Selected quad for the lemma: cause_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
cause_n	ghost_n	holy_a	spirit_n	3,926	5	5.5026	4	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A41649	A word to sinners, and a word to saints The former tending to the awakening the consciences of secure sinners, unto a lively sense and apprehension of the dreadfull condition they are in, so long as they live in their natural and unregenerate estate. The latter tending to the directing and perswading of the godly and regenerate unto several singular duties. As also a word to housholders stirring them up to the good old way of serving God in and with their families, from Joshuah's resolution, Josh. 24. 15. As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. Set forth especially for the use and benefit of the inhabitants of St. Sepulchres Parish, London by Tho. Gouge, late pastor thereof.	Gouge, Thomas, 1605-1681.	1668 (1668)	Wing G1371; ESTC R222576	207,485	324

over thine eyes and ears and steps Is it thy care to please and in all things to walk worthy the Lord Look to thy self that thou be not deceived Cast off the works of darkness and put on the armour of light Cast off the old man and put on the new man which as it is created after the image So will it carry thee on according to the will of God in righteousness and true holiness Having shewed the Nature of Regeneration and the parts thereof I come now to shew what Causes concurr to the work of Regeneration 1. The efficient Cause or primary Author is God For in this respect we are born of God God hath begotten us Jam. 1.18 Even God the Father of our Lord Iesus Christ. 2. The procuring causes are Gods will and Gods mercy There could be nothing out of God to move him It must needs therefore arise from his own meer will So faith the Apostle Iames Of his own will begat he us And there could be nothing in man to move God hereunto for man by nature is most miserable It must needs therefore arise from Gods meer mercy For misery is the proper object of mercy On this ground it is justly said that God according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again 3. The immediate worker of Regeneration is Gods Spirit In this respect we are said to be born of the spirit and regeneration is stiled the renewing of the holy Ghost For it is a divine work above humane ability 4. The ordinary instrumental cause is Gods Word Of his own will begat he us by the word of truth whereby is meant the Gospel In this respect the Word is stiled incorruptible seed The Gospel is that part of Gods Word which is most effectual hereunto and it is thereupon stiled the Gospel of salvation And the power of God unto salvation 5. Ministers and preachers of the Gospel are Ministerial causes of Regeneration who are in relation to their Ministery said to beget us and stiled Fathers All these are comprised under the Efficient cause and are so far from thwarting one another as they sweetly concurr to produce this divine work of Regeneration being subordinate one to another and may in this order be placed together It being the will of God to shew mercy to man he ordained Ministers to cast the seed of his Word into mens souls which being quickned by the Spirit men are thereby born again II. The material cause of Regeneration is the parts whereof it doth consist which are two I. Mortification 2. Vivification of both which I have spoken in the fore-going Chapter III. The formal cause of Regeneration is Gods Image planted in us which consists in holiness and righteousness After this Image we are said to be renewed This makes an essential difference betwixt a natural and a regenerate man IV. The final causes next and subordinate to the glory of Gods free-grace and rich mercy are especially two 1. To make men able to do good namely such good as may be acceptable and honourable to God profitable to other men and truly advantageable to themselves The Apostle therefore speaking of Regeneration which we have shewed to be a kind of Creation thus expresseth this end we are created in Christ Iesus unto good works 2. To make men fit for glory For corrupt flesh cannot partake of Coelestial glory Whereupon faith Christ Except a man be born again he cannot see the Kingdom of God So far shall he be from being admitted into it as he shall not come so near as to see it God will not take a sinner reeking in his lusts and presently invest him with a Crown of glory And therefore that we may be fitted for Heaven the Lord is pleased by his spirit to regenerate us making us new-creatures and thereby making us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the Saints in light Behold the Riches of Gods mercy and goodness that he not only created us at first in a most happy estate even after his own image and likeness But when we wittingly and willfully fell from the same and plunged ourselves into misery wherein he might justly have left us as he did the evil Angels Yet he hath not only restored us again to that former estate by renewing his image in us but thereby fitted us for a more glorious and excellent estate wherein his goodness appeareth to be as his