SERM. he can do. So St. John tells us, 1 ep. v. 10.

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"He that believeth not GOD, hath made him a

liar, because he believeth not the record which "GOD hath given of his Son."

And all along in this epistle to the Hebrews, the apoftle fets himself to aggravate this fin; calling it "an evil heart of unbelief, to depart from the living GOD," chap. iii. 12. And he frequently calls it fo, xaτ'ox, and by way of eminency, as being of all fins the greatest and most heinous, chap. x. 26. "If we fin wilfully, after we have received the know"ledge of the truth." That the apofile here speaks of the fin of apoftafy, is plain from the whole scope of his discourse; for having exhorted them before, ver. 23. "to hold fast the profeffion of their faith without wavering, not forfaking the affembling "of themselves together, " he immediately adds, "for if we fin wilfully; after we have received the "knowledge of the truth;" that is, if we fall off from christianity, after we have embraced it. And chap. xii. 1. "Let us lay afide every weight, and the "fin which fo eafily befets us," that is, the great fin of apoftasy from religion, to which they were then fo ftrongly tempted by that fierce perfecution which attended it; and therefore he adds, "let us "run with patience the race which is fet before us,' that is, let us arm ourselves with patience against the fufferings we are like to meet with in our christian course. To oppofe the truth, and refift the clear evidence of it, is a great fin, and men are justly condemned for it. John iii. 19. "This is the condemna“tion, that light is come into the world, and men "loved darknefs rather than light: " but to defert the truth after we have been convinced of it, to fall off from the profeffion of it, after we have embraced

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it, is a much greater fin. Oppofition to the truth SER Mmay proceed, in a great measure, from ignorance and prejudice, which is a great extenuation; and therefore St. Paul tells us, that after all his violent perfecution of christianity," he found mercy, because he "did it ignorantly and in funbelief.". To revolt from the truth, after we have made profeffion of it, "after we have known the way of righteousness, to "turn from the holy commandment ;" this is the great aggravation. The apostle makes wilfulness, an ufual ingredient into the fin of apoftafy, "if we "fin wilfully, after we have received the knowledge "of the truth."

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And as this fin is one of the greatest affronts to GOD, fo it is the highest and most effectual difparagement of religion: for it is not fo much confidered, what the enemies of religion speak against it, because they speak evil of the things which they "know not," and of which they have had no trial and experience; but he that falls off from religion, after he hath made profeffion of it, declares to the world, that he hath tried it, and dislikes it, and pretends to leave it, because he hath not found that truth and goodness in it which he expected, and upon long experience of it, fees reafon to prefer another religion before it. So that nothing can be more defpiteful to religion than this, and more likely to bring it into contempt; and therefore the apoftle (ver. 29th of this chapter) calls it a "trampling under foot the "Son of GOD, and making the blood of the cove"nant a profane thing, and offering defpite to the "fpirit of grace :" for we cannot put a greater fcorn upon the Son of GOD, who revealed this doctrine to the world; nor upon his blood, which was shed to confirm and feal the truth of it; and upon

the

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SERM. the Holy Ghoft, who came down in miraculous gifts to give testimony to it; than notwithstanding. all this, to renounce this doctrine, and to forfake this religion. But we fhall yet farther fee the heinoufnefs of this fin, in the terrible punishment it exposeth men to; which was the

IV. And laft thing I propofed to confider. And this is represented to us in a moft terrible manner, not only in this epiftle, but in other places of fcripture. This fin is placed in the highest rank of pardonable fins, and next to the fin against the Holy Ghoft, which our SAVIOUR declares to be abfolutely unpardonable. And indeed the fcripture fpeaks very doubtfully of the pardonableness of this fin, as being near akin to that against the Holy Ghoft, being faid to be an "offering despite to the spirit of grace." In the 6th chapter of this epiftle, ver. 4, 5, 6. the apostle speaks in a very fevere manner, concerning the state of those, who had apoftatized from chriftianity, after the folemn profeffion of it in baptism; "it "is impoffible for those who were once enlightned" (that is baptized) "and have tafted of the heavenly gift," (that is regeneration)" and were made par"takers of the Holy Ghoft, and have tafted the

good word of GOD, and the powers of the world to come," (that is, have been inftructed in the christian religion, and endowed with the miraculous powers of the gospel age, for the Jews used to call the age of the Meffias, feculum futurum, or, the world to come)" it is impoffible for those to be "renewed again unto repentance; " where the least we can understand by impoffible, is, that it is extremely difficult; for fo the word impoffible is fometimes used; as when our SAVIOUR fays,

it is impoffible for a rich man to enter into the

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kingdom of heaven." And ch. x. 26. the SERM. ароftle speaking of the fame thing, fays, "if we fin wilfully, after we have received the knowledge of the "truth, there remains no more facrifice for fin ;” that is, they who renounce christianity, fince they reject the only way of expiation, "there remains no "more facrifice for their fins."

St. Peter likewife expreffeth himself very feverely concerning this fort of perfons, 2 epift. ii. 20, 21. "For if after they have escaped the pollutions of the "world, through the knowledge of the LORD and "SAVIOUR JESUS CHRIST," (that is, after they have been brought from heathenifm to christianity) "they are entangled therein again, and overcome; "the latter end is worfe with them than the begin"ing." He feems loth to fay how fad the condition of fuch perfons is; but this he tells them, that it is much worse than when they were heathens before; and he gives the reafon, " for it had been better for "them not to have known the way of righteousness, "than after they have known it, to turn from the "holy commandment delivered unto them." And St. John calls this fin of apoftafy, the "fin unto "death;" and though he do not forbid Chriftians to pray for them that are guilty of it; yet he will not fay, that they fhould pray for them. I epift. v. 16, "If any man fee his brother fin a fin, which is ત not unto death, he shall afk, and he shall give him "life,' for them that fin not unto death; there is a "fin unto death, I do not fay, that he fhall pray for "it. Now that by this "fin unto death," the apoftle means apoftafy from the chriftian religion to idolatry, is most probable from what follows, ver. 18. '66 we know that whofoever is born of GoD finneth not," (that is, this fin unto death)" but he that

"is

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is begotten of God keepeth himself, and the wicked one toucheth him not," (that is, he is preserved from idolatry, unto which the devil had feduced fo great a part of mankind) " and we know that we "are of GOD, and the whole world, v T Toung XXI, is under the dominion of that wicked one,' (viz. the devil, whom the fcripture elsewhere calls "the GoD of this world;) and we know that the "Son of GOD is come, and hath given us an under"ftanding, that we may know him that is true,' (that is, hath brought us from the worship of falfe Gods, to the knowledge and worship of the true GOD;) and then he concludes, "little children, keep 66 your felves from idols;" which caution hath no manner of dependance upon what went before; unlefs we understand " the fin unto death," in this sense; and it is the more probable, that it is fo to be underftood, because apoftafy is so often in this epiftle to the Hebrews, called "the fin," by way of eminency, as it is here by St. John, "whofoever is born of GoD "finneth not."

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So that at the very best, the fcripture speaks doubtfully of the pardon of this fin; however, that the punishment of it, unrepented of, shall be very dreadful. It seems to be mildly exprest here in the text, "If any man draw back, my foul fhall have no "pleasure in him :" But it is the more fevere, for being expreft fo mildly, according to the intention of the figure here used; and therefore in the next words, this expreffion of God's taking no pleasure in fuch perfons, is explained by their utter ruin and perdition; "but we are not of them that draw back unto "perdition." And in feveral parts of this epiftle, there are very fevere paffages to this purpose; ch. ij. "If the word spoken by angels was stedfast,

2, 3.

"and