The Scripture directory for church-officers and people, or, A practical commentary upon the whole…

¹That those men who defile the Church of God with corrupt Doctrines, do highly provoke God to punish them.

1. 1Observ. Of defiling Gods Church with errors.Observ. Of defiling Gods Church with errours.

The Text is an Argument à minori ad majus: If the defilers of the material Temple did not escape Gods punishments, as Athaliah for profaning the Temple, and Belshazzar the holy vessels of the Temple; then much less shall they escape, who pollute the Church of God by any such falsehoods: And we read that our Saviour did in this show his anger, and wrought a miracle by way of indignation; and another particular, namely cursing the fig-tree. In these two cases did Christs miracles tend to destruction or punishment; all the other were full of mercy and healing. For when they had defiled the Temple, and made it a den of thieves; twice our Saviour made a whip, and scourged them out, which Hierom doth admire, as a greater miracle than any other our Saviour did, that a man unarmed and contemptible, should chase away such a multitude of men, and in that matter of their profit, making no resistance, but barely asking, By what power he did these things? No doubt the City of Jerusalem was then guilty of many ⟨p. 217⟩horrible and grievous crimes of injustice, adulteries; but Christ takes no notice of that, but goeth presently to the Temple, to reform there; and this is attributed to the godly zeal that was in him, which did even eat him up, John 2.17.

The Text is an Argument à minori ad majus: If the defilers of the material Temple did not escape Gods punishments, as Athaliah for prophaning the Temple, and Belshazzar the holy vessels of the Temple; then much lesse shall they escape, who pollute the Church of God by any such falshoods: And we reade that our Saviour did in this shew his anger, and wrought a miracle by way of indignation; and another particular, namely cursing the fig-tree. In these two cases did Christs miracles tend to destruction or punishment; all the other were full of mercy and healing. For when they had defiled the Temple, and made it a den of thieves; twice our Saviour made a whip, and scourged them out, which Hierom doth admire, as a greater miracle than any other our Saviour did, that a man unarmed and contemptible, should chase away such a multitude of men, and in that matter of their profit, making no resistance, but barely asking, By what power he did these things? No doubt the City of Jerusalem was then guilty of many