Selected quad for the lemma: cause_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
cause_n	day_n	great_a	see_v	4,001	5	3.3205	3	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A77007	Salvation in a mystery: or A prospective glasse for Englands case. As it was laid forth in a sermon preached at Margarets in Westminster, before the Honourable House of Commons, at their monthly fast, March 27. 1644. / By John Bond, B.LL. late lecturer in the city of Exceter, now preacher at the Savoy in London. A member of the Assembly of Divines. Published by order of the Commons House.	Bond, John, 1612-1676.; England and Wales. Parliament.	1644 (1644)	Wing B3574; Thomason E43_2; ESTC R1754	41,396	73

and succour True I confesse the Lord is righteous for we have rebelled against his mouth but yet for doing and suffering in this great Cause I am perswaded those parts may be ranked amongst the foremost of the Kingdome And my humble desire is that accordingly they may have place in your prayers and cares Thus let the Lords generall and publique designes and ends be first considered and promoted But secondly 2 Promote Gods particular designes I must tell you that God hath other collaterall designes and as I may call them intermediate ends in this strange worke which we ought also to observe and further to our uttermost that 's the second practicall lesson As it is with those that labour to finde out the Ph●losophers-stone by distillations their ultimate and principall end is to make gold yet by the way and collaterally they finde out many rare experiments and excellent chymicall extractions which are of precious use and value So is it in this great work of God his grand principall designe is publique salvation both by Reformation and Deliverance but he hath many collaterall occasionall intermediate designes and effects which he intendeth and produceth by the way As for instance he hath suppose a design and an experiment to be made upon his owne Church and people as to try the particular graces of this or that saint what strength of faith what depth of humility what latitude of patience there is in their hearts Or if not for tryall then suppose for purging or correcting or improving and it should be our care to record such experiments for after times whether they tend to our humiliation or to our consolation Another while the Lord hath a designe upon the enemy as I shewed in my grounds to make him fill up the measure of sinne and confusion of face or person The open adversaries must have their full loade and the secret Neuters must be detected as 't is sayd Luke 2.35 Yea a sword shal pierce through thine own side that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed The stabs and gashes of the present sword do open and let out many a secret thought Who so is wise and will of serve these things even they shall understand the loving kindnesse of the Lord Psal 107.43 5 Vse 5. Encouragement Let the closing branch of application bee a Cordiall There is a Cordiall in this Doctrine and I hope a Cordiall is not unseasonable at a Fast so as it enableth us the more heartily to go through the work of the day Then here is a melting Cordiall for by the mysterious carriage of our present worke we may easily gather that God is now upon some great salvation yea upon a salvation from Westerne Babylon The whole work in all its progresse looks exactly like the fore-told destruction of Babylon For our God even whilst he hideth himself is still the Saviour of this Israel Mine encouragement therefore shall lye in the same words for so God hath directed us that you had in the morning from my reverend Brother it seemes God wil have us both to drive the same naile that it may be set home to the head It is in Hag. 2.4 Yet now be strong O Zerubbabel saith the Lord and be strong O Josuah sonne of Josedech the high Priest and be strong O yee people of the Land and worke for I am with you saith the Lord of Hosts Here is something for all ranks Parliament-men Zerubbabel Assembly of Divines Iosuah And all the people the whole Commonalty The strength of the argument lyeth in that sweet Parenthesis at last and I shall close with the handlingof it For I am with you saith the Lord of Hosts In which you may observe but these two blasts to fill your sailes First who is the Master-builder the Architect that imployes you and accordingly you know whither to go for your wages I am with you saith the Lord of Hosts Would any man aske a more honourable service than under the Lord of Hosts For honor est in honorante and it comes properly by Armes Certainly the Lord never put a more honourable imployment into the hands of the sons of England than he hath put this day into your hands What to be Champions for God to be Builders Factors Reformers for the whole Protestant Cause and world How many of our zealous Ancestors have cast in their prayers teares and bloud to entaile upon us but the preparations and probabilities of this great work How did they long to have seene one of these dayes a farre off but did not see them David was not permitted to build the Temple but God reserved that work for his son Iedidiah for so the Lord himselfe called Solomon who was the beloved of the Lord. Do you think it a small thing to be Gods Iedidiahs in this respect To be builders of an House to the God of heaven is your honour But that is but halfe Secondly look upon Gods owning of the worke This Lord of Hosts will be with you Would any man in the world desire a clearer promise thnn was this to Zerubbabel I will be with you upon my word upon mine Honour upon my Deity I will be with you Object No you will say we would not wish a surer word to our selves but that was made peculiarly to the Iewes Had we but such a promise we would stick at nothing Had we but the faith of heaven so ingaged to us Answ I answer You have it as they had it nay in some sort I may say you have it more fully For they had it promised and therefore it was in futuro yet to come But you have it in praesenti in hand Open your eyes and behold your incouragements the Lord speakes to you in deeds and saith Lo I AM with you in all this worke you may feele my presence upon every occasion Let me reason with you a little before the Lord concerning his providence over you Consider 1 Convention Did ever the Lord so clearely so visibly owne an English Parliament as he hath owned you Doe but first looke backe upon your first Convention Are you not the very birth of the prayers of many generations Were you not as a brand snatched out of the fire kindled betweene England and Scotland Just as were those Reformers in the Babylonish Captivitie Is not this a brand saith God Zech. 3.2 pluckt out of the fire Suppose a man of judgement comming into a room where there is a fire burning and he runneth hastily to the fire-side snatcheth thence a piece of wood and endevours by all meanes to extinguish the flame that is upon it will not every rationall man presently conclude that he intendeth that piece for some speciall service In this sense as I conceive is that Metaphor used in that place Is not this a brand pluckt out of the fire As if the Lord should have said Have I plucked Iosuah out of the fire of Babylon

