Selected quad for the lemma: duty_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
duty_n	affection_n	good_a	love_n	1,128	5	5.0684	4	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A78903	The godly mans ark or, City of refuge, in the day of his distresse. Discovered in divers sermons, the first of which was preached at the funerall of Mistresse Elizabeth Moore. The other four were afterwards preached, and are all of them now made publick, for the supportation and consolation of the saints of God in the hour of tribulation. Hereunto are annexed Mris. Moores evidences for Heaven, composed and collected by her in the time of her health, for her comfort in the time of sickness. / By Ed. Calamy, B.D. and pastor of the church at Aldermanbury.	Calamy, Edmund, 1600-1666.; Moore, Elizabeth, d. 1656?	1657 (1657)	Wing C247; Thomason E1616_1; ESTC R209627	96,958	299

of David abide upon your hearts God forbid I should serve the Lord with 2 Sam 24.24 that which cost mee nothing God hates your obedience to the first Table Isa 1. 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 if it bee not joyned with obedience to the second Works of mercy and charity are made in Scripture the touchstones of the truth of our piety and holiness This is pure Religion saith the Apostle and James 1. 27 undefiled before God and the Father to visit the Fatherlesse and Widdows in their affliction and to keep himself unspotted from the world If any man say saith Saint John I love God and hateth his Brother hee is 1 John 4. 20 a lyar for hee that loveth not his Brother whom hee hath seen how can hee love God whom hee hath not seen An unmerciful and an uncharitable man is a wicked and an ungodly man Let it bee the care of all those amongst you who are rich in estate to bee rich in good works Let every man lay up for the poor according as God hath prospered him remembring 1 Cor. ●● 2 that saying of Christ Come yee blessed of my Father inherit the Kingdome prepared for you from the foundation of the world For I was an hungred and yee gave mee meat I was thirsty and yee gave mee drink I was a stranger and yee took mee in naked and yee cloathed mee I was sick and yee visited mee I was in prison and yee came unto mee 14 Take heed of separating from the publick Assemblies of the Saints I have found by experience that all our Church-calamities have sprung from this root Hee that separates from the publick worship is like a man tumbling down a hill and never leaving till hee comes to the bottome of it I could relate many sad stories of persons professing godliness who out of dislike to our Church-meetings began at first to separate from them and after many changes and alterations are turned some of them Anabaptists some Quakers some Ranters some direct Atheists But I forbear you must hold communion with all those Churches with which Christ holds communion you must separate from the sins of Christians but not from the Ordinances of Christ Take heed of Unchurching the Churches of Christ lest you prove Schismaticks instead of being true Christians 15 Though you never live to see the times setled yet labour to get your consciences setled Pray for the Spirit of Truth to guide you into all Truth in these erring dayes Remember that saying of Christ If thine eye bee evil thy Mat. 6. 23 whole body shall bee full of darknesse if therefore the light that is in you bee darkness how great is that darkness God hath given you your understandings to bee the guide of the whole man As the Eye is the guide of the body and the Sun of the world so is the understanding of the man therefore you must in praying pray that God would give you a right understanding in all things Pray not only for the grace of Sanctification but of Illumination Avoid as soul-poison all Doctrines 1 Which tend to liberty open a door to prophaneness and are contrary to godliness 2 Which hold forth a superstitious strictness above what is required in the Word 3 Which are Antimagistratical and Antiministerial 4 Which lift up corrupt nature and exalt unsanctified reason 5 Which preach free-grace to the utter ruine of good works 6 Which lessen the priviledges of Infants and makes their condition worse under the New Testament than under the Old 7 Which are contrary to the Analogy of Faith the ten Commandements and the Lords Prayer 16 Take heed lest being led away with the errour of the wicked you 2 Pet. 3. 17 fall from your own stedfastness Take heed of a threefold Apostacy of which this Nation is deeply guilty Of Apostacy 1 In your Judgements from the Truths of Christ and from the Faith once delivered to the Saints 2 In your Affections from that ancient love desire and delight which the Saints of God have had heretofore and you your selves once had in and towards the Ordinances of Christ and the godly and learned Ministers of Christ 3 In your conversations from that humble and exact walking with God in all good duties both towards God and man which was the credit and honour of the good old Puritan in former daies Let mee speak to you in the words of the Apostles Paul and Peter Wherefore my beloved Brethren bee yee stedfast 1 Cor. 15. ●● and unmoveable c. The God of grace who hath called you into his eternal glory by Jesus Christ make you perfect stablish strengthen and settle you 17 Remember that it is the will of Jesus Christ that you who partake of the same word of life and of the same Sacramental Bread and Wine should admonish one another exhort one another watch over one another bear the burdens of one another provoke one another to love and good works seek the good of one another and not your own good only That you should warn the unruly comfort the feeble-minded and support the weak That this is your duty appears from Col. 3 16. Phil. 2.4 Heb. 1. 24. Gal. 6. 1 Rom. 15. 2. Rom. 14. 7. 2 Cor. 5.15 1 Thes 5. 11 13 14. The 12th vers speaks of Ministerial and authoritative admonition but the 13 and 14. verses of fraternal and charitative These Texts will rise up in Judgement against thousands of Christians at the last day I do not say that you are to admonish none but those of your own Society Admonition is an act of mercy It is spiritualis Eleemosyna spiritual Almes and you are bound by the royal law of charity by the communion of Saints the communion of Churches and communion of natures to distribute these spiritual almes to all that need them as God shall give occasion But this I say you ought especially to admonish them and watch over them This is novum though not solum vinculum Some Divines think that one chief reason why the Israelites were punished for Achans sin was because they did not admonish him and watch over him For the Israelites were commanded in the plural number Josh 6.18 Keep your selves from the accursed thing c. Hee was one of the body and because they did not watch over him they communicated in his sin and in his punishment There is an excellent Law in this Nation That every Parish shall provide for its own poor And by parity of reason it is as just and equal That every Congregation should chiefly and especially look to the souls of their own members to warn them admonish them exhort them and watch over them That you may the better discharge this duty you must labour to bee acquainted one with another as far as your callings and relations will give you leave It is a great and common sin and much to bee lamented That there is so little knowledge

