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	obey_v	parent_n	5,191	5	9.3816	5	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A67013	The great charity of instructing poor children A sermon preached at St. Botolph Aldgate; upon Lord's-day, Mar. 24. 1700. On the occasion of a charity-school newly erected in that parish. By Josiah Woodward, minister of Popler.	Woodward, Josiah, 1660-1712.	1700 (1700)	Wing W3517; ESTC R221049	13,866	35

and Vertuous Yea whence is it that all Men do not Naturally delight in God above all other Objects since He is undeniably the Best and most Excellent of Beings These are Demonstrations of the Corruption of Man and of the Necessity of Spiritual Regeneration by the Spirit of God bringing him to love and delight in God in the sincerity of his Soul e're he can be fit for Heaven and the nearer Presence of God Our Blessed Saviour hath delivered this with a double Asseveration John 3. 5. Verily Verily I say unto you Except a Man be born again of Water and the Spirit he cannot enter into the Kingdom of God The Spirit of Wisdom must clear up his Understanding and the Spirit of Holiness must mortifie his vile Affections and Passions and turn the Bent and Vigor of his Heart towards God as his Chiefest Good or he will not be fit for the Divine State and Work of Heaven but will be barr'd out of it by the Nature and Constitution of that All Pure and God-like State AND this our Natural State of Spiritual Ignorance is too gross and too deep to be removed and remedied by the best Light that Natural Philosophy and Humane Art and Study can supply us withal We need a Light from Heaven and Wisdom from Above to make us Wise unto Salvation For When in the Wisdom of God saith St. Paul concerning the conceited Greek Learning which was then in great Vogue and Esteem the World by Wisdom knew not God That is I conceive when God in his Infinite Wisdom saw that all the Humane Wisdom and Learning in the World would never bring them to the just and saving Knowledge of himself as a Righteous God yet pardoning and justifying a penitent Sinner It then pleased God by the foolishness of Preaching or by that plain but powerful Preaching of the Gospel which the Philosophers and Orators of those times accounted foolish to save them that believe MEN have indeed by the Light of Nature some Knowledge That there is a God and a Life to come But how imperfect this Knowledge is we see by the many absurd Opinions and barbarous Customs of all those Heathen Countries which are not bless'd with the Knowledge of the Gospel They frame to themselves most unworthy notions of God they know not how to worship or serve him aright they have no Apprehension of the only way of being reconciled to God by the Blood of his Son nor of becoming Good through the Sanctification of this Spirit Yea we find some of them profess'd Votaries to the Devil and doing Sacrifice to their worst Enemy by the most unnatural Murders and Barbarities Hence the Apostle concludes concerning the unregenerate Part of Mankind that they Walk in the Vanity of their Minds having their Vnderstanding darkened being alienated from the Life of God thro' the Ignorance that is in them Eph. 4. 18. WE may from all this assuredly discern what sort of Lives such Children are like to live who are not well Instructed Catechized and Govern'd in their Youth That which is born of the Flesh is flesh saith our Blessed Saviour John 3. 6. Carnal Principles will produce nothing better than a Carnal Life So then since Children have none but bad Principles and Inclinations of themselves what can we expect from them but the greatest Lewdness and the blackest Impieties except thro' the Grace of God and the Care of others they are better principled Especially if we consider How busie and crafty the Devil will always be to prompt them to all Wickedness whilst alas the poor Child is utterly Ignorant of his Devices So that a Youth without Instruction will be like a benighted Traveller walking alone in the midst of unknown Pits and Precipices 't is a Thousand to one but he falls into some of them to his utter Ruine BUT it is God's Will that it should be otherwise and it should be the Care of all that love and fear God to bring up their Children in the Knowledge and Service of their Creator in the Days of their Youth that they may shun the dreadful Case of the Text which leads me to the Second Observation viz. II. THAT good Instruction in Youth is God's appointed Means to bring People to the Saving Knowledge of Himself and the Attainment of Eternal Life God is pleased to call to Young People in the beginning of this Chapter to bow their Ear to Good Instruction that they come not to the Dreadful End foreshewn in the End of the Chapter INDEED the Time of Youth is the most proper Time in Nature for good Instruction Children are apt to catch at every Thing they hear and to retain it and repeat it Their Faculties are fresh and vigorous and they perceive themselves void of Knowledge and are greedy to take Information and soft and capable of any Impression They are also void of those Prejudices against Truth and Virtue which they are afterwards likely to take up And they are not now capable of such bodily Labour as is apt to hinder their Learning in their more Adult Years On all these Accounts the Time of Youth is the fittest of any for good Instruction and the properest Season to plant the Principles of Religion And that chiefly because 't is God's Time and must therefore of Necessity be the fittest and best The Commandments of God do often bind this Duty very awfully on the Consciences both of Parents to teach their Children and upon Children to mind the Instruction of their Parents and Tutors Parents are required to Train up their Children in the Way that they should go Prov. 22. 6. and Children are required to Obey their Parents in the Lord. Eph. 6. 1. Parents are to Bring them up in the Nurture and Admonition of the Lord. Eph. 6. 4. And Children are commanded to Keep the Commandment of their Father and not to forsake the Law of their Mother Prov. 6. 20. AND these Injunctions are enforced by the highest Promises and Threatnings The Apostle tells us that the Fifth Commandment is the First Commandment with Promise That it may be well with thee and that thou mayst live long on the Earth Eph. 6. 2 3. And on the contrary it is threatned That The Eye that mocketh his Father or despiseth to obey his Mother the Ravens of the Vallies shall pick it out and the young Eagles shall cat it Prov. 30. 17. And suitably to all this we find the Mother and Grandmother of Timothy commended by the Spirit of God for instructing their Child in the Scriptures and Timothy is commended for his Proficiency suitable to his Education As we read in St. Paul's Epistles to him AND be it here Observed That if any one is not taught to Read and to know his Catechism in his Youth 't is a Thousand to One whether ever he learns either of these afterwards The Sensless Pride of an Ignorant Person is apt to disdain Instruction in these Things afterwards and they are utterly

