Selected quad for the lemma: cause_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
cause_n	apostle_n	grace_n	work_n	1,655	5	6.2073	4	false

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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A64642	Eighteen sermons preached in Oxford 1640 of conversion, unto God. Of redemption, & justification, by Christ. By the Right Reverend James Usher, late Arch-bishop of Armagh in Ireland. Published by Jos: Crabb. Will: Ball. Tho: Lye. ministers of the Gospel, who writ them from his mouth, and compared their copies together. With a preface concerning the life of the pious author, by the Reverend Stanly Gower, sometime chaplain to the said bishop.	Ussher, James, 1581-1656.; Gower, Stanley.; Crabb, Joseph, b. 1618 or 19.	1660 (1660)	Wing U173; ESTC R217597	234,164	424

the iron is hot the fire hath made a change in it it 's malleable the hammer is able to work on it but let the fire be gone and it 's as hard as before nay we say steel is harder so that there is no change in the nature of iron it 's hard still redit ad ingenium it goes back into its own estate If it be softened it is by an accidental cause so here as long as the temporary faith is in the furnace of afflictions when God shall let loose the cord of his conscience and makes him see that there is no way for salvation but by Christ then the sense of his torture will make him desire with all the veines in his heart to have Christ. See a singular example of this temporary desire in Psal. 78.34 When he slew them then they sought him and returned and enquired early after God So Prov. 1.27 When their fear was on them as desolation and their destruction as a whi●le-wind when distresse and anguish cometh upon you then shall they call upon me c. Not with a feign'd desire but in truth and reality they desire relief They remembred then that God was their Rock and the high God their Redeemer they saw a Redeemer when he was slaying of them and they believed that God would free them though it was but temporary Neverthelesse they flattered him with their mouths and lyed unto him with their tongues for their heart was not right with him neither were they stedfast in his Covenant Observe then this was but a temporary case a temporary change there was no new creature no new nature wrought but being in the furnace of affliction as long as the fire was hot they were pliable they were not stedfast in his Covenant Let this be an admonition to them that think they never can have true faith till God slay them I am not of that opinion God sometimes useth this means but it is not so necessary as that it cannot be otherwise and to speak truly I had rather have faith that comes another way the difference is this The temporary believers will have Christ while God is slaying of them whil'st they are in the furnace of afflictions but the other in cold blood when Gods hand is not on them The true believer is sick of love and when he hath no affliction nor Gods hand on him with the Apostle he accounts all things dung and drosse for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus There 's an ardent desire when this external cause draws not If when thou art out of the forge thou hast thy heart softned and findest this work of grace and faith to drive thee to Christ thou hast a faith unfeigned and so the faith of Gods elect Again there is not only this desire in him who hath a temporary faith but having understood the Word he so desires it that when he knows there is no having Christ nor happinesse or salvation by him unlesse he deny himself and part from his evil wayes being perswaded of this out of self-love he would have Christ and seeing these be the termes that he must turn a new leaf and lead a new life or go to hell therefore he will do this too this is much yet I say he doth this too but how shall this be proved most evidently in 2 Pet. 2.20 For if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ they are again intangled therein and overcome the latter end with them is worse than the beginning Here is that Apostasie and here is the subject of the temporary faith It had been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness then after they have known it to turn from the holy Commandment delivered unto them this was a temporary conversion as Ephraim like a broken bow turned back again in the day of battel Observe what they did they were like the foolish Virgins they kept their maiden-heads in respect of the pollutions of the world they lived very civilly they escaped the corruptions of the world and no man could challenge them of any filthy act they knew that Christ was the King of Saints and had the knowledge of him they knew that it was not fit that the King of glory and holinesse should be attended on by the black guard that they must have sanctity that will follow him and therefore they laboured to be fit to attend him They escaped the pollutions of the world but yet it continues not why so For it hapned to them according to