him 120 years warning so long a space for repentance as the Chaldee Paraphrast expounds that in Gen. 6. 3. his dayes shall be an 120 years to this sense A term of 120 years shall be given them i.e. the men of that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 evil generation 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 if they will return or repent Before Nineveh should be destroyed the Prophet Ionah was sent to cry against it Israel was not carried captive into Assyria before the Lord had testified against them by all the Prophets and by all the Seers saying Turn ye from your evil wayes and keep my Commandments c. 2 Kings 17. 13. The like is said of Iudah in 2 Chron. 36. 15 16. The Lord God of their Fathers sent to them by his Messengers rising early and sending because he had compassion on his people But they mocked the Messengers of God and despised his words and misused his Prophets until the wrath of the Lord arose against his people till there was no remedy The wing of abominations 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 whereof Daniel speaks in ch 9. 27. overwhelmed not the City Ierusalem until Christ had long laboured in vain to gather them under his wings as a Hen gathereth her Chickens and they would not Matth. 23. 37. Nay when other warnings have been fruitless and God's chastisements and Iudgments near the very Heavens themselves shall by Comets and other Signs give warning of their approach if at length by our humiliation we would stop them even at the door or at least by our preparation to endure them mitigate them unto us 1. If this then be God's manner of dealing To warn us by reproof of our danger that so we might avoid it before it comes it should behove us not lightly to pass by his warnings his 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 so often sounding in our eares in the reading or preaching of his Word There is no Evil that hath doth or shall befall us for any sin we commit but there it is foretold and threatned us no one Example there but it is for our learning or instruction 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Rom. 15. 4. and for our admonition 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 1 Cor. 10. 11. Nay the Holy Ghost doth so lively pattern by Examples the several cases which may befal men as none scarce ever hath been or in any age shall be which in one Example or other may not clearly read his own case and learn Wisdom The Precepts also in the Holy Scripture are so plentiful and the Threatnings so plain that neither can we excuse our sins by ignorance nor justly say that God's Iudgments took us unawares 2. If God so powerfully warns his Creature before he strikes him how dare we strike our Brother before we warn him For those who deal with men as Experience sheweth are often scorched with the fire before they see the smoak But the reason of this difference is plain God strikes because he loves and would amend us and therefore he first rebukes and warns before he chastiseth But we punish if we have power or procure our Brother to be punished if we have not because we hate him and therefore lie in wait to entrap him He must not be admonished lest he should take heed and grow too wary and so escape our snare and yet we cry nothing but Discipline and Execution of Iustice when our hearts and Consciences tell us it is but the wreaking of our Malice But God gives us a Rule to follow fashioned according to the Pattern of his own Long-suffering If thy Brother trespass against thee go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone if again take with thee one or two more and if yet he amend not Tell the Church c. Matth. 18. He that observeth not this Rule little hope is there that ever God will give him grace to make use of his warning who gives no warning to his brother AND thus I come to the Second part of my Text which is our duty We must be zealous and repent Where first as the words lie we will speak of Zeal and then of Repentance Concerning Zeal I will draw all I have to speak unto these two Heads 1. What is this Zeal which is here commanded 2. What Motives there are to urge and command it For the first Zeal is the Intension and Vehemency of all our affections in matters of God and his Service It hath its name of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which is to burn and boil as water over the fire and thence may be styled the Fervency and boiling of our affections Such a one was Apollos as S. Luke in Acts 18. 25. describes him to be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 fervent in Spirit and such S. Paul exhorts the Romans to be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 fervent or burning in Spirit ch 12. 11. For as burning is the excess or highest pitch of heat so is zeal of our affections The Schoolmen make it an Intension of love which is true if Love be taken as the Scripture useth for it comprehendeth all our Affections under that name all of them spring from presupposing Love No man is ignorant of this that knoweth how in Scripture all our Duty both to God and man is styled Love and Charity But Love is a special affection Zeal is not the Intension of it alone but of the rest also Hatred Ioy Grief Hope Fear c. So he that with David loves the Law of God more than hony or the hony-comb more than thousands of gold and silver he loves zealously He that rejoyceth in God's Testimonies more than they that find great spoil more than his appointed food he joyes zealously He whose eyes gush out rivers of waters and wisheth his eyes were a fountain of tears because men keep not God's Law he grieves zealously He whose eyes fail and whose soul almost fainteth with waiting and longing for the Salvation of the Lord he hopes zealously He who saies my flesh trembleth for fear of thee and I am afraid of thy judgments he fears zealously and so of the rest But as in our Bodies we find Aguish burnings as well as the healthful vigour of Natural heat and as Nadab and Abihu offered fire unto God but not the right and holy fire but strange fire which he commanded them not Lev. 10. 1. So are there some counterfeits of zeal as it were false fires abominable unto God and odious unto men All is not gold that glisters no more is all Zeal which seemeth so this zeal which God approves Lest therefore blazing Comets be mistaken for the purer Stars of heaven and Nadab and Abihu's strange fires for the fire of God's Altar let us take a survey of the kinds and characters of false zeal for the better discerning of the true The kinds then of false zeal may be reduced unto Three heads 1. Hypocritical zeal which wants sincerity 2.
