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	people_n	sabbath_n	981	5	9.0818	5	false

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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A61378	Sober singularity, or, An antidote against infection by the example of a multitude being practical meditations on Exod. 23, vers. 2 : wherein is opened the influence of the practise of a multitude, to draw men to sin, the special cases, wherein it concerns us to be most cautious, reasons why we must not follow them, together with the application of the whole : and therein, besides the general improvement of the point, an instance given of nineteen practises of the multitude to be avoided, seven of their grand principles to be rejc̈ted [sic] : sundry particulars concerning peace and unity, and the sanctification of the Lords Day, useful for these times / by R. Stedman ...	Stedman, Rowland, 1630?-1673.	1660 (1660)	Wing S5376; ESTC R38303	146,089	254

performed by the united companies of the people of God on that day of rest 7 The Psalmist urgeth to the practise of those duties from the consideration mainly of Gods work of Creation v. 4 5 6 7. Which is the reason given for the institution of a Sabbath To the commemoration whereof the Lords day fitly serveth as being a seventh day as well as to the celebration of the work of Redemption being the Resurrection day the first day of the week 8 The Apostle presseth the Hebrews to the observation of this rest from two special arguments which may seem clearly to relate to the work of the Sabbath 1. Because it would be a special means to prevent Apostasy Heb. 4.11 Lest any man fall And what duty is likely to be more effectual to that end than a conscientious sanctification of the Lords day 2. From the mighty influence and efficacy of the word of God upon mens hearts v. 12. q. d. Be very diligent and heedful to keep this day of rest and to wait upon God in his ordinances and to give attendance upon his word for it is not in vain so to do His word will cleanse your hearts and consciences from dead works for it is quick and powerful and sharper than any two edged sword I might add 3. From the consideration of the omniscience and heart seurching power of God with whom our business lieth in all religious exercises especially See v. 13. But I must forbear Pardon this larg digression or out-leap which yet will not be unuseful if it may but serve to provoke some others of greater abil●ties to make a more diligent search into the Scope and drift of this Scripture I will study brevity in that which doth remain 3. To preserve you from infection by the example of the multitude as to the neglect of the Sabbath Be often meditating upon the manifold advantages that will arise from a conscientious sanctification thereof and the blessings entailed thereupon This is the way to attain the most intimate acquaintance with God and to get tasts of the sweetness of the way of holiness There are many persons who complain of a strict course of religion as a tedious and burdensom way Behold what a weariness it is unto their spirits and they never found that sweetness and that spiritual joy and refreshment which believers are wont to speak of Probably the reason may be for want of diligence and faithfulness in sanctification of the Sabbath for thereunto is the promise of divine consolations annexed Finally it hath assurance of the mercies of this life and of that which is to come Be much in studying that pregnant text Isa 58.13 14. If thou turn away thy foot from the sabbath from doing thy pleasure on my holy day and call the Sabbath a delight the holy of the Lord honourable and shalt honour him not doing thine own wayes nor finding thine own pleasure nor speaking thine own words Then shalt thou delight thy self in the Lord and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it This is the second thing to be noted as to the time of religion 3. The generality of people will cry unto God and seem tobe much displeased with their sins only in the time of sickness and adversity when the hand of God is upon them and his rod upon their backs But in the dayes of their health and prosperity they forget the Lord and perhaps entertain not so much as a serious thought of him from one end of the day to the other This the Prophet notes as a common evil Isa 26.10 Let favour be shewed to the wicked yet will he not learn righteousness in the land of uprightness will he deal unjustly and will not behold the majesty of the Lord. But let him be reduced into straits and exigencies and bound with fetrers of affliction on the bed of sorrowes then he will at least seemingly lament and mourn and be earnest in seeking unto God For so it followeth v. 16. Lord in trouble have they visited thee they poured out a prayer when thy chastening was upon them This was the temper of the Israelites of old and the multitude take the like course Psal 78.34 35 36 37. When he slew them then they sought him and they returned and inquired early after God And they remembred that God was their rock and the high God their Redeemer Nevertheless they did flatter him with their mouth and lied unto him with their tongues For their heart was not right with him neither were they stedfast in his covenant My brethren you must not herein follow the track of the multitude Labour as to improve afflictions so to spiritualize all your comforts and to serve the Lord with the best of your strength