Selected quad for the lemma: cause_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
cause_n	affliction_n	great_a	sin_n	1,620	5	5.2580	4	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A26847	A posing question, put by the wise man, viz. Solomon, to the wisest men concerning making a judgment of the temporal conditions : wherein you have the ignorance of man (in knowing, what is good, or evil, for man in this life) discovered, together, with the mistakes that flow from it : and the great question resolved, viz. whether the knowledg of, what is good for a man in this life, be so hid from man, that no man can attain it / preached at the weekly lecture at Upton ... by Benjamin Baxter ...	Baxter, Benjamin, Preacher of the Gospel.; Baxter, Richard, 1615-1691.	1662 (1662)	Wing B1172A; ESTC R39509	142,945	270

Governour of a City hath to do when he heareth that the Country about him are up in Arms against him is to look to the Town within to see that there be no tumults and risings within It is good for us in a day of Affliction to look to this that our passions do not raise a Mutiny It was the saying of a Heathen Intus si recte ne labores Thou need'st not trouble thy self if all be well within 4. This is another work of an Afflicted Condition viz. To eye our Sins more than our Sufferings and Afflictions Many in an Afflicted condition eye their Afflictions but not their Sins They look upon what God doth against them but consider not what they have done against Him which if they did it would make them complain more of their sins then of their sorrows It would turn their tears into another Channel and cause them to spend those tears upon their Sins that they spend upon Afflictions Lam. 3. 39. Why doth the living man complain a man for the punishment of his sins In their Afflicted Condition they were full of complaints as we see Vers 2 3. c. But here the Prophet giveth a check to them q. d. We complain of our Afflictions our eyes are altogether upon our Sufferings Oh but consider Man suffereth for his Sin We should eye our Sins more then our Sufferings Psal 51. 3. David saith his sin was ever before him It is thus with some in an Afflicted Condition that their Sufferings are ever before them and not their Sins When God Afflicts them they can say We are the persons that feel Affliction from God but consider not how they have sinned against God The good of the consideration of our sins in an Afflicted Condition hath these benefits attending it 1. It will make us Justify God in all our Afflictions To acknowledg that all his wayes are equal and that he is righteous in all that he hath brought upon us Dan. 9. 14. There is an expression of Eliphaz Job 4. 17. Shall mortal man be just with God There is a principle of pride in every man by nature which is apt to shew it self in the lowest condition so that we are apt to have better thoughts of our selves then of God himself and to think We are more just then God when he layeth Affliction on us Thus those Ezek. 33. 20. They said The way of the Lord was unequal It was from looking only upon His wayes and dealings with them without considering their own wayes and how They had dealt with him 2. As it will help us to clear Gods Justice so to admire his Mercy in that he doth punish and afflict us less then our iniquities do deserve As the confession is Ezra 9. 13. They had been in captivity 70. years and yet though their captivity were long they saw cause why they should admire the Mercy of God towards them Looking upon their sins they saw their Sufferings were less then they did deserve 3. This will help us to Adore the Wisdom of God in making Afflictions to become cures of and remedies against Sin Afflictions at first came in as punishments for sin While we look only upon our Afflictions we discern not the wisdom of God in sending them and ordering them for our good but when we eye our Sins as well as our Afflictions then we find they are sent to cure the Soul of some disease as pride and worldliness c. This will put a man upon putting this question to himself Doth not this Affliction come to cure and kill my corruptions Hath not the Lord sent it to take me off the creature and to imbitter it more to me Hath not God done this to cure the Tympany of Pride or the Dropsy of Covetousness or some Creature-Surfet And hereupon a man falls upon admiring and adoring the Wisdom of God in making Afflictions Cures for our Corruptions 4. Eying Sins as well as Afflictions will help us to possess our Souls in patience and to suppress all risings and smoakings of passion to which we are subject in a day of Affliction And this it will do by giving us to see that our Afflictions are less then our iniquities do deserve and then there is great reason we should bear them patiently when we know we have deserved greater Why should he not patiently endure the akeing of teeth that knowes he hath deserved the gnashing of teeth and the burning of a feaver when he knoweth he hath deserved Burning in Hell This will help to make us patient when we lose a comfort viz. the