The Sure Way to Wealth. INFALLIBLE DIRECTIONS To get and keep Sufficient RICHES; Even while Taxes Rise, and Trades Sink. By DANIEL BURGESS, Pastor of a Church near Covent-Garden, London. This is the Way, walk ye in it, Isa. 30.21. My God shall supply all your Need, Phil. 4.19. London, Printed for Andrew Bell and Ionas Luntley at the Pestle and Mortar, over against the Horse-shoe-Tavern in Chancery-Lane. MDCXCIII. To my dear Brothers and Sisters; Mr. OBADIAH BURGESS, Mr. WILLIAM BURGESS, Mrs. MARY HAUSE, Mrs. SARAH PLUMMER, Mrs. HANNAH LEWIS, Mrs. ELIZABETH HARRISON: With their faithful Consorts. THIS Branch of Directions hath been thought likely to bear good Fruit; and the more, because it puts forth in so ill Times. Ill Ones, as they are called by those through whose Means they are so made. I have taken the Weather-side of them; and made their worst Winds to blow good unto my Arguments. Which are more than a little strengthened, by the Decays of our Foreign and Home-trade, and their consumptive Effects. Vexation, the Hebrews say, giveth Understanding. And Oppression is known to have made mad Men wise, as well as wise Men mad. Who dares say, that there is no place for our hope of the Experiment? It was in a howling Wilderness, that Israel was taught the Law; it may be, in this howling and murmuring state of ours, we shall be better taught the Gospel. Being persuaded to make public this Essay, it liked me jointly to salute you in this Entry. So expressing my dutiful Regard to your Souls, in my ministration unto others; wherein I cannot own myself short, when it hath not been thus expressed. An eldest Brother should be as a Father, said one; unto whom I assent. And having inscribed another small Writing to your Nephew and Nieces, I resolved to meet like Measure, and inscribe this to yourselves: Who are as truly dear unto me, and from whom I am as undivided in Joys and Sorrows, as from those Apples of my Eyes. You will all join with me in the Doxology, to which I am carried by the thoughts of you. Good is the Lord, whose we are, and whom we serve. Let our Father's House say, His Mercy endureth for ever. For, In his good Pleasure and rare Mercy, we, the Children of his Servants do continue, every one of us. We continue in the Land of the Living, and in the House of God. None buried, none dead while he liveth, or Excommunicated. None is gone down to the Dust, in the sense of the Psalmist, (Psal. 22.29.) not one sunk into ignominious Poverty. As on the other hand, no one is of the very Fat of the Earth; no one hath his House full of Silver and Gold. God hath chosen for all, what Agur chose for himself, neither Poverty nor Riches. Not one Name infamously stained; not one Body deformed; not one Limb or Sense disabled. Unto every one is a Helpmeet; a Covering of the Eyes, Gen. 20.16. Ezek. 24.26. that is the desire of them. We are Children so beloved for our Father's sake, and Mother's: For sake of the Covenant made with them by their God: Who hath brought upon us, that which he promised them for us. There faileth not aught of any good thing which the Lord spoke unto them, and for which they trusted him. Signally illustriously trusted him; Choosing rather to suffer Afflictions with the People of God, and to make us partakers of their Sufferings at Malborough, than to enjoy the Opulence of Collingburn-ducis for a Season: To name no more, well known in Wiltshire. Let our Seal be set, God is true! The Just Man walks in his Integrity, and his Children are blessed after him! And let this Vote pass into an Act; He is our God, we and our Houses will serve him; He is our Father's God, and we will exalt him. So shall we do, if these Rules be followed. I mean, with these Cautions taken; viz. That God's Glory be the highest End of our Obedience; and we do not obey ultimately for Self-ends. That our Reward which we dutifully expect, be not looked for as our Merit; but we still acknowledge that our Services deserve not a drop of Water, while we conclude that Grace will follow them with the Rivers of God's Pleasure. My Prayers ascend incessantly for you and your little Ones. Nor hath our God greater Blessings, than those that I ask him for you. And of you all, chief for that Family which Providence hath placed most remotely from us, in another Kingdom. Unto which we all own peculiar Offices of Love, whereto I must hope none will ever be difficult, but all continue most forward. I am, Your most affectionate Brother, and Servant in Love, Daniel Burgess. S. Woodford in Paraphrase on Psal. 37, and 34. IN War good Men are kept, in Famine fed: In the worst Times, blush not, nor be afraid; God, who's their Shield, himself doth find them Bread; And only makes their Enemies dismayed. Sinners, like Fat of Lambs, shall waste, And only leave a Smoke behind, To be the Triumph of the Wind; Their Goods ill gotten shall not last, But like their sudden Growth, their End shall come as fast. Say, Lord, this poor Man to thee cried, And thou heardst him; why then am I denied? I who no less am thy great Care, Since equally round both encamped thine Angels are. Try God but thus, and thou shalt know Thy Joy as certain, as my Joys are now: How good God is, how happy they, Who make his Power their Hope, his Love their Stay! Dread him! for if he has thy Fear, Thou may'st be confident thy Wants shall have his Ear. He'll be himself thy mighty Store, When savage Lions shall for Hunger roar: While those that glory in their Gold, And in his own Chains would the Prisoner hold, Spoilers themselves are Captives made, And into sudden Want, which they least feared, betrayed. The sure Way to Wealth. Infallible DIRECTIONS to get Riches enough, while Trades sink, and Taxes rise. OUtcries of Poverty do fill the City and Country; If not in Truth, yet in common Fame, it comes on us like an armed Man, irresistably. men's Hearts fail them for Fear; it is every where said, We shall all be Undone. From the Court to the Mill, this is the Complaint; nor ever from my Childhood, have I heard it so vexatiously uttered as at this Day, or so universally. For even they that fear God, seem but little more than others to trust him. Believers on his Son for the Salvation of their Souls, do tormentingly fear what will become of their Bodies. Men that have his Spirit, are saying as the old Israelites did, Who shall give us Flesh to eat? They that are satisfied with his Word for the Life to come, show plainly that they cannot rest thereon for the Life that now is. So much Absurdity cleaveth to our Wisdom. We trust for a Crown of Glory, and distrust for a Crumb of Bread. As though holy Faith were the substance of Things hoped for in Heaven only, and not in the Way to it: The Evidence of Things therein not yet seen, and not of Things on our way thither. As though Godliness had not Promises of this Life; which is untrue. As though we duly trusted in the living God, while we disinherited him for our least and lowest Life; which is impossible. In short; good Clothes and good Estates, be such as are neither so narrow as to pinch and straiten us, nor so wide as to cumber us. Agur very well understood good Living. Defects and Excesses break its Rules with us. The word Riches signifieth two things: A sufficiency for one's real Occasions, and just Contentment therewith. Without these, Kings and Queens are very poor People; but with them we are as rich as they; We have as much Wealth, though less Gold. We have Enough; that is (at least) as good as their Feast. And as many as walk by these Rules, shall not fail of this enough: Shall be rich, above the control of Stars, Wars and Taxes. Direction I. Trust your Guardians. I suppose you to be true Christians; and if so, the Father, Son and Spirit are your Guardians. They have promised to care for you, in Temporals as in Spirituals; have they not? 1 Pet. 5.7. The Lord who careth for you. And you have chose God for your Guardian, have you not? 2 Cor. 8.5. They first gave their own selves to the Lord; themselves, and all they had. God hath promised, He will never leave nor forsake you, Heb. 13.5. unless you forsake him. 2 Chron. 15.2. The Lord is with you while you are with him; if you seek him, he will be found of you; but if you forsake him, he will forsake you. He hath not promised to take care of your Souls, and left you to shift for yourselves in things that concern your Bodies. It is Christ's word, Take you no thought for your Life. Say not you, What shall we eat, or what shall we drink, or wherewithal shall we be clothed? Matth. 