Selected quad for the lemma: cause_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
cause_n	good_a	great_a	love_n	3,006	5	5.2017	4	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A59651	Divine providence, the support of good men under all events a sermon preached before the Lord Mayor, &c. at Guild-Hall Chappel, June 20th, 1680 / by William Shelton, rector of St. James, Colchester.	Shelton, William, d. 1699.	1680 (1680)	Wing S3098; ESTC R37383	13,523	41

Transgression so that this Objection overthrows it self The very being of Sin in the world supposes Providence but I add to that answer God has done so much to prevent Sin and to over-rule it and will do so much in the punishing of it that this can be no reasonable Objection against Providence 1. In order to the prevention of Sin God has declared his pleasure in Commanding the contrary he has offered the assistance of his Holy Spirit that Sin may not have Dominion over us He withholds no help or aid that he is bound to give but if in the offering or bestowing this Assistance he think not fit to do violence to the nature of a reasonable Creature it ought not to be wondred at He forbids sin and makes known the danger of it and earnestly sollicits men to turn from their evil ways Why will ye die O House of Israel But if men will abuse their own liberty this is enough to vindicate the Providence of God toward those that remain wicked he deals with them as with reasonable Creatures Men are wanting to themselves God is not wanting to them 2. As God has done much to prevent Sin so does he likewise over-rule it He restrains it and makes it serve his own Glory so succeeded the Envy of Joseph's Brethren and the malice of the Jews to our blessed Saviour And in many other cases God has brought good out of evil and thereby declared that his Providence governs the world Especially when 3. It is considered that God will punish the sin he so much hates But this is of it self another Objection 2. If God govern the world why does Providence seem so lame and unconcern'd when men dare the Justice of God and defie Heaven and grow enormously wicked Yet The wicked live become old and are mighty in power Their Houses are safe from fear neither is the Rod Job 21. of God upon them I answer as followeth 1. Who can tell that the Vengeance of God does not often overtake wicked men when to outward appearance they brave hector and live as if nothing disturbed them There are secret throbings of Conscience which men strive to preserve from outward notice and so long as those inward Horrors do not approach very near dispair they may be undiscerned But the Heart knows its own bitterness the mind of man doth severely lash itself And from hence may it rationally be argued to the conviction of those that quarrel at Providence Juven Satyr 13. Cur tamen hos tu Evasisse putes quos diri conscia facti Mens habet attonitos surdo verbere caedit Occultum quatiente animo tortore flagellum Do you think wicked men escape the vengeance of God No the Viper gnaws and torments within Dreadful are the Agonies Bitter is the distress and anguish that men feel in their own minds Or if this do not always happen yet for ought a by-stander knows it may happen and even then when men outwardly ruffle and seem to sin without fear But 2. is our Eye evil because God is good What if the long-suffering of God wait upon men that his goodness may lead them to Repentance this must not be accounted an Imputation upon Providence 3. God has it in his power to animadvert when he pleases And therefore no wonder if he delay that execution which he can hasten at his own pleasure For 4. Punishment shall come and the longer it is deferred the more dreadful it shall at last be Sometimes Providence justifies it self and meets with men in this world by many strange discoveries of Treasons and Murders and Robberies and other licentious practices God has honoured the Justice of his Administrations or if he sometimes delay Yet 5. The revelation of the Righteous Judgment of Rom. 2. God at the last and great day will give all men satisfaction that the righteous God is not now an Idle and unconcern'd spectator of the wickedness of men for then he will reward every man according to his deeds 3 There remains but one thing more to be argued in this matter Why does a gracious and good God so little regard holy men in the midst of those tribulations they suffer in this World A common objection and some have boldly expressed it When Lucan finds Pompey whom he thought the better man and to have the juster cause ruin'd by Caesar how does he exclaime and blaspheme Lucan Lib 7. Sunt nobis nulla profectò Numina cum caeco rapiantur saecula cursu Mentimur regnare Jovem So Atheistical men may talk but holy men notwithstanding all they suffer in this world are not dissatisfied in their Religion Though God slay them yet they will trust in him And by Job 13. their casting all their care upon him it appears they 1 S. Pet. 5. believe