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 'US'^J 
 
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SEVEN 
 
 S E R M O^ S 
 
 Upon T n e» 
 
 Following Subje(B:s ; 
 
 vi'f'.- 
 
 The DIfFerence betwixt Truth 
 
 Obje(!:\ionr?p^ered . 
 
 The Love of '^GJd; 
 The Love of ourTNeighbour," 
 The firft and great Command; 
 ment, ^V. . 
 
 /and Fahhood, Right and 
 Wrong. 
 The natural Abilities of Men for 
 . difcerning thefe Differences. 
 The Right and Duty of private 
 Judgment* 
 
 Preached 
 
 At a Lecture in the Weft Meeting-Houfe 
 In Bos T N, 
 
 Begun Xhs firft Thurfday in June, and ended the laft Thurfday 
 
 In Augujiy 1748. 
 
 By Jonathan Mayhew, A. M. 
 
 Pallor of the Weft Church in Bofion. 
 
 ^^ 
 
 BOSTON, N. E. rf 
 
 Printed and Sold by 'Rogers and Fowle in Queen-rtreet. 
 
 "^ MDCCXLLX. 
 
ELEGANT EXTRACT. 
 There is a limit, acrofs vthlrh n.o« - 
 
 guide or to inrorm him ^ obfervat.oo to 
 
 «ach of h,s hand. He cao fmell a flower ^ar i^ 
 prefented to b,^. He can tafte the food thaf 
 Uiure h:m He can hear a f.und of crrtain pitch 
 «nd .ntenfuy; and fo mnch does this fenfe of 
 hearing w.jcn j,_,s mtercourfe u^ith eternal nature 
 fhat from ihe d.ftance of «iles, it can bring h m 
 m an occational intimation. 
 • Bui of all the tracks of conveyance ^.hich God 
 Ijas be.n pleaft^d to op.n up bet«.een the mind of 
 man the theatre by whkh he is forrounded there 
 is non- by which he fo TnultipHe#his acquaintance 
 witn the rtcn and varied creation on every fide of 
 lum, as by the organ of the eye. It is this which 
 gives to him his laftieft command over the fcewe- 
 r y of natere. It is this by which fo broad a range 
 of obfervation is fabmitted to him. It is this 
 which Bnableshim, by the adlof a Angle moment, 
 to fend an exploring look over the f^^face of an I 
 annplc territory, to crowd his mind with the whole' 
 affembly of its objedls, and to fill his vifion with 
 ihofe "cuuntlefs hues which diverfify and adorn it. 
 It is this which carries him abroad over all that is 
 fublimc.inths immenfity of diftance? which fets 
 hi(n as it were on an elevated platform, from 
 whence he maycaft a furveying glance ov«r the 
 arena of innumerable worlds ; which fpreads be- 
 fore him fa mighty a province of contemplation, 
 that the earth he inhabits only appears to furnilh 
 him with 'he pedeftal on which he may ftand, and 
 from which he «ay defcry the wonders of all that 
 magnificence which the Divinity has po«red fo 
 abundantly around him. It is by the narrow o'jt. 
 let of the eye, that the mind of man takes its ex- 
 curfive flight over ihofe golden tracks where, in 
 all the exhauftlcffnels of creative wealth, lie fcat- 
 tered the funs, and fyftsms of aftronomy. But 
 oh 1 how good a thing it is, & how becoming \\e\l, 
 for he philofopher to be humble even amid the 
 
 ■Xuin.jO Slip _ 
 
 /.:F7 .IV .IJKUOJIV 
 
 • . -CIV ■•riafiH - ixS KHor 
 
To Thi^ 
 
 Christian Society 
 
 Ufually worfhipping in the Weft 
 Meeting-Houfe in Eojlony 
 
 'T^HESE Sermons, at 
 firfl preached, and 
 now publifhed, at their 
 Requeft, are humbly in- 
 fcribed, in Acknowledg- 
 ment of their Kindnefs 
 and Generofity to 
 
 The Author 
 
THE 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 HE Four Hrft Sermons, on Luke XII. 
 
 T 
 
 54 51- 
 
 SERMON I. 
 
 Concerning the difference betwixt truth and falfhood, 
 right and wrong Page i 
 
 SERMON II. 
 Concerning the natural abilities of men for difcerning 
 thefe differences 22 
 
 SERMON III. 
 Concerning the right and duty of private judgment in 
 religious matters 41 
 
 SERMON IV. 
 Objeflions againft the right and duty of private judg- 
 ment, conlidered 6^ 
 
 The three laft Sernions, on Matthew XXIl. 
 
 37 41- 
 
 SERMON V. 
 Concerning the love of God S9 
 
 SERMON VI. 
 Concerning the love of our neighbour i n 
 
 SERMON VII. 
 
 Upon what account the love of God is termed the 
 
 firjl and great commandment 131 
 
 On thefe two commandments {viz. the love of God and 
 
 of our Neighbour) hang all the law and the pro- 
 
 ■phets 139 
 
 On thefe two commandments hangs all the gofpel of 
 
 Jefus Chriff. 143 
 
 ■^ft'he principal En-ata of the Prefs, are as follows, 
 
 PAGE 16, rroe^i, for ne, read no. P. 26, 1. 10, for in, read is. 
 P. 47, 1. 18, infert the particle «, before third. P. 98, I. 7, from 
 the bottom, dele do with, after to. P. 137, 1. 8, for he, read tney. 
 P. 150, 1. 17, f.o-n the bottom, read natural and moral. P. 152, 1. 19, 
 read ipeculative belief. P, 155, 1. 10, read the fables. P. 157, 1. 2, 
 *nd 1. 7, from thebottom, for ivilds, read ivindu 
 

 THE 
 
 Difference betwixt Truth and 
 Falfhood, Right and Wrong, 
 
 ^' 'jM* 'iri' 'ivi* %* w %**)[(* 'iri* "ir^ 
 
 Sermon I. 
 
 •w %iv 'vB^ "w 'Jiy "J^ 'jy *^y '^^ *^y "w* "viv "mv* "vd/* 'uv* '\&r ^/v 
 
 LUKE XII. 54 57. 
 
 '^wi y&^ faid alfo to the people^ When ye fee a cloud rife 
 
 out of the wefly firaightway ye Jay, There cometh a 
 
 fhower •, and fo it is. 
 'And when ye fee the fouth wind blow, ye fay. There 
 
 will be heat % and it cometh to pafs. 
 Te hypocrites, ye can difcern the face of the Jky, and of 
 
 the earth : but how is it, that ye do not difcern 
 
 this time ? 
 Tea, and why even of your felves judge ye not what is 
 
 right ? 
 
 THESE are the words of our Lord Jefus 
 Chrift : and the occafion of them feems to 
 have been as follows — He had been preach- 
 ing the gofpel in Jerufakm, and the neigh- 
 bouring cities of the Jews ; and had, by the 
 purity of his do6lrine, the hoiinefs of his life, together 
 with the nature and number of his miracles, convinced 
 many perfons, that he was the Meffiah that was to come, 
 
 B and 
 
2 Difference betwixt Truth a?id Falpoody 
 
 and that they were not to look for another. However 
 the chief of the Scribes and Pharifees rejedled him as an 
 impoftor, attributing his miraculous works to the power 
 of magic^ or his fuppofed familiarity with evil fpirils. 
 
 Now it is eafy to fee what an influence this condu(5t 
 oF the Scribes and Pharifees in vilifying our blefled 
 Saviour, muft unavoidably have upon the generality of 
 the people. P'or they were in the higheft efteem amongft 
 the Jews, both becaufe they were fuppofed to have the 
 deepeft infight into things of a religious nature, and, 
 at the fame time, to be men of extraordinary piety. 
 This favourable opinion concerning them, was indeed 
 ill-grounded. But they had the talent of impofing upon 
 the people, in great perfeflion ; and, in facft, managed 
 matters with fo much craft and fubtilty, that they were 
 thought almoft the only faints in the world, and the 
 great oracles to be confulted upon all occafions. The 
 people placed an implicit faith in their dogma's and 
 decifions. Nothing was thought to bear the genuine 
 llamp of truth, unlefs they had had the coining of it : 
 And their cenfure of any particular perfon, or dodlrine, 
 was fufFicient to make either of them odious to the 
 multitude. 
 
 When, therefore, thefe infalliable guides ftigmatizcd 
 our Lord as an ill man ; when they reproached him as 
 one, who, without any reafon or authority, was attempt- 
 .ing to difcredit certain opinions which they had received 
 to have and to hold from their fore-fathers \ when they 
 accufed him of making innovations in the old eftablilhed 
 religion, to the great hazard of the fouls of men -, I fay, 
 when they talked and railed in this pious firain, it gave 
 a general alarm to the people, efpecialiy to the fuperfii- 
 tious vulgar -, and expofed our Lord to their contempt 
 and hatred and infults. They gave themfelves no far- 
 ther trouble to inquire into the grounds of his pretenfions 
 to the mejfiah-fhip ', concluding that />^ mull needs be, a 
 
 deceiver. 
 
Riorht and W?'0}ior. 
 
 c> 
 
 deceiver, who was condemned by fucli a learned and 
 holy body of men, as that of the Scribes and P bar i fees. 
 
 Few of them condcfcended fo far as to come and 
 hear him preach, ( this being reprefented to them as 
 dangerous ) that fo they might know what he had to 
 fay for himfclf : and thofe that, did, came rather as 
 fpies, that they might find occafion to cavil, and to ac- 
 cufe him to the Priejis and Pharifees, than with fucii 
 an unprejudiced and candid difpofition as became inquirers 
 after the truth. 
 
 But although the generality of the Jews were fuch 
 abje(5b flavcs to the di<5>ates of their fpiritual inftruc- 
 tors, never daring to hefitate concerning the truth of 
 what they aflferted upon religious fubjedts, but receiving 
 every thing, how abfurd foever, with all the humility 
 of implicit faith -, yet it feems, that in their temporal 
 and worldly concerns, they were cautious enough. 
 Here they were not fond of taking up fatisfied with 
 any man's word ; but were forward to think, inquire 
 and judge for themfelves. 
 
 This is a fliort charader of the people to whom our 
 Lord fpeaks in the text. And this being kept in view, 
 his addrefs will appear very natural and feafonable. — 
 y^nd be /aid alfo to the people JVben ye fee a cloud rife out of 
 the weft, firaigbtway ye fdy^ There cometh a fijower -, and 
 fo it is. And when ye fee the fouth-wind bloWy ye fay 
 there will be heat -, and it cometh to pafs. Ye hypocrites^ 
 ye can difcern the face of the /ky, and of the earth : but 
 how is ity that ye do not difcern this time ? Tea, and whjf 
 even of your felves judge ye not what is right? 
 
 These Words feem to be very plain of themfelves i 
 but the fenfe of them may be exprefled more at large 
 An the following paraphrafe,— 
 
 *< And 
 
4 Difference helwixt Truth a7tdFalJhood^ 
 
 " And after thefe things, Jej'us addreffed himfelf to 
 " the Jews^ who were generally prejudiced againfl him, 
 " thro* their blind attachment to their fpiritual guides ; 
 " and faid — Ye that fufFer yourfelves to be led blind- 
 " fold by others, with regard to me and my doflrine, 
 " and things of a religious concern in general, are never- 
 " thelefs fagacious enough in matters of equal difficulty, 
 ** and much lefs importance — Ye are apt and fkilful 
 " enough at diftinguifliing the figns and tokens of 
 " things that are to come to pafs in the natural world, 
 " in which your prelent intereft is concerned, f Ye 
 " can, ( for example ) by obferving the colour of the 
 " fky, and the blowing of the wind, form a true judg- 
 " ment concerning the future change of the weather. 
 " How comes it to pafs, then, ye deluded hypocrites, 
 " that amidft all your fagacity in things that relate to 
 " the prefent world, ye are ftill blind and undifcerning 
 *' in things of a religious nature ? why do not ye that 
 " can prefage various changes from the appearance of 
 *' the earth and heavens, difcem alfo the periods and 
 " revolutions of things -, the various difpenfations of 
 *' providence in the moral world ? In particular, how 
 *' comes it to pafs that ye do not diftinguifh the prefent 
 *' feafon, in which God is erecting a new difpenfation, 
 ** to fucceed that of Mofes ? There are figns and tokens 
 *' enough to convince you that fuch a revolution is now 
 *' taking place, if ye would but examine them atten- 
 " tivcly. Why, then, will ye fuffer yourfelves to be 
 " blinded by the auiliority of the Priejls and Pharifees, 
 " when God has given you fufficient abilities to gain the 
 ** knowledge of the truth ? Why will ye not exert your 
 '• own faculties, and judge for yourfelves what is true 
 *' and right in this matter, as ye do in things of a 
 *' v/orldly nature ? " 
 
 f See Dr. Clarke's parapbrafe. 
 
 Thus 
 
Right a7id JVrong. ^, 
 
 Thus I have endeavoured to give a true idea of the 
 original fcope and meaning of the words which I have 
 chofen for the fubjecfl of my prefent difcourfe. I fliall 
 now wave every thing in them peculiar toj the time and 
 circumftances wherein they were fpoken ; and obferve 
 from them feveral univerfal truths which concern all 
 times and perfons and places alike. 
 
 As 
 
 I. That there is a natural difference betwixt truth 
 and falfhood, right and wrong. 
 
 II. That men are naturally endowed with faculties 
 proper for the difcerning of thefe' differences. 
 
 III. and lajlly^ That men are under obligation to ex- 
 ert thefe faculties -, and to judge for themfelves in things 
 of a relisious concern. 
 
 'O' 
 
 I. Then, there is a natural difference betwixt truth 
 and falfhood, right and wrong. — Why even of yourfelves 
 judge ye not what is right ? 
 
 By what is rights it is probable that our Saviour here 
 more immediately intends, what is true •, for his difcourfe 
 in this place turns upon examining, judging, and inferring 
 one thing from another. But whether by this term we ^^yf- 
 underfland, what is true in theory, or what is right in -^ 
 praBice, it will come to much the fame thing at laft; 
 for there is an infeparable connexion betwixt them. If 
 certain things are true in fpeculation, there mull be fome 
 correfpondent fitncfs of aflions refulting therefrom. 
 And, on the other hand, if any thing be allowed fit in a 
 pradlical fenfe, that fitnefs or rightnefs muft be founded 
 in certain truths and relations before fubfiffing. I fhall, 
 therefore, take it for granted, that the text fuppofe?. 
 That there is in nature both a True, as diflinguifhed from 
 fpeculative Error j and a Right, as diflinguifhed from 
 
 Wrong 
 
 4- ■ 
 
6 Difference letwlxt Truth a7id Falpoody 
 
 Wrong in Condu^f. And the remainder of this difcourfe 
 •will be taken up with thefe important diftindions. 
 
 Indeed the fpending of time to prove that there are 
 really fuch differences as thofe mentioned, may appear 
 to fome to be rather childiih impertinence, or formal 
 trifling, than a proper employment for reafonable Crea- 
 tures, it being fuch a plain and obvious truth. However 
 it is to be remembered, that no notion is too abfurd to 
 deferve to be refuted, while fome are abfurd enough to 
 propagate, and others to believe, it : efpecially if it be 
 fuch an one as flrikes at the root of all religion, and 
 every thing wherein the happinefs of mankind confifts. 
 
 And fuch is the notion of an abfolute indifference in 
 nature with relation to truth and falfliood, right and 
 wrong. For this being allowed, it follows that we have 
 no invariable rule of life and condudl. No man, upon 
 this fuppofition is under a poffibility either of judging or 
 afling amifs -, or of the contrary. Each man thinks as 
 juftly as another, how contrary foever his fentiments are : 
 And fo alfo each one a5is as rightly as any other, let him 
 a6t how he will. This is to make fhort Vv'oik with all 
 queftions and debates concerning truth, religion, and the 
 rule of human condudl : it fuperfedes all inquiries about 
 them, by prefuppofing that they have no exiftence but in 
 the idea of certain doting men who have employed 
 themfelves in inventing arbitrary diftindlions. 
 
 There feem to have been two [pedes of Scepticks In 
 the World : one of which exploded the whole notion of 
 truth and right, as oppofed to falfliood and wrong con- 
 du6t : and another which feemingly allowed fuch differ- 
 ences to have an exifl:ence in nature •, but held it impof- 
 fible for us to difcern them. It is only the firft of ihtk 
 opinions that we are concerned with at prefenc , the latter 
 will be confidered in our next difcourfe. 
 
 To 
 
Right and Wrongs j 
 
 To begin with truth — Notwithftanding what fome 
 are pleafed to pronounce with their lips concerning tl-,e 
 indifference of truth and falfhood, it is hardly poITible 
 but that their hearts fliould be at variance with their 
 mouths, and give them the lie, even while they arc de- 
 nying there is any fuch thing as faljhood. For if there 
 be any thing exijling, ( which furely no body wa« ever fo 
 abfurd as to deny ) there muft neceffarily be fuch a 
 thing as truth ; truth, as abftraded from mind or intel- 
 ligence, being nothing diftind from the real nature and 
 properties of things exifting. Whatever exifts, has a 
 real exiftence ; and if fo, it cannot be true that it has no 
 exiftence. Whatever has a being, mufl: alfo cxilt in 
 fome certain^ determinate 'manner ; with fuch and fuch 
 properties, affcdrlons and attributes ; with fuch and fuch 
 proportions, afpeds and relations. And we can as little 
 alter thefe by our opinions, as we can caufe the things 
 themfelves to exift and not exift, alternately, as our 
 thoughts vary concerning them. Thus truth is fome- 
 what determinate in itfelf ; it exifts indpendently of our 
 notions concerning it : And the precife boundaries be- 
 twixt that, and falJJjood, are alfo determined by the real 
 nature and properties of thing?, whether they are per- 
 ceptible to us, or not. 
 
 Truth, as it exifts in the mind, is nothing but the 
 perception or knowledge of that independent truth now 
 mentioned ; or a knowledge of things as they really 
 exift. And as it relates to zvords and fropofitions, it is 
 notiiing but the right ufe of certain arbitrary figns, having 
 a meaning annexed to them by common confent ; i. e. 
 the ufing them in fuch a manner that they fhall be con- 
 formable to, anS exprelTive of, the real nature and pror 
 perties of the thing treated of. 
 
 To return — Can any man think it equally true that 
 he does, and that he does not, exift ? I inftance in this, 
 bccaufc it is familiar j but the fame queftion may be 
 
 aftvcd 
 
8 Difference betwixt Truth and FalJIjoody 
 
 afked concerning every thing elfe. This is an univerfal 
 dilemma, applicable to every thing that comes under con- 
 fideration — " It is, or it is not." No middle way can 
 be taken. This is indeed no new difcovery : it is felf- 
 cvident, and a firft principle. 
 
 Thus, that we either do, or do not, converfe with 
 fenfible objedls, fo that one may be truly affirmed, and 
 the other denied, is as plain as it is, that we cither do, or 
 do not exift. We may proceed in the fame manner to 
 confider things, which, if they exift at all, lie beyond 
 the reach of our animal fenfes. It is as certain in itfelf, 
 that there are, or that there are not, fpiritual and invi- 
 fible agents, as it is that there are, or are dbt fenfible ob- 
 jeds. And with relation to the being of a God, it is as 
 plain, that there is, or that there is not, fuch a Beings 
 as that there are, or are not, invifible agents in 
 general. 
 
 We may defcend in the fame way to all the particular 
 queftions that have arifen concerning the particular na- 
 ture of this Being, upon fuppofuion he exifts — concern- 
 ing the nature of his government — concerning the 
 reality of a revelation from him — concerning the im- 
 mortality of our fouls, &c. There muft neceffarily be a 
 true and a falfe, with relation to every queftion that can 
 be propofed, or come into our minds. We cannot fo 
 much as doubt of the truth of any particular propofi- 
 tion, without fuppofing that truth dies on one fide or 
 the other. 
 
 It will be obferved that I have not attempted to de- 
 termine any of the above-mentioned queftions. This was 
 beyond my prefent defign. All I aim at, is to fhow, 
 that there is, and muft be, a natural diftinftion betwixt 
 truth and error, in general •, a diftindlion which does not 
 
 /depend upon the precarious humours and opinions of men ;. 
 Whatever judgment we may form in any particular 
 cafe. 
 
Right and Wrojig, q 
 
 cafe, it no ways affefls the truth of it. Trutli (llll re- 
 mains the fame fimple, uniform, confiftent thing, amidft 
 all the various and contrary opinions of mankind con- 
 cerning it. 
 
 The natural diftinvStion betwixt truth and falfliood 
 being exploded, fuch paradoxes as thefe mud follow — 
 That no man's opinions are either right or wrong — That 
 however contrary the fentiments of different men are to 
 one another, they arc both equally conformable to the 
 nature and reahty of the things they judge upon — That 
 there arc neither any knowing nor any foolilh men in the 
 world — That what we ufually call wifdom and folly, 
 are the fame — And, what is ftranger than all. That 
 thefe paradoxes are neither true nor falfe — 
 
 If there be any fuch thing as wifdom, as oppofed to 
 ignorance and folly, it confifts in knowing the truth j 
 and a man is wife in the fame degree that he does io. 
 There is no knowledge, but of fome truth or fa6l: Or, 
 in other words, knowledge prefuppofes the being of 
 truth, or fomething to be known. Now if there be no 
 fuch thing as truth, there is nothing to be known : and 
 confequently every man, yea, every beii:\g whatever, muft 
 be intirely ignorant and deftitute of knowledge ; as de- 
 ftitute of it, not only as the horfe and mule which have no 
 underjianding, but as any part of fenfelefs inanimate mat- 
 ter. So that notwithftanding all the noife there has 
 been in the world about wifdom and folly ; notwith- 
 ftanding the univerfal appiaufe that has been bcftowed on 
 fome perfons, as gloriouily diftinguifhed from the reft of 
 mankind by a happy genius and peculiar fagacity ; yet 
 in reaUty all this is at bottom nothing but empty v/ords 
 without any meaning at all. Socrates and Plato^ Locke 
 and Newton, were not fuperiour, in point of wifdom, to 
 the moft illiterate hufband-man. Nay ; upon this fup- 
 pofition, even Pyrrho and Arcefilaus themfelves, the great 
 leaders of the fceptic tribe, knew no more than thofc 
 
 C whom 
 
1 o Difference het'iuxt Truth a?7d Falffjood^ 
 
 whom they upbraided with their ignorance. This, in- 
 deed, is a confcquence wliich the Pyrrhonijls will hardly 
 be perfwaded to own. For there are none more apt than 
 they, to value themfelves upon their fupcriour wifdom 
 and penetration. And they pleafe themfelves in par- 
 ticular with the thought of their being the difcoverers 
 of this mighty arcanum^ that there is no fuch thing as 
 truth, as diftinguifhed from error. But if there be no 
 fuch thing as truth, why will they pleafe themfelves for 
 their fagacity in making this difcovery ? Or why will they 
 endeavour to bring others over to their opinion, when 
 by their firft, and I might add, their only, principle, 
 thofe others are no more in an error than themfelves. 
 Such is the perplexity, the endlefs labyrinth, that a man 
 brings himfelf into, by alTerting for truth, that there is 
 no fuch thing as truth. 
 
 We are indeed left intirely in the dark with refpedl 
 to many things ; our knowledge is, at beft, but of 
 fmall extent •■, and the opinions of men are various. It 
 is this that has given fome men occafion to confound 
 truth and error, as though there were in nature no differ- 
 ence betwixt them. But I hope it is needlefs to fay any 
 thing more in c^ppofuion to an opinion fo diredly 
 contrary to common fenfe. 
 
 I proceed now to the other diftindlion mentioned above; 
 the diftinflion betvv'ixt right and wrong in conduct. And, 
 as it was before obferved, fuch a diftindlion muft neceffa- 
 rily take place in confequence of the former. There 
 are, perhaps, fome things fo indifferent as no ways to 
 affe(5l praftice, whether they are true or falfe. But there 
 are other principles which, being allowed true, imme- 
 diately induce upon us an obligation to afl in a particu- 
 lar^ determinate manner ; fo that to aft thus ffiall be 
 right and reafonable j and to do the contrary unfit and 
 wrong. 
 
 Thus 
 
Ri^ht and lF?'o?igr, j r 
 
 Thus, for example, it being fuppofed. That there is 
 fome particular courfe or method of acling, which tends 
 to promote our happincfs upon the whole ; and that a 
 contrary condud tends to our mifery, ( which by the 
 way are not bare fuppofitions, but plain fads ) a Rtnefs 
 of the former courfe of aftion, in oppofition to the latter, 
 neceffarily follows. For happincfs being in itfelf a good^ 
 and mifery an m/, it is in itfelf right and reafonable to 
 purfue the former, and to avoid the latter. If to this 
 we add, ( which experience fhows to be faft alfo ) that 
 the fame courfe of adlion which tends to private hap- 
 pincfs, tends to publick alfo, this lays us under a twofold 
 obHgation to take that courfe. For it is in itfelf right to 
 do good to others, as well as to ourfelves, happincfs being 
 as valuable to them as it is to us. From this general 
 principle our obligation to what is ufually called moral and 
 ibcial virtue ; to fidehty, juftice, charity ; to humility 
 and temperance, may be eafily inferred. For it is appa- 
 rent, from experience, that by the fleady, uniform prac- 
 tice of thefe virtues, both the good 6f individuals, and 
 of the publick, is promoted. Indeed it feems impofTible 
 but that fuch a praflice as tends to the good of one, 
 Ihould tend to the good of the other alfo. For publick 
 happincfs is nothing but the happincfs of a number of in- 
 dividuals united in fociety : So that if the individuals of 
 which the fociety confifts, be happy, the community 
 muft neceffarily be happy alfo. And on the other hand, 
 the community is rendered mifrrable in the fame degree 
 that individuals are fo. Virtue, then, is what we are 
 under obligation to pradife, without the confideration of 
 the being of a God, or of a future flate, barely from its 
 apparent tendency to make mankind happy at pre- 
 fent. 
 
 Again, let us fuppofe, ( what is at leaft fuppofeable ) 
 That there is a God •, a being who created, and who 
 governs the world, in infinite wifdom and goodnefs : i. c. 
 m fuch a manner as to communicate the greatefl poffiblc 
 
 happinefs, 
 
12 Difference betwixt 'Truth and FalJIjood^ 
 
 happinefs to his creatures confidered colleiflively. — This 
 being is plainly the objefl of efteem, gratitude, love, 
 reverence, truft, &c. to all his rational creatures. His 
 charafler is in itfelf amiable and perfedl. To treat him 
 with contempt, or difregard, is to treat him as being 
 what he is not -, which certainly cannot be right. Piety, 
 therefore, is what we are under obligation to, upon fup- 
 pofition there is any fuch being as this, exifting. 
 
 But farther — If there be fuch a being, he is prft5i 
 in all moral excellence, and therefore we, and all other 
 intelligent bein-gs, are under obligation to copy after, 
 and imitate, him, according to the condition and capa- 
 city of our natures, without the confideration of his en- 
 joining it upon us by any exprefs and pofitive Jaw, 
 For fo far as we fall fliort of him, we fall fhort of per- 
 fedion, according to the fuppofition, he being the rule and 
 ftandard of perfedlion. And fo, on the other hand, we 
 are perfed:, in proportion as we relemble him in the tem- 
 per of our minds \ and imitate him in the condudl of our 
 lives. And this brings us in another way, to the former 
 conclufion, viz. That we are under obligation to pra6life 
 what is ufually called moral virtue j for by this we imitate 
 God : and fall in with his benevolent defign in creating 
 and governing the world. 
 
 Again — It follows upon the fuppofition of fuch a 
 being. That his declared will ought to be univerfally the 
 rule of our ailions, in whatever manner it is made known 
 to us, whether by natural reajon^ or fupernatural revela- 
 tion J and whether we are able to fee the reafon and 
 grounds of his injunctions, or not. For, properly fpcak- 
 ing, our obligation to obey the commands of fuch a 
 being as knows and wills always whnt is befl, does not 
 arife in any degree from the particular manner in which 
 we come to the knowledge of his commands ; or from 
 our feeing the grounds of them : but folely from our 
 knowing that they are in faP. his commands : Thus if 
 
 thi? 
 
Right a?id Throng, lo 
 
 this being has, commanded us, befides praflifing fuch 
 moral virtues as thofe mentioned above, to do certaia 
 things not dilated by the light of nature ; if he has 
 commanded us to fiibmit ourfelves to Jefus of Nazareth 
 as his Son and Delegate, and our Lord and Maftcr 5 
 we ought to comply immediately with his will, afToon as 
 it is made known to us. For it is apparently wrong and 
 unreafonable to thwart the will and authority of him v^iio 
 is infinitely wife and good, although he had no power to 
 chaftize us for it. k will not fo much as bear a difpute, 
 whether it is wrong or not, toa6l counter to the injunfti- 
 ens of that being in any cafe, who in every cafe injoins 
 that, and that only, which is reafonable for him to in- 
 j'oin. — If he command with wifdom and goodnefsj v/e 
 cannot difobcy without folly and wickednefs. 
 
 But after all, there is really no necefTity of going (6 
 far to find our obligation to what is ufually called moral 
 virttie, as to confider its tendency to happinefs -, its ren- 
 dering us like to God, the ftandard of perfeflion -, or to 
 inquire whether the pra(51:ice of it be injoined upon us by 
 the pofitive will and command of God. We may find 
 the grounds of this obligation nearer home, even in our 
 own breads. There is fuch a law written in our hearts -, 
 fuch an internal confcioufnefs of the moral excellency of 
 virtue, and of the odioufncfs of its contrary, as really 
 Jeaves us no room to doubt of our obligation to it ; and 
 fo, in a great meafare fuperfecies all other arguments. 
 For we cannot ordinarily violate the rules of jufbce, &c. 
 without violating our own minds at the fame time ; and 
 turning our own accufers. 
 
 The principal objection that can be urged again (1 the 
 moral difference of adlions, is taken from the di.'liculty 
 there is, in fome cafes, to determine the boundaries be- 
 twixt right and wrong •, the variety of opinions that 
 have prevailed in the work! concerning qucllions of righr, 
 cfpecially in political affairs ; and the different, yea, 
 
 contrary 
 
IJ Difference betwixt Truth and FalJJjood^ 
 
 contrary laws, enabled by wife men in different ages and 
 countries, and all equally under the notion of their being 
 ric'ht and equitable. " But ( to ufe the words of a learned 
 " writer * ) as in painting, two very different colours, 
 " by diluting each other very flowiy and gradually, 
 *' may, from the higheft intenfenefs in either extreme, 
 " terminate in the midft infenfibly •, and fo run one 
 " into the other, that it fliall not be poffible even for a 
 " fkilful eye to determine exadly where the one ends 
 *' and the other begins ; and yet the colours differ as 
 *' much as can be, not in degree only, but intirely in 
 " kind, as red and hlue, or white and black : So though 
 '* perhaps it may be very difficult in fome nice and 
 " perplext cafes ( which yet are very far from occuring 
 " frequently ) to define exadlly the bounds of right and 
 " wrong, juft and unjuft, and there may be fome latitude 
 " in the judgment of different Men, and the laws of 
 *' divers nations ; yet right and wrong are neverthe- 
 " lefs totally and effentially different ; even altoge- 
 " ther as much as white and black, light and dark- 
 " nefs." 
 
 The admirable writer whofe words I have here quoted, 
 feems very charitably to attribute men's intirely con- 
 founding right and wrong, to the difficulty which they 
 find in fom.e cafes, to determine what is right and equita- 
 ble, and what wrong and injurious -, or to difcern the ter- 
 minating line betwixt them. And this difficulty is doubt- 
 lefs what gives men an opportunity to oppofe the notion 
 of fuch a moral difference in aflions, under fome little 
 colour of argument. However an internal perception 
 of the moral difference of things in general, is lb inter- 
 woven with our very nature, that it is hardly credible 
 that any man ffiould really think all affions to be indif- 
 ferent in their own nature. Or if any aflually entertain 
 fuch an opinion, it is not natural. It does not proceed 
 
 * Dr. S. Clarke. 
 
 fo 
 
Right a?id TFrong. j c 
 
 fo much from men's originally wanting clear Ideas of the 
 difference in general betwixt right and wrong, as from 
 their having made thefe things indifferent, as far as their 
 own pra5fice could effecfl it. Men have naturally as 
 clear a conception of the general difference betwixt moral 
 good and evil, antecedent to all confideration of human 
 laws and compadls, yea, to the confideration of the will 
 of God himfelf, as they have of the difference betwixt 
 light and darknefs. But as the organs of fight may be 
 abufcd and weakened to fuch a degree that a man fliall at 
 lafl perceive no difference betwixt the night and the 
 day : and as moft of our other animal fenfes may be 
 perverted and debauched, fo as to be incapable of an- 
 fwering their original defign •, fo alfo men's natural confci- 
 ence of good and evil, may, by frequent violations, lofe 
 its quicknefs ; and the mind itfelf become blind, cal- 
 lous and infenfible. Our natural fenfe of the moral dif- 
 ference in aflions and charaflers, may be rendered dull 
 and ufelefs. And thus the law written in the hearts of 
 men by the finger of God himfelf, may be repealed, and 
 erafed by the powerful influence of vice : whereupon 
 they deny that there was ever any fuch law engraved on 
 their minds. This is juft as if Mojes^v^htn his anger ivax- 
 ed hoi, and he cafl the two iables of the law out of his 
 hands, and brake them beneath the mount, fhould have 
 immediately denied that God had ever written them, or 
 given them to him to preferve. It is natural for men 
 of corrupt minds and morals, to endeavour to get rid of 
 all uneafy refleflions upon what is pafl, and terrible pre- 
 fages of what may be future, by intirely throwing afide 
 the diflindlion betwixt moral good and evil, as if thefc 
 were but empty names without any meaning, invented 
 by civil and ecclefiaftical tyrants to keep the world in 
 awe. 
 
 However, although the vices of men may go far 
 towards darkning their undcrflandings, it is not to be 
 fuppofed that the moft degenerate of them ever arrive at 
 
 fuch 
 
J 6 Dijferc7tce bet'wixt Truth and FalJIjood^ 
 
 fuch a ftate of blindnefs as to have no real fenfe of the 
 difference betwixt right and wrong, whatever they may 
 pretend. For fuch a fenfe in fome degree of it, feetns 
 infeparable from a rational nature : and cannot be totally 
 cxtinguiflied, but with reafon itfelf. And it is worth ob- 
 ferving, That with how good a confcience foever the 
 .great mafters of fcepticifm pretend they commit the moft 
 flagrant immoralities, under the notion of all things being 
 indifferent in their own nature ; yet they cannot help 
 betraying themfelves, and fhowing their natural kn(z of 
 right and wrong, upon certain occafions. For who are 
 more avcrfe than they, to take the charader of knave to 
 themfelves, though they generally take no care not to 
 deferve it ? They chufe to be efteemed as men of honefty 
 and integrity. And when it comes to their own turn to 
 be injured, they are as ready as any of their neighbours 
 to accufe the aggreflbr of wrong and injuftice. If their 
 moral fenfe were before afleep, fuffering injuries awakens 
 it in a moment. And if they are not right down atheijlsy 
 they are ready to think flrange that God fhould let his 
 thunder fleep while fuch villanies are perpetrated. — Thus 
 hard is it for men to difguife the inward fentiments of 
 their hearts in this cafe : the malls, will drop off, and 
 nature peep out in fome unguarded hour — 
 
 If men would go no farther than to affert, That there 
 are fome queftions of right, fo intricate and complicated, 
 that it is difficult, or even impoffible, to determine them, 
 none would contradidl them but fuch arrogant and con- 
 ceited perfons as imagine their knowledge has no limits. 
 But when, not content with this, they boldly ftrike at the 
 foundation of every thing that is good and praife worthy, 
 by denying the moral difference of a6lions in general ; 
 and yet upon every turn, are complaining of injuries and 
 abufes, done, or offered to themfelves ; it is hard^^to fay 
 v/hether they are more proper objeds of pity or contempt ; 
 of indignation or ridicule : For they have doubtlefs a 
 good title to alh 
 
 There 
 
Right ajid TFroJig, 17 
 
 There can be no danger of being too fevere in cen- 
 fiiring men of this (lamp. For what they fay concerning 
 the abfolute indifference of actions is either falfe or true. 
 If it be falfe, nothing is too bad to be faid of them for 
 thus fetting afide the moral difference of acflions ; for 
 putting the moft excellent virtues and the moft odious 
 vices upon the fame footing ; for making it as in- 
 nocent for a child to murther his aged parent?, as 
 to kill a viper ; and to blafpheme his Maker, as it 
 is to deride a fot ; and, in this way, difTqlving all the 
 ties and obligations both of private and of focial virtue. 
 But, on the other hand, if what they afTert be true, there 
 is not even a bare polTibility of injuring them ; for there 
 can be no fuch thing as wrong or injury, if all a6lions 
 are abfolutely indifferent in their own nature. 
 
 I hope it in fome meafure appears from what has been 
 faid. That as truth has a real exiffencc in nature, fo the 
 diftin6tion betwixt right and wrong neceffarily takes 
 place in confequence thereof. And thus I have done 
 with the firfi thing propofed. 
 
 The next thing propofed was to fhow. That men are 
 naturally endowed with faculties proper for the difccrning 
 of thofe differences of which we have been fpeaking. 
 But this muft be left for the fubjeft of another dif- 
 courfe. 
 
 I fhall conclude for the prefent with an obvious infer- 
 ence from what has been faid •, viz. That fince truth and 
 right have a real exiffence in nature, independent on the 
 [entiments and 'pratlices of men, they do not ncccn'arily 
 follow the multitude, or major part : nor ought we to 
 make number the criterion of the true religion. Men arc 
 fickle and various and contradidory in their opinions and 
 pradices : but truth and moral redlitude are things fixed, 
 ftable and uniform, having their foundation in the nature 
 of things. They will not change their nature out of 
 D complaifance 
 
I 8 Difference betwixt Truth and FalJ}:cod^ 
 
 complaifance to the mofl numerous and powerful body 
 of men in the world. We may conform to them -, but 
 they will not condcfcend to us. Were number the mark 
 of truth and right, religion itfelf would be a perfedt 
 Proteus^ fometimes one thing, and fometimes another, 
 according to the opinion that happens to prevail in the 
 world. But if one man may err, why not two ? And if 
 two, why not two thoufand .? And then, why not all 
 mankind ? If truth and right are fomewhat fixed, and 
 men fickle and various, men may err both with refpe^l to 
 principle and pra(fl:ice. But upon the other hand, if truth 
 and right have no exifience but in the opinions of men, 
 then indeed they might depend upon number and mul- 
 titude. But then it may be reafonably afked how 
 many votes are necefifary to change a great lie into a glo- 
 rious truth ? how many, to change a flagrant crime into 
 a meritorious virtue } and a finner, into a faint } The 
 church of Rome has been trying a great while to bring 
 about thefe wonderful changes and revolutions ; and has 
 indeed effected it to the fatisfadion of many. But ne- 
 verthelefs thefe are but fome of the lying wonders of bim, 
 wbofe coming is after the working of fitan, with all de- 
 ceivablenefs of iinrighteoufnefs. It is ftill falfe that bread 
 is fiefli ; or wine, blood. Murther remains a vice (till : 
 nor is breach of faith and perjury any virtue at all. 
 
