^m H£C. NOV 1881 theologioil| '^, PRINCETON, N. J. i",^^^.. Division Section j^^ C/ . Number \/.\ fc-r DISCOURSES ON SEVERAL Important Subjects. To which are added, EIGHT SERMONS PREACHED AT THE Lady MOTER's Lecture, I N T H E Cathedral Church of St. Pmd, hondon. IN TWO VOLUMES. By JEREMIAH SEED, M.A. Redlor o[ Enham in HmnpJJnre, and late Fellow of ^een*s-Coliege, Oxford. The T H I R D EDITION, with Correaions and Amendments. VOLUME II. LONDON: Printed for R. Man by and H. S. Cox, on Ludgate-HHly over-againft the Old Baily. MDCCXLVII. CONTENTS O F T H E SECOND VOLUME. SERMON I. THE Notion of Pride ftated, and the Pretenfions to it examined. Romans XII. 3. Not to think of himjelf more highly than he ought to think^ but to think Joberly. P. i . SERMON II. On the Advantages of Afflidtion. Psalm LXXVII. 3. When I am in Heavi?ieJSy Iv)ill think upon God. 33 SERMON III. On Faith, Benevolence, G?r. I Timothy I. 1 9. Holding Faith J and a good Conjcience, 6 3 SERMON IV. The Nature and Duration of future Pu- ni(hments confidered; and theGoodnefs of God fully vindicated, as to that Ar- ticle, againft the principal Objections of fome late Writers. Matthew XXVI. 24. It had been good for that Man, if he had not been boriL^^^r^^^^^^^^^M^ 95 y^^Tp^^^. SER. f ntC. NOV 1881 \ The CONTENTS. S E R M O N V. The Nature, Poffibility, and Truth of a particular Providence Tet forth. Psalm CXIII. 5. Who is like unto the Lord our God, who hath his Dwelling Jo high j and yet hunibleih himfelf to behold the T'hings that are in Heaven and Earth ? P* ^ 3 i SERMON VI. The intrinfic Excellency of the Scriptures, a Proof of their divine Infpiration. I Peter III. 15. Be ready always to give an Anfwer to every Man that ajketh you a Reafon of the Hope J that is in you.- 167 SERMON VII. The intrinfic Excellency of the Scriptures, a Proof of their divine Infpiration. I Peter III. 15. Be ready always to give an Anfwer to every Man that ajketh you a Reafon of the Hope, that is in you, 203 Eight SERMONS On the Evidences- of Chriilianity, the Cor- ruption of our Nature J the Redemption, and the Trinity. SER- The CONTENTS. SERMON I. On the Truth of Chriftianlty. John III. 2. Rabhiy we know that thou art a Teacher come from God : For no Man can do thefe , Miracles^ that thou doeji^ except God be with him. P. 2 3 7 SERMON II. On the Evidences of Chriftianity. John III. 2. Rabbi ^ we know that thou art a Teachen come from God: For no Man can do thefe Miracles^ that thou doefl^ except God be with him. 265 SERMON III. On the Genuinencfs and Infpiration of the Sacred Writers. I TH£Sb. II. J 3. When ye received the Word of God ^ which ye heard of us ; ye received it not as the Word of Men J but (as it is in Truth) the Word of God. 291 S E R M O N IV. On the Corruption of human Nature. Job XIV. 3, 4. Doji thou open thine F^yes updn fuch an One^ and bringejl me into 'Judgment with thee? Who can bring a clean Thing out of an Un- clean ? Not one. 331 S E R- The CONTENTS. SERMON V. On the Redemption. I Peter III. i 8. ■Chrift alfo hath once fiifered for Sins, the fufi for theUnjiiJi, that he might bring us imtQ God. P. 359 SERMON VI. On the Redemption. I Peter III. i8. Chrift alfo hath once fufferedfor Sins, the Juji for the Unjuji, that he might bring us unto God, 385 SERMON VII. On the Dodlrine of the Trinity. Matthew XXVIII. 19. Go ye therefore, and teach all Nations^ baptizing them in the Name of the Fat her ^ and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghoft, 417 SERMON VIII. On the Dodtrine of the Trinity. Matthew XXVIII. 19. Go ye therejore, and teach all Nations^ baptizing them in the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghoft, 443 SERMON SERMON I. The Notion of Pride ftated, and the Pretenfions to it examined. Romans XII. 3. Not to think of himjelf more highly than he ought to think^ but to think foberly , IT IS a common Obfervatlon, thatsgRM. i. however forward Men maybe to re-' pine at the unequal Portion, which God has allotted them of worldly Bleffings j yet they are generally well fatisfied with their Share of inward Endowments : it being as hard to meet with a Perfon, who humbly thinks he has too little Senfe and Merit, as it is to find one, w^ho fancies he has too great Riches and Honours. What makes Men uneafy in their Cir- cumftances, is that they are continually fel- ting to View the bright Side of themfehes, and the dark Side j^J;hek Qjnilition in Life > Vol. II. ^^^^^^oi^^^cr^^.. the ,B£C. NOV 1881 THSOLOGIC: ' I'he Notion of Pride Jlatedy the firft to find out their own Grievances, and the laft to difcern their own Faults and Follies. Whereas if they took a contrary Method, they would perceive, that God had been kinder to the Worft of Men, than the very Beft of Men could deferve. Self-Love is a Paffion interwoven in our Frame and Conftitution > and if it be not kept under due Regulations, Self- Conceit will be the neceflary Effedl of it. For fince we are apt to believe, what we wifh to be ttiie i is it a Wonder, if we over-rate thofc Perfedions, which we have, and imagine ourfelves polTeft of thofe, which we have no Title to ? In our Youth Plea fu re has often the Afcendant, in the Middle of our Age Am- bition ; and Avarice brings up the Rear at the Clofe of Life. But this Vice, of which I am fpeaking, attends too many of us from the Cradle to the Grave : we being equally vain, whether we purfue Pleafure, Honour or Wealth: The Mafter Paffion of the Soul is the fame, though it's Servants arc often changed according to the different Stages of Life. For this Reafon the Apoftle ufhers in the Words of my Text with a peculiar Em- phafis a7ii the Pretenfions to it exajnined- 3 phafis and Force. For I fay, according to ^^^'^- ^• the Grace given tinto me to every one among you, not to think ofhimfelf more highly than be ought to think, but to think foherly . In which Words St. Paul advifeth us, that inftead of viewing ourfelves in that en- gaging Light, which the lervile Flattery of others, or our own affuming Vanity (our greatell: Flatterer of all) might place us in, we iliould endeavour to fOrm a true Elli- rriate of our Worth, or in the Words of the Text, think foberly. Among the many Imputations, which We are willing to faflen upon thofe whom we have an Averfion to, that of Pride is, I think, one of the mofl common. Now, if we would examine the innermoft Recefles of the Mind, I doubt we fhould often find, that our own Pride is the Caufe, why we tax others with it. Men elate with the Thoughts of their own Sufficiency are ever imagining, that others are wanting in their Regard to them, and therefore very apt to conclude, that Pride mufl be the Caufe, why they with-hold from them that Re- fpedt, which they have an unqueflioned Right to in their own Opinion. Of this we have a pregnant Inftance in Scripture : Tou B .2 take 4 ' He Notion of Pride flat ed^ Sera*. I. fake too much upon you ^ faid Corah dinA his Accomplices, when they themfelves were taking too much upon them, and invading the Province of Aaron. Hence it is, that their Charader feldom efcapes the Brand of Vanity, who have the Fortune to be pofTefl: of thofe Accomplifhments, which would make their Detradors vain. But before we afperfe others with this Cenfurc, let us confider what Pride is, and corredt our Miftakes about the Nature of it. In the following Difcourfe I fliall there- fore Ift ftate the Notion of Pride. Wdly, Confider the Unreafonablenefs of this Vice. I^then, lam to ftate the Notion of Pride. Our Happinefs, as well as Knowledge, arifes from Senfation and Refledion j and may be reduced to thefe two Articles, 'uiz. that of pleafing Senfations, and that of agreeable Thoughts. Now as to a Defire of indulging the former without Check or Control, are owing Luft, Drunkennefs and Intemperance j fo from a Defire of in- dulging the latter beyond Meafure, Pride takes it's Original. And it is very remark- 3, able. and the Pretenfions to it examined* 5 able, that thofe, who moft deny them- Serm. I. {^Xwts plea/ijtg SenfationSy will be, except they are very much upon their Guard, apt overmuch to indulge agreeable RejieSliom upon themfelves. In Proportion as they refift the coarfer Self-indulgences, the more refined and fpiritual Vices will gain an eaiier Entrance. Juft as fubtle and thin Matter finds Admittance and fills up the Vacancy, where Bodies of a grofler Contexture can- not penetrate. Pride fprings from a partial View of ourfelves, a View of the bright Side of ourfelves, without balancing again ft it our numerous Imperfedions and Defe the x^ccount of accidental Differences ; if, for Inftance, being a Man of a large Com- pafs of Thought and deep Penetration he {hall defpife another, becaufe he is of a dul- ler Apprehenfion or perhaps an Idiot. For it is to be confidered, that the Soul is of the fame Kind in Both, equally great as to all eflential Qualities in the one as in the other ; and the only Superiority he has con- fifts perhaps in a finer Contexture of the Brain, or a livelier Flow of the Animal Spirits : which is plain from this ; that an Accident or a Difeafe fliall reduce a Man of the moft diftinguifhed Senfe to the Con- dition of a Natural. And it would bejuft as reafonable to defpife a Man, becaufe He could not work as well as we with wretch- ed Inftruments ; as to contemn a Man, be- caufe He cannot reafon as well with a Body incommodiouily formed for Thinking : The Body being an Inftrument to the Soul in Thinking. The Soul of one Man is lodg- ed as it were in a commodious lightfom Manfion, where it can command a fpaci- ous Profpe6t, and take in Variety of Ob- jeds ; and the Soul of another may be pent up as it were in a dark Dungeon, where there are few or no Inlets of Knowledge. But and the Pretenjions to it examined, 9 But when this earthly Tabernacle {hall be^^RM- 1- diffolved, and the Mind enlarged, they will, both oi them, be upon an ^equal Foot. When that Knowledge which is in Part Jhall be done away, and that which is per- fe6l is come j a Man of the duUeft Appre- henfion fhall perhaps be in a Moment wifer, than the grcateft Scholar after a Life laid out in painful Refearches can be here. So little Reafon is there to lay great Strefs up- . on thofe^m^^;^/^/ Differences which di- flingui(h one Man from another ; at the fame time that it is Ingratitude to God, as well as falfe Humility, to depreciate hu- man Nature in general. Pride then is, as the- Text exprefleth it, the I'hinking too highly of ourfelves. It is an over- weening Conceit of our Dignity, founded upon fome real or imaginary Supe- riority to our Neighbours : which, when it exprefleth itfelf in an imperious and over- bearing Carriage, and a commanding Mien is called Haugjitinefs ; and is generally the Fault of a narrow Education : Whereas Men of an enlarged Converfation give into a more delicate Pride, which can never en- joy itfelf, but when it is fo artful, as to conceal itfelf under the Mafk of Humility. The 7%e Notion of Pride fiat ed^ The Generality of Mankind confider only the Surface of their A(ftions, without ever founding the Depths of their Heart, and tracing the inward Workings of the Soul. Indeed we cannot but be fenfible of the vio- knt Emotions and Agitations of any Paflion j but the ftiller and gentler Movements oft efcape our Notice. Thus when Pride be- comes fo enormous, as, in the Words of a judicious Writer *, *' to make Men ufe *■ their Servants, as if they were Brutes, *^' their Inferiors as Servants, and their ** Equals as Inferiors j" Men muft be blind to over-look this Vice in others, or even in themfelves. But when it conceals itfelf under ftudied Difguifes and Refinements, it will, except we are very attentive, elude our Obfervation. To give fome Inftances, a Perfon is perhaps very liberal : but while he does not examine the Principle of his Liberality, he fhall not perceive, that Pride is often the Source of it, that he only makes an Exchange of Money for Glory, and difpenfes his Favours, becaufe he va- lues the Vanity of Giving, more than the Thing, which he gives. Another mif- takes the Affability of the Gentleman, or * Hooker'iVfotks, Page 520. Mar* and the Pretenjions to it examined, 1 1 Man of the World, for the Humility of ^j^ the Chriftian. Whereas he ought to con- fider, that we oft beat down thofe Vices which are flagrant and glaring, by others which are fecret and out of Sight. Thus we often get the better of Intemperance not by a virtuous Principle, but merely by a paffionate Fondnefs for long Life, by the Fear of Death or by Avarice. Thus we ofcen facrifice our outward Pride to an in- ward one. We keep in our Infolence, be- caufe a fupercilious and contemptuous Treat- ment of others would only make us con- temptible. But Affability and a Compla- cency of Behaviour opens us a PafTage to the Hearts of Men, and gains us an advan- tageous Situation in their Minds. It may be a more artful Manner to engage that Refpedl which we feem to decline. Men of this Turn may be very affable, not to do Honour to others, but as they take Af- fability to be an Honour to themfelves. It has been obferved, I fuppofe, by way of Compliment to the prefent Age, that one Vice at leaft, viz. that of Hypocrify, feems to be banifhed from among us : But alas ! unJefs we could divert human Nature qf it's WeaknefTcs, no Vice will ever be quite 1 2 T^he Notion of Pride ftated^ Serm. I. quite extincft, though it may appear under another Form. Thus a religious Hypo- crify feems indeed in fome Meafure to be no more : But in the Room of it, there has flarted up a genteel and polite Hypo- crify, a certain Decency of Behaviour, which, by putting on the Appearances of every Virtue, prevents the Reality of any. What is foul and loathfom in each Vice, Men muft keep out of Sight, unlefs they w^ould be public Nufances : But then they only part with it*s outward Deformity, without any Amendment of the Heart. Nay fome, I believe, confound the Ideas of Politenefs and Morality. They miftake the Aver* verfjon, which they have inthemfelves, to whatever is ill- bred, unfeemly and offenfive in any Sin, for a genuine Love of Good- nefs : They imagine that to be a Virtue^ which is only Vice refined. The more a Man knows of the World, the more fenfible he will be, that he muft conceal the odiom Part of Pride, unlefs he would be odious him/elf. But then he may retire into himfelf to cherifli each fa- vourable and delightful Idea of his own Worth, that fooths and flatters his Vanity, fhutting out all humbling and mortifying Reflections, and the Pretenfions to it examined. 1 3 Refledions, that like fo many plain-dealing Serw- l- Friends would put him out of Humour with himfelf, by fuggefting to him unwel- come, though neceflary, Truths. And yet this is the very Eflence of Pride. For Humility confifts in the inward Frame and Difpoiition of the Mind, in a right Judgment, in the main, of ourfelves: It is when we afcribe the Glory of our Ac- tions to God alone, who gives us Power to adl ; like polifhed Veffels, which refled: back again the Rays of Light which they receive, inftead of abforbing, imbibing and detaining them. It is to have a deep Senfe that God created us out of Nothing, and that Sift reduceth us to a State worfe than Nothing without the Mercies of God, and the Me- rits of our Saviour. Though there may be a Sincerity with^ out Humility, yet a Simplicity of Manners is a necelTary Ingredient of it. For there ]$ a Difference between Simplicity and Since- rity ; or, in other Words, a Man may be very fincere without any Simplicity: He may not be ambitious to be thought what he is not ; yet be too oftentatious of what he is : Unable to wait till others difcover, he is impatient to difplay his own Perfedtions with all t4 The Notion of Pride fiatedi ?^lij ^ ^^ Advantages which Art and Addrefs can give them. Whereas Simplicity is free from every Alloy of Vanity, or any Thing of a fhevi^ifh Nature ; it fhines forth with natural and unfludied Beauties, is not puffed up, feeketh not it's own^ the Praife that is due to it ; and it's chief Ornament is, that it does not afFed: any. And yet the true Sublime of Life, as well as of Writing, con- fifteth in the Simple. For noble Adions and noble Qualities, like noble Thoughts, fupport themfehesy they have an inherent Greatnefs and a native Luftre, which needs not foreign Pomp and borrowed Ornaments. Nothing does them more Harm, than fet- ting them olf too much and over-charging them with Decorations. To obviate Miflakcs and to remove Scru* pies, it will be neceflary to obferve that Pride is not merely to think favourably of ourfelves : For then indeed Pride, as fome late Authors have maintained, would be an univerfal Vicej every Body being, more or lefs, biafled in his own Favour. But Pride is to think yo favourably of ourfelves^ as to exclude a modeft Diffidence of our- felves, and a falutary Senfe of the Num- ber of human Frailties, the Imperfe(5lion of 2 ouf and the THunJlons to it exafiilned* 1 5 our Virtues, the Malignity of our Crimes, Serm. T. and our Dependance on God for every Thing good in us Sind for us. A Man may think himfelf fomewhat wifer and better than he is ; who, notwithftanding, may have an humble or low Opinion of himfelf upon the Whole, as being far from thinking himfelf wife and good enough : far from thinking that hejlandeth colledted in himfelf, and therefore needeth not take Heed^ left he fall, A Man may not imagine himfelf quite io faulty as he is j (for who can tell how oft he ofhzdeth? ) who yet may defer ve the Charader of an humble Man ; if, at the fameTime,thathe endeavoureth to improve in Virtue, and get clear of every prefump- tuous Sin ; he ftrives to detedl, and begs of God to clean fe him from, his fecret and unfufpeded Faults. Pride is a Vice or mo- ral Evil : And nothing can be Evil, any further, than it is in it's genuine Tendency produdive of Evil. But what evil EiFeds w^ould an Opinion too favourable of our- felves be attended with j provided it did hot rife to fo high a Pitch, as to make us think prefumptuoufly and fecurely of our- felves, contemptuouily and uncharitably of our Fellow- Creatures, and behave irreve- rently 1 6 l7)e Notion of Pride fiatedy Serm^i.^ rently and ungratefully to our Creator ? It is, I doubt, almoft impoflible to hold the Balance exactly even without the leaft In- clination to our Side 5 it is impoflible for us, who are Parties, to pafs Judgment on ourfelves with the ftridt Rigour of Juftice without the leaft Partiality, without any favourable Softenings and Allowances : All, that can be expedled from us, is, what I believe every wife and modeft Man doeth, liiz, that looking around us and confider- ing how apt every Man is in fome Degree to over-value himfelf, we learn from hence to entertain and cherifh a conftant Sufpicion and Mifgiving, that we do fo too : which Mifgiving difpofeth us to look deeper into ourfelves, to truft not fo much to our own Abilities, as to our Vigilance and Circum- fpedtion, and God's Blefllng upon us, and to make our humble Application to him, that he would look well^ if there be any Way of Wickednefi in m^ and lead us in the Way everlajling. Having thus ftated the Nature of Pride, I proceed, Wdly^ To fliew the Unreafon- ablenefs of this Vice. And this I fhall do, by examining our Pretenfions to Pride. Arc and the Pretenjtons to it examined. 1 7 Are we proud of Riches ? Riches can- Serm. I. not alter the Nature of Things, they can- not make a Man worthy, that is worthlefs in himfelf : They may command an infipid Complaifance, a formal Homage, and ce- remonious Profeflions of Refpecfl, and teach a fervile World to fpeak a Language fo- reign to their Hearts j but where a Large-^ nefs of Soul is wanting, they can never procure an affectionate Efteem, grateful Sentiments, and an undiilembied Love, the willing Tribiiteofa generous Heart to Merit only. The Value of the Eflatemay be very great ; but that of the Man is not at all greater ; if he does not employ his Eflate as the great Engine to procure mo- ral Pleafures, and to do benevolent Offices. And if it be true Wifdom to think that early y which we muft: think at laft; let us now be convinced, which we fhall certain- ly be hereafter, that there is nothing truly valuable, noble and manly, but the good Senfe to know our Duty, an hearty Incli- nation to pra(5life it, and a determinate Steadinefs to perfevere in it to the End : That the only true fubftantial Greatnefs is rightly to apprehend, affe(5tionately to wor* fhip, and diligently to imitate our hs^ven- VoL. n. C ly I 'the Notio7i of Pride flat ed^ Serm. I. ly Father. The Unthinking may be car- ried away with Appearances, inftead of Reahties ; but the Judicious fhould confi- der Things intrinfically, and think him the greateft, who ftrives, as much as in him lyes, to make others happy by his Benevo- lence, good by his Example, and wife by his Inftrudtions. Do we value ourfelves upon our Power ? No ; what is remarked by fome Body or other, is a great Truth, i^iz. That there is no Good in Power, but merely the Power of doing Good. Upon our worldly Pru- dence? Thofe, who are acquainted wih Hiftory know, how often the beft-laid De- figns have proved abortive. Among all the Maxims of worldly Prudence, this is one of the beft, 17/2^. That we ihould en- deavour to difcover the reigning Paffion in every Man, whom we would manage ; and when v/e have found out that, we have got a Handle to turn him, which Way we pleafe. But then every Man, belides his reigning Paffion, has his particular Caprice or Humour, which will make our Mea- fures often mifcarry. Befides, no one Paf- fion is perhaps the perpetual DiBator : No, our Heart is rather a little Com??wjiwealth ; where a72d the Pretenjions to it examined » 1 9 where they govern us with an alternate S^'^'^_^'j Sway, and fometimes our Ambition, fome- times our Anger, fometimes our Fear or fome other Afte^^ion is uppermoft. Human Pohcy therefore muft be uncer- tain, becaufe Man, who is the Subjed: of it, is fo uncertain, wavering and incon- ftant ; and there can be no fixed and ftated Maxims topleafe and manage fo changeable and in confident a Creature • But we may by certain and unchanging Rules gain the Love of that Being, with whom there is no Variablenefs^ neither Shadow ofl'urning. No Prudence therefore but the Spiritual, viz. To pleafe him who is the fame ye/ierday^ to-day ^ afid for ever, can be certain. Are you proud of your diilinguidied Vir- tue ? He who is proud of diftinguifhed Abilities, Learning and Wealth, is not the lefs able, learned and wealthy, becaufe he is/Tczi;^ of them. But he, who h proiid of diftinguiOied Virtue^ ceafeth to be vir- tuous, by his being fo. For the Man that is pleafed with any Degree of Virtue, mere- ly becaufe it is uncommon, would be forry, if what he values himfelf upon, as a fm- gular Mark of Diftindion, fl^ould become C 2 common^ 20 He Notion of Pride Jiated^ Serm. I. common, and all Mankind fliould rife to the fame Eminence as himfelf in Morality. Now this Temper argues a Want of Bene- volence, and, confequently, of Virtue. It (hews a mean, narrow, felfifli Turn of Mind, to triumph in any extraordinary Attainment, folely becaufe it is peculiar to us, or confined to a feleft Few : A truly generous, benevolent, and virtuous Spirit would wifh, that All were not only aJmofl, but altogether fuch as he isy and be the hap- pier in himfelf, if the Bulk of Mankind were Partakers of that Happinefs which refults from Virtue. Befides, thofe, who feldom ad or think, nobly, may be proud of what they fo fel- dom think or adt. But to thofe, who conftantly entertain great Thoughts, and do noble Adlions, to them they are become io familiar J that they make no great Impref- fans u^on them. At the fame Time, that they rife above the common Level of Ac- tion, they think they do nothing but what js common j becaufe nothing but what is commonly done by them. The Favours, which you cannot receive without warm Emotions of Joy and Gratitude, they can beftow with great Coolnefs and Unconcern- Q ednefs. andthePretenJiom to it examined, 21 ednefs. Becaufe, though to receive fuch^^'^^^^' Favours is fomething unufual to you ; yet to do them is nothing new to them. The more virtuous any Man is, the more modeft and unpretending he muft be. He muft be fenfible of the numerous Dif- orders which lurk within, of his fickly Ap- petites, and the Corruption of his Heart ; and how often the precarious Light of Rea- fon, that Catidle which God has lighted up in his Mind, has