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another, but is only concerned to know the right, way. Such indifferency of mind every good man hath; he is ready to receive truth, when fufficient evidence is offered to him, because he is not concerned that the contrary propofition fhould be true. If a man be addicted to any luft, he is not likely to judge impartially of things: and therefore our Saviour doth with great reafon require this difpofition to qualify a man for the difcerning of truth, John vii. 17. If any man will do God's will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of myself. He that is defirous to do the will of God, he is likely to judge indifferently concerning any doctrine that pretends to be from God; for if there be not good evidence for it, he hath no reafon to deceive himself, by entertaining that as from God, which he hath no affurance that it is fo; and if there be good evidence for it, he hath no reason to reject it but if a man be enslaved to any vice or luft, he is not free to judge of thofe matters which touch upon his intereft; but is under a great temptation to infidelity, because he muft needs be unwilling to acknowledge the truth of that doctrine which lies fo cross to his intereft.

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Thirdly, This does not excufe the infidelity of men, that the Devil is in fome fort the caufe of it; because he cannot blind our minds, unless we consent to it: He can only fuggeft falfe principles to us, but we may choose whether we will entertain them; he can only tempt us to be wicked, he cannot force us to be fo whether we will or not: as we may refift the dictates, and quench the bleffed motions and fuggeftions of God's Spirit, and too often do fo ; may we refift the Devil, and repell or quench those fiery darts which he cafts into our minds, though we do not do it fo often as we fhould. We cannot refift the motions of God's Spirit without injury to ourfelves: But we may fafely oppofe the fuggeftions of the Devil; and we may do it with fuccefs, if we fincerely endeavour it. So God hath promised, that if we refift the Devil, he shall flee from us: But if we voluntarily confent to his temptations, and fuffer our

felves to be blinded by him, the fault is our own, as well as his, and we are guilty of that infidelity which we fuffer him to tempt us to. And this will appear, if we confider,

Fourthly, The wickednefs and unreasonableness of infidelity. The fcripture every where gives it a bad character, calling it, an evil heart of unbelief, to depart from the living God. Not to believe thofe revelations of God, which are fufficiently propounded to us, is an apoftafy from the living God, a kind of atheifm, and an argument of a very evil temper and difpofition. And therefore St. John fpeaks of infidelity, as the higheft affront to God imaginable, and as it were a giving God the lie, 1 John v. 10. He that believeth not the record which God hath given of his Son, is faid to make God a liar.

The greatest and cleareft teftimonies that ever God gave to any perfon in the world, were to Jefus Chrift, and yet how full of infidelity were the Jews to whom thofe teftimonies were given? They are the great patterns of infidelity, who refifted fuch immediate evidence; and by the characters which the New Te→ ftament gives us of them, we may judge of the evil and unreasonablenefs of infidelity: And if we confult the history of the New Teftament, we fhall find infidelity defcribed by fuch characters and properties, and accompanied with fuch qualities, as fhew it to be a very evil and unreasonable spirit. The principal of them are these :

1. Monftrous partiality in denying that which had greater evidence than other matters which they did believe.

2. Unreasonable and groundlefs prejudice.

3. A childish kind of perverfeness.

4. Obftinacy, and pertinacious perfifting in error.' Want of patience to confider and examine what can be faid for the truth.

5.

6. Rudeness, and boisterous falling into uncivil

terms.

7. Fury, and outrageous paffion.

8. Infidelity is ufually attended with bloody and inhuman perfecution. But the treating on thefe par

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ticulars

ticulars I referve for another fubject. [See the following three fermons on John iii. 19. ]

The third and laft thing contained in the text, is the dangerous ftate of those who having the gofpek propounded to them, yet do not entertain and believe it; the Apoftle tells us they are in a loft and perifhing condition; If our gofpel be hid, it is hid to them that are loft.

