true religion, and to preferve the world from falling again into that confufion of idolatry and fuperftition, which for many ages held it in darkness. This might be shewn in the several particulars of the Gofpel difpenfation: but I fhall confine myself to those specified in the text.

St. Paul teaches us to wait for the Son of God from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, even Jefus, which delivered us from the wrath to come.

To wait for the Son of God from heaven, fignifies to continue with patience and well-doing, in expectation of the coming of our Saviour and Judge; which fenfe is completely expreffed, Philip. iii. Brethren, be followers together of me, and mark them which walk fo, as you have us for an enfample-for our converfation is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jefus Chrift, who fhall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to fubdue all things unto himself.

The expectation of Christ coming to judge the world is peculiar to Chriftians; and it is fupported by the belief of the refurrection of Christ, that great and main point of faith, which the Apostles were commiffioned to teach and establish in the church of God: for which reafon, when an Apoftle was to be chofen in the room of Judas, the qualification required in the perfon to fucceed was, that he fhould be one capable of beating teftimony of the refurrection of Chrift. Take the account in St. Peter's own words: Of thefe men which have companied with us all the time that the Lord Jefus went in and out amongst us, beginning from the baptifm of John,

unto that fame day that he was taken up from us, must one be ordained to be a witnefs with us of his refurrection, Acts i. 21, 22. And, in the next chapter, St. Peter, vindicating to the Jews the miraculous gift of tongues beftowed on the day of Pentecoft, renders this account of the work and miniftry of the apoftleship: Ye men of Ifrael, hear thefe words; Jefus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you by miracles and wonders and figns, which God did, by him, in the midst of you-Him, being delivered by the determinate counfel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and flain, ver 22, 23. This Jefus hath God raised up, whereof we all are witnesses, ver. 32. To the fame purpose again, in the third chapter, Ye denied the Holy One and the Juft, and defired a murderer to be granted unto you; and killed the Prince of life, whom God hath raised from the dead; whereof we are witneffes, ver. 14, 15. In the fourth chapter an account is given us of the courage and boldness of the Apoftles in preaching Chrift to the rulers, and of the fuccefs of their miniftry among the people: the fum of it we have in thefe words: With great power gave the Apofles witness of the refurrection of the Lord Jefus; and great grace was upon them all, ver. 33. In the fifth chapter the Apoftles are called again before the council: the high priest charges them with difobeying the injunctions given them not to preach in Chrift's name: St. Peter and the reft answer him and the council, by opening to them the commiffion and authority by which they acted, and the doctrine which they taught: We ought, fay they, to obey God rather than men. The God of our fathers raifed

up Jefus, whom ye flew and hanged on a tree: him hath God exalted with his right hand, to be a Prince and a Saviour, for to give repentance to Ifrael, and forgiveness of fins. And we are his witnesses of these things; and fo is alfo the Holy Ghoft, whom God hath given to them that obey him, ver. 29, 30, 31, 32. From these paffages of Scripture, taken together, it plainly appears how much the Christian religion, confidered as a diftinct fyftem from natural religion, depends upon the belief of the refurrection of Chrift. The Apoftles were ordained to be witneffes of this article this article is the foundation upon which they build all the hopes and expectations peculiar to Christians: if they preach repentance to Ifrael and forgiveness of fins, it is in his name, whom God raised from the dead: if they turn to the Gentiles with offers of peace and reconciliation, it is still in his name, whom God raised from the dead, and ordained to be the Judge of quick and dead.

When St. Paul preached at Athens, they thought him an introducer of some new deities, he talked fo much of Jefus and the refurrection, Acts xvii. 18. Which doctrine of a resurrection he afterwards fully expounded to them, together with the confequents belonging to it: Now, fays the Apoftle, God commandeth all men every where to repent, because he hath appointed a day in the which he will judge the world in righteousness, by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given afsurance unto all men, in that he hath raifed him from the dead, ver. 30, 31. This pafsage of St. Paul gives a very plain account of the concern to propagate and establish the article of Chrift's refurrection. The refurrection of Chrift was defigned

to be an evidence and affurance to the world of God's intention to judge the world in righteousness. This new article was introduced to be a new evidence of a future ftate of rewards and punishments, and to fupport the finner's hopes of pardon and reconciliation through the promises of Christ, whom God had appointed to be his judge.

You fee then the use of this great article of Chriftian faith. Let us confider now whether we are beholden to the Gospel, and how much, for this new evidence of a life to come; and what there is in this article, and the doctrines grounded upon it, that any fober Deift, or profeffor of natural religion, can justly blame,

Natural religion pretends to fupport itself upon the expectation of future rewards and punishments: it confiders God as governor and judge of the world. Chriftian religion ftands upon the fame foundation, and admits for genuine all these hopes and fears of nature. Thus far there is no difference. The queftion is, which brings the best proof, and most fitted to perfuade the world of this great truth? Natural religion appeals to confcience, and that fenfe which all men have of their being accountable for their actions. The Christian religion embraces all this evidence, and whatever elfe can be fuggefted by reafon to render the hopes of futurity probable, or certain to these evidences it adds the exprefs teftimony and affurance of God given to mankind in the refurrection of his beloved Son Chrift Jefus.

But what need, you will fay, of this new evi. dence? Were not the arguments, which natural re

ligion affords, fufficient to fupport the belief and expectation of a future judgment? If fo, to what purpose is it to call men from a dependence on their reason, to rely on the evidence of men for the truth of a fact fo uncommon, and in the nature of it fo furprising, as not eafily to gain admittance to our belief? a fact, which had we seen ourselves, we might perhaps have suspected the report of our own fenfes, and cannot therefore eafily refer ourselves to the fenfes of others, in a matter of fo great moment and confequence?

Whoever, in answer to this difficulty, endeavours to weaken and enervate the natural arguments for a future ftate, is, I think, very ill employed: to me they appear fo convincing, that I cannot, fo amiable, that I would not leffen your opinion of them: but then it is certain that they require more thought and fpeculation to place them before the mind in their true and strongest light, than the generality of men are capable of exercifing. And whether this be fo or no, is a matter fitter to be determined by the evidence of history, than by reasoning upon the case. We are very ill judges, under the light we now enjoy, how far the generality of men could go by the mere ftrength of reafon, without the affiftances we have. A right notion of God is the foundation of all true religion; and who is there that thinks himfelf obliged to any thing but his own reason for this notion and yet, if this be the cafe, the world is mightily improved in reason these last ages: for we certainly know many ages paft, when the true notion of God was hardly to be found in any nation, commonly to be found in none. Since the publi