Selected quad for the lemma: duty_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
duty_n	child_n	marriage_n	parent_n	2,707	5	9.3519	5	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A46799	Practical discourses upon the morality of the Gospel	Jenks, Sylvester, 1656?-1714.	1699 (1699)	Wing J630D; ESTC R220354	63,738	198

you do it Now there were set there Six Water-pots of Stone after the manner of the Purifying of the Jews containing Two or Three Measures apiece Jesus saith unto them Fill the Water-pots with Water And they filled them up to the Brim And he saith unto them Draw out now and present it to the Governour of the Feast And they presented it But when the Ruler of the Feast had tasted the Water that was made Wine and knew not whence it was but the Servants which drew the Water knew the Governour of the Feast called the Bridegroom and saith unto him Every Man at the beginning doth set forth good Wine and when Men have well drunk then that which is worse but thou hast kept the good Wine until now This beginning of Miracles did Jesus in Cana of Galilee and manifested his Glory and his Disciples believed in him John 2. v. 1 to 12. This Gospel affords great Comfort and Instruction not only to those who engage themselves in Marriage but also to all Christians whatsoever even those who lead a single Life I. The first thing we read in the Gospel is that there was a Marriage and the Mother of Jesus was there and not the Mother only but Jesus also was himself invited to it They were both invited and were both of them pleased to be there They were not contented to come themselves to honour this Happy Solemnity but the Disciples being also invited for their Master's sake He was pleas'd to bring them with him that they might be Witnesses how much he honour'd it and that his Apostles afterwards might preach with greater Assurance this Orthodox Doctrine that Marriage is always Honourable not only in it self but in all who rightly engage in it and observe the Duties of it There 's nothing raises more the Value of any Commendation than to have it given by those who are Commendable for being of a different Profession Such a Commendation carries with it a much fairer appearance of being Impartial and Sincere and therefore is more justly Valuable If Marriage were esteem'd and praised only by married People we should not much admire the Commendations which they so frankly bestow upon their own Condition But when we see Virginity it self do so much Justice to a Married Life as to approve it When we see the two most perfect Patterns of Virginity the Virgin Son of God and Virgin Mother Vouchsafe to Adorn a Wedding with the Glory of their Presence When we consider that although they both of them preferr'd a Virgin Life so much before it that the one would not be Born of a Woman unless she were a Virgin neither was the other contented to be his Mother till she understood that by a Miracle she might be Fruitful without the least Prejudice of her Virginity yet nevertheless they both of them were pleased to Accept the Invitation and be Witnesses of the Solemnity When I say we duly consider all these Circumstances we must needs conclude that although Virginity be preferrable as being more perfect yet the State of Marriage is truly Honourable in it self and ought to be honour'd by all Mankind since God himself was pleas'd to Honour it Christian Marriage is the Nursery of Christianity the School where Children learn the Rudiments of Christian Vertue and the Academy where they are daily Train'd up to the Exercise of it Let the Little ones come to me says Christ in the Gospel And 't is the great Duty of Parents to bring their little ones to him The Institution of Christian Marriage aims at no less Glorious an End than that for which the Son of God was pleased to come into the World which is that the Children of Men may by his Grace become the Children of God For this Reason he Establish'd his Holy Church upon Earth He gave Apostles Bishops and Pastors to carry on the Work of the Ministry and gave a strict Commission to Parents to bring their Children to him that they may know his Holy Will and do it that they may grow up in him in all things and that by daily Improvement in the practice of all Christian Duties they may replenish the Church Militant here and the Church Triumphant hereafter If any says the Apostle have not Care of their own and especially of those who are of their own House their own Family their own Flesh and Blood they have denied the Faith and are worse than Infidels I must confess 't is no small Honour for Married Persons to be constituted Coadjutors of Christ in that great Work which brought him down from Heaven But then again I cannot deny but that this very Honour brings along with it so many and such heavy Obligations that unless the Grace of God support them it will only serve to crush them with its Weight A Virgin has only one Soul to save one Person to please one Passion to conquer This Passion being taken young is easily made tame and being used to that Subjection which it owes to Reason grows contented with it This Person is its own dear Self one Mind one Humour with it self and is not easily prevail'd with to displease it self This Soul is entirely its own it is not divided betwixt a Neighbour and it self 't is the whole Object of its great Concern the only Necessary one and being free from all Distraction it has nothing else to do but to endeavour the Salvation of it self But it is not so with Married People They must take great Care to save their Children's Souls or else they greatly endanger their own They must instruct them in all their Duties and that 's some little Trouble They must in all things give them good Example and that 's a great deal more Troublesome They must bear patiently whatever Crosses they meet with from their Children and this is not always easie They must be as patient and more if possible in bearing with all the Faults and Humours of those whom they have taken for better or worse and how hard this is they only know who have tried it On the one side I do not easily conceive how Married People can please themselves without pleasing one another And on the other side I am very much afraid it is as difficult a thing to please two Persons as it is to serve two Masters I know very well that according to the Institution of Marriage Man and Wife are but one They are one in Law they ought to be one in Inclination and Affection and whilst they are so they are as happy as Marriage can make them But when they are two they are the worst two in the World There 's nothing so soure as Love when it turns From an Excessive Fondness which created a Thousand Extravagant Expectations and a Thousand more Unreasonable Jealousies they often pass to to the other Extreme of hating more than ever they lov'd And 't is hard to say which is the greater Plague of Marriage too much Love or