Selected quad for the lemma: duty_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
duty_n	child_n	father_n	love_v	1,402	5	6.6193	4	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A96104	Jerusalems glory, or, the saints safetie in eying the churches security, wherein is shewed the captives redress: being an invitation to all the different minded men in the world to become one; with the advantage of unity, and the danger of variety from the example of the saints and servants of God, as well in former as these latter times. Offered to the view of the 97 builders imployed in that work, for the building of the true temple, and all others. / By Thomas Watson, a lover of peace.	Watson, Thomas, d. 1686.	1661 (1661)	Wing W1131; Thomason E1856_4; ESTC R210370	59,985	120

do not come so frequently as they were used to do for he that knowes not how to suffer with him never knew how to rejoice with him and he that is his knowes how to do both But let not any one mistake me herein and think that I conclude that every one that suffers must suffer for Christ I must confess I hardly did ever read that any Moralist could suffer for what he did maintain or seek to maintain if he could any wayes prevent his suffering but in case he could not avoid suffering any man will rather chuse that in which he hath had most experience as a Phylosopher for his Phylosophy and a Marshallist for his Adventures in War but happy is he that can lay down his life as freely as keep it upon the account of his Lord and Master in due respect to his honour and glory and not for self-ends or self-glory Many I know will be harping at these expressions but let them know that as I do not conclude the Scriptures to be void of reason so also I conclude that it is beyond the moral reason of men to find out the depths of the Scripture And as concerning War I must count it is a thing in fashion in our dayes and for me to seek to alter this fashion I shall lye liable to the censures of men yet let the Scriptures be true and have that respect to them that you should have and then let me be what you please I shall be brief in this particular at this time onely refer you to those words of Christ that he left with his Disciples Mat. the 26. and 52 53. verses Put up thy Sword again into his place for all they that take the Sword shall perish with the Sword Thinkest thou that I cannot now pray to my Father and he shall give me more than 12 Legions of Angels but how then shall the Scriptures be fulfilled that thus it must be and 2 Cor. 10.4 For the Weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds casting down imaginations and every high thing that exalteth it self against the knowledge of God This is beyond the work of a moral sword And Epkes 4.3 Endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bonds of peace and James 4.1 2 3. From whence comes wars and fighting amongst you come they not hence even of your lusts that war in your members ye lust and have not ye kill and desire to have and cannot obtain ye fight and war yet ye have not because ye ask not ye ask and receive not because you ask amiss that ye might consume it upon your lusts he that is a Friend of the world is an enemy to God and as you read in the first Book of the Chronicles 28. and 3. But God said unto me thou shalt not build a house for my Name because thou hast been a man of war and hast shed blood So that if that Temple of God could not be builded by blood that was but a Type of the true Temple surely the true Temple cannot be builded with blood or war but in peace it is not that Egypt is righteous enough to build the Temple of the Lord though they may be made a scourge to Edom as Nebuchadnezzar was to Israel I will not accuse a defensive sword because I have seen that the manifestations of God are not all of them made known to any one man but I cannot find that any Disciple of Christ should use a morral sword as he is a Disciple of Christ or a Builder of the true Temple for he that is a Builder of the true Temple ought not to take revenge against his enemies but commit his cause to the Lord to whom vengeance belongs and therefore Christ bids us to forgive our enemies least we should seek vengeance where God seeks none for we are apt to condemn where God justifies and to set our selves upon his Seat Where is any of Gods Messagers but have received this censure from the men of their times Therefore lest we should be liable to this failing Christ warns us not to judge our Brethren lest we be judged for to his own Master he standeth or falleth Nay we are forbid to judge according to what it appears to us John 7.24 judge not according to appearance but judge Righteous judgement And no man can judge by appearance in many things but he will doubt whether he judgeth right or not therefore as we cannot measure Gods love let us forbear judging our selves to be better than others lest we undervalue Christs sufferings But as concerning an offensive War I find not any grounds in Scripture for it and if any man can shew me any Scripture for it since the death of the Testator at which time the Testament was of force I shall not take it ill at his hands for I have not so learned Christ as to flatter any one Job 17.5 He that speaketh flattery to his friend the eyes of his Children shall fail Prov. 27.5 6. Open rebuke is better than secret love faithful are the wounds of a friend but the kisses of an enemy are deceitful But some one may Object Why did not Christ bid the Souldiers lay down their Armes that came to ask him what they should do he did not disencourage them in their undertaking but bids them do violence to no man and be content with their wages I Answer That any man that is a perfect Performer of this part of his duty may give a just account of his actions but you must observe that he that advises them to that commanded also that they should love their enemies and bless them that curse them pray for them that despitefully use them Mat. 5.44 So shall you approve your selves Children of your Father which is in Heaven But I suppose that Christ did never advise any of his Disciples to go to War with the worst of their enemies nor to fight for a Kingdom of this world but rather suffrr by the men of this world if one must be and as for his advise to the Souldiers I suppose it was rather that they should not break their engagements in what they were engaged in as in respect to their Governours or their loyalty to their promise rather than his owning of the War to be according to the Will of God for those for whom they fought were such as Christ doth condemn to be meer worldlings And therefore how could their cause be good And yet he would not advise them to break their engagements but to act truth that those whom he had spoke against for doing of injustice might not have any thing to accuse him of neither in advise nor action For what difference is there between the Righteous and the Wicked But onely in their actions as in respect of their honouring or dishonouring of God It is a very vain thing for any one to think they are spiritually

