who receive it; and not only love Darkness rather than Light, but labour to oppose the Light itfelf, because their Deeds are evil. While they act upon their prefent Principles and Motives, these will infallibly mifguide them. Obftinacy in Sin blinds as well as corrupts 3 every Step the harden'd Sinner takes cafts a fresh Cloud over his Understanding, as well as adds new Strength to his Lufts, till at length he gives himself wholly up to the Pursuit of his present Interests and Inclinations, and then it must needs be that he both refift and oppose the Charmer, charm he never fo wifely.

Under these Circumftances he is as it were neceffitated to go on in his Iniquity; and the greater that Neceffity, the more notorious and the more complicated is his Guilt. He cannot arrive at this Pitch of Wickedness till after many hard Struggles and Conflicts with himfelf: He cannot become thus harden'd in vicious Courses, till after having long and frequently refifted the Holy Spirit of Grace: He cannot become fo great an Adept in Sin as to become a Tempter to his Brethren, till he has first given up all Hopes of Happiness for loft, and fold himself to do Iniquity. So that he labours under the heavy Guilt of having acted contrary to the Dictates of his own Breast; the Guilt of having rejected all the gracious Interpofals of Providence to reform him, and forced the Divine Spirit to withdraw himself from him; and the complicated Guilt of join

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ing

ing Iffue with the great Adverfary of Mankind, in doing his Work, and labouring to feduce others, by laying Stumbling-blocks in their Way.

Which being confidered, little need be faid to fhew the fatal Confequences of fuch Offences, a God of Purity muft abhor them, a God of Justice and Goodness must severely punish them; and a lefs Authority than what we here have might be fufficient to convince us, that, fooner or later, Defolation and Wo must be the Portion of that Man by whom the Offence cometh.

But why then, fays the bold Offender, does this God of Purity permit them? Or if so, why this Neceffity and this Wo together? If it must needs be that I offend, why am I yet punished as a Sinner? Which will be anfwered, if we proceed in the

IIId and laft Place, to fhew it to be very confiftent with the Divine Goodnefs to fuffer thofe Offences, and eafily reconcileable with the Divine Juftice to punish the Authors of them, by bringing on them the Wo here denounced against him, by whom the Offence cometh. In Proof of which I fhall only obferve, that as it

is

very confiftent with the Divine Goodness to create free Agents, fo confequently to permit Offences; and that the Juftice of God cannot reasonably be queftioned in punishing them, because the Neceffity the Offenders lye under is voluntary, and moral only 3

Unless

Unless we can fuppofe the Divine Being not to be at liberty to create free Agents, that is, unless we can imagine it to interfere with the Purity of God to form any Creatures of a fuperior Nature to Brutes, and to make them more like himself, by giving them a Liberty of Action; unlefs, I fay, we can fuppofe this, we must allow his Goodness to be no way impeached by his permitting Offences; because he is no farther concerned than in the Creation of fuch Powers, and the Agents themselves only are chargeable with the Abuses of them. There is no necessary Connexion between Liberty and Sin; the one is indeed the Gift of God, but the other the free Act of Man and great therefore must be the Ingratitude, great the Injuftice of charging our Iniquities upon him, and of calling his Bounties Cruelties, merely because we can and do mifapply them.

Befides, as the only imaginable Means of abfolutely preventing all Offences were to make us neceffary Agents, if God did this, he would not only put a Stop to all wicked Actions, but to all good ones too. As there can be no Vice, fo neither can there be any Virtue without Freedom; it is the Choice makes the one morally good, the other morally evil: and therefore, to require the Destruction of that Liberty, were to demand that all Virtue fhould be banished out of the World; and to make it neceffary that the Almighty should be fo much concerned

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concerned to prevent the Mifery of wicked Men, as not to qualify the good to please and enjoy him, left others, who prefer their own Wills to his, and Death to Life, should bring on themselves Destruction.

To which if we add, that many gracious and great Ends of Providence may be anfwered by the Permiffion of Offences; that thereby his Forbearance and Long-fuffering are difplayed, and his Love even to Sinners magnified; and that thereby those who are approved are made manifeft, our Virtue put to the Trial, our Conftancy fet in a fair Light, and our Sincerity juftified; it will be very evident, that the Glory of the Divine Goodness is not impaired, but magnified by fuch a Permiffion, and that the Almighty is ever gracious and merciful in all his Dealings towards the Children of Men.

Nor is his Justice more impeached by punifhing thofe Offences, because the Neceffity the Offenders lye under is not phyfical, but moral; not abfolute, but purely voluntary. It is the Effect of their own Obftinacy and Perfeverance in Sin, an Inability arifing from vicious Habits, contracted by repeated Tranfgreffions; and as therefore every Repetition multiplies Guilt, it must make the Punishment as more fevere, fo more juft. Every deliberate Act of Sin indifpofes the Mind to Virtue, and bends it to Vice; every Temptation grows fronger by Indulgence: and whoever confiders

confiders the immenfe Labour of unlearning fettled Habits, which are confirmed by Ufe, and riveted by Inclinations, and of learning others which are contrary to both, will need no Authority to convince him, that it must needs be that Offences come. Befides, we know that the Spirit of God will not always ftrive with those Men, whofe Hearts are fully fet in them to do Evil; and upon his withdrawing his divine Affiftance, what remains, but a greedy Purfuit of every evil Word and Work? Which judicial Desertion leaves the now abandoned Sinner no juft Reason to complain, because owing to many previous repeated Provocations, which it was in his Power, through that Affiftance, to avoid. And the Wo denounced against Offences committed under this Desertion may juftly be inflicted; as all Cafuifts agree, that the Man who commits Murder when diforder'd by Intemperance, fuffers no more than condign Punishment, if he be executed for it; because tho' he might be little fenfible of the Nature and Confequences of the Act at the Time he committed it, yet that Infenfibility itself was a Crime, and he might with due Care have prevented both.

Would we therefore avoid the Wo? The proper Method is not to arraign the Judge, or condemn the Sentence, but forfake the Crime. Are we fincerely concerned for the Succefs of Religion, and grieved at the open Attacks which are made upon it, the open Attempts

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