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	see_v	true_a	2,582	5	4.3510	3	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A10033	The patriarchs portion or, the saints best day Deliuered in a sermon at the funerall of Sir Thomas Reynell of Ogwell in Deuon. Knight, Aprill. 16. 1618. Wherein may be seene, 1 The shortnesse of mans life. 2 A Christians combat against 1 Sathan. 2 The world. 3 The flesh. 4 Sinne. 3 A preparation to die well. 4 The reward of glory after warfare. By Iohn Preston, preacher of Gods word at East-Ogwell, in Deuon.	Preston, John, minister of East Ogwell.	1619 (1619)	STC 20282.3; ESTC S114305	28,466	80

first comfort the godly in that their liues lie not in the power of men or malice of Satan for these indeed would swallow them vp quicke when they are displeased at them and the godly neuer want the wicked or the Diuels displeasure you shall see some of the Iewes band together and binde themselues by an oath that they will neither eate nor drinke till they haue killed Paul but their plot shall bee preuented and Paul preserued till the time appointed of God Tyrants may take away the life of the godly but they cannot cut off the lappes of their coats nor touch the skirts of their garments without Gods permission and he will neuer permit them before the appoynted time Pharaoh would haue taken away Moses his life often but God had not appointed it so for Moses died in the land of Moab Saul thought to make sure worke with Dauid when he ran at him with a speare but God had appointed that Dauid should die a naturall death in his bedde as he did wee see such men as are grieuously wounded oftentimes doe not die as on the contrary the cutting of a corne doth kill some what is the cause but the performance of Gods appoynted time in both Asaph was but sick in his feet farre from the heart he ●…s to seeke helpe of the Phisition yet dies of the disease Hezechiah was sicke at the heart and at the poynt of death yet liues many yeares after because his time determined by God was not yet come when he should die though in regarde of his disease in the sight of man the day was come that hee should die One lies long sicke yet recouers because his time is not come another as hee walkes in his chamber or sits in his chaire drops downe and neuer riseth because his time is come To conclude this Vse for the comfort of the godly though their enemies that seeke to spill their blood be many and those mighty and malicious withal yet all these cannot diminish one day of this life which the Lord hath decreed Secondly this may serue for reproofe of such as dreame dote only vpon second causes and neuer looke to Gods councell and decree This makes these men cry out and say when their friends are taken away Oh it was for want of learned Phisitians about him yet died of no dangerous diseases while hee looked to second causes and not to the Lord without whose appointment nothing can come to passe A Sparrow cannot fall to the ground without Gods guiding prouidence nor a bird fall into a snare where no fouler is In the pestilence they cry out of the infection of the ayre in consumptions of sorrow and griefe in feuers of cold in famine of foule weather in warre of the malice of the enemies but Moses would haue men to looke to a higher hand in all these For it is the Lord saith hee that shall smite men with consumptions and with the feuer and with the burning ague and with feruent heat and with the sword and with drought with the mildew The second causes I know that is such meanes as God hath appointed for the preseruation of life must not bee despised yet they must not be doted vppon vse these carefully but commit the successe to God who onely can blesse these meanes and will whensoeuer they may serue for the performance of his purpose and his time appointed which can by no meanes be either preuented or auoyded Thirdly this may teach vs to waite with patience expecting when our changing shall come It is not for vs to know the time and season the yeere or moneth of our appointed time which God hath kept secret to himselfe It is comfort enough and powerfull to perswade a patient expectation of our change to thinke how happy a change we shall haue Christ shall change our vilde bodies that they might be like vnto his glorious body when we haue the world at will and nothing comes crosse vnto vs we can be content wee say to liue as long as the Lord hath appointed but when we are pinched with pouerty or surcharged with sickenesse or vexed with sorrow and griefe then most impatiently we pray and wish that wee were out of the world and wee will not waite the Lords leisure but with the King of Israel we wickedly resolue be hold this euill is of the Lord what should I wait for the Lord any longer In these cases we can alledge Scripture that it is better to die then to liue because Salomon saith that the day of death is better thē the day of our birth Salomon doth not say that the day of death is good