Selected quad for the lemma: cause_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
cause_n	ecclesiastical_a	governor_n	supreme_a	3,829	5	8.9454	4	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A07190	The avthoritie of the Chvrch in making canons and constitutions concerning things indifferent and the obedience thereto required: with particular application to the present estate of the Church of England. Deliuered in a sermon preached in the Greene yard at Norwich the third Sunday after Trinitie. 1605. By Fran. Mason, Bacheler of Diuinitie, and sometime fellow of Merton College in Oxford. And now in sundrie points by him enlarged.	Mason, Francis, 1566?-1621.	1607 (1607)	STC 17595; ESTC S112385	61,269	101

ointment and a good reportis much to be regarded but if the question come betweene you and the Prince the church and the lawes vnder which you liue I hope it is no disparagement for you to bow to bend and to learne obedience And I would wish that such men which set so high a price vpon their owne reputation would propose vnto themselues the example of S. Paul who sought not his owne profit but the profit of many that they might bee saued To seeke the good of an other is charitie To seeke the glorie of Christ is pietie To preferre our owne credite before our obedience to the Prince in a matter of this nature is pride and arrogancie Behold the gracious humilitie of Iob Loe I will laie my hand vpon my mouth I haue spoken once yet will I answer no more yea twice yet will I proceed no further Of all the famous works of Saint Austin not one of them hath purchased him greater glory then his retractations wherein hee diligently collecteth his former errours and ingenuously reformeth them Yea Saint Austin hauing followed Saint Cyprian in expounding a place of Scripture and afterward finding a better exposition in Tyconius the Donatist did forsake both Cyprian and himselfe and thought it no discredit to reuoke his former opinion If you haue the humilitie of Saint Austin you would rather seeke Iesus Christ then your owne credit And such ingenuous dealing would be honorable in the eies of true iudgement If Saint Austin forsooke his owne errours to follow a trueth discouered by a Donatist how much more should you imbrace the trueth being discouered vnto you by the reuerend Fathers of our Church 42 Some perhaps will say they could be content in respect of themselues but they refraine in regard of the people But who are they which haue so misperswaded the people haue not sundrie of you in open audience disgraced the gouernment of our Church as Antichristian and aduanced your owne desired discipline as the ordinance of God haue you not framed the conceits of the people to imagine that they verily behold and see the whole current of the Scripture running that way haue not your inuectiues against the Church of England beene as a burning fire in their bosome Therefore it behooueth you which heeretofore haue beene ring-leaders to disobedience heereafter to shew your selues perswaders and patterns of obedience and as heeretofore being missed your selues you haue missed others so being resolued your selues it is your dutie to resolue others And our hope is that those which are otherwise minded the Lord will in time reueale it vnto them For the furtherance whereof I wish my brethren of the Ministerie would consider these inducements following 43 First the charge which Christ gaue to Peter Peter dost thou loue me feede my lambes c. If the loue of the Lord Iesus be in you forsake not the lambes which he hath bought with his precious bloud Will you leaue a matter of substance for a matter of ceremonie a matter of necessitie for a matter of indifferencie Alas deerely beloued there is a necessitie laide vpon vs and woe be to mee if I preach not the Gospell A graue and learned Diuine and one that fauoured your reformation would sometimes demaund as I haue beene enformed by a Minister of his acquaintance whether a gold ring were to be refused for a straw cleauing vnto it so his iudgement was that as the gold ring is rather better without the straw so the Gospell were better without the ceremonies yet hee did not compare our ceremonies to venome or poison which might make the gold ring to bee refused but onely to a straw so hee thought them matters of some inconuenience but not of any infectious or dangerous consequence If you my brethren will but obserue this moderation then I trust you will not forsake the preaching of the Gospell which is a ring of gold although there were cleauing vnto it a ceremonie as it were of straw 44 Secondly remember the commandement of God Let euerie soule be subiect to the higher powers behold the face of our gracious Soueraigne and consider what a griefe it must needs bee vnto him to see those which are indued