nal wrath of a provoked God, upon his most obftinate and incorrigible enemies, fhould be merely fuch a thing as is in it's own nature lefs dreadful and terrible, than even those afflictions, which by certain experience we fee in this prefent life, fall fometimes upon fuch perfons with whom God is not angry. Nor is it agreeable to reafon to believe, that God, who (as is evident by experience) fuffers the very best of his own fervants, for the punishment of their fins, or even only for the tryal of their virtue, to fall fometimes under all the calamities and miseries, which 'tis poffible for the cruelleft and moft powerful tyrants to invent and execute; fhould punish his most obftinately rebellious, and finally impenitent creatures, with nothing more than the lofs of heaven. It is reasonable, therefore, that there should be fome fenfible and pofitive punishment, befides the mere lofs of heaven. And

A ferious confideration of the dreadful effects of God's anger in this present world, in the inftance of the general deluge, the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrha, the amazing calamities, which befel the whole Jewish nation at the destruction of Jerufalem, and other fuch like examples; in fome of which cafes, the judgments have fallen upon mixt multitudes of good men and bad together; (not to mention the calamities which fometimes befal even good men by themselves:) a serious confideration, I fay, of these particulars, cannot but raife very terrible apprehenfions of the greatnefs of that punishment, which the despised patience of God fhall finally inflict on the impenitently wicked and incorrigible, when they fhall be feparated from the rest of mankind by the juftice of God.

As to the continuance of this punishment; no man can prefume in our present state of ignorance and darkness to be able truly to judge, barely by the ftrength of his own natural reason, what in this refpect is, or is not confiftent with the wisdom, and justice, and goodness of the fupreme Governor of the world; fince we neither know the place, nor kind, nor manner, nor circumstances, nor degrees, nor all the ends and uses of final punishment of wicked men. But we are certain that the juftice of God will abundantly vindicate itself, and all mouths shall be stopped before him, and be forced to acknowledge the exact righteousness of all his judgments, and to con

demn

119 demn their own folly and wickednefs; for as much as the degrees or severity of the punishment, which shall be inflicted on the impenitent, fhall be exactly proportionate to their fins, as a recompence of their crime, so that no man shall suffer more than he has deferved, by the evil of his ways. To fuch as rightly weigh these confiderations, the difficulty about the continuance of the punishment will not appear fo infuperable; for nothing can be more evident, than that God may justly banish the wickedeternally from his kingdom of glory, and from that happiness, which is his free and undeferved gift to the righteous and the pofitive punishment, which shall be inflicted upon them in that state of eternal loss, shall undoubtedly be fuch, and fo proportioned to mens deferts, as the righteous judge will then make appear before men and angels, to be just, and wife, and neceffary, and fuch only as becomes the infinitely wife and good Lord and Governor of the univerfe, to inflict upon a finful, wicked, and rebellious creature. This faith therefore should deter from fin, and incite us to repentance and holiness of life; and breed in us an awe of the great God, a jealous God, a confuming fhould be fire, a God, who will not be mocked. This should influenced teach us to tremble at his word, at the fierceness of thereby, his wrath, and the dreadfulness of his vengeance; and to fet the highest value on the plenteous redemption wrought out for us by the blood of Chrift, whereby all true believers are purged from their fins, and not only freed from eternal misery, but made inheritors of eternal happiness. This should inflame our fouls with earnest defires of those heavenly joys which flow from the vifion of God, and ftir up our endeavours after that holinefs, without which it can be enjoyed by no man. This should teach us to contemn this world, and to fet our affections on things above; fo that forgetting the things, which are behind, and reaching forth unto thofe things, which are before, we may prefs towards the mark, for the prize of the high calling of God in Jefus Chrift. This should encourage us to take up the cross of Chrift, and make us cheerful under the fufferings of this life, knowing that they are not worthy to be compared to the glory, which fhall be revealed in us; and that our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for

I 4

How we

us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory. Therefore,

The doc

trines of

cannot be amended.

VIII. The christian religion propofes no doctrines for our belief, but fuch as are difcovered by revelation, and moft agreeable to a found and unbiaffed judgment. christianity All the doctrines of our Saviour have a natural tendency, and a direct and powerful influence, to reform mens lives, and correct their manners: none of them were calculated for the gratification of mens idle curiofities, the bufying and amusing them with airy and useless fpeculations; much lefs were they intended for an exercise of our credulity, or a tryal how far we could bring our reason to fubmit to our faith: But, as on the one hand they were plain and fimple, and fuch as, by their agreeableness to the rational faculties of mankind, did highly recommend themselves to our belief; fo on the other hand they had an immediate relation to practice, and were the proper ground and foundation upon which all human and divine virtues were naturally to be built.

