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{Sermons on Ephesians 5:15
The Doctrine Explained}
Beloved, I am entering into a discourse about a sort of people of whom we may say with those Jews, “Concerning this sect, we know that it is everywhere spoken against” (Acts 28:22). We may also say with the apostles that they “are made a spectacle to the world, to angels, and to people” (1 Corinthians 4:9). Concerning them, Heaven and Earth are divided, and the world is divided within itself. These are those of whom God says, “The world is not worthy,” and the world says, “They are not worthy to live.” God says, “They are the apple of my eye,” and the world says, “They are an eyesore.” God accounts them His jewels, and people deem them the filth of the world and the refuse of all things. God says they are sons of wisdom, and the world says they are fools. And as God and people are so divided, likewise people are no less divided among themselves. Concerning these, some few say, as they said about Christ, “They are good people.” Others say, “No, they are deceivers of the people.” A Precisian, to most people, has become a proverb of reproach and a mark of infamy. To be a drunkard, a fornicator, or foul-mouthed is no reproach in comparison to being noted for a Precisian.28
28Lest the reader think this only applied to Alleine’s time, please consider the following: The term Precisian was notably applied to the English Puritans. The reader should consider how “Puritan” is often a term of reproach today. But, impartial history shows that, with all their faults, on the whole they were godly Christians. (This applies to those who were not hypocrites (pretenders), but only those who were Christians in their born-again hearts.)
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