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	will_n	1,601	5	6.4879	4	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A38026	Polpoikilos sophia, a compleat history or survey of all the dispensations and methods of religion, from the beginning of the world to the consummation of all things, as represented in the Old and New Testament shewing the several reasons and designs of those different administrations, and the wisdom and goodness of God in the government of His church, through all the ages of it : in which also, the opinion of Dr. Spencer concerning the Jewish rites and sacrifices is examin'd, and the certainty of the Christian religion demonstrated against the cavils of the Deists, &c. / by John Edwards ...	Edwards, John, 1637-1716.	1699 (1699)	Wing E210; ESTC R17845	511,766	792

prevail'd with him to do as she did i. e. to violate the Commandment because she did so Which we may gather from those words of his Gen. 3. 12. The Woman whom thou gavest to be with me and to be my other-self she gave me of the Tree and I did eat For tho he did ill in laying his Fault and transferring his Guilt on the Woman thereby only to excuse himself yet thus far we may believe him that he was drawn into this transgression by her whom God had given unto him His passionate regard to her betray'd him to this folly Thus this desire of his Eyes was one occasion of his misery By the Inchantments and Sollicitations of a Woman Man was first ruin'd Whilst he was alone he did well but when he saw so fair and Image he was tempted to fall down to it and to comply with it and to forget himself and his duty This was the Origine of Adam's prevarication the sensitive part was too powerful Pleasure betray'd him and ever since all Mankind the animal and sensual Life gets the better of the Divine 3. Another previous Sin of our first Parents was a being dissatisfied with their condition and an ambitious desiring to know more and to become greater It was a vile compound of Curiosity Discontent and Pride yea this latter seems to have the predominancy whence it was the determination of one of the Antient Fathers that Adam and Eve's first Sin by which they fell was Pride The Devil inve●gled them with telling them that their Eyes should be opened and that they should know Good and Evil nay that they should be as Gods in knowledg and perfection Gen. 3. 5. This was no mean incentive to the breach of the Divine Law tho indeed it was a strange solecism and absurdity and it is an strange that our first Parents should not observe it viz. that they should be like God by breaking his Law This was an arrant piece of Nonsence and yet it was swallowed the vehement desire of seeing having blinded them their inordinate longing after Wisdom rendring them so foolish and sottish Their affection of Knowledg and their vain Ambition ruined them Their desire to arrive to the Partners with God Almighty made them forget they were his Creatures Their wishing to be Gods made them become like Beasts which perish as you shall hear afterwards Yea their desire to be like Gods made them too like unto Devils The 4 th Sin which made way for their actual violating God's Command was Vnbelief God had himself told him that in the day they eat of the forbidden Fruit they should surely die Gen. 2. 17. But Satan comes and con●ronts this and tells them Y● shall not surely die Gen. 3. 4. Whereupon they give credit to this Tempter and disbelieve what God had said They attend not to the Divine Threatnings but listen to the Devil's Promises of Impunity They believe the Father of Lies but what the God of Truth saith is none of their Creed This was the cursed Infidelity which was the forerunner of the actual breaking of the Divine Command Thus you may be convinc'd that tho the eating the forbidden Fruit may at first sight seem to be a small matter a kind of venial Fault and some vain Men have labour'd to represent it as such yet upon a particular and narrow view of it and by reason of the Circumstances that attend it it was a most grievous and horrid Crime That Sin which was usher'd in with so many vile Harbingers must needs be a capital Offence Besides the greatness of the Transgression must be esteem'd and measur'd by the Authority of the Lawgiver we must consider not so much what was forbid as who forbad it God their Creator and Father who had absolute Power and Command over them God who knew best how to govern them and what was most for their real Good and Advantage God who required the observance but of a small and easy thing ought to have been obey'd with all exactness Adam and Eve had no Father but God how just and reasonable then was it that they should express all Duty and Obedience to him that they should observe his Laws and not dare to break the ●east Command of his that they should do nothing without his order and never listen to any that would attempt to withdraw them from their duty but that they should continually live in a sense of their dependence upon him that they should call upon him trust in him honour and worship him only that they should strive to walk worthy of the singular Favours they had receiv'd from him and that they should endeavor to persevere in their Innocence and Integrity and to continue in that blessed State wherein God had created them And as for the Matter of the Sin the letter and lighter it is the greater is the Sinner's contempt of God This inhances his Fault that he preferreth so slight a thing before God's Will and Pleasure that he regardeth not the Divine Anger tho it be so easy to avoid it Here we may say as Cicero doth in defence of the Stoicks Paradox viz. that all Sins are alike The Matter is small but the Fault is great Yea I may add the latter is the greater because the former is so small The Sin of Adam and Eve was the more grievous and inexcusable because it was in so little a matter as the bare tasting of the Fruit of a Tree Which was a thing they had no temptation to if we consider that the whole Garden of Fruit was before them and there was but one single Tree only forbidden them But it seems all the rest were insipid without this no Tree will so content them as the forbidden one There was no Fruit so desirable as this and it is likely this had not been desired if it had not been forbidden This argues great perversness and obstinacy and consequently aggravateth their Sin and senders their Offence very heinous Say not then the eating of the Fruit of a Tree is a light and inconsiderable thing So it might be said Lot's Wise did only look back to see the miserable ruin of the place she lived in What! might she not look behind her It was out of pity that she did this Did this deserve so sore a Punishment Abraham look'd on Sod●m in its flames and was not punish'd It was not criminal in him to do so Why then was it in this poor Woman The plain Answer is this that there are many things from whence Actions are denominated Good or Evil. They are sometimes reputed so by God according to the intrinsick Causes and Reasons of them sometimes also according to their good or evil Adjuncts but at all times according to the Will and Command of God allowing or disallowing of such Actions By these we must judg of Lot's Wife 's Sin● Out of an immoderate love of the City which had been the place of her abode or

we were not able to assign a particular Reason The Wisdom and Equity of God's dealing● are undeniable He must be le●t to dispense his Benefits when he pleaseth and most certainly that is the best time which he chooseth It is the Glory of God saith the Wife Man to conceal a thing to hide the Causes and Reasons of his Actions from Men especially of the particular circumstance of Time which is not of such Concern to us as the Things themselves Therefore we ought not to be very inquisitive and scrupulous but finally to resolve all into God's good Will and Pleasure Thus when the Primitive Christians were asked in a cavilling way by the Pagans why Christ came so late they ingenuously answer'd We deny not that we are ignorant of the Reason of it we cannot see and tell God's secret Will and how he orders his Affairs He alone knoweth What is to be done and How and at what Time And again thus In an Eternal and Infinite course of Ages where there is no beginning nor end nothing can be said to be soon or late And St. Augustin's Answer to those that ask'd why Christ came not before was this Because saith he the Fulness of Time was not yet come according to the appointment of Him by whom all Times are for it was best known to him when Christ ought to come And in another place he gives the like Reason why Christ came just at that time and no other The Lord saith he who disposes all things in Measure Number and Weight knoweth when he doth any thing It may suffice then to answer that so it pleased God whose Wisdom is infinite He hath his 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 his own times for so it should be rendred Tit. 1. 3. When these come he sets such and such a Dispensation on foot Tho this will not satisfie some yet it ought to pass for good Divinity with those that are wise to Sobri●●y But yet tho we must not sawcily pry into the Secrets of Heaven we are permitted with modesty to enquire how far they may be discover'd to us Therefore to give satisfaction even to the Curious I will offer some Considerations wherein are contained the particular Reasons of the Dat● of the Christian O●con●my why Christ came not into the World till it was about four thousand Years old and why he came at that time rather than at another 1. You are to consider that tho Christ was not Born of the Virgin Mary till that very time yet he appeared long before to some of the Patriarchs and Saints under the Old Testament The Angel that appeared to Hagar was the Messi●● the Son of God therefore M●s●s calls him the L●rd or Ie●ovab Gen. 16. 13. It was the Opinion of the Antient Fath●rs that this Second Person in the Glorious Trinity appear'd in human Shape to Abraham as he sat in the Plains of Mamre Gen. 18. 13 c. where he is stiled Iehova● and afterwards the God of Bethel chap. 31. 21. And he appeared to Iacob in the Form of an Angel and wrestled with him he is call'd a Man in the entrance of the Story and God in the sequel of it and the Prophet Hosea speaking of him calls him God Chap. 12. 