httn put out by fome fud- den Gujl of Paffion. If a Child could read thofe foolifh, vain, wicked Imaginations, which the beft of us have fometimes in- dulged ; we fhould be afhamed to look him in the Face, and be out of Conceit with ourfelves : And yet we do not fome- times ftifle them immediately ; though we know that He, whofe tremendous Majefty fills the whole Compafs of Heaven and Earth, cannot but be privy to them, and difcern the fecret Meditations of our Heart. The Knowledge of the Greateft of Beings, who underfiandeth our Thoughts long before^ hath lefs Influence, than that of the fillieft of Mortals would have, fuppoiing he could know the inward Workings of the Soul. We are not worthy to approach C 3 Him, 2 2 The Notion of Pride Jiated^ Serm. I. f^ini, vvho dwelleth in iinapprodchable Glo- ry, but through the Merits of our Re- deemer. We could not expert any In- ftances ofGoodnefs from a Being lefs than infinitely good. And yet, notwithllanding our many Im- perfections, I queftion whether, upon a Suppofition that all of us were to be the Judges andRewarders of our own Merits; thi^ World would be half large enough, -that every one might take a little. Several other Words muft be taken in, to recom- penfe us, as we think, fully, and adjuft the Rewards to our imaginary Deferts. He who thinks, that he has no Weak-' neffes to fubdue, either wholly or in Part; no virtuous Habits to acquire, or, at leaft, to improve and perfe6t ; he who, in fliort, thinks himfelf quite good enough ; proves, by the very Thought, that he is not fo. Then our Salvation is mod in Danger, when we difmifs all Appreheniions about it. But if Virtue (human Virtue) affords no jufl: Grounds for Pride ; much lefs does hu- man Knowledge^ which bears no Propor- tion to our Ignorance. The greateft and the leafl Objecfts equally bafBe our Enqui- ries. Too great and difproportioned an a ^ Objea and^ the Pretenjions to it examined, 2 3 Objedl embarrafles and overfets the Under- S^'^'^- ^- ftandingj too little an one eludes and efcapes it. It is God alone ^ whofe Al« niighty Power, nothing is lb great that it can encumber ; whofe infinite Wifdon^, no- thing is fo little that it can efcape. Pre- fumptuous Man ! wouldft thou underftand the Manner in which three Perfons exift in the fame unbounded Eflence? Before thou ftrivcft to fathom the Nature of the Great- eft of all Beings ; hrft, if thou canft, comprehend how the leajl of Beings exift Animals a hundred Times lefs than a Mite, Myriads of fuch Animals, as can only be difcerned by the Help of Glalies. If the whole Body be fo minute, as to be un- difcoverable by the naked Eye ; how much lefs the Limbs, of which that whole Body is compounded ? How much lefs ftill the Nerves, the Veins, the Blood in thofe Veins, the animal Spirits in that Blood ; till we approach to the very Borders of No- thing ? For thefe Animals contain, in Mlnir ature, all thofe Parts which wc haye in larger Dimenfions. In (hort, for one Thing, that we can plaufibly account for in the Book of Nature, there are Millions of Things, of which we can give no Account: C 4 Yet 24 ^he Notion of Pride Jlated, SERMj[^Yet we, who find almoft all Things {o puzzling and unaccountable in the Book of Nature, exped: that every Thing in the Book of Grace, which proceeds from the fame Author, (liould be plain and level to our Capacities. True Knowledge is one of the ftrongeft Fences againfl: Pride. When good Senfe atid Reafon fpeak, they come, like their great Author, God, in the Jiill fmall Voice, without any empty Noife or Loqua- city, or over-bearing Pretenfions. And thole w-ho keep the heft Senfe within, feldom hang out the Sign of Knowledge. Men of this Stamp will own their entire Igno- rance in many Things, and their imper- fect Knowledge in all the reft. Whereas the Ignorant are fometimes peremptory and pofitivc in Matters quite above their Sphere, and, like fome Creatures, are the bolder for h^mgblind. In a Word, the Ingenuous will confefs the Weaknefs of their Reafon ; and the Prefumptuous betray it by their being fo. If we are born without an Aptitude to learn, and a Genius forKnov/lcdgc ; we may refemble the Woman in theGofpel,whohad fpent all fie had upon Phyftcians^ and ytt grew no better, but rather iicorfe. All the Tutors and andthePretenJto?ts to it examined. 25 andlnftrudlors in the Univerfe will avail No- ^^^^-^ I- thing : For they cannot of en the Eyes ofthofe^ that are born blind. But, granting the utmoft Happinefs of natural Parts, yet he, who confineth himfelf to one Province of Know- ledge, cannot underftandeven that through- ly. Becaufe there is that Harmony and Alliance between the feveral Branches of Science, that one refleds Light upon ano- ther. He on the other Hand who grafps at every Part of Knowledge, is only a fu- perficial Smatterer in All ; and is too gene- ral a Trader in the Republic of Letters to become rich. A Man of a flow Capacity is apt to fit down under a Defpondency of making any Advances in Literature : Men of quick Parts are fometimes diftra(fted with Variety of Purfuits. So many Thoughts are continually rlfing in their Minds, that, like Trees overladen with Fruit, they fel- dom bring any to it's jufl: Perfedion. After All, what fignifies all the Learn- ing in the World, without a juft Difcern- ment and Penetration ? And what is the Re- fult of our Penetration, but that we fee through the Littlenefs of almoft every Thing, and our own efpecially ? That we difcern, and are difgufted with, feveral Follies and Abfurdities^ which are hid from 26 'The Notion of Pi^tde Jlated^ Serm. I. from Perfons of a flower Apprehenfion ? So that our fuperior Sagacity refembles the pre- tended Second-Sightednefs of feme People, by which they are faid to fee feveral un- comfortable and difmal Objeds, which efcape the reil of the World. This Man ranges the Circuit of the Heavens, knows the Laws by which the Planets revolve ; fees every Thing regular j then defcends into himfelf, and finds, by furveying the World within, that Man alone is irregular and eccentric. He can account for the Ufes of Tempefts, Earthquakes and Thun- der J and perceives, that all Storms and Tempers, except thofe in a Man's Breaft, fulfil the Word of God and obey his Will. Some may perhaps value themfelves upon the Strength of their Genius, the Largenefs of their Heart, even as the Sand upon the Sea Shore, and the Brightnefs of their Parts. Alas ! the Strength of the Paflions, and the Quicknefs of the Appetites, generally keep Pace with the Brightnefs of the Imagination. And hence it comes to pafs, that thofe who have, with an uncommon Compafs of Thought, inculcated excellent Rules of Morality in their Writings, have fometimes broke through them all in their Pradice : The and the Vretenfions to it examined, 2y The Brightnefs of their Parts enabling them Serm^ I. to lay down fine Precepts, and the Strength of their Pafilons tempting them to tranf- grefs them. A Man may difcourfe admi- rably well upon Oeconomy, who never was Mafter of it in the Condudt of Life: Be- caufe he may take a Plcafiire in difcourfing upon Oeconomy, or any other Subject, up- on which he can difplay a beautiful Fancy j but to look carefully into his Affairs, to balance his Accounts, and to proportion his Expences to his Income, is a Drudgery, to which he cares not to ftoop. There is not a greater Inlet to Vice and Mifery, than to have (which is generally the Cafe of Men of Wit, and the Caufe of the Irregularity of their Condud) too much Spirit to confine one's Self to the common Bufinefs of Life ; and too much Fire and Paflion to relifh the calm Satisfadions of it. For this Temper 'puts a Man always in Queft of fomething tranfporting,' and every Way fitted to an high Tafle. To a Man oi jlrong Senfati- ons every Delight, that is gentle, feems dull; and every Thing, but what is high feafoned, flat and taftelefs. The Confequence of which is, that difdaining common BlefTings, and not able to enjoy himfelf without fome- thing 28 T^he Notion of Pride Jiated^ ^ Serm^I.^ thing out of the ufual Road, he overleaps thofe Bounds, which confine meaner Mor- tals, and precipitates himlelf into an end- lefs Train of Inconveniencies. But let us fuppofe, whatisnotaverycom- tnon Cafe, that a Brightnefs of Imagination, and a well-poifed Judgment, are happily u- nited in the fame Perfon ; yet the ablefl Writer, the brighteft Genius, the greateft Man that ever lived j nay, an Archangel of the higheft Clafs may fay, ** O my God ! "' that I live and that I pleafc, if ever I '* pleafe, is owing to thee. May it be then *' my uppermoft View to do thy Pleafure, *' From whom I have the Ability to pleafe !" How vain and uncertain all Things are iiere below, appears from this, that we hold even Reafon itfelf, that ennobling Quality, that boafted Prerogative, and di- iiinguifliing Perfecflion of human Nature, upon a very precarious Tenure j and fome- thing, as one exprefleth it, with a human Shape and Voice, has often furvived every thing human befides. The Brain, by too great Quicknefs and Stretch of Thought, like a Chariot Wheel, by the Rapidity of it's Motion, takes Fire ; the thin Partiti- ons, which divided Wit from Madnefs, arc and the Pretenfio7u to it examined, 29 are broken down. The mofl penetrating Serm.l and Iparkling Geniufes border upon, and fometimes more than border upon, down- right Frenzy. They fliew us even then, in their lucid Intervals, the Monuments and Traces of what they have been, like the Monuments of old Romey majeftick even in it's Ruins. Their fudden Starts of Senfe, though foon broken off, give us more Plea- fure, than the fober uniform Thoughts of Men of flower Apprehenfion : Juft as the maimed Statues, the broken Pillars, and im- perfed triumphal Arches of old Rome^ de- light us more, than the entire Performances of lefs able and lefs mafterly Hands. If then Reafon itfelf, which diftinguifh- cth us from Brutes, be fo very precarious, and depends upon fuch a fine and fubtle Contexture of the Brain, as is liable to be difordered by feveral Accidents ; the Obfer- vation I would draw from hence is very material, and worth our Confideration : If Mankind were to be vain of nothing, but what is their lafling Property, of which they cannot be fcripped ; they would be vain of nothing at all ; there would be np fjjch thing as Vanity. Art 30 T^^ Notion of Pride fiated^ Serm.I. Art thou then proud of Knowledge .^ Alas! the dim Light of human Reafon looks feeble and languid at the iirfl Thought and Contemplation of that Father of Lights^ in whom there is no Darknefs at all. Doft thou pride thyfelf upon thy Power ? All the little Grandeur we can boaft, is loft in the Confideration of that only Potentate^ who dwelleth in Light which no one can approach to. Art thou elate upon the Ac- count of an ample Fortune ? Confider him to whom the whole World belongs, a?id all that is therein j Vvho wanting nothing him- felf, fupplies the Wants of every other Be- ing. All human Pride flirinks into nothing, when we contemplate that great Being, i.vho is Jill in All. And the Man, who is pof- feft with juft Notions of an all-perfedl God, will never make a God of any thing elfe, much lefs of himfelf. Doft thou value thyfelf upon popular Applaufe, and a great Name ? Think how many that have made a diftinguiflied Fi- gure in the World, are dead and unre- garded, as if they never had been ; their Deaths unlamented, their Vacancy filled up, and their Perfons miffed no more, than a Drop of Water, when taken from the whole and the Pretenfions to it examined, j i whole Ocean. And is it worth our while ^^^^- ^• to ftrive to pleafe a vain fantaftic World, which will foon difregard us, and think itfelf full as well without us -, inftead of laying out our Endeavours to pleafe that Almighty Being, whofe inexhauftible Pow- er and Goodnefs will make his Servants happy to all Eternity ? How ridiculous are all our Aims j except this be the grand Aim, in which all the reft center ! A Man, for Inftance, makes it his Bufinefs to enfure to himfelf a Name after Death j that is, to fave four or five Letters (for what is a Name befides ?) from Oblivion : And yet (hall be negledful of fecuring immortal Happinefs : He (hall be fond of an wuz- ginary Life after Death: and yet make no Provifion for that real Life, which is to lafl for ever and ever ; felicitous to have his Name written and preferved in any Book^ but in that Book, where it will only be of Service to him, the Book of Life. O Virtue! when this folemn Pageantry of earthly Grandeur (hall be no more, when all DiftiniStions, but moral and religious, fliall vanilli ; when this Earth fhall be dif- folved, when the Moon {hdW be no more a Light by Night, nor the Sun by Day; thou 32 The Notion of Pride fiated^ Uci Serm^I.^ thou fhalt ftill furvive thy Votary's immor- tal Friend, thou fhalt appear^ like thy great Author, in perfeSi Beauty ; thy Luftre un- diminiflied, and thy Glory unperifhable. het him therefore that glorietb^ glory in the Lord, He alone, who gave and upholds all the Powers of Soul and Body, he alone deferveth the Glory of them. As we are Creatures J the Work of God's Hands, we have nothing to glory of: But as we are Sin- nerSy and, in that Refpedt, the Work of our own Hands, we have much to be ajhamed of. We then give the greateft Proof to God of our Worthincfs, when we have a deep Senfe, and make an humble Confeffion, of our own Unworthinefs. *lo God therefore, and to Him only^ be afcribed, as is moft due, all Might, &CC, SERMON SERMON II. On the Advantages of Afflidion. Being a Sermon occafioned by the Death of Mr. Burton^ of Montpelier-Row^ in 'Twickenham. Preached in Twicke7iham-C\\?i^t\^ on Mid- lent Sunday^ 1742 ; and publiflied at the Requeft of the Audience. Pfalm LXXVII. 3. When 1 am in Heavinefs^ I will think upon God, THE whole Pfalm is written with Serm.il a very beautiful Spirit of Poetry j *" and if we confider it merely as an human Compofition, may juftly challenge our higheft Admiration. In the former Part, the Pfalmift vents an Heart over- charged with Grief, and writes with the deepeft Emotions of Sorrow. In the Day Vol. II. D of 34 On the Advantages of AffliEimt. SERM-IL^y^ fny Trouble 1 fought the Lord ^ my Sore ran in the Night and ceafed ?2ot, my Soul refufed to be comforted. And again, at the feventh Verfe, Will the Lord ab(e?2t hi?nfelf for ever^ and will he be no more favoura- ble ? Hath God forgotten to he gracious ^ Hath he in Anger fkut up his tender Mer- cies F Thus does he difcharge the Fulnefs of his Soul J till, by a very natural, and yet very iurpriiing Tranfition, from a Re- herfal of his own Woes, he pafTes on to celebrate the marvellous A6ts of God. For, to relieve himfelf under the PrelTure of his prefent Afflidions, he has Recourfe to the former Mercies, which God had voucb- fafed to the Jfraelites. Surely I will re- me?nber thy Wonders of old. This u{l:iers in thofe fublime Flights of Poetry,, which are peculiar to the Genius of the Eaftern Nations, l^he Waters faw Ihee^ O God ; the Waters faw 'Thee : They were afraid : The Depths alfo were troubled ^ &c. Then, ,to reprefcnt the Unfearchablenefs of God, he compares him, by a very beautiful Al- lufion, to a Being walking upon the Wa- ters, the Traces of whofe Feet could not therefore be difcovered : Thy Way is in the Sea, and thy Paths in the great Waters , and thy Footfleps are not known. If On the Advantages of AffliElion, 35 If we fliould fet afide the Sandion of ^^^''- ^\ divine Authority, which ftamps an additi- onal Value upon the Pfahii ; yet it could not fail to aftdd every Reader of a refined Tafte. And when we either confider thofe melting Strains, in which he defcribes his own Woes j or that exalted Vein, in which he reprefents the Majefty of God ; we fhall be at a Lofs, whether to admire more the Greatnels of that Genius, which could ac- quit itfelf with fo mafterly an Hand in both the pathetic and fublime Way of Writing ; or the Juftnefs of that Judgment, which could with fo dexterous an Addrefs, with fo eafy, and I had almoft faid, fo natural an Art, glide from the one to the other. The Author of the Pfalm had a Mind deeply tindurcd with Piety. When his Heart ivas in Heavinefsy he thought upon God : But to think on him then with Plea- fure, he muft have fet God conftantly be- fore him in the fmooth Seafons of Life, This will lead me to (hew, I/?, The Happinefs and Reafonablenefs of turning our Thouo^hts. to God in gene- ral. • ^ D 2 11^//, 36 On the Advantages of AffiElion* Serm^ii. Yidly^ The peculiar Advantages of Af- flidion, to bring us to a juft Senfe of God, and our Duty. I/?, I am to (hew the Happinefs and Reafonablenefs of turning our Thoughts to God in general. To repair to God only, when under Af- fiidtion, is to ufe Him as fome conceited Philofophers have done, who never have Recourfe to Him, and take Him into their Schemes, but when they are in Diftrcfs, when they meet with fome Difficulty, which they cannot plauiibly account for, or get over, without calling Him in to their Aid. Befides, never is there more Occadon for Good-Humour, Chearfulnefs, and an undifturbed Serenity of Mind, than when we form our religious Notices. For, though the brightefl Ideas of the Deity may be retained and cheriflied under any Indifpo- lition of Mind or Body j yet, to retain and cherifh them at that Jundure, they muft be imprinted in indelible Charadlcrs on the Soul, when it was in an eafy Situation : Otherwife, Religion will not brighten up our Minds, and lighten the Darknefs of them J On the Advantages of AffitBmi. 37 them J our Minds will darken and difco-^^^^- ^^• lour Religion. And what has given fome People a Diftaftc for it, is ; that having never applied themfelves ferioufly to it, but when they were in a dull, joylefs, fuUen Humour, which reprefented every Thing they were converfant about to be dull and joylefs J the Notions of Religion, and of a joylefs State, have been, however unduly connedted, ever after infeparable. By me- ditating on God only, or even chiefly, in a melancholy Hour, ycu will affociate the Idea of Gloominefs and Horror with that of Religion : You will view Him, juft as He was worfhipped in old Gothic Build- ings, in a dim folemn Light, which {beds a penfive Gloom over, and faddens every Objedt. You will not ferve Him with that Gladnefs, which he requires : For God loveth a chearful Worfliipper, as well as a chearful Gher. But you will repair with Reluctance and Conftraint to that Ser- vice^ which is perfe^l Freedom, We are indigent Creatures, infufficient of ourfelves for our own Happinefs, and . therefore ever feeking it fomewhere elfe. But where we fliall effedually feek for it, is the Queflion. Unlefs the Thoughtful D 3 and 38 On the Advmitages of AffliBion. - Serm. II. and the Penfive direct their Thoughts to, and caft their Cares upon God ; there will be little Difference between Them and the Gay and Unthinking, befides this j that the Latter will have more of the Vanity of Life ; but They themfelves more of the Vexatiom of it. If there were not another Life, our Bulinefs would be, not to alarm the Thinking Faculty, but to lay our too adive and unquiet Thoughts to Refl. The Mind would be like a froward Child, ever fretful when fully awake ; and therefore to be played and lulled alleep as fafl: as we can. Our main Happinefs would be to forget our Mifery and onrfelves ; to for-, get, that we are a Set of Beings, who, after we have toiled out the live- long Day of human Life, in Variety of Harddiips ; are, indead of receiving our Wagesat the Clofe of it, to fieep out one long eternal Night in an utter Extindion of Being. If Man had an ample Fund of Happi- nefs in himfelf, without any Deficiency ; whence is it, that he is continually looking out abroad for foreign Amufements ; A- mufements, which are of no other Ufe, but to keep off \roublefom and ungrateful Impreffions, and to make us infenfible of 3 «he On the Advantages of AffliBio7t, 39 the Tedioufnefs of Living j Amufements, Serm^ii. which rather fufpend a Senfe of Uneafi- nefs, than give us any fubftantial Satisfac- tion ; and keep the Soul in an equal Poife between Pleafure and Pain ? And is this the great End which we have in View ? Suppoling we could compafs it ; yet if it be better not to be at all, than to be mi- ferable -, then certainly jiift not to be mi- ferable, without 2iny pojit he Happinefs, is much at one, as not to be at all. Whence is it, that that reftlefs Thing the Soul, too enterprizing to trace every Thing elfe, yea the deep Thi?igs of God ; is yet too cow- ardly to enquire into itfelf, and to view the Workings of that ever-loved, yet ever- avoided Objecfl ? Whence is it, that the Mind, whofe adive Energy prompts her to give a free and unconfined Range to her Thoughts on other Subjedls, nay, to make, if it were poffible, the Tour of the whole Univerfe j yet, when fhe comes to dwell at Home, and to furvey the little World within, flags in her Vivacity, feels her- felf in a forlorn Condition, and finds a Drowfinefs and melancholy Gloom hang- ing upon her ? Whence is it, but that the Soul, whenever it turns it's Thoughts in- D 4 ward, 40 On the Advantages of AffliSiion. Serm.II. ward, finds within a frightful Void of fo- hd Happinefs, without any Poffibility in itfelf of filling it up ? Indeed, in a Circle of gay Follies, or in a Multiplicity of Pur- fuits, when a Succeffion of -different Ob- je/- timph', a Triumph indeed, where inftead of the fenfelefs Noife of an undiflinguifhed and undiftinguifhing Populace : a numerous Choir of ennobled Spirits fliall hail with joyful Acclamations their happy Fellow- Servant : While, to crown all, the great Judge pronounces the blefled Sentence : Well done^ thou good and faithful Servant ! Enter thou into the foy of thy Lord» SERMON rh SERMON III. On Faith, Benevolence, &^c. Being a Farewel Sermon preached in T'wickenham-Ch^^tlj June 20. 1742 ; and publiflied at the Requeft of the Audience. I Timothy I. 19. Holding Faith, and a good Confcience, THIS being the laftTime, that ISerm.!!!. fliall fpeak to you in the Capaci- ty, which I now bear, of your Preacher and Minifter ; I have chofen thefe Words, the Advice of St. Paul to T'imothy, as containing the Sum and Subftance of our Duty. In dilcourfing upon which, I {hall throw together fome few Thoughts ; \ft. Upon Faith, \ldly. Upon a good Confcience ; llldly. 