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of sins and consequent salvation may take place in a moment in the act of faith, and afterwards in the state or progression by the same act continued, preserved and retained, from the Holy Spirit, separate from the exercise of charity. And they who have once imbibed these doctrines afterwards make no account of sins before God, and so live in their uncleanness; and, because they have the art to confirm their tenets before the unlearned very ingeniously by falsifications of the Word, and before the learned by much sophistry, it is here said that the beast which came up from the bottomless pit overcame and killed the two witnesses.

But this is only exhibited among such as love to follow their own inclinations, being borne along by the delights of their lusts, and who, while thinking about salvation, nevertheless cherish those lusts in their hearts, and embrace their faith with both hands, seeing that they may be saved by uttering certain words with a tone of confidence, and need not attend to leading a life for the sake of God, but only for the sake of the world.

The third reason is, that they who, in the early part of life, have imbibed the internals of that faith which are called the mysteries of justification, on being afterwards advanced to some dignified office in the ministry, do not think in their hearts about God and heaven, but about themselves and the world; retaining only the mysteries of their faith for the sake of character, that they may be honored as wise men, and, by reason of their wisdom, be thought worthy of being rewarded