2. Be not satisfied with low attainments —
[It was to enforce this idea that the warning- in the text was introduced by the Apostle : and therefore it demands our peculiar attention. Persons who, like " babes," are weak in the faith, are of course more liable to be turned from it : and if they do not grow towards an adult state, they will certainly decline. " Press forward then, forgetting what is behind, and reaching forth unto that which is before" ]
3. Under any backsliding, apply instantly to Christ for grace and mercy —
[The warning in the text is not to discourage the humble, but to alarm the careless, and quicken the remiss. The Apostle does not say that repenting sinners, however they may have apostatized, shall not be forgiven ; the danger is, that they will not repent ; and not that, if they repent, they shall not be pardoned. Let not any then say, " T have fallen away, and therefore cannot hope for mercy;" but rather, " I have departed, and must return instantly to God in his appointed way." God himself addresses us, " Return, ye backsliding children, and I will heal your backslidings, and love you freely." Let a hope of acceptance aid your fears of final apostasy : so shall the end of God's warnings be best accomplished, and the fulfilment of his promises secured.]
THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN FRUITFUL AND BARREN PROFESSORS.
Heb. vi. 7, 8. TJie earth ivhich drinketh in the rain that cometh oft upon it, and bringeth forth herbs meet for them by whom it is dressed, receiveth blessing from God : but that ivhich beareth thorns and briers is rejected, and is nigh unto cursing ; whose end is to be burned.
COMPARISONS, when just, have the double effect of illustrating, and of confirming, any truth, which they set before us. They have not indeed the force of demonstration, when considered as argu- ments : but they are peculiarly calculated to impress the mind ; and, in that view, have often a stronger effect than the clearest statements, or most logical deductions. Of this kind is the comparison in the text, which is adduced to illustrate the guilt and