64 OnFaithy Benevolence^ &c. Serm III. W\dly^ Take my Leave of you, with a /liort Addrefs to you. I. The firft Point is, that you would fe- riouHy confider the ftrong Evidences of your Faith J Evidences fo ftrong, that he would be deemed a Madman, who was not deter- mined by much lefs in his fecular Affairs. If any one fhould go about to difprove the Conquefts oi Alexander, he would be thought not to be in his found Mind : And yet there are much flronger Proofs for the Re- ality of the Miracles recorded in Scripture, and particularly in the New Teftament ; than there are for the Victories of Alexan- dery or even for the Being of fuch a Man.' Let it no more flagger your Faith, that there are fo great a Number of Unbelievers j than it ought to influence your Pradice, that there are fo great a Number of wicked Men. Befides, you may be deceived, by rm^2k\v\gfecond Qualities ioxjirji. A Pro- penfity to think out of the common Road, may be by no Means the leading Quality among thofe that are filled Unbelievers : It may be only a fecondary one, and fubfervi- ent to a primary Dejire^ that of being in the Fafiion, Thofe very Men, who now affea On Fatth^ Benevolence^ &c. 65 afFed to be thought Unbelievers, mi^ht,SER'^ ';^ - probably, if they had lived in the Times of the Grand Rebellion, have fet up for Saints : Becaufe a reputed SancfVity was as much the Mode of that Age, as Infidelity is of this. There is a Torrent of Opinions peculiar to almofl every Age: Men of light unbalanced- Minds, like light Matter, are borne down by the Current ; and Men of folid Senfe do not always meet with the Succefs, which they deferve, in ftemnairig and oppolmg it. . The Principles of Chri- ftianity may be out of Failiion : But what they want in the Fafhion, they make up in Weight, Solidity, and intrinfic Worth. For one, that has been niade a Profelyte to Deifm, by Reading, Thinking and Stu- dying, there are Multitudes, who become fo by Converfation with thofe, who have no Way of keeping themfelves in Counte- nance, but by difcountenancing Religion. And what Wonder is it, that Perfons fhould be laughed out of Religion, who never rea^^ foned themfelves into it ? . A Man in his younger Years muft be well-difpofed, and of a ferious thinking Turn, to converfe at large, and yet continue a Chriilian: But if he be of a ferious Turn, and impartially Vol. II, F weigh 66 On Faith y Be?tevoknce^ &c. Serm Jii. weigh the numerous Proofs for it, he can- not but continue a Chriftian. For Chrifti- anity has too many and flrong Appearances of Truth, for any, who deliberately and unbiafTedly attends to them, to believe it an Impofture. It has been Jifted as Wheat z And the Confequence is, that fomc few tri- fling Confiderations, which had been for- merly alledged in Favour of it, have been fet afide, like the Chaffs which the Wind Jcattereth away from the Face of the Earth-, but it's folid and fubftantial Arguments, like the good Seedj fall not to the Ground, but remain firm, without anydebafing Mixtures. To rejed: Chriftianity, becaufe of the Difficulties with which it's Dodrines are attended i is to rejedt it 2,sfa/fe for that, which feems to be an Argument of it's 'Truth. I will explain my felf immediately. Chriflianity, fuppofing it's Truth, is a Re- velation from God. — A Revelation from God mufl contain fomething of the Na- ture, Will and Counfels of God, as far as they relate to us. — Now the Will, Coun- fels and Nature of an infinite Being, muft be, in a great meafurc, unfearchable to, and incomprehenfible by. Beings of fuch a fcanty Pittance of Underftanding,- as we have,— On Faith ^ Benevolence^ &c. 67 i^ave. — That is, they muft be encumbered SermJIF: with infuperable Difficulties. — To objed: Difficulties then againfl Chriftianity, is to make that an Argument againft the Truth of Chriftianity ; which Chriftianity, fuppo- Cing ifs T^riith^ muft, in the Nature of the Thing, be attended with. The united Force of Unbelievers has never been able to invalidate the feveral Arguments that have been brought to prove the Truth of Revelation ; and while thefe prove it to be true, Difficulties cannot alter the Nature of Things ', they cannot make that to be falfe, for the Truth of which we have for- cible Proofs. Liften not therefore to the Suggeftione of defigning Men. Under a Pretence of baniffiing your Apprehenfions of a future Judgment, they will only dafli your Hopes, and weaken your Expectations of a blefled Immortality ; alarming thofe very Appre- henfions, which they promifed to remove, by adding to your other Terrors, this neis) Fear, which will continually haunt you ; a Fear, left you have finned in difmiffing your firft Perfuafion for vtry flight and fri- volous Reafons. There may be feveral, who have juft Senfe enough to fee there F 2 are 68 On Faith^ Benevolence^ 6cc. SERM.ili.are Difficulties in Chriftianity 3 but not Senfe enough to fee they are but Difficul- ties: And thefe may be confirmed Infidels, meer Reeds fiakeji with the Wind^ with eve- ry Blaft of vain Dodlrine. But where there are no infuperable Prejudices of Education in the Cafe ; take it for granted, that Men of cool Heads, who dare think Home, who dare follow Truth with the fame In- difference, as a Traveller enquires after the beft Road that leads to his Journey's End, do not think fo differently in material Points as you may imagine. They may hang out falfe Colours j but, depend upon it, the utmoft Length Men are capable of going, who are thoroughly willing and able to' drive each Argument to an Head, is to have fome Doubts and Scruples, which are preponderated by an exceeding Weight of Evidence on the other Side. Abfolute in- fallible Certainty is in Heaven, and we arc upon Earth ; but there is fuch a Degree of moral Certainty, as is fufficient to over- balance all Doubts. We know every Ob- je6^ion again ft Chriflianity as well as they do ; and there is not the leaft Shadow of a Demon ftration ag.-Jnfi: it : But the Reafons for it are fo ilrong, that though tliey do HOC On Fat thy Benevolence^ &c. 69 not amount to a ftrld Demonftratlon, they^^^;^* make near Approaches to it. I know the Firmnefs of our Aflent does not depend fo much on outward Evidences, be they never fo forcible, as on the inward Frame and Bent of the Mind. Yet I take it to be almofl as impoffible for a Man, fup- pofing his Faculties to be good, and duly exercifed, to be deceived intirely in a Point of Moment 5 as it is for him, when under the Influence of fome criminal Paffion, not to deceive himfelf in Tart, The Cafe is the fame in Relation to very material Errors, as it is in Regard to fecret Vices. The latter may efcape our Obfervation, as to any parti- cular, diftindl, explicit Knowledge of them : However, we have general, confufed, indi- fi:in6l Notices, that all is not right within, as to the Article of Sins in fome meafure unfufpedled j and thisistheReafon, why we are averfe* to fearch out our Spirits j left we {hould find that to be too true, upon a ma- ture Examination, which we miftrufted up- on a carelefs, tranfient'Glance of Thought. Juft fo it is in Matters of Belief. Where there is a moral Certainty, any wrong Af- fe(^ion may fo far blind even a Thinking Man, that he fhall not have a thorough and F 3 deter- ^0 On Faith^ Benevolence^ &c. Serm.iii. determined ConviBion of the Truth j but he cannot fhut out or fupprefs the Eviden- ces for it fo entirely, as not to have a gene- 7'al Dijlriiji, and an implicit Sufpicion^ that he is in the Wrong : Which general Diftruft is the Caufe, that he is fo unwilling to look into a Book, which is written with great Strength of Reafon on the other Side, left he fliould let in the Enemy Truth to difturb his Repofe. There may be, however, fome Excep- tions to what is here laid down. Men may have fomething particular in their Temper : There is fometimes an unfufpedled Wrong- nefs of Underftanding, which, becaufe it, does not difcharge itfelf in Raving, efcapes the Eye of common Obfervers; but yet fhall leaven a Man's whole Way of Thinking : And it generally falls in with the reigning Bent of the Times. When the Nation was in a Ferment about Religion, and for, what was called, a greater Purity in it, it flruck in with the general Vogue of the Age, and vented jtfelf in all the Extrava- gancies of Fanaticifm : But now, when Things have taken a different Turn, and Jrreligion is the prevailing Mode ; it has peceiyed a new Determination from thence. Hence On Faith^ Benevolence^ &c. 71 Hence fome are as diftempered Bigots forSERMjii. their No-Religion, or what makes near Approaches to none 3 as others were about a Century ago for a farther Reformation. Some Perfons who have travelled early into Countries, where Popery is eftablifhed, have had Senfe enough, in their younger Years, to fee through the grofs Impofitions and Cheats, which are pradifed upon the Vul- gar. But not being able to feparate Religi- on itfelf from the undue Mixtures w^hich were blended with it, they have unhappily contraded an Averfion for all Religion in general. They have alTociated with the Idea of Religion all thofe numerous Tricks and Fopperies, which have pafTed there under it's facred Cover. And the Cafe of thofe, who by this Means, or by any other Means iimilar to this, have conceived an early Diftafte for Religion, refembles theirs, who have contracted an Antipathy to fome Meats or Liquors, however wholfom and nou- rifhing, by reafon of fome bitter and un- palatable Draughts or Ingredients being mixed with them : The difagreeable Idea always recurs, when they fee them. This is certain, that ofFenfive Impreffions, which have been given us of Religion, Learning, F 4 or 72 On Faith ^ BenevGlejtce^ &c, ^^'l^.'^^^i or any Thing elfe in our tender Years, be- fore our Minds come to a Steadinefs and Confiflency J are like thofe Marks which arc made upon the Body of an Animal in it's Mother's Womb : they are feldom or never erafed, but we carry them with us to the Grave, But v/hatever Allowances we may make for infuperable Prejudices, and invincible Ignorance, in this Cafe, and many others ; it is a Miilake to think, that Deirts are lefs eafy of Belief, than the reft of Mankind. There may be a certain Stock of Faith, which we bring with us^ into the World ; and as it has been obferved of the Affedii- , ons, that if they be with-held from their natural Gratifications, they will often dif- charge themfelves on improper Objed:s : Juft fo, if Men do not place their F^/j/!? on Juif- able Objecfts, they will not ceafe to be Be- lievers} they will mijplace it on iinjuitable ones ; and whatever they want in a true Chriilian Faith, they will more than make up in beliv-i'ing ftrange Abfurdities ; of which numerous Inftances might be given both in the pafl: and prefent Times. You tnay have bad Books induftrioufly thrown in your Way j and you may have an On Faith J Benevolence^ 6cc. 75 an Imagination apt to fiartle at Difficulties ^^'^^^•ii^. new to you. But if you have a Turn for '■^^^'^' folid Thinking and Reafoning, bring your Mind clofe to the Difficulty, and make it take a near View of it on every Side ; and you will find that '^\\'3Xjlartled it at a Di- ftance, was only fome idle Trife, which Fancy had dreffed up in 2^ formidable Shape. And if you have not, defire thofe, who h.>ve fiudied the Point, to turn to fuch Paf- fages in Books already publifhed as contain a fufficient Anfwer to it. For Infidelity can only go round and round the fame To- pics, in an eternal Circle, v^^ithout advancing one Step further : It produces no new Forces : it only brings thofe again into the Field, which have been fo often baffled^ maimed and difabled, that, in Pity to them, they ought to be difmlfTed, and difcharged from any further Service. You may complain that you have not Capacities fufficient for fuch Things. Sup- pofing your Abilities fo very llender, that you cannot perceive the Truth of an hifto- rical Fad well-attefted ; yet one Thing you may be fure of; that it is much better for the Good of the whole, that Mankind fhould abide by fuch a written Rule of Faith 74 ^^ Faith ^ Benevolence^ ^c. Serm.iii Faith and Pradice, as the Chriftian is j than that they fhould be left every one, in low as well as high Life, to colled: a Religion for themfelves, juft as their Ignorance, Paf- fions and Prejudices (hould millead them. You may fee, that this Scheme, which is that of Infidelity, would be deftrudive of the general Happinefs of the World : And you may conclude, that whatever Scheme would, at the Foot of the Account, leave the World in a much worfe State, than it was before, in Point of Happinefs, muft be difagreeable to his Will, who wifhes the Happinefs of the World; and therefore con- trary to Truth. What better Wiih could- the befl-natured Being form for the Bene- fit of the World j than that the Dodrines of Chriftianity, thofe flrong Incentives to Virtue, {hould be univerfally believed -, and it's Precepts univerfally pradifed ? II dly. From a right Faith I now proceed to what is, or ought to be, the Confequence of it, a good Life. A good Life is not one folitary and lingle Virtue, however glaring ; it is the Com- bination and Meeting together of all the moral and fpiritual Graces 3 Juft as Light and On Faith ^ BeJtevohnce^ 8cc. 75 and Whitenefs is not one fingle Colour and^^'^^^-^^^: Ray J it is the Compofition of all the Co- lours and Rays united and blended together. Your firft and leading Duty is Piety to God. And this takes in all religious Du- ties, whether moral or pofitive; whether we fully and clearly fee the Reafons of them, or we fee them dimly and indill:in(!^- ly, or we do not fee them at all 5 know- ing this (enough for tis to know) that an all-wife Being can enjoin no Duty, but for wife Ends and Purpofes 5 and an all- good Being can command no Performance, but what is for our Good and Benefit. Let not your Piety break out in fudden {hort interrupted Flafhes, but let it fliine on in one continued fteady Day-light. Have not juft Religion enough to make you un- eafy ; but enough to give you folid Satif- fadlion, and a well-grounded AfTurance. Give God all you c^n -, give him your Heart — for that is all. And then, inflead of contenting yourfclf with thinking, how holy and charitable you would be, if you had fuch a Fortune, or were in fuch a Station ; you will never be ea£y, till you are as holy and charitable as it is poffible for you to be, in whatever Station you are, or , whatever Fortune you have. But 7 6 On Faith^ Benevolence^ &c. Serm jn. But I have already difcourfed often on this Subje6l : One Thing more however I beg leave to mention. You are, moft of you, regular Attendants on the Service of the Church : Take Care, that your De- portment out of Church, be correfpondent to your Behaviour in it : Otherwife, you will do Religion more DiiTervice, than if you were it's open and avowed Enemies. For, pray obferve : Though Piety be the moft valuable Thing in itfelf, the Bulk of Mankind are not capable of forming fine abJiraSl Ideas of it in iffelj ; they muft confider it, if at all, as it lies before them in the Lives and Converfation of Men repu- ■ tedly pious. And when they fee thofe who have that Charader, laying Strefs upon Trifles, as if the whole of Religion con^ fifted in them, and negleding EfTentials j when they fee them prying into the Secrets of Families, or encouraging and liftening to thofe that do fo, addidled to Cenforiouf- nefs and Supercilioufnefs -, the little low defpicable Notions, which they form of Perfons profeffing Piety, they will unjuft- ly annex to Piety itlelf, and hold it ever after cheap and contemptible. 2dly^ On Faith ^ Benevolence^ &c. 77 idly^ Let therefore your Piety to God,SERM.iil. be joined with, what ought to be infepara- ble from it, Charity to Man. By Charity, I do not mean only Almf- giving ; for that is only one Branch of it, one outward Expreffion of this Duty -, I mean the mod hberal Sentiments and the moft enlarged Affections towards all Man- kind. A charitable Man will endeavour to fee every Thing through the Mirror of Good-Nature, which mends and beautifies all Objeds, without altering any : Like fine Painting, which, without deviating from Nature, adds new Touches and Gra- ces to it; it does not change, but only embellifh it : it does not ^ive a mere Like- nefs, much lefs a woful Likenefs, it gives an agreeable and advantageous one. Far from jurmifing Evil, where there is none ; he will rather think no Evily where there really is ; judging it better to err through a good-natured Credulity, than through an undiftinguifhing Sufpicicn , becaufe a good- natured Credulity will only expofe him to fome temporal Inconveniencies ; but an un- diltinguirhing Sufpicion will beget in him a fettled Uneafinefs, Jealoufy, Hatred, and the whole Train of black Paflions, which will ^8 On Faith ^ Be?tevolence^ &c, SERM.lir.will render his Soul as dark as that Hell, into which they will at laft irrecoverably link him. To defcend to Particulars ; i/?, A cha- ritable Man will never hate any Body or Community of Men, provided there be no- thing immoral in their Profeflion j however he may dillike fome Individuals in it. No- thing is more unjuft, though I am afraid, nothing is more ufual j than, if we have had to do with fome wicked Men of any Fraternity, to cry out, they are all become abomiftable. Now an undillinguifliing Cen- fure upon a whole Profeffion, for the Faults of fome few particular Members, is gene- rally a greater Crime ; than any we can fix upon thofe few particular Members. Be- caufe it tends to bring an undeferved Dif- credit upon a whole Body of Men, and thereby to leflen their Ufefulnefs. To com- mend a whole Body in the grofs, is an In- dication of a weak, und^ftinguifhing Judg- ment ; and to condemn it in the grofs, of Uncharitablenefs : Human Nature was ne- ver fo good, but there were feveral worth- lefs Members of every Profeffion -, and ne- ver fo bad, but there were feveral of di- ilinguiflied Worth in every Condition of I Life. On Faith ^ Benevolence^ &c. 79 Life. The Scholar defpifes the Man of^^"^";^^; Bufinefs, and the Man of Bufinefs the Scho- lar : Now, what eftranges Men from each other, fliould, in the Reafon of the Thing, mutually endear them : Becaufe the gene- ral Good of the whole arifes from the diffe- rent Purfuits of the feveral Individuals : And if all Men were to go the fame Way, and follow the fame Track of Employ- ment J it would caufe a ftrange Embarraff- ment : The Road would be fo much croud- ed, that none could get forward. Honour then all Mefi, even thofe of the meanefl Occupations : Take in, with a comprehen- five View, the whole Chain of the rational World, where, though the Links may be difproportioned in their Size, yet the leafl ferves to ftrengthen and fupport the great- efl, and both, by depending upon, and aid- ing each other, keep the whole Contexture from falling afundpr. 2dly, As you ought not to conceive a Diflafte for any Man, or Body of Men, upon the Account of a different ProfefHon; fo neither fhould you, becaufe they are of a different Perfuafion, Sed:, or Party. Suppofing yourfelf in the Right ; you pity corporeal Blindnefs j why fhould you not 8o On Faith ^ Benevolence^ 8cc. SERM.lii.fiot likewife companionate, inftead of being angry with, the Blindnefs of the Under- Jianding, when it cannot difcern certain re- ligious ■ Truths ? I know no Reafon but this, which refolves itfelf into Pride ; that the corporeally blind own themfelves to be fo J but the blind in TJnderfianding main- tain, that njoe labour under that Dijiemper^ and not 'they. Now we are not fo tho- roughly convinced, that our Underftanding and Way of Thinking is perfedly right in all Points, as that we have the full Enjoy- ment of our Eye-fight ; And this makes us fo angry with die one, while we pity the other. Enfure your own Salvation as much as you can, but do not think hardly of thofe, who dilfer from you even in funda- mental Points, much lefs coniign them over to Damnation. Our bleffed Saviour, who difapproved the Worfhip of the Sama- rifans^ as appears from his Converfation with the Samaritan Woman at the Well, yet fingles out, in his beautiful Parable, one of that Nation to do a generous Adi- on to the wounded Traveller, on Purpofe, one would think, to obviate this contraded Turn of Mind, and to recommend thofe to our Love, whofe religious Notions we 2 diflike. On Falth^ Benevole?2cey 8cc. 8i diflike. Whether a good Man, who is a^^^""^* Mifbeliever in fome Points, without any Faultinefs or Irregularity of Will, will be damned for his erroneous Way of Think- ing, may be a Queftion among fome Peo* pie ; but I think it admits of none, that a Man will be damned for an uncharitable Way of thinking and ading. 3^/v, You muft not pafs a hard precipi- tate Cenfure upon a whole Nation or Coun- try. Can any Thing good come out of Na^ zareth ? was a low, confined, ungenerous Thought : Goodnefs is not limited to^ or excluded from^ any Place : The Good are diffujed throughout all Nations, all Sed:s, all Perfualions, all Ranks and Orders of Men. True Charity ever dwells with a Largenefs of Soul, which takes in all Man- kind, fincerely wifhing, that all, who are in any material Error, may embrace the Truth ; and all, that embrace it, may hold a pure Faith in a pure Confcience. And I queftion whether a generous fpirited Way of Thinking, a noble and exalted Ardor of Soul, with ftrong Paffions, which fome- times tranfport a Man into Exorbitances, be not, upon the whole, much more com- mendable 5 than an infipid Regularity, and Vol. IJ. G 'a flat 82 On Faith^ Beitevolence^ &c. SERM.lIl.a flat Corredlnefs of Life, which creeps on in one dull Tenor, without ever everflowing : with too little Spirit to reach any Heights in Virtue ; too languid Paffions to be guilty of any flagrant Vice : Jufl; as the Critics have preferred the Sublime in Writing, with a great many Inaccuracies and Inequalities, to a Middling Stile, though very faultlefs. In fhort, true Charity is to deteft nothing but Vice J and to defpife nothing but con- traded, illiberal Notions, which would con- fine God's Favour, and mofl: certainly limit our Affedions, within a narrow Circle. Form as amiable Sentiments as you can, of Nations, Communities of Men, and Indi-, viduals. If they are true, you do them only Jufl:ice ; if falfe, though your Opi- nion does not alter their Nature, and make them lovely ; you yourfelf are more lovely, for entertaining fuch Sentiments. When yo'jifeel the bright Warmth of a Temper thoroughly good in your own Breafi^ you will fee fomething good in every one about you. It is a Mark of a Littlenefs of Spi- rit, to confine yourfelf to fome minute Part of a Man's Charader ; a Man of ge- nerous, open, extended Views j will grafp the whole of it 5 without which he cannot pafs On Faith^ Benevolence^ &C. 83 pafs a right Judgment on any Part. He^^"'''-^^^- will not arraign a Man's general Condud: for two or three particular Adions j as knowing, that Man is a changeable Crea- ture, and will not ceafe to be fo j till he is united to that Being, who is the fame ye- Jlerday, to day^ and for ever. He ftrives to outdo his Friends ijz good Offices, and overcome his Enemies by them. He thinks he then receives the greateft Injury^ when lie returns and revenges one : For then he is overcome of Evil. Is the Perfon young who has injured him ? He will reflect, that Inexperience of the World, and a Warmth of Conftitution, may betray his unpradifed Years into fcveral Inadvertencies, which a more advanced Age, his own good Senfe, and the Advice of a judicious Friend, will correct and redify. Is he old ? the Infir- mities of Age, and Want of Health, may have fet an Edge upon his Spirits, and made hivn fpeak iinadvifedly "^ith his Lips. Is he weak and ignorant i* he confiders, that it is a Duty incumbent upon the v/ife to bear with thofe that are not (o, Te fuffer Fools gladly^ fays St. Paid^ feei}2g ye yourfelves are wife. In iLort, he judges of himfclr, as far as he can, with the ftrid: Rigor of G 2 Juilice J 84 On Faith ^ Benevolence^ &c. ^^^J^Juftice ; but of others, with all the Soft- enings of Humanity. From charitable and benevolentThoughts, the Tranfition is unavoidable to charitable Adtions. For wherever there is an inex- hauftible Fund of Goodnefs at the Heart, it willj under all the Difadvantages of Cir- cumftances, exert itfelf in Adts of fubftan- tial Kindnefs. He, that is fubftantially good will be doing good. The Man, that has a hearty determinate Will to be chari- table, will feldom put Men off with the mere Will for the Deed. For a fincere Defire to do Good implies fome Uneafi- nefs, till the Thinir be done : And Unea- linefs fets the Mind at work, and puts it upon tlie Stretch to find out a thoufand Ways and Means of obliging, which will ever efcape the Unconcerned, the Indiffe- rent, and the Unfeeling. The moft proper Objedts of your Boun- ty are the Neceffitous. Give the fame Sum of Money, which you beflow on a Ferfon in tolerable Circumllances, to one in ex- treme Poverty ; and obferve, what a wide Dllproportion of Happinefs is produced. In the. latter Cafe it is like giving a Cordial to a fainting Ferfon j in the former it is like giving On Faith J Benevolence^ &c, 85 giving Wine to him, who has already ^™^ quenched his Thirft. Mercy is feafonable in lUme of AffliBion^ like Clouds of Kain in the I'ime of Drought. And among the Variety of neceflitous Objeds, none have a better Title to our Compaffion, than thofe, who, after hav- ing tafted the Sweets of Plenty, are, by fome undeferved Calamity, obliged, with- out fome charitable Relief, to drag out the Remainder of Life in Mifery and Woe j who little Thought they fhould afk their daily Bread of any but of God ; who, af- ter a Life led in Affluence, cannot dig, and are afiamed to beg. And they are to be relieved in fuch an endearing Manner, with fuch a Beauty of Holinefs, that, at the fame Time that their Wants are fupplied, their Confufion of Face may be prevented. There is not an Inftance of this Kind in ^ Hiftory fo affedting, as that beautiful one of Boaz to Ruth. He knew her Family, and how fhe was reduced to the loweft Ebb : When therefore fhe begged Leave to glean in his Fields, he ordered his Reapers to let fall feveral Handfuls with a feeming Care- leffnefs, but really with a fet Delign, that (he might gather them up without being G 3 adiamed. ' 86 On Faith J Beiievolence^ &c. SERM.iii.gf]^^j^gj^ Thus did he form an artful Scheme, that he might ^/w, without the Vanity and Ofientatian of giving j and Jhe receive^ without the Shame and Co72fnfton of