of Controversie mens passions are vehemently engaged and the Disputants generally argue according to their Interests and therefore when he saw men impetuous in the assertion of their Opinions and peremptory in the rejection of other mens Iudgments he commonly answer'd such only with silence not caring to entertain discourse with them who in stead of a sober and modest Enquiry into Truth were addicted to a disingenuous humour of Disputacity that was his term which in his sense signified To be always resolved for the last word which is the troublesome temper and practice of self-conceited and pertinacious wranglers for after he discover'd any to be such he would give them full leave to have the last word and all because he would speak no more what-ever he thought Nor was he less unwilling to allow them also the last word in writing Witness those Paper-collations between him and Mr. T. H. a great follower of that man of more Reading than Consideration Mr. Hugh Broughton Indeed T. H. had a great opinion of his own performances in this kind and of the much good might be done by such Conferences and accordingly did ply Mr. Mede with one Paper after another who yet was wholly of another mind and plainly told him Of these reciprocations of discourse in writing wherein you place so much benefit for the discovery of Truth I have often heard and seen Truth lost thereby but seldom or never found And for this reason as also because Conferences by writing were tedious and less safe and would take away a great deal of his time he was averse from all such Pen-work as he call'd it desiring him not to make any Reply for he was resolved to answer no more whatsoever he should send and he was as good as his word for though Mr. H. could not hold but would needs send him another large Paper of the same complexion with the former yet could not this provoke him to recede from his fix'd and well-grounded resolution against all multiplying of unnecessary and fruitless Replies So true was he to that expression of his I can with much more patience endure to be contradicted than be drawn to make Reply having little or no edge to contend with one I think setled and persuaded unless it were in something that nearly concern'd his Salvation and withal he added You know as much of my Opinion and my Grounds for the same as I would desire of any mans and I think I perfectly understand yours Why should then either of us spend our time any farther to no purpose 32. But not to dwell only in Generals His Prudent moderation particularly discover'd itself in an Instance of no small weight and importance In short thus When that unhappy difference about the point of Praedestination and its Appendants instead of a more free sedate and Christian-like method of debating it was blown to so high a flame in the Low-Countreys and began to kindle strifes here at home he would often say he wondred that men would with so great animosity contend about those obscure Speculations and condemn one another with such severity considering that as the Wise man saith to whose words he would often allude We hardly guess aright at things that are upon Earth and with labour do we find the things that are before us But the things that are in Heaven who hath searched out But if at any time as it was said of S. Paul at Athens 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 his spirit was stirred within him it was when he observ'd some to contend with an unmeasureable confidence and bitter zeal for that black Doctrine of Absolute Reprobation upon which occasion he could not forbear to tell some of his Friends That it was an Opinion he could never digest being herein much of Dr. Iackson's mind That generally the Propugners of such Tenets were men resolved in their Affections of Love and Hatred both of which they exercis'd constantly and violently and according to their own Tempers made a judgment of God and his Decrees To the like purpose he express'd himself about two years before his death in a Letter to an ancient Friend of his formerly of the same Colledge It seems harsh that of those whom God hath elected ad media Salutis and calls by the preaching of his Gospel any should be absolutely and peremptorily ordain'd to damnation And afterwards by way of Reply to the objected authority of S. Austin as to some part of the Predestinarian Controversie he added If those were Hereticks which followed not S. Austin the most part of the Fathers before him were in Heresie and a part of the Church after him Zelots are wont to be over-liberal in such charges Thus would he sometimes in private reveal his judgment but in his publick performances he was reserved and did purposely abstaìn from medling with these matters And accordingly we have received this from some old acquaintance with him That in those days when the Controversies between the Remonstrants and Contra-Remonstrants made so great a noise in the world he was wont to bring his Common-places to an ancient Friend and Colleague to be perused by him with a desire that he would expunge whatsoever did but seem to countenance the Positions of either party To which may be added this other Instance of his own relating in a Letter to another Friend about four years