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	lord_n	see_v	4,192	5	3.2926	3	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A16543	The importunate begger for things necessary, or necessity, without deniall Or a treatise, wherein is shewed the lawfullnesse of praying absolutely for necessary temporall things, without doubting or wavering, and that the saints of God may and ought, as absolutely depend upon God, for their dayly bread, as they may for the pardon of their sinnes, and that the cause is in themselves, who doe not obtaine them. Whereunto is annexed an answer to Mr. Norrice his 5 arguments, which were framed against it, together with an answer to his Prosopopeia, wherein, as well the insufficiency of those arguments, as the deceitfullnesse of his collections, is plainely manifested by R.B.	Boye, Rice.	1635 (1635)	STC 3450; ESTC S106818	69,334	88

this A little before I having shewed that the use of that point which wee affirmed did serve to the humbling of us in our wants and that because of our weaknesse and corruptions wee have made our selves unworthy of many temporall blessings I added this exhortation Oh then whosoever thou art whensoever thou prayest unto God and hee will not be found of thee retire quickly to thy owne heart and say unto him as t is there more fully expressed thou hast caused my loving Father to frowne upon mee and cover himself in a cloud so that my prayers cannot passe through either in wanting or fayling in some or one of those particulars required in prayer Whereupon I inferred this saying Let him not namely thy heart shift thee off with this or the like poore excuse c. as t is before repeated Now wherein I pray you is there any errour or just cause to except against mee for saying that a Saint of God may say that hee doth know the Lord doth see those things good for him for the which hee hath both eommaunded him to aske and promised to give him Are not those things good for Gods people which God doth commaund them to aske and promise to give them How is it that you except against it Can you find any of Gods servants thus reasoning in the Scriptures concerning any particular thing which God hath promised them and doth the Lord indeed know whether this or that which hee hath promised mee be good for me Did Abraham make any such question concerning those promises Gen. 17. namely whether it was good for him to be a father of many nations and that his posterity should possesse Canaan Or did Moses and the Israelits make any such question Nay is there any place in the Scripture which doth teach us that wee are to doubt whether those things which God hath commaunded us to aske and promised to give are good for us Nay contraryly did not the Saints rather urge God for and with his promise Note that example omitting many others of Ichosaphat 2. Cron. 20 when hee was compassed about by his enimies hee proclaimed a fast and did remember God of that promise as appeareth vers 9. which was made long before 1. King 8.37 Hee made no question but that it was good for them to be delivered seeing they performing what God required hee had promised the same What heresy is in this thinke you But now Oh lamentable to consider that men should at the least thinke there is little els but heresy and blasphemy in my writings you deale with them as unkindly as Hanun 2. Sam. 10.14 dealt with Davids servants you have shaved off the one halfe and cut off many of my words in the middle to the destroying of their meaning and deceaving of the reader For you have here left out all the expository words so that the Reader cannot gather any other but that I affirme that whatsoever wee desire of God wee are sure it is good for us notwithstanding it is neither commanded to be asked nor promised to be given And this is that which is generally rumoured about the Country In this you deale very corruptly The Lord open your eyes that you may see your folly and graunt that I may never labour to grace my owne proceedings by any unjust scandalizing and disgracing others 7. The seventh place yet in it you have left out some of my words is repeated not much amisse and it will be easily cleared from being either erronious or dangerous All the errour or daunger as I conceive you suppose to be in this place is in that I bid the conditionall If to come out from among the petitions of the Lords prayer and content himself with some meaner place seeing hee was never placed there by Christs appointment This if any as I thinke you suppose to be dangerous Now that this speech doth containe neither matter of daunger or errour it shall plainly appeare to all That prayer which wee call the Lords prayer and so call it as in my writings is specified because it is the Lord Christs owne making is declared by the Euangelist Mathew to us you dare not deny it as hee received it from Christ Now our Saviour Christ in all that forme of prayer and indeed it is exemplar absolutissimum such an absolute one as that there is nothing essentiall to prayer wanting as wee have declared neither is there any thing superfluous doth not use this conditionall If and therefore there is no danger or errour in saying that the conditionall If was never placed in the Lords prayer by Christs appointment For had If bene essentiall to prayer Christ could not have left it out of his forme of prayer unlesse hee had left us an imperfect forme as wanting either will or skill to make such a forme which could not be mended And who dare to