Selected quad for the lemma: cause_n
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A60173
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A sacred poem of the glory and happiness of heaven. By J. S.
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J. S. (James Shute), 1664-1688.
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1689
(1689)
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Wing S3713A; ESTC R218088
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16,412
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22
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But why so Careless Sluggish and remiss In Business so importunate as this Ah how I 'm plagu'd with an unwilling Mind It shews Averseness while it lags behind Dost sin or sleep out all thy Days and yet Hope to awake in this most joyous State Wouldst thou have Holiness perfected there But hate to have 't initiated here Ah Carnal Madness how its Actions run Quite to unravel what thy Hopes had spun Has he a Harvest that neglects to Sow Do Oaks arise where Acorns never grow Come then adjourn these unbelieving Dreams Earth is not such a Heaven as it seems Dost not perceive what fatal Dangers nigh Life lies most open in a closed Eye Shake off these drowsie Humors and prepare For the accounting at the Judgement Bar Don't think that Heaven is the Gift of Fate That Souls are sav'd as chance shall arbitrate But know thy Actions Good or Bad must take That Retribution which thy Judge shall make Now thou' rt Probationer for that Reward Which God has for the Virtuous prepar'd The Elements of Glory must be wrought On Earth its seed must be by Grace begot A Gracious Frame and Disposition Here Is the promotive of a Glorious There Well then be wise and busily employ The Present Seeds-time of Eternal Joy But while I reason thus my Soul do's mourn And Sighs me out this sorrowful Return My Pow'rs are feeble and my strength is weak When I 've a Will I want a Tongue to speak I look to Heaven with a longing Eye Spreading my willing Wings but cannot flye I strive to rise but my Attempts are vain Or if I do Earth tugs me down again Sometimes my Passions so pervert my Will That when I know the Good I chose the Ill. A pious Purpose seldom comes to good Some cross Temptation nips it in the Bud. Sometimes a suddain Flash of Sacred Heat Inflames my Temper to a Zealous sweat But suddainly this hasty Fit goes o're And then my Heart grows lifeless as before As a young Exhalation newly fled Aspiring upwards scorns its dusty Bed And strait means Heav'n but cooling into Rain Becomes more pursie and drops down again Just so 's my Love at its first lanching out It scorns I should its Perseverance doubt 'T is so presumptious and so hot withal 'Twont take Discretion for a Social But as it mount this short-liv'd Heat abates Passion declines and Zeal degenerates It s hasty Proffers were too nice and young To bear the Hardship of Attendance long And thus my Love unfeather'd when it fled Wants Wings to bear it whither it decreed Then Carnal Thoughts to their own Center bound First make it Earthy and then drag it down And thus my State too evidently such Calls more for Help and Pity than Reproach Poor helpless Slave to thee O Christ I cry Who had 〈◊〉 fleshly Cage as well as I. O give 〈…〉 set the Captive free And teach 〈…〉 use my Liberty Let no good 〈…〉 Praise nor Will to Love For want of thee to help Abortive prove Favour such Actions let their Progress shew Thy kind Acceptance and Concurrence too First hallow my Affections then excite Some vigorous Energy and Appetite Then give a Pow'r whose un-resisted Force May bear me out in a Religious Course First cleanse my Soul then bid thy Spirit come And make the Closet of my Heart its Home Then I shall have some previous Gusts and feel The complacential Relishes of Zeal Why should I richly starve or hungry live When Hopes and Promises such Plenty give Let me know sometimes by an Antepast How sweet Heav'ns Joys in Prelibation tast Shed some Illapses of thy Love impart Some Interviews of Glory to my Heart Why is thy Image vail'd 'T is seldom seen So much Eclipse but when Sins intervene If that 's the cause let Mercy 's Beams affright These Hellish Clouds that make so black a Night Unmask thy Visage not to weak-ey'd Sense But give my better sighted Faith a Glance Give me some Pledge by which I may be ty'd Least Carnal Scruples plead my Bargain void Nay I am apt to Merchandise away A future Kingdom for a present Toy Feed me with Promises when that won't do 't Let Faith be chewing on an Attribute Let neither Fears nor Unbelief prevent My firm Assurance nor my full Consent But let Faith guide me by a skilfull hand And guard my Passage to the Promis'd Land. Keep my Soul praying and dispose it that Its intermittent Pulse thy Praises beat Give me such Courage as shall make me fit To cope with all Discouragements I meet Such full Belief as shall not leave me Room To doubt the Truth or Worth of Joys to come Such Patience as shall make me calmly wait The happy time of my Exchange of State Till when I 'le joy in hope of what shall be Fully unbosom'd and reveal'd to me FINIS