 The multitude may do evil, and the many, judge faljlyl 
 Iniquity may be efiabhfhed by a law ; it may have all the 
 power and wealth of the world engaged on its fide to 
 fupport it, while truth and right may be left folitary and 
 friendlefs. Noah was left alone ; fingular indeed, but. 
 flill a preacher of righteoufnefs. He was a ferfe5l and 
 upright man in his generation •, and, for that reafon, was 
 preferved in the ark, the multitude being firft drowned 
 in a flood of vice, and then deluged in a flood of water.. 
 Thus alfo was Lot fingularly righteous, while the multi- 
 tude in Sodom and Gomorrah firft burned with impure 
 lufts, and v/ere then devoured mih flames from heaven, 
 
 i^eing 
 
Right, and JVrong. ig 
 
 being fet forth for an example, fuffering the vengeance of 
 eternal fire. And how few were there that adhered toour 
 blefled Saviour while he was in this world ? lie was defpi- 
 fed and rejected of Men., as well as a man of forrows and 
 acquainted with grief. It was the hcdy of the people that 
 was againft him. They did not difcern the time., nor 
 judge what was right. Even to this day, how fmall is 
 the number of thofe who worfhip the Father in Jpirit and 
 in truth., according to the fimplicity of the gofpel, com- 
 pared to thofe that are immcrfed in grofs ignorance, 
 fuperlVition, and all kinds of immorality. The whole 
 colle(ftive body of chriflians., makes but a fmall com- 
 pany, compared to the reft of mankind. The Roman 
 Catholicks again are much more numerous than the Pro- 
 tejlants : and they have long ago voted Us., Hereticks. 
 However there is no man in his fenfes that will allow 
 himfelf to be in an error, becaufe he cannot get fo 
 many hands held up in favour of his tenets, as another. 
 Infallibility cannot be the refult ot a great number of 
 fallibles : nor perfeftion be found in a large body of 
 fuch as are each of them, confidered fingly, imperfect. But 
 neverthelefs we daily fee that the principal argument 
 with which fome endeavour to propagate their opinions 
 is, that they are generally received, i. e. in that particular 
 place or country : and if they can but add, that they 
 were the docflrines embraced by their pious fore- fathers, 
 this they reckon fuch demonltration as no man in his 
 fenfes can refifb. Such idle, fuperficial cant may gull 
 the thoughtlefs multitude : but will be dcfpifed by all 
 others. 
 
 If we muft needs be governed by number in the 
 choice of our religion, it is certainly reafonaole to be 
 governed by the greateft number. And if fo, we muft 
 be neither Cahinijts nor /Irminians •, Trinitanians, nor 
 Unitarians ; ^takers., nor Jnabaptifis •, Churchmen, nor 
 Prefi^ytcrians -, Papifls, nor Vrotcfiants -, nor Jews, nor 
 Mahometans , but we mull even turn Heathens at once, 
 ^ Paganifm 
 
2 o Difference betwixt Truth and Fal/Jjoody 
 
 Paganifm being the moft univerfal Orthodoxy in the 
 world. 
 
 It will be obferved, that I have faid nothing for, or 
 againft, any of the different parties here enumerated : 
 All I propofe, is to fhow the unreafonablenefs of chufing 
 our religion by vote. This, confidering the ficklcnefs 
 and capricioufnefs of mankind, amounts to much the 
 fame thing with chufing it by lot. For whether the 
 major or minor part fhall have truth and right of their 
 fide, is intirely precarious : To day it may be fo ; To 
 morrow, otherwife. 
 
 Nor is it needlefs for us to be upon our guard in this 
 matter, confidering how natural it is to the generality 
 of mankind, cfpecially to fuch as are of an indolent, in- 
 curious make, to follow the moft numerous and powerful 
 party, both in principle and pracflice, v/ithout troubling 
 themfelves about the merits of the caufe. Many would 
 almofl; fhudder at the thought of an unfafhionable vice, 
 or an unpopular do6lrine, who would neverthelefs readily 
 embrace the fame vice and the fame do6lrine, when un- 
 attended with the difad vantage of being contrary to the 
 mode. What we abhor when out of date and fafhion, we 
 are apt to admire upon a change of times, when it comes 
 to be reputable. It is mofl agreeable to us to herd with 
 the multitude •, to believe and adl as they do, right or 
 wrong. This gratifies our innate propenfity towards 
 fociety : and many advantages naturally attend him that 
 has the majority on his fide. He procures the good-will 
 of all about him, by falling in with their favourite opi- 
 nions and pra6lices, while the dijjenter is either ridiculed 
 or railed at, and labours under innumerable inconveni- 
 ences. Hence it often comes to pafs, that we are infen- 
 fibly attached to fuch corrupt opinions and pradtices as 
 we fliould have abhorred, had they not been reputable 
 and popular. For the fake of being with the many, we 
 daily fee fome not only renounce their reafon and under- 
 
 ftanding ; 
 
Right and Wrongs 2i 
 
 landing ; but break through all the ties oF honour, 
 friend fhip, humanity, charity and piety, making intire 
 fhipwreck of a good confcience. Afterwards they ima- 
 gine that number is the principal criterion of truth •, and 
 flatter themfelves that they are always fecure of being in 
 the right, while they adhere to that fide that can carry 
 the vote. This conforming humour is too prevalent in 
 the world at prefent -, and always was. Particularly it 
 was fo amongft the Ifraelites in the time of Mofes. For 
 which reafon, that great Jewijh Lawgiver gave them the 
 prohibition with which I fhall clofe the prefent dif- 
 
 courfe Thou /halt not follow a multitude to do evil: 
 
 veither /halt thou Jpeak in a caufe to decline after many to 
 wreji judgment. 
 
 LW:.cS(ic£'^ 
 
 %mm% 
 
 
 SERMON 
 
2 i Men^ endowed with Faculties 
 
 Sermon II. 
 
 Men, endowed with Faculties 
 proper for difcerning the Dif- 
 ference betwixt Truth and 
 Falfhood, &c. 
 
 LUKE XII. 54 sy. 
 
 ^^nd he faid alfo to the people. When ye fee a cloud rife 
 
 out of the wejl^jlraightway ye fay, There cometh a 
 
 fhower ; and fo it is. 
 ^And when ye fee the fouth wind blow, ye fay, There 
 
 will be heat -, and it cometh to pafs. 
 Te hypocrites, ye can difcern the face of the Jky, and of 
 
 the earth : but how is it, that ye do not difcern 
 
 this time ? 
 Tea, and why even of your felves judge ye not what is 
 
 right ? 
 
 r I ^ H E fecond thing propofed, was to fhow, 
 
 II That as there is a natural difference betwixt 
 truth and falfhood, right and wrong ; fo men are na- 
 turally endowed with faculties proper for the difcerning 
 gf thefe differences. 
 
 This 
 
' proper for difcerning^^c: .'23 
 
 This is evidently implied in my text How is it 
 
 that ye do not difcern this time ? Tea^ and why even of 
 your /elves judge ye not what is right ? 
 
 It miifl be acknowledged that the Pyrrhonijis, who 
 demand great encomiums for teaching men ( not to know 
 any thing, but ) to doubt of every thing, have not ge- 
 nerally carried their Sceplicifm any farther than to deny 
 all certainty in a relative fenfe, or with refpeEl to us. 
 To the molt of them it appears too grofs to affirm that 
 there is no difference in things themfclves •, and fo no 
 fuch thing as truth and right abrolutely, in oppofuion 
 to error and wrong condu6l. What they principally in- 
 fill upon is, that all things are totally incomprehenfible 
 by us •, that there is no criterion of truth and right ; 
 by which they may be dirtinguiflied from error and 
 wrong aflion : So that although there be, in nature, 
 a difference betwixt them, yet we have no faculties for 
 difcovering it. 
 
 Now upon this ffate of the cafe, it is evident that 
 the queftions in the text would be altogether imperti- 
 nent as impertinent as they would have been upon 
 
 the former fuppofition. That there is no real difference 
 in things •, but all propofitions, equally true -, and all 
 atftions, equally right. When it was afked — How is it 
 thai ye do not difcern this time ? Tea^ and why even of 
 your f elves judge ye not what is right? it would have 
 been eafy and natural to anfwer — " Becaufe we have 
 •' no faculties to diffinguifh betwixt truth and error, 
 ** right and wrong. Thefc things are left fo uncertain 
 •* and precarious with ref{)e6l to us, that after all our re- 
 *' fearches, we are as dilfant from them as ever. It is 
 *' not poffible for the mofl critical inquirer to find the 
 *' truth in any inffance, this being like a bird that 
 *' conflantly flies from us with a fpeed proportioned 
 ** to that with which we purfue it. All we can do, is 
 •* firft to fatigue our felves in queft of truth, and then 
 
 " to 
 
24 Men J endowed with Faculties 
 
 *' to delude our felvcs by fancying we have found 
 " her." 
 
 Such is the dark and unhappy condition in which 
 the fceptical doflrine fuppofes mankind ! doomed to 
 total ignorance, and wandering from the right path : 
 Or if, in any cafe, they think and adl right, it is by 
 mere chance ; nor can they have the pleafure of 
 knowing it, if they happen to be in the right. But it is 
 to be hoped that the Author of our being has not been 
 fo fparing of his favours to us, as to leave us at fuch 
 uncertainties about every thing, efpecially about what 
 concerns our own welfare. However, were this really 
 our cafe, one would think that thofe who are fenfible it 
 is fo, inftead of deriding the doftrine of a fupernatural 
 revelation, ( as is the pra6lice of modern Scepticks ) fhould 
 accommodate the words of David to their own cafe and 
 circumftances — Who will Jhew us any good ? Lord, lift 
 thou up the light of thy countenance upon us ! The blinder 
 "we are naturally, the more need we have of fupernatural 
 light and inftrudlion. 
 
 The doftrine of our total incapacity to diftinguifh be- 
 twixt truth and falfhood, right and wrong, has much the 
 fame afpetft upon common life, civil fociety, philofophy 
 and religion, with that of the abfolute indifference of all 
 things in their own nature : And the like abfurdities 
 will follow from it. Thus ( for example ) it follows 
 that there is no difference at all in men with refpe6t to 
 wifdom and knowledge. For in order to conftitute fuch 
 a difference, it is not only neceffary that there fhould be 
 a natural diftindlion betwixt truth and falfhood ; but 
 alfo, that fome, at leafl, fliould have faculties for dilco- 
 vering it. Knowledge, if there be any fuch thing, con- 
 fifts in feeing or perceiving truth. But if no men have 
 a capacity for this, all men mud be intirely deflitute of 
 knowledge ; as deflitute of i', a«: if there were in nature 
 no diltindion betwixt truth and error. 
 
 The 
 
proper for difcerniitg^ 8cc. 2 5 
 
 The doflrine of our inability to difcover truth and 
 right, has much the fame afpefV upon common life, 
 civil fociety, philofophy and religion, with that of the 
 abfolute indifference of all things in their own nature. 
 It as effecflually precludes all inquiries concerning truth 
 and virtue, private and publick good ; and every other 
 fubjeft. For what does it fignify to us, that there is a 
 true and a right in nature, while it is fuppofed, we have 
 no faculties for difcovering them. If they lie intirely 
 beyond our reach, we have no more concern with them, 
 than if they had no exiftence at all : and it is folly for 
 any one to bufy himfelf about them. Nor can any man 
 confidently take fatisfa6lion in his own opinions and ac- 
 tions, as though the former were true, and the latter, 
 right i or blame another for error in principle or prac- 
 tice, while he aflerts that there is equal evidence for the 
 truth of all opinions, and for the regularity of all ac- 
 tions ; i. e. no real evidence for the truth and regularit/ 
 of any. Upon this fuppofition, he that denies his own 
 exiftence, and commits murther, adultery and robbery, 
 has as much to fay in his own vindication, as he that af- 
 ferts a circle is not a fquare, and faves his country from 
 ruin. And from hence it appears, that thofe who carry 
 their fcepticifm no farther than to queftion the abilities 
 of men to difcover truth and right in all cafes, are guilty 
 of the fame inconfiftency with thofe who explode the 
 whole notion of a real diftindlion betwixt truth and right, 
 and their contraries. For why will they attempt to in- 
 veftigate truth ? Or why will they plume thcmfelves 
 upon their fuppofed difcovery of this notable truth. That 
 men are unable to difcover truth ? Why will they up- 
 braid their antagonifts with ignorance ? Why will they, 
 in any cafe, attempt to vindicate their own conduft, 
 under the notion of its being right ? Or why will they 
 ccnfure that of others, and refent things under the no- 
 tion of i}ijury ? This has ever been their pradice -, which 
 goes wholly upon the fuppofition, th.u truth and right 
 are not only fomewhat real in nature \ but alio, that they 
 
 E may 
 
2 6 Men^ endowed with Faculties 
 
 be dijlingujjhed from their contraries, at leafl: by thefe 
 fagacious men themfelves. What Ariadne's clue can be 
 found to extricate them from this labyrinth of folly and 
 contradidlion ? If there be no criterion of truth, let 
 them not pretend to have found one themfelves ; and 
 then deride others for fuppofing that truth may be dif- 
 covered. There are many dogmatifts about the world, 
 who allow themfelves only to be the proper judges of 
 truth and right ; which is arrogant enough. But no 
 £/i bigotted dogmatift in^half fo abfurd and infolent as the 
 ' Sceptic. For he endeavours to make a monopoly of truth, 
 and to engrofs the whole of that facred treafure, to the 
 beggaring of the reft of mankind, even while the firft 
 ( and I might add, the only ) article of his creed is. 
 That truth cannot he difcovered by any. It is hard to fay, 
 whether this condufl has in it more of ftupidity or of 
 infolence. But thus much is certain, that a thorough- 
 pacM Sceptic is the moft filly, conceited and inconfiftent 
 bigot in the world. 
 
 He that allows of no certainty in any cafe, cannot 
 even be fure that he imagines there is no fuch thing as 
 certainty. Perhaps he may be miftaken in thinking he- 
 believes what he fays he believes. To fay he is certain 
 he believes what he thinks he does, is to admit of cer- 
 tainty in general, which is to give up the point in 
 queftion. But fuppofing him certainly to know what his 
 own fentiments are, how comes he to know that any one 
 contradi6ts them ; or differs from him in opinion } He 
 need not make himfelf uneafy at the opposition of any 
 fuppofed adverfaries : For, upon his own fcheme, thefe 
 adverfaries and their oppofition, may not be real, but 
 wholly imaginary. And if one fhould call him hard 
 names, perfecute him for his opinion, and anfwer his argu- 
 ments with a brick-bat inilead of a fyllogifm, this may 
 be imaginary alfo. At leaft, he has nothing to complain 
 of, upon his own principles ; for fuch a conduft towards 
 him, may polTibly bs as right and reafonable, as it is to 
 
 feed 
 
proper for difcerfiing^ 5cc. 27 
 
 feed the hungry, and clothe the naked. And indeed 
 (lich treatment might pofTibly be the moft efFcftual way 
 to bring him to his fenfes. -f 
 
 But to come more direcftly to the point Some 
 
 things are in themfelves fo evidently true, that no criterion 
 is necefiary in order to our knowing them with certainty. 
 Thus, for example, that we exift, is what we have an 
 immediate and intuitive certainty of. And the fame may 
 be faid concerning the reality of all our own ideas and 
 perceptions. That we experience pleafure and pain -, that 
 we converfe with various objedbs which affed: us in a dif- 
 ferent manner -, that colour is one thing, and found 
 another -, and that fmelling is not tafting ; thefe things 
 are fclf-evident, and no medium can make them plainer. 
 But it will perhaps be faid, that all this is only phanfy 
 and imagination, there being no archetypes exifting 
 without us, of which thefe perceptions are the images or 
 reprejentations. Be it fo : ftill the perceptions and 
 ideas themfelves are real : this we are certain of, whether 
 there be any thing external^ of which they are the an- 
 titypes, or not. So that certainty may be had in fomc 
 refpeds at lead. And this is fufficient to our prefent 
 purpofe ; for we are not fpeaking concerning the extent^ 
 but the certainty y of human knowledge. 
 
 Of the truth of other things we may be certain in 
 a different manner, viz. by reafon, deducing them from 
 bther truths of which we have an intuitive knowledge. 
 Thus it is that a thoufand mathematical truths are de- 
 monftrated -, and that with a certainty little or nothing 
 
 •f- EpiS?etus ufed to fay, " Were I a fervant to thofc PjrrhoniJ}!, 
 I (hould take a pleafure in tiezing them. If they fliould hid me 
 pour oil into the bathing tub, I would throw brine upon their 
 head. If they fhould afk me to give them ptifan, I would bring 
 them vinegar. And if they ofFcrcd to complain, I would tell them 
 t^cy were mirtakcn ; or perfwade them that the vinegar was 
 ptifan ; or clfe make them renounce their notions." Bayle^s Hift. 
 «nd Crit. Did. Art. Phrrho, Note K. 
 
 inferiour 
 
2 8 Men^ endowed with Faculties 
 
 infenour to thofe firfl; principles from which they are 
 deduced, the conneflion in every ftep through the whole 
 procefs being fo apparent, that to fuppofe the contrary 
 would be a plain contradidlion, and amount to the de- 
 nying a thing to be what it is acknowledged to be. 
 And in the fame way many moral and religious truths 
 may be demonftrated alfo — As the being of a God ; 
 his power, wifdom, goodnefs and providence : and our 
 obligation to obey him. 
 
 For the truth of many other things we can, indeed, 
 have no more than prohaMe evidence -, but which is, in 
 many cafes, almoft as fatisfaflory to the mind as iniuitive 
 and demonjlrative certainty. Thus who doubts but that 
 the fun will fet in a few hours } — that the fea will ebb 
 and flow to morrow, as ufual ? — that autumn will fuc- 
 ceed to fummer ; winter, to autumn ; and fpring, to 
 winter, as in times pafs .? But of thefe things there is no 
 certainty. For God has power to put a ftop to the ufual 
 courfe of nature •, and we cannot be certain that he will 
 not do it the next moment. Thus alfo probable evi- 
 dence is all we can have for the truth of fads recorded 
 in ancient hiftory. Men may pofTibly deceive us. But 
 who has ever been in fuch a doubting humour, as to 
 queftion whether there have been fuch men as Alexander 
 the Great, and Julius C<efar j whether they fought, and 
 triumphed, &c } Indeed we can have no more than 
 probable evidence that food and fleep will refrefh us for 
 the future, as heretofore. Our whole inftitution of life, 
 as it relates to the prefent world, is grounded upon 
 evidence of this fort, and not upon intuitive or demon- 
 flrative certainty. Such evidence is eafy to be had ; 
 and is fufficient to the purpofes of life, as daily experi- 
 ence fiiows us. We may, if we pleafe, perplex ourfelves 
 about the nature of time, place and motion : But men 
 who are no philofphers, find the way home at one o'clock 
 without any difficulty. We may puzzle ourfelves about 
 the ejjences of things, and the manner in which one ope- 
 rates 
 
proper for cUfcerning^ Sec. 20 
 
 rates upon another : But experience teaches the hufband- 
 nTan how to manure his fields, fo as to make them fruit- 
 ful : We all know that drink allays our third, and food, 
 our hunger •, nor do wc ever hefitate whether we fhall 
 make ufe of them^ or of fomething elfe, to remove thofe 
 natural uneafinefles. But ftill there is no infallible and 
 neceflary connexion betwixt thofe caufes and the effefts 
 that are ufually produced by them. 
 
 Nor is there more room for fcepticifm in relation to 
 morals and religion, than in common life \ nor indeed fo 
 much, with regard to the principal branches of our duty. 
 But, however it comes to pafs, men take more pains to 
 doubt in one cafe than in the other. We have flronger 
 evidence for t\\t proof of the chief articles of religion, 
 than we have for moft other things, of which wc are fully 
 fatisfied. The being and perfedions of God may be 
 known without much difficulty ; and thefe being known, 
 it is as eafy to know how we ought to conduct ourfcrlves 
 towards him in general, as it is for a fervant to know how 
 to pleafe a mafler whofe temper and charafltr he is ac- 
 quainted with. And it is at Jeaft as plain that the 
 Sovereign of the world will make a diftindtion betwixt 
 the righteous and the wicked, as that a wife and good 
 prince will make adiftinflion betwixt dutiful fubjeds, and 
 rebels. 
 
 Thus It appears, in general, that men are able to dif- 
 tinguifh betwixt truth and falfhood, right and wrong. 
 But I fhall now make feveral obfervations upon this pro- 
 pofition, in order farther to explain the real intenrion of 
 it, to obviate fome objecftions againft it, and to guard 
 it againft thofe abufcs to which it may appear liable. 
 And 
 
 I. It is not intended in this afTertion, that all men 
 have equal abilities for judginc; what is true and right. 
 The whole creation is diverfiQcd, and men in parricniar. 
 There is a great variety in their intcllcdual facu.rics. 
 
 Thac 
 
d 
 
 o Men^ ejidowed with Faculties 
 
 That which principally diftinguifhes fome men from the 
 beafts of the Held, is the different formation of their 
 bodies. Their bodies are hiiman^ but they are in a man- 
 ner brute all befide. Whether the difference that there 
 is in the natural powers of men, proceeds from the ori- 
 ginal make of their minds, or from fome difference in 
 thofe bodily organs upon which the exerci/e of the rational 
 faculties may be fuppofed to depend ; it is apparent that 
 there is, in fa6l, fuch a difference. And therefore when 
 it is faid that men are able to judge what is true and 
 right, it mult be underftood in fuch a fenfe as is confiftenc 
 with this fadl. Thofe of the lower clafs can go but a 
 little ways with their inquiries into the natural and moral 
 conftitution of the world. But even thefe may have the 
 power of judging, m fome degree. However, upon fup- 
 pofition that fome were wholly ignorant even of their 
 own exiflence, it does not follow that all mud be fo, any- 
 more than that all bodies muft be round, becaufe fome 
 are of that particular figure. From the moll dull and 
 Itupid of the human fpecies, there is a continual rife or 
 gradation, there being as great a variety in the intellec- 
 tual powers of men, as in their bodily and adlive powers. 
 And fo it may be true of fome in an higher and more 
 proper fenfe than of others, that they may even of them- 
 felves judge what is right. Many things are obvious, 
 and, in a manner firft principles to thnti which to others 
 are myfterious and incomprehenfible. 
 
 2. As a farther limitation of this affertion, I would 
 obferve, that it does not imply, that the fame perfons are 
 equally adequate judges of truth and right, in all con- 
 ditions and circumftances. There is a great difference 
 in the powers of different men : But no one differs more 
 from another than he does from himfelf, confidered in 
 childhood and mature life, before and after his mind is 
 cultivated by fludy and exercife. The man knows what 
 the child was ignorant of. We come into the world 
 ignorant of every thing. But he that, in his natural, 
 
 rude 
 
prope?^ for dijcer?ii?7g^ &c. ^'t 
 
 rude and uncultivated (late, is unqualified to judge what 
 is true and right, unlefs it be in a few obvious cafe?, is 
 capable of confiderable improvements by ftuHy and ex- 
 perience. Our intelle(5lual faculties were given us to 
 improve : they ruft for want of ufe -, but are brightened 
 by exercife. Exercife ftrengthens and invigorates our 
 mental faculties as well as our bodily. And the more 
 a man habituates himfelf to intellcdtual employments, 
 the greater will be his aptnefs and facility in difcovering 
 truth, and deteding error. Without fome previous 
 ftudy and application, it is as impofTible that men fhould 
 be accurate judges of truth and right, as it is that they 
 fhould be compleat artificers in any mechanical bufinefs, 
 without fpcrndipg time to learn the trade. They may 
 bungle and cobble ; but can do nothing that will bear 
 the infpedion of a mafter -workman. It is the unhappinefs 
 of a great part of mankind that they do not fufficiently 
 confider this natural weaknefs, ineptitude and awkward- 
 nefs of human reafon before cultivation ; but fit down 
 contented with their imaginary fagacity and prompt- 
 nefsof underftanding, without ufing the proper rreans 
 to qualify them for judging of things that may come 
 under their confideration. Hence it is that we have fo 
 many quacks and ignorant pretenders in all arts and 
 fciences — What need of ftudy to come at an acquain- 
 tance with thofe fubjefls which we may underftand at any 
 time only by opening our eyes .'' Who will defcend into 
 the bowels of the earth to dig for gold, while it lies in 
 plenty within his reach upon the furface of the ground ? 
 "Who will dive for pearls, while he imagines they float 
 upon the waves? Or what need has that field of tillage, 
 whofe foil is fo fertile, that, like that of Eden^ it pro- 
 duces fpontaneouHy the richcfl fruits } When men ima- 
 gine that the depths of fcience may be fathomed by a 
 fingle glance of thought, without any previous appli- 
 cation to intelleflual exercifes, it can not be expcifled 
 that they fliould be able to determine juftly upon any 
 points but fome of the moft familiar and obviovis. In 
 
 this 
 
3 2 Men^ endowed ivith Faculties 
 
 this cafe, he that was born like the wild affes colt^ mtifl: 
 needs continue to be fo ; or, at beft", come to maturity, 
 and grow up into an afs himfclf. 
 
 The alteration which time and (ludy make in the 
 abilities of men for judging concerning truth and right, 
 is fufficient to account for the diverfity of fentiments 
 entertained by the fame perfons at different periods of 
 their life, without having recourfe to fcepticifm, or fup- 
 pofing all our notions, from firft to Jaft, to be mere 
 phanfy and illufion. A man may err once without 
 erring always. Nor can we argue from the reveries of 
 youth, and the abfurd conceits of the illiterate, that all 
 mankind are but a mighty nation of fools and luna- 
 ticks, pleafing themfelves with idle dreams and delufive 
 appearances, inftead of realities. 
 
 3. That men are able even ef themfelves to judge 
 what is right, does not imply, that they can receive no 
 affirtance from books, and the converfation of learned 
 men -, Or that they may judge as well without thefe 
 helps, as with them. Although all men are capable of 
 difcerning truth and right in fome degree, by the bare 
 exercife of their own natural faculties, it does not follow 
 that they can ftand in no need of any foreign aid, in 
 order to their judging in a more perfe(5t manner. The 
 more knowing may be helpful to others in their purfuit 
 cf knowledge. And the abilities of men for reafoning 
 jiiftly, and judging truly, may depend, in a great 
 meafure, upon the method of their education, the books 
 they read, and the genius and abilities of the perfons 
 they converfe with. Who will pretend that the natives 
 of Greenland, or the Cape of Good Hope, enjoy the fame, 
 or equal, means of knowledge, with thofe that are born 
 in the polite and learned nations of Europe ? Who ima- 
 gines that one brought up at the plough is as likely 
 to form right notions of things, as if he had been 
 educated at a univerfity ? Or that a man who has con- 
 
 verfed 
 
proper for difcernifig^ 6cc. 3 3 
 
 yerfed only with ordinary Mechanics, has the fame 
 advantages with thofe who have enjoyed the fa- 
 miliarity of the greateft proficients in literature ? To 
 ibppofe thefe things, is to contradifl daily experi- 
 ence. And, therefore, to decline all afTidances from 
 others in the fearch of knowledge, under a notion, that 
 ■we are able to judge even of ourfelves what is right, is 
 pride and vanity, and not the pare of an ingenuous in- 
 quirer after truth. This may be allowed by the mod 
 ftrenuous afferter of mens natural abilities, and natural 
 right, to judge for themfelves, without any appearance 
 ef inconfiftency or contradi6lion. P'or it amounts to 
 no more than this, that fome men are fuperiour to 
 others, and may help them to the knowledge of fome 
 things which they would not have known without their 
 alTiftance. 
 
 4. It is not implied in this dodrine, that mens intel- 
 k6lual powers have no bounds at all ; or that they are 
 equally able to determine upon all points, although they 
 fhould improve all the helps to knowledge, and culti- 
 vate their reafon in the beft manner pofTible. There 
 are many cafes wherein the wifeft of men are unable to 
 
 form any judgment at all difficulties which they 
 
 cannot folve heights which they cannot climb 
 
 depths which they cannot fathom Some may, per- 
 haps, think this a refledlion upon human underftanding. 
 And indeed it is fo, if it be any refle<5lion upon it to 
 fay, that it is not infinite like that of God •, but not 
 otherwife. To fay that human reafon is confined to a 
 certain fphere, beyond which it cannot penetrate, is, in 
 reality, no more than to aflert that man is a finite, and 
 not an infinite, being ; a creature, and not the Creator. 
 There are probably created intelligences much fuperiour 
 to man even in his bejl ejlate : But it is no derrogation 
 from their real dignity, to fay they are not omnifcient. 
 Why then fhould man grafp at omnifcience ? imagine 
 he may know every thing becaufc he may know fome ? 
 F and 
 
3 4 Men^ endowed with Faculties 
 
 and look upon it as a reproach, when it is faid that his 
 reafon, and all his other faculties are circumfcribed ? 
 
 We may know what is proper to be known by beings 
 of our rank, fo as to fill our place, and anfwer the defign 
 of our creation, without being able to comprehend all 
 things. We may know that this earth is inhabited by 
 creatures, the law of whofe nature is virtue, and its end 
 happinefs -, although we cannot certainly tell whether 
 the planets are inhabited, or not •, or, if they are, by 
 what kind of beings •, and what their condition and cir- 
 cumftances. We may know, in general, what tends to 
 health and felicity in this world, although the real elTen- 
 ces of things fhould be beyond our reach. We may 
 know that whatever came into exiftence^ ( as it is demon- 
 ftrable that every thing did which we behold ) muft have 
 fome invi/ibk caufc adequate to it, although we were not 
 able to form a clear idea of creative power, or the 
 manner of its exertion. We may know that beauty, 
 order, harmony and defign, in the works of nature, pre- 
 fuppofe a deftgner^ or, intelligent artificer ; although we 
 cannot comprehend the fyftem of the univerfe. We 
 may know that a conftitution of things, adlually tend- 
 ing to happinefs, mufl be the produdt of goodnefs, al- 
 though we are not able exaftly to define, beforehand, 
 that fyftem the correfpondent parts of which fhall be 
 fo adjufted as to effefl the greateft pofTible good. We 
 may know in general that the Author of the world muft 
 be a wife and good being, although the final caufcs of 
 fome things which we fee in it, are beyond our fight. In 
 fine, we may know that God is, and that he is a rewar- 
 der of them that diligently feek him ; although wc cannot 
 hy fearching find out the almighty unto perfe£lion -, or 
 comprehend his nature •, or fee through the whole fchemc 
 of his works, government and providence. 
 
 The wifcft of men was not afhamed to own this 
 imperfedion of human reafon, even under its greateft 
 
 improvementSa 
 
proper for difcern'ing^ 8cc, 35 
 
 improvements, and carried to its mod exalted pitch. 
 When I applied mine heart to know wifdom^ fays Solo- 
 mon, then I beheld all the work of God^ that a man cannot 
 find out all the work that is done under the fun ; hecaufe 
 though a man Jeek it out, yet Jhall he not find it ; yea 
 farther, though a wife man think to know it, yet fJjall be 
 not be able to find it. However Solotnon was no Sceptic. 
 In the fame book we find him faying, that wifdom excel- 
 Jeth folly, as much as light excelleth darknefs : And with 
 him the conclufion of the whole matter is, — Fear God^ 
 and keep his commandments •, for this is the whole of 
 man. Whatever he might be in doubt about, he was 
 fatisfied of this. That there was a God who governed the 
 world, that his will and commandments might be 
 known, and that the bufinefs and happinefs of man, con- 
 fifts in obeying them. 
 
 Again, 
 5. When it is faid we are able even of ourfelves to judge 
 what is right, this is not defigned to fugged that our in- 
 telleflual faculties are fo capacious as to render a fu- 
 pernatural revelation of no ufe or importance to us. 
 Certainly we cannot fuppofe this to be the intention of 
 him that uttered the words of our text, fince one of the 
 titles which he took upon himfelf, was that of a Prophet^ 
 or a Teacher fent from God. And indeed it neceflarily 
 follows from the fuppofition of our rational faculties be- 
 ing limited, that there is room for our being infl:rL;<51:ed 
 by revelation. If one man may inftrufl another, much 
 more may we fuppofe it poffible for him that is perfect 
 in knowledge to fupply the natural defedls of human 
 reafon by a fupernatural communication of light and 
 knowledge. When, and how far, it is expedient for 
 him to do this. He only knows. However upon fup- 
 pofition of fuch a revelation, we mufl be fuppofed to 
 be able to fee the .evidence of its being fuch. It is the 
 proper office of reafon to determine whether what is 
 propofed to us under the notion of a revelation from 
 God, be attended with fuitable atteftations and cre- 
 dentials. 
 
3 6 Me?t^ endowed with Faculties 
 
 dentials, or not. So that even in this cafe, we may of 
 onrfehes judge what is right. If there be no rational 
 evidence of its coming from God, no rational man can 
 receive it as fuch : And, on the other hand, if it be ac- 
 companied with rational evidence, no reafonable man 
 can rejeA it. 'Indeed what Jefus Chrifl, particularly 
 blames the Jews for in the text, is their not exercifmg 
 their reafon in this way. He had fufficiently proved 
 his divine mifllon ; but they would not difcern the time, 
 nor judge what was right, being under the influence of 
 prejudice, and not of reafon. 
 
 Moreover, it is the proper office of reafon to de- 
 termine the meaning of the particular parts of a re- 
 velation, after the divine authority of it in general is 
 eftabliflied and allowed. And this mens natural fa- 
 culties qualify them for, much in the fame manner that 
 they qualify them for interpreting other writings. If 
 God gives men a revelation, he gives it to be under- 
 ftood by men : And if he gives it to be underftood 
 by men, he muft give it in human language, and 
 accommodate it to human capacity. For otherwife, 
 a fecond revelation would be neceffary to explain the 
 firfl : And then, why not a third to explain the fecond ; 
 and fo on in infinitum ? And fo nothing would be 
 really revealed after all. 
 
 I fhall juft add in the 
 
 6th, and lafl: place, as a farther limitation of the 
 propofuion before us, That it does not intend that we 
 are able to determine, with an equal degree of certainty, 
 all points which we are capable, in fome fenfe, of com- 
 ing to a conclufion about. Although truth does not ad- 
 mit o^ degrees, yet the evidence of truth does. So that of 
 various propofitions equally true in themfelves, fome 
 may be known with greater certainty tfen others. 
 Probable evidence is indeed all that can be had in mod 
 cafes, as was obferved before. It is by virtue of this, 
 
 that 
 
proper for difcer7i'i72g^ Sec. ^rr 
 
 that the intercourfe of man with man, and all the bufmefs 
 and commerce of the world, is carried on. Experience 
 fliovvs that fuch evidence is fiifficient in fecular affairs : 
 And it may be fuflicient in religious affairs alfo, in thofe 
 cafes where abfolute certainty cannot be had. 
 
 I fiiall now conclude this head concerning the cer- 
 tainty and fufficiency of human knowledge, with the 
 words of Mr. Locke. " If — any one," fays he, *' will be 
 " fo fccptical as to diftruft his fenfes,. and to affirm that 
 " all we fee and hear, feel and tafte, think and do, due- 
 *' ing our whole being, is but the feries and deluding 
 " appearances of a long dream, whereof there is no rea- 
 '* lity ; and therefore will queftion the exiftence of all 
 *' things, or our knowledge of any thing : I muft defire 
 " him to confider, that if all be a dream, then he doth 
 *' but dream that he makes the quedion ; and fo it is 
 *' not much matter, that a waking man fhould anfwer 
 " him. But yet, if he pleafes, he may dream that I 
 " make him this anfwer, that the certainty of things ex- 
 " ifting inrerum natura^ when we have the teftimony of 
 " our fenfes for it, is not only as great as our frame can 
 *' attain to, but as our condition needs. For our facul- 
 *' ties being fuited not to the full extent of being, nor to a 
 " perfe6t, clear and comprehenfive knowledge of things, 
 " free from all doubt and fcruple ; but to the prefer- 
 *' vation of us in whom they are ; and accommodated 
 *' to the ufe of life ; they fcrve our purpofe well enough, 
 ** if they will but give us certain notice of thofe things 
 " which are convenient, or inconvenient to us. For he 
 *' that fees a candle burning, and hath experimented the 
 *' force of its flame, by putting his finger in it, will 
 " little doubt that this is fomething exiffing, — which 
 ** does him harm, and puts him to great pain : which is 
 *' afTurance enough, when no man requires greater 
 ** certainty to govern his anions by, than whit is as 
 " certain as his a(5lions themU Ivrs. And if our dreamer 
 " pleafes to try, whether the glowing heat of a glafs 
 
 furnace 
 
38 Me7t^ endowed with Faculties 
 
 " furnace, be barely a wandring imagination, in a drowfy 
 
 " man's fancy ; by putting his hand into it, he may per- 
 
 *' haps be wakened into a certainty, that it is fomething 
 
 " more than bare imagination. So that this evidence is 
 
 *' as great as we can defire, being as certain to us as 
 
 *' our pleafure or pain, i. e. happinefs or mifery ; be- 
 
 " yond which we have no concernment, either of know- 
 
 *' ing or being."f 
 
 Thus it appears that men are naturally endowed 
 with faculties proper for diftinguifhing betwixt truth and 
 error, right and wrong. And hence it follows, that the 
 do(5lrine of a total ignorance, and incapacity to judge of 
 moral and religious truths, brought upon mankind by the 
 apoftacy of our Firji Parents^ is without foundation. 
 How much brighter and more vigorous our intelleflual 
 faculties were in Adam^ fix thoufand years before we had 
 any exiftence, I leave others to determine. It is fufficient 
 for my purpofe to confider mankind as they are at pre- 
 fent, without inquiring what they were before they had 
 any being. And it appears that they have now a natural 
 power to judge what is true and right, with the reftric- 
 tions mentioned above. But it is, neverthelefs, the man- 
 ner of vain Enthujiafis, when the abfurdity of their 
 do£lrines is laid open, to fall a railing, telling their oppo- 
 fers that they are in a carnal Jl ate ^ blind, and unable to 
 judge : but that themfelves are fpiritually illuminated. 
 Thus they endeavour to palm the groffeft: abfurdities 
 upon their neighbours, under the notion of their being 
 tiivine truths and holy myfieries : So that thefe en- 
 lightened Ideots make infpiration, and the Spirit of truth 
 and wifdom, the vehicle of nonfenfe and contradiflions. 
 Whatever is reafonable, is, with them, carnal : and 
 nothing is worthy of belief, but what is impofllble and 
 abfurd in the eye of human reafon. 
 
 f Mr. I.o(ke\ works, edit. 4th Vol. I. p. C512. 
 
