2 Peter ii. 4 — 9. Jf God spared not the angels that sinned, bat cast them down to hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment ; and spared not the old world, but saved Noah the eighth person, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood npon the nor Id of the 7in(rodly, and turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah into ashes, condemned them 2uith an overlhrou', making them an example unto those that after should^ live ungodly : and de- livered just Lot, vexed with the filthy conversation of the wicked ; for that righteous man dwelling amongst them, in seeing and hearing, vexed his righteous soul from day to day ■with their unlawful deeds :) the Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations, and to reserve the ungodly unto the day of judgment to be punished.
THERE were in the Apostles' days a set of reli- gious professors, such as, I would fondly hope, scarcely exist at this time. If we take the chapter before us, and the Epistle of St. Jude, and mark the characters which are there portrayed, we shall not know where to look for persons of a similar descrip- tion : or, if we find a few, they are so few and so insignificant, that they have no influence whatever in the Church. If they were at all numerous, we should not wonder that " the way of truth should be evil spoken of"." But what has been, may be : and, if vre be not alive to the dangers of an Antinomian spirit, we may yet see *' false teachers amongst us, privily bringing in their damnable heresies, and
denying
" ver. 2.