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
A88660	A word in season: being the commentary of Dr. Martin Luther, on three selected Psalms: viz. the CXXIVth, CXXVth, and CXXIXth. With his commentary on some part of the fourth and fifth chapters of the First Epistle of St. Peter. Being of special use for the present times.	Luther, Martin, 1483-1546.	1685 (1685)	Wing L3519; ESTC R180278	46,197	62

Christian man leaving his imagination knoweth that in Death there is true Life But thou wilt say He seeth and feeleth Death indeed but Life he cannot feel I Answer that because he resteth upon the Word and after it he judgeth and not after his own feeling therefore even in Death he seeth nothing but Life and in the midst of Darkness most clear light For like as God maketh all things of nothing and of darkness light so he worketh by his Word that in Death there is nothing but life The power of the Word Psal 33. They then which stick to the Word and Promise of God and follow the same do find it true which David saith He spake the Word and it was done c. But before we can come to this experience we must abide some trouble and therefore have need of such exhortation as this Psalm here setteth forth Verse 1. They that trust in the Lord shall be as Mount Sion which cannot be removed but remaineth for ever The Prophet useth here a similitude of Mount Sion because Jerusalem wherein Sion stood when the Temple was builded had most ample and notable promises of God as appeareth in very many places of the Prophets that it should stand sure and invincible for ever against all troubles and Calamities for that the Lord had his abiding and dwelling there according to that promise where he saith Here is my rest here will I dwell c. And therefore David in another Psalm glorieth on this wise Lo the Kings were gathered and went together when they saw it they marvelled They were astonied and suddenly driven back As we may see it came to pass under Ezechias in the great Destruction of the Assyrians and other Kings as the stories witness which shew that Jerusalem remained safe in all dangers not by strength and Policy of the inhabitants but by the miraculous Work of God dwelling in it and thus mightily preserving and beautifying his own Common-wealth Now therefore saith he like as Mount Sion and our Holy City Jerusalem is never moved but remaineth sure and safe by the mighty protection of the Lord in all Extremities so he that trusteth in the Lord shall be defended against the furious Rage of the World and the Gates of Hell for ever Note how he commandeth no Work here to be done as in Popery in the time of trouble men were taught to enter into some kind of Religion to fast to go on Pilgrimage and to do such other foolish Works of Devotion which they devised as an high Service unto God and thereby thought to make Condigne Satisfaction for Sin To hope and trust in the Lord is tke greatest Service that we can do to him and merit Eternal Life but simply he leadeth us the plain Way unto God pronouncing this to be the chiefest Anchor of our Salvation only to hope and trust in the Lord and that this is the greatest Service that we can do unto God For this is the Nature of God as I have said to create all things of nothing Therefore he createth and bringeth forth in Death Life in Darkness The Nature of Faith Light And this to believe is the very Nature and most special Property of Faith When God then seeth such a one as agreeth with his own Nature that is which believeth to find in Danger Help in Poverty Riches in Sin Righteousness and that for Gods own Mercies sake in Christ alone him can God neither hate nor forsake For he serveth and worshipeth God truly which putteth his whole trust in the Mercy of God With this Service God is highly pleased because he delighteth of nothing to make something So he made the World of nothing so he raiseth up the Poor and Oppressed so he justifieth the Sinner so he raiseth the Dead and so he saveth the Damned Who so then consenteth to Gods Nature and obeyeth his Will there hoping sor something where nothing is he it is that pleaseth God and shall never be moved But thou must beware that thou imagine not to thy self a false Hope contrary to the Word of God and thy Vocation Whereof if thou be certain and abide in the same if troubles rise trust in the Lord and if he help not in his good time take me and David also for Lyars Satan will trouble vex and discomfort thee yea and peradventure make thee to believe that thou art utterly forsaken but if thou trust in the Lord thou shalt feel his help with joyful Victory So in the Council of Auspurge when the Princes were bent against us with one consent our cause seemed to be utterly overthrown Notwithstanding yet we live and enjoy such Peace and Liberty as we would wish maugre the Rage and Malice of the Pope and all the Adversaries of the World With such Conflicts we must be exercised least we be discouraged when we see our cause begin to quaile But the greater the danger is the more stedfastly we must trust So shall it come to pass that when we are overcome yet we shall overcome and the Conqueror shall yield unto us Triumph and Victory This is it that the Psalm here setteth forth They that trust in the Lord shall be as Mount Sion which cannot be removed but remaineth for ever And here we have a singular promise whereby we are assured that we shall stand and abide for ever If then we do not continue it is our own fault because we abide not firm and stable in our Faith For this promise must needs remain sure and infallible Yea as it is impossible that God should deny himself and not be God so is it impossible that he should forsake those that put their trust in him But we may not think the time long but patiently abide the Lords Leisure For Gods power taketh no place in us until we be utterly to speak after the manner of the Scripture exininated that is stript naked of all Worldly Hope and Helps that man hath in himself and brought to nothing like as when he saveth a ship from drowning now ready to perish and past all Remedy As the two Stories of the Gospel one of the Ship the other of the danger of Peter do testifie Verse 2. As the Mountains are about Jerusalem so is the Lord about his People from henceforth and for ever Where many hundred thousands of men are there are scarcely seven thousand which know God or believe in God and yet for their sakes the whole Multitude is called God s people Even so was it in Jerusalem Jerusalem called holy by the figure Synecdoche where a part is taken for the whole Albeit the greater part was Wicked and Godless yet was Jerusalem called Holy not only in Respect of a small Nnmber of the Godly but also because God had his abiding there So when there was not one just person in Sodom but Lot with his two Daughters yet could not the Angel destroy Sodom with fire so long as Lot was in

