Selected quad for the lemma: cause_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
cause_n	know_v	let_v	see_v	3,024	5	2.9158	3	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A50229	A sermon, occasioned by the execution of a man found guilty of murder, preached at Boston in N.E., March 11th, 1685/6 (together with the confession, last expressions, & solemn warning of the murderer to all persons, especially to young men, to beware of those sins which brought him to his miserable end) / by Increase Mather ...	Mather, Increase, 1639-1723.; Moodey, Joshua, 1633?-1697. Exhortation to a condemned malefactor.	1687 (1687)	Wing M1248; ESTC W19800	66,053	133

there should be any Esau-like despisers of Jesus Christ and his Invitation or his Salvation in the Congregation God forbid that there should be one such child of perdition as an impenitent unbeliever among us all Some persons there are indeed who make a Scruple of it May I venture to look unto Jesus Christ notwithstanding all my vileness my wretchedness my unworthiness To these it may be safely rejoin'd If you find that God hath wrought your heart to a willingness to close with a whole Christ you should not let your Unworthiness be your Discouragement against doing of it The Invitatitation Look unto me is enough to embolden you unto beleeving looks towards the Lord Jesus Christ notwithstanding all the damps doubts which your misgiving hearts may have about your acceptance in it Syrs the Golden Sceptre is held out you may draw near When Jesus Christ said unto Peter you may come he presently ran over the dangerous waves of the boisterous Sea unto Him Truly so since Jesus Christ sayes to you you may look let no hard suspicions and surmises keep you from doing your duty in it The Canaanitess in Mat. 15. 27. did as one of Ancients expresseth it play the Philosopher ●●he disputed the case after this rate A Dog may have Crumbs It seems I am a dog Therefore an ingenious a gracious Therefore I may have Crumbs too Thus may you Argue prostrate at the footstool of the Lord Jesus Christ All the Ends of the earth should look unto thee O Lord I am one at the Ends of the earth Therefore I may look unto thee Surely He that hath his Chair in the heavens will deny no part of the Syllogism which shall thus be framed by a wrestling Faith Though you have bin as bad as any among the Corinthians were of old yet if you have arrived unto a due hunger thirst after Jesus Christ you may endeavour to look unto him saying as Samuel to Eli Lord here I am for thou calledst me and He will be far from saying to you as Eli to Samuel No I called not The Question which some will now be ready to ask is and O that many with an earnestness like that wherewith Peter's hearers put forth their What shall we do would ask such a question How shall I look unto Jesus Christ About this there are a few Directions to be given O set your hearts unto the words that shall be testified among you for they are not vain things your very lives yea the lives of your souls are concerned in them I Know then that besides your occasio●al glances towards the Lord Jesus Christ which every day ought to be very many at least as many as the stings which the infernal vipers do vex your souls withal there is a Set-work of this nature to be solemnly performed both by them whose dead eyes never yet look'd to Jesus Christ by them whose dim eyes have cause enough to continue looking unto him whom they have already seen Now there are Two things to be premised concerning this Let this be the 1st premised It is highly expedient that you should speedily set apart a time to make attempts about the grand work of Looking unto Jesus Christ It is indeed true that an unbeliever hath no other Assureance of prospering in his Essayes to break the iron Prison doors of his unbelief but such an Who can tell such an Who knowes such an It may be as the Prophets of old were wont much to insist upon If you set your selvs to believe in your own strength the Faith of Simon Magus is all you are like to attain unto Yet you may be quickned to do what you can from the renowned History of the man with the withred hand in Mat. 13. 13. unto whom Jesus saying stretch forth thy hand he tryed to do it without any demurr at the seeming unsuitableness of the Injunction and Behold he stretched it forth and it was restored Let this be next premised It is extreamly requisite that this rare work of Looking unto Jesus Christ should be often renewed Sometimes perhaps the spirit of Jealousy will come upon you you will be fearing Alas I did never yet aright look unto Jesus Christ Now the best way ●● sectle these troubled waters will be that which Jo●ah had I will look yet AGAIN And O remember that to do this work often over over again is a thing than which nothing can more tend to your Victory over all the Adversaries of your endless Welfare Yea sometimes if an Half or a Whole of a day were purposely laid out i● this work the time will be found not to have ●in lost when Eternity shall dawn upon the world Hence in 1. Pet. 2. 4. they who have already tasted the grace of Jesus Christ are bid still ●o come unto him Some of us before the sands of another hour be run out shall so meet with this King of glory in his Galleries that we may have a special opportunity to catch hold on the feet of the Lord who deigns to sup with us and like Mary cry my Lord my Lord until we have renewed the Looks that have hitherto kept our souls in life O be you thankful for this and do wish your might what your hands find to do And now Hear and your soul shall live O that you would labour in a wise Retirement to ●if● up the wof●l eyes of your Hell-stung souls towards the Lord Jesus Christ after such a manner 1. Meditate most affectionately on those thing● which may aw●ken the Christ-ward LOOKs of of your sou●s It is hinted in Luc. 1. 17. Tha●●●dina●ily before persons ●an look unto Jesus Christ they must be a people prepared for the Lord. Now to promote and produce this peice or Soul-good there is no Engine li●e to Consideration O Consideration what Me●icine for sou● maladies is comaparable to That If we would but let the Angel of CONSIDERATION stir the Pool how probably might we step in and have our unbelieving eyes enabled to look unto our dear Helper who longs to be doing good unto us It 's said of a Convert in Ezek. 18. 28. He considers he turns perhaps it may likewise at last be said of us he considers he looks There are then 2 or 3 savory Meditations to which if you should give a time and room you may hereafter reap the comfort of it I perceive in Hos 14. 2. and elsewhere that the prophets would sometimes put words into the mouths of them that they were travelling for the Salvation of Something of that kind shal now be done by the bringing of those thoughts into your mind which may comport with the Invitations of Jesus Christ Let your first Head of Meditation be an I Must Think with your selves I must look unto Jesus Christ Say to your own souls about Looking to Jesus Christ as Paul did about preaching of Jesus Christ Necessity is laid upon me and woe unto me

