and if they can excommunicate them and throw them out of the Church and kill them they think this is acceptable service to God All this is blind zeal Rom. 10. 2. The Apostle saith they have a zeal of God but not according to knowledge therefore there must be light as well as heat in this fire else it is not the fire of the Altar but of a common-hearth nay we must not only know the truth but also the worth of the Cause The Truth of the Cause that must be guided still by wisdom and we must observe all the seasonable circumstances in discovering our selves for God else it will produce strange evil and malignant effects which tends much to the dishonour of God and prejudice of the Gospel Look as a blind horse that is full of mettle but is always stumbling so they never act commendably and seasonably The Church of God hath had bitter experience in all ages of the sad effects of misguided zeal when it hath not been seasoned with knowledge and discretion to time things it hath tended much to the hindrance of Christ's Kingdom and the promotion of Satans interest in the World Christ in one place bids us to be wise as Serpents Math. 10. 16. And in another place not to give that which is holy to Dogs nor cast Pearls before Swine Matth. 7. 6. Otherwise we unprofitably sacrifice our selves and hinder the good which we would promote It was a grievous thing to Paul and prest upon his spirit to see all Ephesus given to Idolatry and mightily affected with Diana's Worship yet we read Acts 19. 10. He was two years at Ephesus before he spake against Diana he observed his season before he took the liberty and thought himself bound to speak against that false worship The Historian tells us of Andes a Persian Bishop that was under Varrans that having an unguided zeal got some Christians together to destroy the Temple of Fire which the Persians worshipped saith Theodoret not as he ought to do and what 's the issue Varrans the Emperour that was formerly favourable to the Christians when he saw they affected Power and would destroy the worship of the Country what then He was filled with cruel persecution he skinned the backs of some of the Christians and the faces of others drew splinters through their flesh used horrible torments which the Historian takes notice of and it conduced to the total suppression of the Christian Religion Therefore this wild-fire when it runs abroad without discretion and not being seasoned with Prudence it doth a world of harm to the Church of God We must observe the time circumstances and when it is most behoovful for the Glory of God the good of the Church and Cause we would promote See Videlius lib. 1. cap. 1. 2. This zeal also must be mingled with Compassion that as we mind the glory of God so we may pity deluded Souls When we are zealous against the sin we must have Commiseration of the sinner as knowing the weaknesses and prejudices of Education that are incident to humane nature This is to be sure most agreeable to Christs pattern he wept over Ierusalem that stood in a state of enmity to him Luke 19. 41. And when he was angry with the unbelief of his Country-men at the same time he was grieved at the hardness of their hearts Mark 3. 5. In Christs anger there was more of Compassion then of Passion And Samuel he mourned for Saul when he saw him no more 1 Sam. 15. 35. And the Apostle when he had zealously declaimed against the false Teachers he falls a weeping Phil. 3. 18. When we shew Love to God there should not be a hatred and ill will to the Persons of men but bewail their obstinacy and blindness Those that are all for Destruction and ready to call for Fire from Heaven they know not of what spirit they are of they have a fiery zelotick spirit but that which doth not become the temper of the Gospel 3. Zeal must be Constant Gal. 4. 18. The fire on the Altar must never go out we cannot be without it for a moment There are some that have a zeal for a fit but soon grow weary of it they are zealous in prosperity then they are forward and active for God but when it comes to trouble they give up all to oppositions On the contrary others in their Affliction and Low estate they have a warm sense of Religigion but when they are well at ease they are lost in the delights of the Flesh and drowned in the cares of the World and their zeal for God is checked And we see that some in their youth have a good savor and towardliness and seem to have a very tender Conscience but after their first heats are spent they are very careless and grow inordinate and all their zeal for God is gone Gal. 5. 7. Ye did run well who did hinder you that ye should not obey the Truth David was as zealous when the Crown was upon his head as when God humbled him and kept him low Many think zeal a cumber as they increase in worldly wisdom and so cast it off Nay in gross hypocrites you shall find this they will be zealous in good Company and as vain and loose in bad Let any grave servant of God be there they seem to kindle a great fire but assoon as they are gone they put it out again I but true zeal should always continue and be of a lasting and of an encreasing flame 5. To speak of the Private and Personal use of zeal what need we have to keep up a warm frame of heart towards God and heavenly things hitherto we have considered it as it respects Gods publique Interest it 's also of private use both in resisting of sin and perfecting holiness in the Fear of God 1. In resisting of Sin A man never doth any thing to purpose in purging out sin until he hath a zeal for God Rev. 3. 