Selected quad for the lemma: cause_n
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A61181
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A sermon preached before the King and Queen at Whitehal, on Good-Friday, 1690 by the Lord Bishop of Rochester, Dean of Westminster.
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Sprat, Thomas, 1635-1713.
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1690
(1690)
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Wing S5061; ESTC R13441
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13,597
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46
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Divine Vengeance What shall we say then If our Lord 's Suffering in this terrible manner was able to shake the whole Frame of the Visible World as it did if it could disorder the very Inanimate and Insensible Parts of it though they were altogether Innocent of its Guilt If it could rend the Veil of the Temple and split the Rocks and darken the Sun and overspread the Face of the Earth with thick Darkness and open the Graves and make Dead Bodies arise and walk abroad What powerful Effect then And What irresistible Influence should all this have upon us Who in as much as we are all Sinners had but too great a share in being the Causes of his thus Suffering What passionate Relentings What vehement Desires What fervent Longings should the Remembrance of all this excite in our Souls towards him What Carefulness yea What clearing of our selves yea What Indignation yea What Fear yea What Zeal yea What Revenge against Sin and Iniquity that occasioned all This What Resolutions of better Obedience What Vigilancy What Prayers What Tears What Vows for the future should it Solemnly engage us in against those our Transgressions which cost him so Dear no less than his Immaculate Blood and weigh'd down for a Time his Righteous Soul into Hell Thus Christ Suffer'd for us to pay an Inestimable Price for our Demerits and by his own Merits to make us Sinners acceptable in the Sight of God who is of purer Eyes than to behold Iniquity But may we now safely conclude from hence That the whole design of our Redemption was absolutely finish'd between God and Him and Us merely by his Suffering for us Yes entirely as to the Meritorious part of it tho' we should all beware of Negligence or Presumption on that Account For there still remains enough to be done on our part His share was in Truth All in All and All in every Part. It was completely to purchase Salvation for us But then must begin and then only can begin our share which is still To Work out that Salvation So that although all our Working can only proceed on the sure Foundation of his Purchase Yet withal it must indispensably proceed thereupon And let us not be deceiv'd if as we are told even our best Working in this Life cannot be without some Fear and Trembling What will our not Working at all be Consider I beseech you The Free Grace of our LORD 's Redeeming Mankind by his Blood The Blood of the New and Everlasting Covenant as large and diffusive as it is yet can be of no Consequence to us in Particular but to aggravate our Condemnation for neglecting it unless we not only Accept and Apprehend it by Faith but Embrace and Cherish it with a Living Faith And then Faith only lives in an Evangelical Sense not only when it Breaths and Professes but when it Moves and Works then it most Lives when it Operates Vigorously in a Conscientious Obedience to his Precepts and a Diligent and Dutiful Conformity to his Example Which is the Reason my Text assigns of our LORD 's Suffering for us that he might leave us an Example and we should follow his Steps We know there are some that call themselves Christians who rejecting the great Fundamental Doctrine of our LORD 's Suffering for us as a Propitiatory Sacrifice allow no other End of his Coming and Living and Dying in the Flesh but that he might shew us the way to Heaven by his Teaching and Example I need not in this Audience labour to confute this or to prove Christ's having been a Real Sacrifice and the only sufficient Atonement for Sin by himself once offer'd Since in the whole Tenour of the Gospel especially in St Paul's Epistles and that to the Hebrews this Truth seems to be so perspicuously confirm'd Only let me add his being offer'd to GOD as our Sacrifice was a thing so Necessary that without it in Vain had He been proposed to us as our Example Both these great Intentions of his Suffering being so inseparably Mixt and United that wherever they shall be found divided neither o◠them can be Effectual Christ could never have been to us a Pattern of Holiness such as we could have had the least hope to follow had He not also been a Propitiation for our Sins And that Propitiation will prevail with the Righteous Judge of all the World only for such as in some Degree or other sincerely Practice after his Pattern Upon no less nor any other Conditions has He undertaken to cleanse and rescue us from the Guilt and Slavery of our Sins but only as we shall strive to exercise that Capacity which He has also obtain'd for us of following the Steps of his Graces It must be Confess'd without his Righteousness imputed to us we can never be Justifi'd in the Sight of God And his Righteousness is never imputed to any but only those by whom either in Deed or in Will it is Imitated I say not only in Deed but in Will because our Gracious GOD who worketh in us both to Will and to Do of his Good Pleasure is sometimes pleas'd To accept the Will for the Deed But never so as thereby to give us any Incouragement to come short of or to omit the Deed. I say then again our Blessed LORD can never be a comfortable Example but only to those for whom He was a Sacrifice And He never suffer'd effectually for any as a Sacrifice but such as unfeignedly desire and endeavor to make Him their Example This being granted that it highly concerns every one that calls on the Name of Christ not only to trust in Him as our Redeemer but to follow His Steps as our Example It will next be very well worth our while to examine carefully where we may find an accurate Copy of that Example In what Holy ground we are to search for the Genuine Marks of those Heavenly Steps we are to tread in For that the Greek Word in my Text which is translated Example may suggest to us a certain Rule of Direction in this whole Matter The Word is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is such a Type Prescript and Original Draught as is left us in Writing whence we may transcribe it into our Lives So that you see St. Peter was not content to leave us a mere uncertain hear-say changeable traditionary Doctrine of our Lord's Example but such a One as being at first taken as near the Life as could be was then written down once for all finished and once delivered to the Saints as indeed every part of it is demonstrably to be shewn in the Holy Word of GOD which is our fix'd Standard of all Truth and Goodness and next to Christ and His Spirit our only Infallible Guide of Faith and Manners This says our Apostle is the Example He has left us for you to follow Consign'd it first into our Trust and our Recording who were Eye-witnesses