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	salvation_n	work_n	5,482	5	6.3075	4	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A41575	An antidote against the common plague of the world, or, An answer to a small treatise (as in water, face answereth to face) intituled Saltmarsh returned from the dead and by transplacing the letters of his name, this is Smartlash : ascend into the throne of equity, for the arraignment of false interpretours of the word of God : summoned out of all ages to appear, under the penalty of death, challenging the consent, or forbidding to gainsay the common approved priesthood of this age.	Gorton, Samuel, 1592 or 3-1677.	1657 (1657)	Wing G1305; ESTC R24349	253,337	351

themselves for the mind without knowledge is not good Our Apostle therefore concludes by transferring this wo unto himself in a figure as he saith in another case of himself and Apollo thereby teaching the proper state of the false apostles in their practise I say herein he concludes that salvation doth consist only in the preaching of the gospel as necessarily and absolutely as it doth consist in faith for there is nothing that is a grace of the gospel but hath in it the compleat and full estate and condition of Jesus Christ without which no salvation For as the whole law in all points is fulfilled in one word namely love so is salvation comprehended in every virtue that is in Christ whereof the revelation and opening of the mind of the Father is one And as it is true that he who breaks one commandment is guilty of all even so he that excludes any Christian from any one grace or virtue that is in Christ he excludes him from all for as it is true that with the heart man believes unto righteousness even so with the mouth confession which is preaching is made unto salvation and the one is as necessary unto life as the other for he that confesseth not or he that preacheth not that Christ is come in the flesh is Antichrist and Antichrist is that son of perdition or destruction and not of salvation Every Christian therefore is to witness a good confession or is to witness a good preaching as befnre Pontius Pilate or else no attaining unto salvation that is every Christian must with boldness and courage oppose the virtue and power of the Son of God against all the rulers of the darkness of this world which is of that evil one This wo therefore pronounced against false apostles in this figurative speech of the Apostle as transferring it unto himself rests upon all such in its real abode as either preach not the gospel according as the truth is in Jesus and simplicity thereof in the rest or else neglect it or forbid it to be preached by others or in themselves for they may as well neglect or deny to themselves or others the faith of Gods elect or any virtue and grace appertaining to life and salvation therefore our Apostle in whom is personated all true and faithful Saints of God is necessitated hereunto and doth it by constraint even as the love of Christ constraineth him to deal faithfully and plainly in the cause o● God according to the demonstration and evidence of the Spirit of God in the salvation of his chosen though the false apostles judged him to be besides himself in so doing therefore it follows Vers 17. For if I do it willingly that is if I do it voluntarily of my own accord by any will or law of a creature constraining and urging me thereunto then I have a reward that is suitable to the fountain from whence it comes which is the will of a creature which Christ never came to do nor to be in motion thereby but only to do the will of the Father and from that to receive motion in all his enterprizes Or thus then I have my reward or my end as the word imports that is if I preach from a humane will my end is also humane if I preach from the learning and abillities of a creature it is the obtaining of the things of the creature which I propound as my aim and end therein and not the things of God my main scope and intent is so fading and perishing Mammon of unrighteousness and not the durable treasure consisting in that righteousness of God through the faith of Jesus For according to the nature of the spirit which goeth forth such is the nature of the thing expected and looked for in the return and such it ever proves to be for he that sows to or in the flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption but he that sows in the spirit shall reap everlasting life a carnal ministry ever expects carnall things and an expectation of carnal things for preaching the word of God is an evident demonstration of a carnal and corrupt ministry not acceptable in the house of God or in any Christian heart for it never knew what the liberties and priviledges of the gospel are and therefore can never utter them But if I do it against my will that is against the will and proper law of man which is at enmity against God for it is not subject to the law of God neither indeed can be as this our Apostle affirms in another place for Christ is not brought forth or born of flesh nor of bloud nor of the will of man but of God as the Scriptures teach then is the dispensation committed unto me as if he should say then the ordering and disposing of all the whole matter of the gospel is committed to me in trust as to a Steward and so the glory