‛ Ο ΑΝΤΙΧΡΙΣΤΟΣ. The Great ANTICHRIST REVEALED, Before this time, never discovered. AND, Proved to be neither Pope, nor Turk, nor any Single Person, nor the Succession of any one Monarch, or Tyrant in any Policy; BUT A collected pack, or multitude of Hypocritical, Heretical, Blasphemous, and most scandalous wicked men, that have fulfilled all the Prophecies of the Scriptures, which have forespoken of the coming of the great Antichrist; and especially, have united and combined themselves together by a solemn League and Covenant to slay the two witnesses of God; Moses and Aaron, as Christ interpreteth them; (They have Moses and the Prophets Luke 16.29.) that is, The supreme Magistrate of the Commonwealth, and the chief Pastors and Governors of the Church of Christ. And the Christian world is requested to judge, Whether the Assembly of Presbyterians consulting at Westminster, Together with the Independents, Anabaptists, and Lay-Preachers, be not the false Prophet, and the mystical soul of that great Antichrist; And Whether the prevalent Faction of the long Parliament, (termed of late the Rump Parl.) and their Adherents, that killed the two witnesses of Jesus Christ, 1. Charles the first, King of Great Britain, and in him, civilly, all his Magistrates; 2. William Laud Archbishop of Canterbury, and civilly all the suppressed Bishops and silenced Preachers of these 3 kingdoms; be not the gross and visible body of the same Antichrist. By Gr. Williams, L. Bishop of Ossory. Impii homines, qui dum volunt esse mali, nolunt esse veritatem, qua condemnantur mali. August. Me, me, adsum qui feci, in me convertite ferrum. Virg. Jehovae Liberatori. London, Printed at the charge of the Author, 1660. A strong faith fenced with a golden helmet, Need not fear the beast his hatchet, But his wicked deeds will ring, And show the praises of the King, Whom the cruel beast hath killed, And all the Prophecies fulfilled, Of our blessed Saviour Christ, Touching the accursed Antichrist. The Authors Protestation. I Call God to be my witness, and heaven and earth to testify against me, if I aim at any thing, or desire any thing, by the publishing of these books, but the glory of God, the true service of Jesus Christ, and the good, the peace, and the happiness of the Church of Christ, and the people of these Kingdoms, without envy to any man's good, or hatred to any man's person, or the ambition and desire of any place, profit or preferment; for that, I thank God, I have learned, in any state to be contented, Et contemnere contemni. The Authors Prayers, which Morning and Evening, he useth to say to Almighty God, and to his Saviour, Jesus Christ. The Authors first address to Almighty God. Our Father which art in Heaven, etc. O Eternal, Almighty Lord God, our good God, sweet Saviour Jesus Christ, Holy and blessed Spirit, glorious Trinity, three persons and one God, have mercy upon us most miserable sinners, have mercy upon us most miserable sinners: O Lord God pardon and forgive us all our sins; those great and many sins, that we have most heinously committed against thy divine Majesty; Lord enter not into judgement with us thy servants, for no flesh is righteous in thy sight; and deal not not with us according to the multitude of our transgressions, but according to the multitude of thy mercies and compassion do away our offences, and give us thy grace that ever hereafter we may serve thee in holiness and righteousness all the days of our life; make us truly thankful unto thee for all those mercies and favours, and loving kindnesses, that thou hast continually so graciously, and so mercifully bestowed upon us; for thou hast created us after thine own image, thou hast redeemed us with the precious blood of thy dear Son Jesus Christ; and thou hast called us and sanctified us in some measure, with the graces of thy most blessed Spirit; thou hast delivered us out of all our troubles, from all dangers, and from the hands of all that hate us, from the snare whereunto we were fallen, and from those dangerous Sea-voyages, wherein we had utterly perished, if thou hadst not most mercifully preserved us: thou hast given us means and maintenance whereby we were enabled to serve thee, and thou hast restored the same to us again, when we had utterly lost it; thou hast given us faith to believe in thy Son Jesus Christ, hope to attain to eternal life, love and charity both towards thee and our neighbours for thy sake, repentance for our former sins, and a resolution ever hereafter to lead a holy and a godly life; thou hast blest us in all our ways, prospered all our journeys, delivered us from all evil, helped us in all our necessities, preserved us in health, and restored thy servants to life, when they were at the point of death; for all which, and for all other thy mercies and loving kindnesses, both spiritual and temporal, we hearty praise thy glorious name, and magnify thee with all our souls; we honour thee, we bless thee, we praise thee, we thank thee, and we will magnify thee for the same for ever and ever. And we do most humbly beseech thee, of thy goodness, O Lord, to continue still thy loving kindness towards us, and to preserve us still from all evil and mischief, from all sin, from the crafts and assaults of the devil, from thy wrath, and from everlasting damnaation; save and defend us from shame, reproach, and discredit in this world, from violent and sudden death, and from the malice and hatred of all our enemies; O let them never prevail against us, let them never have the upper hand over us, and let them not say, There, there, so would we have it; neither let them say, We have devoured them: but, be thou with us, be our helper and defender, be our shield, and our buckler, be our strong Tower, whereunto we may always resort, and we will not fear what man can do unto us: We pray thee also, good God, give me wisdom and understanding; O Lord I beseech thee, give me wisdom and understanding, memory, boldness, and utterance; help and assist me at all times, and in all places, to preach thy holy word for the glory of thy name, and the benefit of thy people. And as thou hast helped and assisted me the last time, and all other times heretofore, for which I do hearty praise and thank thy glorious name; so I do most humbly beseech thee to help and assist me the next time, and at all other times hereafter, that I may set forth thy praise and glory: bless O Lord, the holy Catholic Church, bless and preserve thy servant Charles, that is our lawful King; and all the servants of Jesus Christ, that are with him; comfort them now after the time thou hast chastised them, and for the years, wherein they have suffered adversity; give them patience to endure whatsoever thou layest upon them, and in thy good time deliver them out of all their troubles; and restore them to their just rights again; As for their enemies cloth them with shame & confusion; And for those that trouble them, & wrong them, open their eyes, that they may see their own most odious, & most abominable sins, touch their hearts with the finger of thy holy Spirit, that they may be truly penitent and sorrowful for all their wicked ways, and that they may turn unto thee with weeping, fasting, and prayer. And though we be a sinful nation, a nation laden with iniquity, corrupt children, and the seed of evil doers, yet do not thou cast us off from being thine inheritance; Let not thy wrath burn like fire, and let not thine anger continue from Generation to Generation, but be thou pleased and reconciled with us in the death & passion of Jesus Christ, and for his sake be thou merciful unto us, and forgive us all our sins, and give us thy grace, that ever hereafter we may serve thee in holiness and righteousesse all the days of our life; make us more and more thankful unto thee for all those favours and mercies, and loving kindnesses, that thou hast continually so graciously, and so mercifully bestowed upon us; increase our faith more and more, stir up our hope, and kindle our charity both towards thee and our neighbours for thy sake; give us true repentance for our former sins, and a constant resolution ever hereafter to lead a holy and an upright life. Grant us that means and maintenance whereby we may be enabled to serve thee; not too much, lest we be too proud, and so forget thee, nor too little, lest we should want, and so despair of thy mercy: but of thy goodness grant us that competency and sufficiency, whereby we may be enabled to serve thee, and not be chargeable, but rather helpful unto others. Bless O Lord my family, my wife and children, and all that belong unto me; Bless the two Universities, of Cambridge and Oxford: And bless likewise the Tribe of Levi, the Ministers of the Gospel, that do continually wait at thine Altar, and especially those reverend Bishops, that are yet alive in these dominions: and thou that art the Judge of all the world, be a just and a righteous Judge, betwixt us and them, that have taken away the reward of our labours, and have hindered us to discharge our duties, and caused us, that have sat in scarlet, to embrace dunghills; we do acknowledge and confess, that we have most worthily deserved all the miseries that are come upon us, and much more, if thou shouldest deal with us according to our deserts, and punish us according to the multitude of our sins. But we know, Lord, that thou desirest not the death of a sinner, thou takest no pleasure in the destruction of the living, but rather that they should turn from their wicked ways and live; and if thou, Lord, shouldst be extreme to mark what is done amiss, O Lord who may abide it? when as the best of us all is not able to answer Thee one of a thousand; and therefore we do most humbly and most earnestly beseech thee, not to deal with us according to our deserts, nor to punish us according to the multitude of our sins; but according to the multitude of thy mercies, to do away our offences, and to give us thy grace, that ever hereafter we may serve thee in holiness and righteousness all the days of our life. Make an end of this wasting division that is amongst us, free us from these dangers, and deliver us from these troubles; O let not our enemies still prevail to triumph over us, and to trample us under feet, as mire and clay in the streets, but let the light of thy countenance shine on us, let thine ears hear our prayers, let our cry come unto thee, and let thine eyes behold our miseries, and our troubles, which we suffer at the hands of them that hate us: And as thou didst deliver the Israelites thy people from the oppressions of the Egyptians; so deliver us, O Lord our God, out of all our troubles and afflictions, and let not our sins hinder thy mercics towards us, but be thou gracious and merciful unto us, to pardon and to forgive all our sins, and to make speed to save us, to make haste to help us; because we have none in heaven nor in earth, to make our complaint unto, but only unto thee, O God; and therefore we do most humbly, and most earnestly beseech thee to be our good God, gracious and merciful unto us; to pardon, and to forgive us all our sins, to deliver us out of all our troubles, and to restore every man to his full and perfect right again. So shall we praise and glorify thee, O Lord; we shall honour and magnify thee in the great congregation, through Jesus Christ our Lord: to whom with thee O Father, and thee O blessed Spirit, three persons and one immortal, invisible, indivisible, and only one wise God, be given and ascribed from the botof our hearts, as is most due unto thee, all possible thanks, praise, power, might, majesty, dominion, and glory, both now and evermore, world without end. Amen. O eternal God, Son of God, Lamb of God, that takest away the sins of the world, I pray thee take away my sins, and call them not to remembrance to lay the punishment thereof either upon me, or upon any other for my sake; but be thou gracious and merciful unto me, to pardon and forgive me all my sins, and to give me thy grace, that I may lead all my life according to thy most holy and blessed will. And now Lord, I do most humbly and earnestly beseech thee to accept this morning sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving, which I offer unto thy divine majesty, from the bottom of my heart, for all those mercies, favours, and loving kindness, both spiritual and temporal, which thou hast showed unto me from the hour of my birth to this very day; and aspecially for these favours, that thou hast delivered me from all dangers, both by Sea and Land, and hast brought me hither safe, to give thanks and praise unto thy holy name: thou hast also freed me from the fiery purgatory, from the Labyrinth of Lawsuits, and thou hast finished my business according to my desire, and far better than I could expect; thou hast helped and assisted me to preach thy word, unto thy people, and hast granted me their love and favour for the same. O Lord my God, I do thank thee with all my heart, and praise thee with all my soul, for these, as for all other thy mercies that thou hast showed unto me; and if it be thy blessed will, to grant me that favour, which I desire of thee, that I may not offend thee; I shall thank thee while I live, and praise thee while I breath; but let thy will be done, and not mine; for mine is frail, and thou knowest what is best, which I do not; and therefore I humbly beseech thee to give me thy grace, that whatsoever thou dost, I may wholly submit myself to thy blessed will, and praise thee for the same while I live: And for mine endeavours to explain those mysteries, which thou hast revealed unto thy servant John, I do most humbly, and most earnestly entreat thee, to inspire me with thy blessed Spirit, and enlighten me with thy grace, that I may truly understand them, & rightly explain them unto thy people; and if thou seest it for thy glory, and the benefit of thy Church, I pray thee help and assist me, strengthen and enable me to finish the same, and to publish them unto the world; or, if thou seest it not for thy glory and the benefit of thy Church; I beseech thee, let them be like the unntmely fruit of a woman, that perisheth before it seethe the Sun; because I desire nothing hereby, neither praise nor profit, but only to discharge my duty to the uttermost of mine ability, for the setting forth of thy praise and glory, and the benefit of thy Church and people, by reducing those that are in error unto the true faith, and the right service of thee, O God, and confirming those that are in the right; to continue constant therein unto the end. And to this end, I beseech thee to restore our King and Governor, and all the exiled persons that are with him, unto their places and dignities again; that they may be the instruments whereby thy service may be rectified, thy people truly instructed, and thy name religiously glorified; by the acknowledgement of thy justice, in our punishment for our transgressions, thy great mercy and goodness in relieving and helping us in our necessities, and thine infinite power, wisdom, and goodness in suppressing our enemies, and delivering us out of their hands, that we might serve thee without fear in holiness and righteousness all the days of our life. Hear us O Lord our God, and grant these our requests unto us, and whatsoever else thou knowest to be requisite and necessary for us for Jesus Christ his sake, and dispose of me to do all things according to thy most holy and blessed will; so shall I praise and glorify thee for ever and ever. Amen. TO THE KING'S Most Excellent MAJESTY. May it please your Majesty, MY present mean condition bids me to lay my hand upon my mouth, to stop my speech to so high a Majesty; but my place and calling chargeth me to tell you, what you have best reason to know, how the long Parliament have put your most religious and renowned Father, of ever blessed memory, to death, the first and chiefest of the two witnesses of Jesus Christ, which, as the Angel saith, the beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit, should kill; And now, according to his promise, God hath raised this first witness in your Majesty, to stretch forth your royal hand to the other witness; and as Christ said unto S. Peter, Tu conversus, confirma fratres, so, your Majesty being risen, it is our undoubted hope you will put life into the other slain witness of Jesus Christ; and like another good Josias, purge the Church from all false Priests, and restore the Episcopal government to its pristine lustre, for the building of God's Church; And the good will of him that dwelled in the bush, and walked with your Majesty in all your travels, will dwell with you, and bless you, and preserve you from all dangers; for he tells us plainly that he will honour them that honour him, and they that honour not him, shall be lightly regarded. And therefore I could wish, that all the Monarches of the world, would consider David's entrance into his kingdom, and Jeroboams entrance into his kingdom; how like one another almost, they were in all things; for 1. 1 Sam. 16. David is said to be the son of Jesse, none as I conceive of the prime Princes of Israel; 1 Reg 11.26. and Jeroboam is said to be the son of Nebat, and to be a mighty man of valour, and of an eminent place in King solomon's Court. 2. 1 Sam. 16.13. The Prophet Samuel told David that he should be King; 2 Reg. 11.31. and the Prophet Ahijah told Jeroboam, that God would make him King. 3. 1 Chron. 17.23. The Lord told David that he would build him an house and settle the throne on his seed; 2 Reg. 11.38. and the Lord told Jeroboam, that if he would walk in his ways, he would build him a sure house, and would be with him, and would give Israel unto him. 4. 1 Sam. 13.14. The kingdom was transferred unto David for the disobedience of Saul, 1 Reg. 11.12. and the kingdom was conferred upon Jeroboam for the sin of Solomon. 5. 2 Sam. 4.7. David took away the kingdom from Ishbosheth the son of Saul; and Jeroboam took away his kingdom from Rehoboam the son of Solomon. 2 Reg. 12.20. 6. David was elected and chosen to be their King, by all the tribes of Israel in Hebron; 2 Sam. 5.1. & 1 Chron. 11.1. and Jeroboam was elected and chosen to be their King, by all the ten tribes of Israel; and the Prophet forbade Rehoboam and all Juda to war against Jeroboam for their revolt, 1 Reg 21.20. v. ●4. because this thing was from the Lord. 7. 2 Sam. 17.8. David was a mighty man of war, and so was Jeroboam a mighty man of valour. 1 Reg. 11.28. But you may observe this difference betwixt David and Jeroboam, that David had many wives and concubines, which we do not read that Jeroboam had; and David committed more personal and particular sins, as his adultery, and the murdering of Urias, and the numbering of Israel, and his rash judgement against honest Mephibosheth, than we find in all the 22. years' reign of Jeroboam And yet David hath this Elegy and commendation, to be a man according to Gods own heart, and God hath settled and established his kingdom, and his throne to him and his seed for ever; but Jeroboam is said to have made Israel to sin, and the Prophet told his wife, that the Lord would bring evil upon the house of Jeroboam, and would take away the remnant of his house, as a man taketh away the dung, till it be all gone. 1 Reg. 14.10. And what is the reason of all this, that David, who seemed to be more vicious, and tainted with more sins than Jeroboam was, should notwithstanding be so perpetually blessed, and the other so severely and so suddenly punished? It may be answered, that although David had, as well as other men, many humane frailties, wherein it cannot be said, he was according to Gods own heart; yet his principal care was, and his heart was wholly set, to see the true God rightly honoured, and his service to be duly and truly performed, as you may find how zealous he was to bring the Ark of God, and to set it in his place, in the midst of his Tabernacle that he had pitched for it, and to offer burnt-offerings, and peace-offerings, before the Lord, and how desirous did he show himself to build God a Temple? and notwithstanding all his great affairs, and his many and mighty wars, and abundance of troubles; how he composed his Psalms, and directed them to the chief Musicians, Asaph, Altaschith, Jeduthun, and the rest; and ordered the Priests and Levites to discharge the service of God and of the Tabernacle, according as the Lord had commanded the same to be observed by his servant Moses. So careful was he at all times, and before all things, to have the service of God rightly and duly performed; And therefore, herein he is said to be a man according to Gods own heart, and God blessed him, and established him and his seed in his throne for ever. But Jeroboam, though perhaps he was freer, and more abstemious from many other sins, then either David himself, or many other men were; and it may be, a very just moral man; yet, when he came into his kingdom; he wholly neglected to see the Lords service truly executed, and out of a politic conceit, as he conceived, to secure himself and his posterity in his newly got power and authority, he cast out the Priests of the Lord, the sons of Aaron, that were the lawful Governors, and the true servers of God, and gathered together a company of novices and young fellows, the lowest and basest of the people, that were not of the sons of Aaron, and that for some small preferment, would both say and do, whatsoever he pleased, and serve, what god soever he commanded, and with what service soever he liked, he made them Priests of his high places, to offer sacrifices to his golden gods: And therefore is he said to make Israel to sin, and God soon rooted him and his posterity out of that kingdom, that God had given unto him. And so he can do with all those Kings and Monarches, whatsoever they be, that by their timorous conniving with Sects, or a popular favouring either the greater part, or the stronger side, do think it the most politic course, to be securely established, and so suffer the service of God, to be either neglected, or perverted, and the faithful Governors of his Church, to be suppressed, through the impetuous importunity of aspiring emulators, or the clamorous desire of ignorant vulgars'; whereas the best policy in the world, to preserve them is, to be men of courage, to uphold the true service of God; this fortitude being a virtue most necessary both for the Prince and the Preacher, quia timiditas eorum, est calamitas multorum, because their fear will become the fall of many; when the one dares not say the truth, and the other will not do what is just, or will do what is unjust, for very fear: whereas the upholding of God's right service, is able to uphold them against all opponents. And therefore, that the true service of God might be preserved, uncorrupted, and unchanged, by all Kings and Monarches, which is the chiefest thing that God requireth at their hands, and is the principal thing that can preserve them in their Majesty, and perpetuate the same unto their posterity, it is most requisite, they should be very careful in the choice of their spiritual teachers and guides, to direct them for the preservation of the true worship of God; for we know the Arian Bishops made Constantius an Arian Emperor, and the Priests of Baal made Ahab and Jezabell, so zealously affected to the service of Baal, and so the Popish Priests make Papists, and the Runagadoes out of the Church do, when they return, make Sects and Factions in the Church; and therefore, as it had been good for Ahab, if he would have harkened to Elias, and Micaiah, as he did to the Priests of Baal, and good for Constantius, if he had as well favoured the Orthodox, as he did the Heterodox, and Arian Bishops; so it will be good, and the best course to guide all Kings, Monarches, and Governors of the people, for the settling of the true service of God, to give ear unto, and to countenance those, who are appointed by God, to direct them in God's service, rather than to any others; for the grave and reverend Governors of the Church, are like the discreet Counselors of King Solomon, and will advise them not to listen, nor to rely so much upon the directions of any novices, which may prove like the counsel of those young favourites of Rehoboam. Thus I have freely expressed my mind to your Majesty, so plain, that he which runs may read it, and reading it, may easily understand it; and I humbly beseech you to bear with my plain dealing; for, though it behoves not us to polupragmatize in things that are beyond our line, and without the compass of our calling, and to intermeddle with the civil Government; yet, as John the Baptist told Herod of his duty to God, so it behoveth us, with the spirit of Elias, to inform our Kings & our Governors, how they should uphold God's service; or if we neglect the same, for fear of their displeasure, we shall make ourselves liable to the displeasure of God Almighty; and so, as Lucian saith, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, shunning the smoke of man's anger, we shall fall into the fire of God's fury, or as Job saith, timentes pruinam, opprimemur à nive that is, as Saint Gregory moralizeth it, by fearing the frost of man's hatred, which we might tread under our feet, we shall be oppressed and swallowed up with the snow of God's vengeance that falleth down from heaven upon our heads, and we cannot avoid it. And therefore, as Saint Clemens saith, quae vobis expedire novimus, tacere non possumus; we must needs tell you what we conceive makes for your happiness; so I humbly beseech your Majesty to raise the slain witnesses, which the cruel beast hath killed, and to redress in God's service, what the long Parliament did amiss, and so God will bless you and yours, which is the daily prayer of Your Majesty's most Humble, Faithful, and most dutiful Subject, Gr. Ossory. To the High, and most Honourable COURT OF PARLIAMENT. The humble address of Gruffith Williams, L. Bishop of Ossory. May it please your Honours, THe Spirit of God long ago hath foretold it, out of his grrat love unto his Church, what sad accidents, and heavy disasters, should fall upon her for the times to come, even to the end of the world; and amongst all the rest of her crosses, that she must avoidable undergo; this is none of the left, if it be not of greatest importance, that the beast which ascendeth out of the bottomless pit, which is interpreted to be the man of sin, and the child of perdition, as Saint Paul calleth him, that is, the Great Antichrist, should kill the two witnesses of Jesus Christ; that is, 1. The Monarchy, or supreme Monarch, that hath the sovereign Majesty, and the supremest power, to rule the people, and to place other subordinate Magistrates and officers under him, for the execution of justice in all the parts of his dominions. 2. The Hierarchy or Episcopal government of God's Church, which is as requisite for the Church, as the Monarchy is for the Commonwealth; for the Church of Christ is said to be God's vineyard, and the vineyard must be well fenced, or, if the hedge be broken down, all the wild beasts of the Forest will destroy the vine; so must the Church be well fenced and guarded, by wise, discreet and careful Governors, (which are as the fence and hedges,) that by their spiritual Courts and censures, do keep out all Sectaries, and heretics, and all errrours and heresies, and false doctrine, from the Vineyard of God, which is the Church of Christ. And if these hedges and fences of God's Church, the Bishops and Governors thereof, be broken down, their Court suppressed, and themselves nullified and annihilated, as that long Parliament did, it is as impossible, to keep out Sects, Heretics, and false Prophets from the Church, as it is to keep the civil state, and commonwealth in peace, and to have justice and equity duly preserved among all men, without the civil Magistrates, and their Courts of justice: for as these protect the innocent, and punish the Malesactors, with the powerful sword of justice; so must the Bishops and Governors of the Church, which are best able to judge of divine questions, defend the truth, and, as Christ whipped the buyers and sellers out of the Temple, so must they by their censures, whip all those Sectaries and Heteticks, that will not other wise by fair means be driven, out of God's Church; because, as Saint Bernard saith, qui nolunt duci, debent trahi. And it is not unknown to any, that hath taken notice of the transactions of these times, how that long, lasting, and intended to be an endless everlasting Parliament, hath killed our most heroical, religious, and renowned King, the most constant Martyr, and the first and chiefest of the two witnesses of Jesus Christ, and also Doctor William Laud Archbishop of Cantcrbury, and suppressed all the Bishops, that were the other witness of Christ. But our good God hath promised, that he would resuscitate and revive the slain and slaughtered Witnesses, and restore them to the Church, and their charge again; Revel. 11.11, 12. And now you see, how the wise and great God, whose ways are in the seas, his paths in the great waters, and his footsteps are not known, hath by unlikely, unprobable, and almost, in man's judgement, impossible ways, through the many many transmutations of things, and alterations of governments, brought his own purposes to this pass, to make you the instruments, to effect his will, to perform his promise, and to be that Cloud, in which, and by which, the two slain Witnesses shall ascend to heaven; chapt. 11. verse 12. and hath given you power and authority, and enabled you to do the same. And now, most honourable, and most renowned Patriots, you have most justly, most religiously, and most gloriously, to your everlasting praise, revived the first and chief Witness of Jesus Christ, and restored the government of these nations to be Monarchical, that doth most resemble God himself, which is the sole Monarch of all the world, and is the government that the most nations of all the world hath ever used, and especially this kingdom, since the first peopling of it; and you have put the Crown upon His head, to whom your wisdoms knew, It justly belonged, which was the only way to bring Peace, and to make these kingdom's happy. It resteth, that the other Witness of Christ be revived, and the Government of the Church be restored, as it hath been ever since the Apostles time, to be Episcopal; and so to raise the Bishops, and other Ministers, their dependants (that, as yet, lie unburied in the streets of the great City) to their pristine dignity, to their offices, their authority, and their former estates; for their enabling to discharge their duties in the government of God's Church, they having suffered wrongs and indignities enough already. And I hope your wisdoms will direct you, to let the Ark of God be carried upon the Levite's shoulders, as the Lord commandeth, and suffer the worship and service of God to be used, as it was in the reign of Queen Elizabeth, King James, and King Charles, and confirmed by all the Acts of Parliaments, and royal edicts in their times; and not to suffer the depravers of God's honour, and disturbers of the Peace of the Church, out of any singularity or sinister end, either to suppress the same, or any ways to alter it, or any part of it, unless your wisdoms do appoint a full and lawful Synod, congregated after the usual manner of this Church, to consider what is fit, if any thing be found fitting to be added, diminished, or altered therein; for this care of God's service, to uphold the same in its integrity and purity, is the only thing that will bring a blessing, and continue the happiness of this, or any other nation: and they are to do the same, to whom God hath committed the government of his Church, and the teaching of his people. And because of the multiplicity of Sects, and diversity of opinions that have sprung in this our Church since the kill of the witnesses, and that the faith of Christ is to be persuaded, by the word of God, and not forced by the sword of man; I humbly beseech you, to grant such toleration, as your wisdoms shall think fitting, to such weak and tender consciences, as cannot, on the sudden, comply with us in our service to God, until that by a friendly conference, painful preaching, and writing of learned books, we captivate their understanding, and bring them so to the truth, and true faith of Christ, and service of God; and not by rigid ways; and too severe censures and punishments, to compel them, either to be hypocrites in our Church, or Apostates, to run out of our Church. For I would not have the people of God to be driven, hurried, and harrased, like as we drive wild beasts, but to be led gently, and eafily, like sheep; Leni spiritu, non dura manu, by an inward sweet influence, and not by any outward violence. And here I humbly beseech your Honours to give me leave to tell you; what I am not suffered to be silent, videlicet, that to take away the Lands and possessions of men, that never rebelled, nor offered any violence, nor the least wrong, to any of our Protestant people in Ireland, but relieved them, and hindered others as much as they could, to abuse them, and yet to dispossess, and to cast them out of their inheritances, because they were Papists, and professed themselves Roman Catholics (as the long Parliament, and their subordinate instruments in Ireland have done, to the utter ruin of many ancient families, both of British and English extract) is not only, as I conceive, most unjust, but also contrary to all Christianity, and fare enough from humanity itself. When the Apostle bids us, to honour all men, that is, because they are men, be they of what religion soever they please, their different sense should not make us to destroy them, so long as they live peaceably amongst us, as you know the Sodomites permitted Lot, that professed not their religion, and the severe Pharisees suffered both the Sadduces and Essaei, to enjoy both their lands and their estates, without troubling them for their religion; and would you make the Christian religion more unjust, and worse than these? Sure none would do that, but the great Antichrist, that would hinder all, to think well of the religion of Christ. Therefore I hope your wisdoms and justice will be so far from confirming any injustice done by that long Parliament, or their under-agents, either to these displanted Irish, or ejected Clergy, or any others, that you will christianly redress, what they have so unjustly done amiss: lest the continuance of these crying wrongs here on earth, do pull down upon us all the flying vengeance of God, Vivat Rex, currat lex, fiat justitia & ruat mundus. from heaven. Because the good God is just, and loveth justice, hating all oppressions and wrongs; and therefore, as I would not belie the Father of lies, so I would not do any injustice to the very devils; and let no sinister aspect bent you from the strait rule of justice, and if you will not redress the too much wrong that we have suffered already, I beseech you confirm them not by any new laws, to make yourselves partakers of their sins, and to make us still to cry, with the souls under the Altar, how long Lord, holy and true, but let us have the benefit of our old laws, that were justly made, and if you will not nullify all the acts that are without our late King's assent, or perhaps cannot do it, because so many of that long Parliament, are members of this present Parliament, contrary to the desires of many, yet let the justice of our old laws still continue; and we shall still continue our prayers to God, that he may still continue his blessings both to you and yours, which is and shall be, the daily prayers of Your most humble, and faithful Orator, to serve you; Gr. Ossory. Gentle and Christian READER. THis book, as very many can bear witness, was fully finished above two years ago, in the time of Oliver the usurper, and I was very ready then to undergo the danger that should ensue the publishing thereof, and was as earnest to have it printed; but either because some of the things prophesied of (as the reviving of the witnesses) were not, as then, fulfilled; or because of some fears which my friends conceived from the Governors that then ruled, I could not by any means, get it to pass through the press; but now, all the prophecies that are any any where in the holy Scripture mentioned, concerning the coming, and the proceed of the Antichrist, being fully and clearly fulfilled, and come to pass, as I have showed in this book, save only one part of the last prophecy, touching the resuscitation of the last witness, which some suppose to be unfulfilled, and the Presbyterians hope, will never be, as we explain it, and we conceive it done, or as good as done already, when, (as Christ said to Saint Peter, & tu conversus, confirma fratres) so Gods prime and principal witness, being so gloriously risen, to the joy of all hearts; he will do, as Christ willeth him; stretch forth his royal hand, as Christ did to Saint Peter, to pull the other witness, out of those waves, that were so ready to swallow them up, and set them to the stern of the ship again; and then, as Solomon saith, spes impiorum peribit. Therefore as I have been at all the pains in composing it, so I resolved by God's assistance, and only for the service of God's Church, to undergo any cost, to the uttermost of my ability, to publish it unto the world; and to bear all the blame, aspersions or punishment, that either friend or foe, public or private, can lay upon me for the same; for I call heaven and earth to witness, that I have long studied, and seriously meditated upon the sense and meaning of the Holy Ghost, in those places of the Scriptures, that foretold us of the coming of the great and egregious Antichrist; and I have often prayed, and most earnestly and hearty desired of my God, to grant me the true and right understanding thereof; as, who he should be; where he should rise; what feats and Tragedies he should effect; how long he should continue; by what means he might be discovered; and how he should be subdued, and at last utterly destroyed; and I believe God hath now granted my request; and that I have rightly and most truly explained those holy Scriptures, that speak of him; And if the presbyterians can give me satisfaction, that I am mistaken herein; I shall very willingly recant, and be most hearty sorry for mine error; but if they be not able to demonstrate my mistake, as, I assure myself, the beast with all his power, and the false Prophet with all his skill, and putting all their heads together, shall never be able to do) than I entreat them, not to be like the Galathians, to become mine enemies, for speaking the truth; but to consider well what they do, because God will not be mocked, and it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God; for my witness is in heaven, that I bear not any malice, or any the least ill will, to any one of all the Presbyterians, or to any other of the members of the long Parliament, or their adherents; neither wrote I these things, out of any excessive sense, that I ever conceived of any injury, that was done unto myself, nor especially for any hope of profit or preferment, when a Presbyterian told me, The publishing of this treatise would be my ruin; but Paupertas, orbitas, & senectus, the no loss of Lordships, the no infants to cry after me, and the years of man's life, which are threescore years and ten, being already past in me long ago, and I being very ready and willing, for causes heretofore showed, to under go what death soever it shall please God to impose upon me, In the Epistle to the Reader before the seven golden candlesticks. either on a block, or a gibbet, or a pillow, so it be for the discharging of my duty: it is not a pin matter, for a good conscience, which of these he must abide: Quia nec nobis ignominiosum est pati, quod passus est Christus, nec illis gloriosum est facere, quod fecit Judas vel Pilatus; For seeing my Saviour and my King were so served, why should I think much to be so likewise used? and therefore his threaten could not frighten me from divulging the same unto the world; and that for these four special ends. 1. To do my best endeavour to bring the members of the beast, and the false Prophet, with their adherents, to repentance, and to forsake the courses that heretofore they have most wickedly walked in. 2. To dissuade all others from adhering to them, or approving of their unjust proceed. 3. To persuade the godly servants of Jesus Christ, that have suffered so much, and such indignities at the hands of the beast, and his assassinates, to continue constant in their former resolutions, and not to be dejected, for any adversity, or to approve and affect the prosperity of the beast, and to embrace the doctrine of the false Prophet. 4. That as our predecessors recorded the truth of those things, that happened in their times to us, which otherwise we should never have known; so likewise we should deliver the truth of what we have seen done in our time to our posterity, that the sad condition of the Church, and especially of the witnesses of Jesus Christ, in these days of the Antichrist, might be made known to after-ages; that as John's disciples said to Christ, so the disciples of Christ might demand in like manner of the Antichrist, Art thou he that should come, or shall we look for another? and I suppose none can give a better answer, than what our Saviour gave to the Jews in the like case; The works that I do, testify of me; so the works that these men of our time have dones, shall testify unto all posterities what they are; for as Demodocus said of the Milesians, that they were no fools but they did the same things that fools do, so if these men of our time say, they are not the Antichrist; yet I believe the world seethe they did, and still do the very same things, that the holy men of God prophesied the great Antichrist should do; And this is all that I do, and no more, in this whole book. 1. To show you out of the holy Scripture, of the old and new Testament, what the great Antichrist should do, when he should come into the world. 2. To set down what is seen done by the men of our time, the prevalent faction of the long Parliament, and their adherents, together with the Presbyterians, Independants, and Lay-preachers; to continue their names and their memories to the generatons that are to come, which is all that shall be left of them, when they have left their pomp behind them, and shall carry nothing with them but the deeds that they have done; And as Queen Hester said, so say I; if for this I perish, I perish; yet the truth is great and will prevail, and continue true, when the greatest tyrants shall be reduced to dust and ashes. And in the Interim, I do profess, that I neither fear the sharpest sword of the bloodiest tyrant, nor the most virulent tongues, or malicious pens of the most railing Rabsheca; quia nec melior si laudaverint, nec deterior si vituperaverint, because the praise of men makes me not one jot better, nor the aspersions and dispraise of enemies one title worse than I am; and my conscience tells me, that I have so lived, Ut nec pudet vivere, nec piget mori, as that I am neither ashamed to live, nor afraid to die. And if any man shall blame me for any acrimony or bitterness that he findeth in this book, I call God to record, that it proceeded not as I said before, out of any excessive sense that I ever conceived of any particular injury that was done unto myself, when as I found my friends favourable enough to me, and granting me more than I expected from them; nor out of any hatred or malice to any one of all the Presbyterians, Independants, or Lay-preachers, or to any other of all the long Parliament men; when as very many of them were my best Patrons, and my singular good friends, that offered me great preferments, which I would have accepted, if my conscience had not utterly disliked of their ways; but whatsoever gall or vinegar hath distilled from my pen, it proceeded only out of the vehemency of the zeal, which I bear to the true service of God, and the love that I had to the piety and goodness of our good King, and especially the extreme hatred, that I conceived against the injustice, impieties, and evil do of the men anatomised in this book; for my faith is, that although heretofore, many particular tyrant, heretic and wicked man, might be noted out of Histories, that perhaps might be worse, and more detestable than any one of these men here meant; yet that such a pack, such a society, and such a multitude of wicked heretics, tyrants, and malefactors, that combined, and were like sworn brethren, to effect such un-heard-of mischiefs, injustice, and impieties, as they have done, the sun, in above 5000. years' revolution, never saw the like, except that wicked council, which condemned the Son of God to death. And therefore, seeing we are fallen into such times, wherein, Nec vitia nostra, nec eorum remedia ferre possumus, I may justly say, — quis iniqui Tam patiens orbis, tam ferreus, ut teneat se, & c? Who can hold his tongue at the sight of such do? And old Chaucer saith, The words must be of kin unto the deeds. And the wisest Writers do loath to trim up vices in virtue's raiment; and we that are rude, know not how to call a spade otherwise then a spade, Rudes sunt populi Macedonum, & Scapham vocant Scapham. as King Philip of Macedon, answered a Traitor, whom he had pardoned, and complained that the people called him a Traitor. And though I earnestly desired to be moderate in my expressions, yet the height of that wickedness, which I found acted, could not otherwise, with all my rhetoric, be set forth in any fairer terms unto my Readers. Ο ' Αννιχριστος: The GREAT ANTICHRIST REVEALED, Before this time not Discovered. CHAP. I. To what end Christ foretells the Afflictions and Persecutions of his Church; that her greatest Persecution should be in the time of the great Antichrist: and of the strange Persecution, and extreme Cruelty, Oppression and Injustice, that have been lately acted against God's servants in these parts, and in our days by the Ministers of the Antichrist. OUR blessed Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, out of his great and infinite love to his Church, forertels her of the many troubles, afflictions and persecutions that his best servants, and her chiefest members should find and must undergo here in this world, To what end Christ foretells the persecutions of his Church. amongst the sons of men, to this end, that she might earnestly pray to God, he would be pleased, either to avert them from her, or to strengthen her with patience, most constantly to endure them; and still to keep her garments clean, and her conscience undefiled in the midst of this froward and crooked generation. Euseb. Eccles. Histor. l. 4. c. 5. & l. 5. c. 1. And after this prediction of our Saviour Christ, St. Luke in the Acts of the Apostles, and Eusebius, Socrates, and others in their Ecclesiastical Histories have left it recorded to all Posterities, what direful Torments the poor harmless Christians have endured in the first ten grievous Persecutions, under Nero, Domitian, Dioclesian, Decius, and others, Heathen Tyrants, that were so cruel and so tyrannical to the Saints and Servants of God, that most good men and religious minds cannot read their Sufferings without weeping, nor remember them without pity; For, Claud. in Ruff. lib. 1. — Quis prodere tanta relatu Funera, quis caedes posset deflere nefandas? It is not credible for Infidels that know not the Gospel, to believe so many slaughters, and such exquisite Tortures, as the Christians endured, when as alii flammis exusti, alii ferro perempti, alii patibulo cruciati; or that they can be looked upon by any humanity with dry eyes. And yet Isidorus tells us, August de civ. Dei, l. 20. c. 8. Cyrillus catech. 15. & Hypolit. Orat. de fine seculi. The time of the greatest persecution. and so doth S. Aug. S. Cyril, and Hippolytus the holy Martyr, in his Oration de consummatione mundi, that in the time of the Antichrist, which would be towards the end of the world, and not long before the Coming of Christ to Judgement, the Synagogue of Satan and the worldly Senate, or Citizens of this world, should more furiously rage, and more cruelly persecute the true Church of Christ, and the most Faithful Servants of God, than ever was done in the Primitive Times. And besides the accession of above 5000 years' experience unto Satan's natural and inbred sagacity and sharpness of knowledge and understanding, to find out new ways and subtler devices to afflict God's Servants, they render this Reason for their Assertion; because that, The reason of the foresaid assertion. as the Scripture testifieth, Satan was to be bound and fettered, as a dog in a chain, for 1000 years; that is after the end and determination of the first 10 great Persecutions, and the Persecutions of the Goths and Vandals, and the other Arian Kings, that were no less Persecutors and Tormentors of the Orthodox Fathers, and the Professors of the Faith of one Substance, which is the right Catholic Faith, than the Heathen Tyrants were of the Faithful Christians: In all which time of 1000 years, Satan's 1000 years binding how understood. that is, either the full and determinate number of 1000 years, as some Expositors would have it, or else a very long season, and much about the time of 1000 years, though not precisely such a term, as others would have it, the Malice of Satan was so locked up and chained, and his Power so abridged, that he could not destroy as many, nor persecute the Saints so much as he desired, and would have effected, si potuisset quantum vellet; had he been suffered to do what he would. But when his 1000 years' Imprisonment should be expired, and he loosened out of his Chains, and more Liberty granted to him, than his inveterate spite and his revengeful Malice for his former Imprisonment, would devise the Means and find out the ways to vex and persecute the Servants of God, and the Witnesses of Jesus Christ, more than ever he had done before, in any of the former Persecutions. And truly I think, Francisc. Junius & Tilenus ad Bellarm. l. 3. c. 7. de Rom. Pontif. & Bal●us de Antich. cap. 6. that although Satan was not fully loosened and set at liberty till now of late; yet whosoever readeth Thuanus, Tilenus, and Chamier, and the Book of the Martyrs of our English Church, written by Mr. Fox, and other Authors, that have written the History of these two last Centuries, and doth rightly consider the Sufferings and Massacres of those Christians, that they within the Compass of those years, have undergone, in France, Germany, Spain, Italy, and other places round about; and that only for their Religion, and not for any worldly Dominion, which was the Sufferings of the People in former ages, Dr Abbots in his brief description of the world, pag. 141. in the time of the first 4 Monarchies; and is still the condition both of the Jews and Christians within the Territories of the Turk, that tolerateth any Sect, and permitteth all Religions and all Nations, to live peaceably and quiet, throughout his whole Dominion, so they yield themselves subject to his Rule, and pay to him their allotted Contribution; and meddle not with the Mahometan Laws and Superstition; he must ingeniously confess the Truth of this Assertion, and the unquestionable Certainty of this Prophetical Prediction of Isidorus, and the other Father's aforenamed; videlicet, that the sorest Troubles and the greatest Persecution of all, that Satan raised or shall stir up against the Christians, as they are Christians, hath been, is, and will be that, which he hath, and still doth prosecute, and will persevere to do it, by the Ministers and Ministry of his prime General, and his dearly beloved Son of Perdition, the great Antichrist. And if according to the Counsel of Moses and Job, Deut. 4.32. etc. 32. v. 7. Job 8.8. Sr Walter Raleigh in his Preface to the History of the world, and M. Fox in his book of Martyrs. we ask the days of old, and inquire of our Fathers that were before us, what they suffered, and how they were handled heretofore, either in France, Italy, Spain or Germany; or else, nearer home, where the Truth may be sooner found and better known of us, in Ingland, and that, under K. Hen. 8. and Q. Marry, the two greatest Persecutors of God's Servants, for their Religion, that our Chronicles do mention; and compare their sufferings in the just and even Balance of an impartial judgement, with that Oppression, Persecution, Injustice and cruelty, and that joined with such subtlety and a pretence of Piety, as cannot by my dull Pen be expressed; which, for the space of 14 or 15 years, hath been acted and continued here in this Island of Great Britain, against Loyal Subjects, none can deny, and Faithful Christians, as we hope God will bear witness; and that only for their Loyalty unto their King, and their Piety towards God, in the constant retaining of the true Faith, wherein they were baptised and Christened, and a good Conscience, wherein they lived; we shall find the Cruelties of those two forenamed Princes, to be favourable and great mercies; and all the Favours and Mercies of our new and now pretended Saints, towards the true Ministers of Christ, and the Faithful Servants of God, to be the greatest Cruelties that ever were recorded in any History, and I think, such Injustice and so great, as was never heard of in any Nation: For, 1. When King Hen. the 8. became sacrilegious, 1. The Persecution of the Clergy and wrongs done in K. Hen. the eighth's time. I have no other term for his Do, to rob the Church, and to take away the Lands and Possessions of the Abbeys, and the Priories, he did the same with the leave and consent of many, if not of most of the chief Abbots and Priors, whom, with other rewards and compensations, he had alured thereunto; & volenti non fit injuria; and so, though they ought not to have consented to such an impious Act, to be Partakers in his Sacrilege; yet the injury that was done unto themselves, cannot be deemed so great, because they were consenting; and those honester men, How K. Henry the 8 provided for the Abbots and Priors. whom he could not persuade with other better Preferments, to yield their consent to his desire, to pass away their Patrimony, he took that course and care for them, that they should be very competently provided for, some one way, and some another way, and many of them with Pensions out of his own Exchequer, that they might not want what was necessary for them, while they lived; And as I am credibly informed, Mr. John Pymme, a most Noted and Notorious Member of the Long Parliament, when he was in that Office, hath paid the Pension, allotted to one of them that lived to these our own times: And this kind of proceeding cannot be thought so great a Persecution, or so grievous an Oppression of them, or so odious an Impiety in the King, especially if you consider the Lazy life and little good that many of them did, and the single condition of these men, that lived without Wives, without Children, without Families. But the Long Parliament, How the long Parl. dealt with all Bishops, Deans and prebend's. without the least colour of the Consent of any one of all our Bishops, Deans or prebend's, but altogether against their wills, and against the will of the King, that should have a Vote in every Act, and a Negative Passage, as we conceive, hath taken all, even from all and every one of them, that had, for the most part Wives and Children and Servants, and allowed them not one Halfpenny out of all the great Means they took from them, to relieve themselves and their Families; but let them live as they will and as they can, dig, or beg, or starve and die, when they can live no longer; and so I myself have seen many worthy Divines, and some Reverend Bishops in great want and misery: And this was worse dealing than the Pirate, that took me at Sea, dealt with me, when he took away all my Money, and yet gave me as much as might well carry me home to my House. And 2. In Q. Mary's time, 2. The Persecution of the Protestants in Qu. Mari●s time. when our Godly Bishops and other Grave Doctors were burned, and many good Protestants imprisoned and persecuted for their Religion and the Profession of the true Faith of Christ, by the Instruments of the Dragon, the old enemy of mankind; yet than they were cited to the Courts of Justice, they had Articles exhibited against them, they had time allotted them for to answer, and all the Proceed against them, passed on, as against all others, in forma Juris, according to the Law. And they had neither suffered nor been deprived, if they had recanted, Some of the Lay Protestants, I presume, from their Ignorance and want of understanding of the School-terms and Scholarlike distinctions, wherein their Adversaries were most Skilful; and although the Constancy of these Pious Martyrs, and the Resolution of those, whose Zeal to the Protestant Religion, and Desire of Reformation, and perhaps Ambition to be Martyrs, transported them, it may be in some things beyond their Knowledge, have moved them rather to suffer themselves to be deprived of their estates, and to suffer death, than to deny their Faith, which the more Learned sort knew, and the other good-meaning men believed to be the true Faith of God's Elect: yet the death that was imposed on them, and the punishment that they suffered, The Martyrs in Q. Mary's days far more fairly dealt withal than we are. was not, if you consider all circumstances, especially the extent of the persecution, and the fewness of the persons suffering, in comparison of the sufferers in these times, near so bitter and so bad, nor any ways so cruel and so insufferable, as this most inhuman dealing, which hath been used, and the punishment that was inflicted, so extensively and universally upon all the Reverend Bishops, Deans, prebend's, and abundance more of most Learned Divines and other Loyal Subjects and good Christians of these Kingdoms, by the subtle tormentors and new tyrants of these days; For seeing as the Poet truly saith, Dulce mori miseris,— To die is sweet, and a favour to them that are in misery, either through want, sickness, sorrows, or the like insufferable disasters; and as another saith, Morsque minus poenae, quam mora mortis habet, Death is a lesser punishment, than to be always, as we are, at the door of death, and still in fear, Job 7.15. Ecclesiasticus 41.2. and expecting when death shall come to attach us; which is the very same in effect, that both holy Job, which had most reason to know it, and the Son of Syrach, that so well understood the state of our mortanty, do testify unto us; for both of them do affirm, that an honourable death is far better than a miserable life, and will sooner be chosen by any Heroic and Noble mind; therefore Claudian demands, Nun mori satius, Claudian. vitae quans far pudorem? Who would not choose rather to die, than to endure shame, and be in contempt and disgrace while he liveth, as they must needs be, that from the height of honour, are tumbled down to the lowest pit of Confusion, to become the scorn of the vilest in the world, which the Long Parliament hath made us to be. Therefore it is apparent to all the world, at least to all understanding men, that those Martyrs were in a far better condition, and used by those Tyrants after a far better manner than our Ministers and others were, Their Committee men were told they were ill affected; that was enough. Sed, si satis accusasse. quis innocens? by the now pretended Saints; they were more justly proceeded against, more fairly handled, and less cruelly dealt withal, than our men are, the poor Christians that have been utterly undone by the Long Parliament: For I speak by the Experience of some that I knew myself to be thus handled and thus dealt withal, before ever they were called in question, or charged with any crime, or accused for any fault, or have leave to answer for themselves, or be suffered to speak one word in their own behalf, and for the relief and support of their Wives and Families, to be adjudged, yea and oftentimes contrary to their own Articles and Engagements to be deprived of all their Means, their Lands and their Live and all that they had, to be taken from them: And because they had done nothing worthy of death or of bonds, Act. 23.29. they shall not have the honour, I speak of many that were thus used, either to be imprisoned, where it is likely that some good men would relieve them, or to be put to death, whereby they should have had an end of their miseries, and enjoy the Glory of Martyrdom; but to make their Tyranny to exceed all cruelty, and the miseries of the distressed and ejected persons the more miserable, when their enemies, as the Prophet saith, whom they ever honoured as friends, chased them sore like a Bird without cause, Lament. 3.52. and they that did feed delicately, even with King's Dishes, Cap. 4. v. 5. must now lie desolate in the streets; and they that sat in their Robes of Scarlet, even with the best Lords in the Kingdom, must now embrace Dunghills; and when the Parliament are told of the unjust and cruel proceed of their Committee men, yet that must not be regarded, not their injustice so much as questioned; because they are not to consider now, quid sit honestum, but quid utile; what is just and honest, but what is available, be it never so vile and so wicked, to further their design; and if they did not uphold and countenance these their Instruments, and not check them, their own Projects might be obstructed. And therefore, The seeming mercies of tyrants most cruel. as Tiberius and other Foxlike cruel Tigers, worse than the bloody Nero, would never put them to a present death, whom they hated most, but said, they loved them not so well, as to take away their life; and therefore in a seeming favour and mercy, they suffered them to enjoy some space and liberty; but it was in extreme cruelty and malice, to make them the more miserable, by thus inflicting upon them a daily death; So the subtle Tiberians of these times, have dealt with God's Servants, to prolong their miseries, and to make their lives more grievous than any death could be unto them, cosque sibiipsis graves ponere; And as one saith, to set themselves to be the heaviest burdens and the greatest Maladies, that possibly could be, unto themselves; when as all men may be assured of that truth, What it is to be most miserable. quod miserrimum est fuisse foelicem; nothing can be more miserable than to have been most happy, and then to fall into the depth of infelicity; for what other thing is this, but to make themselves to become the lingering Executioners of themselves? Which is a death worse than any other death, even by the Testimony of the holy Prophet: For they that are slain with the sword, saith he, are better than they that are slain with hunger, Lament. 4.9. because these pine away, stricken through for want of the fruit of the field. And that nothing might be wanting to fill up the measure of this part, The persecution of the Church under the long Parliament, how great and how general it was. of the iniquity of that Long Parliament, and to make their cruelty most cruel, and the persecution of God's Servants most bitter; because the more general, and the more extensive and spreading the mischief is, the more it prevents the persecuted persons of all shelter, and deprives them of all Relief and Comfort; this course must be taken, not with a few of the choicest men of this or that Calling, as Capita rerum, which might be thought to be the Heads of any disorder, after the manner that the Severest of the best Generals in war use to do, when they decimate the Mutinous in their Army to be punished, ut poena ad paucos, metus ad omnes; that the punishment of some few, might strike a terror, and cause amendment in them all; How well the Parliament was acquainted with all Church-Ministers. but they must deal more universally, with all the most Reverend Bishops, all the worthy Deans, Sub-Deans, Deans and Chapters, Arch-Deacons, Priors, Chancellors, Chauntors, Subchauntors, Treasurers, Sub-Treasurers, Succentors, Sacrists, prebend's, Canons, Canon-Residents and non-resident, Petty-Canons, Chorals, Vicars-Chorals, Choristers, Old Vicars or New: These be the very words of their Act; they were so well acquainted with all the Particulars of the Church-Officers, that as Jehu dealt with the Idolatrous Priests of Baal, so they might deal with the Faithful Messengers of Jesus Christ, and suffer not one of them all to escape, but they must all down in Ingland and Wales, yea, in Scotland and in Ireland, in all these Three Kingdoms; and you may be sure, if their power could reach, neither Bishop, Dean nor Prebend, nor any one of all that depended on them, should remain in Italy, France, Spain, or any other part of all the Christian world, they must all down, and down with them, even to the ground; and then being cast down, — Montes insuper altos Imposuit— They must lay weight enough upon them all, that they may be never able to rise up again, until they rise in Judgement against them: The long Parliament deal with Christ's servants, as the Jews dealt with Christ. For as the Jews, when they had laid Christ in his Grave, were afraid he would rise again, and therefore laid a huge Stone upon the door of the Sepulchre, and hired the Watchmen to keep him down; so these men, their Scholars, for fear that the foresaid Servants of Christ might rise again, must sell all their Lands and Possessions, and put them into the hands of Captains and Colonels, and other men of Arms, that with the edge of the Sword, should keep them bare enough, and naked of all support, if ever they should chance to arise: Good God, saith a Father, Si Diabolus nocere posset, quantum vellet, aliquis justorum non remaneret: If the Devil had power to destroy as many as he would, and as he desireth, there should not remain any one righteous man upon the face of the earth. And yet this is not all that the prevalent Faction of the long Parliament have destroyed and extirpated out of house and home; for to these afore-named Churchmen, whom the Devil spited most of all, you may add the Catalogue of such Heads and Fellows of Colleges, and other Learned and Religious Gentlemen, of the famous University of Cambridge, as have been plundered, that is, rob, ejected, imprisoned and banished, only for their constancy in the True Religion and right Service of God, and their Loyalty and Faithfulness to their Lawful King: And the like Catalogue of the Heads and Fellows of the other Famous University of Oxford, The great and large extent of the late Persecution of the Parl. besides the great number of Grave Doctors and other Learned Divines in and about the City of London, and throughout these Three Kingdoms, that have been deprived of all their Means and Livelihoods, and many of them most barbarously killed: Of all which, you may see such a number, as is scarce credible, yet nothing more than is true, in a little Book printed at Oxford, in Anno 1647: and entitled Mercurius Rusticus & Querela Cantabrigiensis: Abook worthy to be read of all that desire to know the Extent and to understand the Greatness of the late persecution of the Christians under the Long Parliament; how Gangraena-like it spread itself beyond Decius or Dioclesian's Tyranny, and almost, in these parts, like Adam's sin, that went over all, so did their Persecution run over all the most Faithful Sons of the Church, and the Loyal Subjects of these Kingdoms. And I would feign know, what Busiris or Phalaris, Dionysian, Dioclesian or Nero, or John Vasilowic, the great Russian Tyrant, or what other Tyrant of the world hath ever undone so many worthy men, without once questioning them for any fault, or charging them with any Crime, that they had done; or who did ever attempt to destroy so many, only for being ill affected to their evil deeds? But now, The unparallelled Persecution and cruelty of the prevalent Faction of the long Parl. being thus afflicted, destitute and deprived of all their Means, how shall all these, these thousands of most worthy men live? These men that were not brought up to work, and used not to dig, and are ashamed to beg, and therefore without a great measure of God's Grace, to support them, and to sanctify their Afflictions, they might fall into desperate conditions? They will answer, as one of them did to me, and like as the High Priests, the Crucifiers of our Master Christ, answered Judas, What is that to us? Let them live how they list, or let them perish; & sic periere ruinae, and so, for them, they shall all utterly perish. And therefore I may well demand, what Tyrant did ever live since the day that God created the Heavens, What King, What Pope, What Hildebrand * That is Gregory the 7th. that was one of the worst Popes of Rome. , What Helbrand, What Turk, What Jew, What Man, What Devil, would besuch an Apollyon, as to cut off, not all the necks of the Heathenish Romans, with that bloody Emperor, who wished that they all had but unum Collum, one neck, that so he might chop it off uno ictu, with one blow, but all those good Christians and the Faithful Servants of God uno halitu, with one Vote, one Breath and one Act, which was an Axe indeed, and was laid to the root of every Tree, that bore the good fruit of Faith and Obedience in these Kingdoms? Surely, I think none could have devised such a Plot, so full of mischief, so far beyond the Sicilian Vespers, and Gunpowder Treason, and so void of Humanity, and stuffed up with all cruelty and abominable Impiety (especially if you consider the large extent and the evil Consequents thereof) except the infernal Apollyon, the great Destroyer of Christianity, and the Hellish Misanthropos, that laboureth continually to root out all the Christian Faith and the true Service of God out of the world, did unmovably reside in their hearts, to prompt them and to spur them on unto the same; or else that Beelzebub, the chief of the Devils, would send a pack of his Prime Captains and best Instruments out of Hell, to root out all the true Servants of Jesus Christ. For if you compare this our last persecution and afflictions under the Long Parliament, with the former Persecutions of the Heathen Tyrants, or the Arian Kings, which they brought upon the Church, you shall find, 1. That there was but one Nero, one Dioclesian, one Constantius, and one Julian in all the world, at one time, to persecute the Christians that were spread over all the world; but here amongst us, we suppose to have, I know not how many hundred Dioclesian's and Julian's together, at one time, in one City, to vex and persecute the Christians of one poor little Island. 2. The Forme● Tyrants persecuted them for their Disloyalty, as they alleged, unto their Emperors and Governors, which was most false, as appeareth by the Apologies of Tertullian, Minutius Foelix, and others: But we were persecuted for being Faithful and Loyal unto our King, and to our Governors; as all the Kingdom knoweth. CHAP. II. That neither the Pope nor the Turk is the great Antichrist; that the Antichrist when he should come into the world, should arise out of the Truest and Purest Reformed Church on Earth; which was the Church of Ingland, in King Charles his time, being fully reform of those Errors and Abuses that should creep, and had crept into the Church, which other Reformed Churches had not so perfectly purged: And wherefore they did it not, and could not do it. THE serious consideration of the former things, What moved the Author to enter upon this discourse of the great Antichrist. and the sad condition of the Distressed, Persecuted Members of Christ, and the Testimony of the foresaid Authors, touching the Persecution, that should happen in the time of the Great Antichrist, which I conceived to be now so visibly seen, and so universally spread through the Subtlety and Cruelty of the Prevalent Faction of the Long Parliament, have moved me to settle my Thoughts upon the search of those Texts of Holy Scripture, wherein the holy Prophets and the blessed Apostles had treated, and foretold us of the coming of the Great Antichrist, and the sufferings of the Saints and true Servants of God in his time, and under his unjust and cruel Government; and to pray to God most earnestly and constantly night and day, for the help of his Grace and assistance of his Holy Spirit, to guide me to the true and right understanding thereof: And then, by reading the best Authors that I could find, to explain those obscure Mysteries and to further me to undertake the same, I found and saw, I. Many good and probable Arguments produced by Luther, Calvin, Beza, 1. That many learned Authors do hold the Pope or Papacy to be the Antichrist. Balaeus de vit. Pontif. l. 3. Jun. in Apocal. cap. 12. Thomson in the arraignment of Antichrist. pag. 90, & 91. Brightman in Apoc. Downam de Antichristo. l. 10. c. 3. & 4. & Thomson pag. 77. Junius, Chytraeus, Tilenus, Maresius, and our own Countrymen, Powel, Whitaker, Brightmen, Downam, Thomsom, Mede and others, very Learned Protestants, and worthy men, to prove that either the Tyrannical State and Polity of the Papacy is that Great Antichrist, as some would have it; or else Series Paparum the Succession of Popes, from Boniface the 3d, in Phocas his time, that usurping Emperor, who got to the Imperial Throne by the Murder of his own Master Mauritius, and his Wife, and his Brother, and his Children, and gave to the Pope the Preeminency and the Title of Universal Bishop, about the year 605, as Balaeus saith: Or from Boniface the 8th, that seduced and imprisoned his Predecessor Celestine the 5th, about the year 1294, as Junius saith: Or else from Vitellianus the Musical Pope, about the year 666, as Thomson saith, to this present Pope, is that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, the great Antichrist spoken of by St. Paul in 2 Thes. 2.8. and by St. John in Revel. 13.1. And that Rome is the place of his abode and the proper Seat of him, as Brightman, Downham, Thomson, and many others do unanimously affirm, and is, according to the Saying of St. John, in Revel. 17.18. meant by St. Peter, where he saith, The Church that is at Babylon, elected together with you, saluteth you, 1 Pet. 5.3. and is so interpreted by many of the Ancient Fathers, to signify the City of Rome in that place, as Papias apud Euseb, l. 2.15. Tertul. adversus Judaeos. S. Hieron. in Esaiam. c. 47. August. de Civit. Dei. l. 18. c. 22. Oros: Synchron. l. 2. c. 3. & l. 7. c. 2. And divers others of our late Writers. And their Reasons (to reduce them as brief as I can to certain heads) that induce them to believe the Popes and Papacy to be the Antichrist, The reasons why the Pope is believed to to be the Antichrist. are of two sorts; 1. Their Blasphemies, Heresies and Impieries against God. 2. Their Tyranny, Cruelty and Iniquity against man. 1. The Pope's Impiety against God, is seen by their undermining, 1. The Pope's impiety against God. crossing and corrupting all the Articles of our Creed, and by a high transgressing of all the Ten Commandments of the Moral Law, as Thomson very orderly and largely setteth down; and more especially, Thomson in his arreign. p. 96. I. W. pag. 8.9, 10. & Deinc. Mares. de Antichristo. p. 101. M. Mede in the apost of the last times. their Blasphemies, either by their own mouths and proper assertions, or by their giving privilege, countenance and approof to the Blasphemies of their Minions and Flatterers, which are plentifully set down by J.W. the Author of Roma ruina finalis, in Anno 1666. And their Idolatry; when Pope Marcellinus sacrificed to the Idols of the Painims; and all of them in worshipping their breaden God in the Mass, and their Mahuzzims or Deastri, their Saints departed, and their Relics, as Mr. Mede showeth in his Learned Treatise of the Apostasy of the last times, and his Apocalyptick Key. 2. The Pope's iniquity towards man. Vid. Mares●um pag. 140. Their Injustice and Iniquity against man is evidenced by their Pride in their exalting and lifting up themselves above all that is called god; that is, above Kings and Princes; as Gregory the 3. excommunicated the Emperor Leo Iconomachus: Zachary the 1st deposed Childerick the lawful King of France, to set up Pippin in his room: Leo the 3. created Charles the Great to be the Emperor. Anastasius durst presume to excommunicate the Emperor Anastatius Grandfather to Justinian, about 490. Martin 1. performed the like censure against Constantius the Emperor about 650; but he was therefore brought by Theodorus Calliopa unto the Emperor in Chains, and banished into Pontus, where he died: And Gregory the 7th. formerly called Hildebrand, about 1080. outmatched all the rest of his Predecessors in pride and boldness, by compelling the Emperor Henry the 4th. to come barefooted, in an humble manner to him, to give satisfaction unto his Holiness, or else to be deprived of his Kingdom. Alexander the 3. trod upon the neck of the Emperor Frederick Barbarossa, and as he was setting his foot upon his neck, he abused that place of Scripture which saith, super Aspidem & Basiliscum ambulabis; by applying it to justify this his Luciferian Pride and Tyranny: Volater. l. 22. Anthropolog. in Alex. 3. Roger Hov●don annal. pag. 2. sub Richard. 1. And it is recorded that Alexander 6. poisoned Gemes the great Turk's brother, that was committed to his trust Hildebrand hired one to kill the Emp. John the 13. and committed incest with his two fifters. The 31 Article of the Confession of the Synod of Gappe. And Adrian the 4th. made the said Emperor to hold his stirrup while he got upon his Palfrey; And Celestine the 3. was so insolent, as to put the Crown upon the head of Henry the 6th. and of the Empress, with his foot, and pushing it off again in like manner, to say, I have power to make and to unmake Emperors at my pleasure; a Pride surpassing the pride of Lucifer, Prince of pride, and Diameter-wise opponent to the Humility of Christ: And as the Pride of these Popes puffed up their hearts to swell above all earthly Powers, so the Injustice and Cruelty of the Roman Bishops and that Hierarchy, were no whit less towards their Inferiors, as appeareth by the unjust and barbarous burning of John Hus and Hierom of Prague, and the rest of those bloody Massacres that were acted in France, by the Pope's Procurements and Assassinats, and in Belgia, by the Duke de Alva, that was the Pope's prime Instrument of Cruelty against the Protestants. And therefore according to the judgement of the said Writers, the Synod of Gap in France, that was held in Anno 1064. in the 31 Article of their Confession, saith, Cum vero Episcopus Romanus, erecta sibi in orbe Christiano Monarchia, sibi arroget Principatum in omnes Ecclesias & pastors; usque adeo inflatus, ut deum ipsum se appellet, Can. satis. Dist. 96. lib. 1. Sacrar. Cerem. cap. de Benedic. ensis. velit adorari. Concil. Lateran. ult. Sess. 1, 3, 9, 10. Ipse sibi tribuat omnem potestatem in Coelo & in Terra, Res Ecclesiasticas ad libitum componat, condat Articulos Fidei, Authoritatem Scripturae velit pendere à sua, eamque ad libitum interpretetur, animarum mercaturam exerceat, liberet adstrictos votis & juramentis, novos Dei cultus instituat; & quod ad civilia attinet, legitimam Magistratuum authoritatem conculcet, dans, adimens, & transferens Regna, credimus & asserimus eum esse verum illum & germanum Antichristum, filium perditionis, praedictum in Dei verbo, Zachar. 11.16, 17. 1 Joh. 4.3. Apoc. 13.2, etc. Meretricem Purpuratam, Apoc. 17.1. insidentem septem monitbus, in magna civitate, Apoc. 17.9. obtinentem Regnum in Reges terrae, Apoc. 17.18. & expectamus donec Deus, prout promisit & jam coepit, eum fractum & victum spiritu oris sui, tandem deleat fulgore adventus sui, 2 Thes. 2.8. And this Article Tilenus analizeth, Tilenus' exegis. pag. 45. Aphor. 165. and prosecuteth the same at large, to prove the Pope to be, as they say, the great Antichrist: And I will not at this time examine the truth and validity either of this proposition or assumption, though I might very well deny them both, as well the one as the other. But I confess that these things which the Synod chargeth the Popes withal, being true, are transcendent sins; and questionless the great enormities of the Roman Hierarchy and Papacy, especially of the Court of Rome, confronting the Kingdom of Christ, and corrupting the true service of God, do infallibly evince, that the Pope is an Antichrist, and the Church of Rome blemished with much Antichristianisme; for every one that oppugneth Christ, and opposeth himself against his Kingdom, his Word, and his Doctrine, can be none other than an Antichrist; and so was Simon Magus, Elimas', Menander, Ebion, Cerinthus, and other Heriticks, that sprang up in the Apostles times; and of whom; and the like, 1 John 2.18. It is confessed, that the Pope is an Antichrist, but not the great transcendent Antichrist. S. John saith, And now there are many Antichrists; each one of them an Antichrist: and such indeed are all, Antichrists, more or less, according as their opposition is more or less, unto Christ, his Church, and his Gospel; and no doubt but the Pope, and Papacy oppugneth Christ, corrupteth his truth, and oppresseth his Church, in very many things: and therefore he cannot be denied to be an Antichrist, and one of them that are great Antichrists. But though these things do sufficiently prove the Pope and Papacy to be an Antichrist, and a very great Antichrist too; yet they come too short to prove him to be the great, eminent, egregious, transcendent, and especially designed Antichrist, which the Scripture saith should come before the end of the world; and I never saw yet any Arguments, alleged by the best of the aforesaid Authors, B. Montague in his apello Caesarem. pag. 143. that was sufficient to evince him to be the same, nor indeed, as Bishop Montague saith, That I could not sufficiently answer, at leastwise to mine own satisfaction, to hinder my belief therein. And though the Synod of Gappe and Mr. Powel, and some other rigid Puritans of Ingland, transported with the height of their zeal to a prejudicated opinion against the Pope, do put it amongst the Articles of their Faith, to believe him and his Hierarchy to be that great, transcendent Antichrist; yet I am sure, that, The Church of Ingland hath not determined the Pope to be the great Antichrist. neither learned Zanchius, nor Grynaeus, nor Faius, nor any of the most learned, and more moderate Divines of Ingland, do think him to be the same; neither is it the Doctrine of our Church; when as no Synod of ours hath resolved it, nor any one of all our Convocations assented to it, as learned and reverend B. Montague well observeth. And although S. Peter calleth Rome, as it was then in his time, Ethnic, idolatrous, and full of confusion, Babylon; yet, quia de cet Scripturam proprie accipere, How the Scriptures ought to be expounded. ubi non cogit fides ad tropos descedere; because it ought to be an infallible Rule, which all Divines should immutably observe, That the holy Scripture is to be taken, and expounded properly, where the Analogy of Faith doth not compel us to recede unto Tropes and figures, as here it doth, when S. Peter wrote this Epistle; but not so when Rome became all Christian, and was rather Jerusalem then Babylon; And because I see Bellarmine's Arguments to prove the Pope not to be that great and long expected Antichrist, unsufficiently answered, The main Reasons why we cannot believe the Pope to be the great Antichrist. and the answers unsatisfactory to many men, notwithstanding all the endeavours of Bishop Downham, and others of our best learned men, to do the same; and especially because that, although many of the marks, signs, and actions of the great Antichrist may be rightly applicable, and properly belonging to the Pope; yet, seeing none can be truly said to be that very Antichrist, but he that shall have all the marks, tokens, and characters of that Antichrist, and shall by his actions fulfil all the Prophecies, and Predictions that are foretold us in the Scripture, the great Antichrist should do; and all the marks and actions foretold us of that great Antichrist, are no ways applicable to the Pope, nor fulfilled by the Pope, as in the prosecution and sequel of this Discourse, I shall make it as clear as the light, to any impartial man, that is not peevishly transported, and obstinately wedded, to his own groundless opinion; and for many other reasons, that in the explication of those Scriptures that speak of him, I shall hereafter set down unto you, all the men in the world shall never make me believe, that the Pope, E. H. the Antic. pag. 81. 2. That many other learned men do believe the Turk to be the great Antichrist. or succession of Popes or popish state, and Polity, is that great enormous Antichrist, that should come into the world, or that the city of Rome is, or must be the proper seat and throne of that Antichrist: and so E.H. in his Treatise, de Antichristi, Pag. 81. saith these very same words that I do. 2. As the foresaid Authors concluded the Pope and Papacy, to be that great Antichrist, so many other learned men, and great Divines, finding the invalidity of the former men's Arguments, and the insufficiency of their reasons, to confirm their Opinion, and to justify their allegation, to prove the Pope to be Antichrist, have thought the Turk to be the same, that should come into the world, to destroy the flock of Christ, and they do judge Constantinople to be that Babylon, which is prophesied and spoken of in the Revelation, to be the seat, and throne of that bloody beast, ever since Mahomet the 2. took the City of Constantinople, and turned the great and famous Church of San-sophia, in anno 1455. to be for the service of the false Prophet Mahomet, Mahomet, who he was. that was the son of Abdalla, a Merchant in Mecca, of Arabia, and was born post-humus, in anno 571. as the Lord Verulam collecteth. And that learned Bishop Montague setteth down 10 special reasons, that might prove his Successor, and upholder of his Blasphemies, the great Turk, and his wicked, tyrannical state and Polity, directing all his Laws and Practices ex diametro, to oppose the state and Kingdom of Christ, and to oppress his servants, to constitute, and to be that great Antichrist, rather, and far more likely than the Pope; as to abbreviate the same unto you. Reason. 1 B. Montague his 10 Reasons to prove the Turk Antichrist 1. In his Apostasy, whether you understand it from the Doctrine and Gospel of Christ, or from the Rom. Empire; for both himself, and all his Sectaries have relapsed from Christ, and Apostatised from the Profession of his name; and have received the mark and stamp of the Beast; and he is much more interessed in the Rom. Empire than the Pope is, or then any of the Popes that ever was. Reason. 2 2. For his deceiving signs and wonders, from the first Mahomet to the present Turk, the stories are most manifest, how he and all his, took that course to deceive the people, and to make himself to be believed, and to be esteemed a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, some great one, like Simon Magus; the which thing secundum literam, & 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, was never personally verified in any Pope of Rome to this day, as it was in that false prophet, who is amongst all his followers accounted the great power of God, and their Saviour, to these very times. Reason. 3 3. For the number of the beast, whether you take it from the time of his rising, as Thomson, and some others think it should be understood, or for the proper name of the man that should be the Antichrist, it is more agreeable to that false Prophet, than to the Pope, or it may be, to any of all the Popes that have been; for Mahomet's rising against Christ, to obscure the true light of his Gospel, was in the sixth Century, as divers Authors do affirm; and Jerusalem was taken by Homar, his Successor, about the year 666. and the name of Mahomet, written in Greek, the Language in which S. John wrote his Revelation, The name of Mahomet containeth the number of 666. doth make up the just number of 666. as 40. 1. 70. 40. 5. 300. 10. 200. μ α ο μ ε τ ι ς which is in all just 666. as well as 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, which is so much insisted upon by them, that make the Pope to be the Antichrist. Reason. 4 4. It is observed by the Learned in the Eastern Languages, that the word Turca, which is the name of the chief Prince of Gog and Magog, doth signify the same thing that Apollion and Abaddon doth, which is a Destroyer, and is a name ascribed to the King of those Locusts, Revelat. 9.11. that came out of the bottomless pit, and are interpreted by the best Authors to be the Arrabians, that were the prime Subjects, and the first setters up of Mahomet, that great Impostor. Reason. 5 5. The Mahometans, in these days, and the Saracens of old, are the grand professed enemies of the Christians, qua tales, as they are Christians, and do call themselves Musulmans, that is, the right believers, which I confess the Pope and Papists likewise do, as indeed the Arians, Donatists, and all other Heretics did. Reason. 6 6. That Deceiver and false Prophet, Mahomet, though he made a great show of Sanctity and a strict holy life, as all such Deceivers do; yet personally, as a private man, he was a man of sin, given up to all Licentiousness; and in his Alcoran tolerating all prostitutions, unto his Sectaries; and promising unto them a Paradise of all carnal pleasures after death, which as yet no Pope, that we read of, ever did. Reason. 7 7. That great Liar Mahomet, and his heir and successor the Turk, literally exalteth himself above Christ, above all the holy Prophets and Apostles of Christ, and above all the Kings and Monarches of the earth, and as St. Paul saith, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, above all that is called God, and styleth himself the Lord of Lords, and the God of the earth, that hath the power and right to dispose all the things of this world at his pleasure, as it is to be seen in divers of the Letters of Solyman, Amurath, and others: And his Koran, which is but a tyrotarichon, an hotchpotch of lies and fables, patched together by his Jew-Scribe, and the Nestorian Sergius, of Jewish, paganish, Manichaean, and Arian Heresies, and Superstition, he commended, as received from his friend, and old familiar acquaintance, the Angel Gabriel, to his followers, above the Law of Moses, and above the Gospel of Jesus Christ: and he promised his carnal Paradise to all the observers thereof, and threatened eternal torments to all the despisers of it; and I think, no Pope exceeded this impiety. Reason. 8 8. The Heir and Successor of Mahomet, the Turk, is and hath been a long time possessed of Jerusalem, the Temple of God, and the land of Promise, ever since Homar took it; except some few years that the French held it from him, after that, in the Holly War, Godfrey of Boulogne took it; and because that Mahomet was circumcised, and the Turk, and all his followers in like manner, the Jews flocked unto this Conqueror, when he won the holy City, as unto their Messiah, and advancing his Enterprise, they paid him Tribute, and assisted him in all his impiety, and proceed against the Christians, which they never did, in the like manner, to any Pope whatsoever. Reason. 9 9 Having thus taken and possessed the holy City, he now sitteth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, in the Temple or Church of God, take the Church in what sense you will, materially, formally, or figuratively: for he was buried in the Church of God at Mecca, and they make Pilgrimages to his Sepulchre, and adore his relics to this very day: and Homar his Successor, having taken Jerusalem, templum acquisivit, quod Solomon extruxerat, ad blasphemiae suae oratorium constituendum: he made the Temple which Solomon first built, and afterwards Zorobabel, and Herod, exceedingly beautified, to be the oratory of his blasphemy, saith Theophanes; and Sophronius, than Patriarch of Jerusalem cried out, in veritate, ista est abominatio desolationis, stans in loco sancto; in very truth, that is the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel and our Saviour, standing in the holy place; and afterwards, when Mahomet the great took Constantinople, he made his Palace in the great cathedral Church of sand Sophia, and made the Bishop's house, and the Priests lodgings, his seràglias, to this very day. And if you take the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, the Church, or Temple for the living Temples of God, and the faithful servants of Christ, he sitteth upon them, and against them more than the Pope ever did; for he hath brought into confusion many many Christian Churches, and Congregations, in Syria, Palestina, Egypt, Persia, Armenia, Arabia, Africa, Grecia, Thracia, and Asia the less, and in many other Countries besides; whose candles he hath put out, and removed their candlesticks out of their places; and instead of the Gospel of Christ, he hath taught them to blaspheme his name; and hath set the mark of the beast upon those that were the servants of Christ, by circumcising them in their flesh, and renouncing their former Baptism, which is the mark and badge of the lamb; and those, that will not thus renounce their Saviour Christ, though he suffereth them to live quietly, so long as they pay him their allotted Contribution, as I shown to you before: Yet he doth extremely tyrannize over them in those taxes and contributions; and especially in that barbarous tribute of the Christians children, which every third year are to be taken away from their Parents, from their Religion, and from their God, to become the worshippers of Mahomet, and to be his seraglian Eunuches. Reason. 10 10. He is seated in Constantinople, which is new Rome, and so termed by the old Writers, ever since Constantine made it the Imperial throne of the Roman Emperors, and is now made a greater Babylon, and fuller of confusion than ever old Rome was since Constantine's time. And surely, in my judgement, these Reasons do sufficiently and demonstratively evince, that the great Turk is a great, and a very great Antichrist: and indeed a far greater Antichrist than the Pope, or any Pope that hath yet been, take the very worst of them. 3. 3. Others conceive, that out of the Turkish and Pepish polity, conjoined together, the Antichrist shall arise. Some other Divines there be, that think it is probable and most likely, the Mahometan Religion, and the Turkish State, that profess and uphold the Religion of that false Prophet, may be conjoined in association with the Pope and Papacy, to constitute and make up the great and transcendent Antichrist, that shall most virulently oppose the State and Kingdom of Christ, and oppress the true servants of God; for though these two states of the Turk and Pope, be opposite, ad invicem, one against the other, in temporalibus, in respect of their temporal Rule and Government; yet they may both combine and be alike, in oppugning the truth of Christ, and corrupting his true service, though differently, respectu mediorum, in respect of the ways and means that either of them doth it; B. Montague in his apello Caesarem. as the Turk directly, and the Pope obliquely; the Turk, vi aperta, by fire and sword, and the Pope fraud & insidiis, by fraud and deceit; and yet both of them respectu finis, to aim at the same end, to uphold their own wicked state and polity, by opposing the Gospel, and suppressing the Kingdom of Christ. And for my part, I shall never be any Advocate to plead for either of them, neither would I have any man to imagine, that I would ever seem to diminish or lessen, much less then, The Author excuseth neither the Turk nor the Pope. to excuse the wickedness and impieties either of Turk or Pope; the Christian world knoweth, that either of them, and both of them are bad enough; each of them an Antichrist, and a very great Antichrist, the best of them, that hath much opposed the Kingdom of Christ, and blemished the true service of God with many errors, Heresies, and superstitions. Yet, as I said of the Pope, so I say of the Turk, that I cannot believe him to be that great and egregious Antichrist, which the Scripture 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 speaketh of; because I cannot see him fitted and filled with all the marks, signs, and actions of that Antichrist, Why he believeth neither the Pope nor Turk to be the great Antichrist. to the full; so as no acception can be taken against the proof thereof in any point; or, because I cannot find, nor can it be found by any other, that all and every one of the marks, and Characters, and all the actions, that are foretold by the Prophets and Apostles, should be done and seen in the great Antichrist, are fully seen to be done and fulfilled either in the Pope, or in the Turk; but that there are many particular things and acts foretold us should be done by that Antichrist, that can no ways be found in them, nor done by them, or fulfilled in either of them, as hereafter, in this Treatise, I shall more fully declare the Particulars that are unful filled by them, and the marks and Characters of that great Antichrist, that are no ways applicable to either of them. And so, Zanchius' miscel. lib. 3. Lambert in apoc. Andren● tort. torti. Montagu. appello Caes. pag. 159. as I said before, the more moderate Divines, and for learning, not inferior to the best, as Zanchius, Lambert, Andrews, Montague, and many more, are of the same opinion, and do believe, that neither the Pope, nor the Turk, is that great transcendent Antichrist, but do conceive, that out of these two estates, polity, and Government, different in the means, the one from the other, but agreeing in the end to oppose the Kingdom of Christ; or else, out of some other estate, polity rule and Government, in many things like to these, and in some things unlike to either of them, but in some respects far worse than the worst of both the other, the great enormous Antichrist, that singular, notorious Antichrist, prophesied of in the holy Scripture, shall arise and come, and in fraudulent malicious craftiness, and execrable wickedness, shall, through heretical impostures and lying miracles, go beyond all others, against the honour of Christ, and the service of God, and do more mischief unto his servants, than any other that ever lived in the world, The do of the great Antichrist more odious to God, and more destructive to his church than the acts either of Pope or Turk. and so shall do such feats and acts, as, in some respects, are more odious and detestable in the fight of God, and more pernicious and destructive, both to the bodies and souls of men, than are the do either of the Pope or Turk. And therefore, seeing we find so many of the most learned men varying in their opinions and judgements about the Antichrist, and the concomitants of that great beast, spoken of in Revel. 13. and about the Prophecies and mysteries of the holy Scriptures, that do concern that man of sin; because the secrets of the spirit of God are like the deep ocean, not easily wadeable, but as St. Gregory faith, deep enough for the greatest Elephant to swim, that is, surpassing the Reach of the quickest wit, The Scripture like the deep ocean sea. and no ways intelligible, unless they be revealed by the same Spirit: And because the Prophecies that are contingent and to come, are not perspicuous, and cannot be well explained by the best expositors, before we see them fulfilled; Prophecies not well understood until they be fulfilled, and therefore Patrum & Doctorum 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 venia non insectatione dignos censemus. but as Riddles are never perceived, what they be, or what they mean, until they are unfolded, but are clear enough when they are explained; so Prophecies are hidden, until they be fulfilled, but perspicuous and plain enough to them that will look and search after them, when they are accomplished and already past: In respect whereof, Irenaeus saith most truly, that certius & sine periculo est, expectare usque ad impletionem Prophetiae, quam temerè divinare; it is a surer and a safer course, without danger, to expect and wait for the fulfilling of a Prophecy, than rashly and presumptuously to go about to explain it before we see it fulfilled. And therefore I do not so much wonder, that many of the Fathers, and the other Learned men afore-named, have erred, which by seeing some things come to pass, that the Apostles said should be done and happen in the time of the Antichrist, did presently apply them, some to the Pope, and others to the Turk, and concluded them to be the Great undoubted Antichrist; because they did anticipate, and made such a Conclusion, before many other things of the Prophecies, touching the Acts, Marks and Characters of the Antichrist, were fulfilled and made manifest unto the Church. But I hope I may the more freely pass with less censure, to set down, what I and others that are of my mind, do conceive concerning the Great transcendent Antichrist, when I shall only treat in this Discourse and set before you these three Points; 1. What the Scriptures say, by what way the Great Antichrist should come, The three special things that the Author doth in this book. where he should be seated, and what he should do, when he cometh. 2. To inquire of the diligent Searchers of things, and to demand by way of satisfaction, and not of resolution, of the unpartial Observers of the Affairs, Passages and Transactions of our times, whether the things and do that they have seen acted, and done in our days, be not answerable, and in every point suitable and correspondent to the Prophecies and Predictions of the Acts and Do of the Great Antichrist? 3. If by paralleling the Acts and Do of the Great Antichrist that he should do, with the Actions that they have seen done in our time, they find, The best way to judge of the Antichrist. that no Garment was ever more fitted to any man's Body, nor any line straighter to the Rule, than are the Acts, Do and Proceed of these times, from the Year 1640, and so forward, correspondent and answerable to all the Prophecies of the Scripture, that are left unto us by the Prophets and Apostles of Christ, concerning the Do and Proceed of the Great Antichrist; then I leave it to the discreet and judicious Reader, to determine and judge, whether the Great Antichrist be already come, and who he is; and I know no better way to judge of it, than this; For As our Saviour Christ, when the Disciples of John asked him, Matth. 11.4. whether he was the Christ, or should they look for another? He gave them none other Answer, but go, tell John what you do hear and see, the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the Lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have the Gospel preached unto them; the which things were Prophesied, Isa. 55.6. & ch. 61.1, etc. that they should be done by the Messiah when he came into the world: And again he saith, Opera quae ego facio, testantur de me, The Works that I do, do bear witness of me, whether I be the Christ or not: So say I to them that would know, whether the Great Antichrist be come or not, or whether they shall look for another? and in another place? How to know whether the Antichrist be come or not. Consider well what you hear and see, whether the things, and all the things, that were prophesied should be done by the great Antichrist, were not all acted and done modo & forma, as they were fore-shewed, here in Ingland, even in these our days or not? And then judge yourselves, whether he be come or not; and who he is, and where seated: For I shall do no more, but show you, what was prophesied of the Antichrist, that he should do; and demand, if you have not seen and heard of all those things that he should do, acted and done in these our days here in these Dominions. § That the Antichrist shall arise out of the truest and purest Church on earth, which was the Church of Ingland, in King Charles his time. First Then I say, That the Antichrist shall arise out of the true Chur. that it is agreed upon of all sides, not only by Bellarmine, and the rest of the Popish writers, but also by the most learned of our Protestant Divines, that the Scriptures testify, how that as the Darnels grow from, and among the Wheat, so the Antichrist and his Adherents shall spring out of the true Church of Christ, even when it is the true Church: So that Ineed not to stand long to confirm this Point; for as Christ by his spiritual Fishermen catcheth Souls in the Devil's Pond, that is, the world, & feeds them in his own, that is, the Church; so the Devil goeth about with his Net, and by his Instruments, to catch men in Christ his Pond, that is, the Congregation of Saints and true Servers of God, and then carrieth them to swim in the Dead Sea of eternal misery. And so E. H. E. H. de Antichristo p. 80. confesseth and consenteth rightly with me, that it is an undeniable truth, that the Antichrist must and shall arise in the midst of the Purest Church in the world, even when it is and remaineth, that is, in respect of very many of her Members, pure: and then, as Christ turned the cold water into sweet wine, so will the Devil, by the Ministry of the Antichrist, turn the Pure Wine of God's Word into bitter Water, and the sweet milk of God's Truth into a sour and stinking Puddle of all Errors, Dan. 7.25. Heresies and Blasphemies: For in Dan. 7.25. Which many Divines hold to be a Prediction of the coming of the Great Antichrist, and I yield him to be therein typically prophesied of: Antiochus the type of the Antichrist. It is said of Antiochus Epiphanes, which was the greatest enemy and the cruelest persecutor that ever the Church of the Jews had, and was indeed a very lively Type and the most perfect Pattern of the Antichrist, that he should wear out the Saints of God, and change their Laws and Customs, and abolish the times of their Sabbaths, their Feasts and their Circumcision; and as Tremellius saith, Tremell. in Dan. 7.25. Legem ipsam Dei, Juraque omnia nefarie convellere, most wickedly to pluck asunder and tear the very Law of God and to trample all Rights under-feets; and so the Antichrist, that is there typified by Antiochus, should do the like unto the Christians: Which doth sufficiently show, that he must appear and reign in the Purest Church on earth; for so the Church of the Jews was then, in the Reign of Antiochus; and because, there be the best Saints, and they have the best Laws and Customs, even those, which Christ himself and his Apostles have prescribed unto them, and which therefore the Antichrist goeth about to change, and by all means laboureth with all his might to destroy. And thus Bellarmine produceth argumentum ad hominem, and argueth against the Protestants, by an argument taken from ourselves and from our own assertion, to prove that the Pope cannot be the Antichrist; because it is yielded of all sides, that the Antichrist must arise out of the truest Church, Bellar. de Rom. Pontif. l. 3. c. 13. and must reign and rage in the same; therefore if the Pope be the Antichrist, the Church of Rome must needs be acknowledged and confessed to be, and not that it was, but still is, the true Church, yea, and the truest Church of Christ, and both the Calvinists and the Lutherans are out of the true Church, because of the schism and separation that they made from the Roman Church: The which Argument I see not well answered, though Bishop Downam and others attempted to do it, to this very day; And St. Aug. speaking of the Antichrist, sitting in the Temple of God, saith, they understand it right, qui putant etiam Latine dici, sicut in Graeco est, non in templo Dei, sed in templum Dei sedeat, tanquam sit ipsetemplum Dei, S. Aug. de civ. Dei, l. 20. c. 19 quod est Ecclesia; sicut dicimus, sedet in amicum, id est, velut amicus; vel si quid aliud isto locutionis genere dici solet; which think, it may be spoken in Latin, as it is in the Greek, he sitteth not in the temple of God, but for the temple of God, as if he were the temple of God, which is, the Church of God, as we say, he sitteth for our friend, that is, as our friend. Whereby you may see, St. Aug. understandeth that the Great Antichrist would pretend to be the only great friend of the true Church, and so in the true Church, and not out of it, and consequently not to be the Turk in any wise, that pretendeth not to serve Christ; nor the Pope, if we deny the Church of Rome to be the true Church of Christ; and therefore we may conclude with Bellarmine, Bp Downam de Antichrist. lib: 10. cap. 3. & 4. that the Pope cannot be said to be the Great Antichrist, nor Rome the proper Seat of the Antichrist, as Downam, Thomson, and others would have it to be; because as I said before, the Antichrist must arise in the midst of the truest and purest Church of Christ, which we utterly deny Rome to be; For the Apostle saith, 2 Theff. 2. the man of Sin and the child of Perdition, which all Interpreters do expound to be the Antichrist, shall sit in the temple of God, which as, the greatest of the School-Doctors, Aquinas saith, Aquin. in loc. and so Tilenus' Exegesis. 74. pag. 21. must not be understood of the Jewish Temple at Jerusalem, that hath been destroyed, and shall never be re-edified, as some of the best Jewish Rabbins do believe; but as S. Chrysostom and the Greek Scholiast. pag. 333. and Gorhan, and many others do understand it of the true Church of God, The Antichrist riseth and reigneth where God dwelleth. where the Gospel of Christ by his Faithful Bishops and Painful Ministers is truly preached, the Sacraments duly administered, and the Flock of Christ rightly Governed and instructed to serve God as they ought to do, there the Antichrist will seat himself, and there Satan will assist him, to overthrow the Bishops, to persecute the true Ministers, to neglect and nullify the holy Sacraments, to corrupt the Truth of the Gospel; and to ruin that Church which Christ thus buildeth: For it is observed, that the Apostle useth in this place the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, Observe. which is derived from the Verb 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, that signifies to dwell, or to inhabit; God dwelleth in the best Saints and where they dwell. because that is the House or place where God resideth, that is, among his Saints and in his Saints, as God himself doth testify unto his People, that will truly serve him. And therefore Constantinople, where the Turk resideth, and hath made the Chancel of San Sophia, where the High Altar and the Patriarchal Throne stood, to be a Turkish Moschy, whither the Grand Signior goeth to the Blasphemous Ceremonies of their False Prophet; and the City of Rome, where the Pope sitteth, and hath apostatised from the true Faith in many Points, and corrupted the Gospel of Christ, at leastwise, with many Superstitions, cannot be said to be that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 where God resideth, and the Antichrist sitteth as god, to destroy it; but it must be that Church, wherein God in the most Special manner dwelleth and delighteth in it; and that is in the Purest Church that can be found on earth, in respect of all the outward things that do constitute the same; for you must know, that the Church is to be considered two manner of ways, 1. Respectu divinae illius 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, and so God only knoweth his Church, The Church considered two ways. and who are the Members thereof, as the Apostle showeth. 2. In respect of that Discipline, Rule and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, which is apparent to our eyes, and consisteth chief in these four special things. Four things do constitute a true outward visible Church 1. In the Prayers of the Saints. 2. The Preaching of the Gospel. 3. The Administration of the Sacraments. And 4. Obedience to the Discipline of the Lawful Governors; And that Church which in these respects is the truest and purest, is that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, the Temple and House of God, where he dwelleth, and which the Devil, by his dear Servant the Antichrist, laboureth by all means to overthrow. Object. But you will say, Constantinople was 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, the true Church and dwelling place of God, and so was Rome, when her Faith was published throughout the whole world; Rom. 1. and so both continued until the Antichrist suppressed the Truth, and seated himself therein. To this usual Objection I answer, Solut. 1. That it is agreed of all sides, and by all Interpreters, old and new, Papists and Protestants, that the Great Antichrist should come towards the end of the world, 1. That the Antichrist should come towards the end of the world. 1 Tim. 4.1. and in the last Period of the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, last times, as the Scriptures testify the same most evidently; for though the Mystery of him and his iniquity began by those Heretics, that sprang up in the Apostles time; yet was not he to be revealed in his strength and fullness until the last and latter end of times: and therefore not any ways like to come and to appear so many Hundred years ago, as they prescribe, which make either the Turk or the Pope to be the Antichrist. 2. 2. That God suffereth not the enemies of his Church to tyrannize long. I say, that God being so good and so gracious a God, especially to his Church and true Servants, will not always be chiding, neither will he shut up his loving kindness in displeasure; but as the Poet saith, Nocte pluit tota, redeunt spectacula mane. Which in the Prophet's words, I may express, that although heaviness may endure for a night, yet joy cometh in the morning; and he may be sure of it; because God himself tells his Church, that for a moment in mine anger have I forsaken thee, but with everlasting compassion will I have pity upon thee; and so accordingly, he suffered not Antiochus that was the most lively type of the Antichrist that is in all the Scripture, to rage's against the Church of the Jews, for all their wickedness, any longer than Three years and a half; neither did he suffer the Captivity of his People in Babylon, for their great sins recorded, 2 Chron. 36.14, 15, 16. to last any longer than 70 years; nor the Children of Israel to be oppressed by Pharaoh, for the wrong they had done to their Brother Joseph, any more, after the Death of Joseph, than about 200 years, as Helvicus collecteth, which is the longest time that I find God seems to sleep, and to forget the Afflictions of his Church: And therefore I cannot sufficiently wonder, that Mr. Mede, Maresius, Tilenus, the Gap Synod, and others of the Divines aforenamed, should imagine that God would be so regardless, so unmindful, and so severe (though in Justice, we confess, he might be much more severe) unto the Christian Church, Note this well. as to suffer the Great Antichrist, the greatest and the cruelest enemy unto his Church, that ever the world bred, to reign and rage against his Saints and Servants, for so many hundred of years, as the Pope and Turk have now ruled, since they conceive them to be the Antichrist, and the Great Antichrist that should be so signally revealed. 3. 3. That the Antichrist was to arise, not out of a true planted Church, but out of a truly reformed Church. I say, that it is manifest, the Antichrist should arise, not out of a true converted Church from Paganism and the serving of their Idols to Christianity, as both Constantinople and all the rest of the Eastern Churches were, when Mahomet corrupted them; and also Rome, and the Western Churches, when the Pope replenished them with his Superstitions; but the Antichrist was to spring and to appear out of the true and purely Reformed Church, after it should be purged and cleansed from all Heresies, Errors and Superstitions. For it was prophesied and fore-shewed by the Apostle St. That it was foretold us, seducers & false prophets should come into the Church. Acts 20.29, & 30. 