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	pray_v	prayer_n	1,046	5	6.5771	4	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A45776	Levamen infirmi: or, cordial counsel to the sick and diseased Containing I. Advice concerning physick, and what a physician ought to be; with an account of the author's remedies, and how to take them. II. Concerning melancholy, frensie, and madness; in which, amongst other things, is shew'd, how far they differ from a conscience opprest with the sense of sin, and likewise how they differ among themselves. III. A miscellany of pious discourses, concerning the attributes of God; with ejaculations and prayers, according to scripture rule. Likewise an account of many things which have happen'd since the creation. To which are added several predictions of what may happen to the end of the world. The whole being enrich'd with physical, pious, moral & historical observations, delightful to read, & necessary to know. By D. Irish, practitioner in physick and surgery, now dwelling at Stoke, near Guilford in Surry, where he is ready to serve any person, to the utmost of his skill.	Irish, David.	1700 (1700)	Wing I1036; ESTC R221621	80,143	149

believe the same We should also truly call upon God successively to send Christian good and godly Governours that they earnestly may stand for the Christian Ch●●ch and true Religion which God hath caused to be taught among us that the same may continue manfully to resist erroneous and false Doctrine and now in our time God hath raised up certain high and mighty Heads and Princes which have been Nurses and Protectors of the Church God preserve them mercifully for the same and send continually Men able and willing so to do who shine with the Beauty of acquired and natural Parts and ar● free to impart the●r Knowledge by explaining the true Sence and Meaning of God's Word to all Rational People so as thereby they may come to the true Knowledge of God and his only Son our Blessed Saviour Jesus Christ so as all Nations may be led by the Word of t●at one Shepherd who gave his Life for a Ransom ●or all those that believe his Word which is the true ●ight that enlightens every Man in the way to Eter●al Life So God grant that his Gospel may for ●ver flourish amongst all Nations to the End of the World Let me in the next place exhort all Men to remember to crave a Blessing of God and be thankful to him for whatsoever they eat or drink since it all ●omes from his Bounty which affords us what his Wisdom thinks fit and necessary For such gratis and gracious Gifts as ●e daily confers upon us let us if we would avoid the just Imputation of the greatest Ingratitude give his Divine Majesty thanks How thankful was our Blessed Saviour for two Loaves and a few Fis●es when he blessed God his Heavenly Father for them the Issue was a miracu●o●s Encrease to show us that if we were thankful to God for a little he would give us much yet we daily see how wonderfully forgetful Thousands are when they sit down to plentiful Tables and mind not before nor after they eat to return the Giver Thanks for their nourishing Varieties I fear it will go bad with such one Day through their neglecting ●he Du●y of Thankfulness for what they daily receive from Heaven's Liberality 'T is God that gives or at least ●ends us all we have can we then do less than thank him for the same which undoubtedly he expects even from our Hearts as well as in formal verbal 〈◊〉 which are but signs of our inward Gratitude What are such I pray better than Heathens wh● knowing their Duties herein rise from Meat u●san●tified We ought not only to be than●ful but also ●o bestow some part of what we have on the Poo● according to the Directions found ●n Sacred Writ Such as fail herein must expect God's I●dignation and Rebuke when he ●alls them to an account for their Stewardship Repentance then will be too late for our now Forgetfulness Now is the acceptable Time to seek the Lord whilst he may be found for in this Life whenever we call upon him he will hear and grant our request Let the Words of my Mouth and the Meditations of all Mens Hearts be now and ever acceptable in thy Sight O Lord God our Redeemer Most Great and Glorious Lord our God thou art and there is no other God besides Thee in Heaven nor in Earth for the Heavens are thy Throne and the Earth is thy Footstool and the Heaven of Heavens is not able to contain Thee the whole Earth is full of the Glory of thy Majesty O what miserable Creatures are we Dust and Ashes not worthy of the least of thy Mercies How dare we then present our selves before