Selected quad for the lemma: reason_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
reason_n	law_n	sin_n	transgression_n	2,676	5	10.9658	5	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A08282	A pathvvay to patience in all manner of crosses, tryals, troubles, and afflictions: inwardly for sinne, or outwardly by sicknesse, pouerty, enemies, imprisonment, banishment, slaunders, disobedience of children, houshold-crosses betweene man and wife, &c. With necessary prayers for euerie of them; as also for diuers other necessarie purposes. By I.N.	Norden, John, 1548-1625?	1626 (1626)	STC 18615; ESTC S119966	125,732	476

And therefore not to think it strange when any crosse or affliction befals vs But rather thereby to take occasion to call our selues daily to accompt what we haue done against the Commandements of God and to acknowledge that for those sins that we haue done God corrects vs. Let vs beware that we bee not found of the number of those whom neither Gods angrie countenance which appeareth in the seueritie of his punishments nor his fatherly chastisements and instructions contained in his word can reclaime from committing sinne nor from whom Gods gentle correction can draw hearty confession of them and true repentance for them We must also consider that it is not enough for vs to confesse our sinnes barely to God for hee knoweth them better then wee our selues but with our confession wee must acknoweledge that God may iustly condemne vs for them And therefore wee must ioyne with the confession of our sins true and sincere repentance for them which yet auaileth not without a liuely faith in taking hold of the blood and merites of Iesus Christ in whome and for whose sake our sins are pardoned And this faith must bee certaine it must be an assured confidence of the promises made in Christ in whom a sinner truely penitent and faithfully confident is iustified and neither by our bare confession or best workes but by the meere mercy of God in his Sonne As there is no man but sinneth daily So hee must daily confesse his sinnes to God and truely repent them not as Iudas Kayne Iudas confessed he had sinned betraying the innocent blood and repented but not in faith his repentance was a desperate sorrowe not for the sinne hee committed but for the horror of his reprobabation So did Kayne confesse his sinnes My sinnes are greater then I am able to beare but he tepented not to the obtaining of mercie Confession of sinnes and repentance without faith auaileth not It auailed not Pharaoh though hee confessed the righteousnesse of God and his owne and his peoples sinnes But Peter confessed his sinnes and repented with tears So did Marie Magdaline and their repentance is recorded by the holy Ghost to teach all posterities how to bewayle their sinnes a right They were great sinners yet through faith and repentance obtained pardon which to the comfort of greatest sinners sheweth that there is yet place of repentance and acceptation into Gods fauour for them vpon sincere repentance God himselfe affirmeth that He desireth not the condemnation of a sinner but rather that he repent and be saued And againe hee saith Haue I any desire that the wicked should dye or shall he not liue if he returne from his euill wayes And what is it to returne vnto God but true repentance for our sinnes And we are to consider that that repentance which is perfect indeed is ioyned with the keeping of Gods Commandements and none can say or assure himselfe that his confession of his sinnes and his repentance is accepted of God vnlesse he adde all his desires to fulfill the Lawe of God for the breach whereof God afflicteth his owne dearest children with sundrie crosses to preuent his cursses which hee inflicteth either here vpon the disobedient and vnrepentant to cause his owne to auoid sin by the example of his seuere iudgements whereby hee beginneth here to punish them or reserueth his punishments of them vntill his finall condemnation of them Markes of repentance are contrition and vnfained sorrow for sinne committed ioyned with a liuely faith in Christ for pardon of them and a setled desire and purpose euer hereafter to walke in a holy feare to displease God againe by our sinnes namely by the outward breach of Gods Commandements for the committing of things contrary to the Lawes of God is that sin we should repent vs of which by reason of our corrupt nature we cannot but cōmit without the especiall grace of God which although it be the free guift of God it is not obtained without liuely faith and prayer in Christ by whose stripes we are healed and for whose sake we are heard and in whose blood we are washed from our sinnes But sorrow of heart may be great and yet auaile vs nothing as it did not Kayne Iudas Esau vnlesse true faith bee ioyned therewith Sorrow indeed may cast vs downe which if it bee not in an humble and faithfull acknowledgement of our vnworthinesse to be called or accepted as the children of God by reason of our sinnes it may proue desperate And therefore sorrow for sinne and faith in Christ to be pardoned ioyned together will