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	suffer_v	suffering_n	2,047	5	9.4271	5	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A40637	Gamaliel Palipsuchos, or, Seasonable advice in trying times delivered in a sermon preached at Little-Wakering in Essex, Wednesday the 22th of December, being the fast appointed for the farther discovery of the popish-plot, by John Fuller.	Fuller, John, b. 1640 or 41.	1681 (1681)	Wing F2393; ESTC R35508	8,261	18

best Comment on the Apocalyps And though we must not deny but that Popery flourisheth even at this day yet in abating the strength thereof God hath done great things yea he hath done great things already whereof we rejoyce Was it not a wonder that Luther a poor Fryar should give the Man of Sin such a foil if not a fall that since he could never recover himself This is the work of the Lord and it will seem marvelous in our Eyes hereby Antichrist hath his wings cut his train clipped his talons pared his strength and wealth abated So that the Pope hath just cause to make more Fasts and fewer Festivals in his Calander many Countries are fallen from him others fastned to him rather by Cruelty than Conscience So that in despight of all the Perfumes they burn in their Churches their rotten Superstition stinks in the nostrils of discreet Christians What said Zeresh to Haman her Husband Esther 6.13 If Mordecay be of the Seed of the Jews before whom thou hast begun to fall thou shalt not prevail against him but surely fall before him And so seeing Antichrist hath begun to reel he will come to ruine it remains then that we patiently expect the time when the Lordshall consume him with the Spirit of his mouth as welcome to us as woful to him and shall destroy him with the brightness of his coming For their Religion I mean the dominative points wherein they differ from us is a Religion of men Of men devised ●ound on Traditions without footing in Scripture by men propogated I mean driven in the strength of humane not to say divelish policy their very Prayers to men directed though glorifyed Saints in Heaven and all these things for men intended for the advancing of the pride and profit of the Pope and his Adherents and therefore seeing their Counsel and work is of men it will it shall it must in Gods due time come to nought Vse Do any then desire to have their designs blest with Success let them truely entitle God to the Cause let them lay the Foundation Stone in Grace and then they shall lay the Top Stone in Glory Now one may assure his Cause to be of God and not of Men if he observe these Rules 1. At the entrance into it beg Gods Blessing and Assistance When David 1. K. 36. had appointed Solomon to be King over Israel Benaiah the Son of Jehoiada answered David and said Amen and the Lord God of my Lord say so too Let us in the first place beg Gods Amen to our Councels and Works our Amen is but a Petition Gods Amen is a Charter ours is Optative begging what we would have Gods is Imparative commanding what shall be 2. Besure the thing thou takest in hand be lawful and warrantable in it self otherwise to desire Gods Blessing to a wicked Design is mockingly to ask God leave to dishonour him or with Judas to cry Hail-Master and then betray him 3. Be careful to manage the matter in hand by the Rule of Gods Will in his Word See sayeth God to Moses that thou makest all things according to the Pattern in the Mount So be thou sure not to differ the least dash or willingly to vary the least tittle from Gods revealed Will in his Word Remember what St. James sayeth Chap. 1.29 The wrath of man worketh not the Righteousness of God and therefore beware of mingling thy carnal Interest of mixing thy partial ends of blending thy private Respects with Gods Cause least it fare the worse for so unfitting a Conjunction 4. Aim and level all thy Actions principally at the Glory of God Thy own honour may in a refracted degree subsist with Gods Glory if neither preferred before it nor contrariant to it but subordinate unto it At the Coronation of the Kings of England when the Noblemen have first seen the Crown Imperial solely set upon his Majesties head then the Dukes Marquesses Earls and Viscounts claim by prescription to put on their own Coronets First advance the Honour of God see him crowned promote his Glory and then in the second place it will be no Sacriledg to seek the promotion of thy own private Good and particular Commodity If these Rules be warily observed then whatsoever thy Design be good luck have thou with thine Honour ride on go up and prosper we wish you good Success in the name of the Lord the Lord prosper the work of thy hands the Lord prosper thy handy work If God be with you who shall be against you But be not disheartned and dismaid be not discouraged and discomfited if God at the first and for a time humble thee with bad success know as I said before that then God punisheth thee for thy Sins and take up for thy Motto the words of the Prophet Mic. 7.9 I will bear the Indignation of the Lord because I have sinned against him until he plead my Cause and execute Judgment for me Let not the badness of the Success at the first put thee out of Love with a good Cause but rather pray to God It is thou Lord that inflicts it it is I that deserve it it comes from thy Justice it lights on my Sins Oh! Afflictions