Selected quad for the lemma: cause_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
cause_n	faith_n	justify_v	righteousness_n	6,227	5	8.2608	4	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A01331	A sermon preached on Sundaye, being the .17. of March Anno. 1577. at S. Alpheges Church within Creplegate in London, by William Fulke doctor in diuinitie. Seene and allowed, accordyng to the order appoynted in the Queenes Maiesties Iniunctions	Fulke, William, 1538-1589.	1577 (1577)	STC 11454; ESTC S112799	25,975	72

most ioyfully and thankefully receyue the glad tydings of libertie That wee maye beware by the punishment of Hierusalem to refuse freedome offered least wee bee chrust into perpetuall bondage No Citie nor people in the worlde had greater priuiledges of honour then the Citie and people of Hierusalem And yet we see nowe how iustly Hierusalem is turned into Sinay freedome into bondage glory into shame that we should not stande vpon any prerogatiues or priuiledges as though any thing could exempt vs from the seueritie of Gods iudgement if wee reiect the grace of God when it is freely offered If Hierusalem escaped not punishment for all her dignitie what shall become of Sodome or Babilon which haue no prerogatiue of dignitie if they being called to libertie doo still continue in bondage And here we haue an example whereby to shape the Papistes an answere for all that they can bring to commende the dignitie of theyr Churche of Rome For the present time or that hath been these many hundreth yeres they can speake little good of her if they will speake the truth that all men doo see with their eyes in this age or may reade in stories of the former ages written by their owne Registers but they haue a great glory to bring forth the auncient commendation of fayth which the Scriptures and olde doctors doo ascribe vnto the Churche of Rome the godly conuersation of the Anrient Christian Romanes the multitude of Constant Martyrs which that Churche did yeelde in the space of two or three hundreth yeeres but all in vayne yea all to their greater shame except they can proue the same fayth conuersation and Christian constancie to remaine now in the Churche of Rome that was in those golden dayes of the primitiue Churche S. Paule in deede commendeth the fayth of the Romanes to be celebrated in all the world which place the Papistes thinke to make much for the dignitie of the See of Rome But let them shewe that the Pope and hys Churche of Rome doo nowe hold the same fayth whych S. Paule praysed in the Romanes of hys time or else it maketh nothing in the world for the Churche of Rome nowe but to her shame and reproche which is degenerated from that doctrine of libertie which of olde time was wont to be imbraced in those places The fayth of the Romanes of that time which S. Paule commended was this that a man is iustified by faythe without the deedes of the lawe Is this the doctrine of the Churche of Rome according to the true meaning of S. Paule and the whole discourse of his Epistle to the Romanes Do they not teache the contrarie directly that a man cannot be iustified by faith only without the workes of the lawe Wherfore seeing the Romanes that are nowe haue a contrarie faith to the Romanes of olde time there is no cause why they should claime the aunciēt prayse which haue not retained the auncient fayth And forasmuch as they are fallen from the grace of Christ to seeke ryghteousnes by their owne merits there is no reason why they shoulde haue the commendation of the fayth of the Gospell which haue submitted themselues to to the bondage of the Lawe And if Hierusalem that is nowe be turned into Agar and the earthly Sion into the barreyn Sinay because shee hath despised the promise of mercy redemption which the auncient Hierusalem and Moūt Sion in the tyme of the godly Parriarches and Prophetes most ioyfully receyued why shoulde Rome that is nowe wyth her seuen hylles appointed for the throne of Antichryst enioye the prayse of the auncyent Romanes and the Christian Churche that sometyme was a straunger in that place whom nowe shee persecuteth and condemneth their fayth for Heresie Shee cannot bee taken for the heauenly Hierusalem that professeth the seruyle doctrine and Religion of the earthly Hierusalem Neither can her children the Papists be taken for Citizens of the heauenly Hierusalem which thinke so great a part of religion to consist in going a Pilgrimage to the earthly Hierusalem The Apostle here vtterly reiecteth Hierusalem that is nowe and thrusteth her out of the lande of promyse