19. Be zealous therefore and repent Repentance is set on and quickned by zeal Doth zeal think you serve only to rectifie the disorders of other Men and not our own No certainly we should begin at home we should take care that God be exalted in our own hearts as well as his interest be not infringed in the world First our Saviour adviseth us to pluck out the beam out of our own Eyes Matth. 7. 5. Unless we be blameless our selves we can have no confidence or hope to do much good to others The first stone should be cast at our selves we should repent of our own sin our own lusts the plague of our own Heart if any thing we are apt to allow that is contrary to God this should be a great grief to us Unless we cleanse our own unclean sinks at home how can we hope for Reformation abroad Men cry out against publique vices as the Lapwing will croke abroad to draw off the Person from her own
offence Christians what Religion is it you are of Is it not the Christian Religion whose great interest and work it is to draw you off from the concernments of the present world unto things to come The whole drift and frame of the Christian Religion is to draw mens hearts off from earthly things and to comfort and support them under the troubles inconveniences and molestations of the flesh therefore for a Christian to hope an exemption from them is to make the doctrine of the Gospel as incongruous and useless as to talk of bladders and the art of swimming to a man that never goes to sea nor intends to go off from the firm land 3. A great occasion to shake the faith of many is Scandals the evil practices of those that profess the name of God O! when they run into disorder especially into all manner of unrighteousness and iniquity and cruel things and make no conscience of the duties of their relations as subjects as children and the like it is a mighty offence and we that have to do with persons and sinners of all sorts find it a very hard matter to keep them from Atheism such stumbling blocks having been laid in their way Scandal's far more dangerous than Persecution There are many that have been gained by the patience courage and constancy of the Martyrs but never any were gained by the scandalous falls of professors Persecutions do only work upon our fear which may be allayed by proposal of the Crown of life but by scandalous actions how many settle into a resolved hardness of heart In crosses and persecutions a man may have secret likings of truth and a purpose to own it but by scandal She dislikes the way of God of Religion it self it begets a base and vile esteem thereof in the hearts of men so they are loose and fall off And this mischief doth not only prevail with the lighter sort of Christians but many times those which have had some taste it makes them fly off exceedingly Matt. 18. 7. There will be offences but wo be unto them by whom they come Christ hath told us all will not walk up to the Religion they own therefore we must stand out against this temptation Secondly Be fortified within by taking heed to the causes of apostasie and falling off from the truth either in judgment or practice What is there will make men apostates 1. Ungrounded assents A choice lightly made is lightly altered When we do not resolve upon evidence and have not taken up the ways of God upon clear light we shall turn and wind to and fro as the posture of our interest is changed First we must try all things then hold fast 1 Thes. 5. 21. Men waver hither and thither for want of solid rooting in truth they take up things hand over head and then like light chaff they are driven about with every wind of doctrine Eph. 4. 14. Half conviction leaveth us open to changes Iames 1. 8. A double-minded man is unstable in all his ways A man that seems to have a faith concerning such a thing then seems to have a doubt concerning such a thing sometimes led by his faith at other times carried away by his doubts If we have not a clear and full perswasion of the ways of God in our own minds we shall never be constant 2. Want of solid rooting in grace that is rooted in faith Col. 2. 7. or rooted and grounded in Love Eph. 3. 17. as to both it is said Heb. 13. 9. It is a good thing that the heart be established with grace that is by a sound sense of the love of God in Christ. A sweet superficial tast may be lost but a sound sense of the love of God in Christ will engage us to him O! we have felt so much sweetness and have had such real proof of the goodness of Christ that all the world cannot take us off The more experience you have and the deeper it is the more you will be confirmed The most of us content our selves but in a superficial tast When we hear of the doctrine of salvation by Christ we are somewhat pleased and tickled with it but this is not that which doth establish us but a deep sense of God's grace or feeling the blood of Christ pacifying our Consciences this is that which establisheth our heart and setleth us against apostasie 3. Unmortified lusts which must have some error to countenance them By an inordinate respect to worldly interests we are sure to miscarry A man governed by lusts will be at uncertainty according as he is swayed by the fear or favour of men or his carnal hopes 2 Tim. 4. 