Selected quad for the lemma: cause_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
cause_n	cold_a	distemper_n	hot_a	1,578	5	8.0875	4	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A09970	The golden scepter held forth to the humble VVith the Churches dignitie by her marriage. And the Churches dutie in her carriage. In three treatises. The former delivered in sundry sermons in Cambridge, for the weekely fasts, 1625. The two latter in Lincolnes Inne. By the late learned and reverend divine, Iohn Preston, Dr. in Divinity, chaplaine in ordinary to His Maiesty, Mr. of Emanuel Colledge in Cambridge, and somtime preacher at Lincolnes Inne.	Preston, John, 1587-1628.; Glover, George, b. ca. 1618, engraver.; Goodwin, Thomas, 1600-1680.; Ball, Thomas, 1589 or 90-1659.	1638 (1638)	STC 20227; ESTC S112474	187,142	312

scandalous sinnes but the first rise of it was his unconscionable walking with God in secret as the Apostle Paul sayes of the Gentiles Rom. 1. 20. to 24. That because when they knew God they glorified him not as God God gave them up to vile affections So Psal. 80. 11 12. But my people would not bearken and Israel would none of mee So I gave them up to their owne hearts lusts and they walked in their owne counsels As if he had said I used all the meanes they still refused and would none of me and therefore I gave them up Seest thou a man given up to a lust his heart so cemented to it as hee cannot live without it know this is in judgment to him for some unconscionable walking before and not practising according to his knowledge 3 There is yet a judgement beyond these when the Lord forsaketh the creature and withdrawes himselfe from a man which though men doe little account of is the fearefullest of all others The losse of Gods presence is a losse unvaluable Take a man that makes wealth or honour his God take that prop from him and how doth his heart sinke within him how much more when the true God shall bee departed from a man that God that is the God of all comfort if hee bee withdrawne the heart sinks into a bottomlesse pit of horrour as when the Sun is gone all things run into darknesse All comfort is from some measure or degree of Gods presence though men doe not take notice of it which when it is taken away there remaines nothing but horrour and despaire when God was departed from Saul 1 Sam. 16. hee from that day ranne into one errour after another in his government till hee was destroyed and the cause of this was sinne he had cast off the Lord and therefore the Lord rejected him The like was Caines case Gen. 4. His judgement was to bee banish'd from the presence of the Lord which hee acknowledgeth to be an insupportable punishment which hee was not able to beare When any trouble is upon thee sticke not in the rind and ba●ke of it but looke through it and beyond it to the inward root of it looke to sinne as the cause and thou shalt finde it so it may bee the immediate cause and instrument may bee some outward thing some enemy of thy disgrace some sicknesse c. but who hath permitted them to worke is it not the Lord and what is the motive of his permission but sinne men may have many severall motives to doe this or that but nothing moves the Lord but sinne and grace When an enemy comes upon thee say not this man is the cause of this evill but the Lord hath suffered him to worke and sinne hath occasion'd this suffering 2 Chron. 12. 5 7. Shishak was but the violl through whose hands God powred out his wrath so I may say sicknesse is but the violl it is the Lords wrath that is powred out in it Amend this common errour that men are ready to seeke out the naturall causes of the evils that befall them if it bee sickenesse they looke to such a distemper in diet or cold c. as the cause of it so if they miscarry in any enterprize what folly and oversight hath beene the cause of it These are but the naturall and immediate causes but Christians should looke to and seeke out to the supernaturall When there came a famine upon the land of Iudah for three yeares 2 Sam. 21. 1. the naturall cause was evident which was a great drought for that famine was healed by raine afterwards and so in those hot countries famine came by drought alone but David rests not here but went to the Lord and enquired out the reason the sinne that should bee the cause of it And God told him it was for the sinne of Saul and his bloudy house in slaying the Gibeonites as wise statesmen when they find a meane person in a treason they rest not there but seeke further what deepe heads was in the businesse and who was the contriver of the plot When Iacob saw the Angels descend and ascend he lookes to the top of the ladder and saw the Lord there sending them to and fro Looke not to the stayres of the ladder one or two that are next to thee but to the top of the ladder and there thou shalt see the Lord sending one Angell to do thee a mischief another to be a Saviour to thee If you say how shall I know for what sinne it is Pray