wool '.' Thou haft made me to serve with thy fins, thou haft wearied me with thine iniquities;

I am he that blotteth out thy tranfgreffions for mine own fake, and will not remember thy fins 2.' Let ⚫ the wicked forfake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts, and let him return unto the Lord, and he ' will have mercy upon him, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon; for my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways; for as the Heavens are higher than the Earth, fo are my ❝ways higher than your ways 3.' 'Go,and proclaim these < words: Return thou backfliding Ifrael, and I will not ‹ cause mine anger to fall upon you, for I am merciful, faith the Lord, and will not keep anger for ever, only acknowledge thine iniquity, &c. 4.'

3

1 Isa. i. 18. Isa. xliii. 24, 25. Isa. lv. 9.

4 Jer. iii. 12.

A DISCOURSE OF RELIGION,

IN THREE PARTS.

PART I.

THE ENDS AND USES OF IT, AND THE ERRORS OF MEN TOUCHING IT.

PART II.

THE LIFE OF RELIGION, AND SUPERADDITIONS TO IT.

PART III.

THE SUPERSTRUCTIONS UPON IT, AND ANIMOSITIES

ABOUT IT.

A DISCOURSE OF RELIGION.

PART I.

THE ENDS AND USES OF IT,

AND

THE ERRORS OF MEN TOUCHING IT.

TRUE religion is the greatest improvement, advan tage, and privilege of Human Nature; and that which gives it the nobleft and highest pre-eminence above other visible creatures.

We may obferve in many brute beafts and birds, admirable inftincts, dexterities, and fagacities; and in fome of them fome dark refemblances of reason, or ratiocination; but Religion is fo appropriate to the human nature, that there are scarce any fort of men, but have fome Religion; nor do the moft fubtle or fagacious brutes afford any figns thereof, as communicated to their natures.

all

It is one of the chiefeft mercies and bleffings that Almighty God hath afforded to the children of men, and that which fignally manifefts his providential care towards and over them, that in all ages and among nations he hath given to them fome means and helps to discover unto them, though in different degrees, fome principal fentiments of true religion: 1. By the fecret characters, and impreffions, and structures thereof in their minds and confciences. 2. By his glorious

and

and admirable works, commonly called the Works of Nature. 3. By fignal providences, and providential regiment1 of the world. 4. By raifing up men in all ages, of great wifdom, obfervation, and learning, which did inftruct the more ignorant in this great concernment, the rudiments of natural Religion. 5. By traditionary tranfmiffion of many important truths and directions of life, from ancestors to their posterity, and others; though in procefs of time evil cuítoms and evil men did, in a great meafure, impair and corrupt the fentiments and practices of men, notwithstanding thefe helps. Therefore the fame mercy and goodness of God, for the prefervation and propagation of the true Religion, was pleased to fubftitute a more fixed and permanent means; namely, the Holy Scriptures, or Divine Revelations, committed to writing in the books of the Old and New Teftament. Though the Religion delivered in both Teftaments, be in fubstance the fame; yet the true Religion was more fully, and plainly, and diftinctly delivered by Chrift and his Apoftles in the New Teftament, together alfo with fome additional inftructions, for the better prefervation and propagation thereof to mankind, and divers additional evidences to prove and manifeft the truth of this Religion, to procure its belief and acceptation: as the birth, miracles, death, refurrection and Afcenfion of Chrift Jefus, the great reformer of the Jewish, and great Inftitutor of the Chriftian Religion, fo called from Chrift, that taught and afferted it. The Chriftian Religion is the most perfect rule of our duty to God, ourselves and others; and was defigned principally for these great ends:

1. To restore to the glorious God, the honour, duty, and obedience of his creature, Man; teaching him to know, to glorify, and ferve his Creator; to be thankful to him, to fubmit to his Will, to obey his Law and Command, to be thankful for his mercies, to acknowledge him in all his ways, to call upon him, to worship him, to depend upon him, to walk fincerely in his

fight, to admire and adore his Greatness and Goodnefs in all his works, especially in the great work of the Redemption of Mankind, by his Son Chrift Jefus.

2. To enable Man to attain everlasting happiness, the perpetual vifion of the glorious God, and to fit and prepare him to be a partaker of the inheritance of the Saints, in Light and Glory.

3. To compofe and fettle mankind in fuch a decent and becoming rectitude, order, and deportment in this world, as may be fuitable to the existence of a reasonable nature, and the good of mankind; which confifts principally in a double relation: 1. To a man's felf, Jobriety. 2. To others, which confifts in those two great habits or difpofitions beneficent to mankind, viz. righteoufnefs, or justice and charity, or love and beneficence.

These three great ends are fuccinctly delivered, • For the grace of God, that bringeth falvation, hath appeared unto all men, teaching us, that denying ungodlinefs and worldly lufts, we should live foberly, righteously, and godly in this prefent world 1.' Here we have these three ends of Chriftian Religion; 1. Godliness, or our duty to God. 2. Salvation, or our own everlasting happiness. 3. Sobriety, righteousness, which alfo includeth charity, a part of Evangelical Righteoufnefs.

And because Chriftian Religion was intended and inftituted for the good of mankind, whether poor or rich, learned or unlearned, fimple or prudent, wife or weak; it was fitted with fuch plain, eafy, and evident directions, both for things to be known, and things to be done, in order to the attainment of the end for which it was defigned, that might be understood by any capacity, that had the ordinary and common use of reafon or human understanding, and by the common affistance of the Divine Grace might be practifed by them.

? Titus ii. 11, 12.

The