never true Use 1. How opposite are they to godliness who cry down zeal and count it a Religious phrensie They are for the light of knowledge but not for the heat of zeal When Basil was earnest in preaching against the Arrian Heresie it was interpreted folly and dotage Religion is a matter requires zeal the Kingdom of heaven will not be taken but by violence Mat. 12. 11. Object But why so much fervour in Religion what becomes then of Prudence Answ. Though Prudence be to direct zeal yet not to destroy it because sight is requisite must the body therefore have no heat If Prudence be the eye in Religion zeal is the heart Quest. But where is moderation Answ. Though moderation in things of indifferency be commendable and doubtless it would much tend to the setling the peace of the Church yet in the main Articles of Faith wherein Gods glory and our Salvation lie at stake here moderation is nothing else but sinful neutrality It was Calvins advice to Melancthon that he should not so affect the name of moderate that at length he lost all his zeal Object But the Apostle presseth moderation Phil. 4. 5. Let your moderation be known to all Answ. The Apostle speaks there of moderating our passion the Greek word for moderation signifies candour and meekness opposite to rash anger and so the word is rendred in another place Patient 1 Tim. 3. 3. By moderation then is meant meekness of spirit and that is clear by the subsequent words The Lord is at hand As if the Apostle had said avenge not your selves for the Lord is at hand he is ready to avenge your personal wrongs but this doth not at all hinder but that in matters of Religion a Christian should be zealous 2 What strangers are they to godliness who have no zeal for the glory of God they can see his ordinances despised his worship adulterated yet their spirits are not at all stirred in them How many are of a dull lukewarm temper zealous for their own secular interest but have no zeal for the things of heaven hot in their own cause but cool in Gods The Lord doth most abominate lukewarm professours I had almost said hee is sick of them Rev. 3. 15. I would thou wert cold or hot any thing but lukewarm but because thou art neither cold nor hot I will spue thee out of my mouth A lukewarm Christian is but dough-baked just like Ephraim Hos. 7. 8. Ephraim is a cake not turned To keep up a form of Religion without zeal is to be like those bodies the Angels assumed which mooved but had no life in them I would ask these Tepid neutral professors this question If Religion be not a good cause why did they undertake it at first if it be why do they go so faintly about it why have they no more holy ardours of soul these persons would fain go to heaven in a soft bed but are loath to bee carried thither in a fiery Chariot of zeal Remember God will be zealous against them who are not zealous he provides the fire of hell for those that want the fire of zeal Use 2. As you would be found in the catalogue of the godly labour for zeal as good bee of no religion as not to be zealous in religion Beware of carnal policy This is one of those three things which Luther feared would bee the death of Religion Some men have been too wise to bee saved Their discretion hath quenched their zeal beware of stoth which is an enemy to zeal be zealous and repent Rev. 3. 19. Christians what do you reserve your zeal for is it for your gold that perisheth or for your lusts that will make you perish can you bestow your zeal better than upon God how zealous have men been in a false religion Isa. 46. 6. They lavish gold out of the bag and weigh silver in the ballance The Iews did spare no cost in their idolatrous worship nay Ier. 32. 35. They cause their Sons and Daughters to pass thorow the fire to Molech They were so zealous in their idol-worship that they would sacrifice their Sons and Daughters to their false Gods how far did the purblinde Heathens go in their false zeal 〈◊〉 the Tribunes of Rome complained they wanted gold in their Treasurâ—es to offer to Apollo the Roman Matrons plucked off their chains of gold and rings and bracelets and gave them to the Priests to offer up sacrifice were these so zealous in their sinful worship and will not you bee zealous in the worship of the true God can you loose any thing by your zeal shall it not bee super-abundantly recompenced what is heaven worth what is a sight of God worth was not Jesus Christ zealous for you he sweat drops of blood hee conflicted with his Fathers wrath how zealous was hee for your redemption and have you no zeal for him is there any thing you your selves hate more than dulness and slothfulness in your servants you are weary of such servants do you dislike a dull temper in others and not in your selves what are all your duties without zeal but non entia meer fancies and nullities Do you know what a glorious thing zeal is it is the lustre that sparkles from grace it is the flame of love it resembles the Holy Ghost Act. 2. 