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religion, I mean the holy Bible, by which they pro fefs to regulate and govern their lives, were full of plain and ftrict precepts of love and kindnefs, of charity and peace, and did a hundred times with all imaginable feverity, and under pain of forfeiting the kingdom of God, forbid malice, and envy, and revenge, and evil fpeaking, and rafh and uncharitable cenfures, and tell us fo plainly that the Chriftian religion obligeth men to put off all thefe; and that if any man feem to be religious, and bridleth not his tongue, that man's religion is vain? Do men read and hear these things every day, and profefs to believe them to be the truths of God, and yet live as if they were verily perfuaded they were falfe? What can we conclude from hence, but either that this is not Chriftianity, or the greatest part of us are no Chriftians.

So that if one of the Apoftles or primitive Chriftians fhould rife from the dead, and converfe among us, how would he wonder to fee the face and complexion of Christianity altered from what it was in their days; and, were it not for the name and title which we bear, would fooner guess us to be any thing than Chriftians.

So that upon the whole matter, there is no way to quit ourselves of this objection, and to wash away the reproach of it, but to mend and reform our lives. Till this be done, it is unavoidable, but the vicious manners of men will affect our religion with obloquy and reproach, and derive an ill conceit and opinion of it into the minds of men. And I cannot fee how Christianity can ever gain much ground in the world, till it be better adorned and recommended by the profeffors of it. Nay, we have juft caufe to fear, that if God do not raife up fome great and eminent inftruments to awaken the world out of this ftupid Jethargy, that Chriftianity will every day decline, and the world will in a fhort fpace be over-run with atheifm and infidelity. For vice, and fuperftition, and enthufiafm, which are the reigning difeafes of Christendom, when they have run their courfe, and finished their circle, do all naturally end, and meet în atheifm. And then it will be time for the great

Judge

Judge of the world to appear, and effectually to convince men of that, which they would not be perfuaded to believe by any other means. And of this our Saviour hath given us a terrible and fearful intimation, in that queftion of his; When the Son of man comes, fhall be find faith upon earth? Our Saviour hath not pofitively affirmed it, and God grant that we may not make it, and find it true.

And thus I have, by God's affiftance, given the best fatisfaction I could, to the moft material exceptions I have met with against our bleffed Saviour and his religion. The

II. Thing remains briefly to be fpoken to, viz. How happy a thing it is to escape the common prejudices which men are apt to entertain against religion. Bleffed is he whosoever shall not be offended in me. And this will appear if we confider these three or four things:

Firft, That prejudice does many times fway and bias men against the plaineft and clearest truths. We fee in daily experience, what a false bias prejudice puts upon mens understandings. Men that are educated in the groffeft errors and fuperftitions, how hard it is to convince them that they are in a wrong way! and with what difficulty are they perfuaded of their mistake! Nay, they have hardly the patience to be told they are in an error, much lefs to confider what may be offered against it. How do the paffions and lufts of men blind them and lead them afide from the truth, and incline them to that fide of the question which is moft favourable to their lufts and interefts! How partially do men lean to that part which makes most for their advantage, though all the reafon in the world ly on the other fide!

Now ignorance and mistake are a great flavery of the understanding, if there were no worfe confequences of our errors and therefore our Saviour fays excellently, that the truth makes men free ; Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.

Secondly, Prejudice does not only bias men against the plainest truths, but in matters of greatest concernment, in things that concern the honour of God,

and

and the good of others, and our own welfare and happiness. Prejudices against religion occafion miftakes of the highest nature, and may lead men to fuperftition and idolatry, and to all manner of impiety, nay many times to atheism and infidelity. The prejudices against the doctrine of our Saviour are of another concernment than the prejudices which men have against the writers of natural philofophy or eloquence, or any other human art or fcience. If a man's prejudice make him err in these matters, the thing is of no great moment: But the bufinefs of religion is a matter of the greatest and weightieft concernment to mankind.

