Selected quad for the lemma: duty_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
duty_n	pray_v	prayer_n	spirit_n	4,656	5	5.8534	4	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A26847	A posing question, put by the wise man, viz. Solomon, to the wisest men concerning making a judgment of the temporal conditions : wherein you have the ignorance of man (in knowing, what is good, or evil, for man in this life) discovered, together, with the mistakes that flow from it : and the great question resolved, viz. whether the knowledg of, what is good for a man in this life, be so hid from man, that no man can attain it / preached at the weekly lecture at Upton ... by Benjamin Baxter ...	Baxter, Benjamin, Preacher of the Gospel.; Baxter, Richard, 1615-1691.	1662 (1662)	Wing B1172A; ESTC R39509	142,945	270

it is to them that have an Interest in the Covenant All conditions fall under a Promise when the Scripture saith All shall work together for good An Afflicted condition it self falleth under that promise So when it is said No good thing will He with-hold from them that walk uprightly Afflictions themselves come under that promise If Afflictions be good for them they shall have them and if they have them they may be assured they are good for them It is the Covenant and Promise that helpeth us to make a right Interpretation of all conditions and of all the Dealings of God with us in this life 2. That which makes a condition good for a man in this life is the Enjoyment of God in a Condition and so we may conclude that that condition is good for a man in this life in which he enjoys God The best condition without God in it is evil and the worst condition in which we enjoy God is good God is the chiefest Good and that condition must needs be good in which we enjoy the chiefest Good Look upon the worst of outward conditions it is the best if there be an enjoyment of God the more in it This was the ground of Moses choice Heb. 11. 26. that he choose rather the suffering of Affliction with the People of God then the enjoyment of all the Pleasures and Treasures of Egypt He saw God was to be Enjoyed in that Condition So that by this we may make a judgment of conditions That condition is good for a man in this life in which he enjoys the chiefest Good The Apostle saith 2 Cor. 1. 5. As our Tribulations abound for Christ so our Consolations abound through Christ. When one seeth Christians abound in Tribulations he would think their condition evil but when he cometh to see their Consolations abound in that condition he must needs conclude it good To close up this There is no condition good without the enjoyment of the Chiefest Good He that enjoys God in a condition enjoys Him whose Favour is Life and whose Countenance is a Sun to enlighten the darkest condition It is the Sun that makes day let the Starrs be never so many and shine never so bright yet it is night still So it is in respect of conditions let a man enjoy never so much of the creature yet without the enjoyment of God it is but a dark condition It is His Countenance that makes the darkness of a condition to be light about us Psal 18. 28. He shall make my darkness to be light Mic. 7. 7. Though I sit in darkness the Lord shall be a light about me So that that condition is good for a man in this life that God enlightneth and shineth upon with the beams of His Countenance 3. That that speaks a mans condition Good for him in this Life is The suitableness of his Spirit to his condition When the Spirit is not above the condition As it is to be observed in a Married condition the sweetness of the condition lieth in this In the Suitableness of their Spirits So in every condition the sweetness and goodness of it lieth in the Suitableness that is between our Spirits and our Condition We see how it is with some That their spirits are above their condition their spirits are High when their condition is Low and upon this their condition doth not please them And this is the cause of much Discontent because their spirits suit not with their condition This is the great thing we are to look to In making a judgement of conditions to search and find out How our spirits suit with our condition Whether we can say as the Apostle doth Phil. 4. 11. I have learnt in every estate to be Content He had a spirit fitted for every condition So then when your spirits and conditions suit it is one thing by which you are to make a judgement of your condition 4. That which makes a condition Good for a man in this Life is Peace within What ever the condition be Without if there be peace Within it makes it good and sweet to him Want of that imbitters a condition Solomon saith A good Conscience is a continual Feast It Feasts a man and makes him Merry in all conditions and so makes the worst Outward estate and condition to be good and sweet to him Isa 48. 