Chapter XV: Part 15

Besides, if it were possible for us to explain all things in nature, and to write a perfect book of natural philosophy with the most accurate skill, yet it would not follow that we must know God the Creator to perfection. The things of God are infinitely superior to the things of men. The nature of a Creator in his manner of existence is infinitely above the nature of creatures in theirs. It is fit there should be something belonging to God an infinite Spirit, that is incomprehensible, and above the power of finite spirits to comprehend, and fully search out and explain. It ought therefore to be no just ground of shame to the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, that it has mysteries in it, that is to say, that it has some doctrines in it, which we could never have found out by the mere light of reason; and some truths, the full explication whereof we can never attain to, since there are many things in the world of nature, in the world of bodies and souls, and many things in natural religion, which we cannot fully explain.

II. Another occasion of reproach, which men fasten upon the gospel, is, that some of the doctrines are so singular and contrary to the common opinions and reasonings of men; such as that the ever-blessed God should want a satisfaction, in order to pardon sin with honour; that he should punish the most innocent and obedient man that ever lived, even his own Son, for the sins of wicked and rebellious creatures; that we should be freed from hell, which we had deserved, by the sufferings of another in our stead; that one man should be justified with another’s obedience; nay, that ten thousands of men should be pardoned and justified for the sake of the obedience and death of one single man; that all our own repentance is not sufficient of itself to obtain our pardon; and our holiness, be it never so great, does not procure us a title to the favour of God and heaven; that dead bodies, though mouldered in the grave for thousands of years, should be raised again to life and immortality: These are such strange doctrines, so very foreign to the common sentiments of most men, that some of the Athenians cried out, “_What does this babbler mean?_” A man should be ashamed of these things; the very heathen philosophers called it foolishness.

But now to remove this scandal, let us consider that many of these things are not so contrary to the reason of men as some think: As for the satisfaction made for our sins by the sufferings of Christ, did not almost all the heathen world suppose that God would not pardon sin without satisfaction? What else mean all their bloody sacrifices? And why did they sometimes proceed so far as to murder men, and offer them to God for their sins? I confess indeed, that many of the philosophers and learned men amongst them, who derided the gospel of Christ, did also despise the sacrifices and religious ceremonies of their own countrymen, believing that God would be merciful to men that were penitent and pious, without any rites of atonement and sacrifice. But it is as evident also, that the people had a general notion of the necessity of some atonement for sin, and that the more valuable the sacrifice was, the sooner was their god appeased, and the benefit procured would be more extensive, howsoever the philosophers might ridicule it. It is manifest then, that many of the heathens did imagine that the death and sufferings of one person would procure pardon and immunities for a whole multitude. And upon this principle some of the ancient Romans, now and then, out of nobility of spirit, devoted themselves to death, to appease the anger of the gods, for their whole country. Thus it appears, that the business of satisfaction for sin, and the doctrine of expiation and atonement by the blood and death of a surety, was not so utterly unknown in the world.

I add farther, that the notion of one person’s making satisfaction for the crime of another in human and political affairs, has been sometimes practised, and thought to be very intelligible; and why should it be counted so very monstrous and absurd in things divine? Do we understand what it is for one man to become a surety for another, or for a criminal to be set free from punishment by the voluntary substitution of another person in his stead? Are we not well acquainted what it is for one man to pay the debt of another, and the original person that was obliged thereby, to become free? Do we not know what it is for a whole family of children to inherit a possession for many ages, one after another, for some noble acts and services of their father? Therefore honour, and glory, and happiness, bestowed upon a multitude, for the sake of what one man has done, is not so unintelligible a thing as some men would persuade us. Why should that be esteemed impossible in the affair of religion, which is evident and plainly practicable in the affairs of this world?

Again, they think it strange that our repentance should not be enough to obtain the pardon of past sins, and our own obedience should not procure heaven for us. But are not traitors and robbers, and all notorious criminals punished in all governments, notwithstanding their repentances? Can their sorrow for what is past, procure a pardon of their prince? Who then would be punished? And is man’s government in punishing criminals, without a satisfaction, just and reasonable? And shall God’s government be counted unreasonable? Can future obedience among men obtain forgiveness for past treason and rebellion? And why then should you think the great God is obliged to accept of it?

As for the resurrection of the dead, though it was counted a strange thing among the heathens, when it was preached to them, yet in these latter days, since the knowledge of God and his glorious attributes has been so much increased, and the reason of men has freely exercised itself upon things divine and human; the resurrection is not counted any impossible thing, nor the doctrine of it incredible. And I am verily persuaded if men, whom God has endued with large capacities and great skill in reasoning, would but employ those talents to write a rational account of most of the doctrines of our Lord Jesus Christ, it might be done with much glory and success.

