Selected quad for the lemma: duty_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
duty_n	hear_v	heart_n	pray_v	1,932	5	5.7672	4	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A48758	Pneumat-apologia. Or, An apology for the power & liberty of the Spirit as at first to give a being to, so still to give a blessing by his ordinances. In three sermons preacht at Great Budworth, to some persons of honour, and several of the clergy then present to communicate in reference to the late act. By James Livesey, A.M. & vicar of Budworth.	Livesey, James, 1625-1682.	1674 (1674)	Wing L2595; ESTC R213711	65,921	192

way of resemblance Holy in all manner of Conversation all that Holiness in Saints or Angels is of his implanting 5. He can fill your Hearts with assurance of his Grace in you and of Gods Grace and Favour towards you The influences of the Spirit work Grace and the Evidences of the Spirit discover Grace 1 Cor. 2.12 Now we have received not the spirit of the world but the Spirit which is of God that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God He bears witness with our spirits that we are the Sons of God Et quando Spiritus testatur quaenam relinquitur ambiguitas The Spirit brings the Heart to the command that 's holiness he brings the promise to the heart that 's assurance In a word Sp. S. irradiat Intellectum inclinat voluntatem sigillat Animum c. he can turn your Water into Wine your night into day he can remove your fears resolve your doubts revive your Souls recruit your Comforts Others only walk in the light of Gods Providence he can make you to walk in the light of his Countenance 6. He also who reconciled Man to God can reconcile Man to Man He can cement your hearts The stones of the Temple were so closely cemented as if they all had been but one He can unite you thus too When the Sons of Brutus and the Vitellii conspired with Tarquinius his Embassadours against the Consul they drank the blood of a man to confirm their Amity and Unity You are now a going to drink the precious Blood of Jesus Christ what hinders but the Spirit of the Lord may shed abroad his love in your hearts and make you live in love what are all the motions of the Spirit but tenders of Love or what is the zeal of the Spirit but the print of love or the Graces of the Spirit but engagements to love He can give you such hearts as will be Afraid of every little Sin Amended with every little Cross Affected with every little mercy The Spirit of the Lord hath power enough to give a being to us and hath he not power enough to do any thing in and about us Can he give a being to his Ordinances and cannot he give a blessing to them He can do every thing and therefore This But that shall serve for the fifth Query The improvement of the point is not the least considerable part of my work and indeed 't is all that now remains Here is a word of Counsel and a word of Comfort something which concerns Sinners and something too which concerns the Saints I would not discourage the weak yet must I awaken the secure I begin with the Counsels such first as concern you that are Saints and I have something to say in General something in particular Two things would I say in general Is not the Spirit of the Lord so straitned but that he can cause this Ordinance to do you good Then see that 1. You believe this Truth and believe it firmly and undoubtedly The Spirit is God as Almighty as the Father or as the Son To an Almighty power nothing is impossible nay nothing difficult When God promised Abraham a Son in his old age what a hard task was here for God Sarah could not believe it she laughed but what saith the Lord Is any thing too hard for me He can do it because he is omnipotent and he will do it because he hath promised to do it 't is a truth as full of comfort to the Saints as is the Sea of water or the Sun of light therefore believe it stedfastly And see that you 2. Look for good for great workings in and by this Ordinance from the Spirit of the Lord. And look well to this Ordinance that it do you good for if it do you no good it will do you hurt if it be not bread it will be poyson it will set you either a step nearer to Heaven or nearer to Hell Who can say when he hath been at a Sermon or at a Sacrament as some Tradesmen may when their accompts are cast up I have neither got nor lost Be you well assured that if it do not strengthen your graces it will strengthen your corruptions This is a sad saying but not more sad than true others have found it so and so may you it will further you either in the way to glory or in the way to misery O that whilst the sound of these words is in your ears the savour of them were upon your hearts But to come yet more close to the business in order hereunto perhaps some of you may enquire And it brings me to the Sixth Query Q. 6. What course must a serious Christian take or hold that the Spirit of the Lord may cause this blessed Ordinance to work for his good In this numerous Auditory