22. There is no peace saith my God to the Wicked Put him into what condition you will he hath no Peace in that condition and that spoils all 5. That that makes a condition good for a man in this Life is Doing the Work of his condition Conditions have their several and suitable Improvements In every condition a man should put such a Question to himself as the Prophet puts Mich. 6. 8. And now What doth the Lord thy God require of thee So in every condition we should put this Question to our selves What is it that the Lord requires me do as the work of my condition The Apostle James tells us of Duties suitable to conditions Jam. 5. 13. If any man be Afflicted let him Pray If any man be Merry let him sing Psalmes An Afflicted condition hath its Duties and a Prosperous condition hath it's And by doing the Work and performing the Duties of a condition we make a Judgement of it Whether it be good for us in this Life 6. That that makes a condition good for a man in this Life is His living above his outward condition When though there be a suitableness of spirit to the condition yet he takes not up with his condition but fetcheth in his Contentment from some higher thing What is it that makes a Prosperous condition Evil to some Surely this they look no further than their condition They look no higher than Riches and Honour c. and seek for all their comfort and contentment from them And likewise What is it that makes an Afflicted condition Evil to some Surely this they have their Eye only upon their Condition they look no higher than their Troubles and Crosses and Afflictions They see nothing beyond their condition as Hagar when she was wandering in the Wilderness and the Water in her Bottle was spent she concludes that She and her Child must Die as though the Bottle was all that she and her Child had to live upon when yet there was a Fountain near but she could not see it Let a mans condition be what it will yet it cannot hurt him if he live Above it Prosperity cannot hurt that man who maketh God his All in a condition There is an Expression Job 20. 22. concerning a Wicked man That in the midst of his Sufficiency he shall be in Straits Thus it is with some men Let their condition be what it will yet in the midst of it they are in Straits the Reason is Because they live no Higher than their condition In the midst of their Prosperity and Sufficiency they are in straits by reason of

possess ye your Selves It telleth us that an impatient man doth not possess nor enjoy himself It is with an impatient man as it is with some children when you anger them by taking away what they have in one hand they throw away what they have in the other hand too Thus Satan tempts some to throw away themselves when they find that other things are taken away and so they lose themselves in a condition Let me tell you that condition in which a man enjoyes Himself is good in which he enjoyes his Reason and regulates his Affections and Passions by it As Solomon said That in the midst of his Aberrations his Wisdom remained with him i. e. he had his Judgment and Understanding about him We should bring our Affections and Passions to the Examination of Judgment and Reason If he rejoyce it teacheth him to put this question to himself What reason have I for it And if he grieve What reason have I for it Is the thing worth my joy and worth my sorrow So to close up this enjoyment of a mans self consists in this in a sweet tranquillity of Spirit and temper of Soul which neither Prosperity nor Adversity can alter It is an equal Minde in unequal Conditions 12. This makes a condition good for us in this life Our Adorning our Condition There are many that are a shame to their conditions doing that which is unbeseeming their condition No man need to be ashamed of his condition if he be not a shame to his condition The Apostle speaketh of Adorning our Generation Phil. 2. 15. Among whom ye Shine as Lights in the midst of a crooked Generation So should a man adorn his condition Though it be Dark yet he should Shine in it Quest. Wherein stands the Adorning of a man's Condition Answ In the Exercising and Acting the Graces of a Condition The Stars in the Firmament are an Ornament to it So the Firmament of our Conditions hath its Graces to Adorn it the shining forth of which is the Adorning of the condition There are prosperity-Graces and adversity-Graces and the acting of these Graces is the adorning of the condition A prosperous condition hath its graces by the acting and exercising of which a gracious Heart doth Adorn it So an Afflicted condition hath its Graces which adorn it It is sad to see how many are a shame to their conditions there being no appearance of grace shining forth suitable to their condition We must know as all Relations and Conditions have their Duties so their Graces Magistracy hath it's They must be men fearing God Ruling in the fear of God hating Covetousness Ministry hath it's Graces As the Apostle sheweth at large in his Epistle to Timothy Which Graces are for the Adorning of their Professions So conditions have their Graces too by which they are Adorned A thankful Spirit and a publique Spirit and a bountiful and inlarged heart adorn a Prosperous Condition As on the