THE WORD was made Flesh (says the same Evangelist) and came and dwelt among us, and we saw his glory, as the glory of the only begotten Son of God; full of grace and truth. His Conversation was en­dearing, his Works all Mercy, his Doctrine [Page 2] convincing, and his Overtures of Reward more great and encouraging than Mankind had ever heard of before: Never was such a gracious Person sent upon such an accepta­ble Message, and yet he met with very un­equal Entertainment. The unprejudic'd and considering Party of those that heard him, repented, and they that repented re­ceived him; and to as many as received him, he gave power to become the sons of God: But others were otherwise dispos'd; they felt no burthen of sin, and therefore no cause of Repentance; they thought their affections happily engaged in this World, and therefore cared not for removing them to another: Opinion and Business and En­joyments had taken up their Hearts, and fill'd them as full as the Inne of Bethlehem was at his Nativity; and these could not re­ceive him. For God in all his Methods of Salvation never puts any force upon us; he always treats Man as he made him, that is, as a rational and free agent; he proposes aptly, and invites tenderly; but then he leaves us to the discretion of Compliance; he moves and assists us to the best, but still he leaves us with power to do as we please; [Page 3] because 'tis that alone that commends our choice, when we do as we ought. They say of the Manna in the Wilderness, that it had no actual taste of its own, but received its taste from the fancy of the Eater; so that an Israelite did make his Meal either nause­ous or pleasant, according to his own either thankful or peevish disposition. And if so, that Manna bare a general resemblance to all the Dispensations of Providence which are generally determin'd to good or evil (as to us) meerly by our own usage and recepti­on; and have all their influences governed by our deportment. 'Tis our different Temper that makes the same Heat both melt and harden; 'tis our different Disposi­tion that makes the same act of God both Mercy and Iudgment: And as of all the Mercies that God has vouchsafed to Man, there is none of a Kinder Design than that which we now commemorate, The Nativi­ty of our Saviour; so there is none capable of being abused into more fatal effects. 'Tis upon this account, that the same Iesus Christ is called in Scripture, The Rock of Ages; which is a term of equivocal importance: he is a Rock, and they that will, may save [Page 4] themselves upon him; but they that will not, must necessarily split against him: 'Tis by reason of him (says the Apostle) that there is now no condemnation; but 'tis by reason of him too (says my Text) that there is now no Excuse. If I had not, &c.

To take the most proper Sense of the Words, I suppose in the first place, that by Them (if I had not come and spoken to Them) is meant, not simply the Iews, to whom our Saviour himself had spoken; but likewise all others, to whom the same Gospel should at any time be preached: for 'tis evident, that our Saviour means the same here that he does in the fore-going Verses by the World; which signifies extensively all such as are disobedient to the Gospel. In the se­cond place, I suppose that the Expression, They had not had sin, is to be taken only comparatively; that is, They had not had sin in such a measure: For we know that both Iews and Heathens had a Law, by which in proportion they are to be convi­cted. Thirdly, We must observe, that the Word [...] in the Text, which is ren­dred Cloak, signifies any sort of Apology or Colour; either such as may really excuse, [Page 5] or else such as can only be pretended to ex­cuse; and then the plain sense of the Words will appear to be this, That, Before the Re­velation of the Gospel there was such Apology for Sin in the World, as did much lessen and excuse the Guilt of the Sinner; but that since this Revelation the Guilt of Sin is aggravated, and there remains no Excuse, nor so much a [...] Pretence for it.

To illustrate the truth of this Proposition, I shall proceed in this Method: 1. I shall produce the Excuses: And 2dly the Preten­ces, that can ordinarily be pleaded for the Commission of Sin; and shew respectively, that all these are voided by the Revelation of the Gospel.

There are Two Things which seem rea­sonably to Excuse in Humane Actions: The First is, Want of Light; whereby to know that which we are to do. The Second is, Want of Motives, to set us about the do­ing of that which we know: For it is not enough for me to know that this or that is fit to be done, I must likewise know of what importance it will be to Me if I do it, or if I let it alone.

