That the influence of Christianity, which is now fo much decayed, may be lefs and lefs every day, books and pamphlets are induftriously handed about, among the common people, to turn away their hearts from Christian truth to the fables of in fidelity. I do not mean that these publications abound with oaths, curfes, and obscenity; (though the prefs is daily delivered of them alfo) but that they give God the lie in all the doctrines, by which our holy religion is diftinguished; and if they fhould be attended to, and received, muft provoke him to transplant the Christian faith to fome other quarter of the earth, which has not fo much neglected his goodness. Some may promise themselves, that when this fhall happen, a state of perfect freedom will take place; but, let them know, that how freely foever men may offend against one another, God is not to be intimidated by the claims of licenticufnefs. The God of Christians is, and will be, the ruler of the world, whether libertines consent to his dominion or not: and they may affure themfelves, that the departure of the Chriftian religion will be no peaceable event. When the Founder of our faith expired, the heavens were darkened, the earth fhook, and the minds of men were troubled, and confounded. When God departed from the Jewish nation, difcord, peftilence, and famine, all the horrors of war, and all the miferies of fedition and flavery fucceeded. The deftruction of the world by the flood, the burning of Sodom, the captivity of Jerufalem, and other like vifitations, are to be understood as fo many warnings of that fate, which all apoftates will meet with in another world, and as examples of what will most probably befall them in this world. My brethren, I am one of those who, with God's help, would willingly make a stand against that torrent of herefy, and impiety, which threatens to break in upon us: but there is no chance of doing this, to any purpose, unless we can remove one fatal mistake, which moft ignorant people now labour under, and of which the enemies of our faith never fail to take advantage. The mistake is this; that Chriftians may reckon themselves fecure of the favour of God, if they are not guilty of cheating, whoring, drinking, robbing, and murdering. This is the error of the ignorant : and the artful flatter them in it; telling them, that if they do but lead what they call good lives, articles of faith are but matters of opinion, and therefore they need not be nice about their creed. To make this plaufible notion the more agreeable, one of our moft elegant writers, who was a better poet than a divine, has put it into rhyme : "For modes of faith let fenfelefs zealots fight, grow upon a wrong faith, than This is true, for more reasons But a right life can no more grapes can grow upon thiftles. than one; but chiefly, because the worst fort of wickedness is the wickedness of the mind againft God; upon which, I fhall beg leave to offer you fome confiderations, in the following chapter. THE CHAP. I. OF SPIRITUAL WICKEDNESS. HE Chriftian life comprehends two great branches of duty: the first towards God, the fecond towards our neighbour. God has an undoubted claim to the first place; our neighbour has the next; and we are to love him, and help him, from a sense of our duty to God, who hath commanded us fo to do. But if I ftumble in the beginning of my duty, and offend against God himself, what reason have I to expect his favour for what I do to any body? Will acts of kindness towards a fellow fubject excufe me for an act of rebellion against my prince, or stop the execution of a statute against treason? What was the offence which brought death into the world? Not an offence against society, for there was none; but only against a pofitive command of God. It was revealed, that to eat the fruit of the forbidden tree, would be attended with a deadly effect.-This revelation was difputed; the truth of God was called in question; the luft of pride prevailed, and the sentence of death followed. Therefore if Adam destroyed the whole world by finning against the truth of God, certainly any fingle man may deftroy himself by the fame means; though he thould give all his goods to feed the poor, and his body to be burned for the good of fociety. There is another fhort way of expofing the fame mistake. Confider the character of the devil. He is no member of fociety; and, being a fpirit, cannot commit the fins of the body. He is no glutton, no drunkard, no mifer, no adulterer; his wickednefs is all of a fpiritual kind; or, in other words, it is the wickednefs not of the body, but of the fpirit. It confifts in opposing the wisdom of God, perverting his word, misrepresenting his justice, despifing his incarnation, fuggefting evil thoughts to men, promoting herefies, and dividing the church of Chrift: in a word, it is the bufinefs of the apoftate spirit to counter-work the ways of the Divine Spirit by all the efforts of fubtilty, falfehood, pride, malice, and contradiction. Therefore, he who opposes God, as the devil doth, must be the difciple and minifter of the devil; and if he do the fame work, what can be expected but that he will receive the fame wages? The character moft acceptable to the devil, because the fitteft for his purposes, is that which most nearly resembles his own: and, for the forming of such a character, he employs the most refined of all his temptations. The ftupid fot, the profane swearer, and the rotten debauchee, are low-lived examples of vice; the meaneft of the devil's fcholars. Befides, these are fometimes known to be weary of their vices, and to forfake his party. But the speculative and philosophical finner, is a man of figure, whose pride will never admit of his reformation. The Scribes and Pharifees, men conceited of their learning, found ways of eluding the divine law: they therefore adhered to the interefts of Satan, and