As for those few doctrines of christianity, which may at first appear less reasonable to men, their abundant attestation from heaven demands our belief.

III. Another occasion of reproach is, that the gospel teaches mortification and self-denial in a very great degree, conflicting with our natural appetites, and fighting against our own flesh and blood: And all that it promises is an unseen heaven, a future reward, a far distant happiness in another country, which eye has not seen, nor ear heard of, nor the heart of man conceived. A mere spiritual pleasure, that is to be enjoyed by the mind, and which the body shall not taste of, till perhaps after a thousand years or more. Now, as under the former head, the doctrines of the gospel are a scandal to the men of reasoning, so under this they become a scandal and reproach to those that are literally called men of sense, who are carnalized and immersed in sensuality. They think it strange to forego the joys of sense for the hopes of enjoying a happiness in a world they do not know when or where.

But I need not stand long to answer this calumny; for even some of the refined philosophers gave sufficient rebuke to this sensual temper: The very heathens could say enough to abate this censure, and to remove this occasion of shame, though the gospel of Christ does it infinitely better.

Christianity does not abridge us of the common comforts of flesh and blood, nor lay an unreasonable restraint upon any natural appetite; but it teaches us to live like men, and not like brutes; to regulate and manage our animal nature with its desires and inclinations, so as to enjoy life in the most proper and becoming manner; to eat and drink, and taste the bounties of providence, to the honour of our Creator, and to the best interest of our souls.

But, suppose, we were forbid all the indulgence of our appetites, and the delights of sense, by the gospel; surely, those who know what intellectual pleasures are, who can relish the joy that belongs to spirits, will not be much terrified with these objections, nor deride the faith of Christ, because it does not propose to them the reward of an earthly paradise. The rewards of the gospel are indeed spiritual till the resurrection, but those spiritual pleasures shall vastly over-balance all that toil, sorrow and suffering, we have passed through on earth, and all that self-denial which we have exercised. But when the body shall be raised again, our refined delights of all kinds shall be infinitely satisfying: We shall not say, that God has dealt our happiness to us with a niggardly hand, but that he has exceeded all his promises, when we shall come to taste the things God has prepared for us, which eye hath not seen, or ear heard of.

IV. Another prejudice against the gospel is this; some persons charge it with much of enthusiasm; and that the doctrine of the operations of the Spirit, and the expectation of his divine assistance to instruct us in truth, to mortify sin in us, and to enable us to perform holy duties, has too much of a visionary and fanciful turn of mind, and does not become men that profess reason.

But if such objectors were better acquainted with themselves, and knew the weakness of their own reason in the search after truth, and the various and plausible errors that attend their enquiries on every side; if they were better acquainted with the strength of temptation, the power of their own sinful appetites, and the weakness of their will to resist sin, and to fulfil the rules of righteousness: surely they would not think it a ridiculous thing to lift up a prayer to the great God to guide them into truth, and to assist them to walk steadily in the paths of religion and virtue. If they had but a deep and lively sense of their own insufficiency for every thing that is good, and of the many dangers and enemies that beset them, they would rather see infinite reason to bless their Creator, that has given them any promise or hope of the aids of his grace.

Nor is it at all fantastical or irrational to suppose, that the great and blessed God, who made these spirits of ours, should kindly act upon them, and influence them by secret and divine methods to their duty and their happiness; that he should send his own Spirit to help them onward in their proper business, which is to serve him here; and assist them in the pursuit of their true blessedness, which is, to enjoy him hereafter.

Methinks it is one of the glories of the gospel of Christ, that God has not only sent his Son to purchase heaven for us, but continually sends down his own Spirit to lead every humble christian in the way thither. When a poor penitent creature, distressed under a sense of the power of sin, dwelling in him, who has long and often toiled and laboured to bring his heart near to God, and to suppress the irregular and exorbitant appetites of his nature, addresses himself to the throne of God, and cries earnestly for divine help, it is a glorious provision that is made in the gospel of Christ, that the Spirit of God is promised for our assistance. Nor is it at all unworthy of a person of the greatest reason and the best understanding, humbly to wait and hope for the accomplishment of this promise. Thus the charge of enthusiasm vanishes, and the gospel maintains its honour.

V. The last objection against the doctrines of the gospel of Christ, is, that they are not sufficiently attested, that there is not ground enough given to credit the divinity of them in our age. They are ready to say, “These things were done, according as ourselves profess, above sixteen hundred years ago, and we have not sufficient credentials to venture our faith upon it at this day.”

