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SERM." heed to the things which we have heard, left at 66 any time we should fall away:" and chap. iii. 12. it is called "an evil heart of unbelief to apoftatize "from the living God." "Take heed, brethren, left "there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief to 66 depart from the living GOD;" that is, to fall from the worship of the true GOD to idolatry. And chap. X. 23. "Let us hold faft the profeffion of our faith "without wavering, not forfaking the affembling of

ourfelves together:" that is, not declining the af femblies of chriftians for fear of perfecution: and ver. 26. it is called "a finning wilfully, after we "have received the knowledge of the truth;" and ver, 29. "a drawing back to perdition." And chap. xii. it is call'd by way of eminency, "the fin "which fo eafily befets;" the fin which in those times of perfecution, they were fo liable to.

"We

And I doubt not but this is the fin which St. John fpeaks of, and calls, "the fin upto death," and does not require christians "to pray for those who fall into "it," with any affurance that it fhall be forgiven; 1 John v. 16. "There is a fin unto death; I do not say that he shall pray for it. All unrighteousness "is fin, and there is a fin not unto death." "know that whofoever is born of GOD, finneth not;" that is, does not fall into the fin of apoftafy from christianity to that of the heathen idolatry: "but "he that is begotten of GoD keepeth himself, and "that wicked one toucheth him not;" and then ver. 21. he adds this caution, " little children, keep "yourselves from idols." Which fufficiently fhews what that fin was which he was speaking of before.

So that this being the fin which the apostle defign'd to caution men against throughout this epistle, it is

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very evident what " falling away" it is he here S ER M. speaks of, namely, a total apoftafy from chriftianity, and more efpecially to the heathen idolatry.

5thly, We will confider the reafon of the difficulty of recovering fuch perfons by repentance. "If “they fall away, it is extremely difficult to renew "them again to repentance;" and that for these three reasons:

1. Because of the greatness and heinousness of the fin. 2. Because it renounceth, and cafteth off the means of recovery,

3. Because it is fo high a provocation of GOD to withdraw his grace from fuch perfons.

1. Because of the greatness and heinousness of the fin, both in the nature and circumstances of it. It is downright apoftafy from GoD, a direct renouncing of him, and rejecting of his truth, after men have owned it, and been inwardly perfuaded and convinced of it; and fo the apostle expreffeth it in this epiftle, calling it " an apoftafy from the living "GOD, a finning wilfully after we have received "the knowledge of the truth." It hath all the aggravations that a crime is capable of, being against the cleareft light and knowledge, and the fulleft conviction of a man's mind, concerning the truth and goodness of that religion which he renounceth; against the greatest obligations laid upon him by the grace and mercy of the gofpel; after the free pardon of fins, and the grace and affiftance of GOD'S SPIRIT received, and a miraculous power conferr'd for a witness and teftimony to themselves, of the undoubted truth of that religion which they have embraced. It is the higheft affront to the Son of GOD, who revealed this religion to the world, and

fealed

SER M. fealed it with his blood; and, in effect, an expreffion

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of as high malice to the author of this religion, as the Jews were guilty of when they put him to fo cruel and fhameful a death.

Now a fin of this heinous nature is apt naturally either to plunge men into hardness and impenitency, or to drive them to defpair; and either of these conditions are effectual bars to their recovery. And both thefe dangers the apostle warns men of in this epistle. Chap. iii. 12, 13. "Take heed, brethren, left there "be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, to apoftatize from the living GoD: but exhort one "another daily, whilst it is called to day, lest any "of you be hardned through the deceitfulness "of fin." Or elfe the reflexion upon fo horrid a crime is apt to drive a man to despair; as it did Judas, who after he had betray'd the Son of GOD, could find no ease but by making away with himself; the guilt of fo great a fin filled him with fuch terrors, that he was glad to fly to death for refuge, and to lay violent hands upon himself. And this likewife was the cafe of Spira, whofe apoftafy, though it was not total from the chriftian religion, but only from the purity and reformation of it, brought him to that defperation of mind which was a kind of hell upon earth. And of this danger likewise the apoftle admonisheth, chap. xii. 15. "Looking dili “gently, left any man fail of the grace of GoD

66

(or as it is in our margin, left any man fall from "the grace of GoD) left any root of bitterness "fpringing up trouble you ;" and then he com⚫pares the cafe of fuch perfons to Efau, who, when he had renounced his birthright, to which the blef fing was annexed, was afterwards, when he would

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have inherited the bleffing, rejected, and "found SER M. no place of repentance, though he fought it care

fully with tears.'

2dly, Those who are guilty of this fin, do renounce and caft off the means of their recovery; and therefore it becomes extremely difficult "to renew them "again to repentance." They reject the gospel,

which affords the beft arguments and means to repentance, and renounce the only way of pardon and forgiveness. And certainly that man is in a very fad and desperate condition, the very nature of whose disease is to reject the remedy that should cure him And this the apoftle tells us, was the condition of those who apoftatized from the gospel, chap. x. 26, 27. For if we fin wilfully after we have received "the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no

σε

66

more facrifice for fin; but a certain fearful looking "for of judgment, and fiery indignation, which "fhall devour the adverfary." The great facrificè and propitiation for fin was "the Son of God;" and they who renounce him, what way of expiation can they hope for afterward? what can they expect but to fall into his hands as a judge, whom they have rejected as a facrifice and a SAVIOUR? And then,

3dly, Those who are guilty of this fin, provoke GOD in the highest manner to withdraw his grace and HOLY SPIRIT from them, by the power and efficacy whereof they should be brought to repentance; fo that it can hardly otherwise be expected, but that GOD fhould leave thofe to themfelves, whờ have fo unworthily forfaken him; and wholly withdraw his grace and SPIRIT from fuch perfons as have so notoriously" offered defpite to the SPIRIT "of grace."

VOL. VII.

I do

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SERM. I do not fay that GOD always does this, he is fometimes better to fuch perfons than they have deferved from him, and faves thole who have done what they can to undo themselves, and mercifully puts forth his hand to recover them who were "drawing "back to perdition;" efpecially if they were fuddenly furprized by the violence of temptation, and yielded to it not deliberately and out of choice, but merely through weaknefs and infirmity, and fo foon as they reflected upon themselves, did return and repent: this was the cafe of St. Peter, who being furprized with a fudden fear denied CHRIST; but being admonifh'd of his fin by the fignal which Our SAVIOUR had given him, he was recovered by a fpeedy and hearty repentance. And fo likewife feveral of the primitive 'chriftians, who were at first overcome by fear to renounce their religion, did afterwards recover themfelves, and dy'd refolute martyrs: but it is a very dangerous ftate, out of which but few recover, and with great difficulty.

And thus I have done with the five things I propounded to make out, for the clearing of this text from the miftakes and mifapprehenfions which have been about it. I fhall now draw fome ufeful inferences from hence by way of application, that we may fee how far this doth concern ourselves; and they fhall be these:

ift, From the fuppofition here in the text, that fuch perfons as are there described (namely, those who have been baptized, and by baptifm have received remiffion of fins, and did firmly believe the gospel, and the promises of it, and were endowed with miraculous gifts of the HOLY GHOST) that these may fall away; this fhould caution us all against

confidence