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
A17936	Tentations their nature, danger, cure. By Richard Capel. Sometimes fellow of Magdalen Colledge in Oxford. To which is added a briefe dispute, as touching restitution in the case of usury.; Tentations. Part 1-2	Capel, Richard, 1586-1656.; Sibbes, Richard, 1577-1635.	1633 (1633)	STC 4595; ESTC S119212	168,622	502

detestable to himselfe or others the greatest sins doe not alwayes vex they should I know but they doe not To come to our point Wee say that sin doth cause sin by way of desert when GOD doth by Permission Desertion and Tradition give a man up to some sinne of shame or inward biting sorrow to judge him for some other sin bare permission it is not for so we sin all sins we commit I hope wee cannot sin any sin except he suffer and his power doe permit yet wee finde that Pharaoh had his heart hardened worse for manner and measure than other common sinners had but all sinners are sinners by permission therefore there was a delivering up an act of justice and power in hardening the heart of Pharaoh and so it is when God doth plague one sin with another the thing I educe is this that it is impossible with all our whining to get off the sin merited except we first deale with the sin meriting we cannot affront the justice and power of God when he doth inflict and lay it on for some other fault it is out of our element to take it off till first wee have removed and done away the guilt and power of the former sin when sin doth worke and produce another sin by its own force then it comes from the power of sin when sin doth demerit to have another sin made a punishment of it that comes out of the guilt of sinne and justice of God therefore we must make our peace for the sinne which is is the cause and subdue that ere wee can possibly make any hand with the other sin which is the punishment That then wee may cleere our selves of some tentations wee must looke see what brought it if wee try and try and can make nothing of it then wee may see it is for some other sin which sin wee must finde out and then cast out that corruption and the worke is done we finde some what to the purpose in Ionas a good old Prophet he fled away from God was found out throwen into the Sea swallowed by a Whale and God in his goodnesse did deliver him and yet after hee fell into the like sin againe no doubt he did aske God forgivenesse in the Whale for his first sin yet hee after fell into the same way againe and did chafe because Ninive was not destroyed now see here the roote of sinne was not moared up he did at first flye out of pride because hee would not bee thought to preach the destruction of so famous a place hee thought none would be well pleased w th such a message and therefore do it whose would for Ionas This fact hee was sorry for but saw not the cause of all to be pride and therefore after when hee saw that Ninive was not destroyed what a chafe was hee in and was not this horrible pride too that so many must be destroyed rather than Ionas should bee thought to misse in denouncing a judgment which should not come had he found out the Canker at the first and killed it he had not fallen this second fall T is certaine that as in diseases in the body if one disease bee caused by another that is more in the spirits and humours of a man the disease causing must bee done away ere the disease caused can be remitted it may be eased for a time but it will returne again as long as the sicke matter is there to feed it and therefore wise Physitians strike alwayes at the roote so must wee and when Satan is upon us with some vexing lust and we cannot with all our power put it off Let us say sure it is for some other sinne that must bee killed ere this will bee cured and so we must cast out the mother-lust we must not say that we cannot find what it is what the sin is for which we are vexed with these or those afflictions for the Word and the Spirit will show it if wee aske it at the hands of God the Lord will point it out unto us so David Psal 139. 24. See saith he if there be any wicked way in mee and leade me into the way everlasting See if there be any wicked way in mee see it and show it unto me it being the office of the Spirit to convince a man of his sins it followes that the Spirit if we secke it in sincerity with a desire to be healed will finde out our sinnes for us and shew them unto us and when by the line of the Word and Spirit we have found out that Nest we are to turne our griefe upon those lusts rather than upon the present tentation the matter is that when wee are thus haunted and dogged with such tentations as are corrections say it is rather for some sins either 1. Past So some when maried are tempted but not brought to adultery because when single they were uncleane one way or other and thought to mend all by marying without repentance and so when once maried they grow secure and lay all on the Physick and not on God as Asa did in another case and then when they feele that sinne urgeth and Satan tempteth as much and perhaps more after than before because the sinne is worse men faint and sing many a heavy song and hang up their sword and say as good not at all as never the better Now here the right and ready way to heale all is to repent truly and thorowly of former uncleannesses lusts and then the Coasts will cleere first doe that and then marry bring not old sins to the mariage bed and when the knot is knit tentations as many as strong perhaps more perhaps greater may come but they shall not overcome and therefore they must not say better not marry at all if it be so I say he that hath the gift let him not marry but hee who hath not the gift as all have not hee were best marry or he must and will doe worse Resolve the case thus such a man if hee marry not use what helpes naturall morall spirituall he can yet he burnes still and the more he opposeth the more strong his affections grow a man maried cannot say that hee shall not bee tempted to defile the bed but this I say that using all GODS meanes and calling in for Gods blessing on the ordinance hee shal not fal his soule will heale Now in case one finde that for all his care his lusts grow exorbitant and violent look back and humble for what are past before this is to pluck us by the eares for what we were before we were maried make all that well compound with God for old matters and then ease and peace will come 2. Present As say a worldly man to bee told and convinced of his sin and yet will not mend as wee see a man may see a sin to be a sin and yet