How far the First of these Excuses (that is, [Page 6] Want of Light) obtained in the World be­fore the Revelation of the Gospel, is a Subject too wide to engage in. We know, in short, that there have been Ages of as much Ignorance, as Sensuality still wishes for to cover her Shame. We know the gross of the Gentiles sate in darkness; the Cloud was so thick about them, that they could not tell which way to move out of it. Yet as Darkness it self is sometime called upon in Scripture to Praise the Lord, so even Intel­lectual Darkness, that is, Ignorance, has occasionally great reason to joyn in the Praise: For, supposing Men to be sinful, 'tis happy for them if they are ignorant, the Supreme Iudge of the World having laid down this for one Rule by which he will proceed: (viz.) The Servant that knew not his Masters will, and committed things worthy of stripes, shall be beaten with few stripes; Luk. 12.48.

But we will go farther; we will allow (as we must) that many of the Heathen had a greater share of Light; for many of them arrived to a great height in the Speculation of Vertue, and formed Excellent Precepts of Living; and yet, when all was done, as if [Page 7] their Systems had been rather for Ostenta­tion than for Use, they did not generally oblige themselves to the Practice of their own Advices: They Knew well, but acted otherwise: And yet even These had an Excuse, that is, They wanted proper Motives to set them on work.

Now a Man may be said to want proper Motives to set him about the doing of that which he knows fit to be done, when he has no certain expectation of reaping such benefit by it as will recompence the difficul­ty and uneasiness of the doing. For though God, who is compleat in Happiness, and can receive no addition, has no other Mo­tive of his Actions but Rectitude and Iu­stice; yet Man, who lies here under a great sense of want, and moves only after Hap­piness, can have no proper Motive of his Actions but Benefit and Advantage: And therefore the Civilians distinguishing a Law into parts, the Preceptive Part, which en­joyns the Duty, and the Distributive Part, which assigns the Punishment or the Re­ward, are pleas'd to call this later the San­ction, that is, the Binding Part of the Law: Not but that Equity and Authority, which [Page 8] appear in the Precept, do more primarily bind; but because, considering Humane Reluctancy, they do not bind to Effect: They move our Understandings, but want force to govern our Affections; and there­fore Punishments and Rewards are the only Effectual Arguments of our Obedience. Nor does God Almighty ever address his Com­mands unto us but upon the same Supposi­tion, and with the same Complyance to Hu­mane Infirmity: For he never urges his Do­minion over us, nor the Equity of his Laws; nor yet the Benefits whereby we stand actually obliged to him, as sufficient Mo­tives of our Duty: but he always moves our Affections with something Future, some Expectation of importance, proportiona­ble to the measure of that which he com­mands. To serve God purely for his own sake and without any By-respects, is an Heroick Notion, and may be proper for the State of Heaven; where his Service is accompanyed with his Vision; where Sin has no more temptation, nor Duty any uneasiness; but to serve him so here is a more refined piece of Piety than ever yet he was pleased to exact. God knows that [Page 9] while we carry this stubborn Clay about us, Hopes and Fears are the main Springs that move our Soul; and therefore he has made these, as it were the measures of our Obligation.

Now to come to our Instance, we know the Heathens were much in the dark, in reference to a Future State: Indeed the Po­ets had prettily fancied an Elysium and a Hell, but the soberest Men amongst them lookt upon these rather as well-contrived restraints for the Vulgar, than Matters of their own belief. ^* Vera puta, &c. says one of them, It is good to think they are true, though they be not. And we see that the most Venerable amongst them for Moral Wisdom (for example) ^* Socrates, Tully, and Seneca, when they discourse expresly con­cerning the Immortality of the Soul, want Arguments to convince themselves of the [Page 10] truth of it, and end all their Disquisitions with a Peradventure and a Wish. Now if these Men did live amiss (though by the way, many of them lived so well that we may be ashamed of the comparison) but when they did live amiss, they wanted not an Apology, and such an Apology as God in proportion will admit of: For St. Paul tells the Men of Athens, Acts 17. 30. That till such time as God had manifested his De­cree of a future Iudgment, and given an Assurance of it, by raising Christ Iesus from the dead; till that time God had winked at their Ignorance: Not their Ignorance of what they ought to do; for therein their Notions were excellently good; but their Ignorance of the Resurrection, upon which depends all the Life of Humane Endea­vors; But now (says the Apostle) after the Revelation of this, Now he commands all men every where to Repent.

