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	world_n	year_n	99	3	4.5528	4	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A29505	A treatise of prayer with several useful occasional observations and some larger digressions, concerning the Judaical observation of the Lord's Day, the external worship of God, &c. / by George Bright ...	G. B. (George Bright), d. 1696.	1678 (1678)	Wing B4677; ESTC R1010	210,247	475

to us in any kind when we expresly mind our selves that God seeth and knoweth it How darest thou that hast vile Thoughts Designs Affections Inclinations secret Actions all as well known to God as if they were exposed to the Meridian Sun ask any thing of him or so much as think of him And shouldest thou not fear that he should punish thee for thy Impudence and Dishonour thou doest him 3. An Acknowledgment of the Divine universal Goodness or Righteousness which in effect is all one his always doing that which is for the greatest Perfection and Happiness of all that he hath made considered together This gives us Assurance and consequently emboldens our Desires that every thing that is righteous and just a Condition we are always to remember in our Prayers shall be effected and granted And here we may take notice of the two Branches for so they are of his universal Goodness or Righteousness viz. his Justice properly so called and his Mercy The first is the Method of effecting the Universal Good by permission and in●licting of Evil. The last by bestowing of Good The good use of the former is as hath been said to engage us to all sincerity and purity of Heart when we approach him with our Prayers and Desires For he is so good to the World that when he sees fit he will also certainly punish wicked persons and sinners which may be sometimes by taking away what they have already received and enjoy but much more by the denial of their Petitions for any thing they want And so likewise God s●nercy engageth us to be good if we would have so great a favour from him as the granting our Petitions For God is no more merciful than he is just at random but so as is for the best government of the World or for the greatest good thereof and therefore he is principally so to those who are good to those who obey and serve him God indeed may sometimes see it good to bestow good things upon bad men but it is very little probable that he should give to a bad man any particular good thing because asked by him at any particular time Nay the contrary is far more probable viz. That he should deny and reject his petition as a sign of his just displeasure against him And this the consciences of wicked men very often let them know and make them afraid and ashamed to send up the least desire to God or if they do 't is with a strange faintness and indifferency as if they little hoped it should be accepted and return with success Moreover God's mercy as hath been said of his universal goodness or righteousness gives us particular assurance of his granting our desires for any thing that is good for us if it be just and consistent with or rather part of his universal Goodness or his goodness to the whole World That he is not tyrannical imperious cruel envious to the meanest of his creatures but that every thing which can and ought to be done shall be done for us Now the express belief hereof together with his infinite Wisdom and Power begets in us assured hope and trust for the granting our just Prayers and consequently enlivens and encourages them And in some cases God himself hath told us that it is just for him to hear our Prayers as when we pray for pardon of sin for Christ's sake upon our sincere repentance and for grace to repent Things of so great consequence to us that we need not be much solicitous concerning any other Where we have not the certain assurance of the justice of our desires we must only propose them with reference to the divine wisdom As it is in the case of Health Riches Honour Parts Gifts nay all instances of power or ability to do any thing whatever unless it can any where appear to us that God hath by Revelation or Reason in some particular cases promised them to us And here it may be useful and proper to reflect upon the several ways or instances of God's Mercy as they are also of his Power and Wisdom such as his making sustaining providing for all his Creatures in all respects his affording Means Helps and Assistances of being good and wise and keeping Men from being bad the external ones of Direction Instruction Example the internal of the immediate Influences of his Spirit upon Mens Understandings Consciences Affections Inclinations God's forbearance and long-suffering till Men do repent which may be more especially taken notice of And lastly all or any more particularly as occasion may be the Conveniencies Commodities good things of this Life as Health Strength Plenty good-Name Friends Deliverance from Evils or Dangers all which will still more evidently prove to us and cause us longer to attend to and more clearly to see and more sensibly and strongly to be affected with the divine Mercy and Bounty That indeed the Lord is good to all and his tender mercies are over all his works That he is merciful gracious long-suffering and abundant in goodness and truth If God be not good whence are these and all other good things to the World Since God is infinitely powerful and knowing to do what he pleaseth what can be the cause besides his goodness that there is any thing in the World but the extreamest misery Hence consequently our Faith that is our Belief and Trust and then our Desires will be strengthened and emboldned Here too we may make a Reflection upon God's Veracity or his Goodness in performing his Promises which in the Old Testament is very often called by the Names of Faithfulness and Truth We may reflect generally upon God's Goodness in the performance of what he hath said and therefore of his Promises and more especially upon those Promises which concern Persons in our particular cases if it appear there are any he hath any way by Revelation or Reason made known and signified to us Here further we may call to mind the past Instances of God's Mercy and Bounty to us and principally those which are the most like that which we now petition for The Reason is because that which hath been done or come to pass hath more of probability that it may and will be done again than that which hath not Wherefore this also will confirm our Faith and consequently encourage our Desire or Prayer Of this there are many Examples in the Scripture especially in the Psalms But besides this more proper and pertinent use and effect of the express Acknowledgment and Recital of the Divine Perfections and Attributes in Prayer and some few others mentioned we may add here in short only that it causeth us to admire the Divine Perfections to honour and reverence God in the most real and serious manner and in the highest degree we are capable of to love him freely chearfully earnestly ardently with all our souls with all our might all the strength and vigour of our spirits all which is

