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
A61301	The love of God to all mankind in the glorious work of their redemption by Jesus Christ, asserted and vindicated. With a plain and sober discussion of those controversies which are the constant concomitants of it, viz. election and reprobation, God's foreknowledg, his nature, attributes, and decrees; the sufficiency of means vouchsafed to all men to believe; the use of the law to believers under the gospel. Also concerning original sin, freewill, and falling from grace. All fitted to the meanest capacity, in a way of dialogue, by Zachary Stanton.	Stanton, Zachary.	1700 (1700)	Wing S5251A; ESTC R219675	159,700	342

without relation to Sin for it is Sin as Sin and in no other Consideration is the Cause of Punishment and surely God being most pure perfect and Goodness it self cannot be a Cause either Moral or Physical of that which is nothing but Deficiency If any of us miss Happiness let us not foolishly and sawcily charge God with our Ruin who delights not in it but rather upon our selves And I pray take heed while you dislike Mr. Perkins's Phrase you hold not to his Opinion for then would you make God worse than the Devil because the Devil doth only tempt and perswade to Sin and his Motions may be resisted for it is granted on all Hands the Devil can but allure not compel to Sin But by this Opinion God doth not only will Sin but procure it by a powerful and effectual Decree This is not only contrary to God's revealed Will but also fighteth against all the Attributes of God which I might largely shew Surely 't is Mens wilful sinning which renders every Cast-away liable to Reprobation and no fore-determination of God necessitates him thereunto as you may see Psal 81. 11 12. Ezek. 18. 39. Rom. 1. 21 24. Rev. 22. 11. Those that are here left to themselves are the obstinate and wilful Sinners which hate Instruction and scorn Mercy Prov. 1. 24. And saith Hockins on God's Decree p. 44. All Men do by their Sins and Iniquities truly reprobate themselves so that eternal Destruction becomes Mens choice not their unhappy Destiny and our Misery derive its Original not from God but our own Wills so that we need not seek for any hidden Cause but our own secret and open Impieties And indeed for my part I cannot find that God hath necessitated any to be wicked and thereby justly miserable but hath graciously provided Means whereby both Sin and Misery might be prevented or removed if timely imbraced But I shall say no more at this time for I see it grows late but I could heartily wish we might have a little farther Discourse together so it may be in Love Mar. Well I agree to it and if you please appoint the Time and Place and if the Lord will I 'll meet you and if we cannot agree in our Judgments yet I desire we may maintain the bond of Love which will make part of amends for our Failings But I do not question but you will be of my mind before you die and renounce this your Error Phil. My Friend I stand ready to revoke any Error that I shall be made sensible of and be convinced by the written Word of God the Touchstone of all Mens sayings and doings and if I err I err with a good Intention as in Charity I hope you do tho in my Apprehension what you hold tends more to the dishonour of God than his honour And I heartily pray and hope you will be ashamed and sorry for it upon further Consideration and I rest hopeful that all those that have been led into this Error by Ignorance or too much trusting in Human Wisdom if they be not ashamed to revoke their Judgment before Men of their own Parties will better consider what they ought to believe in relation to these things And seeing you are so kind to accept my Motion if you please let it be to Morrow about Noon and let this shady Grove be the place Mar. Let it be so till then farewel Phil. A good Night to you A Second Conference Philad WEll met Martha now I see you are as good as your Word Mar. Nay I think I am better than my Word for I am not only come my self but I have brought one or two with me Philetus This is a very pleasant Walk and a curious Shade indeed Moderatus It is so Philad Why here I love to retire my self sometimes and to get out of the Noise and Hurry of the World which too much interrupts us in our Contemplation on Divine Things yea here all alone I can take a view of the Corruption of my Heart and the Errors of my Life and see the Vanity and Uncertainty of all created Things And here in my Walkings and Musings methinks all the Herbs in the Field the Beasts on the Earth the Birds of the Air preach forth the wonderful Love Wisdom and Providence of God and many other things are represented to my Thoughts in this my Solitary Walking but I will not prevent our Discourse for which we met this Day c. Mar. I have imparted to these two Friends of mine the Substance of our Discourse Yesterday and they are desirous to spend this Afternoon with you I hope in true Love and Compassion as Friends and Lovers of the Truth of God and your Souls good knowing that if you should remain settled upon the Dregs of any rotten Opinion contrary to the Truth of the everliving God that Sorrow Shame and Confusion of Face will be your Portion for there are damning Principles as well as damning Practices Philad I do with a Cordial Affection readily imbrace you all and also believe that there are Principles which are of a Grace-destroying Heart-hardning Nature that tend to banish the true Fear and Love of God and to nourish Carnal Security and beget Strife but if all those ingaged in Religious Contests would leave off advancing Parties and Opinions and aim with a single Eye and sincere Heart to advance Truth and Piety with Sobriety and Christian Prudence this would renew that brotherly Love and Peace which is now almost universally destroyed by imprudent Zeal to the hazarding of all true Piety and indeed Morality and all Mod. You say true 't is a great deal of pity that Persons that own one God and one Lord Jesus Christ and expect one Heaven should be so injurious to each other as to put off that Spirit of Gentleness and Meekness which doth so highly become the Saints of Jesus Christ Philet It would be well if all sorts of Christians would endeavour patiently to bear or mildly instruct those that lye under Errors and Failings this would maintain and cherish Peace and Concord in all the Churches of Christ Mod. Well then in this Days Discourse let it be accompanied with love to Truth and in love to Peace and the good of each others Souls and let all things be tryed by the true Standard the Word of God and wherein you find each other mistaken take heed of passing heady or hasty Censures upon each other as because I am not of your Mind nor you of mine that therefore we are excluded out of the Kingdom of Heaven this will make us out of love with one another Philad I have found it too true that many that can speak fair yet carry Wrath in their Hearts neither can they bear the least Opposition that may be but presently they carry it so as if God himself was opposed when their Dictates are not admitted for Divine Oracles and because I cannot see that to be a Truth which I

