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
B01658	Heart-humiliation, or, Miscellany sermons preached upon some choice texts at several solemn occasions : never before printed. / By that eminent preacher of the Gospel, Mr. Hugh Binning, late minister at Gowan.	Binning, Hugh, 1627-1653.	1676 (1676)	Wing B2932; ESTC R172970	178,923	336

purpose by Gods Grace to take more hold of God There is little minding of Duty and that maketh little doing of it Once ingage your hearts to a love and desire of more of this come to a point of resolution I must know him more and trust more in him be more acquant with him And Secondly Put your self in the way of Duty It is God that only can stirr you up or apply your hearts to the using of violence to God But ye would be found in the outward means much and in these ways God will meet with you if you wait on him in them For thou hast bid thy face from us Here is the greatest plague a spiritual plague The last Verse was but the beginning of sorrows We all do fade c. But lo here the accomplishnent of Misery God hiding his face and consuming them in the hand of their sins First The Lords hiding of his Face and giving up a people to melt away in their sins punishing with judicial blindness and security is the worst Judgment it filleth the Cup full This complaint goeth on still worse And certainly it is worse nor their fading as a leaf and exile out of their Land It is not without reason that great troubles and afflictions are so expressed thou hid thy face As David said thou hidst thy face and I was troubled importing as much as it ● not trouble that doth trouble but Gods hideing of his Face that maketh trouble troubl● It is in so far trouble as it is a sign of his displeasure and as the frowns of his Countenance are upon it Therefore the Sain● aggravating their Affliction say thou hide● thy face You know the face is the plac● wherinto either kindness or unkindness appeareth The Lords Countenance or Face is a refreshful sweet manifestation of himself to a Soul It is the Lord using familiarity with a spirit and this made David more glad nor Corn and Wine Now the hideing of the Face the withdrawing of his Countenance is when the Lord in his Dispensation and dealing doth withhold the manifestation of himself either in life or consolation When he covereth himself with Clouds round about that neither can a soul see in to the backside of it into his own warm heart nor can the Sun-beames shine thorow to quicken and refresh the soul The Lord draweth over his Face a Vail of a crossing dispensation or such like There is a desertion of the soul in the point of life and spiritual action and there is a desertion in regard of consolation The varieties of the Lords desertions run upon these two As a Christians life is action or consolation and the Lords influence is either quickening or comforting so his withdrawing is either a prejudice to the one or the other Sometimes he goeth mourning all the day nay but he is sick of love Sometime he is a bottle dryed in the smoak and his moisture dried up The Christians consolation may be substracted and his life abide but he cannot have spiritual consolation if he be not lively This life is more substantial comfort is more refreshful life is more solid comfort sweet that is true growing ●olid meat ●his but sawce to eat it with The hiding here meant is certainly a spiritual punishment The Lord denying unto this people grace to understand the voice of the rod he appearing as a party against them leaving them to their own carnal and lazie temper and thus they lay still under Gods displeasure Now there is nothing like this first because it is a spiritual punishment and estates are not to be valued and laid in the ballance with the soul Albeit men are become so brutish as to abase their souls and prostitute them to any thing yet all a man hath is not considerable to it Secondly It is a more excellent thing is removed by it In his favour is life all felicity and happiness is in Gods countenance If a man have not this what hath he else Losses are according as the thing is Nay but here is more My Lord is taken from me my God hath forgotten me And indeed if mans true happiness be in communion with God certainly any interruption coming in must be sad and make a man more miserable then the world knoweth There is a greater emphasis in that word Thou hast bid thy face then if he had said All the world hideth their face and maketh a scorn o● us Therefore first know what is the wors● thing of the times Many of you think sword and pestilence and the burdens of the time the worst things and if you were now to complain the saddest complaint would be Affliction is laid on our loins But know this if your Cities were desolate if your Land were made a wilderness and we captives in another Land there is yet a worse thing then all these and think you not this strange Nay I say there is something worse already in us that we know not of and it is this Make the hearts of this people hard