2. There appeared cloven tongues like fire which sat upon them and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost Tongues of fire were an Emblem to represent that fire of zeal which the spirit powred upon them Zeal makes all our religious performances prevalent with God When the iron is red hot it enters best and when our services are red hot with zeal they soonest pierce heaven SECT XVI 16. A godly man is a patient man Iam. 5. 11. Ye have heard of the patience of Iob. Patience is a star which shines in a dark night There is a twofold patience 1. Patience in waiting 2. Patience in bearing 1. Patience in waiting A godly man if he hath not his desire presently he will wait till the mercy be ripe Psa. 130. 6. My soul waiteth for the Lord. Good reason God should have the Timing of our mercies Isa. 60. 22. I the Lord will hasten it in his time Deliverance may tarry beyond our time but it will not tarry beyond Gods time Why should not we wait patiently upon God 1. We are servants it becomes servants to be in a waiting posture 2. We wait upon every thing else we wait upon the fire till it burns we wait upon the seed till it grows Iam. 5. 7. Why cannot we wait upon God 3. God hath waited upon us Did not he wait for our repentance How often did he come year after year before he found fruit Did God wait upon us and cannot we wait upon him A godly man is content to stay Gods leisure though the Vision tarry he will wait for
leaves the heart always in a better tune 2. The danger of doing duties in an unspiritual manner they are as if they had not been done for what the heart doth not do is not done Duties slubbered over turn Ordinances into Judgements Therefore many though they are often in duty they go away worse from duty If Physick be not well made and the ingredients rightly tempered it is as bad as poyson for the body So if duties are not well performed they leave the heart more hard and sinful than before Duties unspiritual oft create Judgements temporal 1 Chron. 15. 13. The Lord our God made a breach upon us for that we sought him not after the due order Therefore God makes breaches in Families and Relations because persons worship him not in that manner and due order which he requires 3. If we would have our duties spiritual we must get our hearts spiritual an earthly heart cannot be spiritual in duty Let us beg of God a spiritual pallat to relish a sweetness in holy things for want of spiritual hearts we come to duty without delight and go away without profit If a man would have the wheels of his Watch move regularly he must mend the Spring Christian if thou wouldst move more spiritually in duty get the Spring of thy heart mended SECT XXII 22. A godly man is thorow-paced in Religion he obeys every Command of God Act. 13. 22. I have found David a man after mine own heart which shall fulfill all my will In the Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 all my wills A godly man labours to walk according to the full bredth and latitude of Gods Law Every Command hath the same stamp of Divine Authority upon it and he who is godly will obey one Command as well as another Psal. 119. 6. Then shall I not be ashamed when I have respect to all thy Commandments A godly man goes through all the Body of Religion as the Sun through all the Signs of the Zodiack He that is to play upon a ten-stringed Instrument must strike upon every string or he spoils all the Musick The ten Commandments may be compared to a ten-stringed Instrument we must obey every Commandment strike upon every string or we can make no sweet Musick in Religion True obedience is filâ—al it is fit the Childe should obey the Parent in all just and sober commands Gods Laws are like the Curtains of the Tabernacle which were looped together they are like a Chain of Gold where all the links are coupled A conscientious man will not willingly break one Link of this Chain if one Command be violated the whole Chain is broken Iam. 2. 10. Whosoever shall keep the whole Law yet offend in one point is guilty of all A voluntary breach of one of Gods Laws involves a man in the guilt and exposeth him to the curse of the whole Law True obedience is intire and uniform A good heart like the Needle points that way which the Load-stone draws This is a grand difference between a Childe of God and an hypocrite the hypocrite doth pick and chuse in Religion some duties he will perform which are more facil and do gratifie his pride or interest but other duties he makes no reckoning of Mat. 23. 23. Ye pay tithe of Mint and Annis and have omitted the weightier matters of the Law Iudgment Mercy and Faith To sweat in some duties of Religion and freeze in other is the symptom of a distempered Christian. Iehu was zealous in destroying the Idolatry of Baal but let the golden Calves of Jeroboam stand 2 Kin. 10. 