before his death viz. That there being great combustions and divisions among the Heads of the University in preparation to the Commencement each party being desirous to get the advantage in the Election of the Answerers and so to fit the Questions to their mind and the more Calvinian party having prevail'd upon this occasion I went not saith he to this week as commonly I use to do for fear of being taken to be of a side These things we have noted particularly to shew with how much Sweetness as well as Prudence the great Learning of this Good man was admirably temper'd 33. But besides his Prudent Moderation there was also to be observed in him that which by the Epigrammatist is made one main Ingredient of an Happy life Prudens Simplicitas a mixture of what our Saviour Christ commends as imitable in the wise Serpent and in the harmless Dove He was not so Imprudent as always to utter all his mind that 's the property of a Fool Prov. 29. or before any company to reveal what new Notion or unvulgar Truth he had discover'd But he was always so generously Honest so Apert and Single-hearted as not to speak wickedly for God or talk deceitfully for him nor would he apply himself to any unwarrantable policies for the promoting or commending of Truth to others Such little crafts and undue practices were below the Nobleness and Integrity of his spirit To this purpose we may fitly take occasion here to remember a serious and excellent passage of his I cannot believe that Truth can be prejudiced by the discovery of Truth
Blind zeal which wants knowledge 3. Turbulent zeal which wants love and moderation 1. The First of these Hypocritical zeal is a meer blaze and shew of fervency without any true and solid heat It is nothing but the Vizor of zeal looking a squint one way but tending another pretending God and his Glory but aiming at some private and sinister end Such was the zeal of Iehu who marched furiously and his word was The Lord of hosts Come said he to Ionadab and see my zeal for the Lord but his project was the Kingdom Iezabel proclaimed a Fast as out of an Extasie of zeal that God should be blasphemed but her aim was Naboth's vineyard So in Acts 19. Demetrius the Silver-Smith and his fellows cry Great is Diana of the Ephesians but meant the gain they got by making of her Silver Shrines vers 24. This Zeal is soon descried by the proper Character it hath namely an affectation of having their works seen of men which is said of the vain-glorious Pharisees in Matt. 6. be it by ostentation of their zealous deeds like Iehu or by the excess of affected gestures sighs and other like actions falling within the view of men Not but that a true zeal doth shew it self vehement even in external actions but it is the straining of them beyond measure which argues the Heart to be guilty of emptiness within 2. The Second kind of False zeal is Blind zeal Ignis fatuus or Fools fire leading a man out of the right way when men zealously affect evil things supposing them to be good or are eagerly bent against good things supposing them to be evil Such was the Zeal of the Iews of whom S. Paul witnesseth that they had a zeal of God that is in the matters of God but not according to knowledg And with this Zeal was he himself once carried when he persecuted the Christians with an opinion of doing God good service as the phrase is Iohn 16. 2. I verily thought saith he with my self that I ought to do many things contrary to the Name of Iesus of Nazareth And such is the zeal of simple and devout Sectaries who blindly run after some person they esteem without knowing themselves either why or whither This kind of zeal is like to metal in a Blind horse that will speed to fall into a pit or to break his neck The counsel I would give for avoiding this kind is to look before we leap and see our way clearly before we run 3. The Third kind of False zeal is Turbulent zeal which S. Iames calls 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 bitter zeal a kind of Wildfire transporting a man beyond all compass of Moderation namely when in the excess of our heat we either outgo the bounds of our place and calling or use undue Means or wayes or overshoot the limits of Love and Charity whether to God or our Neighbour For howsoever Zeal be an excess of our affections in the things of God yet must this excess never break over the banks either of our vocation or in choice of Means out-bound the Rule of God's Law as theirs most certainly doth who endeavour to colour their Religion by the Massacres of Princes overturning of Kingdoms breach of Oaths and almost all bands of humane Society Such was the Zeal of Saul when he slew the Gibeonites forgetting the Oath which the Princes of the Congregation had made unto them Iosh. 9. 