corrupt humour; so in the spiritual. So that nothing doth so much keep men out of the church, and drive men out of the church, as breach of unity. And therefore, whensoever it cometh to that pass, that one saith Ecce in deserto,[1] another saith Ecce in penetralibus;[2] that is, when some men seek Christ in the conventicles of heretics, and others in an outward face of a church, that voice had need continually to sound in men's ears, Nolite exire,— Go not out.[3] The Doctor of the Gentiles[4] (the propriety[5] of whose vocation[6] drew him to have a special care of those without) saith, If an heathen come in, and hear you speak with several tongues, will he not say that you are mad?[7] And certainly it is little better, when atheists and profane persons do hear of so many discordant and contrary opinions in religion; it doth avert[8] them from the church, and maketh them to sit down in the chair of the scorners.[9] It is but a light thing to be vouched[10] in so serious a matter, but yet it expresseth well the deformity. There is a master of scoffing, that in his catalogue
- ↑ "Behold, he is in the desert." Matthew xxiv. 26.
- ↑ "Behold, he is in the secret chambers." Matthew xxiv. 26.
- ↑ "Go not forth." Matthew xxiv. 26.
- ↑ The Apostle Paul is the 'Doctor of the Gentiles.' In Acts xxii. 21, Paul relates how he was specially called to his apostleship among the Gentiles: "And he said unto me, Depart: for I will send thee far hence unto the Gentiles."
- ↑ Propriety. Peculiar quality, especial concern.
- ↑ Vocation. Calling in life.
- ↑ "If therefore the whole church be come together into one place, and all speak with tongues, and there come in those that are unlearned, or unbelievers, will they not say that ye are mad?" I. Corinthians xiv. 23.
- ↑ Avert. To turn from; to repel.
- ↑ "Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful." Psalms i. 1.
- ↑ Vouch. To bear witness to; to confirm.