It would be too long here to repeat over to you half the grounds we have for faith in this gospel. That there was such a man as Jesus Christ; that he lived at such a time at Jerusalem; that he wrought wondrous works in his own country, is not at all disbelieved by those that profess any reasonable faith in human history. The Jews themselves, who were his greatest enemies, do not deny that he wrought those miracles, which others could not work; but they pretend, that he did it by some magic art, by diabolical charms: and wrought miracles not by the power of God, but by virtue derived from spells and evil spirits. So that the miracles he wrought were not disbelieved and denied, but the heavenly spring of them is impiously perverted and turned downward, as though Christ borrowed his power from hell to transact these affairs. But the holiness and the heavenly temper of the gospel of Christ refutes this accusation. Satan was never known to demolish his own kingdom of ungodliness in such a manner as this. The gospel of Christ in every part of it has a most singular and sublime tendency to advance the name, the attributes, and the honour of God, whom Satan hates with a perfect hatred: He would never lend his assisting hand to support a scheme of religion so divine and holy.

Never was any body of doctrines and of duties so composed and calculated to promote the glory of God, nor the good of man, as this gospel does: Our peace and happiness would be secured by it on earth, if all men would comply with it, and our felicity after death is the great and indefeasible proposal and design of it: Now Satan is a restless enemy to men, his fellow-creatures, as well as to God, his Maker; and he would never exert the remains of his angelic power to encourage and defend such a pious and beneficent religion.

But the most amazing progress and success of the gospel is another argument that proves it to be divine, even when devils and magicians opposed it as well as princes and philosophers. That the gospel itself, without the force of arms, that a naked gospel, that seems so incredible as this did, should spread itself throughout the world in so short a space of time, that by the preaching of a few despised persons, and several of them fishermen that were utterly unlearned: That this gospel should triumph over all the powers and policies of men and hell: That it should make its way in opposition to the wisdom of philosophers, and the will of princes, and all the temptations and terrors of this world: This is another miracle, which perhaps is as divine and convincing as any of the preceding wonders, that attested this gospel, when it was first preached.

I add also the testimony of prophecy to that of miracles. The wondrous and exact accomplishment of many prophecies since our Lord Jesus Christ dwelt on earth in the days of his flesh, confirm his gospel. The prophecies that he himself gave forth from God, is another testimony of this gospel, which is uncontrollable. The destruction of Jerusalem, the time and methods of its destruction, and the terrors of it, may be read in Mat. xxiv. And if you read the history of Josephus, a Jew, you find so many parallels, that you may say Christ did foretel it indeed.

I might here subjoin the predictions of the apostles, particularly that of St. Paul, and St. John, concerning the rise and spirit of antichrist, wherein the church of Rome so clearly answers the language of the visions and prophecies. But the brightest and most uncontrollable witness of prophecy to the truth of the gospel, is the most exact and punctual accomplishments of all the predictions of the Old Testament, in the life and death, the resurrection and glory of Jesus Christ our Lord. From the first promise given to Adam in the garden, down to the words of Malachi, the last of the prophets, you find every thing that was said of him fulfilled in his history. And thus the books of the Jews, wherein they placed all their hopes, confirm the gospel of Christ, and refute and confound their own infidelity: So that if ever I had been a Jew, and did believe Moses and the prophets, I think I am constrained to be a christian, and believe in Jesus Christ.

Thus I have endeavoured to answer those objections against the gospel, which are pretended to arise from the truths or doctrines of it: And before I proceed to answer those cavils which are raised against it, because of the professors of it, I must finish the present discourse with a word or two of improvement.

Use 1. If this be a gospel not to be ashamed of, then study it well: Learn the truths and doctrines of it thoroughly: Truths and doctrines, which St. Paul, so wise, and so great a man, did not blush to profess, and preach, and die for. Value it as he valued it: The more you know it, the more you will esteem it; and the better you are acquainted with all the glorious articles of it, the less you will be ashamed of it: The divine harmony of the whole will cast a beauty and a lustre on every part.

Use 2. Furnish yourselves with arguments for it daily, that you may profess it without shame, and defend it without blushing: This is a day of temptation, and you know not what conversation you may be called into by divine providence; you know not what cavils you may meet with to assault your faith, and attack christianity. _Be ready therefore to give reasons of the hope that is in you_, and to make a just and pertinent reply to gainsayers, and convince those, if possible, that are led away captive by the wiles of the devil to forsake Christ and his gospel. Let not every turn of wit, or sleight of argument and sophistry, make you waver in your faith. It is a gospel that will bear the trial of reasonings and reproaches. It has something in itself that is divine, and therefore it is able to support the professors of it against an army of cavillers.

Use 3. Submit to all the institutions of it. Profess the whole of the gospel; not only the doctrines, but the ordinances of this gospel, are divine and glorious; they have something in them that shew they come from God, and they have something in them that evidently leads to God. They have all something in their sense and signification that discovers divinity. Wait upon God therefore in all his ordinances, in the assemblies of christians, that you _may see his power and his glory in his own sanctuary_, and that you may, from your own experience, be able to say, that the gospel is too great, too glorious, too divine a thing in its doctrines and worship, and in all its institutions, for you ever to be ashamed of. It has now, for sixteen ages, endured the test of the wit, and the rage of earth and hell, and it shall stand in power and glory, till the heavens be no more.

