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	reason_n	sin_n	2,514	5	4.6493	4	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A62590	A sermon preached before the King, Febr. 26th 1674/5 John Tillotson ...	Tillotson, John, 1630-1694.	1675 (1675)	Wing T1227; ESTC R10018	12,574	38

and miscarriages of our lives I thought on my ways that is I called my sins to remembrance I took a particular account of the errors of my life and laid them seriously to heart I considered all the circumstances and consequences of them and all other things belonging to them and reasoning the matter throughly with my self came to a peremptory and fixed resolution of breaking off this wicked course of life and betaking my self to the obedience of God's Laws And the consideration of our ways taken in this sense which seems to be the more probable meaning of the Words may reasonably imply in it these following particulars 1. The taking of a particular account of our fins together with the several circumstances and aggravations of them 2. A hearty trouble and sorrow for them I thought on my ways that is I laid them sadly to heart 3. A serious consideration of the evil and unreasonableness of a sinful course 4. A due sense of the fearful and fatal consequences of a wicked life 5. A full conviction of the necessity of quitting this course 6. An apprehension of the possibility of doing this 1. The taking of a particular account of our sins together with the several circumstances and aggravations of them And to this end we may do well to reflect particularly upon the several stages and periods of our lives and to recollect at least the principal miscarriages belonging to each of them And the better to enable us hereto it will be useful to have before our eyes some abridgement or summary of the Laws of God containing the chief heads of duties and sins of virtues and vices For this will help to bring many of our faults and neglects to our remembrance which otherwise perhaps would have been forgotten by us We should likewise consider the several relations wherein we have stood to others and how far we have transgressed or failed of our duty in any of those respects And having thus far made up our sad account we may in a great measure understand the number and greatness of our sins abating for some particulars which are slipp'd out of our memory and for sins of ignorance and dayly infirmities which are innumerable By all which we may see what vile wretches and grievous offenders we have been especially if we take into consideration the several heavy circumstances of our sins which do above measure aggravate them the heinousness of many of them as to their nature and the injurious consequences of them to the person or estate or reputation of our neighbour their having been committed against the clear knowledg of our duty against the frequent checks and convictions of our consciences telling us when we did them that we did amiss against so many motions and suggestions of Gods Holy Spirit so many admonitions and reproofs from others and contrary to our own most serious vows and resolutions renewed at several times especially upon the receiving of the blessed Sacrament and in times of sickness and distress and all this notwithstanding the plainest declarations of Gods will to the contrary notwithstanding the terrors of the Lord and the wrath of God revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men notwithstanding the cruel sufferings of the Son of God for our sins and the most merciful offers of pardon and reconciliation in his blood Add to this the scandal of our wicked lives to our holy Religion the ill example of them to the corrupting and debauching of others the affront of them to the Divine Authority and the horrible ingratitude of them to the mercy and goodness and patience of God to which we have such infinite obligations Thus we should set our sins in order before our eyes with the several aggravations of them 2. A hearty trouble and sorrow for sin I thought on my ways that is I laid my sins sadly to heart And surely whenever we remember the faults and follies of our lives we cannot but be inwardly touched and sensibly grieved at the thoughts of them we cannot but hang down our heads and smite upon our breasts and be in pain and heaviness at our very hearts I know that the tempers of men are very different and therefore I do not say that tears are absolutely necessary to repentance but they do very well become it and a thorough sense of sin will almost melt the most hard and obdurate disposition and fetch water out of a very rock To be sure the consideration of our ways should cause inward trouble and confusion in our minds The least we can do when we have done amiss is to be sorry for it to condemn our own folly and to be full of indignation and displeasure against our selves for what we have done and to resolve never to do the like again And let us make sure that our trouble and sorrow for sin have this effect to make us leave our sins and then we shall need to be the less solicitous about the degrees and outward expressions of it 3. A serious consideration of the evil and unreasonableness of a sinful course That sin is the stain and blemish of our natures the reproach of our reason and understanding the disease and the deformity of our souls the great enemy of our peace the cause of all our fears and troubles That whenever we do a wicked action we go contrary to the clearest dictates of our reason and conscience to our plain and true interest and to the strongest tyes and obligations of duty and gratitude And which renders it yet more unreasonable sin is a voluntary evil which men wilfully bring upon themselves Other evils may be forced upon us whether we will or no a man may be poor or sick by misfortune but no man is wicked and vitious but by his own choice How do we betray our folly and weakness by suffering our selves to be hurried away by every foolish lust and passion to do things which we know to be prejudicial and hurtful to our selves and so base and unworthy in themselves that we are ashamed to do them not only in the presence of a wise man but even of a child or a fool So that if sin were followed with no other punishment besides the guilt of having done a shameful thing a man would not by intemperance make himself a fool and a beast one would not be false and unjust treacherous or unthankful if for no other reason yet out of meer greatness and generosity of mind out of respect to the dignity of his nature and out of very reverence to his own reason and understanding For let Witty men say what they will in defence of their vices there are so many natural acknowledgments of the evil and unreasonableness of sin that the matter is past all denial Men are generally galled and uneasie at the thoughts of an evil action both before and after they have committed it they are ashamed to be taken in a crime and heartily vexed and

