v /n^_ E i G , HI? SERMONS P8.£ACHED BErORE THE UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD IN THE YEAR MDCCXCI. AT THE L EC T U R E .^^ -. FOUNDED fiY tl}E LATJ8 REV. JOHN B A M P T O N, M. A. CANON OF SALISBURY. B 1f R O B E R T M O R R E S, M. A, lAte fellow of brasen nose college. O X If O R D, SOLD BY J. FLETCHER, D. PRINCE AND J. COOKE, AND R. BLISS j AND BY RIV1nGT«N AND SONS, AND T. PAYSE^ LONDON; M Dec XCt. IM PRIMATUR, JOHAN. COOKE, Vice -Can. Oxon. C. C. C, Mar. 12. 1 79 1. BAMPTON LECTURES MDCCXCI. ExtraSi from the laft Will and Tefia^- ment of the late Reverend JOHN BAMPTON, Canon of Salilbury. ** I give and bequeath my Lands and " Eftates to the Chancellor, Mafters, and Scho- ** kfs of the Univerfity of Oxford for ever, to " have and to hold all and fingular the faid ** LancJs or Eftates upon trull, and to the in- ** tents and purpofes hereafter mentioned j that, *• is to fey, I will and appoint, that the Vice- ** Chancellor of the Univerfity of Oxford for ** the time being fhall take and receive all the ** rents, ifTues, and profits thereof, and (after '* all reparations, and neceflary dedudlions made) ** that he pay all the remainder to the endow- ** ment of eight Divinity Lefture Sermons, to ** be eftablilhed forever in the iaid Univerfity, ** and to be performed in the manner following ; (( ** I dife neceffary from a Defecft of other Principles-^^i&ondly, it is produdive ofthe Welfare of pwfeind— thefe - two pofitions to be proved, f,, Faith is necef- Jary to Moral Philofo^hj— ."to l3ie other Arts — CONTENTS. to the common Intercourfe of life — therefore, 2. requifite to the w^elfare of man — this more particularly exemplified both in the fplendid ef- fedls it is able to produce, and in thofe that are of neareft concern — laftly, in the ufe of Hif tory to all concerns — objection from the want of Veracity confidered. Conclufion. SERMON IIL Faith in Divine Teftimony no fubjecft of queftion — The authenticity of a Revelation the only thing to be proved — This depends on Human Teftimony, Natural Religion — Jewifli — Mahometan — Chriftian. Acceptations of the term Faith in Scripture. Books of the New Teftament proved authentic from external evi dence — their authority proved from the veracity and ability of the Writers of thefe Eooks thus authenticated — queftion of Infpiration confidered — hence the authenticity arid authority of the books, and, confequently, the Truth of the Gofpel Difpenfation, complete — additional argu ments. Book^s of the Old Teftament proved by the New, by external evidence, by the connex ion between the Law and Gofpel, the type and anti-type of each other. Conclufion, SERMON " nor be entitled to the revenue, before they are " printed. ** Alfo I dired and appoint, that no perfon ** (hall be qualified to preach the Divinity Lec- " ture Sermons, unlefs he hath taken the De- *• gree of Mafter of Arts at leaft, in one of the " two Univerfities of Oxford or Cambridge; " and thaf the fame perfon ftiall never preach *• the Divinity Ledture Sermons twice." CONTENTS. and yet dangerous — this kft confidered at length. Conclufion. SERMON VIIL Recapitulation-^inference — farther remarks on Herefy — Means and Motives of guarding againft it, viz. the Scriptures — the Duty and Happinefs of man. Hiftory of our Eftablifh- ment — inference — repfefentation of the temper of the prefent times — of our own condition and the dodirines of the Church — friendly to tempo ral happinefs as well as inftrumental to eternal- friendly to Learning — defence of Learning. In ference in favour of the Englifti Clergy— Con clufion. CONTENTS. SERMON IV. Internal evidence of the Gofpel — its neceflity and ufe ftiewn to be limited— external evidence preferred— nothing abfurd or contradidory in the New Teftament — fome points however pre tended to be fo. Dodtrines divided into two kinds — I. Myfteries of Faith — 2. Articles relat ing to the Moral Law, and the O economy of Di vine Providence— -the objedions againft the firft to be confidered. The Gofpel myfteries, properly confidered, and as far as men are materially concerned, plain and few — the right mode of confidering them — dodrine of the Trinity prov ed — obfervations on it— dodrine of a perfondl Refurredion. Conclufion. SERMON V. • Articles of Chriftian Faith entitled to farther Credit by the Effeds to which they tend — fcriptural acceptations of Faith as . a pradical principle — fyftem of Gofpel Morality perfed- — necefi^ary from the ignorance of men. Objec tions relating to the Divine Oeconomy confider ed — predeftination — grace — free will — j uftifi- cation by faith and works. Moral Rules of Chriftianity confi'ftent, and comprifeable in few and CONTENTS. - and even one rule. Inferences from the con- fifteHcy and detached Form of the Qofpel. SERMON Vi. : Religious Eftablifhments — neceflity of Go vernment in general — pf ecclefia:ftical — each Church independent — fubprdinatipn pf ecclefi- aftical inftitutipns tp civil gpvernment — particu-. lars nccelTary tp every Church — eulpgium pn the Church cf England^ — prppriety pf Creeds and Articles — Athanafian Creed — Religipus E- ducatipn— Remark pn Infant Baptifm. SERMON Vii. Herefies — np prppf pf Fault in any Church ' — the caules pf errprs varipus. i. Impradica- bility pf fpme fubjeds-' — 2, Want pf Sagacity in the Enquiries — 3. Want pf Pfeparatipn— 4. Want pf pther requifites. Divifion of Errors into thofe of the Underftanding, and thole of the Heart — the latter alone in Scripture deno minated Herefies ^T— corruption of the heart Ihewn to aifed our purfuits of religious know ledge — ambition — avarice — love of pleafure — all Heretics called in Scripture Carnal men — . how Vice produces Herefy — inference^ from this review of it:^it is odious — contemptible — and t X ] SERMON h Heb. XI. I, faith — is the Evidence of Things not feen, T has been commonly faid, that the mlf- takes and ignorance, by which men conti-' nually fuffer in the condud of their affairs^ are chiefly owing to themfelves. And indeed it feems at firft fight necelTary that we Ihould think fo, in juftice to the benevolence of the Creator, and alfo from a due eftimation of hu man abilities. Hence therefore, if this be al lowed, we may at once alTert that, were our in- veftigation of truth in matters of moment at all fuitable to their importance, it would long fince have become fuperfluous to difcufs any queftion refpeding the main concerns of life. A ferious enquiry into' fuch points impartially entered on and prudently Conduded, with a due deference to the wifddm of others, muft generally ter minate in knowledge. But more efpecially tlien would this be the qafe, if in any fuch fub- A jed 2 SERMON I. jed human care and abilities were, as through the me}-cy of God they have fo largely been, affifted by divine Revelation. If we had not the power to ftiut our eyes againft this glorious difiiifion of light, and to betray our own interefts to the perverfions of prejudice, the monitor Would then have had only to awaken our remembrance, and to forward our zeal. But, alas ! we are told that the real ftate of things prefents a different view : that in every age and country, from the firft converfion of mankind by the Gofpel to the prefent time, we may trace the mournful tri umph of vice and frailty over human reafon and human happinefs. It has, more particularly, been obferved, that it is the conftant tendency of the weaknefs and corruption of our nature to proceed finally to the depravation even of that faculty in us which is fimply concerned about truth and falftiood : not that fiich a confequence is derived from any impotence of this faculty, or that it is inadequate to the purpofes for which it was defigned ; but that it is become too ca pable, fince the fall, of being mifguided ; and of being led afidej or impelled precipitately for ward by the paflions : that through thefe error affails it in various methods, which need, not now be recounted, , too often fuccefsfuUy : but, above all, whfen a Habit of evil condud once enflaves the will, a fatal chain is then continued forward, gradually involving every defire and concep- S E R M O N I. 3 conception of the mind, till a reludanee ta^^Ir- tue, and a confeqiient wilh to find its laws un^ authorifed by truthi throw it at laft around that reafon which is the bfeft image of God within us> fettering or diftorting all its genuine opera tions ; till, as far as may be, the whole man becomes the captive of fcepticifm and infide lity, and an evil heart of unbelief whifpers to the fool that " there is no God/* Taking therefore for the prefent as granted, what thus feems to follow from the condition of our nature> that every Degree of error may ob tain : fince alfo the experience of all pa'ft ages has farther Ihewn that eveiy Kind has at diffe rent times prevailed^ more or lefs, in the world ; the defender of truth has a ferious and perpetual talk entailed upon his office : efpecially as it hath been alfo remarked, that he has not only to combat with new dodrines which a refined in genuity may proceed to invent ; but has ftill to contend with thofe of every fort and degree which obftinacy and ignorance have at any for mer time produced, which, though repeatedly refuted, are conftantly brought forward under a different or even a fimilar Ihape. In the midft of this field of warfare, the peculiar ob- jeds of his care will necelTarily be thofe truths, which the circumftances Of each prefent time enable the enemy of Religion to attack with A 2 moft 4 S E R M O N L moft advantage. Thus, if a liberal and Inqul- fitive age Ihould ftudy to difcriminate between the authentic and the fpurious records of anti quity, herefy will naturally, under the malk of this liberality and diligence, difpute and deny even the rudiments of the chriftian faith. If the improved reafon of any nation juftly rejed an undue deference to the commands of human authority or the didates of human wifdom, not only prejudice, which may claim our regard, but licentioufnefs and ambition may be expeded to defy the firft altogether as tyrannical, and to deride the laft as abfurd or unintelligible. In fuch a ftate of things, it will not, it is prefumed, appear ever idle, fince it cannot be unfeafonable, to take fome review even of the Principles on which the Gofpel is founded, and of thofe on which the Profelfion of it in this country and the Adminiftration of its Difcipline are built. Nor, if, in the coUrfe of fuch an attempt, truth Ihould receive the leaft confir mation, or the Pretenfions of infidelity and he refy be in the leaft weakened, will, I truft, the defign of this Inftitution have been un- anfwered. Before that any defence of religious truth can be properly entered upon, it is evidently necef- fary SERMON I. 5 fary that the Principle, on which all revelation depends, Ihould be clearly underftood, and juftly appreciated. There is, we muft be aware, rea fon to lament that this is far from being univer- fally the cafe, and pn two different accounts. The libertine and worldly man deride, or can-r not brook, the notion of facrificing the evidence of their fenfes, which, as it were, bring home to them the value of things prefent, to a regard unto " things hoped for " hereafter. The felf- fufficient fophift, on the other hand, affeds to undervalue every other wifdom than the fure dedudions of reafon from' certain and evident truths. Amid thefe oppofitions, which an at tentive man may obferve to have always abound-? ed, and ftill to divide the world againft the docr trines of Faiths it is then of necelTary import ance to confider, on what grounds and with what degree of credit this great principle may claim, in the Apoftle's words, to be " the evi- ** dence of things not feen," Faith, by a definition that feems not impro per, .and that is confiftent with St. Paul's ac count of it, is an aflent of the underftanding to propofitions becaufe of the teftimony of others ; by which it is diftinguilhable from fcience and pppofed to dilbelief. A3 It 6 SERM ON L It Is, I am perfuaded, evidently agreeable to ftrid propriety to conCidcr Faif&, or Belief, in this fimple manner, and to refer all thofe other fig- nifications which the term h^s acquired unto this, as the original fource from which they have been derived. It is indeed a fufficient ar gument in its favour, that it is mpft conducive ito perfpicuity ; for it is unqueftipnably the only mean pf preventing confufipn, which, as it is obvious, muft follow an undetermined latitude, and in no fmall degree ; and which has in this cafe particularly arifen from an indifcriminate ufe of the term, while we do not preferve the fimplicity of the primary notion, and keep clear in our minds the relation to it, through which its derivative acceptations take their refpedive force and extent pf meaning. There are Indeed, according to the well known ufage of all languages, many fecondary ideas exprefled by the word Faith. Thefe there is no occafion at prefent to exemplify. It is lipwever rnateriaj tp rnentjoi} a diftributlon of them into two claffes. Qf thefe the firft may comprehend allthqfe acceptations which refped the exiftence or confcqiiences of belief, as a rnatter of the Intelle.Si only : fuch are the belief of any particular tenet, an aflur^nce of the verity pf particular witneffes. The other may include tije CoriduSi which is the refult of belief, or of thofe S E R M O N L 7 thofe effeds which it produces in the mind., It is my purpofe in the prefent difcourfe to confine myfelf to intelledual Faith, the firft of thefe di- vifions, and to confider its propriety and im portance as a Ipeeies of human knowledge. We are taught by the great Writer on this fubjed,* that man is born with nothing more at firft than a capacity of receiving ideas ; which are impreffed upon the mind by fenfa- tion and refiedion j and afterwards are by its operation farther abftraded and compounded. Nor, as I prefume, do experience and obferva- tion tend to dilprove this opinion, but are the ground on which it fafely refts. But, if we apply this dodrine to the con cerns of each individual man, and deduce the progrefs and confequence of fuch principles, it will be an obvious remark on this ftatement, that the channel of information derived from fuch a fource is confined within narrow bounds, and that the accumulation of human knowledge thus obtained will be of fmall amount. It li mits the materials on which the mind may ex- ercife its powers to the fcanty pittance of each man's fingle experience, and reftrains him in the * Locke, B. II. c. i, and xii, A 4 purfwit S S E R M O N L purfult after truth tp the fpHtary exertion pf his own abilities. To prove this repnark Ihortly, it will be only necelTary to fuggeft the almoft in- ftnite number and variety of propofitions, which are received generally among the learned part, pf mankind, and fprm the bulk pf human fcience. It will thence appear to thofe who inveftigatg the fubjed, hpw lliort and inefficacious would be the unafiifted powers of the moft fubtile of induftrious of men, As human fcience is widely diffufed^ it will .not be improper here to lead our recolledion un to fome particular inftances. Among the great number that offer themfelves, one, as I conceive, not ill chofen, is the ftudy of the natural world or what is termed Natural Philofophy, on ac count of thg confeffed propriety of the rules ancj method of its procedure. I truft that in this fcience jt will occur how few of the individual fads, from which the indudion is made unto general truths^ are fuch as fall within any one perfon's knowledge ; very few indeed compara.. ^ively with the number requifite to a legitimate inference, and ftill much lefs pn all the parts of that extenfive fyftem. j may eyen be juftified in faying that in no one inftahce is a fingle per fon's experience fufficient to this end without the concurrence, in fome degree, of that of pthers, Some fad§ in particular might be men tioned, S E R M O N I. 9 tioned, as being mpft evidently beypnd difpute j being neceffarily put pf the reach pf the gene rality pf men in any pne age pr cpuntry pf the world, as they happen in a different quarter of the .globe, or have taken place at a different period of tirne. Ampng fuch, to name no more, are obfervations on many appearances of the heavenly bodies. It fpUpws therefpre that moft of thefe fads are applicable only on belief of the teftimony of others, and are matters of Faith ; ^vjthout which, as there would not be an ade quate colledion of Pha2nomena for obfervation to proceed on, fo we may alfo obferve that an appeal could not be made to the fimplicity and Analogy of nature ; the aid of Geometry could not be called in to any purpofe ; and, in fine, this fyftem of philofophy, the boaft of modern fcience, which has advanced the knowledge of man to fo wonderful a height, would not have |3een at all eftablilhed. To go yet farther : it may perhaps be quef- ' tioned, whether even thofe fciences that are de nominated purely abftrad and unmixed can exift without a reference to teftimony. Such are, particularly, all matliematlcal ftudies. Thefe are undoubteflly the fyftems, wherein the hu man mind, if in any, has a free fcope for its (exertions, and a fair title to boaft of its proper ^nd fi:ngle acquirements. All thefe theories are well 10 S E R M O N L well known to depend on a fmall number of fpeculative and pradical axioms, which, once admitted, the propofitions deduced from them follow with indifputable certainty. But fuch axioms, although now immediately and without any doubt received on their enunciation, I pre-r fume to fuppofe, fuch is the weaknefs of our nature, that no fingle underftanding could ori ginally on its own convidion fully and inflexibly determine to be felf-evidcnt and infallible. At leaft, fince fome have been denied to be fo, and others doubted, for even thefe a fceptic will difpute, it is jplain that a moft important accef- fion of confidence, fuch as fills up the meafure of our certainty, arifes from the generality of their reception. And then it is obvious, that the mean of communicating this general confent is the teftimony that men bear to their own convidion, and is thus matter of Faith. Frorn thefe inftances, which are defigned to exemplify the cafe of all fcience, either purely theoretical, or blended with obfervation and ex perience, we might proceed to the confideration of that fpecies of knowledge which Faith claims as its own peculiar province ; namely, that which is contained in Hiftory of all kinds, properly fo called^ or the communication of fads and opi nions removed from us by the diftance of -fpace and of time. But, as it is needlefs to prove that Faith S E R M O N L II Faith is here a neceffary principle, I Ihall con tent myfelf with barely mentioning this topic, nor enlarge on it at prefent, If the preceding obfervations Ihould be juft, and are duly confidered and applied, I truft that the Necejity of Faith to the attainment of truth will fully appear, and the wide extent of our re liance on the word of others, in the queft of that information which, fingly, we are not able to obtain, After this Neceffity, we fliall be properly led next to weigh the Rea/onab/enefs of this belief, on the ground of its intrinfic worth as a medium of knowledge. This is obvioufly founded on the deference due to the Veracity and the Ability pf men. On the latter of thefe topics, it is at firft fight obvious that general incredulity may be juftly charged with arrogance and obftinacy. For every confiderate and fincere man muft allow that there are fome who exceed others and moft probably furpafs him, in natural powers of mind, or in the general means of information, or in both. In particular branches of literature it is evident that many muft excell him; for no nian is able to rife to eminence in every part of literary j2 S E R M O N L literary purfult. Nay farther, it is equally cer tain that almoft all men, perhaps I Ihould fay all, muft be capable of inftruding him in fome one point or other. In order to Ihew this fully, it may be fufficient to remind him, that, in all pro bability, every man is born with a capacity andl inclination of giving a preference to fome inftan ces of application above others, however low and trifling they may fometimes chance to be, and of a confequent proficiency in fuch purfuits. And in whatever manner accident may affed this natural fitnefs, may forward or impede it, in fome of thefe particulars it generally has an opportunity to be exerted, and to lead a man on to a confiderable degree of Ikill. Again, in like manner, the deftination of men by incidental circumftances to their peculiar employments in life tends to produce a fimilar confequence, though it cannot advance them to the fame de gree of eminence, as when natural ability and inclination confpire witli affiduous diligence. Herein therefore tl^efe know more, and may boaft of imparting knowledge to men poffeffed of far fuperior intelleds, and more favourable opportunities of general information. In thus briefly ftating thefe fads, by which it appears, that the greateft philofophers muft be liable to receive inftrudion from the meaneft among mankind, it is needlefs tp dwell on the many intermediate fituations of nien in refped to their literary S E R M O N L 13 literary rank, which confequently would furnilh fp many mpre inftances pf mutual ccmmunica- tipn and credit. Npr, If we pafs pn tp the other qualification of Integrity, fliall we find our argument for the Value of Faith as a principle of knowledge checked or weakened in its progrefs. It is very ufual indeed to murmur and declaim againft the deceitfulnefs of the world : but the reafon of the cafe, and the opinion of the fenfible part of mankind, authorife a more favourable determi nation. In enquiring into this fubjed, by an invefti- gation of the motives that are likely to fway men in giving evidence of fads and opinions, we Ihould be careful not to omit any among the principal ones on either fide. And firft, in the number of thofe that incline men to Veracity, the natural love of truth is by no means to be paffed over. As natural, it is alfo univerfal, and may be fuppofed to dired every man's teftimony, unlefs it can be Ihewn that fome other motive interferes fufficiently powerful to fet it afide. It will eafily be replied that this is much too often the cafe. But, though this be undeniable by reafon of the corruption of our nature, yet it ftill remains, and often direds by its influence. It is likewife to be confidered at other times as an affiftant 14 S E R M O N L affiftant to the reft on the fame fide: Such ar6 the fliame of afferting what is at the lame time fecretly contradided by the evidence of our own mind ; the natural tendency to felf-love and to benevolence, which are both generally beft pro moted by adherence to truth ; the fear of detec tion, and the dread of the punilhment that, in fome Ihape or other, awaits the voluntary and premeditated violation of it. And, if to thefe powerful motives of condud we, laftly, add the fandion which true religion lends to every part of virtue, we Ihall be led to acknowledge that there is ample ground for confidence in tbe Veracity of human teftimony. Whoever Ihall decide otherwife, will maintain an opinion un worthy of God in his creation and moral go vernment of the world. The Almighty muft either be fuppofed to have conceived a mean plan in intending to create fuch vile and wicked beings, or to have come Ihort of his purpofe, or to have fuffered them to fall into fuch objeds as are deftitute of all claim to refpedability. But this, not only a pious man, but alfo any candid and fenfible obferver of mankind will never admit to be the cafe. We muft indeed allow that there is room for caution, while every kind of depraved paffion and external tempta tion is prefent to folicit them occafionally to fallhood and diffimulation. But I contend, that to fuppofe the qualification of Veracity too fub- lime S E R M O N L 15 lime for man in his prefent ftate, and that it is ridiculous to attribute it to him; or, becaufe fome things are to be dilbelieved, to conclude that all are to be doubted, and not very many to be received with perfed confidence, is far from accuracy and genuine circumfpedion. Thefe require that a line Ihould be drawn : and true criticifm will enable men, by contemplating the nature of the evidence, and inveftigating its cir cumftances, to fet at a great diftance from the limits of hefitation an infinite number of affer- tions propofed to their belief. On the contrary, it is too manifeft, from our experience and ob fervation, that weaknefs and ignorance of mind are very great caufes of incredulity. The one is that which fo often leads to dilbelief, the other at leaft to diftruft and fufpicion. For the latter is deficient in thofe qualifications of experience and theory, which ¦ give fo material a fupport to the credit of a new relation : the former, as it is ftill more pitiable, is the caufe of as grievous and more culpable miftakes than credulity itfelf : nor can fuch fcrupuloufnefs ever deferve the name of prudence; or will-the end of fuch ha bits ever be wifdom and knowledge. If, referring to what has been argued on the Veracity and Ability of men as witneffes, we pro ceed to confider the Certainty annexed to this fpecies i6 S E R M O N i. fpecies of knowledge, what has been already ad vanced will affift our enquiry. Philofophical writers on this fubjed, have ranked Faith very low in the fcale of affent ; I mean the Belief of human teftimony, which alone we are confi dering. But this, I prefume, is evidently done only on account of the great variety of cafes under this head, in the loweft of which fuch evidence is entitled to fmall credit : nay in fome, as it has been intimated, it is entitled to none at all. This, however, affords no argument why there may not be many inftances, in which it would be utterly unrelfonable not to place a perfed confidence, equal to that repofed on in- demonftrable axioms or the certain dedudions of fcience. I need not exemplify this affertion any farther than by mentioning, that, as other- wife no one could be certain of the exiftence of any thing to which he had not been a fenfible witnefs, a man could not know, to adduce fuch inftances as have been alledged by a great writer, that there did exift any country in the world which he had not feen, or that there had lived any perfon in paft times whofe name is only recorded by hiftorians. Human teftimony, in thefe and the innumerable other examples that might be adduced, is capable of an acceflion of fo many undeniable confirmations of its truth, that it is impoffible for the human mind, con- ftituted as it is, to refufe as full and firm an af fent S E R M O N I. 17 fent as it is capable of giving. And, firft, thefe confirmations may arife out of the Matter itfelf of the report. For this, as it is evident, may be fuch as can of itfelf afford a very powerful argument for its truth. It may be parallel to other matters within our knowledge in fimilar cafes ; or it may be likewife concluded as almoft certain from premifes of which we are in pof- felfion : it may be conneded neceffarily or pro bably with other fads related on the fame au thority, which have been proved to be true. It may alfo be fuch, that all the polfible caufes of miftake or falfliood may be greatly overbalanced by others that guard from error and oblige to veracity; or that it may not admit of fcarcely the leaft principle of deception : or, laftly, the conlequences of miftating the fad may be fuch, that it would be in oppofition to every leading principle of the human heart to do fo. It is eafy, but needlefs, to bring to view more parti culars that tend to the fame purpofe. The Cha- rader of the Witneffes alfo may in fome inftan ces of teftimony be placed beyond impeachment. They may.be peculiarly capable of apprehending their fubjed, eminentfy verfed in it, or aflifted by circumftances that afford them a full and plain perception of it. Again, they may be par ticularly interefted in the truth of what they re late. Their principles, their honor, their ad vantage, nay every paffion and defire belonging B to i8 S E il M d N I. to their temper and condition that can be con cerned in the verity or fallhood of any evidence,' may be here involved. Again, in the cafe where the relation is a matter of antiquity and com municated by written tradition, another circum- ftance occurs, which indeed, at the fame time that it is efpecially advantageous in this inftance, always avails to promote the credit of all tefti mony; namely, the Reception it has obtained in the world. For furely, after all that can be juftly objeded againft Authority, confidered apart from reafon, arguments will be left fuf ficient to preferve to it a confiderable fliare of weight and importance. It could not be for nothing that genius and opportunity have beerr given to fome men above others. And yet if it were not for the purpofe of alfifting thole who' are inferior to them, by inftrudion and advice,- they muft have been given for nothing, or for' fo partial a purpofe as may be deemed to fall Ihort of the benevolent defigns of tlie Creator of mankind. But advice confiftlng of general wif dom or knowledge of truth applied to particular cafes, it muft, where fuch application is not at all or is imperfedly difcerned, be received on the Authority of the advifer ; and how often this; advice becomes neceffary to all it is fuperfluous to attempt to Ihew. To proceed, it may in fome cafes be the fandion of the greateft number of wife and good men ; nay in fome may amount to S E R M O N L 19 to an univerfal one in all ages and countries. And this, accompanied by other arguments, feems to effed the higheft kind of convidion. Similarly to felf evident principles, it feems as if the exiftence of fuch fads were neceffarily im preffed on men, as implied in the natural con- ftitution of things, or derived from the natural fuggeftions of our minds. Hence univerfal tra dition is not to be withftood ; and the farther back its fubjed ftands removed, in the annals of the world, the more authority it feems intitled to over our underftanding. While therefore it has been allowed that there are different degrees of credibility in faith, it appears at the fame time that of thefe fomp amount to the higheft, and require, as indeed they dp pbtalu) an entire acquiefcence. It may npt be impertinent here to add a remark on the cafe of Science, which is perhaps too much the boaft of the philofopher, efpecially when he de grades the force of Teftimony in comparifon with iti It muft be far indeed from any one to wilh, if it were even polfible to accomplilh it, that the pillars of human knowledge Ihould be weakened or rendered objeds of fufpicion : but it is on every account not a little ufefiil to Ihew that modefty rather than prefumption becomes us, even in thofe circumftances from which we B 2 are 20 S E R M O N L are moft apt to pleafe and exalt ourfelves. It has been before obferved, that in the mOft ab ftrad fpeculations, which are regarded as the pure and abfolute province of the mind, our un derftanding, deftitute of concurrent teftimony, can ill or not fo well affure itfelf of the Infalli bility of thofe Principles on which the ftrudurc is raifed, In matters that fall under the notice of our fenfes, the mind is fubjed to greater dif- advantages. Obfervations of Fads, it is well known, are often inaccurate and falfe, on ac count of accidental imperfedions in the means themfelves, or difficulty in the objeds, or unfavourable difpofition of other particulars. Dedudions in Reafoning alfo are liable to be defedive or incorred from the difficulty of the fubjed, from incidental difqualifi cation in the, enquirer, or from other caufes, which apply to a far greater variety of cafes than are acknow ledged. Thefe all occafion a neceflity for the coincident teftimony of other perfon s, to con firm the certainty of fuch informations, and the juftnefs of fuch conclufions. If Faith therefore is liable to miftake, fo likewife is human Science. Both of them, happily for the interefts of man, are equally capable of being rendered corred by many concurrent circumftances that tend to confirm or difprove : nay, farther, as it has been intimated, both equally afford this help to each other, throwing a reciprocal light, which often S E R M O N L 21 often difplays the truth of each other's affer- tions, and Ihews what was before only highly probable to be clear of all uncertainty. The obfervation, which we Ihould hence deduce, is that neither has any right to boaft itfelf in con tempt of the other ; but that they are mutual auxiliaries, and, in the fpirit of that forcible figure in holy writ, are members of the fame body, which ftriving together, with the ftrength that the meafure of every part fupplieth, make increafe of the whole until it reach unto the fullnefs of the ftature of human knowledge. But to return : it is clearly perceivable with what particulars the mind is concerned, in form ing a due eftimation of any evidence in matters of Faith. It is alfp pbvious to remark that there muft be many Degrees diftinguilhable of fuch eftimation, according to the pofitive argu ments for fuch evidence, or the comparative worth or infignificance of thofe on each fide. To afcertain thefe, as far, I mean, as it is ne^ ceffary or important to us, there is no reafon to fuppofe human fagacity otherwife than well qua lified : and there is a good reafon afforded in the wifdom and benevolence of the creator that it is well qualified. He has undoubtedly ordained, that, in a talk fo neceffary and ufeful to our ftate, the mind Ihall, as it has a free and ample employment, fo alfo have no vain and hopelefs ^ B 3 tafli 22 S E R M O N L talk for Its powers, in difcriminating between the feveral values of the relations that are offered to its reception, / But it is now to be obferved that thefe powers are requifite on the fide of the enquirer, and, if in Science, are alfo to be fuppofed in cafes of Faith. For it is not to be forgotten that all knowledge demands a competent Ihare of perception and judgment, without which the moft certain truths muft fail of procuring affent. And it is owing to the want of an attentive and impartial exercife of a found underftanding, that many things propofed to the belief of mankind mifs of a due reception among perfons, who yet loudly complain of a defed in that evidence which they do not comprehend, or the force of which they do not care to acknowledge. And here we are led to a particular, in which we are ftill more generally and very ferlpufly concerned, namely, the Candour with which we Ihould enter on the eftimation of any evi dence. But the confequences that muft attend a deficiency in this qualification, as well as in thofe of Humility and Attention, are fo manifeft, that they need not be enumerated or difplayed : and the only remark that 1 fliall add is, that, if it were not for that defed which was before mentioned, a heart of dilbelief, men fully qua? Ufiea S E R M O N L . 