simply but by way of comparison better then the day of birth and yet this may seeme in humane sence and reason to be absurd for there is ioy when a man is born into the world The number of the children of God is increased life is the gift of God How thē can the day of death be better then the day of life The meaning of Salomon is that life is attended with many miseries for we are borne to labour and trauell subiect to sickenesses and sorrow and sinne nothing but death can deliuer vs from all these and therefore better is the day of death then the day of birth yet be it neuer so good be it better then life yea be it best of all to be with Christ Though we haue here no abiding Citie Though we be strangers and pilgrimes Though soiourners as all our fathers were Dust and ashes Wormes of the earth Though wee were worse then all these yet we must wait Gods appointed time Though the euer-liuing God hath condemned mankinde to death which is the wages of sinne and to the graue which is the house appointed for all the liuing yet may we not either hasten our death or digge our own graues and descend into them before we be dead Though our bodies bee but houses of clay earthly houses or tents rather yet may wee not pull downe these houses ouer our heads or remoue these tents before our Generall giue command but waite till our changing come In a word God hath determined that we must die and therefore death should be welcome when it doth come but he hath determined withall when we must die and therfore nothing should make vs weary of waiting till it doe come Fourthly this point duly considered may reprooue such that goe about to shorten their liues these men presume to appoint their own time with a fals key to open this prison of their body and let their soules depart before God call for it or giue them any commission vnto it It is true that God hath appointed this time for these mens deaths in his secret counsell but it is more then they know and for ought that they see they might liue longer if

men Commonly the meats that are forbidden by the Phisitian are a kind of sauce to prouoke appetitite in the patient most of all to desire these meats As swelling waters the more they are barred their course the more they rage and swell and ouerflow and beare downe all before them so the more the Law doth seeme to barre and bolt the current of committing sinne and to set the bounds which they should not passe the more is sinfull mans nature enraged and the more the swelling waues of wickednes do ouerflow make their fultide the more shold be our care courage to encounter it and set our selues to fight against it Of our selues indeed we cannot ouercome it but if we follow our Captaine Christ Iesus it shall neuer ouercome vs. Saint Paul had experience both of his conflict with sinne and conquest ouer sinne O wretched man that I am saith he who shall deliuer me from the body of this death I thanke God through Iesus Christ our Lord He it was that was made a sacrifice for sinne as Ioshua shut vp Kings and Princes in Caues of the earth and rolled great stones on the mouth of the Caues So sinne shutteth vp greatest Emperours prisoners and rowleth stones and layeth great stumbling blocks in their way and as none could ouercome the roaring Lyon but the Lyon of the tribe of Iuda So none could free men out of the prison whereinto sinne had cast them but onely Christ For this cause Christ tooke flesh vpon him that so hee might die in his flesh through death destroy death and him that had the power of death that is the diuell So that Christ hath carryed away the gates of death as Sampson sometime did the gates of Azzah and hath by his power preuailed ouer those vncircumcised Philestims euen sinne and death and the diuell and hell and though we be too weake of our selues to conquer sinne yet we must follow our Captaine Christ as fast as we can and as farre as wee may First by flying from sinne Secondly by dying vnto sinne Thirdly by hating all sinne yea the very garments spotted with the flesh Fourthly by true faith for that doth purifie the heart And thus much for the fourth Enemie now take a view of all these together consider their malice their might and the multitude of souldiers which fight vnder them and we shall plainly see the truth of the point proposed that while we liue in this world wee must looke to fight and prepare our selues for this Warfare A preparation how to die well The first Vse is for instruction in that we haue so many Enemies to stand vpon our guard let vs keep watch and ward continually let vs be as carefull to resist as our aduersaries are to assault A carefull watch is the chiefest point in Warre and therefore this is often commanded in the Word of God Watch for you know not what houre your master will come VVatch and pray Awake to liue righteously Be sob●r and watch Vnto this command God had for our incouragement annexed a promise of no lesse then blessednesse Blessed is the seruant whom