Selected quad for the lemma: duty_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
duty_n	care_n	child_n	parent_n	3,714	5	8.8140	4	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A56406	The faithful and diligent Christian described and exemplified, or, A sermon (with some additions) preached at the funeral of the Lady Elizabeth Brooke, the relict of Sir Robert Brooke, to which is annexed ... an account of the life and death of that eminent lady : with an appendix containing some observations, experiences, and rules for practice, found written with Her Ladiship's own hand / by Nath. Parkhurst ...	Parkhurst, Nathaniel, 1643-1707.	1684 (1684)	Wing P489; ESTC R14746	35,723	168

Testament without which Knowledg the Heart cannot be good nor the Life purified or suitable to the Christian Profession wherefore we are directed to search the Scriptures S. John 5.39 To incline our Ears to Wisdom to apply our Hearts to Understanding to cry after Knowledg and lift up our Voice for Understanding to seek hit as Silver and search for her as for hid Treasures Prov. 2.2 3 4. And certainly the Wickedness of the most of Men among us is greatly imputable to their utter Ignorance of these things or a very slight and inconsiderable Knowledg of them For Ignorance of God Christ and his holy Spirit and of his Attributes and providence prevents all Inclination to Piety Ignorance of the Rules for managing our Lives prevents all that Regularity in Conversation that is required Ignorance of the Promises suppresses all the Incourgement to it and Ignorance of the Threatnings hides all that which should move that Fear that is necessary to engage us in it And all this Ignorance proceeds from Slothfulness and Unwillingness to use Diligence in scearching and understanding the Scriptures in which are the Treasures of all needful Knowledg And therefore the first thing in this Work of the Lord enjoyn'd us is an industrious Endeavour after Knowledg by being conversant in the Scriptures by reading or at least diligently hearing them 2. There is included in it all that belongs to Repentance towards God consisting in a deep Sense of our many Sins against God Christ his Holy Spirit our Neighbours and our own Souls by which God hath been dishonoured Christ slighted his Holy Spirit grieved our Neighbours injured and our own Souls polluted debased and exposed to the Wrath of God as also in confessing them with Shame and Grief offering the Sacrifice of a broken and contrite Heart and in an hatred of them all attended with sincere forsaking them denying Ungodlinss and worldly Lusts and suffering no Sin to reign in our mortal Bodies being able to attest that upon making a diligent search there is no known Sin of Omission or Commission allowed loved or favoured by us But that every such Sin is opposed by our Purposes Prayers and true Endeavours 3. To this must also be refer'd all that is included in Faith And that comprehends a settled Belief of the Being and All-Governing Providence of God and of the Truth or Divine Authority of the Scriptures A continual depending on the Power Wisdom and Goodness of God and the receiving his Son Jesus Christ in all his Offices as a Prophet Priest and King And as the Lord our Righteousness our Advocate with the Father the Propitiation for our Sins the End of the Law for Righteousness to them that believe and as made of God unto us Wisdom Righteousness Sanctification and Redemption And this we do when designing Salvation by Him we search the Scriptures considered as the Word of Christ with dependance on the Holy Spirit as the Spirit of the Son that we may understand the way of Salvation and know the things of our Peace and when apprehending our Guilt and Danger by Sin we seek the Pacification of our Consciences and the appeasing of God by believing meditating upon and applying his Death and Blood as a Sacrifice and Satisfaction for Sin and when we commend all our Requests to God with Dependance on his Intercession and when apprehending his Exaltation we become earnestly obedient to him and depend upon him for Grace and Strength against all our spiritual Enemies and hope to receive from him the Crown of a blessed Immortality and a miraculous glorious Resurrection 4. To this pertains all that the Scriptures intend by Holiness consisting in the Imitation of the Divine Imitable Perfection viz. the Wisdom Righteousness Purity Faithfulness Goodness and Mercy of our Creator in cleansing our Hands and purifying our Hearts in sincerely attending the Duties of both Tables of the Law with respect to God and our Neighbour and in mortifying all those Lusts that war against the Soul as the Lusts of the Flesh including Intemperance and Uncleanness The Lusts of the Eye which are Avarice and Covetousness and the Pride of Life i.e. The ambitious pursuit of