5.25, 31. And it is Christ's Command, that you cast all your Care upon him who cares for you: All your Care for your bodily Concernments. Wherefore depend upon his Care, and you shall have Success, Support, and Maintenance. Your Cottage shall be a Court. But if you rely not on him, marvel not if your Court sink to a Cottage; If your Abundance be brought to Nothing: For nothing is safe but what he keeps; there is no Ensuring-Office below Heaven. There indeed is one that deserveth well the Name. By your own and your Friends careful thought, you cannot to your Stature add a Cubit; nor to your Substance a Groat. It is God that maketh Rich and Poor: As little as you think of it, you dare not deny it. The Income of Christians, is according to their Behaviour towards their Guardians. Thou shalt never have an undoing Loss, if thou dost commit thy Way unto the Lord, Psal. 37.5. Direct. II. Go to School to the Ants. Learn Diligence with your Trust. God doth not sell his Bread to us for our Pains; nor doth he promise it to us in our Sloth. He gives Food, but requires Sweat; true Labour in our Calling. It's by the diligent Hand that he makes poor Men rich, Prov. 10.4. to stand before Princes, Prov. 22.29. and to bear Rule, Prov. 12.24. And it is for Sloth, and by it, that the Rich are made Poor. Prov. 23.21. Drowziness shall cloth a Man with Rags. Prov. 20.4. The Sluggard shall beg in Harvest, and have nothing. Prov. 12.24. The slothful shall be under Tribute, in a base underling Condition. 2 Thess. 3.10. This we commanded, (from the Lord) if any Man would not work, neither should he eat. It seemeth God's Will, that we be laborious as Aunts, or poor as Snakes. And it's certain, that Fire and Sword make not so many Beggars, as Sloth. Plant and water, God will give Increase. You shall be little troubled with Poverty, if you but keep from the little Sleep, the little Slumber, the little folding of the Hands to sleep, Prov. 24.33. Why should Drones eat the Honey of Bees? or the Earth feed its unprofitable Burdens? It may not be expected; and where it's permitted, 'tis always accursed. Truly happy Kings be Day-labourers; and blessed Courts be very Workhouses. Can Idleness invade Heaven, it would make a Famine there. Cherubims and Seraphims have Wings and Feet, and do use them. Angel's Food is not the Bread of Idleness; they eat no such Poison. Direct. III. Lean upon no Reeds. Earthly Gods be but mortal Men; it's a wonder they should be trusted in by any rational Ones. But generally they are so; nor doth any thing more hinder use of our Diligence, and trust to Divine Providence, than trust in Man. Great Expectations from Parents, and rich Friends, are such a Snare; and thereby the Means of infamous Poverty unto many. Few think so; but unerring Wisdom tells us, Men of high Degree are a Lie, Psal. 62.9. And unspotted Justice passeth this Sentence, Cursed be the Man that trusteth in Man, and maketh Flesh his Arm, and whose Heart departeth from the Lord, Jer. 17.5. Papists rely on Angels and Saints above; but they, and Protestants also, lean too hard on Men below. Beware hereof, and know this; Trust in the Rich makes many Poor; but he shall be well provided for, who hearkneth to the Prophet, Isa. 2.22. Cease ye from Man whose Breath is in his Nostrils; For wherein is he to be accounted of? If Creatures must be Accessories, I pray let God still be Principal. A great Man used to say, That his Memory never deceived him; for this very good Reason, because he never trusted it. Do by all Creatures, as he did by his Memory; use them, but not trust them, and they shall serve you and not deceive you. This is the Way, walk in it. Direct. iv Serve but one Master. You have but one Soul, and that cannot serve God and Mammon. It may be a Slave to the Devil's Lusts, and a Subject of God's Wrath; but it cannot be a Servant to so contrary Masters, Mat. 2.24. Of God it is written, Him only shalt thou serve, Matth. 4.10. And that he, and none beside him, is God, and the Rewarder of them that seek him, Heb. 11.6. But the very first Commandment, is of all the most broken one; who can say, I have no other God beside him? My Estate, my Name, my Child, my Pleasure, is no God of mine. Most of those that have the true God in their Mouths, have these strange Gods in their Hearts: And therefore are their Sorrows multiplied, because they hasten after other Gods, Psalm 16.4. Therefore it is, that they want any good thing, because they have more Gods than one, Psal. 34.9. And what wonder if they be abased by the true God, that set up false Ones? Let the true God have all your Hearts; and let the Shame be mine if he doth not supply all your Wants. Phil. 4.19. My God shall supply all your Need, according to his Riches in Glory by Christ Jesus. He is a true Master; and he has promised, that if we seek first his Kingdom and its Righteousness, we shall not have that only, but a good Substance with it, Mat. 6.33. All these things shall be added. He is a wise Master also; too wise to send Servants in his Message, and cut off their Feet: I say their Feet, for this World's Blessings be as requisite to his Worship, as our Feet be to our Walk. And he knows it well enough, Mat. 6.32. Your heavenly Father knoweth that you have need of these things. He knows that if he will employ us, he must maintain us on this Earth; we cannot live by the Air. He is a good Master too; He delighteth in Mercy. But there were small sign of it, if he fed Ravens and Lions, and starved those that loved him above their Lives; especially, being that he hath in his House Bread enough and to spare, Luke 15.17. Known and wilful Sins, (that is, Aversions from God, and Conversions unto Creatures) will bring the Moth and the Lion. Sometimes a Moth that eats out an Estate slowly, and silently, no body knows how. Sometimes a Lion, that makes open and quick work with it, Hosea 5.12, 14. Hear O ye Rich, hear it O ye Poor; partial Religion brings this sad Moth and Lion. Most Men have some Religion, but few have All. Naaman was a Captain, and was a Favourite, and was much more; but he was a Leper. One and another of you is a just Man, a charitable, a Sermon-hearer, and a great deal more; but he is a neglecter of the Lord's Supper: Never renewed his holy baptismal Covenant at God's Table. It may be he understands it not; at least he has his But, and his Leprosy; he acts not some Grace, he indulges some Lust. Some Duty he doth not perform, some Ordinance he doth not attend. Hence, hence comes the Wrath of God, who hates to be served by halves. Fellow the Lord fully, and verily thou shalt be fed, Psal. 37.3. Direct. V Wear your Master's Livery. Humility is the supreme King's Livery. And his Servants are shamefully naked, when they are any otherwise clothed. St. Peter's words which we read, Be ye clothed with Humility, are thought fit to be thus read; Be ye clothed with Humility, as your Badge and Livery. [Humilitatem induite ut 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, quale viles servi gestarent, Heinsius in 1 Pet. 5.5.] You may not therefore look to be fed with God's Bread, if you cast off his Badge. Alas, that it should be so grown out of fashion in our Days. But wots ye, there is no Garment of richer Praise. Our Blessed Saviour never put it off; and he commanded us to learn from him the perpetual Use of it, Matth. 11.28. He knew and taught the gratefulness of it unto God. It's being, as is said of the Violet, of sweetest Scent, though of lowest Place. For your Lives then, keep on this Livery; and, hold this Violet in your Bosoms. A Flower, without which the highest Angels would stink in God's Nostrils. And, with it, the worst Sinner hath a way into his Favour. In God is no Pride at all; He doth not think himself, nor desires he to be thought better than he is. Unto his Soul, Pride is the most abominable Sin of all; He resists, stands in Battle-array against it, James 4.6. It's an Abomination to him, Prov. 16.5. What brings Men low? It's Pride, Prov. 29.23. What brings Shame? It's Pride, Prov. 11.2. What destroyeth Families? It's Pride, Prov. 15.25. The House of the Proud shall be destroyed. It brought Vzzias the Leprosy, 2 Chron. 26.27. It cost David the Lives of seventy thousand Men, 1 Chron. 21.14. It brought Wrath upon Hezekiah, and all Judah and Jerusalem, 2 Chron. 32.25. [Tremble old England, whose Pride taketh Blessings with Disdain and Scorn, and Crosses with Wrath and Rage. Thy Pride looks like the Harbinger of thy Death!] Pride gave the Apostle Paul, a Messenger of Satan, 2 Cor. 12.7. Wonder not that any break and burst, when they swell of Pride's Tinpany. Marvel not that high Hills be barren, and highminded Men be begging. Think not strange to see Lice eat up Herod's; and Gnats and Flies plague Pharaohs. But know this; the Meek shall inherit Earth, and Heaven too, Matth. 