HYMN FOR SERMON XV.
_A Rational Defence of the Gospel._

Shall atheists dare insult the cross,
Of our Redeemer God?
Shall infidels reproach his laws,
Or trample on his blood?

What if he chuse mysterious ways,
To cleanse us from our faults?
May not the works of sov’reign grace
Transcend our feeble thoughts!

What if his gospel bids us fight
With flesh, and self, and sin?
The prize is most divinely bright,
Which we are call’d to win.

What if the foolish and the poor,
His glorious grace partake?
This but confirms his truth the more,
For so the prophets spake.

Do some that own his sacred name,
Indulge their souls in sin?
Jesus should never bear the blame,
His laws are pure and clear.

Then let our faith grow firm and strong
Our lips profess his word;
Nor blush, nor fear to walk among
The men that love the Lord.

SERMON XVI.
_A Rational Defence of the Gospel: Or, Courage in Professing
Christianity._
ROM. i. 16.—I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ, for it is the
power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth.
THE SECOND PART.

There are many in the world who call themselves christians, and boast in the name; yet if you ask them what the gospel of Christ is, they are either struck into confusion and silence, or they give such an awkward and impertinent answer, as sufficiently discovers they know little of the religion of Christ, or of the sacred name into which they were baptized. Now that we may act and speak as becomes persons endued with reason, I thought it necessary at first to give some account what this gospel is, that you might know and understand, the religion which you profess; and if ye will glory in the name of christian, ye may be able to tell what it is you mean by christianity.

By reading the books of the New Testament, wherein the gospel is contained, you will find this to be the sum and substance of it, _viz._ that it is a wise, a holy, and a gracious constitution of God for the recovery of sinful man, by sending his own Son Jesus Christ into the flesh, to obey his law which man had broken, to make a proper atonement for sin by his death, and thus to procure the favour of God, and eternal happiness, for all that believe and repent, and receive this offered salvation; together with a promise of the holy Spirit to work this faith and repentance in their hearts, to renew their sinful natures unto holiness, to form them on earth fit for this happiness, and to bring them to the full possession of it in heaven.

I have shewn, in the next place, what St. Paul meant, when he told the Romans he was not ashamed of this gospel: He was neither ashamed to believe it as a man, nor to profess it as a christian, nor to preach it to others as a minister, nor to defend it as a good soldier of Christ, nor to suffer and die for it as a martyr.

The third thing which I proposed, was to make it appear, that all the occasions of shame, which men of infidelity pretend to raise from this gospel, may be answered upon the fair and just principles of reason and argument. The first sort of reproaches are those which are cast upon the doctrines of the gospel, and I hope I have rolled them away.

I repeat no more of these things, but proceed to the next sort of occasions of shame, and these are such as are supposed to arise from the professors of this gospel; and I shall endeavour to shew you also Low they may be answered. They are chiefly these four.

I. Some will say, “The professors of this gospel in the beginning were the weak, and foolish, and mean things of this world; but it was despised by the wise, it was scorned by the great and honourable, and persecuted by the mighty. Why should a Paul, a pharisee, a doctor of the law, become a follower of a carpenter’s Son, and associate with a parcel of fishermen? This is a scandal, and foolish indeed. _Who among the pharisees or rulers have believed on him_; John vii. 48.” This was the stumbling-block of the gospel in that age, and it is the stumbling-block at which many persons take offence in our age too. “It is the unthinking multitude, say they, the mere mob of mankind, that are led away with the noise of strange things and the gospel. And it is only those who have no relish of good sense that can dispense with mysteries. The poorer and weaker sort of men and women flock after your powerful preachers of the gospel, but wise men despise it.” I am very glad, my friends, if in your conversation you meet with no such persons that ridicule the gospel at this rate. But there are many in our age and nation arrived at this height of pride and contempt of the gospel.

This objection may have more answers than one given to it; as _first_, it is a matter of unjust reproach, and it is false in fact; for all the professors of this gospel are not weak and unlearned. There have been in the very beginning of christianity some wise, some great persons, that have given testimony to this gospel by their believing it. St. Paul was a man of no weak reason, no mean understanding, no small learning, and yet he believes this gospel, and professes he is not ashamed of it.

And there have been in most ages of the church some instances of the power and success of this gospel in converting philosophers and senators and princes. The learned, the ingenious, and the noble amongst mankind have sometimes given up their names to Christ, have yielded their assent to his doctrines, and conformed their hearts and lives to the rules of his gospel. Men of wit and reason have been converted to the faith, and then have exerted their peculiar talents in the defence of christianity, and they have convinced the world that they had neither left their reason nor their wit behind them when they became christians. Men of grandeur and power have sometimes also supported it with honour.