Thirdly, The confequences of mens prejudices in these things prove many times fatal and deftructive to them. Men may upon unreasonable prejudices reject the counsel of God against themselves, as it is faid of the chief Priefts and Pharifees among the Jews. Men may oppofe the truth fo obftinately and perverfly, as to be fighters against God, and to bring certain ruin and fwift deftruction upon themselves, both in this world and the other; as the Jews did, who by oppofing the doctrine of the gofpel, and perfecuting our Saviour and his difciples, filled up the measure of their fins, till wrath came upon them to the uttermoft. It is eafy to entertain prejudices against religion, and by confidering only the wrong fide of things, to fortify our prejudices to fuch a degree, and entrench ourfelves fo ftrongly in our errors, that the plaineft and most convincing truths fhall not be able to have any accefs to us, or make any impreffion upon us: but all this while we do in truth undermine our own happiness, and are fecretly working our own ruin; and while we think we are oppofing an enemy, we are deftroying ourfelves; for who hath hardened himself against God, and his truth, and profpered? The principles of religion are a firm and immoveable rock, against which the more violently we dafh ourselves, the more miferably we fhall be fplit and shattered. Our blessed Saviour and his religion have been to many, and are to this day, a stone of ftumbling, and a rock of of-

fence;

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fence; but he himself hath told us what fhall be the fate of thofe who are offended at him; Whofoever fhall fall on this stone, fhall be broken; but upon whomsoever it shall fall, it shall grind him to powder. And therefore well might he fay here in the text, Bleffed is he whosoever shall not be offended in

me.

Fourthly, There are but few in comparison, who have the happiness to escape and overcome the common prejudices which men are apt to entertain against religion. Thus to be fure it was when Chriftianity first appeared in the world: And though among us the great prejudice of education be removed; yet there are ftill many, who, upon one account or other, are prejudiced againft religion, at leaft fo far, as not to yield to the power of it in their lives. Few men are fo impartial in confidering things, as not to be fwayed by the intereft of their lufts and paffions; as to keep the balance of their judgments even, and to fuffer nothing but truth. and reafon to weigh with them. We generally pretend to be pilgrims and ftrangers in the world, and to be all travelling towards heaven: but few of us have the indifferency of travellers; who are not concerned to find out the fairest and the easiest way, but to know which is the right way, and to go in it. Thus it fhould be with us, our end fhould always be in our eye, and we should choofe our way only with refpect to that; not confidering our inclination fo much as our defign; nor choofing those principles for the government of our lives, which are moft agreeable to our prefent defires, but those which will moft certainly bring us to happiness at the laft, and that I am fure the principles of the Christian religion, firmly believed and practifed by us, will do.

Let us then be perfuaded by all that hath been faid upon this argument, to a firm belief of the Chriftian doctrine. I hope you are in fome measure fatisfied, that the objections against it are not fuch, as ought much to move a wife and confiderate man. If we believe that God hath taken fo much care of

man

mankind, as to make any certain revelation of his will to them, and of the way to eternal happiness; let us next confider, whether any religion in the world can come in competition with the Christian, and with half that reafon pretend to be from God, that Christianity is able to produce for itself, whether we confider the things to be believed, or the duties to be practifed, or the motives and arguments to the practice of thofe duties, or the divine confirmation that is given to the whole. And if we be thus perfuaded concerning it, let us refolve to live up to the laws and rules of this holy religion. Our belief of it fignifies nothing without the fruits and effects of a good life. And if this were once refolved upon, the difficulty of believing would ceafe; for the true reason why men are unwilling to believe the truths of the gofpel, is, because they are loth to put them in practice. Every one that doth evil, hateth the light. The true ground of moft mens prejudice against the Chriftian doctrine, is because they have no mind to obey it; and when all is done, the great objection that lies at the bottom of mens minds against it, is, that it is an enemy to their lufts, and they cannot profefs to believe it without condemning themfelves, for not complying with it in their lives and practice.

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