for it is not of the Nature of my Religion and Kingdom And as I neither assume nor practise any such thing my self that am the great Author Promoter and Example of this Holy Way so have I not only never taught my Disciples to live or act otherwise or given them a Power I refuse to use my Self but expresly forbad them and warn'd them in my Instructions of exercising any the least Revenge Imposition or Coertion towards any This is evident in my Sermon preached upon the Mount where I freely publickly and with much Plainness not only prohibited Revenge but injoyned Love to Enemies making it to be a great Token of true Discipleship to suffer Wrongs and conquer Cruelty by Patience and Forgiveness which is certainly a great Way off Imposition or Compulsion upon other Men. Furthermore when I was strongly bent for Jerusalem sent Messengers before to prepare some entertainment for me and my Company in a Village belonging to the Samaritans and the People refused because they apprehended I was going to Jerusalem though some of my Disciples particularly James and John were provok'd to that Degree that they asked me if I were willing that they should command Fire from Heaven to destroy those Samaritans as Elias in another Case had done I turned about and rebuked them saying Ye know not what Manner of Spirit ye are of for am not come into the World to destroy Mens Lives but by my peaceable Doctrine Example and Life to save them At another time one of my Disciples relating to me some Passages of their Travails told me of a certain Man they saw that cast out Devils in my Name and because he was not of their Company nor followed them said he we forbad him as if they had thereby served and pleased me but I presently testified my Dislike of the Ignorance and Narrowness of their Zeal and to inform them better told them they should not have forbid him for he that is not against us is for us My Drift is not Opinion but Piety they that cast out Devils convert Sinners and turn Men to Righteousness are not against me nor the Nature and Religion of my Kingdom therefore ought to be cherisht rather then forbid That I might sufficiently declare and inculcate my Mind in this Matter I did at another Time and upon a different Occasion preach against all Coertion and Persecution for Matters of Faith and Practice towards God in my Parable of the Sower as my Words manifest which were these The Kingdom of Heaven is likened unto a Man which sowed good Seed in his Field but while Men slept his Enemy came and sowed Tares among the Wheat and went his Way but when the Blade sprung up and brought forth Fruit there appeared the Tares also so the Servants of the Houshoulder came and said didst thou not sow good Seed in thy Field from whence then hath it Tares he answered an Enemy hath done this the Servants said unto him wilt thou then that we go and gather them up but he said NAY lest while ye gather up the Tares ye root up also the Wheat with them let boâ—h grow together till the Harvest and in the Time of Harvest I will say to the Reapers gather ye together first the Tares and bind them in Bundles to burn them but gather the Wheat into my Barn And that I might not leave so necessary a Truth misapprehended of my dear Followers or liable to any Mis-constructions my Disciples when together desiring an Explanation I interpreted my words thus He that soweth the good Seed is the Son of Man the Field is the World the good Seed are the Children of the Kingdom but the Tares are the Children of the Wicked One the Enemy that sowed them is the Devil the Harvest is the End of the World and the Reapers are the Angels This Patience this Long Suffering and great Forbearance belong to my Kingdom and the Subjects of it my Doctrine speaks it and my Example confirms it and this can have no possible Agreement with Imposition and Persecution for Conâ—cience 'T is true I once whipt out the Prophaners of my Father's Temple but I never whipt any 〈◊〉 I call'd I cry'd to every one that thirsted to come and freely offer'd my Assistance to the Weary and Heavy Laden but I never impos'd my Help or forced any to receive me for I take not my Kingdom by Violence but by Suffering And that I might sufficiently deter my Followers from any such Thing as I profess my self to be their Lord and Master so have I commanded them to love one another in a more especial Manner But if instead thereof any shall grow proud high-minded and beat or abuse their Fellow-Servants in my Religious Family when I come to take an account of my Houshold he shall be cut asunder and appointed his Portion among the Unbelievers Behold the Recompence I appoint to Imposing Lordly Persons such as count others Infidels and