hang'd if it were so and once he wish'd he might be hang'd if ever he play'd agen and therefore said he God is just in bringing me to such a death as this And when Anger shall break out into Blows Quarreling and Fighting between Neighbours that ought to live in peace there is great Evil in it This miserable creature before us acknowledgeth that it was so with him In his mad passions he car'd not who he did strike or hurt It is not good for them that have lawful power to strike others to do it in passion It is not good for Parents to strike their children or Masters their Servants or School-masters their Scholars in heat of Anger le●t they become guilty of breaking the sixth Commandment A moral Heathen when his servant had committed a fault that greatly in●en●ed him said to him If I were not angry with the● I would strike thee but I will stay till my passion is over before I punish thee Again a spirit of Revenge is an evil thing it is Murder in God's sight 1. Joh. 3. 15. He that hateth his brother is a Murderer Hatred never rests but in the destruction of the thing ha●ed To say no more here Cruelty is a degree of Murder and a great Evil and most of all for men to be cruel to those that stand in nearest Relation to them as this Malefactor owns that he has been whom they ought to love dearly is an high degree of Inhumanity No man that acted like a man ever hated his own flesh To be cruel tho to a Servant or Slave is a very sinful thing Nay Cruelty tho to a Beast argueth a murderous bloody Disposition The Scripture saith a good man is merciful to his Beast They then that make themselvs sport with Putting dumb creatures to misery do very sinfully Yet that has been practised here of later years in the open Streets especially on one day of the year To do it at such a * I intend the Cocks●alings on Shr●ve Tuesday Time is vanity Heathenish Superstition besides to make sport with exercising cruelty on dumb creatures which had never bin miserable had not the sins of men made them so it is a wicked thing and ought not to be among those that call themselvs Christians Infor. 3. If Murder be such a Crime as hath been shewed It is then a sorrowful thing that so many of the Children of men should be found guilty of this Evil. There are some places of the world where Murder is a common sin The dark corners of the earth are full of the habitations of Cruelty And there are many in the world that call themselvs Christians who nevertheless delight in shedding innocent blood Persecutors are Murderers Bloody Papists are in the Scriptures charged with Murder on this account it is said of them they repented not of their Murders Rev. 9. 21. namely of their murdering the Saints of God for their Religion for the Truth sake and because they would not comply with their Superstitions and Idolatries That Mother of Harlot● the Church of Rome she has made her self drunk with blood many Millions of Saints have been murdered by her Persecutors are Cain's Children O how many are there going up and down the world with Cain's bloody clubb in their hands to this day It was Luther's Saying Cain will kill Abel to the end of the world But besides this That which the Civil Laws of Nations make to be Murder is frequent in some places A late Historian reports that in the the Kingdom of France * See Trap. on Genes 9. 6. within the space of ten years there were known to be no less than 6000 Murders committed And in popish Countries they have Sanctuaries for Murderers (i) Vide C●●● a Lapide in Deut. 19. A man that has bin guilty of wilful Murder if he does but run into a Church as they call it or into a Monastery he is protected in those bloody places of Refuge Their Writers plead for this And tho no convicted Murderer did ever escape the stroke of Justice in this Land which is a matter of rejoicing yet it is a very sad thing that any in such a place as this should be found guilty of such a Crime that men should do so wickedly in a Land of Vprightness but so it has been Divers have been executed for this sin formerly and here is one that is to be executed for it this day And there have been several Murders committed among us the Authors of which are not yet known Some have bin so monstrously wicked and unnatural as to embrew their hands in the blood of their own Children who they are God knowes and will find a time to judg them and one day we and all the world shall know who they are Besides these several others have bin under vehement Suspition and tryed for their Lives on the account of this sin We have all cause to pray for New-England as the Lords People of old were directed to do in case of an uncertain Murder Deut. 21. 7. 8. They shall answer say our hands have not shed this blood neither have our eyes seen it Be merciful O Lord to thy people Israel whom Thou hast redeemed and lay not innocent blood to the people of Israels charge and the blood shall be forgiven them Be merciful O Lord to Thy people in New-England and lay not innocent blood to their Cha●ge VSE 2. For Exhortation There is a double Exhortation before us 1. Hence men should beware that they do not become guilty of this Sin. It is in Man's corrup-Nature Nothing is more natural than a spirit of Revenge as we see in little Children which discovers that the Children of men bring murderous natures into the world with ' em Hence the Apostle declaring what men by nature are saith that their feet are swift to shed blood Rom. 3. 15. because there is a marvellous Propen●●●y in Man's nature unto this sin Should not the Lord either by special or common Grace restrain them how many would soon become guilty of Murder it self Yea and those too that don't believe any such thing concerning themselves When the Prophet Elisha told Hazael what a prodigious Murderer he would be What said he am I a Dog that thou shouldst have such thoughts of me But in a little time he appeard to be as curs'd a Blood-hound as ever the Prophet had said to him O then beware of this sin And therefore take heed of giving way to wicked Passions Lesser sins make way for greater And especially take heed of great sins For many a man by being guilty of other great sins has provoked the Holy GOD to leave him unto this sin too The poor condemed Malefactor who stands here in the sight of this congregation does acknowledge that he hath by living in other sins provoked God to leave him unto this which he must now dye for And he warns others especially Young Men to