among us St. Austin in his Confessions tells us that he and his Mother standing together and looking out of a Window into a Garden fell a discoursing of the nature of the everlasting Felicity in Heaven and drawing Comparisons from the Herbs and Flowers they saw before them and then running higher to the Contemplation of the Sun and Moon and Stars and reflecting on the far greater Glory in the higher Mansions they were so ravish'd with one anothers Discourses that they forgot they were on Earth Indeed till Men come to delight in such Discourses they have not yet receiv'd that Spirit whereby we relish the things which are freely given us of God These are some of those many Directions which might here be given And to put all this in practice there are two things to be observed 1. We must oblige our selves to do it by all the Arguments which have power to bind us And among these a vigorous Resolution and punishing our selves if we break it may justly be said to be one of the most effectual Methods to compass it 2. As we know how Good Men have been concern'd about this watchfulness over their Tongues so with them we must pray and pray earnestly for the Divine Assistance for the Tongue is not easily tamed or reduced to good Order God must be interessed and his Victorious Grace implored in the endeavour and if you want a form of Prayer to that purpose David hath given us one Psal. cxli. 3 Set a watch O Lord before my Mouth and keep the door of my Lips I conclude with St. James's remarkable Sentence Jam. i. 26 If any Man among you seems to be Religious and bridles not his Tongue deceiving his own Heart that Man's Religion is vain SERMON XXXI St. Matth. Ch. V. Ver. 38 39. Ye have heard that it hath been said An Eye for an Eye and a Tooth for a Tooth But I say unto you That ye resist not evil but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right Cheek turn to him the other also I Expect that upon the reading of these words of our Saviour many of you will be ready to reply as the Men of Capernaum when they heard Christ discoursing of eating his Flesh and drinking his Blood This is a hard Saying who can hear it But not to mention that Hardships are no Discouragements to industrious Men from prosecuting their Designs and that unwilling Minds will be ever complaining of Difficulties the true reason of such Complaints is not any internal difficulty of the thing it self but want of a renew'd and sanctify'd Heart That may appear difficult to one which is not so to another and sick Men may not be able to bear what vigorous and healthy Persons can But of this I shall have occasion to Discourse of more largely in the sequel As to the Text Christ seems to contradict and oppose his Saying to the Command of God but he doth not He only shews what is better and establishes that which is better into a Law but doth not find fault with a Law of God's making To make this appear I shall consider I. What was said of old and upon what Account And II. What Christ says to us that pretend to be his Followers I. What was said of old and upon what Account Ye have heard that it hath been said An Eye for an Eye and a Tooth for a Tooth I do not doubt but Christ quotes and repeats these words not precisely as they are in the Law of Moses but as the ancient Masters of Tradition and from them the Scribes and Pharisees had expressed and contracted and applied them to the lawfulness of private Revenge And therefore Ye have heard saith our Saviour that it hath been said i. e. by them of old Time by the Learned Doctors of the former Ages Indeed the Words are in the Law of Moses only in that Fountain they are larger and fuller than in the Stream as deliver'd to the Jews by their Ancestors However though Christ quotes these words as the Saying of the ancient Masters of Tradition yet it 's certain that those ancient Doctors had regard to the Law of Moses for so we read Exod. xxi 23 And if any mischief follow then thou shalt give Life for Life Eye for Eye Tooth for Tooth Hand for Hand Foot for Foot Burning for Burning Wound for Wound Stripe for Stripe Concerning which Law I note 1. That this was the most ancient way of punishing Offenders especially private Men when they had offered any Injury to the Body of their Neighbour He that had unjustly hurt another in a certain Limb or Part suppose the Eye or Foot or Hand or Tooth he was to suffer in that Part in which he had been prejudicial to the other and this was usual not only among the Jews but among the ancient Greeks and Romans too and it 's probable they learned the use of this Retaliation from the Methods of God's Providence which they observed working after that manner which makes Adonibezeck take notice