Selected quad for the lemma: cause_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
cause_n	lord_n	people_n	sin_n	3,287	5	4.6566	4	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A59072	God, the king, and the church (to wit) government both civil and sacred together instituted ... and throughout all, the Church of England ... vindicated : being the subject of eight sermons, preached ... / and now published by George Seignior ...	Seignior, George, d. 1678.	1670 (1670)	Wing S2417; ESTC R19835	158,466	284

Vulg. in those things which pertain to God Tu eris illi in Principem quaerentem Doctrinam à facie Domini Targ. Jonath Thou shalt be a Prince to him a Prophet as well as he yea and somthing more then a Prophet he shall seek the word which he is to speak from thee and that as it were from the face of God Numb 12.6 9. If there be a Prophet among you I the Lord will make my self known to him in a Vision or I will speak to him in a dream but my servant Moses is not so this is the difference betwixt him and Aaron with him will I speak Mouth to Mouth even apparently not in dark speeches and the Similitude of the Lord that is of God man to come in the flesh this Similitude of the Lord as praelusory to the reality of his Incarnation shall he behold So that what was Jethro's counsel betwixt Moses and the People seems here to be Gods institution betwixt him and Aaron cap. 18.19 Moses was to be to Aaron to God ward to bring the causes unto and to receive the Law from God and Aaron being to be his Oratour or his Herald was to make Proclamation of the Divine Law unto the People and upon all occasions to consult the Face of Moses the Face which did shine because of the Divine Glory on it and was therefore to be consulted as an Oracle This Paraphrase though it may be true in the Letter of the Text yet to take in the scope of the whole Paragraph which is a Vnion fixed by God himself betwixt these two we must as to this expression further improve our search Instead of God that is to defend him that so he may speak boldly for thee as he ought to speak that his Mouth which is no longer his but Thine may be opened for Thee in confidence We find in this book of Exodus that Princes and the chief Ministers of Justice amongst men are first called Gods cap. 21.6 the servant that had a mind to continue with his Master for ever was to come unto the Judges that is unto the Gods 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the Original and before them was the perpetual service to be ratified and again cap. 22.8 The thief was to be brought to the Judges that is to the Gods the same word in the Original to see whether he had put his hands to his neighbour's goods and vers 28. such Magistrates are secured from all manner of slander that may be cast upon them by malice of evil speaking Thou shalt not revile the Gods nor speak evil of the Ruler of thy people They are called Gods upon several accounts I briefly instance but in two the Vbiquity of their Presence the Omniscience of their Knowledge 1. The Vbiquity of their Presence they are every where their influence is unlimited the fancy is not new antienter then a modern Poet and I hope may now be better applied that Kings and Princes do in this resemble the Deity being like a Circle whose center is every where and whose circumference is no where God and the King can do no harm says our Law the reason is that Diffusive influence that is from Both directing manageing swaying and conveying all the good and all the happiness that is felt or enjoyed by the lower world or the inferiour sort of mankind all which is purely the product of Providence from the One and Government from the Other and if the Sun shining upon a Dunghill doth exhale vapours that are offensive it is not because there are spots in the Sun in Heaven but there is corruption in the Dunghill upon earth 2. The Omniscience of their knowledge they do as it were know every thing Prov. 16 10. A Divine sentence is in the lips of the King His Mouth erreth not in judgment Who could have thought that the way to find out the bowells of a Mother was to make the Child a sacrifice till King Solomon as the first effort of his Princely Spirit tried the experiment but says the Text 1 King 3 28. The wisdome of God was in the King to do judgment And this kind of Omniscience is a gift bestowed upon Judges and other Ministers of Justice when they execute the Laws of God and the King upon Capital offenders the indictment against whom is that they have not the fear of God before their eyes our Law taking special notice of the malice of the heart and proving that by some Overt-act whilst many times the Judge upon the Bench to the admiration of the standers by through a little very little glimpse of a most improbable circumstance doth unravel a whole mystery of iniquity so that on a sudden the Prisoner stands self-condemned at the Bar he might spare both Judge and Jury the trouble of bringing in and pronouncing their Verdict since the sentence of Death is to be read in his countenance and his face gathers blackness what can all this be but an immediate assistance