he takes care of them If we consider farther that no man suffers more than he deserves that it is good for men to be afflicted If Psal 119. we can believe that the promises which suppose that holy men may be afflicted shall be fulfilled to them God will never leave them nor Hebr. 13. Psal 46. Rom. 5. forsake them He will be a present help in trouble and will work all things for good And if we can rise up to St. Pauls confidence about the happy issue of our present sorrows That our light Affliction which is but for a moment shall work 2. Cor. 4. for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of Glory I say if we can believe these things then neither is this any sufficient prejudice against Providence I may conclude then the first part of my undertaking The Lord Reigns the Providence of God governs the World 2 This is a great satisfaction to the mind of man The Lord Reigns let the Earth rejoyce We meet with enough in this world to make it a vale of Tears Sometimes we foresee a storm sometimes we sail in the midst of Rocks and are just ready to strike upon the Sands Few are so over-happy as not to be often ingaged in considerable difficulties but we may always Hebr. 6. ride at Anchor such is our hope in God an Anchor sure and stedfast Yea we may weather out the Storm for if we can trust our Pilot he will never fail us Under all our sorrows and fears it is an unspeakable satisfaction to commit our selves to the never failing guidance of the good Providence of God And of this I say three things 1 Those things of which we are ignorant are known to a wise God 2 Those things which are against our wills which we apprehend evil for us are guided and ordered by the will of a good God 3 Those things which are out of our power are within the Power of Almighty God 1 Our Ignorance is one great cause of our sollicitude and dissatisfaction What would some men give certainly to foreknow their own fortune Alas In many cases

into the Nose of the Leviathan Rabshekah's swelling words shall be but impotent Rage Haman shall build a Gallows for himself No weapon form'd against God shall prosper Isa 54. it shall not be as man pleases but as it pleases God No man indeed should be unconcern'd when either Sin or Judgment for Sin rages in the world but still keep we within our own bounds of Patience and Faith and Prayer endeavour we all to mend our selves and then whatever happens rest it not all on second causes The over-ruling of Gods Providence is no manner of excuse for wicked enterprises but if by a faithful discharge of our duty if in Religion to God in Loyalty to the King in Peace and Gentleness and Brotherly Love one to another we do what in us lies that the state of things shall not grow worse by any default of ours if others take not the ●ame care though they shall find no extenuation of their faults nor mitigation of their punishment from this Doctrine of Providence yet we shall gain a world of case and satisfaction from it It is not for us to know Times and Seasons which the Acts 1. Father has put in his own power we would fain hope well that God will never forsake those that seek him But whatever we may live to see or feel We commit our selves and all our private Interests we commit the Peace and Prosperity of the whole Nation we commit our King our Church our Religion all that is dear to us to a wise and good God We will cease to govern the world but commit it to him whose right it is neither the indiscretions nor the extravagant passions of men shall over-rule nor Men nor Devils but the Providence of God is the Supreme Arbitrator This is our satisfaction a joy that no man takes from us The Lord reigns therefore does the Earth rejoyce May I exercise your Patience but a little longer till I have finished the third part of my Discourse 3. He must be a good man that may with reason actually rejoyce upon this account Gods Providence is not the peculiar inheritance of some few men but the earth may rejoyce in it i. e. all men every where unless they disable themselves But if men will live wicked and ungodly lives there is another Text not far off Psal 99. 1. that does rather belong to them The Lord reigns let the People tremble Every wicked man while he continues such has reason to fear rather than to rejoyce in the Providence of God For let it be considered 1. Only he who is in Gods way may hope for Gods blessing When men will walk contrary to God why should they hope but that God will walk contrary to them Must he be the darling Levit. 