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	life_n	2,319	5	5.0453	4	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A41649	A word to sinners, and a word to saints The former tending to the awakening the consciences of secure sinners, unto a lively sense and apprehension of the dreadfull condition they are in, so long as they live in their natural and unregenerate estate. The latter tending to the directing and perswading of the godly and regenerate unto several singular duties. As also a word to housholders stirring them up to the good old way of serving God in and with their families, from Joshuah's resolution, Josh. 24. 15. As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. Set forth especially for the use and benefit of the inhabitants of St. Sepulchres Parish, London by Tho. Gouge, late pastor thereof.	Gouge, Thomas, 1605-1681.	1668 (1668)	Wing G1371; ESTC R222576	207,485	324

both Satisfaction and Intercession applyed to Christ. Satisfaction by his death and Intercession now that he is risen again and sitteth at the right hand of God Christs Sacrifice on the Cross was of such efficacy that Gods Justice was thereby abundantly satisfied his wrath fully pacified yea his face and favour and all blessings following thereon was purchased The death of Christ is therefore said to be a Sacrifice to God a sweet smelling savour Eph. 5.2 And the Church is said to be purchased thereby Act. 20.28 namely from all that bondage under which it was as sin the curse of the Law the Wrath of God Death Devil Damnation After Christ had offered up his Life a Sacrifice unto God and thereby made satisfaction for the sins of his Church he was buried and laid in the grave to sanctifie the grave to all his members And the third day he arose from the dead As he himself laid down his life so he himself took it up again And then he ascended into Heaven there to make intercession for us which is the second part of his Priestly Office The former was to make satisfaction this latter to make intercession Christ may be said to make intercession for us two wayes 1. By a continual presenting of himself to his Father for us Christ saith the Apostle Heb. 9.24 is entred into Heaven now to appear in the presence of God for us Christ presents himself our Sacrifice and propitiation for our sins whose very blood becomes our Advocate to plead with the Father for us Heb. 12.24 2. By manifesting his will to have all his made partakers of the vertue and benefit of his Sacrifice Joh. 17.24 Father I will that they also whom thou hast given me be with me where I am that they may behold my glory which thou hast given me The word Intercession properly signifieth supplication for another It is attributed to Christ especially as he is now in Heaven by way of resemblance The resemblance may be taken from the Favourite of a King who is alwayes at Court in the Kings presence and there presents his friends petition and intercedes for the granting thereof Christ the great favourite of the Lord stands before him continually to present our supplications and procure our acceptance Q. How comes Christ and those things which he did and suffered in his own person to be ours A. By Faith Rom. 3.22 Faith is called the faith of Iesus because we thereby relying on Christ are united to him and so have a right to all that is his In this respect whatsoever we receive from Christ is attributed to faith By faith we are justified Rom. 3.28 We are saved by faith Eph. 2.8 By faith we have access to God Rom. 5.2 In a word As they who in the dayes whilest Christ lived upon the earth received cure of any malady from him received it by faith So every good thing that now we receive from Christ we receive by faith How needfull then is it that we be well instructed in the nature of faith Q. What is faith A. True saving faith is a grace wrought in us by the Spirit of God through the Ministry of the Word whereby we receive Christ as he is offered in the Gospel and rest upon him alone for life and salvation First I say True saving faith is a grace It is not the work of nature it being as impossible for a man by his own strength to believe as it is to keep the Law Faith therefore in Scripture is called the gift of God It is added wrought in us by the spirit of God by whose efficacy as the principal cause it is begotten in us Through the Ministry of the Word because that is the ordinary means whereby the Spirit of God doth work faith in our hearts It s true that the reading of the Scriptures and of good books may through Gods blessing be a means of working faith but it is most sure and certain that the most ordinary means is the Word preached as Rom. 10.17 Faith cometh by hearing viz. the Word of God For first the Law discovereth unto us our sins and miserable condition by reason of them That we are utterly lost in our selves having deserved and are lyable to all judgements and plagues here and eternal death and condemnation hereafter and that we are altogether unable to free our selves out of this miserable condition whereunto we have plunged our selves by sin And then the Gospel shews us that in the fulness of time Jesus Christ who was the