23 Jified by knowledge, fenfe, and candour would allow, that whatever is not abfolutely impolfible is neceffarily liable to be matter of Faith ; that, becaufe a thing is unknown or even beyond the pollibility of ever being known by our fenfes, there is on this account not the leaft argument why it Ihould be derided as a thing incredible ; it being precifely in that fituation which makes Faith a neceffary principle ; and there being a poflibility that it will be reported on fuch au thority, that it may be confidently and firmly believed. To Conclude : human Teftimony, as a mean of knowledge, has, I hope, been Ihewn to be built on foundations that claii^our refped and our confidence. Befide the conlide-i-ation that without it the circle of h^ni^n intelligence would have beei\ fmall and inconfiderable, nay, farther, would h^ve been incomplete ; which would of itfelf aftbr^d a ftrong argument of its being a juft evidence of^-ruth ; it has from its own nature a good and clear pretenfion to our aflent and fubmiffion, Notwithftanding the li mited and corrupted nature of man, generally confidered, there is fufficient Abifity and Veracity left to give it in innumerable inftances a clear and folid credibility. Thefe effentials to fuch an end are very often fo elucidated and confirmed B4 by 24 S E R M O N I. by the accompanying Evidences of things and perfons, as well as by the nature. of the Matter itfelf, the Deference it meets with among the wife and good, and in fome cafes by its general Reception by mankind in all times and coun tries, as to amount to a full and undeniable cer tainty. Farther, the mind, when it is as far as it may be expeded to be, properly prepared, is competent to decide, at leaft as far as it may be requifite to do fo, on the feveral Degrees of affent to which this evidence is entitled. If thefe things are true, let us then look with all due eftimation on the caufe, whenever we are led to contemplate the great and import ant effeds which this fpecies of knowledge is able to produce in the intelledual world ; when we confider that it chears and enlightens the mind, by illuftrating or correding the procefs and conclufions of folitary genius and labour ; by enlarging its wealth through the focial inter change of various acquirements ; by animating unto new inveftigations ; and by contributing to fecure the fuccefs of its attempts. Let us re member, with the refped certainly owed to the caufe of fuch a bleffmg, that it alone qualifies us to enjoy the inheritance of all that a pious zeal has preferved from the wreck of antiquity ; that it alone forms the channel, along which the riches S E R M O N L 25 riches that lie in neighbouring and in moft dif- tant regions of the world are communicated mutually between each other ; thus, in one in ftance, fubjeding to our difpofal thofe accumu lated ftores of reafon and experience, which Time had, elfe, irretrievably alienated ; and, in the other, bringing into one grand view the vaft but diffufed treafures of knowledge, which Space had widely removed from all partlci-, pation. [ 27 J SERMON II. Heb, XI. I. Faith is ih§ Suhftance of Things hoped for. H r T H E RT O Faith, in order to per-r fpicuity, has been confidered fimply as as a mean of Knowledge ; and in this view has been treated with refped only to the Underftanding of man. But the rnanifeft con nexion between the Intelled and the Will leads, in tbe next place, to regard it as a caufe and an inftrument of Adion. For all knowledge of the nature of things is infeparably followed by a difference of efteem and choice between what appears good and what appears evil : and it may feafonably be judged, that the capacity for one was given for the fole purpofe in this world of Reading unto the other. In proceeding to contemplate Faith as it Is, m any manner, conneded with the condud of plan, it is, firft, evjdent that what has been in the 28 S E R M O N II. the preceding difcourfe advanced in favour of its claim to our deference, is immediately applicable in the prefent. The confideration of it, which we are now to attempt, will, I hope, lead unto farther and decifive arguments in defence of its propriety and value. By the definition, which has been laid down of Faith, it was confidered to be fimply an Af fent on Teftimony ; and to have given rife to other fubfequent fignifications of the term. As related to Pradice, it has been the fource of fome other acceptations which may all be eafily deduced from the fame original notion. Thus firft, it immediately produces a Habit of aSliyig as any particular truths require from reafonable men on account of being believed. A determi nation to obferve this condud, where another party is concerned in our obfervance of it, often occafions an external Profejion of it by word or other fign. This is alfo adhered to in many cafes with a Conjlancy undiverted by trials of pleafure and danger. It gives birth to an ^Z- tachment unto the party of thofe perfons, from fuch an engagement with whom we experience or hope fome advantage. It laftly caufes a Firm- nefs and Confidence of Mind, fecure againft the difquietude to whiqh doubt or diftruft might tempt, on an apprehenfion of lofs or trouble from our SERMON II. 29 our adherence to what we believe. — Unto thefe particulars, which are at different times exprelfed by the word at firft appropriated to the original idea, does Faith, or Belief in the Teftimony of others, naturally lead. And this, as it has been before intimated, is according to the analogy of all language. It is obvious again to remark, that fuch attentions to derivation would prevent ¦the confufion, which is fo generally incident to inveftigations on every fubjed. That our perfuafion of any important truth related to us precedes and has an influence on our adions, it is not neceffary to prove to have been the Apoftle's opinion. Nor, as I truft, do I need an apology for the inverfion that has been made in the fentence of my text, and for the juftifiable latitude with which I have ap plied it, beyond the particular meaning to which it was fubfervient in that paflage. The manner, in which this perfuafion influences the condud of men, is by fo reprefenting to their minds thofe diftant objeds which affed their defire or averfion, and are matters of expedation, that they are, as it were, already poffeffed or endured by the anticipation of hope or fear. This hourly experience teaches us to be the cafe, in con currence with the authority of St. Paul, who here calls Faith " the fubftance of things hoped ** for ;" the mean by which things, that, if prefent. 36 S E R M O N IL prefent, would be fenfibly felt by us, even at \ diftance and "unfeen," ad on the foul with fimilar force and effed. Now Faith, confidered thus as a caufe of adion, or, according to my purpofe, more gene rally, as in any way conneded with the condud of man, may be fully proved to merit oUr regard. And, firft, being obvioufly a principle by which all men are influenced at all times, and in all the affairs of life, it is evidently a part of the uni verfal order of things, and the defign of the Divine Author and Governor of nature. On this, which may therefore be adduced as an argument for its propriety as well as importance, there is no need to expatiate. If, on looking farther, and contemplating the varied procefs by which the affairs of the world are carried on, we Ihould perceive a Necefjity alfo of the interference of this principle becauji of a deficiency of others, its claim to our regard will appear in a ftronger light. For what is difcerned to be thus effential to the operations of mankind in the condud of human affairs, muft appear ftill more worthy of all confidence from men. It carries a more obvious proof that it is the purpofe of Almighty God that we Ihould be fwayed and direded by it ; and there fore S E R M O N II. 31 fore muft be a true and juft rule, proceeding from the fountain of all truth. And, if it yet be boafted that die evident dedudions of fcience Ihine with fuperior luftre, it is to be rememberedi that both are equally neceffary, however diftin- guilhed one from the other, and have been alfo Ihewn to be requifite to each ether's exiftence and perfedipn. Again ; anpther argument will arife frpm the cpnfideratlpn of the ejfeSls which Faith is cal culated tp produce. If thefe are great and mo mentous to the happinefs of mankind, then, be fide the weight they ought to have with us on that account, it is plainly to be concluded from. the infinite wifdom and goodnefs ofthe Almighty Creator, that fuch a caufe of good muft have proceeded from him. For, certainly, it is not polfible to conceive, that a method which is fo generally and neceffarily inftrumental to the well being of his creatures, Ihould not have been his Work. A particular attention to the fads fuppofed in thefe topics may, befide the expediency of i^ to prove the main argument which has been undertaken, lead alfo to fome other ufeful con clufions. The 32 S E R M O N II. The Necejity. of Faith to the concerns of lile may, firft, eafily be made manifeft from what has been before Ihewn. For, being requifite even to abftrad fcience, and much more to ob fervation and experience, it thus becomes effen tial to learning in general ; and alfifts towards eftablilhing the principles, on which all the Arts and Sciences depend that are advantageous to human life. Without it alfo as they could not be rightly cominenced, fo neither can they with out its continual aid be carried on in their pro grefs toward perfedion. Thus, to begin with that fcience which is our greateft concern. Moral Philofophy, confi dered in its feveral parts, has no fufficient ground on which its ftrudure may be raifed by human wit, without the coUeded experience of wife men in different countries and in different ages. The rules indeed of Perfonal Duty feem, like the dodrines of abftrad quantity, capable of being deduced by a fingle mind from an obfer vation of itfelf and things without, and from its own apprehenfions of fitnefs and propriety. Yet, however every individual perfon of calm and im partial judgement might be inclined to think juftly, in general, of the feveral points in which his duty is concerned; yet, amid the paffions and evil habits of others that deform the examples fet before his view, and his own weak and cor rupted S E R M O N IL 33 rupted nature, who could have a right to be at all times well affured of the opinions he had formed alone ? And, if the narrow and fubtle boundaries of virtue and vice, the differences likely to be entertained on many points by per fons differently ciircumftanced, and at different times, or in difterent countries, be comprehended in the account of difficulties, how much lefs probable does it appear .? If this ftatement be not enough, let the fad fpeak for us in thofe particulars, about which even the wifeft men of antiquity, at the head of their feveral feds, never agreed in their opinion, and in fome all deviated from the truth. And this difference and thefe errors were not about trifling or minute quef- tions, but fuch as had an important influence on moral condud ; about queftions that related to the nature and providence of God, the nature and meafures of virtue, and the principles and motives of adion. Nay, even now, under the glorious light of the Gofpel, it is too obvious to need an expofition at large, that men left to themfelves ftill miftake and lofe their way in points of moment to their peace and virtue. So that we may certainly pronounce that moral wifdom is not the refult of a folitary refearch. In truth therefore, an affurance of our being right, or at leaft the certain way of being fo, is to look beyond our own opinions unto thofe of Pthers, tP compare our conceptions and deduc- C tions 34 S E R M O N n. tions with theirs ; left, though admitted and formed with the greateft caution and candour poffible, they Ihould^ as certainly they would, miflead and injure us. Example and experience "are alfo neceffary, not only to illuftrate the beauty of virtue and deformity of vice, but to prove fatisfadorily that the firft is indeed a juft and true 'fyftem, really fuitable to our general nature and the conftitution of things around us, and calculated to effed our happinefs. But again, for thefe we are often neceffarily obliged to the communication of other perfons ; no fingle man's experience being adequate to all the various parts of moral duty, at leaft when it may be moft ex pedient or requifite that he fliould form his de- cifion on the fubjed. It is therefore fcarcely neceilary to remark that, fo far. We muft in numberlefs inftances rely on the Veracity and Ability of thofe to whom we refer ourfelves. And, if in this part of Ethics, where man is placed in a fingle fituation, he is not fufficient, without the aid of Teftimony, to trace the paths of virtue ; ftill lefs muft he be fo in the remain ing branches of the fcience, where his duty is rendered more' intricate by a Relation to other perfons. And as the number of thofe with whom we are engaged is increafed, fince we are differently conneded or more intimately con cerned with -fome than others, the greater of courfe s E rM.o n ;l 35 toUrfe, from the variety of our obligations in kipd and degree, .becomes the difficulty, amid -thofe obftrudions to accurate judgment and thofe temptations tp partiality in opinion, to which an imperfed and depraved nature makes us liable. But tbe talk fwells upon us with a formidable increafe of difficulty, when its bounds are en larged to the utmoft, and we are, as it were, launched into the fea of Political Duty. The Weak reafon of man would here be ill able to explore the track which the ftrid laws of right and prudence require him to purfue, or to give him any affurance concerning that diredion which it may fuggeft to be the true one. He looks anxioufly for tokens of the courfe which thofe have fteered, to whom paft ages and the prefent concur in paying the tribute of approbation and applaufe ; whofe experience, while affifted by the wifdom of preceding times it led them to corred and advance their own knowledge, has •left behind that indication of fuch danger and difficulties a§ await him, without which he could not have the animating hope of arriving at " the " haven where he would be." Here Hiftory, whofe proper medium is dependance on Tefti mony, affords this needful guidance, communi cating the notice of paft events, the tranfadions of nearer and of more diftant ages, and inftrud ing by precepts drawn from that reprefentation C 2 of 36 S E R M O N IL of the examples which it exhibits. Undlreded by this wifdom, the man of publick bufinefs, in whatever ftation he be placed, generally ftands expofed to inevitable Ihipwreck, being ignorant of the diredipn which he Ihould take ; either too fearfully changing his courfe at every ap pearance of danger and difficulty ; or too boldly fleering forward, and not bending it unto prefent occafions as every Ikilful man muft, and may do without any difparagement to the honor and fteadinefs of his charader. Again ; in the inftance of the Arts that con duce to the Support, Convenience, or Elegance of life, it is unneceffary to Ihew by much argu ment, that the exercife of them depends greatly on the truft and confidence we repofe one in another. The narrow limits which confine the ftrength, time, and opportunities of each man, of which we are furely all confcious, fufficiently prove that the neceffity of fuch a dependance muft exift. And, if from Science and Art we defcend upon the wide theatre of common life, where lofing as it were their feparate forms they conftitute by their effeds the complex fcene of human affairs, we may more eafily obferve the neceffity pf the fame principle in every part pf it. And the SERMON II. 37 the reafon is equally obvious, and may be foon ftated. In that immenfe variety of ordinary concerns with which each man is neceffarily en gaged, it is plainly impoffible for him to acquire a fufficient perfonal knowledge of them all, nay of any confiderable portion of them ; or, if he could, in the daily multitude of occurrences to make ufe of that knowledge, in adually deter mining his own choice, and executing his own purpofes. On others therefore, in their feveral ftations or employments, he muft hourly depend to judge and ad for him in numerous inftances ; as it will be evident to every one who gives himfelf time to recoiled them. And though, above all, in that department wherein the fcale of this interchange in our concerns is importantly enlarged, the truth of the remark is more ob vioufly manifeft; in Commercial Negotiations credit in others being commonly termed the foul of all its proceedings ; yet it is not lefs true in the more narrow and familiar purfuits of private life. In this, numberlefs Objeds alfo, which we daily fet ourfelves to purfue under the deno mination of pleafure or advantage, from the firft commencement of defire even to the time when we ceafe to be incited to any purfuit, are necef farily fuch as yve learn from others to be worthy pf pur attention. When the thing that laft gave an aim to our wilhes has been acquired, we pro ceed eagerly onward, wherever npvelty and the C 7 atteftatipns 3S S E R M O N II. atteftatlons of others tempt us to follow after new, untried enjoyments. It lliould be added that the Means alfo, which we ufe to procure the objeds of our defire, are generally fuch as the experience or fuperior fagacity of others direds us to adopt ; as weU as that, in the pro ceeding by thefe means unto our end, we are continually neceffitated to reft our hope's of fuc cefs on the honefty and ability of thofe whom we entruft to ad for us. Enough, I hope, has been faid to prove this firft point. And I Ihall only farther obferve with refped to the whole of it, that in the Faculty of Perfuafion, by which in all the concerns of life men recommend their information and advice to each other, with how much art foever it be applied, the decifion in favour of fuch advice is often founded as much on the perfonal credibihty of the fpeaker, as in the convidion afforded by eloquence pf the truth pf the fads and opinions advanced, It is obvious, that the principle which is thua neceffary to the conftitution of every art and fcience, and of all the ordinary concerns of our bfeing, is entitled to no fmall Iharie of the praife Vifhlch they can merit at our hands, To be ftill more duly fenfible of its claim to our regafd, it remains only to look round in the next place on its l^^e^s ), to eftynate the value pf thpfe things' which S E R M O N II. 39 which afford fecurity and maintenance, or beftow honor, utility, and delight on mankind ; remem bering that thefe are riot the fruits of folitary labour, but, in fo great a meafure as hath been Ihewn, of a dependance upon others. A minute difplay of this topic would be impoflible, and is evidently unneceffary ; men in general being too fenfible pf the importance of worldly bleffings to need fuch an illuftratipn. Before hpwever we difmifs the fubjed of the arts, feparately confidered, and of the relation they bear to common life, blended with the mafs of our daily concerns, fome deferve to be parti cularly mentioned; which, at the fame time that they are of the greateft importance, peculiarly depend in their application on a confidence in other men. For fome of thefe have raifed the powers of man to a nobler height, and extended them to wider limits than the moft fanguine ex- pedations could once have reached ; and by the reft our deareft interefts are liable to be affeded in the higheft degree. Arripng the laft are thofe inftances, wherein our life, health, and all the precious rights of perfonal or focial exiftence are fecured and ad vanced. For to man hath the great Creator of all things chiefly left the charge of man. He is his " brother's keeper," the general inftrument C4 of 40 S E R M O N IL of God's Providence, prompted and direded by natural and revealed religion to guard him from the incidental evils of nature, and the effeds of the moral depravity of his own fpecies. When thus impending violence threatens, or fecret machination more furely aims to cut Ihort his thread of life, oft does confidence in the friendly power of man guard him from the ftroke of death. Again, when pain and ficknefs debilitate or agonize his frame, fubmiffion to human Ikill oft brings back the enjoyment of eafe and vigour. When misfortune or difficulties, flander or dif- appointment overcaft his day, their baleful gloom is cheared by human benevolence, and enlight ened by human wifdom. Does the fraud or violence of man' invade our civil rights ? The ability and courage of man affert and vindicate them. To the goodnefs and fuperior power of fome men do we owe the hope of advancing our condition of life, and attaining the completion of our reafonable defires. To the faithfulnefs and integrity of friendlhip are we indebted for the fafety of all that in innumerable iriftances we commit to its truft ; the fecurity of concerns more valuable than wealth, of perfons more dear to us than liberty and life itfelf. Under the other head we may rank firft thofe fplendid benefits derived from the theories of philofophy on the wider concerns of pubhc life; on S E R M O N II. 41 on the fublime operation of many arts of peace and war, and the beneficial effeds of them to all by the hands of Ikilful men. It is needlefs to exemplify either of thefe by any more inftances than that which fo eminently exhibits both, the moft important profeffion of thofe, who, led by fcience and the experience of others, have efta blilhed their paths through the waters of the great deep, and unite the moft diftant regions of the earth to each other ; or, in adducing it, to expatiate on the fubjed. And yet, above thefe. Faith is the great principle of commercial inter courfe, and of political tranfadions. On the firft of thefe there is alfo no need to enlarge ; while in the great complicated machine of pub lic affairs, it is obvious that the fuccefs of many among its moft important movements is the refult of an almoft implicit confidence. And this is eminently vifible in thofe cafes, wherein, unto the general neceffity of committing the condud and atchievement of great defigns to the exertipn of particular mens' abilities, is added the circumftance of diftance in place and time. In the momentous concern of maintaining the honor and interefts of a country in diftant feas and foreign climes, or of undertaking to fecure the welfare and adjuft the pretenfions of other nations, who is not fenfible of the greatnefs of that truft which is repofed on the wifdom and integrity of fuch men ? And yet, may wealk, is it 42 S E R M O N IL it fuperior or is it equal to the confidence at tending the management of thofe mealures in the internal regulation of each country, which political wifdom is obliged to keep concealed from open view ? I clofe this topic by mentioning in few words the great importance of Hiftory to all thefe arts and fciences, as they refped public or private life. It has been particularly fpoken of with reference to the laft inftance adduced, of political condud : but it is indeed to be confidered as generally requifite to all knowledge fpeculative and pradical. For it muft be confeffed that, in every branch of it, the progrefs of human attain ment has been in all ages more or lefs gradual. Confequently the fteps, by which the mind pro» ceeds towards perfedion, muft be traced from earlier times : and they muft therefore be derived by the oral traditions or written records of paft acquirements. And though the labours of pre ceding ages are lefs advantageous in fome ftudies than in others, and there are fome which have feemed as it were to ftart at once into being ; yet even here it is certain that fuch communica tion is indeed neceffary and importarit, and pre pares the way for thofe wonderful difcoveries, which arife in different departments by the fingular SERMON II, 43 fingular ability and application of extraordinary men. What may be proved to be Neceffary and Ufeful to man, in every concern to which his nature and circumftances lead him, ought to be fecure from cavil or difrefped. It muft however be obfervable that the reafonablenefs and cer tainty of Faith are attacked. It is, as was re marked on the other branch of this fubjed, not only undervalued in comparifon with perfonal knowledge and fcience, but its charader pofi- tively impeached. Thefe objedions, whether on the fcore of man's ability or his integrity, have been, I hope, fufficiently refuted. On this laft point however, in this divifion of the fubjed, it Tnay not be impertinent to beftow a farther con fideration, by examining a little more into the caufe from which this objedion arifes. It will thus probably be found to confirm, inftead of weakening, the credibility againft which it is levelled. For it is notorious that thefe decla mations againft it are the genuine produdion, not of judgment, but of intereft; not of reafon, but of paffion. They are not the refult of a general furvey of the fubjed, and of a due, adequate re ference tp the cafes with which it is concerned j but of a partial, inftant regard to fome particular fads detached from pthers even within their pwn 44 S E R M O N II. own experience, wherein their perfonal hopes have been difappointed. How ill in general fuch a mode of afcertaining truth is adapted to its end, is very obvious. It would be ftrange indeed if it ever fucceeded but by chance, when the only capacity in us for apprehending truth or falffiood, our underftanding, is fet afide; and the perceptions or feelings of our nature, which are made to ftimulate the will in obeying its didates, dired its decifions. For, aded upon as they are by prefent objeds, they can do no more than reprefent the degree of pain or plea fure which thofe are able to imprefs. Swayed by their impulfe, how can it be otherwife than that the rafli unreafonable man of the world Ihould declaim againft a want of fidelity among men, efpecially in proportion as he may farther be in general ill-informed, or of a contraded and defponding temper ? Mifguided by the intem perance of his defires, he has either miftaken the nature of the propofitions offered to his Faith, or extended them beyond their true bounds, or given them a degree of credit, which, if reafon had guided his judgment, would never have been efteemed due to them. And that fuch accufers of mankind tranfgrefs the bounds of truth, is a conclufion not only to be inferred from reafon, but, it may be worthy of remark, is farther fupported by the authority of S E R M O N IL 45 of the wprld. Whenever any man is frequently pvertaken by incpnvenience and diftrefs thrpugh cpnfidence in pthers, it blames, and generally ppints out the reafons that would have deter mined him more wifely, if he had not been wanting to himfelf. I do not fpeak here of its malicious, but of its reafonable cenfures. It is qualified to give this fentence, for the fame rea fon that all ufually judge truly of the merits of any pradical queftion within their reach, who are difinterefted and impartial. Again: this felf- deluded unbeliever may be reprpved by the cpn- dud pf thpfe, whp are efteemed pf the greateft eminence among men for ability and experience. For it is Pbvious to thofe who look much into the bufy fcenes pf life, that fuch men are gene rally by np means very fufpicious or miftruftful. In the greateft concerns of bufinefs they readily rely on the Ikill and Integrity, as in fcience the truly learned pay deference to the wifdom, of other perfons. In fpeaking of this matter, I pafs by, as un- deferving of all notice, the cafe of thofe, who difoelieve others becaufe they are fenfible they ought not to be believed themfelves; who, having wickedly corrupted in their own breafts the fountain of veracity, are not capable of con ceiving that the fpring can flow pure and un tainted from the heart of anvother. This 46 SERMON IL This reprefentation in favour of mutual coft« tfidence will alfo be farther confirmed by a more -particular view of the cafe pf a gppd man. Judging. pf Pthers as they really are, pften very (liable to depart from veracity, yet very capable of being kept fteady on the fide of truth by na tural prlnclplej, by virtue, even by their interefts -and defires, he does not rob himfelf of the ad- .Vantages afforded to difcern how far they are .intitled to his confidence, by the blind didateof -paffion, or the confufed fuggeftions of his un- -teafonable views and appetites, He fees his ob- jed. calmly and fteadily; and being, as far as .may be, an indifferent fpedator, can define its ; boundaries with accuracy, and view it in all its -different relations. ;In cafes of difficulty and doubt he is not hurried into a decifion by the precipitancy of his inclinations; he can reap ¦the fruits of a patient inveftigation ; he. can, as it were, contemplate it on - every fide, at different diftances, and in different lights ; he. can ftay for the helps which time ever brings toward the difcovery of truth, by an improvement of man's own ability, or by the opportunities it may fur nilh of feeing his obj ed under better circum ftances; and, laftly, he can avail himfelf of the fecurity and aid, which the opinion of wife and good men lends to fuch as have the humihty -to feek, and fince rity to follow it. To SERMON IL 47 To clofe this argument : from fuch a ftate ment as the above, we may, I am perfuaded, -infer that a reliance on human Veracity is an ufeful mean of arriving at truth, and of fecuring our happinefs thereby ; that Vice is its great enemy, as it incapacitates for a difcrimination between what is credible and what otherwife ; •that Virtue, by its effed on the mind, renders a man fo well qualified for fuch a talk, that with due care he will find himfelf able, notwithftand ing the depravity that abounds in the world and his own imperfedions, to accomplilh it as far as his material interefts are concerned. By the fame means alfo will he, as- it is laftly in few words to be obferved, be enabled to diftinguifli and eftimate truly the Degrees of credibility; and though not minutely, yet, as far as the bu finefs and interefts of his being demand, to affign unto each that fliare of reliance to which it is entitled. Upon the whole then it is to be concluded, in refped to the general queftion, that Behef in Human Teftimony as a Principle of Condud, no lefs than as a Principle of Knowledge, is not to be difputed or cavilled at by a reafonable man. Its neceffity, and its effeds on the welfare of mankind, entitle it to our regard. Its benefits are indeed confined to the wife and prudent. But wifdom 48 S E R M O N IL wifdom and prudence have been Ihewn, and will perhaps hereafter more clearly appear to be the fruit of virtue, and therefore become the necef fary duty of every one, and are attainable by all, as far as they are requifite to happinefs. But if we beftow one confideration farther on its tendency to promote our welfare, not to be omitted, we Ihall ftill fee more juft reafon to refped it. By baniffiing ill-founded fufpicion from the human breaft, it fo far removes mifery; and, thus reftoring ferenity, it difcovers to view a chearful and bright fcene of things, exhibiting it, however lefs pure than it originally was, ftill worthy on the whole of its Divine Author, who ever governs by his providence the work which he once pronounced to be good. It thus be comes the parent of Hope, the great and pecu liar bleffing of man, which relieves his prefent evils, and heightens his prefent good by the ex pedation of ** things unfeen." It is, moreover, to raife yet higher and, as it were, to fandify our veneration for it, the parent of Charity, the bond of peace and of all virtue. Being " the fubftance *' of things hoped for," it caufes a general pre judice in favour of men, from whofe abilities and integrity fuch benefits are to be derived. And, as thefe ideal fubftances become realized to us by the exercife of fuch qualities, it leads our minds SERMON II. 49 minds unto Benevolence and Efteem. From fuch principles fprings every adion, that can evince the grateful fenfe we acquire of fuch merit : and by ^this procefs a mutual interchange of good offices eftablilhed, as it opens to us all the blef- fings we need in this -world, fo it diffufes that fpirit and temper of Kindnefs, which conftitute the virtue and effed the happinefs of mankind. Nor therefore, laftly, are the benefits of human Faith limited to this world; fince it contributes to qualify us for that ftate, wherein the benevolence thus begun Ihall be continued unto perfednefs, and the happinefs thus derived Ihall be enlarged beyond our conception, crowned with glory that is unfpeakable, and certain for evermore. D i 51 ] SERMON IIL R O M. X. 17. So then Faith cometh hy hearing.^ and hearing by the word of God. * I HAVE, thus far, engaged your attention to the confideration of Faith in refped to ,hu^ nian teftimony alone ; having not adverted any more than by bare Intimation to the Revelations vouchfafed from Almighty God, or treated of the regard which is due to them. The reafon of this is obvious. Foi' fince thefe, where al lowed to have been made, by their nature pre clude all poffibility of doubt, the only queftion left in this cafe is about the fad, that fuch com munications have been imparted. To thofe who immediately received them, or were bleffed with any miraculous confirmation of them from the Source of all truth, this queftion did not belong. But the reft of mankind, who can partake of fo high a bleffing only by the means of fuch per- D 2 fons 52 SERMON m. fons as thefe, are neceffitated to make this In quiry. It is plain therefore, that the main evidence to which our attention and examina tion are to be direded in all matters of reli gious Faith, is that of human Teftimony; which, .as a general fubjed, has already been treated at fome length in the preceding dif- courfes. It now remains, that we Ihould efta- bliffi the authority of this moft important in ftance of fuch teftimony by thofe proofs of credibility which have been hitherto adduced. It is plainly fuperfluous to fpend any time in expatiating on the feveral Religions that have been profeffed in the world. Natural Re ligion, or rather Paganifm, in which the wit nefs that the Almighty gave of himfelf and his will was for the greater part left to each man's reafon to perceive and argue from, deferves but little notice. The blindnefs of underftanding', and the depravity of life, which in this fad ftate of imperfedion generalfy overfpread mankind, give us no reafon to dwell on the contempla tion of it. It Was indeed a fcene of darknefs, and of the fhadow of death. Nor is there oc cafion to be detained on account of the Reve lations, by which the Jews, the feleded people of God, were honoured. As far as both thefe fyftems are pure and genuine, Chriftianity in cludes SERMON III. 53 eludes them, efpecially the laft, which it was fo peculiarly defigned to fulfil. But confidered farther, as entertained in oppofition to the truth of Chriftianity, this cannot require a con futation. Its profeffors ftand convided by the very records on which their faiths entirely de pends, at once the proof of the former reafon ablenefs of their profeffion, and of their pre fent error and obftinacy. Thefe fet before us their fenfuality, hypocrify, and love of tempo ral dominion, which tended to make them ad- verfe to the Gofpel of Chrift; while, at the fame time, by rejeding it they have fulfilled the predidions of the fame records, and by their difperfion and miferies ftill go on to ful fil them unto the day of their general conver fion. Abfurdity like this cannot be the lot of any but thofe who were pronounced " a ftiff- *' necked people, that alway refifted the Holy «• Spirit of God." There is only one Religion that remains to be npticed, befide that which is founded on the belief of the Gofpel. But as the followers of Mahpmet admit the truth of this difpenfa tion, they may be referred, if capable of con vidion, to the abfolute inconfiftency between it and that of their Prophet ; at leaft we can not but perceive it, and be thereby fatisfied of his falfehood. It is, we truft, needlefs in tljis D 3 age 54 SERMON IIL age to argue againft' a Religion, that has been eftabliffied by flaughter, maintained by igno rance and luft. Freed from the yoke of Rom- jffi herefy, we may, furely, all join in keeping at its prefent diftance the pretenfions of the Koran. Confining ourfelves therefore to the Gofpel of Jefus Chrift, and to the revelations under the Law of Mofes as they are fubordinately conneded with it, we are to confider the claim they have to be received as *' the word of »' God." But, before that we apply the reafoning hi therto followed, it will be neceffary to obferve whether the term " Faith" in Holy Scripture is referable to the fenfes which it bears in com mon ufe, and follows the fame method of de rivation from primary to fubfequent accepta tions. And, if the determination of the mean ing of words is expedient in any fyftem of knowledge, in matters of Religion it is of the greateft concern, as the confequences of a mif take in this particular have too well Ihewn, My text, to produce no more among the multitude that occur, eftablilhes that original fi^nlficatlon which the definition at firft fet forth. SERMON IIL SS forth, Ihewlng that it means fimply to give cre dit to a relation by another perfon. The words immediately preceding and conneded with the prefent, demonftrate this plainly without any need of comment. The Apoftle there quoting from Ifaiah alks, " Lord, who hath believed " our report }" * and thence infers in the text, *' fo then Faith cometh by hearing, and hear- " ing by the word of God." The fame thing alfo is clearly pointed out in the beginning of the chapter, where fpeaking exprefsly pf the faith which juftifies the world, ht calls it " the ** Word of Faith which he preached," adding, that he who ** confeffed with his mouth the ** Lord Jefus, and believed in his heart that ** God had raifed him from the dead, Ihould «' be faved." As alfo the belief of any thing important to us neceffarily affeds our wifhes and defires, and becomes a principle of adion, it on this ac count obtains here, as in the leffer concerns of a temporal kind, the farther fignification which has been noticed. In this fenfe, to produce no more inftances, it is ufed throughout the greateft part of the eleventh chapter in the Epiftle to the Hebrews, where the exploits of the great men in the earlier periods of tl\e * See alfo Joh. xii. 37, 38, &c. Jewilh 56 SERMON III. Jewifli hiftoiy are enumerated. But this, and the meanings conneded with it, will hereafter be treated of 1 fhall only mention farther, that the term in Scripture often likewife denotes, be fide the affent of the mind to the Gofpel, the Gofpel itfelf or Subjed Matter of belief. In this acceptation it occurs in Gal. i. 23. where, the Apoftle adverts to his having " preached, the " Faith which once he deftroyed;" and in a known paffage, where the Ephefians are remind ed that they had " one Lord, one Faith', onei " Baptifm," and in the other texts of Scripture.