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	people_n	3,792	5	4.4298	3	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A42431	A sermon preached before the Right Reverend Father in God, John, Lord Bishop of Bristol, at his primary visitation in Bristol, October 30 and now publish'd at His Lordships request, as also the desire of several others that heard it / by John Gaskarth ...	Gaskarth, John, d. 1732.	1685 (1685)	Wing G288; ESTC R18419	31,784	43

thing and our Prayers are sent up from an unanimous Consent which gives the greatest prevalence to them according to that of the Psalmist comprehending the true Church of God whether Jewish or Christian Psalm 133. Behold how good and joyful a thing it is for Brethren to dwell together in unity It is like the dew of Hermon and as the dew that descended upon the Mountains of Zion for there the Lord promised his Blessing and Life for evermore And moreover it is not only very decorus but there seems to be a necessity for it that they should maintain an inviolable Peace and Uniformity among themselves who all pretend to be of one body or Christian Community all lay claim to one Spirit the Eternal Comforter all are called into one hope of their calling all acknowledge one Lord the Head and Redeemer of his Church one Faith one Baptism one God and Father of all who is above all and through all and in as all as the Apostle argues Eph. 4.3 And in all this management I am apt to think that although Pride and Prejudice or Interest in some Persons be the whole account of Separation which would almost put one out of temper to dispute with those People yet a due Candor or Argument managed in a courteous manner is the most effectual means to reclaim them and convince them of their Error as indeed it is to convince any Ill Language or fixing Names upon any Person will never work a Conversion in him but rather engage him in a bold defence of himself and his Errors both together that he may thus remove such an Aspersion from him this indeed is very dis-ingenuous but I believe 't is Natural to most Men and therefore Railing whether in the Pulpit or other places and Conference with Men as it is a very Unchristian thing and a great Trespass upon Charity especially that most Charitable Office of Preaching or Beneficence to Souls so it is a very improper proceeding to convince any or make them Proselytes to a good Cause nay one may easily observe in a due reflection on Humane Nature that it will rather set them at desiance from it And therefore those Unchristian Preachers that use Railing in their Sermons besides a base Temper they have antecedently in them they are rather guilty of fortifying People in their ill Courses than doing any Service to their Conversion And I wonder how they can satisfie themselves in this deportment There is a duty of Humanity incumbent upon us towards all Men how Wicked and Perverse soever and we must treat them with the proper respect of Humane Creatures if we should find them no Christians so that this thing of Railing is a casting off the Manhood it self with the necessary Civility that is in it and belongs to it as well as the Candor of the Gospel which adds a farther degree to this Civility And therefore that advice of the Apostle is both upon a Natural account and a Christian Eph. 4.31 Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamour and evil speaking be put away from you with all malice and we read that Michael when contending with the Devil himself he durst not bring a railing accusation against him Jud. 9. And the other Angels did behave themselves in the same manner 2 Pet. 2.11 so that to bestow ill language upon any besides the inefficacy of it to any good Purpose can never be justified in any Person and perhaps this being so contrary to Charity the great distinguishing thing of the Gospel argues a worse disposition in him that uses it than any he can meet with in other People And therefore fairness of Speech and Argument is the best method both for our selves and those we converse with in order to promote a due advantage to them in our Discourses with them But then a Minister in all his Candor of Language with this Party of Men must be sure to maintain his Ground still or the Injunctions of the Church and make no Condescentions from them in any thing indeed in respect to a good Conscience he cannot do it and whether it be advisable in the State 't is not for me to determine The example of St. Paul 1 Cor. 9.20.21 who was a Jew in some instances and Conformable to the reasonable Worship of the Heathens in others does not at all comprehend our Case He might do that when the Church had not set her Authority upon any certain Form of Worship or when the Publick Service was more free and unsettled which we cannot do who live under a legal Establishment of Religion and a Canonical Obedience to that And I dare say that St. Paul was as punctual an Observer of the Decrees of that first General Council held at Jerusalem Acts. 15.20 as any of us can be of those of our own National Church and therefore when this Method of Gentleness will not prevail upon them then it is necessary that he proceed to that extream thing of Ecclesiastical Censures or the Discipline of the Church as our Saviour lays down Mat. 18.17 which was the constant Practise of the Apostles and at least approved by God from the custom of the Jews if not positively instituted by him And indeed this is the most proper Method to reduce and reclaim an Obstinate Sinner who most likely in a due Punishment may have his prejudice much abated or come to a free consideration of things which will certainly produce a Reformation in him or if this Effect fail upon himself through an inflexible hardness yet his circumstance may be very Beneficial to others to deter them from the like Offences and if his Guilt be so aggravated in an exclusion of Civil Commerce to hinder the Influence of his Vices And I am Confident that our indulgence to obstinate Sinners whether in the Church or Dissenters from it who through their Obstinacy have almost lost their right to our Christian Charity or have no farther Plea for fair means I am confident that our Indulgence or neglect of Censures towards them which are the Weapons of our Warfare in this respect and which makes the Church of God as terrible as an Army with Banners casting out every thing that defileth or worketh Abomination from that Holy Communion this is the Cause of that great Atheism and Profaneness that is in the Church and that numerous Separation from it and we shall never deliver our selves from these two till we reassume this Primitive Discipline and only Remedy of them This is the Province of a Preacher and these good things or these Precepts of Holiness he must inculcate upon his Charge not after the manner of Men or with that remisness that is commonly used in indifferent matters but with a proper importunity and earnest Perswasion so as to signifie the moment of that concern he is then about which is no less than the Salvation of Souls one whereof is of more account than many worlds He must like the Apostles

