conclude Our Words have a middle place between our Thoughts and our Deeds and of a mighty influence they are upon both and certainly the ordering of them as I have said is a great Ordinance of God for Making and Keeping good our Thoughts and Works and our Neighbours also Wherefore a needful prayer it is for us O Lord open our mouths that is give us DISCRETION wherewith to open them and HOLY AFFECTION wherewith to open them and desirable OPPORTUNITIES wherein to open them for thy Glory and our own and our Brethren's Edification Amen Twelve Directions for Religious Discourse Prov. 1.5 A wise man will hear and increase Learning Good Proficients will give heed to first plain Elements D. 1. Understand well the TRUTHS and DUTIES of Religion Read Hear Enquire spare no Pains to get a good understanding of the Creed Lords Prayer Ten Commandments and Doctrine of the Sacraments A well informed mind it is that must teach the Mouth and add Learning to the Lips Prov. 16.23 The heart of the wise teacheth his mouth and addeth learning to his lips An inquisitive humble man will not long be Ignorant And when he ceases to be Ignorant he will presently be usefully Eloquent And it is no matter if he be not gawdily so D. 2. Believe the things of Religion to be real Even as the things that you see with your Eyes Believe thus the Being and Glory of God the Sinfulness of Sin the Beauty and Importance of Holiness the Joys of Heaven the Torments of Hell the Eternity of Both. Whatever your Head be if your Heart be faithless your Discourse will be heartless And must be extorted from you too it will not come freely as little as its worth will be But strong Faith makes forward to speak bold in speaking and unrestrainable from it 2 Cor. 4.13 It is written I Believed and therefore have I spoken we also Believe and therefore speak D. 3. Love the real things of Religion with all your Heart Knowledge and Faith too is an idle mute without Love They work yea and speak also by Love It is out of nothing of the heart so much as Love that the Mouth speaks Love maketh the Lips of those that are asleep to speak Cant. 7.9 And the roof of thy mouth like the best wine for my beloved that goeth down sweetly causing the lips of those that are asleep to speak Nothing sooner casts out dumb Devils Who ever knew a great Lover of his God a silenced Man Undoubtedly our Affections are chilled before our Tongues are tyed D. 4. Perfect the Subjection of your Selves unto Religion Be constantly and universally under its government in all your ways Eat and Drink by religious rule Buy and Sell by the same Pray and Worship by the same For if you allow your selves in any one Sin you cannot reprove others for any You cannot Decently nor can you Sincerely Under the Law the Snuffers were to be made of pure Gold Teaching that Reformers of other Men were to be Unspotted and Inoffensive themselves and Praise-worthy Exod 37.23 And he made his seven lamps and his snuffers and his snuff-dishes of pure gold D. 5. Compassionate the Souls that be void of all sound Religion Consider their Misery and their Helplesness unless help be brought quickly Remember that Sinners be Stray creatures from God their Owner And be sinking under the burthen of their sins into Hells bottomless Pit Remember also that God who hath called thee into his way of Salvation and hath forgiven thy Sins will be exceeding angry if thou hidest thy self from thy perishing Neighbours If thou Pretendest that thou knowest not the case of their Souls or Passest them by unreproved and uninstructed as though thou didst not know it God will be angry if thou shewest not more Pity upon an Ox or a Sheep or an Ass yea though it be thy very Enemies Exod. 23.4 5. If thou meet thine enemies Ox or his Ass going astray thou shalt surely bring it back to him again If thou see the Ass of him that hateth thee lying under his burden and wouldest forbear to help him thou shalt surely help with him Deut. 22.1 4. Thou shalt not see thy Brothers Ox or his Sheep go astray and hide thy self from them thou shalt in any case bring them again unto thy Brother Thou shalt not see thy Brothers Ass or his Ox fall down by the way and hide thy self from them thou shalt surely help him to lift them up again They be Cruel as Ostriches that are Dumb as Dogs Yearning Bowels will bring forth Edifying Discourses D. 6. Covet earnestly your own Proficience in Religion In the Gifts Graces Services and Comforts of it Prov. 11.25 The liberal soul shall be made fat and he that watereth shall be watered also himself To water others is one way a sure one and an excellent to have God water us God never muzzles the Mouths of such as do kindly and painfully tread out Corn to others He doth then most sensibly Teach us while we are Teaching others Ordinarily he doth so as Experience tells us I believe we may all say as one great man saith expresly I am never backward to help or cold in helping the Souls of others until a base cold is gotten into my own Soul and it is waxed careless of it self Desire of our own Spiritual good will certainly put upon Endeavours for other Men's good Although Covetousness of earthly things puts upon a contrary practice D. 7. Keep a Law of Moral Kindness in your