excellency and virtue in point of the dispensation and disposure thereof in its going out as also the return of praise honour and all due deserts appertains and belongs solely unto my Lord or unto that Lordship derived unto me which is never abstracted from the steward and not unto me as a man nor to any mortal creatures who or whatsoever Vers 18. What is my reward then or as the word is what is my end then in preaching the gospel what do I propound unto my self in so doing or expect to be the return of my work verily or in truth upon my serious asseveration or engagement as upon oath that when I preach the gospel I may make the gospel of Christ free that is my end in preaching is this that when or in what respect or relation soever I publish and declare salvation and manifest wherein it consists in Christ my intent and full reward stands in this to make it of such fulness and perfection as that it stands not in need nor is it beholding nor ingaged to any earthly or transitory thing either to give it its being add to its form perfection or virtue for no earthly thing can contribute thereunto no more then dust in the beginning could contribute to the Image of God in any respect which is immortal and eternal nor can humane nature contribute to the death of Jesus Christ for it is a death which holds proportion with the Son of God and in all points according to the truth and reality thereof is infinit and eternal because its virtue consists in the eternal word and not in any thing proper to a creature though the creature doth really communicate therein none therefore can ever say I have been his counsellour to contribute unto his wisdome neither to any thing that is proper to Jesus Christ neither can any thing of the creature say I have given unto him first that I may be recompenced no more then it can be said that God is ingaged or indebted unto man for taking him into the unity of eternal

reallity of goodness in it and that was never found but only in that device and workmanship of Christ who is the ingraven form of Gods subsistauce and that which gives being to all things without whom they are not never were nor shall be For the wisdome of God is the original and fountain of all things as maker and former of them all but the wisdome of God doth properly consist in that device of the creature and creatour being made one in Christ without which Gods wisdome could never appear for he cannot be known but by his own light Psalme 36 9. ther efore the unity of God and man in that faith of Christ is the proper original fountain and cause of all things and hath all things in it wherein the reallity of goodness doth consist and all other things are but as the hand upon the dyal which points at time which it self is not so do all other things in heaven and earth point at an eternal state and condition which not any nor all of themselves either are or ever shall be So that he that brings out an original goodness or righteousness in angel or man and not out of this fountain of God and man being one in Christ he is a false interpreter of the word of God and the doctrine of such is that which is and ever was the proper inlet of sin and wrath upon the sons of Adam for being they raise righteousness and goodness from a false fountain they bring in the devils to be the state of Christ as all Idolaters have ever don from the beginning and such is the falshood of the fountain out of which their doctrine springs and therefore it is that the consultations of the serpent who is said to be wiser then any beast which the Lord God made proves the very devil and Satan Revel 20 2. himself Secondly false interpreters terminate the word of God in a false and counterfeit center in that they carry the intent and scope thereof to other things besides Christ that is God and man in unity such are they who center the word of God in good angels which they confess are not in this unity also in man in his first creation which they exclude from this unity of such mistake is the centring of the word of God as being the intent thereof in offices and ordinances called divine and civil which have not the nature and also the duration of this unity in them for Christ is the first and the last the beginning and the end the proper rise and termination of all things therefore he is said to be the Lord our Lawgiver and also the end of the law Revel 22. 13 Isaiah 33. 22. Roman 10. 4. Therefore it is no law of God in what relation soever considered that terminates or ends in any thing short of or besides Christ yet do we not deny the lawful use of any humane ordinances no more then we deny the ordinance of the Sun and of the moon So they be used as becomes the nature of them in their time and season which are all found to be in the judgement of God no better then empty husks such as the prodigal fed upon being destitute of this unity which is in Christ Luke 15. 16 17. so that further then they direct us unto Christ they are no bread becoming our fathers house and so will appear when ever we come to our selves by getting out of that way of prodigallity but if we terminate the law of God in them they all become Idolatrous which have proved the snares and Idols of the world unto this day whilst counterfeit and hypocritical interpreters present wood and stone and foolish pictures unto us that we may bend oll our zeal only against such trash that in the mean time Satan and his ministers may raign as angels of light 2 Cor. 11. 