Selected quad for the lemma: duty_n

Word A Word B Word C Word D Occurrence Frequency Band MI MI Band Prominent
duty_n call_v day_n lord_n 3,188 5 4.3142 3 true
View all documents for the selected quad

Text snippets containing the quad

ID Title Author Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication) STC Words Pages
A47031 A sermon upon Ember-Week, preached before the University of Oxford, at Christ-Church in Oxford, 1698 by David Jones ... Jones, David, 1663-1724? 1699 (1699) Wing J939; ESTC R2427 21,461 34

There is 1 snippet containing the selected quad. | View lemmatised text

by easier and gentler Methods That is in plain English by smooth and flattering Words They think that preaching of Election Vocation Justification Adoption and Sanctification is nothing else but so much Spiritual Cant. And indeed They think no Preaching is good for any thing but that which is really good for nothing That which is High and Lofty Quaint or Witty Scholastical or Controversial and above the Reach of ordinary Capacities And therefore our Saviour makes it as great a Miracle and as certain a Sign of the True Messias that the Poor had the Gospel preached unto them as that the Blind saw the Lame walked the Deaf heard the Lepers were cleansed and the Dead were raised up from Death to Life Matth. 11. 5. And if poor Ignorant People have such a Proud Man for their Minister must they not without a Miracle necessarily perish for want of Knowledge For if an Archer does always shoot above the Mark can he ever Hit it And if a Minister does always preach above the Capacity of his Hearers can he ever Teach them Knowledge Is it not all one as if he spoke to them in an Vnknown Tongue and were altogether a Barbarian unto them Sixthly The Scripture tells us of others who though they are neither Ignorant nor Idle nor Covetous nor Voluptuous nor Proud Yet they are Deceitful They handle the Word of God deceitfully they Deceive God's people by preaching that to them for God's Word which is not really His but their Own they preach to them the Inticing Words of Mans Wisdom instead of the Sincere Milk of the Word they shew them the Form and not the Power of Godliness they Feed them with Ceremonies and Shadows instead of Substantial and Fundamental Truths They puff them up with Science falsly so called instead of the Simplicity of the Gospel they spoil them thro' Phylosophy and vain Deceit after the Tradition of Men after the Rudiments of the World and not after Christ They Teach them for Doctrines the Commandments of Men yea they Teach them the very Doctrines of Devils Matth. 15. 9. compared with Colos 2. 8. and 1 Tim. 4. 1. And by this means all true Gospel-preaching is in many places much neglected and in some places it is almost wholly lost And if poor Ignorant people have such a deceitful Handler and Corrupter of God's Word for their Minister must they not without a Miracle necessarily perish for want of Knowledge For how can a Man possibly subsist if he has only a Stone for Bread a Scorpion for an Egg and a Cup of poison for the Blood of the Grape Seventhly The Scripture tells us of Others who tho' they are neither Ignorant nor Idle nor Covetous nor Voluptuous nor Proud nor Deceitful yet they are far Worse than all these For says our Saviour Matt. 23. 13. Wo unto you Scribes and Pharisees Hypocrites For ye shut up the Kingdom of Heaven against Men. Ye neither go into it your selves neither suffer ye them that are entring to go in And then it follows ver 15. Ye compass Sea and Land to make one Proselyte and when he is made ye make him twofold more the Child of Hell than your selves They would neither be good Themselves nor suffer Others to be so They would neither Preach Themselves nor suffer Christ and his Apostles to Preach to the People that were ready to Perish for want of a Plain and a Searching Preacher They were like those two Priests Hophni and Phinehas who would neither be Chast Themselves nor suffer Others to be so but lay with the Women that Assembled at the Door of the Tabernacle of the Congregation 1 Sam. 2. 22. They were like Ahab and Zedekiah those two other Priests who would neither be Chast Themselves nor suffer Others to be so but were Roasted in the Fire by the King of Babylon for committing Adultery with their Neighbours Wives Jerem. 29. 22 23. And they were like those other Ungodly Priests and people of the Jews who Persecuted St. Paul and forbid him to Preach to the Gentiles that they might be Saved to fill up their Sins alway For the Wrath of God is come upon them to the uttermost 1 Thes 2. 15 16. Mark this all of you as long as you Live If a Minister refuses to Preach himself and forbids others to Preach it is a certain Sign that he is come to the Height of Wickedness and has filled up the full measure of all his Sins and the Wrath of God is come upon him to the uttermost And yet there were not only some few of the Clergy that were then thus Notoriously Wicked For our Saviour lays it to the Charge of all the Scribes and Pharisees and Preachers of the Law in his time And they all were so far from Denying that Charge that they Gloried and Boasted in it For say they to the Officers that would not be so bad as they would have them be by Apprehending Christ and bringing him Bound to them Are ye also Deceived Have any of the Rulers or of Pharisees believed on him But this People who knoweth not the Law are Cursed John 7. 47 48 49. And if poor Ignorant people have such men as these for their Ministers must they not without a Miracle Necessarily perish for want of Knowledge For how can they possibly learn any True and Saving Knowledge when their Ministers Curse them for believing on Christ and Damn them to the pit of Hell for refusing to be as Bad as they would make them That is twofold more the Children of Hell than themselves And thus I have Proved out of God's own Word without any Addition of my own Head by plain and express Texts of Scripture that Though there be a great many Ministers in a City or Country yet the Common People may be ready to Faint and to Perish for want of Knowledge for want of Plain Affectionate Practical and Scripture-Preaching Yea and their Case may be so desperately Bad that nothing but a Company of poor Silly Sheep scattered abroad without a Shepherd can possibly represent their deplorable Condition And that is the Doctrine with its Proof The Use of it is this First The Holy Ghost has Caused the Faults of God's Ministers to be written in Scripture And therefore We that are the Preachers of God's Word are bound in Conscience to preach against those Ministerial Faults in our Sermons before the Clergy Especially upon such publick Occasions as Ember-week and ordination-Ordination-day that so we may all be called upon and stirred up to the better Performance of our Duty For thus did the Prophets in the Old Testament as is plain from Mal. 2. 1 2. O ye Priests this Commandment is for You If ye will not hear and if you will not lay it to heart to give Glory unto my Name saith the Lord of Hosts I will even send a Curse upon you and I will Curse your Blessings Yea I have Cursed them already because Ye do not lay