consideration of this that we have forfeited all our comforts and deserve to be deprived of all 5. Eying our Sins as well as our Afflictions will make the burthen of Affliction much the easier and leighter What is the cause that to some Afflictions are so heavy It is because their sin is so leight to them Remember this The heavier we find our Sins to be the higher we shall find our Afflictions to be Affliction must needs be heavy to those who eye nothing but Affliction When we compare Evils of Suffering with Evils of Sinning we shall find them to be leight although they be never so great The reason why many complain of the burthen of their Affliction is because Sin is no burthen to them VVhere Sin is found to be heavy Affliction will be found to be leight Thus for the fourth thing we have to do in an Afflicted condition 5. We are in an Afflicted Condition to do this viz. To keep our hearts open and enlarged in the midst of outward straitnings Afflictions are straitnings As God dealeth with Nations Job 12. 23. He enlargeth them and straitneth them again So he dealeth oftentimes with particular persons And afflictions are their straitnings God bindeth up the face of our Comforts As the expression is in Job that by the frost he bindeth up the face of the waters So by the Frost of Affliction he bindeth up the face of our Comforts Our work then is To keep our hearts thawed and open when our outwards are as it were Frozen up It is our work to see That in the mid'st of our outward straitnings our hearts be not straitned towards God It must be our work to keep our hearts open when the Lord shuts us up by Affliction Gods Afflicting is called Gods shutting up Deut. 32. 30. Except the Lord had shut them up Sometimes a man and his comforts walke together God sometimes turns a man loose among his Comforts to walk at large in the enjoyment of them And then sometimes the Lord separates between a man and his comforts and buildeth a wall between them that they cannot come at one another Thus the Church complaineth Lam. 3. 17. Thou hast removed my soul far from peace And again Lam. 3. 5. He hath builded against me and compassed me about with gall and travel And Vers 7. He hath hedged me about that I cannot get out Here the

order to Health Remember Every Affliction is in order to somewhat It cometh with a message from God Now our great work is to find out what the Message is Affliction bringeth When a man brings us Letters we do not look on the back side only and the superscription but we look upon what is contained within and what they import So it is in respect of Afflictions They bring us as I may say Letters from God and a Message in order to somewhat The thing we have to do in an Affliction is not only to look upon the endorsment and outside of the Affliction but we must break it up and see what is written within I told you formerly We must go to God to know the meaning of a condition Dan. 5. 5. We read of a hand writing and the King and all were troubled to know the meaning of what was witten In an Afflicted condition there is a hand-writing upon it The great thing we have to do is to enquire what is the meaning of it and for what end the Affliction cometh Thus it is with many in Affliction they never inquire after the meaning of an Affliction though it cometh with Letters and Messages yet as I may say they put them in their pocket as Caesar did those Letters that forewarned him of his Death when he was going to the Senate Plutarch telleth of the Governour of Thebes when a Letter was sent to him from Athens to discover a Plot that was against him which was that night to be Executed and the Messenger told him that the Matter contained in the Letter was of high Concernment and that he must read the Letter presently His Answer was Weighty matters for to morrow and that night he was Slain Thus some never look into the Letters that an Affliction bringeth us and so despise the Affliction Lam. 3. 40. the Afflicted are there directed what to do in their condition Vers 39. Why doth the living man complain This we should not do But then see what we should do Vers 40. Let us search and try our wayes c. This is some of the work we have to do in an Afflicted condition As the Lord spake to Josuah when the men of Israel fled before the men of Ai Josuah casteth himself down before the Lord but the Lord bids him rise up and search for there was wickedness committed As you may read Josh 7. 