26. of Providence who scorns to submit to God but in pride and stubbornness contemns his Laws Who may flatter himself as if he were in a secure Station who may presume that God is on his side while he notoriously withdraws himself from obedience to his Commands He who waits on the Lord and keeps his way may hope well but to forsake God is the way to be forsaken of him No man may rejoyce in confidence that God will always watch over him for good who by running out of the way of a good life discharges Providence from taking any farther care of him 2. Who may rejoyce in Gods Providence that can make no Title to his Promises God is holy and just and true what he has promised he will perform But unto the wicked God Psal 50. saith What hast thou to do to take my Covenant into thy mouth There are Curses in the Holy Scripture as well as Blessings and for the same reason that Religious and Holy Men hope well that God will be merciful to them because he will be true to his word I say for the same reason may wicked men tremble God is angry with the wicked every day and he will be faithful Psal 7. to his Threatnings as well as to his Promises How then should they tremble who despise the Authority of God who forfeit all that goodness and kindness by which they live who are every moment obnoxious to Almighty Power who enjoy no Accommodations in this life but only by the long-suffering and patience of God which how soon it may expire no man can tell who if they continue in this sinful state must be miserable or God must lye who has told them so Let these things be well considered and then let wicked men say whether that Doctrine of our Religion which affords such unspeakable comfort and satisfaction to holy and good men be not otherwise very terrible and so much the more because he who can't take comfort in the Providence of God has nothing else to rejoyce in for all other things are under the dominion of Providence and controulable by it The greatness of his Fortune the multitude of his Riches the abundance of his Pleasures are all in the hand and power of God who can easily curse the blessings of men so that their very lives and all that was pleasurable in them shall be bitterness and a burthen to them This is a sad Argument so far as it reflects upon particular persons to whom while they continue in their Impieties the thoughts of God must needs be terrible But if we consider farther what influence growing wickedness has upon publick Calamities it will administer more sad thoughts to us We have been awakened to a sense of danger from an Enemy restless and daring we have prayed many and many a time that God would abate their Pride asswage their Malice and confound their Devices and hitherto God has been merciful to us But shall I be bold to say there is another Plot against the King against the Government and against our established Religion I say another Plot less feared but not less dangerous Every wicked man is a Traitor to his Prince and Country and by his doing wickedly provokes 1 Sam. 12. God to consume him and his King Every common Drunkard every bold Swearer every lascivious and unclean Person every dishonest Trader who postpones his Religion to Two-pence of unjust gain every man that allows himself in a wicked course of life is in conspiracy for the ruin of this Nation The Church of England the worthy labours of whose eminent Divines have made the Papists weary of disputing with them the Church of England whose regular Reformation is as strong a bulwark against the encroachments of Popery as any is this day in Christendom the Church of England who stands her ground and maintains the very same Articles of Religion that it did above an hundred years ago and who has not by any Rubrick or Canon or Constitution since those times corrupted our well-Reformed Religion yet this once glorious Church sometimes the Terrour of her Enemies and the Envy of her Neighbours cannot escape the Censures of

our Ignorance is a great advantage to us Horat. Carm. lib. 3. Prudens futuri temporis Exitum Caliginosâ nocte premit Deus God does wisely and mercifully conceal some things a foreknowledge of which would add to our sorrow But take the case as it is we are utterly uncertain about the time to come But how will this consideration calme those troubled thoughts that upon this account arise within us The wise God knows what shall befall us tho' we do'n't Great are the anxieties upon the minds of men in the present posture of Affairs But now try we if this will not relieve us What time I Psal 56. am afraid I will trust in thee Thou O Lord Job 5. art able to take the wise in their own craftiness In Psal 31. thee O Lord have I put my trust let me never be confounded Is not this now an ease to our minds A wise God governs the World He knows what shall come to pass and why It is not blind chance but infinite wisdom that superintends and governs all things If men go down to Hell God is there The most probable contrivances of desperate Ahitophel's whose Counsel among men is received as the Oracle of God may yet be turned into foolishness 2. Sam. 17. and end in their own confusion and in a rage impatient to see their Plots miscarry they may save the labour of publick Justice and hang themselves The subtilest platform of Policy of the most Atheistical Machiavels may be as unfortunate as that of his wretched Duke Valentine and may prove abortive from some unforeseen accident to which