glorious majesty: or vain and fuperftitious, answerable to the idol of their own imagination: And such will be the actions of their lives; for all men make their God their example, and esteem it an essential piece of religion, to endeavour to be like him. Now the gospel gives us the most true and perfect character of the divine nature, most agreeable to reason, and the wisest and best apprehenfions of mankind, such a character as is apt to beget in us the highest love and reverence towards him, and to engage us to the imitation of him, by the constant praAice of holiness and virtue; representing him to us as most amiable for his goodness, and most dreadful for his power and justice, defcribing him to be a pure Spirit, which the Heathen did not generally believe; and consequently to be worshipped in such a manner, as is most suitable to his spiritual nature, concerning which the Jews were infinitely mistaken: For God did not command sacrifices to the Jews, and all those external and troublesome observances, because they were most agreeable to his own nature: but because of the grofsness of their apprehenfions, and the carnality and hardness of their hearts. God did not prescribe this way of worship to them, because it was best; but because the temper of that people, which was so very prone to idolatry, would admit of no other.

The gospel likewise discovers to us more clearly the goodness of God, and his great love to mankind, one of the best and strongest motives in the world to the love of God. The Heathen did generally dread God, and look upon him as fierce and revengeful, and therefore they studied by all means to appease him, even by human facrifices, and offering up their own children to him; and all along in the Old Testament, though there be plain and express declarations of the goodness of God, yet he is generally defcribed as very terrible and severe; but the gospel is full of gracious declarations of God's love and mercy to mankind. In the Old Testament he is usually stiled the Lord of Hosts, the great and terrible God; but in the New Testament, he represents presents himself in a milder style, the God of love and peace, the Father of our Lord Jesus Chrift, and in him the Father of mercies, and the God of all patience and confolation. And this difference between the style of the Old and New Testament was so remarkable, that one of the greatest sects in the primitive church (I mean that of the Gnosticks, which was subdivided into many other sects) did upon this found their heresy of two principles or gods; the one evil and fierce and cruel, whom they called the God of the Old Testament; the other kind and loving and merciful, whom they called the God of the

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2. The gospel hath likewise more clearly discovered to us our own finful and wretched state; that being made upright, and originally designed by God to live in an holy and happy condition, and endued with fufficient power for that purpose, we by our wilful tranfgreffion and disobedience of an easy law given to our first parents, are sunk into a wretched state of ignorance and weakness, of fin and forrow, and thereby are become estranged from God, and obnoxious to his wrath and displeasure, and utterly unable to help and recover ourselves out of this fad and miferable state. And this is a great advantage to us, to understand the truth of our condition, and the worst of our cafe; because a just sense of it will prompt us to seek out for a remedy, and make us ready to embrace it when it is offered to us. And therefore in the

3. Place, the gospel hath plainly discovered to us the way and means of our recovery out of this wretched condition: Namely, that in tender commiferation of our miserable and helpless condition, God was pleased to fend his son, his only Son, into the world, to affume our nature, and to be made in all things like unto us, sin only excepted, to dwell among us, to converse with us, that he might instruct us in the way to happiness, and lead us therein by the example of his holy life; and that by his death he might be a propitiaton for our fins, and purchase the forgiveness of them, and obtain eternal redemption for

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us. So that here is an adequate and perfect remedy discovered in the gospel, every way answerable to the weakness and impotency, the degeneracy and guilt of mankind, God having laid help upon one that is mighty and able to save to the uttermost all those that come to God by him. He took our nature upon him, and became man, that he might bring us to God, and by restoring us to his image and likeness, might repair those woful ruins which fin had made in us; and to obtain the pardon and forgiveness of our fins, God spared not his own Son, but freely gave him to death for us all; and having raised him from the dead, hath sent him to bless us, in turning us away every one from our iniquity. So that by this means the great doubts and fears of mankind, concerning the way of appeasing the offended justice of God, are removed and fatisfied. The gospel having given us full assurance, not only that God is reconciled to us, and willing, after all our offences and provocations, to become our friend; but that he hath established the way and means of it; so that if any man fin, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Chrift the righteous, who is the propitiation for our fins, and not for ours only, but also for the fins of the whole world. And this is a peculiar advantage of the Christian religion, to assure us of the forgiveness of fins, of the manner how it is procured, and the certain terms upon which it is granted, which neither by the light of nature, nor by any revelation from God, was clearly discovered before.

