is faithful that promised I Have already made entrance into these Words which I told you do contain in them I. An Exhortation to hold fast the Profession of our Faith without wavering II. An Argument or Encouragement thereto because he is Faithful that promised If we continue stedfast and faithful to God we shall find him faithful to us in making good all the Promises which he hath made to us whether of Aid and Support or of Recompence and Reward of our Fidelity to him I have begun to handle the First part of the Text viz. The Apoostles Exhortation to Christians to be constant and steady in their Religion Let us hold fast the profession of our Faith without wavering The Word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which we render without wavering signifies inflexible and unmovable not apt to waver and to be shaken with every Wind of contrary Doctrine nor by the Blasts and Storms of Persecution And that we might the better comprehend the full and true meaning of this Exhortation I propounded to do these Two things 1. To shew Negatively wherein this Constancy and Steadiness in the Profession of the true Religion doth not consist And 2. To shew Positively what is implied and intended here by the Apostle in holding fast the Profession of our Faith without wavering 1. To shew Negatively wherein this Constancy and the Steadiness in the Profession of the true Religion doth not consist This I spake to the last Day and shewed at large that there are Two things which are not contained and intended in this Exhortation 1. That Men should not have the Liberty to examine their Religion and to enquire into the Grounds and Reasons of it Such I mean as are capable of this examination and enquiry which some I shewed are not as Children who while they are in that state are only fit to learn and believe what is taught them by their Parents and Teachers And likewise such grown Persons as either by the natural Weakness of their Faculties or by some great Disadvantage of Education are of a very low and mean Capacity and Improvement of Understanding These are to be considered as in the condition of Children and Learners and therefore must of necessity trust and rely upon the Judgment of others 2. This holding fast the Profession of our Faith without wavering does not imply that when Men upon examination and enquiry are settled as they think and verily believe in the true Religion they should obstinately refuse to hear any Reason that can be offer'd againg them Both these Principles I shew'd to be unreasonable and Arguments of a bad Cause and Religion I shall now proceed to explain the meaning of this Exhortation To hold fast the profession of our Faith without wavering by shewing in the Second place what it is that is implied in the constant and steady Profession of the true Faith and Religion namely That when upon due search and examination we are fully satisfied that it is the true Religion which we have embraced or as St. Peter expresses it 1st Epistle 5. 12. That this is the true Grace of God wherein we stand that then we should adhere stedfastly to it and hold it fast and not suffer it to be wrested from us nor our selves to be moved from it by any Pretences or Insinuations or Temptations whatsoever For there is a great deal of difference between the Confidence and Stedfastness of an Ignorant Man who hath never considered Things and enquired into the Grounds of them and the Assurance and Settlement of one who hath been well instructed in his Religion and hath taken pains to search and examine to the bottom the Grounds and Reasons of what he holds and professeth to believe The first is meer Wilfulness and Obstinacy A Man hath entertained and drank in such Principles of Religion by Education or hath taken them up by Chance but he hath no Reason for them and yet however he came by them he is resolved to hold them fast and not to part with them The other is the Resolution and Constancy of a Wise Man He hath embraced his Religion upon good Grounds and he sees no Reason to alter it and therefore is resolved to stick to it and to hold fast the Profession of it stedfastly to the end And to this purpose there are many Exhortations and Cautions scattered up and down the Writings of the holy Apostles as that we should be stedfast and unmoveable established in the Truth rooted and grounded in the Faith and that we should hold fast that which is good and not suffer our selves to be carried to and fro with every wind of Doctrine through the slight of Men and the cunning craftiness of those that lie in wait to deceive that we should not be removed from him that hath called us unto the grace of Christ unto another Gospel that we should stand fast in one Spirit and one Mind striving together for the Faith of the Gospel and be â—n nothing terrifled by our Adversaries and that if occasion be we should contend earnestly for the Faith which was once delivered unto the Saints and here in the Text That we should hold fast the profession of our Faith without wavering For the explaining of this I shall do two Things 1. Consider what it is that we are to hold fast namely the profession of our Faith And 2. How we are to hold it fast or what is implied in holding fast the profession of our Faith without wavering 1. What it is that we are to hold fast namely the profession of our Faith i. e. of the Christian Faith or Religion For I told you before that this Profession or Confession of our Faith or Hope as the word properly signifies is an Allusion to that Profession of Faith which was made by all those who were admitted Members of the Christian Church by Baptism of which the Apostle makes mention immediately before the Text when he says Let us draw near in full assurance of Faith having our hearts sprinkled from an evil Conscience and our bodies washed with pure Water And then it follows Let us hold fast the profession of our Faith without wavering The Profession of Faith which we made in our Baptisms and which by the Ancient Fathers is call'd the Rule of Faith and which is now contain'd in that which we call the Apostles Creed and which is called by St. Paul Rom. 6. 17. the Form of Doctrine which was delivered to them i. e. to all Christians and 2 Tim. 1. 13. the Form of sound Words Hold fast saith he the Form of sound Words which thou hast heard of me in Faith and Love which is in Christ Jesus and by St. Jude The Faith which was once delivered unto the Saints So that it is the first and ancient Faith of the Christian Church delivered to them by Christ and his Apostles which we are here exhorted to hold fast the necessary and fundamental Articles of the Christian Faith
and by consequence all those Truths which have a necessary Connexion with those Articles and are implied in them and by plain Consequence are to be deduced from them It is not the doubtful and uncertain Traditions of Men nor the partial Dictates and Doctrines of any Church since the Primitive Times which are not contained in the Holy Scriptures and the Ancient Creeds of the Christian Church but have been since declared and imposed upon the Christian World though with never so confident a pretence of Antiquity in the Doctrines and of Infallibility in the Proposers of them These are no part of that Faith which we are either to profess or to hold fast because we have no reason to admit the Pretences by virtue whereof those Doctrines or Practices are imposed being able to make it good and having effectually done it that those Doctrines are not of Primitive Antiquity and that the Church which proposeth them hath no more claim to Infallibility than all other Parts of the Christian Church which since the Apostles time is none at all In a word No other Doctrines which are not sufficiently revealed in Scripture either in express Terms or by plain and necessary Consequence nor any Rites of Worship nor Matters of Practice which are not commanded in Scripture are to be esteemed any part of that Faith in Re-Religion the Profession whereof the Apostle here Commands all Christians to hold fast without wavering much less any Doctrines or Practices which are repugnant to the Word of God and to the Faith and Practice of the first Ages of Christianity of which kind I shall