brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God." The original word, Arosaria, is rendered, defection, and signifies a defection, or falling away from that which we formerly stood to. Ribera and Estius, as quoted by the calvinian Pool, say, that an evil heart of unbelief, means here, an heart" Abjectâ fide Christi ad judaismum rediens," returning to judaism after throwing away the faith of Christ.* Mr. Henry says, that An evil heart of unbelief is at the bottom of all our sinful departures from GOD; it is a leading step to apostasy; if once we allow ourselves to distrust God, we may soon desert him."—And his observation on this passage is, that "CHRISTIAN BRETHREN have need to be CAUTIONED against APOSTASY." Bishop Hall saith, "Take heed, brethren, lest after this holy profession, made by you, there be found in any of you an evil and unbelieving heart, to fall

*Pol. Syn. in loc. Hen on the places

away, and depart from the colours of the living God, to take part with infidelity." Mr. Wilson, author of the Christian Dictionary saith, "To depart from God, signifies to fall away from GoD by infidelity." Mr. Perkins says, "The author to the Hebrews shews five degrees of apostasy, by which the illumination of the gospel is turned into darkness; Heb. iii. 12. saying, Take heed lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, &c. Where the first degree is, consenting unto sin, being deceived with the temptation to it. The sccond is, hardness of heart upon prac tices of sin. Thirdly, the heart being hardened becomes unbelieving, and calls the truth of God into question. Fourthly, by unbelief it becomes evil, having a base conceit of the gospel. Fifthly, this evil heart brings a man to apostasy and falling from God, which is the extinguishing of the light

*Bp. Hall on the place. See Christian Dictionary on the Epistle to the Hebrews.

of the gospel."* The calvinian author of Critica Sacra says, it signifies, A SPIRITUAL DEPARTURE FROM GOD, "Heb. iii. 12." This witness is true. For according to the apostle, it is the HEART which departs from God in the act of unbelief. Now, as faith is the root of all inward holiness, and this the root of all outward obedience; so unbelief is the root of all inward unholiness, and this of all outward disobedience. Therefore whenever the heart departs from faith to unbelief, the consequence will be, that it will depart from holiness to sin : and then, in consequence of this, there will be an outward departure from an holy, to an unholy conversation. Again, the very learned Mr. John Gregory, formerly chaplain of Christ-church, Oxford, tells us, "The Arabic is,"

"An obdurate and unbelieving heart; and which goeth far, or QUITE away from the living GoD: on which he

*See Third Volume of Perkins's Works, page 174

observes, "This is that heart of unbelief which we are bid here to take heed of; this looseth ALL our hold, and UTTERLY estrangeth us from the life of God, and leaveth us ALTOGETHER without him in the world."* The calvinian continuators of Pool say, that the departing from the living God here spoken of implies, "Turning away, standing off, and separating the heart; it implies in it a real, TOTAL, and FINAL defection: actual and formal apostasy from him whom THEY HAD OWNED and RECEIVED.""So that to apostatize from him [Christ] and his religion, is to apostatize from Gon, and to renounce ETERNAL LIFE, and to subject themselves.to ETERNAL PUNISHMENT." This pas sage then, is another proof, that the apostle was speaking, not only of apostasy; but also, of TOTAL and FINAL apostasy.

4. Again, verse 13. "But exhort one another daily, while it is called To-day, lest any of you be hardened *Gregory on the place. See Pool's Comment on the place.

through the deceitfulness of sin. Estius, as quoted by Pool, says, that here we must understand by sin, "Hunc actum peccati, qui est deficere a Christo, ut precedentia et sequentia satis decla rant :* that act of sin, which consists in falling away from Christ, as what precedes and follows sufficiently declare. The original word, oxλnpuron, which is here rendered hardened, is the same as that in Acts xix. 9, where the unbelieving Jews, who would not receive Paul's preaching, are said to be hardened. Now concerning their hardness, we may observe three things: 1. They were so hardened, that they would not be persuaded to believe St. Paul's preaching. 2. They were so hardened as to blaspheme it before the multitude. 3. They were so hardened as to cause the apostle to give them up to a reprobate mind.-And, therefore, it seems that their disorder was incurable; that it was total and final hardness.

*Synop. Crit. in loc,