Selected quad for the lemma: cause_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
cause_n	effect_n	nature_n	power_n	3,155	5	5.1866	4	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A75620	Theanthrōpos; or, God-man: being an exposition upon the first eighteen verses of the first chapter of the Gospel according to St John. Wherein, is most accurately and divinely handled, the divinity and humanity of Jesus Christ; proving him to be God and man, coequall and coeternall with the Father: to the confutation of severall heresies both ancient and modern. By that eminently learned and reverend divine, John Arrowsmith, D.D. late Master of Trinity-Colledge in Cambridge, and Professor of Divinity there.	Arrowsmith, John, 1602-1659.	1660 (1660)	Wing A3778; Thomason E1014_1; ESTC R10473	267,525	319

even as the Angels It is said of them that they behold the face of God Matth. 18. 20. Christ saith there I say to you that in heaven their Angels do alwaies behold the face of my Father which is in heaven So when men come to be like Angels in a state of glory they shall also see the face of God But no man hath seen God at any time during this life God in his Essence For this we have more than one place of Scripture the same words in the Text are repeated in 1 Joh. 4. 12. No man hath seen God at any time And Paul hath a place to the same purpose 1 Tim. 6. 16. Who onely hath immortality dwelling in light which no man can approach unto whom no man hath seen nor can see There are but three waies that can be imagined by which man in a state of mortality can see God in his Essence either it must be by his Bodily eyes or by the eye of Reason or by the eye of Faith But a man cannot see God by any of these therefore no man can see God in that sense First No man can see God by his Bodily eye for the very 1. The eyes of our bodies cannot behold the Essence of God light wherein he dwelleth is inaccessible to the eye of sense we cannot so much as see our own souls or the Angels that are inferiour spirits How then shall we be able with our bodily eyes to see the Father of spirits the Lord of glory The Israelites could not so much as endure the shining of Moses his face How then can the eye of the body be imagined capable of that infinite glorious light that is in the essence of God And yet there is a place that speaks as if a man in the state of mortality by his bodily eyes had seen God Gen. 32. 30. Jacob called the name of the place Penuel for I have seen God face to face and my life is preserved Here is a man in the state of mortality that saw God face to face For this ye must know that Jacob did indeed see God but God in a representation not God in his essence He saw the Second Person in the Trinity in the shape of a man that wrestled with him This was all the sight of God that he had The Second Person in the Trinity before he took the nature of man took the shape of man such a shape had Christ taken here in which he wrestled with Jacob and this is that God which Jacob saw face to face not God in his essence but God in a representation And that very thing of God appearing in the Old Testament in a representation to the eyes of the body sheweth that he never appeared to them in his essence because his representations are many and his essence is one He appeared in a Bush to Moses and to Eliah in a still Voice to Jacob as a Wrestler to Joshua as a Captain of the Lord's hoast These were all representations that God was pleased to make of himself and thus men saw him But his essence all this while was invisible neither could it be diversified as his representations were being but one That is memorable which Isaiah saith Isa 6. 5. Mine eyes have seen the King the Lord of hosts The Jews took this advantage against him and said he was a false Prophet Why He said he had seen the King the Lord of hoasts whereas God saith to Moses Thou canst not see my face and live Therefore they put him to death No man can see God in his essence and live But Isaiah saw him and he said true but it was in a representation Secondly No man can see God in his essence no not by the eye of Reason Reason hath but three waies by which it 2. The eye of our Reason cannot behold him in his Essence Reason knoweth God three waies 1. By way of Causality comes to the knowledge of God and those are known to Schollars by these names Via causalitatis via Remotionis and via Eminentiae First By way of Causality and so reason comes to gather of God by all the creatures which it seeth lovely and looks at all these as effects of God as the cause of all and so comes to the knowledge of God as the first cause Thus Reason collects of God But how far is this from seeing the essence of God Reason discovers a God but not what God is in his Beeing onely that He is For no effect can shew the nature of its cause fully but either such as manifesteth the whole force of the cause or else such as is of the same kind with the cause as burning that