Selected quad for the lemma: cause_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
cause_n	call_v	death_n	sin_n	2,635	5	5.2185	4	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A34984	An alarum sounded in the borders of spiritual Egypt vvhich shall be heard in Babylon, and astonish the inhabitants of the defiled and polluted habitations of the earth. And the power of the Prince of Darkness called into question; and he himself examin'd by the truth, how he came to raign over mankind; and how long his time shall be, till he comes to be cast out of his dominion, and the creature be deliver'd from under his tyranny; to serve God in spirit and in truth, as Christ, the prince of peace, has order'd them. Also the number of him whom the world hath wonder'd after, found out; and demonstrated to be near at an end: and withal, that it is no wayes unlawful, nor in vain, both to hope, and to expect the utter desolation, and destruction of sin in this life, and the setting up of perfect righteousness in the souls of men, where sin has too long raign'd. Written in a testimony to the truth, and against the false position of the devil, and his servants; by a servant of God, Steven Crisp.	Crisp, Stephen, 1628-1692.	1671 (1671)	Wing C6922; ESTC R215182	35,940	50

they are as ready and willing to do and to fulfil the Will of God as to fulfil the will of the Devil yea and they are more properly in their right place and service and have more joy and freedom in it then in the service of the Devil for the service of the Devil is but Bondage to which the Creature is led captive by a Lye as is afore said and those that call the Corporal Bodies the Bodies of Sin and Death they please the Devil well enough for he well knows that as long as they so Believe his Birth and Seed will remain in them without hinderance when the Eyes of Men are led out to suspect their own Bodies as being the cause of all Sin and Evil which they commit which Bodies are more fit to serve God but are capable to be given up by the Will and Affection to serve either God or the Devil as is manifest by the words of Paul Rom. 6.19 As ye have yeelded your selves Servants to Vncleanness and to Iniquity unto Iniquity even so now yeeld your Members Servants to Righteousness unto Holiness Now here every one may see that the same Members that before were given up to serve Unrighteousness must now be given up to serve Righteousness Mark they had them still they did not say we would we were delivered from these Members and Bodies that were used to commit Sin that so we might come to be made free But the Apostle said plainly That they were free from Sin and were become Servants unto Righteousness and that therefore they should give up their Members to the Service of him that had made them free as formerly they used to do to him that had brought them into Bondage And th●se People that so complain against their own Bodies calling them the old Man the Body of Sin and Death and of Corruption How will they understand the Apostle where he sayes Mortifie your Members which are upon the Earth What will they Mortifie their Hands and Feet and pull out their Eyes and cut out their Tongues I suppose not But how will they fulfill the words of the Apostle except they find out another Body of Sin and the Members of it which ought to be crucified with the daily Cross But the Apostle hath named the Members of that Body which must be Mortified Col. 3.5 to wit Fornication Vncleanness Inordinate Affection Evil Concupiscence and Covetousness which is Idolatry vers 8. Anger Wrath Malice Blasphemy filthy Communication out of your Mouth and lying one to another c. these are the Members that make up that Body which is called the Body of the Sins of the Flesh Col. 2.11 and this is a sort of Flesh which God has not made for that which he hath made that is good and it is for himself and not for Sin 1 Cor. 6.13 and though the Devil hath his seat in the Heart commanding the Members of the Body to do his will yet the same Members could serve to do the Will of God if the Devil were cast out and Truth and Righteousness were set up in the Heart and then these Sin-pleaders would come to see that the fault was not in their Bodies but in their corrupt Hearts and that there is another Body to be put off before they can come to do the will of God and not the Corporal Body which God has Created to serve him And besides that these People shew themselves to have but little love to God that all his kindness and manifold Mercies cannot draw them to serve him but on the contrary they will serve his greatest Enemy as long as they have Members to serve him withall using those Members which God has given them against him and his ordering and if he will not permit it so to be he must take away those Members again even as if there was no other remedy to put an end to sin that is as much as to say If the Lord will not have them to Swear to Lye or to spake Evil he must make them Dumb and if he will not have them to do bad Works he must make them Lame and if he will take away their Life from them then they will leave off sinning but not sooner yea they cannot endure to hear of putting off of Sin sooner That say they is the Grand Error of the Quakers to speak of ceasing to Sin before we cease to live O! Where is the sence of the Love of God that this People should feel in their Hearts sh●● abroad to God to constrain them unto Obedience Al●● 〈◊〉 They are strangers thereunto and the Covenant with Hell an●●●●th is so strong and the Unbelief is so rooted in them that ●●ey