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	holy_a	rest_n	3,546	5	7.5027	4	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A27353	Nehemiah the Tirshatha, or, The character of a good commissioner to which is added Grapes in the wilderness / by Mr. Thomas Bell ...	Bell, Thomas, fl. 1672-1692.; Bell, Thomas. Grapes in the wilderness.	1692 (1692)	Wing B1804; Wing B1803_PARTIAL; ESTC R4955	138,914	254

Apud Edinburgum Vicesimo primo die Aprilis 1691 post Meridiem TH● whilk day the Commission appointed by the late General Assembly of this Church having considered Report from a Committee of their own number whom the said Commission had appointed to Revi●● two Manuscripts written by the late Reverend Mr. Thomas Bell Minister of the Gospel and Professor of Philology in the Colledge 〈…〉 Edinburgh and given in to them by his Relick the one where 〈…〉 Grapes in the Wilderness the other Nehemiah the 〈…〉 or The Character of a good Commissioner whereby the 〈…〉 ●ommittee declared that they having perused the saids Peices 〈…〉 them to be solid and edifying Discourses and that 〈…〉 Printing there would be very useful and profitable And the said Commission being well and ripely advised with the said Report They do hereby recommend to the Relick of the said Mr. Thomas Bell to get the said two Pieces printed and published with all convenient diligence Extractum c. NEHEMIAH THE Tirshatha OR THE CHARACTER OF A Good Commissioner To which is Added GRAPES IN THE Wilderness By Mr. THOMAS BELL Minister of the Gospel and Professor of Philology in the Colledge of Edinburgh EDINBURGH Printed by George Mosman and are to be sold at his Shop in the Parliament Clōss Anno 1692. UNTO THE Most Noble and Illustrious PRINCESS THE Dutchess of Hamiltoun May it please your Grace I Have adventured though not without blushing and some fear because of the vastdistance to dedicate and commit the Tutelage of these two little Orphan treatises of my deceast Husband Mr Thomas Bell Grapes in the Wilderness and The Character of a Commissioner in the person of None-such Nehemiah to your Grace the every way most fit and proper Person under the benign in fluence of whose incouraging countenance he did for a considerable time preach the Gospel at Hamiltoun And indeed if any other in the World could possibly rival it with your Grace in my esteem yet could I not without the highest both Injustice and Ingratitude Dedicate them otherwayes it having been to my certain knowledge his firm resolution if ever they saw the light that they should be dedicated thus whose will i● 〈◊〉 such things was alwayes and is still to me as an inviolably obliging Law I am very confident your Grace will read them in Print after his death with the same edifying complacency and delight that you had wont to hear him discourse by vive voice in the Noble Family and in the solemne Assembly for really they resemble their Father to the very life That I have therefore sent them abroad into the wide World under the Patronage and Protection of your Graces Noble and Renowned Name which will sufficiently secure I am against all the Censures Cavills of the most malevolent Carpers of this ill natured Age will not be construed impardonable presumption is the humble hope of Most Noble Princess Your Graces most humble most obliged and most devoted Servant L. R. TO THE READER Christian Reader THE Discoveries that the Majesty of GOD hath made of himself in these latter dayes are so transcendent and eminently beyond what was informer Ages that it may truly be said that the Men of this Generation shall be signally indebted either to the Grace and Mercy or Justice of God For informer Ages thought was comparatively dark the Sun but rising in our Horizon But in this Age the light of the Moon compared with former Generations is like the light of the Sun the light of the Sun sevenfold as the light of seven dayes But alas our not walking in the light may justly provoke the Lord to cause our Sun go down at noon Beza complained in his time that there was multum Scientiae much Knowledge but parum Conscientiae little Conscience and how much more is there ground for this Complaint now For since the Primitive and Apostolick Age greater light hath not broken forth and moe Stars of the first and greatest magnitude have not more clearly shined in any age But oh how little walking is there sutable to such great light How many eminent Christians were there in former ages who had not so much all their dayes of the riches of free Grace discovered and of the mysteries of the Gospel unfolded as some in this Generation have had in a very little time who have far surpassed us in this Generation for eminency in Faith Love Holy Zeal Prayer and Wrestling with God Patience Meckness diligence in duty and a Gospel adorning conversation And the generality have shut their eyes and will not behold the Glory of God manifested in the 〈◊〉 of Jesus Christ in this Gospel For which cause the holy and jealous God in great anger and holy indignation hath removed many and