THAT there is no God, no infinitely Wise, Powerful, Just, and Good Being, that at first made this World, does still administer and govern it, and will finally judge the rational part of it: That there is no First Cause of all things which is of it self, but that either there has been an infinite Succession of Natural Causes, or they have produ­ced one another in a Circle; that is to say, accord­ing to the former, There have been infinite Men in the World before there was ever a one; and ac­cording to the latter, That David was not only the Father of Solomon, but the Son of Solomon also; nay mediately and remotely the Father and Son of himself.

Or, if there were a First Cause, that 'twas a ne­cessary, brute, and unthinking Cause, which yet has produced rational, free, and thinking Agents, Effects which have Excellencies in them which were no way in the Cause from whence they proceeded.

Or, that this World was produced by a fortui­tous concourse of Atoms, That this Vast and Noble, Beautiful and Regular Structure, wherein all things are made according to Weight and Measure, all act orderly and constantly for some end, wherein ap­pears the wisest Contrivance, both in the Fabrick of the several Parts and of the whole, and the disposal of all for the attainment of their several Ends, is the Work of blind Chance, which can neither see, nor Design, nor dispose.

Or, if there were an Intelligent Being that first created it, that he abandon'd it as soon as he made it; and having once shut it out of his Hands, took no farther care, but left the Administration of it to Fortune or Fate.

Or, if he does concern himself in the Government of it, will never rectifie those Abuses which he sees and permits in it; That he has no Rewards in store to bestow hereafter on those who love and obey him, whom he yet suffers to be evilly intreated, and miserable here, and many times so for his Sake and Service; nor will ever call to account, or pu­nish those who daily affront and provoke him, who yet meet with no other Returns for their Villainies here than Security, Prosperity, and the good Things of this Life.

These are things so irrational and extravagant, that one would think it hardly possible to find any that are Fools enough to believe or say them, and would not expect to meet with any Discourses against such, for the same Reason that there have been no Laws made against some Crimes, which have been [Page 5]of so heinous a Nature that none cou'd be supposed capable of committing them.

But the Scripture supposes there are, and may be such Fools, and our own unhappy Times afford too many Instances of them, who ridicule a God, and Providence, and Judgment to come; either deny his Existence, or allow him to be no better than the Gods of the Heathens, that have Eyes and see not, Ears and hear not: One, to whom Elijah's Sarcasm con­cerning Baal may be applicable; that he is Talking, pursuing; in a Journey; or, peradventure, he sleeps, when he should observe the Actions of Men, or attend to the Services of his Votaries; who, having vilified their Maker, no wonder, debase his Workmanship, believe themselves to be made up only of Matter, that as they live they shall die like Beasts; their Bo­dies shall moulder into Dust, their Souls be dissolved into soft Air, and there's an end of them: Who have not only defaced in themselves all Notions of Spiritual Beings, but make it their business to blot out all such Impressions in others; and as they have debauch'd, and corrupted their own Reason and Faith, to assert and believe those wild Opinions which their Lusts and Appetites suggest, and to acknowledge nothing in being besides Matter and Motion, so labour to make a Party, and gain Proselytes to their absurd Opi­nions and Practices: They conceive Wickedness; and, when they come abroad, they tell it; it rests not in their hearts, but with their tongues they spit about their Poison; and, with their infected breath, endeavour to spread the deadly Contagion where ever they go: Who, to gain reputation and followers, pretend to [Page 6]be the only free and impartial Reasoners, the great Abettors of the Liberty of Humane Nature, that have no other end to serve, but the discovering the Weakness, and breaking off of those Chains where­with designing and interested Men had inslav'd it.

Now if Fools will be setting up for the only Ma­sters of Thought; If the most absurd Notions shall be vented for Oracles of Reason; If, not content to have fool'd themselves in a Matter of the greatest Concern, they are industrious to delude others; and, like the great Abaddon, restlesly endeavouring day and night to bring others into the same Condemna­tion with themselves: It is certainly an Act of the greatest Charity to them, as well as others, to make their Folly manifest to the World, to shew that they are the most unthinking Creatures that live in it; and that, whatever specious Characters they aspire to, or would be known by, there's none so justly be­longs to them as that which the Spirit of God has given them in the Text: And the attempting this is my present Province.

I shall not go about to shew the Folly of disbelie­ving a God and Providence, by proving, That they are, or by answering the Objections to the contrary; not that the former are not fairly demonstrable, or the latter too formidable to be encountred; but, I think, too frequent Undertakings to consute these, are too great an honouring of them, and make them look more considerable than they really are, as too frequent Attempts to prove those may possibly be not of the best Consequence to Religion: And besides, the Doctrines that assert them have been so firmly [Page 7]establish'd, and the contrary Whimsies so shame­fully baffled, both by Ancient and Modern Christi­ans, and, particularly, in some Discourses publish'd in our own Language, That whosoever can now complain for want of Evidence and Conviction, and call for more, will still do so after the utmost that can be given him, and plainly declares he will not be satisfied.

