Selected quad for the lemma: cause_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
cause_n	punishment_n	sin_n	sin_v	1,923	5	9.5821	5	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A09461	A salve for a sicke man. or, A treatise containing the nature, differences, and kindes of death as also the right manner of dying well. And it may serue for spirituall instruction to 1. Mariners when they goe to sea. 2. Souldiers when they goe to battell. 3. Women when they trauell of child.	Perkins, William, 1558-1602.	1611 (1611)	STC 19745; ESTC S105925	56,520	204

promise because for the most part the persons thus annointed die afterward without recouerie wheras those which were annointed in the primitiue Church alwaies recouered Thirdly the ancient annointing serued onely for the procuring of health but this tēds further to the procuring of remission of sins and strength in tēptation Thus hauing seene the doctrine of the Papists I come now to speake of the true and right manner of making particular preparation before death which containes three sorts of duties one concerning god the other cōcerning a mās own selfe the third concerning our neighbour The first cōcerning God is to seeke to be recōciled vnto him in Christ though we haue bin long assured of his fauour All other duties must come after in the second place they are of no effect without this Now this recōciliatiō must be sought for is obtained by a renuing of our former faith repentance and they must be renued on this māner So soone as a man shal feele any maner of sicknes to seaze vpon his bodie he must consider with himselfe whēnce it ariseth after serious consideration he shall finde that it comes not by chance or fortune but by the prouidence of God This done he must go yet furder cōsider for what cause the Lord should afflict his body with any sicknes or disease And he shal find by gods word that sicknes comes ordinarily and vsually of sinne Wherefore is the liuing man sorrowfull man suffereth for his sinne It is true indeed ther be other causes of the wāts of the body of sicknes beside sinne and though they be not known to vs yet they ar known to the Lord. Hereupon Christ when he saw a certaine blinde man and was demaunded what was the cause of the blindnesse answered neither hath this man sinned nor his parents but that the workes of God should be shewed on him Yet we for our parts who are to goe not by the secret but by the reuealed will of God must make this vse of our sicknes that it is sent vnto vs for our sinnes When Christ healed the man sicke of the palsy he saith Be of good comfort thy sinnes are forgiuen thee and when he had healed the man by the poole of Bethesda that had bin sicke 38. yers he bids him sin no more least a worse thing happen vnto him giuing them both to vnderstand that their sicknes came by reasō of their sinnes And thus should euery sick man resolue himself Now when we haue proceeded thus farre haue as it were laid our finger vpon the right and proper cause of our sicknesse three things cōcerning our sins must bee performed of vs in sicknes First we must make a new examination of our hearts and liues say as the Israelites said in affliction Let vs search try our waies and turne againe to the Lord. Secondly we must make a new confession to God of our new particular sinnes as God sends new corrections and chastisment When Dauid had the hād of God very heauy vpon him for his sins so as his very bones moisture consumed within him he made confession of them vnto God and therupon obtained his pardon was healed The third thing is to make new praier more earnest then euer before with sighes grones of the spirit that for pardon of the same sins for reconciliation with God in christ In the exercise of these 3. duties standes the renouation of our faith repentance wherby they are increased quickned reuiued And the more sicknes preuailes and takes place in the bodie the more should wee be careful to put thē in vre that spirituall life might increase as temporal life is decaied When king Ezechias lay sicke as he thought vpon his death-bedde he wept as for some other causes so also for his sinnes and withal he praied God to cast them behind his back Dauid made certain Psalmes when he was sick or at the least vpon the occasiō of his sicknes as namely the 6. the 32. the 38. the 39. c. and they are al psalmes of repētāce in which we may see how in distresse of the body and mind he renewed his faith repentāce heartily bewailing his sinnes intreating the Lord for the pardon of them Manasses one that fell from God and gaue himselfe to many horrible sins when he was taken captiue and imprisoned in Babylon Hee prayed to the Lord his God and humbled himselfe greatly before the God of his fathers and prayed vnto him and God was intreated of him and heard his prayer and brought him againe to Ierusalem into his kingdome and then Manasses knew that the Lord was God Now looke what Manasses did in this tribulatiō the same thing must we doe in the time of our bodily sicknesse Here I haue occasion to mention a notorious fault that is very common in this age euen amōg such as haue long liued in the bosome of the Church and that is this Men now adaies are so far from renuing their faith and repentance that when they lie sick and are drawing toward death they must bee catechised in the doctrine of faith and repentance as if they had beene but of late receiued into the Church Whosoeuer wil but as occasion is offered visit the sick shall finde this to be true which I say What a shame is this that whē a man hath spent his life daies in the church for the space of 20. or 30. or 40. yeares hee should at the very ende of all not before begin to enquire what faith what repentance is and how his soule might bee saued This one sin argues the great securitie of this age the great contempt of God and his word Wel let al men hereafter in time to come bee warned to take heede of this exceeding negligence in matters of saluation and to vse all good means before-hand that they may be able in sicknesse and in the time of death to put in practise the spirituall exercises of inuocation and repentance Now if so be it fall out that the sicke partie cannot of himselfe renue his owne faith and repentance he must seeke the help of others When the man that was sicke of the dead palsie could not go to Christ himself he got others to bear him in his bedde when they could not come neere for the multitude they vncouered the roofe of the house and let the bed down before Christ euen so when sicke men cannot alone by thēselues doe the good duties to which they are bound they must borrow helpe from their fellowe members who are partly by their counsell to put to their helping hand partly by their prayers to present them vnto God and to bring them into the presence of Christ. And touching helpe in this case sundry duties are to be performed Saint Iames sets downe foure two whereof concerne the sicke patient and other two

