the fame, and the Lofs of his Soul will be the unavoidable Confequence of it.

If any one tells me that natural Inclination alone, without any previous Neglect on his Side, drags him many Times to Sin: I answer, 1. That no Man can be drag'd fo violently as to lofe the Power of Refifting; because his Will is always free; and there can be no Sin without the free Confent of the Will. I anfwer, 2dly. That every one concerned, will, upon a ftrict Examination of himself, find, that either fome preceeding Neglect in the Duty of Prayer, or his not having arm'd himself with vigorous Refolutions in the Morning, or a Want of Watchfulness over himself at the first Approach of a Temptation, when it might have eafily been check'd, has always. been the Forerunner of those Consents, to which he pretends to have been drag'd with a Violence beyond his Power of Refifting.. But 3dly, I afk, whether this Pretence is to hold always, or not? If fo, I wish it may not cover a Design never to mend at all: If not, why then will he not refolve to begin out of Hand to oppose an Enemy for powerful already, and who will daily get Ground upon him, if a Stop be not put to it by a vigorous Refiftance.

But Time and Age, fays the delaying Sinner, weaken all Inclinations; and then

they

they will be easily fubdued. This is very true, in those who have always refolutely opposed them: For thefe ufually pass their riper Years in a Triumph rather than Combat, But no Man in the World ever became abler to refift, whilst he held on in a Cuftom of yielding. Nay, 'tis certain on the contrary, that every finful Inclination gathers Strength proportionably as it is gratified; and that Time, which would have weaken'd it had it been refifted, ferves but to increase its Power, when it is often yielded to.

But to return to my principal Confideration; fuppofe the delaying Sinner be denied that Time or Age, on which he fo much depends for the weakening and fubduing of his finful Inclinations: Suppose Death cuts him off, whilft they are yet in their full Strength, and before he has made any serious Efforts towards this great Work: What becomes of him then? I leave him to reflect upon the Confequences of it: And fince he can have no Security that this will not happen to him; 'tis manifeft he cannot answer it, I will not fay to God, but even to common Senfe and Reafon, if he goes on in his ufual Delays, on whatever plaufible Pretence of present Difficulties they may be grounded: Because whatever his prefent Difficulties are, Time.

and

and Delays will but increase them, and remove him at a greater Distance from his Return to God, by the fame Steps as they daily bring him nearer to his Grave.

The XXXIIId ENTERTAINMENT.

All are bound to feek first the King dom of God.

Seek firft the Kingdom of God. Matth.

T

vi. 33.

HIS Precept is fhort, but very comprehenfive, fince it contains the whole Duty of Man. For Man's whole Duty in this Life, is to make God reign. fovereignly in his Heart by Grace, in Order to reign hereafter with God in Glory. This, I fay, is the whole Duty of Man; and all the moral Precepts both of the Old and New Testament, are but fo many Explanations of the feveral Branches of it. God commands nothing, but what he knows is neceffary to fit us for the Poffeffion of his eternal Kingdom; and he forbids nothing, but what he knows will be a Hindrance to it. He commands the Prac

tice of Virtue, because it prepares us for that happy State; and he forbids Vice, becaufe nothing that is defiled can enter into his Kingdom: So that the Precept of feeking firft the Kingdom of God, is a Summary of all Chriftian Morality; and if we made it but the Rule of all our Actions, it would alone fuffice to render us eternally happy.

But, alas! How few are governed by it! How few make Heaven their chief Bufnefs, or employ their Time fo, as to give fufficient Grounds to judge they prefer the Kingdom of God, before the Pleafures or Concerns of this Life! If we confider the State of Christianity in general, we fhall find it funk fo low, that there will scarce appear any Marks of it left to distinguish it from Paganism, befides the bare Name, and fome outward Forms, which coft Nothing. We fhall find Calumny, Back-biting, Curfing and Swearing, Hatred, Envy, and Revenge, practifed amongst the meaner Sort: If we enter into the Shops of Tradefmen, how few fhall we find there, who keep their Hands clean from unjust Dealings, and content themselves with a lawful Gain! But if we mount a Step higher, and take a View of thofe Places, where Justice ought to reign, and Innocence find a fecure Sanctuary; here we fhall fee Crimes

of

of a blacker Die: The Laws perverted, Innocence opprefs'd, Juftice fold, and Cli ents ruined instead of finding Relief.

However, Chriftianity would not groan under fo general a Defolation, if it found but a Protection amongst the Nobility and Gentry; who would doubtlefs be its principal Ornament and Support, if they had a Senfe of Gratitude for the temporal Advantages they have received from God. But it is from thefe, that Chriftianity has received its moft mortal Wound. 'Tis amongst these Vice appears barefaced, and without Restraint. Religion, which has fome Respect paid it amongst the vulgar Sort, is by Men of Quality treated with Contempt: Devotion is a Quality, which many of them are ashamed to own; and Libertinism, which carries Infamy with it in another State, lifts up its Head amongst them, with the fame Affurance as the most unspotted Virtue. Nay, many will rather boast of Crimes, they never committed, if they be but modish, than blush at thofe, they are really guilty of.

This is the unhappy State of Chriftianity in general. The Kingdom of Satan has spread itself over the whole Face of the Earth, and Perfons of all Conditions flock to it: But the Kingdom of God looks like a defart Country, difpeopled, and abandon

ed