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	lord_n	see_v	4,192	5	3.2926	3	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A10734	The benefite of affliction. A sermon, first preached, and afterwards enlarged, by Charles Richardson preacher at Saint Katharines neare to the Tower of London	Richardson, Charles, fl. 1612-1617.	1616 (1616)	STC 21013; ESTC S119812	42,110	112

Canaan yet we see how hardly they were brought to depart from thence Yea when they were in the way to Canaan they would often haue returned backe againe into Aegypt to their flesh-pots Num i4 3 4 Exod. 16.3 Num. 11.5 their fish their cucumbers their pepons c. If they had liued in preferrement there and enioyed the fatte of the land as they did in Iosephs time Gen. 45.18 and 47.11 it would no doubt haue beene an hard matter to haue perswaded them to depart So it fareth with the most of vs wee are in this world as in a Sea of misery neuer out of one danger or other yet such is our folly we loue to be here still What would we do if we neuer had any thing to molest vs It is a lamentable thing to consider that our mindes should bee so dazeled with the glittring shew of riches plesures honors as they cannot look to heauē that our hearts should be so oppressed and weighed downe with couetousnes and ambition that they can not raise vp themselues vnto celestiall cogitations and that our soules should be so ensnared with the pleasant inticements of the flesh that they seeke for their felicitie vpon the earth And therfore the Lord in mercy to preuent this euill doth by daily experience of miseries put his children in minde of the vanity of all earthly things Caluin instit lib. 3. cap 9. sect 1. lest they should promise to themselues a constant and continuall peace in this world hee suffereth them many times to bee disquieted and molested with warres with tumults with robberies and other iniuries lest they should with too much greedines gape after brittle and inconstant riches or should too much rest in those which they doe possesse God bringeth them to pouerty sometimes by banishment sometimes by barrennes of the earth sometimes by fire sometimes by one meanes and sometimes by another lest they should take too much delight in the comfortes of marriage he eyther causeth them to be vexed with the shrewdnesse of their wiues or humbleth them with lewd children or afflicteth them with the losse and death of their children And if it fall out that the Lord doe spare them in all these things yet lest they should either swell with vaine-glorie or reioyce with foolish confidence he chasteneth them with sickenesse and diseases that they may learne how fraile and vnstable all earthly things are and may lift vp their eyes to heauen where that incorruptible crowne of glory is laid vp for them And thus the Lord in his vnspeakeable goodnes many times diminisheth the health of our bodies that we may more earnestly desire the saluation of our souls He taketh away the things of this life that we may more carefully seeke after the things of a better life So that afflictions are like to a great storme at Sea Philip. 1.23 to make the godly wish to be in the hauen As the waters of the deluge the more they increased the higher they bare vp the Arke So the waters of tribulation the greater they are the higher they lift vp the soule towardes heauen according to that speech of Bernard a Per flagella domini spernuntur te●rena amantur coelest●a De coena dom serm 10 By the Lords corrections we contemne earthly things and loue heauenly And therefore as Zeno b Diog. Laertius in vita Zenonis hauing suffered shipwracke became the Scholler of Crates and studied Philosophie and after said it was an happie shipwracke that made him affect such excellent knowledge So may wee say much more truly It was a blessed sicknes a blessed pouerty a blessed imprisonment c that caused vs to looke towardes the kingdome of heauen Ninthly affliction doeth saue the children of God from hell condemnation If God should let vs alone we would neuer rest till we run headlong to hell as foolish childrē if they be not hinderd will run into the ditch And therefore it is the Lords mercie to lay the rodde vpon our backs that so we may bethinke our selues of the danger wherein wee stand and may labour to preuent it And this is that which Iob saith Iob 33 16.18 that the Lord openeth the eares of men by corrections that so he may keepe backe their soules from the pit and that their