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Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
friend_n	abase_v	exalt_v	kinsman_n	15	3	12.0306	5	false

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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A30303	Expository notes with practical observations on the Four Holy Evangelists, viz., St. Matthew, St. Mark, St. Luke, St. John wherein the sacred text is at large recited ... and the instructive example of the holy Jesus to our imitation recommended ; designed for the instruction of private families ... / by William Burkitt.	Burkitt, William, 1650-1703.	1700 (1700)	Wing B5736; ESTC R29600	900,471	338

rest in preaching and did with greater Zeal and Power sound forth the Doctrine of the Gospel like Thunder 20 And the multitude cometh together again so that they could not so much as eat bread 21 And when his friends heard of it they went out to lay hold on him for they said He is beside himself 22 And the scribes which came down from Jerusalem said He hath Beelzebub and by the prince of the devils casteth he out devils 23 And he called them unto him and said unto them in parables How can Satan cast out Satan 24 And if a kingdom be divided against it self that kingdom cannot stand 25 And if a house be divided against it self that house cannot stand 26 And if Satan rise up against himself and be divided he cannot stand but hath an end 27 No man can enter into a strong man's house and spoil his goods except he will first bind the strong man and then he will spoil his house 28 Verily I say unto you All sins shall be forgiven unto the sons of men and blasphemies wherewith soever they shall blaspheme 29 But he that shall blaspheme against the holy Ghost hath never forgiveness but is in danger of eternal damnation 30 Because they said He hath an unclean spirit Observe here 1. How truly our Lord's Word was verified John 4.34 My Meat is to do the Will of him that sent me for he and his Apostles going into an House to refresh themselves in their Hunger the People press'd upon him so fast to hear the Word that he regards not the satisfying of his Hunger but applies himself to instruct the People Lord how exemplary was thy Zeal and Diligence in preaching the everlasting Gospel to a lost World As it is instructive to may it be imitated and followed by all thy Ambassadors Obs 2. The rash Censure of our Saviour's Friends that is his Kinsmen concerning this Action in neglecting to eat Bread and suffering the Multitude thus unseasonably to press upon him They conclude he is besides himself Out of his right Mind and accordingly went out to lay hold upon him Learn hence 1. That the forward Zeal and Diligence of Christ and his Ministers in preaching the Gospel is accounted Madness and Frenzy by a Blind World But they may say with the Apostle 2 Cor. 5.13 If we be besides our selves it is unto God But who were the Persons that thus look'd upon our Saviour as besides himself Verily his own Kindred and Relations according to the Flesh Learn thence That oft-times the Servants of God meet with the strongest Temptations from and are most discouraged and molested by such as are their nearest Relations by Blood or Alliance This is a great Trial to find our Relations setting us back instead of helping us forward in the ways of Religion but we must bear it patiently knowing that not only others of God's Children but Jesus Christ his own and only Son did experience this Trial. Observe 3. The malicious and wicked Slander which the Scribes endeavoured to fix upon our Blessed Saviour namely That he was possest of the Devil and by Familiarity with him and Help from him cast forth Devils out of others Good God! how was thine own and only Son the Holy and Innocent Jesus censured slandered and falsly accused of the worst of Crimes of Gluttony of Blasphemy of Sorcery Can any of thy Children expect Freedom from the Persecution of the Tongue when Innocency it self could not protect thy Holy Son from Slander and false Accusation Obs 4. Our Saviour's Answer and just Apology for himself in which are contained 1. A Confutation of their Calumny and Slander 2. A Reprehension of the Scribes for the same 1. To confute this Slander our Saviour by several Arguments shews how absurd and unlikely it is that the Devil should cast out himself and any ways oppose or seek to destroy his own Kingdom As if our Saviour had said Is it likely that Satan would ●end me his Power to use it against himself Surely Satan will do nothing to weaken his own Interest or shake the Pillars of his own Kingdom Now if I have received my Power from Satan for destroying him and his Kingdom Then is Satan like a Family divided within it self and like a Kingdom divided against it self which can never stand but be brought to Desolation Our Saviour having sufficiently shewn that he did not work his Miracles by the Power of the Devil he next informs them from whence he had that Power even from God himself and accordingly he compares Satan to a strong Man well-armed with Weapons to defend his House and he compares himself clothed with Divine Power to one that is stronger than