How

Master of the House hath shut to the Door. ever, tho' these are excluded, (and very justly,) our Lord declares that others shall come from all Quarters of the World, from the East and from the West, and from the North, and from the South, and shall sit down in the Kingdom of God: ver. 29. Our Lord had given the same Admonition in his Sermon on the Mount, Matt. vii. 13, 14. inforced, as some may think, with a plainer and more full Declaration, that Few, in comparison, will be finally saved. Enter ye in at the strait Gate; for wide is the Gate, and broad is the Way that leadeth to Destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: Because strait is the Gate, and narrow is the Way which leadeth unto Life, and few there be that find it. Here indeed seems to be an express Declaration, that Few only find the narrow Way that leadeth unto Life, while many go in the broad one that leadeth to Destruction: And if these Words refer to the final Determination at the Day of Judgment, with regard to all Mankind, the Dispute as to this Point is fairly at an end. But they appear plainly to be only a Declaration of what was the State of the World, and the Practice of Mankind, in our Saviour's own time. It was not usual with Him, nor agreeable to his Manner of Instruction, to meddle with Points of so curious and high a nature as the former; and decide, as it were, the Fate of the Christian World, before it was born. And if He would give no direct Answer to the Querist in St. Luke, is it likely, that here, in his publick Doctrine, he would tell all that heard him, that far the greatest Part of those who should hereafter believe in him, would finally be damned? But He might properly enough take notice of a Matter of Fact, the Wickedness and Infidelity of the Jews at that time. He was

himself the Door and the Way that led to Life, and few of the Jews went in thereat, or found it. One great Reason of this is intimated in the very next Verse, Beware of false Prophets, which come to you, &c. Of these our Lord says, ver. 20. By their Fruits ye shall know them. That is, as I understand it, not so much by their bad Lives, (for possibly they might make a very specious Appearance in their Sheep's Cloathing), as by the immoral Tendency, the natural pernicious Consequences and Effects, of their Principles and Doctrines. Thus, for instance, if they taught that Men might be saved without Virtue and Holiness, upon the account of their being of this or that Sect or Party, of this or the other Profession of Religion, the Posterity of such a Patriarch, or the Followers of such a Prophet; the natural Consequence of this being destructive of the Practice of Virtue and true Religion, would make it evident that, whatever they appeared to be, they were in reality false Prophets. Thus therefore our Lord goes on, ver. 21. Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the Kingdom of Heaven: No external Profession, no Relation to Christ, the Son of God, himself, will avail any thing, without doing the Will of his Father which is in Heaven. Then follows, ver. 22. a Key to the whole; Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy Name? And in thy Name have cast out Devils? And in thy Name done many wonderful Works? The Plea is more frivolous in St. Luke, but proceeds upon the same Bottom ;- We have eaten and drunk in thy Presence, and thou hast taught in our Streets: Ch. xiii. ver. 26. From which it is plain, that in both places, our Lord had in his eye the Case of that Age; and has determined nothing about the Question, whether

Few, out of the whole Christian World, will be saved at the last Day.

And if he has not determin'd it here, I am not aware that either He or his Apostles have done it, in any other Passage of the New Testament. There is a most magnificent Description, Apoc. vii. of the Number of the Blessed; where after the sealing of the hundred and forty and four thousand, out of the Tribes of Israel; the Apostle adds, ver. 9. After this, I beheld, and lo, a great Multitude, which no Man could number, of all Nations, and Kindreds, and People, and Tongues, stood before the Throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white Robes, and Palms in their hands; and cried with a loud Voice, saying, Salvation to our God which sitteth upon the Throne, and unto the Lamb. The Letter-Writer above never thought, I presume, of this Passage, when he every where represents those that shall be saved, as a Handful of Men, a small Number of the Elect. As Scripture gives us no warrant for such a Conclusion, so neither does Reason or Experience. One half of our Species die, perhaps, before they have actually committed any Sin to deserve the Damnation of Hell; and therefore by the Mercy of God, and the Merits of his Son, it may be reasonably hoped that they will escape it. And as to the rest, whoever thus damns the Majority, must say that the far greater Number of the Christian World, in all Ages of it, lived and died impenitently wicked: A Point, which I find myself in no disposition at present, either to confute, or believe.

These are some of the Misrepresentations of our Doctrine, on which Prejudices are raised, and Objec

tions formed against it. Another thing always mention'd on this Subject is the Shortness of Human Life; the Sins of which can bear no proportion to Punishments of endless Duration.1 Now, suppose human Life as long as it was in the Beginning, almost a thousand Years; the Plea of Disproportion would still subsist; for even a thousand Years bear no proportion to the Days of Eternity. And yet I suppose a moral Agent in a State of Probation, may behave in such a manner, in much less time than that, as to affect his whole future Existence. He may forfeit, irretrievably, that State of Happiness, to which

1 See this Objection largely consider'd in Archbishop Dawes's Seventh Sermon, p. 232—40.

I hardly know where the Stress of this Objection is laid: Whether on the Shortness of the present Term of Life, or on this, that no temporary Sins, of whatsoever Duration, ought to be punish'd with eternal Torments. But take both; as thusIt is unjust and cruel to punish temporary Sins with eternal Misery, and it is more unjust, and more cruel so to punish the Sins of our short Life: Still, I say, if the Considerations offer'd above be true, the Objection is fully answer'd by them. It was best upon the whole, that is, greater Good was produced by it, that God should establish the present System, or Constitution of Things, than the contrary. Agreeably to this Constitution, such certain Consequences will follow such a Course of Behaviour. Men knew this; they were forewarned of it; nay, they were intreated, invited, pressed by all sorts of Motives, to take another course. Still they persist, and die in their Sins. Death does not convert them, nor change their Wills; they continue the same evil Beings; and tho' the Acts of Corruption (I use the Terms of a Distinction made use of by the Letter-Writer,) may be restrain'd in them, yet the Source of it, or Corruption itself, still remains. This is one natural Source of their eternal Misery And in this sense, their Sin is as eternal as their Punishment; that by refusing to repent during their Probation, while they had liberty and power to do so, they have brought themselves into a State, where Repentance is hid from their Eyes.

another Course of Behaviour would have entitled him ; and he must take the Consequences of that other State, which he has fitted himself for, and into which he departs by a sort of natural Congruity. Here then some of the Principles we laid down, in the former Part of this Chapter, come into play. If a Character be form'd incurably evil, where is the difference whether it was done in a little, or a long, time? If it be said, that if he had lived longer, he might have repented; it is as easily answer'd, that this is arguing in the dark. And we have, at least, as much reason to say, that it was an Act of Mercy to take him away soon, that he might not treasure up to himself a greater Degree of Misery. But I conceive. these things are rather above our Sphere, and that human Ignorance is Answer enough to any Objections, which proceed only upon Difficulties of this kind. We know, in general, that when the Term of Life was longer, Men were far from being the better for it; and that the Shortness, as well as Uncertainty of Life, is an Argument to lead Men to Repentance. But that all Futurity should depend upon this short Life, our Adversaries tell us, is the hardship. And yet they are at a loss to tell us how it should be otherwise. Those of them who are for retrieving Matters in the intermediate State, are confuted by others, who shew that that State is not calculated for the Practice of Virtue or Vice, so as that they may change the Habits of the one, or the other, with which they left this World. Besides, it is contrary to the Scripture ; which always makes the Sentence at the last Day turn upon Men's Conduct here, and the Actions which they did in the Body1 And they who are for Amendment in Hell, are likewise contradicted by their

1 See Burnet de Statu Mort. Cap. iv. omnino.