almost shal we finde the practise obedience of it in mens liues conuersations Alas alas to lend our eares for the space of an houre to heare the will of God is common but to giue heart hand to doe the same is rare And the reason hereof is athād we are al most grieuous sinners euery sinner in the tearmes of Scripture is a foole and a principall part of his folly is to care for the things of this world and to neglect the kingdome of heauen to prouide for the body not for the soule to cast and fore-cast howe we may liue in wealth and honour and ease and not to vse the least fore-cast to die well This folly our Sauiour Christ noted in the rich man that was carefull to inlarge his barnes but had no care at all for his ende or for the saluation of his soule Such a one was Achitophel who as the Scripture tearmes him was as the very oracle of God for councell being a mā of great wisedome forecast in the matters of the cōmon wealth and in his owne priuate worldly affaires and yet for all this he had not so much as common sense and reason to consider howe he might die the death of the righteous come to life euerlasting And this folly the holy ghost hath noted in him For the text saith when he saw that his counsell was despised he sadled his asse and arose went home into his cittie and put his houshold in order and went and hanged himselfe And the fiue foolish virgins contented themselues with the blasing lamps of a bare profession neuer seeking for the horne of lasting oyle of true and liuely faith that might furnish and trimme the lampe both in life and death But let vs in the feare of God cast off this damnable folly first of all seeking the kingdome of God and his righteousnesse and leading our liues in faith and obedience that we may die accordingly And thus much of the first point of doctrine namely that there is a certen way whereby a man may die well now I come to the second Whereas therefore Salomon saith that the day of death is better then the day of birth we are furder taught that such as truly beleeue themselues to be the children of God are not to feare death ouermuch I say ouermuch because they must partly feare it and partly not Feare it they must for two causes the first because death is the destructiō of humane nature in a mans owne selfe others and in this respect Christ feared it without sinne and we must not feare it otherwise then we feare sicknes and pouertie and famine with other sorrows of body and minde which God will not haue vs to despise or lightly to regard but to feele with some paine because they are corrections punishments for sinne And he doth therfore lay vpon vs paines torments that they may be feared and eschewed and that by eschewing them we might further learne to eschewe the cause of them which is sin and by experience in feeling of paine acknowledge that God is a iudge and enemie of sinne and is exceeding angrie with it The second cause of the feare of death is the losse of the Church or Common-wealth when we or others are depriued of them which were indeede or might haue beene an helpe stay comfort to either of them and whose death hath procured some publike or priuate losse Againe we are not to feare death but to be glad of it and that for many causes First of al in it we haue occasion to shewe our subiection and obedience which we owe vnto God when he cals vs out of this world as Christ said Father not my will but thy will be done Secondly all sinne is abolished by death and we thē cease to offend God any more as we haue done Thirdly the dead body is brought into a better condition then euer it was in this life for by death it is made insensible and by that meanes it is freed from all the miseries and calamities of this life it ceaseth to be either an actiue or passiue instrument of sinne whereas in the life time it is both Fourthly it giues the soule passage to rest life and celestiall glorie in which wee shall see God as he is perfectly know him and praise his name for euer keeping without intermission an eternall sabboth therefore Paul saith I desire to bee dissolued and bee with Christ for that is best of all Fiftly God exequutes his iudgements vpon the wicked and purgeth his Church by death Nowe in all these respects godly men haue cause not to feare and sorrowe but to reioyce in their owne death and the death of others Thirdly if the day of death be so excellēt yea a day of happinesse then it is lawfull to desire death and men doe not alwaies sinne in wishing for death Paul saith I desire to be dissolueds and againe O miserable man who shall deliuer me from this bodie of death Yet this desire must not bee simple but restrained with certen respects which are these First death must bee desired so farre forth as it is a meanes to free vs from the corruption of our nature secondly as it is a meanes to bring vs to the immediate fellowship of Christ God himselfe in heauen Thirdly death may bee lawfully desired in respect of the troubles miseries of this life two caueats beeing obserued the first that this desire must not be immoderate the second it must bee ioyned with submission and subiection to the good pleasure of God If either of these bee wanting the desire is faulty therefore Iob and Ieremie and Ionas failed herein because they desired death beeing carried away with impatience On the contrarie also a man may desire a continuāce of life Ezechias praied and desired to liue when he heard the message of present death that hee might doe seruice to God And Paul desired to liue in regard of the Philippians that hee might further their faith though in regard of himselfe to die was aduantage to him Lastly if death ioyned with reformatiō of life be so blessed then the death of the vnbeleeuing and vnrepentant sinner is euery way cursed most horrible Reasons are these First it is the destruction of nature and the wages of their sins Secondly in it there is no comfort of the spirit to be found no mitigatiō of paine no good thing that may counteruaile the miseries thereof Thirdly that which is the most fearefull thing of al bodily death is the beginning of eternall death desperation and infernall torment without hope of deliuerance Therefore as I began so I ende haue care to liue well and die well FINIS An addition of things that came to my minde afterward THe last combate with the diuell in the pang of death it oftentimes most dangerous of all For then he will not vrge men to desperation knowing