Anchors we lie at the mercy of every wind and tide and are in danger of being foundred upon every shallow and split upon every Rock therefore we must first beware of a blind misguided zeal But 2. We must be cautious also that our zeal be according to discretion we must make allowances for the infirmities of our nature and not extend our passions to the utmost pitch like him that spreads all his sayls for the speedier expediting of his course till at length for want of a due proportion of ballast he is over-power'd by the impetuousness of the wind and his Vessel overset Therefore we must beware also of a fiery ungovernable zeal and make reason our judge not only of the ends we propose but also of the means we use The honour of God and the defence of his worship are glorious undertakings and yet even here the excess of zeal is a crime and the great importance of the end cannot justifie any unlawfulness in the means the will of God as it is express'd in his word is the Standard of good and evil and he will not suffer his eternal Laws to be violated though in his own defence If it should please him to give his and our Enemies such advantage over us as may endanger the exercise of our Religion we have our prayers and other lawful endeavours for our redress but we must not defend our Church by an unlawful return of evil for evil nor like our Adversaries commit any act of impiety or injustice though under the most specious pretence of fighting the battel of the Lord. The goodness of the cause here is so far from justifying the act that it only aggravates the offence for the sins of a private circumstance may much easier be forgiven where the frailties of our nature or the violence of a temptation may lessen the crime and the obscurity of the Author may remove the scandal But when a Law is violated or any injustice done for the sake of our Religion both the scandal and the crime become conspicuous they are then laid at the doors of our Church and bring a publick and perpetual blot upon our cause If God stands not in need of our vertues much less does he stand in need of our sins If it please him to continue the light and truth of his Gospel amongst us he can do it without any offence or fault of ours Si Pergama dextra defendi possent etiam hac defensa fuissent with his own right Hand and with his holy Arm he will get himself the victory But what can our Religion profit us or what honour can it bring to the Almighty when 't is defended by such means as dishonour both God and Man when our sacrifice comes polluted with blood and violence of its own how can it attone for our transgressions Therefore it is necessary that we obey not only for wrath but also for conscience sake St. Peter who was the first that drew his Sword in his Masters quarrel was the first that deny'd his Name and forsook his cause and doubtless whosoever fights for his Religion against his Prince can never pass the muster without a Romish dispensation It is not Piety but Faction that animates his zeal and like the unjust Steward he says What shall I do I cannot die for my Religion and to comply I am asham'd therefore as Cowards do he shuts his eyes against the danger and the fear of Death makes him valiant and if he dies in the cause who would not sooner set the brand of Heresie upon his face than the Crown of Martyrdom upon his head I wish this Discourse were altogether as impertinent in these our days as I hope it is in this place which seems to be stil'd the Metropolis of Piety and the center of Obedience where Righteousness and Peace do flourish and Religion and Loyalty go hand in hand And indeed it is only the practice of some misguided Zealots that can separate them without an absurdity for no Man ever did or can follow the Lord to the tents of Rebellion he always leads his people by the hands of Moses and Aaron and has given us Kings to go in and out before us and whosoever forsakes them forsakes also the Commandments of his God Religion may be his pretence and Godliness the Colours which he displays in his Banner but 't is Pride that whets his Sword and Interest that makes it ready to the Battel And to break Gods Law for the support of his worship is no less a contradiction than to fight against a Prince in his own defence Since therefore the heart of Man is deceitful altogether and we are subject to interpret those actions for the effects of Zeal which are in truth the insinuations of the Devil I shall shew 3. how we may know whether we follow the Lord or not And I. If we truly zealous toward God we shall be zealous also for his Commandments we must live in a constant intire obedience to his will without which our worship is in vain and we may cry unto him Lord Lord but he he will not hear for what mercy can excuse him who continually affront the God of mercy or what power can save him who lives in defiance of that power which he acknowledges to be Almighty Not that every sinful act proclaims us Traitors to the most High and puts us out of the protection of his Law as long as the Gospel of repentance is in force the unalterable decree of judgment does not pass upon us but while we continue in an habitual state of sin and allow our selves the constant enjoyment of any one forbidden Lust so long we resist the will of God and either question his Truth who reveal'd the Law unto us or deny his power of punishing the breach thereof and therefore Saint James tells us If we keep the whole Law and yet offend in one point we are guilty of all And when the guilt of a universal disobedience lies upon us we are surely very unfit to fight under the Banner of Christ But to avoid this fatal necessity that they may still indulge themselves in their sins without forfeiting their Title to the Church the men of this World have found out these two evasions 1. They advance the merits and necessity of Vertue in their Doctrine above measure not for the sake of God but Mammon They resolve the whole practice of Religion into Morality and make good works the only means of Salvation that when they have laid such heavy burthens upon the people as neither they nor their forefathers were able to bear they may absolve them at their pleasure and dispense with them at their own rates Thus they prostitute their Temples again to the Money-changers and make Merchandize of their Divinity and then how easie is it for a rich man to enter into the Kingdom of Heaven But 2. This abuse has produc'd the quite contrary extream in another sort of men
