Selected quad for the lemma: cause_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
cause_n	better_a	good_a	great_a	1,484	5	2.2112	3	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A81211	Ioy out-joyed: or, Joy in overcoming evil spirits and evil men, overcome by better joy: set forth in a sermon at Martins in the fields, to the Right Honourable the Lords assembled in Parliament, upon the day of their solemn rejoycing and praising God, for reducing the city of Chester by the forces of the Parliament, under the command of Sr William Brereton, February 19. 1645. / By Joseph Caryl minister of the Gospel at Magnus neer London Bridge.	Caryl, Joseph, 1602-1673.; England and Wales. Parliament.	1646 (1646)	Wing C780; Thomason E323_3; ESTC R200591	20,183	35

5. 14. is the disturber of Kingdomes as well as of families And self-love is set in the head of that black Army which is prophesied to make perillous times in the last dayes 2 Tim. 3. 1 2. Above all there is an evil spirit which I may call the Beelzebub of this generation or the Prince of Devils that is a spirit of division This workes in all places almost in all hearts Division seems to be the great designe against us That while we act simply we may be universally overcome This spirit is grown so cunning that it can work distances by a motion or an endeavour for union While many are ready to say and pray Let us not divide though we cannot agree yet are most ready to divide upon every disagreement And while it is almost in every mans mouth Let us be one in affection though we cannot be one in opinion yet every man almost acts as if neither one earth nor one heaven could hold those who hold not one opinion These spirits and such as these are the troublers of our peace and unlesse these spirits are changed or at least chained all flesh is in danger to perish among us The chaining of them may make our times peaceable but the change of them will make our times glorious How happy should we be if a spirit of humility and meeknes of charity and brotherly kindnes of truth and uprightnes of self-deniall and ardent desires of maintaining the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace possessed all our hearts Right Honourable if once you had received letters of credit and good assurance that evil spirits were foiled and had received a blow either in the east or west north or south and that a better spirit were acting in this Nation you would have cause to keep such a day of Thanksgiving and praise to God as you never kept to this day Till a conquest be gained over the spirits of men our conquests over men will not give us rest And though I would not lessen the mercies of God especially at this time when we come to blesse him for so great a mercy as we this day commemorate yet I say what heart almost can we have to blesse God or be enlarged in his Praises for subduing bodies Towns and Cities while legions of evil spirits in camp in so many places and quarter in so many hearts A conquest over spirits is the glory of all our other conquests Therefore Right Honourable I say it again let the stresse of your counsels and designes be laid against these spirits The sword may work an unwilling subjection God only can work a subjection of the will Yet two things done by men by men as your Selves are in Dignity and Authority will contribute much towards this subjection First justice done and done impartially for and upon all Secondly countenance and encouragement given to all that are good and do good When spirits are overcome upon these terms I know not who shall have greater cause to rejoyce they who are subject or they who have made them so But though this would be matter of great joy yet this must not be either the totall or the chief matter of our rejoicing The next words of the Text lead us to this modification of our joy Notwithstanding in this rejoyce not but rather rejoyce that your names are written in Heaven The connexion tells us we are very apt to overact outward comforts and overjoy our worldly joy The whole world is too narrow for the heart of man Our joys may quickly exceed it and we be more taken with it then it is worth Christ saw his Disciples in danger of taking in too much of the world The creature gets quickly into our hearts and our hearts may quickly get beyond the creature Onely God is an object which we cannot overjoy or stretch our affections too far towards It is seldom that we can rejoyce at all we can never rejoyce enough while we are in the flesh in spirituall mercies and it is seldom but we rejoyce too much in temporall The world is so much of kin to us and is so like us worldly comforts suit us so well and are so neer us that while we deal about them we need a bridle not a spurre It is one of the greatest priviledges which we wait for in Heaven that our affections may bee ever kept in a due temper There we shall love and rejoyce in nothing but God or for God And as we cannot love and rejoyce in God too much so there we shall not love or rejoice in him too little But while we converse with creatures we are apt to feed too heartily upon them and to drink larger draughts of the wine of their consolation then becomes us The way to lessen earthly joy is to stirre up heavenly As when love is divided upon many objects of the same worth it cannot run so strongly to any one so much more when it is carryed to a more worthy object will it abate towards those which are lesse worthy The Text is clear for it teaching us That our receits of temporall and outward mercies should be but as an occasion to raise our hearts higher in rejoycing for spirituall and eternall mercies Notwithstanding rejoyce not in this that spirits are subject to you but rather rejoyce c. All creatures and comforts on earth should be but as foils to set off the glory of Heaven How good is grace and glory if there be so much good in nature It was Christs art to do thus when he came to the well Joh. 4. and was thirsty he riseth from that water and the thirst he had to it to tell the woman of another water which if she could once drink she should never thirst And Joh. 6. 27. when he saw his followers so hungry after loaves of bread which is perishing meat He took an occasion to exhort them to labour for the meat that perisheth not but endures to everlasting life It is safest for us as well as our duty to bestow the strength of our sorrowes upon our sinnes and the strength of our joyes upon Christ There is a double ground or reason why we should thus in our receits of temporall mercies get our hearts off or get our hearts above them First spirituall mercies are the best mercies They are best in their nature and they are best in their enjoyment they are lasting mercies The joy of the hypocrite all his joy is but for a moment and the worldly joy of the sincere is but for a moment That cannot last long whose bottom and foundation cannot last long the world passeth away and the fashion of it therefore the joy that ariseth out of the world and the goodly fashions of it must needs passe away too When one of the Ancients stood by Caesars tomb who had the honour while he lived of so many victories and triumphs he cries out O Caesar where is now thy magnificence