Judg. i. 7 Threescore and ten Kings with their Thumbs and right Toes cut off have gathered their Meat under my Table as I have done so God hath required me 2. In process of Time by Example and Consent it was agreed that the Person hurt should have Cost given him for the Damages he sustained and the Retaliation or Punishment in the same kind was changed into pecuniary Mulcts or so much Money or so much in Goods as was judged by wise Men to tantamount to the Hurt done was given to the Party Injured if he complain'd and thus compensation was made And yet 3. This Law of God in Moses did not forbid the Jews Patience under Injuries Notwithstanding this Law they might very lawfully suffer themselves to be Hurt without Contradiction or Revenge which is the reason why Moses is commended for his Meekness and Patience when Aaron and Miriam murmured against him And David's Patience under Shimie's Revilings 2 Sam. xvi 10 was not the least Jewel in his Crown I mean was one of the most eminent Vertues of his Life However 4. This Law did not give the Jews liberty to exercise any private Revenge i. e. By virtue of this Law a Jew could not of his own accord wound him in the Eye or Foot or Tooth c. who had wounded him in any of those Parts But he had liberty to go and accuse the Offender to the Magistrate who was oblig'd to do him Justice and to retaliate the Injury upon the Offender and therefore it is said Exod. xxi 22 That the Judges were to determine it Add to all this 5. That even to bring the Offender before the Magistrate in order to have him punish'd was rather permitted than commanded much like the Divorces we have spoken of to prevent a greater Evil such as Murther and excessive private Revenges Just as our Law permits Men to take Interest Six per Cent. but for all that a Man may chuse
is not that a motive to go on from Vertue to Vertue In Temporals a little Gain tempts you to aim at a greater He that is easie desires to be easier He that is rich desires to be richer not that I approve of this desire but this is the Temper of Mankind Nay in some cases it may be lawful but here I am sure it 's necessary True Goodness is comfortable even in the lowest degree of it Comfort is the natural result of it and therefore I say having already felt and received something of Satisfaction from those small beginnings of Goodness which you allow are in you is not this an Encouragement to go on to a higher pitch Are you afraid of too much Comfort Or is that you have felt so contemptible that you despise all that you can promise your selves for the future If it were little or no bigger than Elijah's Cloud no bigger than a Mans hand that 's a very pregnant Reason why you should endeavour to enlarge and make it greater There is scarce a vicious Man but hath something of Goodness that lies mingled with all his filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness and behold even that grain of Gold as little as it is supports the Wretch against all the Terrors of his Conscience and keeps him from sinking under the load and burthen of his Sin I do not tell you how justly but of the matter of fact and the use I make of it is this If so small a quantity of Goodness is so great a Cordial what must a greater Portion and proportion be This is an Eternal Rule True Vertue causes Sweetness for all her Paths are Peace and that sweetness we taste is a just incentive to long for a greater degree as a Person that tasting of a Dish agreeable to his Pallate desires a fuller Enjoyment of it and thus we give People opportunity to see what we do which brings in the second Proposition II. Our good Works cannot be said to shine except Men see them Let your Light shine that Men may see your good Works When Men see that you are Compassionate and tender-hearted officious and kind and faithful and willing to help and that you love your Neighbours as your selves When they see That you are just in all your Dealings just to your Word just to your Promises just in your Traffick and Commerce and faithful in all you undertake when they see that evil Company cannot draw you to unlawful Games or to Intemperance in Eating and Drinking or to mispending your Time and that you are resolute to obey God more than Man when they see you make Conscience of what Christ Commands and that you express your love to God in such Acts as Flesh and Blood are against and your carnal Interest would hinder you from when they see that pleasing God is the work of your Life and that you can comfort your selves in your Tribulations with the things that are not seen and that you are not fond of the great things of this World but modest and temperate and sober and thankful for the Mercies you