Selected quad for the lemma: cause_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
cause_n	act_n	power_n	will_n	1,439	5	6.6180	4	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A61598	A sermon concerning sins of omission preached before the King and Queen at White-Hall, on March 18th, 1693/4, being Midlent-Sunday / by ... Edward, Lord Bishop of Worcester.	Stillingfleet, Edward, 1635-1699.	1694 (1694)	Wing S5636; ESTC R15343	16,441	37

suppose we do know God and have this habitual Love to him as our Chief End doth this come up to all that Mankind owes to God Do we know him and love him and serve him as we ought to doe Do we not fail in the Manner and Degree of those very Duties which we in some measure perform And are not these Failings Omissions And will not these Omissions be charged upon us as Sins How then can Mankind hope to escape the Wrath of God against those who continue in the Practice of Sin To answer this we must distinguish between Omission as a Defect and as a Wilfull Sin We must say as S. James doth In many things we offend all and in all things I am afraid we offend some way or other if God would be exact to mark what is done amiss But here lies the main Point as to this Matter How far God will charge those things upon us as Omissions which in us come rather from want of Power than of Will to doe them I do not mean of Natural Faculties for those we have entire but of Moral Power i. e. of such a Measure of Divine Grace as will enable us to doe things beyond the Imperfection and Infirmity of our present state which in this fallen Condition is like that of a Man under a Dead-Palsie who hath all the Parts of a Man but not the Power of Moving them And where God by his Grace doth recover Mankind to a New Life yet there are such Remainders of the former Deadness upon us as makes us unable to doe that which we most desire to doe and do fail in the manner of Performance where we are sincere as to our Purpose and Design But will God lay these Moral Defects or Infirmities of our corrupt Nature on us as wilfull Sins now under the Gospel God forbid I do not question God's Right to command us all that which is just in it self and he hath given us Faculties to doe but I consider him as a gracious Lord towards a decayed Tenant of whom if he be willing to pay what he is able he will not exact the uttermost farthing As a compassionate Commander to a wounded Soldier who is willing to accept what Service he is able to doe although he fails in many Points of his Duty As the good Samaritan which poured in Wine and Oil into the Wounds which he had not made and discharged the Debt which he had not contracted If God were not infinitely Gracious and Mercifull there were little hopes for us to avoid Punishment but since he is pleased to deal with us upon the Terms of a New Covenant we have reason to hope that he will not charge Involuntary Neglects and Moral Disabilities upon us as Sins of Omission 2. There are Duties of External Worship and Service owing to God and how shall we know when the Omission of these becomes a Sin to us For these are not always necessary and sometimes we may be hindred from them To answer this I lay down these Rules I. A Constant or Habitual Neglect of those Duties which God hath appointed for his Worship and Service cannot be without a Sin of Omission because that must arise from an evil Temper and Disposition of Mind When it comes from a Contempt of God and his Service it must be a Sin because the Reason of it is a very great one When it comes barely from a Careless Indifferent Slothfull Temper which is glad of any Excuses for the Neglect or Omission of them it argues very little Sense of Religion or Regard to God and his Service when they are so ready to find an Excuse for their Fault But some are ready to justifie themselves in such a Neglect as though all the outward Worship of God were mere Ceremony and only a Decent way of entertaining the People with some outward Pomp and Shew of Devotion towards a Divine Majesty I am afraid such hardly mention a Divine Majesty but in a Complement however we are willing to believe that they do own such a Being but they think it a vain thing to serve him as though he could be moved by our Prayers to him or Praises of him We do not deny that God is Infinitely above all our Services but is that a Reason why we should not serve him in the Way he requires it from us He doth not want our Services but we want his Favour and Blessings and can we expect them when we slight that little Service in Comparison of the time he allows for other Imployments which he expects from us If we had nothing but the Light of Nature to direct us we should conclude it very reasonable that Mankind should own their Creator by some Outward and Publick and Stated Ways and Times of Worship For this is no more than natural Justice to own our Maker and Benefactor and can it become less necessary when he hath declared himself pleased with the Performance of them and made great Promises to those who call upon him But this say they is the greatest Difficulty of all to understand what Effect our Prayers can have upon the Eternal Counsels of Heaven since they are already fixed and cannot be Reversed by our Prayers As great as this Difficulty is the true Point of it is only this Whether we are to Believe and Trust the frequent and repeated Promises of God although we are not able to comprehend how the Efficacy of our Prayers is taken in as a necessary Condition towards the Execution of God's Eternal Purposes For if they are Conditions as the Scripture often tells us then we may easily understand what is meant by the Efficacy of Prayers and as to the manner of Reconciling such contingent Conditions with God's Eternal Purposes it is a Difficulty which will afford perpetual Matter of Dispute but ought no more to hinder us from plain Duties than a Man should be from going a necessary Journey till he be satisfied whether the Earth moves about the Sun or the Sun about the Earth II. Whether the Omission of such publick Duties of Divine Worship be a Sin or not depends very much on the Reason and Occasion of it For if it be a Wilfull Neglect it doth imply a Degree of Contempt and that cannot be without Sin And that is a Wilfull Neglect when nothing but an Act of a Man 's own Will hinders him from serving God in Publick I do not mean only at the very time but if he hath by some former Act of his Will brought an Incapacity upon himself that want of Power doth not Excuse when the Impotency arises from a Voluntary Act of his own If it be intended on Purpose to hinder it is as wilfull in its Cause as if there were no such Impediment For although the Actual Impediment be the immediate Cause of the Omission yet it is the Design and Purpose which makes it Wilfull But if Persons by an Act of Providence without their