against the whole Land against the Princes thereof and against the People thereof And be sure the greatest part of these being Vicious will oppose and fight with him now what a mighty Courage must he be indued with what a Divine Valour and an undaunted Soul must he have as a prerequisite of Grace in him which indeed will make him a defensed City who is to maintain himself against all this resistance He must be arrived at that exalted Pitch as to be above the Impressions of Fear or Favour before he can enter upon that violent thing to tell Judah of her Sins and Israel of her Transgressions who have no mind to hear of them He must be such a Person that will not start back or desist from this most Signal Charity to the Souls of men for any Injuries of his own though never so many be heaped upon him If his eyes were opened and he should see whole Legions of Devils marching against him which indeed they always do especially in this Business of Conversion or rescue of Souls from them he must then be resolved to stand his Ground according to that of the Apostle and in a certain Faith of the event of it resist the Devil and he will flee from you Nay if he should see Present Death advancing towards him which is more sensible to Human Nature than those invisible Forces or which is worse a state of Martyrdom or long sufferings he must determine himself not to shrink at all this but constantly reprove Vice although that be the Occasion of all his Miseries He must neither suffer his own Modesty which is often the Cause of two much Compliance nor any apprehension from it to deterr or hinder him in a Prudent Freedom of this Duty And the reason is plain because otherwise he brings the Guilt and Punishment of the People upon himself His Office consists in this Charitable thing of reprehension and he must perform it for his own security according to that of the Prophet Ezekiel 33.7 8 9. Son of man I have set thee a Watchman unto the House of Israel therefore thou shalt hear the Word at my Mouth and warn them from me When I say unto the Wicked O Wicked Man thou shalt surely dye if thou dost not speak to warn the Wicked from his way that Wicked man shall dye in his Iniquity but his Blood will I require at thine hand Nevertheless if thou warn the Wicked of his Way to turn from it if he do not turn from his Way he shall dye in his Iniquity but thou hast delivered thy Soul This therefore he must do for self-preservation in that true respect of his own Soul And now who is sufficient for these things Indeed none else but the Good Man He has the courage of Vertue in him and the Divine Assistance that belongs to it and the Blessed hopes and expectations of it and therefore he has no such apprehension of these outward Sufferings nor would he save the Greatest Danger in the neglect of one instance of doing good indeed if he should he would be a loser by it This was that Gallant Spirit that rested upon the Prophets and first Preachers of the Gospel These good men were as bold as Lions and were not assrighted at any Terrour What a daring reply was that of Elijah when Ahab demanded Hast thou found me O mine Enemy Yes says he I have found thee because thou hast sold thy self to work evil in the sight of the Lord 1 Kings 21.20 And how boldly doth St. Paul reason of Righteousness Temperance and Judgment to come before Felix who was guilty of both the contrary Vices which must needs make a Judgment a more sensible thing to him Acts 24. But why should I recount any more of these Heroes Did they not all speak the same things Were they not all inspired with the same Confidence This is the Noble Temper and Resolution of Vertue which these Holy Men had such an exceeding share of But Vice is a Poor-spirited and Base thing it dares not engage with any Difficulties but blushes and shrinks back at the least Opposition The Sense of Guiltiness going along with it does utterly debase the Mind or Subject where it is and makes it unfit for any Generous Enterprise If a Wicked man presumes at any time to reprehend a Vice perhaps he himself is Guilty in the same kind and then what a Sneaking Spirit does appear in him how does he betray his Bosom-Iniquities at the naming of them in another Or if haply he be not Guilty of the same things yet his Abominations of another kind will check that gallant Courage and Freedom which is requisite upon such Occasions and hinder all the Essicacy of his Reproof A bad Man dares not look a Danger in the Face nor venture himself upon any good Design And indeed no wonder that he is so Basely Timerous for he wants these two great Bottoms of Manly Resolution viz. a right Conscience within him and the reasonable Hopes of a better World his own Mind suggests to him his after-Miseries and therefore he is concerned to make as much of a short Life as he can and never expose it upon any account whatsoever although it be in the Cause of Vertue that has such an advantage and recompence in it to a Good Man And therefore how unfit is he for the Sacred Ministry which requires so much Confidence in the Discharge of it and how only qualified is the Good Man who has all Fears removed from him and therefore can freely rebuke Vice and use a due boldness upon all occasions for it 5ly He that gives himself the Liberty of any open Vice cannot speak with sufficient Authority his Doctrines will not be received with that proper Regard and Esteem that belongs to them The Minister of the Gospel must be a Grave and Venerable Person such an one as can command Respect wheresoever he appears and create a kind of Reverence for himself among all those that Converse with him which will also give a Credit to his Doctrines For it is not only strength of Argument that founds a Belief of any thing as I proved before but the Veneration of the Person and his Authority does often create a more certain Perswasion in the Minds of Men. This was the reason of the Ipse dixit in the Scholars of Pythagoras who yet were very Sagacious Persons and had the better Judgment of Good Morals in them they were carried into an limplicit Faith of things from their great esteem of their Master that his larger Knowledge being attended with Integrity of Life would by no means Impose upon them And indeed these two Qualifications a larger Knowledge and Integrity of Life with a due Gravity of Conversation must needs be very Prevalent upon all those that know and are acquainted with them Whatsoever such a Person says will be entertained with a kind of Reverence His Precepts and Doctrine whether he dissuade from