affirme Christs forme to be imperfect or once goe about to adde one particle to the further perfecting of it And therefore why may wee not without blame If being thrust in by man at any time and not placed there by Christ bid him come out from among the petitions of the Lords prayer And why may we not boldly say without controlment as our Saviour to the plant not planted by his Father thou shalt be rooted out for doth hee not robbe God of his glory in that he doth goe about to make man thinke that Christs forme of prayer without him is not so current And doth hee not deprive us of many blessings now as well as hee kept the Father in Mark 9.22 without the blessing for indeed how shall a man that doubteth thinke as St. Iames saith chap. 1.7 to receive any thing of the Lord And hath hee not luld us asleepe in security when as by his meaning wee have bene perswaded to thinke all is well notwithstanding many things have bene amisse in us which hath caused God to stop his eares at our cryes and hid himself in a cloude so that our prayers could not passe through Speake now and speake truely what errour is there in this saying 8. The eight place in my writing runneth thus So then to affirme the promises of God for temporall things are conditionall according to your owne words is a doctrine of mans invention and not of God and certainly to make the best of it it is but as one of the Popes unwritten verities This speech you know is in my answer to your first argument wherein I affirme no more but what I have ground both from the Scriptures as also from your owne words as in my sayd answer is plainely prooved Your argument runneth thus Those promises which have conditions implyed in them cannot absolutely be relyed upon or expected for our faith is grounded upon the promises but the promise for outward things although but necessary are so Ergo. In this argument I denyed your Minor proposition being altogether untrue and contrary to sound doctrine This

THE IMPORTVNATE BEGGER For things necessary or necessity without deniall Or a Treatise wherein is shewed the lawfullnesse of praying absolutely for necessary temporall things without doubting or wavering and that the Saints of God may and ought as absolutely depend upon God for their dayly bread as they may for the pardon of their sinnes and that the cause is in themselves who doe not obtaine them Whereunto is annexed An Answer to Mr. NORRICE his 5 Arguments which were framed against it together with an Answer to his Prosopopeia wherein as well the insufficiency of those Arguments as the deceitfullnesse of his Collections is plainely manifested By R. B. Cast thy burthen upon the Lord and he shall susteine thee He shall never suffer the Righteous to be mooved Psal 55.22 Iesus said unto him if thou canst beleeve all things are possible to him that beleeveth Mark 9.23 Printed in the Yeare 1635. TO The well-affected Reader WHEN I first conceaved and penned this Treatise gentle Reader concerning praying for temporall blessings it was farre from my thoughts that ever it should come abroad to the publike view of the world it being as it were but a Letter sent to Mr. Norrice in private wherein by his speciall intreatie I unfolded myself unto him concerning the subject before specified as allso what I conceived of his 5 Arguments intentively framed by him to crosse or contradict what I before affirmed to him in private concerning the point of praying absolutely for temporall necessaryes I say I did not once imagine that this which I thus wrote to a freind in private should ever have bene printed and made publike That which occasioneth me now contrary to my former thoughts to commit it in a publike manner to every mans eye and censure is Mr. Norrice his slanderous misconstructions and false reports of my writings which he caused long since about 5 yeares to fly up and downe the Country And now fearing belike they were forgotten they are againe renued and revived by him For no sooner had I sent him in writing according as hee desired me what I conceived of the point above named together with an answer to his 5 Arguments but presently hee gave out and that in writing that my writings contained in them divers errours and absurdities if not blasphemyes as in my answer to his Prosopopeia is fully manifested Those false reports and injurious slanders being as I suppose allmost forgotten are againe renued by him and now on foote as fresh as ever by reason whereof I undergoe many heavy censures which to me is exceeding grievous both in respect of the inward and outward man for as the soule is wounded so a mans good name by such dealing is stained Wherefore I could not chuse but commit it to the view of all choosing rather to commit my self and writings to the various censures of the multitude then that the truth through my silence should be smothered by the foggy mists of falshood and the least occasion given for any one to thinke that those scandalls which are falsly layd upon me are but justly deserved blame I have no liberty to add too or dimunish any thing from the first coppy but as I wrote it to Mr. Norrice and as he hath it coppyed in his hands so I am compelled to publish it and that for 2 reasons First lest hee should say and affirme that these are not the writings which hee had from me and so free himself at least as some may take it from some if not from all of that deserved blame which is layd upon him for abusing my writings And secondly that his