Eternal Son of God came into the World took our nature upon him and therein became our Surety and as our Surety hath taken our debts upon him and by his obedience and alsufficient Sacrifice of his own body once offered upon the Cross hath made full satisfaction to Gods justice for the same Yea the Gospel farther sheweth that God in him offereth grace and reconciliation pardon of sins here and eternal salvation hereafter to all that believe in him The which truth being revealed to us by the Preaching of the Word the Spirit of God inwardly worketh in us effectual assent thereunto upon which followeth an high prizing of Jesus Christ above all things an hungring and thirsting after him and a resolution of heart to receive him as our all-sufficient Saviour and to rest upon him and his merits alone for life and salvation And therefore it is added in the forementioned description that faith is a grace whereby we receive Christ. And indeed thereby is Christ made ours For what is more our own than that which is freely offered us and we have received To receive Iesus Christ is the same as to lay hold on him or to embrace him and apply him to our selves But I have the rather made choice of this word receive because it is the very expression of the holy Ghost Joh. 1.12 As many as received him to them gave he power to become the Sons of God even to them that believe This latter clause to them that believe is added as an explanation of the former clause As many as received him shewing what is meant by receiving Christ namely a believing on him Which two are very fitly joyned together Believing is added to receiving to shew what is meant by receiving Christ. And receiving is added to believing to shew what kind of faith it is whereby Christ becomes ours it is such a faith whereby we accept of and receive Christ with the benefits of his death and passion It follows in the description of faith How Christ must be received namely as he is offered in the Gospel Christ is offered in the Gospel In all his Offices as Priest Prophet and King And so he must be received not only as our Priest who hath made satisfaction for us by his death upon the Cross and now in Heaven maketh intercession for us But likewise as our Prophet to be taught and instructed by him and as our King to be ruled and

which is the fiercest kind of torment that is and most intollerable 78. 4. A Worm which setteth out the sting or torment of an evil Conscience which shall lye eternally gnawing and griping the hearts of the damned 80. II. By the place where the Damned abide which is Hell 81. III. By the Perpetuity and Eternity of their torment there which is the very Hell of Hells that which most of all breaks the hearts of the damned 82. II. Another truth to be embraced in order to the work of Regeneration is That there is hope of mercy for the greatest Sinners 88. Which appeareth from a due consideration 1. Of Gods Power to save the worst of Sinners 90. 2. Of Gods willingness to save them 91. 3. Of the all-sufficiency of Christs Sacrifice 103. 4. Of Christs readiness to embrace all Sinners who will come unto him and receive him upon the terms of the Gospel 105. The Duties to be practised in order to Regeneration 110. Several Objections of carnal and unregenerate men against the use of the formentioned Means answered 132. The second branch of the use of Exhortation unto the Regenerate which consisteth of divers heads 1. To admire and adore Gods special mercy and goodness in the work of Regeneration 146. 2. To be thank full unto God for the same with Arguments thereunto 156. 3. To walk worthy of that dignity by living singular and exemplary lives 158. The singular duties incumbent upon the Regenerate 1. To make Conscience of their precious time and to improve it to the best advantage 162. 2. To embrace every opportunity of doing and receiving good 164. 3. To be carefull of the manner of performing good duties 167. 4. To walk circumspectly and exactly which consisteth 1. In walking by rule 173 2. In having respect to the inward and spiritual part of the Law as well as to the outward and external ib. 3. In a careful avoiding all occasions of evil and temptations thereunto 174. 4. In abstaining from appearances of evil as well as from apparent and direct evil 175. 5. In a moderate use of lawfull things 177. 5. To beware of Covetousness and over-loving the World as being the root of all evil 180. 6. To live by faith 186. 7. To be spiritually minded by a frequent contemplation of Spiritual and Heavenly things 193. 8. To labour in the use of all good Means for the mortification of the whole body of sin with all its affections and lusts especially those which are most praedominant John 3.1 2 3. 1. There was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus a ruler of the Iews 2. The same came to Iesus by night and said unto him Rabbi we know that thou art a teacher come from God for no man can do these miracles that thou doest except God be with him 3. Iesus answered and said unto him Verily Verily I say unto thee except a man be born again he cannot see the Kingdom of God CHAP. 1. The Exposition and Observations arising out of the first and second verses FRom the beginning of this third Chapter to the 22. verse is set forth the conference between our blessed Saviour and Nicodemus In which are three things observable 1. A description of Nicodemus verse 1. 