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A86299 The parable of the tares expounded & applyed, in ten sermons preached before his late Majesty King Charles the second monarch of Great Britain. / By Peter Heylin, D.D. To which are added three other sermons of the same author. Heylyn, Peter, 1600-1662. 1659 (1659) Wing H1729; Thomason E987_1 253,775 424

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their Master liked it and to apply themselves to his resolution 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as it is in Chrysostom They durst not trust saith he to their own opinion in a matter of so great concernment but referred all unto their Master Courage and zeal do never shew more amiably then when they are subordinate to good directions especially when they take direction from the right hand from their Master only not from the interest and passion of their fellow-servants Though it be imus colligimus in the plural number yet t is vis only in the singular One to command and many to obey makes the sweetest government 'T was prayse and commendation enough for them that they came fitted and prepared to pursue the action It was the Masters office to direct and theirs to execute Vobis arma animus mihi consilium virtutis vestrae regimen relinquite as he in Tacitus Nor were the two Brethren those Sonnes of Thunder which I spake of to be taught this lesson however they may seem transported with zeal or passion Though the Samaritans had incensed them in an high degree and that they long'd for nothing more then to inflict some grievous punishment upon them yet they submitted their affections to their Masters judgement They fell not presently on the affront to their imprecations nor called for fire from Heaven to consume them utterly as on the blasting of the breath of their displeasure As vehement as their zeal and displeasure was yet they proposed the business to their Master first It is not dicimus ut descendat ignis it is our pleasure to command that fire come down from Heaven to destroy these wretches but it is vis dicimus is it your pleasure that we shall Vis imus colligimus here vis dicimus there In both the Masters leave and liking is the thing most sought for And 't was no newes this in the Church of God that they who were in any publick place or Ministry should fit their zeal and courage to the will of God and to the guidance of such persons who under him and by his appointment had the chief ordering of the Church Isa●ah though both bold and zealous in the cause of God and that his lips were touched with a Coal from the Altar yet durst not meddle in Gods matters before he had both Mission and Commission too God had first said Vade dices huic populo Go and tell this people before he undertook the business or put himself upon the work of reformation And which is there of all the Prophets that went upon Gods errands without his consent and stood not more on dixit Dominus then on dicam populo I trow the times were then corrupt and the people sinful The whole contexture of their several Prophecies make that plain enough yet finde we none of them so hasty in rebuking either as not to take a speciall Warrant and Commission from the hand of God No imus colligimus in the dayes of old in point of extraordinary mission and employment but still there was a vis expressed some warrant looked for from the Lord to make way unto it So for the way of ordinary Reformation when the fabrick of the Church was out of order the whole worship of the Lord either defiled with superstitions or intermingled with Idolatries as it was too often did not Gods servants tarry and await his leisure till those who were supreme both in place and power were by him prompted and inflamed to a Reformation How many years had that whole people made an Idol of the Brazen Serpent and burnt incense to it before it was defaced by King Hezekiah How many more might it have longer stood undefaced untouched by any of the common people had not the King given order to demolish it How many Ages had the seduced Israelites adored before the Altar of Bethel before it was hewen down and cut in pieces by the good King Josiah Where can we finde that any of Gods faithful Servants any of those 7000 souls which had not bowed the knee to Baal did ever go about to destroy the same or that Elijah or Elisha two men as extraordinary for their Calling as their zeal and courage did excite them to it or told them it was lawful for them so to do without the Fiat of Authority to make good the work Where shall we read in the whole course and current of the Book of God that the common people in and by their own authority removed the high places or destroyed the Images or cut down the Groves those excellent Instruments of superstition and Idolatry that they appointed Fasts and ordained Festivals or that they did so much as attempt such matters without this vis the power and approbation of the supreme Magistrate This was the Doctrine and practise both of the former times so far forth as Gods Book directs us in the search thereof nor ever was it preached or printed till now of late that it should be otherwise or that the work of Reformation belonged unto the common people in what capacity soever they were clothed and vested Of late indeed I finde it to be so determined it being affirmed by Glesselius one of the Contra-Remonstrants of Roterdam that if the Prince and Clergy did neglect their duties in the reforming of the Church necesse esse tum id facere plebeios Israelitas that then it did belong to the common people And t is with a necesse if you mark it well they might not only do it but they must be doing Do it but how what in the way of treaty by mediation and petition and such humble meanes by which the dignity of the supreme Magistrate may be kept indemnified not so but even by force and violence licèt ad sanguinem usque pro eo pugnent even to the shedding of their own and their Brethrens blood In which it is most strange to see how soon this desperate Doctrine found as lewd an use how soon the people put in practise what the Preacher taught them but farre more strange to see and who can chuse but see it if he be not blinde how infinitely their Scholars in this Island both for the theory and the practise have out-gone their Masters And wonder t is in all this time they made it not an Article of their Christian Faith and put it not into the place of some one or other of the twelve which they think lesse necessary Here is a vis indeed they say true in that but no such vis as is intended in the Text. The servants of my Parable knew no other vis then that of Proposition only it being not their intent nor custom either to run before or against Authority And having made the Proposition they did with patience and humility attend the Answer of their Master which they were faithfully resolved to conform unto however it might crosse their own dear
