Selected quad for the lemma: duty_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
duty_n	commandment_n	law_n	moral_a	2,159	5	9.3779	5	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A66108	The peril of the times displayed. Or the danger of mens taking up with a form of godliness, but denying the power of it Being the substance of several sermons preached: by Samuel Willard, teacher of a church in Boston, N.E·	Willard, Samuel, 1640-1707.	1700 (1700)	Wing W2289; ESTC R224076	64,870	172

it when he began to sink Mat. 14. 32. O thou of little faith why didst thou doubt Abraham had not only faith but a powerful faith when he believed in hope against hope c. Rom. 4. 19 20 21. and both these respects may come under the consideration of the matter before us 2. A thing may be said to be denied in two respects 1. Verbally and professedly and that is the first signification of the word but it cannot be universally so understood here for for a man to profess the true Religion and at the same time professedly to deny it is a contradiction Though it must be granted that a man may profess a thing in the gross and yet deny it in some of the main parts of it as will appear in the sequel But this is not all nor yet the thing which is principally here designed 2. Practically and so the word is very often used Metaphorically when men live contrary to their Profession they a●e said to deny it and there cannot be a more effectual denial than this is and hence these two are set in direct opposition in the forecited Tit. 1. ult Now the thing here said to be denied is the Power of Godliness and there are two things in which this consists answering to the two fore named respects in which we were told the power of Godliness consists 1. When men pretend to be Godly yet by their lives discover themselves not to be so and this is a thing too frequent There are indeed those Hypocrites who deceive the People of God and act Godliness so speciously that they are not discovered but there are others who for all their stickling and noise do yet express such vanity and want of any savour of Piety in their lives that give at least to discerning Christians if not to others just reason to suspect that the root of the matter is not in them such an one was Simon Magus unto whom Peter plumply saith Acts 8. 23. I perceive that thou art in the gall of bitterness and bond of iniquity He that no hath grace cannot be said to have the power of it in him such then as lead Unregenerate Lives say that they are such Psal 36 1. The transgression of the wicked saith in mine heart there is no fear of God before his eyes and yet such as these slatier themselves verse 2. 2. When men make a great stir about Godliness and ●et there is very little of the life of it appeareth in their Conversation These do not proceed so far as the other in discovering themselves they do something in prosecution of their profession and Godly men have charitable hopes concerning them but yet they are rather Negative than Positive because they act so faintly and irresoultely in all they do If there be the root of the matter in them yet the activity of it is very little a small temptation allureth them a little opposition dishearteneth them they give too much scope to themselves in things which they plead a liberty for and every trial is ready to lay them open and discover their irresolution whereas if Piety were powerful in them it would not be so Now it is the former of these which our Text more immediately and directly aimeth at however we need not to exclude the latter and here we may take a more distinct account of those things wherein this ill state or frame of Professors doth appear for our help to judge of our selves and of the times we live in There are then these things which are the symptoms of mens denying the power of Godliness though they make never so fair a profession of it 1. When though men make never so fair a profession of the Christian Religion in general yet they deny or reject some of the main Articles of it A sound belief of the Evangelical Truths necessarily belongeth to Godliness and though there is no Theological Truth but is of great weight and the denial of it is so far a coming short yet there are some that are so Essential to Piety that the denial of them undermines the very foundation of Christianity and puts men off from the very foundation on which it is built and yet there are those who glory in the name of Christians and would be reckoned among the best who hold such unhappy teneats as prove them to be none The Apostle speaks of another Gospel which yet he tells us is 〈◊〉 an●ther but only a perverting of the Gospel of Christ Gal 1 6 7. and he refers it to those that would bring in the Law over the head of Christ It is certain that Christ is the only foundation of the Christian Religion 1 Cor. 3. 11. and all true Godliness derives from him Faith belongs to Godliness both as the ground of our hope for Salvation by Christ and as the root of our acceptable Obedience to him we are therefore told Heb. 11. 6. Without faith it is impossible to please God The Righteousness of Christ must be our Justification they therefore who deny the Imputation of that to our Justification deny the power of Godliness and Christ is not only our Righteousness but our Sanctification too God hath made him so 1 Cor. 1. 30. they therefore who hold a power in fallen man by himself to perform true Obedience to God and that he needs not a new power and principle to be infused into him for it deny Godliness and Christ requires Obedience of his people in conformity to his will Joh. 14. 15. if ye love me keep my Commandments they therefore who pretend to a discharge from the Moral Law as a Rule deny the power of Godliness and many other like things might be instanced in 2. When all their Religion resolves it self into meer forms and they look no further There is indeed a duty lying on men to perform Service to God with the outward man for the whole man the Body as well as the Soul is engaged for his glory 1 Cor. 6. 20 They therefore who under a pretext of Spiritual Service reject all External Religion are far from the power of Godliness However when men have taken upon themselves a formality and seem to be very Religious in their attendance upon it and are careful not to neglect it at any time and shew much of zeal during the season of performing it but as soon as ever it is over their Religion ends and they mind it no more till the revolution of those formalities cometh again these shew themselves to be void of true Godliness They do indeed lose the proper end of these formalities because the design of all the Institutions of Christ in his Gospel is to promote a Religious Life and ought for that reason to influence the mans whole Conversation When men are zealous and earnest at Prayer and no sooner gotten off from their knees but they return to their vanity and folly they prove there was not any of the power of Godliness in