And we shall find that God proceeded by the same measures with the Iews un­der their Dispensation? For we cannot as­sign a Reason why God should at any time have given a Law so far short of the Perfe­ction of Mans Nature, and beneath the [Page 11] Purity of his own; as that of Moses was: wherein the greatest part of the Religious Service consisted in Ceremonies, that affect­ed not the Mind; and wherein there were such Indulgencies in Moral Actions as Good Men were not willing to make use of: but only this, that God did proportion his Covenant to his Promises; and required no more of them than he gave them suf­ficient Motives to perform. The Promi­ses that God was then pleased to make, were only Temporal ( i. e.) a happy Land, and such Blessings in it as were requisite to the passing of a Comfortable Life. Now these Temporal Encouragements would not Morally bear a greater stress of Duty. And 'tis in this Sense our Saviour tells the Iews, Mark 10. 5. that Moses did indulge them in some things for the hardness of their hearts; not that we may interpret that Man ever was, or ever will be, in­dulg'd, purely because he is stubborn: but therefore Moses indulged them for the hard­ness of their hearts, because the straitness of his Revelation wanted proper efficacy to work their hearts to greater softness. But when the Fulness of Time was come, to [Page 12] which God designed the Fulness of his Re­velation; when Christ had brought Im­mortality to Light, whose Issues depend upon a future Iudgment; and when he had thereby given such a full Imploy to Hu­mane Hopes and Fears, as that nothing ought reasonably to engage them beside; then was the season of extending his Com­mands to their just proportion; of requi­ring all our Affections, because he had gi­ven sufficient Springs to move them: of demanding all we can do, because he had given us sufficient Reason to do all that we can.

And now we come to see how these two former Excuses are voided by the Gospel. The First ( i. e.) Want of Light, is voided by the Excellency of its Doctrine: And the Second ( i. e.) Want of Motives, are voided by the Greatness of its Sanction. First, The Excuse of Want of Light, is void­ed by the Doctrine of the Gospel; for the Excellency of that Doctrine consists in this, that it gives us such new Notices as make Vertue appear to have a larger Extent and a better Foundation, than either the Heathens or the Iews could imagine.

[Page 13]The First Notice it brings us of this Kind, is the Knowledge of our Selves, and the Cor­ruption of our Nature; wherein men were never sufficiently instructed before: For by the Gospel we learn, that notwithstand­ing the dear Union and Commerce that is between Soul and Body, there are no two in the World at such enmity one with another; none that drive on such quite different In­terests as they: All our Fleshly Lusts are an Army that war against the Soul; and the speediest way to ruin, is to hearken to the Whisperers in our own Bosome. And therefore those Acts of Self-denial, which were some­times lookt upon as Natural Imprudencies, are now the most necessary Parts of Christian Du­ty. I must curb and cross my Inclinations, be­cause to comply with my Inclinations, is to put my self into the hands of those that will betray me. I must not revenge Injuries, be­cause I must be revenged of my Passion; which does me more injury than any other can. I must love my Enemies, because it is a worse Enemy that provokes me to hate them; and yet though I must love my Ene­mies, I must not love my Self; for in my Enemies I alwayes see something good, they [Page 14] bear the Image of God, which Christ died to redeem; but in my Self (meaning by my Self my Sensual Part) there is nothing but the Image of the Evil One, which Christ di­ed to destroy.

Now, I say, from this Knowledge of our Selves, and the Corruption of our Nature, it appears that Humiliation and Poverty of Spirit, and Voluntary Restraints and Inflicti­ons, such as the Gospel calls, Taking up of the Cross, are necessary Parts of Christian Duty, though they never came into the Catalogue of Heathen Vertues.

The Second Notice we have from the Go­spel, is the Knowledg of the World; that it is but a Passage, and not a Place of Abode: for as our Souls were made of no part of the World, so 'tis in vain to look for their proper Satisfactions in it.

Indeed if the World were our Home and our All (as both Heathens and Iews did ge­nerally believe it) there were no reason but that we should take up with the pleasures of the Place. If we could conclude (as Solo­mon sometimes does, Eccles. 2. That, This is our Portion, and that no Man may come back to see what shall be after him; We might in­fer [Page 15] with him too, That, There is nothing better for a Man, than to eat and to drink, and to rejoyce in his labour. But the Consi­deration, That God is our Portion; and, That we are but Strangers and Pilgrims here; is a forcible Argument to restrain our Affections.

