Advancement But from hence results the Excess which men are led into in this point They are not contented to be soberly and temperately zealous and to promote their Religion by such Rules and Measures as that Religion it self prescribes to them but they run mad with an Excess of Zeal and Bigotry for it Their Cause they are confident is the only righteous one and then conclude that they can never be over-righteous in the promotion of it All other Persuasions are very Dagons to them and must fall down at the feet of their Ark. All the Engines of Fury and Persecution must be set on foot for the service of so meritorious a Cause And such Mischiefs and Barbarities must be executed for its sake as are a Reproach not only to Religion but even to Humanity it self These are effects of an inordinate Zeal which have been more or less evidenced in all Parties of men and in all Religions For indeed the very Christian Religion that Mild and Peaceable Institution has not escaped these flames of a mad and outragious Zeal But on the contrary that blessed Instructer of Gentleness and Love has been by the abuse of its Professors perverted into an Incentive of the fiercest Cruelty and Persecution The Prince of Peace has been made a Herald of Contention and too many that pretend to be of Christ's Flock have turn'd themselves into ravening Wolves worrying and devouring one another What Flames what Confusions what Massacres what Devastations have been occasion'd by an over-righteous Zeal for that merciful Religion which disclaims nothing more than such Unchristian Barbarities And we have too many Instances even at our own doors in the several Sects and Divisions of the Reformation it self which if they do not present us with any such Tragical Scenes as those beforementioned yet cannot they be thought on without affording a sad and evident demonstration how possible it is in the Nature of the thing and how pernicious in its Effects for men even in the best of Causes to be over-righteous But How unworthily do men treat the Christian Religion when they make it the occasion of such Rage and Animosity Christianity was never intended to kindle such a fiery and passionate Zeal amongst its Votaries The Spirit which that inspires is a Spirit of mutual Forbearance and Condescension to one another A Spirit which for its visible Representation chose the Shape of a Dove to appear in that Emblem of Love and Meekness and Innocence a Spirit which allows us indeed to join the Serpent's Wisdom to its Dove-like Innocence but in all cases utterly abhors his Sting and his Poyson 'T is such an amicable Spirit which as it is the genuine Fruit and the distinguishing Badge of the Christian Religion so it is the most effectual Preserver of the Disciples and Church of Christ But as for that contrary Spirit of over much Zeal and Bigotry it can tend to nothing but that fatal end which the Wise man here denounces as the just and natural Consequence of it namely That by it we shall destroy our selves For what else can be the product of an Intemperate Zeal and Rigor and Contention amongst Christians It may pull down but it can never edify It can convert neither side it may destroy both It is the healing Spirit of Meekness and Forbearance which best promotes the Happiness and Safety both of Single men and of Societies This has the Blessing both of God and Man attending it Men bless it by rendring back a Reciprocal Love and Favour towards it and God blesses it by his gracious Promises declaring That the Meek shall inherit the Earth the Meek shall find rest to their Souls But on the other hand a Spirit of fierce Zeal and Bigotry subverts the Peace and Safety both of private Persons and of Communities and chiefly of those very men who are most possessed and acted by it For no man can exercise a furious Heat and Rigor in opposition to others without provoking them to mete out the same Measure back again into his own Bosom Thus he kindles a Fire and perishes himself in the same Conflagration the Mischief which he set on foot comes home to his own door and he verifies the Wiseman's Denunciation which he would not take for his Admonition By an Over-righteous Zeal he destroys himself And thus much of the first Caution suggested in my Text Be not Righteous Over-much that is Let not thy Zeal for Religion be Immoderate and Furious And that we may be the better enabled to observe this first Caution Let us proceed to the second the consideration of which will most effectually conduce to that end for the chief ground and occasion of such inordinate Zeal for Religion arises most commonly from an Over-wise and curious search into the Mysteries of it which is the excess forbid by Solomon in these words Make not thy self Over-wise that is Let not thy Enquiry into the Knowledge of Religious Mysteries be too Curious and Presumptuous Wisdom is indeed the Natural desire and thirst of our Souls The Water-Brooks are not so fiercely long'd after by the Panting Hart as this is by the mind of Man nor when tasted do they afford so great a Refreshment and Satisfaction This is that Endowment whereby our Nature exceeds that of the Beasts that perish and imitates in some Measure the Perfection not only of Angels but even of God himself Justly therefore may Men's minds Gasp and Pant after those living Waters and so long as their desires and endeavours to be wise are Moderate and Humble they act according