such a sin and I may fall againe Now where this full point lyes that a man may be able to speake it thus much I must and have grieved and am now come to the height of sorrow that is required and now I know I shall never fall the same fall againe These bee strange riddles the heart of man I know must come down it must melt and breake but yet a little sorrow doth it in one when a great deale doth but do it in another some mens hearts after sin are like hard wax great heate is required to melt it but others like soft wax a little will supple it as we finde that at mans first conversion some men turne to it without much adoe with legall sorrowes and the sinne before regeneration I hope hardens the heart more than the sinne after for before there is nothing but a stone nothing but sin and flesh but after be the sin committed never so great yet there is some spirit some grace abiding and so some softnesse with all We Divines doe use to teach that it is the love of God and not the sorrow for sinne which is the cause to keepe us from relapsing and that too much sorrow doth hurt and drive us from Christ We all agree that a man may goe too far when there is so much as doth bring us to Christ it is sufficient and that sometimes a lesser degree of humbling and mourning will doe that GOD doth not delight to see us in our ashes no further than he may heare of us and t is not terror of the law but the peace of God which doth garrizon and keepe our hearts and mind and therfore this reason is of no force it hangs the conscience on uncertainty and no man can determine when his sorrow is come to bee enough and serve the turne in this Divinity besides who sees not that wicked men doe grieve over and above out of feare or shame or both for some sins and more than godly men doe for the same or the like sinnes and yet who dares say that by reason of this their griefe they could never offend in the same againe Iudas did grieve and sob extraordinary for killing Christ yet I do not thinke but had the case come in his way hee would have murthered him againe no trusting him who presently after killed himselfe and we finde some who for murther fall into those flats of sorrow that they doe run upon their owne deaths and cause themselves for very remorse of conscience to dye a dogs death Let us then say that it is a dāgerous case for a godly man to sinne the same great sin after repentance what if it doe not put him out of Christ what if it do not hang him Yet it burnes him in the hand whips him up and down the towne my meaning is that it doth cast him into a bed of miserable sorrow but withall we must say that it may possibly be that after true hearty repentance for such a fault a child of God may chance to fal into the same sin againe and again how often I cannot tel but this I can tell that how often soever hee sinneth let him repent and returne and his pardon is ready They wrong GOD in his mercy and men in their comfort who doe say the contrary 3. The third duty that wee are to looke to after the tentation is that in case we do not finish the sin not act the fault but doe drive away this fury that then wee bee very thankefull to God t is his doing only t is his grace that moved him to stand for us when we were in danger to cast away our comfort it is a great mercy to rise againe but a greater too when God comes and stands betwixt us and the fall Of the two it is better not to sin the sin than to bee recovered after wee are down as it is in it self for a man to bee preserved from a disease than to be cured of the disease I confesse that wee have a greater experimentall taste both of the love and power of GOD when wee are recovered but yet as touching our peace and comfort I hope wee all see it is better not to sin the sin than having sinned to be healed we save a great deale of inward paine and bitter sorrow by the bargaine Christ I know tels us most Divinely and sweetly that to whom much is forgiven such doe love much but yet we must not sin many sins that so much may bee forgiven us and wee love much this were to turne the grace of God into wantonnesse and that which Augustine hath up and downe in his Tomes answers all that those also are to love much who have beene preserved by the providence and power of God from doing such and so many transgressions as some others have for why saith hee have we not sinned those sins was the cause in our nature Is the reason in our will No but only in the goodnesse of God wee are then to thanke him and love him for the sins we have committed and have had our pardon for them and for those many more which wee should have done had not the Lord beene all one as though wee had done them and had found a pardon of them and one degree more and that is that by reason of his meere mercy we have beene strongly preserved from so sinning against our God from so troubling the quiet of our owne hearts and in some particulars from so scandalizing the Church and people of GOD. 4. The fourth duty after the tentation is to make a good use of it to get some good out of it wee must come to some fruit after wee have beene so handled with such bitter plunges The Earth after Winter becomes fruitfull so must wee be now the good that comes by tentation is manifold 1. A sight of some corruption wee saw not before the beginning of all our comfort ariseth from an humble sight of our corruptions and t is fit that when we will not see them and abhor them by what we finde in the word we should have the experience of them in our selves then we say till now little did I thinke I had beene thus and thus given to such rebellions then wee cry ah wretched man that I am what a Beast what a divell am I This doth mightily empty us of our selves and then we quickly fill with God with Christ this is amends enough for all our toile that wee are made to see somewhat in our selves which wee never thought to bee in our hearts 2. The second is to see that ther is some sin not sufficiently and thorowly mortified that as yet wee have not gone to the quick of it and what that sin is and now to take it in hand againe and never give over till wee breake the heart of it lest it lye in the winde and doe us some spight against