2. The occasion of the conference which was Nicodemus his coming unto Christ expressed verse 2. 3. The conference it self from verse 3. to 22. I. Nicodemus is thus described verse 1. There was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus a ruler of the Iews He is here set forth 1. By his name Nicodemus which is distinctly set down as for the truth of the history so for the honour of the man It is observable that in the holy Scriptures there is most care of setting ' down the names of good men that have in their life time some way or other set forth Gods glory and made themselves examples worthy of imitation For God will honour such as honour him he will have their memorial blessed As therefore we desire to have our memorial blessed let us now labour to honour God in our several places callings conditions and relations by a conscionable discharge of the duties belonging to them and then we may rest assured God will some way or other honour us 2. By his Sect He is expresly said to be a man of the Pharisees who were a select Sect among the Iews of highest account for their seeming sanctity and strict profession Whereas in truth they were very hypocrites for they did all to be seen of men Which because Christ discovered and made known to the people they proved his greatest enemies and persecutors 3. By his Office It 's in general said that he was a ruler of the Iews Which is not to be taken as if he were the only or chief governour of the Jews but to shew that he was none of the common sort but one of those who had authority and government amongst the Iews It is observable that few of the Pharisees and Rulers received Christs Doctrine and believed on him as appears by their own expression Have any of the Rulers or of the Pharisees believed on him which interrogation importeth a strong negation implying that none or few of the Rulers or Pharisees believed on Christ. They were so puffed up with the pride of their high-places so swoln with conceitedness of their strict profession and seeming sanctity and so possest with prejudice against the spiritual and heavenly doctrine of Christ that their hearts boyled with much envy and indigna●ion against him and thereupon sought many wayes to entrap and ensnare him Yea out of very malice they thirsted after his blood and never ceased till they took away his life Yet here we find one who was both a Pharisee and a Ruler become a Disciple of Iesus Christ whom Christ instructeth as in the doctrine of regeneration so in other main principles of Religion and thereupon became a true believer whence we may observe Observ. That the dew of Gods grace often falleth on the most graceless That the greatest of sinners are ofttimes received to mercy and embraced in the arms of free grace This God doth as for the magnifying the riches of his grace so for the encouraging great and notorious sinners to return from their sins and to look up unto him for mercy For are the greatest sinners ofttimes received to mercy then there is hope of mercy for thee how many and heinous soever thy sins are St. Paul speaking of Gods mercy to him who was not only an heinous sinner but the chief of sinners declareth how God shewed mercy to him that he might be a ground of hope and encouragement unto other great and heinous sinners For this cause saith he I obtained mercy that in me first Iesus Christ might shew forth all long-suffering for a pattern to them which should hereafter believe on him to life everlasting Intimating that one special end Christ aimed at in shewing mercy to such a

oft-times ended in outward uncleanness and actual Adultery From the heart saith our Saviour proceed evil thoughts adulteries fornications c. Noting evil thoughts to be the cause of the uncleanness in the life In Athaliahs Massacre of the blood-royal young Ioash was hid in the bed-chamber there he was nurst and afterwards came to be King and ruled in the Throne Save any Lustfull thought nurse it in the bed-chamber of thy heart hide it there and it will in time come to be King and rule over thee So soon therefore as any lustful or exorbitant thoughts begin to arise in thine heart speedily reject the same quench the fire in the thatch crush the Cockatrice in the Egge stifle the first conception of sin Certainly as it is a dangerous neglect not to observe and embrace the first motions of Gods spirit in us so likewise not to take notice of the first thoughts and rising of sin in our hearts He who slights sinfull thoughts is in a fair way to sinfull actions They that are Christs saith the Apostle have Crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts The very affections and lusts of the flesh must be Crucified if we would prevent the works of the flesh IV. Sir up in thy self an earnest desire to have thy lusts mortified and subdued The reason why no more is done against sin is because we are too well contented to let it alone when nothing but the death of