Selected quad for the lemma: cause_n
Text snippets containing the quad
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A41785
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The prisoner against the prelate, or, A dialogue between the common goal [ie. gaol] and Cathedral of Lincoln wherein the true faith and Church of Christ are briefly discovered & vindicated ... / written by a prisoner of the baptised churches in Lincolnshire.
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Grantham, Thomas, 1634-1692.
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1662
(1662)
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Wing G1543; ESTC R14165
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45,998
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94
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O my Lord why am I busied here Thou knowst from war my heart and hands are clear And yet O Lord I pray thee teach me fight Couragiously that warfare which thy might Only can mannage sith it 's war Divine And Lord I thank thee that thou dost encline My heart and hand thereto and hast assisted My soul therein since what time I was listed Within thy Roll and in this undertaking I pray thee keâ—p my hand and mind from shaking That so the Truth with comely boldnesse I May practise preach write teach and testifie For Lord if Truth be Truth and still the same In nature worth and usefulness then blame Must be their Lot who are right bold to speak it In times of Peace and afterwards for sake it Because the times do turn O God forbid That I should for such cause let Truth lye hid In fleshly fears O God how great would le My shame when I thy glorious face shall see In that great Day the Day of final Sentence When none their loss regain can by Repentance The thoughts whereof O Lord doth give me boldness To speak for Truth though in a day of coldness Wherein the Waâ—ers are not more congeald Than mens cold Zeal hath all thy Laws repeal'd For what do they less than repeal thy Law Who of poor mortal flesh stand S O in awe As they 'l not act nor speak one word for thee But as great men do give them liberty But Lord I speak of Truth which all confess To be more worth than all that men possess But thou Lord know'st how doubtfull in this day It is become to find that blessed way Of Truth for though there 's nothing more pretended Yet surely there is nothing less befriended What one man saith is true another man Doth say is false yea even such as can Skill all the Sciences and Liberal Arts Are so divided into sects and parts That there 's no end of their most hot Divisions Yea such the multitude of their Confusions As thou Lord know'st cannot be lightly number'd And herewith Europe hath been greatly cumber'd What then shall I poor dust now signifie In Truth 's behalf will any think that I Have found this Pearl or can assign the Field Or Church which doth this precious Treasure yeeld Well whether I have found that Church or no Let him that readeth judge But this I 'll do I 'll shew the Church I 've found even the Truth Which I have fallen in love with from my youth That so if I be right another may By this means get some help into the way Of blessed Truth Or else if I be wrong throng Some one that 's right may break forth through the And sheâ— me that Old Way where Rest and Peace May be obtain'd that my own wayes may cease For is not this that which poor soules desire Where is the good Old Way others enquire Where 's blessed Sion Mother of the Saints Yea for a sight of her some hearts now faints Yea thou my soul remember canst the Dayes The Weeks the Months the Years and dolful wayes Wherein thou Pilgrim-like didst mournful walk And in thy Solitudes wouldst often talk With thy Creator by Pray'rs Vows and Tears That if he would but free thee of thy fears Which these crook'd wayes did minister to thee And of his Sion once but make thee free To set thy feet upon that holy Hill Then wouldst thou wholly yeeld up to his Will To be to do to suffer Gods good pleasure If he thereto would fill thee with his treasurâ— And now my soul what i' st wherein thy Lord Hath failed of in making good his Word In setting thy bound feet free from the band Of miry paths and in his blessed Land His dearest Church hath given thee a Station A dwelling place in his beloved Nation Yea thou a name and a rememberance Hast there obtain'd with an Inheritance So rich so full so ample every way That what it is no words can fully say Now then my soul see thou perform thy Vows Lest thy Engagements prove but empty Shows What Truth thou knowst the same communicate That others may thereof participate Remember how the Labours of the Saints In former times did much supply thy wants And so do still yea some the Seed-time knew And thou camst but to reap their Harvest true Yet thou a Seed-time with respect to those That are to follow must perhaps disclose Or at the least my Muse bring forth thy gains Which thou achieved hast by others pains That so the Sower and the Reaper may Rejoyce in mutual profiting that day Which shall in Praises to our Lord be spended And yet nor Day nor Praises shall be ended But now my Pen stay here and let us muse Upon the subject which thou must peruse Use seriousness for they are Divine things For the most part whereof thy Muse thus sings Gods precious Statutes are the chiefest Objects Implore his ayd in handling so great Projects To clear his Laws wherein men do abuse them And to declare how rightly they should use them Again there 's many things which thou here blam'st Speak of them seriously when thou them nam'st For some do deem as highly of those doings As of th' Apostles Precepts Walks or Goings Yea some are maâ—ked so they think those wayes Had their beginning in th' Apostles dayes As Pedorantisme and other things Which their procedure had from humane springs And whereas thy most weighty subject is About the Church that heavenly place of Bliss Deal clearly in this point for that indeed In this one Question lies both Fruit and Seed Defend her in thy place she 'l thee defend Yea God will him protect that is her Friend Dispute for Truth then will the Truth approve thee See to thy charge my Muse it doth behove thee Bear in thy mind the dayes wherein thy thought Was no way's like to that which I am taught More by Tradition humane than by those Instructions which the Scriptures do disclose This if thou do'st remember it may serve To lay thee low and in thy self preserve A due respect to those that do not see The errour of their way But if there be Any that do malitiously oppose The Truth see thou give them the sharper blows Fear not my Muse if Truth be on thy side As he which fanned Babel well hath cry'd That Truth is strongest by it thou wilt be Made Victor unto all Eternity My Muse sith thou a Prisoner art this day Because thou canst not walk in th' Minsters way Now therefore go thee forth in form of Jayle To Dispute with the Minster do not fail If she sound Reason with the Truth produce I do conjure thee make with her a Truce But if of these thou destitute dost find her Then freely of her fallacies remind her And if she mind thee not appeal to him Whom she pretends to serve and so come in To Goal again till Liberty from Heaven Thee