Selected quad for the lemma: cause_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
cause_n	wonder_v	work_n	wrought_v	13	3	6.9676	4	false

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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A81199	An exposition with practicall observations continued upon the twenty-second, twenty-third, twenty-fourth, twenty-fifth, and twenty-sixth chapters of the book of Job being the summe of thirty-seven lectures, delivered at Magnus near London Bridge. By Joseph Caryl, preacher of the Word, and pastour of the congregation there.	Caryl, Joseph, 1602-1673.	1655 (1655)	Wing C769A; ESTC R222627	762,181	881

worke of God by Creation and God worketh in all places by his providence The workes of creation would run to ruine if God did not sustaine and as it were keepe them in reparation by the workes of providence yet as God worketh in some men and by some men more then in nnd by others some persons are to him as his right hand he calls them forth to be greatly instrumentall to him So hee worketh in some places and nations and by some places and nations more then he doth in or by others God is a free Agent he worketh where he will and he pitcheth upon some speciall places and persons according to the pleasure of his owne will to worke in and by more then many others And seing according to this Interpretation The left hand where he is said to worke so eminently is the North. Wee may observe First That God worketh more in the Northern parts of the world then he doth in the South And the reason of this may be because the Northern parts of the world are more inhabited and peopled then the Southern are And which may be a second reason of it The Inhabitants of the Northern parts of the world are more civillized and better instructed then the Southerne Now the providences of God are most remarkable where there are most people and they best taught and instructed where the natural faculties of man are most raised and sublimated by art and regular education there or by them God doth his greatest workes those places are as it were the stages whereon he acts and brings to issue the secret purposes and counsels of his heart both in wayes of judgement and in wayes of mercy Besides we finde that the Northerne Nations have in all ages been the most active and warlike The Fourth Monarchy That of the Romanes whose seate was more Northerly then any of the former three was the most active and warlike of the Foure and extended its Dominion by extreame and unwearyed industry further then any had done before And those irruptions of enemies and Armyes which gaue the greatest checke to the Romane Greatness and often plum'd or pull'd off the Feathers of that mighty Eagle were still made by those people who lived and were bred up in climates more cold and Northerly then they as all Historyes doe with one consent make good Insomuch that it grew into a Famous Proverb Omne malum ab aquilone All evill comes from the North that is all troubles invasions and devastations are brought upon the Nations by some hardy people or other coming out of the North. And the holy Scriptures of the Prophets are full of this observation Jer. 1.14 15. Then the Lord sayd unto me out of the North an evill shall breake forth upon all the Inhabitants of the land For lo I will call all the familyes of the kingdome of the North saith the Lord and they shall come and they shall set every one his throane at the entrance of the gates of Jerusalem c. By The North in this prophecy he meanes Chaldea and Babylon which are scituate North from Jerusalem And by all the familyes of the kingdomes of the North he meanes all the Northerne parts under the obedience of the King of Babylon who should readily follow and serve him in his warres against Judea Againe in the same Prophet Ch 4.6 I will bring evill out of the North Ch. 6.1 Evill appeareth out of the North ver 22 A people comes forth from the North Chap. 10.22 Behold a great commotion out of the North. And when the Lord promised to remove far away from his people the Northerne Army Joel 2.20 he therein promised them the removall of all Armyes and troubles because the North had most of all if not alone troubled and harrazed them with Armyes Againe In the North the Gospel which is the highest teaching and instruction hath been more generally and more clearely published then in the Southern parts of the world so that in allusion to that of the Prophet Isa 30.26 we may say That the light of our Northern Moone hath been as the light of the Southern Sun and that the light of our Sun hath been seven-fold to theirs even as the light of seven dayes And according to the greatnes of Gospel light the dispensations and changes which we have been under have been very great we especially in this Northern Nation with those adjoyning to us and united with us under one Government have had full Experience of and may therefore giving glory to God seale to the truth of Jobs position That God worketh on the left hand or in the North. Have not we found God working in the