to the Prerogative and Propriety of their reasonable Natures But the desire of Wisdom is oftentimes too strong and imperious to submit to those confinements which Modesty and Sobriety would prescribe to it for where men's thirst is so great they are apt to be intemperate in the Gratification of it They content not themselves with such competent Portions of Knowledge as God allows them and the Edification of their own Souls require but they Launch out into the boundless Ocean of Divine Mysteries striving to make themselves over-wise They pretend to define the Incomprehensible Nature and Properties of the Deity they rifle all the secret Cabinets of his Counsels and Providences they invade the most private Recesses of his inscrutable Wisdom and would leave him no reserve of Knowledge to himself They despise the most useful parts of Religious Wisdom as low and vulgar Contemplations and that Knowledge they account but a poor and contemptible Attainment which is sufficient to make 'em serviceable in their Generation and to direct them safe to Heaven hereafter The Eyes of these Men's Understandings delight not as the Eyes of the Body always do in such Prospects as are Light and Clear and beautifully terminated but on the contrary they love either to be ever looking into such dark Caverns and Abysses of Knowledge where they can discern nothing at all or else to survey such Infinite Spaces where
Denunciation against your over much Wickedness That it shall cause you to dye before your time And thus I have given you a brief Illustration of the Three Cautions delivered in my Text and the Arguments annex'd to them by the Wise-man I shall now crave leave only to make Application of what has been said in a short Address to the Three several sorts of Persons who are guilty of the Excesses which we are here warned against and to persuade them to yield a more dutiful Regard and Obedience to these Excellent Cautions of Wise Solomon 1. And first I shall apply my self to the over-much Righteous that is to those who are excessive and intemperate in their Zeal for Religion 'T is one of the saddest Considerations that can enter into a Christian's heart to observe the deplorable effects of such a furious and ungovern'd Zeal in our own Nation and to reflect upon that Wrath and Bitterness with which men professing the same Fundamentals of Religion do notwithstanding detest and separate from one another Even the most distant Parties of men and most disagreeing in other matters are yet all of the same mind in this Point in showing an immoderate Zeal in favour to their own Persuasions and in opposition to those of other men Nay many times you shall have such men warmest of all for the Cause of their Opinions in Religion who were it not for that Mad and Inordinate Zeal would be hard put to it to produce from their whole Life and Practice any other Proof that they are of any Religion at all Let the Members of the Party that is opposite to them be never so regular both in Belief and Practice never so careful to preserve Faith and a good Conscience yet because they dare to contradict them in some small things they burn with Zeal against them give no Quarter either to their Persons or Opinions but that single and inconsiderable difference shall efface all sense of their Agreement in greater matters and like a Gulph fix'd between them shall separate them from all Christian Charity and Commerce with one another Unreasonable men Thus to rip up the very Bowels of Christianity by an over righteous Zeal for its Cause and for the sake of such things which are but the Mint and Annise and Cummin of Religion to violate that Love and Meekness which are the weightier things of our Saviour's Law But all such fierce and extravagant Zealots of whatever Tribe or Persuasion let me admonish That the Gospel abhors such a Furious and Uncharitable Bigotry and enjoins us to let our moderation be known unto all men It commands us indeed to show a Zeal towards God But what kind of Zeal is it Is it such a blind angry and exterminating Zeal as that which these men are possessed with Nothing more contrary It is a Zeal according to knowledge a Zeal that enlightens warms and cherishes but never consumes or destroys A Zeal that ought indeed to stir us up to convince gainsayers and to put to silence the ignorance of foolish mea But how should that be done Not with fierce Oppositions Fury and Maliciousness but by the gentler methods of Love and Patience and Well-doing These are the Weapons of our Warfare A Christian Zeal must imitate that friendly and propitious River upon which this City stands and to which you are so much indebted for your Traffick and Grandeur It must proceed in a still and gentle Course and not in such an eager and rapid Torrent as can serve only to sweep all things before it and to betray the shallowness of its own Channel From the example of this Bountiful River be pleased to learn the due Moderation of your Piety And derive this double Advantage from its Waters to make it the Patern of your Zeal as it is the great Fountain of your Riches 'T is such a Calm and Even and Deep Current of Religion which alone can quench the burning Discords that are between us and Import as great an Increase of true Piety amongst us as that other does of Wealth and Splendor And have we not now in the present Posture of our Affairs the greatest reason to be of this mind considering