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innocent, may pretend alfo to juftify himself, CHAP. and ftand before him in Judgment; but who has the Prefumption to think of that? God then must be the Father of the Penitent by adopting and accepting us in his Son. The Confcience. confequent upon paft Sins, is ftill prefent, upon Reflection, to accufe for thofe Deviations of the Law, nor can it exonerate itself of thofe Accufations, without laying hold of fomebody more righteous, to entreat for it, and of fome Affurance of Remiffion of Sin in a Promise of Pardon, publifh'd and certain.

SANCTIONS of Rewards and Punishments are the Support of all Law and Government in Heaven, and Earth. But no Law nor Authority' in either can stand, and be safe, if the bare Repentance of criminal Subjects without any thing further, was to pafs current in Lieu of Obedience, and be commuted for the Punishment incurr'd, as oft as they pleased; there would be no Difference betwixt Law and no Law; Governor and govern'd would be upon a Level; and the Subject a Law to himfelf: nay, had God proclaim'd his Acceptance of Sinners Repentance, with their Promifes of Amendment accompanying, without the Interpofition of a Mediator, (or a more valuable Confideration for fecuring the Dignity of his Laws, and re-afferting, or rather heightning the Majefty of his Authority in the Hearts of his Subjects, by what he did, and fuffer'd) the natural Disobedience of Man would' take Encouragement to go on, increafe, and multiply.

FOR, in that Cafe, the Deceitfulness of Sin would foon teach him to flatter himself; and

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CHAP. draw fuch Inferences from the magnify'd Goodnefs of God, as are easy and fuitable to his beloved Lufts. If God is fo good to me as to proclaim his Acceptance of my Repentance, upon my Promise of Amendment; my Non-amendment is a greater Object of his Goodnefs, and therefore furely he will accept my Repentance without Amendment; and as a Piece or fome fmall Part of Repentance is a greater Object still of his Goodnefs than the whole Sorrow and Contrition of that Duty; is it not more glorious to the Amplitude of that Attribute to accept of a Part, inftead of the Whole? Thus the Law of God upon fuch a defective Proclamation, (which is all that the Deifts defire to hear of) would be totally difregarded; and by Degrees lofe its Refpect even from Repentance itself, any farther

than in Name.

WHAT Occafion for Repentance any farther? If what our Author fays is true, "That "no Man breaks the Divine Laws out of Contempt of his Maker, or imagines he can do "God an Injury. That in punishing, he "acts not as an injur'd Party, who wants Satisfaction, or Reparation of Honour.-"None ought to be punish'd, (fince what is pass'd "can't be help'd) but to prevent a future Breach. "of the Law." It is Tyranny to multiply "Punishments on Pretence of vindicating the "Honour of the Legiflator." Anger is to be "excluded from the Deity, as the weak wo"manifh Part of our Nature t." he would "otherwise not enjoy a Moment's Quiet +."

* Page 32.

† Page 33.

+ Page 34.

HE

CHAP.

He argues upon a Suppofition that all the Laws of God were defigned for our Good; and therein he is right: But then he mistakes what that real Good of Man is, which thofe Laws propofed to advance; there is the Ground of his fallacious Arguments. Was it the Good of fenfual Delights, and the uninterupted Enjoyment of this World, which he feems only to have his Eye upon, his Conclufions would be every one right. But if the Commands of God are so many Rules and Directories of our highest Good, to the Perfection of our Nature, and our Obedience to them fo many effential Qualifications for our future Happiness in Heaven; then our Difobedience, though it difturbs not the Tranquillity and Happiness of God, certainly disobliges and undervalues his Love, and difhonours his Wifdom in giving us fuch Laws for our Good; and, he has Reason, if not for his own Sake, at least for ours, and the reft of his rational Creatures, to refent fuch Contempt, and be angry at such Difappointment, and punifh fuch Obftinacy, when it is irreformable; as every wife and affectionate Parent would do, when his Children take unruly Courses,

AND the more Concern is fhewn in his heavenly Difpenfations for repairing the Contempt, and vindicating the Honour of thofe holy Laws; and by all other Ways, procuring our Compliance to them, the more apparently he confults our Good, and the more we correspond to that his Intention, the more Honour we do him, as our Law-giver, the more we live to, and act for his Glory, as our God and Governor.

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CONSEQUENTLY the Practice of Sin which is juftly ftiled Enmity to God, and proportionably every Scheme for encouraging it, being a Contradiction to, and an actual Endeavour to frustrate this Governor, of the great End and Direction of his Government, the general Happiness of Man in both Worlds, which is the greatest Good imaginable; the other being a declar'd Oppofition to this Good, must be the greatest Evil imaginable. And the Guilt of it perfifted in, after so much Goodness and Mercy in fending his Son into the World, to remedy this Evil, and fubdue this Oppofition by the Kindness of his Doctrine, his Life, his Death, his Interceffion, muft deferve the greatest Punishment imaginable.

He brings two Quotations from Chriftian Writers concerning the natural Efficacy of Repentance for procuring Pardon and Reconciliation with God, argued from the Attribute of Divine Goodnefs. But it had been more to his Purpose, to have cited fome Heathen, an utter Stranger to all Revelation, arguing in like Manner from the Goodness and Wisdom of God. For it is plain, all the Arguments of Deifts, and others, who are acquainted with the Chriftian Revelation, have received that Improvement from their improved Notion of the Goodness of God; not as it is discoverable a priori from the Light of Nature, but as it is difcover'd ex poft fallo from Revelation.

BECAUSE, in fact, the Heathen Philofophers are not found to argue at that rate; being em

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barafs'd with the inextricable Difficulty, how to CHAP. reconcile their natural Notion of the Divine Juftice, as Governor and Punisher of evil Deeds, with the Divine Goodness, inclining to Pardon there is an univerfal Silence as to Remiffion of Sins; and the Duty of Repentance iffuing out of that Persuasion, muft be in Proportion to it. There is but one remarkable Inftance of their Repentance in Hiftory, that of the Ninevites threaten'd with immediate Deftruction; yet their Belief of Remiffion of Sins amounted to no more than, perhaps, who can tell, but God will turn from his fierce Wrath: Even Mr. Bayle himself, in his Dictionary, Article Zia or Zea, confeffes that he does not remember, in all his vaft Reading, one Inftance of any of the Heathens asking Pardon for their Sins: See towards the Conclufion of his Notes on that Article: Tho' Forgivenefs of Sin is fo rich a Bleffing as to tempt the Prayers of Men and Sinners, ftill the Heathen had no Notion of the Want of it. Therefore the Repentance, which the modern Deifts fet up their Staff in for Reconciliation with God, having quite perifh'd out of the Heathen World, must be borrow'd from that Revelation they fo much defpife.

THE Heathens knowing no one appointed Mediator, nor any certain acceptable Sacrifice for Sin, in order to appeafe the Doubts and Tumults in human Breafts, had Recourfe to infinite feign'd Mediators, (in Hefiod's Time, the Number was got up to thirty thousand Gods) and to endless Sacrifices; expiatory for turning away Wrath; or petitionary for obtaining Bleffing; or euchariftical for returning Thanks (feldom or never ufed) changing from this to that, multiplying all U 4 Sorts