proper end to maintain the publick good of the Universe the Water ascends upward the Aire downward against nature to maintain the connexion and indivulsion of the parts of the world So should every good member of a Commonwealth or Society pass by his private profit and private pleasure to further the common good of the weal publick Every natural body will rend and break in pieces rather than the Order of the world should be violated by a penetration of dimensions So should every good member hazard yea lose both his life and estate for the common behoof of that body whereof he is a member All things of inferior nature give place without reluctancy to those which have a sublimity of nature above them the Water willingly submitteth unto the Air the Air unto the Fire c. yea the one doth further as far as it can the ascent of the other above it The like should we express in the subordination of degrees and conditions amongst men All things which grow upon the earth turn their heads and faces upward toward that by whose influence they grow and are preserved So should we unto him in whom we live and move and have our being These are only general Instances for a taste drawn from the general rule of the Creatures to admonish us of general duties If I should from hence take a view of every several creature in his kind I might shew you in clay all Ethical and Oeconomical vertues sampled in one kind or other of them Go to the pismire thou sluggard saith Solomon Be wise as serpents saith a wiser than Solomon The Oxe knoweth his owner and the ass his masters crib but Israel hath not known me saith the Lord by the â—rophet Esay The Stork in the heaven knoweth her appointed times the turtle and the crane and the swallow observe the time of their coming saith our Prophet Ieremy Go to the lilies of the field and learn of them saith our Saviour To say no more There is no creature in the world but upbraids us with sin in daily and continually breaking the Law of our creation which they so inviolably observe We should therefore hence learn to use these Creatures not for our bodies only to array them and feed them and such like but for the spiritual good of the inward man that so in them and with them we may glorifie our Creator God made all the Creation for the service of man but not for the service of his Body alone as most conceive it but also for the service of his Better part the Soul and Understanding We should never therefore use behold or look upon any one of our fellow-creatures but we should be raised by them unto God invited to devotion and spurred to conform our Wills and Affections to the pattern of that Eternal Will which they any way express I doubt not but the Philosophy of Solomon was of this strain when he spake of herbs and trees and of living creatures the fragments which here and there remain in the Proverbs may give us some taste thereof If we would do thus it would abate our Pride and make us know our selves better Lord what is man but the most unreasonable creature upon the face of the earth the most unjust lawless irregular creature that walks under the Sun Consider the marches of that Royal host of Heaven look upon the fowls of the Air and fishes of the Sea survey all that springeth all that moveth and creepeth upon the Earth and tell me from the circumference above unto the centre below what one creature what worst creature of God's making what silly worm doth so transgress the Law of his creation as Man doth And yet Man hath Reason given him whereby he knoweth the Law and Rule he is to follow Man hath also a liberty of Will But what doth he with them His Reason he abuseth to most unreasonable actions his Will to most licencious and abominable liberty It is a wonder the Earth can endure to bear him so vile a burthen or the Sun to shine upon him the most unworthy creature in the world Thus much concerning The description of the false Gods in the words The Gods that made not the Heavens and the Earth It remains I should speak of their Doom in the last words They shall perish from the Earth c. Wherein I shall observe two things 1. Their destiny it self which is perishing They shall perish and 2. The circumstances of this perishing from the Earth and from under these Heavens I make them two because they will yield different Observations and Instructions To begin therefore with the first The Doom or Destiny it self which is perishing They shall perish These words you see were a Prophecy of what was to come upon the Gods of the Heathen in after-times for at the time and age wherein they were spoken things in the world were far otherwise than here is foretold they should be For the dominion and jurisdiction of Iehovah the God of Heaven seemed exceeding small his Name being only known in Iacob and his Greatness and Throne amongst the Sons of Israel whereas Idols false gods and false worship overwhelmed as it were the face of the whole earth The kingdom of God was but a small parcel whereas Devils and Idols commanded and swayed all the Nations of the earth besides The dew of grace lay only upon the fleece of Gideon but all the earth besides was dry This was the state of the times when this Prophecy was uttered nay worse at that time than ever it had been before For even that small portion of men which acknowledged the Lord God of heaven was now almost quite extinguished and devoured by the vassals of the Gods of the Nations Israel being carried away captive into a strange land with much unlikelihood of return and the most High God as it were mastered by the Gods of the Nations Ye have heard the state of the times wherein this Prophecy is commanded Now let us consider of the Event and this we shall find partly already accomplished and partly yet to come For the first We have seen with our eyes we have heard with our ears and our fathers have told us the wondrous works of the Lord. We have heard and daily read of the admired Oracles of the Gentiles of Apollo at Delphus of Iupiter Ammon in Egypt and many moe too long to be named but all of them are long since perished from the earth and from under these heavens We have heard of the names of many Gods in former times of great renown in these Islands of the Gentiles Iupiter Mars Apollo Neptune Iuno Vesta Venus Minerva Diana c. all Europe Italy Greece and the lesâ—er Asia swarming with their Temples and Ceremonies and yet now are they perished from the earth and from under these heavens Where is now Bel the God of Babylon Nisroch the God of Assyria Baal and