1 Pet. 2.1. Paul, that after his departure Seducers, Corrupters of God's Word, and false Prophets should creep into the Church, and introduce many damnable Doctrines amongst God's people, to poison the Souls of the Flock of Christ: And St. Peter likewise foretells us, that there should come False Teachers into the Church, who should privily bring in damnable Heresies: And so we find that not only Ebion and Cerinthus, two Heretical Jews, and after them, Arius, Pelagius, Manichaeus, Nestorius, Entyches, and the like, brought in most wicked Errors, and Heresies, that did most palpably and grossly infest and trouble the Church of God, and therefore were the sooner perceived, and the easier prevented and confuted by the Grave and Godly Fathers; but also the Church of Rome, the Popes and their Parasites, have privily, that is, insensibly and unperceived by the very Doctors of the Church, brought in many strange Doctrines, and thereby corrupted in many things the true Faith of Christ, and defiled the Church of God with many most Pernicious Errors, as specially, in forbidding the Priests to marry, commanding us to abstain from Meats, besides many other Superstitions and Points of less moment, and most of all, in that strange Metaphysical and incredible Doctrine of Transubstantiation, and the consequents of that Doctrine, in the Idolatrous adoration of the consecrated Host, and other very frivolous Superstitions, which have brought much Misery, and have been most Pernicious unto the Church of Christ. That a reformation of the abuses in God's service was foreshowed. And after that the Field of God's Church should be thus overgrown with Tares, and with Thorns and Thistles, the same Apostle showeth, that God would look upon his Church, and there should come a Reformation, and he would raise Reformers, to root out those erroneous weeds and Bastard Plants, and to prescribe a form of Godliness, or a set form of God's Worship, whereby the Church of Christ and Servants of God should be guided and directed how to serve God aright in the true Faith of Jesus Christ: And these Reformers of the foresaid Errors, and Prescribers of that set form of God's Service, and Teachers of the People, to worship God according to that form of wholesome Doctrine, are styled by St. Paul, as they were indeed, good men, and the good Ministers of Jesus Christ, 1 Tim. 4.6. 1 Tim. 4.6. Hypocritical proud Saints the worst of all sinners. And because the Devil can never rest quiet, but when we strive to be best, then will he labour and strive to make us worst of all, and to become proud Saints, that are more odious in the sight of God, than the greatest sinners, when they be humbled for their sins, as our Saviour testifieth, the same quicksighted Argos being illuminated by the Divine light of God's Holy Spirit, saith, there should spring up a company of Hypocritical Professors, that would be proud and boasting of their knowledge, though it were never so erroneous, and proud of their Godliness, though they were never so great worldlings and Hypocritical Dissemblers: And these E. H. rightly termeth, the black guard of the Antichrist; and he counteth eighteen Troops, or as I think, he might have rather said eighteen Legions of them. 1. Self-Lovers, which is the Root of all Mischief. That abundance of hypocritical professors, no less than 18 troops or legions, should under the pretence of Religion, corrupt God's service, and destroy his servants. 2 Tim. 3.2, 3, 4 E. H. de Antichristo. p. 145. 2. Covetous men, that long for the Lands and Live both of King and Priest. 3. Boasters, of what great things they would do. 4. Proud men, of their strength, of their Knowledge, and of their Goodness and Holiness. 5. Blasphemers, of God, of the King, and of the Saints of God. 6. Disobedient to Parents, especially to their Spiritual Parents, the Bishops and the Church. 7. Unthankful men, to those that have best deserved and done them most good. 8. Unholy men, without any spark of true Holiness or Religion in them. 9 Without natural Affection, to their Kins-folk and those of their own flesh and blood. 10. Truce Breakers, without any regard of their Oaths, Promises or Articles of Agreement. 11. False Accusers, and Make-bates, by charging men with those things that they never knew. 12. Incontinent, and given over to all uncleanness and all fleshly lusts. 13. Fierce, and cruel men, thirsting after the Lives and blood of those whom they hate, and nothing satisfying them but their death. 14. Despisers, and so haters of those that are good. 15. Traitors, that is, Betrayers of their King, of their Governors, and of their Friends. 16. Heady, that is, obstinate and wilful men, that will have nothing done nor said, but what they themselves think good. 17. men, and such as from a low estate and mean extract, aimed at great matters, and aspired to high places, to be Knights, Lords, and Princes. 18. Lovers of Pleasures more than Lovers of God, whatsoever Pretence they made, of their love to God, yet indeed their own Pleasure was and is their god, and their main end is for their own good. And all these eighteen Troops, which the Apostle clotheth in the same Livery, that is, a pretended form or show of Godliness, and a Directory to seem more zealous in Religion, and to bear a greater love and care of God's Honour, than all others; but should, notwithstanding all their Pretences, their Zeal and their Saintship, deny the Power and virtue of the right and true Form of Godliness, 2 Tim. 3.5. and thereby, 2 Tim. 3.5. saith the Apostle, they shall turn the Grace of God into wantonness, that is, turn the true Service of God into vain jangling, and a foolish senseless prating; and so probably prove themselves to be just like Jannes and Jambres, that resisted Moses, who was their chief Governor, and King in Jeshuron; and like Corah, Dathan, and Abiram, that, as the Prophet saith, angered Moses in their Tents, and Aaron the Saint of the Lord; Psal. 106.16. and so despised, rebelled, and would have destroyed both the Civil Magistrate, and the Ecclesiastical Governors of God's Church, which Offices themselves desired and aimed at, and would have obtained, if God by his fearful Judgement had not prevented them. And according to these Prophecies and Predictions, That all the aforesaid things came to pass according as they were foreshowed. and the like; 1. Of Deceivers and Corrupters of God's Truth. 2. Of a Faithful Reformation of all incrept Errors and Abuses. And 3. Of a Faithless Apostasy and Rebellion against the Reformers of the same, and the Defenders of God's Service, by a company of Hypocritical Zealots, we find by the successes, saith one, and I think very right, that all these things happened just as they were fore-shewed by the Apostle, as in other places, so likewise in this our Church of Ingland: For after that the Pope and the Church of Rome had fallen away from some Points of the true Faith, Arise Evans in his voice from Heaven, p. 18, & 19 and had privily, as I shown before, brought in divers Errors, Abuses and Superstitions, which defiled the Purity, and blemished the Beauty of our Church, as of many other particular Churches besides, Martin Luther steps up, and falls out with the Pope, for and about the Sale of his Indulgences, by his Factor Tercelius, whom the Pope then employed for that business; and then he bitterly inveigheth against his Holiness for this, and the other Corruptions of the Germane Church, that were no less, as they said, than centum gravamina, a hundred grievances, Fasciculus rerum extendarum. King Hen. the 8. writes against Luther. which were presented to Pope Adrian the 6th. with an earnest desire of a speedy redress, as you may find it in fasciculo rerum expetendarum: Hereupon King Henry the 8. it may be in Requital of the Pope's favour, that granted him a dispensation to marry his Brother's Wife, writes a Book against Luther, and therein blames him very much for apostatising and starting aside from his Mother, the Church of Rome, and contrary to his Faith, and Oath, and all good manners, so eagerly to oppose, and so bitterly to rail against his holy Father the Pope; and so to the uttermost of his Learning, that was both an understanding, wise and Learned King, he defends the Faith together with the Corruptions of the Roman Church; or rather maintains the Errors and Superstitions of that Church, together with so much of the true Faith, as the Pope and the Church of Rome did then profess; King Hen. 8. his double recompense for his book against Luther. 1. Recompense and for this Royal Engagement of the King against Luther, the King receives a double Recompense. 1. The one from Luther, his great Antagonist. 2. The other from the Pope, his dear Client. For 1. Luther in the heat of his Fury, and the height of his Germane spirit, rails as much against the King, (and calls him, as I read it in his own Book, and not out of any other Transcriber, asinissimus Rex, an unseemly term, as I conceive, for a poor Monk to give to so great a King, and as I said, none of the meanest Clerks,) as he had formerly done against the Pope; which bitter Invectives against a Father in the Church, and the Patriarch of all the Western Churches, Tilenus' exeges. pag. 29. Aphor. 104. & p. 20. as the Primitive Counsels term him, & qui in ordine primus fuit inter Patriarchas, & primum ordine in Apostolorum collegio eum esse, non inviti concedimus, saith Tilenus, and such uncivil behaviour towards Kings, Luther blamed for his too much bitterness and unseemly terms. Matth. 11.29. that are the Lords Anointed, be they what they will, when I read, not upon the credit of others, but in his own Tractates, as I thought very well of many things, that he wrote, so I should have thought much better of all the rest, but that I conceived so much bitterness, mingled with such a measure of Gall and Vinegar, as dropped from his Pen, not against the sins, but against the Persons of men, could not be distilled from the spirit of God, which is a Spirit of Meekness and Lowliness, as our Saviour testifieth; But 2. 2. Recompense. The Pope, for this Scholastic Defence of the Faith of the Roman Church, by the King, (which the Pope himself should have done by his Pen, and desired the King to have assisted him by his Sword,) gives to him, and to his Successors, the Kings of Ingland, the just, good and honourable Title of Defender of the Faith; that is, the True and Christian Faith, or the Faith of God's Elect, which was pretended to be then in Rome, and is now defended by the King. And though King Henry obtained this Eulogy, this Title and this Authority upon a wrong ground, because he defended a wrong Faith; yet as Jacob got the blessing, upon an untrue suggestion, that he was his father Isaac's eldest son, even his firstborn Esau; but being once gotten, he still retained it: So did the King, Genes. 27.19. when he fell out with the Pope, and fell from the Pope about his divorce from Queen Katherine, which the Pope, upon good grounds would not admit, still retain that Title, How the Faith was defended in Ingland. and especially the truth and substance of that Title, and maintained the same, as a King, with his sword, which he had gained, as a Priest, with his pen; and so did his son, and his Successor after him, Edward the 6th continue a royal defender of the true faith; and when Queen Mary would have remitted the Title, and permitted the faith to be undefended, and the truth to be corrupted in this Kingdom, the witnesses of Christ his Gospel, the holy Martyrs of our Church, (Cranmer, Latymer, Ridley, 3 reverend Bishops, and the rest of those holy Champions) stood up, and defended the same unto death, with the shedding of their blood, and the loss of their dearest lives. And after Queen Mary's time, Q. Elizabeth, like another Deborah, with the advice and assistance of all the godly Bishops, and the best of all the Divines in her Kingdom, concluded and set forth the Articles of our Church, and that perfect form of Godliness, the Liturgy, and book of common prayer, and service of God, which they composed with a free liberty from her majesty at home, and without any fear either of Pope, or any other foreign Authority abroad; And this faith concluded and expressed in our 39 Articles, to which all Ministers subscribed, and this uniformity of God's worship thus purged from all abuses, errors, and Superstitions, and so perfectly composed by all those holy men, for the honour and service of God, was fully authorized by the Queen, and all the Parliaments, that were convened, and held in her time, to be observed, without any omission or alteration, in all Churches; as you may see by the Act prefixed before the Book of common Prayer: And afterwards it was continued and preserved by that wise and learned King, K. James; and above all, and more strictly than all, by that ever blessed King, and glorious Martyr of Jesus Christ, Charles the 1. that defended the true faith, and this true form of serving God, against all opposers, both the superstitious Papists, and the apostate Puritans and Separatists, even to the loss of his life; And I presume, all good Protestants will yield unto me, and I am persuaded, That the Church of Ingland in King Charles his reign was the purest Church on earth. that the Pope and his Cardinals, if they would speak according to their consciences, could not deny, but that the Church of Ingland, as it was purged from Idolatry, and Superstition, and established in such purity of Doctrine, and excellency of Discipline, in the reign of King Edward the 6th, and especially in Queen Elisabeths' time, and so continued in the reign of King James, and King Charles, was the truest and the purest Church (unless they did except their own Church) that way-fared, and was militant here on earth, where the faith of Gods elect might infallibly be found, the service of God was rightly observed, and was the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, the Temple, the House, and the Church, which he hath purchased, and wherein he dwelleth. And So E. H. truly confesseth, that amongst all the reformed Churches, E. H. in his Preface to the Reader. the Church of Ingland hath always been esteemed the purest, as being most conformable to primitive purity, and the word of God, both in Doctrine and Discipline. B. Montague in apello Caesarem c. 5. p. 47, 48. And this appears even from the pens of the heads of other reformed Churches; as Bucer Melancthon, Calvin, Camerarius, Beza, Zanchius, Molinaeus, Casaubon, Sergevil, Saravia, and others, who, many of them confess in plain words, and all by consequence conclude, that the Church of Ingland, of any particular national Church in the world, cometh nearest to the apostolic rule; for though all the Churches, that protested against the superstitious tenants, and errors of the council of Trent, and the Church of Rome, have borne the name of reformed Churches; yet neither all, nor any of them all are indeed well and perfectly reform; when as many of them are corrupt in many points of Doctrine, as I could show you amongst the Calvinists, and especially the Lutheran Churches, that maintain that foul error of the ubiquity of the humanity of Christ, their consubstantiation of his body in the Sacrament of the Lords Supper, and their many mistakes about the communication of the Properties of both his natures, as Danaeus showeth most excellently against Chemnitius; and most of them are deficient in the rule of primitive Government; not any one of them indeed, following the Apostles Discipline. And the reason of their deficiency is, The reason of the deficiency of the Reformation of the other reformed Churches. because that in the French and Germane Churches, and the Churches beyond the Seas, the Reformers of them, by reason of the innumerable number of their potent enemies, and the civil broils and diffentions, that were then in those parts, and especially the want of a King in Israel, that is, a supreme Monarch, in some of those places, over the people, which made way for every one of the vulgar sort, to do, as we read in the Book of Judges, what seemed right in his own eyes, Judges 21.25. were constrained to do, what they might, and not what they would have done; what could be effected, and not what they desired to be performed. But the Church of Ingland, not by popular, or any one particular man's reformation, as John Knox, that furious puritan, did in the Church of Scotland, but by a national Synod of all the Bishops and best Divines, called by the King, and confirmed by the King, Peers, and Commons of the whole Kingdom, reform herself; not as other Churches did, tumultuarily, but with a great deal of advice, diligence and deliberation, that so it might be effected, as the Apostles left it, as the sacred rule required, and as it was premonstrated it should be performed, and weeded from all the dross, the tares, and the darnells, that should spring to choke the pure wheat. And therefore, seeing the Church of Ingland, until these late times, was the truest, and the purest reformed Church on earth, it is conceived, and I do believe it, that the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, the great Antichrist should arise, not out of Rome, that hath corrupted many truths, and superadded many errors and Superstitions upon the fundamentals of our Religion, and is as yet unreformed; nor out of Constantinople, which hath likewise apostatised from the true faith of Christ, and doth still continue unreturned to Christ, from their false Prophet; nor out of Jerusalem, as some men do most fond dream; but out of this Church, this very Church of great Britain. For as heretofore, Speed, l. 6. cap. 45. Camden britain. pag. 74. Euseb. in vita Constant. Zechar. 10.11. this Island of great Britain brought forth Constantine, the son of Helen, the daughter of King Coylus, which was the best instrument that ever the Church of Christ had, to further, and to honour the Christian Religion, as Eusebius showeth the same at large. And as according to the Septuagint, the Prophet saith, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, he hath passed through the narrow sea with affliction; and the pride of Assyria shall be brought down, and the sceptre of Egypt shall departed away; which may signify, that Christ hath first of all purged this Church, that lieth within the narrow seas, and hath made the purest Reformation here, that was made in any place, by the afflictions and sufferings of the aforenamed Martyrs in Queen Mary's days, and hath thereby brought down the pride of the Pope, and of the Roman Church, that were then as powerful as the Assyrians were when the Prophet wrote the same, and hath driven away his usurpation, and freed us from his tyranny, as the Israelies were delivered from the bondage of the Egyptians; so the devil, bearing an inveterate hate and infinite malice against this Island, more than against any other place, The 2. special Reasons why the devil beareth a greater malice to this Island, more than to any other place. for these two grand services, that it did to God, 1. The toleration of the Christians, to profess their faith in peace, and the Plantation of the Church of Christ, to increase and multiply by the means of Constantine; And 2. The Reformation of this Church, better than any other Church, by the means of those holy Martyrs, and godly Bishops that did the same, he was fully resolved to be revenged upon this Church of Great Britain: Therefore, as not long after Constantine's times, he stirred up the Picts, the Scots, the Danes, and the Saxons, to punish, plague, and tyrannize over the poor Britain's, as it appeareth by the lamentable address that they made unto the Romans, for their aid, and help against their enemies, for the first good service they had done to the honour of God; How the devil revengeth the good service that this Island did to Christ. so immediately, after that those godly Reformers of this Church had rooted out those evil weeds of Errors and Superstition, that the Devil had planted therein, he stirred up Penry, Martin Marprelate, Cartwright, Broughton, and divers others, (that in Q. mary's days fled beyond seas, to save their lives, and there sucked that transmarine poison, that infected both their own and many other men's souls,) to make invectives against our Church, far worse, and more bitter, than all the Actions that Cicero did against Verres, or his Philippics against M. Antonius, to revenge the second good service that this Island had done to Christ. And these that were reasonable good Scholars, but fiery, mad and furious men, did, through their violent proceed, get so many Proselytes, and Disciples after them, that, as S. Bernard saith of the former Heretics, in a very short space, numeri eorum multiplicati sunt super numerum, they increased like the rats of Egypt, that do super-faetare, beget young ones before they be delivered of their old brood; And this grand host of his Instruments the Devil persuaded, and egged them forward to prosecute their enterprise, and never to give over and desist, until they should effect these 3 things. The three especial things that the devil persuaded his instruments to effect. 1. Unking the Kingdom, and make it like the Israelites after the time of the Judges, that every man might do what seemed right in his own eyes. 2. Unbishop the flock of Christ, that the foxes, wolves, and other savage beasts, the Heretics and schismatics, might destroy them, at their pleasure; and so 3. To unchurch this formerly pure and famous Church of great Britain, and to cause it totally to apostatise from the true faith of Gods elect, to be divorced from Christ, and to be no ways answerable to the usual and right definition of a true visible Church, to which the infidels and unbelievers, being converted, might be incorporated; And then, after that they had more than desperately opposed their King, and risen up against the pious Defender of the true faith, he persuaded them, that if he would not consent, to defile that faith, to abolish the right form of God's worship, to corrupt the Christian Religion, and to destroy the witnesses of Christ, the governors and upholders of God's truth, in this so well reform Church, with fire and sword to war against him, and never leave, until they should bring him to a bitter death, and a glorious martyrdom; and after that they had like Jannes and Jambres withstood their Governors, and cashiered their Bishops, and suppressed the Articles and Liturgy of the Church, he persuaded them to fill the same Church with damnable Heresies, not privily, as the Apostle saith the former Heretics would do, but most openly, How Satan persuaded his instruments to fill the Church with all impiety and villainy. in the sight of the sun; and at last, as our Saviour saith out of Daniel, to bring the abomination of desolation, that is, such abominable blasphemies, heresies, errors, and absurd opinions among the people, and such wicked deeds, of perjury, oppression, pride, lasciviousness, and the like corruptions of Gods true service, that do more highly provoke the wrath of God, than all the sins of ignorance, negligence, or infirmity, and cause him to bring utter ruin and desolation upon any Kingdom, to stand in the holy place; that is, in the Churches, Chapels, and all other consecrated, and holy places, that were dedicated for the true service of God, and for the people of God, that did formerly truly and holily serve the Lord in those places; And this the Devil did to this end, videlicet, That so, the Kingdom being without a King, the flock of Christ without Pastors, and the Church of Christ without her Discipline, and true Doctrine, he might raise that cruel beast, which S. John saw rising out of the sea, from these narrow seas, and bring up the great Antichrist out of this pure Church of great Britain, to root out the true service of God, to be the plague of his servants, and the death of his saints, and to be fully revenged on this Island, for the twofold displeasure it had done to him before. Now, whether Satan hath, by his Instruments, done all this or not, I leave it to the wise and judicial impartial Reader, to determine it; only I find, that Mr. Alexander Rose, in his animadversions against Mr Hobbs his Leviathan. p 18 Alexander Ross saith, the Instruments of Satan brought such abominable blasphemies, heresies, errors and absurd opinions among the people, more in these few years, than were all the time hitherto, since christianity was embraced; which is a shrewd suspicion, if not an infallible proof, that the great Antichrist is come amongst us. CHAP. III. That the Antichrist is no single Person, but a Collected Multitude of men; Who those men might be; Of the Grand Apostasy, whereof the Apostle speaketh, that made way, and opened the Door wide, for the Antichrist to enter in; That it is neither the Apostasy of the Prime Heretics, nor of the East Churches, nor of the Roman Church; but of some purely Reform Particular Church, supposed to be, and demanded if it be not the Church of Great Britain. BUT here it is a great Question among the Learned, Whether the Antichrist be one sing le Person, or else a multitude of men, either succeeding one another, or collected together. whether this Great Antichrist be one single and singular Person; or a certain Polity, Kingdom, or Multitude of men? Hyperius saith, Est multitudo aliqua, & diversi sibi invicem succedentes, qui unum quodammodo Antichristi vastum corpus efficiunt; It is a multitude of men, succeeding one another, which after a sort do all make up the vast Body of the Antichrist; and so saith Tilenus, and all those that would have the Pope to be the Antichrist: Brightman saith, the Antichrist must be understood to be a wicked Kingdom, Rule or Dominion, which he affirmeth to be, not the Kingdom of Ingland, which in his time indeed could not be; but the Papacy, the Roman Hierarchy, and the Rule and Dominion of the Pope, Tilenus' exeg. de Antichristo, p. 9 Anchor is, 66. in Italy, France, Spain, or wheresoever his Jurisdiction reacheth; and Mr. Mede, Mr. Potter, and others are of the same judgement, and do take the Antichrist to signify the Papal State and Kingdom; and so Bishop Downam, Thomson, Shelden, and many more, do say, he can be no single and one singular Person, but a multitude of men, which many of the best Authors do conceive, to be made up of single Persons succeeding one another, as Hyperius saith; and they can be none other, as they suppose, than Series Paparum, the whole Classie of the Popes. On the other side, E. H. de Antichristo, p. 82. E. H. doth constantly and confidently affirm, that not only the restrictive Article 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 prefixed to each one of his Names and Titles, as 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, and the like, but also the things attributed to him, and likewise the time of his continuance, and many other particular Circumstances and reasons do evince, Bellarm. de Romano Pontifice, l. 3. c. 2. Montagu appello Caesarem, P. 148. that the Great Antichrist can be but one single, singular and individual Person; and so Cardinal Bellarm. though he confesseth, that sometimes this name of Antichrist is taken communiter, for any wicked Opposer of Christ and his Kingdom, as Bishop Montagu likewise saith, and as it is most true; yet he averreth, that where the Apostle prefixeth the Article, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, it signifieth none, or no more than one only single and singular Person; because as Epiphanius saith, Articuli Graeci contr ahunt significationem ad unam rem certam, the Greek Articles do contract and tie the signification to one certain thing, Epiphan. Haeresi, 9 quae est Samaritanorum. John 5.43. as 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifieth any man in common, but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 noteth this or that singular man. And the Cardinal would needs prove him to be, but a singular and single Person; because our Saviour saith, I came in my Father's name, and you receive me not, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, but if another shall come in his own name, him you will receive; but indeed here is a Fallacy, saith Thomson, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉; for though 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 be the Singular number, yet the Grammarians tell us, that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, which signifieth another, as well as 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, noteth the second of any two, but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 intimateth any one of many; and so our Saviour meaneth not here to single out any one only opponent to him; Acts 5.35 36. Eusch. l. 4. c 6. Dr Abbats de Antichristo. but he speaketh of any one indefinitely, whether Theudas, or Judas of Galilee, whom Gamaliel mentioneth, or Barchochebas, of whom Euseb. speaketh, or any other false Impostor whatsoever. And therefore it is well observed by Dr. Abbats, that what our Saviour speaketh here, in the singular number, indefinitely, of any one, he delivereth the same thing expressly in the Plural number, when he saith, Many shall come in my Name, Matth. 24.5. saying I am Christ, and shall deceive many, though our Saviour doth not in this Chapter, speak of the Great Antichrist, but of those false Prophets that should come and deceive the Jews; and so likewise 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 doth not determinate any one single Person, nor mean here the Great Antichrist, but indefinitely signifieth, that the Jews, which refused to receive Christ, would receive, as they did, any other false Christ, that came in his own Name; which is the very Exposition of Maldonat: Maldonat. in Johan. c. 5.43. and yet the truth is, that as Ecclesia Credentium, corpus cum Capite, the whole Church of the Faithful, the Body with the Head, is said to be, and is but one Christ; as where our Saviour saith, no man ascendeth up to Heaven, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, but he that came down from Heaven, the Son of man, which is in Heaven; John 3.13. where I hope the Article 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, twice prefixed, doth not so signify the Person of Christ, as to exclude the rest of his Faithful Servants, his Members from ascending thither; but this 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, Son of man signifieth Christ mystically understood, that is, That Christ the head, and the Church his members are termed Christ. whole Christ, the Head and all his Members; and so taken, none ascendeth, but he that descended; though as St. Bernard saith, aliter ascendit quam descendit, he ascendeth otherwise than he descended; for he descended naked, only in his Divinity, but he ascendeth clothed with our Humanity; and he descended only as the Head of his Church, but he ascendeth with all his Members and his whole Body, that is, his Church, which together with the Head, do make but one Son of man, and one Christ; for so Christ saith unto Saul, Why persecutest thou me? because, in good propriety of speech, Acts 9 4. that may often be well spoken of the whole, and so understood, which is truly proper to any one part, as, I am ill, when my Head only acheth, or they have put me into the stocks, when my feet alone were set therein: And so in Gal. 3.16. Gal. 3.16. By Christ is understood, the whole Church of Christ, united unto Christ, as to her Head: And so likewise, when the Dragon is said to stand before the Woman, that when she was delivered, he might devour her Child; the Child, saith Junius, Junius in Annot. in Apoc. 12. signifieth Christum, quem vocant mysticum, id est, totum, ex Persona Christi, velut capite, & ex corpore cum capite, per spiritum adunato, constantem; that is whole Christ, which they call mystical Christ, consisting of the Person of Christ, as the Head, and of the Body, as is the Church, united unto the Head, by the spirit; and so (saith he) the appellation of Christ is taken, in 1 Cor. 12.12. Where the Apostle saith, as the Body is one, 1 Cor. 12.12. and hath many Members, and all the Members of that one Body, being many, are but one Body, so also is Christ. And I say, That the great Antichrist is a collected multitude of most wicked men, and an Armageddon; which being compounded of cherem and gedud, signifieth exercitus maledictus, an accursed Army. that as thus Christ our Saviour and the whole Company of the Godly and Faithful Christians, are termed Christ; so likewise Ecclesia Malignantium, the Congregation of the wicked, and (as Primasius calls them) the whole Body of the Devil, which are all the Company of wicked Reprobates and ungodly men, are in the singular number, sometimes termed the City of Babylon, sometimes the Beast, sometimes the great whore and Jezabel, the painted Harlot, as if they were all but one woman, and one spouse of their Head and Husband, the Devil; sometimes the Synagogue of Satan, where they meet and combine themselves to serve and to worship him; and sometimes the Antichrist, that is, the adversary and opposer of Christ, and the man of sin, as if they all were but one man; because they all do either reject or neglect Christ, and refusing to believe his Words and to obey his Voice, by submitting themselves to his Ordinances, they do all of them, as one Army, and one grand enemy fight against him, and his Servants under the Banner of his Capital enemy, the Devil. And as this coetus impiorum, the whole Multitude of these wicked Reprobares, is, by venerable Beda, termed the Beast, and the Antichrist; and the whole Assembly of the Lying Prophets, and all the rest of the fawning, flattering and dissembling Preachers of the Beast, are in the singular number, and with the Restrictive Article, Junius in Annotat. in Apoc. cap. 13.11. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, termed and said to be, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, the false Prophet, as Junius testifieth; so specially the pessima pars hujus coetus, the worst pack, the vilest confederates, Senatus consultus, the great Synedrion, the supreme Council and the highest Court, of greatest Authority in the Kingdom, and the Synagogue of Satan, which is the Representative and Synechdochically the Mystical Body of the present dispersed multitude, and the main sum of the Antichristian company, is, and may more rightly be termed the Beast, and the Antichrist, or the man of sin and Child of Perdition, as if they were all but one man. And the reason, The reason why a multitude of men is termed one man. Acts 4.32. Revel. 17.13. why the whole conglutinate Pack, and united Senate of wicked men, are spoken of, in the singular number, quasi unus homo, as if they were all but one man, is, because they all have but one Head, that is, the Devil; and as all the Believers are said to have but one heart, and one Soul, that is, to serve Christ; so the holy Ghost saith, these wicked Senators and Members of the Beast, have but one mind, that is, one will, one course, one end, and one main scope and desire, to destroy the Truth, to overthrow the Church of Christ, to wear out his Servants, and to root out the right Service of God, and all Piety from off the earth. And as for their unanimous proceed against Christ and his Church, That the worst pack of all the present wicked reprobates, when it cometh, is termed the Antichrist. 1 Sam. 10.23. they are spoken of, as if they were but one man; so for their transcendent Impiety, their egregious 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 wickedness, their unparallelled plots, and exceeding all former Precedents in their abominations, they are most especially and properly styled the Beast that ascendeth out of the Bottomless Pit, the man of sin, and the Antichrist, that is, the great Adversary of Jesus Christ; because that, as Saul was higher by the head and shoulders, than all the rest of the People, so the wicked company of this collected and united Troop of the Servants of Satan, is, quasi unus è decem millibus, such a transcendently abominable Senate, as that you cannot find the like and such another among ten Thousands; when as all the Precedent Heretics, all former Tyrants, and all the subtle, cruel and bloody Persecutors of all ages, were but Fools and Dwarves or Pigmies, in respect of this crafty Fox and great Goliath, that doth so Giantlike defy the whole Army of Christ, and so Nimrod-like tyrannize, and so Julian-like persecute all the Faithful Worshippers of God. And thus the Geneva notes, The Geneva Annotat. on 2 Thess. 2. do understand the man of sin, to signify, the Body of the Tyrants and persecuting Church; and the Parliaments Ministers in their Answer to his Majesty's first Paper, P. 180. in the Isle of Wight, do confess, that a number of Persons are, in the Mysterious and Prophetic Writings, expressed in Singulars, as the Letters or Epistles that are directed to Collective or Representative Bodies, use to be written and directed to one, when as they are intended and are meant to all the whole Body in the Meeting assembled; and in Pag. 235, they say, that many Ministers, making up one Presbytery, is represented by one Angel, as I say hereafter, they are, August. de civ. Dei. l. 20. c. 19 by that one Beast, in Rev. 13.11. And St. Aug. speaking of the Antichrist, sitting in the Temple of God, saith, Nonnulli, non ipsum Principem, sed universum quodammodo corpus ejus, id est, ad eum pertinentem hominum multitudinem, simul cum ipso suo Principe, hoc loco, intelligi Antichristum volunt; Some will have in this place, understood by the Antichrist, not the Prince himself, but his whole Body in a certain manner, Mr Mede in clavi Apoc. pag 65. Dr Hammond in 2 Thess. 2. Magdeburg. cent. 1. l. 2 c. 4. coll. 435. Calvin. in 1 John c. 2. that is, the multitude of men, that belong unto him, together with their Prince and prime Leader himself: And Mr. Mede saith, the Beast, in REv. 13.1. doth signify a Company of men, composed of a certain order of Members, like as a Beast, and not one man alone: And Dr. Hammond conceives the man of sin, which we conceive to be the Antichrist, to signify not any one singular Person, but the Grand Captain of all Impostors, together with all the whole Sect of Gnostics and Idolaters, that follow him: And the Magdiburgenses, and Calvin, and Beza, and most of our Protestant Divines, do understand the Beast and the Antichrist to signify more than one particular man. Yet I cannot yield, that the Antichrist, should signify, as they conceive, a multitude of Particular and singular men, succeeding one another in the same Throne of Impiety, as many Kings do succeed one another in one and the self same Kingdom; because herein I see as many Improbabilities and Disagreements with the Scriptures, to take the Antichrist for the Series and Succession either of Popes or of any other the like Person, Turk or Tyrant, as I see Incongruities and Errors in taking him for one single and singular Person; when as the Succession of any such Person, that is, of any one single Person succeeding the like wicked Imp, that preceded him, cannot be correspondent to all those particular places of Scriptures, that are properly to be applied to the Antichrist; nor any one of all the series, i.e. not any one of all that succeeded one another, did or could act all those transcendent enormities, that are singularly to be effected, that is, to be done by the singular person of the Antichrist, or with respect to an unity of the agent, at the very time of their acting, and within the compass of the time allotted, and prescribed to the Antichrist for the doing thereof; is to instance a few things out of many, to make war with the witnesses, & to kill them, which no one Pope or Turk ever did, and to make war with the saints, & to overcome them, which one single person, be he what and whom you will, of all the series & classy either of Pepes or Turks, could never do. And therefore questionless, these men must yield, that the Antichrist signifieth not any one single person in the series, and succession of Popes, but the Prince or prime leader with his followers, and so it must signify a multitude together, Who are to be understood by the Antichrist. and not any one singly and alone; And so it comes to what I say, that the beast, and the Anitchrist doth betoken a collected multitude of wicked men, army or Senate, whereof one may be the ringleader; and this multitude, knit and combined together is, and will be the worst pack, and the most wicked, totius coetus diaboli, of all the servants and soldiers of the devil; and they are like the choicest Legion or regiment of Caesars veteran soldiers unto the dragon, his lifeguard, and a confederacy of the profanest hypocrites, and corruptest wicked men, that ever assembled, and continued to consult, and act together, since their elder brother, the Synedrion and council of the Jews, condemned Christ himself; John 5.43. such another pack or company of men as killed Christ, I take the Antichrist to be; for they were 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, one and the first great adversary of Christ, and this confederate pack is the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, the other, which Bellarmin speaketh of. And the restrictive Article, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, to each one of his names, as 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, and the like, doth not so infallibly evince, that he must be one single person, (which, as I shown you, could not effect and do all that the Antichrist doth) as E. H. thinketh, Epiphan. quo supra haer●s. 9 and the cardinal endeavoureth to prove, as it doth most certainly contract the signification, as Epiphanius saith, huic coetui, huic senatui, vel huic Ecclesiae malignentium, to this singular pack, this very Senate, this peculiar and particular company and association of wicked men, that do consist of many single persons, whereof, as in all other confederation, one may be the prime and principal leader in all exploits. Eudaem. p. 151. For it is observable, that, as Eudaemon truly admitteth, the article 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 doth give a double limitation, the one to design the nature only, the other to limit the universal nature, to this or that particular of that nature, yet so as it may agree to any other of the same kind; and thus the Greek article 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 designeth and compriseth, not only the head, but also every particular member of the beast; and so, they do indeed tie the signification, ad unam rem certam, to some one certain thing, as I say, that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifieth here, this one pack, knot, company and society of men, and every particular member, head and tail, of that association, and none other. And it is more agreeable to all reason, that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Antichrist, That united malice and a confederate power do always the greatest mischief, should rather design this very society and collected pick and multitude of men, than this or that single man; because we all know, by experience daily seen, that united malice, and confederate powe●, do always the strangest villainies; and we find it in the devil himself, that although he be the Prince of darkness, and hath alone a very great and powerful malice, yet even he, without fellows, raging about, cannot do nigh so much mischief, as he doth in conjunction with more associates; and therefore, when he hath any great and notable villainy to effect, as to subvert kingdoms, to ruin Churches, to suppress Gods true service, and to destroy the prime and chiefest servants of Christ, ●e associates himself with many hands and heads, and saith unto them, venite, come my dear friends, and lemus join our wits and powers together to do such and such acts, as will well produce so much pleasure and profit both unto me and you, and I shall reward you very liberally besides. And we find it also, that, in such an association of wicked instruments, and the combination both of infernal and terrestrial malice, where the devil is the devicerr and councillor, and men the actors, and the more men do unite themselves to produce the mischief, God permitteth a great deal of mischiefs and villainies, more abundantly to be done, both to the Church and state, both to private and public persons, than he usually doth, to any single malice; as he suffereth more slaughters to be done by a multitude of bloodthirsty men, than he doth by any single, though never so bloody a tyrant; and more roberies by a company of robbers, than by any one of the greatest thiefs. And therefore we do confidently avouch, that the great Antichrist is a great company of men collected together, and combined together in association, by a solemn League and Covenant, to do such and such feats and facts, as shall prove the greatest prejudice, mischiefs and villainies to Christ and his servants, that ever were done, since the crucifying of the Son of God; That the great Antichrist is like a great oak that hath many boughs and branches. And so the great Antichrist is like a great and a might oak-tree, consisting of many many boughs and branches; of whom we may justly say, as the Poet doth of the like case, — uno avulso, non deficit alter Tartareus ramus;— when one branch of that tree, or one member of that corporation decayeth, another presently, as bad or worse, springeth up, and succeeds in the place thereof; and so you see who is meant by, and to be understood by the great Antichrist. Question. But then the Question is, who should be this association, and collected multitude of such wicked men, so trascendently wicked above all others? And I find many men answering this Question, Who should be that collected company? as our Saviour answered the Jews, when they questioned him, and asked of him, by what authority he did those things; by demanding of them, Whether the baptism of John was from heaven or of men? so do they answer this question, by demanding the question, whether it may not be conceived, that the Assembly of Presbyterians, consulting at Westminster, together with the Independent and lay-Preachers, are not, as it were, the soul, that moveth, guideth, and directeth to all actions; and the prevalent faction of that long Parliament, that beheaded their King, and suppressed their Bishops, be not, as it were, the body and organical instrument, that produced and effected all the acts of that great Antichrist, the man of sin, and the child of perdition, that was to come into the world? For you must observe, that as a man consisteth of body and soul, so the man of sin, the great Antichrist, must be confessed to consisteth of body and soul; and as sometimes the mystical body of Christ, that is, the church, is termed Christ, as in Act. 9.4. and sometimes the head alone is called Christ; A necessary Observation. as Christ hath also once suffered, 1 Pet. 3.18. and thus Christ is most usually taken; and sometimes the head and the body joined together, by the Spirit, is called Christ, as Galat. 3.16. and 1 Cor. 12.12. So the Antichrist, and the beast, sometimes signifieth all the pack, knot, or company that are, as it were, the body of the beast and of the Antichrist, as 2 Thess. 2.8. sometimes it is put for the visible head, Revelat. 11.2. and Ch. 13.5. or most polypragmatical actor of that company, the General of that army, the Speaker of that Senate, and the ringleader of all that association: as in Revel. 11.7. and sometimes it signifieth both the head and the body of the beast, as Revel. 13.6, 7, 8. and so likewise the beast and the Antichrist is sometimes put to signify only the soul, as it were, of the Antichrist; and sometimes it is put for that pack, which is, as it were, the body of the Antichrist; and sometimes it signifieth both the body and soul of the Antichrist; And if you would rightly understand the actions, and the things that are spoken of the Antichrist and the beast in general, you must distinguish, in particular, of the acts that are applicable and ascribed unto him, as they are in respect of these several significations, and several agents; because many things are done by the head of the army, or the ringleader of a company, alone, and are only applicable to him alone, and to none else; other things are done by the body alone, and are applicable only to the body, though they could not be effected by the body without a head; and other things are so done, that they are applicable, and may be ascribed to be done, both by the body and the head; and as the acts and operations of the body and the soul are different and must be thus rightly distinguished, if you would understand the proper acts and operations of each of them: so are the acts and operations, that are ascribed to the Antichrist, different, How the actions of the Antichrist are to be considered, if we would rightly understand them. and must be rightly applied to the proper agents, either in respect of his head or members, or in respect of his body or soul, if you would truly and rightly understand them; because that, as I said before, the man of sin consisteth both of body and soul, that is, an assembly of Divines, which are as the soul of the beast, and are called the false Prophet, and a pack, or company of most wicked laics, that are as the body of the beast, and are most commonly termed the Antichrist; because they are the more visible, and the instrumental agents of all or most of the impieties and wickednesses that are committed; And the not observing of these distinctions and proper application of the acts, and things done, to the right agents, when as in the general, they are produced by such mystical and compound agents, hath caused many men to err in their Expositions, and to misapply the acts and do of the Antichrist; but being thus distinguished, and all the acts and operations of the Antichrist rightly understood, and properly applied to the right agents, head or members, body or soul, it is further demanded; The desire of satisfaction in this Question moveth the demand of the former question. Whether all the notes, arguments, acts, say, and testimonies of the Scriptures, which the penmen of God's word have set down, as the marks, badges, fignes and tokens, whereby the saints and true servants of Christ might know the Antichrist, when he came into the world, that they might avoid him, (which cannot all be found applicable and fulfilled, either in the Pope or Turk, or in the series and succession of either of them, or any single tyrant whatsoever,) are not all, and every one of them most properly, and punctually found suitable and agreeable in all things, and in every point, with the acts, say, do and proceed of the Assembly of Divines at Westminster, and the swarm of Independants, and lay-preachers, and the prevalent faction of that long Parliament, that have agreed to slay the witnesses of God's truth? Neither do they mean in this Question, or think it requisite, that the Assembly of Divines at Westminster, and the prevalent members of that long Parliament, should do all, and fulfil every point, that is prophesied should be done, and fulfilled by the Antichrist, themselves; but that all and every thing should be acted, and fulfilled by them, and by those, that were their confederates, and assisted and adkered to them, as being the members of the beast, though not of the Assembly, nor of the Parliament; Neither do they comprehend, nor understand all the members of the Parliament, in this Question, but as I say the prevalent party only. For you must know, that it is certain, without question, that as a righteous Lot was in Sodom among those wicked Citizens, and a godly Joseph among the idolatrous Egyptians, and many good Christians in bloody Nero's Court; That many good and godly men were in the long Parliament. so many good and godly men were members of that very Parliament, that we call the long Parliament, and did no more consent, nor like of those wicked actions, and proceed of the rest, than Nicodemus and Gamaliel did approve of the wickedness of the high Priests, and the rest of the Council, that condemned Christ to death; therefore you must conceive, that under the name of that long Parliament, they the demand the question before specified, do understand only the prevalent faction of that Parliament, which, like a violent stream, have carried things, and either through their subtlety, or by the absence of some of the members of the House, in a thin Assembly, have out-voted the rest of the more honest and sober men in every wicked vote; and so, wheresoever I speak of that Parliament, without adding the prevalent faction, as sometimes in many writings totum denominatur à parte praestantiori, the wool takes his denomination from the better part, and sometimes à part minus praestantiori, from the worse and viler part; so here, in this Discourse, the whole is named from the worse part, as being indeed in the absence of the resr, Who are to be understood, and whom the Author meaneth, under the name of the long Parliament. the major part; and I mean only the prevalent party, and partial faction of that Parliament, clergy and laity, and their disciples, abettors and adherents, wheresoever dispersed over all Ingland, Scotland, and Ireland; for otherwise, if you speak of the long Parliament in general, as it consisted of King, Lords, and Commons, or of the 2 Houses of Lords and Commons, as complete, and not partially taken, or subtly circumventing one another, I honour that Parliament, and do approve of all their acts and Ordinances, that they have so made; and therefore wheresoever I name that Parliament, without adding the prevalent faction, as sometimes for brevity sake I may omit, I desire my Reader to remember, that I mean only those, and that party of whom it is demanded, Whether they have not all, and every one of the notes and marks of the great Antichrift, and have done all the things, and fulfilled all the Prophecies, that should be fulfilled and done by the Antichrist. And because the event of things are the best commentaries upon Prophecies, The Events of things are the best Comments upon Prophecies. if so it be apparent, that all the things, say and do that are prophesied, and foretold should be done by the great Antichrist, are all manifestly seen to be done, and fulfilled in them, and by them, aforenamed, and by their confederates and adherents; I know not how to give satisfaction to them that demand this question: or how to deny them to be the Antichrist; and to acquit them from that suspicion. But I will leave the answer of these demands, and resolution of those Questions to be the ermined by those unpartial Judges, that are quicker sighted than I am: and I will proceed, not to foretell any thing, but to explain unto you what the Prophets have foretold us should come to pass, and should be done in the time, and by the members of the great Antichrist; and for the application of those Prophecies, as fulfilled in these days, and by these men, I leave it to the better observers of the transactions of our time, whether they can rightly do so, or not. And first, That Apostasy or rebellion is the door through which the Antichrist entereth into the Church. I find the Apostle telling us, that the door, and breach, or gap whereby the Antichrist shall have way to enter into the Church, and sheepfold of Christ, to destroy his flock, will be apostasy, or rebellion; for when the Thessalonians had heard, that such a great egregious Antichrist should come, and thereupon did presently expect him, and then thought the day of Christ his coming to judgement should instantly follow; because they had heard, that his coming should be, towards the end of the world, and but a little before the day of Christ his coming; the holy Apostle, to rectify their misapprehension, of what they had heard, and to explain the truth and time of both their come, saith, the day of Christ shall not come, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, quin venerit defectio prius, until there be first a failing, or falling away, 2 Thess. 2.3. as Beza translates it; or, nisi venerit prius rebellio, unless there comes a rebellion first, as the Syriac hath it; and, as very many of the best Interpreters say, the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifieth; because every rebellion is a falling away from what we should be. And this rebellion is conceived by some Authors, to be that, which the people made in Rome against Nero; and by others it is thought to be that, which the Jews made against Florus, or that which the grand rebel Barchochebas made against Rufus, in the time of the Emperor Adrian, who did therefore sufficiently chastise the Jews for their apostasy and revolt; and others of no small esteem, do understand it of the ruin of the Roman Empire, and the Provinces revolt from the Roman Empire, under the Turk, and other apostate Governors of the Provinces, as Niger, Albinus, and the rest, that proved false against their Emperors; but Mr. Calvin, which is ever held the best textuary, B. Hall in his Revelation unrevealed. Ensebius, l. 4. c. 6. even since the Apostles time, as B. Hall saith, wonders that so many learned men, as understood these words of the Apostasy, or rebellion of those revolters from the Roman Empire, should so far mistake the Apostles meaning, nisi quod cum errasset unus, turmatim alii, sine judicio, secuti sunt eum; unless sit be, that when one hath erred, others, without judgement, or any further search for the truth, have followed him; which is an usual fault, and a great fault, amongst many writers, where they see one run, they are often ready, like sheep, without reason, to follow after him. And yet I wonder not so much herein, as Mr. Calvin doth; because the Apostle might well mean; The rebellion against the Magistrate doth ever precede a recession from the faith and God's service. both the apostasy and rebellion from the temporal Monarchy of Rome, as the type or Prodromos, and also from the spiritual Kingdom of Christ, which is the Church, as Estius, Anselmus, and very many more of our best Protestant writers do interpret it; because commonly, they that rebel against the one, will never stick at the other, but when they kick against the Magistrate, they will presently spurn against the Priest, and God requireth obedience to be observed towards the civil Magistrate, as well as to the spiritual Minister: neither shall you ever find, that any departed from his true and obliged obedience to his lawful Governor, but he presently apostatised, and made a recession from the true service of God; as when Jeroboan● rebelled, and made a recession from his obedience to his King, he presently made a defection from the true God, and a discession from his worship to serve his golden calves; and when the Satrapasses, and Tetrarches of the Provinces rebelled against the Roman Emperors, they presently fell away from the Church, and instead of Christ took Mahomet for their Prophet; and the Jews tell us plainly, we have no King, or will have no King, because we feared not the Lord, to show unto us, Hosea 10.3. that a discession from God's service doth ever accompany the rebellion from the civil Government, and the rebellion against our Governors is the forerunner of our discession, from the true service of God and the faith of Christ: because that our Governors, which have the charge, to see that the true faith and right service of God be preserved, do, while they are obeyed, hinder this Apostasy and falling away from God's service; but when they are resisted, and the bond of our obedience to them broken, there is no stop of this apostasy, but that every one may be of what faith, and do what service he pleaseth, and as he pleaseth, unto God. And therefore, I take this apostasy and rebellion that the Apostle speaketh of here, What apostasy or rebellion is here meant by the Apostle. to be chief meant for a civil rebellion against the supreme Magistrate, as he is custos utriusque tabulae, the defender of the faith, and preserver of God's public service, and a spiritual opposition, or withstanding of our spiritual Governors, and the discipline of Christ his Church; and so a falling from the true Doctrine, and the faith of Christ, which is the end of that progression, and last step of this apostasy, that gins in our disobedience and rebellion against Moses and Aaron, and ends with our discession from God and God's service; for thus S. Paul saith, the Spirit speaketh evidently, that in the later times, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, 1 Tim. 4.1. some shall departed from the faith: and so, in Acts 21.21. it is said, they heard of thee, quod 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, that thou teachest a defection or discession from Moses: that is, from the laws and Ordinances of Moses: and so Theodoret calleth this apostasy 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, a secession and departure from God, which is the last step and period of our rebellion against the King or civil Magistrate. And this falling away from God, and from God's service, must be of such men, as formerly have made show to be the true subjects unto their Governors, and the Professors of the Gospel of Christ, and the obedient children of his Church; because apostasy or rebellion is a falling away off and from that, which we either were or seemed to be before: as subjects, that pretend obedience, and not strangers of another kingdom, are said to rebel against their Governors, This Apostafie is of such as have professed the Gospel. which strangers never acknowledged to be their Governors; but as Julian was termed the Apostata; because that, during all the time of his Predecessor Constantius, he professed himself a Christian, and afterwards, when he himself came to be the Emperor, he renounced the faith of Christ, fell into the Heathenish idolatry, and persecuted all the best Christians: and therefore this Apostasy cannot be ascribed to Caius Caligula, as some think; because that he, being bred up in Idolatry, cannot be said to departed from the worship of the true God, which he never professed: nor can it indeed be ascribed to any manner of men, The Turks and Papists cannot be guilty of this Apostasy. but to such as have receded and departed from that faith and service of God which they professed, or seemed to profess before; and therefore also, the Turks, that are bred in the Mahometan Religion, and the Papists that are misled up in idolatry and superstition, cannot be guilty of this apostasy, nor be said to apostatise, and to departed from the true faith and service of God; because they never had it, nor professed it; for, how can he be said to departed from the truth, that never knew nor understood the truth? or how can any man be said to departed and recede from London, that never was in London? therefore it is most certain, that this apostasy is a discession and departure from that true faith and service of God, Object. which men professed or seemed to profess before. E. H. de apostas. pag. 36. cornel. ●lapide in loc. And whereas E. H. and some others say, that this Apostasy whereof the Arostle speaketh here, 2 Thes. 2.3. must be understood of an universal and a general Apostasy, & universalis defectis, as Cornelius à lapide terms it, an universel falling away, that is, of all the particular national Churches in the world, both the Western and the Eastern Churches; because the Apostle speaks indefinitely, and limiteth not the apostasy to this or that particular Church. Solut. I answer, with the leave of so great and so learned a Clerk as Cornel. à lapide is, that, as here the Apostle intendeth not to speak of the Antichrists in general, when as then, Eusebius l. 3. c. 7. & l. 4. c. 14. Apoc. c. 2. Clemens Alexand Stromat. lib. 3. in his time, there were many Antichrists, as St. John showeth; such as were the Ebionites, Cerinthians, Marcionites, Nicholaitans, and the like; but he speaketh of an 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, a particular Antichrist, that should be an Antichrist 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, and a more eminent, egregious Antichrist than all other precedent or subsequent Antichrists whatsoever, were, or should be; so he meaneth here by this Apostasy, not every petty apostasy, or single Heresy, or any small and little stubbornness of some particular Churches, that should fall away, and rebel against their Governors and Teachers, and so make a defection from some Points of the true Faith, or corrupt the Profession and Faith of Christ by their evil Manners and wicked Conversations; as in St. Paul's time, the Church of Corinth did; by denying the Resurrection, profaning the Lord's Supper, and suffering the incestuous Corinthian to communicate amongst them; which was no small apostasy: And in St. John's time, the Churches of Asia did not much less than the Church of Corinth fall away from the Truth; but the Apostle would have us to understand, that the Day of the Lord shall not come, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, until there shall come, that falling, or the falling away first; that is, such and so great, so eminent and so full a falling away, and so foul a rebellion against their Governors, and from the Faith of Christ and the true Service of God, as the like rebellion and falling away from the Truth, and specially from the right worshipping of God, was never known before in any Church, Greek or Latin, Eastern or Western Church, nor ever shall the like be seen after it, until the day of Christ his coming. And this the Particle 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, That the Apostle speaks of some particular eminent rebellion and apostasy of some particular well reformed Church, and not of a general apostasy of the Catholic Church, against which the gates of Hell shall never prevail, Mat. 16.18. set before 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, doth sufficiently show unto us, that as 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 doth deign and particularise some great transcendent Antichrist, so 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 doth show a particular, and a most egregious, foul and enormous Apostasy; and so the meaning of the Apostle in few words seems to be this; that before the day of the Lord, that is the great day of Judgement, there shall arise a grand rebellion against the Governors of the people, and against the Pastors and Discipline of the Church, and a huge apostasy, defection and falling away from the true Faith of Christ, and especially from the form of wholesome Doctrine, and the right worship, and usually accustomed and received Service of God: And then, when you see such an unnatural rebellion, as the like was scarce ever known, if ever; and such a corruption of the true Doctrine of Christ, and opposition to the chief Governors of the Church, as the like was never seen in any age, nor found in any other Church, nor read in any History; the whole Church of Christ, and all the Servants of God, then in being, may know for certain, that an exceeding great Antichrist, greater than any of all the other former Antichrists, that were seen before, will arise in that Church, which formerly was the best and purest Reformed Church of all other Reformed Churches, though now it doth recede and thus apostatise from the Faith of Christ, and her own former purity: And after the Coming and appearance of that Great Antichrist, and the Tragical Acts that he shall do, within a while and some short space, best known to God, how long or how soon, Christ will come to Judgement, to make a final end of the Antichrist, and to deliver his Servants out of all their troubles, And this Author wrote a Book entitled The Grand Rebellion. that they shall suffer by the Means and procurement of the Antichrist. And so first the grand Rebellion will show itself, and the great Apostasy will appear; then the great Antichrist will come and settle himself in the Church of Christ, and he shall be revealed and made known, not to all men, no more than Christ was, when he came into the world, but to as many as the Spirit of God shall enlighten and open the eyes of their understanding to take notice of him, that they may avoid him, and not be seduced by him, E. H. de Antichristo, c. 6. pag. 101. to follow his pernicious ways, as E. H. hath most truly declared: And then, as the Apostle saith, the Day of the Lord will come, and we may certainly expect it, and believe it will not be long before he cometh. Question Now it is demanded, where, in what Kingdom, and in what Reformed Church, or in what other Church, this Grand Rebellion and huge apostasy hath happened and appeared? And it is answered, Respons. That the apostasy here spoken of, cannot be, 1. The apostasy of the prime grand Heretics. 1. That this apostasy here spoken of, cannot be meant of the apostasy of the prime grand Heretics: For though the Nicolaitans, the Ebionites and the Cerinthians, in the time of St. John, and afterwards, the Montanists, Valentinians, Arians, Nestorians, Eutychians, and the succeeding Heretics, Manichaeans, Pelagians, Donatists, and all the other Brood of the prime Heretics, fell into many most fearful errors, and so rebelled against their Governors, and drew many Disciples after them, to make a defection from the true Faith, and have by their apostasy and subtlety corrupted whole Churches and Congregations of Christ; yet, that their backsliding and apostasy cannot be said to be this 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, the grand Rebellion, and the special great falling away from the Faith, which the Apostle here speaketh of; because their apostasy was not so general, and so extensive from the most and the chiefest points of Faith, as this is; but each Heretic and each Sect of those Heretics, started aside from some particular point of the true Catholic and Christian Faith: as Arius denied the Divinity of Christ; Nestorius made Christ to subsist of two Persons; and Eutiches on the other side to confute him, confounded the true Properties of both Natures; Manichaeus would have God to be the Author of evil, or that there be two Gods; the one good, and the author of all goodness; and the other evil, and the author of all the evil that is; Pelagius taught the too large extent of man's ; All the prime grand Heretics far better than our present Presbyterians. and others with the Stoics, ascribed all events to a fatal necessary; and so the rest of those Heresiarches, defiled themselves, and their Churches with some particular error, or with some very few at the most; and yet still they retained the rest and the most points of the true Faith, and especially the settled Form of God's Service, and desired always to be in the Commnion, and to keep the unity of the Catholic Church; and they ever observed the right Government and Discipline of the Church; (none of all the Heretics until Aerius, nor, after he was therefore condemned for an Heretic, as Epiphan. sheweth, any other Heretic, (till this last Century, produced a Brood of Aerius Proselytes) were ever found to deny the Episcopal Government of the same) and they all generally retained the established Creeds and Articles of wholesome Doctrine, Liturgies, Catechisms, and the right manner of the Worship of God, with that reverence and devotion, as he ought to be worshipped, though they started aside, and apostatised from some particular points of the Foundation of the Catholic Faith. And 2. 2. Nor the apostasy of the Eastern Churches. The like may be said of all the Asiatic and African Churches that succeeded them, and were many of them corrupted by those grand Heretics, that they professed the Creeds, observed the Liturgies, and reverenced their Governors, as the Apostle enjoineth, and receded only like their Leaders, from some few Points of the true Faith; and therefore the grand apostasy here spoken of, cannot be fastened nor applied to any of them. And 3. As the Eastern Churches are free from this apostasy, so the Church of Rome, 3. Nor the apostasy of the Church of Rome. and all the rest of her subordinate Western Churches, though they have corrupted the Doctrine of Christ with many Errors, Ceremony; and Superstitions, yet because they retain the main Heads, the true Scriptures, the Catholic Creeds, and the gross sum of the Christian Religion, though mingled with many erroneous accessions, and is therefore rightly compared to a field of goodly Wheat, but very full of Tares and Darnels, cannot be said to be guilty of this grand Rebellion and apostasy. Reason 1 1. Because all their Errors and Superstititions are not so foul as those of the foresaid Heretics, and the additions, which they agglutinate unto the Truth, as a bad super-structure upon a good Foundation, cannot be liable to this transcendent apostasy; when as all the errors of the Church of Rome, are rather Superstitions and additions of more Articles, than ever the Apostles left, or the Primitive Church professed, to the true Faith and Catholic Creeds, than a defection, or discession and departure from the Faith; and therefore that Church cannot be guilty of this apostasy and departure from the Faith, but rather of creating a new Faith, and new Articles of Faith, which God never requireth us to believe. Reason. 1 2. Because the now Church of Rome, of France, Spain, and other Churches under the Popish Jurisdiction, did never profess all the Articles of our faith in the true and right sense, as they ought to be believed and interpreted; but they were born, nursed; and nuzzled in the errors and Superstitions that they are in continually; and how can they be said to recede and departed from the faith, and from the truth, that never knew them, nor professed them? and therefore seeing they never were in the true faith, they can no ways be said to be guilty of this apostasy from the faith. Object. But you will say, (as E. H. doth, and many others with him) that, when after Constantine's time, E. H. in the Preface of his book, the Autic. the Church began to be wealthy, and as the envious said, venenum intravit in Ecclesiam, poison, that is, the poison of riches, honours, and authority, especially after Ph●cas his time, that gave unto the Pope the title of universal Bishop, entered into the Church, and among the Clergy; then the Monks brought tapers into the Church, and they induced the trisagium, that is, sancte Deus, sancte fortis, sancte immortalis, which as the Monks say was first uttered by an Angel in the Cathedral Church of Canstantinople: and about the year 605. Boniface the 8. usurpeth the Title of Universal Bishop: and after that, the Churches became Sanctuaries for malefactors, holy-days were appointed, Priests were forbidden to marry, Latine-service was enjoined, the Liturgies were augmented, the Pax was commanded to be kissed, Images were adored, the Saints were invocated and prayed unto, which Mr Mede saith, is the Doctrine of Daemons, that makes the Apostasy which the Apostle speaks of, 1 Tim. 4.1, 2. Vestments, and other Church Utensils were consecrated, Mr Mede, in his Apostasy of the latter times. the Emperors and other civil powers were shouldered out by the Pope and Church, Indulgences were sold, and abundance more of such absurdities were brought into the Church: And when the godly Christians petitioned unto his Holiness, the Pope, The manifold Errors of the Church of Rome confirmed by the Council of Tre●t. for a reformation of these abuses, did not the Council of Trent confirm them? Did it not, in their first meeting, Sess. 3. decree, that the vulgar Translation, that hath some errors, and much rude Latin in it, should be authentical in all places? and Sess. 4. That original sin is so taken away by Baptism, that concupiscence, or lust, in renatis, the regenerate, is no sin, until they give consent unto it? and Sesse. 5. That there remains in us a freedom of man's will to good, which being excited and stirred up by grace, concurs with grace to do the good we do? and Sess. 7. That seven Sacraments were to be received? Vide etiam Ti●●num exegesis de Antichristo. pag. ●5. & d●inceps. And then, at their second meeting in Bononia, Sess. 2. did they not establish the Doctrine of Transubstantiation? And Sess. 3. have they not made Penance, and extreme Unction two Gospel-sacraments, or Sacramenta novae legis, as they term them? And 9 years after, at their third meeting, Sess. 5. have they not impowered the Pope to mutilate the holy Sacrament of the Eucharist, or Lords Supper, and to take away the cup from the Laiety? and Sess. 6. have they not concluded the whole Mass to be a propitiatory Sacrifice both for the quick and the dead? and Sess. 8. Did they not give full power unto the Church, to dispense with God's Law in Levit. 18. concerning Marriages? And at their last Sess. Have they not confirmed the Doctrine of Purgatory, invocation of Saints, worshipping of images, giving of Indulgences, and preservation of Relics? And was there, ever since Christ his time, or could there be a greater, and a more general extensive apostasy and departure from the truth, and true faith than this, where the Pope and his Faction have thus prevailed against the Protestants, to put out the light of truth, to corrupt the Gospel of Christ, and to defile the service of God in this manner? Respon. To this great and bitter charge against the Church of Rome, I answer, That some men are so addicted to this Church, that they see nothing to be evil in her, but all truth, and all to be embraced without question; and others are so transported with passion, such hatred unto the Pope, and such a prejudicated opinion of that Church, that they think nothing good in her, and nothing to be followed, that she holdeth; so that they are willingly ready to reject the Gospel, as they do all Prayers and service the Papists use to God, because they are approved by the Church of Rome: it is an Argument sufficient, to cast away all the service of God, all good works, and all the acts of Piety and Charity, if they be but once persuaded they are Popery. For my part, The Author's resolution touching the Roman Church I do unfeignedly from my heart profess myself a true and right Protestant, and an obedient Son of the Church of Ingland, as it was reform, and the 39 Articles of our faith approved, and confirmed in Q. Elizabeth's time, and so continued in King James and King Charles his time, until the Beast, that ascendeth from the bottomeless pit, I may mean the Devil, endeavoured to remove our candlestick, and to put out the light of Israel: And for the Church of Rome, I do perfectly and throughly hate and renounce all the errors and Superstitions of it; and for her truths, and good things that she holdeth and doth, I do hearty love and embrace them, and will therein join the right hand of fellowship, and desire communion with them; as a man, that will not refuse a pearl, because it was taken up from a dunghill: but for the aforesaid things and points that E.H. and others speak of, and object against her; I believe some of them may in some sense be justified, some others not altogether so offensive, as a groundless ha●red against Popery makes them seem to be, to such as Martial speaks of, Non anto te, Sabide, nec possum dicere quare, I love thee not o Sabidus: but why I cannot tell thee; only this I can tell, that I do not love thee. Hoc tantum possum dicere, non amo te. I love thee not, but why to tell thee, I cannot: Yet this I can tell for truth, I love thee not. And for most of them, I confess they are either enormous, or superstitious, or some way or other justly offensive to God's people, and do sufficiently prove, that the Church of Rome hath apostatised, and receded from many points of the true Doctrine of Christ, that herself had formerly professed, especially when S. Mr. Mede, in his Apostasy of the later times. Plato in cratilo, Apuleius de deo Socratis, & Plutarch, de defect, oracul. Paul wrote unto her: and, as that learned and worthy Divine Mr. Mede hath fully showed, how that Church hath backslided in worshipping Mahuzzims, invocating of Saints, and adoring of their Images and relics; so I confess the same to be a foul and mighty error, and a great abuse of God's service in them; and not much inferior or less fault, than the Gentiles adoring of their Deastri or Daemons, which was the deifying of their deceased Heroes, such as Hercules, Romulus, Numa Pompilius, and the like, were; as Plato, Apuleius, Plutarch, and others testify the Heathens did. Though notwithstanding, I am so far from blaming S. Basil, S. chrysostom, Fortunatus, S. Gregory, S. Hilary, James Bishop of Nisibis, Eucherius, Theodoret, and others, that Mr. Mede chargeth to have done, too undiscreetly, (to say no more) for so much commending the holy Martyrs, and calling them walls, and fortresses, and as Gregory Nyssen terms them, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, Guardians, and Protectors of those Cities, and places where those Martyrs were interred; Mr. Mede's crimination of the Fathers answered. that I do exceedingly approve their discretion, and commend their wisdom and piety herein; because those times were times of Persecutions, and Christianity sought by the enemy of mankind, and his Instruments, to be expunged and rooted out of the world; and therefore to encourage all the Christians to be constant in their Profession unto their death, it was requisite to use all the Eulogies and praises that might well and rightly be given, especially in the funeral Orations of the Martyrs, unto those holy men, that had so manfully fought the good fight of faith, and so christianly died for the defence of the Gospel of Christ; when as the contrary would have been a great disheartening of the weak Christians, but these Eulogies a spur to inflame them, to all readiness to undergo the like Martyrdom, rather than to start aside from their Christian profession. Neither do I see how those Eulogies and praises that these Fathers gave unto the Martyrs, are any ways contrary to the truth of our faith, or the Word of God; because we know, that, as the Prophet saith, Psalm. 116.15. right dear in the sight of the Lord is the death of his Saints; and no doubt but he hath some love and care of their dead bodies, to preserve them from that spirit of malice, and contempt that the Devil and his wicked assassinates bear against them; and therefore as he preserved all that were in the ship for S. Paul's sake, Act. 27.24. so he may be pleased to preserve others his servants with the preservation he extendeth, and would have showed to the bodies of his Saints, and especially of his holy Martyrs, the which he would have no ways to be abused, as the Prophet showeth, and doth exceedingly complain of them, that give the dead bodies of God's servants to be meat unto the fowls of the air, Psal. 79.2. and the flesh of his Saints to the beasts of the field, as now I have seen it in many places, how the hogs are rooting in their graves, and the dogs gnawing the bones of God's servants. That the aforesaid Errors make not this Apostasy. And I say that, although the Roman Church hath failed in the Premises, and erred in the points aforenamed; yet all that doth not make this grand apostasy, which the Apostle here speaketh of: Reason. 1 1. Because here, in the Roman Church, we find no rebellion against their Governors; but qui ducunt eam seducunt eam, the leaders of that Church deceive the Church, and so her apostasy is not so odious, but the more excusable, and the less abominable in the sight of God. Reason. 2 2. Because these Errors and Superstitions aforenamed, and the like, have only defaced, but not nullified; bespotted and polluted, but not destroyed that Church, which is now like unto a false woman that hath played the whore, but is not divorced, nor run away from her husband; That the Church of Rome holdeth all the foundation and preservation of the Christian Religion. for so long as they profess to believe, as the three authentic Creeds, that is, the Apostles Creed, the Nicene Creed, and the Athanasian Creed, teach us; and use the Lords Prayer, and publish the ten Commandments, and receive the two Gospel Sacraments, that is, Baptism, and the Lords Supper, and retain the wholesome form, and reverend manner of Divine worship, and service of God, with the rightly authorized, and lawfully called Pastors and Governors, and a dutiful submission to the established Discipline of the Church; which things are both the foundation and preservation of the Christian Religion; and which, they say, are all observed and performed in the Roman Church; I believe no good Christian can deny her to be a true Church, though not a pure Church of God; because that while the foundation remaineth sure and undigged up, all superstructures of wood, hay, stubble, doth not evert and overthrow the whole edifice, but is rather a going beyond, Eccl. 7.16, 17. than a going back, from the faith of Christ, like the being too righteous, and not too wicked, as Solomon speaketh, that is, the being too precise, and making more sins than ever the Law of God made, and not too profane, and so exceeding in the works of supererrogation and observing many other commandments of men, besides the commandments of God; Mr Mede, P. 612. just as the precise Pharisees required the people to do in the time of Christ: and Mr. Mede resolves Mr. Hartlib, that the Roman Church hath not erred in the fundamental Articles of the Faith, but in the assumentis, which they added unto the foundation: so likewise D. Crakenthorp, B. Hall, and most of our best Divines are of the same mind. And therefore questionless the Church of Rome cannot be guilty of this grand rebellion and Apostasy here spoken of. And 4. 4. Nor the falling away of the Protestants from the Church of Rome. As the African and Afiatick Churches of the East, under the Greek Patriarches, and the European Churches of the West, under the Pope of Rome, are not liable to this grand Apostasy; so neither can the Church of Rome, nor any other Master of that Church say, and say truly, that the falling away of Luther, Calvin, Beza, and the rest of the Protestants and protestant Churches from the Roman errors and superstitions, and from their obedience to that Church, can be this falling away, and apostasy here spoken of; because we with them, and they with us, do hold and profess the same 3 authentic Creeds, that do contain the sum and substance of our Christian Faith; and are agreeing in all, or at least in most of the essential and fundamental points of the Christian Religion; and the differences betwixt us in the most points, that are of moment, are not so capital, but that, for the most part, a charitable construction, and a right distinction might well and fairly reconcile most of them, especially as they are held by the best Interpreters of the Scripture in that Church, and by the most temperate and soberest Divines of our Church; because as the Apostle saith, charity is kind, and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, charity is not rash, that is, in her judgement, no more than in her actions, 1 Cor. 13. but beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, and endureth all things: and the want of this divine grace of Charity maketh those faults, that are indeed but molehills, to appear like mountains; and this want of charity is too too common a fault, both among the popish and the Protestant writers, which doth make the breach wider, and the differences to seem far greater, and far worse than indeed they are; which made me often to pray, that God would send more love betwixt us, and suffer not the devil to send so much misprision and distaste betwixt us, as there is. Question. And now, the foresaid Churches being freed from being liable to this apostasy, the question is, What Church can be said to be found guilty of it? What Church is guilty of this Apostasy. and instead of answering it, it is now demanded, If this now present Church of great Britain be not liable to this charge, of a grand Rebellion and apostasy, such as the Apostle speaketh of, that is, such a rebellion as Corah, Dathan, and Abiram stirred up against Moses and Aaron, and such a discession and falling away from the true faith, and the right service of God, which they formerly professed, as neither leaves the fundamentals of Christian Religion undigged up or unshaken, nor the appearance of a true visible Church among the people? For, that all the people of Ingland were very faithful and loyal Subjects, and most respectively obedient unto their Governors, both their Kings and their Bishops, That the people of Ingland were good subjects, true believers, and right worshippers of God. during all the reign of Q. Elizabeth, King James, and many years of King Charles, as any Nation under heaven, I think, I do verily believe, no man can justly deny. So likewise, that all the subordinate Clergy did ex animo subscribe, and unfeignedly profess to uphold and maintain the 39 Articles of the Church of Ingland, and the established Discipline thereof, and did accordingly, for well nigh a century of years, use to teach the people, to believe that Doctrine, and to observe that discipline, as the true Christian Faith, and the right Government, that Christ and his Apostles, for the preservation of that faith, hath left unto his Church; and also, that the people and Congregations, throughout all this Kingdom, had the true faith preached unto them, and the right service of God, the 3 authentic Creeds repeated, the Lords Prayer used, the 10 Commandments published, the 2 blessed Sacraments administered, and all the other prayers and service of God, that the Governors of God's Church prescribed, were observed, practised, and professed by them: I am very sure and confident hereof, and I believe no man will gainsay the same. And therefore this Church had, and did profess the true faith, and Doctrine of Christ, and did use to serve God rightly, and to be obedient to their Governors, both Magistrates and Ministers for many years, according to the form prescribed unto them: And you may remember how you read in Revel. 6.9. that the souls, which S. John saw under the altar, and cried to God, to avenge their blood on them that dwell on the earth, are said to be slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held, and why I pray you doth the holy Ghost make such a distinction betwixt the word of God, and the testimony which they held, but to show unto us, that these souls had collected out of the Bible, which containeth all the word of God, the chiefest heads and points that are to be known, believed, and practised for the true worship of God, and their own Salvation, and so compiled an abstract of God's word, into another book, which is here called their testimony; and that is, the communion Book, or Book of Common-prayer, and public service of God, which is sometimes called the Book of life, Revel. 22.19. and ch. 20.21: as Revel. 20.12. and Revel. 22.19. where you may observe how mention is there made of 2 special Books, and the one is termed the book of this prophecy, which is the word of God; and the other is termed the book of life, because the sum and the substance of all that is in the Bible, which is the word of God, and which is necessary to attain unto Eternal life, is contained in this book, of their testimony, for which book and the constant practice of God's service, according to this book, as well as for the other book of the word of God, those faithful souls were slain: and it is well known, the Presby●erians caused the Parliament to destroy us, for the testimony that we held of these Books; but the Answer, that God gives unto these slaughtered souls, may serve for a sufficient comfort unto us: yet this gives occasion to demand, Whether the prevalent faction of the long Parliament, and their adherents, the Sectaries of these 3 Kingdoms have not hereby resisted their Governors, whom formerly they had so religiously observed, and rebelled, warred, killed, and beheaded both Moses and Aaron, that is, the supreme Magistrate, and the chief Priest, I leave it for my Reader to determine. And, whether the Assembly of Divines at Westminster, and all their followers and Adherents, contrary to their former oaths, practices, and profession, have not generally apostatised, and totally relapsed, and fallen away from the most essential, and most material points of our Christian Religion, and from all the right service of God, which themselves formerly taught and observed, and have led their Congregations after them to the same apostasy? let the observers of our new teachers, what Doctrines are now taught, and what service is now used in every Church, judge hereof. For I read it in Arise Evans, Arise Evans, in his Voice from heaven. pag. 15. that you may easily find it, every foolish man gets up into the Pulpit, and poureth out his folly: and so now the false Christ's, and false Prophets do appear: for the Independent saith, here is Christ; the Presbyterian saith, lo, here is Christ; but the Anabaptist saith, no, he is not amongst you, but here is Christ with us: 1 Cor. 1.13. and so all the other Sectaries cry, and have, as the Apostle saith, divided Christ: And you may consider what Tilenus saith, Vetus Ecclesia, primis temporibus, solo Apostolorum, quod vocant, symbolo, ex sacris literis excerpto, contenta erat; The ancient Church, in the first times, was contented only with that faith, which they call the Aposties' Creed, that is taken out of the holy Srciptures; this was the faith of the Christians in the Apostles time, and this was the sun and the substance, and the abstract of all the whole Scripture, for so much as concerned the saving faith; and this faith, contained in this Creed, is the Faith of Gods elect, and sufficient to save all the elect people of God; though afterwards, for the suppression of those Heretics, that sprang up to corrupt the same, formulam illam per novas formulas, ex iisdem sacris litteris collectas, luculentius & copiosius explicuerunt episcopi; The Bishops, (and he saith not the Presbyters) did more fully, and more clearly, out of the same sacred Scriptures, explain that form of faith by other new forms, as the point in question, Tilenus, exegesis pag. 57 aphoris. 169. and controverted by the Heretics did require: as First in the Council of Nice: then in the Constantinopolitan: after in the Ephesine: and at length in the Chalcedon Council. And the whole Catholic Church, and all the particular Churches of God, the Greek Church, and the Latin Church, and every other particular national Church of the world, have ever professed to observe, and to retain this form of faith, thus left to us by the Apostles, and thus explained by the reverend and godly Bishops in these Councils, and never to discede from the same. And yet now, That our new Preachers have and do recede from the true faith, and the right service of God. I would have all wise men to consider, whether the Presbyterians, Independants, and all the brood of our new and lay-Preachers have not moved and persuaded the long Parliament, to suppress the Governors of the Church, and to lay aside the ancient Discipline and Government thereof? and have they not themselves abandoned and cast off, not only the Apostles Creed, and the other 2 authentic Creeds, so that you shall seldom or never hear any one of all three repeated by the Minister, to any of their Congregations, but also the Lords prayer, the 10 Commandments, and all the whole former service of God, which was formerly used in the Church, and is now wholly neglected, and seldom or never used to be read, and practised to be done, by these men unto the people? which in divers Parishes have not had the holy Sacraments in many years administered unto them, Et non ignota cano. And the Reason hereof is, What Pope did ever cast away the whole public service of God? as I conceive it, because the service-book, as we term it, that is, the Book of common Prayer, that containeth these 3 Creeds, and the Lords Prayer, and the Decalogue, and the form of the Administration of the Sacraments, and all the other Prayers, that are the principal and most essential parts of God's public service, is so straight prohibited and rejected. And the Disciples of these new masters, and the Adherents of that long Parliament, tore the Bibles, threw down the fonts, The enormities that were done by the disciples of the Presbyterians. cast away all crosses, spoilt all pictures, profaned the Churches, and did many other sacrilegious and outrageous things, whereby (as many men conceived) the whole reformation of this Church is nullified, and the apostasy, that is here spoken of by the the Apostle, is fully come to pass and accomplished: and they pray, that there may never come to any national Church, (as they hope, there shall not come) a greater apostasy and falling away, both from the truth of faith, and the service of God, than this is, whereof the like, as many good men and great Scholars do believe, hath never been hitherto, by the worst, and the most dangerous Sect of Heretics. Because, the Church being, as the Scripture testifieth, acies crdinata, Bellarm. de Ecclesia milit. cap. 2. like an army that is well ordered under their lawful Commanders: Or as Bellarm. saith, Coetus hominum ejusdem christianae fidei professione colligatus, sub regimine legitimorum Pastorum, ac pracipuè unius Christi in terris Vicarii Romani Pontificis: In stead of which last Sentence, I say, sub legitime regimine, or regimine legitimorum Pastorum, And they are no lawful Pasters, nor Ministers of God's Church, that have not their lawful Ordination. and go no further; that is, a Company of men gathered together, and professing the same Christian Faith, under the rule and government of their lawful Governors; the true and lawful Government being dissolved, and the Governors suppressed, and the Symbols of our Faith rejected, the true Doctrines corrupted, and the right Service of God cast away, and the like enormities, that are used, do eradicate the foundation, and not only pollute, but also destroy and unchurch the Church of Christ, and make it not to be, as it should be, visible here on earth; and do provoke the Lord to leave his Habitation, and to remove our Candlestick to another place. For you may remember what the Prophet Zechary saith, I took unto me two staves, Zech. 11.7. the one, I called Beauty, the other I called Bands, and I fed the Flock; this flock is the Church of God, and the two staves are the Doctrine and the Discipline of the Church; the Doctrine is the Beauty, and the Discipline is the Bands and preservation thereof; and therefore, when the Discipline is rejected and rebelled against, the Doctrine must needs then be corrupted with Heresies and Errors, and the service of God neglected and profaned: For, as a Garden or Vineyard, which the Church of God is, Esa. 5. cannot be kept undestroyed from the wild boar, and the beasts of the field, without their fence; so no more can the beauty of the Church, the service of God, nor indeed the Church herself be preserved, without her bands, which are the Laws, Canons, and Discipline of the Church; and therefore the Devil instigateth all his instruments, to break these bands asunder, and to cast away the cords from them. Psal 2.3. And so you may remember, we presently found, that when the Bishops, the Governors of our Church, that preserved the Discipline, which was the fence and the hedge of Christ his vineyard, to keep out the foxes, that is, the Heretics and Schismatics out of the Church, and the hoops of God's barrel, to keep in the wine, Judges 9.13. that cheereth God and man, that is, the true Doctrines of faith, and the right service of God, were thrown down, nay, thrown away, and the Government of this our Church dissolved by that long Parliament, (which never happened to the Church of Rome,) then instantly the beauty of this Church, which formerly, for learning, Doctrine, Cant. 2.1. and Discipline, was the flower of all the Churches in Christendom, as the rose of Sharon, and the lily of the valies, became quite defaced; and the Church herself became Lo-ammi; her whole usual service was rejected, the service-book, Hos. 1.9. that was the rule of God's worship, broken all to pieces, and straightly prohibited to be used, the Creed, Lords Prayer, and Decalogue seldom or never repeated, the fundamental points of our faith either corrupted, or omitted to be taught, and all sorts of damnable long-buried Heresies, were revived, preached, and printed in every place; whereby our well-reformed, and lately glorious Church became, like an Army routed, a barrel unhooped, and a vineyard unfenced, and then filled with all corruptions both of life and doctrine, to make way for the man of sin, as John Baptist did to Christ, to enter in. And to show the enormities of these times, more plainly, I will, out of their own mouth, and from their own books, quote unto you what a Presbyterian, Tho. Hall, in his Book, entitled The pulpit guarded, in E●ist. dedicat. Domino Jo●nr. Trap, pastoride Bello-vado. as I conceive him to be, saith, Vetus est illa oratoris quarela; proveniebant oratores novi, stulti adolescentuli; pr●veniunt hac nostra tempestate, non oratores, sed aratores novi, stulti fabri ferrarii, aerarii, lignarii, rastris quam rostris aptiores: pistores nunc pastors, textores & tonsores, sutores & sartores, coquinarii & cupedinarii, milites & mulieres, puelluli & puelluiae, etc. necnon quamplurimi alii ejusdem furfuris, quos vulgo vocamus, Gifted brethren, him, lingua utendum est belluina, ne belluae ist a nos dilacerent: and whom, I pray you, doth this man mean should be the beast, and these beasts that he speaks of, and is afraid to betorn in pieces by them? unless he means those locusts that assisted and adhered to the long Parliament? but Mr Hall, to make good his charge, sets down the names of their Preachers in margin, as Paul Hobson, a Tailor; and Rice, a Tinker; and Lamb, a Soap-boiler; and Symmes, a Shoemaker; and Oats, a Weaver; and Web, a Soldier; and Heath, a Coller-maker; and Field, the bodies-maker; and Green, a Feltmaker; and Potter, the Smith; and Spencer, a Coachman; and Durance, the Wash-ball-maker; and Debner the Cooper, that can neither write nor read; besides many women-preachers: and he quoteth Edward's, Edward's, in his gangraena, part. 2. pag. 81. another Presbyterian, in his Gangraena, part. 2. page 81, and 88 and in the 1 page of his Book he nameth Laurence Williams, a Naylor, public Preacher; Tho. Hind, a Plowright, public Preacher; Tho. Palmer, a Baker, Preacher; Sergeant Oakes, a Weaver, Preacher; and Humphrey Rogers, lately a Baker's boy, public Preacher: and how many more such Preachers might he have found, if he had further searched into Ingland and Ireland; so many, as I think, would fill a Volume, of no small size: And if these brave Preachers be not the false-Prophet, and the Preachers of the Antichrist, I know not who shall be the Prophets of Christ: so my good Presbyterian, ex tuo ere, out of thine own mouth, and from your own books, I believe it is apparent, that these men sprung, from the proceed of the long Parliament, and the Adherents of it, and ch. 19.20. are the false Prophet spoken of in the Revelat. 16.13. and the second Beast that the Apostle saw arising out of the earth, and is as the soul, and the very life of the Antichrist; and of which Prophet the same Tho. Hall saith, All their Preachers, women, boys, or men, From Master Calamy to Mistress Venne, Are perfect Popes in their own Parish grown, For to outgo the story of Pope Joan; Their women preach too, and are like to be The whores of Babylon as much as she. And all the preaching of these men, and these women Preachers, is but a tyrotarichon, and hotchpotch of all errors, Heresies, and Blasphemies, as Alexander Ross in his Animadversions upon Mr Hobbs his Leviathan, and Edward's, in his Hell broke lose, and his Gangraena, do partly show unto you, what stuff they bring, and what manner of men they are; how blind, and how ignorant, and yet, how impudent they be; for, who so bold as blind bayard? A Story showing how an impudent preaching Trooper affronted and disturbed a reverend and learned Bishop in his Sermon. And here, I must crave leave to tell you a story, and some do belonging to this business, quorum pars magna fui, and an eye-witness of the same myself: Not long ago, a grave and a reverend Bishop, that had been a Doctor of Divinity, admitted in Cambridg, Oxford, and Dublin, of above 40 years standing, and well known for his learning and abilities in many Kingdoms, travelling from Ireland towards London, came on the Saturday night to a Gentleman's house of good quality, and his special good friend; which, than told the Bishop, how they had, for their Parson, and Preacher, a man, that, as they were informed, had been a Trooper in the Parliaments Army, and he only preached unto them, and received their Tithes, but did neither baptise their children, not bury their dead, nor deliver the Sacrament of the Lords Supper, nor let them have any other service of God, but to preach, or expound some Chapter; and thus they had been for 7 or 8 years, without any of these things, but what they procured by some of their neighbour Ministers; and he desired the Bishop, that he would bestow a Sermon upon the Parishioners on the morrow, which was the Lord's day; the Bishop answered, that he loved not, that any man should intrude himself into another man's charge; but if they would send unto their Preacher, and he gave way to it, he would willingly preach the next day; which the Gentleman did that night, and the Preacher was contented the Bishop should have the place; but when the Bishop had done his Prayer, and read his Text, in Nehem. 8.2, and 3. and divided the same, and had passed over the 1 part, that the Preacher was Ezra the priest, and thereupon showed, That none should prefume to intrude themselves to do the public Offices of God's service in the Church of God, but they that were lawfully called, as was Aaron; and then had entered upon the 2. part, the place, were Ezra preached, which was in the street before the water-gate; and thereupon showed, that either in the time of plague, or war, or persecution, or sailing at sea, or demolition of God's Temple, as now the Temple of Solomon was destroyed by Nabuchadnezzar, and was not as yet fully reedifyed, or the like just occasion, the Preacher might pray and preach, as Christ and his Apostles did, in any place; but when neither of these, nor any other exigent like unto these, did require it, he said, the Church, that was appointed and consecrated, as Solomon did the Temple, for God's public service, was the fittest, and the enjoined place for the Preacher to preach and pray, and the people to come to hear, and to do the service of God: and, as he was amplifying this point, the more at large, because, on that very day, the Preacher had moved the Parishioners, according to a brief from the Lord Protector, to a liberal contribution, towards the repairing of a famous neighbour Church, that was ruined by the wars, the Preacher steps out of his seat among the people, and opening his book, said, The Bishop preached lies, and false Doctrine unto them, which he would prove to be so, and read a place of Scripture, that was nothing at all against the Bishop's Doctrine; and after he had, for a good space, stood in confuting the Bishop, and the Bishop silent all that while, and had made an end of his confutation; the Bishop demanded, if he would now give him leave quietly to go on, and to make an end of his Sermon; the Parson and his Disciples answered, he had preached false Doctrine, and lies enough already, and therefore he must come down, and proceed no further; which the Bishop presently did; and the Parson got up into the pulpit; but thereupon the Gentlemen and the Parishioners on the one side, and the Parson's Proselytes and Disciples on the other side, rose up in a tumult, and very bitterly out-bearding, and chiding one another, so that the Bishop was mightily afraid, they would have gone together by the ears, and have done some great mischief, and had much ado for a very great while, to persuade them, and to entreat them for God's sake on all sides to be quiet. And this tumult ended; the Gentlemen, and the better sort of the Parishioners, that were much offended, and grieved for this affront that was done unto the Bishop, resolved to prefer a Bill of indictment against the Parson, and his Disciples, at the Quarter-Sessions, which was on that week; and so they went to the Clerk of the Peace, and drew a bill, preferred it to the bench, and had 3 or 4 witnesses sworn, to prove the disturbance of the Preacher in his Sermon; but one of the Justices of the Peace, upon the bench, that is a Presbyterian and the son of a Presbyterian, understanding that the Preacher disturbed was a Bishop, called the Prosecutor of the Bill, and told him, he could do nothing in that bill, which he should have rather preferred against the Bishop for preaching, than against the Parson and his followers for disturbing him; because the Bishops are all prohibited, and must not preach; and therefore advised him, to take up his Bill; and the other Justices wished him to follow his advice: and so after all their pains and cost, he did; because he wisely foresaw it was but vain, contra stimulum calcitrare, to swim against the stream: Yet afterwards, in the General Sessions, held for the County of Denbigh, the Grand Jury, consisting of 24 good Gentlemen, indicted the preaching trooper, for disturbing the Bishop in his Sermon: but the Judge, after he had thundered his threaten against some of the Jury, and pleaded for the Trooper, as if he had been his Advocate, quashed the indictment: a very good Judge, and is not he a member of the beast? yet the Bishop would question him in another place but for fear of meeting such another Judg. And I would very fain know, when such a thing was done, or suffered to be done in the Church of Rome, and that with the approbation of the Governors of that Country? But to proceed, and to show unto you the enormities and Apostasy of the men in these times, a little more plain: Revel. 13.16. Revelat. 14.1. as the servants of the Antichrist are said to bear the mark, and the name of the beast in their foreheads, or in their right hand; so the servants of Christ are said to have the name of the Lamb, and of his father, written in their foreheads; and that is, the vow and promise, wherewith they have bound themselves in their baptism, to serve the Lamb, as their Lord and General, Canstitut. Apost, l. 12. c. 6. and never to backslide from him, to the service of Satan, and to follow his pomps and devices, and the lusts of our own flesh; For, as S. chrysostom, and others of the Fathers do witness, this was the practice, and the ancient custom in most Churches, that every one which gave himself to Christ, to be baptised, and to receive his badge, and mark in his forehead, should profess, and say, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. Chrysost. ad populum Antio. Hom. 22. August. in Joan. tract 6. & contra. lit. petil. that is, I do renounce Satan, and all his works, and all his pomps, and all his worship; and after he had made this Profession, he should receive the Sacrament of Baptism, as the seal of the Lord, and the mark and name of the Lamb, and of his Father in his forehead; the which mark S. Augustine calleth the royal mark, and the mark of the Redeemer, wherein the Christians so much gloryed and rejoiced in; And, as Epiphanius saith, that those Jews, which ran after the Idol-service, and to that end, Joseph. antiq. l. 12. c. 6. Epiphan. de ponder. & mensur. Tertul. de spect. c. 4. Origen, de spect. execrat. l. 8. c. 59 & Aug. in Joh. tract. 7. by the Art of Chirurgery blotted out their circumcision, & praeputium per attractionem patiebantur, as Josephus witnesseth, many of them used to do; they did it, ad dei ipsius abnegationem, & patrum characteris abolitionem, to the denial of God himself, and for the abolishing of the mark and character of their forefathers; so Tertul. Isidore, Origen, and S. August. tell us, that they have lost the Mark of Christ, and have blotted out the seal of the Lamb, and cast away his name, which have received the mark of the devil, and are become revolters or apostatas from the Christian faith, which renounce their baptism, and covet that, which they profess to renounce in their Baptism. And I know none of all the old Heretics, backsliders, and apostate Churches, or persons any where, whether you look into the Greek Church, or the Roman Church, or any other national Church in all the Christian world, (not the Donatists, which came nearest, excepted,) that used this ancient form of renouncing Satan and his pomps, and adhering to Christ, and receiving his seal, and his mark in their foreheads, and did afterward so execrate and abhor that form, refuse the mark, and renounce the very seal, the Sacrament of their baptism, and receive the mark of the beast, and follow after the works of the devil, the pomps of the world, and the lusts of their own flesh, as many in the long Parliament, many Presbyterians, Independants, Anabaptists, and other Sectaries, and adherents to the long Parliament have done; or especially any heretics, or apostatas in this Church, that have made their apostasy wider, and more general than these men have done. For you may observe, that although T. Cartwright, and Penry, and the frantic Parker, that indicted the innocent sign of the cross, which the primitive Christians commonly used, to show, that they were not ashamed of their crucified Saviour, of felony, adultery, murder, and all other sins of the Decalogue, and some other particular Calvinists, their Proselytes, did, in their puritanical zeal, start aside from the discipline, and some points of the Doctrine of this our Reformed Church, as especially that Article of Christ his descension into Hell; yet all the Clergy, and the whole Church were never comprised within this apostasy, neither did they so generally consent, unto it, and adhere unto these Masters; but the Assembly of Presbyterians at Westminster, concluded all the Clergy, and all the other people, by their binding Directory and Determinations, that were comfirmed by the Parliament, and required them strictly to recede from all the whole established form of God's worship, and to follow their Directory, and manner of praying, preaching, and other service of God, which is conceived to be more destructive to the true Christian faith, and more derogatory to the honour of the just God, then were any of the Heresies of the greatest Heresiarches; as is partly manifested against their Doctrine, B. Montague, in his apel. Caesar. by B. Montague, in his appello Caesarem, and by Dr. Stern, in his medela animi, and in Dr. Tailor's vindication of God's attributes, against the desperate and most dangerous Doctrines of this false Prophet, the Prebsbyterians, Independants, and Anapabtists, and their Disciples, that, by the aforesaid means, 2 Sam. 3.39. are now so multiplied, that as David said of the sons of Zervia, so may we say, of them; the sword is not able to suppress them, but they must have places of credit, and Titles of honour conferred upon them, for fear of further inconveniences: And therefore, Jerem. 3.22. as the Lord saith, that backsliding Israel hath justified herself more than treacherous Judah; so have these men given way to the Roman Church, to justify herself more than the now English Church; because these men did not purge our Lyturgy, and weed the errors and faults, that they pretended to be found in our service Book, but did wholly reject it, and cast it quite away, and never brought any other in the room thereof: And the Roman Church can never be taxed with the like proceed, when as they often mended their missals, and Breviaries, but never quite exploded any of them; and the Reformers of our Church did the like, which is indeed a reformation; and the other a rejection of God's worship. And if these things do not make up the grand rebellion, and the huge Apostasy, that the Apostle here speaketh of, I only wonder at it, and leave it to better Judges than I am, to determine it. CHAP. IU. Of the Literal and Mystical Babylon: That Rome is a Babylon: That neither the great Babylon in Assyria, nor old Rome, nor Constantinople, which was called new Rome, is that Babylon spoken of Rev. 17. and where the Antichrist seateth himself, but that is to be mystically and not literally understood, for some City of confusion: and what the Prophet Daniel intimateth the Antichrist should do, by the do of Antiochus, that was the most lively type of the great Antichrist, in his rebellion against his Superiors, and his persecution of God's People, the Jews. 2. THE Antichrist well perceiving the Apostasy, 2. That the Antichrist will set up his throne in the City of Babylon. the relapse and falling away of the true and purest Reformed National Church, from her Lawful Government, and from the true Faith of Christ, and the right Service of God, by her rebellion both against the civil Magistrates and the spiritual Pastors thereof, gins to show himself; and finding the door so wide opened, entereth upon the stage, and will establish his Court and set up his Throne and principal Seat of his Residence, as the Scripture showeth in the City of Babylon. Jer. 50.14. And therefore the Prophet Jeremy saith, Put yourselves in array against Babylon round about, all ye that bend the Bow, shoot at her, spare no arrows; cap. 51.8. for she hath sinned against the Lord: And all the children of God are charged not to go to Babylon, but to get out of her, because she came in remembrance before God: Rev. 18.4. etc. 16.19. etc. 18.5. etc. 14.8. etc. 18.3. And he determined to destroy her, and to give unto her the wine of the fierceness of his wrath; for that her sins have reached unto Heaven; and she hath made all Nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her Fornication. But here the question is, what Place or what City, is to be understood by this great and glorious proud City of Babylon, which is so sinful, and from which we are commanded to flee away, and to fight against her. For the better understanding of which point, what Place is specially meant by this Babylon spoken of Rev. 17. Babylon taken two manner of ways. you must remember that the Scripture speaketh of a twofold Babylon, or of Babylon two manner of ways, that is, 1. Literally. 