10. Demas hath forsaken us having loved this present world If a man hath love to present things if that be not subdued and purged out of his heart he will never be stable never upright with God It may be he may stand when put upon some little self-denial for Christ he may endure some petty loss or some tender assault I but at length the man will be carried away as Ioab that turned after Adonijah though he turned not after Absolom 1 King 2. 28. there will some temptation come that will carry them away though at first they seem to stand their ground as long as lust remains unmortified in the heart 4. Sometimes a faulty-easiness As there is an ingenuous facility The wisdom that is from above is gentle and easie to be entreated Jam. 3. 17. so there 's a faulty easiness when men cannot say nay when they change their Religion with their company out of a desire to please all and Camelion-like they change colour with every object Some are of such a facile easie nature soon perswaded into great inconvenience This faulty-easiness always makes bold with God and conscience to please men when we are of this temper Jer. 38. 5. The King is not he that can do any thing against you It is not a good disposition but baseness and pusillanimity It is observed of Chrysostome though a good man in the main yet he ran into many inconveniences why because he was through simplicity and plainness of his nature easily to be wrought upon Therefore though a good man in regard of the sweetness of his temper and converse should be as a Load-stone yet he should be also resolute and severe in the things of God Paul though they did even break his heart they could not break his purpose 5. Self-confidence when we think to bear it out with natural courage and resolution as Peter did Though all men forsake thee yet will not I. We are soon over-born and a light temptation will do it God gives men over that trust in themselves For the Lord takes it to be his honour to be the Saints Guardian to keep the feet of his Saints 1 Sam. 2. 9. He will be owned and depended upon 6. There 's an itch of Novelty when men are weary of old truths and
of famine come unto thee in thy land or wilt thou flee three months before thine enemies while they pursue thee or that there be three days pestilence in the land Iohn Baptist to Herod Mat. 14. 4. It is not lawful for thee to have her Iehu to Iehosaphat 2 Chron. 17. 2. Shouldest thou help the ungodly and love them that hate the Lord therefore is wrath upon thee from before the Lord. Many times they are impatient of Truth as Ahab could not endure Micajah 1 Kings 22. 8. And the King of Israel said unto Iehoshaphat There is yet one man Micajah the son of Imlah by whom we may inquire of the Lord but I hate him for he doth not prophesie good concerning me but evil c. Iosephus lib. 8 cap. 10. Theodoret lib. 4. cap. 30. 2. If convented before them in a judiciary way as the Three Children were before Nebuchadnezzar Dan. 3. 13. Then Nebuchadnezzar in his rage and fury commanded to bring Shadrach Meshach and Abednego and they brought these men before the King And ver 16 17 18. They answered and said to the King Oh Nebuchadnezzar we are not careful to answer thee in this matter if it be so our God whom we serve is able to deliver us out of thine hand O King but if not be it known unto thee O King that we will not serve thy gods nor worship the golden Image which thou hast set up Mat. 10. 18 19. Te shall be brought before Governours and Kings for my sake for a testimony against them There are some Kings that have not submitted their Crowns and Scepters to the King of Kings so Pagans and wicked Princes who can neither endure the Truth nor those which profess it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Children of God ought not to be daunted by any Power and Fear of Princes Their Power may be a Terror to us and in other cases ought to be reverenced by us but it should not be a snare to us to make us desert our Duty to God We must never forget the Honour put upon them by God they bear his Image and in all lawful cases we acknowledge God's Authority in them they are those by whom God will govern us but if any thing be decreed against God we onely urge our Obedience to the Lord Paramount Acts 21. 19. Peter and Iohn answered and said unto them Whether it be right in the sight of God to hearken unto you more than God judge ye Acts 5. 29. Then Peter and the Apostles answered and said We ought to obey God rather than men 2. The latter Branch needeth little explaining What shall we observe 1. If I should take the first Reference and urge the Duty of Kings and Princes that would be unseasonable for this Auditory It is a preposterous Soloecism to preach to the People the Duty of Kings and then to Kings the Duty of their People as foolish a course as to make Fires in Summer and adorn the Chimney with Herbs and Flowers in Winter 2. If I should speak of the second Reference the Clemency of the Government we live under maketh it unseasonable also For our King whom God preserve hath often avowed his Resolutions against Persecution for Conscience sake Therefore waving all other things I shall onely insist upon two Points which are necessary partly to shew the Excellency of our Religion which we profess partly to guide our Practice 1 Doct. That nothing is so necessary for Kings Princes and Magistrates to know as God's Testimonies 2 Doct. That God's Testimonies are so excellent that we should not be afraid or ashamed to own them before any sort of Men in the World Of the first briefly 1 Doct. That nothing is so necessary for the Potentates of the World to know as God's Testimonies The King of Israel was to write a Copy of the Law of God in a Book and to have it ever before him that he might read therein and learn to fear the Lord his God Deut. 17. 