Selected quad for the lemma: cause_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
cause_n	efficient_a	end_n	final_a	2,172	5	9.9792	5	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A59035	The bowels of tender mercy sealed in the everlasting covenant wherein is set forth the nature, conditions and excellencies of it, and how a sinner should do to enter into it, and the danger of refusing this covenant-relation : also the treasures of grace, blessings, comforts, promises and priviledges that are comprized in the covenant of Gods free and rich mercy made in Jesus Christ with believers / by that faithful and reverend divine, Mr Obadiah Sedgwick ... ; perfected and intended for the press, therefore corrected and lately revised by himself, and published by his own manuscript ...	Sedgwick, Obadiah, 1600?-1658.	1661 (1661)	Wing S2366; ESTC R17565	1,095,711	784

I will heal their back-slidings I will love them freely Zac. 12. 10. I will poure upon the house of David and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem the Spirit of grace and of supplication c. Here only two Questions for the illustration of this Point 1. Why God himself undertakes to give the Covenant-blessings unto his people 2. After what manner he undertakes to bestow them upon his people Quest 1. Why God himself undertakes the Donative of all the blessings in Reasons of it the Covenant unto his people Sol. Reasons thereof are First No creature whatsoever can give them therefore it belongs to God alone Two things at the least are required for the giving of blessings No Creature can give them 1. One is Authority there must be a right in them as ours for what hath any one to do to give that which is none of his 2. The other is Sufficiency or ability to pass them over unto another and to make the blessings to be his Now no creature hath Authority to give any blessings why so because God only is the Lord of all blessings whatsoever they are his and of right belong unto him only Consider all sorts of blessings they are his he is the Lord of them Spiritual blessings are his mercy is his he is the God of mercy and grace is his he is the God of all grace and comfort is his he is the God of all consolation and peace is his he is the very God of peace and love is his God is love the Spirit is his and Christ is his Anointed and glory is his he is the God of glory And so for temporal blessings though they be ours many times for possession and use yet they are his for Right and Donation The earth is the Lords and the fulnesse thereof saith David Psal 24. 1. Thine O Lord is the greatnesse and the power and the glory and the victory and the Majesty for all that is in the heaven and in the earth is thine 1 Chro. 29. 11. Both riches and honour come of thee and thou reignest over all and in thine hand is power and might and in thine hand it is to make great and to give strength unto all ver 12. And no Creature hath Sufficiency or Ability to convey or passe over blessings for Spiritual blessings can any man give them unto himself or unto another Can any man give faith unto himself It is the work of God saith Christ it is the gift of God saith Paul Can any man give Repentance unto himself no it was God that gave repentance unto the Gentiles and the Church prayed Turn thou me and I shall be turned Can any man make his own heart holy no it is God himself which sanctifies us can any man forgive his own sinnes no who can forgive sinnes but God only And for temporal blessings can we give rain or plenty or safety or health or life or ease or quietness can we make the Cloudes to drop down or the sword to be at rest or the sick to be at rest No Creature can do any thing of itself and therefore God himself undertakes to give all the blessings in the Covenant unto his people otherwise they could never have them Secondly God will have the glory of whatsoever blessing we do receive from him God will have the glory of all our blessings He allows unto us the benefit of them and the comfort of them but he reserves all the glory of them unto himself alone Thine is the glory saith Christ Matth. 6. 13. Now upon a double account doth the glory of all appertain to God viz. 1. In that he is the End of all his works and gifts and blessings all that God manifests about the salvation of sinners is to the praise and glory of his grace Eph. 1. 6. He himself is the ultimate End of all his works and of himself 2. In that he is the Efficient Cause of all good and blessings the Apostle joynes these two together in Rom. 11. 16. For of him and through him and to him are all things to whom be glory for ever Amen Mark the place let glory be given to God for ever and unto him alone why so because 1. All things are of him and through him he is the Efficient Cause 2ly All things are to him he is the Final Cause for which they are You have another place to this purpose in 1 Cor. 1. 