Selected quad for the lemma: duty_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
duty_n	heart_n	love_n	love_v	3,572	5	6.5737	4	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A48382	Stephanos pistou, or, The true Christians character & crown described in a sermon at the parish church of St. Botolph, Bishopsgate, July 15, 1669 at the funeral of Mr. William Cade, deputy of that ward / by John Lake.	Lake, John, 1624-1689.	1671 (1671)	Wing L198; ESTC R26150	20,722	50

seven Vials or to make the Trumpets give a certain sound The mystical part of this Book I leave to those who love to see where they have no light and to look most upon God where he hideth himself from them My Text is a piece of plain Morality a business not of the head but of the heart Here are no Riddles unless of love and wonder that God should twist our duty with our interest and encourage the short exercise of virtue with everlasting rewards faithfulness in a little so it be unto death with a crown of life which knoweth neither measure nor end Accordingly the words present you with 1. A Precept 2. A Promise 3. The necessary connexion of both The first contains mans duty Be thou faithful The second Gods Grace I will give thee c. The third the mutual relation and dependance of the one upon the other Be thou faithful unto death and I will give thee a crown of life I begin with the Precept as you also must do if ever you would attain the promised crown and there are these two things in it 1. The duty it self Be thou faithful 2. The extent of that duty unto death The first thing that offers to our consideration is the duty it self which containeth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the whole of man and consisteth in the careful and conscionable discharge of all the rest This is Vniversale Officium an Office of universal necessity and importance What is spoken to this Angel speaketh to me to you and to every one that hath an ear to hear what the Spirit saith unto the Churches Most men are apt enough if not too much to read this Lesson to the Angels of the Churches To say unto Archippus Take heed to the Ministery which thou hast received of the Lord that thou fulfil it Col. 4.17 and it is well if they say it in such modest terms as these They are better acquainted with his duty than their own and are rigid exacters of it That burthen which even real much more these metaphorical Angels are insufficient for they aggravate upon them and weigh them out their work by the Shekel of the Sanctuary They must be Angels not in name and stile only but in all the measures of Angelical Perfection and wherein they fall or seem to fall short each man darteth his 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Be thou faithful at them and doth not so much admonish as censure and upbraid them But however men may turn the edge of this exhortation another way yet it is levelled at all speaketh to as many as desire and expect the crown and none may exempt himself or plead a priviledge Christ as occasion is saith aliis alia several things to several men one thing to one and another to another according to their various necessities and capacities but this omnibus singulis to all and every one and whatever his place and state is he must adorn it with fidelity This is not a meer Evangelical Counsel for those that would be great in the Kingdom of Heaven that would have crowns more rich and radiant than their fellows or not content with crowns would have coronets added to them for their supererogatory virtue and merit It is not appropriate to Christians of the highest form in Christs School or whose place and state giveth them the advantage of singular perfection It is not confined to the Monks Cloister and Cowl to those that live out of the world whilst they are in it The Laity may not shuffle it off to the Clergy nor men of the active to men of the contemplative life But it is the duty of all Christs Disciples in common absolutely necessary to constitute them Christians and to make them capable of being Saints It saith unto the Magistrate Be thou faithful Behave thy self as one that is Gods Vicegerent upon earth that holds his place represents his person and hath the impress of his power See that thou bear neither the Scepter nor the Sword in vain but stand up like Phinehas and execute judgment lest thou fall under the stroke of it thy self See that God and his Honour to whom thou owest all thine suffer no detriment Reflect those beams of his with which thou shinest and be in effect 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the breathing Image of God It saith unto the Minister Be thou faithful Take heed to thy self and to thy Doctrine Be a pattern to the Believers in word in conversation in charity 1 Tim. 4.16 Ibid. v. 12. in spirit in faith in purity Shine like a Star burn like a Seraphim and think Christ hath fixed thee in so eminent a Sphere that shouldest shed thy rays upon all about thee Watch for those Souls which God hath given thee in charge as at the peril of thine own and when thy Lord cometh let him find thee so doing It saith unto the rich and honourable Prov. 3.9 Be thou faithful Honour the Lord with thy substance and with the first fruits of they increase Thy lot is fallen to thee in a good ground only be thou careful to cultivate and improve it Know God hath given to thee that he might give to others by thee and if thou embezzle or bury thy Talents they will only aggravate thy accompt Thy opportunities and advantages set thee nearer heaven and give thee the capacities of a more orient crown if thou wilt work salvation out of them but otherwise they will add precipitation to thy ruin Thy authority and example are very influential and thou canst neither perish nor be saved but in state and therefore in respect to other mens souls be faithful to thine own It saith yet again to the poor and abject Be thou faithful Faithful though in a little And by how much less it is thy care is more concerned to use it well and to make up what is wanting in stock by a wise and faithful improvement of it like Zachaeus supplying what he lacked in stature by climbing up into a Sycamore Tree Thou maist be zealous for God though thou canst not make so great a blaze and moving in a lower and lesser Sphere thou maist the better fill it Another stands upon higher but thou upon safer ground and with smaller helps and means thou hast fewer temptations also Briefly it saith to every man of what kind degree or quality soever he is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Be thou faithful Faithful in thy general and faithful in thy special calling faithful to God to man to thine own soul faithful in all relations and conditions and in all the actions and offices both of common and christian life Give suum cuique to every one his due to God his due and to thy neighbour his Attend the place and station wherein God hath set and settled thee finish the work which he hath given thee to do and refer the wages to him who never faileth to pay his servants that which he hath promised

