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	justification_n	2,857	5	9.3476	4	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A60326	Comforts against the fear of death. Being some short meditations, composed by that precious gentlewoman Mrs. Anne Skelton, late of Norwich Wherein are several evidences of the work of grace in her own soul, which were the stay of her heart, against the fear of death; from which may be discerned the name of a true Christian spirit. To which is added some short notes of a sermon preached at the burial of that choyce servant of God in St. Andrews in Norwich. By John Collings M.A. and one of the most unworthy embassadors of Jesus Christ for the preaching of the gospel in the late city.	Skelton, Anne.; Collinges, John, 1623-1690. aut.	1649 (1649)	Wing S3932A; ESTC R221500	38,402	100

say not that Faith as my act doth justifie me but it is instrumental as it 's hand to receive Christ and unite thee to him those righteousness alone is the meritorious cause of thy Justification Now here is a promise for thee to rest on John 3. 16 36. Whosoever believeth in Christ shall not perish but have everlasting life And he that believeth in the Son hath everlasting life Now my Soul exercise thy Faith apply this promise to thy self I beleeve and therefore I shall have everlasting life Labor for that reflect act of thy Soul to know more that thou dost beleeve The sincerity whereof in thee is in some measure approved by thy resigning and giving up thy self wholly to him as the Apostle Gal. 2. 20. I am crucified with Christ nevertheless I live yet not I but Christ liveth in me and th● life which I now live in the flesh I live by the Faith of the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me Desiring as well to be ruled and guided by him as saved by him purged as pardoned freed from the power as the punishment of sin cleansed from the filth as discharged of the guilt of sin What though thou art not able wholly to put it in practise but lost full of and come short in performance thereof was not this the Apostle Paul his own case which he so ●●●gely deploreth Rom. 7. 15. 23. I allow not that which I do for what I would that do I not but what I hate that do I. I see another Law in my members rebelling against the Law of my mind and leaving me Captive to the Law of sin which is in my members It sufficeth to warrant the sincerity of thee my Soul and Spirit in this case that with the same Apostle in the same place Thou takest notice of thy failings art grived for them there is in thee a nature or part that abhors them thou watchest against them endeavorest what thou canst to reclaim thy self upon discovery of falling laborest by carnest prayer to God against them and continuest constant in the use of the means sanctified by him for spiritual strength and abillity and restest on Christ and expectest from him power to overcome thy corruptions Therefore comfort thy self herein O my Soul and apply this to thy self for thou art but in the same case that Apostle Paul was then in who at that very time had truth of grace and was even then in a most happy and blessed condition Therefore fear not though thou findest many temptations either to despair or to think all thy hope but presumption none of the Saints or Servants of God was ever heard praying to be rid utterly of their corruptions forthwith and at once Suffice them and thee it may and must that he will one day rid them utterly of all and mean while to support thee Know that thy corruptions shall never so prevail against thee as to reduce thee again to the sway and soveraignty it once had in thee when it had its throne in thee these shew that there is a part in thee that is regenerated as Paul had Now to such as these are the promises of God made good Malla 3. 16 17. A book of remembrance was written before him for them that feared the Lord and thought upon his name And they shall be to me saith the Lord of H●sts in thee day a flock and I will spare them and man spareth his own son that serveth him 2 Chron. 30. 18 19 20. Hezekiah prayeth to the Lord to be merciful to him that prepareth his whole heart to seek the Lord God though he be not cleansed according to the purification of the Sanctuary And the Lord heard Hezekiah and healed the people Psal 33. 18 19. Behold the eye of the Lord is upon them that fear him and upon them that trust in his mercy to deliver their Souls from death and to preserve them in famine Psal 37. 40. The Lord shall help them and deliver them from the wicked and shall save them because they trust in him Psal 34. 22. The Lord redeemeth the Souls of his Servants and none that trust in him shall perish Oh my Soul set thy Faith a work lo here are promises for it to rest on apply them to thy self for they are precious Another Sign or Evidence of Grace is thy constant desire of and love to the Ordinances of God whereby these may be attained and that for this very end that thou mayst know what God requires of thee and be enabled to practise it and get strength against thy corruptions endeavouring to apply thy self thereto with delight in the use of them This evidently testifies the sincerity of thy desire love and affection to God as David urget●● oft and presseth the like for himself Psa 119. 11. I have hid thy promise in my heart that I might not sin against thee Also Vers 24. Thy testimonies are my delight and my counsellors And Ver. 33. Teach me O Lord the way of thy statutes and I will keep it even to the and. Also Vers 40. Behold I desire thy commandments quicken me in thy righteousness Hypocrites desire the and only delight in them for by and sinister ends not enduring them where they find they cross their corruptions But the closer they come home to thee and most strike at thy corruptions the better thou likest and more lovest them thou dost not spare any sin I have sworn that I will Psa 119. 106 keep thy righteous judgments Another evidence of Saving Grace is thy hatred of every false way desiring God to discover to thee thine iniquity that thou art most prone or aptest to fall into by natural inclination custom or company This was made an argument of Davids integrity Therefore O my Soul make thou the same application to thy self also to uphold and comfort thee And dost thou not groan under the ●urthen of thy inward corruptions and thoughes as well as actual transgressions Wouldst not thou fain be rid of them Is it not thy greatest grief that thou dost dayly so sin against God who is so good so loving and merciful to thee Thou darest not deny it Oh that I might and could so live as never to commit any one sin more so long as I live to offend so good a God as he is to me not no more grieve nor quench his holy Spirit in the motions of it ● I resolve so to do Oh that I could do so Another sign of true Grace Hast thou not respect unto all Gods Commandments desiring universality of sincere obedience to all alike not shunning any one nor reserving any sin to thy self So David Psa 119. 5 6. O that my ways were directed to keep thy Statutes Then should I not be ashamed when I have respect unto all thy Commandments And when fallen dost thou not loath thy self the more for that and renew thy faith in Christ and repentance as sin is renewed