slanderous collections and aspersions cast upon me in respect of my writings may be plainly seene by them that read my writings and compare them with his speeches together with his collections hereafter mentioned Now seeing there is a necessity layd upon me as thou seest curteous and well-disposed Reader to publish these my writings without correction either of matter or words I would intreate thee to deale with me as I presume thou being in the same case with me wouldest desire others to deale with thee even charitably to construe all things and interpret them in the better part Looke not so much it being written to a freind in private for curiously composed sentences and elegancie of phrase as upon the truth of the matter and the comfort which the right imbracing of the same will bring unto thy soule for it will not onely uphold thee as an ancre in the midst of the foming waves of this worlds calamities but allso free thee from innumerable inconveniences which otherwise are like to befall thee If upon thy perusing my writings thou findest any such errours of matter as are reported of me and canst manifest them unto me as my sinne I shall willingly confesse my fayling and give publike satisfaction I need say no more for present in regard I have given thee some advertisements in the Epilogue or Conclusion of this ensuing Treatise onely I desire thee to take due consideration as well of those advertisements as allso of those other truths contained in these few sheets and weigh them all in the balance of the Sanctuary and not by reason of thy prejudicate opinion of the Author to deprive thy self of those priviledges which the right imbracing of those truths hereafter manifested will bring unto thee Howsoever my hearts desire and prayer to God is that the truth may still flourish notwithstāding the many subtill delusions of the adversaries who with their cunning arguments doe like Iannes and Iambres those Aegyptian juglers secretly resist the truth yea my desire is that it may evidently and with speed appeare that the Truth hath devoured errour as the serpent of Moses did the Enchanters Thus assuredly exspecting Gods accomplishment of my desire I commit what I have written to thy consideration and thee to Gods protection wishing thee to use what I have written to thy comfort praying the Lord withall to make thy heart stable and unblamable in holinesse Thine in all good affection RICE BOYE For praying absolutely for necessary temporall things without doubting and wavering and that the Saints of God may and ought as absolutely depend upon the promises of God for their dayly bread as they may for the pardon of their sinnes and that the cause is in themselves who doe not obtaine them IT may be thought of many that concerning prayer for outward things wee doe but as the saying is nodum in scirpo quaerere even contend about trifles Indeed the matter of our contention at the first sight doth not seeme great but being rightly considered it is of great cōsequence It is for the faith for which we are commaunded earnestly to contend That which is the ground of this controversy is this word If which some doe labour to joyne with and wee labour to seperate and remoove it from the prayers of Gods faithfull servants Here then is the summe of the

whole matter They affirme that for outward necessary things wee ought to pray with an If but we affirme that If in all such prayers must be layd aside Wherefore it shall not be unmeete before we speake particularly of the matter in hand to shew how this word If is taken in the Scriptures This particle If then is taken in the Scriptures either for a terme of condition or els for a terme of doubt It is a terme of condition Deut. 4.30.31 If thou turne to the Lord thy God and shall be obedient unto his voyce he will not forsake thee neither destroy thee c. This and all other such like places may be turned participially thus Thou turning to the Lord and being obedient unto him he will not forsake thee nor destroy thee Secondly this particle If is not onely a terme of condition but also a terme of doubt and distrustfullnesse and so it is 2. Kings 7.19 If the Lord should make windowes in heaven might such things be As if he had sayd I cannot beleeve that such a plenty of corne will be in Samariah notwithstanding the Lord doth make windowes in heaven He doubted of the truth of the Prophets word Now to the thing in hand In what sence then is this word If used in prayer for necessary temporall blessings as it is conditionall or doubtfull if conditionall as the truth is the most would have it then our prayers for outward necessary blessings must be framed thus Oh Father if the gift of things necessary for my present being shall stand with thy will then be pleased to bestow it upon me In which petition this word If is not onely conditionall but also doubtfull We doe not by this saying referre it to the will of God but in so praying we doubt whether it doth agree with the will of God to bestow upon us things necessary for our present being which maner of praying doth manifest both ignorance and infidelity wee know not whether it be the will of God or not to give us such things as we aske and then no marvaill if we doubt whether we shall have them yea or no. Therefore contrary to the common opinion we conclude That the particle If ought to be excluded from the prayers of Gods faithfull servants yea from such prayers which they make for outward necessary blessings This doth