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well as we can upon an imperfect view of things, to make out the beauty and harmony of all the feeming difcords and irregularities of the divine administrations: to explain the oracles of the holy fcriptures; and to adore that great mystery of divine love, which the angels, better and nobler creatures than we are, defire to pry into, God's fending his only Son into the world, to fave finners, and to give his life a ranfom for them. Thefe would be noble exercifes indeed for the tongues and pens of the greatest wits. And fubjects of this nature are the best trials of our ability in this kind. Satire and invective are the easiest kind of wit; almost any degree of it will ferve to abuse and find fault: for wit is a keen inftrument; and every one can cut and gath with it; but to carve a beautiful image, and to polifh it, requires great art and dexterity. To praise any thing well, is an argument of much more wit than to abufe. A little wit, and a great deal of ill-nature, will furnish a man for fatire; but the greatest inftance of wit is, to commend well. And perhaps the best things are the hardeft to be duly commended: for though there be a great deal of matter to work upon, yet there is great judgement required to make choice; and where the fubject is great and excellent, it is hard not to fink below: the dignity of it.

This I fay on purpose to recommend to men a nobler exercife for their wits, and, if it be poffible, to put them out of conceit with that fcoffing humour which is fo eafy and fo ill-natured, and is not only an enemy to religion, but to every thing elfe that is wife and worthy. And I am very much miltaken, if the state as well as the church; the civil government as well as religion, do not in a fhort space find the intolerable inconvenience of this humour.

But I confine myself to the confideration of religion. And it is fad indeed, that in a nation profeffing Chriftianity fo horrid an impiety should dare to appear. But the fcripture hath foretold us, that this fort of men fhould arife in the gospel-age; and they did appear even in the Apoftles days. That which is more fad and ftrange is, that we fhould perfift in this profaneness, notwithstanding the terrible judgements of God which have been abroad in this nation. God hath of late

years

years manifested himself in a very dreadful manner, as if it were on purpose to give a check to this infolent impiety and now that thofe judgements have done no good upon us, we may juftly fear that he will appear once for all. And it is time for him to fhew himself, when his very being is called in question, and to come and judge the world, when men begin to doubt whe

ther he made it.

The fcripture mentions two things as the forerunners and reafons of his coming to judgement; infidelity, and profane fcoffing at religion: When the Son of man comes, fhall be find faith on the earth? Luke xviii. 8. And St Jude, out of an ancient prophecy of Enoch, exprefsly mentions this as one reafon of the coming of the Lord, To convince ungodly finners of their hard speeches which they have spoken against him, Jude, ver. 15.

And if these things be a fign and reafon of his coming, I wish that we in this age had not too much caufe to apprehend the judge to be at the door. This impiety did forerun the deftruction of Jerufalem, and the utter ruin of the Jewish nation; and if it hold on amongst us, may not we have reason to fear, that either the end of all things is at hand, or that fome very difmal calamity, greater than any our eyes have yet feen, does hang over us? But I would fain hope, that God hath mercy ftill for us, and that men will pity themselves, and repent, and give glory to God; and know in this their day the things that belong to their peace. Which God of his infinite mercy grant, for the fake of Chrift. To whom, with the Father, &c.

SER

70

SERMON

III,

The advantages of religion to focieties.

PROV. xiv. 34.

Righteoufnefs exalteth a nation; but fin is the reproach of any people.

O

NE of the first principles that is planted in the nature of man, and which lies at the very root and foundation of his being, is, the defire of his own prefervation and happiness. Hence it is, that every man is led by intereft, and does love or hate, chuse or refuse things, according as he apprehends them to conduce to this end, or to contradict it. And because the happiness of this life is moft prefent and fenfible, therefore human nature, which in this degenerate state is extremely funk down into fenfe, is moft powerfully affected with fenfible and temporal things: and, confequently, there cannot be a greater prejudice raised against any thing, than to have it reprefented as inconvenient and hurtful to our temporal interefts.