enjoy In this case your good Works do shine indeed and Men see them and is not this a more glorious sight than to see Croesus in his Throne or Cleopatra in her Vessel richly guilt and her Sails of Silk or Solomon in all his Glory For what was all that Glory but Paint and shew which perished But good Works are lasting Beauties they tarnish not they fade not they follow the Votary after Death go along with him to Heaven for their good Works follow them Rev. xiv 13 And there is reserv'd for them an Inheritance undefiled and incorruptible You are to convince the World that you are fully resolved to enjoy the Pleasures at the right hand of God but how will you convince them except they see you fight the good sight and resist Temptations and do as the Primitive Saints did Is that convincing them when they see you do things and venture on Actions which God protests shall exclude you from the Kingdom of Heaven Your good Works must be seen else you have reason to suspect them of Sophistication It is impossible to be truly Religious and to hide it from Men if we live among Men We may as well keep Fire from casting a heat as Goodness from being seen if it be genuine An invisible Religion is no Religion for Religion is nothing but Love even a fervent Love which will discover its Motions and its Flames and all Waters cannot quench them and Men cannot but perceive it If there appears nothing without nothing that looks like Love or Religion if nothing is to be seen all is but a Pretence and the Treasures we boast of imaginary and no better than the Riches Men think they are possessed of in a Dream when Fancy is playing in a slumber There is no doubt on 't if good Works are to be seen Men will behold them and take notice of them which calls us to consider the third Proposition III. If our good Works be any way considerable Men will take notice of them This is also limited here That others may see your good Works for this is grounded upon a Supposition for they will certainly observe and take notice No doubt they will not only those who have been enlightned and have tasted of the good Gift of God but even those who are Strangers to the Life of God Even a Herod will take notice of St. John's Austerity and Integrity and a Festus an Agrippa of St. Paul's Zeal and a Heathen Centurion of the admirable Behaviour of Jesus of Nazareth for Men have Reason and are inquisitive and will compare Actions with the Rules they have heard of most Men know more than they do and most Men give a shrew'd guess at the right way to Salvation and can tell whether such and such Endeavours are agreeable to the Path of Life and will take notice whether they be or not But except these good Works be considerable few Men will think them worth their Cognisance and that which will make them so are these six Ingredients 1. Great Patience under Injuries This looks very magnificent in the Eyes of Men of Judgment David's being unconcerned at Shimei's reviling the Apostles entreating when they were defamed St. Stephen's Praying for his Enemies when they stoned him this makes Men stare when Injuries cannot discompose us and Affronts cannot make us step out of the Road of Patience and we can bare up under Contempt and Dishonour without Grief or Passion or Revenge and look to the Example of Jesus and like him return Blessings for Cursings this even astonishes carnal Men and to be sure must look lovely in the Eyes of good Men. 2. Great Acts of Charity such Acts especially as those of Christ to Malchus who came to apprehend him and whose Ear he cured and such as we read of in Ecclesiastical History of the Christians of old who did good to those
fully ver 10. But the day of the Lord will come as a Thief in the Night in the which the Heavens shall pass away with a great noise and the Elements shall melt with fervent heat the Earth also and the works that are therein will be burnt up The same he repeats ver 12. which is conformable to what the Stoicks either from the light of Nature or from Tradition gather'd would be and to what Josephus saith of Adam That he prophecied the World should be destroy'd first by Water and afterward by Fire But then as it is ver 11. of the aforesaid Chapter seeing that all these things shall be dissolved what manner of persons ought you to be in all Holy Conversation and Godliness Whether the Christians in St. Peter's time believed that the day of Judgment was at hand and that it should be upon them in that Age is not my business to enquire Now. That which makes the Exhortation seasonable at all times even at this day is the uncertainty of the time of Christ's coming to Judgment and whether this day of Judgment may come in this Age or in the