or for having, or not having, right or wrong conceptions of the trinity in unity, the incarnation, hypostatick union, infinite satisfaction, &c. Nor is the divine right of bishops, presbyters, and tithes, once mentioned. Not a word about obedience to spiritual sovereigns, and ecclesiastical princes, or about our receiving the sacraments from a regular priest, descended in a right line from the apostles.

Such a religion as this, which I have described, is agreeable to the divine justice; which does not punish any man for speculative opinions, and especially for opinions, which neither do good nor hurt to any one, and for opinions which no one can help.

This is a religion every way worthy of its eternal author; and we may know by the doctrine, that it comes from God. It is a religion for men of sense, for philosophers, for honest men; and comprehensible too by the meanest vulgar, without a guide; a religion of reason, free from the blind mazes and studied intricacies of popish priests, and beneficial to society at first view. It despises apish gestures, and external buffoonery; and effectually prevents, and puts an end to, all inhuman fierceness, and holy squabbles, ever occasioned by the selfish religions of corrupt priests. It leaves not unhappy men in perpetual doubts and anxieties, nor tosses and tumbles them, for relief, out of one' superstition into another; but esteems them all alike.

In short this is a religion, which every wise and honest man would wish to be religion; a religion of charity, the religion of Jesus; and this is the Independent Whig's religion.

24

T. & G.

THE CRAFTSMEN.

A Sermon or Paraphrase upon several verses in the 19th chapter of the Acts of the Apostles.

I SHA LL not this day, my beloved, as the usual manner is, accost you with the scraps of a verse, or only with a whole verse, out of any part of the gospel; which method is often made use of in such places as this, purely to avoid telling what goes before or comes after; but shall choose for my text the greatest part of the 19th chapter of the Acts: And in discoursing upon this portion of scripture, so fruitful in good instructions and examples, I shall confine myself to the following method.

1. First, I shall make some general observations upon the behaviour of the apostle Paul in his ministry.

11. Secondly, I shall discourse more particularly upon several verses in this chapter: And,

III. Thirdly, and lastly, I shall draw from the whole, some useful and seasonable inferences, and then conclude.

I. I shall make some general observations upon the apostle Paul; and 1st, of all, my brethren, it is note-worthy, that Paul made the greatest change that ever man did, even from a persecutor to an apostle; two characters as opposite as is that of Lucifer to an angel of light. As soon as light from the Lord fell upon him, he no longer breathes threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord, as he had in fore-time, nor puts in execution the orders he had about him from the high-priest, or arch-bishop of the Jews, to bring the first Christians and dissenters of those days, bound to Jerusalem. On the contrary, though he was just before an hard-hearted persecutor for the Church by law established, on a sudden, he becomes a lover of the saints; and now, behold he prayeth! Acts ix. 11.

1st, Let us learn from hence, dearly beloved, as we go along; namely, that as soon as the fear of the Lord entereth into a man's heart, the sword of persecution droppeth out of his hand. Peace, which is the badge of the gospel; and cruelty which is the coat of arms of satan, cannot dwell together. Behold he prayeth!

2dly, It is observable, that when a zealot leaves his party, and turns Christian, how very apt the high party are, ungratefully to forget all his former wicked merit, which made him dear to them; and to persecute him for apostatizing into mercy and grace. While Paul continued the fiery flayl of the godly, the priests held him in high favour, and trusted him with their ecclesiastical commission: And for what? Why, to bring bound to Jerusalem all those of this way: Of what

way? Why all that forsook the established synagogue and followed Christ.

3dly, Observe my bretheren, that conscience and non-conformity had the powers of the world against them seventeen hundred years ago. Paul, the blasphemer, had a post; but Paul the convert, Paul the saint, is allowed no toleration; yea, they watched the gates day and night to kill him; for, behold he prayeth!

4thly, It is observable from the whole history of Paul, that the grace of God makes a man both meek under sufferings, and bold for Christ. Here our convert neither returns the injury, nor slacks his pace in planting the gospel; both hard tasks! He risked his life and laboured in the vineyard without pay; a rare thing in our day! when the first motive for overseeing souls, is so much a year. The apostle drove no bargain about preaching, nor made a market of salvation.

Oh! my beloved, how many dignified drones have we in our time, who set up for a likeness to the apostles, without any likeness; who take great sums for mock apostleship, when nothing thrives by their ministry, but their bellies! This, my friends, is lamentable, but it is lamentably true.