have occasion in my following Discourse to instance in several Particulars In the mean time I shall only observe That that Faith and Religion which we profess and which by God's Grace we have ever held fast is that which hath been acknowledg'd by all Christian Churches in all Ages to have been the ancient Catholick and Apostolick Faith and cannot as to any part or tittle of it be denied to be so even by the Church of Rome her self I proceed to the II d Thing which I proposed to consider namely how we are to hold fast the profession of our Faith or what is implied by the Apostle in this Exhortation To hold fast the profession of our Faith without wavering And I think these following Particulars may very well be supposed to be implied in it 1. That we should hold fast the Profession of our Faith against the Confidence of Men without Scripture or Reason to support their Confidence 2. And much more against the Confidence of Men contrary to Scripture and Reason and the common Sense of Mankind 3. Against all the Temptations and Terrours of the World 4. Against all vain Promises of being put into a safer Condition and groundless Hopes of getting to Heaven upon easier terms in another Religion 5. Against all the cunning Arts and Insinuations of busie and disputing Men whose Design it is to unhinge Men from their Religion and to gain Proselytes to their own Party and Faction I shall go over these with as much Clearness and Brevity as I can 1. We should hold fast the Profession of our Faith against the Confidence of Men without Scripture or Reason to support that Confidence All Religion is either Natural or Instituted The Rule of Natural Religion is the common Reason of Mankind The Rule of Instituted Religion is divine Revelation or the Word of God which all Christians before the Council of Trent did agree to be contained in the Holy Scriptures So that nothing can pretend to be Religion but what can be proved to be so One or both of those ways either by Scripture or by Reason or by both And how confident soever Men may be of Opinions destitute of this Proof any Man that understands the Grounds of Religion will without any more ado reject them for want of this proof and notwithstanding any pretended Authority or Infallibility of the Church that imposeth them will have no more Consideration and Regard of them than of the confident Dictates and Assertions of any Enthusiast whatsoever because there is no reason to have regard to any Man's Confidence if the Arguments and Reasons which he brings bear no proportion to it We see in Experience that Confidence is generally ill grounded and is a kind of Passion in the Understanding and is commonly made use of like Fury and Force to supply for the weakness and want of Argument If a Man can prove what he says by good Argument there is no need of Confidence to back and support it We may at any time trust a plain and substantial Reason and leave it to make its own way and to bear out its self But if the man's Reasons and Arguments be not good his Confidence adds nothing of real Force to them in the Opinion of Wise men and tends only to its own Confusion Arguments are like Powder which will carry and do execution according to its true strength and all the rest is but noise And generally none are so much to be suspected of Errour or a Design to deceive as those that pretend most confidently to Inspiration and Infallibility As we see in all sorts of Enthusiasts who pretend to Inspiration although we have nothing but their own word for it for they work no Miracles And all pretence to Inspiration and Infallibility without Miracle whether it be in particular Persons or in whole Churches is Enthusiastical i. e. a Pretence to Inspiration without any Proof of it And therefore St. Paul was not moved by the Boasting and Confidence of the false Apostles because they gave no Proof and Evidence of their Divine Inspiration and Commission as he had done for which he appeals to the Sense of Men Whether he had not wrought great Miracles which the false Apostles had not done though they had the confidence to give out themselves to be Apostles as well as he 2 Cor. 12. 11 12. I am says he become a fool in glorying ye have compelled me And truly the signs of an Apostle were wrought among you in all patience in signs and wonders and mighty deeds And Rev. 2. 2. Christ there commends the Church of Ephesus because she had tried them which said they were Apostles but were not and had found them liars And as we are not to believe every one that says he is an Apostle so neither every one that pretends to be a Successor of the Apostles and to be endued with the same Spirit of Infallibility that they were For these also when they are tried whether they be the Successors of the Apostles or not may be found Liars And therefore St. John cautions Christians not to believe every spirit that is every one that pretends to divine Inspiration and the Spirit of God but to try the Spirits whether they be of God because many false Prophets are gone out into the World 1 Joh. 4. 1. And therefore the Confidence of Men
of the Rule of Faith I know that the Council of Trent declares it for the Rule they intend to proceed upon and make use of for the Confirmation and Proof of their following Determinations and Decrees But did any of the ancient Councils of the Christian Church lay down this Rule and proceed upon it Did not Constantine the Emperour at the opening of the First General Council lay the Bible before them as the only Rule according to which they were to proceed and this with the Approbation of all those Holy Fathers that were assembled in that Council And did not following Councils proceed upon the same Rule Do any of the ancient Fathers ever mention any Rule of Christian Faith and Practice besides the Holy Scriptures and the ancient Creed which because it is an Abridgment of the necessary Articles of Christian Faith contained in the Holy Scriptures is by them frequently called the Rule of Faith Do not the same Fathers frequently and expresly say That the Scriptures are a perfect Rule and that all things are plainly contained in them which concern Faith and Life and that whatever cannot be proved by Testimony of Scripture is to be rejected All this I am sure I can make good by innumerable express Testimonies of the ancient Fathers which are well known to those that are versed in them By what Authority then hath the Council of Trent set up this new Rule unknown to the Christian Church for 1500 Years and who gave them this Authority The plain truth is the necessity of it for the Defence of the Errors and Corruptions which they had embraced and were resolved not to part with forced them to lengthen out the Rule the old Rule of the Holy Scriptures being too short for their purpose Thirdly Whereas they pretend that Holy Scripture as expounded by a private Spirit may not seem so favourable to some of their Doctrines and Practices yet as interpreted by Tradition which can only give the true Sense of Scripture it agrees very well with them I suppose they mean that whereas a private Spirit would be apt to understand some Texts of Scripture as if People were to search and read the Scripture Tradition interprets those Texts in a quite other Sense that People are not to be permitted to read the Holy Scriptures A private Spirit would be apt to understand St. Paul's Discourse in the 14th of the 1st to the Corinthians to be against Celebrating Prayer and the Service of God in an unknown Tongue as being contrary to Edification and indeed to common Sense For he says If one should come and find them speaking and praying in an unknown Tongue will they not say Ye are mad But now Tradition which only knows how to give the true Sense can reconcile this Discourse of St. Paul very easily with the Practice of the Church of Rome in this matter And so likewise the Epistle of St. Paul to the Colossians with the Worship of Angels and the Epistle to the Hebrews with offering the Propitiatory Sacrifice of Christ in the Mass a Thousand times every Day And to give but one Instance more Whereas a Man by his private Spirit would be very apt to understand the Second Commandment to forbid all Worship of Images Tradition discovers