things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and God-head; so that they are without excuse, Rom. i. 20. There is nothing more invisible than the God-head; eternal power is also invisible: but, says the apostle, the very Heathens have these things made visible by the mighty works of God; and their natural reason can instruct them so far, that the rearing up of this glorious canopy of the heavens, the frame of the earth, the making of these great seas, and the making of so many beautiful creatures upon the earth, must be the work of some great, powerful, wise agent. Atheism is against nature, and is no where found, but where the principles of natural religion are extinguished by the power of the devil, and the justice of God by mens abuse of revealed religion. When men come to struggle with the right way of the knowledge of God revealed in the word, and shut their eyes against that, God suffers them to be blinded, as to those things that the very Heathens have more light in. I believe that there are more Atheists in England, than among all the Pagan nations through the whole earth. A place where the gospellight doth shine, and men rebel against it, is the only place where such monsters are bred. 2dly, In natural religion, there is always some distinction made about good and evil, some light about good and evil, and some conscience there is exercised about these. Conscience is as natural to us, as understanding, and will, and memory are. It is as natural to us to have a conscience, as it is to be men and women, or to have reason; for conscience is nothing else but the exercise of reason about the greatest concernments; it is only a man's judging himself, according as he stands before a greater and supreme judge. Therefore the apostle speaks thus of the Heathen: These having not the law, are a law unto themselves: which shew, says he, the work of the law written in their hearts, Rom. ii. 14, 15. Pray observe, one of the grand promises of the new covenant, is God's writing his laws in our hearts. Here the apostle speaks of the law of nature, as written in the heart of a Hea then, their conscience in the mean while, says he, accusing, or else excusing one another, according to the light that they receive. 3dly, There is amongst all natural men, and a natural religion, some notion of forgiveness, and pardoning mercy and goodness in God. Amidst all their darkness about God, yet they do know, that it is a great excellency, and all excellencies they will ascribe to God, to be good and gracious, and ready to forgive. As there is a conscience of sin amongst all men, so they do give this praise to God, that he is a God that can forgive; thereupon they address to him, in their several ways, for it. All the Heathen have some sense of judgment to come; and from these principles all the fabrics of natural religion are reared up in the world. Now, where this natural religion comes to be polished by the light of the word, it will look a great deal better, and a great many are deceived by it. What then are the grand wants and defects that are in a natural religion, which must certainly leave a man that has no more, in a condemned state? (1.) With all their light, and all the knowledge they have of God, they do not know the true God; they do not know the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, they do not know God in Christ. All gods not seen in Christ are the idols of the nations. It is a deep word that the apostle has, For after that, in the wisdom of God, the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe, 1 Cor. i. 21. All their wisdom could not bring them to know God, because they did not know God in Christ. (2.) All natural men, whatever thoughts they may have of God's goodness in saving and forgiving, yet know nothing of God's way of doing it; and if they do not know of God's doing of it, how can they come by it? They do not know God's forgiving through a satisfaction, they do not know of God's saving men by a mediator; and a great many that hear of these things every day, seem to know it as little as they; I mean, though they subscribe to the notion, the power of the truth is as little upon their hearts as upon the Heathens. Therefore all this natural religion, that fills the nations of the earth, is nothing but a dark and dim light, a false fire that leads men into the pit, and never did lead a man to heaven; for no man can be made wise to salvation, but by the revelation of the word of God; and no man can savingly know the word of God, but by the revelation of the Spirit of God. 2. The second great religion that fills the world is Popery, as we commonly call it, Antichrist's religion. They call it the way to heaven; but the word of God calls it the mystery of iniquity, and the head of it, the son of perdition, 2 Thess. ii. 3. and man of sin. The spirit of Popery lies in this, in inventing, devising, and imposing of false ways to heaven. All their several religions, as they call them, are but so many ways to lead people from Jesus Christ. There is a way to heaven that they propose by the merit of good works, sometimes by our own, and sometimes by those of others; there is a way to heaven by the intercession of saints or angels, thereupon they pray to them, and expect relief from them there is a way to heaven in that pardon that they stand much upon, and that is by the absolution of a sinful priest like themselves. Really it is amazing to behold the judgment of God, that so many of the wise, and prudent, and great, of the kings, and princes, and