Selected quad for the lemma: cause_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
cause_n	eye_n	great_a	see_v	2,479	5	3.2871	3	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A42721	The great mystery of providence, or, The various methods of God in ordering and over-ruling the actions of wicked men and devils to great and glorious purposes with the vindication of his holiness therein : being the substance of several sermons / preached by George Gifford.	Gifford, George, d. 1620.	1695 (1695)	Wing G694; ESTC R25460	29,026	38

any room for Discontent When any Troubles come that which makes them bitter is to consider the Wickedness of the Instruments We are apt to say Oh that false Servant that treacherous Child if God had done this or that it would not have troubled us Why beloved look into the Text it is not they but God that did it for holy and wife ends Sudden and unexpected Accidents are great causes of Afflictions to have a Child or Friend cut off by some unexpected Accident yet we must consider tho' there be such a thing as Chance or Fortune to us there is nothing falls out but by the Wisdom of Almighty God As Deut. 19.5 compared with Exod. 21.13 God suffers not a Sparrow to fall to the Ground without his Providence much less will he do so by Men all things that are Chance to us are eternally determin'd by God I have heard many tender-spirited persons say Oh I am afraid I have not done all I should in this or that matter as Martha said Lord if thou hadst been here our Brother had not dyed But I say when God has signified his Will by the Event then we are to rest satisfied God knows how to order our Ignorance and Follies to his own holy and wise ends Again when we think upon the Injuries of wicked men the best Comfort is to quiet our selves as David The Lord has sent this Shimei to curse David Again when we see a Deluge of Wickedness and Prophaneness overflow a Nation it is one of the greatest causes of Sorrow to a good man as it was to David Rivers of water run down mine eyes because men keep not thy law It is a just cause of of Sorrow that you are all called to at this time but yet beloved we ought not to be too much grieved God will not suffer his holy Name to be always prophaned God can make this overspreading of Wickedness turn to the Good of the Nation Prov. 19.31 The counsel of the Lord shall stand they cannot go one step further than God orders and he can and will over-rule them Again this will be of great comfort to us in all the Riddles of God's Providence when we see holy men oppress'd and wicked men for a time to prosper in all these intricate Providences God Almighty will bring to pass his own wise and holy Ends adore the Lord when you cannot comprehend him The wicked have one Work to do and God has another judge not of Providences by their present faces and appearances He that had seen Joseph afflicted and in the Dungeon how could he have thought that had been the way to a Throne therefore do not judge of God's Works before you see the Effects of them God has a Work and Purpose and it shall be brought to pass let men oppose and cross it as much as they can therefore it is one of the greatest parts of Wisdom to resign up our Souls to God in the darkest Providences when we can see neither Sun Moon nor Stars Lord I resign up my self to thee tho' I cannot comprehend thy design at present Lastly If God works together with wicked men and turns all their Actions contrary to their own meaning why then we ought to work together with God I shall shew you how we may draw Good from the Sins of wicked men when the Sins of wicked men bring me to see my own and to watch and walk more holily with God and more diligently seek after Heaven and Heavenly things when the Malice of my Enemies is a means to encrease my Grace why then beloved I draw Good out of Evil. Again As to the Publick when we see Wickedness abound we may draw Good out of it we may now look upon our selves to be Witnesses for God and to live well in the midst of a wicked Nation when we see a Deluge of Drunkenness to abhor that Sin so much the more So as to the Spirit of Whoredome among us this should make us strive to be so much the more chaste and careful against all Company that may tempt us When we see a Spirit of Formality and Negligence in the Service of God this should make us so much the more fervent and to love Holiness the better And when you see People come to such a measure of Prophaneness as for many years together to omit the Lord's Supper this should make us more diligent in our Preparations to it The best way to overthrow Popery is to live well like good Protestants and especially I would not have a Protestant tell a wilful Lye and by this means we may turn our present Dangers to a good issue If we thus repent thus live and thus pray unto God c. FINIS

