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	love_n	1,510	5	5.7755	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

yet commonly the father loves all alike so God although they had better gifts than we will grant our prayers as soone as he did theirs But some man will here bee ready to make a question and askeme what I would have him doe for the Church now he is but a singleman and therefore is unable to doe much himselfe alone I answer Though thou canst not doe much yet these things thou mayest doe and therefore 1. Pray for it God delights to bee called upon for else his hand is not taken notice of but then we see his hand and acknowledge it when wee see him granting our desires So that the strength of a land lyes in Christians and their strength lyes in their prayers as Sampsons strength did in his haire Oftentimes prayer is more available than fighting Moses prayer in the mountaine did more than Ioshuahs fighting in the vallies If Noah Daniel and Iob stood before me saith God Ezek. 14. 20. they should not prevaile which sheweth that if any thing could have prevailed their prayer would So also Luther attributes all to prayer as may be seene in divers of his Treatises Now this prayer which I urge unto you must 1. Not onely be small expressions of the mind but now God lookes for strong cryes and long continuance in prayer Moses prayed all day Christ which had lesse need than we have prayed all night Daniel three weekes therefore wee that have more wants and needs ought to bee the more fervent 2. Our prayers must be Spirituall not out of selfe-love as to desire the safety of the Church that so under it we may lead a safe and quiet life but out of meere respect to God and love to his Church 3. It must be a prayer of faith so the Apostle saith Iam. 5. 15 16. The prayer of faith shall save the sicke c. And a little after The effectuall fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much Now there is no man righteous without faith so according to their faith Christ still yeelded to them 4. Pray with constancy and fervency it is not for a snatch and away that is pleasing to God but a constant performance of duty which hee accepteth 5. It must bee the prayer of a righteous man Therefore Micah 2. the Prophets sought unto God in the time of trouble but prevailed not because they were not righteous for it is said there vers 7. Doe not my words doe good to him that walketh uprightly 6. It must be with humilitie and that consists First in confessing how unworthy we are to obtaine any thing at the hands of God Secondly how unable to helpe our selves and therefore to have our eyes onely towards God Another way to doe good to Gods Church is to be more zealous seeke unto God extraordinarily The cause of the destruction of a Land is chiefly the sinnes of the godly When they grow cold and dead and lose their first love then God as Rev. 2. will remove the Candlesticke from among them and take away his Gospell Indeed the carnalnesse of dead men their prophanenesse in contemning of Gods Saints and his Gospel c. hasten Gods Judgements on a Land but chiefly the Luke-warmnesse of Professors doe it when Israel as Hosea saith is as a cake halfe baked Let us therefore rectifie our lives renew our repentance quicken our zeale else shall wee be guiltie of the destruction of Gods Church by our sinnes 3 A third meanes to doe good to Gods Church is to stirre up others to take to heart the miseries of the Church to pray to renew their repentance It would be good if Ministers would bee as Beacons to give warning to others and to set them on fire Thus the old Christians did as it were make an armie manu facta against God by joyning together in prayer This is a blessed action to stirre up others thus they did in the Prophet Malachies time Mal. 3.16 Then they that feared the Lord spake often one unto another see the issue of all and the Lord harkened and heard it and a booke of remembrance was written before him for them that feared the Lord and thought upon his Name So Zach. 8. 21. there they did so And the Inhabitants of the Citie shall goe one to another saying Let us goe speedily to pray before the Lord and to seeke the Lord of hoasts I will goe also Let us therefore as the Apostle exhorts Heb. 10. 24. consider one another to provoke our selves to this good worke of fasting and prayer for the Church let us marke who is a likely man to joyne with us and not let him passe 4 A fourth meanes to doe good to the Church is to doe it in due time Jerusalem had a time to seeke God if then shee would have sought shee might have beene saved And Christ complaines Luk. 19. 41 42. saying If thou hadst knowne even thou in this thy day the things which belong unto thy peace but now they are hid from thine eyes And so before Christ the Prophets of old complained of the people as Ier. 8. 7. Yea the Storke in the heaven knoweth her appointed times and the Turtle and the Crane and the Swallow observe the time of their comming but my people know not the judgement of the Lord. The time to seeke unto the Lord is now Some Judgements are sudden and have no fore-runners as the Gunpowder-treason in such God lookes not that wee should meet him by repentance because we know them not Others use lingring such as send feare and rumours before them as are those mentioned by the Prophet Ezek. 22. 30 31. there God expects we should make up the hedge and stand in the gap before him and so meet him with repentance to stop the judgement 5 The fifth meanes to doe good to the Church is this Let us doe it with continuance It may be while the newes is fresh wee will bee fervent in prayer but often the newes altereth and sometimes it happens to be good and then wee leave off But this must not be wee must bee constant in this dutie to the very uttermost end of all there may be ebbs and flowings but it is the last issue which brings all therefore let us continue in this dutie of fasting and praying that wee may trie that last issue of al. It is the common fashion to make the afflictions of the Church onely a wonder of nine dayes This was the Jewes fault Ier. 34. 10 11. When they heard of their enemies for a while they would pray But although the newes bee good yet still continue as the importunate widow did to the Judge and your importunitie will move God Set therefore to it and continue in it Pray for Ierusalem let those prosper that love her peace Psalm 122. 6. Mourne apart every familie apart It is not enough to heare this and to let the Ministers voyce be to