and acquaintance between those that are of the same congregation They sit in the same Pew together partake of the same Sacrament and yet converse no more together than if one lived at York and the other at London And when they do converse together it is a meer civill and outward converse as amongst sober heathens But there is very little religious society between them for the spiritual edification one of another Now this must needs bee a great sin For how can you watch over one another edifie and admonish one another How can you support the weak comfort the feeble-minded if not spiritually acquainted one with another And yet 't is not my opinion that every member of a Congregation is bound to know every fellow-member I beleeve it was not so in the Church of Jerusalem or of Samaria It is incredible to think that they all knew one another I should bee loath to lay such a clog upon your consciences as to say That every maid-servant and man-servant is bound to know and to bee acquainted with all those with whom they communicate in the Lords Supper Indeed the Church-officers are the eyes of the people and are to know all and to bee acquainted with all But yet notwithstanding this I say It is the duty of every member to endeavour according to his place and calling to grow up in spiritual acquaintance one with another as God shall offer occasion and not to be so strange and unacquainted but to walk in love one towards another to bear one anothers burden and so fulfill the Law of Christ Gal. 6.2 And this you ought the rather to do that so you may contribute to the keeping of the Sacrament of the Lords Supper pure in the Congregation to which you belong There is much complaint amongst many and not without just cause of mixt communions and of an universal liberty which some take in giving the Sacrament promiscuously to all that come though grosly ignorant and notoriously scandalous and in making If I may so speak the Chancel-door as wide as the Church-door This in my judgement is a great iniquity 1 It is to give holy things to Dogs and to cast Pearls to Swine It is a prophanation of the Ordinance in giving it to those who are visibly unworthy to receive it and to whom wee know Christ would not have us to give it 2 It is an act of great uncharitableness to those who are grosly ignorant and scandalous For it is to give them that which wee know will further their damnation 3 It makes the Church-Officers who have power to hinder them and do not use it partakers of other mens sins 4 It is an Act of cruelty to the Nation For because wee have been Prodigal of Christs blood therefore hee hath been Prodigal of ours 5 It is a great scandal to the truly godly and a stumbling-block to weak Christians causing them though unadvisedly to separate from our Congregations 6 It is to walk contrary to the practise of most if not all of the Churches of Christ in the Christian world To prevent this Sacrament-prophanation there are some Ministers who wholly surcease from administring it This I allow not unlesse in case of absolute necessity For this is as it were to suspend the whole Congregation and to deny Children their bread for fear of giving it to Dogs The best way is to follow the advice which our Lord Jesus Christ gives Mat. 18 15 16 17. where hee propounds Rules and Directions for t he removing of scandals out of the Church If thy Brother shall trespass against thee saith Christ go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone Hee doth not say go and separate presently For this is to rend the Church not to heal it This is to hinder thy Brother from Christ rather than to gain him to Christ Hee doth not say God and tell others for this is to backbite thy Brother This is to reproach him rather than to reprove him But hee saith Go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone if hee shall hear thee thou hast gained thy Brother But if hee will not hear thee then take with thee one or two more c. And if hee shall neglect to hear them tell it to the Church that is to such who are impowred by Christ to redress offences but if hee neglect to hear the Church let him c. Hence learn That all Church-reformation and Sacrament-purity must begin from Church-members and proceed from them in Christs way unto Church-officers That if any man who is called a Brother bee a fornicator or a railer or a drunkard or guilty of any other scandalous sin It is your duty who are members of the same body with him and know his guiltinesse to labour by private admonition to gain him to God not to shame him by telling others but to gain him by telling him alone But if hee will not hear you then you are in an orderly way to bring it to the Church which if you neglect to do the sin of Church-pollution is your sin and not the sin of your Church-officers If there bee three doors to get into an house hee that keeps mee out of the first keeps mee out of the other two All Sacrament-reformation begins with you you are the first door at which it enters if you fail of your duty the sin lyeth at your door not at ours It is the custome of all people though otherwise godly if a scandalous sinner bee admitted to the Lords Supper to charge the sin of it upon the Minister and in the mean time to forget that the sin is theirs not his because they have not done what Christ would have them for the gaining of him and for the inabling of the Church to proceed against him by censures if hee prove obstinate The Lord give you hearts to think of this and give you grace instead of murmuring against and complaining of mixt communions and of separating from us because of them to contribute your utmost towards the purging of our Congregations and to practise all those duties which Christ requires of you in order thereunto I have much more to say of this particular but I perceive that the Epistle swells to too great a bigness and therefore I shall deferre what I have further to say till God shall offer mee another such opportunity 18 Labour to maintain peace and unity amongst your selves It is a good and pleasant thing for brethren to dwell together Psal 133 in unity Have Salt in your Mark 9. 50. selves and peace one with another Labour to get your fouls seasoned with the grace of humility self-denyal and mortification and this will keep you in peace Remember the saying of Christ Blessed are the Peace-makers Now I beseech you Brethren by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ that yee all speak the same thing and that there bee no divisions among you but that yee bee perfectly joyned