with learning and vertue not to haue learned the vertue of obedience Wee all acknowledge him to be supreme gouernour ouer all persons causes ecclesiastical and temporall is he gouernour of all persons and shall he not gouerne you Do you acknowledge him gouernour ouer all causes shall be not appoint you whether your garments shall be blacke or white round or square shall wee reach the people obedience and be our selues examples of disobedience I pray you be aduised in your courses and wisely weigh with your selues that solemne oth which you haue taken to the Princes supremacie when you receiued degrees academicall or holie orders Ministeriall or any institution to spirituall promotion in the Church of England and consider without partialitie whether these your proceedings be correspondent to your oth or no. 45 Thirdly regard your mother the Church of England so wailing and wringing her hands to see such distraction in her own bowels such glorious stars to lose their light such links to be broken off from her golden chaine ô what a rent what a grieuous rent is made in the vnseamed coat of Iesus Christ you refuse the crosse and surples for feare of a scandall but this renting of the Church is indeed a scandall a most heauie and Iam entable scandall And this is told in Gath and published in the streets of Ashkelon it makes the daughters of the Philistines reioice and the daughters of the vncircumcised triumph For the Papists sport themselues and clap their hands while the godly grieue and mourne in Sion The Scripture speaking of the debate between the seruants of Abraham Lot doth adde that the Cananites and the Perizzites dwelt then in the land to signifie that though their contention in it selfe was euill yet it was worse because the enemies of God which would reioice at it were then in the land So beloued I say vnto you these contentions are euill in themselues but the worse because the papist is now in the land He delighteth himselfe and through your strif●s taketh ocsion to blaspheme our religion Hee deuiseth and plotteth to vndermine both Church and common-wealth while we are contending one with another And as you reioice the Papists so you encourage the Brownists who builde their conclusions vpon your premises and put your speculations in practise For haue not your ringleaders proclaimed that our gouernment by Bishops is popish our liturgie popish our ministring of baptisme with the crosse popish our kneeling at the Communion popish our garments for publike administration popish our holidaies popish and almost euerie thing popish Wherefore the Brownists hauing learned that the Pope is Antichrist and the present Church of Rome Babylon and hearing a voice from heauen crying

to keepe the vnitie of the spirit in the bond of peace And to begin with the declaration let vs first declare the order which our church vseth in making of Church orders 12 By the ancient lawes of this realme this kingdome of ENGLAND is an absolute Empire and Monarchie consisting of one head which is the King and of a bodie politike which bodie politike the law diuideth into two generall parts the Cleargie and the Laitie Now the King of England being an absolute Soueraigne and consequently by the law of God supreme gouernour ouer all persons and causes Ecclesiasticall and Temporall within his owne dominions may by the ancient prerogatiue and lawes of England make an Ecclesiasticall commission by aduise whereof or of the Metropolitane he may according to his Princely wisedome ordaine and publish such ceremonies or rites as shall be most for the aduancement of Gods glorie the edification of his Church and the due reuerence of Christs holy mysteries and Sacraments And it is further enacted by authoritie of Parliament that the Conuocation shall bee assembled alwaies by vertue of the Kings Writ and that their Canons shall not be put in execution vnlesse they be approoued by Royall assent According to which statute or act of Parliament it pleased our gracious Soueraigne to direct his Writ to the most reuerend Father in God the late L. Archbishop of Canterburie his grace by vertue wherof the Bishops and others of his Prouince were summoned and because particular Churches should not be left destitute the Ministers of euerie Diocesse had libertie to choose two Clerks out of their owne bodie by cōmon consent to represent the rest These assembling at the place and time appointed by vertue of other his Maiesties Writtes directed to the rig●● reuerend Father in God the L. Bishop of London then being duely authorized President of the Conuocation proceeded to consultation and after long deliberation set downe their conclusions which being the constitutions of the sacred synod and the same presented to the King ratified by his roiall assent confirmed by his