a special illumination from God himself in the moment of judgments Psal 82. God standeth in the Congregation of the Mighty he judgeth among the Gods ver 6. I have said ye are Gods Grotius upon these and the like expressions in Scripture tells us that wherever the name of God is given unto men significat judiciariam potestatem jus vitae necis it implies a judiciary power and that no less than of life and death Our blessed Saviours Comment upon the compellation which certainly is the best runs thus Saint John 10.35 he called them Gods D. Ham. unto whom the Word of God came It is observed by a learned Paraphrast of our own that the coming of the Word of the Lord signifies Gods appointing a Man to some particular Office and giving him power and ability for the performance of that Office to which he is appointed and so it is constantly used in the writings of the Prophets who do most of them begin their Prophecies with this solemn form of Words The Word of the Lord came unto me saying which is no more then as it were the Opening of their Commission the Reading of their Patent the first shewing and vouching of that Authority by which they act all which is an intimation unto us that the Supreme Magistrate and other subordinate Rulers and Governours sent by Him for the punishment of wickedness and vice and the praise of those that do well have 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 something of Divinity stampt both on their Persons and their Office and consequently that Both are Sacred This account you have of the Compellation as it may be applicable either to King Priest or any Ministerial Dispensour of Publick Justice whence by the way it is again observable That the Priest had all along from the beginning his share in Civil Government if the Word of God came to Moses in that he was instead of God yet it was to be spoken or published from the Mouth of Aaron

heaven the Blessed of the Lord even amongst Indians and Armenians those that sate in darkness and the shadow of death unto them by this Apostle was preached the word of life and that life was the Light of God and last of all how he seal'd the Doctrine which he deliver'd with his Blood his skin flay'd off and so he was exposed like his Master a man of sorrows neither was he in his death unlike unto him being nailed to a cross he committed himself and his cause to God that judgeth righteously All this it may be piously received and entertained from a literal and oral Tradition but ignorantly enough God knows how true fides penes sit Authores let those who have a more easy faith believe whose main business it is to gain credit to such things of which they are not themselves overmuch perswaded Our Church therefore having little or no regard to all these has rather chose to celebrate this Apostle as one of the Twelve without any particular specifications concerning him save only that he was Brother and Companion with the rest in Tribulation and in the Kingdom and Patience of our Lord Jesus Christ Accordingly the Gospel for the Day St. Luk. 22.24 is our Saviours Determination of that perplexing Question which so much troubled the Disciples at first among themselves and has since been no small cause of Division in the Christian Church Which of them should be the Greatest not St. Bartholomew himself should we grant him right Noble by his Birth yet he must not pretend here to a Priority therefore in the Gospel the words run thus The Kings of the Gentiles exercise Lordship and they that exercise authority are called Patrons and Benefactors But ye shall not be so not so untill that Kings be your Nursing fathers and Queens your Nursing Mothers in the mean while let no one vindicate to himself Power and Prerogative amongst you over the rest of his brethren But he that is greatest among you let him be as the Younger and he that is chief as he that doth serve And the Epistle for this Day part of which is the Text was the happy effect and result upon this Determination The Apostles agreeing together amongst themselves the Gospel of Jesus did run and was glorified their Unity was causal of respect from those who were without whilst they kept together with one accord even the place where they met was an an indication both of their piety and their prudence in or about the Temple in Solomons Porch and as an ancient Gloss upon the Text fuerunt simul sapientes in domo sapientis The wisdom of God was here justified by the children of Wisdom and that in no other place then in an House of Wisdom whilst 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of the rest whither they were Friends or enemies seeing and observing their Unity ecce ut seinvicem deligant they could not but keep their distance no man durst to joyn himself to them and yet notwithstanding this awe upon their spirits the Apostles wanted neither Praise nor Admiration But the People magnified them and upon the whole the word of God grew and was multiplied Believers were the more added to the Lord multitudes both of men and women Well therefore has our Church in her Divine Service furnished us at this time with a Prayer for the