THE

CHRISTIANS

Daily

PRACTICE of PIETY

Or Holy Walking With God

As also, Scripture rules to be observed in buying and selling. Very useful for all sort of people that desires to make conscience of their ways here, and to fit themselves for their great account hereafter.

By Richard alleine

London Printed for J. Deacon, at the Angel in Gilt-spure street, 1698. And Re-printed at Edinburgh, by the Heirs and Successors of Andrew Anderson, Printer to the Kings Most Excellent Majesty. 1698.

The team from Project Puritas (Logan West with David Jonescue and Alex Sarrouf) offered an edited draft obtained from the University of Michigan Library. Aaron Sturgill, supplemented this draft using a digitized copy from ProQuest from 1698.

Copyright © 2024 Aaron Sturgill

This is licensed under Creative Commons CC BY-NC-ND. This license allows reusers to copy and distribute the material in any medium or format in unadapted form only, for noncommercial purposes only, and only so long as attribution is given to the creator.

Modernized, edited, and formatted by Aaron Sturgill

Cover design: Crowdedship Designs

Published by Crowdedship Publications, May 2024.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Daily Practice of Piety

Scripture Rules to be Observed in Buying and Selling

Rules concerning Buying Commodities.

Rules concerning Selling Commodities.

Prayers for the Family

A Morning Prayer to be used in Families

An Evening Prayer for Families.

Grace to be said before Meat.

Thanksgiving after Meat.

Daily Practice of Piety

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 thoughts on him, and your eternal condition, whose thou shall be at the opening of the graves, and the rising of the Dead. Think also you are one night nearer heaven or hell; resolve to do something towards your salvation that day in mortifying some sin, and getting nearer to Christ.

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, and to be kept from the evils of that day, enlarge yourself, as time and place will permit, read withal some potion of Scripture if you can.

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 of God upon your soul which you had in your morning contemplation and duty, lest your mind and affection cleave to the world, and so you spend that day without God in the world.

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 misspent hour no small sin.

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 take offence, but be patient, long suffering, forgetting, and forgiving, as God for Christ's sake forgives you.

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 be unable cheerfully to assist the soul. And oft, through weariness and heaviness, you lose the duty and displease God. In all these duties be hearty, fervent, faithful and serious. Spend also some of the day in meditation of sin, of Christ, of death, judgment, and the life to come.

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 discourse will bring to God, what good to your friend, what good or hurt to your own soul. Use not any foolish jesting, or taunting reproachful speeches. Spend not many words in your buying and selling, abhor all lies, tales, idle stories, wanton songs, and do not curse nor swear, or use the name of God vainly. Let the matter of your discourse be either on the things of God, or the necessary works of your calling. Talk not much of other men's matters, back-bite none. If you speak of their sins, let it be with grief, and so avoid the same yourself; if of their godliness, let it be to imitate them. Remember God stands by, he hears, and writes down all you say.

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 his glory; write these in a book, but chiefly in your heart, for your supporting in deserting and dying times.

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 withdraw from God and duty. Review them continually, ask yourself often what you love, fear, desire, where you are, and on what, and recall your soul if it be departed from God.

10. Take heed of letting loose the reins to unruly passions. If you are angry, sin not, be easy to be entreated, again; let not the sun go down on your wrath. Abhor railing, reviling, or stomaching any, in your patience possess your soul.

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 like to be soiled. It's easier to keep out an enemy, than to cast him out when he is in; especially eye the tempter most, when he sets on you to entice you into your constitution sins.

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 for assurance of his love, (but omit not your calling) when you feel the Spirit depart, let it not go too far before you cry after it. O make your moan to God speedily for its income again.

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 children of your body, that each may have its meat in due season. Withdraw your soul from every sin, lay the ax to the root of them, and be cutting about them every hour.

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 be frequently leaning on Christ, and drawing strength from him, and help in every undertaking, making him your all in the point of accession with the Father, and assistance in all your lawful works and duties.

15 If you fall into the sin of a deep die, lie not long in it, but apply yourself to Christ for help; and though you must go with shame to God by Christ for forgiveness, yet go speedily and lie at the throne of grace, till you have got some sense of God's favor, and made up the breach which your sins made; till your strangeness to God by reason of that sin be removed from your spirit. When you are wounded, it's not good to lie long from the physician.

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.

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 yourself kindly.

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, meditate on him in the night watches, and take your rest sweetly in the Lord.

Nullus Dies sine linea.

Scripture Rules to be Observed in Buying and Selling

RULES CONCERNING BUYING COMMODITIES.