* That the books of the Old and New Tefta ment, which are efteemed canonical by our Church, have a full claim to the title of writings didated by the Holy Spirit of God, we affert to be fufficiently manifeft from ev^ry evidence with which we could exped in fuch a cafe to be fa voured; becaufe they are recommended to our belief by the ftrongeft proofs- that prevail with us in any fimilar matter of importance that at any, time engages us. And we are now warrant ed to affert that he who demands more evidence than this, which is afforded, forgets that he fteps beyond his own fphere'; and is not aware that he gives a proof of his being led by motives Incon-ii * Such as Rom. xiv. 22, 23. comp. ver, 2, 5, 14. fiftent SERMON IIL ^j fiftent with wifdom, common prudence, and, too probably, with fincerity. In confidering this queftion with regard to the books of the New Teftament, it is evidently re- folveable into two articles; Whether they were written by the perfons whofe names they bear, and whether fuch writers were credible witneffes of the matters which they relate. With this laft is conneded alfo another queftion ; whether they were fecured by the fpirit of God from error in the dodrine which they themfelves taUght. I fay, two articles ; for I do not mean to enter here into the great queftion which yet remains ; but think it enough to affert that if the Miracles, and the lads that were the completion of former Prophecies, are rightly recorded of our Saviour, the truth of the Gofpel-DIfpenfation is fully efta- blifhed. The fubjed is copious, and has been :&.tisfadorily difcuffed by perhaps "a greater num ber of able writers than any other. As to the firft, we are to confider whether there are all the proofs of the authenticity of thefe records, which we can have for that of any records of moment equally ancient. In ex amples of this kind we are not abfurdly to exped; that they fliould be witneffed by the evidence of thofe 58 SERMON IIL thofe who faw the books during the time at which they were written, or of thofe who them felves faw all the manufcripts, or of any fuch ex- prefs teftimony. It is to be confidered, that thefe are rendered fuperfluous, and are indeed implied in the univerlal reception of the books among fuch as exifted in and neareft to thofe times. Our reception of their teftimony is, in this inftance, warranted on the fatisfadory fuppofition of a proper and fufficient examination, by perfons who muft be believed to have fatisfied themfelves by a dired or ample proof, unlefs we could fuppofe men at that time void of common curiofity or intereft about that which fo greatly concerned them, or deftitute of common fenfe and judg ment. As to worldly regards which might in duce to impofture, befide the impoffibility of fuccefs under the circumftances of this cafe, thefe, it will be Ihewn, were all on the other fide of the queftion. From this beginning therefore their reception became extended unto general be>- lief, which is demonftrated by the many wiiters who have mentioned them without contradidion and difpute in diff^erent times and countries. In fome the names occur of the authors of the feve ral books, and in others extrads made from them. Such teftimony, in its progrefs through fucceffive ages, at each repetition adds no fimple or nume rical confirmation of their authenticity ; as it im plies that, during each interval, time, the great teft S E R M 6 N III. 59 teft of truth and falfehood, had as yet brought nothing to deted the fraud impofed. And thus, after fo many centuries, he has put his feal to their charader, a feal which no doubt or fur- mife of a later period may prefume to tear off or deface.As to the Internal Evidence, as It is called, I prefume to fuggeft that it is a fubjed of caution. For, indulged as it frequently is, it becomes only a fource of endlefs contention between men of different tafte and humour. If the External Evi-; dence be clear, and not plainly contradided by it, I Ihould think but little attention due to him, who Ihould queftion the want of fimilarity in ftyle be tween compofi tions of the fame author, efpecially if they be of a different date, or raife any other fuch precarious queftions, concluding thence a probability of their not being genuine. It may be prefumed that multitudes of others muft have been judges pf fuch matters before : and it is evi dent that at a long diftance of time we may be deprived of a great number of particulars, which would ferve, if known, to account for flight or even confiderable irregularities. It is idle there fore and unwife to difturb, on fuch accounts, a belief in points that have been in this manner af- certained and eftablilhed. Nor in queftions of the higheft import to our temporal affairs do the ¦ wifeft men allow any room to fuch prefumption. It 6o SERMON IIL It would be indeed univerfally condemned, if a difpenfer of human Laws Ihould pronounce a- gainft an ancient Charter, which had been con ftantly and generally acknowledged, on the pre^- tence that there were fome particulars in it, about which men of different ability, flcill, or difpofiti on, held, and were ever likely to hold, different opinions. The other propofition concerning the writings of the New Teftament, refpeds the Writers them/elves, namely, whether they may be be lieved in what they relate and teach. This alfo has been often largely and moft clearly proved in the affirmative. And efpecially as to the firft : if we admit their own account of themfelves and each other, which is of fuch a kind that, I think, no man can fee the leaft reafon to doubt it ; ftat ing, as we find, that they were ordinary men, no way diftinguiffied from the common mafs of the Jews, partaking of the fame prejudice, fplritual ignorance, and flownefs of belief with others, un learned, timid, not poffeffed of 'quicknefs either of fancy or underflanding ; recording, as it does, their own faulty condud, and unaffededly re- ferved as to their good adions : if we admit, I fay, fuch an account given by thefe men of them- felve, which has alfo, I believe, never been dif- proved by any teftimony, we cannot but inftantly allow SERMON III. 6i allpw them tp have been credible witneffes pf what they have repprted ; remembering likewife, that the fads and dodrines which conftitute the chief evidence, and compofe the main fubftance of the Chriftian difpenfation, were fuch as were perfedly adapted and level to their perception. Had they been men of a fubtle fancy, that had either been mifled by fophiftry or the opinions of any fed or fchool of philofophy ; or had they been poffeffed by a fpirit of enthufiafm; both the events and precepts which they recorded, might have been thought liable to mifconception, and to an injurious, though even an unintentional, adulteration. Again), if the dodrines had' been abftrufe or prolix, or on fubjeds foreign from their habitual apprehenfions ; or if the fads had been in any Ihape difficult of obfervation; another pretence of objedion might have been ftarted. But when both were wonderfully fuited to their temper, and to their circumftances ; and were moreover many of them repeated at different times, and all firmly and accurately fixed in their minds by mutual converfation among themfelves and their numerous adherents ; every Ihadow of doubt relpeding their ability as witneffes muft va- nilh from our fight. Or if we confider their Sincerity, this Is far beyond any poffibility of queftion. Where they were incapable of contriving a fyftem of Re hgion, 6a SERMON IIL •ligion, and unqualified to teach orifej It Is merely abfiird to fuppofe that they fliould farther affert , a number of fads which they knew to be falfe, which they could not hope to fucceed in making believed, and which depriving them of all com^ fort in this life, and, in aU probability, of life itfelf, muft alfo fubjed them to the difpleafure and judgments of God, as well as to the hatred and contempt of mankind. It would be to fup pofe that they could ^d againft every principle of nature which ever led men either to good adions or to bad. Surely here is an accumulation of ob- ftacles in the way of infincerity, which at leaft any number of plain men would, I fliould fay, could never cbntend againft in one uniform tenor of condud, without any wavering or inconfift ency, to the end of their lives, and at leaft feal their teftimony with their blood. Well there fore might the Apoftles appeal with boldnefs to their converts in thofe numerous paffages, where in they claimed, from fuch refiftlefs arguments as above; a confidence due to indifputable know ledge of what they related, and to an unim peachable integrity in the communication of it.* If therefore the Fads and Dodrines related of our Saviour by his Apoftles have been truly ' John xxi. 24. — XX. 30, 31. 1 John i. i. 2 Cor. xi, xii. 1 Th^ff. ii. 3, Sc:. Philipp. ii. 20, zi, 22. 29, 30.. Gal. i. 9, 10, &C-. re- SERMON IIL 63 repofted; and the fame arguments are applicable to the tranfadions fubfequent to our Lord's afcenfi- on ; it only remains to enquire, in the laft place, whether the Dodrines delivered in their own name afterwards to the Chriftian Church, wefe always guarded from error by the controul of the Spirit of God. Now this is to be plainly de monftrated by two clear arguments ; perhaps by many others ; and, firft, by the fpirit and analogy of thofe declarations of our Saviour, " that he would be with them to the end of the " world ;" " that they were fent by him as he " was fent by the Father ;" " that he would " fend to them the Holy Spirit to teach them *' all things," to reveal whatever "he fliould re- *'¦ ceive and hear" from the Father, and that, " not in proverbs, but plainly," " to guide them ** into all truth," even that which, before " they •' could not bear," " to Ihew them things to " come," and, for thefe and other great pur- *' pofes, to abide with them for ever." And, fe- condly, we may argue from the plain neceffity which exifted that thofe, who were fully com- miffioned with every demonftration of the Holy Spirit, and particularly the power of miracles, who were fent to preach a new Religion, and to found new Churches among heathen nations, who were accordingly received " *as the Angel of God, as Chrift Jefus," ffiould not teach any * Gal. iy. 14,. thing 64 SERMON IIL thing that Was not true. This topic might be advantageoufly difplayed at large. But a proof of our pofition is, I think, to be found in St. Paul's firft Epiftle to the Corinth ians, from which a celebrated paffage has, moft idly, been adduced againft it. A plain and Ihort account of the matter is this. The Apoftle (ch. 7.) is advifing his converts on the fubjed of marriage, with reference to the ftate of perfecu- tion in which they were then involved : in doing which, at the loth verfe, where he fpeaks ofthe feparation of a wife from her hufoand, or of the hufoand from the wife, which is forbidden ; he premifes, that not he but " the Lord" here com mands them. Immediately afterwards, at the 1 2th, he refumes his own perfon, and proceeds tO' give them fpecial diredions, fuited to their particular circumftances ; concerning which he remarks, irt the 25 th verfe, that he had " no commandment of " the Lord." He concludes, at the end of the chapter, by faying that he fpoke according to his own opinion, and adds, *• I think that alfo I *' have the Spirit of God." Now I firft affert, that this declaration is, in this place, on the face of it, free from any intimation of doubt ; * and * Ao>iE~» fignifying fimply to be ef opinion, means any degree of perfuafion, the ftrongeft as well as the weakeft, and therefore muft receive, its interpretation from the context of each place wherje it occurs, xiv. 37. Gal. ii. 9. — See alfo 2 Cor. xi. 5. where ^oyifi- fiou is in a fimilar predicament. is SERMON m. 65 is an expreffion claimmg what he had undoubt edly a right to be believed to have, in common with the reft of the Apoftles, as one who, as he faid before, and in another epiftle more largely affefts, had found mercy of the Lord to becorne a faithful teacher of his word. And the reafon of this manner pf addrefs is, evidently, to be found in the occafion he had to vindicate his au thority, efpecially to thefe converts. How great this occafion was, muft appear fully to every one on the perufal of this epiftle, which abounds with vindications of it, and was chiefly written with that defign. Of this we ffiall fopn pbferve anpther inftance. But cpncerning the diftlndlon made by St-, Paul, in the paffages here cited, between his own advice and the commands of Chrift, it is perti nent to offer, in few words, a remark 6n its meaning, which, I think, is well founded. If we confider the fubjed matter of thefe different injundions, it will occur that the one, which is here termed the command of the Lord, is a rule of mpral condud founded on the nature of man, and therefore univerfal and permanent ; wJiereas thofe in which St. Paul gives his own fentiments, are particular, and the application of general rules to fpecial cafes. Such a difference of it felf, indeed, perhaps leads to no fufficient reafon why the Apoftle Ihould be favoured with a par- E ticular iS6 SERMON IIL ticulaf revelation in fuch a point, and at the fame time Ihould not receive a diredion in the others, which were matters of great and urgent import ance. But this difficulty vaniffies, if we fuppofe that he never received, as he never wanted, any fuch revelation at all in thofe laft points of doc trine, becaufe he was under the conftant con troul of the Holy Spirit. And this will appear probable, if we refled farther on the command of the Lord, with which he was here furniffied, that it is in fad no other than a precept which was delivered by our Saviour during his abode on earth. It is to be found in the Sermon on the Mount, and was one among the fundamental laws of Chriftianity, diftinguiffiing it from the kw of Mofes, and the pradices of the Heathens. Why St. Paul has expreffed himfelf in fo parti cular and ftrong a manner of fpeech, that it has induced fome to think it a new and occafional ' revelation, it feems alfo obvious to deduce from his peculiar fituation. To the reft of the Apo ftles, who had been perfonally witneffes of their Mafter's dodrines, the Holy Spirit had occafion; if we may fo fpeak, only to bring back all that might have efcaped their memory. But to St. Paul, who was a ftranger to fuch an advantage, the Divine Comforter was altogether to reveal every part of thofe dodrines : * and therefore, • Gal. i. 12, &c. Eph. iii. 3. 7,. In SERMON III. if in addreffing his converts on this point, he fpeaks of this precept as of a command imparted from Heaven, and does not, as the other Apoftles might have done, refer to it as an old ftanding Rule pf Chriftian mpraUty. This accpunt pf the paffage in queftipn, if juft, takes away thpfe inferences that have been drawn tP the difparagement of apoftolical infpi ration ; and, at leaft, leaves the matter open to a determination from argument, and from other texts of Scripture ; fuch as that fubfequent af fertion of St. Paul, which has been cited, befide thofe of the fame and of the other Apoftles, which might be produced. But, if the matte? could be no otherwife put out of all queftion, it would be fufficient to confider what he has far ther faid in the 14th chapter [of this epiftle, where in moft exprefs terms he afferts this title to their fubmiflion. In the 36th verfe, imme diately after having concluded various orders re lating to the fervice of the church, with which he had proceeded from the loth chapter, ha breaks forth fuddenly into this expoftulation on their arrogance; " What! came the word of " God from you ? or has it reached unto you only ?" And then, though the precepts he had given had not been in the number of thofe deli vered by Chrift on earth, yet, evidently becaufe they were didated by his Spirit, he Ipeaks of E 2 them 68 SERMON IIL them here unrefervedly as the Lprd's cpmmands', fimilarly as he had in the tenth chapter dpne of the gpfpel rule refpeding divprce. " If any man " think himfelf tp be a Prophet or fplritual, i. e. informed by the Spii'It, " let him acknowledge *' that the things that I write unto you are the " commandments of the Lord." And the rea fon of his giving them now this charader, which he had before appropriated in diftlndlon from them to the laws of the Gofpel, appears from the context of the paffage, wherein it is ufed fpe* cifically againft fuchras from a pretenfion, whe ther true or falfe, of their being alfo infpired, raifed themfelves up againft his authority. To thefe particular perfons, in order to corred their haughtinefs and ambition, he fpeaks in that high yet juft manner, which in general he did not ufe. To the reft, not being under the fame ne ceflity, his modefty alfo induces him not to wifli to mention it. " But if any m.an be ignorant," or, dpes npt pretend tp fuch illuminatipn, I leave him to his ignorance, which he is ready to ac knowledge, as well as to allow the authority of an Apoftle, who is commiffioned, with the evi dence of miracles, to teach and dired in all things relating to the Gofpel of Chrift. I think that we are warranted, from thefe pafljiges, tP cpnclude the Appftles tp have been, in all points whatever pf religious dpdririe, and at SERMON III. 69 at all times, under the controul of the Holy Spi rit. It would probably appear to militate againft the wifdom, power, and goodnefs of God, tp fupppfe the contrary. But all farther arguments on the fubjed are fuperfluous, after fo plain and unequivocal an affertion of the Apoftle, with which we may leave the queftipn. The proof of the Authenticity and Accuracy of the books of the New Teftament, and with them, as was before affumed, of the Truth of the Gofpel Difpenlation, is thus complete. Ma ny additional arguments, Indeed, ftill remain to add unto the convidion ofthe fincere Chriftian ; fuch as, being unneceffary to the deliberate rea fon of one who is able to judge of its preten fions, af e gracioufly indulged by Him, who knpws what is in man, and provides for the wants of all. Above the reft of this kind is the fulfilment of its predidions, efpecially that great and fingular one of the deftrudion of Jerufalem, and its con fequences. Among them is alfo the regeptjon of it by the good, the learned, and the wife, who are entitled by their abiUty and integrity to throw an additional credit on it ; a credit which, as hath been fliewn, has a juft and powerful influ ence on our minds ; and which has been wanting, in any degree of comparifon, to the caufe of In fidelity. It may not be unfeafonable alfo to fub- E 3 joia 70 SERMON IIL join here the vifible effed of Chriftianity on the private and public condud of thofe who profels it; I mean, in the firft place, with fincerity and perfednefs of mind. I fpeak of this, as it appeals at once to the unrefleding perception of fuch as are perfonal witneffes of a truly Chriftian condud; which, oppofed to the furrounding ex amples of other religions, is indeed " a light ** ffiining in a dark place." Nor is this evi dence, though alas ! far lefs bright, at all obfcure and doubtful in the cafe of the imperfed profef fors of the Gofpel, and of tlie general ftate of Chriftian nations. A more lively and corred fenfe of the duties to God and man, at leaft, is difcernible in them, and is the caufe of no mean and "unimportant effed. But, to contemplate both thefe laft arguments in their moft advanta geous point of view, we ffiould confider the fuc cefs and efficacy of the Gofpel in the earlier pe riod of its exiftence, before the time of its civil eftabliffiment under Conftantine; when both were produced by the fingle, native energy of celeftial truth, unmingled with the fubordinate influence of human fandions. During this aera of three hundred years, its progrefs in the world, unlefs becaufe it was the word of God, was in defiance of all experience, and unaccountable from any principle or affignable caufe. It did not accord with the defire of power, or reputation, or wealth, or pleafure ; but in every refped excluded them all. SERMON III. 7j all. Unlike the Pagan, Mahpmetan, or even the Jewiffi Religions, it .derived, no root or increafe from any feed contained , in our corrupt nature, frprn the . profped of external gratificatiojjs, or the more refined, yet ,fenfua,l heat and vigour of enthufiafm. The lifccefs, was indlfputably then the work of, God alone; who, as he created at firft all worlds 9ut of nothing, chofe alfp tp pro duce the regeneration pf his creatures, and efta.r- bliffi his new klngdcm pn earth, withpt^t the mr Igrferencp pf any human caufe, chpofing " tl^ ** weak things to ^confound the ftrong, and the ** foplifh thiings of the world tp confound the ** wife," and "rnaking his ftrength , perfed only ."in weaknefs." I Ihall nOjt at prefent enter on the ol^e:r great topic, which has been by forne muc^ u^ed.ip eftablilh the authority of the JGofpel as well as t;he authenticity of the^qoks relating to it, narnely, the Internal Evidence of its (Jpdrines ; ,bu,t re- ferve this for, a feparate confiderati9n. It is iikewife almoft need]efs to lay any thing in pcppf pf the Old Teftament ; as this may jfafely reft its pretenfipns pn the receptipn pf the New, The quptations in this laft from the law and other bppks, the cpnftant mentipn pf them, the ^allpwance by the Jews pf all the paffages argued 72 SERMON m. argued on by our LiC>rd and his Difciples, and^ laftly, the acknowledgement of the Mofaie^ Difpenfation throughout the Gofpeli entitle it to our unqueftionable belief of its Authenticity and Authority. To which' might be added, oh the firft head, the acquiefcence of all paft ages', the quotations by the Fathers of fticfceeding cen turies, the coincidence of the copies ftill pre ferved by the Jewiffi Nation, the conformity of it with the moft ancient verfioris, efpecially with the Septuagirit; and the like. ¦It is to be ob"- ferved therefore, that it is of no confequencb w^hether the feveral books were ^written by thb perfons to whom we attribute them, or com- pofed from their inftrudion by others, or after what particular manner committed to writing : fince what has received the fandiori of the Gof pel, or in other terms of the Spirit of God^ niuft be received as worthy of all credit in its dodrine and narrative. With fuch queftions as thefe the imprudent' and idle fancy pf fome men is apt tp bufy itfelf; but hpw vainly, not only the above cpnfideratlpn plight fliew, but alfo, ff it be re ceded pn, the pbvious impoffibility that they could ever at this diftance of time be certainly deterrniried. For the lame reafons alfo I Ihall riot dyvell on thofe confirmatioii§ that appear to arife from its Internal Evidence ; the fimplicity, 5ind at the fame time gravity, and dignity of its SERMON IIL 73 ftyle ; Its candour in relating the faults as well as excellencies of its great men ; the generally apparent fuitablenefs of its tranfadions and pre cepts to the attributes of the fupreme Author of all ; its confiftency with the beft ancient hiftory and with itfelf; and other topics of this kind which have been fo often amply and excellently enlarged on ; or laftly, that which ffiould be re garded in a different and fuperior light, the relation between the ritual of the Law and its antitypes in the Gofpel, between the feveral prophecies -under the old difpenfation and their accompliffi- ment under the new; which are fo perpetually and fo intimately conneded with each other, that it would be abfurd to fuppofe the two fyftems feparable, or the one true and the other falfe, To conclude : if It can then be ffiewn that, frorn the External Evidence of both fcriptures, their clajrn to the title of God's Word is founded on reafons fo clear and ftrong, that it is impoffi ble that they ffiould not be received as fuch by any honeft mind ; we may yenture to afcribe to this evidence a conyidlon as fatisfadory as the conclufions of Science, agreeably tp what was faid before pf the higheft degree pf credibihty in matters pf Faith. And we are perfuaded that the Veracity and Ability of the witneffes, in re- '¦" - . ' ¦ ' . ' fpe«a; 74 SERMON IIL fped to the Authenticity and FideUty of the facred volume, and to the Pretenfions of the Gofpel- Difpenfation, will ftand, on the fiillel): inveftigation, afeertained to us by the concur rence of all the proofs that are applicable to the cafe. And thus, in a concern of fuch high mo7 ment, it has pleafed God. to afford fuch tefti mony to mankind, that neither the ignorance nor weaknefs of any man might debar him from perceiving the -force of it, when offered to him. This we are taught to exped, not only from reafon, but from his declarations in * Holy Writ, Of the Gofpel it was peculiarly foretold, a pre- didion exprefsly declared by our Lord to have been fulfilled, that it was to be prea:ched unto ?• the Poor.-f"" On the fame account alfo, b, great acceffion of Internal Evidence has certainly been beftowed, to give every argument in its fa vour that the nature of the cafe would admit, But to the Critic and Philofopher all thefe various proofs, as it hath been intimat^d> were ^ot neceffaiy. To them, who were raifed abovje the bulk of mankind in wifdom and learning, and could have leifure from the cares of life to revolve and eftimate in their minds the different .arguments in favour of .Ciiriftianity ; to th^m a -* I>eut. XXX. 10—14, J5> i9> which is applied. to the Gofpel, ^om. X. 8. fMatt. xi. 5. Xukeiv. 21. few SERMON IIL ys few eflential ones wpuld have been fufficient, to cut pff frpm them all excufe and reafon of unbelief. Nay, tp prpceed yet farther ; it will becpme at leaft fuch tp cpnfider what pught to have bepa their condud, if it had pleafed God that thjefe evidences, in their cafe, ffiould have amounted to a much flighter convidion ; or even if they had been fuch, that the arguments for and againft the authenticity of the Golpel had been very nearly balanced : even then they would have to reply to the argument of an excellent Writer,* which has proved that it would be utterly un wife, according to every Idea of human wifdom, to hefitate between the admiffion or rejedion of a plan* that if followed, might ppffibly lead to an eternity of celeftial happinefs, and, if not adopted might doom to accurfed, everlafting mifery. For it is well known, that matters of the greateft importance to our earthly welfare pften reft pn a flight preppnderatipn pf prPbablllty in favpur of the chcice which we have made; and that a man's wifdom is never called into queftion be,- caufe he ads on fuch an evidence. He would -certainly be efteemed to ad ,againft his reafon, if ,he refufed or negleded to follow the light of .that evidence, though ever fo faint and glimmering, when his view pn the ppppfite fide is at leaft mpre * Bp. Butler's Introduftion to the Analogy of religion, and part ij. ,c, 6. See alfo Pafcal, Penfee$ &r la Religion, <;. 7. dark. 76 SERMON III. dark. And particularly is this reafoning juft, if we refled that here he has only an alternative, and no medium ; cannot fteer a neutral way, or keep back from both, but muft choofe the one or the other; muft tread the path that points to endlefs glory and blifs, or fall into the way that threatens to lead nnto endlefs ruin. We muft now therefore, I think, inevitably conclude in this cafe with the great Evangelift, that he who refufes or hefitates to follow the light that ffiines before him, muft have fome feeret motive for doing fo, different In its kind from reafon and convidion : that therefore his paffions, evil habits, or worldly Intereft incline him to the other fide. But I ffiould not fay with the Evangelift alone, for the conclufion is war ranted by innumerable texts, and indeed the whole tenor of both Scriptures.* This is that moft important objed of confideration which has been before noticed, and deferves to be ever deeply entertained in our minds ; which we ffiall ftill, as we proceed, fee more reafon to dread as the great and criminal caufe of Mental Perver- fipn. May we be induced by refledion on its tendency and power to guard againft its influence; and to draw fearfully back from the fellowffilp and reafoning^ of tl^fe who mifled by this in- • One mftance mj^y b? fufficient. Heb. iii. 6—14. ternal SERMON III. 77 ternal guide, thus alas ! walk thrpugh the mifts cf errpr and difoelief untp the ffiadpw pf death ! who are prpnpunced tp be under the dreadful cpndemnatipn pf fuch as " hate the light, nei- " ther cpme tp the light left their deeds be *' reprpved ;" pn this accpunt ** Ipving darknefs *« rather than light, becaufe their deeds are « evil*." * Joh. iii. 19, ao, SERMON [ 79 ] SERMON IV. I C O R, II. 5. That your Faith fhould not fi and in the isjifdom of men, but in the power of God. AFTER that it has been once fully and clearly afcertained by any kind of proof, that a fyftem of dodrines muft have been re vealed by Almighty God, it may, furely, be judged unnieceffary, in ftridnefs of argument, to pulh an enquiry any farther. In fuch a predi cament ftands the queftion concerning the ad vantage to be derived from the Internal Evidence of the Gofpel. Of whatever ufe this evidence may be, and it is, undoubtedly, of great impor tance, yet, if applied, fingly or chiefly, to prove the truth of that difpenfatipn, it is ill adapted tp fuch a purpofe, and never was defigned to effed it. The accompliffiment of Prophecy, and the atchievement of Miracles were the true criteria which our Lord brought forward againft the Jews, 8o S E R M O N IV. Jews, and on which he refted his pretenfions.* The fame atteftatlons, when proved to have been recorded and communicated to usi by credible witnefles, are the bafis on which our Chriftian Faith now ftands. Internal Evidence therefore isi in this regard, fuperfluous ; and, afe it hath been in fome meafure ffiewn, if too much de pended upon, would be a precarious and danger ous fupport. It follows that great care is to be taken, with what views and intention we fet ourfelves to reid tlje matters contained in the Old and New Teftament. It is to be conftantly remembered that we ffiould not inftitute, prima rily, an enquiry into their truth or falffiood, into their reafonablenefs or the contrary ; but rather, a refearch, fo far as we are neceffarily concerned, into their meaning and import. Abfolute and palpable impoffibility, or irreconcileable contra didion, would indeed diftrefs us ; but with thefe we ffiould recoiled that we are morally certain not to meet ; and, we may add, no man of cre dit ever pretended to have deteded fuch in them. While the only queftion then refpeds the ap pearances of thefe, concerning which different men from various caufes hold difterent opinions, we are to remember that they are not matters that afted the admiffibility of the Scriptures, and our fubmiffion by Faith and Obedience to that • Joh. V. 32, 36, 39, 46. which S E R M 0 N IV. 8i Vs^hich is clearly revealed. It would indeed be a mark of grofs ignorance or negligence not to be aware, that in writings which treat of perfons and things infinitely removed in nature, equally imperceptible by our fenfes and refledion, as alfo in a fimple, concife, and irregular narrative of fads that commence with the creation of the world, there muft be difficulties in many points ; and therefore, ff where they occur, they fome times furpafs our ability to remove them, they can have no effed againft our Belief, For, ac cording to what has been faid, fome points may be inexplicable becaufe our limited nature is in capable of them ; others becaufe we are not in poffeffion of means whereby they might be invef- tigated; and, again, a third clafs may remain obfcure becaufe it is the will and purpofe of God that we ffiould be imperfedly inftruded in them. For of fuch a kind is the method wliich he has declared himfelf fometimes to adopt for the trial of man's fincerity : * and his counfels who fliall judge ? Upon the whole, a fyftem perfedly and in all its parts clear of all difficulties it would be contrary to reafon arid analogy to exped,(-f- Nor may we expoftulate with the Moft High becaufe every perfon is not in all ages miracu'loufty affifted in the perulal of the Holy Writings, and infal-^ libly fecured from error; or becaufe herefies are. * Matt. xiii. 10, &c. f S-ee Bp, Butler's Work before' cited. F permittea 82 S E R M O N IV. permitted to difturb and perplex mankind. I do not fay that a reafon for this method of his Pro^ vidence has not been given, fince it has now been mentioned and ought to be humbly and thank fully received, but not unto difputation. It is therefore, I think, to be concluded, that, in ftridnefs of reafoning, while there is not in revelation any point, of which we are ade quate to judge, that is either plainly con tradidory or impoffible, all queftion relating to the perfed admiffibility of the Old and New Teftament is unjuftifiable. If any man in the perufal of them thinks that he meets with a confirmation of his Faith from the nature of the matters contained, and efpecially from the goodnefs and wilHom of the moral dodrines, let him be thankful and happy. There are undoubtedly moft numerous and important confirmations of this kind, the value of which it muft be far from any one's wiffi to fet afide or diminiffi. But let him re member that his Faith in and fubmiffion to them ftand originally on another foundation, which cannot be ffiaken, the affurance already attained that thefe dodrines do really come from God. And therefore though it is certain that nothing but what is good can come from fuch a caufe, yet it is of infinite confequence to him to confider that he is not an adequate judge of all that is good ; that he is man and not God ; and there fore S E R M O N IV. 83 fore that he has no right to raife any doubt or difficulty in the way of his Faith becaufe he is at any time unable to reconcile any matter to his notions of fitnefs and propriety : " that his Faith " ftands not in the wifdom of men, but in the *< power of God." We may lay it down therefore, that the Holy Scriptures are in all their parts a trial of virtue to man, in one refped or other ; in thofe that are difficult and inexplicable, of his humility; in thofe that appear evident, of his piety ; in thofe that feem reafonable and excellent, of his grati tude. But though this be the cafe, yet we daily fee that there are men who will perplex them felves and the world on thefe fubjeds ; and will even raife fuch objedions as claim our notice, affirming that fome articles generally derived by Chriftians from the Scriptures are not contained in them, and that others, which appear to be fo, are impoffible or abfurd. Thefe charges I pur pofe to confider in a few of thofe inftances wherein they have been chiefly urged ; confining myfelf in this difcourfe to the great myfteries which the Gofpel has revealed to our Faith, and referving the confideration of the Moral Law, and of the Oeconomy of the Golpel,, unto the next oppor^ tunity., F 2, On ^4 § e R M 0 N IV. On the fubjed of the myfteries which the gofpel enjoins us to believe, I begin with ob- ferving that, fuitably to the gracious purpofe of the Almighty toward man, they are plain and eafy as far as he is required to know them ; and, likewife, that they are few in number. At the time when the Jewiffi and Pagan Religions divided the world, it was fufficient to comprife Chriftianity under the Belief that the com- miffion which Jefus Chrift bore wa^ truly froni God. " To believe," " to become a believer," " to believe in the Lord Jefus Chrift," and fuch other phrafes, form the whole defcription of it that we conftantly meet with in the New Tef tament- They ferved to point out the party that was adopted, and were as a token or watch word, by which the members of the new fed were feparated from the reft of mankind. But that, at the fame time, under thefe fymbols it was virtually declared that the Faith of Chriftians was to extend unto every article which their teacher ffiould propofe, is neeeflarily evident ;' for it is included in the confeffion that he was a teacher fent from God, the only ground of their becoming his difelples. This is alfo to be proved, if fo plain and obvious a point required it, by the variety of thofe forms under which this ori ginal defcription of a Chriftian was comprifed. Befide thofe mentioned ; " to * believe the Gof- * Mark xvi, 15, 16, " pel," SERMON IV. 85 « pel," " * to- believe that Jefus Chrift is the " Son of God," " f to believe the only true God *' and Jefus Chrift whom he had fent," and other texts of this kind, unlefs they ftood only for a general reference to the whole of the fyftem contained in the Gofpel, muft have marked out different boundaries of Faith, and given rife to different feds of Believers, inftead of uniting them all under " one Lord, one Faith, one Bap- *' tifm." While however a Chriftian's Faith is indifpenfably extended to every thing contained in the Holy Scriptures, we are to obferve that the articles which he is moft concerned in, thofe which our Lord and his Apoftles lay moft ftrefs upon, are but few, and eafily remembered. Such are the Being and Nature of God, the In carnation of the fecond Perfon, his Sufferings and Death, his Refurredion and Afcenfion, the Ope ration of the Holy Spirit, the twofold future State of Glory and of Torment, and fuch like. And as they are few in number, fo it has pleafed God that they ffiould be fully and exprefsly re vealed, and, as far as we are defigned to know them, intelligible by all, This pofition, though, as I have faid, it is not within the limits of a difcourfe to prove from every inftance, I hope to render highly probable by a view of one or two among the principal • A^s viii. 37. t Jo^- ^^'^^- 3- F 3 ones ; 86 S E R M O N IV. ones; and efpecially hope to ffiew that the riiethod of interpretation which objedors to the dodrines received have ufually adopted, is the faulty fource of their miftakes ; being contrary to that which the Apoftle contends for in this Epiftle. For, as he obferves here and elfe where, *• the dodrine of the Gofpel is the wifdom not " of man but of God," The redemption of mankind by the incarnation and death of Chrift was a plan to which no worldly wifdom could ever lead, and was to be learned only by the revelation which the Spirit of God ffiould mak^i of it. The information concerning the heavenly myfteries thus difelofed, was conveyed by the preachers of it, not in words and reafonings ac cording to any human philofophy, but in lan guage which the Spirit didated, reprefenting the things which the Spirit thus made known, by thofe words, and that ufage of words, which the Spirit direded and affigned. Revelation and philofophy were not commenfurate, or the lan guage and reafonings of one applicable to the other. On account of this difparity, the greateft ability and proficiency in human learning would never enable men to receive thefe great truths of the Gofpel, which were to be conveyed by a channel of inftrudion tp which they were ftran- gers : while, on the other hand, the man thus informed of them by the Spirit of God could thrpughly difcern the coniparative ignorance and folly S E R M O N IV. 87 folly of the philofopher, though, for the reafon aboVe ftated, he was beyond the reach of the other's knpwledge and judgment pf him. Fpr what philpfopher, what human wit can find put the cpunfels pf the Mpft High ? They can be np ptherwife knpwn but by the ccmmunica- tipn pf the Spn.