2. Mystically. And 1. For the Literal Babylon. 1. We find two Great Cities specially of this Name; the one in Egypt, 1. Literally. 1. The Assyrian Babylon not to be understood here. Justin l. 1. Herodot. l. 1. the other in Chalde: That of Egypt, was the lesser, and less famous than the other, which was the Greater, and far the more glorious City; whereof the Poet saith, Atque superba foret Babylon spolianda Trophaeis Ausoniis;— Which was not that Babylon, which is in Egypt; but that ancient and famous Babylon, which Nimrod founded, Ninus enlarged, Semiramis walled about, Nabuchadnezzar amplified, Nitocris beautified and enriched, and Cyrus reduced to his obedience: For this Old Babylon, the Metropolis of Assyria, That the Assyrian Babylon excelled all other Cities in four respects. and the Seat of the Assyrian Emperors for many years, might for Four special things, That is, 1. For Strength and Bigness, 2. For commodious Situation, 3. For the pregnant wits of her Inhabitants, 4. For the puissance and the might of her Kings, compare with any one City in all the world: For, 1. After the death of Nimrod and his Son Ninus, her chief Foundress, 1. For strength Coelius Rhodigin. antiquit. lict. l. 8. c. 12. Semiramis, the Wife of Ninus, that was a Woman of more than Masculine Wit and Courage, whose Garb of wrapping her head in Lawn, after the death of her Husband, the Persians imitate to this very day, did first surround this City with walls of 32 foot thick, and 50 cubits high, betwixt the Turrets, the Towers being raised 10 cubits higher; Plin. l. 8. c. 26. and in compass, the walls were 355 Stadia; and every Stadium being 139 Paces: Or according to pliny's description of it, the breadth of the wall was 50 foot, Julius Solinus, c. 69. and the height of it 200, each foot containing 3 finger's breadth more than our ordinary measure; and in circuit it was 60000 paces; so big, that Aristotle thought it might have an equal dimension with all Peloponesus; because that when it was first taken by Cyrus, the furthest part of the City, knew not in three days after, what had happened. 2. 2. For situation. For the Situation of this City, the great and famous River Euphrates, that was of a stadium broad, brought his Channel through the midst of it; and it was so arched over, and adorned with such beautiful pencil Gardens, that it seemed afar off, to be like a wood upon the top of a mountain; and the Lands about this City, were so exceeding fruitful, that the ground commonly produced 200 for one, and sometimes more, Gen. 10.9. etc. 11.2. as Caelius and Curtius write; for Nimrod that was the mightiest hunter living, would have the finest and the best place, that could be found, even the very Plain of Shennar. 3, For the Wits and Ingenuity of her Breed, her wisdom and her knowledge were such and so great, Es. 47.10. that, as Esayas testifieth, they caused her to fall, and to say with the Poet, Ingenio perii, qui miser ipse meo! Mine own too much wit hath undone me: For this City had the honour to produce the first Teachers of Astronomy, and they were so expert therein, that neither the Indian Gymnosophists, nor the Egyptian Priests and Magicians were any ways comparable unto them, as you may observe it out of Daniel, c. 2. v. 2, & 4, & 10. And this City likewise bred the first Inventors of that curious Art of working with needles, those rare and specious works, Josh. 7.21. that were done of divers colours, which enticed Achan the Israelite, to hid the gay and goodly Babylonish Garment. 4. For the Puissance of her Kings and Princes, she outwent all other Cities whatsoever: Nimrod (called Belus by the Gentiles, but indeed his Father) that was Noah's Granchilds Son, being the first and the stoutest man than on earth; then Belus, Nimrods' Son, whom the Gentiles honoured as a god, in after times; and after him Ninus, that built the great City of Nineveh; then his Wife, the Mirror of all women, Semiramis; afterwards, omitting all those Eighteen Kings, which Berosus nameth, and Twenty more, that Sleidan setteth down, Phul-Belochus, that swayed the Sceptre 48 years, 2 Reg 15.19. and Philazzar, whom the Holy Scripture nameth Phul-Assur, that reigned 23 years; and Salmanazar, that reigned 10 years, and subdued all Phoenicia, The Monarches of Assyria that reigned in this Chaldean Babylon. excepting Tyrus, and carried away the King of Israel, and the Ten Tribes Captives into Media; and Sennacherib, that for reviling God and the good King Hezekiah, by a railing Rabsheca, was forced to return home with dishonour, and then slain by his own Sons in the Temple of his Idols, after he had reigned seven years; and Esarhaddon, whom Josephus calleth Asaracoldus, reigned Eleven years: Esa. 39.1. and Berodac, whom Esayas calleth Ben-Merodac, that after the revolution of Twelve years, translated the Kingdom to the Assyrians, and reigned afterwards Eighteen years: And Nabuchadnezzar, that said, Is not this great Babylon, that I have built, that is, so great and so glorious as now it is, for the House of the Kingdom, and for the Glory of my Majesty? Dan. 4.30. And then Belshazzar his Son, whom Darius did succeed: And many other famous Kings and Princes reigned and ruled in and over this Great and Glorious City of Babylon, more than we read to have done over any one other City of the world. And therefore this City, in these and many other respects, was the most resplendent of all the known Cities of the whole Universe, and is, in that respect, termed by the Prophet Esay, Esa. 13.9. and said to be the Glory of Kingdoms. But it is yielded of all sides, that this Literal, Chaldean Babylon is no no where meant to be the Seat of the Great Antichrist, that must arise in and out of the true Church of Christ; and seat himself in a greater, and a more Mystical Babylon: And therefore II. Babylon mystically understood, which must be so understood to be the Seat of the Antichrist, is taken two ways: 2. Mystically understood two manner of ways. 1. Generally, for the whole world of Wickedness. 2. Particularly, for some special Place of this world. Generally. 1 1. When the Prophet saith, By the waters of Babylon we sat down and wept, when we remembered thee, O Zion: And again, O Daughter of Babylon wasted with misery, yea, happy shall he be that rewardeth thee, as thou hast served us, Ps. 137.1. & ult. and blessed shall he be, that taketh thy children, and throweth them against the stones: Though literally and in the first sense, they are to be understood of the Chaldean Babylon, yet mystically they are to be taken for this wicked world, which is the City of Satan, and the Metropolis of his Empire: For although God be the King of all the earth, both by the right of Creation and Preservation, yet Satan is said to be the King of this Babylon, by the unjust Title of usurpation; and therefore he is called the Prince of this world, that ruleth in the hearts of the children of Disobedience. And this world is resembled, compared, and doth symbolise Babylon in very very many things, but especially in these five respects; The world resembled to Babylon in five respects. Propter 1. Amaenitatem, Pleasantness. 2. Cacitatem, Blindness. 3. Celsitudinem, Height of Spirit. 4. Confusionem, All kind of Disorder and Confusion. 5. Iniquitatem, The Multiplicity of all kind of Iniquity. For, Respect. 1 1. Babylon was the delight of the Nations, and a most sweet and pleasant place, as I shown to you before; even so the world, ab ornatu dicitur 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, is so called by the Grecians, from the beauty of it: Quid enim mundo praestantius, For what can be more excellent and pleasanter than this world? saith Lucius Apuleius. Respect. 2 2. The Assyrian Babylon was full of blind●ess and ignorance: Jer. 59.17. For as the Prophet saith, Every man was brutish in his knowledge; so is the world, as our Saviour showeth, I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, whom the world cannot receive, quia non videt eum, nec scit eum, because it seethe him not, John 14.17. and knoweth him not; for though the light shined in darkness, yet the darkness comprehended it not, and though the Ministers of Christ do preach the Truth daily unto the world, yet the children of this world are still drowned in Darkness, and will not receive the knowledge of the Truth that they might be saved. John 1.5. Respect. 3 3. The Assyrian Ba●ylon was full of Pride, so high and so haughty, that they would build a Tower which should reach to Heaven: And the Prophet saith of her, Jer. 50.29. She hath been proud against the Lord, against the Holy One of Israel: And so is the world full of Pride. Maxima quaeque domus servis est plena superbis: Not a great House, but hath a great deal of Pride, and proud Servants in it, saith the Poet. Respect. 4 4. The Assyrian Babylon was full of all Disorder and Confusion, the Labourer would be a Director and a Master-worker, the Mason would play the Carpenter, and the Carpenter would be the Joiner, and so none was contented with his own station, not any man dutiful in his own Place, but when the Masters called for Bricks, the Servants brought them Clay, when they desired Bread, they gave them Stones; and therefore it was called Babel; because of this disorderly confusion: Even so it is in this world, no man is contented with his own state, none dutiful in his place, and none satisfied with his own condition; but as the Poet saith, Optat ephippia bos niger, optat arare Caballus. The Ox would bear the saddle, and the Horse would draw the Blow. Respect. 5 5. Babylon in Chaldea was full of Sins, for she hath sinned against the Lord, saith the Prophet: So the whole world lieth in wickedness, saith the Apostle: And all that is in the world, Jer. 50.14. John 2.16. is either concupiscence of the eyes, or concupiscence of the flesh, or Pride of life. Haectria pro trino numine mundus habet. Particularly, 2 2. And more Particularly, Many other Cities and Kingdoms of this world are, and may, in this Mystical sense, be rightly styled Babylon. And that either, Two ways. 1. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, Respectively, secundum quid. For so, 2. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, Eminently, exceeding all the rest: For so, Respectively, 1 1. 1 Pet 5.13. The City of Rome is called Babylon, by the Apostle, and is acknowledged by the Rhemists, and the Fathers and Jesuits before cited, to be understood in that place of S. Peter, 1 Pet. 5, 13; and I think none can well deny it to be the Symbol, similitude and resemblance of the Chaldean Babylon, Rome resembled to the Chaldean Babylon in two respects. 1. In respect of her excellencies. Terrarum Dea gentiumq. Roma cui ●●nl par nihil secundum, saith Martial. in two special respects; 1. In respect of the Excellencies, 2. In respect of the Impieties thereof: For, 1. As Babylon excelled all other Cities for strength and bigness, commodious situation, pregnant wits and puissant Kings; so the City of Rome, was strong and big enough, sited in Italy, the very Garden of Europe, and upon the famous River Tiber, not much inferior to Euphrates, and for the Pregnant wits of the Romans, I presume, their Poets, Orators and Lawyers might well compare with Athens or Babylon, or any other City of the world, and as the Assyrian Empire continued for above a 1000 ●e●rs from Nimrod to Belshazzar; so the Roman Emperors have ruled from Julius Caesar, to this very day, above sixteen hundred years: And we may well say, that what other excellency soever was in Babylon, the same might be found in Rome. 2. In respect of her impieties and iniquities. 2. As the City of Rome doth thus parallel Babylon in her excellencies, so the Church of Rome doth equalise or exceed the City of Babylon in all Impieties: For to make this plain, the sins of Babylon were of two sorts: 1. Against God. 2. Against Man. And 1. Against God three ways. Her sins against God, were principally three; 1. Ignorance, that she knew not God: For every man was brutish by his Knowledge. 2. Jer. 51.17. c. 50.29, & 38. Pride, that she contemned God: For she hath been proud against the Lord, saith the Prophet. 3. Idolatry, in worshipping those that were not gods: For it is the Land of Graven Images, to show their Idolatry, and they are mad upon their Idols, saith our Prophet, Dan in the story of Bel and the Dragon. and those Idols were Bell and Succoth-Benoth, 2 Reg. 17.20. These were the sins of Babylon which Jeremy noteth; and to these Esay addeth Sorcery and Enchantments, c. 47. v. 9, 12, 13. And in all these things the Church of Rome may shake hands with the City of Babylon. For, 1. The Ignorance of the Roman Church. 1. Though as Babylon abounded in many Arts, and was excellent in all humane Learning, when they had their Astronomers, Magicians, and many other Sects of Learned men, that while their Empire flourished, did likewise flourish in all Learning; and from hence Learning first proceeded unto the Greeks, as afterwards it spread itself from the Greeks unto the Romans: And this the Prophet Esay plainly acknowledgeth, Esay 47 10. when he saith, Thy wisdom and thy knowledge O Babylon, have caused thee to rebel: And yet as the Prophet Jeremy noteth, She was most brutish in the true knowledge of God: So in the Church of Rome, I confess they are Scholars, and Scholars great enough in all Arts and Sciences, and they that deny the same, do either bewray their own Ignorance of their works, or their partial judgement of their worth; c. 47. v. 9, 12, 13. and therefore I will never deny the truth and their due; they are for the most part, great Scholars, good Artists, expert Linguists, and politic Statesmen: And no marvel, because they have better helps and means to attain unto these things, than any other Scholars have, in any other parts of Christendom: Yet, in the knowledge of many points, of the greatest moment, and mysteries of the Divine Verity, they come short of their poorer Brethren: And no wonder neither; because, as it is in Job, God taketh the wise in their own craftiness, Job 5.13. and the counsel of the froward he carrieth headlong: And as Christ saith. He hideth these things from the wise and prudent, and revealeth them unto Babes; when as the Apostle saith, Mat. 11.25. 1 Cor. 1.27, 29. God chooseth the foolish things of the world, to confound the wise, and the weak things, to confound things that are mighty, that no flesh should glory in his presence. And therefore let no man wonder, that they are great Scholars and very learned men, and yet overwhelmed in great errors: For so Arius, Pelagius, and divers others were great Scholars, and yet great Heretics: And so doctissimus Patrum Tertullianus, ingenisissimus Origines, Tertullian was the most Learned of the Fathers of his time; Euscbius. and as Euseb. writes of him, Origen the wittiest and most excellent; and yet both of them were tainted with foul Errors, condemned since for foul Heresies: For the truth is, that non ni si ex magnis ingeniis magni errores; great errors could never be so insensibly engendered, and so probably defended, without great Learning and good wits. 2. For the Pride of the Church of Rome, I will not stand so much upon that, 2. The Pride of the Church of Rome. Esa. 47.5, 7, 8. whereby, as Babylon of old exalted herself above all her sister-Cities, and said, I shall be a Lady for ever, I am and none else beside me, I shall not sit as a Widow, neither shall I know the loss of children: So the Church of Rome doth arrogate unto herself, the prime Title, and exalt herself above all other Churches of the world: Though this be so great a sin, that St. Gregory saith, quicunque desiderat primatum in terris inveniet confusionem in coelis; Seeing our Saviour exhorteth him, Mat. 20.27. Jer. 50.29. that would be chief of all, to become the Servant of all: But I will insist upon that Pride of hers, whereby, as Babel exalted herself in Pride against God, so this Church doth lift up herself against God, and spurn against the Grace of Christ; and that, as in many other Points, so especially in these Four principal Points. The pride of the Roman Church against God in four points. 1. Of . 2. Of Justification. 3. Of Satisfaction. 4. Of Merits and the works of supererrogation. For, 1. Though our Saviour tells us, sine me nil potestis facere, without me, 1. In the Doctrine of freewill. you can do nothing, that is, nothing that is good; no, not to think a good thought, saith the Apostle: For as St. Bernard saith, Homo in Paradyso male utens suo arbitrio, perdidit se & arbitrium; man in Paradise, abusing his freewill, lost himself and his will; that is, to do any good that can be acceptable to God: And therefore the Apostle saith, that God worketh in us both, velle & agere, as well to will good, as to do good: Philip. 2.13. And St. August. saith, nolentem prevenit, ut velit, volentem subsequitur, ne frustra velit; he prepareth and preventeth the unwilling mind, to make him willing, and he followeth it being willing, to do the good, that he may not will in vain: How God inclineth our wills to will good. And yet, we deny not, but man hath freedom of will, to will the things that he willeth; for the will is always free, and not compelled, else should it be no will: And therefore when God moveth us to will that which is good, he doth it not by forcing or compelling our will to will such and such things, but proponendo bonitatem & suavitatem Objecti; by laying the Objects of good before the eyes of our understanding, and then, inclinando voluntatem, by inclining our minds, and enticing our wills to yield and to embrace that good; and that, by a kind of a sweet influence and secret persuasion, in our apprehending the sweetness of the Object, and no compulsion at all; but even as we pray in our Lyturgy, Lord have mercy upon us, and incline our hearts to keep this Law: But to say, that a man can will good of himself, without this help of the Grace of Christ, we do utterly deny; because all the cogitations of man's heart are prone to evil continually: And the Apostle saith, that we were dead in trespasses and sins: Gen. 6.5. Col. 2.13. Aug. de cord & gratia. And if we were dead in sin, then sure we must needs be without any life of Goodness in us: And therefore we say with St. Aug. to will any thing freely, is the work of nature, to will evil, is the work of corruption, but to will well, and that which is good, is the work of Christ and of his Grace. And yet the Church of Rome ascribeth so much power to the will of man, that Bellarmine saith, Bellar. l. 6. c. ult. de great. our conversation is in the power of our freewill; and that before all Grace, we have freewill, even in the works of Piety, and may by this our will, leviores quasque titillationes superare, overcome all the slighter motions of sin, and dispose ourselves to receive Grace, Scotus 2. d. 28. Durand. 16. q. 4. as Aquinas and Suarez say; yea, and to keep God's Commandments, as Scotus and Durandus do affirm. And what is this, but in a humane Pride, to rob God of his Glory, due to him for the Grace of Christ, and to give it to the freedom of our will? to lessen the bounty of Christ, and the goodness of his Grace towards us, and to magnify the goodness of ourselves towards him? At hoc piarum mentum est, ut nihil boni sibi tribuant; But it is the part of every good man to ascribe no good unto himself, but with St. Paul, to confess, all good to be due to the Grace of Christ; because as St. James saith, Every good and perfect gift is from above, James 1.17. and cometh down from the Father of Lights: And therefore we say with Sr. Bernard, that aliud est velle, & aliuà est velle bonum; it is one thing to will, and that we have from ourselves, and it is another thing to will that which is good, and this we have from the Grace of Christ, and thanks be unto him for his Grace. 2. 2. In the Doctrine of our Justification. For our Justification: The Apostle proveth by many arguments, that we are freely justified by the Faith of Jesus Christ, and that it proceedeth merely of Grace, and not of works, lest any man should boast, if it had been of works: And therefore St. Ambrose saith, Rom. 3.24. etc. 4.16. etc. 5.1. & Gal. 2.16. non gloriabor quia justus sum, sed quia redemptus sum, non quia vacuus sum peccato, sed quia remissa sunt peccata; I will neither glory nor rejoice, that I am just, but because I am redeemed, not because I am free from sin, but because my sins are forgiven me: And St. Aug. saith, that credendo in Christum, justificantur homines, men are justified by believing in Christ: And so not only these men, and all the Classie of the Fathers, St. Basil, Nazianzen and the rest of that age, but also the godliest sort of the Church of Rome, as Aquinas, Cassander and Arius Montanus do ingeruously confess, that Faith is reputed for righteousness, to every one that believeth in Jesus Christ, and that we cannot be justified by our own works or merits, but only by the Faith of Jesus Christ. And yet the Council of Trent doth anathematise all them that teach and defend this Truth; Council triden. Sess. 6. c. 7. and it affirmeth, that the formal cause of our justification, is our own inherent righteousness; and so Bellarmine and the whole Schools of Jesuits do eagerly defend the same Tenent. But it may be some will say, this point might easily be reconciled; because that, as they affirm, we are justified by our good works; So we teach, that we cannot be justified without good works: For though sola fides justificat, Faith alone doth justify us, yet we say, that fides nunquant est solitaria, Faith never goeth alone, but is always accompanied with all good works: And therefore the difference betwixt us, is but in name and explication, seeing what they call inherent righteousness, we call Sanctification; and we preach the necessity of good works for Sanctification, as much and as earnestly as they do for justification: And therefore all this strife and stir about this point, may seem to be but a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, a mere strife about words, and nothing else, when as both sides do agree about the Substance and the necessity of good works. Alas Beloved, decipimur specie recti, we do many times think that to be of great moment, which is indeed but of little consequence; and many times we judge that to be of nothing worth, which in very deed is most material; So many men think this point of difference to be but of small account; but I am of Mr. calvin's mind herein, The difference betwixt our tenant and the Church of Rome explained. that this point of all others, is one of the most importance, and our difference herein to be very great; for they make our good works to be causas essicientes, the precedent causes of our justification, and we make them to be fructus assequentes, the subsequent fruits and effects of our justification: and so, they ascribe to man, the greatest part of the Salvation of man, when they ascribe justification to the inherent works of man; for what is inherent in us, must needs be ours; and therefore, if we be justified, as they say, by our inherent righteousness, it must needs follow, that we do justify ourselves; and so we do arrogate more unto ourselves, than we do ascribe unto the Grace of God: For si hominem te fecit Deus, & justum tu te facis, melius aliquid facis quam fecit Deus; quia melius est, justum esse quam hominem esse; if God made thee a man, and thou by thy good works makest thyself a just man, thou makest something better than God maketh; because it is better to be a just man, than to be a man; But we ascribe nothing to ourselves, but all to our Saviour Christ, when we say with the Apostle, that we are justified freely by his blood: Rom. 5.9. And so we make our justification perfect, because it is Christ's; and our Sanctification we acknowledge to be imperfect, because it is ours, for that it is done by us, though by the help and assistance of the Grace and Spirit of Christ. And therefore you see the difference to be so great, as it is to say, Christ justifieth us by his righteousness, made ours by Faith, and to say, we justify ourselves, or are justified by our own inherent righteousness or good works: the former we reach, to the praise of God and glory of Christ, and that no man should boast of any thing that is in himself: and the latter the Church of Rome stiffly defendeth, to the praise, as we conceive, of themselves, and that they might boast in the Lord, as Bellarmine saith, and so exalt themselves herein, like Babylon, in pride, against the Lord, as we say. 3. In the point of Satisfaction, they are as injurious to Christ, 3. In the point of Satisfaction. as in the other point of our Justification: For, though our blessed Saviour, Jesus Christ, by the shedding of his most precious blood and the suffering of the most bitter and accursed death of the Cross, hath made there, by his own oblation of himself once offered, a full, The excellent confession of our Church herein perfect,. and sufficient Sacrifice, oblation and satisfaction, for the sins of the whole world; as our Church doth most Christianly confess in our Lyturgy: Yet the Council of Trent doth affirm, that by this satisfaction of Christ, made upon the Altar of his Cross, the fault is only pardoned, but the punishment is not remitted, until that by our own Penance and other sufferings, it be fully satisfied for: But because this seemeth too reproachful to the Justice of God, to remit the fault, and yet to inflict the punishment, which would be nothing else but a mere mockery, as if a King should say to a Traitor, I will forgive thee thy Treason, but thy Head must be cut off for a punishment; therefore the Learned Cardinal, wiser than the rest, Bellar. l. 1. c. 4. de indulgentiis, distinguisheth betwixt the temporary and the eternal punishment of our sins: and he yields the eternal punishment to be fully satisfied for, by Christ, but the temporary punishment, he saith, must be discharged and satisfied for, by our selves, that is, by our penance and other sufferings and satisfaction. But I answer, that if this were true, then must it needs impeach that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, the great propitiatory Sacrifice, which Christ hath offered for our sins, of some great imperfection; because it was but in part, and for a part, and not for all; and we must needs thereby conclude, that either Christ could not discharge us from these temporal punishments, or else, could, and would not do it; but to say either of these, is most injurious unto Christ: For, to say, he could not do it, denieth his Power, that is Almighty; and to say, he would not do it, is to deprave his Goodness, who is goodness itself: And indeed, this dimidiatory satisfaction were to cross the very Rules of reason, that he which had done so much for us, John 1.18. Phil. 2.7. as to descend from the Bosom of his Father, to take upon him 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, the form of a Servant, and to suffer the most bitter death of the Cross, to make satisfaction for our sins, and to deliver us from eternal vengeance and the wrath of God, would be unwilling to satisfy his Father for our temporal punishment, especially, when it would cost him no more to satisfy for all, than for part of all; nay, when as the satisfaction made by Christ, is of far more worth, than the Justice of God could require for all the punishments we had or could deserve; quia modicam guttam sanguinis Christi propter unionem hypostaticam, pro redemptione totius mundi sufficisse necesse est; because it must needs be, that the least drop of Christ his blood, by reason of the hypostatical union, of the manhood of Christ with the Godhead, should be sufficient to make satisfaction to the wrath of God, and to procure the redemption of the whole world, as St. Clemens saith: and therefore this partition of satisfaction is both false and frivolous. But you will object, that God pardoned the guilt of David's sin, and yet he inflicted a punishment upon him for his fault, and so he did and doth upon many others of his chosen Saints and dearest Children. I Answer, and confess that many times after the offence is remitted, we see punishments inflicted upon the Offender; Why God inflicteth punishment after the fault is remitted. but we say, that is not to satisfy the Justice of God for that sin, for which Christ hath fully satisfied, but to amend us, and to confirm us unto God, that is, not to make satisfaction unto God for the sns that are past, but to be for a prevention unto us against all other sins, that are to come, and would otherwise be acted by us. And this is the end for which we persuade men to fast and pray, and to perform all the exercises of true Penance, to show the fruits and truth of their repentance for their sins past and offending God, and to declare the willingness of their minds to do any Service, and to undergo any labour, and patiently to suffer any cross or disaster, that might any ways be available for the prevention of all sins to come. But to say that any penance or punishment imposed by the Priest, or voluntarily assumed by ourselves, should any way satisfy God's wrath for our sins committed against him, we do utterly deny and detest, as a most derogatory Doctrine to the all-sufficient satisfaction of Christ. And the truth of this Doctrine sufficiently showeth, No need of Purgatory. that there is no need, and there can be no place nor use of any Purgatory, to make satisfaction for sins after this life. 4. 4. In the Doctrine of Merits. In their Doctrine of Merit, they exceed in Pride, above all the rest: For though our Saviour tells us, that when we have done all what we can, we are but unprofitable Servants, and far short of what we should be; And the Apostle plainly saith, that by Grace we are saved through Faith, Eph. 2.8,9. and that, not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast, And the Holy Fathers are plentiful in the justifying of this point, and teach, quod sufficit ad meritum scire, quod non sufficiunt merita, that it sufficeth us to know, that no merits can avail us any thing, to merit any thing at the hands of God, but the Merits of Jesus Christ, as St. Bernard saith. Yet such is the Pride of these men, that some of them do say, a just man's work is of value worthy of Heaven, and that absque ullo respectu meriti Christi, without any respect to the merits of Christ, as I read it alleged, Suarez. was not ashamed to write: Nay more, they teach that men are able not only for to merit, but also to supererrogate; that is, to merit for themselves and for others likewise, when they do more service unto God, than God commandeth them to do, and do more good works, than God requireth at their hands. Mat. 25.9. I remember the five wise Virgins would not impart with one jot of their Oil unto their Fellows, lest they should want the same themselves; but these men think they have enough both for themselves and others: And therefore, because they would have nothing lost, they have invented that gainful Doctrine of Indulgences and pardons, whereby they transfer the surplusage and remainder of the merits of those Saints, which have supererrogated, and have done more good works than will serve their own turn, or that God requireth at their hands, unto those, The Doctrine of Merits and Supererrogation very beneficial to the Church of Rome. that want them, and can pay them for them: the which point of their Doctrine, I dare say, is no Gospel, but a very profitable Kitchin-Divinity. And so you see how they derogate all from Christ, and ascribe all this unto themselves: And as Constantine saith of Acetius, do erigere sibi scalas, set up Ladders of their own framing, to climb alone to Heaven, without the help of their Saviour, or but with a very little of his help: And what is this, but as the Poet saith turgescere fastu, to swell with pride, and to become insolent against the Lord, against the Holy One of Israel, as the Prophet speaketh of Babylon? For our Saviour saith, if any man will be his Disciple, he must forsake all, and deny himself and follow him; but these men will neither deny their own errors, nor forsake their own Pride to rely on their Saviour Christ. 3. As the Chaldean Babylon was full of Idolatry, the Land of Graven Images, The Idola 〈◊〉 the Roman Church. Jer 50. th●● was mad upon their Idols, as the Prophet peaketh, so is the City and Church of Rome: Of whom we may justly say with Baptista Mant. Fama est AEgyptum coluisse animalia quaedam Et pro numinibus mult as habuisse ferarum. Ista superstitio minor est quam nostra, ferarum Hic aras habet omne genus; contraria certe Natuae res, atque Deo. And this Idolatry of the Roman Church we affirm to be committed two ways, In two Respects. 1. Respect, two ways. and and in two special respects. 1. In giving the true honour and worship of God to faise Gods 2. In worshipping the true God with false worship. _____ For, 1. They give the Divine Worship, 1. Giving the true Worship of God to false gods. which they themselves confess to be only due to the true God, unto the Creatures. _____ Asdruball, 1. To the consecrated Bread of the holy Sacrament of the Lords Supper here on earth: _____ And 2. To the Saints and Angels that are in Heaven. 1. When the Priest hath consecrated the Bread, he lifts it up above his head, 1. To the consecrated bread. and saith three times, that one of the most comfortable Sentences in all the whole Book of God, and ever proper and peculiar to Christ alone, O the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sins of the world, have mercy upon us; and then immediately all the people fall down and prostrate themselves unto that Wafer Cake, as unto the everliving God: And what greater and more palpable Idolatry can there be, than to worship Bread, in stead of God? Indeed the Heathens adored Ceres, that they say, first invented the sowing of Corn, for a Goddess, but they counted her the lowest of all their Goddesses, and her Daughter Proserpina, they feigned to be married to Pluto the King of Hell, the fittest place for such Goddesses: But these men adore, not the makers and authors of bread, but the bread itself, and count that bread to be the true and living God: and therefore seeing their Idolatry is the greater, let them take heed lest their judgement shall be the severer, and that they shall not, with Proserpina, be either Kings or Queens, or have any Dignity in Hell, but with the rest of the wicked Idolaters, shall be slaves of Hell, if they repent not, for evermore. But these men, to salve this sore, and to quit themselves from this high charge of Idolatry, do say, they worship not any bread, either hallowed or unhallowed, but the Body of Christ, which is the blessed God for ever and ever: For after the Priest hath consecrated the bread, and said, this is my Body, it is no more bread, but it is changed and transubstan iated into the very true and natural body of Christ, according to the words of Christ himself, this is my Body; So, as the water was no more water, Mat. 26. ●6. John 2.9. after Christ had changed the same into wine, the bread is no more bread, after the Priest transubstantiates the same into the Body of Christ; and therefore they commit no Idolatry nor offence by this their adoration of the Host, Why the Body of Christ is to be worshipped. which is now become the true Body of Christ; because the Body of Christ, though not as it is a Creature, and the Son of Mary, yet as it is hypostatically united to the Son of God, and is a nature of that Person, which is the true God by nature, is to be worshipped and adored. I answer, that if they could well prove the former point, that the consecrated bread is transubstantiated into the body of Christ, we would willingly, as we do, readily yield unto the latter, as I shown unto you, how the body of Christ is to be worshipped: But for the truth of their Transubstantiation of the Sacramental bread into the body of Christ, it resteth to be discussed. We read in St. John, that the Word was made flesh, John 1.14. Gal. 4.4. and so flesh was united unto the Word: And St. Paul saith, the Son of God was made of a woman, and so the seed of the Woman was made the Son of God; but we never read it in all the Scripture. ture, The first Inventors of transubstantiation. that the Son of God was made of bread, nor that bread was made the Son of God; For it was those Antichristian Popes, Leo, Nicholas, Innocentius and Honorius, that were the first Fathers, which begat this new Doctrine of Transubstantiation; and the Council of Lateran, not much above 400 years ago, was the first Council that confirmed and gave life unto the same. But how far this new devised Doctrine of theirs, The falsehood of the Doctrine of transubstantiation shown three ways. is from the old received Faith of the Church, and from the Divine Truth of God, I shall briefly show unto you. 1. From the Holy Scriptures. 2. From the Ancient Fathers. 3. From pure and sound reason. And a threefold cord is not easily broken; For 1. Christ told his Disciples, 1. From the Scriptures. John 14.3. & v. 28. Mark 16.19. Acts 7.56. Acts 9.4. Acts 3.21. before his passion, that he must leave the world, and go to his Father, as he was man: And St. Mark saith, that after his resurrection, he was taken up into Heaven, and sitteth on the right had of God: And so Saint Stephen saw him in heaven, standing on the right hand of God; and Saint Paul heard him from Heaven, saying, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? And St. Peter saith, that the Heavens must receive or contain or hold him, until the times of restitution of all things: that is, until the last day, the day of Judgement. How then can he be corporally present here on earth, and be still residing in Heaven? But to make the Point more clear; John 6.53. our Saviour saith, except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink his Blood, ye have no life in you: that is, none can attain unto eternal life, but only those that do eat the flesh of the Son of man and do drink his blood; but all the Patriarches, Fathers and Prophets of the Old Testament, and all those Christians that are baptised and die before they receive the Sacrament of the Lords Supper, The Fathers of the old Testament could not eat the natural flesh of Christ. could not, nor cannot eat the very natural flesh of the Son of man: For as yet, in the time of the Fathers of the Old Testament, he had not assumed his Body; and therefore, either all those Fathers can have no life; or else our Saviour meaneth it of a spiritual eating of his flesh, by the mouth of Faith, and not of any carnal eating of him by the mouth of our Bodies. But to deny eternal life to these Fathers, is most absurd and injurious unto them; therefore our Saviour's meaning must needs be granted to be of a spiritual eating of his flesh; and no thanks to grant it: For the Apostle proves it, saying, that they did all eat the same spiritual meat, 1 Cor. 10.3, 4. and they did all drink the same spiritual drink, that is, as we do now; for they drank of that spiritual rock that followed them, and that rock was Christ, whose flesh they did thus spiritually eat, that so they might have eternal life: And St. Aug. in Johan. tract. 26. Aug. expounds it in the same manner, saying, visibilem cibum, hoc est, Manna, spiritualiter intellexerunt, spiritualiter esurierunt, spiritualiter gustaverunt, they understood that visible meat, that is, the Manna, spiritually, they hungered after it, spiritually, and they did eat the same spiritually. And of all Christian Children and others that are baptised, and die before they receive the Sacrament of the Lords Supper, the same Father saith, nulli est aliquatenus ambigendum, tunc unumquemque fidelium corporis & sanguinis Domini participem fieri, quando in baptismate efficitur membrum Christi, Aug de Symbol. fidei ad catech. to. 9 no man ought any way to doubt, but that every one is then made partaker of the body and blood of our Lord, when by Baptism he is made a member of Christ: Therefore the words of Christ are not to be understood of any oral eating of his flesh, or drinking of his blood. 2. 2. From the Fathers. The whole stream of the first Fathers of the Christian Church are against this newfound Doctrine of Transubstantiation of the bread into the flesh of Christ, and of the wine into his blood, and for the spiritual eating of the flesh of Christ and the spiritual drinking of his blood: For Origen saith, si secundum literam sequaris id quod dictum est, Origen. in Levit. him. 7. nisi manducaveritis carnem filii hominis, non habebitis vitam in vobis, litera illa occidit, if you follow the letter of that which is said, except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, ye have no life in you, that letter killeth; for it is the Spirit that giveth life, the flesh profiteth nothing: Theoder. Dialog. 7. And Theodoret saith, Christus naturam panis non mutat; Christ changeth not the nature of the bread: So Tertullian contra Marcionem, l. 4. August. contra Adamant. Manich. to. 6. c. 12. & in epist. 221. Cyprian. de coena Domini. Hesichius in Levit. l. 3. c. 2: Amb. de Sacrament. l. 1. c. 5. Chrys. in Johan. Tract. 25, & 26. And all the rest that writ of this Point, are of the sam● mind, and do expound it in the same manner. And so many of the Popish Writers themselves do either ingenuously confess, or else tacitly yield unto this very truth; for Pope Gelasius saith, non desinit esse substantia vel natura panis & vini, the substance or nature of the bread and wine doth not cease to be: and Roffensis yieldeth, that the very presence of Christ's body, in the Masie, Fisher, Bishop of Roches. count. Capt. Babylon. Tonst. de Euch. l. 1. Pag 65. Ar. Mont. in Luc. 22. cannot be proved by any place of Scripture; and therefore sure we need not believe it for any truth; and Tonstall confesseth, it was no heresy to deny the Doctrire of Transubstantiation before the Council of Lateran: And Arias Montanus, upon the words of our Saviour, this is my body, saith, it is no more, but, my body is sacramentally contained in this Sacrament: and this we do all affirm, and accursed be he that denieth it: for we say, with Clemens Alexandrinus, that, duplex est sanguis Domini, alter carnalis, quo redempti sumus, alter spiritualis, quo scilicet unctisumus, and so the flesh, or body of Christ, is understood to be, 1. Carnally, or corporally, in heaven. 2. Mystically, and spiritually in the Sacrament. and in the first sense none did or can eat him; but, in the second sense all the godly men have, and do, and will eat him, and drink him; nam hoc est bibere Jesu sanguinem, incorruptionis domini participem esse; for this is to eat the flesr of Christ, and to drink the blood of Jesus, to be partakets of the incorruption of our Lord; as S. Clemens, saith, and as S. August. August. in Johan. saith, credere in Christum est manducarc panem vivum, to believe in Christ, is to eat the bread of life, which is the flesh of Christ. 3. Reason itself disproveth, 3. From reason. 1. Reason. John 3.9. and is fully against this their doctrine of Transubstantiation. For, 1. If the bread, upon the pronouncing of those words, this is my body, be turned into the flesh of Christ; then the Apostles did eat his body, and yet saw it whole and entire before their faces; and if so, it is a wonder, that they did not, with Nicodemus, ask him, how can these things be? for, I am sure they asked him many questions of less moment, and easier to be understood, than this great and high point of the transubstantiating of the bread, to become his flesh. Reason. 2 2. If the bread be changed to flesh, and the wine into the blood of Christ, and we eat and drink the same; than it is carried through our maws, and passeth through the draught, or it is turned to our nutriment, which notwithstanding must at last, together with us, see corruption; but that is contrary to the saying of David, that God will not suffer his holy one, no, not his mortified, much less his glorified body to see corruption; Psal. 16.10. Reason. 3 3. If the bread be turned to flesh, and the wine into blood, than the dogs and mice may eat, with reverence be it spoken, the most glorious body of the Son of God; and poison may be mingled with the most precious blood of Christ; as we read one of the Emperors was poisoned in receiving the Sacrament; but it is most absurd to say, that the blood of Christ should poison any man. Reason. 4 4. If the body of Christ doth sit in heaven, and doth lie under the accidents of the bread; then either he took no true body of the blessed virgin; or now, after his afcention he hath put away all truth of a natural body; for a true natural body cannot subsist without its quantity and quality: Casman. in his Chiolog. part. 2. pag. 13. Scalliger in Cardan. Every true body must be in a place. Aug. ad Dard. Epist. 57 and every quantity must be measured and bounded by place alone; quia numerica unitas corporis finiti non potest subsistere sine continuitate; as Julius Scaliger saith, and therefore, if you take away locality from a body, you must take away quantity, & trinarum dimensionum terminos, and the bounds of the threefold dimensions, longitude, latitude and profundity; and so you make a body to be no body, and take away the finiteness and definition of a body, saith the same Scaliger; and so S. Augustine saith, tolle spatia locorum corporibus nusquam erunt, & quia nusquam erunt, non erunt; If you take away the spaces of places from bodies; they can be no where; and what is not where is not at all: and therefore, by this rule, which is most certain, the opinion of Aquinas and Lombard, who do affirm that the very body of Christ is there in the bread, sed non ut in loco, non qualitatiuè, aut quantitatiuè; but not as in a place, not with quality or quantity, is utterly false, and overthrown; for that, as I said before, every true body must have quantity, and every quantity must have place. But to this Bellarmine answereth, Bellar. de cuchar. l. 3. c. 4. pag. 297. that it followeth not, that a true natural quantative body cannot be in two places at once; quia ad esse circumscriptiuè in loce nihil requiritur, nisi ut locatum sit commensur atum suo loco, & non ut non sit alibi, in alio loco; because to the being circumscriptive in a place, there is no more required, but that the thing placed should be fitted and measured according to his place, and not that it should not be elsewhere, in another place; and therefore the acute Cardinal, Bellarmine, and all the whole School of Jesuits, say, that the body of Christ though it be commeasured, bounded and fitted to the place, wherein it is placed, yet may the same body be elsewhere in another place: And to confirm this, that may be alleged, which Tursellian saith, Credat Judaeus appella non ego. that one Xavier was seen at the self same time in two several places, both in a ship, and in a boat, far distant from that ship; and Bellarmine relateth the like story of S. Anthony of Milan, as, that he was seen preaching in a Town of Italy, and at the same time, he was seen in another place. For Tursellian's instance, Plautus Amph. Thom. in ma. l. 1. d. 32. q. 1. r. 1. of the locall●y of Angels. I say, not only with Plautus, tune id dicere audes, verbere, quod nemo unquam hemo vidit, nec potest fieri, tempore uno homo idem duobus ut locis simul sit; But I will also say with Aquinas, that by the same reason, that he might be in 2 places, he might be in a thousand places at once: and therefore if Xavier was in one place, it must needs be the Devil that was in the other place (by such impossible things, and improbable fictions,) to delude the credulous people; and to Bellarmine's reasoning; I answer, The absurdities of Bellarmine's reason. that the absurdities of his reasons do quite overthrow the possibility of his Doctrine; because that, for the same body to be circumscribed in one place, and yet to be at the same time in a 1000 places; and for one place to fit, bounden, and commensurate a body, the which very body, notwithstanding is in 10 thousand several and far distant places at the same time; it overthroweth and nullifyeth not only the humanity of our saviour Christ, but also the order of things, and the very principles of nature, and it exceedeth the bounds of all sense and reason. Object. But I know, they will reply against this, and say, that we must not conceive of divine things by the rule of humane reason, when as so, we should never believe the world to be made of nothing, or that a virgin should bear a son; for subtle Philosophy doth many times pervert pure divinity, and Aristotle seduced many a Doctor, and caused Aetius to become Arius, Socrat. l. 2. c. 28. saith Socrates; and that may be true according to the rules and Principles of Philosophy, which cannot be true in Divinity, which made Paul bid us, beware lest any man spoil us through philosophy, Colos. 2.8. and therefore we must seek to attain to the knowledge of those things, not by the reach of reason, but by the rule of faith, which Philo calleth fidem oculatam, so well sighted, that, as the eagle's eye, being aloft in the clouds, can notwithstanding espy, sub frutice leporem, & sub fluctibus piscem, under the shrubs a hare, and under the waves a fish; so quicksighted faith, here on earth, can, notwithstanding sore up into the deep things of God in heaven, and can most perfectly see those things, and believe those mysteries, which humane sense and reason can no ways perceive, nor possibly reach unto them. Solut. We believe not these things, not because we know not how they can be done; but because we do know they cannot be done. I answer with S. August. that we easily yield, and do undoubtedly believe, Deum posse multa, qua nos intelligere non possumus, that God can do many things which we can not understand; as to create things of nothing, to make the sun to stand still, to cause the fire not to burn, and the water not to drown, to assume our nature into the unity of his person, to be born of a virgin, to raise up himself from the grave, to ascend to heaven, and many other such things we believe by faith, though we cannot search and find out the reasons thereof, especially in all the books of nature; but we cannot yield, nor believe that those things may or can be done, which we understand and know, and can bring many Reasons to prove, that they cannot be done; as for the same thing to be and not to be; when as all the Schools do affirm, Deum contradictoria efficere non posse; God cannot do contradictories, as, he cannot lie, because he is truth: and he cannot die, because he is always, and eternally life; and therefore, though we grant, he can make creatures of nothing, and reduce all creatures into nothing, and change the nature of any one thing into another thing, as Lot's wife into a pillar of salt, of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham, to turn Moses rod into a serpent, and water into wine; and, Ovid. in his Metamorphosts. if he pleased to Metamorphose all those transformations that Ovid writes of; yet, that he can make any one thing, to be two distinct things at once, and still to remain one, as to make Moses rod, to be both a rod and a serpent at once, and to be still a rod, and yet a serpent; the same one numerical thing, to be bread and flesh, wine and water, ston●s and the children of Abraham, at the self same time, we utterly deny, and can no ways grant it; because such things are mere contradictions, and do overthrow the truth of God, And therefore, that Christ should sit in heaven, and be the bread that we eat in the Sacrament here on earth, that he should be visibly there, and invisibly here, and that he should be one and many, continued and discontinued, entire in one place, and at the self same time entire in 10 thousand places, and such like, we cannot believe; because these things are not only contrary to all reason, but do also exceed all faith: and therefore in all say of the holy Scripture, that do seem to contrary one another, we must find out such expositions of either place, as, that neither of them do overthrow the truth of the other, nor yet be contrary to the analogy of the faith. And this showeth, that the Church of Rome, adoring the consecrated bread in the Eucharist with divine worship, commits palpable idolatry; like unto Babylon, by giving the true worship of God to that which is no God: and so, 2. They give the same divine worship of the true God unto the Saints and Angels, 2. To the saints and Angels. that are no God; for though that by their Doctrine and distinction, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, they would clear themselves from this idolatry; yet, if they will erect temples, observe days, and make prayers for the honour of the Saints and Angels, thereby to be helped and relieved by them, all the streams of Tiber can never wash away their Tdolatry; because, as Prosper saith, the dedication of Temples and Altars, and Prayers, and the like, are proper and peculiar parts of God's divine worship. 2. 2. In worshipping the true God with false worship. As the Roman Church giveth the true worship of God to those things that are not God; so, by their superstitions and many foolish inventions of their will-worship, they worship the true God with false worship, such as he neither commandeth, nor is pleased with them, and which, to ease my Reader, I must pass over. 2. The Sins of Babylon against man, were especially of 2 sorts; 1. Covetousness, from whence proceeded their fraud and deceit, which the Prophet setteth down, c. 51. v. 13. 2. Cruelty, which diminished and destroyed the children of God, and caused them to be scattered like sheep, and to be driven away: and so truly the iniquity of the Church of Rome is every way equal, if not exceeding the iniquity of Babylon, and resembles the same, as in many other things, so especially, in respect 1. Of their Confusion, and division among themselves. For, Rome resembling Babylon in three Respects. 1. Their Division. 1. Of their Covetousness and collusion against all. For, 3. Of their Injuries, and oppression of the best men. For, 1. Though they brag much of their unity, and say, this is a special Argument to prove them to be the true Church of Christ, which is a vision of peace, and like unto Jerusalem, that was a city in unity within itself, according as it was afore prophesied of it, that God should keep the sheep, and servants of Christ secretly, within his Tabernacle, from the provoking of all men, and from the strife of tongues; when as yet every unity, or rather confederacy, is not the Character, and true note of Caristianity; Psal. 2.2. for the Kings of the earth stood up, & Principes convenerunt in unum; and the Rulers took counsel tegether against the Lord, and against his anointed; and all cried, crucify him, Mat. 27.22. Exod. 32.1. Act. 19.34. crucify him; and all agreed to make the golden calf, and all the whole multitude said, great is Diana of the Ephesians: and all covenanted and conspired against— And no marvel; for if Satan should be divided against Satan, his Kingdom could not stand; and therefore we say with S. Augustine, that, sicut est Dei una Ecclesia, sic est Diaboli ●na Babylon; as God hath one Church, so the Devil hath one Babylon. Yet, if we look into the Church of Rome, we shall find, that, howsoever, in things that may concern the preservation of their hierarchy, they hold together; yet, in many other things there is such oppositions, contentions, and consusions amongst them, as will plainly show them to be a Babylon; and that, as the Poet saith in another case, so we may say, of them; Scinditur incertus studia in contraria clerus. For we find their Councils, Popes, and Orders, crossing, thwarting, and contradicting each other, as, 1. 1. The contradictions of the Councils. The First Council of Nice allowed the communion under both kinds, unto the people; But the Council of Constance, and the Council of Basil, and that Council of Trent have forbidden to give the cup unto the Laity. So the third Council of Carthage accursed him that would call himself universal Bishop; but the Council of Trent curseth all them, that will not acknowledge the Bishop of Rome to be so. And the great ecumenical Council of Constantinople condemned all Images, from the divine Worship; but the second Council of Nice allowed them, and then again the Council of Frankfort accurseth that Nicene Council, and accounteth it flat idolatry to worship them, or God by them. 2. 2. The contradictions of the Popes. Their Popes do follow the same steps; for Stephan the 6. abrogated all his Predecessors Decrees; but Formosus took up his body, after his burial, for it, and cut off two of his fingers, and then buried his body again; and the next succeeding Popes Theodorus the 2. Ex Polychron. Romanus, and John the 10. confirmed all the Acts of Formosus; but Sergius disannulled them all again, and took up Formosus his body, and threw the same into Tiber. 3. 3. The contradictions of their Orders. The Oppositions among their Orders is never a whit less, than betwixt their Popes; for, the difference betwixt the Dominicans and the Franciscans, about the conception of the blessed Virgin Mary, (the Dominicans holding, that she was conceived in original sin, and the Franciscans denying the same) was so great, and their fury was so hot, Anno 1476. against each other, that Pope Xistus the 4. joining with the Franciscans, burned 4 of the Dominicans for defending that truth. Neither are their Schools free from this fault; for the Scotists, Ochamists, and Thomists could never be reconciled, Erasmus, in loc. contr. Laton. Alphoas. l. 1. c. 6. Genchrard. in Chron. until the Thomists got the conquest; and at this day, the Seculars and the Jesuits can never agree; nor the Jesuits, that are indeed the better learned, accord well among themselves; for Alphonsus de Castro, and his Adherents do hold the Council above the Pope, but Card. Bellarm. and all his Scholars do hold the contrary; and it is observed by Genebrard, that there were 20 several Sects and Schisms amongst the Romanists at the same time; and others have collected 80 several different Opinions amongst them, about that one only point of the Eucharist. And I could yet further enlarge this point, how they do not all agree in the Doctrine of our Justification, nor in many other points beside; nor indeed any one of them long with himself; quia oportet mendacem esse memorem, because the teacher of errors and false Doctrine had need to have a good memory, & ea falsitatis atque erroris est natura, ut nemine repugnante, a seipsa tandem juguletur, and that is the nature of Error and falsehood, that a length it will overthrow itself, though there were no man to speak against it; and therefore we find Bellarmine himself confuting and contradicting himself in many places, as our learned Bishop Morton hath most excellently observed; but I stood too long on this point already. 2. 2. The collusion of the Roman Church. There Collusion is, and especially in former times, was such, that they did not only deceive one another, but almost all the world besides, Presbyter amplectens faeminam, presumitur benedicendi causa fecisse: and old Lyra saith, fit aliquando in Ecclesia dei maxima deceptio, in fictis miraculis, à sacerdotibus, the greatest decepts and cozenage shall happen sometimes in the Church of God by the false and feigned miracles, that shall be done by the Priests; and so indeed, as our Presbyters do now, so their Priests and Jesuits, by their feigned sanctity, false miracles, and subtle insinuations into the hearts and bosoms of the vulgar people, seduxerunt gentes, have seduced them, and made them drunk with the wine of their abominations and abominable flatteries. 3. 3. The oppression of the Romanists. For their oppression, vexation, and cruelty towards the servants of God, it exceeded all humanity; and the Chaldean Babylon must not compare with them herein; for they did not only vex the children of God, and lay heavy yokes upon their necks, which was all that Babylon did unto the Israelites, but they did also persecute the best Protestants with sword, fire and faggot, burning them, as they did John Hus and Hierom of Prague, and take their bones out of their Graves; if they cannot lay hands on them alive, as they did the bones of Bucer and Phagius, in the time of Queen Mary. Scaeva sic in manes manibus arma dabant; And so they warred: Amos 2.1. And as the King of Moab burned the bones of the King of Edom, so they raged against the very Ghosts of the Saints. And therefore, if we had nothing else to say against them but this, their cruelty against the Saints and Servants of Christ, yet this alone is a sufficient argument to prove their City and Church a Babylon, and themselves rather Citizens of Babylon, than Members of the Church of Christ; for as he that was born after the flesh, Galat. 4.29. persecuted him that was born after the Spirit, even so it is now, saith the Apostle: The Church of Christ doth never persecute, but doth always suffer Persecution; for Christian Religion is to be maintained, enlarged and defended, non occidendo sed monendo, non saevitia, sed patientia, not by killing, but by monishing, not by cruelty, but by patience; nam si sanguine & tormentis religionem defendere velis, jam non defendetur, Lact. l. 1. c. 19 Religion not to be planted by the sword. sed polluetur, saith Lactantius: For if thou wouldst defend Religion with shedding of blood and inflicting torments, it is not defended, but polluted; and thou dost defile it and spoil it, in seeking to maintain it. And this is plainly seen by the example of Christ himself, who neither instituted his Kingdom by any foreible means, nor would have himself defended by any outward power of the sword, but biddeth S. Peter to put up his sword into his sheath; Matth. 26.52. and he showeth the reason of it unto the Governor, because his Kingdom is not of this world, nor like unto the Kingdoms of this world; for they are enlarged and defended by force of Arms and by the sword; Rom. 10.14. but the Kingdom of Christ is increased and continued by the reading and the preaching of the word; and Faith cometh ex auditu, non ex metu, by hearing, not by threatening, ex dono Dei, non ex imperio hominum; from the Gift of God, and not by the Command of any man. And therefore S. Bernard saith, that suadenda fides, non cogenda; Faith is to be persuaded and not compelled: And S. Paul saith, 2 Cor. 10.4. Damasc. 3. sent. c. 32. that the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but spiritual: And Damascene saith, that the Gospel was preached throughout all the world without weapon, armour or Battle, by a few naked, poor, afflicted men; and if men believed, they saved their souls; if not, the Apostles were to take none other revenge, but to shake off the dust of their feet to be a witness against them, that refused their Doctrine. Object. But the Romanists against this, do answer for themselves and say, that our Saviour bids his Servants to go to the high ways, and compel the people to come into his Wedding, that his House might be full. Luke 14.23. Solut. I answer, 1. That the Word compel, doth not always imply a forcible compulsion, but a continual persuasion, and an undeniable entreaty and importunity; until our request be granted; for so the two Disciples going to Emmen, Luke 24.29. are said to have compelled or constrained Jesus to stay with them, that is, by their importunity, and not by any forcible way: And so we are to compel all men, by entreating them with continual importunity, to believe in Christ, and by him to be reconciled unto God, and by captivating their understanding to the obedience of Christ, which is the best compulsion in the world. 2. I say, that we are in some sense to compel them, that is, quoad media, to the nieanes of Faith, though not to the Faith itself; to come into the House, but not to eat; to come into the Church, but not to believe; because this men may do, but the other God alone must do: And therefore we say with S. Aug. against the Donatists, that in this sense, Kings within their Kingdoms, and every man within his House, is to compel and to cause his Children and Servants and all that are under his Jurisdiction, to come into the Church, to hear the Word of God, and to make every one to perform the outward service of God, at least in show, so far as man can judge; for so the Commandment is, that thou shalt keep holy the Sabbath Day, and shalt do no manner of work, thou, and thy Son and thy Daughter, thy Manservant and thy Maidservant, Exod 20. and the Stranger that is within thy Gate. But the Church of Rome would compel us to believe what they believe, and to profess, that we believe whatsoever their Church professeth; and this their compulsion is with no light hand, as appeareth by their Inquisition, and the French Massacre: And yet they will answer, that they compel no man to believe, but only punish those that do err and revolt from their Belief. I confess, that some of the Learned do affirm, haereses spirituali gladio jugulatas esse, that Heresies and apostasies are to be punished only with the spiritual sword, and not with the temporal sword of the Civil Magistrate; because our Saviour said unto his Disciples, John 6.66, 67. after he saw many departing from him, nunquid & vos vultis abire? and will you go away likewise? As if he said, I hold you not, use your own judgement, and he that will departed, let him departed, he may go for me. And therefore St. Paul doth but excommunicate and deliver such men unto Satan, 1 Cor. 5.3, 5. that they might learn not to blaspheme; to show unto us, that there should be no bloodshed nor temporal punishment for the Faith, in the Church of Christ: But for the better clearing of this point, A twosold consideration to be had about the suppression and punishing of Schismatics Heretics and Apostatas. 1. Of the time 1. When the Members and true Professors are but few. Mat. 13.30. of compelling men to Christianity and to believe, I say, that great wisdom and discretion is to be adhibited in this case of men's consciences, and that a double consideration is to be had herein. 1. Of the Time, when these Offenders do appear in the Church. 2. Of the Persons, who they be that do thus offend. For, 1. There is a time, when such Offenders, Heretics or Apostatas should be spared, and there is a time, when they should be punished and not spared: For, 1. In the Infancy of the Church, that is of any Church, when the true orthodox Christians are but few, and it may be fewer than the heretics and Apostatas, it is not the safest way to be too severe and rigid against these men; but in a Christian policy, rather to give some scope to these men's Consciences, and so to suffer the Tares to grow with the wheat, as our Saviour speaketh; 1. Because they are not able, being few, or fewer, to struggle against many. And I know no reason why the Roman Catholics should not be tolerated as well and assoon as Anabaptists and other worse Schismatics. That these times do require some toleration of Religion. 2. When the true Professors are many. 2. Because their unseasonable severity and rigidness towards these Offenders might be a means to raise other enemies against them, whereby more wheat should perish, than Tares should be destroyed; and perhaps hinder those that are in aequilibrio, and as yet unsettled, to embrace the Truth and that Profession wherein they see, so little mediocrity and so much severity used. And truly, in these very times, wherein the true Professors are so few, and the Sectaries so many, I suppose this gentleness, moderation and some scope of Christian Liberty ought to be given, until, by the goodness of God, and a painful preaching of the truth, we shall reduce them to the full and perfect embracing thereof. But, 2. When any Church is established, the Magistrates settled, and the true Professors many and plentiful; then all such offenders are to be corrected, and not permitted to corrupt others, and to seduce the weaker sort of the true Professors; or otherwise the Christian and civil Magistrate cannot be free from sin, if he suffer such offenders to go free from punishment; for if he punish Thievery, and spare Idolatry, the Rebels and Runagadoes from him, and not the Revolters from Christ, how shall he answer this to God? And therefore King Asa gathered both Judah and Benjamin and all the strangers from Ephraim, 2 Chron. 15.8, 13. Manasses and simeon, and did enact with them, that whosoever would not turn from his Idols and his Idolatrous ways, to seek the Lord God, should be slain: Exod. 32. ●7. And Moses caused them to be put unto the sword that had worshipped the Golden Calf: And Jehu did put all those Priests unto the sword, that had forsaken the Lord to worship Baal: 2 Reg. 10.25. And so should every Christian Magistrate do the like, when he seethe the time serveth that he may and can do it: For, — immedicabile vulnus Ense recidendum, ne pars syncer a trahatur; The Rule of nature tells us, that the scabbed sheep must be separated from the Flock, lest she infect the sound ones; and so must Heretics and Schismatics from the flock of Christ: but a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump, and one lewd fellow may spoil many, and one subtle Heretic or Schismatic may seduce many of the simple people; and therefore, I would they were cut off from you, that trouble you, saith the Apostle. II. As a wise consideration must be had, of the time, when and how this rooting out of the weeds may be done, 2. Of the persons. so the like consideration must be had of the Persons that do offend and are themselves led out of the way. For, 1. Some are private, 1. Tacit Offenders. quiet and peaceable men, that tacitly keep their errors and misbeliefs unto themselves, and so do no great hurt, but only unto themselves. And, 2. Some are more active and do corrupt others, and speak of wicked blasphemy, 2. Active Offenders. as the Psalmist speaketh; and to the first, we should be more indulgent; but on the Second, we should inflict the severer punishment. 3. Some do err and revolt of infirmity, 3. Offenders through infirmity. for fear of imprisonment or loss of their means and livelihood; as St. Peter denied his Master, for fear of what the High Priests might do unto him; & many honest men now do many things that otherwise they would not do, for fear of the present Power; and should these be presently punished or cut off for their slips and slidings? God forbidden: I remember Epiphanius writeth, that in the reign of Dioclesian and Maxim. which was a time of great persecution, divers Christians were imprisoned, of whom some were martyred, some revolted, and some were still detained in durance; and these that still were imprisoned, disputed amongst themselves, whether those that had revolted, through the violence of the Persecution, should be received into the Church again, or not, when God eased them of that Persecution; and Peter Bishop of Alexandria, misericordia motus, moved with pity (saith Epiphanius) said, he would refuse none immediately upon the confession of their repentance; but Meletius Bishop of Thebais, said, Epiphan. l. 2. to. 2. p. 321. he would receive none, except that by a long Trial and a manifest proof of their amendment, they shown the fruits of their true repentance: Where, you see, they dispute of the receiving of them that fall through fear, but not of their sudden cutting off from all favour; because of their amendment there is so great hope, and Peter in my judgement had the better end of the staff, for those that fell through Infirmity and fear. But, 4. There be some that revolt and start aside for novelty and of wantonness, 4. Offenders through malice, obstinacy and wantonness. and it may be of malice, and are obstinate in their errors; and herein Meletius was in the right, that they should not be so easily pardoned nor so gently dealt withal, that thus err, relapse and forsake the true Service of their God: For if we punish a woman that through wantonness, adulterates and breaks faith with her Husband, shall we not severely punish them that do thus start aside from God? Yes surely, such men must be severely censured and punished, and not pardoned, until, as Meletius saith, they do fully show the fruits of their repentance. And so you see this point, how far we may compel men to the Faith, discussed; and how the Weapons of God's Church are spiritual; and that the City of God doth never exercise any cruelty upon any one, nor any temporal punishment for spiritual points, save only in some particular cases of mere necessity and of great moment, as I shown before, and that also on those that were her children, and not on strangers, that never were within the Pale of the Church. But the Church of Rome compelleth all men to submit to her, The outward civil and teniporal persecution of the Roman Church. more with the outward sword of the Magistrate, than with Aaron's Rod and the spiritual censure of the Word of God; and that likewise without any respect of Persons, and without all show of Clemency, as witnesseth their cruelties against the poor Indians, their Massacres in France, their Inquisition in Spain, and those unmerciful persecutions here, in Ingland, in the days of Queen Mary, and their new-devised plot of the Gunpowder Treason. And therefore, though we had none other Argument, yet this their usual cruelty against their Brethren and good Christians, might serve for a sufficient testimony to prove the Church of Rome to be none of the best Saints of God, but the Citizens of Babylon: For it is an infallible truth, that Heresy, apostasy and cruelty are ever joined and combined together; and whereas mercy and clemency do compass about the true Servants of Christ, severity and cruelty do fill the hearts of the Heretics, Schismatics and Apostatas. And so we read that the cruelty of the Arians against the orthodox, was more than barbarous; The usual cruclties of heretics and apostatas nam damnis gravissimis efficiebant Ecclesiam, armati diversis telis, they infested and afflicted the Church with most grievous damages, being armed with several weapons, saith Eusebius: And Novatus exceeded all the rest; for he would neither give bread unto his Father, when he was ready to be starved, nor burial unto his Corpse, when he was dead; but to show the height of his impiety and cruelty, he spurned his own Wife out of doors, when she was great with child, and so killed his own child in her belly: And Possidonius relates the like cruelties in the Circumcelliones, Socrat. l. 2. c. 21 & 30. Cypr. l. 2. epist. 8. Chrys. operis impert. ho. 19 which were a most savage Sect in the time of S. Augustine, and therefore could not be any good Members of the Church of Christ; nam quem videris sanguine gandentem, Lupus est, saith S. Chrysostom: For whomsoever thou seest rejoicing and taking his delight in blood, is a Wolf, and no sheep; quia caedi, Christianorum proprium est, caedere autem Christianos, Pilati & Caiphae officia sunt: because it is proper and a common thing, for Christians to be beaten: but to beat Christians, is the property and the office of Pilate and Caiphas, saith Athanasius, ad solitariam vitam agentes. And yet, touching the Church of Rome, lest that in seeking to reform your judgement, I should wrong your Charity, you must distinguish betwixt the Church of God in Rome, and the Church of Rome: For as Satan hath his Synagogue in the midst of God's Church, so God hath his Church and his Elect in medio inimicorum, in the midst of their enemies, as a righteous Lot among the wicked Sodomites, Israel in Egypt, and Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego in Nebuchadnezars Court, and many Thousands in Israel, that bowed not their knees to Baal, when notwithstanding the rest of the Israelites ran a whoring after their own inventions: So we assure ourselves, there may be, and there are, many thousands in Rome and of the Romish Church, that retaining the Foundation of their Faith, according to their knowledge, do adhere to the Roman Church, as many did in Israel follow Absalon, with a simple heart and good meaning: 2 Chron. 15.17. And so as the Lord said of King Asa, that, although he had not taken away the High Places out of Israel, yet his heart was perfect all his days: It may be, that although they cannot, through their Ignorance, or dare not, through Fear, or be not able, through their mean estate and poor condition, excutere phaleras, and to cast off the Romish Garments, as blind Bartymaeus did his Cloak, yet may their hearts be sound and perfect towards Christ and his Church: and to reject these from the Communion of Saints, were no better than a proud cruelty, or at least, a defect of Christian Charity. And therefore we adhere to these in love and pity, and deem them as our Brethren in Christ Jesus: But for the rest, that are the wilful and obstinate Abettors of the Romish Idolatry and impiety, we will not only follow the counsel of our Lord and Master, and of his blessed Prophets and Apostles, to get out of this Babylon, and to separate ourselves from amongst them, and to have nothing to do with their stool of wickedness; Jer. 50.14. but we will also do as our God commandeth us by his Prophet Jeremy, lay siege against it and spare no arrows, because she hath sinned against though Lord. And thus I have showed unto you, that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, respectively, yea, and in many respects, that Rome and the Church of Rome, is a Babylon, a City of Confusion, and the Popish Hierarchy full of many iniquities and impieties: And I have been the more large and ample in this Point, to let the world see, how falsely and unjustly the Presbyterians, Puritans and their Adherents, have and do throw their scandalous imputations and aspersions upon my self, and the rest of our Reverend Bishops, for being Papists, and Popish, and Popishly affected, when as indeed all wise men know, that none propagated and defended the Gospel of Christ and the true Protestant Religion, and impugned the Romish Babylon, and shown, confuted, and here with us, Bishop Bilson. Bishop Baclow. Bish. Montagu. Bish. Abbats. suppressed the Superstitions, Heresies and Idolatries of the Church of Rome, better and more learnedly, than Bishop Jewel, Bishop Babington, Bishop Horn, Bishop Andrews, Bishop Downam, Bishop Usher, Bishop Prideaux, Bishop Hall, Bishop Morton, Bishop White, Bishop Laude, and the rest of our Reverend Bishops: And on the other side, the Presbyterians and Puritans, that hated and opposed our Bishops, though they railed against the Pope and Popery, and stuffed their Sermons with Invectives against them, yet, through their Ignorance, for want of Learning, have insensibly against their own wills, dispersed and taught many Popish points, and the flat Errors of the Romish Church unto their Auditors, who, as the blind do swallow many a fly, so do their simple Proselytes suck those poisonous Tenets, which are thus insensibly by their ignorant Teachers infused into them. But to return, you see Rome and the Church of Rome is a mystical Babylon: And yet, 2. The City of Rome not to be understood, to be the Seat of the Antichrist and the Babylon spoken of in Rev. c. 17. 1 Pet. 5.3. 2. As the Chaldean City of Babylon cannot be said to be the Babylon that is spoken of in Revel. 17. and the proper peculiar Seat of the Antichrist; so no more can the Italian City of Rome be said to be the same: And though that after the eclipsing of that great Assyrian Babylon, first by Cyrus the Persian, then by Alexander the Grecian, that was here poisoned by Thessalus, with poison in a horse hoof, and after that exhausted and almost unpeopled by Seleucus; Rome was for the splendour, strength and dominion thereof, termed Babylon, and for her Pride, Idolatry and confusion in the service of her Idol Gods, is so styled by S. Peter; and is acknowledged by the Father's , and by most of the Learned Jesuits, that confess the Assyrian Babylon to be the Type and figure of the Italian Rome, and to be so understood by the Apostle in that place. Yet I say; it cannot be meant by any place of Scripture, to be the Seat and Throne of the great Antichrist, and the Babylon spoken of in Rev. 17. For though Martial saith, Terrarum Dea, gentiumque Roma Cui par est nihil, & nihil secundum: And Though Rome be sometimes signified by this name of Babylon, as I said before, and is therefore interpreted, by all those that would have the Pope to be the Antichrist, to be that great City, and that great Babylon spoken of in Rev. 17. And Ovid saith imperii Roma deumque locus l. 1. trist. eleg. 4. Athenaeus l. 1. Tacitus Annal, lib. 4. and elsewhere in that Book: And I confess, it is often called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, that great City; yet not simply, in respect of the quantity or circuit thereof, when we read of many Cities that were bigger than it; but in respect of the Power and Authority, that her Consuls and Emperors had over all other Cities and Dominions, in which sense, she is said by Athenaeus, to be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 & 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, an Heavenly City: and by Julius' frontinus, she is said to be Domina & Regina orbis terrarum, the Lady and Queen of the world, which made the Smyrnenses to erect a Temple, and dedicate the same to the City of Rome, as to a Goddess: Yet I say, this is not that great City, nor that Babylon which is to be understood in Rev. 17. and is to be the Seat of the great Antichrist, 3. The City of Constantinople cannot be the Seat of the Antichrist. that must have a greater room than the great City of Rome. And, 3. As neither Babylon in Assyria, nor the mystical Babylon of Rome, can be said to be that Babylon, the Seat of the Antichrist, so no more can the City of Constantinople, which is known to be called New Rome, be understood to be his Throne, and the Babylon there spoken of: For though Constantine, the Founder of this City, Bish. Montagu in his apello Caesar●m. Constantinus apud Thraces qua Bosphorus aequor thracius ●●xinus. granted unto it, in both slates of Church and Commonwealth, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, every way equalised Privileges with the Old Rome, as having Senators, and one of the yearly Consuls, and being the Imperial City, and seared upon seven Hills, as well as Old Rome, and is therefore called by Nicetus, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, and by Paulus Diaconus, urbs septicollis, the City of seven hills, and being likewise in a fore-land, or Land-straight, where two seas meet, Aegaeumingurgacat undis, constituit sedem Imperii, latiumque relinquit Christo. Byzantium oppidum maritimum inter Pontum Euxinum & propontidem orientalibus Thraciae. finibus situm est. 4. No one City of the world is to be understood by this Babylon. What place is meant by this Babylon. Eccles. 9.14. Luke 12.32. and therefore the only seat in the world for an Imperial City, far more convenient than old Rome; yet I say, she cannot be understood to be the peculiar place or City, that the Apostle here meaneth by that Babylon, where the great Antichrist must locally reside and set up his domineering Throne and Court therein. 4. As none of these aforesaid great Cities can be understood by that Babylon, which is to be the Seat and Residence of the Antichrist, so no more indeed can any one City of the world, how great and how powerful soever she were, be properly and literally said to be the Throne or residing place of the Antichrist, or the Babylon, that is meant in Rev. 17. and some other Places of the Holy Scripture, from which we are commanded to go out, lest we should be partakers of her Plagues: For they do nimium haerere cortici, too much adhere and stick to the Letter and outward bark of the Text, that do so expound it: Whereas the meaning of the Holy Ghost is more mystical and spiritually to be understood, for the great and spacious confused City of this world; that as the Church of Christ is Civitas Dei, the City of God, whereof S. Aug. wrote 22 Books, which he styled, de Civitate Dei; and is typified and signified in many places of the holy Scripture, by Jerusalem, the City of peace, that is at unity within itself; and by that little City, that hath but few men within it, when as our Saviour saith, his flock is but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, a little flock, which a little City would well contain; so the Synagogue of Satan, Ecclesia malignantium, the congregation of the wicked, is indeed 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, that very great City, that sits like a Queen, to tyrannize over God's Servants, and is no less than the whole world, and can be no less to contain the whole Army of Satan, when as caetus impiorum, the congregation of the ungodly, is a mighty multitude, and therefore must have a great and a very large City to inhabit: And because the Citizens of this world, are as the Citizens of Jerusalem were, when Titus besieged it, at odds among themselves, and yet agreeing to rob and slay all the good and godly men that were amongst them, until Titus for their wickedness, had destroyed them all: And as the bvilders of Old Babylon were, when God confounded their Language, of several minds and dispositions, so that when the one called for a stone, the other brought him clay, and when he called for Mortar, he brought him Bricks, until at last, they brought both their work and themselves unto confusion; so are the Citizens of this great Metropolis, of several desires and ambitions; the one hunting after wealth, the other after honours, another filled with malice, and aims at nothing more than revenge, and yet all of them agree to persecute the poor helpless man, to kick against their Governors, to despise their Teachers, and to rob their Brethren, until they do confound all things, both the Servants and Service of God, and at last, themselves, by an utter ruin and a most fearful confusion; therefore their city is termed Babylon. And so I say, that neither of the three forenamed Cities, nor any other one material City of the world, can be here in the Apostles sense, understood by this great City of Babylon, but rather that City, whereof the Fellow, of whom the Philosopher demanded, what Countryman he was? answered, that he was Civis hujus mundi, The Reasons of the foresaid Exposition. a Citizen of the great City of this world: And this I say, for these special Reasons; Reason. 1 1. Because neither of the three forenamed Cities, nor any other one City of the world hath made the Kings of the Earth and all Nations drunk with the wine of her Fornication, as this City of Babylon is said to have done: For neither old Rome corrupted all Nations with her heathenish and Idolatrous Service of her many gods, nor new Rome hath spread her Mahometan Religion over all the parts of the earth, nor especially the Pope defiled all the Regions of Christendom, much less than all Nations, with his Superstitions: But the great City of this world, I may freely speak it, without a figure, hath bewitched, intoxicated and made all the Nations of earth drunk with the sweet wine of the vanities and pleasures thereof, none can deny it, quia totus mundus in maligno positus. Reason. 2 2. Because all that had ships in the Sea, that is, all the Merchants that traded to bring commodities from one Nation to another, were not all made rich by either of the three forenamed Cities, or by any other one City of the world whatsoever; as the Holy Ghost saith, they were all made rich by this Babylon; but all the Merchants that had ships, and were at any time, or, in any place made rich, were enriched by the great City of this world. Reason. 3 3. Because the City of Babylon, that is here in the Revelation meant, is said to have killed the holy Apostles and Prophets of God, and though S. Peter, and S. Revelat. c. 18. 20. Paul are recorded to have been killed at Rome, yet neither Rome, nor Constantinople, nor the Assyrian, nor the Egyptian Babylon, nor any other one City of the world did ever see any, or if any, certasnly not many of those holy Prophets, that God sent unto the Israelites, and were killed, not by any of the foresaid Cities, but by the Jews, and in Jerusalem, and by the Citizens of this world; that have indeed killed all the holy Apostles, and Prophets, that were killed, and do still continue, Ribera, in Apoc. 18.20. to kill the best servants of Jesus Christ, even as our Saviour foretelleth us, in the world, not in Rome, nor in Constantinople, but in the world, you shall have tribulation, because, the world hateth you, as it hated me before you; and therefore Ribera demandeth rightly, quem apostolum, aut quem Prophetam persecuta est Ecclesia Romana, seu Roma papalis, ut Sancti debeant laetare de ejus paenis? which of all the Apostles, or of all the Prophets did the Church of Rome, since Rome became Christian, persecute and kill, Revel. 18.24. that the Saints should rejoce at her Punishments? Reason. 4 4. Because it is expressly said, that in that Babylon, which is there meant, was found, the blood of Prophets, and of Saints, and of all that were slain upon the earth; mark this, of all that were slain upon the earth; and tell me, how this can be refered to any one City of the world, but only to the great City of this world? and so is literally true, without Trope or figure; and why should we run to figures, when the sense is true in the letter? Reason. 5 5. Because of many other particulars, that you may find in the 17 and 18 Chapters of the Revelation, and elsewhere in the Scriptures, ascribed to this great City of Babylon, which, without tropes and figures, and many other shifts, can no ways be referred or applied, either to old Rome, or new Rome, or to any other one city whatsoever, but may properly without stretching, or any violence offered unto the Text, be applied to the great City of this world. And therefore by this Babylon, that is spoken of in Revel. 17. and elsewhere, and said to be the seat of the Antichrist, I conceive, that we are to understand, not Rome, as J.W. and all the rest that make the Pope to be the Antichrist, (and would rather bring the Holy Ghost to mean, as they think, then submit themselves to his meaning,) Genes. 11.9. do interpret it; but the great city of this world, that is, in all things agreeable to every particular thing, that is spoken of this great Babylon; for, as that place and city was chief called Babylon, that is, confusion; because, as Moses showeth, God confounded the Languages of those grand rebels, that endeavoured in that City, 1 John 2.15. 1 John. 17.9. to scale the walls of Heavens, and, as it were to defy God himself; so this world is just like unto the same, the receptacle of all confusion and disorders: and it is one of the three capital enemies of mankind, that we profess in our Baptism to renounce, and that we are charged not to love, but still to fly from the baits, and the deceits thereof; and, John 5.19. for which our Saviour, that prayed for his enemies which crucified him, denieth his prayer, saying, I pray not for the world, because God hateth all those, that work wickedness, and S. John saith, the whole world, all of it, lieth in wickedness, and will not be raised from it; and besides, God is the God of order; and the whole world is out of order, the very babel of all confusion; The great Antichrist shall rise in such a place, as shall be like Babylon, when first it was called Babel. Genes. 11.79. and confusion is the mother that bringeth forth the Antichrist into the Church, and it is the nurse that fostereth, cherisheth, upholdeth, and protecteth him against Christ, and against his Church. But though the world in General is that great city, is meant Revel. 17. and elsewhere in that book, and wherein the great Antichrist will settle himself; yet must he rise and spring in some place, City, or Kingdom of the world, that is not as Rome, or Constantinople, a Babylon, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, respectively, but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, simply, and transcendently, like as the Chaldean Babylon was, and in all things resembling her, when first she was called Babel, the City of Confusion; and that was, when all the Inhabitants thereof were without any settled, just, and lawful Governors, or Government among them, but were as the children of Israel were in the later time of the Judges, Judg. ult. and Ver. ult. when there was no King in Israel, but every man did that which was right in his own eyes; and so they did now in Babel; they understood not one another, they obeyed not one another, but when the Master or Governor required one thing, they did another, and when they called for bricks, they brought them straw; and so forth. And what Kingdom, Rome not like Babylon, when first it was called Babel. City, or Church, is, or hath been thus, like Babel, without any settled, just, and lawful Government, or Governors, I will not determine; but I am sure Rome hath her Governors, and the Church of Rome her settled, strict, and well observed Orders and Laws, which none dares disobey, nor do, what is right in his own eyes, nor preach what Doctrines he please unto the people. But in what Kingdom, City, or Commonwealth soever we see not settled, just, and lawful Government, but the Governors, like pegs driving out one another, and settling first one kind of Government, than another of greater power cometh, and changeth that Government, than a third, than a fourth, and so forth; and the Commonwealth standeth, like a windmill, upon the top of a hill, that must turn with every wind, and submit itself to every Government that is most prevalent, and where you see the Church without Rulers, without order, and without Law, but every Presbyter doth what he pleaseth; and serveth God with what service his own fancy liketh best; I believe that City, Kingdom, and Church, doth in all things parallel the first Chaldean Babel, and must be, if any place be, the very seat of the Antichrist, and so 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 simply, most eminently, and transcendently a Babylon, and the fittest place for the Antichrist to reside. And so the Antichrist, having learned his lesson, divide & impera, i.e. by confusion and division, and setting the Father against the Son, and the Daughter against the Mother, the subject against his King, and the King against the subject, the people against their Pastors, and their Pastors against the people, and so of all the rest, he will settle and enthrone himself, in that imperial seat of his rule and authority, where there is most confusion, and where there is no settled, just, and lawful Government; and this is that Babylon, thus mystically expressed by the Holy Ghost, and thus clearly explained unto you, where the Antichrist shall rule, and reign, and rage over God's people, even in that place of the world, and in that street of this Great City, where there is most division and confusion both in the Church and Commonwealth; this confusion being his chiefest consolation, and the furtherance of his progression, and, which, as the Poet saith,— Turbabit faedera mundi, will soon bring the world out of order, and to be ruled as he listeth. And now the question is demanded, Whether in any other place of all the world, you can find more divisions and confusions, and a more unstable, unjust, and unsettled Government, both in Church and Commonwealth, than you may find in these Churches, and Common wealths, and formerly the Kingdoms of Ingland, Scotland, and Ireland? for though that in this Babylon, this place, that is so full of disorders and confusion, Where discord reigns, in realm or town, The wicked win the chief renown. Plutarch, in vita Niceas, pag. 547. you may find many zealous and religious men, that do fear God, and mourn for the sin of the Antichrist, and abhor all his wicked ways; yet it is demanded, if ever there were more faction in Jerusalem, in the time of their last siege, more Sects in Amsterdam, more malice in Rome in the time of the proscription, or more corruption, in the time of the Pope, and more division among the Reubenites, and confusion in great Babylon, in the land of Shinar, than may be found, now, in this relapsed Church, and among the people of these Dominions, And for the diversity of Sects, multiplicity of opinions, and the manifold confusions in the Church, it is demanded, if the errors and heresies of the Sectaries, Presbyters, Independents, and lay-Preachers are, not only published, printed, and permitted, but also cathedrally and autoritatively, if not maintained, yet countenanced or connived at, at the least? And if here, in the field of God's Church, and out of this Babylonish chair, you may not find any error or heresy that hath been formerly invented, and broached by the grand Heretics, and confuted by the Fathers of the Church, now again, in some place or other, and by some Sect or other, resuscitated, and refined unto the people? and whether you may not uncontrollably choose any Religion, and be of any Sect, either Antinomian, Anabaptist, Arian, Aerian, Brownist, Barrowist, Dipper, The manifold divisions, corruptions and confusions that are now conceived to be in the Churches of these Dominions. Donatist, Cradokist, Cerinthian, Catharist, Ebyonist, Eutychian, Familist, Gnostick, Hugonite, Hussite, Jesuit, Libertine, Lollard, Marcionist, Manichean, Montanist, Millenary, Nestorian, Nicholaitan, Origenist, Petagian, Puritan, Quaker, Ranter, Sadduce, Socinian, Seeker, Tritheist, Valentinian, Winterist, or if you will, Atheist, or Adamite, or Independent: From all these, and from all other Se●●●●d or new, and have liberty of Conscience to profess, and be of what Sect you 〈…〉 so you profess to believe in Jesus Christ, (as all the very worst heretics did, and 〈◊〉) and so you take the Oath of abjuration, and renounce popery and 〈◊〉, which are the only men, as I see, that although they do believe in Jesus Christ, as well, if not better than any of the foresaid Heretics, are excluded from this benefit, and excepted from this liberty of conscience, to serve God, as seemeth good in every man's eyes? And though all these Sects differ one from another, and are in confusion, The common and joint practice of all the Sectaries. and execrating one another; yet all of them do agree, to dissociate themselves from the true Professors of the primitive Christianity, to tear the Apocryphal Books out of our Bibles, to cast away the service Book, and to cashier the Articles of our Church, and the Book of Homilies; they are no Saints, if they do not this. But for the resolution of the foresaid Questions, though I could say much therein; Yet I will only refer the same to what you may read in a little Treatise, entitled Hell broke lose, that so, as it seemeth, the Antichrist might come forth, out of the bottomless pit, as S. John saith he should do; and to a book of Mr. Edward's, entitled Gangraena, which is set out at large, and three times printed, where you may find very orderly, and methodically set down, such a ferrago, and hodg-podg of Heresies, and such a multitude of most horrible blasphemies, so odious, and so hideous, Mr. Alexander Ross in his animadversions upon Mr. Hobbes his Leviathan, showeth how the Leviathan blasphemeth. 1. God. 1 Error. that my hairs do stand, and my heart doth tremble at the thought of them, and my soul is very much afraid to name them, lest thereby the Devil should entice some wicked men, that as yet know them not, to embrace them, and likewise to another book of Mr. Alexander Ross against Mr. Hobbs his Leviathan, which Mr. Ross saith, is like that beast in the Revelation, cap. 13. (and that is the Antichrist) which opened his mouth into blasphemy, against God and his Tabernacle, and against them that dwell in Heaven. 1. Against God himself, and that many ways, as specially, 1. In saying that God made the world by nature, and so by consequence, of necessity, according to the course of nature; whereas indeed he did it voluntarily and freely, and might have chosen whether he would have created any thing or nothing; for he being liberrimum agens, a most free and no ways necessitate agent, whatsoever pleased the Lord, that did he in heaven and in earth, and in the Sea and in all deep places, saith the Prophet. Error. 2 2. In making the Three Persons of the Trinity, the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost, to be rather Names, than Substances, which is contrary to our very Creeds, and the Faith that we do profess. Error. 3 3. In making Christ only to personate God the Son, as if he were not so indeed, but takes upon him only that Office, Place and Title: Whereas in very truth, Christ by reason of the Hypostatical union of his Manhood to the Godhead, is rightly said to be, as he is, the Son of God. Error. 4 4. In making God with the Manichees, to be the author of sin, and so unjust, if he punisheth us for doing that, whereof himself is the author; when as the Scriptures tell us plainly, he hateth all those that work vanity, vide Hab. 1.13 1 John 1.5. much more them that work wickedness, and that he is of pure eyes, neither shall any evil dwell in his sight, he being that light in whom is no darkness at all, and that perfect order in whom is no Ataxy or disorder at all. Error. 5 5. In making God to be corporeal and a part of the Universe, when as Christ tells us plainly, God is a Spirit, and the Scripture tells us so in many places. 2. Against God's Tabernacle, that is his Church, 2. The Tabernacle. by labouring to overthrow her Faith, her Knowledge, her Miracles and her Ordinances. 3. 3. The Angels and the blessed souls of the Saints. Against them that dwell in Heaven, that is, the Angels and separated Souls of the Saints, in making the one but Fancies and dreams, that are indeed created substances, of a pure spiritual being; and the other mortal, and not capable of any other happiness, than what is earthly, which is the greatest discouragement that can be, to all Christians, 1 Cor. 15.19. and would make them, if this were true, of all men the most miserable, and would be the very poison of all Piety and virtue. And besides all this, he saith, that the said Hobbes in his Leviathan affirmeth, that Faith is not by inspiration or infusion, but 〈…〉 and industry; that to believe in God, is not to trust in God's Person, 〈…〉 confess the Doctrine of the Scripture; that our Belief is in the Church; The manifold errors, heresies and blasphemies that Ross collecteth out of the Leviathan. that they ●●e not Devils, but mad men, that confessed Christ in the Gospel; that Covetousness, Ambition and Injustice, with Power, able to uphold them, are honourable: that wicked Tyrants and good Princes are all one, and no such difference betwixt them; that a man may sin against his Conscience, that is, do the things, which his own Conscience tells him he should not do; that men should not render a reason or an account of their Faith; that Kings and Princes are not subject to their own Laws: that private men have no propriety in their own Goods: that our natural reason is the Word of God: that divine dreams cannot win our Belief: that it was but a wind, and not the holy Spirit of God, that moved on the waters in the Creation: Gen. 1.2. that the Dove which lighted on Christ in his Baptism, and the fiery Tongues which sat upon the Apostles in the day of Pentecost, may be called Angels: that Christ hath no spiritual Kingdom here upon earth: that Christ did not cast out Devils, Mat. 3.16. Acts 2.3. but only cured Madness: that Satan did not enter into Judas: that we may dissemble in matters of Religion: and that we may disobey both Christ and his Apostles without sin. Such, Job 41.20. and much more like stuff and smoke, saith Ross, doth this Leviathan send out of his Nostrils, as out of a boiling Cauldron: and herein contrary to all truth, and without shame, he raked up the Opinions, and vomited forth the Blasphemies of the old heretics, and chief of the Anthropomorphites, Sabellians, Nestorians, Sadduceans, Alexander Ross in the Epistle to the Reader, before his animadversions. Arabeans, Taceans, or Euchratites, Manichaeans, Mahometans, and others the like wicked Heretics: All which Errors, Heresies and Blasphemies, the said Rosse hath observed, and quoted the very Chapters where they were to be found and seen in the said Leviathan, and hath in his animadversions most religiously and learnedly, like a good Servant of Christ, confuted the same, to whom I refer my Reader to be more fully satisfied in every point. And so the Reverend Bishop Hall hath somewhat showed, the Errors, Heresies, Blasphemies, Bishop Hall in his revelation unrevealed. Absurdities, and Confusions, that sprang amongst us, and these Sectaries have brought into this Church of Christ. And so likewise, no doubt, but many other Divines have observed and confuted the Blasphemy; of these Beasts, that have so divided the seamless Coat of Christ, and brought such a confusion into his Church. And letting pass the multiplicity of errors, dissensions and absurd conclusions, that have now lately crept into these Dominions, about the Government of the Comm●●-wealth, when some would have it a Monarchy, others no Monarchy, some desire it to be Aristocratical, others Democratical, and others Anarchical, no Government at all: If all the foresaid errors, and all other sorts of heresies and blasphemies be not the undeniable marks and notes, and the Causers of the greatest confusion and division, that can be among Christians, in the Faith and Doctrine, that they do profess; and if every Parish-Priest in order, or without order, becoming absolute, like a Pope, in every Congregation, without any subordination to superior Governors, as the Independent, Anabaptists, and Lay Preachers would have it, doth not breed the greatest confusion that can be, in the Discipline and Government of the Church; I leave it to any wise man to determine it, and to judge, whether the Pope's Traditions or the Turks Alcoran, or the Jews fabulous Targum can bring more Sects and divisions, and cause greater confusion among the people, than these Sectaries and Heretics have scattered and produced in our Church? Objection. But here it may be some Presbyterian will object against me, for making the Region of division and confusion to be that great City of Babylon, that is spoken of in the Revelation; and is the place and City where the Antichrist shall enthrone himself, and say to me, as S. Bernard doth in the like case, to Abaylardus, that answered him, quod omnes Patres sic, ego autem non sic; that although all the Fathers thought so, as S. Bernard said, yet he thought not so; & therefore that I must with Acet●erigere mihi scalam, set up a Ladder for myself alone to ascend and climb up to the high top of this great Mystery, the understanding of what place is meant by this Babylon: Author Romae ruinae finalis Anno 1666 when as most of the Expositors of this Point and Place, both old and new, Papists and Protestants, (as you may see them produced in heaps, by the author of Romae ruina finalis, Anno Domini, 1666. which is dedicated, inclitissimo D. O. Protectori) do by Babylon, there spoken of, literally understand, the City of Rome, and no other place, but Rome; and I expound it not so, grammatically as they do, for any special place or City, but altogether mystically, for the great City of this world, and especially, for that part of the world, where most errors, heresies, divisions and confusions are spread and do infest both the Church and Commonwealth: And why should I think to be believed before all the rest? Or what revelation have I had, to understand it better than they did? Respon. To this I answer, 1. That the Particulars of the Person, time, place and other adjuncts of the great Antichrist are tendered unto us every where in the Scriptures, as Prophecies, and as Mysteries, sealed up, obscure, and not manifested, nor to be understood, many times, by the Prophets themselves, until they be fulfilled, and are made known by evident and plain event, which as I said before, is the best exposition upon all Prophecies. And therefore as Bishop Morton saith in excuse of the Fathers, concerning their erring in this very case of the Antichrist, the ignorance or mistaking of those things, Bishop Montagu in his apello Caes. c. 5. p. 146. which cannot possibly be understood, before the time of their accomplishment, in the last days, can no ways be held prejudicial to the wisdom and judgement of the Fathers of former times, nor the receding from them can be said to be a fault or presumption in us, when we see things otherwise fulfilled than they thought: Tilenus' exeges. de Antichristo. 73. p. 21. because as Tilenus saith very well, aliud est latentem Antichristum non posse agnoscere, aliud revelatum nolle adspicere, it is one thing not to know the Antichrist, while he lieth hid, before he cometh into the world, or to know the place or time of his coming, before he cometh; for so neither the Fathers of old, nor the Protestants of latter years, though never so learned, could rightly and infallibly discern, either who he was, or at what time, and in what place he should arise, until they saw him; and it is another thing, to refuse to know him, or to take notice both of him, and of the place where he is, when he plainly appeareth, and is made manifest to as many as are willing to take notice of him. Dr. Hackwill, in his Preface to his Book of God's Providence. 2. I say with Dr. Hakewel, that sometimes an error, and mistaking of a point hath been conceived, and delivered by some man of note and worth, both for learning and judgement; and then the same error hath by the succeeding Scholars been generally im●taced, and received for a truth, sine judicio, as Mr. Calvin saith, in the like case, an● without further search, or discussion into the nature and ground of the matter; and in such a case, we ought to accept and follow a late and newly delivered truth, and recede from the old and ancient error, though never so generally embraced by the former Authors, rather than to continue in a generally received error; because, truth, whensoever, and by whomsoever discovered, is to be received, and preferred before error, how anciently, or how generally soever it hath been delivered; §. 3. The Antichrist will accomplish, and fulfil all the Prophecies, and do all the things that are foretold us should be done by the Antichrist. and that being but an insipid speech, to say, mallem cum Socrate errare, quam cum aliis verè sentire. 3. The Antichrist, having seen the rebellion, and apostasy of the Church, and now growing strong by the division and confusion that is both in the Church, and State wherein he inthroneth himself, as in the seat of his Majesty; he gins to play his part, to act all the wickedness, and to fulfil all the Prophecies that the spirit of God foretold his Church, should be accomplished by the Antichrist; that so, as he tells them of the signs of his approach to judgement, that they might know his coming to be near, so by the signs and Marks of the Antichrist, and fulfilling of all the Prophecies, that concerned him, the Saints, and servants of God might take notice of him, as much as possibly they can, to avoid him. But here I would have it observed, that, when I say, that all and every thing prophesied in the Scripture, How and in what sense all things are done, and all Prophecies of the Antichrist are fulfiled by the long Parliament. of the old and new Testament, that the great Antichrist should do, are now conceived to be done and fulfilled, in and by the prevalent faction of the long Parliament, termed the rump Parliament, and their adherents, and the Assembly of Presbyterians, Independants, and Lay-Preachers, and their Proselytes; it is not meant, that the rump Parliament should fulfil all and every thing Prophesied concerning the Antichrist; or that the Presbyterians should do the same themselves; but that all and every thing prophesied of, is now fulfilled, and acted by some of them, or of their adherents; not that all and every one of them fulfilled all things, but that all things were fulfilled, in and by some of them; as, all the wickedness, that is done by an Army, is not done by every wicked man in the Army, but one commits murder, another rape, another theft, and so forth; so it is in the evils prophesied to be done by the Antichrist; every one of his members commits not every evil, and fulfils every Prophecy, but one part or member of him killeth the witnesses, another blasphemeth, and another changeth the times, and so forth; and thus we find all things, and all Prophecies, now in our days, fulfilled and acted, that were never so fulfilled and acted before, The prophecies that concern the Antichrist are of 2 sorts. as I have showed in this book. And these Prophecies which are left unto us concerning this great Antichrist, are of two special sorts: 1. Typically, delivered in the old Testament, 2. More plainly, though mystically too, expressed in the new Testament. 1. 1. Of the old testament. 1. the prophecy of Zechary. 11.16, 17. The most pregnant place of the old Testament, that by the Divines of the Gap Synod, and others, is ascribed, to foreshow the coming of the Antichrist, is found in the 11 Chapter of the Prophecy of Zechariah, the 16 and 17 Verses, where the Lord saith, Lo, I will raise up a shepherd in the land, which shall not visit those that be cut off; neither shall seek the young one, nor heal that that is broken, nor feed that that standeth; but he shall eat the flesh of the fat, and tear their claws in pieces; woe to the idoll-shepherd that leaveth the flock, the sword shall be upon his arm, and upon his right eye; his arm shall be clean dried up, and his right eye shall be utterly darkened: a most considerable place to describe the great Antichrist, 4. things observable in this Prophecy. 1. His Raiser. Verse 1. the cause, v. 3. and 5. and his coming among the flock of Christ; and therefore I shall desire you, for the better understanding thereof, to observe these four Particulars that I find set down by this our Prophet; 1. His Raiser, that brings him forth, and that is the Lord God; For lo, I will raise up a shepherd in the land, Verse 16. and the reason why he raised him is set down Ver. 3. and 5. 2. 2. the time. The time, when God raised him, and that is, after the breaking of the 2 staves, beauty and bands, spoken of Ver. 7. 3. 3. the titles. Ver. 15, & 17. 4. the judgement. v. 17. The Titles, names, and epithets that God himself bestoweth upon him, thereby to show unto us, all his qualities, and his do, Ver. 15. and 17. 4. The Judgement that shall fall upon him, both for his foolishness, and his wickedness, Verse 17. But, Act 8.34. as the Eunuch said unto Philip, of whom speaketh the Prophet this? so, before we can well understand these points, we must with the Eunuch demand, whom doth the Prophet mean by this foolish and idol shepherd? Who is meant by this foolish Shepherd. And I answer, That by this foolish and idol Shepherd we are to understand, 1. Primarily, not any one single shepherd, but chorus pseudoprophetarum, the whole company of false Prophets, that lived about the time of our Saviour Christ. 2. The whole multitude of false Teachers, that should be the false Prophet of the great Antichrist, which towards the end of the world should appear, and play their part, to vex the Church, and to persecute the servants of Jesus Christ; for so all the Divines in the National Synod of Gappe, Synodo Gappen. Artic. 31. 2 Thes. 2. 