Selected quad for the lemma: cause_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
cause_n	father_n	ghost_n	holy_a	5,369	5	5.6194	4	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A07686	A liuely anatomie of death wherein you may see from whence it came, what it is by nature, and what by Christ. Togeather with the power, strength, and sting thereof: as also a preparatiue against the same. Tending to teach men to lyue, and die well to the Lord. By Iohn More, preacher of the Gospel.	More, John, d. 1592.	1596 (1596)	STC 18073; ESTC S120562	24,364	78

oucrthrowe of mankinde an enemy to nature the breache of Gods lawe the power of the diuell the strength of Gods wrath and most heauie displeasure And albeit that Death as I haue said be deriued from the diuell yet it is also attributed to man himselfe to leaue him inexcusable as it most plainlie appeareth in Paules comparison betweene Christ and Adam As by the offence of one man saith he Death raigned ouer all and sinne came on all to condemnation so by Christ which is one the benefit of grace abounded towards all men to iustificatiō of life and as sinne by Adam reigned vnto Death so grace reigned by righteousnesse vnto eternall life through Christ In which opposition we may likewise see Death attributed vnto all through Adam and not vnworthily so that man and diuell are partners in sinne and so in Death Here two things runne together the tempter and the obeyer Satan tempted and perswaded of enuie intermingling the matter with lying and slandering of the truth to breake Gods commandement yet notwithstanding all this Satan had nothing preuailed had man resisted and not consented therefore we may conclude that in respect of Sathans enuie and roote of his euill temptation and lying tending all to mans vndooing and vtter destruction that so he may be called as he is indeed the Auctor of Death yet in respect of the assent consent of man in transgressing Gods lawe Death may well lye on his neck and he may most boldly be accounted his owne bane though indeede there were no other Autor being created to the likenesse of God himselfe and flourishing with free will which as then he possessed The diuell then is not the absolute and proper cause of sinne and death because the nature of the absolute and proper cause is such that it going before the effect cannot choose but follow but it falleth not out so in man prouoked of the deuill who although he continually assaile and most vehemently assault Gods children to sinne yet sinne doth not alwayes follow his assaults His worke is not effectuall for many of Gods saints and seruants very mightily resist him being armed with faith which weapon he flyeth Againe let vs imagine saith a godly father the diuell himself neuer to haue falne from God and man as yet to haue stoode in his creation yet man by nature might haue declined and should haue had indeed the cause of sinne in himselfe the reason is this God gaue him free will and so left him to himself free it could not be but that he had full choise of good and euill yet not so vnarmed and naked was he left but that God gaue him power and strength sufficient to continue in his vpright state albeit he leaning too much one waye and sliding from Gods lawe and not vsing but rather abusing the meanes that God had giuen him he fell of himselfe from his creation and so was intangled in the snare of the diuell death and euerlasting condempnation so that in this supposition the suggestion of the diuell is not simplie the cause of sinne and death the diuell as yet not degenerating from God Neither also hath the diuell power of mans will to bowe it as he listeth to his purpose Furthermore we must not thinke that God is to be blamed for not shutting all gates and stopping all gaps tending to sinne for that as I sayd before he gaue to man armour sufficient to defend himselfe and to keep him from falling Neither yet was it vnagreeable to Gods iustice to make a distinction betweene himselfe and his creature for that he himselfe is only good without change or alteration all his creatures good yet subiect to change yea in the very Angels of heauen themselues in respect of God there is found imperfection the Cherubins hide their faces with their wings for the brightnesse of his glory Thus doth God humble all his creatures to exalte himselfe to teach them this not to go from him of whom they had and haue their goodnesse nor to leane onely to themselues though by creation good yet subiect to corruption Though mans nature saith Augustine was vpright and sound and nothing sinfull yet it was capable of sinne apte to receiue corruption Though man in his nature were immortall standing in his state yet was he inclinable to mortalitie As for example we see our flesh apte to receiue a wound yet euery one is not wounded The body of man is subiect to sieknesse yet many often dye not subiect to sicknesse so the state of Adams body was such that although he might haue dyed yet except sinne had come betweene he might and should haue beene preserued of God from death Euen as the hose and shooes of the Hebrewes in the desert by Gods mightie power neuer waxed olde by wearing or consumption Therefore to hedge vp this gap man was subiect to death by nature yet not necessarily as though he sawe no way to shunne it for now I go no further then mans knowledge setting Gods election and secret working aside for he had sufficient force giuen him of God in his creation to auoide it Gods lawe was written in his heart agreeable to his nature he thought it no yoake or slauerie to obserue it his shoulders and other parts being strong enough to susteine it Sinne therefore we may see hath diminished our strength and altered our nature that now we are slaues to those who before were our subiects Gods law now written is the same that before were ingrauen in nature yet now it is a huge weight and heauie yoake which neither we nor our fathers were able to beare except we be first new borne in by the holy Ghost giuen vs of God through Christ So that to conclude this point not only the diuell but euen we our selues are the cause and auctor of sinne and so of Death Although indeed as Augustine alledgeth An ill thing hath no cause efficient but rather deficient And if any man sayth he wyll goe about ouer curiouslie to searche out the efficient cause of Death it is all one as if a man should labour with his eyes to see darkenesse or to bend the sence of his eares to heare silencc which since they bee of themselues meere depriuations haue no essence in nature though existent in some subiect and knowne vnto vs. The sight seeth nothing but bright things and the eare heareth nothing but a noyse of loude things these thinges are knowne to our sences not by vse but by depriuation onely The deficient cause and Autour therefore of sinne and Death is Diuell and Man the diuell by suggesting the other by obeying both their actions not vrged of God but voluntarily of themselues Learne therefore this by the way whosoeuer committeth sinne is of the diuell whosoeuer sinneth is the seruant of Death Neither let vs so rage against the Deuill as that we altogether exempte our selues from gilte but rather knowing the readinesse of the diuell in