making Acknowledgments. Take the Hiilory in the Words of Scripture, as it is recorded in the Book of Ruth. And wheji fie was rijen up to gleafi^ Boaz commanded his young Men, faying ; Let her glean even amono" the Sheaves, and rebuke her not : and let fall alfo fome of the Handfuls of Purpofe, and leave them that fie may glean them, and reproach her not. This was not only doing a good Adion j it was doing it likewile with a good Grace. It is not enough we do no Harm ; that \ve be negatively good ; we muft do Good, pofitive Good, if we would enter into Life, When it would have been as good for the Wwld, if fuch a Man had never lived; it would perhaps have been better for him, if he had never been born. A fcanty For- tune may limit your Beneficence, and con- fine it chiefly to the Circle of your Doraef- tics, Relations and Neighbours j but let your Benevolence extend as far as Thought can travel, to the utmoft Bounds of the World : Juft as it may be only in your z Power On Faith ^ Benevolence^ Sec, 87 Power to beautify the Spot of Ground that^^'^^'-ii^; lyes near and clofe to you ; but you could wifli, that, as far as your Eye can reach, the whole Profped before you was chearful, that every Thing difagreeable was removed, and every Thing beautiful made more fo. I have dwelt fo long upon this laft Vir- tue, that I have not Time to difcourfe up- on the reft. One Duty, however, I fliall juft touch upon, which will engage us to Performance of all the Reft j and that is, frequent Self-Examination, or Sclf-Re- fledion. We need not look far to meet with Per-^ fons who, . though they have a competent Knowledge of the World, know not what manner of Spirit they are of, condemning the Want of Charity in others, with all the Acrimony, Fiercenefs and Uncharitablenefs imaginable j cenfuring People for" the De- fedl of Candour and a Sweetnefs of Dif- poiition, with that mercilefs Keennefs and Eagernefs of Spirit, v/hich fliews them to be, whatever others are, in the very Gall of Bitternefs. Now the Ufe of fuch an Obfervation, is not fo much to arraign them, as to fufped: yourfelf. For he never knew himfelf rightly, who never fufpeded him- G 4 felf. 88 On Faith^ Benevolence^ &c SERM.III.felf. We feldom have that Charity which covers a Multitude of Faults in our Neigh- bours ; and we much feldomer want that Self-Love which covers a Multitude of Faults in ourfelves. The Truth is, the Bulk of Mankind do not reflecfl upon what they do : There could not be fo many un- kind Things faid or done, and fo many kind ones omitted by thofe, who are not void of a Senfe of Religion j if they took a Survey of every Thing that pafTed. What is in- deed notorious^ extraordinary, and out of the common Road in our Conduct, will en- gage our Attention : For what is notorious and glaring, forces itfelf upon our Obfer- vation : But upon what is common^ ordina- ry^ zx^d, frequent, in our Intercourfe with one another, ^nq feldom refleB at all, or at leafl very tranliently. Single JlBs of Sin may be owing to fome violent Sally of Paf- fion J but a continued Courfe of Sinning, in any one Inftance, muft be owing to Self^ Deceit^ occafioned by Want of Self-Re- fledion, or to the delulive Hopes of repent- ing fome Time or other. For a Man can- not otherwife conflantly allow himfelf, in thePradice of what he conftantly condemns. Without Seif-Refledion, a Man may have ' every On Faiths Benevolence^ &c. 89 every Vice under the Sun, without knowing Se'^'^-^^I- he has any j provided he has it not in a high Degree. Confider not what the World thinks of fuch a Crime, but what it is in itfelf. For the World, in Matters of Opinion, is fway- ed more by Authority than Argument ; in Matters of Pra6tice, by Example than Rule; and in few Things is governed by pure Rea- fon only. Are you as apprehenfive of a Miftake, as cautious not to take wrong Meafures, as vigilant and circumfpedl in your grand Concernment, your eternal Welfare ; as you would be in Cafes oa which your. Life and Fortune depended ? If you are, you will feldom ad: amifs : If you are not, you fliew that a Worldly Tem- per prevails more with you, than the Hopes of God's Favour, and the Defire of Salva- tion. Many excellent Books are written, many weekly Ledlures are continually found- ing in our Ears, with all the Strength of Reafoning, and Beauty of Eloquence, to perfuade us to — What ? one would think it fliould be iomt\.\-\m^ fee?72ingly hurtful and dif advantageous to us. — No, no fuch Thing. It is only to perfuade us, what, one would think, is no difficult Matter, and yet is the mofl ^o On Faith, Benevolence^ &c^ Serm.iii. moft difficult of all, that we would not make ourfelves eternally miferable^ that we would endeavour after Eter?ial Happinefs, For one, that perilhes for Want of know- ing his Duty, there are Numbers, who are loft for ever, for Want of feriouily confi- dering it, and laying it to Heart. But I am perfuaded better Things of you, my Brethren ; you will refled:, that if there be not another World, there is fcarce any Thing worth Living for here ; and if there be, our main Concern in T'his^ is to fit ourfelves for T'hat. But this brings me, IIL/Zy, and laftly^ To conclude with a (liort Addirefs to you. It fignines little, what Notions, a Per- fon fo obfcure and undiftinguifhed as I am, entertain. But iince feveral Perfons have been, without juft Grounds, fufpeded of believing differently from what they profefs, and to have an inward Dodlrine, which they referve to themfelves, or communicate only to fome few fele6l Friends i I here declare, in the Prefence of God, that I am fully perfuaded of the Truth of Chriftianity, and the important Dov5lrines thereof, which I have, during the Space of nine Years, oft inculcated On Faith^ Benevolence y &c. 91 inculcated to you ; that I chufe to live, and^ERMjiL hope to die in that Perfuafion ; that, after having read the moft confiderable Books that have been written againft it, I do nut know any Objedion, but what has received repeated and fatisfadory Anfwers. A tho- rough Chridian in Principle^ I wifh I was as good a one in my PraBice : and then I fliould, in fome Meafure, deferve that Ap- probation, with which you have honoured me. I heartily thank you, that you have can- didly overlooked my numerous Defeats, kindly accepted my well-meant Endeavours to ferve you, both from the Defk and from the Pulpit; and, what is more, generoufly encouraged them. And, to your other Obligations, which you have conferred on me, be pleafed to add this, which will be the greatefi Obligation of all, viz. to make Me, in fome Degree, inftrumental to your Salvation, by deliberately weighing what I have laid down. They are the laft Words of a departing, though not a dying Friend ; and let them therefore make a fuitable ImprelTion. Quit not your Religion, your Truft in God, your Virtue, for any Pleafure or Profit, which this 92 On Faithy Benevolence^ 8cc. Serm JII. this World can give, for the World itfelf. For all the Profit and Pleafure this World can give, this World itfelf may {hortly be nothing to you : But Religion and Virtue will make you happy, when Life's idle 'Employments^ and it's idler Follies, when the World, when Time fhall be no more. Falfe Friends will forfake you, and true Friends may either leave you through ne- ceffary Avocations, or they may be divided from you by Death : Falfe Friends will jland afar off in the Day of Trouble, and even true Friends can, in fome Cafes, ftand only looking upon your Mifery, affli<5led in- deed in all your Afflidion, but without any Power to eafe your Calamities : But God is a prefent Friend, infinitely powerful and good, in all Cafes, at all Times, iii all Places i He is able to hear us, wherefoever difperfed ; and to relieve us, howfoever diftrelTed : Almoft every Thing may fepa- rate us from other Friends j But neither Life nor Death, nor Principalities ?ior Powers, nothing but Sin, can feparate us from Him, and the bleffed Influences of his Prefence. Some there have been here, and fome there are here, to whom I am in a parti- cular On Faith ^ Benevolence^ &c.' 93 cular Manner indebted j from whom I have Serm.iii. received Obligations much greater than my Expedations, and only not fo great as their enlarged Souls and generous Inclinations to do me Good. — Some, of whom almoft eve- ry one fpeaks well ; and few or none can fpeak fo well as they deferve. It is a Plea- fure even to be obliged to Perfons of their Turn, 'Z£;^(? ^/i;^ liberally, and upbraid not \ a Pleafure only not fo affeding as that (which is beyond my Abilities) of obliging them. Injuries I do not remember, that I have received any from any of this Place : And for whatever Kindnefies you have done me, may God reward you fevenfold into your Bofom. And I do not queftion but he will reward you : For they were defigned to cherifh and countenance Worth and Learning j though bellowed on me. My Relation to you, as a Paftor and Teacher, is now upon the Point of expiring j but there is one Relation, which will always fubfift, and that is, of your affedlionate and fmcere Well- widier : Whatever Diiiance of Place may be between us, I (hall rejoice to hear of any Good that befals you, and be heartily forry for any Difafter that afF^ds 2 you. 94 ^^ Faithy Benevolence^ 8cc. Serm.III you. My Prayers, my befl: Wifties (alas! what can I fay or do more ?) fhall always be yours : For I am ftill yours fincerely in all good and Chriftian Offices. Finally, Farewel, my Brethren ; To God's Grace I commend " you. May he grant you everlafting Welfare, and as much Health and Profperity, as are confiftent with your everlafting Welfare ! May your Souls, while you live, improve in every Chriftian Grace j and when ye die, may they be pre- fented without a Spot before the Throne of Grace ! May God proted: you by his Pow- er, guide you with his Counfel through the feveral Stages of Life, and after that receive you into Glory ! SERMON SERMON IV. The Nature and Duration of future Punifhments coniidered ; and the Goodnefs of God fully vindicated ; as to that Article againft the prin- cipal Objedlions of fome late Wri- ters. Matthew XXVI. 24. // had been good for that Mafi, if he had not been born, THESE Words are fpoken of Jw serm.iv, das Ifcariot, but they are applica- ^ ble to every unrelenting Criminal ; and the Senfe of them is, Whoever lives abandoned, and dies impenitent, fliall find. his Miferies in the v^^hole Extent of his Be- ing to overbalance the Enjoyments he has had fo far, that it* had been happy for hiin not to have been at all ; it being better not to be at all, than to be fo miferable as he fliall 96 T^e Nature and Duration SERM.iv./iiallbe: Or, in other Words, Non-Exif- tence, though not a Bleffing in itfelf, is fo, comparatively with the Torments which he fhall endure. This is the plain exprefs authentic De- claration of no lefs a Perfon, than our blef- fed Saviour j and it feems to overthrow the Opinion of Origen^ who imagined, that the Damned (hould be admitted to everlaft- ing Happinefs after a determined Period of Woe. For then it could not have been faid with any Truth, that the Sum of their Miferies {hould exceed their Pleafures ; fince an eternal Happinefs would outweigh any finite Torments. Non-exiftence would not have been, in the true Eftimate of Things, a BlefTing to thofe, who were cer- tain of an exceeding and everlafting Weight of Glory. It would be good for that Man to be born, who fliould fome Time or other . be happy for ever. In the Profecution of this Subjedl I pro- pofe, I/?, To confider the Duration of future Punifhments : Il^/y, To fet forth the Nature of them : III^/)', To make fome pradical Inferences. As of future Punijhments confdered. 97 As to the I/?, viz. The Duration of fu- f^^^^f^* ture Punifhments. When God {hall fet forth, before the united AfTembly of Men and Angels, the Harmony and Confiftency of his Providence, from the firft Birth of Time to it's laft Pe- riod ; it is to be humbly hoped, that mer- ciful Abatements will be made for unavoid- able Temptations, to which Men have been expofed by their Situation in Life ; for the Want of a regular and virtuous Education, t^c. And perhaps fome Part of what is called moral Evil, may be, in the Eye of him, who knoweth whereof we are made^ nothing but natural Evil j as owing to the native Impetuofity of fome Men's original Complexions, and to the unadive Coldnefs of other Men's natural Tempers, which, whether they could wholly get the better of, God only knows. It may be likewife prefumed, that the Number of the Damn- ed will bear no more Proportion to that of theBlefTed throughout the whole Creation j than a Workhoufe or a Prifon does to the whole Extent of a large Kingdom. But whatever gracious Allowances may be made ; it is an exprefs Scripture Dod:rine, that ih&WioktdiJhall go away into ever lajl- Vol. II. H ing 98 The Nature a?7d Duration ■ Serm.iv. ^;2g Pumjhmenf ; l?ut the Righteous dnto Life eternal. Let us fuppofe, that Mankind were to live here for ever : Let us fuppofe, that fome of them were become abandoned and incorrigibly bad : Would it be any unjufti- fiable Severity to confine Them for ever in Prifon, that they might not feduce or an- noy the reft of the Creation ; or even to in- flict pofitive Punifliments upon them, in their Confinement, adequate to their Of- fences, in order to deter others ? It is only therefore to fuppofe, that the Soul is in it's own Nature defigned for an immortal Du- ration ; that thofe, who are configned to everlafting Mifery, are fuch as by a conti- nued Courfe of Sinning have fo difablcd all the Powers of the Soul, that it is morally impoflible for them, without the extraordi- nary Grace of God, to ceafe from Sinning : And then if it be no InjujUce^ as undoubt- edly it is not, that eiiery Sinner ftiould be a Sufferer j there can be no Injuftice, that every habitual^ eternal Sinner fhould be an eternal Sufferer. This Confideration, I think, takes off the Force of the Objection, viz. That there is no Proportion between temporary Crimes, ^ and of future Pujiijhments conjtdered- 99 and eternal Punirhmcnts. But, fince fomc^^'^^'^^'; have laid great Strefs upon it, I fhall coa- fider it further. ly?, Let it be confidered, that though the outward A6ts of Sin be temporary ; yet the Defilement and Habit contracfted by a Repetition of thefe Ads is, if we die in a State of Impenitence, eternal. And as eternal ill Habits are the Source of eternal Torments; it will follow that the Impe- nitent have entailed upon themfelves ever- lading Mifery. If, when Death has elofed the Scene, there be no After-game to play ; if all Overtures of Grace then ceafe j if Vice be ftamped upon the Soul in indelible Characters ; if he that is Jilt by y niufi be filthy Jlill\ then it is an undeniable Confe- quence, that he^ who can fiever ceafe to be wicked^ can never ceafe to be miferahk. The veteran Sinner is fteeled againft all Impreflions, and the Mifer does not ceafe to love this World with all bis Soul, a?}d with all his Strength, even whenheftands juft upon the Verge of another. How often have we feen Men, that, however inconliftent in every thing elfe, have been very confiftent in obeying one ruling, habitual Paflion from firfl to lafl ? Nay, we have H 2 furprifing A lOO The Nature and Duration s™^- furprifing Inftances upon Record, befides that of a dying Mifer; that even at the Clofe of Life, the grand and important Crifis, that is to determine a Man's Happinefs or Mi- fery ; even then this ruling Paffion would bear no Rival, no Competitor near the Throne. Even then, like a domineering Favourite, who has long maintained the Afcendant ; it would not, for fear of be- ing fupplanted, admit any thing to his Death- bed, but what countenanced it's Interefts, and was fubfervient to it's Or- ders. What our Saviour faid to St. Peter^ may be applied to an old habitual Sinner. When thou waft youngs thou girdedji thy f elf ^ and went whither thou wouldft ; but when thou art old^ another JJjall bind thee, and carry thee whither thou wouldfi not. His Sins fliall bind him, and carry him into Capti- vity. He will be apt to think, if he thinks at all to thePurpofej Why had I not the fame Sentiments when young, as I have now ? Or why have I not now the fame vigorous Strength, which I had then, to break my Bonds afunder ? Some have fo much enfeebled the Powers of the Soul, that their Reafon, like the Light of the Sun, when the Face of Nature is overr I fpread of future Punijhme?tts confdered. loi Ipread with Fogs, is juft ftrong enough to^^'^'''^^ fhew and render vifible the melancholy Scene, but not ftrong enough to overcome and difperfe the Vapours. Thus often in this World Habits feem to be incorporated into the Soul, and to be, as it were, Parts of our Selves : i^nd if we carry our Enquiries farther, with the Light of Revelation in our Hands, we fhall dif- cover, that they are for ever rooted in the Mind in the next World. St. Faul^ in the xiiith Chapter of his firft Epiflle to the CorirJhians, difcourfes upon Charity, not as an occafional AB^ but as a ruling, y?^W- ing Principle. If I give, fays he, all my Goods to feed the Poor, and have not Cha- rity, it profiteth me nothing : i. e. Though I fliould pradife fome occafional A61:s of Charity, however great ; yet unlefs it be a fettled Principle, it will be of no Avail. Well, what becomes of this habitual Cha- rity ? Charity never faileth j but whether there be Prophecies, they JJjall fail ; ivhe^ ther there be Tongues, they Jhall ceafe ; whether there be Knowledge, it Jhall va?iiJJj away. That is, Prophecies, Languages, and our imperfed: Knowledge, which is but Ignorance in Comparifon, fhall end H 3 with 102 ihe Nature and Duration Serm. IV. with this World: But the Habit of Cha- rity fhall remain beyond this tranfitory Scene of Things, and accompany the Mind into Heaven, and there remain with it to all Eternity ; as immortal as the Soul, and as extenfive as the Creation. Now if good Habits (hall follow their Pofleflbrs into an- other World, and there abide with them ; then ill Habits will, by Parity of Reafon, do fo too. This appears farther from the Cafe of thofe Angels, which kept not their jirjl Efiate. Could any thing have reduced thofe accurfed Spirits to a State of Submif- fion to their Maker ; one would have, thought, that the Fruitleflhefs of their for- mer Attempt, the fevere Vengeance they already felt, and the Dread of a much fe- verer that hung over them, if they perfifted in their Wickednefs ; and the Hopes of mitigating their Doom, if they defifted j might at lead have made ihtrnpafftvely obe- dient: But though they believe and tremble^ yet ftill they go on to a6t contrary to the Convi(5lion of their own Minds > ftill they ^a about fe eking whom they may devour ; ftill they proceed in a State of Hoftility to their Creator : So ftedfaft is Malice, fo uncon- querable of future Punijhments co?7fdered. 103 querable is Pride. And this will be the'^^'^M^'^'- Cafe of the Damned. For as the Good are ^ to be as the Angels of God '; the Bad will be as the Angels of Darknefs. Whatever inborn Freedom of Mind we might have ; an inbred, habitual Slavery to depraved Affedions, will, in Procefe of Time, deftroy it : The Abilities may be cramped, and the Powers of the Soul, as well as the Organs of the Body, fo far maimed, as to be incapable of anfwering thofe valuable Purpofes, for which they were originally deligned. From him that bath not any Improvement, our Saviour exprefly faith, Jhall be taken away even- that which he hath ^ the original Faculty and Power to do Good. Befides, though we may endeavour to get rid of thofe out- ward Calamities, which are generallyybrff^ upon us, in Oppofition to our ftrongeft Inclinations ; we feldom make it heartily our Bufinefs to remove thofe inward Mi(e- ries, which we voluntarily bri fig upon our- /elves. Though we feel ourfelves unhap- py 5 yet as they are our own Choice^ we applaud and jujiify ourfelves in it, through the unrelenting Stubbornnefs of a corrupt Will. Thus the Jealous, the Melancholy, H 4 the 1 04 7^^ Nature and Duration SgRM JV. the Envious, the Revengeful, dvjtW upon every thing that may foment and heighten their refpedive Paffions, whatever Torments they may labour under from them j and ihut out each Conlideration that may make againft them. A Man cannot pradife Vir- tue, without effedually willing it : And how can he efFedlually will that, to which his Will, by a long uninterrupted Attach- .ment to Vice, is utterly averfe? A long Continuance in vicious Pleafures is to the Soul, what Iron Chains are to the Body of him, who has lain long in them : The Chains may be ftruck off, but the Canker, and Ruil:, if they have-eaten into the Flefli, will remain, and may difable him ever af- ter. Juft fo worldly Pleafures may ceafe with this World ; but the Pollution, grofs Conceptions and the Indifpofnion to refined and liberal Delights, which they leave be- hind, may continue to obilrudt the Free- dom of the Soul, and deftroy it's native Energy *. Now when the whole Bent of the Soul ftands the wrong Way, when all * Qui in compedibus corporis femper fuerunt, e^lam cum foluti funt, tardius ingrediuntur j ut hi, qui ferro vinfti multos annos fuerunt. Cicer^nif Tufculana Di/puta- panes : Page 6^. Eciitio Da'vi/^ . gJ future Punijhments conjidered. 105 our Defires are rivetted to vicious Objedls jSerm.IV. it is no hard Matter to forefee, that Mife- ry, eternal Mifery, muft be the unavoid- able Refult. When vi^e are as it were hound Hand and Foot by ill Habits ; when the Spring of the Soul, by which (he (hould recover herfelf, which every vicious Adt muft weaken, is, by a continued Re-itera- tion of them,quite broken j the Confequence is, that we muft be cafl into outer Darknefs, Now where can be the Injuftice, that God fhould fuffer thofe Evils to take Place, which a Man has brought upon himfelf, by counterading the Will of God ? Where can be the Injuftice, that thofe fhould be for ever excluded from Heaven, who, by a viciated Relifti, have difqualified them- fclves for heavenly Blifs ? If Happinefs be nothing but the Employment of the Facul- ties of the Soul upon fuitable Objedts j it is certain, that ccelefiial and fpiritual Qb- jeds cannot fuit a Soul, which being long and deeply immerfed in fenfual Delights, has contraded an habitual Diftajie for them. As Man was the Creature of God's Hands, he was enabled and defigned to be a Par- taker of Happinefs, and a Sharer of a blefTed Jp^n^prtalir-w with hinifelf : But as he is an habitual I o 6 'The Nature and Duration Serm.IV. habitual Sinner, and in that Refped: the Creature of his own Hands, he has made himfelf eternally miferable, by thofe Ha- bits, which are the Foundation of Hell. So far, perhaps, you may be willing to allow, there is no Colour of Injuftice : But this, you will fay, does not account for the Perpetuity of pojitive Punifhments for temporary Crimes. To which I an- fwer, that even the Threats of eternal po- fitive Penalties are not the rigorous De- crees of rjiere Will and Pleafure j they are lb many kindly Forewarnings of the necef- fary Effects of a rooted Averfion to Good- nefs. For it may be necejfary to fecure the Happmefs ©f the Blefled, that, though the Good anti Bad, like the Wheat and Tares, are blended together here ; they (hould, at the Ehd of the World, be finally fevered- the ione from the other. It may be ne- cejfaryy t\i2it if every Region of y^^ and Comfort throughout the Creation be peopled with unoffending Beings ; the defperately WickM fhould be thrufl down (which is a pofitiVe- Punifhment) into Places, where no Joy and Comfort dwells, and there for ever imprifoned j that their Rancour and Ma- lie^ might prey upon themfe es, or be difcharged of future Punifhmmts confidered. 107 difcharged upon their Fellow-Criminals, ^erm.iv. which, if let loofe, might difturb the in- nocent Part of the World. The divine Sanations, you fee then, are not the arbi- trary Impofitions of Sovereign Power; they are the genuine Refult of infinite Wifdom and Goodnefs, which, in Pity to the Uni- verfe, has enadted them, that the whole may receive no Detriment. And whatever other pofitive Puni/hments may be fuper- added -, they will be exactly adjufled to the Demerits of each Offender. The Scripture exprefsly declares, that the Wicked will be beaten with fewer or more Stripes, in Pro- portion to the different Degrees of their Wickednefs. zdly. Let thofe, who infift fo much upon it, that the Punifhment is difpropor- tioned to the Crime 5 rcfledt, whether they do not confider Sin in one View, either as to the FaSi abJlraBedly^ or as to the Hime which [the Perpetration of the Fadt takes up ; without coniidering it in all Views, and in all it's Confequence. 