North What changes what variety of action have our Northern parts both seene and felt What wonders of mercy and salvation what terrible things in righteousnes hath God wrought of late among us The heavens and the earth States of all sorts The heavenly and the earthly and of all degrees the higher and the lower have been terribly shaken in these Nations Providence hath wrought to amazement in our dayes The Nations round about have heard the report of it and wondered Many have and will have cause to say of us what hath God wrought on the left hand in our North God hath been at worke indeed Moreover we finde that Mount Sion which was not onely an eminent part of the literall Jerusalem but a figure also of the mysticall Jerusalem or whole Church of God under the Gospel Heb. 12.22 This Mount Sion I say is Geographically described in our Northerly scituation Psal 48.2 3. Beautifull for scituation the joy of the whole earth is Mount Sion on the sides of the North the City of the Great King God is knowne in her pallaces for a refuge As if he had sayd in Sion on the sides of the North God worketh wonderfully as it follows expressely v. 4 5. for lo the kings were assembled they passed by together they saw it and so they marveiled they were troubled and hasted away that is Kings conspiring against the Church were so terrified with the evidences of Gods power working mightily there that they fled away or as another Scripture phraseth it They came one way and returned seven And in this forme of speech is both the then Jerusalem and the Church ever since expressed in that boast which the king of Babylon who was a type of all the enemies of the Church cloathed with mighty power and soveraignty makes against her Isa 14.13 I will sit also that is erect my throane upon the Mount of the Congregation on the sides of the North. Mount Sion was called the Mount of the Congregation because there the people of God the Jewes were famously knowne to congregate often together and this saith that proud boaster on the sides of the North. And to compleate this notion of the workings of God in and from the North Christ himselfe is sayd to be raysed out of the North

by a breath of winde and yet this huge vast globe of earth and water hangs as a ball in the ayre and we scarce wonder at it The Poets fained an Atlas to beare up the heavens with his shoulders God is the Atlas that beares up the heavens and the earth too the upper globe and the under globe too he made all things by himselfe out of nothing and he supports them by himselfe upon nothing We have an excellent expression of the power of God in this thing Isa 40.12 Who hath measured the waters in the hollow of his hand and meted out heaven with the span and comprehended the dust of the earth in a measure and weighed the mountaines in scales and the hills in a ballance God made all things in weight and measure and hee keepes the weight and measure of all things As the earth was not till his word and will gave it a being so his word and will alone is all-sufficient to uphold it in that being God hath not hanged the earth upon any thing but himselfe who is indeed infinitely more then all things Take two or three deductions from this Grand Conclusion First The same power which made the world supports and maintaines it Thus the Authour to the Hebrewes sets forth the dignity of Christ the Son of God Chap 1.2 3. Whom he hath appoynted heyre of all things by whom also he made the worlds both the naturall civill and spirituall worlds with all the changes and successions which have been in them who is also the brightnes of the glory of God and the expresse image of his person upholding all things the naturall frame of the world as wel as the civill and spirituall frame of it by the word of his power or by his powerfull word which as it once commanded all things into a being so now it commands all things into that continuance of their being in which they are Which power the Apostle attributes againe to Christ Col. 1.17 He is before all things and by him all things consist Sin made the world shake And had it not been for a second creation the first creation had been ruin'd and lost The earth and all our concernements who live upon the face of the earth hang upon nothing but the will of God If he let us goe we fall though all the powers on earth would underprop and uphold us and if he hold us up we stand fast though we have no more of any earthly power to prop us up with then the earth hath which is propt up with and hangeth upon nothing Secondly God can doe the greatest things without any visible meanes This worke of God in hanging the earth as it doth is to be numbred among the greatest workes that ever he did and thus it hangs without any the least appearing meanes to hold it up There are three arguments given in Scripture of the mighty power of God First That he workes by small even the smallest meanes wee have reason to wonder when effects exceed all visible causes as it shewes the great power of God when he stops great meanes from doing any thing when he