you will be well able, and on good grounds, to anfwer in the first place, res verily.

But your answer must not ftop here. When you are thus perfuaded, your next concern is, immediately to act according to that perfuafion. Now as this depends on two things; our own refolution, and affistance from above: fo both are expreffed in the following words of the anfwer, and by God's help, fo I will. Further, Because our own refolution is best fupported by our sense of the advantage of keeping it; therefore the perfon inftructed goes on, in the fame answer, to acknowledge, that the state, in which he is placed by baptifm, is a fate of falvation: and because affiftance from above is best obtained by thankfulness for God's mercy hitherto, and prayer for it hereafter, he concludes, by thanking our heavenly Fa ther, for calling him to this fate; and praying for his grace, that be may continue in the fame to his life's end.

Now the neceffity and nature of God's grace, and of prayer and other means to obtain it, will be explained in their pro per places. The two points therefore of which it remains to speak at present, are, the need of good refolution, and of thankfulness for that happy ftate, in which baptifm hath pla ced us.

In every thing that we attempt, much depends on a deliberate and fixed purpose of mind. But particularly in religion, when once we are thoroughly convinced, that whatever it requires must be done; and have determined accordingly, that, though we know there will be labour and difficulty in going on, and many folicitations and enticements to leave off, yet we will fet about the work, and persevere in it; obftacles and discouragements, that till then appeared very threatening, will, a great part of them, vanish into nothing; and those, which remain, will ferve only to exercise our courage, and make our triumph glorious; provided we keep our refolution alive and in vigour, by frequently repeating it in a proper manner that is, in a strong fenfe of God's prefence, and an humble dependence on his bleffing. For if we trust in ourfelves, we shall fail. And if we pretend to trust in God, without exerting ourselves, we shall fail equally. In either cafe, the good impreffions made on our minds will be continually growing fainter of courfe and multitudes of things will con

fpire to wear them quite out. Pleasures will foften us into diffolutenefs; or amusements, into neglect of every serious attention. Love of riches, or power, or applaufe will engage us in wrong methods of attaining them: or the cares of life will banish the duties of it from our thoughts. Vehement paffions will overfet our virtue: or infinuating temptations undermine it as effectually. Some of these things muft happen, unless we preferve a fteady and watchful, a modeft and religious refolution against them, ever fresh on our minds.

And nothing will contribute more to our doing this, than reflecting often, with due thankfulness, that the ftate, to which God hath called us, is a ftate of falvation: a ftate of deliverance from the present flavery of fin, and the future punishment of it; a state of the trueft happiness, that this life can afford, introducing us to perfect and everlasting happiness in the next. Such is the condition, in which, through the mercy of God, we Chriftians are placed; and in which, by a Chriftian behaviour, we may fecure ourselves; and not only preferve, but continually enlarge our share of its bleffings But if we now neglect to do for ourselves what we ought; all, that hath been done for us by others, will be of no avail. Neither our baptifm, nor our inftruction; nor our learning ever fo exactly, or understanding ever fo diftinctly, or remembering ever fo particularly, what we were instructed in, can poffibly have any effect, but to increase our condemnation, unless we faithfully continue in the practice of every part of it to our life's end. This therefore let us all determine to make our conftant and most earnest care, with humble gratitude to God, our heavenly Father, for his undeferved mercy 'to us; and with fure confidence, that if we be not wanting to ourfelves, he that hath begun a good work in us, will perform it, until the day of Jefus Chrift *.

Philip. i. 6.

VOL. IV.

Kk

LE C

HAVI

AVING already explained to you the feveral things, which Chriftians by the Covenant of their Baptifm renounce; I come now to fpeak of what we are to believe: after which will follow properly' what we are to do. For all reasonable practice must be built on fome belief or perfuafion, which is the ground of it virtuous practice, on a perfuafion, that what we do is fit and right; religious practice, on a perfuafion, that it is the will of God. Now God hath been pleafed to make his will known by two ways: partly by the mere inward light of our own understandings; partly by the outward means of additional declarations from himfelf. The former of these we call natural religion: the latter, revealed religion.

