Selected quad for the lemma: cause_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
cause_n	action_n	good_a	sin_n	1,408	5	4.8951	4	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A13569	The ballance of the sanctuarie shewing hovv vve must behaue our selues when wee see and behold the people of God in miserie and oppression vnder the tyranny of their enemies. Written by William Teelinck, minister of the Word of God at Midlebrough in Zealand.	Teellinck, Willem, 1579-1629.; Gataker, Thomas, 1574-1654.; Harmar, Christopher, attributed name.	1621 (1621)	STC 23860; ESTC S118307	55,093	128

religion by meanes whereof many times they doe not follow the same so earnestly as they should and is conuenient to be done and that as they march in battaile against their enemies they are not warie according to the counsell of the Lord to keepe themselues from euery wicked thing Deut. 23. 9. it happeneth that God who is more specially iealous ouer his people and is wont to visit their offences home in their houses Amos 3. 2. For that cause many times suffereth them to be ouerthrowne in a cause which otherwise is good as it happened twise to the children of Israel fighting against the Beniamites Iudg. 20. Now when any such thing happeneth the people of God vpon that occasion must not doubt of or call their religion into question but they must looke into their own proceedings in that action touching the defence of their religion in a good cause and thereby take occasion to inquire what thing either in generall or particular hath beene done among them in their proceedings that might displease God in regard whereof hee hath so crost them and hauing found it out humble themselues before God and amend their faults And if in that case they cannot finde any thing which they may conceiue to be the cause of their ouerthrow then they must ascribe the same vnto Gods wonderfull prouidence which is not to bee comprehended by vs but must by euery man with all humilitie and submission bee accepted and well thought of Iob 13. 23. 24. Iob 24. Thus the word of God teacheth vs how to iudge of those tribulations and that prosperitie that befalleth the sonnes of men which if some worldly wise men would looke well into they would not so vnaduisedly scoffe at the actions of Gods children who when they haue had a glorious victorie ouer their enemies therevpon conclude not that their cause was good which the other in their wrong iudgement doubt of but that God hath graciously holpen them in their good cause and hauing receiued any ouerthrow thence conclude that the Lord for their sinnes thereby humbleth them and that by such hard blowes he would awake and rouze them vp not to make them imagine that their good cause is bad but to mooue them to amend their sinfull liues that they may not thereby hinder their good cause and to cause them in all occurrents to depend vpon the truth and when they prosper to giue God the Lord the honour and glory and when they are ouerthrowne and punished to ascribe the fault thereof to themselues this I say no worldling would scoffe at as they vnaduisedly doe if they had learned this infallible truth of God Which neuerthelesse is true that is that by the knowledge of the seuerall chances that happen vnto the children of men wee must measure the meaning and intent of God in sending prosperitie and aduersitie vnto men for it is true that Gods children as wee finde in the holy word of God alwayes praised the Lord when they had the victorie ouer their enemies as Dauid saith Lord I know that thou louest mee in that thou hast not deliuered me into the handes of mine enemies nor giuen them occasion to triumph ouer me Psal 41. 11. And againe humbled themselues for their sins when they were ouerthrowne Lament 3. 39. not once in regard thereof making any doubt of their religion or imagining that Idolatry had iustly gotten the vpper hand against the true seruice of God Besides this we must further know that the thinges of this world haue not their issue and effect alwayes according to their owne nature and properties but as the Lord who ruleth them all pleaseth to order them By meanes whereof it falleth out that aduersitie which of it selfe is hurtfull yet procureth great good to the godly and that prosperitie which of it selfe is pleasing doth yet bring great hurt to the vngodly And hereby it commeth to passe that all things worke together for the good of them that feare God Rom. 8. 28. And on the other side that all things worke together for the worst to them that hate God in regard that their mindes and consciences also are vncleane and accursed Tit. 1. 