Honour and Applause and the affecting the Pomp and Bravery of the World and in filling our Minds with all the Divine Graces and holy Affections of Fear Love Trust and Hope towards God and of Love Meekness Humility and Kindness towards Men And in obeying the Laws of Christ and following his Example in being in a great measure holy harmless undefiled and separated from Sinners In doing Good reproving Sin delighting to do our Father's Will and submitting to his holy Pleasure in all things willingly drinking the Cup he putteth into our hands and in glorifying him on Earth that he may glorify us in Heaven 5. To this belongs all that the Scripture chargeth upon us in those full and comprehensive Precepts of fearing God departing from Evil loving Him with all the Heart Mind and Might keeping his Charge doing his Will walking in his Counsel chusing the narrow Way and exceeding the Righteousness of Scribes and Pharises by being impartial in our Obedience and chiefly attending the weightier matters of the Law and by being sincere and humble not glorying in our pious Attainments and Actions but rather hiding them excepting those things which for Example's sake must be publick and such as the concealing them proceeds from Cowardise and fear of Reproach 6. There is included in it the faithful managing of our particular Callings as the Magistrates being just and ruling over Men in the Fear of God the Ministers Care of Souls praying for the People and shewing them the right way endeavouring to turn many to Righteousness The Peoples revering cheerfully attending and obeying them that watch for their Souls The Parents care and bringing up Children in the Nurture and Admonition of the Lord the Child's Obedience the Master's Justice and Kindness the Servant's Diligence and Faithfulness and the Subjects unspotted Allegiance and Obedience for Conscience sake And all other our Duties in our several Places Stations Employments and Relations 7. There must be added as pertaining to it all the most serious part of the Christian Life employed in fervent Prayers and Thanksgiving Self-Examination serious and Divine Meditations and solemn and fruitful attending the Publick Worship of God consisting chiefly in the Word preached and in Prayer and Sacraments Lastly To this must be joyned the most refined and spiritual part of Religion consisting in suppressing the most inward Motions of Vanity Pride Envy Malice Unbelief worldly inordinate Love carnal Affections and Desires in keeping the Mind as much as may be intent and without Wandrings in Prayer and other devout Exercises of Religion and in attending in them to more than a natural Fervour and Devotion in the Imagination only moved by well composed and fit Words even to a Devotion consisting in the real Exercise of Faith Humility holy Love and Fear and other Graces and in

to observe God rather than Man and to provide for Eternity rather than Time And all their circumspect walking their redeeming their Time their daily Devotion their Self-denial Consciencious Carriage and what-ever provokes prophane Mouths to reproach them are but the necessary Effects of these three Principles of Wisdome And all the Wickedness of Ungodly Men proceeds from the want of this Wisdom XLV Holiness is a Privilege I look upon Holiness as none of the least of a Christian's Privilege But we are apt to consider it more as Necessary than as Glorious as our Duty rather than our Ornament Acceptance with God is a Privilege And is likeness to Him inferiour to it Is freedom from Satan's Malice a Privilege and is not the destroying his Image in us the same To be turned from Carnal to Spiritual from Earthly to Heavenly from Pride to Humility from Peevish to Kind from Sinners to Saints Are not these things Privileges Let this Truth be entertain'd And when we shall see the beauty of Holiness and desire it because we love and esteem it then God will open the Treasures of his Grace and give us more plentifully of the pouring forth of his Spirit XLVI The necessity of having and living by some stated Rules To the shaking off the Tyrannical Government of Passion Ambition and Self-will and that we may not be hurried by every Motion of our Minds it is necessary to have some fixed and stated Rules of Good and Evil without this we shall never live as becomes Reasonable Creatures Such is our Ignorance as we shall not know how to govern our selves unless we apply to some Rule for Information And so many and great are our Temptations that they will prevail unless we keep some fixed Rule for our Actions He that acteth always according to present Thoughts and Inclinations shall never be able to resist the offers of Sin when Temptations are present Such also is our Incogitancy and Forgetfulness that it is needful to fix some Rules for our Actions to which we bind