But the number of these have not been exceeding great. God has ordained that there should be some, to shew that it is no foolish and unreasonable doctrine, that it is not a religion unworthy of kings, nor unbecoming the wisest and the greatest of characters. But if there have been but a few great and wise have embraced it, it is evident that its success and glory is not owing to the wisdom and power of men, but to the divinity of its doctrines, and the power of God.

Besides, I might tell you, _secondly_, that riches, and grandeur, and elevated degrees of wit and learning, become a sore temptation to pride of mind and self-sufficiency. Now the faith of the gospel is founded in humility, and self-diffidence, and poverty of spirit; and this is one plain reason why it was received by so few of the rich, and the learned, and the mighty among men, though it was contrived and invented by God himself.

I answer, in the _third_ place, that it is one of the designed characters of the true gospel of Christ, and it is foretold by the ancient prophets, that when it should come to be preached upon the earth, the poor should receive it. Its reception by the poor and weak among men, is one evidence that it comes from God; Mat. xi. 5. When John the baptist sent his disciples to our Saviour to know whether he was the Messiah, or must they expect another? _Go, tell John, the blind receive sight, the deaf hear, and the lame walk, and to the poor the gospel is preached; blessed is he that is not offended in me, &c._ Go, and give John this very account I now relate to you, and tell him these are my credentials, these are the testimonials I bring. John will infer that I am the Messiah, and this is the true gospel that I preach; for the great and rich, and the pretenders to wisdom among the Jews, account it _a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offence_, and only a few of the poor receive it; as it was foretold by the prophets.

Each of us may say therefore, if only the wise, or the great, or the rich, believed it, it must have been such a gospel as I could never have believed; for it wanted one character which is necessarily adjoined to it, that is, that the poor receive the gospel: _Father, I thank thee_, says our Lord, _that thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, but thou hast revealed them unto babes_; Mat xi. 25. “It pleased God, when the world by wisdom knew not God,” to darken all their wisdom, and turn it into folly, and to call those that were esteemed fools, and make them wise in believing the gospel, of Christ. It has pleased God to chuse the mean, and _weak, and contemptible things of this world to confound the wise and mighty_. It has pleased him to chuse the _things that are not, to bring to nought the things that are, that no flesh might glory in his presence_; 1 Cor. i. 27, &c.

II. It is another occasion of stumbling or shame in the gospel of Christ, that some of the professors of it are vicious in their lives. “Will you believe such a gospel, says an infidel, that does not restrain the professors of it from the worst of sins?”

This, I confess, gives it great dishonour among the men of the world, and is sometimes ready to shake the faith of younger christians; they know not how to go on farther in christianity, for such and such that made great profession, you see how they are fallen. This is a common temptation of the devil; it is a frequent snare, and there hath been many a pious soul that hath been in danger of being caught thereby. The vices of some professors were great even in St. Paul’s days: There were some among the Philippians; Phil. iii. 18. “Of whom I have told you often, and now even weeping, that they walk as enemies to the cross of Christ, and cast scandal and shame upon it. It makes my eyes flow with tears, and my soul bleed within me to hear of it: The gospel of Christ is so much dishonoured by these means.”

But if we take a nearer view, we shall see that no doctrine ought to fare the worse, because some wicked men are professors of it. It was not counted a discredit to philosophy, that some of the professors of it, who hated the gospel, were vicious in their lives. I would ask the deist now, is there any ground to disbelieve natural religion, because there are some that make profession of it are fallen into great sins? The gospel itself _teaches us to deny all ungodliness and worldly lusts_, and does not indulge one of them. And they are said to be enemies to the cross of Christ, when their conversation is all earthly, when their God is their belly, and their glory is their shame. This is no fault of the gospel, for they felt not the power of it. Nor is there any religion or profession in the world that would have had any followers at all by this time, if men must have entirely cashiered that religion, because there have been some persons vicious that have been professors of it. There is no sect, no religion in the world, though the institution and the rules of it have been ever so pious, but what has produced some persons that have been vicious in their lives.

But this cavil is still carried on, and urged with much vehemence. “If the gospel of Christ were a religion so heavenly, and so divine in its original, as you pretend, surely the nations that profess it would eminently exceed all other nations in piety, in justice and goodness: whereas the nations that now a-days embrace christianity, are not at all superior to the Mahometans, nor to some of the heathens, either in duty that relates to God or man: And if we may give credit to ancient history, the virtues of the old Romans, long before the days of Julius Cæsar, shone much brighter than any of the virtues of the baptized nations: There was more truth and honesty, more devotion to the heavenly powers, more of a public spirit and zeal for their country’s good, than we can find in any christian kingdoms or states now-a-days.” To this I would give these three answers:

1. The account which we have of the shining virtues of these best ages of heathenism, is given us only by their own posterity, who lived in succeeding ages. Now it is the well-known temper and custom of mankind to magnify the virtue of their ancestors, and to say, that the former times are better than these; But you have scarce any heathen writers, who do not describe their own ages as vicious enough, if they have occasion to talk upon that subject. And therefore there is just reason to suspect the strict truth of these encomiums of their fore-fathers.

