Selected quad for the lemma: cause_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
cause_n	false_a	zeal_n	zealous_a	46	3	8.9515	4	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A92851	Elisha his lamentation, upon the suddain translation of Elijah. Opened in a sermon at the funeral of Mr. VVilliam Strong, that eminently faithful servant and minister of Christ. By Obadiah Sedgwick, B.D. and preacher of the Gospel in Covent Garden.	Sedgwick, Obadiah, 1600?-1658.	1654 (1654)	Wing S2371; Thomason E745_14; ESTC R203519	19,678	40

heaven of the Blessed where God appears in eminency and where Jesus Christ is in Glory and the souls of just men made perfect thither is Elijah carried up after all his Pains and Sufferings and Troubles and Faithfulness Thither I say is he carried up to receive his Reward and Elisha is left behind to do his Master more service But how doth Elisha take this suddain parting and loss of precious Elijah The Text tells you Elisha saw it and he cried my Father my Father These words may be called The Lamentations of Elisha upon the suddain Translation of that eminent Prophet Elijah In which you may discern 1. His exceeding Grief and Sorrow He cryed out and until he saw him no more so Junius Tremellius Read those words And he saw him no more And he rent his clothes in two pieces as Anciently was the Practise upon the loss and at the Funerals of dear friends and of choice and eminent Persons 2. The causes of this his great grief and sorrow And they were 1. His own particular loss The loss of Elijah was unto Elisha as the loss a loving and dear Father unto a loving and dear Child my Father my Father As David once about Absolom my Son my Son So Elisha here for Elijah my Father my Father Ah my Father my Father Oh I have lost a Father my Father such a Father The Chaldee Interpreter renders it Rabbi Rabbi my Master my Master But in the Hebrew it is Abba Abba my Father my Father 2. The publique loss The Charret of Israel and the Horsemen thereof As if he had said one of the best Instrumental helps and safeties that all Israel enjoyed is now taken away O the Staffe and the stay is broken What the Charet and the horsemen are to an Army or to a State and what the loss of them is unto a State That was the life and that was the loss of this Prophet Elijah unto all Israel There are two Propositions onely which I would briefly discourse upon from this Text at this time and with respect to this sad occasion 1. That even the most eminently Faithfull and Zealous Prophets of God may be and shall be taken away from a people 2. That the loss of any one eminently Faithfull and Zealous Prophet of God should affect the hearts of people with exceeding Grief and Lamentation I begin with the first of these That even the most eminently 1. Proposition Faithful and Zealous Prophets of God may be and shall be taken away from a people The Prophets or Ministers of God they are of different Parts and Gifts and they are of different Spirits and they are of different Use and Service Put them in Comparison one with another some are as Stars of the first Magnitude and others of a lesser Magnitude some are as the Cedars and others are but as ordinary Trees Some are more richly and plentifully endowed and furnished others are not so they are lower by the As Elijah Paul Calvin and Luther head some are vigorously active and are raised up and laid out for the General Advantages and Managements of Religion yet others are not so though al be Builders yet all of them are not Master-Builders They differ much in their Gifts in their Graces in their Services Gifts will free from Indiscretion Grace from Hell but nothing from Death in their Usefulness Nevertheless they must all agree in this they must all dye they must all be taken away Here in the Text Elijah was taken away and what was he he was a Prophet and in some sense more then a Prophet He was a Prophet of the highest rate most eminent for Faithfulness and Zeal That was his excellency Noah was eminent for Uprightness and Moses for Meekness and Job for Patience and Solomon for Wisdom and Joshua for Prowess and Josiah for Tenderness and Elisha for Miracles and Elijah for Zeal and Courage and Faithfulness All the false Prophets were nothing to him nor Jezabel the Queen nor Ahab the King and although in his Opinion he was left alone to sustain the cause of God yet he alone continued Faithful and Zealous Nevertheless this Holy and Excellent man of God is taken away and suddainly and in a very needfull time Zachariah 1. 5. Your Fathers where are they And the Prophets do they live for ever No No they do not live for ever Nor yet many times very long You may find them for a while in the Study and for a while in the Pulpit and after a little while you may find them in their Graves The Reasons of this Divine dispensation besides many other are these 4. Reasons why God takes away his most Faithful Prophets 1. Because even the most Faithful Prophets of God are Stewards but for a time of them as well as of others it must be said Ye shall be no longer Stewards they have their determined work and their allotted time for that work Their Reward shall be measured by Eternity But their work and their life are measured by time So much work for so much time and then their Master calls them home In Scripture you Read that they are sometimes called Ambassadors who are choice persons sent abroad by a 2 Cor. 5. 20. special Commission And when they have finished their Legation or Treaty then must they return back unto their Prince The Prophets or ministers of God are the Ambassadors of God in a special manner Authorized to treat with sinners to be reconciled perhaps sinners will hearken unto them and conclude upon terms of saving agreement perhaps they will not These have but their time to hearken and they have but their time to offer and perswade and when that is expired the Lord calls them home Again you find them sometimes called labourers and workmen the labourer goes forth in the morning 2 Cor. 3. 9. and he does his dayes work which when he hath finished then he comes home and takes his Rest Thus it is and thus it shall be with the best of Gods Prophets and Ministers who are also called the Messengers of God and must return unto him an answer what they have done and how they have sped 2. There is a day of recompence for them their reward is with the Lord they are imployed by a good Master and as there are the works of faithful servants for them todo so there is the reward of a faithful master for them to receive there is a Prophets work here and a Prophets reward hereafter Christ calls it our Masters joy and Paul calls it a Crown of Righteousness the faithful and laborious Ministers of God though despised and injured by men on earth yet they are loved and encouraged by Christ and as they are a means to save others so they themselves shall be saved shall shine as the stars for ever and ever they shall be with the Lord for ever they shal be everlastingly blessed And therefore they must

