[Sidenote:  Ser. 41. in Can. 49.]

[Sidenote:  Acts 2.]

Christ is sayd to lead his Spouse into the wine-cellar:  which Simily Bernard delighting oft to repeat, in two or three Sermons interprets of a speciall measure of zeale inspired into his Church.  Thus (saith hee) Christ led his Disciples into the wine cellar on the day of Pentecost; and filled them, and the house with such zeale as they came forth like Giants refreshed with wine, and seemed to the people as men drunke with new wine.

[Sidenote:  Heb. 1. 7.]

It is to the soule, as wings to the foule:  this also is a Scripture embleme to picture the Angels with wings, as in the hangings of the Temple, and in the visions of the revelation, in token of their ardent and zealous execution of Gods will:  whence also they have their name Seraphim; hee maketh his ministers a flame of fire.

To this fire and these wings, which we in the Lords prayer desire to imitate, there is nothing in us answerable but our zeale; as wheeles to the charriot:  which makes us not goe, but runne the wayes of Gods Commandements, and so runne that we may obtaine.  As sailes to the ship, and winde to the sailes, to which alludes the phrase so frequent in Scripture, Plerophorie.

As courage to the souldier, mettle to the horse, dust to the ground, which makes it bring forth much fruit, yea an hundredfold:  vivacity to all creatures.  To conclude this, this is that celestiall fire which was shadowed out unto us by that poore element in comparison, and beggarly rudiment, the fire (I meane) of such necessary use in the law, which rather then it should be wanting, the Lord caused it to descend from heaven, that it might cause the Sacrifices to ascend thither againe, as a sweet incense unto the Lord, without which no burnt offering was acceptable.

The Second Part.

But now, as then, there are certaine false fires, abhominable to God, odious to men, dangerous to the Nadabs and Abihues that meddle with them, bringing thereby coales upon their owne heads, & ill favor upon all their services; & not onely so, but that which is worse, an ill report and surmize even on those that offer the right fire, & serve the Lord in spirit and truth:  yet for their sakes is the name of zeale blasphemed all the day long.

Against these, as then, so now severe caveats and cleere distinctions must bee laid, lest such as have not their senses exercised to put a difference, mistake poysonfull weedes for wholesome hearbes, to their owne destruction; and for the sake of the one, revile the other to the wrong of God and his Saints.

It fares not otherwise with the soule then with the body:  besides the native & radicall heat, the principall instrument of life, there are aguish and distempered heats, the causes of sicknesse and death.

To discerne of those, requires some skill and judgement:  yet a good Empirick, a Christian of experience will give a shrewd ghesse at them, the easier & the better if he marke these following signes and symptomes, common to all the kinds of false zeale, here also following.