causeth men to labour in the very fire that is to toyle and sweat themselves to the utmost for very vanity that is without any hoped for issue or advantage Some labour in the fire for very vanity because all they get by their labours is worth nothing but others may be sayd to labour in the fire for very vanity because with all their labours they can get nothing And this is of the Lord this is an effect of the Lords power to make the power of man in the use and improvement of the best and choycest meanes ineffectual So on the other side it is a great magnifying of the power of God when by a litle power put forth by the hand of a weake instrument he produceth great effects The Apostle James brings it in with a behold Chap. 3.5 Behold how great a matter a little fire kindleth When great matters are done by small meanes we have reason to extoll and cry up the power of God Secondly It argues the great power of God when he doth great things by meanes that are improbable or that seeme no way sutable to such an end as Christ cured blindnesse with clay spittle which meanes had no sutablenesse to such an end the curing of blindnesse The meanes used to cure Naaman had no sutablenesse for such a cure and Naaman was so sencible of it that he was very angry with the Prophet about it as if his leprosie could be cured by so slight a thing as that was he thought he would have done it with some ceremony or in an extraordinary way yet this shewed that the cure was wrought by a divine power because it was wrought by so improbable an application As the power of God appeares in doing great things by small meanes so by doing great things by unlikely meanes Thirdly It shews the power of God much more to doe great things without the use of any meanes at all Such actings are creatings as the Apostle speakes of the Creation Heb 11.3 Through faith wee understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God so that things that are seene were not made of things that doe appeare Nothing appeared out of which this world was created There was no pre-excistent matter out of which the world was made The world was made out of nothing That Goodly fabrick of heaven and earth which is now seene was made of that which was never seene no man can tell what were the materialls of which God made the world Now as God shewed his infinite power at first in making all things of that which did not appeare so the great power of God doth appeare now in doing great things without the appearance or external concurrence of any thing The Lord turnes whole Nations sometimes by nothing things are done and no man can tell how they were done or by what We love to have a fayre Appearance of meanes when we attempt great matters But God loves to act when and where nothing appeares We honour God most when we are sencible that the greatest meanes is nothing without him and that he himselfe is enough when no meanes at all appeares to sence It is Gods usuall way to doe things in a way which is not used and eyther to use no helpe or that which signifyeth nothing Thus the Apostle describes the dealing of God in bringing soules to himselfe by a holy calling and in removing whatsoever standeth in the way of that call 1 Cor 1.26 For yee see your calling brethren how that not many wise men after the flesh not many mighty not many noble are called c. some wise and mighty men are called lest any thing in man should seeme too hard for the Grace of God and not many wise and mighty men are called lest any thing in man should seeme to contribute to or helpe

heaven proper and the pillars of heaven in a figure tremble at or are astonished at these loud reproofes Hence observe The greatest strength of the creature trembleth at the angry dispensations and appearances of God As the lifting up of the light of Gods countenance puts joy into the heart more then corn wine the best things of this world so the darkenes of Gods countenance puts more trouble and sorrow into our hearts then gall and wormewood the worst of the world can doe David describes at large in what a kinde of hudle and hurry the world was in such a day Psal 18.13 14 15. Then the earth shooke and trembled the foundations also of the hils moved and were shaken because he was wroth The Lord also thundered in the heavens and the highest gave his voyce hailestones and coales of fire he sent out his arrows and scattered them and he shot out lightnings and discomfited them then the channels of waters were seene and the foundations of the world were discovered at thy rebuke O Lord at the blast of the breath of thy nostrills What David there spake of thunder and lightning and hayle-stones hath been visibly effected for the destruction of the enemyes of the people of God and for the deliverance of his children The history of Joshuah gives us a famous instance at the 10th Chapter and though it be not recorded that David obtained victoryes by such immediate helpes from heaven yet it is not improbable considering the tenour of this Psalme that he did And we have a notable instance of a victory