continuance of that Vnity and Vniformity which beares its later date from this Festival to wit that it would please Almighty God to grant unto his Church to love that Word which this Apostle in the Communion of the rest believed that both those who Minister may preach and the people may receive the same in the fear of God in the love of those truths and of one another through Jesus Christ our Lord Amen The words of the Text having thus given you an account of our Churches choice in the selection of them for the Epistle at this time which I could not well omit partly out of a respect to the Festival and chiefly out of a design to speak a word in season too much and sadly in season even all the year long because of these days of error schism and sedition in which we live are in themselves a Parenthesis and so an Historicall observation made in the midst of a continued Narration A Descant made of what effect the judgment of God had upon the sin of sacriledge in the verses before to wit what influence the punishment of this sin in the sudden death of Ananias and Sapphira had upon the Church as also what was the effect of Gods Providence in the verses following how that God was with his Apostles to deliver them from the expectation of those who sought their lives he sent his Angel to open the prison door and out of prison they were sent to reign in the hearts of all that heard them and at length by the counsel of their enemies they were acquitted God over-ruling in those Determinations also so that this seems to be the Historical though Parenthetical observation of St. Luke writing the whole story That the Apostles and new convert Disciples being altogether with one accord in Solomons Porch of the rest durst no man joyn himself to them but the People magnified them and Believers were the more added to the Lord multitudes of men and women Observe with me in the whole Parenthesis as the limits to what may be Discoused from it these four things 1. A Holy Convention They were all with one accord in Solomon's Porch 2. A Due Distance observed in that Convention Of the rest durst no man joyn himself to them 3. An awefull Reverence exhibited upon that Distance But the People magnified them 4. A Great Benefit redounding to the whole Community upon that Reverence or rather upon the whole present Dispensation Believers were the more added to the Lord multitudes of men and women Of these in their order 1 A Holy Convention They were all with one accord in Solomon's Porch in which words we may observe 1. The Persons convening 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 all of them 2. The Place of their meeting 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in Solomon's Porch 3. Their Behaviour at their meeting 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 together with one accord These Three the Subject of the first Discourse 1. The Persons convening 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 all of them Whether with the Apostles the new Convert Disciples or the multitudes called together at the noise of the wonders that were wrought or it may be amongst so many some out of curiosity to pry and observe and others out of evil will to seek and occasion against them that so they might deliver up these Apostles to the Rulers Thus might these multitudes at this time have been divided The Apostles were there labouring in the Word and Doctrine the new Converts were there receiving as new born babes the sincere milk of the word that they might grow thereby those who were curious and inquisitive came

time fight against God! And is the Arm of our God now shortned that it cannot help no surely the Dispensation of his Gospel is still accompanied with power even in the hearts of those that set themselves against it to observe the constancy and perseverance of those that labor in it how they are neither afraid nor ashaed of their Message though they be counted enemies for the Truths sake which they are to speak Nay a sad complaint it is that now there should be cause to make it amidst the contentions and divisions of false Brethren still they hold fast their integrity yet again to observe the judgments of our God to instance in no other against this one wasting destroying sin of Sacrilege ever since it has been an iniquity established by a law in the midst of us how it has been a Moth in the estates of the wealthiest and the mightiest it has eaten like a Canker even unto corruption and destroyed whole Families great and noble Nay not only the estate but them and their children too Nec gaudet tertius haeres before the third Generation the whole line cut off with the entail of the estate whilst the chief of the Family dies leaving no memorial behind him all the propagation that is made in the earth is the transferring the Curse of Sacrilege from one house to another that so it may yet make sorer Desolations the calamity by the complication of several interests and proprieties the more dreadful because like to be so universal diffusive And yet once more shall I observe The signes and wonders that have been wrought no other then the