 We 
 
proper for difcerning^ &c. 30 
 
 We fee that our BIcrfTed Saviour did not fuppofethat: 
 rhe minds of men had fiifFcrcd any fuch total cchpfe, or 
 were wholly overfpread with darknefs. He addrefles 
 the unbelieving "'Jews as if they had proper fiicultics for 
 judging of religious truths ; and blames them for not ex- 
 erting them — why even cf yotirfehes judge ye not what 
 
 is right ? The candle of the Lord which was lighted 
 
 up in man at firfl:, when the infpiration of the almighty 
 gave him underfianding, was not extinguifhed by the ori- 
 ginal apoftacy, but has kept burning ever fince. The 
 divine flame has catcht from father to fon •, and has 
 been propagated quite down to the prefent generation : 
 Nor will it be put out 'till the fun himfelf fhall be dark- 
 ned, and the moon Jhall not give her light. 
 
 Let us retain a fuitable fenfc of the dignity of our 
 nature in this refpeff. It is by our reafon that we are 
 exalted above the beafts of the field. It is by this, 
 that we are allied to angels, and all the glorious intelli- 
 gences of the heavenly world : Yea, by this we refem- 
 ble God himfelf. It is principally on account of our 
 reafon, that we are faid to have been created in the 
 image of God. So that how weak foever our intellectual 
 faculties are, yet to fpeak reproachfully of reafon in ge- 
 neral, is nothing lefs than blafphemy againft God. Let 
 us, therefore, inftead of contemning this ineftimable gift, 
 in which confifts the glory of our nature, employ it to 
 the ends for which it was defigned, in the fervice of the 
 great Father of our fpirits. 
 
 But we have had occafion, in this difcourfe, to fpeak 
 of the imperfection, as well as of the ftrength, of human 
 reafon. He that is not fenfible of this imperfedion, is 
 ib far from being the wifefl of men, that he knowetb 
 nothing yet as he ought to know it. Prof^Jfing himfelf to 
 bewife^ he becomes a fool \ the knowledge of ourfelves 
 being the firft, laft, point, \.\\^ alpha zx\^ omega o{\\\im^v\ 
 wifdom. The knowledge of our own ignorance, is the 
 
 moft 
 
40 MeHy ejtdowed with Faculties^ 6cc. 
 
 moft important and beneficial of all fciences. This will 
 naturally lead us to humility •, and excite us to improve, 
 with gratitude and diligence, all the means of knowledge 
 which we are favoured with -, efpecially that revelation 
 which God has given us by his Son, whom he has fent 
 from heaven to be a light unto the Gentiles, as well as 
 the glory of his people Ifrael. A Senfe of our ignorance 
 would alio teach us modefty in criticifing the works of 
 nature and providence. The fcheme of God's govern- 
 ment isvaft ; our underftandings are narrow, and not 
 proportioned to it. We are at prefent, as it were, but 
 rational beings in embrio, unborn to light and knowledge. 
 At leafl: we are mere babes in fpeculation ; we fpeak 
 cs children ; we think as children ; we under/land as chil- 
 dren : But perhaps we may e'erlong become men, and put 
 ■away childijlj things. *Till we arrive at that maturity 
 of life and knowledge, towards which we are in progrefs 
 during our abode in the prefent world, we ought not 
 to think ftrange that our underrianciings are baffled ; 
 or that many things remain myllerious and unaccount- 
 able to us, both in the natural and moral government of 
 God. And inftead of boldly cenfuring the author of the 
 univerfe, as taking wrong meafures In any refpe(5t, it 
 becomes us toufe that humble language, not only of 
 a great man, but an infpired apoflle — O / the depths of 
 the riches both of the wifdom and knowledge of God ! How 
 nnfearchable are his judgments -, and his ways pafi finding 
 
 out I Now to the King eternal, immortal, invifible, the 
 
 only wife God, be honour and glory forever^ through Jefus 
 Chrift our Lord. Amen. 
 
 
 SERMON 
 
( 41) 
 
 4* 'i^ 'J' 'I* •'J' 'fr 'J* 'i!? 4? "iIp 'J^ •$? "i^ 
 
 i^j i^i C^j i^ Cj^-t i^iii^ t^ J^ t!^i i!^ i^ c)jj» Ojji tjj c)J|l> 0^ c*! i)jji I** 1*1 t>i'j c*» Mt c^j t*j I*, 
 
 Se r m o n 
 
 i^mwmis^mm^ 
 
 The Right and Duty of 
 private Judgment aflerted. 
 
 LUKE XII. 54- 
 
 57- 
 
 ]/fnd he /aid alfo to the people^ When ye fee a cloud rife 
 
 out of the weff, Jlraightway ye fay, There cometh a 
 
 fhower ; and fo it is. 
 And when ye fee the fouth wind blow, ye fay. There 
 
 will be heat -, and it cometh to pafs. 
 Te hypocrites, ye can difcern the face of the Jky, and of 
 
 the earth : but how is it, that ye do not difcern this 
 
 time ? 
 Tea^ and why even of your felves judge ye not what is 
 
 right ? 
 
 HAVING attempted to fhow, in two former dif- 
 courfes upon thefe words, That there is a natural 
 difference betwixt truth and falfhood, right and 
 wrong : And, That men arc naturally endowed with fa- 
 culties proper for the difcerning of thefe differences : I 
 proceed now to fhow in the 
 
 G Hid. 
 
4 2 TT^e Right a?id Duty 
 
 llld. i^nd la§f place, That men are under obligation 
 to exert thefe faculties -, and to judge for themfelves in 
 things of a religious concern. It cannot be doubted but 
 that this is fairly implied in my text. For the words 
 evidently carry in them a fevere cenfure and reproof of 
 the perfons to whom they were originally addreffed, on 
 account of their neglediing to judge for themfelves 
 concerning our bleffed Saviour, and his doflrine. He 
 makes this neg1e6t, an argument of their hypocrify, one 
 of the bafeft vices — Te hypocrites, ye can difcern the face 
 of the Jky — and why, even of your f elves judge ye not what 
 is right ? 
 
 The fubjeft before us being the duty of private judg- 
 ment, I fhall briefly explain what I intend by perfons 
 judging for themfelves •, or by freedom of thought and 
 inquiry in religious matters : And then fhow, that this is 
 what we are all obliged to. 
 
 Now what I intend by a man's judging for himfelf 
 with freedom, and exerring his own faculties in the 
 fearch of truth and right, may be comprifed under the 
 following particulars — 
 
 That he fufpends his judgment intlrely concerning 
 the truth or falfliood of all dodrines ; and the fitnefs or 
 unfitnefs of all aftions -, 'till fuch rime as he fees fome 
 reafon to determine his judgment one way rather than 
 the other. He that defires to come to the knowledge 
 of the truth, puts himfelf in a (late of indifferency with 
 regard to the point to be judged of ; that fo his mind 
 being as it were, in ^equilibrio, his judgment may be de- 
 termined folely by reafon and argument. He does not 
 bring his old prejudices and prepoflefrions to determine 
 the point ; but comes prepared, by an unbiafled mind, 
 to receive the imprefllons of reafon, and of reafon only. 
 All propofirions are the proper fubjed of inquiry and 
 examination, except firsi principles, which are few in 
 
 number. 
 
of private yudgment, ^x 
 
 number, and which do not extend to any dodrlnes either 
 of natural or revealed religion, how nearly foever they 
 may be connedted with fome of both. And therefore, in 
 order to our judging with true freedom, we ought to 
 confider all fuch do6lrines with an eye of indif^erency, 
 neither fancying them to be true or falfe ; nor even 
 wijhing them to be fo, till we fee they are connected 
 with, or contrary to, fome of thofe firfl principles of 
 human knowledge, which being felf evident, are not the 
 fubje(5t of examination. Thus, for example, we ought 
 not to believe that there is, or that there is not a God -, 
 that the Chriftian religion is from God, or an impoflure ; 
 that any particular dodlrine fathered upon it, is really 
 contained in it, or not i or that any particular feft of 
 chriflians, is in the right, or in the wrong ; 'till we have 
 impartially examined the matter, and fee evidence on one 
 fide or the other. For to determine any point without 
 reafon or proof, cannot be to judge freely^ unlefs it be 
 in a bad fenfe of the word. So that fufpenfe or indif- 
 ferency, is the firfl thing implied in free inquiry : or, to 
 fpeak more properly, it is a prerequifite, and prepara- 
 tory to it. 
 
 Again : The next ftep towards freedom of exami- 
 nation and judgment, is the exerting of our own reafon 
 in weighing arguments and evidences that offer them- 
 feJves to us, or that are offered by others. He that in- 
 quires freely after truth, is not content with barely fuf- 
 pending his judgment till fuch time as evidence forces it 
 felf upon his mind. In this way, a man may perhaps 
 avoid error •, but will not gain much knowledge •, for 
 truth is coy, and mufl be courted. To gain any confidc- 
 rable degree of knowledge, it is neceflary that we are 
 a6live and vigorous in the purfuit of it ; that we make 
 ufe of all the means and helps to knowledge that are 
 within our reach ; that we inquire into fafts •, that we 
 view things in different lights, not taking up fitisficd 
 with firll appearances ; that wc weigh the arguments 
 
 that 
 
44- ^^ Right and Duty 
 
 that are brought to fupport any doflrlne or pra6lice ; 
 that we balance them with contrary arguments ; and 
 the hke. 
 
 Another thing implied in the freedom of judgment 
 is, that a man honeftiy embraces for truth, whatever there 
 appears evidence for, without endeavouring to evade it, 
 to Ihift it off, or ftifle the convi6lion of his own mind. 
 To inquire into evidence, is to no purpofe, unlefs we fol- 
 low it wherever it leads, and chearfully receive the truth 
 wherever it is to be found ; whatever notions it may 
 contradi6l ; whatever cenfures it may expofe us to. 
 It is an idle and inconfiftent thing to examine, if we are 
 determined before hand to retain our former fentiments ; 
 to believe as our fore- fathers did, or as any particular 
 body of men does at prefent. A man does not really 
 inquire after truth and right at all, unlefs he determines 
 from the very firft, to have no fuperftitious veneration for 
 great names ; but to yield himfelf up to evidence 
 wherever it appears ; and how much foever it might 
 have contributed to his prefent intereft and reputation to 
 have embraced other tenets. 
 
 Lastly : Judging with freedom and impartiality, 
 implies, that in giving our aflent to any propofition, we 
 give it in proportion to the degree of evidence that ap- 
 pears to fupport it. All truths are not equally clear and 
 inconteftible : Innumerable lie quite beyond our fight ; 
 fome juft dawn upon our minds ; others appear in a ftrong 
 and convincing light, tho' not fo ftrong as to exclude all 
 doubt i while others glare upon us with all the force of 
 demonftration. Now as there are innumerable degrees 
 of evidence betwixt the loweft probability, and that in- 
 tuitive certainty which we have of firft principles ; fo a 
 man ought not to give the fame degree of aflent to every 
 thing he receives for truth ; but to proportion his afllent 
 to the nature and degree of the apparent evidence, whe- 
 ther it be greater or lefs. Not to afiTent to what is, in 
 
 the 
 
of private yudginent, 4^ 
 
 the loweft degree, probable upon the whole, difcovers a 
 backwardnefs to entertain the truth. And, on the other 
 hand, to give an affent to any truth, over and beyond 
 what the nature of its evidence naturally demands and 
 calls forth, is much the fame thing with believing without 
 any evidence at all. For all that redundancy of afTent, 
 if I may fo exprefs it, is mere credulity and raflinefs : 
 and this is as unbecoming a reafonable creature as ob- 
 ftinacy and perverfeneis. 
 
 Having thus briefly explained what I intend by judg- 
 ing for ourfelves, with freedom, I proceed now to fhow. 
 That this is what every man is under obligation to do. 
 This I propofe to prove dircolly by rcafon and revela- 
 tion •, and then to anfwer the principal obje£Iions that 
 are urged againft it. 
 
 Each individual has an interefl of bis own depending. 
 We find, by experience, that we are all capable of being 
 happy or miferable to a great degree. Pain and plea- 
 fure, at leafl, are private and perfonal things. And even 
 they that arrogate to themfelves the right o^ judging for 
 us, do not pretend to feel for us alfo. Now if it be of 
 any importance to us to be happy for ourfelves, it is of 
 importance to judge for ourfelves alfo ; for this is ab- 
 folutely necefTary in order to our finding the path that 
 Jeads to happinefs. Indeed if others can afford us any 
 affiflance in finding this path, it is reafonable to make ufe 
 of it ; but not to give ourfelves up intirely to their di- 
 reflion. It is the greateft folly imaginable, to give our- 
 felves no concern about our own welfare, unlefs we were 
 certain it is fecured to us already, fo that we cannot pof- 
 fibly mifs of it, which is a fuppofition contrary to daily 
 experience. We find that our happinefs depends, at 
 lead in fome degree, upon our condudl ; and that wc 
 often take fome wrong (lep, through ignorance -, which 
 ought to be a warning to us to look about u?, and take 
 heed to our ways. — Without knowing which is the 
 
 right 
 
46 The Right and Duty 
 
 right path, we can never take it, iinlefs it be by chance ; 
 and though we fhould be fo fortunate as to get into it, 
 we cannot have the fatisfa^lion of knowing it. 
 
 In our prefent imperfcft flate, fuch inquiries as the 
 following, become every man that has not yet refolved 
 them in his own mind — " What is my chief good ? 
 " Where is the road that will convey me to my happi- 
 " nefs ? Where fhall 1 find this ineftimable jewel ? this 
 *' pearl of great •price P In what mountain Ihall I dig for 
 *' it ? In what ocean fhall 1 dive ? Amidft the various 
 " opinions, and contrary purfuits of mankind, what road 
 " fhall 1 myfelf travel ? What courfe fhall I fleer ? 
 *' Shall I find my felicity in retirement and folitude ? 
 " Or in the noife and buflle of the world ? Is it to be 
 " found in the humble and quiet cottage ? Or in proud 
 *' and envious courts ? Is it to be found in peace at 
 *' home ? Or in war abroad ? Does it confift in indulg- 
 *' ing to my animal nature without controul ? Or in im- 
 *' proving my mind in what fome men call wijdom and 
 *' virtue ? Shall I feek it in my own country ? Or ex- 
 " plore fome diflant region in hopes to find it ? Shall I 
 " fearch it upon the feas, or upon the dry land ? In the 
 " earth beneath, or in the heavens above ? In this world, 
 *' or in fome other ? Is my fpirit immortal ? Am I to 
 '' furvive the difTolution of my body, and to live forever 
 *' in fome other flate ? Or fhall this vital fpark thac 
 '* thinks, perceives and wills, and is anxious about Rnu- 
 " rity, be wholly extinguifhed in a few days, when my 
 " body falls to duft ? Is there any being who created, 
 *' and who governs the world ? Or is this beautiful and 
 " flupendous fabrick of the univerfe, the offspring of 
 " chance? And without any ^«;i(?, overfeer or ruler ? — 
 *' a fatherlefs World, which the next moment may fall 
 '* into ruins, or into nothing ? If there be a God, what 
 *' is his chara6ler ? Is he powerful, wife, righteous and 
 " good ; or is he not ? Does my happinefs depend 
 *' upon pleafing and obeying him, and conforming my- 
 " felf to his will? If \t does, what is his will ? What are 
 
 ** his 
 
of private jfudgmenL /\.j 
 
 •* his laws? V/h^t does he expefl of me ? What kind of 
 
 " government is it I am under ? What is the particular 
 
 " and certain way, in which I may obtain the good-will 
 
 " of this great Parent of the world, in whofe favour is 
 
 " ///>, and whofe loving- kindnefs is better than life ? '* 
 
 These, methinks, are fuch inquiries as every man 
 fhould endeavour to get fome fatisfatflion about in his 
 own mind — fatisfadlion of quite another kind than any 
 that can be had barely from the decifions of others con- 
 cerning them. The queftions are too interefting and im- 
 portant to be fubmitted to the determination of a fecond 
 perfon. 
 
 But were we difpofed to leave matters of this con- 
 fequence to reference, who fliall be the judges ? There 
 are almoft as many opinions in the world, as there are 
 men. The Talapoins of Siam have one fyftem of religi- 
 on : the Mufti at Conjlantinople^ another : and Chriftians, 
 a third ; and fo on. And almoft all alledge divine revela- 
 tion in their own favour. There are even (ome fools who 
 fay in their heart, there is no God% and not only in their 
 heart, but repeat it with their lips alfo. Now Ihall we 
 fubmit to the Theijls, or to the Atheifls ? How fhall we 
 know on which fide the truth lies, without examination ? 
 But fuppofe we embrace Theifm, what fedl of the Theijls 
 fliall we fall in with .? With thofe who deny, or thofe 
 who maintain, a revelation from God ? Is it reafonable 
 to give in to either party, before we inquire which has 
 the bcfl of the Argument ? But fuppofe we fall in with 
 the latter, there are feveral fe6ls of them, the principal of 
 which are Jews, Mahometans and Chrifiians. It cannot 
 be a reafonable part to fall in with one, in oppofition to 
 the other two, without reafon. But fuppofe we are conr- 
 vinced that the Chrifiian religion is true, do not Chrifiians 
 differ very widely in their fentiments ? Do they not dif- 
 fer fo much in explaining the dodrincs of their common 
 revelation, as to agree in hardly any thing befides the name 
 
 of 
 
48 The Right and Duty 
 
 of Chrijiian ? Are they not divided into many fedls, the 
 moft of which ftrenuoufly maintain, that not only truth, 
 but falvation ahb, is confined to themfelves ? Do they 
 not deal out their ciirfes mutually with a liberal hand ? 
 Are they not continually throwing fir e-hrands^ arrows and 
 deaths ( not indeed in fport, like other fools^ but ) in 
 fober earnefl ? 
 
 Now amidft thefe differences and altercations, what is 
 the part of a reafonable man, but to fit down, and ex- 
 ercife, as well as he can, his own intelledual powers -, and 
 fo to judge even of himfelf what is right ? What fyftem 
 of doftrine — what mode of worfhip — what form of 
 church-government and difcipline, is moft agreable to 
 fcripture and reafon — what fedl of Chrijiians he fhall 
 unite with-— and whether with any one, in all its minute 
 and diftinguifhing tenets and ufages — ? " A man muft 
 *' join himfelf to the true, primitive and catholic church." 
 "What church is that ? all churches lay claim to that 
 title : and the queftion to be decided is, which of them 
 fupports its claim the beft ? which cannot be decided with- 
 out previous inquiry. " But there is a living infallible 
 *' guide upon earth, to whom it is eafy to repair ; and 
 " then we may be fure of being in the right without 
 " any farther trouble." Where is he ? Many deny 
 there is any fuch unerring guide, and infallible umpire, 
 as confidently as others affirm it. But even thofe who 
 agree that there is fuch a fovereign judge of religious 
 controverfy, are not yet fully agreed who he is •, or whe- 
 ther infallibility be to be found in one fingle perfon or 
 more. The heads of all fefls ufually decide difputable 
 matters with full as much affurance and lordlinels as it 
 would become infallibility itfelf to do it, although they 
 do not all, in fo many words, pretend to be exempted 
 from a pofTibility of erring, Thofe who claim infalli- 
 bility, often decide and order as if they were fallible : 
 And thofe who do not claim it, are often full as pofitive, 
 and given to dominineering as much, as if it unquefti- 
 onably belonged to them, We 
 
We know the King of Great Britain ( or the ^eeti^ 
 rn a female reign ) is the Supreme Head of the church of 
 England^ as by law eftablifhed •, which church claims 
 poiver to decree rites or ceremonies^ and authority in con- 
 troverfies of faith. 
 
 But his Holinefs at Rome thinks this a bold in- 
 fringement of his prerogative, and univerfai jurifdic- 
 tion in ecclefiaftical matters. Whofe word, then, is to 
 be taken ? How fhall we a6t a rational part without 
 fudging even of ourfehes which is in the right ? Or whether 
 either of them be fo. Indeed there is no doubt but his Ho- 
 linefs is really the Supreme Head of the church of Rome •, and, 
 as fuch, has authority therein in matters of faiih, worfhip 
 and difcipline. Thus alfo the King or i^ieen of Great 
 Britain, is doubtlefs the Supreme Head of the truly pri- 
 tnitive, apoflolical church of England, as lately eftablifhed 
 by human laws. But neverthelefs, it may perhaps admit 
 of fome difpute whether Jefus Chrifl is not the Supreme 
 Head of his own church ? and confequently, whether 
 thefe are not three different churches, they having each 
 of them a different Supre^ne Head? It is of fome impor- 
 tance to us to be fettled with regard to thefe points ; and 
 they are fuch as cannot be well determined without fome 
 examination, though perhaps a very little may fuffice. 
 
 Thus it appears that a regard to our own intereft 
 ought to put us upon examining and judging for our- 
 felves in religious concerns. The fame thing might be 
 argued from the faculty of reafon itfelf, which is com- 
 mon to all. If we fuppofe an intelligent author of 
 our nature, who had fome deftgn in giving us our prefent 
 conftitution, it is plain that his end in endowing us with 
 faculties proper for the inveftigating of truth and right, 
 ■was, that we fliould exercife them in this way. Each of 
 our bodily organs, and animal faculties, has an apparent 
 ■Jinat caufe. Our eyes arc for feeing •, our ears, for hear- 
 ing-, our hands, for handling j our feet, for Vv^alking- 
 
 II ingi 
 
50:. The Right a?icl Duty 
 
 i.ngi &c. Nor is it lefs apparent that our underftandings 
 were given us to be employed in the fearch of truth,- 
 and in embracing it. Truth is the natural objedlof reafon, 
 as much as any thing elfe is the proper objedl of that 
 particular faculty or pafTion, to which God and nature 
 have adapted it. Our obligation, therefore, to inquire 
 after truth, and to judge what is right, may be found 
 ■within us, in our own frame and conftitution. This ob- 
 ligation is as univerfal as reafon itfelf ; for every one that 
 is endowed with this faculty, is, by the very nature of 
 it, obliged to exercife it in the purfuit of knowledge ; 
 efpecially of moral and religious knowledge. All men 
 are not obliged to ftudy the mathematicks^ law and phyficji. 
 But all are obliged to acquaint themfelves with their 
 duty — what they owe to God, to their neighbour and 
 ther/jfelves. If one man is to think and judge for all 
 the reft of the fpecies, why was reafon given to all ? 
 why was it not confined to him alone who has a right 
 to ufe it ? In fliort, we may fay with as much propriety, 
 that we are to fee only with another's eyes, hear with 
 another's ears, fpeak with another's tongue, and walk 
 with another's feet, and negleft our own j as, that wc 
 are to think and judge and believe, with another's un- 
 derftandirg. 
 
 It appears, then, that reafon is no enemy to free in- 
 quiry, and priva':e judgment, in religious matters. And 
 I fhall now endeavour to fliow that the Chriftian religion 
 is no enemy to it ; but, on the contrary, enjoins it upon 
 us as a duty. 
 
 Our Lord Jefus Chrift, the author and finijher of our 
 faiths conftantly appealed to the fenfes, and to the reafon 
 of mankind, as the proper judges of his miracles, divine 
 mifilon and docflrine. He did not demand of men an 
 implicit and blind belief in himlelf, without offering 
 matter of conviction to their underftandings ; but put 
 thc-m u^'on examining in a fober rational way, whether 
 
 he 
 
of private yudg^nenr, ^ i 
 
 he was authorized from heaven, or were an iinpoftor ; 
 and fo, whether his doflrine were of God, or whether he 
 /pake of himfelf. He reafons. with the Jews in my text: 
 he blames them for their blind attachment to the 
 Scribes and Pharifees, their fpiritual guides -, and for not 
 judging for themfelves in rehgious matters. Our Lord, 
 pretended ( at lead ) to prove his divine mifTion to the 
 unprejudiced reafon of mankind in a fober, argumenta- 
 tive way. In difputing with the Jews, he appealed to 
 their ancient writings whole divine authority they ac- 
 knowledged •, and to the miracles which he wrought, in 
 order to convince them that he was the Mrjftah. This 
 Is evident from almoft every page of the evangelical hif- 
 tory, notwithftanding what the difingenuous author of 
 Chrijlianity not founded upon argument, has confidently af- 
 fcrted upon this fubjcifb, taking advantage of what fome 
 weak Chriftians have advanced concerning the nature 
 and grounds oi faith. Whether the arguments which 
 our Lord ufed for the conviftion of the Jews, were con- 
 clufive "6r not, is a queftion which I am not now con- 
 cerned with. But it is plain that he confidered them 
 as, being fo, requiring people to examine them, and to 
 judge wnether they were conclufive or not. Barely pro- 
 poTing arguments to the confideration of another, is a 
 difclaiming of authority properly fo called : for it im- 
 plies, that the arguments are to be judged of by the 
 reafon of him to whom they are propofed. I might 
 bring many paflages from the Evangelijls, to fhow that 
 the method -which our Lord took to gain profelytes, was 
 TO reafon them into faith. But I mud content myfeJf 
 with quoting one palTage only to this purpofe, for the 
 prefcnt — John v. 3 i. and onward, If I bear witnefs of 
 ^^yf^f-> tny witnefs is not true [ i. e. my teftimony in my 
 own favour — my declaring myfclf to be the MeJfiah, 
 ought not to be depended upon as true, without farther 
 evidence. ] There is another that beareth "z-itnefs of me — 
 l^e fent unto John, and he bare witnefs unto the truth — 
 But I have greater witnefs than that of John -, for the 
 
 "Ji'orks 
 
.52 T^he Right and Duty 
 
 works that the Father hath given me to fintjh^ the fame 
 works that I do^ bear witnefs of me^ that the Father hath 
 fent me — Search the fcriptiires^ for in them ye think ye 
 have eternal life\ and they are they which teflify cf me — 
 ^here is one that accufeth you, even Mofes, in whom ye 
 trujl. For had ye believed Mofes, ye would have believed 
 me. But if ye believe not his writings, how fhall ye believe 
 my words? There cannot be a more explicit appeal than 
 this, to the reafon and underftandings of men, or a. fairer 
 invitation given them to examine and judge for them- 
 lelves. And this alfo fliows that our Lord aimed at 
 bringing men to believe in him, only by dint of argu- 
 ment. And as our Lord performed his mighty works 
 ■with a defign to beget in thofe that beheld them, a rati- 
 onal belief, a belief refulting from proper evidence ; 
 fo the Evangelijls committed thofe fads to writing, that 
 they might have a like eflfed upon thofe that had not 
 been eye-witneffes of them — Thefe things are written 
 that ye might believe that Jefus is the Chrijl the Son of 
 God ', and that believing^ ye might have life through bis 
 mme. John xx. 31. 
 
 The apoftles alfo conftantly incouraged free Inquiry,' 
 as it is natural for honeft undefigning men to do. It is 
 for the interell of fome to dilcourage it, and to keep 
 people muffled up in darknefs and ignorance, that fo they 
 may fubmit to their didates with the more readinefs and 
 humility. Their craft is in danger of being detedcd, 
 and their doflrine, of being exploded, as foon as people 
 have fo much prefumption as to open their eyes. Free 
 inquiry bodes ill to the defign which they are ingaged in ; 
 for they are fenfible it will not be fafe for themfelves to 
 be knaves any longer than others ^xt fools. But he that 
 has nothing in view but the intereft of truth and virtue, 
 defires nothing more, than that perfons would give them- 
 felves the trouble of a free and impartial examination. 
 Now the apoftles knowing the goodnefs of their caufe, 
 and following the example of their divine Matter, made 
 
 it 
 
of private yudgment. r ^ 
 
 \t their praflice to incouragc liberty and freedom of 
 thought -, never intimating, as moft of their pretended 
 fuccejfors have done, that this is hazardous to men's 
 fouls. 
 
 In the apoftolic age there were many impodors and 
 enthufiafls ; falfe pretenders to infpiration, as there are 
 at prefent, and as there have been in almoft every age of 
 the chriftian church. And for this reafon the apoftles 
 direded chriflians to examine the pretenfions of all, that 
 fo they might diftinguifh betwixt really infpired perfons 
 and deceivers — Thus i John iv. i. Beloved^ believe not 
 every fpirit \ but try the fpirits^ whether they are of God ; 
 for many falfe fpirit s are gone out into the world. No one, 
 fureJy, will be fo abfurd as to fuppofe this was a direc- 
 tion to try deceivers only ; and not true prophets and 
 apoftles. For this would fuppofe that they might be 
 known one from the other, without trying them at all : 
 and then no examination of either of them would be 
 neceffary. *' Determine firft ; and then examine, " 
 is the pleajant advice of fome grave divines : But the 
 apoftles exhort us to examine all things, before we be- 
 lieve any thing. The Jews at Berea are celebrated. 
 Ads xvii. lo. and onwards for not believing the apoftles 
 thcmfelves without critically examining their doftrine, 
 and comparing it with the writings of Mofes and the 
 prophets : and in the fame pafTage, an implicit cenfure 
 at leafl, is pafTed upon the Theffalonians^ as being indo- 
 lent, credulous, and too eafy of belief. The words of 
 the hiftorian are thefe. And the brethren — fent away Paul 
 and Silas — unto Berea ; who coming there, went into the 
 fynagogue of the Jews. Thefe were more noble than thofe 
 of Theffalonica ; for they received the word with all rea- 
 dinefs of mind : and fearched the fcriptures daily whether 
 thofe things were fo. By their receiving the word with 
 all readinefs of mind ^ nothing more is here intended, than 
 that they gave a ready and candid attention to what 
 /'tfw/and Silas had to fay ; Afterwards, like prudent and 
 
 rational 
 
^4 ^b^ Right and Duty 
 
 rational men, they examined into the truth of it. 
 And it follows immediately in the next verfe — There- 
 fore tnany of them believed — A natural confequence 
 of a free and impartial inquiry into the grounds of the 
 chrijlian religion. 1 obferved above, that the Thejfalo' 
 fiians are cenfured in this paffage, for their credulity, and 
 not ufing fuitable precaution in receiving chriftianity. 
 And it is probable that the apoftle Paul had a view at 
 this incurious and over credulous humour of theirs, in 
 his I Epiftle to them. Chap. v. ver. 21. Prove (or 
 examine) all things, fays he ; hold fa^t that which is 
 good. This advice was, indeed, proper for all ; but 
 peculiarly fo for thofe who were backward to examine, 
 and forward to believe, thefe being in the greateft dan-- 
 ger of being feduced. 
 
 Again, What befides free inquiry after truth and 
 knowledge, does the apoftle intend, Phil. xix. 10.? Jnd 
 this I pray, that your love may abound yet more and more 
 .in knowledge and in all judgment, that ye may approve 
 things that are excellent — (Or as fome underftand thefe 
 laft words, that ye may try things that differ, and are 
 controverted.) To the fame purpofe are the Words of 
 this apoftle, Eph. vi. 14, 15. That we be henceforth no 
 wore children, toffed to and fro, and carried about with 
 every wind of do5frine, by the Jleight of men, and cunning 
 craftinefs whereby they lye in wait to deceive : but fpeak' 
 ing the truth in love, &c. So St. John cautions the 
 ele^ lady and her children, againft..feducers, and de- 
 ceivers — Many deceivers are entered into the world — 
 Look to yourfelves — 2 John 7, 8. The apoftle here al- 
 ludes to thofe deceivers who confeffed not that Jefus 
 Chrifl was come in the flefh. And in his firjl Epiftle he 
 cautions thofe to whom he wrote, againft another kind 
 of deceivers, whofe dodlrine is equally fatal, viz. thofe 
 who taught that faith without works, denominates a 
 man righteous — Little children, let no man deceive you : 
 He thiit 'dalh r)ghteoufnefs is righteous — He that commit- 
 
 titb 
 
of private yudg?ne7it, rr 
 
 teth fin is of the devil — i John iii. 7, 8. Thus alfo the 
 apoftle P<2«/, E-ph. v. ^,6. — Te know that no whore mon- 
 ger^ Sec. hath any inheritance in the kingdom of Chrijf^ 
 and of God. Let no man deceive you with vain words : 
 for becaufe of thefe things cometh the wrath of God upon 
 the children of difohedience. Do not all thefe exhorta- 
 tions given to chriftians, to take care that 7io man de- 
 ceive them, imply that they are to examine and judge 
 for themfelves ; and not to fubmit implicitly to the 
 dictates of any, even though they pretend to a com- 
 miflion from heaven ? UnJefs it be their right and duty 
 ..to do thus, nothing can be more impertinent than exhor- 
 tations of ihis kind. 
 
 Although the apofllc Paul were an infpired writer, 
 yet he is far from putting on thofe dogmatical airs which 
 are now too common amongft thofe who do not pre- 
 
 ^tend to infpiration. He often condefcends to make an 
 appeal to the reafon and judgment of thofe to whom 
 he writes, and invites them to examine what he fays. 
 
 •; Thus 1 Cor. X. 15. I fpeak as to wife men-, judge ye 
 what I fay. And fo, Chap. i. ver. 12. Judge in your- 
 felves^ is it comely^ &c. 
 
 In a controverfy betwixt the jewifh and gentile con- 
 verts at Rome, the apoftle gave his own fenfe concern- 
 ing the point in debate : he exhorted them to mutual 
 love and forbearance : and then, like a reafonable, catho- 
 lick man, and a friend to the rights of private judgment, 
 he concludes — Let every man be fully perfwaded in his 
 own mind. Rom. xvi. 5. 
 
 When the jewifJj converts in Galatia ( being fill! 
 zealoufly attached to the law of Mofes) were for im- 
 pofing certain opinions and practices upon the Gentiles^ 
 this fame apoflle took the part of the latter ; and even 
 enjoined it upon them to vindicate their religious and 
 chriftian rights againft all fuch encroachments — Stand 
 
 fan 
 
56 Tht Right and Duty 
 
 fajl^ fays he, in the liberty wherewith Chriji has made you 
 free : (i. e. aflert your freedom from the mofaic law, 
 and all the old jewijh infiitutions ) and be not again in- 
 tangled with any yoke of bondage.-^ ( i. e. (land up in 
 defence of your chriftian liberty, not only againft thefe 
 your judaizing brethren \ but alfo againft all others who 
 fhall attempt to exercife any kindof fpiritual tyranny over 
 you.) So that it is not left to the option of chriftians 
 ■whether they will relinquilh their natural liberty in re- 
 ligious matters, or not •, they are commanded to afTert 
 it. God has given us abilities to judge even of ourfelves 
 what is right : and requires us to improve them. He 
 forbids us to call any man mafler upon earth. And as he 
 has forbidden us to fubmit implicitly to the diflates 
 of any man ; fo he has alfo exprefly forbid all chri- 
 ftians to alfume or ufurp any authority over their bre- 
 thren. Te know^ fays our bleifed Saviour, that the 
 princes of the Gentiles exercife dominion over them^ and 
 they that are great exercife authority upon them : But it 
 Jhall not he fo among you. But whofoever — will be chief 
 among you, let him be your fervant, even as the fon of 
 man came not to be miniffred unto, but to miniffer.* How 
 does our Lord upbraid the Scribes and Pharifecs, who 
 fat in Mofes''s feat, for affuming an unreafonable autho- 
 lity, and affedting more honour and fubmiffion than was 
 due to them .? The Scribes and Pharifees — love the upper- 
 mofi rooms at feafls, and the chief feats in the fynagogues^ 
 end greetings in the markets, and to be called of men. 
 Rabbi, Rabbi. But be not ye called Rabbi, for one is 
 your mafier even ChriJl ; and all ye are brethren. \\ The 
 firft propagators of Chriftianity carefully obferved this 
 prohibition. They were meek, humble and charita- 
 bJe., They claimed no dominion over the faith of Chri- 
 Hians, but were content with being helpers of their 
 joy, 2 Cor. i. 24. They preached not themjelves to be 
 the Lord or Lords •, but Chriji Jefus ; and themfelves 
 
 Citl. v. I, ^ Mat. XX. II Ma(f. xxiiu 
 
of private yudgirxiit. 5 7 
 
 the fervants of Chrijlians for Jefus fake. 2. Ccr. \v. 5. 
 This was the manner in which the holy nportlcs de- 
 meaned themfelves in their office. But ilnce their 
 day, Ecclefiafticks have been for lefs humility and more 
 power. The ftyle o^ fervants is below their dignity : 
 And they muft be called of inert Lords, Reverend and 
 Right Reverend Fathers in God, &c. Their fellow chri- 
 ftians and brethren mufl: approach them upon the bend- 
 ed knee : Sovereign princes muft think themfelves ho- 
 noured in having the liberty to kifs the toe of an old 
 Monk, who calls himfelf Chrift's Vicar : And thus it 
 is that the Pope imitates him who wa?; meek and lowly 
 in heart ; and who condefcended to wafh his difciples feet, 
 
 I hope it appears from what has been faid, that both 
 reafon and fcripture oppofe the claims of thofe arrogant 
 men who love to lord it over God's heritage -, and had 
 rather have dominion over our faith, than be helpers of 
 our joy : And that it is the duty of chriftians to af- 
 fert their right of private judgment in religious mat- 
 ters, in oppofition to all that are for ufurping autho- 
 rity over them. I promifed, in the next place, to 
 confider the principal objections againft this dodlrine. 
 But 1 believe I need make no apology for deferring this 
 to another opportunity. 
 
 I fhall, however, beg leave, from what has been faid 
 already, to look upon the point as proved •, and fo to 
 clofe with a few refleflions fuitable to the fubjefV. 
 
 It appears, then, that all who any ways difcourage 
 freedom of inquiry and judgment in religious matter?, 
 are, fo far forth as they are guilty of this, encroachers 
 upon the natural rights of mankind -, that they fee 
 up their own authority in oppofition to that of al- 
 mighty God ; and that they are enemies to truth, and 
 the gofpel of Jefus Chrift. — They are cncroacheis upon 
 the natural rights of mankind, becaule it is the natural 
 
 I right 
 
58 7/j^ Right and Duty 
 
 right and priviledge of every man to make the beft ufe 
 he can of his own intcllcflual faculties — They fet up 
 iheir own authority in oppofition to that of almighty 
 God, becaufe God has not only given us liberty to 
 examine and judge for ourfelves •, but exprefly required 
 us to do it — They are enemies to truth, and the gof- 
 pel of Jefus Chrift ; becaufe free examination is the 
 way to truth, and the gofpel in particular, gains ground 
 the fafter, the more its doftrines and evidences are ex- 
 amined. — While other tyrants enflave the bodies of men, 
 thefe throw their chains and fetters upon the mind, 
 which (as the Jews faid of themfelves) was horn free ; 
 and which ought not to be in bondage to any man : 
 but only to the Father of Spirits. If it be afked who 
 thefe fpiritual invaders are, it may be anfwered, all 
 in general who fet themfelves up to judge for their 
 neighbours •, All who are for impofing their own opi- 
 nions upon others : All who any ways dillrefs and af- 
 flift fuch as differ from them in their religious fenti- 
 ments : All who make ufe of any other weapons be- 
 fides thofe of reafon and argument, in order to de- 
 molifh error, and propagate truth. If a man has a 
 right to judge for himfelf, certainly no other has a 
 right to judge for him : And to attempt it, is to ftrike 
 at the moft valuable intereft of a man confidered as 
 a reafonable creature. 
 
