The Christian's daily Practice of Piety

Chapter 1

1. Be sure to get God, and the things of God next to your heart

when you awake. God, the World and Satan with his suggestions knocks to get first in. Open first to God, if Satan or the world hath possession, out them speedily, and let your meditation on God be sweet. Spend your first

Chapter 2

2. Before you entertain the world, get more solemnly to God, lift

up your heart unto him, first in thanksgiving for the bed blessing, your renewed life and strength, and then pour out your soul in supplication to him for his grace to enable you in your duties, to resist the temptations

Chapter 3

3. After you have been with God, set a watch upon your heart,

and keep it close, that your heart not depart too far from God that day, by setting it over much on the creatures, and your calling, but keep your mind heavenly, and near to God, laboring hourly to keep the sweet relish

Chapter 4

4. When your watch is set, then set upon your lawful calling with

diligence and good will, doing every hours work, as to the Lord. Live not out of a calling, nor idle in it. Exercise as much care as the weightiness of the work requires; make conscience of spending the day well. Judge a

Chapter 5

5. When you are in your calling, avoid all just cause of offense to

God and man, in word and deed. Do not provoke God to wrath, nor those that dwell near you. Corrupt not any by your wanton carriage; wrong not any by unjust dealing; be courteous, peaceable, and harmless; do not easily ta

Chapter 6

6. Set a solemn time a-part to pray in, and with your family twice

in the day at least, and let those prayer seasons be when the whole family can most conveniently assemble and suffer none through sickness to be absent. Let not evening prayer season be deferred too late, lest the body b

Chapter 7

7. Be careful all the day long of your discourse, for you must give

an account of every idle word, and by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned. Let all your speeches be serious holy, inoffensive, and edifying. Weigh beforehand what honor your discours

Chapter 8

8. Observe hourly God's providential dealing with you or others.

If God has appeared to you or others, in any eminent mercy, or judgement, note that, and remember to praise, fear, and love him for it; especially observe what sin he has showed you, what hints of his love, what hopes of

Chapter 9

9. Have a care all day to the feet of your affections, on what they

are set. They will be apt to settle on the world and sin and -- 7 of 25 -- 8 withdraw from God and duty. Review them continually, ask yourself often what you love, fear, desire, where you are, and on what, and recall y

Chapter 10

11. When you find any temptations arising, be sure to meet the

tempter in the strength of Christ, with some Scripture commands, promise or threatening, which suits with the nature of the temptation to repel it. And, let not the tempter get too near you. If he be within you, you are

Chapter 11

12. Mark every hour the coming and going of the Spirit and

attend upon its motions. Hear what it says unto you, and when you feel more than ordinary of his presence, then examine your graces, mortify sin, cleave heartily to God, and delight your soul in him. Withal, then labor f

Chapter 12

13. Labor to add something to every grace each day of your life,

and to take something from your sin. Build up your knowledge in faith, love, joy, and fear daily; lay consideration to the root of all your graces to quicken them. Be as careful of the graces of your soul, as of the chil

Chapter 13

14. Have frequent and hourly recourse to the blood of Christ by

acts of faith, for renewed acts of pardon for your renewed sins, and keep open the floodgates of repentance, which must run daily as you sin daily. Be persuaded that your work is never done till your life be done. Also b

Chapter 14

16. Above all, take heed lest you fall into a custom of sinning; if

one act or two may stand after illumination of grace, do not think too many will; early get out of the way of sinning, the more you yield, the more sad your case, and hard your cure is.

Chapter 15

17. Be doing or receiving good in all the places God calls you. If

you are among your superiors in grace and knowledge, learn, if among those that are weaker, teach them; suffer not sin to pass by unreproved, but be a faithful, yet a wise monitor of those about you, and take reproofs yo

Chapter 16

18. In the evening of the day perform your evening sacrifice of

private and secret prayer, and praises for your special graces, mercies, and love tokens received that day; then give up yourself to God and his protection, kiss his Son, and let him lie between your arms all night, medi

Chapter 17

1. If you would not transgress Scripture rules in buying: then

first, take heed that you do not discommend those commodities that are very good, which you are about to buy, that so you may not bring down the price of the commodity, and get it for less than it is worth; there is a kn

