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	holy_a	1,533	5	5.3032	4	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A09981	A liveles life: or, Mans spirituall death in sinne Wherein is both learnedly and profitably handled these foure doctrines the spirituall death in sinne. The doctrine of humiliation. Mercy to be found in Christ. Continuance in sinne, dangerous. Being the substance of severall sermons upon Ephes. 2. 1,2,3. And you hath he quickned, who were dead in trespasses and sins, &c. Whereunto is annexed a profitable sermon at Lincolnes Inne, on Gen. XXII. XIV. Delivered by that late faithful preacher, and worthy instrument of Gods glory, Iohn Preston, Dr. in Divinity, chaplaine in ordinary to his Maiesty, master of Emanuel Colledge in Cambridge, and sometimes preacher of Lincolnes-Inne.	Preston, John, 1587-1628.	1633 (1633)	STC 20235; ESTC S122552	73,904	134

not take him and eat him the Sunne enlighteneth but the window lets it in Christ gives life but our hungring after him makes us eat him which we will not doe untill wee be humbled 2 May come to Christ that is receive him and beleeve in him it is but laying hold of him when hee sees he must perish as a man that is falling into the sea casts himselfe on a rocke and there will lie and rest so wee seeing wee must perish without him wee clap hold on him and will not leave him for any persecution or pleasure 3 Whosoever will It is generally propounded for Christ is a common fountaine he that will may come As Iohn 7. 3 7. If any man thirst let him come unto mee and drinke hee that beleeveth in mee as saith the Scripture out of his belly shall flow living waters and againe Iob. 3. 16. God gave his onely begotten Sonne that whosoever beleeved in him should not perish but have everlasting life As the old Adam was a common root of sinne and damnation so is Christ the second Adam of grace and salvation as at the yeere of Iubilee when the trumpet sounded whosoever would might goe free but if any would be sollavish as to serve they might so now to Christ now he calleth whosoever will may goe free and be delivered but if there be any so flavish minded as to stay they may The grounds of this Doctrine why I thus generally deliver it are these 1 Because else there were no ground of our faith faith must have a ground of Scripture and the Scripture makes no particular promise to any man it saith not thou Thomas or thou Iohn shalt be saved but it faith Whosoever will let him come and drinke freely of the water of life Then we say but I will therefore on this ground is the strength of faith that whosoever will may come 2 Because faith is about things that are faith presupposeth his object God gives the generall promise Whosoever will beleeve shall be saved This is the object of faith this premised the faith followeth and is the the cause of all the consequences as that Christ is mine I am sanctified justified c. these follow faith but the object is before viz. that whosoever wil come to Christ may as if I beleeve the world is created then it must first be created so if I beleeve I shall be saved if I goe to Christ then I must first have this for to beleeve that whosoever will come to Christ may come To exhort so many as are humbled for sinne and see what need they have of Christ to come to him to be quickened the fountaine is opened so that be thy sinnes never so many or great however committed of knowledge after many vowes or covenants yet if thou art so touched and humbled for thy sinnes that thou truely thirstest after Christ if thou wilt take him thou maist To those onely that are humbled is this wide doore of comfort opened art thou but humbled let thy sinne be never so great suppose it be of murther uncleannesse c. let them be aggravated with all the circumstances yet if thou canst be but humbled and then lay hold on Christ thou maiest Read 1 Cor. 6. 9. See what great sinnes those were how can you name greater Neither fornicator nor idolater nor adulter nor effeminate now abusers of themselves with mankind nor theeves nor covetous nor drunkards nor revilers not extortioners shall inherit the Kingdome of God And such were some of you But yee are washed but ye are sanctified but ye are iustified c. Nay suppose you have not one jot of holinesse nor of godly sorrow yet doe but take Christ and hee is thine To looke for sorrow and holinesse before thou takest Christ is to looke for life before the soule Therefore doe but take him and hee is thine for 1 The promise is free without any condition If godly sorrow and grace were required it were not free godly sorrow and grace followes faith but are not required before it 2 The promise is generall Mark 16. 