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
A77994	The rare jevvel of Christian contentment. By Jeremiah Burroughs, preacher of the Gospel to two of the greatest congregations in England; viz. Stepney and Criplegate, London.	Burroughs, Jeremiah, 1599-1646.; Goodwin, Thomas, 1600-1680.	1648 (1648)	Wing B6102; Thomason E424_1; Thomason E424_2; ESTC R204543	184,029	231

by what he finds in himself 57 He fetcheth supply from the Covenant Page 61 1 In Generall ibid 2 From particular promises 64 14 He realliseth the things of Heaven 67 15 He letteth his heart out to God ibid Lessons whereby Christ teacheth Contentment 1 Self-deniall 68 Whereby a Christian knows 1 That he is nothing 69 2 That he deserves nothing ibid 3 That he can do nothing 70 4 That he can receive no good of himself ibid 5 If God withdraw himself he can make use of nothing ibid 6 That he is worse than nothing 71 7 That there is no loss of him if he perish ibid 8 That he comes to rejoyce in Gods waies 72 2 Lesson To know the vanity of the Creature 73 3 Lesson to know that one thing wherefore 74 SERMON V 4 Lesson To know his relation in this world 76 5 Lesson Wherein the good of the Creature is Page 79 6 Lesson The knowledge of his own heart 82 Which helps to Contentment 1 By discovering wherein discontent lies ibid 2 By knowing what is suitable to our condition 83 3 By this we know what we are able to mannage 84 7 Lesson To know the burden of a prosperous estate 85 Which is four fold 1 The burden of trouble ibid 2 The burden of danger 86 3 The burden of duty 89 4 The burden of account ibid 8 Lesson A great evill to be given up to our own hearts desire 91 SERMON VI 9 Lesson The right knowledge of Gods providence 94 Wherein four things 1 The universality of it ibid 2 The efficacy of it 95 3 The variety of it ibid 4 Gods particular dealing with his people 97 In three things 1 They are ordinarily in affliction 98 2 When he intends them greatest mercies he brings them lowesi ibid 3 He works by contraries Page 99 The excellency of Contentment 1 Excellency By it we give God his due worship 101 2 Excel In it there is much exercise of grace 103 1 There is much strength of grace ibid 2 There is much beuty of grace 104 3 Excel The soul is fitted to receive mercy 106 4 Excel It is fitted to do service 107 5 Excel Contententment delivers from temptation 108 6 Excel It brings abundance of comfort 110 7 Excel It fetcheth in that that we possess not 111 In 4 particulars 131 SERMON VII 8 Excel Contentment a great blessing of God upon the soule 115 9 Excel A contented man may expect reward 116 10 Excel By Contentment the soul comes neerest the Excellency of God himself 117 ●se 1 To be humbled for want of Contentment Page 118 The Evils in a murmuring spirit 1 It is an Argument of much corruption in the soul 119 2 It is a note of a wicked man 120 3 Murmuring is accounted Rebellion 121 4 It is exceeding contrary to grace in conversion 122 The works of God in conversion 1 To make us sensible of the evill in sin 123 2 A sight of the excellency of Christ ibid 3 Taking the heart from the creature ibid 4 Casting the soul on Christ for all good 124 5 Subduing the soul to Christ as King ibid 6 Giving up the soul to God in Covenant 125 5 Evill Murmuring below a Christian 126 1 Below his relation 1 To God as a Father ibid 2 To Christ as a spouse ibid 3 To Christ as a member 127 4 To Christ as a Co-heir ibid 5 To Gods Spirit as a temple ibid 6 To Angels as one with them ibid 7 To Saints as of the same body ibid 2 Below his dignity Every Christian a King Page 128 3 It is below the spirit of a Christian 129 4 Below the profession of a Christian 131 5 Below the grace of faith ibid SERMON VIII 6 Below the helps of a Christian 132 7 Below the expectation of a Christian ibid 8 Below what other Christians have done 133 6 Evill by murmuring we undoe our prayers ibid 7 Evill The effects of a muring heart 1 Loss of much time 134 2 Vnfitness for Duty ibid 3 Wickedrisings of heart 135 4 Vnthankfulness ibid 6 Shifting 138 8 Evill Discontent a foolish sinne ibid 1 It takes away the comfort of what we have ibid 2 We cannot help our selves by it 139 3 It causeth foolish carriage to God and man ibid 4 It takes out the sweetness of mercies before they come ibid 5 It makes Affliction worse 141 9 Evill It provokes the wrath of God ibid 10 Evill There is a curse upon it Page 146 11 Evill There is much of the spirit of Satan in it 147 12 Evill It brings an absolute necessity of disquiet ibid 13 Evill God may justly withdraw his protection from such ibid Agravations of the sin of murmuring 1 Agravation The greater the mercies the greater the sin of murmuring 150 SERMON IX 2 Agrav When we murmur for small things 157 3 Agrav When men of parts and abilities murmur 158 4 Agrav The