30. This shows men are not good in truth when they are good by halves If your servant should do some of your work you set him about and leave the rest undone how would you like that The Lord saith Walk before me and be perfect Gen. 17. 1. How are our hearts perfect with God when we prevaricate with him Some things we will do and other things we leave undone he is good who is good universally Pater adsum impera quid vis There are ten duties God calls for which a godly man will conscientiously perform and indeed these Duties may serve as so many other Characters and Touch-stones to try our godliness by 1 A godly man will be often calling his heart to account he takes the candle of the word and searcheth his inward parts Psa. 77. 6. I commune with my own heart and my spirit made diligent search a gracious soul searcheth whether there be any duty omitted any sin cherished he examines his evidences for heaven as hee will not take his gold upon trust so neither his grace he is a spiritual Merchant hee casts up the estate of his soul to see what he is worth he sets his house in order often reckonings keep God and conscience friends a carnal person cannot abide this heart-work he is ignorant how the affairs go in 〈◊〉 soul he is like a man who is well acquainted in forraign parts but a stranger in his own country ut nemo insese tentat descendere nemo 2 A godly man is much in closet-prayer he keeps his hours for private devotion Iacob when he was left alone wrestled with God Gen. 32. 24. So when a gracious heart is alone it wrestles in prayer and will not leave God till it hath a blessing a devout Christian exerciseth eyes of faith and knees of prayer Hypocrites who have nothing of religion besides the frontispiece love to bee seen Christ hath Characterized them Mat. 6. 5. They love to pray in the corners of the streets that they may be seen The hypocrite is devout in the Temple there all will gaze on him but he is a stranger to secret communion with God he is in the Church a Saint but in his closet an Atheist a good Christian holds secret intelligence with heaven ille dolet verè qui sine teste dolet Private prayer keeps up the trade of godliness when closet-holiness is laid aside there is a stab given to the hearâ— of religion 3 A godly man is diligent in his calling he takes care to provide for his family the Church must not exclude the shop 'T is a speech of Mr. Perkins though a man be endued with excellent gifts and hear the word with reverence and receive the sacrament yet if he practise not the duties of his calling all is but hypocrisie religion did never grant a pattent for idleness 2 Thess. 2. 11 12. There are some which walk among you disorderly working not at all them that are such we command and exhort by our Lord Iesus that with quietness they work and eat their own bread That bread eats most sweet which is got with most sweat a godly man had rather fast than eat the bread of idleness Vain professors talk of living by faith but do not live in a calling they are like the Lillies of the field they toyl not neither do they spin an
when the Devils Factors are abroad whose whole work is to unsettle people and make them fall off from that former strictness in Religion which they have professed 'T is much to be lamented to see Christians 1. Wavering in Religion How many do we see desultorii ingenii unresolved and unsteady Like Reuben unstable as water Gen. 49. 4. These the Apostle fitly compares to waves of the Sea and wandring Stars Iude 13. They are not fixed in the principles of godliness Beza writes of one Bolsechus his Religion changed like the Moon Such were the Ebionites who kept the Jewish Sabbath and the Christian Many Professors are like the River Euripus ebbing and flowing in matters of Religion they are like reeds bending every way either to the Mass or the Alchoran They are like the Planet Mercury which doth vary and is seldome constant in its motion When men think of heaven and the recompence of reward then they will be godly but when they think of Persecution then they are like the Jews who deserted Christ and walked no more with him Iohn 6. 66. Did mens faces alter as fast as their Opinions we should not know them to be thus vacillant and wavering in Religion argues lightness Feathers are blown any way so are feathery Christians 2. 'T is to be lamented to see men fall from that godliness which once they seemed to have they are turned to worldliness and wantonness the very mantle of their Profession is fallen off and indeed if they were not fixed stars it is no wonder to see them falling stars This spiritual Epilepsie or falling-sickness was never more rife this is a dreadful sin for men to fall from that godliness they-seemed once to have Chrysostom saith Apostates are worse than they who are openly flagitious they bring an evil report upon godliness The Apostate saith Tertullian seems to put God and Satan in the ballance and having weighed both their services prefers the Devils service and proclaims him to be the best Master in which respect the Apostate is said to put Christ to open shame He. 6. 