greatness infinite incomprehensible Who can sufficiently set it forth For as the Heaven is high above the earth so great is his mercy towards them that fear him CHAP. V. Sheweth the Reasons why Regeneration is necessary to Salvation HAving spoken of the point by way of explication I come now to speak of it by way of confirmation To this end I shall shew you the reasons of the point why Regeneration is necessary to Salvation Reas. 1. From the immutability of Gods purpose God who hath chosen us to life hath chosen us also to holiness as our way to it We are bound to give thanks to God for you brethren beloved of the Lord because God hath from the beginning chosen you to Salvation through the Sanctification of the Spirit Whoever will pass into glory must take grace in his way You ask why may I not be saved unless I be regenerated Why because God is resolved on the contrary This is the will of God your sanctification first and then your salvation Now the purposes of God shall stand With him is no variableness nor shadow of turning All the world shall sooner be damned then the purpose of God shall be made void The Lord God must cease to be the unchangeable God if thou ever be saved who wilt not be sanctified Reas. 2. From the stability of Gods Word God hath said Except a man be born again he cannot enter into the Kingdom of God Is the word of God yea and nay doth he say and unsay Heaven and Earth shall pass away but his word shall not pass away Count upon it sinner as sure as God is true thou shalt never see the salvation of God unless thou be first made partaker of the renewing of the holy Ghost Reas. 3. From the respect that Regeneration hath to Salvation Regeneration is a degree and part of Salvation Grace is glory begun holiness is the beginning of blessedness the perfection whereof will be in Heaven hereafter where the image of God which consisteth in knowledge holiness and righteousness will be perfected in our souls where we shall perfectly love God and delight in him and be ever praising him with the Heavenly host Now how canst thou expect the participation and enjoyment of this blessed estate without regeneration and renovation here Unless the image of God be renewed upon thee in holiness and thou dost truly love God and delight in communion with him here Canst thou expect the consummation without

lay out the strength of our bodies in the Service of God Then may we have occasion to bless God and say Lord thou mightest have left me to have spent my strength in sin in the gratifying my carnal lusts but blessed be thy name who hast made me willing to spend and be spent in the service of my God III. Labour to keep close to God in holy duties It were well if in the performance of holy duties we did keep close to the duties themselves few go so far But it must be our care not only to keep close to the duties but likewise to keep close to God in the duties We must labour not only to mind what we are about but likewise have an eye upon God and to hold communion with him therein In the use of every ordinance let our main desire care and endeavour be to find God therein and not to rest satisfied without meeting him and conversing with him Let us never go from God without God Never go from the ordinance of God without some special communion with God therein without finding our hearts raised and affected in the duty and revived and refreshed in his presence IV. In regard of our great inability and insufficiency for the performance of any spiritual duty after a right manner In the first place let us beg of God that by his Spirit he would enable us thereunto For it is the Spirit of God only that can help our infirmities he can soften our hard hearts quicken our dead hearts enlarge our straightned hearts c. And in praying for the assistance of the Spirit let us plead the promise of God saying Lord thou hast promised in thy Word that thy Spirit shall help the infirmities of thy Servants Oh make good that promise unto me let me feel and find the sweet breathings and actings the lively quicknings and enlargements of thy Spirit upon my heart carrying me forth with much life and vigour in the duty I am now going about This pleading the promise of God puts a strong ingagement upon him to perform what he hath said CHAP. XXI Of walking Circumspectly and Exactly IV. ANother singular duty incumbent upon the Regenerate is To walk circumspectly and exactly according to that of the Apostle See that ye walk circumspectly not as fools but as wise The word in the Original translated circumspectly cometh of two words which signifie to go to the extremity of a thing We must be willing to go to the utmost of every command The same word is used by the Evangelist St. Matthew when Herod charged the Wise men to search most diligently and narrowly to make a close and a thorow search for the young Child Jesus So that by this Phrase is intended great accurateness and exactness in our Christian conversation which the Spirit of God accounteth the greatest point of wisdom as appeareth from the following words not as fools but as wise men It is no part of folly but a great point of wisdom to