation that shall deale with you And therefore gather your selues together and before that daye come ioyne with God against Beliall take parte with Christ against Antichrist receiue light and abandon darknes flie treason and become euery man true vnto Queene Elizabeth your countrie Take counsell not o● me but of Zephaniah the Prophet Seek righteousnes seeke lowlines Submit your selues to her Maiestie before the fierce wrath of the Lord come vpon you Imitate the counsell of the wise man who willeth you to Put away a froward mouth and let all your waies bee ordered aright And thinke not your owne blind conceits to be the way of life for the way of the foole is right in his owne conceit but he that is guided by counsel is wise And therefore refuse not to knowe this that if the people of Israel were commanded to pray for the peace of Babylon wherein they were held captiues and to pray for him that had dispoyled them of all their goods and possessions how much more ought you not onely not to rebel or wish euil vnto your so gracious a soueraigne but to pray for her and for the peace of your countrie wherein also you may haue peace Learne of Dauid who said God forbid that I should lay hands vpon Gods annoynted for who saith he can lay his handes vpon the Lords annoynted and be guiltlesse It is needlesse to tel you how the pope that lyar doth yet encounter Dauid and saith goe and lay thy handes on the Lordes annointed and thou shalt merit heauen oh impious wretch that commaunds forbidden things and forbids thinges commanded And yet alas wretches how are you blinded that will not see Learne therefore that it is your dutie aboue all things to beware of contemning or violating the authoritie of your prince who is replenished with vertue religion and Maiestie amongst you and all confirmed by God whose ordinance you breake in contemning her much more in your treasons against her Therefore most happie were you if after these your dangerous consultations and rebellious practises you againe would returne and imbrace obedience consecrating your soules to God onelie with vnfained dedication of your bodies liues and goods to the seruice of her that in so doing will louingly imbrace you and God most assuredly will pardon you Come out from among them then and be saued A dutifull admonition not only to all inferiour Magistrates but to all loyall subiects to shew themselues watchfull in these dangers and with carefull diligence to seeke to preuent all occasions which may moue the vnaduised multitude to any sudden and vndiscreet hurly burlies with an exhortation to all men to be valorous HE that seemeth worthie to bee a Magistrate or to bee termed a fit man to gouerne the least charge in a Common wealth not onely a kingdome a prouince a hundred yea a familie must endeuour himselfe to know what dutie is required at his hands and the same to performe with premeditate discretion And for that I wish wisedome to all being able to teach none I will omit the superiour and giue my best aduise to the lower sort He is indeede a sillie man and not worthie to beare the burthen of a Tithingman much lesse of a high Constable least of all of a superiour Magistrate that cannot examine how he standeth in his place whether he bee as a hande an eye a finger or a foote of a Common-wealth knowing that euery Common-wealth is a bodie politique compared to a bodie naturall And as the head is the chiefest part the guide and superiour gouernour of the bodie and all the members are as officers vnder the same some of a higher qualitie and authoritie then other as the heart the eyes the hands and legges which are principall members seruants in office to the superiour so are the fingers toes c. petie officers vnto the former euery of them being bound to his next superiour and so all by a naturall dutie are seruants to the head and that for the preseruation and supportation of the entrailes and maine bodie which is so much the more safe from daunger by how much euery member hath ablenes and skill to performe his place in true duetie not one part whereof is void of some necessarie function as reason it selfe accompanied with our dailie experience doth plainly witnes vnto vs. So is our superior Magistrate the head and gouernour of vs who being many in number make vp a compleat bodie politique some in Magistracie and superiour authoritie and some in inferiour functions and all in true dutie to one head who being by our negligence or vnaduised proceedings in our seuerall places any way endangered the daunger cannot but descend from it to our owne confusion And therefore doth policie dismember a bodie of a legge an arme a hand or foote desperatly infected to preserue the rest of the bodie So a Common-wealth cutteth off euery euill member thereof as wee see by the lawes of our land lest it should infect the rest and so endaunger the whole state politique And as it fareth with a Common-wealth in generall so it doth with the parts thereof as with a prouince shire and