5.5. Valleys shall laugh with richest Fatness, and honourable Estate shall be to the Humble, Prov. 15.33. If Humility put your Mouth in the Dust, neither God's Wrath or Man's shall put your Honour in the Dust. Humble your Minds to God's Sovereignty, and your Wills to his Precepts and Providences; and then assure you of his rich Promises. He will exalt you, 1 Pet. 1.6. He will beautify you, Psal. 149.4. He will make your Soul dwell at ease, and your Seed inherit the Earth, Psal. 25. Of Humility I will say, As poor as it looks, it makes many Rich. Though it seems to have Nothing, yet it possesseth all Things. And he was not besides himself, who said, That he would rather be an humble Devil, than a proud Angel. The Depth of Humility, is better than the Height of Pride. Say then to Pride, as Naboth to Ahab; God forbidden it, that I should give away the Inheritance of my Fathers unto thee. Direct. VI Hold your Heart at your right Hand. Your Heart's Business is to Contrive and Consult; your Hands is to Work and Execute; your Interest requires, that these two be never asunder. They are Fools, and its odds but they are Beggars too, that contrive without executing, or rashly act, without first deliberating, Eccles. 10.2. God's Blessing you may not expect upon your Affairs, if you follow not his Counsel in ordering of them. His Counsel is, that you order them with this Discretion; Psal. 112.5. A good Man will guide his Affairs with Discretion. Cloth his Family, Furnish his House, Buy, Sell, Give, Refuse to give with Discretion. With all his own, and ofttimes borrowed Discretion; taken from the Counsel and Example of Men more Discreet. He that hearkneth to Counsel, is wise, Prov. 12.15. It is oft said by decayed Men, This and that unadvised Act undid me; had I taken my Friend's Advice, I had not become a Charge to my Friends. He is surely no wise or good Man, that asks not Counsel from God in his secular Business; and having asked it, doth not look after it: Expecting to have it given him in the ordinary Ways of his wise Providence. These are Meditation and Consultation with such as are Godly Wise. The neglect whereof is therefore stark Profaneness; and, as a direct working Cause, a highly deserving Cause, of deep Poverty. Nor need they to wonder at their ignominiously low Condition, who hereby sin themselves into it: Forasmuch as they do (among other Evils) bring the Religion they profess into greatest Disgrace. Causing more than a few to conceit and exclaim, that Religion maketh Men simple and self-undoing Idiots in this World. Walk wisely then, and you are safe; you have Royal Security; Prov. 24.3, 4. Through Wisdom is an House built, by Understanding it is established. By Knowledge shall the Chambers be filled with all precious and pleasant Riches. The Riches, which are not always to Men of Understanding, are such as can be very well spared by Men of Understanding; that is, for the time that they are without them, and upon the occasions. Even David was once fain to ask Supplies from Nabal; and our blessed Saviour had not where to lay his Head. But ordinarily Wisdom enricheth; and when for a short season it receiveth, it rejoiceth in Tribulations. As well it may; for, its Poverty is glorious. No Martyr is a Beggar. There is a very reigning with Christ, in suffering for him. Direct. VII. Watch against your five Enemies: Such are your five Senses. See to it, and keep those Bears in Chains. They are as wild Creatures; and if not warily and strongly kept in subjection, will tear and destroy your Temporal, with your Spiritual Interests. He was a Monster, that in this London spent his whole Patrimony (of many thousands of Pounds, as I hear) in one Treat of his five Senses: But he was a Brother of yours, by Father and Mother's Side. And your Blood hath the like Brimstone in it; beware that it take not fire. If your Lusts kindle, your Substance is quickly in Ashes: For Wool will not be soft enough then for your Backs; nor any but the most sumptuous Silks. No Dishes will relish, except Dainties; no Table please, unless it be spread with Snares; nothing but what's above your Estate, will please your Palat. Necessaries will be loathed without Superfluities. One Lust shall stand you in more by the Year, than all Nature. More will be spent extravagantly in a Day, than necessarily in a Week. So chargeable things are sensual Delights: Its bewitching Epilepsies require so much to maintain them. Alas, our Bodies are sinful, as truly as our Souls, and need Sanctification, 1 Thess. 5.23. They are rebellious against God and our Souls; their Senses sway more powerfully, than the unrenewed Soul's Reason doth. And regenerated Men have enough to do to control and keep them down, 1 Cor. 9.27. If they prevail and act us, we cease to be Christians, yea Men; we are as Beasts that perish, Psal. 50. ult. They cease not to war in us for that prevalency; they are restless Tempter's and Seducers within us, as Devils are without us. The Eye, the Ear, and the rest of them crave for what Grace and Reason forbidden. And, O how commonly are immortal Souls damned to gratify those perishing Brutes? How also are Names and Estates devoured, that these Senses may be humoured? Damned Angels are less Destroyer's? and without these, could not be so easily destroyers of us. Prov. 21.17. He that loveth Pleasure, shall be a poor Man; he that loveth Wine and Oil, shall not be rich. That is, he that loveth them for more than their proper Use; for Lust, as most do. Adam and Noah (our two great Parents) fell by Eating and Drinking; millions of their Children are undone thereby. The Senses were given to maintain natural Life; but Sin makes them destroy rational Life, and Natural too, full often. Would you see good Days, and many? This you must do, Day by Day: Let religious Reason rule you; and so, that your Eye shall not see, nor your Ear hear, nor your Mouth taste, nor your Finger touch, what Conscience doth not warrant. No, though, as ofttimes they will be, they be very troublesome, and importunate for their unwarrantable Objects. Though you be put to vex and crucify your Flesh in this Combat, as you must do, Gal. 5.24. This is what the Apostle speaks in those emphatical Phrases, 1 Cor. 9.27. I keep under my Body, and bring it into subjection. Such a mortified Body will not be forsaken, nor its Seed beg Bread. But of those that are pampered, multitudes come to be famished; Epicures do so eat up themselves, as well as their Friends. As commonly do we see those unclean Fowls go barefoot, as other Geese; and almost as unpitiedly. Yet, mistake me not; all sensual Pleasure is not sinful. Some doth whet, and not let, Body and Mind for their Services. And so much is lawful, needful, and laudable. It is Sin and Folly to prefer Money above the Body, as to prefer the Body above the Soul; and very oft this Folly is conjunct. It's seldom any value their Flesh more than their Spirit, but they take far greater care to preserve their Estates than their Lives. Many are the Misers, that die to save Charges. Solomon, when he was returned to God, commanded eating with joy, and drinking with mirth, Eccles. 9.7. Enoch, while he walked with God, begat Sons and Daughters, Gen. 5.22. Sordid withholding and stingy, tends unto Poverty, Prov. 11.24. They that pinch their Families Bellies, to cram and swell their Bags, do not so certainly die rich, as they live poor; but do together sin against Body and Estate. It is not the Holy Spirit that leads any Man to hate his own Flesh; though it is most certain, Whosoever indulgeth the Luxury and Lechery of the Flesh, he is a Stranger and an Enemy unto that Heavenly Spirit. Temperance stands between Scylla and Charybdis; it's equally distant from Luxury and Penury. Hold that golden Mean, and shun both of these Rocks, you need not fear Shipwreck. Never waste a Penny, you shall never want a Shilling; said Dr. Harris to his Children. It is because Epicures and Misers do swarm among us, that the Poor we have always with us; otherwise Beggars would be as rare in England, as Frogs and Spiders in Ireland. Direct. VIII. Lay not violent Hands on yourselves. The Murder of many men's Estates, is by their own wicked Hands and Seals. They do run into Danger, in hopes of coming out with Safety. Without just forelooking, they leap into perilous Projects and mortal Suretiships. But take you this Divine Counsel; Do not ever hang yourselves, in hope the Cord will break. Do not forget, or slight God's Word so much; his Word put into the Bible, to give Wisdom to the Simple. Prov. 6.1. If thou be Surety for thy Friend, thou art snared, thou art taken with the Words of thy Mouth. Prov. 11.15. He that hateth Suretyship, is sure. Prov. 20.16. Take his Garment that is Surety for a Stranger: that is, Trust not such a Fool without a Pawn; no, take the Coat from his Back. It is true, Suretyship is in some Cases lawful