be circumspect in the whole course of our lives I know the men of the World count preciseness of life the greatest folly that may be and therefore often call those precise fools who endeavour to live soberly righteously and Godly in this present World But at last it will appear the greatest point of Wisdom For the better clearing and pressing this duty I shall shew you wherein this exact walking doth consist 1. In walking by rule As the Carpenter when he would do his work exactly doth all by rule So must the Christian that would walk accurately he must walk by the Word of God which is the only adequate rule of holiness He must eat and drink and buy and sell and work and rest and all by this rule Therefore saith the Apostle As many as walk by this rule peace be on them and on the Israel of God Let our walking be never so specious and glorious yet if it be not strait and according to the rule of Scripture as it will afford no true solid comfort at the last so neither will it find acceptance with God For as nothing is a sin how great a shew of evil soever it beareth but that which swerveth from the direction of Gods Word So nothing is a good work how great a shew of goodness soever it beareth but only that which is according to the direction of his Word Therefore Moses giveth this in express charge to the Israelites Ye shall observe to do as the Lord your God hath commanded you ye shall not turn aside to the right hand nor to the left 2. Our exact walking consisteth in having respect to the inward and spiritual part of the Law as well as to the outward and external In every command of God there is both an outward and external part and also an inward and spiritual part The former I may call the letter of the Law the latter the Spirit of the Law This our Saviour excellently clears in his Sermon on the Mount where reciting the sixth Commandment he saith Thou shalt do no Murther there is the letter of the Law And then adds by way of Explanation But I say unto you whosoever is angry with his Brother without a cause shall be in danger of Iudgement there is the Spirit of the Law So afterwards reciting the seventh commandment saith Thou shalt not commit Adultery there is the letter of the Law And then adds But I say unto you that whosoever looks on a Woman to Lust after her hath committed Adultery with her already in his heart There is the Spirit of the Law or the Spiritual part thereof The most diligent observation of the letter or external part of the Law without a care of the inward and spiritual part is as a body without a soul a dead thing which is no way acceptable unto the living God Hence our Saviour spent so many words to convince the Pharisees who were many of them punctual in their outward observations that they were yet horrible Hypocrites violating that Law in their hearts which they so boasted of and pleaded for with their mouths being Murtherers in heart Adulterers in heart though they committed no such wickedness in the outward man And hereby is the hypocrisie of many professors of Christianity discovered who reach no farther than the outside of Religion whose Godliness is nothing but carnal service and bodily exercise Whereas the Law is spiritual as the Apostle speaketh reaching to the very inwards of the Soul And saith our Saviour God is a Spirit and will be worshipped inwardly with the spirit as well as outwardly with the body Whosoever therefore walks exactly contents not himself with the externals of Christianity but labours to bring up his heart to the inwards thereof striving to suppress evil thoughts to mortifie unclean lusts and all inordinate affections to abhor and watch against secret impurities as well as open impieties This is to walk exactly and

both Satisfaction and Intercession applyed to Christ. Satisfaction by his death and Intercession now that he is risen again and sitteth at the right hand of God Christs Sacrifice on the Cross was of such efficacy that Gods Justice was thereby abundantly satisfied his wrath fully pacified yea his face and favour and all blessings following thereon was purchased The death of Christ is therefore said to be a Sacrifice to God a sweet smelling savour Eph. 5.2 And the Church is said to be purchased thereby Act. 20.28 namely from all that bondage under which it was as sin the curse of the Law the Wrath of God Death Devil Damnation After Christ had offered up his Life a Sacrifice unto God and thereby made satisfaction for the sins of his Church he was buried and laid in the grave to sanctifie the grave to all his members And the third day he arose from the dead As he himself laid down his life so he himself took it up again And then he ascended into Heaven there to make intercession for us which is the second part of his Priestly Office The former was to make satisfaction this latter to make intercession Christ may be said to make intercession for us two wayes 1. By a continual presenting of himself to his Father for us Christ saith the Apostle Heb. 9.24 is entred into Heaven now to appear in the presence of God for us Christ presents himself our Sacrifice and propitiation for our sins whose very