A spirit of slumber and deadness from the Lord upon the Land There are multitudes he will never shew his face unto it is still vailed from them and they know him not Ye that think all were well if ye had peace and prosperity and know no hiding of Gods countenance no anger but when he striketh certainly you know not what his countenance is by all these things men neither know love nor hatred Secondly Whatever calamity come upon you outwardly deprecat most spiritual plagues and Gods deserting If you have Gods countenance it may make you glad in much sadness You would be most careful lest any partition-wall come in lest his countenance change on you if you grieve his spirit and break his heart Seek to have his face to shine and this shall be a Sun with healing under his wings O but Christs countenance is comely when it is seen without clouds but ofte● it is overclouded with much provocation Secondly The Lords hiding of his face hath influence on the temper of spirits and disposition in duties The truth is in general In him we live and move and ●ave our beeing And more especially in many things that is spiritual we are of our selves able to do nothing The creatures holiness and especially our life is but as the rayes that the Sun of Righteousness sendeth forth round about him and if any thing come between it evanisheth As the Marigold that openeth it● leaves when the Sun riseth and closeth when it goeth down again so exactly doth our spiritual constitution follow the motions of his countenance and depend wholly on them Thou hides thy face and they are troubled Psal 104. 9. The Lord needeth no more but discountenance us and we are gone Alwayes first be more dependent creatures we use to act as from habits within without any subordination to the Lords grace without us but we find that our sufficiency is not of our self How often doth your spiritual condition change on you in an hour You cannot command one thought of God or act from any habit of grace even then when you can bring forth other gifts in exercise Ye find that grace findeth more difficulties moe interruptions therefore learn to attend the changes and motions of his countenance Secondly When you find your heart dead and you concluded under an impossibility of taking hold on God in a lively manner then I pray you look unto the Lords suspending of his influence and let your whole endeavours be at the Throne of Grace to help it It will not be vour own provoking of your self to your duty but you must put your self upon God that he may cause his face to shine Thirdly Though the Lords hiding his face be often a cause of our deadness and his desertion maketh all to wither yet we have often a culpable hand in it And he hides his ●●ce being provoked so to do One thing we may mention Grieving of the Holy Ghost whereby we are sealed quenching the motions of the Spirit maketh the Spirit cover his face with a vail and hide it There is here ordinarily a reciprocal or mutual influence Our grieving him makes him withdraw his countenance and his withdrawing his countenance maketh us to wither and grow barren Fourthly The most sure and infallible token of the Lords hiding his face is security and a spirit of deadness and laziness when folk go about duties dreaming and do all as it were thorow their sleep Therefore we may conclude sad things on this Land that the Lord hideth his face from us And therefore arise and do not settle and quiet your selves in such a condition The Lord is angry needeth any more be said No more needeth to kind children but the rod must follow this to make anger sensible FINIS

Workmanship a vail of darknesse for a season and who can behold him when he hides himself sayes Job and though he withdraw the Covering yet what am I Who can by searching find out God If I shall examine his way what rule shall I take to try it by If I measure by my shallow capacity or by my crooked way shall I have any just account of it will my Arm measure the Heavens as his doth If I examine it or try it by himself He is high as Heaven and unsearchable Therefore it becomes us to hearken to his Word and believe its sentence of his Work when reason cannot comprehend it One thing if it were deeply engraven on our hearts would be a principle of setling our spirits in all the mysteries and riddles of providence the knowledge and faith of his Soveraignty of his Highnesse and of his Wisdome should he give account of his Matters to us He is wise and knowes his Works but is he bound to make us know them His wayes are above our thoughts and wayes as Heaven above the Earth Is 55. And therefore O Grashopper in the Earth that dwells in Tabernacles of Clay do not presume to model his ways according to thy conceptions One thing is certain this is enough for Faith all his wayes are mercy and truth to these that keep his Covenant and his Testimonies Psal 25. 