him the Author of all Sin; pardon the Blafphemy of fuch a Thought: Thus here is a Door opened for all Men to shift the Guilt of all their Sins from themselves, and to lay it upon God; than which, nothing can have a worse Influence on our Obedience. Now this Error proceeds from our not understanding aright the Difference between God's foreseeing the finful Actions of Men, his providing for that Cafe, or determining what he will do in that Cafe, and his determining them to the finful Actions themfelves. To illuftrate it by a Similitude among Men: Suppofe a provident King, knowing the discontented Tempers of feveral of his Subjects, fhould conclude with himself, that it is very probable thefe discontented Subjects, efpecially if they have any Countenance from a powerful foreign Prince that is his Enemy, will break out into actual Rebellion; fuppofe likewife this provident Prince, thinking all this very probable, fhould forecast in his own Mind what Course to take to withstand such a Rebellion, or yet further, how to make the best Use of it for his own Intereft, and the Good of his Subjects, in Cafe it should happen; and fuppofe fuch a Rebellion fhould accordingly happen, and this Prince had fo well laid every Thing (as expecting it) that he not only disappointed the Defigns of the Rebels, but gained fuch further Points for the future Benefit and Security of his own Affairs, as should gain him more Peace and Quietness to his Government, and more Love of his Subjects, than if fuch a Rebellion had never happened; would any of these good Counfels and prudent Measures of fuch a Prince, be Ground enough to say, that

[SERM. the Rebellion was all laid and contrived by the Prince himself, and fo to excufe the Infurrection of the Rebels, and father it all upon the Prince? This Comparison may very lively reprefent to us, the Nature of God's Counfels and Decrees concerning finful Actions; for bating this one Difference, that God's Fore-knowledge is certain, and the Fore-knowledge of Man is but probable, in all other Things the Simile will hold ; and especially as to the main Thing we are upon, God's certain Fore-knowledge of Sinners Intentions and Actions will no more excuse the Sinners, than fuch a Prince's probable Conjectures, and perhaps exact Intelligence, would excufe the Rebels. It is true, as a wife Prince makes ufe of fuch Misfortunes to procure Security, and fome other Advantages to his Government for the future; fo God, in his wife Providence, makes ufe of finful Actions for promoting his own wife Ends and Designs; but still without having any Hand in the Sinfulness of the Action itself, which must be laid altogether at the Sinner's Door. I have often chofen in this familiar Manner to give you the right Notion of God's Decrees, and to fhew you, that they have no Caufality in finful Actions; though God makes use of them to bring Good out of Evil. And therefore let no Man think that God's Decrees will be any Cloak or Excufe for his Difobedience to the Laws of our holy Religion.

(2.) Of this Sort of dangerous Principles, we may reckon another moft dangerous and difficult Doctrine, which has been delivered concerning God's abfolute and irrespective Election and Reprobation; as if the final Fates of Men were not

to

to be decided, as ye heard lately, from the different Courses Men follow, the narrow Way of Duty, or the broad Way of Licentiousness, which I fhewed you naturally lead, the one to Life, and the other to Destruction; but from fome arbitrary Methods of God's own fecret Will, without any Regard to our Obedience or Difobedience. But they must have both very strange Conceptions of God, who fancy him to govern rather by arbitrary Will, than by juft Laws; and of the Sincerity of the holy Scriptures, which, in the most serious Manner, by Precepts, Promifes, Threatnings, Exhortations, and Expoftulations, prefs us to our Duty, upon the Hopes of Heaven, and Fear of Hell, to think that our eternal Fate was decreed, without any Regard to our Compliance or Non-compliance with thefe Scripture Declarations.

(3) A third dangerous Principle, which at once cuts off all Encouragement to Gospel Obedience, is, the reftraining the Benefit of Chrift's Redemption to a few, manifeftly contrary to abundance of moft exprefs Texts of holy Scripture; for though the not knowing who those few are, may seem an Encouragement to all to hope and prove they themselves are of those few, by their Care and Diligence in well-doing; yet it is a much greater Encouragement to know that God and Chrift have done their Part, and that the Pardon and the Redemption is general without Exceptions; and that nothing but our own Non-compliance with the Gospel Terms can difappoint us of our Share in it.

(4.) A fourth dangerous Principle, which cuts the Sinews of our Obedience, is the Doctrine of

[SERM. the Irrefiftibility of Grace; a Doctrine which feems to make all our own Endeavours fuperfluous, and to tempt us to lie lazy till fome wonderful Motion of God's Spirit makes us new Men and Women, without any Pains of our own: Whereas the most effectual Way to promote our Qbedience to our Saviour's Precepts is, to ftir us up to importunate Prayers and vigorous Endeavours, and in the Ufe of them, and not otherwise, to put us in Hopes of the divine Aid and Affistance.

(5.) A fifth dangerous Principle is, concerning the Impoffibility of falling away from Grace; which is a great Temptation to carnal Security; whereas Grace is like a foreign tender Plant, which must be cultivated with the nicest Care ; and if ever we remit of our Watch, we are in Danger of relapfing into fome of our old evil Habits, and to have the Talent of Grace we made fo bad ufe of, taken away from us.

Time would fail me to speak of the great Number of Inventions they have in the Church of Rome, by Confeffion of their Sins to a Priest, and his Abfolution; by Difpenfations, Penances, Indulgences; their Doctrines of probable Opinions; opus operatum, Infallibility of their Church, and an ignorant implicit Faith, believing as the Church believes, and a great many other falfe Doctrines, to encourage Mens Hopes, without putting them to the Trouble of the only Thing which our Saviour is all this while fecuring, Obedience to his Commandments; and it would be endless barely to mention the dangerous Opinions of an infinite Number of loofe Cafuifts, which, like fo many falfe Prophets, deftroy the Souls of Men. But it is time to proceed to,

2. The fecond Thing I mentioned under this Head, namely, the Sheeps Clothing, in which these false Prophets do come: Beware of falfe Prophets, which come to you in Sheeps Clothing. By this Sheeps Clothing, I understand, all the Arts they make use of to appear harmless, innocent, and popular, not excepting real Holiness itfelf; for though they are faid here, inwardly to be ravening Wolves, I take this to relate chiefly to the Destructiveness of their Doctrine and Principles; for I cannot believe that they are all wicked Men in their Hearts and Lives, who are infected with any heretical, dangerous Doctrine. It is probable, the Sheeps Clothing may extend further than the bare hypocritical outward Shew, even to the good Habits of the Mind, and a regular Course of Life, by which they are much better furnished and qualified to give a Credit to their false Doctrines; yet because it is to be hoped that God will not abandon good Men to deftructive Errors, this Defcription is chiefly to be understood to belong to a Form of Godliness without the Power; and expreffes itself commonly in the following Particulars.

(1.) Whatever Sect or Party is most in Requeft and Reputation in that Place where he lives, the falfe Prophet employs the chief of his Zeal in contending most eagerly for it; and in oppofing the different Sects and Opinions in Religion with the greatest Zeal. What is wanting in the fubftantial practical Part of Religion, he makes up in his Zeal for dry fpeculative Points. It is obferved, that fuch falfe Teachers have little Charity, but a great deal of this bitter Zeal;

and