grows cold in his esteem and love of the greatest places of honor and profit which he hath long in●oyed he is still pursuing and grasping at more and greater either he would make an addition to what he already hath or find out greater than they are This reality and fervency of affection is truly a very great benefit supposing the affections to be rightly and in due degree directed to things true and useful but if that be not supposed it may be as great a mischief For great inordinate and immoderate affections miserably corrupt the judgments and inclinations they render them erroneous and superstitious and I think one of the principal causes why of late diverse premeditated nay extempore Prayers have been preferred before Forms whether publick or private is an immoderate love to great and busling affections for any thing though never so unworthy of them to which we may add great variety and quickness of conceit and invention as in extempore Prayers The Advantage of Variety and Copiousness of Conceit is both in premeditated and extempore Prayers and is because there are many of them used in Opposition to but one as often a repeated Form as is before said But quickness of Conceit or Invention is only see● in extempore Prayers where if the thing invented be but indifferently good there hardly any Quality of our Minds that is ● much esteemed and applauded by the gene●lity of Men. Of which one reason is and may be the principal because it is judged sign of an extraordinary Ability in the Pers● to invent and apprehend most excellent thin● easily and clearly if he did premeditate H● that can do so much extempore think the● what would he do if he were allowed Time which is very oft a great mistake There is another reason also very gener● and that is That Men are much pleased wi● Dispatch or Performance of any useful thing in a short time And in truth he that ●● perform the same thing in half the time which another can do it is in that particular twice ● valuable These things in Prayers although they naturally do and may much please the mind● Man yet they may do it too much in compar● with others which are better viz. the Truth and Usefulness of what is said A Fault that is very often committed in Sermons and Books and other Performances by those Persons who observe and complain of it in Prayers If we separate things and compare them without doubt it is better that one and the same excellent good thing should be apprehended and willed by us though never so sluggishly and dully than that many and a great number either of unprofitable trifling useless mischievous and bad things should be known by us and fly about in our Imaginations and be violently and vigorously with strong Passions willed and pursued The first indeed doth less good but yet some but this last doth a great deal of hurt If we must lose or part with one of these it is better to lose that of Variety and Celerity and Copiousness of Conceit and strength of Passion than that of the Certainty and Profitableness of the Objects of our Knowledge and Wills It is better to have no Passions at all and consequently in this state generally but languid and weak Inclinations than to have them directed to wrong Objects or to right ones in an excessive degree And yet men generally are incomparably more pleased with Life and Activity which is caused much and exerted in Variety and Celerity of Conceit and Greatness of Passions than with its right Determination and Goodness And as Men are for the most part unduely pleased with premeditated and even extempore Prayers upon the account of Variety and quickness of Conceit So there are others too who are pleased with publick or private Forms or very well content with them not so much upon the account of the truth and usefulness of the things there contained or other common advantages ● men thereby as because of the slowness and dulness of their own conceit and passions ● is difficult to them and consequently painful which all men naturally shun to apprehend any new thing to examine the truth and goodness thereof and to excite their heavy ar● sluggish affections thereto but they easie conceive and are affected with that whi● they have been accustomed to that whi● they have very frequently heard and to whi● their affections have been used to be conjoyned Contrariwise those who are of qu● conception and moveable affections they apprehend new and various things with e● and delight and are presently naturally ●●fected with them It is observable that o● of the most general causes of mens incli●tions choices and esteems of things is th● own ability easily to obtain and possess the● Hence it may partly come to pass that m● advanced in years and of staid and slo● tempers are usually pleased with Forms ●● any performance but young and hot perso● with Variety So little most commonly dot● reason or the foresight of the good or bad effect● of things determine Mens Judgments concerning their general Worth and Value And accordingly I believe it may be remembred that lately those who were against all Forms were generally of an active and passionate temper but those who were for some Forms at least were of a more staid and composed one Those Prayers in which are Variety Celerity and great Affections do more generally please Men and are preferr'd before those in which there is Truth and Usefulness for two reasons among others First Because Men are amiss and depraved in their Inclinations and love those qualities better than these Secondly Because those of variety quickness and affectionateness are discerned more easily by every body in a Prayer those other of the Truth or Usefulness not without more difficulty and but by very few it is a difficult thing to examine and see them The best is to make use of them all as there may be just reason First Be we sure that the Objects of our Knowledge and Wills be true and good and then let us furnish our selves with as plentiful a knowledge of them and have as strong Affections to them in compare with other things as they deserve Let us be sure the Matter be true and good and then know as much as we can and in proportion as it is so be zealously affected And here as to Affection I would propound this to be often remembred viz. That we should always regard not what doth strongly affect our selves or others what we seel to d● so but what should do so Possibly we have been or may be deceived and be mightily in love with and passionately desire wha● is of little or no worth while we are col● to things which are really of much more excellent Use Benefit and Concern in the World We must have a care of measuring the Goodness of Things by our Affections b● contrariwise we must adjust our Affections to the goodness of