SER M. be rewarded. VI. The Pretenders to the Favor of their Mafter, at that Day, who are declared to be rejected by our Lord, in his own Account, are introduced by Him as pleading a certain Title to his Favor from their Zeal, and Faith, by which they have prophesied in his Name, and in his Name even worked Miracles. But they are to depart from Him into Punishment, with all their Pretenfes about them, merely because they were Workers of Iniquity. But the Good, and Beneficent, are entertained with Praife, and invited into the Kingdom prepared for them. No mention is made of Any condemned, who can plead that they have fincerely endeavoured to find out the Will of God, and have preferred it before all other Confiderations. No Sentence pronounced against such for Errors in Judgment, through the unavoidable Weakness of human Nature: but the Integrity and Morality of All accepted and applauded. One cannot help, as we pafs, being led, by our Saviour's own Account, to think how many Pretenfes will the more modern Ages of Chriftianity furnish out at that Day? Have we not tranfgreffed all the moral Laws of God and Nature, to fhew our Zeal for what we call Religion? will many fay: And how greatly furprized will they be, to find That all their Inquifitions, Inquifitions, and Racks, and Tortures, and Hard- s ER M. Ships, and Oppreffions, and even the Merit of VI. overturning all the Boundaries of Good and Evil, for the Faith of Chrift, blafphemously fo Infidelity itself (I hope it may be faid without Offence) will then be punifhed no otherwife than as it is Immorality, proceeding from a wilful and refolute Neglect of Evidence, or an immoral Contradiction to it. And Faith itfelf will then be rewarded, no otherwife than as Morality in an intelligent Agent; the Refult of the honeft Enquiry of a well-disposed Mind. Or rather, the Immorality of the Will, leading at any Time to Infidelity; and the Immorality of Practice proceeding from it; are the Things only to be punished: and the Moral good Difpofition leading to Faith, and the Moral Prac I 2 tice SERM. But to proceed; Since this folemn JudgVI. ment to come is fo exprefly declared by our Saviour, and preached by his Apostles, as the great Motive to Righteousness, Temperance, and every other Virtue; Let us now observe III. Of how great Use the Confideration of This, may and ought to be, to fuch Creatures as We are, placed in fuch a World as this. St. Paul's Difcourfe to Felix, about the unalterable Obligations to Morality, might have · been entertained as a good and reasonable Lecture: But it was the Addition of this other Topic, of a Day coming, in which All Men were to be called to Account; and to be rewarded, or punished, by the fupreme Judge; which made the Impreffion upon Him, here mentioned; and forced him to betray the inward Apprehenfions of a Guilty Confcience. We find, indeed, that it went no farther, than his prefent Concern and Uneafinefs. He put off the Difcourfe; and, without doubt, the Thoughts of it too. The World had taken fuch hold of Him, that his Attention prefently returned to the Profits and Pleasures of it; and would not fuffer Him to give this Subject fuch a Place in his Thoughts, as the Importance of the Matter required. follow fuch an Example. But let not Us VI. This awful Subject of a Judgment to come, SER M. is not, I own, much worthy of our Regard, unless the Expectation of the Thing itself be a reasonable and manly Expectation. Expectation. But let not any one put the Thoughts of it far from Him, as if This were the Cafe. Let Him look into his own Mind, and it will fhew Him, in the ftrongeft Light, That a Being made capable of giving an Account, may justly be called to do it: That a Being framed fo as to fee Duty, and Honour, in one Method; and Sin and Dishonour, in another; and plainly defigned for Duty to a GOD above Him, and a World of Fellow-Creatures around Him; has the greatest Reason to expect to have that Account of his Behaviour, demanded of Him, in Another Place, which is never demanded of him, in This. Thefe are the Thoughts of a Man, as a reasonable and focial Creature: and it is agreeable to the Dignity of a Man, and of the highest of Men, to entertain Himself with the Reflexions becoming his Nature, and refulting from the peculiar Excellencies of it. And to these And to thefe great and unextinguishable Evidences of it, furnished from within the Circle of every Man's own Breaft, the Gospel has added the Weight of that Affurance which Chrift has given Us of fuch a Judgment to come. SERM. VI. Neither let any fly from this Employment, as from a Scene of Melancholy and Difirefs, producing only Terror and Uneafinefs. The End of this great and awful Motive, propofed by natural Religion, and heightened by Reveled, is not, to make Men tremble, but to make Men better; not to fill their Souls with Horror, but to lead them to the very contrary, by guarding them moft effectually against those Practices which rob them of their Innocence and their Peace. And could Men be prevailed upon to think of it, as becomes them, I am perfuaded, it would make even all the Goods of this World more agreeable to them. It would not deftroy any Profit, Pleafure, or Honour, which a reafonable Creature would not wish to have deftroyed. To all others it would add a Luftre and a Value. To Riches it would give the true and proper Ufe; which is their only Advantage. The Honours of this by fetting them off World it would adorn, with all thofe Virtues, which alone can render them amiable in the Eyes of Beholders; and without which they are, at beft, but gaudy Pageantry. And the Pleafures of Senfe themfelves would be rendered more fincere, unmixed, and lasting, by being reftrained from hurting either the Health, or Reputation, or Intereft, or Honour, of the Purfuer; and by |