next as it is probable it is not far off especially if the old saying of R. Hillel be true That the World shall continue two Thousand Years before the Law two Thousand under the Law and two thousand under the Messiah but as I said whether it will be this year or next is not material but this I am sure of that the day of our death is the most uncertain thing in the World and as Death finds us so will the Great day And since the day of our death is so uncertain the Inference drawn from the uncertainty of the day of Judgment will also fit the uncertainty of the day of our death It 's a marvelous thing how Men delay their Holy Conversation and Godliness even till Death comes and surprizes them I know this is a very common Theme but how can we forbear to speak of it when we see that Men instead of mending run deeper and deeper into the Gulf young and old Death comes Lord How unprepared doth it find most Men How few can welcome it How few can with Simeon rejoyce at its coming I know Pain and extremity of Misery makes many Men long for it but that alone is no rational ground while that Holy Conversation and Godliness is wanting We all dread an unprepared death and we pray against it We think sometimes in a serious fit how sad it would be with us if it should be our case And yet how few arm themselves against its Terrors and dreadful Consequences The Day the Hour is very uncertain and we see Men are catch'd and snatch'd away before they are aware yet we take no warning still we wait for a convenient Season for a fair Opportunity and when we have got in the World what we would have when we have setled our Affairs on such a Basis or Foundation once and when our Condition is better and our Circumstances more favourable then we 'll set about that seriousness which becomes Candidates of Eternity God sees our Folly and pities us for he sees how we fool our selves He calls and intreats us to redeem the time O that we were wise and would consider our latter End Heaven and Earth must pass away and we must pass away therefore this I say Brethren nay the Apostle says so 1 Cor. vii 19 It remains that they that have Wives be as though they had none and they that weep as though they wept not and those that rejoyce as though they rejoyced not and they that buy as though they possessed not and they that use this World as not abusing it for the fashion of this World passes away Indeed that which ought to make us reflect very seriously on all this is that the Word of God is unchangable which calls me to the last Proposition V. Sooner shall Heaven and Earth perish than the least tittle of Gods Word shall fail In this Sense the Words and Expressions used in the Text are sometimes taken so that here is a double Asseveration which makes the Truth Christ delivers here the weightier 1. Verily I say unto you In the Original it is Amen which the Jewish Interpreters of the Old Testament affirm to be an Oath and that 's a very immutable thing 2. Till Heaven and Earth pass i. e. Sooner shall these be hurl'd into their former Chaos and Confusion than the least tittle of his word shall prove false And if so then the Threatnings and Promises of the Gospel and of the Law of God will undoubtedly be fulfilled And I beseech you Beloved Hearers Consider what the Veracity of Gods Threatnings and Promises doth import If the Promises of the Gospel will certainly be fulfilled why cannot the wonderful Rewards promised prevail with you to fulfil the Conditions upon which those Rewards are promised God promises Eternal Life upon patient continuance in Well-doing the Kingdom of Heaven upon striving against Sin and conquering Temptations and a Crown of Glory to those who keep under their Bodies and bring their sensual Desires into Subjection Upon these Terms and no other the great Felicity is promised Will any of you after all these Protestations of God promise himself this Happiness upon other Terms and Conditions What then becomes of Gods Veracity If God be true to his Word then those who come not up to these Terms cannot enjoy the Bliss spoken of If God saves Men upon other Terms he cannot be true to his Word and then how can he be God To these Absurdities Men reduce themselves when they promise themselves Heaven without any regard to the Conditions upon which God doth promise it It 's God that must bestow it the same God that hath promised it and since he will bestow it only upon these Terms Why Christians why will ye feed your hopes with Air and Wind and Vanities Is it possible that God will prove false Is it possible that he will depart from his Word I am sure you cannot think so if you will consider it in cool Blood And shall the World and your present Gain and