 Those that are guilty of this crime in the higheft 
 degree, are fuch as inflifl capital punifhments upon 
 thofe that embrace opinions contrary to their own. 
 The heathens fometimes pradlifed this barbarity among 
 themfelves before chriftianity made i;s appearance in 
 the world. Afterwards they united their force againft 
 the dodlrine of Chrift, as the moft dangerous herefy 
 that had ever been heard of : and butchered millions. 
 Scarce had they laid down the praflice, when Chri- 
 ftians filled with more than pagan cruelty, took it 
 up, and perfecuted one another : Nor is it quite laid 
 
 alide 
 
of pj^ivate yticlg;ne77t. ^g 
 
 afide to this day in Tome parts of Chrlftendom. The 
 mother of harlots^ who has long jmde her f elf drunk 
 with the blood of the martyrs of Jefus^ has dill her in- 
 quijition -, and is frequently adding to the number of 
 thofe whom St. John law, in his vifion, imder the altar, 
 while they cried with a loud voice, faying — How long, 
 O Lord^ holy and true ! doff thou not judge, and avenge 
 our blood on them that dwell on the earth ! 
 
 In a fomewhat lower degree are they chargeable 
 with the fame crime, who punifli diffenters and non- 
 fubfcribers, by fines and imprifonments, and by de- 
 priving them of thofe civil privileges, emoluments and 
 honours, which, as good fubjefts and friends, to the 
 ftate, they might juftly expert. It is well known in 
 what church this inhuman pra(flice has been carried to 
 a prodigious length : and in which it is not yet wholly 
 laid afide. It is well that, not Jefus Chrifi, but another 
 Perfon, is faid to be the fupreme Head of this church. 
 For it would be abfurd to fuppofe, that He who faid 
 his kingdom was not of this world, fhould allow of any 
 fuch pradiice among the members of that body of which 
 He is the Head. 
 
 Again : Another pra£tlce akin to thofe mentioned 
 above, and which has an apparent tendency to hinder 
 men from judging for themfclves, is that of Creed- 
 making ; fetting up human tefts of orthodoxy, inftead of 
 the infallible word of God •, and making other terms 
 of chriflian communion than thofe explicitly pointed 
 out in the gofpel. For any man, or any fct of men 
 whatever, to do thus, is plainly to arrogate to them- 
 fclves the right of judging for their neighbours -, and 
 to deter people, as far as they are able, from feeing 
 with their own eyes, and judging even of themfelves 
 what is right. Indeed this practice is not fo criminal 
 as that of perfccuting and murthering men for their re- 
 hgious fcntiments : for any reafonablc man had rather 
 
 be 
 
6o 'The Right and Duty 
 
 be the objecfl of a thoufand anathema's than have his 
 Jife, or even his temporal fubftance taken from him. 
 But fbll, if ihefe failh-maker\ I am fpeaking of are 
 fo companionate as only to give their brethren to the 
 devil^ for not fubmittting to their do(flrines and de- 
 crees, even this has fome tendency to intimidate them ; 
 cfpeclally fuch as are naturally of a weak and pufillani- 
 mous make. For when a creed is begun, or eked out 
 ■with feveral reverend, ecclefiaftical curfes ; and when 
 it is confidently affirmed, that unkfs a man believe 
 faithfully Qvexy article contained in n^he /hall without doubt 
 perijh everlajlingly ; it cannot be fuppofed, that the ge- 
 nerality of people fhould ever have the courage to he- 
 fitate in the leaft concerning the truth of it, although 
 it may be really an affront to common fenfe, a medJy 
 ofnonfenfe and contradi(5lion. Nor are there wanting 
 innumerable inftances of perfons, who have, in this 
 way, been firfl frighted out of their fenfes, and then 
 into the belief of the groffeft abfurdities •, and paying 
 a facred regard to them under the notion of their being 
 orthodox, foul faving truths and divine myfteries — fuch 
 as are not to be examined with reafon, but to be believed 
 and adored without it. 
 
 It is indeed pretended that all thefe different me- 
 thods of keeping men from exercifing their own rati- 
 onal faculties, are entered upon with a very pious and 
 godly defign •, and with an holy zeal to keep herefics 
 out of the church •, to reclaim thofe that are unfound 
 in the faith \ and to preferve the chriftian verity pure 
 and undefiled. But the proud, domineering, unchriftian 
 fpirit that has been betrayed by thefe holy murtherers, 
 robbers, and faith-impofers, leaves us but little room to 
 think that they were adluated by a real concern for 
 the interefts of chriftianity, and the falvation of men's 
 fouls. However, to let alone their views and intentions 
 which we have little or nothing to do with, thefe prac- 
 tices themfeh'es are unjulliliable : they are imperious 
 
 an 4 
 
of private yudgment* 6 1 
 
 and tyrannical : and contrary to the fpirit and dodlrines 
 of the gofpel. They are an infringement upon thofe 
 rights cf confcience, which ought to be facred ; they 
 have an apparent tendency to prevent all improve- 
 ments in religious knowledge, and to entail ignorance, 
 error, and luperftition upon future generations. What 
 improvements can we fuppofe would have been made 
 in the feveral arts and fciences comparable to the pre- 
 fent, had the ftudy of them been incumbered with 
 fuch reftraints, and almoft infuperable difHculties ? 
 
 Let us fuppofe, for example, that fome great Mo- 
 narch a few centuries ago, together with the Philofophers 
 of that age, had interpofed with their authority in the 
 fciences : Let us fuppofe that an oath of fupremacy to 
 the King^ or ^eeft, had been required ; and devifed in 
 fuch terms as thefe — Thai the King or ^een for the 
 time beings is the fupreme Head of the fociety [or church^ 
 
 of Philofophers Ve^ed with all power to exercife all 
 
 7)?a}7)ier of philofophical difcipline : Jnd other phi- 
 Jofophical perfons have no tnanner of jurifdihion 
 philofophical, but by and under the King's or ^een*s 
 moff Excellent Majejly -, who hath full power and autho- 
 rity to hear and detennine all manner of caufes philofo- 
 phical, and to reform and correal all philofophical er- 
 rors^ herefies^ enormities and abufes whatfoever^ within 
 his^ or her realm. Let us fuppofe farther that phi- 
 lofophical creeds and articles of faith had been com- 
 pofed, and authoritatively iffued out with certain 
 minatory and damnatory claufes -, and that they had 
 been regiftred among the other laws of the land. 
 Let us fuppofe farther, that philofophical courts had 
 been erefted, where hereticks in philofophy^ and all 
 vonfubfcribers to the philofophy by law eftablifhed^ were 
 to be arraigned, haraflfed, fined, whipr, hanged or 
 burnt, I fay, if fuch meafures as thefe had been 
 entred upon a few centuries ago, muft we not fup- 
 pofe that they would have been very abfurd and in- 
 jurious ,^ 
 
62 "The Right a7id Duty 
 
 jurious ? Mufl we not Tappofe alfo, that they would 
 have damped the grcateft and moft enterprizing Geni- 
 «j's •, and fo have been a means of keeping the world 
 in ignorance ? Would not this have prevented thofe 
 valuable improvements in natural knowledge, which 
 the world is blcft with at prefent ? Had fuch me- 
 thods been taken feafonabiy, might it not have 
 been Herefy ftill, to think this earth a globe ? to 
 deny that the fun revolves about us once every twenty- 
 four hours ? or to queftion the equality of the fun 
 and moon ? And might not the orthodox philofophy 
 at this day, have pofllbly been that concerning the 
 great- cow and tortoife, &c ? In fhort, we cannot think 
 of fupporting and propagating the fciences, by dint 
 of authority^ without fmiling. And it is equally ridi- 
 culous to attempt to propagate religious knowledge 
 and the dodrines of the gofpel, by authority. And 
 every one that pleafes may eafily fee what attempts 
 of this nature have ufualiy ilTued in •, and what muft 
 riecelTarily be the effe(5l of them, viz. ignorance and 
 hypocrify. Error, as well as iniquity^ may be ejiahlijhei 
 by a law. And when it is fo, a man muft either 
 fubfcribe to it, contrary to his fentiments ; or feri- 
 oufly embrace it for truth : A fad dilemma ! when 
 a man is thus forced to be a knave or a fool ! Man- 
 kind in general feem to be quite indolent enough, 
 backward enough to examine into moral and religi- 
 ous fubjefts, without thofe unnatural reftraints which 
 are put upon them by the fetting up of authority 
 in matters of faith. There arc indeed fome foolifh 
 and conceited men who take a pleafure in being fin- 
 gular in their opinions ; and who never fuppofe they 
 think freely enough^ till they are run wild and mad ; 
 and have rejeded every thing that others have be- 
 lieved before. But thefe inftances are not frequent. 
 Men are generally too prone to follow the multitude, 
 to embrace implicitly the tenets of their fpiritual ijt^ 
 Jlrutfors, their fore-fathers, their good mothers and nurfes ; 
 
 and 
 
of private 'Judgment. 63 
 
 and to fall in with the opinions of the rich and pow- 
 erful, which is the road to wealth and preferment. 
 And there is really much more need of incouraging 
 freedom of thought, and an inquifitive turn of mind, 
 by handfome gratuities ; than there is of keeping 
 people in the old beaten track by the terror of penal 
 laws, gibbets, inquifitions, fpiritual courts, and carnal 
 curfes. Whatever is pretended, thefe compulfive me- 
 thods were not thofe by which the truth as it is in 
 Jefus, was at firft propagated and defended : neither 
 can they be of any fervice to the caufe of truth and re- 
 ligion at prefent. A pecuniary mulft may impoverifii 
 a man in this world ; but it cannot make him rich 
 
 in faith^ and an heir of the Kingdom The rack 
 
 may torture his limbs ; but it cannot draw out the 
 fting from a guilty confcience.— ' — A dark and fil- 
 thy dungeon may throw us into a mortal diftemper ; 
 but it cannot bring light and health into our minds, 
 and make our fouls profper——^ A burning faggot may 
 fet our bodies in a light blaze ; but it has no tendency 
 to illuminate the underftanding. To attempt to dra^ 
 goon men into found orthodox Chriftians^ is as unnatu- 
 ral and fruitlefs as to attempt to dragoon them into 
 good poets^ phyficians or mathematicians. A blow with 
 a club may fradture a man's fkull ; but I fuppofe he 
 will not think and reafon the more clearly for that ; 
 though he may pofTibly believe the more orthodosly^ 
 according to the opinions of fome. And upon this 
 account it muft be confefled that thofe who make ufe 
 of thefe methods to propagate their fentiments, aft 
 very prudently : for their doflrines are generally fuch 
 as are much more readily embraced by a man after 
 his brains are knocked out, than while he continues in 
 his fenfes, and of a found mind. 
 
 I fhall conclude with the words of the apoftle 
 Paul to Timothy, in which he points out the method 
 of defending and propagating the dodtrines of the 
 
 gofpel 
 
64 
 
 Hoe Right and Duty 
 
 gofpel — T^he fervant of the Lord, fays he, mufi not 
 Jhive ; hut be gentle unto all men •, apt to teach -, pati- 
 ent ; in meeknefs^ injlru£ling thofe that oppofe them/elves, 
 if God per adventure will give them repentance to the ac- 
 knowledging of the truth. 
 
 3^^^^g? 
 
 SERMON 
 
(65) 
 
 S E R M O N IV. 
 
 tj$ tffl rj» eji e& rS:> «$» tJl> rj* ej^ rw wli cj» cm ej* rj* cfc fj> rj* *$» fj> rjfl cA> rAj rti rt» rtt 
 
 Objedlions confidered. 
 
 »Ti (JJ i)T4 cJSl cTj cjl^ ijl^ (^ ip t)r> cTj era tlT* OTj c7<« c^^ (|& 
 
 LUKE XII. 54- 5y. 
 
 Jnd he faid alfo to the people. When ye fee a cloud, rife 
 
 out of the wefi, ftraightway ye fay, There cometh a 
 
 fhower ; and fo it is. 
 And when ye fee the fouth wind blow, ye fay. There 
 
 will be heat ; and it cometh to pafs. 
 Ye hypocrites, ye can difcern the face of the fky, and of 
 
 the earth : but bow is it, that ye do not difcern this 
 
 time ? 
 Tea, and why even of your felves judge ye not what is 
 
 right ? 
 
 HAVING, in the preceeding difcourfe, proved 
 the right and duty of free inquiry and private 
 judgment in matters of religion, by direft and 
 plain arguments both from reafon and revelation, there 
 v/as, perhaps, no occafion for my exercifing your pati- 
 ence any further, by entering upon a confideration of the 
 obje^lions that have been raifed againft this Do6lrine. 
 For no objecflions can fignify any thing againft a doc- 
 trine once proved true in fa6l : However, fincc fome 
 men may think themfeives ill ufed, unlefs their argu- 
 ments are diftindlly confidered, I Hiall devote the follow- 
 ing hour to examine the principal objedions againft the 
 
 K doflrine of 
 
66 OhjeSlions confidered, 
 
 of the foregoing difcourfe, fetting them in the ftrongeft 
 point of light I am able. The fpiritual tyrants and lord- 
 ly bigots of the earth have indeed triumphed glorioujly^ 
 as though they had gained a mighty vi6tory over free- 
 dom oi" thought, their old and mortal enemy •, and laid 
 her bleeding and gafping at their feet. But whether 
 thefe are the triumphs of real heroes^ or only the vain 
 gafconades and TV Deums of imaginary conquerors^ will, 
 perhaps, be eafy to determine, when we come to take a 
 view of their weapons^ and to fee the manner in which 
 they have employed them. 
 
 I fhall not have much regard to order and method 
 in propofing the obje6lions now to be confidered ; 
 but mention them juft as they prefent themfelves to 
 my mind. And, in the firji place, it may be ob- 
 
 jeded, 
 
 I. " That God himfelf under the mofaic difpenfa-. 
 " tion^ required that idolaters^ and dijfenters from the 
 " ejlablijhed church, fhould be puniflied with death." 
 From hence it may be argued, *' That uncontrouled 
 " liberty in religious matters ought not to be allowed 
 *' of ; but the true church is obliged in duty to reftrain 
 " and correft infidels and fchifmaticks ; and all in ge- 
 " neral that fhe judges unfound in the faith." 
 
 To this it may be anfwered, 
 
 ift. That we cannot argue from what was lawful un- 
 der the jewijh oeconomy, to what is lawful fince that 
 is abolifhed, and fuperfeded by another fo different from 
 it as the christian. There might be, and doubtlefs were, 
 fome peculiar reafons for authorizing and enjoining fuch 
 a difcipline then, which do not take place at prefent. 
 This might be as peculiar to Judaifm as circumcifion^ 
 or the facrificing of beafts, &c. And in reality it does 
 not any more follow from the Jews being commanded 
 
 to 
 
OhjeSlions confiderecL 6 7 
 
 to extirpate idolaters, that chriftians may deftroy hea- 
 thens and hercticks, than it does from Abraham\ being 
 commanded to facrifice his fon^ that all -parents may and 
 ought to facrifice their children now. 
 
 It is to be remembred, that Judaifm was at lead as 
 much a political as a religious inftitution. The Jews 
 had God for their immediate king and lawgiver, both in 
 church and fiate. Their civil and eccleftajiical polity 
 were blended together •, and being derived from the 
 fame fource, every violation of the Jaw of Mofes might 
 be confidered and punifhed as an offence againft the 
 ftate, in a greater or lei's degree : And idolatry being in 
 thefe circiimftances equivalent to high treafsn, it is not 
 ftrange that a capital punifhment fliould be annexed to 
 it. But the cafe is much altered fince the promulgation 
 of the chriftian religion. Chrift's kingdom is not at all 
 a kingdom of this world. It is wholly a religious inftitu- 
 tion. The laws, the penalties, the rewards of it, are 
 wholly of a fpiritual nature : And men are to be won 
 over to it, and kept in it, only by fpiritual and moral 
 means. 
 
 But idly. If the true church ought to punlfh fuch as 
 fhe looks upon to be erroneous, heretical or fchifmatical, 
 then a war muft immediately commence in Chrijlendom -, 
 and continue *till all are deftroyed, but one party : For each 
 fed: thinks itfelf in the right •, and that all the refl are 
 tin6lured with herefy : This muft certainly be the confe- 
 quence of this maxim, that the right of ufing violence 
 and perfecution is the prerogative of the true church ; 
 which one would think fufHcient to convince any reafon- 
 able man, that the maxim is falfe. Befides, from whence 
 comes this doctrine, that true orthodox chriftians have 
 a right to perfecute hercticks and unbelievers ? (i. e, to 
 be more wicked and immoral than hercticks and unbeliev- 
 ers ?) The fcripture, indeed, (and experience very of- 
 ten) teaches us, that thofe who will live godly in Christ 
 
 ye/us, 
 
68 ObjeSiions conjidered, 
 
 Jefus, tnufi fufFer pcrfecution ; but not, that they muft 
 ferfecute ethers. 
 
 But perhaps it will be objefted in the fecond place, 
 
 2. " That our Lord himfelf required his apoftles to 
 '* ufe external force, in order to bring men over to the 
 " true faith, if gentler methods failed of fuccefs/* The 
 objedlion will be taken from the parable of the /upper, 
 Luke 14. When the guefts that were bidden, refufed 
 the invitation, the mafter of the feaft is reprefented as 
 faying to his fervant, vcr. 23. Go out into the high ways 
 and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my houfe 
 may be filled. " Now as the fervant was commanded to 
 " compel the guefts to come to the fupper, fo the apo- 
 " ftles were injoined to ufe external violence, if necefTa- 
 " ry, in order to bring men over to a belief of the gof- 
 " pel ; from whence it follows that men are not left to 
 " their freedom in religious matters." The 
 
 I ft Thing I would obferve with relation to this ob- 
 jeftion is, that great caution is neceflary in the applica- 
 tion of parables and allegories, left the fimilitude Ihould 
 be carried farther than was originally intended. Nor is 
 it by any means fafe to build fuch a do6lrine, (or rather 
 fuch a pra6lice) as that of compulfion in religious mat- 
 ters, but upon the moft plain and exprefs command. 
 
 2dly, This parable, at moft, only authorizes the com- 
 pelling of infidels to embrace the gofpel : And fo it has 
 nothing to do with the controverfies amongft the differ- 
 ent fe6ls of chriftians. 
 
 3dly, Although it ftiould be allowed, that this pa- 
 rable injoined the infpired apoftles to compel men, by 
 external violence, to embrace chriftianity, it will not fol- 
 low that uninfpired men fince, men who have no commif- 
 iion immediately from heaven, have a right to do the fame. 
 
 4thly, 
 
OhjeEiions confidered. 6 9 
 
 4thly, It is to be obferved, that, according to the pa- 
 rable, the perfons to be compelled are not the fame who 
 had before obftinately rejecfted the kind invitation given 
 them ; but fuch as had not yet been fent tc. For when 
 the mafter fends out his fervant a fecond time, to compel 
 people to come in, it follows— For I Jay wjio you thai 
 tbofe men who were hidden, jhall not tafte of my fupper. 
 So that even according to this parable, thofe who will 
 not be perfwaded by gentle methods, are to be given 
 over, and not to have any farther means ufed with them. 
 From whence it follows, 
 
 5thly, That none at all are to be compelled by ex- 
 ternal violence : for we cannot fuppofe that force fhould 
 be applied firfl: of all j and before other methods prove 
 inefiedual, if at all. 
 
 6thly, Either the apoftles did not underftand this 
 as a command to ufe violence in propagating chriftian- 
 ity, or they neglefted to obey it -, neither of which can 
 be fuppofed, had there really been fuch a command. 
 They never attempted to ufe force -, but declared, on 
 the contrary, that the weapons of their warfare were not 
 carnal, hut mighty through God to the pulling down of 
 ftrong holds, &c. 2 Cor. x. 4. 
 
 ythly. That this cannot be the fenfe of the parable^ 
 appears from hence, that it is, in the nature of the thing,^ 
 impoflible to force men really to believe the gofpel, and 
 become good chriftians, though cne had more dragoojis 
 to employ in this pious work, than Louis the XlVth lent 
 to convert the Hugonots. Faith and repentance are the 
 work of reafon and the fpirit of God j and cannot be 
 wrought in a man by a cudgel, a fword, or a gallows. 
 
 Sthly, Were this in itfelf poflible, how could twelve 
 unarmed apollles, who were allowed to carry only a Jlaff 
 
 wich 
 
70 ObjeEiions conjidered. 
 
 with them in their journies, convert the whole world by 
 force of arms ? 
 
 pthly, And lajlly \ After all the flourifli that has been 
 made with this paflfage by Roman- Catholicks ^ and popijh 
 Proteffants^ the word we render compel^ as often fignifies 
 a morale as a phyftcal compulfion. And the fubje6l here 
 fpoken of, neceflarily determines it to fuch a fignification 
 in this place. It is as if the mafter of the feajl had faid 
 to his fervant, " Since the perfons before invited to my 
 " flipper, [the Jews'] refiife to come, go to others, [the 
 " Gentile nations] and give them the fame invitation : 
 *' And ufe the greateft importunity with them ; reafon 
 *' with them, exhort and perfwade them ; ufe all ra- 
 *' tional methods to convince them, and bring them 
 !' in." 
 
 But I muft proceed to another objedlion : And per- 
 haps one may be urged in fome fuch manner as this— 
 
 3. "If every man is allowed to think and judge for 
 " himfelf, the confequence will be that many will fall 
 " into erroneous and hurtful opinions. This docflrine 
 " opens a door for herefies to enter into the church : it- 
 *' gives men a liberty to trample upon all our creeds and 
 " confefTions of faith ; to depart from the doflrines of 
 ** their pious fore-fathers ; and to defpife their fpiritual 
 " guides. And what will this ifTue in, but the over- 
 •' throw of all religion." To this objedion I would 
 anfwer, 
 
 ift. That it does not follow from men's being at 
 liberty to judge for themfelves, and to chufe their own 
 religion, that they are at liberty to judge wrong, and to 
 rejed: the true religion, let it be what it will. If they 
 are obliged to judge and chufe, for themfelves at all, 
 they are obliged to judge truly and juftly, and to rejedl 
 only what is wrong. The right of private judgmeni" 
 
 does 
 
ObjeEiions co7iftdered. 
 
 I 
 
 does not imply, that it is indifferent whether a man judges 
 truly, or not, any more than a man's right of difpofino- 
 of his own property, implits that he may as innocently 
 fquander it away in rioting and drunkennefs, as pay his 
 debts with it, or appropriate it to charitable ufes. As 
 a man has not a right to do what is wrong with his own 
 fubftance, fo neither has he any, to judge wrong with 
 his own underflanding. He is under a moral obligation 
 to rejecft error, and to embrace truth, as far as he is able 
 to detedt the former, and to difcern the latter. 
 
 2dly, As the right of private judgment, does not 
 leave men at liberty to judge wrong, and to embrace a 
 falfe religion ; fo neither has the exercifing that right 
 any tendency to miflead men, as the objedtion fuppofes. 
 The tendency of it is direiftly the contrary way. Free 
 examination, weighing arguments for^ and againjl^ with 
 impartiality, is the way to find the truth. Who ima- 
 gines that free inquiry into philofophical fubje(5ls, has 
 any tendency to lead men into a wrong idea of the na- 
 tural world ? No one was ever fo infatuated as to afTert 
 this. And it is in all refpefts as improbable, that free 
 enquiry into religious fubjefls fhould lead us into wrong 
 notions concerning the moral world. One would think 
 that a man who had received his religious principles upon 
 mature and deliberate confideration, and fo had in his 
 own mind rational arguments to fupport them, could 
 not have the leaft apprehenfion of their fuffering any 
 thing by being thoroughly fcanned and examined to the 
 bottom. Error^and impoflure fly from the light, like 
 the owl and bat : But truth and honcffy, like the noble 
 e^gle^ face to the fun. The caufe of error and fuperfti- 
 tion may fuffer by a critical examination ; its fecurity is 
 to lurk in the dark : But the true religion flouriflies the 
 more-, the more people exercife their right of private 
 judgment. This is apparent : And therefore it is no 
 uncharitablenefs to fuppofe, that all who arc backward 
 to have their doftrines called in queflion, and to fland a 
 
 fair 
 
72 ObjeBions conjidered, 
 
 fair trial at the bar of impartial reafon, have at leaft 
 fome fecret fufpicion in their own minds, that they will 
 not lland the ted, and come forth as gold when it is tried, 
 but be found no better than drofs. We pay but a bad 
 compliment to our religion, when we cry out that it is in 
 danger, if men are left to the free exercife of their own 
 rational faculties in judging of it. A man that is con- 
 Icious his caufe at court is good, chufes it fhould be tried 
 by the moft fevere and critical eye. But he that either 
 knows, or fufpeds, he has a dirty one, had much rather 
 that people would fpare thcmfelves the trouble of exa- 
 mining into its merits, and take his own word for the 
 goodnefs of it. But 
 
 3dly, As to the lamentable havock which the objec- 
 tion fuppofes will be made amongft our creeds and for- 
 mularies, if the dodrine of free inquiry fliould prevail ; 
 this is, doubtlefs, a very natural confequence : for this 
 would probably prove fatal, at leaft to many articles 
 contained in them. For it is plain that many of them 
 are fluffed with the moft ridiculous jargon, and are as 
 contrary to fcripture, as they are to common fenfe. But 
 this, inftead of being an objeftion againft free inquiry, is 
 one of the ftrongeft arguments for it. If thefe creeds 
 and formularies were true, agreeable to reafon and reve- 
 Jation, the more thoroughly they are examined the bet- 
 ter ; for then their truth would appear : But if they 
 are falfe, it isftill beft they fhould be examined, in order 
 to their being exploded. It is no matter how old, or 
 how new they are. Truth does not die with age, and 
 then revive again, as is fabled of the phanix : it flou- 
 rifhes in immortal youth. Error may indeed become 
 venerable and gray-headed with length of time : but a 
 falfliood of a thoufand years ftanding, remains as much a 
 falfliood as ever, although it may have been confecrated 
 by the church, and tranfmitted to pofterity in a creed. 
 Whatever truths it may have had to keep it company ; 
 -and however it may have been preferved amidft the 
 
 ftorms 
 
Ohjeciions co?iJidered. n x 
 
 ftorms that have beat upon the church, it is only like 
 one of Noah's unclean beajls preferved in the ark^ amongft 
 thofe of a pure, and more ufeful nature. There is no- 
 thing more foolifli and fuperftitious than a veneration for 
 ancient creeds and doflrines, as fuch ; and nothing 
 more unworthy a reafonable creature, than to value 
 principles by their age, as fomc do their wines. But, in- 
 deed, this is as common as it is ridiculous. With many 
 people, *' Antiquity ! Antiquity ! Antiquity !" is the 
 cry : And, " Who will be fo hardy as to difpute the 
 *' truth of what was believed a thoufand years ago ?'* 
 Juft as if what was falfe formerly, were not fo (till ; 
 but might be ripened and refined by age into a do5lrine 
 of grace. Moft things are, indeed, changed by time. 
 'Time makes the child a man : Time makes the ignorant 
 wife : Time often turns a friend into a foe, and a foe into 
 a friend : The fajhion of the world paffeth away by time : 
 And time Ihall change the whole face of nature. But 
 truth, like the Father of lights, is without variabknefSy 
 or Jhadow of turning. 
 
 To proceed, 
 
 4thly, It is fuppofed in the laft mentioned objeftion, 
 that freedom of inquiry will naturally bring our Jpiritual 
 guides into contempt, and weaken their authority. To 
 this I reply. That it cannot poflibly be of any difadvan- 
 tage to the fober and rational part of the clergy •, but 
 has a tendency to make them more cfteemcd. But as 
 to the vain and proud ; the ignorant and affuming ; the 
 enthufiaftic and fuperftitious -, it has doubtlefs a natural 
 tendency to bring thefe into contempt : And the fooner 
 the better, that fo they may not have fo much power 
 to do mifchief. Thefe are the perfons that are generally 
 the moft averfe to people's feeing and judging for thcm- 
 felves : And the reafon why they are fo, is too apparent 
 to need mentioning. But 
 
 L 5thly, 
 
7 4 ObjeBions co?iJidered. 
 
 5thly, And laftly^ Upon fuppofition that the caufe of 
 truth and real religion, might fuffer in fome refpeds, 
 by perfons exerclfing cheir right of private judgment ; 
 yet this is no juft reafon for denying them fuch a liber- 
 ty. This right is given them by God and nature, and 
 the gofpel of Chrift : And no man has a right to de- 
 prive another of it, under a notion that he will make an 
 ill ufe of it, and fall into erroneous opinions. We may 
 as well pick our neighbour's pocket, for fear he fhould 
 fpend his money in debauchery, as take from him his 
 right of judging for himfelf, and chufing his religion, 
 for fear he fhould judge amifs and abufe his liberty. 
 
 But I muft haflen to another obje6lion, which is fre- 
 quently urged with a great deal of confidence, and very 
 little reafon. It is near akin to that laft mentioned ; 
 and may be put into fome fuch form as this, 
 
 4. " If all are left at liberty to chufe their own rell- 
 *' gion, and to enjoy it unmolefted,vwe fhall have innu- 
 " merable [eUs fpringing up amongfl us -, which tends 
 " to confufion^ and deflroys the peace and unity of the 
 " church. It is therefore expedient that the governors 
 " of the church fhould injoin upon all, the belief of certain 
 " articles of faith, and the obfervation of certain modes 
 " and rites of worlhip. Without fome common rule of 
 " faith, worfhip and difcipline, beyond what the fcrip- 
 *' tures contain, there can be no fufhcient bond of union 
 " amongft chriftians. And fo the church muft inevi- 
 " tably be crumbled to pieces ; whereas there ought to 
 " be 710 fchifm in that fpiritual hody^ 
 
 With relation to this objedlion I would obferve, 
 
 ift. That if any rule of faith, worfhip and difti- 
 pline, befides that which our Saviour and his apoflles 
 have left us, be neceflary in order to the peace and good 
 government of the church, then the church had no peace 
 
 and 
 
ObjeElions coitfidered, n r 
 
 and was not well governed during the apoflolic age. 
 For chriftians had then no common rule of faith, worflv.p 
 and difcipHne befides that which they received from our 
 Lord himfclf, or his apoflles, who were under the extra- 
 ordinary influence and diredlion of his fpint. Which 
 rule is tranfmitted to us in the writings of the new 
 teftament i and isfufficient now, for the regulation of the 
 church, if it was /Z?^«. That this was fufBcient then, is not 
 denied ; and therefore it cannot be deficient at pre- 
 fent. But 
 
 zdly. If any farther regulations had been necefTary in 
 order to preferve the peace and unity of the church, it 
 is ftrange that neither our blefTed Saviour, who loved the 
 church and gave himfelf for it, nor the apoftles, who liv'd 
 and dy'd in the fervice of the church, fhould have taken 
 more care to provide for its peace and profperity. Can 
 we fuppofe that they did their work to the halves, and 
 left others to finifh and perfedl it ? 
 
 3dly, Who gave the governors of t!ie church, any 
 authority in matters of faith, worfhip and difcipline ? 
 Do we find one word of it in fcripture ? No. The 
 church of Chrift, as fuch, has no legiflator befides Chrift 
 himfelf, whom the Father has made head over all things to 
 the church. And whatever church that be, whofe rulers 
 have any power of legiflation, fo far forth it is not the 
 church of Chrifl. For Chrift equally forbids all his 
 difcl^les toafTume authority over their brethren ; and to 
 fubmit to any who fliall arrogate to themfelves any au- 
 thority in matters of a religious concern. 
 
 4thly, and laflly. As no order of men has any au- 
 thority to enjoin the belief of any articles of faith ; or 
 the ufe of any modes of worfliip, not expre.ly and ex- 
 plicitly pointed out in the fcriptures •, fo neither has the 
 enjoining any fuch, a tendency to preferve tiie peace and 
 harmony ol the church i but dircdly the conLrary. The 
 
 confufion 
 
76 OhjeSiions conjidered, 
 
 confiifion and diforder that have hitherto been in the 
 church, have not arifen from chriftians exercifmg their 
 own judgment, and worfliipping God according to their 
 confciences \ ( though in a manner fomevvhat different 
 from others ) but from the pride and infolence of thofe 
 who deny their chriftian brethren this liberty -, and who 
 undertake to prefcribe authoritatively to others what they 
 fhall believe, and how they fhall worihip. Were it not 
 for the turbulent, domineering fpirit of fomeEcclefiafticks, 
 who defire more power than Chrift faw fit to intruft 
 them with, there would be but little of that wrangling 
 and difcord which have hitherto difturbed the peace of 
 the church. The divifions and contentions that have 
 hitherto happened, and flill fubfift in the chriftian 
 church, are all, in a manner, owing to the unchriftian 
 temper and conducft of thofe who could not con- 
 tent themfelves with fcripture orthodoxy^ with the fim- 
 ple and fpiritual worihip of the Father, enjoined 
 by our Saviour, and with the platform of church difci- 
 pline contained in the new teftament ; but muft go to 
 coining new articles of faith, new modes and rites of 
 worfhip, making new canons, and prefcribing new rules 
 for the regulation of the church. It is about thefe com- 
 paratively novel inventions, that the governors and 
 fathers of the church, ( as fome affe6t to call them ) have 
 generally been more warm and zealous, than about an 
 holy and godly life. They have ordinarily given pretty 
 good quarter to the moft vicious and debauched of 
 men, provided their own authority was acknowledged -, 
 their own peculiar whimfies embraced ; and their decent 
 ( or rather ridiculous ) forms and ceremonies werereligioufly 
 obferved. But the moft peaceable, fober and virtuous 
 perfons, who would not fubmit to their tyrannical yoke, 
 have all along been treated with contempt and inhuma- 
 nity, as being hereticks, fcifmaticks, &c. And all this^ 
 perhaps only for not pradlifing fuch rites, as have no 
 more relation to chriftianicy than telling beeds, or cracking 
 the fingers ,, and for not believing fuch dodlrines as have 
 
 nO' 
 
ObjeSlions conftdered, n n 
 
 no more to do with the gofpel of Jefus Chrifl, than the 
 idle ftories of bell and the dragon^ or Tobit and his dog. 
 Here is the true fonrce of religious difcord. Had 
 Ecclefiaflicks, inftead of lording il our God's heri- 
 tage^ and fetting up their own authority in the room of 
 Chrift's, put on the meeknefs and gentlenefs of Chrijl ; 
 and feta better example to the flock; had they endeavoured 
 to remove all ftumbling blocks out of the way, indead of 
 infifting upon indifferent things as necefTary terms of 
 chriftian communion •, had they taught and pradlifed the 
 weightier matters of law, inftead of fpending their zeal 
 upon trifles ; had they taught mutual forbearance and 
 charity, inftead of fomenting a furious parry fpirit, and 
 exciting ignorant bigots to rail at fober peaceable chri- 
 ftians ; had they done thus, the peace and harmony of 
 the church might have been very well preferved, without 
 ireeds and formularies, or an exa(5l uniformity in faith 
 and worftiip. Our bleffed Saviour and his apoftles, it is 
 plain, have left matters fo that there may be a confiderable 
 latitude and difference in the fentiments of good chri- 
 ftians, and in the manner of their worftiip. But His am- 
 baffadors, and their fucceffors, it feems, have found 
 out that this is a great defeft. Accordingly they under- 
 take to fupply it, under the notion of preferving the 
 peace of the church. And this is what has hitherto 
 been, and muft continue to be, the caufe of angry de- 
 bates and endlefs contentions ; a means of dividing the 
 church, in ftead of uniting it ; and of infpiring chriftians 
 with mutual rage, inftead of mutual love and brotherly 
 affedion. 
 
 It may be objecfled, in the fifth place, 
 
 5. " That the doftrine of private judgment Is in- 
 " confiftent with that of a ftanding miniftry in the chri- 
 " ftian church, appointed by Chrift to inftruifl people in 
 " religious matters. An order of men was divinely in- 
 *' fticuted to do the office of inftruilors^ or teachers in the 
 
 *' church ' 
 
yS OhjeEiions conjtdered. 
 
 church : Confequently there muft be others whofc 
 duty it is to learn of them^ and not to pretend to a 
 right of judging for themfelves. It is incumbent 
 upon the Laiety to go to their fpiritual guides ; and 
 to receive their inftrud:ions with humiUty and rever- 
 ence, without pretending to difpute the truth of what 
 they aflert in the name of the Lord.'* This, we 
 know, is the manner in which many exprefs themfelves 
 upon this fubjefV. And the pofitive, dogmatical air 
 •with which moft of our pulpit-difcourfes are delivered is 
 a fufficient proof, that thefe fentiments are adopted by 
 the generality of thofe that ftile themfelves the amb^^Jfa- 
 dors of Jefus Chrijl. But to this objedion it may be 
 anfwered in the firft place, 
 
 ifl. That, allowing there isfomewhere in the chriftian 
 <:hurch,a fet ofMen whofe office it is to teach authoritative- 
 ly, and by divine right, ftill people muft judge for them- 
 felves who thefe men are. Almoft all publick teachers of 
 religion pretend a divine right to be fo. But they do not 
 all teach the fame dodlrines. How then fhall we know 
 whom to chufe for our fpiritual inftruflor, without exa- 
 mining into, and judging upon, the claims of thofe who 
 demand our attention, and the direftion of our under- 
 ftandinss and confciences ? But 
 
 'o^ 
 
 2ly. Supposing we have found who thefe perfons 
 are, to whom this authority is given, it does not follow 
 that they are to be /;;7/»/?V///)' believed in every thing they 
 fay, or even- in any thing. No man is to be believed 
 implicitly, unlefs he is infallible : but infallibility is not 
 neceffarily connecSted with a divine right to teach. Al- 
 though it lliou'd be allowed, that kings reign by divine 
 right, in the highefl lenfe pleaded for by the advocates 
 for 'pajfive obedience and non-refiftence^ ftill it is poflible that 
 they may make an ill ufe of their power j command 
 things exprefly foibiddcn by God, and forbid what God 
 has injoined, in richer of thefe cafes, it will be allowed 
 
 that 
 
ObjeSlions conjidered, ^g 
 
 that they have no t'tle to the aflive obedience of their 
 fubjeds. So alfo, he that has a divine right to inftrudl 
 others in religion, may pofTibly fpeak falfe, either ig- 
 norantly or with defign : And if he does fo, no one will 
 be fo extravagant as to fay, that he ought to be beUeved. 
 God has given him a right to teach ; but it is only to 
 teach truth ; if, therefore, he teaches for do^rines the 
 commandments ofmenyUnd lies, for the gofpel of Chrift, he 
 exceeds his commifTion •, and has no more right to demand 
 our afTentjthan any other liar,or deceiver v/ho\sunconfecrat- 
 ed. So that let us carry our idea of the authority of chrifti- 
 an teachers ever fo high, yet if we flop fhort of infallibity, 
 we are in reafon obliged to examine all that they fay, 
 and either to receive or rcjcdt ir, as evidence of its 
 truth does, or does not appear. Even the apoftles them- 
 felves ( who were divinely authorized teachers in a much 
 higher and more proper fenfe than any fet of men can 
 pretend to be at this day ) never pretended ro fuch a right 
 of di(5lating to others what they fhould believe and do, 
 as interfered with the right of private judgment. Chrt- 
 ftian teachers in after ages are ( or at leaft ought to be ) 
 only commentators upon the fcriptures : and we cannot 
 fuppofe their commentaries have greater weight and 
 authority than the test itfelf. 
 
