Selected quad for the lemma: duty_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
duty_n	day_n	great_a	sabbath_n	1,288	5	9.0935	5	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A62634	Several discourses viz. Proving Jesus to be the Messias. The prejudices against Jesus and his religion consider'd. Jesus the Son of God, proved by his Resurrection. The danger of apostacy from Christianity. Christ the author: obedience the condition of salvation. The possibility and necessity of gospel obedience, and its consistence with free grace. The authority of Jesus Christ, with the commission and promise which he gave to his apostles. The difficulties of a Christian life consider'd. The parable of the rich man and Lazarus. Children of this world wiser than the children of light. By the most reverend Dr. John Tillotson, late Lord Arch-Bishop of Canterbury. Being the fifth volume; published from the originals, by Ralph Barker, D.D. chaplain to his Grace.	Tillotson, John, 1630-1694.; Barker, Ralph, 1648-1708,	1698 (1698)	Wing T1262A; ESTC R222204	187,258	485

his own Kingdom 2. They pretended that though he did many great Works yet he gave them no Sign from Heaven Matt. 16. 1. it is said They desired him to shew them a Sign from Heaven It seems they expected that God should give some immediate Testimony to him from Heaven as he did to Elias when Fire came down from Heaven and consumed his Enemies And particularly they expected that when he was upon the Cross if he were the true Messias he should have come down and saved himself And because he did not answer their Expectation in this they concluded him an Impostor Now what could be more unreasonable when he had wrought so many other and great Miracles perversly to insist upon some particular kind of Miracle which they fancied As if God were bound to gratifie the Curiosity of Men and as if our Saviour were not as much declared to be the Son of God by rising again from the Dead as if he had come down from the Cross Fourthly As to his Conversation they had these three Exceptions 1. That he used no severity in his Habit or Diet took too much Freedom as they thought came Eating and Drinking that is he freely used the Creatures of God for the end for which they were given with Temperance and Thanksgiving and did not lay those rigorous Restraints upon himself in these matters which many that were esteemed the most Religious among them used to do But he plainly shews them that this Exception was meerly out of their Prejudice against him For if he had come in the way of Austerity they would have rejected him as well They were resolved to find Fault with him whatever he did Matth. 11. 16. Whereunto shall I liken this Generation John the Baptist came neither eating nor drinking and they say He hath a Devil He lived in a more austere and melancholy way he came in the way of Righteousness used great Strictness and Severity in his Habit and Diet and this they took Exception at Our Saviour was of a quite contrary Temper and that did not please them neither The Son of Man came eating and drinking and they say behold a Wine-bibber and a Glutton So that let our Saviour have done what he would he could not have carried himself so as to have escaped the Censures of Men so peevishly and perversly disposed 2. That he kept Company with Publicans and Sinners To which Exception nothing can be more reasonable than our Saviour's own Answer that he was sent to be a Physician to the World to call Sinners to Repentance and therefore they had no Reason to be angry or think it strange if he conversed with his Patients among whom his proper Imployment lay 3. They objected to him Prophaneness in breaking the Sabbath and that surely was plain that he could not be of God if he kept not the sabbath-Sabbath-day The Truth was he had healed one on the sabbath-Sabbath-day To this our Saviour gives a most reasonable and satisfactory Answer that surely it was lawful to do good on the sabbath-Sabbath-day that that was but a Positive Institution but works of Mercy are Natural and Moral Duties and God himself had declared that he would have even his own Institutions to give way to those greater Duties that are of natural and eternal Obligation I will have Mercy and not Sacrifice And then from the End of the Sabbath The Sabbath was made for the Rest and Refreshment of Man and therefore could not be presumed to be intended to his Prejudice The Sabbath was made for Man and not Man for the Sabbath Fifthly Another great Prejudice against him was that Persons of the greatest Knowledge and Authority among them did not embrace his Doctrine John 7. 