visits the offence to the third and fourth Generation therefore for the more exact performance of this so important duty we must observe these following rules 1. We must follow the Lord openly with boldness and resolution as being neither afraid nor asham'd to own that truth from whence we expect salvation We must not hide the Word of God in our hearts but make profession thereof with our mouths lest the Scornful and Profane should take our silence for a perfect submission to their cause and the daughters of the uncircumcised triumph lest the unreprov'd transgressors should die in their sins and their blood be required at our hands Why then should we add the guilt of other mens sins to the number of our own why should their iniquity be our ruin Therefore through God our righteousness let us be bold as a Lion and dare to be religious even in a sinful and adulterous generation and let the Prophet in my Text be our great example who alone did withstand the Congregation of the Priests of Baal and brought the whole Assembly of Israel into subjection He cast not in his Lot amongst the prevailing Idolaters nor went forth with the multitude to their fashionable devotions but withstood them to the face and maintain'd the honour of his Church when he was the only Prophet left therein Nothing can excuse the cowardice and falsehood of him who denies or dissembles that faith which he believes and if we are asham'd of Christ and his words before men of us also will the Son of man be asham'd when he cometh in the glory of his Father 2. We must follow the Lord stedfastly with constancy and perseverance not wavering in our belief nor waxing faint in the day of tryal but still pressing forwards in our course and with our faith overcoming all the difficulties in our way O Elijah how wast thou honour'd in thy wondrous works and who may glory like unto thee Such was the assurance of our great Prophet so strong and active was his faith that he made the very laws of nature give place unto it and brought down fire from Heaven to convince the people Through all the difficulties that attend our faith and the dangers that threaten the profession of it we must still look unto God who has promis'd that he will never leave us nor forsake us We must not at any time nor upon any pretence bow down the knee to Baal nor shew any compliance with the worship of a strange god lest our hearts at length should be inclin'd to their folly and God in his anger give us over to follow their abominations And as we must abhor the house of Baal so we must with equal care avoid all false ways of serving the living Lord for it matters very much whether we worship at the Mount in Samaria or the Temple of Jerusalem and a man may Apostatize from the faith with our renouncing his God But 't is much to be fear'd that he who never strains at Heresie and Schism would swallow down infidelity too should his interest command him and from paying God a false worship would soon be brought to worship a false God for how can we expect that God will accept the sacrifice of our hearts when we come unto him with a lye in our mouths How can we sing the Lords song in a strange Land or testifie our penitence to God in a service which is to be repented of if we deny the necessity of living in a constant and publick profession of the whole faith we must deny the honour of Martyrdom to those who have dyed for it we must reform our Kalendar and rase out the names of many who have hitherto enjoy'd that glorious title upon Earth and doubtless the Crown thereof in Heaven But 3. We must follow the Lord with zeal and affection if we are throughly persuaded of our own duty we must also be desirous to see Gods Name glorified by others and that not only with idle hopes and insignificant desires but with active endeavours and a real concern 'T is the glory of the Church of God to spread her arms abroad like our Saviour on the Cross and receive all mankind within its embraces his Blood was a sufficient Atonement for all the world and whosoever neglects the means and opportunity of advancing this faith betrays the honour of Christ his head and the salvation of his Fellow-members he basely suffers that soul for which our Saviour died to perish through unbelief and makes the merits of his death to be ineffectual If the late Martyrs and uninspired Confessors of our faith who planted a Church amongst us with their sweat and water'd it with their blood had given way to principles of compliance and self-preservation our Land had either continued barren to this day in its primitive Paganism or been soon over-run with Heresie and Superstition Had the Prophet in my Text contented himself with a dormant Religion and confin'd his faith to his own bosom he might have enjoy'd his ease and the Jews their Idolatry without the trouble of this fiery tryal Yet such was the zeal of Elijah for the Lord God of Hosts because the Children of Israel had forsaken his Covenants thrown down his Altars and slain his Prophets with the sword that he restor'd his Religion with a mighty hand and return'd that severity upon the Priests of Baal which they had exercis'd against the Servants of the living God And I can never be persuaded but that a complying Christian is a contradiction in the terms till the communion of Saints be blotted out of our Creed and the Catholick Church be demonstrated to consist in the private breast of each particular Saint Nevertheless though a zeal for the Lord be our duty and heroical vertue be most acceptable in the eye both of God and man yet it always happens that where the greatest honour is to be won there is the greatest danger therefore we must be cautious 1. That our zeal be according to knowledg before we engage in the zealous defence of any cause we must be well assur'd that the cause it self be good lest instead of thanks for our diligence we receive a check for our forwardness and it be justly said unto us Who has required these things at your hands for if we have not sufficient authority to warrant the action it is not vertue but rashness to proceed if we take a groundless opinion for our foundation and make not reason our judge in the consult what assistance can we receive from it in the heat of action we have then lost all command of our selves and shall be deaf to all advice our ignorance shall continue but our vehemence and consequently our danger shall increase we shall still follow the same blind guide that first misled our devotion not knowing either how to stop our career or direct our course like one that puts out to Sea without the assistance of either Sails or