assure vs that God is our God and that wee are his people that he is our Father and that wee are his sonnes and daughters If then we finde in our selues the burthen of our sinnes truely and plainely confesse them to God and heartely repent them we cannot but through faith in Christ assure our selues that our sinnes are pardoned and hauing an inward assurance thereof we must acknowledge that these graces proceede of no other thing then of the meere merites and mediation of our alone and onely Sauiour Iesus Christ who disdaineth not to call vs thus receiued into the Communion of the Saints of God brethren whom God knewe before the world was predestinated to be made like to the Image of Iesus Christ adopted in him and by whom we haue redemption in his blood euen the full forgiuenes of all our sinnes through his grace wherewith hee hath made vs freely accepted of God Now then we being through the grace of God made the Sonnes of God brethren and coheires with Christ shall wee thinke that he will not also furnish vs with the spirit of his Son which dwelling in vs we shall be able faithfully to cry Abba Father and what is that but to teach vs how to pray to God his heauenly Father in his owne name Therefore Whatsoeuer we shall aske the Father he will grant it vs for his sake so we aske according to his will in a liuely faith and wa●●● not for he that wauereth is like a waue of the sea tost with the wind Though therefore our Tribulations be great and our afflictions many waies grieuous yet seeing they proceed from so louing a Father we may not thinke them to be inflicted vppon vs in displeasure but in a Fatherly regard of our soules health Which as sinne hath impaired so his gentle chastisements are as wholsome medicines to heale it And as no Physicke be it neuer so salutarie for the health of the body is sauorie to the Palat So Gods corrections howsoeuer they are sent as eyther Antidotes to preuent sinne or Medicines to cure it They are not pleasant to Flesh and Blood for the time But as corporall physicke though harsh in the tast hauing it working in an vnsound sound body begetteth health and is then much commended with many thanks to the

God and that our afflictions proceed from his finall anger neuer to bee appeased but these his sugiestions are false let vs not beleeue them let vs beleeue that whom God doth chasten he loueth and therefore we may assure our selues so much the more that we are the children of God by how much we finde these tentations in vs for if we were his as he would sugiest vnto vs that God is angry with vs and wee not his he needed not to trouble vs but he knowing that wee are the Lords hee worketh by all meanes to drawe vs to distrust in God and that the merits of Christ cannot auaile vs. But let vs be strong in the Lord let vs trust constantly and confidently in the merits of his sonne armed with the shield of faith and buckle vnto our selues the sword of the spirit which is the word of God which doth containe most sure promises that he will neuer leaue vs nor forsake vs let vs pray alwayes with all manner of prayer and supplication in the spirit and watch thereunto in a holy patience with all perseuerance So shall wee see the saluation of God his power and prouidence in deliuering vs out of all our troubles of whatsoeuer kinde or such inward comforte as shall make our most bitter and sharpest afflictions sweet and easie And for asmuch as sinne is the greatest and most heauy burthen of misery that any poore childe of God can be afflicted with It is the principall part of a Christian to seeke to be vnburthened of the same not as to bee carelesse in the search of his sinnes and so to feele no burthen for he is like a man sicke vnto death and yet will acknowledge he feeleth no sickenesse at all but he that findeth his sinnes most grieuous vnto him and most deiected for them is nearest vnto pardon so he acknowledge them and in a liuely faith in Christ repent them Comforte for a man afflicted in conscience by reason of his sinnes COnsider first whosoeuer thou art that art troubled in minde 〈◊〉 thy conscience afflicted by 〈◊〉 ●f thy great sins 〈…〉 not thy case alone to be a sinner it is a common disease and sickenesse of the soule originally deriued from the transgression of Adam and remaining in the nature of all his posteritie outwardly shewing it selfe in vngodly wordes and deeds spoken or done against the Law and honor of God and inwardly by the thoughts desires of the heart conceiued against the Law of the spirit And happie is hee that can consider his owne wayes and that can and doth examine and finde out the sinnes which are hidden in his owne heart which to all other men are concealed but not from God The heart is an vnfadomable depth of sinne and rebellion against God and the best man by nature is guiltie of many secret and hidden as well as open and known sinnes for The imaginations of mans heart are onely euill from his youth And many odious sinnes proceede from that corrupte fountaine Such as men are ashamed to reueale and were it possible they would conceile them from God him selfe and