the true Proverb the Dog is returned to his vomit and the Sow that is washed to her wallowing in the mire Mark the Dog turns again to his own vomit This proceeds from some pang in his stomach that enforceth that filthy beast to disgorge it self that it may have some ease but he quickly gathers it up again as soon as the pang is over Some there are that would be content to hide their iniquity under their tongues as Job speaks but there comes a pang sometimes a pang in their consciences which forceth them to vomit up their sweet bits again but well the fit is gone and being gone they like the filthy dog return to their vomit again considering the pleasure which they took in that filthy thing that they did disgorge themselves was but from that pang and present pinch not from the loathing or hatred of the thing and therefore they return again unto it By the way then take notice of the filthinesse of sinne how filthy is it that the Lord compares it to the vomit of a dog Then there followes another comparison of it It 's as the So● that is washed and returns to her wallowing in the mire See another loathsome resemblance of this temporary faith the Sow was washed but how her swinish nature was not washed from her as long as the Sow is kept from the mire in a fair Meadow with the Sheep she looks as sleek and clean as they she was washed there 's an external change but her nature remained bring the Sow and the sheep to a puddle the sheep will not go in bec●use it hath no swinish nature but the other retaining its swinish nature though before in outward appearance as clean as the sheep was yet she goes again to her wallowing in the mire There may be the casting away of a mans sinnes and yet no new creature wrought in him That I may shew this to you take this example A man known to be as covetous a man as liveth he loveth his money as well as his God yet perchance this man is brought in danger of the Law and must be hang'd for some misdemeanour committed this man to save his life will part with all he hath what is his disposition changed no not a whit he is as covetous as before he is the same man he doth it to save his life and to

and that 's a terrible one He that eats and drinks unworthily eats and drinks damnation to himself damnation that 's somewhat hard the word in the Margent is better 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 judgement True there are such as so come that they deserve to eat condemnation to themselves as openly profane ones in whom it's high treason being Gods vowed enemies to take his Privy Seal and put it to so vile a use this I say deserves damnation but then others there are that have faith and repentance and a portion in Christ yet coming unworthily to this feast eat judgement to themselves that is a judgement of chastisement There is a twofold judgement 1. One of revenge for those that put Gods Seal to a wrong evidence having no faith to make Christ his portion in such a one its high treason to put forth his hand to this tree of life 2. Another of chastisement for such a one as hath repentance and yet comes too unmannerly and carries himself too carelesly at the Lords Table at this the Apostle aims in the Text not at that judgement of condemnation but at a judgement to prevent damnation And this appears in the words following where we shall finde the Apostle recounting up the particulars of this judgement of chastisement For this cause many are weak and sickly among you and many sleep ver 30. Mark what 's the judgement he eats why this he 's cast upon his bed of sicknesse into a Consumption perchance or some other corporal disease a cause Physicians seldome or never look into they look to Agues Colds or the like they never once conjecture that their unworthy eating at the Lords Table cast them into the disease and was the principal cause of the malady Nay death it self too often is the punishment of such bold attempts so that all the Physicians in the world cannot cure them And thus God inflicts temporal judgements to free them from eternal as appears farther in the 32. ver When we are judged we are chastned of the Lord that we should not be condemned with the world that is we undergo a judgement of chastisement to prevent the judgement of condemnation which though it be a sharp and bitter pill yet by the mercy of God we eat that whereby damnation is prevented This judgement of condemnation is the portion of the profane person who dares to meddle with that belongs not to him against whom the Angel of the Lord with a flaming sword stands to keep the way of this tree of life Those that come that have faith yet coming unpreparedly they eat judgment too yet by Gods mercy it 's that which preserves them from the damnation of the soul. Now before I come to the particulars note how careful God is that spiritual exercises should be spiritually performed He 's very angry when he sees a spiritual duty carnally undertaken For this cause many are sick c. that is because you that are believers have faith