Selected quad for the lemma: cause_n
Text snippets containing the quad
|
ID |
Title |
Author |
Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication) |
STC |
Words |
Pages |
|
A26158
|
Ten sermons preach'd before Her Royal Highness, the Princess Ann of Denmark at the chappel at St. James by Lewis Atterbury ... LL.D. and one of the six preachers to Her Royal Highness.
|
Atterbury, Lewis, 1656-1731.
|
1699
(1699)
|
Wing A4157; ESTC R35290
|
112,085
|
264
|
Damnation and such as only deserve some Temporary Punishment Especially since under the Head of venial Sins they rank the grossest Enormities so that even Murder shall become a venial Sin if committed to maintain a Man's Honour or under Pretence of returning some trivial Affront A Box on the Ear has been made by some Jesuitical Casuists a justifiable Provocation for a Man to imbrue his hands in the Blood of his Neighbour tho' our Saviour has in express Terms determin'd the quite contrary so plainly do these Men make void the Law of God by their Traditions and Distinctions But 2. We must abstain even from lawful and justifiable Actions if they appear Evil to us For we are told That whatsoever is not of Faith is sin i. e. Rom. 14.23 whosoever doth any Action without that perswasion and assurance of Mind of the Lawfulness of his doings which is here call'd Faith he sins in so doing 'T is therefore our Duty to Act according to the present Perswasion of our own Minds and having us'd the best means to inform our Consciences of what is good and lawful convenient and most expedient to be done and by consequence most pleasing unto God to walk according to our knowledge in Uprightness and Integrity And there is no Question but he who thus Acts according to the Light of his own Conscience and performs what he sincerely believes to be his Duty will be more excusable when he doth amiss than that Man who thinks he Acts in Contradiction to the Divine Will and his own Knowledge tho' he should happen to be in the right For no Actions are good without the rectitude of the Will of him who performs them and therefore he who resolves upon an Action which he believes to be a Transgression of the Divine Law doth violence to his own Conscience and commits a very heinous Sin tho' the Action in it self should be lawful and Praise-worthy For our Conscience is God's Vicegerent in our Souls and sustains the part of a Judge as well as a Witness and Accuser and supposing our Conscience duly inform'd whilst we follow its Determinations we cannot do amiss But yet this is not so to be understood as if we were hereby excus'd from performing a known and absolutely necessary Duty only because we are not fully satisfy'd in the Lawfulness of every minute Circumstance which is requir'd to the performance of it This would administer Fuel to such perplexity and scruples in the Service of God as would render Christ's easie Yoke far more Burthensome than all the Rites and Ceremonies of the Jewish-Law If therefore we are commanded by an unquestionable Authority to perform an Action which our Consciences tell us is lawful and necessary to be done our Christian Prudence will direct us not to be too nice in weighing every particular Circumstance but in this Case to prefer our Submission to a known Law of God or our lawful Governours before the trivial Doubts of an unsetled and wavering Conscience And the Reason is plain because the willful Omission of a known Duty is certainly a grievous Sin whereas we are not certain whether the performing of it with that questionable Circumstance is so or no and therefore common Prudence will direct us rather to venture upon some Circumstances of an Action we are not so fully satisfy'd in than on the Omission of a known Duty which is certainly a Sin and to abstain from those Actions which are manifestly Evil rather than from those which have only the Appearance of it Thus a common Soldier is oblig'd to execute the Commands of his Superiour Officer a Servant of his Master without playing the Casuist and nicely enquiring into the Reason of them they are only the hands which are to execute what the Head Commands and if the Action is not plainly Contradictory to the known Laws of God or the Land they ought to Obey Their Superiours will be answerable for all the lesser Defects whilst there will be great Allowances made to that Man who for the maintenance of Order and Discipline Peace and Charity not only Sacrifices his own private Opinions but squares his Actions in things of lesser moment so as to comply with the great Ends of Government But 3. We must abstain from such Actions as have any Tendency to incite ensnare and tempt us unto Sin and avoid as far as possibly we can all such things as are the necessary Occasions and Incentives unto Evil For he that wills the Cause wills the necessary Effects and Consequences which follow thereupon he that exposes himself to Temptation is Blame-worthy tho' he doth not fall into it nor is over-power'd thereby 'T is the Business and Duty of a reasonable Being by reflecting on its past Actions to collect from thence what will be the necessary Effects and Consequences of things and to avoid not only those things which are Evil in the least Degree but also all those which were the Inlets and Inducements to it The true spiritual Warrior will not have any Parley with his Enemy he stands continually on his Guard and will not suffer him to make the least Approaches towards him well knowing that he is only then secure when his Enemies have not the Power and Ability to hurt him and that the first step towards his Ruin is to be secure Psal 30.6 and to fansie he stands so fast that he can never be moved It will be therefore the wisest Course for every one to consider what Sins he is most addicted to what Vices bear the greatest sway in his Temper and Constitution how he comes to be betray'd into these Sins what were the Occasions the Motives and Inducements to them and let him take up the Resolution of the Psalmist I will set no wicked thing before mine Eyes Psal 101.3 I will remove far from me all such Objects and Examples Shews and Appearances as may prove a snare to me and betray me into Sin Thus for Example If he finds himself of a malicious and revengeful Temper let him as much as possibly he can avoid being Angry let him endeavour to subdue and keep under his Passion when first rais'd and throw these Coals out of his Bosom as soon as he can for 't is impossible that he should retain them long theâ—e and not be burnt Anger maintain'd and encourag'd turns naturally either into Fury or Malice and when once it degenerates into either of these Devilish Tempers of Mind who knows what will be the mischievous Effects of it That spark which might easily have been suppress'd will be ungovernable when blown up into a Flame and therefore 't is the safest way either to bring our selves to such a meek and humble Temper of Mind as not to be angry at all Or to restrain it within its due Bounds and hereby prevent its being criminal and sinful If he finds himself addicted to Uncleanness and Lust let him make a Covenant with his Eyes Rom. 13.14