1604. in the 31 Article of their Confession do apply this Prophecy, and Text of the foolish Idol shepherd, to denotate and show unto us the great Antichrist, which S. Paul calleth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, the man of the sin, and the child of Perdition. And so I take the False Prophets, and wicked shepherds that were about the time of Christ, to be the Type of the false Prophets of the Antichrist, and those wicked Shepherds that are the Antichristian Preachers, and both to be understood here by this foolish and idol-shepherd. And I told you, 1. That the raiser, and sender of this idol-shepherd unto his people, The Raiser of this Shepherd. is God himself; for, as he giveth Kings, both good and bad, the good out of his love, and the bad out of his anger against any Nation, as the Prophet testifieth of Saul, Hosea 13.11. of whom the Lord saith, I gave them a king in mine anger, that is, against the people, that were weary of their good and mild Government under Samuel, and I took him away in my wrath, that is, against himself, for his disobedience, 1 Sam. 15.23. and transgressions of my Commandments; so he sendeth shepherds unto his flock, and Prophets unto his people, both good and bad; the good, out of his love, and the bad out of his anger, against his people; for, as Christ said unto Pilate, Thou couldst have no power at all, John 19.11. except it were given thee from above: So the false Prophets, and this idol-shepherd could not rise, if the Lord had not raised them; and therefore, — Hi high non sine numine divum, Eveniunt.— These men could not come if God made not way for them. But would you know the reason, why the Lord raised this idol-shepherd, and these false Prophets amongst his people; look into the 3. verse, and you shall find it twofold; 1. The voice of the howling of the shepherds, for the spoiling of their glory; that is, Why the Lord raiseth these Idol-shepherds Verse 3. the cry of the good shepherds, and faithful Pastors of God's Church, for their contempt, their rejection and suppression: for, as the Apostle saith, that, because men receive not the love of the truth, that they might be saved, therefore God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie, that they all might be damned, who believe not the truth, 2 Thess. 2.10, 11. Luke 13.34. but have pleasure in unrighteousness: so, because the people rejected the true shepherds, and as our Saviour saith, killed the Prophets, and stoned them that were sent unto them; for Zachary was stoned with stones, by the command of King Joas, in the Court of the House of the Lord; Micheas was thrown down by king Joram, to break his neck, because he had rebuked him for the sins of his Father; Amos was very often persecuted by Amasias, and his son struck him with a club, on the temple; of his head, Dorotheus de vitis Prophetarum. and so killed him; Isaias was sawed asunder in two parts, under King Manasses; Jeremy was stoned by the people, at Taphnis, in the land of Egypt; Ezekiel judged the two Tribes of Dan and Gad, in Babylon, and because he reproved them for their wickedness, one of them slew him: Urias the son of Simei was killed by Joachim, Jeremy 26.23. and his carcase thrown where the common sort of people were buried; and so the rest of God's faithful Prophets were rejected, persecuted, and suppressed. Therefore the just God, as a just reward of this unjust dealing with the true shepherds, raiseth up the foolish, and the idol-shepherds; and, as he faith by the Prophet Michah, if a man walk with the wind, and lie falsely, he shall be the Prophet of this people, Ver. 13. The 2. Reason that moved the Lord to raise up these idol-Shepherds, is said to be the roaring of the young Lions, Micah 2. Verse 11. which I take to be the harsh and thundering threaten of the new-sprung, domineering Lords, against the old faithful shepherds, to cause the people to reject them, and to adhere unto their young Teachers; because it is said, v. 5. Verse 5. that their possessors slay them, and hold themselves not guilty, but think they do very well herein; and they that thus sell the people, say, blessed be the Lord, for I am rich, that is in God's favour; and their own shepherds, that is, their new young shepherds pity them not, but think that they are in a far better condition, than ever they were before; Therefore the Lord saith, I will not feed you, and I will no more pity you, Ver. 6. (that is, Verse. 6. you that are thus seduced, by your Possessors, the young roaring Lions,) and your new Teachers, that are the Chaplains of those Lions, but, that that dieth, let it die, and that that is to be cut off, let it be cut off, and let the rest eat every one the flesh of another, Verse 9 Vers. 9 And yet such is the great love of God, and his pity towards his elect, that he Verse. 4 biddeth his good old shepherds, and his true Prophets, to feed the flock of the slaughter, Ver. 4. Verse. 7 and that is, the poor of the flock, as the Prophet explains it, Ver. 7. or, those that are despised, and, as it were appointed for the Slaughter by the young roaring Lions, The two staves of the true and old Preachers. Vers. 7. and the foolish new shepherds. And therefore the true Prophets and good old shepherds, do take unto them 2 staves, the one they call beauty, and the other they call hands, and they feed the flock, that is, the poor of the flock, that are willing to be fed by them. So you see the raiser of this foolish and idol-shepherd; and the reason why he raiseth him; 2. Time when the foolish idol shephere is raised; then, 2. For the time, when God raiseth him, you may observe, that it is after the breaking of the Prophets 2 staves, beauty and bands, and 1. The staff of Beauty signifieth the true Doctrine of the Church, and the faithful exposition and teaching of the law of God; and 2. The staff of bands, is the good discipline, and the right Government of the people, that bindeth them together in the unity of Faith, and perfect charity among themselves, and hindereth them to straggle, and to fall out into divers Sects and factions. Verse 10 And, if you do observe it, you shall find, that when the staff of beauty was cut in sunder; that is, when the true exposition of the Law of Moses, and the true Prophets, was corrupted by the false glosses of their new Teachers, When Christ was bought and sold. Verse 12. This was fulfilled by the long Parliament. Verse 14. that were the Scribes, Pharisees, and Sadduces, then presently their King, their Priest, their Prophet, and their good shepherd Jesus Christ was bought and sold by them, for they weighed for his price 30 pieces of silver; a goodly price that he was prized at of them; for I heard of some, that, when the staff of beauty was broken, and the truth of God's word corrupted by false teachers, sold a far Meaner Man for a far greater price. And was not our King bought and sold, and murdered, when our staff of beauty was broken to pieces? and were not our Bishops suppressed, when our staff of Bands was chopped asunder by the beast, and the false Prophet? jet my Reader judge. But when their King, and their Good Shepherd is thus bought and sold, then presently the other staff, When the foolish shepherd riseth. Verse 15. What is the Instrument of the foolish Shepherd. Verse 16. even Bands, that is the Discipline and Government of the Church is cut asunder; and when both these staves are broken, than the foolish shepherd with his instrument is to guide and to feed the flock; for so the Lord now saith unto the Prophet, take unto thee yet the instrument of a foolish shepherd. And what is the Instrument of a foolish shepherd, I cannot guests it to be any other than his Pipe, wherein he takes great delight, to be always piping and prating unto his flock, thinking that his piping is a sufficient discharge of his whole duty; and so wholly neglecteth the Office of a good shepherd, which is set down, v. 16. And therefore, as the children that sit in the Market place, and call one to another, Luke 7.32. The practice of the foolish and new Shepherds. saying, we have piped unto you, and ye have not danced; so we may say, that these foolish shepherds do pipe all day unto the people, and yet the people dance not after them; because they lead not the dance, they do nothing but pipe, or as our Saviour tells us, they say, and do not; and therefore their piping is no better than vain jangling. So you see the time when God raiseth this foolish and Idol Shepherd, when the staff of Beauty is broken, the good shepherd is bought and sold, and the staff of Bands cut asunder, and the Instrument of a foolish shepherd is used in stead thereof: For Lo, then saith the Lord, I will raise up a shepherd in the Land, which shall not visit those that be cut off, etc. And so, 3. 3. The styles and titles of the new raised shepherds. This shepherd is set forth and showed unto us by a double notion, or a twofold name and title. 1. Of a Foolish shepherd. 2. Of an Idol shepherd. And the name of a shepherd may be applied as well to the temporal Magistrate, as to the spiritual Priest, for to God himself, that was and is the King of Kings, the Prophet saith, Hear O thou shepherd of Israel, thou that leadest Joseph like a sheep, show thyself; and Christ, that is our Priest, saith, I am the good shepherd; and David saith, thou leadest thy people like sheep by the hands of Moses and Aaron, Psal. 80.1. John 10.11. Psal. 77.20. so Moses and Aaron were the shepherds of these sheep; and so Homer calleth Agamemnon 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, the shepherd of the people. But the shepherd here spoken of, is characterized by the name and notion, 1. Foolish. Mat. 23.19, & 17. 1. Of a Foolish shepherd, as Christ styleth the Scribes and Pharifees, Fools and blind; because they perverted and abused the holy Scriptures, by their false glosses and interpretation, and unjust application thereof; and fools indeed, Quae major est insania qu●m pro momenta●ca delectatione perd re aeterna gaudia, & nosmet ipsos obligare ad aete●na supplicia, Aug. when for the love of some worldly preferment, or for fear of the loss of some worldly honour, they leave the right way of serving Christ, to serve the Antichrist: For what is a man profited if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? Or what benefit is it to be glorious for a moment, and to be miserable for ever and ever? And therefore well may the False Prophets be termed foolish shepherds. And, 2. This foolish shepherd is termed an Idol shepherd; and that, as I conceive, in two respects: 1. In respect of the little or no good that he doth. 2. In respect of the great honour that he expecteth, and the much evil that he effecteth. For, 1 Cor. 8.4. Vide Hab. 2.18. 1. The no good that they do. Psal. 115.4.5, 6.7. V 16. 1. As St. Paul saith, that an Idol is nothing in the world, and doth no good in the world; for as the Prophet David saith, The Idols of the Heathen are but silver and Gold, even the work of men's hands, they have mouths and speak not, eyes have they, and see not, they have ears, and hear not, noses have they, and smell not; they have hands, and handle not, feet have they, and walk not, neither speak they through their throat; even so the Idol shepherd doth no good in the world, but wholly neglecteth his duty, as the Lord showeth, v. 16. As, 1. He shall not visit those that be cut off, that is, 1. So the Presbyterians and Independents do. he will not labour to bring men unto Christ, but he will rather drive them away from Christ, and rather provoke the erroneous, than recall them, rather thrust them out of his Church, than receive them into his Congregation. 2. He shall not seek the young ones, that is, to take the little children, the Infants, 2. So the Anabaptists do. and to incorporate them into the Body of Christ; but he will suffer the poor innocent Babes to perish, for aught that he will do for them; though Christ bids us to suffer little children to come unto him, and forbidden them not. 3. He shall not heal that that is broken; that is, he will not receive any Offenders, 3. So the Presbyterians and Independants do. that are broken through the temptation of Satan, and the frailty of their own flesh, to be members of his Church, and admitted to his flock; but though Christ, that is the good shepherd, calleth all those that are broken and weary and heavy laden, to come unto him, and promiseth both to heal them and to ease them, and refuseth none, no, not Judas himself, while he professed himself to belong unto him, and to do him service; yet this Idol shepherd is so coy, and so supercilious, that he will not receive nor heal that that is broken by sin, and broken for his sins: for he must have no trash in his net, no Chaff on his floor, nor any Tares in the field of his Church; such a holy Saint is this Idol shepherd. 4. So our new Preachers shake the true old protestants 4. He shall not feed that that standeth still, that is, he will not confirm them that are in the right, but rather shake them and amuse them, than strengthen and assist them, to proceed in the true service of God: So you see the little or no good, that the Idol shepherd doth unto his flock: And yet, 2. The great honour that they expect. 2. As the Idol requireth all the honour and all the service that may be, even the Worship that belongs to God; whereupon the Idol service is termed Idole-latria, that is, the divine worship given unto the Idol; and whatsoever the God of Heaven doth, the Idolaters ascribe it to be done by their Idols; for so the children of Israel, say of their Golden Calves, these be thy gods that brought thee out of the Land of Egypt, and therefore as the Prophet Habakkuk saith, c. 2.19. They deck and adorn their Idols with Gold and Pearls and Precious stones, and think nothing too much or too dear that they bestow upon it; as it appeareth by those great and inestimable gifts that Croesus sent to that Idol god of Delphos, and to the other of Amphiaraus, Herodot. lib. 1. clio. particularised by Herodotus: Even so the Idol shepherd looketh for such respect and service to be done unto him, such honour, such Salary and such preferment as cannot be thought too much for his desert; and therefore the Lord saith, that he shall eat the flesh of the fat, and tear their Claws in pieces; that is, he shall enrich himself with the substance of the wealthy, and those that feed him not, he will vex and exceedingly torment, because he seeks not you, but yours, and aims not at the honour of God, but makes a god of his belly. That this is fulfilled in the Long Parliament. And that the Pope did this heretofore, it is fully laid to his charge by all them that make him to be the Antichrist: Whether he doth so now or no, I know not: but I am sure, the Long Parliament did eat the flesh of the fat, and tear their claws in pieces; for they devoured the Live and the Lands of the King, of the Bishops, of the Deans and Chapters, and I know not of how many Earls, Lords, Knights and worthy Gentlemen of these Kingdoms, 4. The judgement of the Idol shepherd. So the right eye, i.e. the understanding of divine things shall be taken from the Antichrist, though his left eye shall be quicksighted enough in all worldly things. and tore their claws, i. e. their strength and power all to pieces; I think I may say this without question. 4. T●e Lord denounceth the Judgement of this Foolish Idol shepherd, saying, Woe to the Idol shepherd, that leaveth the flock; and much more woe to him that thus spoileth the flock; the sword shall be upon his arm, and upon his right eye, his arm shall be clean dried up, and his right eye shall be utterly darkened. And so it fell out accordingly to this Idol shepherd, the Scribes and Pharisees, and the rest of the false Prophets of the Jews; for though they thought themselves safe, and had done all things well, when they had broken the two staves of Beauty and Bands, and had bought and sold their King, Priest and Prophet, and had put to death the true Bishop of their souls, Jesus Christ; yet the just God, that is slow to anger, (and of great patience, and was formerly forty years grieved with this generation, when their Fathers tempted him, proved him, and saw his works; (forty years after this direful tragedy, And so this Beast, for doing as the Jews did, kill his King and his Bishop; let him fear the like judgement as the Jews had. executeth this very judgement upon this Idol shepherd, as Josephus ben Gorion, and Josephus the Son of Mathathias, 1.7. de Bello Judaico, setteth down the same at large; and in his 18th. Book of Antiquit. he confesseth the same to be for their malice against their King Jesus Christ, and the kill of the holy Apostle St. James, that was Bishop of Jerusalem. And this much shall serve to be spoken of the foolish Idol shepherd of the Jews, that the Lord raised in the time of Christ, and was the Type of the great Antichrist, who in all the foresaid particulars did, or will imitate this his Predecessor, so far as the type doth agree with the thing typified. So that I need not spend any longer time, to tell you what the Prophet showeth the great Antichrist, that is here expressed under the title of the Idol shepherd, should do, when the Lord should raise him, and for our sins send him amongst his flock; because you have heard many points of his lewd and foolish pranks already, in the do of his type, that was the Idol shepherd of the Jews, that the Lord raised for their sins, in the time of Christ. And you may see, The a Staves never broken in any Church till now in the Church of Ingland. as I said before, how this Prophecy is now, and never till now, fulfilled, since the type in the time of Christ; for, 1. As Christ, the king of the Jews, was bought and sold, and crucified, when the staff of beauty was broken, so Charles, our King, was bought and sold, and beheaded, when the true Doctrine of faith, and true obedience to our Governors, were corrupted, and this staff of beauty broken all to pieces. 2. The time that the Antichrist should rise. The Antichrist must be those new raised Preachers, that do cohere with this foolish and id●l shepherd of the Jews. As when the staff of bands was broken, the Lord raised this foolish and idol Shepherd among the Jews; so when our Bishops and Governors were suppressed, and their Discipline, which is the staff of bands, was broken, all Sects increased, all errors and heresies appeared, and the great Antichrist manifested himself unto the world, and did as he is here typified, by the do of this foolish and idol shepherd. But now, that which is more considerable to be understood, is to know, who is, or should be, the great eminent and transcendent Antichrist, that is here typified by this Idol-shepherd: I know, the Divines of Gap, and the most of our Presbyterians, are as sure, as Gabriel Powel was, that believed i●, as he believed the Apostles Creed, that the Pope is that great Antichrist; and therefore, when other matters fail them, they fill their Sermons with exclamations against the Pope, and deal with him, as the Collier did with the Major of London, when he came to Highgate; and yet I am as sure, that they are altogether mistaken in their faith, and knowledge herein: for, though the Pope should be, The Pope is an idol-shepherd, yet not meant here, tipified by this idol-shepherd. as he is, an Antichrist, and a foolish Idol-shepherd, as many others of our Presbyterians be, and doth imitate this Idol-shepherd of the Jews, in all or most of the foresaid particulars, as the little, or no good that he doth, to the flock of Christ, and the great honour and service that he expecteth from all the Kings and Princes of the earth; yet there are many other signal Characters, notes, and acts of the great Antichrist, expressed in other places of the holy Scripture, which are no ways coherent, and applicable to the Pope, which I could show unto you, but that, nunc non est narrandi tempus. But than you will demand of me, Who is that Antichrist, if the Pope be not the Antichrist? I answer, that, as S. Augustine saith, satius est dicere, quid not sit Deus, Yet by God's help I shall hereafter tell you whom I take him to be. quam quid sit Deus: for God is not the Sun, he is not the Moon, he is no created substance, and I err not in any of these answers; so I say, tutius est dicere, quis non est Antichristus, quam quis est Antichristus: and he is not the Pope I am sure of it; but I am sure he is a foolish, and an idol shepherd, whosoever he be, yet not the Pope; because these have not as yet happened unto the Pope, for that his strength and power are not clean taken away, though much diminished, neither is the knowledge and Doctrine of the Roman Church utterly or totally perverted, and the truth of Christian Religion quite extinguished, nor yet the right way of serving God wholly corrupted, as I shown unto you before; but whether the power and strength of the Long Parliament be not mouldered away from a mountain to a molehill, and themselves vanish away like smoke, let those members that are yet unnihilated, answer it; or if they be not yet come to nothing, how long they are like to continue, let my Reader judge. 2. The next testimony of the Old Testament, 2. The prophecy of Daniel, under the person of Antiochus. that is said to have any reference to the Antichrist and his do, is found in the Prophecy of Daniel: But St. Paul tells us, that to the Jews and Fathers under the Law, omnia in figura contingebant illis, all things happened and fell out to them in types and figures; and most of those types and figures that were delivered unto them, reached no further than Christ, which was the true substance, and to be understood in and by those shadows; and so for the Antichrist, I sinned no Prophecy concerning him in all the Book of Daniel, but as he is typified in the person of Antiochus Epiphanes; and you know, that as Theologia Symbolica non est argumentativa, symbolic divinity will not hold argument, so types and figures non currunt quatuor pedibus, do not hold correspondency in all things, but only in such particulars, whereunto they are applied; and therein, you shall find how the Antichrist is typified and declared unto us in the person and by the do of Antiochus. For, The Prophet Daniel, describing the four Beasts, Dan. 7. that typified and signified the four great Monarchies of the world; the Assyrian, the Persian, the Grecian and the Roman, and the little horn that sprang up among the other ten horns, saith the 10 horns are interpreted by the Holy Ghost, to be ten Kings, that is, saith Tremellius, 1. The 10 horns in Dan. 7. who they are. Seleucus Nicanor. 2. Antiochus Soter. 3. Antiochus Theos. 4. Seleucus Callinichus. 5. Callinicus being expelled, Ptolomeus Evergetes. 6. Ptolomeus expelled, Seleucus Ceraunus. 7. Antiochus magnus, that was surnamed Hyerax, the Hawk, for his speedy expedition of the greatest affairs, and was the Father of Seleucus Philopater, and of Antiochus Epiphanes. 8. This Antiochus magnus being ejected, Ptolomaeus Philopater. 9 This Ptolomaeus Philopater being ejected by Antiochus magnus and his Sons, Seleucus Philopater. 10. This Seleucus being killed, Antiochus Epiphanes, that was the little horn, that sprang up among the ten horns, and was not another horn besides the ten horns, but cornu ultimum, the last of the ten horns, and was at his first beginning but a very little horn indeed, that had no right at all unto the Kingdom, and is the most lively type of the Antichrist, that is to be found in all the Scriptures, both in respect of his entrance into his Dominion, and of his deal with the Jewish Church, just as the Antichrist should enter into his rule, and deal with the Church of the Christians. And the Prophet tells us of this Antiochus, and under his person, of the Antichrist, That, 1. 1. The things that Daniel saith Antiochus should do. As you see how he comes to his power and dominion by the suppression and destruction of others the lawful Kings, so should the Antichrist do; and we know many of the Popes came to that dignity and authority, by the ejection and destruction of other Popes, as the Histories do sufficiently declare unto us; but whether the Long Parliament came to their rule and dominion by the expulsion and destruction of their lawful King, I leave it for my Reader to judge. And, 2. 2. An opposer of Monarchy, and very successful. Dan. 7.24. The Prophet tells us that Antiochus shall be divers from the first Kings, that is, as some Interpreters do expound it, he shall be a grand enemy of regal Government and Kingly Majesty, so will the Antichrist, ex diametro, contradict and oppose the Monarchical Government, which the Pope never did, but upholdeth the same to the uttermost; and you know, who turned the Regal Government of these Kingdoms to a Commonwealth; or as Montanus reads that place, ipse erit major prioribus, he shall be greater than the former Kings, that is, in his successes, in his victories, in his revenues, in his taxes, in his absolute authority, and in his esteem among his Neighbour-Kings and Princes; so was Antiochus, so the Antichrist will be: So is not the Pope, when as many former Popes were greater than this is, in all the foresaid respects; but whether the Long Parliament laid greater taxes upon the people, and had more victories and better successes in their proceed, than many other former Kings, 3. An overthrower of three Kings or Kingdoms. let them be their own Judges. 3. The Prophet saith, this little horn, that is, this Antiochus Epiphanes, tres reges humiliabit, shall bring to the ground, or humble three Kings, as Montanus reads it; Or, tres reges deprimet, he shall depress and overthrow or subdue three Kings, as Tremellius translates it: For he drove out of Syria, 1. Ptolomaeus Philopater. 2. His own eldest Brother Seleucus. And 3. Demetrius, the Son of Seleucus, to whom the right of the Kingdom did appertain: So the Antichrist shall overthrow three Kings, saith Cornelius a Lapide: And I did not read, that any of the Popes have done so yet; but I know who is said, to have suppressed tres reges in uno rege, and to have subdued three Kingdoms, as some do expound these words, and may well be the mystical meaning of this Prophecy. 4. A great blasphemer. 4. The Prophet goeth on, and saith, he shall speak great words against the most High, that is, saith Tremellius, blasphemus erit in Deum, he shall utter such blasphemies against the most high God, as the Jews could not endure to hear them: So the Antichrist should do, saith the Evangelist, Rev. 13.6. And so no doubt but many Popes have done: Rev. 13.6. I will excuse none of them; and I have showed to you before, and shall yet show to you hereafter, what intolerable blasphemies have been broached and are published in many places by the Sectaries, adherents and offspring of that Long Parliament; which may therefore, very well, go hand in hand with Antiochus, and with the Antichrist, whosoever he be. 5. 5. A destroyer of the Saints and Servants of God. 2 Ma●h. 7. The Prophet saith, that this Antiochus Sanctos excelsorum deteret, as Tremellius reads it, i.e. saith he, contumeliosissimus & atrocissimus Tyrannus erit in populum Dei; he shall be the bitterest and the cruelest Tyrant that ever was, far worse than Pharaoh, against the people of God: And so the Books of the Maccabees, and especially the cruel butchering and torturing of the Mother and her seven Children, only, because they would not eat swine's flesh, which the Law of God forbade them to do, do sufficiently declare, that neither the Egyptian Pharaoh, Dan. 7.25. nor the Chaldean Nabuchadnezzar, nor any other foreign or domestic enemy, was ever so bloody and so cruel unto the Jews, as this Assyrian Antiochus was: and our Bible's read it, he shall wear out the Saints of the most High; and so the Antichrist shall do: And our Histories tell us, the Popes have worn out, and been the death and destruction of many of the Servants of God, this cannot be denied; and it grieves me much to think, and it would grieve me much more, to set down a Catalogue, of what, and how many worthy, noble and faithful Servants of Christ, have been worn out of these three Kingdoms, within these few years, 6. A changer of the Laws and of the times. by whom, and by what means, you know: And I fear, that when God maketh inquisition for blood, the Long Parliament will not be found guiltless. 6. The Holy Ghost informed Daniel, that the little Horn, which at the first, was but little indeed, and then did succrescere, grow so great by the suppression of the three Kings, and the accession of three Kingdoms, should think to change the times and the Laws; and so we find that Antiochus did use all possible endeavours, to abolish the times of the Jewish Sabbaths, and feasts, and their circumcision, & legem ipsam Dei, ju●áque omnia nefariè convellere, and to overthrow the very law of God, and tear in pieces all humane rights most wickedly, saith Tremelius: Tremel. in loc. and so the Antichrist would endeavour to do the like, to put down all the festival times, and the holy days of the Christians, and to change all the Laws and Customs, that they had learned and observed, even from the Apostles time: And I am sure the Pope is not guilty of this sin of the Antichrist; for he is so far from putting down their feasts and holy days, See the History of Independency, and there you shall find, how the Author of that Book shewe●●, how that long Parliament proceeded contrary to all Laws, part. 3. A Book fit for the understanding of this point. that he multiplied the same, & added unto their primitive feasts a great many more holidays than were needful, or indeed fitting to be observed; But I pray you tell me, what horn did ever change so many Laws and Customs, both of the Church, and of the Kingdom, as the long Parliament hath done? for, hath it not trodden under foot, not one nor two, but all the ecclesiastical Laws and Canons of the Church? and hath it not very often transgressed, and in many things nullified our Magna Charta, the great Charter, and the fundamental Laws of this Kingdom, that for so many hundred years were confirmed to our forefathers, and Predecessors, by I know not how many Parliaments, I am sure above 30 at least? And for the times, I would fain know, if any good Christian heart can look upon these times without bleeding, or hold his eyes without weeping? for the greatest love, and favour that ever God shown to mankind, was the giving of his own natural, coessential, and coeternal Son, to be made of a woman, and made under the Law, to redeem us from the curse of the Law, and from sin, death, hell, and Satan; when a greater good than this, the omnipotent God himself could not do for us; for, what could God give better than God himself? but, as the Apostle saith, because God could swear by no greater, he swore by himself; so, when he could give no better, he gave himself; Heb. 6.13. and therefore S. Ambrose saith, plus, Domine Jesus, debeo tuis incuriis, quod sum redemptus, quam tuis operibus, quod sum creatus; O sweet Jesus Christ, I owe thee more love, and thanks, and service, for thy care, and pains, and sufferings, by which I am redeemed, than for thy work, whereby I was created; because that in my creation, dedit me mihi deus, God gave me unto myself; but in my Redemption, dedit se mihi deus, The greatest good that ever God did for mankind. God gave himself unto me, and because, in the creation of me and all things else, dixit, & facta sunt, he did but speak the word, and they were made, he commanded, and they stood fast, but in the accomplishment of our Redemption, multa dixit, magna fecit, & dira tulit, he spoke many gracious words, he did many wonderful works, and he suffered many execrable and intolerable things. Therefore, as God commanded the Israelites, Why the Jews were commanded by God to keep their Feasts. in remembrance of their deliverance out of Epypt, That was but the type of this our deliverance from the bondage of sin, and Satan, to keep the feast of Passeover; and in remembrance of the reception of the Law, on Mount Sinai, which was an inferior favour, and less than our receiving of the Gospel, to observe the feast of Pentecost; and in remembrance of their wandering, 40 years in the wilderness, and their feeding there all that while with the Manna, that came down from heaven, which, notwithstanding, is no ways comparable, to our feeding with the Word of God, and the blessed Sacrament of the body and blood of Christ, which is God himself; to keep the feast of tabernacles; and whosoever neglected to keep these feasts, and to observe these times, that soul should be cut off from Israel, that is, from among the people of God, as an ungrateful person, unworthy of the favour of God; And as Mardocheus and Queen Hester commandeth all the Jews to keep the feast of Purim, that was to be kept upon the 14 and 15 days of the Month Adar, which is answerable to our February, Hest. 9.23, 24. throughout all their generations for ever, for days of rejoicing and for their deliverance from the malicious plot, and wicked design of proud Haman; the which feast was observed by Christ himself; John 10.22. The Geneva notes, on John 10. & 22. and as in like manner Judas Machabaeus enjoined the feast of dedication to be observed upon the 25th day of the Month Casteu, which is our November, for a thankful remembrance of the like benefit; which was the casting out of Antiochus his Garrison from Jerusalem, so that, the Apostles, and their immediate Successors, the Bishops and Fathers of the Church, and all the other succeeding Governors of God's people, considering that the Jews temporal favours aforenamed, were but types of our favours, and shadows of those substances, that we have, and so, no ways near so comparable to the benefits that we receive by the birth, circumcision, resurrection, and ascension of Christ, and the gifts, that is, the Apostles, the Teachers and Governors of God's Church, furnished with the gifts of the Holy Ghost, that Christ sent unto them, on the day of Pentecost, 50 days after his ascension into heaven; by which favours, and great blessings, we obtain a deliverance, not from a small temporal bondage, as that of the Israelites was under Pharaoh, (far less than the bondage of many good Christians in these days under the Turk) or from such an enemy, as was Haman or Antiochus; but from sin, death, hell, Satan, and eternal damnation, have in their own persons observed, and enjoined all other Christians to observe, That is, Christmas, New years day Easter day, Holy thursday Whitsunday, and the rest. the feast of Christ's Nativity, and of his circumcision, resurrection, and ascension, and the other days prescribed by them, as days of rejoicing, and meeting together in the Church, to praise God, and to thank him for those great and inestimable favours and benefits, that he hath conferred upon us, and we received, as upon those days: and I may demand, What Pope was ever so wicked, and committed such, and so horrible a sin, as to profane these holy times, in so high a measure, as Antiochus-like, to command them to be profaned, and to punish those that would observe them; as the adherents of that Parliament did? if I knew him, I should verily believe him to be the great Antichrist. But as the Prophet David complaineth of the Jews, that they kept not the Covenant of God, and would not walk in his law, but soon forgot what he had done, and the wonderful works that he had showed for them; Psal. 78.12. so we may justly complain of all those, the spawn and offspring of the Presbyterian assembly, and adherents of that long Parliament, that not only forget the due observation of these holy times, but also forbidden, and inhibit, and, in many places reprove, correct, and punish their Christian brethren, for their religious observation of these good days, and the performance of these holy duties, which they own to God for his great blessings. Yet I hope, that with all their subtlety and authority, that vote them down, they shall never be able to suppress them, no more than Antiochus was, to abolish the Jewish feasts; because the holy Ghost saith, the little horn, that was the type of the Antichrist, when he came to be great, Daniel 7.25. and to the height of his power, did but think to change the times, and was not able to change them; because the godly Jews observed all their festival times, and holy days, notwithstanding all the inhibition of Antiochus to the contrary, and all the tortures that they endured for observing them; So I hope all good Christians, and true Saints will observe these their feasts, and holy days, and upon no terms, either of fear, flattery, or gain, omit, on these times, to do their service, and holy duties unto God; nor show themselves less thankful to God for the true substance, than the Jews were for the types and shadows of that substance. But I remember Sanders, in demonst. Ansel. in Apoc. c. 7. ex Irenaeo. l. 5. & Hypolit. in orat. de fine seculi Gen. 49.17. Jerem. 8.16. Bellar. de Rom. Pontif. l. 3. c. 12. Anselmus,.. and some others, out of Irenaeus and Hippolytus, do think, that the Antichrist shall be a Jew, of the Tribe of Dan; because old Jacob saith, Dan shall be a serpent by the way, an adder in the path, that biteth the horse heels, so that his rider shall fall backward; and the Prophet Jeremy saith, the snorting of his horses was heard from Dan; and especially, because that the Angel in the Revelat. c. 7. where 12 thousand are sealed out of every Tribe of Jacob, leaves out the Tribe of Dan, for that the Antichrist, as these men suppose, should arise from that Tribe; and Bellarmine saith, it is very probable, the Antichrist shall be a Jew. And whether these men, that refuse and forbid the observance of the festival times and days of Christ, be Danites or no, I cannot tell; but I am sure, they are like Jews, not only in the Jewish, precise, and ceremonious observation of the Sabbath, that was to be sanctified, for the remembrance of our creation, and the profanation of these holy Christian feasts, that we keep for the remembrance of our redemption, but also in many other things, that do obliterate and blot out the memorial of the greatest benefits, that Christ hath done for us, and the chiefest points of our Christian Religion. Therefore, if the promoting of Judaisme, & the suppressing of the adiutaments and helps to understand and to preserve the main heads of Christianity, be a note and property of the Antichrist, let our Assembly of Presbyterians, and the members of that long Parliament with their adherents, that think to change these times, take heed they be not found to be the Antich. Object. But these men will object against the observation of these Feasts, and especially of Christmas, that they know not on what day of the month he was born; and therefore why should they observe the 25th. day of December for the day of his Nativity? Or if it be true, that he was born on that day, yet they have no Precept in all the Scripture that they should cease from their vocation, and keep that for an holy day. Respons. To the first part of this Objection I shall but briefly answer, by demanding of thee, To the first part of the Objection. Why dost thou, with all other Churches in Christendom, observe the year of our Lord's Incarnation, when the Angel saluted Mary, and the Word beg●n his Incarnation in the womb of the blessed Virgin, to begin on the 25th. day of March; if thou doubtest that he was not born on the 25th. of December? Dost thou think she went either more or less time with her Child, than the usual and natural time of other women? And therefore if thou wilt change the day of his birth, change the day of his Incarnation in the womb of his mother, and let the year of our Lord, in all our deeds and writings be altered and begin on another day, which thou knowest to be a surer time of his Incarnation than the 25th. day of March; for why should all our evidences be false and erroneous? Or if thou, my good Presbyterian, dost not think the 25th. of December to be the day of his Nativity, why dost thou not inform us, for certain, on what day of the month he was born, that we may not neglect the duty, because we are not sure of the day? But you think it a sufficient excuse, wholly to neglect the duty, because you doubt of the day: And yet it might be a sufficient reason, to satisfy any reasonable man, (besides that John Baptist, who was born on the 24th. of June, that then was the longest day in the year, and just six months before the birth of Christ, as the Angel informed Mary, tells us plainly, that according to the days of their birth, Christ must increase and he must decrease;) that the whole Church of God have unanimously observed this day constantly for the day of Christ his birth; and why shouldst thou think, that Christ would all this while suffer his Church to be deceived herein, or that thou shouldst be wiser than the whole Church hath been for so many Ages together? Solut. To the second part of the Objection. To the second part of thine Objection; that thou hast no Precept in Scripture to observe this day, I confess it; and how many things dost thou, not only in natural business: and ordinary affairs, but also in and about the Service of God, that thou hast no Precept for them in all the Scriptures? For where hast thou any Precept, to keep the first day of the week for the Sabbath? To receive the Sacrament of the Lords Supper, once every month? To preach twice every Lord's day? To build a Church in such and such a place? To make the Sermon so long as thou dost? The People to meet in Church twice a day and no more? And the Service to be on such hours, and no other? And the like? For, though God accepteth of no 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, Will-Worship, but will have the substance of his Service to be, as himself prescribeth: Yet, wilt thou have God to set thee down every particular circumstance and punctilio in and about his Service? Hath he not left Teachers and Governors over his Church, and given them both a power to do, and a Command, that all things should be done in Order, and as they should be done in the Church of God? And if Christ hath left this power with his Apostles and their Successors, the Governors of his Church, to set all things in Order, touching his Service, in respect of the times, places and manner, and they have ordered it, from the beginning, that this 25th. day of December should be kept holy for the remembrance of the blessed birth of Christ, and the whole Church have ever since observed the same, Why shouldst thou deny this power unto them, and disobey their Order? Or who, but the Antichrist, would speak against the same, And he, that would have thee, as well to reject Christ himself, as to neglect the day of his Nativity? Thus you see how illustrious Antiochus (for so Epiphanes signifieth, though he was indeed, as the Holy Ghost testifieth, Dan. 11.25. a vile person) doth antecede the Saintlike Antichrist in all vile actions; and I could proceed further in the parallel, and especially in the time of their continuance and their judgement, which do immediately follow, ver. 26. but that I had rather pass before my Book doth swell too big, from the types and the shadows that the Prophets show us, unto the plainer testimonies of the New Testament and the Apostles of Christ, that do so signally demonstrate, and so punctually paint out the Antichrist, that the true Saints and Servants of Christ, which desire to know him, and would not be overawed with terrors, nor overjoyed with flatteries and great promises, nor yet blinded with worldly love, might well and easily understand, who he is, when they see him, to have come into the World, that so, they might flee from him and not be seduced by him; for though that these things which Daniel speaks of the little horn, which was Antiochus, may, in some sense, be applied, by way of Analogy, as the type, to the do and proceed of the Antichrist; Yet I think rather that all daniel's Prophecies, and their relations, should more properly, and in their first aspect be confined to the Jewish Church, and their extent to the death of Christ, the destruction of that Temple, and the dissolution of the polity of that people, than reach any further, to express the state and the accidents that should befall unto the Gospel Church, that were designed for the Apostles to express; and especially, because that, as we say of Similitudes, so it may be said of Types and Symbolical Divinity, they do not universally in all points hold parallel, nec sunt argumentativa, as the Schools do speak, and as I said before, neither are they for sound proofs; therefore I will proceed to the plainer and fuller description of the Antichrist by the testimonies of the New Testament. CHAP. V Of the special particular sin, that is the proper sin, and peculiar only to the Antichrist, and to none else; and the sin that is most destructive to Mankind, and most hateful unto God; and what is meant by the Antichrist his exalting himself above all that is called God, and that is worshipped; and of his sitting in the Temple of God, as God. 2. HAving waded through the Enigmatas of the Prophets, we are come to the transparent evidences of the New Testament, that do foretell us of the coming of the Antichrist, who, as he should fulfil the Prophecy of Zecharie, by following the steps and do of that foolish and Idol-shepherd, and likewise the Prophecy of Daniel, by his imitation of the wicked acts of Antiochus; so he shall accomplish all the Prophecies of the New Testament that do concern him; and shall do all the impieties and the tragical acts, that the Penmen of that Testament do foretell us, that he should do. And all the evident and unquestionable Predictions, that we find set down concerning him, are set down only in three several places, and by three special Instruments of the Holy Ghost; that is, St. Paul the Apostle, St. John the Evangelist, and he that goeth under the Title of John the Divine, Joh. 10.43. which was indeed St. John the Apostle; for that place of St. John, alleged by Bellarmine, doth not mean the Antichrist, but any other false Christ's, such as Judas Galilaeus, or Theudas, or Barchochebas, or the like, that should come as a Christ in his own name, as I shown to you before; and the Predictions of Christ, in the 24th. of S. Matthew, are not properly to be referred to the Antichrist, but to those false Christ's that should come to deceive the Jews, and those false Prophets and Pseudo-Apostles, the Preachers of the Antichrist, that should come towards the end of the World, to seduce and to deceive the people; and therefore I shall only pass over the places of these three describers of him; and the first place that properly concerneth the coming of the Antichrist is in 2 Thes. 2.3. where S. Paul describing him, as he was the best Scholar, and more learned in the Arts and Languages than any of all the Apostles, so he doth more signally and evidently show him than any other; he sets him forth as a City upon an hill, that all men may see it, and makes him so visible and so intelligible, by that palpable mark and proper note and badge, that be fasteneth on him, 1. What S. Paul foretells us of the Antichrist. that he might easily be known, when men do behold that mark, and observe that note and badge which the Apostle layeth upon him; for he saith, he will be an egregious sinner, that is a sinner 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, an extraordinary sinner, and transcendent, above all other sinners; and therefore the Apostle termeth him, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, that man of sin, as if he were all made of sin: That is, peccator ille sceleratissimus, that most wicked sinner, and more wicked than any other, 1. That he should be an egregious finner. saith Tirinus; totaliter peccatis deditus; that is, wholly given over to sin, as having his heart and his hands eminently sinful, as our Learned Zanchius saith; for as Christ is melior omnibus sanctis, better and holier than all the Saints; so the Antichrist will be pejor omnibus malis, worse than any of all the wicked men, saith Aquinas; insigniter scelestus, notably wicked, saith Maresius; worse than Ahab, that sold himself to work wickedness. And Cornelius â Lapide faith, the tricks and fallacies of the Antichrist to get Proselytes and followers after him, The sixfold art of the Anchrist. to effect his wickednesses are sixfold: 1. A feigned and dissembled Sanctity, to be well thought of by all men. 2. Smoothness of Language and fair speeches, to gain love and favour. 3. Wit and Eloquence, to persuade men to aid and to assist him. 4. Large promises and great gifts, to win them unto him. 5. Signs and wonders, all pretended to be done from God, to draw men to a good belief of all his actions. And if all these cannot serve the turn, to make men to become his adherents and assistants; then, 6. Terrors and torments must do the deed; and it is demanded, If this sixfold Art was not most exquisite in the Presbyterians and the prevalent faction of the long Parliament? But to go on, to show you the sins of the Antichrist, Aretius, as E. H. quoteth him, doth thus paint him out, saying, Invadet imperium Antichristus, ac dominabitur titulo justae possessionis, ac verae pietatis; sed ubi revelari caeperit publicè, his notis or nabitur, quas Apostolus hic ei tribuit, videlicet, homo peccati, filius perditionis: Upon which words of Aretius E. H. doth thus paraphrase, E.H. De Antichristo pagina 78. that the Antichrist is called the man of sin; because he is the Protector and Patron of many gross sins; he rollerates Idolatry and Rebellion; he invadeth Kingdoms, and under pretence of setting up Piety, and promoting Saintship, he takes possession of the Throne; (as if he were the right heir thereof) and none is so great a Saint as he, if you will believe his words, or the flaettering Titles of his Followers, that adorn him with most goodly Eulogies; but when he shall begin to appear publicly, that is, to be revealed, as the Apostle saith, and to be made known by his marks and sins unto the Saints, he shall have none other ornaments to put on, that is, from those Servants of God, to whom only he shall be revealed, but what the Scripture gives him, that is, the man of sin, and the Son of perdition: (which is the Title of Judas, that betrayed his Master, his King and his Saviour;) and what we read in the Revelation, Rev. 11. the beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit, which will make war with God's Witnesses, that is, the Magistrates, and the Governors of God's Church, the faithful Pastors and Preachers of his Word, and will overcome them and kill them, and of whom the Holy Ghost principally saith, Rev. 22.11. He that is unjust, let him be unjust still, and he that is filthy let him be filthy still, and never go about to strive to make him clean; because, it is but lost labour, Aethiopum lavare, to wash a Blackmoore, to make him white: And so it is to seek to amend that man of sin, and all his wicked followers, that think themselves better and more righteous than all others; and therefore, as our Saviour saith, that the Publicans and harlots shall go into the Kingdom of heaven, (that is, be sooner converted) before the High Priests and the Pharisees, that think themselves to be the only Saints, and the bringers of others into heaven; so the Drunkards, Swearers, Whore-mongers, Sabbath-breakers, Robbers, and the like lewd livers and profane persons, may be sooner converted and brought to repentance, than this hypocritical Saint, and those Saintlike sinners, that think themselves most wise, and more holy than all others, and from this confidence, do act all the Villainies, Cruelties, and abominable Impieties against the Service of God, and do such intolerable injuries to the Servants of Christ as that greater cannot be devised. Thus you see, how this man of sin is described unto you by these Learned men, for a most notorious transcendent sinner; but all this while, it is not agreed upon of all sides, whom the Apostle meaneth in this place by this man of sin; that should be such an extraordinary sinner; for Dr. Hammond and some others would have us hereby to understand Simon Magus; because that Justinus, Irenaeus, and some other Authors do avouch, there was a Statue erected unto him, and an Altar, with this Inscription, Simoni sancto deo; to Simon the holy God: But the truth is, that Justinus, being a Grecian, and not so well versed in the Roman Antiquities mistook the Inscription, Varro lib. 4. which was Semoni Sanco Deo, to Semo Sancus the God: for so Varro, that was most skilful in the Roman Histories, saith, Inter Deos Romanorum, non obscurus fuit Deus Semo, qui & Sancus appellabatur: Among the Gods of the Romans, the God Semo, which was also called Sancus, was none of the obscurest or meanest God; and accordingly Ovid saith: Ovid. fast. lib. 6. Quaerebam nonas, Maresius p. 79. Caracotta. p. 25. Sanco fidione dicarem, or referrem. An tibi Semo pater? tu mihi Sancus ait. Or as some Copies have it, Tu mihi Sancus eris. And therefore, others, as the Commentator upon this place, conceived to be Hugo Grotius, perceiving this mistake of the Greek Interpreters, doth understand Caius Caligula to be this man of sin: Sueton. c. 10. of whom Suetonius saith, Nec Servum meliorem ullum nec deteriorem Dominum fuisse: There could not be a better Servant, or Subject, than he was, and a worse Lord or Master could not be found: So that he was brought forth, as it seemeth, Ut ostenderet, quid summa vitia in summa fortuna possent, that in him might be seen, what the greatest vice; or the most vicious men might do in the highest fortune, as Seneca writes of him unto Albinus. And it is true, that Caligula was insigniter scalestus, Hippolytus in Orat de sins seculi. Caracotta. pag. 6. & deinceps. a most notorious wicked Emperor, yet not meant here by the Apostle under the Title of the man of sin, as Maresius and Caracotta prove at large, and do show, that the best of all Interpreters both Old and New do assent, that the Apostle meaneth the Antichrist, that should come into the World a little before the End of the World, and not any of these Antichrists that came so soon as the Apostles time. But though we cannot, digito demonstr are & dicier, hic est, name the man, and say, This is he: Yet, from daniel's explication of the acts of Antiochus, and from these Comments and Paraphrase of the aforesaid Divines upon the words of S. Paul, you may, as Moses did from Mount Nebo, view the Land of the Canaanites, behold some of the sins of the Antichrist, and thereby have a shrewd guess who he is: For that collected multitude, and pack of wicked men, which, as I shown to you, must be understood by the Antichrist, The do of the great Antichrist. shall, as you have heard, oppose the Kingly Government, protect Rebels, Heretics and Blasphemers, tyrannize most lawlessly over God's Servants, usurp the supreme Authority, change the Laws, the Times and the good Customs of the Saints and People of God, subdue three Kings, or Kingdoms, suppress the Governors of God's Church, and the Preachers of his Word: and do all this, and the like feats, upon pretence of Zeal, to propagate the Gospel, for the honour of God, and the service of his Son Jesus Christ, even as Christ hath formerly told us, by his Apostles and Prophets, that the Antichrist would do. And if you have observed any collected multitude, to have done these things, you may know what to judge, though you may not say what you think. And though these demoxstrations are very plain, A special thing to be observed by most Commentators. yet methinks I do observe somewhat in this description of the Antichrist by S. Paul, that I find not observed by any of the Interpreters, that I have read: save what is briefly touched by E. H. in Pag. 76. De Antichristo. For the Apostle in this Character of the Antichrist, seems to set such an astarisme, or, as it were, a dash with his pen, whereby he should be made most palpable unto our hands, and most visible unto our eyes, if we would but diligently observe it, we should not miss to know who he were: For, 1. The Apostle, speaking of the wickedness of this Antichrist, speaketh in the singular number, and calleth him, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, and not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, the man of sin, and not the man of sins; the which expression, (besides the Hebraisme, that signifieth, he should be a very sinful man, as the child of death, signifieth one that is destined and condemned to death) doth most certainly give us to understand, that the Apostle meaneth, that the Antichrist should commit some singular peculiar sin, that should only and properly be the sin of the Antichrist, and of none else: And therefore, 2. To enforce the particularity of his sin, his proper and peculiar sin, That as, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, noteth and designeth thi● proper and particular Antichrist, so 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, designeth the proper, peculiar and particular sin of the Antichrist. Epiphan. heresi. 9 the Apostle doth not simply say, that he should be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, the man of sin, but with the Article of a special designation both of the man, and of the sin, that you might take notice as well of the one, as of the other, he saith, he should be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, the man of the sin, or, the man of that sin, by which sin he may undoubtedly and apparently, as by a proper badge and character, be known to be that great Antichrist, that should come into the world, when as he only committeth that sin, which none but he did ever commit the like; for as 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, signify God, King, and man, that is, any one of them, indefinitely; but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, do determinately note forth unto us this particular person of God, or King, or man; because, as I said before, out of Epiphanius, the Greek Articles contrahunt significationem ad rem certam, leave not the thing they spoke of, like an individuum vagum, but do tie the signification to a proper and a certain thing; so 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifieth any one sin, whetsoever; but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 noteth, and pointeth out, this very particular sin; and not another. And therefore, they that would know who is the Antichrist, 2 special things to be inquired after. must consider and inquire diligently after these 2 special things. 1. What sin is that, which is the formalis ratio, that gives esse, 1. What is the peculiar sin of the Antichrist. the very being unto the Antichrist, and by which sin, he may be undoubtedly known to be the Antichrist; and without the committing of that sin, no sinner, be he never so great, or tainted, with never so many sins, can properly be said to be this great Antichrist; 2. If we can find the sin, that makes the great Antichrist, we are in the next place to inquire and search, whom we can find, if we can find any, 2. Who hath committed that sin. that have committed that sin; and when we have found the sin, and who hath committed that sin, if we can find them, we have found out the great Antichrist, that is spoken of by the Prophets, and hath been long expected, and much feared by the Church; for, as John Baptist saith of Christ, I knew him not, but he that sent me to baptise with water, John 1.33. said unto me, upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending and remaining on him, the same is he, which baptizeth with the Holy Ghost, and is the Messiah, and the Christ: so whosoever committeth this proper and peculiar unusual sin, the sin of the Antichrist only, the same is he; because the Antichrist only is the man of that sin, that is, which only committeth that sin, and none else but the Antichrist committeth it. 1. Then we are to ask, and seek, and to search disigently, to know what sin is the proper and peculiar sin of the Antichrist: and I shall, with the help of God's holy Spirit, do my best to find it out: and I am sure this sin of the Antichrist is like the Antichrist himself, a most notorious, eminent, and transcendent sin, unheard of among the Heathens, unknown in the world, and uncommitted by any other sinner, That all sins are not equal. until committed by the Antichrist; and a sin when it is committed, so perspicuous to all men's eyes, as is the beacon upon a hill, so destructive unto mankind, so odious, so abominable, and so hateful in the fight of God, as that no other sin whatsoever, is altogether so destructive unto mankind, or so hateful unto God, as is this sin of the Antichrist; for it is a paradox among the Philosophers, and much more among the Divines, to say, that all fins are equal, when as, this sin of the Antichrist is more detestable in the sight of God, than any other sin whatsoever, as I hope to make it very plain unto you, before I have done the canvasing of this beast. And what sin may that be, which is so transcendent, so destructive unto man, 1. Oservation and so odious unto God, as none more? May it not be the sin against the Holy Ghost? which is, a known, wilful, malicious, What sin is the peculiar sin of the Antichrist, total, and final Apostasy from the formerly professed truth of the Gospel, and faith of Christ, and a perpetual persecuting of the same, impenitently unto the end, with a most obstinate refusal of all grace, and a despair of all pardon from God: Surely this must needs be a most heinous sin, and I believe the most hurtful and destructive to the sinner that commits it of all sins; because, as our Saviour saith, it shall never be forgiven him, either in this world, 1. Not the sin against the Holy Ghost. 1. Reason. or in the world to come: yet I am persuaded, this is not the sin, that is most destructive to mankind, and most hateful unto God, or, that is the proper sin of the great Antichrist; 1. Because many others, besides the Antichrist, have, in all likelihood, committed this sin, and the sinners, as may be feared, and are suspected for such, as was Julian, Spira, and the like, are registered unto us in good Authors. 2. 2. Reason. Because they that commit this sin, are altogether so unknown unto us to be such sinners, that it is too great a presumption for any man to say, such a man hath committed the sin against the holy Ghost: and therefore, we can but fear, and are not certain, that either Julian the Apostata, or the despairing Spira, have sinned the sin against the holy Ghost; and therefore this sin is not the sin whereby the Antichrist may be known; his badge and character must be more perspicuous: And 2. 2. Not the sin of Idolatry. What shall we think of Idolatry, which is, either the taking of that which is no God for the true God, and the giving of the service and honour of the true God to those false Gods, which are but Idols of stocks or stones, that, as the Apostle saith, are nothing, and therefore deserve no service, nor any honour in the world; or else, the giving of a false worship of our own invention, unto the true and everliving God? without question this is a very heinous sin, In the 2 Com. Exod. 20. and such idolaters are rightly termed the haters of God, and no doubt but very hateful unto God, as himself professeth in several places: yet this sin, which was not known in the world, usque dum Ninus parentis Beli idolum erigit, Rubenus, de idolatr. l. 1. c. 3. for 2000 years together, is not, as I believe, the sin that is most hateful unto God, or most destructive unto mankind, or the proper and peculiar sin of the Antichrist; because thousands are guilty of this sin, and most of us more or less are offenders in this point, when as some make gold to be their God, and others make a God of their belly, and the like. 3. What say we then, to Infidelity, which is the sin of the Atheist, that believes not in God, Psal. 14.1. but, as the Prophet witnesseth, saith in his heart, there is no God, and imagineth, that, as Claudian saith, — Incerto fluerent mortalia casu, All mortal things fall out by chance? I Answer, that this sin of Diagoras, that is said, to be such a fool, as to deny, there was a God, and of the like fools, and profane Atheists, is a most fearful sin, and most damnable to them that foster it, and no doubt but harboured continually in the heart of the Antichrist, or else he would never be such an adversary unto Christ, 3. Not the sin of Infidelity, or of Blasphemy. and so fearless of his God: yet I say, that this sin is neither the sin that is most destructive to man, and most hateful unto God, nor the proper and peculiar sin of the Antichrist, that is here meant by the Apostle. Reason. 1 1. Because that this sin, which, as the Prophet shewesh, lurketh in the heart of the sool, cannot be so easily discerned by us, but is only known to God; And Reason. 2 2. Because that if this sin were the proper and peculiar sin of the Antichrist, we should have more than 10 thousand Antichrists in the world; and the very like may be said of the sin of Blasphemy, and of many other fearful sins. But, But the highest and the worst kind of degree of man killing, or murder. which is, passing over all these, and all the rest of the most abominable and fearful sins, that may be all accumulated in the Antichrist, and yet are not the proper sin of the Antichrist, whereby he may be known to be the Antichrist; I say that his proper and peculiar sin, that is, palpable, visible, and sensible to us all, and is most destructive to mankind, and therefore most hateful unto God, is the worst and highest degree of manslaughter, or the malicious kill, and unjust murdering of such an innocent person after so vile a manner, and for so base an end, as that a worse and a fouler taking away of man's life could not be committed: this is the sin, that I conceive to be that sin, whereof the Apostle saith; 1. Most destructive to mankind. the Antichrist shall be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, the man of the sin; For, 1. It is apparent, that the greatest mischief that one man can do unto another, is to take away his life, as Cain did Abel's life, with bloody hands; for, though he should take away all my goods; yet I may get more, as Job did, after all was taken from him; if I be slandered, and falsely accused, as Joseph and Susanna were; yet with Joseph and Susanna I may recover my reputation again; if I be cast into prison, yet at last with Manasses I may be set at liberty; and so if I be banished my Country, yet with the Israelites I may live to return out of captivity; but when I am killed, and my life is taken from me, there is no hope of recovery, quia ab inferis nullaredemptio; there is no return from the grave; this is a wound that cannot be cured, and a mischief that cannot be paralleled; for now I can neither serve God, for who will give him thanks in the pit, nor help my friends, nor do any good unto myself; Numb. 35.33. and therefore the Lord saith, that blood defileth the land, and the land cannot be cleansed of the blood, that is thus unjustly shed, but by the blood of him, or them that have shed it. 2. It will appear unto you, how odious, and how abominable, any, 2. Most odious unto God. the least unjust killing of a man is in the sight of God, if you consider what you may find in the 3. Book, and the 2. Chapter of the true Church, It is a sin. where the heinousness of this sin is treated of at large, as, to abreviate the sum thereof, that it is 1. A sin against nature, which many other sins are not; 1. Against nature. because every creature loves his like, & saevis inter se convenit ursis; and as the naturalist saith, serpens serpentem non laedit, one serpent will not sting another, neither will the very Devils kill one another. 2. It is a sin against reason, which saith, that every man should do to another, 2. Against reason. as he would have done to himself, and no otherwise. 3. It is a beastly sin, quia ferina rabies est sanguine & vulnere laetari, 3. A beastly sin. it is a point of savage cruelty to delight ourselves with the wounds and blood of others, saith Seneca. 4. It is a devilish sin, and a sin of the Devil, who, 4. A devilish sin. though he be not termed an adulterer, or idolater, or a covetous person, nor enticed men to these sins, for many years, as, not to idolatry, until Ninus set up the image of his father Nimrod, Rubenus, de idolatr. l. 1. c. 3. as some say, otherwise called Belus, by the Gentiles, or of Belus the son of Nimrod, as others say, for an idol to be worshipped, well nigh 2000 years after man was made; yet our saviour saith, he was a murderer from the beginning; John 8.44. because it was he that murdered our first parents, and made them liable unto death in paradise, and it was he that taught Cain to kill his own brother Abel. 5. It is, not only one, but it is also the first, and the greatest one of those crying sins, 5. The greatest of the 4 crying sins. Revel. 6.9, 10. that are only so called in the Scriptures, because they do continually cry and call for vengeance against the transgressors, and say with the souls of them, that were slain for the word of God, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth? for the other three crying sins, that is, Sodomy, oppression, and detaining of our servants wages, they are but parts and parcels of this great crying sin of murder; because that in Sodomy, that seed is spilt, which might have been the matter and substance of the humane flesh and blood; and by the other two, that is, oppression, and wages detained from the labourers, the life of the oppressed and poor labouring man, is made to languish, and to be shortened by little and little, for want of means; because the life of man, and the means to maintain that life, are like ens & bonum, voces convertibiles, equivalent; and therefore the wise man saith, The bread of the needy is their life, he that defraudeth them thereof is a man of blood; but in murder, and the kill of a man, root and branch, and all the tree, seed and fruit, is wholly destroyed, and cut down all at once. 6. It is a sin, which produceth that irregularity, 6. An irregular sin. that although the sinners should truly repent, and have their sins pardoned by God, which is but seldom seen, that they do; yet they cannot promoveri, be advanced, or proceed on in God's favour, and be so acceptable in God's service, and for to do him service, 1 Chron. 28.3. as any other sinners may be, upon their repentance; as it appeareth plainly, by what the Lord saith unto David, that otherwise was a man according to Gods own heart, and had hearty repent, and made 7 paenitential Psalms, for his murder; thou shalt not build an house for my name, because thou hast been a man of war, and hast shed blood, not only the blood of Urias, but also very likely the blood of others, that were innocent in the wars, as Soldiers use to do, many times, slay the righteous with the wicked. 7. 7. A sin worse than Adam's sin. Gen. 4.11, 12. The odiousness of this sin is seen, by the punishment that the most just God imposed on this sin: For when Cain slew his Brother, the Lored said unto him, the voice of thy Brother's blood crieth unto me, that is, the voice of the bloods of thy Brother, for so it is in the Original, that thou hast spilt, that is of all the blood and progeny that should have sprung from Abel, to have replenished the earth, if thou hadst not spilt it, doth most justly require, that I should take vengeance on thee; therefore, thou art cursed from the earth: And this his curse was so great, and of so large extent, that it reached to the very earth that bore him up: and therefore the Lord addeth, when thou tillest the ground, it shall not henceforth yield unto thee her strongth, a fugitive and a vagabond shalt thou be in the earth: the which seems to be a far heavier sentence inflicted upon him, so killing his brother, then that which was imposed upon Adam, for offending Gods own Majesty, though there was a strait charge and a Commandment, sub poena, The punishment of cain's murder heavier than the punishment of Adam's sin. given to Adam, that he should not eat of the forbidden tree, lest he die; and as yet, no precept given, to forbid the shedding of man's blood; For, 1. God doth not say to Adam, thou art cursed for thy sin, but cursed is the ground for thy sake; but unto Cain he saith, thou ar● cursed from the ground, as if he had said, the curse shall not fall to the ground, but it shall light upon thine own head. 2. He doth nor say to Adam, when thou tillest the ground, it shall not yield her strength unto thee, but thorns and thistles shall it bring forth unto thee, that is, naturally, and of itself, which if thou hadst not sinned, would of itself have brought thee, all sweet and pleasant fruits, shall now bring thee nothing else but weeds and noisome flowers; but unto Cain he saith, when thou tillest the ground and manurest it, and usest all the art and skill that thou canst, to make it fruitful, yet it shall not yield her strength unto thee; so that the unfruitfulness of a well tilled and well manured ground is the punishment of cain's murder, and an additional curse, to that, which was formerly imposed upon Adam. 3. He doth not say to Adam, that he should be a vagabond, and have no restingplace upon the earth, Gen. 3.19. but that he should eat his bread in the sweat of his face, until he should return to the earth; but unto Cain he saith, a Fugitive and a Vagabond shalt thou be in the earth: And therefore Cain, that knew well enough his Father's censure before, and now hearing his own sentence, so far exceeding his Father's punishment, crieth out, Gen. 4.13. my punishment is greater than I can bear. And yet it is no marvel, that the punishment of this sin of murder should seem greater than the punishment of Adam's sin, or indeed of any other sin whatsoever; for in nature, Why the punishment of this sin is so great. let reason show you, who doth offend you most, he that disobeyeth your voice and breaks your Command, or he that seeks by all that he can, to take away your life? And in Adam's sin, and so in all other sins, that are but the transgressing of God's Command, there seems to be a leaving of the Being of God, or the suffering of God still to be a God; as in the great sin of Idolatry, though we make an Idol, which is a thing that hath no being in the world, as St. Paul saith, to be our God, and fall down and worship that no being, with that worship, which belongeth to the true God; yet we do not thereby seek to annihilate and to destroy the Being of the true God, we only rob him of his honour, but we seek not to take away his life, we leave him still to be a God, though we serve him not: But in the murdering or killing of a man, we do what lieth in us, to destroy and to bring to nothing the very Essence and being of God; because we deface and destroy the Image of God, when as God himself is invisible and inaccessible, and in nothing of all the things that he made, so plainly and so exemplanly to be seen of us, as in the face of man: and therefore of all the creatures and of all the things that are, man alone is said to be principally the image of God, and in that respect, chief, to be respected and cherished, and not to be murdered or killed; because that, in the Image of God, God made man. And therefore he that killeth man, doth, to the uttermost of his best endeavour, his very best to kill God; because he destroyeth his Image, when he can do nothing else, nor come at any thing else of God, but his Image: And if as our adversaries do say, the service done to a dead Image, which is not where commanded by God to be done, doth presently redound ad prototypon, to the Person represented by the Image: Then certainly we may be much surer, that the defacing of God's lively Image, that is man, whom God doth so earnestly command us to love, and so straightly prohibit us to hate, must needs be a disgrace of God himself: and all the injuries and contempts that are done to this Image, do presently redound to the very Person of God: And the City of Thessalonica, besides many others, can well testify how severely the Emperors punished the abuse, that was done to their statuas or Images, when they deemed all the dishonour that was offered unto their Images, to be as Treasons committed against themselves. 8. And lastly, This sin of murder and killing of a man, 8. This sin robbeth God of his temple. not only defaceth the Image of God, but also robbeth God of his Temple, which is sacrilege, and thrusteth God out of his House, and maketh none account of, but trampleth under his feet that creature, which God did so highly esteem of, and purchased at so high a rate, as with his own blood, and with no less than his own death. And in a word, this unjust and malicious shedding of man's blood, to death, is so odious, so heinous, and every way so horrible a sin in the sight of God, as that it is impossible for me, had I the tongue of men and Angels, to express the vileness and the exceeding heinousness of the same. The only commandment that God gave immediately after the flood. Gen. 9.5. And therefore God, to show unto us, how hateful this sin is in his sight, doth immediately after the Flood, give this great and strait Commandment, and the only Commandment that he giveth, to all the Sons of Noah, to abstain from shedding of man's blood, and he doth so pathetically, and with such terrible threaten, express the punishment of the Transgressor's, as I know not the like of any other sin in all the Scriptures, saying, surely, that you need not doubt of it, at the hand of every beast will I require it; and though the beasts be void of reason, or understand not what they do, yet will I not hold them guiltless, if they shed man's blood: See Exod. 21.28. Gen. 9.5. See Num, 35. & Leu. 24. & Mat. 26. and therefore much rather and far sooner at the hand of man, and at the hand of every man's brother will I require the life of man: And for the due observance of this strict account to be made, for the taking away of man's life, he appointed Kings, and gave them authority to appoint Magistrates under them, to take care and to see that whosoever sheddeth man's blood, by man should his blood be shed, that this sin might never escape unpunished. The reason why God doth so highly hate man killing. And the reason why God is so severe in the punishment of this sin of man-killing, is here rendered, and aught to be well considered, videlicet, for that in the Image of God made he man; and so whosoever killeth a man, except it be whom the Law of God and the Law of the Land requireth to be killed, is guilty of destroying the Image of God: and God cannot endure, to have his own lively Image, which himself hath made, and no Painter nor Angel could make the like, to be defaced: And therefore also, when God gave his Laws to us on Mount Sinai, the first Commandment of all that do concern our duty towards man, after the duty that we own to our Parents, that bring us into the world, and do bring us up, and feed us, when we could not feed ourselves, is, Thou shalt not kill. And truly in these respects, and for the foresaid Reasons, I, for mine own part, The Author's mind about kill men. do so far hate and detest to kill any man, (except it be for such a necessity, as compelleth me, to save mine own life, rather to kill him, that maliciously seeks my life, than suffer myself to be killed) that I had rather do any servile work for my food, for a penny a day to buy bread, than to receive the greatest Salary, honour and preferment, that the world could confer upon me for kill men: Greg. & habetur 23. q. 8. S. in mortem: And Ibelieve St. Gregory was not of any other mind than I am, or not far from this mind, when he said, Si in mortem Longobardorum me miscere voluissem, hodie Longobardorum gens nec regem nec ducem haberet: sed quia Deum timeo, in mortem cujuslibet hominis me miscere formido: that is, If I might have my will, to be the death of the Longobards, or if I would have them dead, the whole Nation of the Longobards should have neither King nor Captain at this day: but because I fear God, I will not wish the death of any man, but I tremble for fear of being the death of any man: And he that feareth God, will certainly with St. Gregory, be very much afraid to join himself to any man's death, but will study by all means, vacuas caedis habere manus, to keep his hands clean from all blood, especially the blood of Innocents'. And so you see, how unnatural, how unreasonable, how devilish, now beastly, how heinous, how inexplicable, and how hateful and detestable in the sight of God is the murdering and killing of a man, That every kind of murder or mankilling is not the sin of the Antichrist. which is the Image of God. And, Yet you must know, that not the simple and single murdering or killing of a man, is the sin of the Antichrist; for if that were his sin, we should have 10000 Antichrists; and therefore it could not be his proper and peculiar sin, when that sin is committed by so many; but his sin is such a murder, and such a kill and slaughtering of a man or men, as comes to the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, the very height and highest top of this mischief, so high as none other man committed the like murder: For this sin of murder and manslaughter, is like a huge and mighty tree, that hath many boughs and branches, or rather like a long Ladder that hath many staves, before you can come to the top of it; and the highest degree of this mischief, the uppermost staff in this Ladder, and the worst kind of all the many many kinds of murders and man-killing, is the proper and peculiar sin of the Antichrist, which since the death of Christ, never any man, nor any degree of men committed, but the Antichrist. And therefore, that we may more perfectly see, and the more plainly understand the sin of the Antichrist, we must untwist the Cable and unfold the multiplicity of this many-headed Monster, Two kinds of hom cide or man killing 1. Lawful. the murdering and slaughtering of a man. And, First of all, we must remember, that this man-killing or shedding of humane blood is distributed into two several species. 1. The one lawful, and required by God himself to be done, as of those that maliciously kill any man, or those that prove Traitors, Idolaters, or any such high transgressors of the Law of God, or of the Kingdom or Commonwealth, that enjoin such penalties upon such obstinate and great Offenders, as will not submit themselves to observe the Law: And this kind of man-killing comes not within the sphere and compass of my discourse, neither is it the sin of the Antichrist, nor any ways, if rightly done, distasteful, but most acceptable in the sight of God. 2. The other kind of man-killing, 2. Unlawful three ways. is that, which is altogether unlawful and most odious in the sight of God and all good men: And this kind of man-killing may be done three manner of ways, that is, 1. With the Heart, and this is very bad. 2. With the Tongue, and this is far worse. 3. With the Hand, and this is the worst of all. 1. We may kill our neighbour, 1. With the heart. in our heart and with our heart, four special ways. 1. By Desire. 2. By Anger. 3. By Envy. 4. By Hatred. For, 1. Psal. 5.6. The Prophet saith, the Lord abhorreth the bloodthirsty and deceitful man, that is, the Lord hateth him, that desireth and longeth after a man's death, as he that is thirsty, desireth drink: and I fear that too too many are guilty in this kind, the Lord rectify our desires. 2. Our Saviour saith, Mat. 5.22. Whosoever is angry with his Brother without a cause, he shall be in danger of the judgement; and therefore we should study to suporess our anger, which is furor brevis, and doth rest in the bosom of fools, saith the wise man. 3. The Apostle speaking of the wickedness of the Gentiles, saith, They were full of envy, Rom. 1.29. Sap. 14.4. murder, debate: And the wise man saith, alius alium per invidiam occidit; one man slayeth another through envy; as Cain through envy slew his own Brother Abel: and the Jews through envy crucified our Saviour Christ, and therefore periere, quia maluerunt invidere quam credere, Cyprian in sermone de livore. 1 John 3.15. they perished saith St. Cyprian, because they chose rather to ervy him, than to believe in him. 4. St. John saith, that whosoever hateth his brother is a manslayer; and the Lord saith, thou shalt not hate thy brother in thy heart: For as he that looketh on a woman to Just after her, hath committed adultery in his heart, so he that hateth his brother, hath killed him in his heart. 2. The Tongue killeth many men, and killeth them many ways; yea, 2. With the Tongue. Jam. 3.6, 7. plures lingua quam gladio periere, the Tongue hath slain more than the Sword; for as S. James saith, the tongue is a fire, and a world of wickedness, it is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison; and the Son of Syrach saith, It hath destroyed many that were at peace. And the Tongue, besides those that it killeth by bearing false witness against them, Eccles. 28.13. as the men of Belial did against Naboth, and the Jews against Christ, killeth men two special ways. 1. By Flattery. 2. By Detraction. And, 1. S. Augustine saith, that Plus nocet lingua adulatoris, quam gladius persecutoris; the Tongue of the Flatterer doth more mischief than the Sword of the persecuter; and Antisthenes was wont to say, It was better for a man to fall 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, among Ravens, than 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, among Flatterers, that do fasten men in their faults. 2. The Prophet saith, Viri detractores fuerunt in te, ad effundendum sanguinem, Ezek. 22.9. In thee are men that carry tales to shed blood; and Job, saying to his friends, that slandered his integrity, Why do you persecute me as God, and are not satisfied with my flesh? Doth intimate thereby, that Detractors and Slanderers are like cruel Cannibals that eat men's flesh and drink their blood; Nam qui aliena detractione pascitur, procul dubio alienis carnibus saturatur, for without doubt, saith S. Gregory, whosoever delighteth himself with detraction and the slandering of his neighbours, doth feed and satisfy himself with man's flesh. And these murders and killing of men with the heart and with the tongue are but steps, stairs and progresses, to the murder of the hand: For first we begin to distaste, and to dislike the man; then we grow angry with him for some thing that displeaseth us; and if he hath any virtue, or good part in him, or any honourable place, or preferment, or any love and good opinion from the people, then presently we envy him, and then hate him, and so hate him more and more; The steps progress and ascent of this sin of man-killing, and now the Tongue will begin to play his part; and though in his presence it will flatter him, whom the heart detesteth; yet in his absence it will lay loads of scandalous imputations upon his person and upon his actions, even as Absalon did upon the government of his own father, King David; and Maion against the Government of William the King of Sicily, and abundance of such varlets, as I could name, have done the like, against the Government of some other Kings and most excellent men. And when those bloodthirsty men have proceeded thus far, to envy his happiness, and to hate his person, as Cain hated Abel, and the way is thus made by scandalous aspersions and false imputations to make him odious and distasted among the people, 3. With the hand. there wanteth nothing but the stroke of the hand to effect the tragical murder and killing of that man, whom they desire to destroy, be he King, Priest, or Prophet; for so Zimri killed his King and his Master Ela; So Phocas slew his Master, Diodorus Siculus. lib. 11. the Emperor Mauritius; So the Servants of King Amon slew their King and their Master; So Artabanus Captain of his Guard killed his own King and his Master Xerxes, after he had retired out of Greece; So Brutus and Cassius with their Associates killed Julius Caesar; and so many more such wicked Servants have, by the foresaid steps, ascended to the slaughtering of their Kings and Masters, to teach the way for others, that would not be without precedents, to do the like. But here likewise we must well observe, that there are many kinds, and degrees and ways of this bloody sin, which is the actual kill of a man; and therefore we must look over those degrees and ways of murder, and the several kinds of this man-killing, before we can find out the worst of them, which is the proper and peculiar sin of the Antichrist, and which is most hateful unto God: for the bloodthirsty murderer brings his design to pass by killing whom he hateth, Murderers do actually kill men two ways. Either 1. With his own hands: Or, 2. By the aid, means and performance of some others: For 1. Some are so impatient, and the fire of their malice is so hot, 1. By their own hands. Isa. 37.38. that they must presently be the death of their brother with their own hands, whensoever, or wheresoever they find him, with the first opportunity: So Cain killed Abel; So Joab killed Amasa; So Adramelech and Sharezzer killed their own father Sennacherib; So Brutus and Cassius killed Caesar; So Antoninus killed his own brother Geta in his Mother's lap; and so did many thousands more kill and murder their Neighbours with their own hands. 2. 2. By others. Others are so crafty and so witty, as they suppose, to find a way to effect their own wicked end, that, to blind the World, and to evade the Sword of justice, and, as they think, to escape the hand and judgement of God, they will keep their own hands free from blood, and wash the same with Pilate, from the blood of the innocent person whom they intent to destroy: But yet they will, for all this, do as Pilate did, deliver Christ unto the Soldiers, to be crucified; so will they be the men, that are the chief murderers of him: And that two ways. And that Either 1. Secretly by their Assassins', and those bloody butchers, whom they procure to be their Instruments, to bring whom they hate, to an untimely death. Or, 2. Publicly, by a Court of justice, which is to pronounce judgement against Malefactors, that aught to be put to death by the Laws of God and Man, and which Courts they procure to condemn, whom they hate, upon false suggestions, though the party be never so innocent. The first way Richard the Third procured the death of his two innocent Nephews, 1. Secretly. the Sons of Edward the fourth; and Edward the Second came unto his death the same way, though it is not so well known who procured it; and so King David did the like, by causing Joab to be the death of Urias, whom he ought rather to have rewarded, than to have murdered him; and so do all they that procure their wicked Instruments, to poison those whom they hate, as the Earl of Somerset procured the Lieutenant of the Tower, Sir Francis Eleway, to poison Sir Thomas Overbury. And such secret contrivings of their intentions, are very fine shifts for Murderers and Malefactors to free themselves from blame, and from punishment, if they could as well blind the eyes of the Allseeing God, as they do many times the eyes of simple men; but though David's hands were far from the Fact, and he seeming free from the blood of Urias, that was slain by the Sword of the Enemy, yet God tells David, He was the Murderer; and his subtlety shall not serve his turn to wipe away his punishment; for as the Devil, Aug. super Johan. saith S. Augustine, is said to be a Murderer, Non gladio armatus, non ferro accinctus, sed quia ad hominem veniendo, & verbum seminando occidit eum; not because he killeth with any weapons, Sword or Spear, but because he destroyeth Man by his wicked Counsels, and by setting on others, his Instruments, to destroy him; And therefore procul dubio decipiuntur, Idem & habetur de paenit. dist. 1. Periculose. saith the same Father, They are very much deceived, that think them only to be Murderers, which lay violent hands upon their Neighbours, and not them also, Per quorum concilium & fraudem, & hortationem, homines extinguntur; by whose counsel, deceit, subtlety, persuasion or procurement, any man is unjustly brought unto his death, whether it be suddenly by the Sword, or any other violent way, or lingeringly by poison. The 2. 2. Publicly. way that the bloodthirsty murderers use to bring whom they hate, and would have killed, unto their death, I find twice practised, and but twice, that they brought their purpose to effect, that I can remember, in all the book of God. 1. And this is likewise done two ways. By a personal, and an inferior Court of justice, where one or 2. or very few judges are deputed to sit, and judge the delinquents that are brought before them. 2. By a national, and the highest Court of the whole Kingdom, where flos & medulla regni, the choicest Peers and members of the Commonwealth do sit, to judge, and to determine of the offences, and the greatest affairs of the Kingdom. And 1. 1. By an inferior Court of Justice. I find, that the inferior Court of few Judges, did once condemn an innocent person unto death, in the holy Scriptures; for so you may read, how Ahab and Jezabel procured the Judges of Jesreel to condemn innocent Nabaoth, unto death; and though we find not such another precedent in all the Scripture; yet I fear that the like practice is used in many other places, where you may find such an Ahab, and such Judges; but though Ahab thought he might with the harlot, that commits adultery, and then wipes her mouth, and is clean, be freed from this fact, because his wife procured it, and the Judges of Jezreel did judicially, secunduns allegata & probatae, condemn him to death; yet the Prophet tells Ahab, that God will condemn and punish him, and all his posterity, for it; 1 Reg. 21.19. and 21. for in the place where dogs licked the blood of Naboth, shall dogs lick thy blood, and God will bring evil upon thee, and will take away thy posterity, and will cut off from Ahab him that pisseth-against the wall, and him that is shut up and left in Israel; and so accordingly, Jehu caused the Rulers of Jezreel, the very same Town where-Nabaoth was condemned, and likely the very same Judges, 2 Reg. 10.7, 17. that condemned him, to cut off the heads of 70 of Ahabs' children: And when he came to Samarta, he slew all that remained unto Ahab, until he had destroyed him, according to the saying of the Lord by his Prophet. 2. I find one other example in the holy Scripture, and but one that I can remember, 2. By the highest Court of Justice. where the national Court, or the Synopsis and the Representative of the whole Nation, did thus, judicially, condemn an innocent person unto death; and that was, when the Sanhedrim, or High Parliament of Israel, where the High Priest and the Elders sat, as chief Judges, condemned our Saviour Christ, to death. And I conceive, that the very like sin, is the proper and peculiat sin of the Antichrist, What the proper sin of the Antichrist is: and why. that is, a judicial condemning of an innocent person or persons, their Superiors, (as Christ was) unto death, and that by the Representative of a whole Kingdom; Reason. 1 1. Because no one man can commit this sin, neither Pope, nor Turk, when it is to be acted by the Representative of a whole Kingdom; therefore it can be no common sin, but a sin only proper to such a Court, when as none but such a Court can commit it. Reason. 2 2. Because it is not usually done, when we cannot read in any History, since the Jews condemned Christ, to these our times, of any national Court, that agreed to condemn an innocent person or persons, their Superiors, unto death; therefore this sin is proper and peculiar to that Court that commits it, when as no other Court in an other place, or at any other time, hath committed it. Reason. 3 3. Because that, if any other murder or homicide, be odious, and wicked, and detestable in the sight of God; then certainly this judiciary murder, whereby the innocent person is not killed, as was Abel or Amasa, but is condemned to death deliberately, by a Court of Justice, as was Nabaoth by the Judges of Jezreel, and especially by the Highest Court of the Kingdom, as Christ was by the Sanhedrim, and Parliament of the Jews, at Jerusalem, must needs be most transcendently abominable, and wicked, above all other kind of murders whatsoever; for that this is not a single and simple sin of Homicide or murder, and shedding of man's blood, to the defacing of God's image, which I shown you was bad enough; but it is morbus complicatus, a twifted decompound, multiplied sin of many many branches; so that, neither Cain's malicious killing of his brother Abel, nor Joabs' traiterours murdering of Amasa, nor Adramelech his unnatural parricide of Sennacherib, nor David's crafty killing of Urias, nor Brutus and Cassius conspiring the death of Caesar, nor Rich. the 3. secret murdering of his Nephews, nor any other kind of Murder whatsoever, can be near comparably so heinous, and so abominably odious, as this judiciary murder, which uno ictu, by one single and simple sentence, doth cast an infinite number of persons into a multiplicity of sins, and binds them all together, to be liable to the fevere judgement of the just God, and wrongs many more, whom their sin and malice cannot defile; for that hereby, 1. The seat of judgement is made the stool of wickedness, the throne of Satan, The manifold mischiefs of a judicial condemning of an innocent person to death. John 8. and the shambles and slaughter-house of innocent blood, to do the greatest wrong that can be done, where we should expect the greatest right. 2. The persons here offending are many many persons, as, the Witnesses forsworn and perjured, the Jury corrupted and involved in the blood of the innocent, and in the sin of the Prosecutor, and the Judge or Judges Devils, that were Liars, and murderers, as our Saviour saith, from the beginning, and they do here, by their unjust judgement, wrong, 1. The innocent person, that is condemned; 2. The place, that is abused and defiled; 3. And they that do all these things against Christ can be no other than the Great Antichrist. All good people, that are scandalised and grieved to see this unjust proceeding; 4. All lightheaded credulous people, that hold and believe the innocent condemned person to be a malefactor, and justly condemned; 5. God himself, that is here by this unjust sentence, 1. Cast out of his throne of justice, and the Devil placed for a Judge in his stead. 2. He is made a liar to pronounce false sentence: 3. He is made that which is worse, an unjust God, to condemn an innocent person. 4. He is made a murderer, to kill a man, that by the Law deserveth not to die. 5. and Lastly, He is made hereby a very Devil; for he that doth all these things, can be none other than the Devil. And you know, the Judge standeth here, loco Dei, as God's Vicegerent, and Deputy, in God's stead; and God saith of them, dixi dii estis, I said you are Gods, and commands the people to reverence, and to honour them as Gods, because they possess the place, 2 Chron. 19.6. and execute the judgement of God; as the good King Jehoshaphat tells them. Therefore this judicial condemning of an innocent man to death, doth, as much as lieth both in the Judge and Prosecutors, make the just God to be an unjust devil, which is far worse, than to ungod him, or making him no God at all; because, as Plutarch saith, and proves it too, satius est nullos deos esse credere, quam deos noxios; it were better to believe there were no God, than to be ●e●e that he is an unjust, and a wicked God: as it is more honour to think there was never such a man as Alexander or Julius Caesar, than to think they were such savage men, and bloody murderers, and Cannibals, as would kill and eat their own wives and children; And may not God therefore much rather say to such transcendent offenders, as he doth in a lower degree say unto the Jews, for swearing by them that are no Gods, and assembling themselves in the Harlot's houses; how shall I pardon thee for this? as if the heinousness of this sin, of a judicial murder, and mankilling, unjustly prosecuted, and sentenced to death, being far more odious than any of those sins of the Jews, went beyond the understanding of the omniscient and all-knowing God, to find out the way and the means to pardon it; especially, if you consider these four particulars, that are evidently to be seen, in the unjust judicial sentence, and killing of Christ, and in that sin of the Antichrist; killing the Witnesses of Christ. 1. Four special things considerable in the Jews sin, murdering Christ; and in the sin of the Antichrist in killing the a witnesses. The sin itself, which is not a private, but a public sin, not a rash, furious and precipitate manslaughter, but a solemn, deliberate unjust judicial murder, and defacing of God's image. 2. The sinner, or murderer, not a single person, as, Cain, or Joab, but a collected multitude of people, the nobility and gentry, and the Representative of the whole Nation. 3. The person killed, not our inferior, or subject, as Urias was unto David, and Naboth unto Ahab; nor our equal, as Abel was unto Cain, and Amasa to Joab; but our superior, our King, our father our Priest, and our Prophet, as Christ was unto the Jews, and as the two witnesses of Christ are, whom the Antichrist will destroy. 4. The end, why these sinful murderers do thus kill those eminent persons, expressed by our Saviour Christ in the Parable of the husbandmen, that killed the King's son, that he, being the heir, and being killed, the inheritance might be their own, and they should rule and reign as Kings, and have all for themselves; that was their chiefest aim; for they had learned their Poetry to make every Verse true, that endeth with, semper tibi proximus esto. As, Cum fueris faelix, The covetous and ambitious man's Poetry. semper tibi proximus esto; Si fueris Romee, semper tibi proximus esto; Si fueris alibi, semper tibi proximus esto; Si tibi sint nati, semper tibi proximus esto; Si tibi sint nulli, semper tibi proximus esto; and the like. So their hate, their malice, and their murder, was not for the love of justice, to have sin punished; but for the love of themselves, that they might have the pleasure and the profit, for their iniquity. And now, having passed through these Particulars, and seen the highest step and staff of this ladder of homicide, and the worst degree or kind of murder, I say, the sin of the Antichrist is like the sin of the Jews in the condemnation of Christ; The sin of the Jews condemning Christ, what it was. which was, an usurpation by Inferiors and Subjects, as the Jews were to Christ, of the highest Court and throne of justice, and thence judicially and most unjustly to condemn to death, and accordingly to kill, and murder the most eminent person, their superior; placed over them by God, to be their King, to rule them, their Priest and Prophet to pray for them, and to instruct them, and all this under the hypocritical cloak and pretence of piety and Religion, but indeed to this end, that they might get the rule, Government, and Dominion into their own hands. And I conceive, the proper and peculiar sin of the Antichrist, that the Apostle meaneth in this place, The sin of the Antichrist like unto the sin of the Jews. to be just like unto the same, and never committed, either by the Pope or Turk, or any other single person whatsoever, when it is to be done by a court, and a collected multitude of men, which therefore maketh the sin the more odious and abominable in the sight of God, and of all good men. And, if in all Aquinas Sums, or Antoninus his Titles, or in all the Tomes of Abulensis, or the mighty Comments of Cornelius à lapide, or the painful Works of Alstedius, or the Sums of Vices by Peraldus, or in and among all the beastly sins that Azorius in his moral Institutions, setteth down, or, as the Prophet Jeremy saith, Jerem. 2.10. Pass over to the Isles of Shittim and see, send unto Kedar, and consider diligently and see, if there be such a thing; or if you can find in any Author, divine or humane, a sin more injurious to man, and more odious and abominable in the sight of God, than this, thus committed by the Jews against Christ, and by the Antichrist against the 2 witnesses of Christ, then will I retract mine Assertion, and submit myself to the correction of the Presbyterians, for misinterpreting this place, and mistaking this sin here meant by our Apostle. But to justify my Collection, you may remember, how angry the Lord was, Numb. 16.32. and how terribly he punished Corah, Dathan, and Abiram, with such a punishment, as the like is not found in all the book of God, for despising their Superiors and Governors, and refusing to yield obedience to Moses and Aaron, in, but giving spiteful and scandalous words unto them, and saying, when Moses called them, we will not come up: Numb. 16.12, 14. how angry then, and what punishment, think you, would the Lord have inflicted on these rebellious Subjects, if they had most wickedly, and thus hypocritically, as I now shown you, killed Moses and Aaron, by a formal judiciary judgement of a whole Court of justice? And to make it plain and evident, that this man-killing is the notorious and proper, peculiar sin of the Antichrist, by which, as by a plain and singular character, he might be known to be the Antichrist, when he came into the world, the holy Ghost saith, that when the two Witnesses of Christ, the Supreme Magistrate, E. H. de Antic. p. 76. and the chief Pastor of God's people, as some of the best Interpreters say, have finished their testimony, that is, according to the time determined by God, the Beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit, that is, the Antichrist, as all Interpreters do confess, shall make war against them, Revel. 11.7. and shall overcome them and kill them, that is, in manner and form as I shown to you before; because no other kind of killing them, The sin of Antichrist proved to be the foresaid sin of man-killing. could have been so odious and so abominable in the sight of God: And the Apostle here, in 2 Thes. 2.3. doth inrimate as much in the very next words, that do immediately follow the man of sin, by calling him presently, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, the child of perdition, or the son of destruction, or of the destroyer, which I find only ascribed to Judas, that betrayed Christ, and delivered him to death, and to the Antichrist, that brought the witnesses of Christ to death: and so both Judas and the Antichrist are rightly termed the sons of destruction, both actively and passively. 1. Actively, in destroying and bringing others to destruction, as Judas did Christ, and the Antichrist the Witnesses. And, 2. Vide Maresium in dissertat. de ontichristo, pag. 50. Passively, in destroying themselves, as Judas did, in hanging himself, and the Antichrist will do, for so unjustly delivering his King and his Master to be destroyed. And so you have seen, what sin is the notorious, proper and peculiar sin of the Antichrist, the murdering of the Witnesses. 2. 2. Who hath committed this sin, that is the sin of the antichrist. Neither the Pope nor the turk. We are now to inquire, whom we can find, if we can find any, that hath committed, and thus committed, as I shown you, this sin: And here I must tell you, it is far safer to tell you who did it not, than to name to you, who hath done it: But I am sure that neither the Pope nor the Turk hath done it, neither could they do it. Reason. 1 1. Because it was to be done by Inferiors and Subjects against their Superiors and Governors, as the Jews did against Christ, and Corah, Dathan and Abiram against Moses and Aaron, that were their Rulers and their Teachers; and the Pope hath no superior Pastor, to instruct him, nor the Turk any Emperor or King, to command him. Reason. 2 2. Because it was to be done by a collected multitude, and a High Court of Justice, the highest Court in the Kingdom where it should be done, and therefore neither by the Pope nor the Turk, could it be done. Who then hath done it? This Book was written in the time of the Usurper. Truly, if any Court hath done such an Act, I think I need not, if I knew it, digito demonstrare, & dieier hic est; because such a public Fact, and so abominable in the sight of men, that is, as the Apostle speaks of the death of Christ, not done in a corner, is known far and near, and talked of by young and old. Yet this much I will tell thee, my friendly Reader, for I think none but my friends will read me, that I have read very many Histories, both of the Greeks and Latins, and many of the Histories of the Church, Whence the 9 Speeches in Parliament were collected. and the Lives of many Kings and Emperors, both of our own Kingdom, and of other Nations, and the Nine several speeches, as I believe, of the best antiregal Orators of the Long Parliament, concerning the Power of Parliament to proceed against their King for misgovernment: The which Speeches, if I be not much mistaken, were all taken and collected out of Dolmans' Book, that was the great Jesuit and arch-enemy of Queen Elizabeth, Father Parsons, that printed a Book full of treason against the Queen's Majesty, under the feigned name of Dolman; and the Book was condemned by Act of Parliament, the 35th. year of Queen Elizabeth, and now with the change of the Title, the most of it is reprinted, to show the Power of Parliament to proceed against their King; which by that Act of the 25th. of the Queen, I conceive to be then judged no less than crimen laesae Majestatis, a crime of High Treason against the Queen, though in the Long Parliament, it was thought a point of just proceeding against our Kings, especially against King Charles. And yet in all the Histories that I have read, and in all those Nine Speeches, and all those Examples, What Kings were deposed or killed by their Subjects. that those Orators do produce, of the Kings and Princes, that were deposed, banished or killed by their Subjects, for their Tyranny and misgovernment, as Saul and Ammon, by the Jews, Romulus, Tarqvinius, Julius Caesar, Nero, Domitian, Heliogabulus, Maxentius, Constantine the 6th. and Irene, by the Romans; Childereck and Charles of Lorein, by the French; Flaveo Suintilla, Don Alonso el Sabio, and Don Pedro, by the Spaniards; Don Sancho, by the Portugals: Henry the 3. by the Polonians: Gustavus, by the Swedes: Cisternus, by the Danes: Edwin, John, Edward the 2. Richard the 2. Henry the 6. and Richard the 3. by the English: Which are all but obliquely and poorly produced, and might by a reasonable Historian be fully answered; especially because according to that true Rule, Vivitur praeceptis, non exemplis: We are to frame our lives by Precepts, as God commandeth us, and not by examples, as other men have done: For I can have examples enough, beyond number, of men that have committed murders, and that have been Robbers and Adulterers, and the like: And shall I therefore follow their examples? God forbidden. So many Nations have done thus and thus unto their Kings: And will that warrant us, That we ought not to follow unjust examples. do to the like? By no means: Because we are to look, not what other Nations do, but what God commandeth us to do: and he commandeth us, not to touch his Anointed, nor to speak evil of the Governor of the people, be he good, or be he bad; for if he be good, nutritor est tuus, he is thy preserver, and thank God for him; and if he be bad, tentator est tuus, God sent him for thy trial, and thou must not kick against God, but receive thy trial with patience, until he that sent him in his anger, takes him away, in his wrath against him, and in his love to thee; and he can take him away when he pleaseth; till which time, with David, thou shouldst rest thyself contented, as he did, to endure the Tyranny of Saul: though I say, that I read of those foresaid Princes, that were deposed, or killed by the foresaid Nations, and of many others, Kings and Princes, that as the Poet saith, came not to their graves, sicca morte, And as the Parliament proceeded against King Charles. without blood; yet I find not any one of them all, in any Nation whatsoever, to have been proceeded against, and to have been condemned and killed modo & forma, as the Jews proceeded against Christ, and the Antichrist would proceed against the Witnesses, and the Parliament did against our King. And therefore this sin of the Antichrist, is not an usual or a common sin, as Idolatry, blasphemy, murder, and the like, but such a murder, as is to be the proper and peculiar sin of the Antichrist, and of none else, in which respect, the Apostle calleth the Antichrist 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, the man of the sin, by which sin, so done, as I shown you, you might know him to be the Antichrist. Object. But it may be some will say, that I do hereby positively and plainly conclude the Long Parliament, to be the great Antichrist, and to have committed the proper sin of the Antichrist, because that they, being the highest Court of Justice, have condemned their Superiors, their King and chief Pastor, judicially, as the Jews did Christ, unto death. Solut. I answer, that God hath not made me a Judge to determine whether the Long Parliament hath justly or unjustly condemned them to death; for, if they have done justly therein, they have done well, and no ways committed the sin of the Antichrist, which is such a condemning, as I shown of an innocent person unto death, and of such persons, as God requireth not, but forbiddeth to be condemned; but if they have unjustly condemned them, let them look to it, and answer to God for it, I will not be their Judge; let who will determine the question: but I will proceed in the Apostles description of this man of sin, that is, the Antichrist. And to show that the Antichrist is full of other sins, though this man-killing thus, That the antichrist will be full of other sins. as I shown, be his Master sin, St. Paul goeth on to set out some other of his sins that tend to produce and to perfect the former sin; saying, that he should oppose and exalt himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped. So that, He is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, an opposer, or an adversary, 1. A Rebel & an opposer of his King and of his Passor. as both the Syriack and the vulgar Latin reads it; and as learned Zanchius saith, this word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, in Greek, answereth to the word Satan in Hebrew, and as the Son of Perdition, which the Apostle here ascribeth unto the Antichrist, so this word adversary alludeth unto Judas, of whom Christ saith, have not I chosen twelve, and one of you is a Devil? And why a Devil? but because he proved himself to be a hypocritical Traitor, to betray his King and his Master Christ, which is the head of the Church; and so is the Antichrist 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, a Devil, for betraying his King and the Church, which is the Body of Christ; and so our Saviour saith unto Peter, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, John 6.70. get thee behind me Satan, And why Satan? but because he was herein 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, that cometh of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, contra, against, and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, jaccre, to throw, and it signifieth, a gainsayer, a hinderer, an opposer, that would not have Christ to do the service of God, and the work for the which he came into the world; though Peter pretended thus contra-jacere, to cross Christ out of his love to Christ; and so the best Critics tell us, that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 significat adversarium, & quovis modo alteri oppositum, signifieth an adversary, and him that opposeth another any manner of way: And Aristotle saith, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, opponi unum alteri dicitur quadrifariam; Arist. in Categ. one may be said to oppose another four manner of ways: And the Antichrist, saith Maresius, not once through error, Maresius Let the reader judge whether this be fulfilled in the Long Parliament. A true saying of Beza. like Peter, sed perpetuò destinatoque consilio Deum oppugnat, ut Satanas; but perpetually and of set purpose, opposeth God, like Satan, and doth especially contra-jacere, throw against, rebel and oppose his King and his Pastor, his civil and his spiritual Governors; and therefore is he rightly termed Satan, or qui adversatur, or adversarius est, he that is an adversary, and that not only against man, but likewise against God; because as Beza saith, hujus ordinis deus est author, ut qui sunt rebels, sciant sese cum Deo ipso bellum gerere, God is the author and the approver of regal power, and so likewise of our spiritual Governors, that they which rebel and op ose their King or their Pastors, might know, that they wage war, and set themselves, like Satan as adversaries against God himself, though they should pretend with S. 2. An exalter of himself above his King and above his Pastor. Peter to do it out of their love to God. 2. As the man of sin is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, an adversary, to set himself against, and to oppose his King and Pastors, the chief Rule's and Governors of the people and God's Church, and to make war with these witnesses of Christ, and the upholders of his truth, and his Gospel, and to overcome them, and to kill him; so having vanquished and subdued them, he than becomes 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, self efferens, a lifter up and an exalter of himself 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, supraomnem, above all men or every man, as the Syriack Interpreter reads it, The Pope or Turk cannot be here meant; and why. or above every one; or as some Greek Copies have it, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, above every thing, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, ●hat is called God: So that this doth sufficiently show, how that before his exaltation and his lifting up, he was an Inferior and a Subject; therefore nei●her the Pope nor the Turk, because they are inferior and subject to none, that they should lift themselves above them; but this man of sin, having now made war with these Witnesses, that were his Governors and Superiors, and having subdued them, he exalteth himself above them, and will be a Subject to them no longer, 1. An exalter of himself above his King. nor be ruled by any of them any more. For, 1. He will exalt himself 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, above every thing or every one, that is called god; and that is, above his King: For you must not think, that this man of sin is so void of reason, as to think, that he can exalt himself above the eternal and omnipotent God: For who can lift up himself above the Almighty God? or challenge to be worshipped as that God? But the meaning is, that he will exalt himself, super deos nuncupativos, Gorhan in loc. non super eum, qui deus est naturae proprietate; not above him that is essentially the true God, by the propriety of his nature, but above all the nuncupative gods, saith Gorhan: And we find, as he saith, three sorts of these nuncupative gods. That there are three sorts of nuncupative gods. 1. Falsa nuncupatione, by a false and unjust nomination, as are all the Idols, Images, and the false gods of the Gentiles, gods falsely called, and unjustly termed gods, when as indeed they were but Devils. 