Now we know that we are designed for a happier Countrey, we ought not to look upon this as a Place of Enjoyment, but ra­ther of Exercise and Discipline. The love of this World must now needs be enmity with God; because to place our Affections here, is to vilifie that better Provision which he has made for us.

The Working our selves into Fortunes by indirect Arts, is no longer Self-Interest, the rescuing of our selves from damage by unlawful Methods is no longer Self-pre­servation. Our Soul is chiefly our Self, and who would engage that for a pitiful share in the World; St. Matt. 16. 26. which our Saviour tells us is more worth than the whole? From this Knowledge of the World, it likewise ap­pears, That Heavenly-mindedness, and Contempt of the World, and Chusing rather to die, than to commit a Moral Evil, are the necessary Offices of a Christian; though [Page 16] a Iew might have been excused, if he had lookt upon them as Indiscretions.

The Third Notice it brings us, Is the Knowledge of the full and perfect Will of God, contained in the Commands of the Gospel; and the Sum of what they require of us, in short amounts to this: ( viz.) A Sincere Iustice, an Universal Charity; a Checking of our Passi­ons, and Regulating our Enjoyments; an Habitual Reverence of God, and a Constant Application for his Grace; a Striving and Running, and earnestly Contending towards Perfection, to the measure of the Stature of the Fulness of Christ.

Now these are the Notices we have from the Gospel, and by these our Understandings are sufficiently inform'd: We can no more pretend Want of Light; for the Rule is clear, and admits of no Doubtings, as likewise it is exact, and admits of no Preva­rications.

We must see in the next place how the Second Excuse (i. e.) Want of Motives; is voided by the Gospel; and this is done by the greatness of its Sanction; that is, by the greatness of the Punishments and Rewards that are there proposed.

[Page 17]And now, In the First Place, If Fear have any power to deter us from Sin, what can we hear more important than this; ( viz.) That the Wrath of God is revealed from Heaven against all Ungodliness and Unrighteousness: And that this Wrath of God will finally ex­press it self in Burnings, Darkness, Anguish, Confusion, such a State of Complicated Horror, that our very Fears, which usually exceed in the Representation of all other Evils, cannot reach the extremity of this: And what Man then in his Wits can believe that he ought to fear any thing but This, and Him that can inflict it? Mount Ebal had its threats at the Giving of the Law, but they were only Temporal Evils, and the last of those Evils, which is Death. Now these were but a poor Restraint to an Eager Passion. Death, when it is a Mischief (for it is not always one) is a Mischief that the meanest Passion we have will contemn; and as for all the Mischiefs that attend Life, since they can be of no long Duration, but must end with the Subject, there can be no vast difference betwixt them and the Plea­sure for which a Man would chuse to bear them. If a Iew would prefer the Enjoy­ment [Page 18] of a Wanton Midianite in the Wilder­ness, before his Share in Canaan; if he would chufe to indulge himself in the Methods of his present Passion, rather than see his Milk and Honey flow, or his Vine and Fig-tree flourish; yet both his Choice and his Hazard being Temporary (I speak to the Letter of the Revelation) I say, his Choice and his Hazard being both Temporary, they bare proportion to each other. But when the Hazard comes to be Infinite, when the Curses of Ebal appear to be but the be­ginning of Sorrows, and Death but a pas­sage to an endless Train of Severer Evils, in what proportion then stands the pleasures of Sin? And how wild is the Appetite that will not check at such a Gulf?

