Selected quad for the lemma: cause_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
cause_n	work_n	work_v	world_n	448	4	4.4998	4	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A76059	The godly mans portion and sanctuary opened, in two sermons, preached August 17. 1662 / by R.A.	R. A. (Richard Alleine), 1611-1681.	1662 (1662)	Wing A989A; ESTC R214832	102,389	183

be their way wee 'l keep them in their way long enough now we have them down they shall not be able to rise I but yet it appears through all this the Lord led them forth into a wealthy place The High-way of the proud is not their more ready way to the dust than the dust of Saints is their sure way to honour When Israel were to go to Canaan they must take the Brick-Kilnes the Red Sea the Wilderness Jordan in their way Could any one have imagined that the bondage the straits they were under the doubling their Tasks the cruelty of their Task-Masters their enclosure at the Red Sea did mean any good to them yet How fell it out at last their darkest dispensations had light in their latter end Their greatest bondage leads on to their greatest liberty Every cross Providence is a step to the accomplishment of the Promise the Wheel is ever moving on to its end it moves still forwards even when it seems to go quite backwards As the River by its many turnings and windings forwards and backwards is still in motion to the Sea when it seems to be running quite contrary Christians if ever the Salvation of God seems to be removed farther off from you if the work of God should at any time seem to go backwards if cross Winds should turn the whole course so that you appear rather to be marching back to Egypt than on to Canaan yet be not discouraged though your way be an unlikely and unpromising way though you be led about forwards and backwards yet still you are making on though the lesser Wheels be never so cross and contrary in their motions yet the great Wheel is still moving Right on to your blessed and hoped end God intends your good your spiritual good here your eternal good hereafter and believe it now for he will let you see it hereafter that those very things which most threaten your miscarriage and a total abortion of your hopes are made all to concur to the bringing them about and to your more full and speedy possession of them Note farther here two Things 1. All things work not they shall work de futuro but de presenti they do work as the Apostle says The Mystery of Iniquity so we may say The Mystery of the Saints Redemption doth already work the work is already on the wheel and every wheel is in its motion for you not onely your Brethren the Saints and Angels who all are praying for your peace and seeking your good but your Enemies also the Dragon with all his Armies are at work for you all the Councils of this World are already sitting upon the very matter God hath call'd them together for this purpose the Pope with all his Conclave the Jesuits Priests Monks and Friars with all their Covents yea the Devil with all his Conclave of Hell are all at work for the good of Saints It 's true they mean not nor intend any such thing their Designs are against you they count they are working for themselves as 't is said concerning the Assyrian Isa 10. 6 7. God sent him forth upon a Design of his own to execute his Counsel in the punishing o● Hypocrities to purge out the Chaff from the Wheat● nevertheless he meaneth not so nor doth his heart thi●● so the Assyrian minds not what God's Design is 〈◊〉 but follows his own Design fights for himself an● spoils for himself but God's Design is still carrye● on by him though he think not of it All the Events in the World are driving the sam● way every Disease or Infirmity that comes upo● you every Loss that you sustain every Scoff or Re●proach that you suffer the shame in your Faces the Sorrow of your Hearts the Torment in you Bowels the Aches in your Bones are all workin● your good All the changes of your Conditions you fair Weather and your foul your Sun-shine and you Clouds your Plenty and your Wants your Eases an● your Pains your Liberties and your Prisions are 〈◊〉 making for you your good is already working 〈◊〉 all these Things See Christians what an Harvest of Blessedness 〈◊〉 growing up to you out of this Promise the Seed 〈◊〉 already sowing your good is already working Go● is at work the whole Creation is at work Men an● Angels good men and evil men Friends and Enemies Heaven and Earth and Hell are already ing●ged to work your good 2. They work together that is as some understand it they work together with God all these second causes work together with the first cause or 〈◊〉 others They work together amongst themselves There is such a concatenation and concentring of 〈◊〉 these second causes in the same Design that however they seem to thwart and cross and destroy som● of them what the others build and advance yet the● are all united in their End they jointly contribute to the Weal of the Saints Though if I mistake not this latter be the more sence of the two Yet I know no reason why both may not be understood In the hand and under the conduction of Providence all these lower Things concur and co-operate in the good of the Church By the way observe what an Harmony there is in all the Works of Providence The most cross and thwarting Occurrences do all conspire and go hand in hand to bring about the same End As the differing Vertues of various Drugs do all concur to make up the Medicine As the differing sounds of several strings or Instruments do altogether make up the Melody As the differing Colours in a Picture the dark as well as the brighter do jointly contribute to the Beauty of the Piece no less do the most contrary and contradictory Actions and Events both make up the Beauty of Providence and jointly subserve that one End to which by an unseen Hand and an all-seeing Eye they are directed and intended 2. The evill things that befall the Saints come upon them to keep out worse things Where ever the cross comes if it had not come something worse might The Cross may be a means to secure from the Curse The Curse was slain on the Cross of Christ and our Cross also hath its use to the delivering us from it 1 Cor. 11. 32. We are chastened of the Lord that we should not be condemned with the World Periissem nisi periissem I had died if I had not suffer'd 'T is more mens cases besides his that spake it 't is no bad Exchange to have a Cross in stead of a Curse 3. The evill things of the Saints prepare them for better things That they may work good for them they are working them to good working out their sinne and iniquity wearying them of sin Hosea 2. 6. I will hedge up her way with Thorns then shall she say I will return Sin brought in Afflictions into the World and Afflictions help to carry sin out the Cross to which Sin was once nail'd is now nail'd