think this Covenant cannot be broken But Bless●d be ●he Lord that Faith is now manifested that giveth Victory and breaketh this Covenant Another great Plea which these Sin-pleaders bring is this If People can come to Perfection in this Life then they have no need of Christ to be their Saviour as if the Salvation by Christ and a Perfect and pure Life were Inconsistant with one another You fools and blind Know ye not that all good and Perfect Gifts come from the Lord and that none can come to Perfection but by his Gift and if God be the giver Is it not then by Grace Where are Works then but these Pleaders for Sin are as great strangers to the Salvation which is in Christ Jesus as they are to Perfection otherwise they would see their Ignorance When Christ said to his Disciples Be ye Perfect as your Father which is in Heaven is Perfect that is as much as to say according to the explanation of these People There is your Command when that is done you have no need of me And the Apostle spoke Wisdom among them that were Perfect but not such wisdom or rather foolishness as this to perswade them that they had no need of Christ to be their Saviour because they were come to Perfection but on the contrary he said That he could do all things then he could be Perfect but not as of himself but through Christ that enabled him and those that come to a Perfect State they know that their Salvation is not of their Works how good and pure soever they may be but meerly by Grace through Jesus Christ and that in respect of these three following Observations 1. First That it was the Appearance of Christ Jesus who is the Power of God that has brought them off from their Sin and Imperfection and that they have not left them off of themselves but do own that it is the Grace of God as the Apostle did Tit. 2 11 12. For the Grace of God that bringeth Salvation hath appeared unto all Men Teaching us that denying Vngodliness and Worldly Lusts we should live soberly righteously and godly in this present World So here you may see that it is the Appearance of the Grace of God that leads to Perfection and this Perfection is not yet a perfect Salvation for those that have it may fall from it again and so not be s●ved but those that endure to the end shall be saved 2. But Secondly it is Christ who is the Preserver and Keeper unto the end of those that trust in him and the Apostles testifie that those that were Delivered from the corruption of this World must know him to be their Keeper that had gathered them out of the World and therefore said Jude in his Epistle vers 24. Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling and to Present you faultless before the Presence of his Glory with exceeding joy c. And Petter testifieth 1 Pet. 1.5 You are kept by the Power of God through Faith unto Salvation ready to be Revealed in the last Time And Paul testifieth That the keeping is by Jesus Christ Phil. 4.7 So here you may see that the bringing to the state of Perfection and the keeping from falling from it again is both the Work of Christ and yet this is not a perfect Salvation fo● this does not put away the former Sins 3. But thirdly Whoever comes to perfect Salvation he comes to know Christ to be an Offering for Sin and to obtain Reconciliation with God and forgiveness of his former sins For all the holy Conversation and perfection of Life can be counted no more but his Duty and therefore he cannot obtain remission of one of his former Sins but those that confess their sins and forsake them such comes to forgiveness by Jesus Christ and comes to know his Blood clensing them from all their former Sins and so they come to perfect Salvation by Grace not by Works but by Faith that works in the Love of God unto Obedience without which Faith is but dead and makes no man saved but those that have this true Faith and Hope in them They purifie themselves as he is Pure 1 Jo. 3.3 and he that has not this Hope does not purifie himself neither does he believe that he can do it and by this we know the true Believers from the false and by this Sinners are made manifest that cannot stand in the Congregation of the Righteous Psal 1.5 So now let all the Pleaders for Sin stop their Mouthes for ever and let the Devil stand for himself and plead his own cause and henceforth do not despise and revile the Innocent that are travelling and striving after Perfection with a Faith to obtain it that they think to be saved by their own works for we hope for no other Salvation but that which is in and by Jesus Christ the Eternal Son of God who is the First-born of every Creature that brings many Sons and Daughters unto Glory but not by leaving them in their sins but his Name is Jesus and he saves People from their Sins S. C. THE END

