there was no wrong done him, if he re- SER M. ceived not those Bleffings, which by Free IV.. Gift only were annexed to the perfor mance of the conditions of That particu lar Covenant. And he might moreover very juftly be punished, for rejecting That Covenant; because God has, without controversy, a Right to require from All his Creatures Obedience to fuch Commands as he thinks fit to impofe upon them, whether they themselves give their Affent to his Commandments or no.

By Analogy drawn from this Rite of Circumcifion, it has for very many Ages been a general Practice in the Chriftian Church, to receive Infants by Baptifm into the Obligations of Faith and Obedience to the Gofpel; and to make Profeffion for them, what they are to believe and obey. Whether this Analogy be rightly drawn, or no; and be a fufficient and adequate foundation, for what has been built upon it; is a controverfy which I fhall not at prefent enter intó: But from what has been already faid upon the Unquestionable cafe of Circumcifion, and upon braham's Command in the Text to his children and to his household after him, and VOL. III.

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upon

SER M.upon the Nature of thefe forts of Obliga IV. tions in general; the proper application I fhall make, is, to confider briefly what Obligation lies upon Thofe, who without their own Knowledge or Confent have Been baptized in their Infancy, and have had a Baptifmal Vow made for them by Others; What Obligation really lies upon Them to embrace and obey the Gospel, in the whole courfe of their Lives. Now 'tis very evident, generally speaking, that no man has a Right to make any Promife for Another, without his own Confent; and no man is obliged to make good any fuch Promife, if there lies upon him no other obligation, but what arifes merely from fuch a. Promife, made without his know ledge on Confent. Neither is it fufficient, that the things promised to be done, are really for the persons own Advantage who is to perform them. For every perfon, when he arrives at years of understanding, has in all fuch cafes, a Right to judge for Himself what is his own Advantage; and 'tis not what Another thinks,, But what he himself is convinced to be for his own Benefit, that must finally determine him to ehoofe and act. Wherefore, in deed, All Under

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Undertakings of this kind, fuch as are SER M. Baptifmal Vows made on the behalf of IV. Infants, are not to be efteemed as Promifes what the perfon fball do, but what he fhall be taught, what he fhall be inftructed, what he fhall be reminded and called upon to do, and to take upon himself that he will do. For the true Ground of obligation in this cafe is, that the things themfelves to be performed are in their own nature fuch, as every perfon, when he arrives at the full Use of his Reason, would be indifpenfably obliged to perform, whether Others had beforehand undertaken for him any fuch thing, or no. To inquire carefully into the Will of God, to believe what God declares, and to do what he commands, are obligations abfolutely incumbent upon every man, though they had never been bound upon him by any Vow or Promife: And therefore the Vow made at Baptifm on the behalf of an Infant, is not fo truly the Ground of his being obliged; as the necessary obligation of the Things themselves, is that which makes the Vow itself to be valid upon him. Nor is any Promise made by Others, fo properly with intention to lay H 2

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SER M. any obligation upon the perfon, or tie IV him up to any thing which he would not otherwife have been bound to perform; But the true Design is only in way of kindness and affiftance, to remind him of an obligation, abfolute in itself, that he carefully inquire after, and believe and obey the Will of God. And This may, very easily, be of Great Benefit and Ufefulness. For every man being obliged to Audy impartially the Will of God, and to improve himself in the Knowledge of Truth and in the Practice of Virtue, and to live up to the best Light he can obtain; 'tis plainly of very great Advan tage to Men, to be from the Beginning inftructed in the way of Truth, to have Examples fet before them of Virtue and Righteousness, and to be reminded and called upon to confider and attend to thofe Ob ligations, which are incumbent upon Men whether they attend to them or no. The Great and Righteous Judge of the Whole Earth, knows how to have compaffion, upon the ignorant, and upon them that are out of the way; and will referve mercy in store, according to the exigency of every Man's cafe, for those who, through

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through ill inftruction, wander in the SER M. ways of Errour. But 'tis a mighty Ad- IV. vantage, and a particular Bleffing, to be originally led into the way of Righteoufnefs. For fo in the Text, 'tis not only recorded in commendation of Abraham, that he would command his children and his boufehold after him; but 'tis taken notice of alfo in way of confequent Benefit to Them, that They would accordingly keep the way of the Lord, to do Justice and Judgment.

I SHALL conclude, with making this One only further Obfervation. Since keeping the way of the Lord, fignifies clearly, in Abraham's cafe, believing the True God, as well as doing Righteousness; and fince under the Gospel ftill more empha tically, fincere Faith is always infifted upon, as well as Virtuous Practice: it may very naturally be inquired, if Believing does not, like our Actions, depend upon the Will; but if Men muft believe what they have good Evidence for, and cannot believe what they fee no reason to be convinced of; how then can Believing be a Duty, which a Man fhould be bound to perform? The Answer plainly is that