Selected quad for the lemma: duty_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
duty_n	church_n	good_a	true_a	1,044	5	4.3446	3	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A49408	Five sermons, preached before His Majesty at Whitehall, published severally by command, and now printed together, tending all to give satisfaction in certain points to such who have thereupon endeavoured to unsettle the state and government of the church by B. Lord Bishop of Ely.; Sermons. Selections	Laney, Benjamin, 1591-1675.; Laney, Benjamin, 1591-1675. Study of quiet.	1669 (1669)	Wing L342; Wing L351; Wing L352; ESTC R16949	80,355	196

must go out and follow him in the next Verse leaving their City and Sanctuary And we the Gentiles that are without the Gate already may find him in our own Territories that so both Jew and Gentile 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 joyntly together as the word imports May confess to the honour of his Name And as Therefore carries in it the reason of our duty so it doth in that same accommodation it hath to the time For this is Passion Sunday and why so called we learn from Rupertus and others because the Jews on this day met together to consult of and contrive the death of our Lord which not many days after they effected It will not be fit I confess for that reason to anticipate the Meditations proper to that Solemnity Yet as now the Passion was in preparation and conception by them it will be so far a keeping of time with it if we also now shall prepare a Sacrifice of praise for it that we may be fit then to honor God by confessing to his Name the wonderful mercies and unspeakable benefits we receive by the Passion and Resurrection of our Lord. By him therefore let us offer the Sacrifice of Praise to God continually that is the Fruit of our lips confessing to his Name And that we may the better perform our Sacrifice of Praise Let us by him also offer a Sacrifice of Prayer c. THat we are to offer a SACRIFICE to God is here so plainly enjoyned and so punctually described both for matter and manner in every circumstance that one would think it strange it should be neglected and more strange it should be contemned by any But for our selves if we would be clear in this matter as every good man should desire to be it is fit we call our selves to account when and how we perform it The Ancient and Primitive Church of whom this may best be learned did in conscience of their duty herein compose several Liturgies that by them they might have a Publick daily Sacrifice for the honor and worship of God as that of St. James at Jerusalem St. Marks at Alexandria after that St. Chrysostoms at Antioch St. Basils at Caesaria St. Gregories at Rome and indeed there was no Church without one They that wrote Apologies for the Christians being of the Heathen accused of Atheism because they were never seen to offer sacrifice to the Gods for answer to that had recourse to this Sacrifice of Praise in the Text. The Copies of those Ancient Liturgies as they come now to our hands have no doubt suffered the fate of time that is some changes by which the preposterous zeal of some hath overcharged them with numerous and sometimes superstitious Additions yet the substance and intendment of them was to perform this duty And therefore our Church that never was of the mind to fling away Chaff and Corn both at once That they might not want what all Churches ever had so ordered our Liturgie that by it we might with safety and true devotion daily Sacrifice to the praise and honor of God Wherein they have followed not only the Precept but Patern also from this Text as by a short parallel between them may visibly appear as first The Text calls us to a Sacrifice and the Liturgie is that Sacrifice Antioch was the place where Christs Disciples were first called Christians and Antioch is the place where the Christian Service is first called a Liturgie We find the Disciples met together at their Liturgie 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which we translate Fasting and Ministring to the Lord for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 properly signifies a Publick Ministration to which the word used by the Church fits well calling it Common Prayer and is so expounded by St. Luke himself in the next Verse VVhen they had Fasted and Prayed This Liturgie or Ministring to God must needs be in something for His honor and service which is properly a Sacrifice Secondly As it is a Sacrifice to God so to none but God We call it Divine Service and so we use it No Creature Saint or Angel hath any part in it as in some they have Praise them we may for the good service they have done the Church but offer a Sacrifice of Praise we may not It was never heard saith St. Augustine Offero tibi Sacrificium Petre or Paule or Cypriane And though the invocation of them simply be not a Sacrifice yet it is such when used in Divine Service in the place of one And that it is not heard in our Liturgie it is no doubt with their good leave and liking too The Angel