are bitter to the tast but wholsome to eat wherefore beat Lord and thy Servant shall bow strike Lord and thy Servant shall stoop But Oh! spill the man but spare the Cause punish the one but perish not the other the Sins are mine but the Cause is thine Let not thy Glory suffer in my Sufferings but in due time give thy Cause good suceess far be it from presumptious dust and ashes to prescribe to the Lord of Heaven time or place or meanes or manner Do it Lord when thou wilt where thou wilt how thou wilt and by whom thou wilt but do it Lord in thy due time for thy Name-sake for thy Promise-sake for thy Sons sake for thy self-sake wherefore should the Wicked say Where is now their God All that is required of thee is patiently to expect the good time when God will accomplish his Promise Seventimes did Elias send his Servant to the Sea 1 Kin. 18.43 to bring some tidings of the probability of Rain and at the seventh time behold there arose out of the Sea a little Cloud like a mans hand what shall I say seven times yea seventy seven times send and see for good success stand on the tiptoes of thy Soul heighten thy expectation watch and wait and long and look and pry and pray to day and to morrow and dext day next week next month next year next seven years next seven seven years if thy life lasts so long and at last if it be for Gods Glory and thy good the success that shall come will come and will not tarry And yet I cannot confidently assure any that he in his own Person shall live to see good success on every good Cause he shall undertake Great was the favour afforded to good old Simeon that he should sing his Nunc dimittis after his Eyes had seen Gods Salvation but it is not granted to all Saints of God some are taken out of this World before they see pious Councels crowned with happiness And indeed the infidelity and carnal distrust whereof the best in some degree are guilty may justly move God not to honour us with so welcome a Spectacle but suffer Death to prevent us or else with that unbelieving Prince who dyed in the Gates of Samaria our Eyes may see the plenty that our Mouths shall never tast However let us imitate the Example of the godly Patriarchs of whom it is said Heb. 11.13 These all dyed in the Faith not having received the Promises but having seen them afar off Besides let that Cordial comfort us that That Honour God vonchfaseth not to us our Posterity shall certainly possess Come then ye little Children come ye that can of your selves or else your be led by the hands of Maids or brought in the Arms of your Nurses nay come ye Babes unborn that are carried in the Wombs Bodies of your Mothers If the design we seek to advance be good there is good Success due unto us by the Promise of God and yet it is uncertain whether we our selves shall ever live to enjoy it wherefore here in the Name of God Amen we make you our Heirs we appoint you our Executors and bequeath this Legacy unto you or rather before hand by deed of Gift we Sign and Seal unto you all Joy Comfort Contentment Solace Felicity and Happiness to you and to your Heirs which shall amount from the good Success of a good Cause when you behold it count it not amongst desperate Debts for you shall infallibly enjoy it We perchance shall first be gathered to our Fathers and fall asleep in our Graves and be cloathed with Clay and be turned to dust whilst our Souls we hope shall be in Heaven blessed the day happy the hour welcome the moment But you shall survive and what Moses never did that Joshnah shall behold You shall see that that Cause which is grounded on Gods Word managed by his Will and levelled at his Honour shall at last be Crowned with Success for Truth hath spoken it and Faith believes it God hath said it we have heard it and you shall see it The Holy Cause will have happy Success what is gracious in the beginning though crost in the middle will be crowned in the ending For if this Councel or Work be of men it will come to nought Soli DEO Gloria

sail by all winds each golden opportunity they cunningly court and greedily catch and carefully keep and thriftyly use In a word they are wiser in their generation than the Children of Light Luk. 16.8 And the reason in Religion why wicked men often prosper in bad projects is because God in his Justice suffers them to battle therein that they may be the fatter Sacrifice for his divine vengeance lifting them up to cast them down swelling so great with their good success they break with the Tympany of their own pride and presumption Prop. 2. Gods Servants in good designs have sometimes for a time been unsuccessful witness the Israelites Judges 20.21 Who asking Councel of God and going to War by his Command were notwithstanding twice grievously beaten by the Benjamttes And the true reason hereof is this because though the Cause may be good yet the best of men who seek to advance that Cause are sinful and God justly may and often doth punish their Sins with ill success Besides hereby he doth try and prove the patience of his Servants whether under hope above hope they will rely on his protection in the midst of all extremities Prop. 3. Though slowly yet surely though late yet at last good designs shall be blest and bad designs finally confounded The true reason hereof is founded in Gods justice to whom it is essential to reward