that make Virtue utterly unnecessary to the life of a Christian and confine all Religion to a bare relying upon the merits and mercies of our Saviour and because God has predestinated some to be saved they resolve to put themselves in the number and register themselves Saints in spight of all their sins they work not out their salvation with fear and trembling but with impudence and presumption make God the Author of their sins and give him the whole trouble of their salvation And there are many such that make great profession of Zeal and a noise about Religion yet never trouble themselves with the duties that Religion lays upon them 'T is this that profanes the worship of God and brings his Gospel into contempt Not all the Blasphemies of the Heathens not all the Usurpations of Antichrist no nor all the powers of the gates of Hell can so far offend God or prejudice his Church as the scandalous practices of his false pretended Servants The back-slidings of Israel were notorious and she plaid the Harlot upon every high Mountain and under every green Tree and yet for all this the Lord said The back-sliding Israel hath justifi'd her self more than her treacherous Sister Judah who turn'd not unto me with her whole heart but feignedly We must therefore first advance the Kingdom of God in our hearts and seek his righteousness and then all these outward things the beauty of holiness and the flourishing estate of a visible Church shall be added unto us II. If we be truly zealous for the worship of God we should also be zealous for the honour of his holy Name we should not with a sordid compliance bear the reproaches which are daily cast upon him nor see his honour laid in the dust by the prophaneness of every hypocritical pretended Saint and every lewd Atheistical unbeliever we should not with patience hear his Name traduc'd to authorize the sacrilegious rebellions of the one and the impious exsecrations of the other but if our presence cannot suppress nor our exhortations reclaim their vice we should flie from the tents of wickedness and avoid their company like an infected place III. We must be zealous also for the honour of Gods holy Temple When we come into his House we must so behave our selves as shall befit the Majesty before whom we appear and the place where his Honour dwells We must here put off all Pharisaical greatness and all dissembled humiliation all sinful desires and all wandring idle thoughts otherwise we profane that place which God has sanctifi'd and make his Service an unhallowed thing The very laws of nature enforce a reverence from us to the places of devotion and the Angels which here attend the prayers of the just will certainly avenge the contempt of the profane There is a reverence due even to misguided piety and Histories relate unto us the Judgments which the just and true God has inflicted upon those that defil'd the Temples of their own invented Deities Whatsoever therefore our Religion is let us adorn it by an ingenuous profession thereof let our practice be according to the tenour of our faith yea and if Baal be God let us follow him which is the last part of my Text and affords us these three considerations 1. How the Jews came to doubt whether the Lord were God or whether it were Baal 2. Since they did doubt how shall we be assur'd hereof And 3. Supposing the Lord to be God yet what use may we make of the Prophets words that if Baal be God then follow him And 1. 'T is strange that the Jews should so soon forget the Lord after he had brought them out of Egypt with a strong hand and led them through the Wilderness with a stretched-out arm that they could blot out the remembrance of his loving kindness who cloath'd them by a miracle and fed them with food from Heaven 't is strange that this People unto whom God had so often manifested both his goodness and his power should yet fall away from his worship to follow a sensless Idol yet this they did not out of any real belief of its divinity but only to gratifie their lusts according to the examples of the Nations that were round about them 'T was the Religion of Baal to eat and drink and rise up to play Whoredoms and Fornications are always the attendants of Idolatry and the worship proper to the Idol for this cause it was that the People bow'd down unto them and threreout they suck no small advantage Whilst men of vitious inclinations and impotent reasons indulge themselves in their sensual Lusts there will not be wanting those that shall bow the knee to Baal How far the Roman Catholicks have made use of this policy to establish their Church is notorious to all the world how they comply with every ones inclinations and allow the worst of men in their sins for their interest they can indulge and incourage too the highest enormities and live upon the sins of the People 'T is this that brings such crowds of Nations to their Temples and makes their Altars smoke 't is not the probability of their faith nor the antientness of their traditions that has advanc'd their cause but the looseness of their doctrines and the liberty of their practices the easie penances enjoyn'd to sinners in their lives and the ample indulgences allow'd them at their deaths Thus they egregiously promote a Christian Church by destroying Christianity it self and set up a faith of their own that makes void both the Law and the Prophets and frustrates the design of all Religion And now they may take to themselves their boasted Universality and glory that their doctrine is not only Preach'd but Practis'd too throughout the world for whilst sin is the universal distemper of mankind 't is to be fear'd that Rome will be the Catholick Church 2. How shall we know whether the Lord be God or whether it be Baal We do not now expect the spirit of Elijah to reprove us nor fire from Heaven to convince our unbelief and yet God has not left himself without testimonies even in these our days sufficient to assert the truth of his Religion I shall mention only two which are grounded upon the authority of my Text. 1. We have our Reason for our judge examine and try whether the Lord be not God indeed and whether there be any deceitfulness in him search the records of time and see if there be any that can perform those wondrous works which he hath done his truth will indure the severest tryal and he needs not the ignorance of his Servants to advance their devotions but delights in the understanding of his Saints and requires a reasonable service If Baal be God then in Gods name follow Baal The Prophet does not impose his own sense upon them nor magisterially dictate his own opinion but gives them commission to make use of their reason and the freedom of their