eminent Candlesticks out of their place and taken away many shining and burning lights not in their old age and gray Hairs but even in the flower of their age and in the prime and flowrishing of their Graces and Gifts One of which was the Reverend now Triumphant and Glorified Author of these following Treatises who was eminent for Piety and Learning as his Writtings do manifest His Roman Antiquities which he published before his death cannot but command his Learning to all knowing persons and his Piety was so eminent to all that knew him that he needs none of our Commendation And these his Works which are a specimen of his great Knowledge Eloquence piety and solid Judgement will praise him in the gate where he draws a Vive Picture and Patern for all but especially for Rulers and Magistrates to look on and walk after Which I am hopeful will be very acceptable to all the Judicious and Godly He I say was taken away in the flower of his Age flowrishing of his Gifts God not accounting the World worthy of him And having left amongst his Papers these two Treatises one of which was for me established by a privat Person but without the knowledge and advice of the Authors Friends some of his Friends lovers of the publick Good judged it expedient to review and correct these Treatises that they might be published for the good and edification of the Church that he by them though dead might speak Which we hope shall through Gods blessing be very edifying for over throwing of Atheism discovering of the Souls happiness in Union and Communion with God directing great Persons in their duty and holding forth the excellency of the Scripture and pointing out to these who are walking in this Wilderness the way to the Heavenly Canaan with many other edifying purposes which that the Great God may bless is the earnest Prayer of Thy Servant in the Work of the Gospel M. C. NEHEMIAH THE Tirshatha OR THE CHARACTER OF A Good Commissioner THE Scripture casteth such a light of Divinity every way its Purpose being the Mind of God its Writting the Writting of God as whole the Oracles of God and every part of it

ingratitude and fate of Joash 2 Chron. 24. Whereby is manifest that this observation is large as useful as true concerning the Ruler But the path of the Iust is as the shining light which groweth brighter and brighter unto the noon-ti●e of the day And such a one is the good Ruler Now from this illustrat Character shine forth in so many bright beams 1. The Original 2 Dignity 3 Duty 4. Necessity 5. Usefulness and 6. ●arity of the good Ruler All which so rich a piece is Scripture may be easily deduced from one sentence of Psal 82 6. I have said ye are Gods and all of you are Children of the most high And because I know that both is evil manners to come ●athly into and go hastily from the presence of a Ruler I shall for a salutation shut up my view with this seasonable exhortation That in this Atheistical age the Ruler would do his Author the Honour himself the pleasure and a discontented unbelieving World the favour to shew forth so much of God in his person and administrations that those who will not believe may see and those who will not see may feel That there is a God that God judgeth in the earth and that by his vicegerent that he be unquestionably good himself an incourager of those that do well and a terror of evil doers that by the shaddow of Divinity in the Ruler the World if possible may be convinced of the body and substance and by the sight of the beautiful portrait may be enamoured of the original And you O Christian People consider Christ is not divided nor contrary to himself He is by nature and eternal Generation Lord of the World and God of policy and order as well as of the Church by pact and dispensation and it is more than probable that Rulers hold not Christ as Mediator Christianity received into the policy is not so untoward or unpleasant a Guest as to disturb its own quarter and Religion but getteth the medlers blow when it sendeth a sword or occasioneth division for of it 's own nature it is a harmless peace-pursuer and they were sworn enemies and slanderers of our Saviour who said he was an enemie to Casar for he taught his followers to give unto Casar the things that are Casars and unto God the things that are Gods Learn then of him to pay what we owe unto the Ruler How much are we indebted to so rare and excellent a creature as is the good Ruler We owe the Ruler 1. Honour in heart and behaviour 2 Subjection in lawful obedience or in humble submission 3. Information and assistance in our respective stations 4. Tribute and the bread of the Governour 5. And with all our owing we owe Prayer 1 Tim. 2. 2. 1. Sam. 24. 