repentance and a portion in your Saviour come irreverently come unpreparedly perform a spiritual work so carnally We have presidents hereof in Scripture● and chiefly two First for circumcision Exod. 4.24 At the 21. v. God sent Moses on a Message into Egypt and in the 24. vers the Text saith It came to pass by the way in the Inne that the Lord met him and sought to kill him This is very strange this hath no dependance on that which goes before a strange accident God sought to kill him although he but a little before had sent him into Egypt and told him he would be with him Why what should we do then how should the message be done and fulfilled But what was the reason hereof It 's not expressed yet we may gather from the following words that it was by reason his sons were uncircumcised for vers 25. Zippora took a sharp stone and cut off the fore-skin of her sonne and cast it at his feet and said surely a bloody husband hast thou been unto me God would have smitten him for the neglect of the Sacrament of Circumcision Another instance we have for the Passover in Hezekiahs time 2 Chron. 30.17 18. A multitude of the people yea many of Ephraim and Manasseh Issachar and Zebulon had not cleansed themselves yet did they eat the Passover otherwise then it was written There were many likewise in the Congregation that were not sanctified and therefore God punished them It 's not set down in what manner God punished them yet by the consequent it may be gather'd that it was by sicknesse for the next words are to that effect Hezekiah prayed for them saying the good Lord pardon every one that prepareth his heart to seek God the Lord God of his Father though he be not cleansed according to the purification of the Sanctuary and the Lord hearkened to Hezekiah and healed the people So that you see for this God smites a person and it 's to be feared least judgements temporal fall on the whole Nation for this fault that he even smites a people to death But we passe from this and come to the particulars 3. The particulars of this offence and wherein it consists that a man comes unworthily that so we may know whether we are guilty of the crime Know therefore that there are two sorts that come to the communion First those to whom the businesse doth not belong that have nothing to do with the thing as openly profane ones Secondly such as have interest in the matter but yet come unpreparedly and in an unbeseeming manner the former take part in the signe but enjoy not the thing signified and the latter coming unpreparedly depart without the comfort which otherwise they might have Now mark to whom Christ would say if he were now coming to judgement in the clouds to whom I say if he were now coming in the clouds he would say Come ye blessed of my Father inherit a Kingdome prepared for you from the beginning of the world to them he would likewise say Come to my Table come to this banquet partake of my body and blood and to as many as he would say Depart from me you cursed into everlasting flames to so many would he say go you from my Table come not near Now there are two sorts of people to whom if the Lord Jesus were coming in the clouds to Judgement he would say Depart into everlasting flames and those are those that know not him and obey not the Gospel of Jesus Christ 2 Thes. 1.8 Now to these two sorts of people Christ would say if he were on earth Depart from my Table meddle not with those Mysteries And they are 1. Those that know not God and indeed it is a most unworthy thing for an ignorant man to come to Gods Table Know whoever thou art that art such an one that it belongs not to thee it was appointed for an understanding people The Lord invites not fools and block-heads to his Mysteries

son of a temporary Prince be free how much more shall the Son of God be free But yet it behoves us to fulfill all righteousness He would be a subject unto Caesar and in recognition of his subjection he would pay Tribute though he fetched it out of the fishes belly Hence the Apostle tells us Rom. 13. For this cause you pay Tribute to testifie your subjection Neither was Christ only a servant to them who were in some Authority but generally among men he was in the state of a servant Mat. 20.28 The son of man came not to be ministred unto but to minister and to give his life a ransom for many Not to be a Master to command and have others to attend him but he came to be a servant see in what esteem he was had We account a servant in the next degree unto a beast for liberty is that whereby a man bre●●hs and a man were better be dead then have his liberty took from him and so Christ was not only a bond-man in regard of h●s Father but in regard of men In the estimation of men he was vilified for a bond-man and that will appear by the price for which he was sold. It was thirty pieces of silver To consider what the price was is a considerable part of his passion There is a Prophesie cited out of Jeremy in your books but it is Zachary though I have seen some copies which