Profit blind you into Ruin The same must be said of the Threatnings of the Gospel Take but a serious View of them God protests for you believe the Scripture to be the Word of God That no unrighteous Person shall enter into the Kingdom of Heaven Neither Fornicators nor Adulterers nor Covetous nor Extortioners nor Drunkards nor Lascivious nor Quarrelsom nor Envious nor Malicious Persons nor Men that mind Earthly Things altogether shall enter into that Glory The Scripture is full of these Protestations Is there any of you here that 's guilty of any of these Sins and yet do ye hope to be happy 'T is true you 'll say none can be so that continues in these Sins but I hope I shall leave them all before I die But why Man Dost thou know when thou
Connection And therefore I conceive the antient Expositors of the Law contracted what Moses had said into this Motto Whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment 2. What is said here of Killing is meant of killing a Man and hath respect to the sixth Commandment Thou shalt do no Murder By which Law as the killing of Beasts for Man's use could not be intended nor destroying venomous and noxious Animals nor executing of Malefactors by order of the Magistrate nor depriving Men of their Lives in a just and lawful War but an unjust depriving a Man of his Life so there was a punishment suitable annex'd to the breach of that Law which Punishment was to be ordered and inflicted by the Magistrate and so far as the Law of God given by Moses went all was right and just and reasonable but here the Masters of Tradition had made a Distinction that if a Man had hired another to kill his Neighbour or had let loose a wild Beast upon him whereby he died the Magistrate was not to inflict the Punishment of Death upon him but he was to be left to the extraordinary Judgment of God but if he killed him in Person either by a Sword or by a Stone or by some other Weapon then the Magistrate was to execute the Penalty appointed by the Law of Moses upon him but this was not all for they taught moreover that though a Person who killed another was liable to capital Punishments yet the Wrath the Anger and the Malice that prompted him to it was a thing that deserved no Punishment and therefore this was not a thing to be feared and here came in Tradition which mis-interpreted the Law of Moses though it stands to Reason that he who forbids a Sin at the same time doth forbid the occasion of it and all such things as do naturally lead to the Commission of it 3. Our Saviour to shew that Wrath and Anger and Malice and reproachful Language were liable to Punishment as well as Murder and that God would certainly lash them as well as the greater Enormities takes notice of several degrees of unjust Wrath and Anger The first is a sudden Effervescence or Boyling up of the Blood or some violent Agitation and Commotion of the Passions upon a frivolous occasion and therefore adds 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 without sufficient Cause which though it be not in some Copies yet must necessarily be understood here not denying but that Anger in some Cases may be lawful but shewing withal that if the occasion of the Anger be slight and trivial and the Anger even in a lawful Cause be excessive and going beyond its just Bounds it provokes God's heavy Displeasure But then if this secret Anger within or the first boyling over of the Blood proceeeds farther to contemptuous Words and that a Man in Wrath and Malice gives his Neighbour reproachful Language despising and undervaluing him by using Expressions and Names which wound his Reputation intimated by the Word Rakah i. e. vile and worthless Wretch though I am apt to believe that an angry and threatning noise and posture is chiefly meant by that Word in this Case the Sin rises higher and becomes greater and consequently deserves a severer Judgment but then if this Anger mounts higher yet and from an angry threatning Posture and Noise which betrays Wrath and Indignation it proceeds to the calling our Neighbour Fool i. e. wicked and reprobate Wretch deserving the eternal Anger both of God and all good Men which is the meaning of the Word Fool in the Proverbs of Solomon as the Sin becomes more heinous by this Aggravation so the Punishment of it in the other World will be greater yet 4. What our Saviour saith here of a certain Gradation of Punishments due to the several Lusts and degrees of Wrath and Anger Judgment Council Hell Fire must be understood of Penalties in the next World yet with allusion to the degrees of Punishment among the Jews in this Life Now among the Jews there were three degrees of publick Infamy according to the nature of the Punishment