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	heart_n	holy_a	1,144	5	4.5561	4	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A65610	The redemption of time, or, A sermon containing very good remedies for them that have mis-spent their time shewing how they should redeem it comfortably / by William Whately ... ; now published for general good by Richard Baxter.	Whately, William, 1583-1639.; Baxter, Richard, 1615-1691.	1673 (1673)	Wing W1590; ESTC R38583	45,467	132

under●tanding shall have a naked ragged ●●atter'd soul and that comes because he hath not used his time well by the right employment whereof he might have got wealth for his better part I mean unto his mind and heart A threed-bare heart needy of knowledge comes from a voluptuous life stuffed with pleasures And the Prophet Isaiah cries out Chap. 5.12 with a woful and a better cry against those which had the Timbrel the Pipe and the Harp in their feast but would not regard the work of the Lord all their dayes were taken up in eating and drinking in banqueting and feasting in good chear and merry-making so that there was no time to meditate and think on those afflictions whereby God did warn them to repentance and amendment which is most contrary to this duty of redeeming the time for all this time is even lost and cast away And had we no other proo● than our own experience in this behalf would it not manifestly convince that he which desires to redeem the time must flie these vain delights and sports For do we not plainly see what a canker it is in a number of mens lives when many days they bestow three or four hours together yea half the day if not the whole in Dicing Carding Bowling Shovel-board of the like idle if not wicked exercises doth not this waste and pour forth time over-lavishly Or can that man have so much rest and quiet or so much fitness and opportunity to do good to his soul as his wise care in cutting off these needless recreations or vexations rather would have afforded him For these vain pleasures are n●t alone mischievous hinderers of this thrift in ●hat they consume the very hours ●hemselves but as much or more also in that they dissettle the heart and pull the affections out of joynt so that a man is driven to take as much pains to set his heart to a good exercise as would well have dispatched the duty had he not been thus unfitted Now what a miserable loss is it when a man is robbed of his time and of his heart both at once and by both kept from reading praying medi●ating examining his heart or any such good exercise for his souls advantage Wherefore if any man would so prevent these vain and foolish sports that they should not spoil him of his heart and hours let him observe these two rules in his sports and then he shall do well in these respects First this being presupposed that he do not use any recreations but those which he can prove to be in themselves lawful First I say for the beginning of recreation let every man know that recreation must follow labour for the most part or 〈◊〉 at any time it go before it it must be very little only to fit one for labour The Lord allows a man no sport● though never so lawful in it self until such time as his body or mind do stand in need of it chiefly when they have been busied in some such honest affairs as by wearying them have made them unfit to further labour so that they must again be fitted there●o by recreation Until pains-taking have made the body or mind not so well able to take pains there is no allowance ordinarily for r●creation All our sports and recreations if we will use them well I speak of those which are lawful must be to our body or mind as the Mowers whetstone or rifle is to his Sythe to sharpen it when it grows dull He that when his Sythe is dulled will not upon a desire to do more work take time to whet it shall cut less and with more pain and more unhandsomely than he need ●o do so he that when his body or mind is tyred or heavy will not use some honest refreshing shall do less and with less dexterity than he might But on the other side if the Mower should do nothing from morning to noon or from noon to night but whet whet whet rubbing his Sythe he would both marr the Sythe and be counted an idle work-man also for losing his dayes work so he that will run after the most honest delights when neither the weariness of his body nor heaviness of mind requires the same but only upon a fond lust or longing after them shall in time destroy his wit and strength and in the mean seas●n marvellous unthriftily mis-spend his time Therefore let not a man begin the day with play though never so lawful unless his body 〈◊〉 mind require some necessary exercis● to make it more apt for his calling He that sets into the day sportingly shall be sure to go through it eith●●●umpishly or sinfully much more 〈◊〉 he spend all the day from morning to night in playing let it be never so much holy-day or have he what other excuse he will This rule is for beginning of sports The second is for the measure and continuance of them where this is a general and a firm direction that it is not lawful for a man in an ord●nary course to spend more time in any pastime upon any day than in religious exercises I mean chiefly private religious exercises I say it is utterly unlawful to bestow a larger time any day upon the most lawful delight than in private religious exercises or at least in a customable course so to do This is plainly proved by that which Christ speaks to 〈◊〉 saying Mat. 6.33 First seek ●he Kingdom of God and the righteousn●ss thereof You see here commanded to prefer the seeking of Hea●en before any oth●r thing whatsoever ●o let that have the chief place in our souls and in our lives Now he that first seeks the Kingdom of Heaven cannot bestow more time in sports of any sort than in those things which do directly make for the obtaining of eternal life and that righteousness which will bring one thereunto such as are hearing and reading the Word praying meditating examining the heart conferring and the like And surely this is a most equal thing that the most needful duty should have the most time bestowed upon it Yea and it is a most easie rule to all sorts of men that have seasoned their hearts with the true fear of God For if a mans calling lye in bodily works then the very ●●●rcises of Religion are a refreshing to his body in that he doth for the space while they continue desist from his bodily labour and his calling affords sufficient stirring of the body for health so that if he be religiously minded and have indeed set his delight on God he may well give as much time to these actions as to any carnal sports But if any mans calling lye in study or such like labour of the mind first the change is a great refreshing and variety a delight and then there be religious exercises which will refresh the mind as well as any sports and for so much exercise as health requires it is not long in using because nature is

