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	good_a	great_a	1,387	5	2.5396	3	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A39242	The great danger and uncertainty of death-bed repentance as it was deliver'd in a funeral sermon preach'd lately in the parish-church of Chiswick in Middlesex.	Ellesby, James, b. 1644 or 5.	1693 (1693)	Wing E538; ESTC R24951	18,514	33

Estate But alass Unless our Hopes of Happiness are firmly settled and well grounded they will most certainly deceive and disappoint us in the end for 't is only Repentance for Sin past and a Life of Holiness and new Obedience for time to come that can give us good Hope through Grace 2. Thess 2.16 And make us Partakers of that Glory which hereafter shall be Revealed 1. Pet. 5.1 They are such only who truly Believe Repent and obey the Gospel and spend some considerable part of their Lives in so doing that can have any solid Hopes or Comfortable expectations of their future Safety and well being whereas the confident Hopes of bad Men and presuming Sinners which Job calls the hope of the Hypocrite shall perish and like a Spiders Web deceive those that shall trust to it Job 8.13 But now to come more closely to the matter in Hand If we would have our Repentance to be Repentance unto Life or such as will entitle us to the Pardon of our Sins and acceptance with God we must take the Holy Ghost's advice in the Text not to harden our Hearts nor stop our Ears against his Calls and Invitations to this Duty but we must set about it presently to day while it is called to day v. 13. because to morrow 't is possible may be too late We must resolve to Repent immediately and without delay before we have provok'd God too far or tempted him to give us up as he hath done many others to a hardned and impenitent Estate for 't is possible a Man may outlive the Seasons of Grace and Sin away the acceptable Time and Day of Salvation he may sink and plunge himself so far into that depth of Guilt and Wickedness by adding one Sin and provocation to another as it will be scarce possible to recover himself out of the Snare of the Devil or to free himself from the gall of Bitterness and Bond of Iniquity be sure not without a great deal of Trouble and Difficulty nor till after a long time spent in deep Sorrow and Contrition and in the painful acts of Mortification and Self-Denial The time past can never be recall'd and time to come is very uncertain the present time is only ours and what we can be most sure of and therefore we should be careful not to let it slip from us without improving it to the great ends and Purposes of Religion to the reconciling our Selves to God perfecting the work of Repentance and giving all Diligence to make our calling and Election sure To which purpose I shall apply this Advice which the Holy Ghost gives us in the Text To day if you will hear his Voice harden not your Hearts c. The words contain First An Exhortation to Belief as appears by the Context exprest here by Hearing or Harkning to the Voice of God Secondly A disswasion from Impenitency or Hardning our Hearts through Unbelief both which are in the third place reinforc'd by the Authority of the Holy Ghost whose Exhortation this is Wherefore as the Holy Ghost saith To day if you will hear his Voice harden not your Hearts From which words I shall discourse unto you on the Three following Particulars First That Unbelief is one great Cause of Impenitency or Hardness of Heart Secondly That Impenitency or Hardness of Heart is a Sin very provoking of God and admits of great Aggravations under the Gospel Thirdly I shall endeavour to disswade from this Sin and reinforce the Exhortation of the Holy Ghost by laying before you the great and absolute necessity of Repentance and improving the present Time in order thereunto First Unbelief is one great Cause of Impenitency and Hardness of Heart Infidelity hath been judg'd the root of all Sin especially in Christians for did they really and heartily believe the great and important Truth of that Religion they make profession of wherein the motives and arguments to a good Life are so very strong and powerfull and the threats and disswasives from Sin and Vice are so convincing and amazing 't is scarce possible they should allow themselves in those Vile and Sinful courses which are so rise among Christians or give such small hopes of their Repentance as many do Did they believe in good earnest there was a God a God of that infinite Power and Purity hating of all Sin and threatning to punish it in the most severe and terrible manner they would not dare to affront him and fly in his Face with their horrid Oaths and Curses Blasphemies and Imprecations as frequently they do they would not live without God in the World nor cast off all Fear and Reverence to his Holy Name and Righteous Laws Did they believe in Christ as the Son of God and Saviour of the World they would not with the Jews murder and crucifie him afresh by their oft repeated Sins and Impieties nor do despite to the Spirit of Grace by quenching his holy Motions or resisting the checks of their own Conscience Did they believe a future Judgment and Life to come they would stand in greater awe thereof and be afraid to provoke him that will be their Judge and call them to a strict account for all the Actions of their Lives past for all the neglects of his Grace contempt of his Mercy and Defiance of his Judgment they would not then increase their Accounts nor swell them up into such a frightful Mass of Guilt as will make them one day stand amaz'd at the Sight thereof Did they believe there was a Heaven for the reward of good Men and a Hell for the Punishment of the Bad they durst not make so light of either but become more Carefull and Sollicitous to secure the Happiness of the one and avoid the unspeakable Torments and Miseries of the other But all Men have not Faith saith our Saviour no nor all Christians neither they do not heartily believe what they profess for while they profess to know God in their Works they deny him being abominable disobedient and unto every good work Reprobate Tit. 1.16 The effect commonly points out the Cause and the Action usually discovers the Principle from whence it flows and if so we may justly suspect the greatest part of the Christian World to be void of that Faith they make Profession of and to believe as little of their Religion as they practise of it Their Lives and Actions bespeak many of them to be rather Atheists than Christians and downright Infidels than true Believers for true Faith or the through Belief of the Doctrine of Christ would influence their Lives in another guise manner than what is commonly observed in the World it would make them live better be more shy of Sin and cautious of offending if therefore Men would examine their Hearts and Souls or search into the Root and bottom of their Actions they would find a great deal of Infidelity or Unbelief to lurk there and that Christ among all his Nominal Professors and