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	faith_n	heart_n	1,406	5	5.2966	4	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A75538	Instructions about right beleeving: severall sermons leading unto Christ, directing unto faith, and incouraging thereto. Shewing the nature, measure, and necessitie of the sense of sinne. Christ the bread of life, a sufficient remedy for mans misery; with the way and meanes to obtain him; as also incouragements to come to him, from his abilitie and readinesse to give full soule-satisfaction. / By John Archer, Master of Art, sometime preacher of All-hallowes Lumbard-street. London.	Archer, John, Master of Art.	1645 (1645)	Wing A3613; Thomason E289_8; ESTC R200123	50,561	92

wholly destitute of God Grace for then thou must hunger thirst which Christ saith shall never be Neither is that of weight against this Cōmfortable Truth that Some object So long as one beleeveth he shall never loose wholly God Grace But one that beleeveth may loose his Faith and then loose God Grace wholly This I say is of no weight For though one may loose the use of Faith for some tyme Yet None that Beleeve can ever wholly loose Faith nor any other saving Grace as hath been showed in the opening of this Point and so as he can never wholly loose Faith so neither can he ever loose Christ or Grace If the Covenant did run thus That he that beleeves so long as he beleeves shall never fall away But yet he might loose all Beleeving and so fall away then were not that true Isay 55 3. For with Every Beleever God makes an Everlasting Covenant Even the Sure Mercyes of David Now how were the Covenant Everlasting or the Mercy Sure if that he might wholy loose Faith and so loose God all Grace Surely that Place expresly teacheth That when any one Beleeveth God makes with him a Covenant that shall Last for Ever and bestowes on him Mercy that is Sure and therefore he cannot be disappointed He that once beleeves must be for ever Gods and never so fall as to misse Heaven For Christ hath prayed for All that beleeve that They should be with him see his Glory Iohn 17. 20. 24. The Sonnes of God and so is every one that Beleeveth Iohn 1. 12. must be Like Christ when He appeares at the Last Day 1. Iohn 3. r. 2. Therefore He that beleeveth must be saved and can never wholy loose God or Grace And therefore it is that He that once Beleeves can never wholy loose his Faith because to the end He may never loose God or Grace God preserves Faith in him and by that Faith preserves him in Grace Favour with God till he come to inherite Glory 1. Pet. 1. 4. 5. Who are kept by the Power of God through Faith c. Secondly You that beleeve in Christ shall have All your desires alayed All your wants supplyed your Soules satisfied fully in this Life 1. Your sinfull desires to Sinne the Worlds Vanityes these shall be alayed by removing the Cause of them Viz Originall Corruption the Vanity of your Minds Hearts Your Soules shall be purged from those ill Humors which make you Hunger after this Trash and shall be put in right frame and you made to Hunger after good wholsome Things Viz Gods Favour Holynes Gall. 5. 24. Chap. 6. 14. Examine your Selves well and ye shall find that ye doe not so hunger after these Things as ye did and be ye sure that ye shall doe it lesse lesse till at last ye shall be quite freed from that vaine Desire For those many Exhortations in Scripture to Mortifie those Affections and to Lay them downe as Eph 4. 22. 23. 24. Coll. 3. 2. 5. doe include Promises upon your indeavor that it shall be done as may be gathered from Rom. 6. 12 14. where God promiseth that shall be which he exhorts to Yea Gods Exhortations to Beleevers are as his Word in Creation was Operative and working that which he Calls for and Commands to be Therefore doe ye but Exercise your Faith and use the Meanes God hath appointed and you shall have your sinnfull troublesome Desires alayed 2. So also Your good cōmendable Desires after Grace Holynes Those shall be satisfied Christ will fill you as full as ye can desire or contayne Allready ye have in you the Store-house Treasury of all Grace the Spring is in you Christ in whome is all you neede and therefore it is in him that you may have it He is yours and from him ye may have whatever you neede doe but let downe the Bucket of Faith and drawe what Water ye desire He will never with-hold any Grace yee thirst after if ye trust in him and use the meanes Psal 81. 