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	lord_n	mercy_n	2,560	5	6.2833	4	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A59696	Wine for Gospel wantons, or, Cautions against spirituall drunkenness being the brief notes of a sermon preached at Cambridge in New-England, upon a day of publick fasting and prayer throughout the colony / by that reverend servant of the Lord, Mr. Thomas Shepard, deceased.	Shepard, Thomas, 1605-1649.	1668 (1668)	Wing S3150; ESTC R38169	10,388	16

Works as any in that Kingdome saith he I would I could speak it with tears never more talking of Reformation but never less practice of Reformation our Churches are reformed but our Hearts and Houses never less reformed our high Altars are pulled down but our high Mindes are not brought down the Worship of God is more pure but the Worshippers as impure as ever we have less Idolatries but more Adulteries and Fornications I do not say more Punishment but never less punished and more committed Is there a Law against Scandalous Ministers and none against Scandalous Lords and great ones Men are not ashamed to profess their Adulteries before the face of the Sun We never lived in such dayes wherein there is more judging of others and less of our selves Never more sad dayes in England and yet never such pride in Apparel never such Formality in Gods Worship never such Murmuring never such Censuring never more talk of Reformation never less reformed never more security then when the Ship is a sinking never times wherein fewer converted and the power of godliness more decayed and sin abounding never more Controversies how Churches should be gathered never fewer added to the Church then in these times never such Controversies how the Churches should be governed and yet never less care of the Government of Christ in our own Houses and Hearts Godly men have not leisure to study Faith and Repentance and brokenness for sin I speak it for this end that the Lord may affect our hearts with the estate of England for this is some hope that though they be thus yet they are not all yet filled but there is some room left for counsell Habak 2.5 Bend your Prayers against some persons though you know them not that make others to be drunk give the Lord no rest untill he make them Examples to the world rather then the poor Church of God should be made drunk and being made drunk should dash one against another Vse 2. Let it be a Use of Warning to us all to take heed of such sins for which the Lord may give us over to a spirit of drunkenness The time is come and it is the Lords great work at this day in the world to give all the world this same Cup as the just and heavy Judgement of God upon men for the contempt of the Gospel of peace and therefore is distraction and confusions in all that men do Most men in the world have seen an end of the perfection of all Gods Ordinances and Gospel and they begin to grow stale things to them therefore will the Lord put his Cup into your hands and every bottle shall be filled with wine unless it be that number which the Lord doth preserve in his great mercy This is the misery when once the Lord leaves any man to a spirit of Drunkenness misery shall be at his door certainly coming upon him and he shall not know it Many inquiries are among us What is the cause of the Lords hand against us dashing our Ships in pieces that the Lord should break us in our infancy and tell us that he is gone in part and that he is taking away some of our precious ones from us Would you know the cause of this you will never know it untill the Lord do take away this drunken distemper from us So long as we are not kept sober in the love of the Truth we shall never know the true reason why the Lord is thus angry with us We cannot say the Lord hath filled all the Inhabitants of the Land with drunkenness but yet the Cup is given us in part The Head it doth begin to stagger in a great measure do we not see great staggering Unsetledness in the Covenant of God Walking with God at peradventures and such hankerings after the Whoredomes of the World at this day And so likewise Divisions and Distractions little done and time spent and the Country burthened with Charge nothing done without much Division and Contention Certainly something is amiss every thing threatens some sudden blow to New-England yet blessed be the Lord he hath not filled every one with a spirit of Drunkenness But let it be the last Motive to think of what I speak that the Lord should bring us hither and give us peace in Church and Common-wealth and in all our Colonies let us look upon it as a rare and singular mercy of the Lord that the Lord hath kept us here in peace and saved us from being poisoned with the Delusions in the world You will say How shall we be preserved from this spirit of drunkenness Here are many things that I should have spoken but only think of this hath not the Lord given us other things and better things to take delight in the Lord hath given us his blessed Scriptures to solace our selves in we had else been like herds of beasts going to the slaughter and we have Iehovah himself to go unto at any time an infinite God we have to go unto But that ●e may be preserved from this spirit of delusion for help herein I shall only name these particulars 1. Take heed of drunken company I would not have a godly man to go into the company of an erroneous person his words are infectious 2. Let Gods People take heed of being deceived by meer colours and pretences of things as now upon the colour of Free-grace they bring in Free-vice and under the colour of liberty of Conscience liberty in sin and good men have been deceived and why not I and the truth that I have received for truth be an errour 3. Love dearly the truth that you know already such truths as discover your sin unto you make much of them and certainly the Lord will make much more known to you and preserve you from errour I will send saith Christ Ioh. 17. the spirit of truth whom the World cannot receive for you know him and he dwelleth in you Look as it is with a man if he hath taken down good drink he will not be apt to take poysoned wine he will not run to the Ale-house and be drunk that hath good beer at home Love the truth thou knowest and the Lord will then teach the feeble in his way 4. Drink no more then will do you good my meaning is this drink in those truths that ye have known have done you good take fast hold of them and keep them I will never forget thy precepts saith David for by them thou hast quickened me And then likewise take no more then you have need of you shall finde this you need every truth of God as now you are tempted to deny evidencing your grace by conditional promises by such promises wherein the Lord doth write down the names of those that he will do good unto consider whether there be need of that Doctrine and do you not need the contrary do you not need to know that them that are pure in heart shall see God do you not need this in time of temptation although for the present some can walk with a bold Conscience And so for Baptism do you not need a promise of God for your poor children Lastly When the Lord doth leave you under the sense of your own weakness that you know not the truth and under sense of distemper and that the Lord is withdrawn from you and you know the sin of your heart wherefore the Lord is gone in this case take the counsel of skilful and merciful Physitians go to the servants of the Lord sober and understanding men old acquaintance with the truth of God go and ask their counsel the Priests lips should preserve knowledge come with an humble and meek spirit and then the Lord will teach you his minde and will In England the great reason why so many are deluded it is because they want instruction and our condition here is pretty sad that we should not have our discipline here published to the World and to our selves and therefore we have cause to bless the Lord that he hath put it into the hearts of his servants to take paines herein And there are but these three things that can hinder you from knowing the truth of the Lord. 1. Unthankfulness 2. Want of Prayer 3. Contempt of their message whom the Lord sends to be his Ministers FINIS