and abilities Do not put him off with your sick-bed devotions and some flittering promises of obedience when you are in distress but manifest the sincerity of your hearts by dedicating your most prosperous dayes and enjoyments unto his glory That is the sure way to lay up in store a good foundation of support and comfort against the day of trouble Else what cause will there be to suspect that your affliction-eries are but the howling of hypocrites Hos 7.14 How can you with such confidence address your selves to the Lord for succour in the day of tribulation and adversity if you forget him in the time of your prosperity and peace May not you justly fear least he should laugh at your calamity and mock when your fear cometh least he should refuse to answer any of your requests in mercy least he should put you off to the world which you served and to the lusts which you satisfied to fetch your comfort from thence when you are surrounded with sorrows And they would be sure to prove very miserable comforters Instead of asswaging your grief they would increase your anguish and bring further horrour and perplexity into your spirits So he threatned tha● sinful people Jer. 2.27 28. They say unto a stock thou art my father and to a stone thou hast brought me forth for they have turned their back unto me and not the face But in the time of their trouble they will say arise and save us But where are thy Gods which thou hast made thee Let them arise if they can save thee in the time of thy trouble q. d. You would have none of me for your master when the Sun of prosperity shone upon your tabernacles and now you are reduced into straits and extremities I will have nothing to do with you except it be in a way of wrath and judgment My brethren if you be guilty of the like impiety how justly may you fear the same dreadful dismission Often read and study that awakening scripture Deut. 28.45 46 47 48. Moreover all these curses shall come upon thee and shall pursue thee

the ground and himself in it as he was endeavouring to quench the fire He that could not burn in the cause of God was burnt under the just judgments of God The like may befal you in the case of reproach and revilings If you cannot bear them in the way of righteousness the Lord may deliver you over into the hands of the devil and to be led by your own hearts into some desperately wicked courses that you may suffer reproach as the devils Martyrs and such reproach as may stick by you for ever And this is none other than what God hath threatened upon such as despise commandments * See this expressly denounced against Zedekiah He was afraid of being mockt if he kept the word of the Lord and by his disobedience he should be made a Taunt and a by-word So that the evil he feared came upon him Jer. 38.19 20 21 22 23. that he will make them a reproach either by the execution of temporal or spiritual judgments Ezek. 5.14 15. Moreover I will make thee waste and a reproach among the Nations that are round about thee in the sight of all that pass by Jer. 23.40 And I will bring an everlasting reproach upon you and a perpetual shame which shall not be forgotten See also Jer. 29.18 19. So much for the fifth way how this temptation prevaileth 6. Sinners are soon perswaded to go down the stream with a multitude in sin Because otherwise they should be persecuted and opposed by them They are willing to live at ease and quiet and to sleep in a whole skin as we are wont to express it and therefore they dare not contradict the generality lest they should be set against by them and be reduced into sufferings under their hatred and malice Thus it wrought with those false teachers mentioned Gal. 6.12 As many as desire to make a fair shew in the flesh they constrain you to be circumcised only lest they should suffer persecution for the Cross of Christ Mark it The most of the Jews were eagerly set upon the retaining of circumcision and other ceremonies of the Mosaical paedagogy and they were apt to be violently bent against any that went about the abrogation of them Now these false teachers knew well enough that all such types were abolished by the death of Christ but they durst not own it still they preached up circumcision and forced it upon the practise of the converts at Galatia against the light and convictions of their own consciences What was the reason of it Why they knew that if they stiffly adhaered to the simplicity of the Gospel and waved the Mosaical ceremonies which most of the Jews were zealous for they should be persecuted by them And this was the only reason that induced them to comply with the multitude My brethren you have many that would willingly be the disciples of Christ and his followers as long as they may do it with safety without endangering their estates or lifes or their liberties by it But when they come to take up the Cross there they faulter As the rottenness and unsoundness the hypocrisie and unbelief of the heart is the fountain whence apostacy proceeds so the dayes of tribulation and distress are the time of discrimination when Apostates are wont to discover themselves They can well be contented to make a profession of godliness and to perform some of the external duties but they are not able to go through persecutions And therefore they keep all things fair with the multitude and walk in wayes of compliance with them lest if they followed truth and holiness too close at the heels it should strike out their