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	lord_n	see_v	3,711	5	3.5921	3	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A03605	The soules humiliation	Hooker, Thomas, 1586-1647.	1637 (1637)	STC 13728; ESTC S117849	136,029	230

that is you will not goe out from your selves to the Lord Christ and therefore cannot receive mercy and grace from his Majesties hands though thou art never so base and vile if thou couldst goe to the Lord Iesus and rest upon him for mercy nothing should stand betweene thee and heaven but if thou stickest in thy selfe all the grace in Christ can doe thee no good Secondly This carnall confidence makes a man unprofitable under all the meanes that God bestowes Ier. 17.5 6. As the Prophet Ieremy saith Cursed is he that trusts in the arme of flesh and departs from the Lord Why What shall become of him the text saith he shall be like an heath in the wildernesse and shall never see good The nature of the heath is this though all the dew of heaven and all the showers in the world fall upon it and though the Sunne shine never so hotly it will never grow fruitfull it will never yield any fruit of increase but it is unfruitfull still Such a Soule thou wilt be thou that restest upon thy own services sayest because thou hearest and prayest and doest sanctifie the Lords Day therefore thou must needs goe to heaven I say thou shalt never see good by all the meanes of grace if thou makest them independent causes of salvation all the promises in the Gospel shall never establish thee and all the judgements in the world will never terrifie thee thou shalt never have any saving grace wrought in thee by them The truth is hee that hath all meanes and hath not a Christ in all hee shall never see good by all Therefore thou that restest upon thy parts and gifts and upon thy duties thou wilt have a heart so besotted that grace will never come into thy heart and God will never quiet thy conscience It may be a poore drunkard is converted and humbled but thou standest still and canst get no good by all the means in the world Therefore say thus to thy selfe doth this carnall confidence cut mee off from all the grace and mercy that is in Christ and without mercy and pardon from Christ I am undone for ever and without grace I am a poore defiled wretch here and shall be damned for ever after if I rest here I may bid adue to all mercy Nay all the meanes that I have never doe mee good Is this the fruit of my carnall confidence Oh Lord withdraw my heart from it Lastly When all the meanes of grace will not plucke away the Soule from resting upon it selfe The fourth meanes when reason will not rule him nor meanes will not prevaile with a poore sinner as commonly a great while they will not then the Lord tires a poore Soule with his owne distempers And the Lord deales with the Soule as an enemy deales with a Castle that he hath besieged When the Citizens will not yield up the Castle he famisheth them and cuts off all provision and makes them consume within and so at last they are forced to resigne it up upon any termes So When the Lord hath laid siege to a carnall heart and hath shewed him his woefull condition and yet the heart will not of nor will not take up any termes of peace but still hee will shift for himselfe Now what doth the Lord doe hee takes away the comfort of all the meanes that he hath till hee is famished with the want of Gods favour and then hee is content to yield up all to the God of heaven and earth It was just so with this Prodigall all the world could not perswade him but he might live better of his portion and so away hee goes and when hee had tried the world and could get no succour at last he confest it was better to be at a fathers finding and now he saw that a fathers house was admirably good and that the servants and children in their fathers house are happy for they have bread enough and enough againe and to spare too and so hee is forced to returne So it is with many poore distressed soules all the arguments under heaven cannot quiet them and all the meanes in the world cannot plucke them from themselves and we tell them daily that they must not expect grace nor power nor pardon from themselves 2 Ioh. 3. It is mercy and peace saith the Apostle You would have peace of conscience and pardon of sinne and assurance of Gods love and whence would you have it you would have it from your duties it is not prayer and peace nor hearing and peace but it is mercy and peace and therefore away to the Lord Iesus that you may receive mercy from him Yet we cannot get poore creatures from themselves but they would faine shuffle for themselves and have a little comfort of their owne and they say Lord cannot my prayers my care and fasting merit salvation Now what doth God then he saith to such a Soule goe try then put to the best of thy strength and use all the meanes that thou canst and see what thou canst doe See if thou canst cure thy conscience and heale those wounds of thine and subdue the corruptions of thy heart with thy prayers and abilities but when the Soule hath made triall and weltred and wearied it selfe at last he finds that all the meanes he can use cannot quiet him nor comfort his conscience and the poore sinner is pinched and wearied and the Lord will not answer his prayers nor sweeten the desires of his Soule and the Lord will not blesse the Word to him for his comfort and at last the Soule saith Such a poore Christian even a man of meane parts and weake gifts how is he comforted and such a profane drunkard is puld home and hath gotten the assurance of Gods love The Lord hath puld downe the proud hearts of such and such and they live comfortably and sweetly and I have no peace nor assurance of Gods love You may thanke your selves for it they saw nothing and they looked for nothing from themselves and therefore they went home to the gate of mercy to the Lord Iesus Christ and they have bread enough if you would come home to Christ you might have beene comforted also Now therefore goe to the Lord Iesus Christ and as certainly as God is in heaven refreshing and comfort will come into your hearts and mercy which is better then marrow shall satisfie those feeble fainting spirits of yours You see what the way is and what the helps be to pluck off our hearts from resting upon these duties and therefore thinke thus with thy selfe and say is my misery so great and are my duties so weake and is my carnall confidence so dangerous that I may be troubled for ever for any thing that I can doe of my selfe and is comfort no where else to be had but in the Lord Iesus Christ Oh then Lord worke my heart to this duty Sticke not in your selves doe all this but goe

