Selected quad for the lemma: cause_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
cause_n	grace_n	life_n	sin_n	2,939	5	4.9686	4	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
B07173	A wonderfull and straunge newes, which happened in the countye of Suffolke and Essex, the first of February, beeing Fryday, where it rayned wheat, the space of vi. or vii. miles compass: a notable example to put vs in remembraunce of the iudgements of God, and a preparatiue, sent to moue vs to speedy repentance. / Written by William Auerell, student in diuinitie..	Averell, William.	1583 (1583)	STC 982.5; ESTC S125869	9,271	33

haue baked thereof but whether that be so or no it is not greatly material onely the thing is straunge that any suche substaunce should raine from the Heauens but least some should obiect that it might be scattered by the handes of some in some certaine places It is assuredly saied that it rained not onely in some one perticuler Toune but sixe or seuen miles compasse naie some saie that it was founde also in Essex and other places neither could it be scattered by men either by negligence or pretended purpose for as muche as it was founde in many mens Gardens and Backsides whereas none could come to plaie any suche pageaunt This gentle Reader haue I heard tolde of those men them selues inhabityng that Countrey whereof some substanciall and credible haue gathered and brought to this towne for triall thereof of the graine Lett vs not therefore bee to curious in searchyng out the naturall cause hereof for were Arictottle aliue with all the Philosophers of the world thei could not searche out the cause thereof neither is there any cause to bee founde but the infringible will and power of our God who is Causa causarum and causa sine qua non he it is that is the efficient cause thereof the finall cause and ende wherefore he sendeth the same is our repentaunce that wee beholdyng his Omnipotencie might turne from sinne speedily conuert to hym hastely laie holde of his mercie and by our godly life set forth his glorie for God seyng his worde daiely preached his benefites and graces receiued our peace wealth and quiett encreased and yet our liues no whit amended beginneth to shoote out the arrowes of his anger out of the bowe of his iudgement and displeasure and seyng we regarde not his word he will teache vs by wonders Sith wee despise the inuisible grace of his Sacramentes he wil sende vs the visible signes of his plagues and punishmentes I can not neither wee maie not enter into the counselles of the Lorde to saie that this or that will happen or succeede thereof But surely Marcellus the Heathen man could saie Prodigia esse deorum iras vel minas that straunge euents are either the anger or threatnynges of the Gods And it hath beene approued in all ages that after suche extraordinarie and portentuous tokens haue followed straunge and terrible accidentes as is plainly to be proued by many and sundry Histories for thei haue been the forerunners of plagues of Warres of Famines of the death of Princes of the alteration of states and of innumerable mischeefes all whiche lett vs leaue to the Lorde at his pleasure and seeke to preuent them by repentaunce and prayer Let vs leaue the secrete vnderstandyng thereof to hym who maketh no man of his counsell and for so muche as we can not comprehende the same within the compasse of our capacities As Sainct Augustine saieth Augustin Dicamus deum aliquid posse quod nos fateamur inuestigare non posse in rebus enim mirabilibus tota ratio faciendi est potentia facientis Let vs graunt that God can doe somethyng whiche we confesse we can not searche out For in thynges that are wonderfull the whole maner to doe the same is the power of the doyng thereof For as Gregory saieth Gregory in hom 1. Rationem de occulto dei consilio quaerere nihil aliud est quam contra eius cōfilium superbire To seeke a reasone of the secrete counsell of God is no other thyng then to resist his counsell And as the same Father saith in the same booke The miracles of God thei maie be considered by studie but not searched by vnderstandyng And therefore we must saie with the Prophett Dauid This is the Lords doyng and it is wonderfull in our eyes For whiche cause Christian Brethren seyng the Lorde hath by his greate wisedome and power declared himself in this wonderful sorte vnto vs and hath as it were shaken the sworde in his displeasure to signifie vnto vs the waight of his anger Seyng also wee knowe the cause thereof to bee our sinnes whiche because thei are outragious haue therefore incensed the wrath of our GOD and considering likewise that wee knowe the meanes and waies to preuent