Selected quad for the lemma: cause_n
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A66100
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The fountain opened, or, The great gospel priviledge of having Christ exhibited to sinfull men wherein also is proved that there shall be a national calling of the Jews from Zech. XIII. I. / by Samuel Willard ...
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Willard, Samuel, 1640-1707.
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1700
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Wing W2277; ESTC R38934
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107,750
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sit under â—he Gospel Aâ— there any whose thirsty Souls not only craâ— after happiness but find no satisfaction in thoâ— objects which sin hath diverted men unto you find your misery in that you perish witâ— out the waters of liâ—e and that this wilderneâ— will afford none and are thereupon inquisitivâ— after Christ oâ— whom you have heard a repoâ— that he is one that can do it for you to sucâ— this truth speaks seasonably and comfortablâ— Here is a Well of Salvation opened in this dâ— and thirsty land iâ—s waters are healing and sâ—tisfying there is enough of them there is fountain and it can never fail And not onâ— are you comprehended in the general invitaâ— â—given to all where the Gospel is Preached â—t it is the special direction of it that is given â— such as you and all encouragment joyned â—ith it â— the weary and heavy laden are singleâ—â—t in it Math. 11. 28. The poor and needy and â—câ— whose eyes fuil them are remembred with a â—acious promise Isa 41. 17. And indeed the 〈◊〉 in which God perswades and allures peâ—hing Sinners to come to Christ is by touch 〈◊〉 their Consciences and making them apâ—hensive of their woful misery in themselves 〈◊〉 their helplessness any where else that so â—e revelation of Christ to them may be very â—lcome as showers of rain are to the weary â—lderness that is parched You have great â—son then to hope in his Grace and accordingâ— to adventure your selves upon it for if â—od be opening of your hearts to receive â—rist it is because he intends to fill them with â—m and the emptying you of every other â—ing is a step to that USE V. Let this quicken the Children of God 〈◊〉 make a free and full Improvement of this founâ—in for all the ends of it The usefulness of it â—tends to all the necessities of your Souls 〈◊〉 is no relief that you can need but here â—may be fully supplyed and your occasions â—e such as call you every day to come to it â—ou go any whither else to get them suppli 〈…〉 you will return 〈◊〉 God hath opened this fountain to you he hath rolled the sâ— from the mouth of it he hath planted you it and is from time to time drawing these waters and presenting them to you his holy Ordinances why then should use them sparingly they are your own â— hath given them you freely and he bids â— to drink of them abundantly You may tiâ— complain of your pinching want you thâ— and Oh! that you could have a satisfâ— draught why then do you stand off Wâ— question your title doubt whether you â— make use of your own and live upon it â— greatest contentment Oh this Unbelief â— to God to cure you of it and endeavouâ— improve all the encouragement that he â— given you to make you with holy boldâ— at all times come to him and bring your veâ— with you that they may be filled The mâ— you thus do the more you will please hâ— and the more happy and delightful will yâ— Pilgrimage be to you and the more abundanâ— will you praise and glorifie God for this speakable gift DOCTRINE IV. The great design of Opening this fountain to Gâ— People is for Sin and for Uncleanness THis is directly expressed in our Tâ— There are three things mainly incâ—ed in this Doctrine viz. 1. That it was the sin and uncleanness of â—â— that gave the occasion for the opening this Fountain 2. That the great usefulness of this Founâ—n is for the taking away of the sin and â—cleanness that man hath contracted 3. That where this Fountain is savingly â—plied it shall take away the Sin and Unâ—anness of the People of God These then â—ay be briefly and yet distinctly taken into â—â—â—sideration 1. That it was the sin and uncleanness of man â—â— gave the occasion for the Opening of thâ—s â—â—tain We must here distinguish between cause and an occasion They go too far he assign a Causality in sin to the coming â— Christ in the Flesh and his working out â— Salvation for us for though as will anon â— considered if it had not been for