to make them such Believers as themselves will exercise Violence towards them and if they prevail not will call for fire from Heaven to devour them and if Heaven refuse them will fall a Beating and Killing and think it may be they do God good Service but their Lot shall be with Unbelievers forever Nay I have so effectually provided against all Mastery that I expresly charged them not to be many Masters for one was their Master I told them that the greatest amongst them was to be Servant to the rest not to impose upon the rest nay that to be great in my Kingdom they must become as gentle and harmless as little Children and such cannot force and punish in Matters of Religion In fine I strictly commanded them to love one another as I have loved them who am ready to lay down my Life for the Ungodly instead of taking away Godly Men's Lives for Opinions and this is the great Maxim of my holy Religion He that would be my Disciple must not crucifie other Men but take up his Cross and follow me who am meek and lowly and such so enduring shall find Eternal Rest to their Souls this is the Power I use and this is the Power I give How much this agrees with the Language Doctrine and Example of Jesus Christ I shall leave them to consider that read and believe Scripture but some affected to present Church Power and desiring their Ruin that conform not to her Worship and Discipline will object That Christ did give his Church Power to bind and loose and bid any Person agrieved tell the Church I grant it but what binding was that with outward Chains and Fetters in nasty Holes and Dungeons nothing less Or was it that his Church had that true Discerning in her and Power with him that what she bound that is condemned or loosed that is remitted should stand so in God's Sight and Christ's Account But tell the Church and what then observe Christ's
by their dissolute Example debauch'd the People insomuch that men run an Hazard to be Virtuous This made their Destruction Easie to those whom God sent against them which were the Mores occasion'd by the Last of these Kings dishonouring Count Juliano ' s Daughter In the Time of his Calamity in vain did he expect the Aid of those that had been his Flatterers and the Companions of his Vices His Security the Effect of his Luxury was his Ruin For whilst he thought he had no body to Subdue but his own People by Abusing them he Cut off his own Arms and made himself an Easie Prey to his Real Enemies And so he perisht with his Posterity that had been the Cause of the Mischief which befel that Great Kingdom However so it came to pass that the Remainder of the Goths mixing with the Antient Spaniards to that Day distinct recovered the Liberty and Reputation of the Kingdom by an Entire Reformation of Manners and a Virtue in Conversation as Admirable as the Vices by which their Fathers had fallen were Abominable But the present impoverisht State of Spain can tell us they have not continued that Virtuous Conduct of their Ancestors the Increase of their Vices hath decayed their Strength lessened their People and their Commerce But why should we overlook our own Country that whether we consider the Invasion of the Romans Saxons or Normans Neglect of Virtue and Good Discipline and the present Inhabitants giving themselves up to Ease and Pleasure was the Cause if Gildas the Brittain and Andrew Horn may be credited for as the First bitterly Inveighed against the Loosness of the Brittains threatning them with all those Miseries that afterwards followed so the Last tells us that the Brittains having forgotten God and being over-whelm'd with Luxury â—nd Vice it pleased God to give the Land to a poor People of the Northern Parts of Germany called Saxons that were of plain and honest Manners God is Unchangeable in the Course of his Providence as to these things The like Causes produce the like Effects as every Tree doth naturally produce its own Fruits 'T is true God is not Careless of the World he feeds the young Ravens clothes the Lillies takes Care of Sparrows and of us so as not an Hair of our Head falls to the ground without his Providence but if Men despise his Law hate to be Reformed spend their Time and Estate in Luxury and persist to work Wickedness he will visit them in his Wrath and consume them in his sâ—re Displeasure To Conclude Wars Bloodshed Fires Plunders Wastings Ravishments Slavery and the like are the Miseries that follow Immoralities the Common Mischiefs of Irreligion the Neglect of Good Discipline and Government Nothing weakens Kingdoms like Vice it does not only displease Heaven but disable them All we have said proves it but above all the Iniquity and Voluptuousness of the Jews God's Chosen