inflicted on Men for their Crimes and the more publick the Punishment was the greater was the Infamy If an Offender were brought before the Court of Three and twenty which was an inferiour Court of Judicature called here being guilty of the Judgment and there condemn'd he was infamous and a great Disgrace it was to him but in a lower degree If he were brought before the Sanedrin or the Great Council of the Nation consisting of LXX Elders in the nature of our Parliament and by them adjudged to Death the Infamy and Disgrace was greater Yet if lastly a Man were condemn'd to be burnt in the Valley of Hinnon or Tophet where all the Trash and Filth of the City of Jerusalem the Garbage and dead Carcasses were burnt and where antiently they offered their Children to Moloch and where a perpetual Fire was kept to consume all things that were offensive and nauseous and which by the Jews themselves was look'd upon as an Emblem of Hell Fire the Infamy was greatest of all According to these degrees of Infamy here on Earth Christ shews there will be degrees of Punishment for the several degrees of unjust and unlawful Anger in the other World for most certainly this Threatning cannot be understood with respect to this Life there being no such thing inflicted upon Men for Anger and reproachful Names on this side the Grave and whereas the Jews were generally afraid chiefly of Punishments in this Life Christ thought sit to acquaint them and us that we had far greater reason to be afraid of the Punishments in the next as more dreadful and more grievous than any they could fear here on Earth And this is the meaning of the Commination in the Text Whosoever c. From the Words thus explained arise these following Truths I. Antiquity is no warrant for erroneous Doctrines and Practices II. Murder is a Crime which the Magistrate must by no means suffer to go unpunish'd III. Wrath and Anger without a just Cause hath its degrees and according to the degrees of the Sin the Punishment in the next World will be proportionable 1. Antiquity is no warrant for erroenous Doctrines and Practices The Scribes and Pharisees here pretended that what they taught and practis'd concerning the sixth Commandment was deliver'd to them by them of old Time But our Saviour shews that this pretence could be of no use to them but rather betray'd than cover'd their Nakedness Error pleads Antiquity as well as Truth and though nothing be more antient than Truth for it is from Eternity and before ever Error appear'd in the World Truth had the universal Monarchy yet Error is as ancient as the Fall As soon as the Apostate Angels forsook their Habitation and Integrity together Error began to shew it self which soon spread it self through the habitable World when Man tempted by the Devil consented to his false
to be believed in what they say and this fondness they discover even in telling things which they have only by hear-say and very often false and that tempts them to these extravagant Additionals I have mention'd and since that fondness is the occasion of it even that must be subdued and mortified It 's true a Man ought to be desirous to be believed but then it must be in things Serious and Weighty and of Importance and such as he hath a Moral assurance of that they are true and that desire must go no farther than God hath allowed of And since not only in things Trivial and Complemental and telling of Stories but also in ordinary Promises Bargains and Negotiations he hath forbid these solemn Confirmations and Protestations as pleasing as they may be to Flesh and Blood and as Customary as they are and as agreeable as they are to the humor of the times they must be forborn What 's the Reason that we hear People say sometimes of a Man that they will take his Word for a Thousand pound and that if such a one hath said it they 'll believe it sooner than they will do another Man upon his Bond. Is it not because they are assured of his Honesty Sincerity Piety Constancy Veracity and unfeigned Goodness Is not this a mighty Commendation Is it not an excellent Character And are not these fit Examples for us to follow Doth a Principle of real Goodness give a Man such Reputation among his Neighbours and is it not fit we should imitate these Patterns We that stand so much upon our Credit why are we loth to venture upon that which will procure us such Credit not only with Men but with God too Were we Christians indeed and did Men see that we live up to the Rules of our Great Master without wavering they would depend upon our Promises as much as they do upon other Mens Oaths and more too But when they see us Treacherous and Persidious and Regardless of our Words and that we take no