Selected quad for the lemma: cause_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
cause_n	body_n	great_a	soul_n	2,575	5	4.9117	4	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A28372	Two useful cases resolved I. Whether a certainty of being in a state of salvation be attainable? II. What is the rule by which this certainty is to be attained?	Blechynden, Richard, 1647 or 8-1697.	1685 (1685)	Wing B3183; ESTC R15390	19,631	35

possumus We can give them the Sacrament but that they shall receive the benefit design'd by it we cannot assure them We have but one Instance of a dying Penitent of the sincerity and sufficiency of whose Repentance we are ascertain'd 't is that of the Thief on the Cross and our assurance of this is owing to nothing less than the Testimony of Him who was God as well as Man He that notwithstanding what has been said dares venture on a known sin hoping to make all well again by a speedy Repentance I would desire him to consider whether if he had a Son or a Servant that should offend him especially several times presuming on his kindness and good nature whether I say he would easily and quickly pardon such a Son or a Servant Secondly whether such a person would not shew himself to be of a very base ungrateful and dis-ingenuous temper and not to be reformed in a little time or with little pains Now why should we foolishly imagine that God will suffer his Mercy to be abused any more than Man Or that such a behaviour towards God does not argue so base a disposition as is not quickly to be put off Let such a person but represent the Trumpet sounding the Son of Man on the Throne all the Heavenly Host surrounding him and the Books open'd and Sentence ready to be pronounced and then let him consider whether he could depend on that Mercy which he had so lately abused and whether for all his imaginary Repentance he would not with amazement and horror be frequently casting his eyes on that Stain which he had so lately contracted Such a Prolepsis of the Day of Judgment would shew us there is much more danger in one Wilful Sin lately committed than we are apt to fancy while we put that day far from us But if he that has been guilty of one heinous Indeliberate sin or of one Wilful one in never so small a matter be in so dangerous a case What shall we say to the Oppressor and Defrauder of Mankind to the Customary Swearer to the Damner to the Drunkard to the Fornicator to all that wallow in any one habitual sin Assuredly there is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a great Gulf between Them and Happiness They are as far from it as Heaven is from Hell II. But not to grieve our selves any longer with so melancholly a Subject I shall hasten to give Comfort and Assurance to all pious persons that for a long time have lived conscientiously in the discharge of their duty and have carefully avoided all Wilful and Deliberate Sins And the giving this assurance is the proving the sufficiency of my Rule which was the second thing to be done For These are they that have brought forth works meet for Repentance That have put away the evil of their doings by ceasing to do Evil and by learning to do Well Is 1.16 17. They desire nothing more than their Eternal Salvation and their constant Resolutions are for the Observance of all the Commands of God and then the Conformity of their Outward Actions prove that these their Desires and Resolutions are sincere and strong So that if they look into the Inward Man they find themselves renewed in the Spirit of their Minds and if they take a view of their Outward Actions they find nothing of the Old Now when the wicked forsakes his Way and the unrighteous his Thoughts when he turneth from the Wickedness that he has committed and doth that which is Lawful and Right we are assured by Ezekiel that He shall save his Soul alive and by Isaiah 55.7 That God will have mercy upon him and will abundantly pardon Here it will be asked what time is necessary for the making this experience of ones self But 't is impossible for one man to determine this for another Tryals and Temptations are not the same to all men in the same space of time nor is all true Christians Intenseness of Obedience equal for there are degrees even in Sincerity as there are degrees of Happiness suitable to them Wherefore every man 's own Conscience must tell him whether he has been diligent to learn his Duty and has had time to go stedily through All or the Main branches of it as they arose Whether he has daily made the Natural and Revealed Will of God the Rule of all his Words and Actions even when his Pleasure or his Worldly Interest tempted to the contrary Now he that has done thus may be reasonably presumed proof against the fiery Tryal and the highest Temptations if it be his happiness to suffer for Righteousness-sake And then This is the man and This only that upon the Examination of his Life and the Consideration of his Ways can give Peace and Quiet to his Soul that can say with St. Paul If our earthly house of this Tabernacle be dissolved we have a building of God an house not made with hands Eternal in the Heavens But it will not be sufficient to the Doubting Christian to have thus proved my Rule unless I also answer his scruples For he will put in and say I am affraid God has made more things necessary than your Rule comprises my own Conscience condemns me though You do not I many times have wandring thoughts and want zeal in my Devotions I fear I have many secret sins to answer for I often offend through Ignorance and Inconsideration as I many times discover but too late and some times ill thoughts and imaginations arise in my mind So that I am all over polluted with sin and St. John has told me He that sinneth is of the Devil and not of God These and such-like sins if they proceed from our sloth and negligence if we do not strive and struggle against them they seem to have the consent of our Wills and so may prove Damnable but otherwise they hardly deserve the name of Moral Actions They aro not chosen by our wills they necessarily flow from the Imperfections of our Natures and so are not the proper Object of Laws nor of Rewards and Penalties But to speak to the Objections separately Our Zeal Warmth in any Action does depend in a great measure on the general temper of our bodies and the particular one we are then in when we undertake any Action which temper varies with the Weather and an hundred other Uncertain causes The holiness of our Lives and an humble dependance on God in all our Concerns does recommend our Prayers more than the Warmth of our Affections or the Volubility of our Tongues As for our Thoughts 't is no wonder they are desultory and wandring since the Soul of man cannot bear a continual stretch and intention since the variety of Objects are apt to distract us and as it were compel us to mind them Lastly since the Multiplicity of Affairs and Business which God himself has imposed on us will recur to our minds without our seeking Next for our sins