30. But of him are ye in Christ Jesus who of God is made unto us Wisdom and Righteousness and Sanctification and Redemption ver 31. That according as it is written he that glorieth let him glory in the Lord. If any man could be of himself the cause unto himself of any good then he might glory in himself and bless himself and say This hath mine own hand wrough● for me I gave life unto my self and grace to my heart and peace to mine own conscience and I wrought mine own Redemption No saith the Apostle you can do nothing it is of God that ye are in Christ and it is of God that Christ is made unto you wisdom c. therefore you may not glory in your selves but only in the Lord. If I be made high only by the favour of another and if I be made rich only by the bounty of another should I give the glory of these unto my self well then God hath a right unto all glory therefore he himself will give all grace Thirdly God himself undertakes to give unto his people all Covenant-blessings God would have the hearts of his people f●x't on him alone because the hearts of his people should be fixed and fastened on him alone There are two things which God cannot endure especially in his own people 1. One is a distrust of himself Why sayest thou O Jacob and speakest O Israel My way is hid from the Lord and my judgement is passed over from my God! Isa 40. 27. 2. The other is a trusting upon the creature and now What hast thou to do in the way of Egypt to drink the water of Siber Or what hast thou to do with the way of Assyria to drink the water of the River Jer. 2. 18. Cursed be the man that trusteth in man and maketh flesh his arme and whose heart departeth from the Lord Jer. 17. 5. No but this is it that the Lord doth require of his people viz. to take off their hearts their hopes and expectations and dependances from all other besides himself and to settle and fix them only upon himself Isa 45. 22. Look unto me all ye ends of the earth and be saved for I am God and there is none else Psal 62. 8. Trust in him at all times ye people poure out the heart before him God is a refuge Selah In the Covenant God engageth his heart to us and one reason thereof is to engage our hearts to him in the Covenant he engageth his power and goodnesse and all-sufficiency

thou him or what receiveth he of thine hand v. 8. Thy wickedness may hurt a man as thou art and thy righteousness may profit the son of man Psal 16. 2. My goodness extendeth not to thee q. d. Thou art not benefited by any good works of ours c. I cannot add any thing thereby unto thee we receive all from thee but can give nothing unto thee by which thou mayest be bettered for thou art an infinite being and therefore we can add nothing to thee Secondly You must not do any good work thinking thereby to satisfie God for your evil works Many people when they have committed sin and injured Nor to satisfie God for our sins and dishonoured God then they fall a praying and a reading and a hearing and put on to works of piety and charity and their intention or end in doing of these duties is to make God amends and to make up the wrong which they have done him supposing that the good which now they do will ballance the evil which they have done and satisfie God Now though this be true that our sinnings do injure God and therefore its reason that after our sinnings we should be much humbled and be more circumspect in our walking and more diligent and upright Yet to act all these as satisfactions to God for the sinful injurious workes which we have done against him This is 1. Foolish 2ly Sinful First It is foolish forasmuch as nothing that we can do can amount unto It s foolish a satisfaction for the evil that we can do Because 1. All the good which we now do we ought still to have done and that which Reasons of it was still a duty can never be a satisfaction 2. There is more evil in the evil that we have done than there is good in the good which we do our sinful evil is perfectly evil and our best good is but imperfect good The evil that we do against God deserves hell and the good which we do deserves nothing the evil which is done needs infinite mercies to pardon it and the good which we do is so mixt with our sinfulness that that also needs mercy to pardon and accept it and that which needs mercy cannot be a satisfaction Secondly It is sinful For this is to take upon us the work of a Mediatour to whom alone that work of satisfaction doth pertain and he must be both God and It s sinful man or else he could not have satisfied for our sins Now to presume that our own imperfect obedience is able to satisfie God for our sins and to clear all our accounts and reckonings between him and us what is this but to lay aside the perfect satisfactions of Christ the only Mediatour and to set up our own weak righteousness as sufficient to compensate the Justice of God Thirdly You must not offer up any performances of yours as causes of mercy and Nor as causes of mercies and blessings blessings you must pray and you must mourn and you must repent and you must obey the voice of the Lord your God and you must walk in his statutes and do them and if you do so with upright hearts God will meet you with mercy and blessings Nevertheless you may not look on any performance of yours as causes meriting and purchasing any blessing unto you remember that excellent passage in Psal 25. 10. All the paths of the Lord are mercy and truth unto such as keep his Commandements and his testimonies Yet Ver. 11. For thy Name sake pardon mine iniquity for it is great Here is mercy and truth for them that keep his Commandements and then here is not our obedience but his Name the cause of our mercy not for my obedience sake but for thy Name sake pardon mine iniquity c. So when Daniel fasted and prayed in an extraordinary way for mercy and for deliverance out of the Babylonian captivity he impleads not those works as causes of them nay as so he rejects them Dan. 9. 