The truth which I have proposed to handle, and whose defence I have undertaken in the ensuing discourse, is commonly called THE
78 DOCTRINE OF THE SAINTS* PERSEVERANCE. [CHAP.
PERSEVERANCE OF SAINTS; a doctrine whereof nothing ordinary, low, or common, is spoken by any that have engaged into the considera- tion of it. To some it is the very salt of the covenant of grace, the most distinguishing mercy communicated in the blood of Christ, so interwoven into, and lying at the bottom of, all that consolation which " God is abundantly willing that all the heirs of the promise should receive," that it is utterly impossible it should be safe-guarded one moment without a persuasion of this truth, which seals up all the mercy and grace of the new covenant with the unchangeableness and faithfulness of God/ To others it is no grace of God, no part of the purchase of Christ, no doctrine of the gospel, no foundation of conso- lation ; but an invention of men, a delusion of Satan, an occasion of dishonour to God, disconsolation and perplexity to believers, a power- ful temptation unto sin and wickedness in all that do receive it.^
A doctrine it is, also, whose right apprehension is on all hands con- fessed to be of great importance, upon the account of that effectual influence which it hath, and will have, into our walking with God; — which, say some, is to love humility, thankfulness, fear, fruitfulness;^ to folly, stubbornness, rebellion, dissoluteness, negligence, say others. The great confidence expressed by men concerning the evidence and certainty of their several persuasions, whether defending or opposing the doctrine under consideration, — the one part professing the truth thereof to be of equal stability with the promises of God, and most plentifully delivered in the Scripture ; others (at least one, who is thought to be pars magna of his companions), that if it be asserted in any place of the Scripture, it were enough to make wise and im- partial men to call the authority thereof into question, — must needs invite men to turn aside to see about what this earnest contest is. And quis is est tarn potens, who dares thus undertake to remove not only ancient landmarks and boundaries of doctrines among the saints, but " mountains of brass" and the " hills about Jerusalem," which we hoped would stand fast for ever? The concernment, then, of the glory of God, and the honour of the Lord Jesus Christ, with the interest of the souls of the saints, being so wrapped up, and that confessedly on all hands, in the doctrine ])roposed, I am not out of hope that the plain discoursing of it from the word of truth may be as " a word in season," like " apples of gold in pictures of silver."
Moreover, besides the general importance of that doctrine in all times and seasons, the wretched practices of many in the days wherein we live, and the industrious attempts of others in their teachings, for
' Jude 1 ; 2 Cor. xiii. 8; Isa. iv. 5, 6; Jer. xxxi. 31-34, xxxii. 89, 40; Isa. lix. 21 ; Ileb. viii. 10-12; 1 Cor. i. 9; I'liil. i. 6; Rom. viii. 32-85.
2 Telag. Aruiin. Socin. Papist. Thomsou de lutcrcis. Justif. Diatrib. Bcrtius Apost. Sanct. licinonst. ColL Hag. Scripta Synod.
3 Gen. xvii. 1; I's. xxiii. G; Phil. ii. 12, 13; Hcb. x. 19-22; 2 Cor. vii. 1 ; 2 Pet. i. 3-7, etc.
I.] APOSTASY A TEMPTATION TO BELIEVERS. 79
the subverting and easting it down from its excellency and that place which it hath long held in the churches of Christ and hearts of all the saints of God, have rendered the consideration of it at this time necessary.
For the first, these are days wherein we have as sad and tremen- dous examples of apostasy, backsliding, and falling from high and glorious pitches in profession, as any age can parallel ; — as many stars cast from heaven, as many trees plucked up by the roots, as many stately buildings, by wind, rain, and storm, cast to the ground, as many sons of perdition discovered, as many washed swine returning to their mire, as many Demases going after the present evil world, and men going out from the church which were never truly and properly of it, as many sons of the morning and children of high il- lumination and gifts setting in darkness, and that of all sorts, as ever in so short a space of time since the name of Christ was known upon the earth.^ What through the deviating of some to the ways of the world and the lusts of the flesh, what of others to spiritual wicked- nesses and abominations, it is seldom that we see a professor to hold out in the glory of his profession to the end. I shall not now dis- course of the particular causes hereof, with the temptations and ad- vantages of Satan that seem to be peculiar to this season ; but only thus take notice of the thing itself, as that which presseth for and rendereth the consideration of the doctrine proposed not only season- able but necessary.
That this is a stumbling-block in the way of them that seek to walk with God, I suppose none of them will deny. It was so of old, and it will so continue until the end. And therefore our Saviour, predicting and discoursing of the like season, Matt, xxiv., foretelUng that "many should be deceived," verse 11, that "iniquity should abound," and "the love of many wax cold," verse 12, — that is, visi- bly and scandalously, to the contempt and seeming disadvantage of the gospel, — adds, as a preservative consolation to his own chosen, select ones, who might be shaken in their comfort and confidence to see so many that walked to the house of God and took sweet counsel together with them, to fall headlong to destruction, that the elect shall not be seduced. Let the attempts of seducers be what they will, and their advantages never so many, or their successes never so great, they shall be preserved ; the house upon the rock shall not be cast down ; against the church built on Christ the gates of hell shall not prevail. And Paul mentioning the apostasy of Hymeneus and Philetus, who seem to have been teachers of some eminency, and stars of some considerable magnitude in the firmament of the church, with the eversion of the faith of some who attended unto their abo-