2. Gratuita adoptione, by a free grant and favour of God, who said to those he honoured, you are gods. 3. Delegata potestate, by a peculiar deputation, and a special commission from God, to some persons, Exod. 7.1. c. 4.16. to be as gods unto others, as where God saith unto Moses, I have made thee Pharaohs god, and to Aaron, thou shalt be in stead of god. And therefore, to show that he meaneth not, that the Antichrist should fight against the God of Heaven, and exalt himself above the Almighty God, the Apostle addeth, that he will exalt himself, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, above all that is called God; or as Beza reads it, Adversus quicquid dicitur Deus, He lifteth up himself against whatsoever is said to be God for otherwise Antiochus, that, as Tremellius saith, Daniel speaks of, Chap. 11. v. 38. and is confessed by all the best Interpreters, to be the Type of the Antichrist, Mr. Mede p. 94. is himself said to worship Maozim, which Mr. Mede renders Mahuzzimos', Deum roborum, the God of Forces; and that, his God, whom he worshipped, Tremellius thinks to be Jupiter Olympus; or, as it may be, the heathenish Mars, the Gentiles God of War, by whose aid and affistance he believed, that he obtained all his Victories; because this Maozim signifieth the God of Forces, though I confess, that under the name of Forces may be comprehended all that appertains unto the War, as Men, Money and Ammunition, as well as the Victory: And as Antiochus worshipped his God, so the Antichrist, saith Cornelius à Lapide, Suum Daemonem colet, will pretend to worship the Almighty God, but will exalt himself above all those that are called Gods. And who are they that are chief called Gods, but the supreme. Magistrate, or the prime Governor of any Kingdom or Commonwealth? He that is appointed by God to have the rule and power over all the rest: For so God saith unto Moses, Exod. 7.1. I have made thee a God unto Pharaoh, that is, I have made thee higher and greater than Pharaoh, by giving thee power and authority, as a Judge, to condemn him, and as a God, to punish and to chastise him: and unto Aaron, thou shalt be instead of God, Chap. 4.16. that is, to direct him in his Office of High Priest, and to command him to discharge the same, as he ought to do, and to reprove and correct him, when he doth neglect it; which are the principal things, duties and Prerogatives of any King or prime Magistrate of any Kingdom or Commonwealth. And thus all the best Orthodox Interpreters, both Papists and Protestants do agree, that the Apostle meaneth here, Vide Tremellium in Joh. 10.34. that the Antichrist should exalt himself above his King; because the Scripture doth most properly and plainly speak it of Kings, when God saith, Dixi Diiestis, I have said, you are Gods; and our Saviour doth primarily and principally mean Kings when he citeth the same saying against the Pharisees, as Beza witnesseth, saying, Testimonium quod citat Christus in Psal. 82. v. 6. Habetur, That in Psal. 82.6. King's are understood by Gods. ubi expostulat Deus cum regibus terrae, qui imperio & potentia, quam â Deo acceperant, abuterentur, hoc Christus ad presentem causam, accommodat, quod deorum nomine ornemur, qui ad regendum mundum sunt ministri; that is, the testimony which Christ citeth against the Pharisees is found in Psal. 82. v. 6. where God ex●ostulateth with the Kings of the Earth, which abused that rule and power, which they received from God; Beza in Annotat. in Joh. 10.37. and this Christ applieth to the present occasion, that they, which are Gods Ministers and Deputies to govern the World, are honoured with the name of Gods. And so, the first words of that Psalm do sufficiently show, that Kings are to be understood there by Gods; for God standeth in the Congregation of Princes, saith the Prophet, he is a Judge among Gods, and therefore by God in this place, the Apostle meaneth the King, that God hath set over this man of sin to rule him, as well as others; because the Kings are appointed by God to govern, and to judge the people of God: and therefore he tells his people plainly, By me Kings do reign, that is, Prov. 8.15. not only by my permission and suffering of them to reign, as I suffer many disorders, and many evils to be done; but they reign and rule by my authority and by my appointment, that have ordained, and set your Kings to reign and rule over you; for they do sit in the thrones of judgement, as God's Deputies and Vicegerents, in God's stead; to exercise a part of God's power here on earth, which is, as the Poet can tell you, Parcere subjectis, & debellare superbos. The lawful power of Kings. To defend and to reward the good and obedient Subjects, and to punish the rebellious, the wicked, and the wrong doers; and to that end, as God hath the Keys of heaven and of hell, to let the Godly enter into glory, and to shut up the wicked within the Chambers of death; so Kings have potestatem vitae & necis, the power of life and death, that is, to preserve the life of the innocent, and to put the transgressors unto death, or to pardon them, if they see cause, and to spare their life, which is the greatest power on earth; but not to put to death whom they please, and for what cause soever they list, which is the property and practice of an unjust Tyrant, and not the liberty of a good and a righteous King. So you see the honour, power and prerogative, that God hath conferred upon Kings, and is warranted and confirmed by our Saviour Christ; and therefore aught to be ascribed and yielded unto them by their Subjects; especially if they be Christians, and such as profess to know the will of God. Let the Reader Judge whether this be not fulfilled in the long Parliament. And yet the Apostle tells us, that this man of sin, which is the Antichrist, will exalt himself above his King; and I will not judge, but refer it to the World to judge, whether the long Parliament and their adherents have not denied this honour, worship and obedience, and indeed every part and parcel of that honour, which God hath granted and commanded to be yielded unto their King? Or, whether they have not actually exalted themselves above their King? And whether their words in their Petition to the King, The words of the Parliament in their Petition to the King. wherein they say, The humble Petition of the Lords and Commons in Parliament; and therein further say, That his Majesty's most humble and faithful Subjects have represented their most dutiful affections in advising and desiring those things which were most necessary for his Majesty's safety and honour; and in the Conclusion thereof do say, That his Majesty's personal safety, and royal honour and greatness were much dearer unto them than their own Lives and Fortunes; being put in one end of the balance, and the warring against him, and especially, the cutting off of the King's head, in the other end of the balance, where both their love and their hatred might be seen at once, do not prove just like the Soldiers dealing with Christ, to bow their knees unto him, Mat. 27.29. to put a Crown on his head, and a Sceptre in his hand, and to say, Hail King of the Jews, as if his personal safety, and royal honour and greatness were much dearer unto them than their own lives and fortunes: and yet immediately to spit in his face, and to hang him up upon a tree? Which is the most paelpable, the greatest and the grossest hypocrisy and mockery in the World; or I may justly say with the words of Agur, Prov. 30.2. Surely, I am more brutish than any man, and have not the understanding of a man; For, Quid audiam verba, cum videam contraria facta? Will any wise man believe men's words, when their deeds tell them to their faces, that they lie? And how shall I believe, that his personal safety, and royal honour and greatness were much dearer unto them than their lives and fortunes, when I see them taking away his Life? And after they had finished the Tragedy of his life, and had taken off his Head, to do, as the Athenians did with Herostratus that burned the Temple of Diana, that is, to extinguish with his Person, his Name, his Memorial, and his Office; When they would not suffer his Friends, and his Servants, to keep their King and their Master's Picture in their private Chambers, but searched their houses, as they did my house, to see if they could find the King's Picture: And when, as the Prophet tells us, the lawless Jews said, Hos. 10.3. We will have no King, because we fear not the Lord; and what then should a King do to us? For we, that fear not the Lord, will never reverence any King; no more than they, that will have no King, will never fear the Lord; because God hath coupled the fear of the Lord and of the King together, with such an indissoluble knot, that whosoever feareth God, cannot choose but fear and reverence his King; and he that feareth not his King cannot be truly said to fear God; Prov. 24.21. So the Parliament said, We will have no more Kings, but we will be, as our Neighbour Nation is, a Free State and a Commonwealth. But for all this their saying, That they will have no King, it is demanded, If these men proved not apt Scholars of those dissembling Jews, and imitate those their good Masters to a hair? for as those Jews said, We will have no King, that is, no Kingdom; God's appointment, or no lawful King, that hath a just right and title unto his Kingdom; yet if you look but two Chapters before, you shall find how God complaineth, they had set up Kings, Hos. 8.4. but not by him; and this was first in their intention, before they rejected their lawful King, that God had set over them, but last in the execution; because the Old King must be first ejected, before any new Kings can be established: So have nor the Parliament, when they beheaded their Old King, of God's appointment, and their lawful King, without question, made themselves new kings over God's people? I do not say, Usurping Kings, that had no right, nor tyrannical Kings, that did no right unto the people; but as the Prophet saith of the Jews, so it is questioned, if the Parliament have not set up Princes, yea, such Princes, as were, but Bankrupts, Shoemakers, and Tailors, Drapers and Tinkers, Carters and Cobblers, and the like Scum of men, of no learning, Job. 30.1. of no breeding, of no blood, and of no worth, but such as Job describeth, whom the ancient Gentry and Nobility of this Land, would have disdained, to have set with the dogs of their flocks, and made these, or such as these, to be Rulers in all Lands, the Justices of the peace; that, as the Prophet saith, the Jewish Rulers would sell the poor for a pair of shoes, so would these younger brethren, that are to make their Fortunes, for a Print of Butter, or a groars-worth of eggs, sell Justice, and betray the right of their poor Neighbours? Such Rulers and such Princes, as no people in any Country would have endured the like, to Lord it over them but those 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, Silly souls, and poor spirited men, whose hearts and courages the Lord hath taken from them, and given up their best nobility and Gentry, to be quite befooled, besotted and baffled by such Baffoons, when he intendeth to plague that Nation, and utterly to lay all their glory and honour in the dust; even as the Poet elegantly showeth, Hoc placet, O superi, Lucan. Pharsal. l. 1. cum vobis vertere cuncta Propositum, nostris erroribus addere crimen. Thus it pleaseth God, when for their sins he intends to plague, and to end the glory of any people, to blind them so, that they commit error upon error, adding thirst unto drunkenness, basenese unto their beastliness, and Pharaoh-like, harden their hearts in their follies, that they cannot do what is honourable, and what they ought, until they be destroyed and made Subjects to those that were their Servants. But God tells the Jews, that those new Kings of their own election, were no Kings of his setting up, nor any Princes of his making, but of their own establishment, Hos. 8.4. Usurping Kings no Kings of Gods making. and so mere Usurpers through the pride of their hearts and the violence of their hands, such as Athalia was among that people, and some others of our former Kings, That I could name of this Land; and therefore the Author of the Treatise of Usurpation, saith, That the people of any Nation do owe unto such Usurpers, such Kings of their own setting up, neither reverence nor obedience, nor can any Officer with a safe conscience act under them; Though I say not this, which is true, to deny that obedience to any Usurpers, or to the unworthiest of our Rulers, which may stand with God's Word, and may be yielded unto them without sin; because I w●●ld have no weak people stirred up, to make an insurrection against their powerful Governors; but when God, that casteth down one, and raiseth up another, takes away the right of our former Princes and Rulers, and suffereth others, how mean or how base soever they be, to step into their places, and to sit upon the thrones of Majesty, and the seats of Justice, howsoever this be come to pass, Deo permittente, my advice is to all private men, to rest themselves contented for the present, and, as the Apostle saith, to study to be quiet, and for peace and quietness sake, to think it far better to obey, than to rebel, and to leave all things to Gods disposing, Dan. 2.21. Rom. 8.28. 2. The Antichrist will exalt himself above the Bishops. qui disponit omnia suaviter, and will set all things right in his good time, and as S. Paul saith, Worketh all things together for the best to them that love him. 2. The Apostle tells us, That as the Antichrist will be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, and exalter of himself above every one that is called God, and that is principally, as I shown to you, above his King; because that in the first place, the King is chief termed God; so he will likewise be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, a lifter up of himself, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, that is, supra numen, as Tremellius reads it, or adversus numen, as Beza renders it, above all that is worshipped, saith our last and the Geneva Translation; and the meaning is in few words, that the Antichrist will exalt himself above the Bishops, and the Ecclesiastical Governors of the Church, as well as above the King, which is the civil Governor of the Commonwealth; for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, the word which the Apostle useth, coming from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, that is read in profane Authors, as Pasor saith, and signifieth colere, that is, religiously to worship, or the thing that we worship for Religion sake, from whence a Proselyte, or a religious man is termed 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, a pious and religious person; and all sacred and holy things, that are dedicated, and consecrated for Divine Service, are called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, Religious things, or things that appertain to Religion; which made Beza and Tremellius to translate it Numen, which appertaineth to God; doth sufficiently make it plain, and manifest, that the Apostle meaneth here, not the Emperor, nor any other King or civil Magistrate, which had formerly expressed, under the name of God, as some Interpreters, without reason, would have it; because that it is said, Act. 27.1. that S. Paul was delivered to Julius that was a Centurion, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, of Augustus' Band, saith our Translation, whereas it should have been translated of the Band of Augusta, That by 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, the Apostle meaneth the spiritual Governors of the Church. or Augusta's band, which was the wife of Caesar, and was styled 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, Augusta, as Caesar himself was called Augustus, nam Augustos Graeci 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 vocant, for the Grecians call Augustus, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, saith Maresius; but the Apostle understandeth, as I said, the ecclesiastical Governors of God's Church, whom we reverence and worship, for their callings sake, even as the same Apostle enjoineth the same Thessalonians to hold them worthy of double honour for their works sake; that is, for the administration of the sacred Mysteries, the preaching of the Gospel, and the delivery of the blessed Sacraments, with the pouring forth of their pr●yers to God, for a blessing unto the people, and other the like religious acts and office; they do, in the service of God; and above whom, notwithstanding their sacred function, and all the holy offices they do to God, in the behalf of the people, the Antichrist will exalt himself, and throw those reverend Bishops, whom all other good Christians honour, unto the ground: And therefore, That the Pope cannot be here understood to exalt himself 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, supra numen. as this cannot be applied to the Pope's exalting of himself above the Emperors, and the Kings of the earth; because he had showed this before, how the man of sin, would exalt himself above them, and it had been but a frivolous repetition, and tautology, which S. Paul never used, so suddenly to express the same thing twice, and the later expression, that should be plainer, to be obscurer than the former, contrary to all rules of Rhetoric; so can it neither be any ways applied to the Pope's exalting of himself above the rest of the Bishops, and ecclesiastical Governors of the Church; because he is one of those persons, and a special one too, whom the people worship, and reverence for his calling and Religion sake; and therefore it were a Solicisme, and a very improper speech to say, it was such a transcendent sin, for a man that is worshipped for his Religion's sake, to exalt himself above him that is worshipped for his Religion sake, which seems to be none other, than to say, he will exalt himself above himself, or above those that are no ways his superiors, but his equals at the most, and at the best; as many other men do, besides the Antichrist: But the meaning of the Apostle is, that this man of sin, being but a subject, will notwithstanding lift up himself above his King, that is, in the place of God, over him: and being but a secular lay-person, he will, for all that, exalt himself above his spiritual Pastors, whom he ought to worship, and to honour, as all good Christians do, for their offices, and calling, and Religion sake: this is the true meaning of the Apostles words. And whether the long Parliament and their adherents have not been Adversaries, Let the Reader judge whether this he not fulfilled in the long Parliament. opposed and exalted themselves above the most reverend of all the Clergy, whom the people honoured and reverenced, for their Calling and Religion sake; and not only above the dispensers of the holy things, and sacred Orders, and the chiefest of all that have or aught to have any Government in the Church; but also, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, above all the forms of Religion, and religious worship, in the Church of Christ; let the indifferent and judicious Reader judge of it. 3. 3. That the Antichrist will be an Usurper, and an intruder into the office of the Church Governors, as well as of the civil Magistrate. The Apostle still goeth on to explain his former meaning, and to show further the impieties of the Antichrist, and saith, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, so that he sits in the temple of God, as God; which words immediately following 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, that thing, or that person, whom we worship for religion sake, doth likewise confirm the former exposition of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, to signify the Bishops, and the dispensers of the holy things, of the sacred Orders, and of all the rest of the divine Mysteries; because he exalteth himself above them, to this end, and for this very purpose, that he, as God, may sit in the temple of God, that is, that he may be as well a Pope, in the Church, as a King in the Commonwealth; the supreme Governor and disposer of all things, as well the Religious Worship of God, as the civil Government of the people; for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 here, which as Pasor truly saith, cometh from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, habito, to dwell, must not be raken for the Jews Temple at Jerusalem, as the Greek Scholiast testifieth, which is the error of some Papists, What 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 properly signifieth. and of Grotius also, because Caligula intended to set up his Statue in that Temple, under the name of Jupiter optimus, maximus, which notwithstanding was not done; 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉; but it must be understood of the Church of God, where God dwelleth, and in the same sense, as our Saviour useth the same word in John 2.19. John 2.19. where he saith, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, destroy this temple: that is, where the Godhead dwelleth, and I will rear it up in three days: for so the Church of Christ, where God dwelleth is every where in the new Testament called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, the Temple of God, as Ephes. 2.21. Apoc. 11.19. 1 Cor. 3.16. 2 Cor. 6.16. and so Theophilact saith, he shall sit, non in templo specialiter, quod est Hierosolymis, sed in Ecclesiis simpliciter, & in omni divino templo: not in the temple, specially understood, which is at Jerusalem, but in the Churches simply, and in every divine temple: and S. Hierome saith, in templo dei sedebit, vel Hierosolimis, Hieron. q. 11. ad Algas. ut quidam putant, vel in Ecclesiis, ut verius arbitramur: he shall sit in the temple of God, either, at Jerusalem, as some think, or else in the Churches, as we more truly suppose: And this clearly showeth, that the seat of the Antichrist can be neither at Rome, nor at Constantinople, as I have showed to you before, unless you will yield, That neither Rome nor Constantinople, but the true Church, is the seat of the Antichrist. either Rome or Constantinople to be the truest and purest Church that Christ hath on earth: because the Antichrist will arise, and settle himself in that Church, saith the Apostle, which is, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, the dwelling place of God, and not where he hath dwelled: that so he may do the most dishonour unto God, and the most mischief unto his servants: and God dwelleth in the purest Church, no man can deny it: and therefore the Antichrist must arise, and enthrone himself in the purest Church, as I have fully proved before: and there, in that Church, saith the Apostle, he showeth himself, as God, or as Erasmus doth best translate 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, (that comes from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, demonstro) ostentans, boasting and bragging, or prae se ferens, as Beza translates it, pretending that he is God, or as Tremellius saith, ostentet seipsum, ac si Deus esset, he will carry himself, as if he were a God, that is, in God's stead: the true King to rule the people, and the right Bishop to govern the Church of Christ: or, That the Antichrist will wholly direct the Clergy, and dispose of all things in the Church, and about the service of God. as some do read it, he would be esteemed and taken, tanquam sit Deus, for such a supreme Monarch, and chief Governor over God's Church, as God said unto Moses, he should be to Aaron, his God, to direct him in all the service of the Tabernacle, and the whole worship of God: so will the Antichrist be such a God, to order, direct, and dispose of all the worship of God, and how all the Clergy, in order and without order, should behave and carry themselves in the whole service of the Church, which I take to be the true meaning of the Apostle in this place. For this showing himself, or bragging, that he is God, is not to be understood, that he would have himself believed to be the true and everliving God, and worshipped with divine worship, as the Historians tell us, Alexander, Antigonus, Augustus, Caligula, Domician, and divers others of the Caesars and Emperors, were transported to that height of pride and ambition, as, believing themselves to be more than men, to require the people, their subjects, to take them for Jupiter, Apollo, or some other of those anciently esteemed Gods, and to ascribe the honour and worship, that was usually given to those Gods unto themselves, as Altars, Sacrifices, and the like, whereof Virgil speaking of Augustus saith, Virgilius, eglog. 1. — Illius aram Saepe tener nostris ab ovilibus imbuet agnus. And Horace also saith, Horatius, epist. l. 2. Jurandásque tuum per nomen ponimus arras. But the meaning of the Apostle is, that this man of sin, the Antichrist, will brag and boast unto the people, that he is all for God, and for the honour and service of God, and therefore sits in the temple of God, to set out the right directory of serving God, that so God, through him, and by his only means, and endeavours, might be rightly served, and worshipped, according to his directory, as the Mahometans worship Mahomet, according to his Alcoran, and we formerly worshipped God according to the form prescribed unto us by our Governors, in the book of Common-prayer, and so he showeth, that he is God, that is, most godly, and so a God, by the participation of the godliness and holiness of God; which exposition doth most fitly agree with 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉; what he showeth himself to be, which is, the readiest way to deceive the people. And whether the long Parliament hath not usurped this ecclesiastical power and jurisdiction over all the holy things, Let the Reader judge whether this be not fulfilled in the long Parliament. and to set forth the sole Directory of God's service, tanquam sit Deus, as if they alone had Aaron's Office, to order all the other Priests and Levites, or had the spirit of S. Paul infallibly to direct the Church of Christ, as well as Moses his Authority, and the power of a King to rule the people: Let the Parishes and people of God, that have none other form of God's service, but what the Parliament Preachers, and the observers of their Directory do use, be the Judges, both of what service, and of what Doctrine is brought unto them. I make small account, though I will not pass it unsaluted, of that Observation, which some men have made, that the Parliament House, where the members of the long Parliament sat, Arise Evans, in his Voice from heaven. was a Chapel consecrated by King Edward the 3. to be the Temple of God, as appeareth by many Records; because many other Parliaments have sat in that Chapel, and yet not any of them all have usurped this power, to be the supreme disposers and directors of all the holy service of God, the Commanders of all the Bishops and Priests of the most high God, how to do his service, and what service should be done unto him, and to make themselves the sole Possessors, the right owners, to dispose, sell, or give, all the Revenues, lands, states, Tithes, and offerings of the Church, as it is said, the Antichrist would do, and which he may no better, nor so well do, as Scyrus and Procrustes, the two vilest robbers, that we read of, could take thy purse, and all thy money by the Highway side. And here also I cannot omit to observe, Note the word fit in the temple. that the Apostle saith, that the man of sin, shall, not stand, but sit, in the Temple of God; where the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, that comes from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, which properly signifieth to fit, as where it is said, that Christ 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, John 4.6. and 20.12. sat by the well; and so the two Angels were seen 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, sitting in white raiments, is to be distinguished from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, that is derived from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, which betokeneth and signifieth collocare, to place, or to set a thing in some place, as it is, where the Apostle saith, if you have judgements of things pertaining to this life, 1 Cor. 6.4. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, set such, or place them to judge, who are least esteemed in the Church; and so, where it is said, that the Disciples brought the Ass, and the Colt, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, or as it is in some Copies, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, they set him, Matth 21.7. or placed him thereon: And therefore it is rightly concluded by Maresius, that this sitting in the Temple of God, is ill applied by Grotius, to Caius Caligula his causing of his Statue to be placed in the Temple at Jerusalem: but it may most properly signify the sitting of the Parliament, Let the Reader judge of this. or the like society of men, in that place; where they intent to acquiesce and rest themselves, whether the place be physical or Metaphysical; And whether the Parliament resolved, not only to stand in that their dignity and Authority for a while, or intended to sit and acquiesce, and continue themselves and their Successors for ever in the , and in the Temple of God, to govern the Church of God, as God, themselves know best: I will not judge of their Intention. CHAP. VI That the Antichrist is a great Professor of Religion, and a seeming Saint; That he belly his Profession, and is indeed the greatest Hypocrite in the world; What the great Lie of the Antichrist is: What 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifieth: What it is to deny Jesus to be the Christ: And how the Father and the Son may be denied two manner of ways. 2. THough I might go on, to explain unto you what S. Paul further setteth down concerning this man of sin, that is the Antichrist; yet, because they are not such Characters and acts as are proper to him alone, and not also common to his Proselytes and Followers, and some of them likewise do rather show his judgement, how he shall be destroyed, than his description, how he may be known; therefore I will proceed from those sins, do and demeanour of him, whereby St. Paul hath painted and set him forth, as I have showed you in the former Chapter, to what the holy Ghost informeth St. John, he should do, whereby the people of God, might by what sins and description of him, as St. John setteth down, plainly know him and avoid him, when he should appear in the world, for St. John showeth many of the very same sins, and the same do of the Antichrist, though expressed in other terms, as St. Paul had done before; the same sins by other names, and some other like sins added unto what you heard before, because he is not satisfied with few sins. And first, after that the holy Apostle and Evangelist St. John had said, they had heard, that the Antichrist should come, even as St. Paul told the Thessalonians, 2 Thes. 2.5. that the Antichrist should come, that is, a great, eminent and transcendent Antichrist: he addeth, that now, that is, in his time, there were many Antichrists; that is, of a lower form, and of lesser mischief, than the great Antichrist would be: even as St. V 7. Paul likewise told the Thessalonians, that the mystery of iniquity had begun to work in his days; that is, by the ministry of those Heretics, and false hypocritical Professors that abused the truth of their Christian Profession; then the Apostle St. John distinguisheth betwixt the true Christians and those false dissembling Professors, that were those many Antichrists that he speaketh of, and the forerunners of the great Antichrist; St. John showeth there be a sorts of Antichrists. and he showeth how the true Christians might be discerned and known, by the unction, or the anointing of the true Christians with the Grace of God's holy Spirit, whereby they came to know, to confess and to profess the truth, that is, the Faith and truth of our Christian Religion; and on the other side, he doth say, and positively affirm, that the denial of this Truth by the hypocritical Professors, in the main head, that is, to deny Jesus to be the Christ, is the proper note, and the undeniable mark and Character of the great Antichrist, which is the head of all the other many inferior Antichrists, that are all destitute of that Unction, whereby the true Christians do believe and confess Jesus to be the Christ; let them make what Profession soever they please, of their Faith and Christian Religion, yet indeed they are no true Christians, but the great Antichrist, if they deny Jesus to be the Christ: For saith the Evangelist, and that by an Interrogation, which is the strongest asseveration that can be, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. 1 John 2.22. that is, Who is the Liar, but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ? he is the Antichrist that denieth the Father and the Son: Here is the full description of the Antichrist. two things observable. Touching which words, you must observe these two special things. 1. Two things observable. That St. John calleth the Antichrist a Lyar. 2. You are to understand, what his Lie is. 1. St. John showeth us plainly herein, that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, the great Antichrist is a great Liar, 1. That the Antichrist is a Liar 2 ways. 1. By belying his Christian Profession. and in that he is a Liar, it implieth two special things. 1. That he is an hypocritical and apostate Professor. 2. That he is a crafty and cunning deceiver of the poor people. As, 1. It is apparent, that the Antichrist is an hypocritical and an apostate Professor, such as the other lesser antichrists, that have been with us, and went from us, are: For this great Antichrist will make a great profession of Religion, as if he were the only Saint and the best Christian upon the earth, that hath the greatest care that can be, of God's Service; for the observing of his Sabbath, and the preaching of his Word, and the refraining from all Swearing, and the like; and yet all is but a great Lie, only for an outward show and no more, when he speaks that with his tongue, which he cares not for in his heart; Rev. 13.11. and therefore he is said to speak like the Dragon: And why like the Dragon? Because that as the Dragon flattered Evah with many great and fair promises, to make them like gods, and to fill them with knowledge, both of good and evil; yet all were but lies, and every word against his Conscience, that knew well enough, the listening to his voice, and believing his Words, would make them like devils; so will the Antichrist flatter and fawn, promise and profess great matters, and make you believe he is a Saint, and will bring you all to Heaven, when with the Dragon, he tells you nothing but lies, and leads you strait to Hell: And therefore doth St. John say, that he is a Liar, that belly his own Profession. Whether the Parliament members and their adherents did not belly what they professed, let the Reader judge. And it is demanded, whether the Long Parliament Proselytes and adherents, did not even the like, and follow the very same course, as the Antichrist is said he should do, and prove themselves such Liars, as he should prove himself to be? For did they not profess themselves to be the truest Saints, the best Christians, and the purest Church of Christ that is, or that men do know here on earth? and that there were no Tares in their field, no Chaff in their floor, no Trash in their Net, and nothing but Gold on their foundation? Psal. 26.4, 5. And do they not say, that they hate the Assembly of the Malignants? neither will they sit among vain persons? And besides all this, have they not tanquam Deus, as God and chief ordainer and ruler of all Church-matters, rejected, cashiered and abolished the formerly established Orders and Ordinances of the Divine Service, and as Christ, when the old Covenant of works and Legal Ceremonies was to be expired, and those rites were to be nullified and done away, Heb. 8.9. did, in the stead of it, set up his new and better Covenant of Grace, as the Apostle showeth; So have they not devised and set forth a new, and as they say, a better Directory than ever was before? that is, a new form of Divine Worship, new Canons of God's Service, and a Service of the new fashion, such as neither we nor our Fathers did ever know the like, and far better than ever they had? and for the observance of that Directory, have they not made stricter Ordinances, and imposed severer punishments upon the transgressors, than (as is conceived) the Pope ever did for the omission of his Breviary and Missal, or the Turk for the neglect of using his Alcoran. Yet, as the Author of the French History, relating the horrible rebellion of the holy Leaguers in France, saith, that the essential form of a zealous Catholic in this League, was to rob and to profane Churches, ravish widows, spoil the Clergy, and murder them even against and before the Altars; Mercurius Rustic. printed at Oxford. and to vomit out all kinds of indignities, and scandalous imputations against their King; so the author of Mercurius Rusticus saith, the Zealous Covenanters, limbs of the Beast, and members of the Antichrist, the Proselytes and adherents of the Long Parliament (he doth not say, the very members of the Parliament themselves) have done the very same things, if not worse, and have outgone and outdone those holy Leaguers, and all examples of impiety, in justice and wickedness, and have also passed all Precedents of Sacrilege and profanation of God's Holy Worship: So that, whatsoever the old Eustathians, Messalians, Fratricelli and the rest of those hare-brained and mad Heretics durst never attempt to do or say, these holy Schismatics, and Covenanters, that put no difference betwixt holy and profane, whether persons, times, places or things, have acted ever with greediness, and taken delight and pleasure in those that did them, so, as if the devil would show in them the masterpiece of all infernal impiety. And what are these do, but, as Christ saith of the Scribes and Pharisees, that would be counted the only Saints among the Jews, to sit in Moses Chair, Mat. 15.3. Mar. 8.7.8, 9 which they usurped, and to teach for Doctrines, the traditions of men, that were indeed but the Doctrines of devils? And as the Apostle saith, to sit in the Temple of God, as God? When they have presumed to teach more errors and heresies, than the Pope and the Romish Church ever taught, and to act more impieties, than the Turk or Mahometans ever durst presume or adventure to do? Or as St. John saith here, 1 Joh. 2.2. what is all the great profession of holiness, that they make but a great lie? When they say one thing and do another; profess Religion, and follow all Abomination, and with the Jews draw near unto God with their lips, Esa. 29.13. and to have their hearts far enough from him? And this is the first and main branch of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, the Liar, Judge whether the long Parliament hath not fulfilled this. when the Antichrist doth belly his Profession, and his do, his practices and his works, do rell and testify to his face, that all his words and say are very plain and palpable Lies. 2. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, the Liar doth imply that the Antichrist is a great Covenant-breaker, and a false Deceiver of those that trust him; because 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, 2. By Covenant breaking and deceiving those that unst him. that is derived of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, which doth properly signify decipere & fallere, to deceive, to cozen and cheat, from whence, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, a false brother, and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, a false witness is derived, doth betoken a falsifying of one's faith, and the breaking of the Oath and Promise that we make to any one; So that from hence, you may likewife see, how that the Antichrist is an eminent Christian in Profession, promising and vowing in his Baptism to forsake the World, the Flesh and the Devil, and protesting in his words that he renounceth them all; and yet but an hypocritical Apostata by all his Actions, and demeanour, both towards God and Men; whenas he violates his Oaths, falsifieth his Faith, and breaks the Promises and Vows that he hath made to his God, to his King, to his Country, and to all that trusted him, and believed him to be such a Saint and good Christian, as he professed himself to be. But whether the long Parliament, and their adherents have broken their Covenants and their Articles, and deceived their King and their Country, and have falsified their Oaths, their promises and protestations both to God and Man, I leave it to God and their Country to judge. 2. The Apostle showeth, he meaneth not that every petty Liar, 2. What the great lie of Antichrist is. whereof we have too too many in every place, is the Antichrist; or that the Antichrist is but a petite Liar; but his meaning is, that the Antichrist is both an ordinary liar, cozener, and deceiver of men; and also an eminent, notorious and a transcendent Liar; no small Liar, but a Liar 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, beyond and above all other Liars whatsoever; for this great Liar doth not only belie his holy Profession, by his lewd and wicked actions, as I shown to you before, and as very many other worldly men, and nominal Christians do; but he tells also this great lie, this capital Lie, the worst of all lies, especially for a Professor of Christianity to lie; that is, to deny Jesus to be the Christ: The Antichrist is a negative Lyar. which is a negative lie, not the simple telling of an untruth, but a malicious denial of the chiefest truth, and the most beneficial truth of all truths to all mankind; and therefore a lie worse than any other lie whatsoever: and a lie, that doth (as you shall see hereafter) co-incidate and cohere with that sin of the Antichrist, that S. Paul meaneth, that I have expressed to you before, and doth make the esse formale, the very very being of that Antichrist, that could never devise a worse, and a more pernicious lie than this; and therefore in denying this truth, in denying Jesus to be the Christ, he denieth the Father and the Son, and discovereth himself plainly, by this denial of Jesus to be the Christ, as by a proper undeniable mark and character, to be that great Antichrist, that was expected to come into the World. For the better understanding of which great and special point, whereby you may infallibly know the Antichrist, you must consider these two things: 1. 2. Special things to be observed. What is the meaning, of denying Jesus to be the Christ. 2. Whom we can find, to have denied Jesus to be the Christ, and if we can find any, that hath, or doth deny Jesus to be the Christ, than we have found the Antichrist, let us take heed of him. And for the clearing of the first point, A special observation. Luk. 12.8, 9 Mat. 10.33. you are to observe here that this 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, the great Liar is, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, a denier of Christ; or of Jesus to be the Christ; and you know what Christ saith, Whosoever shall confess me before men, him shall the Son of man also confess before the Angels of God; but he that denieth me before men shall be denied before the Angels of God; or as St. Matthew saith more emphatically, Him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven; and not without great cause and a very just reason for it, even, in any man's judgement: for that the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, which is the word that St. John useth here, and which our Saviour useth there, in the place before cited, What 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifieth. doth signify as the learned Critics do witness, not a bare and simple denial of some truth; but a treacherous, rebellious and unnatural revolt from ones lawful Prince or Master; and a revolt accompanied with such a malice against his person, that the revolter resieth never satisfied with any thing, but in the blood and utter destruction of the person denied; for so St. Peter tells the Jews, that had crucified Christ, that God had glorified his Son Jesus, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, whom you have delivered, and denied, that is, that he should live, before Pilate, when he was determined to let him go, that he should live, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉; but you denied the Holy and Just, that is, you denied that Pilate should let him live, and were never satisfied, until you had him crucified; and so the Antichrist denieth Christ, or Jesus to be the Christ, and never leaves to prosecute and persecute the Christ, not Jesus, but the Christ, whom he denieth Jesus to be, until he brings the Christ, as the Jews did before bring Jesus, down to the dust and unto death, and so becomes the man of the sin, that S. Paul had spoken of before unto his Thessalonians, 2 Thes. 2. that is, the murderer, in the transcendent and vilest kind and manner of man-killing. And here also you must observe, Another special observation. that the Apostle doth not say, This great Liar denieth Jesus to be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, the Son of God; because this denial maketh not the Antichrist; for so Arius, the grand Heretic, denied him to be, and yet he is not said to be the Antichrist; because he confessed and believed that he was the Christ; neither doth the Apostle say, The Antichrist denieth not Christ to be Jesus, but denieth Jesus to be the Christ. That this great Liar is the Great Antichrist, because he denieth Jesus to be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, the Saviour of men, or the Redeemer of Mankind, for so his Name Jesus signifieth; and so the Jews, the Mahometans, and all the Infidels deny him to be; and yet they are not said for this denial to be the Antichrist, though hereby they are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉; and do absolutely deny to believe in him, as in their Jesus, and their Saviour, as the Antichrist doth profess, that he is the Jesus, that is, the Saviour both of himself and of all other men, that do believe in him; and therefore he is not said to be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, an Adversary, or denier of Jesus; but he is said to be the great Liar and the Antichrist; because he would make the World to believe, that he loves Jesus, and believes in Jesus, and is the best Christian in the World; and yet absolutely and peremptorily denieth Jesus to be the Christ. Therefore we must take some pains to untie this knot, and beg the assistance of God's Spirit to explain this mystery, Mark well this Aenigma. that may seem as a Riddle, unless we examine it very well, to know why the denial of Jesus to be the Christ, maketh the Antichrist, and the Antichrist to be the great Liar, because he denieth Jesus to be the Christ; and how it can be, that he, which believeth in Jesus, that he is his Saviour, and the true Messiah that saves all mankind, and as he saith, that this his Jesus is Christ, and his Christ, should notwithstanding be the Antichrist, and in all his say and profession but a great Liar, because he denieth Jesus to be the Christ; he saith he is Christ, and believeth in him, as in his Christ; and yet denieth him to be the Christ, or to be Christ; therefore we may well demand with Nicodemus, Joh. 3. How can these things be? I say very well; or if they were not, the great Antichrist could not be the great Lyar. But for the clearing of these points, I confess, that I must plough with E. H. E. H de Antichristo p. 82. and in his Proface to the Reader. p. 3. his Heifer, that gave meam the first inkling of the discovery of the truth of this double dealing of the Antichrist, where he hath most truly, and learnedly, though briefly, explained the sense and meaning of the Apostle, and discovered the apparent great lie of the Antichrist, in saying and unsaying, affirming and denying the same thing at a breath; that must needs make him a Liar, if any thing makes him; for as 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, Christ, signifieth anointed; and Jesus was anointed to be both a King and a Priest; for so the wise men say, Where is he that is born the King of the Jews? Simul natus, Mat. 2.2. simul Caesar, He was a King as soon as ever he was born; and Pilate wrote upon his Cross, Jesus of Nazreth King of the Jews; Joh. 19.19. so that when his enemies bereft him of his life, yet they could not deprive him of his royal and Kingly Office; and the more firmly to ascertain us of his Priestly Office, The Lord swore, and will not repent, Psal. 110.4. thou art a Priest for ever, after the Order of Melchizedech; which was not like the Order of Aaron, that was to be determined and to have an end, but was an everlasting Order, to continue a Priest for ever; for these two Offices only were the chiefest and the ordinary Offices, whereby the Lord ruled the people, and governed the Church of the Jews; these were the ordinary Rulers of that Commonwealth; and therefore these two Offices, of Kings and Priests, That the Kings and the Priests only were ordinarily anointed. 1 Reg. 19.16. and v. 19 were the only usual and accustomed Offices that were anointed in that Church and among that People; for the Prophets were an extraordinary Calling; and extraordinarily anointed: and that but once, as I find, in all the Scripture: and that anointing also, not with oil materially, as the Kings and the Priests were: but by the casting on of Elijah's Mantle upon Elisha, which was termed an anointing of him; but the other two were usually anointed with material Oil: And these two Offices, of a King, and a Priest, are the Offices whereby Jesus redeemeth and saveth, and also guideth and ruleth his whole Church; and without which Offices he could not be a Jesus, either to purchase and save, or to rule and to instruct his Church; and therefore whosoever denieth Jesus to be a King and a Priest, denieth him to be the Christ: and though he should confess him, and believe him to be his Jesus and his Saviour, yet he cannot save him, if he be not the Christ, that is, anointed to be both a King and a Priest; and so in denying him to be Christ, he denieth him to be Jesus and a Saviour, which he saith, he believeth him to be; and therefore, he must needs be a great Liar, in saying that now, which he presently denieth. Question. But here the question may be demanded, How is it, or how can it be, that the Antichrist, which professeth himself to be, not a Jesuit from the name of Jesus, but a Christian, as they were first termed in Antioch, from the name of Christ: and saith, he doth acknowledge and believe, and will not, and doth not deny Jesus to be both a King and a Priest, yea, his King and his Priest, whom he doth above all others, both honour reverence and obey, as his King and as his Priest: should notwithstanding be said, and said truly, without any unjust impuration laid upon him, to deny Jesus to be the Christ, that is, the King, to rule, and the Priest to govern and to instruct his Church? I answer, that the Apostle meaneth not, Respons. That the Antichrist should in plain words, positively and peremptorily deny Jesus to be a King and a Priest, He that sayeth thou art my King, and I am thy Subject, but thou shalt not rule, me, neither will I obey thee, is not he a Liar? as the Jews, Turks, and other Infidels do; when as he confesseth publicly, and in plain terms, and never denieth with any manner of words, that Jesus is not the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, and that he is not a Priest for ever after the Order of Melchizedech: but professeth the same as much and more than any man living; and yet herein he is the great Liar, because that what he saith in words, Factis negat, he apparently denieth by his deeds, which are the chiefest affirmation or negation of any truth, and the best witnesses to confirm both what we say, and what we deny: as both our Saviour and his Apostle St. Paul do sufficiently testify. And so, What it is to deny Jesus to be the Christ. the meaning of denying Jesus to be King and Priest, is not to be understood of any verbal denial, but that the Antichrist, though he doth in words confess him to be his King and his Priest, and denieth him not to be anointed by God, with the true Oil of grace, He that denieth Jesus to execute the Office of King and Priest denieth him to be King and Priest. the ointment of God's Spirit above and beyond all others, that ever were anointed, to be the King and the Priest of the whole Church: yet by his deeds and his actions, he would most treacherously and maliciously deny and hinder jesus to exercise and execute those Offices, that is, his Kingly Offices and his Priestly Office, by those his deputies and Vicegerents, whom he appointeth and placeth under him, and in his stead, to rule, govern, and to instruct his people here on earth: for he being ascended into heaven, executes these Offices, of King and Priest, none otherwise now in his personal absence, than by his Substitutes and Deputies, that he placeth to be Kings and Priests under him: and whosoever denieth and hindereth them to discharge their duties and to execute those Functions and Offices of King and Priest, denieth Jesus to execute the same, and to discharge the duties of his Kingly and Priestly Office. And we must not understand the Apostles words, that the Antichrist denieth Jesus to be the Christ, or his denial of him to be the true Messiah, and Saviour of the World, and for that end, to be anointed both for a King and a Priest, which he never denieth; or otherwise, if this were his denial of him, to be a King and a Priest to this end, That thousand thousands deny Christ to be Jesus, but the Antichrist only denieth him, whom he confesseth his Jesus to be the Christ. we should have ten thousand thousands of such Antichrists, as jews, Turks, and all the Infidels over all the World, that deny jesus the Son of Mary to be anointed for a King and a Priest to become the true Messiah, and to save his people from their sins; for we know that all those do thus peremptorily deny jesus to be the Christ, or to be thus and to this end anointed to be King and Priest; and yet they are not said to be the Antichrist nor the great Liar, which the Antichrist is said to be; because their lie doth not contra mentem ire, nor deny that, which they affirm; deny by their do, what they affirm by their say, but their hearts and their tongues do conceive and confess the same thing, that jesus is not the Christ, neither their King nor their Priest, and the Antichrist doth the clean contrary, saying in words that he is his Jesus, and yet by his deeds utterly deny him. And therefore, by this ample Explanation of this mystical Sentence that the Antichrist is a great Liar, because he denieth jesus to be the Christ: I hope it is made plain enough, that the meaning of the Apostle is, that the Antichrist, which mendaciously and falsely, like a great Liar, professeth himself a Christian, and acknowledgeth in his words, that the Lord jesus is the Christ, that is, his King and his Priest, and himself his loyal Subject, and the most faithful Servant of Christ, will notwithstanding all this great profession, maliciously deny, and most rebelliously hinder and oppose the lawful Deputies, Lieutenants and Servants of Christ our King and Priest, to execute and to discharge their Kingly and Priestly Offices, under Christ, and in Christ his stead; and will, as I shown you, from the force and true meaning of the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, so deny them to execute their functions, that nothing will satisfy or serve his turn, until he hath utterly destroyed both King and Priest, and so denied them, both to serve their Offices, and to live in their places; that is to be King and Priest. Thus the Antichrist denieth jesus to be the Christ, by denying his Deputy-Kings and Priests, He that resisleth Christ his Deputies resisteth Christ himself. to execute their Kingly and Priestly Offices under him; for as he that resisteth the lawful Magistrate, resisteth the Ordinance of God, saith the Apostle, and so far as he resisteth God's Ordinance, he resisteth God himself; because Man can make no other visible resistance of God, than by the resistance of his Ordinance; So he that revolteth from, or rebelleth against, the execution of these Offices of Christ, by those deputies, that he sets under him here on earth, is rightly said, to revolt from and rebel against Christ; and so he that denieth them to execute their Offices of Kings and Priests under Christ, may justly be said to deny jesus to execute his Office of King and Priest; even as you see, he that resisteth against the King's Sheriff or Lieutenant, is justly said to rebel against the King; For though Christ be now in heaven, yet he hath his Kingdom here on earth, and he is still our King, as the Prophet saith, The Lord is King, and hath put on glorious apparel; Psal. 93.1. and he placeth other Kings to be his Substitutes and Vicegerents, to guide and to govern his people, according as he doth command; and therefore he saith, By me Kings do reign; Prov. 8.15. and as he is still our King, so S. Peter saith, He is still the Bishop of our souls, 1. Pet. 2.25. and the Priest that maketh an atonement to God for us; and he placeth other Bishops, and other Priests under him to teach, and to govern his Church in the truth of his Service and Religion. And you know what Christ saith to these his Deputies and Vicegerents, Luk. 10.16. He that despiseth you, despiseth me, and he that despiseth me, despiseth him that sent me; So he that denieth and hindereth you to execute your Offices, denieth me mine Offices, to be both King and Priest; and so denieth me to be the Christ; and in denying me, he denieth him that sent me, Psal 2.8. and gave me the Gentiles for mine Inheritance, and the uttermost part of the earth for my Possession, and also Swore that I should be a Priest for ever, Psal. 110.4. after the Order of Melchizedech. Therefore it is most plain and apparent, that whosoever professeth himself a Christian, and yet maliciously opposeth, and traitorously denieth the execution of the Kingly and Priestly Offices of Christ, to be performed by his Deputies, Kings and Priests, that he appointeth under him, and so far denieth them to do it, as utterly to destroy them, and deny them to live, (as the Jews denied Christ before Pilate,) to be Kings and Priests in Christ's stead, to Govern and to Teach his Church, is here meant by the Apostle to be the Grand Liar and the Great Antichrist, that denieth Jesus to be the Christ; and so you have seen, what is the meaning of denying Jesus to be the Christ. 2. The other Point to be considered, is to inquire, and search if we can find, 2. Whom can we find to have denied Jesus to be the Christ. Neither Pope nor Turk. who have thus, as I shown you, denied Jesus to be the Christ; and if you find, who hath done so, you shall find out the Antichrist; and I believe we shall find him neither in Rome nor in Constantinople; for the Pope, I am sure of it, denieth not the Bishops as Christ's Deputies, to execute their Priestly Office, when he professeth himself to be Christ's Deputy and Vicar, to discharge that Office, to instruct and to govern his Church; and for the Turk, he will not extirpate Monarchy, nor cast down Kings, when he professeth himself to be the chief Monarch of the earth, and a King of Kings, as his own Letters testify. But whether the Long Parliament and their adherents, Let the Reader judge, whether the long Parliament hath not fulfilled this saying of the Apostle. that in words do constantly affirm and profess, that Jesus is the Christ, and themselves good, if not the best Christians, that are on earth, have not by their deeds, in opposing their King, the Substitute and Vioeroy of Christ, and denying him, either to execute his Regal Office, or to live, and in suppressing all the Bishops, and so many Orthodox Loyal Preachers, so that they shall never, as Bishops, execute the Priestly Office of Christ, denied jesus to be Christ; by denying those Substitute Officers of Christ to execute those Offices, or to live in those Offices; I leave it to them that can judge, who is the Liar and the Antichrist, and that denieth jesus to be the Christ. Only, I must say, That if I were a Pagan, and an Infidel, and had seen no more of the Parliaments do, but these two things, i.e. 1. Their words and great profession of holiness and Christianity. And, The two chiefest things that do most of all regret the mind of the Author. 2. Their deeds in the cutting off of their own just and lawful King's head, and the head of their chief Priest, and the suppression, exclusion, and extirpation of all the godly Bishops in these three Kingdoms, and likewise the prohibition and sileneing of them, and the rest of the Orthodox Preachers, from preaching of the Gospel of jesus Christ, not for any supposed Error in their Doctrine, but for a suspicion they had, that those faithful men would publish the truth and villainies of their Acts and Proceed unto the People; I should believe none could be a greater Liar, or a greater Antichrist, than they that did such things: Being confident, that neither Decius, nor Dioclesian, nor any other of the primitive Persecutors, nor Pope, nor Turk, nor any later Tyrant hath ever done the like. And yet herein, That the Author can very well endure dissentients. I am not so wedded to mine own opinion, as that I cannot endure dissentients; for I am not of their minds, that hold him not for their friend, and will bear no correspondence with him that will not, per omnia & in omnibus, in all things be of their mind; neither do I propose my conceptions, notions, and Expositions, as infallible Articles of faith for others, sub paena, to be believed; but I only set down, what I conceive, and do verily believe to be true, and my Reasons and Arguments that induce me thereunto: leaving to all others, the liberty of their own conscience to believe what they will, and whom they will to be the Antichrist, Pope, or Turk, or whomsoever they please. 3. 3. That the Antichrist, denying Jesus to be the Christ; denieth the Father and the Son which may be done 2 ways. 1. Way. Mat. 10.40. Luc. 10.16. S. John proceedeth and saith, that the Antichrist not only denyeth Jesus to be the Christ, but also, by this denial, he denyeth the Father and the Son, and this, as I conceive, may be done two manner of ways: 1. By separating himself from the rule, Government, and Ministry of Christ, and maliciously suppressing the ordinances, and the substitute Governors of Christ: which is a most observable and inseparable, mark of the Antichrist, and of all his followers; for thus our Saviour tells us, that whosoever despiseth, rejecteth and suppresseth the officers, Ambassadors, and Ministers, that Christ sendeth, and setteth over us to ru●e us, and to instruct us, despiseth, rejecteth, and, by as much as in him lieth, suppresseth Christ himself; and whosoever despiseth, rejecteth, and denyeth him, despiseth and denieth God the Father, that sent him; and therefore you may plainly see hereby, Vide R. W. in lib. The Doctrine of the Scripture touching the original of Government, pag. 117. that the rebellious risers against their King, Prince, or any other, their supreme Governor, that Christ placeth over them, and the suppressors of the Apostles, Bishops, and Pastors of God's Church, the successors of the Apostles, that Christ sends to teach, and to govern his Church throughout all ages, do rebel, reject, and deny Christ, which is the Son; and by rejecting and denying Christ, that is, the Son, they reject and deny him that sent him, that is, the Father; and so by denying, hindering, and suppressing these substitute officers of Christ, that they shall not live to execute their office;, they reject and deny both the Father and the Son; because these, master and servant, Christ and his Deputies, as Kings and their Ambassadors are Relatives, and so indissolubly knit together, that you can neither oppose, suppress, nor deny the one without the other; and therefore, quia per latera nostra Christus petitur, because Christ is thrust at, and wounded, through our sides that are his servants, Act. 9.4. he saith unto Saul, Why persecutest thou me? when he neither did, nor meant any hurt to the person of Christ, that was in heaven, but abused and persecuted his servants, that were on earth; which is the true meaning of the Apostle in this place: or otherwise, if you expound these words literally of him, that, by denying the Son to be essentially one God with the Father, denyeth the Father to be a God; because the Father and the Son are so essentially one, that no man can deny the one but he must deny the other: then cannot this speech of the Apostle be properly applied to the Antichrist; because, that if such a denier of the Son, to be one with the Father, be the Antichrist, you may find many thousands of the Antichrists in the world: But of such as profess to honour the person of Christ, Let the Reader judge, whether this be fulfilled in the long Parliament. that is in heaven, and yet quite deny, suppress, and extinguish his Deputies and Officers, that should execute the Offices of Christ here on earth, we shall find none but the great Liar, that is, the Antichrist, will do the same: And whether the long Parliament did thus deny the Father and the Son, by denying them that the Son hath sent, as the denial of him whom the Father hath sent, is a denial of the Father, as well as of the Son; let the judicious Reader judge. 2. 2. Way. The great Liar may be said to deny the Father and the Son, when he professeth to believe in the Father and the Son; and yet denyeth with the Arians, Nestorians, Eutychians, and other old Heretics, the terms, and rejecteth the notions and expressions, whereby we come to understand, and make the people likewise, to have some competent measure of knowledge, in the great Mystery of the holy Trinity, how the Father and the Son, and so the Holy Ghost, are the only true God, as our Saviour saith, John 17.3. John 17.3. the which thing the Pope never did, I am sure of it. But whether the long Parliament Divines, and their Proselytes, the false prophet, 1 John 2.19. and the Independent Apostatas, that are such Antichrists, as the Apostlespeaks of, that went out from us, and were not of us, and such sons of the Church, Whether the Assembly of Presbyterians and Parliament Preachers may not be said to deny the Father and the Son, let the Reader judge. as S. Bernard speaks of, Filii nequam, filii scelerati, qui scaeviunt in matrem, do not thus deny the Father and the Son, when they reject and refuse the words, Essence, person, unity, Trinity, and the like words, that totidem syllabis cannot be found in the Scriptures, and do likewise cashier and exclude from God's service the Gloria Patri, Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost; and cast away from all use that most excellent Hymn, Te Deum laudamus, te Dominum confitemur, and others the like holy Hymns, and expressions of our Faith, which S. Ambrose, S. Augustine, and other godly men, and after them the whole Church of God, — Penes quam norma loquendi, that hath the power to coin words, to explain the truth, have ever used, to bring her children to some understanding, and a competent measure of knowledge in that great and ineffable mystery of Godliness, which is, the unity of the Godhead in the Trinity of persons; and, è contra, the Trinity of persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost in the unity of Essence or Godhead; and to make the weaker Christians, and the weaker Divines, the better able to answer, and to confute those wicked Heretics, that are always ready to arise, (as now they do) to deny the truth of these holy Mysteries? let the wise and experienced Divines judge hereof: For the Apostle meaneth not, as I said before, that he, which in plain terms, and with spen mouth, denyeth the being, or the Godhead of the Father, and of the Son, is the Liar, and the Antichrist, but, as the crafty fool, that durst not say it openly, yet cunningly and secretly saith in his heart, There is no God, Psal. 53.1. and 14.1. is a mere Atheist, though he never uttereth that atheistical wickedness with his mouth; so are they mere Antichrists, and great Liars, that say, they do believe these Mysteries; and yet secretly and maliciously deny the Father and the Son, though not directly, yet by infallible consequences, when they deny those notions and expressions, whereby we come to know the Father and the Son, though they profess the contrary in their words, which makes them to be the Liar, because they say one thing, and do another, that is still the property of the Antichrist, to do just so, as they do. And therefore, Let the Presbyterians think of this, and repent. seeing he is the Antichrist that denyeth the Father and the Son, as the Apostle saith; and, that he which denyeth and rejecteth them that are sent, denieth and rejecteth him that sent them, as our Saviour testifieth; and that they also, which deny the notions and expressions, whereby we come to know the Father and the Son, do by consequence, and in very deed, whatsoever they say to the contrary, deny the Father and the Son, it must needs follow, that the deniers and suppressors of them that are sent by Christ, and the diniers of those notions, and the rejectors of those expressions, whereby we come to know the Father and the Son, must be the great Liar, and the Antichrist: from which charge, though I accuse them not, yet I know not how the Assembly of the long Parliaments presbyterian Divines will excuse themselves, and be quitted, cum surrexerit ad judicandum Deus, when the Son of God shall call them to an account for it: let them think of it in the interim. For, What is to be understood by the name of the Lord our God. as he that denieth my name, whereby I am made known, denieth me, and he that denieth his own name, denieth himself, because his name is the chiefest note, that makes him known; and, as when the Lord saith, Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain; because his name is that, which chief makes him known to us; and by his name there, all Divines say, that we must understand, not only the name Jehova, and Lord, and God, and the other usual and proper titles and names of God, which S. Hierome, and others have collected out of the Scriptures; but also any other thing, that discovereth and maketh God known unto us, as his works, his word, his titles, his attributes, and the like; because God hath no proper name, that can make him known unto us, or fully express his nature, and his being, as God himself saith unto Moses, Exod. 13.14. when he desired to know his name, that he might thereby know him: So whosoever denyeth the things, and rejecteth the words, notions, and expressions that bring us to know God, or to know the Father and the Son, to be the true God, doth therein and thereby deny God, and is, as the Apostle saith, the great Liar, and the Antichrist, that denyeth the Father and the Son. Leber Secundus. CAP. I. The measuring of the Temple; the two Witnesses that should erect and build the Christian Church; who they are; how long they should Prophesy; how they should be killed, and used after their kill; how they shall be resuscicated and revived; and in what time they shall be revived after they be killed; and of the great mystery of God, what it is, and when that shall be finished. OUr loving Lord and Master Jesus Christ, having left us here on earth, was not like Pharoahs' Butler, so unmindful of us, as we are of him, when he was glorified in Heaven; but he sends his Angel to inform his best beloved Desciple and Servant Ichn of those chiefest afflictions and persecutions, that the Christian Church should find, and must so undergo here amongst the Sons of men, from that time, that the Angel came unto him, until he should come to judge the World, and to deliver his distressed Servants out of all their troubles; To what end Christ foretells the troubles of his Church. and he foretells us of them, that they being foreshowed unto us, we might the better either study by our endeavours and prayers to God, wisely to prevent and avoid them, or manfully with God's assistance to undergo them, which might the better, and the more patiently be done, being expected for to come; quia tela previsa minus nocent; because expected troubles are always less dangerous, and not any ways so grievous, as those that do suddenly surprise us, and rush upon us like an A med man; and this sad and woeful condition of the Church, the Wars and Conflicts that she must pass through, and the troubles and persecutions that she must suffer, the Blessed Evangelist and Apostle St. john setteth down in this book of the Revelation, as the Holy Ghost by his Angel hath showed them unto him. And of all the things that are foreshowed, I intent only to handle, What things the Author chief aimeth to treat of. by the assistance of God's Holy Spirit, and to treat in this place, what I conceive to be the chiefest things that are observable in the 11th, 12th, and 13th, Chapters of this Book of the Revelation; and which are as I believe principally meant, or at least, most probably applicable to these very times wherein we live, and in all likelihood to this particular Church of great Britain and Ireland, that to many men seemeth to be the Stage, whereupon all, or most of the sad spectacles and Tragedies here in these three Ghapters mentioned, are evidently seen acted as they were foreshowed. I confess, the burden, that herein I took upon me, is very heavy, and the charge very great; and I have often Prayed to the same Holy Spirit, The weight of the burden that he undertaketh. that as Daniel saith, giveth Wisdom and revealeth Secrets: Dan. 2.21. & 22. and that hath revealed these secrets unto his Servant john, that he would be pleased to reveal the meaning of them unto me, who without his help can understand just nothing, but with his assistance may find out the true meaning of these mysteries, which wiser men and greater Scholars without his help cannot do; and herein I presume not positively to affirm any thing, as Articles of Faith for others to believe, but I only do set down what I verily do conceive to be the true meaning of the Holy-Ghost, and say with the Poet, — Si tu quid rectius istis. Candidus imperti, si non, his utere mecum. Now the sum of these three Chapters, The sum of the three Chapters that are explained by the Author. 11 chap. in brief, is this: 1. In the 11th Chapter, the Angel setteth down to St. john, the state and condition of the Governors and Pastors of God's Church, the two Witnesses of Jesus Christ, and their fiery trial, their persecution, and their suffering under the rule and Reign of the great Antichrist, termed here, the Beast that ascendeth from the bottomless pit. 2. 12 chap. In the 12th Chapter, he showeth the troubles, Crosses, and Persecutions of the whole Church, and the chiefest members of the same; and how that, notwithstanding all the malice of Satan, and the spite of her persecutors, the Church should be assisted and delivered from them all. 3. 13 chap. In the 13th Chapter, the Apostle describeth unto us the great Antichrist that should most of all persecute the Witnesses of Christ; and the false Prophet that should instruct and instigate the Antichrist to proceed on in all his impieties; and he showeth the Combination of these two and of others, the chiefest Enemies of the Witnesses and of the Church of Christ. First, 1. Of the measuring of the Temple, and of the Worshippers therein. Chap. 11.1. After that the Apostle had eaten 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, the little book which the Angel gave him, and was told by the Angel, that he must Prophesy again before many People, and Nations, and Tongues, and Kings; he saith, there was given unto him a Reed, like to a Rod, or a measuring Pole; and the Angel said unto him, arise, and measure the Temple of God, and the Altar, and them that Worship therein: And we find that this measuring Reed was used sometimes to pull down, to ruin, and to destroy the measured place; and sometimes to build and to rear up the same; and some Interpreters, whom E. H. followeth, do understand it here for the ruin and Rejection of the Jewish people, the dissipation of them by the Romans, What is meant by the Temple that was to be measured. The building of the Church of Christians. and the end of their then Temple, their Sacrifices, and their Religion that was now approaching on, and very nigh at hand; but I rather conceive that by the Temple of God that was now to be measured, we should understand the Church of God, that is, the Christian Church, that was now to be edified, to be reared up, and to be reduced to a new form, and to have new Ordinances, and new Sacraments, far better than those that were in the Jewish Temple; as Beza saith. Reason. 1 1. Because the Old Temple at Jerusalem was already destroyed by Titus, and the Jews vanquished and scattered by the Romans, after they had won their City, before this measuring Reed was delivered unto the Apostle, which was about the latter end of Domitian's Reign, after the dectruction of Jerusalem; therefore not likely that the Angel would give him a Reed to measure their dissipation, after they were dissipated, and their destruction after they were destroyed. Reason. 2 2. Because this Temple was committed to the two Witnesses of Christ, as is plain out of the third verse, which Beza therefore Translateth, by adding illam, sciliet Ecclesiam. that is, the Church of Christ, or illud, scilicet Templum, which signifieth here the same thing, unto the words of the Text, saying, and I will give her, that is, the Church unto my two Witnesses, to be instructed, and to be governed by them; and not as our last Translation hath it, I will give power unto my two Witnesses, but I will deliver my Church unto my two Witnesses to be guided and edified; whereas the Jewish Church, that was already dissipated, and their Ceremonies now were to be quite abolished, was rather taken from the Witnesses, and the Witnesses from it, and not given unto it to be edified by them, when it was to be ruinted, as the Apostle showeth. Reason. 3 3. Because the Apostle is here likewise commanded to measure, together with the Temple, them that Worship in the Temple, which therefore must needs be understood of their building up, and not of their destroying, when God will not destroy them that Worship him. But the Court, saith the Angel, which is without the Temple, and into which all sorts of people were admitted to come, 2 Chron. 4.9 the same being answerable to our Churchyard, leave out, and measure it not, saith the Angel; and the reason is, because this Common Court was given to the Gentiles, that is, not only to the Christian Church Apostatised to Idolatry, as Mr. Mede saith, but also to the Infidels, Worldlings, Mr. Mede part 2. page 3. Hypocrites, and all other wicked and profane people, that were and would be such as those, whom the Jews termed Gentiles, that is, not the true Worshippers of God; which notwithstanding are permitted to come to the Court of God's house as the Gentiles were to the Court of the Temple, and to be there in the material Church, among God's people, and to seem to be as good Christians as the best; and yet they are not measured to be built, and to be made true Christians & right Saints and Servants of God; because they are, as the Gentiles were accounted to be among the Jews, that is, not the right Worshippers and servers of the true God, whom the Jews professed, and believed that he was only known in Jury, Psal. 79.1. and his name only great in Israel, as the Prophet showeth, but Idolaters and the Worshippers of stocks and stones, and those Images that were no Gods; for so are all the Hypocritical professors, and profane worldly men, and lewd livers, that will not be reduced and brought by the Witnesses of Christ to a better form, to be built in the true service of God, and the right faith of Jesus Christ, none otherwise then as the Gentiles were among the Jews, not any of God's people. And these Gentiles, that is, these Hypocrites, Worldlings, and profane people that are as the Gentiles were, admitted to the Court of God's Temple, received into the visible & material Church amongst God's people, & are accounted as God's Children, and good Christians, yet, being not measured, nor built by the Witnesses, whom they regard not, upon the right foundation, that is, truly engrafted by a lively faith into Jesus Christ, whom they refuse to obey and to believe in him, shall at last, faith the Angel, that is, when the two Witnesses shall have finished their testimony, and that will be after 1200 and 60 days, tread the holy City under foot, that is, How long the Wicked Worldlings should afflict the true Servants of Christ. c. 13.5. most grievously persecute and vex the true Church of Christ, and the Faithful Servants of God, that are measured and rightly built, and instructed in the true faith, and the right manner of God's Worship by the Witnesses, for the full space of 42 months; which space and length of time, doth sunechronize, and is the very same space, and expressed in the very same phrase, that the Antichrict is said, that he should continue, to prevail in the molesting and persecuting of the Saints and Servants of God, which is 42 months, cap. 13. verse. 5. whereby it appeareth, that these profane Worldlings & Hypocrites will be the followers and the adherents of the Antichrist, & that they will join with him to molest & persecute the true Worshippers of God, when he appeareth in the world; until which appearance and coming of him, the true Christians, which is the holy City, shall be quiet in a fair manner, and the two Witnesses shall have power, saith our Translation, to Prophesy, and to build up the Temple of God, that is, to edify and to instruct the true Church of Christ, as Christ hath committed the same to be instructed, guided, & governed by them. There, after that the Angel had commanded the Apostle to measure the Temple, 2. Of the two Witnesses, the Builders and Governors of God's Church. that the Christian Church might be edified and amplified by the labour and the Testimony of his two Witnesses; he proceeds to describe the Witnesses that should erect and build up his Church, and to show their endowments, qualifications, and abilities, and what things should happen unto them, how they should be destroyed and yet restored again. But now touching these two Witnesses, Who are to be understood by the two Witnesses. the first thing that is most requisite to be known, for the better understanding of all the rest of the things that are said of them, is to find out, who are meant by these two Witnesses; this is the greatest question, and most of all unconsented who they are; for the most learned Cardinal of Rome, quoteth 4 Penmen of the Holy Scriptures, as Malachy, 4. and 5. the Son of Syrach, Eccles. c. 48. 10. etc. 44.16. S. Math. relating the words of Christ; Math. 17. c. 11. and St. john in this very place here treated of; Reve. 11. c. 3. and to these he adjoineth seven or eight Ancient Fathers, and some other learned Commentators upon the Apocalypses, Bellarm. de rom●n. pontific. l. 3. c. 3. that do all say, if we will believe his Interpretation of the foresaid Scriptures, these two Witnesses are Henoch and Elias, that shall come from the place where they are now preserved by God, to resist the Antichrist, when he cometh and appeareth in the world, and to Preach unto the people, that they should not be seduced by the Antichrist; the which office they shall do for the space of 1200 and 60 days, that make three years and a half, just so long as Christ Preached, after he was Baptised among the Jews: and at the end of those 1200 and 60 days, they should be slain by the Antichrist, about one month before the Antichrist should be destroyed: and it is a wonderful thing to consider how many Papists are led away with the belief of these fictions, of which I will not stand to confute, and to show their Vanity: for that Bibliander and Chytraeus have sufficiently answered to these places, Chytraeus in c. 11. Apoc. Math. 11.14. and have fully showed howthese were the mistakes of those Fathers, and but mere fancies of the Papists; when our Saviour tells us plainly, that john Baptist was the Elias, which was for to come, and which the Jews dreamt, as the Papists do, should be Elias the Tisbite that was taken up to Heaven in a Fiery Chariot. Exposition. 2 Dr. Hammond in Apoc c. 11. Eusebius l. 4. c. 6. Others, by these two Witnesses, do understand two Bishops of Jerusalem, whereof the one was Bishop over the Converted Jews, and the other of the Gentile Christians: and these Berchochabas, a Seditious and Rebellious Jew, whereof Eusebius writeth, did kill in the civil dissension of the Jews, as some Authors testify, but as unlikely, as the former fiction of the Papists. Reason. 1 And the acts of the Apostles seem not to intimate any such thing but rather the clean contrary. 1. Because we cannot yield, that there were two Bishops of Jerusalem, one of the Converted Jews, and another of the Gentile Christians, as if they meant to make two distinct and several Churches, which might produce a great division, and bring many Inconveniences betwixt the Jewish Christians and the Gentiles, whereas now the partition Wall, betwixt Jews and Gentiles was broken down, and as both people were to have but one chief Shepherd, that is Jesus Christ, so they were to have but one fold, and one Deputy Shepherd, that is, one Bishop under Christ, in one City; though I deny not, but there might be subordinate Presbyters and Deacons under that Bishop, to assist him to instruct the people, and to Govern the Church. Reason. 2 2. Because the Revelation is not of known things, that were already past, (for that is not properly a Revelation, but a Narration of things, especially things publicly done, and not concealed) but it is of things that were to come to pass: and though Berchochabas was suppressed by Rufus, in the time of the Emperor Adrian, about the 130 year of Christ; yet it is thought that these men, which are supposed to be two Bishops, were slain long before this Revelation was showed unto St. john: and not unlikely: because Eusebius nameth 15 Bishops of Jerusalem, that succeeded one another before Xistus, that was but the sixth Bishop of Rome after the Apostles, and lived about the beginning of Adrian's time. Reason. 3 3. Because it is manifest, that Berchochabas cannot be understood by the Beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit, and the great Antichrist, which is here said to kill the two witnesses; because none of the notes and marks of that Beast, under which notes, the antichrist is described in the Scriptures, do any ways agree with Berchochabas; for he never apostatised and fell away from Christ, whom he never professed; neither did he ever sit in the Temple of God, as God; nor wrought any signs, or wonders, nor went about his work slily & mysteriously, as the Antichrist doth; but he went about his design openly and plainly, aperto mart, with armed Troops; and therefore he cannot be understood to be the killer of these two witnesses, nor these witnesses to be those two supposed Bishops of Jerusalem. Exposition. 3 Francisc. Junius in loc. Others, by these two witnesses do understand it generally of the Ministers and Preachers of God's word, that are expressed by the number of two, because of their weakness, contemptibleness and fewness, according to our Saviour's words, The harvest indeed is great, but the labourers are few; and yet they are two, that they might the better assist one another; and especially, Deut. 19.13. 2 Cor. 13.1. Mat. 18. v. 16. to confirm the Testimony of one another unto all other men, according as the Law requireth, that by the mouth of two or three Witnesses, every word might be made good unto men, as the Apostle showeth. But I can see no reason, that all the Ministers and Preachers of God's word, should be expressed by the number of two; when as, though in the beginning, when Christ spoke it the number of the Apostles and Disciples were but very few, yet the Psalmist, prophesying of the succeeding time of the Gospel, after the day of Pentecost, saith, that God gave the word, and great was the Company of the Preachers; and they could not be weak and contemptible, during the time of their prophesying, and before the coming of the Antichrist, because they were the two Olive Trees, and the two Candlesticks, that stand before the God of the Earth, and if any man hurt them, that is, during the time of their Prophecy, Apoc. c. 11.4.5. fire proceedeth out of their mouth, and devoureth their enemies; and therefore our last translation addeth, for the explanation of the point, the word power unto the Text, saying, and I will give power unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy, that is, Apoc. c. 11.3. during the time allotted them, 1200 and 60 days, so that none shall be able to hinder them. Exposition. 4 Others do conceive, that by these two witnesses, we may better understand the two Testaments, that is, the holy Scriptures of the old and new Testament, whereof our Saviour saith, Search the Scriptures, for they testify of me; John 5.39. and thus do they expound them, that make the Pope to be the Antichrist, because he hath suppressed the Scriptures both of the old and new Testament, and hath offered violence, and so killed the true sense and meaning of these two Testaments. For the violence, that the Pope and his Cardinals, and the whole Church of Rome have offered unto the holy Scriptures, I cannot, and I will not go about to excuse them; neither do I think, that they can excuse themselves; but, though the two Testaments are witnesses of Christ, and do bear witness of him; yet because they are but a dead letter, and so dead witnesses, as are the Heavens, and all the works of God, the witnesses of God, though the Scriptures truly expounded are by far, the clearer and the surer witnesses of him: but being turned like a nose of wax by the Heretics, as they are very often, I assure myself they are not here meant by these witnesses; because they cannot properly, nor indeed any ways, be said to be killed, when the truth may only be wounded, and for a time suppressed, but never killed and quite extinguished, quia magna veritas & prevalet, as Zorchabel proveth; and it is but an idle shift of Expositors, to make good their own conceits, Esdras 14.41. to run unto tropes and figures when we may literally without tropes, expound the same more agreeable unto the truth, and without violence unto the Text: therefore I conceive that the two Testaments cannot, with any probability, be understood by these two witnesses, that are said to be killed by the beast; and especially because they cannot be said to be the two Olive Trees, or the anointed ones, nor the two Candlesticks, that hold up the light, when as they are the light, that these Candlesticks do hold, nor to be confined to such a time, as 1200 and 60 days, when these two Testaments, maugre all the malice of the Antichrist, shall continue to the last day. And therefore I do rather expound these two witnesses to be the preservers and the interpreters or preachers of these two Testaments, that being living creatures, Who are these two Witnesies, that is, 1. The King. 2. The Bishop. may be killed by this Beast; and these are rightly termed the two Olive Trees, or the two Sons of Oil, that is, the anointed of God, and the two Candlesticks that stand before the God of the Earth, that is, to hold up the light of the two Testaments, to enlighten the Church of God with the truth of his holy word, in despite of the Devil, which is termed the God of the Earth: And these preservers and Interpreters of these two Testaments are, as E. H. truly observeth, 1 Pet. 2.13. the civil Magistrates, and the Ecclesiastical Governors of God's Church, that is, Moses and Aaron; or the King, as the supreme Magistrate, and the Bishop, as the chief Pastor, that hath the oversight of the rest of the subordinate Ministers; as St. Paul showeth; 1 Tim. 3. c. 4.1. for the King is custos utriusque tabulae, the defender of the faith, and obliged to take care, as well of the Church and service of God, as of the Commonwealth; All good Kings took special care to have God truly served. so Moses testifieth, and so David, Solomon, Jehosophat. Ezechias, Josias, and all the godly and good Kings of Israel and Judah had; and so Constantine, Theodosius, and our own pious Princes, Queen Elizabeth, King James, and King Charles, and all other good Christian Kings shown, that they took special care to see the truth purely preached, and the service of God duly and rightly executed, and therefore may most truly and literally without any trope or figure, be said to be one of these two witnesses of Jesus Christ; and the Bishop is to take upon him curam animarum, the special care and charge of souls, and the charge of them that are under him, Act. 20.18. and undertook the charge of souls, to see that they do carefully feed the flock of Christ, whereof the Holy ghost hath made them overseers; and therefore also the Bishops and the Ministers of God's word, may be rightly said, and none can deny it, to be the other witnesses of Jesus Christ; and so Christ saith unto his Apostles, and in them to all the Bishops that were to succeed the Apostles, that they were his Witnesses, Act. 1.8. and they should testify, and bear witness of him in Jerusalem, and unto the uttermost parts of the Earth, which they themselves could not do, but in and by those Bishops, that succeeded them in all the ordinary duties of the Apostles: and therefore no forehead, were it of Brass, can deny these to be the witnesses of Christ, without blushing, when Christ himself doth affirm it. And so you see plainly, Zechary, 4.14. that these two, which are indeed the Sons of the Olive Tree, the two only Offices and Callings that are the anointed of God, and the two Candlesticks, that hold up the light of the two Testaments, the King, by the strength of his Sword, and the Bishops by the faithful preaching of God's word, are the two witnesses of Jesus Christ, and therefore well may the King and the inferior Magistrates under him, and the Bishop with his subordinate Clergy, like Moses and Aaron, the supreme Magistrate and the High Priest, be rightly termed the two Witnesses of Jesus Christ, in every Kingdom and Commonwealth. Then after that the Angel had intimated unto the Apostle, c. 11. v. 4. who are to be understood by these two Witnesses, by terming them the two Olive Trees, that is, the two anointed Officers of God's Church; and the two Candlesticks, that do bear and uphold the true light of the Gospel unto the people: he proceeds to show the Power and Abilities, c. 11. v. 5. & 6. the gifts and Endowments that God would bestow upon them, both for to enable them to build up the Temple that was measured, that is to edify and to enlarge the Christian Church, and also to protect themselves against their Enemies, and to punish those that should be refractory; and to show for how long a time they should freely and fairly enjoy this power and liberty to build this Church; for (saith the Angel) these two Witnesses shall have power to poewr out fire out of their mouth, Numbers 16. 2 Reg. 1. Jerem. 5.14. Their power was the same as Christ gave to his Apostles and God to Moses. to destroy their Enemies, that go about to hurt them; and they shall have power to shut the Heavens that it rain not in the days of their Prophecy; and they shall have power over waters, to turn them to blood, and to smite the earth with all Plagues, as often as they will: And these powers and Abilities are the very same that Christ had formerly given unto his Apostles, and their successors, the Bishops and Governors of his Church; and the very same powers and abilities that God long before had given and granted unto Moses, and to all his successors, that supply his place and office, the Kings and chief Magistrates, that are, as he was, to rule over and to govern God's people; for our Saviour tells St. Peter that he will give to him the Keys of the Kingdom of Heaven, that is, of the Church, which is the way that brings us to the Kingdom of Heaven, and whatsoever he shall bind on earth, shall be bound in Heaven; and whatsoever he shall leose on earth, shall be loosed in Heaven; and this power he gave not only to St. Peter, but also to all the rest of the Apostles and their Successors for ever: as you may see in Math. 18. v. 18. and John the 20. v. 23. Math. 16.19. so Mr. Mede part 2. & pag 11. And so according to this power granted unto the Apostles and Bishops that are the Governors of the Church, and have the Keys thereof, the sentence of Excommunication, or the shutting out of the Church, and the delivery of the lewd and wicked refractory person unto Satan, as the Apostle speaketh, 1 Cor. 5.5. The sentence of excommunication is the fire and the key. is the fire that proceedeth out of the mouth of this Ecclesia sticall Witness, and the Key that shutteth the Gate, and the Windows of Heaven, that the rain of grace, and the comforts and consolations of God's word, cannot fall on such a person, so long as he continueth in that excommunicate condition: And, as God hath given unto Moses power, by his Rod, to turn the Rivers and all the waters of Egypt into blood, and to bring all the other Plagues, that were brought upon Pharaoh, and upon all the Land of Egypt, The extent of the power of the witnesses. for their obstinate refusal to let Israel go to serve the Lord: So he hath given unto his Kings a power, and a Sword, that is signified by Moses his Rod, to punish and to draw blood, even the heart's blood of such wicked offenders, as will be like Pharaoh, rebellious and obstinate against the Commandments of God; And herein, you may observe the extent of their power which he granted unto them, that is, to smite the Earth, but not the Heaven, with all Plagues; and that is, to punish the earthly and worldly minded men, that are wicked, and do follow after the vanities, impieties, and iniquities of this sinful life; but not the godly men, whose conversation is in Heaven, and which are obedient to the Laws of God and man, with fines, mulcts, imprisonments, banishments, and death itself; for if they smite the Heaven, that is, the righteous and the innocent with any of these Plagues, that power is not given them from God, but from the Dragon, that is, the Devil gives it them, Revel. 13 2. as the Apostle showeth. And so you see the powers and the abilities that God hath given to these his two witnesses, the King and the Bishop, the Civil and the Ecclesiastical Governors of his People; the one exercising his power in the Church with the word of his mouth, and the other in the Commonwealth with the Sword in his hand. And for the time, The time that the two Witnesses shall continue to prophesy. c. 11. v. 3. Fran. Jun. in loc. Ezek. 4.6. Dan. 9.24. Numb. 14. v. 34. Mat. 3.2. Luc. 3.3. that these two Witnesses shall quietly and peaceably execute their Offices and Prophecy, that is, discharge their Duties to govern the Commonwealth, and to build up the Church of Christ; the Angel saith, it shall be 1200 and 60 days clothed in Sackcloth; and that is, as Junius here, and divers others do rightly take a day for a year, 1200 and 60 years, as they do collect out of Ezekiel and Daniel, and other places of Scripture, where under the number of so many days as are expressed, so many years are to be understood; And so we find that with the favour, and under the protection of Christian Emperors, and Godly Kings, the Orthodox Bishops, and true Pastors and Preachers of the Gospel of Christ, did freely without fear, publish the Doctrine of faith and repentance, which was the Doctrine of John Baptist, and the Doctrine that Christ continued to preach, and commanded his Apostles in like manner, to preach the same unto the people; and which I take to be signified by their Clothing in Sackcloth, in their so conforming themselves unto their Doctrine, as John Baptist did, Mat. 3.4. clothing himself, in a Garment of Camels hair, and a girdle of Leather about his loins, and not mourning for the pollution of the true Church, (which during the time of their Prophecy, was not polluted) as Mr. Mede and others do suppose, but, Mr. Mede. part 2. p. 7 8. as I conceive, much amiss, that we should think the true Church was, or that God would suffer his true Church to be, so long polluted, for the full space of 1200 and 60. years, before the persecution of the Antichrist should begin, or that his persecution should last so long. And that is, if you begin to account, not as Junius would have it, Junius in annotat. in loc. immediately after the passion of Christ, because this power of free publishing the Doctrine of repentance was not yet given them, while they were prohibited, and persecuted from place to place, for preaching the Gospel of Christ; but it was given them after the end and determination of the ten former persecutions of the Church by the Heathen Tyrants, and after the other storms and afflictions, that were raised against them, by the means and procurement of the Arian Heretics, and were as violently prosecuted by Constantius and other Arian Kings of the Goths and Vandals, as the persecution of the Heathen Emperors; as the life of Athanasius, and the story of the Church doth sufficiently testify, when the Church was settled and established in peace and quietness, and the governing Bishops freely permitted, and royally protected by the Christian Kings and Emperors, to preach the faith of Christ, and to exhort their people to repentance from dead works, yea and to enjoin the transgressors, to repent in Sackcloth, and to abhor themselves and their former courses in dust and ashes. And this was not, The time when the two witnesses received their full power to prophesy about the year 382. till after the death of Valens, which was about the year of Christ 382. When Theodosius had vanquished the Huns and the Goths, and the rest of those boisterous Northern enemies of the Empire, that exceedingly troubled, and brought infinite crosses and molestations, not much inferior, if not some ways worse, than the Heathen persecutions, upon the Church; as you may easily find in those excellent Books of St. August. de civitate Dei, and others, the Ecclesiastical Writers of those times. And from this suppression of those fierce and cruel enemies, both of the Orthodox Church, and the Roman Empire, which was, as I said, about the year 382. to the beginning of the long Parliament, we shall find about the sum of 1200. and 60 years; When the time of their prophesying in Sackcloth was ended. throughout all which time, the true Orthodox Bishops, the one of the two witnesses of God's truth, in all the Christian Kingdoms, as Spain, France, Germany, Ingland, Scotland, Ireland, and the rest, had full power and free liberty to preach the Doctrine of faith, and to enjoin penance unto their people; and they were not only protected from the wrongs, violence, and malice of all their opposers; About the year 1642. but they were also assisted to reduce all transgressors to repentance; as, above all other times, in these Kingdoms, that are best known unto us, the happy Reign of Queen Elizabeth, King James and King Charles, can sufficiently justify this truth unto you; and the Christian Kings and Princes, that were the other witness of God's truth, and the nursing Fathers of the Church, were through the faithful preaching of God's word, and the strict and godly Discipline of the Church, most loyally obeyed, and religiously observed, as they ought to be, in all the Christian Kingdoms; and so both the witnesses, by their mutual helping and assisting one another, were throughly strengthened and enabled for this space of 1200. and 60. years, to build up the Temple, which was commanded to be measured, to be reared up. But than it is said v. 7. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, and when these two witnesses, That the two witnesses shall be killed. thus orderly strengthening and assisting each other, shall have finished, or end, their Testimony, that is accomplish the full space of 1200 and 60 years; the beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit, shall make war against them, and shall overcome them, and kill them; three short sentences, and three great wonders; for, 1. Three great wonders in these three short Sentences. 1. Wonder. Zech. 2.8. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉; the beaft shall make war with them; and is it not wonderful, that the beast should make war with God's witnesses? for, if he be a Warrior, and will needs make war, can he fight with none, or find none to fight withal, but with the witnesses of Jesus Christ? for this is to fight against God himself; and to touch them, is to touch the apple of his eye, as the Lord professeth most plainly in Zechary 2.8. and therefore, hoc magnum est, hoc mirum, this must needs be a wonderful thing, that any beast should venture to make war with God's witnesses, but the second thing here said is more wonderful; For, 2. 2. Wonder. He shall make war with them, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, and he shall overcome them; Indeed they are filii pacis, no Swordmen, no men of blood, though the King wears the Sword; because they are the Sons of Oil, and the Children of peace: and the King wears the Sword principally to preserve peace; and the Office of the Bishops is to be, evangelizantes pacem; the preachers of peace through Jesus Christ: and therefore, in this respect, it is no wonder, that the Antich: which comes 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, with all power, both of Arms, men and money, should overcome these harmless men; but is it not a wonder, that God, whose Servants they are, and whose witnesses they be, should, not only suffer this infernal beast; to make war with them but also to vanquish and to overcome them? yes indeed, it may seem marvelious in our eyes; and it stumbleth many men, and makes them to think ill of God's witnesses, to see them subdued by the beast, which they would not so mis-judge if they would, with the Prophet, consult with God, why he suffereth the wicked so to prosper, and his own Children so to be punished. And yet 3. The last point is most wonderful, and far more marvellous than the former, 3. Wonder. that he should overcome them; for it followeth, that he shall overcome them, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, and he shall kill them; what? will nothing serve to quench the thirst of this beast, but the blood of these Saints, and the death of these witnesses? and will God suffer his own dear servants, his choicest Officers, the rulers of his people, and the witnesses of his only Son Jesus Christ, How God suffereth many things. to be killed and murdered by this beast? for this will make men to believe, as many do, that these witnesses are the beast, and the beast to be the best witness of Jesus Christ; but they might remember, that, as God suffereth all this, so many times he suffereth much more than this: as, when he suffered Joseph to be sold into Egypt, Urias to be killed, Daniel to be thrown into the Lion's Den, Shadrach, Meshac and Abednego, to be cast into the fiery furnace, and above all, and more strange than all, his own dear and his only Son, to be killed and crucified by the like beast: and they might think, that God knoweth what is best, and that he doth always what is best, and as the Apostle saith, worketh all things together for the best, for all that love him; Rom. 8.28. so that their conquered condition proves to be their happiness; and their enemy's Victory to be their misery; for though God suffered them to be vanquished and killed, yet then are they Blessed, Psal. 116.15. and as the Prophet saith right dear in the sight of the Lord is the death of his Saints, and much dearer is the death of his holy Martyrs, the Witnesses of his truth, whose blood he will most assuredly avenge on them that dwell on the earth, to make them most miserable. Questi. But here the question is, that seeing the two Witnesses of Christ are the supreme Magistrate, which is the King, and the chief Priest, which is the Bishop, the Civil and the Ecclesiastical Governors of God's people; and it is the Beast, that ascendeth from the Bottomless pit which killed them, who be they that are killed, if they be killed; and who is that beast that hath done it, if it be done? Respon, I answer, that Mr. Brightman thought that this Prophecy was fulfilled in the Smalcaldick War, under Charles the 5th; the which mistake, Mr Mede doth sufficiently confute, so that I need not stand to disprove this error; but if I demand, whether King Charles and his Magistrates, and the Bishop of Canterbury and his Clergy were not the Witnesses of Jesus Christ? I presume none will, none can justly deny the same: and if again it be demanded, whether the long Parliament and their adherents did not make war with the King, and accuse the Bishops, and most of the rest of the grave Doctors and faithful Preachers of this Church, for innovation, and a high Project of bringing in Popery into this our Kingdom? which unjust suspicion and groundless jealousy they spread every where among the people, to set them on fire, and to gallop unto the War against the King, to press him to subscribe, confirm and ratify their covenant, whose principal scope was to root out and to overthrow the Hierarchy, and the Ecclesiastical Governors of God's people, which were the Bishops, and the other faithful Witness of Christ: I believe all this is so well known to all the Kingdom, that every one will confess it; and, as they cannot deny the War with these Witnesses, so they must yield, that these two Witnesses, both King and Bishop, were vanquished and killed; I am sure that Parliament hath overcome the King, and he is killed, which was the supreme Magistrate, and one of the two Witnesses of Christ. And I find the names of such persons, as did actually sit as Judges upon the Trial of his Magisty, with the Council and attendants on the Court, which they called the High Court of Justice, to be these. JOhn Bradshaw, And I do set them down, that all posterities and their children's Children, and whose embrioes are not yet in being, may understand who had the honour to be the Judges of this good and Godly King: to condemn him to death. And I would have it observed, that of these. 