 A man of fuperior knowledge and integrity may be of 
 great advantage in a chriftian fociety, by helping hrs 
 brethren and neighbours to a right underffanding of the 
 fcriptures, although he be not infallible, and although 
 nothing he advances is to be received for truth without 
 examination and proof. We have authorized profelfors 
 and teachers of laiv^ t^ff^t philofophy^ &c. who are 
 doubtlefs helpful to fuch as devote themfelves to the 
 iludy of thefe fciences. But who ever imagined that the 
 end of their inftitution was authoritatively to didatc 
 what is true in their refpedlive provinces, in fuch a fenfe 
 as to preclude examination ; and to render it unnec< (Tary 
 for their pupils and auditors to inquire into the founda- 
 tion 
 
8o ObjeSimis conjidered. 
 
 tion of what they aflfert ? This is fo far from being the 
 cafe, that *tis confeffed their chief bufinefs is to open and 
 enlarge the minds of their fcholars -, to propofe reafons 
 and arguments to their underftandings, and to endea- 
 vour to make them apprehend their force -, and in this 
 way to bring them acquainted with the fciences to which 
 they refpeflively apply themfelves. A mathematician 
 would think his pupil had made but a fmall proficiency, 
 if he only believed upon authority, all the propofitions 
 in Euclid^ and other books of the fame kind, without 
 feeing what principles they were grounded upon, or be- 
 ing able to demonftrate them himfelf. And as the bu- 
 finefs of an inftrudor is not to inforce certain 
 dogma's purely by dint of authority ; fo the bu- 
 finefs of a learner is not to receive for truth whatever 
 his inftrudtor in any fcience advances as fuch ; but to 
 exercife his own intellectual powers, and to enter into the 
 reafons and grounds of what is taught, and to receive 
 nothing without evidence. No one imagines that a per- 
 fon's exercifing his own underftanding in this manner, is 
 inconfiftent with the notion of his having fomebody to 
 lead and inftru6t him in any branch of natural know- 
 ledge. And the cafe is much the fame in morals and 
 religion. A man's being an authorized (if you pleafe, a 
 divinely authorized) inftru6lor in religious matters, is no 
 ways inconfiftent with the right of private judgment in 
 others. Indeed if they rejedt the truth when it is fufH- 
 ciently proved, they do it at their peril ; and that, let 
 it be offered by whom it will. But ftill all are left at 
 as much liberty to examine and judge for themfelves, as 
 if there were no public teachers at all, 
 
 I proceed now to the fixth, and laft objedlion I fhall 
 have time to confider. The obje6lion I intend may be 
 put into Ibme fuch form as this — 
 
 6. " Although men may be at liberty to judge 
 ** for themfelves, and to chufe their own religion, when 
 
 the 
 
ObjeEiions conjtdered, 8 1 
 
 *« the civil magijirate does not interpofe with his autho- 
 *' rity i yet when articles of faith have once received a 
 «* royal fandion •, and a particular religion is eftablifli- 
 *' ed by the laws of the land ; then certainly we are 
 " bound to difmifs all our former fcruples of confcience, 
 " and to fubmit to the religion of the ftate. For the a- 
 " poftle has told us expreQy, That the powers that be^ 
 " are ordained of God^ that he that reft^feth the power ^ re- 
 " ftSieth the ordinance of God, and Jhall receive to himfclf 
 *' damnation'^ 
 
 With refpeft to this obje<5lion, I would beg leave to 
 query in the firjl place, whether chriftians are bound in 
 confcience to believe and conform to that religion, what- 
 ever it be, which is eftabliflied by law, in the countries 
 where they refpeftively live ? This is a plain quefiion : 
 and they either are, or are not fo obliged. There is no 
 medium. If they are not fo obliged, but only in cafe 
 they apprehend the cftabliQied religion is agreeable to 
 the word and will of God, this fuppofes a right of pri- 
 vate judgment, and fo gives up the whole point in de- 
 bate. But on the other hand, if they are bound in con- 
 fcience to conform in the manner before exprefled, from 
 hence it follows, that he that lives in Scotland is bound 
 in confcience to be a Prejhyterian ; he that lives in Eng- 
 land to be an Epifcopalian ; he that lives in Italy ^ France, 
 Spain or Portugal to be a Roman Catholick ; he that lives 
 in ConSlantinople muft be a Mahometan ; and he that 
 lives in a Heathen country, muft confcientioufly comply 
 with all the idolatrous rites that are injoined by the civil 
 authority -, and fo be an Heathen in order to obey the 
 gofpel precept concerning fubmifiion to lawful autho- 
 rity. Moreover, upon this fuppofition, it follows that 
 a traveller who has occafion to'pafs through all thofe dif- 
 ferent countries, muft change his religion with his climate. 
 He muft be fucceflively a Presbyterian, Epifcopalian, 
 Papifl^ Mujfulman, and a Heathen \ and then be a good 
 orthodox believer when he comes into Chrijiendom again. 
 
 M Thefc 
 
82 ObjeBmis co?iJidered, 
 
 Thefe confequences are unavoidable upon fuppofition 
 that the iubjcdl ought univerfally to embrace the religion 
 of the fupreme rfiagiftrate. And fome men will not be 
 ihocked at thefe confequences j for nothing pleafes them 
 better than to change their religion as often as they can 
 with conveniency and profit -, oaths and fubfcriptions 
 are, with them, of no fignification ; if they /wear to 
 their own hurt^ it is but to change. They are governed 
 by the fafiiion in their religion, as much as they are in 
 the cut of their cloaths -, they have none but a fbate con- 
 fcience -, and either rail or fmile at thofe who are fo 
 whimfical and fuperftitious as to pretend to have any 
 other. What they have to do in order to know the 
 true religion, is not to inquire into the nature of things, 
 and the infallible oracles of God, but to fearch the Codes 
 and Regijiers and Law-hooks in the country where they 
 iive. However it is to be hoped that fome others do non 
 trifle with their Maker in tliis manner •, but think it of 
 fome importance to know the will of God ; and to obey 
 it confcientioufly, whatever may be the religion by law 
 eflabliflied. Is it not poffible for the command of the 
 civil ma2;iftrate to interfere and clafli with the Jaws of 
 
 CD 
 
 God ? No man will pretend to deny this. Whofe 
 authority, then is to be regarded, that of the King, or 
 that of the Monarch of the univerfe, the King of 
 Kings and Lord of Lords ? Will any man fay it is not 
 our bufinefs as men, and efpecially as chriftians, to judge 
 whether the injunctions of the civil magiftrate may be 
 complied with confiftently with our allegiance and loyalty 
 to the fupreme Majefty of heaven and earth ? And if 
 they cannot, will any one make it aferious queftion, 
 whether it is better to obey God or man ? But 
 
 2dly. I would humbly inquire how any civil majeftrate 
 came by any authority at all in religious matters ; and 
 'who gave hir.i this aulboriiy ? Has the fupreme magiftrate 
 of every nation, as fuch, a right to make a religion for 
 his fubjefl-s ? No. For then a heathen magiftrate, would 
 
 have 
 
ObjeSlioris conjidered, 8l 
 
 have a right to enjoin idolatry and paganifm -, and to 
 punifli all chriftians that came within his territories, if 
 they would not conform. Does the gofpel of Chrift 
 give the chriftian magiftrate authority in matters of faith 
 and worfhip ? No. It fays not a word about any fuch 
 thing. But 
 
 3dly. And laftly here. It is evident beyond all dif- 
 pute, that the apoftle in injoining obedience to the civil 
 magiftrate, had no thought of injoining obedience to him 
 in religious matters. For all the fupreme magiftrates 
 then in the world were Pagan -, and idolatry was the re- 
 ligion by law eftabfiflied. And certainly we cannot fup- 
 pofe that the apoftles could injoin it as a chriftian duty 
 to embrace the eftablifhed religion, when that was di- 
 reftly oppofite to Chriftianity. To have threatned dam- 
 nation to thofe who difobeyed in this cafe, would have 
 been to threaten damnation to themrelves,and to denounce 
 an anathema againft all the chriftians in the world, and 
 even againft Jefus Chrift himfelf •, for thefe were all 
 diflenters from the eftablifhed religion ; and thoufands 
 glorioufly fuff'ered martyrdom, for refufing to comply 
 with the religion of the ftate, and for aflerting that right 
 of private judgment which we are now endeavouring to 
 defend. 
 
 According to St. Paul^ the magiftrate is ordained of 
 Gcdfor a terror to evil doers •, and for a praife to them 
 that do well. His office is to prefervc the liberties and 
 natural rights of his fubjedls, one of the moft important 
 of which rights is that of private judgment, and 
 an unmolefted enjoyment of a man*s own religion, 
 iet it be v/hat it will, provided he is a peaceable fub- 
 jed-, and a good member of fociety. Thcfe and lucli 
 like are the ends for which, according to fcripture, 
 the magiftrate is ordained of God, and not to make a 
 religion for his fubjeifls. This would be to invade, and 
 incroach upon, thofe natural rights of his fubje<fts, which 
 
 it 
 
84 ObjeSiions conjtdered, 
 
 it is his bufinefs to preferve inviolable. As the Jews faid 
 occafionally to Pilate^ We have no king but Cafar % fo 
 chriftians, as fuch, may fay. We have no king hut Jefus 
 Chrijl : And they are traitors to him their lawful fovereign 
 if they fwear allegiance to any other as the lord of their 
 faith, and the director of their religious condudl. And 
 indeed the very mention of articles of faith ejiabli/hed 
 by law, is as great a folecifm as mathematicks eSiabliJhed 
 by law \ and deferves a worfe name than I chufe to give 
 in this place. 
 
 Thus I have endeavoured with all pofTible brevity and 
 plainnefs to anfwer the mod material objed:ions againft 
 freedom of thought, and the rights of confcience in re- 
 ligious concerns. I have aimed at provoking no (&di 
 of chriftians whatever ; nor at pleafing any ; but have 
 fpokcn my fentiments, fuch as they are, with the honed 
 fimplicity that I think becomes a chriftian : And with 
 fuch freedom as 1 apprehend is agreable to the caufe I 
 have been attempting to defend ; the caufe of religious 
 liberty -, that liberty which God and the gofpel of his Son 
 have granted to us -, that hberty, for the fake of which 
 our pious fore-fathers forfook their native land, where 
 they had a goodly heritage, and fought a fate retreat in 
 this weftern world, a wildernefs inhabited by favage 
 beads and more favage men ; though both were left 
 favage than fome of thofe epifcopal blood-thirfty tyrants 
 from whofe rage they fled. This is a caufe of no left 
 importance even to the prefent happinefs of human 
 fociety, than that of civil liberty, in oppofition to ar- 
 bitrary power. And here I beg leave to ufe the words of 
 a truly catholic prelate of the church of England — " To 
 *' liberty and property, fays he, I add the free exercife of 
 " religion as neceflary to the happinefs of a governed 
 " fociety : becaufe as there is no tyranny fo odious to 
 " God, as tyranny over the confcience •, fo is there no 
 " flavery fo uneafy and ignominious,as a forced religion,or 
 '' a v/orihip impoled upon — men by the fear or applica- 
 
 " tioi? 
 
ObjeBions cojtftdered, ge 
 
 *< tlon of outward inconveniencies : befides that nothing 
 *» promotes the fiourlfhing condition of a nation more 
 " than the indulgence of this freedom to all whofe prin- 
 " ciples are not manifeftly ioconfiftent with the publick 
 <* fatety." Thus the bifhop of Winchefier^ the noted 
 fcourge of civil and ecclefiaftical tyranny. 
 
 I (hall now clofc with a few words by way of applica- 
 tion. And 
 
 I ft Let us all ftani fajl in the liberty wherewith 
 Chrift has made us free j and not fuffer ourfelves to be 
 intangledwith any yoke of bondage. If we have fubmitted 
 to ihe yoke hitherto, and inglorioufly fubjeded ourfelves 
 to any human impofitions in religious matters ; it is 
 better to throw off the yoke even now, than to let it 
 gall us all our life time : It is not yet too Jate to afTert 
 our liberty, and free ourfelves from an ignominous flavery 
 to the dictates of men. 
 
 Let us take pains to find out the truth, and after we 
 are fetled in our judgment concerning any religious tenet 
 or pradice, adhere to it with conftancy of mind, till 
 convinced of our error in a rational way. Let us 
 defpife the frowns and cenfures of thofe vain con- 
 ceited men who fet themfelves up for the oracles 
 ot truth and the ftandard of orthodoxy ; and then 
 call their neighbours hard names — We have not 
 only a right to think for ourfelves in matters of re- 
 ligion, but to adt for ourfelves alfo. Nor has any man 
 whatever, whether of a civil o<- facred Charadler, any au- 
 thority to controul us, unlefs it be by the gentle methods 
 of argument and perfwafion. To Chrift alone, the fu- 
 preme and only head of the chriftian churcfli, and the 
 final judge of mankind •, to him alone we are accounta- 
 b'e for not believing his do6lrines, and obeying his com- 
 mandments, as fuch. And whofoever attempts to re- 
 ftrain or controul us, takes it upon him to rule another 
 
 man's 
 
86 OhjeSlions cofiftdered. 
 
 mar^s fervant^ forgetting that he alfo is a man under 
 authority -, and muft hereafter (land or fall by a fentence 
 from the fame mouth with ourfelves. 
 
 Did I fay, we have a right to judge and a6b for our- 
 felves ? 1 now add — it is our indifpenfthle duty to do it. 
 This is a right which we cannot relinquifh, or neglefl to 
 cxercife, if we would, without being highly culpable ; 
 for it is abfolutely unalienable in its own nature. We 
 may difpofe of our temporal fubftance if we pleafe ; but 
 God and nature and the gofpel of Chrift injoin it upon 
 us a duty to maintain the right of private judgment, 
 and to worfhip God according to our confciences, as 
 much as they injoin us to give an alms to the poor, to 
 love God and our neighbour, and pratflife univerfal righ- 
 teoufnefs : and we may as well talk of giving up our 
 right to the latter^ as the former. They are all duties^ 
 and not rights (im^ly, duties equally founded in the reafon 
 of things -, duties equally commanded by the fame God ; 
 duties equally injoined by the fame Lord •, duties equally 
 required in the fame gofpel. And a neglefl of the 
 duty of private judgment may pofiibly be attended with 
 worfe confequences to ourfelves and others than the 
 negleft of almoft any other. For he that does not 
 examine for himfelf what is true and right, adts in- 
 tirejy in the dark, and fo may run into the moft- 
 irregular and deftruflive pradices that can be conceived 
 of, juft as his weak or vv'icked guides are pleafed to prompt 
 him. He is fit only for a tool to the devil and his 
 einiffaries : and may flatter himfelf that he is doing God 
 ^ood fervicCy while he is imbruting his hands in the 
 blood of the innoccfi-r, and perleccung the chiirch of 
 Chrift. 
 
 But 
 
 sly. And to conclude, while we are aflftrtingour own 
 liberty and chriflian rights, let us be confident and uni- 
 form i and not attempt to incroach upon che rights of 
 
 others. 
 
ObjeBions confidered, Sj 
 
 others, ^hey have the fame right to judge for them- 
 felves and to chufe their own religion, with ourfelves. 
 And nothing is more incongruous than for an advocate 
 for liberty, to tyrannize over his neighbours. We have 
 all liberty to think and a(fb for ourfelves in things of a 
 religious concern ; and we ought to be content 
 with that, without defining a liberty to opprefs and 
 grieve others. Mowever we have fome ignorant railing 
 zealots amongfl: us, fired with a furious party fpirit, who 
 are not fatisfyed that they enjoy their own liberty, but 
 mourn that their neighbours enjoy the fame, and that 
 they have it not in their power to affli6l them for their 
 religious fentiments. They groan under the righteous 
 a£f of toleratio?t^ as much as our fathers groaned under 
 the unrighteous one of nniformily. However, through 
 mercy, we have but a few men of this ftamp amongfi: 
 us -, and thofe are fuch ignorant and defpicable 
 creatures, that they are more proper objedts of pity, 
 than of anger. My brethren, God forbid that we 
 fhould difcover any thing of this fame unchriftian 
 temper -, or begrutch others the enjoyment of thofc 
 rights which we ourfelves efteem fo dear, facred and 
 valuable. Let us, as much as in us lies, live peaceably 
 with all men •, but fuffer none to lord it over our con- 
 fciences. Let us avoid a contrafled, cenforious fpirit in 
 ourfelves, and pity and defpife it in others. Let us be 
 courteous and friendly to all men of what denomination 
 foever they be •, and how much foever their religious 
 principles may differ from our own. If we think them 
 erroneous, let us not rail at them, but reafon with them 
 in the fpirit of meeknefs. Let us ufe no methods but 
 thofe of fober argument and kind perfwafion, in order to 
 bring men over to a belief and practice of the truth as it 
 is in Jefus : and let us fcorn thofe who are for ufing any 
 other methods with us, God grant that how different 
 foever our fentiments are, we may be united in Jove 
 and charity j and that chriftians of all perfwafions, and 
 
 all 
 
88 ObjeSiions conjidered. 
 
 all churches, may live and behave in fuch a manner, 
 as to meet at laft above : and join the general af- 
 fembly and church of the Jirji-born which are written in 
 heaven, Amen, 
 
 iSr-.^ 
 
 
 SERMON 
 
( 89 ) 
 
 ' %^ti*i{*ti* *S* *j* •'£■* *ff* *v* 'v* *i* *i* '^ «fl< ^a* fcjSi vj* 
 
 Sermon V. 
 
 On the Love of God. 
 
 MATTHEW XXII. 37 41. 
 
 J-Esus /aid unto him. Thou Jhalt love the Lord thy God 
 
 with all thy heart, and with all thy foul, and with all 
 
 thy mind. 
 This is the firft and great commandment. 
 And the fecond is like unto it. Thou Jhalt love thy neighbour 
 
 as thy felf. 
 On thefe two commandments hang all the law and the 
 
 prophets. 
 
 THAT which renders it a matter of the hlghell 
 importance to examine with freedom into moral 
 and religious fubjefls, is not fo much the advan- 
 tage fimply of knozvifjg what is true and right, as the 
 necefiity of this in order to true and right a^ion. It is 
 fcarce of any importance to us to gain a fpeculative 
 knowledge of true religion, but as this has relation to 
 practice -, and may teach us what temper of mind to- 
 wards our Creator, and one anothci', we ought to culti- 
 vate v and what an external conduLt we ought to adora 
 our Jives with, in cn-der to anfwer the end of our being ; 
 
 N ia 
 
90 On the Love of God. 
 
 in order to our filling up our place in the creation, and 
 adling our part well in the great drama of the world. 
 This is the view which ought to accompany all our in- 
 quiries into religious fubjefls. If we are follicitous only 
 about knowing what is true and right, and terminate our 
 defires in fuch knowledge, we purfue as an end what 
 ought to be looked upon only a means to fomewhat 
 farther and beyond, viz. fuch a condu6i: as may render 
 us acceptable to our creator, and lay the foundation for 
 rational happinefs here and hereafter. Knowledge can 
 liardly be faid to be valuable for its own fake, but only 
 as it may be improved to good and excellent purpofes : 
 Nor is it eventually advantageous to us, any farther than 
 we conform ourfelves to truth and right in our be- 
 havi_OLir. 
 
 For what end does the mo.rriner ftudy the art o^ navi- 
 gation? Not, furely, for this only or chiefly, that he may 
 pleafe and amufe himfelf with ihi^ theory of it: but rather, 
 that he may be able lojleer his courje aright through the 
 ocean, and arrive fafe at length at the port for which 
 he is bound. Without applying his knowledge in this 
 way, all the advantage it will be to him, is that of being 
 JJoipwrecked with his eyes open^ while others run upon 
 ruin blinafold^ and purely through ignorance. — We alfo 
 are marriners -, bound to another country., to another 
 world. We fail at prefent upon a boifterous flormy 
 ocean, in which we are in danger of fuffering fhipwreck. 
 For the moral world, as well as the natural, has its rocks 
 Siud whirlpools •, its y?)'//^ and carybdis, and a thoufand en- 
 chanting fir ens. To know the middle and fafe way^ 
 will not fecure us, unlefs we keep in it, and avoid the 
 danger on either hand. And to be cajlaways through 
 our own neghgence, while we know the courfe we fhould 
 fteer, inftead of diminifhing, will augment our forrow. 
 Religious knowledge applyed to its true ends and pur- 
 pofes, is the only knowledge that can be finally profitable 
 and gainful ; for, to ufe the words of St, James with a 
 
 little 
 
0?i the Love of God, 91 
 
 little variation, as the body without the Jpirit is dead, fo 
 knowledge zvithout pradice, is dead alfo : And it is the 
 voice of reafonas well as of revelation, That the fcrvant 
 that knows his Lord's will^ and doth it fist, Jhall be beaten 
 with many Jlripes. What, then, has our Lord declared 
 to us to be his will ? And what does he require of us ? 
 One of the moft comprehenfive accounts of our duty to- 
 wards our Maker, and each other, is contained in the 
 words which I have chofen for the lubjeft of the prefent: 
 difcourle. They are the words of our Lord Jefus Chrifl: 
 to a peribn whom the hiftorian ftiles a lawyer^ in anfwer 
 to an important queftion, but propofed by him^ perhaps, 
 with no very good intention. The queftion to be re- 
 folved was this — IVhich is the great commandment in the 
 law ? And our Lord determines it in this manner — Thou. 
 Jhalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart., and with all 
 thy foul., and with all thy mind. This is the firji and great 
 commandment. And the fecond is like unto it., Thou JJjalt 
 love thy neighbour as thy [elf. On thefe two commandments 
 bang all the law and the prophets. In difcourfing upon 
 thefe words I fhall inquire 
 
 I. Into the nature and obligation of the two duties 
 here mentioned — The love of God, and of our neigh- 
 bour. 
 
 II. In what fenfe, and upon what account it is faid, 
 that to love God, is the finl and great commandment. 
 
 HI. What our Lord intends by the alTertion, That 
 on thefe two commandments., viz. the love of God and of 
 our neighbour, hang all the law and the prophets. 
 
 IV. And laflly., I (hall endeavour to fhow, that thefe 
 two commandments have the fame place and preheminence 
 under the gofpel difpenfation, which they Iiad under the 
 It'gal : Or, that all the Cofpel of Jefus Chrifl hangs on 
 
 tbefe 
 
92 On the Love of God, 
 
 thefe two commandments, in the fame fenfe in which all the 
 law and the prophets did. 
 
 I. Then, let us inquire diftinftly into the nature and 
 obligation of the two duties here mentioned ; the firft 
 of which is exprefled thus, Thou jhalt love the Lord th^ 
 God with all thy heart, and with all thy foul, and with all 
 thy mind. 
 
 We know that in fcripture language and indeed in 
 common difcourfe, it is ufual for one duty or virtue to 
 fland for all the reft. A righteous^ a godly^ a merciful 
 a jujl, or an upright man, often fignifies a good man in ge- 
 neral. And io, when we are commanded to love or 
 fear God, or to work righteoufnefs, the meaning is not 
 that we fhould praflife only the particular duty men- 
 tioned, as diftinguiflied from others ; but often, at leaH-^ 
 that we fhould becom.e good men in general, and walk 
 in all the commandments aJ24 ordinances of the Lord 
 blamekfs. And this is the fenfe which is fometimes puE 
 upon the precept now under confideration. However is 
 fcems plain, that this cannot be the true intention of it. 
 For were it to be underftood in this latitude, as injoining 
 obedience to the commandments in general, it would in- 
 clude in it the love of our neighbour, which is exprefly; 
 diftinguifhed, in this place, from the love of God. Here 
 is plainly a comparilon made betwixt two command- 
 ments, one of which is faid to be the firjl and great com- 
 mandmcnt^ and the other to be like unto it. This, there- 
 fore, which is ftiled the firft., muft be altogether diftinft 
 from that with which it is compared, I.ove is, indeed, 
 the duty injoined in both \ but the objeft of xhefirjl, is 
 Qur Creator only ; of the latter, only our fellow-creatures^ 
 This precept, therefore, does not include any of the du- 
 ties of the fecond table of the moral law, as they are com - 
 i-nonly called. The moft it injoins, is, all the duties of 
 ihQ firjl table, as diftinguifl-ied from thofe of t\\e fecond. 
 Bur, if I miilake nor, this command ftili iidflhits, and 
 
 requires 
 
Oft the Love of God, g^^ 
 
 requires a farther limitation. It injoins certain difpofi- 
 tions and affecftions of the hearty towards God, as dif- 
 tinguiflied from all external ails of devotion and religion ; 
 fuch as prayings offering facrifices, fafling^ obferving 
 fahhaths and ordinances^ &c. The manner in which the 
 precept is exprcfled, fecms to fhow, that the duty it in- 
 ]oins is v/holly internal — T^hou (halt love the Lord thy God 
 with all thy heart ; i. e. fmcerely and unfeigned ly — and 
 with all thy foul — in the cxercife of thy underflanding, 
 and rational faculties — and with all thy mind — freely, 
 voluntarily, without reluflance or conftraint. Thefe ex- 
 preOions feem to relate wholly to the mind. And that 
 which determines this to be the true intention of the 
 command, is what we find in the parallel place in another 
 Ev'Vfigeli/l. St. ATark relates the flory of a perfon's com- 
 ing to our Saviour with the fame queftion which is here 
 anfwered •, and the anfwer to it is in effedl the fame. 
 Upon which the Scribe ( as he is called in St. Mark ) 
 replied thus — Mafler, thou haft faid the truth j for there 
 is one God ; and to love him with all the heart — is more 
 than all whole burnt offerings and facrifices — From this 
 reply of the Scribe^ it appears, that in propofing his 
 queflion juft before, he had a particular eye to the external 
 fervices required under the Law, compared with an in- 
 ward regard to God, and Hncere benevolence to man- 
 kind ; And that he accordingly underftood our Lord in 
 his anfwer, as making a diflindion and comparifon, not 
 only betwixt the duties of the firfl and fecond table \ but 
 alfo, betwixt the feveraJ duties of the firfl table •, and pre- 
 ferring the internal love and reverence of God, to all 
 burnt cffcrings and facrifices ; and confcquently, to all ex- 
 ternal a^ls of piety and devotion^ as injoined in the cere- 
 monial law. This is plainly the fenfc of iht Scribe ; and 
 it is equally evident that our Lord approved his fenfc : 
 For it follows imniediately in the next vcrfe — yind when 
 Jefus faw that he anfwered difcretely^ he faid unto him,. 
 Thcu art not far from the kingdom of God. I fliall, there- 
 fore, take it for granted, or rather proved, That the pre- 
 cept. 
 
94 On the Love of God. 
 
 cept which our Lord calls the firU and great command- 
 ment^ is diftinguilhed not only from all the duties 
 of the fecond tahle^ but likewife from many of the firft ; 
 particularly, from all external afls of devotion ■, from all 
 rites and ceremonies and legal inftitutions •, and in fhort 
 from all duties whatever, befides thofe internal ones of 
 the heart and affections \ and of which God is the only 
 and the immediate ohje£i. The duty here required, is 
 •wholly a fpiritual facrifice •, and the heart is the only 
 altar upon which it is to~ be offered. Accordingly, ia 
 the following difcourfe, we fhall have no concern with 
 any thing befides the inward fentiments of the heart •, the 
 difpofitions and fallies of the foul towards its Creator, 
 the Father of fpirits. But let none think I am going to 
 inculcate enthuftafm, becaufe I fpeak of the religion and 
 devotion of the heart. I propofe to fpeak of nothing 
 but what has its foundation in fcripture, and the nature 
 of things : Nor will any enthujiafm be incouraged, be- 
 fides that which fober reafon requires. 
 
 What then is it to love the Lord our God., in the fenfe 
 of the text ? Or wherein does this duty confift ? I anfwer 
 in general. That it confifts in exercifing thole internal 
 regards towards our Maker, which the perfeflions of his 
 nature, and our relation to him require. And here I 
 fhall not fpend time to prove, but take it for grant- 
 ed. That God is infinite in power., knowledge and 
 goodnefs ; — That he is able to perform whatever he plea- 
 ies •, — That he knows univerfally what is wifeft and 
 beft ; — And that the moral reditude of his nature is 
 fuch, that his will and aflions are always conformable 
 to truth and right : — That as he created all thing?, fo 
 he conflantly upholds them, and governs them with per- 
 fed wifdom and equity, accommodadng and attemper- 
 ing his laws to the common good of his creatures — That 
 as he is the father of all., fo his government \% paternal., 
 free from all unnecefTary rigor ; — uniform and fteady, in 
 onpofition to all capricioufnefs and arbitrary proceedings -, 
 ^ And 
 
On the Love of God, 95 
 
 And finally^ in the words of the Pjalmiji, That he is good 
 to all, and his tender viercies, over all his works. 
 
 It is fufficient to our prefent purpore,jufl: to have hin- 
 ted in this general way at the chara(f|-er and perfeflions 
 of God : For it being fuppofed that he is really fuch a 
 Bein^^ it will not, perhaps, be very difficult to point out 
 the principal of thofe movements of mind, and internal 
 regards, which are due to him : and fo to afceitain the 
 nature of the duty under confideration. And I think 
 the various things included in this important and com- 
 prehenfive duty of loving God, may not unfitly be re- 
 duced to the f allowing heads — Love^ in a Jlri5I reflrained 
 jenfe — Gro.litu^e — Defire of the divine npfrolation^ and 
 delight in the confcioufnefs of it — Truji in, and dependence 
 upon God — Mfolute vefignation of heart to his luill—^Xnd 
 laflJy, Joy in the confideration of our filial relation to him. 
 
 What I mentioned ^r/?, was the love of God in the 
 flri^ retrained fenfe of the word. By this I do not in- 
 tend thofe flafliy and rapturous fallies of the heart to- 
 wards God, which may proceed only from a fond conceit, 
 that we are fingled out to be the peculiar favourites 
 of heaven. We may eafily fall into an cxtafy, and run 
 mad in religious contemplation," without Having any 
 thing of that divine love which is due to the perfedi- 
 ens of our Crc.nor. The love of God is a fleady, fo- 
 ber, calm and rational thing, the refult of thought, and 
 confideration — It is indeed a paffion., but a pafTion excited 
 by reafon prefenting the proper obje6l of it to the mind. 
 Nor ought we to be (o follicitous about avoiding one 
 extreme, as to fall into the contrary. We ought not to 
 run fo far from enthuftafm., as to lofe fight of real devo- 
 tion •, we ought not to be fo fond of a rational religion, 
 as to fuppofe that religion confifts wholly in cold dry 
 fpecutation, without having any concern with the affecti- 
 ons. Real piety nec< ffarily fuppofes, that the heart is 
 touched, ufTeifled, warmed, inflamed : and not barely 
 
 that 
 
96 0;/ the Love of God, 
 
 that we have riglu fpeculative not'ion? concerning God. 
 A religion confining in nothing bur a knowledge ot God*s 
 attributes, and an external condudl agreeable to his 
 law<i, vvould be a lifelefs infipid thing : It would be 
 neither a fource of happinefs to ourfelves nor recom- 
 mend us to the approbation of him, who requires us to 
 give him our heart. 
 
 Indeed St. Johnhys^ That this is the love of God^ 
 that we keep his Commandments. But it is plain, both 
 from the nature of the thing itfelf, and from the defign 
 of the apoftle in this place, that his meaning is no more 
 than this — That the natural effect or confequence of love 
 to God, is obedience to his commandments : And not 
 ilridlly fpeaking, that keeping the commandments, is a 
 proper definition of the love of God. Thefe are evi- 
 dently two diflinfl things •, as diflincfl as love and obe- 
 dience to any other being or perfon ; or as any two 
 things whatever. And how clofe a connexion foever 
 there may be betwixt them, they ought not to be con- 
 founded. It is evident at firft view, that this com- 
 mand, 'Thou fhalt love the Lord thy God with all thy 
 hearty and with all thy foul, and with all thy mind, 
 carries in it fomething altogether different from an in- 
 jun6tion o^ external obedience. The precept relates to the. 
 heart and affedions, as diftinguifhed even from the un- 
 derftanding, whereby we difcern and contemplate the di- 
 vine perfections •, and much more diflind: from all ex- 
 ternal a6lions of what kind foever. Let any one fee 
 whether the following paflages in the writings of the 
 royal foet and prophet, do not carry in them the warmeft 
 exprellions of inward efleem, approbation and love. 
 IVhom have I in heaven but thee ? and there is nothing 
 upon earth that I dcfire befides thee. My fefo and my 
 heart Jaileih tn£ \ hut God is the Jlrength of my hearty 
 and r,iy portion for ever, hike as the heart pantelh after 
 the. n.v at er -brooks., fo hngeth my foul after thee, God, 
 My foul is athirji for God ; yea even fvr the livrrg God. 
 
 fyhm 
 
On the Love of God, gy 
 
 When /hall I come and appear before him ! — It is plain 
 that this is the language not barely of reafon ; but of 
 paffion and fervour and emotion of fpirit. Nor can any 
 tolerable account be given of thefe, and fuch like ex- 
 prefllons in the devotional parts of fcripture, without 
 fuppofing that the affe6lions of thofe who uttered them, 
 were raifed to a great degree of warmth ; and that they 
 terminated in God himfelf, as their proper and ultimate 
 objeft, without regard to any farther or future advantage : 
 they terminated in him as their end, in much the fame 
 manner that our animal affeflions and appetites centre 
 in their refpedlive objeds. Nor is there any thing that 
 is ablurd or romantic in this fuppofition •, any thing that 
 will not approve itfcjf to our underllandings upon the 
 clofeft examination. 
 
 There is a natural diftindion betwixt a6lions and 
 chara6ters, fome being in themfelves morally good, and 
 others evil. Mankind have faculties for difccrning thefe 
 moral differences : and what is in itfelf right and good, 
 is alfo in itfelf amiable in the eye of every rational be- 
 ing : it is in itfelf right to approve and love what 
 is right, and wrong to approve and love what is 
 wrong. Our Creator, befides endowing us with reafon to 
 diftinguifh betwixt moral good and evil, has moreover 
 given us another faculty which is fometimes called a moral 
 fenfe ; and which St. Paul fpeaks of under the titles of 
 the law written in the hearty and the law of the minX 
 By virtue of this faculty, moral good and evil, when 
 they are objefts to our minds affe6t us in a very different 
 manner ; the firft affording us pleafure, the other pain 
 and uneafinefs : And this, as unavoidably as the eye is 
 differently affe£led with regular and irregular figures in the 
 lx)dy ; or the ear, with the moft grateful harmony, and 
 the moft harfh and grating dlfcord : 1 fay as unavoidably ; 
 but neither of them are abfolutely unavoidable. There 
 are fome who have no ear for mufick^ and others who 
 have no eye for archii€^uri\ painting or ftatuary. And 
 
 O (a 
 
98 071 the Love of God, 
 
 fo there are fome, perhaps, who have little or no tajie 
 in morals. However, as to the latter, this is not the 
 natural (late of their minds •, but proceeds from their 
 abufing and perverting nature. ( And all our animal 
 ftnfes may be viciated alfo. ) But t;ike a man who has 
 not violated frequently the natural law of his mind -, and 
 he can no more approve of what is commonly called 
 malevolence., cruelty and injujtice., than a Jkilful architect 
 can approve of the moft irregular and aukward pile of 
 building : And on the other hand, he can no more hate 
 and naufeate what appears to be honefl., generous and 
 benevolent^ than the other can be difpleafed at the fight 
 of an edifice, all the parts of which are adjujled by the 
 exafteft rules of proportion, and the whole brought to 
 the ^vt2i\.t?i perfeilion of art. What man for example, 
 ■who is not become depraved to a great degree in his 
 own moral charafter, can read the contrary charafters of 
 Cataline and Socrates with the fame complacency ? Can 
 he that has any remains of virtue, help being fired 
 with indignation at the bafenefs and perfidy of the former ; 
 and with love, at the virtue and integrity of the latter? 
 Does a man that lives by plunder ; that fwells his ftores by 
 rapine, and fattens on the blood of the innocent, appear 
 as amiable as one, that as Job elegantly exprefles it, is eyes 
 to the blind., and feet to the lame ? One whofe benevolence 
 is diflfufed to all about him ? None can avoid looking 
 upon the former as the proper objedl of difpleafure, and 
 upon the latter as the proper objecfl of love and com- 
 placency, although his own intereft is no ways affedled 
 by the conduct of either. 
 
 But what relation, it may be afked, has all this dif- 
 courfe to do with the love of God ? I anfwer, a very 
 near relation : For God, according to the fuppofition 
 mentioned above, is perfed in all thofe moral qualities 
 and excellencies which we efteem amiable in mankind : 
 and which if any man does not efleem and admire and 
 love, he is looked upon as a monfter, debafed below hu- 
 manity. 
 
