SERM. being lefs incumber'd, and proceeding with

I.

greater expedition in the christian race; and that I may the better fecure to myself the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jefus.

Secondly, I come now to vindicate this precept of felf-denial, from any juft imputation of severity; and shew the reasonableness of it. This precept of christianity has been objected against by men who attend more to the found than the meaning of words, and are ready to lay hold on the first flender appearances of an argument against religion, without examining them thoroughly. They alledge, 'tis unnatural to require that men should deny themfelves; that is, fubdue, renounce, and mortify the defires and paffions which God has planted in their hearts, to no purpose, unless to make them uneafy, if they are not to be gratified. Such reasoning will have very little weight with ferious attentive minds: for the weakness of it presently appears when we look into the conftitution of our nature itself. Who does not feel interfering tendencies in his own heart; defires at once to different objects, defires, which cannot be gratified at once, but one neceffarily must yield to another? What then shall we take upon us to cenfure the work of God our maker, as an inconfiftent self-contradictory

fyftem

fyftem? fhall we fay to him that formed us, SERM. why haft thou made me thus, with inclinations I. not to be fatisfied; particularly, with defires of fenfual and worldly enjoyment; with defires of revenge, or rather of self-defence, perverted by our own fault into revenge; and at the same time with affections of a quite different tendency, and with confcience, which remonftrates against the gratifying of our lower defires in many inftances, and torments us if we do not restrain them? what then? where is the inconsistency in all this? I hope the variety which appears in our constitution, is no argu ment against the wisdom and goodness of the author, fince there is provifion made for order and harmony, and for a high, a rational happiness to be obtain'd by us, if we will preserve that fubordination in the exercise of our powers and affections, which the frame of nature itself clearly points to. But I need not carry the argument fo far, my present fubject does not require a defence of the foundations of natural religion and morality, it is enough to reft the defence of christianity, that part of it I am now confidering upon them. Let us then take the conftitution of human nature, as in fact we find it to be; and, I think, every confiderate person will be convinced, that according to it, we cannot be happy, but in the practice of virtue, VOL. I.

C

and

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SERM.and that we cannot practise virtue without selfdenial. Now fhall we find fault with the author of our religion for requiring us to do what our own reafon requires, and without which we cannot have peace in our own minds, nor any hopes of a future felicity?

Again, if we confider the life of man, as it now is within the limits of the present state, abstracting from the confideration of religious virtue, and of a future condition of being, we fhall find that self-denial is neceffary to our obtaining the ends of it; and that this is a precept of prudence as well as chriftianity. Man in his prefent ftate, which to every one who confiders it attentively will appear to be a state of probation and difcipline, may be confidered in two different capacities, the natural and the religious; between which there is a remarkable analogy: both are under the government of divine providence; both terminate in such happiness as we are capable of, but of different kinds; the one aims at, and has its complete end in our highest felicity, which confifts in the perfection of virtue and righte oufnefs; the other, the natural capacity, purfues the greatest eafe, profperity, or enjoyment, which in the whole can be attained here: the attaining of thefe different ends in a great meafure, depends upon ourselves. As virtue is im

proveable

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proveable, and by degrees grows up to per- SERM. fection by our own diligence; fo every one fees in the fruition of life, our intereft is carried on, and our temporal happiness advanced by the proper exercife of our own powers, and the prudent diligent use of such means as providence puts into our hands. Both are obstructed by the fame means, and both promoted by the fame means. The great impediments to our interefts in this world, I mean the regular and fuccefsful profecution of them, are appetites and paffions, efpecially when confirmed by habits. Who is the man that enjoys life, easily attains to a comfortable worldly eftate, and to a high reputation? not furely the glutton, the drunkard, the fluggard, the proud, the revengeful and the cruel; or that any other way gives an unbounded liberty to his lufts and his paffions; but, on the contrary, he that is mafter of himself, that can thwart his humours, bridle his inclinations and deny his ease, or other fenfual gratifications; and the fame are the means of advancing to moral perfection. We fee then that God, as the master of our lives and worldly eftates, the guardian of our prefent condition of being, has taught us to deny ourfelves; and that by the fame kind of difcipline which is neceffary to our being wife in our prefent generation, we

SERM. are inured to, and prepared for the beft and and moft important wifdom, even that which is unto falvation.

I.

Let us confider how great, how noble the ends of virtue, of moral perfection and the future happiness, are above those of the present life; and if wisdom requires our denying our appetites and paffions for the latter, fhall we complain of it as a hardship to fubmit to the fame felf-denial for the other? Is he juftly counted a fool with refpect to his concerns in this world, who will not curb his appetite of thirst to prevent or cure a dropfy; who will facrifice a reasonable profpect of lawful gain to floth and laziness; or who to gratify a little peevish refentment will throw himfelf out of the way of rifing to an honourable station in his country? and what shall we think of the 'man, who will wilfully indulge himself in thefe or fuch like paffions, at the expence his integrity, the inward peace of his mind, and his hopes of heaven?

of

Thus you fee, that this precept, fo far from being an unreasonable impofition on the liberties of mankind, is excellently accommodated 'to the conftitution and the state of human nature, nay, and abfolutely neceffary to the attaining its true ends. But our Saviour has made it a part of his religion, and he has en

forc'd