contrary a patient and meek and humble Spirit submitting wholly to the Will of God adorns an Afflicted Condition As a man by Unthankfulness and Self-seeking c. shames a Prosperous Condition So some by their Impatiency and Fretting and Murmuring c. shame an Afflicted Condition Of whom we may say They shame their conditions and their conditions are a shame of them How many are there that have made their condition to be evil spoken of by being a shame to their condition Thus I have finished the first sort of General Directions concerning what is to be known of those that will make a right Judgment of Conditions 2. I now come to give you in General Directions concerning what is to be done by those that will make a right Judgment of conditions 1. He that will make a right judgment of his condition must be much in inquiring of the Lord by prayer what his minde and meaning is in a condition As prayer is the means by which we come to know the mind and meaning of God in his Word so also in his Works and so in those conditions he puts us into We read of Jeremiahs inquiry concerning the prosperous condition of the wicked Jer. 12. 1. Why doth the way of the wicked prosper We are indeed to take heed of putting absolute Interrogatories to God as if he were bound to give an account of His Providences to us Yet we may lawfully go to Him in a humble way to see what is His Minde and Meaning in a Dispensation and in a Condition It is our Duty to get as near God as we can to know this This is one thing Job in his Afflicted condition did desire of God Job 10. 2. Shew me wherefore thou contendest with me i e. what this Affliction meaneth whether it proceed from love or hatred whether it intend good or evil Are you in a prosperous condition and would you make a judgment of it whether it be good for you Or in an Afflicted condition The way to make a judgment of your condition is to be much in seeking to God by prayer to know His minde and meaning in a condition Although the Apostle speaketh of prayer as a Duty most suitable to an Afflicted condition Jam. 5. 13. If any among you be afflicted let him pray Yet let me tell you Prayer is a duty that suits with every condition As we are to enquire into the meaning of God concerning Afflictions so concerning a Prosperous condition if he putteth us into it we are to begg of Him the interpretation of the condition Many there be that never say as Rebecca did Why am I thus In these enquiries concerning conditions we must know we are not so much to enquire after the reasons of Gods dealing so with us as of our duty what we are to do in that condition So then prayer is a means by which we must come to make a judgment of our condition We should get as near God as we can to hear what He speaks concerning our condition As it is the Psalmist's expression Psal 85. 8. I will hark what the Lord will speak So we should harken What the Lord will speak concerning our condition There is no man can give a right judgment of an earthly condition till he hear something from Heaven concerning it There was of old this custom among the Romans That it was not lawful to propose any matter of moment in the Senate priusquam de Caelo observatum erat before their Wizzards had made their Observations from the Sky and Heavens What they did Impiously and Superstitiously we ought to do Piously in respect of conditions viz. Not to make a judgment of them till we have heard from Heaven concerning them It is not by the observation of the houses of the Planets or their Aspects or their Oppositions or Conjunctions such an observation is forbid by a voice from Heaven But we are to hearken what the Lord speaketh to us concerning our conditions and Prayer is the means by which

Church complaineth of her shuttings up by Affliction There is a double hedg that God makes about a man viz. an hedg of Protection that no Evil can come at him Thus he did about Job And then a hedg of Affliction that no Good can come at a man This is a hedg of Thorns Thus the Church complaineth Lam. 3. 9. He hath enclosed my wayes with hewen stone She was shut up with such a Wall which speaks strong and impregnable Afflictions Now the work we have to do is To see that in the mid'st of our shuttings up our hearts be not shut up towards God Jam. 5. 13. If any be Afflicted let him pray Where the Apostle sheweth what is to be our work in an Afflicted condition viz. Prayer Several Conditions have their several Duties In Prosperity we are to give Thanks in Adversity we are to Pray Eliphaz charged Job Job 15. 4. That in the day of his Affliction he did restrain prayer before God That he had inward restraints when he was under outward restraints It is our work in an Afflicted Condition to watch against that Prayer is the Duty that is proper for an Afflicted Condition and that suits with such providences And this is some of the work we are to do in that condition viz. to Pray We read Isa 26. 