and necessary; Gen. 42.37. Gen. 43.9. Philem. v. 18, 19 But always unlawful it is, to oblige you to pay for another more than you have right to dispose of, and a sincere Will and Purpose to pay for him, if need require. It is, I suppose, wisdom always to give unto needy Men as much as we can spare; and not bind us at any time to pay for them any more. The Divine Wisdom brandeth ordinary Sureties for Fools; Prov. 17.18. A Man void of Understanding, striketh Hands, and becometh Surety in the presence of his Friend. Wise Men may fall into Evils of Affliction seven times, and rise up again. The Royal Preacher (in that much mistaken Text) saith that they do so, Prov. 24.16. But Nabal is his Name, and Folly is with him, that leaps into ruinous Troubles. Notorious is the Reason of our common Saying, That the greatest Lepers break most Bones: And the most exquisite Dancers on the Rope, die by the Rope. Providence is no safeguard to Desperateness: The Ruins of many Rich Families be sad Witnesses. I do compassionately warn you and yours; adding but this memorable word, Most commonly they be Judasses' that do hang themselves; I mean, covetous as that Son of Perdition, and treacherous as he was. Where Kindness makes one Surety, Avarice and greedy expectation of Gain makes twenty. And we see that it's scarce one of twenty, who betrays not the Creditor, the Debtor, or himself. Wherefore if you will be Sureties, take good Advice first; remembering, that Judas who was his own Judge, was his own Executioner also. Direct. IX. Load your Parents sound. So is the Hebrew Text in the fifth Commandment; load them with Honour: Give them Measures of Reverence, Love, Gratitude and Obedience, pressed down and running over. It is a Commandment of express Promise; and that Promise of greatest temporal Good. It is the first Commandment of the second Table; next and immediately to his own Honour, God stands for the Honour of Parents. His Zeal for it, appears in Threats for Sin against it. Prov. 20.20. Whoso curseth his Father or Mother, his Lamp shall be put out in obscure Darkness; that is, he shall live in Misery, and die with Disgrace. The Eye that mocketh at his Father, and despiseth to obey his Mother, the Ravens of the Valley shall pick it out, and the young Eagles shall eat it, Prov. 30.17. that is, he that scorns and derides Parents, though it be but with a Look and Gesture, and without one Word uttered, he shall die untimely and ignominiously; and after Death be denied a Burial, lying exposed to Birds of Prey. Have you been guilty of Disobedience? Be as eminent for your Repentance. Have you been Dutiful to your Parents? continue to be so to your last Breath. Father's be Kings, and Mothers be Queens unto you their Children. Next and immediately under God, Christ and Conscience, they be your supreme Moderators and Governors. Sweeten you their Lives, and God will sweeten yours. Honour you them, God will honour you. Scripture and Providence say of this Duty, Length of Days is in its right Hand, and in its left Hand are Riches and Honour, Prov. 3.16. Direct. X. Marry to none but Heirs of the Crown; Heirs of the Crown incorruptible. Poor Matches be the notorious Seminary of Beggars. The King of Heaven is not Childless in England; and he provides, as becometh a King, for his Children. All be Heirs of God, Rom. 8.17. and Heirs of the Kingdom, James 2.5. All of them he blesseth; and his Blessing maketh rich, and addeth no Sorrow with it, Prov. 10.22. A rare Portion, is it not? A godly Man is the Son of the King of Kings; a godly Woman is his Daughter. The ungodly of both Sexes be the Devil's Children, and outlawed Rebels. The Wrath of God abideth on them, John 3.36. God's Curse is on their very Blessings, Malach. 2.2. Will ye marry Rebels? then bear you Hunger, and wear Rags. They deserve to be stung, that choose a Serpent for their Bosom. And they cannot look for God's Blessing, who prefer such Vermin before his Children: liking better to have Satan, than to have his divine Majesty for their Father-in-Law. Would you secure an Estate? do not burn, nor marry a Child of his who hath no Estate, but the Lake of Fire. Lust consumeth many single Persons; and ill Yoke-fellows starve many married Ones. But while the Earth is the Lord's, and the Fullness of it, you need not to fear Famine, if you marry into his Royal Family: If you take a Child of his; and that for his Glory, 1 Cor. 10.31. and by his Will, expressed in the Rule of his Word, Gal. 6.16. which is that which the Apostle nameth marrying in the Lord, 1 Cor. 7.39. This I judge they do not, who take such a Husband or Wife, as a good Minister should not dare to take unto the Lord's Supper. And my Advice is, that you hold this Rule; refusing Marriage-Covenant with those that renew not their Baptismal-Covenant. Direct. XI. Make Battlements for the Roof of your House. That is, make such Provisions against Sin in your Families, as shall make it hard for any to be wicked therein. Make, and keep good Rules of Government. So that none shall fall headlong into destructive Courses, for want of the Fence thereof. Nor perish, unless they will wilfully leap into Perdition, notwithstanding all your Means of their Salvation. See the Law, Deut. 22.8. When thou buildest a new House, than thou shalt make a Battlement for thy Roof, that thou bring not Blood upon thine House, if any Man fall from thence. Blessed are the Housekeepers, that do their best to make all their House blessed. But how few of these are to be found? Hence, more than from our War with France, cometh Poverty. Prov. 3.33. The Curse of the Lord is in the House of the Wicked; but he blesseth the Habitation of the Just. Wicked you are, and not Just, if God gives you a House, and you rule not for God therein, but against God. Not to rule for him, is to rebel against him; and then, what wonder if he eject you? But do you Rule for God, that make not all your Family hear his Word, as daily as eat his Bread? as daily pray together, as work or eat together? And to discern by your Words and Behaviour, that they cannot offend God, without offending you; or any way so much please you, as by care to please God. Yea, to find that there is no abiding in any known Sin in your Families, without Reproof to them, and Reformation by them. Psal. 101.7. He that worketh Deceit, shall not dwell in my House. O that these words were written on Housekeepers Hearts; Abraham 's Family-government will bring all Family-blessings, Gen. 18.19. The House of the Righteous shall stand, Prov. 12.7. The Tabernacle of the Upright shall flourish. When Family-Piety revives, the Evil shall bow before the Good, and the Wicked at the Gates of the Righteous, Prov. 14.11, 19 Direct. XII. Take special care of the King's Children. The King of Heaven calleth yours, his own. God hath given me a Child, saith every Parent. But God so giveth them to every Parent, as that he himself remaineth still the Proprietor. He gives them unto you, but only to educate for him. Your Children are still his Children; and so he expressly calls them, My Children, Ezek. 16.21. whom thou hast born unto me, vers. 20. You are but Nurse's chosen by the grand Parent; the Father of Spirits, Heb. 12.9. and the Fashioner of Bodies, Psal. 139.16. His they are, and he it is that saith of every Babe unto you, as Pharaoh's Daughter said of Infant-Moses unto the Hebrew Woman, Take thou this Child and nurse it for me, and I will pay thee thy Wages. This Father of the Children you call yours, is a great King, and as kind a Father. God is a mighty lover of Children. You may compare Snow and Fire, as well as your Love and his, unto Children. Expect no other, his Wrath, the fierceness of his Wrath, cometh on such as neglect these Objects of his Love. A Neglect, that is, of Sins sinfullest; the Sin, that next to Original Sin, doth most to the corrupting of the World, and the filling of Hell. And a Sin, whereto Poverty and all Judgements are extremely owing. Children be choice Gifts of God, rich Rewards of his Grace, Psal. 127.3, 5. Writ this Man Childless, is in effect, writ him Comfortless. Indeed, Africa is not the only Country of Monsters; ours beareth many, that wish to be Childless to save Charges. Egregious Wisdom, to wish one may have no Lands, for fear of the Cost of Tillage. Well-cultivated Children enrich their Fathers, as well-tilled Lands enrich their Owners. Truly good Breeding is the Parent's Blessing as well as the Child's. From Children, as from Land, we do ordinarily, and we may expect always, to Reap as we Sow. A rich People we should soon be, if generally the Culture of our Minds, were as well followed as that of our Grounds. Were they as painfully Ploughed, Sown, Fenced, Watered, Weeded; the ill-natured Phrase of a Charge of Children, would be dismissed; we should take to say, a Stock of Children, and count it a most valuable One. Wherefore let passed Neglects be throughly repent, and utmost Diligence be henceforth used. Let not vain men's Hawks, Race- Horses, and Setting- Dogs, have more Care and Cost bestowed on them, than their children's Souls. Let not any lay out more Time and Pains to teach their Children a Game of Folly, or a Trade for a Penny, than you lay out on yours to teach them their Baptismal Covenant, and the glorious Art of living unto God. Train the King's Children in the King's Way, Prov. 22.6. Bring them up therein, Ephes. 