4. The gospel hath likewise revealed to us a more certain and perfect law and rule of life. It hath fixed our duty, and made it more plain and certain in all the instances of it, than either the light of nature, or the utmost improvement of that light by philosophy, or than the Jewish religion had done before. It hath cleared our duty in some instances, which the light of nature had left doubtful, or which the fubtle difputes of men had made so. It hath heightened our duty in several instances; and those things which had not the clear force of law before, but were only the counsels of wiser men; it hath turned into ftrict precepts, and made them neceffary parts of our duty. It commands universal love and kindness, and good will among men, and perfect forgiveness of the greatest injuries and offences: and inculcates these precepts more vehemently, and forbids all malice and revenge more strictly and peremptorily, than any religion or philosophy had done before; as will fully appear to any one who will but attentively read and confider our Saviour's fermon upon the

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I cannot now enlarge in giving a particular account of the excellent laws and precepts of our religion, relating to God, our neighbour, and ourselves; I shall only say of them, that they all tend to the perfection of our nature, and the raising of it to the highest pitch of virtue and goodness that we are capable of in this life, and to quality and dispose us for the felicity of the next; that they every way conduce to the benefit and advantage of particular persons, fingly confidered, and to the peace and welfare of human society; in a word, they all conspire in the glory of God, and the comfort and happiness of man: And no religion that ever was in the world, nor no philofophy, can fhew fuch a system of moral precepts, in which, as there is nothing vain and faulty, so neither is there any thing defe defective and wanting; so that St. James doth with great reason call it a perfect law.

5. The gospel doth also discover and offer to us a most powerful afsistance for the aid and encouragement of our obedience, abundant help and strength to enable us to the performance of all that which God requires of us. It offers us wisdom to enlighten our dark minds, and to direct us in doubtful and difficult cafes, James i. 5. If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him. Our Saviour hath promised to give his Holy Spirit to them that ask it, to help our weakness, and to raise our courage, to strengthen us against the power and force of strong and violent temptations, and to assist us in all our conflicts with our spiritual enemies, and to

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comfort and support us in all our afflictions and fuf ferings.

And without this, all the other advantages which our religion affords us would signify little. For what would the knowledge of our finful and miferable state avail us, without power to rescue ourselves out of it? What is the pardon of our fins past, without strength against them for the future? What would fignify the most complete rule of life, and the most perfect pattern of holiness and virtue, without ability in some measure to observe it, and live up to it? Without this necessary aid and support, we might despair of refifting the temptations, and mastering the difficulties of a Christian course, of fubduing the power of bad inclinations, and breaking the force of vicious habits, and bearing up against the violence of extreme suffering and perfecution for righteoufness sake; without this gracious assistance we can do nothing of all this; and by the help of this, we may become, as St. Paul expresses it, more than conque

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6. And lastly. The gospel hath clearly discovered to us the eternal rewards and punishments of another world, which are the great incentives and arguments to obedience, and a patient and conftant continuance in well-doing. The gospel (as the Apostle to the Hebrews tells us) is in this respect a better covenant than the law, being established upon better promises, and having the fanction of more severe and terrible threatenings. These great and powerful arguments to keep mankind within the bounds of their duty, which the wifest of the Heathen had fome doubt of, and which were but very imperfectly revealed to the Jews, are clearly made manifest by the gospel. So the Apostle tells us, that life and immortality are brought to light by the gospel; and that therein the wrath of God is revealed from heaven, against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men. And this gives the gospel a mighty power and influence over the minds of men. Now God commands all men every where to repent, and obey his laws; because he hath appointed a day in