Selected quad for the lemma: cause_n
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A28339
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Eben-ezer, or, Profitable truths after pestilential times being some meditations upon Isaiah 4, 2, shewing the mercy and the duty of those that have escap'd the slaughtering pestilence : as also, that all slaughter shall end in the exhaltation of Christ and the setting up of his kingdom : together with an epistolary preface to the citizens of London & Westminster / by Thomas Blake.
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Blake, Thomas.
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1666
(1666)
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Wing B3140; ESTC R24659
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97,235
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207
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hath not Thus if really thou wouldest have Christ become more glorious unto thee thou mayst be accepted in this which thou hast and it shall not be charged upon thee that thou art wanting in that which thou yet hadst not Under the Law when a Thank-Offering was to be returned and the Soul to admire the Lord in some kindness received he that could bring but two Turtle Doves and two young Pigeons if that were the most they had and the best they could bring it was accepted as well as those that brought the greatest Offerings their hearts were enlarged it is like to bring more So though thou hast but little if thou desirest more thy little will be accepted though but two Turtle Doves or two young Pigeons 5. Thou that wouldest prize Christ more know this That the Lord will increase that Grace in thee and thou shalt be able to prize him at a greater rate The Lord direct your hearts into the Love of God 2 Thes 3.5 it is the Lord that must direct thee into the Love of Christ and he will do it if thy heart be really working that way if thou dost prize him as much as thou canst he will help thee to prize him more Prov. 3.9 10. Honour the Lord with thy substance and with the first fruits of all thine increase so shall thy barns be filled with plenty and thy presses shall burst with new Wine If thou dost with the first and best of thy strength endeavour to honour the Lord he will encrease thy strength and communicate unto thee abundantly And that is what I shall say to the fourth Use VSE V. To any such Soul as can say it is escaped and the Branch of the Lord is become glorious unto it I fear these Souls go into a little room there are but few of that sort yet here and there some I confidently believe there are I would all to whom this Book may come might say they find their Escaping-Mercy hath been seconded with such an effect In a word and but a word or two to this sort of persons Ah what is thy mercy O Soul an Escape and the good of it too this is Mercy indeed to be delivered from the pit of Corruption and to be delivered in love to thy Soul What is thy Duty Truly 1. To admire the faithfulness of the Lord in keeping Covenant with thee It is a special Blessing and Promise of the New Covenant That God will not shew his People kindness onely but will also give them the good of that kindness that he sheweth to them To be saved in a day of Distress and thy spirit bettered also look on it as a mercy more then Preservation without which thy Preservation might have been imbittered unto thee O celebrate his praises as a God that keeps Covenant and Mercy and will not alter the good word that he hath spoken to thee 2. Let this incourage thee to press after prizing Christ more as Paul speaking of the Corinthians You love the Lord Jesus see you abound yet more and more so say I O labour to abound more and more Let this goodness by which you are brought to prize him engage you to prize him more and more 3. Communicate thy Experience unto trembling Saints speak to them of his gracious dealings unto thee that their hearts may be incouraged to trust in him Come saith David and I will tell you what the Lord hath done for my Soul We have experience every one of us of what God hath done upon our Bodies O let us be careful to shew forth his praise That is what I shall say unto the fifth Use Again VSE VI. I might speak a word to another sort of persons If escaping a Day of Calamity should cause a Soul to see a greater Beauty in Christ what should it work upon them on whom the Calamity is fallen and yet are escaped There are many such if you that read what I have written meet with them and know them you may do well to give them a little account of what may be spoken in such a case How should that kindness be admired when poor Creatures have had Bodies full of pain Spirits full of fear looking the King of Terrours in the face every moment poor Creatures that it may be would have given had they had it all the world to have been assured they should have been raised from their Bed and set upon their Feet poor Creatures that it is like were sequester'd from company whose case was like that of David Psal 38.11 My Lovers and my Friends stand aloof from my sore and my Kinsmen stand afar off Now that the Lord should be with and look after them in such a time and raise them this should have such effects as such a mercy had once upon Hezekiah Isa 38.15 I shall go softly all my years in the bitterness of my Soul that is I shall retain a sence of the bitterness that was upon my Soul and in that sence I shall go softly the man that walks softly step by step he goes heedfully and carefully and mindes every step he takes so should such poor Souls walk that have been delivered from such hazard and bitterness of Soul they should walk warily the rest of their time To which two things may much engage 1. That certainly the Escape in such a case is thorow Christ I am satisfied in this That this Judgement of the Plague as other Diseases hath in it natural Causes and natural Means are helpful to deliver from it but as it is in other cases whatever natural Causes there are to further any Disease upon the Body of Man the Lord hath a hand in it and makes use of those natural Causes and so whatever Means are useful for recovery in any case the blessing and efficacy of it depends upon the Lord so it is in this case also very eminently that a Soul may say as it is said Isa 38.16 O Lord by these things men live and in all these things is the life of my Spirit some read the words They shall live for whom the Lord is which is a great variation from our Translation They shall live for whom the Lord is that is whose protection he is and whom he stands by 2. If Christ be not glorious to such a Soul he can bring a worse evil upon them John 5.14 Go away sin no more lest a worse thing come unto thee God can bring a worse thing upon a Creature then the Plague he can make death to be chosen rather then life as you have it Jer. 8.3 And death shall be chosen rather then life by all the residue of them that remain of this evil family c. VSE VII Should a souls escaping publick Calamity render Christ the more glorious Surely it should have this effect upon those into whose Walls it came into whose House it entered and yet it may be their Persons not touched but have been preserved though Death was