32. were Colonels, and three Generals that fought against the King, and all of them a party that warred and waged the war against him; and these that were his enemies & sought his life, were made his Judges to take away his life. And whether this was good Justice in the Parliament, to make his enemies to be his accusers, Witnesses and Judges, I leave it to wiser men than I am, to judge of it. Sergeant at Law, Precedent of the Pretended High Court of Justice. John Lisle. William Say. O liver Cromwell. Henry Ireton. Esqs Sir Hardresse Waller. Valentine Walton. Thomas Harrison. Edward Whaley. Thomas Pride. Isaac Ewers. Esqs Lord Grace of Groby. Sir John Danvers Knight. Sir Thomas Maleverer Baronet. Sir John Bourcher Knight. William Heveningham Esquire. Alderman Pennington, Alderman of London. William Purefoy. Henry Martin. John Barkstead. John Blackiston. Gilbert Millington. Esqs Sir William Constable Baronet. Edmond Ludlow. John Hutchinson. Esqs Sir Mich. Livesey Baronet. Robert Tichbourne. Owen Roe. Robert Lilburne. Adrian Scroop. Richard Deane. John Okey. John Hewson. William Goffe.. Cornelius Holland. John Carey. John Jones. Miles Corbet. Francis Alinn. Peregrine Pelham. John Moor. John Aldred. Henry Smith. Humphrey Edward's. Gregory Clement. Thomas Woogan. Esqs Sir Gregory Norton Knight. Edmond Harvy. John Venn. Thomas Scot Esqs Thomas Andrews Alderman of London. William Cawly. Anthony Stapley. John Downes. Thomas Horton. Thomas Hammond. Nicholas Love. Vincent Potter. Augustine Garland. John Dixwel. George Fleetwood. Simon Meyne. James Temple. Peter Temple. Daniel Blagrave. Thomas Waite. Esqs The Counsellors that were appointed to be assistants unto the Court, and to draw up the charge against the King, I find to be. Dr. Dorislaus, Mr. Ask, Mr. Cook, Sergeant Dandy, Sergeant at Arms, and Mr. Philip's was Clark unto the Court. The Messengers and doorkeepers were, Mr. Malford, Mr. Rudley, Mr. Paine Mr. powel, Mr. Hull, and Mr. King was the Crier: all which do make up 77. and of those that were to be his Judges, any 20 of them were to condemn him. And so this High Court of Justice adjudged him, that was one of the Witnesses of Christ, to Death. And for the other Witness of God, which is the Ecclesiastical governor of the flock of Christ, which is the Bishop and his subordinate Clergy, I doubt not but the most part of the Christian world understandeth, how William Laude, Bishop of Canterbury, whose works do sufficiently prove him to be an Orthodox man, and a faithful Witness of Christ, was adjudged to be beheaded by that Parliament, and all the rest of the Godly Bishops, and the Faithful teachers of God's truth, and Witnesses of Jesus Christ, are spiritually and Civilly killed by the suppression of their Office and calling; and silencing them from Preaching: and some of them actually brought to their Graves, either through want or grief, or some other ingredient, which that Parliament administered unto them; and not any of them, but is brought to such contempt and scorn among the generality of the people, and so spitefully used in many places, that the like was never known since the Arian or the Heathen persecutions: Mr. Mede pag. 15. and this dejection of them from their Offices (had none of them been actually killed) is sufficient to prove the kill of the Witnesses, as Mr. Mede confesseth most truly. But though we say, that the King, as supreme Magistrate, and the Bishop, For the Parliament will say that they did most justly put these witnesses to death. as chief Priest, are meant by these two witnesses, here spoken of; yet we do not positively say, though we might, that these two witnesses that were thus killed, by that Parliament, are the very witnesses that are meant in this place, c. 11.7. by the spirit of God, or that the Parliament which killed them, is to be understood by the beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit, but we leave that to God, and to them, that are better able to determine, whether they be or not. Only I say, that we cannot find the Pope to have either actually killed, or civilly suppressed these two Offices of the two witnesses of Christ, but that he, to the uttermost of his power, upholdeth both the regal dignity of Kings, and the divine calling of the Bishops; and therefore that he can no ways be meant by this beast, That the Pope never killed these two witnesses. that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit, and shall either actually or civilly, or both actually and civilly, kill these two witnesses, and suppress these two Offices and callings of the two witnesses of Jesus Christ; which herein, in that which befell to our witnesses, fell out most unhappily here amongst us, in these Dominions, and makes many men to think, that, as the Poet saith, haec haec, non sine numine divum Eveniunt,— All this was done, that the Scripture might be fulfilled, that saith, the two witnesses of Christ should be killed, by the beast, that is the Antichrist; and therefore if they be not killed already, in those that I have named, as we believe they are, I am certain, that they shall be killed in the two forenamed Offices of King and Bishop, because the Scripture must be fulfilled. And now, the Witnesses being killed, that is, the chief of them, How the two Witnesses being killed, shall be unburied. as the King and Bishop Laud actually slain, and beheaded; and the rest subordinate unto them, civilly killed, by their ejectment out of their Offices, and quite put out of all hope of recovery, (which happened not all at once to the Bishops, and which was not, till the good King was made away, and the Parliament had prevailed, and fully vanquished all their enemies, and the assistants of these witnesses;) the dead bodies of the witnesses, saith the Angel, shall lie in the streets of the great City, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, that is, Sodom, The full description and Character of the City where the witnesses shall be killed. for their great and abominable sins and filthiness; and Egypt, for their blindness in the Religion and service of God, and for their cruel oppression, and persecution of God's right servants; where also the Lord was crucified, and that was the great and holy City of Jerusalem; so that the dead bodies of these slain witnesses, shall lie in such a City, as shall be like Sodom and Egypt, for impiety and iniquity, and yet like Jerusalem, for profession of true piety and sanctity, hearing of Sermons, and hating all superstition; for as Jerusalem, the City where our Lord was crucified, was then pretended to be the only holy City of the World, the City of God, and the Inhabitants thereof, the only people of God; so that City, where the two witnesses of God, shall lie unburied, and where our Lord Christ was crucified in his anointed witnesses, the King and the Bishop, and the rest of their subordinate Officers, his members, (as he said unto Saul, why persecutest thou me? when he persecuted his Servants) will pretend to be the only zealous and best Protestant City, Act. 95. and the most opposite to Popery, that is in the World. And I know not how London will evade, and wash away these Characters of Sodom and Egypt, and Jerusalem; I will not accuse her, let her excuse herself, if she can; howsoever, when the slaughtered witnesses are cast forth into the streets of the great City, they of the people, and kindreds, and tongues, and Nations, shall see their dead bodies three days and a half, and shall not suffer their bodies to be put in graves. Upon which words, Junius in his notes annexed to Beza's Translation, that understands this beast that slew the witnesses, Ju●ius in annot. annex. Bezae, translat. in apoc. c. 11. Quia tres annos cum dimidio Juper vixit bon facius Jubilaeo suo; ut ait Bergomensis. that is, the Protestant Preachers of his time, to be Boniface, the 8. (who killed neither King nor Bishop, and I am confident, never did so much mischief to the Waldenses and fratricelli, that were condemned for hair brained Heretics, as the long Parliament did to the Orthodox Bishops) saith, that these three days and a half, do signify those three years and a half, that the said Boniface lived, after his Jubilee, as Bergomensis recordeth. But I conceive rather, that these three days and a half, are not simply and properly to be taken strictly for the set and determinate time of 3 years and a half, but for some certain short space or time thereabouts, that, for some reasons. I shall show hereafter, the spirit of God is pleased to express, by these three days and a half; during all which time, thus expressed, the dead witnesses, that are, in some part actually killed, and in the rest, spiritually and civilly slain by the beast, shall, after the beast hath triumphed over them, remain in the sight of the World, in the streets, that is in the common Roads, and open places of every Town, City and Village, rejected, despised, and scorned; for so 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, the street of the great City signifieth, as Mr. Mede proveth at large. And being thus despised and scorned in every place, the wicked limbs of the beast and the adherents to the Antichrist, shall not suffer their carcases to be put in graves, that is, they will strip them of all honour, they will deprive them of all their just Titles, and they will deny them all civil respects, and esteem them no better then as the Apostle saith, 1 Cor. 4.17. Vergilius Aeneidos, lib. 6. Plutarch in vita Nic●ae. p. 544. Quintus Curtius l. 5. the very filth and offscouring of the Earth; for this is the meaning, and to be understood, by the laying of them in their graves, which the very Heathens reckoned the last, and not the least honour and respect, that we own, and should show unto our worthy friends, and deceased Heroes, as Virgil showeth, by the interring of Palinurus, to whom, he saith, Et statuent tumulum, & tumulo solennia mittent. And Plutarch showeth, that the same due respect ought to be observed as an honour that we own unto all our worthy Heroes, friends and benefactors. And so Quintus Curtius saith, that when Alexander lost so many men in the straits of Pila-Susida, he would not departed thence and leave his slain Soldiers unburied, Vide Tobit. 1.17, 18, 19 and c. 2. 4. & 7. until they were interred; because, saith Curtius, among all other Ceremonies observed in the Discipline of their Wars, there was none more religiously kept, than the burying of their dead; and you may remember what great account Tobit made of this honour that is due unto the dead bodies of men; and therefore especially of worthy men, such as these witnesses of Christ were. And whether the godly and Christian King, the defender of the true Christian faith, while he lived, was, according to the letter of the Text, suffered to be put in his grave, after the Christian form, prescribed by the Church of Ingland, or rather thrown like— into a pit, Mr Fuller, in the Hist. of the Church of the burial of King Charles. without the due honour that we owed him, let the worthy Author of the History of the Church of Ingland be consulted with. I am sure, the goodness, virtue, and piety of this gracious King, and glorious Martyr deserved, at the hands of his friends and subjects, a far more glorious Tomb, honour, and solemnities of burial, than what Artemisia did for Mausolus, or what was done for Alexander, or any other Emperor or King whatsoever, I will not except Constantine, nor Theodosius, who though they were most pious men, yet did they not sacrifice their lives, and suffer all their blood to be spilt, rather than they would suffer God's service to be any ways defiled, or his Servants to be destroyed, as this glorious Martyr did; therefore I wish he should.— And whether the Reverend Bishops, the worthy Deans, the learned Doctors, and abundance more of the faithful witnesses of Jesus Christ, do not thus lie neglected, without honour, without respect, nay despised and scorned, without means, and without maintenance, in the great Cities, and in the little Villages, Towns and Country, throughout all Ingland, Scotland and Ireland, let those that see them be the Judges. And let my Reader consider, I beseech him, if that learned and pious man, Mr. Mede seemeth not to intimate, that these two Witnesses of Christ shall be killed, and rise again in the reformed Churches? for he saith, who knoweth not, Mr. Mede. pag. 22. whether or no, the reformed Churches shall not be deservedly punished, for the reproach offered to Christ in this behalf, by taking away the Witnesses for a time, because they reverenced them not, according to the dignity of their Embassage, while they enjoyed them; for it is too well known, A true conselsion of Mr. Mede. what offence the reformed Churches have committed in this behalf, that while the Prophets of Christ mightily bestirred themselves in reforming the Temple of God: others, in the mean while, disgracing that most sacred work, and especially the Workmen, by pillaging the I reassure, and interverting the oblations thereof, not leaving, in some places, so much as food, (to the great disgrace of the true Religion) whereby the Ministers thereof, That the Antichrist shall arise in the reformed Church; and why. might be ho nestly, according to the dignity of their Calling, sustained, much less, that any thing should abound, which they might set aside, for the enlarging of the Reformation, the necessity of the Holy War, the relief of the Afflicted Brethren and other pious uses; and was not the prevarication of this kind, for which, the Jewish Temple, that was the Type of the true Christian Church, was given to Antiochus Epiphanes, that was the Type of the great Antichrist, to be profaned, and the true Religion of the true God, to be trodden down for the space of three years and a half? for an Army, saith Daniel, shall be given to him against the daily Sacrifice, Dan. 8.12. by reason of transgression, and it shall cast down the truth to the ground, and it shall do it and prosper, which you may see more at large, in the History of the Maccabees, lib. 2. from the beginning of the third Chapter to the fifth Chapter: thus far Mr. Mede: Wherein, habemus confitentem virum, we have this learned man, Hucusque ingenuously confessing enough to make good what I assume, that the Witnesses should be slain in the reformed Church, and the cause that moveth God, to suffer them to be killed, and the Church to be deprived of them, to be our sins; our Sacrilege in robbing them of their revenues, and our neglect and contempt of their persons; which doth always follow the pillaging of their Estates. And if Mr. Mede had seen the unparallelled sacrilege, and the incredible contempt of the best men in holy Orders, and the trampling of the highest form in Christ his school, underfoot, that we see now, what would he have said then, to these things? I think as much as I, if not more. But if the witnesses be taken away and killed, as he feareth, Therefore he is not the Pope, nor Turk. in the reformed Churches, and their kill must be there, because there is the place, where they do bear witness: and it is the Beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit, that killeth them, and that Beast is the great Antichrist, as hereafter I shall make plain unto you: therefore it must needs follow, that the Antichrist must needs rise in like manner, out of the reformed Church, and so neither Pope nor Turk can be the Antichrist. Then, after the witnesses be killed, ejected, and deprived of all respect, it is said, How the worldly and carnal men rejoice for the kill of the two Witnesses. For the manner of sending gists, See Hest. 9.19. and 22. Isai. 9.3. Earthly men accounted those that restrained them from their wickedness, their tormentors. vers. 9 that they which dwell, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, on the earth, that is, the carnal, earthly and worldly minded men, shall rejoice over them, and make merry, and send gifts one to another; that is, for very joy, that those witnesses are vanquished and suppressed, they shall be the more Jovial, and much more exercise the jollity of their mirth and Jubilee now, and send gratulatory presents, and make feasts for Colonels and Captains that had followed the war, and suppressed these two witnesses, and so rejoice, according to the joy in harvest, and as men rejoice when they divide the spoil, Gaudebunt gaudio maximo, they will rejoice with the greatest joy that can be, more than ever they did rejoice before. And the Reason of this their Jubilee and great joy, is not omitted to be here rendered by the Holy Ghost, and therefore not to be passed over in silence; and that is, saith he, because these two Witnesses, that is, the King by his just Laws, his powerful sword, that formerly turned the waters of their unlawful lusts and pleasures, as Moses did the waters of Egypt, into blood; and the Bishops by their spiritual Courts and sentence of excommunication, that like fire proceed out of their mouth, to root out the refractory, carnal and lewd livers, out of the Church, or to reduce them to repentance, tormented them that dwell on the earth, that is, by rebuking them in their Sermons, & punishing them in their Conrts; and so the witnesses vexed them by their reproofs, and by their laws, both Ecclesiastical and Civil, which inflicted penance, and imposed fines, imprisonment and death itself upon the scandalous transgressors of the Laws of God and the King; by which means of the said civil Rule and Government, there was some restraint to bridle those earthly and carnal men, & to curb them, that they should not gallop so fast as they desired, and as otherwise they would have done, in their lewd and ungodly courses; for which bridling and hindering of them, to run on in their evil and wicked ways, these two witnesses were deemed by all those that dwell 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, upon the earth, and had their conversation and delight in the things of the earth, to be their very enemies, and their greatest tormentors. And now I demand, How the carnal & worldly men do rejoice to see the King and the Bishops suppressed. If the earthly and carnal men, the lewd livers, adulterers, Sabbath breakers, Drunkards, and the like transgressors of the Law of God and the Church, did not rejoice and leap for joy to see the King killed and all the Bishops suppressed, and their Courts, that restrained their outrages and impieties, quite abolished? for though all godly men, and all honest men, do mourn, and are grieved at the heart for those things that were done to these witnesses of Christ, yet they that dwell upon the earth, and are only cives hujus mundi, the free citizens of this world, and have none of their conversation in heaven, are exceeding glad, that there is no king in Israel; and no Bishop in the Church of God; that is, no Monarch or supreme Governor to punish their unjust do, and no Bishop's Court to question them for any of their profaneness, or to prohibit any lewdness and exorbitances, but that they might, as now they do, in many places, live after their own lusts, And do now what they list. in all lasciviousness and wantonness, and do what they list, run and preach without a calling, and so fill the Church with sects, heresies and errors; and as it was said of some lascivous Friars: Mane filium virginis praedicant in choro, Nocte filium veneris agitant in thoro. So may we far more justly say it of these unlawful, uncalled and unlearned earthly Preachers, that prate and preach, and say, and say, and all to none other end, but to hid their wantonness, and worldliness, and to deceive the world. Thus you see how the two witnesses of Christ are killed, That the Church, that is, the true and farthfull Christians shall be trodden underfoot, so long as the witnesses shall remain dead. and shall for three days and a half lie unburied without their last honour, without favour, and without any respect in the world, but the worldly men rejoicing for their dejection: And all this while, that the witness-bearers of God's truth, shall be as dead men in the world, and as stinking carcases in the nostrils of them that dwell on the earth, the holy city, that is, the true Church of Christ, which is, as St. Augustine calleth it, the City of God, shall be, as the Angel saith, c. 11.2. trodden under foot by the Gentiles, that is, the uncircumcised, that served not God, and were none of God's people, but such as followed after their Idols, and their own ungodly ways; so shall the wicked hypocrites, worldlings, and carnal men, that are here understood, by these Gentiles, profane the Houses of God, the Temples, the Oratories, and all other places consecrated for God's service, when the fonts wherein they were baptised, shall be thrown out of the Churches, the windows shall be dashed in pieces, the Altars or Communion-tables shall be trampled upon, the Bible's torn and burnt, the Chancels made stables, and the whole service of the holy Church neglected, contemned, and prohibited; the which things, I suppose, may very well be said to be, a treading of the holy city underfoot; for so the Angel saith, the holy city shall be trodden under foot forty and two months, Rev. 11 2. c. 11. v. 2. And here, verse 9 he saith, the witnesses shall lie unburied three days and a half, which, if you take a day for a year, as Junius, Bellarmine, and most Interpreters do. they do sunchronize, and agree just with the forty two months, which do make up the three years and a half that the holy city shall be trodden underfoot, to show unto us, that while the witnesses lie without their honour, and are suppressed, the King disobeyed and rejected, and the Bishops dethroned and despised; the whole Church and people of God, that would truly serve him, and respect his Vice-roes, and reverence his Messengers, shall likewise be neglected, despised and abused, as we have most apparently seen it here amongst us, how many good men have been despised and abused, ever since the King and the Bishops have been suppressed. But though nocte pluit tota, yet redeunt spectacula mane; albeit, heaviness may last for a night, yet joy cometh in the morning, for God is so good and so gracious, that he will not always be chiding, nor shut up his loving kindness in displeasure, Psal. 30.5. especially towards those that serve him, and to the uttermost of their power, discharge their duties; and therefore the Angel informeth our Apostle, that after 3. days and a half, which I conceive, is not precisely to signify 3. years and a half, no more than I do take the 42 months for that just period, and set term of 3 years and a half, without either more or less; but indefinitely for some short space, expressed here by 3 days and a half, Why the time of the witnesses rising is expressed by the notion of, after 3 days and a half. as the time of the treading of the holy City is expressed by the space of 42 months; not less than 3 days and a half, because they should not have the honour, equally with Christ, to rise as soon as he, that risen again the third day, and was most justly to have a greater privilege and pre-eminence, in rising sooner than any other; nor yet any more than three days and a half; because than they should stink, as Martha said of her Brother Lazarus, that had been dead four days; and therefore, seeing that on the third day, the dead Corpse remaineth sweet, and the flesh as yet seethe no corruption, John 11.39. but doth begin to stink, and to putrify on the fourth day, as the Physicians do relate, God would not suffer these two Witnesses to lie in the streets to stink, and to be corrupted; but after 3 days and a half, while they were yet sweet, and their memories precious with all that feared God; the spirit of life from God, or the breath of life, for so 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifieth, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, shall enter into them, and they shall stand upon their feet; not that the good King and the Bishops, or any others of the Martyrs & witnesses of Christ's that are killed, shall rise again, in their own persons; that thought is too gross; because they are now in glory, The witnesses shall rise in their successors. and great gainers by the malice of the beast, that killed them; and they should be much the worse, and great loser's, to be reduced and brought back again hither into this valley of misery; but the meaning is, that as our Saviour saith, John Baptist was the Elias, that was to come; because he was endued with the spirit of Elias, and was sent, to do the work and to supply the place, and to execute the office of Elias; Mar. 9.13. so they that shall be invested with the abilities, reestablished in the places, and confirmed with the power and authority of those witnesses, that the beast hath killed, and shall be enthroned, and take possession of the seats, offices, and privileges of the slain witnesses, are said to be the witnesses revived, and restored by the spirit of God, to stand up again upon their feet, and So Mr. Mede saith, Mr. Mede. p. 21. the witnesses shall be restored, and revived in their successors, when they shall enjoy the offices, and the former estate of the slaughtered witnesses. And so we may be sure, when God seethe his time, which is but a very short time, expressed here under the notion of three days and a half, these two witnesses, that are slain by this beast, that is, as I shown before, the monarchical and Episcopal Government, by King and Bishops, shall and will rise again, and stand upon their feet, And whether this be not now fulfilled, let my Reader judge. maugre all the opposition of their adversaries: and then, as the Holy Ghost saith, v. 11. great fear shall come upon them, that see them; that is upon their enemies, that had killed them, either by themselves or by their predecessors, and upon those also that consented and furthered to put them to death; and I believe they may very well, and aught very much to fear, to see that God is so mindful of his witnesses, and therefore, will without question, be revenged on them and their Posterity, for the slaughtering of his anointed Servants. Then the Holy Ghost setteth down Verse 12. v. 12. the means and the manner of the rising and restauration of the slain witnesses, saying, that they shall hear 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, a great voice from Heaven, that is, a powerful call from the Church, and from the People of God, How or by what means the two witnesses shall be revived. which is here meant by Heaven; for they only shall restore them, and shall say unto them 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉; come up hither, that is, ascend and take your former places, your offices and your dignities, that the beast and his adherents have taken away from you, and from your Predecessors; 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉; and they shall ascend up to Heaven in a Cloud; that is, by the help and assistance of a multitude of unperceived, And let my Reader judge whether the King be not thus restored. And we hope the Bishops shall be so likewise. and as it were Invisible friends, that shall be as a Cloud of Witnesses of their integrity, and a Cloud of Intercessors to speak for them, and to plead their causes to God and all good men against all their malicious Adversaries, and a Cloud of powerful Patrons, to regain unto them, and to restore them, if not to their Estates and possessions, which in all likelihood the Beast had sold, or bestowed, or otherwise disposed of it, and the takers of them, perhaps had expended and consumed, yet certainly to their Offices and dignities, with some competency of estate to support their dignities, which they shall obtain in despite of the beast and all his followers; for their Enemies shall see them, saith the Text, though they were brought to that pass in a Cloud, that is, by a mysterious and an unperceived way, and they shall not be able to hinder them; because they shall be advanced and lifted up into their places, by a Cloud, and in a Cloud, which signifieth an innumerable multitude of God's Servants, that shall unite themselves together, to re-establish the two Witnesses, and to advance the Kingdom of Christ against the Antichrist. And therefore it is immediately added, v. 13. v. 13. that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉; in the very self same hour, that is, wherein the Witnesses shall ascend up to Heaven, that is, to take their places and dignities in the Church of God, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, there was, or there shall be a great Earthquake, and the tenth part of the City fell, or shall fall; for in the Prophetic stile, things to come are spoken of, for the certainty of their fullfilling, in the present or perfect tense, as if they were already past, and in the Earthquake were slain, or shall be slain of men, 7000. Where, by the way, What 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 properly signifieth. you must observe, that the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, which is derived from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, moveo, to move, doth not properly signify an Earthquake, but simply any quaking or motion, and may be referred to any matter, as head, heart, City, Kingdom, or Commonwealth; And this I conceive to be also fulfilled. and by the figure Synecdoche, it is specially used to signify an Earthquake; and therefore the meaning of the Holy Ghost in this expression is, that when the two witnesses that were killed, shall in their successors, be listed up to their offices of government, both of the Church and Commonwealth, there will be a great quaking and fear, and shaking in the Land, and a grievous stir among the multitude, and perhaps a commotion or an insurrection, or at the least, a mighty discontent and murmuring among the enemies of the witnesses, and of the people against the Antichrist and his party; and in all likelihood, whensoever, and in what place soever the stir and commotion shall happen to be, it will begin among the Antichrist his own party, either his Soldiers or adherents, or some others of his chief Commanders. And the Angel saith, eodem v. that in the same stir and commotion, and discontent, the tenth part of the City, that is, of that great City, where the Lord was crucified, and the witnesses lay dead in the streets thereof, that wicked Sodom, and hypocritical Jerusalem, fell: that is, from the Antichrist; and that is but a very small number out of a very great City; What is meant by the tenth part of the City. or else it may signify, the tenth part of the servants, abettors and followers of the Antichrist, that adhered unto him, in that City, Church or Kingdom, where the two witnesses were slain, shall fall away from him, and assist him no further in his Antichristian proceed against the Servants of Christ; because they shall by that time, perceive his hypocrisy, and how themselves were deluded by his dissembling pretences of piety; and if thus it be understood, yet this is but a small discession from him, and he need not much care to lose one part of ten, he may do mischief enough with the other nine parts: M. Mede. p. 24. and therefore I do rather approve of Mr. Medes interpretation, that by 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, the tenth part of the City, we may understand, the tribute of the Antichrist, the Taxes and Contributions, that are imposed upon the people to maintain the war, to pay the Soldiers, and to defray all the other expenses of the Antichrist, which are usually the tenth part of their estates at the least, which will be denied unto him; And the falling away of this part may be to some prejudice unto him, and cause some stir and commotion indeed; The chiefestcause of the Earthquake or commotion. because neither War nor Soldiers can be maintained without money, nor the nine parts of the City stick unto him without their pay; and I conceive, that the denial of those Taxes, Contributions and Excises, will be the prime cause of that commotion, dissension and difference betwixt the Commanders of the Antichrist, for want of their pay: and then 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, in that stir, quaking, motion, or commotion and discontents were slain of men, saith our Translation, heads of men, saith Junius, names of men, saith the Text, 7000. the meaning is the same; videlicet, that in the stir, tumult, and commotion, which shall happen among the Soldiers of the Antichrist, and about the time of the setting up of the witnesses, and the denial of the Tribute and pay to the Soldiers, 7000 men, which may signify, a great many men, shall be slain; That men may be said to be killed two manner of ways. and it may be, the meaning is, that they shall be civilly killed, that is, only excluded from their places and offices, and become of no power, or authority: being disbanded and scattered, because they did contest one with another, and oppose and withstand the rising of the witnesses; for, as here amongst us, the two witnesses of Christ, 1. The Monarchy and Magistracy. 2. The Hierarchy and Episcopacy, were not all corporally slain, but only the King, as the head and chief of the Magistrates, and the arch Bishop, as the prime and first of the Hierarchy, and the rest both of the Magistracy and Ministry, were only mystically and civilly slain by their suppression, silencing, and taking away their means and offices from them; so I conceive, that in the stir, muttering and discontent for putting down the witnesses, and in the desire and workings, to set them up again, to revive them, How the enemies of the witnesses shall be slain. and restore them to their places and dignities, some few of the grand opposers of the Monarchical Government shall be corporally put to death or killed, and the rest, that will be very many, expressed here by the number of 7000 Chiestains, Officers, and their adherents, shall be only cashiered, displaced, and their Commissions and power taken from them; and so mystically and civilly slain. And those 7000 men that shall be either thus mystically slain, or according to the letter corporally killed, in that commotion, and for their opposition against the rising of the witnesses, are not of the common sort of men, but Chiestains and Officers, and all men of name, of note, and account, such as the Companions of Corah were termed, men of renown in the Congregation: so shall these men be, Numb 16.253. The great multitude of the followers of the Antichrist. men famous in the Army, and for their service unto the Antichrist, capita hominum, heads of the people, and ring leaders of the seduced multitude. Where by the way, you may yet take notice of the great malice of Satan against Christ, and the great power of the Antichrist against the witnesses of Christ, that he should have such a number of men of note, to assist him to overthrow the Servants of Christ, for, though among 600 thousand men that came out of Egypt, Exod. 12.37. there were but 250 men that risen up and rebelled against Moses and Aaron; yet here is 7000 men of renown, that stand up, and fight, and are slain for the Antich: to withstand the witnesses, and to hinaer them to obtain their Offices and places; and if so many men of note be slain, what a multitude of other inferior men of no note, may be slain, and of others that fight and assist the Antichrist against the witnesses & are not slain? But it may be, the number of 7000 doth signify; as I said, a great many; That the number of 3.7. and 10. do very often signify many. because the number of 3 and of 7, and of 10, hath very often none other importance, than a great deal, or a great many, as in St. Judas, the Lord cometh with ten thousand of his Saints: so in St. Matth. 12.45. and in St. Luke 8.2. the number of 7 betokeneth many; and so I rather conceive the meaning of these words 7000. men were slain, to be, that a great many were slain, and not that the just and full number of 7000 men were to be slain in that commotion. And it may be likewise conceived, that all these 7000, or great many names of men, that were to be slain, or annihilated and undone in that commotion, are not all of the Antichrist his party, but rather so many, and such a great number should be slain of both parties, which is the likeliest interpretation. Yet howsoever, whether you understand the words literally for the full number of 7000 men, or mystically for a great many, * Or 7 that should be in the stead of 7000. The love of Christ to his servants, and his power to descend them greater than the malice and power of Satan to hurt them. or whether you understand them all of both parties, or all of the Antichrist party, you may here observe, a greater love of Christ unto his witnesses, than the malice of Satan can be against them, and the power of Christ far greater, and better able to protect, and to set up his witnesses, and to overthrow their enemies, than the Antichrist can possibly have to destroy them, or to hinder their restauration; for to the comfort of the witnesses, and of all others the Servants of Christ, St. Cyprian, that was himself a Martyr, and a faithful witness of Christ, saith most truly, that non plus valet addejiciendum terrena paena, quam ad erigendum divina tutela, the Lamb that standeth on Mount Zion, is far more able to protect us, than the roaring Lion, is to overthrow us; and Christ is far more powerful to raise his witnesses, than the Antichrist is or can be to hinder their rising; and therefore, were the Soldiers of the Antichrist, and the followers of the beast 70 times 7000. And I demand if the adversaries of the King and Bishops be not affighted to see them restored. yet they should be subdued and slain in this Earthquake rather than the witnesses of Christ should be hindered to ascend up into Heaven, and to be restored to their offices and places; for so the Angel testifieth, that the witnesses ascended up in a Cloud unto Heaven, and 7000 heads or names of men were slain in the Earthquake, and the remnant were affrighted, as well they might, to see how gracious the Lord is to assist his servants, and how powerful to overthrow his adversaries that will oppose and suppress his witnesses; and they, that is the witnesses, gave glory to the God of Heaven, which is indeed the God of his Church, more especially, than he is the God of any other place, or people whatsoever. And then saith the Angel, When the second woe shall pass away. when the witnesses are restored, and their enemies subdued, the second woe shall be passed, and the Saints and servants of Christ, will give thanks and praise unto God, as they have most just cause to do, as for all things else, so likewise more especially, for overthrowing their enemies, and restoring the witnesses of Christ to erect and build up the Temple of God, by serving God with the right service and preaching his word truly unto the people, as you see they do, from this 14. verse unto the end of this Chapter. But lest the restored witnesses, A good lesson, both for the King, and Bishops, and the Church. and the rest of God's Servants should grow secure, after they had overcome these great troubles, that with great constancy they had passed through, they must still be exercised and trained up in gymnatio patientiae, in the School of afflictions, and therefore the Angel addeth, that although the second woe be past, when the witnesses are restored, and the 7000 men slain; yet behold, saith the Angel, and consider it well, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, the third woe cometh quickly. And this woe I take to be the last woe, that shall fall upon the Sons of men; The last woe, upon whom, and when to fall. and under which the Lord God will pour out the 7 last vials of his wrath, upon the Antichrist, and his adherents, and upon the false Prophet, and upon all profane worldlings and wicked Hypocrites, and in some respects, upon very many of the true Servants of God, and the witnesses of Jesus Christ, as failing in the same Ship, and being commorants in the same City among the wicked, and perhaps soiled in some measure with the manners, and evil practices of the world, and therefore must partake in some kind, of the plagues and punishments that God poureth down, like rain upon the wicked; and then, that is, after the pouring out the Vials of God's wrath, the mystery of God, which he hath declared to his servants the Prophets, shall come to an end, and be fully finished, as the Angel testifieth to our Evangelist, Revel. c. 10. v. 6. & 7. c. 10. v. 6, 7. And this mystery of God, I conceive to be, (with the favour of them that think the contrary) not the restauration and calling of the Jews, and the other ten Tribes of Israel, as Dr. Willet, E. H. and some other learned men do imagine; The fictions of the Presbyterians and Jesuits, in mistaking this mystery of God. 1 Tim. 3.16. nor the reformation of the relapsed gentile Churches, and the destruction of the Papacy, Turkism and Mahometism, as others of our late Presbyterians do as fond conceit; nor yet the overthrow of the Popish Antichrist, set forth by Sanders, Bellarmine and others; but the great mystery of godliness, whereof Saint Paul speaketh, 1 Tim. 3.16. that is, the mystery of Christian Religion, which is the greateft of all mysteries, and therefore 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, termed the mystery of God, and a mystery indeed to the World, and all worldly men, that know nothing, and believe nothing of it, shall then be finished and be at an end; and what God hath declared unto his Servants the Prophets, and the Prophets unto his People, John 1.1. and c. 3.16. Judas Ep. v. 16. that God sent his Son, his eternal wisdom, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, and the word God, to be made flesh, to save all that believe in him, and repent them of their evil ways; and that this Son of God will come to receive the believers in him to everlasting life, and to execute judgement, and to render vengeance unto all the ungodly, that will neither obey God, nor believe in him, and to cast them for their injustice and impiety, into everlasting fire, which is prepared for the Devil and his Angels, shall then come to pass, and the truth of this great Mystery, which now, the worldlings and Atheists will no ways believe, shall then appear most manifest, unto all the Sons of men, good and bad. For, though there be some other particular mysteries of a lower degree, spoken of, in Rom. 11.25. 1 Cor. 15.51. 2 Thes. 2.7. Ephes. 5.32. Revel. 1.20. etc. 17.5. and in other places of the holy Scripture: yet this only mystery, is the great mystery, and the mystery of God, which is principally and most specially spoken of in the new Testament, as the mystery that was hid from the ages, Collos. 1.26. and from the wise and prudent of this World, and was declared unto all his servants the Prophets; The great mystery of Christian Religion when finished. and which shall be finished, when the seventh Angel shall begin to sound; whose founding shall put an end to the third woe, and the 7 last Vials of God's wrath, and shall begin the felicity of all God's Servants. And this I take to be the true sense and meaning of the Holy Ghost, touching the particulars that are prophesied of, and foretold us in this 11th Chapter of this Book; whereof you may apply to these present times, and our own proper Church, what you conceive to be already fulfilled, and may unquestionably be applied unto them: and for the rest, that is unfulfilled, Predictions unfulfilled may easily be misapplyed. I dare not presume to determine any thing; for as the Philosopher saith, de futuris contingentibus non est facile determinanda veritas, so I say more truly, de futuris praedictionibus aenigmatice praedictis— to explain the predictions of the Prophets, and the Prophecies of the holy Scriptures, that are so mystically foreshowed unto us, before they be fulfilled, may as easily be mistaken and misapplied, I desire the Reader to judge of things as he seethe them fulfilled. Act. 1.7. as rightly expounded by the best Interpreters, that can but conjecture at things to come, especially for the times and seasons of their fulfilling, which the Father hath put, and reserved in his own power. Therefore, for our two witnesses of Jesus Christ, that were here killed amongst us, whether they be these two witnesses here spoken of, in this 11th Chapter of this Book, or not, I leave it for others to determine; I must leave them dead, and unburied in the streets of the great City, in the manner that I shown you before, and the people making merry, feasting and rejoicing for their suppression; and I hope we may without offence, I am sure, to all good Christians, expect when the spirit of life from God shall raise them up again, and accomplish the manner of their restauration to their offices and places, which is yet unfulfilled and unbelieved, especially in the little hope we have of the raising of the last, which is the Ecclesiastical witness; but the time of their reviving, is the more uncertain, when it shall be; because we cannot well set down, the exact time, when the Ecclesiastical Hierarchy, & chorus prophetarum, were quite killed; for though the beheading of the King, and of the chief Pastor of our Church William Land, is well known to a day; yet the deadly wounds and strokes of the rest of the Bishops were many, and not all imposed at one time; but 1. They were thrust out of their unquestionable right of sitting as Peers, and members of the upper House of Parliament, which we confess, was the royal favour of pious Christian Kings and Princes, that conceived them to be fit men to be consulted with, and was confirmed by many acts of Parliament unto them. 2. They were put out of their calling, whereunto God had called them, and cast out of their office, wherein Christ by his blessed Apostles had placed them, and their Hierarchy was utterly denied them, and their dignity trodden underfoot. 3. The Hierarchy being like a great Oak, had many strokes to throw it down. Their whole means and maintenance, the Patrimony of the Church, which the Parliament gave not to them, were taken from them, and either sold or given away; and most of the faithful Ministers Live were sequestered, and bestowed upon young novices or worse, and the godly Incumbents left with their diocessans, either to live on alms, if they have none other means, or else to starve, as many of them did want. 4. They were excluded from all benefit of Law, and all Lawyers, Attorneys, and Solicitors straight prohibited to assist them in the legal seeking of their due and just right, which was also a wrong to the Lawyers. 5. They were silenced and made speechless, by that Thunderbolt, which proclaimed them enemies to the state, and should be proceeded against as enemies, if they presumed to open their mouths to preach the word of God, either publicly or privately, which is their spiritual kill, and may be feared, to be the forerunner of their corporal slaughter. But whether all those strokes afore spoken, have laid the Ecclesiastical witness down for dead, or that yet some heavier blow than all those, will be given them, to make a final extinction of them, I am not sure; and therefore I must, at this time leave them, either as the poor Traveller, that fell amongst Thiefs, betwixt Jerusalem and Hiericho, half dead, and to expect their deadly wound, or as the Levites Wife, For an Army must be maintained to hinder their rising, and that Army must be maintained by the sweat of the poor people. quite killed, and parted among the twelve Tribes of Israel, and so must lie; not only 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, mouthless and speechless, by this last blow, that cannot be healed, but even dead, till the spirit of life from God shall raise them up; till which rising of them, if they be these witnesses here spoken of, Chap. 11. Revel. the second woe shall not be passed, but afflictions shall be added to our troubles, and sorrows to our afflictions, and miseries to our sorrows, taxes upon taxes, oppressions upon oppressions, and troubles upon troubles, more and more shall be poured out, and heaped together, to fill up the measure of the second woe, that shall be inflicted for the kill of Gods two witnesses. But if this stroke, that makes them speechless be the last blow that killeth them, and that our late ever blessed King and Bishops, be the very witnesses that are here meant in this Chapter, as I conceive they are, then do I expect their rising, and do hope their restauration will be about June 1660. that is just about 3 years and a half, after this last blow was given, and is the very time prescribed for their rising by the holy Ghost; for you must observe, that although the actual and literal killing of the King and the Arch Bishop was done long before; yet this mystical metaphorical, and civilly final slaughtering of the Ecclesiastical witness, the rest of the Bishops, was not till about Novemb. 1656. when this last blow was given them; and therefore seeing the spirit of God doth not say, that the two witnesses shall be killed by the beast at the same time, but that after they are both killed, and lain both dead 3 days and a half, (though the one of them hath lain dead somewhat longer) the spirit of God shall raise them up, What time should we expect the restoring of the King and the Bishops. it cannot be expected, that the time of their rising, taken to be, as most Interpreters take it, for the set time of 3 years and a half, or thereabout, can be, to either of them, until about June 1660. and it may be to the other, a while after, and not both raised together, as they were not killed together, but, that as the one was the longer before he was killed, so he should be the longer before he should be raised, and to expect the help of him that shall be first raised, to raise him also, which we hope will soon be effected, that we may render the praises and thanks that follow in this Chapter unto our God. CAP. II. Who is here meant by the Woman Clothed with the Sun; Cap. 12. Of the Revelation treateth. who is meant by the Dragon; and by the Man child; when the Church began to be freed from her bloody persecution; how long she was freed from it; what is meant by the War of Michael and the Dragon; the last bloody War and persecution of the Dragon, how long it lasteth; how the Church is relieved in this bloody persecution; and Junius his interpretation of this Woman rejected. 2ly. AS the Holy Ghost setteth down the slaughtering of the two Witnesses, 1. Of the Vision of the Woman, and what it signifieth. the Magistracy and Ministry, the Civil and the Ecclesiastical Governors of God's Church, by the Beast that ascendeth from the Bottomless pit, that is the Antichrist; and the reviving of them again in their Successors, and restoring them to their former state and condition, to execute their Offices, as before, by the Spirit of God, that hath done all this for them, in the 12th Chapter of this book; so here in this 12th Chapter he setteth down the State and condition of the Church itself, how she shall be persecuted and afflicted both at first, and at last, in her beginning, and throughout her continuance, especially in the time, and by the means of this beast, that is, the great Antichrist; for as the Apostle saith, V 1. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉; there appeared a great Wonder in Heaven; that is in the air, which in this place is signified by Heaven, as where the birds of the Air are called the Fowls of Heaven; and what may that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, great wonder be? Psal. 104.12. Jer. 7.33. Ezech. 31.6. It is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉; a Woman Clothed with the Sun; and what meaneth that? surely this Woman signifieth the Spouse of Christ, that is the Church of God; and this Church is Clothed, that is enlightened, not with the new lights of Fantastic upstarts, that are but old errors and heresies heretofore buried, and now revived by our Novices, Deut. 32.17. even as Moses saith unto the Idolatrous Israelites that their new Gods were nothing else but old Devils; but this Church and Spouse of Christ was Clothed with the old and unspotted light of the Sun, which is the Fountain of our light, wherewith she was girded and compassed about, as with a bright shining garment; for so the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, that cometh of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, circundo, cingo, to gird about, signifieth: and this 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, the Sun, wherewith she was enlightened and clothed, is none other, than 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, the Son of God; Malachi 4.2. John 1.9. Jesus Christ, who as the Prophet saith, is the Sun of Righteousness, and the garment, that the Apostle biddeth every Christian man to put on; and so she was Clothed and enlightened with the true light, What is meant by the Moon. that lighteneth every man that cometh into the World; And this woman thus Clothed, had the Moon under her feet; that is, the true Church of Christ, trampled all sub-lunar and mutable things, as is the Moon, under her feet, as deeming them no better than dust and dross, and things of no value, as the Apostle speaketh, or as Mr. Mede saith, by the Moon we may understand the Mosaical Ceremonies; as the Jewish feasts of new Moons, Mr. Mede. Pag. 33. of the Passover, of Pentecost, and of Tabernacles, that were all ordered, and observed according to the motion of the Moon; all which the Christian Church, Colloss. 2.14. as they were shadows of things to come, as the Apostle showeth, trampled under her feet, and cast them all away, when Christ, the true substance of them, came in place: or else the Moon, which God made to rule the night, may signify the power of darkness, Gen. 1.16. What is meant by the Crown of 12 Stars. as the Worshipping of Idols, and all the gentile superstitions, there following after their Oracles, and the like works of darkness, which the Church of Christ quite Cashiered and abandoned. And this Woman had upon her head a Crown of twelve stars, that is, as St. Ambrose saith, the glorious and Heavenly Doctrine of the twelve Apostles, that is, briefly comprised and knit together, like an unvaluable Crown, in the twelve Articles of our Christian Faith, which these twelve Apostles have composed, and delivered to this Woman for the instruction of her Children, and which therefore should be dearer unto them, than the fairest Crown of the purest Gold, v. 2. though now our Presbyterians have cast them quite away. And she, being with Child, cried, travelling in Birth and pained, to be delivered; even as other women that are with Child use to do; for the Church, as Rabbi Kimchi saith, is compared to a Mother, Rabbi Kimchi Hos. 2.2.3. in respect of Universality, and so cryeth and is pained in bringing forth Children unto God; and she is likened to Children, in respect of particulars, that are all the Children of the Church, begotten and brought forth by her unto God, through their regeneration and new birth by Baptism, and the Preaching of the Gospel and grace of Christ. And these 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, The pangs of the woman, and what they signify. pangs and pains of this woman to bring forth her Child, may most especially signify the troubles and afflictions, that the Primitive Church endured for the Preaching of the Gospel, and converting the Infidels unto the Faith of Christ; under the first ten grievous persecutions; and so likewise for the troubles, that the Church should suffer at any other time, and chief those great troubles, that she must undergo, for doing the same service and work of regenerating children unto God, in the persecution of the Antichrist; for these troubles and afflictions of the Church, are compared by the Prophets to the pain of a woman in travel; Esay 66. and Jer. 30.6.7. because the Church will endure as much, and as readily hazard her life, to beget a Child to God, as any woman endureth, and hazardeth her life, to bring forth her Child into the world, and sooner too: And our Saviour, to show the greatness of these pangs, and pains of a woman, that is in travel with Child, saith, that the troubles of the Jews, which should happen unto them, and were as great as any we read of, Mark. 13.9. as Josephus ben gorion witnesseth, are but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, the beginnings of their pangs or sorrows, which shall be no less than the pangs of a woman in travel; so shall the pangs and pains of the Church be, under the persecution of the Tyrants and the Antichrist, for bringing forth Children unto God, very great pains and troubles; as that, which here followeth, will make it more manifest; for, The Evangelist saith, v. 3. 2. The Vision of the Dragon, and his malice to the woman. v. 3. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, there appeared another wonder in Heaven; and that seems to be a greater wonder than the former, and a wonder indeed, every way, if we should consider all particulars, in very many respects; and therefore the Holy Ghost prefixeth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, and behold it, or consider it well; for a great red Dragon, or as the Greek hath it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, a great fiery Dragon, Job. 1.6. or a Dragon as red as fire, appeared in Heaven; so he that durst go into Paradise before, dares now, to go into Heaven, and to appear among the Sons of God, as he is more often, and more diligent in the Church of God, to hinder our devotion, than we are, to perform the duties of our Religion; and he that was but a Serpent before, crawling upon the Earth, is now become a great Dragon flying in the Air; The Dragon had 7 heads, and 10 horns. and therefore this sign or wonder, well deserveth an 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, behold him, and take heed of him; for he hath 7. Heads, harder to be discovered then the heads of Nilus, and harder indeed to unhead him, than it was for Hercules to cut off the heads of hydra; and he had 10 horns, and therefore he was of a mighty strength, The horn an Emblem of strength. 1 Reg. 22.11. because the horn is an emblem of power and strength; as Zedechia made horns of Iron, and said, thus saith the Lord, with these shalt thou push the Syrians, until thou hast consumed them; and he had 7 Crowns, upon his heads, that is, upon every head a Crown; to show unto us, how glorious and majestical wickedness, and the instruments of wickedness would fain seem to be; and his tail drew the third part of the Stars of Heaven, and did cast them to the Earth; What the tail of the Dragon signifieth. Who are the Stars. by his tail, I understand the fear of him, the terror of his sting, and the lashing of them far and near, that will not submit themselves to him; and by the Stars of Heaven, I understand those, that seemed to be holy Professors, good Christians, and to shine like Stars in the Church of God; or else, those that were appointed to shine, and to give light, as Stars to them that are in darkness and do walk in the night of ignorance, as are the Bishops, Preachers, and Ministers of God's word; for so the Angel saith unto our Evangelist, Revel. 1.16. & v. 20. that the seven Stars in the right hand of Christ, were the Angels, that is, the Bishops and Pastors of the seven Churches; and by the third part of the Stars, I understand not the subduing of the third part of the rulers of the world, to the empire of Rome, as Mr. Mede thinketh; for why should the rulers of the world, Mr. Mede, pag. 35. be termed the Stars of Heaven, and to be cast to the Earth, when as they were earthly and worldly enough already, and had small correspondency with Heaven; but a great many, (as I told you the number of 3.7. and 110 doth often import,) What is to be understood by the third part of the Starts. Let my Reader Judge whether this was not fulfilled in our time. both of the Clergy and laiety, that seemed to be as Stars in the firmament of the Church, for fear of the Dragon's tail, to be stung and lashed, with the loss of their preferment, their wealth, their lands, their liberties, and their lives, are pulled down from Heaven and drawn away from their station, and from the performance of their due respects, unto the Witnesses, and of their duties, of the right service of God in his Church, and are cast down to the earth, that is, to follow after the world, and for the love of the world and the preferments of the earth, to observe and follow any new form of God's service, and so to become Apostates, Meteors and falling Stars, and mere Hypocrites in the Church of God; which is very much, that the Dragon's tail should do such great mischief. And yet, this is not enough for this Dragon to do, to corrupt the third part of the Stars, and to draw a multitude of professors from the right service of God, to follow after the world and his wicked ways, but he would feign have more grist to his Mill, Hell being like the Daughters of the Horseleech, that still cry, give, Proverb. 30.15, 16. give; and being one of the four things that are never satisfied, and that never faith, it is enough; and therefore he stands before the Woman, which was ready to be delivered, to devour her Child, saith our Translation, when she had brought it forth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, to eat up her Son, saith the original; but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, being derived of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, pario to bring forth, it may be translated her Child, as well, or, as I conceive, more agreeable to the meaning of the Holy Ghost, than her Son; and the Dragons eating of it, would be a speedy devouring of her Child, whether it were Male or Female; so the Dragon was watching this woman, and is still watching, to devour every Child of the Church, Male or Female. And in the fifth verse the Angel saith, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, V 5. The diversity of opinions who this Child should be. and the woman brought forth a man Child, who was to rule the Nations with a rod of Iron, and the Child was caught up to God, and to his Throne; where, we are passed the plain, and are come into the Wilderness, wherein the way is not so easy to be found out; when we do find so many paths, and such a great diversity of opinions among the learned, who is meant by this Man child, and what is to be conceived of his birth, and of his taking up to the Throne of God; Rupertus de victoria verbi dei. l. 9 c. 28. & l. 12. c. 2. Math. 2.16. &c 4.1. for some Interpreters, by the Birth of this Man child, do understand the Birth of Jesus Christ, in the Jewish Synagogue of the Blessed Virgin, whom the red Dragon, the Devil, by Herod his grand instrument, sought immediately to destroy, as soon as ever he was borne, as St. Matthew showeth, and also tempted him, as soon as ever he was Baptised, as the same Evangelist declareth. But against this, E. H. doth rightly oppose▪ E. H. de Apostasia, pag. 44. that the Revelation is not of known things that are past, but as the Angel saith, of things that must shortly come to pass: and the incarnation or Birth of Christ of the Virgin Mary, was not to come, the same being already past, well nigh an 100 years before; and therefore, though we deny not (but the Dragon sought to destroy Christ, as Rupertus saith, as soon as ever he was brought forth, out of his Mother's Womb; yet we say that cannot be the meaning of this place, which is to be understood of another Child, that is to be borne of another Woman; E. H. Lococitato. By this Child understandeth the great Constantine. and therefore E. H. and some other Authors do understand this woman to be the Primitive Church of the Christians, groaning to be delivered from under the bloody Tyranny of the Red Dragon, that is, from the cruel dealing, and sad condition, that she sustained under the Pagan and persecuting Emperors; and the Lord delivering her from those Tyrants, by raising up Constantine, who, as they say, is the Manchild, that the Church then brought forth a good Christian, to rule the Nations with a Rod of Iron, that is, to subdue Licinius and Maxentius, and the Nations that adheared to them, with his Victorious Sword; and he was caught up to God, when he was converted from an Infidel, to become a Christian; and he was placed in God's Throne, when he attained to the Imperial Majesty. The which exposition, The former exposition rejected. though it seem very probable and plausible, yet cannot I yield unto it, to be the meaning of the Holy Ghost in this place, because this woman doth not cry, to be delivered from her enemies, that were without her, but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, having in her belly, that is, a Child, within her, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, she cried, by reason of her child birth pain, which the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, that cometh from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, which signifieth to bring forth a Child, from whence 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, doth properly signify dolour parturientis, the very pangs and pain of bringing forth the Child into the world, and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, that comes of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, torqueo, to be grieved or vexed, and wrested with pain, doth make it manifest, that she cried, not to be delivered from her enemies, but to be delivered of her child, that she had in her womb, and would feign have him to be brought forth into the world. That Constantine is not the Manchild here meant. Neither can I see any reason, to persuade me to yield, that this manchild, should signify Constantine the great. Reason. 1 1. Because this woman which signifieth the Church, was not, as then, before Constantine's time, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉; circumcinctasole, clothed, or girded and compassed about with the great light of the Sun, that is fully enlightened and instructed with the Doctrine of Christ, and the many points of particular truths of Christian Religion; nor can we find her to be thus enlightened until the time of Theodosius, altar the death of Valens and Gratian, which was about the year of Christ 382 when those great lights, The woman not clothed with the Sun till 382. that God then raised in his Church, to expel the foggy mists of errors, and clouds of heresies, that were formerly raised by the Heretics, and still pestered the Church, St. Hierome, St. Ambrose, St. Augustin, St. Basil, Bishop of Caesaria, that for his great learning and wisdom, was rightly termed Basilius Magnus, great St. Basill, Gregory Nazianzen, that for his excellent skill and knowledge in Divinity, was styled Theologus, the Divine, as the writer of these Revelations is called, John the Divine; Epiphanius, Cyrillus Bishop of Jerusalem, When the Bishops were like Stars, and when like the Sun. and many more most worthy men, of great learning and piety, made the truth of the Gospel of Christ, that was left unto us by the Evangelists and Apostles, to shine in the Church, as the Sun in the Firmament, that formerly, while those heretics, that Irenaeus, Tertullian, Epiphanius, and St. Augustine record, troubled the Church, and darkened the truth of the Gospel, the said truth shined but as the light of the Stars; and therefore, during those times of the grand Heretics, the very Angels of the seven chiefest Churches of Asia, that is, the Bishops and prime Pastors of those Churches, Revelat. 1.20. were called seven Stars; for the seven Stars are the Angels of the seven Churches, saith the Holy Ghost; and the twelve Apostles are compared unto twelve Stars, as I shown to you before; and the Church could not be enlightened, with the light of the Sun, when her chief teachers were but Stars, and shined to her but as Stars, though the light, which these Stars sent forth, was the light, which they received from the Sun, that is the Sun of righteousness, as the Prophet calleth him; but in the year 382. and about that time, Reignolds Devitis Imperat. fol. 115. was the flourishing time of the learned, when the Doctrine of Christ did shine as the Sun, saith Reignolds. Reason. 2 2. Because that although the Church, like the woman, that is with Child, is pained before the time of birth; yet is she most of all tormented, when the child is nearest to be born; so the Church had her pangs in those that she brought forth in the time of the persecuting Emperors; but now after the death of Valens, when Theodosius had freed the Empire from the Northern blasts, and delivered the Church from those grievous troubles and molestations of the Arian persecution, not much, if any thing inferior to the Pagan persecution, that the Goths, the Huns, the Alans, and the other cruel enemies, under Gensericus, Attalus, Alaricus and others, had continually brought, as well upon the Church as upon the Empire, the Church was near her time, that she should peaceably bring forth Children, very plentifully unto God; and that is, to beget Christ by our Regeneration, and to bring him forth by faith in the heart of many Sons and Daughters, At what time the Church like a woman with Child, was near the time of her Childbirth. which is the Child, that is now spiritually to be born, in every true member of the Church, in every Christian soul; and in that respect, as the throws and pangs of the Church are the thicker, and come the oftener, by reason of the plenty of Children, that she now brings forth, so her pain and cry is the greater; and therefore I say, that this her travel was not in the time of Constantine, that was born about 284, when the Church comparatively, brought forth but very few Children unto God; but in the days of Theodosius, about 382. when those great lights aforenamed, encompassed, and clothed the Church round about, with the heavenly truth, as with the glorious light of the Sun, the Church did then most plentifully bring forth very many Children unto God; and so her pangs were the more, and her cry the greater. Reason. 3 3. Because that although Constantine subdued Licinius, Maxentius, and the rest of his and the Church his enemies, and attained to the imperial dignity, to protect the Church of Christ, as he did, within his Dominions, from all those Tyrants that formerly vexed and molested her; yet, it cannot be said, that he should be able to feed or rule 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, all the Nations; but this power must be left to that Child, whose Government is upon his shoulders, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, v. 2. Esay 9.6. the strongest part of his body to support it, and is therefore able to rule them with a Rod of Iron, even while he is a Child, as being, by reason of the hypostatical union, of the Godhead to and with the manhood, of perfect power and ability to rule or feed the Nations, Luk. 2.46, 47. as he was of perfect knowledge and understanding to pose and to confute the Doctors; which Constantine, whose Government was in his hand, by the strength of his Sword, was not able to do; for to this holy Child Jesus, as St. Peter calls him, God had given the Heathen for his Inheritance, Act. 4.27. & 30. and the uttermost parts of the Earth for his possession, which he gave neither to Constantine, nor to the Pope, nor Turk, nor to any man else; and therefore he only, and no man else but he, hath right, as well as power, to rule them with a Rod of Iron; and therefore, when Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles and people of Israel, which two species comprehended all Nations of the World, were gathered together in a confederacy against this holy Child Jesus, and did to him, what God before determined to be done; Act. 4.27.30. yet did the Apostles then, many signs and wonders by the name of the holy Child Jesus, as Saint Peter freely telleth all his enemies. Reason. 4 4. Because that if Constantine should be meant by this Child, that is here spoken of, than many men might conceive, that Helen his Mother, must be understood by the woman, that was clothed with the Sun, and cried to be delivered, and being delivered, fled into the Wilderness, where she was fed 1200 and 60 days; By this manchild is understood Jesus Christ spiritually, conceived and brought forth in every Christian man. Gal. 4.19. So Mr. Mede takes this manchild to be Jesus Christ. p. 37. which is most absurd to imagine, and therefore the other is as absurd to conceive. And therefore I understand, that by this Child is meant, not Constantine, but Jesus Christ, not as he was born in Bethlehem of his Mother the blessed Virgin Mary, which was passed long before this time, but of his spiritual birth by faith in the heart and soul of every true member of the Church, that is here signified by this woman, which cried to be delivered, and to bring forth Christ, into her member, even as St. Paul plainly showeth unto the Galathians, saying, My little Children, of whom I travel in birth again, until Christ be form in you, as the Child is form in his Mother's womb; where the Apostle useth the same word, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, to travel in birth, as the Holy Ghost doth in this place; for so doth the Church labour and travel, as the Mother of a Child doth, to beget and to bring forth Jesus Christ in every one of her members; and as the Devil carried Christ himself, as soon as ever he was baptised, into the Wilderness, where he sought by many temptations, to overthrow him; so doth the same red Dragon, the Devil, watch and labour to destroy every Son of the Church, as soon as ever Christ is begotten in them, and to extinguish, and devour the spirit of Christ, that is, all the graces of God's spirit, as soon as ever they be regenerated, and made the Children of the Church; Christ is no sooner brought forth by them, that is, the grace of Christ doth no sooner appear to be in them, but the Devil is presently ready to eat up all the graces, the faith, the hope, the love, and all the other fruits and gifts of Christ, and to take them quite away from them. But the love of God towards all sincere Christians, is such, and so great, that he takes up every truly regenerated Child of the Church unto himself, and to his own protection, How God preserveth every faithful Child of the Church. and placeth them in his own Throne, even the Throne of Majesty, by advancing them to regal dignity, and making them Kings and Priests, to sit and to remain, where himself resteth and delighteth to reside; and that is, among his chosen Children, which is, the Church of God, where every faithful Child of the Church, shall be as safe from the malice of the Dragon, as Noah's Children were in the Ark, from the waters of the deluge; Satan being not able to pluck them from thence, out of God's hands. Object. But against this, you will say, that this Child of the woman, is to rule all the Heathen with a rod of Iron, and to break them, that are stubborn and refractory, in pieces like a Potter's Vessel; and this, every Christian Child, that the Church bringeth forth, cannot do. Sol. I answer, that we do not say the Christian child, which is regenerated and brought forth unto God by the Church, is the Child that the Dragon watcheth to devour; but Christ that is mystically begotten, and spiritually residing in that Child of the Church, which is truly regenerated, is that Child, which is advanced, and advanceth with himself, as his member, every true Christian to the Throne of God, and which, in, and by those, that are his members, and have him, by his spirit, residing in them, What Child ruleth these Nations with a Rod of Iron. subdueth the Devil, and all the Heathenish Idolaters, and all others, the enemies of his Church; as he did overthrow all the Oracles, all the Idols of the Gentiles, all the Tyrants that persecuted, and all the Heretics that molested his Church. And all these things, were wrought by this child, in and by those instruments, that were his members, and the Children of the Church, even as we find it fully expressed in our Ecclesiastical Histories, how Constantine, overthrew Licinius, Maxentius and Alexander, that rebelled against him, and vexed God's Church; and Theodosius vanquished Maximus, Eugenius and Arbogastus, and that in so wonderful a manner, as not only the Christian Historiographers, but also the Poet Clandian, in admiration of his Victory, saith, O nimium dilecte deo, cui militat aether, Claudian de consulat. Honorii. Judges. 4. Et conjurati veniunt ad classica venti. That as the Stars in their order did fight against Cicera, so the Skies and the winds did help and assist Theodosius, so much beloved of God; and so many other true Christians, Children of the Church, and the members of this Child, or rather, as I said, this Child, in and by those his members, hath subdued all the Idolatrous Instruments of Satan, and the tyrannical enemies of his Church, and so ruleth them, with a Rod of Iron, and breaks them in pieces like a Potter's Vessel. And yet, notwithstanding all the omnipotent power, and the infinite ability of this Child, By the Wilderness is meant a life sequestered from the pomp and vanities of the world. to protect his members, it seemed good to God, not to suffer the woman to stay, before the Dragon; but he, by his blessed spirit, moved her for fear of the red Dragon, as I conceive, (though that is not expressed) because he still waiteth, and watcheth for any opportunity to destroy the faith of Christ, from every Christian, and to bring them, either to renounce their faith, like the Apostate Julian, or to follow after the world like Demas, or else to defile the faith of Christ with the old errors and heresies of the primitive age, that are still revived by upstart inlighters) to fly into the Wilderness; that is, to forsake the vanities of the world, and all worldly pomp, and the society of all wicked and earthly men; for the Wilderness is said to be the place, which God had appointed and prepared for her, verse 6. And what place, I pray you, doth God appoint for his Children in this world, but such a Wilderness or desert, let the same be where it will, where they may fast and pray and serve God, without being hindered or corrupted by the wicked worldlings? for so Lot, while he was in Sodom, Joseph in Egypt, and Daniel in Nebuchadnezars' Court, lived, as it were like Mark the Eremite, in a Wilderness; that is, sequestered from the world and all the enticements of this world; otherwise, as St. Ambrose saith, Transire in Egyptum non erat criminosum, sed transire in mores Egytiorum crimen habet, as it was no sin to pass into Egypt, but to follow the manners and the Idolatries of the Egyptians, was most sinful; so to live in the world, is no ways offensive to God, but to fashion ourselves like unto the World, and to be led away, and as it were bewitched with the vanities, pleasures and delights of the world, is that which is forbidden, 1 Cor. 7.31. In what Wilderness the Church liveth; and is most hateful unto God: and therefore God brings his Church, that is his Children out of the World, though they live in the world, and willeth them to use the World, as though they used it not, or not abusing it, as St. Paul speaketh. And in this Metaphorical Wilderness, or solitary unworldly manner of living in the World, and not in any local Wilderness, Junius in annot in locum. When the time of the Woman's feeding in the Wilderness expired. such as the Children of Israel wandered in, the Church of Christ, by the power and providence of God, was said, that is, with the Heavenly Doctrine of the Gospel, which is the Spiritual food of our souls, for 120 and 60 days, saith the Angel, v. 6. and that is, as Junius rightly expounds it, by taking a day for a year, 1200 and 60 years; which must needs be expired, after the Woman became Clothed with the Sun, and was so delivered, as I shown to you before, and thus fed in the Wilderness, for fear of being corrupted by the wiles of the red Dragon, just about the year of Christ, 1642. For so the Ecclesiastical Histories do most evidently, That the Church of Christ was free from any bloody persecution, from 382, until the year 1642. which is the full space of 1200 and 60 years. and undoubtedly declare unto us, that during all this time of 1200 and 60 years, after the reign of Theodosius, until the year 1642, the Church of God had rest, and was freed from any bloody persecution for the profession of the true faith & the right Service of God; and the two Witnesses of Christ, that is, as I said before out of E. H. and others, the Christian Magistrates the King as chief. & those that are sent from him, as St. Peter saith, and the spiritual Ministers, the Bishops and Preachers of the Gospel, living in their Cloisters and Monasteries, as in a Wilderness, secluded from the world and all worldly affairs, had free liberty and furtherance, through the protection and assistance of the Christian Emperors, and those Kings and Queens that God raised to be, as nurcing Fathers and nurcing Mothers unto the Church, to Preach, open and publish the mystery of our Christian Religion, and the truth of the two Testaments, and to instruct the people of God in the doctrine of Faith & Repentance, and so to edify the Temple, that was measured to be built, as I have showed to you before c. 11.3. But then, the Dragon seeing the Woman and her Child, thus escaped and freed out of his persecuting hands, the hands of his instruments, How the Devil wheels about like a cunning Fencer. the Idolatrous Heathen Tyrants, and the bloody Arrian Kings; he, like a very cunning fencer, that can play with both hands, and is good at all Weapons, wheels about; and because he could not prevail in his own ground, and upon the Stage of the Heathen Tyrants, he, like the Roman Scipio, very boldly enters upon his Adversaries Territories, and makes a War in Heaven; and that is, he followeth the Woman into the Wilderness, and the Divines into their Cloisters, which was the Church's Heaven upon Earth; and he will not so part with her, Mr. Mede pag. 40. What is meant by the War of Michael and his Angels against the Dragon and his Angels. as there to let her escape free from his assault; but be will now prosecute another kind of Combat with her, which he had only begun before, when he saw himself like to be worsted, in the former conflicts; and that Combat shall be, not, as E. H. and Mr. Mede do imagine, the bloody Wars of the persecuting Tyrants, which was already past, and the Dragon failed of his purpose therein: but bellum dogmaticum, a verbal War; that is, a spiritual, Scholastic, and Ecclesiastical War, like the Pharsalian civil War of the Romans, when a Kingdom is divided amongst itself, which is the Worst and most dangerous of all Wars, and so is this Ecclesiastical War, that the Heretics, and their grand Captains, the Proselytes of Arius, Nestorius, Eutyches, Pelagius, Manichaeus, Aerius, the Trinitarians, Millenaries, and the rest of that litter, did still prosecute, to molest the Church of Christ. And my reasons to prove this War to be no Bloody War, The heretical War. but rather a spiritual and Ecclesiastical War, are these. Reason. 1 1. Because this War is said to be in Heaven, which cannot signify the seat and place of the Blessed Angels, and of the Saints departed out of this life; because, that neither War nor sorrow, nor any other trouble can come there; and therefore the seat of this War must be, not the World, simply considered, which is never called Heaven, but the Church of God, which is the Christians Heaven here upon Earth, and the Ark that carrieth us through the Seas of this World, into the Eternal Heaven; and therefore, this War, being said to be rather in the Church, then in the World, when as our Saviour, speaking of our bloody Wars, saith, in the World you shall have Tribulations, must needs be an Ecclesiastical, Heretical, and no bloody War, no worldly War. Reason. 2 2. Because it is said that Michael and his Angels, that is Christ and the true Bishops and Pastors of his Church, that are called the Angels of the Churches, and not Michael and his Princes, Revelat. 1.20. fought against the Dragon and his Angels, and not, as it is said in Daniel, that he affisted his Angel against the King of Persia, but with the Dragon and his Angels, Dan. 10.13. that is the Devil and his false Prophets, the Heretics, that molested the Church, and corrupted the true faith and the right Service of God; and yet, as their Master the Devil, transformeth himself into an Angel of light, as the Apostle speaketh, so will the false Prophets be deemed and esteemed Angels, but this Heavenly Angel tells us they are the Angels of the Dragon, that make this War with the Angels of Christ. Reason. 3 3. And lastly, because that in this War, we find none slain, nor any blood spilt, as they were under the persecuting Tyrants, as well the Arian Kings, as the Pagan Emperors; and therefore this War must needs be understood of no Foreign bloody War, but of a Verbal spiritual War, waged within the bosom of the Church, that happened after the death of Theodosius, who had freed the Church from all external Wars, and bloody persecutions, but could not stop the mouth of the false Prophet, nor hinder the Dragon and his Angels, to raise and prosecute this Heretical War. And yet now, How the Church prevailed against the Heretics. as the Woman formerly prevailed in the first War, against the bloody Instruments of the Dragon, that were vanquished in patientia Martyrum, through the patience of the Martyrs, and the sufferings of the Saints; so here, in this second War, she gets the Victory over her Enemies, and the Dragon is overcome, c. 12. v. 11. by the blood of the Lamb, and his Angels vanquished by the word of their Testimony, v. 11. that is the Heretics, and schismatics were confuted and silenced, in prudentia Doctorum; by the Wisdom of the Bishops, that were the Governors of the Church, and by their learned writings, and faithful Preaching of God's truth; and not with the Sword or Cannon shot, or any other such outward force which the Angels of Jesus Christ, the Ministers of the Gospel, never use, as the Angels of the Dragon do and now did in many places; because they are commanded with St. Peter to put up their Sword into the sheath, and it is for none, but the satellites of the high Priests, Math. 26.52. and the Jannizaries of the Antichrist, to come out against Christ, and to fight against his Witnesses with Swords and Staves. Then, Mr. Mede. pag. 40. Michael significat quis sicut deus? certe nullus nifi Jesus Christus. the Dragon being by Michael, that is, by the power and Wisdom of God, that is, Jesus Christ, which Michael signifieth, and not by any one of the chief Princes, or of the seven Arch Angels, as Mr. Mede thinketh, cast out of Heaven, that is, driven from the Church, as he did the buyers and sellers out of the Temple; when all the errors, heresies, and superstitions which the Devil by his prime Angels: the heresiarchs had invented, and sowed amongst God's people, were confuted and rooted out of these our reformed Churches, and these Churches restored to their Pristine purity, and settled in the right form of serving God, by the painful diligence of the learned Bishops, the Pastors, and the Protestant Preachers of God's word, which was fairly begun in Queen Elizabeth's time, The Victory in this War when obtained. continued and bettered in King James his Reign, but not clearly done, and perfectly finished until King Charles his days, nor any where so purely done, as in these our dominions, as I have fully proved unto you, before; there ensued a twofold act, or a double consequence of this great Victory of Michael and his Angels over the Dragon and his Angels. 1. The Triumph, rejoicing and Jopaean of the Conquerors, The twofold Consequence of the Church his Victory over the Heretics. cap. 12.11. the Inhabitants of Heaven. 2. The fretful wrath and continued malice, of the Conquered Dragon. 1. In Heaven, that is, in the Church of God, as I said before, St. John heard a loud voice, saying; now is come Salvation, and strength, and the Kingdom of our God, and the power of his Church, c. 12. v. 10. where you must first, observe the Emphasis in the word, now 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉; now is Salvation come; and it was come long before, when Christ had fully purchased our Redemption before his Ascension into Heaven; but I conceive this Salvation to be meant not of our spiritual and eternal Salvation from Sin, Hell and Satan, which was come by Christ long before, but for our Temporal Salvation and deliverance from the power and malice of our Enemies; and that was now come, that is fully and perfectly come, A special observation of the time of this rejoicing. and not before; because that till now, the Church was exercised either with bloody persecutions from without, or with intestine broils, and heresies from within; but now, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, the accuser and false traducer of our Brethren, the Holy Prophets, and the Apostles of Christ, by misapplying their say, misconstring their words, and perverting their meaning, and making them to say that which they never thought, as all Heretics do, being cast out of the Church, and quite vanquished, confuted and silenced; 1. By the blood of the Lamb, that is, by the faith, which the true Christians had in the death of Christ, and by the patiented sufferings of the Martyrs, for the defence of that faith in the former persecutions, both of the Pagans and Arians, when they loved not their lives unto death, but valued them as nothing, and yielded them most freely for the maintenance of that Faith, which they had in the blood of the Lamb. and 2. by the word of their Testimony; that is the brief Articles of their faith, and the uniform rule of Serving God, and by the constant, firm and faithful justifying and maintaining the truth of that Doctrine and Service which they professed and published unto the people, against all Heretics whatsoever. Therefore now, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, v. 12. rejoice you Heavens, Use 12 1. The rejoicing of the Angels and Saints; the Church triumphant and militant for the suppression of the Heretics. and ye that dwell in them; that is, the highest Heavens, and all you Blessed Spirits, and Holy Angels, that do rejoice at the Conversion of one Sinner, rejoice now much more, for these great Victories; and especially for this last victory, that Michael and his Angels hath obtained against the Dragon and his Angels; and you, the Metaphorical Heavens, the Churches of God, wherein God resideth, rejoice you, as you have most cause to rejoice that the accuser of your brethren, and the false traducer of the Apostles and Holy Fathers of the Church, is cast out from amongst you; and your Churches are purely reform, the doctrine of faith truly taught, and the service of God righty administered, and all errors, heresies, and superstitions swept out of the Church. But woe to the Inhabitants of the Earth and of the Sea, v. 12. that is, Who are meant by the inhabitants of the earth, and of the Sea. to the Worldlings, Hypocrites, bloody men and lose livers; for the earth signifieth earthly men, and the Sea, is a lose, roaring and raging element cold and moist; and therefore signifieth the lose and dissolute livers, roarers and furious men, that have not any heat of Love and Charity in them; and those also, that for the love of gain and profit only, and not out of love to benefit their Country and their Neighbours, and to show the bountiful goodness of God to all places, but only out of a covetous desire, to enrich themselves, do pass all Seas into all foreign Lands; woe, woe unto all those; because that he, which could not and can not prevail, against the true Christians, that do so firmly stand, and so stoutly oppose him, will be sure to catch these soon enough within his net, and hold them, fast enough, to make them pay for all; because, as the Holy Ghost saith, he hath 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, great wrath, and is exceedingly troubled and vexed, not only for his former foil, and his casting out of Heaven, but also, most especially, for that now after these victories, he knoweth, or as the word is, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, he seethe that he hath but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, a short space, to recruit, and to see if he can revenge his former foils; and therefore, 2. 2. The bloody and the most malicious persecution of the Dragon, after the suppression of the Heretics. He goeth presently among the Inhabitants of the Earth and of the Sea, and persuades them, to throw all the stones of the Earth, and to stir up all the waves of the Sea, and to use all possible arts, to vex and oppress the woman, and to overwhelm the Ship of Christ, which is the Church, in the Seas of all miseries and afflictions; And so now, the Dragon gins a fresh to rage, and to persecute the woman, saith the Holy Ghost, v. 13. which brought forth the manchild; and to vex and molest all her Children, all the true and faithful members of the Church, whereof most of them, especially her lay children, were left pretty quiet, while the spiritual and dogmatic war lasted, that raged most of all amongst the Clergy: but now, that war being ended, the Church reform, superstitions expunged and all the Heresies confuted, the Dragon vanquished, his Angels suppressed, and the service of God purely and rightly discharged, the true Church and all her members, (the corrupted, unreformed Churches he hath them in his hands already, so that he need not trouble himself to meddle with them) are newly molested, and exceedingly persecuted with great wrath, saith the Angel, and that is, with a bloody war, and a greater war, and a far more unnatural, and unchristian war, and a more violent, and more malicious prosecution of the war, and persecution of them that were quiet in the Land, than ever was done by this Dragon at any time, before this time. And the reason of the exceeding greatness and sharpness of this persecution of the true Church, The reason of the sharpness of this persecution, showed. signified by this woman, is not omitted, to be set down by the Holy Ghost, for the comfort and consolation of all the persecuted Saints, and distressed members of Christ, and for to encourage them with the more constancy to persist, and to withstand the assaults of the Dragon unto the end; and that is, because the Dragon, that in the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, had many hundred years, to prosecute that heretical and dogmatic war, yet now knoweth and seethe, that he hath but a short time to rage, and to wage this newly revived bloody war; and therefore he must bestir himself, or he shall lose his Harvest, that hath but a short time to gather in his fruit; and that time, that he is permitted thus to rage against the woman, as the spirit of God sets it down, Cap. 12.14. c. 11 8 & v. 11. c. 13 5. c. 11.2. is but a time, and times, and half a time; which signifieth the three days and a half, that the two witnesses of Christ shall lie unburied, in the streets of the great City, and the 42 months, wherein the beast should prevail against God's Servants, and should tread the holy City, that is, the purest Church, under feet: for all these times, thus expressed by several terms and expressions, The suppression of the witnesses and persecution of the Church, the same time. as of time, times, and half a time, and three days and a half, and 42 months, and do synechronize and cohere, for the length of the time, I take to be the very self same time; and that is, the time, wherein the Antichrist should rage's, and should suppress and kill the two witnesses, and exceedingly vex and persecute the true Church of Christ. And these times thus expressed by the Holy Ghost, are interpreted by very many of the most learned, How long the persecution of the Antichrist shall last. both Papists and Protestants, to signify three years and a half, or, as some men do think, three years and half three years, which makes up four years and a half; though I rather conceive, it should be taken for some short time, much thereabouts, which the good God, in his great Wisdom knoweth best, and would have us, by these expressions of it, to know for a certain truth, and to assure ourselves, that it shall not, and cannot be long, but either that time directly, A special observation. or much about that time, though perhaps, not that time exactly to a day, yet it may be most exactly, to a minute; as God seethe best; I will not be too curious, nor too presumptuous herein. Only, I would have it observed, that the time of this persecution of the Woman; That the time of this persecution of the Woman, and of her first abode in the Wilderness is not the same. and the time of her first abode in the Wilderness, when she fled there first, from the face of the Dragon, after the bringing forth of her Child, is not the same; for that time is said to be 1200 and 60 days; and this time of her persecution by the Dragon, is said to be a time, and times, and half a time; which is just the same time, for the length of it, and expressed in the same phrase, as Daniel saith, Antiochus, that is the most lively type of the Antichrist, that can be found in all the Scriptures, should rage's against the Church of the Jews; and that was just three years and a half, neither more nor less, saith Tremelius; or three years seven months and thirteen days, saith Junius and Deodate; for if that time of her abode in the Wilderness, and this time of her persecution by the Dragon, had been the same time, why should it not be expressed by the same term, and by the same phrase, but that the Holy Ghost by altering the term, and using another phrase, to express it, would have us to understand it of another time? when as we see, the time of the Witnesses Prophesying, and the time of the Woman's first abode in the Wilderness, being the same time, they have the same expression of 1200 and 60 days, as you may see in c. 11.3. & c. 12.6. and so likewise the time of treading the holy City under foot, c. 11.3. etc. 12.6. and the time of the beast continuing his War against the Church and the Saints, in this last persecution of the Dragon, being the same time, it hath in like manner the same expression of 42. months, c. 11.2. & c. 13.5. c. 11.2. c. 13.5. that so we might understand it, to be the very same time. And therefore I say that the Woman's first abode in the Wilderness for 1200 and 60 days, and this her treading under foot by the beast, and her last abode and nourishing in the Wilderness for a time, times, and half a time, c. 12. v. 14. is not the same, and doth not Sunchronize, as Mr. Mede saith; Mr. Mede in his clavis, pag. 3. but the continuance of the beast persecuting her, being 42. months, c. 11.2. and her nourishing in the Wilderness, during this War, and the persecution of her by the beast, being a time and times, and half a time, that makes 42 months, or three years and a half, as the most of the best interpreters do agree it is to be taken, do sunchronize; c. 12.14. and therefore must be understood for the very same time. But all this while that is, during the time, thus expressed, by time, times and a half time, and by three days and a half, and 42 months; how long, or how short soever that time shall be; the great Dragon, that is the Devil, by the cruel beast, that is the Antichrist, and the Dragon's prime instrument of all mischief, shall cast out of his mouth, saith the holy Ghost, Waters as a flood after the Woman, c. 12.15. What is meant by the flood that the Dragon casteth after the Woman. Judge whether this was not fulfilled in the time of the long Parliament amongst us. that he might cause her to be carried away by the Flood, v. 15. and that is, he shall make Laws and decrees, orders and Ordinances, that do proceed out of the mouth of men, (that must not be passed over unobserved,) and are as poisonous and as deadly as the waters, that are spewed out of the mouth of the Serpent; and they shall be made so plentifully and in such an abundant manner, that they shall be like a flood, or a torrent stream that, as the Poet saith, Fluit acrius amne perenni, floweth more violent, than any constant current; so shall these new made Laws, and Ordinances of the Beast, be more prejudicial to the Servants of God, than any former well known Laws and decrees; and they shall be cast after the woman, that is, not gently made, but violently thrown with such a force, as might wholly carry away the Woman, and so destroy the Church, and overwhelm all the right Worshippers of God, and the true professors of the faith of Christ; for by waters, as the Psalmist serteth down in many places, is signified Crosses, troubles and afflictions, Psal 69.1.2. Psal. 124.4. Psal. 144.7. and all kind of molestations and miseries, which the Dragon by his new made orders and Ordinances would bring upon the Church without measure, whereby her members, from the highest to the lowest, should find plundering and pillaging in all places, imprisonment without mercy, banishment without pity, taxes beyond ability, death without example, and killing in all quarters; the which things, are the floods of miseries and afflictions, How troubles and miseries drive many away from the right way. and not the Doctrines of Arius and other Heretics, as Mr. Mede saith, that the Dragon poureth forth after the woman, that she might be carried away of the flood; that is, that she might be terrified by these floods, and driven away by these miseries, from the right service of God, and the performance of the duties, that she oweth unto the witnesses; as we see terrors and troubles are too powerful, to drive away the weak, and such as have no solidity in them from the right way, either of equity or piety. And thus shall the poor and pious woman, the true Church of Christ, and all her members, be persecuted and afflicted by the Dragon: and whether our Church hath been thus used, or not, during the wars of the long Parliament, I leave it to the judicious Reader to consider it; howsoever, the goodness of God, and his love towards his Church and Servants, is such and so great, that he showeth himself to be, Psal. 46.1. as the Prophet speaketh, deus in oportunitatibus, a good God, most gracious in the most needful time of trouble; for as soon as the Dragon began to persecute the woman, after that he was thrown out of Heaven, and cast unto the earth. God gave unto the woman two wings of a great Eagle, that she might fly away into the Wilderness into her place; v. 14. c. 12.6. Two special things to be observed. v. 14. which was the place, that was prepared by God for her; to secure her from the Dragon, v. 6. touching which wings, we are to consider these two special things; that is, 1. What these two wings be 2. Why they were given unto the woman; and 1. We may well understand, these two wings are not the Magistrates and the Ministers, as E. H. thinketh, and some others with him; because now, in this persecution of the woman, and the rest of her Children, the true members of the Church, the two witnesses are likewise persecuted, and killed, and do lie dead and unburied, all the while that the woman is persecuted; and therefore they could not possibly help the woman to fly away. Mr. Mede. p. 64. Neither are these two wings of the Eagle, the Eastern and the Western Empire, as Mr. Mede imagineth; because the East Empire, at the time of this persecution of the woman, had wholly apostatised from Christ, and was become another enemy unto the woman; and the West Empire, under the Papacy, was no faithful friend, but had anathamatized the true Church, that is thus persecuted by the Dragon: and therefore I do rather conceive that these two wings are; 1. 1. Observation What are the two wings that are given to the woman. 1 Pet. 3.16. Faith, by which we escape all the fiery darts of Satan, Ephes. 1.16. 2. Good works, and an holy conversation, which stops the mouth of the wicked; as St. Peter saith; or rather, because their mouths, that hereby should be stopped, will not be stopped, but will traduce and slander Innocency itself, as the Jews slandered Christ himself, in whose mouth was found no guile, these two wings may be said to be, 1. Constant patience. 2. Fervent Prayers. Patience. 1 1. Patience, manfully to suffer whatsoever it should please God to permit the Dragon, and his Instrument, the beast, to inflict upon her; for not only Levius fit patientia quicquid corrigere est nefas, patience makes every burden to seem lighter than it is, and helps us to bear that, which we cannot shun; but also vincit qui patitur, by a patiented suffering, we overcome the greatest maladies, as Christ himself, by his suffering, overcame all his and our enemies; and therefore, si vis vincere disce pati, if thou wilt overcome this Dragon, and conquer this beast, arm thyself with patience. Prayers. 2 2. Prayers fervently and constantly made to the Almighty God, that he would assist her and strengthen her, to endure faithful against all the assaults of Satan; and in his good time, to deliver her from them; for the time would be too short, and my papers too scant, if I should go about to set down, Nothing so powerful to obtain what we desire as fervent and constant prayers. what great things have been obtained, and what wonderful things have been brought to pass, and effected by the power of prayer; when as a Father saith, haec est victoria, quae vincit mundum preces nostrae, this is the victory that overcometh the world, and will overcome the Dragon, even our prayers. And these be the two wings of the great Eagle, that is most able and powerful, to fly and to escape, (and I know no graces more powerful than these two) whereby the Church and all her members have always, and shall ever, through God's help, which their prayers will obtain, be able to persist in the true faith, and right service of God, and likewise to discharge all other duties, that they own, both to the witnesses and to all other men, during their lives, maugre all the spite of the Dragon, and the persecution of the beast, and likewise to escape all their malice and mischief: and therefore let us ever pray to God, and be patiented and contented. 2. We are to observe, 2. Observat. To what end the two wings were given to the woman. that the Holy Ghost omitteth not to explain the reason and the end, why God gave these two wings unto the woman not only to fly away, and to escape from the violence of the Dragon, but more especially, to be noted, that she might fly into the Wilderness, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, into her place, which God had formerly prepared for her; therefore, it is apparent, that she was now come out of the Wilderness, and out of the place, and as the Children of Israel left their Tents where Moses was, and joined themselves to Baal-Peor; so no doubt, but she had left the Wilderness, and the heavenly life, that she should have led, Had not the Church offended, in stepping out of her place, she had not been afflicted. and associated herself too much with the world and worldly men, which is the cause of her persecution, and the inflicting of the second woe upon her, which she might have escaped, had she continued in her place; because no punishment cometh, until a transgression proceedeth; the sin goeth before, and the correction followeth after; so the woman came out of her place, and the Dragon was permitted to whip her into her place, and therefore this is a second passage of the woman into the Wilderness; which being not well observed, hath made many Interpreters, to mistake the times, and the meaning of the Holy Ghost in this place. But seeing her coming out of her place, is the cause of her present woe, and of the persecution of the Dragon, by the means and malice of the beast, let her quickly. if she would be preserved, and escape the flood of waters and afflictions, that the Dragon s●ueth after her, get again into the Wilderness, and return into her place, and continue faithful in her Christian Profession, and the discharging of her duties, both to God and man; because the neglect thereof hath been the cause of all her troubles, at all times whatsoever. And let her and all her Children, the members of the Church, How God looketh upon the afflictions of his people. the sconer and the rather do this; because that to encourage her, to continue constant in the right service of God, and to honour the witnesses so religiously as she ought to do, God locked down from Heaven, and, considering the great wrath of the Dragon, and the flood of all miseries, that by the service of the beast, he had cast after the woman, as he looked upon the afflictions of his people, when they were in Egypt and sent Moses for to help them; so now, in this persecution of the woman, v. 16. he moved the earth to help this distressed woman; and to open her mouth, and to swallow up the flood, which the Dragon had cast out of his mouth, v. 16 Where, you may see, and should consider it, How the senseless creatures do their service unto God. how the senseless creatures are obedient Instruments, to do their service unto God; both to punish the wicked, and to help the godly; as the raging Sea was a wall of defence unto the Israelites on every side, and a grievous gulf to devour Pharaoh and all his Host; so here, the dead earth, that opened her mouth to swallow up Dathan, and to cover the Congregation of Abiram, for their wickedness, doth now likewise, according to the letter, open her mouth, to swallow up the flood, that the Dragon had caest after the Woman, to preserve her from being ruined by that flood. But here we are to inquire what is meant by this earth, that hath a mouth to be opened for the defence and preservation of the woman; and it is strange unto me, that so learned a man, Mr. Mede. pag. 47. as Mr. Mede should by the earth, understand the Bishops and Doctors that were gathered together in the general Counsels; because I cannot remember any place of Scripture, where the Godly, Religious, and spiritual men, are expressed, and are to be understood by the earth; because that, although all flesh is Grass, and every man is but dust and ashes, and therefore the Prophet saith, O Earth, Earth, Earth, hear the Word of the Lord; yet being regenerated, and filled with the graces of God's spirit, and having their thoughts, and their desires mounted up from the earth, and their Conversation in Heaven, they are never termed Earth, but as the Church here, and in many other places, is called Heaven, so are they styled spiritual men, though their bodies be nothing but earth. And therefore I conceive the meaning of the words to be, that God in the time of this persecution of the Woman, ● 12.10. & v. 7. and affliction of his Church, inspired some men, and moved them, that otherwise were as earthly and as worldly minded as any others, What is meant by the earth that helped the the Woman. though not altogether so malicious and so bloody as the rest, to open their mouths, and to out vote the worse and most spiteful sort of the instruments of the Dragon, that they should not utterly destroy all the Children of the Woman, and Servants of God, but should suffer them to live, which the more virulent party would have quite extinguished, and to let them compound for their Estates, that they might have some small livelihood to support them, Whether this also was not fulfilled in and by the long Parliament, let the Reader judge. Prov. 16.7. after all their plundering and persecution: and so God dealeth with them that serve him, and continue constant, to discharge their duties, that as the Prophet speaketh, he maketh their enemies to become their friends, and to be their helpers, as here the very worldlings do open their mouths, and make speeches to preserve many of God's Children. And whether such a thing as this happened not in the last long Parliament, I leave it to my judicious Reader to consider it. Therefore the Dragon, not satisfied with all the former miseries of the Woman, and all the persecutions of her Children, which hitherto they had suffered, but his wrath being still enraged to see any help or comfort afforded to the Woman, he spurs and instigates his instruments, the beast and his associates, to make war with the remnant of the Woman's seed, which keep the Commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ: v. 17. v. 17. that is, the Dragon moveth the beast to be incensed and enraged against those, that, after the death of the Witnesses, and the small relief and breathing time, Who are meant by the remnant of the Woman's seed. that some members of the Church have had, will not submit themselves to do the service which the Dragon, by the beast prescribeth, and yield themselves to be seduced by the false Prophet, which are the Angels of the Dragon, but will constantly adhere to God's right service, and the established form of God's Worship, and continue faithful observers of the Laws, discipline and doctrine of the slain Witnesses; And is not this also fulfilled? let the ejected Ministers judge of it. these now must bear the brunt and malice of the beast, the poor and small remainder of the true and faithful Servants of God, which, notwithstanding all their persecution and deprivation, and all other sufferings whatsoever, will keep the Commandments of God, and have therefore the Testimony of Jesus Christ, that they are Gods faithful Servants, and not such as will turn with every blast of wind, and be carried away with a little worldly preferment. And thus I have run over this 12th Chapter of the Revelation, and have in a plain stile set down, what I conceive to be the true meaning of the same: how the Holy Ghost therein showeth the state and condition of the Church of Christ, from the time of that Godly Emperor Theodosius, about the year 382. for the space of 1200. and 60 years, which ended about the year 1642. about which time, after the first Woe is past, by the invasion of the Turkish and Mahometan Tyrants into Christendom and the defacing of the Christian Churches, and defiling the true Faith in the East Empire, the Dragon, as the Holy Ghost here saith, should more maliciously begin, by the Ministry of his chiefest instrument, the great Antichrist, his greatest and sorest persecution against the Church of Christ, expressed here under the person of this Woman, that hath these floods of waters, sorrows, and afflictions thrown after her; the which persecution, (according to the old adage, si longa sit afflictio, levis est, si gravis, brevis est; if thy trouble be long, it is but light; if great, it is short; quiae nullum violentum est perpetuum; because no violent thing is able to continue very long;) because it should be so great and so grievous; the spirit of God tells us; it should continue, but for a short space, and a few years; and when the same shall be ended, and fully expired, the second woe shall be passed; and then, after the end of this bloody persecution, and the expiration of this second woe, the third and last woe, saith the Angel, is quickly to be expected, and shall not long be deferred, before it cometh: and this last woe shall be poured out in a full measure, upon the Turks and Mahometans, the supplanters of the Eastern Churches, and upon the Antichrist and his adherents, the great persecutors of the true reformed protestant Church, and upon the Popish superstitious and Idolatrous Corrupters of the rest of the Western Churches, and upon the false Prophet the Chapleins of the Antichrist; and upon all other Hypocritical Worldlings, and Profane livers whatsoever, and whersoever they be, and upon many of God's Servants, that cannot escape a common plague, while they live among the wicked. And so you have the determination and extension of these three great woes, The 3 great Woes upon whom they are to fall. 1. Woe. troubles and afflictions, that have and shall fall upon the World, thus more plainly expressed. The first woe fell heavy upon the Eastern Churches, by the coming in of the Turks and Mahometans, for their Blasphemous Heresies, and denying the deity both of Christ and of the Holy Ghost, and likewise the denial of all the due reverence and respect, which they owed to the Martyrs and Saints of God, whereof Leo Isaurus, and Constantinus Capronimus, and the Constantinopolitan Council, that consisted of 338. Bishops, were the chief causers, and the Principal Authors of that contempt, and were sufficiently chastised for the same. The second woe is now fallen, or falling, 2. Woe. or most like to fall upon these Western Protestant Churches, by the coming in of the Antichrist that was long expected, and Prophesied that he should come amongst them, to play his part; for that having the true Doctrine of Christ, and the right form and manner of God's service settled and established amongst them, they would notwithstanding, in a wild wantonness, be seduced by the false Prophet, to reject the same, to suppress their Governors, to slay the Witnesses of Christ, and, being most perfect Hypocrites, to lead a most worldly life, far worse than either Papists or Pagans, under the Cloak and Wizard of piety and Saintship. The third and last woe, that we are certain is yet to come, and will come as the Angel saith, very speedily after the end and determination of the second woe, shall fall most Heavily, as I said, upon the Mahometans and the Antichrist and his adherents, and the false Prophet, and upon all the Enemies of God, and the bringers of the former woes upon his Church, and all other Lewd and wicked livers whatsoever. And now I should proceed to the 13th Chapter, 3. Woe. but that there is an exposition of this 12th Chapter, annexed to our Bibles, which might, if not answered, cross much, of what I have formerly explained; for Francis Junius, a very Worthy man and not meanly learned, in his notes, joined to Theodore Beza's translation of the New Testament, upon this 12th Chapter, understandeth, by this Woman, Junius his interpretation of the Woman in his notes on the 12. Chapter. Eusebius l. 3. c. 5. sometimes, the Christian Church of the Jews, and sometimes he would have the Woman to signify the gentile Christians: and he saith, that the Woman which fled into the Wilderness, where she was fed for a time and times, and half a time, signifieth the Jewish Christians, or Christian Jews, that fled out of Jerusalem, when the Romans were coming to besiege it, into a little Village, called Pella, as Eusebius writeth, and remained there, a postrema Judaeorum defectione ad urbis excidium usque from the last falling away or revolt of the Jews, until the destruction of their City and Temple; which was just three years and a half; and by the earth that opened her mouth to swallow up the flood, that the Dragon cast after her, he saith it signifieth the unbelieving and Rebellious Jews, that underwent the War, and sustained all the miseries, that the Romans brought upon that Nation; whereby those believing Jews, that were in Pella, did escape that flood of afflictions, that otherwise must have fallen upon them, if they had not fled out of Jerusalem when they heard the voice that cried in the air, migremus hinc; let us departed hence. And so he conceiveth, this passage of the Woman into the Wilderness expressed in the 14th. v. where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time, which he rightly expoundeth for three years and a half, to be not the same, with that passage of the Woman, The foresaid interpretation of Junius rejected. expressed in the sixth verse, where she is fed 1200 and 60 days, which he also rightly expoundeth to signify 1200 and 60 years; but he misapplyeth this second passage of the Woman into the Wilderness, to a Woman that cannot be understood in that place; as appeareth. Reason. 1 1. In that the Woman, (for there is no mention made in all the Chapter, but of one, and the same Woman) that is, the Christian Church, or the Christians that believed in Jesus Christ, is said to be fed, that is, to be guided, Governed, and instructed by the two Witnesses, that is, 1. The Kings and their under Magistrates; and 2. The Apostles, and the Bishops that succeeded the Apostles, and the rest of God's Ministers, for 1200 and 60 days: that is, as Junius himself expoundeth it 1200 and 60 years: and we are sure the believing Jews in Pella were not so long guided and instructed by these Witnesses in that place, nor in any place else that we know of; and therefore they could not be signified by this Woman. Reason. 