And if Men are so resolv'd, resolv'd to be sceptical as long as they can start any little Cavil and ridicu­lous Scruple, and to submit to no Conviction, but such as the things to be prov'd are not capable of: If they will not believe a God unless we can demon­strate him à priori! Nor acknowledge an Eternal, Independent, and Self-existing Being, unless we can prove him from his Causes: If they will not believe Matter of Fact, which happen'd long before their Time, without Evidence of Sense; If they will not believe Spirits and immaterial Substances, unless they can see and feel them: the Man that should attempt to prove them upon these Terms, would deserve the Character of him that denies them. That therefore which I intend, is to shew,

That although all the Arguments that are urg'd for the proof of a God, a Providence, and a future Judgment, should not be allow'd to come up to a Demonstration: Tho' the Atheist has his Arguments against them, and the Sceptick his Scruples, which they think are not satisfactorily answered: Though they are not convinc'd of them, yet it is a very great Folly not to believe them, and to say, and persunde others that there are no such Things.

I speak of a practical Belief, such as influences and governs the Life and Actions; for I do not think that a bare notional Belief of these Things would mend the Matter; or, That the Man that should assent to them in Speculation, but deny them in pra­ctice, would be at all a wiser Man than he that with heart and mouth denies them: Nor he that is really convinc'd that there are no such Things (if Nature affords such a Monster) is not more so, than he that professes to believe them, but contradicts his Pro­fession by his Life.

For the Object of this practical Belief, I have added a future Judgment to the Existence of a God and his Providence; not only because these do inferr that, but because this Judgment is the only thing the Atheist would get rid of, and the other are deny'd meerly for the sake of this, because if they were ad­mitted, this would follow; otherwise, I doubt not but he could be very well contented to allow of a God that made the World, if he concern'd himself no further with it; and would, without difficulty, give up his eternal Matter, his Fate, or Chance, or any of his lewd Schemes; nay, he could permit him to administer the World too, if he did not take no­tice of Humane Actions, in order to bring them to an after Account: He has no Quarrel with a Provi­dence for its governing the World, as is plain from his Argument against a Providence; which is, That bad Men, such Wretches as himself, are suffered to prosper, and be very happy; but this is a wrong he could easily forgive him, and could willingly submit to, and acknowledge God's Government here, if he [Page 9]had nothing more to say to him hereafter: But that he should see and keep a Register of his Actions, that he should be privy to his most Secret, Closet, Cur­tain, Bosom-sins, that these should all be written in his Book; and, that for this end, That he may bring them all into Judgment: This is what he cannot bear the Thoughts of; and therefore being resolv'd not to admit of this Doctrine, to him so ungrateful and terrible, he is obliged to deny the others from whence this would necessarily follow. So far is Fear from being the first that introduced a God into the World, that Fear rather first made Atheists, I mean Fear of a Judgment to come, and the Eternal Re­tributions to be dispenc'd in another Life: To which Judgment, and Eternal Rewards and Punishments, I shall have a special respect in the proof of the Pro­position I have undertaken; which is,

That whether a Man be convinc'd, or not, of the Being of a God, of a Providence, and Future Judg­ment; yet not to believe them with the heart, so as to practise and live according to such a Belief, and to say with the mouth, That there are no such Things, and infuse such Notions into others, is a very great Folly.

The Subject in this Proposition, is a Man not con­vinc'd of the Being of a God, a Providence, and Future Judgment; and a Man may be said not to be convinc'd of these Things, who is in doubt concerning them, whether they be or not: He sees Reasons and Difficulties on both sides, that he cannot fully assent to either; or, he may be said not to be convinc'd of the Truth of one part of the Contradiction, who is [Page 10]fully satisfied and persuaded of the other; the for­mer Sence is more agreeable to the common way of speaking, but the other is justifiable by a very usual Figure.

That which is affirm'd in the Proposition of this Man, consists of Two Parts.

1. 'Tis a great Folly for him not to believe pra­ctically the things therein specified.

2. A great Folly to say there are no such things, and to endeavour to persuade others so.

1. In arguing the former of these, I will consider the man as not convinc'd in the first Sence I propo­sed, as being in suspence whether there are such things or not, the Arguments and Objections ap­pearing to him as strong on one side as the other, and prove him to be a Fool if he does not so believe them himself, as to practise accordingly as such a Belief will direct and oblige.

2. In speaking to the second, I will consider him as not convinc'd of these things in the other Sence, i. e. as being fully, and without doubt assured of the contrary, and prove, that for such a one to infuse his Notions into others, and endeavour to make Pro­selytes is a very great Folly.