the meaning of this Commandment to be that due Veneration is to be given to them So that at this rate of interpreting Scripture by Tradition it is impossible to fix any Objection from Scripture upon any Doctrine or Practice which they have a mind to maintain Fourthly Whereas they pretend the Tradition of their Church delivered from the Mouth of Christ or dictated by the Holy Spirit and brought down to them and preserved by continnal Succession in the Church to be of equal Authority with the Word of God for so the Council of Trent says That the Holy Synod doth receive and venerate these Traditions with equal pious Affection and Reverence as they do the written Word of God This we must declare against as unreasonable in it self to make Tradition conveyed by Word of Mouth from one to another through so many Ages and liable to so many Mistakes and Miscarriages to be at the distance of 1500 Years of equal Certainty and Authority with the Holy Scriptures carefully preserved and transmitted down to us because this as I said before is to make common Rumor and Report of equal Authority and Certainty with a written Record And not only so but hereby they make the Scriptures an imperfect Rule contrary to the declared Judgment of the ancient Fathers and Councils of the Christian Church and so in truth they set up a new Rule of Faith whereby they change the Christian Religion For a new Rule of Faith and Religion makes a new Faith and Religion This we charge the Church of Rome with and do challenge them to shew this new Rule of Faith before the Council of Trent and consequently where their Religion was before that Council to shew a Religion consisting of all those Articles which are defined by the Council of Trent as necessary to Salvation and established upon this new Rule professed by any Christian Church in the World before that time And as they have pitch'd upon a new Rule of Faith so it is easie to see to what End For take Pope Pius IV. his Creed and we may see where the Old and New Religion parts even at the end of the Twelve Articles of the Aplostles Creed which was the ancient Christian Faith to which are added in Pope Pius his Creed Twelve Articles more defined in the Council of Trent and supported only by Tradition So that as the Scripture answers for the Twelve old Articles which are plainly contained there so Tradition is to answer for the Twelve new ones And therefore the matter was calculated very exactly when they make Tradition just of equal Authority with the Scriptures because as many Articles of Their Faith were to be made good by it and rely upon it as those which are proved by the Authority of Scripture But that Tradition is of equal Authority with the Scriptures we have nothing in the whole World for it but the bare Assertion of the Council of Trent I should now have added some other Considerations tending to confirm and establish us in our Religion against the Pretences and Insinuations of Seducing Spirits But I shall proceed no farther at present The Tenth Sermon as number'd follows THere is a mistake in Numbering of these Sermons The Tenth should be called the Ninth and so on to the end For there are but Fifteen Sermons in this Volume and should be no more A SERMON HEB. X. 23. Let us hold fast the profession of our Faith without wavering for he is faithful that hath promised THESE words contain an Exhortation to hold fast the Profession of our Faith without wavering and an Argument or Encouragement thereto because he is faithful that hath promised By the Exhortation to hold fast the
Profession of our Faith without wavering is not meant that those who are capable of examining the Grounds and Reasons of their Religion should blindly hold it fast against the best Reasons that can be offered because upon these terms every Man must continue in the Religion in which he happens to be fixt by Education or an ill choice be his Religion true or false without Examining and looking into it whether it be right or wrong for till a Man examines every Man thinks his Religion right That which the Apostle here exhorts Christians to hold fast is the Ancient Faith of which all Christians make a solemn profession in their Baptism as plainly appears from the context And this Profession of our Faith we are to hold in the following instances which I shall but briefly mention without enlarging upon them 1. We are to hold fast the Profession of our Faith against the Confidence of Men without Scripture or Reason to support that Confidence 2. And much more against the Confidence of Men contrary to plain Scripture and Reason and to the common Sense of Mankind 3. Against all the Temptations and Terrors of the World against the Temptations of Fashion and Example and of Worldly Interest and Advantage and against all Terrors and Sufferings of Persecution 4. Against all vain promises of being put into a safer condition and groundless hopes of getting to Heaven upon easier terms than the Gospel hath proposed in some other Church and Religion Lastly We are to hold fast the Profession of our Faith without wavering against all the cunning Arts and Insinuations of busie and disputing Men whose design it is to unhinge Men from their Religion and to make Proselytes to their Party and Faction But without entring into these particulars I shall in order to Establishment in the Reformed Religion which we profess in opposition to the Errors and Corruptions of the Church of Rome apply my self at this time to make a short comparison betwixt the Religion which we profess and that of the Church of Rome That we may discern on which side the advantage of Truth lies and in making this comparison I shall insist upon Three things which will bring the matter to an issue and are I think sufficient to determine every sober and considerate Man which of these he ought in Reason and with regard to the safety of his Soul to embrace And they are these I. That we govern our Belief and Practice in matters of Religion by the true ancient Rule of Christianity the Word of God contained in the Holy Scriptures But the Church of Rome for the maintenance of their Errors and Corruptions have been forced to devise a new Rule never owned by the Primitive Church nor by the Ancient Fathers and Councils of it II. That the Doctrines and Practices in difference betwixt us and the Church of Rome are either contrary to this Rule or destitute of the Warrant and Authority of it and are plain Additions to the ancient Christianity and Corruptions of it III. That our Religion hath many clear Advantages of that of the Church of Rome not only very considerable in themselves but very obvious and discernable to an ordinary capacity upon the first proposal of them I shall be as brief in these as I can I. That we govern our belief and Practice in matters of Religion by the true ancient Rule of Christianity the Word of God contain'd in the Holy Scriptures But the Church of Rome for the maintaining of their Errors and Corruptions have been forced to devise a new Rule never owned by the Primitive Church nor by the Ancient Councils and Fathers of it That is they have joined with the Word of God contained in the Holy Scriptures the unwritten Traditions of their Church concerning several points of their Faith and Practice which they acknowledge cannot be proved from Scripture and these they call the unwritten Word of God and the Council of Trent hath decreed them to be of equal Authority with the Holy Scriptures and that they do receive and venerate them with the same pious Affection and Reverence and all this contrary to the express declaration and unanimous consent of all the Ancient Councils and Fathers of the Christian Church as I have already shewn and this never declar'd to be a point of Faith till it was decreed not much above a Hundred Years ago in the Council of Trent and this surely if any thing is a Matter of great consequence to presume to alter the Ancient Rule of Christian Doctrine and Practice and to enlarge it and add to it at their pleasure But the Church of Rome having made so great a change in the Doctrine and Practice of Christianity it became consequently necessary to make a change of the Rule And therefore with great Reason did the Council of Trent