Him and that not in common and together with them who were His People and whose God He had declared Himself to be but what is much more surprizing they had no Share in them The casting them away was the Reconciling of the World That we may the better understand the Greatness of this Mercy and have a due Sense of the Obligations it brings with it I shall consider First the State of the Gentile World before our Saviour came Next wherein the Enlightning it consisted and In the Last place make some Application of the Whole First To consider the State of the Gentile World before our Saviour came we find it frequently represented to us in the Scriptures under one Word and that is Darkness To give Light to them that sit in Darkness Ye were sometime Darkness but now are ye Light in the Lord who hath called you out of Darkness into marvellous Light We are not of the Night nor of Darkness Who hath delivered us from the power of Darkness with many more places of the like nature in all which the Word Darkness iâ—â—â—â—d to represent the Sad Condition the â—â—rld was in before the Messiah was Manifested to them Sad indeed it was if this be a just Name for it For Darkness we haâ—â— all a great and natural Aversion to 't is a State of Inactivity deprives us of all the Use and Pleasure of the Day and is utterly unfit for Motion we either cannot move or cannot be sure we move aright 't is a time fit only for the Beasts and Men of Prey to move in for we want the Benefit of the Noblest and most Useful Sense we have our Sight without which the Rest are of very little Use either to keep us from the Dangers which we should otherwise bring upon our selves or to defend us from the Insults and Injuries of others In a word there is nothing creates a greater or more universal Fear than long or unusual Darkness and nothing but Custom and the help of Artificial Light reconciles us to what is usual What then can a State of Darkness mean less than a Wretched Ignorant Uncomfortable State a State full of Confusion and Error of Corrupt Opinions and Abominable Practices a State Hideous and Ugly as the first Chaos when the Earth was without Form and Void and Darkness was upon the Face of the Deep Now that the State of the Gentile World before our Saviour came was a State of Darkness and deservedly ' called by so Black a Name must be owned by all who have ever look't into these Times and considered the Particulars wherein this Darkness consisted which were they all put together â—â—ould give us a just Conception of that Universal Night which was then spread over the Intellectual World The great Ignorance they were under and the Consequences of it would give us such a frightful Scene of things as one can hardly tell how to Believe or Believing how to Reconcile it with the Wisdom and Goodness of that Being whose Eyes are always upon the Works of his hands and who from the Beginning Ruleth over All. The first and great Fundamental Error they were in was concerning the True GOD their Notions were so contrary and inconsistent upon this Head that one can't read them without deeply and frequently Reflecting how Poor and Low a Thing the Mind of Man is when he Attempts to comprehend Divine Truths The World was divided into two Extremes they were either for many Gods or none at all Opinions almost as remote from Truth as from one another The Oldest indeed and always most Universal Opinion and which perhaps arose from the Scattered and Corrupt Remains of some Ancient and Genuine Traditions was that of many Gods But this was so absurd in it self and all it's Consequences their Number Names Actions Offices Worship and Sacrifices were so very unaccountable so impossible to be made Sense of that when the World grew more refined the Men of Penetration and Thought to mend the matter betook themselves to the opposite Extreme and because they could no where meet with a Rational Religion vainly concluded that Reason and Religion were in their Natures inconsistent they concluded no Religion could be True because all they had seen were certainly False For they were in almost every Country different at the same time and in the same Country at different times they worshipped they knew not what nor why they worshipped Stocks and Stones and under them Imaginary Beings infinitely above Humane Nature together with others as much below it We have an Epitome of the grossest and foulest Superstition the World ever knew in that one People the Egyptians Nothing can be more ridiculous than what the best Writers tell us of their Gods and their Religious Rites and in their Story we see in effect the Religions of other Nations For Egypt was the great Nursery of Superstition from thence arose that thick Darkness which afterwards overspread the Earth not that this Darkness was every where uniformly spread as soon as it began to be diffus'd 't was divided and broke into unequal parts insensibly altered as it went along and received different Additions according to the several Climates to which it came By which means their Religions by degrees differed more from one another but not less from Reason than before Sacred and Prophane were every where arbitrary things and sometimes names directly opposite were given to the same thing by different Orders of Men in the same Country There was nothing so absurd which Superstition could not lead them into a Belief of and if one may judge of what they thought by what they did one would think the more absurd a thing was the more they liked it otherwise one can't imagine how the World could have fall'n into so great a variety of Errors so very gross with so small a mixture of Truth in them which as it was very little so very probably 't was owing not to any right Reasoning for had they reasoned about these things rightly they must needs have found out more Truth they could not have stopped so very short and have taken up with so few right Notions so extremely disguised with false ones These therefore 't is likely were borrowed from some Traditions which once were more perfect but now were grown very old and by length of time and frequent Transplanting so altered and defaced that the first Authors of them would scarce have known them so little of the Genuine parts remained and the old Strokes were in a manner all gone Else how could things so incoherent be embraced as there was in most of their Religions how was it possible so many and so different Persuasions could be deductions from the same common Principles 'T is hard to conceive how the Opinions of any one People taken together could proceed from any Principles at all nor indeed did they these Religions were then form'd when the World were children in Understanding when they