Soul have I sought or desired thee in the night and with my spirit within me will I seek thee in the morning As Isaiah 26. 8 9. For whom have I in Heaven but thee and I have desired none in the Earth with thee As Psalm 73. 25. And thou hatest sin as it is a breach of Gods Law Another Evidence of Gods Love to thee That at such times as thou hast renued thy Faith in Christ and again given up thy self in more solemn manner wholy to him God thereupon hath given ease to thy heart which is a sign that he accepted what thou gavest him and that he wil not cast thee away I know whom I have believed that he is able to keep that which I have committed to him as 2 Tim. 1. 12. And I am perswaded he will do so And my Soul since thou hast found favor in the eyes of God that he hath been pleased to manifest his Grace to thee consider what cause thou hast of comfort and joy Now that it may be aright conceived what Grace I mean There is a twofold meaning of the word Grace in Scripture First It is taken for the gracious good Will or Favor of God where by he is pleased of his own free love to accept of some in Christ for his own This Divines call first Grace because it is the fountain of all other Grace and the spring from whence they flow and it 's therefore called Grace because it makes a man gracious with God but this is only in God Secondly Grace is taken for the gifts of Grace and they are of two sorts Common or special Some are common to both Elect and Reprobates Believers and Hypocrites As Knowledg a gift of prayer and the like Some are special Graces and they are proper to the Saints therefore called saving Graces whereof some are most principal and absolutely necessary unto Salvation such as is Faith without which none can be saved And some other which are very comfortable as the feeling of Gods love Peace of Conscience Joy in the Holy Ghost Now if God have first of his gracious good will and free love accepted thee in Christ And secondly if he have given thee any evidence of the same by the saving graces of his holy Spirit wrought in thee which thou darest not deny then O my soul bless praise and magnifie this God of love for this his infinite unutterable and superabounding love to thee Hath he given thee any grace It s because he loves thee and truly no cause at all why God should love thee as thou art in thy self but the clean contrary rather to hate and abhor thee But he looks upon thee in his onely begotten and dearly beloved son the Lord Jesus Christ God-man and seeing no other means in all the world to save thee Gods love was so great That he gave his onely begotten son to die for thee And see here also the exceeding great love of Christ to thee that gave himself to dye for thee took thy nature on him stood in thy steed fulfilled the Law satisfied the justice of God for thy sin He suffered on the Cross for thee he procured pardon of sin salvation and heaven for thee he merited it all for thee for his was worthy his righteousness is the meritorious cause of thy justification He is now thy Redeemer thy Advocate that pleads thy cause for thee to God he makes peace with God for thee he ●its at the right hand of God the Father and makes intercession for thee God is now become of a just severe and angry Judg a loving Father in him Therefore now my soul receive all from him by promise that shews his love as a Father Oh the free and sweet love that is in an uncompelled promised I will love thee freely saith the Lord Hosea 14. 4. It s free love indeed in God to thee wards Oh therefore let this special free love of God cause thee to study how to return love to him and live to him Remember what he hath done for thee how thy sins wounded thy Saviour peirced and crucified him and nailed him to the cross how thy sins made his most precious body be overrun with his heart blood how thy own betraying and selling thy soul to sin and Satan made him to be betrayed and fold to suffer and die yea how he indured the torments of Hell as it were the most heavy and sorest wrath of his Father for thy sin What O what great and vehement love was in Christ thy Saviour that made him sweat drops of blood for thee my soul These are as so many cords of love from Christ to thee to cause thee to love Christ Oh that I could love thee my dear Saviour as I should It s my hearts grief that I cannot so love thee as I would Oh my dull and drousie soul awake rouze and quicken up thy self and stand amazed at this love of Christ Shall or can so many sweet expressions of such unexpressible love of Christ to thee pass without Eccho Shall every passage of Christ from his birth to his death all preach forth love to thee And shall thankfulness be wanting in thee towards him Shall his birth work thy new birth his cross take away thy curse Shall his pains procure thee rest Shalt thou ●e cleared by his sorrowful sadness Thou be made free by his bonds happy by his misery fed by his hunger refresht by his weariness rejoyced by his anguish Thou my Soul be excused before God by his being accused before men And shall not love flush and burn in my brest to him Oh my God do thou inflame my heart with this Love kindle some further heat of Love in me give me one dr●● more of it draw up my Love and most entire intimate affections Shall I as it were freeze for want of Love to my Saviour when his Love is so hot to me Far be it from me No my loving Lord I do love thee I will love thee dearly Oh help and enable me to love thee more Oh my Soul sleep not under such Comforts never forget such love as this is it is sufficient to fill all thy sences all thine affections And yet see more This Love is not only for some years but for eternity Whom he once loves he loves to the end as John 13. 1. He is a never failing Fountain of Love Oh my Soul therefore distrust not despair not of his Love though thou art so full of sins which indeed of all things God hates most yet behold the Love of God all these though so great so many they cannot separate between thee and thy God but in and through Christ he still loves thee accepts thy person and services It 's not some slips or falls that thou art overtaken withal that are hated resolved against not wittingly willingly deliberately committed nor delighted in nor allowed but slipt and fallen into unawares These cannot finite his infinite Love