take this into consideration in the first place and put it in the front of their Decrees because it was to be the foundation and main proof of the following Definitions of Faith and Decrees of Practice for which without this new Rule there had been no colour II. The Doctrines and Practices in difference betwixt us and the Church of Rome are either contrary to the true Rule or destitute of the Warrant and Authority of it and plain Additions to the Ancient Christianity and Corruptions of it the Truth of this will best appear by instancing in some of the principal Doctrines and Practices in difference betwixt us As for their two great Fundamental Doctrines of the Supremacy of the Bishop of Rome over all the Christians in the world and the Infallibility of their Church there is not one word in Scripture concerning these Priviledges nay it is little less than a demonstration that they have no such Priviledges that St. Paul in a long Epistle to the Church of Rome takes no notice of them That the Church of Rome either then was or was to be soon after the Mother and Mistress of all Churches which is now grown to be an Article of Faith in the Church of Rome and yet it is hardly to be imagined that he could have omitted to take notice of such remarkable Priviledges of their Bishops and Church above any in the world had he known they had belonged to them So that in all probability he was ignorant of those mighty Prerogatives of the Church of Rome otherwise it cannot be but that he would have written with more deference and submission to this Seat of Infallibility and Center of Unity he would certainly have paid a greater Respect to this Mother and Mistress of all Churches where the Head of the Church and Vicar of Christ either was already seated or by the appointment of Christ was designed for ever to fix his Throne and establish his Residence but there is not one word or the least intimation of any such thing throughout this whole Epistle nor in any other part of the New Testament Besides that both these pretended
rather because they are different from That which they presume to be the only true Religion ought to be condemned at all adventures without any farther enquiry This I say is fond Partiality because every Religion and every Church may for ought that appears to any man that is not permitted to examine things impartially say the same for themselves and with as much Reason and if so then either every Religion ought to permit it self to be examined or else no man ought to examine his own Religion whatever it be and consequently Jews and Turks and Heathens and Hereticks ought all to continue as they are and none of them to change because they cannot reasonably change without examining both that Religion which they leave and that which they embrace instead of it 2. Admitting this Pretence were true that They are the true Church and have the true Religion This is so far from being a Reason why they should not permit it to be examined that on the contrary it is one of the best Reasons in the World why they should allow it to be examined and why they may safely suffer it to be so They should permit it to be tryed that men may upon good Reason be satisfied that it is the true Religion And they may safely suffer it to be done because if They be sure that the Grounds of their Religion be firm and good I am sure they will be never the worse for being examined and look'd into But I appeal to every Man's Reason whether it be not an ill Sign that they are not so sure that the Grounds of their Religion are solid and firm and such as will abide the Tryal that they are so very loth to have them searcht into and examined This cannot but tempt a wise Man to suspect that their Church is not founded upon a Rock and that they themselves know something that is amiss in their Religion which makes them so loth to have it try'd and brought to the Touch. 3. It is certain among all Christians that the Doctrine preached by the Apostles was the true Faith of Christ and yet they never forbad the Christians to examine whether it were so or not Nay on the contrary they frequently exhort them to try and examine their Religion and whether that Doctrine which they had delivered to them was the true Faith of Christ. So St. Paul 2 Corinth 13. 5. Examine your selves whether ye be in the faith prove your own selves And again 1 Thes. 5. 21. Prove all things hold fast that which is good intimating to us that in order to the holding fast the Profession of our Faith it is requisite to prove and try it And so likewise St. John's Ep. 1. 4. 1. Beloved believe not every Spirit but try the Spirits whether they are of God because many false Prophets are gone out into the world And he gives a very notable mark whereby we may know the Spirit of Truth and the Spirit of Error The Spirit of Error carries on a worldly Interest and Design and the Doctrines of it tend to Secular Power and Greatness vers 5. They are of the world therefore speak they of the world and the world heareth them Acts 17. 11. St. Luke commends it as an argument of a more noble and generous Spirit in the Beroeans that they examined the Doctrine which the Apostles preacht whether it were agreeable to the Scriptures and this without Disparagement to their Infallibility These saith he were more noble than those of Thessalonica in that they received the word with all readiness of mind and searched the Scriptures daily whether those things were so They were ready to receive the Word but not blindly and with an implicit Faith but using due Care to examine the Doctrines which they were taught and to see if they were agreeable to that Divine Revelation of the Holy Scriptures which they had before received It seems they were not willing to admit and swallow Contradictions in their Faith And we desire no more of the Church of Rome than that they would encourage the people to search the Scriptures daily and to examine whether their Doctrines be according to them We would be glad to hear the Pope and a General Council commend to the People the searching of the Scriptures and to try their Definitions of Faith and Decrees of Worship by that Rule to see whether what they have defined and decreed to be believed and practised be agreeable to it their Worship of Images their solemn Invocation of Angels and of the Blessed Virgin and the Saints departed the Sacrament under one kind only the publick Prayers and Service of God in an unknown Tongue the frequent Repetition of the Propitiatory Sacrifice of Christs Body and Blood in the Mass. Had the Beroeans been at the Council of Trent and pleaded their Right to search the Scriptures whether these things were so I doubt they would have been thought very troublesome and impertinent and would not have been praised by the Pope and Council for their pains as they are by St. Luke You see then upon the whole matter that it is a very groundless and suspicious Pretence of the Church of Rome that because They are Infallibly in the right and Theirs is the true Religion therefore their people must not be permitted to examine it The Doctrine of the Apostles was undoubtedly the true Faith of Christ and yet they not only permitted the people to examine it but exhorted and encouraged them so to do and commended them for it And any Man that hath the Spirit of a Man must abhor to submit to this Slavery not to be allowed to examine his Religion and to enquire freely into the Grounds and Reasons of it and would break with any Church in the World upon this single Point and would tell them plainly if your Religion be too good to be Examined I doubt it is too bad to be Believed If it be said that the allowing of this Liberty is the way to make people perpetually doubting and unsettled I do utterly deny this and do on the contrary with good Reason affirm that it is apt to have the contrary effect There being in reason no better way to establish any man in the belief of any thing than to let him see that there are very good Grounds and Reasons for what he believes which no man can ever see that is not permitted to examine whether there be such Reasons or not So that besides the Reasonablness of the thing it is of great benefit and advantage to us And that upon these Accounts 1. To arm us against Seducers He that hath examined his Religion and tryed the Grounds of it is most able to maintain them and make them good against all Assaults that may be made upon us to move us from our Stedfastness Whereas he that hath not examined and consequently does not understand the Reasons of his Religion is liable to be tossed to and fro and to