freeness of Gods mercy ibid 5 Agrav Discontent for what we have 159 6 Agrav When men are raised frrom a low condition ibid 7 Agrav When men have bin great sinners 160 8 Agrav When those murmur that are of little use in the world 161 9 Agrav To murmur when God is about to humble us ibid 10 Agrav When Gods hand is appar●nt in an affliction Page 162 11 Agrav To murmur under long afflictions 163 Pleas of a discontented heart 1 Plea I am but sensible of my affliction 1 Sense of affliction takes not away sense of mercies 165 2 It hinders not Duty ibid 3 It will make us bloss God for the mercies of others ibid 2 Plea My trouble is for my sins 1 It is not if you were not troubled for sin before 166 2 When the greatest care is to remove affliction ibid 3 If after affliction is removed sin troubles not ibid 4 If there be not care to avoid sin after 167 5 There is the more cause to accept of the punnishment ibid 3 Plea God withdraw● himselfe 1 We think God is departed when he doth but afflict 168 2 Disquiet is a sign and cause of Gods departure ibid 3 If God depart from us we should not from him 169 4 Plea I am troubled for mens ill dealing 1 Men are Gods instruments 170 2 We should rather pittie them then murmur Page 171 3 We have righteous dealing with God ibid SERMON X 5 Plea It is an affliction I looked not for 1 It is folly not to look for afflictions ibid 2 We should be more carefull of our carriage in it 172 6 Plea The affliction is exceeding great 1 It is not so great as thy sins ibid 2 It might have bin greater 173 3 It is greater for thy murmuring ibid 7 Plea It is greater then others afflictions Answered in 4 things 173 8 Plea If any other affliction they could be Content Answered in 4 things 174 9 Plea My afflictions make me unservicable to God 1 Though thou art mean thou art a member of the

mercies a means to lessen your sins then to be the agravation of your sins If you make not the mercies of God to helpe you against your murmuring you will make them to be agravations of the sinne of murmuring I beseech you for this take but this one consideration further and if you will but work it upon your hearts I hope you may find a great deal of power in it you find afflictions and your hearts are troubled and murmur consider how Gods mercies doth agravate this sin thus In the midst of our sins we doe make account God should accept of our services doe but consider thus if in the midst of our many sinnes wee hope that God will accept of our poor services why then should not we in the midst of our afflictions blesse God for his many mercies shall God be thus gracious to us that notwithstanding our many sins yet he will not cast away our poor duties and services that we perform then why should not we in the midst of our sufferings accept of what mercies we have and not slight them and disregard them If thou in the midst of Gods mercies shalt not be willing to bear afflictions that God layes upon thee then it were just with God that in the midst of thy sins he should not regard any of thy duties now i● there not as much power in thy manifould sins to cause God to reject thy duties and seivices as there is power in afflictions in the mid'st of many mercies to take off thy heart from being affected with Gods mercies And that 's the fist aggravation of of the sinne of murmuring to murmur in the mid'st of mercies A second aggravation of the sin of murmuring is When we murmur for small things Saith Naamans servant to him Father for so he called him if the Prophet had required you to doe some great thing would not you have done it how much more this little thing So I say if the Lord had required you to suffer some great matter would not you have bin willing to suffer How much more this little thing I remember I have read in Seneca a Heathen he hath this similitude which is a very fine one to set out the great evil of murmuring upon smaller afflictions saith he suppose a man hath a very fair house to dwell in and he hath fair orchards and gardens and set about with brave tall trees for ornament if this man now should murmur because the wind blows off a few leavs off his trees what a most unreasonable thing were it for him to be weeping and wringing his hands because he looses a few leavs off his trees when he hath abundance of all kinde of fruit thus it is with many saith he though they have a great many comforts about them yet some little matter the blowing off of a few leavs from them is enough to disquiet them It was a great evill when Ahab having a kingdom yet the want of his neighbours vineyard had such power to disquiet him So for us to murmur not because we have not such a thing as we have need of but because we have not what possibly we might have this is a very great sin Suppose God gives a child that hath