6.4. Let Heaven ring of your Prayers for them; (O that Ishmael might live!) Provoke not, chide not the King's Children without Cause, or above it, Ephes. 6. Provide for them, and give them all that you are able, without countenancing them in Evil, or making them a Way to it, 1 Tim. 5.8. Lay up for them, as well as lay out upon them, though you be put to deny yourselves useless Ornaments and unnecessary Pleasures to compass it, 2 Cor. 12.14. Dispose of them in Marriage wisely, and tempt them not to Folly, 1 Cor. 7.38. Let it be seen, you are as much afraid of their Poverty, as of your own; and more afraid of their want of Grace, than of their want of Money. This do, and see if the great lover of Children do ever starve their Nurses. No, he will not; but, He will feed them with the finest of the Wheat; with Honey out of the Rock will he satisfy them, Psal. 81.16. Direct. XIII. Let not Arsenic be your Salt. So it is when an ill Man is chosen for your Companion. You are sociable Creatures; Company you must and will have. Unto the Company of your Love and Choice, you are very Bondmen. Invisible Chains of theirs, hold you even unawares. It's your Life to have them good; you are dead Men, if they be evil Ones. Good ones our Saviour nameth Salt, that seasons you, Matth. 5.13. Ill ones are as very Arsenic to poison you. Of your Company, much is at your Choice; and there are but these two sorts for you to choose. That the latter doth poison and undo you, is sure; A Companion of Fools shall be destroyed. That the former doth season and better you, is as plain; He that walks with wise Men, shall be wise, Prov. 13.20. Yet how few are so nice of their Company, as they be of their Food or Sauce? Unadvised, how much depends on it, for temporal Good and Spiritual? Though it be rare for any at the Gallows, and on the Dunghill, not to exclaim against ill Company for bringing them thither; robbing them of their Time, their Understandings, their Hearts, their Names, and their Money, altogether. There is no fear of Want, where these Texts are observed; Prov. 14.7. Go from the presence of a foolish Man, when thou perceivest not in him the Lips of Understanding; q. d. endure not his poisonous Breath. Psal. 119.63. I am a Companion of all them that fear God, and keep his Precepts; q. d. others be my Eyesores, these be the delight of my Eyes. Religious Friends stick as close as Brothers, and are as full of good Offices to us. Their Prayers will be of unknown Worth, so will be their Counsels; and if we shall deserve them, their Commendations of us, to Persons that will be most helpful to us. What we are most likely to deserve and to need, their Reproofs will be of excellent use, to bring us to Repentance, and from thence to Innocence, and beyond it too. Whereunto their holy Example conduceth more than a little. For this Cause, said David, They that fear thee, will be glad when they see me, Psal. 119.74. In a word, a Man is always burnt with the Fire, or blacked with the Smoke of bad Company: And always he is refined, or at least refreshed with Company that is good. Reputation and Safety, Comfort and Profit, are got in good Company, and lost in Evil. Direct. XIV. Kindle huge Fires on your Enemy's Heads. Be they hardened in their Enmity, made hard as Iron? Fear them not. Coals of Fire heaped on it, melts down Iron: And true Kindness, giving and forgiving from the Heart, will work as much on cruel Hearts. There is a Charity, as well as a Faith, of Miracles: It is your Fault if its Miracles cease. Feed your Hungry, give Drink to your thirsty Enemy, my, cloth your naked One; you shall see strange Effects, Rom. 12.20. We have known many undone by exasperating their Enemies, and by being overcome of their Evil; by flashing Wildfire in their Faces. But never heard we of a Man that proved not his own Friend, by kindness to his Foe. Sacred Fire, as Love's is, is always profitable. Monsters there be, whose Evil cannot be overcome of its Good; but then doth the overflowing Grace of God otherwise reward it. He shall never be a miserable poor Man, who giveth no place to Wrath, and leaveth all Vengeance unto God, Rom. 12.19. Direct. XV. Trust not your Door without a Watch. There is a Door of yours, out of which come Legions of Evils to you. A Door that needs Watch and Ward, as much as the Gate of any besieged City. A Door to which David sought to Heaven for a Watch; Psal. 141.3. Set a Watch before my Mouth, O Lord; keep the Door of my Lips. And well he might, for we are told, Prov. 13.3. He that openeth wide his Lips, shall have Destruction. The Tongue is a Fire, a World of Iniquity; it defiles the whole Body, sets on fire the Course of Nature, is set on fire of Hell, Jam. 3.6. St. Paul is large in the Account of the Sins of Speech, Rom. 3. But who can name all? or count the Evils done by unwary Words? All Places are full of Instances of their impoverishing Efficacy. Who knows not such as had not wanted Bread for their Mouths, had they not wanted a Bridle to their Tongues? Or, would they have timely believed, what they after felt; Better a Head without a Tongue, than a Tongue without Government. An Estate is a small thing; a whole Kingdom hath been lost by a rash Word. Attend me, O you that are Poor; Immortal John Fox professed, he did forget Lords and Ladies to remember such as you. This Discourse speaks my Care of you; and this that follows flows from my Kindness unto you. It's your great Mistake, that you have nothing but your Finger's ends to live by: Nothing therefore to be careful of but them. Alas, your Welfare, and the contrary, cometh as much from your Tongues Ends. And the Divine Wisdom counselleth you to take as much care of them. Subject then your Lips to God's Laws. Take heed to your Words as well as your Works. See that your Tongues drop nothing but Honey; such is all that is of Honour to God, of Use to Men, of Benefit to yourself. All that truly edifies, or innocently recreates. The Psalmist's Rule is as good as Free Land; What Man is he that desireth Life, and loveth many Days that he may see Good? Keep thy Tongue from Evil, and thy Lips from speaking Guile, Psal. 34.13. Death and Life are in the Power of the Tongue; our Safety depends on the use of it, Prov. 18.21. If any Rich and Noble bestow their Eye on these Pages, I advance this Doctrine to their consideration; God prescribes one and the same way for all Men to Prosperity. Dukes and very Kings, as well as Stockarders and Plowmen, must keep their Tongues from Evil, if they expect to have their Estates good. Crowned Heads have not the Promise of good Days, without good Tongues in them. Palaces are no such privileged Places, that Men may speak what they please in them. By their Words God judgeth, and blesseth or curseth Princes and Peasants. Direct. XVI. Unite Courtesy and Truth. Godliness is not clownish; Divine Graces are no Enemies to good Manners. It is an Apostolical and Divine Precept, Be ye courteous, 1 Pet. 3.8. Be of a pleasant, winning Conversation, [〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, i. e. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉] loving and affecting to please as far as innocently we may, in Words, Looks, Gestures, Habits. Inconformity to sinless Customs herein, cometh of Evil, and worketh Evil. Its an unreasonable ruggedness of Behaviour, and contracts mischievous Censure, Disaffection, and Blame. Few esteem a morose Man as other than a Hedgehog; and his needless ungrateful Singularities, as other than Bristles turned to his Neighbours. It is very oft that a gracious Man faulty herein, is secluded, and one of no serious Religion is taken into a gainful Employment. None wondering, that the best of an ill Man, should be preferred before the worst of a good One: Though lamenting that a good Man should be the Martyr of his adhering Distemper. But how dear is Truth to God and Men? What is Fallacious, is odiously Courteous. Religious Courtship is without Dissimulation; it is a Complaisance with Love, and with the Love of Love. The Truth of both in the inward Parts; Simplicity and Sincerity. 