to himself more durable than the famed Stones of Paros and by continuing faithful unto death hath shrin'd his Ashes in an immortal Urn. But I am affraid I have tired you too much already with this tedious Epistle and therefore do humbly crave your pardon which I have but little reason to doubt of considering your excellent temper disposition which I understand so well that I verily believe I can do nothing to displease you And though the strength of my affections hath carrried me out into a short Panegyrick of our deceased Friend yet for this I hope I shall not meet with any rigid censure seeing it is but a just return of civility to him who both living and dying did always abound in all imaginable expressions of love and kindness unto me And now Sir I dare assure you I have but very few things to add before J kiss your hands and bid you Farewell One thing I desire to acquaint you withall before you come so far as to take notice of it that in all this Discourse there is no mention made of our Friends Pedegree and Extraction Neither was the Reverend Author when he Preach'd the Sermon desir'd by me to enlarge upon that subject For though he was descended of worthy Ancestors who for several years liv'd in good credit and repute at a Countrey-Village called Boughton in Nottingham-shire yet methinks all that honour and glory which we derive from our Progenitors is not so much to be priz'd and valued as personal worth and acquired eminency The Spaniards have a Saying amongst them which comes now into my mind Al hombre bueno no busques abolengo i. e. Never trouble thy self to enquire after the Pedegree of a virtuous man His own excellency is enough to make him esteem'd in the world and a good name purchased by virtuous actions shall far out-shine all those great and glorious Titles which an ancient House and a renowned Family can convey unto us And thus it was with this worthy Person His own wisdom and prudence made his countenance to shine and whilst he liv'd advanced his fame and reputation in the world and having serv'd his generation for several years conducted at last his gray hairs with honour to the grave He did not so much receive a lustre from his House and Kindred as added of himself a remarkable light and brightness to it Not unlike the Sun which makes both the Heavens and Earth to glister and shine not with any borrowed Rays and reflected Beams but with his own naked Splendor I shall not trouble you here with a Catalogue of his charitable works at his decease because they have long since been publickly divulg'd and the persons concern'd already in actual possession of them Not that I would conceal any thing out of any by respect or reservation to my self but because I look upon it as an unnecessary performance For as for my self I have been so far from falling short of a most punctual execution of his will and pleasure that in sundry particulars especially where love and kindness and charity were concern'd I I have far outdone it And so conscious to my self I am of my own faithfulness and integrity that I dare publickly bid the world defiance to tax me with any one particular action that may in the least bespeak me either Vncharitable or Vnjust That which I can tax my self withall and which doth still afflict my spirit is principally this that the great care diligence and circumspection which I used in the management of these secular affairs did eat up so much of my precious time and unavoidably drew me from the exercise of my Function in which I always took so much contentment and satisfaction But now having discharg'd that trust which Gods providence hath laid upon me I am ready to return to my Masters service to which I doubt not in the least but that his goodness will speedily restore me as his wisdom thought fit for a season to draw me from it But Sir I forget my self and much more you That I may not beyond all measure abuse your patience I will choose rather to break off abruptly with this short though duplicate Petition First That the world may daily abound with such worthy persons as your self and our deceased Friend men 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 clothed about with abundance of wisdom understanding justice and integrity that by this means virtue and true goodness may be encourag'd and vice and wickedness may be discountenanc'd though it bear it self out with a brazen brow and a conscience many times of as course a metal Secondly and to conclude That for all your respect and kindness to me God may reward you abundantly and return it a hundred and a hundred fold into your bosom That peace and plenty and length of days may be your portion here in this world and glory and honour and immortality in the world to come Which is the earnest prayer and hearty desire of Sir Your very humble Very much obliged Servant James Cade Morefields August 2. 1671. THE TRUE CHRISTIANS CHARACTER and CROWN REVEL 2.10 Be thou faithful unto death and I will give thee a crown of life I Have no sooner read my Text but I know you have accommodated it to the occasion of this time the Funerals of our deceased Brother whom I may fitly call the Transcript of it Whilst he lived he was the Transcript of the former part even faithful unto death and he is now become the Transcript of the latter part God no doubt having given him as the reward of his faithfulness a crown of life There you might behold him in his spiritual 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 pressing towards the mark now enjoying the price of his high calling There running with patience the race that was set before him now entred into his rest There in short conquering now triumphing there winning now wearing the crown In the former he went before us as our example in the latter he is gone before us as our encouragement And it will be our honour and happiness to follow him in both The words are part of an Epistle to the Angel i.e. the Bishop of the Church of Smyrna Polycarpus was the Angel or Bishop of this Church as Ecclesiastical History hath inform'd us See Euseb li. 4. cap. 14 15. There is extant an Epistle of Ignatius to this Polycarpus and another of his to the Church of Smyrna of which Polycarp was Bishop By which it appears of how great antiquity Episcopacy is being as ancient as the Apostles themselves whose immediate successors the Bishops most certainly were Polycarpus non solùm ab Apostolis eruditus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Euseb loco citat f. 127. but it cometh open to us and it will not be rudeness but our wisdom and duty to look into it and take out the Lesson I mean not here to reveal the Revelation or to unclasp the sealed book to cast the water of the