3 which yet is the only Way to form a true Judgment of the Malignity of it. For the Punifliment is not difproportioned to Sin, habitual Sin, if co^iideied with all it's numerous Train of io8 "The Nature and Duration 5erm.iv. of ill Confequences ; the Confequences be- ing fuch, that if unreftrained it would foon involve the whole World in one promifcu- ous Ruin and Defolation. It is true, one Man cannot do all this Mifchief. But then one Man, who, for Inftance, ads unjuft- ly, contributes his Part to the Introdudion of univerfal Dlforder and Mifery. If all ihould ad as unjuftly as himfelf, (and all have as much Right as any one Man) the Foundations of the moral World would be quite out of Courfe. To explain this by a familiar Inftance, one Perfon robs another of a fmall Sum of Money ; he is taken and fuffers Death for the Fad : Now what Proportion is there between the Punifhment and the Crime ; between depriving a Man of iiohat he per- haps could very well fpare^ and depriving the Perfon that did it of his Life, of his all in this World ? None at all, if we con- sider the Grime in this Light only : But if we view it in all it's ^ende?icies, then the Crime is adequate to the Punifliment ; fince it tends to render Property, and what is va- luable in this Life, precarious, and to fub- vert the Peace of Society. We know not, iwe cannot know, how far of future Puntfhments co?7fdereci, 109 far the Confequences of any one Sin rnay^^^"^-^^- extend, how far the Influence of our Beha- viour may affed: all that lye within the Sphere of our Activity, thofe beneath us, and about us, our Domeflics, Relations, and Neighbours. And thefe again may fpread the Contagion farther. Thofe that are vicious in a lefs Degree, however they may blame the Corruption of the World in general, are acceflary to that very Corrup- tion. It is here as in a Battle : Every Per- fon who fled, is apt to fhift off the Blame from himfelf, and to lay it upon his Fellow- Soldiers : But if each Perfon, who gave Way, had flood his Ground -, what was a general Rout, would have been a complete Vidtory. Sin then deferves the greateft Evil^ becaufe it is oppofite to the greateft Good^ the uni' verfal Interefl : and as a confirmed Habit of Sin implies the Love of it, a continual Love of what is oppofite to the greateft Good^ mufl continually or for ever deferve the greateft Evil, We may harangue as long as we pleafe upon God's Benevolence. But no Argu- ments can be drawn from it to foften the leeming Rigour of the divine Sand:ions. For univerfal Beuevolence muftconfult the Good of no ^b^ Nature and Duration Serm. IV. of the whole 5 which can never be done by abating the Penahies threatned to Vice 5 and much lefs by removing all Apprehenfi- ons of fuffering hereafter, and confequently emboldening Wickednefs ; but by awaken- ing carelejs Sinners, and ftriking a Terror into determined Offenders. Whatever Sanc- tions are molt effedual to compafs this End, muft be moft agreeable to the Goodnefs of the divine Legiflator, who cannot promote the Happinefs of the whole, without fe- curing the Obfervance of his Laws. If to annex fuch Penalties be for the Good of the whole ; then what is for the Good of the whoky cannot be Injuflice to ^ny par- ticular Perfon ; fmce the Good of each particular Perfon is naturally and originally wrapt up in, and connedted with, that of the whole. And there is a previous obliga- tion upon every one that comes into the World, either to do thofe Duties, or fub- mit to thofe PenaltieSy which preferve or promote the general Happinefs, with which his own was primarily interwoven. God would have enforced our Obedience to Him with lefs Penalties, if lefs had htQv\fuJicient, But it is plain, that lefs Punilhments would not have anfwered the End y iince even thofe of future Punijhnients confdered. 1 1 1 thofe that he has denounced, do not, inSERwlV. many Cales, check the Growth of Vice and awe a wicked World into a Compli- ance with his Will. It is a Miftake therefore, and a dange- rous one too, to admit, as fome late Wri- ters have done, of no penal Evils in the next World, but what terminate in the Benefit of the Sufferer, and are for the A- mendment of the immoral Agent. Upon that Suppofition, there would be no Hell properly fpeaking ; there would only be a "Purgatory : And the abando7ied 2in6. incur a-^ bly bad, who merit the greatefi Severity, would efcape with abfolute Impunity ; be- caufe no Punijhment could produce an A- mendment in them. Befides, all Punifli- ments, which come from God, have not even in this Life been intended for the Ke- formation of the Criminal ; fome of them have been for the utter Excijion and Ex- tirpation of the irreclaimable, when once they have filled up the Mcafure of their Iniquities : Such were the Deluge, and the unprecedented Deftrudion of Jerufa- lem^ not to mention many other Inftances, Hell is every where in Scripture reprefented as the very Reverfe of a Place intended for the 112 T^e Nature and Duration SERM.iv.the Exercife of benevolent Affedlions, with- out which none (hall inherit the Kingdom of God. It is defcribed as a State of Hor- ror and Defpair, where, as St. 'John fays, they blajphemed the God of Heaven^ and re- pented not to give God the Glory, It can- not therefore be a proper Scene to reclaim the Guilty, and to purify the Soul. Some there are, who take Shelter in the Thoughts of Annihilation, and hope, or pretend to hope, that God will uncreate the Soul, and deprive it of Being. And is Annihilation then their only Hope ? A fad gloomy Hope, and an horrid Confolation ! To be as if they had never been, devoid of Confcioufnefs, Senfe and Motion, to have all thofe bufy Workings of the Mind, all thofe adtive Thoughts, which wander through this World, and lofe themfelves agreeably in the next, loft and fwallowed up for ever in utter Extind:ion of Being ; is this their only Refource ? this, at which Nature, which always ftruggles hard for Self-Prefervation, ftarts back with Horror ? Yet, alas ! they are even cut off from this dreadful, this, I had almoft faid, de- fperate Hope. For if Annihilation be the only Puniihment which fliall be inflicted on of future Punifldfnents conjtdered. 113 on Sinners; then all Sinners, however iin-^^^^-^\ equal their Crimes may be, would be equally piinifljed. If all were alike to be deprived of Being ; God would make 720 Di/ii?iBion, where there is a very material Difference^ be- tween the greatefi: and the leafl: of Sinners. Farther, the Soul is an uncompounded, immaterial Being, and therefore not cor- ruptible as Matter is. Now if God has created the Soul in it's Nature immortal ; then he cannot uncreate, or render it mor- tal, without adiing contrary to' the fixed and ftated Laws of Nature : But God never ads contrary to his flated Laws, except upon fome extraordinary Emergency. Well then, where is the extraordinary Occafion, that the Deity fliould fuperfede his own Laws, and put forth an immediate A»5t of Almighty Power, to reduce thofe Souls to nothing, which, he hadempow^ered tofubfift forever? How can it be expeded, that He, who never annihilates the leaft Particle of Matter^ the leafl: infignilicant Atom, Ihould annihilate a jpiritual Subflance ? Why a Set of obflinately rebellious Crea- tures have plunged themfelves into Mife- ry, by wilfully, deliberately, and frequent- ly breaking the Laws of Morality : And Vol. n. I do 114 ^^^ Nature and Duration S£RM,iv.(3o they expert, that God will remove that Mifery, by breaking through the Laws of Nature, which he has eltablifhed upon the matureil: Wifdom, for the Good of the Whole ? Yes, fay the Objedors : For he does not love to inflicft ufelep and unavailing Mifery upon his Creatures : And it fe afls^ed, what Ufe the Punilhment of thefe unhappy Ob- jects can be of? To which I anfwer, that we, whofe Judgments are very fliallow, muft not pretend to arraign his Proceedings, which are like the great 'Deep. This we may take for granted, that no Evil is fuf- fered to continue in the Creation, but to prevent or avoid a greater. And the Con- tinuance of thefe Beings in their wretched Exigence may be of Advantage to let the World in general knov/ the deplorable Confequences of an audacious Perfeverance in a wilful Rebellion to their Creator, and to confirm the BleJJed in particular in their Happinefs. For the BleiTed in Heaven are endued with Freedom of Will. We know indeed, becaufe God hath promifed it ; that, notwithflanding this Freedom of Will, they will never fall from that blifsful State. But whether the Refledion on the Punifliment of future Punijhments conjtdered, i i 5 Punidiment of the Wicked may not be oneS^"^"^^* confiderable Means, among others, to keep them invariably firm in an uninterrupted Pradice of Goodnefs, and confequently in an uninterrupted Enjoyment of Happinefs ; this, I prefume, we cannot determine. In God's Houfey the World, there are many Manjions j and Variety of Beings may ftill continue to people the Variety of Apart- ments in the Univerfe, after this Earth is diflblved. Perhaps, as the Fall of the Angels is revealed to us ; fo thefe unhappy Sufferers may ferve to give awakening No- tices to others, who inhabit fome other Part of the Creation, left they alfo fall into the fame State of Condemnation. Be that as it will j God has a thoufand Ways of bringing Good, general Good, out of partial Evil, and making the Punifhment of the Bad, as well as Happinefs of the Good, terminate in his own Glory. This may ferve as an Anfwer to thofe. who aik, why God would produce into the World Beings, who he forefaw would be eternally milerable ? The Reply is obvi- ous. Why did he produce into the World Beings, that he forefaw would be expofed here to innumerable Misfortunes ? Why I 2 did 1 1 6 T^he Nature and Duration S erm.iv.^ ^]]^ he permit, what he could not but forefee, temporal Evils j fuch as Volcano's, Earthquakes, Famines, Plagues, ^c ? But thefe temporary Evils ^ you will fay, are produdive of fome greater temporary Good, Well ; ifGod may permit a temporary Erjil, which he forefaw, to take place, becaufe produd:ive of a greater temporary Good j Vfhy may he not permit an eternal Evil, which he forefaw, to take place, becaufe produdlive of an eternal Good? Or will thcfe Perfons demonftrate, that no eternal Good can refult by God's infinite Wifdom, from an eternal Evil ? But there is a wide Difference between temporary and eternal Evils : It is granted j yet the fame Prin- ciple, which vindicates God's Ways with Men, as to temporary Curfes, acquits him likewife as to fuffering eternal Evils, viz. That from both he can draw a much greater Good^ and caufe what is Evil re- fpe^ively to ^few^ to be abfolutely Good ■ upon the Whole. Kjiowifug the I'error of the Lord^ fays St. Paul, we perfiiade Men. Yet fome very worthy Perfons, mifled, I conceive, by an Excefs of Good-Nature, have weak- ned, inftead of alarming, the Terrors of the of future Punijhments C07ifdered. 117 the Wicked. Thofe good Men, who op-^^RM-iv. pofe this Dodtrine, may have to do with others that are not fo ; and one would be glad to know, where they woiiU, or indeed where they ca?t flop. If eternal Punifli- ments be thought exceffive by them, will not others remonftrate ag:ainft a Punifh- ment of a thoufand Years as of too long a Duration for the Sins of this fliort Life ? Nay, will not that of an ^//W;W Years, or fifty ; or indeed any ginaen Space of Time, . that is confiderablc^ be liable to the fame Objection ? There is no End of yielding, and one Conceffion does but pave the Way to another. When once they have given up the Eternity of Punifliments, when once they have deferted that Pofl which was ftridtly tenable ; they may be driven backwards by thofe, who will difpute eve- ry Inch of Ground with them 5 till at laft they have not fufficient Ground left to ftand upon. And let them ferioufly refled:, v/hat they are doing. Whether at a Time, when the Torrent of Wickednefs rifes high, and makes every thinking Man befides them- felves afraid; whether at fuch a Jundure it be proper to break down, or lower thofe I 3 Fences 1 1 8 "The Nature and Duration Serm JV. Fences and Mounds, which keep out the Overflowings of Ungodlinefs? " OurDefire, " and Love, and Hope, (fays a great *' Writer *) are not fo apt to be wrought " upon by the Promiles of Rewards and ^* Happinefs ; as our Fear is from the Ap^ ** prehenfion of the Divine Difpleafure, " For, (as he obferves) though we have ** loft in a great Meafure the Gufl and ^' Reli{h of true Happinefs ; yet we ftill " retain a quickSenfeof Pain and Mifery.'* Celfus, though a profefTed Enemy to Chriftianity, yet commends the Chriftians for maintainyig that the Good JJ:ould be happy hereafter j but the Unrighteous doom' ed to Pimijlments jlri5ily eternal : From which Opinion^ fays he, neither let them, nor any other Mortal depart, -f* But I proceed, Il^/y, To condder the Nature of future Punifhments. Some there are, who will not allow, that God immediately and direBly, by a fojitive hdiy confers any Rewards upon Virtue, or inflids any Punifhtnent upon * Archbifhop T;//o//5i«, Vol. i. Page 3d. ^ C^ljKS apudOrigenem; Pag. 409, Editio Cantab. Vice, of future Pu?njhments conftdered^ 1 1 9 Vice, here or hereafter. All the Penalties ^^^;^ and Rewards they admit of are fuch, as naturally flow froin our Adions. Thus they make Hell to be nothing but a Re- morfe of Confcience, an infeparable Atten- dant, as they think, on Wickednefs. This is, in efFed, to dethrone God as a Legif- lator, to weaken the Interefls of Virtue, and to make dangerous Conceffions in Fa- vour of Vice. For, if this Scheme were true ; then the greateft dinners would have the leaft Pimijlmient^ perhaps none at all : For the greateft Sinners are hardened, pafi all Kemorfe^ all Feelings but that of Fahi, Thofe, on the other hand, that have made the leafi Advances in Vice, would bear the greateft Punifliment, as they would feel the moft Remorje. Whereas God moft ab~ horSy and confequently will mofi feverely funtfhy thofe, who are fo far from having any CompunSiiom of Confcience, that they delight in Wickednefs, We have ftanding Proofs of the Deluge to this Day. The Exuvice of Sea Creatures, the numerous Beds of Shell-Fifh, and other Spoils of the Ocean depofited on the high- eft Hills, found not only in Iflands, but in Continents, where the Sea could never I 4 come 1 20 l*he Nature and Duration SERM-jV -conie, bat by a Miracle, are fo many in- conteftable Demonftrations and authentic Monuments of the Deluge ; as that is an authentic Monument of God's 'Jujllce and Vengeance; and that He, who cut off all the old World except eight Perfons, for their Sin?, is not a Being .quite fo eafy in Refpedt of Vice, as we may fondly imagine. In fliort, the whole Univerfe witnefTeth, that a Deluge of Waters once overfpread the Uuiverfe. And if even in this World, which is defigned for a State of 'Jrlal and Probation^ and not for an exa6l diftributive yufllce^ proportioned to Men's feveral Me- rits and Demerits, God could involve all Mankind, except fome few, in one pro- iBJiCuous Ruin ; what Punifliments may await the Impenitent, when the laft deci- sive Day o^ yuftlce 2iX\d y ui^gment comeih} May not thofe Senfes, which God has cre- ated to be fo many Inlets of Pleafure, be- come fo many Avenues of Pain and yt?:- gidftj ? 1 know fom.e have denied a local Hell. But it is very clear from Scripture. Depart from fne, ye Workers of ^ Iniquitv^ into the Fire prepared Jor the Devil and his Angels, I. c. Depart from the Place, where I am ^ z into of future Punipments conjidered: 121 into that, where the Devil and his Angels s^'^^^i^- are to be. And again, the Devils bej ought our Saviour, thz-t he would ?iot command them to go out into the Deep-, or, as it is in the Original, into the Abyfs. It appears then that the Bad go from this World, where there is only a Mixture of Evils, into a Scene of mere Mifery, Horror, and Tor- ment. If God, who ^f%^/i to communi- cate Happinejs to as many Beings as the U- niverfe can convejiiently hsld, has, in Pur- fuance of this Scheme, filled every beaiiti^ Jul and agreeable Province in it with Crea- tures fufceptive of Felicity in the Purfuit of Virtue and Perfedion ; the neceflary Confequence is, that thofe Creatures, who have dif qualified themfelves for Happinefs^ muft be condemned to diffnal and uncom- fortable Manfions ; from which, probably, after the laft Adjuftment of Things, there will be no Outlet, nor Poflibility of mak- ing an Inroad upon the Reft of the Crea- tion. There will be a Congruity between the Nature of the Place, and that of the Inhabitants, which will fettle them there ; and every one, like fudaSy mufi go to his own Place. It is idle to difpute, whether the Fire denounced againft the unrelenting be 12 2 "The Nature and Duration Serm.iv. [)£ metaphorical or real. Suppofe it a Me- taphor ; yet thofe Metaphors, which repre- fent Things of another World, do not ge- nerally exceed the Originals, or the Reality of the Things defigned to be fhadowed out by them. The Ingredients of future Punlfliment are partly pofitive, and partly the natural Confequences of bad Actions, njiz. Appe- tites ever craving and clamorous, but ever unfatistied ; 'tribulation and Anguijio upon every Soul that doth Evil : An eternal Ba- nishment from the bleff^d Prefence of God, and the Society of Angels, and jujl Men made perfeB ; and a Confinement to the Company of malicious Spirits, an everlaft- ing Torment to themfelves, and ever tor- menting all about them. My God J my God, why haji thou jorf alien me ? Our Saviour cried out, when he felt only a momentary and partial Eclipfe of the Light of the divine Countenance. But when a deep and genuine Defpair faddens the Scene all around, without the leaft Beam of Light from any Point of Heaven ; then — I was going to defcribe the Mifery. But if Words can paint this Night-Piece of Horror, the Copy mufl be drawn by thofe, offuUirePuniJhmentsconJtdered, 123 thofe, whofe Unhappinefs it will be to be^^'^''';^^- too well-acquainted with the Original. Here the Body prejjed down the Soul, and the earthly tabernacle the Mind, that mii^ Jed upon ma7iy things : But when the Soul {hall be clothed with refined Matter, which will not encumber her in her Operations ; her whole Duration will be one continued Stretch of Thought, without any Paufe or Intermiffion. And what a Mifery muft it be to be thinking ftill ; and yet to have little or nothing to think on, but endlefs Mifery ? To be at once deprived of all fen- fual Delights, and cut off from the En- joyment of rational and fubftantial Blifs, is a Mifery that we cannot now conceive, and — may we never feel ! That this may never be our Portion, let us, llldly. Attend to fuch pradical Infe- rences, as arife from what I have before laid down. i/, Beware of evil Habits. It is im- poffible to overcome intirely our ^r/l Na- ture J and it is next to impoffiblc to over- come long landing Habits, which are our fecond Nature. To deflroy the Power of Vice is like laying the Ax to the Root of the ^ree : 124 ^^ Nature and Duration SermJV.cj'^^^ ; And it is v\ot one Stroke^ however vigorous, or o?ie Endeavour^ which will bring the Tree down, and root it up ; though it may contribute towards it : No, there muft h^ fever al repeated Strokes^ and a continued Verfeverance^ to gain the de- cifive ViBory over it, and to finiih it's Ru- in; however deeply rooted. When Sin has had for a long Time the Dominion over us, our Refolutions of Amendment will be, ac- cording to the beautiful Thought of St. Aufiin^ " like the Endeavours of thofe, ** who are trying to Wake out of a deep *' Sleep, into which they fink back again, ** overcome by the dead Weight, which ** hangs upon them." Take Care then of your A6lions : Every evil Adion is a Step towards an evil Hubit -, and every evil Habit is a Step towards that bottomlefsGulph, from which there is no Return. For when once ill Habits are rivetted in the Soul, you are miferable for ever, by a Nccejjity ef Na- ture : you have made yourfelf an Objed: incapable of Mercy, and indifpofed to re- ceive the Communications of the divine Favour. Let it be acknowledged that a fincere and thorough Repentance, implying an entire Change of the Hearty can never be of future Punipments conftdered, 125 be too late ; but let it be likewife granted, ^ermJV. that a late Repentance is very feldom in this Senfe fincere. If the Man were rein- ftated in his former Health, Eafe poflibly might recant the Fows^ that were made in Paijiy as null and void. idly^ As you are to avoid evil Habits, be fure betimes to acquire good Habits, as the neceiTary Qualifications for Heaven. Some feem to think, that Religion confifts in fome broken disjointed A5fs of Piety : But let them not deceive themfelves : True Religion confifts in the inward Frame of the Mind, in the ftanding Bent of the In- clinations, in fettled Habits of Piety con- flantly refiding in the Bieaft, and, as often as there is Opportunity, breaking forth into outward Ads. Thus a Man ihall think himfelf devout, if he now and then occaji- onally fays his Prayers, and frequents the public Worfliip ; though he often abfents himfelf upon every flight Occaiion, upon no Occafion at all. But let him not deceive hiaiifelf : If he were really devout, he would have a Relifli for Ads of Piety, his Heart would cleave ftedfaftly unto God : and then he would not negled private or public Prayers upon frivolous Pretences. Thus again a Man fliall think himfelf cha- ritable. 126 The Nature and Duration Serm.iv. j-jtable^ becaufe he now and then performs occafional tranfient Adls of Charity : But he alone is a charitable Man, who loves Mercy and Charity, and fieweth that he loves them, by the main T^enor and Current <^ of his Adions ; who, with a ftrong Bene- volence of Soul, is glad to relieve proper Objeds of Charity when he can j and fin- cerely forry when he cannot. And yet the very forrows of the Charitable give more fubftantial Satisfaction than the Joys of the Selfiih. For CompafTion for the Diftreft (a Sorrow of which the Charitable are moft fufceptible) gives them to underfland, that the habitual Difpolition of their Mind is right,: And he, who does not feel that lovely Dif- pofition within, muft want a Pleafure, the Abfence of which no other Pleafure can counterbalance. He is a thoroughly good Man, who has often tried 2ind found his Viv- tntgenuhie^ and clear of slW Oftentation j who, inflead of boajling or coinplaining, loves to conceal the Good he does, and the Ills hefuf- fers J who thinks that Happinefs fcarce any at all, which isfolitary and uncommimicated', as Paradife was no Paradife to Adam^ till he had a Partner of it. Till we have acquired an habitually-good Bent of Temper, we have not acquired thofe Qualifications, which I, / are of future Punipments confdered, are the main Ground-work and Founda-S^'^^'-^^^ tion of our future Happinefs : We are not meet to be Partaken of the Inheritance of the Saints in Light. Therefore, 3^/^, Let us all confider, that our future Mifery or Happinefs depends upon our prefent Behaviour. Our Happi- nefs in Manhood depends upon thofe early Accompliiliments, which we have acquired in our younger Years. If that proper Seed- Time of Life be negled:ed, we muft exped: no Harvcfl in the Autumn of it. Juft fo our Felicity in another Life muft be owing to the Preparations we make for it here. And what we muji be to all Eternity^ will be the Confequence of what we have been in this World. There is a certain Fool-hardinefs prevail- ing among us in Relation to 2. future State. Men live as carelefsly or profligately, as if xhty never wtv& io depart this Life ^ and then depart this Life with as much Stupidity and Hardnefs of Heart, as if they never were to live again. They rufli unprepared into the Prefence of the juji^ the holy Legiflator of the whole World, as inconfiderately and audacioufly, as the Horfe rufoes to the Bat' tie, a Creature not capable of being fright- ed with Confequences, becaufe incapable of refledting 128 '\the Nature and Duration Se^ JV. i-efledling upon them. God, fay they, is all Goodnefs -y and therefore they dare to be what he muft necejjarily hate, the very Re^ verfe of Him — all Wickednefi : Not confi- dering, that tbe Goodnefs ofGodihouX^ lead them to Repentance. For God caniiot love a. Nature diredly and habitually contrary to his J and cannot Ifut love v^^hat is in fome De?