48. Have any of the Rulers or Pharisees believed on him So that here was the infallible Rule and Authority of their Church against him There is no doubt but the Example and Authority of our Guides ought to sway very much with us and over-rule us in doubtful Cases but not against plain and convincing Evidence there we ought to follow and obey God rather than Men. There is sometimes a visible and palpable Corruption in those who are to lead us they may have an Interest to oppose the Truth And thus it was with the Pharisees and Rulers at that Time And so it hath been among Christians in the great Degeneracy of the Roman Church The Christian Religion was never more endangered nor never more corrupted than by those who have been in greatest Authority in that Church who ought to have understood Religion best and have been the principal Support of it Men may err but God cannot So that when God sends a Prophet or by his Word does plainly declare his Will to us Human Example and Authority ceaseth and is of no force The last Prejudice I shall mention which the Jews had against our Saviour and his Doctrine was that it did abolish and supersede their Religion as of no longer Use and Continuance though it was plain it was instituted by God This had been a very specious Pretence indeed had not this been part of their Religion and had not their own Prophets foretold that the Messias should come and perfect what was wanting and defective in their Institution It was expresly said in their Law That God would raise unto them another Prophet like to Moses and that they should hear him when he came So that in Truth it was the Accomplishment of all those Revelations which were made to the Jews and did not reprove the Jewish Religion as false but as imperfect And did not contradict and overthrow but perfect and fulfill the Law and the Prophets And thus I have gone over the chief Exceptions and Offences which the Jews took at our Saviour and his Doctrine and I hope sufficiently shown the Unreasonableness of them I have not now time to proceed to what remains But by what hath been said you may easily see upon what slight and unreasonable Grounds Men may be prejudiced against the best Person and Things and yet be very confident all the while that they are in the Right For so no doubt many of the Jews who opposed our Saviour and his Doctrine thought themselves to be Therefore it concerns us to put on Meekness and Humility and Modesty that we way be able to judge impartially of things and our Minds may be preserved free and indifferent to receive the Truths of God when they are offer'd to us Otherwise Self-Conceit and Passion will so blind our Minds and biass our Judgments that we shall be unable to discern and unwilling to entertain the plainest and most evident Truths We see here by the sad Example of the Jews that by giving way to Passion and cherishing Pride and Self-Conceit Men may be so deeply prejudiced against the Truth as to resist the clearest Light and reject even Salvation it self when it is offer'd to them So that it is not in vain that the Scripture saith

he is a Lyar for he that loveth not his Brother whom he hath seen how can he love God whom he hath not seen This deserves to be seriosly consider'd by those who make a great shew of Devotion and are at great pains in Prayer and Fasting and reading and hearing the Word of God and in all other frugal Exercises of Religion which stand them in no Mony lest all their Labour be lost for want of this one necessary and essential part lest with the young Man in the Gospel after they have kept all other Commandments they be rejected by Christ for lack of this one thing I have done with the first part of the Observation that Unmercifulness is a very great Sin I proceed to the 2d That it is such a Sin as alone and without any other Guilt is sufficient to ruin a Man for ever The Parable lays the Rich Man's Condemnation upon this it was the guilt of this Sin that tormented him when he was in Hell The Scripture is full of severe Threatnings against this Sin Prov. 21. 13. Whoso stoppeth his Ears at the cry of the Poor he also shall cry himself but shall not be heard God will have no regard or pity for the Man that regardeth not the Poor That is a terrible Text Ja. 2. 13. He shall have Judgment without Mercy that hath shewed no Mercy Our Saviour hath two Parables to represent to us the Danger of this Sin this here in the Text and that in Luke 12. concerning the Covetous Man that enlarged his Barns and was still laying up but laid nothing out upon the Poor upon which our Saviour makes this Observation which is the Moral of the Parable v. 21. So is he that layeth up Treasure for himself and is not rich towards God So shall he be such an issue of his Folly may every one expect who layeth up Treasure for himself but does not lay up Riches with God How is that The Scripture tells us by Works of Mercy and Charity this our Saviour calls laying up for our selves Treasures in Heaven Matth. 6. 20. And Luke 12. 33. he calls giving of Alms providing for our selves Bags that wax not old a Treasure in Heaven that faileth not There is no particular Grace and Virtue to which the Promise of eternal Life is so frequently made in Scripture as to this of Mercy and Charity to the Poor Matth. 5. 7. Blessed are the merciful for they shall find Mercy Which Promise as it does not exclude a Reward in this World so it seems principally to respect the Mercy of God at the great Day Luke 14. 12 13 14. When thou makest a Feast invite not the Rich for they will recompence thee again but invite the Poor and the maimed and the lame and the blind for they cannot recompense thee but thou shalt be recompensed at the Resurrection of the Just Luke 16. 