16. Goe yee unto all the world and preach the Gospell to every creature If therefore there be any poore soule touched with his sinnes so as hee will doe or suffer any thing for Christ to him I speake comfort to him Christ doth belong thou maiest have CHRIST if thou wilt But some man will here be ready to object and say Then every one will take him To this I answer Every one would take him for a Saviour but there be conditions following after though not going before faith if you beleeve hee is your Saviour you must beleeve hee is your Lord you must serve him in all his commands and leave all your sinnes which none will doe untill they see that without him they cannot but perish and none but they will take him whom when they have taken him he descendeth into them and quickeneth them and animates them and makes them like himselfe As fire doth yron to have the same qualities which fire hath although not the same degrees Thus when a man humbled for sinne longeth after Christ and receives him Christ enters into him and gives him a threefold life 1 The life of guiltlesnesse by which wee are free from the guilt of sinne 2 The life of grace 3 The life of joy Thus hee quickeneth those which are dead in trespasses and sinnes Hitherto of the first verse we come now to the second Continuance in SINNE DANGEROVS EPHES. 2. VERS 2. Wherin in times past ye walked according to the course of this world according to the Prince of the power of the aire the spirit that now ruleth in the children of disobedience c. AFter the Apostle had proved these Ephesians to whom hee writes to be dead in trespasses and sinnes here in the next verse hee proceeds to confirme his Dorctrine by proving them to be dead men from the signes of death which are three That they walked 1 According to the course of the world 2 According to the Prince of the aire 3 In the lusts of the flesh These are the guides by whom they were led the world the flesh and the divell where such guides lead a man hee is like to runne a good course Now the point of Doctrine that ariseth from the first of these is That whosoever walketh in any course of sinne is a dead man and the child of wrath that is if there be any ruling lust in a man so that hee followes it and it commandeth him that man is in the estate of condemnation This is plaine Rom. 8. 1. There is no condemnation to those which are in Christ Iesus who walke not after the flesh but after the spirit If there be no condemnation to those which walke after the spirit then certainely there is condemnation to those which walke after the flesh So likewise

of Christ 1. Cor. 11. 29. which we doe when wee doe not sufficiently esteeme it and conceive not what right we have to which was the Corinthians sinne for they knew well enough that that did represent his body Let us therefore take heed we come preparedly for as God strooke Vzzah for touching the Arke with polluted hands and Nadab and Abihu for offering of strange fire so if thou come unpreparedly to the Sacrament he will strike thee But to returne to the poynt which was even now handled That all men are dead in trespasses and sinnes because it is point which concernes all sorts of men wee will a little further consider it and in the next place speake of the nature of dead men Dead men are either 1. Such as are starke dead in sinne and doe make no shew at all of life as are all open prophane and notoriously wicked men 2. Such as are dead indeed and in truth but yet make a shew of life outwardly seeme to have it like the Angels that have appeared many times in assumed bodies but yet have none of their owne that is true and substantiall and these are chiefly dissembling hypocrites or men meerely civill First This starke deadnesse without any shew at all of life of which sort wee have every where too too many consists chiefly 1. In the privation of life 2. In an active positive principle Now there are certaine signes arising from both these and they are 1. Positive 2. Privative 1 The Positive signes of a dead man are these three First All those which live any life whatsoever it be seeke such things as are agreeable to preserve that life and hate the contrary as a man that liveth a naturall life looketh for food rayment c. so in the life of grace there is an aptnesse to cleave unto goodnesse and unto Christ as iron doth to the Loadstone So a man that lives the life of grace his delight is in praying hearing reading c. but his lusts they are aegritudines animae the soules sicknesses they are as thornes to his sides and smoke to his eyes and he is never well or at quiet untill they are removed and gone but a wicked man one that is dead in sinne he is sicke of goodnesse as the other is of wickednesse and weary of it he is too strait-laced in it and therefore cannot brooke it A godly man hath an inward aptnesse and inclination to serve God as fire naturally inclines to goe upward indeed hee may sometimes contract impurity and have some corruptions yet they are but as mud in a cleere and living fountaine they are soone washed away but wicked men are like ditches which are full of mudde at their best and there it lyes and continues Secondly another positive signe of this deadnesse is When a man lies in any living lust or knowne sinne for as a mortall disease and life cannot stand together no more can a living lust and the life of grace That is a living lust when although sometimes hee may have fits of resisting yet he alwayes gives over and still yeelds to that lust saying It is their nature and they cannot choose but commit it they know not how to resist it when as if there was some present Judgement threatned thee upon the commission of it then thou couldest forbeare This I call a living lust and although it be but one yet if other lusts tempted thee as much as that thou wouldest commit them also if thou forsakest other sinnes because they are sinnes why forsakest thou not this also Gal. 5. 