1 John 3.18. Let us not love in Word, neither in Tongue, but in Deed and in Truth: q. d. Let not our Love have only Lips, and no Hands. Words without Works are heartless. Let us abhor real Unkindness as much as Verbal; and of the two, let us more fear to do an ill thing, than to speak an unkind Word. Let our Veracity and Integrity be as conspicuous, as the World's Falsity is notorious. It is sure that Love universally exercised, and apparently unfeigned, highly pleaseth God, and mightily takes with Man. Nor will you in haste be forsaken of either, if you provoke them neither by Churlishness nor Falseness. You can come into no Want, till you are forsaken: And how should you be forsaken by any other Means? Wherefore express all the Love ye ought, and bear in Heart all the Love you express; then shall you not be ashamed in the evil Day; and in Days of Famine you shall be satisfied, Psal. 37.19. Direct. XVII. Be at Court one whole Day in a Week: At the King Eternal's Court, I mean. Six Days of the Week we have somewhat to do beside: But one Day, the first, we have nothing to do beside; we are called to the Court of the Great King; therein to rest and feast our Souls all the Day long: Seeing the King of Glory's Face; hearing his Voice; eating of his holy Bread, and drinking of his holy Wine: Remembering his redeeming Love more than Wine; making a joyful Noise to him with Psalms, and Hymns, and spiritual Songs; taking the Day in his Courts, for better than a thousand in Shops: calling it our Delight. But let it not be asked, Will a Man rob God? Where is the Man that robbeth him not of his Day? The Day, which is the Lord's, electively, as his chosen Lot; and his, subjectively, as that whereon his Affairs are to be transacted. Who makes Conscience of Sacrilege? of taking God's Time, and giving it to the Flesh, to Sleep, to their own Ways, to their own Words, to their own Pleasures? Whose Heart smites him for cutting off a Moment, half Hour, or whole Hour of the King's Day? Who hastens early to his Court, beginning the Sabbath in the Mount? Who is not weary of his Court, but ends the Sabbath late in the Valley? Where is any great Zeal for his Court, commanding of Children and Servants into it? And is not the Divine Majesty provoked hereby, think we? Yea, and because of these things cometh his Wrath all the Week after on the Children of Disobedience. They slight his Court, and he overthrows their House; they neglect or profane his Table, and he will not spread theirs; their Families are Dens of Thiefs, and his revenging Justice makes them Habitations of multiplied Sorrows. Therefore is it that we see not better Days, because we no better hollow the Lord's Day. Therefore decayeth secular Trade and its Markets, because Trade for Heaven is let down, and the Market for that is so ill kept. If ye hollow the Sabbath Day, there shall enter into this City Kings and Princes sitting upon the Throne of David, and the City shall remain for ever. But if ye will not hollow the Sabbath Day, then will I kindle a Fire in the Gates thereof, and it shall devour the Palaces (as well as Shops) of Jerusalem, and it shall not be quenched, Jer. 17. Your Blessings depend on your keeping the Day that God hath blessed. You cannot profane it, and be sure of Bread; nor sanctify it, and be without good Security of it. Isa. 58.13, 14. If thou turn away thy Foot from the Sabbath, etc. then shalt thou delight thyself in the Lord, [have pleasure and comfort in all Kindness of his to thee.] I will cause thee to ride in the high Places of the Earth, [I will put thee above the reach of Danger.] I will feed thee with the Heritage of Jacob, [Thou shalt have from me Milk and Honey.] The Mouth of the Lord hath spoken it. Direct. XVIII. last; Wrestle all the Week. The highest Master of Language, calleth Praying a Wrestling. Happy they that are not only jacob's, but Israel's; not only Wrestlers with God, but Prevailers. They that have, and do well use, the Skill given by God's Spirit, which never fails, never lets God go, without giving the Blessing for which we come. Is the Holy Ghost your Advocate? then he gives you this rare Art: An Art the World knows nothing of; having scarce heard whether there be any such or no; therefore seek they not after it. But I am speaking to Christians; professed Temples of the Holy Ghost, the Spirit of Supplication: Consequently, a People that have this Art and Skill. Wrestlers, that if they use their Art, and (as becomes them) strain hard every Vein therein, may gain all they want from him with whom they have to do. Ask, and ye shall receive; Every one that asketh, receiveth, Mat. 7.7, 8. Receiveth, yea, commonly receiveth more than he has the Faith and Face to ask. Let an Abraham ask a Son; he has one, and the Promise of an Offspring as numerous as the Stars. Let a Jacob ask but Food and Raiment, he has it, and two Bands also. Let a Solomon ask Wisdom; he has it, and hath Wealth and Honour thrown in with it. Let a Canaanite ask but a few of the Dog's Crumbs; she hath given her the children's best Bread. There is no end of Examples. Whence is it then that you want any promised Good of the Covenant? the Covenant is your Charter for Temporals as well as Spirituals, remember. Sirs, Either you wrestle not, or not so well as you are able. You receive not, because you ask amiss, James 4.3. Deny it not, doubt it not; for, Whatsoever you (the weakest Christians) ask the Father in Christ's Name (with all the little Skill you have) he will give it you, John 16.23. And here shut you my Book; sit down a little and think; stand up then, and say if you can really imagine, that these Texts do signify nothing? Or do less than assure us of this, that, The poorest Christian alive may have a Supply of his Wants, if he will but fetch it upon his Knees. Holy Mr. Carter told his Neighbour, who complained that he did not Thrive, though he worked hard, and fared hard; he would surely Thrive if he also prayed hard. Hear this, O you that scarce have from Hand to Mouth, as you speak; and are at your Wit's end to think how you shall get through the next Winter's Cold! Tho God may not keep you from the Cross, he has bound himself to maintain you under the Cross; to give you Bread, if he deny you Trade; to sweeten Water, if he bring you to drink it; in short, to give you your Heart's-desire, or to bring your Heart's-desire to what he gives you. If you wrestle not amiss, to this he hath bound himself. You are your own Thiefs, if you go without Maintenance, for you may surely have it for ask. And of the two, rather would I ask and not receive, than receive and not ask. There is such a Bread and Wine in Prayer itself; Spiritual Wrestling doth get one such a comfortable Heat. But fear you not, where no Fear is; these Promises be God's blessed Bonds given you. Psal. 50.15. Call upon me in the Day of Trouble, I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me. Psal. 34.10. The young Lions do lack and suffer Hunger; but they that seek the Lord, shall not want any good thing. Jer. 29.12. Ye shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto you. Direct. XIX. Get well acquainted with your Father's Will and Testament. The Holy Bible is no other, if Jesus Christ be your Father. Vast and immense are his Riches; and in and by this said Will, he hath bequeathed all unto you. For which Cause he is named a Testator, and his Word a Testament, Heb. 9.15, 16, 17. The Testament, wherein you are to read the Inventory of the Goods you are to receive, and the Sum of the Debts you are to pay to your Supreme King, and to your Fellow-Subjects. Let your Hearts be like the Ark, Repositories of the Divine Word, and see if you ever want Bread. This take also for your Encouragement; It was a less Honour to the Virgin Mary to bear Christ in her Womb, than it shall be unto you to carry his Testament in your Hearts. Luke 11.27, 28. Blessed is the Womb that bore thee! But he said, Yea, rather blessed are they that hear the Word, and keep it. Indeed, Wills and Testaments are not easily understood by raw Babes; nor do their Memories soon retain great and numerous Legacies. But your tender Father hath provided good Help for your Infirmities. He hath chosen for you such an Executor of his Will, as is able to teach you all things: And, that being done, to bring all things to your remembrance. Nor is he more able, than willing, to receive of Christ's, and show it unto you; provided that he be duly sought unto. Sought unto in Prayer, and in all other his instituted Means. This blessed Executor, you know, is the Holy Ghost; God, by Eternal Essence, and Sanctifier and Comforter by Office. Need I say, what a frequent loss to Children the Ignorance of their Father's Will is? the World well knoweth. But your