the strong Man So that the Argument runs thus The Devil is very strong and powerful and there is no Power but God's only that is stronger than his If then says Christ I were not assisted with a Divine Power I could never cast out this strong Man who reigns in the Bodies and Souls of Men as in his House for it must be a stronger than the strong Man that shall bind Satan and who is he but the God of Strength Learn hence That Christ's Divine Power is only Superiour to Satan's Strength He only can vanquish and over-rule him at his Pleasure and drive him out of that Possession which he holds either in the Bodies or in the Souls of Men. Obs 5. The Charge which our Saviour brings against the Scribes and Pharisees for Blaspheming his Divine Power in working Miracles He charges them with sinning the unpardonable Sin against the Holy Ghost All Sin and Blasphemy shall be forgiven but he that shall Blaspheme against the Holy Ghost hath never Forgiveness As if Christ had said All the Reproaches which you cast upon me as Man are pardonable as when you check me with the Poverty and Meaness of my Birth when you censure me for a Wine-bibber a Glutton a Friend and Companion of Sinners and the like unjust Crimes But when you Blaspheme that Divine Power by which all my Miracles are wrought and contrary to the Convictions of your own enlightned Minds maliciously ascribe all my Miracles to the Power of the Devil which were wrought indeed by the Power of the Holy Ghost this makes your Condition not only dangerous but desperate because you resist the last Remedy and oppose the best Means for your Conviction For what can be done more to convince you that I am the true and promised Messiah than to work so many Miracles before your Eyes to that Purpose Now if when you see these you will say it is not the Spirit of God that works these but the Power of the Devil as if Satan would conspire against himself and seek the Ruin of his own Kingdom there is no Way or Means left to convince you but you will continue in your Obstinacy and malicious Opposition to Truth to your unutterable and inevitable Condemnation 31 There came then his

which denotes both the certainty and proximity of this Peoples Ruine Learn 1. that the ruine and destruction of Sinners is wholly chargable upon themselves that is on their own wilfulness and impenitency on their own obstinacy and obduracy I would have gathered you says Christ but ye would not Learn 2. How deplorably and inexcusably they will perish who perish by their own wilfulness and obduracy under the Gospel 3. That there is no desire like unto God's desire of a Peoples Repentance no longing like unto God's longing for a Peoples Salvation Oh Jerusalem how oft would I have gathered thee when shall it once be Jerem. 13.27 CHAP. XIV 1 AND it came to pass as he went into the house of one of the chief Pharisees to eat Bread on the Sabbath-day that they watched him 2 And behold there was a certain man before him which had the Dropsy 3 And Jesus answering spake unto the Lawyers and Pharisees saying Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath-day 4 And they held their peace and he took him and healed him and let him go 5 And answered them saying which of you shall have an Ass or an Ox fallen into a Pit and will not straightway pull him out on the Sabbath-day and they could not answer him again to these things Several particulars are here worthy of our Observation and Imitation Note 1. The freedom of our Lord's Conversation with Men he delighted in humane Society and was of a sociable Temper we do not find that whenever he was invited to a Dinner that he disdain'd to go not so much for the pleasure of Eating as for the opportunity of Conversing and doing good Note 2. The House he goes into and is entertain'd in one of the chief Pharisees who were some of his chiefest Enemies a great instance of our Lord's humanity humility and self-denial in that he refuses not the Conversation of those whom he knew did not affect him teaching us to Love our Enemies and not to shun Conversing with them that thereby we may gain an opportunity of being reconciled to them Note 3. The day when our Saviour dined publickly at the Pharisees House among the Lawyers and Pharisees it was on the Sabbath-day Learn thence That it is not sinfully unlawful for us to entertain our Friends and Neighbours with a plentiful Meal on the Lord's day it must be acknowledged that Feasting upon any day is one of those Lawful things which is difficultly managed without Sin but more especially upon that day that it does not unfit us for the Duties of the Sabbath However our Lord's Example in going to a publick Dinner amongst Lawyers and Pharisees evidently shews the lawfulness of feasting on that day provided we use the same moderation in eating and drinking that he did and improve the opportunity as a Season for doing good as he has taught us by his Example Note 4. How contrary to all the Laws of Behaviour the Decency of Conversation and the Rules of Hospitality the Pharisees watched him making their Table a Snare to catch him hoping they might hear something from him or see something in him for