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 known place of Scripture for this, in Proverbs 20:14. It is naught saith the buyer; but when he goes his way, then he boasts. People in Solomon 's time they were wicked, when they came to the market to buy anything, the buyer he would discommend the commodity, and say, it was naught though it were very good and saleable; but when the seller was gone, then he would boast of what a good penny-worth he had bought, and the like.

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 say, he will not give a farthing more, and the seller will say, He will not take a farthing less; and yet both the Buyer gives more and the seller takes less: now this is no other than a palpable and downright lie.

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 with the Merchant; and therefore you transgress Scripture rules, If you know you have brass Money, of counterfeit gold about you, and yet pay it away for commodities; you sin in doing so, though you yourself took it for commodities.

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 it in money and so David, when he was to buy the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite (2 Sam 24:24), saith he, I will buy it from you at the full value of it.

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 unto your neighbor, go, and come again, and tomorrow I will give, when you have it by you. This text is referred to works of mercy, but hath relation to buying and selling, and trading in the World. If you owe a man money for a commodity, you ought to pay him, and not to let him come day after day for it, and go without it, when you have it by you (2 Kings 4:7). It is the badge of a wicked man in Scripture, not to pay his Debts (Psalm 31:20). The wicked borrows and pays not again.

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 11:26. It is spoken there of corn-mongers, saith the text, He that withholds corn, the people will curse him; but blessing shall be upon the head of him that sells it. In Solomon's time there were corn-mongers, that when corn was cheap, would go and buy up all the corn in the country, and would keep it up and sell none till corn was very dear; now saith the text, He that does thus the People shall curse him for it; but blessing shall be upon the head of him that sells it. Now it is no sin in itself to engross a commodity, thereby to sell it the cheaper; but, for a man to engross a commodity merely thereby to advance the price of it, this is such an oppression, that the people shall curse him for it.

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 no advantage of him in such a case, but restore it again: for if you take anymore from him than you bought of him it is theft or if you give any less for the commodity than you bargained for. It is theirs. There is an excellent place for this in Genesis 43:12. Jacob, when there was a famine in the land he sent his sons down into Egypt to buy corn, and Joseph he knowing his brethren, filled their sacks with corn, and put the money which they brought for the corn in the mouth of their sacks again; and when they came home and found their money in the mouth of their sacks, they told their father Jacob of it: then said he to them, Go back again, and take double money in your hand; and the money that was brought again in the mouth of your sacks, carry it again in in your hands, for peradventure it was an oversight. Here was a conscientiousness in Jacob.

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. And Nehemiah entered into an Oath, and the people with him, that if any of the people of the Land brought wares, or any victuals, to sell on the Sabbath day, that they should not buy it of them. And as the Law did not give them leave to break the Jewish Sabbath, so neither doth the Gospel give us leave to break the Christian Sabbath; and therefore I cannot see but that is a sin, for men to buy either wine, or beer, or pepper, or mustard, or any other trivial thing which they may well be without on the Sabbath Day.

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 necessity, and will not buy the commodity of him, unless he will sell it cheaper than he can afford it: Now this is a great Oppression! In Leviticus 25:14, if you buy anything of your neighbor, or sell anything to your neighbor, you must not use oppression. There is an oppression in buying as well as in selling: It is a great oppression for rich men to work upon the necessity of a poor man, to make him sell cheaper than he can afford, or else to buy nothing at all of him.

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 the buyer is as bad as the thief. Secondly, do not buy monuments of idolatry, for they are not fit to be bought, as crosses, beads, and images, and crucifixes, and the like. Thirdly, do not buy men for slaves, this the Lord reproves in Amos 2:6. They sold the righteous for silver, and the poor for a pair of shoes: And so, in Deuteronomy 24:17, you shall not steal your brother and make merchandise of him. We should therefore take heed, lest we split our souls upon any of the rocks; and let us labor that among all our buying, we buy that which Christ bids us by, in Isaiah 55:1. Ho, everyone that thirsts come ye unto the waters; and he that hath no money, come ye, and buy, come buy wine and milk with money, and without price.

RULES CONCERNING SELLING COMMODITIES.

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, told him that it was worth Four hundred shekels of silver, and Abraham presently gave him so much currant money with the merchant. And so, God himself takes upon him to be a seller, in Zechariah 11:12. If you think good, saith God, give me my price, if not, forbear; multiplicity of words is needless. In a multitude of words (says Solomon) there is sin: Men should not [lavish] and frolic in a shop.

