"thee." So that none could have been more fit to have been joined with Abel in this refpect.

But as probable as this looks, there are two very great objections against it. One is, that St. Matthew calls the Zacharias fpoken of by our Saviour, the son of Barachias; whereas this Zacharias flain by Joafh, was the fon of Jehoiada and though it be very confiderable, which St. Jerome obferves, that in the Hebrew, or Nazarene gofpel, it is Zacharias the fon of Jehoiada; yet it is hard to rely upon that, against all the Greek copies. But a more difficult objection, in my opinion, is, that our Saviour feems to defign to mention the two extremes, the first and last righteous man that was flain, and between them two comprehended the good men of all ages that were perfecuted and flain: and if fo, then that Zacharias in the Chronicles, who was flain fo long before, can by no means be the perfon.

There is yet a fourth Zacharias, mentioned by Jofephus, lib. 4. the fon of Baruch, (which is probably enough the fame name with Barachias), who was the last remarkable good man that was flain immediately before the fiege of Jerufalem; and that, as Jofephus tells us, in the midst of the temple: which agrees with our Saviour's defcription of it, between the altar and the temple; not the altar of incenfe, but of burnt-offerings, which was in the outward court, before the ascent to the temple. So that Grotius thinks this was the man intended by our Saviour, yet fo, that he does both allude to the hiftory of the former Zacharias, and foretel the death of this. And there is but one objection against this, that our Saviour speaks of this as already paft, whom you have flain; whereas this Zacharias was not flain till after our Saviour's death. But I think that a fatisfactory answer may be given to this, viz. that our Saviour, foretelling thofe future perfecutions which fhould fill up the measure of their fins, and bring final destruction upon them, he fpeaks of this as already paft; because, before that deftruction fhould come upon them, it would be true, they had flain him: fo that, fpeaking of the vengeance coming upon them, well might he fay, that upon them should come the blood of all the righteous men, from Abel to Zacharias, whom they had flain, &c.

III. The

III. The third difficulty remains; and that is, In what sense, and with what reafon and justice it is here threatened, that the blood of all the prophets and righteous men fhed from the foundation of the world, fhould be required of that generation. Some understand this more ftrictly; they fhould be charged with it, and formally punished for it; because, in imitating their cruel predeceffors, they should be guilty of all their cruelty. But there is no neceffity of this. All that our Saviour feems to intend is this, that their punishment in the destruction of Jerufalem fhould be fo horrible, as if God had once for all arraigned them of all the righteous blood that ever had been fhed in the world, and brought the punishment of it upon them; though in truth the punishment did not exceed the defert of their own fins. And if this be the meaning of it, there is nothing harsh and unreafonable in it. And thus I have explained, as well as I can, the feveral difficulties in the text. I fhall make two or three obfervations from the main scope and design of it, and fo conclude.

1. That it hath been the lot of holy and righteous men, in most ages of the world, to meet with very bad ufage, to be perfecuted and flain. The devil began this work early. When there were but three men in all the world, and two of them brethren, the one flew the other, because he was more righteous, and ferved God better than he did. And this trade hath continued, and been practifed, more or lefs, in most ages and generations of the world; as might be deduced through the hiftory of the Old and New Teftament, and of most ages fince though the rod of the wicked hath not always abode upon the back of the righteous, left at laft piety fhould be quite difcouraged, and the faithful fail from among the children of men. The people and the church of God have had many intervals of peace and profperity; and fometimes, for a long continuance, the favour and countenance of authority, and the powers of the world, and the laws of nations, on their fide.

But yet there is a continual enmity between the feed of the woman, and the ferpent; between the righteous and the wicked; between thofe that ferve God, and thofe that ferve bim not; because their ways are contrary one to ano

ther,

ther, and quite of another fashion; their principles and practices do contradict and clash with one another; the virtues of good men are continually upbraiding of the bad, a living reproof and reproach to them: fo that it is no wonder that evil men do fo violently hate and perfecute the good, and do by all means endeavour to remove out of the way those who are fo oppofite and offenfive to them.