be carried about with every Wind of Doctrine by the slight of Men and the cunning Craftiness of those that lie in wait to deceive For when he is attempted he will either defend his Religion or not If he undertake the Defence of it before he hath examined the Grounds of it he makes himself an easie Prey to every crafty man that will set upon him he exposeth at once himself to Danger and his Religion to Disgrace If he decline the defence of it he must be forced to take Sanctuary in that Ignorant and Obstinate Principle that because he is of an Infallible Church and sure that he is in the right therefore he never did nor will examine whether he be so or not But how is he or can he be sure that he is in the right if he have no other Reason for it but his Confidence and his being wiser in his own conceit than Seven men that can render a Reason It is a shameful thing in a wise man who is able to give a good Reason of all other Actions and parts of his Life to be able to say nothing for his Religion which concerns him more than all the rest 2. To examine and understand the Grounds of our Religion will be a good means by the assistance of Gods Grace to keep us constant to it even under the fiery Tryal When it comes to this that a man must suffer for his Religion he had need to be well established in the Belief of it which no man can so well be as he that in some good measure understands the Grounds and Reasons of his Belief A man would be well assured of the Truth and Goodness of that for which he would lay down hīs Life otherwise he dies as a Fool dies he knows not for what A man would be loth to set such a Seal to a Blank I mean to that which he hath no sufficient Ground and Reason to believe to be true which whether he hath or not no man that hath not examined the Grounds of his Religion can be well assured of This St. Peter prescribes as the best Preparative for suffering for Righteousness sake the 1st Ep. of Peter 3. 14 15. But if ye suffer for righteousness sake happy are ye And be not afraid of their terror neither be troubled But sanctifie the Lord God in your hearts that is make him the great Object of your Dread and Trust and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you 2. The holding fast the Profession of our Faith without wavering doth not imply that Men should obstinately refuse to hear any Reason against that Religion which they have embraced and think to be the true Religion As Men should examine before they chuse so after they have chosen they should be ready to be better informed if better Reason can be offered No Man ought to think himself so infallible as to be priviledged from hearing Reason and from having his Doctrines and Dictates tryed by that Test. Our Blessed Saviour himself the most Infallible Person that ever was in the World and who declared the Truth which he had heard of God yet He offered himself and his Doctrine to this Tryal John 8. 46. Which of you convinceth me of sin that is of Falsehood and Error And if I speak the truth why do ye not believe me He was sure he spake the Truth and yet for all that if they could convince him of Error and Mistake he was ready to hear any Reason they could bring to that purpose Though a Man be never so sure that he is in the true Religion and never so resolved to continue constant and stedfast in it yet Reason is always to be heard when it is fairly offered And as we ought always to be ready to give an Answer to those who ask a Reason of the Hope and Faith that is in us so ought we likewise to be ready to hear the Reasons which others do fairly offer against our Opinion and Persuasion in Religion and to debate the matter with them that if we be in the right and they in the wrong we may rectifie their Mistakes and instruct them in meekness if God peradventure may give them repentance to the acknowledgement of the truth We are not only to examine our Religion before we peremptorily fix upon it but after we are as we think upon the best Reason establisht and settled in it Tho we ought not to doubt and waver in our Religion upon every slight and trifling Objection that can be brought against it yet we ought always to have an Ear open to hear Reason and consider any thing of Weight and Moment that can be offered to us about it For it is a great Disparagement to Truth and argues a distrust of the Goodness of our Cause and Religion to be afraid to hear what can be said against it As if Truth were so weak that in every Conflict it were in danger to be baffled and run down and go by the worst and as if the Reasons that could be brought against it were too hard for it and not to be encounter'd by those Forces which Truth has on its side We have that honest Confidence of the Goodness of our Cause and Religion that we do not fear what can be said against it And therefore we do not forbid our people to examine the Objections of our Adversaries and to read the best Books they can write against it But the Church of Rome are so wise in their Generation that they will not permit those of their Communion to hear or read what can be said against them Nay they will not permit the people the use of the Holy Scriptures which they with us acknowledge to be at least an Essential Part of the Rule of Faith They tell their people that after they are once of their Church and Religion they ought not to hear any Reasons against it and though they be never so strong they ought not to entertain any doubt concerning it because all doubting is a Temptation of the Devil and a Mortal Sin But surely that Church is not to be heard which will not hear Reason nor that Religion to be much admired which will not allow those that have once embrac'd it to hear it ever after debated and examined This is a very suspicious Business and argues that either they have not Truth on their side or that Truth is a weak and pitiful and sneaking Thing and not able to make its party good against Error I should now have proceeded in the Second place to shew Positively what is implied in holding fast the Profession of our Faith without wavering and then to have considered the Argument and Encouragement hereto because he is faithful that promised But I shall proceed no farther at this time A SERMON ON HEB. X. 23. Let us hold fast the profession of our Faith without wavering for he
the Reason which the Learned Men give why the Worship of Images and the Invocation of Angels and Saints departed were not practised in the Primitive Church for the first Three Hundred Years is a plain acknowledgment that these Practices are very liable to the Suspicion of Idolatry for they say that the Christians did then forbear those Practices because they seem'd to come too near to the Pagan Idolatry and lest the Heathen should have taken occasion to have justified themselves if these things had been practised among Christians and they cannot now be Ignorant what Scandal they give by these Practices both to the Jews and Turks and how much they alienate them from Christianity by this Scandal nor can they chuse but be sensible upon how great disadvantage they are in defending these Practices from the Charge of Idolatry and that by all their blind Distinctions with which they raise such a Cloud and Dust they can hardly make any plausible and tollerable Defence of themselves from this Charge Insomuch that to secure their own People from discerning their Guilt in this Matter they have been put upon that shameful shift of leaving out the Second Commandment in their common Catechisms and Manuals lest the People seeing so plain a Law of God against so common a Practice of their Church should upon that Discovery have broken off from them 5. Nor is our Religion incumbered with such an endless number of superstitious and troublesom Observances as theirs infiintely is even beyond the Number of the Jewish Ceremonies to the great Burden and