Selected quad for the lemma: cause_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
cause_n	life_n	love_n	love_v	2,826	5	6.6025	4	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A12210	Yea and amen: or, pretious promises, and priviledges Spiritually unfolded in their nature and vse. Driving at the assurance and establishing of weak beleevers. By R. Sibbs D.D. master of Katherine Hall in Cambridge, and preacher of Grayes Inne London. Reviewed by himselfe in his life time, and since perused by T.G. and P.N.	Sibbes, Richard, 1577-1635.; Goodwin, Thomas, 1600-1680.; Nye, Philip, 1596?-1672.	1638 (1638)	STC 22521; ESTC S102402	91,199	446

he love us first of all and prevent us with his favours Is not his love full and overflowing so as he never leaves us untill he make an end where he sreeth a man from danger he set leth him in a good estate never ceasing till he possesse him of glory as it is 2 Tim. 4. The Lord hath freed me out of the mouth of the Lion and hee will preserve me to his everla sting kingdome He delivers us srom spirituall evill and gives us spirituall good The meditation of these things will warme our hearts The next meanes is to ●oyne feare with our love to God whom we love throughly we will do nothing that shall displease The feare of God whom we love will cause us to make conscience of the least sinne against him for there is no sinne be it never so little but it will weaken our affection to goodnesse When we venture upon any thing against conscience is there not a decay of our love to God and of our sense of his favour towards us surely sin is the only make-bate in our soules and weakner of all our comforts Those therefore are the lovingest soules towards God that are most conscientious in their wayes Carelesse Christians have not that feeling of Gods love which humble fruitfull Christians have neither doe they live or die with that comfort as these do We are the Spouse of Christ and he is jealous of our love Our betrothed Husband cannot abide that we should set our affections upon strangers Take heed therefore of adulterous and false affections the more we love earthly things the lesse we shall esteeme of heavenly and as our affection towards the creature increaseth so our heat towards Christ abateth The next direction to stir up our love unto God is to exercise the same daily For true love is not an abstractive affection but an affection in practise and we know every thing doth increase by exercise exercise it therefore in fighting against the love of the world and all selfe love for as there are contrary commands so there are contrary desires in a Christian as there is the old man and the new man the flesh and the Spirit so there are contrary affections one setting it selfe against another in him When we see a poore Christian the love of God will say unto us now shew thy love unto Christ in succouring one of his members No saith fl●sh and blood charity begins at home thou mayst want thy selfe another day In doing good likewise wee should say here is now an occasion offered me of honouring God and I will imbrace it Oh but saith selfe-love there is time enough hereafter hereby you may run into poverty and disgrace be not too forward Therefore there must be a perpetuall deniall of our selvs against our whole thwart nature Those that are Christians know experimentally what belongs to these things but take a carnall man or woman and they are led altogether by their sensuall lusts as bruit Beasts whatsoever ease and selfe-love wils that swayes their hearts any wayes And indeed the most sincere Christian hath the motions of these carnall and worldly respects but his love unto God constrains him to deny all and listen to what Christ whispereth in his heart Consider wee a little what may stirre us up to exercise our selves herein Love it is the light of our life love we must something and he lives not that loves not seeing then we cannot but love and that the misplacing of our affectiō is the cause of all sin and misery what can we doe better than attend to directions how to love as we should To come therefore to the foure things before mentioned being the branches of love First We must admire God above all things And can wee admire any thing with wisdome but God alone It is commonly said that wee cannot be wise and love together for that this affection is blinde except it be in God Againe is there any thing more comfortable then that we give content to God Is any service comparable to the service of a Prince We must serve the Lord only and others in and for him or else all we do is naught All other services are bondage this a perfect freedome Againe is there any thing more worthy our soules than to be united to God Can we have a greater happinesse than to be made one with Christ By loving a thing we come to be like to it Is there any thing that may or ought to challenge our love but Christ Is it not a base thing to unite our soules which are the best things under Heaven to earthly contentments than which we shall one day find nothing to be worse The love of God planted in our hearts maketh Christ and us one As a Pearle in a Ring makes the Ring more pretious and valuable so the soule united unto Christ commeth to bee more gracious and heavenly The more excellent the soule is the more loving it will be to God The holiest Saints have ever burned with most affection to Christ as Moses and Paul Can any thing satisfie us more than God Know wee not that all things here shall perish Therefore when wee place our love and joy in the world do we not lose them too We shall leave behinde us the things of this life our sins only we carry away which cleave fast unto us and staine our consciences world with out end what might more content us than the love of God which wil endure for ever and accompany us to Heaven when all other loves perish Consider that every thing thou dost without love is dead and empty love is the life of all actions as we say of a gift the love of the giver is better than the gift it selfe not only our performance is nothing without love but we our selves are nothing without it every acceptable service we doe must proceed from this heavenly flame Though wee speak with the tongues of men and Angels and have not love we are like to a sounding brasse and tinckling Symball Have wee not much to do and suffer in this life and what is it that makes us constant in duty carries us through so many oppositions as we meet withall is it not love doth not love sweeten our hearts and take away every difficulty in our way to Heaven Whilest we live here we must of necessity suffer ill things and go on in well doing neither of which can be performed without love this rules our whole lives Beg therefore of God to quicken thee in all cheerefull and willing obedience pray that the Sunne of righteousnesse would enlighten thy heart wee cannot serve God without God nor have any holy affection except by his Spirit he work the same in us FINIS Doct. 1. Observ. Doct. Doct. 4. Conscience what Why God rules his Church by promises Reas. 2. The excellencie of Divine Promises Definition of a promise 1 Pet. 1. 10 Mark 1. 11 1 Cor. 15.