^ree conformable to his Holinefs and Purity. Now what he loves muft be for ever happy; and what he hates for ever mifera- ble. Let Men think or fay, what they will, to the contrary ; it is Goodnefs which ought to make every immoral Agent afraid, a determined, impartial, tiniverjal Good- nefs in a Being, who, becaufe he is infi?jite- ly Good, will' inflid: every defcrved Evil, which is produd:ive of a prepollent Good ; and will inflid none, but what is produdive of fuch ; who will confult the univerfal In- tereft, and not that of 2. few i?icurable Mem- bers of the whole ftupendous Body of the Univerfe. Such Men would do well to refled, that Men even here in the natural Courfe of Things bring upon themfelves fuch ill Ha- bits of Body, and Miferies of all Kinds, that they can never extricate themfelves from, as long as they live. The Courfe of of future Punijloments conjldered, 129 of Nature is fo eflabliflied, that Death alone Serm iv. fometimes puts a Period to thofe Ills, which they have plunged themfelves into by their Follies and Vices : If thev were to live for ever, they would be probably miferable for ever, by the ill Confequences of their Sins, which take place in a natural Way. Now whatever comes to pafs by t\\Q fettled Courfe of Nature^ is as much done by him^ who appointed the Courfe of Things, and fore- faw every Confequence that would arife from every Manner of Ading; as if he had immediately injliEled the Funi figment himfelf. And as the fame God, who ap- pointed the Nature of Things here, is the God of the other World as well as this ; may not fomething like this come to pafs in that other State ? May not the Impeni- tent be for ever lamenting thofe Ills, which no Prudence can redrefs, no Patience make fupportable, and no Time put a Period to ? I cannot conclude this Head, without wifhing, that ^//of us may believe the Doc- trine which I have here iiaculcated, to be true i and that this Belief, with the Con- currence of other Motives, may have that EfFedt, that none of us m?^^ feel it to be fo. Vol. II. K SERMON SERMON V. The Nature, Poffibility and Truth, of a particular Providence fet forth. Psalm CXIII. 5. 7^/?(? ts like unto the Lo?^d our God^ who hath his DweUi?2g fo high ; a?id yet hum-^ hleth hif7ifelf to behold the Tubings that are in Heaven and Earth F IT is one great Recommendation of theSfRM- ^' ■ Sacred Writings, that they have ex- prefTed themfelves with more Juftnefs of Thought concerning the Nature of God, than any other Compofitions whatever. What the Vanity of Science, falfely fo called, has afcribed io Nature^ or to/^ci?WCaufes, eKcliifpvely of the Firft, is by them refolved into the immediate Will and Providence of God. This is the trueft Philofophy, as well as the beft Difinity. For what is Nature ? is it an underjlanding Being ? or is it not ? If it be nof^ how can an unde^ K 2 Jigning 132 T^e Nature^ PoJJlhiUty and Truths Serm. y- Jigning Being produce plain Notices of Con- trivance and Defgn ? If it be an Under-' /landing Being, who a6ls throughout the Univerfe ; then it is that great Being, whom we call God. For Nature, Neceflity, and Chance, mere Phantoms, which have no Reafon, Wifdom, or Power, cannot a6t, with the utmoft Exadnefs of Wifdom, powerfully, inceffantly, and every where. And here I would obferve, that no Words are more undefermi?2ed in their Signification, than thofe, which pafs current in common Converfation. We never queflion, but that we clearly under jl and Terms, which are daily in ufe, 2S\6. familiar to us : Whereas thofe Words are often mere Soundsy with- out aS^;?/^, or anyy^/^/ Reply lo Leibnitz, Page 351. K 3 No 134 ^^ Nature^ Pojfthility and T^ruth^ Serm. v. |nJq Beings, but what have Life and Senfe^ can, in Propriety of Speech, be term- ed Caufes : All other Things being dead and unadlive are only like Tools in the Hand of a Workman: And whatever we afcribe to Matter a, pajjhe Being, mufi: be refolv- ed into hh Will, who ufeth Matter as an Inftriiment. Can Matter, which refifts every Change of State, efFcd what it refifts, not only move itfelf, but change it's Moti- on from a ftraight to a circular one, and give itfelf a new Direction ; as the Planets muft do to defcribe their Orbits round the Sun? But I need not infift upon this Point any longer. For to deny a Providence in general, is, in efFed, to deny a God. If there be a God ifivejied with the Attributes of infinite Power, Wifdom and Goodnefs^ Providence is nothing but the Exercife of thofe Attributes, viz. his Wifdom, Power and Goodnefs on the Creation in general. It cannot be fuppofed, that he will let thofe Attributes lye dormant in Him in a State of Inadion, without exerting them at all. A general Providence then muft: be ^ granted : But a particular Providence is clogged with fome Difficulties. I fhall therefore, to remove them, I/?, of a particular Providence fet forth, 135 I/?, State the Dodrlne of a particular ^^erm^^ Providence. lldly. Shew the Poffibility of it. Wldly, I fhall prove the Certainty and Truth of it. Wthly^ Subjoin and conclude with fomc pradical Refledions. I/?, Then, I am to flate the Dodrlne of a particular Providence. ly?, We muft not expecfl, that God's par- ticular Providence would interpofe, where our own Endeavours are fufficient. For that would be to encourage Sloth and Idle- nefs, inftead of countenancing and fupport- ing Virtue. Nor ought we to expert to be relieved from Difficulties and DiflrefTes, into which our own Mifmanagement and cri- minal Condu(5l have plunged us. But when without any Fault of ours our Affairs are fo perplexed and intangled, that human Affiflance will be of no Avail ; then we mull; have Recourfe to God, that he would give us Wijdom to condud us through all the Labyrinths and Intricacies of Life, Re- folution to grapple with Difficulties, and Strength to overcome them. In this Light K 4 (ho T'he Nature^ Pojffibility and Truths the Prayer, which Jofephus puts into the Mouth of Mofes juft before his PafTage through the Red Sea, is very juft and beau- tiful. UnpafTable Rocks barred his Efcape one Way, the numerous Hoft of the Egyp- tians blocked up others : Before him Hood the Red Sea, In this Situation Mofes juft upon the Brink of Ruin applies himfelf thus to God: '' Lord, thou knoweft that no ** Strength, Wifdom or Contrivance of ** ours can here be of any Significancy. It ** is in thy Power alone to find out a Way " for the Deliverance of this People, vsrho ** by thy Command and under thy Con- *' dudthave Xtii Egypt. Defpairing of all. *' other Ways, we flee to thee alone for " Succour J Lord, let it come fpeedily ; *' give us a full Proof of thy Almighty ** Power and Veracity. We are in great " Straits, great and unfurmountable by us ; *' but to Thee flight and inconflderable. '* The Sea is thine and it obftrudts our " Progrefs: The Mountains that {hut us " up, are thine too. Thou canfl: divide ** this Sea, or turn its Waves into firm ** Land, or make us find a fafe PaflTage " through the Deep*." * yay\ and one Day as a thoU" fand Tears : that he only faid, Let there be Lights and there was Light^ that what- ever he commands, is finifhed by his com- manding 172 7he mtrinftc "Excellency Sbrm.vi. mandiftg it ^ are fome of the noblell Ideas that we can conceive of the nobleft Being that is. In thefe Expreffions there is that natural and unlaboured j yet great and noble Simplicity^ which furpalTeth the Refinements of Stile and ambitious Ornaments of profane Writers : Juft as there is a native Beauty in the Lily, which our heavenly Father has clothed 'y that exceeded the artificial Pride of Drefs, in which Solomon appeared, when arrayed in all bis Glory. Such Thoughts are ennobled by themfelves, and dignified by their own inward Merit, without any need of external Pomp to embellifh them. At other Times the facred Writers deliver themfelves with all the Heightnings of Ora- tory, as particularly Job^ when he is de- fcribing the infinite Power of God, and St. Paul, when he is fetting forth the Love of the Deity manifefted in the Redempiion of Man : Not that they affeded Eloquence ; but when the Spirit of God came upon them, and impregnated their Minds with great Ideas; they naturally broke out into fuch lofty and correfponding Expreffions, as might be a proper Clothing for their Thoughts : As when our Saviour was transfigured, and his Face fhone as the Sun ; his Raiment too became as white as Snow. That of the Scriptures y a Proof ^c. 173 That the Heavens declare the Glory o/'Serm.vi, God, and the Firmament fieweth his Handy- work, &c. — That he that made the Eye^ Jlmll he not fee ? He that planted the Ear^ fiall he not hear ? &c. — That the Heaven^ and the Heaven cf Heavens cannot contain God', much lefs the Temple built by So- lomon, - — That the Deity weilds and go- verns the whole Expanfe of the material Creation as a very little Thing, as the Drop oj a Bucket or, the Duji of the Balance $ and that he can turn the Hearts of the whole intelleSlual'Woxldi, as the Heart of me Man. — Thefe, with feveral others, are Paflages which would be highly admired in a Claffic Writer j but, unhappily for them^ they are read with Coldnefs and Indifference 5 becaufe thev are in a Book^ which it is too fajldionable to depreciate. For though Men pretend to think for themfelves ; yet not one in a thoufand does fo 3 no not even in judging of Books : They are governed by no fixed Standard in the Judgments which they form -, but applaud or condemn, according to the prevailing Mode and Fa(hion of the Age, in which they live. Otherwife, Mcfes, the Author of Job, Da- liid, Ifaiab^ and St. Faul would have had as 174 ^^ intrinjic Excellency SERM.Vi.as many Admirers as Readers; Authors, who feem to have imitated none before them ', and whom none after them have been able to imitate, or reach their fublime Strains of Eloquence. , ■ Thofe Authors in dead Lansuao-es, who are looked upon as the xxio'^fintjhed Models of good Writing, would fuffer fo much by a literal Verfion, that we fl:iouldnot have the Patience to perufe them with Attention ; yet the Scriptures have been rendered Word for Word with the mofi: fcrupulous Exadt- nefs : And if, notwithftanding this, they ^^fervedly claim our highefi: Admiration ; it is a Proof, that they have in them that Efiergy of Beauty^ which 720 Drefs, how- foever difadvantageous, can intirely co72ceal or disfigure. They muft have that folid Senfe and Siihfta?ice, which, like true Gold^ can never be loji or evaporate, however melted down and diffohed -^ but flill retains it's former Weight. Some Writers may have painted Things 7?iore finely and deli- cately than they have done : But none have imaged them fo jlrongly and 7iervoufiy. Obf^rve, what a wide Difference there is between two Paffages in the Pfalms, and in Flato on the fame Subject. That, which is Of the Scriptures^ a Proof &^c. 175 is m, Plato, is as follows. '' Though youSERM.vi. *' could fink into the deepeft Caverns of ' *'""*' " the Earth, though you had Wings and " could fly up to the Heights of Heaven j *' whether you continue in this World, or *' remove to Hell, or to fome Place more " terrible j the Divine Providence would ** feize you every where *." Thus the great Plafo, who confefledly wrote with the nobleft Elevation of Thought on divine Subjecls : But how infinitely fhort doth this ifall of that PafTage in the Pfalms which he feems to have had in View ? Whither fiall I go then from thy Spij^it ; or whither JJjall I go then from thy PrefeHce? If I climb up into Heaven, thou art there ; if I go down to Hell, thou art there aljo : If I take the JVings of the Morning, and remain in the uttermoft Parts of the Sea ; even there, alfo thy Hand fiall lead me, and thy right Hand pall hold me. If I fay, peradventure the Darknefs fhall cover ?ne -, then fhall my Night be turned to Day : Tea, the Dark- nefs is no Darknefs with thee -, but the Night is as clear as the Day : 'The Darhiefs and; Light to thee are both alike. * Plato de Legibus. Lib. II, 2 If 1^6 ^e tntrinfic Excellency Serm. VI. If Plato imitated the Pfalmift, his Copy is unequal to the Original : It is like 2ifecon^ dary Rainbow, the faint RefeStion of the Jirji J where, though the Colours be agree- able, yet they are not fo lively, glowing and diftind:, as they are at JirJi Hand in ihaty which compajjeth the Heaven with a glorious Circle^ and which the Hands of the Mo(i High have bended. Pretenders to a fine Tafte may extol that Paflage in Virgil, where he fays, * Night involved in it's Shade Heaven a?id Earth and the Frauds of the Grecians ; who are not alTeded by a much nobler Beauty, though of the fame Kind in the Pfalmift, viz. Godfdlkth the Raging of the Sea, and the Noife of his JVaves, and the Madnefs of the' People. In both Places, there is an unforced and unaffected, yet a ftriking and furprizing AfTemblage of Ideas. In the former. Heaven, Earth and the Frauds of the Grecians j in the latter, the Raging of the Sea and the Madnefs of the People, are naturally, yet unexpectedly put together. But the latter Paffage, befides this Beauty, is recommended by the noble Sentiment, * Involvens umbra terramque, polumque, Myrmidon amqus dolos.— — Virgiiii ^tieidos Lib. II. which »f the Sc?^iptures^ a Proofs ^c. 177 which it conveys. The wifeft Statefmen,5ERM^. when the Populace is in a Ferment ; juft as the ableft Pilots, when the Sea rageth, are at a Lofs what to do ; they reel to and JrOy and Ji agger like a drunken Man, and are at their JVifs End : And he alone, who can fay to the tempeftuous Deep, here Jhall thy proud }Faves be jlayed^ can alone ftill the Madncfs of an incenfed People, and fay, Hitherto jhall you come^ and no further* Something {hould be added concerning that affedlionate Manner, in which thefe Truths are conveyed. When the Heart does not di(State to the Head-, whatever is faid generally evaporates in empty Specu^ lation J the Notions only hover in the Brain, without influencing the Will. But when an Author writes from the Heart, the Reader catches the Flame from the Writer, and feels his Breaft glow with the fame generous Ardor. Take one Inftance of this, out of many, from Ifaiah : Zion faid, the Lord bath forfaken me, and my Lord hath forgotten me. Can a Wotnan forget her fucking Child, that floe fdould not have Compafjion on the Son of her Womb f Tea, they may forget 5 yet will I not for- get thee. It is thus, that God fignifies his Vol. II. N ten- I 7 S 2^^ tntrinfic' "Excellency SERM.vf tender Love in the moft endearing ^nd ex- preilive Terms, which Language can fiir- nifh. Obferve how the PlalmiH defcribes God, as that fovereign Good, oft whom we ought to center our AfFedions, and re- pofe our Confidence : Whom have I in Heaven hut thee f and there is none upon Earth that I dejire in Co?npariJon of thee : My FkfJj and my Heart faileth 3 hut God is the Strei2gth of my Heart and my Portion fo-r ever : Words forcible enough , one would afmofl think, to invigorate the Soul under all the Decays of the Body, and to fufpend the Pains of the Dying. The Scriptures, unlike fome Books whkh are written upon the Being of God, in a cold unafFeding Manner ; at the fame Time that they convey Light to the Underftanding, powerfully inflame the Will, and touch the inmoft Springs of the Soul. Few or none have- ever wrote worthily of that great Being, who ffake and it ivas done^ ivhocomfnandedanditfoodfaf'j but thofe, who have derived their Sentiments from the Fund of the Scriptures, and har- rowed that Fire from Heaven^ which (^w/- mated their Writings : Which Coniidera- tion would incline one to think, thathe who 3 ^s of the Scriptures^ a Proof &c. 179 Is the SzibjeSi of thefe elevated Thoughts ^^^R^^^- in the facred Pages, is the Author of them too. As to the Glories of God and of ano- ther World, I may venture to fay, that' the titmofi Stretch of human 'Thought could never reach fo far ; and the iitmofi Force oi ExpreJJio?t cannot reach farther, than the infpired Writers have done. And could one Book be produced before the Date of Chriftianity, where every Perfec- tion of the Deity is difplayed in fuch a nervous Energy of Thought • and every Branch of Morality is fet forth in fuch i plain Familiarity of Style j u^here the Terms of our Salvation are fo punctually afcertained, as they are in the Scripture f ^ Then fome Perfons would have fome Co- lour of Reafon to difparage Revelation. But the Enemies of Chriftianity know this to be impoffible : They know it contains flronger Motives to true Holinefs, than any Religion before had -, and as firong as' any other can have : They know, that fetur^ in it's own genuine Charms, it fears no Ri- val to eclipfe, and needs no Foil to fet of it*s fuperior Beauties. N 2 The 1 8o 7he intrinftc Excellency, \^^1^'1\ *^^^ Power y Wifdom^ and Qoodnefs of our Creator may be demonftrated by nu- merous and inconteftable Arguments from the Creation, But one may look long enough into the Creation, and confider it throughout, before one can deduce one Argument from thence to prove, what Mankind moft wants to have proved, his Mercy to repenting Criminals, What fig- nifieth it to prove God's Goodnefs to the World in general, without proving, that he will be good to us Men, to (what we all are) miferabie Sinners f Arguments of God's clear and unmixed Mercy to penitent Offenders, there can be none from Matter of Fa£ly if we fet the Scriptures afide ; Arguments from Metaphyjics are very in- conclufive ; but if they were not fo, they are too abftradted to make any ftrong and durable Impreffion upon fuch Beings as we are : One exprefs and authentic Declaration from God himfelf would be of more Weight, than a thoufand fine-fpun ConjeBures with- out it. Accordingly the God of the Chri- ftians is not merely our Creator and Prefer^ ■ver, a Being of inexhauftible Power and unfathomable Wifdom j he is a God of Mercy and Comfort, who is not willing that I any of the Scriptures^ a Proof &^c. 1 8i any Jhoiild perip, v/ho pi tieth us, as a Fa-^^^^^^^^^ ther pitieth his own Children, who healetb the broken-hearted, who refcueth us from the Bondage of Corruption by his Grace, and redeemeth us from the Pimifhment of it by his Merits. Such a God we linful Crea- tures wanted ; and fuch a God the Scriptures, which are exadly adapted to our Neceflities, have reprefented him to us. No Religion whatever hath given us a clearer Infight into both the Dignity and Meannefs of our Nature. The fame facred Writings, which inform us, that we were made in the Image of our Creator, and that we fliall be hereafter Heirs with him, with feveral other Confiderations very proper to beget in us an Ambition of ading up to the Dignity of our Nature, and to fpirit up the moft low and grovelling Minds ; the fame facred Writings teach us that we can do nothing of ourfelves without the Grace of God co-operating with us, that nothing but the Merits of our Saviour can entitle us to any Rewards, with feveral other Refle6tions proper to preferve in our Minds a Senfe of our Dependance, and to humble the mofl haughty and infolent. Thus the Chriftian Religion, which giveth us the mofl amia- N 3 ble 1 8 a l*he int rill fie Excellency Serm. VI i-^ie jjs well as auguftand awful Ideas of oyc Creator, difplays at once the bright and dark Side of human Nature, the one to animate the 'Endeavours of the Good^ and the other to damp the Prefumptions of the Vain. But this brings me, l\dl)\ To coniider the intrinfic Excellen- cy of the'Scripture as to the Plan of Mora- lity, which is laid down there, together with the Motives and Encouragements by which it has fupported and enforced that Plan. The Scriptures have taken Care to lay down fuch pregnant Truths, as are big with feveral others, and fruitful in their Confe- quences. Of this Nature is the Precept about loving God with all our Strength : Of this Nature likewife is that about loving our Neighbours as ourfelves ; or what is much the fame, that we (hould do to others, what we fhould judge reafonable others fliould do to us, if we were in their Cafe. This laft Precept is fufficient to determine all Cafes of focial Morality ; it being the Foundation of Honefty, Equity, Mercy, and Charity. It is a Duty incumbent upon u§ to ilore our Underftanding with fuch lead^ ^ of the Scriptures^ a Proof, Sec. 183 leadmg Truths; becaufe fuch^gr^^/ Truths ^|^_^^^- come as it were in State to the Under (land- ing, waited upon by a numerous Retinue of inferior dependent Truths: Like the Sun attended by a large Train of Planets, which are fubordinate to him, and receive their Light from him. The Scriptures have been very full in pointing out every Duty in general : Be- caufe corrupt human Nature is very back- ivard'm tracing out and difcovering Duties. But they have not pointed out each Limi- tation of our Duty ; Becaufe corrupt Na- ture is very ingenious, and not at all reluc^ tant to do that Office. It is rather apt to make Limitations, where there are 7ione^ than not to jind them where they really are. It was not fo much the Defign of Revelation pundlually and exadly to fix the theory of Morality, as to engage our Hearts to the Pra3fice of it by the mofl powerful and affeiling Confiderations. And that may be one Reafon, why it often reds in Generals, without defcending to minute Particularities. For if our Hearts be not ejigaged in Favour of Virtue, it will be of no Avail to have each minute Particularity of Duty adjujled : We (hall break through N 4 it. 84 ^he intr'inftc Excellency f^^,'^' ^^' liowever minutely and particularly it is laid before us. A general Knowledge of his Duty is fufficient to him, whofe Heart is right ; and all the particular Unfoldings of it will be of little Signijicancy to him, whofe Heart is 7iot fo. God, who knew what was in Man, and has fuited his Revelation to our Exigencies ; has taken moft Care io fupply us with that, which was moji wanted : And therefore the Scriptures are mo/l full, explicit, and par- ticular, as to thofe Branches of Morality, to which our Nature was mojl averfe. And though fome complain that the Bible is not clear and determinate enough as to certain- Points ; yet, if I miftake not, the main Qiiarrel againfi: it is, that it is too clear and determinate in enjoining certain Duties, and forbidding certain Vices ; as to which they could have wifhed to have been left more at large. It cramps their Freedom of Adion, and will not give certain importu- nate Paffions their full Scope. It is there that the main Strefs is laid upon thofe Vir- tues, in which the Heathen World were moftly or entirely defe(5tive,fuch as the Love pf God v/ich all our Heart, univerfal Be^ fievclence, the Forgivenefs of our Enemies, Meek- of the Scriptures^ a Proof &^c, 185 Mecknefs, Long-fuffering, the flrideft Pu-Se^'^-VJ; rity and Chaftity. One diftinguifliing Ex- cellency is, that it guards againft the Hopes of compenfating for the habitual Breach of one Commandment, by the Obfervance of others. For it informs us, that he, who habitually and deliberately offefids in one Pointy does not perform miy Duty out of a fincere Regard to God, the only true Principle of Virtue ; a very great Truth, but unknown to the Gentile Writers. There was no fuch Thing in the Pagan World, as a rational and determinate Scheme of worfhipping God in Spirit and in T^ruth ; and no fuch Duty enjoined, as Humility in it's full Latitude. No fuch Precept occurs in Heathen Writers, as that we fliould give Alms infecref-j that our Father which feeth in fecret^ may reward us openly. And yet this is the moft fubftantial Tefl of genuine Virtue. For we ought to be jealous of thofe fhining Qualities, which draw upon us the Admiration of the World, fuch as Generofity, Valour, &c. becaufe we are often actuated to the Difplay of them by a Principle of Vain-Glory: But the Per- formance of good Anions in private, when fh^ Stream of our Gopdnefs runs under Ground, 1 86 The infrinjtc Excellency Serm.vI. Ground, ftands clear of all finifter Views, and can only be refoived into a Principle of pleafing our Maker. Before the Appearance of Chrlftianlty, the World had narrowed their Notions of Love, and confined it to the Pale of their Friends, Relations, and Country. A mo- ral Writer of the moft extenfive Views, €ven Socrates himfelf, exprefifeth himfelf thus: ** When tht Grecians 2,nd Bar l^ari- ** a?7s fight one a gain ft the other, this is '' properly called Fighting : For they are *' Enemies by Nature. But if Grecians ^ *' that are Friends by Nature, quarrel with *' one another, this is an unnatural Dif- ** temper*.'