18 19. And therefore Iosiah one of the good Kings which God gave unto his People searched for the Book of the Law 1 Kings 23. 2. The Reasons concern them if considered both as Men and as Potentates 1. As Men. 1. They are upon the same level with others and are concerned to understand the way of pleasing glorifying and enjoying God as much as their meanest Subjects for it is said Iob 34. 19. He accepteth not the person of Princes nor regardeth the rich more than the poor for they are all the works of his hands God dealeth with them impartially respecting the Greatest no more than the meanest He hath an equal Interest in all and therefore doth command and dispose of all for all are his Creatures not exempted from being subject to his Dominion As the Potter is not more obliged to Vessels of Honour than of Dishonour As his Law bindeth all so all that continue in impenitency and the neglect of his Grace are obnoxious to the Curse of the Law It is general to all Transgressors Cursed is every one c. And if God should lay their Sins home to their Consciences and speak to them in his wrath they can stand before him no more than the meanest Rev. 6. 15 16. And the kings of the earth and the great men and the rich men and chief captains and the mighty men and every bondman and every freeman hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains and said to the mountains and rocks Fall on us and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb. 2. The higher their Station the greater is their Obligation No sort of Men more obliged to God than those that are advanced by him to rule over his People therefore their Ingratitude would be greater if they should sin against God 2 Sam. 12. 7 8 9. I anointed thee king over Israel and I delivered thee out of the hands of Saul and I gave thee thy masters house and thy masters wives into thy bosom and gave thee the house of Israel and of Iudah and if that had been too little I would moreover have given thee such and such things Wherefore hast thou despised the commandment of the Lord to do evil in his sight Their Sins do more hurt because of their Example and Authority Iob 34. 20. 2. As Rulers and Potentates they are concerned to be acquainted with God's Testimonies 1. That they may understand their Place and Duty They are first God's Subjects then his Officers They have their Power from God Rom. 13. 4. For he is the minister of God to thee for good They hold their Power in dependence on him both Natural their Strength and Force Thou couldest have no power unless it were given thee from above John 19. 10 11. Legal their Authority or Governing Power they hold it in dependence upon the Absolute and Heavenly Sovereign who is the Lord of lords and King
and slender Obedience that we yield to his Law should have such respect and acceptance with him as to be recompenced with so much Peace and Comfort and Protection and so many Blessings Lord what am I and what is my Fathers House Oh what a good Master have we When the Saints are Crowned they cast their Crowns at the Lambs Feet Revel 4. 10. We hold all by his Mercy Luke 17. 10. When we have done all we are unprofitable Servants not in complyment but in truth of heart we are unprofitable Servants That God should respect us 't is not for the dignity of the Work but merely for his own Grace 2. 'T is of use that we may justify God against the Reproaches and Prejudices of carnal Men who think God is indifferent to Good and Evil and that all things come alike to all that 't is in vain to be strict and precise that there is no Reward to the Good Mal. 3. 14. 'T is in vain to serve God and what profit is it that we have kept his Ordinances Yea the Temptation may befall God's own Children and be forcibly born in upon their Hearts Psal. 73. 13. Verily I have cleansed my hands in vain We think all is lost labour Now to produce the sweet Consolations of God and his temporal Supplies and the manifold Blessings bestowed upon us 't is a good stay to our Hearts and inables us to justify God against the Scorns and Reproaches of the World 3. 'T is of use of check our Murmurings If we indure any thing for God we are apt to repine and pitch upon that evil we receive from his hand passing over the good A little evil like one Humour out of order or one Member out of joint disturbeth the whole Body so we by poring upon the evil we endure pass over all his other Bounty Mal. 1. 2. Wherein hast thou loved us God cannot indure to have his Love suspected or undervalued and yet People are apt to doe so when Dispensations are any thing cross to their desires and expectations But now 't is a great check to consider that if we have our Troubles we have also our Consolations and we should rather look upon the good that cometh to us in pleasing God than the temporal and light Afflictions we meet withall in his Service Iob 2. 10. Shall we receive good at the hands of God and not evil 4. 'T is an encouragement to us in well-doing the more proofs and tokens we have of his Supportation We are wrought upon by the Senses as Ier. 2. 