XIX.

the Lord hath divided them, and made their Ways CHAP. divers. As the Clay is in the Potters Hand to fashion it at his Pleafure, fo Man is in the Hand of him that made him, to render to them as liketh bim beft. * The Words of Efdras are confiderable, He is patient, and long suffereth those that bave finned, as his Creatures. And be pardoneth; for if he did not fo of his Goodness, that they which have committed Iniquities, might be eafed of them, the ten thousandth Part of Men fhould not remain living. And being Judge, if be fhould not forgive them that are cured with his Word, and put out the Multitude of Contentions [in the Margin Contempts] there should be very few left, peradventure in an innumerable Multitude, 2 Efd. vii. 64, &c.

HOWEVER this we all know, that God will judge the World with Righteoufnefs, and the Nations with Equity; that he will be justified in his saying; and clear both when he judges, and when he is judged. Who shall accufe thee for the Nations that perish, whom thou haft made? or who shall come to ftand against thee to be revenged for the unrighteous Men ? -For as much as thou art righteous thy Self, thou ordereft all things righteously thinking it not agreeable with thy Power, to condemn him that bath not deferv'd to be punish'd. That to whom little is committed, of them much will not be required. That few Stripes will be the Portion of those who knew not their Lord's Will; few, in Comparison of those who know, who defpife, who carelefly perform it. That they will be tried and acquitted according to what they have, and not according to what they had not. And

XIX.

CHAP. fo all Mouths will, then, be ftopp'd with the Plenitude of Wisdom, Juftice, and Goodness of the Divine Difpenfations.

AND now we may even know, and be affur'd, that the Dispensing the different Talents, and affording different Degrees of Means unto Men, difpers'd over the Earth, is according to the Counfel of his Will, which is unfearchable by us, and paft finding out, any farther, than to stop the Mouth of Deifts, who are fuch importunate and prefumptuous Objectors, and Intruders alfo to know the whole Scheme, Order, or State of Things, as well as God, or elfe allow no Wisdom in his Ways tho', in the Nature of Things, it is impoffible for them, or any Mortal, to have any other than broken Views; their great Grandfathers feeing one part of the Scene; themselves the middle Act, or fome part of it; and their great Grandchildren the Conclufion.* It is therefore truly fublime (being exactly agreeable to the Nature of the Subject) for us to profess our Ignorance and Defect, when we speak of the Ways of Providence, or offer to affign all particular Reafons of his Conduct and confequently to expect, or argue otherwife, must be Pedantry and Bombaft.

BUT I haften to give a more particular and PROPER Anfwer to thefe Objectors. Do Our Deifts ask Questions of thofe Things? I

*This must neceffarily be fo; because all Parts of the Drama of God, the Oixovouía of Providence can't be upon the Stage at once, this World can't contain them. Therefore fome must go off, when it is the Time for others to come

on.

fhall

fhall not answer by asking them Questions, but CHAP. return the fitting Answer to them.

AND fince this is a Difficulty of the Deifts own starting, they ought to have the Edification of a proper Anfwer.

I. I obferve to them that this Objection comes with a very ill Grace from thefe fort of Perfons. They blame God for not communicating the Gospel to the Heathens, upon a Suppofition, that he made every Man to partake of as much Happiness as his Nature is capable of. I grant the Suppofition, that Chriftianity duly known, profess'd, believ'd, and obey'd, according to their own Stile, will make a Man as happy as his Nature is capable of. Is not this Happiness offer'd to, is it not at the fame time flighted by them with particular Contumely? If the Hea thens were to follow their Example, muft they not do the fame? Wherefore then do they accufe the Conduct of Providence for not propofing that, which they advife them to reject, or for not bringing that to Light, which they labour to bury in Darkness; extolling, as they do, Heathen Darknefs, and preferring it in Word and Deed before the Light, knowingly, and profeffedly.

FOR fo is the deplorable Matter of Fact, they hinder the Gofpel of all the good Effect they can, at Home; and yet with ridiculous Peevifhnefs, throw the blame upon God for not fpreading it Abroad: And as fast as Providence favours the fpreading the Gospel Abroad, in its Truth and Simplicity, they follow God as faft as ever they can, with their wicked disappoint

Y 4

ing,

XIX.

CHAP. ing, felf-accufing Oppofition, to overthrow and XIX. destroy it utterly.* So intent are they in com

paffing Sea and Land to make one Profelyte! fo confederate in the Wickedness of difpenfing the Opiate of Unbelief to all the World.

II. I OBSERVE that the Religion of Nature, which they pretend to recommend with fo much Zeal at Home, and Abroad, in lieu of the Gofpel, is bound upon the Obedience and Obfervance of the Chriftian, with far fuperior Force, accumulated Authority, and deeper and more infinuating Impreffion of fuperadded Mercies and Kindneffes, than Natural Religion can pretend to; and therefore, if they had any real Value, or the leaft Degree of fincere Friendfhip and Zeal for that, they ought to turn Chriftian for the fake thereof, and perfuade every Body elfe to do fo. Taking that Religion in the highest Sense they ever extend it to, as the Law and Will of God; ftill as that fame Law and Will of God is in the Christian Revelation, written, collected together and perfected to the highest Pitch of human Reason (as Deifts themselves acknowledge, and dishonestly borrow their best Things from it.) If this best End is ftrengthen'd and facilitated, 1. By the

There feems to be a form'd Defign among fome in England, to make us irrecoverably worse, both in Princi"ples and Behaviour; at leaft feveral Books to that End "have of late been scatter'd over all our Colonies; fuch as "the Rights of the Chriftian Church, and the Defence of it; ✦ the Grounds and Reasons of the Chriftian Religion; the Fable of "the Bees; Lyon's Infallibility of Human Judgment; many of "the Socinian Tracts; Woolfton's Difcourfes, &c. and other "Performances of the fame Tendency." See a Letter to the Bishop of London from an Inhabitant of the Leeward flands, P. 17.

beft

1"

7

beft MEANE S, and greatest Mercies in the CHAP World. 2. By INTERNAL AIDS. XIX. 3. By EXTERNAL MOTIVES of future Rewards and Punishments. 4. By HELPS AND INSTRUMENTS. Is not Natural Religion, the Religion of the End, fecured to Practice, and endeared to due Performance by all these and many more Advantages, to every Christian, than to any modern Deist?

DOES not these four added to the Talent of Reason, the common Bleffing of Nature, make up the five Talents committed to their Truft, for which they will affuredly be brought to an Account at the laft Day? Is not the one Talent REASON, to be improved and cultivated by Confideration and Reflection on the Attributes of God, the Relations, and Truth of Things? Are not the two Talents, REASON and REVELATION, to be encreased and multiplied by the Ufe of Reafon, which leads to Faith; and by the Ufe of Faith, which exalts and comforts Reafon in the Worship and Service, and in the Knowledge of God, and Ourfelves, how to Repent, how to Pray, how to Obey? Are not the Three Talents (fuppofing fuch a Diftribution) INTERNAL AID of the Spirit, added to the other two, to be occupied and made most of, by adding the right Ufe of the last to the two former; waiting upon it by due Compliance, augmenting and ftrengthening it by Prayer to God, in the Name of Chrift? Are not the four Talents REASON, REVELATION OF CHRIST, INTERNAL AIDS, EXTERNAL MOTIVES, greatly encreafable by the additional Exercifes of Hope and Fear, fedu

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