2, Do not commend and over-praise a commodity, when you know in your conscience that there is a fault in it. This is a vicious carriage in the seller, when he shall use abundance of fine words to set out a commodity, when it is not good. As the buyer should not discommend a commodity when it is good, so should not the seller over praise and commend a commodity when it is nought.

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, and divers measures, both of them are alike an abomination unto the Lord. Now this is spoken, not that the weights and measures in themselves are an abomination to the Lord, but only those men that do use, and keep and sell by those Weights and Measures; and therefore, the Lord gave a special law for this, to all that did follow trades in Israel in Deuteronomy 25:14-15. God says there, you shall not have in your house divers measures, a great and a small, that is, a great measure to buy, and a small one to sell by. You shall not have in your bag divers weights, a great and small, but you shall have a perfect and a just weight, and a perfect and a just measure you shall have, that your days may be long in the land which the Lord your God gives you. And so, in Micah 6:10, Is there yet, says God, the treasures of wickedness in the house of the wicked, and the scant measure, which is abomination to the Lord.

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 will not lie, but they will equivocate very much. You shall have a tradesman, that will sell off a commodity, he will get a partner with him, and he shall offer him so much for a commodity, and then he will tell the next man that comes for that commodity, that there was one that offered him so much for it but even now and then they will say likewise, It cost me so much, when it may be they had other things with it of greater value and price; and it may be they had a great deal of time given them to pay for it; whereas the buyer pays ready money and many other equivocating words they use which is as bad as lying.

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 that leap into the threshold, which fill their masters homes with violence and deceit; And so in 1 Thessalonians 4:6, let no man, says the Apostle, go beyond, or fraud his brother in any matter, for the Lord is avenger of all such. And in 2 Peter 2:3, and through covetousness shall they with feigned words make merchandise of you, whose judgment lingers not. When men shall work upon the ignorance of the buyer, and so advance the price of commodity; this is a great sin.

6 Do not lower a commodity from its primitive price and goodness, and yet sell it at the full price as if it were good, thereby to get the more by it. This the Scripture condemns in Amos 8:6. They sell the refuse of the wheat. The corn mongers in those times they would pluck out the best of their wheat, and yet sell the worst at the full price of the best. Now this the Lord condemns in Isaiah 1:21. They mingle wine with water, and dross with silver. The Scripture condemns this, to lower a commodity from its primitive goodness, and yet to sell it at the full value of the best.

7. Be not among the first that shall raise the price of a commodity. This I hinted to you before in Proverbs 11:26. He that withholds corn, the people shall curse him; but blessing shall he upon the head of him that sells it.

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, that we may set forth wheat? And so, in Nehemiah 13:15, in those days, says the Prophet, I saw in Judah some treading in wine presses on the Sabbath and bringing in sheaves and lading asses, and all manner of burdens, which they brought into Jerusalem on the Sabbath, and I testified against them in the day wherein they sold victuals. Now this is against your common [selling houses], and [S ops] of [ocean] trades, that sell by retail, that makes nothing of selling small trifling things on the Sabbath day, but this is a great sin.

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 them, they will say, it is as good as they can afford for the price, and the like. This is condemned in Ephraim, in Hosea 12:7-8. He is a Merchant, the balance of deceit are in his hand, he loves to oppress, and yet he says I have become rich, and I have found me out substance and in all my labors they shall find no iniquity in me, that is sin, You should not justify your deceit.

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 of God might be purchased with money. Secondly, do not sell monuments of idolatry, crosses, and beads, and images, and crucifix and conjuring-books, and the like. They are fit to be sold, as in Acts 19:19. Many also of those that used curious arts, brought their Books together and burnt them before all men, and they counted the price of them, and they found it to be 50,000 pieces of silver. This is spoken of conjuring books; and notwithstanding were of so great a value, they would not sell them but burn them. Thirdly, do not sell yourself as Ahab did, to work wickedness; for you are not your own, but God's, and therefore you must glorify God in your bodies and in your souls, which are God's. Fourthly, you must not sell stolen goods. Fifthly, you must not sell those things that are for no other use but for to commit sin in the using of them. As for to sell stuff to paint harlot's faces, is a sin, because it is for no other use, but to commit sin in the using of it.

FINIS.

Prayers for the Family

A MORNING PRAYER TO BE USED IN FAMILIES

We praise you, O God, for your many precious benefits bestowed on us, for the creation of the world, and for the redemption of mankind by the Lord Jesus. You did safely take us from the womb and have ever since cared for us. You have of your sweet mercy caused us to be born within your church, where we have been early given to you in baptism. You have afforded us the means of grace and called us to the hope of glory.