* " But we," cpncludes the Apoftle, " have the mind of Chrift."-f' Are we not to infer from this account, that a humble fubmiffion to the Scripture is then to be our only guide alfo unto whatever we can at all know of thefe truths ; that, depending folely on it, we muft confine ourfelves in its interpretation, and the reafonings we deduce from it, within the llniits which it has marked out, both in regard to the fubjeds, and the manner or degree in which we are defigned to perceive and know them ? To proceed : The firft concern in all Religion, furely, is to know what are the Objeds of wor- ftiip. It is difficult to conceive that any perfons ffiould not agree to the importance of fuch a de- cffion; as it is evident that to give adoration where it is not due, or to withhold it where it is, are equally jnconfiftent with the piety of man. On the other hand, we are ready, for the fame reafon, to allows that the revelation of fuch a point muft of plain neceffity have been very * Matt.xi. 27. I,uke x. ?3. t ' Cor. ii. 5—16, clearly S8 S E R M O N IV, clearly and fully made. Accordingly, firft. It is to be obferved that ffie Holy Scriptures throughout the Old Teftament are full of the moft exprefs and folemn declarations that there is " one God," which was the firft article of the Decalogue delivered pn Mount Sjnai. The fame great truth is alfo profeffed by the Gofpel, wherein our bleffed Saviour fpeaks of the Almighty as his God,* and offers prayer and worffijp to him i'f and particu larly in the I'jth chapter of St, John's Gofpel, where are thefe words j " This is lifeseternal that •'* they may know thee thp only true God, and ?* Jefus Chrift whom thou haft fent," In due conformity with this primary article of Faith, the New Teftament ufually fpeafes of Jefus Chrift as Man, and without reference to him as ahy other than a Prophet who was en-r dued with the Holy Spirit without meafure. And it is alway to be remembvired, that rrian he certainly was, born pf a woman, of the houfe and lineage pf David, This it is of the higheft importance to remark and fix in our minds, for it accounts fpr and juftifies every phrafe and ex preffion in the Scriptures where he is Ipoken of limply as the 'f Son of Man," and every confe-i q^uence that has enfued, pr can be deduced fron^ the human nature pf Chrift. * Joh, XX. 17. •{• Luk^, vi. 12. But S E R M O N IV. 89 But to purfue this fubjed with all plalnnefs and freedom of enquiry : the fame authority, the Oracles of God, and our Saviour himfelf, in the next place, inform us as exprefsly of another propofition; which we are, for the fame reafon, as much bound to believe. They tell us, among many other paffages which feem to lead our minds to a different notion of this extraordinary Perfon, that he exifted '? before the world."* An affertion this, which of itfeff is enough to prepare a Chriftian for receiving whatever elfe he may find to be revealed. It takes the Saviour of mankind at pnce cut of our fight, when we alfo confider the prophecies concerning him, and the hiftoiy of his miraculous birth, and elevates him beyond our comprehenfion of his nature. Our experience leads to no idea, and our reafon is not fufficient to form any. All therefore that we have now to learn ofthe twofold conftitution of the man Chrift Jefus Is becpme matter pf re ligipus Faith. Being led to exped a farther ac count of him, we are diligently to enquire after it, and to receive it, whatever it may be, with humility and fimplicity of mind. Now, in the chapter rjv of St. John's Gofpel above cited, we find himfelf farther mentioning the ftate of " glo- " ry" which he had " with" the " Father;" nay, in another place, afferting that this exiftence was jppt only before the world, but fimilar tp that pf • Joh, xvii. 5. t Ch. xvii, ^ God, 90 S E R M O N IV. God, namely eternal. I fpeak here of thofe cele brated words in the eighth chapter, " Before Abra- " ham was, I am;" which, as it appears plainly from the fpirit of that whole converfation, the pre ceding parts of the context, the circumftances of the perfons to whom they were fpoken and their reception of them, as well as the grammatical conftrudion, muft unavoidably be underftood in this fenfe. We can at the fame time fparc them; for again, in another difpute with the Jews, on being charged with a violation of the fabbath, he argues in this manner; " my Father " does not reft on the fabbath-day, and as his " Son I am therefore alfo not obliged." * How he defigned to be underftood, ff the plain purport pf this argument did not ffiew, -f- is evident from the refentment with which the Jews received it, confidering it as a greater crime than tlie viola tion of the fabbath ; " For this caufe then the " Jews fought yet more to kill him, becaufe " he had not only tranfgreffed the law, but had " even called God his own father, making him- " felf equal with God." J To the fame effed is another memorable converfation, recorded in the tenth chapter. But to go on: St, Paul, in ffie opening of his Epiftle to the Hebrews, fetting * Joh. V. 17. f For it is neeeflarily and fimply this ; that he was not, in the divine part of his nature, a fer'vant, and was in right entitled to the fame privileges with the fupreme God, a^ being of the felf -fame. nature. X See alfo John x. 30. 33. forth S E R M O N IV. 91 forth Chrlft's exaltation above the Angels after his afcenfion, ffiews at length, exprefsly, the great truth we receive, by an application of the words of the Pfalmift : " To the Angels he (i. e. God) " faith, who maketh his Angels fpi- " rits, and his Minifters a flaming fire;" but to the Son, "thy Throne, O God, is for ever and ** ever," And St. John clofes the proofs here fe leded, by the moft exprefs and purpofed avowal of the Divine Nature of Chrift in the exordium of his Gofpel, in oppofition to thofe Heretics of hi^ own time who denied it. Thus, by a few inftances, and thofe not chofen with any particular reafon of preference over very many of equal clearnefs and ftrength, is this fecond article of Faith ffiewn to be fully and ex plicitly revealed from Heaven. Befide the Texts which I have thus omitted, I am alfo obliged to pafs by the confirmation of them all by the tefti mony of the Fathers ofthe Church, who inform us that fuch wa$ underftood to be the dodrine pf the Gofpel in the earlieft ages. But both thefe, as well as fuch Proofs as I have produced, have been often and ably brought forward to public view : fo that the dodrine, Inftead of being in the leaft" doubtful, is, what I particu- Jarly aimed at ffiewing, evident to the common pnderftandin| of eyery Chriftian whp has it fairly propofed 92 S E R M O N IV. propofed to him. It is indeed too often, alas ! evident to men of plain fenfe, far more than to many others of the higheft rank in hterature ; for the fame caufe, for which, as it is eafy to fliew, and has been before intimated, the reafon of men has but little ffiare in the oppofition that haS/been made unto it. The only objedion that, as I think, is apph cable on this ftatement, is derived from a cir cumftance obfervable in the texs produced; namely, that they are gradual and progreffive. It is alked, why do we not meet not only with adequate but the moft exprefs declarations pof fible of our Lord's Divinity in the Gofpels of St, Matthew, St. Mark, or St. Luke, and in the very beginning of thofe Gofpels .? Why are thefe rather referved to St. Paul and St. John fo many years afterwards ? It will perhaps conduce ,to make us think lightly of the arguments againft our Faith, if the futility of this objedion be ex pofed. Indeed, allowing it to be true that the aflertions of thefe later Apoftles are more dired and explicit, and we might fafely grant more in this argument, the anfwer ftridly ffiould be, " Who hath known the mind of the Lord, of " who hath been his counfellor?" Sufficient is it for us to know that the Providence of God ,hath ordained it fo to be. His reafon for fuch an arrangement, if it be communicated, is a matter S E R M O N IV. 93 matter of favour ; and therefore, if withheld, as wej:annot hope to know it, we are equally ob liged to believe what he hath revealed without it. But perhaps, for opinions on fuch matters muft be produced with diffidence, the reafon may be coUeded from fome paffages in Scrip ture. We are therein told that it is the method of Divine Providence to impart inftrudion to men by degrees, accordingly as their knowledge, temper, and circumftances fit them for receiving it. Thus our Lord, as well as his Apoftle St. Paul, teaches the Jews that the Mofaieal Law was conftituted after a manner fuitable ** to the " hardnefs of their hearts,*" that* it was in volved with "the beggarly elements-)-" of truth, and was as " a fchoolmafter to bring them unto " Chrift:):." In another place He tells his own Difciples before his paffion, even under the Gofpel, after three years inftrudion, that he had many things to fay unto them, but they could not then bear them ; nor until the Holy Spirit ffiould have defcended upon them, § It would again be therefore enough to filence all objedion on this head if we replied, that the Almighty had poffibly, not to fay probably, a fimilar rea fon for obferving a gradation in this inftance ; for it would be incumbent on the oppofer to * Matt. xix. 8. t Gal. iv. 9. I Gal. iii. 23, 24. I Cor. iii. 2. Heb. v. ll, 12. §'^Joh. xvi, I2j 13.' ffiew 94 S E R M O N IV. ffiew he could not, which is, I think, clearly out of his power. The argument therefore might fafely ftop here. But we might perhaps not be miftaken if we were alfo to fuggeft, as we well may, that the Jews were at this pericd fo bigotted to the letter of the Mofaieal Law, to the promffes of a temporal kingdom under the Meffias, and confequently againft the meannefs of Chrift's appearance, that a dired affertion of this tenet at the commencement of the Gofpel, muft have not only had the effed of rendering them all, even his own difciples, incapable of believing it, but would have exafperated them beyond all bounds, and have cut off at once all intercourfe between the Saviour and thofe to whom he was fent. I do not here fpeak from conjedure, but appeal to fad. The fuperftitious reverence in which they held the Incommuni cable Name, and many other far worfe motives did adually let loofe their utmoft rage againft our Lord whenever he intimated his heavenly nature, and led them to dired attempts againft his life. The neceffity therefore that appears of not fo frequently and exphcitly infifting at ftrft on this truth, both becaufe they could not receive it while he was on earth, and becaufe he would have been deprived of the means of converting the world by his inftrudion, is, I hope, in the laft place, a fufficient anfwer to the objedion, affording a reafon why the tenet ffiould be S E R M O N IV. 95 be more fully and exprefsly afterward infifted on by St. Paul and St. John, The exiftence of what we term the Second Perfon In the Bleffed Trinity being thus de clared in the Gplpel, it requires little propf tP eftabhffi that pf the Third. When there are pnce admitted more than one Perfon in the Deity, it does not appear that even perverfenefs itfelf can objed much againft the admiffion of another on any proper evidence. I ffiall only therefore briefly refer to thofe paffages of Holy Writ, where the plain conftrudion of the words fuppofes an Agent, and then reprefents that Agent to be fimilar and equal to our Lord; which is all the proof that needs to be afforded. The Holy Spirit is firft then introduced in the New Teftament as the caufe of our Lord's birth. He next appears in the bodily ffiape of a Dove, and at the day of Pentecoft in the form of clpven Tongues of Fire, as our Lord appeared in the ffiape of Man. He was alfo the Succeflbr of Chrift, fent, as he was, into the world to com pleat the inftrudion and confolation of Believers, which was then begun ; * " was, as -j- Chrift, ** not to fpeak of himfelf;" but " what he heard «* that ffiould he fpeak :" is brought in faying * Joh. xiv. 1 6. f Joh. v. 19, &c. viii. 26, comp. with xvi. 7, 13. cxsiw. Sec. unto g6 S E R M O N IV, unto the Apoftles at Jerufalem, « feparate unt6 " me Barnabas and Paul for the work where^ " unto I have called them*:" was " to difpenfe " his gifts unto every man feverally as he would-]-:" and, to produce no more inftances, is exprefsly in two places affociated on an equal footing with the Father and the Son ; one in the^ laft men,. tioned chapter by St. Paul, who thus fpeaks- of the Three Perfons, " Now there are diverfities " of gifts, but the fame Spirit ; and there are f differences of adminiftratlons, but the fame " Lord ; and there are diverfities of operations, " but it is the fame God which worketh all in " all J ;" and the other in the folemn form pte- fcribed for Baptifm, which is ordered to be ad- miniftered " in the name of the Father, and of " the Son, and of ffie Holy Ghoft§," If we difcard from us the objedion that might feem to arife from the want of a more exprefs- revelation of the Third Perfon at the very ex ordium of the Gofpel, as we have done that oc- cafioned by the progreffive revelation of the Second, and for the fame reafon, I am not aware of any farther plaufible ground of oppofition. It is but a fimilar argument alfo to one before confidered, to lay that the Holy Spirit is fpoken of frequently in Scripture as an Influence or * Afts xiii. 2. f I Cor. xii, 11.- X 1 Cor. xii. A. §. Matt, xxviii. rg. Energy S fe k M O N IV. 97 "Bnefgy rather than as an Agent* -The eternal Spn pf God is therein not only fpoken of fome times fimply as Man,butis alfo called the "word" or reafon, is defcribed as the " brightnefs of God's glory, and the exprefs image of his Perfon." Therefore, though the cafes are only fimilar and by no means parallel, that the eternal Spirit ffiould be denominated fometimes by his operations, his miraculous or ordinary influences on the min4. Was only one among other inftances of an ac commodation to the perception of men* For they could far more readily apprehend the idea of an Efficacy or Energy, that was the objed of their experience, and through which this Divine Agent continually imparted his prefence to them, than refer themfelves to the abftrad notion of an invifible Divine Being : efpecially, if it be farther remembered that fuch had, therefore^ been alfo the language of the Old Teftament, to which they had been habituated. Where then no form that could be ufed was ftridly proper, it cannot feem ftrange that, for the fame reafon which occafioned the ufe of any at all that might be intelligible, fometimes or often one more fa miliar ffiould be fuffered, while by the others that were left, all mifappfehenfiori about the nature ofthe Ploly Spirit was guarded againft. But I ffiould not omit to remark that fuch G phrafes 98 S E R M O N IV. phrafes are adapted to our fituation even at thfe time. And it is therefore probable that the gra cious providence of God, in appointing the lan guage that ffiould be ufed during the promul gation of the Gofpel, had a farther refped unto the natural weaknefs of mankind. For, to dwell ^ little longer on this fubjed, there appears to -be a perpetual reafon for veiling the myfteries of Heaven under terms and " conceptions that are familiar to men ; nay, as they were defigned for all, to the loweft and moft uncultivated rank of them. Thus, as the Son of God came down from Heaven, and communicated his inftrudion by means of a real human form; and as the Holy Spirit alfo at times aflumed different bodily ¦ffiapes ; the myfterious truths concerning the Divine Nature are likewife reprefented, though .remotely, through figures taken from this world. Without this gracious approach toward us, the human mind, not onfy limited in its poWers> but alfo entangled farther by its habitual com merce with fenfible objeds, could never entertain any fixed or applicable idea of the objeds of its Faith and Worffiip, And, as it is moft impor tant to remark, it was in all likelihood on ffiis account that the Second Perfon of the Trinity is called in Scripture the " Son of the Father," " the only begotten Son of God." This appel lation is not ufed in order to convey any adequate conception of this myftery, and is ftill lefs ac curate S E R M O N IV. 99 curate as to the relation in which the Second Perfon ftood to the Firft " before the world " was ;" but, the affinity of a father and fon being the neareft In refemblance of any among men, in order only to ffiew that the relation be tween them Is of an effential nature. For how ever improper, in ftridnefs of language, this re prefentation be, and thence unfit to furniffi any confequences or dedudions, except fuch as that which is now mentioned, other inftances of which kind may be found in the Scripture, yet it is abundantly fufficient to effed the purpofe for which all revelation is defigned, the moral edifi cation of the world. Thus alfo the cafe ftands in refped to the Third Perfon, who is called the " Spirit," I. e. the Mind, from fome refemblance to the Spirit or Mind of man. Or rather, fince He is faid to "proceed" and " to be fent," and by his energies to effed the great purpofes of Wifdom and Goodnefs in this world. He is, in diftindion, reprefented by that fubtile and adiye element of nature, from which, on account of an imperfed refemblance, the appellation has been in cpmmOn ufe transferred to denote the immaterial mind.* This is, I fuppofe, obvious to every one who has confidered the fubjed, and- and attended to either Scripture. Thus, to fay Wthing of the Old Teftament, He was firft * nn, ¦n-vtvjji.x, fpiritus, G 3 fyn>bolized IOO SERMON IV: fymbolized at his appearance on the day of Pen^ tecoft ; and to this fimilitude our Saviour alludes where he tells Nicodemus, " the Wind blowetb " where it lifteth, and thou heareft the found " ffiereof, but knoweft not whence it cometh " nor whither it goeth ; fo is every ofte that is " born of the Spirit," Under this image, I fay, the Divine Spirit on account of his Operative Charader has been generally, reprefented, ac cording to the primitive import of the word " Spirit" or " Breath ;" by this conftant appels lation, and fuch ufe of the metaphor being far-. ther diftinguiffied to us from the Firft Perfon; who is alfo in one place declared by our Lord to be a Spirit, or an infinitely perfed Mind.* On the fame account likewife he is fometimes, but not frequently, ffiadowed out under the other adive elements of nature ; as, of Fire, by the great Baptift, when he promifed to Chriftians a Baptifiu of the Holy Ghoft " and of Fire -f and of Water in this paffage of Ifaiah, " For I will " pour Water upon him that is thirfty, and " clouds upon the dry ground : T will pour: my " Spirit on thy feed, and my bleffing upon thy " offspring." -f ' The view that has now hten taken of thefe great Articles of our Faith leads particularly ta * Joh. iv. z\^ t If. xliv. 3 ; See alfo Joh. vii,_j8, 33. : two 3 E R M O N IV, loi two pbfervatipns. While it I? true that there is no proper pr adequate knowledge in myfteripus matters attainable by man, and thpugh we thus at prefent fee thrpugh the dark glafs pf an infi nitely imperfed refemblance, yet we are npt tp forget that a certain and folid informatipn is im parted to us. When the Almighty thus brings down the glorious things of his Kingdom to the level of human words and human ideas, we are, I prefume, direded hereby to fuppofe the fimi litude, though infinitely difproportioned in kind and in degree, yet true and real in refped to our felves, or fo far as to be available unto fome in ferences that are neceffarily implied in them. Thus, to demonftrate this by a few inftances in addition to thofe before adduced, when God him felf is faid to be our Father, we are a;uthorifed to conclude, as it is expreffed by the Pfalmift, " that as a Father pitieth his own Children, fo ** is the Lord mercfful to them that fear him," When it is faid in the Old Teftament that " the *' Eyes of the Lord are over the righteous," that " they run to and fro thrpugh the earth," that «* his Arm brings falvatipn,". and fuch like phrafes, we are to conclude that Power and Knowledge, with all their effeds, but infinitely greater than thofe which are attained by man through thefe members of his body, are to be attributed to him. And, 102 S E R M 0 N iV, And, fecondly, we are led unto the confidera* tion of the final Purpofes for which this partial information is vouchfafed: and this has been faid to be the Moral Edification pf mankind. For thus St, Paul teaches us, that *' all Scripture "^ is given by infpiration of God, and is profitable " for dodrine, for reproof, for corredion, for *' inftrudion in righteoufnefs, that the man of " God may be perfed, thoroughly furniffied unto "all good works."* An attention to this de fign of the Almighty, as it calls forth all our gratitude, affifts alfo to reprefs a vain, irregular curiofity, and to corred our expedations and judgment in fixing the fenfe of the Holy Wri tings. For, whether we can always fee it or not in every inftance, this is the gracious end of every part of Divine Revelation : and this, in limiting the communication meant to be afforded, muft therefore give a fuitable ffiape and boundary unto our attempts to afcertain what it is : namelyi fuch a boundary as is now contended for, I ffiall difmifs this fubjed with the celebrated words of the Jewiffi Lawgiver according to the common verflon, " The fecret things belong " to the Lord our God : but thofe things which " are revealed belong unto us and our children '* for ever, that we may do all the words of hi| " Law."f ¦ ^ ^ Tim. iii. i6. | Deut. xxix. 29. This SERMON IV. 103 This dffcuffion of the great topic of Scriptural Myfteries will, it is to be hoped, from the re- fledions it will fuggeft on the limited nature of our faculties, and on the method of revealing foch things obfervable in the Scriptures, fuffice to ffiew that none of thefe Articles of Faith are proper fubjeds for " the wifdom of men ;" that we ffiould rejed all philofophical inveftigation of them, and reafoning about them j and that they muft of neceffity miflead, and alfo, in confe quence, greatly injure all who are guilty of fuch prefumption. Arid I ffiall fay no n>ore on this head than to remind you, that among the Arti cles which have been thus greatly erred in, are the Manner of the Co-exiftence of the Three Perfons in one Godhead, the Manner of the In carnation of our Divine Redeemer, and of the Operation ofthe Holy Ghoft; the State « of Glory to be revealed hereafter, and pther quef tions pf this kind. One Article mpre feems hpwever, pn accpunt of the cavil raifed againft it, to require fome confideration. A Re-exiftence of the fame Body at the general Refurredion has been, denied to be poffible, according to the natural conftitution of things : and this impoffibility, which is held to be unanftverable, is ftated, as well as I can remember, in the following manner. It is faid that 104 §"E R M O N W. that every particle of matter Is In perpetual fluj^ and change, and is conftantly becoming part of different fucceffive bodies. Cpnfequently what has at one time Conftituted a portion of one hu-, man body, has in the courfe pf ages fince its diffolution conftinited equally a portion at vari?^ ous times of other bodies in fucceffipn, Hence, therefore, at the refurredion, no pne particle of matter can be appropriated to ^ny fingle body ; and it will he abfolutely impoffible to raife up the bodies pf men identically the fame. In anfwer to thi§ argument it inight be fuf ficient to afic, if the Providence of God werq indeed concerned to effed that which is thus thought impoffible, who can dare to tel^ what it could not do ? It might, for inftance, be ob-* ferved, that amid all that difperfion of the par ticles of each dead body, and the feeming incor poration by the courfe of vegetation or other- wife with different matter, it might, unfeen by the blind fagacity of the Philofopher, preferve them particularly from entering into the cotn- pofition of another liumap body, or, at leaft, from being contained wi'^hin it at.the moment of diffolution, difpofing of them by an infinite variety of fecondary caufes as infinite Wffdom and Power might think fit. This would, I fuppofe, be a plain and adequate refotation of fuch an objedion, which indeed is, formed on a^ prefupiptipn S E R M O N IV. 105 prefumption pf Imppffibility npt in itfelf dempn- ftrated, pr deducible frpni pbfervatipn and ex perience. But, unlefs I miftake, the declarations of Scripture on this Article have npthing to do with the argument. And we have again an op portunity prefcnted to us of obferying the faulty proceeding in thefe cavils before noticed : I mean, the unwarrantable affumption of an idea which Revelation never was intended to afford, That we ffiall rife again with pur bodies it aflerts : that they will be fo far the fame that we ffiall have a confcioufnefs pf their former being, and even that they ffiall be recpgnifed by others, we may have caufe to believe from argument and fcrlpture. But I know of no text or good rea? fon that requires the accompliffiment of any Identity beyond this. The fad is, that the queftion of Identity in this inftance hath been grofsly miftated. When we fpeak of being the fame identical perfons that we were from the firft commencement of our being, we manffeftly do not mean a Samenefs, which exifts no where in nature, nor unlefs in the mind and imagination pf men, an4 therefore has no place in any difcuf- fion of a matter of fad. For, to treat this fubjed fhortly, who can think that his body or any other fubftance, animal or vegetable, confifts at any diftance of time of all the fame precife par ticles that compofed it heretofpre, when the ^hple frame is in a perpetual cpurfe pf decay and io6 S E R M O N IV. and renovation? Or who conceives that fuch precifenefs is at all neceffary to his idea of per fonal Identity ? If therefore, which is furely the only juft way of proceeding, we transfer theidea that we always entertain in every other inftance of this fubjed, fuch as, for example, conftitutes the Identity of a man from infancy to age and the grave, and apply it beyond that limit to the Refurredion, who will have room for a fulpicion that he ffiall not be the fame perfon ; i. e. in the fenfe. which is the ufual one of fuch an expref fion ? If he confiders the Wifdom and Power of his Creator, who would think of doubting the efted of thefe, when they ad in a manner that he can neither obferve nor conceive .'' Or, if he ftill fuffers his mind to dwell on the particulars of this Identity, who can tell what number or kind of particles in his frame are neceffary to be preferved, or can at all determine the line by which Identity and Diverfity are feparated I For this, furely, is a fecret hid far from his view and apprehenfion. On both thefe accounts, on which it is, I hope, unneceffary to enlarge, man is excluded from a pretence to doubt on ffie pradicability of this matter, and on this, as on ffie other myfteries of Chriftian Faith, he muft refolve the credibility of it into the affurance vouchfafed by God that it will take place, and his apprehenfion of it into the limited Informa-* tion which God has imparted. If SERMON IV. 107 If we therefpre cpnfult this, we ffiall find, in the celebrated paffage pf this epiftle pf St. Paul, what is perfedly agreeable tp this juft idea pf Identity but incpnfiftent with the pther, an in- timatipn pf a Change. In analpgy tP the change frpm infancy tP perfed manhppd is tp be the change frpm an earthly bpdy tp a heavenly, from corruptible to immortal. He there informs us that flefli and blood cannot inherit the manfions of Glory, and that therefore, by a myfterious alteration, tliey ffiall be fpiritualizfed at the mo ment of Refurredion, after the faffiion of that glorious Body with which our Lord afcended into the Heavens. And as we may fuppofe that he underwent this change on his Afcenfion, fo that his earthly Body was not deftroyed or left behind, fo our future glorified bodies ffiall take their rife from our prefent ones ; ffiall, as the Apoftle anfwer s the fooliffi objedor of his day, fpring from the poor remains that will be depo- fited in the earth, and be in a fimilar manner related to thefe corruptible elements of their being, as the wheat or other grain, in its full vigour and beauty at the feafon of harveft, is to the fmall and cpntemptible feed that had been fown in the grpund. I beg leave tP conclude with again infifting on the diftindion that }ia§ been noticed between the io8 SERM O N IV, the myfteries of Faith and fubjeds of Human Speculation. The former are only known tp us inafmuch as they are revealed by the Spirit of God, Beyond ffie mere letter of his com-, munica tions on any of thefe fubjeds, feparately weighed, and carefully compared with other texts that are conneded with it, and the neceffary confequences plainly deduced, we cannot at all hope to fucceed in any enquiry into them during this life. Human Ideas, and much more, human Words, are derived from Things of this World, and are the refult only of human Experience and Refledion. Thefe lead us no- farffier, even in thofe matters which are the daily objeds of our fenfes, than to a very limited and imperfed ap prehenfion of ffiem ; fuch indeed only as is in ftrumental to the needs, convenlencles, and plea-^ fures of this life, Is it not plain therefore that fuch language and reafonings as are inadequate to a perfed knowledge of thefe things, muft bo more, far more inadequate to the myfteries of Heaven ? And as ffiefe myfteries are neceffarily revealed to us by fuch means, it is evident ffiat an imperfed communication muft be all that was defigned, forafmuch as they can convey to us only tliat knowledge of heavenly things, which is founded on the fimilitude between them and earthly things, a fimilitude mfinitely difpropor tioned both in kind arid degree. Thus thefe myfteries S E R M O N iv. 109 myfteries alfo, as it hath been obferved of the myfteries of the natural world, are underftood no farther than the good of man requires; tlian his edi/ication in righteoufnefs demands; arid can not in the nature of things become the fubjed of human reafoning and inveftigation. As therefore it has been ffiewn, ori a former ©ccafion, that Faith is generally neceffary to Knowledge, fo is it more efpecially to the Know ledge, as far as it is now attainable, of the glorf- ous truthsj by the revelation of which, Iffe and immortality are brought to light. May we adopt that Humility and Caution in the confideration of its fubjeds. Which liave beeri enjoined by the authority of the great Apoftle ! May they keep from us that confufion and thofe errors, in which a prefumptuous depraved phi lofophy has ever plunged all who tranfgrefs- them; and determine Us to " ceafe from the inftrudion " that caufeth to err from the words of know- " ledge !" * For they will then not fail to fecure to us thofe infinitely valuable ends, which the Gofpel was defigned to produce in its profeflbrs. Truth of Opinion, and Happinefs of Mind; fince leading us unto a found Faith with the f Prov. xix. 27. Knowledge IIP SERMON IV. Knpwledge pf pur Duty tp Gpd and Man, they will dired and enable us tp keep it, " in the " Unity pf Spirit, in the Bpnd pf Peace, and " Rightepufnefs of Life." SERMON [: III ] SERMON V. Heb, XI. 6. Without Faith it is impoffible to pleafe God. HAVIN G confidered the queftion of the objeds of our Faith, regarded abftradedly as fpeculative truths, I ffiould proceed to treat of the acceffion of credibility derived from the Effeds which they tend to and are able to pro duce. But on this queftion the text I have now read is fufficient, and excufes the labour ; elpecially when the context alfo is taken into view. The whole chapter Indeed Is that eulogy pn Faith which we ought to have framed. But this efpecial inftance of the affumption of Enoch unto eternal Iffe, and the reafoning ufed thereon are peculiarly available to our defign. The whole paffage is in thefe words : "By Faith f* Enoch was tranflated that he ffiould not fee " death; iii S E R M O N Vi " death; and was not found, becaufe God had " tranflated him; For before his tranflation he " had this teftimony that he pleafed Godi But " without Faith it is impoffible to pleafe Him : " for he that cOmeth to God muft believe that " He is, and that He is a rewarder of them that " diligently feek Him :" or, as the argument may be Ihortly expreffed, It is impoffible to pleafe God without believing that He is, and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently feek Him. On fo plain ari affertion it is needlefs to ex-' patiate : and I ffiall only fay that if, as is moft true, to pleafe Almighty God be as it were th? only objed to man, and there be only one way to do fo, the queftion of the Utility of our Faith is at once determined. For if in thefe early times before th'e Law, the imperfed fyftem of Faith imparted could hold out a fufficient in formation to men, furety the. Gofpel, the per fedion and crown of all preceding difpenfations, moft abundantly declares to us that " God isi " and is indeed a rewarder," even to eternal life, *' of fuch as diligently feek him." Thus there fore the credibility of the articles of our Faith is glorioufly confirmed by their effeds, the ac ceptable obedience they enable men to perform, and the heavenly prize they have enfured to that obedience. As Enoch obtained this bleffed- nefs. S E R M O N V. 113 nefs, there Is left no room to doubt that under the covenant which promifes that glorious re ward to all who embrace it, many mflllons c£ che human race have been crowned with it, ha ving walked in that perfed way which our Divine Redeemer, his Apoftles and Martyrs have laid open tp us boffi by their inftrudion, and by their example. Leaving therefore this topic to be the employ ment of our gratitude ; I ought here to take farther notice of the Acceptations that Faith bears, as a Pradical Principle; but I refer this to an occafion that I ffiall prefently have of con fidering them. I proceed, therefore, according to the plan of my laft difcourfe, to offer fome remarks on a few among thofe objedions which are -ufually, and moft idly, raifed againft the Mo^^al fyftem of the Gofpel. How idly thefe have been raifed, appears indeed, imrnediately and fully, from the kind of reafoning before laid down on the queftion of the Articles of Belief, which is to be in the fame manner applied to this fubjed. For if it be proved that a fyftem of piety and virtue was certainly communicated from God, there is at once an end of all murmur or dffpute concerning the wffdom or goodnefs of the whole or of any part. It inuft be an unex ceptionable moral difpenfation. It muft be im poffible that there ffiould be any part abfolutely H incom- 114 S E R M O N V. incompatible with ffie Divine Attributed, con-< feffedly Inconfiftent with another, or impradi- cable in itfelf; and fuch an inftance we affirm that no man has found. It foUpws, that Pur pnly cpncern is tP afcer tain the true meaning pf every part, at leaft pf every one that affeds the diredion of our con dud. In our attempt to do this, we muft alfo, conformably to the general ride, reftrid ourfelves throughout to plain andneceflary dedudions from the texts of Scripture, or from a comparifon of one text with another. For even in the moral precepts, the wifdom of the world and of the worldly philofopher ever had, in fome refped or other, and therefore, we may conclude, ever will fall ffiort. The world that by wifdom never rightly knew God, by the fame caufe of error never knew his will. I ffiall not enter farther into this topic than to prove what I affert by the teftimony of experience ; and, for this, refer to the Apoftle at the beginning of his epiftle to the Romans. And ff fuch was ffie cafe of thofe who had every advantage of the deepeft learning and greateft genius, there is no good reafon to argue that it cpuld ever be expeded from human ability. If it be anfwered that, with the affift- ance of the Gofpel, the moral fcience may be completely elucidated by the learning and fkill of men, and that no part or queftion is now out of SERMON V. n| &f their reach, I have only to appeal ftill to ex perience; to the queftions that have always been difputed, and to the differences of opiriion that have ftill fubfifted among them.