it with their blood not by praying to Saints and Martyrs but to observe and do the things that they did I mean the works that they did and to praise God in the same way as they did and in the same thing and let us seek to press forward toward the price of the high Calling of God and ascribe honour to whom honour is due I desire you my beloved Friends yea every one to whom this smal Treatise shall come to seriously consider with your own hearts how far you are behind with the Lord in this Particular by reason of our unthankfulness that we have secured our selves with under the banner of forms and customary services and have not looked into the inside of things to eat the kernel of the Nut as well as gather the Husk and the Shell as the Nut can in no wise grow without the Shell and Husk so no man can experience the taste of the Kernel by eating and feeding of nothing but the Leaves and the Husk of the Nut God looketh as well to thy heart as to thy tongue therefore if thou prayest to God look that thy heart be joined to thy tongue and that thy tongue speak no more but the real Symptomes of thy heart and that thy heart be chiefly bent upon the doing of the Will of God and not upon the beggerly rudiments of the world for if thorow practice or custom of others you frame any Prayer only so learned as by Book and not by heart you might justly think your selves far short of the receiving any benefit by them from God I do not say but learning is very good take it in its place for we can be no servants of God but by utterance manifestation But this is my end that no man set a higher price of words than they should do but consider the word is chiesly to thy self in thy heart and therefore consider that thy heart be joined with thy tongue especially in Prayer and Praises to God for if thy Prayer or Praises to God be builded upon no more durable a Rock than formal or customary uses it will be in danger of being blown up by the incroaching gusts of covetousness and hopes of worldly honour and preferments of mens applause and these will get uppermost in thy agitations and so thou wilt cause the more noble and excellent Wheat corn to be choaked by the Tares and Thistles in thy more worthy Land or Vineyard for if thou hast no deeper root in Religion than this thou wilt soon be brought and easily be won to leave this upon any small occasion for if one must be left then farewell Prosession for I must leave thee to embrace honour riches pleasures I the good words of men thou shalt have the name so long as my better Friends can have their free entertainment but if one must be left then farewell Prayer and farewell Praises for I can Pray as well in another Dispensation but I shall get nothing but the ill will of men and the loss of honour and estate if I continue in this way it was good and honourable but now it is base I have have had the company of my Friends wealth and honour and applause but I must now follow them further or else they will leave me O it is a sad thing when Religion sayes God is one thing to day and a contrary the next day onely for money and self-ends This is one way of worshipping God so called but I fear it is no better than a worshiping of thy self and that in the worst sence too for thou dost but herein toyl to gather Coals Faggots to consume thy self in the last day without the great mercy of God for this manner of serving God or rather thy self it may be performed in any Dispensation or any sort of profession but if thou takest up thy rest in any such like abess or Centerest thy self in any fabrick of this nature know assuredly God will blast it in the end if it be builded upon no surer a foundation than self-ends and notional expressions it may be God may let thee alone for the time that thou hast to spend in this world but the end will prove the bitterer the wickedst of men may seem to have a rest yea a pleasant one to their minds and desires it may be but it is not lasting it is not abidable as the Prophet hath it Esay 48. the last verse There is no peace to the wicked sayeth my God That is no abiding nor continuing peace therefore value thy future peace beyond any present seeming content in this life for thou must give an exact account of all thy actions in the end do but mind what Solomon sayes of it Eccles 11.9 Rejoice O young man in thy youth and let thy heart cheer thee in the dayes of thy youth and walk in the wayes of thine own heart and in the sight of thine eyes but know thou that for all these things God will bring thee into Judgement therefore remove sorrow from thy heart and put away evil from thee Therefore I say look well yea narrowly to thy wayes lest whereas you think to build a Tabernacle fit to entertain the Holy Ghost in your Professions you deceive your selves and build an Altar to sacrifice to the Prince of datkness in deceit to thy Souls ruine and eternal torment But to-shew you more plainly the description of the Afflictions that Gods dearest and choisest Children are incident and lyable to in this life I shall onely give you as brief a definition as I can onely to give you an introduction into the rest it being my intention to speak more fully to the duty of a Christian in this life as well as in other things how to bear the afflicting trying scourge of Gods lovely chastisements but before I proceed any further give me leave to lay this down as a maxim undeniable that God never tryeth a Nation or a People generally with such tryals as to deliver them into the hands of their enemies unless it be for their sins but these tryals that I intend to enter further into are such which the Children of God are lyable to in particular when their Father doth withdraw his presence from them as in respect of shewing them what he hath done for them although his love may be as great to them at that time as ever these are many times in many things not only struke at but overturned in their expectation not that I ever read that God did ever hide himself to any of them so far but that ere long time was over they found it was not in vain to serve him but that he did appear one way or other to them to manifest himself a loving and a tender God as Solomon hath it in the Canticles 5. and the 6th verse speaking of Gods withdrawing himself from the Church for their high thoughts of their own Righteousness as you may read in