Lips towards Religious men and Irreligious Remember still that Gospel Precept 1 Pet. 3.8 Be ye courteous Forgetfulness of it is an extreme damage to the Interest of the Gospel It is an unknown mischief that one rough rugged word will many times do How many thousands of good ones it will prevent or frustrate Whereas Affable ones do wonderfully open our Ears Mouths and Hearts unto each other Do not think to impart Wisdom where you do not pleasantly express Love It must be your Lovers to whom you will have much pleasure to Discourse And who will with much pleasure Hear you Neither may you expect to make or keep many such Lovers without Morosity and Sourness of behaviour abandoned If Love cast not them out they will soon cast Love out and then farewel to good Discourse You may see how the very Apostles were fain to carry it to maintain their Ministry and its Usefulness 1 Thes 2.7 We were GENTLE among you even as a NURSE cherisheth her Children A winning Affability is as necessary as Breath it self to profitable Discourse especially with weak Christians D. 8. Perfume your own Houses with Religious Discourses Make it said in your Neighbourhoods that happy are your Children and happy your Servants which live continually near you and hear your Wisdom Be sure that your Lips disperse Knowledge at home and that your Families have Precept upon Precept Fail not to be Guides of your own Blind Of your own
Eighteen Directions FOR Saving Conversion UNTO GOD. WITH Directions for Daily Holy Living And Motives with Directions unto Religious Discourse such as tends to promote Conversion and holy Conversation By Daniel Burgess Minister of the Gospel Thus Published for the Poor LONDON Printed for Tho. Parkhurst at the Bible and Three Crowns at the lower end of Cheapside near Mercers Chapel 1691. EIGHTEEN DIRECTIONS FOR Saving Conversion UNTO GOD. By Daniel Burgess Minister of the Gospel Thus Published for the Poor LONDON Printed for Tho. Parkhurst at the Bible and Three Crowns at the lower end of Cheapside near Mercers Chapel 1691. To my Friends in the Counties of Wilts Berks Somerset Glocester Oxford Southampton Middlesex Grace and Peace Sirs I thankfully remember all your old true Love And by your frequent Salutations I am comfortably assured of it's continuance Having not any thing better I Re-salute you all together with this Fragment I intreat that your Children may be exercised in Learning to Understand them and Recite them Especially those Children whom I Baptized and do with an especial Affection remember This Inscription obtains its end if it certifie you that You and Yours live in the affectionate memory of one that sticks not to go out of the common Road to fetch in one Soul unto Jesus Christ Your Fervent Lover and Oratour D. Burgess Eighteen Directions for Saving Conversion unto God c. D. 1. BE Men. Be not content to be Flies and Worms or Dogs and Swine in Men's Shape You have REASON a faculty of Understanding and Judging what is True and what is False You have a WILL a freedom of Chusing what you understand to be Good and of Refusing what you think to be Evil. You have a CONSCIENCE also obliging you always to ACT upon Choice and to CHUSE upon Judgment Be not then as if you had neither of the three Be not swayed by brutish Sense and acted by Colours Smells Sounds and Tasts as if you had been Born in the Field among Cattel and had in you no nobler Principle than they Rise presently and say each of you From this moment I will use my Powers My Nature is better than Brutes and my Life shall be better I will follow my exercised Reason and seek GRACE which is it's Perfection Till this be resolutely said you have no proper Manhood No but are Bruits and worse Morally though you are Men Naturally Psal 49.20 D. 2. Know your Maker Endure not to be Silly Children that know not their own Father You know you made not your selves Your Parents know little of your inner parts and confess that they did not form the same You believe your Maker to be one that was Himself never made But an Eternal Being and the common Father and Fountain of all Beings And by consequence of more Wisdom Power and Goodness than all And more worth Knowing than all Rise then and say every one of you What good shall my Life do me if I may not know the Father of it Give me the Knowledge of my Father or else I die I will never know rest till I understand WHO and WHAT He is Go learn the Sixteen things concerning GOD in the first of my Three Questions resolved Till He be known nothing can be rightly known 2 Thes 1.7 8. D. 3. Love your Selves Being descended from so excellent a Father LOVELINESS and LOVE it self and being so excellent a race of his as Men bearing his Image do not make light of your selves The visible Creation is not by millions of times worth one of your Souls Say then straightway in your Souls every of you I see nothing but my God better than my Soul Next to his Glory I will therefore make this Souls good my chief End and Care If this Soul be lost it shall not be for want of any thing I can do to Save it I will do and suffer work and beg Live and Die for this Soul of mine For it's Felicity in my Maker's Love and Favour and Likeness Until this be said you do but Flatter you do