opportunity in the world for throwing off all the obligations of Christianity, and setting religion upon a new bottom. This is the use the Deists have made of it; and thus a religion from reason soon turns a man into an Infidel. But there is a middle generation of people, who would preserve some decency and solemnity of character, between believers and infidels these are your rational Christians (as they call themselves) who allow in Christianity all that is agreeable to the religion of reason, but nothing more: and when they have divested Christianity of all that is Christian, they wonder why there should be any infidels; for that Christianity is the most reasonable thing in the world. To make it so, all the doctrines of faith are taken out of it for nature knows not one of them. How can it reveal them to itself? It has no redemption from sin, no gift of divine grace, no danger from the tempter, no priesthood, no sacraments; in a word, it has not one of those things to which salvation is promised. It was never admitted into this country, till toward the latter end of the last century; since which the strides of infidelity have been gigantic. And what can be done? We have admitted a worm to the root of the tree of

1

life;

life; and the withering of its top should have convinced us long ago of our mistake. Happy would it be, if, in these dangerous times, when many evils are come so near to maturity, men of learning and ability, whose designs are good, would be roused, before it be too late, to an impartial consideration of this case, as I have laid it before you.

The

There is another cause which has bad effects, besides this of a pretendedly-rational religion, which has operated with much mischief against the faith. When a man values himself upon his knowledge, he grows proud, and then he becomes weak. knowledge of nature is a noble science, and deservedly holds a distinguished rank in this kingdom. The contemplation of nature should bring us nearer to God who framed it: but it seldom does; too often it has the contrary effect; and if we were to survey, with more accuracy than is proper for a sermon, the different classes of men, who have done most mischief to religion, we shall find them chiefly among those who take the name of philosophers. They make discoveries on matter, or think they do (for there is great contradiction among them) till they see no

such thing as spirit; and so fall into materialism. It was an old and true accusation, that the world by wisdom knew not God: 1 Cor. i. 21. and the same is the great misfortune of man at this day. Thousands are spoiled, not by philosophy itself, but by the vain deceit of philosophy. Tell a person of this sort, inflated with his own importance, that in order to be wise he must become a fool and what good can be expected? His monitor will be set down for the fool; and the madman may probably be added. Some mathematicians, who see no farther than their own science, can find certainty no where else not distinguishing, that there is natural certainty and moral certainty; and that by far the greater part of what we know and receive, is, and must be, founded upon the evidence of testimony; and he that disputes this kind of certainty hath as little reason in him as he that disputes the other. Now, if we receive the witness of men, as we do every day, and neither knowledge nor business can go on without it, the witness of God is greater, 1 John v. 9. We call the evidence of testimony moral evidence; but in the case of religion, we can trace it up to natural evidence; that is, to the miraculous

culous facts evident to the senses of men, which were publicly given in confirmation of the word of God. But it doth by no means follow, that because the evidence is natural and sensible, the doctrine proved thereby will be admitted. In multitudes of people it had not that effect; for instead of admitting the truth which they hated, they attempted to destroy the evidence; as in the case of the resurrection of Lazarus, and the resurrection of Christ himself. The wise men of Pharaoh's court were eye-witnesses to the miraculous deeds of Moses, but they were not convinced. And the apostle hath forewarned us, that men of like character, the wise men of the last days, should resist the truth, as Jannes and Jambres, the magicians of Egypt, withstood Moses. He calls them men of corrupt minds, in a state not fit for the reception of truth, and consequently reprobate concerning the faith. The formal rejection of Christianity by a nation of reprobates, who build every thing upon their philosophy (materialism), and are as busy in working natural wonders, and as conceited of what they do, as Jannes and Jambres were in the land of Egypt, is a melancholy demonstration of what I have here said, and

pught to serve as a warning to the philosophers of Britain.

I come now to the use of all that hath gone before; in which I must be brief,

The text gives us reason to expect, that at the coming of the Son of man, faith shall scarcely be found on earth. It is therefore obvious to conclude, that in proportion as the faith decays, the coming of Christ is drawing near. The scoffers of the last days may insolently demand of us, as it was foretold they should, where is the promise of his coming? and object that there is no sign of it, for that all things continue as they were: but this cannot now be said with truth; all things do not continue as they were there hath been a marvellous change of late in the affairs of this world, and in the state of religion, with which all serious men are alarmed, justly apprehending that some still greater event is to follow. The signs of the time, to those who can read them, are many; and there is one which is but little noticed. When it is mentioned, some will be ready to tear their garments with rage, as if they had heard blasphemy.

Before the first coming of Jesus Christ, the world had been harassed, plundered and destroyed