The Cure of Church Divisions, Directions · Direction 20 – Direction 21
DIRECT. XX.
Be very suspicious of your Religious passions; and carefully distinguish between a sound and a sinful zeal; lest you should father your sin on the spirit of holiness, and think that you are most pleasing God, when you offend him.
WE are seldome more mistaken in justifying our selves than in our Passions: And when our Passions are Religious the mistake is both most easie and most perillous: Easie, because we are apt to be most confident, and not suspect them, the matter seeming so great and good, about which they are exercised. And Perilous, because the greatness and goodness of the matter, doth make the errour the greater and the worse. I have shewed before how easie it is, to think that our Religious passions, are all the works of the spirit of God; For we are apt to estimate them, by the depth and earnestness which we feel. But excellent persons have been here mistaken, as Iames and Iohn were. And not only so, but when the passion is up, the judgement it self is seldome to be far trusted; For it inclineth us to err in all things that concern the present business. Therefore still remember the difference between true zeal and false: And know that he that is upright in the main, and whose zeal for Christianity is sound, may yet have much zeal that is unsound with it.
First, It is an ill sign when your zeal is raised about some singular opinion which you have owned, and not for the common salvation and substance of the Christian faith or practise. Or at least, when your odd opinion hath a greater proportion of your zeal, than many more plain and necessary truths.
Secondly, when your zeal is moved by any personal interest of your own: By honour or dishonour; By any wrong that is done you, or any reputation of wisdome or goodness, which lieth on the cause. Or at least when your own interest hath too large a proportion in your zeal.
Thirdly, when your zeal is more for the interest of your party, than for the Universal Church, and the common cause of Godliness, and Christianity; and can be content that some detriment to the whole, may further the interest of the party.
Fourthly, when your zeal tendeth to hurt and crueley, and would have God rather to glorifie his Iustice by some present notable judgement; than his Mercy by patience and forgiving: And when your secret desire of fire from heaven, or some destruction of the adversaries is greater than your desire and prayer for their conversion. The sure mark of true zeal is, that it is zealous Love: It maketh you love your neighbours and enemies more fervently than others do: But false zeal: maketh you more inclined to their suffering; and to reproach and hurt them.
Fifthly, It is an ill signe when your zeal is beyond the proportion of your understanding: And your prudence and experience is as much less than other mens, as your zeal is greater. True zeal hath some equality of Light and Heat.
Sixthly, It is an ill sign when it is a zeal which is easily kept alive, and hardly restrained: For that sheweth the slesh and the Devil are too much its friends. The true zeal of the spirit doth need the fuel of all holy means, and the bellows of meditation, and prayer to kindle it: and all is too little to keep it up in the constancy that we desire. But carnal zeal will burn of it self without such endeavours.
Seventhly, It is an ill signe when some sect or false-teacher was the kindler of it; and not the sober preaching of the truth.
Eighthly, And it is an ill sign when it burneth in the same soul where lust and wrath and pride and malice burn; And when it prospereth at the same duplicate page duplicate page time, when the love of God, and a heavenly mind and life decay, The zeal of a sensualist, of a proud man, of a covetous man, of a self-conceited empty person, can hardly be thought a spiritual zeal.
9. And it is an ill sign w…en it carrieth you from the holy rule; and pretendeth to come from a spirit which will not be tryed by the Scripture: Or when it driveth you to use means which God forbiddeth in his Word: and putteth you upon ways which the sealed Law and Testimony condemn: It cannot be of God, which is against Gods Word.
10. Lastly, it is a suspicious sign, when it is contrary to the judgement, experience and zeal of the generality of the most wise, experienced, tryed, sober, godly Christians; and so to the ordinary working of Gods Spirit in other men, who are as good as you. For Gods Spirit is not contrary to it self.