Rev. 19. will answer for that Order When St. John would have worshipp'd him Do it not says he I am your fellow servant And the Apostles Paul and Barnabas for their Order when the men of Lystra would have sacrificed to them they cried out Sirs why do you these things we also are men of the like Passions with you That they are Gods friends intitles them to no more than a place in his Court to do him service not in his Throne to receive any And therefore that honor which God hath not given to another we have not given to them in our Liturgie Thirdly The Sacrifice of the Text is Eucharistical a Sacrifice of Praise and so is our Liturgie We pretend to no expiation or satisfaction for sins either of quick or dead We owe that to a better Sacrifice The price of Redemption is greater than any service we can do It cost more to redeem our souls we must let that alone for ever and therefore in the Liturgie our Sacrifice is set to no higher key than VVe praise thee O God c. Fourthly In every Sacrifice there must be something offered and that in the Text is the fruit of our Lips For though the Root of this and every good service must be in the heart yet the fruit must sprout outwardly in the lips For though a vertue may sometimes be accomplished in the heart only yet neither this nor Prayer it self if private or mental only though otherwise of excellent use will amount to a Sacrifice till it come into the lips for no proper Sacrifice is invisible And therefore in our Liturgie as we pray that God would open our lips so we practise when we joyn with the Priest in the Confessions and Psalms and in such things where he alone is not concerned Fifthly It is not every fruit that grows upon the lips is fit to make a Sacrifice but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 lips that confess to his Name But how comes confessing more than any thing else to relate to a Sacrifice It is thus The end and import of every thing offered to God in Sacrifice Eucharistical is a Profession and Acknowledgment of some blessing bestowed upon the Sacrificer and so either expresly or implicitely is joyned with it As for instance At the offering of the first-fruits they are commanded to

a Mercury to point the hand where it lies There is the Kings high-way to peace and the Students private way and both good in their kind With the Kings way I shall not meddle as being fitter matter for our thankfulness then instruction who hath already paved the way for us by wholsom Laws for that purpose But because oft-times Vitia sunt remediis fortiora the compulsory way by Law though always necessary is not always effectual to the Kings way we must add the Students also That every one in his particular makes it his care and business to contribute to it that it be an artificial studied peace to which not Fear only but Conscience of Duty and Religion obligeth us Now every good Student of any Science searches into the true and proper cause of things for Scire est per causas cognoscere If the cause of all division in the Church be differing in judgment nothing can cure that but a consent S. Paul therefore prescribes that for the remedy 1 Cor. 5. 10. That there be no divisions among you how may that be helped It follows But that ye be perfectly joyned together in the same mind and in the same judgment This is the true Apostolical Principle whereon we are to ground our Study of Quiet For all the fine things and sentences that are spoken for peace and quiet will little move those that are and may very well be confident they ought not howsoever have peace with Sin or Error Unless therefore we can be first perswaded that we ought not to charge the Church with either we do nothing for Peace This I confess is the great difficulty yet if this be not done there can be no hope of Peace And to do this I shall not send our Student to the Polemick School to convince him out of speculative Principles of Reason and Divinity for to that study some have not capacity others not leisure I shall only commend to him some practical Principles of Religion obvious to all and denied by none that out of them he may learn not to dissent from or condemn the Church of Error To prevent the passing that sentence let the Student 1. Study himself his own condition 2. Let him Study the Church against which he passeth sentence 3. Let him study the nature and quality of the things whereupon judgment is given 4. Let him consider well the manner of proceeding in judgment In all which we shall find some known Principle of Religion to direct us 1. First In the study of our selves and our own condition Religion teacheth us to have an humble lowly mean opinion of our selves and not without cause whether we respect our Understandings or our Affections Our Understandings are naturally weak imperfect short-sighted we know but in part the best of us and our Affections too are disloyal to our Understandings The heart of man saith the Prophet is deceitful above all things We have little reason then to trust our selves much in either He that is truly conscious of his own weakness or lameness will be content to be supported by others If we study this point well our own infirmities we should learn more willingly to assent to and take support from the Church Especially if in the second place we study that too whose Governors Religion likewise teaches us to obey For they watch over our souls Heb. 13. 