Selected quad for the lemma: cause_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
cause_n	love_n	love_v	see_v	3,860	5	4.0181	3	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A60326	Comforts against the fear of death. Being some short meditations, composed by that precious gentlewoman Mrs. Anne Skelton, late of Norwich Wherein are several evidences of the work of grace in her own soul, which were the stay of her heart, against the fear of death; from which may be discerned the name of a true Christian spirit. To which is added some short notes of a sermon preached at the burial of that choyce servant of God in St. Andrews in Norwich. By John Collings M.A. and one of the most unworthy embassadors of Jesus Christ for the preaching of the gospel in the late city.	Skelton, Anne.; Collinges, John, 1623-1690. aut.	1649 (1649)	Wing S3932A; ESTC R221500	38,402	100

Soul have I sought or desired thee in the night and with my spirit within me will I seek thee in the morning As Isaiah 26. 8 9. For whom have I in Heaven but thee and I have desired none in the Earth with thee As Psalm 73. 25. And thou hatest sin as it is a breach of Gods Law Another Evidence of Gods Love to thee That at such times as thou hast renued thy Faith in Christ and again given up thy self in more solemn manner wholy to him God thereupon hath given ease to thy heart which is a sign that he accepted what thou gavest him and that he wil not cast thee away I know whom I have believed that he is able to keep that which I have committed to him as 2 Tim. 1. 12. And I am perswaded he will do so And my Soul since thou hast found favor in the eyes of God that he hath been pleased to manifest his Grace to thee consider what cause thou hast of comfort and joy Now that it may be aright conceived what Grace I mean There is a twofold meaning of the word Grace in Scripture First It is taken for the gracious good Will or Favor of God where by he is pleased of his own free love to accept of some in Christ for his own This Divines call first Grace because it is the fountain of all other Grace and the spring from whence they flow and it 's therefore called Grace because it makes a man gracious with God but this is only in God Secondly Grace is taken for the gifts of Grace and they are of two sorts Common or special Some are common to both Elect and Reprobates Believers and Hypocrites As Knowledg a gift of prayer and the like Some are special Graces and they are proper to the Saints therefore called saving Graces whereof some are most principal and absolutely necessary unto Salvation such as is Faith without which none can be saved And some other which are very comfortable as the feeling of Gods love Peace of Conscience Joy in the Holy Ghost Now if God have first of his gracious good will and free love accepted thee in Christ And secondly if he have given thee any evidence of the same by the saving graces of his holy Spirit wrought in thee which thou darest not deny then O my soul bless praise and magnifie this God of love for this his infinite unutterable and superabounding love to thee Hath he given thee any grace It s because he loves thee and truly no cause at all why God should love thee as thou art in thy self but the clean contrary rather to hate and abhor thee But he looks upon thee in his onely begotten and dearly beloved son the Lord Jesus Christ God-man and seeing no other means in all the world to save thee Gods love was so great That he gave his onely begotten son to die for thee And see here also the exceeding great love of Christ to thee that gave himself to dye for thee took thy nature on him stood in thy steed fulfilled the Law satisfied the justice of God for thy sin He suffered on the Cross for thee he procured pardon of sin salvation and heaven for thee he merited it all for thee for his was worthy his righteousness is the meritorious cause of thy justification He is now thy Redeemer thy Advocate that pleads thy cause for thee to God he makes peace with God for thee he ●its at the right hand of God the Father and makes intercession for thee God is now become of a just severe and angry Judg a loving Father in him Therefore now my soul receive all from him by promise that shews his love as a Father Oh the free and sweet love that is in an uncompelled promised I will love thee freely saith the Lord Hosea 14. 4. It s free love indeed in God to thee wards Oh therefore let this special free love of God cause thee to study how to return love to him and live to him Remember what he hath done for thee how thy sins wounded thy Saviour peirced and crucified him and nailed him to the cross how thy sins made his most precious body be overrun with his heart blood how thy own betraying and selling thy soul to sin and Satan made him to be betrayed and fold to suffer and die yea how he indured the torments of Hell as it were the most heavy and sorest wrath of his Father for thy sin What O what great and vehement love was in Christ thy Saviour that made him sweat drops of blood for thee my soul These are as so many cords of love from Christ to thee to cause thee to love Christ Oh that I could love thee my dear Saviour as I should It s my hearts grief that I cannot so love thee as I would Oh my dull and drousie soul awake rouze and quicken up thy self and stand amazed at this love of Christ Shall or can so many sweet expressions of such unexpressible love of Christ to thee pass without Eccho Shall every passage of Christ from his birth to his death all preach forth love to thee And shall thankfulness be wanting in thee towards him Shall his birth work thy new birth his cross take away thy curse Shall his pains procure thee rest Shalt thou ●e cleared by his sorrowful sadness Thou be made free by his bonds happy by his misery fed by his hunger refresht by his weariness rejoyced by his anguish Thou my Soul be excused before God by his being accused before men And shall not love flush and burn in my brest to him Oh my God do thou inflame my heart with this Love kindle some further heat of Love in me give me one dr●● more of it draw up my Love and most entire intimate affections Shall I as it were freeze for want of Love to my Saviour when his Love is so hot to me Far be it from me No my loving Lord I do love thee I will love thee dearly Oh help and enable me to love thee more Oh my Soul sleep not under such Comforts never forget such love as this is it is sufficient to fill all thy sences all thine affections And yet see more This Love is not only for some years but for eternity Whom he once loves he loves to the end as John 13. 1. He is a never failing Fountain of Love Oh my Soul therefore distrust not despair not of his Love though thou art so full of sins which indeed of all things God hates most yet behold the Love of God all these though so great so many they cannot separate between thee and thy God but in and through Christ he still loves thee accepts thy person and services It 's not some slips or falls that thou art overtaken withal that are hated resolved against not wittingly willingly deliberately committed nor delighted in nor allowed but slipt and fallen into unawares These cannot finite his infinite Love

