nerally are exercis'd about Trifles, If Heaven and Happiness were as eafy to be obtain'd as fome fhallow Pretenders to the Cure of Souls would hold us in Hand; or if Chriftians were to live always in a ferene and peaceful Air; if they were to meet with no Troubles, no Perfecutions, no Temptations from thofe who lie in wait to deceive, or from the flattering Gaiety of Worldly Advantage, or the thickning Storms of Lofs or Danger; they would perhaps have lefs Need of Prudence and Caution in the Management of themselves. But alas! the Cafe is quite otherwife: And becaufe that Religion which Chriftians profefs is of an excellent and a faving Nature; Hell and its Emiffaries whofe Defign and Intereft is nothing but Ruin and Deftruction, endeavour by all poflible Ways and Means to blaft all the natural Products of it. They endeavour at all Times to trapan uncautious Men into continual Changes of Religion, and then into a perfect Indifferency for any; and make them to lofe their Chriftianity by Degrees,who would ftumble extremely at fo defperate a Thought, if they had but any Apprehenfion of the Enemy's Defign before-hand.

It was the Confideration of thefe Things among an Infinity of Cares he had for unthinking Mankind, which made our Saviour reprefent the Gate and Way leading to eternal Life fo very hard to find,and fo very ftrait and narrow to travel in, and to inform us how very few there were, who either difcover'd or made ufe of them. For tho' all Sins at large, and among all the reft, a general Infidelity, or a Refufal to

Own

Amos 5. 19.

own the Name, or to fubmit to thofe Laws which fupport the Kingdom of Chrift,bcMatters of a damning Nature; yet the Methods of propagating falfe Opinions, and of maintaining and defending them under a feemingly ferious Pretence to Chriftian Moderation and Charity, and of promoting execrable Hypocrify, are every whit as dangerous and deftructive to the Souls of Men. Impiety or Irreligion in general, has an odious Afpect, which to hide the better, Men fhelter themselves under the bleffed Name of our Saviour. But for any to call themselves by his Name, and then to tread awry, and to run headlong into every Error both Speculative and Practical, when they would be thought by others to be in the right Way; this is, (to ufe the Prophet's Expreffion) as if a Man did flee from a Lion, and a Bear met him, or went into the Houfe, and lean'd bis Hand, on the Wall and a Serpent bit him: i. e. when he thinks he has avoided a mighty Danger of being unmask'd, and throughly dif Cover'd to be what he is, he runs into other Dangers greater, more furprizing and more fatal.

1

It is no Wonder, that Men fhould fall into fuch Times when malicious and feducing Spirits are fo earnestly at Work as they are in these our prefent Days. The Agents of Darknefs have been fo employ'd ever fince the first Foundations of the Church were laid: But there are fome particular Seafons in which they act with greater Confidence, and a more

Face: And yet Men are lefs apt to diftinguish them from the true Servants of the living God, by reafon of those fair as well as

loud

loud Pretences, which they make to an extraordinary Care and Tenderness for the Souls of Men, and thofe powerful Evidences and furprizing Demonftrations, which they hall give of the Divine Nature and Efficacy of their Doctrines upon the Minds of fuch as receive them. Of fuch our bleffed Mafter forewarn'd his Difciples of old, as he had done his peculiar People, and his Holy Prophets in former Ages: For, fays he, False Chrifts and falfe Prophets fhall Mark 13. arife, and hall fhew Signs and Wonders, to feduce, 22, 230. if it were poffible, the very Elect: But take ye heed, behold I have foretold you all Things. It is true, the more fubtle the Practices of Seducers are, the more Marks they seem to give of their Divine Million and Authority, the more difficult it is to find them out: But all their pleafing and deceitful Shews make them fo much the more dangerous, as Joab's Smiles and Complements and kind Pretences to Brotherhood are as fatal as Saul's Javelin, or Goliah's Menaces, or weighty Sword and Spear. It is the Devil's Mafter-piece to deceive us with all outward Appearances of Good: But when he, or his Agents give us the fofteft Words, and pretend to the greateft Sweetness; then their inward and undiscover'd Malice is the most violent. and implacable, At fuch a Time as this, it is the Intereft of every wife Man to confider well what he does. When Sectaries of all Sorts walk at large, and when Idolatrous, Superftitious, Heretical, Atheistical, Schifmatical, Principles, are avowed and protected; it is an eafie Matter for an honeft and well defigning Man to make a falfe Step.

VOL. II.

X

Men

Men may fancy themselves very well fatis fy'd with thofe Reasons upon which they embrace that Communion they live in, but they may be too confident, and nothing can be tray them into greater Mifchiefs than fuch Confidence. Very few forethink of what Adverfaries, what Temptations, what Subtleties they may have to contend with: But he who is once admitted into Communion with a Church whole Doctrines are apparently and irrefragably Divine, (and fuch thofe, who carefully read the feveral Writings of the moft violent Enemies of the lawfully establish'd Church of England, muft acknowledge the DoEtrines of that Church to be) fhould fuch a Man, at other Times, have indulged himself in a finful Liberty of joining with Hereticks, or Schifmaticks; he ought to express a moft fincere and hearty Repentance for having dared to tempt his God in fo indefenfible a Manner, and to prove his Sincerity especially by a more fteddy and clofe Adherence to, and Continuance in, that Communion from which he had made fo unhappy an Excurfion. We may, perhaps, with an exuberant Charity fuppole, that one of a running Head may poflibly be fav'd at laft. But the Matter is no more to be put to the Adventure, than the Man is to be commended who, in a defperate Fit of Sicknefs, will make ufe of no Help for his Recovery, because it is poffible he may get over his Diftemper without it. And to profecute the Refemblance fomewhat farther, as Men under Sickness fometimes make use of the best Phyficians, and take freely and exactly all the Medicines they prefcribe, and

yet

yet fruftrate all the Effects of the most agreeable Prescriptions by their Irregularities in other Matters; fo in the Concerns of their immortal Souls, there are many Perfons in our own Communion, who may live under the moft excellent Preachers in the World, fuch as according to the Apoftle's Advice, divide the Word of God aright, and who preach only folid and fubftantial, and very feafonable and neceffary Truths; they may be throughly convinced of the Truth, Excellency and Ufefulness of what they hear, and may, generally follow thofe Rules and Inftructions faithfully imparted to them; and yet by fome few unhappy Excurfions, or by indulging their own Itching Ears, may lofe at once all the Advantages they could before pretend to, and by thofe very Curiofities, by which they fancy'd they might improve their own Underftandings, they have infenfibly engaged themfelves in those inextricable Doubts and Difficulties which could never be determin'd to their Satisfaction, but have involved them in eternal Ruins.

When we read of that extraordinary Affiduity in the Duties of Religion fhown by the earliest Chriftians, when they continued daily in the Apostles Doctrine, and Fellowship, and in breaking of Bread and in Prayers; it may be juftly imputed to the Violence of their firft Love, and the Heat of their early Zeal, and the afflicted State the Infant Church of Chrift was in, in its firft Beginnings: Their Unity in Doctrine, and in Ordinances, and among one another being the most effectual remedy for their Fears and Preventives of their Dangers. If we find

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