9. Make therefore to your selves friends of the Mammon of Vnrighteousness that when ye shall fail they may receive you into everlasting habitations 1 Tim. 6. 17 18 19. Charge them that are rich in this World that they do good that they be rich in good works ready to distribute willing to communicate laying up in store for themselves a good Foundation as the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is sometimes used a good Treasure against the time which is to come that they may lay hold of eternal Life But the most considerable Text of all other to this purpose is in Matth. 25. where our Saviour gives us a description of the Judgment of the great Day And if that be a true and proper representation of the process of that Day then the grand enquiry will be what Works of Charity have been done or neglected by us and accordingly Sentence shall be past upon us The proper Result from all this Discourse is to perswade Men to this necessary Duty Our eternal Happiness does not so much depend upon the exercise of any one single Grace or Virtue as this of Charity and Mercy Faith and Repentance are more general and fundamental Graces and as it were the Parents of all the rest But of all single Virtues the Scripture lays the greatest weight upon this of Charity and if we do truly believe the Precepts of the Gospel and the Promises and Threatnings of it we cannot but have a principal regard to it I know how averse Men generally are to this Duty which makes them so full of Excuses and Objections against it 1. They have Children to provide for This is not the case of all and they whose case it is may do well to consider that it will not be amiss to leave a Blessing as well as an Inheritance to their Children 2. They tell us they intend to do something when they die I doubt that very much but granting their Intention to be real why should Men chuse to spoil a good Work and to take away the Grace and Acceptableness of it by the manner of doing It shews a great backwardness to the Work when we defer it as long as we can He that will not do good till he be enforced by the last necessity diu noluit was long unwilling It is one of the worst Complements we can put upon God to give a thing to him when we can keep it no longer 3. Others say they may come to want themselves and it is Prudence to provide against that To this I answer 1. I believe that no Man ever came the sooner to want for his Charity David hath an express Observation to the contrary Psa 37. 25. I have been young and now am old yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken nor his Seed begging bread And tho' he use a general word yet that by the righteous here he intended the merciful Man is evident from the next words he is ever merciful and lendeth And besides David's Observation we have express Promises of God to secure us against this Fear Psa 41. 1 2. Blessed is he that considereth the poor the Lord will deliver him in time of trouble the Lord will preserve him and keep him alive and he shall be blessed upon the Earth Pro. 28. 27. He that giveth unto the Poor shall not lack 2. Thou mayest come to want tho' thou give nothing thou may'st lose that which thou hast spared in this kind as well as the rest thou may'st lose all and then thou art no better secured against want than if thou hadst been charitable Besides that when thou art brought to Poverty thou wilt want the Comfort of having done this Duty and may'st justly look upon the neglect of this Duty as one of the Causes of thy Poverty 3. After all our Care to provide for our selves we must trust the Providence of God and a Man can in no case so safely commit himself to God as in well-doing If the Providence of God as we all believe be peculiarly concern'd to bless one Man more than another I dare say

Men is a Work not to be done without the assistance of God's Grace and there is little reason to expect that God will afford his Grace to those who reject and despise the Counsels of his Word The Doctrine of Salvation contained in the Holy Scriptures and the Promises and Threatnings of God's Word are the ordinary Means which God hath appointed for the Conversion of Men and to bring them to Repentance and if we sincerely use these means we may confidently expect the concurrence of God's grace to make them effectual but if we neglect and resist these means in confidence that God should attempt our Recovery by some extraordinary ways tho' he should gratifie our presumptuous and unreasonable Curiosity so far as to send one from the dead to testifie unto us yet we have no reason to expect the assistance of his Grace to make such a Conviction effectual to our Repentance when we have so long despised his Word and resisted his Spirit which are the power of God unto Salvation Without his Grace and Assistance the most probable means will prove ineffectual to alter and change our corrupt Natures by Grace we are saved and that not of our selves it is the Gift of God This Grace is revealed to us in the Gospel and the Assistances of it are conveyed to us by the Gospel and it is great presumption to promise to our selves the assistance of God's Grace in any other way than he hath been pleased to promise it to us And