piety and punish profanness So then though bad designs may bait at success they shall lodge at consusion But if any man ask me when this shall be done I answer with our Saviour to his Disciples Acts 1.7 It is not for you to know the times or seasons which the Father hath put in his own power And you may observe Gamaliels words in my Text to be without date shall come to nought without specifying or noting any set time Let this serve to give to the sober satisfaction and to the curious a surfeit though not without some waiting yet without any failing wicked projects shall perish but how long it shall be before they perish I cannot tell you because my Text hath not told me that it shall be we know when it shall be God knows For if this Counsel or this work be of Men it will c. Doctrine The staple Doctrine is this What is nought in the beginning will be certainly nought in the end And it is worth our observing the variety of ways whereby the Plots of wicked men come to confusion sometimes out of ficleness and inconstancy they desert their own designs or else out of despair to succeed they desist from their intentions Sometimes they start so many Plots at once that they hunt none at all but the plenty of their projects supplant and confound one another Sometimes the means that they relie on fails and then down tumbles the stately structure of their designs burying the Builders under the ruines thereof Sometimes the principal Plotter is cut off and then he losing his head the rest lose their hearts and are utterly discomfited as in the Rebellion of Sheba Sometimes a causeless qualm of Cowardize comes over their Soul as over the Aramites Army 2 Kings 7.7 fancying Fears to themselves and then fearing their own Fancies they fly when none pursues and are afraid to overtake themselves Sometimes they are split on Rocks by the tempest of their own fury grasp all and hold nothing and run themselves out of breath with their own violence Sometimes they fall out among themselves crumbling into Fration and Factions and to save others the pains sheath their Swords in themselves as the Moabites Ammonites and Edomites did 2 Chron. 20.23 Sometimes they come to destruction because they come to destruction no visible reason can be rendred thereof we see it done but cannot see who doth it Sometimes God puts his hand miraculously out of Heaven and with the least joynt of his little finger crusheth these moths to nothing as in 88 and the Powder-Treason And as by sundry ways so also at several times evil Counsels are confounded some sooner some later as it pleaseth Divine Providence As the dainty Dames of Israel were threatned to eat their own Children when but a span long so some are forced to eat not only their own words but their own deeds when scarce begun their wicked designs setting in the rising and being damb'd up in the Fountain Others come to the birth but then there is no strength to bring forth or else they are still born without life or motion so that a Coffin is the first Cradle they are put into Such as survive the birth are with the babes of Bethlehem made away at two years old and under And if the wicked Project chance to be of so strong a constitution as that passing through Childhood and Youth it comes to mans Estate then the Plague denounced against the house of Eli falls upon it 1 Sam. 2.32 There shall not be an old man in the house for ever It shall never hold out to grey hairs For if this Counsel or this work be of men it shall come to nought Objection Yea may some say some wicked designs have arrived at a wondrous age What say you of the Opinions of Popery verily I say unto you that Methuselah with all his years was not so old as some of them twelve hundred years and upwards many of them have lasted And at this very day the maintainers thereof flourish in all prosperity Begin at Spain then go by France pass over Germany compass Poland return through Hungary and end at Italy and you shall find scores of Countreys hundred of Cities thousands of Towns millions of men all zealous of the Popish Profession Seeing therefore that Popery hath sprouted so soon spread so fast and so far lasts so long stands so strong either allow Popery true or confess the Text false For if their Counsel or work had been of men it would ere this time have been brought to nought Answer When I look on the corrupted lungs of the Romish Religion I conclude it must needs have dyed in its Childhood had not God foretold there should be a man of Sin 2 Thes 2.23 I answer then that all these things are have come to pass according to what God in Scripture hath foretold unto us the early rising of Antichrist whose mystery of Iniquity wrought in the Apostles time his coming with Power and Signs and lying Wonders his bewitching the Nations with the Cup of Fornication his fighting with the Saints and prevailing against them are all punctually prophesyed of in the Bible as also the general declination of the Church from piety in Doctrine and purity in Manner the flying of the woman into the Wilderness the safe but secret keeping Gods secret ones from Superstition are all accurately foretold in the Revelations What were Misteries once are Histories now then prophesied now performed The Romish Church hath done us this courtesy to reveal the Revelation unto us Her Corruptions are the