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	sin_n	will_n	1,909	5	6.8826	4	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A11462	Sermons made by the most reuerende Father in God, Edwin, Archbishop of Yorke, primate of England and metropolitane	Sandys, Edwin, 1516?-1588.	1585 (1585)	STC 21713; ESTC S116708	357,744	396

Gospell bee hid it is from them that perish whom the God or rather the diuel of this world hath blinded We are in the light the way of truth lyeth plaine and open before our faces Let not vs walke nowe as the children of darkenesse For darkenesse and the night are past 27 The day draweth neere The day of euerie mans particular dissolution and the day of that generall iudgement of all men Although the day of our death be vncertaine yet because all our daies are fewe our first day is no sooner come but we are sure and certaine that the last draweth neere Wherefore it behooueth vs continually to watch to looke for our ende and to put our selues in a readinesse for it For as we are found in that day so shall we finde in the day after that the day of the glorious appearing of Christ when all secrets shall be vnsealed al faults made manifest and euerie man receiue a blessing or a curse as he hath wrought in his bodie good or bad Many daies are past since Christ and his Apostles did count it neere therefore nowe it must needs drawe much neerer and be euen at the doore We may nowe say iustly It is time to rise from sleepe Our saluation is neerer than when wee beleeued The night is past the day draweth on 28 Let vs walke honestly therefore as in the day We are created and redeemed to walke and serue God in whose seruice if we goe not forward we goe backeward we may neither lie down nor stand still but take paines and walke And that honestly hauing our conuersation according to our good profession Wee are set as it were vpon a stage the worlde Angels and men fixe their eies vpon vs. And if the eies of all these were closed yet he to whom the night and the light are all one in clearenesse our eternall God hee seeth our cogitations and searcheth our heart he vnderstandeth all our waies All things lie open and vncouered vnto him hee beholdeth all practises all deuises all trecheries all treasons all sinne Let vs walke vprightly and liue honestly as in his sight 29 This we shall doe if we followe the counsell and exhortation of S. Paul that is if we first cast away the workes of darkenesse Sinnefull actions are called woorkes of darkenesse First because much sinne springeth out of ignorance which is blindenesse and darkenesse wherefore S. Paul alledgeth ignorance to be the cause why hee persecuted the Church of Christ Secondly for that sinners because their workes are euil hate the light which discouereth them and loue darkenesse wherein they may conceale them Thirdly because the workes of sinne are to bee cast into that perpetuall and vtter darkenesse of hell and bound in euerlasting cheines of darkenesse vnto the iudgement of that great day 30 Howbeit for that it sufficeth not to abstaine from euil but it is required that we should doe good therefore the Apostle exhorteth vs not onely to cast away the woorkes of darkenesse but to put vpon vs the armour of light Wherein looke what was saide why sinne should be called by the name of darknesse the like may on the contrarie side be saide why righteousnesse should bee termed by the name of light First for that good woorkes are the fruits of the light of knowledge wherein if we encrease more and more in loue and in all spirituall vnderstanding we shall not onely put a difference betwene those things that are more excellēt but bee pure also and without offence vnto the day of Christ filled with the fruites of righteousnesse which commeth by Iesu Christ vnto the glorie and praise of God Secondly because they that walke honestly as in the day time delight in the light For he that doth the trueth commeth to the light that his deedes may be made manifest that they are done in God who is light and in him is no darknesse at all And therefore insomuch as they well vnderstande that the night will come wherein no bodie shall be able to worke while they haue the light they giue themselues to walk in the light that they may be the sonnes of the light And thirdly because as Bernard saith Bona opera non sunt causae regni sed via regnandi Good workes are not the causes of but the way vnto the kingdome so they leade vs the way to the inheritance of Saints in light and to the fruition of that God who as hee is the father of lights in whom there is no variablenesse nor shadowe of change so he dwelleth in a light that cannot as yet be commen vnto we shall come to it heereafter when we shall drinke of the well of life when in his light wee shall see light To the which euerlasting life and light hee bring vs who is not onely the way the trueth and the life but God of God light of light euen Iesus our Sauiour to whom with the Father and the holie Ghost three persons and one God c. The twelfth Sermon A Sermon preached at an Assises MICH. 6. 8 He hath shewed thee O man what is good and what the Lord requireth of thee Surely to doe iudgement and to loue mercie to humble thy selfe and to walke carefully with thy God FOR the better vnderstanding of the Prophet in these fewe words recited it shall bee requisite to open vnto you a fewe circumstances concerning them wherein I will be short We learne in the text that goeth before in this chapter that God was displeased with his people the Israelites And that it might appeare how iust cause hee had of offence giuen him hee challengeth them that his gratiousnesse towardes them and their vnthankefulnesse towardes him might be examined and tried in iust iudgement And God appointeth the mountaines to be Iudges heerein that is as Ierome expoundeth it the Angels of heauen whom God often vseth as ministers for his glorie and for the benefite of man God declareth therefore here by his Prophet first that hee neuer wronged them and therfore they had no cause to complaine secondly that he hath bestowed his manifold benefites vpon them that he deliuered them out of the house of bondage from the tyrannicall hands of cruell Pharao whose slaues their fathers were that he had giuen them woorthie magistrates and good Priestes to rule direct and instruct them Moses Aaron Myriam and lastly that hee had turned Balaams cursings against them into blessings towards them Nowe after that God had thus set forth his great goodnesse towardes them hee chargeth them with their great vnkindenesse towards him howe they fell from the seruing of him to the woorshipping of false gods by running a whoring after Idols and sacrificing on their hill altars committing most grosse Idolatrie and foolish superstition howe altogether they contemned the woord of the almightie the preaching of the Prophets were drowned in sinnefull securitie and fed themselues with their owne phantasies the inuentions and vaine