15 18 19. And such was the zeal of Iames and Iohn in the Gospel when to vindicate the honour of Christ they would have Fire to come down from heaven to consume a whole Village of Samaria Such also was Peter's zeal when he cut off Malchus his ear The former outwent the limits of Love and Charity the last the limits of his Vocation As Clocks whose Springs are broken overstrike the hour of the day So this mad and untempered Zeal the measure of Moderation Thus I have briefly described these False fires that by the Law of contraries we may know who is the true Zealot whom God approveth namely He whose Spirit is in Fervency and not in Shew for God and not for himself guided by the Word and not with humours and opinions tempered with Charity and free from head-strong violence This is that Zeal which our Saviour calls for in my Text 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Be zealous therefore This is that Zeal which whoso wants in him God hath no pleasure but will spue him out of his Mouth as it is said in vers 15. a little before my Text. But why will you say should this zeal be so needful or why may we not worship God without it Let us therefore now see the Reasons and Motives which do evince and prove it needful and should urge us to it 1. First therefore I will seek no further than my Text where the want of Zeal is reckoned for a Sin a Sin to be repented of Be zealous and Repent Is not that needful without which all our works are sinful But Vertue you will say consists in a Mean and not in Excess and why should not Piety also I answer The Mean wherein Vertue is placed is the Middle of different kinds and not the Middle or Mean of degrees in one and the same kind Vertue so it be Vertue is at the best in the highest degree and so is Religion in the highest pitch of Zeal 2. It is the Ground-rule of the whole Law of God and of all the Precepts concerning his Worship That we must love the Lord our God with all our heart with all our Soul with all our Mind and with all our Strength What is this else but to love him zealously to worship him with the highest pitch of our affections and the uttermost strain both of Body and Soul For he is the Soveraign and chiefest Good what Love then can suite to him but the very top and Soveraignty of Love All things in God are Supreme his Power his Knowledg his Mercy and therefore he cannot truly be worshipped unless we yield him whatsoever is Supreme in ourselves a supremacy of Fear a supremacy of Hope a supremacy of Thankfulness For whom then should we reserve the top and chief of our affections for our gold for our Herodias c How can we offer God a baser indignity will he endure that any thing in the world should be respected before him or equalled to him The Lord our God is a jealous God and will not suffer it Let therefore all the Springs and Brooks of our affections run into this Main and let no Rivulet be drawn another way If Zeal be good in any thing it is most required in the best things and if in any thing it be comely to work with all our might Eccles. 9. 10. certainly in the service of God it is most comely Be not slothful in business but fervent in spirit serving the Lord
Canticles I am wounded with love God's love hath wounded me and the wound of God makes me love him it begins in his love to me and aims at and ends in my love to him For we must remember in this case that which S. Austin well observes That when the godly and the wicked suffer the very same things to outward appearance yet there is a great unlikeness of the sufferers even in the likeness of suffering the one are punished out of God's just displeasure and wrathful vengeance the other are disciplin'd out of mercy that God might fit them and keep them for himself because he loves them And that we may the better understand this let us consider what Effects Afflictions work and what fruits they bring forth in those whom God loveth 1. Afflictions to them whom God loves are Medicinal and thereby they recover their health by repentance from some spiritual disease they are sick of For howsoever the Lord gives the rein loose to the children of wrath and lets them enjoy their hearts desire yet will he hedge with Thorns the ways of those he loveth and will awaken them by some sharp rod or other out of the sleep of security So he taught Miriam by a leprosie to leave her murmuring he wakened Ionah out of his sleep by casting him into the Sea Zacharias his unbelief was cured with dumbness and Blessed is the man whom the Lord this way chastens and corrects Psal. 94. 2. Afflictions are Preservatives to keep them whom God loveth from sin Thus an Angel of Satan must buffet Paul lest he should be exalted above measure 2 Cor. 12. 7. The Earth which is not tilled and broken up bears nothing but thorns and briers Vines wax wild in time unless we prune and cut them Our hearts would be overgrown with evil affections and dispositions as with so many noisome weeds if God by his loving chastisements should not Till and Manure them My Father saith Christ 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is the Husbandman Iohn 15. 1. 3. Afflictions make the fruitless bring forth fruit beget many Vertues and make God's Graces in us to bloom and bring forth works pleasing unto our Heavenly Father The Prodigal Son in Luke 15. never thought of returning to his Father till he was brought low by affliction Hagar was proud in the house of Abraham but humble in the Wilderness Gen. 21. Ionah sleepeth in the ship but watches and prayes in the Whales belly Sicut Aromata odorem non nisi cum accenduntur expandunt saith Gregory as sweet spices send not forth nor spread abroad their sweet smell untill they be burnt or beaten so neither do the Graces of God's children send forth so sweet so rich a fragrancy as when they are exercised by Afflictions 4. Lastly Afflictions draw men nearer unto God Manasses who lived in Ierusalem as a Libertine when he was bound with chains in Babylon when he was in affliction he besought the Lord and humbled himself greatly before the God of his Fathers 2 Chron. 