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	know_v	lord_n	3,918	5	3.5901	3	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A90268	God's presence with a people, the spring of their prosperity; with their speciall interest in abiding with Him. A sermon, preached to the Parliament of the Commonwealth of England, Scotland, and Ireland, at Westminster, Octob. 30. 1656. A day of solemn humiliation. / By John Owen, D.D. a servant of Jesus Christ, in the work of the Gospel. Printed by Order of Parliament.	Owen, John, 1616-1683.	1656 (1656)	Wing O757; Thomason E891_4; ESTC R206508	24,955	44

GOD'S Presence with a People THE Spring of their Prosperity With Their speciall Interest in abiding with Him A SERMON Preached to the Parliament of the Commonwealth of England Scotland and Ireland at Westminster Octob. 30. 1656. A Day of Solemn Humiliation By JOHN OWEN D. D. a servant of JESUS CHRIST in the work of the Gospel Printed by Order of Parliament LONDON Printed by R. N. for Philemon Stephens at the gilded Lion in Pauls Church yard 1656. Friday the 31. of Octob. 1656. ORdered by the Parliament That the thanks of this House be given unto Dr. OWEN Dean of Christ-Church and Vicechancellor of the University of Oxon for his great paines taken in his Sermon preached before this House yesterday in Magarets Church Westminster being a day set apart for Solemne Fasting and Humiliation and that he be desired to print his Sermon And that he have the like priviledge in Printing thereof as hath been formerly allowed to others in like Cases And Major Generall Kelsey is desired to give him the thanks of this House accordingly Hen. Scobell Clerk of the Parliament To the Parliament of the Common-wealth of England Scotland and Ireland with the Dominions thereunto belonging Sirs MY hope that some Impression may possibly remain upon your hearts and spirits of and from the things delivered unto you in the ensuing Sermon make me willing unto the obedience of presenting it unto you upon your command in this manner Were I not perswaded that your peace interest and concernment is expressed therein and knew not with what simplicity of heart you were minded thereof I should have chosen on many accounts to have waved this duty But having now performed what is incumbent on me to render this service useful recommending it yet further to the Grace of God I humbly beg that it may not in this return unto you be looked on as a thing of course and so laid aside but be reviewed with that intension of spirit which is necessary in duties of this importance whereby you may manifest that your command unto this service was grounded on a sense of some advantage to be made by that performance of it Sundry things I confess that were spoken unto you are gone beyond my recovery having had their rise from the present assistance which God was pleased to afford in the management of the worke it self The sum of what was provided before hand and no otherwise without the least addition is here presented unto you with hearty desires that the vision of the truth herein considered may be to them that love you and the accomplishment thereof be found in the middest of you So prayes Your humblest Servant in our dear Lord Jesus John Owen Novemb 17. A Sermon Preached to the PARLIAMENT of England at their Publick Fast held the 30. of Octob. 1656. 2 CHRON. 15. 2. And he went out to meet Asa and said unto him Heare ye mee Asa and all Judah and Benjamin the Lord is with you while ye be with him and if ye seek him he will be found of you But if ye forsake him he will forsake you IT will not I am sure seem strange to any that I have taken a Text to Preach on in a Day of Humiliation out of a Thanksgiving Sermon such as this discourse of Azariah seems to be if they shall but consider the suitablenesse of the Instruction given therein to any great and solemn occasion whether of Humiliation or rejoycing The words indeed are the summe of all directions that in such Cases can be given the standard of all Rules and Exhortations wherein any Nation or people in any Condition are or may be Concerned so plainly measuring out our fate and lot the Event and Issue of our Affairs with all the great undertaking of the people of God in this Nation that of themselves I hope they will make some passage to the hearts of them to whom the Inferences from them shall this day be applyed In the foregoing Chapter we haue an account of a great victory that Asa and the people of Judah fighting in faith and with prayer obtained against the huge host of the Aethiopians with the abundant spoyles which they took and carried away thereupon In their Triumphant return to Hierusalem the spirit of God stirs up a Prophet to goe out and meet them to give them an account of the rise and cause of their success and direction for their future deportment under the injoyment of such mercies and deliverances The Lord knows how apt even the best of men are to forget the spring of their mercies how negligent in making suitable returns by a due improvement of the advantages put into their hands unto the Lord of all mercies Therefore are they in all seasons to be minded of their proper interest and duty This is done in my Text to Asa and Judah by Oded and I desire in my Sermon that it may with the same spirit and the same success be done by me unto you The words I intend principally to insist on having the same thing for substance three times repeated in them the opening of the first clause with the general tendency of the whole will suffice as to their Exposition and the grounding of that general proposition which I shall improve Two things are then principally to be inquired into First what it is for God to be with any people Secondly what it is for a people to be or abide with God and according to the Analogie of these two the following Assertions of seeking the Lord and forsaking him will be easily understood For though the words differ in expression yet they are all of the same way of Assertion They are 3 hypothetical propositions or promissory assertions on supposition If you abide with the Lord he will be with you if you seek the Lord he will be found of you if you forsake the Lord he will forsake you The same matter is trebled for the fuller and surer confirmation of the thing Asserted Only whereas the last proposition supposeth a thing possible namely that they might forsake the Lord the first supposes a thing present and therefore it is so expressed whilst you are with him because they had abode with God in their late war and triall Before I enter upon the opening of the words themselves I cannot pass by the Earnest Preface of the Prophet Hear ye me O Asa he saw the people upon their success taken up with many thoughts thinking of many businesses full of many contrivances one imagening one thing another another all of them it may be how they should use and improve their peace and success to their Advantage Interest Profit or Security Or the Princes and Rulers as it is probable and usual in such cases might be considering how to carry on their victory how to make the best advantage of it in their dealing with Neighbour Princes and Nations in making peace or warr In the midst of these thoughts the Prophet meets

