V.

SERM. Bereans, fo highly applauded by St. Paul, every man ought to attend to the candle of the Lord within him; I mean, thofe original notices of truth, of the divine perfections, and the effential differences of moral good and evil, which are deeply engraven on our minds. These are the standards by which all pretences to divine revelation are to be tried, and nothing can be reasonably embraced as a doctrine from God which contradicts them, there being no evidence of any heavenly com→ miflion to teach religious truth equal to that irresistible evidence which the light of nature gives us of those first principles of reason and natural religion. If this rule had been duly confidered, men could not have been led by any authority whatfoever to embrace fuch abfurdities as tranfubftantiation, and that finners may make attonement for their fins by voluntary fufferings and fuperftitious external de

votions.

Lastly, the best means of attaining to religious knowledge, is, doing what we know to be the will of God. The efficacy and fuccefs of this means refts upon the promise of our Saviour, * If any man will do his (God's

will,) he shall know the doctrine which is ofSERM. God; not that he fhall be infallible in all V. points, or fet above the poffibility of error or ignorance in matters of religion; but he shall certainly know what is abfolutely neceffary to be known, and be preferv'd from pernicious mistakes. But this is the fatal cause of unbelief, either of the whole gospel doctrine, or fome of its most important articles which have the most direct and immediate in fluence on practice, this, I fay, is the cause of fuch unbelief, and of condemnation for it, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds are evil. The greatest hinderance of men's attaining the knowledge of the truth in matters of religion, is a vicious difpofition; the prevalence of evil habits and strong predominant lufts and paffions, which blind their understandings. Above all others, the fcorner, tho' he take fome pains in feeking wif dom fhall not find it; and the fenfual debauch'd man cannot difcern the things of God which are spiritually difcerned; but if the eye of the mind be fingle, not vitiated with corrupt affections, with the love of the world, and the things of the world, the whole man is full of light; for as the natural eye is fitted

to

SERM. to difcern light and colours, and the ear perV. ceives founds, fo the upright unbiaffed judg

ment difcovers the doctrines of truth; they are an object connatural to it, and our Saviour tells us, that his sheep, that is, his true difciples, who are fincerely difpofed to follow him, know his voice, and can distinguish between it and the voice of ftrangers; that is, the voice of error. I conclude with that

gra

cious declaration God has made in favour of his upright fervants, * The fecret of the Lord is with them that fear him, and he will fhew them his covenant.

Pf. xxv. 14.

T

SERMON VI

Of Temperance.

A

2 Pet. i. 6.

And to Knowledge, Temperance.

LL men who have had any juft fenfe SERM.

of morality and religion, whether by VI. the light of nature, or by pofitive'

inftitution, have numbered temperance among the most neceffary virtues; by which they understand such a due government of our appetites and paffions, as that we may not be led by them into thofe exceffes which are unbecoming the dignity of our reasonable nature, or which may interfere with our duty any other respect.

in

Every one is fenfible that man is a com. pounded being, made up not only of the grofs corporeal part, which we call our own body, by the organs whereof, we perceive other ob jects about us, and which is moved according to

the

SERM. the direction of the mind; but there is alfo VI. in our conftitution an inward felf-conscious principle, indued with understanding and other powers, which will not admit of matter or any of its qualities into the idea of them. We find in ourselves a great variety of capacities and affections which have very different tendencies, fuch as, reafon, a power of perceiving and investigating truth, of comparing things in order to discover their various relations, connection, and dependencies, their agreement or disagreement. We have liberty, a power of chufing or determining ourselves; we have appetites, which incline us to fenfible objects fuitable to the body, or the present animal state; affections to other beings, according to the qualities or motives of affection which are apprehended to be in them. And Confcience, a power of judging ourfelves, our own difpofitions and actions according to the differences of moral good and evil, which our minds as neceffarily perceive as we diftinguish light and darkness by our eyes, or sweet and bitter by our taste.

Since there is fuch a variety in our compofition, there must be fome government, else there can be no harmony nor, indeed, happinefs. It cannot be that every power should