which they might accuse him He entered into the house of the Pharisee to eat Bread and they watched him Note 5. Our Saviour chose the Sabbath-day as the fittest Season to work his miraculous Cures in in the Pharisees House he heals a Man that had the Dropsy on the Sabbath-day Christ would not forbear doing good nor omit an opportunity of helping and healing the distressed tho' he knew his Enemies the Pharisees would carp and cavil at it calumniate and reproach him for it it being the constant guise of Hypocrites to prefer Ceremonial and Ritual Observations before Necessary and Moral Duties Note 6. How our Saviour defends the Lawfulness of his Act in Healing the diseased Man from their own Act in helping the Beast out of the Pit on the Sabbath-day as if Christ had said Is it lawful for you on the Sabbath-day to help a Beast and is it sinful in me to heal a Man Note Lastly How the Reason and Force of our Saviour's Argument silenced the Pharisees convinced them no doubt but we read nothing of their Conversion the obstinate and malicious are much harder to be wrought upon than the Ignorant and Scandalous it is easier to silence such Men then to satisfy them to stop their Mouths than to remove their Prejudices for Obstinacy will hold the Conclusion tho' Reason cannot maintain the Premises They could not answer him again to these things 7 And he put forth a Parable to those that were bidden when he marked how they chose out the chief Rooms saying unto them 8 When thou art bidden of any man to a wedding sit not down in the highest Room lest a more honourable person than thou be bidden of him 9 And he that bade thee and him come and say to thee Give this man place and thou begin with shame to take the lowest Room 10 But when thou art bidden go and sit down in the lowest Room and when he that bade thee cometh he may say unto thee Friend go up higher then shalt thou have Worship in the presence of them that sit at meat with thee 11 For whosoever exalteth himself shall be abased and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted It was observed before that our Blessed Saviour Dined publickly on the Sabbath day with several Pharisees and Lawyers that which is here worthy of our Notice is this how holy and suitable our Lord's Discourse was to the Solemnity of that day may it be the matter of our imitation it is not unlawful for Friends to Dine together on the Lord's Day provided their Discourse be suitable to the Day such was our Lord 's here for observing how the Company then at Table did affect precedency and taking place one of another he that before their Eyes had Cured a Man of a Bodily Dropsy attempts to Cure the Persons that Dined with him of the Tympany of Pride Where Note That it is not the Taking but the Affecting the highest Places and uppermost Rooms that our Saviour condemns There may and ought to be a Precedency amongst Persons it is according to the Will of God That Honour is given to whom Honour is due and that the more Honourable Persons should sit in the most Honourable Places for Grace gives a Man no exteriour Preference it makes a Man glorious indeed but it is glorious within Note farther the way and course the method and means which our Saviour directs Persons to in order to their attaining real Honour both from GOD and Men namely by being little in our own Eyes and in lowliness of mind esteeming others better than our selves as GOD will abase and Men will despise the proud and haughty so GOD will exalt and Men will honour the humble Person Whosoever exalteth himself shall be abased and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted 12 Then said he also to him

that bade when thou makest a Dinner or a Supper call not thy friends nor thy brethren neither thy kinsmen nor thy rich neighbours lest they also bid thee again and a recompence be made thee 13 But when thou makest a Feast call the poor the maimed the lame and the blind 14 And thou shalt be blessed for they cannot recompence thee for thou shalt be recompenced at the Resurrection of the just Our Saviour observing how the Pharisee that bade him to Dinner invited only the Rich over-looking and neglecting the Poor he exhorts him and the Company that whenever they make Entertainments for the time to come they should not only invite their rich Neighbours and Friends who can and will invite them again but remember the Poor Here Note 1. That Civil Courtesies and Hospitable Entertainments of Kindred and Friends for maintaining and preserving Love and Concord is not only Lawful but an expedient and necessary Duty Vse hospitality to one another says St. Peter without grudging 2. That altho' it be not lawful to invite and feast the Rich yet is it most acceptable to God when we feed and refresh the Poor When thou makest a Feast call rather the poor and thou shalt be blessed We must prefer the Duties of Christian Charity before Acts of Common Civility Blessed are those Feast-makers who make the Bowels of the Hungry to Bless them 3. That God oft-times Rewards our Liberality to the poor very signally in this Life but if it be deferr'd we shall not fail to receive it at the Resurrection of the