In the Second Place, If Hope have any influence to incite us to our Duty, what can we hear more inviting than this: viz. A Kingdom of Heaven, an Inheritance, a Son­ship there, nay a likeness to the only Begot­ten Son; for when he appears, says St. Iohn, we shall be like him: A state where there is no Want, no Pain, no Tears; but an ex­ceeding and eternal weight of Glory, of Plea­sure, of Ioy; and (to leave our Hopes in an [Page 19] Exstasy) such as neither Eye hath seen, nor Ear heard, nor can it enter into the Heart of Man to conceive. When the Master of the Vineyard, Mat. 20. went into the Market­place, and reproacht some he met there with this Question, Why stand ye here all the day idle? They made him answer, Because no man hath hired us; and the Answer was taken for a reasonable Excuse. Had we never heard of these Evangelical Promises, we might have had as fair a Pretence to be idle; but after this Revelation that our Wa­ges are by Gods grace Eternal Life, what Apology then for not working? He that hath these Hopes, and purifies not himself; he that hath these Invitations, and prepares not himself; like the Man found at the Marriage Feast without a Wedding Garment, he must be dumb; he can have no Excuse. And yet though Men must be dumb before God, 'tis certain that as long as they sin, they will have some pretence to themselves; for we cannot bear our Nakedness without a Fig-leaf: We must have some shadow of Excuse when we sin; and that not so much in point of Vertue as of Honour, whose Iurisdiction in the World is larger. For he [Page 20] that does an Action of important conse­quence, as the Commission of Sin is, and can give himself no reason why he does it, he down-right calls himself Fool in the do­ing; and in this point Men are usually ten­der. Let us see therefore in the next place the usual Pretences for Sin. I shall mention Three.

The First, Is the Pretence of the Lazy, and that is, The Difficulty of the Command.

The Second is the Pretence of the Pre­sumptuous, and that is, The Mercy of the Iudge.

The Third is, The invincible Buckler of all Pretences, that is, A new Infallible Guid.

First, The Difficulty of the Command: And it was by this very pretence, that above 600000 Israelites forfeited Gods Promise, and were all cut off by immature Deaths in the Wilderness. For when God had promised the Children of Israel, that under his Con­duct they should drive out the Inhabitants of Canaan, and possess themselves of a fruit­ful and happy Land; and in the mean time had given them such Demonstrations, both of his Good-will and his Power, that they had no reason to doubt of either in any fu­ture [Page 21] Undertaking; yet such was the Diffi­dence and Cowardice of those that went to spy the Land, that they returned with an Evil Report of it: They reported that the Soil was barren, that the Inhabitants were Gi­ants, and they but as Grashoppers in compa­rison; and upon this the Attempt was con­cluded impracticable; and what should they do but go down again into Egypt? And this was the Provocation that made God swear in his wrath that they should not enter into his Rest; (as we may see the History 13th and 14th Numb.) In the same unrea­sonable manner, and with the same fatal consequence, do sensual men raise them­selves discouragements from the difficulty of Religion; and notwithstanding that God hath demonstrated by giving us his Son, that with him he will give us all things; the Assistances of his grace, to do what he re­quires, and the Communications of his Spirit, to make the very doing pleasant; yet still we cry with the Sluggard there is a Lyon in the way: ‘Who can resist his Desire be­fore a fair Temptation? Or his Revenge at a secure Opportunity? Who can check his Honour or Ambition in their hurry? [Page 22] Or part with other Darling Pleasures, dear as his Right Hand or his Eye? Who can take up a Cross while the World does not frown? Or bear up against the Tide of Custom and Company? Or make himself gaz'd at by an unfashionable De­votion? The difficulty of the thing it self, together with humane infirmity, make it altogether impossible; we must despair to do it.’ Indeed all Habits are impossible to the unexperienc'd: It is im­possible for a Man to draw a Face, that ne­ver drew a Line: It is impossible to be Ma­ster of our Passions in an instant, as much as it is to be Master of a Craft. But Christi­anity is our Profession, and Life is our Ap­prentisage, and Practice makes easie, and Perseverance makes perfect: And who will excuse the Man that at Seven years end shall say, He has made no proficiency in his Craft, because he found it difficult at the first Essay? Bring me a Man that has Watch'd and Pray'd, and taken as much Pains to over­come Desires, as another will take in the mean time to satisfie his Desires; and such a Man will tell us that the difficulty is over. But alas! we cannot allow so great a share [Page 23] of Endeavour to make our selves good, as we willingly contribute to make our selves bad. Vice can command our Care and Attendance, Strength and Estate, Reputa­tion and Life it self: but Vertue is not thought worthy the meanest of these, not­withstanding all her present Comforts and future Expectations. What strange infa­tuation does Sin bring upon Men! We may observe of the Iews, that they repined not to sacrifice the dearest of their Children to Moloch, and yet they thought a Lamb of their Flock too much for God Almighty.

The Second Pretence, The Mercy of the Iudge.