Thee who art so pure and holy a God yet still through thy Mercy we have here our Being whereas thou mightest have placed us in the Abyss of Hell for ever where there is nothing but weeping and wailing and gnashing of Teeth where the Fire burns and never goes out and where the Worm namely the lost Soul never dies Let us all then with Humility jointly say We have sinned against Heaven and against Thee Let us honou● our Callings with the Practice of good Works and f●llow P●ac● with all Men. Help us O Lord now to press forward to make our Election sure and ●h●t we may live every Day as piously as if it were o●r last since we know not how soon thou may'st summon us to appear before the Tribunal Seat of Jesus Christ to give an account of all our Works d●ne here in the Flesh. Purge us with Hyssop and w● shall be clean Wash us in the Blood of the L●mb and then we shall be whiter than Snow Take all our Sins and cast them in a Cloud behin● thy Back where they may be remembred no more Cr●ate in us new Hearts and new Spirits so as we may walk in Newness of Life according to thy Holy Will and Commandments And if it be thy Blessed Will pity all those that sit in Darkness and under the Shadow of Death that they may come at thy appointed time to the miraculous Light of thy Gospel dispenced to all true Christians by thy true and only Son our Blessed Saviour who sitteth at thy right hand making Intercession for all those that put their trust in thee Grant if it be thy Blessed Will that we may all be taught by that Head Shepherd of thy Church who said When you pray say Our Father c. Such as would know more concerning their Duties in Prayer Publick or Private by the way of Form or would attain to pray by the Spirit according to their present Necessities or Wants let such read the incomparable little piece set out by Robert Russell 1700. 't is the Third Edition in it are Seven Sermons Price Bound 1 s. 6 d. In a word I earnestly exhort all my Readers to be piously mindful of their Duties to God and Man if you fail not in this Christian Reader God will remember you and after this Life in Eternal Bliss you will live with him at Rest. Take but a serious prospect by a powerful Imagination of all the several conditions observabl● amongst worldly Men and you will find that not one of them sits easie upon its Possessor for the natural Man is ever a Repining and a perpetual succession of Doubts and Fears compleat the measure of his Inquietudes sometimes he c●mplains of the Ac●●ons of his Superiors and Governors and if they i● the end should prove ●greeable to his Fancy he will yet keep up th● height of his Misfortunes by grieving at the unob●●ging deportment of his Inferiors nor will it ever be otherwise with those that se●k Cont●nt below hence those that are circled with the greate●t Splendo● find not their Perturbations at all lessened by it but think they might be muc● more happy and therefore strain themselves afresh in the eag●r pu●suit of other Worldly advantages which if obtain'd bring ●ot the desired Content and the reason is because they look for it in the things of

unto them for this is the Law and the Prophets by the due observation of these words we may obtain the Peace of God which passeth all Vnderstanding Now to be out of Peace with God is sad and deplorable beyond the Power of words to express Humanity makes us justly grieve at the loss of a Friend a good Neighbour a loving Wife kind Husband or obedient Child These are indeed great losses but ought to be moderately Lamented but the loss of Christ is so great that no Sorrow is sufficient to set forth the sadness of such a State Other afflictions as to see Christian Families scatter'd by the violence of some grievous Visitation is to be Lamented but is capable of a Comfort from the hopes we have of a gracions meeting with ample retributions in Christ but the very thoughts of being out of God's favour is enough to shut the door against all Consolation did not his Goodness promise That at what time soever a Sinner repents and turns from his wickedness he would receive him with stretch'd forth Arms of Mercy Therefore let us timely grieve for our Sins and take care never to offend him who is able to cast Soul and Body into Hell and Christ will as when he heard Mary weeping at the Sepulcher no longer absent himself Mary said Christ she answered Rabbi then her heart full of Love and Joy cleaved to him her Arms circled him about and she hears that Golden Message Go to my Brethren and tell them I go to my Father and to your Father Thus were her Sorrows turned into Joy and