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	neglect_v	parent_n	3,017	5	9.3090	5	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A41202	A brief refutation of the errors tolleration, erastianism, independency and separation delivered in some sermons from I Job. 4. I, preach'd in the year 1652 : to which are added four sermons preach'd on several occasions / by Mr. James Fergusson ...	Fergusson, James, 1621-1667.	1692 (1692)	Wing F777; ESTC R21916	200,444	386

do that which men are apt to take and have reason to take for a denial of the Truth tho they do not deny it in so many words But Secondly We must cleave unto the Lord by Cleaving to and continuing in his Service for that is the other thing which he hath recommended to our Care as an evidence of our respect to him Joshua bids the People Take diligent heed to cleave unto the Lord and serve him Jos 22. 5. Now this holds first of the Ordinances he hath appointed for his Service and Immediate Worship Ye must Cleave to these In order to which 1. Beware of Will-worship or doing that in his Worship which he hath not commanded Colos 2 20. Wherefore if ye be dead with Christ from the Rudiments of the World Why as though living in the World are ye subject to Ordinances To wit Ordinances and Commandments of Men in Gods Service as he explains verse 22. And he gives some instances of them verse 21. Touch not taste not handle not It is true men may appoint the outward Circumstances of Order and Decency for going about these parts of God's Worship which he hath commanded such as are Time and Place what hour of the day ye shall meet at publick Worship and in what Place and such like which are Common both to Civil and Religious Actions but they may not under that pretext appoint new practices of Worship to God or significant engaging Ceremonies As for example That the Sign of the Cross be used in Baptism As a Token we shall not hereafter be ashamed to Confess Christ Crucified And that Ministers Preach with a White Shirt or Surplice above their Garments to signify the Holiness of their Calling or as the Ancients did ordain those who were Baptized to wear White Garments for the space of eight dayes after Baptism To signify their being washen from Sin For by that same Rule They may command every one to taste Vinegar and Gall at the Communion as a Sign that they shall not be ashamed of Christ who Died so And to put on an Helmet Breast-plate and other Armour in time of Publick Worship To signify our Resolution to Fight the Battle against Sin and Satan so long as we live And suck or drink in Milk publickly in time of Divine Worship In token that by Faith we draw in the sincere Milk of the Word that we may grow thereby Now any may see that to command these and such like were to appoint New Work in Gods Service and more than to do that Work he hath appointed Orderly and Decently Besides many things of Lesser moment and of the same nature with these I mean significant Ceremonies are appointed by God in his Law to which there is yet added that Sanction Deut. 12. 32. What thing soever I command you observe to do it thou shalt not add thereto nor diminish from it So that the appointing any such things in the Worship of God is an adding to Gods Law which is there prohibited I shall be more brief in the following Directions for Cleaving to the Ordinances of Gods Immediate Worship And therefore 1. Beware of Irreligious Impiety in neglecting these Ordinances Ye are commanded to wait upon them Pray without ceasing Despise not Prophesying or Preaching Speak to your selves in Psalms and Hymns Give attendance unto Reading Ye cannot cleave to the Lord in these Ordinances if ye neglect to go about them ye must countenance publick Ordinances make Conscience of secret Duties 2. Beware of Formality in going about them by resting in an out-side work But above all things strive to bring the Heart up to them otherwise ye do not as ye ought cleave unto them God is a Spirit and will be Worshiped in Spirit and in Truth The Lord will not rockon you to cleave unto them tho ye be present at them if so your Heart be far away from them 3dly Beware of up-sitting or back-sliding from making Conscience of them after ye have once begun That it be not said of you as the Apostle Paul said once of the Galatians Ye have run well but who did hinder you that ye should not obey the Truth Otherwise ye do not cleave unto them But further This cleaving to the Lord by cleaving to and Continuing in his Service doth hold in the Duties of our Particular Callings and Stations And in order to your Cleaving to these or to the Lord by making Conscience of these 1. Do not neglect them I mean those Duties which ye owe whether as Servants or as Masters as Parents or as Children as Husbands or as Wives as Magistrats or as Subjects Much of the Life and Power of Religion is manifested in the Conscientious discharge of such Duties and a man manifests best what he hath by making Conscience of such Rom 12. 11. Ye are not to be Sloathful in Business 2. What ye do even in things of that kind strive to do it as Service to the Lord. For as I have shew'd so much is enjoyned Servants Thus shall ye Cleave to the Lord even by going about your Ordinary Calling when ye discharge the Duties thereof as Service to Him that is when ye do them because He appoints you so to do and that ye may adorn Religion and take away all occasion of Reproach by your Conscientious Diligence in the practice of them 3. Let not the Duties of your particular Stations make you neglect the Duties either of Publick or Private Worship there is time for both ye cannot Cleave to the Lord in the Duties of the one sort if they shall justle out the Duties of the other 4 Strive to keep Communion with God even in the practice of such Duties by sending up secret thoughts and pithy ejaculations to God among hands as Nehemiah did chap. 2. By labouring to make a Spiritual use of every thing that occurs or which ye meet with This much now for their cleaving to the Lord the thing He would have them to do I shall now speak a little only to the manner wherein the Lord would have it gone about It s with a purpose or resolution and a purpose of Heart 1. It 's with a purpose and resolution he would have them take on a fixed resolution to do and that as an help to make them do Hence take this Doctrine That ye may cleave to the Lord and continue constant and stedfast in his Truth and Service ye must take on a fixed Resolution and Purpose so to do I suppose ye have taken on such a Resolution as this at your coming to the Lords Table but tho ye have done it yet your wisdom will be every day to renew it David had taken on such a purpose Psal. 17. 3 I am purposed that my Mouth shall not transgress yea he binds himself by an Oath to it Psal. 119. 106 I have Sworn and I will perform it that I will keep thy righteous Judgments This is that piece of the spiritual armour called