For, was there ever a more neceffary and excellent foundation of true religion than that doctrine, which the chriftian religion clearly and diftinctly teaches us; concerning the nature and attributes of the one only true God; without those uncertain and oft-times falfe reafonings concerning the nature of God, which did, in fact, overfpread the greateft part of the heathen world with idolatry and infidelity? Was there ever fo certain a preservative against idolatry, and the worship of false gods; as the doctrine, that the universe, the heavens and the earth, and all things contained therein, are the creatures and workmanship of the one true God, and have a continual dependance upon him for the continuation of their existence? Was there ever fo fure a ground of true piety and reliance upon God, as the clear chriftian doctrine concerning providence, concerning God's perpetually governing and directing the iffues and events of all things, and infpecting with a more especial regard to the moral actions of mankind?

Was there ever any human invention, commandment, or law, fo admirably fitted in all refpects to promote all the ends of true religion, as that of the Son of God made man? Could

men

men ever have been filled with fo deep a sense of the mercy and love of God towards them, and have been instructed in all divine truths, in a method fo well accommodated to their present infirmities; as by God's fending his only begotten Son, to take upon him our nature, and therein to make a general revelation of the will of God to human nature? Could the honour and dignity and authority of the laws of God have ever been fo effectually vindicated, and at the fame time fo fatisfaЄtory an affurance of pardon upon true repentance have been given unto men; as by this method of the Son of God giving himself a facrifice and expiation for the fins of the whole world? Was there ever a more glorious manifestation of the mercy and compaffion of God, and at the fame time a more powerful means to discountenance mens prefumption, to discourage them from repeating their tranfgreffions, to give them a deep fense of the heinous nature of fin, and of God's extreme hatred and utter irreconcileableness to it, and to convince them of the excellency and importance of the laws of God, and the indifpenfable neceffity of paying obedience to them; than this expedient of faving finners by the fufferings and death of the Son of God, and by establishing with them a new and gracious covenant upon the merits of that fatisfaction offered up to the

divine juftice?

;

Could men be better encouraged to begin a religious life than by having fuch a mediator, advocate, and interceffor for them with God, to obtain pardon of all their frailties; and by being affured of the affiftance of the Spirit of God, to enable them to conquer all their corrupt affections, and to lay in them a fure foundation of true piety?

In a word, there could not have been contrived stronger and more powerful motives to perfwade men to live virtuously, and to deter from vice, than the clear discovery made to us in the gofpel, of God's having appointed a day, wherein he will judge the world in righteoufnefs, every man according to his works; and that they who have done well fhall be adjudged to everlasting happiness; and they that have done evil, to endlefs punishment: of which the light of nature afforded men but a dark comprehension?

So

So that all the doctrines of the chriftian faith do together make up an infinitely more confiftent and rational scheme of belief, than any of the wifeft of the learned heathens ever did, or the cunningest of modern unbelievers can invent: All which is evident from this short view of the forementioned scheme of the christian doctrines. Whereas the wifeft of the learned heathens, were yet never able to make out any univerfal, entire, and coherent fyftem of doctrines; and the cunningest of modern deifts cannot, in the whole, frame to themselves any fixt and fettled principles, upon which to argue confiftently; but muft unavoidably either be perplexed with unaccountable abfurdities, or confeffedly recur to downright infidelity.

The truth not

IX. Therefore notwithstanding the difmany affected by ferences and difputes about particular doctrines areligious difmong chriftians; (excepting fuch as have intoleputes. rably corrupted the very fundamental doctrines, and even the main design itself of the whole christian difpenfation;) these disputes among chriftians, have not been like thofe among the philofophers, concerning the whole scheme and fyftem of things, but only concerning particular explications of particular doctrines; which kind of difputes do not at all affect the certainty of the whole religion itself, nor ought in reason to be any manner of hindrance to the effect, which the plain and weightier and confeffedly more important fundamental doctrines ought to have upon the hearts and lives of those who profess their belief in God, and acknowledge it their duty to obey his commands.

SUNDAY VII. CHAP. VII.

I. God honoured in the Lord's Supper. II. Why ordained by Chrift. III. Who receive it worthily, or what must be done before receiving. IV. At the time of receiving. V. After receiving. VI. Of PRAYER. VII. Why a Duty. VIII. It's Advantage. IX. It's Neceffity. X. It's Requifites. XI. It's Parts. XII. It's Object. XIII. It's

Power.