Selected quad for the lemma: cause_n
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A05517
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[A comfortable treatise for the reliefe of such as are afflicted in conscience]
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Linaker, Robert, 1550 or 51-1618.
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1595
(1595)
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STC 15638; ESTC S100280
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35,666
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76
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worldly things but dung in comparison thereof did that word I say neuer speake peaceablie to your conscience by the holy ministerie did 〈◊〉 neuer giue you assurance and ioy in the holy Ghost did it neuer worke such sweete comfort as no worldly ioy could be like vnto it did you neuer heare such a sermon from your owne godly and carefull pasâ—or or from any other that you haue said at your comming home you would not for all the worlds good but you had heard it because it was so sweete and comfortable did you neuer speake that worde from the true feeling of the heart which might warrant your soule that you are in Christ Iesus If this worde hath had this gracious and powerfull worke in your soule as I am fully perswaded it hath Ephes 4.30 and your selfe cannot denie it for if you doe beside the great wrong you offer your own soule you trespasse against that spirit whereby you haue bene sealed vnto the day of redemption then know assuredly you are so graâ—â—ed into that body of Christ Iesus Gods loue is euerlasting and â—â—changeable as nothing shall be able to seperate you from that loue which the Lord your God beareth you in his deare Sonne in whome hee hath so loued you once Iohn 13.1 as hee must needes loue you for euer And that bicause the Euangelist saith whome hee loues he loues to the end For the gifts and calling of God are without repentance Againe Rom. 11.29 God is not as man that hee should lie Num. 23.19 neither as the sonne of man that hee should repent Hath he saide and shall he not do it and hath he spoken it and shall hee not accomplish it No be you well assured and write vpon it 1. Sam. 15.29 that the strength of Israel wil not lie nor repent For as the apostle Iames saith Iam. 1.17 with him there is no variablenesse nor shadowing by turning Let these and such like places be alwais in your remembrance and giue your selfe vnto the continuall meditation thereof For they shall stand you in great stead if you can call them to minde when your temptations shal assaile you with greatest streÌ„gth And forget not Therefore reade them often and continually that you may alwayes haue them at your fingers end often to thinke of such excellent places as that is which you find written in the eight chapter of the Epistle written to the Romanes and the sixe and thirtieth verse after this manner What shal separat vs from the loue of Christ shall tribulation or anguish or persecution or famine or nakednesse or peril or sword c. No I am persuaded that neither death nor life angels nor principalities nor powers nor things present nor things to come nor height nor depth nor any creature shall be able to separate vs from the loue of God which is in Iesus Christ our Lord. And full sweet to this purpose are those words of the holie prophet Dauid Psal 34.18 19. The Lorde is neere vnto them that are of a contrite heart and will saue such as be afflicted in spirit Great are the troubles of the righteous but the Lorde deliuereth him out of them all Psal 30.5 Againe weeping may abide at euening but ioy commeth in the morning But you finde no such matter you saie for this trouble of minde hath holden you not onelie nights and daies but weekes and moneths yea and yeeres and yet you can finde no ease nor comfort Be it so yet bee not therefore out of heart for the longer it bee before you haue ease the more welcome it shal be when it commeth And to this purpose are the wordes of the Wise-man where hee saieth The hope that is deferred is the fainting of the heart but when the desire commeth it is a tree of life Lastly let the words of Eliphas the Temanite be fast bound vnto your soule which you shall find thus reported in the booke of Iob the fist chapter 17 18 19. verses Beholde blessed is the man whome God correcteth therefore refuse not thou the correction of the Almightie For hee maketh the wound and bindeth it vp hee smiteth and his handes make whole Hee shall deliuer thee in sixe troubles and in the seauenth the euill shall not touch thee The summe drift of all that which hath bin set downe from the beginning to this present place is to encourage you concerning the maner of your affliction which though it be very sharp bitter to the flesh because no chastisement for the present seemeth to be ioyous but greeuous Hebr. 12.11 A principal coâ—fort for the afflicted soule yet there is a time when it shall bring the quiet fruit of righteousnesse vnto them that are exercised thereby In regard hereof Moses the man of God saith Deut. 8.16 that the Lord humbled his owne chosen people and prooued them that hee might doe them good at their latter ende And truely in my poore iudgement you may gather more vndoubted assurance of Gods euerlasting fauour towards your soule by these inward afflictions Afflictions better tokens of Gods loue then riches and prosperitie then by any outward prosperitie of anie worldly blessing whatsoeuer whether it be of health of riches or such like And that because in these your afflictions you are most like vnto your head Christ Iesus Hebr. 1.2 who though hee were the right sonne and heire of the whole world yet had hee not a house to hide his head in Matth. 8.10 as himselfe confesseth Hebr. 2.10 But it pleased the Father seeing hee would bring manie children vnto glorie to consecrate the prince of their saluation through afflictions Now as the holy Apostle reasoneth â— Tim. 2.11 12. This is a true saying if we be dead with him we shal also liue with him If we suffer with him we shal also reigne with him To be short the Holy ghost saith Act. 14.22 That we must by many afflictions enter into the kingdome of God And once againe Rom. 8.28 Those whom he knew before hee also predestinated to be made like to the Image of his Sonne that he might be the first-borne among many brethren So that you may wel perceiue you are not thus farre forth any whit out of your way but you keepe the rode Afflictions the highway to heauen euen the good way which leaveth you as streight as a line vnto the kingdome of heauen And therefore as no traueller who keepes his right way and knowes it wil be sory but very glad because he trusteth to come to that place where his desire is to abide so no more cause haue you to be grieued but rather to reioyce because you know you walke in the streight path which shal bring you to that place of your abode where you would so faine be and where you shal abide most blessed and happie for euer Thus much haue I thought good to offer
