Selected quad for the lemma: sin_n
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A67234
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The duty and obligations of serving God a sermon preach'd before the Queen at White-hall, July xxix, 1694 / by Christopher Wyvill ...
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Wyvill, Christopher, 1651?-1711.
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1694
(1694)
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Wing W3785; ESTC R38323
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12,959
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34
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Presence of it do hide their Faces and the Devils for fear of it do shake and tremble And what kind of persons then are they that in Contemplation of so Excellent and so Glorious a Being can refuse to serve him with their utmost Power 3. Besides we should consider that we are obliged to this Duty by the Example of all the rest of our Fellow-Creatures who if we should be neglectful of it or deficient in it might all upbraid us for it For do we not see how all the Creatures of the World all the Works of God though never so much void of Sense and Reason do bear their parts in serving the Author of their Being inasmuch as they prosecute the design for which he made them And if we Men whom God hath endow'd with Reason and Judgment whom he hath every way qualified and made fit for his Service if we should not have a share in this high and most important Work how justly might our Stupidity be reproved by their Subjection 4. We should also further consider what just Right and Title God Almighty hath to our best services We are or should be his Servants by Right of Creation for He hath made us and not we our selves by Right of Purchace and Redemption for he hath bought us and redeemed us not with corruptible things as silver and gold but with the precious Blood of Christ by Right of Conquest and Deliverance for God by sending his Son to die for us conquer'd Sin and Satan and Hell and hath delivered us out of their Power and Rage that we being delivered such Enemies might serve him without fear in Holiness and Righteousness before him all the days of our life He therefore having such and so great Right and so many and so strong Titles to our Service how can we with-hold it from him If we are obliged to give unto Caesar the things that are Caesar's why should we not give unto God what doth so justly belong unto him In not doing of which we shall be unjust and sacrilegious in the highest degree 5. To this we may also add that it is an honourable thing to serve God the best and the noblest Employment That which is the proper work of reason That wherein consisteth the greatest Honour and from whence doth redound the truest Glory that the Sons of Men can be capable of 'T is not a service which we need be ashamed of or blush to own or seek to decline but rather such as we have the greatest reason in the World to be glad and proud of 'T is an Employment that ennobles Heaven and wherein the Angels themselves do rejoice and glory The wisest and the best of Men have all along esteem'd it a great title of Honour to be stiled the Servants of God St. Paul in his Epistle to Titus calls himself the Servant of God and the Epistle of St. James begins thus James the servant of God and Moses who was a great Prince and a Ruler under God of all the Tribes of Israel hath this honourable Character given of him as also Joshua his immediate Successor had that he was the servant of the Lord and that I may mention no more of this kind David himself who was an Anointed King in many places of the Book of Psalms makes mention of his being the servant of God as a matter wherein his greatest Glory and Renown did consist Indeed 't is That which adds a Lustre and a Glory to the Crowns of Princes and makes them shine with the greater Brightness 't is That which advanceth the poor Man to an high Degree in the Love and Favour of God and which adorns and beautifies the Soul more than all the external Appendages of State and Grandeur without it can set off or advantage the Body 't is That only which can make the rich Men truly honourable and gain them the truest Esteem and Veneration Them that honour me saith God I will honour and they that despise me shall be lightly esteemed To serve God is to honour him and they that do so shall be honour'd by him not to serve God is to despise him and they that do so shall be rejected of him Honour and Esteem both with God and Men do constantly attend the Observance of this Duty Disreputation and everlasting Contempt are the natural Consequents of neglecting it Being therefore that all Men are naturally desirous of Honour being nothing can be a greater Honour to us than to be employ'd in the Service of God why should not this be one good Motive to induce a Man to resolve to serve him 6. And then we should consider farther in the last place that our State in this World is not of a very long continuance our Life is upon the wing and every moment hasting to its Period every day that we live we draw nearer to our End and many Instances of Mortality we meet with which may put us in mind of our Death But then what will become of us in the other World if our Life be not spent in the Service of God in this We are sure that we shall not be eternally extinct like the Beasts that perish we shall not cease to have a Being even when we are departed hence but we shall assuredly live either in Eternal Misery or Eternal Happiness and there is no way for the avoiding the one or obtaining the other than by serving God whilst we are on this side the Grave If we serve Sin the wages we shall reap thereby besides the terrours of an afflicted Conscience will be Eternal Death That will be our Misery but if being made free from sin we become the servants of God we shall have our fruit unto holiness and the end besides the comforts of a good Conscience everlasting life Rom. 6. 22. that will be our Happiness and our everlasting Reward This whosoever doth seriously consider he must be egregiously stupid and senseless if he prefers not the Service of God to all the vain Pleasures and Enjoyments of the World and chuseth rather to serve him faithfully whilst he lives here than by neglecting so to do to run the hazard of being eternally miserable hereafter We know not how soon we may die and go into another World and we shall be very unwise if we take not care that our portion may be amongst the Blessed even in those happy Mansions above where all the true Servants of God enjoy never-fading Felicity and reap those Pleasures which are at God's right hand and endure for evermore And thus from these few Considerations many more I might alledge but from these few we may sufficiently discern what great Motives and Reasons there are that may perswade us to this Duty of serving God There may perhaps be such unreasonable Persons who like those in the Prophet Malachi speak against the Lord with stout words and either say openly with their mouths or think secretly in their hearts that it is in vain to serve God and what profit is it that we have kept his ordinances Mal. 3. 13 14. or with those wicked Men in Job What is the Almighty that we should serve him and what profit shall we have if we pray unto him Job 21. 14 15. But ah miserably deluded Men how do they speak How do they think without all Truth and Reason For never any Man did truly serve God who was not a great Gainer thereby either in this World or in the other which is far better Wherefore whatever the sentiments of wicked Men may be whatever may befal us in the World upon This account let us take up a firm Resolution with Joshua and put That Resolution into practice of serving honouring and obeying the Almighty Lord that made us And that we may be the better enabled to serve him as we ought to do it is very necessary that we should daily have recourse unto him for a continual supply of his Grace and Holy Spirit which we are infallibly assured he will not deny to those that humbly crave it of him and we must for the sake of our ever-blessed Redeemer Jesus Christ beg God's Acceptance of our Persons and our Endeavours But then when we have done all that we can in serving him we must beware that we boast not of it nor pride our selves upon that account for we are still but unprofitable Servants and we must be so far from taking to our selves the praise of any thing that we do that we should give Praise and Glory to God only who hath given such power unto Men to serve and glorifie him Now unto The King Eternal Immortal Invisible the only Wise God be Honour and Glory for ever and ever Amen FINIS Rom. 6. 16. Ephes. 6. 5. Luke 12. 47. Tit. 2. 12.