1. I will consider him as in suspence, and doub­ting whether these things are or not; and this must be the Case of any Atheist that can think, and does do it: For although he will not allow that we can demonstrate these things, he cannot deny that we have very probable Arguments for them; and that is at least as much as he can produce to the contra­ry: For will he say, that the Arguments taken from [Page 11]the Frame and Origin of the World; from the Stru­cture of Man's Body, and the Faculties of his Soul; from the Beauty, Order, and Harmony of their several Parts, and their constant acting for some end and attainment of them; That these do not make it very probable that there was some Thinking and Wise Being, that made, design'd, and dispos'd them for their respective Ends? Will he say, That his contradictory Notion of the Eternity of the VVorld, his senceless Hypotheses of Necessity or Chance, are a more likely account of them? VVill he say, That the Arguments taken from the Miracles that have appear'd in the World, the Works far exceeding the Bounds and Power of Nature, from the Pro­phecies which have distinctly foretold the most con­tingent and arbitrary things, with their particular Circumstances at the greatest distance, and have been punctually fulfilled, from the Testimony, I believe I may say, of each particular Man's Conscience, from the Terrors which even Atheists have felt and own'd at the approach of Death or imminent Dan­ger, from all Religions in the World, which how­ever silly and idolatrous, are an undeniable Argu­ment of the Faith of the Professors of those Reli­gions in these things? In short, from the universal Consent of Mankind, will he say, That these Ar­guments are not of weight enough to put in the Balance against the trifling Cavils of some few Scep­ticks in an Age, and able at least to keep the Scales even? Be it so then, that there are Arguments on both sides so equally poiz'd, that the Man knows not which will turn the Beam, the Affirmative and [Page 12]Negative equally likely, there may be one that sees his Actions, and will eternally reward or punish him for them, just as probably as there may not; and yet he is manifestly a Fool if he does not believe there is, whether we consider his future State, which may be, or his present Condition in this World, which is certain.

I. Consider first the Future State which may be; and this is Two-fold; either

• 1. A State of Happiness: or,
• 2. A State of Misery.

I. Let us begin with the Future Happy State, and the Rewards thereof. Now if it should prove, that there are such a State and Rewards, yet if a Man does not believe that there are, and practise ac­cordingly, he cannot possibly have them; and there­fore he must resolve either to believe and practise for them, or to quit all Pretences to and Hopes of them.

To make a true Judgment then, whether it be or be not a Folly not to believe and practise so, we must enquire what those Rewards are, and what da­mage or hazard such a Belief and Practice may ex­pose a Man to: For if there be something certain to be parted with, or adventured for something un­certain, and the thing to be parted from be very va­luable, and that for which it is to be quitted, be not so, or not much more so; in such a Case 'tis a mad­ness to venture: But on the contrary, where there is a vast Advantage on the other side, where the un­certain Gain is great, and the thing certain to be [Page 13]hazarded comparatively inconsiderable, there not to venture is Folly according to the common Sence of Mankind. All Trade and Commerce in the World are a Proof of this: if it were not so, the Husband­man would never commit his Seed to the Ground, the Merchant his Ship and Cargo to the Seas; the Tradesman trust out his Goods, or the Gamester venture his Money, for they all venture something certain for uncertain Gain.

It may be said indeed, that in some of these Cases the things themselves are certain, though they are not so of obtaining them; whereas, according to my Supposition, the Rewards themselves of another Life are uncertain: And this is very true. But what's the difference as to me and my venturing for it, be­tween my being certain to obtain a thing, if such a thing there be, but uncertain whether it be or not; and being certain that such a thing is, but equally un­certain whether I shall obtain it or not? The Hazard I run in both Cases is just alike. And I dare say the un­certainty of the Weather and Winds, the Casualities of the Sea, the want of Ability in some Men, and of Honesty in others, and the difficulty many times of discovering either till too late, are better and stron­ger Arguments to prove the uncertainty of the Husbandman, Merchant, or Tradesman's obtaining their respectively proposed Gains, than all the Ar­guments the Atheist has or ever will produce, are to prove the uncertainty of the being of Future Re­wards: And yet, notwithstanding these Uncertain­ties, Men think they act very rationally in pursuing the aforesaid Employments and Trades. If then [Page 14]the Rewards of another Life be of much greater value and consideration than all we are to forego or suffer for the hopes of them, it will be Folly in the general Opinion of the World not to venture for them.

And that they are so, if they are at all, will appear from hence, That they are provided by an infinitely Wise, Powerful, and Good God; and by him pro­posed as the Sanctions of his Laws, in the doing, or forbearing of the Things commanded, or prohibited; in which Laws all that is to be born or lost, in order to the obtaining them, does consist; I say they are what a Wise Being has proposed as a means to se­cure Obedience to his Laws, from whence 'twill evi­dently follow, that they must be more worth than all which that Obedience will cost us; for otherwise they are not a proper means for the obtaining that end, nor can he be a Wise Being that proposes them as such: Nay, they must be not only of greater value than all the Things to be exposed or foregone for their sakes; but of so much greater value, as to be able to balance the Advantage which the presentness of the other gives them over the futu­rity of these; yea, and to turn the Scales in the impartial Judgment of a rational Creature, if they are proposed by a Wise Law-giver, as a Method to engage the Service and Obedience of such Creatures: Thus much we may gather from the general Notion of such a Reward, and the pro­portion it ought to bear to the Service, the hazards and losses thereof to which it is annex'd.