because of Israel that is a Soul is not an Israelite indeed because he crowds himself in among that number because he takes up the same Profession with them and pretends to be in the same Spirit with them Let it be minded what is the Foundation of your Hope think you you are not therefore Israel because of Israel because of them that do profess for God that will not be a foundation that is fit for you to build upon And then 2. Neither are they Israel because they are the Seed of Abraham This was a mighty thing which the Jewish People boasted of say they We are Abraham's natural Seed his Seed according to the flesh And possibly some also may reckon upon some such thing at this day we are the Children of them that do believe and our education hath been somewhat suitable thereto but not therefore Israel because of Abraham's Seed that is a mistake you should be watchful against From the consideration of this word it is evident People may reckon themselves Israel upon unsafe grounds and therefore we ought to be serious in our enquiry into this matter The other Scripture is in Isa 48. where you have the preceding things and somewhat more expressed vers 1 2. Hear ye this O House of Jacob which are called by the Name of Israel and are come forth out of the Waters of Judah which swear by the Name of the Lord and make mention of the God of Israel but not in truth nor in righteousness for they call themselves of the Holy City and stay themselves upon the God of Israel the Lord of Hosts is his name It is a Scripture worth your considering and it doth in the general teach us thus much That a People may be many things and may do many things that do seemingly bespeak them to be of the Israel of God but when the matter is more thorowly enquired into it will be found it is no such thing Take a few particulars out of the Text and observe what persons may be and do and yet really not be the Israel of God 1. They may be called by the name of Israel they may be reputed Saints pass for somewhat in the esteem and account of others suitable to which is that Scripture which you have Rev. 3.1 where the Spirit of God testifies concerning the Church of Sardis that they had a name to live but yet were dead In the opinion of those that did converse with them and that held communion with them they were indeed alive but when the Spirit of God came to pass a sentence on them and to determine really what their state was says the holy Ghost Thou art dead 2. Observe also that they were the Posterity of Jacob Hear ye O House of Jacob that are come forth out of the Waters of Judah that is you are some of the multitude of Judah's Off-spring they were the seed of them that were in Covenant but yet notwithstanding many of them were Strangers to the Lord and not of Israel unto this day I beseech you mind it that Grace is not certainly and infallibly intailed upon every one of the Seed of Believers although it is very frequently seen that some or other of their Seed the Lord is pleased to chuse to himself and does set them apart to be the Instruments of his praise according to Isa 61.9 And their Seed shall be known among the Gentiles and their Off-spring among the People all that see them shall acknowledge them that they are the Seed which the Lord hath blessed not onely the Seed of them which the Lord hath blessed but a Seed which are themselves blessed in their own persons It is the usual method of the Lord though he may pass by some yet he does take some other of the Seed to bring them near to himself But this I must let you know you must no further make reckoning of the interest of Parents in the Covenant but as a ground of Hope to you and an argument to plead with God you must not thence conclude that you your selves are in the Bond of the Covenant till some work be upon your hearts 3. They made a profession for God and therefore are said to swear by the Name of the Lord. Swearing by the Name of the Lord is an act of Worship a professed owning of God which shall be done by Saints when they are found in the best Spirit witness that word Isa 65.16 He that blesseth himself in the Earth shall bless himself in the God of truth and he that sweareth in the Earth shall swear by the God of Truth because the former troubles are forgotten and are hid from thine eyes It is spoken about times in which a great deal of mercy and good will be brought forth and then there shall be swearing by the Name of the Lord it is a professed owning of God and thus did this People do and yet there was nothing of God in them nothing of Truth nothing but hypocrisie and deceit bound up in their Spirits 4. Observe also they did reckon themselves of Israel they were right in their own opinion and esteem they called themselve the Holy City It is a marvelous easie thing for a Soul to get a good opinion of himself to stand right in his own apprehensions but I would not have you build too much upon this It is an excellent caution which the Apostle gives Rom. 12.3 For I say through the grace given unto me to every man that is among you not to think of himself more highly then he ought to think but to think soberly according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of Faith I say unto every man among YOU he speaks unto Professors be not too hasty and forward to conclude well concerning your selves but let every man judge himself to be no more then according to the measure of Grace he hath received My Friends be your Profession what it will and your approbation among others what it can you are really no more nor will you stand for more in the day of Christ then according as there shall be somewhat of God found upon your Souls 5. Observe also they had much confidence that God would own them and therefore it is said They stay'd themselves upon the God of Israel they profess that they do act Faith on God and are full of confidence that they shall be owned of God and not rejected by him But after all this see what a character the Spirit of God gives of this People v. 4. Because I knew that thou art obstinate and thy Neck is an Iron sinew and thy Brow Brass a People very wretched and wicked very rebellious against God not in the least subjecting themselves to God and to his mind after all the profession they have made and their pretence to be Israel Seriously consider these things and tell me if there be not cause that each Soul of us should fear lest we be found short