[Sund 1. recover the lustre and brightness of those principles, which God originally implanted in them, though now sullied and impaired by the corruptions of mankind; and to add such improvements as might draw human nature to a true sense of its own bad state and weakness; and to instruct men in the method of obtaining pardon of their offended Creator. On the contrary,

The design of those, who would undermine Christianity, is plainly this; they are for carving out a religion for themselves, instead of leaving that work to a Being of unerring wisdom. The consequence of which is, that they always take up with a maimed and defective morality, instead of a fixed and determined scheme of duties, complete in all its parts, and consistent upon the whole. They are for contriving a religion, that may sit easy upon them, suited rather to their own vicious relish of things, than to the genuine standard of uncorrupted reason. They are for doing what seems good in their own short-sighted eyes, dimmed by passion; instead of acquiescing in the will of that Being, who seeth not as man seeth, and hath at sundry times, and in divers manners spoken, in times past, unto the fathers by the prophets; but in these last days speaketh unto us by his son Jesus Christ. In which revelation are contained articles of faith to be believed; precepts of life to be practised; and motives and arguments to enforce obedience. From which it is natural to collect, that the knowledge of the holy scriptures is necessary to our eternal salvation; because these are the great and standing revelation of God to mankind; wherein the nature of God, and his will concerning our duty, and the terms and conditions of our eternal happiness in another world, are fully and plainly declared to us.

Therefore, though there be some things in the scriptures, which our reason and understanding cannot fathom; yet, be, cause we are satisfied they are revealed by God who cannot lie, whose knowledge is infallible, and whose word is true, we ought, upon this higher and superior reason, to yield a firm assent to the truth of them. And I add, that though some complain the Bible is not clear and determinate enough as to certain points; yet, if I mistake not, the main quarrel against it will prove to be, that it is too clear and determinate in enjoining certain duties, and forbidding certain vices. And though we meet therein with many precepts of life, which corrupt nature may be unwilling to put in practice; yet we must remember it is the Lord who commands them, and we must obey with the resignation becoming a child of God; Lord, not my will but thine be done s

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who by the mouth of his apostle has expressly commanded us to live SOBERLY, RIGHTEOUSLY, and GODLY in this present world: where, by the word soberly, we are to understand our duty to OURSELVES; by the word righteously, our duty to our NEIGHBOUR; aud by the word godly, our duty to GOD. And as religion itself is that purity, or that virtuous temper and dis position of mind, which exerts itself in a constant endeavour of being like unto God, and obeying his commands; which is the principal distinction of men from the inferior orders of creatures, and upon which alone are grounded all hopes of life and happiness hereafter; so the great end and design of religion is, by the trial of men's virtue and integrity in the present world, to qualify them for the happiness of that which is to come; that they, who have been faithful in a small and temporary trust committed to them here, may hereafter be put in possession of a never-fading inheritance, which shall be their own for ever.

In a matter of so great importance, therefore, it is very won derful, that a man, who calls himself a reasonable creature, should be careless and indifferent; careless, whether he has any religion, or none; indifferent, whether his religion, when he does profess any, be true or false; careless, when he has embraced the true religion, whether he makes any improvement in his practice answerable to it, or not: so that the foundation of a Christian's duty is a due regard of God, of our nighbour, and of ourselves: of which duties I shall treat in their proper order. First then,

II. Our duty to God is, to believe in him; to fear him; to love him with all our heart, with all our mind, with all our soul, and with all our strength; to worship him; to give him thanks; to put our whole trust in him; to call upon him; to honour his holy name, and his word; and to serve him truly all the days of our life*. In which short description of our duty to God, we are directed to believe and acknowledge the being and self-existence of a God; that he is from everlasting and world without end; that he is a spirit whom no man hath seen, nor can see; that he is the great creator and preserver of all things, the father of lights, in whom there is no variableness, neither shadow of turning, clothed with the infinite perfections of power, wisdom, and goodness, from which all the other divine attributes do flow; and that in the godhead there are three distinct

See the second Answer after the Commandments in the Church Catechism.

persons, God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost. Therefore he who cometh to God, must thus believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them who diligently seek him. And

It is in vain to make profession of religion, without being first well instructed and firmly persuaded of the being and attributes of God. Right notions of which' every one knows are the foundation of all religion: but then this knowledge must not be a bare speculation; but a serious, practical, affecting impression, and deep sense upon the mind, of a Supreme Being, who created the world by his power, preserves and governs it by his goodness and wisdom, and will judge it with justice, mercy, and truth: of such a Supreme Being whose glory no eye can behold; whose majesty no thought can comprehend; whose power no strength can resist; from whose presence no swiftness can flee; from whose knowledge no secret can be concealed; whose justice no art can evade; whose goodness every creature partakes of: so that the duty of believing in God implies, not only our believing his existence, and his being governor and judge of the world; but also that we have worthy and honourable apprehensions of his nature and attributes. Now, as without belief in God, there can be no religion; so where there is such a belief in God, the scripture always in course supposes it accompanied with every other part of true religion; and what those parts are I shall now inform you. Wherefore