2 2. In that this Revelation was not of known things that were already past, but of things that were hereafter to be fulfilled, that is, after they were revealed unto St. And c. 4.1. Dr. Hammond in apoc. ex Epiphanio baeresi. 51. Irenaeus adversus haereticos. libro. 5. Balaus l 3. saith, it was in the 15th year of Domitian. John; as the Angel telleth plainly unto our Evangelist, c. 1. 19 And this time, when St. John was banished into Patmos, and wrote this book, was not in the reign of Claudius Caesar, that banished all the Jews out of Rome, as some men, out of Epiphanius do imagine, and as hereafter I shall make it more fully to appear; but it was about the latter end of Domitian's reign, as both Justin Martyr and Irenaeus testify; and as Balaeus, Beza, Maresius, and the most of our best late Writers do assent to Irenaeus testimony: and that was about the year of Christ 98. and these believing Jews fled to Pella, either when vespasian began the War, or when Titus his Son came to besiege Jerusalem, which was about 40 years after Christ his Ascension, that is, in the year of our Lord 73. and in the second year of Vespasians reign, that was proclaimed Emperor in 72: and therefore those Jews could not be here mentioned. Reason. 3 3. In that their being in Pella, that was near enough to Jerusalem, though it was beyond Jordan, during all the time of the siege, could be but little better, if we consider the miseries of billeting our enemy's Soldiers, and our plundering, our commanding, and other abuses, that are incident unto us by and from them, that follow the Wars, of whom the Poet saith, Nulla fides pietassque viris qui castrasequuntur; then if they had been within the City of Jerusalem, save only the freedom of their lives, when perhaps their other troubles and abuses were no ways jess, if not in some respect, far greater than the troubles of many of them, that were within the Walls of Jerusalem; And therefore their being in Pella could not signify the earth's opening of her mouth to swallow up the flood of their afflictions, which no doubt but they endured in full measure. Reason. 4 4. In that Pella, being but a little Village, it is not likely, that it could contain so many of the Jews, or that so many should go out of Jerusalem unto it, as should move the Holy Ghost to express them here, under the notion of this Woman, that was persecuted by the Dragon, when as these were not the men against whom Titus waged his War, being so few and so contemptible, and no ways opposing him. Reason. 5 5. In that this persecution of the Woman, and her flight into the Wilderness is after the War in Heaven, and after the Dragon was thrown into the earth, as the Text makes it plain, v. 13. & 14. but these Jews being in Pella, was long before this war; and therefore they cannot be meant by this woman. Reason. 6 6. In that according to the old rule, non est distinguendum ubi non distinguit lex; we may not chop and change, times, places, and persons, where Scriptures change them not, to fit our own purposes, and to make good our own best liked Interpretations, which is but, as the Poet saith, to stagger, Nunc huc, nunc illuc, exemplo nubis aquosae; Much like a waterish Cloud, which sometimes hither is driven with the wind, How men should fairly proceed in their interpretations, without wresting of any Text. and sometimes thither, or as another saith, Praxitiles like to make beguiled minds to bow down to the painted strumpet, either of these high conceits of the great Scholars, or of the brainsick fancies of the weaker wits; but we ought fairly, to proceed according to the most genuine sense of the place that we interpret, and such as crosseth no other truth, nor carrieth any absurdity or impossibility with it. And who seethe not prima fancy, at the first sight and reading of this 12th Chapter, how the Holy Ghost proceedeth therein, to set forth the dangers, troubles, and persecutions of this woman, that signifieth the Christian Church, from the time, that she became clothed with the Sun, and the beginning of her pain in travel, unto the end of her persecutions? as, how she should fly into the Wilderness, how long she should be nourished and fed in that place, what Wars she should undergo in that time, and after the ending of that War, and the stepping out of her place, how she should be therefore punished and persecuted, and for what time she should be distressed in that persecution, and how she should be helped and relieved out of the hands and power of her enemies; which are all successively in a continued Series, and a just order set down, by the spirit of God, of the same woman, that was the Christian Church, in this 12th Chapter of the Revelation. And as, not all this, by Junius his concession, so indeed not any part of this, can be referred to the believing Jews, in Pella, as understood by this woman, v. 14. but to the Christian Church, converted and collected both out of the Jews and Gentiles; especially considered, after the time of Theodosins, as I have showed to you before. And this last persecution of this woman, can be no otherwise understood, Why this last persecution of the woman is to be referred to these our times. as I conceive then of the sufferings of the reformed Protestant Churches, and servants of Christ, in these our times wherein we live; because they fall out just at the end of 1200 and 60 years, wherein the two witnesses, after that the woman was clothed with the Sun, should prophesy, and the woman should be fed by the witnesses, before they should be slain, and before the beginning of this her great persecution, and flood of all miseries, that the Dragon, by the service of the Antichrist, should raise against her, and throw after her. And I say, that although Arethas, Rupertus and Barradius, do with Junius understand this woman to signify the Jewish Synagogue, and Alcazar takes it for the primitive Church of the Christians, to whom I do assent, she may be taken for that Church, at that time, when the Dragon began to watch her, that he might devour her Child; yet St. Ambrose. Ticonius, and Primasius, do with me understand this woman here, flying to avoid the Dragon's flood, to signify the true Christian Church, in her last persecution, sub finem mundi, a little before the end of the world, when Satan should be let lose, after his 1000 years' imprisonment, and should then pour forth a flood and deluge of all crosses, troubles, and miseries upon the true Church, and the faithful servants of Jesus Christ, the which I think he hath now, within these late years, done to the uttermost. Reason. 7 7. And lastly, in that these times, of the woman's being fed and nourished in the Wilderness for 1200 and 60 years, wherein the Heretical war betwixt the Angels of Michael, and the Angels of the Dragon was made, and was not ended here, in our Church, until King Charles his days; in whose time, both the Brownists and Puritans were suppressed, and the Jesuit Fisher, the great Goliath of the Papists, That the times here spoken of, cannot cohere with the Jews in Pella. in these parts, was quite vanquished and confuted by Bishop Laud; and these times, that are here expressed by time, times, and half a time, which are the time of the Church's persecution, after the 1200 and 60 years, and the end of the heretical war, cannot be referred to the believing Jews in Pella; but rather for the persecution of our Protestant Churches, and the preservation of them, from being ruined, by the earth's opening of her mouth, to swallow up the flood of afflictions, that the Dragon casteth after them; because the Holy Ghost saith, that after three days and a half, which is the very same time, though expressed in other terms, with time, times, and half a time, the spirit of life from God shall enter into the witnesses, that is, ministris verbi, as Junius confesseth, the Bishops and Preachers of God's word, or as E. H. more rightly thinketh, the Magistrates and Ministers, which formerly had been slain, and they shall stand again upon their feet, that is, in their successors, by a Monarchical and Episcopal Government, to show, that God will not suffer his Church and Servants, to be always, nor long trodden underfoot, and to want her lawful Pastors and Governors, but should have the witnesses of Christ, within a short space, restored unto her. And we are confident, that such a thing as this, never happened to the believing Jews in Pella, nor to any other believing Church in the World, that we know of, that both the witnesses of God, That we cannot remember where it happened, that the chief Magi. strate and the chief Prelate were killed about the same time, by the same persons, and for the same cause, as it seems, the two witnesses of Christ were to be, and our King and Bishops were, for the pretence of fear of bringing in Popery, as here it did. 1. The King, which is the supreme Magistrate, and 2. The Bishop, which is the chief Praelate & Pastor of the People, should be killed, about the same time, by the same persons, and indeed, upon the matter, for the same cause, whatsoever pretences should be alleged; the which cause, is showed to be, the malice of the Dragon to the woman and her Child, and to slay the witnesses. And I do verily believe, that if learned Junius, Beza, and others the like wise and learned men, had lived in these times, and had seen the things that were and are done in these days, of the last Century of years among Protestants, and in the best reformed Churches, they would have interpreted this and many other parcels of Scriptures far otherwise then they have done; and no marvel, nor any disparagement to their learning and wisdom; because, as I said before, Prophecies and Predictions mystically set down, are not perfectly understood until they be fully accomplished and fulfilled. And therefore, as the Holy Ghost had set down in the 11th Chapter, how the two witnesses of God's truth, and the Governors of his Church should be used, persecuted, and killed by the Ministers of the Antichrist, the beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit; so here in the 12th Chapter, he showeth how the Church herself, and all her members should be molested, afflicted, and persecuted by the Serpent, that had formerly seduced her out of Paradise, and now followeth her into the Wilderness, makes War against her, and throws a whole flood of miseries and mischiefs upon her, to see if he can utterly destroy her; and, being exceedingly vexed, and filled with wrath, that the woman should be any ways helped, as she was by the earth, and earthly members, that opened their mouths to speak for the innocent Children of the woman, and thereby swallowed up many of those bitter waters, that the Dragon had spewed upon her, that all the Servants of Christ, and the observers of the witnesses, should not be wholly and irrecoverably destroyed, he goeth about to make war, with the remnant of the woman's seed; and yet it is not said, that he made this war with the remainder of the woman's seed, after the death of the witnesses, because they were so few, that they were not able to war with him, but he went about to make war with them; and to that end, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, he stands upon the Sands of the Sea; for these words are the conclusion of the 12th Chapter, and not the beginning of the 13th Chapter, and they are to be referred to the Dragon, and not to St. John, as our English Translation mistakes it; and the meaning is, that the Dragon intending to prosecute this war, against the remainder of the faithful Christians that observed the witnesses, and did their duties in the service of God, as they ought to do, and so kept the Commandments of God, and had the Testimony of Jesus Christ, that they were 〈◊〉 true and faithful servants, stands upon the Sands, that is, upon the rest of the Preachers of God's word, and those faithful Clergymen, and other zealous and conscionable Christians, that used and observed the right form of divine service or the right mazner of serving God, Who are meant by the Sands upon which the Dragon standeth. which the faithful and slain witnesses of Christ had prescribed, and obeyed their Governors, and submitted themseives to the Discipline, and to the uttermost of their abilities, justified and defended the same Government, which the true Governors of God's Church had ordained; and he trezdeth and trampleth these Sands under his feet; for as the Sands are placed by God to keep in the Seas, within their bounds, that they should not overflowe the Lands, so is the Laws and Discipline of the Church, and those faithful Ministers and others that observe the same, a stop and a bridle, to refrain the people, and to hinder them from passing over the bounds of equity and piety; and though the Discipline and sentence of the Church seems but a weak fence, to keep out the wild beasts, and to retain, in the fold of Christ, his sheep; and of little force, like a paper bullet, to terrify the wicked from any evil; yet, as the Sands that are but of a small substance, do notwithstanding keep in the raging Seas, and as the twigs, that tie the hoops of a Hogshead or Tun, are but very small, and yet are the preservatives of the Wine; so are the Laws and Discipline of the Church, though not capital, nor bloody, yet sufficiently able, like the Sands to suppress the raging waves of wickedness, from all the Children of the Church. How the Dragon stands upon the Sands. But now saith the Angel, the Dragon stands upon these Sands, treads down all holy orders, rageth against all the Discipline of the Church, throws the observers of them out of their Churches, deprives them of their live, stops their mouths with terrors and threaten; and as he had formerly slain the witnesses, so now he raiseth the winds, stirreth up storms, and all the Tempests that he can, Judge, if this also be not fulfilled in the time of the long Parliament. to blow away these Sands, that adhered to the witnesses, and endeavoured to keep in and to restrain the waters of the Seas, and the wickedness of the people from overflowing: and wheresoever these winds do blow, and these Sands are stood upon, I pray God to give them patience, to overcome these stormy winds and Tempests. Amen. CAP. III. The three principal enemies of God's Church; Satan's 1000 years' imprisonment, when begun, and when ended; when the Christian Religion triumphed over the Idols of the Gentiles, and over all the Gods of the Heathens; that the beast signifieth the great Antichrist, and a pack or confederacy of most wicked men; from whence it sprung; of the seven heads of the beast; what they are, handled at large; and the Authors opinion of the seven Kings and the eighth, that is the beast and the Antichrist. 3. AFter that the Angel, which Christ sent unto St, John, had informed him of those sad accidents, that should befall unto the witnesses, in the 11th Chapter; and the state and condition of the Church of God, under the person and title of the woman, for the space of 1200 and 60 years, and the persecutions that she must undergo, after the end and expiration of those years, that began, as I shown unto you, about 382. and ended in or about 1642. in the 12th Chapter, he proceedeth in this 13th Chapter, to show unto him the Instruments, that the red Dragon raiseth up, and the Devil useth to become the murderers of the witnesses, and the persecuting enemies of God's Church; and I find them here, in the 13th Chapter, and in the 17th Chapter, wherein most of the things that are showed in this 13th Chapter, are more clearly explained by the Angel, unto our Evangelist St. John, to be distributed into three ranks, or three principal Instruments, or generals of three great Regiments, or rather Armies of the Devil. The three principal enemies and persecutors of God's Church. 1. The beast, that risen out of the Sea, and is the same that is said to have risen out of the bottomless pit, c. 11.7. and is as the body of the Antichrist. 2. The beast that risen out of the earth, and was subservient to the infernal beast, that risen out of the Sea, and is the false Prophet, and as it were the soul of the Antichrist. 3. The Whores, that sat upon the scarlet coloured beast, and that sat upon many waters. 1. The Antichrist. The first of these, as being the body, which is most perspicuous, is most generally termed the Antichrist, that was prophesied, and expected, that he should come into the Church of Christ, before Christ should come to judge the world. 2. The Prophet. The second of these, as being the soul, that animates and gives life unto the body, is termed the false Prophet, that instructeth, instigateth, and so furthereth, and spurreth forward the Antichrist in all his proceed. 3. The Whores. c. 17.1. c. 17.3. The third of these, that is, the Whores, which are two, the one sitting upon many waters, c. 17.1. the other sitting upon a scarlet coloured beast, c. 17.3. are apostate Churches, and back-sliding Protessors, that have falsified their faith, and departed from their first love to Christ, to follow after the world; and then, as Hagar despised Sarah, and set her at naught, that was the true wife of Abraham, so these strumpets and false Churches, persecute the faithful spouse of Christ, as all Whores use to do, to the true and honest wives. And although all these, the beast, the false Prophet and the Whores, be the instruments of the Dragon, to vex and persecute the Servants of God and true Church of Christ, and do all unanimously fight under the same banner, in the grand Army of Satan, the prime adversary of Christ; yet, because these three before cited, are three different and distinct Agents, and different Instruments of the Devil, to effect different evils and mischiefs, and are severally to play their several parts in their several stations, The different evils that the three enemies of the Church do effect. 1. What the Antichrist doth. 2. What the false Prophet doth. 3 What the Whores do. in the Tragedy of God's true Church, therefore they are accordingly described by several names, and have their several actions and do severally set down, and so likewise their several judgements and punishments; for, 1. The beast, that ariseth out of the Sea, and is commonly termed the Antichrist, that, slayeth the two witnesses of Christ, and intrudes himself into their offices, and then destroyeth the people of God, that will not submit themselves to him, and to his Ordinances. 2. The false Prophet, by preaching his new Doctrines, deceiveth them that dwell on the Earth, that is, the worldly minded men, and instructeth the Antichrist what to do, and so instigateth and assisteth, and justifieth him, in all his wicked and unjust proceed. 3. The Whores which are two, Non me latet Tertnll: l. contra Judaeos & in contra marcionem, & hieron. ep. 17. ad marcellam. & quaest. 11. ad Algasiam per meretricem intelligere romam, sed aethnicam, idola colentem & christianos persequentem. and do comprehend, 1. All schismatical and heretical Churches that are corrupted with errors and superstitions. 2. All hypocritical Professors, carnal livers, and worldly minded men. Where of each one is termed Ecclesia fornicaria, the whore; because all these have broken their word, and falsified their faith, which they had made to Christ, and vowed to observe in their Baptism; and became drunk with the blood of the Saints, and with the blood of the Martyrs of Jesus, and have made drunk, the Kings of the Earth, that is, all earthly, and worldly minded Kings, and all the Inhabiters of the Earth, that have not their conversation in Heaven, with the wine of their fornications, when they had intoxicated and bewitched them, with their fair and false glosses, that corrupted the Text, and with their lewd examples to follow after the sweet pleasures of the flesh, and the vanities of the world. And, as the behaviours, the actions, The judgements and punnishments of these three Enemies not alike. Vunde Fornicatio dicitur. and the sins and wickedness of these three enemies and Persecutors of Christ his Church, are different and thus severally expressed by the Spirit of God; so their judgements and punishments are divers, and their state and condition is not alike, nor in like manner to be considered; for, as the woman that is Married to an Husband, and then commits fornication, that is, secretly in fornicibus, in some vaults as they used in Rome, and other great Cities, coupleth herself, and is joined to another man, is said to play the Whore; And yet, while she is undivorced, and not cast away, nor departed from her Husband, she is still his Wife, and upon her Repentance and submission, A Married Woman undivorsed though she playeth the Whore is still the Wise of her Husband. there may be a Reconciliation and a Remission of all her former faults; and she may become a very good Woman; so that Church which is betrothed to Christ by Faith, and by the Incorporation of her Members into him, in their Baptism; and then afterwards corrupteth the true Faith, and breaketh the Promise that she hath made to Christ, either by following after the Lusts of the flesh, and the Vanities of this World, as the Hypocrites, Carnal livers, and formal Professors do; or else by joining herself, as the Israelites did with Baal-peor, with humane inventions, idle Ceremonies, and fruitless superstitions, or embraceth the Errors and Heresies of learned Heretics, may rightly be said to commit secret Fornication, and to play the part and tricks of a spiritual Whore; And yet, whilst either of these Whores professeth herself to be the Spouse of Christ, and is not departed from Christ, that is, not wholly Apostatised from the faith of Christ, but still holdeth the main heads, the Fundamental points, and the Preservatives of the Christian Religion, which are the Witnesses of Christ, undestroyed; we cannot deny that Church to be the Spouse, and a true Church, though not a pure Church, of Christ; as a sickly diseased man is a perfest man, though not a sound man; nor can we say but that upon their Repentance and amendment, there may be a pardon of all faults, and a reception of these Delinquents into favour, by him that is so gracious, and so merciful, and abundant in goodness and truth. And so it may be hoped, that both the Civil Whore, That we may conceive better hope of the Whores then of the Beast and false Prophet. that followeth after the Lusts of the flesh, and the Vanities of the World; and the Ecclesiastical Whore, which is bewitched with the love of errors, Ceremonies and superstitions, and which most of our Protestant Writers take the Church of Rome to be, and to be here signified by the Whore, may yet, by true Repentance, and a full Reformation of all errors and abuses, recover and retain the love and savour of Christ, to continue the loving Husband of his penitent Spouse, and to find him ready to receive them, when he finds them ready to return unto him; for, though the one of these Whores is said to have committed Fornication with the Kings of the Earth, and to have made the Inhabiters of the earth drunk with the Wine of her Fornication, c. 17.2. c. 17.2. and the other Whore is said to be drunk with the blood of the Saints, and with the blood of the Martyrs of Jesus, c. 17.6. Yet, c. 17.6. when the beast and the false Prophet, which are the most violent and virulent Enemies of God's Church, c. 19, 20. were both taken and cast alive into the Lake of fire, burning with Brimstone, there is no mention that the Whores were cast in with them; But the judgement of the Whores is formerly described, and their punishments are very amply set down and expressed, c 17 etc. 18. where the Horns of the beast are said to hate the Whore, c. 17. etc. 18. c. 17.16. and to make her desolate and naked, and should eat her flesh and burn her with fire: c. 17.16. And these punnishments of the Ecclesiastical Whore, to have her substance and haet state eaten up, and her self burnt with the fire of all Crosses and afflictions by the horns of the beast; and so likewise those punnishments of the Civil Whore, that are so fully set down in the 18th Chapter, and must be referred to the great Babylon of this World, that I have formerly spoken of, and not to Rome, c. 18 24. Things in c. 18. to be referred to the Babylon of this world, and not to Rome. nor to the Church of Rome; because there are many things in this 18th Chapter, and especially, that in her was found, the blood of the Prophets, and of Saints, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, and of all that were slain upon the earth, v. 24. which cannot possibly with any face be referred to the Church or City of Rome, might be the means to bring these Whores to Repentance, and so, to gain the Love of God; and to escape the Lake of Fire and Brimstone, where the vile beast and the false Prophet shall be cast. For you must observe, The Beast and the false Prophet and Whores not to be confounded. c. 17.3. that although some Writers have confounded the Whores and the beast, and make them all but as one Enemy, expressed by both these names; yet they be indeed two Enemies, or rather three Enemies of the Church of Christ; and Enemies one to another; for the Ecclesiastical Whore rides the beast, that is, curbs and bridles the Beast, as a rider curbs his Horse; and so doth the Pope and his Cardinals, and all the Church of Rome curse and execrate the Antichrist; and the ten Horns of the beast do hate the Whore, c. 17.16. and make her desolate and naked, and burn her with fire; and so it may be demanded if the long Parliament and their Polyarchy, The parallel. have not sufficiently showed their hatred to the Pope, and all Papists, and have made all that they could reach, naked enough, and have eaten their substance, and burned them with the fire of Afflictions and Persecutions, and have pretended to do the like to all Carnal and worldly professors? Esay. 9.31. And yet as Ephraem did eat Manasses, and Manasses did eat Ephraim, and both of them did eat Juda; Esay. 9.31. so do not the Whores and the Beast, the Church of Rome and the Synagogue of Satan, do all of them what possibly they can to root out the true Protestants, the only pure Church of Christ, from off the earth? though as I said, it may be hoped that the judgement of the Whores and their afflictions, may at last, through the goodness of God, reduce them to repent and reclaim them from their Fornications, Hosea. 2.7. and cause them to return, as the Prophet saith of the like Harlot, unto their former Husband. But the Beast, which is the Antichrist, that ascendeth from the bottomless pit, and is wholly fallen away from Christ, totally Apostatised from the main Heads of THE Christian Faith, and absolutely divorced from being any Spouse, or Church of Christ, The Beast and the false Prophet commit far viler sins than the Whores. as you may see, not a few of the Members of the Beast and his adherents, that driveth off their Baptism, and permit not their Children to be Baptised, and to be incorporated into the Church, to be made lively members of Christ, which is, to renounce the mark of Christ, and to blot out the Seal of the Lamb, as I shown before, and is therefore termed, the man of Sin, and the Child of perdition, as committing the more masculine wickedness, killing, hanging, and beheading, and the like, far more odious and more abominable bloody sins, then are the infirmities of a woman; and the false Prophet, that seduceth and deceiveth the poor simple people of God, and both furthereth the beast, and instructeth him, as Libanius the sophister instructed Julian, and Sergius the Monk did teach Mahomet, how to proceed in most Villains, Enormities and Cruelties that are inflicted and imposed upon the Church, Numbers 16.29. they are said to be taken alive, and as Moses saith of Corah and his complices, not to die the common death of all other men, but to be cast alive into the Lake of fire, burning with Brimstone. For that the Devil having now ended his 1000 years' imprisonment, which began in Phocas his time, Phocas died Anno 612. or rather in Heraclius his successors reign, about the year of Christ 620. or 630. when the persecutions of the Heathen Emperors, and of Alaricus, Attalus, Totilas, Gensericus, and others of the Arian Kings of the Goths and Vandals, were all quite finished, and Boniface the third Bishop of Rome, Super alios caput extulit omnes, Balaeus. l. 3. invita bonifacij. Is extolled and worshipped above all other Bishops; and the Church began to go hand in hand with the Civil state; and ended about 1620 or 1630. Some 45. or 35. years ago; when the Beast began to by't the King, and to encroach upon the rights of Majesty, and the false Prophet to smite Michajah on the Cheeks, and to out-beard the Bishops, and to trample them under feet: he doth by these his two instruments, the Beast and the false Prophet, most wickedly suppress God's Service, and persecute God's Servants, for which they are to receive this deadly doom, in the Lake of Fire and Brimstone. But in the aforesaid time of a 1000 years, all from 630 to a 1630. Satan was tied that he could not raise any bloody persecution against the Church; though it cannot be denied, but that the Church at this time, did, now and then persecute some of her own Children, as the Waldenses, and our Murtyres in Queen mary's days, and some others in other places, which, as the Church saith, was but debita correctio propter indebitam contumaciam, when as in the Ark of Moses, That the Church hath often wrongfully persecuted her own Children. there must be kept as well Aaron's Rod for to Chastise the froward, as the Heavenly Manna, to refresh the wearied; though in very deed the Church shown herself herein, many times, not to be infallible, when she reproved the Righteous, and winked at the Wicked, and oftentimes condemned the Righteous with the Wicked, and sometimes more severely than the Wicked, so that of many a Son of the Church, we might justly say with the Poet, The Church of Rome severely taxed for her cruelty. Crudelis mater magis, an puer improbus ille? Improbus ilie puer, crudelis tu quoque mater. The Church was more to be blamed for her cruelty, than her Children for their insolency. And therefore for these, and for other the like sins of the Church, When the Lord suffered the Beast and the false Prophet to arise and to persecute the Church. Revel. 20.4. Of the 1000 years the Church should rest in quiet. that were now come, like the sins of the Amorites, to the height, and deserving just punishments for these unjust deal; And so, for other the like Delinquencies of the professors of the Gospel, the Lord was provoked hereby to let Satan lose, to whip his Children for these misprisions, and stepping out of the Wilderness, out of their place, to follow after the World and their worldly profit; and then, the Dragon being let lose, he gins afresh to persecute the Church with Fire and Sword, and sends this Beast with his Emissaries and Assassins' to slay the two Witnesses of Christ, to destroy the true Members of the Church, and to ruin all that he can beside: and then St. John seethe 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, a Beast rising out of the Sea; the which Beast I am now to describe unto you. But, before I proceed to the description of this Beast, I do think it most requisite, that I should say somewhat more for the clearing of the time, when the 1000 That Satan's 1000 years binding, and the Saints 1000 years Reigning are the same. Papias that received this Doct. of the Chiliasts was a man of small judgement, as Eusebius Witnesseth, l. 3. c. 35. When the 1000 years began, and when ended, if you take them for a determinar or set time, and not as Fulke Deodat and others, take them for a long but an indesinite time which I think is the smest exposition years, wherein those souls that were beheaded for the Witness of Jesus, should live and Reign with Christ, and Satan should be bound that he might not persecute the Church with any bloody persecution, for the faith of Christ (which are both to be done in the same 1000 years) should both begin and end. And first That the 1000 years, wherein Satan should be bound from persecuting the Church, and the 1000 years, wherein the Saints should live and reign with Christ are the very same 1000 years, and not as the Chiliasts or Millenaries dream, that Christ shall come, either in his own person, as some of them grossly think, or else by his Spirit, as others of them, the more moderate men do say, and reign with them yet on earth, a 1000 years, it is so fully and learnedly showed, by that worthy and learned Divine Dr. Hammond, that doth so in most of all his Writings, that he worthily deserves to be loved and honoured of all the Church, that for me to say any more, were but arenas in littus fundere, to write Iliads after Homer, to no purpose, when better cannot be said, and more need not be said, than what that worthy Scholar hath set down on the 20th chap. of the Revelat page 997. and so likewise, what the reverend Author of the Revelation unrevealed hath therein set down, to show the fond conceits of these Chiliasts, which are very excellently discovered per totum. But for the time, when those 1000 years, (both for the one and the other, i e. Satan's binding, and the Saints reigning.) should begin and be determined, I shall humbly crave leave to descent both from him and from all others, that do subscribe to his opinion: for whereas he conceiveth the same to begin, either in 455. when by the Wars of Alaricus in 410. and of Attalas in 451. and of Gensericus in 455. Heathenism and Idol Worship was fully destroyed in Rome, and Christianity became Victorious over it; And to end, when Mahomet the second took Constantinople in 1455. or, as some say, in 1453. or else, as he rather thinks, they began in 311. or thereabouts, when Constantine receiving the Christian faith concluded the persecutions of the Church, and by an imperial decree, proclaimed Liberty and immunities to Christianity, and ended about 1311, when the Ottoman Family began to flourish, and to overrun Greece, and to bring Mahometism into Asia: though Mariana inclines rather to the other opinion, that his Imprisonment began after Rome was taken by the Goths, and after Momillus, that was termed Augustulus, the last Emperor of the West, was driven away by Odoacer the King of the Heruli, which, was about 477. and so must end in 1477. I answer; The former opinion answered and rejected. that although Constantine for this time, freed the Church from all Heathenish persecutions, and then immediately the two Olive Trees, and the two Candlesticks, to whom were given indeed before, on the day of Pentecost, such gifts as enabled them to instruct and to enlighten the Church with a very good and competent measure of true light, were now furnished with a larger measure, and with such abilities as were sufficient to enlighten her, with the light of the Gospel, and to feed her in the Wilderness, that is, to govern her in a far better manner than ever they did, or cold do before; and though after this, in the time of Theodosius, about 382, they were fully enabled to enlighten her with the great and glorious light of the Sun; yet was not Satan bound all this while, nor a good while after this; for when he saw how by the Ministry of these two Olive Trees, the two Witnesses of Christ, that were now so well furnished with abilities to build the Temple, that the Angel commanded to be measured, the Church began to bring forth Christ most plentifully in her Children, and was like to do the same more and more, he sought to devour this Child, That the Church was grievously afflicted and persecuted long after Constantine's time. that is Christ, which was brought forth by the Church in her Members, and he used all his slights and devices to that purpose; And through his Instruments, persecuted and destroyed many a Christian man; and therefore the Souls beheaded for Jesus, did not as yet live in their successors, and reign with Christ: nor was Satan bound from persecuting the Church, when as he beheaded and killed them still, and stirred up, not only Constantius, the Son of Constantine to be a great persecutor of the Orthodox Christians, and Julian the Apostata, his Cousin German, and immediate successor, to be greater than he; but also the Arian Kings, both of the Huns, Goths, and Vandals, that invaded Italy, sacked Rome, entered into Africa, besieged Hippo, and brought such infinite troubles and miseries upon the Church, that Rupertus and Haymo, considering the Cruelties of Gensericus against the true Christians, Bishops and Priests, and all, that would not renounce the true faith, and become Arians, by putting many of them to death, Victor l. de Vandalica persecutione. and banishing others, as Victor showeth, did find in him the number of the Beast, 666; and therefore thought he might be the Antichrist; and Attila styled himself * Mundzuccus. orbis terror, and flagellum Dei, the terror of the world, and the scourge of God; and about the same troublesome times, the donatists swarmed in Africa, and, as St. Augustine showeth, brought an infinite deal of vexations upon the Church; as did other Tyrants and Heretics in other places, which were well-nigh as bloody and as cruel, if not altogether as bad persecutions of the Church, as formerly the Heathen Tyrants brought upon it. Apoc. 11.3. Beza in loc. And therefore the words of Christ 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, and I will give (not Illud, nor Illam, as Beza saith,) but power unto my two Witnesses, as our last English Translation hath it, and they shall Prophecy 1200 and 60. days, are to be understood to begin then, or immediately after, to be fulfilled, when Phocas granted that power and pre-eminence unto Boniface the third Bishop of Rome, Revel. 20.4. Satan was bound, and the Saints began to reign with Christ after Phocas, in Heraclius his time, about 620. or 630. that the Sword of Satan had neither edge, strength nor ability to suppress the word of God, nor to abate one jot of the power of the Witnesses; but that the Church & her Governors were freed from all fear of Tyrants; and judgements were given unto the Saints; that is, they, which formerly were haled to be judged, and condemned at the Barrs of their Enemies, have now quiet possession of judicatures and censures to punish and condemn the refractory; which Ecclesiastical discipline could never be free from persecution, nor be executed so freely and so justly, as it ought to be, so long as the Church was awed, and her Governors suppressed and terrified, either by the Heathen or the Arian Tyrants, or by any other temporal Potentate, or civil power of the Infidels that could master them; for though as I said before, Christ, immediately after his ascension, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, gave gifts to his witnesses, Ephes. 4.8. to enable them to prophesy, and in and after Constantine's time, they had free leave to prophesy, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, in a far better manner and condition then before, and a more plentiful measure of God's spirit and assistance, to beget Children more plentifully unto Christ; and afterwards, in Anno 395. Christian Religion triumphed over the Gods of the Heathen, when Theodosius first overcame Eugenius and Argobastus, the two Standard-bearers of the Dragon, and took away the College of the Idol Pontifices, and as Zosimus saith, defaced the Temples of the Idols, which Constantine had only shut, and Julian had opened again; yet, in all this while, he gave them not that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, power, so to prophesy, and so to rule the Church, as that they could not be resisted, or hindered by any Heathen Potentate, King or Emperor; nor did he give the same power unto them, until Phocas his time, Speed in vita Henrici 2. which then they had, and held it always after in their hands 1000 years at the least; and indeed used it in a far higher measure against Christian Kings, than God gave them leave to do; as it appeareth, not only in the lives of the succeeding Emperors, but also in our own Chronicles, as specially by the passages betwixt Hen. 2. and Bishop Becket, and the like. And therefore the Saints 1000 years reigning and ruling with Christ, and Satan's 1000 years binding, that he could not hinder the Church to rule, did then begin, either about the end of Phocas, or rather in Heraclius Reign, about the year of Christ six hundred & twenty, or six hundred & thirty: (for Heraclius reigned 30 years, Satan's 1000 years binding ended in King Charles his Reign about Anno 1630. and died 641.) and must end just in King Charles his time, when the Devil's Chain was broken all to pieces, and Satan let lose, like a roaring Lion, to devour both King and Priest, the two faithful witnesses of Jesus Christ, and abundance more of God's true Servants, throughout all Christendom. And that for their Religion, the profession of the true faith, and the right service of God; which was done no where else, at no time before, nor by any other instrument of Satan, since the determination of the Heathen Tyrants, and the Arian persecutions; for though the Turks invaded Greece, and took Constantinople, and brought thither the Mahometan Religion, as a just punishment, and the first woe, upon those Heretical Churches; yet it is most certain, that this their invasion was libidine dominandi, as Alexander entered into Persia, and the Romans warred upon their Neighbours, to gain their Territories through their ambition, and greedy desire of bearing rule, * Which doth so infinitely bewitch the minds of men; as Camerarius showeth. l. 5. c. 8. per totum. for to enlarge their Dominion, & not so much for the suppressing of the Christian Religion, or the enlargement of their own idolatrous superstition; when we find the Turks do now, as the Romans did of old, permit all Religions, both Jews and Christians, Orthodox and Heterodox to live, and to live peaceably amongst them, and to exercise each one, their own Religion, without any disturbance, so they pay their allotted taxations, and submit themselves unto their Laws in a civil Government, which cannot properly be said to be a persecution of the Christians, qua Christians, and because they do profess the Christian Religion; but rather a worldly desire of Dominion; That the Turks invasion was not for the suppression of the Christian Religion, but for the desire of dominion. and so we read that Almanzor, the great Mahometan Emperor, which being interpreted, signifieth, the defender of the Law of God, meaning, the Alcoran, (that Hozman, the Husband of Mahomet's daughter, digested into four Books, containing 206 Chapters) when by Tarif and Mura, his Generals, he conquered Spain, and drove away Roderigo, which was their last King of the Gothish blood, and replenished that Kingdom with Moors and Mahometans; yet persecuted he none for their Religion, but only sought to allure them to their superstitions, and idolatrous service, by giving Offices, Sir Walter Rauleigh in the History of Mahomet. pag. 103. and promising immunities, liberties and promotions to those Christians, that would be contented to embrace Mahometism. And, as our Saviour Christ and his Apostles, never forced any man by fire and Sword, to embrace the Christian faith, nor killed any one, that refused the same; because the true faith ought to be engendered by persuasion, and not by compulsion, by preaching and not by fight; so Simon Magus, that is made by some, though faw wide, Dr. Hammond, in 2 Thes. 2. to be the Antichrist, spoken of by St. Paul, in 2 Thes. 2 3. and his Sect of Gnostics, never forced any that we read of to follow their idolatrous and Heathenish worship; indeed Arius and all the rest of the Arch-heretics of his Sect, sought to compel the Orthodox by force of Arms, to leave the faith of one substance, Lactan. l. 5. c. 14. and he citeth Flaccus, that saith, justum & tenacem propositi virum non civium ardor prava jubentium, non vultus instantis tyranni monte quatit solida. and to become homoiousians, that is, similis essentiae, the believers of Christ to be of the like substance with his Father, and so to embrace the Heresies that they invented, as I have showed you before: for as Lactantius saith, quis imponat mihi necessitatem vel credendi quod nolim, vel quod velim, non credendi? who can compel me either to believe what I list not, or not to believe what I will? and he saith most truly, that there is nothing more free than Religion, which the mind no sooner withstandeth, but forthwith it vanisheth, and is no more Religion, when as constraint bringeth in dissimulation, and maketh Hypocrites, to worship thy power, but not thy God, therefore King Theodoric did say very well, that he could not command Religion, because no man can be enforced to believe against his will; and Justus Lipsius, bids thee over run all Europe in thine imagination, and thou shalt see, that by these severe proceed, that is, of fire and Sword, Cities are rahter overthrown, Lipsius' polit. l. 4. c. 4. and, I may add, Kingdoms ruined, then made religious; because those things that do rest in opinion, are altered rather by teaching then by commanding, by instructing then by threatening; and therefore, as when we find any discord in our instruments, we do not in a rage break the strings, but reduce them to concord by patience and leisure; so should we do with them, that dissent from us in matters of faith, The Christian saith and true Religion not to be forced, by fire and sword. rather seek to convert them by brotherly persuasion, then cut them off by an hostile compulsion; and he citeth Cassiodore, St. Bernard, and St. Augustine, to be of the same judgement, and then concludeth that 4th Chapter of his 4th Book, with unfeigned Prayers and sighs to God, that men would endeavour to redress and amend their Brethren in the points of faith and Religion, after such a course, which indeed is the only Christian course that is chalked out by Christ. And yet, The Parallel. I would fain know, if this last war, and our last persecution, that was raised up by the long Parliament, that is supposed by wise men, to be this beast, that is, the Antichrist, was not merely for Religion? pretended to have the Gospel truly preached, and the service of God rightly and truly administered, which was the incessant Song of the Instruments of that persecution; but was it not indeed to suppress the true service of God, Let my Reader judge whether it was so or not, in the persecution raised by the long Parliament. and under that fair pretence, to destroy the purest national Church, both for Doctrine and Discipline, that was now extant upon the earth? which is, the treading of the holy City under foot, c. 11.2. and was it not intended by the Dragon, that used those his Instruments, for this end? and is not this most apparent, both by the Covenant, that was so eagerly pressed to be taken by all hands, and by those that were so furiously pursued, that refused it? and also by the cause, the cause, that every one of those furious fighters cried, and redoubled their cry to be the cause, that moved them to war against the witnesses, and to persecute all the true faithful Christians, let the whole Kingdom judge? And therefore I do undoubtedly conclude, I know how variously Authors differ about the beginning and ending of the 1000 years of Satan's binding; and it is too tedious to relate it, and I set down what I conceive most probable, saith the Reverend Author of the Revelation unrevealed, pag: 451. that Satan's 1000 years' imprisonment began about 620. or 630. in the Reign of Heraclius, and was determined and ended in or about 1620, or 1630. about 35. or 45. years ago, in the Reign of King Charles: at which time, Satan, for our sins, was by the just judgement of God, loosened and set at liberty, to whip and scourge us with new persecutions of fire and sword, and all other their concomitant miseries; and that not to bring us to any temporal or civil subjection, as was the chiefest aim of the Turks against the Grecians, but principally to drive us to renounce the truth of our Religion, and to omit the duties of our profession, and the service that we justly own both to God and man, to abandon the long received liturgy of the Church, that was weeded from all dross, and sealed with the blood of holy Martyrs, and to embrace a new invented Directory, imposed upon us by some few retrograde impostors, which is a persecution against conscience, and so the greatest persecution in the world, and far worse than the affliction, that Pharaoh imposed upon the Israelites, that being for his own worldly service, and this to drive us from God's service; and the like whereof, I remember not to have read executed in all the Turkish History; nor could I find the like in all the time afore showed, in any place, by any Tyrant, since the Reign of Heraclius, the successor of Phocas, to these very days; and so now, Satan being set at liberty, and as Edward's saith, Hell broken lose, he stands upon the Sands of the Sea, to trample our Governors and Government under feet; and then as I said before, St. John seethe 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, a beast arising out of the Sea. And this 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, which is a diminutive word from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, 3. The Vision of the first beast, that signifieth the great Antichrist. Bestia haec non Idolo atria, non magia, non Trajanus, ut piscator videtur suspicari non Domitianus, ut Grotius, sed imperium Rom. significat, inquit Maresius. pag. 173. Irenaeus, l. 5. c. 28. Nazian. in Jam. 5. Cornelius a Lapide. in apoc. 13. That this beast signifieth the Antichrist. for which the Aeolians use 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, fera. which signifieth not every kind of wild beast, but a fierce, cruel and savage beast, doth here betoken the great Antichrist, that the Dragon stirred up to kill the witnesses of Christ, and to persecute the true Church of God; for though Haymo, Albertus and Pineda, do by this beast understand Lucifer, the Prince of Devils, and Beda, Primasius, and Richardus do expound it to signify Corpus diaboli, the body of the Devil, that is, caetum & multitudinem impiorum, all the whole multitude of wicked Reprobates, that as all the elect and godly men are termed the Church and body of Christ, so are they termed the Synagogue of Satan, and the body of the Devil, who is the head of this monstrous body; and so indeed it signifieth this whole multitude of Reprobates in some places; as in c. 19 19 20. when all them shall be taken and cast into the Lake of fire and brimstone; and Antoninus, Euthymius and Salmeron, do by this beast understand, Mahomet, the first founder of the Turkish Empire, and the first inventor of that wicked Alcoran; yet Irenaeus, Tertullian, Victorinus, Hippolytus, Prudentius, Prosper, Ribera, Thomas, Rupertus, and long before them, Greg. Nazianzen, that saith, Quid est antichristus? vir opibus amplis, Apostata ille pessimus, bellua venenum vomens: And many more, even of the most ancient, do by this beast understand the great Antichrist, that the Apostle speaketh of, 2 Thes. 2.3. and that St. John saith, should come into the world; that is, to do the feats, which we have seen lately done; and Cornelius a Lapide, whom, not only all the Divines in Europe, but also all good Christians are obliged to honour, for the great pains that he took for the good of God's Church, saith, this is the common received opinion of Divines, to understand the Antichrist by this beast; and our learned Bishop of Worcester, Dr. Prideaux, saith, that antichristus typice demonstratur a Daniele, topice a paulo, sed plenissime a Johanne, Apoc. 13.1. and I should show myself too bold, Dr. Hammond, in apoc. 13. & ante eum Commentator. m. c. 13. in v. 1. p. 32. (without apparent extraordinary good reasons) to departed from the judgement of such a Cloud of Interpreters, as I could cite, as well of the modern as of the ancient Doctors, that do with such unanimous consent, expound this beast to signify the Antichrist, and unto the Heathen I doll Worship of the Romans, as some Learned Divines conceive it, nor the Ethnic Empire of Rome, as Alcazar takes it. For though the Commentator, supposed to be Grotius, a man more then ordinarily learned, doth understand by this 7. headed and 10. horned beast, the Idolatry of the Romans, or Ethnic Rome, as Alcazar thought; and by the horns of this beast, he conceives those Kings that were subject to the Roman Empire, aught to be understood. Yet Caracotta in his strigil against this Commentator, doth most fully convince this conceit of these men; because Daniel, Dan. 8.20. and v. 2. whom this our Evangelist seems to imitate, even in the very Phrases of him, by the beasts that he nominates, understandeth not any vices or errors, but the domineering Kings, that reigned and ruled over the people, as the Ram which thou sawest, having two horns, are the Kings of Media and Persia, and the rough Goat, is the King of Grecia, and the great horn, that is between his eyes, is the first King; so the four Beasts which he saw c. Dan. 8.20. & v. 21. 7. are said to be four Domineering Kings, as the first of the Assyrians, the second of the Medes and Persians, the third of the Grecians, and the fourth of the domineering Senate, and people of Rome, under their Counsels and their Emperors. And therefore the spirit of God, This Beast signifieth a domineering Senate. following the same stile, and the same expression here to our Evangelist, as he had formerly done unto the Prophet, by this Beast that risen out of the Sea, doth mean some domineering Senate, that like unto the fourth Beast in Daniel, that is, the Senate and people of Rome, should reign and rage over God's people. And so it is to be observed, that the Antichrist expressed by the Apostle under the name and title of the man of the Sin, and here by the Evangelist, under this Beast, That the Beast here spoken of signifieth a pack and society of most wicked Hypocritical men. doth not betoken any one particular man, either Mahomet or the Pope, or any other Tyrant or imposter, how great or how wicked soever he be; but (as I shown before) a pack or knot, and a confederate company of the most nefarious and most ungodly Hypocritical reprobates, that either were before, or should ever come after their time; And though Beda, Primasius, and Richardus do by this beast understand the whole multitude of the ungodly; yet we do more especially and particularly take it in this place, and attribute it to the worse part, and a confederated united pack of that whole multitude of wicked and ungodly men; and do conceive that as Solomon's Song for the excellency thereof, is termed Canticum canticorum, the Song of Songs; And why called the Beast and the Antichrist. So this transcendent wicked pack of extraordinary sinners that is, like the Catelinarian Conjuration, or rather far worse than that, when as that sought only to subvert the Commonwealth, and this to ruin both the Church of Christ, and secular state, for the extreme impiety thereof, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is called the Beast and the Antichrist. And so, August. de civitate dei. l. 20. c. 9 & c. 14. & c. 20. St. Augustine long since, understandeth this Beast to signify not any one impious wicked man, but a society or company of wicked Christians, and the confederate communion of naughty men, that Hypocritically, under the name of Christ, and upon pretence to propagate the Gospel of Christ, do fight against Christ, Et faciunt unitatem contra unitatem, and do bind themselves together in juncto, Esay. 28.15. Who are to be understood by this Beast. by a most solemn oath and Covenant, such as the Prophet speaketh of, to fight against the City of God, to overthrow the true Saints and Servants of Jesus Christ, to slay the Witnesses of God, and to profane his House, and to prohibit his accustomed Service; these men are the Beast, that is bellua multorum capitum, the beast of many heads, such as the Heathen Philosophers and Orators termed and deemed the vulgar people, especially when they do madly and maliciously run on in their Wickedness, as they did against Christ, against his Apostles, 2. Things to be observed. and here against the Witnesses and Servants of Christ. Now, for the better understanding of the particulars concerning this Beast, it is to be observed, 1. 1. What 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifieth, and how little it was in the beginning. That 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifieth (as I said before) a little Wild Beast, parallel to the little Horn, that Daniel speaks of; for as that Horn at the first, was but little, and indeed very little in comparison of the other nine Horns, and yet afterwards it grew to be greater, and of far greater power, and especially of far greater Tyranny, impiety, and all other abominable wickedness, than all the other nine Horns; So this Beast here, The parallel. c. 13. spoken of, at the first compacting of it, when all the parts of it were convened, and met together, to make one body, it had but a little power; & it is objected that the House of Commons had not justly at first any power to condemn any man; nor of right to administer an oath to any one; their privileges, which at first they had by favour, being, through custom and countenance conceived to have grown greater, than any power or authority, that they could challenge by any right, let my reader judge whether this be true or not, I will not determine it. But as the Poet saith, Inest quoque gratia parvis, there may be much virtue in a little substance, so there may be much mischief in a little Beast, especially when it is swollen to his full with deadly Poison, as the Serpent that deceived our forefather's, was but little, and a slender Beast, far less than many other Creatures; yet was he more subtle than any Beast of the Field, Gen. 3.1. and as the Spider is but a very small worm, yet it is full of most deadly Poison; so this Beast, * Here c. 13. spoken of. Let my reader judge whether the diminutive 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 be answerable to the Parliament in their original. o nulla dolour content paena, quaere supplicia horrida. incognita, nefanda; Junonem doce quid odia vaeleant: nescitirasci satis. Seneca in Here. oet. 2. From whence the Beast did arise. Gen. 1.10. Revel. 17.15. Ex populorum multitudine marestus, pag. 115. The Pope not this Beast, and why. The world compared to the Sea. 1. For the turbulence. Psal. 65.7. 2 For the inconstancy. though at the first convention, was but very little, both in power and Authority; yet, being full of malice against the Witnesses, and for some private respects, most greedy of revenge, and having the subtlety of many heads, tempore succrevit, it grew in a very short time, to be so powerful, that all men wondered thereat, and cried out, who is able to deal with the Beast? for they saw the Poets could not express such a revengeful mind in Medea. or Dianira, (that said, O sorrow, which no vengeance can suffice, Some unknown horrid punishment device; What hate can do, let June learn of me:) as they saw in this Beast against the Witnesses of Christ, and against all that assisted or adhered to them. 2. We are to observe that St. John saw, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, this little Beast to arise out of the Sea; and that is out of the deep; and it is therefore said to be the Beast that ascindeth out of the bottomless pit, where the Devil was bound, and from whence now he sends this Beast; and you know the Sea is corpus aggregatum, a body compacted and made up of many waters; for the Lord called the gathering together of the Waters, Seas: and the Holy Ghost expoundeth the Waters which the Apostle saw, to signify peoples, and multitudes, and Nations, and Tongues, so that the rising of this Beast out of the Sea is but the choosing, and the electing of this pack and society or company of men, from the rest, and by the rest of the multitude of men, that is, from the vulgar people and common sort of men, which therefore cannot be referred to the Pope, that is always chosen from and by a few Cardinals, and never by the vulgar multitudes; or else his rising out of the Sea may signify, as Corna lapide understands it, their springing and choosing of them out of the World, which in many places of holy Writ, for the many Analogies and likenesses thereof, is often compared unto the Sea, as especially 1. Propter Turbulentiam, as the Sea is a raging Element, so is the people termed turba, quasi turbata multitudo, a very troublesome multitude, and therefore the Prophet joineth both these together, saying, thou stillest the rage of the Sea, and the noise of his Waves, and the Madness of the people. 2. Propter inconstantiam, as the Sea is ever ebbing or flowing, and never continuing in one stay; so is the people of this world ever unconstant in their desires; to day they will cry Hosanna, to morrow Crucifige; in this Parliament, they will have no King but a Commonwealth, in the next, they will be like other Nations, and will have a King; now they will have a Monarchy, anon they will have a democracy, and then an Anarchy; and so of all things else, they are as changeable as the Moon. 3. In the 4th, c. v. 6. of this Revel, 3. For the frugility. the World is compared to a Sea of Glass like unto Crystal; that is, to a Sea of Glass, saith Geminianus, Propter fragilitatem, for the frailty and brittleness thereof, as you may fully see it, in the book entitled the Fall of Unfortunate Princes; and to a Sea of Crystal, propter frigiditatem, 4. For the frigidity thereof. by reason of the coldness thereof, when as we see the love of many, especially worldlings, even among brethren, is waxed cold. Or it may be meant, that his rising out of the Sea might signify his rising out of this Island of great Britain, which lieth seated in the midst of the Sea; that as Constantine, who, best of all the Emperors, promoted the Christian Religion, sprung from this Island, so to be revenged for that benefit, the Beast, who is the Antichrist and the worst enemy to all good Christians, should likewise arise out of this Island, and be brought forth by the Dragon in this I'll. And so you see from Whence this Beast ariseth, Who is meant by this Beast. even from the multitude of the people, or the Commons of the Kingdom; but the question still remaineth far greater, to know who or what is meant by this Beast; for notwithstanding such a Cloud of Witnesses, as I produced to you before, do unanimously avouch, that he signifieth the great Antichrist, Francise. Junius in locum. The mistakes of some learned men so. So Mares. takes it. Pro Rom. imperio etiam aliquandiu ab imperatoribus Christianis obtinendum. pag. 115. that should come into the world, towards the end of the world; yet Junius doth expound it of the civil Empire of the Romans; Alcazar saith it is to be understood the Romano imperio athnico, of the Roman Ethnic Government, under the Heathen Emperors; Mr. Mede understands it of the Caesarian Empire, parted into ten Kingdoms: and Dr. Hammond makes it to signify the Heathen Idol worship of the Romans; and so, as St. Augustine saith of the like case, alij atque alij aliud atque aliud opinati sunt; and it is not my purpose, neither will my time and my book give me leave to show the mistakes, and to confute all and every one of the assertions of these learned men, that, be they never so learned, may be easily deluded by the strength of their own fancies, especially, when they are biased to some wrong end, or carried away with any prejudicated conceit; but I hope the Testimonies of so many ancient and worthy Fathers, that I have before named, and the particular description of this Beast, which I shall explain unto you, and likewise his acts and do, together with many other circumstances and particularities, That this Beast signifieth the Wicked state and Government of the Antichrist. that are hereafter to be specified, will overweigh the opinions of these and other worthy men, that think otherwise then I set down, and will make it plain unto you, that by this Beast, is signified the great and greatest Antichrist, that should come into the world, or the flagitious State and Government of the Antichrist, opponent and set up against the true Government of Christ, though pretending very strongly to be the very same, in all things, with that Government which Christ himself hath instituted, and for the enlargement of the Church and Kingdom of Christ; for, 1. 1. The Beast had 7 heads. This Beast is said to have seven heads; and these seven heads, say some of them, that by this Beast do understand the Ethnic Empire of Rome, are the seven principal persecutions of the Christians, betwixt the time of Nero, and of Julian the Apostata; Ut refert Cornelius alapide. as first Domitian, second Traian, third Antoninus, fourth Severus, fifth Decius, sixth Valerianus, seventh Dioclesian; and those of Maximinus, and Aurelianus, Dr. Hammond in c. 17 pagina 985. etc. 13. pag. 967. are not accounted as any heads of the Beast; because the commands of Aurelianus were not executed, and that of Maximinus was not universal; but only against the Pastors and Preachers of the people: or, as some others do account these seven heads: first Claudius, second Nero, third Galba, fourth Otho, fifth Vitellius, sixth Vespasian, seventh Titus. But against this, Caracotta strigil. pag. 52. it is justly objected, that six of these never made any Cruel edict against the Christians; and if these seven be the seven heads of the Beast, than these being taken away, the Beast shall remain 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, a body without a head; and if Domitian be the Beast, that was and is not, as both Grotius and Dr. Hammond think, than these seven heads must be heads without a body; because they had all been, and had all past before Domitian came. Alapide saith, C. a lapide in loc. Mr. Mede hac septem capita sunt septem reges, qui praecesserunt Antichristum, these seven heads, are seven Kings, which have gone, or shall come and go before the Antichrist cometh; Mr. Mede takes these seven heads for the seven states of the Roman Government, pag. 49. 1 Kings, 2 Consuls, 3 Tribunes, 4 Decemviri, 5 Dictator's, 6 Emperors, 7 Popes. And so Maresius saith these seven heads do signify not the seven Kings which Grotius nameth, Mares. pag. 17.2. & pag. 118. but the seven politic forms of Government, whereof five were now already past, the sixth, that was of the Caesars, was then in being; and the seventh which was to continue but a very short time under Odoacer, was to succeed in his time; for whereas Mr. Mede maketh the 7th Order of their Government to be that of the Popes. Maresius makes it of Odoacer King of the Heruli, which extinguished the Government of the Caesars in Augustulus, Baron, ad ann. 476. n. 1. when the Western Empire wholly ceased, and was divolved unto the Barbarians, and the form of Government quite altered; because (saith he) nomen regis assumsit Odoacer, cum tamen nec purpura, nec regalibus uteretur insignibus. Alcazar saith they be the seven deadly sins, that are the seven heads of this Beast, Which Endaemon confuteth pag. 122. etc. and 128. etc. Apud Thomson. pag 53. as first, the pride of a Lion, second, the Covetuousness of a Tiger, third, the Luxury of a Bear, fourth, the Anger or wrath of a Viper, fifth, the Gluttony of a Wolf, sixth, the Envy or malice of a Serpent, seventh, the Sloth and Laziness of an Ass; seven heads that are very great, and very bad heads indeed, and he must needs be a very bad Beast that hath all these seven bad Heads; but The Holy Ghost expounding these seven Heads, saith they are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, seven Mountains: and Theodore Beza, c. 17.9. Francis. Junius, with the most part of our latter Interpreters, that would feign make the Ecclesiastical Hierarchy of the Pope to be the Beast, and Rome to be his seat, do expound them to be the seven hills whereupon the City of Rome was built, which are Mount 1. Palatine 2. Capitoline. 3. Quirinall. 4. Caelius. 5. Esquiline. 6. Aventine. 7. viminal, In respect whereof the Grecians call the City of Rome 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, and varro calls it Septiceps, seven headed Rome, and others call it the City of seven Hills, Virgilius' georgic. lib. 2. versus sinem. as Virgil speaking thereof, saith, Scilicet & rerum facta est pulcherrima Roma, Septemque una sibi muro circumdedit arces: and Propertius saith, Vrbs Septem alta jugis toti quae presidet orbi: and Ovid saith, Ovid. trist. l. 1. eleg. 4. Sed quae de Septem totum circum spicit orbem, Montibus imperij roma deumque locus. But, though the Greeks and Latins call Rome the City of seven Hills, That the seven Hills are not the seven Heads of the Beast. yet this seemeth not to me to be the meaning of the Holy Ghost in this Text, to understand these seven Hills, by the seven Heads of the Beast. Reason. 1 1. Because that besides these seven Hills, Rome had three other Hills that were of special note, though not included within the pomaerium so soon as the other Hills were, as, 1. Collis Hortulorum, where the cirque or show place of Flora was. 2. Janiculus, where Janus was buried, and which is now called Montorius, Rosinus antiquit. l. 1. c. 11. or Mons aureus, the golden Hill. 3. Vaticanus, from vaticinium, from whence they had their predictions and Prophecies: and therefore, seeing this City had ten Hills, it is not likely that the Holy Ghost meant the first named seven Hills should be understood by these seven heads. Reason. 2 2. Because Rome, as now it standeth, is not as then the old Rome was, seated upon the foresaid seven hills; but after it was sacked and destroyed by Alaricus, and the other her most furious Enemies, the Goths and Vandals, it was re-edified out of the ruins of the old Rome, and both the Temples and the Vatican, and the Pope's Palace, and many other fair buildings were seated somewhat distant from the former situation of the old City, as many good Authors and Travellers of good credit testify unto us; and therefore it is not probable, that the Holy Ghost by these seven Heads should mean the seven Hills of old Rome, lest we should be deceived in the predictions that do concern the new Rome. Reason. 3 3. Because these seven Mountains are termed, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, seven heads, c. 13. 1: Therefore they cannot be taken literally in a proper sense, c. 17.9. & v. 1. for the seven hills of Rome, which should be then rather called the feet of the Beast, or the Foundation whereupon he stood, and not the heads of the Beast. Obj. But you will object, that it is said, the Woman sitteth upon these Mountains, Not this Beast but the Woman, and the Whore; do sit upon the Mountains and the waters. as upon the Waters; therefore, though called heads, yet may they signify these hills, upon which the City is seated, and sitteth upon them. Sol. I answer that by sitting upon these Mountains, as the sitting upon many waters, is meant nothing else, but that the Whore and not the Beast, or the Beast here termed the Woman, and v. 1. the great Whore, because she is the Spouse and Synagogue of Satan, that hath falsified her faith to Christ, doth rest and rely upon the Plots and devices of her own head; as all the wicked do indeed, whatsoever they say in their words; for though they cry out Providence, Providence hath produced such and such victories and successes unto them, yet do they wholly rely, stand and sit upon their own Prudence, and the plots of their own heads; because no man can truly rely on God's Providence, that wandereth out of God's ways; or else, by the Woman here, may be understood not the Beast, but the Heretical Church, it may be the Church of Rome, that hath played the Harlot with Christ, and yet sitteth, rideth, and seeketh to tame the Beast, and to subvert all the Plots and devices of his Heads. Reason. 4 4. Because the Holy Ghost doth not say, that either the Beast or the Woman sat upon 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, which do properly signify a Hill; but he saith, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉; the seven heads are seven Mountains, which do very much differ from seven hills, as much as little differeth from great, which in quantity is a difference great enough; neither may we think that Rome was built upon seven Mountains, or that the Holy Ghost spoke improperly, and called seven Hills seven Mountains. And therefore I conceive rather that the sense and meaning is mystical, The meaning of the seven heads mystical. c. 17.9. and not literally to be understood, and that by these seven Heads, which the Holy Ghost saith, are seven Mountains, we may understand seven great and mighty things, as Mountains are in comparison of the little Hills; and so, we may take these seven heads, as Alcazar thought, for seven most heinous, and most odious deadly sins, not that every sin is not deadly enough, and brings death to every sinner, but that those seven are more hateful and more abominable both to God and man, then are all the other usual sins that are committed; What are the seven heads of the Beast, that is, these seven sins, or a great many sins like unto these; because the number of 7. importeth many. c. 17.9. and those seven sins of the Beast, I take them to be, or may be 1. Hypocrisy. 2. Lying. 3. Perjury. 4. Oppression. 5. Subtlety. 6. Sedulity. 7. Cruelty. To die and colour all the rest with blood, to make them all Scarlet sins which is the Livery of the Beast; for these be the heads whereupon the Beast resteth, and wholly relieth, and beleiveth that by these heads he shall effect all his prejects. Or else, because the number of seven, as of three and of ten are persect numbers, and do very often import much or many, we may well understand by these seven heads, the many plots and devices of this many-headed Beast, which I take to be the best and truest exposition of these seven heads; because this Beast is made up with very many heads; and these heads are likened unto Mountains, and so styled by the Holy Ghost; because that by these means and these practices of dissembling, lying, forswearing themselves, and using all kind of subtlety, sedulity, and cruelty, with many more, the like wicked ways and tricks, the Beast hath effected and brought to pass very great and mighty things, and hath attained to all his strength and power, which is often signified by the Mountain, as the Psalmist showeth, when he saith, Thy Righteousness, Psal. 36.6. Psal. 95.4. O God, is like the strong Mountain which can neither be removed nor shaken: for if the hills of the Robbers be so strong, as is intimated in the Scripture, than the Mountains must needs be thought much stronger. And I can see neither incongruity nor absurdity to say that these Septem capita rerum, Why the heads of the Beast are termed Mountains. these seven chief heads, that produced all the plots and devices of the Beast, should be termed Mountains for the greatness of the strength, power and Authority, that the Beast hath attained unto, by the tricks of these heads; and that these 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, seven Mountains, should be styled seven heads, in regard of their original Fountains, from whence they spring; because the heads of this hydrian Beast have produced these bitter fruits, and have plotted all the Villainies and mischiefs that have befallen to the two Witnesses, and to all the true Servants of Jesus Christ. But if these seven heads betokened seven Emperors or seven Kings, that belonged unto the Beast, as the aforenamed Authors do conceive, than the Crowns should have been said to be upon their heads; whereas you may observe, that upon their heads are the names of blasphemy, which do well agree with their lies, perjuries, and the like; and the Crowns are said to be upon the 10. Horns, and not upon the heads of the beast. And to make it yet more plain; That neither the Idol Worship of the Romans, nor Domitian can be this Beast. that this beast can neither signify the Idoll-Heathen-worship of the Romans; and that Domitian cannot be the beast, as some do think, that was, and is not, and yet is; for so the words are, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉: which the Holy Ghost saith of this Beast; it is apparent, that neither of these can be said to have been, and not to be, and yet to be, at the same time, as the Holy Ghost affirmeth of this Beast; for though Domitian was chosen by the Soldiers, whilst his Father Vespasian was in Judaea, Vide Caracott●, pag. 52. and then gave up his right and title to the Empire, when Vespasian returned to Rome; yet this doth not cohere with, he is not, and yet is, which is affirmed of this Beast; and though it might have been said, that he was and is not, and yet shall be, if this Vision of the Beast had been showed to St. John in Vespasians time; but it could not possibly be said, that he was, if according to Epiphanius his Testimony, St John was banished to Patmos, and had these visions revealed unto him in the Emperor Claudius his time; because that after Claudius, Nero reigned 13 years, Galba seven months, Otho four months, and Vitellius eight months, before Vespasian was made Emperor: nor could it be well said, that he was, whilst Vespasian was in Judaea, when he was but an Usurper and an Intruder, while his Father lived; or though it might be truly said in some sense, that he was, and in some other sense, that he was not; yet can it not be said in any way, or in any sense, that he was, and is not, and yet is, as the Holy Ghost saith of this Beast. How then shall we unfold this Riddle, and untie this Gordian knot? I answer, That the Words in c. 17.8. do seem most coherent to the long Parliament, That 1. Was a true Parliament. that I have often thought of it, and assayed it divers ways, and yet could never see how this Testimony of the Holy Ghost, touching this beast, that he was and is not, and yet is, can be applied either to Domitian, or to any other of all the Emperors, or Kings, or Society of men, so fitly, and so probably agreeing with the meaning of God's spirit, as it is, or may be applycable to the long and lately dissolved Parliament; for that was a true Parliament, when the King called them together, and they sat to consult with their King, de arduis rebus regni, about the great affairs of the Kingdom, and took their Oaths, and made their solemn Protestation to protect the King's Person, and to maintain the true Protestant Religion; 2. Is believed to be no Parliament. But I heard many wise men judge it no Parliament, when they did expel and cast out their guides, and their leaders, the Messengers of Christ from among them, and endeavoured, as the Giants did of old, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, to make War against God, and raised an Army against their head, and with all their might did fight against their King, and at last, like— did most disloyally cut off his Head, that was the head of them, and of us all, and, as the Prophet speaketh of the like godly King, 3. And yet still is a Parliament. the breath of our nostrils; and yet still it is a Parliament in their own esteem, and with their adherents, and by their peremptory Acts and Ordinances, that are still accounted most excellent and binding, and are so urged, and observed by their adherents, and compelled to be observed by all others; and by the greatness of that power and authority, which they assumed unto themselves, and do by their Acts and Laws execute over all people, to this very day, more than any other ordinary Parliament ever used; whereby you see how this may be understood that is said of the beast, that he was, and is not, and yet is, though I leave it to the judicious Reader to judge, whether he conceives this to be the meaning of the Holy Ghost, or not; or whether all this may be so, as may thus be coherent and applicable to that long Parliament or not. And, as this, which I have now expressed, doth seem very shrewdly to prove, Some conceive it thus to be fulfilled. I will not determine it. the long Parliament is or may be here signified by this beast; so that which is set down by the Angel, in the 17th Chapter and the 10th verse, which is the explication of this vision, that is here showed, c. 13. doth more fully seem to illustrate and confirm the same thing; for there he saith, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, and there are seven Kings, that is, which have been, and will be great and grievous, extraordinary persecutors of my people; The 5 Kings that were fallen, before this Revelation was showed. whereof, five are fallen, that is, dead and gone; which we understand by 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, fallen; and these five saith Junius, are 1. Servius Sulpitius Galba; the seventh Emperor of the people of Rome. 2. Marcus Salvius Otho. 3. Aulus Vitellius. 4. Flavius Vespafianus. 5. Titus the Son of Vespasian; and one is, saith the Holy Ghost, that is, saith he, Flavius Domitian, another Son of the foresaid Vespasian, in whose latter Reign, saith he, St. John wrote this Revelation, and another is not yet come, saith the Text, that is, saith he, Cocceius Nerva, and the beast that was and is not, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, which our Translators render, Junius in annotat. in c. 17. joined to Beza's Translation. even he is the eighth, (even he, especially to be observed, above any of the other seven,) saith the Angel, and this even he, saith Junius, is Nerva Trajan, that is, as I conceive him, Cocceius Nerva, the last that was aforenamed, or rather, as the stories show, Vlpius Trajanus, qui hic vario respectu, Septimus & octavus appellatur, who himself, in divers respects, is called here the seventh and the eighth; for that although in number and order of succession, he be the eighth, yet (saith he) because this man obtained his power and authority with Nerva, and did execute his consular office with him, when Nerva died, he is also said to be the seventh, c. 17.11. and is reckoned together with Nerva, as if Nerva and Trajan were but one head; according to which sense, our former Translation, though very corruptly, reads, the beast that was, and is not, is even the eighth, and is one of the seven: or, as the Geneva notes do understand those Kings. The 1. is Nero. 2. Galba. 3. Dr. Hammond in permonit. pag. 907. Ex Hugone Grotio qui conjutatur Maresio. pag. 169. Otho. 4. Vitellius. 5. Vespasian. 6. Titus. 7. Domitian. 8. Nerva, or as Doctor Hammond saith, (which is more likely to be right, if St. John was banished to Patmos in Claudius his time, and far more unlikely, if his banishment was in Domitian's time) the 1. is Claudins. 2. Nero. 3. Galba. 4. Otho. 5. Vitellius. 6. Vespasian. 7. Titus. 8. Domitian. But indeed all these Expositions, and the like annumeration of these Kings, that were fallen, and extant, and to come, which would be too tedious for me to rehearse, do seem to me, to be far wide from the meaning of the Holy Ghost in this place; because the spirit of God, here, in this Book, setteth down the state and condition of his Church, The main end and scope of the whole Book of the Revelation The fourfold enemies of the Church. 1. The beast conceived to be— 2. The Ecclesiastical Whore, or false Church which is the Church of Rome. 3. The secular Whore, or worldly Professors. 4. The false Prophet, or lying Preachers; what piety they pretend, and what great mischief they do. and foreshoweth her, what afflictions and persecutions she should undergo, through the malice of the Devil, and by the means of those wicked Tyrants, his Instruments, that brought the first 10 great persecutions upon the Church, and especially by those quaternion of adversaries, that towards the end of the world, should arise and seek to make an end of the true Church, as 1. The beast, the man of the sin, the great Antichrist, that would be an Antichrist, that is, an adversary unto Christ, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, most eminently, and therefore is termed the beast that ascendeth out of the buttomless pit. 2. The Ecclesiastical Whore, that breaks her faith with Christ, and makes the Kings of the Earth, and the Inhabitants of the Earth, drunk with the wine of her fornication, that is, the fair glosses and the sweet conceits of her Idolatries and superstitions, and makes herself drunk with the blood of the Saints, and with the blood of the Martyrs of Jesus, and that is, because they will not embrace, and follow her in her fornications. 3. The secular Whore, that follows after the World, and will not take upon her the yoke of Christ, but hateth all them, that seek to withdraw her from the sweet pleasures of the flesh, and the deceitful vanities of the world. 4. The false Prophet, that by a pretended zeal to reclaim the Whores, and to reduce the one from the world, and the other from her errors unto Christ, deceiveth all them, that dwell on the earth, and instigateth, spurreth and setteth on the beast to proceed and to go on in all his villainies and wickedness against the Servants of Christ: all which, that should happen unto the Church, from the time of the Angels revealing them, before the end of the world, the spirit of God would foreshow unto St. John, that St. John might foreshow them unto the Church. And this I take to be the main end, and the chiefest scope of the whole Book of this Prophecy; and therefore, after he had told us of the beast that should so extremely persecute his Church in the 13th Chapter, and would now further decipher him here in the 17th Chapter, he addeth, and there are 7 Kings, that is, which have and shall in like manner, vex and persecute my Servants; and this he saith, Why the persecutions and afflictions of the Church are foreshowed. and foreshoweth to this end, videlicet, to teach the true believers in Christ, by the examples of those former Martyrs, that had already suffered, under those five persecutors, that were fallen and dead, to be now (in the time of this 6th, and after, in the 7ths' time, and under the Tyranny of the beast, which is the 8th,) most patiented in all their sufferings, and to comfort themselves in all their miseries and afflictions, when they do consider, and weigh their own present state and condition, with the precedent condition of those holy Martyrs, that have suffered as much or more than they, and are now, for their constancy and patience in their persecutions, crowned by Christ with eternal glory; and also, to put his servants in mind, from what divine providence, and to what end, these persecutions are sent unto them; when they do consider, they come not by chance, being thus foretold, so long before they come, but by the special appointment of Almighty God, that knoweth what is best, and disposeth all things for the best, and for the special good of them that love him; and then lastly, to assure them of a glorious success, and an undoubted Victory to become Conquerors, even when they are conquered, and do suffer their persecutions unto death; because the same spirit that foretells us of their coming, tells us also, how our Brethren, that went before us, overcame all their sufferings, and how we shall overcome them in like manner, even when our enamies seem to overcome us. And therefore immediately after the description of our enemies, Chap. 13. and the setting down of our sufferings, v. 7. the spirit of God addeth, v. 9 v. 9 Here is the patience and the faith of the Saints; that is, their patience in suffering and their faith concerning their sufferings, to believe that they come from God, for their good, and shall produce all good success unto them. But these forenamed Emperors that are alleged to be here meant, The foresaid Emperors not all so great persecutors of the Church. were not all such great persecutors of the Christians; but some of them were very Gentle and meek, as Titus the Son of Vespasian, who was therefore called deliciae generis humani, the delight of mankind; though indeed he was not altogether so delightful, nor so gentle to the Christians; and others ruled but a very short space, as Galba reigned but seven months and nine days, Otho but four months, Vitellius but eight months, and we read of no great evils, that these three men did unto the Christians, though they were no good men; and after these, Vespasian reigned but nine years and eleven months, and Titus but two years, and town months; So that all these five from Nero to Domitian, reigned not above fourtee years; and therefore I conceive that these five could not be meant to be set in the Catalogue of the chief persecutors of God's Church, nor be ranked in the same Class with the beast and his adherents, when as neither Eusebius nor any other Ecclesiastical Historian reckoneth the first three amongst the persecutors. And whereas Junins, That the 8th is not said to be a King; which ought to be specially observed. in his Annotations annexed to our Bibles makes Trajan to be the 8th. and others make Nerva, and others Domitian, I say that neither of them is here meant to be the eight, and of the seven; for I would have it observed, that the eight is not said to be a King; but there are seven Kings, saith the Holy Ghost, and but seven Kings are said to be; and the Antichrist which is the beast, and the eight, is not where said to be a King, or to have a Crown upon his Head, but upon his Horns; So that if either of these, or any one of the other Roman Emperors, or any other King whatsoever, had been here meant to be the eight, the Holy Ghost in all likelihood, would have said, and there are eight Kings, Divers attributes of the the 8th, not ascribed to any of the other seven. whereas he saith, and there are seven Kings. Besides, you may observe many other special marks and additional differences, that are given to this eighth, which are not attributed to any of the other seven, and therefore makes it plain, that none of all the Emperors or Kings can be understood by this eight; for first, It is said, that this eight is the beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit; and this is said of none of the other seven. Secondly, It is said, that they that dwell on the earth, shall wonder when they behold the beast, which is not said at the beholding of any of the others, For so the Original is, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, and not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. Kings or Emperors; Thirdly, It is said of this eight, that he is of the seven, and not one of the seven, as our English Translation hath it; and this is not said of any of the other seven. Fourthly, It is said of this eight, that he shall go into perdition; which in like manner, is not said of any of the other seven; and Fifthly, As I noted before, when the Holy Ghost speaketh of this 8th, he saith, and the beast that was and is not, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, which our Bible renders even he, and none other, is the eighth, mark it well. Therefore I conclude, that this eighth can be none of the foresaid Emperors, nor any of all the Kings or Emperors of the world, of whom, none of these things is said, that are said of this eighth, who is not where said to be a King, or to wear a Crown, or to have any special Ensign either of King or Emperor; and I conceive, Who were the five Kings that were fallen. 1. Caligula. that by the 5 Kings, which were then fallen, we may understand the 5 greatest persecutors, that lived and reigned after Christ his ascension, and before this Prophecy was revealed unto our Evangelist, and I take them to be, 1. Caius Caligula, that most vicious and bloody Tyrant, who wished that all the Citizens of Rome had but one neck, that he might chop it off, at one blow, and whom Grotius makes the man of sin, and others do assent unto him. 2 Claudius Tiberius, 2. Claudius. that banished both the Jews and the Christians out of Rome. 3. Domitius. 3. Nero Nero, that Monster of men, that crucify St. Peter, and beheaded St. Paul, within a year one of another, and when he had burned a great part of the City of Rome, that he might see how Troy burned, when it was taken by the Grecians, to put off the blame from himself, he laid the fault upon the Christians, and persecuted them for the same. 4. 4. Vespasian. Vespasian, that besieged Jerusalem, and first began the War against the Jews, that brought abundance of miseries upon the Christians. 5. 5. Titus. Titus, that utterly destroyed both their Temple and their City; and therein many Christians, as well as Jews. The Holy Ghost omitting the other three Emperors, Galba 7. months Otho. 4. M. Vitellius 8. M. Galba, Otho, and Vitellius, as men, that although they had been never so wicked, yet, in so short a space as they reigned, when as all three reigned but one year and 7 months, they could do no such great mischief unto his Church, as deserved to enrol them in the Catalogue of the most noted persecutors. And by that one, 6. Then in being, Domitian. which is said then to be. I do with Junius understand Flavius Domitian, who caused this our Apostle to be thrown into a Tun of boiling Oil at Rome, and afterwards, seeing how the goodness of God preserved him therein, 7. Julian the Apostata. so that he took no more harm, than the three Children did in the fiery Furnace, or Daniel in the Lion's Den, he spared his life, but banished him into the Isle of Patmos, where this Revelation was showed unto him; and by the 7th, I do absolutely conclude him to be Julian the Apostata. Reason. 1 1. Because that although Dioclesian was the cruelest, & the bloodiest of all the former persecutors; yet the Holy Ghost saith, the other, that is not yet come, which was the 7th, when he cometh, must continue, but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, a short space; and we find that Dioclesian reigned 19 years before his persecution began, and in all 25 years; whereas Julian continued but 3 years at the most, and therefore Dioclesian, that continued so long, cannot be meant. Reason. 2 2. Because, that although the Christians under Deoclesian, Decius, Trajan, and the other persecutors, endured more cruel tortures, and were far more in number * Scribit Damasus in vita Marcellini, ut Supra 17 millia Christianorum intra unum mensem a Diaclesiano inter fecta. tormented by these Tyrants, than they were to be at any time, either before or after, yet, quia sanguis martyrum semen Ecclesiae, because the blood of the Martyrs is the seed of the Church, and causeth it to bring forth fruits more abundantly, when as the cruelty of the Tyrants made the Christians the more constant in their profession, and so could not do so much prejudice to the Christian Faith and Religion, as Julian did; for though Julian was not so bloody and so cruel as Dioclesian, that forbade Charity to be showed to the Christians that were in prison, and even to those, Vide Eusebium. lib. 8. c. 2.3. et deinceps. that they were bound to pity by the Law of nature, their Kindred; nor did put the Saints to such cevel deaths and tortures, as the other, his preceding persecutors were wont to do; yet was he more devilish, and far liker to overthrow God's Church, and to root out Christianity from off the earth, than all the former Heathen persecuters were; for, as I said, the more cruel they were against the Christians, The two things that increased the Christian Religion. 1. The constancy of the Martyrs. 2. The Charity of the Christians. the more did Christianity increase, insomuch that, as Sozomen saith, Christiana religio propter constantiam martyrum & Christianorum erga omnes cujusvis religionis beneficentiam, long lateque propagata est; the Christian Religion, by reason of the constancy of the Martyrs, and the Charity of the Christians towards all men, of what Religion soever they were, spread itself far and near, when as the beholding of a poor Christian Woman, so constantly and so manfully suffering Martyrdom for the faith of Christ, moved a King and all his Family to become Christians; which very point might be the Reason, that all the other bloody Tyrants, that were so succeed Domitian, were pretermitted, and not mentioned here by the Holy Ghost, as, upon the main, bringing no great detriment to the whole Church, that gaineth thus much, and more one way, as she looseth another way. But when the Tiger Julian, that dealt like a Fox in all his ways, and perceived the issues of the former cruelties well enough, and therefore withheld his hands from blood, Socrates, lib. 3. c. 10. and used his wit to root out the Christian Faith from off the world by taking away all the means and maintenance of the Clergy, and so exposing all the most reverend Bishops to scorn and contempt, and then, Idem. c. 11. Lament. 4, 5. denying any Office or place of command or credit, either in the Army or Civil Government, to the Christians, and thrusting all others out of their places and employments, that professed the Christian Religion; and bestowing all Offices of honour and profit upon the Idol-Worshippers; and so magnifying the superstitious and idolaters, and bringing both the Clergy, and lay Christians to extreme want and poverty, and making them the spectacles of reproach, when as many of them had not bread to put into their mouths, and instead of Scarlet that they formerly used, they must now be glad of rags, and be driven as the Prophet speaketh, to embrace the dunghill, and to dig or beg, or starve; he had almost extinguished the light of the Gospel, and exhausted the very Soul of Christianity out of the world, and had been very like to put out the greatest part of the light of the divine truth from all the parts of his dominions, but that the goodness of God, against whom it is hard to kick, and whose will must stand, when as no Counsel can prevail against his providence, did raise up the two Appollinarisses, that were two learned and most famous Christian Schoolmasters, who teaching many Noble men's Children, Socrates. l. 3. c. 14. The Father turned the five books of Moses into Heroical verse. Idem. l. 3 c. 15. Marcellinus, l. 22. c. 13. & l. 25. c. 5. and by well grounding them in the Rudiments and principles of the Christian Religion, did, in spite of all the subtlety of Julian, and the malice of Hell, exceedingly uphold and preserve the faith of Christ: for this Apostata, bred in Athens at the same time with Greg. Nazianzen, and very well skilled in all humane learning, as, among other things, his 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, and the many elegant Orations and books that he wrote, showeth, and Marcellinus testifieth, was not ignorant of that maxim of Cornelius Tacitus, Sublatis studiorum praemijs, ipsa studia pereunt, the only way to put out the fire is to take away the fuel, and the readiest course, to put down all learning is to take away the reward of learning, and the maintenance of learned men; for, as Marshal saith, Sint Maecenates, non deerunt, flacce, Marones'. Martial. epig. Bountiful Maecenases, and Religious uncorrupted Patrons will bring forth learned Authors, Poets, Orators, Historians and Divines; but if you will root out any Art, science or profession, you need not defile your hands with blood, by killing the Persons, but take away the means and maintenance of the Professors; and let them starve, but not be killed; because poverty and want, hunger and cold, nakedness and shame, with scorn and contempt, will prevail with men, whose names are not written in the book of Life, and are not upheld by the special grace of God's mighty hand, O quantum cogit egestas: Juvenal. sat. 3. to do what thou wilt, more than the Sword or Canon. — Vellit nam saepius aurem Invida paupertas, & dixit vilia rura: And as Juvenal saith. Haud facile emergunt, quorum virtutibus obstat Res Angusta Domi— Therefore I take Julian, that took this course with the Church of Christ, to be Primogenitus diaboli, and Proximus Antichristo, the first born of the Devil, in respect of his Wickedness, though not of time, and the next Neighbour or Gentleman Usher to the Antichrist, that chalked out the way to him, to overthrow the Church, and is the vilest and the worst of all the persecutors, that either preceded him or should succeed him, until the coming of the Beast, that ascended from the bottomless pit, and shall descend to the Lake of Fire and Brimstone; because all the other persecutors persecuted Presbyteros, the Priests and Bishops that stood for the Faith, but this wretch endeavoured to root out Presbyterium, the most sacred Calling and Function of the Bishops and Ministry; that there might be none to uphold the Faith of Christ upon the Earth; but that the Religion, and the Service of his Heathen Gods might be still continued, to whom, beyond all others, he was most superstitiously devoted, Am. Marcel. l. 25. c. 6. as Ammianus testifieth. And he is said here, c. 17.10. to be the 7th, & for the comfort of the Church it is added, that he should continue but a short space; which was but three years at the most; for this vile person beginning his Voyage against the King of Persia, resolved and Vowed if he prevailed in that enterprise, to Sacrifice all the Christians unto his Idol Gods; How God revenged the Wickedness of Julian. therefore the God of Gods, and the Protector of the Christians, sent his Angel from Heaven, as some writ, or a Devil out of Hell, as saith Calistus, that ran him through; or some other instrument of the divine justice suddenly smote him, no man knows how, nor from whence, that he died, scoffingly saying, vicisti Galilee, vicisti; and then one of his Compeers objected against the Christians, that their God was not as they affirmed, slow to wrath, when he did so speedily and so suddenly execute his fury against Julian; to whom we answer, that this doth exceedingly commend the great goodness of our God, that will, when he seethe his Patience and his long sufferance is abused, & cannot bring the reprobates to Repentance, & seethe his Servants in Jeopardy to be destroyed, to preserve his Saints, & to prevent their own further judgement, suddenly smite them, while they are acting their villainies, and their sins are in their hands, as he did smite Nabuchadnezzar while the word was in his mouth, Dan. 4.31. and Corah Dathan, and Abiram, before they had the opportunity to destroy his Servants, and to commit any more wickedness, to heap more vengeance unto themselves; So that as the mercies of the wicked are cruel, Prov. 12.10. the judgements of our God upon these transcendent malefactors, are mingled and allayed with a great deal of Mercy. And as these Reasons afore cited, do sufficiently prove Julian to be here meant by the 7th King the Angel speaks of; so the Holy Ghost saith, The Beast that was, and is not, is the eighth; as I have showed to you before, who might be conceived to be him that was and is not; than it is said, that he which was and is not, is of the 7th, & that is, not of the same race, or stock, or a colleague of and with the 7th, Marcell. in vita constantij. as Junius saith Trajan was with Nerva, or Julian was with Constantius, as Marcellinus saith; But of the same quality and condition, of the same subtlety and cruelty in persecuting the Saints, and suppressing the true Service of Christ, as the seventh was, and is of the same livery and serving the same Master, and after the same method as the 7th did. And I heard it demanded very often, if any Beast, any like them, with whom St. Paul fought at Ephesus, or any other Beast in the world, did or could possibly more evenly imitate passibus aequis, even to a hair, and over imitate that wicked Apostata in all points of subtlety and cruelty, and specially in this preposterous and most odious course, now specified against the Messengers of Christ, for the quite rooting out of them and their Message, the Gospel of Christ, as the Rump Parliament hath done; for as Julian did before them, The Parallel. so did not they by the same course, of plundering and ejecting the Clergy, and taking away all livelihood from the Bishops, and other grave Doctors and Preachers, cause many learned men, even all, whose names are not written in the Book of life, as the Holy Ghost speaketh, and some, that seemed Stars, and not of the least lustre, in the firmament of the Church, to fall from Heaven, and to start aside, like a broken Bow, and rather to follow the indirect Directory of the Parliament, then, for the observance of the direct form of serving God, to forgo their rich Rectories? yea, and did they not cause them to take the mark and Livery of that Beast, and against their Consciences, to take the Covenant of the Beast, and so to forswear themselves, that they might preserve their Lands and their Live, which otherwise they must have forgone, as they saw others do, in every place? Quam sunt laudandi, qui te florente juventa sprevere, & luxus deliciasque tuas. So bewitching a thing is the love of this World, as Demas can well testify, and all that have not learned St. Peter's lesson, to forsake all, and to follow Christ; and so you see, how the 8th, that is, the Beast, is of the 7th, and practiceth the same acts, and the same ways as the 7th did. Or else, we may understand these words, the 8th is of the 7, to signify, that this Beast is of the same subtlety, cruelty, and condition, and hath as much gall and bitterness in him, against the true Church, and the true servers of God, as all, or any one of all the other 7. had; So that you can find no villainy, or mischief in any, or in all the other 7. but you shall find the same fully in this Beast, that hath as many heads, and more heads himself, than all the other 7. Kings had; and indeed this Exposition is most agreeable to the Original Text, that doth not say, the 8th is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, of the 7th, but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, of the seven. And whosoever readeth the first and second part, What the Author of the History of Independency, saith of the long Parliament. and especially the third part of the History of Independency, I should wonder, if he find it not there showed, that all the devices, conspiracies, hypocrifies, and cruelties of those Kings or Emperors here mentioned, yea and Parallel 7 times 7, more unto them, are not reaching and answerable to the plots and devices, iniquity and impiety of the long Parliament, conceived by some men, as I said before, to be this beast, to possess the estates, destroy the liberties, take away the lives of God's Servants, and to overthrow the true service and Religion of Jesus Christ; for the Author of that History proveth evidently, as he saith, by the very Acts and Votes, the Ordinances and writings of that long Parliament, that they are more bloody and cruel than the proscriptions of Sylla, more unreasonable than the Articles of High Treason, that were made by the Duke de Alva, (than which the Devil could not devise much worse) and that their High Court of Justice is a new Slaughter-house for the murdering of the free Subjects of Ingland, without any just proceeding; but in all things contrary to all the Laws and Statutes of this Land, which are there abundantly produced by that Author, to make good his assertion, and to condemn that Court and their proceed therein, for usurpation, treason, tyranny, The History of Independency part 3. p. 42. theft and murder; for which illegal, arbitrary, and most barbarous bloody proceed, every man's hands would be about their ears, if they did not keep an Army of Janissaries to suppress them, saith that Author: And what viler, base, and more abominable things, than these, could any beast, any Antichrist, or any Devil devise to do? I cannot tell, but I leave it to my Reader to judge, whether these things be true or not? CAP. II. The 10 Horus of the Beast, who they are, and what they may signify: their Crowns, what they signify; their blasphemy; the three chief properties of the Leopard; how agreeable to the long Parliament; of the feet and mouth of the Beast, what they betoken; of the power and authority of the Beast; and the head that was mortally wounded, who or what is meant thereby; and how the Beast shall continue to make War. 2. 2. Of the 10. Horns of the Beast. IT is said, that the beast had ten horns; and the Holy Ghost expoundeth the meaning of this expression in the 17th Chapped v. 12. saying that these 10 horns are 10 Kings, which have received no Kingdom, but receive power as Kings, with the Beast; whereupon, Junius, to make good his former Interpretation of the Beast, saith, hos decem Reges jam olim numeraverunt & circumscripserunt multi, these Kings long ago, many have numbered and described to be 10, which did arise and spring out of the Roman Empire, Junius in annotat. in c. 13. & in c. 17. quum politicum illud imperium arte pontificum maxime capit labascere, when that civil Empire began, by the craft and subtlety of the Popes, to fall unto decay; and Mr. Mede names these Kings to be, 1. Vortimer, 2. Hengist. 3. Childeric. 4. Gunderic. 5. Theodoric. 6. Viciarins, 7. Gensericus. 8. Sumanus. 9 Theodomir. 10. Marcianus. Alcazar saith, that these 10 Horns do signify Polyarchiam Romanorum, Mr. Mede in his Apostate. of the latter times, p. 82. Anno 456. the multitude of the Roman Senators, which gave their strength and power, by which they formerly ruled, unto the Emperor; and Corn●a Lapide saith, these 10 Horns are 10 Kings, equibus tres profligabit antichristus, & caeteri septem territi ei sponte se subdent, whereof three shall be vanquished by the Antichrist, as Daniel saith of the little horn, tres Reges deprimet, he shall suppress three Kings; and the other seven being terrified, that is, by the humbling of those three, shall willingly submit themselves unto him; and it may be, the three Kings, that A Lapide speaketh of, might be, 1. The King of Ingland. The Parallel. A Lapide his Exposition how fulsilled. M. Mede names the other three which the Pope suppressed. p. 83. 2. The King of Scotland. 3. The King of Ireland; and the other seven, that is, most of the Neigh bour Kings and States, being made afraid of that power, that could so suddenly subdue these three Kingdoms, should very gladly yield themselves to become friends and Associates, and to make a league of friendship with this Beast: which Exposition, may possibly be very near unto the truth, when we see little less than this already come to pass. The Commentator, supposed to be Grotius, makes these 10 Kings to be the Kings of Armenia, Thracia, Galatia, Judaea, Arabia, etc. which were under the Roman Empire, and the Ministers of their Idolatry: Et sic alii atque alii aliud atque aliud opinati sunt. And truly, I do not wonder, that these learned men transported with a desire to make the World believe that the Pope is the great Antichrist, and so misunderstanding whom the Holy Ghost meaneth by this Beast, should in like manner, mistake what or whom they should conceive to be the heads, and horns, and all other parts of this Beast, quia uno absurdo dato mille sequuntur, one absurdity draweth on another. But how far those Expositions of Junius, and Alcazar, and that likewise of Mr. Mede, and of all others, that would have these 10 horns to signify 10 Kings, pertaining to the Roman Empire, are from the meaning of the Holy Ghost in this Text, will most evidently appear, if you consider that the particulars of the description of these 10 horns, do no ways square and cohere with these 10 Kings that they speak of; for these 10 Kings, The former expositions rejected, and the reasons showed. in the Text, have interest but in one kingdom, as you may see in the 17th Chapt. v. 12. and 17. where the spirit of God speaks in the singular number, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, that they had received no Kingdom as yet, v. 12. and in the 17. v. it is said, that God hath put it in their hearts to fulfil his will, and to agree, which those Kings never did, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, and to give their Kingdom unto the beast, and not their Kingdoms, whereas the Kings that were under the Emperor, and are become under the Pope, were, and are properly Kings, and have every one of them his own proper and peculiar Kingdom; neither can it be said of them, as it is said here of these Kings, that they have received power, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, one hour with the beast, that is, a very very small time, when as they came to their power and dominion by descent or by Conquest, and did not receive it as these did, from any Master that gave it them, and they continued therein during their life, some of them very long, and some of them at one time, and some at another time, yielded themselvee unto the Pope, and all of them were of so different a time, one from another, that it can never agree, The unlikelihood of Mr. Medes Exposition. with this one hour or a short space, wherein these 10 horns do agree to give their strength, and power and Kingdom, which they have received, unto the Beast. Neither is there any likelihood, that those 10 Kings, which Mr. Mede nameth, should be the 10 Kings here meant; because they were but transient, by the success of War, and of small Provinces, half or quarter of a Kingdom, as Vortimer and Hengist here in Ingland. Childerick, and Gunderick and Theodorick, in Gallia, and Sumanus, but in a little Continent between the Rhine; so that they might be better termed Reguli then Reges; and because also they were, as I said before, of a different time, one from another, which might be the reason, as I conceive, that made Junius to pass them over un-named; because he saw the unlikeliness of these men to be the 10 Kings, that are here meant; neither could they be said, to be the horns of the Roman Empire, because they revolted from it, and became horns against it, and pushed very hard to overcome it; but as I said dato uno absurdo, mille sequuntur; so these learned men, mistaking the beast, did easily mistake both his heads and his horns. But if that by this Beast, you understand the long Parliament, The 10 horns paralleled with the Parliament. you shall find that as all the other particulars which are here set down in this Prophecy, do in every point seem to accord and agree with that Parliament; so doth all the description of these 10 horns, that is, these 10 Kings, that had no Kingdom, The 10 Horns may be taken to signify one of these three things. 1.10. Of their prime Commanders. but the power, Authority and strength of Kings, which is potestas vitae & necis, the power of life and death, and is the greatest power that any King can have, and which they give unto the Beast, v. 13. that is use for the service of the Beast, doth agree with the Parliament, if we understand by these 10 horns, either 1. Ten of the prime Generals and Commanders of that long Parliament, which you will confess, had no Kingdom, and yet had the honour and power of Kings. Or, 2. If by these 10. horns, we understand all their Chieftains, 2. All their Chietrains and Commanders. whereof not one of them had any Kingdom, and yet each one of them had the power and authority of Kings, for one hour, that is, for a small time; and you may well remember, the best and greatest of them had it not very long; and you know likewise, they all devoted this their power and strength for the service of them; from whom they had received it; and they were all of them as the Holy Ghost saith, of one mind, Gen. 31.7. & 41. 1 Sam. 1.8. Job 19.3. Eccles. 17.19. Revel. 