not Love your Selves No but interpretatively you Hate your selves And you Mischief your Selves more than Devils can do Prov. 8.36 D. 4. Visit Heaven and Hell You know there is another World none of you all pretend to be sure that there is not another If there be another confine not your Acquaintance unto this Heathens Turks and Jews themselves believe another World And say it is a Bigger than this and an Everlasting one And one whose Pleasures exceed those of this lower Worlds as much as the Light of the Sun exceedeth the Gloworm's Whose Pains and Torments also be such that the worst Torments here wou'd be very Refreshments unto the tormented there Let every one then say I will as daily think of the next World as I breath in this And Fear the torments of that World more than the pains of this And Desire and seek the Pleasures of that World more than all of this Before this Practice you do not see afar off but are blind You live in this World as Spiders in their Webs careless and thoughtless of the Beesom of destruction And as Serpents in the Dust regardless of the glory of higher Regions 2 Cor. 4.18 D. 5. Call Earth your Purgatory Your Time here is all of it given you on Tryal and for Preparation for your Eternal State Your Maker is Holy his Heaven is Pure All that enter it must be Purified their Time is allowed them for Purification As they are Purified or not Purified here on Earth they are taken into Heaven or excluded No other Place of Purifying or Time is set by God Say then Reader say often unto thy self My time is my tryal for Eternity I am here on my good behaviour as I Live here I Speed for ever After my death God will neither hold me on tryal in that World nor send me back again and try me in this If I am Glorified I must be Purified and if Purified it must be now My Motto shall be NOW or NEVER Eph. 5.15 16. 2 Cor. 5.9 10. D. 6. Believe and search God's Word Believe the H. Scripture so to be It is in a manner as plain that the Scripture is his Word as that the World is his Work Men could no more invent such a Bible than they could make such a World Read Dr. Manton Dr Bates Mr. Baxter hereof you shall say so As sure as there is a God his Will must be Revealed but if it be not Revealed in the H. Scripture where is it Revealed And what is there in the Scripture but is like Him and speaks it self His And if His it be how Continually Awfully and Affectionately should it be studied Rather than neglect it I would burn all my other Books and read the Scripture by the light of them Say thou that readest this upon due consideration say thou If I had a thousand Souls I would venture them all upon the truth of
designs of great and good Effects upon your hearts by them When you are in company consider your Tongue 's need of Government All its words be Meat or Poison to your Hearers and your selves They do still holily make for Edification or subserviently for Recreation or contrarily for Corruption Prov. 24.9 The THOUGHT of foolishness is sin Mat. 12.36 Of every idle WORD that men shall speak they shall give account in the day of Judgment D. 9. Preserve the Prerogative of your King I mean of your Love Your Love of God of Angels of Men That is your Principal Grace your Prince Keep that Prince on horse-back let that ride and reign and rule you in all you do Let not any thing lower move and sway you more in any of your ways Remember still it is Love that is the highest improvement of our Faculties the End of all other Graces the Excellency in all other Graces For this is the Word of God given for this is the Spirit given for this was his Son given that we might Love Never please your selves therefore with any Quality or any external Duty without Love internal Love animating enlivening exalting it Rom. 13.10 Love is the fulfilling of the Law D. 10. Value highly your Time Do so really in more than empty pretence And do so apparently also Apparently unto your own Conscience Family Friends Neighbours Tell all in the Language of Practice you account them as the worst of Thieves who rob you of your Time Say as Mr. Fowler My Time and Strength is God's and he shall have it And as Mr. Calvin Christ shall not find me idle Esteem every small moity of Time as you do of Gold Expend none at all of it but in mowing and whetting your Sythe in very Duty and necessary Recreation Buy a great deal of it I mean part with much vain pleasure secular profit fools favour and kindness and good men's too sometimes to save your Time To save it from doing of evil and from doing of lesser good when you may do greater That is indeed as we are bid Eph. 5.16 To Redeem the Time D. 11. Exercise Christian Temperance in all your Meals Brutes are more temperate in use of food than many men And may I not say that some unregenerate men are more temperate than here and there a well reputed Christian appears This is a shame Excess in Meat and Drink is not the least fruitful sin against Body or Soul To be abstemious and sparing for Health's sake is to be as wise as Brute creatures and some men graceless Abstinence for Conscience sake of love to God and Christ to our own Souls and others of faithfulness unto our Baptismal Engagement this is Christian Temperance Ezek. 16.49 Behold this