On the Love of God, gg 
 
 manlty, and unworthy to be reckoned among rational 
 creatures. Now if it be reafonable to efteem and love our 
 fellow-men in proportion to their juftice, integrity and be- 
 nevolence, muft not he who is perfeft in all moral excel- 
 lence be in proportion the proper objecfl of thofc fame 
 affections ? The goodnefs of God fo far tranfcends that 
 of the beft of his creatures, that our blefied Saviour has 
 told us, 'There is none good but one, that is God. The 
 moft that any can pretend to without arrogating too much 
 to themfeJves, is a faint refemblance of the divine per- 
 fedions. And can it be reafonable to love and admire 
 the mere portrait of moral excellence, and to let the 
 fubftance, the fource and fl"andard of it, remain unre- 
 garded. If goodnefs in a limited degree be worthy the 
 efteem of all rational beings, fliall not that goodnefs that 
 is without bounds, and abfolutely perfe<5l, be thought 
 worthy to excite in all, a real inward efteem alfo ? an 
 hearty and fincere complacency ^. an ardent, inextinguiffi- 
 able love ? A love ftrong as death ? A love which many 
 waters cannot quench, nor the floods drown ? In this there 
 is no enthuftafm : in this there is nothing unreafonable 
 and fanciful : For undoubtedly thofe qualities which be- 
 ing found in a limited degree, are really amiable, do not 
 ceafe to be fo, when they become infinite j but inftead of 
 this, become infinitely amiable. 
 
 Were it pofflble for us to contemplate the divine 
 perfections without confidering our own relation to God ; 
 our own dependance upon him, and his providential care 
 of «i ; could we confider him only as exercifing his 
 moral perfeflions towards other beings with whom we 
 have no concern, ftill it would be rational to love and 
 efteem him. Por thefe pcrfeflions are in themfclves 
 amiable, and confequently they are fo to all beings who 
 are capable of difccrning them. And we find ourfclves 
 in a manner neceflltated to love thofe virtuous charafters 
 which we meet with in hiftory ; — charaClcrs of men 
 -who lived in remote ages, and tlie diftanc par^s of the 
 
 globe i 
 
loo On the hove of God, 
 
 globe ; although our own Intereft neither has, nor can 
 be, any ways afFefted by their virtue. And thus alfo 
 the moral perfeflions of God demand our love, leparate 
 from the confideration of our own particular relation 
 to him. But when we confider him under the notion 
 of being our Creator, our moral Governour, our Father, 
 our Friend, our Patron ; this brings the matter home to 
 our/elves^ and tends Itill farther to endear him to us. 
 
 And this naturally brings us to another of thofe re- 
 Jigious regards which we owe immediately to God : 1 
 mean gratitude. This is nearly allied to the former ; 
 but intirely diftinft from it. The love of God, in 
 the mod proper fenfe of it, is an inward efteem, and de- 
 lightful admiration of the divine perfe(fl:ions, without the 
 confideration of any good we have either received or 
 cxpedt from them. But gratitude has refpedt to fome- 
 thing pad; 'tis a thankful fenfe and recognition of cer- 
 tain benefits which we have aftually received. And it 
 is plain that if the moral attributes of God, are In them- 
 fclves a proper objefl of love, their being exerted in 
 pofitive afls of goodnefs and beneficence tous,calIs for the 
 returns of gratitude. Ingratitude is always looked upon 
 as an indication of a bafe, fordid and degenerate mind : 
 It is what we cannot avoid condemning in thofe to 
 whom we have fhown favour in any inftance : we expeft, 
 at leaft, that they fhould retain in their minds a fenfe of 
 our munificence. All the world are agreed that this is 
 what every man owes to his neighbour who has proved a 
 benefador to him. "Why then fhould not the fame 
 temper of mind take place in us with relation to God ? 
 If we think ourfelves obliged to thank our fellow men 
 for thofe inconfiderable favours, which they are fcarce 
 more than the i}ijiruments of conveying to us, what degree 
 of gratitude can be fufficient for us to exercife towards 
 our conftant and infinite Benefactor ? towards that Being 
 to whom we are indebted for our exiftence ; for all the 
 faculties of our minds and bodies ? that Being who is 
 
 the 
 
On the Love of God, loi 
 
 the original voluntary beftower of all that is valuable 
 and dear to us ? that Being from whom defcends every 
 good and every perfe£f gift ? And as we are chrijlians^ I 
 may add, that Being who fo loved the world as to give his 
 only brgotten fon that whofoever believeth in him jhould not 
 ferijh^ but have everlafting life ? — What fhall I render to 
 the Lord for all his benefits ? Blefs the Lord^ O my foul ; 
 and all that is within me ^praife his holy name. Blefs the 
 Lord^ my foul^ and forget not all his benefits. He hath 
 redeemed thy life from deflru6lion : he hath crowned thee 
 with loving kindnefs and tender mercies. 
 
 But to proceed — Another branch of that religious 
 temper of mind which is implied in the love of God, is 
 a dejire of his approbation and delight in the confcioufnefs or 
 the profpe£l of it. We defire to be thought favourably 
 of, by mankind ; and to be thought fo by the wife and 
 good, yields no fmall fatisfadion to ingenuous and vir- 
 tuous minds. But as God is the only perfedt judge of 
 real merit, to gain his approbation ought to be the 
 higheft ambition of every reafonable creature. We are 
 apt to lay traps and fnarcs to catch the fluttering applaufes 
 of the multitude ; and delight to be hofanncTd by them. 
 But are they the fupreme judges of what is really worthy 
 of applaufe ? Is it reafonable to be follicitous about the 
 fentiments of the world concerning us, and to take no 
 thought about the approbation of the great InfpeSlor and 
 Cenfor of that world whofe efteem we court ? No man 
 that has any juft conceptions of God's perfections can be 
 regardlefs with what eye he views his condu6t upon that 
 flage where his place of aftion is afTigned him. God 
 himfelf is a fpe^ator'xn this great theatre of the univerfe. 
 A defirc of his applaufe, therefore, and of the honour 
 that comes from him, fhould in a manner exclude all lower 
 ambition froni our breafts. And the profped of it muft 
 aflbrd the higheft fatisfadlion to every virtuous man, 
 without the confideration of any reward confcqucnt there- 
 upon. The approbation of a pcrfe^ judgc^ is itfelf a re- 
 ward. 
 
TO 2 Ori the Love of God. 
 
 ward. Nor is there really any pious regard to the fen- 
 tence that God pafles upon our behaviour, any farther 
 than our hope and delight terminates in that fentence 
 itfelf. This is divine ambition. But to look forward to 
 fome confequent advantage befide and beyond this, is 
 religious felfijlonefs. However, even this is not to be con- 
 demned, although it does not ftridlly fall under the notion 
 of piety. Piety refpeEls God hmfelf, and him alone. 
 
 To proceed — Truji in God and dependance upon him as 
 our portion and happinefs, is a duty which his perfec- 
 tions, and our own weaknefs, requires we fhould live in 
 the conftant exercife of. None of us need to be in- 
 formed of the internal want and poverty of our nature : 
 we all feel it in a greater or lefs degree. It is the fenfe 
 of this infufficiency at home., that makes us rove abroad 
 after fome foreign fupport. * We have commonly re- 
 courfe to diverfions and amufements ; to the company 
 and converfation of our Friends, to mammon^ and animal 
 pleafures. Upon things of this nature we lean for fup- 
 port •, upon thefe we depend for that fed ate happinefs 
 and fatisfa6lion, which our penurious nature craves. But 
 they are found to be abfolutely infufficient to anfvver this 
 purpofe. Our inborn thirft of happinefs is not to be 
 allayed with fuch fhallow draughts as thefe, Vanity of 
 vanities, faid Solomon, all is vanity and vexation of fpirit, 
 after he had fearched a long time for fubftantial happinefs 
 in worldly pofleffions and enjoyments. The moft that 
 thefe things have it in their power to do, is to intoxicate 
 us for a little while, and fo to make us think ourfelves 
 great and happy. But as foon as we grow fober, and 
 come to ourfelves again, the foors paradife, and the airy 
 caftles difappear : we find our wants remaining, and fol- 
 iiciting for fomething elfe. The conftant language of 
 our hearts is — who will fhew us any good F — Who will 
 do the friendly office to point us to our happinefs ? Now 
 
 * See the BHhpp of BriJioPs Serm. on the love of God. 
 
 whither 
 
On the Love of God, 103- 
 
 whither Hiall we go to find fomething that may fill our 
 minds, and afford us a fincere, conftant and uniform fa- 
 tisfadion ? Is there no objedl that is adequate to our 
 wants and capacities ? none that may be firmly relied and 
 depended on, as a certain fource of quiet and happincfs ? 
 Doubtlefs there is -, and indeed that Objedt is not far 
 from every one of us : for in God we live^ and move and 
 have our being. His power, wifdom and goodnefs, may 
 be a prop to our tottering and defponding fpirits •, and if 
 we pleafe we may enjoy prefent happinefs in relying upon 
 the care of his providence. We may thus get rid of all 
 our wants at once •, of all our anxiety and follicitude 
 about what may be on the morrow. He, without whom 
 a fparrow cannot fall to the ground ; He that opens his 
 bandy and fatisfieth the deftre of every living thing ; He 
 that even heareth the young ravens when they cry ; cannot 
 fail to provide fuitably for us who are his offfpring. The 
 •very hairs of our head are all numbered by him : And we 
 may caji all our cares upon hiniy as the apoftle exprefles it ; 
 for he careth for us. — Behold the fowls of the air^ fays 
 our bleffed Saviour ; for they fow not., neither do they 
 reap \ nor gather into barns •, yet your heavenly father 
 feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they ? — Con- 
 Jider the lilies of the field., how they grow •, they toil noty 
 neither do they fpin : And yet I fay unto you that even 
 Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of thefe — 
 therefore take no thought for the morrow ; for the morrow 
 fhall take thought for the things of itfelf : fufficient unto 
 the day is the evil thereof. Obedience to this command, 
 underftood with fuch limitations as common fenfe fug- 
 gefls, would difburthen us of a thoufand fruitlefs cares, 
 and be a fource of conftant ferenity to our minds, in this 
 various fcene, this inconftant ocean we are pafTing 
 through. The confideration of an univerfal kind pro- 
 vidence prefiding over the world, is, to them that will 
 give themfelves time to attend to it, a ground of con- 
 tinual peace, and compofure of foul. All we need con- 
 cern ourfelves about is to do our own duty ; the reft be- 
 longs 
 
IC4 On the Love of God, 
 
 Jongs to God ; and he will doubtlefs do his part well ; 
 and they that put their trujl in him will have no caiife to 
 be ajhamed ; but find their expeftations anfwered to the 
 full. He that is confcious of the integrity of his own heart, 
 may have confidence towards God ; and exult in the 
 language of David^ in hope of happinefs both here and 
 hereafter — God is my refuge and ftrength^ a very prefent 
 help in trouble. Therefore will not I fear ^ though the earth 
 he removed^ and though the mountains thereof be carried 
 into the midfl of fea ; though the waters thereof roar and be 
 troubled -, though the mountains Jhake with the fwelling 
 thereof — There is a river ^ the fir earns whereof fhall make 
 glad the city of God — Becaufe he is at my right hand, I 
 Jhall not be moved •— Therefore my heart is glad, and my 
 glory rejoiceth j my flefh alfo Jhall rejl in hope — 
 
 Near akin to that truft and confidence in God now 
 mentioned, is abfolute refignation to his will in all cafes 
 and circumjlances. There are indeed fome things which, 
 in one fenfc, will unavoidably give us uneafinefs, fuch as 
 ficknefs, the lofs of our deceafed friends, and ill ufage 
 from our furviving ones, and the like. It is in vain to 
 attempt to throw off human nature fo far as not to be in 
 any meafure moved with things of this kind. But it is 
 our indifpenfable duty to difcharge our minds of all mur- 
 murings at providence -, and to acquiefce patiently in the 
 lot afllgned us. Things could not, upon the whole, 
 have been better ordered than they are, if the world be 
 really under the government of a perfeft Being. When 
 we confider that known unto God are all his works from 
 the beginning ; his whole fcheme and plan of govern- 
 ment •, and that by the goodnefs of his nature, he is dif- 
 pofed to order every event through the bound lefs uni- 
 verfe, and through all periods of time, fo that all 
 fliall finally concur, to promote the coimnon happinefs o{ 
 hk creatures f what reafon have we to be fubmif- 
 •five in all circumftances ; and to fay with our 
 iDlefTed faviour, not my will, but thine, be done ! 
 
 Upon 
 
0?i the Love of God, 105 
 
 Upon this fubjedl of refignation to the will of God, 
 1 fhall beg leave to ufe the words of an admirable 
 writer — " The confideration, fays he, that the courfc 
 " of things is unalterable, hath a tendency to quiet the 
 *' mind under it, to beget a fubmifllon of temper to it. 
 " But when we can add, that this unalterable courfe is 
 " appointed and continued by infinite wifdom and good- 
 " nefs i how abfolute (hould be our fubmilTion, how in- 
 " tire our truft and dependancc ? " 
 
 " This would reconcile us to our condition ; prevent 
 
 " all the fupernumerary troubles arifing from imaginati- 
 
 " on, diftant fears, impatience •, all uneafinefs befides that 
 
 ■' which necefTarily arifes from the calamities themfelves 
 
 ' we may be under. How many of our cares Ihould 
 
 * we by this means be difburthened of ? cares not pro- 
 ' perly our own, how apt foever they may be to intrude 
 ' upon us, and we to admit them •, the anxieties of ex- 
 ' pedtation, follicitude about fuccefs and difappoint- 
 ' ment, which in truth are none of our concern. How 
 ' open to every gratification would the mind be, which 
 ' was clear of thefe incumbrances ? " Our refignation to 
 
 * the will of God, may be faid to be perfedV, when our 
 ' will is loft, and refolved up into his ; when we reft in 
 ' his will as our end, as being in itfelf moft juft and right 
 ' and good. And where is theimpoflibility of fuch an 
 ' afFeflion to what is juft and right and good, fuch a 
 ' loyalty of heart to the governour of the univerfe, as 
 ' ftiall prevail over all finifter indirefl defires of our 
 ' own ^. Neither is this at bottom any thing more than 
 ' faith and honefty and fairnefs of mind ; in a more en- 
 ' larged fenlc indeed than thofe words are commonly 
 ' ufed. And as in common cafes, fear and hope and 
 ' other pafilons are raifed in ns by their refpeflivc ob- 
 ' jeds. To this fubmiffion of heart and foul and mind, 
 ' this religious refignation, would be as naturally pro- 
 ' duced, by our having juft conceptions of almighty 
 ' God, and a real fenfe of his prcfcnce with us. In how 
 
 P *' low 
 
io6 On the Love of God, 
 
 " low a degree foever this temper ufually prevails a- 
 *' mongft men, yet it is a temper right in itfcjf •, It is 
 " what we owe to our Creator : It is particularly fmrable 
 " to our mortal condition, and what we Ihould endeavour 
 " after for our own fakes in our paffage through fuch a 
 " world as this; where is nothing upon which we can 
 " reft or depend : nothing but what we are liable to be 
 " deceived or difappointed in. Thus we might acquaint 
 " ourfelves with God, and be at peace. This is piety and 
 " religion in the ftrifleft fenfe, confidered as an habit in 
 " the mind : An habitual fenfe of God*s prefence with 
 *' us •, being affedled towards him as prefent,in the man- 
 " ner his fuperiour nature requires from fuch a creature as 
 " man : This is to walk with God.'* Thus the Bifhop 
 ♦' of Brijlol. 
 
 But to fubmifllon to the divine will, we may fitly add 
 tvtr\joy and triumph of heart, in the confideration of our 
 relation to God. The fuperintendency of divine provi- 
 dence, if conceived of in a right manner, is one of the 
 moft pleafurable and delightful confiderations that can 
 enter into the mind of a reafonable creature, fenfiblc of 
 his own weaknefs and various imperfedions. Indeed, if 
 inftead of a wife and infinitely gracious Being, one whofe 
 kind regards are extended to all his intelled;ual creatures; 
 and one who governs the world with a view at promot- 
 ing the moral reditude, and fo of advancing the happi- 
 nefs of his creatures and ofFfpring ; I fay, if inftead of 
 fuch a Being as this, we, in our imaginations, place at the 
 head of the univerfe, a capricious, humourfome and ty- 
 rannical Being •, one who loves and hates at random, and 
 has no uniform, confiftent, and benevolent defign ; we 
 form a fcheme of principles, more deftrudive of rational 
 happinefs than that of Atheifm irfelf. For any man had 
 rather be left to the mercy of atoms, and fate, and 
 chance^ or any other chimerical Deity, than be fubjedled 
 to the pleafure of fuch a monfter, as an all-knowing, in- 
 finitely powerful Being, deftitute of a fteady, uniform 
 
 principle 
 
On the Lov2 of God, IC7 
 
 principle of juftice and goodnefs -, delighting himfelf in 
 the exercife of a wanton, hcentious omnipotence — But 
 whatever fchemes of religion have been propagated, in 
 which the fupreme ruler of the univerfe is reprefented in 
 fuch a gloomy and formidable drefs as this, they are 
 equally inconfiftent with the religion of nature, and the 
 religion of Jefus Chrift. Thefe teach us to look upoa 
 God as tranfcending all his creatures in mercy and good- 
 nefs, no lefs than in power and greatnefs. Nor fhall we 
 behave ourfelves as becomes our relarion to him, unlefs 
 we always think of him with inward joy and pleafure. 
 "What can be more unreafonable than for thofe who in 
 God have a Father and Friend and Patron •, one who 
 is tenderly concerned for their welfare, and does what he 
 can confiftently with the rules of wifdom, to promote 
 their beft interefts -, what is more unreafonable than for 
 fuch, to entertain gloomy and melancholly thoughts ; 
 and indulge fuperftitious fears, and groundlefs fufpicions ? 
 Were God a malevolent Being ; were he an unreafonable 
 Tyrant ; were he an hard Mafter ; were he an implacable 
 and revengeful Being •, inftead of a merciful and 
 faithful Creator ; a companionate Parent -, a gentle 
 Mafter, a righteous Judge -, we might well think of him 
 with horror and dread -, and even wifti a period put to 
 his exlftence. For whilft fuch a Being fways the fcepter 
 of the univerfe, no one can be fecure a moment •, but had 
 better, were it pofTible, vanifli into nothing, than have 
 his future welfare depend upon the precarious pleafure of 
 fuch a Sovereign. Such a Being were unworthy of any 
 love, truft, confidence or reverence -, and would be the 
 proper objeft of dread and horror, and hatred to every 
 rational creature. But God forbid that we fhould con- 
 ceive of him in this manner. While God is our Father ; 
 while we are the objedls of his love and care -, while 
 he looks on all our involuntary failings with an eye of 
 pity, remembering we are dujl, and even pafTes by our 
 wilful fins upon our fhowing the tokens of contrition •, 
 while his liberal hand fupplies our wants in this world ; 
 
 and 
 
io8 Oft the Love of God. 
 
 and while he offers iis eternal happinefs hereafter, upori 
 the gracious terms of the gofpel ; what is there in this 
 idea of God to make us fearful and uneafy ? Does the 
 idea of a Father carry any terror in it ? Do we dread the 
 thoughts of our gracious benefa<5tor ? Do we look upon 
 our Father, as our executioner, as Ifaac looked upon 
 Abraham ? Do we tremble at being in his prefence ? 
 imagining that he infpefts our conduct with the fagacious 
 malice of an Inqu'ifitor \ inftead of the bowels of a parent? 
 "While the Fool fays in his hearty there is no God, do we 
 wijh there was none ? If fo we are Fools alfo. The 
 do6lrine of God's Being and providence is the moft de- 
 lightful and elevated fubjedt of contemplation, that can 
 enter into the mind of man. * Upon the truth or 
 falfhood of thefe great principles of natural and revealed 
 religion, depends the juft idea of the univerfe ; and of 
 our own Icituation, bufinels, end, and expeftations in it. 
 And the whole fyftem of nature immediately puts on a 
 quite different face, if the notion of an over-ruling be- 
 nevolent mind be excluded. The world, in that cafe, 
 appears like a forlorn defolate wildernefs -, nor can we 
 have any fecurity ; or fafe dependance upon any thing — 
 We know not to what infinite diforders and irregularities, 
 the whole world may run the next moment ; and how 
 foon all rational beings may be involved in ruin and 
 mifery — Thoughts that excite the moft terrible appre- 
 henfions in the mind of every confiderate man — Such is 
 the world without a providence — an helplefs Orphan — 
 deprived of its vital animating principle — the fupport of 
 the virtuous — the hope of the diftrefTed — and a re- 
 ftraint upon unbridled luftand violence — But once efta- 
 blifh the doftrine of a fuperintending providence, and 
 creation revives •, it puts on its former chearful counte- 
 nance. If the world be under the government of a 
 perfedl Being, from this confideration naturally fprings, 
 peace, tranquility, joy and facisfaftion to every confide' 
 
 * Sec Mr. ¥oJhr"s Serm. on Providence. 
 
 rate 
 
07t the Love of God, loo 
 
 rate man — ^he Lord reignetb^ Jet the earth rejoice ' 
 
 Let the multitude of the ijles be glad thereof. — Righteouf- 
 nefs and judgment are the habitation of his throne — This 
 is a confideration, which inftead of dejecting our minds, 
 and filling us with gloomy fears, ought to put us upon 
 anticipating that triumphant fong of the blejfed — 
 Rev. xix. — And I heard a great voice of much people in 
 heaven., faying alleluia — Salvation and glory., and honour 
 and power be unto the Lord our God -, for true and righte- 
 ous are his judgments — Alleluia., for the Lord God omni- 
 potent reigneth. Let us be glad and rejoice and give honour 
 to him. 
 
 Thus I have endeavoured to give fome account of 
 that religious temper of mind which I take to be injoined 
 in that precept which our Lord calls the firjl and great 
 commandment. The next thing to be confidered, is the 
 nature and obligation of the duty commonly called the 
 love of our neighbour. But this muft be left to another 
 opportunity. 
 
 If it be pofTible that any one fhould doubt of our ob- 
 ligation to love God in the fenfe above explained, let us 
 reverfe the fcene, and try whether we can approve a 
 temper of mind contrary to this. Let us fuppofe the 
 divine attributes and condud to be the fame with refpeft 
 to mankind, as we have hitherto fuppofed them, and 
 made the ground of our obligation to the duty we have 
 been difcourfing upon. But let us fuppofe that a people 
 in fome remote part of the globe, inftead of making thofe 
 returns of love, gratitude, &c. to God, thought it their 
 duty 10 hate his infinite perfecflions, — to blafpheme their 
 Creator for his goodnefs to them — to dread his ap- 
 probation — to court his difpleafure — to be continually 
 fufpicious of him — to be dijcontented at the methods 
 of his providence, and to mourn when they confidered 
 their filial relation to him, and his paternal government 
 over them— Could we approve of fuch a fcheme as 
 
 this ^ 
 
no On the "Love of God. 
 
 this ? Could we think that thofe who embraced It were ia 
 their right minds ? Or fliould we think that they were 
 not barely deftitiite of what is called reafon and common 
 fenfe, but had fome principle dirt-ftly contrary to it. — 
 A fort of anti rational faculty ? — Well then, there is 
 no medium between thefe two, unlefs we fuppofe 
 that God is not to be regarded by us in any man- 
 rer at all ; than which, nothing can be more abfurd.— 
 If he be the objefl of any afFedions in the human 
 conftitution, it muft either be of thofe of love, elteem, 
 honour, reverence ; or the contrary one's of hatred, 
 refenrment, anger, contempt, and the like. But we at 
 firft fight fee the fhocking abfurdity of the latter fup- 
 pofition -, the former therefore muft be true ■ 
 
 Wherefore to conclude. Let us confider of the re- 
 lation which God ftands in to us, and of our obligations 
 to him ; and give him the glory that is due unto his 
 name — Great and marvellous are thy works. Lord God 
 Almighty ! Juft and true are all thy ways, O thou King of 
 7iatio7is ! Who Jhall not fear thee, and glorify thy name ! 
 "Who fhall not admire thee, thou eternal, inexhauftible 
 fountain of all good ! Who fhall not love thee, thou 
 fovereign beauty I Thou great original of all perfeftion ! 
 Blejfmg and glory and wifdom and thankfgiving, and honour 
 and power and might, be unto our God forever and ever, 
 through Jefus Chrift our Lord. Amen. 
 
 -Ci>« »C!)t •&?• .C?* 
 
 mmww 
 
 SERMON 
 
*^^WWWWWWW'WW^W''^WWWWW 
 
 ( III ) 
 
 S E R M O N VI. 
 
 On the Love of our Neighbour. 
 
 MATTHEW XXII. 37 41. 
 
 Jesus /aid unto him. Thou Jhali love the Lord thy God 
 
 with all thy hearty and with all thy foul, and with all 
 
 thy mind. 
 This is the fir fi and great commandment . 
 And the Jecond is like unto it. Thou Jhalt love thy neighbour 
 
 as thy felf. 
 On theje two commandments hang all the law and the 
 
 'prophets. 
 
 IN the preceeding difcourfe we inquired into the na- 
 ture and obligation of the love of God. The love 
 of our neighbour is to be the fubjedl of the prefenf. 
 The precept injoining this duty, is thus exprefiVd in the 
 text — Thou flmlt love thy neighbour as thy jelf. Now 
 the ger eral queftion. What is implied in this precept, 
 naturally refolves itfelf into thefe three particulars and 
 fubordinate inquiries, 
 
 I ft. 
 
112 Oil the Love of our Neighbour* 
 
 ifl. Who is here intended by our neighbour? 
 
 2ly. What the love of our neighbour implies in it? 
 
 And, laftly^ what is intended by our loving our 
 neighbour as ourfelves ? A refolution of thefe three par- 
 ticular inquiries will give us a full idea of the nature and 
 extent of the duty under confideration. 
 
 I ft. Then, who is intended by our neighbour ? I 
 anfwer, primarily and ftriflly, thofe who dwell near us ; 
 with whom it is to be fuppofed we have a frequent inter- 
 courfe ; — and fo have more opportunities either lo ferve 
 or injure them, than we have to ferve or injure thofe that 
 are far feparated from us. But the term alfo includes all 
 thofe with whom we have any thing to do — all who 
 come within the reach of our abilities, fo that we can 
 do them good either by communicating pofitive hap- 
 pinefs of any kind to them, or by removing the caufes 
 of their mifery. Any perfon with whom we have any 
 kind of intercourfe, whether he be one of our kindred 
 or not ; whether he be an acquaintance or a ftranger ; 
 whether he be a friend or an enemy ; whether he pro- 
 fds the fame religion with ourfelves, or a different one 5 ' 
 whether he be in a private or a publick ftation ; whether 
 he be our own countryman, or a foreigner •, let him be " 
 who he will, he is our neighbour in the fenfe of the text, 
 when providence puts it in our power to relieve his 
 wants, and render him happy. That this is the fenfe in 
 which our Lord ufes the word neighbour^ appears by| 
 St. Luke's, account of what pafied betwixt him and a cer- 
 tain lawyer upon this fame fubjed. Our Lord had told 
 him that if he loved God with all his hearty and his neigh- 
 bour <is himfelf^ he jhould live. Upon this the lawyer 
 afked the queftion which we are now endeavouring to 
 anfwer — And who is my neighbour ? Luke x. 29. Upon 
 this our Lord relates a ftory concerning a Jew who fell 
 mto the mercilefs hands of robbers. He was found in 
 
 the 
 
On the Love of our Nei'ihbou7\ 1 1 j 
 
 the road by two travellers, a bigotted hard hearted /)n<^, 
 and a Uvite of the fame difpofition. Neither of them 
 afforded the pitiable objefl any relief, although he were 
 one of their own nation and religion. But when a 6"^- 
 maritafty a man of another country, and a different re- 
 ligion, a man who had lefs orthodoxy and more charity^ 
 than the other, found this unhappy ftranger, he had com- 
 pafTion on him, and relieved him. Which now, fays our 
 Saviour, of thefe three was neighbour unto him that fell 
 among thieves. And he faid^ he that Jhewed mercy on him : 
 Then /aid Jefus unto him, go thou and do likewife. Go 
 thou, and ad the fame neighbourly part : Look upon 
 thy felf to be a neighbour to every man, and every man 
 a neighbour to thee, who has any wants and calamities to 
 recommend him to thee. Think not that thou dif- 
 chargeft the duty of loving thy neighbour, by returning 
 the kind offices of thy friends •, by doing good to thy 
 acquaintance -, to thy country-men ; to thofe of thine 
 own fe6l in religion •, but extend thy friendfhip to all 
 whom thou art capable of ferving. 
 
 From this piece of hiftory, or this moral fable, {cd\\ it 
 which you pleafc ) it appears, in general, that the charity 
 which is injoined in revelation, is infinitely more noble, 
 generous and difinterefied than the love of our country^ 
 as fuch, lb much extolled by fome deiftical writers : And 
 than >that friendfhip which is recommended by wri- 
 ters of the fame (lamp — A friendHiip confined to 
 a particular knot of men, whom humour or interefl, or 
 perhaps only a fimilitude of vices, has tied and united 
 together. To be a friend in the ufual fenfe of the word, 
 is to ad a kind part to fome one, or more particular 
 perfons \ but to love our neighbour, in the fenfe of 
 fcripture, is to love the world \ and to be that to all with 
 whom we have any concern, which fricndHiip is to one 
 or two. 
 
 Lest 
 
114 On the Love of our Neighbour, 
 
 Lest we (hould take up a notion that the proper 
 cbjefls of our love were our friends, our kindred, thofe 
 of our own party, or our country only, our bleffed faviour 
 took care particularly to enjoin upon his difciples the 
 love ot their enemies^ after his own example, who died 
 for us while we were enemies in our minds by wicked 
 works \ and after the example ot his God and our God ; 
 his Father and our Father^ who makelh his fun to rtfe on 
 the evil and on the good^ and fendeth rain on the jujt^ and 
 on the unjufi Our enemies are included in the general 
 term neighbour \ but it was highly proper and ncc^lTary 
 that they fhould be particularly, and exprefly pointed out 
 to the Jews, becaufe they were genrra'ly fuch blind, 
 narrow hearted bigots, that they looked upon ail the 
 world befides their own nation, to be the proper objed:s 
 of their contempt and hatred. This national hardnefs 
 and ftinginefs of foul, was continually increafed by the 
 influence of the Scribes and Pharifees, who, like too 
 many modern teachers and do6tors, inftead of inculcating 
 the great duty of univerfal charity, expended their zeal 
 upon frivolous matters ; and laboured more abundantly to 
 make the populace adore thcmfelves -, and to raife their in- 
 . dignation againft all fuch as dared to fay any thing agamft 
 their old traditions , or new whims ^ by which they made 
 void the law of God. And that which made it necelTary 
 for our Saviour particularly to recommend to his hearers 
 the love of their enemies, makes it proper for every 
 other preacher to do the fame, where bigotry and a 
 party Ipirit prevails -, and would to God, that there were 
 not enough of this wretched fpirit to be feen in our own 
 land, at the prefent day, lo make the fame thing necefTary 
 now ! 
 
 Having thus confidered the obJeSf and extent of the 
 love recommjudcd in the text ; we proceed to inquire, 
 
 2ly. Into the nature of the thing itfelf What then 
 is implied in the love of our neighbour ? I anf»ver, it is 
 
 the 
 
On the Love of our Neighbour, 115 
 
 the fame thing with benevolence, good will, or charity ; 
 a difpofition to do good and communicate happinefs. The 
 fame word that is ufed in the text to cxpicfs that temper 
 of mind which becomes us towards our Maker, is ufed 
 alfo to exprefs the temper and difpofition of heart which 
 is requiretl towards our neighbour. Both are expreflfed by 
 the word /ci>(? — Thou Jhalt love the Lord thy God with 
 all thy heart — and thou Jhalt love thy neighbour as thy 
 felf. Howt-ver, alth(;ugh the words are the fame, the 
 things intended by them are very (hffcrent ; as different 
 as the obje6ls of this love. When it is referred to God, 
 no one imagines it means benevolence, or wifliing well, 
 or doing good to our Creator \ but efteem, complacency, 
 admiration, reverence, fubmiffion, and the like. The 
 reafon of the thing, confidering God's independency, 
 power and wifdom and moral perfedlions, and our own 
 relation to him, plainly points out thefe to be the things 
 intended, when we are commanded to love him. And 
 it is equally plain that when our neighbour is propofed to 
 us as the objed of our love, it cannot intend that we 
 fhould pay him that fame internal reverence, honour, 
 refignation, &c. which we pay to our Maker. This 
 would be idolatry inftead of charity. So far as our neigh- 
 bours refemble God, fo far indeed they are proper objecfts 
 of the fame kind of internal regards which we owe to 
 him : And it is doubtlefs our duty to eflecm, and rever- 
 ence them in proportion to their real greatnefs and merit. 
 For God requires us to give honour to whom honour is 
 due. However, this is not what is primarily or princi- 
 pally intended by the love of our neighbour. This is a 
 duty which we owe to all in common, with whom wc 
 have any concern ; too many of whom have little or 
 nothing in them that renders them the proper objeds of 
 delight, complacency, efleem and reverence. Nor can 
 they be all in common the obyCt of any other pafTion 
 befides that of benevolence or good will : This, there- 
 fore, is what the precept in the text injoins upon us. Ard 
 our bleffed Saviour plainly kads us to this general idea 
 
 of 
 
1 1 6 On the Love of our Neighbour, 
 
 of the duty, in his difcourfe with the lawyer before re- 
 ferred to, Luke lo. When the lawyer afked, who was in- 
 tended by his neighbour whom he was to love as himfelf, 
 our Lord told him the (lory of the Jew who was neg- 
 Je(5led in his mifery by the prieji and leviie ; and kindly 
 relieved by the fchifmatical Samaritan — and then ad- 
 ded, Go thou^ and do Ukewife. This (hows that the 
 primary and moft proper notion of the love of our 
 neighbour, which he had juft before recommended, is 
 a kind and charitable difpofition. It alfo (hows farther, 
 that the love of our neighbour, as the word is ufed by 
 our Saviour, is not reftrained to the heart and afftdions, 
 in the fame manner with the love of God : but is 
 ufed in fuch a large complex fenfe as to include be- 
 nevolent a5lion as well as benevolence of wind, — 
 ** Go thou, and do Ukewife,''^ As the natural, and 
 perhaps unavoidable, confequence of God's being good, 
 is his doing to his creatures ; fo there is a clofe 
 connexion betwixt thefe, in all other beings. We 
 cannot conceive of a man's being truly charitable in 
 his heart towards his neighbour, without doing good 
 to him alfo, when it is in his power, and the pro- 
 per occafions prefent for calling forth this internal prin- 
 ciple into a6lion. What a man really wills and wi(hes 
 in his heart, he effedls alfo, when it does not exceed his 
 abilities. So that benevolent aftion will always be in 
 proportion to the ftrength of the benevolent principle, 
 allowing for the different powers, talents, and opportuni- 
 ties for doing good, which take place in the world. This 
 I take to be the intention of St. John, in his i Epif. 
 chap. 3d. ver. 7. Little children let no man deceive you : 
 he that doth right eoufnefs, is righteous, even as he is righ- 
 teous. He that ads well, is really good to the degree 
 that he ads well ; and he doth rightcoufnefs in proportion 
 to the righteous principle in his heart : thefe things keep 
 pace, and the one is always the meafure and ftandard of 
 the other. 
 
 Lov£ 
 
On the Love of our Neighbour, 1 1 7 
 
 Love is, in its own nature, an aflive and vigorous 
 principle. This godlike gueft, does not lie dozing in 
 that bread where it takes up its abode, and conceal itfelf 
 from the obfervation of mankind, like eaftern monarchs 
 in their palaces. Its light jjjines before men ^ and they Jee 
 its good works. It is conftantly exerting itfelf for the 
 benefit of thofe we love : The charitable man loves not 
 in word and in tongue only, but indeed and in truth. Cha- 
 rity contents not itfelf with good wifhes ; with kind 
 fpeeches, and a courtly addrefs *, but does fubftantial 
 ads of beneficence, according to the exigences of our 
 neighbours, and our own abilities. It contents not itfelf, 
 with faying to the naked be ye clothed; and to the hungry, 
 be ye filled \ but adminifters to their neceflities. Love is 
 infinite and the methods of its adling various, and innu- 
 merable. It originates in the heart, and from thence 
 points every way, like various lines drawn from the 
 centre of a circle, or rays ilTuing from the fun. It Ihines 
 with its benign influence upon all that come in its way. 
 It is eyes to the blind j and feet to the lame -, it draws upon 
 it the bieffing of him that is ready to perifh, and caufes the 
 widows heart to fing for Joy. It is inftru(5lion to the ig- 
 norant; and confolation to theforrowful ; it is a timely 
 rcdrefs to the injured and opprefTed ; and liberty to the 
 captive. Charity fuffereth Icng and is kind ; charity en- 
 vieth not -, charity vaunteth not itfelf y is not puffed up^ doth 
 not behave itfelf unfeemly ; feeketh not her own ; is not 
 eaftly provoked, thinketh no evil ; rejoiceth not in iniquity ^ 
 but rejoiceth in the truth : Beareth all things, believeth all 
 things, hopeth all things, endureth all things. 
 