sheweth the nature of the fire because the fire being a naturall agent burns to the utmost of its power Therefore burning sheweth what nature the fire is of as carrying the nature of the force in it As a child sheweth the nature of the father because of the same nature with the father But the creatures cannot shew God because they are of effects different from him These are parts of the way but how little proportion is readd of him The thunder of his power who can understand Neither are the creatures of the same rank and kind with God as the child is with the father they are all of them finite God is infinite So that all that Reason can do this way is to gather that there is a God but not what he is Secondly There is the way of Remotion by looking over 2. By way of Remotion all the creatures and by setting aside whatsoever savours of imperfection in them and ascribing the remainder to God Thus we say that God is Immortall Impassible Impeccable because we say that to die to suffer and to sin are the imperfections of the creature God cannot sin God cannot die God cannot lie God cannot suffer But this still comes short of seeing God in his essence for by this we see what God is not not what he is by this way of Remotion 3. The third way which is a way of Eminency Reason 3. By way of Eminency goeth over the creatures once again and looks whatsoever is good in them and savours of perfection in them and ascribes that to God as the Author of those perfections So when it seeth in Man wisdom and strength and goodnesse Reason can ascribe to God as the cause of them a more eminent goodness and wisdom and strength And this is the nearest and the farthest Reason can go And yet in all these it cometh short of the essence of God because in this way it findeth out what he is rather in regard of his qualities speaking after the manner of men then what he is in his essence Thus we cannot see God in his essence no not by the eye of Reason There is onely one more that is the eye of Faith which ● The eye of Faith cannot apprehend God in his

the fulnesse of the Godhead In him dwelleth all the fullnesse of the Godhead bodily Not a parcell but all and bodily that is either really If ye take body as it standeth in opposition to shadowes and figures then the Godhead is said to dwell in Christ bodily in opposition to the shadowes Under the law the body dwelt figuratively in the Ark and thence the glory of the Lord filled the house But now it dwelleth in Christ as the substance of all those shadowes It dwells in him bodily Or if ye take body as it sometimes signifieth person The Hebrewes were wont to put the soul for the whole person so many souls went down with Jacob into Egypt The Greeks were Gen. 46. 27. wont to put body for the whole person I beseech you brethren by the mercies of God present your bodies as a living sacrifice so then to dwell bodily is to dwell personally Now the fulnesse of the Godhead dwells personally in Jesus Christ because he was the second Person in the Trinity The Son of God as full of the Divinity as the Father himselfe was The fulnesse of the Godhead dwelt as truly in the Son as in the Father Now Sonship implieth Identity of nature As if it will not be tedious to you Four things go to make up a perfect Sonship There Four things make up a perfect Sonship must be 1. Similitude 2. Procession and Production 3. Life and 4. Identity If any of these be wanting A person cannot be said to be the son of another I say Similitude Procession Life Identity There is a likenesse between the whitenesse of the wall and the whitenesse of the snow but no sonship between them because there is no production The whitenesse of the wall doth not produce the whitenesse of the snow Fire begets fire Here is a production But the fire is not the son of the fire because here wanteth Life The body of a living Man breeds worms Here is a production and life but yet the worm is not the son of Man because here is no Identity of nature The worm hath not the nature of man There must be a Coherence in all these four which you find in Christ in reference to God the Father There is a similitude He is the expresse Image 1. Similitude 2. Procession of his Fathers person There is a procession For the Son proceedeth from the Father and is begotten of the Father from all eternity There is Life For the Son hath Life 3. Life 4. Identity in himselfe as himselfe saith And there is Identity of nature The very same essence with that of the Father And a greater Identity then between any man and his son That take along with you too Take Abraham and Isaac Isaac hath the same nature with Abraham But how the same The same in species not in Individualls The same in kind not the same Individuall nature For it is possible that the father may be saved and the son damned or the son saved and the father damned But now the Lord Jesus Christ is the same Individuall nature with the Father because but one Deity and one Divinity