33. 11 12. In the Gospel we read that Corporal diseases brought many to Christ whereas many who had their health neither regarded nor acknowledged him And thus I have let you see according to Sampson's Riddle Iudg. 14. how that out of the eater comes meat and out of the sowr or sharp comes sweet Out of sowr and sharp or bitter afflictions out of troubles and calamities that sometimes threaten to devour us comes sweetness comfort and refreshment The main use of all is for comfort in all our sufferings and crosses whensoever God sends them For they are Signs of our Son-ship and Tokens of his love So the Author of the Epistle to the Hebrews tells us expressly chap. 12. 6. c. Whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth and scourgeth every Son whom he receiveth If ye endure chastening God dealeth with you as with Sons But if ye be without chastisement then are ye bastards and not Sons Let us then learn to bless God in our afflictions and say with David Psal. 94. 12. Blessed is the man whom thou chastenest O Lord and teachest him out of thy Law It is good for me that I have been afflicted for before I was afflicted I went astray but now have I kept thy Word Psal. 119. 67 71. My Second Observation is this That if God spares not those whom he loveth much less shall his Enemies escape punishment Surely if God chastises those whom he loves he will break in pieces those whom he hates If thou art God's Enemy as thou canst not expect any of that Favour he shews unto his Friends and children so much less hast thou reason to hope that he will not revenge himself on thee when thou feest him so severe unto his own Let them think on this who live in enmity against God and never yet made their peace with him by casting off the old man and putting on the new but continue still to walk after the flesh in all the ways of sin and cast God's Law behind them Let them not rejoyce at the afflictions of God's children nor laugh at their sufferings but fear and tremble For every lash that the Children of God feel is a Warning-piece to ungodly men and should make them dread those sorer punishments those many and worse stripes Luke 12. 47. the indignation and wrath tribulation and anguish which shall be to every one that doth evil Rom. 2. To conclude consider that in 1 Pet. 4. 17. If judgment must first begin at the house of God what shall be the end of them that obey not the Gospel of God AND now I come to the last thing to be observed out of these words viz. That God rebukes before he chastens 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 As many as I love I rebuke and chasten first 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 I rebuke and then 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 I chasten first admonish and reprove them and convince them of their Sin and then chastise them his 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 hath an 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 his disciplining goes with admonition It is a part of God's style whereby he proclaims himself The Lord The Lord God merciful and gracious and long-suffering And this appears in that he strikes not a sinner without frequent forewarnings reproofs and convincing him of sin His Word is always the harbinger of his Sword he rebukes and then chastens for he desireth not our misery but our amendment As I live saith the Lord I desire not the death of a sinner but rather that he would turn from his way and live And so in Prov. 1. Wisdom first cries out in the streets How long will ye Scorners delight in scorning and ye fools hate knowledge First she calls before she laughs at their calamity before destruction comes upon them as a whirlwind or distress and anguish fall upon them Before the Floud came and overwhelmed the Earth for sin man had given
filium ejus Iesum Christum quem ipse misit eum solum cum vitae integritate innocentia puris infucatis precibus sollicitemus M. Rectè quidem dixisti Perge quaeso A. Secundo loco petimus ut Adveniat Regnum ejus Adhuc enim non videmus res omnes Christo esse subjectas non videmus ut lapis de monte abscissus sit sine opere humano qui contrivit in nihilum redegit Statuam descriptam à Daniele ut petra sola qui est Christus occupet obtineat totius mundi imperium à Patre concessum Adhuc non est occisus Antichristus quò fit ut nos desideremus precemur ut id tandem aliquando contingat impleatur útque solus Christus regnet cum suis Sanctis secundùm divinas promissiones útque vivat dominetur in mundo juxta Sancti Evangelii decreta non autem juxta traditiones leges hominum voluntatem Tyrannorum mundi M. Faxit Deus ut Regnum ejus adveniat quà m citissimé I have the Book by me and have had long But I suppose it is known but to a few In Foxe's Martyrologie you shall find in the examination of Master Philpot that the Bishops when they came brought the Catechism