SERMON I. At CHRIST-CHURCH Septemb. 26. 1643. MATTH 13. v. 28. part ult Vis imus colligimus ea The Servants said unto him Wilt thou that we go and gather them up TAm vari se gessit ut nec laudaturum magna nec vituperaturum mediocris materia deficeret It is affirmed by the Historian of Caius Caesar how he behaved himself in such different manner that there wanted not forcible reasons to condemn yet excuse sufficient to commend him The like may we affirm of our Servants here he that doth look upon them in their sleep and negligence and findes them ut dormirent homines cannot but think them accessary to so great a mischief as Satan brought upon the Church in sowing Tares The opportunity they gave him by their dull security or at the least their supine carelesness makes them parcel-guilty And he that undertakes to defend them in it will questionless as much betray his Client as they their Cause But look upon them when they were awakened when they had seen their own error and the Churches danger and then how many things are there worthy at once of our applause and imitation In servis habemus tam quod laudemus quàm quod imitemur as my Author hath it First their fidelity quòd accesserunt in that they came unto their Master made him acquainted with the accident and so prepared him for the Remedy Their coming was an Argument of their good intentions and that they had not willingly betrayed the trust reposed in them they did not fly on the discovery And next we have their care quòd quaesierunt that they could never be at quiet till they were satisfied in the Original and Instrument of so great a mischief till they had learnt the unde whence the tares should come And when their Master had informed them in the fecit hoc and told them that the Enemy had done it yet they stayed not here as if the question had been made out of curiosity more to inform their understandings then reform the matter They thought it did concern them to redeem the time because their former fact was evill And as the enemy had entred by their sloth and negligence and thereby took occasion to destroy Gods Harvest so they conceived it did belong to them especially to labour in the Reformation and to reduce Gods Field to its primitive lustre by their zeal and courage This was the thing most aimed at in the Accescerunt this the chief reason of their coming No sooner had they heard that the enemy did it and that this enemy was the Devil Diaboli calliditate factum esse as it is in Lyra but presently they make an offer of their service to redress the mischief and by their joynt endeavours to root out those ●ares by which Gods Field was so indangered The servants said unto him Vis imus colligimus ea Wilt thou that we go and gather them up This is the last part which the Servants have to act in this present Dialogue and in this part they give a fair expression of their zeal and wisdom He that will take their Picture right shall finde that it consisteth of these five Lineaments For first we have a noble courage vis imus Sir Wilt thou that we go and give the onset T is not the Devil whom we fear nor any of his wretched Instruments how great soever they may be both in power and malice Vis imus Say but the word only and thy servants go And next we finde an honest zeal to rectifie what was amisse in the Field of God Vis imus colligimus ea Is it your pleasure that those Tares shall be rooted up T is not the Tares we are in love with how fair soever to the eye how plausible soever they may seem in the opinion and esteem of seduced people Say thou but faciat is hoc and thy servants will do it In each we have their readiness and unanimity First imus colligimus we go and gather in the plural number then imus colligimus we go and gather in the present tense and last of all we have their temper and obedience guiding their counsels by their Masters will and governing their zeal by his direction Vis imus colligimus ea This we are ready to perform if you please to have it so if otherwise we neither are so in love with danger nor so ambitious of imployment as not to take your Warrant and Commission with us for our justification And therefore fiat voluntas tua not our will but thy will be done Vis imus colligimus ea Wilt thou that we go and gather them up These are the features which I am to draw though I confess with an ignorant and unskilful pencil leaving them to be better limmed and polished by your more seasonable meditations And first I am to lay before you their heroick courage vis imus wilt thou that we go Scientia parum est nisi accedat virtus Knowledge is little worth when it comes alone when it is neither joyned nor seconded with vertuous purposes Some desire knowledge only that they may be known and this is vanity some only for the thing it self to know and this is curiosity others that they may edifie therewith and this is charity This last kinde was the desire of knowledge which these servants brought when they repaired unto their Master with an unde haec They only laboured to discern whence the Tares should come that so they might bethink themselves of some present Remedy And having found out what they sought for a man would easily have thought they had found enough to save them any further trouble To tell them that the enemy was abroad and that by his false Arts and Practises he had sowen those Tares might well have been a Supersedeas to all further care for who would willingly provoke an enemy especially in matters which concern the publick when by declining of the business quitting an employment of such dangerous nature he may preserve himself both in peace and quietness But when this Enemy is discovered further to be an enemy of no common rank but even the very Prince of darkness qui tot Legionibus imperitat one that commands so many Legions I trow it were no part of wisdom to incur his anger when by a plausible and discreet connivence we may hold fair with him To go against an enemy of such power and quality were a desperate madness such as no man of ordinary brains would be guilty of when he may safely sit at home and take such fortune as the success and issue of affaires should offer yet such was the undaunted courage of the servants here that none of all these cautions or considerations could preponderate with them or hinder them from venturing in their Masters cause vis imus Wilt thou that we go And 't was no mean note of a noble
