Selected quad for the lemma: day_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
day_n	eat_v	lord_n	regard_v	5,035	5	12.1725	5	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A30925	The faithful and wise servant discovered in a sermon preached to the Parliament of the commonwealth of England, Scotland, and Ireland, at their late private fast in the Parliament House, Jan. 9, 1656 / by Matthew Barker ...	Barker, Matthew, 1619-1698.	1657 (1657)	Wing B773; ESTC R20191	33,385	52

intentional serving God there are three things necessary that it find acceptance 1. That mans principle be right 2. That his rule be right 3. That his end be right 1. That his Principle be right It is somthing of God in man that can alone aright serve God So saith the Apostle Heb. 12. 28. Let us have grace whereby we may serve God acceptably Now grace is a divine principle and it is only this whereby a man can serve acceptably The Apostle speaks in Heb. 11. of many Heroick acts of service done by these ancient Worthies as Abel Noah Abraham Isaac Moses c. But that which gave them their acceptance was the Principle they did them by Faith saith the Text and tells us in verse 6. that without faith it is impossible to please God There must be the out-going of the soul toward God in that service which finds acceptance Now no principle can act the soul towards God but that which is divine and springs from him 2. As his Principle so his Rule must be right for God must be served according to his own rule which is his revealed Will and where the rule is dark we must either forbear until God doth clear it up or else act up to it as near as the light we have will lead us And this is the praerogative of man above the creatures below us though they all act by a rule and to an end which their Creator hath set them yet they are not capable of understanding either their rule or their end but man is and therefore if he would be accepted he must have respect to his rule As Saul he offered Sacrifice which in it self was a good thing and the case was somwhat urgent for Samuel came not and the people began 1 Sam 13. to scatter from him and the Philistims to gather together against him but because he walked not by rule in that action he was rejected of God Mans righteousness lies especially in his conformity to the Rule as the Schoolmen speak of a Lex aeterna in Deo an eternal Law according to which God doth all his works both in Heaven and Earth which is the righteousness of God So there is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Lex scripta a Law written either inwardly in mans heart or without in the Scriptures which is the rule of mans walking and conformity thereunto is the righteousness of man His End must also be right For God is not served when he is not our end A man may be praying and fasting and yet not serve God doing justice giving alms punishing sin rewarding vertue and yet not at all serve God Men indeed look most to other matter and substance of their actions because they lie more open to the view of men but that which God especially looks at in man and which is the most material thing in his actions is his end Somtimes when a man through ignorance mistakes his rule yet if hi● end be upright he may be accepted notwithstanding As the Apostle in Rom. 14. tells us of two sorts of Christians in that Church some that understood their Gospel liberty and Gospel rule of walking and therefore did not observe days nor confine themselves to eat herbs as others did but yet because in what the one and the other did they had respect to God they did both serve him as he saith verse 6. He that regardeth a day regardeth it to the Lord and he that regardeth not the day to the Lord he doth not regard it And they were both living to the Lord and so both living and dying they were both the Lord's as he also speaks And now these few things being premised I shall proceed to draw forth such inferences from the Point as may most naturally spring from it and be most sutable to the present day and this honourable Assembly And what may be needful by way of Argument to confirm it I shall present in the Application that so I may make the best improvement I can of a little time and speak to your judgements and affections both together Vse 1 And first I shall infer hence somthing for Instruction If this be to serve God as you have heard Then no man can serve God without the spirit of God So that the generation of men that are indeed serving God in the world are alone those that have received the spirit God is a spirit and must be served in spirit and no man can serve in spirit but he that hath received the spirit The Apostle in Rom. 7. 4. speaks of Believers that they were dead to their first husband the Law that they might be married to another even to him who is raised from the dead And why must they be thus married That we might bring forth fruit unto God By marrying with Christ by our union with him we come to partake of his Spirit and so to bring forth fruit unto God The Spirit is that divine sap which is shed from Christ the root into those souls that are in union with him whereby they bring forth fruit unto God And there is a threefold work of the Spirit that must pass upon man before he can be made a true servant 1. A work of Conviction He must be convinc'd of that absolute dependance he hath upon God that he cannot subsist and live of himself without God For until a man doth see his dependance he will not serve A man will not willingly subject himself to the will of one upon whom he hath no dependance Now a man without the spirit his heart speaks that he can subsist of himself by his own wit wisdom providence industry and creature Interest and therefore he regards not God he serves not God but himself or the creature as thinking he depends more upon these then upon the Lord. And this is the reason that when men are to transact any work they are careful about the means but they look not at God or very slightly it is because they think they depend more upon the means then God which is a piece of Atheism that grows in all our hearts and those have found it that are come to know their own hearts and must be rooted up by the convictions of the Spirit before man will indeed become the Lord's servant Yea again He must also be convinc'd that in serving God there is the best reward Every man before he enters upon work is looking what his reward and wages shall be As those in the Gospel that we read of in Matth. 20. 6 7. being asked why they stood all the day long idle they answered because no man hath hired us they would not work till they had some promise of wages now when man is throughly convinc'd that Gods work will have a reward and the best reward this inclines him and draws him to his service now the Reward that God gives it excels 1. In the greatness of it no reward can match it what ever the Devil or