But we are not left to conclude the Excellency of these Rewards only from such general Considera­tions; for they are proposed to us as ineffably great and glorious, beyond our Conceptions as well as Words; they are represented under the most affect­ing Metaphors of Crowns, Scepters, Kingdoms, Thrones, Rivers of Pleasures; and these not tempo­rary, fading ones, but immarcessible and eternal En­joyments; not checquer'd with disappointments and dissatisfactions, but pure and refined from all disquie­ting Alloy. The future Happy State is set forth as full of the most exalted Satisfactions and Bliss which an immaterial Soul and glorified Body, purg'd from its dross and spiritualiz'd, can be capable of, where there will be an immunity from all manner of Sor­row, All Years shall be wip'd away, and the perfect fruition of all that's good and lovely; of Joys, which nothing can take away, nor any Accident disturb; of Pleasures, our desires whereof shall encrease by the Enjoyment, and neither have end or period: In short, an eternal freedom from all Evil and Weak­ness, and an endless Enjoyment of all Good and Perfection.

And now what present thing can there be imagi­ned which any Man in his Wits will not venture, upon the probability of obtaining such a glorious State? Suppose even Life it self, and all the Com­forts of it, were that which my belief and pursuit after this future State should engage me to lose; alas, What are they? But short perishing things, which I must, whether I will or not, very soon, I know not how soon, part from; and will not the probable [Page 16]prospect of that which is infinite and eternal, com­pensate for the hazard of that which is but finite and temporal?

And yet, indeed, there is no such hazard that the Belief of a God, and Future State, do ordinarily oblige a Man to; neither Life, nor any of the true Sa­tisfactions thereof, unless in some rare and extraordi­nary Cases, are thereby lost or endangered; so far from it, that they are rather the things which shorten Life, and disturb the real Pleasures of it, which this Faith lays a restraint upon: None but such shame­ful, and only seeming Satisfactions, are prohibited by it, which, bating the after-Consequences, a Man's much happier without than with.

But were there some true and real Satisfactions obstructed by this Belief; yet a Man's very Belief and Expectation of these Future Rewards, must needs fill his Heart with far greater Joy than any they rob him of, although they gave him but a probability of enjoying them.

For who is there that does not preferr the Satis­faction, that arises from the hopes of enjoying a large and noble Estate, after the Death of a rich Relation, before the gratifying of a present Inclination? Who that does not willingly deny himself in some things, and break his own Humour, in compliance with the morose Temper of the other; and, at the same time, enjoy greater pleasure in his Mind from the prospect of what he expects, than he loses by that he has deny'd? And yet his Expectation can be no more than proba­ble: His Relation may outlive him, or may change his mind; may take offence at him, how careful soever [Page 17]he may be of giving none; or may meet with some other, whom he may take a greater fancy to, and think he has more reason to make his Heir: These, and many more Accidents, may interpose between the Expectant and the Estate: So that though a thing be but probable, we see the expectation of it can outweigh the present uneasiness, the uncertain hope abundantly satisfies for the certain loss; and this, where there is no great disproportion betwixt the Satisfaction deny'd, and that hoped for; this as well as that being but finite; how much more must it do so, where the disproportion is no less than be­tween finite and infinite, imperfect and perfect? Especially if a Man has embraced a true and firm Faith of these Things, and evidenced it to himself and the World by a suitable practice; what Transports, what Exstasies of Joy must he feel? His Faith, that is such, does as infallibly assure him of the Being, the Truth, and Reality of these Rewards, as if they were proved to him by Evidence of Sense and De­monstration; and from a reflex view of his Life, and comparing it with, and discovering its Confor­mity to the Terms upon which these Rewards are proposed, he finds his own Title to them more firm and better assured than any Conveyancer in the World could have made it; and then his expectation must be less only than the fruition, by that he antidates those future Pleasures and Glories, and enjoys one Hea­ven here though he should meet with never another hereafter. What a madness is it then, if it be but as likely, that there shall be such Rewards as that there shall not, not to endeavour by belief and [Page 18]Practice to secure an Interest in them; when, if any such there shall be, they will so very well de­serve all we can do or suffer for them, and when this belief and practice are at present accompanied with no real damage, but rather attended with so much satisfaction and pleasure?