I am in hopes there are not many if any but they seriously desire the Ordinances may do their Souls good They would not pray nor hear nor receive in vain Well I will confine my discourse to this Ordinance before you take these ten Directions 1. Carefully prepare your hearts for it if you would profit by it Till the Earth be prepared you cast not in the seed till the Instrument be tuned you do not begin to play Till your Hearts be prepared you cannot receive worthly Gods Dispensations are generally suited to our Dispositions Those Beasts which came in to Noahs Ark unclean went out again unclean You know the Jews had their preparation for the Passover Job 19.14 And is not this an Ordinance every way as holy and venerable When our Blessed Saviour was about to institute this Ordinance it was his pleasure the House should first be fitted and prepared in which he was to do it Mark 14.15 Is there not as much nay much more need our hearts be fitted and prepared Well then say I to you as Samuel did to the Elders of Bethlehem 1 Sam. 16.5 Sanctifie your selves and come with me unto the Sacrifice put your hearts in order These two things have a special eye unto 1 To get an Understanding 2 An humble Heart 1 Get an Understanding Heart when the Lord appear'd to Solomon in Gibeon and said unto him Ask what I shall give thee 1 King 3.5 Give unto thy Servant an understanding Heart says Solomon in vers the 9th Some render the words Cor dicile Sapientiam circa agenda Cor capax divinarum legum Cor audiens an hearing Heart others Cor intelligens aut sapiens an understanding wise heart He asked Wisdom with a great deal of Wisdom had not he been wise before he had not known the worth of wisdom When you are about these Sacramental duties pray for an Understanding heart Amongst the Graces requisite to qualifie a Communicant Knowledg is neither the last nor the least considerable Knowledg of what may some say I answer I the Knowledge of our selves Est Dis●iplinarum omniū pulcherrima

for admitted to and shared with you in this Sacred Ordinance 3ly Here is matter of comfort for you in respect of the meanness of the men or weakness of the persons by whom it is dispensed We are not Prophets we pretend to no such inspirations or immediate calls as they had we are not Apostles we have no immediate call from Christ to preach the Gospel to all Nations we cannot do not dare not pretend to an infallible conduct of the Spirit as they had and some ignorantly and impudently now challenge to themselves No we are men men subject to like passions and perturbations temptations and infirmities as they were and perhaps to more than you are you know it we confess and lament it Guilty were we of sin before we could do any thing and ever since we could do any thing we have done nothing without sin But in this may you and we not little solace our selves Though we can do you little good very little good yet the Spirit of the Lord can do you very much All we can do is to endeavour it but the conversion of Souls is not ours but Gods work we may 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 speak what is in it self perswasive but 't is the Spirit of the Lord alone that can and must 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 actually perswade you The efficacy of the Word and Sacraments depends not upon the arts or parts or gifts or graces or greatness or goodness of men but upon the power institution and blessing of God Is a golden treasure ever the worse because 't is laid up in an earthen vessel or is water the less sweet because conveyed to your cisterns in leaden pipes Mark well the Text in hand and you will find the great stress laid upon your own upright walking if you expect a blessing a parallel you have in Heb. 4.2 The word preached did not profit them not being mixed with faith in them that heard it It is not said Not being mixed with faith in them that preach it but in them that heard it In short the spirit of the Lord can do great and mighty things as by poor and weak means so he can do great and mighty things by poor and weak men He imployed not at the first publication of the Gospel any mighty Monarchs or noble Lords or profound Philosophers for the Conversion of the Nations whose Majesty Authority and Wisdom might have had a powerful and prevailing influence on their inferiours No a few poor Fishermen are the men 2 Cor. 4. that the excellency of the power might be and appear to be of God alone and not in or of man at all Men and means are productive of nothing if they operate only from an inherent or natural vertue but when they have a divine stamp upon them the Spirit of the Lord can do great and mighty things by them 4ly Here is comfort for you in case of temptations to disbelieve the Godhead or Deity of the Holy Ghost other mediums are urged to evince his Divinity but the Ancients make much use of this viz. the glorious operations and most mighty and powerful works done by him as Cyril and Ch●●●ostom