19. Thine own wickedness shall correct thee and thy backslidings reprove thee see what an evil and bitter thing it is to forsake the Lord and 23 verse See thy way in the valley and know what thou hast done As Parents when their Children smart for eating raw diet they upbraid them with it It is for eating your green Fruit So doth the Lord come to his People Now you see the evil of your doings So on the contrary it doth ingage us to strict walking to see how God owneth it So doth God appeal to us by experience Have I been a Land of darkness to you or a barren Wilderness Jer. 2. 31. And Micah 2. 7. Do not my Words doe good to them that walk uprightly Look about you survey all your Comforts did Sin procure these Mercies or Godliness have you not found sensible benefit by being sincere in my Service Object But is this safe to ascribe the Comfort and Blessings that we have to our own Obedience is it not expresly forbidden Deut. 9. 4. Say not in thy heart for my righteousness hath the Lord brought me to possess the Land Answ. 1. David doth not boast of his Merits but observeth God's Mercy and Faithfulness in the fruits of Obedience There is his Mercy in appointing a Reward for such slender Services Gal. 6. 16. As many as walk according to this Rule peace and mercy be upon them All the Comfort we have is from Mercy yea undeserved Mercy Those that walk according to this Rule stand in need of Mercy Their Peace and Comfort floweth from Mercy they need mercy to cover the failings they are conscious to in their walkings And then consider his Truth and Faithfulness the Reward of well-doing cometh not by the worthiness of the Work but by virtue of God's Promise His Word doth good to them that walke uprightly Micah 2. 7. God hath made himself a debtor by his Promise and oweth us no thanks for what we can doe 't is onely his gracious Promise Answ. 2. David speaketh not this to vaunt it above other men but to commend Obedience and to incourage himself and invite others by remembring the Fruits of it There is a great deale of difference between carnal boasting and gracious observation Carnal boasting is when we vaunt of our personal worth gracious observation is when for God's Glory and our Profit we observe the fruits of Obedience and the Benefits it bringeth along with it That God never gave us cause to leave but to commend his Service and by what we have found to invite others to come and taste that the Lord is gracious The Use is to incourage us in the Wayes of the Lord and keeping of his Precepts 't is no unprofitable thing before we have done we shall be able to say This I had because I kept thy Precepts Two things God usually bestoweth upon his People a tolerable passage through the World and a comfortable going out of the World which is all a Christian needeth to take care for here is onely the place of his Service not of his Rest. 1. He shall have a tolerable passage through the World A Child of God may have a hard toilsome Life of it but he hath his mixtures of Comfort in his deepest Afflictions he hath peace with God that keeps his Heart and Mind and this maketh his passage through the World tolerable because God is ingaged with him 1 Cor. 10. 13. Faithfull is he that hath called you who will not suffer you to be tempted above what you are able to bear He is freed from Wrath and hath his discharge from the Curse of the Old Covenant he is taken into favour with God and hath as much of temporal Reliefe as is necessary for him his Condition is made comfortable to him 2. A comfortable passing out of the World Isa. 38. 3. Remember O Lord saith Hezekiah I have walked before thee with an upright heart When you lie upon your Death-beds and in a dying hour how comfortable will this be the remembrance of a well-spent and well-imployed Life in God's Service They that wonder at the zeal and niceness of God's Children when they are entring into the other World they cry out then oh that they had been more exact and watchfull oh that they might die the death of the Righteous They should live so Men then have other Notions of Holiness than ever they had before
three concurr in Elijahs speech Kings 1. 19. 10. I have been very jealous for the Lord God of Hosts there 's his zeal why for the Children of Israel have forsaken thy Covenant there 's his Truth perverted they have thrown down thy Altars there 's his Worship overturned they have slain thy Prophets with the Sword there his Servants are wronged So that zeal mainly is concerned when God suffers loss in any of these things if his Truth be perverted his Worship overturn'd his Servants be despitefully used vexed and grieved then zeal presently shews it self in opposing these things or in grieving for them 1. Zeal seeks to preserve the Truth of God inviolable Truth is a precious depositum Trust and Charge which God hath committed to the keeping of his People and without zeal to defend and propagate and maintain it though with the greatest hazard it will never be kept and you will never be faithful to God We are a kind of â—…offees for the present age and Trustees for the future and the charge of Gods Truth is put into our hands and we must see it be transmitted to the World pure and undefiled therefore Iude ver 3. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 We must contend earnestly for the Faith which was once delivered unto the Saints When others would violate the Truth we must contend with them Ier. 9. 