15. Let an vngodly man be aduanced and set aboue all his other neighbours he will become proud and insolent and ouer-throw himselfe thereby Againe let a godly man haue any tribulation befall him hee will humble himselfe and become better thereby and so to the pure all things are pure but vnto them that are defiled nothing is pure or profitable Tit. 1. 15. And this proceedeth from hence that the godly on the one side are a godly plant and a heauenly branch hauing so great and admirable a power in it that the man that is godly is so framed by Gods grace that whatsoeuer hapneth vnto him or is layd vpon him how troublesome aduerse hurtfull or mischieuous soeuer it be of it selfe by nature is turned to the best vnto him and to his good and prosperitie for Godlinesse is profitable to all things hauing promises of the life that now is and of that which is to come 1. Tim. 4. 8. And on the other side the vngodly being a plant of he Deuill and a branch of hell hath so venimous a stalke and so poysonfull a nature that the man who is rooted therein and will not be brought to leaue and abandon it but still keepeth it by him it is certaine that whatsoeuer happeneth vnto him how good profitable and beneficiall soeuer it be by nature it turneth to his hurt and destruction in such manner that euen the pleasing and sweet sauour thereof is contrary vnto him and is with him the sauour of death vnto death And whereas the godly sauour life euerlasting in Christ and eternall saluation The vngodly sauour nothing but death in Christ and euerlasting condemnation 2. Cor. 2 16. Hence it euidently appeareth that by outward things which happen vnto men wee must not by any meanes measure nor iudge their state to God-ward at the first dash but on the contrary by their state to God-wardes iudge what we are to conceiue of the outward thinges that happen vnto and fall vpon them By this that hath beene said may many men learne to reforme their erronious opinions and not those only of whom we spake in the eleuenth Chapter who are wont to take occasion by their outward prosperitie to boast themselues of their actions and are perswaded that both they and their actions please God well because outwardly they haue wealth and prosperitie whereas they should not iudge their state in regard of God by their outward prosperitie but their prosperitie by their state But others also that are perswaded and imagine that all men when soeuer any trouble or aduersitie falleth on them and that they are many wayes molested as stricken sicke on their beds or troubled by their enemies are wont thereupon to flatter and sooth vp themselues and to grow thereby into some good perswasion that hereafter

Psalmist witnesseth that God preserueth both man and beast Psal 36. 6. And Iesus Christ himselfe sayth that God maketh his Sunne to rise on the euill and on the good and sendeth rayne on the iust and on the vniust Math. 5. 45. When wee see therefore that the wrath of God is reuealed from heauen against all vngodlinesse and vnrighteousnesse of men Rom. 1. 18. we may thereupon certainely conclude That there is something wanting in men and that for many causes man deserueth punishment for sin which God disliketh Rom. 3. 23. and thereby we may further learne that sinne is the mother of all miseries and that there is nothing in the world which we should with more care caution hate shun and abhor then sinne as the onely thing that moueth our Creator to dislike of vs and maketh all vs that are his creatures abhominable in his sight Secondly God in his word sheweth vs that he hath a care of those that feare him and of such as are godly and seeketh to do them good but how any of vs are made godly and righteous all of vs by nature being wicked and lost sheepe Rom. 4. 3. Ephes 2. 5. Is not at this time to be spoken of and on the contrarie that he hateth the vngodly and powreth out his wrath and indignation vpon them The eyes of the Lord are vpon the righteous and his eares are open to their cry The face of the Lord is against them that doe euill to cut off the remembrance of them from the earth Psal 34. 15. 16. which he sayth he will do when he thinketh good when the dayes of visitation and of recompence are come Hos 9. 7. Exod. 32. 34. Then he will wretchedly destroy those wicked men Mat. 21. 41. And on the contrary when the righteous call the Lord heareth and deliuereth them out of all their trouble Psal 18. 27. Thereby vnderstanding that hee deliuereth them by taking them like a wise workeman out of the furnace of aduersitie when they are sufficiently purified and clensed That is in the time of need Heb. 4. 