it Likewise where four or five or ten godly Persons are to be found for their sakes the whole City is called Holy For these are the Elect corner stones these are the precious Pearls which God so highly esteemeth and for whose sakes he spareth the Wicked Therefore saith David As Jerusalem is compassed about with Mountains so doth the Lord compass his People and mightily defend them on every side In like manner Zachary Prophecyeth of a City whose Wall is of fire These Similitudes do set forth unto us the Safety of Gods People that weak and little poor Flock against all Dangers Upon this promise if we also do rest which at this day enjoy the inestimable Benfit of Gods Holy Word we shall be defended against the Rage of Satan and the whole World not by fiery and brazen Walls but by the Lord himself These things albeit we cannot comprehend yet should we believe them so certainly as if we did see them with our bodily Eyes If we should see our selves compassed about with brazen and fiery Walls we would be without all fear and Triumph against Satan But it is a matter of Faith not to trust unto that which the Eyes see but which the Word offereth and promiseth This one thing therefore is lacking in us that we have not eyes of the Spirit but we judge according to the eyes and sense of the Flesh For else we should be no more afraid then they which being closed within the Walls of an invincible Castle fear not the force and power of their Enemies be they never so terrible We must not doubt therefore but if we believe we are compassed about with fiery and brazen Mountains that is to say we abide for ever invincible against the Rage of Satan and all the Powers of Darkness Blessed therefore is he that believeth These Mountains are the Angels which compass us on every side that Satan with his Angels and Ministers cannot hurt us as he would Whose Malice and Power is such that if they did not continually behold us continually defend us and watch over us he would destroy us every moment This can all they testifie which know that Satan is a Murtherer and a Lyar which cannot abide to see the godly prosper and therefore he seeketh by all means to root them out from the face of the Earth That we are not then utterly consumed it is the benefit of these Mountains by whom we are so compassed and defended Sometimes Satan hurleth his Darts at us as it were through the window to destroy us and worketh us indeed some sorrow but he cannot move us This similitude seemeth to be taken out of the Story of Helizeus in the second book of the Kings where the servant of Helizeus saw the Hills about him full of fiery Chariots and Horsemen compassing Helizeus round about and mightily defending him This succour which the Servant of Helizeus saw and the Prophet believed when he saw nothing is saith the Prophet round about all them which trust in the Lord as also the 34. Psalm witnesseth The Angel of the Lord pitcheth round about them that fear him But our eyes are shut up and see not these miracles whereof not with standing we have daily experience This promise then will never deceive us only let us not deceive our selves If therefore we did believe no doubt we should sleep we should live we should die yea that more is we should suffer what soever Satan and the world can do against us without all fear For thus should we think if I suffer any thing it is not without the Will of God nor without good cause well known tho' not unto me yet unto God Therefore although Satan break through the wall in one place yet shall he never be able utterly to overthrow it altogether Thus should we think in our troubles and afflictions and comfort our selves with the good Will of God But we are afraid when any trouble cometh and never feel that security which Faith bringeth Thus do we worthily suffer the punishment of our infidelity which we nourish within us although we be called away from it by so many notable places of Scripture Besides all this it is not enough that we are compassed about with fiery Walls that is with the sure Custody the continual Watch and Ward of the Angels but the Lord himself is our Wall so that every way we are defended by the Lord against all Dangers Above us he is a Heaven on both sides he is as a Wall under us he is as a strong Rock whereupon we stand so are we every way sure and safe Now if Satan through these munitions cast his darts at us it must needs be that the Lord himself shall be hurt before we take harm But great is our incredulity which hear all these things in vain Yet must they be taught and learned least the time come that we be destitute of all Counsel and Comfort in these matters For certain it is that the hour shall come when we must have experience of these things or else utterly perish Where he addeth From henceforth and for ever By these words he sheweth that this vigilancy of the Lord our God over us is not temporal but eternal according to that which he said before in the first verse of this Psalm They shall remain for ever Let us learn therefore out of this Psalm that our Constancy and perseverance consisteth in this that we are defended by the Power and Providence of the Lord on every side Verse 3. For the rod of the Wicked shall not rest on the lot of the Righteous least the Righteous put forth their hand unto Wickedness Here the Prophet plainly declareth that the People which rest under this Defence and Protection are afflicted and subject to all Miseries and Calamities as touching the flesh altho' they be compassed about with such high and mighty Mountains as touching the Spirit as Satan can never surmount yet touching the Flesh and the Old man they lye open on every side to the Darts of Satan and the World For God by these means will afflict and exercise the Flesh that Sin and the foolishness of the Flesh may be mortified in them and that spiritual Wisdom and the inward man may increase This is the cause why we are according to the Flesh as a broken Hedge and as a City whose Walls are cast down and so lyeth open to the Enemies on every side Wherefore there is no sort of men so vile and abject which do not think that they may do what they list against the true Professors of the Gospel Hereof come such intollerable injuries horrible blasphemies cruel torments and bloody slaughters of the Saints of God For the Flesh hath no Walls no Munitions to defend it but the Spirit Therefore the flesh is in danger to all Storms and Tempests broken and troden down of the wicked as Isaiah saith Chap. 51. Which have said unto thy Soul Bow down that