Selected quad for the lemma: duty_n
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A47646
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Sermons preached by Dr. Robert Leighton, late archbishop of Glasgow published at the desire of his friends, after his death, from his papers written with his own hand.
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Leighton, Robert, 1611-1684.
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1692
(1692)
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Wing L1031; ESTC R29941
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164,938
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342
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hath died and that stands for the Believer Whosoever flies to him and lays hold on him for life he cannot die again nor canst thou die for whom he died once or rather is risen that raises the assurance higher and sets it firmer for this evidences that in his death all was payed when he being the Surety and seized on for the Debt and once Deaths Prisoner yet was set free This clears the matter that there is no more to be said and yet further in sign that all is done he is raised to the height of Honour above all Principalities and Powers is set at the right hand of the Father and there he sits and lives to make Intercession to sue out the fulfilling of all for Believers the bringing of them home lives to see all made good that he Died and Covenanted for so now his righteousness is thine that believest any challenge must meet with Christ first and if it seize not on him it cannot light on thee for thou art in him married to him And the same triumph that he speaks Isaiah 50. 8. whence these words are borrowed that is made thine and thou mayest now speak it in him I know not what can cast him down that hath this word to rest upon and to comfort himself in SERMON XVII Rom. VIII 35 c. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ Shall tribulation or distress or persecution or â—amine or nakâ—dness or peril or sword c. IS this he that so lately cry'd out O wretched Man that I am Who shall deliver me That now triumphs O happy Man Who shall separate us from the love of Christ Yes t is the same Pained then with the thoughts of that miserable conjunction with a Body of Death and so crying out who will deliver Who will separate me from that now Now he hath found a Deliverer to do that for him to whom he is for ever united and he glories now in his inseparable Union and unalterable Love that none can divide him from yea it is through him that presently after that word of complaint he praises God and now in him he triumphs So vast a difference is there betwixt a Christian taken in himself and in Christ when he views himself in himself then nothing but wretched and wretched a polluted perishing Wretch but then he looks again and sees himself in Christ and there he 's rich and safe and happy he triumphs and he glories in it above all the painted Prosperities and against all the horâ—id Adversities of the World he lives in his Christ content and happy and laughs at all Enemies And he extends his triumph he makes a common good of it to all Believers speaks it in their name who shall separate us and would have them partake of the same confidence and speak in the same stile with him It is vain that men fancy these to be expressions of Revelations or some singularly priviledg'd Assurances then they would not suit their end which is clearly and undoubtedly the encouragement of all the Children of God upon grounds that are peculiar to them from all the rest of the World but common to them all in all Ages and all varieties of condition It is true all of them have not a like clear and firm apprehension of their happy and sure estate and scarce any of them are alike at all times yet they have all and always the same right to this estate and to the comfort of it and when they stand in a right light to view it they do see it so and rejoice in it There be indeed some kind of assurances that are more rare and extraordinary some immediate glances or coâ—uscations of the love of God upon the Soul of a Believer a smile of his Countenance and this doth exceedingly refresh yea ravish the Soul and enables it mightily for Duties and Sufferings These he dispenses arbitrarily and freely where and when he will some weaker Christians sometimes have them while stronger are strangers to them the Lord training them to live more contentedly by Faith till the day of Vision come And that is the other the less exâ—atical but the more constant and fixed kind of assurance the proper assurance of Faith the Soul by believing cleaves unto God in Christ as he offers himself in the Gospel and thence is possest with a sweet and calm perswasion of his love that being the proper work to appropriate him to make Christ and in him Eternal Life ours so 't is the proper result and fruit of that its acting especially when it acts any thing strongly to quiet the Soul in him Then being Justified by Faith we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ and from that Peace Joy yea even glorying in Tribulation as there follows And these springing not from an extraordinary sense or view but from the very innate Vertue of Faith working kindly and according to its own Nature Therefore many Christians do prejudice their own Comfort and darken their Spirits by not giving freedom to Faith to act according to its Nature and proper Principles they will not believe till they find some evidence or assurance which is quite to invert the order of the thing and to look for Fruit without settling a Root for it to grow from Would you take Christ upon the absolute word of promise tendring him to you and rest on him so this would ingraft you into life it self for that he is and so those Fruits of the Holy Ghost would bud and flourish in your hearts from that very believing on him would arise this perswasion yea even to a gloriation and an humble boasting in his love who shall accuse who shall condemn who shall separate The undivided Companion and undoubted Helper and Preserver of this confidence of Faith is an active love to Christ a constant study of Holiness and strife against Sin which is the grand enemy of Faith that obstructs the very Vital Spirits of Faith that makes it sickly and heavy in its actings and causes the Palsie in the hand of Faith that it cannot lay so fast hold Therefore this you would be careful of yea know that of necessity it attends Faith and as Faith grows Holiness will grow and Holiness growing will mutually strengthen and establish Faith the Comforts of the Holy Ghost are holy purifying Comforts and the more the Soul is purify'd and made holy the more is it cleared and enlarged to receive much of these Comforts Blessed are the pure heart they shall see God Unholiness is as damps and filthy mists in the Soul it darkens all Hence it is evident in what way Christians may and ought to aspire to this Assurance it is their Portion and in this way they are to aspire to it and shall find it if not presently yet let them wait and go on in this way they shall not miscarry Again it appears that this assurance is no enemy to Holy Diligence nor friend of Carnal
