SERM. wife certain, that a good Man will be faII. tisfied from himself, yet all this is only true in part, and will amount to no more than this, that it is very lovely and desirable, and which every wife and good Man would certainly chufe, and that too upon its own Account, by reafon of the Satisfaction that arifes from it. But if the Good and Bad go down together in the Duft, if one thing befalleth Men and Beafts, and as the one dieth fo dieth the other, and we shall be hereafter as if we had never been, what is become of the Reward then? Shall it be a Reward to them who are not in a Capacity of apprehending it? who have not a Being to enjoy it in? Had they confider'd it not as the End, but only as the Means, they would not have pull'd down with one Hand what they endeavour'd to build up with the other, but would have given Virtue its due Praife and Honour, and not have detracted from it, by cutting off that Reward which will one Day be the Confequence of it; for furely, fays Solomon, there is a Reward, and thine Expectation fhall not be cut off. And indeed this is as reasonable for a Man that has a Soul, and performs the Conditions required, to expect, as it is for a God of infinite Bounty and Goodness to bestow.

bestow.----Hard would have been the Lot

of holy Men of old, who fuffered the moft cruel Afflictions that Malice could invent, or refolute Goodness undergo, and delivered up their Lives in the Caufe of Virtue, had there been no Recompence of Reward; for if in this Life only we have Hope in Chrift, we are of all Men most miferable. But we are fure they acted upon a wife and good Principle, even upon the ftrong Foundation of Faith; for they were tortured not accepting Deliverance, that they might obtain a better Refurrection, a Refurrection to true and eternal Happiness. But Religion tends to make us happy in this World alfo, as far as Happiness is to be had here, as well as in the next; for it has the Promife of the Life that now is as well as of that which is to come: And this it does, not by pleafing the Fancy, and gratifying the Senses; this is a mean and fordid Happiness, which, depending upon the Body, is in the Power of every little Accident to obftruct; but in giving Eafe to the Mind, and Peace to the Confcience, which brings us as near Heaven as we can poffibly be while we are upon Earth. And after all, what doth a wicked Life tend to? What Profit hath the wicked Man of all his La

bour

SER M

II.

4

SERM. bour which he taketh under the Sun? Only

II.

to wear away a few Days of Sorrow and Mifery here, and then to go into a State of endless Misery hereafter; where their Candle fhall be clean put out, and their Light hall be turned into Darkness. But, on the other hand, the Righteous fhall fine forth as the Sun in the Kingdom of their Father. Thus doth Religion obtain its End; and an End it is truly worthy of a rational Creature, acting up to the Perfection of its Na ture ; and if, according as the End is more or lefs noble, fo is the Wisdom in obtaining it, Religion must be the only true Wisdom, because it directs us to the best and most noble End, viz. eternal Happiness. I come now to fhew in the

Second Place, that it is the only true Wif dom, because it affords us the best Means of obtaining it.---- Now thofe Means are çertainly the best that never fail of obtaining their End, which are only to be found in Religion. All other Means, by fome unforefeen Accident or other, are often dif appointed of the End they were defigned to obtain; of which there is no Occafion for any Proof, because every one has, one Time or other, made the Experiment: But we

are

II.

are fure the Means which Religion affords SERM. will never fail of obtaining the End we all defire, because a God of Truth hath faid it.--The Scripture abounds with Promifes of eternal Life and Happiness to those that fear God and keep his Commandments, but it no where promises either upon any other Conditions; for 'tis not the Rich, the Mighty, or the Learned, who are entitled to Happinefs, but they who are religious and good. Riches, for Example, are of themselves of no Ufe to make a Man happy, unless Happinefs were to be bought, whereas it is to be purchased no otherwife than by being rich in good Works; nor is it to be obtained by Power and Might, by Conquefts and great Atchievements, but by Meekness and Humility, by conquering a Man's Self, and fubduing his rebellious Paffions: For he that is flow to Anger is better than the Mighty, and he that ruleth his Spirit, than be that taketh a City. And what will even the Wisdom of Learning and Knowledge fignify, unless a Man is wife unto Salvation? The Knowledge of Sciences, however ufeful in its way, has but little Tendency to a good Life. He who profeffes Religion, and makes it his Business to be a good Christian, must be skill'd in Knowledge of

another

SERM. another Kind; he muft know the Love of II. Chrift, which paffeth all Knowledge, he

muft be skill'd in that Knowledge which will enable him to provide for his eternal Happiness, which is no otherwise to be obtained but by fearing God, and keeping his Commandments; for a Man may go to Heaven without Philosophy, tho' he can never expect to go there without Religion. But what then is Learning a Thing of no Confequence? Is human Wisdom and Knowledge of no Value? Is it no Advantage to be a Scholar? Yes certainly, nuch every Way; it is of great Ufe, not only in improving our Understandings, but also in obtaining many great and noble Ends in Life, which we could never obtain without it; and 'tis then only of little Use when 'tis confider'd apart from Religion; for when 'tis feparated from That, 'tis Science falfely fo called, and is not true Wisdom, but only the Appearance of it; 'tis not that Wisdom which makes Men better, but that which fets Men even below their Inferiors ; fo true is that Saying of the Son of Syrach, He that hath fmall Understanding, and feareth God, is better than one that hath much Wisdom, and tranfgreffeth the Law of the Moft High.------Solomon, after all his

diligent