Selected quad for the lemma: cause_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
cause_n	abraham_n	according_a	act_n	17	3	5.3828	4	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A62636	Several discourses upon the attributes of God viz. Concerning the perfection of God. Concerning our imitation of the divine perfections. The happiness of God. The unchangeableness of God. The knowledge of God. The wisdom, glory, and soveraignty of God. The wisdom of God, in the creation of the world. The wisdom of God, in his providence. The wisdom of God, in the redemption of mankind. The justice of God, in the distribution of rewards and punishments. The truth of God. The holiness of God. To which is annexed a spital sermon, of doing good. By the most reverend Dr. John Tillotson, late Lord Arch-Bishop of Canterbury. Being the sixth volume; published from the originals, by Raph Barker, D.D. chaplain to his grace.	Tillotson, John, 1630-1694.; Barker, Ralph, 1648-1708.	1699 (1699)	Wing T1264; ESTC R219315	169,861	473

which relate to the Divine Vnderstanding viz. Knowledge and Wisdom I come now to consider those which relate to the Divine Will viz. these four the Justice the Truth the Goodness and the Holiness of God I begin with the First namely the Justice of God At the 17 verse of this chapter God by a great and wonderful Condescention of his goodness reveals to Abraham his Intention concerning the Destruction of Sodom upon this Abraham v. 23. interceded with God for the saving of the Righteous Persons that were there and to this end he Pleads with God his Justice and Righteousness with which he apprehended it to be in consistent to destroy the Righteous with the wicked which without a Miracle could not be avoided in a general Destruction Wilt thou also destroy the Righteous with the Wicked Peradventure there be fifty Righteous within the City wilt thou also destroy and not spare the place for the fifty Righteous that are therein that be far from thee to do after this manner to slay the Righteous with the Wicked and that the Righteous should be as the Wicked that be far from thee shall not the Judge of all the Earth do right This Negative Interrogation is equivalent to a vehement affirmation shall not the Judge all the Earth do right that is undoubtedly he will This we may take for a certain and undoubted Principle that in the distribution of rewards and punishments the Judge of the World will do Righteously So that the Argument that lies under our Consideration is the Justice of God in the distribution of Rewards and Punishments for the clearing of which we will consider it First In Hypothesi in regard to the particular Case which is here put by Abraham in the Text. Secondly In Thesi we will consider it in General in the Distribution of Rewards and Punishments First We will consider it in Hypothesi in regard to the particular Case which is here put by Abraham in the Text and the rather because if we look well into it there is something of real Difficulty in it not easie to be cleared for Abraham's reasoning if it be true does plainly Conclude that it would have been unrighteous with God in the destruction of Sodom not to make a difference between the Righteous and the Wicked but to involve them equally in the same common Destruction That be far from thee to do after this manner to slay the Righteous with the Wicked and that the Righteous should be as the Wicked that be far from thee shall not the Judge of all the Earth do right as if he had said surely the Judge of all the Earth will never do so unrighteous a Thing And yet notwithstanding this we see it is very usual for the Providence of God to involve good Men in general Calamities and to make no visible difference between the Righteous and the Wicked Now the difficulty is how to reconcile these appearances of Providence with this reasoning of Abraham in the Text. And for the doing of this I see but one possible way and that is this that Abraham does not here speak concerning the Judgments of God which befal Men in the ordinary Course of his Providence which many times happen promiscuously and involve good and bad Men in the same ruine and the reason hereof is Plain because God in his ordinary Providence does permit the Causes which produce these Judgments to Act according to their own Nature and they either cannot or will not make any distinction for the Calamities which ordinarily happen in the World are produced by two sorts of Causes either those which we call Natural or those which are Voluntary Natural Causes such as Wind and Thunder and Storms and the infection of the Air and the like these acting by a Necessity of Nature without any Knowledge or Choice can make no distinction between the Good and the Bad. And the Voluntary Causes of Calamities as Men are they many times will make no difference between the Righteous and the Wicked nay many times they are Maliciously bent against the Righteous and the effects of their Malice fall heaviest upon them Now we say that things happen in the way of ordinary Providence when Natural Causes are permitted to Act according to their Nature and Voluntary Causes are left to their Liberty and therefore in the course of ordinary Providence it is not to be expected that such a distinction should be made it is neither possible nor does Justice require it it is not possible supposing Natural Causes left to Act according to their Nature and Voluntary Causes to be left to their Liberty nor does Justice require it for every Man is so much a Sinner that no evil that befals him in this World can be said to be unjust in respect of God So that Abraham is not here to be understood as speaking of such Judgments as befal Men in the ordinary course of God's Providence in which if the Good and Bad be involv'd alike it cannot be expected to be otherwise nor is there any injustice in it but Abraham here speaks of Miraculous and Extraordinary Judgments which are immediately inflicted by God for the Punishment of some crying Sins and the example of the World to deter others from the like And such was this Judgment which God intended to bring upon Sodom and which Abraham hath Relation to in this Discourse of his In this Case it may be expected from the Justice of God that a Difference should be made between the Righteous and the Wicked and that for these Reasons 1. Because this is a Judgment which God himself executes It is not an Event of common Providence which always follows the Nature of its Cause but an Act of God as a Judge Now it is essential to a Judge to make a Discrimination between the Good and the Bad so as to punish the one and spare the other and this is as necessary to all proper Acts of Judgment in this World as the other there being no other difference between them but that one is a Particular Judgment and the other the General Judgment of the whole World 2. When God goes out of the way of his ordinary Providence in Punishing it may reasonably be expected that he should make a Difference between the Good and the Bad for the Reason why he does not in his common Providence is because he will not break and interrupt the establisht order of things upon every little occasion But when he does go besides the common course of Things in punishing the Reason ceaseth which hindred him before from making a Difference and 't is reasonable enough to expect that in the inflicting of a Miraculous Judgment a Miraculous Difference should be made Without making this difference the end of these Miraculous Judgments would not be attained which is remarkably to punish the crying Sins of Men and by that example to deter others from the like Sins But if these Judgments should fall