Soul? Shall he have recourfe to his own Confcience? Ah! that Frowns upon him, and entertains him with terrible Reflections upon his late Folly and Sin. Shall he go to God by Prayer and Repentance? There indeed he finds Arguments of Mercy, but of Juftice too: That though he be a fincere Lover of Mankind, he is also a fincere Lover of Holinefs. Under thefe Apprehenfions, what Grounds of Hope can natural Reafon afford him, that a Wife, and Juft, and Holy God will relax the Authority of his Laws, in proportion to the repeated Errors and Back-flidings of his Creatures? And the Confideration of this will eafily lead us to the Second Obfervation, viz.

IL The abfolute neceffity of a Mediator between God an Men, in order to their Peace and Reconciliation with him, together with the good Affurances we have of it.

This being the deplorable State of Mankind fince the Fall of our firft Parents, they are left under this Dilemmas Either fome more plentiful Grace must be afforded; fome Method of Reconciliation contrived, fome valuable and equivalent Satisfaction made to the Juftice of God. Or the Spirits of Men muft fail before him and all the Souls which be bath made overlaftingly perif. Can our Minds bear fuch a Thought of the ever Merciful God? Will not the fame Compaffions, which at firft moved him to create, more ftrongly incline him to Pity, and retrieve a perishing World?

Let

Let Revelation ftand upon what Bottom it will, yet if we can Reafon any Thing concerning the Perfections of the Divine Nature from those we find in our own if we never feel a more Rational and Substantial Joy. a more grateful Repofe and Complacency of Spirit, than when we are under the Defires and carrying on the Defigns of Mercy towards diftreffed Mortals; we may reafonably prefume, we may certainly conclude, that thefe are fuperlatively, and beyond all Degrees of Comparifon, more in God. If it would move the Heart of a tender Father, to fee the Offfpring of his own Body undone by their own Rafhnels and Difobedience, if it would put him upon all poffible Endeavours to contrive and effect their Recovery; how much more, think we, did it move the Heart of God to look upon a loft World; and kindle his Compaffions together how to refcue the Workmanship of his own Hands from the dreadful Confequences of their Folly and Sin?'

Thus according to the Ways of our Reafon ing, do the Miferies of Mankind plead for a Mediator; and thus far Natural Reafon will fairly lead us towards Revelation.

Here, I confefs, it leaves us; for what Method fhall ignorant Mortals contrive; what Atonement fhall guilty Creatures offer to an infinitely Great and offended God? If one Man fin against another, the Fudge hall judge him: But if a Man fin against the Lord, who fall intreat for him? What Created Being;

what

what Saint upon Earth; what Angel in Heaven fhall undertake to pay down a juft Ranfom for the forfeited Lives; for the loft Souls of all the Sons of Adam? This must be the Contrivance of infinite Wifdom, the free Refult of unbounded Goodness. If ever Mankind be reftored to the Capacities of the Divine Favour and Mercy, Heaven alone muft find out the Expedient.

Thanks to kind Heaven, the Expedient is found out. God hath laid Help upon one that is Mighty: He bath exalteth one chofen out of the People, to bear the Sins of many, and to make Interceffion for the Tranfgrefors. When human Reafon was at a Stand and Confcious Nature (trembling under its Guilts) hung in a very doubtful Sufpence; behold a brighter Scene opens! the uncreated Wifdom of God the eternal Son of the Eternal Father, defcends from Heaven; becomes Incarnate; fulfills all Righteoufnefs in our Nature cancels our Debts; extinguishes our Guilts, offers up his own moft precious Blood in Sacrifice; and Seals the Pardon of all our Sins in the New Covenant. A Covenant, which speaks better Things than the Law of Nature, or of Mofes. A Covenant, establish'd upon better Promifes, and more gracious Terms, viz. upon Repentance towards God, and Faith towards our Lord Jefus Chrift.

The Sum of this Head is this, if natural Reafon discovers the abfolute Neceffity of fome Way of Reconcilation between God and

Men;

Men; if meer natural Reafon could never find out that way but by Revelation from Heaven if fuch a Revelation from Heaven be actually made, fufficiently published and attested to the World: Finally, if upon the ftrictest Examination it bears all the Characters of a Divine Revelation and contains nothing in it below the Majefty, or unworthy the Wisdom, or the Holinefs of God; what pretence is there left for Infidelity; Why fhould not all the World readily believe, and thankfully acquiefce in

it.

4

But Infidelity is always unreafonably and vexatiously importunate. Here it is demanded; Why was not this Revelation made fooner ? Why fo great a Mercy fo long deferr'd and concealed from Mankind? What became of all thofe Ages of the World before Chrift was born and reveal'd? To this it might be fufficient to answer, that it is not for us to know the Times and the Seafons; to prefcribe to God; to limit him in his free and undeferved Fayours: Yet left this fhould feem rather to evade than answer the Demand, I reply,

1. That there was a plain and evident Reafon why the Meffiah fhould be born, and this Revelation made at that very precife Period of Time in which it was. For not to infift upon those many Antient Prophecies which pointed directly towards its nor that general Expectation the World was then in of the Z

Meffiab,

Meffiah, as is undeniably plain from funtry Paffages of Holy Scriptures, and from the pro phane Hiftorians of that Age, particularly Jofephus, Suetonius and Tacitus. I fay, not to infift upon thefe, the State of the World was then fuch, as did very much difpofe it to receive the Meffiah, and the Meffage he brought, upon Two Accounts.

First, The greateft Part of the known World was then united under one Empire, viz, the Roman. And this did very much facilitate and make Way for the Propagation and Reception of Chriftianity. By Means of this, not only a Paffage was open'd to Chrift and his Apoftles to Preach the Gospel to every Creature, and to carry their Sound into all Lands; but alfo, the Manners of that civiliz'd People; their Martial Difcipline and Moral Conduct, their Heroical Valour and Exemplary Virtue, had much refined the Tempers and Converfations of the Barbarous Nations; put them upon New Ways, both of Thinking and Living, and thereby prepar'd their Minds for the Reception of its Precepts and Doctrines.

Secondly, Learning and Philofophy; the Study of the Languages, Arts, and Sciences began then to flourish; and this gave Men both Leifure and Ability to examine the Truth of Chriftianity. God would not have the

Re