sin will satisfie thee thou wilt then use thy Weapons when once thou desirest in earnest the destruction of thine iniquities there 's hope they will not be long liv'd For God hath promised to satisfie the desire of those that fear him he will hear their groanings and deliver them Come unto me saith Christ all ye who labour and are heavy laden and I will give you case and rest Certain●y one special reason why many complain so much of the strength and prevalency of their corruptions is because they are not heartily willing to have them mortified and subdued They will indeed profess a willingness to part with their sins that they may be freed from the guilt of them and punishment due unto them but unwilling they are to part with the pleasure they find in them Thus Austin acknowledgeth of himself I prayed said he that my sins might be forgiven and mortified but yet I was afraid l●st my prayer should be heard and answered If therefore thou wouldst have thy sins mortified indeed stir up in thy self a willing mind thereunto V. Complain unto God of the prevalency of thy lusts and by prayer beg strength from him against the power of th●m From God it is that strength must be had it is his power alone that can support us against the power of sin And Prayer is the means of obtaining it This was the course that Paul took when he was troubled with that thorn in his flesh which expositors generally enterpret to be some strong motions and inclinations in him to some foul sin For this saith the text he besought the Lord thrice that is oftentimes And though he did not presently obtain a full deliverance yet did he receive strength sufficient to resist them so that he could not be overcome by them If we in like manner shall go unto God by prayer for his help laying open our condition and complaining to him thereof we shall for the present receive strength sufficient to resist and in Gods due time deliverance from our iniquities VI. Act faith in Christ for the mortifying thy sinfull lusts and corruptions To this end 1. Be sensible that thou art in thy s●●f weak and unable to grapple with thy Lusts. Thou must despair of thine own strength ere thou wilt take hold on the strength of the Lord. Thou must be beaten out of thy self-confidence ere thou wilt go unto Christ. When thou seest thou art weak thou wilt turn to the strong hold 2. B●lieve that Christ is able to succour and help thee In him doth all fullness dwell As he hath a fullness of grace in his heart so fullness of power in his hand whereby he is able to kill all thine enemies Sin is mighty but Christ is mightier The Devil is strong but Christ is stronger than he 3. Believe that Christ is as able so willing to subdue thine iniquities Thine enemies are his enemies and he will have their death if thou be a believer he hath undertaken for thee He is thy great High-Priest and thy Lord and King and hereupon not only by his mercifulness and kindness but by his office and interest he stands ingaged to pitty and relieve thee he will not be unfaithfull to his trust nor deaf to his own bowels which plead with him to save and help thee 4. By faith cast thy self upon Iesus Christ rest upon his power and goodness for his help and strength 'T is here in regard of Christs power as in regard of his promises As our resting and relying upon his promises in a time of danger and distress makes them our own So our resting and relying upon Christs power for help and support doth make it our own 5. By faith wait upon Christ in expectation of relief and succour against the working and stirring of thy corruptions Though relief come in but slowly from him yet wait for it because it will most surely come in the most seasonable time Hereby wilt thou ingage Christ to appear for thy help For as nothing doth more ingage the heart of a man to be helpfull to another than an expectation of help from him So certainly the raising up thine heart to an expectation of relief from Christ must needs be a great ingagement unto him to assist thee accordingly When Christ cured many of their bodily diseases and distempers while he lived upon the Earth we find their cure is still ascribed to their faith Now what was their faith They believed that Christ was both able and willing to cure them and thereupon with confidence went unto him for cure and so drew vertue from him accordingly This you may see in the poor Woman that had an issue of blood twelve years who came behind Christ and said If I may but touch the hem of his garment I shall be whole To whom Christ replyed Daughter be of good comfort thy faith hath made thee whole This is written as all other Scripture is for our learning to teach and instruct us what course to take for the curing of our spiritual maladies and diseases Hast thou any foul issue of Worldliness and Covetousness of pride or frowardness of passion or envy or the like running upon thee And wouldst thou be cured of them Do as that poor Woman did go unto Christ set thy faith at work on him believe his power and willingness let thy faith touch but the hem of his garment lay hold on him cast thy self on his blood and bowels wait at his door resolving not to return