Selected quad for the lemma: cause_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
cause_n	great_a	lord_n	people_n	4,203	5	4.5705	4	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A29529	Stand still: Or, A bridle for the times A discourse tending to still the murmuring, to settle the wavering, to stay the wandring, to strengthen the fainting. As it was delivered to the Church of God at Great Yarmouth, Anno 1643. By John Brinsley, Minister of the Word there, and now published as a proper antidote against the present epidemicall distempers of the times.	Brinsley, John, 1600-1665.	1647 (1647)	Wing B4729; ESTC R217245	80,497	119

vengeance hee took upon on these their contumacious wanton envious malicious murmurings When the People became murmurers saith the Text in that 11 Numb. i.e. contumacious murmurers conquerentes injuste unjust Complainers as the Originall hath it not contented with Gods allowance but quarrelling with his administrations This displeased the Lord malum fuit in auribus Domini it was very evill in the eares of God and therefore his wrath was kindled and the fire of the Lord burnt amongst them the fire of the Lord i.e. a fire sent from the Lord or a vehement and terrible fire as that Hebrew phrase often signifieth which consumed the utmost part of the Hoasts Thus dealt the Lord with those wanton murmurers who would not be at his finding being weary of their Mannah they would have flesh God giveth them their longing but withall he sends a Curse and a Plague with it so you have it in the close of that same Chapt. ver. 33. While the flesh was between their teeth yet it was chewed the wrath of the Lord was kindled against the People and the Lord smote them with a very great Plague And for the same cause hee sent the fierie Serpents amongst them Numb. 21. How he dealt with that seditious confederacie Korah and his company the storie is well knowne The Earth swalloweth up some of them and the Fire consumeth the rest And as for the people who took up their quarrell the next dsy no lesse then fourteeen thousand and seven hundred of them are swept away with the Plague As for those wicked Spies and that Rebellious rout which sided with them God suffered them not to go unpunished They were all of them by little and little consumed in the Wildernesse not one of them entred into Canaan but were destroyed of the destroyer as the Apostle hath it Thus did God make them Exemplarie to us that we might heare and feare and take heed of committing the like wickednesse These things were our Examples saith the Apostle to the intent that we should not lust as they lusted nor yet murmure as they murmured which if we shall dare to doe doe not thinke that God will beare with it in us more then in them specially if we murmure as they murmured Contumaciously Wantonly Enviously Maliciously And are there not such murmurings to bee found amongst some of us my Brethren at this day Murmurings not of Infirmitie but Contumacie we murmure and wherefore is it not for Bread and Water Blessed be God we are not yet reduced to that necessitie though it may bee many of our Brethren are It is not for any necessaries whether for Body or Soule but for Flesh for Quailes It may be some of us want what wee would have and formerly what we have had and herein we cannot indure to be abridged and cut short or else we like not what we have and so murmure for a change of condition wanton murmurings In some of us it may be Envious and Malicious murmurings Murmurings against the Callings of some and Persons of others whom we envie and maligne and that for no other cause but for some speciall honours which God himselfe hath put upon them Our murmurings against the waies of God against which we are prejudiced through the evill reports that some slanderous Spies have brought upon them Or ●o come neerer and there not murmurings to be found amongst some of us rising chiefly from this ground we are afraid lest we shall not have the like licence the like libertie for our lusts that formerly we have had but that we shall be more straitlaced that way then heretofore we have been This it was that irritated and stirred up some of the Corinthians against Paul occasioning their m●rmurings against him as P. Martyr notes upon that 1 Cor. 10.10 Vincebantur impatientiâ Disciplinae Their spirits would not stoop to Pauls Discipline They being loose themselves thought him too strict and thereupon did in a manner preferre the false Apostles before him they would give them that libertie that licence allow them that latitude in their walkings that Paul would not And is not this the case of some amongst us at this day doe not their murmurings spring from the same root they cannot indure Pauls Discipline the very shaking of Pauls Rodde over them that Rodde which he telleth his Corinthians of 1 Cor. 4. what will yee shall I come unto you with a Rod this afrights and terrifies them They cannot indure so much as to heare of a Rodde under which they must Passe that they may be brought into the bond of the Covenant The very name of Discipline and noise of Reformation founds so harsh in their ●ares that it even sets their teeth on edge as some harsh founds sometimes use to doe so as they are even ready to gnash them against all those whom they looke upon as Instrumentall in this worke Now are our murmurings such Contumacious Wanton Malicious Envious Murmurings surely these God will not beare with And therefore in the feare of God take wee heed all of us how we give way to them which that we may not doe Give way to the Counsell and Charge here given by Moses unto the People of Israel when they were in a condition not unlike unto ours at this day Stand wee still Not murmuring against God not quarrelling with his Administrations and dealings whether with our selves or Brethren which if we doe yet to put a little more strength to it know we First In the first place This will be the next way to blast all the mercies which wee have what was it that tainted the Israelites Quailes so as though in themselves both toothsome and wholesome delicious food yet to them they proved pernicious surseiting and poisoning of their bodies Insomuch that what they put in at their mouths came out at their nosthrils becomm●ng most loathsome unto them why it was their murmuring which had blowen upon them and caused God to blow upon them They despised the Lord which was amongst them as the Lord bids Moses tell them murmuring against him not contented with his allowance and that turned this Blessing into a Curse Againe secondly This is the next way to keep off the mercies which we want and would have What was it that kept the old stock of Israelites even all that came out of Aegypt from entering into Canaan Not one entred in but Ioshua and Caleb not one of them received the promise It was their Murmuring Murm●rings upon Earth will cause Repentings in Heaven making void promises keeping off Mercies at least retarding and delaying them What was it that made the Israelites march in the Wildernesse so long so tedious unto them keeping them there for so many yeares when as they might have dispatched it in as few dayes It was their murmuring which still set backwards the work when it was in a good forwardnesse putting them

