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

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A86068	God the believer's best stronghold in the worst times. A sermon preached upon the preservation of His Majesty's person, and the discovery of the late plot of the intended invasion. / By Edmund Godwin ...	Godwin, Edmund.	1696 (1696)	Wing G967A; ESTC R177501	23,981	57

passeth away 1 Joh. 2. 17. and we must pass away that are in it for we have here no abiding City but yet the People of God are too apt to let out their Hearts and Affections on the things of this present World If they have all sorts of Flowers in their Garden they are too apt to make a Nose-gay of them and to hold them so fast till they wither in their hand when a full cup of Prosperity is fill'd out to them God many times anoints the brim with Aloes or some bitter thing that they may not drink too long of it nor too much Sometimes God beats their Plow-shares into Swords and turns their Rods into a Serpent Again God brings them into days of Trouble for the trial of their Graces both for the trial First Of the Truth of them Secondly Of the Strength of them First The Truth of them hang heavy Weights upon rotten Boughs and they break them but upon green and sound Boughs and they bear them unsound fruit will hang upon the Tree in a still and calm day but if it be stormy then down it falls The building upon the Sand may make as fair a shew in a Sun-shine day as that built upon the Rock but when the Floods come and the Winds blow hard then down it falls when the other stands An unsound Foot may travel pretty well in soft and green Way but when it comes upon the hard Stones then it will be apt to boggle and halt It was the Sword that did discover to whom of right the Child did belong unto 1 Kings 3. 24. There be many that think their Graces are sound and good but when a Storm or any Hardship comes how full of Unbelief and Impatience are they there That God may try his People's Graces whether they are sound or no he brings many stormy days over their heads if Afflictions bring us nearer to God it is a great sign they are sanctified to us but if they drive us further from God it is a great sign that they are in Wrath and not for our good God speaks to a Believer when he afflicts him as Isaac did to Jacob when he came to him for the Blessing Come near me my Son that I may feel thee whether thou beest my very Son Esau or no So if they bring us nearer to God and we endure them with patient submitting to the Will of God without any muttering or repining it is a great sign that we are indeed the Children of God Secondly He doth it also to try the Strength of their Graces It must be a strong Wing that must fly against the Wind weak Grace will hardly bear up in a strong day If thou faint in the day of adversity thy Strength is small saith Solomon Prov. 24. 10. To love God when he hears our Prayers and answers our Prayers presently is no great matter but to continue praying when he shuts out our Prayer as he did the Churches Lam 3. 8. and appears as an Enemy this argues strength of Faith It is an easy thing to love God when he smiles upon you with his Favours and Blessings but to love him when he hath a Frown in his Brow and a Rod in his Hand this argueth strength That fire of Love burns hot that many waters of Affliction cannot quench or put it out We read in Matth. 15. of a Woman that came to Christ with Words in her Mouth and Sorrow in her Heart and all to move him to pity At first he gave her no answer afterwards his Disciples are her Spokes-men in her behalf After that Christ calls her Dog yet she will not give him over a Cure she came for for her Daughter and a Cure she must have afore she goes away She doth in a manner confess her self a Dog and doth but desire the Favour that Dogs are apt to have at their Master's hands a crum of his Charity O Woman says Christ great is thy Faith O! it is Strength of Faith that will trust and rest in Christ when he doth not answer nay when he doth refuse and reject and seem to cast off Again the Children of God have their days of Trouble That by this means God might humble them and bring down the Pride of their Spirits Pride and Ambition it is an ill Weed and will not only grow in the vast howling Wilderness but often it springs up in the Garden of God Not only wicked Men are guilty of this Sin but sometimes the Children of God are apt to be puft up with Pride as we see it in Hezekiah nay they are apt to be puft up with their very Graces as the Devil was with his Excellencies and whereas their Graces should be a means to keep them humble they will be apt to grow proud of them if they take not heed now to let out this bladder of Pride Sometimes there is sent a Thorne in the Flesh as there was to Paul and sometimes God thrusts in the Sword of Affliction to let out the Corruption of this big-bellied Vicu A Sword was sent to pierce the Heart of the Blessed Virgin that was so highly exalted in all probabilty to keep her humble It is the Speech of Elihu Job 33. 17. He chasteneth Man with pain that he may hide Pride from Man In the 14th Verse God speaketh once yea twice God speaketh once by his Word and again by his Sword once by his Word and Man heareth it not and he speaks again by his Rod and all to hide Pride from Man and that they may not think poorly of others in regard of themselves Again they meet with days of Trouble that they may be made conformable to Jesus Christ God's dearly beloved Son so Rom. 8. 29. They are the Apostle's words there That Christ and his Members may be all of a piece The Children of God are not made choice of and appointed unto Glory only but they are also appointed unto Conformity to Jesus Christ You know that whilst he was God he was in Glory but when he became the Son of Man he became a Man of Sorrows and we hid our faces from him as it is Isa 53. as if we were ashamed of him Trouble was as a Thred drawn thorow the whole course of his Life Now that God's Children may be conformable to Christ they meet with days of Trouble they must be afflicted and misused for if they have done so to the green Tree what will they not do to the dry who is no better than fit Fuel to the everlasting Fire Again they meet with days of Trouble that they may be the more put upon the Duty of Prayer for times of Affliction are more properly times of Supplication and Prayer Call upon me says God in the day of Trouble Then God calls upon us to call upon him and then we are more apt to do it than at other times as appears Isa 26. 16. Lord in Trouble have they visited thee and have poured

