An Expojition of tbe Epijlle ~ Well in the Third place. There is afeed of light in the heart of every finner, Sermo11 that he deferveth eternal death for Ius fin, and that rlus God will punifh him. XXVII. There is this light too naturally m every man's heart, Rom. 1, 32. be fpeaks of ~ the Gmtiles there plainly, Who k11owmg C faith he,) thejudgme1Jt ofCodJl,.;.,.. that they which commit {uch thiugs are worthy ofdeath, worthy ol eternal death: for it is the jud~menro(God; wllere by. Judgme/11 J),§oi•l"'• is e~idc;m he mean– eth that part ol the Law whereby God ts revealed as a Judge mlltchng punifl 1• menr, the next,words interpret it , they which do fuch things are worthy of death. And fo Chapter 2, r. 2. it is evident that he goeth on to fpeak of the xrfl"', the fentence of God in puni!hing !inners. And fo Anflotleufeth the word in the 5th. Book of his Ethtcks, and in Rrvd. 16. it is fo ufed, fpeaking of th~ Vials that were to be powered out, Thy Jttdgments (faith he, it is the fame word,) are made mmtifejl. Now, n man having that natural light in him that there is fueh a God as is an– gry when he linneth and will punilh him, bring this man to the Law, to the word of God, then what followeth ? Rom. 2. 1. We are Jure that the Judgmrnt of God i< accordi11g to truth agai11j/ thrm which commitJuch thi11gs; [peaking ofthe Jews. Aman that cometh to be enlightned by the word , he hath this natural principle mighl'\ly firengthned, confirmed and enlarged, Then again in the fourth place. If a man come once to fee his lin, it is natural for him to think of a Mediator, to ufe fame body to intercede for him to God. There is that principle in Nature. For that I will give you but a Scripture or two. I infiance in all that the Heathens did, the Heathens , the wifeft of them, they acknowledged that there was but one God, but they faid there were many that were lower Gods, Mediators, they were thetr .w 1,, it is a notion that Mr. MMdt did muchil)large.The Scripture I will give you is, 1 Cor. 8.5.Tho11gh therr be that are caUe1 Gods, ao there be Gods many rmd Lords many, 7et to tu there is but ~Tie God, mta one LordJeftu Chrifl, They had many Gods, or indeed rather one great God, and they called all other Gods but as Mediators to this great God, This was by Nature, they could not tell how to go to God without lelfer Gods, which were their Mediators, for fo they called their Lords, Therefore Simo11 Magus you lhallfinddelired Peter to pray for him; and Pharo intreated Mofes to intercede for him, And it was ufual amongft the Heathens to offer Sacrifices to thefe lower Gods to mediate for them with the great God. Well, in the Fifth place, There is in every man's Will and Affections a natural delire of happinefs, of a greater good than what this world bath ; for it refieth not in any thing in this World, it is like a Bee that goeth from one Flowerto ano· ther, which lheweth that it cannot be fatisfied with any thing that is here. There are all thefe principles in Nature that is corrupt , and fo you f;e the principles, which was the firfi thing I undertooke to !hew you. Now, in the Second place, let me !hew how the Holy Ghoftmay work 'upon thefe principles, mightily raife them, and yet not change a man's heart, raife them to a great deal of good, and yet all that he addeth to thefe is but ofthe fame kind, it is not ofthis Creation, it is not grace. To make this manifeft unto you. There are two forrs ofMen that live in the Church underthe Gofpel who pre· tend to any good, that have not grace. Firft,You have thofe that are a civil kind of men,that is,all that they have _to fhew for their falvation is abfrinence from grofs !ins, and they have an ingenuity and honefiy of Nature, and they believe in Chrift, and they profefs the Religion of the State. To bring men to this, to improve the principles in Nature, fofar, is a work of the Holy Ghofi. But yet my Brethren, this falleth mightily flwrt of rrue grace. I will lay my foundation in thefe, you !hall fee how far they are car· ried on to God. , , I told you before that there is a natural light in every man whereby he know– eth that there is a God, and being educated in the Church, he is directed to know the true God. But this man's principle of knowledge is the fame that is in the heart ofaT•rk,who acknowledgeth the true God and doth ordinarily profefs him, and his fervice to God is no more but what an honeft Turk doth; only here is his happinefs, he is directed by his education to the true God, Well,
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