Selected quad for the lemma: cause_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
cause_n	faith_n	good_a	salvation_n	3,234	5	7.4195	4	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A20573	A sermon preached at Saint Marie Spittle April. 10. 1615. By Thomas Anyan Doctour of Divinity, and president of Corpus Christi College in Oxon	Anyan, Thomas, 1580 or 81-1632.	1615 (1615)	STC 698; ESTC S115864	24,159	48

commit a voluntary sinne This feare of God and losse of his loue should serue as a strong curbe to retaine vs from sinne whensoever either by the corruption of our nature or allurements of the Devill we are tempted therevnto When Ioseph was by his wanton mistresse tempted to adultery it was not the feare of temporall punishments the losse of his service or the discovery of the fact that kept him from yeelding to hir vnlawfull desire but the feare of offending God How can I doe this so great wickednesse sin against God Gen. 39. 9. But now sin hath clambred vp to that heigth of impiety that neither the feare of God whose wrath is a cōsuming fire nor the terrour of punishment can restraine many from the frequent practise scarce from the open profession of sin There was a time when Tamar was vayled and covered hir face but now she boldly walks vnmaskt in the broad eye of the multitude enters the presence of the best walkes through the midst of the citie and makes publike profession of her lust quod solet esse publicum incipit esse licitum that which is done commonly by many will ere long bee thought lawfull to be done by any There was a time when those that were drunken were drunken in the night but now it is become a daie worke or rather a dayly worke and so obvious that a man can hardly balke it in the street There was a time when an eye required an eye and bloud would call for bloud againe but now murder is become the badge of manhood and sinne is made a mockery As Abner called fighting but a play or sport 2. Sam. 2. which indeed procured a bloody battaile for every man kild his fellow so Monomachies are now become but recreations and the least but suspicion of disgrace is a iust cause of a single combate But this is madnesse not manlinesse this kinde of courage is in the head not in the heart it is not hardy valour but a soft and moist enthusiasme of Bacchus qui ad praelia trudit inermes And therefore men should as well consider of the beginning as feare the end of such contentions But such men the feare of God in my Text cannot retaine the goodnesse of God cannot allure nothing but his Iudgements terrours can prevaile with thē Let the first call to minde the fearefull end of Zimbri and Cozbi in the very act of Incontinency that God sent fire and brimstone even Hell from Heaven to cōsume the people for their vncleannesse that most times then punishment in this life is shame and penury and in the other perpetuall torments and extreamest misery Momentaneum est quod delectat aeternum quod cruciat an Oceā of torture for a drop of pleasure Let the other knowe that though the wine be red goeth downe pleasantly yet in the ende it will bite like a Serpent and hurt like a Cockatrice and wine in the conveyance is most like the poyson of Serpents whose teeth are hollow saith Pliny like pipes that with more secret speed they may convey their poyson Last of all let the other knowe that Clamitat in coelum vox sanguinis the voice of bloud is loud it pearceth the clouds it knocks at heaven gates and enters into the eares of the Lord of Hosts And so I goe on And worketh righteousnesse It is the note of Calvine vpon my Text who by the feare of God vnderstandeth the observation of al the Commandements of the first Table and by working of righteousnesse all the Commandements of the second Table by the one we are iust and righteous before God by the other before men the one is necessary but not sufficient the other is acceptable but not perfect Which exposition of his will serue to strike off all the hold-fast of the Divines of Rome from this place who hence inferre the Merit of Workes and the favour they procure vs with God for if by working of righteousnes be vnderstood only the observation of the Commādements of the second Table then doubtlesse are they not sufficiently able to make vs acceptable with God Yet Bellarmine fals vpon this Text of Scripture hence infers an ability in man to make himselfe acceptable with God I am in the Pulpit not in the Schoole and therefore will not trouble you with the Subtilties of the Question which as well in this as other cases are oft times made too common to the multitude The property of Faith is to receaue and apprehende the nature of Charity is to diffuse impart to others Faith alone is the Iustifying instrument whereby wee apprehend and apply Christ's merits vnto vs but we cānot make any discovery or manifestation thereof vnto others except there bee ioyned to our Faith the Workes of righteousnesse So the inward worke of Iustification we ascribe to Faith onely but the righteousnesse of Sanctification we ascribe vnto good Workes which are by Iesus Christ to the glory and praise of God For the more cleere vnderstanding whereof we must obserue that our Workes are of two sorts either Intrinsecall and infus'd as Faith Hope c. or Extrinsecall and acquisite such are Almes-deeds Workes of Charity Our intrinsecall Workes they are as it were the Principall and our Extrinsecall or outward workes they are the Interest which God expects as due vnto him as may well appeare by the Parable of the Servants in the Gospell to whom the Talents were concredited Now we shal be rewarded by God not according to our intrinsecall Habits but extrinsecall Workes not because we had a strong faith or great hope but for releeving the poore visiting the sicke and performance of other workes of that quality and nature But the Church of Rome proceedeth further and doth not only make them the rule according to which but the cause for which we are iustified They make them Merita we Debita they the Cause of our salvation and à Priori we the Consequent and à Posteriori as fruit makes not the tree to be good but only shewes it to be so Non praecedunt iustificandum sed sequuntur iustificatū they are the Signes of our Sanctification not the Causes of our Iustification For Faith doth not spring out of Charity as Bellarmine falsely averres but true Charity is the ofspring of Faith wherevpon it is by S t Paule tearmed 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the ground of things hoped for and the foundation on which all other Theologicall vertues are erected Credendo fundamur sperando erigimur diligendo perficimur By Faith saith Austin we are ingrafted by Hope we are improved by Charity we are made perfect God working in vs and with vs. For our righteousnesse is rather passiue then actiue Iustitia nostra non est in nobis sed extra nos saith Doctor Luther Yet although our Workes are not the cause of our iustification yet are they the perfection of our faith and a demonstratiue assurance that we

