Selected quad for the lemma: cause_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
cause_n	good_a	great_a	let_v	3,168	5	4.0636	3	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A00686	A briefe conference betwixt mans frailtie and faith wherein is declared the true vse, and comfort of those blessings pronounced by Christ in the fifth of Matthew, that euery Christian man and woman ought to make and take hold of in their seuerall tentations and conflicts: laide downe in this plaine order of dialogue, to helpe, if it please God, the conceit and feeling of the simplest. By Geruase Babington.	Babington, Gervase, 1550-1610.	1584 (1584)	STC 1082; ESTC S108359	56,099	166

quiet from prittle prattle from scanning this neighbours wealth that neighbours wit this mans doings and that mans sayings and from coursing euen the whole country ouer til al men haue béene within the spéech of our tongues drawen out of vs by the power peraduenture of a pot too much or such a like influence Must not these things I say and the owners of them be accursed as sure as they liue if peace and loue and good agréement amongst men be of the Lorde blessed They must they must Frailtie For all the world knoweth the venome of these things in anie towne and their mightie working against vnitie and therfore I praie you and I praie you heartily consider of it and cast euen a long looke vppon them such an one as we doe when we would marke a thing indéede and beare it away And I doubt not but God shall giue you strength against your temptation There is no one thing so great a nurse of two of them namely of a misdéeming mind a pratling tongue as idlenes is when a man hath nothing to doe and to applie himselfe vnto but to sitte on a bulke in the stréete or bench in a tauerne or an ale house and to wet his tongue with drinke and drie it with talking or when a woman hath no setled gouernment of her selfe in house but is in the number of those that the Apostle Paul speaketh of which beeing idle learne to goe about from house to house Yea they are not onely idle but also pratlers and busie bodies speaking things which are not comelie Therfore whosoeuer wil be a preseruer of peace he must be an enimie to these curses assuredly and heare more with two eares than he speaketh with one tongue But I weary you with this digressiō which is longer than I meant and therefore I cut it off againe and againe requiring of you that you neuer hang vpon the accompt of men in anie thing that euer you goe about béeing commaunded by the expresse worde of God but fullie suffice your selfe with the acceptance of God and that which you haue here an assurāce of if you be a peacemaker Blessed shall you be and euer accompted both with God and his true children the son of God And if this wil not cōtent you quicken you strengthen and stay you in this vertue but that worldlie ingratitude shall quench you and drawe you to such extremitie as you spake of certainely Frailtie you deceiue your selfe there is no true godlinesse in you but euen your name is too gentle for your nature you are become plaine infidelitie But I hope the best and performe you no lesse if you regarde your owne comfort Sufficient is this yet once againe if you be the Lords Blessed are the peacemakers for they shall be called the children of God The eight Temptation Frailtie ONce more woulde I trouble you Faith if I might before we end it is in this I feare my nature if persecution shoulde arise for religion And what shoulde I doe to obtaine strength Faith There are manie treatises of this point godlie and comfortable wherevnto for larger discourse I referre you and wish you to peruse them For mine owne part whensoeuer I thinke of this matter these and such other considerations séeme most swéet vnto me as yet Further trial shal giue further assault but God will be euer good to Israel First it is ratified decréede and established by the Lorde our God that through manie tribulations wée must enter into the kingdome of heauen And therefore since it must be so so be it in the name of God be it vnto vs as it pleaseth him necessarie things are to be borne necessarily and with chéere For in vaine doe we grudge to doe what wée must néedes doe or grieue to beare what we must néedes beare Heathens and Pagans haue made a comfort of necessitie and shoulde Christians in better cause bewray more weakenesse No God forbid But let it euer be our spéech rather than theirs in such matters as our God sendeth and laieth vppon vs Ferenda quaecunque sunt They are welcome what soeuer they be Secondly this decrée course that the Lord hath laid down for his children thus to kéepe procéedeth not of anger and displeasure or of a minde delighting in our woe and séeking to punish vs but of great loue and most fatherly affection toward vs and in déede wonderfully worketh our better being and therefore tenns thousand times welcome shoulde this good will of his be to vs and very farre from shaking vs from the true profession of his name and trueth For his affection we heare his owne mouth speake it that whome he loueth he rebuketh and chasteneth many a time repeating the same that we might remember it And for the other we sée it and knowe it by the proofe of euery daies experience For what maketh vs sée the gaule of Sathans heart towarde vs and euen our euerlasting ouerthrowe sworne of him by his diuelhood if by anie meanes hée can worke it to the ende we may perfectly hate so perfect a foe and yet so ●●●ring a friend The crosse What rowseth vs out of dull securitie and colde conceit of our owne wantes or the necessitie of Gods protection and succour and maketh not only our tongues to speake but the fire to kindle and burne within vs and so our prayers to haue spirite and power before the Lorde The Crosse What killeth this intemperancie of our affections and this blustring impaciencie of our natures and maketh vs méeke milde humble gentle and like lambes not lyons appointed to the slaughter The crosse What worketh the decaie euen of the whole olde Adam in vs with all his lustes concupiscence and venome and daily raiseth vp as a meanes the newe man with al his swéete motions heauenly and reformed actions The Crosse What maketh vs spitte in the face of this flattering worlde whose loue causeth losse both of body and soule in the worlde to come and to be content to part with her paps and to bid al her pleasures adue The crosse Lastly what maketh vs teare our bellies from the earth whereto they cleaue so fast and lift vp our heades to heauen long for the life that lasteth and desire heartily to be clothed with our house which is frō aboue The crosse Wherfore then since it is decréed and that in loue to our so great good that all which will liue godlie in Jesus Christ must suffer persecution what cause haue we would the Lorde voutsafe vs eyes with the crosse to be discouraged and driuen from the Lorde Thirdly it neuer hapneth to vs by fortune and chance or by ignoraunce in our God or inabilitie to let it if it pleased him but by his knowledge by his will and by his hande and he is our father bounde vnto vs in league and couenant of loue that of his part shall neuer be broken while wee hang of him The mother may forget