unto them that dwell on the earth vers 7. saying with a loud voice Feare God and give glory to him for the houre of his judgement is come c. Hereupon in the eighth verse there followed another Angell saying Babylon is fallen is fallen that great City c. Fallen why what ayled her What was it that threw her downe Surely it was nothing but the Angell that did fly in the midst of heaven having an everlasting Gospell to preach unto them that dwell upon the earth It was meerly the preaching of the Gospell if you will know it So that it seemes the Lord will throw downe Babylon the mysticall just as he threw downe the walls of Jericho with an holy blast by the breath of the Gospell it shall be preached flat to the ground No marvell that our Prelates were so angry with Lecturers Another expression of her overthrow might be gathered out of Revel 17.13 14 15 16. I will but name it because my reverend Brother in the morning hath prevented me And Chap. 18. vers 2. where you shall find that Babylon shall be thrown down meerly by Gods immediate supernaturall working upon the spirits of those men that were formerly friends and factors for the Whore For first 't is said verse 13. that these that is the ten hornes which are tea Kings have one mind and shal give their power and strength unto the Beast Verse 14. These shall make war with the Lambe Here they doe unite and agree well enough to persecute the Saints but reade on to verse 16. there they fall upon the Whore their late mother and mistresse The ten hornes which thou sawest these shall hate the Whore and make her desolate and naked and shall eat her flesh and burne her with fire A strange alteration indeed But how could such neare friends fallin-to such bitter enmity so suddenly No cause at all but this vers 17. for God hath put into their hearts both to unite and fall off againe Thus you see not onely Gods great salvations of his people in generall but especially those from Babylon are to be carried-on in a mystery But is it not strange that the Lord doth delight thus Quest to obscure and hide himselfe in the carriage of his great works Would it not do better according to our judgements and apprehensions if they were carried-on in the common rode of ordinary providence so that every man might see them before him whilest they are a doing as well as behind him when they are done I answer the nature of man is apt thus to reason Answ as Job chap. 13. vers 3. and Jeremiah chap. 12. vers 1. did And I could answer such questions with Saint Paul's O homo tu qui c. Rom. 9.20 Nay but oh man who art thou that replyest against God But that I may satisfie as well as confute I shal adde that there are reasons to shew that it is not only fit but necessary yea triply necessary that such great salvations especially from Babylon should be mysteriously carried-on 'T is necessary 1. For the Lords greater glory The grounds 2. For his Peoples greater good 3. For his Enemies greater confusion First the Lord doth thus hide himself whilst he is saving 1 For Gods greater glory for his owne greater glory There is a cleare and full place to this particular Prov. 25.2 It is the glory of God to conceale a thing but the honour of Kings is to search out a matter REM ABSCONDERE that is so to hide both himselfe and his worke that men may not be able before-hand to guesse at him whither he will go next nor yet to trace after him when he is gone before The latter expression namely That no man might go after him is to be found in Eccl. 7.13 14. Consider the work of God for who can make that streight which he hath made crooked And vers 14. In the day of prosperity be ●oyfull but in the day of adversity consider God also hath set the one over against the other to the end that man should find nothing after him Marke this God hath set the one over against the other to the end that man should find nothing after him that is the Lord doth incurvate his workes he doth intricately and to our apprehension promiscuously mingle the a●●s and effects of his common providence he doth traverse his ground he doth go on as it were by jumps that so the wit of man may not be able to trace and follow him but may sit downe admiring the depths of his wisedome and the strength of his power He doth leave so much print of his foot-steps as to convince the Atheist that he went that way and yet so little as to puzzle the Naturalist to find out the manner of his going And 't is abundantly for the Lords glory in all his Attributes thus to conceale a matter Every common Painter is able to paint a plaine piece of worke Erasm Adag Simulare cupressum as the proverbe is to paint a tree or a bough but hee is an Artist indeed that is able to draw forth a shadowed piece Every indifferent good souldier is able to fight pell-mell or upon a party hand to hand but he is the skilful man that is able to order an ambushment that can manage a stratagem Beleeve it brethren therefore doth the Lord draw his salvations in shadowed works that you may see the depth of his wisdome therefore doth the Lord use to overcome by ambushments that so the glory of his grace unto his people and the glory of his wisdome even amongst his enemies may be the greater That is the first ground for his owne greater glory The second ground why he carries his worke in a mysterie is for the greater good of his people 2 For the godly's greater good You have so choyce a place to this purpose in the booke of Deuteronomy that it alone may suffice Deut. 8. beginning at ver 2. And thou shalt remember all the way which the Lord thy God led thee these forty yeers in the wildernesse to humble thee and to prove thee to know what was in thine heart whether thou wouldest keepe his Comandements or no And he humbled thee and suffered thee to hunger and fed thee with Manna which thou knewest not neither did thy fathers know that he might make thee know that man doth not live by bread only but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the Lord doth man live Thy rayment waxed not old upon thee neither did thy feete swell these forty yeers God could have carried on Israel in a shorter time and in a direct way not in such a maze and labyrinth through the wildernesse forty yeers together he could have carried them through within forty moneths Hee could have fed them from the earth if it had pleased him and could have preserved them so as they should never have bin straitned for