* The Nature and Pfinclples of obedience, nay alriioft every moral Duty, have been by the worldly reafoners of the age made the fubjed of controverfy; in fome cafes which are comprehended, of doubt, inju rious perverfion, or limitation. Almoft every vice under certain circumftances has been excufed or rather juftified. But if this were otherwife, as the Scriptures were defigned to inftrud all men unto perfed obedience, among whom fo many are incapable of fubtile argument, it is plain that there muft be fome other way of knowing right from wrong, than by refined in veftigation and elaborate diftindions, a way plain and intelligible to all. This therefore we affirm Is to be fought out of the Gpfpel, in that manner only which has been prefcribed. And if, through thefe means, * I might inftance here particularly the Jefuitical tenets of Mental Refervation, Probable Reafons of conduft, and Philofophical fin : alfo, not to mention the groffer errors ot fuch as defend the vices of their own temper and habits, thofe who bring the precepts of Revelation to the level of their natural fenfe and perception, and where thefe difagree, adopt the latter. Among thefe are the advocates for fuicide, and, it muft be added, for duelling, a prac tice, which in truth would be a difgrace to a barbarous nation, but is an objeft of horror in a country that receives the Gofpel of Chrift. H 2 the n6 S E R M O N V. the loweft difciple of Chrift is flflly informed "of all in which he is cpncerned, by that dpftrine which was " preached tp the ppor," wiffi what pretence of wffdom and r^fon can the learned among men pretend to decline being inftruded by a fafe and certain, though common, inftruc- tion from the Divine Source of Truth ? Can any decent objedion be made againft the participa tion of the fimpleft bleffing from fuch a quarter, becaufe it is equaUy within ffie reach of all the fons of men ? It would be the fame folly, and attended by fimilar effeds, with the madnefs of fuch as ffiould refofe the univerlal bleffing of light, or ffie other common benefits of nature. For, ff the only way to conjedure with any pro bability of fuccefs concerning the divine purpofes, be through the analogy of his proceedings, it ffiould feem moft likely that He, who has made thofe advantages which are neceffary for our bodies equally or fimUarly perceptible by all, has likewffe made the rule which is to guide all men unto juftification and eternal Iffe, dffcernible by one common apprehenfion, as it is in the prac tice confonant to our general nature and confti tution. He alone knows what is beft adapted to boffi, and what will without any danger of mifguldance, as it were almoft neceffarily, lead us unto truth. But the propriety of this mode In fearching after S E R M O N V. iif after religious truth, is more particularly evinced in the cafe of thofe topics that refped the agency of the Almighty in the Oeconpmy pf the Gofpel. In confidering thefe, we muft, very evidently, confine ourfelves to the caution which has been enjoined by the Apoftle. In order to be here in the leaft wife, we muft beicome " fooliffi," that is, void of all knowledge or opinion of our own, and like children to receive implicitly the precife leffons which our Divine Mafter thinks fit to impart. It has, I am confident, been chiefly owing to an offence againft this rule of procedure, that miftakes have been made and objedions urged on fuch points. It may conduce perhaps not only to the refutation of fome among the moft material of them, but to invalidate in general that fufpicion and uneafinefs which too often arife upon fuch fubjeds, if this fault be expofed in a few inftances. A few words will, it ffiould feem, be fufficient on each. For, according to what has been faid, the main requifite in facred matters is caution left we go beyond our autho rity : and it is obvious that the inftrudion which is equally defigned for thfe ignorant and the learn ed, muft be comprffeable in a fmall compafs. Some pf the principal tppics that have been H 3 con- 11$ S E R M O N V. controyerted are, ' Predeftination and Eledlon, Grace and Free- WiU, Merit of works and Juf-» tificatipn. Qf thefe I ffiall fpeak in their Prder, The firft pf thefe refts chiefly pn twp paffage^ in. St, Paul's writings.* As the words in both are exprefs and clear, whatever they affprt is not to be fet afide, however afterwards we may de-r termine cpncerning the inferences to which they are available. Taking them therefore as they ftand, let us allow that God did according tp his own good pleafure feled fome out of the bul|c of mankind, who confequently were ad mitted to his favour, and jin the next life were to be exalted untp glpry. They were " fpre-i ** known, prejieftlned, called, juftified, and gio-? *' rified," fucceffively, " according to God's pur^ " pofe." This is the fimple ftatement of the matter.-f- And this has giyen alarm and horror fo fome whp thinH t.h.'a.t no regard is therefore * Eph. i. 4, 5, X I, Sec. Rpm. viii. 28, &c. See alfo i Pet. which after the perufal ofthe above epiftles, elpecially the laft, to ^I'hich it is fingularly parallel, does not feem to require a feparate confideration ; ^ Theff, ii. g, &c. ai}d pther paffages whicjj neec^ pt)t be difcuffed, ' ' " ' ¦¦ ' ' " ' . ¦\- It may be proper to add thaf this eleftion appears to bear ^ refpefl: Uiito' thefncere Chriftian, as dift^nguilhed from thofe who as to the means of grace were calleit as well as hinifelf. For th^ Gofpel was preached to multitudes who did not accept it, though pft'ered to them. So Matt. xxii. 14. Jude 4, &c. By this laft paffage, and particularly by the example pf Judas, Jqh. vi. 70. Jfjii.''! J, 18, as alfo by the various texts in the epift}es relating to S E R M O N V. 119 paid unto the fincere endeavour of men to pro cure the Divine mercy; and have deduced a dodrine from it equally terrible andimpious; that all except this certain number are, notwithftand ing fuch fincere endeavour, doomed by an arbi trary decree to endlefs torment. But the anfwer, I think, is plain and dired. At the fame time that the Almighty is affirmed to have called whom he pleafed to happinefs, and doomed whom he pleafed tP mifery, and tp have aded, as it Is frequently nay ufually faid in Scripture, for his Pwn glory, it is firft to be confidered that this is the whole of what is afferted on the fubjed. Nor is there, I believe, a fingle text which intimates any thing concerning the mo tives of his choice ; or whether thefe do or do not refped the different merits, I mean com- parative merits or demerits, of his creatures. There is therefore, fo far as this leads, no dired and neceffary inconfiftency revealed between thefe principles of his proceedings, and the wiffi de-,- clared in another place that <• none ffiould periffi, ?* but all ffiould come to repentance;" or the conftant tenor of the invitations to the covenant of mercy, and the prpmifes made under It. It might indeed have been expeded^ that no man apoftate, wicked Chriftians, it appears, as It may by the way be remarked, that even the profeffors of the Gofpel were not, in the Scripture language now treated of, always among the ekii children of God. H 4 cpuld 120 S E R M O N V. could have thought one part of the Gofpel In confiftent with another. At leaft it furely feems ftrange that, becaufe the Almighty has declared that He ads as He wills. He therefore could not be believed to will nothing, however freely and independently, but what was in the moft perfed degree juft and benevolent to every one of his creatures. For certainly the only con clufion which we could poffibly draw from his attributes, and the hiftory of the redemption, muft be that his purpofe would be all that was good and gracious. Confiftent with ffiis repre fentation is the truly wffe advice given by our Church in her 17th article of fubfcription, wherein, having ffiefe dodrines on one hand, and the general promffes, thi-eatnings, and ex hortations of the Gofpel on ffie other, ffie direds both to be received. And fo far is ffie Scripture from fandloning any other notion than ffie above, that ff in ffie next place we look more attentively to ffiefe paf fages in queftion, we ffiall find fo irrational and dreadful a fufpicion no way related to their fcope and meaning. The firft of ffiefe is in the epiftle to the Romans, which was written chiefly to prove that the Gentile Chriftians were entitled to the privileges of the Gofpel as well as the Jewiffi: and the Apoftle begins ffie eighth chap ter with affuring ffiem that " there was now no *• con- S E R M O N V. 121 " cpndemnatipn tp them which were in Chrift " Jefus, and walked not after the fleffi, but after *' the fpirit." He purfues this confolatory argu ment throughout ffie chapter ; the whole drift and purpofe of which indeed is only to cheer and fupport them under the fufterings with which they were then alflided, by the affurance of their relation to God, and their future reward in his prefence. It is in profecutlon of fuch an argu ment that he tells them in the 28th verfe, "And ** we know that all things work together for " good to them that love God, to them who ** are called :" after which come the words on which the dodrine of eledion and the like is buflt : and thefe words are concluded by the fol lowing inference, " What ffiall we then fay to ** thefe things .? If God be for us, who can be ** againft us ? He that Ipared not his own Son, ** but delivered hiiri up for us all, how ffiall he ** not with him alfo freely give us all things ? *• Who ffiall lay any thing to the charge of God's " eled .-* It is God that juftifieth. Who is he ** that condemneth ? It is Chrift that died." From this view it plainly appears that the defign ef ffiem, far from any purpofe of ffiewing that other men would be eternally loft, much lefs that men would fuffer by a decree independent --of ^eir deferts, was folely to perfuade them that they themfelves were fure of their falvation, as long as they believed in Chrift, and " thrpugh " the 122 S E R M O N V. " the fpirit mortified the deeds of ffie body." It was in fad to affure them of the falfehood of all which the Jews might denounce againft them ; namely, that their own nation was alone the peculiar people of God, feleded from the world, to whom the bleffings of Heaven be- Icnged : that thefe were boafts which needed not to intimidate them ; that the Gofpel of Chrift had fuperfeded the covenant of Mofes, as well as the profane fyftems of paganifm ; that they now on having embraced that Gofpel were the true, the called and chofen people of God, as certainly as the Jews had ever been, were '^ the Sons of God." And it is here to be ob ferved that thefe terms of Eledion and the like are adopted particularly on account of the Jews, being derived from the Scriptural phrafes of the Old Covenant, and the manner of fpeaking on this fubjed ffien in ufe. If ffien this be the cafe, needs it to be ffiewn at large that fuch a ftrain addreffed to fuch people under fuch cir cumftances, and therefore neceffarily couched in the ftrongeft terms, is by no means capable of furniffiing fuch a dedudion as that which has been fuppofed ? It is furely againft all criticffm to diftort words from any particular ufe to which they were folely defigned, unto a general dodrine, efpecially one that contradids the known tenor or other exprefs declarations of Scripture. But to proceed ; If S E R M O N V, 123 If it be thought by any that the next chapter of the fame epiftle decides the queftion againft this reprefentation, wherein the Apoftle goes on to confider the diftindion made by the Almighty between thofe who were chofen and thofe who were rejeded from his covenants, it is ftill eafy to reply. We muft, as before, be cautious that we do not affume more ffian what neeeflarily arifes out of the words and arguments before us. And firft, as to temporal bleffings, or fplritual advantages, comparatively regarded, in which the differences made between fome individuals or nations, and others, are pbfervable in every kind and degree, thefe are put pf all queftion or confideration. They are not only a free gift of the Lord of all things ; but the various and in-=- nunierable benefits which may be derived, not only pn the perfons ffius paffed pver or exalted, but pn the reft pf the wprld, by fuch an inequa- Jity pf .difpenfatipn, immediately pr by degrees, are lar beypnd our perception. Such matters are pbvloufly whhin the exclufive province of Him, whofe grand fcheme of providence we are not at allcapable of comprehending in our im perfed and limited view. In the mean while we are to remember that his " mercy is over all " his works ;"* and that to no part of mankind Ihiath He left Himfelf without witnefs. -j- An4 * Pf. cxlv. 9 — xxxiii. 5. •»¦ Afts xvii, 24, &c. So xiv. 15 — 17. pd Rpm, i. 19, 20. in 124 SERMON V. in the next life, as we have reafon to hope from the whole tenor of Scripture, he will compleat each man's happinefs in an exad and merciful regard unto his fincerity and care to pleafe him, however circumftanced as to the means of grace every individual may be. Our Saviour has thus informed us, that " unto whomfoever much is " given, of him" only " ffiall much be required."* And fecondly, we leave it to the confideration of fuch objedors, in regard to the poftive evds faid to be inflided on particular men, or their rejedion from the divine lavour, that, in the inftance here produced of Pharaoh, St. Paul has himfelf removed the whole ground of all their objedions. The text which they alledge is in ver. 18. " Therefore hath he mercy on whom " he will have mercy, and whom he wfll he " hardeneth." In anfwer to thofe who did or might urge this as not only an arbitrary but an unjuft procedure, efpecially ff extended to the difpenfation of the Gofpel, he aflcs, " What ff *' God willing to ffiew his wrath, and to make " his power known, endured wiffi much long- " fuffering the veffels of wrath fitted for deftruc- " tion V -f- So that by the Apoftles' own ex- * Luke xii. 48. fo Rom. ii. 11, &c. t Confiftently with this, God taught the Jews by Ezekiel, when they Vcafoned with fimilar impropriety (c. 18.) on the de nunciation of the fecond commandment, that whatever might be the difference or difadvantage incurred by the defcendants of a wicked man, they fliould not be pofitively puniftied but for their owa S E R M O N V. 125 pofition of that pofitive expreffion, the Supreme Being no otherwife hardeneth the heart of a finner, than by leaving him to purfue his own wilful courfe for a longer time without cutting him off. If then this mode of interpreting be applied to the pofitive declarations, wherever they occur, on the fubjed of the Evangelical oeconomy, * we may reafon that thofe men, or claffes pf men, whp are faid in the mpft exprefs terms tp be excluded frpm the Gofpel, and eter* nal Iffe, are fuch as by their own perverfenefs had become incapable of them. That fuch people ffiould be left to themfelves, and •* given ** over to a reprobate mind,"-}- or, in the lan- *' guage of the eleventh chapter, ffiould " have ** their eyes darkened that they ffiould not fee," Ihould become " veffels of wrath " and " dff- ** honor," would be confiftent with the plaineft and fuUeft notions of juftice. For they are thus become proper objeds of his anger, and fit to be held out to the view of the world by their mifery and calamities, as inftances of his judg ment on their impenitence. But that they Ihould alfo then be made the Inftruments of Di vine mercy to effed the falvation of the Gentile World ; and this in order farther that their own converfion might be gradually accompliffied own iniquity, ver. 18, 19. It is almoft unneceffary to add that the writings of this prophet are particularly applicable to the whole of the prefent topic. * As in ver. 23, See. f Rom. i. 28.' fo ver. 24, 26. , thereby. 126 S E R M 0 N V. thereby j and ffius all mankind be finally brought unto a faving knowledge of the Golpel, Is indeed, as the Apoftle calls it, a Myftery, in which we may well admire at the " depth of the riches "and wifdom and knowledge of God;" and with moft humble and ffiankful hearts afcribe glory for ever to Him.* It remains, after what has been faid, only to intimate, as far as we can learn, the reafon why this abfolute language is fo frequently ufed in Scripture; which will confirm the interpretation hitherto given of its dodrine^ It appears from ffie Hiftory of the New Teftament, and, as we have feen, from St. Paul's writings, that ffie Jews refifted and were enraged at any fuggeftion of their not being exclufively the covenanted peo ple of God. . This corrupt and proud nation thought that He was bound to them as ffie children of Abraham, and that by their obfer vance of the' Law they were perfedly righteous before Him, and had a claim on the fcore of abfolute juftice to whatever bleffings He could beftow ; and that thus ffie kingdom of the Mef- fiah was their own right, which they could challenge as due to their merits from his hands. Under thefe circumftances, it feems to have been neceffary on the other hand that the prea chers of this new covenant with mankind ffiould, * Rom. xi. 33, 36, on S E R M O N V. 127 on every pccafipn, Infift- pn a diredly cpntrary dpdrine ; ffipuld with a particular view tp this errpr. Which was a grand ftumbling blpck and obftacle againft the receptipn of Chriftianity, deny all merit of works, i. e. fuch merit from obedience to the law as they pretended to ; and to pronounce that every bleffing by which fome men were diftinguiffied above others, and ac cordingly the revelation of the Gofpel, was the effed of the Divine mercy alone, a free gift to mankind. Men being in a ftate of tranfgreffion fince the fall, and efpecially under the law of which this nation boafted, had no claim to any good. Were indeed on the contrary, ftridly fpeak ing, as enemies of God, and objeds of wrath. * It is hence therefore that thefe pofitions, thus ftrongly and abfolutely worded, are fo conftantly brought forward and dwelt upon, throughout the facred writings. God's glory, and Pleafure or Will, are exprefsly reprefented to be the fole objed of all his prpceedings ; the immediate interppfitipn of his power the mean of all that is done in this world ; and men, as mere inftru ments in his hands, or as " clay in the hands of " the potter," to effed and to become whatever he may pleafe. To thofe who muft have known the purpofe which thefe phrafes were meant to ferve, they were as free from all danger of mif- application as they were neceffary to their end. * Rom. V. 8, 9, 10. The 128 SERMON V. The misfortune is, that fince ffiat time Ignorant or raffi men have taken them ont ofthe occafion to which they were adopted and applied ; and, as obferved before, by a violent abufe have in terpreted them of a general dodrine which they never were intended to convey. * The fum of all that may be deduced from Scripture is this. The Almighty in conduding the plan by which mankind is to be faved, chofe fome men from the reft, in order at the fame time to their own peculiar happinefs, and to eftabliffi his dffpenfations in the world. But He chofe thefe, from his foreknowledge that they would be fit objeds of his favour, and, confequently willing to effed his purpofe. Hence the children of Abraham were firft eleded to a covenant with God;-)- with a farther refped unto a perfed Religion which was to be revealed when the Divine wifdom faw that " the fulnell " of time" would be come. At this fit time, the new covenant was offered to the Jews, among whom a remnant of fincere men was ftill left. ;}l From this number, a few, the beft fitted for the purpofe by their difpofi tions, circumftances, or * I do not here enter into the confideration, how far the Scrip tures ufe this language in oppofition likewife to the arrogance and boldnefs of all men in general, and at all places and times, or in deference to the Supreme Dignity of the Divine Author of all things, which is a different topic, though well worthy^of our regard. t See Gen. xviii. 17 — 19. X I Tim. i. 13. Matt. xiii. 11, 12, knOW- SERMON V. 129 knowledge, were miraculpufly affifted, tp call, in the firft inftance, thpfe pf their pwn brethren who were able tP receive it : after which, the reft being for the prefent left tp their pwn impe nitence, the teachers pf the Gplpel were fent to call thpfe ampng the Heathen natlpns, wherever the Spirit pf Gpd direded, whp were pf a difpp- fitlpn to embrace it. * Such men were by the means pf falvatipn led pn gradually untP hplinefs, and became children pf Gpd, and cp-heirs with Chrift of his glpripus kingdpm thrpugh his me rits. Tp this they were eleded by the fore- knpwledge pf Gpd, whp frpm the beginning had in his view this difppfitipn pf their hearts, his PWn purppfe pf pffering them the means pf grace then tP be imparted, and the cpnfequences pf bpth, accprding tp natural neceffity, namely, their fandificatipn, and the cpvenanted reward of it. And purfuant tP the fame fyftem pf ac- cpmpliffiing the falvatipn pf the wprld, chiefly by the ufe pf natural means, is the purppfe, yet unfiniffied, pf cpnverting the Jewiffi pepple through the example of Gentile Chriftians. -j- In this view therefore, true Chriftians may be juftly faid to be predeftined ; and the language of Scripture on the fubjed, ff we confider at the fame time the perfpns and dpdrines againft which it was faffilpned, is intelligible, feen tp be per- * Afts xviii. 10.— viii. 26, &c. compare 2 Tim. ii. 21, with Rom. ix. 22, 23. ¦[ Rom. x. 19, comp. with xi. 11, 14. I fedly I30 S E R M O N V. fedly agreeable to the fulleft declarations, ui Pther paffages, pf the Divine mercy and gppd- nefs tP all his creatures, and to that general re prefentation of the Almighty, fo jieceffary to ffie true piety of man, whereby He becomes the fupreme objed of Love and filial veneration. Nor will it appear from the other paffage In the epiftle to the Ephefians, that they were pre deftined or eleded in any other fenfe, than, as it hath been ffiewn, all true Chriftians were: that is, ffiey were, like the Jews of old, invited unto a covenant becaufe it was foreknown they would accept and fulfil the conditions of it. In this context it is to be obferved, that they who were predeftined were fuch as, after that they had heard the word of truth, trufted in Chrift : and that it was not till after that they had be lieved, that they were fealed with the Spirit of promife. But enough has been faid on this fubjed. Under this article, as we may have obferved, is included alfo the queftion refpeding the Fore knowledge of God, which in the paffage firft cited, is faid to precede his Predeftination of man. It has with equal want of fober and cau- tipus reafoning, been afferted, that this unavoid ably implies his neceffary determination of ffieir condud. S E R M O N V. 131 condud, which therefore is, whether good or bad, incapable of blame or praife, and cannot juftly receive either puniffiment or reward. On which it may be, after what has been faid, fuffi cient to remark, that ff this be npt an unavpidable inference, befide its imppffibility frpm ,the incon fiftency which it would have wiffi the general in vitations, promifes, and threats ofthe Gofpel, we can only argue to fuch a conclufion from our own experience In fimilar cafes. It is therefore, it ffiould feem, a proper reply to alk, whether it is not poffible for men of fagacity and Ikill In human affairs to foretell often the condud of others whom they ffiroughly know, under fome known circumftances, without being fuppofed to have any unfeen influence in direding their choice and condud ; and then, to alk farther, whethier they will not attribute the moft perfed know ledge, with the proportionate confequence of it, to the Supreme Intelligence of God? This ffiere- fore is at leaft an argument in bar againft fuch objedions. The dodrine of Free Will is another topic wherein a milguided ingenuity has raifed unne ceffary and IU founded difficulties. The firft is that of thofe who fay that man has no free will, becaufe in every thing that he does, he is deter mined, either by his reafon, whether it be right I 2 or ip S E R M O N V. or not, or by his paflions. Tp this it might h^ anlwered that every man's cpmmpn experience contradids the affertion ; as there are many cafes^ wherein the motives to ad one way or the other, ©r to remain without ading at all, are fo balanced, that he is perfedly indifferent, and at laft csfiben choofes merely for the fak6 of determining. To raife up fubtile, and mach more, empty argu* ment, againft fuch an obvious and general fed, is not confiftent with found reafon. Nay far ther, in thofe cafes wherein an appearance of greater reafon on one fide than on the other in-* ftuenees our choice fo abfolutely, that we cannot wh& we deliberate, approve the thought of ading in oppofition to it, we have, aceOrding even to this idea of liberty, a perfed freedom. Fpr we muft be confcious that we even thea have the power by a momentary perverfenefs and mere felf wsll, to turn afide our thoughts and attention, or to raife fuch an oppofition by the fubfervient agency ©four fenfual paffions and appetites as to overthrow all its influence. But the truth Is that we have miftaken the notion of Free will, and are, as on the fubjed of Identity, difputing in this fikewife about a crea ture of our own imagination. We have not been content to take It from a view of our na ture and from experience, which ought to have direded us at leaft in the difcuffion of a pradical queftipn. S ^ R M O N V. 133 queftipn, Now the only univerfal idea pf Liberty is the ppwer tP will and do what we think fit, and pf Neceffity, tp be deprived of that ppwer. The plain cpnlequence hence deducible is, that when we are fo circumftanced that, we cannpt in every cafe do otherwife than as we fee fit, fuch a cpnditlpn is the mpft perfed and abfolute freedpm. Fpr, as in the cpnftltutipn pf man there are cpnceived tP be pnly twp principles, the judgment and the will ; when the latter is uniformly perfuaded, and is in harmpny with the former, there is plainly np room for any cpgfcipn, and therefpre np llavery, Alas I this freedom wa§ once, we are tpld, but fopn ceafed tP be, the Jot pf man, Stridly fpeaking indeed, it exifts only in that abfolutely perfed Mind, whofe unalterable privilege it is ffiat it always does what it fees to be right.* What the condition of man became after the admiffion of fin, St, Paul in forms us. *« The law, fays he, is fplritual : but «• I am carnal, fold under fin. I delight in the i' law pf God after the inward man, but I fee ** another law in my members, warring againft ** the law pf my mind, and bringing me intp eap- ** tivlty tp the law pf fin which is in my mem-c * ' hers .' ' This melanchply ftate pf feryitvide Is alfo annpunced tp ua in the memprable wprds pf pur Savipur, " Whpfo cornmitteth fin is the fervant «*pf fin;" an(l under this flate he hath affured * Job. iv. 1 8. 134 SERMON V. us that we can do nothing of ourfelves ; that our freedom now depends on our reception of his Gofpel ; " for ff the Son ffiall make us free, *' we ffiall be free indeed." And of this liberty the Apoftle farther tells us, "that the law of the *' Spirit of Iffe hath made us free from the law ** of fin and death :" a law that in the ftate both of Paganffm and the Judaical Covenant enflaved the minds of men. " For as they that are in the *• fleffi cannot pleafe God, Chriftians are not in *' the fleffi but in the fpirit." Our freedom therefore confifts in ffiis, that by the motives to holinefs which the Gofpel lays before us, and by the affiftance of the Divine fpirit, our fpirit is enabled to fupprefs that principle of fenfuality foreign to our nature, which like a conqueror eftabliffied a new dominion over it at the fall, and to reftore our will to its original harmony with reafon and confcience. I beg here to fubjoin one remark on this topic. Under the deplorable ftate of flavery above defcribed, we are likewife told by our Lord, as we might have concluded from a confideration of it, that we were not of ourfelves ever able to embrace that ftate of life which ffiould effed our emancipation, though it was propofed to us. And thus it muft be for this plain reafon, that we were not able to do any ffiing that was good. We S E R M O N V. 135 We could not entertain fo clear and compleat a perception of its excellence, nor confequently fo ftrong and powerful defire of whatever was right, as to enter upon a proper plan vnth fufficient refolution. For ffius we read, that when the Jews, to whom the Gofpel had been preached, were through the pride, avarice, and fenfuality by which they were enflaved, unable to receive it, faying,* " How is it that he came down ** from Heaven ? " our Lord anlwered them, " Murmur not among yourfelves : no man can " come to me except the Father which hath " fent me draw him. It is written in the Pro- " phets, and they ffiall be all taught of God. ** Every man therefore that hath heard, and " hath learned of the Father, cometh to me." And hence is our Church juftified in afferting this dodrine in her tenth Article of Religion. This dodrine of the Spirit of God preventing as well as accompanying our own endeavoursj leads to and explains that of Grace; a term which like that of Free Wfll has been ufed in a fenfe beyond its true import. It means Favour, and, fubfequently, a Gfft ; and is ufed in Scripture fre quently, by way of diftindion, to fignify the two greateft gifts pf the Almighty, the Gpfpel- Cp- venant, and the affiftance pf his Spirit tp accept * Joh. vi. 42. 1 4 and 136 S E R M O N V. and fulfil the conditions of it. Under this laft fenfe it Is by no means capable of meaning a fenfible impreffion on the mind, or an irrefift- able force, boffi of which Enthufiafts pretend» The laft is refuted by the admonition of St, Paul, that " becaufe God worked in the Chrff- tian Converts to will and to do of his good plea fure, therefore they were to vrark out their own falvation with fear and trembling," In offier places they are exhorted " not to quench, refift, or grieve the Spirit, The firft, as it is not to be proved by any paffage jn Scripture, fo it cannot be admitted on any certain and lafe proof from experience ; and is contrary to all analogy of the Divine proceedings, whofe providence, in every tranfadion not miraculous, ads imperceptibly, by the means of the ordinary faculties and powers of his creatures, For as the tree is laid to be known by its fruits, and otherwife Is a matter of uncertainty, as to what kind it is of, fo is the Spirit a fubjed of no pofitive knowledge to us, but as far as it is known by its effeds, For thus alfo our Lord has told us that its prefence in regeneration is afcertained, it being compared by Him to the wind, which is known to be prefent by its found j and no more than this k dffcoverable by ijs. Laftly, S E R M O N V. 137 Laftly, pn the lame grPund pf delufion ftands that important miftake which has arifen concern ing Juftificatipn by Faith. In the fame manner that the inheritance pf eternal blifs is affured tp fuch as are led by the Spirit pf Gpd, whp are the fons of God, it is alfo often particularly mentioned as the reward of Faith alone. There is only need to inftance that celebrated text from the epiftle to the Romans, " We conclude that " a man Is juftified by Faith without the Works ** of the law," This queftipn affprds an emi nent example pf mifreprefentatlpn arifing frpm-. the afihmptipn pf particular texts, withput a Gpmparifon with others, with the ccntext, pr with the general Iplrit and tenpr pf revelatipn. Fpr in this all thefe faults, which we are fo much concerned to avoid, have been committed. The whole conftrudion of the Gofpel involves the neceffity of a gppd Iffe. The fcppe of St. Paul's argument is direded only againft the claim on the fcore of abfolute juftice tP Gpd's favpur, and recpmpenfe frpm the merit pf human virtue: and St. James, tp cprred the errpr pf thpfe whp therefpre thpught that the Faith, which St. Paul and the other preachers of the Gclpel fet lip a^inft this merit, was a bare aflent tp the truth pf this new Religipn, warns them that ** by Wprks a man is juftified, and npt by Faith pnly." This tppic, which has been excellently handled 138 S E R M O N V, handled by a great writer of our Church, may, I prefume,. be thus alfo ffiortly explained.* Faith, by the definition laid down, is belief in teftimony, and hath alfo been ffiewn to be, fecondarily, extended to feveral other accepta tions thence derived, relating to the underftand ing, and the condud of men. As we have exemplified the former of thefe derivations from paffages of Scripture, we proceed to the inftances pf this latter fort. That Faith then means in ffie New Teftament the effed of belief on the dffpofition of heart, and the pradice confequent on this, has been indlfputably ffiewn, from the epiftle to the Hebrews, to which other places might be added. It alfo fignifies %firm reliance and confidence in Him whofe declarations we re ceive, as in St. Mark's Gofpel, where Chrift- reproves the apoftles for want of Faith, becaufe they were fearful on account of the ftorm ; which ffiould be compared with the fimilar addrefs to St. Peter in St. Matthew's, " O thou of little " Faith, wherefore didft thou doubt?" It de notes a ground ^.nd reafon of belief, as in the 17 th chapter of the Ads, where our common ver- fion has rendered it " affurance -f." It im-r ports the perfonal veracity, or, as we fay. Good Faith of any one; as in the epiftle to the * Bp. Bull's Harmonia Apoftolica. f Ver> 31. Romans, SERMON V. 139 Romans, where the Apoftle alks, " Shall their *' unbelief make the Faith of God of none ** effed?" that is, take takeaway the fulfilment of his promife ; to which it is replied, ** God ** forbid : yea let God be true and every man a " liar." Italfomeansayz^^morand extraordinary degree of belief, and fuch as was granted to the Chriftians at that time, as in the firft epiftle to the Corinthians, where it is remarked among the miraculous gffts of the Spirit. It is alfo ufed for an attachment to the author of the gofpel, and the party of his followers, as in the epiftle to Phflemon. Laftly, it alfo fometimes occurs in the Scripture as a word of common import, without any reference to Religion,* From thefe inftances appear the propriety and neceffity of apprehending the connexion that exifts between the primary and fubfequent fenfes of the term, and pf feeing that the fcriptural emplpyment of it is of the fame nature and faffiion as the ufe of it in the ordinary concerns of life. Hence we ffiall alfo be led to think that religious Faith does not, by being ftrengthened through the miraculous or ordinary influence of the Holy Spirit, fuffer any change in it's nature -.or diredion. It is, on the contrary, rational and probable to fuppofe, that the Holy Spirit only jncreafes it's force by caufing in the mind a *2Tim.ii. 13. tiTim.v.'i2. 