heed to our Ways when they find that we pretend to Religion and yet can be Knaves that we call our selves Children of God and yet can Cheat and Defraud that we commend good Men and talk well and can undermine and over-reach another in a Bargain no wonder if they do Mistrust us And then we run our selves into a necessity of helping out our Want of Sincerity with Protestations and needless Asseverations and thus by degrees we come to venture upon Oaths and to other Sins and undoe our Souls Our Religion was intended to make us the honestest Men in the World and were we true to our Principles there would be no need of so many Bonds and Obligations and Indentures and Counterparts and giving of Securities and Sollicitations to second our Word and Promises with Oaths and Vows and Protestations as now there is But all that can be said in this point is this If Men be truly converted to the Laws of Christ they will be Just and Honest and Sincere and Upright and Faithful and True and Invincibly so if they are not their Conversion is Nonsense their Regeneration a Fable their Love to God a Romance their Repentance a fancy and their Piety Paint and Varnish II. We see here that the Government of our Tongues requires our special Care He that offends not in Word is a perfect Man saith St. James Jam. iii. 2 and able also to bridle the whole Body It 's one great Lesson of our Religion to labour after Perfection as appears by the frequent commands 2 Cor. xiii 9 Hebr. vi 1 Jam. i. 4 2 Cor. xiii 11 and this Perfection is not to be attained except our Care and Watchfullness extend to our Speeches and Words and Discourses and Communications in Conversation and how this Care is to be expressed I shall briefly shew in the following Directions 1. Let 's always propose to our selves a good end in Speaking either to rectifie the Mistakes of others or to Instruct or to Counsel or to Exhort or to Comfort or to Reprove or to Edifie others or to acquaint them with the true Merit of the Cause or to prevent frothy or impertinent Discourses This is part of that Discretion which is made a good Man's Character Psal. cxii 5 He that speaks with an intent either to be applauded for his Wit or Learning or Piety or to make the Company Laugh or meerly to trifle away the time or to provoke others to Wrath c. such a Person hath no great Care of his everlasting Concerns and puts no Oyl to his Lamp and therefore if the Bridegroom should come unawares he 'll have Oyl to buy when the Doors are going to be shut 2. Let 's speak Circumspectly so that in our Discourses neither God be abused by Profaneness nor Scripture undervalued by wrong Applications nor our Neighbour rendred contemptible by Calumny nor our Souls wounded by Lying nor Religion blacken'd by misrepresentations nor weak Christians scandaliz'd by immoderate Liberty nor other Men harden'd in their Sins by flattering Compliances To this purpose Solomon Eccles. v. 2 Be not rash with thy Mouth and let not thy Heart be hasty to utter any thing before God 3. Let 's speak modestly of our selves especially and of our Duties and Performances and Accomplishments and not only with respect to our selves but in regard of others too when Kindnesses and Obligations and admiration of their Gifts prompt us to speak in their Commendation There is great modesty requir'd particularly when Inferiors speak to their Superiors Disciples to their Teachers Servants to their Masters Children to their Parents and Hearers to their Spiritual Pastors Young Men to the Aged This is part of that Submission and Subjection and Humility most earnestly pressed upon us 1 Pet. v. 5 4. Let 's speak opportunely suitably to the time and place we are in A word fitly spoken is like Apples of Gold in Pictures of Silver Prov. xxv 11 Comfort is proper for the Afflicted Reproof for the Obstinate Admonition for the Tractable Instruction for the Ignorant and Colloquies Divine and Spiritual for the House of God and when God sends the Sword the Prophet asks very justly Should we then make Mirth Ezek. xxi 10 5. Let 's talk sparingly In the multitude of Words there wants not Sin but he that refrains his Tongue is wise Prov. x. 19 A Man that talks much had need be a very accomplish'd Person if he doth not run out into something contrary to Truth or good Manners This Rule deserves to be observ'd so much the more because multitude of Words is made the Character of a Fool Eccles. x. 14 6. Let 's use our selves to talk Piously It is a commanded Duty Ephes. iv 29 This is wanting in most Companies nay it is become a piece of Rudeness and a mark of ill breeding to talk of Jesus Christ when People visit one another and that 's one great Reason of the decay of Piety