in Gods special presence He is with us to give us direction in all our undertakings to take away darkness perplexities difficulties from our Councels or to cause us to rest and cease from what-ever may come into our hearts that is not according to his minde The Lord give us evermore of this his presence I cannot stay to shew you the several wayes whereby God now communicates direction to a people how he inclines their hearts insensibly yet powerfully fixes the bent of their spirits effectually their hearts being in his hand as the rivers of water which he turns as he pleaseth supplys them with reasonings and consultations beyond the verge of their own wisdome proposes occasions invitations provocations gives them Spirit and courage beyond their natural frames and tempers enlarges them in prayer or shuts them up makes walls on the one hand and open pathes on the other with innumerable such wayes and means as in his infinite wisdome he is pleased to make effectual for their guidance It suffices that in the use of means through patience and waiting upon him they shall be directed to that which is pleasing to him so is he with them The second use of this pillar was to give them protection and defence in all their way So Exod. 14. 19 20. 24. This protected them from the Egyptians and from thence God troubled their Enemies out of the pillar that is from his especial presence This use of it is insisted on Isa. 4. 5. 6. The cloud that was as smoke by day and as fire by night was also a shadow a place of refuge and a covert in one word a protection or a defence And this is a second thing which is in Gods special presence He will protect or defend them with whom he is so present He is their dwelling place Psal. 90. then when in this world they had none their refuge in the time of trouble So Isa. 25. 4. 26. 1. 31. 4. promises and instances to make this good abound they are known to all The time would fail me to insist upon them I might go over all the Causes means and wayes of the fears dangers ruines of such a people and shew you how a defence is provided against them all Are their fears from themselves because of their folly weaknesse and division or from pretended friends because of their envy and desertion or from open enemies because of their Power Cruelty Malice and Revenge a defence is provided on every account heat raine tempests stormes adversitie prosperitie all are provided against where God is present Isa. 32. 1 2. And if any people in the world have experience of this truth we have it this day Had not the Lord been with us who had not destroyed us Enemies friends abroad at home our own follyes all any of them had done the worke had not the Lord himself been with us Onely observe that the presence of God as to these effects may sometimes in some perticulars be eclipsed and the Effects themselves for some season be intangled though there be not an utter breach between him and his People How often did the Israelites attempt things without his direction how often did he breake in upon them to their woe and sorrow yet for the maine he forsooke them not untill the great work intended by them was accomplished Nehem. 9. 19. It is not every intanglement every disappointment every defeat that argues Gods departure as to his speciall presence It may be good for us sometimes to be in such a Condition and then that desertion that carries into it is from the presence of God We are now grown to that that if every thing immediately surmount not our imagination say some God is gone from them not because it is so but because they would have it so but he is Mercifull with whom we have to doe and will not cast off his People for ever Secondly The People with whom God was had the Glory of Jehovah as a pledge of his presence with them this appeared only at extraordinary seasons so it did at the giving of the Law Exod. 24. 16. so also at the setting up of the Tabernacle It differed from the cloud for when the cloud was upon the Tabernacle the glory of the Lord filled it It appeared again to all the People Levit. 9. 23. I shall not now enquire what was this visible representation of the Majestie of God it sufficeth as to the purpose in hand that when God gives his presence to a People at extraordinary seasons he affords them extraordinary manifestations of his Glory So in Ezekiels Vision of those dreadfull wheeles of Providence the glory of the Lord is said to appeare in the Temple and as his Especiall presence departed from the Temple and the Citie so the glory by severall degrees departed also Chap. 2. 10. 18 19. Chap. 11. 23. Eminent and glorious appearances with and for a People in extraordinary seasons is then another thing that accompanies Gods speciall providentiall presence with them when they are at an utter loss in their Counsels at a stand in their Motions disappointed in their undertakings deserted in their enterprises pressed on every side above measure or called to some extraordinary worke so that their Ordinary direction and protection will not carry them on nor beare them up then will God relieve them by some especiall appearance of his Glory In the Mount will the Lord be seen This will give a reliefe when all is at a losse And in this lies the most discriminating evidence of speciall Providence Glorious appearances in great streights are eminent testimonies of Gods regard Could I now insist on some of the instances that might be given of this kind of dealing with us in England in the pursuit of the Cause we have in hand it would make us ashamed of all our unworthinesse carnall fears and unbeliefe This is the second Evidence of Gods presence He is with a People to direct them to protect to manifest his glory amongst them His glory in ballancing the Issues of Providence one in respect of another so that all shall acknowledge that of a truth the Lord is amongst them Blessed is the People that is in such a Case yea blessed is the People whose God is the Lord What would you have more here is ease of all cares a remedy for all sores securitie in the midst of troubles Rest and Peace and assured dwelling places though the Assyrian should bee in the Land Thus you see what is this great Concernment of any People Let us now consider the tenure of this Blessedness on what account it is to be obteined or enjoyed now this is our abiding with God This then is nextly to be considered what it is for a People what it is for you and us so to abide with God as that wee may in all our affaires enjoy his presence in the wayes before described Now something is hereunto previously required something it consists