and Ambrose de Sp. sancto He that can quicken dead Souls subdue such strong lusts implant and increase Grace and bless the Ordinances and all this by an immediate primary underived power as the Spirit doth certainly he is more than a meer creature he is truly God for these are works for a God and for a God only O the boundless incomprehensible and infinite power of the Spirit What all the Creatures yonder above the Clouds with these on Earth cannot that he can do omnipoteutissima facilitate Aug. Epist 107. ad vitalem non procul a fine as an Ancient elegantly expresseth it when he will work who shall let him Isa 43.13 He acts omnipotenter insuperabiliter this speaks him to be God indeed He is not strained he can do his people good by his institutions 5ly Here is comfort for you too in case of mighty oppositions from the flesh when you are about any holy and religious exercises there is no one duty in the whole course of Christianity but it is sure to meet with one impediment or other The Flesh if nothing else do wil belusting against the Spirit corruption will be opposing grace so that you cannot do the things that you would and should The agency and enmity of the flesh appears both in the matter and manner of our performances Sometimes it hinders from duty from praying hearing and receiving sometimes in duty nay it ever hinders us in the manner abating the vigor and fervour or lessening the alacrity of our Souls in duty your own experience is proof sufficient but here is comfort for you in this present case the Spirit of the Lord is not shortned nor straitned he can help your infirmities subdue corruptions quicken graces and in spite of all oppositions he can bless his own Institutions He can make mountains to become plains and cut a way through the hard rock Zach 4.9 Behold I am the Lord the God of all flesh is there any thing too hard for me Jer. 32.27 It may poor Soul be too hard for thee but not for me this is applicable to the Spirit in the personal consideration of God and it is no less comfortable than applicable A Child of God fain would do more but cannot a wicked man may do more but will not the godly mans heart is larger than the duties a wicked mans duties are larger than his heart 't is the complaint of a gracious Soul O how do my corruptions hinder in these holy duties But O says the other how do these duties hinder me in the pursuit of my lusts A godly man is griev'd because he cannot do all the good that he would and the other because he cannot do all the evil that he would 'T is the burden of a Saint the greatest trouble upon his Spirit that he can pray no more fervently hear no more profitably receive no more worthily so to bungle and baffle and trifle is his great trouble but he hath this to comfort him The good Spirit of the Lord to assist and help him in every duty and he knows that his arm is not shortned 6ly Here is comfort for you as in case of the activeness of the flesh so in case of the weakness of the Spirit i.e. of Grace you find that you are wofully and wonderfully straitned in your selves you complain of the narrowness of your Hearts the unactiveness of Grace you are not so humble and holy not so tender-hearted and enlarged your lives are nothing so blameless and harmless as you could wish and this to you is matter of saddest Lamentation and deepest Humiliation But remember pray the Spirit of the Lord is not straitned though you be he is not and this is matter of consolation though you be impotent chill and dull yet if you be sensible

then be not supercilious and censorious but candid and ingenuous towards others who come thence without any sense of increased grace or evidences of his love and favour Job 6.14 To him that is afflicted melted in the furnace of Affliction pity should be shewed Is it not enough that God doth grieve them by the suspension of his influences but must you add unto their sorrows and why should you insult over them Are you Saints so are they Though they walk in darkness yet they are children of Light Know and do your duty pray for them and pray with them Can you go from promise to promise and say These are mine Or from Ordinance to Ordinance and say By all these the Spirit of the Lord hath done and still is doing me good Well be you thankful but be not proud nor supercilious be not high-minded but fear At the next Communion he may vail his Face from you and reveal his love to them whom now you brow-beat Psal 30.6 7. He may turn your Wine into water and their water into wine he may do them much more and you much less good at the next address you make unto the Lords Table Let not such as are high and rich in grace and peace censure them that are poor and low and do not you that are low envy them that are high but bear ye one anothers burdens rejoyce in one anothers Graces mutually promote the work of Holiness be less in censuring and more in praying Oret Apostolus pro plebe oret plebs pro Apostolo pro se omnia membra orent caput