1 Tim. ii. 7. Gal. v. 22. more 140 S E R M Q N V. more clear apprehenfion of the argunaents on which it is founded, and of the importance of the truffis which it contains. He ads through the means, and according to the method, pf our natural powers, and is indeed what He is terni'r ed, a help, an alhftance in their operations, but is by no means a fubftitute fpr them. Such an apprehenfipn pf this^ matter wfll enable us to haye that clear and eafy ide^ pf this term which it highly cpncerns us to entertain, fecuring us frpm any complicated, or myftical notions, that, by involving us in darknefs, ferve pnly to the purpofes of Enthufiafm. What has been faid will farther receive fome illuftration from the difcuffion pf the queftipn in which we are npw engage^. It is evident frpm the reafon pf things, and frpm the fcriptures, that religipus wprffiip being a concern between Gpd and purfelves, is prpper- ly fea ted in th.e heart pr mind. The New Tefta ment has folemnly revealed the great truth that Gpd is a Spirit, frpni whenc? it alfo dra.ws the conclufion that he is to be worffiipped in Ipirit and in truth. Thefe are the effential points of religious fervice, in oppofition to the external pomp of facrifices. It follows, by parity of reafoning, that% the difpofition of the heart or fpirit is through the whole of our condud, as far as the queftion refpeds our Obedience, the only S E R M O N V. 141 only important article in the fight of God. And this Is to be afferted without any denial of the neceffity of good Works. For as the proftratiort of the knees, and fupplication of the voice,' are a natural and neceflary refult of the devotion of the mind, are the due homage of the bpdy, and are infirumental to excite devptipn in pthers, and extend the glory of GOd among men, yet are not to be hrpught intp cpmparifon with the worftfip of the heart, fp a mind rightly affeded and dffppfed by belief in the Gpfpel, being the prpper and immediate caufe pf virtue, is juftly fet abpveits effed j and as all adipns prPceed frcm the purppfe pr temper pf the heart, becpmes, as it were, exclufively the pbjed pf regard. If pur minds are, in cpnfequence pf believing the truths which the Gofpel reveals, humble, full of gratitude, indifferent to eve.ry thing but the care of pleafing our heavenly Father, in the hope of his gracious promifes, the Chriftian charader is fully formed. It can not in truth be confidered feparately from good Adions, which virtually exift In it, and as neceffarily belong to it as good fruit to a good tree. They ftand together, and form but one part of the queftion, one fingle objed for our apprehenfion or difcuffion. On the other hand, a behef that the Gofpel is true may be unhappily unconneded with any permanent good influence on the heart and affedions ; it may ftand at a wide 142 S E R M O N V. wide diftance from It. The feed may die In the ground ; or its germination may foon be ftopped, and it will die on the furface, IpoUed of all its virtue.* The diftindion therefore that we feem concerned to make, is between belief that is followed by a thorough converfion of the heart to Chriftian piety and goodnefs, and a belief that is not. The firft of thefe is, I think, that of which the New Teftament ufually fpeaks, the fubjed of its arguments, fandions, and exhorta tions. The points to be deduced from this plain dodrine are, conformably to the purpofe of the Apoftles, are firft with St. Paul, that nothing will avail unto juftification but Faith or the be lief of the Gofpel, neither the beft poffible obe dience under ffie Jewiffi Law, nor the moft perfed virtue of the Heathen Philofopher. For, befide other confiderations, all human virtue, under either of thofe weak and defedive fyftems, is imperfed, more or lefs tainted with fin, in it's motives and performance ; and therefore is ftridly to be regarded as finful, as the 13 th Article of our Church has juftly obferved. Whereas my text informs us, that the motives which the Gofpel of Chrift fupplies, and the law it prefcribes, lead, by the aid of the Holy t Matth. xiii, 18, &c. Spirit, S E R M O N V. 143 Spirit, to a pure and fincere ftate of obedience, wherein the application of the merits of Chrift's death renders our fervice, though in one fenfe imperfed, acceptable in the fight of God. Again, with St. James, thofe are excluded by the forementioned dodrine, who think that a fimple affent to the truth ofthe Gofpel, without thofe effeds on the temper and affedions of a believer which are immediately conneded with the performance of the Divine law, entitles them to the mercy of God through Jefus Chrift. Such Faith is dead, available to no good end, like the Faith of the condemned Angels. When Abra ham was juftified, it was when Faith wrought with his Works to compafs that end; and by his Works was his Faith evinced to be that operating principle in the difpofition and affedions of the mind which, as we have ftated, alone makes belief thus acceptable in the fight of God. For his belief in the promife of God had fo fully poffeffed his heart with reliance on him, and fubmiffion to his commands, that it was habi tually difpofed to obey in all things without dif pute or queftion, even in fuch a perplexing and fevere trial as that in which the Moft High thought fit to exercife him. As therefore, to conclude, the miftake on the fubjed of Predeftination has arifen from in attention 144 SERMO N V. attentlpn tP the circumftances under which the facred writers intrpduced that dpdrine; andpn the fubjed pf Grace, frpm a fimilar dffregard pf the neceffity in thpfe times of an extraordinary and miraculous dffpenfatipn pf the Hply Spirit ; fo the fcriptural dpdrine pf Faiffi has been mif- eonceived by many whp forget the particular occafipn which then exifted for the fo cpntinual and exalted mentipn pf it. The Jewiffi and Heathen Religipus then ppffeffed the World: and fince thefe were to be removed only by a new Faith* or behef in the communication of a new Religipn, the confequence pf which was tp be holinefs untP eternal Ufe, this muft neceffarily becpme the great ffieme of the preachers' firft encomiums, as to eftabliffi it in ffie world muft be the aim of their firft attempts. This in time, as St. James has pointed out, led fome, and has fince led many, to mlfconceive it, who no longer regardmg it as the caufe of Chriftian piety and virtue, attribute to it a myftical and imaginary nature and efficacy. But this delufion, I hope, has been fufiiciently expofed by means of what has been hitherto advanced pn this great topic. If therefore, in this and the preceding dif courfe, thofe points which have been feleded as appearing the moft difficult and frequently mif- underftood, have been at all, though ffiortly, yet. SERMON V. 145 yet, latisfadorlly explained and vindicated, every one may, I think, be led to fuppofe that all the topics of Revelation may be cleared from the cavils of the- Sceptic and mifreprefentations of the Heretic. We do indeed moft confidently affert that the more true learning under the guidance of fincerity and caution, is able to difcover from Sacred Scripture concerning the Articles propofed to our Faith, and the ways of Providence, the more matter wfll good men find of joy, and grateful fubmiffion to the Almighty. It is, hpwever, equally im- pprtant to remember, what has been obferved, that however ufeful thefe inveftigations of learn ing may be to thofe who are placed within the reach of them, they are not generally pr effen- tially neceffary to a Chriftian's Faith and Virtue. When the Sacred Scriptures are once received as the word of God, the truths which are fuf ficient for both are plain and exprefs ; and are not to be difputed and queftioned, but have a clear title to be received with fimplicity and entire fubmiffion. I have already trefpaffed on your time; but beg leave to. add two ffiort obfervations, writh which I ffiall conclude. As the leading articles of Chriftian Faith are but few, fo it is obviojus to remark, that the fyftem of Chriftian Morality, being confiftent and uniform, is capable of being K comprifed 1^6: SERMON V: comprifed under a few general rules of behavi our. Thus " the end of the commandment is ** charity out of a pure heart, andgood confcl-' "ence, and faith unfeigned." In another place it is fu'mmed up in " Faith working *by- love." But pur bleffed Lord and his beloved i Difciple conclude it all under "love," the love of God l and man: — In. this can we do otherwife than a^ire the wifdom and goodnefs of God who has thus given.' a law which, being cpmprehended in the one great principle of Charily), is written in the: tablet of allheartsy leaving the mofttfimple^^ as welii as the learned, without ignorance ofi duty, in I evesry. cafe' to which a rule of duty can? he wanted to apply ! Andj fecondly ^u anoffier confequence which is applicable to the fubjed of Faith, as well as of Mprahty, and is of the greateft import, is to be deduced from. the confiftency, and at the fame . time, the detached and irregular form in which' the truths of the Gofpel are delivered; I mean that thofe who perverfely or faftidioufly infift that any point of dodrine is not fo precifely v/orded in any paffage as they require, may be referred not . only to other texts containing; the - fame dodrine on other iOceafions, but alfo, with' particular advantage, to the general tenor, or, ¦ as/ we, may lay, context of Revelation, and be "* I Tim. i. 5. t Gat. v. 6. refuted S E R M O N V. 147 refuted by arguments drawn from Analogy. Audit is highly important and fatisfadory to us to remember that, on account of this confiftency in the midft of that variety of form and diverfity of pccafipns * under which it is revealed, and by the means pf which the fame truth is repeatedly tP be found in many different parts of the Holy Writings, it ought to make no difference in the peace and affurance of Our minds, that one or, it may be, more texts of note may be by any means defedive, corrupted, or redundant. For while the conftituent parts of our Faith and Morality are thus preferved in nifmberlefs indif putable paffages of God's Word> we can ftill draw from thence, h-y found and corred in ference, whatever is neceffary to both, and ftill continue, without any mixture of doubt or anxi ety, in that joy and ferenity of mind which, on fuch a fubjed. Truth alone is able to give. * It deferves to be alfo noticed, that it is by means of thefe that many orthodox writers have unwarily adduced texts to the proof of fome points to which they are not adequate or diredlly adapted. Confcious that thefe points, fuch as the Divinity, of Chrift, and others objedled againft, are abundantly proved by many paffages and the general tenor of Scripture, they have often referred, without the attention requifite for an accurate diftinftion, to improper places. Many of thefe, however, it is at the fame time to be obferved, though they are not fufficient to prove the queftion, yet ffiould undoubtedly be underftood to in clude likewife the fenfe thus attributed, without which they would lofe part of the force and effeft that they now carry with them.— This want of accuracy, from to;bepome aU things untq our brethren, Fjirther, it is not qnly pur duty pn accpunt pf peace, but is the part of all vvhp wpuld ayoid an Abfurdity pf cpndud, npt tp create public dif- fenfipns pn the; Icore qf imperfedipn in religious eftabli^ments. For, furely, it Is the neceffary confequence of t|ie nature of things, that no . , human 156 SERMON vr. human fyftem or compilation ffiould be perfed, ffiould not have more or fewer faults. When therefore any one, free from th© before-named effential errors, has been carefully compleated, nay moreover has been revffed with dfligence, as in this country, and finally fettled by national ¦authority; as there is no chance of making it perfed, and there is danger or inconvenience in innovation, it is clearly unreafonable to difturb the public peace by oppofition to the fyftem thus eftabliffied. Still greater is the obligation to acquiefcence, not only on account of national profperity and private happinefs, but becaufe unanimity is confeffedly the guardian of all piety and virtue. For where animofity and ftrife follow, as they muft do in the train of public diffenfion, there is not only " confufion, but every evil work," ** the fruit of righteoufnefs being only fown in " peace of them that make peace." It is, I apprehend, needlefs to ffiew farffier, how fmall and unworthy a compenfation a fuppofed or even real emendation of an uneffentlal defed can make for the mifchief that attends on the viola tion of public harmony. This argument, ffierefore, ff juft, is fufficient to defend the caufe perhaps of every national reformed Church againft thofe who refufe a participation S E R MON VL 157 participation of it. But I feel It imppffible for pne whp has lived in cpmmunipn with the Church pf England, nPt tp rife higher in his vindicatipn pf her authprity, than tp a mere defence pf her dpdrine and difcipline in cpmmon with other fyftems. Her minifters appeal to the impartial fenfe of every temperate man who is converfant with her worffiip, including that of ftrangers, who have laviffied their commenda tions on it, whether it be not highly fimple, decent, and orderly in its Adminiftration, grave, correSl, and fublime In its Devotions ; and affert, with the utmoft confidence of honeft men, that its Articles and Difcipline are alfo highly ptire, moderate, and charitable, every way deferving of the adherence of a Chriftian, free and enlighten ed people ; of a people who, fenfible of the neceffity of fome eftablifliment in ffiefe points, to be received with one accord by all the fellow fubjeds of the fame civfl government, and aware qf imperfedion in all human plans, rejoice to find that what is enjoined to them is firft clear of all criminal ftain, and having been entered upon with the beft intentions on the fole autho rity of fcrlpture, and conduded with charity and moderation, has been executed with a very great degree of wifdom and ability. It might thereforp have been expeded that the Chriftian fubjeds of fuch a cpuntry ffipuld havebeen 15S SER M O N VI. been contented with their lot; ir aif oppofitiojf to^vefy fyftem that is impofed. Were not nptb'-' rioufiy the confequehte of a vveak and depraved riiind in all ages' arid countries. In defcending ihto the -particulars that compofe ouf Eftablilh- riiehf, fome of thofe that are objeded' againft occur, which rtiay be paffed over here, as being lefs important, or as being moft o^ them, lefs ffie Objed of prefent regkrd. Such I conceive to be ffie HbmiHes and the Canons of the Church, as, likewife; thofe immate'rial improprieties' irt her Liturgy' and Adminiftriation, againft which' objedions have: been raffed. As to the Articles of her Faith and Difcipline, ffiey indeed deferve a particular attention; efpe cially from the Teachers of Religion, who are bound by ffieir fubfcription to defend them. It is obvioufly fufficient in the confent that is' required from other members of thecorifirffunity, that, as far as they afe able to judge, they fee no cOntradidiori in them to the Holy Writings. They are a common bond ' of Chriftiah fociety^ framed for the purpofe of preferving the Church from the maintenance of fuch opinions aS are thought rnOft likely to be entertained, or brought forward, againft the caufe of truth andhafmonyl" If* we are alked, on vv'hat arty national Churcli founds its right of prefe'ribirig articles of corn- munion. \ \ \ \ \ \ \ w S E R Ik O N vr. T^4 munion, we are ready to anfwer, the Neceffity, evident ffom . reafpn and experience, of doing whatever is effential to the fecuring of peace, that Is not criminal. And, furely, no argument' can prove that tp a:dd the fandion of human authority, for this' purpofe, to what Was* com manded before by the word of God, can be con trary to Liberty, or, in arty Way, detrimental to Society. ' This is all which our Churcli' at tempts to do, on account either of tliofe errors which were da'ngerous to the falvation of men,' or of thofe which Were effedual, by the animofi ty of the' party who fuppOrt^d them, tb tear the" Church into fadionsi a ftate of things equally" inconfiftent with the defign and tendency of Chriftianity. But this is not all. "VVhoever confiders either of thefe objeds, will fee that the Well-being, if not'exiftence, of Civil Govern ment is involved in the fubjed. It were eafy to" ffiew that the want of Chriftian principles leads to depravity of Moral Condud, and' that this' tends to the injury and violation of ali the rights" and bleffings of ' focial life. And again, itis' nb* lefs obvious that Party Contentions on" points of Religion, are nOt only equally, but more than on any other fubjeds adapted to effed, by kind ling a more filrious and obftinate zeal, the moft violent public commotions, and thence to endan ger the conftitution of any ftate. It is therefore neceffary for every government, for the fake of' its"" own i6o SERMON VL own fecurity,"' for the peace, for the profpe rity, for the private happinefs and comfort of eveiy individual, to give, befide its fandion for . religious purpofes, its encouragement to fome one fyftem of worffiip, dodrine, and dtfcipline; and for that end to difable its adverfaries from overturning it by a mean that is clear of all perfecution, namely by a negative one, by with holding from them that influence of civfl power which every government is to difpofe of only as it judges beft for the public good, delegating it. into ffie hands of thofe who are every way inte- refied, to preferve it, and thereby ffie whole nation, fecure and unmolefted. It is a matter of the greateft importance that we ffiould, in judging of the Articles and Creeds ofthe Engliffi or' any national Church, confider them, chiefly as retrofpedive, arifing out of the neceffity of experience, in order to prevent a return of ferious evils which have in former times been forely felt. Some- of thefe evils are com- . mon to all or many foeieties, others peculiar to each, as it has been differently fufceptible pf them by incidental circumftances. And, farther, as this cpnfidefatipn of fuch evils convinces us of the reafonablenefs of this defence, fo it alfo will difpofe us to fubmit our judgment in the contem plation of each article unto ffie fuperior informa tion of the Church and State, refpeding the exi gencies S E R M O N VL i6i gencies that required it ; at leaft, to ufe great caution how we differ in opinion from fuch au thority; and efpecially never to decide againft it in thofe points wherein men Of ability and in tegrity do not agree in their fentiments. And ftill we are alway tO remember, with the great ferioufnefs which fuch a confideration deferves, that where the Church is confeffedly miftaken, yet on queftions of mere propriety or conveni ence to feparate publickly from the communion of the Church, or to loofen the attachment of any perfon to it, is finful before God the Author of peace and order, and Him who is the Head of the whple bpdy. In this difpofition of mind, to which the na ture of the cafe thus evidently obliges us, the Church of England wiffies its members to re view its Articles, and is then fure of receiving a ready tribute of applaufe for their Orthodoxy, Moderation, and general Utility to them as Chriftians and Citizens. We are fully per fuaded that the refult of fuch a review will be the conclufion, as far as they are able to judge, that all are as agreeable to Scripture and Reafon as thofe which, have been incidentally ffiewn to be fo. Thefe were feleded on account of their peculiarly apparent difficulty ; and it is confidently, hoped, that the mode of confidering 4hem which has been fuggefted wfll, ff purfued, L avail i62 S E R M O N VL avafl to the rendering every fincere member of our communion fatisfied and happy in it. One fubjed however, included in thefe arti cles, remains, which at this time claims a parti cular notice. It has not only been attacked with argument and ridicule by the enemies of our eftabliffiment, but from its liablenefs to mifre prefentatlon gives particular diffatisfadion and uneafinefs to good men among ourfelves. I mean ffie Confeffion under the name of the Athana fian Creed, which is fandioned by the Articles, and adopted into the Liturgy of our Church. Some able writers have endeavoured to ftem this torrent of prejudice and miftake, and have done it juftice by their arguments. It concerns every perfon who wiffies weU to tmth and peace to join his aid in the fame important talk, and to endeavour to ffiew that our Church in this par ticular has preferved the principles, not only of the fame orthodoxy, but of the fame moderation and charity, that have fo eminently diftinguiflied her offier proceedings. Of the Trinitarian Dodrine, which it fo di redly afferts, I have attempted already to prove the propriety ; and the other points in this creed there is no occafion to difcufs, as they are com mon to it with others. The great qutftions with which, I conceive, we are concerned, are the propriety SERMON VI. 163 propriety of impofing fo minute an Expofition of the moft abftraded dodrine of Religion upon the minds of the believers, and the juftnefs of its affertion that whoever does not believe ffie tenet of a Trinity in Unity, and the Scriptural Dodrine of the Incarnation of Jefus Chrift, is loft to the Hope of everlafting life.* Now, in general, previoufly to the difcuffion of other queftions of this kind, it would not ap pear immaterial to remark a difference that cer tainly exifts between the expreffion of a perfon's fentiments on any publick bufinefs by himfelf, and his confent to the adoption of that of ano ther. In the firft cafe it would be faid that every part ought to be an accurate reprefenta tion of the whole of his own ideas. Whereas in the other there might be reafons why a certain latitude of indulgence ffiould be permitted. Every perfon converfant in publick tranfadions, knows that fuch accommodation is through the imper fedion of humanity requifite to their accom pliffiment, as this is to the good of fociety. Even farther : in the cafe of Confeffions that had been • This aflfertion is plainly not extended to the expofitions ac companying thefe two Articles of faith, which are in fadt only arguments or proofs adduced from Scripture, and are to be in cluded in Parenthefes; viz. from the words in the 5th verfe to the claufe, " He therefore that will be faved, &c." And again from the words " God ofthe fubftance &c." to the words " God " and man is one Chrift;"indufively. L 2 drawn i64 SERMON VL drawn up by any Church for itfelf, ff they were of great antiquity, an immaterial variation of fentiment, and, much more, an inaccuracy of expreffion, might happen to be more than counterbalanced by many circumftantial reafons that caUed for its reception or continuation. But when, as in the cafe of the Athanafian Creed, the queftion relpeds an excellent compofition, for ages eftabliffied by public authority in the Catholick Church, framed againft a moft im portant herefy, wherein to make any innovation would prepare matter for freffi controverfies ; in fuch a cafe it feems to be within the apprehen fion of every man, that flight improprietieSi could fuch have been difcovered, which did not interfere with the end defigned by it, ought not to debar men from the advantage to be derived from its authority and merit. To confirm this affertion we may obferve, that after this manner men of the greateft wifdom ad in the moft important affairs of this world. Where in mat ters of Right and Property immemorial cuftom and continual decifions have inured to eftabliffi any particular kind of pofleffion, it would not be allowed on account of any flight or apparent impropriety to fet it afide, left the fyftem of law ffiould be difarranged, and the Confidence and peace of fociety be difturbed. This S E R M O N VL 165 This argument, however, is not wanted; fince we do affert, with a perfed, and unaffeded confidence, that this Creed fully appears to be framed in every refped according to truth and prudence ; and invite every fincere member of Pur cpmmunion to weigh the juftification to which its minifters affert its claim, and the detedion of that miftake and prejudice which have biaffed men to efteem it immoderate and uncharitable. And, furely, it muft be the defire of all good men, that what the Church has received may be found worthy of approba tion, and their wiffi, to guard jealoufy againft the ffiallow deceits, which the paffions of our nature offer to impofe upon us, through popular mifapprehenfion, artifices of interefted men, or our own too flight and hafty con fideration. In examining the firft objedion, refpeding the Expofition contained, we perfuade ourfelves that ff it be true, which needs not to be proved, that the Creed in refped to this account of the Trinitarian Dodrine is only fomewhat lefs requi fite than at firft, and is ftill neceffary, this objedion is in a train to be foon removed; for it is reduced to the queftion, whether the neceffi- ties of the Church could make the adoption of fuch an .expofition proper. And in fuch a L 3 queftion. i66 S E R M O N VI. queftion, if the arguments on each fide could even be fo equal, as to leave a doubt wheffier fuch a particular illuftration of the ar|icles of Faith were proper or not, the authority of the Church, the prefcriptive title which this Con feffion has to our regard, and the caufe of peace and union ought to intercede that it may be readfly and chearfully acquiefced in. But furely the queftion appears to be decided on a view of the caufe for which the whole Creed was drawn up, namely, the herefies, particularly the Arian, that corrupted the Faith impofed by Revelation, and difturbed the quiet of the world. The fuppreffion of fuch evils is furely fufficient to juftify an addition to the fimplicity of more ancient forms of confeffion. It is needlefs to expatiate on the extent and fatal tendency of fuch calamities, which hiftory alone can reprefent, by a copious narrative of every evil to Religion and Virtue, or to civil happinefs, that error, dffcord, and violence can ever bring together on the theatre of the world. Now the conftitution of every defence muft be adapted to the nature and circumftances of the affault. While the enemies of the Gofpel were thofe without its fold,' who denied its claim to all reception, its authority was to be afferted from its Prophecies, Miracles, and its influence on the demeanor of its followers. Afterwards, when Churches were eftabliffied. S E R M O N VI. 167 eftabliffied, and its enemies became more and more thofe of its own houfehold, an injundion was laid on its teachers to hold faft the " form of " found words," to attend carefully to the per fednefs of their dodrine. St. John's Gofpel was alfo then laftly written in refutation of thofe who raifed ill-grounded fables on the dodrine of the Trinity, as well as to enforce and explain that point more fully and minutely than it had before been done. Thus the matter naturally pro ceeded, tfll the form of found words was, per haps gradually as new heretical opinions arofe, determined in the form which is called the Apoftle's Creed.* This then, it will be re membered, is far more extenfive than the pri mary form of confeffion. required of thofe who were admitted to baptifm by the Apoftles. The fame procefs is faid to have happened afterwards in the conftrudion of the Nicene Creed, which was firft framed, and then enlarged on account of particular herefies. -f And laftly this, com monly called the Creed of Athanafius, as our Xiturgy cautioufly defcribes it, was compofed againft the many errors that then divided the Church. Thus, according to this ffiort and plain relation, the neceffity of the cafe, and the * Moftieim Ecclef. Hift. I. P. 116, 117. ¦f: Wheatley on the Liturgy. P. 251. L 4 example i68 SERMON VL example of the primitive Church, warrant the procedure. The reply will probably be, firft, that thefe, herefies did not require fo diffufe a paraphrafe to be impofed as a creed on all Chriftians: and ff fo, it is burthenfome, and therefore unwarrant-. able,* In anfwer, it may be obferved that the reply is far from being founded in truth, The expofition is ftill fimple and concife, mentioning only fuch points as either guard us immediately againft the herefy of believing three Gods, or denying the Divinity of the fecond and third Perfons, or againft fuch tenets as would unayoid-r ably and diredly lead to that herefy, and are palpably inconfiftent with the Chriftian Faith -j^ on this article, Secondly, to the prevalent objedion, that an affent is required from the unlearned Chriftian to explanations and terms which he cannot under- ftand, the anfwer, as I prefume, again ffiould be^, that it is unfounded in fad, The myftery of * See note, page 13. f It is become neceftary to remark that this Creed, which is fimply a reprefentation of the Scriptv\re Doftrine, is far from attempting a pofitive explanation . of myfterious truths, for it guards againft fuch an attempt, and rather tells us what we are not to fuppofe. It is in faft, as we might expeft from the end it was framed to anfwer, negative, and in contradiction of thofe errors which had prevailed. ffie S E R M O N VI. 169 the Trinity is Indeed unintelligible ; but It is equally fo tp all, bpth learned and unlearned. But the explanatipns and diftindipns which this Creed lays before us, are, like the Revelatipn pf Scripture on which^ they are founded, eafily in telligible, and to all, for they are eafily to be explained by thofe, whofe office it is to explain the articles of Faith, to the moft unlettered minds. But this objedion would be idle even if the fad were otherwife. And if, for want of this proper explanation, there are thofe who re main ftrangers to the terms therein ufed, I pre fume to affert that this Creed may ftill, without any abfurdity or any harm, be retained in the Liturgy. It is plainly neceffary to fuppofe, according to what has been hitherto advanced on this fubjed, that our Church adopts it for the ufe of thofe who may be mifled by the errors which it refotes, and as far as they may be mif led. It therefore cannot be conceived in thefe parts to concern at all the uninformed Believer, who has no more to do than to acquiefce in their being recited for the benefit of that part in each , congregation who are interefted in it. And this, in the prefent inquifitlve and fcep tical age, is far frpm being an Incpnfiderable part in. many. Agreeably 170 SERMON VI. Agreeably to the feveral confiderations now brought forward, it is laftly to be obferved, that this Creed, as we know, is not made a part of the ordinary fervice of the Church, or put on the fame footing with the Nicene, as neither is this with the Apoftle's Creed. At the fame time it was, and, we are perfuaded, with the ftrideft propriety, thought fit that it ffiould be kept aHve in the memory and refledion of Chriftians; and for this purpofe, and none could be better, that it ffiould be from time to time recited in the Church on ftated days, fome few of which were chofen on ffie fcore of pecu liar propriety, and the reft in order to preferve a regularity in its return. And as this cenfure on the Creed may be ffiewn to be weak and ill-founded, fo may ffie fecond on the Uncharitablenefs of its Denunciations. For, to treat it ffiortly, it is, firft, to be well attended to by thofe who are alarmed on this account, that the Claufes do not regard and are not underftood to apply to thofe perfons, who mifled by other men, or by any means confiftent with fincerity and diligence, are blind to the true perception of the Catholick Faith. And therefore, none but the fincere and dfligent having S E R M O N VL 171 having on any account a claim to the benefits of the Gofpel Covenant, on this view of the matter, the objedion may be deemed invalid. It is alfo to be remembered that the claufes are neceffarfly and properly applicable only to the pofitions, •' that the Trinity in Unity is to " be worffiipped," and that " the Incarnation of " our Lord" is to be believed, and both agree ably to the dodrine of Scripture concerning them : I fay, of Scripture : for it is fcarcely needful to obferve that the fentence is not de nounced, as ff the fin confifted in erring againft the Catholick Faith becaufe it is the Faith of the Church, but becaufe it is the Faith impofed by the word of God. The proper and true vindication of the Creed therefore appears to be the fad, that it is direded folely againft thofe who from a criminal careleffnefs, or worfe caufe, refufe or . pervert the dodrines of the Gofpel. And who can pronounce a church to be uncha ritable, becaufe ffie warns her members that fufch people are condemned by the fentence of God ? Who that does throw fuch a blame is clear, I do not fay of uncharitablenefs, but of a grofs mifapprehenfion of the Divine Will ? need he be reminded of the neceffity unto falvation of be lieving whatever is revealed.? or muft he be referred to fuch denunciations in Scriptures as that 172 SERMON VL that of our Lord in the Apocalypfe, " I teftify " unto every man that heareth the words of the " prophecy of this book. If any man ffiall add " unto thefe things, God ffiall add unto him the " plagues that are written in this book : and ff " any man ffiall take away from the words of " the book of this prophecy, God ffiall take " away his part out ofthe book of life, and out " of the Holy City, and from the things that " are written in this book?"* One cannot but fuppofe that men who think themfelves at liberty to believe as they will, ' or thofe who are perfuaded that it is an indifferent or immaterial thing whether they receive fome articles of faith or no, have forgotten that our duty to the Almighty God is the firft and great concern of our being; that he has a right to be believed; and that not to attach our hearts and minds to what he has been pleafed to communicate, is a flight of him, or a rebellion againft him. Here in Ueth the firffulnefs, a moral depravity of heart, of which our Creed warns us to beware. And is there any one that has read the Scripture, who can fay that any fin unrepented leads not unto eternal death i' Or, wfll the moft high God, who for the violation of a merely pofitive command, * Deut, iv. 2,-4. xii. 32. Prov. xxx. 5, 6. The reafon afligned for the neceffity of tjiis entire obedience is a refignation of their will to that of God. See the firft of thefe paflages. exUed SERMON VL 173 exiled mankind from Paradife and the Tree of Life, who alfo has fince conduded through its feveral ftages the oeconomy of Redemption, tfll the Eternal Son, by a ftupendous inftance of mercy, affumed the form of his own creatures, and under that fuffered the utmoft ignominy and mifery of which it was capable, and concluded all by a death on the crofs in order to fave us by the faith he taught ; I fay, wfll ffie Moft High excufe thofe, for of fuch be it remembered we are fpeaking, who treat with careleffnefs, or handle with perverfenefs, any thing which He hath thought fit to teach us concerning Himfelf? Surely not. The Grace and Truth which are in thefe laft days brought to light are fo far from excufing any the leaft defed in our difpofition towards God, that nothing but the utmoft fin cerity and care will now be accepted, or able through ffie merits of Chrift tO fave us from the wrath to come. Religion is now arrived at its greateft ftridnefs, in the duties towards God and Man exading the greateft perfednefs. In the latter the Evangelical Sermon on the Mount informs that the mere evil difpofition of the heart is able to bring man into the " danger of Hell " Fire." And the mercy of God, if it does not lead us unto fuch perfed repentance, will only deliver us over to the more terrible execution of his juftice. That this is the conftant tenor of the 174 S E R M O N VL the Holy Writings, I believe none wfll deny. Let them confider whether it be fafe to reft their perfuafion on any other authority. In fine, if to this view of ffie queftion we add the infinite injury done by thefe men to others, through the bad example which they fet, and the divifions which they caufe in the Church of Chrift, and alfo the importance of the points themfelves to the Chriftian Religion, it appears, I think, on the whole plainly and unqueftion- ably, that the Athanafian Creed, far from being uncharitable, is ftridly right, and coincident with the language and temper of Divine Reve lation. I ffiall conclude thefe obfervations with a remark that fuggefts itfelf in confequence of the furvey hitherto taken of Chriftianity, and the Profeffion of its dodrines adopted in this country. If it be true that all thefe, as far as they concern every man to know them, are ftill plain and eafy of perception, few in number, and confiftent wiffi each other, it follows that there is no reafon againft an early Education in religious opinions on account of guarding againft preju dice. This might be worth confidering in deep, intricate, and extenfive fciences ; but is out of the SERMON VI. 175 the queftion, where the miftake of every honeft mind may eafily without delay be .ffiewn and correded by the frequent exprefs declarations, and conftant tenor and analogy of the Holy Writings. At the fame time, ff the end of fuch opinions be to produce ffiofe habits of temper and condud which form the good man, no one who knows the leaft of human nature, does not fee the neceffity of implanting them from the firft, left a corrupted foil bring forth its own fruits. It is indeed ftrange that any man ffiould have gone fo wide of all that nature, reafon, and ex perience teach on the fubjed of education, as to declare againft the propriety of fuch a meafure. And this leads to another fubjed, concerning which but little needs to be argued. Confidered as a fafeguard and auxiliary to ffiis education, I prefume ffiat Infant-Baptffm, efpecially as fo- lemnlzed in the Church of England, is deferved- ly held in high veneration. When we take into the account the rite of Confirmation which is ordained to follow it, ff there be nothing in the Gofpel which plainly orders the Sacrament to be celebrated at any other time of life, it feems quite fufficient to juftify ffie appointment. But the plain fad furely is, ffiat it is exadly con formed to ffie auffiority of the Scriptures, being the precife counterpart and fubftitute of the Sacrament of Circumcifion, which, we know, was 176 S E R M O N VI. was by God's own ordinance obferved ort the; elghffi day. This muft be evident to ffiofe who compare ffie nature and end of both inftitutions ; who wfll fee that ff any thing can be faid againft the obfervance of Infant-Baptffm, it muft apply equaUy againft that of Infant-Circumcifion. Boffi are outward figns of entering into a Cove nant, ffie adual embracing and obferving of which belong raffier to maturer years, which is conditional, and therefore becomes void as to the acceptance of the initiated perfons by God, ff ffieir hearts and condud are not to the end of their days upright before him. This coinci dence of ffie inftitutions, and of their obfervance, is alfo fuch as might be expeded from the relation between the Law and the Gofpel, the Type and Anti-type in the Divine Oecono my, whence the pofitive ordinances of one were framed to ffiadow out thofe of the offier. It is thus farther confirmed by, and in its turn eftabliffies the perfed refemblance between the other Chriftian Sacrament and the Jewiffi Feafts on Sacrifice, particularly that pf the Paffover. This laft was in commemo ration pf that faving Blood of the Lamb which exempted them alone from the hand of the deftroying angel, and was an ordiaance ap pointed fpr ever with the fame power 'of preferving from his hand in future thofe whokept S E R M O N VI, 177 kept it. The other was exprefsly inftituted in the room of this and the other facrificial ordinances, and is fignificative of the facrifice of the real Lamb of God without fpot, that was offered on the crofs, and conveys to the faithful partaker of it the efficacy of that Blood, which was ffied to fave mankind from the eternal deftrudion that awaits thofe who negled or refufe the covenanted mercies pf God. M S E R xM O N [ ^79 ] ^m SERMON VII. I C O R. XI. 19. For there mufl be alfo herefes among you, * N^OtwIffiftandlng the conclufion to which a review of the Dodrines and Eftabliffiment of our Church ought to lead us, that they may be juftified to the apprehenfion of aU, even unlearned men, a queftion is alked, on which a great ftrefs is commonly laid. Whence is it then that fo many people are of a different opinion ? I anfwer firft, with confidence, for I fpeak under the authority of St. Paul, as well as on the teftimony of general experience, that oppo fition to received fentiments, however plaufibly * Matth. xviii. 