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Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
cause_n	word_n	work_n	worship_n	117	3	6.8832	4	false

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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
B08023	A notable discourse of the happinesse of this our age, and of the ingratitude of men to God for his benefites: written in Latine by that godly learned man Iohn Riuius, and now Englished for the comfort, and commoditie of the vnlearned, by W.W. student..; De seculi nostri felicitate, et hominum erga Dei beneficia ingratitudine, liber. English	Rivius, Johann, 1500-1553.	1578 (1578)	STC 21064.5; ESTC S94909	108,359	160

and a certeine idle and vaine dreame of faith howsoeuer otherwise the aduersaries of wholesome doctrine doe cry out against it who when as light is nowe restored vnto the worlde had rather embrace darkenesse than loue the light But heere wee must obserue and note a difference betwixt good woorkes For our aduersaries doe say commonly that almost those onely are good woorkes which wee haue rehearsed before to witte Pilgrimages woorshipping of images burning of Franckincense and such like odours inuocation of Saintes and such like ioyned with impietie and idolatrie or els full of the greatest follie and madnesse that may bee and whiche God did not prepare that wee shoulde walke in them as Saint Paule saith These woorkes wee doe both flatly reprehende in woord and remoue in deede There are also besides these other woorkes good indeed but yet such as rather perteine to discipline and to the exercise of the body than to true godlinesse as abstinence from daintie meates often fastinges watchinges lying vppon the bare grounde the necessitie of liuing according to the prescript of man and such like by whiche the flesh is after a sorte bridled that it may not waxe wanton and lasciuious and that it may not exult too immoderately out of all measure These woorkes wee very well like allowe of albeit wee doe not esteeme and set so much by them altogether as the vnskilfull people was woont to doe but wee doe farre preferre before these workes those which come neerer to true godlinesse of which wee will speake hereafter And verely the common people if they see any men leane with hunger broke with trauell brought lowe with watching doe much magnifie them for an opinion of holinesse by these things they doe esteeme godlinesse Neither cōmeth it seldome to passe but very often that men swell secretly in pride and are puffed vp in minde about that externall hypocrisie of good woorkes which so glorieth boasteth it selfe in the eyes of the people Yea those same works are now then kept obserued more superstitiously than needed and well nigh with a Iudaicall mind as if in these the greatest godlinesse that can bee did consist wheras indeed they bring small profite with them vnlesse those true workes be in them to which Christ inculcateth beateth into the eares and mindes of his scholers And it may be that hee which pineth his bodie with fasting which breaketh it with paines taking which corrupteth it with watching which of his owne accorde abstaineth for euer from wine and flesh which goeth in beastly beggerly apparell which lieth vppon the bare grounde which beareth heate and colde it may be I say that he in the meane time is not farre estranged from ambition from wrath from enuie from priuie grudges hartburning from other vices wickednesse though by this hardnesse austeritie of life he haue gotten him a great opinion of holinesse among all men though he wonderfully please him self in these his outward workes as in fastinges watchings lyinges vpon the grounde and in the obseruation of such like things as did the whole companie of Monkes and Friers Last of all there are woorkes very good and Euangelicall which Christ inculcateth which the doctrine of the Apostles commendeth whiche the ten Commaundementes doe conteine What they bee wee haue declared before as the feare of God assured trust in God inuocation or calling vppon God thankesgiuing to God patience in afflictions all kindes of dueties towardes our neighbour liberalitie towards the poore the rest which wee rehearsed before These onely are the workes whereby yow may knowe a true Christian man For he is not to be thought to liue Christianly as the Apostle saith woorthie of God whiche doeth the first kinde of workes which calleth vpon Saintes which gaddeth into wooddes and desertes which redeemeth and buieth indulgēcies which sprinkleth him self with holie water which weareth a waxe candle consecrated by the Pope nor if a man busie him selfe aboute the second sort of workes if he fast if he watch if he lie harde vpon the ground if he