earnestly and enquire as David did and as Ioshua did when he saw the people flie before their enemies that God would reveale to thee the particular sinne and if thou canst not find out the particular sin for it may bee some sin long ago committed or some secret sinne yet be sure that sin is the cause of it for as in the works of nature we know the vapours arise out of the earth and ascend invisibly but come downe againe in stormes and showers which we are able to see and are sensible of so the judgements may be open and manifest enough but not the sins but some secret sin that past by thee without notice taken is the cause of it Learne hence to see sinne in its owne colours sinne is a secret and invisible evill and in it selfe as abstractly considered is hard to be seene of the best therefore looke upon it as it is cloathed with calamities and when you view it under the cloathing you will have another opinion of it than you had before If you should know a man who whersoever he comes doth nothing but mischiefe poysons one stabs another c. and leaves every where some prints of his villany how hatefull and terrible would he be unto you it is sin that playes all these reaks among us if sin come upon a man cloathed and armed with Gods wrath as it often doth at death then it is terrible Why do we not look upon it thus at other times but because we doe not behold it in the fearefull effects of it as then in the wrath due to it we doe Sin is the same at all times else but our fancy is not alwaies the same as the body is alwayes the same though the shadow bee greater or lesser that which we now count a small sinne as swearing and petty oaths will one day bee terrible such a sinne as was committed by Ananias and Sapphira would seeme small it may be to you in it selfe alone but see it cloathed with that judgement that befell them dying at the Apostles feete so see the sinne of Ahabs oppressing Naboth which you may looke at but as doing a little wrong to a poore man by a great man but see it cloathed with Ahabs death and the dogs licking his bloud and it will appeare to be most hainous so the prophanenesse of Nadab and Abihu offering strange fire Learne

ment and so in the Rev. 3. because Laodicea was neither hot nor cold therefore will I spue them out of my mouth God would endure them no longer and therefore you that thinke your estates the best even you have had a hand in this plague you thinke that other mens sinnes the sinnes of wicked men are the cause of it but God he knoweth that they cannot pray and have no life in them as you have and though-their sinnes also be a cause and a maine cause as appeares by the Amorites whose sinnes when full God punished yet I say they are yours also And therefore when there is an evident signe that God hath a controversie with a Kingdome and the Churches and a signe of his wrath is proclamed from heaven then every man must doe something now feare the Lord be zealous repent and doe your first workes begin now to mend your pace to heaven and yet would onely there were a want of zeale among you yea is it not in disgrace is not a zealous man hooted at as an Owle among us this place the excellency of it is exceedingly abated and eclipsed the zeale of it is withered the Lord is departed from us learne to bee more zealous and God will returne and cause you to flourish againe for when God lookes upon a people it is with them as with the earth in spring time and when hee departs from them they are as withered trees in winter and where now is the zeale of former times the Communion of Saints the heating and whetting of one another by mutuall exhortations where is the boldnesse for the Lord Those holy prayers those former times are gone the light of those times remaine but not the heate as also if wee looke backe upon that Generation of Queene Elizabeth how are we changed they were zealous but here is another generation come in their roome that is dead and cold and yet we have their light but ignis qui in illis calidus in nobis lucidus tantum But I beseech you that you would now begin to stirre up your selves especially in these times of fasting when there must bee an extraordinary renewing of a mans covenant with God that you would not now be so cold and so dilute as you have beene and seeing you have that you would have and have desired long publike dayes of humiliation that you would labour to spend them with all care and diligence and quicknesse of spirit and to consider that the maine is to bee done at home with your selves for the end of these dayes is that you may be humbled which you will never bee till you consider your particular sinnes get up early in the morning for then your spirits are quicke and so you will have a long time before you come to the congregation and get you all that while alone and consider your particular sinnes and the holy duties you neglect and renew your repentance and enter into covenant and then when you come hither you shall finde the word to have another manner of working upon you than it hath ordinarily If God be thus ready to punish his own children and that thus sharpely it shewes the sinne of those that are fearelesse and carelesse which provoketh God exceedingly Zach. 4. 