by it, and unprepared for it, or by judging themſelves miſtaken in -1.-/; forme” apprehenſions about it ; and thole faiſe Teachers th: bz this Opinion, did alſo perhaps ſo repreſent this coming in ſuck cerrow as to cauſe this Trouble ; as falſe Teachers in gener! are fic}; a5 270 ſaid to cauſe trouble, Gal, 1.7. and 5. 12. Though the coming c& Chriſt is in it ſelf rather the Saints Hope and Joy, than ground cf Trouble, as 1 Thef, 1, 10, and 4. 18, &c, And it may be ſome (id pre- tend for this Opinion the Spirit, or ſome Letter from the Apofle, ci- ther the foriner Epiftle to them, or ſome Letter that was forged, or ſome word he had ſpoken, or preached. And thoſe words as from us may rcter to all thele : The Spirit as from us; or Word, as ſr: #5; or Letter, as from us. ] Some extraordinary Revelation of the Spirit, which the falſe Teachers pretended to,eſpecially in the Primitive times, when they were more ordinary , as in the Church of Corinth, 1 Cor, 14. 6, and the Churches of Galaria, Gal. 3. 2, 5, ſome would pretend the Spirit that called Jeſus accurſed, 1 Cor, 12. 3, and therefore the A- poftle bids, Try the Spirit, 1 Fob. 4. 1. Simon Magus pretended to it,and had his Zelene, Montanus his Paractete, Mahomet his Dove : And the man of ſia pretends to the Spirit, though it is in truth the Spirit of An- tichrift, x Fob. 4. 3. and the Spirit of Satan in the next Chapter of this Epiſtle, as was foretol( that in the aſt times, there would ariſe ſeducing Spirits, 1 Tim, 4. 1. As there was in the times of the Old Teſtament falſe Prophets that pretended to the Spirit ; as 1 King. 22. 24. Micah 2, 11, And the very Heathen would pretend to Divine O- racles, Inſpirations, and Revelations, eſpecially their Kings and Law- gLVECS, as Numa, Pompilius, Licurgus, &c. and ſtill there are Enthuit- afts who make theſe pretences. m Are ayes, whereby ſome under- ſtand Calculation by Aftrological Rules, that the day of Chriſt was at nand; others render the word Reaſoning; and ſo from the declining 0t the vigour of the Earth, and the nearer approach of the Sun to it, as Prolomy obſerved in his time, or ſome other Natural cauſes ; they red- ſoned the coming of Chriſt, and the diſſolution of the World to bz nigh at hand; but rather we underſtand by it ſome word from the A- poſtles own mouth, which was pretended he had. ſpoken, or preache ſomewhere, though not written, As the Church of Xome pretends to Traditions, beſides the written word, vpon which they ground many of their Superfticions, and Idolatries, not warranted by Scripture. 4:5 the Jews had a ſecond Miſhnah, and their Caboals, collecied in part trom the ſayings of Moſes, or ſome other of their Prophets, Wien they did not write, 2 Some Letter that was ſent to them from 19i7'e hancl or other, or elſe by ſome forged Lecrer as from the Apoſiic Nimieit, 07 his former Epiſtle miſunderftood, 0 0bj, But is it not (ail 111. the day 0 the Lord, er the coming of the Lord is at band ? 1 C0r. 1G Vs ! Ueda 5» F4n.5.7,8. 1Per-4.7, Anſr, The word uſed in thole PIRcc5,Curers from this in the iext;z for it tignifies either that WHICH 15 acenalsy Pre”
{Ent, OF VETY NEAT It, as Rom, 8, 38, Gal, 1, 4. 4s that whic!) 15 /ajaw fi
Chap. 1
2 * That ye be not || ſoon ſhaken in mind z, or besy.,., troubled &, neither by ſpirit], nor by word #7, nor by 4.:;,, letter #, as from us, as that the day of Chriſt is at hand ,* 1
with the Winds, as falſe Dottrines tend to unſettle the mind, as Et," vt
iN.
tac, hap AY wb wa fred fndo nfs ab Aon «©
Is ME Nat, Way
l
Wchap. 11.
done preſently, is fpoken of as done, Fohn 17, 4. 2 Tim. 4. 7. Or thoſe places mean,this coming 1s at hand as to Goll's account of time,though mor as mens. And in tlat ſenſe Chriſt ſaith, 825014 I come quickiy, R-v, 22, Mnt the errour the Apoſtle warns them of, is, a3 if the com- ing of Chriſt would be in the Age wherein they lived, The Apoſtles 21! ſail char the coming of rhe Lord was at hand, but their right mean- ing was perverted to a fall» ſenſe, as ſeducers uſually do,
Let. 30 man deceive you o by any means p - for that dy {hall not come, except there come a falling away firſt 5, and that man of {in be revealed r, the ſon of per- dITION FS,
o Here tlie Apoſtle urgeth again his charge againſt t!is errour, thovzh in other words, and begins his arguments to retute ic. He had adjur'd them not to he ſhaken,and here he cautions them againſt being deccived, (forthe one makes way for the other 3) fo alſo #9: 10 be wrou- Hed, v:r, 2, for troubled minds are apt to be made a prey to ſeducers, And the caution in the Text proves that their ſhaking and trouble did ariſe from ſome deceivers that were amongſt them, rather than any miſunderſtanding of their own of what he wrote in the former Epiſtle about Chriſt's coming. To be ſhaken in mind is had, but to be deceived, is worſe; for it isa going out of the path,as the word ſignifies; and there- fore his caution againſt it is univerſal, both as to perſons and ways z Let 29 man deceive you,though he pretend to Revelations,or 15 of the great- etReputation in the Church. Either of Craft, Flattery,pretendingLove, or plauſible Arguments, or miſrepreſenting our words, or orging of ctters, or miſinterpreting ourEpiſtle to you,or any other part of SCrip- ture,or feigned Miracles,©c.Then he enters the Arguments to contute ir, hich are, 1,The general \poſtatie. 2.The Revelation of the man of fin,neither of theſe are yet,nor will he in this Age z and yet that dy ſhall 79: coire,till theſe Hoth firſt come,qThere is a ſupplement in ourT rantla-
tion,for in theGreet it is only For,except there come a falling awayfirſt,&C,