Selected quad for the lemma: duty_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
duty_n	conclude_v	false_a	great_a	36	3	2.0863	3	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A64642	Eighteen sermons preached in Oxford 1640 of conversion, unto God. Of redemption, & justification, by Christ. By the Right Reverend James Usher, late Arch-bishop of Armagh in Ireland. Published by Jos: Crabb. Will: Ball. Tho: Lye. ministers of the Gospel, who writ them from his mouth, and compared their copies together. With a preface concerning the life of the pious author, by the Reverend Stanly Gower, sometime chaplain to the said bishop.	Ussher, James, 1581-1656.; Gower, Stanley.; Crabb, Joseph, b. 1618 or 19.	1660 (1660)	Wing U173; ESTC R217597	234,164	424

harmes and provokes the Almighty to fury God will not alwaies strive with man but his daies shall be an hundred and twenty years if he convert in that space and return well if not he shall be swept away And to this purpose is that parable Luke 13.6 A certain man had a fig-tree planted in his vineyard and he came and sought fruit thereon and found none Then said he unto the dresser of his vineyard behold these three years I came seeking fruit on this fig-tree and find none Cut it down why combreth it the ground There is an appointed time then fore-ordained by God wherein he offers us grace Let it alone saith the dresser one year more it may be seven years or ten it may be but two hours for ought thou knowest that God may offer thee longer this space No man knowes the time and its continuance but he that hath appointed it to this purpose which is a point I thought not to speak of but now I will You hear much talk of Gods eternal everlasting election and we are too apt to rest on this that if we are elected to salvation we shall be saved and if not we shall be damned troubling our selves with Gods work of Praedestination whereas this works no change in the party elected until it come unto him in his own person What is Gods election to me that he chooses the godly and refuses the wicked It s nothing to my comfort unlesse I my self am actually elected We are to look to this actual election The other is but Gods love to sever me But what is my actual election It s that when God touches my heart and translates me from the death of sin to the life of grace Now there are certain times which God appoints for this election wherein he uses the means to work on us and of which he can say what could I do more then I have done Now if it be thus in the point of election what must we think of the point of reprobation May there not be actual rejection as well as actual election And mayst thou not fear since thou hast lived thus long under the means of grace That God hath waited these not only three but many years the dew of heaven continually falling on thee and that yet thou shouldst remain unfruitful Doest thou not fear I say that dismal sentence cut it down why combreth it the ground Gods grace is not to be dallied with as Children doe with their meats if we do thus slight him he may justly deprive us of all See a terrible place to this purpose Heb. 6.7 8. The earth which drinketh in the rain that cometh oft upon it and bringeth forth herbs meet for them by whom it is dressed receiveth blessing from God but that which beareth thornes and briers is rejected and is nigh unto cursing whose end is to be burned Consider these places God calls us where the droppings of his grace are consider then do we bring forth that fruit which is meet for the dresser answerable to those continual distillings and droppings on us If our consciences witnesse for us happy are we but when there have been these showers of grace out of Gods Word flowing down upon us and yet we have received so much grace in vain O what can we then expect but a curse in this life and eternal death in the world to come What can we look for but the fig-trees curse which was barren The tree was not cut down but withered We are near the same curse if we answer not Gods grace When we have had so long a time the Ministery of the Word and yet suffer it to be lost through our barrennesse our condition is sad and woeful we can look for nothing but withering But beloved I must hope better things of you and such as accompany salvation Labour therefore to prevent and arm your selves against this suggestion and fallacy of Satan and resolve to hear God in this acceptable time now to set to the work which if we do all will be well God will be gracious to us If otherwise we are undone for ever Till you have learned this lesson you can go no further Wherefore let not Satan possesse you with that madnesse to cause you to passe and let slip this golden opportunity through a false conceipt that you may have a more seasonable day of your own for repentance hereafter Gal. 6.3 4. For if a man think himself to be something when he is nothing he deceiveth himself But let every man prove his own work and then shall he have rejoycing in himself alone and not in another HAving entred on the Doctrine of the conversion of a sinner in that Text Heb. 4.7 upon which depends our everlasting salvation I laboured to perswade you of the necessity of taking the accepted time of embracing the proffers of Gods grace and of the necessity of doing it speedily I shewed you that there is a certain time in which God will be found and that this time was the present time I declar'd unto you the great danger that would follow if we took not God at his word but refused his day for a day of our own as if we were wiser than he If when God calls and holds out the golden Scepter we refuse to draw neer and touch it Also what danger there is of being deluded by Satan and our own hearts I shewed you farther that the work was half done if this were done if we could but learn this lesson And now all that I shall speak will be to little purpose if this be not first wrought If it be already wrought in us blessed are we Our condition were thrice happy would God now strike in and cause us to return to himself It 's not good to dally with God the time will come when it will be too late when we shall wish we had done otherwise and taken the accepted time Now I will go on to a farther point which is this When Satan cannot prevail with a sinner to say to his soul or to think with himself I will do it hereafter or I will at the day of death when he cannot prevaile with him to defer it and leave it quite undone for the present then he will give way to his doing a little to it but it shall be so superficial and on such false grounds that he had as good leave it undone For Satan makes him thus conclude with himself well since I see it is a duty so necessary I will not defer I will not put it off to an hour but yet I see no such matter required in conversion no such great need of being new moulded But now in the point of conversion there are two things to be thought on 1. First what estate the sinner is in for the present and then when he hath made search and found it to be amisse then the next thing is he must turn unto God