our selves not to depart from them for this will allarm and inlighten Conscience and Conscience is the surest help to Memory Our Inconstancy also to our selves makes it needful to keep some Rules of Life that so every Thought every Company every Accident of Life may not alter our Minds and Actions XLVII We converse with God in his holy Ordinances when our Minds are sutably affected under them The way and means by which God conveys himself is by the Ordinances of his publick Worship and private Duties of Religion These are like the Tabernacle and Ark of old As they were filled and covered sometimes with the Cloud so these with Spiritual and Invisible Glory But a bare attending on these is not our Communion with God Our Communion is to have our Souls suitably affected with the matter of them When the Heart is hot the Affections moving Grace exercised when a Threatning awes us a Command delights and a Promise enters the Ear like good News in a perilous time when a Discourse of Christ inflames the Soul with Love and Desire when a Discourse of Heaven raises the Mind above the World when Truths are accompanied with Light and Love so that the Soul cleaves to them and hangs upon them this is Communion with God and then are Ordinances and Duties filled with the Holy Spirit XLVIII To govern the Tongue is one of the difficult parts of Religion 'T is hard to govern the Tongue aright much of Mortification lieth in the restraining of it much positive Sanctification in the right use of it It requites much Knowledg Wisdom Faithfulness Courage Watchfulness Deliberation Examination of our selves much Prayer yea much and strong Grace to govern it well The right governing of it is also a glorious part of our Christian Profession and mightily commends it to others XLIX He that governs his Tongue aright the same is a perfect Man The due governing of the Tongue implies and supposes whatever else goes to the making up of Evangelical Perfection Where the Tongue is governed the whole Life also is ordered by Rule And it will be found that whoever wants Grace faileth much in this Particular and discovers the want of it either by his Speech or by his Silence For the same Light which directs the Government of the Tongue the same Arguments that move to it and the same Power that assists it will enlighten us to see other Duties move as strongly to undertake them and as effectually help us to perform them L. A due Care of our Thoughts is a great Evidence of Uprightness It shews that Religion hath indeed possessed our Minds when we are careful so to mangage our Thoughts as that they be not only innocent but most frequently very serious and holy LI. Meekness produces Peace and Joy The Exercise of that Meekness which is a supernatural Grace a Disposition wrought in the Soul by the Holy Ghost which aims at God Glory and the Honour of Religion makes Conscience serene and joyful When I can reflect upon Passions restrained Injuries forgiven an Enemy loved Contentment in every Condition ready submission to every Providence and much Self-denial that God may be pleased how pleasantly doth Conscience look upon it LII Meekness gives us the possession of our selves Meekness giveth us the entire possession of our selves and the use of our Faculties But Anger and Impatience causeth that we cannot enjoy our selves nor apply to any Affair making every thing tedious and troublesom to us LIII Meekness preserves our Peace with our Neighbours As Meekness procures Peace in our own Souls so it also procures Peace and Quiet amongst Neighbours Few will strive with them that will not contend and are so far from injuring others that they readily forgive such as injure them LIV. The expectation of Death is profitable to a Christian The serious Expectation of Death not forgetting Judgment freeth us from the afflicting discomposing Apprehensions thereof It doth the Christian great Service it takes off from Carnal Pleasures Covetous Desires and Ambitious Pursuits and administers to Patience and Contentment It assists his redeeming his Time prompts him to settle the Affairs of his Soul to put his Heart and House in Order to leave nothing to be done to morrow that may be done to day It excites to frequent Examination quickens Repentance and suffers him not to continue in Sin It assists Fervency in Prayer as it drives away Worldly Cares and helps against Distraction for Death is a solemn thing and the thoughts of it breed a Passion in the Mind and all soft Passions help Devotion It sweetens all Labour Work and Duty because of the Everlasting Rest it leads unto It moves us to pray for others to counsel them and do what we can for them Thus Death in the Expectation of it is a Blessing if we expect it as certain and yet uncertain when it shall come as attended with Judgment and as putting a full End