teare rent his owne bodie with stripes if he flee and auoyde all delicates and dainties the obseruation of whiche thinges was woont heeretofore to puffe vp the Monkes with intollerable pride but he onely is to bee thought to liue Christianly which studieth and endeuoureth to declare and manifest his faith to the worlde by the last kinde of woorkes that is to say whiche repenteth perpetually which feareth GOD truely whiche loueth him vnfeignedly whiche calleth vppon him in trouble and aduersitie whiche giueth him thankes in prosperitie which laudeth praiseth and confesseth God at all times whiche is patient in miseries and calamities which is modest in the prosperitie of this life which is diligent in his duetie which is temperate in his diet apparell which is iust vpright to his neighbor which is bountifull to the poore which tolerateth iniuries which prayeth for thē which curse him which beareth good will to them which owe ill will to him which deserueth well of them which hurt him which feedeth the hungrie which giueth drinke to the thirstie and the rest which we haue rehearsed which are truely and indeed good woorkes and worthily beseeming a Christian man Wherefore these woorkes we teach to these woorkes wee exhorte men these workes wee vrge continually without end This greeueth our aduersaries sore that both wee flatly reiect the first kind of workes also that we set not such store by the second sort of workes as the ignorant people are woont to doe lastly that we inculcate the third kind of works oftner thā they can bere abide it Secondly this also vexeth them that wee had rather ascribe our saluation to the free fauour and mercie of God for Christ than vnto mens merites good works that wee condemne them which put their trust and affiance in good deedes whiche of them selues seeke to satisfie for their owne sinnes whiche promise vnto them selues for their woorkes both deliuerance from eternall punishment also blessed immortalitie which thinke that heauen is due to their good deedes and chiefly them whiche are accustomed not to communicate with other men freely their ouerflowing merites but for siluer and gold readie told Finally they take it very greeuously and in great snuffe that wee doe teach according to that precept of the Apostle Flee the worshipping of idols that their manifest superstition impietie and idolatrie in worshipping of images in calling vppon the dead in the prophanation of the Supper of the Lorde in the trust of mens traditions wherein Monkerie wholy depended ought to bee shunned auoyded of all men This verely is the cause why they cry out so much that good workes are indeed vtterly taken away left only in worde name Now as oft as they crie out complaine that religion is polluted defiled that

to trust onely to Gods fauour and clemencie Thus you haue heard what woorkes we doe inculcate and beate into the eares and mindes of men They finde great fault with vs for this that we teach that it is a good woorke to sweepe the pauement or floore to hew downe trees or to cleaue wood and such like sith that the Ethnikes also and Pagans doe that As though it bee not a good woorke though it seeme a base and contemptible labour whatsoeuer a man doth according to Gods commaundement in his office and trade of life Therefore that seruant which at his maisters commandement heweth wood and the drudge or kitching slaue which carrieth out of doores all the filth in the house doeth verely a worke no lesse acceptable to God than he which preacheth prayeth and singeth And why so because looke whatsoeuer God him selfe hath commaunded to bee done he doeth well accept it as contrarily he refuseth and reiecteth those thinges concerning which he neuer gaue commaundement in any place Wherefore this must bee beaten into the eares and mindes of all men which our aduersaries are not ashamed to blame vs for that euerie man endeuour to defend duely to doe rightly that office function which he beareth And wherefore I pray you should a maide preparing her maisters dinner or making beds lesse please God than a sacrificing or Masse Priest which mumbleth vp his Mattins or hourlie prayers seing that shee doeth obey Gods commaundement whereas hee only obeyeth mens prescript Yea that I may vrge them more If a seruing man being commaunded of his maister who is to ride a soudeine and a necessarie iournie to dresse his horse and to make him readie would in the meane season be present either at seruice or at the Sermon must hee not be thought to doe yll For howe could hee well doe it sith that he ought not to refuse to doe his maisters will in those matters which are not repugnant to Gods preceptes as S. Paule in his Epistle to the Ephesians Colossians and to Titus