2. Although some social virtues in a heathen country might really flourish more for an age or two, springing from the principles of ambition, and honour, and love to their own country; yet there were such vices also practised among many of the gentile nations, which are seldom heard or known among christians: The apostle describes them in Rom. i. 26. and that in such a manner, as leads us to believe, that they were practised by those who professed wisdom among them.

It must be acknowledged also, that these nations were gross idolaters, and worshipped many gods, and that even in the times when their social virtues were most conspicuous. Now this is most highly criminal in the sight of the great and sovereign God, the Creator of all things: And the warmer and the more zealous were their devotions which they paid to these idols, with the neglect or contempt of the true God, the greater was their guilt and abomination.

But, 3. The chief answer I give is this, that when whole kingdoms are made christians merely by birth, education, and custom, it is not to be supposed that a twentieth part of them believe the gospel upon any just and reasonable principles of knowledge and choice. When whole cities and nations are worshippers of Christ, no otherwise than the Ephesians were worshippers of Diana, or the Turks of Mahomet, it is not reasonable to expect that there should be much difference in the virtues of such a national sort of Christians, Mahometans, or Heathens; for the principle from which all their religion springs is the same, namely, their education, custom, and fashion of their country; and therefore their vices are much the same as they would be according to the present reigning humour, disposition, or political temper of the nation, whatsoever were their form of religion and their established worship.

The true way therefore to put these things to the test, is to consider those christians only who believe and profess the gospel from knowledge, and choice, and inward conviction, and who make their religion a matter of solemnity and importance and not of mere form and custom. Now if you separate these from the rest of mankind, I am well assured, that as bad as the christian world is, you will find all the human and divine virtues more gloriously practised among such christians as these, than among an equal number of the professors of any other religion under the sun: For inward christianity, and the faith of the gospel, when it is built upon just foundations, will necessarily draw along with it such a train of virtues and graces, as shall _adorn the doctrine of God our Saviour_; and by such a comparison as this, men would be constrained to confess that _God is among us of a truth_.

III. The various and divided opinions, the sects and parties that are found in the christian world, have been another occasion of scandal and offence to the infidels. “How can we ever come, say they, to any certainty what your religion is, since you do not agree about it among yourselves?”

“All Europe pretends to be christian, and to believe the gospel; yet France, and Spain, and Italy, and Poland, and a good part of Germany, tell us, that true christianity is found only amongst them. But in the countries of Denmark, Sweden, and the northern parts of Germany, and in the British islands, there is another religion professed, of a very different kind, and they call theirs the pure gospel, and reformed christianity. The protestant and the papist divide these western parts of the world, and they are ready to tear one another to pieces upon the account of their different opinions and practices. Now if the books that contain the religion of Christ be of so very uncertain sense and signification, truly we are ashamed of such a doubtful religion; it is even as well for us to content ourselves with the religion that the light of nature teaches us, and the dictates of our common reason, which we think has more certainty in it.”

To this I answer, that it is a great mistake to imagine that the light of nature and reason, if left entirely to itself in this corrupt and fallen state, has more certainty in its determinations than scripture hath. How many wild opinions hath the corrupt mind of man produced among the inhabitants of the heathen world, and this same light of nature has not corrected them? What infinite diversity of vain and monstrous fancies hath past for religion and devotion among them? And the light of nature has been supposed to dictate some of them, for they did not always pretend revelation for them. There have been wide and irreconcileable differences among the philosophers, as well as among the priests and the people of different nations. The light of nature and reason is a poor dark bewildered thing, if it hath no commerce, nor communication with persons who have been favoured with divine revelation. It is only the scripture that has established and ascertained the doctrines of natural religion: And it is to the scripture that the deists of our age are obliged for their greater acquaintance with natural religion than ever their forefathers, the heathen philosophers, arrived at, though they are too proud to acknowledge it. If they agree better, and are more uniform in their principles now than the old epicureans, the stoics, and the platonists were, it is all owing to a more intimate acquaintance with the writings of Moses and the prophets, the evangelists, and the apostles; so that it is with a very ill grace that our present infidels can object to christians their difference of opinions, and pretend that this is a ground of shame to the gospel of Christ, and a reason why they do not believe or profess it.

But I come now to give some account of the true reasons of such divisions of sect and party among christians. There are two great causes of these divisions, and the charge is not to be laid upon the gospel of Christ, nor upon the books that contain it.