not a slavish fear nor a dreadful fear nor a terrifying fear no this is such a fear that is here made mention of that may well be compared to that that the Apostle calls love yea perfect love that casteth out all such slavish fears and God promiseth further to be her security No one shall ever move any of her stakes neither shall any of the cords thereof be broken And he will not only be her safety to keep her secure but he will take vengeance of her enemies also and plead her Controversie with those that rise up against her surely any one would think that Zion might sleep securely I but Zion is here spreading forth her hands crying Woe is me now my Soul is wearied because of Murderers as if she should have said my Comforter hath left me my Beloved is gone my joy is turned into bitterness my melody into sadness my mirth into sighing and sobbing yea as she plainly expresseth Esai 49.14 The Lord hath forsaken me and my God hath forgotten me Yea just now was this Prophet a proclaiming her Deliverance and the opening of her eyes as you may read in the following Verses Though a Woman forget the Child that sucketh at her Brests yet will not I forget thee No he then shews her that He had engraven her upon the palms of his hands and ●id her behold it So that as I said before the Church of God and the People whom he loveth with an unmeasurable and ever abiding love may be at such a loss that many times they may think the Lord hath withdrawn his affection clean from them but I seldom find but God stayeth up their hearts so as to trust in him that their Deliverance must be through him though many times he tryeth their fidelity and zeal to him and his Name and at other times doth afflict them for their backsliding and careless walking to bring them to a more clear understanding that so they may walk worthy of such a God who hath laid up so good things in store for them I might speak a great deal more to this manner of Gods dealing with his choicest and peculiar people in this life but I shall forbear to speak any more in this particular but shall refer what my intention is to speak further till we come to speak of them I mean the Children of God yea those that are dear unto him jointly in their duty There is a second Affliction incident to these beloved ones but whereas you have them conquered in the former as it were you now have them Conquerours and Champions for now the Captain of their Salvation bids them go on and fear not so that now neither life nor death nor principalities nor powers nor things present nor things to come is able to separate them from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus Now here you have the Shepherd leading forth his Sheep into the pleasant pastures of content and now they know his voice so well that they will not give ear to strangers what though they be tempted with all the strangers seeming delights with his rich rewards according to appearance with all his promises of preferments and all the inchantments that he seemeth to present them withal yet all these will not intice them from those fruitful pastures nothing can allure them from this contented medow where they have the presence of their delightful Shepherd giving them their meat in due season so that stolen waters do not seem sweet to them nor bread eaten in secret pleasant to them no they know that the assotiates and resorters thereunto shall have their portion with Unbelievers in a place or degree far remote from their rest from their content from their delight For their delight is in the Law of the Lord their God and to manifest his praise and his glory in working wonderfully amongst the sons of men and to declare unto others what God hath done for them and for the welfare of their Souls And all sorrow and sighing will flee away from them neither the voice of mourning shall any more be heard in the midst of them for the Lord that is their Redeemer is also their Husband who bideth them awake and put on their strength their beautiful garment for the uncircumcised and unclean shall no more come into thee what though thou hast drunk the Cup of the Lords fury in times past yet thou shalt henceforth drink it no more but it shall be taken forth of thy hand and given to them that spoiled thee Esa 52.1 2. and the last verse of the 51 Ch. So that now thou maist arise from the dust and sit still for the Lord will redeem you from all your captivities that have been the occasion of your distressedness that have caused you in times past to howl and weep you shall be delivered from all your burthens that ye have unjustly born for the Lord hath taken upon him to plead the Controversie of his People So that now they need not fear what befals their bodies for they have a sufficient and satisfactory content that it shall fare well with their Soul They fear not him that is able to kill the Body and can do no more but him that is able to kill both Body and Soul and to cast them into Hell What though the world rage against them and their neighbours envy them and their kindred and chiefest of their Relations here below do make a mocking and scoffing at thee is it any more than the Captain of your Salvation hath engaged you to by his sufferings Know you not that if you will be his Disciples you must wear your Masters Livery Yea though it be dyed in as deep a Crimson as his was on the Cross Is it not sufficient that the servant is made equal with his Master I am sure any earthly servant would account it a great favour that he should be admitted to have a garment made of the same piece of cloath that his Master doth wear himself even so will all these that have experienced the honour and reward that is laid up at the end of their journey which no man can prevent or hinder them of receiving Therefore I say these are not at all amazed at these things no they are no more than the honourable garments that all the guests of the Bride-chamber must put on yea and that with much willingness too if it be laid down for you or tendered unto you for surely there is no man but will rather chuse a Diamond than a Cornelian if he hath experience of the worth of both in mens esteem even so will all those that have experienced the love of Christ Jesus and the content that is in his wayes and the reward that shall be received by owning of him in Truth and Righteousness upon the face of the earth in the presence of all contemners of it and all contrariers of it they will shew themselves to be Children of their Father