(all which Expreffions are but a larger Defcription of a Chriftian, or a regenerate Perfon, or, as our Text phrafeth it, of one that hath received the Knowledge of the Truth) if fuch as thefe (faith he) hall fall arway, it is impoffible to renew them to Repentance, feeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to open Shame. The falling away here, is certainly the fame thing with finning wilfully in my Text; that is to fay, a wilful Departure from Chriftianity. Now of thofe that do thus apoftatize, St. Paul affirms, that it is impoffible to renew them to Repentance. He certainly doth not mean an abfolute Impoffibility, but a moral one; in the fame Sense that our Saviour faith, That it is impossible for a rich Man to enter into the Kingdom of Heaven; that is, as another Evangelift explains it, It is hard for a rich Man, &c. In the fame Sense that it is affirmed to be impoffible for them to do Good, that have accustomed themselves to do Evil; that is to fay, it is extremely difficult; it is not a Thing that either ordinarily happens, or can be easily effected. It is true, God may, by an extraordinary Providence, pluck fuch an Apoftate out of the Fire; refcue him by a strong Hand from that defperate Vaffalage to the Devil, in which he is held; but he hath nowhere promised that he will: nay, he hath threatened that he will not. However, of all Men living, it is the least to be hoped

of

of fuch a Perfon, that God will fhew fuch extraordinary Mercy to him, fince he hath wilfully put himself out of that State of Salvation, which God, by Christ, had brought him into; and not only fo, but hath abandoned and renounced all the Means by which only he can be recovered.

Thus have I given you a large, and, I hope, a plain Account of this difficult Text: And, you fee, there is nothing in it that needs to create any Trouble or Affrightment to any well-difpofed People among us, however they may have been guilty of many wilful Sins fince their Baptifm, or fince their comeing to the Knowledge of the Truth. Nay, you fee, there is nothing in it that should make the greatest Sinner among us to despair of God's Mercy, if they have but the Heart to repent; for there is nothing in this Text from whence it can be concluded that any Sin is unpardonable, or that any Course of wilful Sin is above the Mercies of the Covenant of Grace, provided the Sinner do truly repent. Nay, neither is there any thing in this Text to difcourage the Hopes of any Man's Repentance, how great a Sinner fo ever he hath been, fo long as he continue in the Profeffion of Chriftianity. All this, I think, is very plain, from what I have difcourfed upon this Text.

But then I must add further, and which I defire all among us would feriously confider it appears, by this Text, that the Cafe is very.

different

different as to thofe Perfons that have once profeffed Chriftianity, and afterwards depart from it, Tho' there may be Hopes of a Man's Repentance, let him have been never fo bad a Liver, fo long as he continues in the Communion of the Chriftian Church, and adheres to the Religion of Chrift; yet there is very little Hope of a Man that hath once given up his Name to Jefus, and afterwards proves a Deferter; departs from the Faith, and turns Atheist, or Deift, or, in any other fort, renounceth that Chriftianity he was baptized into: I fay, there is very little Hope of fuch a Man; because he doth properly, and, in the Apoftle's Senfe, trample under foot the Son of God, and count the Blood of the Covenant, wherewith he was fanctified, an unholy Thing. It Infinitely therefore concerns every one among us, to hold the Profeffion of their Faith without wavering; and tho' they do not live fo holy and fo pure Lives as they fhould, and as they must do, if ever they go to Heaven, yet, at least, to continue in the Profeffion of the Chriftian Religion, and to frequent the Ordinances of Jefus Chrift; because, so long as they fo do, they have the Advantage of the Means of Salvation, and thofe Means may at last prove effectual to their Converfion: Whereas, if they defert the Christian' Inftitution, and go over to Heathenifm, (as Deifm is but another Name for that) there remains no more Sacrifice for their Sins, but

a cer

a certain fearful Expectation of Judgment and fiery Indignation, to confume them, and all fuch contumacious Sinners as they

are :

From which, God Almighty of his Mercy deliver us, for the Jake, &c.

208

SERMON X

1 Epift. of St. JOHN V. 16. If any Man fee his Brother fin a Sin which is not unto Death, he shall afk, and he Shall give him Life for them that fin not unto Death. There is a Sin unto Death; I do not say that he shall pray for it.

HERE are three Texts (as I

told you the laft Time) in the New Teftament, relating to the fame Argument; which, as they have given much Trouble to Interpreters in the expounding of them, fo have they often occafioned many Fears and Perplexities in the Confciences of timorous, melancholy Perfons, by the Application they make of them.

The First is that in the xth of the Hebrews, where the Apostle afferts, That to those that fin wilfully, after they have received the Knowledge of the Truth, there remains no more Sacrifice for Sin, but a fearful Expectation of Judgment, and fiery Indignation, to devour them: And of this I discoursed the last Time.

The