the Subtilty and Vigilance of our Common Enemies who will be sure to take all Advantages from our Domestick Feuds and to improve them to their Interest and our Destruction How will they rejoice in Gath and triumph in the streets of Askalon to see our over-righteous Zeal against each other to look on whilst we most unnaturally do the work of their Arms by our own Animosities and give them the Pleasure of beholding our Ruin without putting them to the Trouble and Expence of procuring it Let me beseech you therefore for the sake of our Common Interest and Safety to entertain Candid Amicable Christian Dispositions towards one another And whereever we meet with a man of a truly Pious and Teachable Spirit Sound and Orthodox in the Articles of the Christian Faith and conscientiously observant of the Rules of Christian Practice let us treat such a one as a Brother and a true Disciple of Jesus Christ We may wish indeed That he were not only almost but altogether such as we are We may by the proper methods of Gentleness Good Example and Meek persuasion endeavour to make him so But if that perfect consent cannot be obtain'd if those lesser marks of distinction cannot be totally wiped out yet let 'em not be allow'd to break Friendship between us and to prejudice our Charity but when we are so far agreed Let us over-look in our private Capacities and common Conversation all differences in lesser matters and say of 'em all as Ephron did to Abraham concerning the price of his Field What is that betwixt me and thee This is the true Genius and Behaviour of a Christian Spirit and to this I exhort you all in the name of God and in the meekness and gentleness of Jesus Christ by whose name we are call'd and whose merciful temper ought to be made the subject of our faithful imitation But if the Example of Christ be not sufficient to work us into such a mild and condescending Spirit yet at least let the sense and care of our own Self-Preservation prevail with us for why should we by an over-Righteous Zeal and Bigotry destroy our selves But 2. In the next place let me address my self to those who transgress in the second excess caution'd against in my Text By making themselves over-wise that is by being too boldly Curious and Inquisitive in the Mysteries of Religion This is an Excess the practice and mischief of which is too widely and fatally spread in the present Age. In which the most Venerable Mysteries of Religion are prostituted to the most illiterate and vulgar Examination and those sacred Articles of the Trinity and Incarnation to which the most Improved Understandings of former Ages have bow'd with a profound Veneration are presumptously attempted to be unfolded by
A SERMON Preach'd before the Honourable Company of MERCHANTS Trading to the Levant-Seas AT St. PETER-POOR Dec. 15. 1695. By HENRY MAUNDRELL A. M. Fellow of Exeter-College in Oxford And Chaplain to the Factory at Aleppo LONDON Printed for Daniel Brown at the Swan and Bible without Temple-Bar MDCXCVI To the Right Honourable George Earl of Berkeley GOVERNOR AND TO THE Honourable Company of MERCHANTS Trading to the Levant-Seas Right Honourable c. THIS Discourse at first Preach'd by your Appointment is now Presented to you in a more publick manner in Obedience to your Commands The Defects of it I acknowledge to be such as render it very unworthy of the Patronage to which it is Dedicated but how little soever it deserves your Protection yet it has one Argument to plead for it self That it needs it An Argument which as it seldom fails to obtain your Favour so I hope now it will the rather prevail because it is in Submission to your Order that it is brought under that necessity For tho the blame of its faults be imputable only to its Author yet the Publication of it is wholly yours I am too sensible how ill I have in this mean Performance answer'd the Character given of me to your Honourable Company by some Worthy Members of it my Incomparable Friends Persons of such Improved Knowledge and Exquisite Judgment that it may perhaps be wonder'd how they should come to be so mistaken but you will be the less surprized when you consider That it was a mistake arising from those Virtues in them which are so Illustrious in your whole Society Friendship and Generosity However this Advantage I shall make of their kind Error to use it as an Admonition what sort of Person he ought to be and how well qualified who should pretend to the honour of being your Chaplain And thus far I hope I may assure you That what I want in Learning or Abilities I will endeavour by the Grace of God to make up and supply by Diligence and Probity and Zeal for the Service of God and of your Honourable Society in this Important Station in which your great Goodness has placed me I am MY LORD and GENTLEMEN Your most Obedient and most Faithful Humble Servant HENRY MAUNDRELL A SERMON Preach'd before the Levant-Company ECCLES Chap. VII Vers 16 17. Be not Righteous Over-much neither make thy self Over-wise Why shouldest thou destroy thy self Be not Over-much Wicked neither be thou Foolish Why shouldest thou dye before thy Time THESE words are the Counsel of the All-wise God deliver'd also to us by the Wisest of Men King Solomon And 't is well they come so Recommended since they may be thought to stand in need of so great an Authority to defend them from those Objections which every Man's Reason at first hearing is apt