7. Mark ix. 49, 50. See alfo Luke xii. 49, 51. M 2 and i8o SERMON VIL and vehemently it be carried on, and embraced by numbers, is never in itfelf fufficient proof that they deferve to be fufpeded by reafonable and hopeft men. For if it were, the Apoftle's own conftitution of the Corinthian Church would have been juftly concluded liable to cenfure, as alfo that pf others which he and the reft of the Apoftles eftabliffied ; whofe writings abound with intimations of the dodrines and fadions againft which they had to contend. From this firft epiftle which St. Paul addreffed to the Corinthians, we learn that contentions had al ready arifen among the members of that Church,* who were incited by fome to leffen or rejed the authority of the Apoftle. This he mentions in the firft place, and afterwards notices another in ftance of their untradablenefs ; " When ye " come together in the Church, I hear that *' there be Divifions among you;, and I partly " believe it ;" Adding, " for there muft be alfo " Herefies among you." There was indeed a confiderable one at that time, namely, a denial of the refurredion of the body, which he there fore combats towards the conclufion of the epiftle.-f This was followed in the Chriftian Church by many others : and, after the Apoftolic times, the hiftoiy of Chriftianity is unhappily filled with little elfe than the account of opinions * I Cpr. xiv, 26, -J- XV. 12. See 2 Tim. ii. 17, 18, inconfiftent SERMON VIL i8i inconfiftent with common fenfe, the plain tenpr df the Scriptures, and with pne another, main tained by all degrees and kinds of perfons, which Jiave difturbed the Faith and peace of man kind. If this be the cafe, there Is no neceffity that the queftion which has been put, ffiould in the leaft perplex us, or create any fufpicion of the lawfulnefs of our national eftabliffiment. It will perhaps conduce to confirm us againft fuch an apprehenfion, ff we confider more particularly the reafoning implied in the affertion of my text. It is forcible and plain. The Apoftle had been informed, and it ffiould feem on good authority, of fome divifions in his Church of Corinth ; and yet he profeffes to reft his chief affurance that they did exift, on fome internal caufe why they would take place, a caufe fo ftrong. that it amounted to a Neceffity; and this not only of their exiftence, but farther alfo of, the exiftence of Herefies among them. For the principles and feeds of thefe calamities were implanted in the nature of men and things, and muft therefore in time produce their proper effeds. To this is alfo fubjoined a concomitant reafon, after the manner not unufual in Holy M 3 . Scripture, i8^ SERMON VIL Scripture,* " That they which are approvedl *' may be manifeft among you. What this Neceffity is, and in what particu lars it chiefly confifts, it is highly interefting to confider ; as it will alfo, by bringing into view the dangers that are, as it were, within and all around us, incite us to a caution againft the fnares to which, together with all other com munities, we muft ourfelve& likewife be ex- pofed.-f- In the firft clals of thefe neceffary caufes of error, and above all the reft to which the autho rity pf St. Paul engages our attention, is the narrownefs of our intelledual capacity ; by rea fon of which, thofe who are not aware of it, are certain of falling into miftake in all refearches that are above the fphere of men. How this is a great immediate caufe of error in Theology, has been already reprefented, % and therefore * Luke ii. 35. Matth. x. 34, &c. ¦fi It may be* proper to advertife the reader that my omiflion in this argument of the temptation of Evil Spirits among the caufes of Herefy, by no means proceeds from any diftjelief or doubt of their agency. I think no point more clearly revealed in Scrip ture, than this ; that as the Holy Spirit does in fome manner in fluence the human mind to good purpofes, fo the great enemy in like manner influences it to bad. Matth. xiii. 39. Joh. viii. 44. X Left. IV. page 86, and at the end. needs SERMON VIL 183 needs not be enlarged on. It has been, I truft, ffiewn that fuch topics are the proper objeds of Faith, rather than difcuffion, and that the chief concern of our Reafon is to examine the Evidence on which they claim to have been revealed from God. Secondly, under the head of fuch fubjeds as are within the reach of human abilities, it is obvious that there are many circumftances, which when they are incurred, will neceffarfly occafion men to mifs of the attainment of truth. The world is full of the errors that have been com mitted on all fubjeds at all times through their influence. Thus then Religion is alfo by the fame means oppofed or perverted. A defed of natural abilities incident to fome perfons fubjeds them in a deep and critical enquiry on many points, to a falfe conclufion, even where they are indubitably plain to a man of fuperior fagacity. This misfortune, which includes alfo fuch as labour under any kind of infirmity that affeds the vigour and acutenefs of the mind, it is to be obferved, comprehends no fmall part of mankind. Weak and diftempered perfons ufu ally err in all difficult matters that intereft them, and are apt to be overcome by any fpecious ob jedion, or plaufible argument that applies to their confcience, their feelings, or ffieir prejudices. They have not that perfed, that ready ufe of M 4 their i§4 S £ R M O N VIL their faculties, or that fteadinefs of mind, which might fupport theiii againft thefe dangers, and the affaults of thofe who aim to deceive ; in fome degree partaking of the condition of fuch as attempt matters beyond ffie power of all men. Similar to this Is the fituation of a ftfll more numerous clafs, who poffeft of moderate or eminent genius, err becaufe they inftitute their refearches into fubjeds, for the difcuffion of which they are not duly prepared. For every art and fcience, at leaft thofe of the higher clafs, demand fome previous attainments, fome ac quired ability in fuch as hope to poffefs a thorough and found knowledge. Theology, including the fcience of Ethics, muft furefy therefore not be approached without fuitable preparation by him who hopes to become a competent profeffor of its dodrines. He muft be fufficiently inftruded in queftions relating to the authenticity of its records, the languages with which it is conneded, the hiftory of events which preceded and have accompanied it fto his own time : he muft have quahfied himfelf to diftinguiffi the nice boundaries of truth and falfehood, of virtue and vice, to deted the foph iftry of fubtile reafoning, to reconcile the feem ing contradidions, and combine the feveral parts of an irregular and moft extenfive hiftory of fads. SERMON VIL 185 fads, and a defultory fyftem of dodrines. Who is. not poffeffed of thefe acquirements, can evi dently neither know the ground on which any controverted queftion in Theology ftands, or the method in which it is to be argued, nor form a clear definite conclufion on any cafuiftical point, nor unravel the deception which an indiftind or ill conduded argument weaves to enfnare the mind. Is it therefpre, to conclude this topic, any wonder, or is it of any importance to us, that miftakes are made in fome points by the natu rally weak or profeffionally unlearned objedor ? Is it not commonly obvious that in the other theories which concern human Iffe, fuch per fons perpetually commit errors, and require conftant corredion of them at the hands of the able profeffors of fuch fciences? Do not the popular opinions held by thefe numerous here tics, as it were, aim their ineffedual blow even againft .the general authority and reputation of the profeffions themfelves, as pradifed in their own time } If fo, and the arts of Polity, of Law, and of Medicine, felt by all to be necef fary, and univerfafly by candid and intelligent men acknowledged to be, in general, Ikilfully adminiftered, are thus liable to oppofition and cavil, there is no reafon that a fyftem of Reli gion and a religious Eftabliffiment ffiould be ex empted i86 SERMON VIL empted froni the fame treatment among the infirm and unlearned. Indeed it wfll appear that Religion with its Eftabliffiments muft al ways be a topic of more numerous and violent objedions than any others, and yet may, like thofe others, be at the fame time far removed from any juft reafon of rejedion or abufe. In ffie remaining clafs of thofe who are likely to become enemies to the true apprehenfion of religious matters, as well as of any other fyftem of knowledge, I place all fuch, as poffeffed of natural abilities and fufficient attainments, yet mifs of the end aimed at through fome mffcon- dud of their own. This might be difplayed in many inftances which have been prejudicial to the literary purfuits of mankind. Among the principal may be named, a want of Refolution to encounter the difficulties that oppofe them with the force of painful inveftigation; a want of Meffiod in ffie profecution of ffieir refearches, which diftrads and entangles the mind, difabling it from a rightful procefs to a juft and accurate conclufion; of a patient Perfeverance in following the path of fuch inveftigation through all its arduous and intricate labyrinths to the end ; of a difpofition to pay that Deference to the wif- - ferent kinds and degrees of each others charac-> ter; and though, on the other hand, as indi vidual votaries of vice, by diftind combinations of habit, temper, and circumftances, they vary al moft infinitely from each other, yet they are juftly comprehended in this great divifion in oppofition to the reafonable, or, as under the Gofpel-State they are eminently entitled to be called, the Spiritual part of mankind. Thus for inftance, the epiftle of St. Jude defcribes them, after having fpeci^fied the feveral crimes to which ambition, avarice, and voluptuoufnefs excite, " Thefe are murmurers, complalners", walking " after their own lufts, and their' mouth fpeak- " ing great fwelling words, having meff s perfons " in admiration becaufe of advantage. But, " beloved, remember ye ffie words which were " fpoken before of the Apoftles of our Lord " Jefus Chrift, how that they had told you " there ffiould be mockers in the laft time, who " fliould walk after their own ungodly lufts. N " Thefe 1^4 SERMON VIL " Thefe be they who feparate themfelves, fen- " fual, having not ffie Spirit." And thus alfo in other places the facred writers charge all fadion and Herefy to the fame principle: " Ye " are carnal," fays St. Paul to the Corinthians ; *' for whereas there Is among you envying, and *' ftrife, and divifions, are ye not carnal ?" fo laftly, in his epiftle to the Galatians,- among the works of the fleffi " Herefies" are exprefely named. To thefe arguments and authorities ffiewing that Moral Prejudice is the true caufe of Herefy, I mean of Herefy as it is reprefented in Scrip ture, * concerning which I hope to be always underftood to fpeak, fffoperly fucceeds the con fideration how it produceth this effed. The manner of this procefs is plainly affignablp. It is the common cafe of prejudice in general. For all partiaUty, however entertained, has the power of engaging the mind to beftow its attention on the merits and pretenfions of thofe dodrines to which it is attached. Withdrawing itfeff there fore from the contemplation of the arguments on the offier part of the queftion, the underftanding foon ceafes to judge of both by an equal or in deed by any comparffon, becomes entirely poffef- • Ttus reprefentation occurs chiefly in the epiftles to Timothy and Titus, in the general epiftles, and in the Apocalypfe. fed SERMON VIL 195 fed by thpfe pn its pwn fide, and is at length, ot often perhaps quickly and immediately, convinced by thofe to which it has folely attended. If we then confider the above ftatement, we ffiall be enabled, withput either difficulty pr miftake, tp forefee the ffiape of thofe proceedings which this Scriptural Herefy faffiions for itfelf. Derived from fuch a caufe, guarded by fuch a conformation, and forwarded by fuch powers, it will be firft erroneous, then violent, clamorous, and hurtful to fociety, and, finally, will be ob - ftinate.* It has been ffiewn not to be open to convidion from the plaineft expofition of the plaineft truths ; and it is equally lU-dlfpofed to peace as to fruth. It ruihes into fadion through the blindnefs and violence of its paffions, and being inftigated by mutual arguments and en couragement, -f- is there foon fermented into acri mony and uncharitablenefs. And as in the ordi nary courfe of affairs, _^the fplritual concerns pf Religipn are farther in all ages mpre or lefs con neded with temporal advantages, abundant force is thence added to the animofity of party fpirit. And thus the Heretic, by a procefs of every kind of oppofition, dodrihal and political, becomes every day more and more incapable of acknowledging his error, ffifough the natural * See James iii. 13, — 17. f 2 Tim. iii. 13. N 2 tendency 196 SERMON vn, tendency of every incllnatlpn and habit tp advance tpward perfedipn, particularly pf thpfe that are evfl ; by refentment, by ffiame, and Intereft ; and, at lengffi affp, which is naturally to be expeded, by that feff delufion, the refult of repeated hypocritical attempts to delude others.* Two things obfervable of Herefy are to be inferred from this review of its charader. Firft, it is far from being a matter indifferent in itfeff; inafmuch as it is the offspring of a bad ftock, iffuing out of the lame corruption of heart, from whence ffie Scriptures have deduced along with it every vice that diffionours God, and is mlf- chievous to man. -I- It is therefore juftly odious, worthy of the fentence of ffie divine vsrrath; and as fuch has been in the fevereft manner con demned by the Apoftles, § whofe reprobation of it our Church, as it hath been ffiewn, with ffie ftrideft propriety foUows in her adoption of the Affianafian Creed. Secondly, as Herefy is wicked, fo is It alfo In itfeff cpntemptible. For wickednefs, as ft a- bufes the underftanding, is ever the parent of folly. It is therefpre np wpnder if the paffipns * I Tim. iv. 2. f Gal. V. 20, 21. § Tit. iii. to, 1 1, z Fet. and Jude, at large, i Tim. vi. 3, 4, 5, 20, 21. that SERMON VIL 197 that give rife and maintenance tp it, lead its vptaries, as has been remarked, tp ppinlpns ab furd, tP ppfitipns wide pf ffie truth pf Scripture, cpntrary to its plain tenor or its exprefs decla rations, to the early and conftant acceptation of It, to clear reafon, even to common fenfe and experience in the ordinary concerns of life; to tenets alfo cpntradidpry pf each Pther under every ppppfite and dilagreeing ffiape that an adive and lawlefs fancy can invent. And ff thefe principles pf errpr, thus called put by ani- mpfity, and excited by prplpeds pf wprldly ad vantage, be farther inflamed tp the utmpft by detedipn pf their ignprant and falfe pretences, it is hard tp cpncelve to what extreme of perverfe'- pefs and folly they may not be driven, We may alfo, froni the abpve view pf its prlgln and means pf exiftence, cpiiclude with the Appftle in the affertion of my text, that Herefy wfll never ceafe frpm the wprld, While bpth thefe remain as they are, there always wfll be, under every conftitutipn pf every Church, for there always muft be, Herefies, But it farther remains for us tp cpnfider that, unhappily for the interefts pf mankind, while they dp exift, they are as dangerpus as they are N 3 pdipus rg8 SERMON VII. edlous and contemptible in themfelves. In the hands of ffiofe profeffors of religious knowledge who have been defcribed, they afliime ffiapes, and are introduced with arts which deceive the Apprehenfion, and feduce the Inclinations of ffie plain Believer. It would be difficult or rather impoffible to reprefent all the ftratagems which fraud ca"n adopt in any public concern, but more particularly in the moft important one of Theolo gy. This will forcibly ftrike thofe who confider its particular circumftances. For firft, the peculiar difficulties, as before reprefented, give oppor tunity for fuch mffreprefentation of fad and fophiftry of reafoning as but few can deted, and therefore others can have no chance of not being perplexed by, or of not being entirely feduced and mifled. Efpecially are thefe deceits mif- chlQvous, if the refutation of them at any time is diffembled ; if they are impofed on the world with an air of unqUeftloned vidory and triumph ; if the, topics feleded and the modes of treating them are thofe which coincide with the tafte and humour of any age or country, whether it incline to open freedom of enquiry, or depend ance on received opinions ; whether it affed to reduce every religious fubjed to an ideal fimpli city, or to involve it in the folds of complex learning. By this artifice, unworthy of the honeft friend to truth, in the firft cafe. Libera lity of Sentiment is made the malk of an un principled SERMON, VIL 199 principled Licentioufnefs of Opinion, and plain Senfe is the name of -ffiameful Ignorance : in the fecpnd. Deference tp fuperipr Wifdom is the cloak of fervile Submiffion, and Learning of infidious Spphiftry, An inferior party ftlmulated by the motives which Herefy fupplies, has alfo fome not in confiderable advantages againft an eftabUffied Church. As naturally more adive, it can afcribe to itfelf a greater principle pf pipus Zeal, and a religipus Difintereftednefs pf condud; which, if her follpwers were pnce arrived at the cpmpletipn pf their wiffies, wpuld fink far be neath the level pf that Indolence and that Gorruptipn, too natural to human Frailty, or cpmmon to the degeneracy of the age, againft which they loudly and vehemently declaim, |f we confider the importance of Religion In the eyes of all ferious perfons, it muft be readily perceived how ftrpng an impreffipn fuch fpecipus pretences wiU naturally make pn their minds. Their feelings pn fo great and fearful a matter render them- eafy to be deceived. Even alarm and fufpicipn her^ are dangerpus, while tp create them is no difficult talk to a diffioneft artifice. Bold and confident affertion s with fome plaufible appearance of argument may do this fuccefsfuUy, and, like the declamations of an Empiric, wiU N 4 lead 200 SERMON VIL Jead men, efpecially thofe who are weak, to miftruft and contemn the fober language of true and real knowledge. It is furely eafy to remark on thofe defeds which every Eftabliffiment, as a human work, muft haye, and to aggrandize them into ferious and important blemiffies ; or indeed, to make thofe parts which are nOt at all faulty appear fo, by a mjftatement or partial reprefentation of the dodrines or fads on which they are buUt. On the other hand thefe. fepa- ratifts contend on no equal footing, They bring little pr nothing into view which by becoming an objed of cenfure, or being placed in compe tition with thp eftabliffied Church, might juftify the trgnfcendent merit of this latter by compari fon. Separated daily into almoft numberlefs parties, and perpetually changing their exterior forms as well as interior dodrines, they elude all public notice, ff they do not on other accounts appear unworthy of it. Their champions hence are individual, delegated by nO community, often alfo obfcure and pf little account as Theor fogifts. Their opinions therefore are often un noticed as below regard; or ffie refutatipn pf them is, as it were, without a mark, and the blame and difgrace following it, attaches to no party pr defcriptipn pf men, all difownlpg the (dodrines which they become unable publickly to defend. So that the caufe of truth, like the phara(3;ef of an ^luftripus and good rnan, \^ along liable SERMON VIL 20I liable to attack; whfle it Is either not worth his care, or is a vain labour to dired his aim againft the unknown and namelefs enemies that moleft him on every fide. It may not be amifs here to remark, that the two great rocks on which fincere men are apt to be ffiipwrecked by thefe deceitful pilots, are, firft, thofe fubjeds which for ever muft mif lead, becaufei for fome of the reafons before affigned,' they are beyond the reach of their ability; and fecondly, on the other hand, fubtile and trifling particulars, fuch as thofe refpeding ceremonies, wherein there is an equal danger of error in beftowing any ferious confideration, though for a different reafon. People here feek in vain to make a confcientious diftindion, where the nature of things has made none, or, at moft, where any evil tendency of the pradice they reafon againft, is unavoidable from the mere imperfedion of the prefent ftate, and may farther be prevented by caution, or is counter- aded by other things of a contrary efficacy. This may be confidered as fighting againft un- fubftantial and fcarcely perceptible ffiadows, where there is no firm hold for the mind, which pn every oppofition from without, or on every fhange itfelf undergoes, lofes the imaginary jmpreffion it had received, and fees the fantaftic forms 202 SERMON VIL forms of truth it had framed, vanilh into no thing. But ftill more dangerous to truth and virtue are thefe deceivers, when they engage the lufts of the Heart as well as the weaknefs and igno rance of the Underftanding on the fide and party of error. When this is done, as too eafily it may, the delufion is indeed firmly rooted, and its influence compleatly pernicious. This, as Religion with all its Eftabliffiments is irreconcile able to any vicious defires, and yet is of too fear ful moment to flight or rejed, is always effeded by Mifreprefentatlon of the dpdrines maintained: and this again is eafily accompliffied by an abufe of names and words, or of texts of Scripture, and other books of credit. In the firft, as it has been ffiewn, they may recommend under the fpecious appellation of virtues, as Zeal, Since rity, and fuch like, habits and pradices which are entirely different from fuch excellent quah ties : and in the fecond, they may produce fin gle paffages detached from their context, and that true fenfe, which the charader, circum-» ftances, and fcope of argument of the author are generally alone able to fix and determine. But it is indeed a more material calamity to deplore, that, too often, people may have already ren dered themfelves liable to fuffer the delufion which SERMON VII. 303 which mifleads them. They have perhaps pre pared themfelves to feek a fandion in Scripture for gratifying thofe inclinations, to which their temper or circumftances particularly fubjed them ; and therefore are too ready to jpin thpfe teachers, whp pretend tp have found it againft every thing that difcpurages fuch indulgence. But farther, befide the allurements pf Preemi nence, Pleafure, pr Intereft, the cpmmon in firmities of our nature afford an aim to the enemies of truth. The Defire of Novelty, Cu riofity, the Expedation of Perfedion under an other form of eftabliffiment, and fuch other na tural principles, not to detail alfo the peculiar infirmities of Individiials, are inftruments in the hands of thofe who feek to beguile; and, though after a fimilar manner as in other publick or private concerns of life, yet with greater advan tage in Religion. By thefe and means like to thefe therefore, which are worthy of our ferious refledion, has Prejudice, Moral Prejudice, been able to raife and fupport even the moft violent ill founded oppofitions againft the Church of Chrift. In the Apoftolic times it led men to " the denial " of the Lord who bought them,"* to the adoption pf Fables and Genealogies,-}- to the * 2 Pet. ii. I, t 1 Tim. i. 4. Tit. i. 14. Impofition 204 SERMON VII. imppfitlpn pf Jewiffi Cerempnies,* tp a denial of the Refurredipn,-j- tp the wprffiip pf Angels, J tP the pbligatipn pf unnatural Reftraints, § to ppppfitipn againft Dignities and Gpvernment ci vfl and ecclefiaftical, || tp Cpntefts for party- pre-eminence,** and tP Herefy in general. -f-f* And if then tp the dangers which, it has been ffiewn, foUpw the prpmulgatipn pf the mpft ir- ratipnal and pernicipus errprs, when intrpduced by the imppfing fubtleties pf deceit, and made fubfervient tp the interefts pf pur paffipns, be farther added the cpnfideratlpn, that Herefies muft alway abpund, as Ipng as the nature pf men and things continues to be the fame, it re mains for us to be aware how much we are con cerned in this reprefentation. On this topic It is no part of my prefent defign to enter, I here leave the fubjed; which as often as it may be neceffary to purfue farther, as it requires freedom and refolution, fo does it particularly exad can dour, circumfpedion, and charity. I ffiall only add, ffiat we are more highly and immediately concerned to confider, what Motives and Means we are furniffied with to fecure purfelves againft the evfls that furrpund us, * Gal. V. i,&c. t 2 Tim. ii, i8. i Cor. jfv. i?. J Col. ii. 1 8. § I Tim. iv. i,&c. || Tit. iii. i, &c. 2 Cpr. xiii. j, &c. 3 Joh. 9, &c. i Cor. iv. 19. •• i Cor. i. 1 1, and iii. 3. -ff Gal. v. 19, 20, SERMON [ 205 ] SERMON VIIL I Thes. ii. 15. Therefore, Brethren, fland fafl, and hold the Traditions which ye have been taught, IT Is, I think, needlefs to fpend any time in proving that the Traditions here mentioned, were fimply the Dodrines of the Gofpel in op pofition to the delufion of thofe, " who believed *• not the truth, but had pleafure in unrighte- " oufnefs." It rather concerns us to obferve the reafoning purfued by the Apoftle. Becaufe on one hand the herefies thus defcribed feduced un to eternal ruin, and on the other a fincere ad herence to the truth led unto falvation, and the attainment of " the glory of our Lord Jefus " Chrift," therefore his difciples ought to " ftand ** faft, and hold the Traditions which they had ** been taught, whether by wprd pr by epiftle." It 2o6 SERMON VIII. It is precifely the fame argument on which at this asra of the Chriftian Church we claim an adherence to the fame Gofpel, and to thofe Efta- blilhments which are buflded on its authority, and are agreeable to its nature. That the Golpel we preach Is the Word of God, and ffiat the Inftitutions of ffie Church of England, dodrinal and ceremonial, are not un- worffiy of it, we have, I hope, feen fome reafon to believe in ffie foregoing difcourfes. We have feen, firft, that Faith Is a neceffary and fuccefsful principle of Knowledge, and like- wife, fecondly, a neceffary and beneficial princi ple of Condud : that, if it be not our ov^^n fault, it is a fafe and applicable principle in matters important to our welfare, and that in many in ftances it is produdive of a certainty as high and fatisfadory as the dedudions of fcience : that the proof of the Authenticity and Autho rity, from., external evidence, of the canonical books of Scripture, depending on this principle, poffeffes this full certainty : that though the in ternal evidence be not ftridly neceflary, or al ways a fafe and expedient criterion of truth, yet it is alfo to a great extent ufeful and undeniable : that the Articles of Faith, of Morality, and of the Oeconomy of the Gofpel, are clear of all exception, which is ffiewn at large in fome in ftances S E R M O N VIIL 207 ftances of each that have been moft dilputed : and, laftly, that the Chriftian Faith is recom mended to us by the neceffity and ufe of it to our Religion and Morality, the effeds which it tends to produce, and the glorious reward which it enables us to obtain. We have feen alfo that the neceffity and di vine authority of Government are applicable to religious Eftabliffiments : that thofe articles in them which concern the confcience, becaufe indifpenfably enjoined by ffie law of God, are ,very few, and eafily confpire with the various fyftems of civil authority : that, beyond thefe, the faffiion and mode of religious difcipline in eyery particular are the concern of the govern ment in each country : that Confeffions, and Articles pf cpmmunipn are the juftifiable fences of religious and civil peace, being neceffarily adopted, againft the return of evils injurious to both : that in particular, on this account, if rightly perufed, the Creed under the name of Athanafius is neceffary, and is confiftent with truth and charity : that for thefe and fuch like reafons, the Liturgy and Difcipline of our Church muft be complied with, notwithftanding all im perfedions and improprieties, if nothing pofi tively wicked can be difcovered, which is not the cafe. Laftly, 2o8 SERMON VIIL Laftly, We have feen that Herefy is no argu ment of fault in any Church, fince it obtained againft ffie Churches of the Apoftles them felves, as it likewffe did againft all the primitive -Churches ; and becaufe it njeceflarlly exifts in all times : that it is diftinguiffiable from the miftakes of fincere men : that it is the offspring of immoral prejudice, and becomes on account of fuch a caufe at once contemptible, odious, and yet dangerous. From aU that has been hitherto faid, the po fition with which we began, feems to be con firmed, ffiat truth in all queftions effential to the welfare of man is attainable by him. It is acquired by a fincere and careful purfuit of it, affifted by ffie information and advice of others. It is at leaft in concerns of Religion the effed of Virtue, being the refult of Sincerity and Hu mility, One of which leads to impartiality and diligence, the other to caution and deference un to fuperior wffdom. Under fuch guidance no man is liable to any miftake in reading the Scrip ture, that can endanger his eternal intereft. The Evidences of Chriftianity are plain and undeni able ; its Articles of Faith, as it hath been obferved, are exprefs and few in number; its Morality clear and eafily comprehended. So palpable is this point, that fcarcely any. is more diredly or frequently inculcated in the New Tef tament. SERMON VIII. 209 lament.* Truth is therein moft juftly reprefent ed as a Moral Duty, a " Fruit of the Spirit -.""jf and thence it was that the Apoftles exhorted and Inftruded their difciples to " walk by the *• fame rule,J to fpeak the fame thing." || It may therefore be finally ftated, that the di vifions of men againft the truth of the Gofpel and the Eftabliffiment of any Church conform able to it, by which the condud of others has been perverted or embarraffed, in the Apoftolic times and ever fince, have arifen from perfuafions and purpofes at which no man can confcientioufly arrive, being produced by an in dulgence of an immoral temper and habit, or the profecutlon of fome finifter and immoral view. It is worth our while to refled a little on the three charaders that have been ffiewed to be long to Herefy. As it is contemptible in the eyes of thofe who are able to judge of Its pre tenfions, and Is thence frequently without that anfwer which it does not deferve, or is treated with that difdain which is often due to it, an inconvenience hence arifing Is that it may boaft to ffie world that it is unanfwerable. As it is * Among numberlefs other paflages fee Joh. viii. 44. Rom. ii. 8. 2 Cor. iv. 2, &c. Gal. ii. 14. 2 Theff. ii. 1 2. 2 Tim. ii. 18, James v. 19, 20. 1 Joh. i. 6. f Eph. v. 9. X Philipp. iii 16. fl i Cor. i. 10. O odious. 