Selected quad for the lemma: cause_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
cause_n	believe_v	church_n	faith_n	2,838	5	5.7579	4	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A03585	A learned and comfortable sermon of the certaintie and perpetuitie of faith in the elect especially of the prophet Habakkuks faith. By Richard Hooker, sometimes fellow of Corpus Christi College in Oxford.	Hooker, Richard, 1553 or 4-1600.; Jackson, Henry, 1586-1662.; Spenser, John, 1559-1614.	1612 (1612)	STC 13707; ESTC S121047	10,094	20

of the sun when it shineth vpon our faces To that of Abraham He did not doubt I answere that this negation doth not exclude all feare all doubting but only that which cannot stand with true faith It freeth Abraham from doubting through infidelitie not from doubting through infirmitie from the doubting of vnbeleevers not of weake beleevers frō such a doubting as that whereof the Prince of Samaria is attainted who hearing the promise of suddaine plentie in the middest of extreame dearth answered a Though the Lord would make windowes in heaven were it possible so to come to passe But that Abraham was not void of al doubting what need we any other proofe then the plain evidēce of his own words Gen. 17. v. 17. The reason which is taken frō the power of the spirit were effectuall if God did worke like a naturall agent as the fire doth inflame and the sun inlighten according to the vttermost ability which they haue to bring forth their effects But the incomprehensible wisdome of God doth limit the effects of his power to such a measure as seemeth best vnto him selfe Wherefore he worketh that certaintie in al which sufficeth abundantly to their salvatiō in the life to come but in none so great as attaineth in this life vnto perfection Even so ô Lord it hath pleased thee even so it is best and fittest for vs that feeling still our owne infirmities we may no longer breath then pray Adiuva Domine Help Lord our incredulitie Of the third questiō this I hope will suffice being added vnto that which hath bin thereof alreadie spoken The fourth question resteth so an end of this point That which commeth last of all in this first branch to be considered concerning the weaknes of the Prophets faith whether he did by this very thought The Law doth faile quench the spirit fall from faith and shew himselfe an vnbeleever or no. The question is of moment the repose and tranquillitie of infinite soules doth depend vpon it The Prophets case is the case of many which way soever we cast for him the same way it passeth for all others If in him this cogitation did extinguish grace why the like thoughts in vs should not take the like effect there is no cause Forasmuch therefore as the matter is waightie deare and pretious which we haue in hand it behoveth vs with so much the greater charines to wade through it taking speciall heed both what wee build whereon we build that if our building be pearle our foundation be not stubble if the doctrine we teach bee full of comfort and consolation the ground wherevpon we gather it be sure otherwise we shall not saue but deceaue both our selues and others In this wee knowe we are not deceaued nether can we deceaue you when we teach that the faith whereby yee are sanctified cannot faile it did not in the Prophet it shall not in you If it bee so let the difference be shewed betweene the condition of vnbeleevers and his in this or in the like imbecillitie weaknesse There was in Abakkuk that which S Iohn doth call the seed of God meaning therby the first grace which God powreth into the hearts of them that are incorporated into Christ which having receaved if because it is an adversarie vnto sinne we doe therefore thinke we sirv not both otherwise and also by distrustfull and doubtfull apprehending of that which we ought stedfastly to beleeue surely we doe but deceaue our selues Yet they which are of God doe not sinne either in this or in any thing any such sinne as doth quite extinguish grace cleane cut them of from Christ Iesus because the seed of God abideth in them and doth shield them from receaving any irremediable wound Their faith when it is at strongest is but weake yet even then when it is at the weakest so strong that vtterly it never faileth it never perisheth altogether no not in them who thinke it extinguished in themselues There are for whose sakes I dare not deale slightly in this cause sparing that labour which must be bestowed to make it plaine Men in like agonies vnto this of the Prophet Abakkuks are through extremitie of griefe many times in iudgement so confounded that they finde not themselues in themselues For that which dwelleth in their harts they seeke they make diligent search and enquirie It abideth it worketh in them yet still they aske where Still they lament as for a thing which is past finding they mourne as Rachell and refuse to bee comforted as if that were not which indeed is and as if that which is not were as if they did not beleeue when they do as if they did dispaire when they do not Which in some I graunt is but a melancholy passion proceeding only from that dejection of minde the cause whereof is in the body and by bodily meanes can be taken away But where there is no such bodily cause the minde is not lightly in this moode but by some of these three occasions One that iudging by comparison either with other men or with themselues at some other time more strong they think imperfection to be a plaine deprivation weakenes to be vtter want of faith An other cause is they often mistake one thing for an other Saint Paule wishing well to the church of Rome praieth for them after this sort The God of hope fill you with all ioy of beleeving Hence an error groweth when men in heavines of spirit suppose they lacke faith because they finde not the sugered ioie and delight which indeed doth accompanie faith but so as a separable accident as a thing that may be removed from it yea there is a cause why it should bee remoued The light would never be so acceptable were it not for that vsuall entercourse of darknesse Too much honie doth turne to gall and too much ioy euen spiritually would make vs wantons Happier a great deale is that mans case whose soule by inward desolation is humbled then he whose heart is through abundance of spirituall delight lifted vp and exalted aboue measure Better it is somtimes to go down into the pit with him who beholding darknesse and bewailing the losse of inward ioy consolation crieth from the bottome of the lowest hel My God my God why hast thou forsaken me then continually to walk arme in arme with Angels to sit as it were in Abrahams bosome and to haue no thought no cogitation but I thank my God it is not with me as it is with other men No God will haue them that shall walke in light to feele now and then what it is to sitte in the shaddow of death A grieued spirit therefore is no argument of a faithlesse mind A third occasion of mens misiudging themselues as if they were faithlesse when they are not is They fasten their cogitations vpon the distrustfull suggestions of the flesh whereof finding great abundance in themselues they gather thereby surely