Some Pious Treatises, Part 1
Means whereby our words may be constantly savoury.
1. GEt an holy frame of heart, Psal. 19.14. Let the words of my mouth, and meditations of my heart, be acceptable, intimating, that the words will not be acceptable, without an holy frame of heart Psal. 45.1. My heart is inditing of a g od matter, I will speak of the things J have made touching the King. So Christ, Matth. 12.34. How can ye being will speak good things? they might pronounce them, but they could not speake them, because speech is the image and pourtraiture of the mind. Also vers. 35. A good man, out of the good treasure of his heart, bringeth forth good things; for out of the abu…dance of the heart, the mou…h speaketh: as if he should say, there must be a treasure of grace in the heart, before gracious words can constantly flow out: wicked persons reproved for prophane speeches, say, we have as good an heart to God as the best, nay, thou deceivest thy selfe, if so much filth and rottenness come out, there is much more within Psal. 5.9. there is no faithfulness in their mouth, their inward part …s very wickedness; their throat is an open Sepulchre; as if he should say; If so much evill come out of the tongue, there is much more in the heart. Psal. 37.30.31. the mouth of the right…ous speaketh wis…dom, and his tongue talketh of judgment; why, whence is it? The law of God is in his heart so Pro. 16.23. The heart of the wise teacheth his mouth; as if he should say, whence have godly men the good language that flowes from them? why, their own renewed hearts teach and prompt their tongues.
2. Bee much in praier, that God would governe thy tongue, Neh. 2.4.5. First Nehemiah praid to the God of heaven, then he spoke to the King. So David praies, Psal. 19. Let the words of my mouth bee ever acceptable, Psal. 51.15. Open thou my mouth, and my lips shall shew forth thy praise, let my mouth be filled with thy praise, and thy honour all the day, Psal. 71.8. Set a watch O Lord before my mouth, and keepe the doore of my lips, Psal. 141.3.
3. Get an holy bent of heart against unholy longuage; J am purposed that my mouth shall not transgresse, Psal. 17.3. J said I will take heed to my waies, that I offend not with my tongue, Psal. 39.1. when the will is set against a thing, the members will hardly be drawn to it; hence he addes, I will keep my tongue as with a bridle, vers. 3. so that as the bridle rules the horse, so the will rules the tongue. It's related of one Pambus, that being desirous to learne a Psalm, and hearing this verse of Psal. 39.1. already cited, would heare no more, saying if I can indeed performe this, this one verse is sufficient; and when he who had taught him that verse blamed him, that in six moneths he came not to him, he answered, that he had not indeed fulfilled that verse, and living long after, being demanded of a familiar friend if he had learnt that verse, hardly, saith he have I fulfilled it in forty nine yeares, Hist. Tripart. l. 8.
4. Suppress sin when it is in the motion, so will it not come forth to word, as we breake cocatrice egs before they come forth of the shell, Pro. 30.32. if thou hast thought evill, lay thy hand upon thy mouth. What monsters should we bee if all the evill of our hearts should come forth of our tongues? Mat. 15.19. Out of the heart, that is the corruption of the heart, proceed false witness, blasphemy, hence Col. 3.8. the Apostle bids us put filthy communication out of our mouth, that is if it arise in the heart, yet let it not come out of the mouth.
5. Consider the observation that is taken of thy words; if one were by us alwayes, to book every word we speak, how exact would we be in our words? besides men, who often record thy words in memory, and somtimes in writing, as they did against Christ, Iohn 2.20 compared with Mat. 26.61. Satan he notes our words, yea the very sins we confess in prayer. When the sons of Sceva adjured …he Devil to come out, the Devil answers, Jesus I know, and Paul I know, but who are ye? Acts 19.13. Satan hearing profane speeches come from us, will be ready to tempt us to the same; Satan knowing Ahabs prophets to be given to lying, saith, I will be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his Prophets, 1 King. 22. Besides, God notes thy words; There is not a word in my tongue, but thou O Lord knowest them altogether, Psal. 139.4. Hence he will convince wicked men of all their ungodly speeches, Jude 15. When wicked men spake amiss of Gods judgments, then God hearkened and heard, Jer 8.7.
6. Bring thy words to …; in appointing future things say, if the Lord will, Jam. 1…. Heb. 6.3. You put children to learn languages which th…y are to use but a while, teach them the language of Canaan, which is to be used for ever: In difficulties say, in the mount it shall be seen, Gen. 22.14. upon renewing of mercies say, it is the Lords mercies that we are not consumed, Lam. 3.22. And to speak a little concerning worldly word… on the Sabbath: For as all our words, so those on the Sabbath ought to be brought to the rule, & as neer as I can I shall endeavour to speak my own apprehensions, leaving others to their light. I will not say simply, that all worldly words are unlawful, when spoken on the Sabbath, for if they be, then if a man come and ask me a question, whether I will go to York, or London, or any other place, or if he speak any other worldly question, though never so short, I must reprove him, and say I am not to speak a worldly word this day; for I am to chuse any cross, rather then sin against my conscience, in committing any iniquity: For, suppose speaking a worldly word were but a little sin, yet doing it against my principle and conscience, it's an heynous sin, and going on against my principle and conscience, with the repetition of many acts, it's a question whether such a principle be consistent with saving grace. Therefore however the Prophet Esay saith, cap. 58.13. that we must not speake our own words on the Sabbath day, yet being there is an end put to that Sabbath, Col. 2.16. (for if the old Jewish Sabbath, or the seventh day from the creation, be not there put to an end by God, God having once commanded it, it ought still to stand, but it seems to me there to be put to an end) and seeing there is a change of the worship to the first day of the week, now to affix all the duties of a day that is changed or abrogated, to another day that is appointed instead of it, without command from God, which here is scarcely producible, I see no convincing reason; the day that we observe now for worship, the Holy Ghost calls it the Lords day, and so it is of divine authority.