210 SERMON VIIL odious, and incurs ffie reproof of aU friends to truth and virtue, deriving on itfeff that abhor rence which is confiftent with Chriftian charity to ffie auffiors of it ; hence they may raife a cla mour againft the feverity with which their prin ciples and opinions are refuted and expofed, who yet have little right to complain ff fometimes the juft limits are exceeded, which ffiey them felves perpetually tranfgrefs. As being danger ous it excites ffie concern of all who feel for the deareft interefts of mankind, their individual eternal happinefs, and ffie general peace, order, and profperity of their temporal conditfon, the defence confequently adopted, gives room for Herefy, which fubfifts by mifreprefentatlon of names and arguments, to call this which every man of plain fenfe and cool judgement cannot but fee lawful and neceffary, an injurious pro ceeding againft thofe who feparate from the dodrine and inftitutions of the Church. Such ffierefore being the charader of thofe people whom we have confidered as coming within the Scriptural fignification of Heretics, and diftinguiffied from good men, I prefume it may be fafely concluded, that however fpecious their zeal, which is merely the ardour of an in- feriour party ftriving to overtake a greater, however plaufible their almoft exclufive preten fions to liberality of mind, true learning, and difin- SERMON VIII. 211 difintereftednefs, which are falfe and ridiculous, they- are not entitled to credit ; they have not the qualification of true Witneffes : neither Abi lity nor Integrity commend their Teftimony to pur Faith. Leaving them therefore to the juft confe quences of their mifcondud here, and finally to the judgment of Him who is the fupreme head of his Church, who fees the operations of their hearts, and afcertaining the feveral degrees and ffiades of their guilt will reward them all pro portionately to their deferts ; let us, lamenting that any good man ffiould be even for a mo ment deluded by their artifice, and carried away as far as honour and virtue fuffer him; and much more, if he is blinded by zeal for a whfle to go farther, or his virtue and honor are ffiipwrecked in fuch a voyage ; let us, heartily wiffiing for their converfion, turn our thoughts to the confidera tion of thofe Means and Motives which afford us fecurity againft fuch dangers. After what has been faid at length in the preceding difcourfes, it is only neceffaiy to fub join a few words by way of inference on each of thefe. O 2 The 212 SERMON VIIL The Means therefore of guarding ourfelves againft herefy and aU error are in our hands, ffie written Word of God. It is firft our concern that we look to this for our principles and rules of condud, abandoning that reliance on the vague and delufive Ipeculations of human wif dom; or an appeal to ffie fentiments and feelings of an imperfed and corrupted nature, which are the boaft but\ ought to be ffie ffiame of modern times, an idolatry of heart and tongue, far worfe than thofe againft the precepts of the Jewiffi law which fo often brought down the vengeance of Heaven. His Providence haffi now delivered a perfed fyftem of inftrudion, which all, who in this country contemplate, wfll find, as far as is available for all the information ffiey can need, plain and fatisfadory. The conditions of deriv ing this knowledge from it, have been fully ftated to be Sincerity and Humility : to perfons poffeffed of which it is only neceffary to add ffiat they Ihpul^d perufe it wiffi the fame reafonable Freedom in afcertaining its true import, which good fenfe direds in the perufal of any other important book, attending to ffie defign of the writer, and comparing one part with offiers ffiat relate to the fame matter. It Is alfo to be confidered, that, In order to forward and fecure this purpofe, the fame Di vine Providence has appomted a perpetual Mi niftry SERMON VIIL 213 nlftry of men, by whofe labours this facred vo lume is rendered acceffible in the language of our own country, and by whofe office alfo it is conftantly recited, fet forth, and vindicated from mifreprefentatlon, even to thofe who cannot other wffe partake of it. Thus hath He gra cioufly perfeded the purpofe of his mercy in giving to the world a Gofpel which is " preach- ** ed to the poor," The Motives which ffiOuld make us careful to ffiun all danger of herefy are plainly the duty we owe to God, and to Man ; to God as the au thor of our Faith, and the Founder Of all Order and Goveriiment; to Men as Chriftians and Bre thren, and as Members of Ci^il Society. In this Duty of courfe is neceffarily involved our own Happinefs temporal and eternal, defervedly for feited if we negled thefe motives. On this fub jed it will be pertinent to contemplate a little more particularly our excellent Eftabliffiment. It has been, I truft, ffiewed in thofe Inftances of her Articles and Creeds which have been brought forward, that the Church pf England has prpceede4 In the interpretation of Scripture with that fimplicity and caution which are due to the Divine Oracles. Thefe have enabled her to maintain ffie moderation and charity, have O 3 fuppUed 214 SERMON VIIL fupplied the prudence, and enfured the firmnefs, which by degrees accompliffied the great work of a Reformation, probably as far as it was pof fible by ffie bleffing of Heaven on human means to fucceed in it. I fay by human means; and it is fcarcely worth whfle to contend wiffi thofe who wfll ffiink or reafon of ecclefiaftical inftitutions in any other manner ffian as of matters of human flcill and execution, or will not allow the confe quences annexed to this confideration. For it is hence of plain neceffity allowable that in its pro grefs toward completion, and in its final confti tution it will contain, without any difparage ment to its charader, that imperfedion which every human work muft poffefs. And this muft appear more evident, if we confider the difficul ties which fuch revolutions have always had to encounter. Examples of thefe abound every where in ecclefiaftical hiftory ; and, to mention an inftance that approaches neareft to our own concerns, ffie narrative of the Proteftant Re formation in Europe, particularly, prefents a great and copious difplay of them, and of their un avoidable effeds. But in that department of it which we contemplate with fo much gratitude in this country, the cafe is perhaps fingularly in- ftrudive. In the hands of a pious and able Leader the caufe of Religion had even for the primary SERMON VIIL 215 primary agent and mover of this change an in- fincere and felfiffi Monarch, who yet was not, with any fafety to it, to be offended. It had next all the Fineffe, the fecret Intrigues and Frauds to combat of the Profeffors of a moft art ful and powerful Church. It had Ignorance, Bi gotry, and the Charms not only of a fpecious and fplendid, but of an indulgent and fenfual Syftem, to eradicate from the minds of the high er and lower orders of people. It had alfo op pofition from Papal Policy, and from the inter ference of foreign nations, as well as long Ufage and Prefcription at home, to overcome. But, more than all, it had the imperfed and yet un- fettled Principles of Dodrine and Difcipline among the Reformers themfelves, their various Tempers alfo and Intereft to reconcile, or at leaft to prevent from exciting a difunion and open rupture. The check on our illuftrious Reformer and his Party during this Reign was continued in the minority of the fucceeding Prince by the Intrigues of the E omiffi Party in the Court : and the progrefs of this work, like that of its , exemplar the caufe of the Gofpel in the hands of the Apoftles, was retarded by the obftacles ffius laid in its way. Like that alfo, in the next period, it fealed the truth, and cemented the glo rious fabrick which ffiould endure and rife above all oppofition, with the Blood of its great and faithful Advocates. On the return of happier ¦ O 4 times, 2i6 SERMON VIIL times, in its completion, the differences of inte refts and opinions among ffie leaders, the preju dices and weaknefs of a whole nation for fo ma ny centuries accuftomed to the Romiffi Litur gies, a deference to ffie poUtical exigencies of ffie Kingdom, and to the pleafure of ffiat auffio rity ffirough which alone ffie whole was to re ceive its legal eftablifliment ; thefe incidents, I fay, muft of courfe have rendered it neceffary that the fyftem ffiould be compofed with fuch latitude, as, whfle it rejeded every thing that was criminal and unfafe, might comprehend the differences of opinions fubfifting between ffie feveral parties, and render the communion wiffi it as acceffible as was poffible to all. Such a neceflity of accommodation, among ffie many difficulties that attended this matter, is a fuffi cient anfwer to thofe who talk of a perfed form, or raife objedions on thofe parts in any, ffiat are uneflential to the end and purpofe of the whole. And indeed, to fay no more on this topic, it is plain not only from the hiftory of ffiis and every church in every age, but alfo from the condud of our Divine Saviour and his Apoftles, that in all religious concerns, as we know it to be in all public temporal tranfadions, it is neceffary to give way tp the prejudices which it is out of our power to remove, and to become all things unto all men for the fake of all. On SERMON VIIL 21^ On fuch accounts we have every argument in the world, that can fway good and wife men, for adhering earneftly to the communion in which we are placed, not liftening to the fl eight of thofe who profefs to reform, or threaten to deftrpy ; who direding their efforts irnmediately againft the Bulwarks and Fences of the Church, the Confeffion of a right Faith, and the Confti tution of her Difcipline and Privileges, would, if they might fucceed, be then enabled to go oh till they had blown up the whole Fabrick : who likewife, as if in order to wipe away every little remain of credit with the friends to truth, by their reftlefs exertions tend to make unfafe or inexpedient thofe improvements which the change of circumftances, and the hand of time otherwife render pradicable to the rulers of an Eftabliffiment ; as unfafe and inexpedient, as for a pilot to loofe his anchor in a ftorm. And on this account alfo, laftly, we ffiould ftrengthen the hands which are appointed to preferve our Faith and our Tranquillity, the precious acqui- fitiOn of the labours and blood of our great An- Ceftors, that we may without hindrance be able to beautify more and more the facred pile which they have raifed, and preferve it for our pofterity the permanent objed of increafing admiration to all nations. If 2i8 SERMON VIII. If we were not indeed felf-abufed, or milled by the inftrudion which has been ffiewed to be both unneceffary and dangerous to all who are not profeffionally engaged in the fcience of The ology, the " inftrudion that caufeth to err from " the words of knowledge," it would be diffi cult to conceive from what quarter diflatisfadion can arife. If we treat religious concerns with as much reafonablenefs as fenfible men do the common affairs of the world, with the fole dif ference of a care fuitable to its dread im portance, and admit the principle of content ment and gratitude in every inftance where it is plainly, not to fay eminently, proper, it is manifeftly our part to be happy. Thofe who complain, as they well may, of the degeneracy of the age, ought to be fenfible that this is univer fal in its influence, and has ever been in all countries, as Hiftory fliews, the gradual confe quence of natural caufes. But if the particular channel along which at prefent it direds its courfe to overflow the world be enquired for, it muft, I am perfuaded, be obferved that it is ffie abfence of a Religious Principle, the negled of the Holy Writings, the contempt of all Sacred Inftitutions, not to omit the want of a juft Sub ordination to Civil Auffiority and its eftabliffied Ordinances, on a pretext of freedom, fimplicity, and liberality of fentiment. In fine, it muft be acknowledged that, as formerly in the times of bigotry SERMON VIIL 219 bigotry and fuperftition we were flaves to Ty ranny in our opinions and condud, fo we now ought to fear left, having paft the line of reli gious and political wifdom, we, as human mat ters do ufually thus proceed, ruffi onward to ward the terrible extreme of Licentioufnefs and Anarchy. In this country God grant that the day of fuch mifery be far diftant ! And we have alfo reafon to hope that he will defend us from it, when we contemplate the prefent ftate of things among us, and efpecially of our ecclefiaftical concerns. We fee a free and enlightened peo ple fatisfied with the enjoyment of a good and fincere Religion ; fenfible that a fyftem of Faith and Pradice which is wholly and carefully drawn from the word of God, is rightly adapted to fe cure every great purpofe of the Revelation of the Gofpel. And if thefe Scriptures are in the hands of aU, it is obvious, efpecially in this age of general learning, that neither Superftition nor Enthufiafm, nor any delufion unfriendly to the happinefs of man, can for any time efcape de tedion. Hence it is that we venerate an Efta bliffiment, which containing all that is neceffary and effential to Religion, confpires with the or der and authority of Civil Government, exhibit ing in this combination that harmony which evinces that both are the work of the fame God, the 220 SERMON VIIL the Author of all good to his creatures. From fuch a circumftance it neeeflarily derives on the Gofpel, which it fets forth, a general efteem and confidence, agreeable to the purpofe of its Divine Author, becaufe inftrumental to the convidion of mankind. Contenting itfelf with that fecurity and thofe means of fubfiftence, which the Legiflature has pioufly beftowed, it feeks no feparate authority, but blends all its Minifters in the general mafs of Citizens. They teach that obedience unto Magiftracy which is due from all men, as creatures of God and fol lowers of Chrift. They teach to Kings and Ru lers that they hold their power in trUft for ef- feding the happinefs of their people, and that they muft account to God for the performance of this duty. They exhort to that Charity which induces to think and hope well of the admini ftration of all orders of men, that Contentment which prevents an unreafonable defire of change, and that Peaceablenefs which is averfe to every infradion of publick tranqufllity, without plead ing for unmanly weaknefs or ruinous acquief cence : they alfo inftrud in that Charity towards the adverfaries of religious truth, which never imputes to any men thofe bad motives of heart which their condud does not plainly evince, and in that Forbearance, which never permits to to ftep beyond thofe meafures of felf preferva- tion which the fafety of the Church renders ne ceflary S E H ^I O N VIIL 221 ceffary tp perfevere In. Tp fecure the caufes pf happinefs ampng us, they recpmmend Hpnefty and Dfligence, the fpurces of publick and pri vate wealth, and that Sobriety and Frugality which are neceffarily affiftant to preferve the enjoyrnent of it. They alfo dwell on the Rela tive Duties of private life, which further the la- bo,urs, divide the cares, and heighten all the gra tifications which opulence in this world prefents to induftry. And, laftly, as all thefe precepts. are given b.ecaufe the temper and condud they enjoin is a duty to God, they add to the happi nefs they thus enfure, the Confcioufnefs of pleaf ing thereby the Father of all, and of being per mitted to exped that Bleffing from him, vyhich, is the glorious and unfading Crown, and as it were the Reward of their prefent prolperity. Thus dpes the Religion taught by them^ conned, according to the genuine plan of a wffe, power ful, and benevolent God, temporal happinefs with eternal, making one a preparation for the other. As the Church of England is thus friendly and inftrumental to thefe ends, fo it is, at leaft in this place, pertinent to add that it is inti mately conneded with that which is valuable for the fake of all, the caufe of ufeful Learning. This muft, furely, tend to enhance its value in the fight of every difcerning man. For confider Learning 222 SERMON VIIL Learning in every view, and in all its feveral branches, it muft appear a bleffing on the fame footing with every other advantage attainable by man, but indeed of all in this life the moft ex ceUent and precious. As an ornament to him, fince it is the difcovery of truth, and the advance ment of the powers of his mind, the nobleft part of his nature, it is far above an innocent one, it is, as it were, the only embellilhment that is defirable and proper. As a matter of utility, let aU the arts which preferve or comfort his being plead for it; whfle the wealffi, which it teaches genius and application to colled, is direded, in its Difpofal for the convenlencles and elegancies of life, to call forth the induftry of man, and to encourage the train of private and focial virtues that attend on induftry, by the means which are ffiereby fupplied of acquiring competence and contentment. If it ffiould be faid that the general utility of learning is queftionable, becaufe, as it hath in deed been ffiewn, it is alfo a parent of error and deceit, fuch an objedion is too obvioufly abfurd to merit a refutation. Though greater abilities of mind in this Iffe than what we do poffefs might be a dangerous gift to man, yet what are granted are therefore, as all other capacities, de figned and framed to be inftruments of good ; and at the fame time, Uke all others, to effed the fecondary SERMON VIIL 223 fecondaiy purpofe of proving our obedience in the ufe we make of them. And with this fo evident a purpofe of the Almighty who ffiall find fault, or argue from the abufe of Learning by wicked men, when fuch an argument would defpofl human life of every bleffing that fupports and adorns it? It is alfo to be noticed, that, like other means of good, the right application of it avails to counterad the evils confequent on the abufe of it, and is alone able to do fo. And, as things are fo conftituted in this world that falfe knowledge muft neeeflarily exift, fince our paf fions and lufts will call it out to effed their aims, true Learning muft rife on the other hand to. refift its attacks, and fecure the interefts of mankind. And if in every concern of man Literature thus promotes his welfare, it muft certainly be allowed neceffary and advantageous to the caufe of true Religion. For, in the firft place, it alone exhibits to the fincere unlearned Chriftian the fure title and the dodrines of that Gofpel, which was revealed at a remote period of time, in a dif tant country, and hid frorn his perception be neath a foreign and obfolete language. It ftands at the very gate of the Temple, and by the hands of thofe who, in places dedicated to the fervice of God and their Country, are prepared for this office, delivers to men the truths by which they are »24 SERMON VIII. are faved. In thefe retreats Is Science taught to becpme the handmaid pf Religion. She there trains her followers in thofe purfuits which ef fed the improvement of their mental powers. Early fubdued to caution, accuracy, and method, enriched; with all the neceffary means of inform ation, and affifted by the wifdom of preceding ages, they are beft enabled to arrive at juft con clufions in their refearches into every depart ment of Theological Science. Far from raffi or precarious proceedings, they are qualified to be come the detedors of Ignorance and of vain phi lofophy; againft the firft, demonftrating the au thority, and afcertaining the true fenfe of the books of Divine Revelation ; againft the fecond, defining the limits between human knowledge and the ineffable myfteries which are feen only through the dark glafs of Revelation, exhibiting them in their true fimplicity, and guarding them from the profane intrufion and unavafling cu riofity of unwife men. And it is evident from experience, efpecially in later times, that the greater the ability and application of minds thus inftruded are, which are direded to ffiefe fubjeds, the greater will be our attainment of truth and prefervation from error. But neither is true Learning in any of thofe purfuits to which ffie calls us, an alien, or un- affiftant to the caufe of Religipn. Fpr all the fubjeds SERMON VIII. 225 fubjeds about which human fcience can be con verfant, muft be the work of the hands of God, or the effeds and confequence of his govern ment. The ftudy of the natural and of the moral world leads therefore neceffarily to the difcovery of thofe Attributes which command and inform our adoration and gratitude to the great Creator and Governor of the Univerfe. Laftly, the graces of human Learning give *to the communication of religious truths the dig nity, force and beauty of which they are capa ble, thus enfuring to them convidion, and con- Ipiring with their native excellence to conciliate the veneration of mankind. From the preceding ftatement then, we pre fume. It is to be inferred, that, by the prefent conftitutipn pf things, the Minifters pf the Church pf England are eminently and fully en titled tP the cpnfidence pf thpfe who are en trufted to their charge. No longer tempted, as before, by the fplendors of civil preeminence to views inconfiftent with the truth of tbe Gofpel, their Integrity is now fecured by principle, by the ftrongeft incitements which external cir cumftances can furniffi, the fupport and efteem which are now annexed to the foundnefs of their dodrine according to Scripture : while their Ability is recommended to our deference P by 226 SERMON VIII. by every advantage, that the peculiar bleffing of God on an excellent plan and the moft liberal means of ftudy can fupply to human capacity and labour. To conclude : thus do we fee in this country Religion, or, as the Holy Writers juftly denomi nate her, • Wifdom,* appear Uke herfelf, in her true form and proper ftate ; as, in the language of the fame Writers, the Daughter of the Moft High, the fupreme Objed of delight and rever- ence.-|- Preceded by Science, accompanied by Honour and Wealth, ffie tribute and offering of national gratitude, invefted in the decent robe of Ceremony, ffie comes, as not from Altars ftained with Blood, fo not from the frightfol, folitary Defert, from the darker Cells of mo- naftic Sloth, from the pathlefs Wilds of En thufiafm, or frPm the fenfual and fanguinary Triumphs of Arabian Impofture ; but moves in the Beauty of Holinefs through a fmiling Land, attended by every Virtue, by publick Order, Peace, and Profperity, by private Liberty, Se curity, and Contentment ; and, laftly, by eveiy Splendor and every Grace -of publick and pri vate life, * Prov. viii. Eccl"'. xxiv. f Prov. viii. 24, &c. Eccl"'. ^iv. 3, 8, &c, Wifd. vii. 25, &c. ix. 4. ¦' " > ¦ , May SERMON VIII. 227 May. the Almighty Difpofer of events in cline our heartis, and unite us all in the firm purpofe of giving Stabflity to this Scene, and then, as far as we may be able, perfedion to its conftitution ; that having wiffi one heart and voice glorified God here on earth, we may be all hereafter partakers of an everlafting union in Biffs and Glory through Jefus Chrift our Lord! P 2 APPENDIX, [ 229 ] ^mm^m A P P E N D I X. LECT. IV. P. 90. « I fpeak here of thofe " celebrated wprds &c." I beg leave to fubmit here my reafons for this affertipn fome what mpre at length ; yet npt pretending to cpmppfe a formal pr cpmplete defence pf it, but rather offering them for the purppfe pf exciting others tP attend tp this and the paffages , fimilar tp it in the New Teftament. I ffiall begin with a review pf the whple preceding cpnverfatipn in this 8 th chapter pf St. Jphn, which terminates in the folemn affertipn before us. The chief queftipn of the whple, we are to obferve, is cpncerning the nature of Chrift, as appears frpm the beginning pf the dialpgue, ver. 1 2 &c. where his argument for the validity of his pwn fingle teftimpny relpeding himfelf is, that he alone knew the place of his birth and P- 3 proper 230 APPENDIX. proper refidence. On the mention of his Father, ver. 19, the Jews having alked where he was, he repUes ** Ye helffier knoW me nor my Father" who we are. I am his Son (I. e. really and ftridly fo, for otherwife the reafoning feems inconclu- five)": and therefore if ,ye had known my nature, ye would confequently have known his, becaufe the natures of a father and fon are the fame.* This topic of his nature, as implied by his place of refidence. Is refumed immediately afterwards, (v. 21.) from which he draws the conclufion, thaj; the Jews, remialning ignorant of them, Voiilddie in their fins; fc. if they did not be lieve that he was, on .eya stfit. This exprelfiOn therefore, fecondly, if we refped the force of the precedlng^affertions/whlch, I think, ffiould "determine its extent, cannot mean lefs than that he was the true divine Son of God, who came from heaven to fave ffie, world: i.e. imme diately meaning that he was the Meffiah; and, under that affertion, farther implying the truth concerning his divine nature : or meaning ' the whole truth together. For the phrafe is fingular, and implies fome very high pretenfions ; and, I think, meant that pretenfion which he did not choofe, as it was to no purpofe and was improper, to declare more explicitly. . The Jews therefore alk him, (v. 25.) "who art thou?" to which * Such h alfo the trae purport of Joh. xivv 7~n. the APPENDIX. 231 the anfwer, " even the fame that I faid unto " you from the beginning,"' leaves them in their wifful ignorance. The fame affertion follows in the 28th verfe, where «|«,< refers to the fame de claration concerning his divine nature, which is confirmed by the following words, " and that I ** do nothing of myfelf," &c. fignifying that he aded not from any will of his own, but aded only through the communication of the Spirit without meafure, which none but himfelf ever had, fpeaking and doing as this Influenced him. It is true indeed that the Jews here ftfll lefs uur derftood .'the whole force of his words; for it appears that he had now changed his addrefs to them, (from ver. 26) having broken off the for mer converlation at the words " I have many ** things" &c. And in confequence of the ftyle next adopted, where he ufes the phrafe ** Son " of man," refers them to a future time at which they ffiould be able to judge of his pretenfions, whatever they were, and appeals to his holinefs and goodnefs of life, thus recommending him felf to their .regard, (ver. 28 — 30) many, of the Jews believed on him. Thefe he then again tries to lead unto a higher notion of him than that of a Prophet which they had thus en tertained; and begins by a promife of free dom, which gives him an opportunity of de claring himfelf to be as properly the Son of God, • P 4 as 432 A P P E "N D I X. as they profeffed to be his fervants (ver, 35.)* At length, (ver, 51.) urged by their refiftance to declare thewhole truth more explicitly, he breaks out into a folemn affertion, which brings round the converfation to the fame point from which it began, (ver. 12) The dialogue becomes now more warm and exprefs on both fides. He next affirms ffiat he is fo far fuperior to Abraham that a great part of the happinefe of the latter con fifted in having feen his day; which, as the Jews underftood it, implied his having feen Abraham. This appearing to be abfurdity and falffiood which they might lay hold of, ffiey in ftantly taxed him with the effrontery pf it ; to which his reply is given with the form of a fo lemn affeveration, " Verily, verily I fay unto you, " Before Abraham was, I am." The Jews at this declaration immediately took up ftones to kill him. If we allpw this plain accpunt of ffie whole converfation to be juft, I do not fee how we can, confiftently with evident propriety, conceive this laft affertion to be ffiort of any preceding one, or rather not ftronger and more eXprefs than any of them. And the behaviour of the Jews upon it feems evidently to point out that it amounted to blafphemy, as appears from the • It will not be impertinent here to remark that between verfes j4 and 35, there feems to be an ellipfre of fuch a fentence as, "ye then are fervants." parallel APPENDIX. 233 parallel inftances in x. 30—39. Mar. xiv. 63. So far as to the context, . whence the conclufion is, that an eternal exiftence is certainly meant by the paffage. • Let us next view the text Itfelf alone, re marking firft that the affertion neceffarfly ref peds ffie fingle point of ^^^«} obvioufly ffiews the caufe and reafon of fuch an idiom in general, namely, that it imports a continued duration from fome for-- mer period to the prefent infant. This, as the reader will obferve, accounts for and explains the other text, t^iv etpxfiv 0 n xa,i Xcthm v[4,iv — as alfo another, which is perhaps the ftrongeft exam ple 234 APPENDIX. pie that an objedor can adduce, Joh. xv. 27. or fi.'ji a,f)g]s jjiat ifAis i^t. But I wiffi to point out a difference between ffiefe and the inftance in queftion, on which I perfuade. myfeff that a great ftrefs is to be laid. It is obvious that while in them the oeriod, from which the continued duration begins, is limited and aligned, in ffiis it is indefinite. " Be- "^r^' Abraham was, I am." From which par ticular, ^ the words, "lam," convey, I think, plainly a notion of Exiftence, fublime above all other inftances, and of pecuUar fignificance, as it is alfo capable of an extenfion beyond all dc- terriilnable bounds, for he who thus exifted be fore Abraham, might well be fuppofed to have exifted alfo before any other creature ; and this is a Scriptural affertion of an eternal exiftence. But more of this prefently. Again ; I believe that no reader's attention is not arrefted by the difference between the words yma-^cLi and iaa.i, efpecially as they occur in this place. The one, we know, properly fignifies the generation of a being not exiftent before : the other is fimple and pofitive, applicable to a be ing without any refped of beginning or end, but merely of its having exiftence. The one therefore properly belongs to beings who, as they are born or generated, muft alfo die and periffi ; the other may be ufed in the cafe of a being APPENDIX. 235 being that is eternal. And though, from the nature and cuftom of languages, thofe terms may be fometimes or frequently ufed for each other, as they are, without preferving this dif tindion, yet r apprehend that in a fentence un der the circumftances of the ' prefent, folely on the fubjed of exiftence, uffiered in alfo by fo folemn a preface, and after the dffcourfe that had paffed, where both words are ufed together and contrafted. with each other, it is juft to fup pofe that the genuine and obvious diftindion be tween them "was attended to and defigned. It Is prefumed that the difference in the ufe of iifit here and at ver. 24 and 28 is already clear and indifputable, on account of the objeds to which they feverally refer, tlie one to the exi^" ence, the others to the nature of the fpeaker. In confequence of fuch reafoning as the above I apprehend it is that the divines of our Church have looked on the words eya g(p as defigned to allude to the facred appellation given to himfelf in Exodus iii. 14. by the Supreme Being, efpe cially as they were fpoken to Jews, and, what is more, to the fcribes, interpreters of the law. Whether they are right in this fuppofition, fubftantially I mean, (for as to the proof of its being a formal reference to that fingle text I do not 236 APPENDIX. not conceive it worth whfle to contend) will, I trqft, ferther clearly appear from the following confideration. We beUeve from the Scriptures and from rea fon that ffie Almighty is an eternal and feff-ex- iftent being. But it is to be noticed that the manner in which the Scriptures exprefs this eternity is fuitable to that condefcenfion which adapts all the myfteries of Heaven to the femi- -liar, habitual ideas of man, as, I hope, in thefe Ledores has been fufficiently ffiewn. There are indeed a few fublime paffages in Holy Writ that feem to furpafs this mode of expreffion, where he is called " the God that inhabiteth eternity," " whofe .goings are from eternity," and fuch like. But thefe phrafes belong to the enthufiafm of eaftern poetry, and are therefore to be put out of the prefent queftion. They are introduced to elevate the heart, rather than to inform the underftanding. The mind can form no pofitive idea of Eternity; it can only ad by comparffon with the duration of things prefent to ffie fenfes, in other words, with Time; conceiving of it that it is infinite, or ftill beyond any amount that a feries of years or ages, or any combination of fuch feries can produce. Hence then it is ffiat the facred writings ufually adapt ffieir reprefen tation of this great point to fuch comparative conception of the mind, and fpeak of the Su preme APPENDIX. 237 preme Being only as exifting before all things, and enduring withput end. " 1 am," faith he tp Mofes, " that I am," pr, as fpme verfipns give us tp underftand it,, " I am he that ffiall be." «* I am the firft and with the laft;" " I am Al- " pha and Omega;" " He that was, and is, and *' is to cpme." This manner pf fpeaking appears therefore, from what has been ebferved, tP be fo lar rea fonable and juft as it is a neceffary condefcen fion to our weaknefs. It is farther alfo to be remarked that it is folely proper when ufed con cerning the exiftence of the Deity, and applica ble without miftake to Him alone. The reafon of this is that he ftands alone in this predica ment of time or duration of exiftence diftin guiffied from all other beings. They all are created by Him. Hence it follows that He is fufficiently and adequatety pointed out, when hp is declared to have heen prior to all of them. And this way of defcribing Him, while it is nearer to the concerns and occurrences of hu man Iffe, and, as it were, applicable to our ordinary apprehenfion and .feelings, and therefore, becaufe more ufeful to us, more ufual, as hath been ob ferved, yet it is an implicit and virtual expreffion of the fublimeft truths concerning Him which the Scriptures any where exprefs. I refer the reader to the follpwing inftances of this language in 238 APPENDIX. in the Scriptures, which are fuch as inoft rea-, dfly occurred : Pf. xviu. 45, 46. xcui. 2. cii. 24—28. Jobxu. 12. comp, with Dan. vii. 9, J 3, 22. With the above confideration, added to ffiofe before mentioned, I ffiall, after producing one quotation more, on account of its obvioufly exad parallelifm, leave the point to ffie determination ~ of tbe reader. The ad verfe of Pf. xc. is thus exhibited in ffie LXX Verfion : ^rpo m opij ytw^ 5^1/(41 KAl TTAfltO-S-fJl'iai ¦Dfl' yjjl/ KCU TtlV OIKHlAtVflV, KCii eWTTo TH aimos isos tH cumog orv u. And I leave It with the hope that, however imperfedly dif cuffed, as much might be added, yet ff it ffipuld have been rendered plain, the cavfl of ffiofe wfll v; hence alfo appear ill founded, who affert that in : .' ffiis place we reft our Faith in this article of our Lord's divinity on the fubtleties of grammatical ¦.. - conftrudion. For, I truft, he will fee that the ¦"' 3irgwment is built on the broadeft and moft ob- ¦-.^vious conftrudion : and whoever thinks this ¦ Is not to decide for him, and oblige him to the reception of an article of faith, leaves no room or ufe for language. He will likewife, I truft» fee that this is not all ; and that the other confiderations conneded with it may lead any fenfible reader without hefitation to the fame apprehenfion, I think APPENDIX. 239 I think it, however. Improper to conclude this note without one remark which forces it felf on my attention, and may be confidered as a corollary; namely, that we are furniffied with a dired and unavoidable proof of our Lord's di vinity from his affumption of ffiis attribute of eternity in the Revelation of St. John. I ihall not trefpafs any longer on the reader, than to refer him to c. i. 8. comp. with ver. n, 12, 13, 17, 18, civ. 8, 9, 10. ex. 6. and cxxi. 6. comp. with xxii. 13. where, as appears alfo from ver. 16. the Ipeaker is Chrift, probably from ver. 10. or 12. Lect. IV. P. 102. " For whether we can ** always," &c. To this place I have alfo re ferved a fuller anfwer to thofe who alk, " Of what ufe is the dodrine of the Trinity, and other points like it, on which we fo much infift ?" We reply, " much every way." It teaches us firft, as hath been intimated, who are entitled to our adpratipn ; and by denying a plurality- pf Gpds keeps us alfo frpm idolatry, and from con fequences which are, furely, far worfe than fome - perfons feem to be aware of. But may we not, in the fecond place, alk, is it of no weight, or has it np mpral influence on our minds to believe the Divinity of our bleffed Saviour ? to know that the man Chrift Jefus who died on the crofs to redeem 240 APPENDIX. redeem us, " was in the beginning with God, " and was Gpd?" that he " by whpm the wprld " was made," who was " the brightnefe of ** God's glory and ffie exprefs Iniage of his per- " fon, and upholdeth all ffiings by ffie word of ** his power," " made himfelf of no reputation, " took upon himfelf the form of a fervant, and " being found in faffiion as a man, humbled *' himfeff and became obedient unto death, even *' the deaffi (ff ffie crofs," to deliver us from fin and eternal deaffi ; may we not alk, has all this no moral tendency ? Is it not the affurance of the love of God to us, beyond all other poffible teftlmonies of it ? and an argument for our love to God and to our Chriftian brethren, nay, to all men as the creatures of God ? If common fenfe did not tell us fo, our Saviour and his beloved Dffciple tell us that it is. Is it not thence juftly argued, not only " tliat at ffie " name of Jefus every knee ffiould bow," but that on thefe accounts we ffiould " work out " our falvation with fear and trembling?" that we ought to give " more earneft heed to ffie " things which we have heard," left we ffiould not efcape, whoever receive fo great a falvation in vain ? that alfo, feeing we have fo great " a " High Prieft that is paffed Into the heavens, " Jefus the Son of God," yet withal a High Prieft who muft be conceived to be throughly touched with a fenfe of our infirmities, we ffiould hold APPENDIX. 241 hold faft our profeffion, fince ** we may come " boldly to the ffirone of grace, in order to ob- " tain mercy and to find grace to help in the " time of need ? " May we not, laftly, aflc, ff thefe are the inferences drawn exprefsly and at length in the New Teftament, by what name ffiall we call ffie blindnefs of thofe who con tend againft thefe dodrines of our Church as vain immaterial fpeculations ? Phfl. ii. 7. &c. Heb.i. 2, 6cc ii. 1, &c. iv. 14. &c. In afferting and contending for thefe and fuch articles, the Church which ads in exad imita tion of her founder and the infpired teachers of " the faith delivered to the faints" does, as it might be expeded from ruch a rule of procedure, ad with the trueft and moft perfed wifdom. Indeed, Iii all her meafures, as I hope it does in fome degree appear from the foregoing dffcourfes, ffie makes her appeal as to the true' and plain fenfe of revelation, fo alfo to the common fenfe, natural feelings, and the experience of men in the ordinary affairs pf this Iffe. Had npt, befide the perfonal infufficiency of her advocate added to the ffiortnefs of the time prefcribed for the compo fition of thefe Ledures, the necelfity of concffe- nefs in treating of fo large a fubjed detraded too much from its merit, I am fully confident that fuch an appeal would have b^en placed beyond ,all doubt. If things are then thus conftituted, how can any fober mind bear the idea of giving Q^ "P 242 A P P E 'N D I 3^. up the prefent eftabliffiment of religion arnong us, and throwing all again into a wfld chap? and heap of confufion ? or, by furrendering any one .of the fences that proted us againft an attack, under a pretence pf peace by fuch ceffion, both invite an affault hereafter, and render it more ef fedual ? For, furely, it' is plain to all, that this would in the common courfe of things be the confequence; as affo farther, that no one or more conceffions to, the ignorance and prejudices of any men would avafl to the fatisfadion of a whole community, wherein there inuft be meni- bers Of all kuids of temper, and every variety of opinion' that can be entertained. It is obvious that a plan of accommodation begun on this ground could have no other end than in the de molition of the whole of that excellent ftrudnre, Svhich is the pride of this cpuntry, and the ad- rairatipn pf others ; a confideration that calls for the fervent wiffi and prayer of every honeft and prudent man amongft us, in the words of the expiring Patript,* Ffto perpetua ! * Father Paul. See his Life, prefixed to Courayer'a Tranfla- tjon of his HiHory. THE END. P. 48. 1. z6. for derived, r^fl. ^. ^..'^