13 14 15. And thus much briefly for present in the describing of a false interpreter of the word of God Now that we may the better understand their just desert of so many woes pronounced against them in this chapter let us take a short sum and view of the particular ground and cause of the pronunciation of every wo as they lie in order before we come to this which we have read The ground of the first wo is laid down in the 13. verse and contains three things 1. First that they shut up the kingdome of heaven against men 2. That they will not enter thereinto themselves 3. That they will not suffer them that are entring 1. They shut up the kingdome of heaven against men that is you draw a vale over the holy and eternal things of the Son of God by terminating the word of God in temporary and terrene things that is when men so expound the law of God as to make things which indure not for ever to be the intent and purpose of the word of God as titles offices relations and operations that shall end by their own confession when God is all in all but for the present the word hath its proper center in them this is a vail drawn over those orders institutions relations and operations proper to the house and kingdome of God as a door shut and fast bolted that men enter not which is made up and consists of the proper workmanship of mans natural heart which hath ever appeared a glory in mans eye to the darkening and hiding of that glory of the Son o● God therefore it is said that the ministration of condemnation is glorious glory is to be done away otherwise the vail is upon the heart of man to shut him out of the holy place that is our of that state of Christ Jesus when Moses is read unto this day 2 Cor. 3 so that the centring of the word of God in an earthly glory which must be don away is the ministry of condemnation which shuts up the way of salvation which is by Christ Luke therefore expresseth it in these words Ye have taken away the key of knowledge Luke 11. 52. that is ye have hid and covered by your earthly ties and relation the spirit of the Scriptures which as a key passeth through all those wards and bolts of humane relations and respects loosening and and dissolving them all as things of no value for the free passage of the Saints of God into a kingdome which fades not in any of its relations and respects but lasts for ever 1 Pet. 1. 4. 1 Pet. 5. 4. Or it causeth the wisdome of the flesh that great bar which bolts up the kingdome of God so to fall and fly back as ●he bolt of a lock when the wards are opened of which Christ saith get thee behind me Satan that the Saints of God may enter into the exercise of the wisdome and knowledge of God in which Luke makes the kingdome of God to consist saying Ye have taken away the key of knowledge and enter not into it that is into

the sight of all good men making it clear and manifest unto whom they belong and of what brood and off-spring they are 5 The fifth conclusion is that the word of God is of like concernment in all men and takes hold of them with like force whether it be laid in the way of the blessing or of the curse for it is of like concernment to maintain and uphold the principles of the Creature that it is to maintain and uphold the principles peculiar to God for if the principles of the Creature were not upheld to their height which argue themselves into the place office and seat of God 2 Thes 2. 3. 4. then there were no place for the curse and then the redemption of Christ were without vertue in that it delivered from no wretched nor cursed condition and then praise-worthinesse due unto God should cease having no matter nor cause from which to take place Again if mans principles were not maintained as well as the principles peculiar to God the word and work of God should faile and be extinct for the word of God never uttered it self nor did the work of God exist but in order to Gods wisdom framing the Son of man into its own likenesse making him in conformity with it selfe which is the state of the Son of God Iesus Christ as also the wisdom of man framing the Son of God into its own similitude and likenesse conforming him into the proportion of naturall and earthly principles which is the state of Antichrist that son of perdition and if either of these should fail the word and work of God should faile which are as durable as God himself Psal 119. 89. 90. The word of God therefore takes hold of all men yea of whole mankind with like authority and force both in way of the curse as also in the way of blessednesse for each maintains its own proper principles as upon life and death for in case mans principles and reasonings should take place and beare sway in a Saint the life and spirit of God should be extinct and if the wisdom and argument of the Son of God should take place and bear sway in any wicked man then the spirit of Satan whereby he lives would be extinct so that each of them hath the fo●ce and authority of life and death upon them than the which a greater bond cannot be for if the force and authority of the word of God were not of like power in point of wrath in the way of the curse as to hold proportion with the word of blessing and