prayer for the sins of the people but not to sacrifice the people for their sins to God No such burnt-offering to be found Iam sure of that in all the Gospels And 't was the duty of these servants not to confound the Heretick but to confute the Heresie rather to pray for the conversion then practise the subversion of the wicked man Our Saviour Christ rebuked the two Brethren for their fiery zeal nescitis cujus spiritus estis Ye know not of what spirit you are Nor fared it otherwise in effect with the servants here although the reason of their indignation was more just and visible For though we do not finde that this zeal of theirs was openly reproved by their Lord and Master yet it was tacitly disproved because not suffered to proceed unto execution The goodness of our God winks at the errors of an honest zeal and doth so love the strength of our good affections that it passeth over their infirmities If it transport us as it doth sometimes beyond our limits and due bounds he rather pardoneth the exiliencies of our heat and ●ervency then the indifferences of our lukewarmness How highly would the Lord esteem a well-governed zeal when as his mercy crowns it many times even with all its faults And yet this zeal of theirs if considered rightly was neither faulty nor ill-governed although mistaken in the meanes and instruments which God intended to make use of in so great a work as the eradication of these tares the finall condemnation of them God purposed to bring them to destruction but not by their hands not by their endeavours and thoroughly to purge his field of a seed so dangerous though not so soon as they expected not till the very coming on of Harvest The error of their zeal was but in the circumstances not in the substance of the work The work was to be done but not by them and at another time not then when they made the offer but this was more then God had formerly revealed unto them So as the worst which can be said of this act of theirs was that they had a zeal to the glory of God but not according unto knowledge I mean the knowledge of all points and circumstances which God did purpose to observe in so great a business Which zeal of theirs how infinitely may it condemn the coldness and stupidity of this present Age in which there are so few if any that are affected zealously in the cause of God How few made offer of their service when occasion was I say not to root out but suppress those tares which threatned then such imminent dangers and have since brought so sad a desolation on this Church of Christ And now that they are come so fully to fecissent fructum how few present themselves to their Lord and Master saying vis imus colligimus ●a is it your pleasure that we go and gather Hujusmodi si zelus singulorum esset non sic abundarent zizania as mine Author hath it Were there more zeal amongst the servants of the Houshold there would not be so many tares in the field of God There 's no doubt of that especially if this zeal be armed with courage and both these seconded with readiness and unanimity in the promoting of the work according as we finde it in the servants here For as was formerly observed they did not only come before their Master with zeal and courage but shewed in both their readiness and unanimity First imus colligimus we go and gather in the plural number then imus colligimus we go and gather in the present tense First imus colligimus in the plural number And it was wisely done that they went together they might have otherwise been foiled in the undertaking The enemy against whom they resolved to go was strong and his Army numerous a Legion of them in one man how many Legions then were they to meet withall in the present enterprise in which so many men were ingaged and interessed Had they gone severally one by one as in distracted times men do use most commonly how easily had they been made a prey to the roaring Lion how little good had they been able to effect had they scaped his Clawes We know who said it well enough and on what occasion Dum singuli pugnabant universi vincebantur Our Ancestors the Britains when they fought one by one were all quickly vanquished when they joyned hearts and hands together they were then impregnable If therefore we will go and gather as becomes men of courage in a time of danger let it be imus colligimus in the plural number as becomes men of wisdom in a common cause Let not zeal make us inconsiderate nor too much gaitè de coeur prompt us to be fool-hardy as they use to call it The Servants of my Text had as much zeal and courage as the work required and 't was a great and weighty work if we mark it well yet they resolved to joyn together not only for their own security but to assure themselves of a speedier Conquest United forces are no lesse necessary in the field of God for the suppressing of his enemies then are united prayers in the Congregation for the obtaining of his mercies therefore vis imus colligimus in the plurall number Next it is imus colligimus in the present tense They were not only on a resolution to go and gather but to do it presently Their courage was too great to delay the action their zeal too fervent to procrastinate so desired a service Non aiunt ibimus sed imus as mine Author hath it They say not we will go hereafter on more mature deliberation but were ready to advance as the word was spoken They did not only speak of going but were even going whilest they spake The servants of my Text were too full of courage to trifle and delay the time in their Masters business as did the Father in the work of his own conversion with modò ecce modò and sin● paululum they cryed not with the sluggard in the Book of Proverbs A little more sleep a little more slumber a little more folding of the hands The Father tells us of himself that modò modò non habebant modum and sine paululum in longum ibat how one delay begat another till he had almost lost the opportunity which had been offered to him by the Lord his God And one inferior unto Solomon in all parts of wisdom could say unto his Generall tolle moras that to delay the onset was to lose his Victory The Iron must be struck when it is at hottest he that works on it when t is cold doth but beat the Anvil And t is an excellent Rule in Physick though a Poet gave it Principiis obstare to have an eye to a Disease when it first breaks forth The Medicine comes too late to remove