Selected quad for the lemma: cause_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
cause_n	know_v	lord_n	see_v	3,997	5	3.2299	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

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