this he â—d not so come yet there cannot properly â— assigned any causality in this to such an â—ect and they who so think do not rightly â—sider the order and causes of Gods Works â— Efficiency They that ascribe a causality â— it reckon it to be an impulsive cause or a â—otive on the mind of God to send his Son â—to the world on this Errand but that it â—annot be because the will of God is the suâ—ream cause of his purposing the works of Efficiency And as the Glory of his Grace was the last end of his purpose of Election â—â— the fall of man into sin and under misâ— by sin was a purposed Medium to it and â— could not possibly be a Medium to that â— pose However in the contrivance of â— Media there was an allwise concatenatâ— of one with another and so the sin and â— cleanness of man gave occasion for the â—ming of Christ And we may take this sâ— account of it 1. That God purposed from Eternity to â— the glory of his Grace in some lasting Mâ—ments of it If we would take a right â— count of any of Gods works we must â— gin at the end or Design of them We â— to conceive of God as an Infinitely Wise gâ—nt and therefore to have some worthy â— in all that he doth and according to â— we are to conceive of the wisdom appearâ— in the means that he useth to bring this â— about Now God hath declared or manifeâ—ed himself to us in divers glorious Attribuâ— or Perfections by which he will make hiâ— self known two whereof were his Grâ— and his Mercy which are often used proâ—cuously for one and the same in the Gospâ— when they are referred to the great desâ— under our present consideration though thâ— is a divers notion which we are to entertaâ— of them Grace being God Inclined freâ— to bestow his favour upon a Creature that â—serves it nâ— Mercy supposing the Subject â—â— in misery is God inclined to succour it in â—â—at misery Grace may exert it self in a subject that is not in misery yea all that â—od doth for any of his Creatures is free â—ence that challenge Rom 11. 35. Who hath 〈◊〉 given to him and it shall be recompensed him again Mercy is restrained to a miserable subject and that mercy also is a fruit of Grace because it is free for the Creatures infelicity cannot make it to deserve the Succour afforded it Now God would have some lastâ—â—â— Monuments of these perfections of his which should for ever be Mirrours in which â—â— should be read how gloriously Gracious and â—â—â—ciful he is The Apostle therefore reducâ—th the great contrivance of mans Salvation to this Eph. 1. 6. To the praise of the glory of his Grace His people are therefore said to be to â—â—m for a Name and
fit for Grace and Mercy to work upon and erect to themselves trophies of honour and glory in doing for him by raising him out of that â—orlorn condition and bestowing upon him the contrary blessedness Not as if this miserable estate which man haâ—â— by his own folly brought himself into laid any obligation upon God to work for him iâ— this way for it indeed exposed him to his juâ—â— indignation but only that it laid open an Object that needed it and upon which if hâ— saw meet he might exert those Attributes of his to the highest and thereby bring to himself a Tribute of everlasting praise When therefore Paul had mentioned how notable a subject he had been of this he could not buâ— shut up the discourse of it with that Doxology 1 Tim. 1. 17. Now unto the King Eternalâ— Immortal Invisible the only wise God be honour and glory for ever and ever Amen 6. There were divers steps to this all of which were ordered by the holy counsel of God Every thing that bears the consideration of a Medium to this great end must needs be acknowledged unto Gods fore appointment for all things fall out according to the counsel of his will and though he is not in any respect to be accounted the author of sin yet he is the Supream Orderer of it and that according to his permissive will Now there were such steps as these all of which made way for the introduction of this Grace and Mercy of his 1. The Creating of man Upright That God did so Create him we are told Eccles 7. 29. God made man uprightâ— Adam was Created in a state of integrity which consisted in the rectitude of his nature by vertue of the Concreated principle of Holiness and Righteousness which was put into it and was called Gods own Image after which man was made Geâ— 1. 