240 tbe bef Prefervatzve Vol. I. ly in the doing of it and if anyMan be defirous to do the Will ofGod, his Good- nefs is fuch, that he will take effectual care to fecure fuch an one againft dangerous and fatal Errors. He that hath an honeft Mind, and woulddo the Will of God, if he know it, God will not fuffer him to remain ignorant of it, or to be miftaken about it, in any neceffary Points of Faith or Pra&ice. St. Paul is a wonderful Inftance of the Goodnefs of God in this kind. He was undoubtedly a Mat of a very honeft Mind ; he had entertained the jewifh Religi- on, as revealed by God, and been bred in it; and out of a blind reverence and belief of his Teachers, who rejected Chrift and his Dodrine, he likewife oppofed and perfecuted therm with a mighty Zeal, and an honeft Intention, being verily per- fwaded, (ashe himfelf tells us) that he ought to do what he did, againff.the Name of fefus ofNazareth ; he was under a great Prejudice upon account ofhis Education, and according to the heat of his natural Temper, tranfported with great Paflìon : But becaufe he did what he did, ignoranty, and in unbelief; God was pleafed to themMercy to him, and, in a miraculous manner, to convince bins ofthe Truth of that Religion which he perfecuted. He was fincerely defrous to do the Will ofGod, and therefore God would rather work a Miracle for his Converfion, than fuffer him to go on in fo fatal a Miftake concerning the Chriftian Religion. And as the Providence of God loth concern it felf to fecure good Men from dangerous Errors and Miftakes in Matters of Religion ; fo by a juft Judgment he gives up thofe who allow themfelves in vicious Pra&ices, to Error and Infidelity' And this is the meaning of that Paffage of the Prophet, Ifa. Ch. 6. au. fo often cited by our Saviour, and applied to the _fen's, of making the Heart of that Peoplefat, and their Ears heavy, and clofing their Eyes, left they fhould under. fand, and be converted. So again, Ifa. 66. 3, 4. God threatens the People of Ifrael, That becaufe they were wicked and abominable in their Lives, he would abandon them, and give them over to a Spirit'of Delufion ; they have chofers their own ways, and their Soul delighteth in their Abominations ; I afo will chufe their delufton , God is faid to chufe thofe things for us, which he permits us to fall in- to : So Rom. a. 28. God is faid togive over the abominable Heathen to a repro- bate Mind. As they didnot like to retain God in their knowledge, Godgave them over cis cióeusFtgr pep, to an injudicious and undifcerning Mind. When Men aban- don themfelves to Wickednefs and Impiety, God withdraws his Grace from them; and by his fecret and juft Judgment they are deprived of the Faculty of difcerning between Truth and Error, between Good and Evil. 2 Theft.' 2. io, 11, 12. It is faid, that the Manof Sinfhould come with all deceivablenefs ofUnrighteoufreefs in them that perifh, becaufe they received not the love of the Truth, that they might befaved r And that for this caufe, God wouldfend them jlrong delufzon, that they fhouldbelieve a Lye ; that they all might be damned, who believednot the Truth, but had pleafure irr Unrighteoúfneft. And it is juft with God, that Men of vici- ous Inclinations and Practices fhould be expofed to the Cheat of the groffett and vi- left Impoftors. God's Providence is concerted for Men of honeft Minds, and fin- cere Intentions : But ifMen take pleafure in Uprighteoufnefs, God takes no further care of them, but delivers themup to their own heart's lops, to be feduéed into all thofe Errors, into which their own vain Imaginations, and their fro/0 Hearts are apt to lead them. Thus have I endeavoured, as briefly as I could, to !hew that an honeft Mind, that fincerely defres andendeavours todo the Will of God, is the belt Security a- gainft fatal Errors and Miftakes in Matters ofReligion ; both becaufe it difpofeth a Man to make a true Judgment ofDivine Things, and becaufe the Providence of God is more efpecially concerned for the Security of fuch Perfons. There remains an Objection to be anfwered, to which this Difcourfe may 'kern liable ; but this, together with the Inferences whichmay be made from this Dif:. courfe, I (hall refer to another Opportunity, SERMON
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy OTcyMjk=