the Master when he commeth shall finde watching Blessed is he that watcheth Blessed is the man that watcheth daily at my gates Christ will cause them that watch to sit downe at Table with him where they shall be at ease from paine at rest from labour full without hunger healthy without sickenesse and haue fulnesse of ●irth and solace without any mixture of sorrow or mourning God is the Center of the soule as euery thing doth rest in his Center so our soules shall rest in God My people saith God by his Prophet shall dwell in the Tabernacle of Peace and in sure dwellings in safe resting places Thirdly as we haue precept to watch and promise of blessednesse if we doe watch so wee haue a patterne and example of watching worthy to be imitated for it is Christ himselfe What Souldier will not be glad to watch with his Captaine what Christian will not runne to watch when they heare Christ thus kindly calling them Could ye not watch with me one houre VVatch Behold the easinesse I bid you not fight for mee or die with me but watch onely and that an houre Behold the easinesse not a yeere or a weeke or a day but an houre Lastly by watching as wee follow Christs patterne so we shall be prepared hereby for Christs comming which will be in an houre that we know not The second Vse serues to teach vs to cast off all carnal security seeing we haue so many enemies to encounter withall The Diuell is another Herod the World is a flattering Pharasie the Flesh a treacherous Iudas and Sinne a seditious Iebusite And therefore little cause haue wee to walke without our weapons or sleep in security Whē the old world was secure it was drowned When Sodome and Gomorrha were secure they were burned Whē Sampsō was secure his eyes were put out When Ionah was secure and slept in the side of the ship hee is shaken with the waues and the lo● doth designe him to bee cast into the Sea When the rich man was secure his soule was taken from him As Bankrupts neuer care to pay their debts till the Serieant bee vpon their backs so many secure men neuer thinke how farre they runne daily in arrerages with God till they be arrested by death at the suite of the great Iudge and so be cast into prison This security is the Mother of negligence and high way to destruction for as the oxe when he is driuen to the slaughter goeth willingly because his hope is if I may so speake it that he shall goe to grasse in some better pasture and neuer feare till the axe be ready to fall vpon his head or as a foole when he is led to the stoak● goeth cheerefully and neuer shrinketh vntill his feet bee fast snared therein euen so many men goe securely forward wandring in the broad way without remorse of conscience perswading themselues they are safe when indeed they are secure and neuer perceiue their owne folly till they be insnared in destruction many are carefull for others but secure for thēselues they looke on other mens faults with both eyes but scarcely with one on their owne either they will not see their sinnes or if they see them they wil slightly passe them ouer without any serious consideration They cry Peace Peace when destruction is at their doores They that finde themselues in good health neuer seeke or send to the Phisitian and they also that are soule sicke and dangerously diseased but feele it not doe neuer cry after Christ they seeke little after him and set lesse by him Thirdly the hope of a happy reward should encourage vs to wage Warre against those our enemies He that neuer comes forth to fight

themselues were not the cause and so they crosse the reneiled will of God which onely can bee our warrant in all our actions Againe though they were so much of Gods secret Counsell as to know that God had appointed this to be the time yet they know that God hath not appointed either themselues or such violent meanes to make good his purpose at his appointed time No no it is misery that makes these men weary of their liues and therefore like the foolish fish they will leape out of the frying-Pan into the fire out of short trouble here into eternall torments hereafter He that will liue godly must suffer persecution hee that will come into heauenly Canaan must passe through this earthly Egypt Through many afflictions we must enter into heauen and shal we then cut off the thred of our life because wee finde some knots in it Abimelech cut off his owne life so did Saul so did Ahithophell so did Iudas and so doe many in their desperate humour now a dayes by the cunning of Satan but not without the secret vnsearchable and iust iudgement of God Fiftly and finally if our time be determined and that time known to God vnknowne to man certaine to him vncertaine to vs we must prepare against that time come we are men and therfore mortall weake men and therefore secure for we are euery day dying and cannot long liue as old men haue death before their eyes so yong men haue him behind their backs and betwixt old and yong I desire no other difference