and one Essence and the same Person pertakes of the same Individuall substance Here is the first fulnesse The fulnesse of Divinity Secondly There is in Jesus Christ A fulnesse of sufficiency Secondly a fulnesse of sufficiency for the work of the Mediator-ship which he undertook as God-man That which Divines call the grace of unction They speak of a double grace that dwelleth in Christ The grace of union namely that favour by which the human Nature was united Personally to the Godhead Secondly The grace of unction namely that anointing with the holy Ghost which Christ-Man had who is therefore said to be annointed with the oyle of gladness above his fellowes There is therefore this fulnesse of sufficiency because there was a fulnesse of Divinity there is therefore this grace of unction because by that grace of union Christ is therefore annoynted because the Manhood is so united to the Divinity The nearer any thing commeth to the Cause the more it taketh of the Effect Fire is the cause of heat therefore the nearer a man stands to the fire the hotter he is the farther off the lesse he partakes of the influence of the fire The Human Nature having a union with the Godhead must needs partake of all grace Write the letters of the Alphabet upon a seal and then put that upon the wax the wax will bear the image of all the letters Here is the Divinity The Godhead falls upon as it were and takes to it self the whole Manhood and therefore the Manhood bears the impression of the whole Godhead as far as the Manhood is capable Now indeeed it was necessary there should be a fulnesse of sufficiency in Christ because as Mediator he had three great Offices to discharge and every one of them requireth a fulnesse without which he could not have gone through with his work Accordingly ye shall find A three-fold fulnesse in Christ as to his Offices a fulnesse of power in Christ as King a fulnesse of wisdom in Christ as Prophet and a fulnesse of righteousnesse in Christ as he was the Priest of his Church which three make up the fulnesse of Sufficiency There is in Christ as King a fulnesse of power That is 1. As King the fulnesse of Power it which he speaks of Matth. 28. 18. Jesus came and spake to them saying All power is given to me in heaven and in earth Go ye therefore and teach all Nations and I will be with you to the end of the world Christ hath all power in Heaven and Earth yea and in Hell too Of the two former this place speaks All power is given to me in heaven He hath the Angels in heaven at his command and can send them out as an heavenly hoast to assist his people All power is given to him on earth over all the Princes in the world Therefore he is King of kings and Lord of lords And this he telleth his Apostles before he sent them to preach the Gospell to encourage them Preach to all Nations all Nations all Mankind All power in heaven and in earth is given to me Therefore go preach I am with you And as all power in heaven and earth is given to Christ as King of the Church so all power in Hell Ye have an expression that may haply bear this sense Rev. 1. 18. I am he that liveth and was dead and behold I am alive for evermore Amen And have the keys of hell and of death Christ hath the keyes of hell and can send whom he will thither and keep whom he will from thence The Keys argue Power It is a metaphor taken from Conquerors when they take a City they have the Keys thereof delivered into their hands in token the City is now at their command If Hell be here taken for the Grave

of it Joh. 16. 24. Hitherto have ye asked nothing in my Name aske and ye shall receive that your joy may be full They are but empty joyes that the World giveth to its followers Christ promiseth a full joy to them that seek to him Therefore it is that the members of Christ have a full joy because they have Communion with him as their Head He is present with them as in the inward man and In his presence is fulness of joy Joy ariseth from the fruition of some good thing which a man knoweth and knoweth himselfe to have interest in What so good as Christ who is the chiefest Good when a poor believer comes to know Christ and to be able to say My beloved is mine and I am his Hence Cant. 2. 16. ariseth a full joy because it is a joy in Christ who is a good a present good a present known good a present known good which I have interest in besides those good things which are to come that farther fruition of Christ which men shall have in another World In comparison of which Paul accounts himselfe absent from the Lord while he is present with the World Though themselves be absent they are present to the eye of faith which is the evidence of things not seen the substance of things hoped for Therefore Hebr. 11. 