and S. Peter in his former Epistle teacheth If hee therefore doe amisse as we must confesse why shoulde any man contemne those woorkes whiche our aduersaries affirme that the very Ethnikes doe hauing but nature for their guide It appeareth I wis how litle or nothing of Christian matters they vnderstand who dare reiect make no account of the woorkes of godlie men whih albeit they are to the shew vile and abiect they are notwithstanding commaunded of god Who can denie but that it is an excellent and a not able woorke to be at a Sermon And yet for all that a baser and a more abiecte woorke must be preferred before it to witte the dressing of an horse if neede so require So the whole reason is altered and changed that looke what the Ethnikes also doe by natures lore that same must be preferred before that which Christians onely doe How much rather doe you thinke that to be preferred before those ambitious woorkes which are done before mens eyes and which vaunte and boaste them selues in mens sight such as are these Monasticall feigning of pouertie beastlie garmentes long and superstitious fastes prayers of Masse Priestes and songes in the Church whiche they doe not vnderstand voluntarie rentinges and manglinges of their bodie and such like Therefore how foolishly doe they yea how childishly are they wise or rather foolish which prefer rites found out by men not ceremonies instituted by God before the dueties of men which walke as the Scripture speaketh in their vocation and calling Howe much better I pray you is it and more agreeable to religion if euerie man doe his duetie in that kind trade of life wherein hee is limited that in the meane time hee neither preferre him selfe before others nor despise other mens woorkes though they bee base nor thinke that they are lesse to bee set by and lesse to be esteemed than his Moreouer the Papistes obiect vnto vs so many heresies euerie where abroad saying that this renewed doctrine hath bene the cause and occasion of them What then Were there not both more heresies more hurtfull a greate deale in the Apostles times than there haue bene in our age Of which rhing wee might bring foorth Irinaeus and Epiphanius among the Greekes and Tertullian the most auncient Latine Doctour amongst the Ecclesiasticall writers as substantiall and sufficient witnesses Haue there not bene some at all times which haue both oppugned the true doctrine and also repugned and resisted godlie teachers Did not Iannes and Iambres resist withstand Moses the man of God in Aegypt as S. Paule witnesseth to Timothie Did not Baals Priestes resist Elias in Palestina Did not the false Prophets resist Ieremie Did not the Scribes Pharisies and high Priestes afterwardes resist Christ him selfe Finally did not both the Iewes and the false brethren and also the idolaters resist the Apostles Therefore the blame of so many heresies must not bee laied vpon the doctrine renewed but vpon the malice of men and of the Diuell The same you must thinke of troubles and 〈◊〉 raised at the preaching of the Gospell concerning which matter wee haue spoken more at large otherwhere in an other booke Last of all they obiect vnto vs our licentious liuing and they thinke that this instauration of Ecclesiasticall doctrine is the cause of our dissolute life The one of these two is truer than I would but the other is flatly false For it is the malice of Satan that fewe at this day doe tread that pathway of liuing which our Preachers painefully and diligently pointe vnto out of the precepts of Christ and out of the doctrine of the Apostles And surely our Preachers labour by all meanes possible to hinder and stoppe the course of sinne and wickednesse So farre is it that the renewing of holy doctrine should bee the cause of dissolutenesse loosenesse of life For wee doe exhorte men to repentance perpetually and to amendement of life wee will all men to flee from the anger to come and we bid them bring foorth fruites woorthily beseeming amendment of life Also wee shewe them certeine souereigne remedies almost against all sinne as it were against certeine diseases of the minde Hee that beareth priuie grudges or heartburning against his neighbour hearing this saying Whosoeuer hateth his brother is a manslear The railer and reuiler heareth this saying Whosoeuer shall say vnto his brother Thou foole shall be in daunger of hell fire And againe Cursed speakers shall not possesse the kingdome of god Hee that is impatient when hee is iniuried and which is desirous of reuenge doth heare this saying Loue your enimies wish well to them which curse you doe good to them which hate you pray for them which hurte and persecute you that you may bee the sonnes of your father which is in heauen c.