they themselves may yet contribute The mysterious Intrigues of the most villanous Jesuits or if there be any other name among men that signifies greater Apostacy from Faith and Truth and closer confederacy with Hell that were ever hatched in the most inward Recesses of the depth of Darkness these all are but like Spiders Webs thin and transparent and as easily swept down when Infinite Wisdom shall think fit to make use of Almighty Power This then is our Comfort and our Joy when they who are too cunning for us have advantages upon us he who is wiser than the wisest takes care of us Yea moreover when we are disappointed in our expectations this may satisfy us It is with us as it pleases the all-wise God Peradventure we are mistaken in our own business and may passionately desire what may be to our loss However shall we have less Religion than the Heathen shall it be harder for us to resign our wills and wisdoms to God Juve● Sat. 10. Permittes ipsis expendere Numinibus quid Conveniat nobis rebusque sit utile nostris It may come to pass that our very Errors may be happy for us as was St. Austin's being Posidonius de vitâ August led out of his way by the error of his Guide and thereby he was preserved from the fury of the Circumcellion's that way-laid him Whatever befalls us God is wiser than we he who knows all things best knows what is fit and convenient for us 2. That which is against our wills which we apprehend evil for us is guided by the will of a good God and this is marvelously to our satisfaction Now we may rejoyce in tribulation because the hand of a good God is still upon us and he will work even this for good the Life of Dr. Hammond Incomparable Dr. Hammond's word Even this for good When our affairs succeed not according to our expectation shall we quarrel at Providence and disquiet our selves and add to our own Afflictions by the fretfulness and impatience of our minds No say we every one to our selves why should I entertain any suspition that a merciful God who has made so many gracious promises which my dear Saviour dyed to confirm will be wanting to me No never let me distrust that God whom I have so much reason to love Wisdom and goodness joyn together in the dispose of all that befalls me therefore will I rejoyce in the Lord Habak 3. and joy in the God of my Salvation 3. Those things that are out of our power are within the Power of Almighty God We are troubled upon many accounts and can't help our selves and because we can't help our selves we are troubled but he that governs us and our affairs can do all things by the word of his power When we come into Jehoshaphat's case then are we to behave our selves as he did Neither know we what to do but our Eyes are 2 Chron. 20. upon thee The Lords hand is not shortned that it Isa 59. cannot save Nothing is too hard for him to do God Almighty has undertaken our protection wherefore when we consider these in conjunction the wisdom and goodness and power of God are sufficient reasons for our satisfaction and joy And if we extend these latter Considerations as well as the former beyond our private Concerns and suffer our thoughts to travel the world we shall indeed find that the follies and passions and interests of men bear great sway here below and in a great measure turn the world upside down Restless Ambition insatiable Envy greedy Covetousness and Implacable Revenge have often disturb'd the peace and quiet of Mankind yet sure we are God has not let loose these Furies and discharged them of his super-intendence nor privileg'd them from his Controul We shall too curiously pry into the Arcana Imperii if we will not be satisfied till we can always render a reason why things are thus or so The Judgments of God are often unsearchable and his ways past finding out but an humble Soul can trust it self and the whole world with God can believe that all things are well and wisely order'd is secure that the all-wise God can commit no errors that a good God cannot be chargeable with any male-administrations and that God Almighty does not suffer things to run at random because of any impotency to mend what is amiss It would be uncomfortable living in the world if all things were left to the arbitrement of meer men who at best are too weak to bear so great a burthen and often are so corrupt that Maximilian's Exclamation may suit other times as well as his own when he was Emperor and Julius 2d Pope Deus Aeterne nisi tu vigilares quam malè effet Morn Histor Papatus mundo quem regimus nos ego miser venator ebriosus ille sceleratus Julius But God retains his Supremacy over all the Kingdoms and Nations of the Earth he does never sleep nor intermit his care it shall not be intirely as men please He that stills the raging of the Sea restrains the madness of People A great part of mankind know not of what manner of Spirit they are and how much mischief they should do if they had power to fulfil their own wills But when it pleases God to put an hook