2. Consider we now the other Future State that may be, the Punishments of another Life; and we cannot doubt but if there be a Judgment reserv'd for bad Men in another World, it will prove a Judgment worthy of God; and indeed the Miseries thereof are represented to us to be as great and durable as the Joys prepared for good Men: Now whether a Man will believe them or not, he must within a short time be remov'd from this present State and Life; and if there be another, and he has not by belief and practice seriously endeavoured to secure the Rewards of it, the Everlasting Punish­ments and Miseries thereof must be his Portion; and, in the mean while, what present Fears and Torments must he be perplex'd withal? For know­ing that Hell must be his Lot, if there be one; and not being satisfied that there is none, he must as often as he gives himself leave to think of these Things, be liable to the most severe and dis­quieting Reflections imaginable: He is sure of nothing in relation to these Everlasting Torments, but that such there may be; and if they be, he must be for ever miserable in them. Atheism indeed he chuses, and flees to, as an Asylum to shelter him from these melancholick Reflections: [Page 19]But the Misery of it is, his disbelieving a God will not make him cease to be, if there be one; his damping and extinguishing the Thoughts of a Hell, will not quench its Flames, if a Hell there be; if such things there are, they will be whe­ther he believe them or not, and this he cannot but know; and therefore how effectually soever the Opiats of Wine and Company may operate upon his mind, 'tis not possible for him to secure himself from the most terrifying and amazing Fears in his sober Intervals and private Retire­ments.

But above all, when a mortal Distemper seizes him; when he is going to take his great leap in the dark; when Death arrests him to appear, for ought he knows, before the dreadful Tribunal of that Almighty Judge, whose Being he has deny'd: When in a few hours, it may be minutes, he must be taken hence; and may, for any assurance he can give himself to the contrary, be convey'd thi­ther, where he shall be experimentally convinced of the reality and Severity of those Everlasting Punishments which he has ridicul'd, What Ago­nies must he then undergo? O, the Horrors of mind which the Atheists feel at the approach of Death! Would they but speak out, as some of them have done, they would own that one hour of that Torment they then endure, is too great a price to pay for a whole Life of sensual and sinful Plea­sures. This then is the wise choice and resolu­tion of an Atheist, in relation to the Everlasting Torments of Hell: He is not assured but such a [Page 20]State there may be; yet he choses to disbelieve it, and, to run the hazard do I say, nay to ascertain to himself an Everlasting Habitation in those unquen­chable Burnings, if any such there shall prove to be; and whether there be or not, in the mean time to make sure of an earnest of it here, to make a sort of an Hell within himself, and his own Conscience his Tormentor: so wisely does the Atheist act in rela­tion to the future State that may be: But 'tis possible there may be no grounds for these fears and lashes of Conscience; and the after-reckonings, which are the occasion of them, may prove meer shams: Be that admitted, and let us see how prudently he acts in relation to his present Condition in this World by disbelieving them.

I suppose I need not prove that the Faith and Belief of these Doctrines of a God and Future State, do engage a Man to the practice of all Moral Ver­tues, with respect to himself or others, and to the performance of all those Duties which belong to the several Relations he stands in; or that the ne­glect of these, and the doing the contrary, are owing to the disbelief and want of due considerati­on of them. Let us try then who is the wisest Man as to the Purposes of this World, he who lives in the practice of such Vertues and Duties, or he that gives himself up to the contrary; Who is in the Happier Condition here, the Man that holds a hand over his sensual Appetites and Lusts, or he that looses the Reins, and lets them have their Head; he that keeps the mastery over his Passions, or he that makes himself a Slave to them; he that main­tains [Page 21]the just Authority of the Man over the Beast, or he that suffers the Brute to ride the Man?

The sober man, that by a strict practice of Tem­perance and Continence, if not encreases, at least preserves his Estate from decay, maintains his body in health and vigour, keeps his mind serene and clear, and prolongs his Life and with it a just sense and relish of the true Pleasures of Life; or he, that by Ryoting and Drunkenness, by Chambering and Wantonness, consumes his Estate, enervates his Body, clouds and weakens his Understanding, offers all these a Sacrifice, and falls himself an untimely Martyr to his Bottle or Strumpet?

The meek man that can bend before a Storm, and suffer it to blow over him; or he that by stan­ding up against, and stiffly resisting it, encreases its Force and violence, and exposes himself to its fury; he that is not disordered and ruffled by every affront and little injury, but is so truly great as to overlook one, and to forgive the other; that suffers not foul and reproachful Language to discompose his mind, or provoke an acknowledgment that he is gall'd by re­venging it on him that gave it; but by the undisturb­ed calmness of his breast, which shews it self in his Words and Actions, convinces him that he has thrown away his Dirt upon one on whom it will not stick, and confutes the Calumny by despising it; or he that lets every trivial, it may be only supposed wrong, disquiet him and raise his Passion, every breath of a foul mouth blow up a Storm within him, hurry him on to indecent, and many times dangerous expressions of his resentment, who for having been call'd a Fool will expose his Life in revenge of the affront; and [Page 22]by hazarding what is most valuable upon so trifling an occasion, justifies his Adversary's Words, and proves himself really to be what he was call'd?

Who does best consult his Ease and Satisfaction; he that is content with his Condition and State of Life, which he endeavours to make comfortable by a moderate use of the good things he enjoys, or he that is querulously complaining and repining at his present Lot, anxiously solicitous for the future, that spends all his Time and Strength in scraping together and heaping up of Wealth, which when he has laid up in never so great abundance, he can­not find in his Heart to be ever the better for, but will starve in the midst of Plenty, and though sur­rounded with Bags and Coffers, endure all the un­easiness and miseries of Poverty, and live poor only that he may die rich?