Our first approach to God is by FAITH; without which it is impossible to please God. Now faith is a firm belief of things at present not seen; a conviction upon the mind of the truth of the promises and threatenings of God made known in the scriptures; of the certain reality of the rewards and punishments of the life to come; which enables a man, in opposition to all the temptations of a corrupt world, to obey God in expectation of an invisible reward hereafter. As faith also is a sincere persuasion of the mind, concerning the certainty or credibility of any truth or fact arising from another's testimony, the reason of faith in the holy scriptures is strong and forcible; because that is the testimony of God, concerning those things in which are contained the means of eternal life, which may properly be reduced to these particulars; affirmations, commands, promises, and threatenings. And

First, of his affirmations: such are the creation of the world; hte dispensations of Providence in former ages; and, above all, the Son of God manifested in the flesh; his life, and death, and

resurrection, and ascension into heaven; the distinction of the blessed Trinity into Father, Son, and Holy Ghost; the second coming of Christ; the resurrection of the dead; the last judgment, and the rewards and punishments which will ensue upon. it. These affirmations of God contained in scripture, though above our understanding, and not to be perceived by sense, uor to be seen through with the closest application; yet, if we have. faith and trust in his promises, become present unto us.

The next instance by which we are to show our faith in God's word, is to believe that all his commands are true, just, and fit to be commanded; and that they are the rule and measure of our obedience, to show us wherein, and how we must obey him. Therefore our faith in his commands must be constantly shown by our sincere obedience.

The third thing in scripture, which demands our belief, are God's promises of outward necessaries, present ease and refreshinent, and of all the benefits of Christ's death and` passion; the promise of divine guidance to the weakness of our understandings and judgments; of strength in tribulations; grace under temptations; and of acceptance and pardon upon our faith and sincere endeavours; which is always to be accounted a necessary condition on our part. The end therefore of our belief in God's promises is to incite us to perform the conditions, which, when we have done, we may justly apply the promises to ourselves, and expect our share in them: but till then, how sure soever we believe these promises to be, we cannot hope for any benefit from them; seeing we are not the persons to whom they were made, until we have performed the conditions they require.

We are also to believe that God is just and powerful, that he will and is able to punish sinners both with spiritual and temporal afflictions, and eternal destruction; and we are not only to believe that the terrors of the Lord are recorded for our admonition and caution; but to preserve us from those sins to which these punishments are justly threatened; and to recover us to repentance, when we have fallen; or to fortify us against compliance in the hour of temptation. This is the object of faith fitted to work upon our minds on account of its certainty and importance. We have all the assurance of the truth of these that we are capable of in this life, from the dictates of reason, and a general consent of mankind; beside the most credible revelation of these things in the gospel. How strange then is it, that some satisfy themselves with the zeal they express for the

profession of the true religion, though they dishonour that profession by unrighteous works! That others expect to obtain salvation by the strength of their faith, utterly mistaking the very meaning of the word faith; apprehending it to signify credulity, instead of fidelity; and that they shall be accepted for being confident, instead of faithful servants! That some depend upon certain things that can be done for them by others; as if any thing could, in the religious sense, be of any advantage to any man, which does not at all make him the better man! That others rely upon the merits of Christ; deceiving themselves with an expectation that Christ will rescue them from punishment, though they themselves reject all the motives by which the gospel proposes to rescue them from sin! And as to the importance of this faith, every one must own, that the highest hopes and the greatest fears are sufficient springs of human actions for, what can concern us more than eternal happiness and eternal misery ? Thus we may observe, that faith in God, through Jesus Christ, includes our obedience to his laws, and produces, in the heart of a sincere and true believer, a humble hope in his promises. DII. A second duty to God is HOPE; which is a strong reliance aud dependence upon the truth and goodness of the Lord, for his performance of those things promised on his part; which also is a condition of our acceptance with him. So that a humble hope, the effect of faith, is a proper homage to God upon the foot of his infallible truth, that he neither can be mistaken himself, nor is under any temptation to deceive us. Whatever he says must be true, and accordingly claims our firm hope and dependence, though we can have no other evidence for it beside his word: yet we should indeed be very careful, that we have the word of God to support our hope, and that we have used the best means in our power to understand the true meaning of God's word; which are the only means to guard us against those two pernicious extremes, presumption and despair, which interrupt or destroy this duty. Therefore, though the apostle has taught in general to hope all things, we must watch our own corruption, and not suffer it to rely too much upon our own strength. For we are guilty of the great sin of presumption, when we neglect those means of grace, which are established in order to enable us to perform our duty; when we rashly run ourselves into temptations, presuming upon our own ability to encounter them; and even in those trials that the providence of God brings upon us, when we trust more to our own resolution than to his divine assistance: and consequently he who hopes