3. They are not valiant for the Truth A Christian needs not only the labour of an Ox that he may be diligent but the valour of a Lion that he may appear for God in defence of his Truth when it is invaded and inâ—…roached upon and especially doth this concern the Officers of the Church this zeal they should have for the word Titus 1. 9. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 holding fast the faithful Word The word signifies to be good at holding and drawing that is when others would wrest it out of our hands we should hold it fast as a staff that an other would take out of our hands we hold it faster and wrestle with him so should we wrestle contend and hold fast the truth when others would draw it from us And Phil. 1. 27. Striving together for the Faith of the Gospel O! we should not let one dust of truth perish This is to be zealous for the Truth standing to and striving for the defence thereof in our way and place If God had not raised up zealous Instruments in every Age to plead for his Truth what a sad case would the Church have been in Truth would have been buried under a great heap of prejudices and Christs Kingdom have been crusht in the very Egg and Religion strangled in the cradle But there 's a cloud of Witnesses gone before us in every age God sets up some of all Sexes Ages Conditions that have owned his despised and oppugned Truths and have not counted their lives dear so as they might give their testimony to the Truth of God Rev. 12. 11. and have more greedily embraced Martyrdom then Others honours and dignities in the Church as Sulpitius Severus observes they have with greater desire affected the glory of Martyrdom and Suffering for the Truth that they might be faithful to God and the Souls of Men in future Ages and to preserve Gods Truth inviolate they have greedily sought this honour to suffer for God And Ignatius he could say come saith he I desire the Beasts that are prepared should be let loose for me it is better to dye for Christ then to command the ends of the Earth And Basil when the Arrian Emperour threatned those that did oppose his Religion should dye the Death the wild Beasts let them be let out would to God it were so that I had the honour to dye for the Truth of Christ This was notably for the encrease of Christs Kingdom and thus the Lord hath inspired his people with a Holy Love and Zeal 2. For his Worship that that may not be corrupted but his Institutions kept Pure Zeal is conversant about that too Exod. 20. 5. Thou shalt not bow down thy self to them nor serve them for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God In the first Commandment God forbids a false God in the second he forbids the false Means of Worship as before the false Object Now because the Means of Worship are apt to be perverted the Lord shews how jealous he was for his Worship I am a jealous God if the Institutions of God be perverted then I will visit the iniquity of the Fathers upon the Children unto the Third and Fourth Generation of them that hate me The Children are considered in that Commandment because usually the interest of Families is our great snare when an Idol is set up or a false means of Worship the chiefest false worship is an Idol and the greatest sin is put for all the rest before an Idol the Imagination or Invention of men when that is set up The Lord speaks of the interest of Families because men are apt to think they shall undo them and their Families if they contend in this matter Now be you zealous of my worship for I will visit the iniquity of the Fathers upon the Children That the interest of Families might not abate our zeal the Lord takes the Family into the Curse for the violation and likewise into the Blessing for zeal for his Institutions And so Christ saith Iohn 2. 17. The zeal of thy house hath eaten me up We should be zealous for Gods Worship Ministers they should Preach zealously and Magistrates govern zealously to purge Gods house and Christians pray zealously every one of us as far as the bounds of our calling will permit should be zealous for Gods Worship Quis comeditur zelo Domus Dei saith Austin Who is he that is eaten out with the zeal of Gods house He that desires that no humane invention may be blended and mixed with Gods Worship and would fain amend what 's amiss This zeal is the only right and acceptable Principle of Reformation our great indignation against all false worship whatever I remember the story of Valentinian who was afterwards Emperour when according to the duty of his place being Captain of the Guard to Iulian the Apostate and Emperour he was engaged to attend him into the Heathen Temple of Fortune and the Priests were to sprinkle the lustrating and holy-water for that Ceremony was common to the Heathens with the Papists and a drop of it lighted upon Valentinian he struck the Priest that did it and said thou hast defiled me thou hast not purged me he thought his garments to be contaminated and not his body sanctified and he tore off his Belt renounced his honour rather then he would do any thing that should be contrary to his Religion and for this Iulian sent him into banishment and within a year and few Months the story tells us that he received the reward of his holy Confession and owning of Christ the Roman Empire For the