15. I am very sore displeased with the carelesse heathen the heathens had sinnes enow besides to anger the Lord yet this sinne did it above other sinnes and it is not to bee wondred at that it should for it is a rule in Philosophy and most true that of all things that which provoketh a man most is contempt in so much that Aristotle maketh it the onely cause of anger though therein he is deceived yet it is the maine we use to say non respondere pro convitio est it is a signe of contempt not to answer againe as when a man is chidden and stricken non respondere to goe by as if hee tooke no notice of it at Gods hand this is contempt And thus a Father when he is angry with his son or a Master with his servant how hainously doth hee take it And so God who now hath discovered his wrath to the whole Land and to every particular man in it this neglect of him will cause his wrath to wax hot against us but yet for the land in generall wee have cause to hope that his wrath doth not so but that God takes it well at our hands that we are thus publickly assembled but let mee say this though to every particular man though God spare the Kingdome yet if thou neglect him and bee carelesse it will goe the worse with thee however In the 50. Psalme when hee had expressed great threatnings in the former verses hee concludes with this Consider this O all yee that forget God! you that minde him not least hee teare you in peeces and there bee none to deliver you and so in the Prophet Ieremy 5 12 13 14. verses because you say that his words are but winde they shall be as fire and you as drie wood and they shall devoure you This is the great fault of men that they are ready to feare things which they should not feare the creatures poverty and discredit but are backward to feare the Lord. God sayes of the Church Rev. 2. 12. Feare not the things thou shalt suffer what all the world feares that doe not you feare feare not the things you shall suffer those things you ought not to feare but feare those things you should doe and who is afraid of them least hee should provoke God in them And so Christ saith feare not men no not those that have power of life and death if wee should feare any it should be them remember that was the commendation of Moses hee feared not the wrath of Pharaoh when you place your feare thus amisse it becomes a snare to you for it makes your hearts busie upon the creatures when they ought to be set upon the Lord but when your feare is placed upon God it doth exceedingly helpe you nothing more to give you an instance or two you shall finde David exceedingly strucke with the feare of the Lord when Ziglag was burnt no accident ever so amazed him when hee fled before Absolon hee bore it much better yet that feare helped al for it set him a worke to pray so Iehoshaphats feare did also helpe him when he heard of a great Army comming against him it set him on worke to pray and so turned away the Iudgement and therefore things that you so feare when your feare is placed on God seldome come to passe for that sets men on worke to prevent them whereas evill feare brings the thing with it Saul feared the Armies of the Philistines exceedingly that made him seeke to the Witch and this wrought his overthrow which hee feared so Ieroboam feared the losse of his Kingdome and that feare made him set up the Calves which lost him his Kingdome indeed

doe it diligently when any thing is to bee done for the Lord Iesus doest thou doe it with all thy might if remisly thou art farre from seeking the Lord What ever a man doth for himselfe so farre as he conceives it to be for himselfe he will doe it diligently and with all his might and wee are commanded to love the Lord with all our might and there is a curse upon the contrary Cursed is he that doth the worke of the LORD negligently the meaning is not cursed is he that doth the worke of the Lord weakly and with infirmities for then all the Saints should bee accursed but that is done negligently which is done hypocritically and for other ends for they are the causes of that negligence to this the curse belongs and that justly this cold remisse formall customary performance of duties as when we receive the Sacrament or are exercised in any other dutie or in any cause that concernes the LORD to goe about it coldly is a signe we doe it not for the Lord. Consider whether thou doest them faithfully for so a man useth to doe his owne businesse for no man is unfaithfull to himselfe to another hee may performe but eye service but not for himselfe now so to do a thing is not to rest in the thing done but his care will be that it may be done effectually so as to see the fruit and effect of it And if you aske how you shall discerne you doe any thing