1 fay, of thofe who have the gospel propounded to them. As for thofe to whom the gofpel was never offered, they fhall not be condemned for their unbelief of it: God will not punish them for not believing the revelation which was never propounded to them, but for finning against the law written in their hearts. So the Apostle hath ftated this matter, Rom. ii. 12, 14, 15. they that have a law revealed to them by God, fhall be judged by that law but they that are without fuch a law, fhall be judged without the law, by the law which is written in their hearts. Thofe perfons and nations in the world, to whom the gofpel was not revealed, fhall not be condemned for not believing it; but for fins committed by them against the light of nature, and the law which is written in every man's breast.

But those who have the gofpel propounded to them, and yet continue in unbelief, their cafe is the most dangerous of any perfons in the world, whether they be fpeculative or practical infidels.

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1. For fpeculative infidels (of whom I have been principally speaking) we may guess how great their condemnation fhall be, by the greatnefs of their fin, which I have endeavoured fully to defcribe to you with all its aggravations. It is called, Heb. iii. 12. An evil heart of unbelief, to depart from the living God, ἐν τῷ ἀποςῆναι ἀπὸ Θεοῦ ζῶντος. Infidelity is a kind of apoftafy from God; it is faid to be the giving God the lie, 1 John v. 10. He that believeth on the Son of God, hath the witness in himself: he that believeth not God, hath made him a liar; and we cannot but think that God will feverely punish thofe who put fuch affronts upon him: It is but e

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qual that they who refift the cleareft light, fhould have their portion in utter darkness.

2. For the practical infidels, those who in words acknowledge the gofpel to be true, but in works deny it; their condition is every whit as bad as the others; nay, I had almost faid, that it fhall be more tolerable at the day of judgment for the fpeculative infidel, than for them. He who denies the truth of the Christian religion, and lives contrary to the precepts of it, he acts fuitably to his principles; but he that owns the truth of the gospel, and lives a wicked life, offers violence to thofe principles which he hath entertained.

For if we profefs ourselves Chriftians, by this profeffion we declare to the world, that we believe that the Son of God hath delivered that doctrine to the world, which we call the gofpel, and hath promised to be the author of eternal falvation to them that obey him, and hath threatened men with eternal mifery in cafe of difobedience; and that we make not the leaft doubt, but that both in his promifes and threatenings God will be as good as his word: But if in the midst of this profeffion, we live contrary to the holy precepts of the gofpel, in ungodlinefs and worldly lufts, in profane fwearing, by a trifling and irreverent ufe of the great and glorious name of God, in the neglect of God, and of the duties of religion, in the profanation of his day, in drunkennefs and filthy lufts, in fraud and oppreffion, in lying and perjury, in wrath and malice, in enmity and uncharitablenefs one toward another; this very thing, that we have made profeffion of the gofpel, will be an aggravation of our condemnation. Do we think, that at the day of judgment, we fhall efcape by pleading this for ourfelves, that we believed the gofpel, and made profeffion of it? No! out of our own mouths we. fhall be condemned; for it feems we knew our master's will, and yet did it not ; we were convinced that we ought not to do fuch things, and yet we did them; we believed the glorious promifes of the gofpel, and yet we neglected this great falvation, as a thing not worthy the look

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ing after; we were verily perfuaded of the intolerable and endless torments of hell, and yet we would leap into those flames.

Nothing can make more against us, than fuch an apology as this; our very excufe will be the highest accufation and charge that can be brought against us, and out of our own confeffion we fhall be condemned.

All that now remains, is to make fome application of this difcourfe which I have made to you concerning the truth of the Chriftian religion; which I fhould do in these two particulars :

First, To perfuade us to a firm belief of the Chriftian religion. And,

Secondly, To live according to it. But as to this, I have prevented myself in fome former difcourfes. [See ferm. 224. and 228.]

SERMON CCXLIII.

The excellency and univerfality of the Christian revelation, with the fin and danger of rejecting it.

JOHN iii. 19.

And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.

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The first fermon on this text.

T the 16th verfe of this chapter our Saviour declares to Nicodemus (who was already convinced by his miracles, that he was a teacher come from God) the great love and goodness of God to mankind in fending him into the world, to be

the

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