appeare by our Saviours words Mat. 6. where he commaundeth his Disciples to pray for things necessary for soule and body without any If at all I thinke it be receaved of all without contradiction as a generall truth that that prayer which we call the Lords prayer and so call it because it is the Lord Christs owne framing is exemplar absolutissimum such an absolute patterne of prayer as that there is nothing in it superfluous neither is there any thing essentiall to prayer wanting If then nothing therein is superfluous neither yet any thing essentiall to prayer wanting then surely this particle If ought to be excluded from all the petitions of the Lords prayer because we find that in the whole forme it is wanting You all acknowledge that there is no need of any If in any of the petitions but in the fourth onely in which petition ye say that it is implied If this be graunted then it must needs be first that somewhat essentiall to prayer in Christs forme is wanting and then secondly that Christs forme is not perfect which is contrary to your owne tenent for ye confesse that the forme is perfect and then it must needs be if the forme be not perfect that there wanted either skill or will in Christ to make such a forme of prayer which could not be mended which for any man to affirme is no lesse then blasphemy Wherefore for ought I see so long as wee keepe our selves close to the word of God and frame our petitions according to his will revealed in the same there is no need of any If in any of our prayers no not in such prayers which wee make unto God for temporall blessings But more of this hereafter Now more fully to manifest and more evidently to proove our tenent concerning absolute prayer for temporall necessary blessings wee will draw all the matter as is specified in our title afore-mentioned into these three heads First that necessarie temporall blessings ought to be prayed for without doubting or wavering Or thus Faith without doubting is as well required in such prayers which are made to God for necessarie temporall things as it is in those which are made for spirituall blessings Secondly that the Saints of God may and ought as absolutelie depend upon the promises of God for their daily bread .i. for things necessarie as they may for the pardon of their sinnes And thirdly that the cause is in themselves who doe not obtaine them These are the branches which as I conceive doe naturally spring from the roote of our tenent concerning absolute prayer for necessary temporall things what fruit doe grow upon each of them ye shall by Gods assistance plainely and briefly see And first of the first namely That necessarie temporall things ought to be prayed for without doubting and wavering That faith without wavering is required in all prayers made unto God as well for temporall as spirituall things I thinke it is not I know it cannot be denyed of any For faith in prayer is not accidentall but essentiall it is not contingent but necessary it cannot be seperated from prayer sine subjecti interitu without its violation Faith is that which makes prayer to be as a sweete smelling sacrifice in Gods nostrills but without it it is displeasing For whatsoever is not of faith is sinne Rom. 14. last Whereupon Augustine affirmeth that our righteousnesse is discerned from unrighteousnesse not by the law of works but of faith without which faith whatsoever seemed good works are sinnes and turned into sinnes neither can it be that such prayers will bring either comfort to man or glory to God seeing they doe not please him whom to please without faith as the Apostle affirmeth Heb. 11.6 is impossible Whereupon our Apostle Paul doth expresly commaund us to send faith with all our prayers as appeareth 1. Tim. 2.8 I will therefore sayth he that men pray every where lifting up holy hands without wrath and doubting And if any man should thinke the Apostles meaning in this place is restrained onely to spirituall things our Saviour himself shall give him satisfaction Luk. 12.28.29 where he doeth speake of temporalls from whom our Apostle did fetch his text where he doeth reproove the Disciples for their infidelity concerning outward things and he doeth draw reprooving arguments from the lesse to the greater did the Lord feed the fowles and cloath the grasse how much more will he feed and cloath you oh ye of little faith whereupon he addeth this prohibition Seeke not what ye shall eate or what ye shall drinke neither be ye of doubtfull mind Hence it

heyres of the promises who hath also given unto us such priviledge ut Deum blandissimo Patris nomine invocare nobis liceat that it is lawfull for us to invocate God through him by that excellent comfortable name of a loving Father Num ergo dubitabimus saith one and shall wee now doubt that a loving Father full of pitty and compassion will deny his sonnes any thing which he hath commaund them to aske and promised to give Oh no this was to judge him unfaithfull that promiseth and to make God a lyer as St. Iohn sayth he that beleeveth not God hath made him a lyer 1. Iohn 5.10 Let this our judgement then dearely beloved remaine good by authority from Moses and the Prophets from Christ and his Apostles namely that the promises for temporall necessaries are absolute and may and ought absolutely be depended upon by his servants without wavering and then I doubt not but in the last place this being graunted thou wilt find and confesse this also to be true That the cause is in