was the sin of Sodom Pride FULNESS of BREAD and abundance of IDLENESS was in her Sin came in by eating remember then Prov. 23.2 Put a knife to thy throat if thou be a man given to Appetite And Be not desirous of Dainties for they are deceitful meat Rom. 8.13 If ye live after the flesh ye shall die D. 12. Hasten your Recoveries out of your wilful sins For sins of unavoidable Infirmity God threatens not Eternal Plagues or Temporal Judgments on you Sincere and constant Humiliation for them is indeed necessary and natural to Lovers of God and Christ But sins that are not of common and insuperable Infirmity they make fearful breaches of your Peace with God and sore wounds in your Souls They sadly lessen God's Love of Complacence in you and your Love and all graces towards God When you fall into these dare not to lie one minute in them Lament them presently Confess them presently to God and if need be unto man also Repent rent your hearts for them and rent them also from them without delay Cry for the Balm of Christ's Blood to be presently dropt into your wounds and for the clean Water of his Spirit to be presently poured on you Cry mightily for Pardon of them and Assistance against them Every minutes delay may cost you so many days weeks and months dolor and anguish Chosen delays may make so many Spira's of you for ought I know Psal 32.3 While I kept silence i. e. would not confess my sin my bones waxed old i. e. I suffered dearly D. 13. Examine strictly your Relative Duty Often say What Subject am I What Fellow-Subject What Observer of Magistrates and Ministers What Friend am I How do I carry it toward my Enemies For a Christian can be no one's Enemy as far as he is a Christian he cannot What Husband or Wife am I What Parent or Child am I What Master or Servant am I What Superior what Inferior what Equal am I Sincerity or Hypocrisie is for the most part specially seen in these things 2 Pet. 3.11 What manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy Conversations and Godlinesses Psal 119.6 Then shall I not be ashamed when I have respect unto all thy Commandments D. 14. Repeat every Evening your double use of the WORD and PRAYER I mean in your Closet and Family Dare not for the gain of a Kingdom to omit it of choice Nor to perform it without greatest Seriousness Willingness Thankfulness Psa 55.17 Evening and Morning and at Noon will I pray and cry aloud and he shall hear my voice D. 15. Repair every days Losses and be chary of every days Gains I mean your extraordinary ones The Womb of some days doth bring you forth huge Hindrances of Duty to God to your selves and to your Families III Persons or Things obstruct your Solemnities When they do so consider and consult and strain hard to make it up the next day Read Pray Meditate c. so much the more Another day brings forth huge Helps A Lecture a Fast or Publick Thanksgiving a Funeral Sermon a meeting with some Servants of God of extraordinary Talents apt to Teach and forward so to do When such a day comes lay up and lock up your Spiritual Gains Rost what you take as Solomon speaks keep feed on it enjoy it Eph. 5. v. 16. Redeeming the time because the days are evil John second Epistle verse 8. Look to your selves that we lose not those things that we have wrought but may receive a full reward D. 16. Improve both of the holy Sacraments Most lamentably these are neglected among us The God of all Grace that hath condescended to extremity in the ordaining of them awaken Ministers and People to better use of them On God's part they are Signs and Seals on our part they are Bonds and Badges Baptism and the Lords Supper are the utmost confirmations God giveth us of his Promise to be our God and the utmost we give of our Engagement to be his Forget not this nor vainly remember it Plead with God for your Souls his Signed Sealed Promises unto you to the expulsion of Distrust And plead with your Souls for God your Sacramental Bonds given unto
that serveth him They also Save and Convert some Souls and Quiet and Comfort others of the Hearers Talk of Health and of Riches will not cure the Sick nor enrich the Poor But full often hath talk of Holiness made holy and blessed the Hearers of it Who knows not many Instances M. 5. Religious Discourse is a Duty most Undoubted most Cheap and most Advantageous to do good Undoubted for no Law forbids any man to praise his God Cheap for what doth cost less than words or what will you spend for God if you will not speak for Him unto your Friends Advantageous for in Discourse you may better know any man's Capacity and so sute it better in the matter and language than in Preaching Besides you speak singly and more particularly and insinuatingly Deut. 6.7 And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy Children and shalt talk of them when thou fittest in thine house and when thou walkest by the way and when thou lyest down and when thou risest up M. 6. Religious Discourse is a Duty of greatest opportunity Not a day but Providence gives you an opportunity for more or less of it Not any Company you ever come into but every Soul needs it Converts men Unconverted and men Doubtful whether they are Reconciled unto God or no all do need the Lips that disperse