into Arabia the desatte The Papistes make no accompte of Hierusalem that is aboue but all their delight is in Hierusalē that is on earthe so they shewe themselues right Agarens Ismaelites What a great matter is made in Poperie of Hierusalem that is now yea although it be in the hands of Turkes Paganes yet they so esteeme it that they thinke they should haue the greatest treasure in the world if they coulde get the possessiō of that citie out of the Paganes handes And for that purpose howe manye thousand men haue lost their liues in the enterprises that haue beene aduentured to gayne that place out of the Turkes Souldans dominions What an hygh poynt in Religion is it made of the Papistes to visite Hierusalem that is nowe yea it is a matter of so great importance that the vowe which one hath made to go on Pilgrimage to Hierusalem cannot be dispensed withal by any other inferiour person but euen by the Popes owne holynesse hymselfe Such a goodly matter it is to be a Citizen of the earthly Hierusalem But let the Papistes alone with theyr holy mother the earthly Hierusalem mount Sinay or Agar and let vs returne to the comparison of the Apostle which saith But Hierusalē which is aboue is free which is the mother of vs al wee heard before that there were two mothers in the familie of Abraham Agar and Sara the one begetting into bondage the oher vnto libertie wee harde also that these mothers doo signifie two Couenants or two Churches and that Agar signifieth the Couenant of Iustice or Hierusalem that is nowe the Churche of Hypocrites which abuse this couenant in seeking to be iustified therby which was giuē to direct vs to the couenant of mercy Now must we consider Sara the seconde mother which was a freewoman how she was a figure of the new couenant and of the heauenly Hierusalē that is the mother of all the Children of god The first couenant in Mount Sinay what it was namely the Couenant of righteousnesse we haue sufficiently declared alreadie The seconde Couenant of mercy is excellently well described by the Prophet Ieremie Chap. 31. alledged by the Apostle to the Hebrues Chap. 8. Beholde the dayes come sayeth the Lorde that I wyll accomplishe with the house of Israel and Iuda a newe Couenant 9. Not accordyng to the Couenant which I made wyth theyr Fathers in the daye when I tooke them by the hande to bryng them out of the lande of Egypt for they themselues abyde not in my Couenant and I regarded them not sayeth the Lorde 10. For this is the Couenant that I will make with the house of Israel After those dayes sayth the Lorde I wyll gyue my Lawes into their myndes and wryte them in theyr hartes And I wil be their God and they shal be

only by mercy only by fayth So the cause now followeth why Ismael could not be Abrahams heir and only Isaac was because Ismael was borne after the flesh and Isaac was borne by promyse The inheritance depended wholly vpon the promise and the promise altogether vpon the grace of god Therefore he that was borne after the promise was the heire not he that was borne after the flesh But this at the first view seemeth to be straunge why S. Paule shoulde say that Ismael was borne after the fleshe Isaac by promise Wheras there seemeth to be no difference but that Isaac was born after the fleshe as Ismael was for he was conceiued after the maner of al the worlde as Ismael was It is the only priuiledge of our sauiour Christ to be cōceiued by the holy ghost Wherfore Isaac might be thought to be borne after the flesh on the other side it seemeth that Ismael was borne by promise For Abrahā was not moued by fleshly lust to take Agar to his wyfe but by the suggestion of Sara that he might haue an heyre of the promise Why should not Ismael then whose byrth was sought by so good an intent bee saide to be borne after the promyse And wherefore should Isaac bee denyed to be borne after the flesh whē he was conceyued and borne as Ismael and all other men are But let vs heare what the Apostle sayth He that was borne of the bond woman was borne after the fleshe and hee that was borne of the free woman by promise Nowe let vs see howe Ismael was borne after the fleshe Isaac by promise If we looke to the conception of Ismael we shall see nothing in it but carnall and fleshly not only because it was altogether according to the course of nature but also chiefly because this deuise of Sara wherunto Abraham consented to beget children of Agar though it seemed to come of a good intent yet was it altogether carnall and fleshly But God woulde haue mans deuise to haue no place in the