more and thou shalt have more Grace that is the only way to obtain it And remember Mr. Archers Answer once to thee concerning this particular Dear Sister Let not that make thee doubt thou christ no truth of ●ence which is an Evidence or effect of Grace and is not until Grace be ●t is no sign thou hast not Grace but their thou hast Grace These things which make thee doubt added to the former make me assumed of the goodness of thy state Satan ever makes that to be feared and doubted that is true and good These be conflicts of corruption Satan which company Grace These be that smoak that argues fire and Christ will not by 〈◊〉 the smonking Flax They be effects of Sanctification therefore be comforted here with I beseech you Another sign of truth or Grace is Thy very fear and jealousie of thy own unsoundness and deceitfulness of thy heart this acquits thee of hypocrisie and justifies thy sincerity this is a holy jealousie fear of falseness to God and that th●se are not in sincerity in thee For first These dispositions in thee desires and endeavors being signs or Grace must of necessity be granted to be signs of sincerity since that that is no grace in truth that is not sincere Secondly thy diligent search and inquiry into thy self and jealousie of thy self is an evident argument of the sincerity of thy heart and that thou wouldst not deceive thy self with flattery false or vain hopes Another signe of true Grace is thy putting thy self upon tryal of others that thou didst not rest satisfied with thine own tryal of thy self but desiredst Gods Ministers whom thou didst judg most sincere strict and faithful much pressing them to deal truly plainly and freely with thee without any flattery as they will one day answer it to the great God of Heaven And they bear witness to thee my soul from Gods own Word of the much of Grace in thee Thou didst not account thy own poor weak endeavors ●o search and try thy self sufficient although thou didst it to the utmost of thy power and ability apprehending that they might be more able to discover some deceit of thy heart that thou couldst not finde out There follows another signe of saving grace that is yet farther Thou hast put thy self upon the Lords own tryal How often hast thou in secret gone to thy God on thy knees and earnestly intreated and beseeched him to search thy heart and reins thy most secret sins and intimate corruptions and that he would shew thee thine iniquity and cleanse thee from thy sin not willing to hide any one from him so David Psal 39. 23 24. Search me O God and know my heart try me and know my thoughts and see if there be any wicked way in me And the Lord hath at sometimes made answer to thy heart That he is thine and thou art his shewed some little glimpse of his love and favor to thee as it were at 〈…〉 which hath been more joy of heart to thee then if thou hadst a thousand worlds Therefore O my soul praise thou this God of love and all that is within me praise his holy name as Psal 103. 1. Oh magnifie his free-grace mercy and love that he hath given thee some love-tokens as pledges of more hereafter Oh my soul raise up thy self to sound out the praises of the Lord and all that is within me bless his great and glorious name For truly he hath delt bountifully with thee Oh how can I how shall I express my thankfulness unto him Surely I will tell others what the Lord hath done for my poor soul that they also may trust in him For truly it s never in vain to seek and wait and trust in the Lord. Therefore O my soul do not be no more cast down and so disquieted within me Trust in God for I shall that is he will give me cause to give him thanks he is my present help and my God As David said so say I. Oh that I could chide my soul out of its unquiet condition seeing I cannot I will complain to God of it and desire him to do it for me as David did Psal 43. 6. O my God my soul is cast down do thou raise and comfort it for thou art able to do it Though I cannot I know thou Lord art able to cheer and revive my drooping spirits and thou wilt cause me to taste how good thou art that I may set forth thy ravishing sweetness unto others acquainting them what great and unexpressible goodness the Lord hath manifested to me O dwell my soul a while here suck more sweetness out of this love of God O how great is this love of God that pardons all thy sins of nature and custome o● long continuance as well as later great as well as smaller of omission as well as commission sins of ignorance and knowledg secret sins and more open sins sins in thought word and act sins of thy youth and ●●per age He blots them out all as a creditor that takes his pen and blots out all debts leaves none to condemn O the greatness of this infinite love of God O stand still and behold what love the Father hath shewed wonder and be amazed and ravished with this love of all loves O the riches of this love of God to thee O admirable superabundant surpassing love O excellent precious sweet unheard of love O wonderful indeed rare unspeakable unutterable unexpressible incomprehensible love O love everlasting one dram whereof is better then life it self much sweeter then the hony and the hony comb Another Evidence of Grace is the sweet intercourse that hath been betwixt God and thee my soul Sometimes thy praying to him his answering thee Gods upholding and quieting thee sometimes in greatest dangers so Job and David Therefore stir up thy faith and live by it for time to come Thou hast humbled thy soul and God hath comforted thy soul Now he hath this communion with none but his own children Another Evidence of Grace is Thy hearty sorrow and grief for thy sinning against mercies and unthankfulness for them and not profiting by them arising from the consideration of Gods goodness to thee whom thereby thou dost offend These are undoubted signes of Grace Psal 51. 3 4 5 6 10. I acknowledg my transgressions and my sin is ever before me Against thee thee onely have I sinned and done evil in thy sight that thou migh●est be justified when thou speakest and be cleared when thou judgest Behold I was shapen in iniquity and in sin did my mother conceive me Behold thou desirest truth in the inward parts and in the hidden part thou shalt make me to know wisdom Create in me a clean heart O God and renew a right spirit within me Psal 19. 12 13. Cleanse me from my secret sins keep thy servant also that presumptious sins raign not over me Rom. 7. 14 15 22 23 24. For we know that