teeth lest if they withdrew from the multitude they should be hated and persecuted by them For pray Sirs what 's the reason why the world hates and sets against the people of God Why It is for this very thing because they walk in a way by themselves and will not do as the rest of their neighbours do they separate themselves from the generality in their practise and walk more strictly and precisely and dare not allow themselves in such licentious courses wherein others live and so their lives are a practical condemnation of the others and as a corrosive to their consciences Joh. 15.19 If ye were of the world the world would love his own But because you are not of the world but I have chosen you out of the world therefore the world hateth you Mark it If believers were of confederacy with the wicked if they could drink and revel and be vain and wanton as others are and did not take a different course by themselves they should be cherished and beloved as well as others but therefore they are hated and persecuted because they are a select company and have a peculiar way by themselves And to escape this hatred and persecution people are apt to joyn with the world and to walk according to their pattern and practise To abate the edge and take off the efficacy of this influence let me counsel you to be frequent in the meditation upon these three spiritual truths 1. That the everlasting wrath of God which is reserved as the portion of the wicked hereafter is an evil infinitely beyond all the tribulations and persecutions that can come upon the godly here So that if thou canst not bear some sharp afflictions for a time How wilt thou be able to lye under torments for ever If thou darest not walk in the wayes of holiness for fear of some trouble persecution from men How wilt thou stand under the wrath of God when he will glorifie his power in the destruction of his adversaries Why Sirs one of these will unavoidably befal you either you must live godly in Christ Jesus and then you will suffer persecution or else you must go down with the multitude into perdition either you must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of heaven or everlastingly be sent into hell torments And can you dwell with everlasting burnings Are you able to stand before the devouring fire Lay these in the ballance together and see which is to be chosen Should not a man willingly undergo the greatest hardships upon earth rather than fal into the damnation of Hell See how pathetically our Saviour presseth this very point Mark 9. 43 44. If thy hand offend thee cut it off that is mortifie and keep under the most beloved corruption deny thy self in the dearest enjoyments thou hast willingly suffer and undergo the greatest troubles and the sorest distresses It is better for thee to enter into life maimed then having two hands to go into hell into the fire that shall never be quenched where their worm dieth not and the fire is not quenched 2. That even the inward peace and consolation of the spirit that is to be had in the ways of holiness is abundantly to be preferred before that outward quiet and safety which sinners promise themselves by

maketh over himself unto you That you do not walk as others walk a Cor. 6.17 18. Wherefore come out from amongst them and be ye separate saith the Lord and touch not the unclean thing and I will receive you And I will be a father to you and ye shall be my sons and daughters saith the Lord Almighty That is the second argument for demonstration of the doctrine 3. A third reason that may be pressed against following a multitude in evil is taken from the duties that are incumbent on us in relation unto them when they sin against the Lord and do that which is displeasing in his sight There are such duties required at our hands as are not only inconsistent with confederating with them and walking after their example but diametrally opposite and contrary thereunto as light is to darkness I might insist upon many but shall content my self to instance in these four only 1. It is our duty to pity them and mourn over them and to take up a lamentation on their account To make it the grief of our spirits to see the name of God dishonoured and his statutes contemned and the bloud of the Lord jesus despised and poor souls running headlong to destruction This hath been the carriage of the Saints of God in times of corruption and wickedness Psal 119.136 Rivers of waters run down mine eyes because they keep not thy law As David was humbled for his own transgressions so it was an heart-breaking to him to see others transgress And see how the prophet Jeremy was affected with the sin and misery of the disobedient Jer. 13.17 But if not will not hear it my soul shall weep in secret places for your pride and mine eye shall weep sore and run down with tears because the Lords flock is carried away captive Now these compassionate workings and godly sorrow are a frame of spirit at a great distance from complyance with the ungodly And this is one particular that will render us conformable unto our Lord and master As he loved his own unto the end with an insuperable everlasting and unparallell'd love so his bowels were moved with pity and compassion towards his very enemies that set against him because of their folly and the wretched estate into which they had plunged themselves Luk. 19.41 42. And when he was come near he beheld the City and wept over it saying if thou hadst known even