Serra. XXVIII. The Danger ofZeal, without Knowledge. 2o 5; Yet notwithftanding their Sinwas of this high Nature in it felf; yet it wasfonie mitigation of the fault of the Perfons, that they did thefe things out of an ignorant zeal, and rendred them more capable of the Mercy of God, upon their repentance. And upon this account our Saviour interceded with God for Mercy for them ; Ei- ther forgive then!, fbr they know not what they do. St. Peter alto pleads the faine in mitigation of their fault, A&s 3. 17. Andnow, brethren, Iwot that through ig- noranceye did it, as did alfo your Rulers. And St. Paul tells us, that hefound mercy, upon his repentance, on this. account, 1 Tim. i. t 3. But I obtainedmercy, .' becaúfe I did it ignorantly, and in unbelief But í1i11, for all this, wicked things' done out of Confcience andZeal for God, are Damnable, and will prove fo, with- but repentance. I Mall now draw force Inferences from this Difcourfe, by way of Applica- ton. I. If it be fo neceffarp, that our Zeal be directed by knowledge this (hews ús how dangerous a thing Zeal is in the weak and ignorant fort of People. Zeal is an Edg-Tool, which Children in utiderftanding fhould not meddle withal ; and yet it moft frequentlypoffeffeth theweakeft Minds ; and commonlyby how much the lefs knowing People are, bySo much the more zealous they are : And in theChurch of Rome, whereKnowledge is profeffedly difcouraged, and fiippreft in the common People, Zeal is mightily countenanced and cherilh'd. And they make great ufe of it; for this blind and furious Zeal, is that which infpires them "to do fuch Cruel and Barbarous things, as were hardly ever a&ed among the Heathen. Zeal is only fit for wife, Men ; but it is chiefly in Fafhion among Fools. . Nay it is dangerous in thehands of wife Men, and to be govern'd and kept in with a ftri& Rein ; otherwife it will tranfport them to the doing of Undue and Irregular things. Mófes, one of the wifeft andheft of Men, and molt likely to go- vern and manage his Zeal as he ought, and to keep aloof from all Excels and Ex- travagance, being thé nreeke/1 Man upon Eartb, yet he was fo furprifed, upon a fudden occafion, that in a fit ofzeal, he let fall the Two Tables of the Law, which he had but juft received from God, and. dafht them in pieces.' A true Emblem of an ungoverned zeal, in the tratfport whereof .even Good Men are apt to forget theLaws ofGod, and let them fall out of their Hands, and to break all the Obligations ofNatural and Moral Duties. . a. Fromhence we plainly fee, that. Men maydo the worft and wickedeft things,, out of a Zeal for God and Religion. Thus it was among the yews, who engroft Salvation to themfelves, and denyed the poffibility of it to all the world befides; and the Church of 1 ome hale taken Copy by them, as in an arrogant conceit of themfelves, fo in the. blindnefs, and fury, and uncharitablenefs öf their Zeal tó= wards all, who refufe to.fubmit to their Authority and Dire&ions. . And as the Teachersand Rulers of the 7ewifh Church did of old, fo do the Church of Rome now ; They take away theKey of Knowledge from the People, and will neither enter into the kingdom of . Heaven themfelees, nor jitffer thofe that would, to enter in. They Brand for Flereticks thofe who make the Holy Scrip- tures the Ruleof their Faith, and Worlhip ; as St. Paul tells us the Jews did in his Time, Abts 24. 14. After the way which they call Herefie, fo worfhip I the Godof my Fathers, believing all things which are written in the Law, _ and thé Prophets. They Eftablifh theMerit oftheir own Righteoufnefs, not fubmitting to the Righteoufnefs of God, by the Faith ofJefús Chrift. So St. Paul tells us the yews did, in the Verfe immediately after the Text; For they being ignorant of God's righteoufnefs, andgoing about to eflablifb.their .own righteoufnefs, have not fubmitted themfelves unto the righteoufnefs of God. ` And as the 'Jews Anathema- tiz'd and Excommunicated the firft Chriftians, and Perfecuted them to the Death, as our Saviour foretold, That the time would come, when they lhouldput them out of their Synagogues, yeaand kill them, thinking they didGódgood fervice ; fo the Church ofRome hath,' for manyAges, ufed the fìncere Profeffors ofthe faine Reli- gion, Perfecuting them, .firft with Excommunication; and then with Fire and Fag- got ; and with all the violence and fury in the World endeavouring the utter ex- . tirpation and ruinof them, by bloody Croifado's and a barbarous Inquifition, by tteache-
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy OTcyMjk=