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but the latter,—wherein "there shall be a departing from the faith, and a giving heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of devils, speaking lies in hypocrisy," and so on. This is only his description of the latter times, or those of antichrist; and we are given to understand that there are last times coming, which will be worse! And surely it may be feared, these are our times. For when men forget all rules of law and nature, and break all the bonds that fallen man hath on him, obscuring the remainder of the image of God in their nature, which they can not blot out, and yet shall endeavor to blot out, "having a form of godliness without the power,"—surely these are sad tokens of the last times!

And indeed the character wherewith this spirit and principle is described in that place of Scripture is so legible and visible that he who runs may read it to be among us. For by such "the grace of God is turned into wantonness," and Christ and the Spirit of God made a cloak for all villainy and spurious apprehensions. And tho nobody will own these things publicly as to practise, the things being so abominable and odious; yet the consideration how this principle extends itself, and whence it had its rise, makes me think of a second sort of men, tending in the same direction, who, it is true, as I said, will not practise or own these things, yet can tell the magistrate "that he hath nothing to do with men holding such notions: these, forsooth, are matters of conscience and opinion: they are matters of re-