* Thus »So<:rj/^j recommend- ed an Attachment to his own Country, ex- clufively of the reft of Mankind, againft whom he makes a State of Enmity to be natural. But Chriftianity has enlarged the Sphere of our Affedtions, as well as opened a wider Field of Truth for the Underftand- ing J and enjoined a Love, as extenfive as the Light of the Sun, and as aOive as it's Heat. Then our Afl^edlions are prejudicial, when like the Sun-Beams, coUeded in a burning Glafs, they centre in one Point ; * Piafo di Repub. Lib, V. when of the Scripticres^ a Proofs ^c. 187 when they are widely diffufed, they chear^^^^^^ and refrefli all Nature. Chriftianity has taught us to love every one, but to dread no Man whatever : At the fame Time, that it cheriiheth every manly, noble, and exalted Principle, of which human Nature is capable ; it {huts out every httle, fervile, and illiberal Paffion. A Love fo extend ve was fit to be enjoined by that Being, who is Love itfelf, and has in him the Fulnefs of every amiable Perfedlion. Whereas other Writers took Things' in too high a Key, and were proud to foar above the Level of common Apprehen- fions ; the infpired Writers ftoop to the loweft Capacities, at the fame Time, that they enlighten the higheft. Of which the Parables of the uncompajfionate Servant, of the Samaritan^ of the prodigal Son, of the poor Man's ILwe Lamb, of the Vine- yard in Ifaiah, of the barren Tree which cumbered the Ground j are fo many beau- tiful Inftances. We view moral Truths through the Veil of Allegories and Para- bles ; like fo many Pictures through a tranfparent Glafs, which covers, but does not hide them» Some of the moft impor- tant fpiritual Sentiments, as particularly in the \ 1 8 8 "The intrinjic Excellency SERM.vi-the elegant Parable of the Tares, are made eafy to us by the moft familiar fenfible Images. Thus does T'ruth, like the great Author of it, ftand confeft in a vifible Shape, receive, as it were, a Body^ and become, if I may ufe the Expreffion, incarnate. From thefe few Stridlures on the Plan of Morality contained in the Scripture, I proceed to what was the principal Inten- tion of the facred Writers, the Enforce- ment of Morality by proper Sandions and Encouragements. The infpired Penmen have placed Vir- tue on it's true Foundation^ not upon any prefent Complacency, not upon any low temporal Motives of Conveiiiency j but upon heavenly Views, upon the Will of God as our Judge and Rewarder. To follow Vir- tue difinterejledlyy without any Regard to our Happinefs here or hereafter, is to pur- fue It as an empty Idea, and not as a fub- ftantial Good. To love it for the Sake of prefent Pleafure and Happinefs, will never induce an eifedtual Obligation j becaufe Virtue and Pleafure do not always coincide} and becaufe that reflex Adl of the Mind, by which it applauds itfelf, when it has en- tertained a generous Sentiment, or cjone a noble of the ScriptureSy a Proof ^c. 189 noble Adion, is eafily over-ruled and dif-^^^';2ii abled by the urgent Solicitation of any boifterous and craving Paffion, and by any uncommon Diftrefs and Anguifli. Fine uninterefting Ideas of Virtue, even in a Soil fiifceptible of them, vi^hich fome Soils are not^ flour ifh as a Flower of the Field : Which, however delicate and beautiful the Leaves may be, as foon as the Wind (any ftrong tempeftuous Wind) goeth over ity is gone^ and the Place thereof^ for a Time, knoweth it no more. Befides, whe- ther of the two adls upon nobler Principles, the Man, who cultivates Virtue for the refleii Approbation of his own Mind^ or he who prad:ifeth it for the unerring h.'^- probation of /(/j Mtf^^r ? The Man, who loves Goodnefs for a much lower ^ becaufe prejent, Confideration, viz, the Pleafure immediately conlequent to a good Action ; or he, who commands a more fpacious Profpe^y has more open and extended yiewSy and looks beyond this tranlient Scene of Things, to that Fulnefs of foy^ which is at God's right Hand for ever^ more? . Be that as it will, an exceeding and eternal Weight of Glory will turn the Scales, jgc* ^he intrinjic Excellency Serm>vi. Scales, and preponderate in all Cafes in Favour of Morality : But weigh a cold unafFedting Thought about abftracfl Fit- nefles, and the Lovelinefs of Order, againft the flroag PrefTure of incumbent Mifery ^ and it will h^ found wanting^ lighter than Vanity, and nothing in Comparifon. God defigned the World in general fhould be governed by Morality, and not only a fe^W notional Men, fond [of Refinements, who may be fo enamoured of Virtue, as to think it needs no Reward, but itfelf ; nor Vice any Punishment, but it's own natural ill Confequences. And what God defigned for the Grofs of the Species, that he has enforced by fuch fubflantial Rewards and Punifhments, as may inter eji all the Powers of a Soul deeply immerfed in. Matter ; and not by fuch airy vijionary Notions, as feem to be calculated for quite another Or- der of Beings, And this is one great Proof of the Exxellency of Chriftianity, that it can appeal to the common Senfe of Man- ic jnd : *' Hafidle me and fee j the refined '* Schemes, which are fet up in Oppofition *' to me, have not that Subftance and Soli- " dityj which ye fee me have." Thofe fine- fpun Notions may .afford Entertainment to fpeculatii^e of the Scriptures, a Proofs ^c, igi fpectilative Men in their ClofetS', but the^'^ Chriftian Dodrine of a future State, is the only one that can be of any U/e in common Life, conveying to us the flrongeil: Ideas of that Mifery, to which the Bad will be configned; and of that Happinefs, to which the Good will be admitted. Rye hath notfeen^ nor Ear heard, nei- ther hath entered into the Heart of Man to conceive the Tubings that God bath prepared for them y that love him. In which Words there is, as a great Writer * obferveth,. a V€ry beautiful Gradation of Thought. Great, fplendid, and numerous are the Objects, which the Eye hath feen : Yet the Ear may hear far more, than one Man's Eye hath {^^n, by an enlarged Converfa- t'lon with thofe who have read and tra - veiled : But though a greater Variety of Objects may gain Admittance to the Mind through this Entrance, than through that of the Eye ; yet ftill it enters into the Heart of Man to conceive or imagine far more glorious Things, than even the Eaf has beard. A fprightly, adventurous, and inventive Imagination paints Obje«^s lar- ger than the Original, and forms what vi- * See Dr. Clarke'^ pofthumous Sennons^ Vol. II. Honarj 192 iTje intrinjic Excellency SERM.Vi.fionary Scenes it pleafes within. But ftill thofe Things, which God has prepared for them that love him, as much exceed the Heightnings of a pregnant Fancy, and the romantick Profpedis of Blifs, which it can enter into the Heart of Man to conceive ; as the Conceptions of the Heart, and the Powers of a luxuriant Imagination furpafs the feeing of the Eye, and the hearing of the Ear. Again St. John tells us, we fiall be like God : For we Jloallfee hi?n^ as he is. That is, the feeing of God as he is in his own Nature, the diredt Knowledge of the So- vereign Good, and the Emanations of Hap- pinefs from him immediately, (for to fee God as he is, does not fignify merely to contemplate his Nature) will fo entirely fill the Compafs of the Soul, and engrofs all her Powers, that having no Room to entertain ignobler Objects, which might tempt her to Vice, fhe muft become, in fome Degree, unalterably like her Creator in Goodnefs by a moral NecefTity. Plea- fure and Virtue, which here often draw different Ways, will hereafter unite their Forces, and adt in friendly Concert. . This Thought is the Thought of an unlettered Writer J of the Scriptures^ a Proofs &^c, 193 Writer ; yet it is a Thought fo rational, ^^^^jO^; as well as elevated ; that it would be a vain Attempt to ftrive to equal it from Writers before him of the moft diftin- guiflied Abilities and clofeft Application. Let us fcan over the brightefl Authors of Antiquity, let us point out the Mafter- Strokes of thofe Authors when they are inculcating Benevolence : Yet where can we find fo bright a Defcription of Bene- volence or Charity, as there is in St. Paul's xiiith Chapter of his firft Epiftle to the Corinthians ; or fo noble an Incitement to it, as there is in thefe Words, Charity ne^ ver faileth ? i. e. The fame Principle of univerfal Love to Mankind, which repeated .A(fts of Goodnefs beget in us here, v/ill beautify, enlarge, and ennoble the Soul to all Eternity. Not all the Writings of Philofophers can give a dying Man, jufl: upon the Threfhold of another World, half that well-grounded Comfort and rational Afili- rance of being happy, as may be derived from four or five Lines of St. yohn^ "viz, 7 hat he faw in Heaven a great Multitude^ not to be numbered^ of all Nations, T^rihes^ and People^ and l^ongnes, /landing before Vol. II. O ^ the 2 94 ^'^ Intrinftc 'Excellency Serm.vi. the T!hrone and before the Lamby clothed in 'white Robes ^ ivith Palms (the Enfigns of Vidtory) in their Hands y and the Praifes of God and the Lamb in their Mouths, For from hence we may learn, what Rea- fon could never prove, that not only the ftiperior Few, Men of the moft advanced Virtue, Saints and Apoflles j but an innu- merable Multitude , the tmdiJiinguiJJjed Many, undiftinguifhed by any extraordi- nary Degree of I?olinefs, fliall be Par- takers of thofe pure and unmixed Joys, which are fuitable to glorified Souls adting in glorified Bodies, which will enlarge our Faculties, fatisfy our Defires, and tranfcend our Expectations. And indeed we may obferve, that, when- ever the Scriptures draw back the Veil, and difplay to our View any thing concerning another World j they do not do it to five H and puff up the Soul with Ufelefs Specula^ tionSy with unconcerning, though ingenious and curious Notions ; but lofill the Mind with true fnhflaiitial Knowledge, that may make its imfe wito Salvation : Which makes them, though not the moft fine- fpun, yet the moft ufeful, and confequent- ly the beft Scheme of Metaphyfics that ever was advanced. Thus of the ScriptureSy a Proof &^c. 195 Thus when the facred Writings defcribeSERw vr. the thoufands^ thoufatids that Jiand before God, and the ten thoujand Tit?jes ten thoU" fand that minijier unto him j could a Man of the largeft Conipafs of Thought have found a nobler Employment for thofe Be- ings, as well as more inftrudive to us, than to reprefent them as taking a gene- rous and difintercfted Complacency in the Redemption and Happinefs of their Fellow- Creatures ; prai/ing God, and faying. Glory be to God in the higheft, and on Earth Peace, good Will towards Men ? And in another Place, not Hke us, valuing them- felves, and defpifing others j not dazzlad Vvith the Luftre of their own Excellencies, but afcribing all Glory, and Honour, and Power, to him alone who is the Source of whatever is lovely, great, and glorious, cafling down their Crowns before the Throne of God, giving Glory and Honour and Power to Him alo?ie f Rev. iv. 10, 11. Great and marvellous are thy Works, Lord God Almighty ; juft and true are thy Ways, thou King of Saints I They iliew us, that to Creatures admitted to a conftant and tmme^ diate Attendance on God, every Thing muft appear little^ but God himfelf j that O 2 the "ig6 Tie intrinfic Excellency Serm.vi. ti^e Lujire of the greatefi created Being muft vanifh and be loft in the Prefence of Him, from whom it borrows it's Luftre. Contemplative Perfons may value fome Branches of Knowledge, juft as feveral Men do fome Kinds of Food^ merely be- caiife they are rare and uncommon^ not be- caufe thty 2XQ fubjiantial^ nourifiing^ and wholefom. Their Difficulty and Oblcurity, not their Serviceablenefs to the World, ftamps a Value upon them. And their Heads may refemble thofe Cabinets, which are ftored with iifelefi Rarities^ and curious Trifles, fit for Shew and Oftentation^ but not for any ^valuable Purpofes of Life. But tlie Scriptures, though they open and enlarge the Mind, and give it the moft comprehenfive Views ; yet feldom fay any Thing to inform the Head, which has not a Tendency to awaken and penetrate the Heart : They feldom gratify our mere Curiofity, , or make us wifer and more knowings but in order to make us better^ which is^indeed the only true Wifdom. No well-meaning Perfon even in low Life ever applied himfelf to the reading of the Scriptures with :the fame Diligence, Care, and Attention, , which he beflowed upon of the Scriptures^ a Proof, ^c. 197 upon Things of lefs Confequence ; butj™^ he gathered from thence as much falutary and praBical Knowledge, as would con- dudl him fafely in the Way to cverlafting Life. Though the ftudious and the thoughtful may by an unwearied Applica- tion difcover feveral fpeculative Truths which are not there ; yet thofe Truths are only like thofe Stars, which are de- fcried by the help of l^elefcopes : They have no more ufeful Light to guide their Feet, and dired their Steps in their Jour- ney through this World, than thofe, who have made no fuch Difcoveries. There is no material Defedl in a State of Nature, when Men had only the Light of unaffifted Reafon ; but what is fupplied to a Tittle by a State of Grace, by the Chriftian Difpenfation. Were Men, for Inftance, at a Lofs to afcertain from un- enlightened Reafon the Acceptablenefs of their Repentance, and a Fulnefs of Par- don thereupon 5 Chriftianity has fully fet before us the Terms of our Salvation : We have there a Mediator, who hath born our Sins, the propereft Perfon to ad- juft the Difference between the jarring O 3 Claims 198 *The intrinjic Excellendy Serm VI. Claims of Tnftice and Goodnefs. Did we want a diilinft Account of Rewards and Punidiments j of their Degree and Durati- on ? It gives us awakening Notices of ano- ther World, and whatever was proper to inftrud: our Reafon, as well as to engage our Flopes and alarm our Fears. Did we want fome fixed and determinate Rule of Worfhip to prevent the endlefs Sallies of ^ human Fancy ? There we are taught each Particular of a manly and rational Worfhip ; we are invited by the Promifes of divine Afliftance, and emboldened by the Inter- ceffion of a divine Mediator to have Accefs? to the Throne of Grace. It is well worth our while, as it will give us the greater Value for Chriftianity, to obferve, that in thefe, as well as other In- ftances, wherever the Light of ReaJo72j as having no fure Principles to carry it far- ther, was forced to leave a Blank, the Light of the Go/pel has been very exadt in filing up the void Space. Where human Sagacity might indeed begin to build, but was not able to finifli after the utmoft Ex- pence of Thought, there Revelation has fupplied it with Materials to complete the Strudure. Thus do our Wants in a State of of the Scriptures^ a Proof he. 199 of Nature, and our Supplies in a State of^^RM^'^ Revelation, exad:ly tally and correfpond. And from hence we may infer, that, who- ever is 2ifincere ^/^/ar^/ Religionift, cannot be far from the Kingdom oj Heaven^ is almoft a Chriftian already j and will be foon, if he continues unprejudiced, altogether fo. For he, who is fincerely defiroiis to know and do the Will of God, mufl heartily wifli he had better Helps, than natural Religion affords, to compafs this End. He mull think, that God's infinite Goodnefs wouldj at fome peculiar Crifis of Time, when he faw the Advantages ariiing from it would overbalance the Inconveniencies, grant Man- kind, by a Notification of his Will, fome full and exprefs k^\i'[z.ViQt^oiv^\\'2XbelG72gs to their Peace, of Things of infinite Concern- ment. And when he examines all the different Pretenfions to Revelation, he will find none, that can come into Competition with the Chrifiian ; which alone contains whatever is excellent in natural Religion, and has befides grajted upon it feveral rich and falutary Fruits of it*s own Growth^ which Reafon mufl ever thankfully adopt. For natural Religion neither proves the Sin- cerity or unallayed Nature of Happinefs O 4 hereafter^ 200 T*he intrin/ic Excellincy SEf^M. VI hereafter, nor the Degree nor the Durati- on of it : Nor can it be determined by Reafon, whether our future Happinefsor Mifery would be finally decided by an irre- vocable Sentence, according to our De- portment here; or whether, after the Clofe of this Life we might not pafs through fe- veral intermediate States of Probation, be- fore a decifive and irreverfible Judgment was palled upon us. But Revelation afllires us, that the Condition of our Exiftence here, however inconfiderable it may feeni in itfelj abjlraBedly from a future State, is infinitely confiderable in it's Confeque?ices — that he, that lives and dies righteous, will be righteomjiill ; and He, that dies filthy, will h^ filthy fi ill. Rev. xxii. i i, 12. Death fetting as it were a kind of Seal up- on the State of the Soul — that the Wicked muft be finally fevered from the Good — that in Heaven there is no Pofiibility of ■falling away from Goodnefs, and in Hell no Room for Amendment. For then God's Grace will be withheld, and Virtue, when every Spark of it is extind:, is only^ like the Veflal Fire, to be rekindled by a Peam from Heaven. 2 So of the Scriptures y a Proofs &*c. 201 So far was Chriftianity from narrowing ^^•^^•^I* our Views, that it alone has raifed them, as high — as Heaven j and extended them as far — as Eternity. A Man may look into his Bible, and fee plainly there what will become of him, when the prefent Scene is {hifted, as to his moji important^ I had almoft faid, his only Concern, a fu- ture State ; who, if he were left to him- felf, the more he confidered the Point on every Side, the more he would find himfelf bewildered in Doubts, without coming to any Determination. Happy are we, if we know our Hap- pinefs, who have a Revelation, like it's great Author, full of Grace and 'Truth, SERMON SERMONIVIL The intrinfic Excellency of the Scriptures, a Proof of their Infpi- ration. I Peter III. 15. Be ready always to give an Anfwer to every Man that ajketh you a Reafon of the Hope^ that is in you, TO affirm, as fome have done, thatSER. Vll. unenlightened Reafon is abfolute- ly fufficient, and that a Revela- tion is needlefs, is neither better nor worfe ; than to fay, that Men either are, or may be, fo v^ife of themfehei, that it is not in the Pow^er of God himfelf to make them wifer j that their natural Abi- lities are fo very confiderable, as to fuper- fcde the Ufe of any fupernatural Notices, even from the Father of Lights : A Po- " ~ lition 204 ^^ intrinjic Excellency Ser. vn. f^tion fo {hocking, that if it be not down- fight Blafphemy ; it certainly maketh very near Approaches to it *. But, you will fay, where" was God's impartial Goodnefs in with-holding from others thofe Advantages, which he has afforded us ? If a Revelation were wanted, why was not that, which was equally want- ed by all, made equally known to all, at all Times ? If we trace this Obje6c:ion to it's Ori- ginal, we fhall find it ftands on a wrong Foundation : It fuppofes the Deity to be determined by the Wants of Men, exclu- Jively of all other Regards : Whereas what may be very fit, the Wants of Men fingly * I would not be thought to depreciute Reafon in gene- ral, which, rightly underilood, as taking in all Helps and Evidences, whether intrinfic or extrinfic, is the only Facul- ty we have to difcern Truth from Falfhood. It is no more a Difparagement to Reafon to aflert, it can do little in religious Affairs without tjic Help of Revelation ; than to maintain, it would make a flender Figure without the Af- fiftance of Education : For what is Revelation but AlTiftan- ces and Inltruftions from Heaven ; as Education is Inliruc- tion communicated to us from our Felloiv Creatures ? De- duft thofe religious Truths that were difcovered to us, and only place thofe down, that were difcovered ^ us j and the remaining Sum of our Knowledge, at the Foot of the Ac- count, will not be very confiderable. confidered 5 of the Scriptures y a Proof ^c. 205 confidered j may be unfit upon the Whole, ^^]^ all Circumftances and Confiderations being laid too^ether. Thus confider the Necefli- ties of a poor Man feparately^ and you may think it proper he fhould be relieved: But if you know he will abufe your Cha- rity in Drunkennefs, or do himfelf or others fome Prejudice, the Fitnefs ceafeth, I Here then the Fallacy lieth. We form our Judgment of what God ought to do upon one fingle View of the Neceffities of iMen. ; where fevcral other Particulars ought to be taken into the Account to make our Reafoning juft and exad:. We know not, for Inftance, whether an Attempt to re- medy the Difadvantagcs of thofe, who want a Revelation, might not be attended with greater Difadvantagcs to them : Whe- ther they height not intlame their Accourit -by rejecting ir, if offered j or abuiing i|, if received. He alone, who fees through the whole Plan of the Creation, who knows before-hand the different Tempers and Difpofuions of all Mankind, in all Ages and Nations, and the various Confe- quences that v/ould arife from every pofli- ble Manner of ading at every Period of Time ; knew alone, at what Period of Time, 2o6 'The intrinfic Excellency Ser. VII. Time, to what Ages and Nations it was proper to give a Revelation. God then might be equally willing at all Times to make a fuller Manifeftation of his Will ; (for fome Traces and Remains of a Reve- lation Men ftill had :) But Men might not at all Times be equally difpofed and quali- fied to receive it. I anfwer farther, that it might as well be objedted, why has not God given to all Men equal inward Abilities to difcover the Truth ; as why he has not given to all Men equal external Evidences ? The An- fwer is the fame to both Objedions, viz. that God is not obliged to deal equally with all his Creatures in the Difpenfation of his Favours, having a Right to do what he will with his own : It is enough to vindi- cate his moral Charadler, that he will deal equitably with them according to the Im- provement of their refpedive Talents, cnmpenfating for fome People's want of Knowledge, whether natural or revealed, by making favourable Allowances to them, and balancing the fuperior Advantages of others, by making larger Demands from them, and requiring no more of an-^ Perfon than he has given him fufficient Means to know. Of the Scriptures^ a Proofs ^c\ 2O7 know^ and Ability io perform. Let us ba-^Eit. vir. lance the Account. To the Chriftians greater Knowledge greater Duty— greater Difficulty greater Reward, if they do well greater Punifliments, if ill. To the Heathens lefs Light lefs Duty lefs Reward if they do well lefs Punifhment if ill. Thus all feeming Inequalities are ad- jufted. Where the Difficulty of the Con- queft is the greatefl:, there the Triumph ought to be the moft glorious, and the Prize moft valuable. If thofe, who have the moft clear and diftindl Notices of their Duty, will be more feverely punifhed for their Crimes than others ; it is but equit- able, that they fhould be entitled to fuperior Rewards, when their Practice in fome Meafure keeps Pace with their Know- ledge : Otherwife, Knowledge would be a great Misfortune, and Darknefs better than Light. That Reafon therefore is fo far fufficlent, as to enable Men to procure as much Hap- pinefs here and hereafter, as God, accord- ing to the Variety of his Difpcnfations to Creatures, whether of the fame or a dif- ferent Order, has, in his comprehtniive 2 Wifdom, 2o8 T^e intrinjic Rxtdhncy .0 Ser. Vii.-Wifdom,. thought fit j arid that none will be accountable for invincible Ignorance ; this we readily grant : But that Reafon is fo unlimitedly fufficient, as to difcover with- out the i\ffiftance of God all thofe benefi- cial and fpiritual Truths, which are reveal- ed ; and to procure, without the Merits of Chrift, all that Happinefs which is promifed to Chriftiahs j this we deny. God may diverlify his. Creation, as he pleafes, . his manifold Wifdom may bring upon the Theatre of Nature, Variety of Creatures, under unequal Circum.ftances, confidently with his Goodnefs ; provided he has pat it in everyone's Power to make his Happinefs prepoUent and fuperior to his Mifery in the Whole of his Exiftence. But this God may have done, without having Recourfe to levelling Principles, without being obliged to put Heathens and Chrifti- ans ; any more than he has put Men and Angels, on the fame Foot. The main Strefs of the Queflion then lyes here. Whether, notwithiianding the diftinguifhing Advantages of fome Creatures above others, it be not enough to vindicate God's Goodnefs, that he has formed no Creature whatever, whether Angel or Man, Chriftian, of the Scriptures.