24. They that are Christs have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts There is in every man a body of lust if any member of that body be unmortified he is yet a dead man 1 Tim. 5. 6. Shee which liveth in pleasure is dead while shee is alive Some may keepe themselves cleane from some sinnes but that will not serve for if they live in any knowne sinne they are dead Thirdly a third positive signe is When a man hath a secret antipathy against God and godlinesse Some beasts naturally hate some colours so some men out of a naturall inclination cannot endure goodnesse it selfe though they pretend some cause I call it an antipathy when a mans stomacke riseth against a thing and hee knoweth not wherefore so they hate goodnesse meerely out of a naturall abhorring of the thing it selfe although they pretend some cause for which they hate it They distant holinesse of life and for no just cause if it be you distast such men as professe an holy and pure conversation onely because they doe not conforme as some pretend why doe you distant those also that doe conforme If you dislike the professors of an holy life because of the hypocrisie they have found in them as some have not stood to say why doe you also dislike those that you are sure are no hypocrites They cannot define the holy man they hate but have a secret naturall hatred to them they cannot tell why but we know the reason well enough it is because they live a contrary life to them and therefore cannot agree no more than fire and water indeed fire and water may agree in remisse degrees but not in intense so these men can suffer those which are indifferently holy but if they come to any perfection and height of holinesse then they cannot endure them Now the Apostle sayes expresly 1 Ioh. 3. 14. By this we know wee are translated from death to life because we love the brethren hee that loveth not his brother abideth in death So that it is an infallible signe of deadnesse not to love the brethren if thou hatest the Saints nay if thou lovest them not nay if thou lovest them not according to the measure of grace that is in them and if thou art not grieved for any of their sinnes by which they may cause scandall or bee disgraced thou art yet a dead man And so much for the positive signes 2 The Privative signes of deadnesse follow which are these five The first privitive signe of deadnesse is want of speech He that is dead is speechlesse and breathlesse so he that is dead in sinne in all holy things is speechlesse Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh saith Christ in the Gospell Matth. 12. 14. When the mouth is speechlesse the heart is empty Some that are dead in trespasses and sinnes may speake well sometimes but there is no living man but doth speake well Esa. 19. 18. Those that belong to Canaan will speake in the language of Canaan Their language will shew whether they are Galileans or not every man delights in operations agreeable to their habits Here you may learne to judge of your selves by your words not by some words that are spoken by fits but by thy usuall and customary speech that is a signe of that that is in you The

giving them leaves instead of silver and gold so doth hee deale with thee here for except there be a supernaturall frame of thy hear● there is not cause of comfort notwithstanding all thy civility and therefore thou must bee sure to have something in thee more than nature for civility will not bring to heaven 2 Formall performance of holy duties as praying reading c. that puffes men up and keeps them from humiliation If you either omitted them altogether then your conscience would checke you or performed them well then your heart would be bettered and you would be humbled but this formall doing of them keepes the heart dead and senslesse Remember therefore that no sacrifice is acceptable to God but that that comes from a Broken heart Psal. 51. 3 The badnesse of your nature you would doe better but your nature is so bad that you cannot But remember first That that aggravates your sinne and God likes you the worse for that and will the hardlier pardon you even as wee our selves are readiest to pardon an offence in a good nature Secondly your selfe is the cause of the badnesse of your nature God gave you in Adam a good nature but you have lost it and since by many sinnes have made it worse by farre 4 Gods mercy he is mercifull therefore you will not feare but what if hee be mercifull hee calls not thee thou art not burdened with thy sinnes he cals onely such Come unto mee all ye that are heavy laden and I will ease you What hast thou to doe with mercy which seest not thy misery thou hast no part in it as Iehu said to Iezabell 5 The making conscience of many things so Herod did many things after Iohns preaching so the Gentiles did by nature the things contained in the Law yet were without God Rom 2. but there is no example like unto that of Amazia 2 Chron. 