blotted out the handewriting that was against vs he spoiled our foes of their prai● hee tooke euen captiuitie it selfe captiue in a word he wrought our ful and complete deliuerance The price of our redemption was not gold but bloud the pretious bloud of our blessed Sauiour The bloud of Iesus Christ doth deliuer vs from all sinne And as he died to redeeme vs so rose he againe to iustifie vs. In rising againe hee triumphed ouer death now conquered he burst the gates cheines of hell and set our feete in a place of great libertie hee cloathed vs with his righteousnesse reconciled vs to his father of enemies made vs friends of no people the people of God of straungers citizens with Angels and inhabitants of heauen free denisons with the children of God and heires of his euerlasting kingdome This deliuerance out of bondage this redemptiō this kingdome of God euerlasting inheritance our Christ hath purchased God hath granted to all such as thankfully will receiue him As many as receiued him to them he gaue power to bee made the sonnes of God and to receiue him is to beleeue in him for so it followeth To them which beleeue in his name Faith therefore is the meane to make vs partakers of that great redemption in Christ Iesus Heereunto all the Prophets beare witnesse that whosoeuer shall beleeue in him by his name he shall receiue remission of sinnes and withall eternall life 5 And as Christ hath deliuered all his out of the captiuitie of Satan and sinne so hath he also vs after a more speciall and peculiar maner out of that denne of theeues out of that prison of Romish seruitude out of the bloudie clawes of that cruel and proud Antichrist Our God hath vsed our Moses to deliuer vs from Egyptiacal seruitude that we may serue him henceforward in freedome of conscience he hath led vs out of a maruellous darknesse into a maruellous light hee hath giuen vs for his gift it is an vnderstanding heart to knowe God the father and him whom he hath sent Iesus Christ vnto whom by this starre his shining Gospell he hath conducted vs. This trueth of God hath discouered yea and discomfited also grosse error For the want of this light was the cause of all our blindenesse which is the mother of all superstition which is the enemie to all religion That now we haue eyes to see and heartes to vnderstande there is no other cause besides the mercie of our redeemer 6 For of the cause of our gratious deliuerance thus Zacharie recordeth It was saith he that he might shewe mercie towards our fathers God made a couenaunt with our father Abraham confirmed it with an othe not that it might be surer but that we might be more assured of it the couenaunt was that hee would shewe mercie and in mercie worke our deliueraunce To performe this couenant of grace and mercie made vnto our fathers and comprehending also vs he gaue vp his only begotten sonne in the fulnesse of time to death There was no other motiue why he should worke our deliuerance but onely this his mercie God therefore which is rich in mercie for the great loue wherewith hee loued vs euen when we were dead by sinne reuiued vs with Christ. The cause of our redemption was his good will onely For By grace we are deliuered He did it according to the good pleasure of his owne will according to the riches of his grace So that all the steps to this our redemption are built vpon mercie only God in mercie made couenant of our deliuerance in mercie confirmed it with an othe in mercie through the merits of Christ performed his promise to vs so that our whole redemption is free not due of mercie and not of merits Not by workes which we haue wrought but according to his great mercie he hath saued vs. Man neuer brought one stone to this building man neuer laide one finger to this woorke it is the onely building and woorke of GOD who in tender compassion hath both begun and finished it Wee may well wonder that God with so mercifull eies looked vpon so miserable and so sinfull creatures that the sonne of God would die for the redemption of his enemies This doth in deede commend his loue seeing that all which he hath doone is of meere mercie in himselfe without any shadowe of merite in vs. 7 Nowe that Christ hath deliuered vs from Satan and that with so deare a prise let vs fall no more into the clawes of that roaring Lyon least he vtterly deuoure vs. Hee is cast out of our house let him enter in no more least hee bring seuen with him woorse than himselfe and then our euill ende bee farre woorse than our bad beginning Now that Christ hath cleansed vs from our sinne let vs not swinelike returne to wallowe in that slime againe Thou art made whole saith Christ I haue washed away thy sinne with my bloud Goe and sinne no more least a woorse thing happen vnto thee Nowe that Christ in a mightie arme hath freed vs from Pharao from the house of bondage let vs returne no more to the flesh pots of Egypt let vs not lust after quailes for if wee feede vpon them we shall surfet of them to our destruction Let vs serue no more him that serueth Satan that vndoubted man of sinne And lastly nowe that Christ hath opened our blinded eies and hath powred vnderstanding into our hearts nowe that hee hath giuen vs a lanterne to guide our feete let vs tumble no more in darkenesse but as the children of light walke in the light honestly as becommeth men in so cleare noone day For the ende of our redemption is that wee may serue him without feare that hath so dearely redeemed vs. 8 First we must serue Secondly we must serue no other but him Thirdly him we must serue without feare We were created man is borne vnto seruice and labour as birdes vnto flight We were not redeemed and bought with a price to bee idle and doe nothing but to glorifie him in bodie and spirite that hath bought vs. We are not called to stand or sit still but to walke euerie one in that vocation wherewith he is called The scriptures are full of such speeches as these Goe walke worke sweate why stand yee idle To teache vs that seruice is required at our handes 9 God deliuered vs to the end that being deliuered we might now serue him as heretofore we serued Satan We are not nowe our own men to serue whō or how we lift but we are his to serue him as he prescribeth No man can serue two masters wee haue yeelded and promised our seruice to him therefore besides him we may serue no other 10 We may not serue Mammon for that is made to serue vs. The couetous man which serueth his monie is iustly called of Paul an Idolater