to suggest against them Be not Righteous Over-much neither make thy self Over-wise Is this like the usual Stile and Language of Inspiration Can those Lively Oracles of God's Word whose whole aim it is to advance us to the highest Degrees of Righteousness and Wisdom that our Nature is capable of so far contradict their own design as to bid us not be Over-wise or Over-righteous Can those Sacred Writings which in other places command us to be holy even as he that hath called us is holy Perfect as our father which is in heaven is perfect Here interpose a Caution against Over-much Perfection Or can there be any danger of our ever being Over-righteous the only Rule and Measure of whose Righteousness is to be taken from the Infinite Purity of God himself Where may a man be bold to exert his most Vigorous and Unconfined endeavour without all danger of running into any excess if not in his attempts after these excellent Endowments Wisdom and Righteousness Or admitting it were possible in the Nature of the thing that men could ever be Over-wise or Over-righteous yet where is the Necessity of their being caution'd against these Extremes Are they so Intemperate in their Applications to Wisdom and Righteousness that they need a Bridle to check their too Swift and Aspiring Zeal Do they bring in the Offerings of Righteousness in so vast a store as the Jews did of old their Contributions for the Service of the Tabernacle That it is requisite there should be a restraint laid upon their too profuse Liberality Exod. 36. Happy certainly were those Golden days of Solomon if Wisdom and Righteousness so abounded And have we not now reason to cry out Oh! that men would but be Wise and Righteous enough rather than to use this caution of Solomon Be not Righteous Over-much neither make thy self Over-wise Again Be not Over-much Wicked Is this also a command becoming the Purity of the Word of God Does the Divine Law allow us to be Wicked in a lesser Degree provided we are not Over much so Is Wickedness so harmless a thing in its own nature that like Wine it is forbid not in the use but only in the excess of it Or is there any measure of Sin that is but enough seeing all that we are here forbid is no more but only this Be not Wicked Over-much These are Exceptions that are apt naturally to arise in men's Minds against the words that now lie before us for what Degree of Righteousness or Wisdom can be so great that it may be condemn'd as Over-much or what Degree of Wickedness so little that it may be acquitted as not so It will be necessary for me therefore before I prosecute my Discourse any further to insist a little upon the Vindication of my Text and to explain it in such a sense as may not be liable to these Objections but more agreeable to the Holiness and Dignity of the Word of God whereof this is a part Tho I do acknowledge some Orthodox Commentators have interpreted these words only in a Moral sense and have so understood them that hereby the highest true Degrees of Righteouss and Wisdom cannot be in the least condemned but only the unreasonable Affectations and arrogant Ostentations of both and a censorious Pride and rigid severity toward other men arising from a Presumption of our excelling others in them Yet because I find divers other sound Interpreters have explain'd my Text in a larger and more Spiritual sense with reference to the principal Duties of our holy Religion I think it more proper for my present business in this Religious Assembly to consider it chiefly according to this latter Interpretation In order to which be pleased to observe That these words Righteousness and Wisdom are very frequently used in Scripture to denote not only those particular Virtues but the intire body of Religion with respect both to the Knowledge and Practice of it According to which sense he is a Righteous man who exercises a becomming Zeal in the whole practice of Religion and he a Wise man who is well instructed in its Principles and Mysteries But now if this
be the meaning of these words here in my Text how can the Preacher's prohibition be justify'd How is it possible for any one to be too Zealous in the Practice of Religion or too studious to make himself Wise and Knowing in the Principles of it I answer That it is true indeed the Knowledge and Practice of Religion are things of Infinite and Eternal Importance to us and do therefore both require and deserve to be made the Subjects of our most vigorous Zeal and Application But it is no less true also that there are certain Excesses and Irregularities which men are prone to fall into even in these most weighty concernments upon account of which they may be censured as Over-wise and Over-righteous For 't is a Maxim well known and approved amongst the Moralists That Virtue consists in a Mean or Mediocrity between two extremes and the holy Scripture suggests to us the same instruction when it recommends to us amongst its other Precepts the Duty of Moderation as a kind of Regulation and Government to be appli'd to all the other Offices of Virtue and Religion which rule of Moderation holds good in reference even to these most precious Qualifications of Wisdom and Righteousness There is a certain Measure and Government to be observ'd in our practice of them without which our very Wisdom will become absurd and our Righteousness impious According to that just censure of the Poet Insani sapiens Nomen ferat