aftedfaft relying on his veracity and goodness. St. Paul, Heb. xi. 6. tells us, "Without faith it is impoffible to please God:" but at the fame time tells us what faith that is. "For," fays he, "He "that cometh to God, must believe that he is; and that he is a "rewarder of them that diligently feek him." He must be perfuaded of God's mercy and good-will to thofe who feek to obey him, and reft affured of his rewarding those who rely on him for whatever, either by the light of nature, or particular promises, he has revealed to them of his tender mercies, and taught them to expect from his bounty. This defcription of "faith" (that we might not mistake what he means by that "faith," without which we cannot pleafe God, and which recommended the faints of old) St. Paul places in the middle of the lift of those who were eminent for their "faith," and whom he fets as patterns to the converted Hebrews under perfecution, to encourage them to perfift in their confidence of deliverance by the coming of Jefus Chrift, and in their belief of the promises they now had under the gospel: by thofe examples he exhorts them not to " draw back" from the hope that was fet before them, nor apoftatize from the profeffion of the Chriftian religion. This is plain from ver. 35-38. of the precedent chapter: "Caft not away therefore your confidence, which hath great recompence of reward. For ye have great need of perfifting, or per"feverance" (for fo the Greek word fignifies here, which our tranflation renders" patience," fee Luke viii. 15.), "that after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promife. For little while, and he that fhall come will come, and will not tarry. Now the juft fhall live by faith. But if any man draw "back, my foul fhall have no pleasure in him."

દ

yet a

The examples of "faith," which St. Paul enumerates and propofes in the following words, chap. xi. plainly fhew, that the "faith" whereby thofe believers of old pleafed God was nothing but a stedfaft reliance on the goodness and faithfulness of God, for thofe good things which either the light of nature, or particular promifes, had given them grounds to hope for. Of what avail this "faith" was with God, we may fee, ver. 4. By faith Abel offer"ed unto God a more excellent facrifice than Cain; by which he "obtained witnefs that he was righteous." Ver. 5. "By faith "Enoch was tranflated, that he fhould not fee death: for before "his tranflation he had this teftimony, that he pleased God." Ver. 7." Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet;" being wary, "by faith prepared an ark, to the faving of his house ; แ by the which he condemned the world, and became heir of the "righteoufnefs which is by faith." And what it was that God fo gracioufly accepted and rewarded, we are told, ver. 11. "Through "faith alfo Sarah herself received ftrength to conceive feed, and was delivered of a child, when he was paft age." How fhe came to obtain this grace from God, the apoftle tells us ; "because "The judged him faithful who had promised." Thofe therefore who pleased God, and were accepted by him before the coming of Chrift,

Chrift, did it only by believing the promises, and relying on the goodness of God, as far as he had revealed it to them. For the apoftle, in the following words, tells us, ver. 13. "Thefe all died

in faith, not having received (the accomplishment of) the pro"mises; but having feen them afar off: and were perfuaded of "them, and embraced them." This was all that was required of them, to be perfuaded of, and embrace the promises which they had. They could be "perfuaded of" no more than was propofed to them; "embrace" no more than was revealed, according to the promifes they had received, and the difpenfations they were under. And if the faith of things "feen afar off," if their trusting in God for the promises he then gave them; if a belief of the Meffiah to come, were fufficient to render those who lived in the ages before Chrift acceptable to God, and righteous before him; I defire those, who tell us that God will not (nay, fome go fo far as to fay cannot) accept any who do not believe every article of their particular creeds and fyftems, to confider, why God, out of his infinite mercy, cannot as well justify man now for believing Jefus of Nazareth to be the promifed Meffiah, the king and deliverer, as thofe heretofore, who believed only that God would, according to his promife, in due time, send the Meffiah to be a king and deliverer?

There is another difficulty often to be met with, which seems to have fomething of more weight in it; and that is, that though the "faith" of thofe before Chrift (believing that God would fend the Meffiah, to be a prince, and a Saviour to his people, as he had promifed), and the "faith" of thofe fince his time (believing Jefus to be that Meffiah, promised and sent by God), fhall be accounted to them for righteoufnefs; yet what fhall become of all the rest of mankind, who, having never heard of the promise or news of a Saviour, not a word of a Meffiah to be fent, or that was come, have had no thought or belief concerning him?

