Selected quad for the lemma: duty_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
duty_n	according_a	master_n	servant_n	1,516	5	7.1482	4	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A64470	Two sermons preach'd against immorality and profaneness The first, on January 13. 1698/9. The second, on May 3. 1700. By John Thane, M.A. and one of the prebendaries of Chester.	Thane, John, 1653 or 4-1727.	1700 (1700)	Wing T834A; ESTC R201131	27,921	65

may thoroughly awaken Sinners and may convince them of their Wickedness and Folly and ingage them to become Modest and Temperate Sober and Religious or at least restrain them from breaking out into open Lewdness and Debauchery T is therefore a very proper Remedy which Solomon prescribes a Rod for the Fool 's Back 't is seasonable doubtless and useful too in this Case For when Men are so bent upon Wickedness that they will not grow better by Reproof 't is requisite some kind of Discipline should be exercised upon them When they are so harden'd in Sin that neither Religion nor Reason will reduce them they should then be made to feel the Censure of the Law This is the most likely Method of effecting that Work which Charity as well as Prudence requires to be done And the rather because a little Severity when rational Motives and Persuasives fail is the truest sort of Kindness that can be shew'd to such Men Who if they are let alone in their Extravagancies will soon grow Heady and Licentious and will not be stopp'd in their Career till at last they give themselves over unto Lasciviousness to work all Uncleanness with Greediness Ephes 4. 19. The Truth is when I consider the Circumstances we are in as to the abounding of Vice and Immorality it cannot but seem strange that it should be so That Religion which is the chief Interest and Happiness of Mankind should be so little regarded as it is in the World That Virtue should be so much discountenanc'd and Sobriety and Temperance so rarely seen That Men should thus prostitute their Reason and affront and baffle their Understanding and at the same time should value themselves upon such Management as this This I say could not but seem very strange were it not that the God of this World 2 Cor. 4. 4. whom they have so faithfully serv'd hath blinded the Eyes of their Mind and will not suffer the Light of Truth to shine clearly unto them But however that be this is certain that if they who are Christians will not demean themselves as the Servants of Christ if they will not consider and actually return to their Duty perish they must there is no help for it For when they have said all they can for themselves God who knows their Hearts and what Means and Opportunities they have had but have neglected will infallibly punish every wilful and impenitent Sinner according to his Desert I might inlarge upon this Head but it is time now to turn my self the other way and to shew in the Fifth and Last Place V. That immense Reward which attends the sincere Performance of our Duty If any Man serve me says Christ him will my Father honour Blessed Lord What abundant Encouragement is here given to thy faithful Servants and Followers from these comfortable Words of Thine Hast Thou said this O Gracious Master and will not all those who profess thy Faith and Religion be eagerly ambitious of this Honour Will any that have so vast a Recompence in view and prospect chuse to seek and follow after any other Or think it worth their while to make their Court here below to these fading Honours these tarnish'd Glories which the Men of this World so much admire Silly mistaken Creatures What is there in any nay in all of them that should tempt us from our Master's Service only for the sake of a few vain empty and insignificant Titles Did we but rightly know our selves and understand our best Interest we should despise these gaudy Trifles and should quite disrelish the grosser Delights and Satisfactions of Sense We should then mind Religion and the weighty Concernments of it and should make these the main Pursuit and Endeavour of our Lives We should fix our Thoughts and our Affections chiefly on things above and should be continually wishing for and aspiring after those invaluable Rewards those Glories and Honours which eye hath not seen nor ear heard neither have enter'd into the Heart of Man to conceive These indeed are the proper Recompences of our Fidelity and Constancy and they are the highest and noblest that our Nature is capable of And tho' these in the main are future only and in reversion yet Religion usually gives us something in Hand beside and that is the present Payment which every one that Lives well doth one way or other receive The World 't is time is generally very bad and the Wicked are by much the greater Number however Virtue and true Goodness do very seldom fail of Respect even among those But suppose the worst to happen that can and that Wickedness should every where prevail and Impiety get the upper hand still the faithful and sincere Christian is sure to be taken care of however our Lord hath promised it and we have good reason to depend upon his Word for he is a great Prince and one that hath all Power at command and so is continually in readiness whenever he pleases to right and vindicate his distress'd Servants But if after all we should suffer a while here let none of us be discourag'd thereat since Christ hath Honours and Preferments enough to bestow upon all that shall suffer in his Cause and upon his Account This is a very incouraging Consideration to us all and which ought to animate our Hopes and excite our Ambition not after earthly Honours and Advantages which too often betray us but after those bright and dazling Crowns which are reserv'd in Heaven for us 'T is the want of a right apprehension of these Matters that makes us so indifferent about our best and weightiest Concernments Did we but know how to value these as we ought we should pursue them with far more Zeal and Earnestness than we commonly do And O that we were all of us so wise as to understand our own Happiness and would effectually be persuaded to seek the Honour that cometh from God only John 5. 44. For 't is certain none but that can stand us in stead none but that can make us truly honourable And therefore whatever befalls us here let us always appear on the side of Religion and let us endeavour to rescue it from the exceptions and cavils of unreasonable Men And so much the more because whenever that is attacqu'd or injur'd the Honour of our Great Maker is then concern'd which we must be sure to vindicate or must expect to be disown'd and discarded by him The Words which our Saviour spake to this Purpose are very remarkable Whosoever shall be ashamed of me and of my Words in this Adulterous and Sinful Generation of him also shall the Son of Man be ashamed when he cometh in the Glory of his Father with the holy Angels Mar. 8. 38. This is a terrible Sentence indeed and therefore we should do well to consider how far any of us may be concern'd in it Whether at this very day even in this adulterous and sinful generation whenever we hear the Son