Hor. lib. 1. Ep. 6. equus iniqui Ultra quà m satis est Virtutem si petat ipsam For the illustration of which Principle in Morals we may borrow a resemblance from Natural things Our food we know if moderately taken is the nourisher and sustainer of our Life but if used unseasonably excessively irregularly it turns to our Disease instead of our Refreshment Physick when skilfully appli'd relieves the pains of the languishing Patient and repairs the decays of his ruinous Tabernacle but when used without due Measure Art and Regimen it takes part with the Disease which it was design'd to cure and under the pretences of a Remedy proves to be a Poison The natural heat of the Body when it is temperate and even and actuates the Blood with a regular Circulation is Health and Vigor and Life But the same Heat when it becomes feaverish and raging destroys that Body which before it animated and the Patient dies with the Excess of his very Vital Flame Thus in like manner Righteousness and Wisdom are the Food of the hungry Soul the Physick of the Sick and the spiritual Heat and Life of the Mind But then also if in relation to those so necessary Perfections we exceed the bounds of Sobriety and Moderation that Food oppresses that Physick poysons that Heat inflames and enrages our Souls Without that necessary mixture of Moderation our Righteousness degenerates into a Furious Zeal Superstition and Bigotry and our Wisdom into Prophaneness Presumption and undue Curiosity Now to restrain us from all these and the like excesses is the principal part of the Wise-man's Prohibition in the former Verse of my Text Be not Righteous over-much neither make thy self over-wise The other Branch of the Prohibition is Be not over-much wicked neither be thou foolish Which Words are not to be so understood as if they forbad only the higher degrees of wickedness and yielded an indulgence to sins of a lesser size For there can be no instance of Vice so inconsiderable either in its Measure or its Quality as to find any toleration allow'd for it in the Law of God But the being over-much wicked relates to the duration of Sin and not to the degree of it and forbids a long persistency and hardness in Wickedness and not only the more heinous and exorbitant acts of Impiety This Exposition is sufficiently warranted by the Septuagint Translation of this place in which the Word here render'd Foolish is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and properly signifies Hard and Obstinate according to which Interpretation we may best understand the Words of the Wise-man when he bids not to be over-much wicked neither to be foolish From this account which has been given of the Text we may now perceive that it contains in it no such strange and unwarrantable meaning as we were apt in our first thoughts to imagine Since it appears that the Prohibition here brought against over-much Righteousness and Wisdom tends not to discourage us from applying our selves vigorously and faithfully to those great and important Endowments but only to restrain us from those Excesses and Irregularities which we are apt to run into in such applications Nor is the Precept against over-much Wickedness intended to insinuate any such favourable opinion of Vice as if the lower degrees of it were harmless and allowable but rather to deter men from a long obdurateness and obstinacy in sin I shall observe therefore in the Text a Caution given by the Wise-man against Three dangerous Excesses The two former incident to the Good and Religious man the Last to the Wicked and Irreligious The Good Man Solomon cautions 1st Not to let his Zeal for Religion be immoderate and furious Be not righteous over-much 2dly Not to let his Enquiries into the Mysteries of Religion be too curious and presumptuous Neither make thy self over-wise Both which Cautions He backs with this Consideration Why shouldst thou destroy thy self The Wicked Man He warns against a long and obdurate Persistency in Sin Be not over-much wicked neither be thou foolish Which warning He enforces by this Argument Why shouldst thou dye before thy time These Three Cautions I take to be the principal and most useful matters contained in the Text And to illustrate them very briefly and enforce them by the Arguments annex'd to them will be as much as I shall be able to dispatch in the Time that is allow'd for my following Discourse I begin with the first of these Cautions viz. Let not thy Zeal for Religion be Immoderate and Furious Which is the Counsel implied in these Words Be not Righteous over-much This is Advice very seasonable to all men and at all times it being an universal Error too often in some measure visible in every Society and Party of men to be transported into an Excessive Zeal for the Patronage and Promotion of their own Persuasions Whatever Religion men have been train'd up in 't is natural for them to be fond of it afterwards That fondness will as naturally incline them to wish well to it That kind Wish to a Zeal and Endeavour for its Increase and Propagation And it must be acknowledg'd that this Zeal so long as it contains it self within the bounds of Sobriety and Moderation is so far from being culpable that it is a Charitable and Generous Disposition And indeed Religion is so near a Concern and so engaging that 't is impossible for a man who really has any to be indifferent towards it or not affected for its Honour and