that which he doth not feele For there be a great many mo as greatly tormented as he but he thinkes not so because he dâ—th not feele it so Thus do you deale you are greatly troubled with the weaknes of your own faith which you feele therfore according to your feeling you complaine Many deere seruants of God are greatly greeued for the weaknes of their faith that none hath so weake a faith as you haue not withstanding there be a great number besides your selfe who are as much troubled this way as you But I will take your own words You say your faith is weake Yea then you grant you haue faith And therefore say I or rather the Lord himself for your comfort you cannot possiblie perish For God so loued the world Iohn 3.16 that he gaue his onely begotten sonne that whosoeuer beleeueth in him might not perish but haue euerlasting life But your faith as you say is so weake that you cannot thinke it to be anie faith at all A weake faith is a good faith therefore make much of it and labour to strengthen it And I againe doe answer you with a better warrant than your thought that a weake faith is a faith yea a good and a sound faith The weakenes of faith doth not take away the nature and beeing of faith that because there is weaknesse in it therefore it should cease to be a faith Will you say a weake man is no man because of his weakenesse No A weake man is a man for he is a man though neuer so weake as long as there is any life and breath in him Neither doeth his weakenesse take away his goodnes for he may be a verie good man although he be verie weake So say I of your faith the weakenesse thereof takes not away the goodnes It is a good a sound and a liuely faith although it be weake I neuer yet heard of anie beleeuing man or woman Weaknesse of faith a generall complaint of all the godlie but haue complained of the weaknesse of their faith Nay for my part I haue marked it in sundrie examples that the more godly and beleeuing the more they haue complained I coulde from mine owne experience name diuerse to proue this paint and some of them well knowne vnto your selfe But I wil name some one or two out of the Scriptures and leaue the rest to your owne good consideration You reade in the Gospell of Marke the ninth chapter and foure twentieh verse of so good and faithfull a man marke 9.24 Example of a weake faith in a verie good man as you wil your selfe confesse hee had a true and sincere faith because hee saide vnto Iesus Christ Lord I beleeue Neuerthelesse this good man was sicke of your disease and felt his faith to be weake yea verie weake and therfore he intreates the Lord Iesus very earnestly yea crying out with tears saith Lord help my vnbeleef c. Again you reade in Saint Lukes Gospel the seuenteenth chapter and fift verse of the holie Apostles The Apostles weake in saith whom our Sauiour Christ had chosen to preach and by their preaching to beget faith in others yet euen these men doe in like maner find and feele great want and weaknesse in their owne faith For which cause they put vp their humble supplication vnto their Lord and master Iesus Christ that he would increase their faith So that now you see verie plainly Weakenesse and wants will waite vpon vs to our graue there is no cause why you should too much discourage your selfe with the consideration of the weakenesse of your faith Because the best and most faithfull seruants of God doe halt of this sore as well as you and shall doe as long as they liue in this world For there is no perfection of any good grace in this life 1. Cor. 13.9 We see and know in part and therefore must needes also beleeue and practise in part Perfection is no where to bee found but in heauen Weakenesse of faith a speciall meanes to humble vs. that that we may long to be there and so bee fully perfect God vseth this as a holie and good meanes rightly to humble you and many of his deare children for your good that by the true feeling of this weakenesse and many other infirmities you may see how much neede you haue to runne continually for strength and succor at the handes of your sweete Sauiour who hath throughlie supplied all your wants and who will so strengthen you that your faith though neuer so weake to your owne feeling may neuer faile you For which purpose I would haue youe to lay sure holde of these wordes full of sweete comfort deliuered vnto Peter by out Sauiour Christ for the strengthening of all the faithfull Simon Simon Luke 22.31 Sathan hath desired to winnow you as wheate All the faithfull are as deare to Christ as Peter but I haue prayed for thee that thy faith faile not Marke I pray you how Iesus Christ promiseth to pray for Peter and not for him onely but for all the faithfull For is hee onelie Peters Sauiour He prayeth for all the faithful as wel as for Peter and for you is he not also the Sauiour of all the faithfull in the world Is hee not your Sauiour as well as Peters yes truly Then he will pray for you also For so he sayth in that most sweete prayer which hee makes to his heauenly father for all the faithfull which shall beleeue in him to the worlds ende Ioh. 17.20 I pray not for these alone but for them also which shal beleeue in mee through their worde And if hee in whom onelie the father is wholie and altogither well pleased Math. 3.17 and for whose sake hee can not bee displeased with you doe praie for you shall not hee bee heard and his prayer fullie graunted Yes it can not be denied But yet you say hee speakes to Peter Christ in Petes speâ—kes to al the faithfull by name and promiseth to pray for him by name Yea and that is as much as if he should call you by your name and say that he will pray for you and for so manie as Satan hath any desire to winow But satan hath a great desire not onely to winow Peter but all the rest of the faithfull also For so are Christs words saying Sathan desires to winow not thee Sathans malice in deadly against all the faithfull but you as if hee should say his malice is not against one alone but against all Therefore as all must looke to themselues so Christ promiseth to praie for so many as are windowed and particularlie for you because you can tell that you are winnowed And whereas it pleaseth the Lord thus to winow and sift your faith you may be sure not to loose but to gaine thereby For this you know the more the good corne is fanned and winowed