Just The poor cannot recompence thee but thou shalt be recompenced at the Resurrection of the just 15 And when one of them that sate at meat with him heard these things he said unto him Blessed is he that shall eat Bread in the kingdom of God 16 Then said he unto him A certain man made a great Supper and bade many 17 And sent his Servant at Supper-time to say to them that were bidden Come for all things are now ready 18 And they all with one consent began to make excuse The first said unto him I have bought a piece of Ground and I must needs go and see it I pray thee have me excused 19 And another said I have bought five yoke of Oxen and I go to prove them I pray thee have me excused 20 And another said I have married a wife and therefore I cannot come 21 So that the servant came and shewed his Lord these things Then the master of the house being angry said to his Servant Go out quickly into the streets and lanes of the City and bring in hither the poor and the maimed the halt and the blind 22 And the servant said Lord it is done as thou hast commanded and yet there is room 23 And the Lord said unto the servant go into the High-ways and Hedges and compel them to come in that my house may be filled 24 For I say unto you None of those men which were bidden shall taste of my Supper One of them that sate at meat with our Saviour in the Pharisees House hearing Christ speak of being Recompenc'd at the Resurrection of the Just repeated that known saying among the Rabbins Blessed is he that shall eat bread in the kingdom of God that is who shall be partaker of the Joys of Heaven Hereupon Christ utters the Parable of the Marriage Supper Recorded here by St. Luke with small variation from what was delivered by St. Matthew Ch. 22. The first intention of our Saviour in that Parable seems to be this to set forth that gracious offer of Mercy and Salvation which was made by the preaching of the Gospel unto the Jews and to declare God's purpose of Receiving the Gentiles into the Fold of Christ upon the Jews despising and rejecting that inestimable Favour But besides this it has an aspect upon us Christians who have embraced the Doctrine of the Gospel Here Note 1. That the Gospel for its freeness and fulness for its varieties and delicacies is like a Marriage-Supper For 1. it does create the same Relation between Christ and Believers that Marriage doth between Husband and Wife 2. it entitles to the same Priviledges that a Conjugal Relation doth to the same endearing Love and Tenderness to the same Care and Protection to the same Honour and to the same Happiness 3. It obliges to the like Duties namely unspotted Love and fidelity chearful obedience to his Commands reverence to his Person submission to his Authority 4. It produces the same Effects as the Effect of Marriage is increase of Children so the fruit of the Gospel is bringing many sons to God Note 2. That Gospel invitations are mightily disesteemed they made light of the invitation and offered frivolous Excuses for their refusal of it Note 3. That the preference which the World has in Mens esteem is the great Cause of the Gospel-Contempt one had purchased a piece of Ground another had bought five yoke of Oxen. Note 4. The deplorable sadness of their Condition who refuse upon any pretence whatever to comply with the Gospel-Tender of Reconciliation and Mercy The King was wrath pronounced them unworthy of his Favour and resolved they should not taste of his Supper but sends forth his Servants to invite others to the Supper Note 5. The Notion under which the Gentiles are set forth unto us such as were in Lanes Streets and High-ways that is a rude rustick barbarous People whom the Jews despised yea whom they held Accursed yet even these are called and accepted whilst the Jews the first intended Guests are excluded by means of their own Contempt Note lastly The means used to bring in the Gentiles to the Gospel-Supper Go and compel them to come in not by Violence but perswasion by Argumentation not Compulsion the plain and perswasive the powerful and efficacious Preaching of the Word with the Motions and influences of the Holy Spirit are the Compulsion here intended not external Force not temporal Punishments not outward Violence Non Religionis est cogere Religionem says Tertullian No Man ought by Force and Violence to be compelled to the Profession of the true Faith 25 And there were great multitudes with him and he turned and said unto them 26 If any man come to me and hate not his Father and Mother and Wife and Children and Brethren and Sisters yea and his own life also he cannot be my Disciple 27 And whosoever doth not bare his cross and come after me cannot be my Disciple Our Saviour by these Expressions doth not condemn natural Love and Affection either to our Relations or our own Lives but only regulates and directs it shewing that our first and chief Love must be bestowed upon himself we may have and ought to cherish tender and relenting affections towards our near and dear Relations But then the Consideration of Christ's Truth and Religion must take place of these yea of Life it self and when they stand in Competition