16. From whence it followeth without contradiction in regard that God is so diuersely affected towards the godly and vngodly man that in that respect when he sendeth one and the like prosperitie and aduersitie both on the godly and vngodly hee doth it not for one selfe same intent nor to one end That which God himselfe witnesseth vnto vs on the one side that whatsoeuer tribulation or misery hee sendeth to the godly man it is for his good and great benefit yea euen the crosses themselues are so for God inlighteneth their darkenesse Psalm 18. 28 and so it falleth out That all things worke for the best to them that loue God Rom. 8. 28. So that the troubles of the godly are vnto them as an entrie into life euerlasting an earnest penny and as it were the first fruites of heauenly ioyes Psal 23. 6. As also the crosses of the godly are vnto them as a precious medicine to heale their soules and a true meanes to prepare the way for them to enter into the kingdome of heauen Acts 14. 22. And in this manner all things are a blessing to the godly For godlinesse is profitable vnto all things hauing the promises of this life that now is and of that which is to come 1. Tim. 4. 8. On the other side whatsoeuer the vngodly indure it is altogether a curse vnto them for God carseth their blessings Matt. 2. 2. So that whether it bee prosperitie or aduersitie it happeneth vnto them it falleth out amisse with them for all things are vncleane vnto them because their mindes and consciences are vncleane Tit. 1. 14 Deut. 8. 15. The aduersity then of the vngodly is a feeling of a preparatiue to euerlasting condemnation an earnest penny and the first fruits of the paines of hell Iud. 5. 7. and their prosperitie is like a poysoned drinke vnto them for by their wickednes the more they abuse their prosperitie the more they spoyle their owne soules and so it become a powerfull meanes to carrie them vnto hell and to the kingdome of darkenesse Apcc. 18. 7. This God openeth vnto vs plainly in his word whereby wee may openly learne and vnderstand that the state of the vngodly whether it bee aduersitie or prosperitie is altogether miserable and on the contrarie that the aduersitie or prosperitie of the godly is a happines vnto them For it is most certain that if the vngodly man doth not in time repent and amend his life at the last hee shall bee sure of after condemnation and the godly man of euerlasting ioy and felicitie as wee haue a manifest example thereof in the state of the rich man and of poore Lazarus Luk. 16. 19. And who seeth not that the rich man for all his wealth and worldly prosperitie was an accursed wretch and that poore Lazarus in his greatest miserie was happie and blessed what man is hee that would not rather choose looking into the end of them both to liue in this world in the state of poore Lazarus then in that of the rich glutton So you see that from these different affections of God both vnto the godly and the vngodly which hee hath shewed vnto vs in his word and by their last ends which thereupon ensue the grounds of the hope and comfort that the godly haue and receiue in the midst of their aduersitie and troubles And the grounds of the feares and miseries which the vngodly are like to fall vnto whiles they possesse worldly prosperity and pleasure But hearken yet further what the Lord himselfe saith vnto his seruants and messengers touching them both Say vnto the righteous that it shall bee well with him for they shall eate the fruite of their doings Woe vnto the wicked it shall bee ill with him for the reward of his handes shall be giuen him Esa 3. 10. 11. Now if wee consider this well and take good heed and earnestly marke the end both of the godly and of the vngodly we shall be throughly perswaded from the doubtfull conceite that wee haue in our mindes touching the workes of God done here vpon earth among men when we oftentimes behold and see the vngodly to prosper so much in this world and the godly liue in pouertie and aduersitie which for that it is a matter of great importance in the next Chapter I will more at large open the same vnto you CHAP. VII That there is no cause at all why men should make any doubt or question when they see many vngodly men here prosper in the world and diuers godly men liue in pouertie and aduersitie THere are two special reasons that moue men to become carelesse and licentious here in the world when they see and behold how it fareth both with the godly and vngodly in this world The first is that many times they see that those that feare God are in great miserie and calamitie and the vngodly prosper