10. Where the Lord sheweth him what was his duty viz. To search out the sin for which that defeat came 2. This is another thing we are to do in an Afflicted condition viz. To set in and joyn with the Affliction and to further it in the work for which it is sent We must do by Afflictions as we do by Physick we do not only take Physick but we also joyn with it to further it in it's working we keep our Chamber we take Broth we forbear Studying and Working and all this is to further it's working Afflictions are Physick that God giveth us and then it is right when we joyn with the Physick and further and help it in it's Operation When a Physitian administreth Physick to a diseased Patient there are three things considerable viz. The Physitian the Patient and the Disease And where any two of these joyn together down goeth the third If the Physitian and the Patient joyn together down goeth the Disease if the Physitian and the Disease joyn together down goeth the Patient if the Patient and the Disease joyn together down goeth the Physitian So it is in respect of an Afflicted Condition There is the Patient the Physick and the Disease Now what is the reason that the Physick of Affliction doth some persons no good Surely this The Patient and the Disease joyn together This the Prophet telleth us in the case of Babylon Jer. 51. 9. We would have healed Babylon but she would not be healed Where you find the Patient taking part with the Disease Thus many in an Afflicted Condition take part with the Disease and not with the Physick Affliction cometh to set mens hearts and the world men's hearts and their lusts at greater distance but here is the misery that most men take part with their Lusts and not with their Afflictions to further them in the work for which they are sent They do in respect of the Rod as they do in respect of the Word When they should take part with the Word against their Sins they take part with their Sins against the Word So when they should take part with the Rod against their Lusts they take part with their Lusts against the Rod. Thus did those Isa 1. 5. Jer. 5. 3. They joyned with the Disease and did all they could to obstruct the operation and working of the Physick of Affliction This as I may say is a crossing our Crosses and afflicting our Afflictions when we hinder them in their working And this speaks an Afflicted condition evil for a man in this life It is said of Ahaz That in his Affliction he transgressed more and more This is naught 3. This is another work of an Afflicted condition viz. to eye our Passions and Affections more than our Afflictions To have an eye upon our hearts more then upon our hurts Some when they are in an Afflicted condition spend all their time in poring upon their afflictions as though that were the only work of their condition whereas the great work they have to do is to eye their own hearts and spirits Some look altogether without when they should look within It is our own passions in an Afflicted condition that are our greatest Affliction If the house within be kept dry we need not much to care what tempests are without We many times complain of that that is without us when indeed the cause is within us As we see it is with a sick man he complaineth of the uneasiness of the Stool he sits upon of the Bed he lieth upon of the unsavoriness of the Meat he eats when the cause is inward Were but his ill-humours removed and purged away the same Stool and Bed and Meat would content him When God puts men into an Afflicted condition the reason why to some it is so troublesome is from within from their own spirits and dispositions If they could but subdue their passions and bound their spirits the condition would be well enough Poring upon Afflictions is like a mans poring upon rough and tempestuous Waters which makes his head giddy and himself Sea-sick So it is with some they do but distemper themselves by looking altogether upon their Afflictions Thus it was with Job Job 2. You find him poring upon his Afflictions And then see what the effect was Chap. 3. he opened his mouth and fell a cursing the day of his birth Satan indeed thought to make him fall a cursing his God but he was deceived yet he fell to cursing the day of his birth which was too-much The great work a

crowded in with It and when Sin shall be no more these Miseries and Evils shall be no more Rev. 21. 4. There shall be no more Death c. The Thred followeth the Needle Sin was the Needle that drew in with it the Thred of Miseries and Afflictions Man had never known what Losses and Crosses and Miseries and Afflictions had bin had it not been for Sin 2. Afflictions of themselves do us no good of themselves they do not make a man better The Good by Afflictions comes from a Superiour Work from those admirable Influences and Concurrences of the Spirit of God on and with the Afflictions As our Saviour said Man lives not by Bread only So man is not amended by Afflictions only Put a Stone into the Fire it cometh out a Stone still No water either hot or cold will make a Blackmore White Empty Vinegar from Vessel to Vessel it will be Vinegar still So let a man be emplyed from Condition to Condition he is still the same We know the Plough breaks up the Earth but of it self doth not better it it leaveth it as it was there is nothing put in by the Plough If the Husbandman Dung it and cast in good Seed when he hath broken it up with his Plough then there is like to be a Harvest else there is nothing but Weeds and Nettles The Plough of Afflictions may break our Bodies and Estates and Spirits but there will be no Harvest without something more without an Heavenly Influence Afflictions will bring forth only Briars and Thorns The Expression of the Psalmist is Psal 94. 