twenty thousand or else whilst the other is yet a great way off he sendeth an Embassage and desireth Conditions of Peace So likewise whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he has he cannot be my Disciple The meaning of both these Parables is this That every one who intends to be Christ's Disciple must first sit down and consider with himself what 't is to be a Christian what Difficulties he is like to meet with in his Christian Race what Temptations he must encounter withal And if he doth not sincerely Purpose to forego every thing which stands in Competition with Christ and his Gospel if he doth not resolve to part with all that he has rather than deny his Saviour he can never be Christ's true Disciple And as we ought to make such Reflections as these before we enter on a Christian Course of Life so when we have made some Progress in it it will be necessary to examine and try our selves how well we have put these good Resolutions into Execution Whether we have acquitted our selves like Christ's faithful Souldiers and Servants or else cowardly left the Field and deserted his Colours And therefore we are so often commanded to examine our selves whether we be in the Faith 1 Cor. 3.13 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Gal. 6.4 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and to prove our own selves And St. Paul advises the Galatians Let every man prove his own work The word us'd in both places in the Original signifies so to prove or to try as that a Man's Actions may be throughly known and approved fifted and made evident And that such an Examination as this will be of great use to promote our spiritual Well-being is evident 2. From Reason Common Sense and Reason will inform us that if we design to direct our Lives by the word of God we must frequently compare them with this Rule We must reflect upon our Actions and consider when we have done our Duty and acted as becomes us and when we have transgress'd the Commands of God For in the first place the best Men in the world are subject to many sinful Passions and tho' they make never so strong Resolutions tho' they could set the Faculties of their Souls in the most exact Order yet when they go abroad into the World they will meet with something or other which will ruffle and discompose them and betray them into disorderly Affections and sinful Practices There is no Man in the world so good and perfect but he has his Failings his Weaknesses and Infirmities And the Devil will be sure to assault him on that side where he lies most open to Temptation and will sometimes prevail against him And therefore the wisest Course a good Man can take is frequently to recollect himself to consider when and where he has done amiss what was the occasion of it what betray'd him into that sinful and foolish Action and having discover'd this heartily to repent of his Sin to fence and guard himself against it for the time to come and to resolve stedfastly never to suffer himself to be impos'd on and deluded again in the like manner In the next place there are many Actions which at first sight appear to us good and Praise-worthy which when more narrowly consider'd and try'd by the Rule of God's word are found to be crooked and deform'd such as we have just cause to repent of We place them at first in a wrong Light we behold them thro' a false Medium Our Kindness and Affection toward them makes them seem of a different Complexion than they are really of But when we come to consider them without Passion or Prejudice to weigh every Circumstance Then 't is plainly evident that we admire our selves for Qualities which are not in us and applaud our selves for Actions which are nothing worth We perform'd them either out of a wrong End or they proceeded from a false Principle or we were deficient in the Manner of transacting them So necessary is it to consider our Ways and to bring our Actions to the Touch-stone of God's word even those Actions which we esteem most Holy and Perfect For our Righteousnesses the most regular Acts of our Lives our most Affectionate and fervent Devotions are stain'd with Sin and want that Purity and Integrity which God requires in them they are deriv'd either from Self-love or Pride or desire of Honour or love of Gain from fear of Damage or discredit in the World rather than out of Love and Reverence and Gratitude towards God Charity and Good-will towards our Neighbour or a sober regard to our own true Welfare and Happiness And though God has Promised to pardon those Sins and to pass by that Obliquity of our Actions which proceeds from the frailty and infirmity of our Natures yet he expects that we should repent of them i. e. That we should confess and forsake them express our Sorrow for what we have done and resolve to Act better for the future which can never be perform'd without a severe Examination of our Hearts and calling our selves to a particular Account how and wherein we have offended But farther the absolute necessity of Examining our selves will appear from this Consideration That the greatest part of our time is spent amidst the noise and hurry of the World our Thoughts are taken up chiefly in the business of our Callings in providing for our Families which is so far from being a Fault that 't is highly commendable and Praise-worthy for God is better pleas'd with a Man who is diligent and industrious in that Calling and Station he has plac'd him in than he would be if he were continually upon his knees performing one uninterrupted Act of Devotion and this I am induc'd to believe for this one plain Reason because all the Devotional parts of our Religion were chiefly intended to help and assist us in the Practice of those Duties which God requires of us in our several Relations But yet seeing so much of our time is spent in the business of this Life so many of our thoughts taken up with our worldly Affairs we must needs judge it highly reasonable that we should set apart some time to retire into the Closet of our Breast and frequently consider what State and Condition our better and more Spiritual part is in what Sins we have been guilty of and whether we go forward or backward in the Ways of Vertue and Religion Every prudent Man and good Husband doth this in his secular Concerns he that designs either to keep or encrease his Estate makes it his first and chiefest Care to be exact in keeping his Accounts to Balance them often and to inform himself what proportion his Incomes bear with his Expences And thus careful and diligent we should be in our spiritual Affairs if we had but the same Value for our immortal Souls which we have for the fading Goods of this World this would supersede my