blood becomes our Advocate to plead with the Father for us Heb. 12.24 2. By manifesting his will to have all his made partakers of the vertue and benefit of his Sacrifice Joh. 17.24 Father I will that they also whom thou hast given me be with me where I am that they may behold my glory which thou hast given me The word Intercession properly signifieth supplication for another It is attributed to Christ especially as he is now in Heaven by way of resemblance The resemblance may be taken from the Favourite of a King who is alwayes at Court in the Kings presence and there presents his friends petition and intercedes for the granting thereof Christ the great favourite of the Lord stands before him continually to present our supplications and procure our acceptance Q. How comes Christ and those things which he did and suffered in his own person to be ours A. By Faith Rom. 3.22 Faith is called the faith of Iesus because we thereby relying on Christ are united to him and so have a right to all that is his In this respect whatsoever we receive from Christ is attributed to faith By faith we are justified Rom. 3.28 We are saved by faith Eph. 2.8 By faith we have access to God Rom. 5.2 In a word As they who in the dayes whilest Christ lived upon the earth received cure of any malady from him received it by faith So every good thing that now we receive from Christ we receive by faith How needfull then is it that we be well instructed in the nature of faith Q. What is faith A. True saving faith is a grace wrought in us by the Spirit of God through the Ministry of the Word whereby we receive Christ as he is offered in the Gospel and rest upon him alone for life and salvation First I say True saving faith is a grace It is not the work of nature it being as impossible for a man by his own strength to believe as it is to keep the Law Faith therefore in Scripture is called the gift of God It is added wrought in us by the spirit of God by whose efficacy as the principal cause it is begotten in us Through the Ministry of the Word because that is the ordinary means whereby the Spirit of God doth work faith in our hearts It s true that the reading of the Scriptures and of good books may through Gods blessing be a means of working faith but it is most sure and certain that the most ordinary means is the Word preached as Rom. 10.17 Faith cometh by hearing viz. the Word of God For first the Law discovereth unto us our sins and miserable condition by reason of them That we are utterly lost in our selves having deserved and are lyable to all judgements and plagues here and eternal death and condemnation hereafter and that we are altogether unable to free our selves out of this miserable condition whereunto we have plunged our selves by sin And then the Gospel shews us that in the fulness of time Jesus Christ who was the Eternal Son of God came into the World took our nature upon him and therein became our Surety and as our Surety hath taken our debts upon him and by his obedience and alsufficient Sacrifice of his own body once offered upon the Cross hath made full satisfaction to Gods justice for the same Yea the Gospel farther sheweth that God in him offereth grace and reconciliation pardon of sins here and eternal salvation hereafter to all that believe in him The which truth being revealed to us by the Preaching of the Word the Spirit of God inwardly worketh in us effectual assent thereunto upon which followeth an high prizing of Jesus Christ above all things an hungring and thirsting after him and a resolution of heart to receive him as our all-sufficient Saviour and to rest upon him and his merits alone for life and salvation And therefore it is added in the forementioned description that faith is a grace whereby we receive Christ. And indeed thereby is Christ made ours For what is more our own than that which is freely offered us and we have received To receive Iesus Christ is the same as to lay hold on him or to embrace him and apply him to our selves But I have the rather made choice of this word receive because it is the very expression of the holy Ghost Joh. 1.12 As many as received him to them gave he power to become the Sons of God even to them that believe This latter clause to them that believe is added as an explanation of the former clause As many as received him shewing what is meant by receiving Christ namely a believing on him Which two are very fitly joyned together Believing is added to receiving to shew what is meant by receiving Christ. And receiving is added to believing to shew what kind of faith it is whereby Christ becomes ours it is such a faith whereby we accept of and receive Christ with the benefits of his death and passion It follows in the description of faith How Christ must be received namely as he is offered in the Gospel Christ is offered in the Gospel In all his Offices as Priest Prophet and King And so he must be received not only as our Priest who hath made satisfaction for us by his death upon the Cross and now in Heaven maketh intercession for us But likewise as our Prophet to be taught and instructed by him and as our King to be ruled and