SERM. blessed refurrection; which the more firmly any man believes, the more active and industrious will he be in the work and service of GOD.

LXIV.

And that our faith may have a constant and powerful influence upon our lives, we should frequently revolve in our minds the thoughts of another world, and of that vast eternity which we shall shortly launch into. The great disadvantage of the arguments fetcht from another world, is this, that these things are at a distance from us, and not sensible to us, and therefore we are not apt to be so affected with them: prefent and sensible things weigh down all other confiderations. And therefore to balance this disadvantage; we should often have these thoughts in our minds, and inculcate upon ourselves the certainty of these things, and the infinite concernment of them; we should reason thus with ourselves; if these things be true, and will certainly be, why should they not be to me, as if they were actually present? Why should not I always live, as if heaven were open to my view, and "I saw JESUS standing at the right " hand of God," with crowns of glory in his hands, ready to be fet upon the heads of all those who continue faithful and obedient to him? And why should I not be as much afraid to commit any fin, as if "hell

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were naked before me," and I saw the astonishing miferies of the damned?

Thus we should, by frequent meditation, represent these great things to ourselves, and bring them nearer to our minds, and oppose to the present temptations of sense the great and endless happiness and mifery of the other world. And if we would but thus exercise ourselves about "the things which are not seen," and make eternity familiar to ourselves, by a frequent meditation of it, we should be very little moved with present present and sensible things; we should walk and live by faith, as the men of the world do by sense, and be more ferious and earnest in the pursuit of our great and everlasting interest, than they are in the pursuit of sensual enjoyments, and should make it the great business of this present and temporal life, to secure a future and eternal happiness.

SERMON LXV.

The Danger of Apostasy from the true
Religion.

:

ΗΕΒ. Χ. 38.

But if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure

T

in him.

HE great defign of this epistle, (whoever was SERM. the author of it, which I shall not now en- LXV.

quire into) is plainly this, to confirm the Jews, who were but newly converted to chriftianity, in the stedfast profession of that faith, which they had embraced, and to arm them against that temptation, which Christians were then exposed to, viz. the fierce and cruel persecutions, which threatened those of that profeffion.

And to this purpose, he represents to them the excellency of that religion, above any other former revelation

The danger of apoftacy SERM. velation that God hath made of himself to the world'; LXV. both in respect of the author and revealer of it, who was the Son of God, and in refpect of the revelation itself; which, as it contains better, and more perfect directions for a good life, so likewife more powerful and effectual motives thereto, better promises, and more terrible threatnings, than were annexed to the observation of the Jewish law, or clearly and certainly discoverable by the light of nature. From these confiderations, he earnestly perfuades them, all along throughout this epistle, to continue constant in the profession of this faith, and not to fuffer themselves to be frighted out of it by the terror of persecution; chap. ii. ver. 1. "Therefore we ought to give the " more earnest heed to the things which we have " heard, left at any time we should let them flip;" and chap. iv. 1. "Let us therefore fear, lest a pro" mise being left us, of entering into his rest, any " of you should come short of it;" and verse 23. of this chapter, "Let us hold fast the profession of our " faith, without wavering;" and to encourage them to conftancy, he fets before them the glorious rewards and recompences of the gospel, verse 35. "Cast not away therefore your confidence, την “ παῤῥησίαν ὑμῶν, your free and open profession of " chriftianity, which hath great recompence of re" ward."

And then on the other hand, to deter them from apostasy from this profession, he reprefents to them the horrible danger of it, here in the text, " but if

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any man draw back, my foul shall have no plea"fure in him."

I shall briefly explain the words, and then profecute that which I mainly intended in them. "If any man " draw back,” ἐὰν ὑποςείληται : these words, with

the

fies"

ود

the foregoing, are cited out of the prophet Habak-SERM kuk, chap. ii. ver. 3, 4. and they are cited by the LXV. apostle, according to the tranflation of the LXX. which differs somewhat from the Hebrew; and the difference arifeth from the various readings of the Hebrew word, which is rendered by the LXX,“ to "draw back; " but by the change of a letter fignito be lifted up, as we render it in the prophet; but however that be, the apostle follows the tranflation of the LXX, and accommodates it to his purpose. Ἐὰν ὑποςείληται, if " any man draw "back;" the word fignifies to keep back, to withdraw, to sneak and flink away out of fear, to fail, or faint in any enterprize: and thus this word is render'd in the new teftament, Acts xx. 20. ἐδέν ὑποεσειλάμην, " I did not withhold," or " keep back

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دو

any thing that was profitable for you; " and so it is faid of St. Peter, Gal. ii. 12. ” ὑπέςελλεν ἑαυτῶν, "he flunk away, " or " withdrew himself, fearing "them of the circumcifion; " and the Hebrew word which is here render'd by the LXX. " to draw " back, is render'd elsewhere ἐκλείπειν, which is "to fail" or faint; "from all which it appears, that by " drawing back," the apostle here means, mens quitting their profeffion of christianity, and flinking out of it, for fear of fuffering for it.

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" My foul shall have no pleasure in him:" these words are plainly a μείωσις, and less is said than is | meant; for the meaning is, that God will be extremely difpleased with them, and punish them very feverely. The like figure to this, you have Pfal "Thou art not a God that haft pleasure in " wickedness," which in the next verse is explained, by his hatred and detestation of those who are guilty of it, "thou hatest all the workers of iniquity." So VOL. V. that

V. 4.

H

d

SERM. that the plain sense of the words is this, that apostasy LXV. from the profession of God's true religion, is a thing highly provoking to him, and will be most severely punish'd by him.

In speaking to this argument, I shall confider these four things.

I. The nature of this sin of apostasy from religion.
II. The several steps and degrees of it.

III. The heinousness of it.

IV. The great danger of it, and the terrible punishment it exposeth men to. And when I have spoken to these, I shall conclude all with a short exhortation, "to hold faft the profession of our faith " without wavering."

I. We will consider the nature of this fin of apoftasy from religion; and it consists in forsaking or renouncing the profession of religion, whether it be by an open declaration in words, or a virtual declaration of it by our actions; for it comes all to one in the fight of God, and the different manner of doing it, does not alter the nature of the thing. He indeed that renounceth religion, by an open declaration in words, offers the greatest and boldest defiance to it: but he is likewise an apoftate, who filently withdraws himself from the profession of it, who quits it for his interest, or for fear disowns it, and sneaks out of the profession of it, and forsakes the communion of those who own it. Thus Demas was an apoftate, in quitting christianity for some worldly interest. " Demas hath forsaken us, having loved this pre" fent world, " faith St. Paul, 2 Tim. iv. 10. And those whom our SAVIOUR describes, Matt. xiii. 20, " 21. Who received the word into stony ground, " were apoftates out of fear, "they heard the word,

and