This will be contemplated forever, and will be a fource of growing entertainment, and part of the happiness which is included in the Chriftian's hope. The work of redemption by Chrift is fo grand, wonderful and complicated, the effect of infinite power, wifdom and goodness, exercifed in the most aftonishing condefcention, grace and mercy, truth and faithfulness, to infinitely guilty, loft and miferable finners, in a way honourable to a holy, righteous God, his law and government, and fuited to humble and fave finful rebels, and raife them to the highest honour and happiness; and is attended with fuch infinitely great, important, glorious, eternal confequences; that the redeemed must enjoy unpeakably great and increafing happiness in fearching into the wonders of this work, and loving, praising and adoring God and the Redeemer forever.

Every true Chriftian hopes to enjoy all this, and more, which no tongue can utter, or heart conceive; and he fhall actually poffefs it forever. He will stand at the right hand of Chrift at the day of judgment, and enter with all the redeemed into eternal life and happinefs, and enjoy the company and friendship of a most lovely and happy fociety, all fweetly united in love to Chrift and to each other, under the beft advantages to enjoy God, in the affurance of his favour and love, and to be happy in friendship with each other, and make rapid advances in knowledge, holiness and happiness forever. But the theme is endless, and it is time to stop.This is the hope of a Christian !

II. The reafon which Christians have to give for this hope which is in them, or entertained by them, is to be confidered.

This involves two particulars, which are in themselves really diftinct, though implied in each other; and therefore it is proper to confider them feparately. They are thefe: The reason they have to believe and be fure that the Christian fcriptures, the foundation of all their hopes, are a revelation from God, containing infallible truth, without any error, in matters of faith and prac

tice, and therefore to be relied upon with the greatest confidence and safety; and the reason of their hope that they are real Chriftians, and interested in all the bleffings promised in the gofpel to true believers in Chrift.

Firft. The Chriftian, in giving the reason of his hope, muft tell what evidence he has that Christianity is a divine institution, and that the scriptures which contain a revelation of it were written by the inspiration of God.

Here Chriftians are introduced to speak for themfelves, and give the reafon of placing their hope in Chrift and the gofpel. They have the following answer to give to those who afk them.

1. We feel the want of a hope of fome good and happiness which cannot be obtained and enjoyed in this life, and in this world. We find ourfelves poffeffed of thofe mental capacities and defires which cannot be filled and satisfied with the enjoyment of any or all the things of this world, the objects of time and sense. We know we have a capacity of enjoying a higher and better good than this world affords, and a good which is unfading, and will laft to be enjoyed without any end; and we feel strong defires, which we cannot fupprefs, of exifting forever, in the enjoyment of objects which will render us completely happy. This has excited us diligently to fearch and inquire whether and where any ground and good reafon can be found for a hope of enjoying the good and happiness which is anfwerable to our capacity and defires.

2. If the Bible be excluded, upon the moft diligent and extenfive fearch we have been able to make, no fufficient reafon has been found, or can be given, for a hope of a good adequate to the capacity and defires of man. The heathen who have not enjoyed the Bible, even the wifeft among them, have not difcovered any certainty of a future ftate. And all their conjectures about it, and ideas of happiness to be enjoyed after death if there be a future ftate, are fo vague, uncertain and abfurd, that they can give no fatisfaction to a rational mind, but tend to the contrary. They have obtained

no

no true notions of the character of the true God; fo far from it, that they represent their gods in a ridiculous and fhameful light, and as practifing horrible vices. None of them, even their greatest philofophers, have been able to find out what true happiness is. They are indeed, and always have been, without the true God, and without a reasonable hope in the world..

And this is true of the Mahometans. They profess indeed to believe in one God, which Mahomet taught them with a number of other things, who learned them from the Bible, with which he was in fome measure acquainted; but they have no correct, confiftent notions of the divine character, especially of his moral character. They do not know of any reafonable way for finners to obtain pardon of their fins, and the favour of God; and confequently cannot have any reafonable hope of this. The moft ignorant and vicious men among them have a promife of their prophet that they fhall go directly to heaven, if they die fighting for his caufe and their religion, or if they perform certain prefcribed actions and ceremonies. And the heaven they hope for they think confifts, not in holiness and in the enjoyment of the true God, and the mental happiness implied in this, but in thofe fenfual delights and gratifications, more fuited for beafts than men; which are the objects of averfion and abhorrence, and not of hope, to a good and pure mind.