17. Now therefore O our God he●r the prayer of thy servant and his supplications and cause thy face to shine upon thy sanctuary that is desolate for the Lords sake Ver. 18. O my God encline thine ear and hear open thine eyes and behold our desolations and the City that is called by thy Name for we do not present our supplications before thee for our righteousness but for thy great mercies There are four things to be observed about mercies and blessings What is to be observed about mercies and blessings 1. The Efficient Cause and that is only Gods own love and grace and mercy his own glorious love is the only efficient cause of all our blessings whether spiritual or temporal 2. The Final Cause and that is only Gods own glory all is from his mercy and all is for his glory he is the first and he is the last out of the sea of his mercy they come and into the sea of his glory they do return 3. The Meritorious Cause and that is Jesus Christ who by his blood hath purchased all things for us pertaining to life and godliness 4. The means by which not causes for which they are obtained and enjoyed They are means whereby blessings are obtained and such are our holy performances and walkings unto which God hath promised abundance of mercies and blessings and we shall enjoy them not Ratione facti for the worthiness of our doings but Ratione promissionis for the goodness and faithfulness of his promise unto our upright doing and walking Therefore take heed of looking on any doing and walking as meritorious causes of mercies and blessings For 1. All the good we can do is but what we ought to do and no duty of man can Why they cannot merit mercies be meritorious with God 2. All the good we do is done by the strength of Christ therefore it cannot merit seeing it is done not by our own strength but Christs 3. All the good we do finds acceptance only in and for Christ our prayers are accepted in him and our services are accepted in him and therefore they merit nothing of themselves 4. All good services must be done in faith or else they cannot be pleasing to God Heb. 11. 16. Now Faith and the merit of mans works are utterly inconsistent 5. Lastly All the blessings which you shall ever enjoy you must take them out of Gods promises or Covenant of grace and no gift flowing from that Covenant of grace but it is freely given unto us Fourthly You must not look upon any performances services acts of obedience They cannot make peace with God done by you as propitiations as able to make peace with God for the sins which you have committed against God When we have sinned against God we must humble our souls and repent and pray unto the Lord to pardon us and to be reconciled unto us and to take away iniquity and

in the wayes of Gods Commandements and to hold on in their walking all their dayes O say they this is impossible and who can walk thus But what Christ spake to another purpose may be safely applied here That which is impossible with men is possible with God or what Chrysostome replied about the work of turning the heart from sin that it was impossible Tu non potes sed Dominus tuus potest thou canst not turn thy heart but yet the Lord can turn thy heart that I say in this case It is impossible for any man by his own strength to walk in all Gods Statutes nevertheless it is possible so to do with Gods strength I can do all through Christ that strengthens me saith Paul Phil. 4. 13. And Take my yoak upon you saith Christ Math. 11. 29. for my yoak is easie and my burthen is light ver 30. How comes it to be easie and light surely because you have Christ help as well as Christs Command And thus it is with all the wayes of God they are possible and passable why so because you have Gods Promise as well as Gods Command Indeed if they were wayes under a command then there were no possible walking in them because then the acting of obedience unto them would rest upon our own strength which is none at all but being wayes also under a promise of God who saith that he will cause us to walk in them now they are possible For beloved what God promiseth to do for us that rests not upon our strength but his strength to make us to do and he is able to make all strength to abound and increase within us Sixthly Then it is nothing else but a foolish and proud conceit in men to delay Of such as defer walking in Gods wayes and defer works of obedience until they 1. Have compassed so much of the world 2. Come to be old 3. Come to be sick then they will consider their wayes and then they will humble their hearts and then they will repent and then they will lay hold on Christ and then they will lead new lives and then they will make their peace with God c. Not knowing that it is God only who causeth us to walk in his Statutes and to do them and not knowing that we are not of our selves sufficient to think any thing and not knowing that supernatural power must be the foundation and cause of all supernatural works and not knowing that God justly may and often times doth deny his grace