Of the l(nowledg, of (jod the Father~ ~mea111 as the Serpent beguiled Eve through his jilbtilty, Jo ;•our Minds jhauld be BooKH. carrup;ed from tl•e jimplicity that is in Chiji. Far if he that cameth, preacheth ana. L~ thcr Jefl#, whom we ha·ve not preac~ed, or if ;e receive another S~irit, which )'Chave not received, or a1;other GoJPel, zrhtch )'C have not accepted, ; •e nnght weD bear with f.im. That in thefc PaOages he glanceth at fame £1\feTeachers that had come in among them, as thote words, ve~f 4· If he that cameth to ) 'Oit preach, &c. evi– dently imply, That at !eafl: fuch were then abroad m the World, and have been in mher Churches, and were ready to come to them, whtch Pmd was a– fraid o£ But more plain and direa!y, verJ 13, 14, 15. For foch are folft Apo– pojilcs, dcceilful J'Vorkers, tra~Jforming thaJIJ!lves into the Apof!leJ of Chrifl. And 110 tJJarvel, for S,lfan himfelfu trans[ormed mto an Angel of Ltght. Therefore it;, 110 great Thing, if his Mmijiers alfo be tr,msformed as the Mwifee~·s of Rtghte01tf ,;cfs l>:hofe end fbdl be accardmg tathm Worf<!. And thefe Expreffions do 1 m. por;, that the Doarines which thefe had vented concerning Chnfl:, were framed and railed up to fo htgh an appearance of Spmtualnefs, as were not only apt to take with Believers, and deceive them, as verJ 3· which made Paul fo jealous over them, vcrJ 2. but further, they teemed fo Angelica] and Seraphick, tbat in thcfe if ever in any (his Depths, as they are called) Satan had !hewed his Depths: and had play'd the Counterfeit of an :Angel of Light, and trar.sformed himfdf thereinto in his Inventions of lhem.. And when yet, as Pa11l plainly tells them, that it was but a Counterfeit Chnll, another JejiiJ than he had pre.ched another Spirit, and another GoJPel. So as the Chrifl: which thefe falfe Apollle; had drefl: up, had fo high an appearance of Chrifi's Spirit and Gofpel, as teemed to vie with that true Jefus, eS~r. which the Apofiles taught for GlOl'y and Spiri– tual Excellencies. And this alto, that new form of an Oath, which the Apollle uf..th upon that coherence, vcrf 10. a new one framed to this occafion, as the Tmth of Ch>·ift i< in me, lays he, CN. which he !peaks to import, that in thole· other Teachers there was a falfe Chrifl:, and not the True. And to atfea tbe Carinthian; the more, and arm them with warinefs againfl:, and fhew them the danger of entertaining any new Ooarines about Chrifl:'s Perfon, he prefemeth and enforceth the moment hereof, under the fimilitude of Marriage, I amjealaM ever J'" with godly Jealaufte, (the fubjdl: which Jealoufie is encreafed about, is fear of what may rife to the breach of the Marriage-Knot) lefl: you fbould en– terta·,n the embrace> of 'mother; and fo it follows, For 1 have ejjoHJed )Oil to cne Husband, and I would prefent )'Oit a rhajie Virgin to hint; that is, to Chrift, to mlom as ;et )Oit are but ejpoufed. And it is as if he had faid, There is but one Spiritual Hu>band, and there can be but one, your only Husband Chrifl:. 1t is not as in the Cafe of other Marriages, if you have not fuch a Man, you may have another as good, yea perhaps a better. But if you mifrake here in ob– taining this one only-one for your Husband, you are undone. There can be no greater Errors committed in Marriage, than Error Perfon.e, a mifl:ake ofthe Per· fon you are to marry; and when thinking you marry fuch a Man, you marry another. Yea, and tf after Marnage to one Husband, you fbould be deceived, as many Women (as Stories and Experience fbew) have been, whm their Hufbands have been long abient and out of fight; others that have had fome rtfcrnblance of their true Hufband, or tome privy Mark of him, have put them· fdves upon their Wives, and they entertained their Embraces; How fatal a thing is this? But I fear, lays he, verJ3· left by an)' means, ITS the Serpent heguiled Eve (hra11gh his ji1btilty ~ fo )'Ollr Minds jho11ld be cormpted from the jmplicity that u m Chrijt. The Devil bath a fpectal mahce at the Perfon of Chril:t, of all other Truths concerning him; and to put this bigh ahufe upon him, fpecially goes about to decetve hts Spoufe tn hJS Perfon, to mtfreprefent him and deform him ; yea, and if poffibly he can etfeCl: it, put this trick upon him, and great tmpol:turc on her, that 01e fbould take another Jefus for him; the Devil's Jefus inl:tead of God's. And to effeCt this of all other, he will ufe his utmol:t fubtilty. And havingbeen himfelf an Angel of Light, be will transform himfelf in pre· tended Mamfcftauons, and Incomes, and Ravtfbments of Spirit, that !ball ac– company the Entertainment and Embraces of his Chrifl:. He will ufe all means (if by any means, C1ys Paul) to fecond, credit, and help forward this new Match. And
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