A SERMON Preached before the KING Febr. 26 th 1674 5. By John Tillotson D. D. Dean of Canterbury and Chaplain in Ordinary to His MAJESTY Published By His Majesties Special Command LONDON Printed by A. Maxwell for Samuel Gellibrand at the Ball in St. Pauls Church-yard 1675. A SERMON Preached before the KING Febr. 26 th 1674 5. PSAL. 119. 59. I thought on my ways and turned my feet unto thy testimonies THE two great causes of the ruine of men are Infidelity and want of consideration Some do not believe the principles of Religion or at least have by arguing against them rendered them so doubtful to themselves as to take away the force and efficacy of them But these are but a very small part of mankind in comparison of those who perish for want of considering these things For most men take the principles of Religion for granted That there is a God and a Providence and a State of Rewards and Punishments after this life and never entertained any considerable doubt in their minds to the contrary But for all this they never attended to the proper and natural consequences of these principles nor applyed them to their own case They never seriously considered the notorious inconsistency of their lives with this belief and what manner of persons they ought to be who are verily perswaded of the truth of these things For no man that is convinced that there is a God and considers the necessary and immediate consequences of such a perswasion can think it safe to affront Him by a wicked life No man that believes the infinite happiness and misery of another world and considers withall that one of these shall certainly be his portion according as he demeans himself in this present life can think it indifferent what course he takes Men may thrust away these thoughts and keep them out of their minds for a long time but no man that enters into the serious consideration of these matters can possibly think it a thing indifferent to him whether he be happy or miserable for ever So that a great part of the evils of mens lives would be cured if they would but once lay them to heart would they but seriously consider the consequences of a wicked life they would see so plain reason and so urgent a necessity for the reforming of it that they would not venture to continue any longer in it This course David took here in the Text and he found the happy success of it I thought on my ways and turned my feet unto thy testimonies In which Words there are these two things considerable I. The course which David here took for the reforming of his life I thought on my ways II. The success of this course It produced actual and speedy reformation I thought on my ways and turned my feet unto thy testimonies I made haste and delayed not to keep thy commandments These are the two heads of my following discourse which when I have spoken to I shall endeavour to perswade my self and you to take the same course which David here did and God grant that it may have the same effect I. We will consider the course which David here took for the reforming of his life I thought on my ways or as the words are rendered in our old Translation I called mine own ways to remembrance And this may either signifie a general survey and examination of his life respecting indifferently the good or bad actions of it Or else which is more probable it may specially refer to the sins and miscarriages of his life I thought on my ways that is I called my sins to remembrance Neither of these senses can be much amiss in order to the effect mentioned in the Text viz. the reformation and amendment of our lives and therefore neither of them can reasonably be excluded though I shall principally insist upon the later 1. This thinking of our ways may signifie a general survey and examination of our lives respecting indifferently our good and bad actions For Way is a Metaphorical word denoting the course of a mans life and actions I thought on my ways that is I examined my life and called my self to a strict account for the actions of it I compared them with the Law of God the rule and measure of my duty and considered how far I had obeyed that Law or offended against it how much evil I had been guilty of and how little good I had done in comparison of what I might and ought to have done That by this means I might come to understand the true state and condition of my soul and discerning how many and great my faults and defects were I might amend whatever was amiss and be more careful of my duty for the future And it must needs be a thing of excellent use for men to set apart some particular times for the examination of themselves that they may know how accounts stand between God and them Pythagoras or whoever was the Author of those golden verses which pass under his name doth especially recommend this practice to his Scholars every night before they slept to call themselves to account for the actions of the day past enquiring wherein they had transgressed what good they had done that day or omitted to do And this no doubt is an admirable means to improve men in virtue a most effectual way to keep our consciences continually waking and tender and to make us stand in awe of our selves and afraid to sin when we know before hand that we must give so severe an account to our selves of every action And certainly it is a great piece of wisdom to make up our accounts as frequently as we can that our repentance may in some measure keep pace with the errors and failings of our lives and that we may not be oppressed and confounded by the insupportable weight of the sins of a whole life falling upon us at once and that perhaps at the very worst time when we are sick and weak and have neither understanding nor leisure to recollect our selves and to call our sins distinctly to remembrance much less to exercise any fit and proper acts of repentance for them For there is nothing to be done in Religion when our Reason is once departed from us then darkness hath overtaken us indeed and the night is come when no man can work But though we were never so sensible and should do all we can at that time yet after all this how it will go with us God alone knows I am sure it is too much presumption for any man to be confident that one general and confused act of repentance will serve his turn for the sins of his whole life Therefore there is great reason why we should often examine our selves both in order to the amendment of our lives and the ease of our consciences when we come to dye 2. This thinking of our ways may particularly and specially refer to the sins