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	zeal_n	zealous_a	100	4	10.0392	5	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A29118	Elijah's nunc dimittis, or, The authors own funerall sermons in his meditations upon I Kings 19:4 ... / by Thomas Bradley ...	Bradley, Thomas, 1597-1670.	1669 (1669)	Wing B4132; ESTC R7187	60,180	133

suffering of God should leade to Repentance But thou out of thine hardness and heart that cannot repent treasurest up unto thy selfe wrath against the day of wrath and the declaration of the righteous judgement of God And what a miserable thing is this for a man to treasure up unto himself wrath against the day of wrath and all his dayes to be carrying fuell to that fire in which himselfe is eternally to burne Lastly From this truth let all men certainly conclude a Judge to come for he that is the Judge of all the world hath said it That he will render to every man according to his works Rom. 2.6 But we see that is not done in this life in this life here are cross dispensations of Providence by which it falls out oft times clean contrary Solomon observed this in his time Eccles 8.14 That there be righteous Men to whom it cometh according to the working of the wicked and there be wicked Men to whom it cometh according to the work of the righteous The royall Prophet David before him observed the same ●sal 73. and complineth of it That the wicked flourish when the righteous perish they live at ease and have all things that their hearts can wish When the righteous are under the Cross and under the Rod chastised every Morning and visited every moment Hic pietatis honos Is this the reward of piety Is this to render to every man according to his works surely no and if things should rest thus then well might Saint Paul complain That of all men the Saints and servants of God were most miserable If in this life onely we have hope then are we of all men most miserable But say not so and think not so but possesse your souls with patience for a time and mark the end and you shall finde it is not so Remember that of St. Paul Acts 17.31 That God hath appointed a day wherein to Judge the world in righteousness by his Sonne Jesus Christ when he will make all these crosse reckonings right and streight wherein he will render tribulation to them that have troubled his and to those that have been troubled rest with him when he will say to all those secure and sensuall sinners as to the rich Epicure in the Gospel Sonnes remember you in your life time received pleasure and these my servants received pain now they are comforted and you are tormented that 's the day wherein this word shall be made good That he will render to every Man according to his works therefore called The day of refreshing Acts 3.19 The day of restauration The day of the righteous judgement of God Rom. 2.5 Gods Judgements are alwayes righteous but they are not alwayes declared to be so but then they shall be declared to be so in the sight of all the world men and Angels and they shall all confesse and say as in the Psalme Verely there is a reward for the righteous doubtless there is a God that judgeth the earth And so we have done with the Prophets second Satis est the second of his enoughs spoken in reference to what he had suffered Satis Tuli I have suffered enough We now pass to the third spoken in reference to what he had done 3. Satis Feci I have done enough And this ariseth out of the first words of the 14. verse I have been very jealous or zealous for the Lord God of Hosts this word is very significant and comprehensive it containes in it much as the faithfull discharge of his duty in the Office of a Prophet whereunto he was called his care to maintaine the true Religion and Worship of God his courage in reproving the sinnes of the ten Tribes even in the greatest Ahab himselfe not excepted his zeale in convincing and silencing the Priests of Baall in those perillous times when they had the protection and countenance of Authority on their sides and much more and that he did not these things coldly negligently perfunctorily but with all earnestness and fervency as the word imports for it comes from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to hisse as Iron doth when being red hot it is dipt in Water such was his activity in the performance of these his duties and fervency of affection Quicquid egit valide egit as the Italians are said to doe The zeale of Gods House did even consume him as another Prophet speaks he did these duties with zeale as hot as fire neither in this testimony did he arrogate to himselfe any thing at all more then due nor commend himselfe above his measure the Story of his Life and Actions evidently declares the truth of what he here asserts That he had been very zealous for the Lord God of Hosts in doing his Will in seeking his Glory and in upholding and maintaining his true Worship against all opposers c. The Inferences from hence are these three The first Those that are for God must doe the will of God The second It is not enough to doe Oper● operato but they must doe it as they should be done in due manner with due affections and they must doe it home or els it will never reach to Elijah's Satis est It is enough The third It shall be their greatest comfort in the evill day that they have done so the illation of these is cleare out of Elijah's Satis est in the Text compar'd with the first words of the 14. v. First Those that are for God must doe the will of God in that Place Calling and Condition of Life wherein God hath set them They must doe his will whether it be Prophet or Apostle or a common Christian Magistrate or Minister or common Beleever every one must in his Place doe the will of God It is our dayly Prayer That his will may be done in Earth as it is in Heaven And in this Prayer Is it fit that we should over-look our selves No as it is our dayly Prayer so it should be our dayly practise to doe his will Not every one that saith unto me Lord Lord shall enter into the Kingdom of Heaven but he that doth the will of my Father which is in Heaven Not the hearers but the doers of the Law shall be justified If you know these things blessed are you if you doe them Christianity calls for Action it is not Logicall but Morall not speculative but practique it consists not in saying nor in knowing nor in professing but in working there must be a Feci in it Regnum Dei non datur otiosis as St. Bernard speaks the Kingdom of God is not given to idle professors and pretenders the Calling of a Christian is a laborious Calling a Building a Husbandry a Warfare all these call to work there is somthing to be done whereby we may bring glory to God good to men and comfort to our own souls The very Heathen were sensible of this That they were bound to doe some good in the Generation wherein