12. Blessed is the Man whom thou chastenest and teachest out of thy Law It is then happy when Correction and Instruction go together 3. As Afflictions are fruits of Sin and of themselves do no good so oftentimes through Mans Corruption they prove occasions of Sin They are so far from making men Better that they often make men Worse I have shewed before what Evils are incident both to a state of Prosperity and Adversity Satan knoweth how to make Afflictions to become Temptations And therefore we find this to be the Reason why Agur prayed against Poverty Prov. 30. 9. lest I be Poor and Steal and the Name of God be taken in Vain q. d. Poverty may put me under a Temptation of using Unlawful means to the Dishonour of God Thus Afflictions prove somtimes occasions of Sin and we are taught to Pray That we may not be led into Temptation 4. Consider again this That the Saints and Servants of God have prayed against Afflictions So they have prayed for 1. The Preventing of them and Keeping them off 2. The Removing them and Taking them off 1. For the Preventing them and keeping them Off. Thus did Agur Prov. 30. 8 9. where you have his Prayer First Against the Evils of Sin Ver. 7. Take from me Vanity and Lying Next Against the Evils of Affliction Ver. 8. Give me not Poverty 2. They have prayed for the Removing them and taking them off And those have done it who got as much good by their Afflictions as any under Heaven Thus David Psal 39. 10. Take away thy Stroak from me Psal 119. 22. Turn away Shame and Reproach from me Thus did Job Job 9. 34. Let him take away his Rod from me Job 13. 20 21. Withdraw thine Hand from me c. Where he Prayeth for Gods taking away his Afflicting Rod and for his with-drawing his Afflicting Hand And these Two men got as much good by their being Afflicted as ever any did Thus in General You see what we Answer to the Question Whether Evils of Affliction may be Prayed against II. We come to give a more particular Answer to the Question And tell you That though we say It is Lawful to pray against Afflictions yet it must be with the Observation of some Rules and Cautions and Directions That as our Saviour said in another case concerning Hearing Take heed how ye Hear So in this case of praying against Afflictions we say Take heed how ye Pray So consider There is a double praying against Afflictions as I told you before 1. For the Keeping them off 2. For the Taking them off 1. For the Keeping them off So there is a Twofold praying for the Keeping off Afflictions 1. Absolute 2. Conditional and with Submission 1. Absolute When men Pray that in no Case the Evil may happen to them so making their Will a Law to God's This praying against Afflictions is Unwarrantable and Unlawful We must know for Moral Evils of Sin we may pray absolutely against but not so against the Evils of Affliction 2. There is a Praying against them that is Conditional with Submission to the Will of God This is Lawful Our Saviour himself prayed that the Cup might pass from Him but adds this Not my Will but Thine be done Our praying against Afflictions is then right when there is a sweet Submission of our wills to the Will of God So that though we know that Afflictions are grievous to our Natures yet because we know not what the Decrees and Purposes of God are concerning us and not knowing but that He may see them good for us and make them good to us we do sweetly submit our wills to the Will of God and Proclaim Liberty to Him to deal with us as He please And herein is the Work of Grace seen that though Nature desireth wholly to be freed from them they being such things as are bitter to It yet a Christian leavs himself wholly to the Will of God and saith Not my Will but Thine be done When Christians see the Cup of Affliction preparing for them or coming towards them they must pray against it only as our Saviour did It is then right when in praying against Afflictions we pray absolutely that God may be Glorified but for the things that concern our selves we pray with Submission to His Will Thus Christ did John 12. 27 28. Save me from this Hour but for this cause came I to this Hour Father Glorify thy Self Our Saviour is absolute in that request of his That His Father would Glorify his Name and received an Answer But for the other Request he sweetly submitted to His Father 's Will. Thus doth a Gracious Heart pray absolutely that God may be Glorified let it be in Relation to himself which way the Lord please Thus in desiring freedom from Affliction though a Gracious Heart looks upon it as desirable to Nature to be freed from Losses and Crosses Sickness and Poverty c Yet he looks upon Gods Glory as That that is to preferred before its own worldly Welfare Ease Quiet Contentment and Comfort Whereas some may say that Agur prayed absolutely against Poverty Prov. 30. 8 9. Give me not Poverty c. We Answer that though it looketh like an absolute Request yet it is not If we look upon the Reason of the Request Vers 9. we shall find that he prayed absolutely only in relation