wonders of an Almighty Providence not so much in the restitution as in the continued support of our Church it is little less then a miracle that we are still preserved as if the Glory of God were in the midst of Solomons Porch and about that Glory a most sure defence that God has hitherto wrought out our deliverance thence whence we could not expect it when some of our old Friends have forgot if not lift up their heel against us I say were all these things seriously considered in thankfulness to our God in humility love and charity towards one another whilst we go hand in hand together to the house of God as Friends surely our God will be intreated still to continue his mercies to us and preserve to us his Memorial both as his own and our Praise in the earth Nay how do we know but that such kind of secret intimations as these to the very souls and consciences of such as are rebelliously and maliciously wicked are as it were a Bridle in their Mouths to curb them in that they shall not dare either to cast a bank against or shoot an arrow at us God may thus put his hook into the Nostrils of that old Leviathan the Devil and Satan and of all those Devils incarnate who to keep him company take their pastime onely in troubled waters in the Ocean that casts forth mire and dirt and surely there have been some Mourners in our Sion to spread the hard speeches cruel mockings of any blasphemous Rabshakeh before the Lord upon his holy Altar yea God himself has heard all their blasphemy and in his own due time he will repay it with terrour and amazement shall the Sons of Belial turn away and spend their powder elsewhere or should they give fire it will recoil upon themselves 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Church is beyond Gun-shot Isaiah 65.25 That comfortable evangelical promise may without presumption be here in faith and patience applied They shall not hurt nor destroy in my holy Mountain saith the Lord they shall not dare to come nigh to joyne themselves unto they shall not approach to offer violence either to the Mountain or to those that are the Servants of God upon it to Solomons Porch or those that bear witness to the Testimony of Jesus within it which is the Third thing observed in this Second part of the Text to wit the Distance which was observed at this Convention and that more specially and particularly what this Distance was what was that Act which these three sorts of persons did not dare or venture to ingage themselves upon 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to be too familiar with to joyn themselves unto them 1. The New Convert Disciples could not but honour those whom they so much loved and therefore they would not reckon themselves to be of their number Nemo audebat se iis in serere aut Apostolum profiteri no one durst to inroll themselves amongst the Apostles to pretend a joynt mission or commission with them as if they were Apostles also even the New Convert-Disciples as holy as the best of them yea be they no less then the whole Congregation every one of them No these Disciples though sanctified elect and pretious yet they were not thus called they sat at the Apostles feet where they had laid down the price of their Goods they did not presume to be legati a latere Collegue Ambassadors with them all things indeed were common amongst them but not the Apostolical function nor the Ministerial office they had received the Christian Faith but not to ambition or vain glory much less to quarrelsome Disputations Erastus was in truth Junior in comparison of these Primitive times of innocent Simplicity in which the Spirits of the New Convert Disciples were subject to the Spirits of the Prophets and Apostles they submiting themselves to those who were set over them in the fear and love both of God and them 2. Those from amongst the Multitude would not be too hasty in consorting with such as were so of a sudden magnified by the very ordinary sort of people Nemo se familiariter pro eo tempore Apostolis reddere audebat they were indeed surprised at the sudden rumor and unexpected applause but as yet they would be somwhat cautelous not venture too near a conjunction to or convesation with them not knowing whitherto this might grow they were resolved to await the conclusion and result of the whole matter they were not a little wary of their acquaintance chusing a more convenient season to commence it at present it might not be so safe they did not care to be seen with nor joyn themselves unto them 3. The Adversary withdrew because he durst not interrupt them Nemo ausus est eos coercere Ethiop Vers. No one durst to put a restraint upon them or to say unto them what do ye Non ausi sunt hostes eos ut antea impetere the Enemy did not dare as formerly to be impetuous or violent against them Junius renders the word certare no one durst contend with or withstand them Nay the word in the Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is not always to be understood of a nearness of Familiarity or Friendship implying intimacy of acquaintance in conversation but somtimes it is used for such an Adherescency as is