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	love_n	love_v	4,041	5	6.5654	4	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A45357	The excellency of moral vertue, from the serious exhortation of St. Paul to the practice of it in several discourses upon Phil. 4. 8. : to which is added, A discourse of sincerity, from John i. 47 / by Henry Hallywell ...	Hallywell, Henry, d. 1703?	1692 (1692)	Wing H463; ESTC R18059	47,683	182

them seriously Consider this who can quietly and contentedly wallow and tumble in Sensual Pleasures who are never better pleased than when with the Serpent they are Creeping upon the Ground and Licking the Dust how infinitely they deviate and swerve from that great End of their Creation Man was made to be united to God and to Converse with him and therefore hath such Faculties and Powers in his Soul as are fitted to that Purpose But when our Understandings and our Wills when our Love and our Desires are taken up with the search and complacency they find in Worldly and Sensual Objects these Faculties and Passions of our Souls are misplaced which breeds a Disorder and a Confusion and this is what in it self is dishonest and unbecoming Every Excess and Exorbitancy of our Passions is an Indecency not only as it sinks a Man below the Dignity of his Nature by Exalting the Brutish Part in him but as it destroys and contradicts the Great End of his Being that is his Participation of the Divine Nature which is the most Calm and Uniform and Sedate thing in the World 3. Gravity and Becomingness command us to Treat Holy Things and Persons with that Reverence that is due and proper to them Virtue is not a thing that is merely acquired and transfused into us from without but rather an Exsuscitation and raising up of those Intellectual Principles Pro re nata and according as the Circumstances of Humane Actions invite which were Essentially Engraven and Sealed upon the Soul at her first Creation And amongst the Rest this is one of those Laws or Principles which are Connate and Born with us That we should Reverence our Superiors and according to the Degrees of their Superiority so our Reverence and Esteem and Honour are to be paid Thus God is to be Honoured with the highest Honour to be Loved with the greatest Love and Served with the most Chearful and Sincere Obedience because he is the most Excellent Being the Fruitful Cause and Original from whence all Things both in Heaven and Earth flow and derive themselves And if it be Judged among all Nations a thing very unbecomeing to deride and treat our Parents with Contempt and Scorn much more is it when this Abuse is offered to God himself and passes upon Things or Persons that for his sake are called Holy It is one of the Great and Crying Sins of this Age that Men are grown of such a light and frothy Temper as to think it the greatest part of their Wit to Laugh at the Notion of a God to Ridicule the Scriptures and to Expose to Scorn the Sacred Person of our Blessed Saviour And he that can do this with the finest Fancy and Cloth the Lewdness of his Mind in the Neatest Dress is Applauded by the rest of the Herd and passes for a most Exquisite Wit though it be such a kind of Wit as the Devils themselves are either Ashamed or Afraid to make use of for they tremble at the thoughts of God but these Whifflers who have neither Learning nor good Manners are neither Afraid nor Ashamed by their Rude Drolling and Buffooning to Expose to Contempt all that which the wisest and best Men in the World have always had the greatest Veneration for And how Unbecoming and Uncivil a Thing this is the Universal Sense of Mankind speaks aloud and whoever has but a dram of true Wisdom and Understanding left in him must needs Abhor it as contrary to that Gravity which Nature her self instructs Men in 4. To Expose any Man to Scorn and Contempt for any Imperfection of Body or Mind is inconsistent with the Rules of Gravity and Decorum For as for the Imbecillities and Imperfections of the Mind since all Mens Souls were Cast in the same Mould and the distinction that is made proceeding from a hidden and reserved Providence altogether unknown to us it were very Unbecoming to Expose them to Scorn for that whose Reasons we are perfectly Ignorant of A Fool is rather the Object of our Pity and Commiseration than of our Contempt and Derision And to Vilifie and Upbraid another for any Defect or Deformity of Body it is to Upbraid him for that which was no more in his Power to help than it was in his Power not to be Born Least of all does it become us to make our selves Merry with other Mens Sins but rather to Mourn and Weep that they are so degenerate and fallen from the Excellency and Height of their Creation And as for their Follies though they may seem to give an Occasion for Derision yet it is better to imitate the sad and sober Temper of the Holy Jesus of whom we Read that he sometimes Wept but never that he Laught 5. Lastly Christian Gravity will Teach us to avoid all Filthiness and Foolish Talking and Jesting which this Apostle St. Paul tells us Ephes 5.4 Are not convenient i. e. they are not agreeable to that Gravity and Modesty that a Christian ought to Observe Out of the Abundance of the Heart the Mouth speaketh and he that either uses or delights in Obscene and Filthy Discourse it is a certain sign that the Frame and Temper of his Soul is strangely sunk and bemired in Flesh and Blood And though 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Vrbanity which is here rendred Jesting be