1. The first cause is, that the papist does not pretend to derive his religion merely from the bible; but he brings in the Jewish apocryphal writers of ancient ages, and lays them also for a foundation of his faith; and he makes the traditions of the christian church, which he pretends to have been delivered down from age to age, of almost the same authority as the scripture itself: And some of their authors have raised these traditions to equal dignity with the scripture, as being built upon the same foundation, _viz._ the authority of the church. As they have many things in their religion which they cannot find in the word of God; so they think it is sufficient if they can support them by these pretended traditions of the church. Whereas the protestant takes nothing for the ground of his faith but the books of the Old and New Testament; and what he cannot find written there, nor derived thence by most obvious and evident consequences, he does not profess it as any necessary part of his christianity. The religion of the protestant therefore is abundantly more conformable to the gospel of Christ, both in the doctrines and the worship of it, because it derives the whole from the word of God: But it is no wonder at all that there should be such a difference between them and the papists, when they lay such different foundations for their faith and practice.

2. Another reason why the protestant and papist differ so much is, because the papist pretends that there is an infallible judge among them to determine all controversies; and that their popes, and their councils, which they call the church, have authority to appoint what shall be esteemed the true articles of faith, and to bring in rites and ceremonies into their worship according to their own invention and pleasure. And that all the people are bound to believe as the church bids them believe, and to practise in matters of worship whatsoever the church bids them practise: And upon this account they forbid the scripture to be read by the common people, that they may not learn the truth of the gospel, but may take all for gospel which they teach them, and be content with it. Whereas the protestant has nothing else but his bible to have recourse to for the conclusion of all controversies; and he encourages every man to use his bible, and to judge for himself concerning the sense and meaning of it, using the best helps that he can obtain for this end: The protestant ministers teach him not only what they know of the gospel, but they put the bible into his hand, and bid him search and see whether things are so or no, that thence he may learn what are those doctrines and those duties which Christ has required him to believe and practise. Thence it comes to pass, that there are almost a thousand things in popery, which the protestants utterly disown, because they disown the power of the pope, or church, to stamp new articles of faith, or invent new forms of worship.

Objection. But it may be said still, there are so many different sects and parties among the protestants themselves, as encourages the deist to maintain his charge and accusation.—“Why do you, saith he, who profess to derive all your religion from the scripture, differ so much among yourselves, both in doctrine, in worship, and in the order of your churches, if the _gospel of Christ_ be so excellent a religion, and if the books that contain it can give you so plain and certain a knowledge of it!”

I answer, That almost all those things wherein protestants differ, are but of smaller importance in religion, in comparison of those many and great things wherein they agree. The chief and most important points of christianity are written with so much plainness and evidence in the word of God, as would lead all humble, honest, sincere and diligent enquirers into a belief of them, and consent in them. Now it is not necessary that the lesser matters of christianity should be written down so expressly in scripture: For the all-wise God thought it proper to leave many of these articles of less importance more dubious and obscure, both to awaken the diligence of men to study his word, and to leave amongst them some occasions for the exercise of their mutual charity and forbearance. Our blessed Lord has thought it proper to put the universal love which he requires amongst his followers, to this test or trial, to see whether they will cultivate peace and charity to one another amidst their various and divided opinions in things of less concernment.

I confess there are some differences among protestants in the great doctrines of the Trinity, and the satisfaction of Christ, which must be acknowledged to be articles of very high moment and importance in christianity. But if we compare those few who profess dangerous opinions in these points with the millions that agree in the same general profession of faith, it will be found that their number is but very small. If we consider the great ignorance of God, which is found in all men by nature, and take a survey of the unhappy influences that education, fancy, passion, pride, friendship, aversion, precipitance and laziness, have upon mankind in forming their judgments and opinions, we shall not wonder to find some persons here and there falling into strange sentiments, contrary to the plain and sufficient evidence of scripture. We believe in general, that whoever puts off all prejudices, and is piously sincere in his search of the word of God, shall certainly find, through divine assistance, all needful truth. If therefore a disbeliever come with a serious, humble, and pious mind, and apply himself with diligence and fervent prayer to read the scripture; I am well assured he will become a christian, and find out so much of the doctrines and duties of the gospel, as are necessary to his eternal happiness.

But there will be heresies arising sometimes in the church. Tares will grow up sometimes in the field that is ever so well cultivated, and sown with corn: And what unknown reasons there may be in the counsels and providence of God in permitting heresies to arise for the farther trial of his own people, is too high and hard a point for us to determine. The apostle saith; 1 Cor. xi. 19. _There must be also heresies among you, that they which are approved may be made manifest_: If such a thing as this is, shall be abused by men of corrupt minds, to turn them quite away from the gospel of Christ, and to support their own infidelity, they must answer for it at the great day to Christ their Judge.