therefore they often striue to keepe them in their priuate bosomes vntill they become so heauy burthensome as they can no longer beare them without vnspeakable horror and vnquietuesse of minde vntill they become as a worme so venemous in the Conscience as eateth and deuoureth all peace and comfort of the heart which the Deuill seeketh continually to feed and agrauates the sinnes grieuously in the minde of a poore sinner that he begins to fainte and as it were to sincke vnder the burthen of his afflicted conscience which is the most heauy crosse of all crosses a burrhen importable where it lighteth and it seemeth to bee in some measure thine owne case and is indeed dangerous for that soule that sinneth and perseuereth therein shall dye and it seemeth thou feelest the weight of grieuous sins which makes thee sad melancholicke and heauy which is yet a token that thou art not so dead in sin as that there is no feeling of sinne in thee which may be an argument that there is some life of grace yet in thee and that the spirit of God is not altogether dead in thee for if thy conscience were so feared vp and hardned that there were no sinne felt of thee thy case were farre more dangerous and though thou groanest and grieuest vnder the burthen of thy sinnes it may be onely for feare of the Iudgement of God and his punishments due for thy sinnes which is in it selfe but a seruile and slauish feare But if thou grieue that thou hast offended God by thy sinnes and dishonoured him by thy transgressions this proceedeth of a godly sorrow and so a signe that there is yet place and time for thee to repent turne vnto God therfore despaire not of the mercies of God in Christ who through thy faith if it be liuely and stedfast will be thine Aduocate by whom and by none other or other meanes thou shalt be reconciled to God and not dye in thy sinnes Thy sins are great great and fearefull the iudgements of God for sinne yet greater then both is the mercy of God towards a truly penitent sinner he is much displeased for sinne yet retayneth not he his anger long against a sinner if he returne vnto him for mercy is more pleasing vnto him then Iustice And though he seeme to turne away his louing fauour from thee being a notorious sinner and suffer thee to lye plunged and as it were wallowing in the bloud of thy sinnes and leaue thee destitute of all inward feeling of comfort yet if thou were the most haynous sinner and haue but an inclination an inward true desire to regaine his fauor and be truly sorie that thou hast offended him hee will turne againe and haue compassion vpon thee he will put away thine iniquities and cast thy sinnes into the botome of the Sea for as high as the heauen is aboue the earth so great is his mercie towards them that truly feare him God is iust in deede But if it may be so said he is more mercifull then iust but to none but to such as doe not onely feare and grieue for their sinnes as did Iudas and Esau But to such alone as in a liuely Faith take hold of the merites of Christ who in deede died for sinners but not for such as die in their sinnes as they did There must a reconciliation be made betweene God a sinner before he can assure himselfe of pardon and remission of his sinnes and that must not be delayed it must be to day before to morrow for as life is short and vncertaine and repentance requireth some time to be perfected though there be one example as of the Thiefe vpon the Crosse of suddaine repentance it is not so easie or speedy a worke to be well done there be many

that of the wicked but their endes not alike Wherefore then should a man fearing God be sorrowfull for his afflictions seeing he is thereby occasioned to search and to trye his wayes that finding himselfe guiltie of disobedience to God he may the more speedily returne vnto him lifting vp his heart and his hands to him and say I haue sinned and rebelled against thee therefore dost thou worthily punish me Fooles saith Dauid by reason of their trangressions and because of their iniquities are afflicted and is not euery man that feareth not God in the rancke of Dauids fooles nay who is so righteous that hath not committed folly by sinning and who then can be free from affliction If God should not correct vs her● for our sinnes he could not but reserue vs for destruction hereafter for such is the vilenesse of sinne and so odious to God as he neuer lets it goe vnpunished in Gods dearest Saincts here for a little space and the obstinate hereafter for euer therefore better to suffer chastisement here for a moment then to be heere free and hereafter perish for euer better to be corrected in the world then to be condemned with the world And we must consider that as we seeme and find our selues endued with a greater measure of guiftes and graces then some other men so we must thinke that God will trye these graces in vs and the power and vertue of them by afflictions and troubles here that through our patient suffering we may be knowne to be what we would be reputed to be for the wicked commonly come not in to such calamities as the children of God doe