peace then could not the word of God hold proportion with it selfe which must of necessity be in all things of an infinite and illimited force and authority 6 In the sixth place we conclude that the word of God hath ordained necessitated it self to come unto all men in way of interpretation and that in all its expressions and intimations whatsoever because it speaks and utters it self in mankind from divers principles and therefore the word must be interpreted or translated ●ut of one into another that is out of one proper speech or language into another and the very formings and fashionings of the heart is the proper speech or language of man therefore the abundance of the heart is that which he speaks Mat. 12 34 Now God hath taken up all things of man as he hath respect to all Creatures to utter and reveal his secret wisdom and counsel by in Christ the spirit of God therefore in the Saints takes out the minde and meaning of God from that originall Copy naturally written in the Tables of stone in all mens hearts and translates it according to that wisdom of God in Christ into the fleshy Tables of the heart fitted to receive the impressions of God by the removal of those stony strong and earthly apprehensions and conclusions which man naturally conceivs and concludes within himselfe from the word of God so that Gods true intent according to the dictate of his spirit being taken out of that husk or shell wherein it is expressed is no more the language of the flesh but of the spirit and this is of necessity to be done in the conservation of the Spirit and life of Iesus Christ the Son of God Again the spirit of errour and false interpretation takes out of that originall copy of the wisdom of G d that law of the spirit of life in Christ and translates it into principles and conclusions humane proper to the thoughts device and invention of a Creature terminating the mind and will of God in things limited by time place and person things transitory which cannot hold proportion with the Son of God and by means of this translation it is no more the language of the spirit but the language of the flesh and so the dictates of the Serpent the mind and will of Satan who captivates man by the lusts of his own heart 2 Tim. 2. 26. Furthermore the word of God is not the word of life without interpretation as it is translated out of death into life therfore he saith Thou wilt not leave my soul in Hell neither wilt thou suffer thy holy one to see Corruption Psalm 16. 10. Neither is the spirit of God a spirit of Revelation nor hath the honour of opening the mind of the father in any without this grace of interpretation whereby man is conformed unto the image and similitude of the Son of God Add further that man cannot lay claime to his proper being and prerogative as he is wicked namely to be wiser than the beasts of the field or to have dominion over the inferiour Creatures but as he translates the excellencies of God into his own humane principles and thereby exalts himself as Lord over all the works of Gods hand and by this his translation he interprets the word of God in direct opposition unto Gods true intent and proper meaning in that originall Copy of Gods wisdome in Christ presented unto the world and hereby are the principles of humane wisdom set up to bear sway in the world in the vilifying of the wisdom of God in Christ by which means the life of Satan is continued in the sons of mortall men And this interpretation is by translating one tongue and language into another which cannot be done but by presenting the originall Copy which by this means is cast aside and vilified as to be no more imbraced nor accepted and in this presentation of the original Copy of the wisdom of God which cannot but be acknowledged by all men ought to be magnified and submitted unto by all doth the answer of the question propounded consist for in this representation of the wisdom of God unto mankinde contained in such yea the same expressions written upon every mans heart herein doth the spirit of the Prophet the Wise-men and Scribes visit all the wicked of the world yea there where never good man bodily appeared a d in their rejection

them as others inferior to him These assume a life spirit and righteousnesse of Christ but confesse that the reality of their proper aboad is in another namely in Christ himselfe these have let out the life and spirit of Christ into another condition distinct from himselfe and therefore he is another than they upon whom these things are imputed and powred out And hence it is that as blood shed on the Earth loseth its proper spirit and life and the ground converting it strengthens it selfe thereby even so this doctrine drawes out the blood of Christ so as it loseth its naturall and proper vertue and is no more the life and spirit of the Lamb of God the Saviour of the World but is become the life and spirit of a Woulf ravening and devouring to his utmost power the flock of God whereunto he comes it is no more the life and Spirit of Christ but of Antichrist no more the Spirit of God but is the spirit of that evill one 3 The third point noted is the time that is from what time it is shed that is very ancient namely from the foundation of the World that is this spirit of false interpretation is the originall ground and cause of all bloodshed and murther that ever was in the World as it was in that wicked Cain who slew his brother in the beginning 1 Iohn 3. 