rites and ceremonies are violated broken that the woorship seruice of God is neglected so often they do not speake of the third last forte of workes which we doe chiefly vrge but either of the light toyes foolish trifles of the first kinde of woorkes which wee as I saide before vtterly reiect or of the labours and exercises of the seconde sorte of woorkes apperteining rather to a straite discipline than to sincere godlinesse which exercises verely we doe not improue and disallowe if so bee there bee no superstition or other faulte in them albeit wee accounte them woorthie to bee placed farre vnder the thirde kinde of woorkes euen as Saint Paule warneth vs to doe For vnto Timothie hee writeth thus Exercise thy selfe vnto godlinesse for bodilie exercise profiteth little but godlinesse is profitable vnto all thinges Now although perhaps a few fonde fellowes speake not warily and wisely enough of woorkes the fault and blame of a fewe must not be laide vpon all For euen in S. Augustines age there wanted not certeine Pastours and Preachers which did offend almost in the like manner and did blab out many things amongst the people vnaduisedly and rashly neither to edification as the Apostle saith nor to profite Concerning which matter I passe not muche if I set downe his owne wordes Absit inquit vt dicamus vobis Vinite vt vultis securi estote Deus neminem perdit tantùmmodò fidem Christianam tenete Non perdit ille quos redemit non perdet pro quibus sanguinem suum fudit si spectaculis volueritis oblectare animos vestros ite Impleamini cibo vino ad hoc enim data est ista creatura vt perfruamini c that is God forbid saith S. Austine that we should say vnto you Liue as ye list be secure carelesse God destroyeth no man onely hold fast the Christian faith He will not destroy them whom he hath redeemed he will not destroy them for whom he hath shead his bloud and if ye be disposed to solace your mindes with shewes and spectacles goe to them on Gods name Fill your bellies with good meates and wines for this creature was geuen of God to this end that ye should enioy it c. But we at this day doe bid all men make an end of their owne saluation with feare and trembling and to beware that their heartes be not ouerladen with surfeting and dronkennesse nor that they ouerwhelme themselues with wine wherein is excesse we bid them to watch and to be sober to eate meate not for pleasure but for necessitie to sustaine life we bid them pray daily and without intermission and eftsoones by fasting to prepare themselues to prayer we declare that the Apostle doth reckon amongst the woorkes of the flesh both dronkennesse and riotous banqueting and that the same Apostle doeth denie that they which are wholy giuen to those vices shall euer be heires of Gods kingdome Nowe that I may make an end of this confutation concerning woorkes it appeareth plainly what notable iniurie they doe vnto vs which say that we attribute lesse to good woorkes than is meete and conuenient and which for that cause call vs haters of all good workes fighters and warriours against good woorkes yea verie hangmen of good woorkes For albeit we doe not inculcate those monasticall flat superstitious workes to wit filthie attire hatred of wedlock choyce of meats babling of prayers as Christ calleth it vowes watchinges fastes and such like notwithstanding we teache men both truely to forsake the world which thing we haue all professed promised to doe in our Baptisme and also to liue godly holily and religiously And we shew verely that that same may be done marie not if thou thrust and shroude thy selfe into some wildernesse and hide thy selfe close in a Monasterie which in old time was a foule fault and a great errour not if thou voluntarily seeke and procure thine owne harme and cruelly afflict thine owne body finally not if thou cast away of thine owne accord and refuse those goodes and possessions which thou hast nor by any such meanes How then I pray you If thou take it well in woorth whatsoeuer God doth vnto thee and howsoeuer he dealeth with thee if thou doest vse thy wealth and all thy riches with thankesgiuing when thou hast them and canst willingly be content to want them as oft as God taketh them from thee If thou doe neither procure voluntarily thine owne vexations and tormentes nor refuse calamities and sorrowes sent of God if thou neither despaire in aduersitie nor be insolent and proude in prosperitie if both thou liue contented with thy present state and also omitte the carking care for thinges to come if thou neither murmur and grudge at the griefe of ill things nor loath and mislike the plentie of good things if thou hast monie so that thou put no trust in it that thou spend it in godlie vses that thou be neither sorie for the losse of it nor be puffed vp with the abundance of it not to vse many wordes if thou alwayes beare and suffer with one and the same minde and countenance how soeuer it shall seeme good vnto almightie God riches pouertie scarsitie plentie abundance penurie glorie ignominie honor dishonor losse gaine health sicknesse and such like whether they bee hard or softe sharpe and sowre or pleasant and sweete and if thou giue thankes to the Lorde alwayes for all thinges both gladsome and sorrowfull thinges howsoeuer matters fall out ill or well This is onely to renounce and forsake the world truely this is truely to addict and consecrate himselfe wholy to God this is truely to renounce Sathan the prince of the world Hitherto also perteine these to be farre from pride from auarice from excesse from ambition from vaine glorie from hatred from enuie from desire of reuenge and from such like affections which are repugnant and contrarie to the spirit of Christ Also both to doe and to speake curteously to all men to embrace other men with a certeine brotherlie good will and loue to procure other mens profite and commoditie before his owne to account other mennes miserie his owne to weepe at others mens calamities what blessing gift of God soeuer thou hast to impart it wholy to the helping of others briefly in all thinges which thou thinkest speakest doest not to shoote at any other marke than at the glorie of God onely and at the profite and saluation of thy neighbour to referre all thy deedes sayinges counselles and deuises all thy desires endeuours trauelles all thy studies cogitations cares labours watchings carefulnesse to the amplifying of Gods praise to the succouring releeuing of mortall men in any thing thou canst doe in the meane time to ascribe and arrogate nothing to thine owne strength neither to despise other men as sinners but both to acknowledge thine owne imbecillitie and also