vnlesse by their wilfull running into miseries and dangers by their impious actions but the godly are not so much agents to procure as patients to suffer their afflictions they are tryed as siluer from the drosse by the fire of tribulation to make them perfect Yet such is Gods great mercie and fauour towards his owne as although he punish them he proportions their afflictions according to their strength and their strength according to the weight of their correction giuing them grace to possesse their soules in patience in greatest crosses causeth them to reioyce in them through the hope of the eternall weight of glory promised Seeing then that all Gods children are to suffer in one kinde or another and they that liue at their libertie and in the pleasure of sinne without trouble in what a lamentable case are they that doe not onely not fall into like affliction but boast of their freedome from all kinde of crosses Are there not some that say I was neuer troubled by Sathan I neuer felt any of his temptati●● Another I haue neuer 〈◊〉 sicke in all my life A third I knowe no enemie that I haue A fourth I want nothing my corne and Cattle prosper and I haue enough to maintaine me during my life Another boastes of his thriftie children Another of his beautifull buxum and louing wife Doe not many silly men thus foolishly ●latter themselues and thinke that God dealeth thus fauourably with them aboue others as an argument of his loue towards them farre aboue those that are many wayes afflicted but let them consider it well and they shall finde the contrarie for if God indeed loued them he would assuredly correct them for hee chastiseth euery sonne that hee receiueth for euery man is a sinner and for sinne he correcteth Therefore haue such men as are free from troubles greater cause by farre to suspect themselues to be out of Gods fauour then to boast of his loue and to thinke rather that they are vnder the power and slauerie of Satan and that the world the pleasures of the ●lesh haue bewitched them for where Satan is silent he suffers men to sleepe securely he is loath to trouble them out of their secure slumber And hee is content ●hat the world should smile vpon them and to giue them all sensuall content neuer desiring to crosse them And this maketh many poore soules falsly to imagine that they are here euen in Paradise when the deuill hath them Captiues But when it pleaseth the Lord of his great mercie to alter their carnally pleasing condition and to giue them some bitter potion or some precious eye-sal●e to make them see the danger they stand in by awaking them by his correcting rod And they begin to be sensible of their miserable estate and to encline to repentance Then shall they finde Sathan before silent as a Lambe roaring as a Lyon bereft of his prey labouring by all infernall and ●lattering meanes to retaine them still And where before he seemed not to appeare in his likenesse in vsing any apparent tentations finding them already sufficiently chayned vnto him seeing now his Captiues like to breake loose and to escape They shall finde he will vomte out a floud of hellish tentations after them to bring them backe againe and will leaue no meanes vnattempted neither inward tentations nor outward allurements nor the enclinations of a mans own will to ouerthrow them And where before hee was contented they should be free from troubles and afflictions hee will now worke all the meanes he can to loade them with all kindes of miseries not to make them better but as much as in him lyeth to driue them to despaire in God And as Iobs wife by his instigation said to her husband to curse God and dye So that their case is dangerous that liue securely free from Sathans malice from feeling of their sinnes and from worldly troubles and happy are they that suffer here vnder the gentle hand of God and according to his will Sathans tentations and greatest afflictions are no new and strange things but vnto them onely that haue long beene lulled in the lap of all kindes of pleasures When crosses in deed light vpon them they thinke them strange but vnto the dearest children of God they are and haue beene euer familiar and Gods Elect Saints haue beene euer companions in afflictions Therefore St. Peter to the comfort of all afflicted to the end of the world saith Dearely beloued thinke it not strange concerning the firie tryall which is amongst you to try you as though some strange thing were come vnto you but reioyce in as much as ye are pertakers of Christes sufferings that when his glory shall appeare ye may be glad and reioyce Therefore let euery man comfort himselfe in his proper affliction And consider well the course that Almighty God taketh with afflicted men be they punished in his anger in iustice or chastined in his mercie the naturall man maketh no distinction betweene iust punishments and fatherly corrections hee thinkes the chastisements of Gods children to be of the like nature as are his iust iudgements vpon the wicked And therefore maketh no difference but concludes all vnder one and the same sentence of wicked men because they