the wrathe and indignation of God namely by our repentaunce by a sorrowe vnfained a faith assured with a full purpose of a life amenmended Let vs not slacke to turne to the Lorde while he now turneth vnto vs let vs not be slow to seeke him while he may be founde for if we knowe our Maisters will and dooe it not wee shall bee beaten with many stripes Let it not be saied of vs as it hath beene of the Athenians among whom when a certaine olde man came in to their Theater and none of the Citizens would rise and giue hym honour albeit the reuerence of age was confirmed among them by lawe he came by chaunce by the Ambassadors of Lacedemon who also came thether to beholde who perceiuyng the olde man because of his graie heares rose vp and gaue hym rome whiche when the Athanians behelde with a great shoote thei praised the deede to whō one of the Lacedemonians saied Athenienses quid fit rectum sciunt at illud facere ex toto negligunt The Athenians know what is meete to doe but thei wholy neglect to doe the same Euen so Mutato nomine de nobis fabula naratur Christians knowe what is meete to doe but thei wholy neglecte to dooe the same Albertus telleth of certaine Birdes that albeit thei haue wynges yet thei can not flye because thei want eyes and therfore thei rather creepe and hopp vpon the earth then flye any whit at all and to such maie wee bee compared For albeit wee haue the wynges of knowledge yet wee lacke the eyes of faith and therfore when wee shoulde flye with our myndes and thoughtes to heauen for want of faithe our hartes creepe vppon the yearth and are settled on yearthly thynges But as Hierome saieth Hie. ad demetriadem Non sufficit mandata dei memoriter scire opere obliuisci It is not sufficient to knowe perfectlie the Commaundementes of GOD and by our woorkes to showe wee haue forgotten them whiche whether we haue or not is manifest by the wofull spectakle of our sorrowfull daies in whiche sinne is so setled and growne to suche ripenesse that it waiteth but for the sickell of the Lords iudgements Looke on our pride are not our men trickt like Monsters and our women prickt like Players Bee not the bellies of men like bolsters and their buttockes made like Butterflyes Are not our women chaunged into the shape of men how are their heare curld like Ruffianes and their garmentes made like Maskers what iettyng and ioggyng what shoueyng shouldryng what nicenesse in treading what iestures in going what coiyng in countenaunce what trifelyng in talking and to be shorte how are maners corrupted and all good orders subuerted Laie this to the touchstone

A wonderfull and straunge newes which happened in the Countye of Suffolke and Essex the first of February beeing Fryday where it rayned Wheat the space of vi or vii miles compas a notable example to put vs in remembraunce of the iudgements of God and a preparatiue sent to moue vs to speedy repentance Written by William Auerell student in Diuinitie Ecclesiasticus 11. The workes of the Lord are wonderfull and glorious secrete and vnknowne are his woorkes among men Jmprinted at London for Edwarde White dwelling at the little North doore of Paules church at the signe of the Gunne 1583. Straunge nevves out of Suffolke IT hath séemed good in the eyes of our God Christian Reader no cause compelling but his mercie alwayes to admonishe and warne before hande by some extraordinarie euent of the punishmentes and plagues that he will send for sinne and so great is his loue towardes mankind whom he hath made that when he perceiueth his image to be defaced in mans soule he will not yet strike generally till he haue warned vs vniuersally so that before the stroke of his iudgements he alwaies sendes the messengers of his mercies which bursting out through vehemencie of his looue doth put vs in mind of the waight of his wrath albeit that the heartes of the wicked are hardened so that no iudgement will make them quake no maruailes amaze them no wonders wine them no myracles mooue them nor mercyes amende them for that they are of the nature of the stone which albeit it be wet without and séemeth neuer so moyst yet is it within nothing lesse then harde and drie therefore the Lorde giueth them ouer to their lustes so that they are brambles of the desert tares of the fielde chaffe of the Corne and stubble for the fire who whyle they heape sinne vpon sinne and draw sinne together with cart-ropes who while they multiplie one mischiefe on another gréeue the spirit of God treade downe the bloud of his Testament and drinke vp iniquitie like water who while they eate vp the poore oppresse the néedie defraude the simple and gnawe in sunder the heartes of the innocent treasure