unacquaintedness with Christ's Testament, is a Sin more heinous, and a Loss more horrible than I am able to say. Such an Affront is it displeasure, condemn thee to thousands by the Year. In Judgement he may give thee all Comforts, besides the Comfort of the Scriptures. And remember it, that the World throughout, where Christ's Word is not to be had, there be few good Meals made. People have bare Feet, or but wooden Shoes, and bitting Salt. Where it may be had, and it is not used; even as the Daylight, for constant Walk and Work; Chastisements or Curses are at the Door. And flatter we not ourselves, France conquered, and Turkey and India-Trade exalted, be nothing to enrich us, if our Saviour's Will and Testament lay neglected. But if young Men and Maidens, old Men and Children, duly ply that, there shall be no complaining in our Streets: But, Corn shall make the young Men cheerful, and Wine the Maids, Zech. 9.17. Direct. XX. See that your Meat be not your Poison. Good Works be the Meat of good Christians. Their Lord said of himself, and in their Measure they say after him; My Meat is to do the Will of him that sent me, and to finish his Work, John 4.34. But Conceit of Merits, is the Poison of Asps: If this Poison get into your Head, you lose your Life. For Christ shall profit you nothing, if you place Merit in any thing. In any thing wrought in you, in any thing wrought by you, Gal. 5.2. As many as are of the Works of the Law, are under the Curse of the Law, Gal. 3.10. To trust to your good Works to pacify God's Wrath, and to merit his Love, and to buy so much as a morsel of Bread, is to be of the Works of the Law. To be of the Party that is so bitterly guilty and condemned. And, to be under the Wrath which the Law threatens to Soul and Body, to Name and Estate, is to be under the Curse, and poisonous Sting of it: A Condition you can't look to thrive in. God be merciful to us Sinners of this Day: Whose evil Works are unparallellable; and our good Ones, for the most part, are Evil. Little Bread; and that which is, poisoned. Papists have the Plague, but Protestants have the Fever. Merit is their open Faith, but it is also our inward lurking Folly. Even Luther, its victorious Enemy, would complain of a Pope in his Belly. And our English Luther said consonantly, I may lift up Christ in my Pulpit, and pull him down in my Heart. Sad are the Indications, that Roman Frogs have place in very Puritans Bedchambers. So that slender Alms are given, with swelling Opinions of them; and God hath little Service from us, without conceit of his contracting a great Debt to us. We declaim against adding the Virgin Mary 's Milk unto Jesus Christ's Blood; but can imagine that our own Prayers, and Sweat and Tears, will make a good Mixture. Now this know; Whoredom and Witchcraft are not more odious in God's Sight. He will not bear such Indignities done unto his own Munificence, and to his Son's Righteousness. If you will not serve him as the perfect Giver, and his Son as the sole Purchaser of all Good, the Devil must have your Works and Service, for God will not accept of them. They are Carrion and not Sacrifice for him. His Wrath is revealed from Heaven against your dead Lions and your living Dogs; Against the Carcase of your Virtues, as well as the Soul and Body of your Vices; against your pharisaical Hearing and Praying, as well as against your Tippling and Blaspheming. Nor is it to be doubted, but for the one as well as the other, God is this Day contending with us. And we may thank our Practical Popery, for our Epidemical Poverty. To this will it be justly ascribed, if, as on the Jews, Wrath come upon the Britain's to the uttermost. What but Woe can betid us, when our very Religion is Irreligious? Help, Lord, or we are twice dead, and shall be plucked up by the Roots. I am teaching People this Truth, but find few that hastily learn it: The Devil is every Man's King, who makes himself his own Priest. Who mixes the Covenants of Works and Grace; and scrapes for the Honour of a joint Purchaser with Jesus Christ: Expecting good things, partly for Christ's Oblation and Intercession, and partly for his own. Will any Man now say; To what purpose then is it that we should serve God? or be zealous of good Works? I think you have been told good Reason in every Direction. But you shall have a Candle lighted for you in the Sun. We Ministers are Debtors to the most Unwise. There is abundance of Reason to eat Bread that is wholesome; as mad work as it is to swallow Poison. In Nature, you must eat or die; and in Religion, you must be doing, or be undone: For God elected, redeemed, and new created you for good Works, Ephes. 1.4. Tit. 2.14. Ephes. 2.10. And dare you to cross God's Ends? He commands and requires you to abound in good Works, Tit. 3.8. Phil. 1.11. 1 Pet. 2.15. And dare you to disobey the Lord whom you dare not deny? He delights in your good Works, Prov. 12.22. Prov. 15.8. Heb. 13.16. And dare you, that are out Hell by his Favour, to deny him his Pleasure? He is honoured before Men by your good Works, and by nothing else, Matth. 5.6. And dare you, feloniously, to take from him his Universal Glory in this World? He judgeth Men by their Works, here, in our present State, and hereafter at the final general Judgement; He renders to every Man according to his Works, Psalms 19.11. Rom. 2.6. Rev. 20.12, 13. And dare you to make trial, whether he be not a God changeable? whether he will not tolerate your Sloth, and give you a right to the Tree of Life, without keeping his Commandments? Rev. 22.14. In short; God's Mercy makes not needless Christ's Merits; that Fountain sends no Drop of Goodness to us, but through this Conduit. And Christ's Merits do not make our Faith needless; unapplied Balsam can heal no Wound. And holy Faith cannot excuse good Works; as good never a whit, as never the better. As good no Roots as no Fruits. Without Communion, vain is all Union. If I bear not Fruit, as good never have been engrafted into Christ's Stock. If I abide an useless Member, as good never have had Christ my Head. If I continue Straw and Chaff, as good never have been built on Christ's Royal Foundation. If I bring not Issue unto God, as good never have been married to Christ. So that, good Works are as necessary and far from useless, as if they were really meritorious. And he that obeys not Christ as King and Lawgiver, he takes Satan for his Prophet and Commander. As ever you expect this World's Comforts, or next World's Glories, Do all good Works, though you rest in none. Antichristian Faith laid in Ruins the renowned Jerusalem. And Antinomian Life brought Hell from Heaven upon Sodom. The Lord add more Faith to London's Virtue, and more Virtue to our Faith! The Lord send us more Faith for our Works, and more Works from our Faith. Works of Worship towards God; Works of Sobriety, Watchfulness, and Self-denial. Works of Justice and Charity towards Men. Works of the Callings wherein we are placed; (for from Angels to Worms, God giveth an Employment to all his Creatures.) The Complaint Abroad is, that Money is scarce, and Trade dead: But no Money seems so scarce as this Faith that is of the true Royal Stamp; no Trade so dead, as this of good Works undefiled. If these be had and held by you, you shall find and feel true the Apostle's words, 1 Tim. 4.8. They have the Promise of the Life that now is. If not, you may e'er long be made to exclaim, in Moses' words, Lord, we are consumed by thine Anger, and by thy Wrath are we troubled, Ps. 90.7. These twenty Directions thus do, and see what God will do. Remembering still these my concluding Words, to prevent your Mistake of God's Word: What is truly BEST for you, God will give to you. Rom. 8.28. All shall work for Good. Temporal Blessings, if God deny in one way, he will make Compensation in another. Christ was denied the Deliverance that he asked; but had it made up in the Support that his Father granted, Matth. 26.39. Luke 22.43. The Covenant of Grace exempts you not from the Rod, if you break these Rules. Psal. 89.30, 31, 32. If his Children forsake my Law, and walk not in my Judgements; If they break my Statutes, and keep not my Commandments: Then will I visit their Transgression with the Rod, and their Iniquity with Stripes. In executing of his Threats, God doth not break his Promises. My Directions are ended. By some, it's like, they will be quarrelled: But I think them of Qualifications to answer for themselves. The Language is unusual; yes, but 'tis not found unprofitable. The Matter will offend; for many good Souls do all that's here advised, and yet be not rich enough. No? let that be proved. What godly Soul will tell me of any bitter Wants, and disclaim all Guilts? I meet with no such. But what is the Design of these Directions? They are very blind that will not see. It is to fetch Martha to the place of Mary, at her Saviour's Feet: To empty Hearts of earthly Cares, that room may be made for Heavenly: To kill the Thorns that choke the Seed of the Word; Yea, the Canker that preys upon, and eats up the Souls of many. To persuade Men to mind and do all that they have to do, and not take God's Work out of his Hands; but leave him to provide for their Subsistence; and practically regard our Redeemer's Command, five or six times repeated, Matth. 