Selected quad for the lemma: cause_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
cause_n	great_a	king_n	see_v	4,869	5	3.5371	3	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A90810	A sermon preached before the religious societies in St. Michael's Church Dublin. September the 25th. 1698. / by Thomas Pollard ...	Pollard, Thomas.	1698 (1698)	Wing P2777; ESTC R181919	10,628	20

quench our zeal for GOD's Glory and the good of Souls and thô a sort of men among us are reviled and hated for no other reason but discharging a good Conscience in this matter yet they do no more than what the Law it self as well as Conscience does allow of and encourage Or else how should Convictions be made or Offenders brought to condign Punishment What would Laws signify when no man had care or zeal enough to see them executed and take effect How should the Magistrate take Cognizance of Delinquents when each connives at the others wickedness What if some people reproach you as too busy and forward if we will be Christ's Disciples we must exercise more self denyal than that amounts to The word Insormer may be taken in a good as well as in a bad Sense according as it is apply'd The Odium that was first derived upon the name was in the early persecutions of the Church when the Christians lost both their Lives and Estates by the Heathenish Informers but as it was an Enemy to Virtue then so it may be to Vice now and if it be really so if it tends to the Promotion of Piety and Reformation it can be no inglorious name unless it be a crime to suppress Sin and to root out the Lewdness and Prophaness which will bring a Curse and Destruction upon a Nation Would he deserve to be Branded with an Infamous Character that should discover to the Magistrate such Treasonable Practises as tended to the utter Subvertion of the State and Government Ought he not rather to be Encourag'd and Rewarded Or is it less meritorious to Inform in the cause of GOD than of the King And is there a greater Enemy to any Nation than the Vices thereof Does any thing tend more to the Ruin of a People than Debauchery and Prophaness and the Contempt of GOD and Religion Did we ever see a Kingdom brought to Misery and Desolation where the wickedness and unrestrain'd Lusts of the People had not the chiefest hand in it And does he deserve ill of the Common Wealth or any name of Distinction that is not kind and creditable that does all that lies in his Power to suppress those Vices that would ruin a Nation and have a natural as well as moral tendency to draw down the severest Judgments of GOD upon a Land The best actions are likely to be misrepresented by ill men especially if they create any unquiet to them and disturb them in the enjoyment of their Lusts and Sensualities he that attacks them here touches the apple of their Eye and must expect all the ill usage that their Rage and Malice can suggest This is the Root of all and the true reason why some men are so inrag'd at Informers and if they would lay their hands upon their Hearts and impartially examine them I suppose their own Conscience would hardly give them leave to deny it But thô those people rage and swell and conspire together against the LORD and all that are Enemies to their Lewdness and Prophaness yet all this ought not to quench your zeal for the Advancement of Holiness and GOD's Glory But go on resolutely in this good work comforting and encouraging your selves with St. Peter's words If ye suffer for Righteousness sake happy are ye For as our Saviour says great is your Reward in Heaven And the most effectual way to conquer their Malice and disprove their Calumnies is as the same Apostle advises Resolutely to maintain a good Conscience that where as they speak evil of you as of evil doers they may be asham'd that falsly accuse your good Conversation in Christ 1 Pet. 3.16 The Informer that is so odious amongst Men is one that does Vexatiously prosecute his Neighbours meerly out of Lucre or Malice without any regard to the Service of the State or the Reformation of Offenders But this is far different from his case who out of a due regard to Virtue and the Glory of GOD cannot patiently bear the trampling upon either without interposing his endeavours for the preservation of both whether it be by friendly Reproof and Admonition or when that won't or is it not likely to prevail by applying to the Magistrate who bears the Sword of GOD and is bound to wield it for the support of Virtue and Religion and for the Punishment and suppression of evil doers And when neither Malice nor Lucre comes in for a share but the Glory of GOD the eternal wellfart of Souls and the good of the Kingdom are the sole motives of such Information the name of Informer is so far from being a Reproach that it ought to be had in honour with every man that loves GOD or his Country or has any kind regards to Virtue and Religion And so I proceed to the last Particular viz. To shew the motives and reasons that may encourage you in so difficult an undertaking I have already told you that some by this Phrase of not suffering Sin upon him do mean thou shalt not bear Sin for him or make thy self partaker of his Sin And if so then the neglect of rebuking a Sinner when my kind Reproof may tend to the reclaiming of him is to make me partaker of his Sins and I am oblig'd to discharge this Charitable office to my Brother as I love my own Soul and would not bring my self under his Condemnation 2dly If men would be so kind to themselves or others as to suffer themselves to be perswaded into a Conscientious discharge of this Duty what a happy Change and Reformation might we soon expect in our little World Especially did the more Holy Wise and Pious faithfully and zealously ingage in it How would Sinners be ashamed and blush at their Villanies We should have no more bare-fac'd wickedness but Sin would sculk into the Corners of darkness and what a blessed Reformation would ensue This precious Balm of Reproof is the most likely medicine to heal up our breaches and to cure the wounds and putrified sores of GOD's People David calls it an excellent Oyl Psalm 141.5 an Oyl that has two soveraign qualities those of Cleansing and Healing this Reproof searches the ground of the Heart and when that is well prob'd and made clean it soon heals the breaches thereof 'T is an excellent means to awaken the conscience of the Sinner and to set it upon the discharge of her office even to check us for our miscarriages and forewarn us of the dreadfull expectation of the just Judgments of GOD and consequently puts us upon a diligent enquiry which way we shall escape and secure our selves from the wrath to come Hence it is that the Wise Man tells us that The Rod and Reproof give wisdom and that he that hateth Reproof is brutish And so highly did he esteem of this method of reducing a Sinner that if this repeated could not reform him he seems utterly to dispair of his conversion He that being often reproved hardneth his Neck shall suddenly be destroyed and that without Remedy Prov. 29.1 Intimating that if this method fail'd nothing would be effectual But thirdly whether Sinners will hear or whether they will forbear whether they will take warning and be converted or not the faithful dischargers of this Duty will have this remaining comfort They will be sure to save their own Souls whilest the Obstinate and Incorrigible shall perish in their Iniquities Thus St. James assures us that he that converteth a Sinner from the error of his way shall save a Soul a live and shall cover a multitude of Sins James 5.20 i.e. of his own Sins For as the former part of the Verse contains a motive taken from the advantage that accrews to the Converted so the latter is an argument drawn from the benefit that redounds to the Convertor viz. He shall hide a multitude of his own Sins i. e. GOD will the easier be perswaded to be propitious to him and upon his repentance which must always be suppos'd forgive him those Sins he had formerly been guilty of and I the rather take this to be the sense of the words because it is exactly agreeable to that of Daniel They that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the Firmament and they that turn many to Righteousness as the Stars for ever and ever Dan. 12. This is such an exceeding and an eternal weight of Glory that I can say nothing greater and therefore shall leave off here desiring you to consider the weight and efficacy of this Motive and shall only remind you that since the effects of this Duty are so blessed and the Reward so Glorious we ought not to be discourg'd in it either thrô the fear of singularity censoriousness or any dirt that a malicious people can bespatter us with Remembring that it is commonly the fate of Christ's Disciples That if in him they have peace in the World they shall have Tribulation And our Saviour himself does assure us That narrow is the Way and streight is the Gate that leads to Life and few there be that find it Now to GOD the Father GOD the Son and GOD the Holy Ghost be ascribed all Honour Power and Glory for ever and ever FINIS