12. by false interpreting of the Sacrifices of God to consist in earthly things therefore is said to offer the fruits of the ground Gen. 4. 3. unto the Lord which is his evill work which the Apostle notes to be the cause of the murther saying And wherefore slew he him but because his own work was evill and his brothers good 1 Iohn 3. 12. Even so it is unto this day false interpretation in carnallizing the word of God falsifying that acceptable Sacrifice which is the firstling of the Flock that Abel brings this is the cause of all murther and bloody persecution unto this day for it only upholds the way of Cain and wages of Balam in the World Jude 11. which spirit of Cain kept alive in ceremoniall and traditionall Jews Christ tels them they are of their father the Devill who is a Murderer from the beginning alluding to that act of Cain Iohn 8. 44. 4 The fourth point is to what time this act of murther reacheth and comes that is unto this present generation for as false Interpretation is the originall of murther and killing of the spirit of all the Prophets so also it is that off-spring present appearance and actor thereof in all ages for as the wisdom of God taking the Son of man or Adam earth into unity with it selfe there is blessednesse and conservation of eternall li●e in all that off-spring wherein this wisdom is pleased to propagate it selfe in the true construction given of that wisdom and word of God So also the wisdom of the Serpent taking into its counsel or unity with it self the Son of God or heavenly condition which hath Lordship over all by false construction of the word and work of God doth thereby become guilty and accursed in all the off spring and generation thereof where and in whomsoever the spirit of the Serpent in false interpretation appeareth the one of these is the seed of the woman the other the seed of the Serpent which in all ages and in all things are at enmity and in opposition the one to victory to be set upon the Throne of David perpetuated as the Sun before the Lord Psal 89. 35. 36. ●7 and the other in way of the Fall is cast down unto the Earth where he makes war with the remnant of the seed of the woman yea is thrust down into the bottomlesse pit and place of destruction for ever Rev. 12. Rev. 20. 1. 2. 3. and at so wide a difference doth the true and false interpretation of the word of God begin proceed and end in 5 The fifth point is that of them it is required that is the blood of all the Prophets of God shed from the foundation of the world is required of the present generation inquisition for blood being made it is required at their hands and God will inquire after exactly exquisitely or perfectly as the Greek word a●riboas translated inquire signifies Act. 23. 20. for the Lord will inquire or the word of God will seek and find out bloods in the form plural Psalm 9 12. that is such as corrupt both the life and the death of the Son of God both being included in the word bloods he will inquire that is execute vengeance exactly to the uttermost therefore where Moses saith God will inquire or require of him that hearkens not unto the words of the Prophets Deut. 18. 19. the Apostle Peter alleging the words of Moses saith that he that will not hearken to the words of the Prophet God shall destroy him from among the People Acts 3. 23. In which inquisition after blood or requiring of it exactly note these two things I. First Consider the incomprehensible nature of the Fact in takingaway and disanulling the life and spirit of the word of God for it is called the blood of God Act. 20. 28. and if it be of that infinite and incomprehensible nature what shall be found of a valuable consideration to satisfie and make payment to the uttermost farthing which is exactly required to be done or else imprisonment for ever Mat. 5. 25. 26. II. Consider that if this blood guiltinesse have not only in it the originall of all murther but also is in a continued act there of successively crucifying the Lord afresh unto himselfe and puts him to open shame Heb. 6. 6. When can a just and exact punishment cease if the cruell act of the murther be still in operation for the cause of this complaint They have pierced my hands and my fe t is never out of act in any wicked man whatsoever Psalm 22. 16. no more than the conservation of the life of the spirit of God is out of act in the Lord Iesus Christ whereit ever liveth to make intercession in the Saints Heb. 7. 25. Rom. 8. 25. 26. 34. 6 The sixth point is that it shall come upon them according to Matthew that is the blood guiltinesse together with the exact punishment and plague for taking away the life and spirit of the word of God in carnallizing and making a dead carkasse of the same And it is said to come upon them in like sense in way of opposition as the Spirit of God is said to come upon the Saints of God so as to cloath them with might and power to do great workes or to performe mighty and miraculous workes in and by them so it is said the spirit of God came upon Othniel Gideon and Sampson to do mighty works unresistably Iudg. 3. 10. Iudg. 6. ●4 Iudg. 14. 5. 6. Even so the spirit of guilt and destruction comes upon false Interpreters to their utter