do Well but what is it that we must know of God more especially that we may be brought to trust in him and depend upon him in a day of Distress 1st God's Power that he is able to help and to defend his People whatsoever their Distresses and their Adversaries are you must mightily work this upon your Spirits the Consideration of the Power and Greatness of God therefore you have the Greatness of God wonderfully set out in the foregoing part of this Chapter for God will not imploy his Greatness against his People but for his People's good As also you are to take notice of the All-sufficiency of God how he is able to save to the uttermost all such as put their trust in him When Abraham was as a poor Pilgrim and went from one Kingdom to another People to support his Faith God tells him I am God All-sufficient walk before me and be thou perfect and then he need not be afraid We can never stay our Minds and trust in God so well as we should unless we relie upon God as a God All-sufficient that is able to succour us in every Case and Condition See what supported the three Children as they are commonly called against the Wrath of the great King Dan 3. 17. they stay their Minds greatly on God Our God say they is able to deliver us They did not fear the Wrath of the great King because with Moses by an Eye of Faith they saw him that was invisible they knew they had an invincible Strong-hold to resort unto a good God that was able to deliver them how and as he pleased Now when you distrust God's Power you do as it were tie up the hands of Omnipotency It is said Mark 6. 5. our Saviour could do no mighty Works there because of their Unbelief God doth therefore wonderfully tutor his Children about the Consideration of his Power as you may observe in Scripture When God promises to appear in the way of saving and delivering his People he doth very much insist on this what a powerful God he is able to do above what they are able to ask or think that so their Faith might be well grounded upon a good foundation see for this a place or two Isa 40. 9 10. There the Prophet speaks by way of promise that the Lord God would come i. e. to comfort and relieve his People He tells them he would come with a strong hand and as it were with an out-stretched arm and his arm shall rule for him And he further insists upon this thing and maketh it the great Theam that he goeth upon If you read the 12th Verse of this Chapter you shall find that he had a strong Hand indeed and an Arm stretched out in that he was able to hold all the Waters of the Sea and to measure out Heaven which is locus omnium Spaciosissimus with a Span and that he was able to weigh the Mountains in Scales and the Hills in a Balance Behold saith he the Nations By Nations we are to understand great Countries and Kingdoms What are they but as a drop of the Bucket and as a small dust of the Balance Behold he taketh up the Isles as a very little thing As this Isle which we call Great Britain is a very little thing in the hands of Almighty God and when he comes to the 26th Verse there he calls upon them to lift up their eyes and to behold him who hath created these things so great and so many that bringeth out their host by number He must needs be great himself that hath made so many and such great things And thus he goeth on to set forth the Power and Greatness of God to be a support to the Faith of his People I have wondred saith a Godly and Learned Man that reading of Scripture in my younger years there should be such a suddain Digression to the Power of God as there is and now I see there is a great deal of reason for it to strengthen the Faith of his People that they firmly believe his Promises as you may find if you observe in many other places So you have the Power of God set forth in this Chapter 2dly If you would trust in God and depend upon him in the day of trouble and distress as you must be very well principled in the Power so also in his Willingness and Readiness to succour and to receive you and so to save you in the time of Danger and Distress Some have Power to do good but they have no heart to do it you must consider as there is an Ability in God to do good so there is a Propensity to do good There is a very great Inclination in God to help and to save his afflicted Ones observe I pray how the Scripture speaks to this Psal 46. 1. It was at such a time when there was great Dread upon the face of the Earth The Prophet seems to represent it so as if the Earth should totter and be removed and the Mountains carried into the midst of the Sea and the Waters roar and make a hideous noise and all things in a hurly-bury yet there was no cause for such as trust in God to fear for God is our Refuge and Strength say they our Strong-hold a very present Help in trouble He is not only a Help but a present Help yea a very present Help in trouble The great Willingness of God the Lord to appear for them appears in his Readiness to appear to them if we do but call upon him and cry to him and he can do but little that cannot cry for help Now Psalm the 86. 7. says the Prophet In the day of my Trouble I will call upon thee for thou wilt answer me The God of a true Believer is not like the God of Baal's Priests upon whom they called from Morning even till Noon saying O Baal hear us But there was no Voice nor any that answered no more there would have been if they had prayed never so long if he had prayed till Doomsday it had been all one But no sooner doth the true Prophet pray but presently Fire comes down from Heaven and consumes the Sacrifice for the Confusion of the Churches Adversaries And how doth the Prophet promise to himself in the fore-named place how God would hear him Which he could not have done but that he was assured of his Willingness so to do for he doth not say the Lord can hear me but the Lord will hear me And he saith nothing but what he hath a Promise for upon the Performance of the foresaid Duty Nay further to shew his Readiness and Willingness to hear and help it is said in one place That before they call I will answer and while they are yet speaking I will hear So no sooner did the Leper say Matth. 8. 2. Lord if thou wilt thou canst make me clean but presently Christ replies I will be thou clean as if