were immoveable in their errors; while the publican was wrought upon to renounce his extortion, and the harlot washed away her ftains, with the tears of repentance. The extortioner is drawn away by the love of money, which" anfwereth all things;" Ecclef. x. 19; and the harlot is frequently the victim of treachery, poverty, and a bad education: but the finner, who errs upon principle, hath set himfelf in oppofition to the will of God. Meaner finners tranfgrefs the law, but he judges it: and where pride is entwined with error, a man finks with a weight at his heels, which will never let him rife any more. What are we then to think, but that he who is most like the devil, in his wickednefs, is moft hateful to God? And this is the cafe with the fpiritual feducer. Hence, the Gospel gives us warning, that the "wifdom of this world is foolishness with "God;" that every thought is to be "brought into captivity;" that "imaginations are to be caft down;" that Satan hath his "depths," his "myfteries of iniquity," as well as his more grofs and fhallow deceits; that he has agents to recommend his principles, "falfe apoftles, deceitful workers, transforming themfelves into the apoftles of Chrift," and folemnly preaching down the Gospel, under the outward profeffion of preaching it up in a purer manner. Thefe, my brethren, are dangers, of which few Chriftians are now aware; and therefore the work of every deceiver, who understands his trade, is more eafy and more fuccessful than it used to be. The cant of liberty of confcience, and the authority of private judgment, (both of which are extended to an unlimited freedom of difputing the whole revelation of God, to man) have been repeated in people's ears till they are intoxicated with the founds, and can fee no criminals left in the nation, but such as are condemned at the Old Bailey.-When a felon is convicted, and fentence is paffed upon him, nobody arraigns the law of cruelty, the judges of partiality, or the jury of perfecution. But when the blafpheming Socinian goes about to raise divifions in the church, and to rob Chriftians of their faith, the most valuable property they have upon earth, an outcry is raised if you offer to interrupt him. Popery perfecutes the truth: therefore Proteftant blafphemy must escape without cenfure; than which, there can be no greater fcandal to the Proteftant profeffion, nor greater matter. of triumph to the Papifts, who wish to fee all Proteftants go a round-about way, through Socinianifm, into Popery. Upon the Chriftian plan then, however bad carnal wickedness may be, fpiritual wickedness is worfe: for the mind is better than the body in itself, and confequently, according to an established proverb, worse in its corruption. Therefore no obedience can be acceptable to God, without that which is the best of all, the obedience of the understanding; no courage is comparable to that which contends earnestly for " the faith delivered to the faints;" no temperance is like that which refrains from high thoughts, and prefumptuous imaginations. Let us then be no longer ftunned with the affected good lives of fuch as fail in this fort of obedience, whofe minds are at variance with the revealed wifdom of God: for there is wickednefs blacker than that of common immorality: and moral virtues are fomething, or nothing, or worse than nothing, according to the principles from which they proceed. If a man, who has made a practice of being drunk every day of his life, fhould keep himself sober for one day, only that he may have an opportunity of picking his neighbour's pocket, or over-reaching him in a bargain; of what value is fuch fobriety? Is it not worse than drunkenness? for his drunkenness is beastly, and that is the worst you can fay of it; but his fobriety is diabolical. You may apply this to other cafes: and, let me tell you, that if spiritual wickednefs were but rightly understood, as it fubfifts in the devil, the original of it all, men could never be cheated, as they now are, with the plaufible fpeeches of those, who lie in wait to deceive them: and, I verily believe, one good difcourfe upon the character of Satan, ftripping that wolf of his philofopher's coat, and his fheep's cloathing, would have more effect toward keeping many people steady to the truth, than an hundred treatises upon particular points of doctrine. -And this leads me naturally to fhew what arts are practifed, to propagate herefy and infidelity. 'CHA P. II. OF THE METHOD OF THOSE WHO SPREAD FALSE AS there were falfe prophets against the Law of Mofes, fo we are told there shall be falfe prophets against the Gospel; and as the dignity and value of our law is above that of the Jews, we are bound to look more fharply after those who would corrupt it. The church never was, nor ever will be, without them; and the Apostle informs us, that as the church grows older, they shall wax worse and worfe." Our bleffed Mafter has given us one rule for detecting them, which will feldom fail us: "Beware "(fays he) of falfe prophets, which fhall come to you in fheep's "clothing." Here their outward appearance is defcribed; they make their approach to you, not as wolves, but as sheep; not as infidels, but as Chriftians; not as falfe prophets, but as the only true prophets you ever met with. Indeed, my brethren, it is very weak and childish to imagine that nothing is fin but that which calls itself fo. Does not every bad thing give itself a good name? Therefore when a feducer makes an attempt upon your faith, you must not expect that he will give you notice of his intention at the market-crofs, like a common cryer, and fay, "Now, good people, look to yourselves, for I am about to deny all the doctrines of the Gofpel, and am perfuaded I can make a better religion than that of the Bible." If he fhould make fuch a grofs mistake as this, his mafter would either difcard him as a |