13. As saith the Proverb of the ancients wickedness proceedeth from the wicked But God forbid that the hand of any that fear God should be upon the Lords anointed A tender conscience so far exercised to Godliness as to flee from all appearance of evil cannot digest the least approach to or appearance of wrong to the Ruler Say I this as a man or sayeth not the Scripture the same also ibid. 5 v. Davias heart smot him because he had cut off Sauls skirt The 5th view of this useful piece presents to us the Exit and retreat of the Ruler Rulers like men upon a Stage walk much in a disguise or like Mercury and Aeneas in a cloud but here we have the Ruler going off with open face and with an eye to God to himself and to his reward Remember me O my God for good His eye is upon God 1. As a Witness for remembrance is of things known and Gods knowledge is by sight and Intuition He that can say with David Psal. 119 168. All my wayes are before thee may save the travel and shun the woe of those that seek deep to hide their counsel from the Lord and their works are in the dark and they say who seeth us and who knoweth it Isay 29. 15. And their turning of things upside down is as the potters clay they attempt more than they are able and presume where they have no power A proud Ruler may say to the Lords Messengers who made thee of the Kings Counsel But they would remember that Elisha the Prophet could tell the King of Israel the words which the Syrian King spoke in his bed-chamber and who told him but God that heard them Let Rulers learn in their time to put God upon their counsels and make him a witness of their practises left when they must goe off they find with Jacob that God was there though they knew it not nor called him to the Council 2. As a Friend O my God Happy he Ruler or other who can say with his Saviour I go to my Father and my God He may in the Apostles words proclaim a bold defiance to all adversity If God be with us who shall be against us He may meditat terrour with the greatest security Isay 33 18. Though the World should be shaken and suffer sack he may say with the Philosopher but upon better reason that he is sure to be no loser yea though Hell were poured upon him and heaven should seem to have forsaken him My God My God even then shall support him Every one seeks the Rulers favour and the Ruler would study to have a friend of his Superior They who court alliance and interest would be perswaded that this is the highest Bewar of that friend that makes God an enemy and of that gain where God is losed Luther pronounces him a Divine who can well distinguish the Law and Gospel and he is no less a Christian Ruler or other who can reconcile them in my God Wouldst thou either get or know an interest in God take the short and sure method of the Psalmist who also himself was a great Ruler in that golden Ps. 16 2. O my soul thou hast said unto the Lord thou art my Lord. 3. As a rewarder for his remember being a figure that putteth the antecedent for the consequent in proper speaking is reward me And shall not he render to every man according to his works Prov. 24 12. Ps. 62 12 And verily there is a reward for the righteous Fear not Abraham I am thy shield and thy exceeding great reward I fear the bad reward of some hath tempted others to do well to themselves in their own time but with greater reason I fear that those who are thus tempted have but a faint respect to the recompense of reward But God who is not unfaithful to forget the service and labour of any will sure be mindful of a good Ruler If Iehosaphat be reproved his faults remembred and wrath threatned yet his good deeds are not forgotten Nevertheless there are good things found in thee 2 Chron. 19. 2. 3. Most frequently throught the Scripture the saints petition for reward is presented in the

their Spectacles is sufficiently conspicuous and may be discerned that it is the hand writing of the Lord for that it hath a peculiar stampt of Divinity that cannot be counterfited If God creat but a louse in Egypt that is an original whereof the greatest Magicians can give no copy because it is the finger of God Exod. 8. 19. And yet many read the Epistle without the inscription many see the hand work and not the hand the Work and not the Worker Not to speak of Heathen Atheists of whom some have been darkned with the fancy of a voluble blind Fortune others dammished with the impression of on inflex●●●e inexorable fate both equally opposed to the ●th of a wisely contrived and freely exercised ●●ovidence Nor to speak of heretical Maniche● who attributed all evil events of sin or pain to ●e Daemoniacal influence of a malum principium an dependent unprincipiated Principle of evil in ●ain speech a Devil-God nor of malicious blas●emous Iews who albeit that they could not ●ny that notable Works and Miracles were ●ought by Christ yet calumniously attributed at which was the finger of God to Beelzebub ●e Prince of Devils I say not to mention these ●w many are there in all Generations who have ●gmatically received the true principles of a gene● Providence that either of neglect do not of infirmity and mistake cannot or of malice ●ill not see the hand of God in particular events ●nd therefore we have this frequent Conclusion Gods dispensations whether of mercy or Judg●ent then shall they know that I am the Lord. Unbelief of a providence looseth