Scandal of the Christian Religion and the diverting of Mens Minds from the spiritual part of Religion and the more weighty and necessary Duties of the Christian Life so that in truth a devout Pastor is so taken up with the external Rites and little Observances of his Religion that he hath little or no time to make himself a good Man and to cultivate and improve his Mind in true Piety and Virtue 6. Our Religion is evidently more Charitable to all Christians that differ from us and particularly to them who by their Uncharitableness to us have done as much as is possible to discharge and damp our Charity towards them And Charity as it is one of the most essential Marks of a true Christian so it is likewise the best Mark and Ornament of a true Church and of all things that can be thought of methinks the want of Charity in any Church should be a Motive to no Man to fall in love with it and to be fond of its Communion 7. Our Religion doth not clash and interfere with any of the great Moral Duties to which all Mankind stand obliged by the Law and Light of Nature as Fidelity Mercy and Truth We do not teach Men to break Faith with Hereticks or Infidels nor to destroy and extirpate those who differ from us with Fire and Sword No such thing as Equivocation or Mental Reservation or any other Artificial way of Falshood is either taught or maintain'd either by the Doctrine or by the Casuists of our Church 8. Our Religion and all the Doctrines of it are perfectly consistent with the Peace of Civil Government and the Welfare of Humane Society We neither exempt the Clergy from Subjection to the Civil Powers nor absolve Subjects upon any pretence whatsoever from allegiance to their Princes both which Points the necessity of the one and the lawfulness of the other have been taught and stifly maintain'd in the Church of Rome not only by private Doctors but by Popes and General Councils 9. The Doctrines of our Religion are perfectly free from all Suspicion of a Worldly Interest and Design whereas the greatest part of the erroneous Doctrines with which we charge the Church of Rome are plainly calculated to promote the end of Worldly Greatness and Dominion The Pope's Kingdom is plainly of this World and the Doctrines and Maximes of it like so many Servants are ready upon all occasion to fight for him For most of them do plainly tend either to the Establishment and Enlargment of his Authority or to the Magnifying of the Priests and the giving them a perfect power over the Conscienees of the People and the keeping them in a slavish subjection and blind obedience to them And to this purpose do plainly tend the Doctrines of exempting the Clergy from the Secular Power and Jurisdiction the Doctrine of Transubstantiation for it must needs make the Priest a great Man in the Opinion of the People to believe that he can make God as they love to express it without all Reason and Reverence Of the like tendency is the Communicating of the Laity only in one kind thereby making it the sole Priviledge of the Priest to receive the Sacrament in both The with-holding the Scripture from the People and celebrating the Service of God in an unknown Tongue The Doctrine of an implicite Faith and absolute Resignation of their Judgments to their Teachers These do all directly tend to keep the People in ignorance and to bring them to a blind Obedience to the dictates of their Teachers So likewise the Necessity of the intention of the Priests to the saving Virtue and Efficacy of the Sacraments by which Doctrine the People do upon the matter depend as much upon the good will of the Priest as upon the Mercy of God for their Salvation but above all their Doctrine of the Necessity of Auricular and private Confession of all Mortal Sins commited after Baptism with all the Circumstances of them to the Priest and this not only for the ease and direction of their Consciences but as a necessary condition of having their Sins pardoned and forgiven by God By which means they make themselves Masters of all the Secrets of the People and keep them in awe by the knowledge of their faults Scire volunt secreta Domus atque inde timeri Or else their Doctrines tend to filthy lucre and the enriching of their Church As their Doctrines of Purgatory and Indulgences and their Prayers and Masses for the dead and many more Doctrines and Practices of the like kind plainly do 10. Our Religion is free from all disingenuous and dishonest Arts of maintaining and supporting it self such are clipping of ancient Authors nay and even the Authors and Writers of their own Church when they speak too freely of any Point as may be seen in their Indices Expurgatorii which much against their wills have been brought to light To which I shall only add these Three gross Forgeries which lie all at their doors and they cannot deny them to be so 1. The pretended Canon of the Council of Nice in the case of Appeals between the Church of Rome and the African Church Upon which they insisted a great while very confidently till at last they were convinced by Authentick Copies of the Canons of that Council 2. Constantine's Donation to the Pope which they kept a great stir with till the Forgery of it
was discovered 3. The Decretal Epistles of the Ancient Popes a large Volume of Forgeries compiled by Isidore Mercator to countenance the Usurpations of the Bishop of Rome and of which the Church of Rome made great use for several Ages and pertinaciously defended the Authority of them till the Learned Men of their own Church have at last been forced for very shame to disclaim them and to confess the Imposture of them A like instance whereto is not I hope to be shewn in any Christian Church This is that which St. Paul calls 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the slight of Men such as Gamesters use at Dice for to alledge false and forged Authors in this case is to play with false Dice when the Salvation of Mens Souls lie at stake 11. Our Religion hath this mighty advantage that it doth not decline Tryal and Examination which to any Man of ingenuity must needs appear a very good Sign of an honest Cause but if any Church be shy of having her Religion Examined and her Doctrines and Practices brought into the open light this gives just ground of Suspicion that she hath some distrust of them for Truth doth not seek corners nor shun the light Our Saviour hath told us who they are that love darkness rather than light viz. they whose deeds are Evil for every one saith he that doth Evil hateth the light neither cometh he to the light lest his deeds should be reproved and made manifest There needs no more to render a Religion suspected to a wise Man than to see those who profess it and make such proud boasts of the Truth and Goodness of it so fearful that it should be examin'd and lookt into and that their People should take the liberty to hear and read what can be said against it 12. We perswade Men to our Reliligion by Human and Christian ways such as our Saviour and his Apostles used by urging Men with the Authority of God and with Arguments fetcht from another World The promise of Eternal Life and Happiness and the threatning of Eternal death and Misery which are the proper Arguments of Religion and which alone are fitted to work upon the Minds and Consciences of Men the terror and torture of death may make Men Hypocrites and awe them to profess with their Mouths what they do not believe in their Hearts but this is no proper means of converting the Soul and convincing the Minds and Consciences of Men and these violent and cruel ways cannot be denyed to have been Practised in the Church of Rome and set on foot by the Authority of Councils and greatly countenanced and encouraged by Popes themselves Witness the many Croisades for the extirpation of Hereticks the standing Cruelties of their Inquisition their occasional Massacres and Persecutions of which we have fresh Instances in every Age. But these Methods of Conversion are a certain Sign that they either disturst the Truth and Goodness of their Cause or else that they think Truth and the Arguments for it are of no force when Dragoons are their Ratio ultima the last Reason which their Cause relies upon and the best and most effectual it