Selected quad for the lemma: cause_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
cause_n	bring_v	child_n	good_a	1,431	5	3.9500	3	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A57477	The preciousnesse of Christ unto beleevers. Or, A treatise wherein the absolute necessity, the transcendent excellency, the supereminent graces, the beauty, rarity and usefulnesse of Christ is opened and applyed. By John Robotham, preacher of the Gospel	Robotham, John, fl. 1654.	1647 (1647)	Wing R1733; ESTC R208474	115,896	303

Father begotten yet eternall and the Holy Ghost is proceeding from them both yet eternally too for though they be one before another in order of nature yet not in order of time But now here is the Question seeing the Father is first the Sonne second and the Holy Spirit last in that naturall order why doth the Apostle in the fore-mentioned place set the Sonne first verily because he is next and immediate unto us being our Mediatour being the canalis or conduit pipe as I may say by which the love of God and the communion of the Holy-Ghost is brought and conveyed to us as the meanes is ever before the end Now the Saints being convinced and perswaded of this Truth this is the thing that makes Christ so deare and precious unto them as he is if Isaac loved Esau for his venison for a carnall respect much more have wee cause to love the Lord Jesus and highly to esteeme of him having procured for us the love of the Father a love like Jonathan's love to David passing the love of women yea a love of infinite dimensions and measures if I may so speake the breadth of it is infinite because it is without respect of persons the length also infinite because it is from everlasting to everlasting the depth infinite because it redeemes and delivers from Hell and the height likewise infinite because it lifts us up to Heaven Certainly Christ having purchased such a wonderfull love as this he must needs be precious he must needs be amiable and lovely to a beleeving soule Secondly for the pardon of sinne there is likewise an absolute necessity of Christ The bloud of Christ onely and not of Buls and Goats is availeable to take away sinnes The soule being convicted of its sinfulnesse speakes as the Prophet doth Who among us shall dwell with devouring fire who among us shall dwell with everlasting burnings God is devouring fire and everlasting bumings in relation to sinners his wrath is the fewell of Hell as I may say the breath of his indignation is like a river of brimstone kindling and perpetually maintaining the flames of Tophet what shall the poore sinfull soule doe now here 's nothing but menaces and threatnings terrours and amazements death and destruction and where is the remedy verily no where but in Christ alone Israel passing through the wildernesse had a cloud to cover him and defend him from the scortching Sunne-beames now what was this cloud but a type and shadow of Christ as the Apostle makes it 1 Cor. 10. 1. hee makes there the cloud and the Sea and the Manna and the water of the Rocke to be all figures and Images of Christ Christ is a sea to wash Manna to feed water to refresh and a cloud to hide the soule from the hot and burning wrath of God the fiery beames of that wrath would surely suffocate it and stifle it were not the bloud of Christ interposed and set between to veile it the bloud of Christ obnubilates and covers the soule from the fierce anger of God it is Christ onely that reconcileth us to God it is he alone that is our Advocate to plead our cause with his Father when man had sinned Justice and Mercy strove one with another seemed to be at variance Christ redintigrates them and makes them friends againe he is our blessed Umpire to set there two together againe giving satisfaction to Justice and place to mercy so honouring and dignifying both making both to rejoyce both to kisse and embrace each other God smels a sweet sav●ur of rest in Christ onely all the hilasticall and propitiatory sacrifices of the Law did ●●oke to him as to their end and substance of themselves they could not pu●ge away the guilt of the least sinne the repetition of them as the Apostle teacheth showes plainely how invalid they were to expiate the crimes and offences of the soule the strictest observance of them could not make the worshipper perfect as touching cleerenesse of Conscience Heb. 9. 9. When David cryes purge me with bysope and I shall be cleane wash me and I shall be whiter then snow he alludes indeed to the Leviticall Ceremony but he aimes at the bloud of Christ onely this alone was able to purge away his foule spot his hainous sinne of murder would not out by any other washing then this In one of the old sacrifices there were two Goates appointed one to be slaine and the other to be kept alive which was called the scape-Goate now both these have an eye to Christ the slaine or sacrificed Goate was a type of his dying for sinne and the surviving or scape-goate figures his rising againe and ever living to mainetaine the worth of that oblation the Apostle saith that he ever liveth to make intercession for us and how doth he make intercession but by continuall holding forth in the presence of his Father the merit of his sufferings so that still Christ both dying and living is the fountaine of our peace and attonement with God still Christ is he and the onely he that obtaineth remission of sinnes for us Now if wee consider the many and great benefits that redound to us by the pardon of sinne we must needs conclude that Christ is very precious by whom we enjoy such a mercy When sinne is pardoned there is an end of Gods heavie wrath and displeasure Satan's Kingdome goes downe the power of our corruptions daily decaying we have peace and joy within whereas before wee had nothing but raging stormes and tempests and a very hell in our Consciences our prayers finde acceptance at the throne of Grace all the creatures are in league with us and are become our faithfull servants that which comes from them is sweet and benigne healthfull and good our blessings are blessed yea our very curses if they may be so called are likewise blessed unto us Judgements are removed every bitternesse is taken away even the sting of death is puld our Christ as a tree of most excellent vertue is cut downe and throwne into our Marah Some things may worke adve●sly and crosly to us but the Apostle speakes of a cooperating or working together which makes amends for all all things worke together saith he for good unto them that love God Rom. 8. 28. and they be such that have their sinnes pardoned Though some things worke untowardly and against the haire as I may say yet take them altogether and there is a blessed harmony and complyance a sweet relishablenesse and savourinesse in them one thing doth recompence and make up another the mixture of sweet and sowre through the wisdome and mighty working of God is very demulcent and wholsome full of benediction and blessednesse that even the sinnes of the Godly are an advantage to them and turne to their melioration and betternment God makes use even of them to doe his children good he brings meate out of the very eater and converts the causes of damnation into furtherances of salvation Adde hereunto that adoption communion with God and with his Saints and assurance of eternall ●lory are all of them the blessed concomi●ants of sinne pardoned We recover the Image of God and in some measure the freedome of our wills unto good when