10 He will fill the Mouth that is opened and according to your hope in him will he doe to you he may defer you a while to try the strength of your Desire and of your Faith but he will not with-hold ever but satisfie your Desire Yea he cannot with hold for what you seeke by Faith in Him and in the use of His meanes he must give you His Promise Office doe tye him to it for He is your Spring of Grace to satisfie your thirsty Soules And as a Man 's owne Spring cannot with hold Water from him when he comes to it no more can Christ Some wants ye shall have so long as ye live heere but yet there shall be a satisfieing filling up though not filled up as the Child is growing though not fully growen till he comes to Age And ye shall have that fullnes satisfaction that is needfull requisite for this Life so much ye shall have Therefore be Comforted and sinke not under the sence of your wants It is good to be sensible of spirituall wants so as to seeke for supply but it is folly unbeleefe to be discouraged under them since that ye have in hand doe possesse as your owne that which is able ready to supply them all if you use the meanes Viz Christ the Promises Would not one thinke them Fooles that complaine of Thirst and had a Spring of there owne at their Doore Yea farther Consider that ye have actually all Fullnes Viz In Christ the Promises there is All Fullnes what can you desire that is not there and it is all yours So that in your Substitute Treasury Srore house Wardroope there is actually all that you neede or desire and it is all yours For all is yours as ye heard before 1. Cor. 3. 21. and therefore the Apostle speakes of Calvin on this Scripture saith well Si eges nō habes fidem Si habes fidē non eges Beleevers as possessing all things 2. Cor. 6. 10. Iam. 2. 5. styles thē rich in faith that is not ment of abundance of Faith as sometime the word is taken but that by Faith they be Rich So that every one that Beleeves is Rich by Beleeving therefore possest of abundance else none are called Rich for the present injoying all that is needfull and Heires of a Kingdome for in the Life to come ye shall have a Satisfaction of all your Desires There ye shall have an absolute Fullnes all sinnfull worldly Desires shall be quite extinguisht all Holynes Happynes shall be perfectly administred there is nothing necessary or desirable for your Happynes but ye shall enjoy it actually in the highest Degree ye shall have your Wills to the full no Want or Crosse in any Desire God will say to you as Herod to Herodias her Daughter Marke 6. 22. 23. and

Salvation by Workes also and not by Faith onely and so make it neither Free Grace Gift nor sure nor shutt Man out from all beasting And also the Error of many among us even that have some good thing in them who to the end they may get Christ Salvation labour most for Humiliation or for Holynes and least of all to Come to Christ beleeve on Him wheras onely Faith is the Meanes and All that God requires for our obtaining Christ Salvation There are Two Snares which the Devill sets for People One is when they hope to be saved by Christ and never looke to be humbled nor to be sanctified thus the Profane are caught which is a most silly thing to thinke that any can be Saved that be not regenerated sanctified or to thinke that one can beleeve not hate all Sinne study all Holynes or that any one can be brought to Heaven by Christ and not to Holynes first It was a good speech of Francis Spira lying in the distresse of Spirit I will not saith he detract from the Gospel it is most true that by Faith in Christ we be onely saved but yet take heede of resting on Faith and neglecting the Workes of Faith Faith requires not that we be Christians in word onely Beleeve me qouth he who have fully tryed the matter and therefore he much commended to them the Epistles of Peter which presse Sanctity Chastity c. This was good Counsell and very usefull against this Snare by which Satan intangles the most of People who rest in a Conceite that they beleeve and never care for the Workes of Faith but the Error of this hath been opened before There is an other Error which is a second Snare of Satan Viz To labour for Humiliation Mortification Holynes Obedience and not to labour to Beleeve this is the Snare in which many well disposed People are caught And the Error of it appeares by this Doctrine Because there is no other Meanes required by God for our obtaining Christ Salvation but onely Faith Indeed some measure of Humiliation must be had before we can beleeve as ye have heard before Viz So much as may make one hunger after Christ and be willing to receive Him on any Conditions But when thus much is obtayned which is when there is a serious labour after Mortification and all Obedience Yet then to labour for more Humiliation or Holynes and not first cheifly to labour to beleeve in Christ this is a great error for there is noe other meanes to get Christ Salvation but Faith So that all the other Labour is in vaine and for that which never can bring Christ or Salvation as if a Man that desires to bring his dead Freind to Life should onely labour to bring him to the acts of Life as to speake walke c. and not to the onely Meanes of Life to have his Soule joyned againe to his Body and that Satan knowes and therefore putts them on it to make them spend time paynes to noe purpose To such therefore I may say as Elisha in an other case to the Syrians 2. Kings 6 19. This is not the Way Ye seeke Salvation and Christ but by farther measure of Humiliation having enough allready to make you willing or by Holynes you can not get them there is but one Way one Thing that God requires and that is to Beleeve Therefore as Christ said to Martha in an other case Luke 10. 41. 42. Ye are carefull about many things but one thing is necessary Viz to Come to Christ and Beleeve in him to Entertaine him and Give up your Selves to Him in all his Offices doe this and you shall be saved When this is done then shall ye be able to attaine Mortification and Victory over your Lusts Sanctification Ability to Duty and not before These be the Fruites Effects of Beleeving and you must Beleeve before you can have these As the Woman must be marryed to the Man before shee can have lawfull Children by him And the Science must be ingrafted into the Tree before it can beare Fruite Were it not a simple thing for a Woman to expect Children Legitimate by a Man and then shee would marry him Or to expect that a Science should first beare Fruite by the Sap of a Stock and then ye would ingraft it to it Or to expect that a Roome should be first inlightned and warmed in the cold Winter and thē ye would bring in a Candle Fire As absurd is it to expect first to be Sanctified and then to Beleeve in Christ For Faith in Christ is the Cause of all Mortification Holynes It is Christ that sanctifies People Heb. 2. 11. And of His Grace conveyes to us Iohn 1. 16. and he never doth it but by our Faith in Him for it is by Faith that He lives in us dwells in us as ye have heard Holynes is the Meanes by which Christ after he is beleeved in brings them that beleeve in Him to Salvation It is therefore a most preposterous and wholy unprofitable way for People to labour for Holynes or Heaven or Christ and not first cheifly to labor to Beleeve in Christ The Right and onely Way is being soe farr humbled as I said before as to hunger after Christ and be willing to have him on any Tearmes thē to labour to Beleeve and after that is done to labour for Mortificatiō Holynes By From Christ to get it Whome thou hast made Thine owne by Faith Wherefore I beseech you see your Error who will not beleeve till first you have the Spirit quickning you Grace strengthing you to Duty and subduing Sinne in you if you could thus find it in you then you could beleeve and not else This is the inverting Gods Order and a way that will never bring you to Christ or Heaven Indeed and I pray observe it there is an Act of Faith which cannot be had till this be had and that Divines calls a reflect Act where by a Soule beleeves that it doth beleeve Before this can be there must be Repentance Holynes c. This is a knowing that we have Faith this is not the necessary Meanes to Salvation but to Assurance Comfort But there is an other Act of Faith Viz. the direct Act which is Beleeving not a Beleeving that I doe Beleeve but a Beleeving and this must be before we can repent or have or doe any good this is the Meanes and onely Meanes to be saved Now consider the absurdity of your Error before you labor to Beleeve you labor to knowe you doe Beleeve you will be sure you doe Beleeve before you will Beleeve you labor for the Evidence of Faith before you labor to have Faith it Selfe you more and first care for the Meanes of Assurance Comfort of your Salvation then the Meanes of being Saved And one maine Ground of your doing thus is partly Pride