10. And there is no Way or Path of God so far above our reach and unsearchable as his Mercy in pardoning sin and this is only the satisfying answer to all your objections and scruples in these ye do but vent your own thoughts but sayes the Lord my thoughts are above you● thoughts as Heaven above Earth Ye but speak of your own wayes but my wayes are far above yours they are not measured by your iniquity and therefore David subjoyns Psal 25. Verse 11. pardon my iniquity for it is great SERMON III. Deuter. 32. 4 5. He is the Rock his work is perfect for all his ways are Judgement a God of truth and without iniquity Just and Right is he 5. They have corrupted themselves their spot is not the spot of his Children they are a perverse and crooked generation ALL his wayes are Judgement both the wayes of his Commandments and the ways of his Providence both his Word which he hath given as a Lanthorn to mens paths and his Works among men And this were the blessednesse of men to be found both walking in his wayes and waiting on him in his wayes having respect to all his Commandments and respect to himself in all his Works We all know in general that he doth all well ●nd that all his Comandments are Holy and Just ●ay but our practice and affections belie our knowledge and for the most part we stand crosse in our humours and affections and conversation both to his Word and Providence and this is our misery Great peace have they that love thy Law VVhat peace then can keep that heart and mind that is dayly at variance with his Statuts and Judgements when the heart would wish such a Command were not when it is an eye sore to look upon it Blessed are the meek it is good for a man both quietly to wait and hope and keep silence How then must that spirit be miserable that stands crosse unto Gods Dispensations and would limit the Holy One Do not often our hearts say I do well to be angry why is it thus with me But who hath hardened himself against him and prospered his counsel must stand and you may vex your self and disquiet your soul in the mean time by impatience but you cannot by your thought add one cubit to your stature you may make your case worse nor Providence hath made it but you cannot make it better by so doing so that at length you must bow to him or be broken Oh then that this were engraven on our hearts with the point of a Diamond All his wayes are Judgement that ye might be overcome with the equity of his Command and Dispensation and your heart and tongue might not move against them It was enough of old with the Saints It is the Lord let him do what seems good in h●s eyes Gods Soveraignty alone pondered may stop our mouth but if ye withal consider it is perfect Equity that rules all it is Divin● Wisdome tha● is the square of his Works the● how ought we to stoop chearfully unto them One thing ye would remember his wayes and paths are Judgement and if ye judge aright of him ye must judge his Way and not his single Footsteps ye will not discern Equity and Judgement in one step or two but consider his Way joyn adversity with prosperity humbleing with exalting take along the Threed of his Providence and one part shall help you to understand another There is reason in all but the reason is not visible to us in so small parts of his Way and Work A God of Truth Strange it is that his Majesty is pleased to cloath himself with so many Titles and Names for us He considers what our necessity is and accordingly expresses his own Name I think nothing doth more hold forth the unbelief of men and Atheism of our hearts nor the many several Titles God takes in Scripture There is a necessity of a multitude of them to make us take up God because we staying upon a general notion of God rather frame in our imaginations an Idol then the true God As there is nothing doth more lively represent the unbelief of our hearts then the multitude of Promises Men that consider such frequent repetitions of one thing in Scripture so many diverse expressions of one God may retire into their own hearts and find the cause of it even the necessity of it But while we look so slightly on these we must judge it superfluous and vain Needed there any more to be said but I am your God I am God if our spirits were not so far degenerated unto Atheism and unbelief Certainly that word Jehovah holds forth more to Angels then all the inculcated Names and Titles of God to us because we are dull and slow of heart Therefore wonder at these two when ye read the Scriptures Gods Condescendency to us and our Atheism and Unbelief of him they are both mysteries and exceeding broad There is not a Name of God but it gives us a Name and that of reproach and dishonour so that for every one some evil may be written down and it is to this purpose Moses draws them out in length that in the Glasse of his glorious Name the people might behold their own ugly face This Name is clear He is a God of Truth not only a true God but Truth it self to note his Excellency and Eminency in it It is Christs Name I am the Truth the substantial Truth in whom all the Promises are Truth are Yea and Amen His Truth is his Faithfulnesse in performing his Promises