17. If it be a good point of Religion in lowliness of mind to esteem others better then our selves Phil. 2. 3. it is Religion and Reason both to think our Governors wiser too for there is a presumption always in favour of them S. Paul gives it for a rule to Timothy Not to receive an accusation against an Elder but before two or three witnesses because it is to be presum'd on the part of Age and Authority to know more and offend less But when it comes to be the whole Eldership all our Governors joyntly the presumption is so much the stronger If we add this study to the former how little reason we have to trust our selves and how much we have to trust our Governors we will not rashly pass sentence against them if we have either Reason or Religion in us 3. And yet we have more work for our Student Let him in the third place consider the nature and quality of the things whereupon judgment is given how apt they are to deceive us Truth is many times so like an Error and Error comes so near to Truth that he had need be careful and circumspect that shall distinguish them in some cases And in others again Truth lies hid under many folds especially ambiguity of words the common cheat of all Students who are more often deceiv'd into opinions then convinc'd It is not strange to see so many go astray from the Church to whom the things of it are represented under the covert of false names when they hear the Government of it called Tyranny obedience slavery contempt courage licence liberty frenzy zeal order superstition How easily thus may simple people mistake their way and fall into the pit that 's cover'd over with shadows and false names of things When he hath studied this point well 4. Let him in the fourth place be well advised in what manner he proceeds in judgment and upon what evidence For allowing the Conscience to be a Judg it must not trespass upon the Rules of good Judicature as both sides must be heard impartially which is seldom done the Conscience must not be mis-led no more then other Judges by prejudice passion or favour for what can that judgment be worth which is perverted by any of these Now if we examine how most men come to pass sentence against the Church we shall find it to be upon very slight evidence It may be their Education they have been always brought up that way for Sects commonly run in a blood in a family Or they have been so taught they say by good men that indeed is the sum and upshot of the Faith of most that dissent the credit given to some weak private ignorant Instructer whose person they have in admiration without any great cause God knows whereas their private judgments because they are parties ought always to be suspected if we be wise and because against their Governors to be contemn'd if we be obedient All these well studied may make for peace when possibly Arguments and Disputes and Punishments too will not do it And yet if still none of these will make our Student quiet Let him in the last place make trial of a common remedy that prevails in all cases of difficulty Let him but study his own security the safest course and he shall find that better provided for in the Churches judgment then in his own for if he should erre in following the Church or his Governors for that is possible the greatest part of that guilt some say all I say only the greatest part must lie at their door

and by S. Peter 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the chief Shepherd The cure of Souls was originally in him 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ministerially and derivatively in the Shepherds under him And fourthly that their leading might be taken and acknowledged for his He appointed that all should be done in His name That they should Preach in his name Pray in His name Assemble together in His name Cast out Devils in His name And accordingly S. Paul when he judg'd the incestuous Corinthian to be delivered unto Satan 1 Cor. 5. 4. he did it in the name and power of Christ And when 2 Cor. 5. 