2. A treacherous revolt, or yielding to the enemy, by complying with those things which are against the interest of Christ and his kingdom fen- advantage-sake : 2 Tim. iv. 10, ' Demas hath forsaken us, and loved the present world.' Backsliders in heart are the worst sort of apostates. Such as lose their affection to God, and delight in his ways, and esteem not of his glorious recompenses, for a little pleasure, profit, or pomp of living ; sell their birthright for one morsel of meat, Heb. xii. 15, 16. Some fail in their understandings, but most miscarry by the perverse inclination of their wills ; they are carnal worldly hypocrites that never thoroughly mortified the fleshly mind, prize things as they are com- modious to the flesh, and will save them from sufferings. The bias of such men's hearts doth easily prevail against the light of their un- derstandinjrs.
V2G THE THIRTEENTH SERMON. [2 ThES. II. 15.
III. The means of standing fast is, by lioldinfij tlie traditions which were tiiu-fht by the holy apostles. Here I will prove — (1.) That the doctrine of Christianity tauj^ht by the ai)ostles is a tradition ; (2.) That holding this tradition by strong hand, when others wrest it from us, is the means of our ])erseverance.
1. That the doctrine of Christianity is a tradition, I prove it by two arguments : —
First, j\Iatters not evident by the light of nature, nor immediately revealed to us by God, must be either an invention or a tradition. An invention is something in religion not evident by natural light, nor agreeable to sound reason, but is some cunningly-devised fable, in- vented by one or more, and obtruded by various artifices upon the belief of the world. Inventions in this kind were man's disease, not liis remedy : Eccles. vii. 29, ' God made man upright, but they sought out many inventions.' As when the philosophers sat a-brood upon religion, a goodly chimera it was they hatched and brought forth : Rom. i. 21, 22, ' They became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened ;' and * professing themselves to be wise, they became fools.' The inventions little became the nature of God; nor were they profitable to man, for still the great sore of nature was imhealed, which is a fear of death and the righteous wrath of God, Itom. i. 32. So that neither man's comfort nor duty was well pro- vided for. Surely the gospel is none of this sort, not an invention of men, but a revelation of God ; and a revelation not made to us in per- son, but brought out of the bosom of God by Jesus Christ, and by him manifested to chosen witnesses, who might publish this mystery and secret to others. Well, then, since the gospel is not an invention ; it is a tradition, or a delivery of the truth upon the testimony of one that came from God, to instruct the world, or reduce it to him ; not an invention of man, but a secret brought out of the bosom of God by our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore it is said, Heb. ii. 3, 4, ' How shall we escape if we neglect so great salvation, first spoken by the Lord himself, and then confirmed to us by them that heard him, the Lord bearing them witness?' &c. Christ delivered it to the apostles, and the apostles delivered it to others : 2 Tim. ii. 2, ' Those things which thou hast heard from me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithiul men, who shall be able to teach others also.' The apostles received the gospel from Christ, and the churches and ministers from the apostles, and they delivered it down to others until it came to us, which is the means of our believing the truth, and con- fessing the name of Christ. This testimony, delivered and conveyed to us by the most credible means, and which we have no reason to doubt of, is as binding as if we had heard Christ and his apostles in person; for we have their word in writing, though we did not hear them preach and ])ublisli it with the lively voice; their authority is the same, delivered either way. And that these are their writings api)eareth by the constant tradition of the church, and tlie acknow- ledgment of friends and enemies, who still apj)eal to them as a public authentic record. And as they have been attested by the church, they have been owned by God, and blessed by him to the conversion and Banclifying of many souls throughout all successions of ages: and by
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this tradition Christianity hath held up the head against all encounters of time ; and the persecutions of adverse powers have not suppressed it, nor the disputes of enemies silenced the profession of it, but from age to age it hath been received, and transmitted to future generations, though sometimes at a very dear rate. And this is binding to us, though we saw not the persons and miracles by which they confirmed their message, and heard not the first report. Yet the universal tradition having handed it to us, is a sufficient ground of faith, and go we believe tlirough their word, and are concerned in Christ's prayers, John xvii. 20 ; for with them and their successors, as to these necessary things, Christ hath promised to be to the end of the world. Mat. xxviii. 20.