divert stay suspend or remove Judgement denounc't against them when wrath is gone forth and the Plague begun and happy those Places which have such as these are in them though but a few favourites of Heaven to make in to God to use their interest in him to intreat for the rest great things hath God done at their request in the behalfe of others and even those that despise them are more beholden to them then they are aware of 5. In such evill times and places as we speak of we are to be admonished to walk warily for fear of Infection for fear of seduction least we come to be corrupted and infected by them and so while we complain the times are evill we our selves make them worse so St. Paul argues Ephe. 5.15 Walk circumspectly because the dayes are evil By no means to have any fellowship with the unfruitfull works of darkness but rather reprove them Ephes 5.11 to shew our dislike of them by avoyding them to reprove them by a sober righteous and godly conversation the most reall reproofe to the lewd and loose carriage and behaviour of wicked men that can be by this opposition the holy conversation of godly men becomes more illustrious thus doth their light come to shine before Men so that they seeing their good works are moved to glorifie the Father which is in Heaven this is to walk as Children of the light and to shine as lights in the midst of a froward and a dark Generation which will be the great conviction and condemnation of those wicked men they live amongst and their own high prayse and great reward another day This was the high prayse of Noah Gen. 6.9 Noah was a just Man in his Generation Why what Generation was that it was an evill Generation When all Flesh had corrupted their wayes before the Lord Noah still kept his integrity he was a just Man in his Generation For Abraham in Caldea Lot in Sodom Job in Vz Noah in his Generation to hold fast his integrity was their high prayse And so we have done with Elijah's first Satis est the first of his enoughs In respect of the evill he had seen We come now to consider of the second which respects the evill that he had Suffered Satis Tuli I have suffered enough and this ariseth out of those words in the latter end of the 14. ver They have Slain thy Prophets with the edge of the Sword and I onely am left and they seek my Life to take it away By this you may gather in what condition he was in respect of sufferings by Persecution Banishment Hunger and Thirst and variety of dangers threatning even Death it self The inference from hence is this That it is no news to see the best of Saints to suffer the worst things that the world can doe unto them To see Joseph in the Prison Job upon the Dunghill Jeremy in the Dungeon Jonah in the Whales belly Isay under the Saw Paul under the Axe Stephen under a storme of Stones and all this under the hands of wicked men and more then this when such wicked and ungodly men live at ease and in peace prosper and flourish Come in no misfortune like other men neither are they plagned like other men as the Prophet David observes Psal 73.5 These things may seem strange to humane apprehension and doe but they are no news to those that are well read in the wayes of Providence nor strange neither when wisely weighed and rightly considered And to help you in those Considerations I commend you to two of Davids Psalmes the 37. and the 73. both spent wholly upon this subject to take away the scandall of the Crosse In both which he first rayses the Objections and then brings in full answers to them for the clearing of Gods Justice in this cross dispensation of Providence and for the satisfying of himself and others in this matter I shall therefore wave what the Prophet hath there delivered and onely shew you very briefly some Reasons why and how it comes so to passe and what profitable Use we may make of this Meditation and so passe on to the next Reasons If you aske me then How it comes to pass that the best men should suffer the worst things here in this world I Answer 1. This proceeds from the malice of Satan ever contriving mischief against the Church even to the utter ruine of it if it were possible that the gates of Hell should prevail against it There is an enmity between the Woman and the Serpent which will never be reconciled 2. From the hatred that wicked men well nigh as bad as himselfe bear against it his very Instruments and Agents are ready to execute his will upon it the enmity is not onely between the Woman and the Serpent but between their Seed also Wicked men are the very Seed of the Serpent and doe as naturally maligne and hate the Church and Children of God as the Serpent doth a man 3. From their own folly which by sinne lay themselves open to their malice Balaam knew he could have no power over the Israelites to hurt them except he could devise some way how to draw them to sin against God But when he had contriv'd a way to make them commit Fornication with the Daughters of Moab he knew he had his purpose on them in exposing them to wrath and judgement Numb 25. 4. This comes to pass by the just and wise Providence of God not onely permitting but ordering it so for holy ends and good purposes 1. For tryall of their Faith that they may come out of them as Gold refined 2. For exercise of their Graces Vt probentur approbentur improbentur that they may be proved approved improved 3. For purging out and mortifying of their corruptions crucifying of their lusts and inordinate affections 4. For holding of them close to Duty as of Repentance Prayer and a constant dependance upon God 5. For the weyning of them from this present evill world that they might seek and affect better things in a better world and minde the things that are above Colos 3.1 6. That they may have nothing to suffer hereafter they are chastised in the world that they may not be condemned with the world Vses 1. Are these the ends why God suffereth his Saints to suffer Then wellcome sufferings by the grace of God Wellcome Afflictions by the will of God they shall be a benefit unto us a greater advantage then the Ease Peace and Prosperity of wicked men can be unto them nay then these could have been unto our selves if we had had them Ease slayeth the foolish and the prosperity of Fooles destroyeth them Prov. 1.32 Standing Pooles gather mud and dirt when running Streames keep pure and clear Winde and Thunder purge the Ayre and the Fire doth not consume but refine the Gold that is cast into it and such are the sufferings of the Saints servants of God to those that