Selected quad for the lemma: cause_n
Text snippets containing the quad
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A42567
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The Presbyterian bramble, or, A short discourse of church government by L.G.
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L. G.
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1661
(1661)
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Wing G45; ESTC R40984
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7,208
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14
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The Authors Appeal LO here as prisoner at the bar I stand Criticks command me to hold up my hand They say I am arraign'd I need no Cook To draw my charge it follows in my Book No Bradshaw to condemn for there 's a crew Cry burn the book and hang the Author too But Reader stay if needs I must be tryed The Welshman's Jury shall not be deny'd The twelve Apostles If then I have writ Things Heterodox or my unhappy wit Doth contradict their Doctrine Let me be Censur'd by them but not condem'd by thee THE PRESBYTERIAN BRAMBLE OR A SHORT DISCOURSE OF CHURCH GOVERNMENT By L. G. Judges 9.15 And the bramble said unto the trees if in truth ye annoint me King over you then come and put your trust in my shadow and if not let fire come out of the bramble and devour the Cedars of Lebanon Matthew 7.16 Ye shall know them by their fruits do men gather Grapes of Thornes or Figs of Thistles LONDON Printed in the year 1661. THE PRESBYTERIAN BRAMBLE THat which was once the contention of the Disciples of Christ hath ever since continued the common dispute of the World viz. a striving who should be the greatest this controversie hath not only set Nation against Natition and Kingdom against Kingdom as it was when Alexander and Darius strove who should be Cock of the Worlds dunghil but it hath also occasioned Civil and Domestick broiles where haughty and perverse spirits have gone about to maintain their Principles by bloody Arguments Nec Caesar ferre Priorem c. Our blessed Lord commands us to dispute upon another question that is to strive who should be the least If this Rule were but well observed if Greatnesse would but make way for Goodnesse and Pride give the wall to Humility we should then see glorious Times and a happy Reformation But unto whom shall I compare the men of this Generation I may justly say with our Saviour They are like unto Children playing in the Market place and saying We have piped and ye have not danced It is the ambition of Great persons that others should dance after their pipes There are in this Kingdom some Children in understanding I dare not say in innocence who cry out they will play no more at Bishops neither will they indure the musick of Organs but rather dance an other Scotch jigg after the Presbyterian Bag-pipes Is it so beloved marry God forbid We have had too much of that already for give me leave to tell you Your musick was like the musick of Nero who played upon his harp when he had set Rome on fire and your dancing like the dancing of Herodias for the best of Kings paid as dear for the one as the Greatest of Prophets for the other But I hope we shall have no more such Galliards but that the Parliament will think upon the former musick and take care to pay the pipers That we live under a Government both Civil and Ecclesiastical and that in both these the King next unto God is over all persons and in all causes in these his Majesties Dominions supream head and Governour is a Principle which all sober men own And that under God and his Vice-gerent the King the Hierarchy of Bishops ought to Govern the Church is a truth sufficiently proved and illustrated by many learned pens and that the factious Presbyterians who endeavour to subvert Episcopacy and to assume unto themselves the like authority under an other name are not as they pretend the Ministers of Christ I here call Gods sacred word to witnesse VVe are to live under a Government for the Holy spirit commands us to obey the higher powers to give Caesar his due to fear God and honour the King which are two inseparable duties He cannot be a good Christian that is not a good Subject for we may use the same Argument concerning fear honour and obedience which the Apostle doth concerning love He that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen cannot love God whom he hath not seen So he that honoureth not the King who is his visible God cannot fear God who is his invisible King VVhen Adam strove to be equal with his Creator he was no longer suffered to continue in Paradise when Traytors strive to be equal with their Soveraign they are no longer worthy to live upon the earth but as infected members speediy to be cut off Nepars sincera trahatur This indeed is a truth which men will not or at least dare not deny Monarchy they embrace but Praelacy they abhor and though they kneel to the Crown yet they scorn to bow to the Miter and the silly Countrymen are perswaded that Episcopacy is the sister of Popery and therefore they are loth to pin their faith upon lawn sleeves And this foolish misconstruction is wrought by some of our modern Pharises who strain at a Gnat and swallow a Camel and although they cannot relish the Bishops yet could make shift to devour their lands And therefore for the defence of Praelacie I shall make use of two weapons Scripture and Reason which no man that is either Rational or Religious will call unlawful That which is lawful for others to desire is lawful for the King and Parliament to grant this is reason If a man desireth the office of a Bishop he desireth a good work this is Scripture Now that which is good to be desired t is good to be granred And if he that desireth the office of a Bishop desireth a good work then they who desire the distructrion of Bishops and the utter abolishing of that office do certainly desire an evill work The Office of a Bishop we may partly read in his name that is an Overseer here are in a Parish Officers called Overseers of the poor even such are the Bishop in the Church of Christ Our Lord and Master to prove his Divinity tells the Disciples of John of his wonderful works and that which he did unto mens bodies when he was in the flesh the same he doth now unto their souls viz. The blind receive their sight and the lame walk the Leapers are cleansed the deaf hear and the dead are raised up and the poor have the Gospell preached unto them True it is that we are all naturally blind in our understanding and lame in our practices and it is none but Christ that can make us see clearly or walk uprightly he washed the Leprous sinner in his own blood He gives unto those who are deaf unto any thing which is good hearing ears and raises up those who are dead in sins and trespasses unto a newnesse of life And lastly wherein all the rest of the miracles are summed up 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is the Poor are Gospeliz'd or made conformable unto the Gospel and for this purpose hath God appointed these Bishops or Overseers that those who are poor both in spirit and purse may have the bread of life broken unto them It