requirements, muft needs be, that they may be beneficial to us. And, were God to difpenfe his favours, merely because they are petitioned for; then, tho' mere petitioning would not be a proper ground or reafon to God to bestow his favours; yet, notwithstanding, he would difpenfe them promifcuoufly, to all that afked, whether the petitioners were worthy of what they prayed for, or not. And, though we are exhorted to pray always, to pray without ceafing, to continue inftant in prayer, and the like; yet, furely, the meaning of all this cannot poffibly be, that God is capable of being teazed into a compliance with our defires, and, therefore, we are to be continually calling upon him; but the meaning is, that, in the frequent ufe of fuch pious meditations and reflections, we are capable, hereby, not only of preferving our felves in that good state in which we are, but, alfo, of being carried on to a nearer and ftricter conformity of mind and life, to the divine mind, and the divine will; and, therefore, we fhould be frequent in fuch exercises. And if this be not our cafe; then, as all our piety and devotion answers no purpose, with regard to God, fo neither does it turn to any account with respect to ourselves, except we make fome advantage thereby upon the weakness of our neighbours, as the Scribes and Pharifees did heretofore. Alas! to what purpose will it be for us to tell Almighty God that he is good, if we are not led by it to imitate his goodness? If, indeed, our piety ferves

ferves only to prevent our falling back, or grow ing worfe; then, it may be faid to be inftru mentally a negative good to us; but, furely, it was intended to ferve a higher purpose, viz. to make us Godlike, by leading us to imitate the Deity in all his moral perfections; and this we should endeavour to make all our piety and devotion fubfervient to.

This, I think, is a full answer to what has been urged against me, on this fubject.

By what I have obferved above, my readers may also fee, that I am not under a neceffity of declaring my felf a Deift, as fome perfons have weakly and vainly imagined me to be. Befides, if the not being able to get clear of fome texts of fcripture, when taken in their literal, and in their plain and most obvious fenfe, be fufficient to convict a perfon of Deifm, then, I am afraid, we shall have Deifts out of number; or, at least, we fhall have a multitude of fuch in each other's estimation. And as others are allowed the liberty of quoting texts for this purpose; fo, I hope, I may, without offence, take the fame liberty of quoting texts in my turn. John xv. 7. If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you. Chap. xvi. 23. In that day ye shall ask me nothing; verily, verily, I fay unto you, whatsoever ye fball afk the Father, in my name, he will give it you. In thefe texts, when taken in their literal, and in their plain and most obvious fenfe, there is an abfolute and unlimited promife made

to every true and faithful difciple of Chrift, that whatsoever he fhall afk of God, in Chrift's name, he shall receive it; if he is fuck, and afketh for health, he fhall receive it; if he is a cripple, and afketh for the refloration of his limbs, he fhall receive it; if he is in prifon, and afketh for liberty, he shall receive it; if he is poor, and afketh for riches, he shall receive them; and fo on. Now, fuppofing a person cannot get clear of those texts, that is, cannot reconcile them to his principles, when taken in their literal, and in their plain and most obvious fenfe; yet, furely, it will be very hard, and, I think, greatly unjuft, to fuppofe, that he is hereby clearly convicted of Deifm; because, in the fenfe before-mentioned, thofe texts are fcarcely reconcileable to any principles, seeing what is promised in them, does not appear to take place in fact. If it should be said, that there is a fenfe of thofe texts, (tho' we may not be able to discover what that fenfe is,) in which the promife of Chrift is made good, and, that to believe this to be the cafe, is fufficient to clear a person from the charge of Deism: I answer, allow me the like liberty, and, I doubt not, but I fhall be able to keep clear of the charge of Deifm alfo; though, by the way, this groundless charge I am not much folicitous about.

I will only add, that as in these papers, I addrefs myself to perfons who call themselves Chriftians, that is, to perfons who profess themfelves to be the difciples and followers of Chrift;

fo, I intreat them to do juftice to that profeffion, by living fuitable to it, and by paying a proper regard to the will and commandments of him, whom they profefs to have' chosen for their Mafter: Which Mafter hath given it them in charge, that they love one another; that they do good and lend, hoping for nothing again; that, as he was neighbour to the man that had fallen among thieves, who shewed mercy, by relieving the diftreffed, tho' of a different religious party from himself, fo they, (viz. Chrift's difciples) fhould go and do likewife; that their communication fhould be, yea, yea, and nay, nay, because whatfoever is more than thefe, is the produce of fome vitiated affection; that they judge not, left they be in like manner judged; becaufe, with what judgment they judge, they are to be judged, and with what measure they mete, it will be measured to them again; that they forgive, as they hope to be forgiven; that they be not quick in spying the less faults of their neighbour, but be much more careful in reforming the much greater of their own; that they fhould not affect oftentation or the praise of men; that they should not be anxiously careful after the things of this life, but defire and pursue what is most valuathat they should mortify in themselves, the affection of felf-love, when, and fo far as it is vitiated; and that they fhould do to others, as they would reasonably defire and expect that others would do to them, in like circumftances. Thefe, and many other excelK 2

ble;

lent

lent precepts Chrift hath given us, which, if we would adorn our profeffion, and would answer our character as Chriftians, we must make them rules of action to ourselves, and govern our minds and lives by them. It has been but too common among Chriftians, for the moft. zealous to cry, the Church, the Church; like those heretofore, who cried, the Temple of the Lord, the Temple of the Lord. But alas! It is not our calling Chrift Lord, Lord; nor, our bowing our bodies or knees at the mention of his name, which will conftitute us his true difciples; but it is our following his example, and governing our minds and lives by his laws. If the Rechabites drank no wine, nor built houses, nor fowed feed, nor planted vineyards, but dwelt in tents all their days, in obedience to the commandment of Jonadab, the fon of Rechab, their father, Jeremiah xxxv. 6---10. then how much more fhould Chriftians pay a ftrict regard to the will and commandments of Chrift, whom they publickly acknowledge, and profefs to believe that he was anointed of God to be their Prince and Saviour? But, if those who take upon them to be called after Chrift's name, pay little or no regard to the commandments of their acknowledged Master, but live in a constant violation of the most weighty of his laws; then, notwithstanding all their loud profeffions, their outward reverence, and their bitter zeal fhewed for his name; I fay, notwithstanding all these, they may justly expect to have a more dread

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