who from being the Most Prudent Pious and Victorious People made themselves a Prey to all their Neighbours Their Vice had prepared them to be the Conquest of the First Pretender and thus from Free-men they became Slaves Is God asleep or does he Change shall not the same Sins have the like Punishment at least shall they not be punisht Can we believe There is a God and not believe that he is the Rewarder as of the Deeds of Private Men so of the Works of Government ought we to think him Careful of the Lesser and Careless of the Greater this were to suppose he minded Sparrows more than Men and that he took more Notice of Private Persons than of States But let not our Superiors deceive themselves neither put the Evil Day afar off they are greatly Accountable to God for these Kingdoms If every poor Soul must Account for the Employment of the small Talent he has received from God can we think that those High Stewards of God the Great Governours of the World that so often Account with all others must never come to a Reckoning themselves yes there is a Final Sessions a General Assize and a Great Term once for all where he will Judge among the Judges who is Righteous in all his ways There Private Men shall answer only for themselves but Rulers for the People as well as themselves The Disparity that is here will be observed there and the Greatness of such Persons as shall be then found Tardy will be so far from Extenuating their Guilt that it will fling Weight in the Scale against them Therefore give me leave I do beseech you to be Earnest in my Humble Address to you why should ye not when none are so much concern'd in the Good Intention of it Thus much for the First Reason of my Supplication My SECOND Reason urging me to this Humble and Earnest Supplication is the BENEFIT of POSTERITY I would think that there are few People so Vicious as to Care to see their Children so and yet to me it seems a plain Case that As we leave the Government they will find it If some Effectual Course be not taken what with Neglect and what with Example Impiety will be entailed upon our Children Certainly it were better the World ended with us than that we should transmit our Vices or sow those Evil Seeds in our Day that will Ripen to their Ruin and fill our Country with Miseries after we are gone thereby Exposing it to the Curse of God and Violence of our Neighbours But it is an Infelicity we ought to bewail that Men are Apt to prefer the Base Pleasure of their Present Extravagancies to all Endeavours after a Future Benefit which besides the Guilt they draw upon themselves our Poor Posterity must be greatly injur'd thereby Upon this Occasion I shall take the Freedom to say something of Education The Truth is we are so much out of Order in the Education of our Youth that I wish I could say that we had only the Sin of Neglect to answer for I fear the Care has rather been to Educate them in a Way of such Vanity as ends in great Inconveniencies here and must needs find Vexation of Spirit hereafter Our Universities have made more Loose than Learned and what Extravagancy is begun there is Usually perfected Abroad or at our own Inns of Court at Home that now and then afford us a few Able Lawyers but the Generality are like the Man of Old who return'd home Seven times Worse than he went out The Genius of this Nation is not Inferior to any in the World 't is Industrious 't is Wise 't is Honest 't is Valiant yet Soft and Merciful And without Partiality we have had Men that have excelled in Every Worthy Qualification But I must needs say it has been more owing to the Goodness of God in the Disposition of our Natures than the Prudence and Care of those who had the Charge of their Education It was the Saying of a Wise Man Train up a Child in the Way he
and that is the Voice of God who requires us to Fear him and obey his Righteous Commandments at the Peril of making him our Enemy whom we should make our Common Friend and Protector for upon his Goodness depend our very Natural and Civil Comforts So that it is our Interest To be Good and that is none of the least Arguments for Religion that the Piety and Practice of it is the Peace and Prosperity of Government and consequently that Vice the Enemy of Religion is at the same time the Enemy of Humane Society Who then should be more concern'd for the Preservation of Virtue than Government who in its Abstract and True Sense is not only founded upon Virtue but without the Preservation of Virtue it is impossible to maintain the Best Constitution that can be made And however some particular Men may prosper that are Wicked and several private Good Men Miscarry in the things of this World in which sense things may be