10. he absolved him it was in persona Christi All was His. To the Apostles it may be all this was allowed but not therefore to all other Shepherds after Yes to all that can rightly claim from Him His promise was to be with them to the end of the world that is longer then any Apostle could live I am sure the necessities of the Sheep will be the same for ever for Sheep we shall be still wheresoever we are When God distributed to the Church the several parts of the Pastoral charge some Apostles some Prophets some Pastors and Teachers he adds that it was ad consummationem Sanctorum adificationem corporis Christi that is so long as there should be Saints to be perfected and so long as Christ should have a Church a body upon earth and that is so long as there should be Sheep Christ had provided there should be Shepherds And these he hath taken to that nearness and conjunction that the obedience or contempt done to them he takes it as done to himself Qui vos audit me audit c. The benefits and advantages we have by this are many first it is an honour and incouragement to the Shepherds that the work they do is Christs who will bear them out in what they do according to their duty and reward them for what they suffer for it 2. It removes all discouragement from the Sheep that make a stand at the infirmities and frailities of their Shepherds that they look through and beyond all them at the power of Christ under whom they serve 3. Another great benefit it is that in all doubtful and difficult cases we may secure our selves upon the conduct of Christ in his Ministers For if possibly men should be misled by them into error when in simplicity of heart not knowing any thing to the contrary they shall submit to them I dare promise them at least a favourable hearing from him that commanded the obedience But I dare not nor can say that for all Shepherds for every congregational herd hath their Shepherd too but such as have no part in that power which is derived from Christ and his mission that gave it immediately to the Apostles only Sicut misit me Pater sic c. And all others that have it must receive it from them or from such as derive it from them by succession It is but reason that Christ should have the choice of his own Ministers The Sheep that belong to those other Shepherds can plead nothing for their obedience to them S. PAULS obedite praepositis belongs not to them they obey not those that are set over them but either those that set themselves over the flock or the flock themselves set them and that not of necessity which some vainly plead for them but as necessary professing there is no lawful calling for a Minister quem non misit populus where the Shepherd is not chosen by the Sheep If these fall into an error by the misguidance of their Shepherds they are in a sad and worse condition which admits no plea of excuse or extenuation from the Shepherd They must bear their own faults and the misguiding of the Shepherds which they make their own by choosing them In a word the favour that Christ doth is to his own not the peoples Shepherds THe next thing that falls into our consideration is our Duty To return to Christ the Shepherd and Bishop of our Souls And that is to submit our selves to be led and guided by him To turn to Christ is in effect to turn Christian We are no less concerned here And that must be in two respects in his office of Shepherd and Bishop and in the execution of it by Shepherds and Bishops For first we can not be said to return to him as a Shepherd if we refuse him in any part of his office The good Sheep saith our Saviour John 10. 27. hear the voice of the Shepherd and they follow him If they turn their ears only to him and hear him and not follow him they turn short for follow him they must through all the parts of his office 'T is so with us who for the most part like nothing in the Shepherd but his pipe and a pleasant tune His rod and his staffe we can spare The Prophet Ezekiel describes us right chap. 33. an old humour it seems it was They come unto thee And sit before thee as my people to hear my words v. 31. just as we do here come and sit us down as the Lords people to hear his word But what follows in the next verse And loe thou art unto them as a very lovely song of one that hath a pleasant voice and can play well on an Instrument for they hear thy words but do them not And what will come of this at the last our Saviour tells us in the Parable where some had the boldness to plead for their entrance that they had eat and drunk in his presence and had heard him in their streets Citizens it seems they were by the streets and by their devotions a Sermon and a Dinner they eat with him and they heard him But what came of it by hearing him 't is like they knew him well for all that he tells them plainly He knew not them If the Sheep wanted nothing but knowledg I should pardon them if they desired nothing of the Shepherd but a Sermon But this is not that which I principally intended here But secondly That our turning to Christ be in the full execution of his office as in person so by commission Princes as well they may think themselves contemned in their Embassadors and Ministers And so doth our Saviour for his Shepherds who are his Ministers and Embassadors too Qui vos spernit me spernit I shall not inclose this power or favour to Bishops only because I find that name in the text but lay it in common to all such to whom Christ hath committed under him the government of the Church and the cure of Souls so as Presbyterians may have a share here when they can prove their Ordination and Mission This part of our duty to obey Christ in his Ministers is with many of very hard digestion who not regarding the necessity there is of it nor