 The apoflle defcribes charity, or the love of our 
 neighbour, as comprehending all thefe virtues in it : And 
 very naturally -, for they are plainly but fo many differ- 
 ent branches of the fame tree. Charity fuffereth long — We 
 naturally bear a great while with thofe whom we fincerely 
 love — It is kind — It is benign, courteous, obliging ; 
 and fweetens our manners, purging away all roughncls, 
 
 morofenefs 
 
1 1 8 On the Love of our Neighbour, 
 
 morofenefs and afperity — It envieth not — does not 
 grieve and fret at the profperity of others, but rejoices 
 in their happinefs — // vaunteth not itfelf — It is not in- 
 folent or aflliming, but is meek and condefcending to 
 others — // is not puffed up — It does not Iwell a man 
 with vain thoughts of his own goodnefs and importance, 
 compared with others ; but leads him to think others 
 better than himfelf — It doth not behave itfelf unfeemly — 
 It prevents men from all indecencies in behaviour; (uch 
 as may be (hocking and offenfive to his neighbours ; and 
 leads him to fuch a deportment of himfelf as may be 
 agreable to thofe with whom he converfes — // feek- 
 eih not its own — It is not felfifh, but excites a pcrfon 
 to confulc the benefit of others — Is not eafily pro- 
 voked — or rather is not greatly provoked { as the 
 word fignifies. ) — It is not angry to an excefs upon 
 any occafion, violently inraged, and beyond meafure ; 
 but obferves a mean, where there is real ground for re- 
 sentment and anger. It thinketh no evil — It puts the 
 moft favourable conftru6lion upon the conduft of others ; 
 and is not apt to impute to them ill defigns and inten- 
 tions — // rejoiceth not in iniquity — It is not pleafed and 
 delighted with the vices and mifcondu6l of mankind ; 
 but pities and laments them — It rejoiceth in the truth 
 — It is pleafed to fee truth and righteoufnefs prevail in 
 the world, rhey being the foundation of happinefs — It 
 heareth all things — or rather, it covereth all things^ 
 
 agreably to i Pet. iv, 8. Charity Jljall cover the 
 
 multitude of fins. — It believeth all things — It is not 
 fufpicious that our neighbours defign to deceive and im- 
 poie upon us -, but is prone to believe what they fay, 
 prcfuming upon their honefty and integrity. — It hopeih 
 all things — It will not fuffer, us to defpair of our neigh- 
 bour repentance and reformation, although he may have 
 wandered far in the ways of error and fin ; but hopes he 
 may flill be reclaimed — Once more — Charity en- 
 dureth all things — It is patient and fedate -, not fretful and 
 tumultuous ', it bears calamities and injuries ; it bears with 
 
 the 
 
0?i the Love of our Neighbour. 1 1 9 
 
 the faults and follies that are to be feen in the world, fo 
 far as is confiftent with the love of truth and virtue and 
 piety : It is a calm and unruffled felf-enjoyment ; a com- 
 pofed temper of foul, amidfl: all the tumults and difor- 
 ders Q>\ the world. Thus comprehenfive is the duty of 
 charity, or the love of our neighbour, in the fcripture 
 fenfe of it •, neither indeed, have we yet carried it to its 
 full extent. Charitv, confidered in its greateft latitude, 
 comprehends in it all moral and focial virtues. He that 
 is a real lover of mankind will, from this fimple uniform 
 principle, praftice all thofe virtues uj-ion which the good 
 order and happinefs of the world depends : Benevolence 
 naturally and neceflarily leads to this •, i. e. to the prac- 
 tice of every virtue without exception. For there is not 
 any particular one that can be omitted, nor any vice that 
 can be intiulged, without detriment to the world. The 
 connexion betwixt the practice of all moral virtues, and 
 publick happinefs, is clofe and intimate : Nor are thofe 
 more private virtues that fall under the denomination of 
 temperance^ exceptions to this general aflertion. It would 
 take us too long a time to fliow how all particular vir- 
 tue?, ( or if you pleafe chrijlian graces) that refpe6l either 
 ourfelves or our neighbour, may be derived from this 
 one fource of benevolence : But St. PauTs authority 
 will be fufficient to juftify the afifertion, without any far- 
 ther proof. He that loveth another^ faith the apoftle, 
 hath fulfilled the law : For thiSj Thou /halt not commit 
 adultery •, thou /halt not fieal •, thou JJjalt not bear falfs 
 witnefs •, thou fljalt not covet ; and if there be any 
 other commandment^ it is briefly comprehended in this Jay ing, 
 namely^ Thou fjjalt love thy neighbour as thy felt. Love 
 vjcrketh no ill to his neighbour \ therefore love is the fulfil- 
 ling of the law. And for this reaion the fame api^ltle 
 calls rhaiity by that emphatical name — The bond of 
 perfe^lnejs., Col, lii. 14 — The tie and nexus., tla- commoa 
 f( urce and fountain of all moral pertt-dtions aiui t Xv ci- 
 lencies : Krom that they all flow, arc' inro that rhey nuy 
 all be rtfolved again: As benevolence in ilie lupie:iie 
 
 Futncr 
 
12 071 the Love of our Neighbour, 
 
 Father and Lord of all things comprifes in it all the moral 
 perfedions of God : And as that fimple principle, under 
 the direflion of infinite wifdom, exerting itfelf in a 
 variety of ways, in order to accomplifh the greateft 
 pofTible good in the whole, receives the various denomi- 
 nations of goodnefs, grace, mercy, forbearance, jufiice &c. 
 fo all particular focial virtues, may be only the various 
 modifications of charity, exerted into adlion. 
 
 When we are fpeaking of the virtue of charity in 
 mankind, it fhould always be remembered that we are 
 not fpeaking of a blind impulfe or inftinft ; a fort of 
 mad — good nature, that diffufes itfelf abroad without 
 prudence, fore thought or difcretion ; but of the bene- 
 volence of rational beings towards their fellow-creatures ; 
 which fuppofes, that benevolence is always under tlie 
 dire(flion of reafon, pointing out to it the ways in which 
 it is to exert itfelf, and the channels in which it ought 
 to flow. Simple benevolence, not directed by know- 
 ledge, would be only a loving, kind fort of phrenzy or 
 dijlra^ion, which it is probable might do as much hurt as 
 good. For a being without reafon to govern his ac- 
 tions by, would be as likely to do wrong as right •, to 
 make the objefb of his kindnefs miferable, as happy. 
 But he that is wife as well as benevolent, will obferve 
 thofe methods of afling, which are the mod conducive 
 to happinefs •, that is, he will ufe the moft effe<5tual 
 means to bring about his end. 
 
 'o 
 
 There is no conceiveable goodnefs or evil in the 
 a£lions of an intelligent creature, but as they conduce to 
 fome good or bad end. And fince happinefs, in a large 
 fenfe of the word, is the only good end, the only thing 
 that is valuable for its own fake, it follows that an adion 
 is fo far good, and no farther,than it produces happinefs : 
 And this is the general rule which we ought to govern 
 courfelves by in our intercourfe with the world. To do 
 ;good is what we ihould aim at. But then there are 
 
 other 
 
On the Love of our Neighbour, 121 
 
 other particular, and fubordinate rules of conduct, flowlno" 
 from this general one, which ought to be the more im- 
 mediate regulators of our a(5lions, in order to our doing 
 the greateft good we are capable of ; ilich as adhering to 
 truth, jujlice -, doing good to a bemfa5lor rather than to 
 another ; providing for our own families and kindred 
 rather than for others -, and the like : For there are cer- 
 tain peculiar ties and relations, which make it reafonable 
 to give the preference to fome in our kind offices, rather 
 than to others. And this is fo far from being inconfiftent 
 with univerfal charity, that it is upon the whole moft: 
 advantageous to the world. Our benevolence would be 
 too vague, and difFufe •, it would be in danger of evaporat- 
 ing without doing much fervice to any, had not the 
 wife author of our nature by the conftitution he has given 
 us, and certain particular affedions, pointed it to fome 
 ■particular obje5fs more efpecially. In general our kindred 
 demand our firft concern •, our other friends and bene- 
 faftors the next j thofe of our neighbourhood the next— • 
 and fo on to our country, our nation ; and from our owa 
 nation, to all others. This fesms to be the order which 
 God and nature have pointed out to us ; and if fo, then 
 to obferve it, and to arife in our good -will by thofe 
 gradations^ mufl certainly be the moft conducive to the 
 general happinefs of mankind ; for the order eftablilhed 
 by God can never thwart, or interfere with, the good of 
 Jhis creatures. To break in upon the order of nature^ 
 or to a(5t out of our proper fpbere, can never ilTue in 
 greater happinefs to ourfelves or others, than keeping 
 ftridly to both. And the method of being ferviceable 
 to mankind, whatever our ftation, and circumftances 
 in life are, is ordinarily plain enough to thofe who have 
 any real inclination to follow it. But I muft haften to the 
 third and kft inquiry under this head, viz. 
 
 3ly. What is intended by our loving our neighbour 
 S3 ourfelves ? 
 
 R Ir 
 
12 2 On the Love of our Neighbour, 
 
 It has been obferved f by fome. That this exprefTion 
 is capable of three different fenfes — It may intend that 
 we fhould love our neighbour with as great a degree of 
 intenfenefs as we do ourfelves : and be as follicitous about 
 his happinefs as about our own. This would indeed be 
 a glorious temper of mind. But it may be reafonably 
 queftioned whether it is pofTible for mankind in this 
 world, or perhaps in any other, to be fo benevolent, as 
 not to have a peculiar feeling for themfelves. And as 
 the poffibility of this may be queftioned, it may, in the 
 fame degree, be queftioned whether this is the true in- 
 tention of the precept. For all God's commands are 
 adapted toourftate,circumftancesand capacities. Again, 
 the precept may intend that we fliould have a love to our 
 neighbour of the fame kind with that which we bear to 
 ourfelves : i. e. that as we are all naturally concerned for 
 our own welfare, fo we fhould alfo have a real concern, 
 in fnme degree for the welfare of others. But this in- 
 terpretation feems to be as much too low and jejune, as 
 that above mentioned was too fublime and elevated. For 
 a man may have a real love to mankind in this fenfe, 
 and yet be awicked,and unjuft man, by reafon that his 
 benevolence is not ftrong enough to be a balance for his 
 principle of felf love. All men have doubtlefs fome 
 degree of real benevolence ; but a regard to their own 
 private good may be fo ftrong as to counter-adl and 
 defeat it ; and fo lead them habitually to the moft cruel 
 and inhuman pradtices. 
 
 It feems necelTary, therefore, that we pitch upon fome 
 third way of interpreting the precept before us. And 
 perhaps the fenfe of it may be this — That we fhould 
 not barely love our neighbour •, but that our love to 
 him hear fo7ne certain proportion to our felf love ; that we 
 love him to fuch a degree, as fliall prevent us from do- 
 ing any injury to him for the fake of private intereft ; 
 
 f Sse th; Bifliop of Bri^ol's fcrmon on this fubjetft. 
 
 that 
 
On the Love of on?' Neighbour. 123 
 
 that in all our intercourfe with him, we fhould do to him, 
 as ive would that he J}jotiId do to tis. More cannot be 
 well intended in the precept •, and it is certain that lefs 
 cannot. And fuch a love to our neighbour as this, does 
 not only imply that we abftain from r.ll a<5ls of injuflice 
 towards him ; but alfo that we are a(5live in ferving him 
 when he (lands in need of our afliflrance \ for certainly 
 this is what we fliould expedl of him. It is impofTible 
 exaflly to determine how far we ought to go in adls of 
 beneficence to our neighbour -, but certainly fomething 
 is juftly cxpedled of us, befides not injuring him. I fhall 
 beg leave to ufc the words of the Bifhop of Brijlol upon 
 this fubjedb, who feems to prefer the laft-mentioned fenfe 
 of the words. " Both our nature and condition, fays 
 " he, require that each particular man fhould mal^e 
 " particular provifion for himfelf : And the inquiry 
 " what proportion benevolence fhould have to felf- 
 " love, when brought down to praftice, will be, 
 " what is a competent care and provifion for our- 
 *' felves. And how certain focver it be, that each man 
 " mud determine this for himfelf; and how ridiculous 
 *' foever it would be for any to attempt to determine 
 ** it for another ; yet it is to be obferved that the pro- 
 " portion is real ; and that a competent provifion has a 
 •' bound •, and that it cannot be all which we can pof- 
 *' fibly get, and keep within our grafp, without legal in- 
 *' juftice. Mankind almoft univerfally bring in vanity, 
 *' fupplies for what is called a life of pleafure, covetouf- 
 " nefs, or imaginary notions of fuperiority over others, 
 " to determine this queftion : But every one who defires 
 " to afl a proper part in fociety, would do well to de- 
 " termine how far any of them come in to determine it 
 *' in a way of moral confideration. All that can be faid 
 " is, fuppofing, what as the world goes is fo much 
 *' to be fuppofed that 'tis fcarce to be mentioned, that 
 *' perfons do not negledl what they really owe to them- 
 " felves •, the more of their care and thought, and of 
 " their fortune they employ in doing good to their fel- 
 
 " low 
 
12 4- ^^^ ^^^ "Love of our Neighbour, 
 
 " low creatures, the nearer tliey come up to the law of 
 perfeflion. Thou Jhalt love thy neighbour as thy f elf .""^ 
 
 We have now done with the three inquiries which we 
 propofed to anfwer — Who is our neighbsur? what is it 
 to love our neighbour ? what is it to love him as our- 
 felves ? We Ihall conclude the prefent difcourfe with a 
 few words concerning our obligation to the duty, the 
 nature of which we have been confidering. And if it 
 be aflced why we Ihould live in the exercife of benevo- 
 lence, I anfwer 
 
 ifl. No man wants, that any one fhould point out the 
 particular grounds of the obligation that others are under 
 to love and afiift him. Every man naturally and unavoid- 
 ably expe6ls, and thinks he has a right to expedt,, 
 kind ufage from thofe about him. But will any man 
 be fo vain as to imagine that himfelf is the only perfon 
 in the world that has any title to fuch treatment ? 
 Can he, if he tries, perfwade himfelf, "that all are obliged 
 to love and do good to him, according to their abilities, 
 and his own wants •, and yet that he is under obligatioa 
 to none ? No man can ferioufly believe this, 'till the light 
 that is in him is become darknefs. Let us deal fairly with 
 ourfclves : Let the fame reafon, whatever it be, that fa- 
 tisfies us, that others ought not to injure us, but to be 
 beneficent and humane to us, fatisfy us alfb, that we 
 ought not to be injurious to them, but ftudious of their 
 liappinefs. Happinefs is what each man defires for 
 himfelf as a real good •, and he cannot be ignorant that 
 others defire it alfo, and have a right to cxpe6l it upon 
 the fame terms with himfelf. Either no one has a right 
 to expe<5l kindnefs, candour and good will ; or all men 
 have the fame. And then mutual benevolence, and an 
 intercourfe of good offices, ought to take place in the 
 world univerfally. — - But 
 
 2ly. 
 
On the Love of our Neighbour, 125 
 
 2ly. God has required us to be benevolent, and 
 friendly to each other. He that commands us to love 
 himfelf with all our heart, commands us alfo to love our 
 neighbour as ourfelves. And the will or law of a per- 
 fect Being, a Being who is in all refpefts fit to be obeyed, 
 is what conftitutes obligation in the primary and moft 
 formal notion of obligation. We cannot properly be 
 faid to be under obligation, but to fome Beings who has 
 a right to give us law ; and the more perfed that right 
 is, the flronger is our obligation. But 
 
 gly. To inquire why we are obliged to be beneficent 
 juft and charitable, is to inquire why we are obliged to 
 be morally good ; a queftion that feems to carry its own 
 anfwer with it — To fuppofe there is fuch a thing as 
 moral goodnefs and excellence, is to fuppofe that all ra- 
 tional beings are under obligation to conform to the rules 
 of it. It is a contradiflion to fuppofe that any parti- 
 cular temper, or courfe of a6lion is rights and yet that it 
 may be right for us to deviate from it. It is eternally 
 right to conform to what is right : Nor need we look 
 out for any farther obligation after we are fatisfied that a 
 thing is really right : This of itfelf fuppof^s we are un- 
 der obligation to do it -, and that we cannot do the con- 
 trary without ading a wrong and unreafonable part. 
 
 4ly The nearer we conform to the great law of be- 
 nevolence, the nearer we conform to the perfedlions of 
 the Deity. God is infinite in goodnefs. In this the 
 moral perfeflion of the divine nature confifts. And if 
 this be what renders God perfcd, it mud in proportion 
 render us perfect alfo. And fo far as we fall Ihort of 
 it, fo far we fall fhort of perfedion. 
 
 5ly. The order and the common good of the world 
 evidently depend upon the exercife of mutual benevolence. 
 From what proceed the tumults and principal calamities 
 that are daily feen in the world, but from a negled of 
 
 this 
 
126 0)1 the Love of our Neighbour, 
 
 this duty, and from the indulgence of a narrow felfifh 
 fpirit ? Were men to put on, as the ele5l of God, bowels 
 of love and compajfion \ did they feel for others as well 
 as themfelves ; we fhould no more hear of ftrife and de- 
 bate betwixt private families ; there would be no longer 
 thofe contentions and animofities that difturb the peace 
 either of church or flate : We fliould no longer hear of 
 the tyranny and oppreflion of princes ; or the envy and 
 rebellion of fubjefls -, we fhould hear no more of wars 
 and rumours of wars •, of fields drunk with human gore, 
 and garments rolled in blood ; we fhould hear no more 
 of cities flormed -, countries laid defolate ; men devour- 
 ed by their fellow-men ; or carried into inglorious cap- 
 tivity and flavery ; but all the world would be hufhed 
 into peace, every one Jit ting fecurely under his own vine, 
 and under his own fig-tree. It is felfifhnefs, prevailing 
 over charity and humanity, that has fpread deflrudion 
 and defolation through the world ; that has depopulat- 
 ed the earth ; that has turned the whole ocean into a 
 redfea ; and the whole world into Golgotha and Aceldema, 
 the place of a Jkull, and a field of blood. 
 
 The conflitution of the world is fuch, that plenty, 
 peace and happinefs can prevail no farther than a foun- 
 dation is laid for them in mutual benevolence, and an 
 exchange of good offices. Love is the fpirit that ce- 
 ments mankind together ; and preferves that order and 
 harmony amongfl them, which is requifite in order to 
 the general fafety and welfare % juft as the regular mo- 
 tions and harmony of the heavenly bodies depend upon 
 their mutual gravitation towards each other : Let this 
 catholic and univerfal principle be once deflroyed, and 
 confufion, difcord, and the crulh of worlds inevitably 
 follow : And diforders fimilar to thefe unavoidably fuc- 
 ceed in the moral world, upon the negled of thofe fe- 
 cial duties that have their foundation in love. 
 
 It 
 
On the Love of our Neighbour. 127 
 
 It is this divine principle that makes a good king ; a 
 good fubjedl ; a good mafter, and a good fervanr. This 
 is fuch a temper of mind as would lead every man to 
 fill up his own particular ftation in hfe with honour to 
 himfelf ; and fo as to contribute to the general happinefs 
 of mankind ; it would fweeten the naufeous draught of 
 life, and make us all pafs the days of our pilgrimage 
 in this world with pleafure ; it would fpread joy through 
 out the earth. How glorious would it be if that time 
 Ihould come, that every man was fure, that he faw bis 
 friend every time he faw his neighbour ! Would men 
 take as much pains to do good, as they do to affild- and 
 grieve and devour one another, the fociety of men on 
 earth would rcfcmblc that of angels in heaven : But as 
 things generally arc, there is fo much flrife and envy, 
 and malice, and revenge, that a good man is fick of the 
 world : And is ready to cry out with the prophet, Ob 
 thai I had wings like a dove ; for then would I fly away 
 and he at reft. But 
 
 61y. An argument for charity may be taken from 
 felf-Iove. That which tends to publick good, tends to 
 private good alfo. To fuppofe the contrary is a manifeft 
 contradiction . For puhlick happinefs is increafed no far- 
 ther than the happinefs of individuals is ^o. The temper 
 of love is in itfelf, the temper of happinefs, and ferene, 
 felf enjoyment : And if the world be under the govern- 
 ment of a righteous and wife providence, thofe mufb, in 
 the final refult of things, be found beft to have confult- 
 ed their own interefl, who have been the moft induftrious 
 to advance the happinefs of others. Wherefore, lec 
 thefe confiderations laid together excite us to put on the 
 divine temper of love. That charity which reafon dic- 
 tates, is fo far from being the love of any fc6l or party 
 of men, that it ought not to be confined even to the 
 whole human fpccies. It ought to extend to every order 
 of beings that is capable of happinefs. There are none 
 To high and fo much above us, as not to have a jult claim 
 
 to 
 
12 8 On the Love of our Neighbour. 
 
 to it 1 none {o low and delpicable as not to deferve our 
 kind regards. The reafon why we are not commanded 
 to extend our love to the angels, and all the glorious 
 inhabitants of the other world, is not becaufe they are a 
 different order of beings •, but becaufe they are out of 
 the reach of our abilities -, becaufe their happinefs is not 
 placed in our power, like that of our neighbour. And 
 as to the lower animal world, it is as truly a tranfgrefTion 
 of the laws of benevolence and humanity to put them 
 to mifery out of mere wantonnefs, and when no good 
 end can be anfwered by it, as it is groundledy to afflift 
 our fellow men. Nothing ought to be below our no- 
 tice, that is not fo low in the fcale of being, as to be ex- 
 empted from pain, and incapable of happinefs. The 
 lower animals are not ; and Solomon makes it one part 
 of the charadter of a righteous man, that he regardeth the 
 life of his beaji. They are all, in a good fenfe, 
 the offspring of God : God is the common parent to 
 lis and them : And we may fay, without a metaphor, 
 even to the worm, Thou art myfijier. Although we may 
 be apt to think that our great fuperiority to the other 
 inhabitants of this earth, fets us above an obligation to 
 regard their happinefs ; yet God had a particular regard 
 to them in the inftitution of i\\Q fabbath •, he even heareth 
 the young ravens when they cry i and not a fparrow fallelh 
 to the gromid without him. If we would avoid a narrow, 
 feififli difpofition, we fhould confider the whole univcrfe 
 as one magnificent building, with different apartments 
 for different inhabitants, all fubjccls of the fame King, 
 and children of the fameFather,whofe general law is bene- 
 volence and kindnefs. Him we (liould confider as fitting 
 upon the circuit of heaven^ and faying with a loud voice 
 to all^ what St. John faid only to a fezv — My children ! 
 Z,ove one another i for hue is of Cod, -H 
 
 This eartli, wliere mankind have their rcfidence, 
 •bears but a fmall proportion to the univerfe. And iliis 
 earth is again divided into ditTcrent countries and na- 
 tions T 
 
On the "Love of our Neighbour. 129 
 
 tions i thefe countries and nations, into different cities 
 and towns ; into diftin6l focieties and corporations and 
 families. This is necefTary and convenient ; and every 
 one ought to be principally concerned for the welfare of 
 thofe to whom he is the mofl nearly allied. But he 
 ought not to let any fart ingrofs the whole of his bene- 
 volence. As a man's belonging to a particular family, 
 does not deftroy his relation to the whole common- 
 wealth of which he is a member •, fo his particular re- 
 lation to one political or civil fociety, does not defbroy 
 his relation to the greater fociety of mankind in general ; 
 not this, his relation to the whole rational creation. He 
 that ferioufly confiders himfelf in this light, as a member 
 and part of one flupendous whole, will find little 
 need of any farther arguments to convince him of the 
 folly of being felfifli, and contracted : He will be afhamed 
 of any thing that looks like a party fpirit : A vitious 
 felf-Iove will naturally be weakened in him : Benevo- 
 lence will fpring up in his heart •, it will diffufe itfelf 
 like light from the fun ; it v.ill fpread from kindred to a 
 country ; from a country to a kingdom •, and from one 
 kingdom to another, till it reach not only all the inhabi- 
 tants of this little fpot of ground called the earth, but till 
 it grafp the univerfe -, and then a man bears the neareft 
 refemblance to that one God and Father of all, who is good 
 to all, and whofe tender mercies are over all his works. 
 
 Speculations of this kind may fometimes be of 
 fervice to us, in order to open and enlarge our hearts : 
 But our proper bufinefs lies chiefly much nearer home. 
 It is our neighbour that we are more immediately con- 
 cerned with ', it is him that we are commanded to love as 
 we do ourfelves ; and if we comply with this precept, 
 according to its true intention, we cannot be deficient 
 in our kind regards to thofe that are more remote from 
 us. Benevolence and charity will be the general turn and 
 bent of our mind •, and will naturally be felt towards 
 all beings when they prcfent themfelves to our thoughts. 
 
 S AYhat 
 
130 On the Love of our Neighbour, 
 
 What connexion and dependence there may be of the 
 various parts of the univerfe upon each other, we cannot 
 tell ; our goodnefs, perhaps, may not extend to all, fo as 
 to influence their happinefs. But this we are certain of, 
 that the happinefs of mankind depends upon mutual 
 kindnefs and charity. And this being the cafe, it is a 
 call from God and nature, to improve all the powers and 
 capacities we are endowed with, in doing good to thofe 
 about us. — God grant that we may all be infpired with 
 this divine principle of love, that fo we may be the 
 children of our Father which is in heaven ; and the 
 faithful followers of Jefus Chriji, who has faid, By this 
 Jhall all men know that ys are my difciplesy if ye love one 
 another. 
 
 ^BWWW 
 
 
 SERMON 
 
( 131 ) 
 
 t^yoStoaVseyaayfieV 
 
 
 
 Sermon VIL 
 
 The Love of God, the firft and 
 great Commandment, &c. 
 
 MATTHEW XXII. 37 
 
 41, 
 
 Jesu s /aid unto him. Thou Jloalt love the Lord thy God 
 
 with all thy heart, and with all thy foul^ and with all 
 
 thy mind. 
 This is the firft and great commandment. 
 And the fecond is like unto it. Thou Jhalt love t}^ neighhour 
 
 as thy felf. 
 On thefe two commandments hang all the law and ths 
 
 prophets. 
 
 HAVING, in two former difcourfes, confidered the 
 nature and obligation of the two duties here 
 mentioned, viz. The love of God, and of our 
 Neighbour^ I proceed now, in the fecond place, to in- 
 quire, 
 
 II. In what fenfe, and upon what account, it is faid. 
 That to love God, is the firft and great commandment. 
 
 We 
 
132 The Love of God^ 
 
 We may obferve, that this aflertion of our Lord con- 
 tains an exprefs and pofitive anfwer to the queftion pro- 
 pofed juft before by the lawyer. It feems that the Jews 
 ( as was obferved in the firft difcourfe upon this fubjedl ) 
 were not agreed amongft themfelves which command- 
 ment in the law [ of Mofes ] was the greateft, or moft 
 important. Some pitched upon that relating to circum- 
 cifion \ others that concerning the obfervation of 
 the fabbath ; and fo on. Now it was a refolu- 
 tion of this point, which the lawyer^ in his query, defired 
 of our Lord. And confequently, the fenfe of our Lord's 
 anfwer will be this — " In making a comparifon be- 
 " twixt the various precepts of the mofaic injlitution^ 
 " the pre-eminence ought to be given to that which 
 " refpedis the love of God ; this is the principal, the 
 *' moft important and fundamental of all duties -, and 
 " which, therefore, demands your chief care and at- 
 '^ tention." 
 
 This is the purport of our Lord's anfwer. Now 
 the inquiry which naturally arifes here, is. What is the 
 reafon and ground of this preference ? Or, upon what 
 account does our Lord ftile this, the firft and great com- 
 mandment ? The reafon is too obvious to need mention- 
 ing, why the pre-eminence or firft place fhould be given 
 to this commandment, had the competition been only 
 betwixt the internal love and reverence of the one true 
 God, and the rituals of religion ordained in the cere- 
 monial law. But it appears that the comparifon is made 
 betwixt all the commandments in general, moral as well 
 as ritual. And that which may feem ftrange to fome, 
 is. That the love of God Ihould be looked upon as of 
 more importance than the love of our neighbour. As 
 God is not externally worjloipped of men's hands, as though 
 he needed any thing ; fo neither can our loving him with 
 all our heart, be any advantage to him, he being abfo- 
 kitely independent. But our righceoufnefs and charity 
 may profit men like ourfelves : our neighbour may be 
 
 reallv 
 
thefirfl and great Com?nand7}ient^ Mc, 133 
 
 really benefited by our love and good offices. And as 
 we mufl fuppofe that the end, of all God's command- 
 ments, muft be the advancement of the happinefs of his 
 creatures, and not his own, fo one might polTibly think 
 that thofe commandments fhould be efteemed the moft 
 important, and claim our primary regard, in which the 
 good of mankind is the moft immediately concerned, 
 fuch as juftice, charity, and, in fhort all thofe particular 
 duties which are comprehended in the general one of 
 love towards our neighbour. It might, therefore have 
 been expefled, that our Lord's anfwer fhould have run 
 thus — ^hou JJjalt love thy neighbour as thy [elf -, this is 
 the fjjl and great commandment. But we find, on the 
 contrary, that he has affigned only the fecond place to 
 this duty, and referved the firjl for the love of God. 
 Now if this fhould appear a difficulty to any, as pro- 
 bably it does, the difficulty may, poffibly be removed 
 by the following confiderations, which I ffiall fcarce have 
 more than time enough to mention. 
 
 I. Tf it be our duty to love God at all, this is the duty 
 which is plainly 7?r/? in the order of offices. Our obliga- 
 tion to our Creator is prior in the order of nature to our 
 obligation to our fellow-men. This appears particularly 
 from hence, That our obligation to love our neighbour 
 arifes principally from the will and command of God : 
 but we could not have been under any obligation to 
 comply with his will in this particular injlance, had we 
 not been under fome antecedent obligation to him in 
 general. It is the perfections of God that induce upon 
 us an obligation to obey him at all. Our obligation, 
 therefore, to acknowledge the divine perfecftions, to cul- 
 tivate a proper regard to our Maker, or in the words of 
 the text, to love the Lord our God with all our heart, 
 is, in the nature of things, prior to all others : And upon 
 this account it may be faid, that this is the firjl and great 
 com7nandment. If, in our imaginations, we diveft God. 
 o\ thofe perfcdions, which at prefent we fuppofe him to 
 
 be 
 
134 ^^^ Love of God^ 
 
 be pofTefled of, our obligation to obey him in any in- 
 ftance vanifhes of courfe. But fuppofe him infinitely 
 ■wife, good and powerful, and our obligation to love, 
 honour and obey him, takes place immediately. So that 
 our obligation to God is the firji which we are under ; 
 it is, indeed, that into which all others may be refolved. 
 There is no duty which we owe to our neighbour, con- 
 fidered as a religious duty, but what derives its obliga- 
 tory force from the will and authority of God. And as 
 the divine perfections are the original and fole ground of 
 all religious obligations in general, fo to have a fuitable 
 internal love and efteem of, and regard towards, thofe 
 perfedlions, is the primary and principal of all duties and 
 obligations. But I fhall explain myfelf farther upon 
 this head, under zfecond obfervation, namely, 
 
 2. That the whole of religion, in the largeft fenfe 
 of the word, ought to be confidered as the fervice of 
 God, the fupreme Governour of the univerfe : and in 
 this light it is ufually confidered in fcripture. Now *tis 
 apparent, that the firJi thing, not only in point of order, 
 but of importance alfo, is to form juft fcntiments con- 
 cerning the Being whom we ferve ; to be fuitably af- 
 fe6ted towards him •, to cultivate thofe regards of efteem, 
 love, reverence, &c. which the perfe6lions of his nature, 
 and his relation to us, demand. Religion muft originate 
 here ; there can be really no religion, no fervice, that 
 God can look upon as done in obedience to him, but 
 v/hat proceeds from this principle of love to him ; and 
 fuch a principle does, as it were, infure our obedience 
 to him in all other inftances. Loyalty of heart to our 
 t2Ln\\\y fovereign ; a proper fenfe of our duty to him, in 
 general, is the foundation of obedience to him in all par- 
 ticular inftances. The more our hearts are attached to 
 our prince, the better prepared, and, the more likely, are 
 we, to yield a thorough and univerfal obedience to his 
 laws. I fpeak now of a temporal prince •, but this holds 
 equally with regard to God, the King of kings and 
 
 Lord 
 
the jlrjl cmcigj^eat Co7n?nandment^ ^c. 13 r 
 
 Lord of Jords. Piety,or the love of God is the firfl and 
 principal thing in religion, as much as loyalty to our 
 earthly fovereign, is the firft and principal thing in the 
 charafler of a good fubjett. And this is, doubtltfs, the 
 reafon why the decalogue^ that fummary of man's duty, 
 begins with our immediate duty to our Creator. When 
 l\i^ law was given at mount Sinai^ it was ufliered in 
 thus, I am the Lord thy God, &c. Thou jhalt have no other 
 gods before me. This injunflion of loyalty, to the one 
 true God prepared the way to, and ufhered in, all the 
 other commandments. Nor was this order in delivering 
 the law, accidcnial, or without any particular defign, Ic 
 would be prepofterous for a legiflator to promulge any 
 particular laws to his fubjefts, without firft aflerting his 
 own authority, and requiring his fubjedls to own, ac- 
 knowledge and honour him as their prince, or lawgiver. 
 This is the purport of the firft commandment in the 
 decalogue : it requires thofe to whom it was given, to 
 own, acknowledge and honour the only true God -, or, 
 in the words of my text, to love the Lord their God with 
 all their heart. And there is fomething analogous to 
 the divine condudl in this particular, in the conducfl of 
 earthly princes, who, in the firft place, require an oath 
 of allegiance from their fubjeds, in order to make way 
 for their laws to be cordially received and obeyed. This 
 is a cuftom which has prevailed pretty generally in the 
 world ; and it is plain that it anfwers good ends in 
 government. Nor is it lefs proper in the divine go- 
 vernment, than in human, that we fliould be required 
 in the firft place, and as the ground- work, the fum and 
 fubftance of all, to have a fuitable regard towards him, 
 whofe fubjeds wc are \ i. e. to honour and refpe6t him as 
 our prince. The general reafon of this, is the fame in 
 both cafes, viz. the neceflity of our acknowledging the 
 legiflator, in order to our obeying his laws. And this 
 brings me to obfcrve, in the third place. 
 
 3. That 
 
136 I'he Love of Gody 
 
 3. That the love of God is the only fure and fleady 
 principle of virtue and righteoufnefs in our condufl to- 
 wards our fellow- men. The moral and focial virtues 
 are, indeed, amiable in themfelves -, worthy to be prac- 
 tifed ; and it would (ordinarily at leaft ) be the intereft 
 of mankind to praflife them, even although there were 
 no God at all. But conlidering the weaknefs of human 
 reafon, the ftrength of human paflion, and the force 
 and variety of temptation -, confidering what men are in 
 themfelves, and what a world they live in •, it cannot 
 well be fuppofed that they fhould uniformly a6t a vir- 
 tuous part, from thofe confiderations alone. Virtue is 
 amiable, and excellent in itfelf ; But the bulk of man- 
 kind are not formed to be fo powerfully ftruck with the 
 beauty and amiablenefs of it, as to difarm temptation, 
 and caufe them to adhere to truth and right at the ex- 
 pence of their prefent eafe and pleafure. To the con- 
 fideration of the fitnefs of righteoufnefs, and all other 
 moral virtues •, and the ufual tendency of them towards 
 happinefs, it is necelTary that the confideration of a righ- 
 teous Governour of the world fliould be added ; whofe 
 pofitive will and command it i^, that we fliould invari- 
 ably praftife thofe virtues which are in themfelves good ; 
 and who will finally render to every man according as his 
 work Jhall be — To exclude a God, and a righteous pro- 
 vidence from the world, is ( I will not fay, wholly to 
 break down the fence betwixt vice and virtue, and to 
 make it wholly indifferent whether we pra6life the former 
 or the latter ; but it is j to deprive virtue of one of its 
 greatefl fupports and guards. And it is to be remem- 
 bered, that not to love God, not to cultivate thofe reli- 
 gious regards towards him, which the perfe6tions of his 
 nature demand, is to exclude him to all intents and pur- 
 •pofes, as to any influence which the knowledge and be- 
 lief of him, can have upon our behaviour. The ac- 
 knowledging of a God can have no good effeft upon 
 our condu(5l any farther than our hearts are fuitably af- 
 fected towards him. So tliat there can be little or no 
 
 real 
 
the firji and great Comma?7clment^ ^c, 137 
 
 real virtue without piety. If any thing puts men upon 
 doing their duty towards their neighbour, and deters 
 them from vice, when the eye of the world is not upon 
 them, and when their temporal intereft is forfeited 
 thereby, it mud be a fenfe of the divine perfeftions upon 
 their hearts ; i. e. a principle of love to God, in the 
 large fenfe in which that duty was before explained. 
 Without this he will be continually in danger of relapfing 
 into vice, whenever a prefent advantage is to be gained 
 thereby, notwithftanding the beauty and amiablenefs of 
 a contrary condudt. But Jet a man once have a fuitable 
 fenfe of the Deity upon his mind j let him really ^t;^ the 
 Lord his God with all his hearty and this will be a conflant 
 principle of virtuous conduct in all conditions andclrcum- 
 Ilances of life. It amounts to little lefs than a contra- 
 diction to fuppofe that a man fhould really love God, 
 and yet indulge himfelf in the praflife of thofe fins 
 which God has forbidden ; and which he knows are con- 
 trary to the divine perfections. The connexion betwixt 
 the love of God, and obedience to his commandments, 
 is fo clofe and infeparable, that St. John tells, That this 
 is the love of God, that we keep his commandments : and 
 again, Hereby do we know that we know him, if we keep 
 his commandments — He that faith, I know him, and keep- 
 eth not his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in 
 him — The love of our neighbour ( which includes all 
 moral virtues in it ) neceflarily flows from the love of 
 God, according to the fame apoftle — If any man fay^ 
 I love God, and haleth his brother, he is a liar. — Nor is 
 this lefs evident from rcafon than revelation. The love 
 of God is the love of the divine perfeSions ; 'tis the 
 love of truth, goodncfs, juftice, holinef% and all moral 
 excellencies. And he that loves thefe perfedions, can- 
 not indulge himfelf in thofe vices which are contrary to 
 them : but will, of courfe, pra6tice all the moral vir- 
 tues in his own life. It is a common obfervation, that 
 fimililude begets Icve ; and it is equally true, that love be- 
 gets fimilitude. What we love and admire in others, 
 
 T we 
 
138 T'he Love of God^ 
 
 we imitate, as naturally as we love in others thofe di(po» 
 fitions and humours that prevail in ourfelves. So that if 
 a man love God, who is poflTefled of all moral perfec- 
 tions, he muft, of courfe be moulded into the fame 
 image himfelf ; he will naturally conform his own 
 temper and behaviour to the moral charafter of God, 
 and he ■perfect ^ even as his Faiher which is in heaven is 
 ferfeSi. 
 
 From thefe confiderations it follows, that although 
 the ultimate defign of all the divine commandments, were 
 to bring us to a fuitable temper and behaviour towards 
 each other, in order to our mutual happinefs ; yet ftill, 
 to lave the Lord our God with all our heart, would be 
 the firji and great commandment j upon account of the 
 influence which the performance of this duty muft ne- 
 cefTarily have upon our moral conducfb towards our 
 neighbour ; and the impoffibility of our adhering ftead- 
 faftly to the pradice of virtue without fuch a principle 
 of divine love. Where the love of God takes place, 
 the love of mankind and all the virtues that are com- 
 prehended in it, muft necefifarily take place alfo : Nor 
 can the latter take place to any good purpofe or degree, 
 where the former is wanting. The love of God is the 
 fountain from whence the love of our neighbour flows .• 
 and to expeft to find the latter in the breaft where the 
 former is not, is as vain as to expe(5l to find a ftream 
 which has no fource from whence it is derived. All 
 moral excellencies in mankind have their origin here, in 
 a proper regard and difpofition of heart towards God : 
 and this is fufficient, of itfelf, to intitle this command to- 
 the place which our Lord has affigned it. But 
 
 4. And lajlly here. This may be faid to be the fir ff 
 and great commandment, becaufe the happinefs of good 
 men in this world confifts principally in exercifing thofe re- 
 ligious regards which are intended by the love of God. 
 The duly confifts in delight and complacency in God ; 
 
 in 
 
fhejirjl and great Commandment^ ^c, 139 
 
 in contemplating his perfeftions ; in rcfignation of heart 
 to his will i in truft and dependance upon him -, and 
 hope and confidence in his goodnefs. And he that is 
 formed to fuch a divine and heavenly temper as this, 
 has the temper of happinefs. He has within him a fecrec 
 fpring of peace and confoiation, that not only forbids him 
 to be miferable, but alfo caufes him to rejoice with joy 
 unfpeakable and full of glory. Without this principle of 
 divine love, and truft in God, there can be but little 
 happinefs injoyed in fuch a world of confufion and dif- 
 order as this, where every thing is in a flufluating con- 
 dition -, where nothing can be depended upon^ God is 
 the adequate, the only adequate, objeft of our affeflions ; 
 and our fupreme felicity in this world, as well as in the 
 next, confifts in the enjoyment of him. So that had God 
 confulted only our prefent happinefs, he could not have 
 commanded us to do any thing which has fo great a 
 tendency to promote it, and is fo clofely connefted with 
 it, as loving him with all our heart. This will, indeed, 
 appear wild and fanciful to fome men, who value them- 
 fclves much upon their reafon^ but have no parts or 
 capacity for devotion. However the happinefs of thole 
 whofe fouls are formed to the love of God, the fupreme 
 and everlafting good, is not the lefs, becaufe fome men 
 have no tajle or relifl^^ for the fublime and exalted 
 pleafures of piety. 
 