6. Take no thought (not disquieting distracting One) for your Life, or Livelihood. Briefly; to convince of this Truth, that God is a kind and no hard Master: And that his good and faithful Servants, are not themselves when they distrust him. And when they cease to tell him to this effect; Lord, I refer all to thee: I would have nothing but what thou thinkest good. The Condition that is good in thy Eyes, shall seem best in mine. Infinite Wisdom cannot choose amiss for me. And the Goodness and Power which are no less, will not fail to bestow that on me. Wherefore henceforth I will no more trouble my Heart with Thoughts, who shall give me Bread to eat; than with Thoughts who shall give me Daylight to see by, or Air to breath in. I will take it for very certain, that the Covenant of Grace is the best Freehold in the Creation, for this World and for the next. And therefore, although the Figtree shall not blossom, neither shall Fruit be in the Vines; the labour of the Olive shall fail, and the Fields shall yield no Meat; the Flock shall be cut off from the Fold, and there shall be no Herd in the Stalls; yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my Salvation, Hab. 3.17, 18. Policy fails, and Strength fails, I know. Serpents I have seen naked, and Foxes thin Clothed and Bald; I have seen Lion's very meager, and Bears but lean. The profoundest Sophy of our Nation died poor. And strange Exemplars of Diligence have lived in wretched Want. But my Saviour's Rule I am sure is infallible; Seeking first, and most, and all God's Kingdom and Righteousness; All, and every needful thing must be added to me. I must have all I want. In Heaven they have not as yet all they have a Will unto. The Saints there are without their Bodies, and much of their Company. I may not expect more on Earth, than they have in Heaven. But there have they as much as they yet want, and here will I expect so much also. And now, Farewell worldly Sorrow. Farewell all Sorrow in the World, save only for the world of Sin in me and it. Lord Jesus, thou knowest all things, thou knowest that I love thee! And (to my Comfort) I know so much, Thou causest them that love thee to inherit Substance, Thou fillest their Treasures; With Good perfect, without Defect; and Perpetual without Decay; the Good of the upper Springs and the Nether. All Things are mine, for I am thine. In proper Speech the Devil hath no Child Rich, and my Lord and my God hath not one Poor. Let them be Poor therefore that can be so. I cannot want, I am most certain; the King's Tax shall be well paid, and my House well kept, as long as I do, 1. Trust my Guardians. 2. Go to School to the Ants. 3. Lean on no Reeds. 4. Serve but one Master. 5. Wear my Master's Livery. 6. Hold my Heart at my right Hand. 7. Beware of my five Enemies. 8. Lay not violent Hands on myself. 9 Load my Parents sound. 10. Marry none but an Heir to the Crown. 11. Make Battlements to my House. 12. Take Care of the King's Children. 13. Use good Salt. 14. Kindle huge Fires on my Enemy's Heads. 15. Keep my Watch at my Door. 16. Unite Courtesy and Truth. 17. Be at Court one whole Day in a Week; And, 18. Wrestle hard all the Week. 19 Get well acquainted with my Father's Will and Testament. 20. See that my Meat be not my Poison. And this will I do, if God shall give me to will and to do it! Jabez called on the God of Israel, saying, O that thou wouldst bless me indeed, and enlarge my Coast; and that thy Hand might be with me, and that thou wouldst keep me from Evil, that it may not grieve me. And God granted him that which he requested, 1 Chron. 4.20.— Because thou hast asked Wisdom and Knowledge for thyself;— Wisdom and Knowledge is given to thee, and I will give thee Riches, and Wealth, and Honour, 2 Chron. 1.11, 12. Quest. 1. WHose is this Earth? whose Goods be all The Creatures it contains? Who takes the Care of this wide World? As Lord and King who reigns? Answer. The Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, Are the one King and Lord; Who made, and owns, keeps all, and rules All by his wondrous Word. Quest. 2. But who be they this King affects? Who be his Favourites? In filling whom with all good things, His Majesty delights? Answer. They be the Just, that live by Faith, On's Power, Love and Truth; As Orphans on their Guardians lean, Throughout their helpless Youth. They be the faithful Servants, who In constant Labours sweat; And take more pleasure in God's Work, Than earthly Prince's Meat. They be the Saints, that trust not Kings, And Princes, for their Bread; As knowing, Kings be poor themselves, And from God's Board be fed. They be the Calebs', that, all times, Serve fully their own Lord; By whom Religion cut in halves, As Atheism, is abhorred. They be the poor in Spirit, known By their Humility; Who of all Mercies, ever say, Less than the least am I. They be the wise in Heart, whose Minds In Cares are exercised; And whose right Hands straight execute, What they have well devised. They be the Spirit's Soldiers, Against the Flesh they fight; Against the ravenous Lusts of Sense, The Hell, named, Appetite! They be the wisely Charitable; Rash Suretyship they loathe: Forward they are to Lend and Give, But with Discretion both. They be the Children good, who pay A Duty not oft seen; To whom a Father is a King, And Mother is a Queen. They be the Chaste and Holy Ones, Who purely keep their Bed; And of God's Royal Family Adopted Children wed! They be the Friends of God, whose Zeal Their House a Church doth make; And see that all their Household shall Their House, or Sin, forsake. They be the Holy Abraham's, That tend God's Nursery: And use their Power, Skill and Love, Their Babes to sanctify. They be the fearful of the Plague In Fools infectious Breath; They count, walk with the Wise, is Life, And walk with Fools, is Death! They be the followers of the Lamb, That blessed and cursed not; The glorious Art of pardoning Spite, Their Christian Souls have got. They be the Davids, who suspect Their Mouths most dangerous Door; Strict Watch they keep; and for a Guard They do their God implore! They be the lovers of true Love; Their Pleasure is to please: And what gives any one Distaste, Takes from their Rest and Ease. They be the Saints, who every Week, In Heaven spend one Day; Glad in their Heart, that at God's Court They have so sweet a stay! They be the jacob's, that in Prayer, Do wrestle all the Week; Nor cease they, till, as Israel, They gain the things they seek. They be the Heirs of Life, that prize Christ's Will and Testament; By Day they read it, and by Night, Without it no Content. They be the Zealous of good Works; And Jealous of them too; They all perform, and all disclaim; Trust none of all they do. These be the Men of God, our King; These be his Favourites; In filling these with all good Things, His Majesty delights: These be the Apples of his Eye; These in him safely trust: Others can only wish to thrive; But these for certain must. FINIS. Books sold by Andrew Bell and Ionas Luntley. RULES for heating the Word of God with certain and saving Benefit. The Second Edition. The Sure Way to Wealth. Infallible Directions to get and keep sufficient Riches, even while Taxes rise, and Trades sink. Both by Mr. Daniel Burgess. The fulfilling of the Scripture, or a Discovery of the Accomplishment of God's Holy Word in his Providential Works. The third Edition, corrected, and enlarged with Doctrines and Histories, by the Author Mr. Robert Fleming, Pastor of a Church in Rotterdam. Published and recommended by Mr. Burgess. Mr. Rutherford's Letters, the third Edition, now divided into three Parts. The first containing those which were written from Aberdeen, where he was confined by a Sentence of the High Commission drawn forth against him, partly upon the account of his declining them, partly upon the account of his Nonconformity. The Second and Third containing some which were written from Anwoth, before he was by the Prelate's Persecution thrust from his Ministry; and others upon Occasions afterward, from St. Andrews, London, etc. Published for the Use of all the People of God, but more particularly for those who now are, or afterwards may be put to suffering for Christ and his Cause.