6 This will be bitter in the end Heb. 10. 38. What a worm did Spira feel in his Conscience How did Stephen Gardiner cry out in horror of mind upon his Death-bed that he had denied his Master with Peter but he had not repented with Peter That we may be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 stedfast in godliness and persevere let us do two things 1. Let us take heed of those things which will make us by degrees fall off from our profession 1. Let us beware of covetousness 2 Tim. 3. 2. Men shall be covetous ver 5. Having a form of godliness but denying the power One of Christs own Apostles was caught with a silver bait Covetousness will make a man betray a good cause and make shipwrack of a good Conscience I have read of some in the time of the Emperour Valens who denied the Christian Faith to prevent the confiscation of their goods 2. Beware of unbelief Heb. 3. 12. Take heed least there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God No evil like an evil heart no evil heart like an unbelieving heart why so It makes men depart from the blessed God he that believes nor Gods mercy will not dread his Justice Infidelity is the Nurse of Apostasie therefore unbelieving and unstable go together Psal. 78. 22. They believed not in God ver 41. They turned back and tempted God 3. Take heed of cowardliness he must needs be evil who is afraid to be good Pro. 29. 25. The fear of man bringeth a snare They who fear danger more than sin to avoid danger will commit sin Origen out of a spirit of fear offered Incense to the Idol Aristotle saith the reason why the Camelion turns into so many colours is through excessive fear Fear will make men change their Religion as often as the Camelion doth her colour Christian thou who hast made a profession of godliness so long and others have noted thee for a Saint in their Kalendar why dost thou fear and begin to shrink back The Cause is good which thou art imbarqued in thou fightest against sin thou hast a good Captain which marcheth before thee Christ the Captain of thy Salvation Heb. 2. 10. What is it thou fearest Is it loss of liberty What is liberty worth when Conscience is in bonds Better lose thy liberty and keep thy peace than lose thy peace and keep thy liberty Is it loss of Estate Dost thou say as Amaziah 2 Chron. 25. 9. What shall we do for the hundred Talents I would answer with the Prophet The Lord can give thee much more than this He hath promised thee in this life an hundred-fold and if that be not enough he will give thee life everlasting Mat. 19. 29. 2. If you would hold fast the profession of godliness use all means for perseverance 1. Labour for a real work of Grace in your soul Grace is the best fortification Heb. 13. 9. It is a good thing that the heart be established with grace Quest. What is this real work of Grace Answ. It consists in two things 1. It lies in an heart-humbling work The thorn of sin pricked Pauls Conscience Rom. 7. 9. Sin revived and I died Though some are less humbled than others as some bring forth Children with less pangs yet all have pangs 2 Grace lies in an heart-changing work 1 Cor. 6. 11. But ye are washed but ye are sanctified A man is so changed as if another soul did live in the same body if ever you would hold out in the waies of God get this vital principle of grace why do men change their religion but because their hearts were never changed they do not fall away from grace but for want of grace 2 If you would hold on in godliness be deliberate and judicious weigh things well in the ballance Luke 14. 28. Which of you intending to build a Tower sitteth not dow◠first and counteth the cost Think with your selves what it will cost you to be godly you must expect the hatred of the world Ioh. 15. 19. the wicked hate the godly for their piety 't is strange they should do so do we hate a flower because it is sweet the godly are hated for the perfume of their graces is a Virgin hated for her beauty the wicked hate the godly for the beauty of holiness which shines in them and secret hatred will break forth into open violence 2 Tim. 3. 12. Christians must count the cost before they build why are people so hasty in laying down Religion but because they were so hasty in taking it up 3 If you would hold fast your profession get a clear distinct knowledge of God know the love of the Father the merit of the Son the efficacy of the Holy Ghost Such as know not God aright will by degrees renounce their