and help to them who have refused it and doth leave the refusing sinner forever to his own lusts and wayes SECT II. 2 Use DOth the Lord God himself undertake to cause his people to walk Take heed of self-confidence in his Statutes and to do them This may serve for caution unto all the people of God especially unto strong Christians that they take heed of all self-confidence Beware of all self-confidence when you are to do any duty or any work which the Lord requires from you see that you do not attempt it or set upon it in the power of self There are many sorts of a mans self there is 1. His Natural self the strength of natural knowledge and judgement and will How many sorts of self there be and resolution 2. His Learned self the strength of acquired parts and abilities of understanding of wisdom of tongues of utterance and of other gifts 3. His Gracious self the strength of a renewed minde and of a renewed will and of renewed affections Now hear my advice When you are to do any work for God beware that you rest not on any of these self strengths Jer. 9. 23. Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom neither let the mighty man glory in his might neither let the rich man glory in his riches So say I let not the prudent Christian rest on his wisdom and let not the knowing Christian rest upon his parts and let not the renewed Christian rest upon his graces and let not the forward Christian rest on his resolutions and let not the experienced Christian rest on his comforts as if those were able and enough to furnish and enable him to do the work or works which God requires of him There are three Reasons why I would seriously press this caution upon you that fear God First The exceeding aptness and propension in the best to be and to do something All are proue to trust too much in self of themselves there is scarce any thing concerns us but self is inte●mixed with it and justles in it self and we are hardly taken off from it until by woeful experience we finde much mischief and misery in it Take us in any spiritual work why something of self is appearing in repentance men will not forsake their own strength in the work of faith men will undertake to believe by their own strength in the work of justification men are apt to look upon their own righteousness in active duties men are many times of their minde in Jeremiah The Lord be a faithful witness between us if we do not according to all things which the Lord thy God shall send thee to us Jer. 42. 5. And in passive duties there also we presume many times too much upon our own self strength Lord said Peter I am ready to go with thee both into prison and to death Luk. 22. 33. And although all shall be offended yet will not I Mar. 14. 29. Secondly The exceeding greatness of this sin self-confidence or a trusting Trusting in self is a great sin and relying upon our own strength and sufficiency it is a very great sin which thus appears 1. It is the pride and unbeliefe in departing from God that man who makes not God his whole confidence departs from him P●ide of heart and which is worse the spiritual pride of heart which God abhors and is utterly contrary unto but humility of heart is that which God doth much value and regard 2. It is a kind of Atheism the creature which would be a self-sufficiency unto it self denies God in his Al-sufficiency it is proper to God as God to be a being of himself and to give being unto all besides himself to be independing on any for being and working 3. At least you take the work of God out of the hand of God his work it is to make us good by his preventing grace and his work it is to enable us to good by his subsequent grace and yet you will undertake by your own strength and by your own arme to conquer sins to resist temptations to perform acts of obedience 4. You take the course to set up your selves and to lay aside your God to magnify your selves and to nullify him to glory in your selves and to take glory from God if you will be the efficient causes of doing good without God you will make your selves the final cause of good Thirdly The

repentance be not a cause yet it is a means of pardon which God hath ordained for us to enjoy the forgivenesse of sin of the which his grace only is the efficient cause and the blood of Christ only is the meritorious cause Though God doth freely forgive yet he enjoyns repentance on us for besides the many reasons on our part there is reason for this in repect of Gods own grace which did it expresse itself in a free forgivenesse of wicked and impenitent persons it would be exceedingly undervalued and despised as an unjust act and besides that it would be improved to all licenciousness and profanenesse Whether justified persons may charge themselves with sin Fourthly Whether justified persons may charge themselves with sin seeing God hath graciously discharged them of sin Answered How far justified persons have charged themselves with sin Sol. I will speak something unto this Case also wherein I shall shew unto you two things First How far the children of God have charged sin upon themselves we read in Scripture that they have charged themselves 1. With the matter of sin that they have been guilty of Original sin Psal 51. 5. Behold I was shapen in iniquity and in sin did my Mother conceive me Rom. 7. 