all the limbs and parts compleat a child that is very comly and hath excellent parts wit and memory but it may be there is a wart that grows upon the finger of the child and she murmurs at it and Oh what an affliction this is to her she is so taken up with that as she forgets to give any thankes to God for her child and all the goodnesse of God to her in the child is swallowed up in that would not you say this were a folly a very great evill in a woman so to do Truly our afflictions if we weighed them aright they are but such kind of things in comparison of our mercies Rebeckah she had a mighty desire to have children but because she found some trouble in her body when she was with child saith she Why am I thus As if she should say I had as good have none onely because she found a little paine and trouble in her body To be discontent when the affliction is small and little that increases very much the sin of murmuring it is to much for any one to murmur upon the heaviest crosse that can befall one in this world but upon some small things to be discontent and murmur that 's worse I have read of one when he lay upon a heap of damask-roses he complained that there was one of the rose leaves lay double under him So we are ready thus for very small things to make complaints and to be discontented with our condition and that 's a second aggravation A third aggravation is this For men that are of parts and abilities that God hath given wisdom to for them to be discontent and murmur that is more then if others do it Murmuring and discontentednesse it too much in the weakest yet we can bear with it sometimes in children and women that are weake but for those that are men men of understanding that have wisdom that God imployes in publick service that they should be discontent with every thing this is an exceeding great evill for men in their families to whom God hath given parts and wisdom when things fall out amisse there to be alwaies murmuring and repining their sin is greater then for women or children to do it A fourth agravation Is the consideration of the freeness of all Gods mercies to us What ever we have it is of free cost what though we have not all we would have seeing what we have is free If what we have were earned then it were somewhat but when we consider that all is from God for us to murmur at his dispensations is very evill Suppose a man were in a family entertaind by a friend and he did not pay for his board but he hath it given him for nothing it 's expected such a one should not be ready to find fault with every thing in the house with servants or with meat at table or the like if such a one that hath plentifull provision and all given him Gratis and payes nothing for his board should be discontented if a cup should not be filled for him as he would have it or if he should stay a minute of an houre longer for a thing then he would this we would account a great evill So it is with us we are at Gods table every day and it is upon free-cost whatever we have It is accounted very unmannerly for a man at his friends table to find fault with things though at home he may be bold Now when we are at the table of God for so all Gods administrations to us are his table and are at free-cost now for us to be finding fault and be discontented this is a great aggravation of our sinne A fift aggravation of the sin

in this God is righteous and just and t is fit I should submit to what he hath done O the Lord hath done righteously in all his waies but that is not enough but thou must say Good is the hand of the Lord the expression of old Fly Good is the word of the Lord when it was a sore hard word that word that did threaten very greivous things to ●ly and his house and yet Good is the word of the Lord saith ●ly Perhaps some of you may say as David It is good that I was afflicted nay you must come to say thus It is good that I am afflicted Not good when you see the good fruit that it hath wrought but when you are afflicted to say It is good that I am afflicted Whatever the affliction be yet through the mercy of God my condition is a good condition it is the top indeed and the height of this art of Contentment to come to this pitch to be able to say Well my condition and afflictions are thus and thus and is very greivous and sore yet I am through Gods mercy in a good condition and the hand of God is good upon me notwithstanding Now I should have given you divers Scriptures about this I shall but give you one or two that are very remarkable you will think this is a hard lesson to come thus far not only to be quiet but to have a complacency in affliction Prov. 16. 