II. I haste now to my second general head, and will discourse particularly upon several verses is this chapter.

I begin with verse the 8th, And he went into the synagogue, and spake boldly for the space of three months, disputing and persuading the things concerning the kingdom of God.

1st, And he went into the synagogue. Observe we here, 1st, my beloved brethren that as great bigots as the Jews were, and as great a dissenter as Paul was, yet they suffered him to preach in their syna gogues, or churches. He had a clear stage, though perhaps not equal favour. Now think ye, my friends, if the same apostle should come among us here in London, at this time, that he would be permitted to preach in bis own church, unless he first qualified himself according to the forms and ceremonies of the church of England by law established? Or would be, trow ye, get any preferment that the black dous could binder him from, in case he persisted to preach what his master preach. ed before him, namely, that Christ's kingdom was not of this world?

2dly, My beloved, we may see bere, the great point of Paul's preaching; he disputed and persuaded the things concerning the kingdom of God. Not a word of his own spiritual dominion, not a word of epis copal sovereigns, who were to descend, as it were, from his loins, and who, without his inspiration or miracles, were to succeed him in what he never had; worldly wealth, worldly grandeur, and worldly power; things which always marr the kingdom of God, instead of promoting it; there being no fellowship between Christ and Belial.

Let us now proceed to the 9th verse, and see what that says; but when divers were hardened, (observe he says, when divers were hardened) and believed not, but spake evil of that way before the multitude, be departed from them, and separated the disciples, disputing daily in the school of one Tyrannus.

The priests, no doubt, who traded in ceremonies, and knew nothing of Jesus Christ, or of inward holiness, were nettled at a new religion which taught men a plain path to heaven, without the incumbrances of

sacrifices, or priests, or fopperies; a religion, that had a professed enmity to all secular gain and all holy trifling.

Marvel not at it, my brethren, a religion without a hierarchy, and godliness without gain, will never please any set of high-priests: Nothing will go down with them but pride and grimace, and the ready penny. Poor Paul had nothing about him of all this, nor did he teach a religion that had. All that he brought, was a. Christ crucified, and salvation in and through him. They therefore spake evil of that way before the multitude; that is, the priests told the people that Paul was ⚫an heretick, and his doctrine was schism: but for themselves, they had antiquity and the fathers on their side, with an orthodox church full of decent types and ceremonies.

There needed no more to prevent the Apostle from doing any good among them: So he departed from them. This was all the punishment he inflicted on them, and this was enough. He who bad the Holy Ghost, could have inflicted death or misery on them; but itwas opposite to the genius of his religion, which allows spiritual pastors to feed their flocks, but not force them, nor to punish them if they refuse to feed. If a man has not a mind to be saved, he has the worst of it himself; and what is it to the priests? as master Selden well remarketh.

This, my brethren, was the primitive ex-communication. If you could work no good upon a man; or if that man worked mischief to you, or gave you scandal; why you would not keep company with him. But to give him to the devil, because he was already going to the devil of himself, is to be a minister of Christ the backward way.Besides, there was no need of it. The Apostle, in my text, neither curses these unbelieving high-churchmen, who hardened themselves against him, nor censures them, nor fines them; all which, he who had the power of miracles could have done, had he liked it. He barely departed from them. And if he did not damn them for the sake of their souls, so neither did he surrender them to beelzebub for the sake of their money. He demanded not a grey groat of them; so far was he from telling them, gentlemen, I am your spiritual prince, pray pay me my revenues. Paul was a witness of the resurrection, a disinterested witness, and claimed no dues; though others since do in his name, without being real witnesses of the resurrection, or disinterested witnesses of the resurrection, or disinterested witnesses of any thing else about it.

Disputing daily in the school of one Tyrannus. Mark here, my beloved, that both schools and synagogues, or churches, were open to him, though he was but a new comer, and a non-conformist. Mark, moreover, that he barely disputed or reasoned. He was a stranger to the doctrine of compulsion. He was an Apostle, by virtue of whose words and power, all clerical acts are pretended to be done ever since and yet he himself did none, satisfying himself with saving souls, by exhortation and the assistance of the spirit, which are not clerical acts. He was the chief pastor upon earth, and held his commission immediately from God; but he imposed nothing but his advice, reason, and good words upon those that beard him. He could have forced them (had the spirit so directed) to have swallowed implicitly all that he said; and either destroyed or distressed all who refused. But the Lord Christ, my brethren, in his dealings with human kind, never uses means that are inhuman.