all the pins and ●aketh the whole frame of Religion and the ●●th and actual observation of a Providence sixeth that Atheisme looseth Upon this pin of an observed Providence the Saints do hang many excellent vessels of greater and smaller quantity ●nd what doth not David build upon this foundation the Lord reigneth Let us then observe ●rovidence ruling in all dispensations and in every one of these let us with old Eli both see ●d say it is the Lord and whether dispensations be prosperous or cross let us remember him th● hath said I make peace and I creat evil On●● let not the observation of providence either slaken our hands in any good Duty This evil i● the Lord wherefore then should I wait any longer 〈◊〉 him was an ill use of Providence And this is b● like the rest of Satans and Unbeliev's Conclusion Nor 2. Let it strengthen our hands in any sin● project or practice It was the Devil that 〈◊〉 cast thy self down from the pinacle because he hath ●●ven his Angels charge of thee Let us not take Providence 3. for approbation of our practice Senacherib who could say that he was not come without the Lord against Ierusalem It was a wick●● word in David's enemies to say God hath fors●●● him let us persecute and destroy him But David 〈◊〉 of another spirit when God delivered Saul i● his hand let not my hand saith he be upon b● for wickedness proceedeth from the wicked saith the Proverb of the Ancients 4. Let dispensations of Providence be determining evidences of our state before God for all things 〈◊〉 alike unto all and and no man can know either ●● or hatred by all that is before him Eccles. 9 1. ●● a great vanity in a wicked man to think the 〈◊〉 of himself for prosperity And it a great weak●●●● in a Saint to think the worse of himself for affliction and adversity albeit all these come from the hand of the Lord. And yet none are hereup●● allowed to be Stoically or stupidly unconcerned 〈◊〉 the vicissitudes of differing dispensations for ●●cles 3 4. there is a time to weep and a time to 〈◊〉 time to mourn and a time to dance And chap. 7. 14. the wise God by the wise mans mouth bids us in ●he day of prosperity be joyful but in the day of ad●ersity consider The 3d. thing to be observed in the works of God and his ways to his People is the Properties and Attributes of those his works for as omne ●actum refert suum factorem every thing made re●embles its maker so in the works of God generally and more specially in his ways and dispensations to his own we have a lively draught and ●elineation of all the attributes of the blessed Worker Here is displayed the soveraignity of God which is exalted equally above limited ●oyality and licentious Tyranny for the Kings ●●rength loveth judgment Psal. 99. 4. The Soverignity of God flows from his unlimited Indend●nt nature is founded upon his transcendent un●erived right in his creatures and runs in this method 1. he is over and before all things 2. all things are of him 3. all things are his and therefore 4. he may do with his own what he will ●e is the only potentat and to him belongs the Kingdom the power and the glory for ever Amen This ●overaignity of the works of God or of God in ●is works is a common pass-key that will open all ●he Adyta the secret passages of the most mysterious reserved works of God in his most surprizing ●ispensations to his People and gives the only answer to Questions about many of his dispensations otherways unanswerable instance these few Question Why hath the Lord elected one to Salvation and appointed another to Damnation and that it may be of two Brethren as Iaca● and Easu Twins born where all things are equal in the Object Answer Because the Potter hath power over the clay to make of the same lump one vessel to honour and another to dishonour Rom. 9. 21. Question 2 Why i● pursuance of the design and accomplishment of the work of our Salvation did the Lord bruise his own Son and put him to grief It pleased the Lord Isai 53. 10. Question 3. Why doth the Lord shew mercy to one and harden another Answer So he ●● Rom 9. 18. Question 4. Why to all those that an● really in a state of Grace doth the Lord dispens● Grace so differently in time measure method manner and other circumstances Answer th●● is as the spirit of God will 1 Cor. 12 11. Question 5. Why doth the Lord distribute an equal reward of Glory to those whose works and service i● very unequal in the World Answer Because it is lawful for the Lord to do what he will with ●● own Math. 20. 15. Question 6. Why doth the Lord vouchafe Grace to those most ordinaril● who naturally ly at the greatest disadvantages ● that the Poor the Fools Babes yea the most desperat forlorn sinners Publicans and Harlots a● called and do receive the Mysteries of the Kingdom of Heaven and enter thereinto whilst th● Wise the Mighty the Righteous Civil Well Natured and Well bred Pharisees are passed by Wh● should all this be Answer Even so father for so seemed good in thy sight Math. 11. 26 Question 7. Why doth the Lord choose one People and ●ation to make them