4 PREFACE. world, pronounce these wordswith a divine power, to the heart of every man, . who shall either read, or hear them. If this volume shall find any considerable acceptance among christians, there are several more discourses, on the same themes, lying by me, which may, in time, be communicated to the world. The treatise, which is set as an introduction to this book, was printed several years ago, without the author's name, and there in a short preface, represented to the reader these few reasons of its writing and publication, viz. The principles of atheism and infidelity have prevailed so far upon our, age, as to break in upon the sacred fences of virtue and piety, and to destroy the noblest and most effectual springs of true and vital religion ; I mean those which are contained in the blessed gospel. The doctrine of the resurrection of the body, and the consequent states of heaven and hell, is a guard and motive of divine force ; but it is renounced by the enemies of our holy chris- tianity : And shouldwe give up the recompences of separate souls, while the deist denies the resurrection of the body, I fear, between both, we should sadly enfeeble, and expose the cause of virtue, and leave it too naked and defenceless. The christian would have but one persuasive of this kind re- maiuing, and the deist would have none at all. It is necessary, therefore, to be upon our guard, and to establish every motive, that we can derive, either from reason or scripture, to secure religion in the world. The doctrine of the state of separate spirits, and the com- mencement of rewards and punishment immediately after death, is one of those sacred fences of virtue, which we borrow from scripture, and it is highly favoured by reason, and therefore it may not be unseasonable to pub- lish sucharguments as may tend to the support of it. In this second edition of this small treatise, I have added several para- graphs and pages, to defend the same doctrine, and the last section contains an answer to various new objections, which I had not met with when I first began to write' on this subject. I hope it is set upon such a firm foundation of many scriptures, as cannot possibly be overturned, nor do I think it a very easy matter any way to evade the force of them. May the grace of God lead us on further into every truth, that tends to maintain and propagate faith and holiness. Amen. Note, Where these discourses shall be used, as a religious service, in private families on Lord's-day evenings, each of them will afford a divisioe near the middle, lest the service bemade too long and tiresome. 1739.
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