LECTURE V.

Grounds and Rule of Faith.

HAVING already explained to you the several things which Christians, by the covenant of their Baptism, renounce, I come now to speak of what we are to believe, after which will follow properly what we are to do. For all reasonable practice must be built on some belief, or persuasion, which is the ground of it; virtuous practice, on a persuasion, that what we do is fit and right; religious practice, on a persuasion, that it is the will of God. Now, God hath been pleased to make his will known by two ways, partly by the more inward light of our own understandings-partly by the outward means of additional declarations from himself. The former of these we call natural religion-the latter revealed religion.

The natural reason of our own minds, if we would seriously attend to it, and faithfully assist each other in using it, is capable of discovering, as shall be proved to you, not only the being, and attributes, and authority of God, but in general what sort of behaviour he must expect from such creatures, placed in such a world as we are, in order to avoid his displeasure, and procure some degree of his favour. And as we cannot doubt of what our clear apprehension, and the common sense of mankind plainly tell us, here is one foundation of religious belief and practice, evident to all men. And if our belief and practice be not suitable to it, our consciences, whenever we consult them, nay often, whether we consult them or not, will condemn us, to our faces, of sin;

and proclaim to us, beforehand, the justice of that future condemnation, which God will pass upon it. Every one of you, that hear me, have at all times felt this; make, every one of you, a proper use of it.

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If, then, the light of nature were our only guide, it would teach us more than, I fear, many of us observe. But happy are we that this is not our only guide. For it would leave us uninformed, in many particulars, of unspeakable moment, even were our faculties unimpaired, and employed to the best advantage. But alas, the very first of mankind fell into sin, and derived a corrupted nature down to their posterity; who yet further inflamed their own passions and appetites, perverted their own judgments, turned aside their attention from the truth; and "the light that "was in them became (in a great measure) dark991 ness, even in respect of what they were to do. But what they were to hope and fear after doing wickedly, this was a matter of far greater obscurity still. And had we, here present, been left to ourselves, in all likelihood we had been, at this hour, (like multitudes of other poor wretches in every part of the world, that is unenlightened by Christianity), worshipping stocks and stones; or, however, we should certainly, in other respects, have been "walking in the vanity of our minds, having the understanding darkened, alienated "from the life of God;"2" Strangers from the "covenant of promise, having no hope, and with"out God in the world." 3

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But he was graciously pleased not to leave fallen men to themselves, but to furnish them with needful knowledge. What human abilities, when at the best, might have discovered, they would in

(1) Matt. vi, 23.

(2) Eph. iv. 17, 18. (3) Eph. ii. 12.

all likelihood have discovered (if at all) so slowly, that we have great cause to believe, the religion of our first parents was derived from his immediate instruction. But, certainly, after their transgression, he made an immediate revelation to them; and thenceforward vouchsafed, from time to time, various manifestations, to such as would receive them, of his truths, his commands, and his purposes; not only re-publishing the original doctrines of reason, but adding new articles of belief, new promises, and new precepts, as the changing circumstances of things required; till at length, by his Son, our Saviour Jesus Christ, he confirmed all his past notifications, and took away all necessity of future ones; acquainting us fully, in the ever blessed Gospel, with all that we shall need to know, or be bound to do, "till "heaven and earth pass."

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Thus, then, besides those things in religion, which our own reason can discern, we receive others on the testimony of their being revealed by God; as unquestionably we ought. For if he, who cannot err, and cannot lie, communicates any information to us-though it requires us to believe what we had before not the least apprehension of, or should else have imagined to be exceedingly strange and unlikely-though it require us to do, what otherwise we should neither have thought of doing, nor have chosen to do; yet, surely, his testimony and command may well be sufficient reason for both. We admit every day, upon the testimony one of another, things utterly unknown to us, and in themselves extremely inprobable; and we act upon such testimony in matters, on which our fortunes, our healths, our lives, depend; as, indeed, without doing so, the affairs of the world could not be carried on. Now,

(4.) Mat, v. 18.

"if we receive the witness of men, the witness of God is greater." 995 And since we are able to convey the knowledge of our thoughts and our wills to each other, no question but God is able to his to his creatures.

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But allowing that he can, it may be asked, how do we prove that he hath conveyed it to men in the Jewish and Christian Revelation? I answer -we believe the Jewish Revelation, for this plain reason amongst others, because the Christian confirms it; and we believe the Christian, chiefly upon the full proof which Christ and his Apostles have given of it. They who saw him with their own eyes perform things which man could not do, and heard him with their own ears foretel things which man could not foreknow, and yet experienced them to come to pass; as, for instance, his healing great numbers of sick persons with a word, and raising himself from the dead ; they must be sure that some power attended him more than human. And since his doctrines all promoted the spiritual worship and honour of the one true God, and virtue and happiness among men, they must be sure, also, that this power was not that of an evil spirit, but of a good one; and, consequently, that he came from God, and taught his will. If, then, it be true that he did, in their presence, not only deliver such doctrine, but foretel and perform such things, then their faith was reasonable, and ours is so too. Now, they do in the strongest manner affirm this, as you may read through the Gospels and Acts; and why are they not to be credited? They could not every one of them be mistaken in it all; and think they saw and heard, day after day, and year after year, things which they did not, any more than we can be mistaken in every thing that we see and

(5) 1 John v. 9.

hear continually. Besides, they affirm that they were enabled to do the same wonders themselves, and enable others to do them. All this could not be mistaken too.

And as they could not be deceived in these points, so neither could they intend to deceive mankind. There is all the appearance in the world of their being fair and honest persons, that would not deceive for interest. But, besides, what they affirmed was absolutely against their interest. It exposed them, as they could not but imagine it would, to reproach, imprisonment, stripes, death itself. Yet all these things they underwent patiently, one after another, through a course of many years, for the sake of what they taught; none of them all confessing, or being convicted of any falsehood; which yet they must have been, had they been guilty of any; for the things which they affirmed were many-indeed most of them done publicly; and all the power and all the learning of the world were employed against them, from the first, to detect them if possible. Yet nobody pretends, or ever did pretend, that they were detected. Besides, if any such discovery had been made, their whole scheme must have been ruined immediately; whereas, instead of that, they spread their religion (though it was contrary to the established superstitions, the deep-rooted prejudices, and favourite vices of mankind) through the whole earth, within a few years, by mere force of miracles, and arguments, and innocence, against all opposition. These

things, surely, are sufficient proofs of our Saviour's coming from God, without saying any thing of the prophecies of the Old Testament, so many of which were so clearly fulfilled in him.

But, then, as all the facts hitherto mentioned, are ancient ones, it may be asked farther, how can we now be sure of the truth of what is said to

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