Thus I have done with the third charge or accusation brought against the gospel, and removed the scandal and shame that some men have thrown upon it, because there are such sects, and parties, and divided opinions among the professors of it.

IV. Another occasion of scandal which infidels charge upon the gospel of Christ, is this, “That some who have long professed it have forsaken it; and one should be ashamed to embrace such a faith as this is, for it has been tried, and found to be vain and groundless, even by those who have known it long, and searched it through and through, and therefore at last they have abandoned and cast it off.”

But in answer to this, give me leave to say, first, that the chief and most common reason why persons who have professed christianity cast it off, is not because they found any just reason of blame either in its principles or rules; but because they think it too strict for them, and it curbs their vicious appetites more than they like.

I will allow, that perhaps there may be some persons who have abandoned the christian religion from a wantonness of fancy, from a licentiousness of thought, from a pride of reasoning, and who make it their glory to have thrown off the bonds of their education, and to have obtained the honour of free-thinkers, or from a presuming conceit that they must comprehend every thing in their religion, and will believe nothing that hath mysteries in it. Such vain principles as these may have influenced some minds, and given them up to apostacy: But, I fear, far the greatest part of those who forsake the gospel, have been tempted to it by the power of their lusts, which the gospel would restrain: and some of these persons upon their death-beds have confessed it too.

This is also sufficiently visible in the world, that when men have long professed this gospel and forsaken it, they seldom grow more pious, more sober, more honest or good than before; but, on the contrary, they generally have indulged vicious excesses, and neglected all piety, and this is rather a ground of glory to the gospel than a just reason of shame.

If these persons had generally grown more holy, if they had feared God more afterwards than ever they did before, if they had more aimed at the glory of God, and loved him better, when they forsook Christ and his gospel, then we might have some reason to suspect this gospel was false, and a mere mistake or imposture. But when these persons grow more unjust than before, love their neighbour less, are become more sensual, more selfish, disregard God more than they did before; I repeat it again, this is rather a ground of glory to the gospel of Christ, than of shame. Demas _hath forsaken us_, saith Paul, because he _loved this present world_; 2 Tim. iv. 10. A covetous Demas is no good argument why St. Paul should forsake Christ, or be ashamed of the gospel. And the apostle has shewn that those who have _made shipwreck of their faith_, have parted with _a good conscience_ too, and lost their virtue; 1 Tim. i. 19, 20.

But there is another answer which the apostle John gives to this objection in his first epistle, chap. ii. ver. 19. _They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us: but they went out, that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us._ They might make a profession of the gospel, and perhaps give a real assent to the truths and doctrines of it by the convincing influence of miracles and human reason, or perhaps they became christians merely by the force of education, because they were taught this religion from their childhood, and professed it without thought; but they never had such a powerful belief of this gospel of Christ, as to change their hearts, to renew their natures, to form their souls after the image of Christ into real holiness; and therefore like the hearers that are compared to stony ground, the seed did not sink deep into their hearts, though they might _receive the word at first with joy, but having not root in themselves; they endure but for a while, and when any temptation arises, they are offended_, and depart from the faith which they once professed; Mat. xiii. 20, 21. Thus it appears, that the gospel of Christ is never the worse in itself, nor does it deserve the less esteem in the world, notwithstanding such apostates as these, no more than seed-corn should be pronounced nought, because it does not bring forth a harvest in every soil.

I have now finished the third general head of discourse which I proposed, and have shewn, whatsoever occasions of shame might be supposed to arise either from the doctrines of the gospel, or the professors of it, are unjustly charged as blemishes on the gospel; and I have given particular answers to both sorts of cavils, and defeated the accusations.

One word of advice to christians shall conclude the present discourse; and that is this:—

Since the gospel of Christ gives no just occasions of shame, you that are professors of it should take heed that you do nothing to cast shame on this gospel. Do not mingle the christian faith with doubtful notions of your own. Do not defile your christian conversation with sinful practices. Do not make the lesser circumstances and appendages of your religion the matter of loud contest, and a party strife; for all these things expose the gospel to shame, and may justly put its professors to the blush, in the face of the world, when they are guilty of these practices.

Let me insist a little upon each of these.

1. Do not mingle the christian faith with doubtful notions and fancies of your own. The articles of our christianity, and the necessary truths of the gospel, are divine and glorious: Take heed you do not bring in your peculiar sentiments and favourite opinions, which have no sufficient evidence from the word of God, and join them in the same dignity with the articles of your faith; and much less should you dare to impose them upon the consciences of your fellow-christians. The gospel itself will suffer by it, and sink in the esteem of the world, when the divine doctrines of it are mingled with our weaknesses, and debased by the addition of our doubtful sentiments.