Natiuitie of Isaac because he should be a ryght figure and patterne of them that are heires of the promise For thus the case stood God had promised to Abraham to giue him the lande of Canaan and to his seede which shoulde be as the starres of heauen and as the sande of the sea innumerable that hee should be the father of many nations and that in his seede all the nations of the world should be blessed Now Abraham beleeued this promise of God and it was imputed to hym for righteousnes bu● whyle he contynued stedfaste in this Fayth GOD seemed too suspend of long tyme the performance of hys promyse for Abrahā waxed old Sara was both olde and barreyne so that all hope of Children betweene them seemed too be cut of at laste thys deuyse came intoo Saraes head that Abraham shoulde take Agar the Aegiptian her bondemayde too wyfe and so of her should begette Childrē that should bee heyres of the promise No doubte her ende and purpose was to obteyne that which God had promysed and in suche respect and none other dyd Abraham agree too her deuise And here we see what good intents are if they be not directed by Gods woorde For surely the intent of Abraham Sara in this matter was exceeding good but theyr mean which they had deuised was starke nought For it was altogether beside the word of God it proceded not frō the spirit of God but frō the spirit of man frō flesh and blood and therefore it was a mere carnall and fleshely deuise although it hath a shewe of great godlynes yet is there no spark of godlines in it for it proceeded not of faith but of infidelity for although Sara beleeued the promise of God to bee true yet she thought it could not otherwise be performed but by this carnall deuise of hers she would helpe god to perfourme his promise whē she thought he was flack in perfourmāce saw more more difficulty to grow dayly by the age of Abrahā encreasing in weaknes old yeares vnapt for generatiō such are al the deuises of mē by which they sek to obtein the promised inheritāce of the kingdom of heauē they be altogether carnal fleshly procede ōly of infidelity For why do they sek to adde any thing of their own to the most free gracious promise of god but that they doubt eyther of his strength or goodwil to perfourme that which he hath promised therfore they wil help the one with laying to the shoulders of their own strēgth the other they wil procure by cōmending the dignity and worthines of their owne persons as though God were not throughly wel pleased in his only begottē son our Lord sauiour christ By this that hath been said I trust you do now vnderstād how Ismael was born after the flesh namely that in his conceptiō generation there can nothing be cōsidered that is heauēly spiritual but altogether natural carnal For notwithstāding ther was an intēt purpose to beget an heir of the promis yet euē this intēt purpose being gouerned by a carnal fleshly deuise proued nothing els but an earthly carnall fleshly matter Wherfore he that was borne of the bond woman was borne altogether after the flesh Now let vs see how Isaac was borne by promise Isaac was born of Sara the free womā not by her carnal deuise as his brother Ismael was but by faith in gods promise For Abraham was now old past the strength of begetting childrē Sara was both old barren here nature had denied thē children flesh blood had denied thē childrē humayn reason had denied thē childrē Therfore the childe that was now conceyued and borne came altogether by promis of God not by strength of man Abrahā waxed nowe strōg in fayth though weake in body considered neither his own body as good as dead nor the dead wōbe of Sara his wife but only beleeued that he which had promised was also able to perfourme it And Sara by faith receiued strēgth to cōceiue seed brought forth a son when she was past childbearing barrein bicause she compted him faithful which had promysed so that the whole woorke in the conception and birth of Isaac was proper to God and not to man and so dyd the whole prayse red●unde to God and not to man For Abrahams body beyng now as good as dead for age receyued new strēgth for generation as if he had been restored from death to lyfe Sara beside her natural impediment of barrainnesse being taken away whiche kept her from bearyng of chyldren when shee was young beyng nowe nyentie yeares of age was endued with newe strength to conceyue Isaac and therefore here is nothing of mans strength or wisedome in Isaackes natiuitie to bee considered but onely the perfourmance of Gods promise And therefore God onely deserued to haue al the