3. This is that Angel of the Covenant who appeared Num. 7. ultIreneus Tertullian St. Austin and most of the Antients hold that it was Christ who appear'd as an Armed Man and Captain of the Lord of Hosts to encourage Ioshua when he was to take Iericho Jos. 5. 13 14. And many of the Fathers were of opinion that Christ was the Conducter of the Israelites out of Egypt into the Land of Canaan who led them through the Wilderness of Arabia and descended on Mount Sinai and resided in the Tabernacle and the Temple And that of Daniel Chap. 3. 25. the Form of the fourth Person who was seen in the firy Furnace was like the Son of God is interpreted by some of the Eternal Son of God who used to visit the Patriarchs and now visibly bore the three Children company in the Flames And from several other places in the Old Testament it may be gather'd that Christ appear'd to the Holy Men in those days upon extraordinary occasions So then he appeared sooner than is imagined his Incarnation was not the first time of his Appearance in the World he actually manifested and shew'd himself before his Birth His early visiting of the Patriarchs and Prophets was a Forerunner of his more signal Appearing in the ●ulness of time when he took on him our humane Nature and convers'd with Mankind 2. If you consider that all the Benefits which accrued to Mankind by a Saviour were imparted even before Christ was made Flesh you will not think that his Appearance in the World was late He as you have heard was the Lamb slain from the beginning of the World The Covenant of Grace that he who repenteth and believeth shall be saved was made immediately after Man's Fall the Merit of the Messi●● his Undertakings was valid from that very time and therefore the Promises of Mercy in Christ are contain'd tho obscurely in the Books of the Old Testament The Gospel is antient the Design of God in all Ages tended to the consummating of this which may take off our marvelling at its being no sooner It was in being long before as to the grand Efficacy and Virtue of it Have then this right Notion of the true Date of Christianity and you will not ask why Christ appeared not before 3. Perswade your selves of this that Christ would have actually appeared sooner and that in our Flesh if the World had been fit to receive him before God acteth according to the Nature of things according to the Capacities and Faculties of Mankind according to the Condition and Frame of Men. Hence his dealings with them are different and various his Administrations and Methods are not alike but they are always most sutable and agreeable to the present Circumstances When Solon was asked whether he had le●t the Athenians the best Laws he could he answer'd he had given them the best they were capable of This is more eminently true of the Laws and Institutions the Discoveries and Administrations which are from God the Great and Infalliable Lawgiver they are the most exactly fitted to the Capacities and Dispositions the Inclinations and Genius of the People who are to make use of them He prescribes Laws not according to what he is able to do but according to our Ability to hear and receive them Hence it is that tho True Religion be but One yet it hath had Different Discoveries and Mani●estations according to the Different States and Conditions of Men in the several Ages of the World This argues not any Changeableness in God but his great Wisdom and Care of his Church as a Prudent Master of a Family gives different Orders and Rules according to the diversity of

such an Act as is above natural Force and Abili●y and is done wholly by virtue of an omnipotent Power There is a Physical Virtue and Agency given to all Creatures at their first Creation Their natural Properties and Affections are settled in them by God at first and according to these they constantly act except he who created them changes their course immediately influencing on them When the Creator thus alters their natural Course and Agency and when the Effects are contrary to their natural Power there is a Miracle wrought for Miracles are Actions that are against natural Efficiency This is opposed by Mr. Hobbs who holds that there are no real Miracles because all is by natural Causes only they seem to the Vulgar to proceed from extraordinary and supernatural Causes On this ground he endeavours to vilify the Miracles wrought by Christ. And Spinosa would fain thrust upon us this Proposition that whatsoever the Scripture affirms to have been done did necessarily come to pass according to the Laws of Nature and no otherwise and consequently that those things which go under the Name of Miracles have only natural Causes tho unknown to us And he conceits this to be a sufficient Reason of what he saith viz. that God and his Decrees are unchangeable and therefore the Laws of Nature can't be alter'd and so there are no Miracles because these are said to be Interruptions or Vi●lations of the course of Nature But if the altering the course of Nature be contain'd in the divine