can afford Again we hold no Doctrines in defiance of the Senses of all Mankind such as is that of Transubstantiation which is now declared in the Church of Rome to be a Necessary Article of Faith so that a Man cannot be of that Religion unless he will renounce his Senses and believe against the clear Verdict of them in a plain sensible matter but after this I do not understand how a Man can believe any thing because by this very thing he destroys and takes away the Foundation of all Certainty if any Man forbid me to believe what I see I forbid him to believe any thing upon better and surer Evidence St. Paul saith that Faith cometh by hearing but if I cannot rely upon the certainty of Sense then the means whereby Faith is conveyed is uncertain and we may say as St. Paul doth in another case Then is our Preaching vain and your Faith also is vain Lastly To mention no more particulars as to several things used and Practised in the Church of Rome we are on the much safer side if we should happen to be mistaken about them than they are if they should be mistaken for it is certainly Lawful to read the Scriptures and Lawful to permit to the People the use of the Scriptures in a known Tongue Otherwise we must condemn the Apostles and the Primitive Church for allowing this Liberty It is certainly Lawful to have the publick Prayers and Service of God celebrated in a Language which all that joyn in it can understand It is certainly Lawful to administer the Sacrament of the Lords Supper to the People in both kinds otherwise the Christian Church would not have done it for a Thousand Years It is certainly Lawful not to Worship Images not to pray to Angels or Saints or the Blessed Virgin otherwise the Primitive Church would not have forborn these Practices for Three Hundred Years as is acknowledged by those of the Church of Rome Suppose a Man should pray to God only and offer up all his Prayers to him only by Jesus Christ without making mention of any other Mediator or Intercessor with God for us relying herein upon what the Apostle says concerning our High Priest Jesus the Son of God Heb. 7 25. That he is able to save them to the utmost who come unto God by him i. e. by his Mediation and Intercession since he ever liveth to make Intercession for them might not a Man reasonably hope to obtain of God all the Blessings he stands in need of by Addressing himself only to him in the Name and by the Intercession of that one Mediator between God and Man the Man Christ Jesus Nay why may not a Man reasonably think that this is both a shorter and more effectual way to obtain our requests than by turning our selves to the Angels and Saints and importuning them to solicite God for us especially if we should order the matter so as to make ten times more frequent Addresses to these than we do to God and our Blessed Saviour and in comparison of the other to neglect these we cannot certainly think any more able to help us and do us good than the great God of Heaven and Earth the God as St. Paul styles him that heareth Prayers and therefore unto him should all flesh come We cannot certainly think any Intercessor so powerful and prevalent with God as his only and dearly beloved Son offering up our Prayers to God in Heaven by vertue of that most acceptable and invaluable Sacrifice which he offered to him on Earth we cannot surely think that there is so much Goodness any where as in God that in any of the Angels or Saints or even in the Blessed Mother of our Lord there is more Mercy and Compassion for Sinners and a tenderer sense of our Infirmities
it but having no root in themselves they endured but for a while and when tribulation and persecution ariseth because of the word presently they fall off And there is likewise a partial Apostasie from Christianity when some Fundamental Article of it is denied whereby in effect and by consequence the whole Christian Faith is overthrown Of this Hymeneus and Philetus were guilty of whom the Apostle says that they erred concerning the truth saying that tbe Resurrection was past already and thereby overthrew the faith of some 2 Tim. 2. 17 18. That is they turned the Resurrection into an Allegory and did thereby really destroy a most Fundamental Article of the Christian Religion So that to make a man an Apostate it is not necessary that a man should solemnly renounce his Baptism and declare Christianity to be false there are several other ways whereby a man may bring himself under this guilt as by a silent quitting of his Religion and withdrawing himself from the Communion of all that profess it by denying an Essential Doctrine of Christianity by undermining the great End and Design of it by teaching Doctrines which directly tend to encourage Men in impenitence and a wicked course of life nay to Authorise all manner of impiety and vice in telling Men that whatever they do they cannot Sin for which the Primitive Christians did look upon the Gnosticks as no better than Apostates from Christianity and tho they retained the Name of Christians yet not to be truly and really so And there is likewise a partial Apostacy from the Christan Religion of which I shall speak under the II. Head I proposed which was to consider the several sorts and degrees of Apostacy The highest of all is the renouncing and forsaking of Christianity or of some Essential part of it which is a virtual Apostafie from it But there are several tendencies towards this which they who are guilty of are in some degree guilty of this Sin As 1. Indifferency in Religion and want of all sort of Concernment for it when a Man tho he never quitted his Religion yet is so little concerned for it that a very small Occasion or Temptation would make him do it he is contented to be reckoned in the number of those who profess it so long as it is the Fashion and he finds no great Inconvenience by it but is so indifferent in his Mind about it like Gallio who minded none of those things that he can turn himself into any other Shape when his Interest requires it so that tho he never actually deserted it yet he is 2 kind of Apostate in the preparation and disposition of his Mind And to such Persons that Title which Solomon gives to some may fitly enough be applyed they are Backsliders in Heart 2. Another tendency to this Sin and a great degree of it is withdrawing from the Publick Marks and Testimonies of the Profession of Religion by forsaking the Assemblies of Christians for the Worship and Service of God to withdraw our selves from those for fear of Danger or Suffering is a kind of Denyal of our Religion And this was the case of some in the Apostles time when Persecution grew hot and the open Profession of Christianity dangerous to avoid this Danger many appeared not in the Assemblies of Christians for fear of being observed and brought into trouble for it This the Apostle taxeth some for in this Chapter and speaketh of it as a letting go our Profession and a kind of deserting of Christianity v. 23 35. Let us hold fast the Profession of our Faith without wavering not forsaking the assembling of our selves together as the manner of some is He doth not say they had quitted their Profession but they had but a loose hold of it and were silently stealing away from it 3. A light temper of Mind which easily receives Impressions from those who lie in wait to deceive and seduce Men from the Truth When Men are not well rooted and established in Religion they are apt to be inveigled by the crafty Insinuations of Seducers to be moved with every wind of Doctrine and to be easily shaken in Mind by every trifling piece of Sophistry that is confidently obtruded upon them for a weighty Argument Now this is a temper of Mind which disposeth Men to Apostasie and renders them an easie Prey to every one that takes a Pleasure and a Pride in making Proselytes It is true indeed a Man should always have a Mind ready to entertain Truth when it is fairly proposed to him but the main things of Religion are so plainly revealed and lie so obvious to every ordinary capacity that every Man may discern them and when he hath once entertained them ought to be stedfast and unmovable in them and not suffer himself to be whiffled out of them by any insignificant noise about