Gladness No Christian 't is observ'd rises so high in Divine Consolation as he that is lowest cast down in Evangelical Humiliation Mary was a great Mourner we seldom have a view of her in Scripture without Dew on her Face and Tears in her Eyes Luk. 7.38 and 23 27. Ioh. 19.25 and 20.11.15 And she had the special honour and favour to see her Lord even our Blessed Redeemer before all others in the very Ingress as I may call it of his Exaltation for he appeared first to Mary Magdalen out of whom he had cast seven Devils Mark 16.9 As Mary had sinned greatly so she sorrowed greatly which sorrow you see was of great value with God Peter wept bitterly therefore Christ took care to bind up his broken heart by pouring the saving oyl of Repentance into his Wounded Conscience Nay he 's prefer'd too for when a Messenger is dispatch'● from Heaven to acquaint the World with the joyful News of its Saviours Resurrection no Name is particularly mention'd in his Commission but Peters●punc Go your way saith the Angel to the two Women and tell his Disciples and Peter that he is Risen and goeth before you into Galilee there they shall see him Now Peter was in an Afflicted condition because he had forSworn Christ least Christ should forget him but lo his Penitent Tears had so Reconciled him to Christ that our Saviour ordered That if but one in the World besides the two Women at the Sepulchre had notice of his Resurrection Penitent and Weeping Peter should be the Person O! the powerful Rhetorick of unfeigned Tears Repentance hath more prevalency with God than all the Riches costly Robes Crowns and Diadems of the greatest Potentates in the World True Repentanc● is an aversion from Sin If they saith the Lord will humble themselves and turn from their Evil ways God will have Mercy on them 2 Cor. 7.14 We are so subject to Sin to Offend to Err and to conceive a miss of God that we all stand in need of Council and of props to help us The general misery of Mankind is threefold we are easie to be Seduced almost unable to do Well and weak to Resist for if we would discern between Good and Evil we are deceiv'd in doing good we quickly faint and our greatest endeavours to resist Evil are not so strong but that we are easily overcome The consideration of this frailty of our corrupt Nature made our Saviour Christ graciously to admonish his Disciples saying Watch and Pray least you enter into Temptation What shall I say of the Tyranny of the Mighty of the Misery of the Poor of the abundance of Wickedness and of the spreading Contagion of Heresies all which by variety of Methods draw or fright us from our Duties Can I say better than what Nestro did to his Children Pray for unless God help us we all Perish Finally the fear of Perishing the shortness and uncertainty of Life and the suddenness of Christs Coming his Justice in Judging and many other Reasons should one would think make us not lightly over-pass and neglect his Divine Service and Commands for what availeth it here to abound in Wealth excell in Honours and have all that the Vanity of our desires prompts us to Covet if when Christ shall come we are found unready and so lose our precious Souls Mat. 16.26 Happy therefore is that Servant whom the Lord at his coming shall find Watching and Praying expecting the Bridgroom with the oyl of Faith in his Heart Mat. 25.4 and 24.25.10 Be therefore constant in the Duties of Watching and Prayer for all will be excluded the Presence of our Lord who are found in them negligent With I ●now you not Mark 13.33 Colos. 4.2 Watch and Pray continue in Prayer and Thanksgiving Luk. 11.19 Ioh. 6.23 There were never wanting powerful Motives to stir up the faithful to daily Prayer but I perswade my self it was never more nee●ful than now in this last and as I may call it old Age of the Doating world wherein there do's more grievous and woful Wickedness Reign than ever heretofore Hence it may ye fear'd that in the Church will arise more horrible Heresies and in Common-wealths more miserable Confusions than ever did except these impending Evils be averted by daily and fervent Prayer The Fountain of all true Wisdom and Learning God the Father of Mercy continue amongst us for his Sons sake the purity of his Word and the light of the Gospel may he encrease the study of Virtue maintain Peace and Concord in his Church stimulate our desires continually to advance his Glory both in Deed and Word and to keep his Commandments to the utmost of our Power that living always in his Fear we may Die in his Favour and rise again to Everlasting Blessedness with him to Reign for all Eternity Amen Of Prayer and Meditation I May call the following Meditations Divine pa●●ly because they are of Divine matters and concern the Glory of God and partly because they are taken out of the pure Fountain of Divine Truth the Scriptures and partly because they are collected in part out of the Writings of several Eminent Divines whose Volumes are too big and of too great a price to be in the hands of many Pious people They are in a word such as are not to be found in common Authors As to the necessity of the Duty of Prayer