said to happen alike to all to the Righteous as to the Wicked yet I dare boldly affirm and challenge any Man to the Truth of the thing that in the many Volumns of the History of the Ages and Kingdoms of the World there is not one Instance to be found where the Hand of God was against a Righteous Nation or where the Hand of God was not against an Unrighteous Nation and where a Just Government perish't or an Unjust Government long prosper'd Kingdoms are rarely as Short lived as Men yet they also have a Time to Die but as Temperance giveth Health to Men so Virtue gives Time to Kingdoms and as Vice brings Men betimes to their Grave so Nations to their Ruin 'T is the Reason given by God himself for the Destruction of those Countries that he gave into the Hands of the Children of Israel They were Full of Uncleanness Adulteries Fornication and other Impieties And though he is Soveraign Lord of the World and may dispose of the Kingdoms therein as pleaseth him for he that gives can take away and he that builds can cast down and Mankind is but a Tenant at Will to receive or surrender at his Lord 's Good Pleasure yet he useth not that Prerogative to Justify his Gift of those Countries to the Jews but at the End of his Prohibition of Unlawful Marriages and Unlawful Lusts he charges them in these words Defile not you your selves in any of these things for in all these the Nations are defiled which I cast out before you And the Land is defiled therefore do I Visit the Iniquity thereof upon it and the Land it self VOMITETH OUT her Inhabitants Ye shall therefore Keep my Statutes and my Judgments and shall not Commit any of these Abominations neither any of your own Nation nor any Stranger that sojourneth among you that the Land Spue not you Out also when ye defile it as it Spued Out the Nations that were before you So Saul's Disobedience was his Destruction and his Sin made Way for David's Title Saul died saith the Sacred Story for his Transgression this made the Philistines Conquerors his own Sins Beat him and Kill'd him Saul died for his Transgression then if he had not sinn'd he had lived he had beaten his Enemies and kept the Kingdom yes the place implies it This then should deter all Men but Kings especially who have so much to lose here and so much to answer for hereafter But what was Saul's Sin It was First not keeping but disobeying the Word of the Lord both as it came by the Mâ—â—th of Samuel God's Prophet and as it spoke the Mind of God to him in his own Conscience for Moses had said before that the word of God was nigh in the Heart and in God's Name commanded the Children of Israel to Obey and Do it In short he refused the Counsel of God and God for his Counsellor For in the Next place he betakes himself to One that had a Familiar Spirit for Advice saith the Story He enquired not of the Lord therefore he Slew him and turned the Kingdom unto David There are too many people troubled with Familiar Spirits it were well if they were less Famiâ—iar with them Had Saul trusted in God he needed not to have been driven to that Straight He that was made King by God's Appointment and endued with a Good Spirit so basely to degenerate as to run to a witch for Counsel To this Darkness and Extremity Iniquity will bring Men. And truly a Wo follows all such persons answerable to that Expression of God by the Prophet Wo unto them that take Counsel and not of me when Saul saith the place was little in his own Eyes God honour'd him he made him Head and King of the Tribes of Israel but when Saul grew Proud God deserted him for his Disobedience destroyed him And what befell the Family of Saul in some After-Ages befell both Kings and People and Worse for their Land was Invaded first by the Aegyptians and then by the Caldeans and Babilonians Their Temple was rifled their Treasures taken and their Kings Princes Nobles Artificers and Mighty Men of Valour yea all save the Poorest of the people were kill'd or carried away Captive by the King of Babilon The Reason rendred is this Because the Kings did that which was Evil in the sight of God and stifned their Necks and hardned their Hearts from turning unto the Lord God of Israel and because the Chief of the Priests and of the People transgressed very much after all the Abominations of the Heathen and when God sent his Messengers to Reprove and Warn them and that out of his Great Compassion they Wickedly Mocked his Messengers Despised his Words and Mis-used his Prophets till his Wrath came upon them I will here End my Instances out of Sacred Story and let us now briefly Consider what the Histories of other places will tell us that we may Observe some Proportion of Agreement in the Providences of