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	know_v	work_n	2,986	5	5.9689	4	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A26064	A discourse concerning a death-bed repentance by William Assheton ...	Assheton, William, 1641-1711.	1696 (1696)	Wing A4032; ESTC R4704	23,063	76

whom he had not heard So that on this Supposition no other than a Death-Repentance was possible to this Thief 2. Supposing he had heard of Christ and that he was informed by common Fame that there was a Man called Jesus who had done great Miracles And that several had this opinion of him That he was the Messias whom God had promised to send into the World Yet all this was but general and confused knowledge He had indeed heard of Christ and the several Passages concerning him But such was the Course of Life this Thief is supposed to have led that he had no great curiosity to inquire over-strictly into such matters But when it so hapned that he was apprehended for Robbery and condemned to dye at the same time with Christ this in all probability made him curious to inquire after him and to learn all the Circumstances of his Apprehension Tryal and Behaviour From whence he observed so much as convinced him that he was the true Messias And so he believed on him and had Salvation by him But what encouragement is this to thee O presuming Christian who was baptized into Christ and distinctly instructed in the Doctrine of the Gospel even from thy Childhood Had this Thief as thou art been early admitted into the Church had he then been instructed in his Duty and constantly admonished to continue in it And if after such Admission such Instructions and Exhortations had he still lived upon the Pad and spent his time in Roving and Robbing in Luxury and Injustice and had rejected the Warnings and Admonitions of his Teachers Had this been his Case we have then the justest reason to pronounce That a short Ejaculation at his Death would not have been accepted and his Lord remember me would have been rejected with a Depart from me I know thee not thou worker of Iniquity But 3. The Case of this Thief was miraculous and extraordinary And that whether we consider the Penitent or the Grace of God in pardoning 1. As to the Thief probably he had lived in great Ignorance and never had the means of Grace till now And therefore to profess his Faith in Christ when he saw him hanging upon the Cross was very signal and extraordinary He confessed Christ when his own Disciples fled from him and when Peter himself denied him Nay so great was the Scandal of the Cross that all Men then forsook him and lost their Faith in him and had no further hope of Help and Salvation from him Now to confess and own him at such a time as this was so pleasing and acceptable to our Saviour that he makes him a signal Instance of his Grace and Favour 2. It was very agreeable to the Divine Wisdom and Goodness to do something extraordinary on such a solemn Occasion as this Thereby to signalize the Efficacy of our Saviour's Mediatorship and that at such a time when the Dignity and Glory of his Person was most clouded and obscured From these Premises it appears That this Instance of the Thief upon the Cross was miraculous and extraordinary And we have a known Rule Extraordinaria non debent esse Exempla Extraordinary Cases are no Rule for practice The Israelites had Manna showred down from Heaven Will you therefore leave your Husbandry and expect your Bread from the Clouds Will you adventure to leap into the Sea because you read that Jonah was saved from thence Look upon this Thief as a Jonah in the Sea A Miracle of Grace a Prodigy of Providence A King in his Progress passing by the Place of Execution as an Instance of his Royal Favour pardons a Thief with the Rope about his Neck Dare you therefore be encouraged to play the Thief in hopes of such a strange and unusual Pardon And if you dare not thus venture your Life your Temporal Concern dare you hazard your Soul your Eternal Concern To conclude Our Blessed Saviour in pardoning this Thief in such an extraordinary manner hath shewed us what he can do that none may Despair But he hath likewise declared in his Holy Word what he ordinarily will do that none may presume He hath plainly told us That without holiness no man shall see the Lord Heb. 12.14 And that every one shall receive the things done in his Body according to that he hath done whether it be good or bad 2 Cor. 5.10 The CLOSE I Have now faithfully represented the Uncertainty and Danger of a Death-bed Repentance And have plainly admonished you That if you neglect to Repent now and defer this necessary Work to you know not when hereafter you have just Cause to fear you will never Repent For either you may be prevented by a sudden stroke and so your Repentance is impossible or else disturbed with the Pains and Tortures of a languishing Bed Which indeed may distract you with Remorse and Anguish with Horror and Despair but it is much to be feared without true Repentance I do much hope and do earnestly pray that what I have now said on this Subject may make its due Impression upon you But the more effectually to persuade you give me leave to enforce my Admonitions with the noted words of a truly Great and Good Man now with God LET no Man deceive you with vain Words or with false Notions of a slight and sudden Repentance Do not delude your selves with vain hopes that this Work may be done at any time and in an instant and that if you can but fashion your last breath into Lord have mercy upon me this will prevail with God and make Atonement for the long Course of a wicked and sinful Life What strange thoughts have Men of God and Heaven As if Heaven were an Hospital founded on purpose to receive all sick and maimed Persons that when they can live no longer to the Lusts of the Flesh and sinful Pleasures of this World can but put up a cold and formal Petition to be admitted there No no as sure as God is true they shall never see the Kingdom of God who instead of seeking it in the first place make it their last Refuge and Retreat And when they find themselves under the Sentence of Death and Damnation only to avoid present Execution and since there is no other remedy do at last bethink themselves of getting to Heaven and fall upon their Knees to Petition the Great Judge of the World that they may be transported thither Can any Man in reason expect that such a Petition will be granted I tell you nay but except you repent sooner and at a fitter time and after a better fashion you shall certainly perish As much as God desires the Salvation of Men he will not prostitute Heaven and set the Gates of it wide open to those who only fly to it in extremity but never sought it in good earnest nor indeed do now care for it or desire it for any other reason but to excuse them from going to Hell They have no value for Heaven because they are in no wise fit for it But yet they think Hell to be the worse place of the two I am afraid this is the true Interpretation of many a Man's Repentance who hath deferr'd it till he comes to dye I do not speak this to discourage Repentance even at that time I deny not the possibility of the thing But to speak the best of it it is a very dangerous Remedy For alas how unfit are most Men at such a time for so great and serious a Work as Repentance is when they are unfit for the smallest matter and how hard is it for any Man then to be assured of the truth and reality of his Repentance when there is no sufficient opportunity to make trial of the sincerity of it I desire to have as large apprehensions of the Mercy of God as any man But withal I am very sure that he is the hardest to be imposed upon of any one in the World And no Man that hath any worthy apprehensions of the Deity can imagine him to be so easy as to forgive Men upon the last Word and Intimation of their Minds and to have such a fondness for Offenders as would reflect upon the Prudence of any Magistrate and Governor upon Earth God grant that I may sincerely endeavour to live a Holy and Virtuous Life and may have the comfort of that when I come to die And that I may never be so unwise as to venture all my hopes of a blessed Eternity upon a Death-bed Repentance Vid. Archbishop Tillotson's Ser. on Eccles 12.1 and Ser. on Heb. 3.13 FINIS Advertisement A Conference with an Anabaptist Price 1 s. A Theological Discourse of Last Wills Price 1 s. Several small Books against Debauchery Prophaneness Blasphemy Cursing and Swearing c. Price Two pence each and something cheaper to such as are so Charitable to give away Numbers All by the Author of this Dr. Assheton Practical Discourses upon the Consideration of our Latter End And the Danger and Mischief of delaying Repentance By Dr. Isaac Barrow In Octavo Price 18 d. The four Last Things viz. Death Judgment Heaven and Hell practically Consider'd and Applied By W. Bates D. D. In Twelves Price 2 s. The Advice of a Father Or Counsel to a Child directing him how to demean himself in the most important Passages of this Life By E. C. Gent. In Twelves Price 1 s. All Printed for B. Aylmer in Cornhill