themselves who doe not obtaine them which is our third and last head springing as a branch from the roote of the former heads and comes next to be prooved The two former heads being graunted to be true which if truth take place it cannot be otherwise this also must of necessity follow For absolute faith being required in all prayer the promises concerning life and godlynesse upon which faith is grounded being of the same nature it must needs follow in the 3 place that whosoever doeth pray for these temporarie things the fault is in themselves if they doe not obtaine them God is not neither can he be sayd to be wanting But they are wanting Now that we may make this clearely appeare we must search the Scriptures and there enquire of God how many things he doeth require to be in all such prayers of his servants which he hath promised to grace with a gracious answer which is indeed a giving to him or them his poore petitioners the very thing or things petitioned The particular things required in prayer as we find them recorded by the holy Ghost in the Scriptures are five Whereof three are specified in one verse 1. Timoth. 2.8 I will therefore saith the Apostle that men pray everie where lifting up holie hands without wrath and doubting the fourth is spoken of by St. Iames 4.33 Wee must not aske any thing at the hands of God for any by-respect to consume it on our lusts The 5 and last thing required to be observed in prayer is declared by St. Iohn 1. Epist 5.14 wee must aske what we aske according to his will The want of some or one of these doubtlesse is the cause why God doth stop his eare at the cry of his servants when they pray unto him for things necessary either concerning soule or body Of these five particulars we will speake something as they lye in order that we may the easier discerne unto which of these when we aske and misse the fault is to be imputed for to the want of some or one of these it must needs be and first of the first It is required that we lift up holie hands To lift up holy hands in this place is all one as if he had sayd lift up holie hearts For manuum elevatio mentem elevandam esse docet So that the Apostles meaning in this place doth agree with that of the Heb. 10.22 where he doth wish us to draw neere to God with a true heart .i. with a sincere heart ab hypocrisi alieno voyd of hypocrisie called also of the Apostle in another place 1. Timoth. 1.5 Cor purum a pure heart or a heart purely affected and as the Apostle speaketh to the Heb. in the place before quoted a heart purified from an evill conscience which is all one with that of Paul to Timothy in the place before recited where he calls it a good conscience So then the Apostle doth require every one of us before wee presume to make prayer unto God to be truely exercised in the works of humiliation and repentance Every man must know the plague of his owne heart 1. Kings 8.38 .i. as is specified in the same chapter vers 47. Hee must bethinke himself and repent before he can exspect that the Lord will give an eare to his prayer nay this must be done before he have any warrant to pray at all Now that the want of lifting up holy hands unto God in prayer .i. the want of a pure heart a good conscience or of humiliation and repentance as we are to understand the words is one cause why God doth stop his eares at the cry of his servants the Lord himself doth plainely testify for this purpose read Isay 1. where ye shall finde that the Lord doth complaine of Israels rebellion and doth even upbraide their whole service To what purpose is the multitudes of your sacrifices to me saith the Lord Bring no more vaine oblations Your new moones and your appointed Feasts my soule hateth They are a trouble unto me I am wearie to beare them And sayth he vers 15. When ye spread forth your hands I will hide mine eyes from you Yea when you make manie prayers I will not heare Your hands are full of blood Agreeing to this is that of the Prophet Zachary in his 7. chapter where the people enquired of the Lord whether they should weepe in the 5. moneth and seperate themselves as they had these so manie yeares unto which question the Lord answered by reprooving them in the 5.6.7 verses where hee doth tell them that when they did fast and weepe those 70. yeares they did it not unto him but for themselves they should have heard the words which the Lord cryed by the former Prophets which indeed they regarded not Wherefore the Lord bids the Prophet tell them what they should doe vers 9.10 when they did pray unto him and fast and wept unto him They had indeed fasted and wept a long time even 70. yeares but they prevayled not with God And the Prophet gives the reason vers 12. They refused to hearken and pulled away the shoulder and stopped their eares that they should not heare c. and therefore just it was with God to deale with them as he did vers 13. for he cryed and they would not heare and therefore when they cryed he would not heare as in that place he with his owne mouth doth witnesse Iustly then may the Lord when the people transgresse and rebell against him and will not be humbled hide and cover himself as the Prophet sayth Lament 3.44 with a cloud that their prayer shall not passe thorough and not so much as once as he speaketh Levit. 26.81 smell the savour of their sweete odours If thou regard evill in thy heart the Lord will not heare thee Thou mayest ly crying upon thy face with Iosuah but you shalt have the same answer with him Ios 7.10