refreshment may they freely come unto thee by hearing thy Word to Repentance that the Angels in Heaven may continually have occasion to rejoyce at their happy Conversion Luk. 15.7 Amen See Iames 5.16 Mat. 6.14 and Esa. 66.2 where you may Read what you ought to do if you would have God forgive you your Sins hear your Prayers and grant your Requests Prayer is a vehement desire of the heart to obtain something at the hand of God who look●● not upon the Face as man doth but beholdeth the 〈◊〉 neither doth he listen to the sound of the ●outh but ●o the fervency of the Mind Therefore Christians Praying have their affections bent towards God they ●lways hunger and thirst after Righteousness The ●rayer of him who humbleth himself is accepted as appear'd by the Publican Luk. 18.19 Psal. 50 1● Mark 13.3.3 Coloss. 4.2 Luk. 11.9 Ioh. 6.23 How excellent a thing it is for Man to converse with God! this joyns Man in Society with Angels thro' ascribing with them due Praise and Glory unto the Almighty Let nothing dismay a Christian from Praying unto God for the Prayer of the Righteous is the Key of Heaven the Prayer of the Godly doth ascend and the Mercy of God doth thereby come down therefore we will Sing Praise unto Thee O Lord for as thou hast been our Defence in the day of our trouble even so I beseech Thee to protect and save us everlastingly Amen Let us with St. Paul Heb. 4.16 come boldly to the Throne of Grace that we may obtain Mercy That is let us in confident assurance of God's readiness to help us make our Addresses boldly and chearfully to the Throne of his Grace upon all occasions suing to our bountiful God for the Relief of all our Necessities and let us consider when we are about to offer up our Petitions to God by Prayer what ou● necessities and wants are before we ask least throug● temerity we ask amiss His freeness to give ma● well make us bold to ask his power to supply us may give us hopes to obtain what is necessary for us and his greatness ought to make us temper our Addresses with Humility as for choice of Words and Elegant long Harangues let us not be too solicitous for God regards not Eloquence and long Harangues so much as the sincerity of those that invocate his Majesty Men chiefly mind the neatness of expression God the Truth and fervency of what is exprest We are commanded to Pray without ceasing which is best done according to Scripture Rules because no Method is comparable to that which God has laid down for us and Christ taught us When we groan under the weight of any Affliction we shall ever find help by calling upon God desiring the assistance of the Righteous to be joyned with us in Prayer For the Prayers of the Faithful availeth much their help we are admonish'd to desire by the Example of St. Paul who said to the Romans I beseech you Brethren for the Lord Iesus Christ's sake and for the love of the Spirit that you strive together wi●h me in your Endeavours and Prayers to God for me ●or the light of ●is Countenance and for assisting in every Duty Rom. 15.20 Some define Prayer thus An humble lifting up of the Heart or a pouring out of the Soul to God in the Name of Christ it is crying Abba Father As Scrip●ure is God's Letter wherein he openeth his Mind to Man so Prayer is Man's Letter wherein he expresses ●is Mind to God A thought can fly speedily to the utmost part of the Earth but Prayer in a Moment ascends to the highest Heavens 't is as it were a speaking Trumpet one end of which being fastened to Man's mouth it carryeth the Petitioning voice to God's Ear tho' spoken near so softly Prayer hath a twofold advantage of some other Duties in regard its Influence is Universal and to ●ts Exercise an opportunity is never wanting A Christian cannot always hear or read God's Word out he may Pray continually Every Saint is God's Temple and he that carries a Temple about him ●ay go to Prayer when he pleaseth A good Chri●tian need not be very nice in chusing a place for De●otion since to him every house is a house of Prayer ●nd every place he comes to an Altar whereon