Knowledge Gal. 6.10 As we have therefore opportunity let us do good unto all men especially unto them who are of the houshold of faith M. 7. Religious Discourse is a Duty helpful unto the best Ministry The Ministry has done little good upon you until it has brought you unto the use of it But when you do use it you will exceedingly further the good of the Ministry Some will not hear the fittest Ministers for them till Discourse bring them Others cannot Understand or Remember much till Discourse help them M. 8. Religious Discourse is a Duty forced upon us by Satan's party They are all of them every day speaking against Godliness How can any of the Lovers of God hold their peace therefore It is said that a dumb Child did once break silence when his Father was spoke against Our heavenly Father is spoken against every day shall he not every day be spoken for He is every where Reviled shall he not be every where Praised All sorts young Men and Maidens old Men and Children let their Tongues run out against Him shall not all sorts of his true Servants Plead for Him O Lord open the mouths of all and let them shew forth thy Praise Amen and Amen M. 9. Religious Discourse is a Duty that every good man has had the blessing of I do not think any one can say that all the good he ever reaped was from set continued Sermons Doubtless all have tasted the good of familiar Discourses All must say that gracious words dropped from one and another good man occasionally at Tables ends and by Fire sides have been worth more than a little unto their Souls And if so how Unnatural is the cruelty to see Souls about them perishing and not minister unto them as they themselves were ministred unto Not so much as dropping the words which by experience they know to be helpful Luke 24.32 And they said one to another Did not our heart burn within us while he talked with us by the way and while he opened to us the Scriptures M. 10. Religious Discourse is a Duty that is inseparable from Charity From the Love of God and of Men. If I Love God I shall Desire his Glory If I rightly Desire it I shall Endeavour it If I Endeavour it surely as I have opportunity I must Speak for it If I Love Men's Souls I cannot grudge a few words for their Conversion or Edification Love is chill where holy Discourse is scarce and dead where it is absent In all appearance dead Ephes 4.16 From whom the whole Body fitly joyned together and compacted by that which every joynt supplieth according to the effectual working in the measure of every part maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of it self in love M. 11. Religious Discourse is a Duty that is a mighty Promoter of Charity Love I think is all Religion The Soul of all And who knows not this Love of God is the grace we can least spare but the grace that of all is the most subject to abate in us It is in us as Fire in green Wood that needs continual blowing And Religious Discourse is an experienced Bellows to blow it Love of one another also easily waxeth cold But what exciteth that will excite this And let Experience speak who do so Love each other as those who most edifie and are edified by each others Religious discourse I can Love no Man so intensely as him who either helps me toward Heaven or receives help from me Philem. v. 12 and 16. Whom I have sent again thou therefore receive him that is mine own bowels Not now as a servant but above a servant a brother beleved specially to me but how much more unto thee both in the flesh and in the Lord M. 12. Religious Discourse is a universal Ministry All and every one of Christ's adult Disciples are more or less Qualified for it and Commissioned unto it If thou hast not in some measure Tasted and Seen that the Lord is good thou art not a Christian If thou hast thou art able to say somewhat of that which thou hast Seen and Tasted And if thou hast such a Talent as that Ability the exercise of it is thy unquestionable Duty Who doubts but that our Saviour calleth all his Servants the SALT of the Earth and the LIGHTS of the World though one Order of them be so most eminently But what Salt are they that rarely drop a savoury word Or what Lights be they who carry it so that no body Knows or Remembers God ever the more for them Of all vile creatures the Ministers that neglect Preaching are contemned in the eyes of God and of good Men. But thus far as I say you that are Christians are Ministers And if you neglect this Ministry of yours that I speak of you are more sinful and vile than you are aware Tell me not that there be some who say that it 's not for Children Women or Unlearned men to talk of Religion I know many do say so and I know if many such Sinners entice you it will be your death to hearken consent and follow them against God's express and plain Word Young Men and Maidens old Men and Children are bid to praise God Even CHILDREN themselves It is made the praise of the Excellent Woman Prov. 31. that in her mouth was the Law of Kindness By which Commentators of the best rank do understand no less than the Law of Grace the Word of Reconciliation the Doctrine of the Kindness and Love of God towards us Whereof this rare Matron was perpetually discoursing with her Children and Handmaids To