God throughout the World The First Empire had Nimrod's Strength and the Wisdom of the Caldeans to establish it and whilst their Prudence and Sobriety lasted they prosper'd No sooner came Voluptuousness then the Empire decayed and was at last by the Base Effeminacies of Sardanapalus in whom that Race ended transfer'd to another Family It was the Policy of an Assyrian King to subdue the Strength of Babylon then under good Discipline not to Invade it with Force but to DEBAUCH it Wherefore he sent in Players Musicians Cooks Harlots c. and by those means introducing Corruption of Manners there was little more to do than to take it Nebuchadnezzar by his Virtue and Industry seen in the Siege of Tyre and in many Great Enterprises recover'd and enlarg'd the Empire and his Discipline those Times consider'd was so Excellent that it was prais'd in Scripture But when he grew Proud and Foolish forgetting that Providence that had shown itself so kind to him he became a
the Virtues and Reputation of the Antients 4. In the Fourth place Cross not the Genius of your Youth Match their Talents well for if ye do not sâ—te their Studies to their Understandings it will be Drawing up Hill Going against the Grain or Swimming against the Tide that which will be gain'd will be little and with so much Labour and Time too as will not quit Cost It should be greatly the Care of those who have the Charge of Youth to make the Wayes of Learning Easie and Chearful which leadeth me to 5. My Last Observation Let all Honest Arts be used by Masters of Schools to provoke their Youth to Learning without much Fierceness or Beating For that Sort of Education has nothing of the Free and Generous Disposition in it which might be raised and improved in Youth by more Gentle and Reasonable Methods They that are taught to obey only for Base Fear make that Fear and not Reason the Rule of their Obedience and this grows in too many with their Age that they turn meer Mercenaries and worship Violence In short Make Instruction Easie Correction Reasonable Convince them of their Miscarriage with Mildness then Pardon them and finally excite them to Amendment by Smiles and Favour This awakens the Noble Part and excites Youth to effect that which may ingratiate them with their Tutors who if they at any time commit an Error should rather shew themselves affectionately Sorry for them than bitterly Angry Plato being greatly displeased with his Servant and going about to Correct him gave the Wand to one that stood by saying Do thou beat him for I am Angry Chastizement should be used with Reason and Reluctancy a Discreet and Cool Hand may direct the Blow right and hit the Mark when Men of Fury rather ease their Passion than mend their Youth especially if the Correction exceed the Fault for that hardens This very Bruitishness is more Injurious to the Nature of our Youth than usually their Instruction is beneficial Upon the whole Matter I take the Boldness to say That if we would Preserve our Government we must endear it to the People To do this besides the necessity of present Just and Wise things we must Secure the Youth and this is not to be done but by the Amendment of the Way of their Education and that with all Conceivable Speed and Diligence I say the Government is Highly oblig'd it is a sort of Trustee for the Youth of the Kingdom though now Minors yet will have the Government when we are gone Therefore depress Vice and cherish Virtue that through good Education they may become Good which will truly render them Happy in this World and a Good Way fitted for that which is to come If this be done they will owe more to your Memories for their Education than for their Being My THIRD and Last Reason for this Serious Supplication to the Civil Magistrate is so Great that I find Difficulty to express it 'T is the GLORY of that GOD that Made us that hath so often Deliver'd us and doth so plentifully provide for us who sent his Son into the World to Save us and waits every Day to be Good and Gracious to us But he hath so particularly and with that Transcendency set the Marks of his Favour upon you both in your Restoration and Protection as scarce any Age can parallel O! Let a Steady Virtue be the Return of these Mercies and a Pious Care to Retrieve and Encourage Morality the very Basis of our Government be the Humble Token of your Gratitude It is your Office ye do but comply with the Reason of your own Institution God expects it and Good Men beseech it from you There is much in your Power at this time to make this the ISLAND OF PEACE AND LASTING TRANQUILLITY Lose not the Present Opportunity Revive the Laws against these Gross Iniquities terrifie all Evil-Doers Cherish them that do