how to love your Brother without Diffimulation. There is no Precept of Virtue laid down in the Gospel which Nature can reject; there is none which Nature teaches, that the Gospel has not explained and enforced. You cannot therefore forfake the Gospel, in hopes of finding a purer Religion elsewhere.

Many have complained that the Terrors of the Lord, set forth in the Gospel of Christ, are too rigid and fevere, and hardly reconcileable with the Benignity of the Divine Nature; and have therefore fought to skreen themselves under a milder Sentence, denounced, as they think, by the Voice of Reason and Nature: But did you ever hear that any one rejected the Gofpel, that he might fecure the Practice of Virtue upon a Foundation of better Hopes and Fears, that should with a more powerful Influence fubdue the Minds of Men to the Obedience of Holiness? Many haye lamented the Strictnefs of the Gospel Morality, the Laws of which require fo great Perfection, that Man must hardly hope to attain to it; and have therefore recurred to the Law of Nature, not as a more perfect, but as a more equitable Rule of Justice; hoping to find, under the Protection of Nature, that Liberty and Allowance to their Infirmities,

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Infirmities, which the Gospel has precluded. But do you know the Man that ever despised the Gospel for the Immorality of its Precepts, or left it that he might be more chafte, more temperate, more charitable, than the Laws of Christ required he should be? If not, let any one judge what Purposes a Man ferves, when he endeavours, on one Side, to bring downthe Precepts of Morality from the Strictnessof the Gospel, and to give greater Liberty and Freedom to the Inclinations of the World; and, on the other Side, to weaken the Restraints laid on the Paffions by the Terrors of the Chriftian Law, by discarding the Fears of perpetual Punishment. Is the Cause of Religion to be thus fupported? Will the World be better, when lefs Holiness is required of them, and when even what is required becomes lefs neceffary to be performed, by removing the Danger of tranfgreffing? Is it for the fake of Virtue that Men plead the Cause of Libertinism, and endeavour to make void those Laws of Chrift, which are most uneafy to Flesh and Blood? Is it to make Men better than they are, that you tell them the Danger of finning is lefs than they apprehend, much less than the Riof the Gospel declares it to be? And yet VOL. III.

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these are the Views upon which those act, who retreat from the Gospel with the greateft Shew of Reafon and Moderation: Thefe: are the Pretences of fuch as would not be thought to throw off all Regard to Religion,: but only to feek a better, I doubt they mean an easier Form. And what is it that creates the Averfion to the Light which is held forth to them, and makes them chuse to retire, if not to the total Darkness of heathenish Ignorance, yet to the Shades of Natural Religion, if not this which the Text has affigned, becaufe their Deeds are evil? You may think perhaps that I have forgot one great Objection which fuch Men have against the Gospel, and which may be entertained without fuppofing their Deeds to be evil; namely, that they cannot be reconciled to the Mysteries of the Gofpel, or to those Institutions of it, which are upon no Foot of Reason any Part of true Religion. In Anfwer to which I can only fay at prefent, that thofe who make the Objection are either not in earnest, or else they are unacquainted with the Power of the Gofpel. It is true, the Gospel has taught us. Things, which by Nature we could not know; but they are all defigned to confirm and ftrengthen our Hope in God, and to give

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us the fullest Affurance of his Mercy. It is true also, that there are in the Gospel fome Institutions, which in their own Nature are no constituent Parts of Religion; but then they are fuch only as are neceflary to enable us to do our Duty by conveying new Supplies of fpiritual Strength to us, for want of which we were unable, in the State of Nature, to extricate ourselves from the Bonds of Iniquity. Thefe are the Additions which the Gospel has made to Religion. Our bleffed Saviour faw that the Hopes of Nature were obfcured, and therefore he did, by wonderful Revelations, bring Life and Immortality: to Light again: He faw that her Powers were decayed, fo that he could not refift Evil, and therefore he supplied the Defect by the Affistance of his Holy Spirit. If you are not willing to reap the Benefit, at least forgive his Kindness; and do not think the worse of him, or his Religion, because of the great Provision he has made in it for your Security. But I haften to a Conclufion, and fhall but briefly apply what has been faid on this Subject.

What I would chiefly fuggeft to your Confideration is this: That the Gofpel of Jefus Christ being recommended to you, as founded

in the express Revelation of God, carries with it fuch an Authority, as cannot with Safety to yourselves be despised or neglected. It is not an indifferent Matter whether you receive it or no; for if the Gospel be truly what it is faid to be, whether you will receive it, or whether you reject it, you shall most certainly be judged by the Tenor of it. I do not propose this Confideration as neceffarily determining your Choice to the Gospel, fince the Pretences of the Gospel to Divine Authority still lie under your Examination: But thus far the Confideration goes, to shew you how neceffary it is to deal in this Matter with all Sincerity and Truth, and to try the Cause impartially; fince, if the Gospel be the Word of God, it is Death to forfake it. It is Want of Reflection that makes Men think Religion is a Thing so perfectly in their own Power, that they may chuse where and how they please, without being accountable for the Choice they make, provided only they live up to the Terms of it. For, in truth, Religion, properly and strictly fo called, admits of no Choice: It does not lie before you to confider whether you shall love God or no, or whether you shall love your Neighbour or no: You have no Choice

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