to swim when God doth hold us up by the chin w th comfortable feeling But he is a man of faith that can then say God is my God my King when hee sees nothing but the promise Oh Blessed is the man who beleeves and sees not for want of sense their song once was mine 1. eyes failes my 2. flesh failes my heart faile my 2. knees faile my all failes but my faith which never failes well then though a mans marrow be consumed like the drought in Summer say not onely ones flesh be pined which after sicknesse will come againe but ones very bones be consumed which when once dried they say never come to themselves againe aye and ones juice whithin the bones do wast away yet there wee must hope against hope and set faith against sense when wee cannot see one shine in the face of God yet we may fetch support out of the promise Gods countenance doth change and turne away but the promise is ever the same and al in al is in the promise we are childern of what of the promise heires of what of the promise sight and sense lookes onely on the face of God but our faith lookes onely on the promise and it is the Evidence of thing● not seene it gives a being to that which in existence is not and thus living by faith a Christian on all occasions may say God is mine and so mine as though hee were nones but mine he is all mine and what we speake out of feeling a tentation may make us unspeake it againe but what we say by faith once wee say it ever and all the tentations Satan can devise cannot make us unsay it againe I mourne Blessed not shall be but are those that mourne why They shall be not are comforted He then is a blessed man who mournes though hee be without present comfort 3. We must keepe this order as to begin with the right end and the right end is then to finde out what the sin is that is chastise or punised when the tentation to a lust is a punishment for some other sin it is all in vaine and meere lost labour for a man to thinke to get off the sin which is the punishment when we let the sin punished alone hence it is that we doe finde many a good man strive and strive even his very heart out to master a lust and are where they were or rather worse and why But because that vexing sin is a correction for some other sin which wee over-see and say nothing unto and thus men run upon flats of discomfort as though they were none of Gods and all because they cannot conquer a sin which is not because they are not Gods nor for want of faith neither but for want of art and method The effect cannot bee taken away untill such time the cause be removed now wee must know that one sin is the cause of another two wayes 1. First by effecting and producing by a very efficiency another sin as Covetousnesse is a very Caust working oppression Vsury rapine buying and selling for dayes and enclosure now I confesse it is hard to bee convinced that that which is an effect of a former sin is a sin till we be convinced that the sin which is the cause is a sin as hee that knowes not what covetousnesse is or is not convinced that covetousnesse is a sin cannot bee cured of Vsury Enclosure hoarding up of Corne c. and therefore the sin which is the cause must bee pardoned and healed first So pride of life is the cause why men doe follow fashions to follow that which was a fashion is no sinne but to bee in that which is the fashion whilst it is called the fashion is a sin else there is no such sin as following of fashions which Scripture and Nature have condemed for a sin I say this sin comes out of pride as out of a working cause and t is not possible for a man to bee mended in one except hee dig out the other So Passion springs out of pride of heart as out of his very next cause and so doth Envy too many are troubled with their Passions and disquieted with Envy and make a great marvell of it that they cannot get the victory all this while I will tell you the reason they pray against passion but not against the cause not against pride they stop at the streame but choake not up the spring they lop the boughs and it growes thicker after and pluck not up the roote Therefore if we meane to cast out of our heart and life such a sinne as is an effect of a former sin wee must first begin with the causing sin or else he doth wash a stone and Satan will hold him where he was doe what he can and what a weary hand is this for a man to pray to reade to heare to fast against a sinne and yet to make nothing of it 2. By meriting which Schoole Divines call demeriting and deserving to bee cast into some sin by God as a just Iudge for some other offence and this as it comes from God is a Good of justice thinke not that wee meane it as though God did infuse or put into a man the matter or forme of the punishing sin it needs not there is matter enough in our hearts already God cannot breath sin in the minde or breast of any man but by letting lust out and setting Satan loose upon us we are punished and corrected by one sin for another Some say it ought not to be said that God doth punish sin with sin why then say they that sin which is the punishment doth deserve more punishment and so it doth What say they and doth that deserve another no for albeit God may and doth punish sin with sin it followes not that the second sin must bee punished with another sin but with some other punishment it must and what if in some cases sins in a row be punished with sins yet there is no processus in Infinitum because as the Schooles have agreed when once it comes to hell there is no demerit sinnes on earth merit further punishment but sins in hell doe not because there is satisfaction given and so full a point put to the Iustice of God Besides the damned are in actuall possession of their last punishment and therefore there is in them no demerit of more or further torment God in justice then doth and may punish one sinne with another here some say with a greater that is not alwaies so for hee punisheth Idolatry with Fornication yet Fornication must not bee held to bee a greater sin than Idolatry it is sufficient that the sin which is made the punishment be a more vexing sin bringing more shame and more inward or outward distresse that so the sinner may be made the more