^ a Proof &c. 209 Chriftian or Heathen, but what has fuffi- Ser. vii. cient Means to make the Sum of his Hap- pinefs exceed that of his Mifery, either here or hereafter ? If they fay, this is not fuffi- cient J they are not Deifts but fomething worfe J they fet afide that Principle, which feems to account for that Difproportion of /* Happinefs in the World, fo vifible in the Scale of Beings riling one above another, from the meaneft Infed to the higheft Archangel. If they fay, it is fufiicient ; the fame Reafon, which juftifieth God in giving Angels greater Degree* of Know- f ledge and Biifs, than Men 5 willjuftify him too in giving Chriftians a larger Allotment of both than Heathens. For there is the fame Principle to vindicate God in both Cafes, viz. every one's Enjoyments will, if it be not their own Fault, over-balance their Un happinefs : Therefore the Conclu- lion ought to be the fame, viz. God is equally juftified in both Cafes. When once his Goodnefs has defigned every Creature, who is not wanting to himfelf, a Prepon- derancy of Blifs ; his unerring Wifdom may difpofe of the Surplus, that remains beyond this, as he thinks fit. Whereas, accord- ing to the Suppofition of the ,Deifts, there Vot. II. " P muft 2 i o 7^^ intrinjic Excellency ^^^J^mufl: have been a dull undiftinguiflied Samenefs in every Oeconomy of Providence, without any Regard to the different Difpo- fitions of Mankind, at different Periods of Time : Every Procedure of God mufl have been, from Eternity to Eternity, only a dif- ferent Edition of the fame unvaried Defign without any new Additions. I have already, in a former Difcourfe, {hewn the fuperior Advantages and intrinfic Excellency of revealed Religion and the Scriptures, I//, as to the Manifeftation of the divine Nature j and Il^/y, as to the beautiful Plan of Morality contained in them, together with thofe Motives and Encouragements, by which they have fup- ported and enforced that Plan. It was not improper to remove the Ob- jedtion,. which I have been confidering j before I entered upon my III^ Head, to which I now proceed, 'viz. to confider the Force of the Argument, which may be drawn from the intrinfic Excellency of the Scriptures in Favour of their divine Infpi- ration. To what was it owing, that the Jcivijh Writers ihould have fuch lovely and great Ideas of God, and fuch jufl Notions of the of the Scriptures^ a? roof &'c, 211 the Worflilp due to him, far above any^^''-^^^" Thing which we meet with in the Writ- ings of the greateft Lights of the Heathen WorW ; every one of which either patro- nized Idolatry, or fell into Errors of worfe Confequence ? Can it be accounted for by the Force of natural or human Affiftances ? No, the eminent Philofophers of Athens and Rome equalled them, it is certain, in natural hhWiiits \ 2iX\A exceeded ihtva con- fefledly in the Superflrudures of acquired Knowledge, and all the Advantages of a refined Education. It muft be therefore owing to iomt Juper?2atural or divine HelpSj and none, but He, in whom are contained all the Treafures cf Wifdom^ could have enriched their Minds to fuch a Degree, and furnifhed fuch a vafl Expencc of Thought. • If Judcea was ennobled by thefe exalted Notions, of which other Nations, who were funk into the Dregs of Polytheifm and Idolatry, were deflitute ; if the kind- ly Dew of Heaven defcended on this Fleece only, while all the Earth around betrayed a Want of refrcfhing Moifture j this was the Lord's doings and ought to be marvel- lous in our Eyes, P 2 Had Thz intrinJlG Excellency Had God revealed himfelf to the Qreek^^ or fome other Nation famed for their cu- rious Refearches into every Branch of Lite- rature, and for the Depths of Wifdom and Policy ; thofe Truths, which were (o many Emanations from the great Fountain of Light, would have been looked upon as the Refult of their Penetration, and their own Difcoveries : But by communi- cating his Will to a People of no inven- tive and enterprizing Genius, of no enlarged Reach and Compafs of Thought j fuch Sufpicions are avoided, and the Proofs of a Revelation more confpicuous and illuftrious. And this may be one Reafon among others, why at a Time, when the reft of the World were bigotted to Superftition, Idolatry, and a falfe Religion, God Tingled out this Nation, in that Point not fo corrupt as others, to be the Guardian and Depolitary of the true. If nothing recommended the Scripture but this fingle Confideration, that all thofe coUeded Beams of fpiritual Light center in it alone, which were widely diffufed amidft a Variety of Treatifes, and loft amidfl a Crowd of palpable Abfurdities j even ihis would be no improbable Argument of it's of the Scriptures^ a Proof Mc* 213 it*s Divinitv : But this is not all : Let us, s^'^- ^'^^' in order to compile an adequate unerring Standard of religious Truths, take in all the AfTiftances we can get from all the Philofo- phers in Greece^ from T^ully at Kotne^ nay even from Confucius as far as Chi72a j and yet, after all, the Scheme will be defective in, what the Scriptures have recommended, a pure rational Worfhip of God only in Spirit and in Truth, a Fulnefs of Pardon for every Sin upon Repentance, and the Noblenefs of the Rewards hereafter. The Love of God will not be required in fo high a Degree, as it is in the Scriptures ; nor enforced by fo ftrong a Motive, as our Saviour's dying for Mankind has done ; rkor our Charity and Love to the Diftrefled re- commended by fo powerful an Incentive, as that our Redeemer has made them his Re- prefentatlves, and will place to his own Account, whatever was done for his Sake to them. One may challenge any Man to produce before Chriftianity, among the ^[eathen World, fuch a complete Syftem of Mora- lity, reaching all the Duties of Life, with- out any Defeat ; and full without overflow- ings or any Redundancy, as the Scriptures P 3 contain. T'he intrinjtc Excellency contain. Very remarkable are the Words of Mr. Locke *. *' It is true, Jays he, there is a Law of Nature: But who is there, that ever did or undertook to give it us all entire as a Lawj no more, nor no lefs than what was contained iu and had the Obligation of that Law ? Who ever made out all the Parts of it, put them together, and fhewcd the World their Obligaiion ? Where was there any fuch Code, that Mankind might have Recourfe to as their unerring Rule, be- fore our Saviour's Time ? Such a Law of Morality Jefus Chrifl: hath given us in the new Teftament, And fuch a one out of the NewTellament, I think the World never had, nor can any one fay is elfewhere to be found." And gain, ** If you fentMen to the Sayings of the Wife, and the Declarations of the Philofophers, you (aM them into a wild Wood of Uncertaintv, to an endlefs Maze, from which they fliould never get out ; if to the Religions of the World yet worfe : And if to their own Reafon you refer them to that, which had fome Light and Certainty, but yet had hi^-- * See Locked R^afpnablenefs oi" Chrillianity. "" therto of the Scriptures^ a Proof &c, 215 therto failed all Mankind in a perfedt,^^'^- ^^^* Rule, and refolved not the Doubts that had rifen among the ftudious and think- ing Philofophers ; nor had yet been able to convince the civilized Part of Man- kind, that they had not given, nor could without a Crime, take away the Lives of their Children, by expofing them." It is needlefs to tell any Man of plain Senfe, that there muft be always a Proper- tion between the Caiife and the Effedf, Now, if we exclude the divine Power, what Proportion can we find between the Catifes of Chrillianity, and Chrijiianity it- felf ? Chriftianity is a Religion^ which has difabufed ihc World, and refcued it from thofe many vicious Pra6tlces, fuch as the expofing of Infants, Polygamy, ^c. which were univerfally defended among the Pa- gans, and from human Sacrifices, and from innumerable abominable and brutal Rites; a Religion fo perfeftive of human Nature,^ and fo expreffive of the divine j that we want Ideas to carry us to a Conception of any Thing beyond it. And who were the yluthors or Caufes of this Religion ? Why, a Set of Men bred up in low Life to mea7t Employments, which cramp the native, P 4 Powers 2 1 6 *The intrinfic Excellency Ser. VII- Powers of the Mind. And can we ferioufly think that a Set of unlettered^ unenterpri- Jing Men could open feveral rich Mines of Truth, which had efcaped the laborious Refearches of the profoundeft Scholars^ and^ the happy Sagacity of the moft j>enetrat- ing Wits f Since therefore every EffeB muft have a competent and proportionable Caufe -y and fince the fuppofed natural Ca.uks and Au- thors of Chriftianity coniidered as mere Men ex'clufive of divine Infpiration, were plainly unequal to the Tafk, nor could ever have brought to Light fuch Dodlrines, as exceeded whatever the Philofophers before, had done J though, laying afide their Dregs, we {hould draw off the very Flower and Spirit of their Writings : It is evident, we muA have Recourfe to fome fuperiia- tural and adequate Caufe, which interefled itfelf in this Affair. And to whom, but to the Father of Light ^ in whom there is no Darknefs at all^ can we be indebted ; that now Perfons of t\\Q Jlendereji Capaci- ties may view thofe elevated and beneficial Truths in the ftrongeft Point of Light, which thtfmeft Spirits of the Gentile World could not before fully afcertain j that our 2 memeft of the Scriptures^ a Proof ^c. 217 meaneft Mechanics, with a moderate Share ^2!2l of Application, may have jufter and fuller Notions of God's Attributes, of eternal Happinefs, of every Duty refpedting their Maker, Mankind, and themfelves ; than the moft difiinguijhed Scholars among the Heathens could attain to, after a Life laid out in painful Refearches ? Chrijflianity has been a Light to lighten the Deifts ; as well as the Glory ^ Happi- nefs, and Salvation of every good Chrifti- an. Even they who decry Revelation, are greatly indebted to it, for much clear- er and more enlarged Views of Things ; than they could have had, if bred up in Countries altogether unenlightened by it. Even they, enjoy the Benefits and gather the Fruits of Chriftianity, at the fame Time, that they are driving to damage and wound the 7r^^, which bears them. The Maintainers of the Sufficiency of human Reafon are, as to this Point, very much diftreffed : Strange ! that Reafon 'without Revelation fliould be a fuficie?2f Guide, when they cannot prove, that -it has condu(3:ed any one Man in any one Age or Nation^ no not even Soc?^ates himfelf, to 2ifull unerring Standard of Duty. How happened 2 1 8 The intrinjlc "Excellency ^happened it then, that the Authors of the Scriptures (hould alone^ of all Mankind,, have ^enfe enough to form an adequate Scheme of Duty^ Courage enough to fet on Foot the Fropagation of it, and Perfe- verance enough to bring it to bear^ not- withflanding all the Engines of worldly Power were played againft them ? How comes it, that all fucceeding Writers have not been able to difcover one important re- ligious Truth, but what is either exprefsly contained in the Bible, or is implied in it, and may be fairly deduced from it ? All that fucceeding Writers have done, has been only to ftate and limit the Doctrines, to collect, adjuft, and range, in an exad: Chain of Reafoning, thofe religious and moral Obfervations, which lye fcattered in the Scripture with a noble Profufion. Juft as the utmoft Skill of Mankind can- not form one new Plant : They may indeed cultivate^ and place in a regular Symmetry and Order ^ thofe Trees, as well as thofe Flowers, which are fown in a beautiful Diforder by the Author of Na- ture. Thefe Things are only thus to be accounted for, viz. That God who does nothing in vain, but is not wanting in what is of the Scriptures, a Proof, ^c. 219 is neccfTary, imprinted on their Minds thefe ^ "^^^• comprehenfive Truths, but left it to them to exprefs them in what Language and Or- der they thought proper. It was not ne- cefl-iry, that God fliould beautify the facred Writings with all the 'Elegancies of han- gunge and Method ; it was enough that he has enriched them with an inexhauftible Fund of ufeful T'ruths, They needed not the Spectacles of Books, whofe Eyes God himfelf opened, to difcern and reveal thefe wondrous Things. Unlettered Men, in attempting to reveal the Deep T'hings ofGody muft have fallen into palpable Abfurdities, unlefs they had been diredled by that Spirit, which fearch- eth all things j yea the deep 'Things of God. For even lettered Men^ fpeculative Adven* turers of the ftrongefl: and brighteft Parts, whenever they have, without the Help of Revelation, made Excurfions into the World of Spirits, have difcovered nothing but their Ignorance, and Liablenefs to grofs Miftakes. Men, who luere not under the Power of an ungoverned Imagination, would fcarce have fallied out into Subjeds, where our Faculties can find no fure Footing j and Men, who were^ could never have worked 2 out ^20> 'The intrinfic Excellency ^^^J^out fuch a plaufible and confiftent Scheme, as our Faculties cannot confute. How comes it then, that the facred Writers, in fetting before us the Nature and Offices of good and bad Angels, the Joys of Heaven, &c. have kept clear of all flagrant Errors, for any thing that we can make out to the contrary ? How comes it that all Inquirers after them, have been unable to prove any Thing relating to thefe Points, which they have not faid'^ and to dilprove any Thing, which they have faid ? How comes it, if they were uninfpired, that though they have delivered feveral Do(5lrines, which Reafon cannot afcertain; yet they fay no- thing which Reafon can gainfay^ upon Sufcv- jedts to which our Faculties are difpropor- tioned, and as to which we are therefore moft fubjedl to Abfurdities ? Add to this, that we have a vital Senfe of the Goodnefs of Chriftianity. . No Body that heartily believed in our Saviour, and ad:cd agreeably to his Precepts, ever repent- ed that he had done fo: Thoufands have felt a Remorfe and Compundion of Soul, that they have not been altogether Chrifti- atis. The more a Man has been a lincere and found Chriflian 3 the more Peace and Sundiine of the Scriptures, a Proofs &c. 22?. Sunfhine of Mind he has felt in himfelf,^^'^- V^^- and the more Confidence he has expreffed towards God. For this fenfible Experience of the Goodnefs and Truth of Chriftianity we have the united Suffrages of Men of diftinguiflied Piety, from the firfl Birth of Chriftianity, down to the prefent Times. Several of them enjoyed as much Peace as this World can give ; and all of them that Peace, which it cannot give. He certainly a(5ls moft agreeably to the Will of the Dei- ty, and to (what is infeparably connected with his Will) the Truth of Things, who embraces and adheres to that Religion, which will make him the meekeft, hum- bleft, the moft benevolent, pious, and, in all Refpeds, the beft Man ; which gives him the mod aflonifiiing, yet the moft amiable Views of the Divinity, and the moft rational and interefting Account of Heaven and Hell, which contains, what- ever God, through a diff"ufive Goodnefs, has done for Mankind ; and what Man- kind have yet to do for themfelves, to work out their Salvation. The intrinfic Excellency of Chriftianity, I am afraid, has given many the greateft Diftafte for it. For I never could affign any 22 2 7%e intrinjic Excellency Ser^vii. any Reafon, why Mahometans and Papijls (great Numbers of Them) feem to be very much in earnefi about their Rehgions \ but We (too many of us) very remifs and in- different to Ours, but this very bad one, viz. that thofe Religions chiefly confift in, and lay too great Strefs upon, outward MX^ and little Obfervances : Whereas true Chri- ftianity defcends deep, into the Hearty con- verting the Soul, and indifpenfably enjoins an unreferved Obedience to God, and an inward Kt\\(h of Goodnefs rooted in our Minds, and influencing our Practice through- out. Now Men v^^ould rather undergo in- numerable bodily Aufterities, and obferye all the Outjide of Piety ; than cultivate an univerfal and iinfulUed Purity of Heart. A Self- Indulgence 2iS to that Sin which moft eafily belets us, be it Vanity, fpirituai Pride, Lufl:, or any other Vice, gives us fo great Pleafure, that 7io Self-Denials, as to other Points, can countervail it, if they can be called Self- Denials. For then we effeBually deny ourfelves, when we refrain from thofe darling, but unlawful Pleafures, whether of Body or Mind, to which we have the ftrongeft Biafs. A pure undefiled Religion coming from God, the great Searcher of the Scriptures^ a Proof &'c, 223 Searcher of Hearts, requires this Sacrifice ^^^^ of the Heart, without which no other Sa- crifices, no external Performances, how- ever feemingly difficuh, will be of any Avail. A Religion commanding us to be as ftrid and regular in our Lives, as the Pi6anding the Charge of Difficulties and Obfcurities j the Scripture, though deep^ is clear in every Dodtrine, that tends to the Glory of God, the Good of Mankind, and of the Scriptures^ a Proof 6cc. 225 and the Benefit of our own Souls. So far'^-^^^J^^ God has o-one ; and farther than this he needed not go, to anfwer the End of a Revelation. Whatever Things there are in it hard to ke iinderfiood^ which a mode- rate Apphcation cannot clear up j they may exercife the Abilities of the Curious, but are not neceflary to edify the Bulk of Man^ kind. Any Man, who diligently and im- partially y^'^^rrZ'^j the Scriptures^ comparing Place with Place, interpreting the darker Paflages by the clearer, and attending to the Scope and Def^gn of the Author ; may furnifli himfelf v/ith an intelligible, cdji- fijlent and deierviinate Rule of Faith and PraBice, may derive from thence Plopes full of a bleffed Immortality ; and find there that beautiful Ajjanblage of moral Truths, clear and unmixed j which lye fcattercd through the Writings of all the Philofophers, and are blended, in them, with pernicious Errors. Whatever Precept Is briefly and in general Terms delivered in one Place, is more clearly and diftindly unfolded in another : And no important Do(5lrine is founded only on one Text ; it is inculcated in federal, and placed before us in various Views and Reviews ; like feme Vol. II. Q beautiful 22 6 l*he intrinjic Excellency Ser. vii.j^eautlful and mafterly Statue placed in a Garden, in which feveral Openings termi- nate, and confpire to let us fee it in Variety of Lights. Which Confideration makes it impoffible for any dne, who has a wrong Hypothefis to ferve^ to endeavour, if he be not loft to all Senfe of Shame ^ to obtrude fuch a Tranflation upon the Public, as {hall not contain a fufficient Antidote for any Fundamental Error. DIfputes, it is true, there will always be about Scripture, a Gift not defigned for fuch an Ufe, as there have been about eve- ry Thing elfe. And is it a Wonder, Men Ihould difpute about Religion, which . is almoft the only Thing, about which it is worth while to difpute at all ? If Religion were fet afide, would all Difputes imme- diately ceafe ? No, there would be many more, which a ferious Senfe of it upon our Minds prevents, about Things of lefs Im- portance, about every Thing on which Men had mifplaced their Efleem. It is a Miftake to imagine, that the Obfciiriiy of Scripture has given Birth to different 0/>/- niom in material Points j Men's precon- ceived Opinions have made them endeavour to ohfcure and darken the Scripture, though 3 never t)f the Scripturesy a Proofs &c. i2j never fo plain. However, fuppofing the^^"^ ^^ Tranflation to be juft and faithful in the Main, which it is allov/ed by all compe- tent Judges to be ; the Unlearned may diftinguidi between torfurhig the Words of infpired WriterSj prefling them into their Service, and compellijig them to come in^ irt Favour of fome darling Notion j and on the other Hand, giving them an eafy^ un^ forced^ and natural Interpretation. They may eafily perceive,, who impofe a Senfe upon the Bible making it fpeak their own j and who are content to take one from it. Little Minds may be afFed:ed with little 'Trifles^ with fome minute Particularity iri Scripture, with fome Text that feems un- accountable : They may examine the Bible (to ufe the Alluiion of a great Genius) as it were with a Microfcope, which confines them to a li?igle Part 5 but does not enable them to take in the ConJiJle?icy of the Whole ^ or to perceive the Relation vvhich each Part has to another, A Mind truly large and compreheniive will grafp the whole Compafs and Sub fiance of Ghriftianity^ and conlider^ how happily it has fupplied the Defedis^ redlified the Miftakes, and enforced the Difcovcries of human Reafon^ carrying 0^2 Religiort 2 2 8" 7lje intrinfic Excellency ^ER. VII. Religion to fuch a juft Degree of Perfec- tion, that whatever falls yZw^ of it, is je- june and defeBive ; and whatever Attempts to go beyond it, is vifionary and romantic. The more a Man {Indies the Scriptures with thefe extenfive Views, the more he will admire them : For they are like thofe Per- fons, whom an intimate Acquaintance en^ dears more and more, whatever Prejudices we might, at firji Sight, have conceived againft them. He will find, that they afford as much Light, as our Condition needs ; and much more, than our unajji[ied Facidties could attain to. Plere is a Book which takes in a I'aft Compafs : It begins from Eternity, with the Creation of the World, and the For- mation of Man J and ends in Eternity, with the laft Judgment, and the Confum- mation of all Things. And yet, through- out, there is one Chain and regular Series of well-conncifted Events, from the Fall to the Redemption j and from the Redemp- tion to the laft grand Revolution, when all Things JJjall be put under our Saviour's Feet. Amidfl this great Variety, there is, juft as in the Works of Nature, an Uni- formity ; every Tiling is diverfified, and 3 yet of the Scriptures^ a Proofs &c. yet every Thing regular. From the firft Inftitution of Sacrifices immedicitely after the Fall, through fcveral intermediate Steps, to the grand itnherfal Sacrifice, which they prefigured, of our Saviour, one uniform Defign is carriedi^n, viz. the Pre- fervation of true Religion in the World, and the difcountenancing of Vice and Ido- latry. Now in a Book comprehending fuch a Train of Difpenfations, and fuch a vaft Extent of Time, written in feveral A- ges^ by feveral HjWj, and on feveral Suo- jeSls J it is not at 2\\ fur prizing, that there fhould be many Things puzzling and unac- countable to us (hort-fighted Creatures, (for fuch there are in the Works of the Creation) 5 but it is amazing^ fuppofing the Authors of it were not under the immediate Gui- dance of God, that, notwithftanding the ftriSfeft Scrutiny has been made, notwith- flanding every particular PalTage has been fijted, no one material Flaw has been dif- covered, that has endaiigered the whole Fabric. Nay thofe very Things, which were thought infuperahle Objections againft it J have, upon a clofer Examination, been found illuftrious Confirmations of the Truth of it. Do you think that the Mahometan^ 0^3 ^^e 230 Ithe Intrinfic Excellency Ser. yii. the Pagariy or any other falfc Rellgionj could have flood their Ground ; ifReafon had had as fair Play againft them^ as it has had again ft Chrijiianity ; if the whole Jb'^ tillery of reafqning Malice, refolved to leave no Stone ufiturned, and to find or make Objedions at any Rate, had been, for many Ages, difcharged againft them ? Faljhood cannot long bear the Shock of an unreftrained, determined, and pov^^erful Oppofition ; and Truth itfelf mufi: greatly fuffer, by having all the Weapons of Ri- dicule and Sophiftry employed againft it, in the Opinion of (a confiderabie Number) the half-thinking, injudicious, and inatten- tive. And if all the Load of Objections and Difficulties induftrioufly raifed, like fo many Weights tied about a Body, cannot fink Chriftianity ; it muft be upheld and fupported by that Energy of Truth, which is ftronger than all Things, and will pre- vail. If there were one decifive unafifwerable Argument againji Chriftianity, which wounded it in it's Vitals 5 it would be un- accountable, why difinterefted Men, of