Selected quad for the lemma: cause_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
cause_n	death_n	sin_n	sting_n	2,094	5	13.1353	5	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A73841	Two sermons on the third of the Lamentations of Ieremie preached at Hanwell in the first yeare of his Maiesties raigne, 1602. / The one by I.D. the other by R.C.	Dod, John, 1549?-1645.; Cleaver, Robert, 1561 or 2-ca. 1625. aut; Winston, John, fl. 1614-1634.	1608 (1608)	STC 6951; ESTC S118445	50,535	72

of soule and death it selfe a painefull death a shamefull death and a cursed death Vse 2 Secondly hereby may those bee confuted that thinke it dangerous to meditate on such things as will discomfort them and bring them to desperation as they speake and therefore they would haue no man to tell them of their sinnes but let them heare of the mercies of God in Christ that they are likely to escape Gods hand when the pestilence comes neere them though others escape not but bee swept away on euery side of them beeing notwithstanding as good or better than themselues Farre bee it from vs that any here present should haue such thoughts or giue such eare to such carnall counsell There is no danger in Christian sorrow but the more of it the better And therefore the Apostle Iames saith Iam. 4.9 Suffer affliction or afflict your selues and sorrow and weepe and if any thing keepe you from mourning away with it let goe laughter and let carnall mirth be turned into mourning and your ioy into heauinesse O then you cannot cast downe your selues so lowe but God will raise you vp againe Obiection Obiect Oh but to weepe and lament it is not manhood it argues that men want courage and fortitude and is altogether vnbeseeming the person of a man they will trust in God they say and neuer mourne for the matter Solution Doth it argue want of courage to lament Nay it argues want of faith not to lament for sinne What doe they thinke of Iacob was he a coward They cannot say so for the holy Ghost giues him that commendation that he had strength and courage not onely to preuaile against men but with the Angell of the couenant And what was his conflict Hosea 12.3.4 Hee wept and prayed as the Prophet Hosea witnesseth Was this cowardlines Nothing lesse for the scripture commends it for notable strength And further what doe they thinke of Dauid was hee a coward they will not so disgrace that renowned king and worthy captaine of the Lords host as to lay vpon him the imputation of cowardise yet hee makes mention of his teares and that often Psal 6.6 Psal 9.136 as in the Psalmes where he saith that hee watered his couch with teares that his eves did gush forth with riuers of teares because men kept not Gods lawe and such like And what will they say to all Gods people of whom it is said Zacharie 12 that they should mourne as they did for Iosiah in the valley of Itadadrimmon where hee was slaine whose death all Israell did bitterly bewaile and as one mourneth for his first borne the only heire and hope of the familie What will they answere to this will they condemne all Gods people for a generation of cowards Nay this is so farre from bewraying want of fortitude that wee may boldly say that when men are fullest of such teares they are fullest of fortitude For what shall wee thinke of the Lord Iesus Christ had hee no heart was hee destitute of courage that could not possibly bee Nay when hee was to exercise the fulnesse of his power to vndertake such a worke as no creature durst attempt when hee was to offer vp himselfe to his father as a sacrifice for the sinnes of the Elect when hee was to encounter the Lords wrath and his iustice Sathan and death heil and damnation and all the power of darkenes that same time hee wept and that abundantly Heb. 5. And I hope none will say that then our Sauiours strength failed him notwithstanding his bitter teares and cries In trueth those that doe not weepe when there is cause they are without heart and vtterly voide of true fortitude subiect to marueilous feares and violent distempers which arise from a base minde for what is the reason they are so affraide of death but because they haue not mourned for their sinnes and so remoued the sting of death which if they had done they would triumph ouer death and say with S. Paul 1. Cor. 15. O Death where is thy sting their hearts would then stand fast as the strong mountaines and not bee affraide of any ill tidings Psal 112. Psal 91.6 Not not of the pestilence that walketh in the darke nor of the plague that destroyeth at noone day Vse 3 3 Thirdly this makes exceedingly for the comfort of those that are mourners in Sion they are in fauor with God and out of the reach of al danger so that nothing can befall them for hurt Blessed are those that mourne Math. 5.4 for they shall bee comforted more happie is the poore man that weepes for his sinne than the greatest potentate that reioyceth in the flesh Vers 18. For the destruction of the daughter of my people Here is the cause of their lamentation it was the ruines and calamities of Gods Church and poore distressed seruants whence this doctrine may be gathered Doct. 2. What afflictions doe go neerest the hearts of the Saints That the greatest affliction that shoulde touch the hearts of Gods people is the affliction of the Church as is euident out of this text For when Gods inheritance was spoiled some put to the sword others led captiue the temple of God razed and the exercises of religion abolished this made them to grieue exceedingly this was it that wrought vpon Ieremie and made him breake forth into those wishes Oh that mine head were full of water Ieremy 9.1 and that mine eyes were a fountaine of teares that I might weepe day and night for the slaine of the daughter of my people As if hee could not haue his fill nor weepe enough for the desolations of Sion and the miserable ouerthrow thereof which he foresawe This was it that went neere the heart of good Nehemiah who beeing in great prosperitie Nehem. 1.4 2.1.2.3 cup-bearer to the mightiest Monarch that was then in the world and in speciall fauour with him yet for the affliction and reproch wherein the Church of God was hee conceiued such inward sorrow that he was sad in the kings presence which yet was a thing that he must and would haue forborne if possibly hee could Moses goes further hee does not onely mourne but is content to lay downe his prosperitie and to expose his estate to a manifest ouerthrow so that hee might helpe forward the deliuerance of the afflicted Israelites Heb. 11.24.25.26 Act. 7. and saue them from the hands of their oppressors For he knew he could not be in fauor with Pharoah if he should ioyne with them whom hee so cruelly handled but hee chose rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to be called the sonne of Pharaohs daughter Hester seemes to goe somewhat beyond him for she resolues with her selfe for the cause of the Iewes who were then all destinated to slaughter to aduenture her life in going to the king in their behalfe Hester 4.16 I will goe saith shee though it be

