Selected quad for the lemma: duty_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
duty_n	good_a	great_a	time_n	3,206	5	3.6108	3	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A95904	A few things of great weight offered to the consideration of all sober people, and to friends of truth more particularly, with relation to their early care and Christian endeavour to season the minds of their children while they are young, with the sense and savour of the spirit of truth / by Richard Vickris.	Vickris, Richard, d. 1700.	1697 (1697)	Wing V338; ESTC R42492	9,717	45

the Quickening of the Soul to an Exercise of Spiritual Sense and Feeling of the Power and Virtue of his Truth by which alone the Soul is made Capable of receiving the true Knowledge thereof and a fit Vessel to retain it So here is a difference between a Living and Spiritual Knowledge and a Dead Natural Fleshly Knowledge The one gives Victory the other leads into and leaves in Bondage the one is attained by Faith into a New and Spiritual Life the other is gathered by a Fleshly Sense and Comprehension into the old corrupt Nature which is not the proper Organ of Reception of the True and Saving Knowledge of God and the things that appertain to his Heavenly Kingdom It 's the old Bottle that is not fit for the New Wine of the Kingdom Make the Tree Good said Christ and his Fruit Good or else make the Tree Corrupt and its Fruits Corrupt Of one of these all are and accordingly must be Denominated and the Tree is known by its Fruits we were all by Nature of the Corrupt Tree or Wild Olive and cannot be made good but by being cut off and Grafted anew contrary to Nature into the good Olive Tree which is Christ Jesus the Root and Off-spring of David the Bright and Morning Star the Alpha and Omega the Foundation of the Prophets and Apostles Who being thus inwardly Experienced and Acknowledged to be laid by God in Zion a Sure Elect and Precious Corner Stone the Way the Truth and Life according to his own Blessed Testimony of himself in John 14.6 and that no Man cometh to the Father but by him The Compleating of all our Happiness consists in coming unto him abiding with him or building upon him for as Christ said Without me ye can do nothing John 15.5 It is not in Man that Walketh to direct his Steps Jer. 10.23 And if a Man cannot direct his own Steps aright how shall he direct the Steps of others which leads me to Express something that Lives and Rests upon my Spirit to Friends of Truth Concerning the Discharge of our Christian Care and Duty towards others more particularly our Tender Off-spring from a true Sense of the strict Relation that Exercise necessarily hath to a Spiritual Ability from God to a right Performance thereof And therefore Friends more particularly you who are Parents of Children a few things hath opened in my Mind to Recommend to your Consideration touching this great Duty of Educating our Children in the Love and Fear of God by the Power and Influence of his Blessed Truth VVe know God hath so Manifested his Light and Truth in us that the Devil hath not been able to Extinguish it or Obliterate the Certain Sense and Experimental Knowledge of its Testimony in our selves And therefore he hath and doth use his utmost Endeavour to do it in our Off-spring and deprive them of the Benefit of our Faith by lessening our Zeal for the Truth and thereby our Spiritual Love and Care for them and by this means he hopes to obtain his end in the succeeding Generations viz. to lay waste the Blessed Testimony thereof in the Earth but our God beholds his secret VVorkings and doth and will open the Eyes of his Children and People to see and escape his Snares and enable them to Resist and Disappoint all his VVicked Purposes against his Flock and Heritage who hath all Power and Sufficiency to do whatsoever pleaseth him and will Accomplish his VVill in all those that Love and Fear him now henceforth and for ever Such is the Power and Prevalency of the Truth that as in the Days of Christ's Appearance in the Flesh the Devils were subject and made to confess to him so hath it been in our Day But the Righteous then were Exhorted not to Rejoyce therein but rather that their Names were written in the Lamb's Book of Life and so it is now And this is the Souls only Happiness Fortress and Security from Danger for ever Now hereinto we must all come and abide for our selves and hereby as we ought we shall be enabled to be helpful to others especially our tender Off spring that God hath Blessed us with whom he Loves and Delights to do good unto and for that end hath bestowed them upon us and given us the Knowledge of his Truth that we may Minister it to them and present them to God thereby that is by the Power and Virtue of his Truth to season their Hearts and Minds with the Love and Fear of God as is said before in their tender Years that as they grow up they may be fitted and prepared to meet the Lord and to know him in themselves by the sweet Influences of him through us their dear Parents and so shall we be Instrumental to bring them unto Christ who said Suffer little Children to come unto me and forbid them not for of such is the Kingdom of Heaven Mar. 10.14 Now this is a Spiritual Work and therefore requires a Spiritual Capacity and Ability Rightly to perform it and this Capacity is not of Man nor in the Will and Time of Man but of God and therefore to be sought for and waited for from him from whom every Good and Perfect Gift cometh and in whose Hand are the Times and Seasons And unless we are thus Exercised and Qualified whatever other Abilities of VVisdom and Knowledge we have attained to and are exercised in we shall fall short of a right Performance of this great Duty towards our Children of begetting them to God it was a right Conclusion in Solomon Expressed in his Prayer to God for Wisdom viz. Tho' a Man be never so Perfect amongst the Children of Men yet if thy Wisdom be not with him he shall be nothing Regarded Book of Wis 9.6 All our Power and Sufficiency to act and do for God is of him and from him how then can we do the Work of the Spirit without the Spirit of God It is the Spirit of God that begets to him and if we are not begotten thereby or do not continue therein how can we perform the Works thereof which are Spiritual surely none can Flesh and Spirit are contrary each to other and have differing Powers as well as Fruits and Effects and the Tree is known by its Fruits if the Tree be Corrupt the Fruits will be Evil and though the Cry should be Lord Lord it will not give an entrance into Christ's Kingdom if the Will of his Father be not done which is in Heaven no more will the Doctrine of Truth Truth beget to God unless it spring from the Life and Power of Truth in our selves that is unless we so Live as to obtain entrance into God's Kingdom for our selves how shall we help to bring our Children thereinto No on the contrary if our Fruits be Evil our Tree is Corrupt and hinders them For he that is not of me said Christ is against me and he that gathereth not with me scattereth abroad And of such