The Infidels, Deifts and Atheists who live in that part of the world called Chriftian are really without hope. The latter are profeffedly fo: they have no belief of a future ftate, and have no hope of any good which they cannot enjoy in this life, which to every difcerning mind is nothing but vanity and vexation of fpirit. Thefe choose to view and place themselves in fuch a low ftate of existence that they have no pre-eminence above the beafts, except that they are capable of fuffering more pain and mifery than the brute, creation.

As to the Deifts, they profefs to believe there is a God; but do not appear to worship him, or derive any enjoyment from their belief. Many of them, with

Atheifts,

Atheists, do not believe there is any future ftate; but fay they expect to die as the beasts, and have no further exiftence. Others of them confider it as a matter of uncertainty whether they fhall exift in a future ftate or not; and they who profefs to believe they fhall exift after death, can give no fatisfactory account of the happinefs they fhall enjoy, nor any reafon of their hope of happiness in the forgiveness of their fins and the favour of God, whom they have offended. For reafon, on which they depend, affords no evidence that God will forgive them; but rather that they muft fall under his difpleasure, and be miferable forever. They can have no hope from the god they profefs to believe exifts. Having renounced the God revealed in the Bible, they are wholly at a lofs about the character of their god. Some of them afcribe no moral character to him; and they who do, cannot agree in what it is; and none of them can tell whether, or how far, men have any concern in it, fo as to have any influence on their conduct or happiness. So that they are all without any reafonable hope, having renounced the true God..

Therefore, if the Christian hope be not founded upon reason and truth, but must be given up as fabulous and mere delufion, we are left without hope, and we must fink into the moft gloomy darkness and defpair. But,

3. We find in the Bible an exhibition of that good which is fuited to make us completely and forever happy, containing all that we can defire or hope for. It reveals a moft agreeable and wife way for the pardon of finners, and their reconciliation with God, and to enjoy his favour as much, and to an higher degree, and be much more happy, than if they had never finned. It contains repeated and abundant promifes of deliverance from all evil, and the everlafting enjoyment of the beft and higheft good of which we are or ever fhall be capable. All this is offered and beftowed as a free gift on every one who is willing to receive it, and afketh for it. We will not enter into more particulars here in defcription of this hope. They have been reprefented in the former

C

former part of this difcourfe, and will of course come into view under the next head.. We will only observe here, that the infinite good comprehended in the redemption of finners, which is the fubject of the revelation in the Bible, is the only proper and complete object of hope that can be conceived of or imagined by a reafonable and good mind, if it be true, and there is evidence that it is indeed a revelation which is given to men from God. Which leads us to fay,

4. There is clear, moft fatisfactory and abundant evidence, fully answerable to the nature and importance of the fubject, that the Bible is true, and contains a revelation from God.

But before we enter upon the fhort and fummary detail of this evidence which we propofe to give, the following things will be mentioned.

Though the evidence of the truth of divine revelation is fufficient to convince the underftanding and judgment of those who will feriously attend to the fubject, though they have bad hearts, and do not really love the truths it contains; yet they cannot have that fatisfactory affurance that it is from God, and indeed a divine revelation, which thofe of upright and good hearts have, though their understandings and mental powers be not fo bright and ftrong as thofe of others whofe hearts are *not good.

It may also be obferved, that truths and objects of a moral and fpiritual nature may be the objects of as great certainty, yea greater, than thofe objects and things whofe existence is known only by our bodily fenfes; fo that a man of an honest and good heart, and right taste and difcerning, would doubt of the truth of the latter, rather than of the former, if one must be doubted of and given up as not true.

We would further obferve here, that if it were poffible that the Chriftian hope is a mere delufion, which we know is not true, and is impoffible; yet we fhould lofe nothing by entertaining it. We fhail in the ifiue be as well off as thofe who have no hope. if we should ceafe

to