but this that yong men may die quickly and old men cannot liue long and therefore all must be prepared Be ye prepared therefore for the Sonne of man will come in an houre when ye thinke not All must prepare old and yong rich and poore great and small noble and ignoble old men must prepare for they must shortly die they should put their houses in order they should with sence and sorrow confesse their sinnes to God saying Against thee against thee onely haue we sinned they should labour for life to be at peace with God and their owne consciences and if it be possible to haue peace with all men Yong men should prepare for they may die before those that goe crooked with age they haue no Charters of their liues It is not policie nor gay and gorgeous apparell not eloquence of an Angels tongue not strong Castles and stately houses not pompe nor promotion can take day with death or perswade the wormes to pitty them nor preserue their names from perpetuall infamy These things may procure honour on earth but no happinesse in heauen If all were not subiect to death yong men might hope to be exempted but a new ship may as soone be dasht in pieces meeting with a rocke as one that is old and weather-beaten a yong tree may be ouerturned with a whirlewind as soon as that which is old and blasted many old men haue out-liued these tha● were yong but neuer any yong or olde that liued and did not die Doth not euery man beare about him in his own bosome that which will bring him to his end are wee not all sick of the same disease euen the consumption of our daies Time pretious time passeth away swiftly and with it wee passe towardes our end and like those in a ship we perceiue it not and therefore prepare not for it or thinke not of the danger of it for as death leaueth vs so the day of Iudgement shall finde vs. They that build faire and sumptuous houses are not certaine how long they shall hold them they that purchase lands and liuings cannot tel how long they shall possesse them they that haue gathered in a great haruest cannot tell whether they shall bee better by it they that plant cannot tell whether they shall eate of the fruit of it yet all these men are prouident to prepare for life that is vncertaine and forget death which is most certaine shall come more vncertaine when it shall come Prepare then in health for it may hardly bee done in sicknesse or at the houre of death Sicknesse may be so full of extreame sorrowe and paine and death so sudden and present that thou canst not prepare thy selfe if thou would or if thou doe yet not so well as thou wouldest many neglect to prepare themselues when they may and when they would cannot So the fiue foolish Virgins might haue had Oyle in their Lamps if they had lookt to it in time but afterward when willing they would could neither buy nor borrow any These men consider not how dangerous it is to procrastinate and p●…●ff their repentance from day to day a●… that for two causes First God doth leaue the wicked destitute of diuine helpe in that howre I haue called saith the Lord but ye refused ye were in health in the prime of your time in the flower of your age in the heat of lust hauing by nature corrupt hearts and carnal affections liuing in pleasure passing the time in mirth subiect to youthfull wantonnesse and to vnstaidnesse of affection full of loosenesse which is the way to lewdnes of weakenesse which is the way to wickednesse then you would not heare now in your death-bed ye shall call but I will not heare but laugh at your destructiō They that forget God liuing God will forget them dying Secondly in the time of death men are more grieuously tempted and therfore it is dangerous to deferre repentance to the dying day Remember saith Salomon thy Creator in the dayes of thy youth why should wee remember God in youth because if youth be spent in vanity commonly old age will end in prophanenesse The Prophet speaketh of Crimson sinnes sinnes of a double die if it bee right Crimson or Purple it is dyed in thred in the wooll and that is euer a deepe dye so if Satan dye vs in our wooll in our youth before we be men before wee be made cloath it is like to sticke by vs and to go with vs to our graue If Sathan make thy youth vnprofitable of all the ages after there can hardly any good be hoped for if the blossome be nipt where is the hope of the Autumne Thus much for the first point that God hath determined the dayes of man how long hee shall liue A Christians combat against 1 Sathan 2 The World 3 The Flesh. 4 Sinne. THe second point of Doctrine which doth arise frō these words is this That the time appointed by man to liue vpō earth is a time of warfare Men must liue Souldiers and die Conquerours liue fighting and die ouercomming from the cradle to the graue is a time of warfare wee haue many enemies all fierce and furious 1. The Diuell 2. The VVorld 3. The Flesh. 4. Sinne. All these we must encounter and ouercome too if it goe well with vs and woe is vnto vs