purer: and with great zeal and diligence hear the SER M. preachers, that are in moft vogue amongst them, VI. and yet it may be all the while are not the better men. So prone are perfons of vicious inclinations' to be any thing, rather than true Chriftians! To put on any shape, or pafs under any denomination in the world, rather than admit of that one thing, called ferious living Chriftianity!

BUT if we might but reafon the matter here a little, I would observe, that be your denomination what it will under that general one of Proteftants; be the thing you profefs, objectively, never fo good; can you really think that fuch a profeffion of true principles, or the being of fuch and fuch a denomination, can in Go D's balance preponderate, and outweigh grofs and abominable wickednefs? Can thofe things fingly confidered, which are in themselves fo light, intitle us to a greater fhare of the divine favour, than the people of Ifrael could expect? Concerning whom we find, that when they were become a finful nation, a people laden with iniquities, a feed of evil doers, and who upon their being fmitten more, did ftill revolt more and more; yet although the cafe was thus with them, they thought to expiate all this, and to make Gop fome great recompence and amends by their facrifices. Wherefore thefe were brought upon the altar one upon another, and mighty punctual they were in obferving their new moons and folemn affemblies. When the cafe, I fay, ftood thus, how does GOD accept F4

Ifaiah 1. 4, & feq.

the

II.

VOL. the recompence? Why thus, Bring no more, says he, your vain oblations, your incenfe is an abomination to me, and your new moons and folemn assemblies: My foul kates' them, I am weary to bear them. And to the fame purpose we find it largely spoken throughout the fiftieth Pfalm. And how could we poffibly think it should be otherwife, if we understand at all the nature of God, or the genius and design of true religion? Which, if it ferve for any purpose at all, must serve for this; "to refine men's fpirits, to govern their

lives, to fit them for walking with GoD in "this world, and to prepare them for the next.” What ferves religion for, if not for this purpose? And of what fervice is their religion, which is fruftrated of its main design and end? Indeed, for men to take up religion for other inferiour purposes, is moft grofly to debase it. It is true it should serve other purposes as fecondary, and fubordinate to that which is the ultimate defign of it; if it was only to keep up the decorum of things. But when it is made to ferve inferior purpofes, as if they were primary; when it is only taken up as a badge of diftinction between one party of men and another, under pretence of which men are only defigning to promote the intereft of a party; this fruftrates its end and ultimate defign. It is very true, GOD is pleafed to twift, as it were, the intereft of religion with that of a civil nature. But when this is made the chief defign of the other, it is to turn it into

vaia

Ver. 13, 14.

VI.

vain idolatry; and, in effect, to difannul religion; SERM. in as much as all things, of moral confideration, are ever specified from the object and end.

IT concerns us then to confider, how little it can avail any of us to bear fuch a name as we have been speaking of, if in the mean time there be a life and practice that is manifeftly flagitious, and contrary in its general ftream and current to the rules and defign of the religion to which we pretend. Why should we think ourselves more confiderable to Go D, or more favoured by him, than his ancient people were, namely the children of Abraham, Ifaac, and Jacob? who, notwithstanding any privileges on that account, are faid upon their apoftacy unto wickedness to be, as the children of the Ethiopians to him; that vile accurfed race, the pofterity of Cufh, who defcended from an accurfed Cham.

INDEED there is little reason why their religion fhould at all advantage them, who do themfelves moft reproachfully expofe and difhonour their profeffion. In the account of GOD it will be all one, Proteftant or no Proteftant, so long as men indulge to a vain wicked life. As in Chrift neither circumcifion nor uncircumcifion availeth any thing but a new creature; fo we may say out of Chrift this availeth nothing. Trojan or Tyrian will be all one, if wickedness rule and reign in the heart and life of the man. For thus the Apostle Paul argues; it makes no difference in the point of acceptance with GoD, under the Gospel

II.

VOL, Gospel dispensation, whether a man be a Jew or Greek, Barbarian or Scythian, and the like, fince CHRIST IS ALL AND IN ALL. In which paffage he may poffibly refer to a Scythian, who, having an inclination to learning, betook himself to Athens, to study the principles of philofophy that were taught there. But meeting one day with a perfon, that very infolently upbraided him on the account of his country, he gave him this fmart repartee; "True indeed it is, my country "is a reproach to me; but you, for your part, "are a reproach to your country." So we may fay of these profeffors; that though their religion is no reproach to them, yet they are a shame and reproach to their religion. It is fad indeed, that fo great a part of the world fhould lie under fo grofs and corrupt a religion as that is of the church of Rome, which is a brand of infamy on its profeffors; but it is a far worse case when men, by their vicious immoral practices, are a reproach to a better religion, as we Proteftants esteem ours to be; which conduct GoD will fe verely punish, without doubt, another day. If Christian Proteftants behave as ill as vicious Papifts or Pagans, while they carry a better name, it is likely GOD will diftinguish them hereafter, juft as they have here diftinguished themselves; that is, they fhall lie under the name of Proteftants in hell, as others do under that of Papifts. If our great Redeemer and Lord command us to reckon a disorderly Chriftian, who is obftinate in his

* Col. I. II..

2

VI.

his wickedness, as a Heathen and a Publican; SER M. pray what do you think, he will account of them himself in the great day? Will he have us more ftrictly righteous, or equitable, than he himself

intends to be?

Ir may perhaps here be faid upon all this, "It "is very true; it cannot but be acknowledged, " when men make fuch a profeffion, and are of "fo bad lives, they greatly dishonour their reli"gion, and unquestionably expose themselves to greater degrees of divine vengeance than o "thers. Yet is it not hard to judge fo ill of the ແ cafe, as to fay, thefe men deny their GOD? They do indeed what must be owned to be 16 very bad; but furely fome gentler thing fhould "be faid of it, than that they deny the GOD "whom they profefs to know."

In answer to this, I would ask fuch persons the following queftion; to wit, Muft we or you teach GoD how to fpeak? And does not the text say exprefly, that this is a denying of God? We have before fhewn, in the former part, how much more fignificant an habitual denial of him in practice is, than a tranfient one in fpeculation, or in fo many words. However, let us confider, and see if there be not, in this cafe, a plain denial of the great GOD. Thefe two things I imagine will evince it. For, in the

(1.) PLACE, It is plain he is denied in the attributes; and