By all these signs you may easily perceive, how the dividing zeal of a Sect as a sect, doth differ from the genuine Christian zeal. The one is a zeal for some singular opinion: The other is a zeal for Godliness and Christianity. The one is kindled by some interest of our own religious reputation: the other is kindled by the interest of the will and glory of God. The one is for the strengthning of a Party: The other is to increase the Church Universal, and promote the common cause of Christianity: even when some particular truth or duty is the Matter of it, yet the general cause of godliness is the end. The one is a burning, hurting zeal, even the same which hath made matter for so many Martyrologies, and frightful Histories, by inquisitions, torments, prisons, flames, massacre… and bloody wars: And the same which hath silenced so many faithful Ministers, and disturbed so many States and Churches: The other is a zeal of Love, which maketh men fervent in doing good to others: The one causeth men to revile and despise and censure and backbite, and zealously to make all dissenters seem odious, that the hearers may abate their love to them. The other maketh us value all that is good in others, and to hide their nakedness, and to make them better, and to provoke the hearers to love and to good works. The one tendeth to divisions and sidings and separations and distances from our brethren; and to feed contentions: The other is a zeal for unity, amity and peace. The one is the complexion of the weak, and childish, the proud, and self-conceited, the peevish and surly sort of Professours: The other is the zeal of solid knowledge, and of the prudent, humble, meek and well grounded sort of Christians. The one is a zeal which flyeth most outward, against the sins of other men, and can live with pride, and covetousness, and selfishness, and sensuality at home: such serve not the Lord Iesus, but their own bellies, Rom. 16. 16, 17. The other beginneth at home, and consumeth all these vices in the heart; and as zeal increaseth humility, and meekness, and love, and self-denyal, and temperance, and heavenly mindedness increase. The one is easily got and easily kept, and hardly kept under! O how easie is it to get and keep a contemptuous, censorious, backbiting, dividing or persecuting …eal! But the other is not so much befriended by Satan or the flesh, and therefore must be preserved by prayer and meditation, and very great diligence. How hard is it to keep up a zealous love of God and Man? and a fervour in all our heavenly and spiritual desires? Abate but your diligence and this will presently decay: when the fierce, contending, hurting, separating and persecuting zeal doth need no such fuel or labour to maintain it: The one is kindled by the enflaming censures of some rash and passionate Preacher, that knoweth better how to kill Love than to cause it; or by the singular conceits of some Sectary or Divider; or by the backbitings of some Do…g, or malicious Calumniator: The other is kindled by the humble, and heavenly preaching of the Gospel, and by the meditations on Christs example, and a study to imitate him and his Saints in patience, forbearance, fo…giving others and doing good. The one is a zeal which carrieth men from the Scripture, to pretenses of such revelations, and inspirations, and impulses as have no proof, but the feeling and fancy of the person: or at least, to abuse the Word of God, and plead it for that which it condemneth: It provoketh men to some unlawful pract…se, under pretense of misinterpreted texts, and of good ends and meanings. The other still putteth you upon good, and striveth against evil, and goeth for tryal of every cause to the Law and to the testimony. Lastly, the one is a zeal which pretendeth the spirit, and yet goeth contrary to the common workings of the spirit, in the most part of the best and wisest Christians. But the other is the common vital heat, which animateth all the body of Christ, and actualeth all his living members; and keepeth up love and holiness in the Church; and is the same in all humble heavenly Christians in the world. It will be of great use to you, in order to your own and the Churches peace, to understand and observe the difference between these contrary sorts of religious zeal.
DIRECT. XXI.
Lend not a patient ear to back-biters; much less must you hastily believe them when they speak ill of others: But shew your detestation of that sin, though they should be most religious people that use it, and do it upon a religious pretence.
I Do not say that it is always unlawful to speak that which is ill of another behind his back. Sometime wicked men will take occasion to justifie sin it self, by the advantage of a sinners name: And sometime they will magnifie the vertues of some wicked man, or of some of their sect, on purpose to cast reproach on godliness, or to make others odious by the comparison. Yet in such cases we must repress their malignity more by a defensive than an offensive opposition. But the usual course of back-biting in all sorts of men, is sinful. The back-biter (how great or learned or religious soever) is but the devils minister, to preach down the love of others, and to exhort you to hate your brother, or to abate your charity to him. And he that patiently hearkeneth to such, is a partaker of their sin. And he that believeth them, hath taken the infection. Most of our odious thoughts of others, and our false and uncharitable censures, do come in this way. For the most part, men censure and separate and persecute most, where they are acquainted least, but go by hear-say, and judge of men by back-biters mis-reports: And acquaintance and familiarity usually reconcileth them, and sheweth them their errour. You think it is a fair excuse for you, when you either believe or report evil of another, to say, that you heard it from very honest and religious, or reverend persons; or you heard it from many, and confidently uttered. But God hath not allowed you to receive back-biters, because they are godly, or because they are many. This very age and time doth experimentally confute this excuse: In which it is so common a thing, for false reports and news to be uttered with confidence, and that by multitudes, and many of them religious, and yet neither truth nor ground at all, for what is said. Back-biters, and haters of God are conjoyned Rom. 1. 30. He that back-biteth not with his tongue, nor doth evil to his neighbour, nor taketh up a reproach against his neighbour, is one that hath the mark of a Citizen of Zion. Psal. 15. 3. An angry countenance must drive away a back-biting tongue. Pro. 25. 23. Paul was afraid of that which we all now feel the evil of, even this evil spirit which I am now detectcting. 2 Cor. 12. 20. Lest there be debates, e…vyings, wraths, strifes, back-bitings, whisperings, swellings, tumults, and so God would humble him among them. Rebuke back-bitings and whisperings, or you will hardly avoid the rest of these iniquities. It may be the report which you hear may be all false: Or it may be it is some little matter made much greater than it is. Or it may be some part of the truth is concealed and some circumstance which would make it better understood. However, if it be true, when the reporter hath no call to speak it, or when the accused is not heard speak for himself, and you never heard what he hath to say, there is sin and injustice in the back-biter, the believer and reporter.