1. in these they can rejoyce with a full joy This makes them to be filled with everlasting Consolation and good hope through grace yea with joy unspeakable and full of glory So ye see there is aboundant fulness in Jesus Christ and also what sorts of fulnesse they are I proceed to the Application of this truth If there be Vse such aboundant fulnesse in Jesus Christ Then it holdeth forth First Matter of Consolation to those that are within Secondly Matter of Invitation to them that are without that they would be perswaded to come in upon this ground First Here is that that may comfort them that are 1. Comfort for them that are within within They have a Saviour full of all grace and excellency And if he be full then they are Compleat in him there lieth the Comfort The Apostle joyneth these two together Col. 2. 9 10. In him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily and we are compleat in him which is the head of all Principalities and Powers We are compleat if we be in Christ Why because he is full Upon this ground it was that Paul could glory in his Wealth though but a poor man and confessed though he had nothing he wanted nothing 2 Cor. 6. 10. As sorrowfull yet alwayes rejoycing as poor yet making many rich as having nothing and yet possessing all things Why so because he had Christ and all things in him Qui omniahabentem habet habet omnia He that hath him who hath all hath all in him This was Paul's case as it was Moses his case when he was forty daies and nights upon the Mount he had none but God alone with him he had taken up no provision There he was The people thought Moses was dead and that he would never come again therefore they fell upon that ground to make a Calfe If he did return they thought he would come and look like a pined starved Creature Well Moses comes beyond their expectations and never look't so well in his Life So well as they could not indure to behold the shining of his Countenance How came Moses to receive so much vigour upon the Mount where he had no sustenance Why he had God there and in him all This is the great fountain of Consolation It is a pleasant thing for a man to have a full heap to go to where he may take a purse-full a bag-full if need be A believing soul may go to Jesus Christ and take his hands full his heart full as much as ever he standeth in need of It is the condition of many a Christian to be alwaies on the complaining hand though it ought not to be so for Cheerfulness is an honour to Profession But thou are apt to complain Alas for me I abound in Object nothing but want there dwelleth no fulnesse in me It is true enough but thou hast him in whom all fulness Answ dwelleth Therefore what needst thou complain of want I say Thou hast him if thou be'st a believer As many as received him to them that believe in his name to them gave he power to be the sons of God Thine are the wants Of what Why of a finite creature His is the fulnesse Of whom Of an infinite God What are thy wants to his fulnesse Certainly the one is infinitely above the other even as God is far above men Thou art ignorant so are we all by nature of God and of our selves and the way to heaven Thou knowest not what to hold in such and such a point and know'st not what to do in such and such a case Why thou canst never want wisdom If thou receivest of his fulnesse there is wisdom for thee Christ is made to us of God wisdom saith the Apostle Certainly he that partaketh of Christ's wisdom shall be wise enough wise to salvation as the Apostle speaks in another place If Stephen receiveth of the fulnesse of Christ wisdom for wisdom then he speaks with such a spirituall wisdom as all his enemies are not able to resist A poor man in the Councill of Nice that came to encounter with a great Philosopher he was full of the Spirit of Christ and opposed so much power against what the Philosopher said as he professed That while Argument was opposed to Argument and Syllogism to Syllogism I was hard enough for them all But here comes a man that speaks in the power and wisdom of Christ and I am not able to resist him Sometimes a Christian complaineth of his own weaknesse and who hath not cause to complain of that But then consider what a fulnesse of power is in Christ as thy King a power by which he is able to subdue all things to himself to conquer lust and to tread down Satan under thy seet and to make thee more than a conquerour through him that loved thee But the thing lyeth upon thy Conscience and thou canst Object not bear it Look to Christ he is full of righteousness though thou Answ be'st full of guilt What can the Law exact of thee which may not be found in thy Surety Thou complainest of an unholy nature but look to Christ's Nature there is habituall righteousness in him He is a lamb without spot or blemish Thou hast broken all the Commandments of God Look to Christ's life there is a practicall righteousnesse in him Satan came and found nothing in him The Law threatneth a curse and death and hell How shall this be undergone Look to Christ thy Surety there is a passive righteousness in him he hath answered the curse of the Law as well as fulfilled the precepts of the Law