20. Sin that dwelleth in me And with Actual sin as David I have sinned 2 Sam. 12. 13. I have sinned against thee said Job Chap. 7. 20. and so David Ezra Nehemiah c. 2. With the manner of sinning as to the Circumstances of it against mercies warnings judgements on others Dan. 9. Neh. 9. 3. With the merit of sin that if the Lord should deal with them according to their sins there were no abiding If thou Lord shouldest mark iniquities O Lord who shall stand Psal 130. 3. Psal 143. 2. Enter not into judgement for in thy sight shall no man living be justified Job 9. 2. How should a man be just with God Ver. 3. If he will contend with him he cannot answer him one of a thousand Dan. 9. 8. O Lord to us belongs confusion of face 4. So far forth as to acknowlegde no hope nor help of discharge but in Jesus Christ and in Gods free grace O save me for thy mercies sake 5. So far forth as to quicken all penitental works they have remembred their sins Lam. 3. 20. My soule hath them still in remembrance and is humbled within me They have considered their sins Psal 119. 59. I considered my wayes and turned my feet to thy testimonies Mark 14. 72. Peter thought on the words of Christ and went out and wept bitterly They have mourned for their sins Zach. 12. 10. They shall look upon him c. and shall mourn we read of Davids tears and Peters tears and Mary Magdalens tears c. They have reformed their sins Hose 14. 8. What have I any more to do with Idols They have been earnest with God for the pardon and for the assurance of the forgivenesse of their sins Psal 51. 1 c. and Dan. 9. O Lord hear O Lord forgive and Hose 14. 2. Take away my iniquity Secondly How far forth they may not charge sin upon themselves I answer Wherein they may not charge sin upon themselves briefly they may not charge sin on themselves First As to conclude that God will damn them for their sins For there is no condemnation to them c. Rom. 8. 1. And he that believes shall not perish but have everlasting life Joh. 3. 16. Though they must acknowledge that by reason of sin they are worthy of condemnation yet they are to believe that Christ hath dyed for them and they shall not be condemned Secondly As to undertake any self-satisfaction to God for their sins you read of their confessions and tears and prayers but not of their satisfaction All our righteousnesses are as filthy rags Isa 64. 6. Wherewithall shall I come before the Lord shall I come before him with burnt-offerings will the Lord be pleased with thousands of Rams or with ten thousands of Rivers of Oyle c. Mich. 6. 6 7. If I justifie my self mine own mouth will condemn me if I say I am perfect it shall also prove me perverse Job 9. 20. Thirdly As to disanull their relation to God of Sonship c. Isa 64. 8. But now O Lord thou art our Father Ver. 9. Be not wroth very sore O Lord neither remember iniquity for ever behold see we beseech thee we are all thy people Having thus opened and cleared the nature of the forgiveness of sins I proceed to the other part of the description of it SECT II. THE second thing in the Proposition of forgivenesse of sins is this viz. That God himself undertakes this work and he undertakes it by promise First God undertakes to forgive sins Luk. 5. 21. Who can forgive sins but God alone Isa 43. 25. I even I am he that blotteth out thy transgressions for mine own sake Exo. 34. 6. The Lord the Lord God merciful and gracious long suffering and abundant in goodnesse and truth Ver. 7. Keeping mercy for thousands forgiving iniquity transgressions and sin Dan. 9. 9. To thee O Lord God belongeth mercy and forgivenesse Forgiveness of sin is indeed one of his Royal Prerogatives therefore you find his people making their addresses unto him for forgiveness of their sins Exod. 32. 32. Oh this people have sinned a great sin yet now if thou wilt forgive their sin c. Psal 25. 18. Forgive all my sins Dan. 9. 19. O Lord hear O Lord forgive Hose 14. 2. Take away all iniquity Act. 8. 22. Pray God if perhaps the thoughts of thine heart may be forgiven thee There is a forgiveness 1. By way of charity wherein we forgive the offence and trespass against us If thy brother repent forgive him Luke 17. 3. And forgive one another as God for Christs sake hath forgiven you Eph. 4 32. 2. By way of Ministry thus the Apostles as Christ delivers it in Joh. 20. 23. Whose sins ye remit they are remitted 3. By way of immediate and absolute authority thus it belongs to God and to him alone God in Scripture is stiled a Judge Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right Gen. 18. 25. And to the Supreme Judge it belongs to condemn or to acquit A Creditor there was a certain Creditor which had two debtors Luk. 7. 41. who can forgive the debt but the Creditor A Lawgiver There is one Lawgiver who is able to save and to destroy Jam. 4 12. who can forgive the transgressions of the Law but the Lawgiver Now God himself undertakes to forgive sins and none but he must do so Reasons of it God himself undertakes this work First Because all sins are offences against him and deviations from his righteous will and injuries to his glory even those sins which are wrongs unto men are injuries also unto God for his Will is slighted and his Law is violated in them therefore the remission