pro omnibus interpellat Aug. in Psal 38. the Pastor for the People the People for their Pastor one member for another ever remembring that Jesus Christ our merciful high Priest is pleading and interceding for us all Egregia laus non modo non satiscere sed indies proficere in melius Grot in Rev 2 19 5 Walk fruitfully Make it your business to do all the good you can Wherefore doth the Spirit of the Lord at any time or by any means do you good but only to make you better and to enable you to do better Go then and abound in the work of the Lord let your last be more than your first more for quantity better for quality Be filled with the fruits of righteousness This Ordinance concerns the Soul may be the last is the purchase of Christ is a good gale for Heaven Study then to be fruitful which are by Jesus Christ unto the glory and praise of God Be more vigorous in every holy duty more zealous for the advancement of Gods Glory Follow the Lord fully faithfully and chearfully Study how you may answer his expectations from you his dispensations to you and the many obligations that are upon you Hath he done more for you do you the more for him or your answer and account at the last day will be sad indeed You love to see every thing you have fruitful much more doth the Spirit of the Lord love to see you so O how happy were we yea Foelices ter amplius might it but as truly be said of us as it was of Joseph Joseph is a fruitful Bough Gen. 49.22 Naturalists say of the Pomecitron that it bears fruit at all times of the year this is the Emblem of an Evangelical Communicant As a plant differs from a stone by vegetation and a Beast differs from a plant by sense and a Man differs from a Beast by speech and reason so should a Communicant differ from other men by fruitfulness Come then and spread your branches send forth your spices as Aromatick Trees in Lebanon Christ chides a little Faith Mat. 14.31 but admires and applauds a great Faith Jer. 11.16 Joh. 15.8 Mat. 25 30 Non tantū de non servato sed de non aucto munere damnabuntur homines Profp O woman great is thy Faith Scholars are not at ease till they have taken all their Degrees though it cost them dear and why should Christians till they come to a Non ultra Our blessed Saviour did only two terrible wonders the one was the drowning of the Swine Mat. 8. and yet that was only done by his permission The other was his cursing and blasting of the barren Fig-tree and that was symbolical not done in spleen to the Tree but only to manifest his indignation against an unfruitful profession Let us view that Text Mar. 11.13 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 subaudi 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ubi enim erat tempus erat ficuum vel tempestivae ac maturae trant ficus Accentus enim spiritusque distinctiones negligebant veteres Mark 11.13 Seeing a Fig-tree afar off having leaves he came if haply he might find any thing thereon but when he came to it he found nothing but leaves For the time of Figs was not yet You will say was not this a cruel act or unreasonable had it been a time for Figs the blasting of it had been reasonable and just I answer the words in the original are not rightly comma'd and accented if they were they would run thus For where he was it was a time of Figs as one well observes viz. Learned Heinsius on Mark 11.13 You have been some of you at least three or four days together at the Lords Table upon this signal and special occasion besides your Communions in course every first Lords-day in the Month. You are planted in a fruitful Hill Isa 15.1 The Sun-beams of mercies Zions silver-drops have fallen on you you hear more of God and from God in one day than some thousands in the world have done in all their lives These are your enjoyments what now are your improvements your receipts are high let not your returns be low if he find you without fruit he will leave you without excuse Nay he may deal with you as with that barren Fig-tree blast and not bless you But my hopes are and my prayers shall be for you as St. Paul's were for the Philippians that your Faith and Love and all your Graces may abound Phil. 1.9 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 yet more and more 6 Walk closely Keep close that 's my meaning to this precious Ordinance where you have so happily met with all this good from the Spirit of the Lord those sweet experiences you have had of his quickening and strengthening influences should engage you if it will not others to a more constant and diligent attendance upon him in this solemn Ordinance The Question once was Mat. 22.12 How camest thou in hither not having on the Wedding garment The Question I must invert and put it thus to you Having on the Wedding-garment how comes it now to pass that you go out Do vestures or gestures or the prayers of the Church deter or drive you hence would you not complain of us should we excommunicate or cast you out and is it well done in you thus to