6. In the house of the righteous is much treasure but in the revenues of the wicked is trouble Here is a Scripture now that will shew that a gracious heart hath cause to say it is in a good condition what ever it be In the house of the Righteous is much treasure his house what house it may be a poor Cottage perhaps he hath scarce a stoole to sit on perhaps he is fain to sit upon a stump of wood a piece of a block instead of a stool or perhaps he hath scarce a bed to lye upon or a dish to eat in yet saith the Holy Ghost In the house of the righteous is much treasure Let the righteous man be the poorest man in the world It may be there are some that hath come and taken all the goods out of his house for debt perhaps his house is plundered and all is gon yet still In the house of the righteous is much treasure the righteous man can never be brought to be so poor to have his house rifled and spoiled but there will remain much treasure within if he hath but a dish or a spoon or any thing in the world in his house there will be much treasure so long as he is there there is the presence of God and the blessing of God upon him and therein is much treasure but in the revenues of the wicked there is trouble There is more treasure in the poorest bodies house if he be godly then in the house of the greatest man in the world that hath his brave hangings and brave wrought beds and chairs and couches and cubbords of plate and the like what ever he hath he hath not so much treasure in it as in the house of the poorest righteous soul therefore in a verse or two after my text no mervail though Paul saith he was Content you shall see in Phil. 4. 18. But I have all and abound I am full I have all Alas poor man what had Paul that could make him say he had all where was there ever man more afflicted then Paul was many times he had not tatters to hang about his body to cover his nakednesse he had not bread to eate he was often in nakednesse and put in the stocks and whipt and cruelly used yet I have all saith Paul for all that Yea you shall have it in 2 Cor. 6. 10. he professes there That he did possesse all things as sorowful yet alwaies rejoycing as poor yet making many rich as having nothing and yet possessing all things but mark what he saith it is As having nothing but it is Possessing all things He doth not say as possessing all things but possessing all things it is very little I have in the world but yet possessing all things So that you see a Christian hath cause to take complacency in Gods hand whatsoever his hand be The Eight thing in Contentment it is In Gods dispose Submitting to and taking complacency in Gods dispose that is the soul that hath learned this lesson of Contentment looks up to God in all things looks not down to the instruments or the means as such a man did it and it was the unreasonablenesse of such and such instruments and the like barbarous usage of such and such but looks up to God a contented heart looks to Gods dispose And submits to Gods dispose that is sees the wisdom of God in all in his submission sees his soveraignity but that that makes him take conplacency it is Gods wisdom the Lord knows how to order things better then I the Lord sees further thē do I see things but at present but the Lord sees a great whil hence and how do I know but had it not been for this affliction I had been undone I know that the love of God may as w●ll 〈…〉 with an afflicted estate as with a prosperous estate and such kind of reasonings there are in a contented spirit submitting unto the dispose of God The last thing is This is in every condition it may be in some things you could be content You shall have many will say if my affliction were but as the affliction of such a one I could be content yea but it must be in the present affliction that is upon you We use to say There is a great deal of deceit in Universals in the general come to any man or woman and say Will not you be content with Gods dispose Yes say they God forbid but we should submit to Gods hand what ever it be you say thus in the general it is an easie matter to learn this lesson but when it comes to the particular when the crosse comes sore indeed when it striks you in the heaviest crosse that you think could besall you what saith your heart now Can you in every condition be content not onely for the matter but for the time that is to be in such a condition so long as God would have you to be content to be at Gods time in that condition to have such an affliction so long as God would have the affliction abide upon you to be willing to stay and not to come out of the affliction no sooner then the Lord would have you come out of it you are not content in your condition else to be content meerly that I have such a hand of God upon me and not to slay under the hand of God that is not to be content under every condition but when I can find my heart submitting to Gods dispose in such