the armour of prejudice on, is to fight like a coward: for, whether he fhews fkill or not in his defence, he is fafe, merely because he is impenetrable.

We all profefs to feek truth; the unbeliever himself generally does fo: but furely prejudice is not a proper temper of mind for a man to meet truth in. It throws a veil over the most visible object, or rather hinders the eye of the mind from feeing things in their true light. Hence it is that fome men are blind to the great truths of Christianity, which are clearly revealed in the New Testament, and which all fects of Chriftians unanimously agree to believe in. As Chriftianity is to be found in the New Teftament, free from all the ar bitrary additions of men, nothing is more worthy of God to give, or of men to receive for a rule of faith and practice for all the arguments from prophecies and miracles, and from the exemplary lives of the founders of Christianity, which once gained over converts in abundance, are ftill in their full force and vigour with this addition to the weight of them, that fome of the prophecies of the New Testament have been fully accomplished

fince thofe early days, and the wifer and less prejudiced part of mankind have all along been convinced of its genuine and divine authority.

Let us therefore not give way to any fuch unbelief: for, bad as the ftate of Christianity is, we have very comforting affurances, no less than divine promifes in favour of its fupport and continuance in the world. Chrift is our Head and Governor, our Lord and King, and he must reign, as the fcriptures affure us, till he hath put all enemies under his feet. He who Spoiled principalities and powers, making a fhew of them openly, and triumphing over them, at his afcenfion into heaven, can now, while he is in heaven, do as much to preferve his church, as he then did to raise it. With this well-grounded hope let us bold faft our profeffion, and let no good man think the worfe of it because bad men think no better of it. A wicked and immoral man does, perhaps, lefs harm to our religion, when he declares against it, than when he lives in the

a In fragili corpore omnis odiofa offenfio.

T

Cicero de Sen. c. 18.*

b

I Cor. xv. 27.

c Colof. ii. 15.

profeffion

profeffion, though not the practice of it; as an open enemy is often lefs able to do mifchief than a falfe friend. Such men know very well, that while they keep their fins they cannot be faved in the Chriftian religion: and, therefore what great difference is it to them whether they believe or not? They can have no advantage from it: nay, they have an intereft in its not being true: and therefore they have a wide door always standing open to unbelief.

I do not affirm that every unbeliever is a man of bad morals, though experience fhews us that it is too often fo: but where innocency of life is feen, or the want of it is not Seen, yet fometimes pride and felf-conceit, and an unhappy affectation of novelty and fingularity runs away with men, and hurries them into wild and extravagant opinions. But let us learn to speak forth the words of truth and foberness, and study to know the reason of the hope that is in us; and having thrown off the whole body of fin, and being transformed by the renewing of our minds,a we shall then be able to prove (or, difcern) what is that good, and acceptable and perfect will of God.

Pilate faith unto him, what is truth? And, when he had faid this, he went out again unto the Jews. Al

O

NE of the accufations, which the Jews brought against our bleffed Saviour at his trial, was, that they had found him Saying that he was [Chrift] a king. But, when he was questioned upon this head by the Roman governor, he declared, that his kingdom was not of this world; and that the end, for which he was born, was, that he might bear witness to the truth.

b

Upon this, Pilate demanded of him, what that truth was but we do not find, that he waited for any anfwer to his question; for, b John xviii. 36. Tb. ver. 37.

a Luke xxiii. 2.