his Deputes so that they are to act by vertue of a Commission from him and meddle only with these things that he gives them Warrand for and so to meddle with them as to be lyable to an Appeal to him as the supream Judge in all Church matters We contrary to all these shall make out this following Assertion To wit That the Civil Magistrate as a Magistrate hath no Power either to Preach or Administrate the Sacraments nor yet to make Church Laws or inflict Church Censures either by himself or others as his Deputes but all this power doth belong wholly to Church Officers Ministers and Elders Which power they are to execute without Dependency on the Civil Magistrate so that they are not lyable to Appeals to his Court neither hath he Power to rescind the Sentence pronounced by them In following out of this point we shall go on as in the former we shall First clear the state of the question Secondly We shall bring Arguments for the Truth Thirdly We shall bring their Arguments against the Truth and refute them Fourthly We shall apply the whole to some use 1. First For clearing the State of the Question take this assertion that however we do not give the Civil Magistrate Power of Church Discipline or the power of governing the Church yet we give him much Power about Church matters Our Divines following the word of God give the Christian Magistrate a threefold Power about Church matters 1. A defensive protecting Power 2 A ruling Power And 3. a Punishing Power First They give him a Defending Power and that is grounded on that Promise made to the Church in Isa. 49. 23. And Kings shall be thy Nursing Fathers c. By this Power the Christian Magistrate is to do three things 1. By his Power he is to encourage countenance and advance by his Authority and example the publick exercise of all Gods Ordinances and so defend the Church in her Liberties that are given to her by Christ This was the practice of those Godly Kings under the Old Testament So did Asa 2 Chron. 15. to verse ●8 and Jehoshaphat 2 Chron. 1. 8 9. 10 11. And other Godly Kings They encouraged others in the Service of God they countenanced them and by their Authority and example allured others to the practice of Godliness which I ower Christian Magistrates have yet 2. By this Power they are to provide the Church with all external Necessaries as publick convenient P●aces of meeting for Gods Worship and publick Mantainance for the Church Officers c This we see was Hezekiah's practice 2 Chron. 31. 4. Moreover he commanded the People that dwelt in Jerusalem to give the portion of the Priests and the Levites that they might be encouraged in the Law of the Lord. And it was Jo●●ah's practice 2 Chron. 34. He repaired the House of the Lord The publick place of Gods Worship 3. By this defending Power of the Christian Magistrate he is to remove all outward Impediments lying in the way of God's Worship such as Prophanity Idolatry Heresy and Blaspemy as we did prove at length in the former Controversy Secondly We give to the Christian Magistrate a Ruling Power about Church matters By this Power 1. He may convocate Church Judicatories command them to meet and to enact Canons and to make rules for Governing the Church although he cannot make Church Laws himself So pious Magistrates under the Old Testament did call Synods as David 1 Chron. 23 2. And he gathered together all the Princes of Israel with the Priests and Levites 2. By this Power the Christian Magistrate is to confirm the acts of the Church Judicatories and to give the force of a Civil Law Only herein we differ from the Papists They say the Magistrate should do this blindly he is only say they the Churches Echo to ●ay Amen to what they conclude But we say the Magistrate is not to do this blindly we allow to him a judgement of Discretion to try whether what they conclude be right or not and accordingly he is to add his Authority or not and yet this makes him not a Judge in Church matters but only a Judge of his own Actions 3. By this Power the Magistrate is to take Inspection of the Carriage of Church Judicatories so that all things be rightly managed by them so as if they should conclude a point of Injustice though he may not rescind their Act himself yet he may command them to resume the the matter take it to their second Thoughts give Reasons to the contrair exhort them to their Duties from time to time until the matter be rightly concluded Only it is still the Church Judicatory that must rescind their own Act. By this ruling Power the Magistrate may do much When the Church is corrupt he may reform it That is when Church Judicatories are all wrong that they will do nothing for his upstirring In this case the Magistrate may lay the Church Judicatory aside and do that himself which they should do His Power in this case is extraordinary he may reform by his own Power as Godly Josiah did 2 King 23. And as Asa and Jehoshaphat At such a time Magistrates may do much this way But extraordinary Cases are not to be made ordinary Rules Thirdly We give to the Magistrate a Coactive punishing power about Church-matters and by this power we affirm that all the persons of Church-men and their goods are lyable to the Civil Magistrate in things Civil According to that Let every soul be subject to the higher powers contrary to what the Papists teach so that if a Church-man should commit a Civil crime the Magistrate by his own power may punish him as Solomon did Abiathar 2. By this coactive punishing power he may see to the Observation of Divine and Church Laws and punish those that are contemners of them by Civil punishments There are several examples of this as that of Josiah He made all the People stand to the Covenant Now by all that is said ye may easily perceive that We give to Caesar that which is Caesars although we give him not what is Gods We give him much power about the Church but not the power of Governing the Church We shall clear this by a simile how the Magistrate may have much power about Church-matters although not power of Governing the Church Ye know the Civil Magistrate or Church Sessions have much power about matters belonging to husband and wife Parents and Children so as to censure and punish them for their unnatural carriage towards each other and to see every one do duty to another and yet neither the Civil Magistrate nor Church Session hath Marital or Husbandly power over the Wife or Parental power over the Children so as they might challenge the same duties from them to be done to themselves which the Wife oweth to her Husband or the Children to the Parents the Husband and Parents only have that power So it is here