To this I anfwer, that God will require of every man, "ac"cording to what he hath, and not according to what he hath not." He will not expect ten talents where he gave but one; nor require any one fhould believe a promife, of which he has never heard. The apoftle's reasoning, Rom, x. 14. is very juft: "how shall "they believe in him, of whom they have not heard?" But though there be many, who, being ftrangers to the commonwealth of Ifrael, were allo ftrangers to the oracles of God committed to that people; many, to whom the promife of the Meffiah never came, and fo were never in a capacity to believe or reject that revelation; yet God had, by the light of reafon, revealed to all mankind, who would make use of that light, that he was good and merciful. The fame fpark of the divine nature, and knowledge in man, which making him a man fhewed him the law he was under as a man, fhewed him alfo the way of atoning the merciful, kind, compaffionate author and father of him and his being, when he had tranfgreffed that law. He that made ufe of this candle of the Lord, fo far as to find what was his duty, could not mifs to find alfo the

way

way to reconciliation and forgiveness, when he had failed of his duty; though, if he ufed not his reason this way, if he put out, or neglected this light, he might, perhaps, fee neither.

The law is the eternal, immutable standard of right. And a part of that law is, that a man should forgive, not only his children, but his enemies, upon their repentance, afking pardon, and amendment. And therefore he could not doubt that the author of this law, and God of patience and confolation, who is rich in mercy, would forgive his frail offspring, if they acknowledged their faults, difapproved the iniquity of their tranfgreffions, begged his pardon, and refolved in earnest for the future to conform their actions to this rule, which they owned to be juft and right. This way of reconciliation, this hope of atonement, the light of nature revealed to them. And the revelation of the gofpel having faid nothing to the contrary, leaves them to stand and fall to their own father and master, whofe goodness and mercy is over all his works.

I know fome are forward to urge that place of the Acts, chap. iv. as contrary to this. The words, ver. 10. and 12. ftand thus: "Be "it known unto you all, and to all the people of Ifrael, that by the name of Jefus Chrift of Nazareth, whom ye crucified, whom "God raised from the dead, even by him doth this man" [i. e. the Jame man reftored by Peter] " ftand here before you whole. This "is the tone which is fet at nought by you builders, which is besc come the head of the corner. Neither is there falvation in any

other: for there is none other name under heaven given among "men, in which we must be faved." Which, in fhort, is, that Jefus is the only true Meffiah; neither is there any other perfon but he, given to be a mediator between God and man, in whose name we may ask and hope for falvation.

It will here poffibly be asked, "Quorfum perditio hæc?" What need was there of a Saviour? What advantage have we by Jelus Chrift?

It is enough to justify the fitnefs of any thing to be done, by refolving it into "the wifdom of God," who has done it, though our fhort views, and narrow understandings, may utterly incapacitate us to fee that wisdom, and to judge rightly of it. We know little of this vifible, and nothing at all of the state of that intellectual world, wherein are infinite numbers and degrees of fpirits out of the reach of our ken or guefs; and therefore know not what tranfactions there were between God and our Saviour, in reference to his kingdom. We know not what need there was to set up a head and a chieftain, in oppofition to "the prince of this world, the "prince of the power of the air," &c. whereof there are more than obfcure intimations in fcripture. And we fhall take too much upon us, if we shall call God's wifdom or providence to account, and pertly condemn for needlefs, all that our weak, and, perhaps, biaffed "understandings" cannot account for.

Though this general anfwer be reply enough to the forementioned demand, and such as a rational man, or fair fearcher after truth,

2

will

will acquiefce in; yet in this particular cafe, the wisdom and goodnefs of God has fhewn itfelf fo vifibly to common apprehenfions, that it hath furnished us abundantly wherewithal to fatisfy the curious and inquifitive; who will not take a blefing, unless they be inftructed what need they had of it, and why it was bestowed them. The great and many advantages we receive by the con ng of Jefus the Meffiah, will fhew, that it was not without need a he was fent into the world.

The evidence of our Saviour's miffion from heaven is fo greu, in the multitude of miracles he did before all forts of people, what he delivered cannot but be received as the oracles of God, and unqueflionable verity; for the miracies he did were fo ordered by the divine providence and wifdom, that they never were, nor could be, denied by any of the enemies or oppofers of Christianity.