26. c. And if he had not been thus made he could not have been capable of the following transactions that were betwixt God and him for to require that of a Creature which it was never in a capacity of complying withal had been unworthy of Gods infinite wisdom and altogether inconsistent with that Justice which God laid the foundation for in the nature and state that he Created man in 2. The Covenant of Works and the Sanctions of it That there was such a Covenant plighted with man the Word of God gives us sufficient intimations of and as it was requisite that man should be a cause by Counsel of his own actions or else he could not have been treated with in the way of a Coveâ—â—â— which supposeth a mutual â—â—ipulation betweeâ— the persons Covenanting so the works â—â—quired of him in that Covenant could 〈◊〉 have been performed by him according to the tenour of it without the moral rectitude of 〈◊〉 nature which we have taken notice of Noâ— in this Covenant there are considerable 〈◊〉 Sanctions of it but for which man could noâ— have been happy or miserable according to 〈◊〉 and his carriage of himself towards it Goâ— therefore besides a Rule which he gave 〈◊〉 man diâ—â—cting him how he might serve hiâ— aright annexed a promise of life in case 〈◊〉 Obedience full and perfect and threatneâ— him with death iâ—â—e should transgress the precept which is intimated in that Gen. â— 17. In the day that thou eatest thereof thou shaâ—â— surely dy and thus man under the first Covenant stood a probaâ—ioner for life or death according as he should behave himself 3. The permission of him to fall That maâ— did eventually fall from his Rule and Happiness is a thing very notorious That this 〈◊〉 was a foil on which God â—rew the lines and laid the colours oâ— his Grace and Mercy is no less observable in the Word of God hencâ— that Rom 5. 20 21. The Law entred that siâ— might abound but where sin abounded Graâ—â— did much more abound that as sin hath 〈◊〉 unto death even so might grace reign through righ teousness 〈◊〉 eternal life through Jesus Christ 〈◊〉 Lord. And that God had a respect unto 〈◊〉 in appointing Christ to be a Redeemer and Saviour is not to be doubted inasmuch 〈◊〉 this was the very thing from which he was â—o redeem and save us this therefore is said to commend that Grace Rom. 5. 8. God commendeth his love towards us in that while we were 〈◊〉 sinners Christ died for us God therefore must needs have a foresight of this Apostasy because the assignation of Christ to his Mediaâ—â—al Offices had a respect to it and that man had not â—allen but by Divine Permission is certain for God could have kept him from it without offering force to his free will as he did the glorious Angels that keep their Station as he doth the perfected Saints in Glory and as he doth true Believâ—rs in this life from final Apostasy and this Permission must needs flow from his will beâ—ause he is the Supream Governour of all Creatures and all their actions according to is holy pleasure Hence though God doth â—ot approve of but hateth sin yet he saw it â—ood for an higher end that there should â—e sin by his Permission 4 The miserable â—state to which he is reduced the fall by vertue of the Curse of the Law 〈◊〉 man had retained his uprightnâ—ss he had ever been miserable and so had not stood 〈◊〉 need of Mercy but all miseries are contained in that Curse which man is under by 〈◊〉 son of sin and uncleanness and they are 〈◊〉 other than what he must righteously suffer â— there be no way of delivery from them â— as much as he hath procured them to himself his sin Jer. 2. 17. Now this misery was a â—â—per result of the threatning conditionally 〈◊〉 â—aced in the first Covenant which the 〈◊〉 brought himself under by transgressing of â— Law which was so guarded 7. Hence if man had not by his sin and 〈◊〉 cleanness involved himself in that misery tâ—â— had been no occasion for this fountains being prâ—red and opened There was no Mediator in â— first Covenant neither needed there aâ— God and man were in aâ—ity and this frieâ—ship had been confirmed between them upâ— mans entire conformity to the will of Gâ—â— and been sealed up to him upon his eaâ—â— of the tree of life which was a Sacraâ—ent â— it But now when the Covenant was viâ—â—â—ed man was exposed the Curse was faâ— upon him he was a man of death there â— an opportunity for Gods shewing himself â—â—iful and gracious and for the display oâ—â— to send forth his Son to be a Saviour â— for that end to cause all fulness â—â— dwell in â— that might derive from him to the unâ—â— creature as from a Fountain And this â—â— to give us some light into the stupenâ— mystery of the Providence of God in â—â—ing of poor man to fall upon the Law and â—â—eak himself in pieces but for which the glorious things of Christ had never been heard of in