Who best consults his Profit and Advantage, he that uses a conscientious Industry in an honest Pro­fession or Calling, that lives within Bounds, is ver­tuously frugal, and prudently manages what he has to the best advantage, or he that spends his time in Sloth and Idleness, in Luxury and Extrava­gance, in Rioting and Gaming?

Who best consults his Reputation and Honour, he that lives in the exercise of Justice and Probity, Tem­perance and Sobriety, Beneficence and Charity, Cour­tesie and Affability, and that does all the Good he can, according to his Circumstances and Condition of Life, Vertues that make a Man shine, and give him a Lustre in the Eyes and Opinions even of those who do not practise them, or he that gives himself to Oppression and Cheating, to Lust and Debauchery, [Page 23]to Sordidness and Incompassion, to Moroseness and ill Nature, Vices, which they that are guilty of them, are glad to disguise and varnish over, and ashamed to own in their genuine Complexion?

These are things that will not bear a dispute, but a Verdict must be given for the former, at the ve­ry first Appearance at the Bar of Impartial Rea­son. Since then those vertuous Practices, which the Belief of a God and future State, will engage a Man in, are so very advantageous in this Life, that he that throws off that Belief, does at the same time part with not only all hopes of Happiness hereaf­ter, but also with the great and only certain In­strument and Procurer of Happiness in present, we may conclude, that he that believes, that in this Life only he has hope, is even as to this Life of all Men the most miserable: and therefore he that chuses so to believe, when there are not wanting as strong Arguments on the other side to persuade him to believe otherwise and be happy, has cer­tainly the justest Title to the Character in the Text; unless perhaps he may lay a better Claim to it, that says, not only in his Heart, but with his Mouth, That there is no God, and labours to persuade others so: For,

2. He that does that is a very great Fool, al­though he were fully satisfied himself, and without all doubt convinced that there is none.

A Man so convinc'd has nothing to restrain his Appetites, and check his Inclinations, or hinder him when he has Power and Ability from serving them, but the fear of the Penalties of Humane Laws, and of what Men may do unto him; and there­fore [Page 24]may gratifie and indulge himself in every thing he desires, which he can compass with se­curity from them: No Sense of Duty in any Re­lation Occonomical or Civil, can oblige him to the Offices of it, but whenever he's out of the view of the Law, he may break through them as his In­terest or Inclinations direct: In short, whatever he has a mind to, though never so unjust or bar­barous, if Power, Opportunity, and Privacy favour him, if he can order it that Men may not see nor question him for it, he may without any fear or re­morse do it; and the Man who is thus free to follow his own Inclinations, will doubtless count himself a happy Man: But I'm sure he's a very great Fool, if he endeavours to perswade others to be such happy Men for that is to teach them in their turns, when occasion serves, to take the same Liberty with re­spect to him, and not to stick at any the greatest Injury to him, that may promote their Advantage, when they can do it without danger of Discovery; so that how fully soever he be persuaded of his own Liberty, that those invisible Fetters, of a God, a Pro­vidence, and Future State, are but as Threads burnt with Fire, meer Pretences, and nothing else, yet 'tis his Interest that others should think themselves bound by them, and consequently his Folly to la­bour to undeceive them.