to be without reason were indigne blasphemy It is not the prescience of faith or prevision of workes that can moue the will of God to choose one and refuse the other because they are not saith Aquinas part 1. q. 23. a. 4. the cause but the effects of Gods loue Praedestinatio est gratiae praeparatio gratia verò praedestinationis effectus Aug. c. 10. de praedestinatione sanctorū Predestinatiō is the harbinger of grace and grace the effect of Gods loue He first created all things and then saw they were good the foresight of their goodnesse was no inducement to the worke of their creation but his creation gaue them this eloge Quaecunque fecit erant valdè bona God chooseth none because they are good but men are good because they are chosen Gratia Dei non invenit eligēdos sed facit Therefore S t Paul saith Austin compared together the sonnes of Isaac twins vno etiam concubitu fusos in vtero both yet vnborne neither of them hauing done well or ill Quod referendum est saith the same Father non ad dispensatoris iniustitiam sed ad donantis misericordiam which wee must not impute to Gods Iniustice or partialitie but to his good will and pleasure which must be the last resolution of our inquiries and whatsoever the event is we must still say as our Saviour did Mat. 11. 25. Naepater quia sic placuit tibi Even so father for it seemed good in thy sight Could the master of the vineyard say Annon possum facere de meo quod volo Is it not lawfull for me to doe with my owne what I will And shall wee deny to God the supreme cause of all things the free disposition of any thing after his pleasure Whose will is not only iust and full of equitie but as S t Basil calls it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the very oracle and rule of iustice who doth make things iust and right because he wils them There is no man reiected by God without iust cause and demerit nor any saved but by his mercy free pleasure Now if it be asked why God should thus be an accepter of persōs affoord this mercy to some and not to all we must with a religious ignorance cōtent our selues and stand amazed at the secret and inexplicable greatnesse of God and satisfie our selues with this 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 it was his pleasure so to dispose of his kingdome This is the Nonvltrà beyond which wee must not wade but hither being come wee must make a stand and with the blessed Apostle cry out O altitudo divitiarum O the depth of the riches both of the wisdome and knowledge of God! how vnsearchable are his iudgements and his waies past finding out Rom. 11. 33. But here we may not be so injurious to the Deitie as to conceaue God in his Decrees to be tyrannicall as to say Sic volo sic iubeo stat pro ratione voluntas or that the will of God is moued 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 without reason for although neither beautie of face feature of body honourable descent wisdome and the endowments of the mind or any thing else without God cā moue his will to Election or make him to accept of one person before another yet is there never wanting a most iust cause and sufficient reason of his purposes and Decrees For although God worketh all things according to his will and pleasure yet whatsoever he doth he doth it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 with counsell and wise resolution Eph. 1. 11. God doth order all things sweetly and profitably Sap. 8. 1. Omnia fecisti in sapientiâ Domine In wisdome hast thou done all thy workes ô God Ps 104. 24. And shall wee thinke that this wise-creating God who made all things for his glory should without some proper reason determine of any thing which hee hath made The doctrine therefore of S t Peter in my Text remaines still true as firme as heaven 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 God is no accepter of persons because when hee determineth any thing hee hath a sufficient reason besides his VVill and Pleasure to doe what he doth Which reason saith the divine Author of the Ecclesiastical Policie because we are not worthy or able to apprehend we must humbly meckely adore This secret and vnknown reason of Gods purposes is like himselfe Eternall before the foundations of the world were layd and hath so effectually moved his VVill that now it can admit of no change or variation That which God hath decreed must still bee like God without change who can as well deny himselfe to be God as not performe what hee hath defined Whom he loues he loues vnto the end to whom he giues the earnest of his spirit they haue a continual feeling in some measure more or lesse of his gracious presence For the loue of God it is not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 variable like the gifts of temporall men which may bee granted to day and reversed to morrow with a Non obstante priore concessione but the loue of God and the gifts of his holy Spirit they are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and stand for ever without change Rom. 11. 29. He is Triumphator Israëlis the glory and strength of Israel and will neither lie nor repent nor yet can hee in the meane time be tearmed injurious to any or an accepter of persons as Pelagius prophanely somtime did object because God in giuing his grace to some and denying it to others doth not proceed sairh Alex-Hales iuxta dignitatem humanam sed secundùm dignationem divinam it is a donation of bounty not a dotation according to the rules of Iustice As God is in heaven so should Gods Vicegerents bee in earth as they sit in his chaire so should they walke in his paths of Iustice They should without respect of persons as well heare the cause of poore Bartimaeus as rich Zachaeus as well the small as the great Deut. 1. 17. Their eies must alwaies be shut that they be not drawn by favour their eares alwaies open that they may heare both parties indifferently their hands must be fast clinched vp least otherwise they be corrupted with bribes quae excoecant prudentes subvertunt verba iustorum which blind the wise and subvert the words of the righteous Exod. 23. 8. It was a provident law enacted in the time of Rich. 2. and afterwardes revived in the daies of the last Henry and woulde God till this day it had still beene continued without violation that no Iustice of Assize should ride his Circuit in that country where either he was borne or did liue that being vnknowne to all they might accept of the persons of none but be indifferent vnto al that so they might the more freely administer justice and the more liuely represent him whose deputy Lieutenants they are in being merciful as he is mercifull holy as he is holie no respecters of persons because with