'Tis evident, That our hearts are most there, where we are most fearful to mis­carry: Now how cautious and provident are we in relation to our present Concerns? we will not trust God here without our own Carving, notwithstanding all his Promises; and yet so sanguine are our hopes, in rela­tion to our future state, that we will trust God there without making any Provision, notwithstanding all his Remonstrances. To size our Provision for another World, there is no Example seems to run so much in our [Page 24] heads as that of the Thief upon the Cross; though this be an Example, whose chiefest circumstances can never occur again. But we will not advert the Gutter'd Cheeks, and Callous Knees, and Passionate Mournings, and Severe Inflictions of the Primitive Pe­nitents. Repentance was heretofore the Porch of a Christian Life, but Modern Ages have made it the Postern; it is the last thing Men set themselves about: It was hereto­fore a solemn irksom task of changing Affe­ctions and introducing New Habits; an utter Detestation of Sin, and an open Pro­fession of Shame for it; as well to mortifie themselves as to deter others: but Modern Ages have passed a Repentance, that looks rather like a Charm; that can do that with ease, which cost others so much pains; that like the Miracle of Circes Wanne inverted, can change a Hog into a Man, by a gentle touch. Indeed, when the Church grew so indulgent, as to give Heaven upon these ea­sie terms, I wonder not that Purgatory grew so fast into repute; it being (as the Hypo­thesis made it) so very modest an Error. For who could believe that Souls could mount directly to Heaven with such Indis­positions, [Page 25] and be there upon a sudden tran­sported with the pleasure of Hymns and Devotion; which, while here, could scarce ever be easie at their Prayers?

These gross mischiefs sprung up in an Age when Men offended at the Light, resolved to draw the Curtains and keep it out; when they shut up the Scriptures, and then fanci'd New Models of Christianity, New Mea­sures of Gods Iustice, and New Schemes of Salvation, not according to the Doctrine of Christ, but their own wishes: and at last, that the Conviction of the Gospel might never recoyl upon them again to effect; they set up an Appeal from the Scriptures to a New Infallible Guid; that invincible Buckler of all Pretences. For Infallibility is like the Poets Chaos, a vast, dark Womb, that teems with every thing; and as it can produce all Opinions, so it can as easily maintain them; because whoever will oppose, must beg the Question.

A Cardinal Iesuite going about to de­monstrate the benefit and necessity of this New Guid, gives us this Reason for it: Palavicin. in his Introd. to his Hist. of the Coun. of Trent. Men (says he) must be governed as they are, and not as one could wish them to be: Now we [Page 26] know that Men are generally born with corrupt inclinations, and therefore the Gospel (strictly taken) being too rigid for corrupt Nature to ob­serve, it was necessary to constitute such a Vi­car here upon Earth as might temper Religion and accommodate it to Humane Affections; and abate, remit, dispence, and give grace upon occasion, as Temporal Princes do to their Subjects: so that if at any time Men would not live up to the Rule, the Rule might ply down to them; and so God still be served, and Men kept good Catholicks upon such terms as they would bear. This is the import of what the Cardinal says more at large: And surely in this he spoke more truth than he intended; for although it be profane to say that this was Gods reason to constitute a Vicar (for he had no hand in the Constitution) yet doubtless this was the reason that set Men on work to constitute such a Vicar; that thereby they might better bring Religion to serve their Carnal Ends. For though they were pleased in an unmannerly com­parison to call the Scriptures a Leaden Rule, yet they found it wanted flexibility enough to comport with their Designs; and there­fore the only expedient was to set up ano­ther Authority.