you shall be saved and that of God It may be Sathan will promise Hearken to me and I will save you harmless But he is a Liar and a Deceiver he is weak and cannot false and will not It may be the evil World will tell you If thou wilt cast in thy Lot with us take our Advice follow our Example come along with us thou may'st save thy self all this harm and loss But there is as much trust to the Children as to the Father of Lies But if the Lord God the God of Power the God of Truth says I will save who shall say nay 2. It notes that their Salvation shall be great The great God will do for them great Things He will save them by a mighty Salvation He will save them against all those mighty hindrances that lie in the way Who art thou O great Mountain before Zerubbabel thou shalt become a Plain All the difficulties and unlikelihoods all the astonishing and flesh-non-plus-ing Obstacles that stand in the way of their Redemption will be nothing before the Mighty God He will save them from their mighty sins sufferings and fears from the vanity and vexations of this Earth and from the Vengeance of Eternal Fire Christians Do but go on walk with Christ suffer with Christ and fear none of those Things which you shall suffer and this shall be to you an evident Token of Salvation and that of God 3. Consider again the Argument of the Text These things do and the God of Peace shall be with you What encouragement there is in this Promise I have already shew'd you Two things I shall onely mention here one of which hath been insisted on already Consider First If God be with you all shall make for you Secondly If God be with you you shall shortly be with God 1. If God be with you all shall make for you Remember what you have heard out of Rom. 8. 28 ●1 Christians perhaps you will not know how ●o make a good Construction of some Providences ●hat may possibly befall you before you die Such Cases there may be that Providence may seem to be 〈◊〉 plain Contradiction of the Promise Suppose the People of God in any Nation under Heaven should ●t any time have not onely an Innundation of Temporal Calamities Famine and Pestilence and ●word Oppression Rapine and Cruelty but a Floud of Spiritual Judgments also breaking in upon them A Famine of the Word an Eclipse of the Light of the Glorious Gospel among them their green Pasture trodden down their pure Waters ●uddled God's Spiritual Worship made to give place to Will-Worship Superstition and Idola●ry the Institutions of God to the Inventions of Men his House made an Habitation for Dragons for the Scritch-Owl and the Bittern for Ziim and ●im and every unclean thing And that in such a time when they had given themselves to more than ordinary praying and fasting and humbling themselves and repenting of their iniquities when they had set their faces towards Sion and were full of hopes that the Lord was about to build and to plant to cast out their rubbish to repair their ruines to bring in their peace like a River and to establish his Tabernacle amongst them Suppose that in such a time the Lord should even spit in their faces should dash all their hopes and put into their hands a cup of trembling should bring trouble upon their loyns and cause darkness to cover their faces should expose them to scor● and contempt make them a reproach and a by-word should suffer them to be trampled upon as the filth of the World and the off-scouring of all things Suppose you should have liv'd in such times and places and have heard them complaining thus All things work for good why we see all things fall cut for the worse so far are our evill things from working for good that our good things have wrought our hurt Not onely our outward good things our peace and our plenty but our spiritual good things have undone us our spiritual liberties and Priviledges our Ordinances our Duties our Prayers our Fastings our Zeal for the Lord of Hosts not only our sins but our Prayers our repentings our reformings have undone us We have prayed and fasted to good purpose we have even prayed our selves into poverty contempt darkness confusion into the snares that have been laid for us and into the hands of those that hate us All these things are against us all our fears are come upon us all our comforts yea ●nd our hopes too are running from us the whole ●ourse of Providence seems to be driving on to our 〈◊〉 ruine every day every hour it grows darker ●nd darker worse and worse every spoak of the Wheel every turn of the wheel renders our condi●●on more helpless and hopeless Our adversaries 〈◊〉 become rampant our Soul is filled with their ●●orn and fury our friends are as a broken tooth 〈◊〉 a foot out of joynt our hopes are a Spiders Web 〈◊〉 as the giving up the Ghost the Almighty causes 〈◊〉 his storms and billows to passe over us one day ●●lleth another one night certifieth another and ●●ophesies to us nothing but destruction upon de●●ruction desolation upon desolation and where i● 〈◊〉 promise of his coming the hope of Israel is ●●leep her Saviour is a stranger the Ark of God is ●●ken the glory is departed yea and God himself ●●ems to be gone over to the Camp of the Philistins ●nd marching against us we have waited for light ●ut behold obscurity for brightness but we walk in ●arkness the Harvest is past the Summer is ended ●nd we are not saved neither is there yet any to ●ell us how long Suppose you should have stood by and have ●een or heard any such things any where in the World would you not have said can any good come ●ut of such a dark abysse out of such a concatena●●on of so many dreadful and dismal Providences Why by what hath been already said you might have ●nswered thus Stay but a while till the whole wheel ●e come about till God hath brought off his work ●rom the wheel and then you shall see Providence ●nd the Promise meeting together and kissing each other and shall be able to say in this case what Solomon did in Israels 1 King 8. 56. Blessed be God tha● hath given rest to his people Israel according to all tha● he promised there hath not failed one word of all his good promise which he promised by the hand of his Servants Christians whatever may come upon you at any time while you live in this World distrust not you● God not be at all dismayed you shall see the day● either here or hereafter and 't will be never the worse if it be not till hereafter take it upon the credit of this word All things shall work togethe● for good You shall see the day when your hearts shall rejoyce and say oh 't was happy for us that matters