Sam. 16.6 7 8 9 10 11 12. In this his heart was marveilous quiet and now he was able to beare it better then the souldiers that were with him Though his cause was just and he might have revenged it yet now he was humble and brought under and therefore quieted though never so much opposed This Humiliation of heart so settles a man that though ten thousand oppositions come against him yet nothing will disquiet him Cast disgrace upon the humble heart causelesly and he cures it thus he thinks worse of himselfe than any man else can doe and if they would make him vile and loathsome hee is more vile in his owne eyes then they can make him and therefore he is contented If they imprison an humble Soule and persecute him hee wonders at Gods goodnesse so farre hee is from being discontented that he wonders at Gods goodnesse and mercy towards him that he would cast him into a Dungeon when he might have cast him into hell Thirdly and lastly this Humiliation of Soule The third benefit brings in satisfaction and contentednesse in all the wants that may befall him Take away from him what you will and deny him any thing yet he will be quiet Hee that is contented with all Gods dealing towards him cannot be disquieted with any thing The humble Soule justifies God and is pacified and joyns side with Gods providence he justifies God in whatsoever he doth and therefore is quiet in whatsoever he hath done The ship that goes with wind and tide goes easily but if it goes against wind and tide it is wonderfully troubled so when the humble Soule goes on with Gods blessed providence and goes that way which the will of God goes he goes on quietly and the want of this humiliation of heart is the cause of all your disquietnesse when you will stand in opposition against the Almighty the Lord will have you poore and you will be rich the Lord will have you base and meane in the world and you would be honorable the Lord on the one side and you on the other side you would have it and the Lord saith you shall not if all come not according to your mind oh then you flye out God must be of your mind and be at your becke and this you must have and that you will have or els God shall heare of you thus you make your owne trouble and this troublesome Spirit breeds all the sorrow that befalls you whereas if you would go on with God you might be quieted and comforted whatsoever condition you were in as one said that he could have what he would of God why how was that because whatsoever Gods will was that was his will humiliation quiets all and supplyes all wants once make the good will of God that which thy heart shall yeild unto and Gods providence the best that can befall thee and then live comfortably for ever Oh! that our hearts were brought to this But the pride and vilenesse of our hearts is such that we trouble our selves needlesly therefore above all labour for this Be content to want what God will deny and to waite Gods good pleasure and to be at his disposing and then live quietly and comfortably for ever Oh! that I could bring your hearts to be in love with this blessed grace of God Is it so that Humiliation brings quiet in all a mans conditions Is there not a Soule here that hath beene vexed with the temptations of Sathan did you never know what it is to be under the malice of an enemy and did your owne distempers never trouble you Have none of you found hard measures at the hands of wicked men is there never a Soule here that is burthened with many wants and that loves his owne comfort have you not many necessities at home the want of friends and meanes and even of common necessaries and would you arme and fence your selves that no wants may disquiet you nor trouble you but in all to be above all and to rejoyce in all more then all oppositions in the world can doe you hurt then be humbled and for ever quieted Whatsoever can or shall befall you by the divell and his instruments and if every spire of grasse were a divell be humbled and then be above all the divels in hell and all temptations and oppositions that they shall not so disquiet you as to cause you to be unsetled or uncomforted In the next place you are to be desired The second Vse to try your selves by the former truth and let every man try his owne heart whether ever God hath given him this gracious disposition of Soule or no You must come to this truth for there is no justification nor acceptation without this Nay there is no faith can be infused into the Soule before the heart be thus fitted and prepared no preparation no perfection Never humbled never exalted therefore let every man and woman lay their hearts to the former truth and consider this one thing in the generall So farre as the heart is from this contentednesse to be at Gods dispose so farre it is from true preparation for Christ You must be empty if ever Christ fill you you must be nothing if you would have Christ all in all to you Thus much in the generall But now let us come to the particular trials and herein let us consider two things First the truth and soundnesse of our Humiliation Secondly the measure of it both of these this Doctrine doth discover to us It is very profitable to handle them both that they which have not this work may be humbled and that they which have it may see how farre they come short of the measure which they should and might have the want of which is the cause of much sorrow and the want of much comfort How to try the truth of our Humiliation You may try the truth of this worke of Humiliation thus In the generall looke how you are disposed of in your lives and conversations But in particular that you may see where we be let us observe these three rules First Let us see what it is that swayes our reasons and judgements Secondly What it is that over-powers our hearts our wils and affections Thirdly What it is that rules our lives and conversations Try your hearts by these rules and then it will be plaine and cleare whether you be truly humbled and abased or no. You know I told you that you must not onely be disposed of by God for God will dispose of you whether you will or no he will rule all things in heaven and earth he will either crush those proud hearts of yours by Humiliation here or else cast you downe to hell for ever but you must be content to be at Gods disposing To begin with the former namely to see what swayes our judgements If you will attend I hope you shall know something in your owne hearts you that are weake as