Selected quad for the lemma: master_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
master_n	great_a	lord_n	servant_n	6,565	5	6.4913	4	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A50103	The Christian temper of moderation described and recommended in a sermon before the Right Honourable the Lord Mayor, &c. in Gvild-Hall-Chappel on the first Sunday in Hillary term, Jan. 26, 1689/1690 / by Samuel Masters ...	Masters, Samuel, 1645 or 6-1693.	1690 (1690)	Wing M1068; ESTC R31219	13,428	42

great Master of the Family in which we live observing curiously how his Orders are kept taking strict notice how all his Servants behave themselves both towards him and one toward another Thus he walked amidst the seven Golden Chandlesticks observing whatever was Laudable or Culpable in the Churches of Asia He was so nigh to Saul when breathing out Rage and Fury against his Disciples 9 Acts. 4. that he himself felt the Wounds of his Persecution And St. Peter tells us that a meek and quiet Spirit in the private Society of a Family and much more in the publick society of his Church is taken notice of by God 1 Pet. 3.4 is in his sight of great Price How careful then should we be of practising this Moderation in our Actions yea in our words yea in our very thoughts one toward another seeing our Lord who so strictly commands it is so near at hand to observe our carriage 2. The Lord is at hand in the course of his Providence disposing of us and of all Events and Circumstances about us which should highly engage us to the practice of this Moderation That Lord who surrounds us with his continual Providence makes us the opportunites we meet with for exercising this Moderation to others which if we should refuse how soon can he with the turn of his hand put us into a condition to need a like Moderation to be us'd towards us And how justly may we expect it if we should so highly provoke him If we are willing to comply with his Precept he is at hand to assist us with his Grace in the performance of so difficult a duty and to reward us for it with the Blessings of his Providence but if we refuse to practice this Moderation toward our fellow-servants we have no reason to expect any better treatment from them or from our Lord himself They who consider the inconstant Revolutions to which humane Affairs are subject will think it prudent to grant such conditions to others which they may sometime ask for themselves and they who believe God's Providence and what he hath so often declared that he resisteth the proud and avengeth the cause of the oppressed will think it necessary to approve themselves to him in the practice of that Moderation he so expresly requires 3. The Lord is at band to call us to an account of our behaviour both toward him and one toward another and it therefore highly concerns us to be found of him in good temper and in good order which Argument is thus expressed by St. James James 9. Grudg not one against another brethren lest ye be condemned behold the Judg standeth at the door Tho the Solemn Day of the General Judgment may be at a great distance yet we have reason to expect a much shorter time for the private Audit of particular Persons and of particular Churches and States which have their own Fates and Periods within the greater Revolution of the World And our Lord is never nearer to enter into Judgment with us than when we live most disorderly and uncharitably among our selves for he hath declared that if any of his servants shall say in his heart 12 Mat. 45 46. My Lord delayeth his coming and shall begin to beat the men-servants and maidens and to eat and drink and be drunken the Lord of that servant shall come in a day that he looked not for him and at an hour that he is not aware and will cut him asunder and appoint him his portion with unbelievers And when out Lord enters into Judgment with us a great part of our account will consist of our demeanour and carriage toward our fellow-servants not only how justly and honestly but also how humbly meekly and charitably we have behaved our selves in our Converses and Dealings one with another And we are plainly foretold what Sentence we must expect that he who will not forgive his fellow-servant a few pence shall never be discharged by his Lord from the many Talents he is himself indebted 18 Mat. 23 c that he shall have judgment without mercy 2 James 13. that shewed no mercy That to them that are contentious God will render indignation and wrath 2 Rom. 8 9. tribulation and anguish i. e. That the righteous Judg will not use that Moderation towards them which they refus'd at his command to practice towards others If then we find our selves not much persuaded to this Duty for our Lord's sake or for our Brethren's sake yet let us do it for our own sake that our great Judg may use such Moderation towards us in not being strict to mark what we have done amiss or severe in punishing us according to our deserts 3. I have now explain'd the Precept and urg'd the Argument of the Text it remains that we make a seasonable Application of both to our serves 1. In our first Reflections we cannot forbear to condemn and bewail the scarcity and defect of this Moderation among us It is too notorious to be dissembled how many of all Parties want this blessed Temper who being strangers to this Moderation have become Enemies against it and to such a degree as even to hate its very Name and to blacken it with the worst of Names and to treat those most unkindly who would set any Lessons or Patterns of this Moderation before them And what may add wonder to our Lamentation they pretend in all this a Zeal for the Publick Interests of Church and State as if our case were