Revealed are they all of Perpetual and Universal Obligation or not if some only which are they what Punishments are annext to the Violation of them when to be inflicted in this Life or another if in another the Soul must be immortal and immaterial and the Man must live again besides many other Difficulties which must be determined before we can know whether Man be actually accountable to GOD for what he does These all these are Questions of great Importance and such as the wisest Heathens could come to no certain Conclusions about Some of them indeed by an extraordinary Goodness of Mind have hit upon Noble Thoughts and very much resembling Truth but when well examined they appear to be what themselves could rather wish to be true than be at all sure they were so I shall give but one Instance of this and that is in that excellent Discourse of Socrates before his Death in which there are strange and surprizing Strokes of Truth about the Immortality of the Soul and the Rewards and Punishments of another Life Who can without pity see the weak Efforts of the best Reason who can forbear wishing him Success or not be sorry extremely sorry at his Disappointment who has such noble Conclusions in view but is utterly at a loss by what certain Steps to get at them One sees him through all along that piece very earnest in the search after and pursuit of Truth he sometimes takes such true Steps and pursues so closely that one can't help thinking every minute the next will be the last he seems so very near it and then loses his Scent a while and then comes on again which gives the Reader a very melancholy pleasure who can't but be in some sort disappointed himself every time he sees He is The Discourse thro'out must be own'd to be at first Sight very Beautiful but if one view the Picture nicely examine the several Parts of it the Proportions and Reasons on which they are built the whole will appear such a strange mixture of Truth and Error full of such inconclusive Arguments so like Dreaming of some Fairy Land that one can't but wonder how it could come from the Hand of so great a Master or be thought a finisht Piece by those that heard it In truth under all the Good-will he discovers for so good a Cause one can't but observe with how much Diffidence himself speaks of it much less can any body else be convinc'd by what he says unless such as come prepar'd to believe before they hear and can take up with Conclusions first and then look out for Premises by which they may seem to others to have come to them So great was the Blindness and Ignorance the World was under about things of the greatest moment I might proceed to shew that their Works also were Works of Darkness that their Manners generally speaking were as corrupt as their Opinions but the close Connexion there is between Religion and Morality makes this less necessary nor have I time for it if I would How far this Corruption was inevitable and invincible I will not now dispute Thus much is certain the World either had no means to remove it or at least did not know how to use them and consequently would never have remov'd it had not the Messiah in the fulness of Time been reveal'd to them In Him the People that walked in Darkness have seen a great Light they that dwell in the Land of the Shadow of Death upon them hath the Light shined 'T was He dispell'd these clouds which had so long hung over the Earth He enlightned the World after this long and universal Dark this black eternal Night Wherein this Enlightning the World consisted was the Second thing I propos'd to speak to which I shall do very briefly It consisted then in introducing a new State of things a State in all its parts opposite to that I have been describing in teaching the World all That is necessary for them to know of Divine things of the Nature of GOD and of Themselves in giving us just and true Notions of the Divine Providence of his Wisdom and Goodness in governing the World in laying down excellent Rules of Living well and teaching us the true nature of Moral Good and Evil and lastly in giving us a reasonable Worship worthy of Man and in some sort worthy his Creator Now the World is no longer at a loss to know what GOD is what he Requires of us and how he will be Served now we have a certain Measure of our Duty we have fixt unalterable Rules to go by we depend now no longer on our own Reason or the Authority of others we are directed by the highest Reason of the best Being by the divine and infallible Guidance of the Son of GOD. Before the World must either have follow'd the Dictates of some great Law-giver or found out the Rules of their Duty for themselves As to the former no Man ever had or could have an Authority to prescribe to the rest of the World nor was it safe he should as appears from the great Imperfections that are to be met with in the best Systemes of Human Laws nor could they find out the Measure of their Duty themselves for that requires vast Abilities capable of drawing a very long Chain of Consequences from a very few Principles and therefore if possible yet is it what much the greatest part of Mankind have neither Capacity nor Opportunity for But this is but a part only of what our Saviour has done for us to all this he has added great and precious Promises to invite us to our Duty and proportionable Threats to deter us from the contrary and that nothing might be wanting to compleat this great Redemption he hath wrought for us that no one might complain he had not all due Assistance to enable him to do what is required of him he hath graciously promised his holy Spirit to all them that call upon him O! how thankful ought we all to be for this great Goodness of GOD to us how careful not to undervalue it as some do who by a strange Ingratitude because GOD hath suffered them to enjoy the Light conclude there was no Darkness and that the World would have been sufficiently enlightned tho' GOD had done nothing of all this for them They deny the Necessity of Revelation and bring down the Sublime Perfection of the Christian Religion to that which they call Natural They can now prove to you from that all the Truths delivered in the Gospel and argue against Revealed Religion from that very Light it furnishes them with And so in truth beg the Question while to prove they don't stand in need of Revelation they produce as the Effect of their own unassisted Reason what was really borrow'd from it They distinguish not between Reason with and without the helps the Scriptures give it which yet are very different things as different as it is
