The works of the reverend and faithful servant of Jesus Christ M. Richard Greenham,…The workes of the reuerend and faithfull seruant af Iesus Christ M. Richard Greenham,…

AS Zeal can never be sufficiently commended, so much less may it effectually be persuaded to many: howbeit, that we may shadow out some Anatomy thereof, let us first see how God commendeth it, then how he rewardeth it, that so we may the more freely with greater authority speak of the thing it self. What is the use of the first four Commandments, but that we should with zeal worship the Lord? The first precept chargeth all men charwith¹ the matter of God his worship, showing what it is. The second² geth us with the manner, prescribing how we must use it. The third imposeth on us³ the right end of his worship, and teacheth why we must do it. The fourth commandment⁴ pointeth the time, and instructeth us when we must solemnly profess and exercise this worship of God. Concerning the large promise offered to pure zeal, what is greater than that the Lord should bind himself to advance them into the chair of honour before all the world, who will honour him? Again, that he will defame⁵ them most surely with some notable mark of infamy that dishonour him: yea, and he will vomit them up as a loathsome burden, to testify his utter misliking of them. First now let us consider how true zeal beginneth in our selves, and taketh his proceedings⁶ to others. For never can that man be zealous to others, which never knew to be zealous to himself. And as zealous men in their ascendent begin at themselves, and go to others; so in their retrograde they come from others, & end in themselves. If we consider the zeal of Abraham, Moses, Joshua, Samuel, Daniel, Jehoshaphat, Hezekiah, we shall never see expressly in the word, that at any time they were more zealous to others than to ⟨p. 256⟩themselves. We see on the contrary, how it hath been a fearful note of hypocrites, and such as have fallen from the living God, that they have waded very deeply into other mens possessions, & gored very bloodily into the consciences of others, who never once purged their own unclean sinks at home, no drew one drop of blood out of their