unto God the Father Revel 1. 6. They are a chosen generation a royal priesthood 1 Pet. 2. 9. how despicable soever to the World This is their dignity The Lord is their crown and diadem he subdues their Lust and makes them Kings over their own Affections and more than â—onquerors over all Troubles and Persecutions whereas carnal Men are continually hurried like Slaves unto base employments still kept toyling in the ignoble service of their own Lusts. They think indeed it is their Liberty but that 's a baseness of Spirit that complies so well with so Vile and Servile a condition And whereas they judge the godly to be the refuse and dross of the Earth and the proper objects of Contempt this is because this their Crown though most glorious is invisible to the Eye of Nature The Lord is a Crown If they knew what this is they would see enough in it to countervail their outward meanness and the reproaches the World casts on them as the Apostle St. Peter hath it 1 Ep. cap. 4. 14. If ye be reproached for the name of Christ happy are ye for the spirit of Glory and of God resteth on you He is their Crown And observe how this Crown is opposed to that blasted glory and fading Crown of pride spoken of in the former verses Who is there that sees not in daily Experience the Vanity and Inconstancy of worldly glory and yet how few are there that wean themselves from it and learn to disdain it Still men dote upon that which is not upon a shadow a nothing But would you have a Glory that fadeth not a Garland that cannot wither make the Lord your Crown and your Glory and if he be so glory in him and in nothing else Let not the wise man glory c. but let c. Jer. 9. 23. You that are Noble aspire to this Crown as being so far above your perishing Honours and bounded Powers and you that are outwardly meaner and lower see how little cause you have to complain of your condition seeing you are not debarred from this best and greatest honour And that you may discern it aright what it is know that it consists in the renovation of God's Image within you which is in Holiness and Righteousness So the Lord becomes your Crown in the Kingdom of Grace and by this you may discover whether or no you have attained it if you can yet delight to wallow in the puddle and pleasures of Sin you are far from this royal condition but if you find your Soul possessed with the love of Holiness and that you are trampling upon prophane delights this may perswade you that God hath enabled you and crowned you with his Grace and will crown you with Glory Again try it by this if the Lord is become your Crown and your Glory you will glory in him and in nothing else Though you be Wise you will not glory in your Wisdom nor in Strength nor in Riches nor Honours though you had them all but if you glory you will glory in the Lord. And withal your highest joy will be to see the advancement of his Glory and if you can to be any way serviceable to the advancing of it And a spirit of Judgment c. Both to these that sit in Judgment and to the People for Justice is the strongest Base and Establishment of Authority and withal the influence of it is most sweet and comfortable to these that are under Authority and where it is wanting that order and relation of Superiours and Inferiours which God hath appointed in the Societies of Men for their good tends exceedingly to the damage of both And therefore where God intendeth to continue the Peace and Welfare of a People he is liberal in pouring out much of this Spirit of Judgment on these that sit in Judgment On the contrary it is for a heavy punishment when he withdraws his Spirit from Rulers and leaves them wholly to the Corruption and Vanity of their own Spirits That sit in Judgment To all that are in place of Authority and Judicature from the Supream to the lowest Magistrate for this concerns them all for they be all raised in their Subordination and several places above the people for the benefit and good of the people as the Stars that be set so high yet are placed there to be useful and beneficial to the Inferiour World Now this Spirit of Judgment comprehends in it both due Wisdom and Prudence for the trial and right judging of affairs and for the discerning betwixt sound and perverse Counsel and withal a judgment practically good that cannot be byass'd from the straight line of Equity and Justice by any sinister respect Now seeing the Spirit of Judgment is from the Lord yea he is this Spirit it ought to perswade those that sit in Judgment to entreat and pray for this and to depend upon it and beware of Self-confidence Trust in the Lord saith Solomon and lean not to thine own understanding if you do it will prove but a broken Reed And as they that sit in Judgment should intreat his Spirit by Prayer so generally all must share with them in this duty and make supplication for all that are in Authority over them especially in extraordinary times Truly we have matter of thankfulness that the Lord hath in some measure inclined the Royal Heart of our Sovereign to the desires of his People and ought still to pray That the Lord would give the King his Judgments And then as the Psalmist adds The Mountains shall bring peace to the people and the little Hills by righteousness Psal. 72. 3. And for this end let all that wish the publick yea their own good pray much for abundance of this Spirit of Judgment to be conferred on them your eyes and expectations are upon them If you would enjoy the Lamp you must pour in Oyl This Spirit indeed you cannot pour upon them but if you pour out many Prayers you may draw it from above he will give it who here promises to be a Spirit of Judgment And strength Observe the way to be powerful and successful against Foreign Enemies is To have Religion and Justice flourishing at home and truly if it please our God to answer the desires of his People at this time it may so unite the affection and strength of the two Kingdoms the Lord of Hosts being their strength as to make them a Terror to their Enemies whereas they were become a scorn and derision to them For your particular Labour to make the Lord your Glory to have Christ made unto you as the Apostle speaks both wisdom and righteousness and sanctification which are the glory and beauty of the Soul and redemption from your Spiritual Enemies draw strength from him to fight and prevail against them till after the short Combat of this life you obtain the Crown and dwell in his presence where you shall fear no more assaults neither of Sin nor