Selected quad for the lemma: cause_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
cause_n	evil_a	great_a	sin_n	2,789	5	5.0653	4	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A31841	A sermon preached before the Right Honourable the Lord Mayor, and the Court of Aldermen, at Guild-Hall Chappel upon the 30th of September, 1683 by Benjamin Calamy ...	Calamy, Benjamin, 1642-1686.	1683 (1683)	Wing C218; ESTC R5722	14,818	35

the Grace of God by putting false Constructions upon and drawing such impious Consequences from it are guilty of a most Pernicious and Dangerous sin 2. If you refer them as many do and as I shall now understand them to the wicked resolution set down in the Text Let us do evil that good may come then they signifie that it is a Damnable sin to commit any Evil though thereby the greatest Good might be obtained which is the Proposition I shall now Discourse of That we must not venture to do the least Evil no not for the sake of the greatest Good and I am very confident you will all readily grant that this point is very seasonable now to be insisted upon For we need not Travel into Foreign Countries we need not consult the Chronicles of past Ages nor be beholden to Ancient Records to fetch thence Examples of those who have done the vilest and lewdest things imaginable and yet have cloaked all and defended themselves by this Colourable Pretence That what they did was for the Glory and Service of God and the Good of his People We have had too many sad Instances of this amongst our selves in this last Age. For have not the most Execrable Murders Treasons and Villanies been acted in this Nation and yet all pretended to be done for Gods sake for the preservation of Religion and the Gospel and for the Safety and Liberty of the People The old Wheadling Pretences of all Sedition and Rebellion But I shall not look back to former Times Have we not at this present Day heard of Men who have undertaken the Assassination of the most Gracious and Merciful Prince that ever wielded the English Sceptre and of his Royal Brother the overturning the present Government and bringing in all Confusion and Anarchy and God knows what for no one can tell and it makes every Honest mans Heart Bleed within him but to guess what had been the fatal Consequences of such an Horrid Design had not Gods good Providence which hath all along been so watchful over our Soveraign Blasted and Defeated it yet is not all this Wickedness said to have been contrived and resolved upon out of great love to and concern for the Protestant Religion and Liberty of the Subject and to secure us from Popery and Slavery They good Men designed nothing but what was honest for the Interest of Religion and the Nation no matter what the Means were that were used in so good a Cause In nomine Domini incipit omne malum and I think I may truly say that neither Ambition nor Covetousness nor Pride nor Revenge nor Discontent nor any other Lust or Passion that useth to animate Men to make Publick Disturbances have yet been the cause of so much Disorder and Mischief in the World as hath been occasion'd by a Popish or Fanatick Zeal for Religion and Liberty and perhaps more Evil hath been done that Good might come of it than upon any other pretence or account whatsoever This indeed is a weakness that most Men are more or less subject unto When they are once secure of the goodness of the Cause they are ingaged in and of the greatness and necessity of the End they propound to themselves their Eyes are so wholly fixed upon it that they easily become less wary and sollicitous about the Lawfulness of the Means they use for the compassing of it and are apt in their heat to outrun or transgress the limits of their Duty As it is with one who eagerly follows his sport or game when he is in close pursuit he sticks not at any bad road he leaps over all that is in his way and will ride over those dangerous places which at another time he would with the greatest care have avoided So is it with men whom a blind Zeal not cool Reason or sober Religion moves they are rid by an headstrong impetuous passion which violently hurries them through thick and thin through lawful and unlawful they swallow any Camel so that they may at last obtain what they so earnestly desire Let us do evil that good may come whose damnation is just In the prosecution of this Argument I shall first of all explain the Proposition That we must not do any evil that good may come Secondly I shall prove it to you and give you some Reasons to establish you in the belief of it Lastly draw some seasonable Inferences from it 1. For the Explication of this Proposition That we must not do any evil that good may come there need not many words By good here I understand whatever it is that is desirable or for our advantage either considered as Men or as Christians whether it relates to this life or next whether it be publick or private temporal or spiritual whether it be our own or others for the procuring of any or all these good things we must not do any thing that is evil What we call Evil is of two sorts either Natural or Moral or as it useth commonly to be expressed the evil of pain or the evil of sin and of this latter of sins are these words only to be understood As for the former outward temporal evils which concern our Bodies or Estates they must be chearfully endured and undergone in a good Cause for a great End rather than omit a necessary Duty or commit a plain Sin there being more real evil in sin than in any outward pain or calamity that can befall us Now of things sinful of which only I discourse some are always such in all Circumstances other things there are which are in their own Nature indifferent but are evil and sinful only because they are forbidden by some positive Command of God which therefore in a case of great necessity or charity may be done for the sake of some good that follows As we all know David and those that were with him to save themselves from perishing by hunger did eat of the Shew-bread which otherwise was not lawful for them to eat and yet were not blamed for it Be pleased therefore to observe that I speak not now of the violation of such positive Commands of God as they are commonly called which he himself hath declared are to give place to Works of mercy and doing good to our Brother the breach of them in such cases not being sinful God himself dispensing with those Laws in such extremities But I speak now of things in their own nature and intrinsically evil and which are forbid by God because they are such not the least thing which is evil in its own nature may be done tho' for the procuring the greatest good Which I shall endeavour 2. To make out to you by Arguments drawn from these four heads First from the nature of moral good and evil Secondly from the consideration of Gods Providence Thirdly from the example of Gods Condemning and Punishing evil Actions tho' donewith good Intention Fourthly from the pernicious Consequences of such a