Upon this account it is, that religion hath extremely fuffered in the opinion of many, as if it were oppofite to our prefent welfare, and did rob men of the greatest advantages and conveniencies of life. So that he that would do right to religion, and make a ready way for the entertainment of it among men, cannot take a more effectual courfe, than by reconciling it with the happi nefs of mankind; and by giving fatisfaction to our reafon, that it is fo far from being an enemy, that it is the greatest friend to our temporal interefts; and that it doth not only tend to make every man happy confidered fingly, and in a private capacity, but is excellently fitted for the benefit of human fociety.

How much religion tends even to the temporal advantage of private perfons, I fhall not now confider, becaufe my text leads me to difcourfe of the other, namely, to fhew how advantageous religion and virtue are to

the

the public profperity of a nation; which I take to be the meaning of this aphorifm of Solomon, Righteousness exalteth a nation, &c.

And here I fhall not reftrain righteoufnefs to the particular virtue of juftice, though in this sense also this fay, ing is most true, but enlarge it according to the genius and ftrain of the book of the Proverbs; in which the words wifdom and righteoufnefs are commonly ufed very comprehenfively, fo as to fignify all religion and virtue. And that this word is fo to be taken in the text, may appear farther from the oppofition of it to fin or vice in general: Righteousness exalteth a nation; but fin is the reproach of any people.

You fee then what will be the fubject of my prefent difcourfe, namely, That religion and virtue are the great caufes of public happiness and profperity.

And though the truth of this hath been univerfally acknowledged, and long enough experienced in the world; yet, because the fashion of the age is to call every thing into queftion, it will be requifite to fatisfy mens reafon about it. To which end I fhall do thefe two things:

1. Endeavour to give an account of this truth.

2. To vindicate it from the pretences and insinuations of Atheistical perfons.

I. I fhall give you this twofold account of it. 1. From the juftice of the divine providence. 2. From the natural tendency of the thing.

1ft, From the juftice of the divine providence. Indeed, as to particular perfons, the providences of God are many times promifcuously adminiftered in this world; fo that no man can certainly conclude God's love or ha tred to any perfon by any thing that befals him in this life. But God does not deal thus with nations; becaufe public bodies and communities of men, as fuch, can only be rewarded and punished in this world. For, in the next, all thofe public focieties and combinations wherein men are now linked together under feveral governments, fhall be diffolved. God will not then reward or punish nations, as nations; but every man shall then give an account of himself to God, and receive his own reward, and bear his own burthen. For although God accounts it no difparagement to his juftice to let particular

particular good men fuffer in this world, and pafs through many tribulations into the kingdom of heaven; because there is another day a-coming which will be a more proper season of reward: yet, in the ufual course of his providence, he recompenfeth religious and virtuous nations with temporal bleffings and prosperity. For which reason, St Austin tells us, that the mighty fuccefs and long profperity of the Romans was a reward given them by God for their eminent juftice and tem perance, and other virtues. And, on the other hand, God many times fuffers the most grievous fins of particular perfons to go unpunished in this world, because he knows that his juftice will have another and better opportunity to meet and reckon with them. But the general and crying fins of a nation cannot hope to efcape public judgements, unless they be prevented by a general repentance. God may defer his judgements for a time, and give a people longer fpace of repentance; he may stay till the iniquities of a nation be full; but fooner or later they have reason to expect his vengeance. And ufually the longer punishment is delayed, it is the heavier when it comes.

Now, all this is very reasonable, because this world is the only season for national punishments. And indeed they are in a great degree neceffary for the prefent vindication of the honour and majesty of the divine laws, and to give some check to the overflowing of wickednefs. Public judgements are the banks and fhores upon which God breaks the infolence of finners, and stays their proud waves. And though among men the multitude of offenders be many times a caufe of impunity, because of the weakness of human governments, which are glad to spare where they are not strong enough to punish; yet in the government of God things are quite otherwife. No combination of finners is too hard for him; and the greater and more numerous the offenders are, the more his juftice is concerned to vindicate the affront. However God may pass by fingle finners in this world, yet when a nation combines against him, when hand joins in hand, the wicked shall not go unpu nished.

This the fcripture declares to be the fettled courfe of God's providence, that a righteous nation fhall be hap

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