lives much by faith will finde it no hard matter to die in it But let a man stagger and doubt whether hee belong to God or no what a miserable case will he be in at the time of dissolution Death with the eternity of torment after it who can looke it in the face without the assurance of a happy change This makes men that see no greater pleasure than the following of their lusts resolve of swimming in worldly delights still Alas say they I had as good take this pleasure as have none at all what shall become of me hereafter who knowes FINIS THE PRIVILEDGES OF THE FAITHFVLL ROM 8. 28. Also wee knew that all things work together for the best to them that love God even to them that are called of his purpose THere are three things especially that trouble the life of a Christian or at least should trouble the same The first whereof is sin with the guilt and punishment thereof The second is the corruption of Nature which still abidesin him even after his vocation and conversion to Christ. The third is the miseries and crosses of this life which doe follow and ensue both upon sinne and the evill thereof as also by reason of that corruption of Nature still remaining in him after his recovered estate in grace For the first The guilt of sinne which doth bind men over to death and damnation that is forgiven to all beleevers in Christ Jesus the second Adam The second which is the corruption of Nature which cleaves so fast to us that is daily mortified and crucified in the Saints by the Word and Spirit of God For the third which is the grievous crosses and afflictions which doe accompany and follow the guilt of sinne and the corruption of nature still remaining in Gods children however they are not taken away yet they are made to have an excellent issue For all things work together for the best unto them that love God So that these words of the Apostle do afford us 1. A ground of Patience 2. A ground of Comfort In the former part of this Chapter the Apostle had told us That we know not how to pray as we ought but that the Spirit it selfe doth teach us how to pray and makes requests for us with sighes that cannot be expressed And therefore how ever our corruptions and miseries in this life are not quite taken away yet the evill of those evils is removed God teaching and directing us by his Spirit to seek by prayer unto him for grace to profit by them And this is the co-herence of these words with the former The parts here to bee handled may be these An excellent prerogative All things work together for the best Secondly the persons to whom this prerogative belongs To them that love God and whom hee doth call Thirdly the main cause of this blessed Prerogative Those that love God have this priviledge belonging to them because they are effectually called by his Word according to his purpose We know saith the Apostle that all things work together for the best to these He doth not say We hope or wee conjecture but wee know it assuredly We have the Scriptures of God for it David saith that it was good for him that he was afflicted for therby he had learned to reform his wayes hee knew by observation that all things would tend to his future happinesse For hee had seen in the example of Iob that notwithstanding his sore afflictions yet he had a blessed issue out of all he knew this many wayes he knew it by faith as also by experience that every thing should further the Saints wel-being We know that is we only know it who are led and taught of God and none but wee can be assured hereof which excludes the wicked who shall never know any such thing but what is it that Paul is confident of here Namely that all things work together for the best to them that love God And this may serve to be a prevention of a question which weak Christians might move in their troubles and say Never was any more afflicted than I am Why saith the Apostle bee it so yet neverthelesse all things whatsoever all thy crosses vexations and 〈◊〉 shall work together and joyne issue though they bee averse one to the other and opposite to the good of Gods children as Herod and Pilat were yet all things thus contrary notwithstanding shall work for the best unto them there is 1. A good of Quality 2. A good of Estate Now therefore what kind of Good is this the Apostle meaneth He doth not here mean the naturall or civill good estate of them that love God but their spirituall condition in grace and their glorious estate for the life to come for the furthering whereof whatsoever befalls them in this life shall help forward still And thus much for the words themselves The first point to bee spoken of is The excellent priviledge of Gods children That all things shall work together for the best both good and evill shall turne to their happinesse The reason stands thus All things shal work together for the best to them that love God Therfore all afflictions crosses and vexations whatsoever that betide such persons shall work together for their good and for this cause all Gods servants must learne patiently to beare and cheerefully to undergoe poverty or riches honour or dishonour in this world That all good things do work for the best to Gods servants is most apparent by daily proofe and experience To begin with the first chiefe good of all which is God the Father who is goodnesse it selfe and unspeakably comfortable to all his Doe not all Gods attributes conduce to our eternall welfare Is hee not set forth in Scripture under the sweet name of a Father of a Shield and Buckler of a Tower of Defence of an All-sufficient Almighty God just wise provident mercifull full of boundlesse compassion and all to support his poore creatures from failing before him As he is our Father he is carefull of us above the care of earthly parents to their children As he is a Shield so he shelters us from all wrongs As he is God Almighty and All-sufficient so his power and bounty serve to sustaine us in this world and reserve us for ever safe in the world to come His wisdome makes us wise to prevent the politick plots of the Devill or wicked men His justice and providence they serve to defend us in our right to provide for us in all our wants and prevent the evills of the ungodly intended against us His power is ours to keep us his providence to dispose all things for our advantage Every thing in God shall co-work to provide and fore-see all good for us and mercifully to impart and bestow whatsoever is behoovefull upon us So that God being our Father we have right and title to his lov emercy power