with them but what special relation it had to him I know not nor is ought there mentioned about it The Kings Letters before it begin thus Cum brevis explicata Catechismi ratio à pio quodam erudito viro conscripta nobis ad cognoscendum offerretur ejus pertractationem diligentem inquisitionem quibusdam Episcopis aliis eruditis commisimus c. I. M. EPISTLE LIII Dr. Twisse's Sixth Letter to Mr. Mede desiring him to perfect his Comment upon the Apocalyps and to communicate what Notions he had concerning the Temple in Ezekiel as also upon some obscure passages in Dan. 11. SIR YOur love and your worth makes me zealous of your name and so shall I ever be And I willingly profess I never expected so rational Discourses in the explanation of passages so mysterious We are commonly taken with pretty fictions and imaginations the ground whereof when we come to examine we find no solidity to fasten on O that my desires were worthy to be considered by you that you would be pleased in your private studies to go on to perfect that you have begun upon the Revelation To my thinking by considering your Specimina thereon the three next Chapters viz. 15 16 17. would be soon perfected The touch you give me about repairing of the Temple in Ezekiel doth exceedingly content me though I am perswaded you have some Notions general at least concerning many passages therein In the eleventh of Daniel that which you apply unto the Turk I had thought belonged to Antichrist and the last verse of planting his Tabernacles between the seas seems to me fairly to set forth Rome and the Throne of the Beast therein And as touching the tidings from the East and North that troublesome body if it be the Turk that is troubled have you not some propension to apply it to the Iews after their conversion to Christ Thus I make that saying good Garrit amor benevolentia and one thing more a desire to sound you W. T. EPISTLE LIV. Mr. Mede's Answer to Dr. Twisse's Sixth Letter containing some Testimonies touching Regnum Christi and the New Ierusalem out of Tertullian and K. Edward's Catechism with some general hints concerning Ezekiel's Vision of the measuring of the Temple and an Explication of Dan. 11. 44 45. SIR I Am not unwilling to communicate unto you the most of my â—ew because I perceive you make some account of them For in the Un. where I live I know not a second man that understands any thing concerning such Mysteries nor desires to be made acquainted with them I speak not of the Mystery of the Millennium only but of the Mystery of Iniquity Concerning which I cannot but exceedingly admire how uncapable men otherwise extraordinarily qualified with gists and well-affected too are found to be Condemn me not therefore too much if my edge be not so sharp in this way as you desire it should be But let this pass You shall receive herewith the Prophecie of Tobie in a paper by it self And I will add in this two other The one the authority of Tertullian for the applying of Ezekiel's Temple to the New Ierusalem the other another passage yet out of K. Edward's Catechism which I had not time to transcribe in my last Tertullian lib. 3. adversus Marcionem c. 24. Nam confitemur in Terra nobis Regnum repromissum sed ante Coelum sed alio statu utpote post resurrectionem in Mille annos in Civitate divini operis Hierusalem coelo delata quam Apostolus Matrem nostram sursum designat 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 nostrum id est municipatum in coelis esse pronuntians alicui utique coelesti Civitati eam deputat Hanc Ezekiel novit Apostolus Ioannes vidit Hanc dicimus excipiendis resurrectione Sanctis refovendis omnium bonorum utique spiritualium copiâ in compensationem eorum quae in seculo vel despeximus vel amisimus à Deo prospectam Siquidem justum Deo dignum illic quoque exultare famulos ejus ubi sunt afflicti in nomine ipsius Haec ratio Regni coelestis Post cujus Mille annos intra quam aetatem concluditur Sanctorum resurrectio pro meritis maturiùs vel tardiùs resurgentium tunc mundi destructione Iudicii conflagratione commissâ demutati in atomo in Angelicam substantiam scilicet per illud incorruptelae superindumentum transferemur in coeleste Regnum In this latter for the time of the World's Conflagration and its destruction Tertullian differs from the rest I am sure from Irenaeus unless by Iudicii conflagratio he means that of Gog and Magog Apoc. 20. 9. But I think he doth not Ex Catechismo Edwardico De Extremo Iudicio M. Finem mundi Scriptura sacra consummationem perfectionem Regni ac Mysterii Christi Renovationem rerum omnium appellat Sic loquitur Apostolus Petrus 2 Ep. cap. 3. Nos coelos novos terram novam exspectamus juxta promissionem Dei in quibus justitia inhabitat Videtur autem rationi consentaneum ut corruptio mutabilitas peccatum quibus subjicitur totus mundus aliquando cessarent Quâ verò tandem viâ aut quibus circumstantiarum rationibus ista fient cupio abs te audire Aud. Dicam ut possum eodem ipostolo teste Coeli procellae in motem transibunt elementa aestuantia solventur terráque quae in ea sunt opera exurentur Quasi diceret Mundus uti in auro fieri videmus totus igne repurgabitur atque ad ultimam suam perfectionem reducetur quem minor ille mundus nimirum homo imitatus Ã