The Zealous Christian

Simeon Ashe (d. 1662) was a puritan minister of the Gospel and a member of the Westminster Assembly. Samuel Rutherford described him as, "gracious and zealous."From Revelation 3:19, "Be Zealous," Ashe divides his work into 8 parts. Part 1 explains the text expounding on what Christ means in being zealous. Parts 2-3 describe how zeal is to be exercised for good, and how it is to be exercised against evil. His main objective comes to light in parts 4 and 5, dealing with those who are not...
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Simeon Ashe (d. 1662) was a puritan minister of the Gospel and a member of the Westminster Assembly. Samuel Rutherford described him as, "gracious and zealous."From Revelation 3:19, "Be Zealous," Ashe divides his work into 8 parts. Part 1 explains the text expounding on what Christ means in being zealous. Parts 2-3 describe how zeal is to be exercised for good, and how it is to be exercised against evil. His main objective comes to light in parts 4 and 5, dealing with those who are not zealous, and then teaches the motives by which Christians may be provoked to seek the increase of holy zeal in their life. In part 6 he covers the means to be used for obtaining zeal, with hindrances to be avoided, and then demonstrates all Gospel administrations, being rightly used as a means to increase true biblical zeal. In part 7 he gives nine rules to guide Christians to improve zeal in their life, and then ends in part 8 with an incitement to magistrates, ministers and private Christians to improve zeal, especially seen in not profaning the Sabbath, attendance on sacred ordinances, and that ministers may be encouraged to perform their duties for the betterment of the church and nation.True regenerate Christians should be taking heaven by storm, violently seizing the Kingdom of God by force, and pressing into the Kingdom with all their might. Yet, though there are those who glorify Christ in their religious zeal through obedience to the revealed word, there are also those who perform external religious acts remaining still unconverted. Those who are living under the eminent means of grace but possess a superficial affection to the things of God are called Gospel hypocrites, and their zeal is fake. They introduce a form of godliness but deny the power of God, and so the Apostle Paul says that, "from such turn away," (2 Tim. 3:5). Ashe heartily desired to see the people of God in his day transformed by the power of the Holy Spirit towards a heated zeal for the means of grace.