of God's Glory excuse the Sin I answer No the Sin is not the less sinful upon that account as Rom. 3.8 for God needs not our Sins to bring to pass his Glory God will not have us break his Commands out of a pretence to bring to pass his Glory it is not lawful for the greatest Glory to God or Good of Mankind to commit the least Sin to break God's Laws for God's Glory is not lawful upon any pretence And therefore they that can deceive and do Injuries to others and perhaps their whole Lives have been a course of Injustice and this under the thoughts and pretence of doing good with what they get and bringing Glory to God it is nothing else but a Delusion and Deceit But thou Hypocrite what need has God of thy Robberies to do him service So the Jesuites have determin'd that in defence of the Catholick Cause a man may tell a Lye because it is to a good end to carry on their Cause I shall shew you something of their Doctrine about Equivocation from their own allowed Writers 1. It is determin'd that officious Lyes when they injure none and do good to others they are at most but venial Sins So the consequence is if they tell an officious Lye for the preservation of themselves but especially for the honour of God and the good of their Society it is but a venial a pardonable Sin this most of the Papists hold 2. They tell us of the Doctrine of Equivocation that some things as they are spoken are directly Sins but if we keep any other true sence in our Minds it is reconcilable to Truth Again they tell us Some things a man is bound to deny and that upon Oath That if a Priest from Confession knows any thing of Adultery or Murder in another and he be examin'd in the matter he may lawfully forbear to tell the truth or deny it and the reason is because he knows it under the Seal of Confession And they made great use of this Doctrin in the Powder Treason Again they hold When they are called before an unlawful Judge as they hold us to be Hereticks they may lye and forswear but especially they hold That no Civil Judge can judge a Priest Again they hold If they are accused before a Judge and the Crime is not clearly proved and if they have any way to evade the Witnesses they may lye and forswear themselves with a mental reservation till the case be made out as clear as the Sun Again they averr That at their Executions they may deny their Crimes too because when they have confessed to a Priest and received Absolution they are in a state of Salvation and absolved from their Sins Therefore fix this in your Hearts That for the greatest Good in the World it is not lawful to commit the least Sin SECT V. MY third Inference is this If all the Sins of Men be order'd and govern'd by God the only true way to secure our selves from hurt by wicked men is to make our Peace with God It follows most directly true for if all the Sins of wicked men be order'd limited and over-ruled by God the most secure method in all Troubles is to make our Peace with God for if God be ours all the Malice of the Devils in Hell and wicked Men on Earth shall do us no harm The first Lesson we are to learn under every Rod is to believe God's Hand in it It is a thing beloved that we all acknowledge in the notion yet certainly one of the hardest things in practise Micah 6. the Prophet tells us It is the greatest part of wisdom to bear the rod and him who has appointed it for the greatest cause of our impenitency under God's heavy Judgments is because Men generally look no higher than the Second Causes we impute our Troubles to our own Negligence and the Malice of Men but look not up to God Isa 36.11 When thou liftest up thy hand they will not see it So Jer. 5.12 when the Prophet told them God had sent the Assyrian to punish them they denied it and said It is not the Lord. Beloved we are loth in any Affliction we suffer to acknowledge God's Hand in it and the reason is because it would be a secret acknowledgment of our own Guilt Thus if there happen to be a Defeat in War we reckon it comes only by Negligence or Cowardise or if a Fire happens we say this is the Malice of Men but we never look up to God in all this This is the great cause of Impenitence for how can we repent of our Sins if we believe we are only injured by Men and not punished by GOD We ought to believe there is no evil in a City but what the Lord has done all Evils that come either immediately from God's Hand or from the Malice Wickedness and Injustice of Men GOD has a hand in all Thus Job when the Chaldeans and Sabeans had robbed him he ascribes it to the Lord and not to their Injustice Isa 10.5 When a plundering Army was to be sent 't is said God sent them so when Absalom rebelled and sought the ruine of his Father it is said God would stir up evil to him out of his own house So 1 Kin. 11. when Solomon follow'd strange Women then God stirred up Enemies against him God sometimes raises up base and sordid men to be Plagues and Scourges to the most powerful People for the Sins of such a People So Beloved if we are proud and confident in our own Strength our Sins may expose us to be a Prey to the basest Nation in the World Again sometimes God limits the Career of wicked men as he does the proud Waves of the Sea saying Hitherto shalt thou go and no further When God has done with his Instruments he will destroy them It follows then that it is the greatest Folly for men to seek to remove their Afflictions so long as they continue in their Sins against God for what Folly is it to look to the Instrument and not to the Hand that moves it it is as if a poor Prisoner should court the Executioner and not seek to the Judge All these are our Follies For first we can with no reason expect God should remove his Judgments while we continue in our Sins if God does for a time cease Judgments we must not take it as a Pardon of our Sins or a Removal of our Judgment but only a Reprieve for a time If God does withdraw one Rod or Judgment that we may fear he will find new ones to chastise a wicked People as the Angel cried One woe is past and another woe cometh So long as we provoke God tho' sometimes we may prevail against men that are Instruments of his Wrath we shall not always he will have new Instruments to do his Work It follows therefore in the last place our only safe way is to make our Peace with God for if