 Having thus, briefly fliown fome of the grounds of 
 that pre-eminence which our Lord gives to this com- 
 mandment, I proceed 
 
 III. To inquire what our Lord intends by the affer- 
 tion, that on thefe two commandments, viz. the love of 
 God, and of our neighbour, hang all the laiv and the 
 propfoets ? Now die full fenfeof this affertion may pofllbly 
 be cgmprehended in the following particulars. 
 
 I. Under 
 
140 The Love of GgcI^ 
 
 ^^i; Under the Mofaic inftitution, and during the 
 miniftry of the Jewifh prophets, the love of God and 
 man, were the principal and mbfl important duties •, 
 more excellent in themlelves, more acceptable to 
 God, and more beneficial to mankind, than the mod 
 ptinflilions obfervacion of the ceremonial parts of the 
 law. The love of God, comprehending a fincere 
 regard to, and hearty complacence in, all the divine 
 perfedtions •, and the love of our neighbour, compre- 
 hending all moral, fecial and relative virtues, were the 
 fum znd Juhftance of religion under the legal difpenfation. 
 This is plainly implied in the affertion. That on thefe 
 two commandments hang all the law and the prophets. 
 Every thing was of little account when put in competi- 
 tion with thefe great and excellent duties. And this is 
 plainly the light in which the prophets conflantly taught 
 the Jews to look upon the various precepts of the law. 
 I fhall have time to quote only two or three' paflfages, 
 v^here fuch a pre-eminence is evidently given to the un- 
 alterable duties ol inwar'd piety, and a life of charity and 
 holinefs. To this itfedl are the words of the prophet 
 Ifaiahy ch^T^.i. To what purpcfes' is jh'e multitude of your 
 facrifices unto me, faith the Lord ? — Bring no more vain 
 ohlatjons — your hands are full of blood. IVafh ye, make 
 yectean, pat away the evil of your doings from }>ef ore mine 
 eyes, ceaje to do evil, learn to do well, feek judgment, rC' 
 lieve the epprejfed, judge the father lefs, plead for the widow. 
 SoMicahvi. 5, and onwards — Hear O my people ! remember 
 now what Balak king of Moab confuhed — wherewith 
 fhall 1 come before the Lord, and bow myfelf before the high 
 God ? Jloall I come before him with burnt offerings, with 
 calves of a year old ? IVill the Lord be pleafed with thou- 
 fands of rams, or with ten thoufinds of rivers of oil ? 
 fhall J give my firft born for my tranfgrejfon -, the fruit of 
 my body for the fin of my foul ? He hath jhewed thee, O 
 man, what is good ; and what dolh the Lord thy God re- 
 quire of thee, but to do jujih\ and to love mercy, and to 
 walk humbly with thy God ? Thefe duties are the fame 
 
 with 
 
the firjl a7id great Comma?iclme?2t^ &^c, i^i 
 
 with thofe in the text ; and the fame which our blefled 
 Saviour ftiled ihe iveighiicr matters of the law. Matt. 
 xxiii. 23. and with the omifTion of which, he upbraids 
 the Pharifees^ Luke xi. 42. But woe unto you Pharijees ; 
 for ye tythe mint and rue and all manner of herbs ; and 
 pafs over judgment and the love of God ; thefe ought ye 
 to have done^ and not to leave the other undone. 
 
 2. The aflertion before us may carry fomething more 
 in it, than that the love of God and man, were the tnoji 
 important of any duties of the law — On thefe two com- 
 mandments hang all the law and the prophets — This may 
 pofTibly intend, that thefe two general precepts, do in 
 effed:, and in feme fenfe, comprehend all other duties in 
 them, of what kind foever. — Not ftritftly, indeed ; for 
 then no comparifon could properly be made betwixt 
 them, and others — But as he that obeys them, he that 
 has a real principle of love to God and man in his heart, 
 vi'l naturally be led to do his duty in every othf in- 
 flance — to worlliip God in fuch manner as he rcquMCF, 
 and to difcharge all the duties which he owes to himleif, 
 and to his neighbour, in his particular Nation. Thefe 
 two virtues, as it were, comprehend all others in them. 
 For he that fincerely loves and honours God in his heart, 
 cannot fail to perform all the external afls of pi^ty which 
 God has injoined, all the duties of the firjl table ; and 
 from the love of our neighbour naturally flow, all the 
 duties of the fecond, all the duties which we owe to one 
 another. So that to love God and our neighbour, is, in 
 elVeft, to obey the whole law and the prophets -, and to 
 do all that God requires of us. And thus do all the law 
 and the prophets, hang on thefe two commandments. 
 
 3. And lajlly ; In this pofuion it may be implied. 
 That the end and defign of all pofitive inrtitLtions ; of 
 all precepts not ftridlly comprehended in thefe natural 
 and unalterable duties of piety and charity, was to bring 
 men to the pradlice of them. All the rituals of religion, 
 
 as 
 
142 7he Love of God^ 
 
 as appointed under the law, had fome reference to thefc 
 eflential duties j they were not injoined under the no- 
 tion of having any natural and inherent excellence or 
 goodnefs in them ; but as means to bring men to a proper 
 temper of mind towards their Maker, and one another ; 
 neither were they valuable or beneficial any farther than 
 as they promoted this end, even fincere piety, and a life 
 of holinefs and charity. In thefe things confided real 
 religion ; and every thing befides, had no other relation 
 to religion, but that of means to an end. The rituals of 
 religion, though obferved with the greateft exaftnefs, 
 were rather an abomination, than a pleafure, to the 
 Lord, when they were not accompanied, or followed, 
 by thefe natural and efientlal duties. Thus much is 
 plainly implied in thofe words of the prophet, Ifai. 
 
 Jxvi. 2 5. — 'To this man will I look, even to him 
 
 that is poor and of a contrite fpirit, and trembleth at jny 
 word. He that killeth an ox, is as if he flew a man •, he 
 that facrificeth a lamb, as if he cut off a dog^s neck •, he 
 that offer eth an oblation, as if he offered fwine' s blood ; he 
 that burneth incenfe, as if he bleffed an idol : yea, they 
 have chofen their own ways, and their foul delighteth in 
 their abominations. I alfo will chufe their delufions, — 
 hecaufe when I called, none did anfwer ; when I fpake they 
 did not hear -, but they did evil before mine eyes, and chofe 
 that in which I delighted not. 
 
 Thus do all the law and the prophets hang on thefe two 
 commandments — They are the moft important duties of 
 the law and the prophets — All duties and virtues naturally 
 flow from them — And all the ceremonials of religion 
 were defigned as a means for promoting the pra6lice of 
 them. They were the fum and fubftance, the alpha and 
 omega, the beginning and end, of the JewiJJo religion. 
 
 Such was the religion of the vld tejlammt -, and fuch 
 alfo is the religion of the new. Which brings me to 
 che fourth and laji thing propofed, namely^ 
 
 ft. T 'f 
 
the fir ft and great Commandment^ &^c. 143 
 
 IV. To fliow, that thefe two commandments have 
 the fame place and pre-eminence, under the gofpel- 
 difpenfation^ which they had under the legal : Or, ia 
 other words. That all the go/pel of Jefus Chrijl hangs on 
 ihefe two commandments^ in the fame fenfe that all the law 
 and the prophets did. 
 
 Now, that I may avoid obfcurity, and obviate fome 
 objecflions which the ignorant, or the cavilling, might, 
 perhaps, raife againft this affertion, I fhal 1 briefly premife 
 two or three things for the explanation of it, before I 
 proceed to prove it. 
 
 First then, It may be obferved. That this aflertiori 
 relates only to duty^ ox pr apical religion, as diftinguiHied 
 from faith or belief. When our Saviour faid that all the 
 law and the prophets hang en thefe two commandments, he 
 fpakc of the preceptive part of the law, and the duty of 
 Jews, who were fuppofed already to believe the law 
 and the prophets, and to be fully convinced of their di- 
 vine original. To fuch perfons as thefe he fays, that 
 there were no commands of fo much importance, as thole 
 which related to the love of God, and of their neighbour. 
 In thefe things confifted the fum and fubftance of duty 
 under the JewifJj ceconomy. Our Lord was not fpeak- 
 ing of what was the fubftarK:e of natural religion, but of 
 the mofaic, which was of divine inftitution, and received 
 as fuch by the pofterity of Abraham. And accordingly, 
 when it is now faid under the gofpel-difpenfation, that all 
 the gofpel of Jefus Chrifl hangs on thefe two commandments, 
 the love of God and man, it is prefuppofed that chriftianity 
 is believed •, that Chrill is received as a teacher fent from 
 God ; as the promifed Meffiah -, and that the docftrines 
 of his incarnation, death, refurre5lion and afcention into, 
 heaven -, and, in lliort, all the dodrines delivered either 
 by himfelf, or his infpired apoftles, are firmly believed. 
 This being fuppofed, if the queftion were afkcd, which 
 is the great commandment in the gofpel? the true anfwer 
 
 to 
 
144- ^^ Love of Gody 
 
 to it, ( putting only the term gofpel inftead of law and 
 pophets ) would be the fame our Lord gives to the 
 lawyer in the text — Tbou Jhalt love the Lord thy God 
 with all thy heart, and with ail thy foul, and with all thy 
 mind. 'This is the firjl and great commandment : And the 
 fecond is like unto it. Thou Jhalt love thy neighbour as thy 
 felf : on thefe two commandments hangs all the Gofpel. 
 
 Secondly, It is not implied in this, that it is of no 
 importance, whether chrifiians obey the pofitive inflitutions 
 of the gofpel or not, provided they praftice the natural 
 duties of piety and charity. As our Lord did not fet 
 afide the rituals of religion under the law intirely by 
 giving the preference to the love of God, and of man- 
 kind •, fo neither are they fet afide by thofe who apply 
 his aflertion concerning the law and prophets, to the 
 gofpel. The contrary is rather implied. And it is a 
 truth obvious to common fcnfe, that all God's command- 
 ments, without exception, are to be obeyed ; thofe of a 
 ritual, as well as thofe of a moral, nature. But ftill, as 
 there were the weightier matters of the law under the 
 fnofaic difpenfation, when a comparifon was made be- 
 twixt the feveral commandments of it ; - fo there are the 
 weightier matters of the gofpel alfo ; and thefe are exadlly 
 the fame under both difpenfations. 
 
 Lastly here : When I fpeak of the fubftance of 
 chrijlian duty, and the weightier matters of the gofpel, 
 as confifting in the natural duties of piety and charity ; 
 or the love of God, and man ; I would be fuppofed to 
 intend, that thefe duties fhould be performed upon evan- 
 gelical principles. The duties in themfelves are really 
 duties of natural religion ; but being adopted into 
 chriflianity, they are to be performed upon chrifiian 
 principles, and from gofpel motives ; with a proper re- 
 gard to, and dependance upon, the Mediator of this new 
 covenant, who gave himfelf for us. 
 
 With 
 
thefirjl and great Commandment^ ^c. 145 
 
 With thefe explanations, I hope none will think the 
 aflertion ftrange, That thefe two commands contain the 
 fum of chriftian duty ; and that they ought to have the 
 fame pre eminence under the gofpeJ, which they had 
 under the law. 
 
 The main defign of the chriftian inftitution is evi- 
 dently to bring men to that moral purity of heart and 
 life, which is comprifed in the love of God and of our 
 neighbour. Neither the moft exa6t compliance with the 
 pofitive precepts of the gofpel, nor any kind or de- 
 gree of faith, unaccompanied with a principle of fincere 
 piety and charity •, nor, indeed, any thing elfe, where the 
 love of God and man are wanting, can in title us to the 
 divine acceptance hereafter ; or make us meet to be par- 
 takers of the inheritance of the faints in light. If we 
 believe in Chrift and his gofpel, fo far it is well : but this 
 does but lay the foundation for our doing that, upon 
 ■which our falvation finally turns. A right faith is an 
 excellent and valuable thing •, but it is advantageous no 
 farther than it purifies the heart, and works by love ; no 
 farther than it transforms our minds into the divine 
 likenefs ; and leads us to live an holy and godly life. 
 Thus the apoftle Peter exhorts us, to give all diligence^ 
 and to add to our faith, virtue ; [ conftancy, refolu- 
 tion, fortitude ] and to virtue, knowledge ; and to know- 
 ledge, temperance -, and to temperance, patience ; and to pA- 
 iience, godlinefs •, and togodlinefs, brotherly kindnefs \ and to 
 brotherly kindnefs, charity. For, fays he, if thefe things be 
 in you, and abound, they make you that ye fhall neither be 
 b.irren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jefus 
 
 Chriji. But he that lacketh thefe things is blind 
 
 2 Pet. \. 5 — It is praflical religion, the love of God, and 
 a life of righteoufnefs and charity, proceeding from faith 
 in Chrift and the gofpel, that denominates us good men 
 and good chriftians — Not wearing the form of godli- 
 nefs — Not the belief of any do(5trines, however true, 
 concerning the atonement of Chrift — Not a lazy recum- 
 
 U bency 
 
146 The hove of Gody 
 
 henn upon the righteoufnefs of another — Not any ei> 
 thujiafiic fervors q{ fpirit — Not a firm perfwajion that 
 we are eh5ied of God, and that our names are written in 
 the look of life — Some of the word men in the world, 
 have as much faith as any in it — attend upon fermons 
 and facraments as often — rel-^ as confidently — have 
 as warm frames and lively imaginations — and are as fully 
 perfwaded of their being chofen to falvation. But what 
 does all this avail, if that faith be without works P if that 
 form of godlinefs be without the power ? if that reliance 
 upon the righteoufnefs of Chrift, be thought to fuperfede 
 perfonal and inherent holinefs ? — if thok fervors of foul, 
 are unattended by divine love and charity ? — if thofe tow- 
 ring imaginations, are but the vagaries of a wild fancy ? — 
 and that perfwajion of their ele^ion, proceed from vanity 
 only, and not from their having given diligence to make 
 their calling and ele^ion fure ? 
 
 The apoftle Paul^ in the iid chap, of his epiftle to 
 ^ittts, charges him to inculcate various moral and rela- 
 tive duties in his preaching; and then inforces this 
 charge with an argument taken from the general defign 
 of the gofpel. — For the grace of God, fays he, has ap- 
 feared unto all men, teaching us that, denying wigodlinefs 
 and worldly lufls, we fhould live foberly and righteoufly and 
 godly in this prefent worlds looking for the bleffed hope, and 
 the glorious appearing of the great God, and our Saviour 
 Jefus Chrifi, who gave himfelf for us, that he might re- 
 deem us from all iniquity ; and purify unto himfelf a peculiar 
 people^ zealous of good works. Thefe words are plainly 
 exprefiive of the main fcope and intention of Chrifl's me- 
 diation, viz. the bringing of mankind to real holinefs of 
 heart and manners ; or, in other v;ords, to the love of 
 God and of our neighbour. In the next chapter this 
 fame apoflle commands Titus to teach the importance 
 and neceffity of chriftian obedience, and good works. 
 ^This is a faithful faying^ fays he, and thefe things I will that 
 ihou affirm ccnfta7:tly, ihai. they which havs: hiiived in 
 
 Gj(i 
 
the fir Jl and great Com?7iand?nent^ &'c, 147 
 
 God might be careful to maintain gook works : thefe things 
 are good and profitable unto men. In what does St. James 
 place the fubllance of religion ? Pure religion and unde- 
 filed before God^ even the Father is this, to vifit the father- 
 lefs and widows in their affii^ion, and to keep a marCs felf 
 unfpotted from the world. Does he not tell us that the 
 devils believe and tremble ^ that faith without works is 
 dead .? that faith cannot fave us ? and that by works a 
 man isjujlified, and not by faith only ? The love of our 
 neighbour is fo eflential, that St. John makes it a certain 
 evidence of a man's being in a ftate of favour with God ; 
 and the want of it as certain an evidence that our religion 
 is of no value. IVe know, fays he, that we are pajfed 
 from death to life, becaufe we love the brethren — But 
 whofo hath this worlds good, and feeth his brother have 
 need, and fhutteth up his bowels of compajfion from him^ 
 how dwelleth the love of God in him. St. Paul alfo 
 makes the want of charity, a certain mark of a man's 
 being «o//&;«g" in a religious cjlimation, whatever faith, 
 whatever gifts, whatever accomplifhments, he may be 
 endowed with. Though I fpeak with the tongues of 
 men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become 
 as founding brafs and a tinkling cymbal. And though I 
 have the gift of prophecy, and underjiand all myfieries, and 
 though I have all faith, fo that I could remove mountains^ 
 and have not charity I am nothing. And though I beftom 
 all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body ta 
 he burned, and have not charity it profiteth me nothing — 
 Now abideth faith, hope, charity, thefe three ; but the 
 greatefl of thefe is charity. It would be end lefs to quote 
 all the pafTages to this purpde in the writings of the 
 apoftles. 
 
 Our Lord's preaching tended to the fame point. 
 What 13 hhferfnon upon the mount, but a moral difcourfc 
 wherein the excellency and necefllty of internal piety, 
 and holinefs of life, is declared in the ftrongcft terms ? 
 Has he not made charity the diftinguilliing character of 
 
 his 
 
148 The Love of God, 
 
 his true difciples ? — Hereby flail all men know that ye art 
 my difciples^ if ye love one another. And herein^ fays he, 
 is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit. So jhalt 
 ye be my difciples. Has he not told us, that not every one 
 that faith unto him Lord, Lord^fhall enter into the kingdom 
 of heaven \ but he that doth the will of his Father which 
 is in heaven ? Has he not aflured us, that many will fay 
 unto him in the laft day. Lord, Lord, have we not pro- 
 phefted in thy name •, and in thy name have cafi out devils , 
 and in thy name have done many wonderful works ? to whom 
 be will then profefs, that he never knew them, becauje they 
 wrought iniquity ? Has he not faid, If ye keep my command- 
 ments, ye fhall abide in my love, even as I have kept my Fathers 
 commandments, and abide in his love -— This is my com^ 
 mandment that ye love ons another as I have loved you ? If 
 we look to the account which our Lord has given of the 
 proceedings at the final judgment, when he fhall f:t upon 
 the throne of hisr glory, all nations being gathered before 
 him to receive their doom 5 I fay if we look to this ac- 
 count, what fhall we find represented as the groun^d and 
 reafon, of the righteous being acquitted, but charity and- 
 good works ? — Come ye bleffed of my Father, inherit the 
 kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world -, 
 for J was an hungred and ye gave- me meat ; thirfly, and 
 ye gave me drink. Sec. And what on the other hand, is 
 reprefented as the ground and reafon of the condemna- 
 tion of others, but the negleft of thefe fame duties ? — 
 Depart from me ye cur fed ; for I was an hungred, and ye 
 gave me no meat ; thirjly, and ye gave me no drink, &c. 
 In fbort, the whole tenor of our Lord's preaching was- 
 moral : be feldom inculcated any thing upon his hearers- 
 befides piety towards God, and righteoufnefs and charity 
 towards man : and all his difcourfes were juft as con- 
 trary to the folifidian do^rines wliich too many have given 
 jn to fince, as light is to darknefs, or Chrifl to Belial ; 
 nor can- the former any more have communion together, 
 than the latter. Our Lord infifted fo much upon moral 
 duties, that fome of late/in order to vindicate their own un- 
 
 fcriptural 
 
ihefirfl and great Commandment^ ^c, 1 49 
 
 fcriptural and irrational manner of preaching, have even 
 been compelled to deny that he preached the go/pel^ or 
 defigned to do it -, alledging that his dodrines and 
 manner of preaching were legal. The irrefiftible 
 conviction which thefe men have, that their own doc- 
 trines and difcourfes are of a very different caft and tenor 
 from thofe of ou-r blefTed Saviour, has put them upon 
 making this wretched and impious evafion. They apo- 
 logize for themfelves by condemning their Lord and mafter. 
 And rather than acknowledge, as they ought, that they 
 do not preach the real gofpcl of Jefus Chrift, they deny 
 that Jefus Chrift himfelf did. But notwithflanding they 
 alTert our Lord's preaching was legal St. John the Baptift- 
 was plainly of a d'uTerenc opinion ; for St. John the 
 Evangeliji informs us chap, i. that he barewitnefs of him—^ 
 faying — The law was given by Mofes, but grace and truth 
 came by Jefus Chrift. And our Lord himfelf, when the 
 Baptift fent to inquire of him who he was, told the mef- 
 fengers to tell John, among other things, that the poor 
 had the gofpel preached to them ; and this in order to 
 jatisfy the Baptift, that he was the true Meffiah, and that 
 another was not to be looked for, I muft, therefore, beg 
 leave ftill to think, that our Lord really preached his 
 own gofpel, although this may pofTibly be looked upon 
 by fome as an heterodox opinion ; and a certain mark of 
 my denying the doBrines of grace. 
 
 I hope it appeal's from what has been fald, that the 
 love of God and of our neighbour ; that (incere piety 
 of heart •, and a righteous, holy and charitable life ; are 
 the weightier matters of the gofpel, as well as of the law. 
 Indeed thefe are more evidently the fubftance of chrijiiarr 
 duty, than of jewifh. Under the gofpel, rituals are in- 
 deed of lefs account than they V7cre under the law. It 
 is not on this mountain, or that, that God is to be wor- 
 Ihipped •, every place is a cbrijlian temple •, for the Father 
 peketb fuch to worjbip him, as will worff^ip him in fpirit and 
 in triuL Rituals were but a yoke and a burthen, weak 
 
 and. 
 
ijo The Love of God^ 
 
 >and beggarly elements even under the law. And they are 
 much more fo under the Gofpel, when compared to that 
 fpiritual facrifice which chriftians are to offer to God. 
 And as to charity, this is more peculiarly an evangelical^ 
 than a legal duty. For which reafon it is that St. John 
 lliles this a new commandment^ that we love one another. 
 
 Upon the whole then, the cafe feems to fland thus — 
 Although the chriftian revelation brings us acquainted 
 with many truths befides thofe which the light of nature 
 fuggefts, or Judaifm plainly taught ; although it injoins 
 us to do feveral things which would not have been ob- 
 ligatory without an explicit command ; although it 
 furniihes us with a great variety of new and excellent 
 motives to excite us to the practice of our duty in all 
 its branches ; and although chriftianity cannot, for thefe 
 reafons, with any fenfe or propriety, be faid to be the 
 fame with natural religion, or only a re publication of 
 the law of nature ; yet the principal, the moft important 
 and fundamental duties required by chriftianity are, 
 neverthelefs, the fame which were injoined as fuch under 
 the legal difpenfation ; and the fame which are dictated 
 by the light of nature. They are natural moral duties, 
 inforced with revealed and fupernatural motives ; and to 
 be performed from principles peculiar to the gofpel. 
 And, indeed, it is plain beyond difpute, that the fub- 
 llance of true religion muft neceflarily be the fame, not 
 only under the jewijh and chrijlian difpenfations, but 
 alfo, in all countries, to all rational creatures, in all parts 
 of the univerfe, in all periods of time. Modes and cere- 
 monies of religion may, indeed, be various as the circum- 
 •iflances and condition of men ; and God may afford dif- 
 ferent degrees of light and knowledge in different times 
 and places : But the fum of our duty refults from the 
 nature of God, our relation to him, and one another. 
 And this muft therefore be as immutable as God himfelf, 
 with whom is no variablenefs^ neither Jfjadow of turning. 
 As God is the .fame in all times and places » ss mankind 
 
 bear 
 
the Jirji and great Commandment^ ^c. i c^i 
 
 bear the fame general relation to him in all times and 
 places •, and as our relation to each other is always the 
 fame, except as to fome trivial and merely circumftantial 
 difference; fo the fubftance of human duty muft necef- 
 farily be the fame alfo in all times and places. Thqre 
 cannot be any other than circumftantial differences in the 
 duty, obligation and religion, of creatures who are the 
 offspring of the fame God ; creatures endowed with the 
 fame common nature ; and creatures bearing the fame 
 general relation to each other. Now that religion which 
 muft remain invariably the fame, under every change of 
 circumftance, through all ages, in all places, and to all 
 rational beings, confifts in the love and veneration of the 
 fupreme Father and Lord of the univerfe, and in the 
 pracftice of righteoufnefs and charity. This is the reli- 
 gion which is common to earth and heaven : It is the 
 religion of angels and arch angels above, as well as of 
 faints below : This was the religion of paradife before 
 the apoftacy of mankind ; This was the religion of Noah 
 before the flood : This was the religion of the Patriarchs 
 afterwards : This was the religion of the Ifraelitss inEgypt 
 before the law : This was the religion which was ra- 
 tified by God at mount Sinai : This was the religion of 
 the law and the prophets to the day of the Meffiah : This 
 was the religion which He and his apoftles principally 
 inculcated upon mankind, under the gofpel difpenfation i 
 And this will be the religion, the employment and the 
 happinefs of the fpirits of jufi men made perfe£2 here- 
 after in the kingdom of heaven ; for the love of God, 
 and charity fliall never fail, although whether there he pro- 
 phecies, they fhall fail -, whether there he tongues, they 
 Jhall ceafe ; and although, ivhsther there be knowledge, ii 
 Jhallvanijh away. 
 
 Thus do thefe two duties claim the fame place 
 and pre-eminence under the evangelical difpenfation 
 which they had in the law and the prophets : On thefe 
 iwo commandments hangs all the gofpel ofjefus Cbriji. 
 
 1 
 
152 The hove of Godj 
 
 I have now done with the four particulars which I 
 propofed to difcufs when I firfl: entered upon this fubjedV, 
 There are various moral refle£lions and inferences which 
 naturally arife from what has been now difcourfed j and 
 io 1 muft beg your patience a few minutes longer. 
 
 I. Then, if the love of God and of our neighbour 
 be the weightier matters of the go/pel as well as of the 
 law.y we are naturally led to bewail the folly, and un- 
 happy condition of thofe who, in a manner, leave thefc 
 out of their religion. There are innumerable perfons 
 even in the chriftian world, who, negledling that fub- 
 ftantial religion which confifts in the pradice of thefe 
 fublime and heavenly duties, employ all their zeal, care 
 and diligence about things of little or no importance. 
 Chriftianity is principally an inftitution of life and man- 
 ners ; defigned to teach us how to be good men, and 
 to Ihow us the neceflity of becoming fo. But there are 
 multitudes who call themfelves chriftians, who content 
 themfelves with an idle,fpeculative belief of certain notions 
 and doftrines, without troubling themfelves about that 
 holinefs, without which we are told, that no man /hall 
 fee the Lord. They know their duty 7^ exaSlly, and be- 
 iieve it fo firmly^ that they imagine they may well be 
 excufed from doing it. If they have but a great deal 
 of faith, and rely ftrongly upon the righteoufnefs of 
 Chrift, they think they cannot mifs of falvation, al- 
 though, by their fins, they daily crucify the fon of God 
 nfrefb^ and put him to an openfhame. Some are plcafing 
 themfelves with a round of empty formalities, imagining 
 that religion confifts chiefly in frequent faftings, attend- 
 ing upon facraments, and worfiiiping God with a great 
 deal of outward pomp and ceremony. They forget 
 that God is a fpirit ; and to be worfhipped chiefly in Jpirit : 
 and love all kinds of ordinances much better than they 
 love their neighbours. There are many, were they 
 afked, which was the firft and great commandment, if 
 they gave an anfwcr agreable to their own pradlice, 
 
 muli 
 
th2 firJ}andg?'eatConuna7idment^ &^c. it; 3 
 
 miifb fay — Thou flialc tell beads devoutly -, vific the 
 iepulchres of antienc faints-, fall down before reiiqucs 5 
 pay homage to painted canvas, to carved floncs, and 
 moulded clay, priy frequently to the mother of God -, 
 or the like : anil if they thought at ail of the love of 
 God, and our neighbour, would aflign them only thac 
 low place which our Lord gives to ty thing mint, anill; 
 and cummin. Others place religion chietiy in havirg 
 frequent raptures, and ftrange trar.fports of mechanical 
 ('evotion •, in which the lefs they exercife their realon, 
 thQ better anil more gloiious it is. For 'till they have 
 loft all huuian underjlanding^ they think it impofTible they 
 fhould get a divine one. Thus they go on, raifing them- 
 lelves from one degree of religious phrenzy to another, 
 till they run quite divinely mad ; and then they imagine, 
 that with St. Paul, they are caught up into the third 
 heaven •, that they hear unfpeakable vjcrds ; that they 
 fee vijions, and have a multitude of revelations given to 
 them. And the confequence of this is, that they are 
 lifted up above meafure. They then look down with 
 contempt upon all moral duties, as being below fucli 
 fpiritiuil men. They are for a religion that confifls in 
 ibmething more refined and lublime thr.n the love of 
 God and their neighbour ; thefe are but barely rational 
 and natural duties, and fit only for carnal mcn^ or, at 
 beff, babes in grace. Nothing can hit the refined tafle 
 of x\\t^tGoliah*s in chnftiarity, but what has feme m,y' 
 llerious fublimity in it, and is quire remote from re^fon, 
 AVhat is plciin and obvious is too low and vulgar for fuc h 
 great proficients in grace and fpiritual knowledge. God 
 forbid that I fnould fay any thing to dllcourage a lively 
 and watm devotion. But fuch enthufialVic ilighis as 
 ihrle, have no countenance from the gofpel of Chrid. 
 And the almoft invariable confequence of indulging I hem, 
 is -he neg!e(5l of folid, fubftantial religion •, a rational 
 love of God, of mankind, and the pradice of moral 
 virtue. When perforis once get to^ gafping thus eagerly 
 after immediate inl'piralion, they generally tcwilder t!:em.- 
 
 W fclvcs 
 
154 ^^ Love of God^ 
 
 felves, lofe fight of common fenfe, and neglefl fober 
 religion for the fake of having fermented fpirits, and 
 fuperficial flaflies of joy. They impute all their ravings 
 and follies and wild imaginations to the fpirit of God ; 
 and ufually think themfelves converted, when the poor, 
 unhappy creatures- are only out of their wits. 
 
 2. Since the fubftance of chriftianduty confifts in the 
 love' of God and of our neighbour, and in the pradlice 
 of morality, this fhows us what a gofpel-minifter*s 
 preaching ought chiefly to turn upon. When he is con- 
 cerned with fuch as are already chriftians in belief and 
 fpeculation ; that which he has to do ftill is to bring them 
 JG be chriftians in heart and behaviour — Not to dwell upon 
 jpeculative points — upon trilling diftindtions, and upon 
 metaphyfical niceties, which can only perplex his hearers, 
 without bettering their minds and morals — But to ex- 
 cite them to put on a temper of mind and an outward 
 converfation, which correfponds to their holy profefTion ; 
 and, in the words of my text, to love the Lord their God 
 with all their heart, a?jd their neighbour as themfelves. 
 However, this is too plainly negledled by many. Their 
 conftant cry is — " Believe, believe" — *' Come 
 to Chrift '' — " Depend upon his righteoufnefs." As 
 for holinefs and good works, they very rarely mention 
 them ; and when they do, it is rather with a defign to 
 undervalue them, and perfwade people that they are 
 good for nothing, than to inforce them as the indifpen- 
 fable condition of falvation. Nay, thefe things are not 
 only fpokcn of very often as being perfectly ufelefs, but 
 ( ven hazardous to the fouls of men. Good God f that 
 I he defign of thy gofpel fhould be thus fruftrated by 
 thofe whofe immediate office it is, to inforce the holy 
 precepts of it upon mankind ! — 
 
 3. Hence it follows, that thofe people who are of- 
 fended with moral difcourfes, under the notion that they 
 are not evangelicali are grofly ignorant of the y^i"} fpirit 
 
 and 
 
thejirjl and great Com^nuftdment^ &^c. 155 
 
 and defign of chriftianity — They knoiv not what they 
 fay, nor whereof they affirm ; and need to be taught what 
 are the rudiments zndfirjl principles of the oracles of God. 
 Such ignorant, licentious perverters of the gofpel, tlie 
 apoftle fpeaks of in his fecond epiftle to Timothy. The 
 time will come., fays he, when they will not endure found 
 do£irine. But after their own lujls fhall they heap unto 
 ihemf elves teachers, having itching ears \ and they fjall turn 
 away their ears from the truth, and be turned unto faUes, 
 And, indeed, of all fables that ever were de/ifed, there 
 was never one that, either for fillinefs or impiety, 
 equalled this, that faith without works, without the Jove 
 of God and man, and a life of holinefs, is fufficient to 
 bring us to heaven. 
 
 4. From what has been faid, we may fee what thofc 
 doftrines of the gofpel are, which ought to be defended 
 and propagated with the greatefl: zeal, viz. thofe which 
 more immediately relate to praftice ; to the love of God 
 and man — A zeal for all fuch dodlrines is a zeal ac- 
 cording to knowledge. But it is apparent, that thefe have 
 been but little regarded by many chriftians, in comparifon 
 of others which a man might di/believe without hurting 
 his morals, or endangering his falvation. Thofe things 
 which have kept the chriftian world in an eternal fer- 
 ment •, which have fharpened the fpirits of men ; and fet 
 little angry bigots a fnarling and growling at one another, 
 are nice metaphyfical fooleries, fcholaftic diflindlions 
 without any difference, and mere words without a mean- 
 ing. Thefe are the things, ( or rather the fiothings ) 
 which have been 'difputed about, to the neglc(5l of ll.^ 
 weightier matters of the gofpel ; and even to the deftruc- 
 tion of all piety and brotherly love \ of every thing be- 
 coming a man and a chriftian. So hot and furious have- 
 many profelTed chriftians been in all ages, and i'o wrath- 
 ful their contentions, about nothing, or mere trillcs, that 
 one unacquainted with the genius of their religion, would 
 be apt to think it a very different thing from what it is. 
 
 He 
 
1 56 TZj Lo-ve of Gody 
 
 He might be apt to think that the mailer of thefc fori* 
 o'js, railing, and burning difpiuants, had left it in expfefs 
 charge, as the diftinguifhing charafter of his difciples, -*** 
 not that they fliould he wife as ferpents, and harmlefs ds 
 tiioz^cs — not that they fhould love one another; and pric* 
 tice mutual forbearance and condefcention ■*- and do 
 unto all men as they would be done by — but that they 
 fhoLild be venemous and malicious as ferpents — hate ont 
 another with all their hearts —*- do to every orte as they 
 would be willing to be done to by none^ — go together 
 by the ears about words and founds-^— dri'g each other 
 to goals and gibbets — to dungeons, and the fiames-— 
 and confign all over to hell-fire at laft, who could not 
 immediately pronounce their uncouth Jhihbokihs — But 
 O blelk-d Jefus ! thou Saviour of the world / is this for 
 thy difciples to love one anotheV as thou hafl 'htdd them ? 
 Or did ft thou mercifully make fence bctwix't God and 
 man hy the blood of thy crofs^ that rft-tn be/rtg at peace 
 Vv'ith God, might thus make war upon bhfe afidtTier, 'a'fi'd 
 inhumanly fhed each others blood I But . ' '/ 
 
 5. And to conclude: fufFcr me to befe^fch ydW a1^ 
 
 feriouQy toconfider of the nature,the great end and defign 
 
 of the gofpeUand principally to regard what is of tht great- 
 
 eft importance. Content n6t yourfelves with believing well 
 
 — with being zealous either for, or againft, any paftfculai: 
 
 doflrines — with praftifing the rituals of religion — with 
 
 being fanguine in the vindication of any particular fefl 
 
 or party, or in oppofing any — Thefe things will not 
 
 fecure your falvation. *ris then and then only, that 
 
 you will be the real difciples of Chrift, fuch as he will own 
 
 and reward at the laft day, when your faith has its 
 
 g' nuine influence upon your hearts and lives ; when it 
 
 ir fpires you with the love of God, and of your neighbour ; 
 
 when it caufes you to break off your fins by repentance, 
 
 and your iniquities by turning to the Lord. This moral 
 
 purity of heart and life, is that religion which our bleffed 
 
 Saviour has taught j ir is that religion w'hich employed 
 
 hi*; 
 
the fu^Jl and great Commandment^ &^c, 157 
 
 his lips •, and which all his behaviour preached to the 
 world, more tloquently and louder than a thoufand 
 tongues. For God's fake, for your own fake, for the 
 honour of the gofpel, and your profefTion ; let no man 
 deceive you with vain words. He that doth right eoufnefsy 
 and he only, is righteous. Let no man amufe you with 
 idle, impious ftories, as if faith, and reliance upon Chrift, 
 were all that the gofpel made neceflfary in order to your 
 filvation. As furely as the gofpel is a real revelation, 
 fo furely are thefe notions a mere dream — a fable — a fable 
 wherein folly and wickednefs feem to drive for prece- 
 dency — As fure as there is a God in heaven, no man 
 will go thither to behold his glory^ and to enjoy the ever- 
 lafting pleafures that are at his right hand, unlefs he for- 
 fakes his fins, and becomes holy as God is holy. I con- 
 clude with thofe words v/ith which our blefled Saviour 
 concluded his fermon" upon the mount. Mat. 7. 24 — 
 
 28. whofoever heareth thefe fayings of mine, and 
 
 doth them, I ivill liken him unto a vjife man which 
 built his houfe upon a rock : And the rain defcended, and 
 the floods came, and the wilds blew, and beat upon that 
 houfe : and it fell not, for it was founded upon a rock. 
 And every one that heareth thefe fayings of mine, and doth 
 them not, fhall be likened unto a foolifh man which built 
 his houfe upon the fand : And the rain defcended, and 
 the floods came, and the wilds blew, and beat upon that houfe -, 
 nnd it fell, and great was the fall of it. 
 
 FINIS. 
 
 f 
 
 ^ti'j"^0'^ 'Jo- 6^''-CKi^ 
 
t^N-^ 
 
»<f^>Avk.