faithfully That is discerned by this When a good action is to bee done thou carest not so much that it be done but thy selfe would be the doer of it for thy credit c. as Diotrephes he was a froward man but himselfe would doe all but wouldest thou doe it though the fame thereof were not knowne dost thou desire to have it done though another man doe it and thinkest it is no matter by whose hand the worke goes forward so that it goes forward Againe secondly what doest thou when there is a separation made a partition betwixt the businesse of the Lord and thine owne credit art thou yet then as carefull when two goe together it is not knowne who is the master of the servant of one of them that followes them both till they part so when thy credit and Gods glory goe together it is not knowne for which of them thou doest it but there are times when our owne and the Lords businesse will be separated and then consider what thou doest is it so that because thou art not the first in a businesse thou wilt doe nothing at all or if thou shalt not bee seene in it it is a signe thou doest it for thy selfe and not for the Lord when two men are to carry a beame into a house if both strive to goe in first they carry it in a crosse whereas if they would bee content to come one after the other it would go right in so often great workes both for Church and State might bee done that are thus hindred or are carried crosse because men are not willing that others should go before him Consider therefore these things seriously and bring them home to your hearts for to what end doe we preach that you might know these things onely that makes onely for your further condem nation and you had better never to have knowne them but wee preach them that you might lay them to heart take therefore some thing to consider these things and if you have found your selves failing in this be not yet discouraged but labour to make your hearts perfect for time to come thus to seeke the Lord alone To exhort to which which is the next use I make of it and to quicken you to this consider what great reason there is thou shouldest seeke the Lord Iesus and not thy selfe Consider what ties and bonds are upon thee towards him the bargain between him and thee past I will aske you first whose servant art thou and should not the servant seek the profit of his master if a man sees a company of sheep and he askes whose sheep are these sayes another to him such a mans for he hath bought and paid for them and hath not Christ bought thee and besides this his first buying of thee who gives thee thy wages and provides for thee meat drinke and cloathing and is there not reason thou shouldest serve him alone Then if thou beest perfectly a servant as thou art thou doest wrong to the LORD if thou doest not serve him Againe secondly I aske thee who is thy husband Is not the Lord Iesus and if thou beest his wife oughtest thou not to seek his things one that is unmaried is yet her own but when she is maried she is her husbands When there was no King in Israel every man did what was good in his owne eyes and if thou had'st no husband no King so mightest thou but thou art not tui juris the covenant is past already thou art not now to choose if thou sayest no consider that when thou wert baptized it was into the Name of the Lord and that by way of a vow which is an invocation with a curse that is the nature of a vow If thou sayest yea but I was young then I but since thou commest to yeares of discretion thou hast not disclamed it but confirmed it in the Sacrament of the Lords Supper receiving it often and therefore thou canst not recall it therefore that first covenant then made it stands good as marriages made under age if when the parties are come to yeares they did not disclame them they hold and he being thy husband Consider that as adultery is worse than fornication the one being punisht among the Iewes with death the other but with a pecuniary mulct so the sins which thou committest in going after other lovers is worse then if a heathen man had committed the same he that was circumcised Saint Paul sayes was bound to keepe the whole Law and so hee that is baptized and hath received the Lords Supper is bound to give up himselfe to the Lord as the Lord Christ to him and all things in him and so the Saints of Macedonia did 2 Cor. 8. 5. They gave themselves up first to the Lord. And if thou wert not thus bound yet hee hath deserved it at thy hands and both these wee find urged by the Apostle 1 Cor. 1. 12. 13. was Paul crucified for you or were you baptized into the name of Paul these were men among the Corinthians that did not seeke Christ alone in their professing of Christ for one was for Paul and another for Apollos another for Cephas but sayes the Apostle is Christ divided if Christ indeed had been divided amongst these three they might have sought them but Christ stands alone against them all and therfore they were to seeke Christ alone and he brings these two