Selected quad for the lemma: duty_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
duty_n	husband_n	master_n	wife_n	4,020	5	6.5961	4	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A60406	A Christian's work and time of working In a sermon preached on the death of Mr. John Sorrel the younger, of Hyde-Hall in Great Waltham in the county of Essex. By Benjamin Smith, vicar there.	Smith, Benjamin, 1642 or 3-1714.	1675 (1675)	Wing S4021A; ESTC R220555	39,208	48

not work the works of him tha● 〈◊〉 us because as he sent us to live in Holiness towards him so he has also made it our duty to live in righteousness towards our Neighbour And thus as we may be considered as men in general there are works that are incumbent on us in that relation and as we are men we have a service to do for God to Man and 't is an equal Violation of the Law of God to rob God or to wrong Man since God has equally forbidden both Much Sacrifice will not expiate that sin nor many prayers drown the voice of its cry nothing but repentance and a reformation of our Injustice and Immorality nothing but a ceasing to do evil and a learning to do the contrary good will procure our acceptance with God and therefore we have him in the Prophet expostulating with his people who were highly injurious towards man and yet pretended to be extreamly Religious towards God They even cloy'd him with the fat of their fed Beasts and even darkned Heaven with the clouds of Incense they observed exactly their New Moons and Feasts their Sabbaths and Solemn Assemblies but withall practiced Injustice and Rapine and Violence and their hands were full of Blood they had no pitty to the Poor nor mercy to the Widdow nor regard to the Fatherless Children God therefore declares his dislike of their Religious service because of their defect in these moral duties and calls them first to the practice of them and then promises to hear and accept them in the others Let us rea●● and weigh the first chapter of Isaiah from the 10th verse to the 21th and there we shall f●nd our duty in this case and find this made good that a Religion towards God without a Conscience towards man is defective and in vain Our Work then that we are sent to do relates to Man as well as God and that as we are considered in general as men 2. But we may farther be considered as we are men placed by God in some particular Relation and Sphear to act in whether as Magistrate or Minister as Master or Servant as Husband or Wife as Parent or Child these and the like several Relations and Places call for several Works from us which are our duties as so related and as set in those places Of these a care must be had for in these al●o we serve him that sent us and he that is a faithful Labourer a good Christian will not nay dare not neglect these The consideration of all which shews that a Christians life was never designed for Jollity or Idleness Having given you a sight of thus much Work to be done without saying any more 〈◊〉 ●●ve evidently proved that we have no time to spare in wh●● we may lawfully sit still and do nothing our Work and our Time are equally matched for as long as we live we must be doing Much less can we find any time to do evil in or to serve the flesh or to be instrumental to the carrying on of the designs of the Kingdom of darkness for God made us for himself and gave us our time to be employed in his Service and 't is no less than robbing of God and being unfaithful in our trust to give any part of it to the service of another Thus much may suffice to have spoken of the Work we have to do 2. The next thing to be considered is the time when this Work ought to be done a thing almost as material to be enquired after as the Work it self for as some mistake or are ignorant of their Work so it may be more mistake the true notion of their time and therefore defer it because they think the time not yet come to begin or set about it This time the Text says is while it is day and the meaning of that has been shown to be while the time of Life lasts for the Text plainly excludes Eternity from being a season for work for it tells us if this Life be at an end so is our work too the Night cometh wherein no man can Work Now since the time of this Life may be divided into three parts past present and to come all the matter of our Enquiry will be Which of these three is our working time in which we ought to apply our selves to our business For that which is past there can be no question made whether that be a time for Work which remains yet to be done for it is elaps'd and gone and being once lost is irrecoverable we may more easily recall the River that slides insensibly by hasting to the Ocean than recover the dayes that are silently stollen on towards Eternity there is no use to be made of the time past but only this by reflexion upon what we have lost or idly mispent to quicken and awaken our selves to the more careful improvement of what remains 'T is impertinent to wish that we had our time again since that cannot be all our wisdom in this case is to lay the faster hold upon what we yet have This therefore being granted that the time that is past is none of ours and cannot now be imployed in Work yet it may be hoped that what is to come may be counted our own and that we have a better hold of that 'T is true at present we are not disposed for Work or are otherwise imployed but we are Young or hope to live long or hope at least that we shall not dye yet and so hope we may have time enough for Work hereafter This is the usual Plea that men make for delaying their Work till the time to come and this is the ruiu of many a one and a fatal Snare in which Satan entangles many an unwary Soul while he beats them off from what is present and sure and turns them over to what is future and contingent He perswades them 't is too soon to repent and reform yet that 't is too early to sadden and damp the jollity and briskness of their Youth with the sad entertainment of sorrow and repentance or with the melancholly apprehensions of Death and Judgment another time he perswades them to be more fit for those things and that Old Age or at least an Age more solid and stayed more flegmatick and serious than the sprightliness of Youth would be a season much more proper to mind and accomplish that work But while unwary man listens to these charms the fatal hour steals on and the night comes wherein no man can work How many defer their Work till Old age that dye in the prime of their Youth and how many delay till too morrow that never live to see that day How many put off their Repentance till they come to be sick whom death never gives so fair a warning to but cuts them down unawares in the midst of their health and strength Delays are dangerous and if they are any where so then much more