292 7he Wifdom of Religion. Vol truly Bated, that God hash put into thefe frail and mortal Bodies of ours, !min r- tal Spirits that (hall live for ever ; and bath fent us into this World to fojourn here for a little while, and to be difciplin'd and train'd up for Eternity; and that after a (port Proof and Trial of our Obedience, we (hall be tranfiated into an Everlafing State ofunfpeakable Happinefs or Mifery, according as we have de- meaned our felves in this World ; if we believe this to be truly our Cafe, our Intere(t is then plainly before us, and we fee where our Happinefs lies; and what remains for us to do, in order to theobtaining of it, and what we are to expel} to fuller, if we do it not. Now this Foundation being laid, it is evident, that the beft thing we can do for our felves, is to provide for our Future State, and to fecure the Everlaffing Happinefsof another Life. And the belt way to do that, is to live inObedience to thofe Laws which our Maker, and our Sovereign bath prefcribed to us;. and according to which he will one Day fentence us to Eternal Rewards or Pu- nifhments. Iris evident likewife, that all our fenfual Appetites and Delires are to be boun- ded by the Rules of Reafon and Virtue, which are the Laws ofGod ; and that no prefent Eafe and Pleafure, Trouble andSuffering, are to be confrder'd and re- garded by us, i'h competition with the Things which areEternal ; and that Sin is of all other the greaten Evil, and moft mifchievous to our main Intereft, and therefore with all poffible Care to be avoided ; and that the Favour of God is to be fought, and the Salvationof our Souls to provided for at any Pains and Expence whatfoever, andeven with the hazard and lofsof our dearef Interefs in this World, yea and ofLife it felf. And now if this Matter bath been rightly fated, then Religion, and the Fear of God, is the firft Principle and Foundation of true. Wifdom, and that which we are to confider, and take along with us in all the Defigns and Actions of our Lives, andall Wifdom which does not begin here, is prepofterous, and will prove Folly in the iffue. Secondly, As Religion is the beginning ofWifdom, fo it is the Perfe&ionof it, it is the higheft Point ofWifdom in which we can be innru&ed. The fear of the Lord (lays Solomon, Prov. i q. 33.) is the infirullion of Wifdom. A good Zinder handing (lays David, Pfd. iii. io.) have all they that do his Commandments. The Pra&ice ofReligion is the Perfe&ionof Wifdom ; and he underftandshim- felf beh, who lives molt according to the Laws of God. And this I might thew, by inflancing in particular Virtues, thePra&ice whereof is much wifer, and eve- ry way more for our Interef, than the contraryVices; but this is too large an Argument to ingage in, and therefore I (hall content my felf at prefent, briefly to (hew, that the chief Characters and Properties of Wifdom do all meet in Re- ligion, and agree to it. The firf Point of Wifdom is to under(land our true Intere(l, and to be right in our main End ; and in this, Religion will belt infru& and dire& us. And if we be right in our mainEnd, and true to the Intereft of it, we cannot mifcar- ry: 'But if a Man mi (lake in this, he errs fatally, and his whole Life is Vanity and Folly. Another Property of Wifdom is to be feady and vigorous in the Profecution of our main End, tooblige us hereto, Religion gives us the molt powerful Ar- guments, the glorious Happinefs, and the difmal Mifery of another World. The next Point ofWifdom is, to make all things (loop, and become fubfervi- ent to our main End. And wherever Religion bears fway, it will make all other things fubordinate to the Salvation of our Souls, and the Intere(l of our Everlaning Happinefs ; as the Men of this World make every thing to fubmit and give way to their Covetous, and Ambitious, and Senfual Defigns. Another Past,,of Wifdom is to confider the Future, and to look to the lait End and Iffue ofThhrgs. It is a common Folly among Men, to be fo intent upon the prefent, as to have little or no regard to the future, to what will be hereaf- ter. Men defign and labour for this preferit Life, and their (tort continuance here in this World, without taking into ferions Cvnfideration their main Dura- fion,
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