erm. XI. from the True Religion. And as the Sin is one of the greateft affronts to God, fo it is the higheft and tnoft effectual difparagement of Religion : For it is not fo much confìdered, what the Enemies of Religion fpeak againft it, becaufe they fpeak evil of the things which they knew not, and of which they have had no Tryal and Expe. rience ; but he that falls off from Religion, after he hails made Profeffion of it, declares to the World, that he hath tryed it, and diflikes it, and pretends to leave it, becaufe he hath not found that Truth and Goodnefs in it which he expeEted, and' upon long experienceof it, fees Reafon to preferanother 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. 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 defpite to the Spirit of Grace : For we cannot put a greater Scorn upan the Son of God, who re- vealed this Doltrine to the World; nor upon his Blood, which was flied to con- firm and feat the Truth of it ; and upon the Holy Ghoft, who came down in miraculous Gifts to give Teftimony to it ; than notwithftanding all this, to renounce this Do&rine, and to forfake this Religion. But we shall yet farther fee the heinoufnefs of this Sin, in the terrible Punifhment it expofeth Men to ; whichwas the IV. And Left thing I propofed to confider. And this is reprefented to us in a molt terrible manner, not only in this Epiftle , but in other Places of Scripture. This Sin is placed in the higheft rank of pardonable Sins, and next to the Sin againft the Holy Ghoft, which our Saviour declares to be abfolutely un- pardonable. And indeed the Scripture fpeaks very doubtfully of the pardonable- nefs of this Sin, as being near a kin to that againft the Holy Ghoft, being faid to he an offering defpite to the Spirit of Grace. In the dth Chapter of this Epiftle, ver. 4, 5, 6. the Apoftle fpeaks in a very fevere manner, concerning the State of thofe, who had apoftatized from Chriftianity, after the folemn Pro- fefúon of it in Baptifin; It is impoble for thofe who were once enlighened ( that is baptized) and have tailedof the Heavenly Gift, (that is Regeneration) and were made Partakers ofthe Holy Ghoft; and bave tatted the good Wordof God, and the Powers of the World to come, (that is, have been inftrueted in the Chriftian Religion, and endowed with the miraculousPowers of the Gofpel-Age, for the yews ufed to call the Age of the Meffias, Seculum, Futurum, or, the World to come) it is impoble fbr thofe to be renewedagain unto Repentance; where the leaft we can underftand, by impo/Jible, is, that it is extreamly diffi- cult ; for fo the Word impoble is fometimes ufed ; as when our Saviour fays, it is impojble for a rich Man to enter into the Kingdom of Heaven. And, Ch. i o. 26. the Apoftle fpeaking of the fame thing, fays, ifwe fin wilfully, after we have received the knowledge of the Truth, there remains no more Sacrifice for fin ; that is, they who renounce Chriftianity, fince they re- . jed the only way of expiation, there remains no more Sacrifice for their Sins. St. Peter likewife expreffeth himfelf very fevereIy concerning this fort of Perfons, z Epift. 2. 20, 21. For if after they have efcaped the Pollutions of the World, through the Knowledge of the Lord andSaviour Jefus Chr f, (that is, after they have been brought fromHeathenifm to Çhriftianity) they are entangled therein again, and overcome; the latter end is worfe with them than the begin- ning. He feems loth to fay how fad the Condition of fuch Perfons is; but this he tells them, that it is much worfe 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 Righteoufnefs, than after they bave known it, to turn from the Hoy Commandment delivered unto them. And St. yohn calls this Sin of Apofta- fie, the Sin unto Death; and tho' 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 Epo. 5. id. Ifany Man fee his Brother fin a Sin, which is not unto Death, be jtall ask, and be Pall give him Life, for them that fin not unto Death there is a fin untoDeath I do not fay, that be fball pray for it, Now that by this fn
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