our enemies that we might serue him without feare Now then all we which beleeue are freed from the slauerie of sinne kingdome of the deuill gulfe of hell and chaynes of death So that hencefoorth death is no death to Gods chyldren through Christ but great aduantage and appoynted for a passage to a better lyfe And therefore though wicked reprobates tremble at the name of death to whom they are in thraldome yet Gods chyldren being conquerours through Christ may well triumph for now through him we haue an entrance made to heauen and death is the very doore to life a passage out of this world to the Father from the prison of this body to goe to Christ It is a returning to our heauenly countrey from which we were exiled And this is the cause why the godly sigh and sorrow to be loosed and to be with Christ being subiect to sinne And heere let vs note that whereas death is a dissolution of the soule from the body that therefore the body is nothing els but a prison in which our soules are bound And he that desireth to liue is like a madde Prisoner that is delighted in his giues that may be free from his fetters and cares not that may go out of the Iayle and will not Wherefore we must consider of Death not as it seemes in it selfe but as it is Christ naturally we couet to be and consequently we shunne Death which depriues vs of our being Death is horrible to the best for a while because it is repugnant to their nature but on the other side we see how we are held as in a prison so long as this body of sinne compasseth vs about Therefore wee ought to long for the euerlasting life which is promised vs after death for when wee drawe towards death then come we nigh vnto it and Death is the very gate of life assuring our selues that for asmuch as Iesus Christ hath passed the same way we neede not be afraide that Death shall ouercome vs for it is through him a reba●ed and blunted sword whose point is broken whose edge is taken off so that it cannot hurt vs and although it drawe some bloud of vs yet notwithstanding the same shall be but to purge vs and rid vs of all our diseases Since therefore wee haue learned what Death is in it selfe and what in Christ and knowe the worste since Death is aduantage to the faithfull and the very high waye to heauen let vs learne how to prepare our selues there to which is the last thing which I promised to performe First therefore in this our preparation let vs arme our selues against these temptations with which both diuell world and flesh will mightily assaile vs. What man saith the deuill wilt thou dye why then beholde the company of thy sinnes the wrath of God the graue and hell are ready to deuoure thee the Law is thy Iudge which doth condemne thee To these temptations of the deuill we must oppose Christes righteousnesse satisfactions and merits in which God holdeth himselfe fullye appeased The world it setteth abroche his baites What wilt thou dy O man why see thy goodly buildings thy bags of golde thy landes and liuings thy rents and reuenues thy pastime and thy pleasures thy Iewels and thy treasures thy delights and all that thy heart desireth In deed O worlde this felicitie is good but yet no otherwise then it standeth with the fauour of God it is to be kept but yet so farre foorth as by the keeping of it we loose not God and yet we see the vanitie of thy pleasures the frailtie of thy glory and the ficklenesse of thy goods are therefore nothing in respect of the ioyes of heauen and happy lyfe which after death I am sure to haue Wherefore I desire to be dissolued and to be with Christ in whom are hidden all the treasures of God who is the keeper of our life For this our life which now we lead is no life in deed but a death for wee are dead and our lyfe is hid with God in Christ we walke by faith and not by sight yea so long as we are at home in this our body we wander and go astray from God our Lorde And O thou worlde which allurest me so to loue this life What is thy wages If I should serue thee I am sure to be a foe to Christ who loues thee not who prayeth not for thee whose kingdome is not of thee and therefore to loue thee is to hate my God which to doe is worse then death Thy rewarde I knowe is nothing but nakednesse for naked I came vnto thee and naked I shall goe from thee And therefore I am willing to forsake thee and desire to be losed and to be with Christ who will couer my nakednesse with the robes of his righteousnesse lastlye comes the flesh with trembling and quaking And wilt thou die O man why see thy friends and thy family thy wife and thy children thy father and thy mother weepe and wayle crye and call vnto thee and wilte thou depart thus wilte thou needs go from them But O thou flesh fight not thus against my soule it is good in deede to tarry still amongst our friends yet so that wee abide not there in Gods displeasure and hereafter to dwell in hell with the diuels in fyre euerlasting There is nothing vnder God but it may be kept so that God being aboue all thinges which wee haue be not lost He that loues father or mother wife or children c. better then Christ is not worthy of his presence And therefore though they lament the losse of my life yet can they not redeeme it for what man is he that liueth and shall not see death And shall hedeliuer his soule from hell No no neither riches nor strength neither power nor pollicie can preuaile in this point for whether we sleepe or whether we wake we drawe towards death God hath set vs our bounds which we cannot passe and as the greene leaues in a thicke tree some fall and some growe so is the generation of fleshe and bloud one commeth to his ende and another is borne wee came not altogether neither must wee returne altogether Therefore O flesh be content O my friends be quiet for needes vvee must departe yet to meete againe vvee are sure And in going from you my fleshly friends I goe to the Saintes of heauen to the mounte Sion and to the cittie of the liuing God the celestiall Ierusalem to the companie of innumerable Angels to the assemblye and congregation of the first borne and to God the Iudge of all and to the spirites of iust and perfect men I know that so long as I am in this flesh I cannot please God and therefore I desire to be losed and to be with Christ We haue heere no continuing cittie wee looke for one of God And I know if this my earthly house of this tabernacle be once destroyed I shall haue