that the Enmity is great in the first birth and so that although he grew up to be an Offerer yet he did not grow up in dominion over the Serpent nor over the quality of the Destroyer in himself and that sort of Offering was more acceptable to the Devil then to God And now mark that man was a Sinner and yet religious his Sin and Religion were consistant and could have place together at one and the same time in one man as it is now with the Professors of this Age who say they are Sinners and that their best Works are polluted and defiled with Sin and that they must remain so whilst they live and yet they will seek acceptance with God in these poluted Offerings notwithstanding they do profess him to be pure to whom they Offer Thus was this first Sacrificer blind and darkned and so are many Thousands after him and the dominion of the Devil was over him First Deceiving him by Leading him to Expect an Acceptance because he Offered though with an Evil Heart Secondly to lead him into the evil which had kept him from acceptance Thirdly by making him so Wrath and Angry because he was not accepted against his Brother that did well and was partaker of the one sure Faith of the Elect Seed of God And the Serpent having thus darkned his mind then he durst come before him with a Lye though he was a Man of whom Eve thought that she had gotten him from the Lord perswading him that if that Faithfull Abel was out of the Way that then it would be better with him So he hearkned to the Counsel of this evil spirit and shed Innocent Blood about Religion here Persecution got his entrance into the World by one that was an Offerer and an evil Doer together a fit Instrument for such a Work But behold what became of this Man the Blood which he had shed and the Earth which had drunk it up cry'd for Vengance against this bloody Offerer and he fear'd exceedingly and said He could not bear his Punishment and said Every one that finds me will slay me and to prevent that he went and Built a City in the Land of Nod hear was the beginning of Fortifications which was to defend the Transgressor for the Righteous have a Tower namely the Name of God and there they are safe without such Gates or Walls Now let every one consider how little right this spirit had in all these things but he entred by a Lye and Reigned by a Lye and Darkness and deceit was his defence for his Government and how little reason there is to plead for such a spirit let the wise in heart judge It would go beyond my present aime and purpose to trace this spirit who is called the Devil and Satan the Dragon and old Serpent through all Ages since the beginning to see with how little Truth Right or Equity he came up to Reign among Men. The understanding Reader of the Scriptures of Truth can see it clear enough and it is a great wonder and one of the greatest that is in that part of the World called Christendom that there are so many men being men of knowledge in other matters and such as set up the Scriptures so much as they seem to do calling it the Word of God the Rule of Christians the Light of the World the Guide of Life c. that they should go with such a Book in their hands pleading for the Devil's Kingdom and for a necessity that it must continue as long as there is a man upon Earth Whereas the Scripture in substance is nothing else but as a Declaration against him and his Government and sheweth how he ought to be forsaken opposed resisted and cast out and withall how that Primitive pure and holy and Righteous Law of that Spirit which is called God and is holy pure and Blessed for ever how that ought to be imbraced received and exalted in the whole Creation I say this is a very great wonder of which and of the consequences thereof the Christians so called have cause to be ashamed yea are a Reproach to the whole World and it is high time that some do arise for God and the call is gone forth Who is on the Lord's part Exod. 32.26 The Devil has an innumerable Host to plead for Sin some with Arguments and some with cruel Weapons but who is on the Lord's part that can say the Lord Reigns in Righteousness and in Truth he Judges the Earth Oh! All ye carnal Professors of God and Christ in words but in works deny him and sayes that Sin must stand and remain as long as you live Be it known unto you in the Name of the God of Heaven that where Sin remains there the Devil is Prince and Ruler And if that must remain as long as you live the Devil desires it no longer for he that will be his Servant in this life must be his Companion in the World to come But hear ye the Word of the Lord thou great Host and mighty Army of the Devil Beast Serpent and the old Deceiver who plead that his Government shall stand as long as there is a man to live upon Earth The Controversie of the Lord God Almighty is Proclaimed and begun against you all and your Prince yea the Arm of the everlasting God is stretched out against you and henceforth ye shall not be prosperous but the Dominion of your Prince shall be lessened and both his and your Power shall be weakned and your Weapons both of Deceit and Cruelty shall be broken and come to nought The Inheritance of of the Wicked shall be laid waste and the design which hath been carried on so long shall be frustrated Deceit and Falshood shall fall before the Truth and Darkness shall flee before the Light and your fortified City shall fail you and the Land of Nod will not be a hiding place for you For the Arm of the mighty God of Jacob shall scatter you as a reproach and make y●u ashamed of your Work and of your Prince Now to touch a tittle at your Arguments which the Servants of this spirit make use of for to hold ●p his Kingd●m of whi●h they say It is impossible tha● it should be brought down even as if God had given up all Man kind which is the best of his Creation unto t●e Devil and that he should keep none of them for himself to serve him till they have fulf●lled the Devi●'s work to the ●●ll and can serve him no longer Certainly t e Heathens M●ors and Indians have a better D●ctrine then these in the ground though Darkness is over their understandings as concerning God and Heaven and such things yet many of them do not judge that there is such a necessity to do evil as long as they live but abstain from that which they know to be evil and they that do so are esteemed to have their pleasures and delight in the