obtained by Thunder and lightning in the History of the Church whence that Christian Legion of Souldiers who had earnestly prayed that God would appeare for their help was called The Thundering Legion But whether we expound this context in the Psalme literally and strictly as expressing what God did for David in this kinde Or figuratively as expressing onely thus much that God did wonderfull things in one kinde or other in helping David against his enemyes or whether we understand it mystically of what God doth to and for the soules and spirituall estates of men yet it holds forth in all the utter inability of man to beare up when the Lord shewes himselfe in any terrible demonstrations of his presence Againe Psal 104.32 He looketh on the earth and it trembleth he toucheth the hills and they smoake There is a twofold looke of God First there is the looke of Gods favour and thus Saints often pray that God will looke downe from heaven upon them this looke is the releiving yea the reviving of the soule secondly there is a looke of displeasure an angry a frowning looke when clouds and stormes are seene in the brow Thus in the Psalme God is sayd to looke on the earth frowningly childingly and then it trembled he toucheth the hills and they smoak that is they are as all on-fire The natural hils smoake at Gods touch and so doe the metaphoricall hills when God toucheth the great men of the earth they smoake presently they fret and fume till they breake out into a flame of rage heating and vexing both themselves and all that are neere them Isa 50.2 Behold at my rebuke I dry up or I can dry up the Sea I am as able to doe it now with a word of my mouth as I once did it for the deliverance of your forefathers Exo 14.21.29 I make or I can make when I will with my rebuke the rivers a wildernesse that is as dry as a desert or wildernes useth to be their fish stinketh because there is no water and dyeth for thirst What strange worke doth the rebuke of God make By that he drieth the sea by that he maketh the river a wildernes and as he doth this by the power of his reproofes upon the sea and rivers natural so upon the sea and rivers mysticall He can dry up those worldly helpes which seeme as inexhaustible as the sea and as lasting and constant to us as a river which is fed with a continuall spring And when any power riseth up against us as deepe and dangerous as the sea as wel supplyed and seconded as a river yet we need not feare for God can presently dry it up and make us a passage over it or through it Yea they who are as well bottom'd and foundation'd as the earth shall quickly feele the effects of his power Psal 114.7 Tremble thou earth at the presence of the Lord at the presence of the God of Jacob. But some may say if the earth trembleth at the presence of God then the earth must alwayes tremble for God is alwayes present or what is the presence of God there spoken of I answer as there is a presence of God that maketh all those that enjoy it to sing for joy In thy presence is fullnesse of joy and at thy right hand are pleasures for evermore Psal 16.11 so there is a presence of God that is very terrible to the creature yea that presence of God which is comfortable to his people is terrible to his enemyes for when the Psalmist had sayd ver 2. Judah was his Sanctuary and Israel his dominion that is a people sanctifyed to him and governed and protected by him presently it followeth The sea saw it and fled Jordan was driven backe The mountaines skipped like rams and the litle hils like lambs The Psalmist perceaving all things in such a trembling fit and confusion seemes to wonder what the matter was and therefore puts the question What ayled thee O thou sea that thou fleddest yea mountaines that ye skipped c And presently maketh answer Tremble thou earth at the presence of the Lord As if he had sayd the cause of all this terrour and trouble among the creatures was nothing else but the presence of God And if the very sence-lesse creatures were sencible of his wrathfull presence how much more must man both be sencible of it and stoop unto it This the Lord insinuates by a cutting question Ezek. 22.14 Can thy heart indure or can thy hands be strong in the day that I shall deale with thee I the Lord have spoken it and will doe it The Lord by his Prophet speakes there to a people that had a double strength they were strong hearted and they were strong handed they had much force or outward power and they had much courage or inward power but neyther hand-strength nor heart-strength neyther force nor courage shall avayle you in that day saith the Lord that I shall deale with you after the dealings of an enemy in wrath and Judgement God strengthens the hands of his servants and encourageth their hearts to endure his severest dealings with them But when he commeth to deale severely with those who are rebellious and wicked their hearts who are stoutest among them shall not be able to endure nor can they strengthen their hands They who have strengthned their hearts and hands most to commit sin shall be