life should not passe by the sword And the Apostle hath a saying to the same purpose i Cor. 11.32 that when we are iudged we are chastened of the Lord because we should not be condemned with the world When a man is desperately about to cast himselfe into the fire or to drowne himselfe in the water can any do him a greater benefite then to preuent him and saue his life So there cannot be a greater benefit to vs then when we are ready to drowne our selues in perdition by our sinnes that the Lord by his corrections should stay vs and holde vs backe Last of all affliction doth fitte and prepare vs for the kingdome of Heauen As the Apostle saith of the Thessalonians that by persecutions and tribulations which they suffered they were counted woorthie of the kingdome of God 2. Thess 1.5 As the parching heat of the Sun ripeneth the corne and maketh it fitte to bee carried into the barn so doth afflictiō ripen the godly that they may be meet to be gathered into Gods barne And this is done two wayes First because by afflictions ●as wee haue heard wee are purged and purified from our sins which else would hinder vs from comming there Apocal. 21.27 For no vncleane thing shall enter into Gods kingdome As gold must first be purified in the fire before it be laid vp in the kings treasury Prou. 25.4 as wheat must be cleansed from the chaffe before it be laid vp in the garner so must it be with vs. Affliction is the fire that must purge vs 2. Tim. 2.21 to make vs vessels of honour for the house of God and the fan that must clense vs to make vs pure wheat for his garner In the building of Solomons temple 1 Kings 6.7 all the stones were hewen and fitted in the quarry before they were brought thither and There was neither hammer nor axe nor anie toole of yron heard in the temple while it was in building So in the kingdome of heauen which is the spirituall house of God all the liuing stones thereof must be hewen and squared and fitted by afflictions in this life Secondly affliction prepareth vs for heauen because it is a meanes to worke holines in vs Heb. 12.14 without which no man shall euer see the Lord as the Apostle saith We see then by all these gracious effects and blessed fruits which affl ction bringeth with it that Dauid had good cause to say It is good for mee that I haue beene afflicted And therefore wee may conclude with Saint Augustine a Percutis vt sanes ●et occidis nos ne moriamur abs te

rich gluttō being in hel in torments Son saith he Luke 16.25 remember that thou in thy life time receiuedst thy pleasures and likewise Lazarus pains now therfore is he comforted thou art tormented Fiftly by afflictions wee are made conformable vnto Christ For he was not exempt from the Crosse as one saith wel a Deus filium vnum habuit sine peccato nullum sine flagello Hebr. 5.9 Ma th 3.17 Cal Institut lib. 3. cap. 8. sect 1. God had one sonne without sinne but none without affliction Though he were the author of eternall saluation to al that obey him yet he was consecrate by afflictions Yea albeit he were the beloued Sonne of God in whom he is well pleased yet we see his Father was so far from cockering and pampering of him that we may truely say he was not onely exercised with afflictions whiles he was vpon the earth but his whole life was nothing else but a continuall crosse Iohn 15.20 Why then should we looke to be exempted from that condition which Christ our head was to vndergoe especially seeing hee did vndergoe it for our sakes that in himselfe hee might giue vs an example of patience And therefore the Apostle teacheth vs that all the children of God are predestinated to this end Rom. 8.29 that they might be made like to the Image of him In a word by afflictions the Lord doth seale vnto vs the assurance of our adoption For as the Apostle saith Whom the Lord loueth hee chasteneth He. 11 6 7 8. and he scourgeth euery sonne that he receiueth If yee endure chastening God offereth himselfe vnto you as sonnes for what sonne is it whom the Father chasteneth not If therefore yee be without correction whereof all are partakers then are yee bastards and not sonnes Where wee are taught that wee can gather no greater testimony that wee are the sonnes of God than from the louing corrections which hee layeth vpon vs. Last of all there is a good end of our afflictions in respect of others If wee be constant and couragious vnder the crosse our example is a notable encouragement vnto others to treade in our