thou at least in this thy day the things which belong unto thy peace but now they are hid from thine eyes Mark the speech of Christ here how it is made up of a kind of abrupt expressions as proceeding from a spirit full of affection and tenderness and seeking as it were to ease it self in a passionate lamentation If thou hadst known q.d. Alas poor Jerusalem thy desolation is approaching because thou hadst not known the things that belong unto thy peace Well had it been for thee if thou hadst but known them Would to God thou hadst been so wise as to have taken them into thy knowledg and consideration that so thy calamities might have been averted and prevented O what a grief is it to my heart that thou bost not known them So that here is our duty if God hath cast our lot amongst many wicked that commit abominations in his sight we should be so far from joyning in a combination with them that it should stir up an holy mourning in our souls to see them trampling upon the word of God and lightly esteeming the rock of our salvation And these are the persons whom in times of publick judgments the Lord is pleased to set a mark upon namely such as do not only cry out of their own sins but are filled with sorrow for the abominations of the multitude See it in Ezekiels vision Ezek. 9.4 And the Lord said unto him Go thorow the midst of the City thorow the midst of Jerusalem and set a mark upon the foreheads of the men that sigh and that cry for all the abominations that be done in the midst thereof Set a mark upon them i. e. a mark of special and gracious observation here are the people that are beloved of the Lord unto such as these he will have respect and secondly a mark for sure deliverance and preservation when others fall at their right hand and at their left the evil determined shall not come near unto them as it is v. 6. Come not near any man upon whom is the mark You know the Angel could do nothing as to the overthrowing of Sodom till Lot was secured What was he above other men See 2 Pet. 2.7 8. And he delivered just Lot vexed with the filthy conversation of the wicked For that righteous man dwelling amongst them in seeing and hearing vexed his righteous soul from day to day with their unlawful deeds 2. When others sin it is our duty to reprove them as we have occasion and opportunity and that plainly and faithfully with christian prudence and discretion And this is utterly inconsistent with following their example * Turpe est doctori cum culpa redarguit ipsum For thou art altogether inexcusable O man whosoever thou art that judgest them that do evil and doest the same for wherein thou judgest another thou condemnest thy self He that would do good by reproving another must be sure to look warily to himself that he be not involved in the same guilt lest his words recoyle into his own face and be retorted unto his own shame and confusion That is an excellent saying of the vulgar latine and the original text will well bear the translation * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Prov. 18.17 Justus primus est accusator sui venit amicus ejus investigabit eum A just man before he meddle in the reproof of others will diligently search his own Soul and see to the cleansing and reforming of his wayes So that the duty of reproving the ungodly doth suppose we ought to keep free from the taint of their ungodliness This is the Apostle Paul's way of argumentation Eph. 5.11 Have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness but rather reprove them 3. Our duty in relation unto sinners is what in us lieth to convert them and win them over to the truth To endeavour that of ignorant they may become verst in the wayes of God and of wicked and sinful they may become serious and holy and of enemies of religion they may be sure friends and assertours of it And this is far from imitation of them For if you comply with them in sin that will harden them exceedingly and make them more bold and venturous and obstinate in their evil wayes They will argue after this sort well may we take this course for such professours of religion joyn with us and such as are accounted godly are men of our confederacy It is charged upon the prophets of Jerusalem that they committed adultery and walked in lies and

whence we may conclude that these words of our Saviour are meant not of the Jewish but of the Christian sabbath wherein his own people were concerned Indeed sometimes we meet in the Acts of the Apostles with mention made of the seventh day sabbath The Apostles taking the advantage of that day to preach to the Jews in their Synagogues but we never find it mentioned after that meeting at Troas Act. 20.7 So that long before the time of their flight they wholly withdrew from the Jewes and kept their assemblies separated by themselves on the Lords day 3 It was an ordinary thing with our Saviour before his death and passion to instruct his disciples in many divine truths which they did not rightly understand till after his resurrection or ascension When the Holy Ghost was sent to that end to bring his words to their remembrance and to teach them the right meaning of the same See Jo. 2.20 21 22. Jo. 12.16 Luk. 9.44 45. Luk. 24.44 45 46. Act. 11.15 16. This if well observed will take off the force of their objection who plead that Christs words must needs be meant of the Jewish Sabbath because say they his disciples undoubtedly so understood them This I acknowledg as probable that