of our Lord tends to lead us It comes to retrieve us from the destructive Darkness of Sin and Satan to knock off the Fetters of the Prince of Darkness who had led us Captive at his Will and to translate us to the Light and Liberty of the Sons of God We may better spare the Light of the Sun than that of the Gospel for this is the Light of our Souls and the Foundation of our Hope and the Dawning of Everlasting Light Here we have perfect Truth infinite Mercy safe Directions and strong Consolations We may challenge all the Philosophy that ever appear'd in the Word to give us so much Divinity as we can view in one Chapter of the New Testament and we are sure that all the Riches of the whole World are not of such Value as one of the Promises of that Blessed Book O that it were more frequently in our Hands more deep in our Hearts and more legible in our Lives Infer 2. SINCE the Case of gross Ignorance is thus dreadful what a constraining Argument is this to all Parents and Governours of Youth to be very Early very Conscientious and Industrious in Catechizing and Instructing their Children One would think that it were enough to drive Parents to Distraction to think of any dying Child of theirs as going to Eternal Misery for want of due Instruction If any Parents should starve their Children by denying them necessary Food when they have Plenty of it by them the whole Neighbourhood would cry Shame on such a detestable Barbarity and count them worthy of Death for it And surely the Destruction of an Immortal Soul will one Day appear as hateful and as Criminal So that the Ease of their own Minds and Consciences ought to quicken Parents to this Duty and besides they cannot reasonably expect any Comfort in their Children nor Duty from them if they be not well instructed We must carefully cultivate and manure our Fields if we would reap a comfortable Hanvest otherwise they will produce nothing but Weeds and Thorns to offend and wound us Infer 3. SINCE the Case of gross Ignorance and the want of Education is thus pernicious What greater Charity can we shew to Humane Nature than to contribute towards the Instruction of those who will otherwise very probably die without it Solomon tells us that Instruction is rather to be chosen then Silver and Knowledge rather than choice Gold Prov. 8. 10. From which it follows That such as educate their Children well are greater Friends to them than such as leave them a Temporal Estate For indeed an Estate bequeathed to such as have neither Knowledge to use it well nor Principles to do good with it is like a Sword in the Hand of a Madman with which he will be likely to do much harm to himself and others Whereas on the other Hand Good Manners and Christian Behaviour recommends the meanest Person to all that know him and that Good Providence which orders all things will not leave them destitute of outward Necessaries Who seek the Kingdom of God in the first place Mat. 6. 33. I cannot therefore without Praise to God turn my Eyes towards those many Children before us who at once adorn the House of God and shew forth the Honour of those Persons by whose Care and Charity they are brought to Christian Education Praised be God who put so worthy a Design into the Minds of Men and who has enlarged the Hearts of any to contribute generously towards it This gives us some Hopes of the Continuance of God's Mercies to us especially that Mercy of Mercies his Holy Gospel We hope the next Generation will prize it more and practise it better than this has done That it may be well with them and with their Children THIS should prompt us yea bring us under a sort of Necessity to put forth our selves to the utmost to advance the Good Education of Children and to promote Christian Knowledge in all others that want it which we may do these three Ways First BY personal Conference Taking Pains to instruct those Children and other Ignorant People with whom we converse in the Knowledge of the Great Things of God's Law and especially in those practical and necessary Truths in which the Essentials of our Holy Religion consist Christians are to be as Salt to all that keep Company with them to season them with the Savour of Christian Doctrine This does indeed principally concern Ministers who are to be Burning and Shining Lights in their Generation whose particular Visits to the Houses of their People and personal Enquiry into their State and Manner of Life is of very great Use to the Advancement of Religion in Families and to excite that Christian Affection to their Minister which will make his Instructions the more effectual upon them Secondly ANOTHER Way of advancing Spiritual Instruction is by giving and dispersing good Books abroad in the World especially to poor Families This may in some Cases do more good than personal Discourse in that a good Book abides with the Person to whom it 's given and will lye before his Eyes at all Seasons and perhaps some Affliction or some other good Providence may be a means to awaken and soften his Heart and make it fit to receive Instruction and to prize a Book of Devotion And blessed be God we have many Honourable and Reverend Persons happily engaged in this Excellent Work which we must acknowledge to be one of the best of Charities And in this those that are Wealthy will do well to consider the Deplorable Case of our Plantations in which most Christian Work a very Pious and Reverend Dr. Bray Person has adventured his All with a sort of Apostolick Charity to the Souls of Men. In this Noble Design all that really love our Blessed Saviour and his Gospel cannot but pray to God to prosper him Surely 't is time for such as love the Kingdom of God and repeat the Second Petition of the Lord's Prayer Thy Kingdom come to set themselves in good earnest to retrench the Encroachments of the Prince of Darkness Thirdly WE may be instrumental to promote the Instruction of others by contributing according to our Ability towards the maintainance of poor Children at School who may otherwise thro' the Poverty of their Parents be too likely to Dye without Instruction And blessed be God who hath so far enclined the Hearts of many Persons to consider this that there are now in and about this City about a Thousand poor Children taught to read and instructed in their Catechisms and brought up to other Things which tend to make them useful in their Generation thro' the Christian Charity of Well-disposed Persons A most Excellent Work towards which all that duely know the Gospel cannot but be Glad to contribute that they may share the in vast Blessings that attend it I am confident I need not tell you that Christian Charity is necessary to a Christian Life since the