thus I have shewn you as briefly and plainly as I could how unlikely it is that those who obstinately reject a clear and publick Revelation of God should be effectually convinced and brought to Repentance by any Apparitions from the dead I shall only make two or three Inferences from this Discourse which I have made and so conclude 1st Since the Scriptures are the publick and standing Revelation of God's Will to Men and the ordinary Means of Salvation we may hence conclude That People ought to have them in such a Language as they can understand This our Saviour plainly supposeth in the Discourse which he represents between Abraham and the Rich Man desiring that Lazarus might be sent from the dead to his Brethren to testifie unto them to which Request Abraham would not have given this Answer and Advice they have Moses and the Prophets let them hear them had he supposed that the Scriptures then were or for the future ought to be lockt up from the People in an unknown Tongue for the Rich Man might very well have replied nay Father Abraham but they are not permitted to have Moses and the Prophets in such a Language as they can understand and therefore there is more need why one should be sent from the Dead to testifie unto them Nor would Abraham have said again if they hear not Moses and the Prophets neither will they be perswaded For how should Men hear what they cannot understand so as to be perswaded by it It is evident then that our Saviour according to the Reasoning of this Parable takes it for granted that the Holy Scriptures are the standing and ordinary means of bringing Men to Faith and Repentance and that the People are to have the free use of them But since our Saviour's time the Church of Rome hath found a mighty inconvenience in this and therefore hath taken the Scriptures out of the Hands of the People They will not now let them have Moses and the Prophets the Gospel of our blessed Saviour and the Writings of his Apostles because they are really afraid they should hear them and by hearing of them be convinced and perswaded of the Errours and Corruptions of their Church but instead of the Scriptures of the Old and New Testament they have put into their Hands a Legend of famous Apparitions of Men from the dead testifying unto them concerning Purgatory and Transubstantiation and the Worship of the Blessed Virgin and the Saints and the great benefit and refreshment which Souls in Purgatory have by the Indulgences of the Pope and the Prayers of the living put up to Saints and Angels on their behalf so that in the Church of Rome quite contrary to our Saviour's method Men are perswaded of their Religion of their New Articles of Faith and Ways of Worship not by Moses and the Prophets not by the Doctirne of the Holy Scriptures for they every where testifie against them but by absurd Romances and ill-contriv'd Fictions of Apparitions from the Dead I will dismiss this matter with this one Observation that however interested and confident Men may set a bold face upon any thing yet it cannot to considerate Men but seem a very hard case that there should be no Salvation to be had out of the Church of Rome and yet the ordinary and in our Saviour's Judgment the most effectual Means of Salvatioin are not to be had in it But I pass from this to that which does more immediately concern our Practice 2dly Let us hear and obey that publick Revelation of God's Will which in so much Mercy to Mankind he hath been pleased to afford to us This is an inestimable Privilege and Advantage which the World in many Ages was destitute of having no other Guide to conduct them to eternal Happiness but the Light of Nature and some particular Revelations which now and then God was pleased to make of his Will to Men But now God hath set up a great and standing Light in the World the Doctrine of the holy Scriptures and by the Gospel of his blessed Son hath given the knowledge of Salvation to all Men for the remission of their Sins through the tender Mercies of God whereby the day spring from on high hath visited us to give light to them that sat in darkness and in the shadow of death and to guide our feet into the way of peace to convince us of the Error of our ways and to direct us in our Duty We upon whom the ends of the world are come do enjoy all the Advantages of divine Revelation which the World ever had and as great as the World ever shall have God in these last days hath spoken unto us by his Son and if we will not hear him God will imploy no other extraordinary Prophet and Messenger to us If the wrath of God so clearly revealed from Heaven by the Gospel of our blesled Saviour against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of Men if the Terror of the great day and the fear of eternal Torment if the dreadful Sufferings of the Son of God for our Sins and the merciful offers of Pardon and Reconciliation in his Blood and the glorious hopes of eternal Life and Happiness will not prevail with us to leave our Sins and to amend our Lives we have no reason to expect that God should use any farther means to reclaim us that he should ever make any more Attempts for our Recovery And therefore 3dly and lastly Those who