25. 2. he did that which was right in the sight of the Lord for a long time but not with a perfect heart One may make conscience of praying in private and of doing many good duties and yet have no true grace but doe all out of a naturall conscience for feare of punishment 6. Because Judgements come not swiftly and are not speedily executed Ministers threaten but they feele nothing But wee must know that the lesse afflictions we have had the more are behind and I know not a more miserable condition than this is it is a most dangerous signe thou art ordained to death when thou art thus let alone vnpunisht As we use to say when men are frequently sicke there is no danger of death but when they never have beene sicke and at length fall into it it is very dangerous so it is to be feared that when once God beginnes with thee hee will make an end as hee threatned to Hophnie and Phincas hee will so strike that he will not strike twice so that nothing can be worse than for a sinner to goe on without trouble 7. Men judge their estates and sinnes in a false ballance of opinion none say they thinke ill of them but a few that are more precise than wise But consider 1 That Ministers are onely the men by whom ye beleeve not whom ye should beleeve take our words but so farre forth as they are proved unto you by Scripture and if they be true then although few be of that minde yet you ought to beleeve them 2 Consider whether that latitude of Religion which thou stickest unto and hopest to bee saved by will serve thee on thy death-bed and at the day of Judgement 3. Consider that it is the part of holy men and of none else to discerne which are the wayes of God every one is to be beleeved in his owne art therefore beleeve them Men thinke that it concernes onely some to bee holy as Ministers c. and not all I will answer such with the saying of Wisedome The way of godlinesse is too high for a foole If thou wert wise thou wouldest thinke it concerned thee also Now I beseech you brethren humble your selves and so much the rather because now the time and necessity of the Church requires it now while shee is thus in her mourning gowne seeke not after your profits and pleasures drinke not Wine in bowles use not now the liberties that otherwise lawfully you might Remember that saying of Vriah 2 Sam. 11. 11. The Arke and Israel and Iudah abide in tents and my Lord Ioab and the servants of my Lord are encamped in the open fields shall I then goe into my house to eat and to drinke and to lye with my wife c. And doe as Daniel did chap. 9. Now practise all the parts of Humiliation now Gods Church needeth it although you your selves were free yet humble your selves for the sinnes of others continually pray to God for them Remember what God threatneth to those Esa. 22. 12. that when he called to mourning they followed their pleasure hee saith He will not forget it to the death so Esa. 66. 4. God is angry with all that neglect this duty and will not bee stirred up to performe it but those that doe call on him he will heare The unrighteous Iudge Luk. 18. was overcome by importunity and then much more will God if we humble our selves as Mordecay Ester 4. 14. concluded excellently Their deliverance shall arise from another place so may we then certainly the Church shall stand and Antichrist shal fall as a mill-stone into the sea never to rise up againe I grant hee may rage very farre he hath raged farre already and how farre more he shall rage God onely knowes yet in the end certaine it is he shall fall the Church shall stand Let us all therefore be humbled you which have not yet begunne this humiliation now beginne and yee which have begunne bee stedfast therein knowing that your labour shall not bee in vaine in the Lord. Mercy to be found in Christ. The next thing to be shewed after this doctrine that wee are dead in sinne is the meanes of recovering our life and that is by Christ as it is in the Text you hath hee quickened that were dead c. Hee that is Chist hath done it Hence learne this doctrine of comfort as a refreshing cordiall next after the bitter potion of humiliation That Whosoever will come to Christ may come and finde mercy Rev. 22. 17. Whosever will let him taste of the waters of life freely Here I will shew 1 What is meant by will whosoever will that is he that will receive Christ with all his conditions to be his Lord and his Ruler c. Whosoever will thus take Christ hee may if wee would take Christ before wee were humbled we might but till we be humbled we will not take him It is Christ that gives life but till we be hungry we wil