well Provide for the Poor that their Stock may not be Abus'd nor their Cries pierce Heaven against you because of Neglect and God may yet Vouchsafe to spare us Your Sins said God of Old have with-held Good Things from you 't is Righteousness that exalts a Nation but Sin is the Reproach of any people Would ye Prosper then please God and if ye will please him ye must put away the Wicked from amongst you It was both his Complaint and the Cause of his Judgment in Former Ages There are found Wicked Men among my people they lay Wait as he that setteth Snares they set a Trap they catch Men as a Cage is full of Birds so are their Houses full of Deceit Therefore they are become Great and waxen Rich they are waxen Fat they shine They OVERPASS or OVERLOOK the Deeds of the Wicked they Judge not the Cause of the Fatherless yet they prosper These were no Small Folks but Men of Power such as got largely by the Government and employed their Authority to Enrich themselves and not to relieve the Oppressed I must needs say and can with great Truth That Mis-government is the Occasion though the Devil be the Cause of that Mischief and Ruin that attends Nations What Kingdoms hath God destroyed and Cities turn'd into Rubbish because of National Evils too much occasioned by the Remisness of Magistrates the slack Hand that the Rulers of Israel held over that Unhappy people made Way for their Unsubjected Passions and Corrupt Affections to break out into most Vile Impieties but if Men shall be left to their own Licentiousness to Commit Sin with Greediness and with Impunity both despise the Laws of God and Men all I can say is this God who is Jealous of his Glory the Great Avenger of his Law upon Rebellious Nations will with-hold his Mercies and hasten his Judgments upon us Hear the Word of the Lord said the Prophet Hosea ye Children of Israel for the Lord hath a Controversie with the Inhabitants of the Land by Swearing and Lying and Killing and Stealing and Committing Adultery they break out and Blood touches Blood therefore shall the Land mourn And by the Prophet Malachi God threatens that people thus I will come near to you and I will be a swift Witness against Sorcerers and against the Adulterers and against False Swearers and such as fear not me saith the Lord of Hosts Yea to that Degree was that Magistracy degenerated that they thought it a Vain Thing to serve God to keep his Commandments They called the Proud Happy yea they that workt Wickedness were set up they were Advanced to Places of Honour and Trust and they that tempted God were deliver'd But the Word of the Lord was unto them a Reproach they had no Delight in it They made a Mock at Sin laid Snares for the Innocent and like us made Men Offenders for a Word for a good Word a Word of Reproof or an Harmless Opinion Well but what followed Shall I not visit for these things saith the Lord shall
of Rebellious Servants he that has not the Wedding Garment must be cast out the Branch that brings not forth Fruit will be cut off But those that truly believe in his Name walk in his Light and are taught by his Grace to renounce the Lusts of the Eye the Lusts of the Flesh and Pride of Life the Unjust Profits Pleasures and Pomps of this World and chuse to follow him in his own Holy Way of Regeneration the same is his Brother his Sister and his Mother And whatever Losses they may sustain for his Names sake they have the Promise of an Hundred fold here and the Inheritance of Everlasting Life And I do fervently beseech Almighty God the Giver of all Saving Faith mercifully to Vouchsafe more and more to beget a Serious Enquiry in us What that Eaith is which we have who is the Author of it and what Fruits it hath brought forth that we may not prophane the Name of God by a Vain Profession of it nor abuse our selves unto Eternal Perdition But that we may endeavour by God's Assistance to approve our selves such Believers as sincerely fear God love Righteousness and hate every Eyil Way as becomes the Redeemed of God by the pretious Blood of his Son Since therefore we are not our own but the Lord's who hath bought us with that Great Price let us glorifie him in our Bodies in our Souls and in our Spirits which are his Then shall we be Children of Abraham indeed Heirs of the Promises partakers of that Resurrection and Life that Immortality and Glory which God the Righteous Judge will one Day plentifully distribute to them that abide in this pretious Faith unto the End This naturally brings me to my Third Head and an Unhappiness we have long labour'd under to wit A Debasing of the true Value of MORALITY under pretence of Higher Things mistaking the very End of Christ's Coming By MORALITY I understand Vertuous