16. In trouble they have visited Thee they poured out a prayer when thy chastening was upon them It is Calvin's opinion that there the Prophet sheweth what was the behaviour of Gods People and what they did in the day of their affliction and trouble viz. they did Visit the Lord and so shewed the confidence they had in God q. d. Lord whereas Afflictions drive others from thee and set them at a further distance yet thy people draw nearer to thee and seek the more after thee Here is the work in an Afflicted Condition To visit God and to poure out a Prayer before Him Afflictions are God's Visitations and when God visiteth us with his Afflictions we should visit Him with our Supplications When He poureth forth our Comforts and emptieth us of them for so God's Afflicting is called a pouring out it 's then our Duty to pour out a Prayer before Him David made this the work of his condition Psal 142. 2. I poured out my complaint before him I shewed him my trouble So Psal 18. 6. In my distress I called upon the Lord and cryed to my God And this the Lord calleth for as that which we are to do in an Afflicted condition Psal 50. 15. Call upon me in the day of trouble It is some ease to us when a trouble falls upon us that we have some friend to repair to into whose bosom we may pour out our complaints This is the great Priviledg that in an Afflicted condition we have a God to go to to whom we may make known our condition and shew Him our trouble as David did Psal 142. 2. In that condition it is one great thing we have to do to go to God to begg of Him what we need for the condition viz. Shoulders of Patience for our Burthens and a gracious Improvement of our Conditions Christians you must know an Afflicted condition is then good for you when your hearts are kept open when you have inward Enlargements in the mid'st of your outward straitnings 6. The work of an Afflicted Condition is this viz. To keep the Ear open to Counsel and Instruction Some there are so taken up with the thoughts of their Condition that they will not hearken to Counsel As Marius the Romane said He could not hearken to the Laws for the ratling and noyse of Armes So the noyse of Troubles will not suffer some to hearken to the voice of Counsel And so David confesseth that it was his case Psal 77. 2. His Soul refused comfort Elihu Job 36. 8. sheweth how it is with Godly men when they are in Affliction And then Vers 10. He openeth their ear to Discipline We must know Sathan is a great Enemy to the doing the work of our Condition he endeavours to make us turn our Conditions into Sin and not into Duty He doth all he can to stop our Ears against hearing Counsel and Instruction Remember when you are in Affliction there cometh some Instruction with it Now Satan endeavours to open the Eye but to stop the Ear he keeps the Eye open to look upon the Affliction but he keeps the Ear shut and stopeth it that it may not hearken unto the Instruction The best way in an Afflicted Condition is to keep the Eyes shut and the Ear open Not so much to look upon the Affliction as to hear Instruction Micah 6. 9. Hear ye the Rod. He doth not say See ye the Rod but hear ye the Rod. When men are under the Rod their eyes are open enough to see the Rod they can point to the Affliction and shew what it is But the great thing they are to do is to hear the Rod. The Rod hath a Voice which should be hearkened to When an Affliction comes it comes as I told you before with some Message from God It comes with some Instruction and that we are to hearken to We should hear what God will speak as David said in another case Psal 85. 8. When we see a flash of Lightning we then prepare our Ears to hear a clap of Thunder When we see the Affliction we should have our Ears open to hearken to what followeth We read of Eliah when he was in the mouth of the Cave 1 King 19. 12. There came a strong Wind that brake the Mountains After the Wind came an Earth-quake After the Earth-quake came a Fire After the Fire came a soft still Voice Remember after the noyse of Afflictions there comes a Voice and we should hearken to that Voice Psal 94. 12. it is said Blessed is the man whom thou chastenest and teachest him out of thy Law The happiness of a man lieth not in his being chastened but in his being taught and instructed by his Chastisement A mute and dumb Affliction is Evil for a man and it is our deafness that maketh the Affliction dumb when a man heareth not the Affliction speak So then in an Afflicted Condition we are to hearken to what God saith as well see as to what God doth 7. Another work of an Afflicted Condition is this viz. Framing the heart to a pious Submission To get the heart into a submitting Frame And this not only out of Necessity but out of Duty It is excellent when we can bring our Hearts to a quiet Submission to the Will of God in all these Providences and Dispensations It must not be onely a Necessary Submission Such a Submission is this When a man parteth with a Comfort upon this consideration If God will take it away I cannot help it I am content to part with it since it cannot be otherwise Thus they submit to their Condition and yield to the parting with a