to say sporting greatly a metaphor or simile taken from little ones which sport and play before their Parents Christ must needs be precious being thus highly esteemed of the Father And to this head of Argumentation wee may adde the great and high account that the most excellent of all Gods Creation the holy Angels have of him they all worship him and adore him Hebr. 1. 6. yea they doe exceeding earnestly desire to stoope downe and pry into the great mystery of our Redemption by Christ as the words 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 1 Peter 1. 12. doe import where the Apostle alludes to the manner of the Cherubims looking downe into the Mercy-seate this is the study yea this is the delight and recreation of the elect Angels to looke into the severall scopes of our salvation by Jesus Christ to behold the whole frame and fabrick of it to observe all the parts of it from the beginning to the end and the glorious attributes of God his wisdome his power his Justice his Mercy all shining and glittering in it like bright Starres in the firmament this I say is their worke yea this is their festivity and past-time Then let the profane ones of the world thinke what they will of Christ let them slight him and scorne him and cast him at their heeles as they doe let them trample upon his bloud and passion as their wicked manner is making it a common and worthlesse thing let them despise those high and celestiall Mysteries of his Mediatorship wee need not care for their thoughts it is enough for us that God the Father hath honoured and exalted him that the holy Angels doe venerate and worship him yea and all the Saints doe magnifie him and count him very precious the opinion that one of the least of these hath of Christ is more to be regarded then the Judgement of the wisest and most judicious worldlings that are The Preacher saith that a wise mans heart is at his right hand but a fooles at his left Eccles 10. 2. what is the meaning of this Wee know that naturally every mans heart is placed on the left side therefore surely that sentence aimeth at something higher then Nature doubtlesse then Heavenly things are figured by the right hand and Earthly by the left The first is the choyce of the Saints they are therefore those wise ones whose heart is at their right hand the other is the delight of Heathenish and carnall people they then are the fooles whose heart is on their left hand and here is the true reason why the men of this world doe despise Christ their heart is a left-handed heart as I may say they favour and rellish nothing but earthly things and therefore Christ and the glorious things of the Gospel are lightly set by such wisedome is too high for fooles as Solomon saith they cannot attaine unto it Even the Heathen Philosophers as wise as they were could not reach it they were so farre from embracing it that they counted it very foolishnesse and be it so saith the Apostle for he doth after a sort gratifie them yet the foolishnesse of God is wiser then men and the weaknesse of God is stronger then men It skils not then what the men of the world doe thinke of Christ but what esteeme God and his holy Angels and the Saints illuminated and enlightned by the Spirit of God have of him if they count him precious this is an Argument irrefragable and a proofe beyond all exception that he is so indeed Thirdly the great and excessive price Illustration III that is given for a thing doth likewise render it very precious Precious things have their denomination from this Argument The oyle wherewith Mary anoynted Christ was called precious in this respect this oyntment might have been fold for much and given to the poore Thus also the life of a man is said to be precious Proverb 6. 26. because he will part with one thing after another till all begone to save it as wee see in the Egyptians who parted first with their mony after that with their cattell and last of all with their Lands and all to buy bread to save their precious lives Now this also doth set forth the preciousnesse of Christ but who shall value him Who shall set the price upon him not men of corrupt minds not people of depraved affections for they will set too low a rate upon him Judas sold him and the High-Priests bought him for 30. pieces of silver a goodly price saith Christ that I was prised at of them Zach. 11. 13. Magnificum pretium as Junius renders it a very worthy price I promise you ironically spoken meaning nothing lesse and yet he was no lesse then the eternall Jehovah that was so prised Jehovah said unto me cast it unto the potter a goodly price that I was prised at of them But they did thus to fulfill the good Counsell and purpose of God for others that would esteeme more highly of him There be them in the world that doe enhaunse the price of Christ and value him at the highest rate though some will not part with a beastly lust for him though like hogs they count the base wash and figge to be farre sweeter yet there be others that know well the worth of him there be others that are willing to forsake all for him we have forsaken all saith Peter and have followed thee Matth. 19. 27. The Merchant of whom you heard before sold all to buy the preclous pearle he valued it above all things in the world and was willing to leave all for it The holy Martyrs thought not their very lives and their heart-bloud too deare for Christ so it is said that they loved not their lives unto the death Revel 12. 11. that is they despised their lives in comparison of Christ they exposed their bodies to horrible and painfull deaths their temporall estates to the spoyle and their persons to all manner of shame and contempt for the cause of Christ they thought nothing too hot for him A soule that by Faith hath sense of the worth of Christ will willingly give all for him will goe away rejoycing and will thinke his pennie-worth to be very good Fourthly the usefulnesse and profitablenesse Illustration IV of a thing makes it also to be precious in this sense are the fruits of the Earth called precious as we reade Deut. 33. 14. there the precious fruits put forth by those heavenly luminaries the Sunne and Moone are a part of Josephs blessing and precious they were because very usefull and serviceable to the life of man and the influence of those heavenly bodies by a course which God had constituted and set in Nature made them the more usefull and therefore the more precious So also are the afflicted and persecuted Saints said to beare precious seed Psal 126. 6. because their sufferings shall profit them much in the end such seed shall