Selected quad for the lemma: duty_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
duty_n	faith_n	life_n	live_v	1,904	5	6.1425	4	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A09958	The doctrine of the saints infirmities Delivered in severall sermons by John Preston Doctor in Divinity, Mr. of Emanuel-Colledge in Cambridge. And late preacher of Lincolnes Inne.	Preston, John, 1587-1628.; Goodwin, Thomas, 1600-1680.; Ball, Thomas, 1589 or 90-1659.; Marshall, William, fl. 1617-1650, engraver.	1636 (1636)	STC 20219; ESTC S115062	47,226	230

friends lived but all this doth not argue life in us because they are but extrinsecall causes as a hand may make a stone move upwards the stone hath not life therefore but when a man is so farre inlightned so fashioned and formed by Iesus Christ that hee judgeth aright of the waies of God and being thus formed he moves himselfe to doe good then he is said to be alive when Christ shall set up Iudgement in the heart of man to see the evil of the waies of sinne and the good that is in the waies of God even then hee moves towards those wayes naturally willingly such a one hath life in him Let some consider this that live in the Church under good Tutors or Masters or Parents that are carried on in a crowde of good company they may do much and yet have no life because it may proceede from an outward cause not froman inward perswasion of the heart of the goodnesse of the waies wherein they walke There is a two-fold perswasion one is that the wayes of God are good a bare perswasion onely and yet this stirres not men up to walke in these wayes but it lyes dead in the heart But there is another perswasion which is ingrafted in the heart that moves a man to new obedience 1 Iames 21. 22. So wee shall finde there a double expression of light one which barely shewes men all evill and good But there is another light with life Iohn 8. 12. He that followeth me shal have the light of life It is an Hebraisme hee shall have the light of life that is the lively light Ephes. 5. 14. Awake from the dead and Christ shall give thee light The first difference betweene them is the one reveales the wayes of God but so that the affections are not mooved the hands are not set on worke But the other is when that the wayes of God are so revealed that wee see an amability an excellency in them and so that we lift up our hearts unto the waies of the Lord as before we did unto vanity that is wee desire earnestly to walke in them Consider how you sitted up your hearts to riches pleasures and other earthly vanities if now you so lift up your hearts to walke in his waies then here is that inward perswasion that lively light wrought in you that life whereof wee speake This life is nothing else but that which the Scripture calleth faith Now there is a dead faith spoken of and how shall wee know it to bee dead Thus when it stirs us not up to good works And howshall wee know it is living when it moves us willingly and readily to duties of obedience Christ dwels in the heart by faith so saith St. Paul The life I now live is by faith in the sonne of God Gal. 2. 20. that is there are two men that looke on Christ one lookes on him beleeves all the promises all threatnings all his word opens his heart le ts Christ come in and rule and doe there what he list Another saith if you aske him that he beleeves all this but we shall know it by this because it doth not make him moove forwards unto new obedience now according to our life that is in us so is our strength the lesse life the lesse strength Revelations 3. 8. The Church of Philadelphia is said to have a little strength now if you would know whether you have true strength or no you must distinguish betweene life and strength to wit the least degree of strength will first enable a man to do all things in some measure though not in that measure you should it wil enable you to love God to beleeve to pray c. you can doe something of every thing Phil. 4. 13. I can doe all things through Christ that strengthneth mee Secondly though it do not reach the highest degree yet it aimes at it and hath a desire to come to it After he had said he had not yet attaind to perfection but aimed at it made forward toward it he ads let as many as be perfect be thus minded the least spark of fire wil endevour to rise above the Aire as well as the greatest and where true strength is it wilendeavour to be stronger Thirdly this is not an empty leveling at it but it grows up to it so doth not other common strength there is a strength in iron to resist violent stroakes and in a rocke to resist the force of the waves but this is not a vital strength so in other men there may be strength of resolution but it is not a selfe moving strength therfore it cōtinues as it was growes not but in vitall strength there is a period to which it growes never rests til it comes up to it as we see in plants and other living creatures and men they grow up to their full strength so Christiās have their period which they grow up to this period is perfect holines w ch they cannot attaine to in this life and therfore they are stil growing so lōg as they live Now then see if you have such a strength if you can find that you have then there is life in you and that is the first that we propounded to shew that there must bee some life some strength The second thing was that this strength is subject to much bruising A bruised reed will he not breake A wea Christian though he have not the strength of a man yet he hath the strength of a child though not of a tree yet of a plant and such strength is subject to bruisings and the lesse strength the more subject it is tobruisings as we see in plants Now bruisings are of two sorts and both arising from sinne The first arise from sin as it is unpardoned that is as you apprehend sin to be unpardoned the more ready you are to be bruised The second sort ariseth from sinne as it is unmortified when a man sees still that sinne growes up which he had thought he had cut down he is ready to bee bruised The former sort is contrary to the grace of justification the latter to that of sanctification now Christ hath promised to heale these bruises w ch is the third thing to be considered let those therefore that are thus weak cōsider this promise here that Christ will heale all these bruisings and so all other the promise for this purpose that he will heale these bruisings which arise from our doubting of justification Esay 61 1 2 3 4 ver this is the bruising for which Christ came into the world to preach glad tidings to the weak and to binde up the broken hearted to proclaime liberty to the captives Therefore if a poore soule would goe to Christ and say thus Lord I am bound with a chaine of my sins and thou camest to set such at liberty Christ hee would doe it for he was