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	matter_n	see_v	3,060	5	3.1155	3	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A04270	The ioy of the vpright man In a sermon preached at Grayes Inne: By I. B. Wherein is declared the hidden comfort, the sure reward, the present condition of the vpright-hearted.	Barlow, John, b. 1580 or 81.	1619 (1619)	STC 1439; ESTC S116383	22,522	44

peculiar to the Lords people and is not this a matter of mirth great moment Shall a man reioyce and march cheerefully in being garnished with the ornaments of nature and be dead in the nest when hee is wrapped in this pure and white linnen What saith the Church in this respect I will greatly reioyce in the Lord and my soule shall be glad in my God Why for he hath clothed me with the garments of saluation and couered me with the robe of righteousnes he hath decked me like a bridegroome and as a bride tireth her selfe with her iewels this is the garment of true gladnesse Reason 3 And furthermore hath not the vpright man a good conscience Is not this a continuall feast No colour so pleasand to the eye wine to the pallate or any obiect to the outward sense as this is to the inner man the reasonable soule Oh that men did but know what musicke this doth make what ioy it carrieth to the right owner of it then would they neuer doubt of the truth of this doctrine but they doe not they cannot for they be strangers from it it from them Reason 4 Besides all this They be assured of rest at their death peace in heauen the resurrection of the body and eternall saluation This made Dauids heart glad and his flesh rest in hope This comforted iust Iob in all his troubles that he should liue and rise againe the beleeuing Iewes in the expectation of this had ioy vnspeakable glorious Paul went on cheerefully in the assurance of the same And beloued let the world think what they will or can here is the true roote and fountaine out of which all sound ioy and mirth springeth floweth Vse 1 And is not here iustly confuted that opinion of many in our daies who thinke that Godlines is the damper of all mirth and cause of continuall sorrow Oh say such become so strict so precise then farewell ioy and all true comfort for it bringeth nothing but melancholy and vexation of spirit This is the Diuels old shift to make men vnwilling to take the path to heauen and see into the consolations of a Christian course I remember that the Spies who came backe from Canaan commended the countrey but said they saw great Giants and fenced Cities to dishearten those which should enter and so doth Satan Gods Saints and seruants at this day And when all is done that can be done the vpright man shall be the only merry man for his yoke is easie and his burthen light Me thinkes this might confirme the poynt and conuince any person that thinketh otherwise Why do not men cast off this course if there be no ioy in it and take another If wee should see a man that hath great varietie of suites still weare one and the same lay the rest by him would wee not affirme that hee is much affected with that he weareth If a man haue diuers walkes in or about his Orchard yet is alwaies found to be in one no other wil it not be concluded that his delight in that exceedeth So the children of God still weare one suite keep one path pleasure or profit doth not alter them then may wee not absolutely conclude that they finde mirth in running the waies of Gods commands pleasure in his precepts and ioy in putting on the robes of righteousnes Obiection But the common obiection is None more sad to see to none lesse chearefull to behold than such as seeme to be most religious vpright-hearted Answer Why haue we not already heard that their haruest is secret hidden For as in laughter the heart may be sorrowfull so vnder a sad countenance the heart may be merry And as the wicked haue many a secret sting the righteous feele not so haue the vpright hidden comforts that the wicked know not And it is the nature and very propertie of great things in stead of laughter in the face to cause great ioy in the heart Let a man finde a rich Iewel or bagge of siluer in the streete will he not goe away with a composed and setled countenance whē as another that stoopes at a trifle will fall a smiling Hast thou not seene one that drinkes strong wine wipe his mouth stroke the breast and neuer change the former looke and yet peraduenture another that drinkes but water will smile laugh and seeme a merry man The one doth warme and glad the heart the other only force a fained kinde of laughter And seldome hast thou seene a man outwardly merry in the fruition of great matters neither doe wee reade of Christ that hee and who euer had greater cause in all his life time laughed The wine of the grape and water of life will glad the soule and worke inwardly a depth of cōfort though it alwaies breake not foorth and be conspicuous in the beholders so the things of this world may make a man outwardly merry but this mirth is not sound constant and will but end 〈◊〉 mourning Wee must consider that 〈…〉 the mindes motion 〈…〉 diuersitie of effects in mans our 〈◊〉 ●isposition Let the infant in the mothers arme cast its eyes on some bugbeare will it not fall a crying yet let it looke the bearer in the face then anone it will laugh reioyce and fall to smiling so when the vpright man considereth the many and strong corruptions that be in him the greatnes and number of sinnes that haue proceeded from him the long time and extraordinary meanes of grace that hath been abused by him he cannot but be troubled in heart and hang downe the head but on the contrary when hee calleth to minde that God accepts the weak and sincere endeuour for the deed how Christ is his perfection and that the Spirit will one day cleane dissolue root out the cursed worke of Satan and finish the good work of grace he hath begun in him then he gathereth comfort plucketh vp his heart and is a right merry man He hath his daies wherein he is a man of sorrow as at his first conuersion when the soule is trauelling of the New-birth with many a sigh and deepe groane againe in some desertion violent tentation or time of Gods fiery triall and probation And finally when the walls of Ierusalem lie waste the sepulchres of his Fathers be ruinated and the course of Religion infringed corrupted then his sighes are many and his heart is heauy Neh. ● 3. But what for all this Is not the doctrine sound Yes for ioy shall breake foorth in the morning peace will come and thy bitter teares shall be as a fresh and coole 〈◊〉 to a wearie and thirstie tra●eller to comfo●● 〈◊〉 ouer-tyred spirit And I dare set downe this peremptorie conclusion that In the greatest 〈◊〉 the vpright man is the subject of 〈◊〉 mirth the only merry man for the cause of his ioy is alwaies great and constant though the effects be not proportionable Vse 2 Againe this doctrine may

