And whereas, before the coming of Christ, the church of God, that is to fay, the people whoin God had outwardly called, and made himfelf and his will, known unto them by his revealed word; whereas this church, I fay, was then confined to one particular place and nation, that is to fay, to the temple of Jerufalem, and the children of Ifrael; Jefus Chrift has called all nations and people indifferently into his church, offering the advantages. and privileges thereof, in as ample a manner to the Gentiles as to the Jews; and accepting of true faith, repentance, obedience, and worship, alike in all parts and places of the whole world: upon which ac count the church is called catholick, that is to say, univerfal.

As there is a covenant, that is to fay, a mutual. agreement or promife made between a husband and his wife, a mafter and his fervant, a king and his people : fo in like manner, is there a covenant made between God, in and through Jefus Chrift on the one part, and the church on the other. Every member of the church for his part, promises and engages to perform thofe things which God requires in order to falvation, which at the beginning I told you were faith, obedience, and repentance: and God for his part, has promised, for the fake of Jefus Chrift, that he will give the grace and affiftance of his Holy

Spirit to all thofe who make a good ufe thereof; that he will pardon the fins of those who truly repent: that although when we die, our bodies do return to the earth, out of which they were taken, as our fouls do to God that gave them, yet a day fhall come, when this world shall have an end, and Jesus Chrift fhall come to judge all mankind, at which time, the bodies of all men fhall be raised again, and reunited to their fouls: and whereas they who have lived wickedly, and died impenitently, shall be condemned to eternal torments, with the devil and his evil fpirits, who were caft out of heaven for their rebellion against God: they who faithfully and fincerely perform those things which God requires, fhall be rewarded with everlasting happiness and joy in heaven, in the prefence of God for evermore.

And thus we have heard what are the chief of thofe things which God has made known to mankind in order to our belief. The next thing to be confidered is, what grounds and affurances we have, upon which we may, and ought to believe them.

And here in the first place, fome of these things are to be believed, because we are affured of them by our own reafon and understanding. Thus for example, our own reafon informs us, that the world was made and framed by almighty God, because we fee so much order, beauty, and usefulness in the whole,

and

and every part of it: that God is eternal, most wife, good, juft, powerful, and perfect, because he is the first cause of all things: that good men shall be rewarded, and wicked men punished, becaufe God is good and juft, wife and powerful, and that thefe re wards and punishments shall be distributed in the life which is to some, becaufe we very often fee wicked men profperous, and good men much afflicted, ás long as they remain in this life. Thefe, I say, and fome fuch things as thefe, are abundantly taught us even by our reafon alone, and therefore ought to be received and believed, even though God had not made them farther known unto us by any revelation.

But, we have a farther ground to believe not only thefe, and fuch like things as were last mentioned, but also all the reft of those things of which I have been giving an account; and that is, because they are plainly contained in that book which we commonly call the holy fcripture; to which book we ought to give credit, because the doctrine which is contained in that part of it, which is called the New Teftament, was confirmed not only by the miracles and wonderful works, but also by the death and fufferings of Jefus Chrift and his apostles, and many of his difciples. And for the other part of it, which is called the Old Teftament, we ought to give the like

C 3

like credit to that also, because Jesus Christ and his apostles do so often, in the New Testament, give teftimony of the truth of it, and affure us, that it, as well as the New, was written by holy men, who were infpired by the Holy Spirit of God.

And although the feveral parts of this holy book were originally written in fuch languages as are not now generally understood by the common people; yet fince God in his providence, has all along stirred up the fpirits of fo many holy and learned men, to bestow fo much care and pains both in the keeping and preferving, and alfo in the tranflating and explaining of this book, and every part of it; we may be very well affured, that if those who are unlearned, do give themfelves diligently to the hearing and reading of it, in fuch languages as they do understand, and also are careful to receive and follow fuch inftructions as godly men, both by preaching and writing, do give them out of it, God, who is good and merciful, will undoubtedly accept of them, because that, in this cafe, they do all that is within their power to do, and more cannot with any reason be required from them.

But if any man fhould here tell me, that fome of thofe things which the holy fcripture proposes to be believed, are far above our knowledge and capacity, and therefore that it feems impoffible for us to

give our affent to them, because we are not able to understand them: I answer, that if any man would perfufuade me to believe a thing which was plainly contrary to fenfe and reason, and should pretend that it was revealed by God, I fhould immediately, in fuch a cafe, refufe to comply, or yield my affent, because I am fure that a good and gracious God will never require fuch monftrous and abfurd things from his creatures: he never will impofe it upon us to believe, that bitter is fweet, or fweet bitter; that darkness is light, or light darkness; that what we fee, and feel, and tafte, to be a small portion of bread, is a human body; or, that one and the fame body can be entirely in many several and far distant places at once.-Such things as these, I fay, I am fure God will never impofe upon us to believe; becaufe he has fo framed the mind of man, as to reject all-fuch abfurdities and contradictions as these, as soon as ever he hears them named. But as for things which do not appear to be abfurd, but only are dark and obfcure, and not contrary to our understanding, although it may be very far above it, if God has thought fit to declare fome fuch things as thefe unto us, there can be no reason why we fhould not give credit to them upon his authority. A man who is born blind, believes that there is fuch a thing as light, (although he knows not what it is) because