Though the works of nature, in every part of them, fufficiently evidence a deity, yet the world made fo little ufe of their reafon, that they faw him not, where even by the impreffions of himself he was eafy to be found. Senfe and luft blinded their minds in fome, and a carclefs inadvertency in others, and fearful apprehenfions in moft (who either believed there were, or could not but fufpect there might be, fuperior unknown beings), gave them up into the hands of their priests, to fill their heads with falfe notions of the deity, and their worship with foolish rites, as they pleased; and what dread or craft once began, devotion foon made facred, and religion immutable. In this ftate of darknefs and ignorance of the true God, vice and fuperftition held the world; nor could any help be had or hoped for from "reafon," which could not be heard, and was judged to have nothing to do in the cafe, the pricfts every where, to fecure their empire, having excluded" reafon" from having any thing to do in religion. And in the crowd of wrong notions, and invented rites, the world had almost loft the fight of the one only true God. The rational and thinking part of mankind, it is true, when they fought after him, found the one, fupreme, invifible God; but, if they acknowledged and worshipped him, it was only in their own minds. They kept this truth locked up in their own breasts as a fecret, nor ever durft venture it amongst the people, much lefs the priests, thofe wary guardians of their own creeds and profitable inventions: hence we fee that "reafon," fpeaking never fo clearly to the wife and virtuous, had never authority enough to prevail on the multitude, and to perfuade the focieties of men, that there was but one God, that alone was to be owned and worshiped. The belief and worship of one God was the national religion of the Ifraelites alone; and, if we will confider it, it was introduced and fupported amongst that people by Revelation. They were in Gofhen, and had light; whilft the rest of the world were in almoft Egyptian darknets, " without God in the "world." There was no part of mankind, who had quicker parts, or improved them more; that had a greater light of reafon, or followed it farther in all forts of fpeculations, than the Athenians; and

yet

yet we find but one Socrates amongst them, that oppofed and laughed at their polytheifms, and wrong opinions of the deity; and we fee how they rewarded him for it. Whatfoever Plato, and the fobereft of the philofophers, thought of the nature and being of the one God, they were fain, in their outward worship, to go with the herd, and keep to the religion eftablifhed by law; which what it ves, and how it had difpofed the mind of these knowing and quick-lighted Grecians, St. Paul tells us, Acts xvii. 22-29. "Ye

men of Athens," fays he, "I perceive that in all things ye are "too fuperftitious. For as I pafied by, and beheld your devotions, "I found an altar with this infcription, TO THE UNKNOWN GOD. "Whom therefore ye ignorantly worfhip, him declare I unto you. "God that made the world, and all things therein, feeing that he "is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in Temples made "with hands: neither is worthiped with men's hands, as though "he needed any thing, feeing he giveth unto all life, and breath, "and all things; and hath made of one blood all the nations of "men, for to dwell on the face of the earth; and hath determined "the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitations; "that they should feek the Lord, if haply they might feel him out, "and find him, though he be not far from every one of us." Here he tells the Athenians, that they, and the reft of the world (given up to fuperftition), whatever light there was in the works of creation and providence, to lead them to the true God, yet they few of them found him. He was every where near them; yet they were but like people groping and feeling for fomething in the dark, and did not fee him with a full clear day-light; "but thought the God"head like to gold, and filver, and ftone, graven by art and man's "device."

In this ftate of darknefs and error, in reference to "the true "God," our Saviour found the world. But the clear revelation he brought with him diffipated this darknefs; made "the one in"vifible true God" known to the world; and that with fuch evidence and energy, that "polytheifm" and "idolatry" hath no where been able to withstand it. But where-ever the preaching of the truth he delivered, and the light of the gofpel hath come, those mifts have been difpelled. And, in effect, we fee, that fince our Saviour's time, "the belief of one God" has prevailed and fpread itself over the face of the earth. For even to the light that the Meffiah brought into the world with him, we muft afcribe the owning and profeffion of "one God," which the Mahometan religion hath derived and borrowed from it. So that, in this fenfe, it is certainly and manifeftly true of our Saviour, what St. John fays of him, 1 John iii. 8. "For this purpose the fon of God was mani"fested, that he might deftroy the works of the devil." This light the world needed, and this light it received from him, That there is but one God," and he "eternal, invifible;" not like to any visible objects, nor to be reprefented by them.

If