vp vengeaunce for themselues against the day of wrath to these therefore are the iudgements of God sent to make them without excuse but to the godly are they giuen for their better amendment who while they beholde the woorkes of the Lorde wrought onely to this ende that they should cast off the workes of darknesse and cloath themselues with the louely garments of light that they shoulde mortifie the déedes of the flesh and liue againe to the libertie of the spirit that they should put of the olde man with his concupiscences and put on the new man Christ Iesus with his vertues their conuersion should tend to his glorie and their saluation to his endlesse mercye Philip Melancthon recordeth in his Latine Chronicle that before the deuastation of Italie there were séene manye prodigious and woonderfull things as armed men fighting in the ayre bloud to flowe out of the earth and to breake out of the harde walles with manye other wunders which threatened great calamities Before King Philip inuaded Greece the heauens appeared all bloudie And if we may credite probable Authors when Marcus Acilius and C. Portius were Consuls the Elements rayned mylke with bloud and L. Volumnius and Ser. Sulpitius being Consuls of Rome it rayned fleshe Also in Lucania a Countrie belonging to Naples betwéene Fuel and Calaber before Lucicius Crassus was slaine of the Parthians it rayned corne L. Paulus and C. Marcellus beyng Consuls it rayned Wooll and at that time also hard burned Tyle stones fell downe from heauen Before the Warres in Denmarke were heard the noise and sound of trumpets from the skies The yéere wherein Vespasian destroyed Ierusalem a starre appeared in heauen in the figure of a sworde hanging ouer the Citie Wagons appeared wandring and running through the regions of heauen and armed men were séene fighting in the Cloudes Pope Leo the seuenth being Byshop of Rome the Sunne for certayne dayes séemed al bloody after which ther followed a greeuous pestilence In the yeare of our Lorde 1348. Charles the fourth béeing Emperour certaine Feastes fell from heauen the corruption and stinke whereof brought a sorrowfull plague In the yeare of our Lorde 1356 Calixtus the 3 béeing Bishop of Rome among the Sabynes was brought foorth a calfe hauing but two féete at which tyme in Rome ouer the gate of Venus It rayned bloode and the same tyme did it raine flesh in Lyguria Henrie the first béeing Emperour in the fieldes of Hemilianus and Flaminius in Italie It rained bloode in the Ides of Iune Innumerable examples and most straunge wonders could I recite which haue happened in times past among our elders which would aske a large scope and open too wide afeelde for me to wander in which albeit they are reported of credible Authors yet for that they would séeme rather incredible then probable to the common sorte I omitte them and will drawe to those which we all doe stedfastlie beléeue and yet in their effectes are farre more strange Doe we not reade how Arons rodde changed into a Serpent Exodus 7. which deuoured vp all the roddes of the charmers of Egypt and of the 10. wonderfull plagues that God sent vpon Pharo his people The Children of Israell murmured against God Exodus 16. Nombers 11 and he fedde them with quailes from heauen at euen and filled them with bread of Man in the morning they grudged for water and the Lorde burst the rockes to giue them drinke so he fedde their hunger with flesh and quenched their thyrst with water hée deuided the redde Sea so that they went through as on drye lande and closed the waters vpon their enimies like a wall Corah Dathan Abiram murmured against Moses and the Lord sent a wonderfull miracle vpon them the fast and solid earth opened her bowels and swallowed them vp with their families their goodes and all the men that were with Corah so they went downe into the pit aliue the earth couered them and they perished from the congregation In the dayes of Iosuah Iosua 4. the Lorde shewed wonders vnto Israell for he led them through the waters of Iordan as he dyd in the dayes of Moses through the red salte Sea so that when the feete of the Préestes that bare the Arke of the couenaunt stayed in the waters of Iordane they weare cut of and stoode still on a heape and as soone as the Préests féete weare set on the drie lande the waters of Iordane returned vnto their place and flowed ouer all the banckes thereof as they did before Sundry and manifolde are the examples of wonders set down or our view in the holy scriptures in the same booke Iosua 10 of Iosuah wée reade that when the fiue King Adoni Zedek Hoham Piram Iapia and Debir made warre vpon Gibeon the Lorde discomfited them and threwe downe