1 ones: and we must never hope to be amended or accepted, unless we take the way to be so, which God hath marked out. But neither must we hope, that a formal use of the means will be sufficient, without serious care to attain the end. Now the end of the commandment is charity, love to God and man, out of a pure heart, and of a good confcience, and of faith unfeigned*; which words express the very fame temper with those in the text. If then these be the things, which mankind have need to learn, and God expects; it should be remembered, that they are taught in perfection by the scripture revelation, and the methods of acquiring them too: that neither the one nor the other, were ever taught, without revelation, either generally, or statedly, or without grofs defects and errors : and that they, who reject this way of instruction and worship, have not pretended to substitute any other; but shewn, by neglecting the commands, and tranfgreffing the restraints, of natural religion, that their difregard to Chriftianity proceeds from bad motives; and will produce, in proportion as it increases and spreads, the very worst effects, Whoever, therefore, is indeed concerned for true virtue and moral piety, will affectionately esteem those incomparable lessons of each, which the gospel affords him: and whoever hath at all a due sense, how very often he hath violated, on one occafion or another, the dictates of both, will rejoice from his heart in those assurances and means of forgiveness for what is past, and assistance in what is to come, with which nothing but the gospel can bless him. For, however thoughtless offenders may flatter themselves, every confiderate mind must see and feel, that fin deserves punishment, and repentance is not innocence; that pardon and grace are not debts, but voluntary favours; and God alone can inform his creatures with certainty, on what terms he will bestow them, and to what degree. Now he hath accordingly informed us, that only faith in Christ, working by love, availeth any thing †, and that shall intitle us to every thing. But then faith is not mere belief; nor is love mere admiration, of the advantages and promises of the gospel: but being moved by these to an uniform practice of its laws is the fingle evidence evidence which proves their genuinneess: and unhappily is the very attainment of which the generality of men fall short. Some there are, who retain the name of Christians, and feem to think it their due, though perhaps they scarce remember the time, when they performed any one act of Christian devotion, at least in private. On public worship, it may be, or some part of it, they do attend sometimes, to save appearances, or in hope of entertainment, or from a confused notion of its being, they scarce know why, a duty: but without the leaft conception, almost, of any further difference, between having religion, and having none. Others, that make a confcience, such as it is, of part of what they are commanded, have no regard at all to the rest: but they will be pious without vir tue, or virtuous without piety; or they will chuse, just as they fancy, which of the laws of either they will obey, which they will not. Even the more truly good seldom think of afpiring to eminence of goodness: and they, who in many respects attain high perfection, often fail, most unhappily, of adding the beauty of holiness to the reality of it, by an amiable and obliging deportment and conversation. Thus it comes to pass, that some despise religion, as uselefs; and others are disgusted with it, as harsh and difagreeable: that not a few of its profeffors will find it contribute only to their heavier condemnation; and many of those who are entitled to reward will obtain a much inferior reward to what they might have done; and all owing to the neglect of thinking, as they ought, on the important virtues recommended in the text. We give much attentention to low and transitory things; too much, it may be feared, to finful and forbidden ones. We must know these excellent qualifications to be the worthiest objects of our thoughts: why should they not also be the most constantly present to them? But suppose they were, it is of no more use to think with fpeculative delight on the precepts, than the privileges of the gospel: but we fo must confider both them and ourselves, as diligently to examine, and faithfully bring to account (for this the word thinking on strictly denotes in the original) our duty and our practice under each article; and compute the goodness of our condition, not by the share that we possess, either of the gay, or the folemn trifles, to which alone men commonly attend; but folely by the refult of this momentuous inquiry, made with great impartiality, and with earnest prayer for the divine illumination. Nor will thinking on our spiritual state, merely enough to know it, benefit us; without thinking effectually how to mend and improve it: by imploring God's pardon for every thing wrong, and afcribing to his grace every thing right in us; and asking and using his future afsistance, to withstand all temptation, and increase in all goodness. These things, therefore, think on and do: and the God of peace shall be with you *. made SERMON XXXVIII. ON THE DIVINE INSPIRATION OF SCRIPTURE. 2 Тім. ііі. 16, 17. All fcripture is given by inspiration of God: and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: that the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works. MAN is by nature ignorant and thoughtless : and therefore wants information and admonition. He is also prone to evil, and averse from good: and therefore wants reftraint from the former, and incitement to the latter. Without the afsistance, which we receive one from another in these respects, we should be wicked and wretched beyond imagination. But though we should be most defective in a state of folitude, yet we are very deplorably so, even when joined to the beft advantage in society. Many points of the utmost moment, relating both to our present and future condition, we either cannot difcover at all, or not with certainty: many, which we might, not even the wifer, much lefs the greater part, have in fact known: and those, which brardly any could fail to perceive, all have, more or lefs, failed to regard. Most of these things are visibly mens own fault: and the rest are no imputation upon God. For unquestionably he may with justice place any of his creatures in as low a state, both of understanding and moral ability, as he pleases: provided he requires from them, as he certainly will, only in proportion to what he hath given. And even his infinite goodness cannot oblige him to bestow on them greater favoura, VOL. I. 3 I favours, than his infinite wisdom fees to be proper: which it is no wonder should act upon reafons, to us unsearchable. But the less we have ground to expect, the more thankfully we ought to receive whatever notices, encouragements or warnings, he may vouchsafe more immediately from himself. Now we have in our hands a book, which we call the Bible: containing accounts of various communications made to mankind by their Creator from the beginning; but principally through the hands of Mofes and the prophets; of Jefus Christ and his disciples; together with great numbers of most important consequences from thence resulting. Both parts of this book are credibly affirmed to be written by perfons, who must in the main have known the truth or falsehood of what they say: none of whom have given grounds to fufpect their veracity; but many, the strongest possible grounds to rely on it. They support the authority of the doctrines and precepts delivered there by express prophecies and public miracles, recounted there alfo: which prophecies have, most of them, undeniably been fince fulfilled, nor do any appear to have failed; and which miracles, though they could never have been acknowledged if they had not been real, were, so far as we can learn, denied by no one, either at the time when they were faid to be done, or long after. On the contrary, the Old Testament hath always been admitted as true and genuine, by the whole Jewith nation: and the Pentateuch in particular, used as the law of their country; though it appoints more things than one to be done, so utterly and vifibly contrary to human policy, that they must proceed from Him, whose extraordinary Providence alone could make them practicable with fafety; and others, too contrary to human inclinations for men to have chosen, without being fure that God required them. And as to the writers of the New Testament, it is still more certain, that their works were published near the time and in the places, where they affirm the events, which they relate, came to pass: that they agree surprisingly well, though in general they were unlearned perfons, and plainly had not concerted their story together: that they led pious and virtuous lives: that they were willing to fuffer death for the fake of their teftimony. And accordingly the whole Christian church from its rife embraced their narrations with a faith, which neither artifice nor perfecution were able to overturn, or keep it from prevailing |