Let us a little consider this Atheist in his several Capacities and Relations; in his House, instructing and seasoning his Family with his excellent Principles; and we may suppose him discoursing to them to this purpose, telling his Servants, That he expects only Eye-service from them; That there is no Tye up­on [Page 25]them to work or be honest longer than he sees or knows what they do; and that whenever they can without his Privity do it, they may safely loyter a­way their time, abuse his Goods, waste his Pro­visions, purloyn and cheat him of his Money. Telling his Wife, That she's a Fool to think there's any Obligation upon her from her Marriage Vow to respect him, or be true to his Purse or his Bed, but whenever she can with Secresie do it, she is at Liberty to abuse either at her Pleasure. Telling his Children, That there's no Engagement upon them from a God, a Conscience, a Heaven, or a Hell, (those Bugbears that their Nurses use to scare them with) to reverence or obey him; That all the Du­ty they owe him is grounded meerly upon what they fear or hope for from him; and that when­ever they are out of his Power, if they can ex­pect to get nothing by him, they may disobey and despise him as they please; or if there be an E­state to descend to them after him; if they think he lives too long, they may sasely wish for his Death, and if they can handsomely and privately do it, procure it too. Let us consider him making Proselytes of those he trades or converses with, and this is the effect of his Discourse to them, That they are not so wise as they should be, if they do not, whenever they can without discovery, over-reach him in bargaining, put ill Goods, and false Weights and Measures upon him, circumvent and cheat him in all their Dealings with him; That there is nothing he has which he values most, but if they have a mind to it, and can by open Violence, or by the more secret, but no less effectual Methods of Perjury or Forgery, Corruption and Bribery, take from him, [Page 26]and carry the matter so that the Law shall not take Cognizance of it, they are at liberty to do it, and Fools if they think otherwise. Let us consider him in his Politick Capacity, as a Member of the Com­munity, and see how wise a Man he is as to that re­lation, in spreading abroad his Principles; by so do­ing he does what in him lies to make Governors ty­rannize and oppress whenever they have Power: For if there be no Superior invisible Being to restrain them, what should hinder them from exercising that Power to what purposes they please? There is not near so much danger of persuading Princes to rule ar­bitrarily, in telling them they are accountable to none but God, as in telling them There is no God for them to be accountable to. This is likewise to encourage Sub­jects upon any discontent or dissatisfaction, if they are strong enough to rebell; for if they can over­power their Prince, they have nothing to fear here from him; and if there be no God, there's no Dam­nation to be received hereafter: This is to break and dissolve all Bands, and Cement of Humane So­ciety; that which is in it self a most likely, and has, generally speaking, been an effectual method for the discovering and confirmation of Truth, the ending of Strife, the obliging Men to the Duties of their respe­ctive Offices, and creating among them a Confidence and Reliance upon one another, is utterly rendred useless by these principles: For tho' the Man that believes a God, a Being of infinite Knowledge, Truth, Justice, and Power, can hardly be supposed in a matter which he knows to be false, or never intends to call such a one to attest the Truth of what he as­serts or promises, and to punish him eternally if he [Page 27]prevaricates in either: Yet 'tis ridiculous to think this method can be of force to any good purpose a­mong Men persuaded that there is no God; or that they can look upon themselves obliged to speak truly, or perform what they promise, by calling one to be a Witness of their Truth, and Revenger of their False­hood, whom they look upon to be what St. Paul says of an Idol, nothing in the World. What a distracted, wild, uncomfortable, and dangerous place must a Na­tion be where such Principles should generally pre­vail? What a constant Watch and Guard must Men necessarily be upon? What continual Fears and Jealousies, and distrusts of each other must they be perplex'd with? What Security can a Man have for his Property, or Life, or any thing he enjoys? I mean a Man of these Principles: for he that be­lieves a God, and lives accordingly, has a Security to trust to, even among a Society of such Devils; for he knows that God that Rules and Commands the infernal Spirits, can govern and restrain these; and if he does his Duty, he can safely trust himself and all his Concerns in his Hands: But the Atheist who has no God to hinder him, when he has oppor­tunity, from invading what is another's, has no Pro­vidence to secure him from the Reprisals which o­thers like himself may make upon him.

If then what I have now offered be the genuine in­terpretation and necessary consequences of these Dis­courses and Principles, as certainly they are, then he who makes it his business to propagate such Discour­ses whereever he comes, and instil such Principles in­to others, does very ill consult his Interest in this Life; and he that believes there is never another Life, [Page 28]and acts so contrary to his Interest in this, may very well pass for a Fool.

I will only beg leave to make two or three brief In­ferences from what has been discoursed, and so con­clude. And,

1. From what I have now said of the ill influence of Atheistical Discourses and Principles upon King­doms and Societies of Men, we may infer the great Obligation that lies upon Princes, and all in Authori­ty, to use their utmost Endeavours for the suppressing of such Discourses, and the rooting out of such Prin­ciples among those under their Government: And if the Disease be become incurable in any who have long received the Contagion, and in whom it is grown inveterate, at least to set a Mark upon such, and restrain them from infecting others, as we shut up persons in­fected with the Plague, and clap a Cross upon their Doors; and this not only for the vindication of the Honour of that God whose Vicegerents they are, and whom they represent, but also for the security of their own Just Authority, and of the Properties, Peace and Happiness of those committed to their Charge; all which are struck at by the direct and immediate tendency of these Principles.

He that teaches Men to be subject to the higher Powers, not for Conscience sake, but only for Wrath, tea­ches them to resist and rebell whenever their strength and numbers and secure them from any dread of that Wrath; and he that persuades Men, That there is no Obligation to abstain from what is their Neigh­bours, but what the Law lays upon them, no re­straint, but want of Ability or Opportunity, does throw down all the Fences, and lay open ever Man's [Page 29]Property, to the invasion of as many as hearken to his Suggestions, whenever they are out of the view and reach of the Law, and have Power, and a fair Occasion favours the Attempt. There's no Conspi­racy so dangerous to Sovereign Princes as a Combi­nation of Atheists, to spread abroad their desperate Opinions, and make Proselytes in their Kingdoms; and they whom Necessity drives to rob Houses, or up­on the High-way, are but puny Offenders against particular Men's Properties, and the Peace of the Community, in Comparison of them, for they teach Men whenever they can securely be so, to be Traitors, Thieves and Murderers upon Principle.

