Religion our true interest, or, Practical notes upon the third chapter of Malachi the…Religion our true interest, or, Practical notes upon the third chapter of Malachy the…

TO THE READER.

Christian Reader,

BOOKS are the Children of the Brain. In this Writing Age^* (ferè ad nauseam) I intended my Pen should have been silent, but the variety and Weightiness of this Subject, as also the desire ⟨image 3⟩of some Friends did prevail with me to Publish it. The main design of this excellent Scripture, is to encourage Solid Piety, and confute the Atheists of the World, who imagine there is no gain in Godliness. It was the Speech of King Saul to his Servants, 1 Sam. 22.7. Will the Son of Jesse give every one of you Fields and Vineyards? Will the World or mens Lusts give them such noble Recompenses of Reward, as God bestows upon his Followers? Surely, it is Holiness carries away the Garland. As for this Treatise, it comes abroad in a ⟨image 3⟩plain dress: Truth like a Diamond Shines brightest in its native Lustre; Saint Paul came not to the Corinthians [Greek or Hebrew], with excellency of Speech^*, or the Pride of Oratory^†; His Study was not to Court, but Convert. It is an unhappiness that in these Luxuriant times, Religion should for the most part run either into Notion or Ceremony; The Spirits of Religion are evaporated. When Knowledge is turned into Taste, and digested into Practice, then it is Saving. That God would accompany these few impolite Lines, with the Operation