ments of faithful fervants, and punish the flothful and unprofitable; feparate the wheat and tares at harvest, tho' they grow up together in the fame field: And therefore thus God will do, who is not lefs wife, and juft, and holy than men are. And this gives authority to all the arguments for a future judgment, drawn from the reason and nature of things; thus our Saviour reafons, and thus he hath taught us to reafon. For the fundamental principle, on which all these parables reft, is this; that whatever is manifeftly juft, and wife, and reasonable for men to do, that God will do and much more.

I PROCEED now, further, in the next place to fhew, as I proposed, that the whole chriftian religion is founded on, and adapted to the belief of a future judgment, and would be a very unintelligible inftitution without it; and therefore this must be a first principle to all who call themselves. christians, if they understand the religion they profess. As to fhew this particularly :

The chief promises and threatnings of the gofpel, relate to the other world. Godliness, indeed, hath the promise of the life

that now is, as well as that which is to come; but the temporal promises made to an holy and virtuous life, are fuch as worldly minded men cannot much value. They extend no farther than food and raiment, therewith to be content. But who could be contented with fuch a scanty provifion, while he fees the greater prosperity of bad men, who diffolve in ease and luxury, were there not an happy ftate referved for them in the next world? Where is the man, who would not comply with the devil's temptation to fall down and worship him, for all the kingdoms of the world and the glory of them, were he not to lose a brighter and a richer crown for it?

Sometimes, indeed, God doth bless good men with great plenty and honour; but he has no where promised to do so in the gofpel of Chrift. Sometimes he doth it, not fo much to reward good men (for temporal things are not the proper rewards of piety and virtue), as to ferve the ends of his providence in the world. He takes care of good men, to fupply their wants and neceffities here, which is all that a perfect virtue requires; but he rewards them here

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after;

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after: And yet this is not abfolutely promised neither; for our Saviour teacheth us, to take up his crofs, to expect fufferings and perfecutions for his name's fake; and then we must be contented to want food and raiment, to part with houfes and lands, and life itself for his fake; and our condition may be fo afflicted and calamitous here, that it may force us to fay, as St. Paul doth, If in this life only we had hope, we Should be of all men the most miferable. And who would be the difciple of Christ upon these terms; to fuffer fo much for him in this world, and to gain nothing by it in. the next?

Thus, on the other hand, there is a terrible vengeance threatned against wicked men in the next world; lakes of fire and brimstone; blackness of darkness; the worm that never dieth, and the fire that never goeth out. But the gospel doth not generally threaten temporal punishments against sin. Bad men, it is true, are very often punished in this world, when the wisdom of the divine providence fees fit; but they often efcape too, and are fometimes more profperous than good men are here. And there

is no effectual threatning in the gospel, to reftrain the impieties of men, but only the fears of the other world, and a future judgment; and if we take away these, we destroy the gospel of our Saviour.

And, further, we may obferve, that many of our Saviour's laws are founded on this fame fuppofition of a future judgment; and would be extremely unreasonable, if there were no rewards or punishments after this life. So that if we will but allow to him the ordinary prudence of a lawgiver, a future judgment must be the foundation of his religion.

If there were no other life after this, the only rules of our actions would be, to live as long, and to enjoy as much of this world as we can. But the chriftian religion

in many cafes will not allow of this; and therefore is no religion for this world, were there not another world to follow.

Particularly, as to the enjoyments of this world: How many restraints doth the chriftian religion lay on us, to leffen the pleafures and fatisfactions of this life? It teacheth us a great indifferency to all things of this world: But how unreasonable would that

that be, if this world were our only place of happiness? For who can be indifferent, whether he be happy or not? It commands us to mortify our fenfual appetites; to crucify the flesh with its affections and lusts ; to live above the pleasures of the body; to pluck out our right eyes (if they offend, or draw us into fin), and cut off our right hands: But what reason can there be, to deny our felves any of these enjoyments, if we have no expectation after death?

It forbids us to lay up for our felves treasures on earth; which would be a strange command, were there not greater treasures to be expected in heaven. It forbids earthly pride and ambition, an affectation of fecular honours and power: But why muft we fubmit to meanness and contempt in this world, if this be the only fcene of action. we shall ever be concerned in? For a mean and base spirit is no virtue; and, for the fame reason, it can be no virtue to be contented with a low fortune, to be patient under fufferings, which if they will never be rewarded, is to be patiently miferable, and that is ftupidity and folly. And to have our converfation in heaven, to live

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