For to answer to that place of Esay, the Prophet neither enjoined silence on that day, nor secondly did not universally forbid a worldly word, but.
1. Esay understands it of such words as answered to their wicked will, which formerly he had condemned in the preceding part of this Chapter; he enjoines them not onelyonly a cessation from deeds of their owne carnall desires, but also from words thereof.
Object. But these kind of words are forbid every day, Luk. 1.75. we are to serve in holiness all the daies of our life.
Ans. So the Lord doth, but he forbids them then especially, when we have opportunities for an holy Communion.
2. Worldly words are so far forth unholy, as they put us out of an holy frame of heart on that day, for we ought to have our hearts holy before hearing, and praier, and holy after; yet if any man shall ask me a worldly question before the Ordinances, or betwixt them, or after them, I should not scruple briefly to answer him, yet would I get rid of him as soone as I could, lest by a continued discourse my heart should grow carnall.
3. In refraining from all worldly speech, look upon thy refrainment as a matter of expediency in order to a spirituall good, not as a matter of necessity, as if thy speaking some few worldly words were sin.
4. What we may do, we may talke of, saith Greenham, pag. 223. of the Sab. now there was a feast, where Christ was on the Sabbath, Luke. 14.1.2.3.4.5.6. for there was striving for places at it, now there could not be a feast, but there must be conference about it, which if universally unlawfull, Christ would not have been at the feast.
5. The lesse thou speakest of any worldly thing on the Sabbath, the more spirituall thy heart is like to; bee and therefore, he that can refrain altogether, doth best.
6. Beware of carnal conference, that it bring thee not into a carnal frame of heart; for it is a sure rule, that the frame of thy heart ought to be sutable to the duties thou art conversant about. To conclude this point, many Christians rashly receiving this principle, that now on the Lords day we must not speak any of our owne words, that is, words of common business, walke nothing according to this rule, but sin grievously against their conscience, and by this principle come to have a slight opinion of sin, because they do so commonly sin on the Lords day, by speaking their owne words, whereas it is the duty of Christians to chuse any crosse, rather then so deliberately, and continuedly to sin against the Lord.
7. Bee sparing in speech, men that speake much cannot so well ponder their words. First meditate what to speake, then speak: full barrels make but a little sound, and empty barrels sound much, Psal. 34.13. he that would live a long life, and an happie, let him refraine his tongue from evill. The Prophet for feare his tongue should lash out, kept it as with a bridle, Psal. 39, 2.
8. Remember Gods judgment against ungodly speakers, against murmurers, Num. 14.36.37. who died by a plague, against blasphemers, Levit. 24.10. to 17. the blasphemer was by Gods command stoned to death: Senacherib for his blasphemies was slaine by his owne Sons, Esay. 37. ult. and had this inscription on his combe, as Herodotus saith, whosoever beholds me, let him learne to be godly. So Olympus (as Paulus Diaconus mentions) belching out blasphemies against the Trinity, was slaine by lightning from heaven in a bath at Carthage: against slander, remember Doeg, who for slandering the Lords Preists was pluckt out of his dweling place, and destroyed for ever, 1 Sam. 22.9. compared with Psal. 52.5. against lying, remember Ananias, and …aphina, Act. 5.5. against vaine-glorious speeches, remember Herod, Act. 12.23. who was eaten up of wormes for not giving God the glory. Against cursing, remember Shemei, who was cut off many yeares after for it in the daies of Solomon, 1 Kings. 2.8.42:43. against false swearing, remember there is a roll of curses, the roll is written on both sides, Zach. 5.2.3. against malicious, undermining speeches, remember Daniels accusers, who themselves came to be cast into the den of Lions, Dan. 6.24. against passionate speeches, remember Hos. 7.16. the Princes shall fall by the sword for the rage of their tongue. Beza tells a story, of his own knowledge, of a man who bad the Devill take one of his children, upon which the child was immediately possessed by an evill Spirit, from which though by the praiers of … he was released, yet before he was perfectly recovered … Ho…. 26. in Histor Passionis. Against uncleane speeches, re… … Fotiphars wife, and Amnon, 2 Sam. 13.11. Against seditious … rebellious speeches, remember Corah, Dathan, and Abir… Num. 16.