Highnesse letters Patents vnder the great Seale of England and by his soueraigne authoritie published commanded and enioined to be diligently obserued executed and equally kept by all the subiects of this kingdome haue a binding force and are in the nature of a law and therefore may bee iustly called the Kings Ecclesiasticall lawes in making whereof the Church of England without all controuersie proceedeth honestly and in order 13 But to come to particulars let vs first consider our Ministerie and then our ministration The Ministers of England are not in popular paritie but our Bishops are aduanced aboue the rest being indued with power of giuing orders and the exercise of Ecclesiasticall iurisdiction and that according to the purest and Apostolicall times Timothie and Titus ordained Presbyters that is Ministers of the Gospel towne by towne and these answer to our Pastors of particular Churches whose dutie is to minister the Word and Sacraments Timothie himselfe had the ouersight of Ephesus Titus of Creete not onely of the flocks but of the Ministers also and had authoritie both to minister the Word and Sacraments which was common to them with all other inferior Presbyters and likewise to exercise ecclesiasticall iurisdiction and by imposition of hands to consecrate to holy orders For the better execution of which duties it hath pleased Christian Kings in all ages out of their Princely fauours to grace and countenance Bishops and by their lawes examples and bounties to make them acceptable vnto the people well considering that the decay of the authoritie of Ecclesiasticall Rulers and the want of yeelding to them reuerence honour and feare is the cause of all euil as Chrysostome well noted saying He that honoureth the Priest doth also honour God and he that despiseth the Priest commeth by degrees to this at last that he waxeth contumelious against God himselfe And as these glorious stars and angels are to be honored so againe they must remember the saying of Ambrose Magna sublimit as magnam debet habere cautelam Honor grandes grandiori debet sollicitudine circumuallari 14 Concerning inferiour Ministers the first point to be pondered is their ordination For which purpose the place is famously known being either the cathedral church or the parish Church where the Bishop resideth The time Ieiunia quatuor temporum commonly called Ember weeks which by the wisedome of our Church are consecrated to a most excellent vse that all the people of the land should fast and praie that the Lord would blesse his Church with learned Ministers and send foorth woorthy labourers into his haruest This is apparent by our Canons and Constitutions and surely it is an honest a decent a holie and heauenly preparation 15 After the preparation followeth the Examination both of maners and learning for the first the person desirous to enter this holy calling must exhibite letters testimoniall vnder the seale of some Colledge where he before remained onof three or foure graue Ministers with the subscription of other credible persons who haue known his life and behauiour by the space of three yeeres next 〈…〉 carefull is our Church that this should be performed honestlie and in order 16 Concerning their learning our desire is that in euerie parish the Word of God might abound like Euphrates and as Iordan in the time of haruest that the doctrine of the Gospell might shine as the light and ouerflow as Geon in time of vintage plant O Lord we beseech thee if it be thy pleasure in euery parish a learned Minister O Lord let thy Vrim and Thummin be with thy holy ones that they may teach Iacob thy iudgements and Israel thy law But beloued in the Lord it is one thing to speake of these things in speculation and another when we come to practise A Carpenter may contriue in his head a most exact and curious building but when he comes to the point he can make it no better then his timber will suffer The Defendour of the Admonition about thirtie three yeeres ago auouched that 2000. sufficient Preachers which preach and feed diligently were hard to be found in this Church Admit this were true and seeing there be in England about 10000. parishes suppose that libertie had beene granted to this great Reformer to haue reduced the Church of England to his imagined platforme what would he haue done should 2000. Parishes haue beene furnished euerie one with a sufficient Preacher and 8000. beene left forlorne without publike Praying or Preaching or reading diuine Seruice Should they haue had none none at all either to minister the Communion or to Baptise their children This had beene rude and barbarous and the high way either to Atheisme or to Paganisme Should one man haue had fiue benefices That were contrarie to his owne principles for so ech parish should haue had but the fift