reckoned by Aristotle as a Virtue that helps to Accomplish a Man and those who neither willingly use nor take any pleasure in Jests are by him termed 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Rustical Yet as the one will hardly Merit the Name of Virtue unless it be used with great Caution and Prudence so the other is so far from Rusticity that it may rather seem the Exaltedness and Heroicalness of the Mind that Slights and Undervalues these little Flirts of Wit as Mean and Trivial In a Word We that profess Christianity ought to behave our selves with that Becomingness as that we may neither be Taxed with Superciliousness Pride or Scorn nor yet with a Vain Light and Frothy Spirit 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Whatsoever things are Just We have Discoursed of the Two First of these Virtues mentioned by St. Paul the next in order is to Consider of such things as are Just And let no Man look upon the Practice of these Virtues as Mean and Light and a thing of no Consequence for whoever is defective in these can never truly pretend to Christianity For the true Christian Life is made up of such things as these are and he that is not true in his Words and Promises that does not act suitably and agreeably to that Nature God has implanted in him and moreover can allow himself knowingly to defraud his Neighbour whatever plausible Covering he may shelter himself under yet he can never pass for a true Christian in the sight of God or Man We are too apt to believe that we shall be saved though we transgress these Rules of Virtue and we may go on and deceive

Virtue could be made Visible to Mortal Eyes it must be by this Excellent Frame and Temper of Mind which we term Sincerity It hath all that Excellency and Worth that Solomon speaks of Wisdom which indeed is nothing but the Perfection of Sincerity It is better than Rubies and all the things that are to be desired are not to be compared to it The Fruit of it is better than Gold and the Revenue than choice Silver Whoso finds Sincerity findeth Life and shall obtain favour of the Lord. Which is enough one would think to render so Charming a Qualification highly valuable in our Eyes since there is nothing that is Noble and Good but is some way or other contained in it But if this be too general a Representation of the Worth of it take it more particularly 1. Sincerity alleviates all Crosses and Afflictions Troubles Vexations Miseries and Disappointments make up a very great part of Humane Life The Son of God himself was not exempted from Humane Miseries but made his way unto Glory through Death and the Grave And it is our Lot and Portion to arrive at our Blessedness through many Tribulations neither must we forget that the Passage to the Celestial Paradise lies through a Valley of Tears Therefore since we cannot hope to be perfectly freed from Calamities and Vexatious Circumstances in this Life our next enquiry must be how to alleviate and make them tolerable And the most certain way for this is to be Sincere i. e. to have our Minds fully and wholly carried out after God and Virtue When a Man falls into Calamity through his own Folly or that a Great and Heinous Sin has been the immediate Cause of his Affliction he loses his Peace and Quiet because his Conscience tells him that those things might have been avoided But when Tribulations arise from the Decree of Heaven and that a Man's Troubles are the effects of Divine Goodness and sent as fit Opportunities to make Tryal of his Patience Resignation and Humility then the Mind is quiet submissive and composed because when it looks back it hath no ugly and staring Sins to affright it From whence it evidently follows that if we are immutably fixed and grounded in the Sincere Love of God and Goodness we cannot be hurt by any Affliction Nay the greatest Misery and Calamity will be eased and the smart of it taken off because while we are Sincere our Hearts assure us of better Usage and a more Comfortable State in another World So that let it be loss of Friends loss of Liberty and Estate or whatever else is accounted a Happiness in this Life yet a Sincere Person knows that he is befriended by the Holy and Kind Beings of the invisible World that a tender Providence shrouds him under its Wings and will hereafter recompence this short and light Affliction with a Great and Eternal Weight of Glory 2. Sincerity contains whatever is truly desirable by the heart of Man Are we pleased and delighted with a Beautiful Object Can there be any thing more Beautiful and Lovely than a Calm and Serene Soul whose Glory and Lustre is not so concealed and obscured within but it diffuses and communicates such Rays and Beams of Mild and Unfeigned Simplicity even in the Eyes and outward Visage as must needs affect every Rational Being with Admiration and Love Do Riches appear Splendid and Glorious What Riches can be comparable to this inestimable Treasure of Simplicity and Sincerity And when the Mind is Adorned and Clothed with this it is much more Bright and Dazeling than Solomon's Glorious Apparel and Robes of Royalty Besides Riches are fugitive and uncertain whereas Sincerity is such a Treasure as can neither be taken from us nor ever exhausted or drawn dry Do the Pleasures of this World affect our Hearts We are to consider then that in the Judgment of all Wise Men the Pleasures of the Mind are much more Noble than those of the Body And Sincerity in this exceeds all Earthly and Corporeal Pleasures in that it never burdens us with Satiety