Decrees as most sure it is then what will become of his Argument It is a mere Fallacy and contradicts several Discoveries which God hath made of himself and his doings in the sacred Writ where we find that there are such Actions as cannot be done by the mere Power and Energy of Men or Angels either good or bad or of any created Beings It is of the Essence of a Miracle to exceed all natural Power A Miracle always supposes the Virtue by which it is produced to be Divine 2. This is another property of a Miracle which follows necessarily on the former that it is Vnaccountable We cannot solve it we cannot shew any reason why it is so It is above our apprehension for it being a thing above natural Power it is impossible that natural Reason should tell how it is done A Miracle is such a work of which no Physical Cause can be assigned therefore it is no wonder that it is beyond our Conceptions and that we cannot apprehend how it is performed 3. It is also something done rarely and unusually It is a saying of the Rabbins and a true one A Miracle doth not happen every hour It is an uncommon thing and Rarity is of the nature of it For the design of a Miracle was to beget Faith by its being rare and therefore if you could suppose it to be perpetual the end of it would be lost which is to stir up Men to believe by the uncommonness of what is done Divine works that are done daily and ordinarily are not Miracles thus to justify Sinners to convert them to save them c. are not call'd Miracles So Gods preserving and upholding the World is the work of Divine Power only but it is not call'd a Miracle because it is every moment Pliny declares that it exceeds all Miracles that any one Day passes and all the World is not set on Fire because of the innumerable subterraneous fires and by reason of the infinite number of Stars and the vast heat in the Sun and the inbred fires in Clouds c. But this is no rar● and strange thing and therefore is no Miracle The gravity of bodies the strange Operation of the Loadstone the reciprocal motion of the Sea are Phaenomen● that depend as I apprehend on the particular and immediate influence of a supernatural cause and yet because they are common are not Miracles God the All-wise Governor of the World hath his usual and ordinary ways but these oftentimes are neglected and despised because they are common wherefore he thinks good to use another method he exert● other acts and these are unusual and extraordinary and excite a greater regard and reverence in Men and have the name of Miracles 4. It is the qualification of a Miracl● not only to be supernatural unaccountable and rare but also to be something visible at least very evident and discernible The Egyptians saw Moses's Miracles the Priests of Baal saw what Elijah did And whatever Miracles are really done are done in the sight of People or the effects of them are to be plainly seen The reason is because they are exhibited to the World on purpose that they may be observed and taken notice of Wherefore a Miracle is such a Divine Work as is evident and apparent and thence this kind of Operations are frequently call'd Signs i. e. outward and open representations of the Almighty Power of God 5. And lastly they deserve the name of Miracles because they stir up Mens minds to admire them they cause amazement and wonder they are such works of God as create astonishment in all that seriously consider them And this proves what I said before viz. that it is against the nature of a Miracle to be constant and lasting and always continuing for if it were so it would not be wondred at and then it would cease to be a Miracle These are the inseparable properties and qualification of true and real Miracl●s but the first is the main and the only essential one for some other things are unaccountable we being ignorant of the extent of Nature's Sphere and unusual and wonderful but they are not against and above the power of natural causes therefore they are not properly Miracles for a Miracle is a thing that cannot be done but by Supernatural and Divine strength Consequently a Miracle cannot be done by the Devil or any of his Ministers and Agents These indeed can do strange and wonderful things that is either such as are really so but then they rise only from occult natural causes and means or such that seem to be so they appear only and are not and then they are mere Jugglings and Tricks of Art Thus far evil Spirits and their Agents are able to go and no further they can counterfeit Miracles but they cannot work one true Miracle Thus the Egyptian Magicians did wonderful things they did not only make their Rods to appear like that of Mercury with Serpents twining about them but which is greater they by their Inchantments turned their Rods into Serpents or seem'd to do so That the worst Men may have power to work such signs and wonders is plain from Deut. 13. 1 2. And the reason why God suffers false Proph●ts to work those seeming Miracles is suggested in v. 3. The Lord your God proveth you to know whether you love the Lord your God with all your Heart and with all your Soul It is to try Men