he ●ay offer up to God a Sacrifice of Prayer yet De●ency is not to be forgotten as far as circumstance ●ill allow since even by it we express a kind of Devotion to our God but many alass are so far from being curious in this point that they forget to pay at all this Duty tho' most necessary to the obtaining their Eternal Salvation If we are in doubts about our Spiritual Estate let us in Prayer go to God who is marvellous in Council are we in Affliction let us call upon him for help and he will not only hear us but also in his good time deliver us Do's any affliction seize our Bodies which endangers our lives or disturb our tranquility let us by Prayer call upon him at Midnight and he will make hast to help us tho' we are troubled exceedingly in a Moment he can give us quiet and rest nay tho' we should be encompassed with Enemies driven to the greatest of Necessities perplex'd with Doubts threatned with Dangers or like Peter falsly Imprisoned and watched narrowly Night and Day lest we should make an Escape yet Prayer as another Moses will go before us and so engage God on our side that he will vanquish our Enemies relieve ou● Necessities unfold our Doubts prevent our Dangers convert our Bondage into Liberty and guide us all the way thro' the Wilderness of this World 'till we arrive at the Spiritual Land of Canaan and be Enroled Citizens of the Heavenly Jerusalem where Christ is infinitely exceeding that Ierusalem where Christ was and whither the Devout Iews went once a year to Worship And here it will not be amiss nor I believe unacceptable to my Reader to give him some account of the Earthly Ierusalem and its many Revolutions so much spoken of in Scripture and other Histories This Ierusalem by some called the Holy City and Throne of God was antiently a Fort of the Iebusites upon Mount Sion not conquer'd by the valiant Ioshua but was fully subdu'd by the victorious Arm of David who Built thereon the City unto which was adjoyn'd Mount Moriah and therefore call'd the Daughter of Sion where Abraham would have offer'd his Son Isaac where David built his Altar and Solomon his Beauti●ul Temple of which great things are by all Histori●ns Recorded 'T is Scituate in the midst of Nations ●t was the place of Holy Worship from this Moun●ain which for many things is justly prefer'd before ●ll others did flow those Salutiferous Waters that gave Life where ever they ran from hence Christ ●ent his Apostles as so many Spiritual Fishermen to ●atch the Souls of Men. In this famous City stood ●he Throne of David

to allure Professors for what are many Here●ies but the Scum of Judaism and Paganism yet like in growth to the River Nilus which is famous and well known for its overflowing Streams though hidden and obscure as to its Fountain It 's the Justice of God to deliver them over to believe Lies who will not obey the Truth You are here put to understand what diffe●ence of days there is betwixt the Christians Jewish and Turkish Sabbaths The Christians keep theirs the first day of the Week call'd Sunday The Jews on Saturday and the Turks on Friday in Scorn of Christ who was on that day Crucified The true Church is an Assembly or such a congregation as Believes things which do not appear neither may be comprehended in the Mind that is ●t depends only on God's Word what the same saith the true Church Believes without any addition giving honour to God and taking that to be true which in the Word is delivered unto them Isa. 5.3 As to the place where this true Church is I answer 'T is wheresoever God's Word is purely taught and the head Shepheard of this Church is Christ Jesus Since nothing more provokes the Wrath of God against us than the breaking and prophaning of his holy Sabb●th the observance thereof can never be sufficiently inculcated int● Mens minds for said the spirit of the Lord to our Fore-fathers If you will no● hea●ken unto my words and keep my Sabbath holy then wi●l I ki●dle a fire which shall devour the Palaces of Jerusalem and none shall quench i● Jer. 17. Ezek. 2● 26.31 God's severity has ●een remarkable on Jerusalem and upon the disobedient and wicked Prophaners of his Sabbath as may appear by many Instances The first Blow given to the German Church was on the ●ord's Day which they carelesly observ'd the day of the Lord will be a dreadful day to them that despise the day which Christ has set apart for the Zealous performanc● of Religious Duties It is Mark'd with a Memento above all other Commandments Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy On the Lord's Day we should go into God's sanctuary and Reverence the same see Levit. 