mans liking vnlesse it haue further warrant nor cast downe with his disliking vnlesse wee knowe hee so déemeth iustly And therefore againe I say consider of this comfort Consider of this worlde and consider of the world to come the one is transitorie the other permanent the one full of woe and secret sorowe in the verie middest of pompe the other ful of ioy comfort and solace and that without all ending Then whether is here good to be happie and there vnhappie here iudged miserable and there founde most blessed iudge your selfe euen with verie reason Certainly therefore it is a comfort sufficient so knowne to be by Christ that gaue it and euer hath and shall comfort the children of god against worldly conceit blessed are they that for a good cause suffer persecution for theirs is the kingdome of heauen That is all comfort possible to be thought of and tenne thousand times more This was Paules comfort in the middest of all his miserie and therefore he boldly and chéerefully saith he neuer counted the afflictions of the world worthie the ioy that should be reuealed This comforted Dauid also that he perished not in his affliction as himself witnesseth and as that spéech by comparisō may shew I should vtterly haue fainted but that I beleeue verily to see the Lorde in the lande of the liuing And what should I name them this euer hath comforted first or last lesse or more yet euer sufficiently anie that were the Lords But sée further how not onelie thus in generalitie against persecution it pleased Christ to strengthen our weakenes but euen in specialitie also against those kinds which most bitterly tast vnto vs and shake vs sore if we be not strong to wit reproch and report For Blessed are you saith he when men reuile you and shall falsely say all manner of euill saying by you for my name sake reioice and be glad for great is your rewarde in heauen a saying neuer to be forgotten of vs whilest the life is in vs. For the gaule of these Crosses is not little and the power of this assault hath appeared not as féeble in great Prophets and members of the Church The verie words also of Christ his comfort insinuate a secrete force aboue manie others of this temptation For hée biddeth them reioice and promiseth great reward in heauen as forséeing a great downefall both of heart and countenance in man when he is once touched either with reuiling spéeches to his face or false reportes behinde his backe Wherfore to conclude and leaue you nowe to your other readings of this matter I praie you Frailtie open your eies or rather desire the Lorde to open them that you may both nowe in the day of peace and whensoeuer also it shall please the Lorde further to trie you sée with your eie heare with your eare and beléeue with your heart your offered comfort in the worde both against al other and against this temptatiō by name of persecutiō The word teacheth and we know it is decréede by the Lord to be the lotte of his déere ones euer in this worlde and therefore welcome be it The worde teacheth it and we knowe it much good is wrought in vs by it therefore welcome be it The worde teacheth it and we knowe it no chance nor fortune but the will of our heauenly father laieth it vpon vs and therefore welcome be it We knowe it is no new thing or vnséene before but the old portion of the godly that haue euer béen before vs therefore welcome be it The cause is not ours whē it is a truth but his that made vs and therefore welcome be it We haue a promise wée shall not be oppressed with more than we may beare and therefore welcome be it Wée knowe wée are children if as children we be corrected and therefore welcome be it Wée are told we are bastards if we be without it and therefore welcome be it And all our forefathers haue patiently carried it and nowe are rewarded therefore welcome be it Welcom I say the crosse in generall and persecution for truth all or part as it pleaseth God and welcome in particular this kinde of crosse if so our God will reuilings reprochings reportings false and vniust For we knowe our case the plea is ended and sentence is giuen neuer to be reuoked blessed are we good cause wée haue to reioice and be glad for great is our rewarde in heauen O the God of heauen and father of mercy strengthen vs that these swéete promises may preuaile with vs and that our eies may sée the comfortes of his worde What should feare vs Frailtie that haue such a God and that stande in such a state I pray you looke vp and clasp your God in your armes embrace his mercie beléeue his truth and as you liue though you be afflicted on euerie side yet shall you not be in distresse though you be in doubt yet shal you not dispaire though you be persecuted yet shall you not be forsaken though you be caste downe yet shall you not perish and though euerie where you beare about in your bodie the dying of the Lord Jesus yet shall the life of Jesus appeare in your body and there is neither life nor death Angelles Principalities nor powers things present or to come height or depth or anie other creature that euer shall be able to separate you from the loue of God which is in Christ Iesus Frailtie The Lorde chaunge me and I shall be chaunged and greatly both ought I and doe I thanke you Faith for this conference beseeching you still to praie for me as for one whose name and nature you knowe but too well I can promise nothing but seeing what I woulde doe I leaue my selfe to his mercie that is able to make me doe both what I ought and would doe And so the Lorde keepe vs both Faith Amen Frailtie Amen And the Lord giue vs eies to sée what it is to haue a true heart to God and to imbrace true religion Is it not to stand in possession of all these heauenlie promises whatsoeuer befalleth to vs in this worlde to be happie and blessed in it and by it Be it pouertie be it sorrowe be it oppression or whatsoeuer And contrariwise what it also is to be of a prophane heart of an vncircumcised life Surely euen to stand as depriued of all these comfortes and if we be poore to be also accursed in our pouertie in our sorow and whatsoeuer befalleth vnto vs gréeuous in this world The Lorde I saie giue vs eies to sée it and harts to thinke of it For full well wée knowe that were euerie one of vs a Monarch of a whole worlde by himselfe they béeing as this world is the glorie both of them and vs must passe away like a shippe in the water whose tract cannot be séene againe like an arrow through the aire or a weauers shuttle through his work like a