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	think_v	4,338	5	3.9369	3	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A43705	A sermon preached before the Queen, at White-Hall, on Wednesday, March 15, 1692/3 by Charles Hickman ...	Hickman, Charles, 1648-1713.	1693 (1693)	Wing H1902; ESTC R18560	11,544	34

which he meets with in the World 'T was this that made David in his troubles cry out My Soul is filled with the scornful reproof of the proud So full that as he saies in another place Their reproach hath broken my heart 'T was this that made Job cry out in his Adversity Have pity on me O my Friends for the hand of God hath touch'd me But instead of pitying there are Job's Comforters in the World who love to persecute those whom God hath smitten and vex those whom he hath wounded Who make it their business to insult over a poor Man's calamity and take a barbarous pleasure in adding to his afflictions There is so much spite and malignity and venom in this Treatment as the Spirit of a Man can hardly bear All the hunger and pain and nakedness of Poverty are nothing like it all these are inflicted upon us by the hand of a great and gracious God and are intended for our Good and therefore they be endur'd but to be despis'd and trampled on by our fellow creatures is such intolerable insolence such unnatural oppression as gave David good cause to Pray Let me now fall into the hands of God but let me not fall into the hands of men Whatsoever calamities or losses befal the Poor yet Pity one would think is his undoubted Right such a Tenure as he can never forfeit such a Property as can never change God himself when he takes from us all things besides yet leaves us a Right to this that the Pity which we find from Men may supple our Spirits and mollifie our Hearts and so help to bring God's good purposes to pass upon us But this insolent insulting usage is enough to spoil all again it does but exasperate and provoke and is enough to harden a bruised breaking Heart And yet this is the usage which distressed Men commonly meet with in the World if they have not power enough to demand justice they seldom find credit enough to move Pity and 't is a vexatious thing to stand in need of Pity but to need it and not to find it is vexation upon vexation 2. Another perplexing circumstance of Poverty which makes a wise Man stand in great need of Patience under it is that in the common opinion of the World it lays a reproach upon his Wisdom takes off all the weight and authority of his Judgment and the clearest Reason shall be born down if it has not a large stock of interest and favour to support it And this is a Mortification worse than all the rest tho' we are depriv'd of our outward goods yet our Reason one would think had no dependence upon Fortune and might be allow'd us still But it must not be He that is needy must needs be simple too and his Discourse shall make the same Figure and run the same Fortune with himself If a Poor Man could save a City saies Solomon yet his Wisdom is despis'd and his Words shall not be heard What has he to do to save a City who has nothing of his own to save as if Sense and Understanding were entail'd only upon Men in great Estate We are they that ought to speak A word in season says the Wise Man is like apples of gold in pictures of silver But commonly 't is the Silver and Gold that sets the gloss upon the Words and he that has plenty of these at command speaks every word in season Thus Job tells us that when he was in Prosperity men gave ear unto him and waited and kept silence at his counsel and after his words they spoke not again But in his distress his Reasonings could not be allow'd of and his old friends would hardly hear him speak 't was this that afflicted the good Man more and laid a greater stress upon his Patience than either his losses or his sores or all the Wounds inflicted upon him by the hand of God For right Reason to be run down by favour and contradicted by a senceless noise and Truth it self to be rejected because it does not come from a flourishing renowned Hand is not so much a disrespect to him that speaks it as an affront to Nature and a dishonour to the God of Truth 't is so gross a partiality such a palpable prejudice as every good Man must needs resent and yet this is commonly the Poor Mans fate and what is worse he can't tell how to help it And therefore in the 3. And last place 't is time we should shew him how to bear it I have learn'd says S. Paul in whatsoever state I am therewith to be content 'T is an Art which he learn'd of Christ himself who endur'd all these contradictions of Sinners and more and yet in Patience he possessed his Soul and left us an example that we should not be wearied and faint in mind when the same Tryals fall upon us Tho' he was the very God of Truth yet he was contented for a time to lye under the suspicion of an Impostor And who are We What mighty credit do we look for in the World what curious Arts and Sciences are we Masters of that we cannot bear a contradiction nor endure to have a slight put upon our understanding Tho' He was Lord of Heaven and Earth and had all the riches of both at his command yet how Poor did he make himself for our sakes and in his humiliation endure such insolence and affronts as were more ignominious than Poverty and more painful than Death it self And why should the Disciple think himself better than his Master or look for better usage Nay Why should we repine at those Evils which God inflicts upon us only for our Good 'T is only to humble us that he keeps us low and if our afflictions have had their due effect we can bear them well enough if not 't is fit we should bear them a little longer If therefore we would learn from my Text to be content we must learn to be vertuous and humble and then the thing is done For 't is nothing but the vices and passions at our Heart that rise in our Stomach and sowre every condition of life and make it grievous to us If these were but once remov'd our Life would be very easie and our Souls might be very calm in whatsoever State we were We should be so far from complaining of our Poverty and being asham'd of our Distress that we should be asham'd only of our complaints By this method how easily might we bring our selves to that Apostolical State of having nothing and yet enjoying all things Does not the Sun shine as warm and the Air blow as fresh and the Earth breath as fragrant upon the poor Man as the Rich Have they not an equal share in all the beauties and all the real benefits of Nature No says the rich Man He a poor precarious Creature has no such thing as any property in the World but all these Goods are mine