nor torments us with the Fear of its Decay Could we be delighted with Honour Then know that the highest Honour in the World is to be like to God who is the Greatest Unity and Simplicity Sincerity is a Uniform thing always steady and one and the same for ever but Hypocrisie and Dissimulation is Changeable and Various and goes always under a disguise In a Word search all that any way appears grateful and desirable by the Heart of Man and this Excellent Qualification of Sincerity will be found to be much more Eligible This Unites our Minds with God and fits us to Converse with Angelical Spirits whose Natures are so much the more Excellent and Exalted as they partake more of Uniformity and Simplicity 3. The very Perfection of Holiness consists in Sincerity For certainly the most perfect State of Angels in the Regions of Glory consists in this that they love and serve God truly according to the utmost of their Powers And this is what every Man may and ought to do It is true in this Life our Affections cannot be so vigorous and enlarged nor our Desires so comprehensive as those of an Angel but they may be as Sincere and without Dissimulation There is a great abatement and allowance to be made to the Variety of Humane Imbecillity and Imperfection All Men are not born Philosophers and the very Notion of a Spiritual Being makes not the same lively and Impression upon all but he that retains such a Sense of it as keeps him steady and firm in the Practice of Virtue shall never be forgotten by Divine Goodness Though all our Services are mean and poor yet they may be hearty and unmixt and we may express a Cordial Sense of our Love to God though that Holy Fire do not flame and sparkle with the Brightness of a Seraphim Virtue and Goodness is not always to be measured by the highest Degrees but by the Truth Plainness and Simplicity of it 4. Sincerity brings the truest Pleasure in the World For as all Corporeal Pleasure consists in the exercise of the Senses and is more or less according as it affects them So when the Soul is Sincere there arises in it a true sense and tast of Righteousness which brings an ineffable Pleasure along with it It must be granted indeed that this lively and pleasant sense of Virtue and that Gratefulness that springs from it is a thing that is not to be made known by Words but is only perceived by the inward sense of the Soul it self And hence a Carnal and Animal Man may enjoy himself in Sensual Delights while in the mean time he is a mere stranger to that Noble Pleasure that results from Virtue because that Principle which should tast the rellish and sweetness of it is yet asleep in him Moreover all Earthly Pleasures are muddy and defiled and have a tast of the Cask that is the Body wherein they Lodg But the Pleasures of Virtue are Refined and run pure and clear for ever Because the Spring whence Virtuous Pleasure derives is Sincerity which is a State and Condition pure and unmixed without any Art or Adulterated Compositions 5. Sincerity begets a generous Boldness and Magnanimity No Man can be more confident of the well-being of his Soul than the Sincere Person and this Confidence makes him look Afflictions and Dangers undauntedly in the Face The Sincere Person whose Conscience can Testifie to him that he hath fathfully endeavoured to Serve and Obey God is fully assured however it may fare with him here yet it shall go well with him in the other World He knows that God will never be unkind to an Innocent or Penitent Person and is assured that he can never forsake what is his own Life and Nature which surely an Unself-Interesssed and Universaliz'd Love is Wherefore such a One though it were in the Agonies of Death it self can chearfully commit himself into the Gracious Hands of God and with an Humble Confidence trust himself with the invisible Guards of those higher and better Regions For what shall separate us from the Love of God saith St. Paul Nothing surely if our own Hearts do not Condemn us of Hypocrisie for then we may rest secure of God's Love who always Loves for the same Reason And his Love is Immutable and never changes till we change by Inadvertencey and Folly 6. Lastly Sincerity fills the Soul with an Eternal Peace and secures it from all Intestine Broils Distractions and Tumults It is this lower and troubled Air that is subject to Thunder and Storms while those upper Regions above the Clouds enjoy a perpetual Sun-shine and Calm And it is Hypocrisie and Dissimulation and a Guiltiness and Consciousness that we have been False to God and Virtue that raises Storms and Troubles within our own Breasts But Sincerity sets us above all these and we Breath in a Freer and Purer Air and our Souls are Calm and Composed Fair and Lovely as the Clear Face of Heaven In this Soil grows the Tree of Life and here are those Rivers of Living Waters which overflow and enrich the Paradise of God In a Word this State of Sincerity is a more valuable Treasure than all the World 'T is every thing that a Man can desire because it makes him beloved of God who is an Infinite Fulness of all Happiness and Perfection After this State we ought earnestly to contend and never leave off our pursuit till we have attained to it This delights the Heart of God and Man and is so enravishing a Temper that our Saviour could not but commend it in his Holy Apostle Now that we may all press forward to this Mark God of his Infinite Mercy grant through Jesus Christ to whom with the Holy Spirit be all Honour and Glory now and for evermore Amen FINIS