and exhort them daily and press upon them all sorts of Arguments from Judgements and mercies to cease to do evil and to learn to do well to forsake their evil ways and to turn to the Lord this we find in Scripture and this we find in experience and therefore they are the most eminent means of safety unto a people Beloved they are our sins and they onely are the fountains of all our miseries our sinful evils brings upon us all our miserable evils Thy ways and thy doings have procured these things unto thee this is thy wickedness i. e. the fruit and effect thereof Jer. 4. 18. And if sins be removed then miseries are removed and all danger is over God is again wel-pleased and returns with loving kindness and much prosperity unto a people as you may read in the times of the Judges and of the Kings 3. They are the choisest Instruments which God doth use to teach a people his will and ways by them doth God make known his Laws and Statutes and 1 Sam. 12. 23. I will teach you the good and the right way ways This is the way walk ye in it In these pathes you shall find rest unto your souls and by them doth God keep a people in his ways they are the Instruments used by God to keep a people upright and stedfast in walking before him And this is a peoples strength and safety Gods ways and none but his are wayes of safety while a people walks in his ways he will be their sun and shield their rock and strength their God and their salvation 4. They are of singular use and benefit to the leaders of a people if they will receive such among them the faithfull Prophets of God have been a means to convert wicked Governours and to keep others of them right in the ways of God you read of Iehoash that he did that which was right in the sight of the Lord all his dayes wherein Iehoida the Priest instructed him See of what excellent use that good man was unto Jehoash 2 King 12. 2. There are none who will deal with the Governours of a people so plainly so conscientiously so seriously so earnestly as the faithfull Prophets of God They will speak to them when none else dare speak to them they will tell them of their sins as well as their inferiours they will make known unto them all the mind and will of God concerning them they will put them upon the power and practice of Godliness as well as others nay more then others they will stir up their hearts to be zealous for God and his truth and his ways and not to suffer any provocation of God in the Land Now this comes to be of great strength and safety to a people As a peoples misery lies very much in the iniquity of Rulers so a peoples happiness lies much in the godliness of their Rulers if the Judgements of Rulers are right in the things of God if their hearts do indeed love God if they themselves do make conscience to walk in the ways of God if they once come to be tender of the honour of God and will own and encourage the power and pract●●● of Godliness why such Rulers are a singular blessing unto a people and they are a means of manifold blessings unto them And the●efore faithful and zealous Prophets are an eminent strength and safety to a Nation who are special helps for all those gracious Qualities in such as do Govern a Nation 5. I might add one thing more to demonstrate the assertion and that is this Faithful Prophets are much in prayer for a Civil State and their prayers are very 1 Sam 7. 5. 9. 2. prevailing with God Said Samuel Gather all Israel together to Mizpeh and I will pray for you unto the Lord And he cried unto the Lord for Israel and the Lord heard him His prayer was a means to discomfit the Host of the Philist●●s so when there was a great drought in the Land of Israel that it was like to perish Elijah prayed Jam. 5. 18. and the heavens gave rain and the earth brought forth her fruits His prayer was a means to preserve the Land many more instances might be given but I must hasten to the Application of all this unto our selves Is the death and loss of any one faithful and zealous Use 1. Prophet of God a just cause of grief and lamentation Then what sad thoughts and melting affections should take us up for the death and loss of many eminently faithful and zealous Prophets of God We have of Doctor Hill Mr. Wilson .. Mr. Whitaker c. late lost many precious Servants of Christ many faithful laborers in his vine-yard I fear that we have not laid those losses to heart that may be affirmed of most of us which is spoken in Isa 57. 1. The righteous perisheth and no man layeth it to heart and merciful men are taken away and no man considereth that the righteous are taken away from the evil to come There are unto me yet four sad presages of some future evil and they are 1. The great Indifferency about the great Truths of Christ 2. The great want of the power of Godliness in the Land superstition and prophaneness still abounding 3. The great contempt of the Ministers of the Gospel 4. The great Inconsideration of the death of so many choice Prophets and Servants of God To many persons their life is a burden and their death is a rejoyceing When Metullus heard of the death of Scipio Africanus he ran out into the publick Forum or Market-place and cryed out O Citizens come ye forth and consult Concurrite cives ●●bis vestrae moenia corruerunt what is to be done for the walls of your City are fallen down Surely there is matter of deep thoughts and sad afflictions in these solemn dispensations of God of late For an Husband-man to pull out the weeds in the Garden this is nothing But for him to pluck up the Flowers and the choice Plants there is something in this for him to take away the rotten Hedge this is nothing but to break down the walls about the Vine-yard there is something in this To take off a Tile from the top of the house it is nothing O but to take away the Pillars there is some great change now indeed We read that when Noah that Preacher of righteousness was taken into the Ark then the flood followed seldom doth God gather his Prophets by clusters as it were but there is some great evil neer unto a people nevertheless people generally are secure and stupid and foolish though God smites them in one of the choicest blessings which he vouchsafes to the Sons of men They see loss upon loss and death upon death here a Minister dead and there a Minister carried to his grave and usually this is all the fruits of it Is such a one dead and I pray you