SERM. only in our Saviour, but in all good ChriIV. ftians ever fince; and that the Seed of the Woman fhould at length prevail over him, and shake off his Dominion; that bleffed Seed which came down from Heaven to perform the Mercy promis'd to our Forefathers, and to remember God's holy Covenant; to perform the Oath that he swore to our Forefather Abraham, that he would give us, that we, being deliver'd out of the Hands of our Enemies, might ferve him without Fear, in Holiness and Righteousness before him all the Days of our Life. What we are to learn from all this, I come now,

Thirdly to fhew. From the Fall of Man then we may learn how to account for all the Evil that is in the World, and by his Recovery for all the Good that is in it. To thefe two Springs are reducible the Happinefs and Mifery of every Mortal. Every evil Thought, every vain Imagination, derives its Original from thence, as every good Thought and Action, every Rivulet of Hope, from the other.

And now we know the Original of Good and Evil, which, by the way, we know only by Revelation, no Scheme of Reafon whatsoever having found out this grand Secret,

Secret, we may know both what we are, SER M. and how we came to be what we are, and IV. also what we may be, if we please; that we are indeed Creatures of the uppermoft Rank of Beings that are upon this Globe; but Oh! how fallen! how chang'd from human Nature in its State of Innocence! But then, tho' our Nature have got a different Stamp from what it received at its firft Formation, tho' the Characters are in a great measure obliterated, and the Divine Hand in fome fort defac'd, yet we know that the Divine Goodness has put us in a Method to recover the Impreffion, and revive the Image of God, in which we were firft made, from the Injuries of Sin and Death; 10 good an Effect we now find from that early Prophecy, which is now fulfill'd at the Coming of Chrift, the promis'd Seed, into the World. This will naturally lead us to avoid two Things equally prejudicial to every good Man, i. e. Not to think too highly, or two meanly of ourfelves; one leads to the high Road of Prefumption, the other to the dangerous Precipice of Defpair. As to the firft, There have not been wanting fome who haverais'd human Nature almoft to a Level with the divine, and have made Man felf-fufficient, a Creature perfect and

SERM independent, when at the fame time every
IV. fingle Man in the World is a Contradiction

to it. But whence fhould this Perfection
come? Not from Nature, for Man broke
that Law, and was condemn'd by it; nor
yet by any subsequent Law, for every thing
after the firft Tranfgreffion muft of course
be upon the Foot of Grace. 'Tis monftrous
therefore to entertain fuch Notions of our-
felves, fo contrary to Fact and Experience,
and which tend fo manifeftly to exclude God
out of the Univerfe; for as far as we fet up
for Perfection in ourselves, fo far we deny
it to God. 'Tis a Perfection which we are
not to thank God for: What Sort of Perfec-
tion this is, I leave to every proud Man to
confider. Nor are there wanting others,
who, on the contrary, run down Mankind
to a Level with Brutes, as if, because there
is fomewhat wrong in Man, there is there-
fore nothing good in him.
The dwelling
too much upon the Confideration of Man in
his fallen State, without confidering enough
his Redemption again by Chrift, has thrown
many into a gloomy, melancholy Opinion of
human Nature; whereas, tho' Man is fallen,
yet he is not loft; tho' he is a Sinner, and
the Law allows no Pardon, yet the Gospel
does. Man is therefore upon a noble Footing

ftill; for tho' he has Infirmities enough to SERM. pull down his Pride, yet, through the Gift IV. of God, he is enabled to obtain eternal Life. In fhort, he has enough to blame himself and to thank God for, which is the true State of Man, confider'd as a Christian. Upon the whole, let us entertain fuch Notions of God and ourselves, that our Humility may entitle us to his Grace, and both together bring us to that Glory which by Sin we had juftly forfeited.

SERM.

V.

SERMON V.

ACTS ii. 27.

Because thou wilt not leave my Soul in Hell, neither wilt thou fuffer thine Holy One to fee Corruption.

HE Refurrection of Jefus Chrift from the Dead is a Matter of fuch great Importance, that Chriftianity depends upon the Truth of it: For, as the Apoftle fays, If Chrift be not rifen, then is our Faith vain, we are yet in our Sins. And therefore we find the Apoftles, when they first fet out to preach the Gospel, after they were endued with Power from on High, open'd their Commiffion with afferting this great Truth ; which they maintain'd with a Courage fuitable to the Dignity and Importance of the Thing; and made it a Qualification for an A poftle