from this ancient Terumah of Thanksgiving and Prayer which I will briefly point at and so make an end 1. This Offering of the Fathers was before the Consecration the Mass is after 2. This was of bare and naked Bread and Wine the Mass of the Body and Bloud of Christ. 3. This was an Heave-offering of Praise and Prayer the Mass is an Offering of Expiation or a price of redemption for the quick and dead 4. This was an act of all the Faithful but the Mass is of the Priest alone DISCOURSE LII REVEL 3. 19. As many as I love I rebuke and chasten Be zealous therefore and repent THESE words are part of one of the Seven Epistles sent by Christ unto the Seven Churches in Asia namely an Exhortation unto the Church of Laodicea whose disease was Lukewarmness and want of Fervency in the matter of Religion and that accompanied with Security arising from presumption of Gods love through the abundance of his outward blessings bestowed upon them vers 17. That therefore which they abused as an Argument why they might be secure as being God's darling and so much beloved in my Text is retorted unto them as an Argument of fear of some Chastisement near unto them and even hanging over their heads For those whom God loveth he chastiseth Certain therefore it was that they should erelong feel the Scourge of God unless they should timely rouze themselves out of their lazy devotions out of the hateful and dangerous temper of Lukewarmness unless they should blow up the fire of Zeal to love and worship God with all earnestness and fervency in sum unless they would amend that grievous fault by Repentance for As many as I love saith Christ I rebuke and chasten be zealous therefore and repent It belongs not much to our purpose to enquire Whether those seven Epistles concern historically and literally only the Churches here named or Whether they were intended for Types of Churches or Ages of the Church afterwards to come It shall be sufficient to say That if we consider their Number being Seven which is a number of revolution of Times and therefore in this Book the Seals Trumpets and Vials also are seven or if we consider the choice of the Holy Ghost in that he taketh neither all no nor the most famous Churches then in the world as Antioch Alexandria Rome and many other and such no doubt as had need of instruction as well as those here named if these things be well considered it will seem that these Seven Churches besides their Literal respect were intended and it may be chiefly to be as Patterns and Types of the several Ages of the Catholick Church from the beginning thereof unto the end of the World that so these Seven Churches should Prophetically sample unto us a sevenfold Temper and Constitution of the whole Church according to the several Ages thereof answering the Pattern of the Churches named here For as in the course of Man's life diversity of ages hath diverse manners and conditions so was it to be with the Church of Christ Yea and as some Diseases are in regard of predominancy proper unto some men and not to others so is it with the Church All of these with their praises if good and remedies if evil are pourtrayed in these Seven Epistles unto the Seven Churches Nay not only the whole Church but even particular Churches have their Ages Manners and Conditions answerable unto the whole Body They have likewise their Infancy Youth Virility and old age with their several Constitutions Conditions and Diseases The first age and spring-time of both like unto Ephesus full of patience labour tolerancy and zeal The last and old age like unto Laodicea in abundance of all external things Lukewarm and neither hot nor cold That which the Poet saies of the disposition of old men Nullus Senex veneratur Iovem being more true of Churches as they grow old their zeal grows cold also So that in this regard my Text will not be unseasonable if the Times wherein we live be either the Last times as most men think or near upon the Last as no man will deny Howsoever since no Condition Temper or Disease is so proper to any one Age but that it is found sometime more or less in all So may this of Lukewarmness be with us what time soever of our age it be and therefore no question but we may in Laodicea as in a lively Example clearly read our own state and learn wisdom Without any longer Preface therefore I come unto the Words themselves which contain First God's rule Those whom he loves he rebukes and chastens Secondly Our and his Churches duty We must be zealous and repent Lastly The Connexion of these two Because those whom God loves he will rebuke and chasten for their sin especially Lukewarmness We must therefore be zealous and repent To begin with the first God's rule As many as I love I rebuke and chasten The words need no great explanation the two last I rebuke and chasten are rendred for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the first whereof 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 I rebuke notes a reproving and convincing by Argument the second 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 I chasten notes such a correction as Fathers give their children not to hurt them but to amend them which we use to call a discipling a punishment of discipline intended ad correctionem non ad destructionem So that the meaning is Those whom I love if after I have long reproved them and convinced them of sin by my Word and Ministers all be but in vain then I use to chastise them with my rod to afflict them with some scourge of my discipline even as a Father doth the child whom he loveth Come we therefore to the Observations these words afford us The first whereof is That God chastises his children out of love and for their good For all the actions of God towards those he loves must needs be out of love and whatsoever he doth out of love must be for the good of those he loveth Indeed men for want of wisdom often do out of love that which hurts as the Proverb is they kill with kindness But with God it is otherwise He wants not skill to know what is best for his beloved as men do and therefore as certain it is that his chastisements shall end with our profit as we are sure they spring from our sins The ignorance of this point makes many to err and with the friends of Iob to judge amiss of God's love and hate towards men But we must know that God hath two sorts of arrows Arrows of judgment and Arrows of mercy the first he shoots against those he hates Psal. 7. 13. Ps. 144. 6. the other he shoots at his own even those whom he loves and therewith he wounds them that he may cure them and such as these may apply to themselves the words of the Spouse in the