2. If the Character of a Fool does so justly belong to the Atheist, that whoever says a Man is an Atheist, says at the same time he is a Fool; this Considera­tion I should think, if nothing else, should be of force to keep all those whom their Birth and Estate, Quality and Circumstances as to this World, have raised above the common level from being Atheists, at least from owning themselves such, and boasting of it: These are generally more jealous of their Repu­tations, and sensible of any thing that touches their Honour than other Men; and commonly they are not more tender in any thing, nor do feel any re­flections more quickly than those that are made upon their Understanding: To be called a Fool is an affront they cannot bear, nor is it to be expiated with less than the Blood of him that gave it; and can they be content to do that, And is it a thing to be gloried in, which will prove them the greatest Fools, accor­ding to the infallible Oracle pronounced by him who cannot be deceived, and with whom 'tis to no pur­pose, [Page 30]at least to no good purpose to be angry? Which will also render them so in the Opinion of all wise Men, who are the only Men capable of Judging? And this Atheism effectually does. How industrious and zealous then should any that have unhappily labou­red under it be to clear themselves from so foul an Imputation? And with what Scorn and Indigna­tion should all that value their Reputations reject the Proposals and Persons of such perfidious Wretch­es, who by infusing A theistical Principles into them, are robbing them of their Honour, and treacherously betraying them into the greatest Scorn and Contempt? He does not injure a Man's Reputation half so much that calls him Fool, as he that persuades him to be one.

3. Lastly, If it be Folly for those who are not con­vinc'd of the Being of a God, and Providence, and Future Judgment, not to believe those things practi­cally, How great must their Folly be who being con­vine'd thereof, yet live as if they were not? If spe­culative Atheism be Folly practical, Atheism is Phren­zy and Madness: Let us not then be wise only in be­lief, and Fools in practice, let us not contradict, but shew our Faith by our Works.

We profess to believe that there is a God, and we do well; let us not give the Lye to our Profession by disbelieving what he has reveal'd, by ridiculing his Word, abusing his Name, profaning his Day, despising his Worship, and disobeying his Laws; but let us evidence the truth of our Faith by paying a religious Reverence to every thing on which his Name is call'd, by making it the business of our Lives to promote his Honour, and by endeavouring [Page 31]what we can that his Will may be done by us and by all Men.

We profess to believe a Providence that sees what­ever is done throughout the whole Earth, even in the most dark and private Recesses, without the ap­pointment or permission whereof nothing falls out, and which takes care of all things here below, let us not deny it by encouraging our selves in Wicked­ness, and crying none shall see us; by being guilty of Deeds of Darkness, and saying Peradventure the Darkness shall cover us; by misimputing the Good or Evil that happens to us to wrong Causes; by forget­ting, or repining at the Hand from whence they come, by desponding anxieties for the future, as if there were none that took care of us, by using indi­rect Methods to gain or keep sufficiency our selves: But let it appear that we are in earnest persuaded of a Providence, by always acting as in the view there­of; by doing every thing as in his Presence, with whom the Darkness is no Darkness, and the Night as clear as Noon day; by looking whenever the Rod is upon us up to him as the wise Manager of it, humbly submit­ting to and kissing it; by thankfully acknowledging him as the Author, whatever is the Instrument of all the good we enjoy, by doing our Duty, and then faithfully in every Condition depending, and casting all our Care upon him who careth for us.

We profess to believe that we have some nobler Principle than Matter in us, even spiritual Substan­ces, which cannot die; Let us not contradict this belief, by making our Bodies the chief Objects of our care, and spending our time and labour in look­ing after carnal and sensual Delights, which no [Page 32]more belong to immaterial Souls, than Sound [...] do to the Eye, or Colours to the Ear; but let u [...] justifie it, by raising our selves above the little satisfactions of Sense, to a Contempt of all those Pleasure [...] which Brutes may share with, and excell us in; an [...] by resolving to lose the whole World rather than no [...] save our own Souls.

We profess to believe that God has appointed a Da [...] wherein he will judge the World in Righteousness by tha [...] Man whom he hath ordained, who shall come in the Cloud [...] of Heaven in the Glory of his Father, with his Angels [...] to take an account of, and render to every one according to his Works; to those who by patient continuance i [...] well doing seek for Glory and Honour, and Immortality [...] Eternal Life; but to those who obey not the Gospel, Eter­nal Tribulation, and Anguish, and Pain. Let us no [...] betray the Hypocrisie of our Profession, by neglecting to provide against the coming of our Judge, by act­ing as though we never expected to be call'd to a [...] account; by saying with the evil Servant Our Lor [...] delays his Coming, and by smiting our Fellow-Servants and eating, and drinking with the drunken; or by sleeping with the foolish Virgins, and slumbring while th [...] Bridegroom tarries; but let us prove the Truth of it, by being upon a constant Watch, by behaving our selve [...] like Men that wait for their Lord, being continually employ'd in his Work and Service, having our account [...] always stated, and our Lamps burning, that at wha [...] Watch soever he comes he may find us ready, an [...] we may enter into his Joy.

Amen.