Chapter 18

2. Do not make vows and protestations, that you will give no

more for a commodity than what you have first offered, when afterwards you will give more. This is a very common thing with tradesmen: You shall have a man come to a shop, and cheapen a commodity, and the buyer he will s

Chapter 19

3. Do not give counterfeit money for those commodities you buy.

This you have an example of in Abraham, when he was to buy the field in Machpelah of Ephron the Hittite, for a burying place in Genesis 23:16. Saith Abraham, I will give thee four hundred shekels of silver, current money

Chapter 20

4. Do not give for a commodities less than in your conscience

you think it is worth; it is an oppression in buying, when you seek to bring a commodity under its due value and worth. Abraham when he was to buy the cave in Machpelah of Ephron, saith he, I will give you the worth of i

Chapter 21

5. Do not long defer the paying of these commodities which you

have bought, when you have the wherewithal to pay it. There is an excellent place for this in Proverbs 3:27-28. Withhold not good from them to whom it is due, when it is in the power of thine hand to give it. Say not unt

Chapter 22

6. Do not engross a commodity, that is, do not buy all of a

commodity into your own hands alone, that by that means you may sell the commodity at your own price. This is a mere oppression, destructive to a commonwealth, and to all trading. The Scripture condemns this in Proverbs

Chapter 23

7. Do not in your buying of commodity take any advantage of the

mistake or oversight of the seller. Suppose you should come to a shop, and buy so many yards of cloth, or the like, and he should give you more than is your due, or take less money of you than is his due, you should take

Chapter 24

8. Do not buy any commodities on the Lord's Day. It is true, upon

urgent occasions to maintain life either of man or beast, this is lawful, but to buy anything that you may well be without till Monday, in this case you may sin if you buy anything on the Lord's Day, in Nehemiah 10:31. A

Chapter 25

7. Do not in buying a commodity, work upon the necessity of a

poor man, that hath need of money, this is a great sin in tradesmen. They know that a poor man wants money, and he must sell off his ware, or else he cannot buy bread for his family, and therefore he must work upon his n

Chapter 26

10. Do not buy those things that are not fit to be bought and sold.

As first, do not buy stolen goods, they are not fit to be bought. If you know that the goods that are to be bought are stolen goods, they are not to be bought, but to be restored; the receiver is as bad as the thief, so

Chapter 27

1. If you would not transgress Scripture Rules in selling

commodities, then in the first place, do not multiply words in Selling: The Scripture affords many examples for this, as Genesis 13:15. Abraham, as I told you before, when he was to buy the Cave of Machpelah of Ephron, t

Chapter 28

3. Do not sell your commodities by false weights nor by false

measures. Do not keep a deceitful balance or deceitful measure. This is commanded in Amos 8:5. They make the ephah small and the shekel great and falsify the balances by deceit. And so, in Proverbs 20:20, divers weights,

Chapter 29

4. You are to make conscience in selling a commodity, not only

that you do not speak falsely but also that you do not speak in an equivocating manner. It is an observation that Luther has upon these words, let no man defraud his brother: he says. There are many shop keepers that wil

Chapter 30

5. In selling a commodity, do not work up the ignorance and

simplicity of the man that comes to buy the commodity; but if you discern him be unskillful, rather use him the better, than the worse. In Zechariah 1:9, God says, in the same day also will I punish all those young men t

Chapter 31

8. Be not so eager in selling of your commodities, that you cannot

content yourselves to sell on the six days of the week, but you must sell on the Sabbath-day likewise. Be not like those in Amos 8:5, saying, when will the new moon be over, that we may sell corn, and the Sabbath be over

Chapter 32

9. When you are found out to be deceitful in your dealing, do not

justify your deceit. Many men, if you come to them, and tell them that they sell dearer than their Neighbors, they will tell you that they do not; or if you tell then that the commodity is not good which you bought of th

Chapter 33

10. Do not sell those things that are not saleable. As first, do not

sell spiritual things, for these are not saleable; as in Acts 8:20. Simon Magus, when he would have bought the gift of the Holy Ghost with money, Peter says to him, the money perish with you, because you thought the gift