false glasses Self-love or self-conceit then a good opinion of men and conferring a mans self with some others He 's better then they therefore his estate is good An absurd conclusion the Devil will mightily insult over such as he can so easily deceive But this man goes farther I not onely compare my self with others but my self too and find good ground to conclude the safeness of my condition I remember a time when I was vain and idle when I ran in a way contrary to God But now I have sowed my wilde oats and whereas before I was loose and dissolute I have care to do my duty to serve God c. I am not so profane as formerly my estate must needs be good This is a very dangerous thing to say that because I am not as bad as I was I am therefore good It is as if a man had a debter a slack paymaster to whom the Creditor calls earnestly to pay the debt the best answer the debtor gives is this I am sure there are many worse paymasters in the world then I am and I my self have been a worse and more flow paymaster heretofore then I am now Well because there are worse paymasters and he himself hath been a worse doth this make him a better now And shall this serve to excuse thee by comparing thy self with others that are worse and with thy self that because thou hast mended thy self in some particulars therefore thou art in the way to Heaven It is a false and foolish Conclusion 4. Now we come to the main thing another false glasse which we call Partial obedience when a man goes further looking upon the letter of the Commandement onely saying I thank God I forbear many sins and do many duties I am not a thief nor a murtherer swearer drunkard or covetous person I doe not take Gods name in vain I have not broken the Sabbath though I doubt whether it be moral or no. I have served God in coming to his house given obedience to my Parents c. and looking on this he concludes doubtlesse all is well with him As when I have a thousand thornes in my feet and have three or four taken out will this help me because I have not the stone or the gout shall I conclude I am well as if I could not be sick without this or that disease Because I do something that God requires shall I think I do as much as I need No we must take heed of that God will not be contented with partial obedience He will have the whole heart or none Obj. But mine is not partial obedience I doe my endeavour as far as I am able to do what God requires Here comes in natural reason and saith I thank God I do what I can and I see no reason why more should be required I conform my self as I am able and I see it needful to the greatest duties of Christianity I lead such a blamelesse life that no man can tax me in any particular what God hath enabled me to do and according to moral Philosophy I know not how more can be required I go as far as Seneca's rules and somewhat farther and sure this is not partial obedience Sol. I speak not against Morality But yet let me tell thee if thou hast no more then Morality it will not bring thee to Heaven Not but that a morall man is an excellent stock whereon to graft grace and virtue it 's a good help to Heaven yet it comes far short of bringing him thither Natural reason was once a full and fair glass till it was broken by the fall but now it is insufficient The Tables in Moses hands were excellent things God made the first Tables with his own hand and perchance they may be therein typical when these were broken Moses makes the second these not so excellent as the former though I should esteem a peece of these more excell●●t then all the reliques of the Papists for there was something of the first in them God writes them with his own singer This glass which then was so perfect is now broken and is not so perfect as it was though there be something yet remaining in it We may see something of its ancient lustre in the Gentiles for these having not a Law are a Law unto themselves There are practical principles y●t remaining in the Tables of our hearts so that they that care not for the Law shall be judged by that natural light which is in them We have a conscience to difference between good and evil This is the truth It 's a part of the Image of God implanted in us which we are not to despise lest we be judged with those that hold the truth in unrighteousnesse The truth is the principals of difference betwixt good bad the soul was to have a seat as a Queen to rule all our actions But ●ow this Queen is taken captive all is lost Morality and in ward prncipals are to be much esteemed as things which God at first planted yet do they comeshort of bringing a man to Heaven The young man in the Gospel had a good esteem of himself and was doubtlesse esteemed of others and did many things but yet our Saviour tells him how hard a thing it was to come to Heaven Although he thinks himself well enough though he were rich our Saviour tells him of the commandements all these saith he have I kept from my youth a good moral man indeed that had done so much but this was not enough one thing lacked go and sell all that thou hast c. Yet because there was so much in him we read Mark 10.21 Jesus loved him he sheweth that his cause was heavy that going so far he should not attain his end but this was not to be despised for this Jesus loved him So 1 Kings 13.13 He onely of Jeroboams shall come to the grave because in him are found some good things If there are but some good things in a man they remain of Gods work and God loveth his own work Here 's the point then Morality is good and natural reason is good it remaines in us since the state of our first creation This was a pure and a full glass made by God himself but since the fall is much darkned If we consult with natural reason and Moral Philosophy it will discover many things yet this comes short There are abundance of things that it cannot discover manifold defects The Apostle saith in the Romans I had not known sin but by the Law I had not known lust to have been a sin had not the Law said I shalt not lust We have many sins we cannot know but by the Law yea such secret sins as must be repented of Our Saviour overthrew the tables of the money-changers and would not suffer them to carry burthens through the Temple though for the use of those that sacrificed a thing which had