Men Psal 139. Let us then here learn to become Fools that we may be wise and leave prying into those things which are beyond our human Reason to conceive and let us keep close to God's revealed Will which is our Duty for the want of this hath filled Professors Heads with Fancies and so they have been smiting one another and weakning the Hands of each others in the Lords Work while Piety Virtue the Love and Fear of God the true Spiritual Substance of all Religion is too too much neglected So that what if God did foreknow all the wicked Actions of Men before they came to pass yet might not God as well foreknow that if they had but improved those Means which he through his Grace had afforded them they might not have come to pass for the fore-knowledg in God of what Men will do doth not imply any absolute necessity of their doing of it neither have they any less Power to refrain doing of it because of God's fore-knowing that they will do it Whilst it remained saith Peter to Ananias touching his Possession was it not thy own i.e. wert thou not at full liberty to have kept it for thy own private use and when it was sold was it not in thy Power viz. whether thou wouldst part with thy Money or not Doubtless God foreknew what Ananias would do yet this did not take away the Liberty or Freedom of his Will to dispose of it as he pleased otherwise God's Foreknowledg should necessitate him to sell the Possession and to keep back part of the Mony and lie against the Holy Ghost by saying there was all when there was not this Act must be looked upon not the Act of Ananias but of God himself for whatsoever a Man is necessitated to do by an unresistable Power out of himself is the Act of the Necessitator not his As the Apostle saith Rom. 7. 20. If I do that I would not it is no more I that do it but Sin that dwells in me I would not have you admit into your thoughts that God is any ways Author of the wicked Actions of Men or that he decrees any thing that is an Infringement to his Justice or his Mercy in the least Mar. I am against those that hold that God works Sin by an operative Decree as Mr. Perkins in his Commentary upon Heb. 11. 40. who saith that under the large extent of God's Decree we must include the sinful Actions of Men for God doth not barely foresee them but decrees the being of them and so wills them after a sort tho not to be done by himself yet by others And so upon Jude ver 4. that nothing comes to pass without the Decree of God no not the wicked Actions of Men which God not only foreseeth but decreeth Now it is true which you have said if God should be operative in the working of Sin then he would be the Author of Sin yet that all Sin comes to pass by the permissive decree of God is a thing I hope you will not deny Phil. I see you can play fast and loose with your Opinion sometimes you say that God did from Eternity freely and unchangeably ordain whatsoever comes to pass and when by this Doctrine you find that Man is laid under a necessity of sinning and consequently God becomes the Author of all the wicked Actions of Men then you would help your self by saying Though Man sin not by the operative decree of God yet he doth by the permissive decree This is no more indeed than what we find and hear in the Sermons of all those of your way when they preach on this Subject the Doctrinal part of their Sermons countenance one thing and the Applicatory part that which is contrary unto it labouring to beget such a Faith in their Auditors as would destroy the Faith of their Doctrine What wooing and beseeching doth your Ministers make for Sinners to close with Christ to repent believe and obey the Lord and not to withstand the Day of Grace when yet notwithstanding all this they believe there is no Grace nor Mercy but for very few before them and that their strongest Endeavours to repent c. effect just nothing but the over-ruling Decree of God doth all and so they pull down with one hand what they build up with the other And the Truth is this Doctrine of God's eternal decreeing the greatest part of Adam's Offspring to Sin and Damnation includes in it so many Absurdities horrible Blasphemies undermining the very Foundation of all Religion and Piety that my Hopes are that it will shortly fall with the unsupportable weight of its own Evil. Yea were it not for so many Volumes written to uphold it I should hope it would appear so wicked that all good Christians e're long would be ashamed to own it and God's Love to all would be exalted in the Hearts Tongues and Writings of all Men. One thing I perceive is the cause why this Doctrine doth so flourish and lift up its Head in this Day is an over-much confiding in Persons of whose Learning and Piety they have had a high Opinion This draws many ignorant tho well-meaning Hearers to be zealous in what they teach be it right or wrong and to follow Persons reputed Godly and Learned more than the pure unerring Word of God Alas all good and pious Men have Errors and Fits of Distempers thro human Frailty and we ought not to take their Words upon trust but upon trial and in those things that appertain to Salvation bring them to the Law and Testimony and to suspect that for Truth where the Word of God administers much more Ground to doubt and question than believe as this Doctrine of personal and respective Reprobation doth But a word to the permissive Decree of God If by the permissive Decree of God you mean that God permitting or suffering such or such a thing to be done or come to pass supposeth a necessity of the coming of it to pass This I deny for if it be true that a Sparrow falls not to the Ground without his Permission yet hath not he decreed eternally that it shall be at such or such a time or in any cruel way as it often falls out directly contrary to his Will Deut. 22. 6. and though it be a Truth God hath decreed to suffer Sin otherwise there could be none yet it is also a great Truth that this permissive Decree of God is no cause of Sin God doth permit one Man to take away the Life of another but it doth not follow that therefore he did appoint or ordain them to such wicked Actions No Decree of God that is purely and barely permissive either induceth or supposeth any necessity of the coming to pass what is so decreed no more than a Capital Law necessitates to Murder Permission supposeth a Possibility of sinning or not sinning in the Party permitted From whence I conclude there is no damning to Misery