so odd and peculiar that that Moderation which is the best Preservative of all other Societies would be the greatest bane of ours or that Divisions and Contentions would prove as great Blessings to us as they are mischiess to others 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Plutarch inter 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Plutarch wonders what Solon meant by making a Law That it should be a Reproach to any man to be a Neuter in a time of publick Dissentions because as he argues he left never a Wise man to arbitrate amidst the litigant Parties or ever a sober Citizen for the rest to reform by And among his other Political Precepts he adviseth That a Magistrate should above all things take care to cherish Peace and Concord 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Ibid. and to suppress all dissentions and quarrels in the Commonwealth and he instructs them to use this Argument to those that are at variance That they who can forgive and comply with others do excel them in Wisdom and Greatness of Spirit as much as they do in Moderation and Good Nature But when we consider what painful Convulsions this bitter zeal hath for a long time produc'd among us and to what eminent dangers it lately exposed us that its fervour doth not yet remit but rather increase renders our case so sad and strange that we cannot account for it without recurring to a superiour Cause and acknowledging that an Evil Spirit from the Lord is gone out among us as a Tempter to seduce us and a Tormentor to punish us and we have great reason to bewail that ill Temper we are in both as a heinous Sin and as a dreadful Judgment 2. Suffer me in the Conclusion to Exhort and Persuade you to this Moderation with an earnestness that its Nature deserves and our Necessities require Let me beseech you by the Authority of Almighty God that requires it by the meekness and gentleness of Christ who was so eminent a Pattern of it by the Honour and Safety of that pure Religion we profess by the Settlement and Prosperity of the Church and Nation to which we are related by all the Interests that are dear to us in this World and the Rewards of the next that your Moderation be known unto all men Let Meekness and Humility Patience and Forbearance Brotherly-kindness and Charity exalt our spirits into this excellent Temper which would soon compromise all our Differences and restore that peace which would sweeten and secure all our Injoyments Let us lay aside all reproachful Names of Distinction let us no longer upbraid one another with any past Miscarriages or return the Injuries we have received in any Unchristian Revenges let us readiy forgive those who Disclaim their former Errors and with Meekness instruct those who cannot yet extricate themselves from them Let us condescend and comply one with another as far as we can with a good Conscience to recover that Unity and Amity we have lost and let us mark those who would cause Divisions among us to avoid them Let us contend no longer except in a kind Emulation who shall approve themselves the wiser Men and better Christians in being most forward and earnest in seeding and making Peace Let us not be discourag'd or affrighted out of this Moderation by the ill Arts of those who are not so good themselves nor can endure to see so much good as would be hereby wrought among us Let us industriously incourage and promote this Moderation among all with whom we Converse and highly honour those in whom it most eminently appears as the truest Friends of our Church and Nation who take the best course to advance and secure the Publick Interests of both It hath pleas'd God by a most merciful Revolution of his Providence to place us under a Government that excels in Moderation that abhors the policy of weakning us by Divisions that it may advance it self into an exorbitant Power that earnestly invites us to peace and designs for us a happy and lasting Settlement Let not us with a perverse Frowardness oppose the kindest offers of God and our Prince but wisely embrace the opportunity is made us and thankfully accept the Blessings are cast into our Bosoms Then may we live as Christians and love as Brethren then may Peace be within our Walls and Prosperity within our Borders then Mercy and Truth may meet together and Righteousness and Peace may kiss each other And when we are sufficiently impyov'd in this Divine Temper of Moderation we may be capable of Admission into the blessed Society of Saints and Angels above where are no Sects or Parties no Quarrels or Contentions but where we shall injoy the most delightful Entertainments of Love and Peace to all Eternity FINIS

Duty nor any one fall beneath this Priviledg without this no Counsels can be well advised or any Affairs rightly administred or any Order or Peace preserv'd With this Moderation Superiors should treat their Inferiors framing their Laws with Clemency and Administring them with Equity whereby they become in St. Peter's Phrase 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 1 Pet. 2.18 which we render Good and Gentle With the same Moderation should Inferiors submit to those that are over them not only to the Good and Gentle but also to the froward interpreting their Actions candidly obeying their Commands chearfully and submitting meekly to their Impositions even to the Prejudice of their private Interests when requisite to the Publick Good With such Moderation also Equals should meet together on their level without interfering or quarrelling one with another Speaking evil of no man Titus 3.2 being not brawlers or contentious but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 gentle shewing meekness unto all men