others that are not as wicked as themselves Set the Men in Black as they in derision call Us say whate'er they can they are resolv'd notwithstanding to pursue their Pleasures and gratifie their Senses and will never stint themselves in any thing that Nature prompts them to And now is it not high time to give a Check to such avowed and barefac'd Impiety which sets up in defiance of God himself and which strikes at the Foundation of his Honour and Authority in the World This is what we are called upon to do and there is absolute need that it should be done and doubtless every good Man will contribute to the doing of it For who can be silent when Religion is insulted or unconcern'd when Libertinism is in Fashion and Request But as this kind of behaviour is very unaccountable so it is commonly fatal in the Event and will certainly prove so to the Sinners of this Nation except they repent Because their Sins are more provoking and do carry a deeper Guilt as being Committed against clearer Light and more and greater Advantages than are afforded to other Christians And Our Saviour we know hath said Unto whomsoever much is given of him shall much be required When therefore Men have all the Means and Opportunities and all the Encouragement to Piety and Goodness that can be desired and yet nevertheless turn such Miscreants and give such Scandalous Ill Examples it looks as if God had some heavy Judgment in store for us and that we were a People devoted to Destruction After that God hath shew'd himself so often and so tenderly concern'd for this our Sion what else is to be expected from such base unworthly Returns but that he should pronounce the same of the English that he once did of the Jewish Church Isai 5. 4. What could have been done more to my Vineyard that I have not done in it Wherefore when I looked that it should bring forth Grapes brought it forth wild Grapes And now go to I will tell you what I will do to my Vineyard I will take away the Hedge thereof and it shall be eaten up and break down the Wall thereof and it shall be trodden down And I will lay it waste it shall not be pruned or digged but there shall come up Briars and Thorns But to return Religion or the Service of Jesus Christ doth justly challenge our best care and regard for that it enjoyns nothing but what is highly becoming nothing but what our own Reason tells us we ought to do It lays upon us strict Engagements to Holiness and Virtue which are Conditions absolutely required on our part So that whenever we depart or break off from our Duty and enter on a contrary Course of Sin and Disobedience we become as it were Vagrants and Fugitives and may very properly be said to run away from our Master Since then we have all Solemnly engaged at our Baptism not only to be True and Constant to Christ's Service but also to Deny our selves and Hazard all for his sake let us resolve to make good that our Promise lest when he shall come again to Judge the World we should then be found Guilty and accordingly have Sentence passed on us as Renegades and Deserters I come now in the Second Place II. To inquire who they are that may properly be called the Servants of Christ Now to make us the Servants of Christ two things are required 1. That we believe in Christ and believing Love Honour and Adore him as the Son of God and the Saviour of Mankind 2. That we so receive all his Laws and Commands as to make them the only Rule of our Obedience and Practice This is the Substance of our Duty as we are Christians and if we are sincere in the performance of it and will do the best we can to please God his Grace will ever be ready to assist us and to supply our Defects So that now we know who and what the Servants of Christ are namely All such who own Christ for their Lord and in Obedience to his Authority submit themselves to be govern'd according to his Will and Pleasure This is a short and plain Account of the Matter and is that which every one that makes any Pretence to Christianity must acknowledge to be true And if what I have here said be true as certainly it is then what a fatal mistake are they Guilty of who think they can serve Christ well enough while they continue in a State of Sin and go on in a constant Course of Wickedness and Vice For what a strange Contradiction is this and how is it possible for these men to reconcile their Belief and their Practice together Do they imagine that Christ will alter the Terms of Salvation and will account them as Servants who are no better than Rebels and Out-Laws If Christ himself will Condemn those who only call him Lord without ever doing the things which he hath said then what a severe Doom do they deserve who are so far from giving him any such outward Verbal Respect that they make no Scruple openly to Affront and Revile him Blessed God! what a strange Degeneracy do we now see in the Faith and Manners of most Christians and to what a low ebb and despised Estate is Christianity the best and most perfect Institution reduc'd That very Religion which heretofore seiz'd on the Hearts and Affections of Men and presently brought them off from Idols and other Heathen Fopperies and which insensibly ingag'd the most rude and fierce and stubborn Dispositions And not only so but moreover inspir'd them with such Zeal for the Truth and Purity of it as made vast Numbers of its Professors chuse to Sacrifice their Lives rather than renounce and betray it How is that Religion now become the Scorn of Fools and the Sport of the Wicked and the Profane And how are the Holy Scriptures vilify'd by Seducers and the Truths therein contain'd render'd of no Account or Consideration by them So that all things put together who could believe such a Change as now is did not Experience shew it or even think it morally possible had not our Lord himself foretold it That there are too many Examples of this Kind I need not say much to prove since the very Complexion of the Age doth abundantly evince it Behold then on the one hand the Theist or Moral Believer who is so far from being a Christian that he calls in Question the Truth and certainty of reveal'd Religion This is a sort of Men who pretend it seems to more than ordinary strictness and reservedness of Conversation and so far indeed they deserve to be commended But then alas what can these signifie alone to us now without Faith and without a Redeemer Next to the Theist comes the bold Socinian Controvertist one who laughs at the Doctrine of the Trinity and flatly denies the Divinity of our Lord and Saviour And tho' both Scripture and