Serm.XL.VIII. with theWays,andZvle4ns íkno'ning them 341 thou art inexcufable, O Man, whofoever thouart, who liveft in a contradiction to this light. God hath acquainted us with our Duty, by fuch ways as may matt effdtually both direct and engage us to the praEtice of it; we are prompted to it by a kind of natural Inttin&, and thong Impreftions upon our Minds of the difference of good and evil ; we are led to the knowledge, and urged to the pra- &ice of it, by our Nature, and by our Reafon, and by our Interelt, and by that which is commonly very prevalent among Men, the general voice and confent of Mankind ; and by the molt powerful and governing paffions in Fiumane Na- ture, byhope and by fear, and by shame;. by the profile& of advantage, by the apprehenlion of danger, and by the fenfe of honour; and to take away all pof- fible excufe of ignorance from us, by an exprefs Revelation from God, the cleareft and molt perfe& that ever was made to the World. So that whenever we do contrary to our Duty, in any of thefe great lnftances, we offend againft all thefe, and do in the higheft degree fall under the heavy Sentence of our Sa- viour, This k the Condemnation, that light is come into the World, and men loved darknefs rather than light. Secondly, You fee hence what are the great Duties of Religion, which God mainly requires of us, and how reafonable they are; Piety towards God, and yuflice and Charity towards Men ; the knowledge whereof is planted in our Na- ture, and grows up with our Reafon. And there are things which are unque- ftionably good, and againft which we can have no exception ; things that were never reproved, nor found fault with by Mankind, neither our Nature nor our Reafon rifeth up againft them, or di&ates any thing to the contrary. We have all the Obligation, and we have all the Encouragement to them, and are fecure onall hands in the pra&ice of them. In the doing of thefe things, there is no danger to us from the Laws of Men, no fear of difpleafure from God, no offence or ftink from our own Minds. And thefe things which are fo agreeable to our Nature, and our Reafon, and our Intereft, are the great things which our Religion requires of us, more valua- ble in themfelves, and more acceptable to God than echoic Burnt offerings and Sa- crifices, more than thoufands of Rams, and ten thoufands of Rivers of Oyl ; more than if we offered to him all the Beafis of the Forefi, and the Cattle upon a thoufand Hills. We are not to negle& any Inftitution of God ; but above all, we are to fecure the obfervanceof thofe great Duties to which we are dire&ed by our very Nature, and tyed by the fureft and molt facred of all other Laws, thofe which God hath riveted in our Souls, and written upon our Hearts : And that Mankind might have no pretence left to excufe them from thefe, the Chriflian Religion hash fet us free from thofe many pofitive and outward obfervances, that the Jewifh Re- ligion was incumbred withal ; that we might be wholly intent upon theft great Duties, and mind nothing in comparifon of the real and Subftantial Virtues of a good Life. Thirdly, You fee, in the laic place, what is the belt way to appeafe the difplea- fure of God towards a finful Nation. God feems to have as great a Controver- fie with us, as he had with the People of Ifrael, and his wrath is of late years mot} vifibly gone out againft us ; and proportionably to the full meafure of our Sins, it hath been pouredout upon us in full Vials. How have the Judgments of God followedus? And how clofe have they followed one another ? What fearful Calamities have our eyes feen? enough to make the ears of every one that hears them to tingle. What terrible and hazardous Wars have we been ingaged in ? What a raging Peftilence did God fend among us, that fwept away thou- fands, and ten thoufands in our ftreets? What a dreadful and fatal Fire, that was not to be checked and refitted in its courfe, till it had laid in Mlles one of the Greateft and Richett Cities in the World ? What unfeafonable Weather have we had of late? as if for the Wickednefs of Men upon the Earth, the very Ordi- nances of Heaven were changed, and Summer, and Winter, Seed time, andHar- vefi, had forgotten their appointed Seafons. And, which is more and fadder than all this, what dangerous attempts have been made upon our Religion, by the ratters Adverfaries of it? And
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