The natural reafon of our own minds, if we would ferioufly attend to it, and faithfully affist each other in ufing it, is capable of discovering, as fhall be proved to you, not only the Being and Attributes, and authority of God; but, in general, what fort of behaviour he must expect from fuch creatures, placed in fuch a world, as we are, in order to avoid his difpleasure, and procure fome degree of his favour. And as we cannot doubt of what our own clear apprehenfion, and the common sense of mankind, plainly tell us: here is one foundation of religious belief and practice, evident to all men, And if our belief and practice be not fuitable to it, our confciences, whenever we confult them, nay often whether we confult them or not, will condemn us, to our faces, of fin; and proclaim to us beforehand the juftice of that future condemnation, which God will pafs upon it. Every one of you, that hear me, have at times felt this; make every one of a proper ufe of it.

you,

If then the light of nature were our only guide, it would teach us more than, I fear, many of us obferve. But happy are we, that this is not our only guide. For it would leave us uninformed in many particulars of unfpeakable moment,

even

even were our faculties unimpaired, and employed to the best advantage. But alas, the very first of mankind fell into fin, and derived a corrupt nature down to their pofterity: who yet further inflamed their own paffions and appetites, perverted their own judgments, turned afide their attention from the truth; and the light that was in them became, in a great meafure, darkness *, even in respect of what they were to do. But what they were to hope and fear after doing wickedly, this was a matter of far greater obscurity ftill. And had we, here present, been left to ourselves, in all likelihood we had been, at this hour, (like multitudes of other poor wretches in every part of the world that is unenlightened by Christianity,) worfhipping flocks and ftones: or however, we fhould certainly, in other refpects, have been walking in the vanity of our minds, having the understanding darkened, alienated from the life of God+; Strangers from the covenant of promife, having no hope, and without God in the world ‡.

But he was graciously pleafed not to leave fallen men to themfelves, but to furnish them with needful knowledge. What human abilities, what at the beft, might have discovered, they would in all likelihood have discovered (if at all) so flowly, that we have great cause to believe, the religion of our firft parents was derived from his immediate inftruction. But certainly after their tranfgreffion, he made an immediate revelation to them; and thenceforward vouchfafed from time to time various manifestations, to fuch as would receive them, of his truths, his commands, and his purposes: not only republishing the original doctrines of reafon, but adding new ar ticles of belief, new promises, and new precepts, as the changing circumstances of things required; till at length, by his Son, our Saviour Jefus Chrift, he confirmed all his past notifications, and took away all neceffity of future ones; acquaint ing us fully, in the ever-bleffed gofpel, with all that we fhall need to know, or be bound to do, till heaven and earth pa/§.

Thus then, befides those things in religion, which our own reafon can difcern, we receive others on the testimony of their being revealed by God: as unquestionably we ought. For if he, who cannot err, and cannot lie, communicates any

Kk 2

* Mat. vi. 23.

Eph. iv. 17, 18.

informa

Eph. ii. 12. § Mat. v. 18%

information to us; though it requires us to believe, what we had before not the leaft apprehenfion of, or fhould elfe have imagined to be exceedingly ftrange and unlikely; though it require us to do, what otherwise we should neither have thought of doing, nor have chosen to do; yet furely his testimony and command may well be fufficient reason for both. We admit every day, upon the teftimony one of another, things utterly unknown to us, and in themselves extremely improbable and we act upon fuch teftimony in matters, on which our fortunes, our healths, our lives depend as indeed without doing fo, the affairs of the world could not be carried on. Now, "if we receive the witness of men, the witness of God is greater *" And fince we are able to convey the knowledge of our thoughts and wills to each other, no queftion but God is able to convey his to his creatures.

:

But, allowing that he can, it may be afked, How do we prove, that he hath conveyed it to men in the Jewish and Chriftian revelations? I anfwer, we believe the Jewish revelation, for this plain reason, amongst others, because the Chrif tian confirms it: and we believe the Chriftian, chiefly upon the full proof, which Chrift and his Apoftles have given of it. They who faw him, with their own eyes, perform things which man could not do; and heard him, with their own ears, foretel things, which man could not foreknow, and yet experienced them to come, to pass: as for inftance, his healing great numbers of fick perfons with a word, and raifing himfelf from the dead: they must be fure, that fome power at tended him more than human. And fince his doctrines all promoted the fpiritual worship and honour of the one true God, and virtue and happiness among men: they must be sure alfo, that this power was not that of an evil spirit, but of a good one and confequently, that he came from. God, and taught his will. If then it be true, that he did, in their prefence, not only deliver fuch doctrine, but foretel and perform fuch things; then their faith was reasonable, and ours is fo too. Now they do in the strongest manner affirm this: as you may read throughout the gofpels and acts: and why are they not to be credited? They could not every one of them be mistaken in it all; and think they faw and heard, day after day,

and

I John v. 9.