In a word this Moderation is so necessary to all Persons and in all Conditions and Offices of Life that some have thought fit to render the Original Word in the Text by the general Name of Humanity This may suffice for explaining the Precept injoyn'd in the former part of the Verse 2. I proceed to consider the Argument annex'd for inforcing the practice of the foregoing Rule in those Words 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Lord is at hand The words are few but weighty either of them is a Topick pregnant with very cogent Motives whether we consider the Lord who is at hand or the nearness of that Lord to us 1. If we consider that Lord who is at hand several Arguments will arise from thence to oblige us to the practice of this Moderation 1. He is the Lord who hath an absolute Authority over us who expresly commands this Duty We acknowledg him to be such a Lord and we cannot but have observ'd how frequently and earnestly his Laws recommend to us Meekness and Humility Long-suffering and mutual Forbearance Unity and Peace which make up this comprehensive Grace or Duty of Moderation These are the chief Parts or Properties of that holy Religion he hath instituted for so St. James describes that Wisdom which is from above it is pure peaceable 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 gentle James 3.17 and easy to be intreated Who then upon Earth hath Power to forbid that Moderation which the Lord from Heaven hath prescribed How meanly or unkindly soever we may think of one another yet shall we dare to despise the Lord or think lightly of one of his Precepts Altho this Duty may be very irksome to our carnal Heats yet this must supersede all our Cavilations and Reluctancies that he who is the Lord commands it 2. He is the Lord of our Fellow-Servants who hath indulged them the Priviledg to be treated with such Moderation and therefore we may not deny it to them If we account our selves the Children or Servants of that great Family of which he is the Lord we cannot but allow him the Right to make what Orders he thinks fit among us and that it is our Duty to practice that Behaviour one towards another which he hath appointed to yield to every one those Concessions and Priviledges which he hath granted them to pay that respect and shew that favour to our Brethren which he hath allowed them if not for their sake yet for the Lords sake who made the Allowance We read what care our Lord hath taken of those who through meanness weakness or rudeness of knowledg seem to be least in his heavenly Kingdom Matt. 9.6 c. He tells us That it is his Fathers pleasure that not one of them should perish that he himself came to save them that their Angels always behold the face of his Father that therefore no man should despise or offend them and if any did it were better for him that a milstone were hang'd about his neck and he were drown'd in the depth of the Sea And with a like Argument St. Paul presseth this Duty of Moderation Let not him that eateth despise him that eateth not and let not him that eateth not Rom. 14.3 4. judg him that eateth for God hath received him Who art thou that judgest another mans servant to his own Master he standeth or falleth yea he shall be holpen up for God is able to make him stand 3. He who is the Lord of us all doth himself treat all of us with such Moderation whose Example should direct and ingage us into a like practice one toward another Altho he be the high and holy One yet he condescends to accommorate himself his Laws and his Providence to our Capacity and Condition He humbles his Glorious Majesty in such rude Representations as we are capable of apprehending he was content to renew his Law to us by Revelation after we had defac'd the Original which was at first impress'd on our Nature and he continues to teach us with line upon line and precept upon precept as our dull Capacities can receive it He is not strict to mark what we do amiss he is slow to anger and rich in mercy he doth not afflict willingly he pitieth while he corrects he meets his penitent prodigals more than half way forgives them easily and most affectionately embraceth them How eminent an Example of this Moderation was our Blessed Saviour while he lived in the World amidst the Contradictions Blasphemies and Persecutions of the worst of Men whom yet he persisted to pity and instruct and for whom he pray'd and died How ill would it go with us if our Lord should not use such Moderation toward us But then how unaccountably strange must it seem that the great Lord of Heaven should condescend and concede so much to us and we think it too much to do so to one another that he should be Lowly and Meek Long-suffering and easy to be intreated towards us and we be Proud Churlish Inexorable and Revengeful one against another And therefore the Scriptures do so often recommend such Duties to us from the obliging Pattern of Almighty God and our Blessed Saviour 2. If we lay the Emphasis on the other word and consider how nigh our Lord is to us that will supply us with three Arguments more according to the threefold Interpretation of the Phrase The Lord is at Hand 1. The Lord is at hand in his Omnipresence and Omniscience beholding and observing our temper and behaviour one toward another So near is our Lord to us that he knows our Thoughts even before our minds are conscious of them there is not a Word in our Tongue but before we utter it he knows it altogether and there are none of our Ways or Actions in any distance of place or under any coverts of Privacy or Darkness which are hid from his All-seeing Eye Psalm 139. as the Psalmist elegantly describes his Omnipresence Our Lord is thus at hand as the