2. We may obferve likewise hence, how great a fin they are guilty of, who perfecute the righteous, and how terrible a vengeance from God waits on them. Particular examples of this have been in all ages: but as the guilt of this fin never went higher, than at this time foretold by our Saviour, when God fent to the Jews fuch prophets, and wife men, and fcribes, and fuch a number of them as never upon any occafion were fent into the world, and they ufed them in that bloody and barbarous manner; no wonder, if the vengeance that came upon them was fuch as never had been before; and if, after they had filled up the measure of their fins, by crucifying the Lord Jefus, and perfecuting his apostles, and ftoning and killing all the prophets that were fent unto them, the wrath of God came upon them to the utmost, and fuch a terrible deftruction from the Lord, as never befel any people; infomuch that our Saviour, upon the forefight and mention of it, forty years before it happened, could not but weep over them, and exprefs himself in thofe compaffionate words, O Jerufalem, Jerufalem, thou that killeft the prophets, and stoneft them which are fent untò thee, how often would I have gathered thee as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, but ye would not! Behold, your houfe is left unto you defolate.

3. From this whole paffage of our Saviour which I have been explaining to you, we may learn how vain it is for men to pretend to honour the dead faints, when they perfecute the living. This was the great hypocrify of the fcribes and Pharifces among the Jews in our Saviour's time, and is at this day of the rulers and governors of the Roman church among us Chriftians; nay, they exceed the fcribes and Pharifees, not only in their veneration of the ancient faints and righteous men, but alfo, if it be poffible, in their malice and crucity towards VOL. IV.

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the living. For they not only build coftly monuments to their memory, which was the utmost the fcribes and Pharifees did, but they honour them with fhrines and rich offerings, with prayers and vows to them, more frequent than to almighty God himself, and our blessed Saviour. But then they hate and perfecute the living, with as great violence and cruelty as ever was used by any part of mankind towards one another. It is true, they do it under the notion of herefy; and fo did the fcribes and Pharifees too, as St. Paul witneffeth: After the way which ye call herefy, fo worship I the God of my fathers, believing all things that are written in the law, and in the prophets. So they call us hereticks, though we receive and believe all that is written in the holy fcriptures, only rejecting their additions, whereby they would make the commandment of God of none effect. And as Rome is parallel with Jerufalem in many other refpects, fo efpecially in the bloody perfecution of righteous men and as Jerufalem is charged by our Saviour with the blood of all the prophets and righteous men of all ages, fo St. John in the Revelation fays of Rome, that in her was found the blood of prophets, and of faints, and of all that were flain upon the earth, chap. xviii. 24.; which is no less true of Rome Chriftian, than of Rome Pagan. In all the churches and religions in the world, and perhaps in Rome Pagan herself, hath not so much innocent blood been fhed, as in Rome Chriftian and Catholick, and that under a pretence of religion: and no doubt there is a day coming, when fhe fhall be called to a heavy account for these things, when the heavens fhall rejoice over her, and the holy angels and prophets, because God hath avenged them on her..

SERMON

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SERMON LXXXII.

The danger of zeal without knowledge.

Preached Nov. 5. 1682.

ROM. X. 2.

I bear them record, that they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge.

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Here is nothing more commonly cried up than zeal in religion; and yet there is nothing in which men do more frequently and fatally miftake and mifcarry, and in the expreffions and effects whereof men ought to govern themselves with more care and caution. To fpeak the truth, zeal is, as all other paffions are, in its own nature indifferent, and of itself neither good nor bad, but according to the object and degree of it: for zeal is nothing elfe, but an earnest concernment for or against fomething, and a violent purfuit and profecution of it. For if it be applied to a right object, fo as we be earnestly concerned for things that are unquestionably good, and against things that are unquestionably evil, and in a due degree; that is, if the expreffion of it be proportionable to the lefs or greater good or evil of things; then it is a commendable quality or virtue: but if it be wrong placed, and we be earnestly concerned for that which is evil, and against that which is good, or about things which are of an indifferent or doubtful nature, as to the good and evil of them; or if we notoriously exceed in the degree of it, being more zealously concerned about things than they de ferve, and zealously concerned about leffer things, to the prejudice of greater; in any of these cafes, it is fo far from being a virtue, that it is a vice of a moft pernicious and mischievous confequence, and many times hath as bad effects as can proceed from the worst principle or difpofition of mind.

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