they took his speech as meant of the Jewish when yet our Saviour intended it of the Christian Sabbath It being usual with him to deliver many things unto them which they did not rightly understand till he was risen from the dead Probably this very business of the alteration of the Sabbath was one of the things which he had to say unto them but they could not then bear them Jo. 16.12 And one of those many things touching the kingdom of God which he taught them between his resurrection and ascension Acts 1.3 See the words of Bishop Andrews concerning this text in his Pattern of Catechistical doctrine upon the fourth commandment All ceremonies were ended in Christ but so was not the Sabbath for Mat. 24.20 Christ bids his disciples pray that their visitation be not on the Sabbath day So that there must needs be a Sabbath after Christs death Mr. Fennor in his treatise called the Spiritual mans Directory bringeth this in as a special argument for a Sabbath now in the dayes of the Gospel because as he expresseth it Christ speaking of those dayes when all the ceremonial law was dead and buried sheweth the Sabbath to stand still quoting for it this text Take the concurrent testimony of A. B. Usher Our Saviour Christ willing his followers that should live about 40. years after his ascension to pray that their flight might not be on the Sabbath day to the end they might not be hindred in the service of God doth thereby sufficiently declare that he held not this commandment in the account of a ceremony And lastly which may abundantly shew that it is not any novel interpretation Mr. Palmer and Mr. Cawdrey give this paraphrase upon the words As if Christ said unto his disciples the Jews have charged me as a breaker of the Sabbath but whatever disputes and reasonings you have heard betwixt me and them concerning that subject I would not have you to think that I am an enemy to the Sabbath or that I mean to put an end to that commandment For I tell you there shall still remain a Sabbath day to be observed to God for his worship In token whereof I admonish you to pray that your flight be not on that day The Second text I would touch upon is that prophecy of the Psalmist concerning the resurrection of Christ Psal 118.22 23 24. The stone which the builders refused is become the head stone of the corner This is the Lords doing it is marvellous in our eyes This is the day which the Lord hath made We will rejoyce and be glad in it From which words as I remember I have met with this close and formal argument The day wherein the stone which the builders refused became the head stone of the corner that is the day which in the times of the gospel the Lord hath made i. e. which he hath appointed and set apart solemnly to be observed in religious duties one of which special evangelical duties viz. praise and thanksgiving joy and gladness in the Lord is instanced in But the first day of the week or the day of the resurrection of Jesus Christ is that day wherein the stone which the builders refused became the head stone of the corner Therefore the first day of the week or the day of the resurrection of Jesus Christ is the day which in the times of the Gospel the Lord hath made i. e. which he hath consecrated and set apart for the solemn attendance upon religious duties The major proposition lieth fair and clear in the text And the minor is bottomed upon the Apostle Peters comment upon the text which comment he * Acts 4.10 11. made by the inspiration of the Holy Ghost who speaketh of this Scripture as meant of the day of our Saviours resurrection from the dead I leave therefore the conclusion to be considered Wherein I have learned Dr. Ames his concurrent apprehensions Neque facile rejiciendum est quod ab antiquis quibusdam urgetur pro die Dominicâ ex Psal 118.24 Haec est dies quam fecit Jehova Eo enim loco agitur de resurrectione Christi Christo ipso interprete Mat. 21.41 The last Scripture I will name on this account is that of the Apostle to the Hebrews cap. 4.9 10. There remaineth therefore the keeping of a Sabbath 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 unto the people of God for he that is entered into his rest he also hath ceased from his works as God did from his own As if the Apostle had said will you fall off from attendance upon gospel ordinances and question the celebration of the Christian Sabbath that you may return to Judaism again Why let me tell you the Lords-day-sabbath which now remaineth when the other is abolished is of Gods own appointment and institution David prophecied concerning it for this is the day of rest which he spake of in the 95. Psalm And besides it is bottomed on a very equitable foundation For as when God had ended the work of creation which was peculiarly his work he ordained the seventh day Sabbath in commemoration thereof So hath Christ the mediatour finished the work of redemption and is entred into his rest as God entered into his and therefore hath appointed the Christian Sabbath for celebration of the work of mans redemption I must not dwell upon all the particulars that might be insisted for the clearing and vindication of this sense of the words from the manifold exceptions that are likely to be made against it Only let these few things be seriously weighed 1 That the Hebrews unto whom the Apostle writes this Epistle and with whom he dealeth in this place were declining apace from gospel administrations and ready to embrace again