Psalme so that we may without danger expound it of Christ the true light of his comming and all blessings that accompany the same Is sowne that is prepared purposed and appointed of God to be receiued in due time and conuenient season for as seed lieth in the earth couered for a while so is the ioy of the iust secret hidden For the righteous Wee must vnderstand that there is a twofold righteousnesse and that either personall or by imputation Personall righteousnesse hath in it two things first integritie secondly conformitie for there is one frame of the person another of his actions Integritie of nature must be in him that is personally righteous so was Adam Eue and Christ by creation hence some conclude that onely they three were created in the image of God and none other for God in the beginning made man righteous righteous in respect of his nature and being and Christ afterward as hee was man for the Spirit did ouershadow the Virgin and purifie the matter and masse of which his humane body consisted so that it was perfect and without the staine of the least originall sinne And againe conformitie of action is also of necessitie to make a man personally and absolutely righteous the first Adam had the one but failed in the other therefore because he kept not the rule of iustice he was neuer actually and personally righteous the second Adam Christ had both and so was able to abide the Law yea the very rigour of it either for puritie of nature or holinesse of conuersation and he onely and none but hee Hence he is called Iesus Christ the righteous for he was righteous euery manner of way And although the first may bee without the second yet the second cannot be without the first because the latter as an effect springeth and floweth from the former as his true and proper cause Ephes 4. 24. And thus hauing declared what personall righteousnesse is wee come to see what is meant by righteousnesse imputed Now imputed righteousnesse is that righteousnesse which is not in mans selfe or from himselfe but from and by another not by creation but imputation This seemes to me to be prefigured by the skinnes wherewith the Lord after the fall clothed our first Parents the bodies of the beasts were for sacrifice the skinnes to put them in mind that their owne righteousnesse was like the figge-leaues imperfect and therefore they must bee iustified another way Yet howeuer that be Paul is plaine for this distribution of double righteousnesse for saith he I labour not to be found in mine owne righteousnes which is by the Law but that which is by faith in Christ Phil. 3. 9. So that it is manifest there is an imputatiue as well as a personall righteousnesse And here we are to note two things in righteousnesse imputed first what it is that maketh righteous secondly how or by what meanes we are made partakers of this that maketh vs righteous The thing or matter is Christ and his obedience Christ is made our righteousnesse c. 1. Cor. 1. 30. And we must haue both his person and actions to be the matter of our iustification for we are conceiued in sinne therefore we must haue a righteousnesse to satisfie the iustice of the Law in that for the parts of Diuinitie at the Creation seeme to be Holinesse of nature and Perfection of life so that this rule being iust and good must be fully satisfied either by our selues or some other else no flesh should be iustified or saued Againe I say his obedience must be imputed also and that actiue and passiue the which some but without iust reason deny affirming that the passiue is of it selfe sufficient And the reason is this the Law after Adams fall required a double debt the one that the breach thereof might be repaired the other perfectly obeyed that that was done must be vndone and that which was vndone must bee done and by whom euen by Christ our surety And obserue how fitly the actiue and passiue obedience of Christ answere these two for his passion remooued the curse and his actiue obedience brings the blessing and confirmes man being reconciled And this is that which the Apostle intendeth though some otherwise expound the place where he saith If by the death of Christ that is his passiue obedience we be reconciled to God when wee were enemies much more being reconciled we shall be saued by his life that is his actiue obedience Rom. 5. 10. For the better vnderstanding of this let vs compare Adam vnto a pot or some such earthen vessell first it is framed molded and well figured then it is put into the ouen or furnace and hardned Now suppose that this vessell bee hit with a foote and dashed in pieces before it was hardned must it not haue a double act to make it perfect one to mould it anew another to season and harden it Why man by Creation was by God excellently framed but he was not hardned and confirmed by the obedience of the Law but broken to pieces in dashing himselfe against it so that now hee standeth in need of more than at his creation for he is broken therefore wants molding and then hardening too else notwithstanding his case were mutable and his condition subiect to breaking still Now the passiue obedience of Christ doth frame him anew that is set him in that condition wherein he was at the first by creation and then his actiue obedience like the furnace doth confirme and make him a vessell vnchangeable and fit for the Lords vse for euer And doth it not stand with iustice that death should remooue death and life procure life I write my opinion submitting my selfe to the iudgement of the reuerend and learned that the ground of this error had its beginning from misunderstanding of personall righteousnesse for Adam was iust by creation in respect of his essentiall properties but neuer actually righteous in the obedience of the precepts by practise so that Adam was no sinner yet not iustified for not a sinner and a righteous person are not equall and equiualent termes they may not bee conuerted for Adam though iust by creation yet not by action so that he did but answere to one part of the rule not the other neither could hee vntill this created righteousnesse had been produced into act for as the breach of the Law made him actually a sinner vniust so the performance of it would haue made him actually righteous the which he neuer was The death of Christ will restore vs to that estate from which we fell in Adam and that is of enemies to make vs friends and to heale meritoriously our wounded nature but his life must confirme vs and make vs actually iust and there can be no danger at all in holding this doctrine and I wonder that any man can either ascribe too much to Christ or beleeue too much in him for if the breach