Blessing which begat ten thousand more Thus all in tributary Songs applaud Their Prophet Priest their King and God. The Holy Ghost whose Godhead is the same Has Adoration proper to his Name Those of his Excellences that appear In 's Gifts and Graces most applauded are Some bless him for those first Convictive Calls That kindly warn'd them against After-falls Some for Converting Grace from whence they had Good Habits giv'n to supersede the Bad. Some for his Promises that banish't Cares And taught their Faith to overcome their Fears Some for his Testifying Seal that gave Assurance of the Joys they hop'd to have Some for the Comforts of his Presence here Which cheer'd their Hearts whate're their Sorrows were Which after Tryal of their Faith did quite Take off the Cross or make it sit but light Some honour this some That Grace most of All Yet their discordant Praise is musical For all in one harmoniously close As diff'ring Musick in a Chorus do's Thus Three in One and One in Three receive The pers'nal Homage Holy Spirits give But tho' They are distinctly blest no One Has Praise for what the other Two have none Neither in Glory or in Might excels But in Perfection they are Parallels Yet this Description is not with Design To grasp the Godhead nor its Bounds define To aim to scan or draw it out to view Would be Presumption and lost Labour too Who knows how God's distinctly Three in One And One in Three without Division Who understands and will explain to me This num'rous One and yet unnumbred Three 'T is too Mysterious for our Faith to clear He that believes must never reason here 'T is Riddle to the Saints and little less To the deep Insight of an Angel's Guess Oh topless Pile of Mysteries its Height Is undiscoverably out of Sight Our Reason when it proudly tries to view Quickly grows giddy and confounded too 'T is too much Light for Mortal Eyes to bear 'T is inaccessibly Divine and clear I aim not then by this descriptive Guess To found the Depth of what is bottomless If any Verse shall make the Riddle known Some Angel-Laureat must drop it down This Height will keep its Mystick Distance still In spight of Reason's counter-charming Skill Since then the more I look the less I see Of what in Mercy is conceal'd from me I 'le henceforth plainly take the Three in One And mean them All when I name God alone But as the Deity can ne're admit A Short-arm'd Human Thought to fathom it So punctually to copy out the Bliss Which to the Saints in Heaven dispenced is Is more than Reason's able to direct Me to perform or any to expect In Nature's Search we to the Cause advance Before we can inform our Ignorance To judge of Acts we must their Objects know Else as unlearn'd as when we came we go So to proportion out the boundless Love That is imparted to the Blest Above We ought to understand the Fountain whence These happy Souls derive their Influence What 's in th' Effect is in the Cause be sure Streams won't run muddy if the Spring be pure First to know God do's necessary seem To know the Happiness of Souls in Him But Spirits are so exquisitely fine They scape our Notices and pass unseen And if our Reason can't discourse of These Who knows what God the Father of them is So then I 'le only speak my Thoughts and give This loose Account of what the Blest receive The Throne Imperial is encompass'd round With Guardian-Angels to their Stations bound These glitt'ring Courtiers all of Royal Blood Seem by their Services to credit God Each in the Brightness of his Glory spreads More Rays of Lustre than proud Phoebus sheds But yet those Beams in which they shine so bright Are all reflected from Diviner Light. They borrow all their Beauty which would soon Decline and fade if God should hide his own Their diff'rent Orders comlily agree And joyntly make a graceful Symmetry All know their Distance and devoutly give To God the Rights of his Prerogative Next these there do's another Order wait Of Beings less insufferably great I mean the Saints whose Faith and Patience sought This Purchase which their Elder Brother bought Whose thrifty Stewardship of Talents gain'd These large Possessions in the Holy Land Of These the Patriarchs from whom proceed The num'rous Offspring call'd the Holy Seed With all their pious Progeny beset Are here in Universal Council met Hard by assembled in a spatious Sphere The grave Society of Prophets are These are a Sage Prognosticating Race Exalted by the Chymistry of Grace Above the Vulgar Saints their Office proves Them more Divine by two or three Removes They sit all clad in the Mysterious Dress Of Hieroglyphick Schemes and Images The Pageantry of their Prophetick Dreams Is painted in their Robes the Mystic Schemes Of Types and Visions drawn in Perspective Make pictur'd Things seem to the Eye alive Thus gayly drest in party-colour'd Plumes They sit like Limners in their Image-Rooms By these as near as Order will permit The grave Apostles in a Synod meet These by their Presence would be guess'd to be Committee-Saints or Patres Patriae Hard by the Martyr'd Champions of the Cross That dy'd least Life should be a publick Loss Whose Courage to the Death unshaken stood And wrote their Cause in Characters of Blood. Rang'd in Battalia joyfully advance Their dear bought Spoils of Faith and Patience These and a thick innumerable Host Swarming throughout the whole Celestial Coast Stand all devoutly ready to fulfil The welcom Orders of their Makers Will And they are done just as they are embrac't With a most Zealous Cautionary Hast 'T is neither base nor servile to submit They work Gods Will and will in working it No Time nor Strength is in a Message spent The Errand's done as soon's the Saint is sent Thus God and They are pleas'd in that as soon As his Design is known to Them 't is don Nor do's their Zeal in Ministring decline Its strength is Energetic and Divine It knows no Chills and is from Pauses free There acting where 't would always active be Thus the Employments which they here pursue Are both their Business and Diversion too Delight is all they know here 's only That For Souls to feed upon and center at They find a happy Welcome here and are Enobled for the Dignities they wear Their Souls and Bodies are refin'd and freed Of those Infirmities Corruption breed They both receive such great Improvements here That they take leave of being what they were The Soul now fashion'd in a purer Mould Finds its New-make more noble than the old Its Powers those of Intellect and Will Are much improv'd by Glory's Chymic Skill Its Knowledge is not seconded with Fear Or jealous Doubts of some Delusion near It learns but labours not nor is afraid It shall forget what in it self is laid It knows by Intuition and has got The