Gospell To get our understandings inlightned and our judgements strongly convinced touching the Princi●les of Christian Religion which the Apostle calleth the laying of the foundation With all labour to get a love of the Truth You know who tells it you that love is strong as death Without this foundation the soule will never stand sure a Christian will never stand still Secondly The foundation being good now in the second place the second requisite in a house is it must be strongly built viz. of good materialls well wrought good stone or brick well couched and cemented with well tempered mortar or strong timbers sound and substantiall principalls good studs and joice and spars c. all well joynted and bound together And even thus must it be with the soule that would stand it cut all weathers and stand still in time of Persecution it must be thus built and thus layed in with all requisite varietie of sound and substantiall graces A truth which the Apostle illustrates by another metaphor very opposite and fit to our present purpose Ephesi 6. where calling upon Christians to stand and stand fast against their spirituall Enemies he shewes them what they should doe viz. Put on the whole Armour of God I shall not need to tell you from whence the metaphor is taken The Souldier that would stand the charge of the Enemy he must be compleatly armed And thus must the Christian be that would stand fast and stand still as against spirituall so against temporall Enemies against cruell and bloody Persecutors he must have Gods Panoply upon him Now what that Armour is the Apostle there shews us even the graces of the Spirit viz. Truth and Righteousnesse and Faith and Hope and Love c. All these must a Christian be furnished with that would stand in the evill day the day of Persecution By this meanes it was that the Apostles went so comfortably on as in their doing so in their suffering-worke In all things they approved themselves the Ministers of God in much patience in afflictions in necessites in distresses in stripes in impr●sonments in tumults c. as Paul telleth his Corinthians This they did and how did they it Why by purenesse by knowledge by long-suffering by the kindnesse by the Holy Ghost by love unfeigned by the word of Truth by the power of God by the Armour of the Righteousnesse Would we imitate them in their constancy labour to resemble them in their other graces I hasten to the third and last particular which is Thirdly The house which would stand firme must be low built High-towering Turrets are often Castles of Come-downe in every stresse shaking and tottering whereas low-built-cottages stand firme and sure faceing all weathers and feeling little of them The Application is obvious The soule that would stand firme and sure in time of Persecution must be layed low It must be brought to learne that great lesson of selfe-denyall It is the first lesson you know that our blessed Saviour sets his Schollars his Disciples to learne If any man will come after me let him deny himselfe and take up his Crosse and follow me Till a man hath learned this lesson hee will never take up his Crosse and follow Christ to Mount Calvary And therefore every of us begin here Would wee approve our selves Champions for Christ never rest untill we have brought our hearts in some measure to a selfe-denying frame that we can deny our selves in whatever it is that flesh blood cals or counts deare It is the first lesson that a true Souldier should learne when he takes upon him that profession hee should then learn to deny himself viz. his Ease his Pleasure his Profit I and his Life too none of these must be deare to him A Christian must goe further denying these and more even that which to a true Souldier is most deare his Honour and Reputation Even this and all must a Christian trample upon accounting nothing deare for Christ So saith Paul of his life I count not my life deare unto my selfe so that I may finish my course with joy c. Oh that all our hearts and spirits were but brought to such a selfe denying frame Which all layed low in the apprehension and acknowledgement of our owne weakenesse insufficiency inabilitie to stand as of our selves Such we are labour we to be sensible of it going out of our selves not standing upon our own bottomes which if we doe see the issue of it in Peter who then fell most foulely when he was most confident of his owne standing When he was strong then was he weake whereas on the other hand Paul telleth us that when he was weake then he was strong when weak in himselfe then strong in his God whose power useth to be perfected in weakenesse especially in weakenesse apprehended In this respect therefore let our hearts lye low Be we rather jealous then confident jealous of our weaknesse then confident of our strength The Story of Sanders and Pendleton recorded in the Booke of Martyrs is well knowne The one jealous and timerous carefull and fearefull very solicitous what he should doe if God should bring him to the tryall of Martyrdome The other bold confident fearelesse but in the end Confidence gives in and yeelds cowardly whilst Timerousnesse stood it out manfully and suffered Triumphantly These Directions with other very usefull in this case I have heretofore inlarged in other expressions and therefore shall not now dwell any longer upon them Stand still not Fighting Passe wee now to the fourth and last Branch of this Direction here given by Moses to the people Stan● still i.e. not Fighting Not Fighting you may say What then Would Moses have them to yeeld up their throats to the Sword of the Enemy Not so Moses had no such intent any wayes to debarre them of their Inculpata tutela their just and necessary defence or yet to tye their hands so as that they should lay downe their liberties and lives both which God had now given them as a prey to themselves at the foot of a lawlesse and mercilesse Tyrant Moses though educated in Pharoahs Court yet had he not learnt that Language But in as much as he saw that the people had neither hands not hearts neither power nor will to fight to encounter so Potent an Adversary therefore he bids them stand still thereby intimating unto them that for the present there should be no need of their fighting God would take the cause into his owne hand fighting for them against his and their Enemies In this sense the Prophet I●haziel speakes to Ichoshaphat and to the rest of the people in that 2 Chron. 20. When they were in a like condition their Country being invaded and in danger to be over-runne by a Potent Enemy whom they were not able to oppose for their encouragement the Prophet telleth them that