19.30 We have God's hand and seal for our observing it see Act● 20.7.1 Cor. 16. ● 2. Rev. 10. God is pleased to esteem it his Glory to have many Beggers such are all Men in respect of him to meet at his House or Temple to pay their duty of Thanks and holy Worship for their all since they have all things of him Mat. 18.20 Psal. 42.4 Christ himself went often into the Synagogues and Peter and John went up into the Temple at the hour of Praper Acts 3.1 and 13.23 4. The Day which is to be Sanctify'd is not the seventh but the first day of the week for the Jews Sabbath was Buried in Christ's Grave so that the first day of the week is of Divine Institution and honoured with the Name of the Lord's Day in regard of its Author who rose that day in the Morning from finishing the amazing work of our Redemption upon 〈◊〉 day he brought forth his Living Water On this day he gave his Bread of Life his Body On this day h● met his two Disciples 'T was on this day that the Saints which slept arose out of their Graves On ●h●s day the Holy Ghost descended on the Apo●tl●● On this day Christ brought forth the light of his ●●ew Heavens and Earth by his powerful Resurrection On this day St. Iohn ●●d his glorious Revelati●n containing the Churches state till the dissolution of the World On this day Christ visited his dea● Apostles saying Peace b● unto you behold my 〈◊〉 and feet On this day he burst asunder the Bonds of Death and broke the Gates of Hell led captivity Captive trampled upon Principalities suddued Powers triumph'd over the Grave conquer'd Sin absolv'd the curse of the Law and trod down Satan Upon this day he still rides Triumphantly in the Chariot of his Ordinances conquering all Profane ●pposition cutting down high Thoughts and ●●bduing Sinners to himself Blessed is the Man that ●eeps the Sabbath unpolluted Isa. 56. vers 2. It i● likewise thought that his second coming will ●e on this day called The Lords Sabbath Day and blessed is that S●rvant whom he ●inds well doing when he cometh and since we know not in what hour of ●he Watch he will come whether at the dawning of ●he Day at Noon or at Midnight we ought there●●re with more care keep our selves upon the Watch ●●st he come upon us unawares and find us sleeping ●●r neglecting our Duty for which we may be cast ●nto ●nquenchable fire as unprofitable Servants and ●o be for ever shut out of Gods favour and presence ●or if on Earth we do not frequent his Divine pre●ence by assembling our selves together for the re●erent performing the Duty of Prayer he so oft has commanded us to observe 't is in vain to flatter ou● s●lves with the expectation of being admitted i●to his Presence hereafter Therefore l●t us here make our Salvation su●e that we may of his Goodness gai● admi●tanc●●ereafter into his glorious Presen●e which is only to be obtain'd through Chris● o●● Lord our only Saviour and R●deemer by o●ten asse●●●●ng ●ur selves togethe●●o give Thanks and offer ●erv●nt Prayers to the Lord in Christ's Name this I ●a● will be the only way to obtain our desire which God grant we may all Enjoy and Live and R●ig●●or ever with him to give Praise and Glo●y to his Holy Nam● for his gracious Goodness in Redeeming us to himself O! how happy will our stat●●hen be we shall only be employed to Sing Praise and Glory and Honour world without End ther● we shall possess the fullness of Joys and never fading Pleasure● resting for ever from our Labours an● singing with Sain●s and Angels new Praises to hi● Holy Name 'T was the charming hopes of thes● Cont●ntm●●ts which m●de t●e Apostles so o●● conclude With a Come Lord Iesus C●me quickly Amen Te●tullian was of Opinion that no Souls did enjoy the Beatifical Vision till the Resurrection at whic● time he supposed the order of Rising would be according to the degrees of Holiness Men had attain●d to in this Life And to make his Opinion th● more plausible he affirm'd the Resurrection woul● continue the Thousand Years of Christ's Reign upo● Earth so that the highest Rank of Christians in hi● opinion shall ri●e in the beginning of the said Term and all others Rise in their turn according to thei●●leg●●es of Piety and Wickedness and therefore 〈◊〉 said The most sloathful and negligent would be d●fer'● to the Conclusion being ●o be held in Prison till they pay the utmost Farthing for this Parable he ascribes to the Morae Resurrectionis that is They are not to rise from the Dead till towards the end of the Thousand Y●ars 1 Cor. 15. vers 23.24 The whole Chapter g●ves a large Account thereof Besides St. Iohn in his Revelations