[Page 27]Under the Countenance of this New Guid began a See the Ie­suite Writers of Practic. Divinity.Casuistical Divinity to direct Mens Consciences without the Rule of Gods Word; the chief effect of whose Doctrine is to destroy the Nature of Truth, by distinguishing Words from Meaning; and to confound all Morality, by distinguishing Acts from Ends; by teaching to sanctifie ill Practices with good Intentions; and to make Religion a Cloak for Sin; though my Text says, that the Religion which our Sa­viour delivered, had left all Sin without a Cloak. And then to what purpose is it that our Saviour came? Or to what end that he spake? As one of the Mediterra­nean Pirates told Cesar, Sir, If you kill the little Pirates, and set up for a great one your self, what is the World the better? So if Re­ligion come armed against all Vices, and beat them out; and yet may bring them in at the Back Door, to serve her own turn, how is the World amended? To what purpose is it, that according to the Princi­ples of Christianity, we renounce the World, the Flesh, and the Devil, if yet we may plough with all these, to bring in a Har­vest to the Church; if this World may be [Page 28] hook'd in, in order to the next; and it be lawful to debauch Nations, in order to pro­selyte them; that when their Consciences are distracted with Guilt and Fear, they may run into the Arms where they find most Indulgence; and catch at a Plenary Absolution, as a drowning Man will catch at a Floating Twigg. Nay, If Religion may be made a Cloak, the World is the worse for it; and Men would have been less barbarous, had they continued Infi­dels. For the Machia­vel Disc. Florentine Politician makes it one instance of Humane Weakness, that Men cannot be thorow-pac'd in Villany; and the reason is, because the natural fear of Conscience baffles them, and makes them Cowards; and so for not acting their Mischiefs home, they commonly lose both themselves and their Designs: but this Check of Consciencious Fear can have no place in the Case of a Religious Villain, who has the ill of the Action reeonciled to his Conscience; in such a Case Men have no restraint, they dare be as Mischievous as Machiavel or the Occasion would have them to be.

[Page 29]This bold Treatment of Religion, to bring it to serve to Carnal Ends, made o­thers conclude it a more ingenuous way to the same Ends, fairly to renounce Religion: and so Italy became at the same time the Mint both of Faith and of Atheism. And indeed the New Guid and the Atheist seem­ed to proceed upon some Parity of Rea­sons. For the One would new model the Church and govern it without the Scrip­tures; and teach for Doctrines the Traditions of Men: And the Other would new make the World, and govern it without a Pro­vidence, and teach instead of Scripture the Projects of his own System: The One found out Methods to forgive Sin without purging the Conscience; and the Other found out Methods to commit Sin with­out affecting the Conscience: The One disposed of Heav'n and Hell for no seem­ing Reasons but that he was Arbitrary; and the Other as arbitrarily laught at the supposition of the places: The One inve­sted himself with a Divine Attribute, that is, Infallibility; and the Other devested him­self of the Chief Humane Attribute, that [Page 30] is, Immortality. And now who can tell whether Nebuchadnezzar's fancy was more extravagant, when he believ'd himself to be a God, or when he believ'd himself to be a Beast? I shall not meddle with the Decision; but only observe this from the Instance, That, When God once leaves Men to their own Affections, there is nothing so absurd but they may believe it: As like wise, When Men once leave the Scriptures, the Rule of Truth, there is no end of their Erring.

From what hath been said, we can infer nothing more naturally than our Duty and manifold Obligation to value and revere the Holy Scriptures, as our Guid, and our Blessing, and Gods powerful Ordinance for our Sanctification. 'Tis the Holy Scrip­tures that entertain our Minds according to their proper worth; for they inform the Understanding with the most sublime and important Truths; they work upon the Conscience by the strongest Convictions; and they enlarge our Bowels by the most affectionate Motives and Instances: so that no Man can read them, without finding [Page 31] himself in a nearer Disposition both to Wis­dom and to Piety: As, on the contrary, those Legends, which have sometime been substituted in their place, for the Enter­tainment of Devotion, do so debase the Majesty of God by unworthy Condescen­tions; and so impose upon Mens Under­standings by vain, fantastick, unprofitable, irrational Idea's, that no man can read Them without finding himself in a nearer Disposition both to Irreverence and to Fol­ly. 'Tis by the Holy Scriptures that our Saviour comes and speaks to us, as he did heretofore to the Iews: And forasmuch as it is the Effect of his Coming and Speak­ing, that We have now no more Cloak for our Sins; 'tis in our hands to make good Use of this Effect, by considering that Sin is now no more to be covered, but to be purged.

All things are naked and open before the Eyes of Him with whom we have to do: Why then should we think of a Disguise? Why should we cheat our selves into Bold­ness, by putting on a Vizard? To dawb and palliate our faults, is but like keeping [Page 32] our selves in the dark, that the Sun [...] dazzle us the more when it breaks in U [...] us. All the Discretion we can shew [...] to expose our selves to the Light; to our selves thorowly, and to let others [...] us too: For, If we are Good, Exampl [...] the best lustre of Vertue; and, If we [...] Bad, Shame is the best step to Am [...] ­ment.