it is not sense, but judgment, that refuses the prefent good for a distant advantage: and it is but an inftance of the fame reafon and judgment to reftrain the fenfual appetites, and to make room for the hopes of immortality to enter in and possess the heart; and this is truly the work of religion. God has placed before us life and death, things present and things to come. If things temporal have this advantage, that they are feen; yet the things which are not seen have this prerogative to balance that advantage, that they are eternal. The truth of these things is founded both on reafon and on the teftimony of God. If we receive his teftimony, it is well but, if we intereft our hearts in the cause, and act as men refolved to fecure to themselves these bleffed hopes, then is our faith made perfect. And, fince this depends upon the due regulation of our defires, which are subject to the will and judgment of man, it is plain that the true Chriftian faith is an internal principle, a religious habit and difpofition of foul, which, like other good habits, depends upon the care we take to preferve the innocence and purity of our hearts and minds. And this fufficiently fhews the reasonableness and the sense of the Apostle's exhortation in the text, Take heed, left there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God.

DISCOURSE XV.

ACTS XV. I, 2.

And certain men, which came down from Judea, taught the brethren, and faid, Except ye be circumcifed after the manner of Mofes, ye cannot be faved. When therefore Paul and Barnabas had no fmall diffenfion and dipustation with them, they determined that Paul and Barnabas, and certain other of them, fhould go up to Jerufalem, unto the apostles and elders, about this question.

WE learn from the text, and other parts of holy writ, that the earliest and pureft times of the Gospel were not free from difputes and controverfies in religion that the authority of the Apostles, though confirmed by figns and wonders, was not fufficient to lay the heats and prejudices of men; which, like ancient inhabitants, having poffeffion and prescription to plead for their right, were with great difficulty removed: that the Apostles themselves, however agreed in one and the fame doctrine, were of different opinions as to the prudential methods of dealing with the oppofition they found; fome giving way to the torrent, that men might have time to cool, and recover the calmness of reason and judgment; others endeavouring refolutely to ftem the tide, and not to give way, no, not for an hour, that the truth of the Gofpel might continue. Hence

arose the conteft between Peter and Paul; fo that, as the Apostle of the Gentiles himself tells us, he withstood Peter to the face.

To the fame cause likewise we may ascribe much of the present difficulty and obfcurity of the books of the New Teftament: for the writers being neceffarily drawn into controverfy by this means, which always has, and in the nature of the thing must have, reference to the opinions and prejudices of the difputers; there are many things in Scripture which appear dark to us, for want of a diftinct knowledge of the errors and mifconceits which the writers oppose; many things delivered down to us, in which it is not easy, at first fight, to diftinguish how far the holy Penman argues upon the truth of our common Christianity, and how far upon the principles and conceffions of his adversary. From whence it has come to pass, that fome things have been taught by unskilful interpreters of Scripture, as the doctrines of Christianity, which were no better than the errors of judaizing converts.

These difficulties, thus woven into the holy writings, have furnished even to learned men constant matter of difpute and controverfy; and fome points have laboured under a difference of opinion in most ages of the Church: and fo far has length of time been from diminishing thefe difputes, that every writer of name and authority has enlarged this field of controverfy; and to examine, adjust, and expound the fentiments and opinions of men of renown in the Church of God, who have gone before us, is left as an additional labour and study, and oftentimes as a fresh matter of contention.

Add to thefe caufes already recited, the paffions, the weakneffes, and prepoffeffions of mind, which the best men are not free from; and which darken and obfcure things in themselves oftentimes clear and intelligible; and you will have before you, perhaps, a juft account of the caufes which have filled the world with fo many doubts and differences in opinion concerning the weightieft matters of religion.

But fince from this account there appears little hope of coming to an entire harmony and agreement of opinion, what muft an honest man do? Whom shall he choose to follow? And, when he has chofen, with what fecurity and confidence can he proceed? fince there will be always fome to tell him, that he is a blind follower of a blind leader. How far this difficulty has been preffed, even to the rendering all religion precarious and uncertain, and to the discarding the Gospel itself, which is reprefented as encumbered with fo many doubts, such different comments and expofitions, that the wit of man knows not how to extricate him from this labyrinth, and lead him to one spot of firm ground, whereon to reft the fole of his feet; how far, I fay, this argument has been urged to this purpose, I need not fay it will be more to our purpose to call this matter to a fair examination, and to affert the grounds and prínciples of our faith, notwithstanding this fierce affault that has been made upon them.

Now there are two things which this argument leads us to confider; and which, when fairly stated, will, I think, exhauft the whole difficulty.

The firft is with respect to the revelation itself;

to confider how far thefe difficulties affect the authority of the Gospel: for if it is, as it is reprefented, so very dark and obfcure, that common honesty, with the affiftance of common sense, cannot difcern in it what is the will of God; then it cannot be a rule or measure of religion, or defigned as fuch by God, who is too wife and too good to give laws to the world, which can be of no use to them, but to perplex and confound their understandings.

The fecond is with refpect to ourselves; to confider how we may attain to a certain rule of religion under the Gospel revelation, notwithstanding the many controverfies and difputes, which are too vifible to be denied, and oftentimes too fierce to be excufed.

And if it fhall appear upon the whole, that thefe difficulties do not affect the authority of the Gofpel, nor preclude us from the certain knowledge of the faith and obedience required under the Gofpel; then, whatever ufe may be made of these controverfies, they cannot in reafon be urged as objections against revealed religion, the certainty of which, either as to its authority, or the clearness of its doctrines, is no way impeached by them.

The first thing is, to confider the authority of revelation, and how it is affected by any difficulties or obfcurities that are found in it.

The authority of revelation depends upon this, that it is the will and word of God; and he that knows he has the word of God, knows that he has a revelation of certain authority. The firft queftion then is, Whether this knowledge may be attained, before we have a distinct and explicit understanding