learned of the earth, have been so long bewitched with these sorceries. They have another way to salvation which is yet worse, and more dangerous, because t comes nearer the true one; and that is, their carnal representing the true way to heaven, that is, Christ crucified. Here lies a great part of the mystery of Antichristianism. If so be that this were laid quite aside, that Christ is the way to heaven, Christianity were firmly and in plain terms laid aside; therefore they are left to be so gross in their life to serve their design. In the mean time, Antichrist does so paint forth and represent Jesus Christ to poor people, that quite enervates and spoils all the virtue of this great contrivance of God. There is representing him by an image and picture; they worship the picture of a man extended upon the cross, and this is called by them their saviour; but the Spirit of God calls it a devil; for every image or every creature that becomes the worship of man in the stead and room of God, is called worshipping of devils, worshipping stocks, and stones, and devils. Another gross abuse of Christianity is this, that is reckoned one of their great ways to heaven; and that is, they turn the memorial of the death of our Lord, that is to be perpetually kept up in the church, into a propitiatory sacrifice for the sins of the quick and dead; besides the other abominable things that are therein, is that of transubstantiation. But that which serves my purpose is mainly the sacrifice of it. The design of our Lord Jesus in appointing his last supper was, that bread might be eaten, and wine drunk amongst believers in the churches of Christ, in the remembrance of Christ's death, till he come again; a plain naked teaching thing, and has its own signification in the institution of it. Instead of this, they have the bread turned, as they fancy, into the flesh and body of a man, and this body eate; and this they reckon the way to eternal life, when the abuse of it is a sin, enough to damn men. But now, say you, what does all this serve for? We are neither Pagans nor Papists. But notwithstanding there is not one of you, but are in some danger this way; for, from a mixture of natural and Antichristian religion, there spring up a great many sorts of people among us. 1. There is the superstitious formalist. These are in all sorts of religion. They imagine, that because they are in the true church, therefore they shall be saved. The true church is not the way to heaven, but Christ is the way to heaven; and all that are in Christ will betake themselves to that church that is true. They commonly lay a great stress upon their outward performances and duties, and many times on the smallest. 2. There is the moralist, Would any believe it, unless they read it in books and in some mens preaching, that in such a land as England is and has been, there should in it either man or woman, or child of seven years of age, that should drink in this dreadful notion, that if I do justly, and do as I would be done by, I shall surely be saved? But thou shalt surely be damned, if thou dost no more. Is not this a wonder, that after all the light that has shone from the word of God about the way of salvation by the slain Son of God, that civility that is to be found amongst Heathens is all a great many have for their title to eternal life! Much is should be 3. There is the self-righteous legalist; a man that goes beyond the former: he will not stint himself in the matter of his salvation, and lodge it in the form of his profession, but will bring it farther to the exercise of his conscience, and the employment of his heart about good works, about striving to please God; he is about the establishing his own righteousness, and he will find out a way to heaven for himself. said against this in the word of God, and much daily said against it by the ministers of the word. There are some men so impatient in hearing any speak against self-righte ousness, as though it were not a sin, and nobody were in danger to be ruined by it; when it is the sin that is the last strong hold of Satan, and that keeps many men ing that the word of God hath ferretted out of others. What can be the grand reason of this, that men should fall into so many fatal mistakes about the way to heaven? I do not speak of them that want the light of the word, nor of Popery; but that there should be so many of these remaining mistakes where the light of the word is, is strange. The reason is only this, the great darkness that men naturally labour under as to the way to heaven; this darkness leads men to mistake it, and to take up other ways, because they do not know the true way. Every body thinks that it is very hard to get to heaven, and it will cost a great deal of time and pains, and struggling before they get thither; but here is the mischief of it; people do not know it is hard to know the way to heaven, they are not convinced of this, that unless a beam of light shine in upon thy heart, thou mayest hear of the way to heaven all thy life long, and not know it. There is the Spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Christ, that every one had need to pray for. I might instance a great many of the ordinary simple mistakes of people. Some do imagine, that any way that is contrary to the way to hell, is the way to heaven; a great mistake. Every sin is the way to hell, will you say, every duty is the way to heaven. Any sin may ruin a man, but nothing can save him but Christ Jesus. Intemperance, drunkenness, &c. is the way to hell; but is |