mentioned neither but only according to the words of the Prophet it is Zach. 11.13 Cast it unto the potter a goodly price that I was prized at of them He speaks it with disdain And I took the thirty pieces of silver and cast them to the potter in the house of the Lord. Exod. 21.32 There is a place parallel to it which will expound it clearly If an Ox shall push a man-servant or a maid-servant that he die the Owner of the Ox shall give to the Master of the servant thirty shekels and the Ox shall be stoned It was the very price that was paid for a slave Thirty shekels which is 3 l. 15 s. in our money A base estimation they had of Christ as if he were a bond-man the same price that was given for a slave that was killed by an Ox for this same price was he sold. In the second book of Josephus cap. 12. When Ptolomaeus Philadelphus would redeem all the Jews which were bond-men It s set down what he paid for a slave There is set down a great summ of money and the number of the slaves Here stands the valuation divide the number of Drachms by the number of slaves and you shall find the quotient for every man 120 drachms four Drachms make a shekel thirty shekels was the ordinary rate cryed in the Market for the price of a bond-man Thus Christ took on him the form of a bond-man not only Gods bond-man but in the estimation of men so despicable that they valued him at no higher rate then thirty pieces of silver This is but the beginning and entrance on Christs humiliation to be made in the similitude of sinfull flesh and in the verity of true flesh Christ had all infirmities as weariness hunger thirst which follow a sinfull man which were not sinfull such a nature he took upon him and then he became obedient both by active and passive obedience That which remains of the pains of his life to the passage of his dolefull death we will speak of the next time FINIS PHIL. 2.8 And being found in fashion as a man he humbled himself and became obedient unto the death even the death of the Cross. IN these words and those that went before you see there is delivered unto us the point of the humiliation of the Son of God It stands in this 1. That he took upon him the form of a servant and was made in the likeness of man God the Son the second person in the Trinity did assume our dust and ashes unto the Unity of his own sacred person 2. This humane nature being thus assumed he was content to deprive himself a long time of that beatifical vision which he might have still enjoyed in that time was as obedient as the meanest and poorest servant of his Father Nor was he only actively but passively obedient He was obedient unto the death he was content to lay down his life for our Redemption And it was not every death that would serve the turn but it must be the death of the Cross the most accursed shamefull and painfull death that death which was most suitable and best able to answer the wrath of God First He humbled himself by taking our nature upon him He that thought it no robbery to be equal with God took upon him the form of a man If it were an abasement for God to look upon heaven the most glorious of his works how much more to take upon him a clod or peice of this earth and unite it to his own sacred person for ever This was a descending indeed he descended first that he might ascend Eph. 4.9 Now that he ascended what is it but that he descended first into the lower parts of the earth That is he descended into the womb of the Virgin and it was a great abasement indeed for him thus to descend Wherefore the Psalmist speaking of the wonderfull framing of the Babe in the womb saith Psalm 139.15 My substance was not hid from thee when I was made in secret and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth So that we see God descended into the lowermost parts of the earth and there was he fashioned A great humiliation it was for him to be thus inclosed Thus did he humble himself in taking our nature Had he taken the form of a King upon him it h●d been a great humiliation how much more when he took on him the form of a servant He came not in state to be ministred unto but to minister as we shewed the last day Nor was he only his Fathers servant but a servant of servants and therein underwent Canaans curse A servant of servants shalt thou be Our Saviour became such a servant He which was the Author of freedom John 8.26 If the Son make you free then are you free indeed He I say who was the Kings son and so the most free the Author of it to all that enjoy any spiritual freedom became a servant that we which were servants might be made free But besides this it s added here that he humbled himself Having taken on him the form of a servant he humbled himself Where we may observe what made the suffering of our Saviour so meritorious It was because it was active free and voluntary Our Passions are contrary to our Will We are drawn to it as it is said of Peter When thou art old they shall lead thee whether thou wouldst not John 21.18 Peter dyed the same death our