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WEitItI.
XVI.]
A
RATIONAL DEFENCE OF THE GOSPEL.
277
and prudent, but thou hast revealed
them
unto
babes,
Mat.
xi. 25.
It
pleased
God, when
the world
by
wis-
dons
knew
not
God,
to
darken
all
their
wisdom,
and
turn
it
into
folly,
and
to call
those.
that
were
esteemed
fools,
and
make them
wise
in.
believing the gospel
of
Christ.
It
has pleased
God
to
chuse the mean, and
weak,
and
contemptible things
of
this
world to
confound
the
wise
and
mighty:
.
It
has pleased
him
to chuse
the things
that
are
not, to
bring
to
nought
the things
that
are,
that
nb
flesh
might glory
in
his
presence,
1
Cor.
i.
27,
&c.
II.
It
is
'another
occasion
of
stumbling
or
shame
in_
the
gospel
of
Christ,
that
some
of
the professors
of
it
are
vicious in
'their
lives.
"Will
you believe such
a
gospel,
says
an
infidel,
that
does
not restrain the
professors
of it
from the worst
of
sins
?"
This,
I
confess, gives
it
great
dishonour among the
men
of
the
world,
and is sometimes ready
to
shake the
faith of younger christians;
they know
not
how
to.
go
on
farther
in
christianity, for such
and
such
that
made
great
profession, you
see how
they
are
fallen.
.
This
is
a com-
mon temptation of
the devil;
it
is
a
frequent
snare,
and
there bath
-been
many
a
pious soul
that
hath
been
in
danger
of
being caught thereby.
The
vices
of
some
pro-
fessors were
great
even
in
St. Paul's days
:
There
were
some among the
Phillippians
;
Phil.
iii.
18.
"
Of
whom
I
have told you often,
and
now even weeping,
that
they
walk
as
enemies to the cross
of
Christ,
and
cast scan-
dal
and shame upon
it.
It
makes
my eyes
flow
with
tears, and
my
soul bleed within
me
to
hear
of
it:
The
gospel
of
Christ
is
so
much
dishonoured
by
these
means."
But
if
we
take
a
nearer
view,
we
shall see
that
no
doc-
trine ought
to fare the
worse,
because
some
wicked men
are professors
of
it.
It
was
not
counted
a
discredit to
philosophy,
that
wine
of
the professors
of
it,
who
hated
the
gospel,
were
vicious in
their
lives.
I
would ask
the
deist
now,
is
there
any
ground to
disbelieve
natural
re-
ligion,
because there
are
some
that
make profession
of
it
are
fallen into
great
sins?
The
gospel
itself
teaches
us
to
deny
all
ungodliness
and worldly lusts,
and
does
not
indulge one
of
them.
And they
are
said to be
enemies
to the
cross
of
Christ, when
their conversation
is
all
earthly,
whe n
their God
is
their-belly,
and their
glory ;s
T3