steppes If wee bee fearefull and faint-hearted others may learne what frailty there is in man Rom. 12.15 Hecr 13.3 and may thereby be moued to pitty vs as if it were their owne case as also to comfort vs and to pray for vs and to watch more carefully diligētly ouer themselues To conclude the way to euerlasting glory is by this meanes as it were chalked out For hereby all men may see that Whosoeuer will liue godly in Christ Iesus 2. Tim. 3.12 must suffer persecution and that Through many tribulations we must enter into the kingdome of Heauen Act. s 14.22 And thus wee see the poynt is sufficiently cleared that afflictions to Gods children are no punishments of their sins but that the Lord sendeth them for many other good ends and purposes Vse 1 The vse of this Doctrine is very profitable First it serueth to teach euery one of vs to iudge wisely as Dauid saith of the poore and those that are afflicted Psal 41 1. There is a corruption in our nature which maketh vs rashly conclude when wee see a man afflicted with some heauie crosse that surely it is GODS iudgement vpon him for his sinne So dealt the Barbarians with the Apostle Paul when they sawe a Viper leape vpon him and hang vpon his hand they saide presently amongst themselues This man surely is a murtherer Acts 28.3 4 whom though hee haue escaped the Sea yet vengeance hath not suffred to liue Yea this corruption will euen creep into the best of vs all if we do not endeauour to keepe it out As wee see in Iobs friends who though they were otherwise men of great knowledge and no doubt godly yet when they saw the strange afflictions that GOD had brought vpon him they by and by with one consent passe their censure vpon him That he was an hypocrite and that GOD had now found him out Iob 8 4 As Bildad telleth him plainely that his sonnes had sinned against GOD and therefore that hee had iustly sent them To the place of their iniquitie Iob 11.6 And Zophar bids him know that God had forgotten him for his iniquitie Yea Eliphaz commeth to particulars with him Is not saith he thy wickednes great and 22.5 6 7 9. and thine iniquities innumerable For thou hast taken the pledge from thy brother for nought and spoiled the cloathes of the naked To such as were weary thou hast not giuen water to drinke and hast withdrawne bread from the hungrie Thou hast cast out widowes empty and the armes of the fatherlesse were broken And where we see he is not afraid to charge Iob with oppression and vnmercifulnes as if these had beene the causes of his calamitie And the Disciples of our Sauiour Christ when they saw a man that was borne blinde they straitway imagined that it was either for his owne or his parents sins But we must know Iohn 9.1.2 that euery crosse is not a pursuing of a man for sinne as our Sauiour teacheth in the Gospel when he said to them that shewed him of the Galileans whose bloud Pilate had mingled with their owne sacrifices Lu. 13.1 2 3 4 5. Suppose yee that these Galileans were greater sinners then all other Galileans because they haue suffered such things I tell you nay c. Or thinke ye that those eighteene vpon whom the Tower in Siloam fell and slew them were sinners aboue all that dwel in Ierusalem I tell you nay c. And therefore if any of vs haue beene foolish this way and haue thought wickedly and vncharitably of our brethren when wee haue seene them visited by the hand of God let vs learne henceforth as Salomon saith to lay our hand vpon our mouthes Pro 30.32 lest we condemne the generation of Gods children Psal 73.15 Saint Augustine hath a most excellent saying to this purpose Although saith hee the godly and the wicked be alike afflicted yet they are distinct the one from the other there a Manet dissimilitudo passorum in similitudine passionum remaineth an vnlikenesse of the sufferers in the likenesse of their sufferings For as vnder one and the same fire golde shineth and glistereth and chaffe smoaketh and vnder one and the same flaile the strawe is broken is pieces and the corne is purged neyther are the lees therefore mingled with the oyle because they are strained out in one and the same presse So one and the same violence rushing vpon the godly and the wicked tryeth b Tantum interest non qualia sed qualis quisque patia ur De Ciu. Dei lib. 1. cap. 8 purifieth and melteth the one but it damneth destroyeth and vtterly vndoeth the other h So great a matter it is not what things one suffereth but how he is qualified that suffereth For