Living Purity of Manners that Justice Temperance Truth Charity and Blamelesness in Conversation which may well Denominate the Man that lives that Life a MAN JUST in short one that does unto all men as he would have all Men do unto him this is the Moral Man It is Notorious how small an Estimate Two sorts of people have put upon him the Prophane and the Professors the Publican and the Pharisee The First despise him as too Squeamish Nice and Formal they deride his Regularity and make a Jest of his Preciseness And thinking No Man can be good because they are Nought and that all must needs fall by those Temptations they will not resist they construe Sobriety to be a Trick to decoy Mankind and put a Cheat upon the World If they hear any one say Such a Man is a Sober and Just Person They have learned by themselves to call him Knave that he has a Design upon some body by being Just in little things to Cheat in things of more Moment This Man is very Unfashionable among Men of Immoral Principles for his very Looks and Life carry a Reproof with them upon Vitious Men who as if Virtue were their Common Enemy are in Combination against the Lovers and Entertainers of her Because such true Virtuosâ— will neither do the Ill things they would have them nor flatter them in the Ills they do and therefore where Ill Men have the Power Good Men are sure to be made the Common Enemy But the Reproaches that Men of Morality receive at the Hands of Lewd Men are more their Honour than their Suffering But that which is most of all Anxious is that Morality is denyed to be Christianity that Virtue has any Claim to Grace and that those who glory to be called Christians can be so Partial and Cruel as to renounce a meer Just Man their Society and send him preaching among the Heathen for Damnation And pray what 's the Matter Why though this Person be a sober Liver yet he is but a General Believer his Faith is at large 'T is true he believes in God but I hear little of his Faith in Christ Very well Does he not therefore believe in Christ or must he therefore be without the Pale of Salvation Is it possible that a Man can truly believe in God and be damned But as he that believes in Christ believes in God so he that believes in God believes in Christ For he that believes on him that raised up Jesus from the Dead his Faith shall be imputed to him for Righteousness And says Christ himself He that believeth my Word and believeth on him that sent me hath Everlasting Life Has he that believes in God no Interest in this Expression But more particular is that place of the Apostle to the Hebrews viz. For he that cometh to God must believe that he is and that he is a Diligent Rewarder of them that seek him Now. if those who so belieâ—e can come to God the Moral Man's Condition is not Dangerous even in the strictest sense of the Word not only such as have a General Faith of Christianity and never adhered to any particular Party a Sense we shall anon consider but even those who never heard the History of Christ nor had a distinct Knowledge of him as we profess him For it seems a most-unreasonable thing that Faith in God and keeping his Commandments should be no Part of the Christian Religion but if a Part it be as upon serious Reflection who dare deny it then those before and since Christ's time who never had the External Law nor History yet have done the things contained in the Law their Consciences not Accusing nor Hearts Condemning but excusing them before God are in some degree concern'd in the Character of a true Christian For Christ himself preach'd and kept his Father's Commandments he came to fulfil and not to destroy the Law and that not only in his own Person but that the Righteousness of the Law might be also fulfilled in us Let us but soberly consider What Christ is and we shall the better know whether Moral Men are to be reckoned Christians What is Christ but Meekness Justice Mercy Patience Charity and Virtue in Perfection can we then deny a Meek Man to be a Christian a Just a Merciful a Patient a Charitable and a Virtuous Man to be like Christ By me Kings reign and Princes decree Justice saith Wisdom yea the Wisdom that is from above see Prov. 8. 15. so may I say here By Christ men are Meek Just Merciful Patient Charitable and Virtuous And Christians ought to be distinguished by their likeness to Christ and not their Notions of Christ by his Holy Qualifications rather than their own Lofty Professions and Invented Formalities What shall we say then of that Extravagancy which those Men are guilty of who upon hearing a sober Man commended that is not of any great Visible Profession will take upon them to cast him off with this Sentence Tush he is