to find out a thing and assent to it when it is found out a Man may as well say he can move as regularly in the Dark as in the Light because he hath in both the Faculty of Moving as pretend he could reason as well without the Gospel as he can under it because he would have the Faculty of Reasoning then as well as now Could these Men possibly efface the early Notices they receiv'd from Revelation they would soon think more meanly of themselves and see how small Advances we should make if GOD in his Displeasure had still left us to our selves or if either their great Opinion of themselves or the real Difficulty of the thing hinder them from judging of the Strength or rather Weakness of their own Reason in case it were divested of the helps they have from Revelation a little Learning will serve the turn let them look back into the first Histories of the earliest Times let them read the best Discourses of the ablest Men Men no way inferiour to them in Natural Abilities Men of greater Industry closer Thought and more Virtue and then they will be easily convinc'd unless they are resolved not to see how few Conclusions we are able to come to of our selves about Divine Matters about GOD Religion Liberty Morality a future Judgment and Immortality There is great reason to think these Men contend for Natural Religion not for its own sake but to pull down that which is revealed and were that once done they would deal easily enough with this and so get to their beloved Conclusion That there is no Religion at all They would then be very ingenious in shewing the Faults and Imperfections of what they now so much cry up and would with Triumph prove That they who have thrown off Revealed Religion cannot reasonably adhere to it since the Difficulties against one many of them at least lie equally against the other if one be absurd and too hard to be believed so is the other and no one who can take up with the Principles of Natural Religion can find it difficult to embrace the Christian But we have not so learned Christ we see and know the great Things he hath done for us that he is the true Light and that the World was in Darkness before he came He is the great Restorer and Deliverer of Mankind from that Blindness and Ignorance the Degeneracy of their Nature had brought them under 't was He that formed anew as it were this Part of the Creation and gave again to Man an understanding Heart He stampt again upon him the Image of his Maker that Image on which the Dominion of Man over the rest of the Creation was at first founded which Preheminence before 't was hard to see a reason for he differed so very little from the Beasts that perish but now hath GOD exalted him for ever he hath once more made him a little lower than the Angels he hath crowned him with Honour and Immortality which is again brought to light by the Gospel of his Son This is the Lord 's doing and is marvellous in our Eyes for this should every Mouth be full of Thanksgiving and every Tongue tell forth his Praise 'T is as impossible to have a Sense of these Favours and not be thankful for them as 't is for those to be thankful who have no Sense of them But this is not all 't is not enough to thank GOD on this wise The Natural Consequence of what he has done for us is to deny Ungodliness and worldly Lusts to have no Fellowship with the Unfruitful Works of Darkness but to walk as Children of the Light and of the Day The times of Darkness were times of Ignorance and therefore GOD winked at them but now since the Light of the Gospel is shed abroad he commands all Men every where to repent Our Duty rises in proportion to the Means GOD has furnished us with for the Performance of it this every body is sensible of this makes wicked Men so naturally plead Ignorance this makes Men shut their Eyes so hard against the Light of the Gospel as being conscious they are without excuse if the Light really shines upon them and they see it does so and yet still work the Works of Darkness Now if this be so if our Duty increases as the Light does that is given us to work by then are they under the greatest Obligations who enjoy most of this Light And therefore as the Jewish Dispensation obliged them to a greater Perfection and Holiness than what the Heathen World knew so does Christianity obliges us to a greater than either We are taught that except our Righteousness exceed the Righteousness of the Scribes and Pharisees we shall in no case enter into the Kingdom of Heaven By the same Argument a greater Degree of Piety Charity and other Virtues will be required of some parts of the Christian World above others in as much as they enjoy greater Light purer and less corrupted by Superstition Ignorance and the remains of ancient Heathenism This is the case of the Reformed Churches in comparison not only of the Roman but of any other Christian Church now in being And if all the Reformed Churches enjoy not an equal Light we have no reason to think any of them on this account more happy than our own And indeed we are apt enough to own this and please our selves with the thoughts of being of so pure a Church where we have the Word of GOD constantly read and preached to us frequent Sacraments and daily Prayers We are bred up to a rational and intelligible Devotion we want neither the Substance nor Form of Godliness we are taught to serve GOD with the purest Worship and in the most decent Manner But 't is strange to see Men cry up this Church and value themselves for being Members of it and yet not see at the same time how much more they have on this account to answer for how by this means the great Plea of not knowing or not being taught their Duty is wholy taken from them But I must not stop here the Gradation from Heathenism to Judaism and from thence to Christianity in general then to the Reformed parts of it and last of all to our own Church this Gradation must still be carried one step higher from our Church to the Eyes of it the Universities Here we meet with greater much greater means of knowing and doing our Duty than any other Place any where affords And who does not see the Consequence of this were a Man who had never seen or heard of such a Place as this before for the first time made acquainted with the Institution and Design of it the Laws we are governed by the Care and Discipline and Method of instruction and lastly the great and good Examples we live under how would he long after the Original of so fair a Picture how desirous would he be to see this Beauty