the Infallibility of a Visible Church much less ought he to be moved by any Man's uncharitableness and positiveness in damning all that are not of his Mind There are some things so very plain not only in Scripture but to the common Reason of Mankind that no subtilty of Discourse no pretended Authority or even Infallibility of any Church ought to stagger us in the least about them as that we ought not or cannot believe any thing in direct contradiction to Sense and Reason that the People ought to Read and Study the Holy Scriptures and to serve God and pray to him in a Language which they understand that they ought to receive the Sacrament as our Saviour instituted and appointed it that is in both kinds that it can neither be our Duty nor Lawful to do that which God hath forbidden as he hath done the Worship of Images in the Second Commandment as plainly as words can do it Upon any one of these Points a Man would fix his foot and stand alone against the whole World 4. Another Degree of Apostasie is a departure from the Purity of the Christian Doctrine and Worship in a gross and notorious manner This is a partial tho not a total Apostasie from the Christian Religion and there have been and still are some in the World who are justly Charged with this degree of Apostasie from Religion namely such as tho they retain and profess the Belief of all the Articles of the Christian Faith and Worship the only true God and him whom he hath sent Jesus Christ yet have greatly perverted the Christian Religion by superinducing and adding new Articles of Faith and gross Corruptions and Superstitions in Worship and imposing upon Men the Belief and Practice of these as necessary to Salvation And St. Paul is my Warrant for this Censure who chargeth those who added to the Christian Religion the Necessity of Circumcision and observing the Law of Moses and thereby perverted the Gospel of Christ as guilty in some degree of Apostasie from Christianity for he calls it preaching another Gospel Gal. 1. 7 8. There be some that trouble
you and would pervert the Gospel of Christ but tho we or an Angel from Heaven preach any other Gospel to you than that which we have preached let him be accursed And those who were seduced by these Teachers he chargeth them with having in some sort quitted the Gospel of Christ and embraced another Gospel V. 6. I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the Grace of Christ unto another Gospel So that they who thus pervert and corrupt the Christian Doctrine or Worship are plainly guilty of a partial Apostasie from Christianity and they who quit the purity of the Christian Doctrine and Worship and go over to the Communion of those who have thus perverted Christianity are in a most dangerous state and in the Judgment of St. Paul are in some sort removed unto another Gospel I shall now proceed in the III. Place to consider the Heinousness of this Sin And it will appear to be very Heinous if we consider what an affront it is to God and how great a contempt of him when God hath revealed his will to Mankind and sent no less Person than his own Son out of his own Bosom to do it and hath given such Testimonies to him from Heaven by signs and wonders and divers miracles and gifts of the Holy Ghost when he hath transmitted down to us so Faithful a Record of this Revelation and of the Miracles wrought to confirm it in the Books of the Holy Scriptures and when we our selves have so often declared our firm belief of this Revelation yet after all this to fall from it and deny it or any part of it or to embrace Doctrines and Practices plainly contrary to it This certainly cannot be done without the greatest affront and contempt of the Testimonies of God himself for it is in effect and by interpretation to declare that either we do not believe what God says or that we do not fear what he can do So St. John tells us 1 Ep. 5. 10. He that believeth not God hath made him a Lyar because he believeth not the record which God hath given of his Son And all along in this Epistle to the Hebrews the Apostle sets himself to aggravate this Sin calling it an Evil Heart of unbelief to depart from the living God Ch. 3 12. And he frequently calls it so 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and by way of eminency as being of all Sins the greatest and most heinous Ch. 10. 26. If we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the Truth That the Apostle here speaks of the Sin of Apostasie is plain from the whole scope of his discourse for having exhorted them before v. 23. to hold fast the Profession of their Faith without wavering not forsaking the assembling of themselves together he immediately adds for if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the Truth that is if we fall off from Christianity after we have embraced it And Ch. 12 1. let us lay aside every weight and the sin which so easily besets us that is the great Sin of Apostasie from Religion to which they were then so strongly tempted by that fierce Persecution which attended it and therefore he adds let us run with patience the race which is set before us that is let us arm our selves with patience against the Sufferings we are like to meet with in our Christian course To oppose the Truth and resist the clear Evidence of it is a great Sin and Men are justly condemned for it John 3. 19. This is the condemnation that light is come into the World and men loved darkness rather than light But to desert the Truth after we have been convinced of it to fall off from the Profession of it after we have embraced it is a much greater Sin Opposition to the Truth may 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 Persecution of Christianity he found Mercy because he did it ignorantly and in unbelief To revolt from the Truth after we have made profession 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 usual ingredient into the Sin of Apostasie if we sin wilfully after we have received the knowledge of the Truth And as this Sin is one of the greatest affronts to God so it is the highest and most effectual disparagement of Religion for it is not so much considered 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 Tryal and Experience but he that falls off from Religion after he hath made profession of it declares to the World that he hath tryed 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 sees reason to prefer another Religion before it So that nothing can be more despiteful to Religion than this and more likely to bring it into contempt and therefore the Apostle v. 29. of this Chapter calls it a trampling under foot the Son of God and making the Blood of the Covenant a profane thing and offering despite to the Spirit of Grace for we cannot put a greater Scorn upon the Son of God who revealed this Doctrine to the World nor upon his Blood which was shed to confirm and seal the Truth of it and upon the Holy Ghost who came down in miraculous Gifts to give Testimony to it than notwithstanding all this to renounce this Doctrine and to forsake this Religion But we shall yet farther see the heinousness of this Sin in the terrible Punishment it exposeth Men to which was the IV. And Last thing I proposed to consider And this is represented to us in a most terrible manner not only in this Epistle but in other Places of Scripture This Sin is placed in the highest rank of pardonable Sins and next to the Sin against the Holy Ghost which our Saviour declares to be absolutely unpardonable And indeed the Scripture speaks very doubtfully of the pardonableness of this Sin as being near akin to that against the Holy Ghost being said to be an Offering despite to the Spirit of Grace In the 6th Chapter of this Epistle V. 4 5 6. the Apostle speaks in a very severe manner concerning the state of those who had apostatized from Christianity after the solemn Profession of it in Baptism it is impossible for those who were once enlightned that is baptized and have tasted of the Heavenly Gift that is Regeneration and were made Partakers of the Holy Ghost and have tasted the good Word of God and the Powers of the World to come that is have been instructed in the Christan Religion and endowed with the miraculous Powers of the Gospel-Age