But, O most merciful Father, we are poor miserable sinners, conceived in sin and brought forth into iniquity. We have gone astray from you. We have not cared to know you, and to do your will; but have done our own wills and follow our foolish and sinful inclinations: and do therefore deserve your wrath and curse.

O Lord, have mercy upon us, turn us to you, and grant us true repentance and forgiveness of all our sins, for Jesus sake. Let it henceforth be our chief care to please you, and seek your kingdom and righteousness. Work in us a true faith, and a lively hope, and a frequent charity: make us humble, meek, patient, sober, just, kind and loving to all men, submissive and obedient to them that are over us: and well content and thankful in every condition of life. Grant that we may daily grow in knowledge, loving, fearing and obeying you. Create in us clean hearts, O God, and renew right spirits within us.

O Lord, send your gospel through the world. Pour out plentifully the Spirit of truth, holiness and peace on all your people. Bless this church and kingdom, preserve our king and queen, and all the royal family. Guide our judges and magistrates, sanctify and assist the ministers of the gospel. Visit all that are in trouble and sanctify their affliction unto them. Be gracious to all our kindred, friends and neighbors; bless and forgive all our enemies.

We thank you, O Lord, for your care of us this night, watch over us this day, and make us mindful that we are always in thy fight, that we may be in your fear all the day long. Bless us also, O God, in all our lawful employments, and establish your work in our hands, and grant that through the whole course of our life we may be holy and harmless in all manner of life and conversation, than when this short and frail life is at an end, we may be partakers of everlasting life through the merits of Jesus Christ our Lord, in whose name and words we pray, Our Father, &c.

AN EVENING PRAYER FOR FAMILIES.

Most gracious God, what shall we render to you for your many and great benefits bestowed on us? Though we have been unthankful and undutiful servants to you, our Lord and Master; you have continued your care and kindness for us ever since me were born and have preserved us this day. Let us never forget your goodness but grant that thereby we may be led to repentance and amendment of life. Preserve us from everything that is displeasing to you. O Lord, keep us from cursing, swearing and lying from pride, stubbornness and idleness. Work in us an utter dislike of all uncleanness, gluttony, and drunkenness of malice and envy, of strife and contention, of deceit and covetousness. Give us grace to deny all ungodliness and worldly lusts, and to live soberly, righteously and godly in this present world. Cause us to understand and consider the laws and life of Jesus, that we may do his will, and follow his steps. Let never the cares of this life, nor the love of riches, nor evil company, nor the corrupt customs of the world withdraw us from the obedience of your laws. Strengthen and establish us by thy holy Spirit that we may live and die your faithful servants.

O Lord send your gospel through the world. Pour out plentifully the spirit of truth, holiness, and peace on all your people. Bless this church and kingdom, preserve our king and queen, and all the royal family. Guide our judges and magistrates, sanctify and assist the ministers of the Gospel, visit all that are in trouble, and sanctify their afflictions unto them. Be gracious to all our kindred, friends and neighbors. Bless and forgive all our enemies. O Lord, be merciful to us, forgive us the sins of this day, watch over us this night, and keep us ever mindful that we must shortly die, and that we may without delay turn to thee, and pass the time of our sojourning here in fear. Good Lord, hear us, and grant these our desires, and what else you know to be needful for us, and that for the merits of Jesus Christ, in whose name and words we pray, Our Father which art in Heaven, &c.

GRACE TO BE SAID BEFORE MEAT.

O Lord, be merciful to us, and pardon our sins. Sanctify these your good benefits, that we by the sober and thankful use of them, may be enabled for your service, through Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior. Amen.

THANKSGIVING AFTER MEAT.

We thank and praise you, O Lord, the giver of all good, who has at this time fed our bodies. Stir up in us a greater care for our souls, and grant that our short lives which are so carefully sustained by your bounty, may be spent in doing your will. Lead us safely through this vain and sinful world, in which we are pilgrims and strangers, and bring us into everlasting rest, through Jesus Christ our Lord, Amen.

The contents of this book is desired to be practiced by all good Christians.

By yours R. Alleine.

Table of Contents

Daily Practice of Piety

Scripture Rules to be Observed in Buying and Selling

Rules concerning Buying Commodities.

Rules concerning Selling Commodities.

Prayers for the Family

A Morning Prayer to be used in Families

An Evening Prayer for Families.

Grace to be said before Meat.

Thanksgiving after Meat.