from the stroakes of God as the pestilence or the like yea from the furie of Satan and from the assaults of sinne All other towers are but poore weake cotages Let men dwell where they will whither can they goe but death wil finde them out They may flie from the Plague but God will pursue them for he is not an archer that hath but one arrow or such arrowes onelie as will reach those that are neere but though they should runne to the end of the world hee is able to shoote at them and the arrowes of his vengeance will finde them out No strength can defend them when he comes against them with his strength nay all the power of men is but a broken reede and all meanes of no force in themselues If wee onelie vse them in obedience they will bee as a staffe to leane vpon if wee rest on them they will be as a broken staffe that will deceiue vs and giue vs a fall Vers 56. Thou hast heard my voice stop not thine eares 57. Thou drewest neere c. Whence this doctrine ariseth Doct. 3 That Gods children in their prayers and seruices doe marke and know how they speed VVe must obserue how we speed in religious exercises so that they cannot onlie say I thanke God at such and such a time I prayed but O Lord thou diddest then heare my voice then diddest thou draw neere vnto mee at such a time I was put to it and thou deliueredst mee out of great danger This wee see in the spouse who when her beloued was departed from her saith In my bed night by night I sought him Cant. 3.1.2 whom my soule loueth and found him not Shee had not that ioy and refreshing as she was wont to haue from the vse of the priuate meanes and shee knew it and obserued it full well Then she went abroad and there found as little successe Afterwards shee comes to conferre with Gods Ministers how she might recouer her loue to Christ and the feeling of Christs loue vnto her and yet there shee had not that full successe as she expected Then she goes a little further that is as was before shewed waits patiently vpon God and then she found him whom her soule loued and tooke hold of him that is faster hold then euer she had done before She had paid so dearely for her negligence that she would be warie how she failed in her dutie any more So that when she sped well or ill she knew how it went with her This point is further proued vnto vs out of another verse of this Chapter of the Lamentation Lament 3.8 where these words are vsed VVhen I cry and shoute hee shutteth out my prayer Not but that God tooke notice of it and had a time to reward it but for the present he gaue them no answere They had hard hearts and God saw that one crie and shoute would not be sufficient to mollifie and soften them and therefore he lets them pray and cry againe and againe and yet still they had the repulse and they obserued to their great griefe Psal 66.18.19 Answerable to this is that in the Psalme where Dauid saith If I regard wickednesse in my heart the Lord will not heare me But God hath heard me and considered the voice of my prayer Reason And there is reason why as they did marke how they sped so should wee also For vnlesse wee doe so it is impossible that wee should euer bee thankfull for that wee receiue or lay vp any store of comfort against the time to come If wee speed ill wee shall goe away without any care or studie to grow better if wee speed well wee shall depart without any desire of glorifying God or of confirming our hearts for afterwards Whereas diligent obseruation how God deales with vs would worke in vs great experience both for our humiliation and consolation For sometimes Gods seruants haue a comfortable answere to their sutes and then they come away as fresh and nimble and ioyfull as if their hearts had beene made glad by sweet and pleasant wine Ps 109.15 At another time they come limping and fainting away as if they had beene strucke on the head So for the Sermon now and then they depart from it as from some notable feast so merrie and comfortable as if they had made the best bargaine that euer they did in their liues at some other times they come out of the church hanging downe their heads and full of pensiuenesse as if they had receiued the sentence of death What is the cause hereof Profane persons thinke they are the melancholiest and vnconstantest people in the world But will not they themselues looke heauilie on the matter when they are crossed in things that are most deere vnto them And why then should they blame Gods seruants if they be sometimes merrie and sometimes heauie according as they are crossed or comforted in the worde of life which is more deare vnto them then all the treasures of the earth Howsoeuer they may charge them to be vnconstant yet indeede they themselues are more vnconstant For let them haue to deale with some great Iudge about matters of their estate and let them be told this day that they are likely to haue good and fauourable hearing that the Iudge likes well of them and of their cause how ioyfull and iocund will they be How will they talke of it and in a sort boast of it But let them come to the Iudge themselues the next day and let him frowne vpon them and tell them I vnderstand you are a leaud fellow I know your practises well inough looke to your selfe and acquite you well lest I strip you of your lands and life together Will not such a salutation cast them into their dumps and make them looke heauie and sad as if they were halfe dead And if one should aske them why are you so variable They would wonder why he should make such a question Haue wee not iust cause to bee cast downe would they say when the Iudge that gaue mee such good hopes before doth now looke and speake so wrathfullie against mee And wherefore then will you finde fault with Gods seruants who deale with the King and Iudge of heauen and earth in the matter of their saluation whose fauor they esteeme more than all things in the world and whose displeasure they feare more then all the mens in the world yea then death it selfe Why I say doe you finde fault with them if their comforts ebbe and flow as matters goe better or worse betwixt God and them Vse 1 This is for cōfutation of carnall hearers who are affected at all times alike They haue heard many hundred sermons but they were neuer more comforted at one than at another They are none of these changelings but the same men still But let such know that hee that doth neuer feele himselfe sicke it is greatly to bee doubted hee