another, but is only concerned to know the right way. Such indifferency of mind every good man hath; he is ready to receive truth, when fufficient evidence is offered to him, because he is not concerned that the contrary proposition should be true. If a man be addicted to any lust, he is not likely to judge impartially of things and therefore our Saviour doth with great reason require this disposition to qualify a man for the difcerning of truth, John vii. 17. If any man will do God's will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of myself. He that is defirous to do the will of God, he is likely to judge indifferently concerning any doctrine that pretends to be from God; for if there be not good evidence for it, he hath no reafon to deceive himself, by entertaining that as from God, which he hath no afsurance that it is so; and if there be good evidence for it, he hath no reason to reject it: but if a man be enslaved to any vice or lust, he is not free to judge of those matters which touch upon his interest; but is under a great temptation to infidelity, because he must needs be unwilling to acknowledge the truth of that doctrine which lies so cross to his interest.

Thirdly, This does not excuse the infidelity of men, that the Devil is in some fort the cause of it; because he cannot blind our minds, unless we consent to it: He can only suggest false principles to us, but we may choose whether we will entertain them; he can only tempt us to be wicked, he cannot force us to be so whether we will or not: as we may resist the dictates, and quench the blessed motions and suggestions of God's Spirit, and too often do; so may we resist the Devil, and repell or quench those fiery darts which he casts into our minds, though we do not do it so often as we should. We cannot refift the motions of God's Spirit without injury to ourselves : But we may fafely oppose the suggestions of the Devil; and we may do it with success, if we fincerely endeavour it. So God hath promised, that if we resist the Devil, he shall flee from us: But if we voluntarily confent to his temptations, and fuffer our selves felves to be blinded by him, the fault is our own, as well as his, and we are guilty of that infidelity which we fuffer him to tempt us to. And this will appear, if we consider,

Fourthly, The wickedness and unreasonableness of infidelity. The scripture every where gives it a bad character, calling it, an evil heart of unbelief, to depart from the living God. Not to believe those revelations of God, which are fufficiently propounded to us, is an apostasy from the living God, a kind of atheism, and an argument of a very evil temper and disposition. And therefore St. John speaks of infidelity, as the highest affront to God imaginable, and as it were a giving God the lie, 1 John v. 10. He that believeth not the record which God hath given of his Son, is faid to make God a liar.

The greatest and clearest testimonies that ever God gave to any person in the world, were to Jesus Chrift, and yet how full of infidelity were the Jews to whom those teftimonies were given ? They are the great patterns of infidelity, who resisted such immediate evidence; and by the characters which the New Testament gives us of them, we may judge of the evil and unreasonableness of infidelity: And if we confult the history of the New Testament, we shall find infidelity described by fuch characters and properties, and accompanied with such qualities, as shew it to be a very evil and unreasonable spirit. The principal of them are these :

1. Monstrous partiality in denying that which had greater evidence than other matters which they did believe.

2. Unreasonable and groundless prejudice. 3. A childish kind of perverseness.

4. Obstinacy, and pertinacious persisting in error. 5. Want of patience to consider and examine

what can be faid for the truth.

6. Rudeness, and boisterous falling into uncivil

terms.

7. Fury, and outrageous passion.

8. Infidelity is usually attended with bloody and

inhuman perfecution. But the treating on these par

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ticulars ticulars I reserve for another subject. (See the following three sermons on John iii. 19.]

The third and last thing contained in the text, is the dangerous state of those who having the gospel propounded to them, yet do not entertain and believe it; the Apostle tells us they are in a loft and perishing condition; If our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are loft.

1 say, of those who have the gospel propounded to them. As for those to whom the gospel was never offered, they shall not be condemned for their unbelief of it: God will not punish them for not believing the revelation which was never propounded to them, but for finning against the law written in their hearts. So the Apostle hath stated this matter, Rom. ii. 12, 14, 15. they that have a law revealed to them by God, shall be judged by that law; but they that are without such alaw, fhall be judged without the law, by the law which is written in their hearts. Those persons and nations in the world, to whom the gospel was not revealed, shall not be condemned for not believing it; but for fins committed by them against the light of nature, and the law which is written in every man's breast.

But those who have the gofpel propounded to them, and yet continue in unbelief, their cafe is the most dangerous of any persons in the world, whether they be speculative or practical infidels.

1. For speculative infidels (of whom I have been principally speaking) we may guess how great their condemnation fhall be, by the greatness of their fin, which I have endeavoured fully to describe to you with all its aggravations. It is called, Heb. iii. 12. An evil heart of unbelief, to depart from the living God, ἐν τῷ ἀποςῆναι ἀπὸ Θεοῦ ζῶντος. Infidelity is a kind of apostasy from God; it is said to be the giving God the lie, 1 John V. 10. He that believeth on the Son of God, hath the witness in himself: he that believeth not God, hath made him a liar; and we cannot but think that God will severely punish thofe who put such affronts upon him: It is but equak qual that they who resist the clearest light, should have their portion in utter darkness.

; nay,

2. For the practical infidels, those who in words acknowledge the gospel to be true, but in works deny it; their condition is every whit as bad as the others I had almost faid. faid, that it shall be more tolerable at the day of judgment for the speculative infidel, than for them. He who denies the truth of the Christian religion, and lives contrary to the precepts of it, he acts suitably to his principles; but he that owns the truth of the gospel, and lives a wicked life, offers violence to those principles which he hath entertained.

For if we profess ourselves Christians, by this profeffion we declare to the world, that we believe that the Son of God hath delivered that doctrine to the world, which we call the gospel, and hath promised to be the author of eternal Salvation to them that obey him, and hath threatened men with eternal misery in case of disobedience; and that we make not the least doubt, but that both in his promises and threatenings God will be as good as his word: But if in the midst of this profession, we live contrary to the holy precepts of the gospel, in ungodliness and worldly lufts, in profane swearing, by a trifling and irreverent use of the great and glorious name of God, in the neglect of God, and of the duties of religion, in the profanation of his day, in drunkenness and filthy lusts, in fraud and oppression, in lying and perjury, in wrath and malice, in enmity and uncharitableness one toward another; this very thing, that we have made profession of the gospel, will be an aggravation of our condemnation. Do we think, that at the day of judgment, we shall escape by pleading this for ourselves, that we believed the gospel, and made profession of it? No! out of our own mouths we shall be condemned; for it feems we knew our master's will, and yet did it not; we were convinced that we ought not to do such things, and yet we did them; we believed the glorious promises of the gospel, and yet we neglected this great falvation, as a thing not worthy the looking ing after; we were verily perfuaded of the intolerable and endless torments of hell, and yet we would leap into those flames.

Nothing can make more against us, than such an apology as this; our very excuse will be the highest accufation and charge that can be brought againft us, and out of our own confession we shall be condemned.

All that now remains, is to make fome application of this discourse which I have made to you concerning the truth of the Christian religion; which I should do in these two particulars :

First, To perfuade us to a firm belief of the Christian religion. And,

Secondly, To live according to it. But as to this, I have prevented myself in some former discourses. [ See ferm. 224. and 228.]

SERMON CCXLIII.

The excellency and universality of the Christian revelation, with the fin and danger of rejecting it.

JOHN iii. 19.

And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.

A

The first fermon on this text..

T the 16th verse of this chapter our Saviour declares to Nicodemus (who was already convinced by his miracles, that he was a teacher come from God) the great love and goodness of God to mankind in fending him into the world, to be

the