preparation for another world and because we may serve God in Patience and Heavenly desires and Hope when we cannot serve him by an active life But Christians and Heathens will proclaim those persons to be the shame of Nature who wilfully make thems●lves unprofitable and live in their hea●●h a● if they were d●s●bled by sickness and are condemned by their se●suality to a prison or a grave so that their Epitaph may be written on their door HERE LYETH SUCH A ONE rather than it can be said that Here he liveth O what a rock is a ha●dened heart How can you chuse but tremble when you think how you spend your dai●s and how all this time must be accounted for That those that have a death and judgement to prepare for a Heaven to get a Hell to scape and souls ro save can waste the day in careless idleness as if they had no business in the world and yet their consciences never tell them what they do and how all this must be reviewed Compare together the life of a Christian and of a fleshly bruit and you will see the difference Suppose then both Ladies and Gentlewomen of the same rank The one riseth as early as is consistent with her health with thoughts of thankfulness and love her heart a●so awaketh and rise●h up to him that night and day preserveth her she quickly dispatcheth the dressing of her body as intending no more but serviceable warm●h and modest decency and then she betaketh her self to her closet where she poureth out her soul in confession supplication thanksgiving and praise to God her Creator Redeemer and Sanctifier And as one that delighteth in the Law of the Lord she reverently openeth the sacred Scriptures and readeth over some part of it with some approved Commenta●y at hand in which she may see the sense of that which of her self she could not understand What is plain she taketh in digesteth and layeth up for practice And that which is too hard for her as a humble learner she waiteth in patience till by her Teachers help in time she can come to understand it As she hath leisure she readeth such holy Books as interpret and apply the Scriptures to inlighten her mind and resolve her will and quicken her affections and direct her practice And as she liveth in an outward Calling or course of Labour in which her Body as well as her Mind may have employment she next addresseth her ●elf to that she looketh with prudence and carefulness to her family she taketh care of her servants labours and their manners Neither suffering any to live in idleness nor yet so over-labouring them as to deny them some time to read the Scriptures and call upon God and mind their souls She endureth no prophane despisers of Piety or vicious persons in her house She taketh fit seasons to speak to her servants such sober words of holy counsel as tend to instruct and save their souls She causeth them to learn the principles of Religion in some Catechism and to read such good Books as are most suitable to their capacity In her affairs she avoideth both so●bid parsimony and wastful prod●gality and is thrifty and sparing not in covetousness but that she may do the more good to them that want She indulgeth no excess or riotousness in her house though the vices of the times should make it seem need●ul to her honour If she want recreation or have leisure for more work she steps out to her poor Tenants and neighbours houses and seeth how they live and what they want and speaketh to them some sober words of counsel about the state of their immortal souls and stirreth them up to a holy ●ife She caus●th the sou●s of the poor to bless her and is an example of piety to all about her But h●r special care and labour is in the education of her children if she have any She watcheth over them lest the company and example and language of ungod●y persons should infect them She causeth them to read the Scriptures and other holy Books and to learn the princip●es of Rel●gion and tea●heth them how to call upon God and give him thanks for all his mercies She acquainteth them with the sins of their depraved natures and laboureth to humble them in the sense th●reof She opene●h to them the Doctrine of mans salvation by Christ and the necessity of a new birth and of a heavenly nature She disgraceth all sin to them especially the radical master-sins even ignorance unbelief selfishness pride sensuality and voluptuousness the love of this world and unholiness of heart and life She sweetly and seriously insinuateeth into them the love and liking of faith and holiness and frequently enlargeth her spèech to them of the Greatness Wisdom and Goodness of God and what he is to man and how absolute●y we owe him a●l the service obedience and love that our faculties can possibly perform She sweetneth their thoughts of God and Godliness by telling them what God hath done for man and what he will be to his own for ever and by acquainting them with the reasons of a holy life and the folly of ungodly men and what a beastly thing it is to be sensual and to pamper and please this flesh which must shortly turn to dust and to neglect a soul which must live for ever She remembreth them oft that th●y must die and telleth them how great a cha●ge death makes and how the charge of Regeneration must prepare us for it She op●●●eth to ●hem the blessedness of holy souls that shall be for ever with the Lord and the misery of the damned who cast away themselves by the wilful neglect of the tim● of their visitation In a word it is her dai●y care and calli●g to prepare her children for the service of God and to be blessings to the world in their generation and to be happy themselves for evermore and to destroy and prevent that sin and wickedness which would make them a plague and curse in their generation Her meals are not lxurious nor long nor her feastings unnecessary to the wasting of estate or precious time but seasonable frugal charitable and pious intended to promote some greater good She keepeth up the constant performance of religious duties in her family not m●●king God with formal complement but wo●sh●pping him in reverence and serious devotion reading the holy Scriptures and seriously calling upon God and singing to him Psalms of praise If her mind need recreation she hath some profitab●e history or other fruitful books to read and variety of good works and a seasonable diversion to the affairs of her family instead of Cards and D●ce and the abused fooleries of the sensual world When she is alone her thoughts are f●uit●ul to her self either examining her heart and life or looking seriously into eternity or rejoycing her soul in the remembrance of Gods mercies or in the foresight of endless blessedness with him or in stirring