2.10. and did all run the same way, to fight against the Lamb, to overthrow the true Church, and to slay the witnesses of Christ; and yet they did all of them, as they said, hate the Whore, the Whore of Babylon, that is, as they expound it, the Church of Rome, and all the Romish superstition; for 10. being a perfect number, the Holy Ghost doth in many places, put down this number, as he doth many other perfect numbers, for an uncertain number, as when Jacob said unto Laban, Thou hast changed my wages ten times, that is, many times, and the Holy Ghost saith unto the Church of Smyrna, thou shalt have tribulation ten days, that is, sever all times; so by these 10 horns, or 10 Kings, we may understand many Chieftains, that had the power of Kings, which they all employed for the service of that long Parliament, or else, 3. If by these 10 horns we understand the greatness and perfection of that power, strength and authority, which was given, and was showed in those Generals, The horn an Emblem of Strength. Psal. 18.2. Psal. 22.21. Psal 75.10. and they used, for the advancement of the Parliament; for the Scripture useth to express our strength and power by the Epithet of a horn, as you may most frequently find it in the Book of Psalms, where the Prophet calleth God the horn of his salvation, and thanketh God that he had delivered him from the horns of the unicorns, that is, from the strength and power of his enemies; and he saith, that the horns of the ungodly shall be broken, but the horns of the righteous shall be exalted, that is, the strength and power of the former shall vanish away, but the strength of the other shall flourish; the horn being an emblem of power, as we see the strength and confidence of all horned Beasts, are in their horns; and by ten, is signified the perfection of a thing, The number of 10. a note of perfection, and comprehends all numbers be they never so many, as all numbers are contained under 10. or made of their reduplication. as when we give the 10th to God, we intent to ascribe all perfection unto him; because, as Aquinas well observeth, after we reckon and account by figures unto 9 we add the Cipher o, which is circular, and (as God) hath neither beginning nor ending, to make up 10, and then, we have no more figures, but to duplicate and triplicate the former figures in infinitum, and the Cipher only makes up the number. And so, by the 10. horns of the Beast, we may very aptly understand the great strength, and the perfect power of the Parliament, that was able to subdue the King, whose strength is so amplified by Zorobabel. and his Companion, as you may see in the 1. of Esdras 4.1. and v. 28. and which the Holy Ghost had set down in the 2d verse, and yet repeateth the same again here, by this Epitkite, v. 4. to show the greatness of their strength, and the perfection of their power, which is no less than 10. horns, and so a perfect power. But lest we might mistake by the sight of their great power, from whence and by whom the Beast had received his great strength, the Holy Ghost omitteth not to set down, it was from the Dragon, which doth every where denotate the Devil, though the Beast braggeth and boasteth all his Victories and Successes are from God; when as indeed all just Histories are from God, but when injusties gets the best, Judges 20.25. as it useth to do, not seldom, God doth justly suffer the Devil to give power and strength unto the wicked to prevail against the righteous, as the Tribe of Benjamin did, and many others in like manner, against the prosecutors of truth and right, and the true servants of God. 3. 3. The ten horns had ten Crowns, c. 13.1. The Parable. It is said, that these ten horns, though they had no Kingdom, yet they had 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, ten Crowns, that is, all the honour, service and observance, that could be given to any Kings, the same was done and showed to these horns wheresoever they came, and this was agreeable to the Generals and Commanders of that Parliament: their Excellencies did expect as much, and the people durst offer them no less, nor deny them whatsoever they required, when their lives were in their hands, and all their Estates and goods were at their disposal; this needs not many Arguments to prove it. And thus from all the aforesaid particulars, I hope it is apparent, that the Roman Empire cannot be signified by this Beast (which was the error, that brought forth many other errors after it) as to recapitulate all in brief. 1. The recapitu, lation of the reasons that prove, the Roman Empire cannot be the Beast here spoken of. Because this Beast is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, a little diminutive creature, and the Roman Empire, one of the greatest States in the world. 2. Because the seven heads of this Beast had no Crowns, whereas the seven Orders of the Roman Government, especially those of the Kings and Emperors should have the Crowns upon their heads rather than the horns, if they had been meant by these heads; and so should the seven Emperors, that others make to be the heads, if the Holy Ghost had meant them for the heads. 3. Because the seven heads of the Beast, which Mr. Mede saith, are the seven Orders of Rulers of the Roman Government, The Decemviri ruled but two years, and the Tribunes, but fifteen years, and all of them to Augustus not above 700 years, and they make the sixth to cease in the time of Boniface the third, which was an 607. or thereabouts, so that the Pope's Government is almost as long as all the other 6 which was but 1300. and since Boniface there is above 1000 years. and which Junius and others make to be seven of the Roman Emperors, are no no where either in the Vision, or in the Exposition of it, styled seven Kings; but after the Holy Ghost had expounded, what these heads are, namely seven Mountains, he addeth immediately, and there are seven Kings, meaning, as I shown, that had been, and would be great persecutors of God's children; to signify unto us, that he meant not that these seven heads, are those seven Kings, nor indeed any Kings at all, otherwise he needed not to have said any more, but the seven heads are seven Kings, whereof five are fallen, and one is. 4. Because that if this Beast be the eight and the Caesarean Order of Government be but the sixth, and in respect of the changed Caesarianship, but the seventh, than this Beast is not signified by the seventh, and the changed Caesarean order of Government cannot be this Beast, but as the Holy Ghost tells us plainly, this Beast is the eighth and of the seventh. 5. Because that if either the seven Orders of the Roman Rulers, or any other seven Emperors or Kings be the seven heads of the Beast, then are they some part of the Beast; but not any of them is termed the Beast, nor said to be any part of the Beast, but they all are styled Kings; and the eighth only is said to be the Beast; therefore they are not meant by these heads of the Beast. 6. Because that if the Roman Empire be signified by this Beast, than the ten Kings must be the horns, that is, the strength of the Roman Empire, but these Kings having rebelled, and fallen off from the Roman Empire, they cannot be said to be the horns of the Empire, but rather horns against the Empire: which I take to be an Argument unanswerable. 7. Because that if the Beast of seven heads and ten horns, be the Roman Empire, than the Roman Empire, and not the Pope, must needs be the Antichrist, but according to these men, the Pope is the Antichrist, and not the Roman Empire; therefore the Roman Empire is not the Beast, And I hope I have more clearly showed unto you, who may be conceived to be the Beast, and what we may understand by the seven heads and ten horns of the Beast. But to proceed, Fourthly, it is said, 4. Upon the heads of the Beast were names of blasphemy which may be committed two ways. 1. Way. John 10.33. So it was blasphemy in the Caesars, to be called, divi, & dii, & aeterni, as Prosper saith in dimid. temp. c 7. Nam aeterna cum dicitur quae temporalis est, utique nomen est blasphemiae. 2. Way. Psal. 50.18,19, 20.21. James 2.7. that upon the heads of this Beast there were 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, the names of blasphemies; for so it is in some Copies, and it agreeth better with heads then 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, the name upon many heads; now blasphemy may be committed two special ways. 1. When we assume unto our selves that Deity, and Divine Honour and Right, either of power or knowledge, which is only due to God, as when Christ told the Jews, that he was the Son of God, that is, his essential and coeternal Son; otherwise we are all his sons by Creation, and the elect by grace and adoption; the Jews, not knowing, and not believing him to be so, said, that he blasphemed; because that he being but a man as all other men were, and no more, as they thought, assumed to himself the honour and title of God; or else when we give and ascribe the divine honour to any other creature whatsoever, as all idolaters do, and therefore idolatry in the Scripture phrase, is usually, termed blasphemy, as you may see Ezech. 20.27. and Isa. 65.7. 2. When we derogate from God, that Deity and divine honour, and right, which is due, and we do owe to ascribe unto God, or do conceive, and attribute unto him any unseemly act or thing, whether words or deeds, which do no ways agree with the excellency and purity of his divine Majesty; as when we do oppress the poor, consent with Thiefs, and be partakers with the adulterers, and then think wickedly, as all such Actors, for the most part, do, that God is such an one as themselves, or as Jupiter, Apollo, and the rest of the adulterous gods of the Gentiles were, that hath no regard of these things, as the Prophet speaketh, these do blaspheme that worthy name, by which they are called, as Saint James testifieth. And is not the long Parliament, The parallel. That the Parliament Sectaries are said to Blaspheme both ways. 1. Way. or some of their adherents, justly said to be guilty of Blasphemy both these ways? for, 1. Did they not assume to themselves, or at least their flatterers ascribe to them, those attributes and Prerogatives, that are only due and proper unto God, as among others, to break the powers of the earth in pieces, to level the Hills, and to fill up the Valleys, to bruise the Nations with a rod of Iron, and to break them in pieces like a Potter's Vessel? as myself have heard one of their Sword Preachers and adherent to the Parliament, Preaching the same unto the people? and, as he ascribed unto them this attribute of God's power, which they made use of reasonable well, in these three Kingdoms, so do they not arrogate to themselves, that attribute of Knowledge, 2. Tim. 2.19. which as the Apostle saith, is only proper and peculiar unto God? and that is, to know, qui sunt ejus, who are his? for I refer it to the judgement of the people, if these men's Chaplains and Preachers take not upon them to discern and discriminate the elect from the Reprobate, And the Independants gathering of Churches is a sufficient proof hereof. The History of Independency, part 3. pag. 28. 2. Way. and so accordingly do, what Christ did not to Judas, exclude them from Christ, and from the Communion of Saints? and being such, to assure their followers, that they may justly rob and kill these Reprobates, at their own pleasure, as men, that have no right to the good things of this world, but are unworthy to live upon the earth? as the Author of the History of Independency witnesseth, and which is a most dangerous and destructive doctrine to all humane society; and if the ground thereof be not extreme Blasphemy, let any sober christian judge. 2. For the other way, as the Worshippers of this Beast Blasphemed, so, did not the adherents unto the Parliament commit more Blasphemies, and more odious Blasphemies than I am able to express? for our Saviour saith, Whoscever speaketh a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him, but unto him that Blasphemeth against the Holy Ghost, Luc. 12.10. Math. 11.32. it shall not be forgiven, neither in this World, nor in the World to come, saith St. Matthew: and yet, did not that Parliament, and especially the independent party of the Parliament, and the whole pack of their proselytes, with all reverence be it spoken by me, make the Holy Ghost to be the packhorse to carry all their vile and wicked sins upon his back? and the spirit of God doth exceedingly complain against this lewd practice of such wicked men, saying, supra dorsum meum fabricaverunt peccatores, Psal. 129.3. The Plowers Ploughed upon my back. these sinners, do not only commit sin, but they will also build up their sins and fasten them all upon my back, as if I were the Author, the mover and contriver of all their wickedness and impieties; for when they are pulling down, and setting up new Doctrines, and new disciplines, and change their Faith and Religion, as the Nomads do change their Cottages, as they are led by the Lesbian rule of their own fancies, which is the very square, by which they interpret the Holy Scripture, The Common Doctrine of the Independents: as you may see in the History of Independency. do they not usually allege, that the Spirit which Sanctifyeth and illuminates them, bloweth, when, and where he will, sometimes this way, and sometimes that way, and oftentimes contrary ways? and therefore that they can make no profession of any certain rule of Doctrine or Discipline, because they know not which way the spirit will inspire them; and to justify this their inconstancy, and their continual chopping and changing of their minds and resolutions, they abuse that Text of Scripture, where our Saviour saith to Nichodemus, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, the wind (or Spirit) bloweth where it listeth, John 3.8. and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whether it goeth; So is every one that is borne of the Spirit, as every one of them is without question in their own conceit; and therefore, when, contrary to their Oaths, Protestations, and Covenant, they beheaded and murdered the King, saith the Author of Independency, part 3. if he saith true, did they not pretend, that they could not resist the motions of the Spirit? and so when they break their faith, their Articles (as they did, I know with whom) their promises, their Declarations, and their Covenant, do they not avouch, that the Spirit moves them to it? which is most true, if they understand it right, of the spirit of darkness, which they make to be the Spirit of God; And I would feign know, what greater Blasphemy than these, if these things be true, as men worthy of credit, assure me they are; for what Blasphemy in the world can there be greater, then to make the Holy Spirit of God, that flieth from deceit, and dwelleth not in the body that is subject unto sin, to be the foul Spirit of Darkness, and the Author, mover, and promoter of such most horrid and execrable acts; acts never acted by any Christians, and but seldom, if ever known, by the worst of Pagans, and never before adventured or invented, as I conceive, to be justifiable by the most impudent of all the Heretics. And besides all this, have not their Assembly and Preachers, Wisdom 1.5. as I told you before, by consequent, and in effect, denied the Father and the Son, and so the Holy Ghost, which is amor, nexus & spiritus patris & filij? Let the Reader judge what Blasphemous acts the Assembly of Divines and the adherents to the Parliament did. and have they not obliterated and cashiered some of the chiefest heads, and main points of the long received truths of our Christian Religion? and did not that Parliament Authorise that Apostate assembly, and countenance the swarms of their lay-sword-Preachers, to discountenance the 39 Articles of our Church, to dispute about the expunging of the fift Article of the Apostles Creed, to Antiquate the Lords Prayer out of the Church Service, for fear, that, if they should use to say the same, they should quench the Spirit, as if the spirit of Christ would be offended with the Prayer of Christ, and to turn out the long settled service of God, and the book of Common-prayer out of the Church, to give way, as one saith well, to a longwinded extemporary nonsense, and Blasphemous repetitions, Such Blasphemies, as never were in the Church of Rome, are broached in the books and Sermons of the Presbyterians. and most saucy expostulations with God, in the steed thereof? which is the readiest way to introduce Athiesme, and to abrogate Christianity out of the world; which is the desire of the Dragon, and the proper work of the Antichrist. And therefore, the Religion of the Fauterers and adherents to that Parliament, being but a mere complication and a syncretisme, or rather a sink and common sewer of all errors, Heresies and Blasphemies, may we not well say, that upon the heads thereof, there is not only the name, but in the plural number, the names of Blasphemy? especially, if I should set down, (which would swell to a huge Volume) all the Blasphemous tenants, that some of their members, many of their Preachers, and more of their adherents have broached, scattered and printed throughout these three Kingdoms, since the unhappy birth of that most unhappy Parliament, to most of the Kings most Loyal Subjects: and so you see how this Appendix of the Beast, may be said to cohere with that long Parliament. Fiftly, It is said v. 2. that this Beast was like a Leopard, 5. The Beast was like a Leopard. Jun. in annotat. in loc. As after the 2d. Pun war Maced. Grec syria, caeteraque omnia quasitorrente sequnta sun●. Dan. 7.6. loquitur florus. l. 2. c. 7. Diodorus siculus de success. Alexandr. 2. and Junius following his former exposition, saith, this aught to be understood of the Roman Empire, that was like a Leopard propter velocitatem, by reason of their swiftness, and speedy expeditions, and their extraordinary successes to subdue their Enemies, when their Generals might say with Caesar, veni, vidi, vici; assoon as I came, I overcame all the adversaries that opposed me; whereby they have suddenly prevailed to enlarge their dominions over the better part of the then known world. But indeed that Empire cannot be understood by this Leopard; for Daniel, speaking of the four great Empires of the world, saith, that the third Beast, which betokened the Macedonian or Greek Empire, was like a Leopard, that is propter velocitatem, by reason of the sudden increase and speedy enlargement thereof, when Alexander the great did most suddenly, in less than 10 years' space, subdue the Persian Monarchy, and brought under his subjection the most part of the visible Dominions of the world; and his Empire was as suddenly divided, when he bequeathed the same to the Worthiest of his Captains, and almost as quickly again, translated unto the Romans; and therefore I say that not the Roman Empire, Eodem. c. v. 7. & 23. which was the fourth beast in daniel's Vision, and had Iron teeth, and stamped the residue of the Kingdoms with the feet of it, but the beast, that is, the Antichrist, which was typified by the little horn, that came up among the horns of the fourth beast, ● v. 8. that Daniel saw, is here likened to a Leopard; and that, not only propter velocitatem, for the great speed that he maketh in all his actions, but also in respect of all the other chief properties of the Leopard, which is observed to be, 1. The three properties of the Leopard. Velox, very swift. 2. Crudelis, very Cruel. 3. Maculosus, very much spotted. And so was that many-headed beast that our Evangelift saw; And truly, I may justly demand if that these three properties of the Leopard might not be perfectly seen in the long Parliament? The parallel. for 1. 1. The great speed of the Parliament. Were they not most swift in their expeditions and executions, and subduing all, that have opposed them, either Domestic and homebred Enemies, or any other foreign foes? and have they not conquered these three Kingdoms, and prevailed more in less than ten years' space, then either the Warlike King of Sweden, or any other King or Commonwealth, if you consider all circumstances, since Alexander's time? 2. 2. The cruelty of the Parliamen. As they were most speedy in their actions, so I may demand, if they were not as cruel in their executions? and more cruel than all the examples that ever I found in any History, to parallel them? more cruel, as it is conceived, than John Vasilowich, that was the greatest Tyrant of Russia, and as they say, greater than any other former Tyrant; and yet he never persecuted any man, as these men did; only for being loyal Subjects unto their King, and faithful Servants unto their God; though we might say of Vasilowich, that Saevior est tristi Busiride, Saevior illo, Qui falsum lento torruit igne bovem? And therefore when I duly weigh the decenniall slaughters, practised in these Christian parts, by those that professed themselves to be the best Saints on earth, especially, when I consider, not the bloody kill of men, but the many deaths, that in a lingering death, they have imposed on many good men, and the piecemeal taking away of the lives of many, quos oderunt gratis, whom they hated without cause, but only for seeking to do them the greatest good, and to prevent the greatest evil, that can be imagined, from falling on them: I cannot choose but cry out with the Poet, O mites Diomedis equi, Busiridis arae Clementes, Busiris or Orus the second, was the King of Egypt, and the first oppressor of the Children of Israel. jam Cinna pius— All former Murderers were very mild, and all Tyrant's gentle and light, in comparison of these Leopards; when as, Vix erit ulla fides, tam saevi criminis hosts, Tot paenas cepisse pios:— And we may demand, — quis prodere tanta Funera, quis cedes posset deflere nefandas? Quid tale immaenes unquam gessisse feruntur? How is it possible to believe, that men should do such acts as they have done? For though I read of the cruelties of Phalaris, Busiris, Dionysius, Nero, Dioclesian, and the Roman proscriptions, in the times and wars of Sylla, Marius, Cynna, Augustus, Antony and the like; Yet the Tyranny and cruelty of these men was but of a single thread, of one Tyrant at one time, save only 30 in Athens, and that but once, and the Decemvirjs in Rome, and that but once neither, they were soon weary of their Polyarchy; but I know not when, or where you shall read of such a pack and knot of Tyrants, and such a multitude of persecutors, conspiring together as one man, to vent their malice, and to show their cruelty against innocent men; and each one of them striving to become more famous than the rest, by being the more odious in the severity of his censure, Patercul. l. 2. c. 26. and as Paterculus saith, where the emulation was wont to be about virtuous actions, the contention is now only for the height of mischief, and he thinks himself the best man, who doth most transcend in Villainy; when they are become all such men as Aristophanes speaks of in Acharnensibus, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, quibus nec ara, nec fides, nec jus jur andum manet; that neither care for faith, nor oath, nor God; where you can find such a pack and society of men, there I do believe you shall find this beast that is like a Leopard. Besides, the former Tyrants, and the most bloody persecutors of the Church executed their cruelties only (except against some sew malefactors, or some others, as the Christians, that were most innocent) against men for neglecting their commands (which the Christians would never have refused, had they not been repugnant to the Commands of God) or those men that they hated, for some despite done unto themselves; and but very few good and innocent men (except the Christians) either in the Proscriptions, or by the other Tyrants, were otherwise causelessly spoiled and executed; but I pray you consider, without partiality, what a number of noble persons, what an infinite number of good Christians, that were so quiet, that they meddled not at all, on neither side, He that would see more and more particular examples of the cruelty of this long Parliament, let him look into the History of Independency, part 3. pag. 19 etc. what huge armies of faithful Subjects, besides all the Reverend Bishops grave Doctors, and learned Preachers that offended no man, were utterly undone in the last war, by those men that had no Command over them, nor received any the least in jury by them? but as Aristides was banished out of Athens, justus, quia justus, only because he was too just; so were these poor innocents' plundered, rob, persecuted, imprisoned, buffeted, stripped, banished and killed, and their wives and children left either to beg or starve, only because they would not be wicked; and are they not then, that do such things, for their cruelty most rightly said to be like a leopard, when their feet are so swift to shed blood, and they so merciless, and so universally malicious in their proceed of bloodshedding? 3. Can any Child be more like the Father, than the long Parliament and their adherents are unto the Leopard, propter versicolorem, 3. The diversity of the stains and spots of the Parliament and their adherents. by reason of their divers and bespotted colours? the Leopard being not so bespotted with diversities of colours, as they are maculated and besprinkled with the varieties of all kind of wickedness, if that be true which is written of them, that they were as the Apostle saith of the Gentiles, repleti omni injustitia, filled with all unrighteousness, farragine haeresewn, a hodgepodge of all Heresies, old and new; and a world of all kinds of sins, Rom. 1.29. as treason, rebellion, murders, thefts, sacrilege, rapes, adulteries, oppressions, lyings, perjuries, hypocrisies, and abundance more of such stuff, that are most amply explained by the Author of the History of Independency; for as the Poet saith, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉; — Depravant publica jura, Justitiamque fugant, divum nil verba verente●: Which showeth, in a word, that the adherents, favourers and followers of that long Parliament, did neither fear God, nor love man, but have, notwithstanding all their pretence of piety, sold themselves like Ahab, to commit all wickedness, even with greediness, and so, for the love of being great in the World, to become the very bondslaves of Satan. And are they not therefore bespotted with more spots, and more diversities of colours then the Leopard? or, The divers coloured Regiments of the long Parliament, and their adherents. have they not all the colours of the Rainbow, and some more then either of these? if you consider, 1. The white Regiment of their Hypocrites. 2. The black Regiment of their Independants. 3. The Scarlet Regiment of Presbyterians. 4. The yellow Regiment of Anabaptists. 5. The green Regiment of Levellers. 6. The blue Regiment of Seekers. 7. The Azure Regiment of Dive-dippers. 8. The tawny Regiment of lay-Preachers, and a great many more Regiments of Sectaries, than I can find colours to discriminate them; and though all these several Sects and Regiments of divers colours, do peevishly differ in some inconsiderable Tenants, Vide, the History of Independency. part 3. p. 26. yet they have some common principles to soader them together, that they may attain unto that main end and scope, at which they all principally aim; and that is, power, preferment, and profit; to rule all, and to have all the wealth and estates of the Antichristian Bishops as they term them, and the reprobate Royalists, the Cavaliers, and the Laodicean Newters; all which three sorts of Castaways, they may as well rob and take away all that they have, in their conceit, as the Israelistes did from the Egyptians, and may as lawfully kill them, as they killed the Canannites, and divide their Lands and goods among themselves, that are, if you will believe them, the true Saints of God, as I was told, one of their great Knights said, to the plundered Inhabitants of Anglesey: and therefore, 6. 6 The feet of the Beast like the feet of a Bear. Prov. 4.26. Most ugly. It is further said v. 2. that the feet of this Beast were as the feet of a Bear; and by feet, in the Scripture phrase, we are to understand their do and their ways, as Solomon saith, ponder the path of thy feet, and let all thy ways be established, that is, let all thine actions and thy deal be just and honest; and these feet of this Beast, are said to be like the feet of a Bear, which are, the most ugly, the most ill-favoured, and the most filthy and dirty of any feet; and so are all the actions and proceed of this Beast. And are not the do, The Parallel. the Ordinances and practices of the long Parliament so? for what face soever they bear, what colour soever they make, and how pious soever they seem to be in their preambles and pretences; No Pope, Turk nor Tyrant, did ever commit viler actions, then have been done in these Dominions, within these 20. years. yet if you look downwards, towards the feet of these Peacocks, and search into the depth of their actions, and find out the secret intentions of these glorious Birds, the Birds of Juno, as the Poets feign, and the Saints of God, as themselves say, than I demand, if you shall not see, that there lieth under their glorious trail, feet as black as the Swans, or Turkey-cocks, and every way as ugly and as filthy, as the Bear's feet, that is, as hateful, and as abominable proceed, as ever were masked under such specious shows and pretences of so much holiness? let the Reader judge hereof. A special Instance of the long parliaments do. I will instance, out of many, but in one or two examples of the incomparable justice of this Parliament, Dr. Wren, a very learned man, a most Reverend Bishop, a painful Preacher, a prudent Governor, and a blameless Christian in his life and conversation, yet because a Bishop, strict in his Government, as all Bishops should be, he must be cast into prison, have all his goods rifled and plundered, and have nothing left to him, to maintain himself, his Wife and many Children; and yet because he was so Orthodox in his Doctrine, so regular in his life, and so circumspect in his Government, I could not learn of any of the members of the Parliament, the least crime, besides a general clamour, and you know, that in universalibus latet error, that could be justly laid to his charge; and though he is worthy neither of death nor of bonds, yet for all that, to see if his bonds will bring his death, the good man must be detained still in prison, for many years together; and why is all this? The Jews demanded, if the Christ when he came, would do greater things than this man, that was Jesus, did; so, it may be demanded, if these men be not the Antichrist, will the Antichrist, when he cometh, do greater villainies cruelties, and outrageous mischiefs, than these men have done, that have overdone all that went before them. but to see if the length of his miseries would end his life and his injuries; because they hated him without a cause, and laid to his charge the things, that he knew not, and they proved not, and so could find no colourable cause of death against him; a most admirable example of a very just Parliament; let Heaven and Earth admire it: but I fear that in other such cases (God not suffering them to do so in this) when they can find no just fault against the persons that they hate, they will say with Caesar, aut viam inventam ant faciam, and will imitate those flies, that finding no sores, will fasten upon the sound flesh, to make sores, that they may suck our blood; to forge faults, and to suborn witnesses, to prove them; and, to show the reason of this my fear, I would add here the proceed of this Parliament, and the great justice that Col. Eusebius Andrews, and some others, found at the hands of that long Parliament, but that a better Pen hath set forth the same already. In the Hist: of Independency. p. 63. Yet I may not pass the justice that this Parliament hath showed in their public printed Act for the Assessment of that great and heavy Tax, which they imposed upon the Kingdom, to maintain their Army, that when it was assessed, and all paid by the Country, every penny; yet if their receiver, that is appointed receiver by their Committee-men, whom they nominated, and appointed to be their Committee-men, should fail to pay the moneys to their Treasurer, and should run away with all the Country's money; why then, because the Army must have money, the Country must be newly assessed, and what they had formerly paid, they must pay again, so toties quoties, as often as their receiver cheats the Country, the Country must still repay it, till the Soldiers receive it; And according to this Act, a brave receiver of Carnarvonshire, left the poor Inhabitants of that poor County to repay, what they had formerly paid, about 4300 l. Let my Reader therefore judge if the feet of the long Parliament be not as the feet of a Bear. and odd money, as was reported by some of the Committee-men unto me, whereof a 1000 l. was paid again to the great wrong and prejudice, if not the undoing, of a great many of the poor men of that County: and whether this act be just or not, I refer it to the judgement both of Jews and Gentiles, and to the Heathens and Pagans, that know not God, and yet, may know, by the light of nature, what is just: for if you give full authority to your servant, to come to me for money, and require me to pay it him, and I according to your direction, do so, if he runs away with your money, will any Law make me to pay it again? credat Judaeus Apella, non ego. And besides all this, and all particular acts of their illegitimate Justice, History of Independency. Part 1. Pag. 3. they have passed an Ordinance of Indemnity, not only for them that acted for the Parliament, but also for such as have overacted, and have gone beyond the authority, that was given them by the Parliament, and had sequestered men most unjustly, and levied the same Taxes three or four times over; and so they secured them from the Law, and from Justice; which made the Author of the History of Independency, to say, that you might as easily find Charity in Hell, as Justice among any of their Committees; And I must here add, Idem. Part. 1. Pag 7. how justly and how charitably they have dealt with the Reverned Bishops, Deans and worthy Divines, and other Gentlemen in Ireland; for when the Irish Popish Rebels had causelessly and most inhumanely used them, expelled them from their Inheritances, and rob them of all their Estates; the Parliament, as thinking this load of misery was not enough to be laid upon their backs, but, adding still more sorrows unto the afflicted, instead of relieving them, do make an act, to take away all their Lands and possessions for ever; And whether the Irish Popish Rebels, or the English Parliament Saints, dealt with us more Christianlike, and whether more devilish-like herein, I leave it to the Judge of all the World to determine, they taking it from us, to give it to their Popish Priests, and these keeping it to themselves. But, as when Pilate said unto the Jews, 1 John 18.29 what accusation bring you against this man? and demanded three times of them, what evil hath he done? and they could make him none other answer, but, if he were not a malefactor, and had not done evil enough, we would not have condemned him, and delivered him unto thee; so their condemning of him only, v. 30. must be believed to be an unanswerable Argument, that he hath done evil enough, though Pilate, that examined the matter and the man, to the full, protesteth, that he could find no fault at all in him; so if it should be demanded of the Parliament, what evil have the Bishops done, that you should suppress their Calling, nullify their Office, stop their mouths, take away their maintenance, and sell their estates, that all former Parliaments had confirmed unto them, to let them beg or starve, as many of them might have starved, had it not been for the bounty and great charity that was extended to them, by many worthy men, and most godly Citizens, and others, in and about this famous City of London, they can make you none other answer, than what their Brethren the Jews did to Pilate, if they had not been evil, and done evil, though we cannot tell you, what evil they did, we would not have done all this unto them; so their condemning of us, though they know not for what, must be sufficient to lay upon us the heavy judgement of malefactors; and if this dealing be not like the Bear's feet, most ugly, I know not what can be, let others judge. 7. The mouth of the Beast was as the mouth of a Lion. Amos. 3.8. The Parallel. 7. The Text saith, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉: the mouth of the Beast was as the mouth of a Lion, v 2. and the Lion as the King of terrors, roareth to the trembling and terrifying of all the Beasts of the Forest, and of all other men that hear him; for as the Prophet saith, When the Lion hath roared, who will not fear? and doth not this description of the Beast most aptly cohere with the long Parliament? for did they not roar so terribly, that as the Poet saith, and all men do know Projicit ampullas, & sesquipedalia verba, Did it not, The Pope's Bulls never roared so terribly against any man. speak very proud things, great swelling words, and which is more, and far worse, breathed it not forth. Oris Cerberei spumas & virus echidnae; Such cruel threaten, as deadly, as the poison of asps, against those that were quiet in the Land, against all the servants of Christ and that would serve God aright, and continue faithful unto their King? for these men being all made delinquents, aedibus & sedibus effugati sunt, they are to be driven, and they must be packing out of house and home; and when they have destroyed all these, and swallowed up all their Estates, then as Pyrrhus told Cyneas his Orator (that demanded of him, Plutarch, In vita Pyrhi. what he would do, when he had conquered all Italy) he would win Sicilia, than afric, and Macedon, & af●er that subdue Persia and India, and so forward, till with Alexander he should become the foal Monarch of the world, and then he would eat, drink and be merry; so the Parliament Proselytes believe, that after the rooting out of the Cavaliers, the Parliament will conquer France, subdue Spain, What wonderful things the Parliamentarians promised themselves, they will do. harrasse Italy, pull the Pope out of his Throne, throw down the Whore of Babylon, and then pass on to reduce the ten Tribes, that were led away by Salmanazar, and are so mixed with all the other Nations, that no man knows what is become of them ever since; yet these men by the help of their false Prophet will find them out, and in despite of the great Turk, they will subdue Gog and Magog, and bring all the dispersed Jews, and distressed Israelites over the Caspian Mountains, into the land of Promise once again, if you will believe their Proselytes, and false Preachers; quam facile est dicere montem, sed transire grave est, which is easier said then done; and then their glorious world, which they term the fifth Monarchy, and the Millenaries thousand years' felicity in all worldly happiness here on earth, shall begin, as I have read it in one of their books, Printed at London; and dedicated by one of the Members of the new collected Church of Wrexam to Colonel Twisleton. And are not these things magnalia, very glorious great exploits? which I cannot yet believe, though uttered by the mouth of a lion; and yet to further the credit of these lying wonders. 8. 8. The great power and authority of the Beast, that hath 1. The power. 2. The Seat. 3. The authority of the Dragon. Matth. 8.32. 2 Thes. 2.9. It is said in the same place, v. 2. that the Dragon, that is the devil, gave unto the Beast, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, his power and his seat, and great authority; therefore questionless the power of the Beast must needs be very great, if we cosider the great power and strength of the Devil, who is able to overthrow, not only a few men, or some Armies of men, but all the men in the world, and drive them all like the Herd of Swine, into the Sea, if he were not restrained by a greater power of him, that ' puts a hook in his mouth, and bridles him, so that he can do no more than he gives him leave; and therefore Saint Paul saith, that the coming of the Antichrist will be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, with all power: and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifieth copias militares, military Forces; as where the Septuagint renders it for an Army, Exod. 14.28. saying, that the waters covered 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, all the Army of Pharaoh; and God is termed 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, the Lord of Hosts; because he hath all the armies of the world at his command, and therefore the Beast having received from the Devil, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, all his power, he hath both the Secular power of gold and silver, and military Forces of men and munition, Dan. 11 43.38. wherein this power of the Beast, that is, the Antichrist, chief confifteth, which is so said by Daniel to rule over the treasures of gold and silver, and to worship Mauzim, whom I conceive to be the Heathen God of War; and also the Ecclesiastical power, which the Beast, after he hath gotten such abundance of wealth, and powerful armies, will likewise exercise, according to his own will and pleasure, over the Church, Church- men, and all Church Services, and Revenues that appertains unto the Church. And hath not the long Parliament got such a power, The parallel. and done all these things? I refer it to any man's judgement. I know the Pope challengeth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, as great authority as can be imagined; but whether he hath this 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, such a military Force of gold and filver, men and munition, so plentiful and so powerful as the Parliament had it, I leave it to the world for to judge. But Then it is said, that the Dragon gave his Throne or Seat unto the Beast; The Throne of the beast, what manner of Throne it is. Isa. 14.13.14. Luke 46. Matth. 4.9. and what Throne hath the Dragon, but an usurped Throne? when with the King of Babylon, that said in his heart, I will ascend into heaven, and I will exalt my Throne above the stars of God, and above the height of the clouds, and I will be like unto the most high; so he will assume to himself what is none of his own, and as he said to Christ, all these things will I give thee, when as they were none of his to give; so he gives unto the Beast no other Throne, but an usurped Throne, such as himself had no right unto, nor any power to give, but as the thief can give away my purse, which by force he hath taken from me. The parallel. And so the Author of the History of Independency showeth, how the long Parliament entered and possessed this usurped Throne of the Dragon, when in answer to the Kings offered Act of Oblivion, they intended (as they did afterward) to pass an Act of general pardon, for which they expected a general obedience, and submission to their Government for the future; because pardon and protection implies obedience to the Protectors, without which they may be handled as public enemies, and outlaws, that aught to be destroyed, as Traitors and Rebels against the State; as Politicus the States interpreter sets it down numb. 16. from Sept. 19 to Sept. 26. But how came they (saith that Author, (to that Majesty,) How the long Parliament came to the Throne of their claimed authority. to whom for birth and the highest of their education) that they should have the power and authority of granting pardons, imposing Laws, and requiring obedience from the people, and without that, to plunder them, and to punish the refusers, as they please? You see what the Holy Ghost saith, from whence the Beast had it; from whence soever they have it. But our new Statists (saith he) will answer you, that the Supreme power is originally in the people, and so the Parliament voted the same to be, and the people have delegated, and committed the same to them, as the Representative of the people; and so having this derivative authority from the people (which had this authority but from them, and their vote) they use this authority to yoke their Sovereign Lord, the people, (whose delegates they profess themselves to be) and to make them yield Allegiance and obedience unto them, that are but their own delegates, and servants of the Common wealth, under the penalty of depriving them of their goods, Lands, and lives: Such a piece of circular Logic, for them to give a power unto the people, who had no power to give it, A strange piece of Logic. and then to take it to themselves from the people, to master and to destroy the people; as I think, neither Aristotle nor Ramus, nor all the School of Athens did ever know the like; yet hereby we see how they have got to the Throne of Supreme Majesty; and though it be but an usurped Throne, saith that Author, and their authority a self-created authority, merely to cheat fools, and to domineer over the weak and helpless people; yet as Vespasian said, dulcis odor lucri ex re qualibet, so they thought it a brave thing to rule, by what Logic, Art, or means soever they can attain unto the Throne, be it right or wrong. So cruelly hateful, and beastly is the nature of Ambition, and the desire of bearing Rule, and Plutarch saith. Plutarch in vita Pyrhi. And now, the Parliament having gotten possession of this usurped throne, as we may call it, and clothed himself with this new created Majesty: it is said that he exerciseth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, that great Authority, with such and so great severity, and in so large and transcendent a manner over the people, as neither King nor Keisar, neither Pope, Turk nor Tyrant, Walter Raleigh, in his Prerace to the History of the world. nor any other Pagan Infidel did ever the like; for, omitting others further from us, though Henry 8. that was Praecursor Antichristi, the Gentleman Usher to bring in the Antichrist, and of whom Sir Walter Raleigh saith, If all the pictures and patterns of a merciless Prince were lost in the world, they might all be painted to the life out of the story of this King, that neither spared Woman in his Lust, nor man in his Fury, hath mightily magnified his Authority over his Subjects, to make his Lustful will stand for law; yet he came far short multis parasangis by many degrees of the power and Authority that this Parliament hath used over his Brethren, and over his own Sovereign Lord and Master, the people; for though neither Henry the 8th, nor any other King of this Land, did ever attempt to do any public Act of moment, as to levy monies, press Soldiers, Vieount verulam in the life of Hen. 7. commit Prisoners, and put men to death, but according to the Laws of our Land, howsoever they caused these Laws to be sometimes wrested by their judges, to satisfy their own wills, as Sir Francis Bacon saith Henry the 7th, sometimes did; yet that Parliament without Law, and ex diametro, contrary to our Laws saith the Author of the History of Independency, have made themselves Masters of our Estates, of our liberties, and of our lives: that as the Centurion said, he was a man under Authority and needed but say to this man, go, and he goeth, and to another, come, and he cometh, and to his Servant, do this, and he doth it; so this Parliament is above all Authority, and needs but set down what sum soever he would have, he must have it; and what men soever he would have dead, they must die; for whatsoever this Parliament voteth, that is a Law, and they can vote what they will; And what Authority in the world can be greater than this? the Pope can do nothing without his Cardinals, nor the Cardinals without the Pope; and King Ahassuerus could do nothing without his seven Counssellors, nor the seven Counsellors without the King; Hester 1.13. Ezra. 7.14. yet this Parliament will do any thing, without the King, and against the King: and therefore mine Author saith, that when this Parliament voted, that whatsoever the Commons in Parliament Voted, and shall Enact, The strange Vote of the long Parliament. Hist. of Independ. pag. 11. part. 3. shall have the power and force of an Act of Parliament or Law, without the consent of the House of Lords, or the King's royal assent, any Statute, Law, custom or usage to the contrary notwithstanding, he never read yet any Vote, that hath in it more of dissolution, and more of Usurpation, and innovation, than this one Vote, which makes their Authority universally arbitrary, and lays the Axe to the root of all our Laws, Liberties, lives and propertyes, all at once; and is not this 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, great Authority? or did ever Pope or Turk exact more or so much as this? And thus that Author saith of the Power, Throne and Authority that the long Parliament assumed to themselves, and exercised over all the people of these Dominions; how far these things are true, I leave it, as I do all their Acts and Actions, to be censured and believed by them, that are most judicious, and do best understand and know all their do. But to proceed. 9 9 Of the head that was mortally wounded, and healed. Junius in an not. in H. loc. and so Severus sulpitius, and the Author of the Sibyl verses, supposed to be Montanus, do take it. The former exposition rejected. It is said, v. 3. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉; and I saw one of the heads of the beast as it were wounded to death, and his deadly wound was healed; whereupon Junius, that makes this beast to be the Roman Empire, saith that this head was Nero, qui in domitiano, ejus successore, post vespasianum & Titum, suscitus est, who in his successor Domitian was raised up; because that in Nero, the Caesarean line and stock did wholly fail, & gubernacula reipublica ad alios fuerunt translata, and the Government of the Common wealth was transserred unto others, by whose means, especially in Domitian, his successor, after Vespasian and Titus, the deadly wound of the Empire, that it received in Nero, was so cured, that it remained firmer than ever it was before. But this cannot be the meaning of the Holy Ghost, because as I told you before, this Revelation, especially in the latter parts thereof, was of things that were hereafter to be fulfilled; and Nero was dead, and five Emperors more, Galba, Otho, Vitellius, Vespasian and Titus long before St. John saw these things; therefore Luther, Illiricus, Chytraeus and others, by the Head that was mortally wounded do understand the civil Empire of Rome, that was wounded in the Emperors, sed resuscitatum erat per papam, but was healed, revived and raised by the Pope; and this exposition is likewise approved and followed by Mr. Mede, Mr. Meder pag. 5.3. and by all that take the Beast to signify the Roman Empire, and the Pope to be the Antichrist; Mr. Mede, pag. 53. but I shown to you before, that this Beast cannot be taken for the Roman Empire; and therefore by this Head, cannot be meant the Empire, that was restored by the Pope, especially considering that, not the Beast, Dr. Hammond. in loc. and Grotius in apoc. but one of the Heads of the Beast was, as it were, wounded: therefore others by this one of his Heads, that was wounded, do understand the Capitol of Rome, that was twice burnt, about this time, but was after the burning of it, far more sumptuously re-edified by Domitian; and for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, one of his Heads, that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, one, is by an Hebraisme, Mat. 28.1. put for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, the first, as in St. Matthew, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, one of the Sabbaths is put for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, the first of the Sabbaths, or the first day of the week; And this conceit of Grouns seconded by Dr. Hammond, is more fully confuted by Maresius dissertat: de antich. so is this one of his heads, put for the first, or the chief of his heads; because that here was Jupiter Capitolinus, which was the chiefest Temple of the Heathen and Idolatrous Worship of the Romans; but seeing this Beast doth not signify the heathen Idol Worship of the Romans, as I have sufficiently showed unto you before, this head cannot be taken to signify the Capitol; and besides, the wounds of the Capitol were made by fire, whereas the head of this Beast received his wounds by the Sword, as the Holy Ghost sets it down. c. 13. v. 14. But, taking the long Parliament for the Beast, it may well be said, What may be meant by the Head that was mortally wounded. that either the hypocrisy or subtlety of that Parliament, that is, their crafty plot to overthrow both the Monarchy of the Commonwealth, and the hierarchy of the Church, (which I told you might be one of the heads of this Beast) was as it were, mortally wounded, when the Earl of Essex was beaten at Edgehill, and at Cornwall driven to fly for his life, by the Sword of the King; so that if his Majesty had followed those good successes aright, like Julius Caesar, and not like Hanriball, that knew, quo modo vincere, sed non victoria uti, how to overcome, but not how to follow his victory, that wound, in all likelihood, (had not the King been too merciful a Prince, when he gave it, and too less politic than a prudent Soldier should be) had been so mortal, that it could never have been healed. Or rather, as I conceive, by this head, that was, as it were, mortally wounded, we may understand the lies and erroneous Doctrines, of the false Prophet, and the cunning tricks and deceits of the Beast, that were reproved and confuted by the true Servants of Christ. And so accordingly, The Parallel. the falsehood of that Parliament in the misconstring of our Laws and former Statutes, What the Author conceives the Head that is wounded to be lies wounded by the truth. and the scandalous traducing of the good King and his loyal Party, which, as I shown unto you, might be conceived to be another of the heads of this Beast, and was confuted and made apparently false, to all that would believe the truth, and shown to be most unjust and false by the clear writings and answers of the King and his adherents, for the truth of things, on the King's side, and the falsehood of the Parliament, and of their proceed, were so fully and so clearly showed, and their misconstructions detected, that I heard many of themselves confess, that the King went far beyond them in his papers, and was fare happier in his answers, than they were in their objections; the King always carrying away the Victory, and having still the better of them, while the matter was disputed with the Pen, either about the Militia, or Episcopacy, or any point in controversy, quia magna veritas, because truth is able to prevail, and doth, Revel. 19.15. while we do peaceably seek the truth; and so, this false and lying head of the Beast, was wounded with the Sword of truth, which is the Sword of God's mouth, from whence saith the Holy Ghost, there proceedeth a sharp Sword. But yet, all this while, the King's Weapons were but paper Bullets, and his Spears but feeble quills; and therefore, though they may prevail in Jerusalem, the City of God; yet oftentimes corruit in platea veritas, the Steel cuts the quills in pieces, and the truth is trodden down in the streets of Babylon, where the Devil ruleth, and where this head of the Beast, thus wounded with the Sword of truth, was healed; for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, the wound of his death, or his deadly wound was healed, saith the Text; that is, by the Weapon salve, and by the War that they made against the truth; because the wound was, but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, quasi mortifera, as it were a deadly wound, Non quod revera talis erat, sed quia talis videbatur, not that it was struck dead indeed, for than it could not have been healed, Cohnelius a Lapide in loc. but that it seemed so, and did appear sufficiently to be so, to all honest men, as Cornel. a Lapide well observeth; for it was such a wound, that although to them, which obey not the truth, but are like the fool Harpaste, that, as Seneca saith, How the deadly wound of the Parliament was healed. was as blind as a Beetle, and yet nesciebat se esse caecam, would by no means be persuaded that her eyesight failed her, but that the Room was dark, the King's confutation of their lies, the detection of their falsehood, and the manifestation of the truth and his innocency, were like Cassandra's Prophecies, and would give them no satisfaction; yet to all those that had their eyes open, and had sense to perceive the light of truth, this head appeared to be so sufficiently wounded, that it was plain, and bootless to add any Plaster to revive it, or to have it further to be disputed. But it is conceived, that the Parliament hoped to thrive better by Club-law, then by any truth; and therefore in this question, they will needs dispute the matter again, and for a melius inquirendum, the question must be decided by the Sword, that often beats down the truth, and prevails against the right; And so now herein, Quia opera Dei & judicia ejus, occulta esse possunt, in justa esse non possunt. Augustinus. God, that in and out of his secret Council, doth all things well, and cannot do any thing ill or unjust, though we know neither the causes nor the reasons of his do, permitted, as the Prophet saith he did in his time, veritatem in platea corruere, the truth to be trodden under foot; and as he gave leave to Satan, to overthrow the House of righteous Job, and to slay his Children every one, so he gave way to the Quack salvers, to heal with their Weapons of War, the wound that the King and the Prieft had made with the Sword of truth. And Mr. Medes Reason to prove the Roman Empire revived by the Pope, to be this head, that was wounded, videlicet, because that, whatsoever evil the Beast is mentioned to have committed, whatsoever adoration or worship is done unto him; all that is said to have come to pass, after the curing of his wound; for I saw (saith St. John) one of his heads, Mr. Mede. p. 54. Mr. Medes reason to be applied rather to the Parliament then to the Empire, revived by the Pope, in Charles the Great. as it were, wounded to death, and his deadly wound was healed; and then he addeth, and all the World wondered after the Beast, that is, now, being healed, they wondered after him, and worshipped him, and he opened his mouth in blaspemy, etc. all after his healing; and none of his heinous acts are mentioned, or any subjection done unto him, or any honour conferred upon him, by the Nations, before his wound was healed; I say, this doth in all things agree with the long Parliament far better than the Roman Empire revived by the Pope; for the Eastern Empire, which was the best part of the Roman Empire, was quite lost from him, and never revived by him, since the time of Momyllus, called also Augustulus; and the Western Empire, conferred upon Carolus Magnus, the Son of Pepin, King of France, was ever since rather weakened then revived by the Pope, that hath made it a Skeleton to rest in Germany, without much honour, besides the title, and with less power than ever it had before; but for that Parliament, we know that till their deadly wound was healed by their Sword, and by their Victories and successes, neither did the people yield unto them their subjection, nor the Nations round about them, honour them with such Compliments, nor themselves commit such horrible wickednesses, as afterwards we have heard, and some have seen so amply done: but when their wound was once healed, and they became Masters of all that opposed them, than began their Io Paean, and all the foresaid things succeeded, and they are said to have proceeded, a malo ad pejus, and as the Poet saith, From bad to worse, from worse to worst of all. 10. How all the World wondered after the Beast. And therefore, it is said then, v. 3. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, all the World wondered after the Beast, so they did after the Parliament; and so they might wonder well enough, to see the falsehood of the Parliament, in their accusation against the King and his Party, so clearly detected, and the truth and uprightness of the Kings proceed so fully confirmed to the World; and yet to find these like incredulous Jews, and like Jannes and Jambres, to resist Moses, and to wage War against the truth, and against all right, and to prevail against them, which is able, if any thing be able, to make all the World wonder at it, The Parallel. as the Holy Ghost saith they did; for who would not wonder, 1. To see men so impudent, as to war against the truth, and against innocency, Two things to be justly wondered at. and Children warring against their Parents, and subjects against their King? and which is more, 2. To see iniquity prevailing against equity, and wickedness against piety, and the followers of the Antichrist against the Servants of Christ. But though this may move us to wonder at it, and to wonder much at all this, quia mirabilis Deus in operibus suis, because God is wonderful in all his works, and more especially, wonderful in his judgements, Psal. 37.35. when suffering the wicked to flourish, like a green Bay-tree, he chasteneth his own Children every morning, and hedgeth their ways even with thorns, that they cannot step aside, Hosea 2.6. but they shall be wounded; yet we may not, by any means, forsake oppressed righteousness, and be partakers with the wrong-doers in their prosperous iniquity; and though to the amazement of all beholders, we see God permitting them to thrive, preval and prosper in all their ways; yet must not we cast our lots with them, V 4. To worship the Beast, what it signifieth. Hinc male bestia pro idolotria intelligitur, quia idolum adoratur & non idolctria. and be their assistants in their unjust proceed; for though to worship the Beast, here signifieth no more than to be subject unto him, and to do civil service unto him; because 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, out of the use of the Hebrew, betokeneth nothing else but civil worship, as you may see in Gen. 27.29. and c. 37.7. and c. 49.8. and in 45.14. and so the words, Who is able to make war with him, v. 4. do show, that their worship was, no divine worship, but only to be subject unto him; yet here you may observe, that the worshippers, that is, the servers, assistants, and adherents of this prosperous Beast, are said to worship the Dragon; to show unto us, that all those which do any ways serve the Beast, beyond truth and against right, do indeed therein the service of the Devil,, to enlarge the Dominion of the Antichrist, and to increase the power of the Beast, against the servants of Christ: and therefore, 2. It followeth, v. 5 There was given unto the Beast (and you may easy guess, 2. The two things that were given to the Beast. who gave him these things, which God never giveth) These two things. 1. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, a mouth speaking great things, V 5. The Parallel. The first thing. and blasphemies; & magna loqui, non solum est blasphemias in coelum jactare. sed etiam tumide & superbe, sive se laudando, sive hostibus victis insultando: saith Maresius, pag. 124. to speak proudly of our selves, or to insult over those whom we subdue, may here be well understood by this speaking great things. 2. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, power to make war 42 months, Matth 49. Such Mermaids live, that promise only joy, but he that yields himself, they soon destroy, saith the Poet. The second thing Mares. p. 124. And both these things were fully given, and are every way aplicable to that long Parliament, as it is conceived, and I suppose rightly; for 1. Who ever promised greater things to any King, than the Parliament promised to King Charles? you may remember their very words, to make him a most glorious King, both feared abroad, and honoured at home; but as the Devil said to Christ, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, All these things will I give thee, but upon this condition, that thou wilt fall down and worship me: where the work was a 1000000 times and more, surpassing the Reward; so the King conceived, they would deal with him, i. to make him glorious in their account, but so, that he would be ruled by them, and suffer them to rule the roast, and to govern all his three Kingdoms, which was usura superans sortem, a making of him glorious to his loss, and not without dishonour; and for their blasphemies, I have touched the same before. 2. Power was given unto the Beast, to continue, saith our haft Translation, forty two months, and so Mr. Mede brings divers proofs, to show that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, should be taken in the signification of continuing; as it is in Acts 15.13. and 18.23. 2 Cor. 11.25. James 4.13. in all which places, and the like I do yield, that the word must be so taken, That 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, facio doth not properly signify to continue, nor especially so in this place v. 7. Cap. 11.2. as Mr. Mede saith, for continuing; but the taking of it so in those places, is no apodictical Argument, to prove that it must be taken so here in this place; but rather the contrary; because that although some Greek Copies omit the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, yet the ordinary Copies say that power was given to the Beast, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, to make war 42 months, which is agreeable to what is said, v. 7. that it was given him to make war with the Saints, that is, for 42 months, which is the same time, and expressed in the very same words, as the Gentiles, that is, the unbelieving, the profane worldlings, and the dissembling hypocrites should tread the holy City, that is, the true Church, and the faithful servants of Christ under foot: and now let us consider, whether this may be applicable to the Parliament; and you know that Parliament made wars, and wars indeed, the worst of all wars, Valerius Maximus, lib. 5. in the judgement of heathens, Civil wars, nullos habitura triumphos, where oftentimes the father fights against the son, and the brother kills his brother, as we read they did in the wars of Sertorius; this the Parliament cannot deny. But how long the Beast should continue to make war, it is not so easily to be understood; How long the Beast should continue to make war. the Holy Ghost saith he shall continue to make war 42 months; and the question is, what time is signified by these 42 months, Mr. Mede would have these 42 months to synchronize with the woman's 1200 and 70 day's abode in the wilderness; and so the time of the Antichrist continuing, should be 1200 and 60. years at the least; but though the woman's abode in the wilderness, being 1200 and 60 days, That these 42 months do not synchronize with the 1200. and 60. days. Cap. 10.2. So Maresius expoundeth these 42 months for the continuance of the Roman Empire, ab urbe condita, ad mortem Odoacri, in anno 493. to be just 1260. years. Three years and a half, or thereabouts. will be the treading down of the holy City, may be interpreted for 1200. and 60 years; yet with his leave, I say, that this proves not the 42 months should likewise signify 1200. and 60 years; because that 42 lunar months do not make up just 1200 and 60 days: and if you understand the Solar months, and the Sun's passage through the Zodiac, than there is no reason the expression should be altered, no more than be doth in expressing the treading of the holy City under foot; which doth synchronize and betokeneth the same time, with this continuance of the Beast to make war; and besides though we find so many days to signify so many years, and so many weeks to signify so many years, as there be days in those weeks; because the days of Septimana, a week, are certain, how many they are; yet because the days of so many months are uncettain, how many they are, except you do expressly set down, whether you mean the Solar or the Lunar months, I cannot remember a Parallel Text in all the Scriptures, where so many months do signify so many years, as there be days in those months; and therefore the most part of all the interpreters both old and new, do expound this time of the Beast that is, of the Antichrist, to be three years and a half; which 42 months doth make; and throughout all which time, the Beast should continue to make war, as is said here, and should by his adherents and associates tread the holy City under foot, as the Holy Ghost setteth down the time in the self same phrase, c. 11.2. But Mr. Mede excepts against this time of three years and a half, because all the things that are to be acted in the time of the Beast, could not be performed in so short a time; as that, 1. Ten Kingdoms to be founded in that time. 2. Peoples, and Nations, and Tongues to become to serve the Beast. 3. To make war with the Saints, and to overcome them. 4. Mr. Medes exception against the continuance of the Beast three years and a half, Sixfold. The foresaid exceptions answered. To cause all that dwell upon the earth to worship the Beast. 5. The whore of Babylon to ride the Beast so long, that all Nations shall drink the wine of her fornication, and the merchants that had ships should grow rich by trading with her. And 5. That the time of the Beast followed immediately after him, that is said to continue but a short space, c. 17.10. therefore if the time of the Beast be but three years and a half, how short must the other, that preceded him, be? or doth not this expression of his precedents short space, imply that the other, which is the Beast should continue a long space? when the Holy Ghost doth insert so singular a note of difference, to the time of the former, from the time of the latter. To which I answer, that all the things requisite to be acted in the time of the Beast, may very well be accomplished, as we see it already acted, within three years and a half: for 1. There is no such thing to be done, as the founding or setting up of 10. 1. Exception answered. Kingdoms, as I shown to you before. But Mr. Mede produceth many Authors of the old Fathers, to prove that the Beast should rise, when 10. King's should spring out of the Roman Empire; and that was in Anno 456. when Gensericus took the City of Rome; I confess that divers of the ancient Fathers, (supposing that the Roman Empire was that, 2 Thes. 2. which the Apostle meaneth to be the let, which hindered the rising of the Antichrist, and therefore, prayed in their Liturgies. that the Roman Empire might long continue, Tertul. in apolog. cap. 32. Aug. de civet. dei. l. 20. c. 19 that the coming of the Antichrist might be deferred, and be long before it came) did imagine, that when the Empire should be shared among 10. Kings, the Beast would then show himself, as you may see in St. Hierome, in Dan c. 7. and ad Ageruchiam, de monogamia, and in Ireneus. l. 5. c. 21. 25. and others. But the Roman Empire being not the thing, that hindered the rising and the manifesting of the man of sin, that is, the Beast, who is the Antichrist, it followeth not, that the Beast must then rise, when the Empire falls to be divided among those 10. E. H. de Antichristo. part. 3 p. 114 Kings; for the stop and remora that hindered the man of sin to be revealed, is clearly and sufficiently proved by E. H. to be, not the Roman Empire, but the two witnesses, that were as a Serpentine bar in his way, that he could not rise and tyrannize over God's flock, until they were killed; and you know when they were killed, as I have showed to you before. 2. I say, that peoples, and Nations, and Tongues, 2d Exception answered. might well serve the Beast in a less time than three years and a half, as we see they have done to the long Parliament. 3. He might (as Antiochus, that was his type, did) war with the Saints, 3d Exception answered. and overcome them, in that or less than that time, and the issue of that Parliaments War, ending much about that time, proves this to be true. 4. He might, by an hyperbolical speech, which is not unusual in the Scripture, 4th Exception answered. cause all that dwell on the Earth, that is, to cause abundance of people, and most of his Neighbour Nations, to worship him, that is, to reverence and to respect him, to send Ambassadors unto him, and to court him; for otherwise, all that dwell on the Earth, will never worship him, nor reverence him, as the true Servants of Christ, that never did, nor ever will; and therefore by all that dwell on the Earth, we must understand all the earthly minded men, or else, as the Evangelists say, Matth. 3.5. Mark 1.5. there went out to John Baptist all Judaea, and all the Region round about Jordan, that is, most of the people of those parts, or a great many out of all the parts of Judaea; and this we have seen done in less than three years to the long Parliament. 5. It is not requisite, that Babylon, or the Whore, should ride the Beast, 5th Exception answered. so long as Mr. Mede saith, neither doth the Text allot any time, nor determine how long the Whore should ride the Beast, but saith, I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet coloured Beast, c. 17 3. & 5. And I will tell thee, the mystery of the woman, verse 7. and the Beast that carrieth her: and this doth not show but that the Whore, which signifieth the superstitious and Idolatrous Church, might be of a long continuance, and yet that she hath not rid the Beast all that while; for I do not find, that the beginning of the Whore and of the Beast do synchronize, and are of the same time; but that the Whore began to play the harlot, that is, the Church began to apostatise, long before the Beast risen out of the Sea, and when the Beast did rise, and began to appear, than the Whore began to ride him, the meaning of which riding, I shall hereafter declare unto you. 6. I say that the precedent King's continuance is termed a short space, 6th Exception answered. not in opposition to the long space of the Beast, but for the consolation of those distressed Christians, that suffered under that seventh King; and I shown you that Julian, which I conceive to be understood by that seventh King, continued not in all his whole Reign, (and likely not so much in persecuting the Saints) above three years, which certainly is but a short space; neither doth it follow, that because this is said to continue a short space, it implieth that the other shall continue a long space, nor that the Holy Ghost doth insert this as a singular note of difference of the former's time, Why the Holy Ghost saith the Antichrist should continue a short space. from the time of the latter, but that the spirit of God, for the comfort of his Servants, foretells them, that as well this as the other, shall continue but a short space, God having always this respect to his Children, Si languor longa sit, levis est; Si gravis, brevis est, when their afflictions are long, as the Israelites vexation in Egypt and in Babylon was, then are they but light, and when they are heavy, as were the persecutions of the Jews under Antiochus, very grievous, then are they, as theirs were, very short; and therefore, the troubles and persecutions of the Church, under the Beast, being most heavy, and more grievous than ever the Church felt before, as I have formerly showed and the reason of it, it is not likely it should be, as Mr. Mede and some other learned men do think, very long, but as we conceive, very short, about three years and a half, and not so many hundred years, as they set down, that would have the Pope to be the Antichrst; about twelve hundred years, at least; since the time that some men would make the Pope to be the Antichrist. The Parallel. And we all know, the Parliaments War with the King, continued not very long, but much about the time here allotted unto the Beast, and that is 42. months, which make three years and a half. CAP. II. The blasphemy of the Beast, 1. Against God by the Doctrines of the Presbyterians, and as it is alleged, the manifold injuries of the long Parliament. 2. Against his Tabernacle, that is, the Churches and places, where God is worshipped and served, and which the prime Christians had to serve God in them; Of the twofold service of God; at what times God might be served in any place; the two things that Jeroboam did to uphold his Idolatry; how God will be served, in the time, by the persons, after the manner, and in the places where he appointeth; and in what sense all things are alike holy, and in what sense some things are more holy than other things. BUt how long soever these 42. months is, whether they signify three years and a half, or three years and half three years, as some do think, which make four years and a half, (for I dare not presume so precisely to determine, what length of time is here meant to a hair, by these 42. months) or whether, as I rather conceive, some other unlimited space, that should not be very long, when it is expressed sometimes by days, and here by months, and not by years; for where the Scripture sets down the time, that any thing should be done, as that Antiochus should rage's, a time and times, and the dividing of times, (which all Interpreters expound to signify three years and a half: Dan. 7.25. and that Christ should be three days and three nights in the heart of the Earth; it is not meant, that it must be so, exactly to a jot, or a minute; for we find that Antiochus continued three years, seven months, and thirteen days; and Christ was buried by Joseph and Nicodemus, about three hours before Sunset, on Good-Fryday, and risen again about four or five a Clock on Sunday morning, which maketh not in all above 36. or 38. hours, or not above 40. hours, casting it to the highest account, and that reacheth not fully to three days and three nights, properly and literally taken: but the meaning is, that it shall be so and so, much about that very time. And so the Beast shall contive such a time, as the Holy Ghost intendeth by these 42 months: and in all that time, having received this power and great Authority from the Dragon, he opened his mouth in Blasphemy against God, to Blaspheme his Name and his Tabernacle, and them that dwell in Heaven: v. 6. I desire my Reader to be an unpertiall judge, in whom he seethe this Prophecy fulfilled. And I do earnestly beseech all men to observe, and seriously to consider whether ever any Tailor fitted any Garment to any man's body, or Shoemaker a shoe to any man's foot, fit than this prediction doth agree with the long and lately dissolved Parliament, and their Teachers, the Presbyterians and lay Preachers, and with none else, either Jew, Pagan, Turk, Pope, or any other Infidel or Heretic whatsoever, so as it doth with them of that Parliament and their adherents? for here you may observe a three fold Blasphemy of the beast. 1. Against God's Name. 2. Against his Tabernacle. 3. The Blasphemy of the Beast 3 fold. 1. Against God's name. Mr. Mede, pag. 75. Against his Servants that dwell in Heaven; but, 1. Mr. Mede saith, that by Blasphemy here the Idolatry of the beast is to be understood; and I confess that the Idolatry of the Israelites is termed and translated Blasphemy, as in Ezekiel 20.27. where the Lord saith that by offering their Sacrifices in Bama, and polluting themselves with their Idols, they Blasphemed him, v. 28. c. 31. Yet I say. 1. That every Blasphemy is not Idolatry, neither doth it signify the Idolatry of the beast in this place; nor do Mr. Medes reasons confirm it; for Though I do yield the beast to be an Idolater, and guilty of very much Idolatry, That Blasphemy doth not always nor here signify Idolatry. and that the beast seateth himself in Babylon, and Babylon is the Mother of Harlots, that committeth Spiritual Fornication, which is the following after other Gods, as the Whore followeth other men, with or beside her own Husband; Yet this proveth not, that the Blasphemy of the beast, which is here spoken of, must signify the Idolatry of the beast, when as the beast like unto a shameless Whore, is guilty of more faults than one. 2. I deny the other heads of the beast, as I shown to you before to signify those Kings of the Roman Empire, which Mr. Mede affirmeth to be; and so 3. I deny this beast to have descended from those Idolatrous heads, that he conceiveth, and therefore that the Idolatry of those Roman Emperors or Kings doth not prove the Blasphemy of this beast to signify his Idolatry in this place. 4. Neither do I conceive it likely that the Evangelist writing in Greek, and to the Gentiles, should use the Greek words in the signification of those Hebrew words that do in some places signify the same thing; therefore I expound the word, The parallel. How the Parliament, Preachers, and Assembly of their Divines have Blasphemed God? Unde factum Est ut tot gentes una cum liberis suis infantibus aeternae morti involveret lap sus Adae absque remedio, nisi quia Deo ita visum est? Decretum quidem horribile fateor. Calv. instit: l. 3 c. 23. not for Idolatry, but according to the Gramnaticall and native signification of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, compounded of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 noceo, laedo, and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 dico, which signifieth to speak or write impiously, wickedly and unjustly both of God, and of his Tabernacle, and of his Servants the Angels and Saints that dwell in Heaven; And thus, consider 1. How the Chaplains of the long Parliament, and their selected assembly with those that they admit for the Preachers and Ministers of God's words, which are the false Prophet here spoken of in this Apocalypse, as I shall anon show unto you, have and do Blaspheme the most Holy Name of God, when as I told you before, they do not only reject and deny the notions, expressions and means, whereby we make God known unto his people, which is a Negative Blasphemy; but also positively forswear themselves, by receding from that Promisory Oath which they took, when they entered into Holy Orders, and were made Ministers, and by Preaching unto the Congregations such palpable Blasphemies, as made my hairs to stand, and my heart to tremble, when once I heard one of their prime Doctors Preaching to a great and honourable Assembly: and also by the public Lectures and printed books of the Presbyterians, and the determinations of their Assembly at Westminster, and their Associates and Proselytes, wherein you may hear and read such Doctrines touching free will, And yet this horrible Doctrine is still Preached by the Presbyters. and original sin, the irrespective and absolute decree of election and reprobation, and the inevitable consequents of these, and of abundance more of the like deep points of Divinity, that they have broached, as are more Blasphemous and more injurious and derogatory to the mercy and justice and truth of God, then are any of the Blasphemous Errors and Heresies of the ancient and grand Heretics, Bishop Montague in his appe●lo caesarem, Dr. Taylor in his vindication of the divine attri butes. N. N in his prefatory cp. to the examination of Tilenus. as both learned Bishop Montague, and Dr. Taylor, and many others have most fully and abundantly declared unto you; and I, being too large already, must at this time pass them over, and, for the further clearing of this point, refer my reader only to Mr. Edward's his collection of their Blasphemous Tenants in his Gangraena, and the book entitled, Hell broke lose. 2. Consider and inquire how often hath that long Parliament itself Blasphemed the blessed name of God? I mean not by their Idle, vain and customary swearing, from which they do very well to refrain their Tongues, and some of the adverse party do very ill to use it, but that, which is far worse, by their solemn Vows, Oaths and Protestations, deliberately made in the presence of God and men, and wilfully unmade again at their own pleasure, when they saw that it made and served for their profit? Sr. Walter Raleigh in his Preface to the Hustory of the world. Comenti quidam non sunt qui crimina mundi omnia pertractent de tertora petunt: proh pudor, in Christam linguae temeraria dirae teia vibrant; summo nil nocitura Deo. Sebastianus Brant. as if Oaths and Vows were, but, as Lewis the 11th, King of France, was wont to say, they were toys to deceive fools, or, as Apples and Nuts, and other like things and Babies, to beguile Children; and therefore he was wont to wear a leaden God in his Cap, and after he had put to death any one whom be hated, or falfified his Oath or promise, that he had made and sworn to any man, he would take his God and kiss him, and say, that if he forgave him that fault, he would do it no more; meaning, that fact that was already done, but the like should usually come very soon after; and did not that Parliament think and do the like with their Oaths, their Vows and their Protestations? for you may inquire, how often have they sworn to be true subjects, and to bear faith and true allegiance to the beheaded King, to his Heirs, and to his lawful successors? and how many Protestations have they made to the same purpose? and how often have they falsified their faith, and broken this their Oath? So, inquire how solemnly have they sworn to live and die with the Earse of Essex? and when they suspected, and thereupon disliked him, how suddenly did they disoblige themselves from that knot, and did choose Sir Thomas Fairfax in his room? So, inquire how Religiously, as it seemed, with hands lifted up towards Heaven, they swear and make a solemn Covenant to preserve the King's person? and yet, by leaving the Clause of Preservation out of Sr. Thomas Fairfax his Commission, do they not tacitly Authorise him, in the apprehension of wise men, to kill their King, if he can? which is not much less in War, than a command, and afterwards, have they not killed and murdered him, most barbarously indeed? then inquire how have they Voted and Vowed, and sworn at large, Consider whether these do be not to Blaspheme the blessed name of God. to profess and to maintain the true Protestant Religion? and yet presently have not they contemned, if not condemned and renounced the three authentic Creeds, neglected the Lords Prayer, rejected the reading, and terrified the Readers of the Decalogue, as they are set forth in our Lyturgy? and cashiered the 39 Articles of our Church? which I believe was the true Protestant Church, and all these forenamed things were the parts constitutivae, essential parts of the Protestant Religion, that did only discriminate the Protestants from the Papists; because we protested, thus to believe, and these things to defend, which the Papists rejected and condemned for Heresies: and then to pass over many other things of less moment; inquire how solemnly have they covenanted and sworn to unite themselves by an everlasting indissoluble League with their holy Brethren of Scotland? and how often have they termed that Combination against their King, in their Papers and Declarations, a most blessed union, and a most happy association, that is, as they meant for their own end, to subdue and to overthrow the King? and yet presently, after they had attained their end, how eagerly did they rail on them, as on a most perfidious Nation, as perjured, as false confederates, and of less credit than the Punic faith? and how violently have they afterwards Warred, to subdue them, or destroy them? which is indeed, one of the best acts that ever they did, to render vengeance unto them, and a just reward of their unjust deal and most perfidious disloyal confederating with them, against their own King, and which without question, was a work proceeding from the hand of God, who is most just in all his works, and holy in all his ways, that as the wise man saith, they might know, that wherewithal a man sinneth, by the same also shall he be punished, Wisd. 11.15.16. as the Idolaters, that worshipped Serpents, void of reason, and vile beasts, had a multitude of unreasonable beasts sent upon them for vengeance. And what mystical art, what tropological sense, or what subtle Scotus, or any Sophister, more subtle than he, can, with any distinction, salve this their do, and a thousand such like juggling tricks of theirs, from flat and literal perjury, & a gross blaspheming of the name of God, I cannot with all mine understanding any ways imagine? for to swear the preservation of the King in the House, and to give leave, and to wink at the kill of him in the field; to swear to be faithful to him, and to his Heirs; and yet to cut off his Head, and to do to his Son, if they had him, what I know not: and to swear and protest, they did all that they did, for the ease, benefit, and liberty of the Subjects; and yet to enslave them to their own arbitrary wills, and to lay such heavy loads upon them, such yokes of Iron upon their necks, and such immeasurable Taxes upon all sorts of people, as the like was never known in this Kingdom, nor that ever I read in any of all our Chornicles, and worse, as I believe, than what Rehoboam imposed on them, that for his indiscretion, did most undutifully rebel and revolt from him; I know not how, either all the dispensation of the Pope, or all the addition of their abrogative to their legislative power, that they claimed, can salve the same from the grievous wound of apparent perjury, and high blasphemy against the name of God, done and done over and over a tribus ad centum, I know not how many times; and done always, as men conceived, to this end, not to blind God, which, I think, they knew, saw their thoughts, and I am sure, hated all these do; but to deceive the simple people, that they might not perceive their intentions, nor see their ends, but that, being vailed with these deceitful impostures, they might be drawn on, by these religious cords, to follow and to assist them, as the people followed Absalon with a simple heart, to work their pernicious ends. And therefore, I read of a wise man that said, he did much wonder, what wise man would pawn his soul upon these men's Consciences, that, as he avouched, made no Conscience so frequently to break their own solemn Oaths? or who, but mad men, would hazard their fortunes to maintain these men's cause, that had neither cause nor reason for what they did? I omit to set down their other blasphemies, which were more secret in the Tenets of their faith, against the truth of our Christian Religion; because these are not so visible, and yet are so many, as would make a volume of themselves. But let them be as secret as they will, they may be sure, Non te latuerit, O supreme Jupiter horum malorum quisquis autor extitit. that as the Heathen man could say, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, the Authors of such transcendent wickedness, cannot hid themselves from the sight of the allseeing God; but their perjuries and blasphemies so often, so secretly, and so hypocritally done, whensoever they do it, are laid in store with God, and sealed up amongst his Treasures; and if they speedily do not repent, they may speedily perish everlastingly; and because these sins, besides their other sins, are so great and so many, Deut. 32.24. their repentance must not be little nor slight; but, as St. Peter, when he denied his Master, though he killed him not, went out and wept bitterly, so must they have many bitter tears of most sorrowful souls, to wash away these fearful sins, which they committed to destroy their Master, and so many of their Pastors and Brethren, and for the sweet desire of bearing Rule, if they desire to live for ever, which I do hearty pray God to give them grace to do. And so you see, how the blasphemy of the Beast against God, though no doubt, but is applicable to the Turk and to the Pope, yet by this that I have showed you, may be more agreeable to the long Parliament, and rather meant here by the Holy Ghost, to be applied to them, then either to Pope or Turk, as many men do conceive. 2. 2. The blasphemy of the beast against God's Tabernacle. It is said that the Beast opened his mouth, and truly he opened it very wide, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, to blaspheme the Tabernacle of God; i. e. saith Mr. Mede, the humane nature of Christ, but not right, for though I deny not the humane nature of Christ, to be the Tabernacle or the Temple of the God head, John 2.19. 1 Cor. 3.16. & v. 17. Mr. Mede. pag. 59 according as our Saviour saith, destroy this Temple, and I will raise it up in three days, as are also the bodies of the Saints, as St. Paul testifieth, know you not that ye are the Temple of God, and that the spirit of God dwelleth in you? yet I do much marvel, that Mr. Mede would have it so understood in this place, only to transfer this blasphemy to signify the Idolatry of the Romanists, in adoring the consecrated bread of the Eucharist, as the humane nature of Christ; when as the blasphemy of this Beast against God was spoken of before, and the spirit of God would not so suddenly express idem per idem; and therefore to blaspheme the Tabernacle of God here, signifieth to blaspheme the place, where God, by his special grace and favour, resideth and dwelleth, to protect his Servants, as it were, under the shadow of his wings, and to cherish them, as the Hen cherisheth her Chickens; which the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, that is derived of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, habito, or commoror to dwell, doth properly betoken; for so, by the Tabernacle of God, in the old Testament, is every where understood, the Tabernacle, that Moses reared in the Wilderness, quod Josephus vocat templum portatile, Josephus antiquitat. l. 3 c. 5. & aliquando Sanstuarium appellatur. Godwin. in Synop. l. 1. Sect. 25. c. 2. until the days of Solomon; and after that Solomon built that glorious Temple in Jerusalem, the same was the Tabernacle of God, or Gods dwelling place amongst the Jews; and so it was always deemed by all the Prophets and Servants of God under the old Testament; and the material Churches, that were edified, dedicated, and consecrated for the Christians to meet, and to serve the Lord in them, are, as they were ever accounted by all the Fathers and Doctors of the Church, the Tabernacles of God, under the New Testament. Yet I deny not, but that by a metaphor, the Tabernacle may sometimes signify caetum Dei, the company of God's servants, that meet together in God's House, Psal. 84.1. to pray and to praise the Lord; as where the Prophet saith, quam dilecta sunt Tabernacula tua, Domine? O how amiable are thy dwellings, thou Lord of Hosts? for this was spoken before the Temple was built; Considenti in latibulo excelsi, saith Tremel. & by a Synecdoche, it is sometimes taken for those that dwell in tents, or Tabernacles, as it is in Ps. 91.1. and in Psal. 92.12. but in neither of these ways can it be taken here; because these dwellers in God's House are immediately set down in the next words; and sometimes by a Catachresis, it is used for any dwelling place, as where the Prophet saith, that God slew all the most principal in tabernaculis vel tentoriis Chami, Psal. 78.51. in the dwellings of Ham, but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, the Tabernacle of God can signify nothing else, but the place, Psal. 26.8. which is set apart, and consecrated for God's servants to meet in, to serve God, and in which God showeth his will, and promiseth his blessing, and his presence among his people; for this is the place, where God's honour dwelleth, and is most perspicuously seen here on earth, because he is most honoured in this place; Psal. 51.1. and of this place and the type thereof, which was Moses his Tabernacle, the Prophet David demanded of God, Who shall dwell in his Tabernacle? and saith, Psal. 122.1. that he was glad when the people said unto him, We will go into the House of the Lord. And truly this material house, and place dedicated and consecrated for God's service, our Saviour Christ, out of the Prophet Isay, calleth God's House, and saith it is so called, Mar. 11.17. and to be called, not of the Jews only, but of all Nations, the House of Prayer; and so we find that this Tabernacle, Temple, and house of God, hath been ever reverenced and beautified, as the holy Sanctuary, and dwelling-place of God, by Jews, Turks and Papists, yea, and the very Pagans, that knew not the true God, Act. 7.48. but knew that as Solomon, and Saint Steven do say, that he could not be circumscribed in any place, and therefore dwelleth not essentially in Temples made with hands, when as so, the heaven of heavens cannot contain him; yet did they very much honour and adorh the Templess that were dedicated to the service of any of their false gods, as Herodotus writeth, Herodotus. l 1. Clio. how exceeding bountiful Croesus' King of Lydia was to the Temple of Apollo at Delphos, and to the Oracle of Amphiaraus; and so, many other heathens spared no cost, to enrich and beautify the Temples of their idols; and the neglect of this duty of beautifying God's House, as well as the profaning thereof, is every where most sharply reproved by the Prophets, as where Haggai demands of the Jews, if it were time for them to dwell in sieled houses, and to suffer the House of God to lie waist? Haggai. 1.4. Matth. 21.13. and you know how our Saviour Christ blamed the Jews for making the House of God a house of Merchandise: and yet their Merchandise was not within the Temple, but in the outward Court of the Temple, which was answerable to our Churchyard, and was also called the Temple, because it was very fairly, and strongly walled about, and preserved from all profane uses, until these profane men began to abuse the same. And therefore it is admirable to consider how the Primitive Christians, Euseb l. 10. c. 3. and c. 4. as Eusebius recordeth, erected such Oratories, and Basilica's, that is, Royal houses, as stately, as any Kingly Palace, and beautified the same with excessive charges for the Christians to meet in, and to serve their God; and so the Church of Saint Paul in London, and of Saint Peter in Westminster, and the rest of the Cathredrals throughout Ingland, and Ireland, to pass no further, can bear sufficient witness, of the zeal and devotion of our Christian Predecessors, to erect such great and adorn such beautiful houses unto God, as became so great, and so glorious a God, as our God is. And to prove that the first Christians, who lived under persecutions, even from the Apostles time, had Churches, though as than not so magnificent, you may see 1 Cor. 11.8. and 22. and c. 14.19. and 23. Clemens recognit. l. 10. Tertul. l. contra Valent. Socrates. l. 1. c. 14. and so the most ancient of the Fathers do bear witness; as Clemens, Tertul, Socrates. and Eusebius proves the same out of the book of Philo Judaeus. l. 2. c. 17. and Lactantius, in carminibus de Passione Domini saith, Quisquis ades, mediisque subis in limina Templi, Siste parum.— Whosoever thou art that comest to the House of God, stay a while, that is, to consider where thou goest, and as Solomon saith, Eccles. 5.1. to keep thy foot when thou goest to the House of God, which is as God himself expoundeth the meaning thereof unto Moses, saying, pull off thy shoes from thy feet, that is, to make clean thy ways, Exod. 35. and bring no filth, nor any carnal affections, or worldly desires into the house of God; because the place whereon thou standest is holy ground; by reason of the gracious presence of God in that place, where Moses stood, and where God is prayed unto, and praised by the Minister, and the rest of his faithful servants: Bellarmin. de cultu Sanctorun, l. 3. c. 4. Let my Reader judge, whether this Prophecy be not fulfilled by the long Parliament, or their adherents The Parallel. and if any man desires fuller proof of this truth, I refer him to Cardinal Bellarmin, and to the excellent and learned Sermon of Mr. Mede upon 1 Cor. 11.22. And yet I demand, if these houses of God, the Tabernacles of the most high, that were thus consecrated, beautified, and adorned in the best manner, for the Christians to meet for the service of Jesus Christ, were not most barbarously profaned, and most odiously blasphemed by the Members of the long Parliament, and their adherents, the instruments of the Beast? for if you read Mercurius Rustiens, or the Country Complaint, Printed at Oxford, you shall there find, how the Cathedrals, which are the Mother Churches, and the chiefest of the material or inanimate Tabernacles of God, that are in Ingland, as the places where the Sacred fire never went out, and where the morning and evening Sacrifice of prayers and praises of God were always used, and the Ministers, How the long Parliaments Party abused our Churches. together with their Bishop praying in the Church for them that laboured in the field, or pleaded at the bar, were defaced, profaned, polluted, and abused by the servants and the instruments of that Parliament; and not only made Stables for their horses, Jakes for themselves, and brothel-houses for their wenches, whom they abused, as is there said, at the very Altars; but also had, I know myself, their windows broken, their carved works burned, their fonts, where themselves and their fathers received their Baptism, and the badge of their Christianity thrown out of doors, and the dead bodies of God's Saints not permitted to rest in their graves, but their memorial and statues, that wronged no man, I am sure of it, were backed and bemangled, by pulling out their eyes, cutting off their noses, chopping off their Arms, and tearing the other parts of them all to pieces; and the Swine were suffered to root up their flesh, In all this I say, but what I do professedly known, having seen the same with mine eyes. and the dogs to gnaw their bones, as if they had been the bones of beasts, and not of men; such inhuman deal with dead Saints, that were interred in holy ground, as Savages and Cannibals could not exceed in cruelty and beastiality. And what is this, but to blaspheme God and his Tabernacle, with the highest degree of blasphemy that can be imagined to be done against the house of God? and such, if not worse than what the Prophet showeth, and exceedingly complaineth, No Turk or Pope did ever abuse the Churches so much. and exclaimeth against it in Ps. 74.7, 8. and Psal. 79.2, 3. and you may be sure, such as cannot be affixed on the Pope, or Popish Church; and yet this was not only done by the rude and unruly Soldiers, but it was also egged on by their preachers to be practised by the people, whom they persuaded to believe, that God is dishonoured, if we think that he takes any delight in these steeple-houses, as with all scorn and contempt, they use to term these Tabernacles of God. And therefore 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, The objection of the false Prophet. the Beast that ariseth out of the earth, that is, the false Prophet doth object that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, the Tabernacle of God doth not signify the steeplehouse, which we call the Church of God; because God dwelleth not in houses made with hands; but in the hearts and souls of the righteous people, and the faithful servants of Jesus Christ, which are the Temples of the Holy Ghost, as the Apostle showeth. These are the Tabernacles of God wherein he dwelleth, 1 Cor. 3.16. even as he himself promiseth unto his people; and for the place of his service, it is wheresoever we lift up pure hands and hearts unto God, to call for his affistance, and to praise him for his blessings; for as God is every where, and as the old verse saith, Enter, praesenter, Deus est ubique potenter, Which is according to the Schools, supracaelos non elatus, subter terram, non depressus— above the Heavens, and below the Earth, and as the Prophet David saith, a spirit that filleth all places, and is wholly present in every place; for if I climb up to heaven thou art there, Psal. 139.6. John 4.23. 1 Reg 18.4. Acts 20.7, 8. and c 21.5. 1 Tim. 2.8. and if I go down to hell, thou art there also; even so, he may be served in any place, as our Saviour himself, tells the woman of Samaria, and as Moses did serve him upon the Mountain, Elias under a Juniper tree, St Paul in an upper Chamber, and the Disciples on the Seashore; and the Apostle saith, I will that men pray every where, lifting up pure or holy hands without wrath. And as we may pray unto God any where, so we may preach unto God's people in any place; for so Christ hath promised, that whensoever, or wheresoever two or three are gathered together in his name, Matth. 18.28. c. 5.1. or to do him service, he would be there in the midst of them: and so we find, that he himself preached in the Mountain, and in the Ship, and in any place, where a fit opportunity, and a just occasion was offered; and he bade his Disciples to go, and to preach from house to house, which they did accordingly, as you may see Philip preached to the Eunuch by the high way side, Act 18 35. Neh. 8.3. Acts 17.22. St. Paul unto the Athenians, as Ezra did unto the Jews, in the street, in the mids of Mars-hill; and therefore, what need we to have a steeple house, to serve God, when God may be rightly served in any place? I answer, that the service of God is to be considered two ways, and is two fold. 1. Private. Solut. The service of God is twofold. 2. Public. And 1. For the private service of God, as for a man to pray unto God, to catechise his Children, and to instruct his Family, as Abraham and Joshua are said to have done, we deny not but men may and aught to do the same, at all times, and in every place; and they are the best, that do it most oft. 2. For the Public service of God we are to consider it, either, 1. In ecclesia constituenda, in the establishing of a Church, or 2. In ecclesia constituta, in a Church settled and established; 2. The public service considered two ways and in the first sense, many things may lawfully be done, which may not be done in a well settled and established Church. And in the second sense, there is a time when the public service of God may be likewise done in any place, but that is not always, save only when we cannot come, or not come without great danger and detriment, What times God may be served in any place. 1. In sickness time. Esay 38 2. 2 Reg. 20.2. 2. In Plague time. 1 Chron. 21.29. 3. In War time. 1 Chron. 13 3. to serve God in the place where he requireth to be served; and that is, 1. In the time of sickness, so Ezechias being in his bed, and not able to go to the Temple, turned his face to the wall, and so prayed unto the Lord. 2. In the time of a Plague, or any other contagious Disease, raging among the people; so David could not go to the Tabernacle of the Lord, for fear of the Sword of the destroying Angel; and I could never find that God requireth our service with the loss of our lives, but when he is more glorified by our death, than he is by our life, as he is by the death of those glorious Martyrs, that lay down their lives for the defence of his truth. 3. In the time of War, which is the worst of all Plagues; so David inquired not at the Ark of God in the days of Saul, that thirsted after the life of David: and so we may absent ourselves from the Church, for fear of the destroying Soldiers, that do seek our lives. 4. In the time of persecution, 4. In persecution time. 1 Reg 19.4.4. when our lives are sought after by Tyrants either for Religion, or the transgression of any duty that is required against our Conscience, so our Consciences be rightly informed; so Elias served God under a Juniper-Tree, when he was feign to fly for his life from the face of Jezabel. 5. In Captivity or restraint, when we are held in durance, 5. In the time of Captivity. and cannot go where we would go; so Daniel prayed in his Chamber, when he was held Captive in Babylon, and Joseph in Egypt, and the Apostles in the Prison, and in the Stocks sung Psalms, and served God, when they were detained so fast, that they could not go to the Temple. 6. In our Travel upon unavoided necessities, as Mariners by Sea, 6. In the time of Iravel. and others by Land, upon urgent and extraordinary necessary occasions, as for Physicians to ride to preserve the life of man, and the like, they may serve God, and both pray and preach, in their Ships, or in a private house, as if they were in the Church of God. 7. When we are plagued by Soldiers, or any other enemies, 7. In the time of great dangers. so that we can neither tarry in our own Houses, nor go to God's House, without eminent danger, either of life or imprisonment, or the like; or where there are no Churches to be frequented, than we may serve God without offence in any place, wheresoever we are; for so the primitive Fathers served God, and preached in Chambers, and in holes, and in Rocks and Caves, and in any other like place, Act. 28.30.31. where they might with security and conveniency serve God, and discharge their dutiful service unto him; and God accepted the same, and was with them in those places, as well as if they had been in his Temple: and so St. Paul preached two whole years, in his own hired House in Rome. 8. When by reason of War, persecution, 8. When the Houses of God are destroyed. or some other miserable devastation of God's Houses, such as the Prophet speaketh of, Psal. 74.9. That they have destroyed all the houses of God in the Land, so that the Servants of God can have no consecrated place to repair unto, than God accepteth of their service, that they do in any convenient place, wheresoever they do it; Psal. 74.9. for so Ezra expounded the Law of God in the street that was before the Water-gate; because the Babylonians had destroyed the Temple of Solomon, and the second Temple, that Zorobabel built, Nehem. 8.3. was not yet fully erected and settled, nor the people in quietness from their enemies. But when neither of these cases, God must be served in the place that he chooseth. Deut. 12.5.11.13, 14.26. nor any other extraordinary exigent, or necessity like unto these, do hinder them, God will in no wise approve, or accept of their service, but in the place, where he himself hath appointed; for you may see how often the Lord tells his people, they must not do their service unto him in every place that they do like, but in the place that the Lord shall choose; for, as he will have none to serve him, that is, in the public Ministry, but those that himself calleth and chooseth, so he will be served where and when, and how himself appointeth and commandeth, & not as every man's fancy pleaseth himself; quia bonum non est bonum, nisi fit bene bonum; because a good act may prove not good, if we do it not so, as we ought to do it; as, though it be a good act to relieve the poor; yet it is not good to rob thy Neighbour, to bestow it on Alms; and though it was a commendable act, to stay the Ark from falling into the mire; yet, because it behoved not him once to touch it, God stroke Vzza, that he died for it; and though it was a good deed to bring the Ark to Jerusalem; 1 Chron 13.9. Numb. 4 15. 1 Chron. 15.13. yet David confesseth, that, because they brought it not after the right manner, which the Lord appointed, that is, upon the shoulders of the Levites, and not upon a Cart, therefore the Lord made a breach upon them, and the place is called Perez Vzza unto this day: So though it be a good & a Religious work, to Preach & to Administer the Sacraments; yet it is not good, that thou, which art a layman, uncalled and unqualified, and hast no Commission for it, shouldest do it, neither canst thou answer for thy rash attempt, when God shall say unto thee, quis requisivit haec? who required these things of thee? and so, though it was a very good Service, to offer Sacrifice unto God; yet it was not good to offer it in the high places, or under every green Tree, which the Lord so often and so sharply reproveth; And you know how Jeroboam that is so often stigmatised, The two things that Jeroboam did to uphold his Idolatry. carbone notabilis atro, and branded with that black note, of making Israel to sin, is severely taxed for these two special things that he did, to uphold his Idolatry, and to continue the Service of his Golden Calves, which he thought would perpetuate his Kingdom to him, and to his posterity, but proved indeed the quite rooting out of them; and which very things are now so commonly done here amongst us, by the long Parliament and their adherents, that were never yet done, as I could find, either by Turk or Pope. 1. 1. To choose illegal persons. Qui docent Scripturas quas non intelligunt, prius imperitorum magistri quam doctorum d scipuli. Hieron. in Epistola. To make Priests of the basest of the people, that were not of the Tribe of Levi, but Soldiers and Trades men, and other like Artificers, that had neither learning, nor lawful calling, men fit to do service unto the Devil, when by offering their Sacrifices unto their Idols, they sacrificed to Devils and not to God, saith the Scripture; for Jeroboam knew, and the Beast likewise knoweth the same, that the lawful and learned Priests would never, generally, do that unlawful service; therefore he chose, either, them, that were no Levites, that is such as had no lawful calling, but were, as I told you, Tailors, and Tradesmen; or, if he could get any Levite, he must be such, as the long Parliament received and maintained, some young Novice, or poor Curate, that wanted means, or some worldly Demas, that would with Judas for preferment fell his King and his Master; So were Jeroboams Priests, the meanest and the most ignorant of all the Tribe that for a poor stipend, or a small living would use any service, and observe any directory that their good Master should prescribe them. And so the people had Golden Gods, and Wooden Priests? Gods that had mouths and could not speak, and Priests that had eyes and could not see, which made the blind people to fall with their blind leaders into the fearful pit of eternal destruction. Therefore the good and Godly King Josias, The different censure of Jeroboams Priests by K. Josias. that did set up the right service of the true God, deposed all these base Priests, but with a different censure; for those that were ex genere Livitico, of the Tribe of Levi, and so had a lawful calling to offer Sacrifice unto God, he suffered them to live, and to eat bread among their Brethren, which was favour enough to such offenders; but he never suffered any of them to come to the Altar of the Lord at Jerusalem; because they that had so wilfully abused God's service for such poor rewards, should never have the honour to serve at God's Table, and to receive his reward: but those Priests of the high places, that were not divinitus vocatos, lawfully called, sed ex institutione Jeroboami, Tremel. in loc. but by the approbation of Jeroboam, that is, such as were no Levites, no lawful Priests, but mere lay men, such as our Sword-Preachers and Trade Divines are, 2 Reg. 23.20. he dealt with them, as Jehu did with the Priests of Baal, He slew them all upon the Altars, and burned men's bones upon them; and very worthily, when as they durst presume so rashly to take upon them, and to intrude themselves into that holy calling, which, as the Apostle saith, no man should assume, Heb. 5.4. but he that is called of God as was Aaron; And I would to God, I might see the like good Josias that would deal in like manner, with the Ministers of the Beast; or at least some other way, stop the mouths of these base, unworthy, and unlawful Priests, and most ignorant Preaches of Blasphemous Doctrines, that do now abuse God's Service, and broach such damnable Heresies and wicked Errors, as are able to Poison the souls of the simple people. 2. The other device of Jeroboam was, 2. To do the Service of God in unlawful places. Deut. 12.5.11.13, 14 26. to appoint the service of God to be done in Dan and Bethel, when as the Lord required they should serve him in the place, where he should choose; and this place for the Israelites, before their settlement in Canaan, and the building of their Temple, was in any place, where the Ark of God resided, in the Wilderness, in Shilo, in the house of Obed Edom— and after their settling in the Promised Land, and the subduing of their Enemies by King David, it was to be done in Mount Moriab; where Abraham was commanded to Sacrifice his Son Isaac, otherwise called, (as it was afterwards) Mount Zion, where the Son of God, (of whom Isaac was a type) was Crucified for us, 2 Chron. 3.1. and which David took from the Jebusites, and built it round about from Millo and inward, and called it the City of David, where he intended to build an house to God, in the threshing floor of Arnon, or Arauna the Jebuzite, & where the Angel appeared unto him, 1 Chron. 17.1. and he built an Altar, and offered Sacrifice unto the Lord and where the Ark of God should be placed, and God should be there publicly served by all the people of Israel, after that time; but the Prophet told him, 1 Chrou. 21.18. etc. 22. that the Lord accepted of his intention; yet because he was a man of War, and had shed much blood, wherein the Lord taketh no delight, though it was the blood of God's Enemies, he should not build him any house; because God's house is not to be built in blood, 2 Chron. 3.1. & c. 6. See Eusebius his Ecclesiastical History, l. 10. c. 3. & 4. and there you shall find the particulars of the Temple, and what every thing signified. Esay 5, 6, 7. Jerem. 7.10, 11. Math. 21.13. Mark. 11.17. How God requireth to be Worshipped. 1. At the time that he appointeth. Exod. 20. c. 12.18. 2. By the Priests whom he chooseth. nor with the Sword, as now the new bvilders of the Beast, have and do most eagerly strive to build it; but Solomon his Son, that was the Son of peace, should build his house in that very place, where he intended it; and God commanded Solomon so to do, which he did accordingly, as you may see in 2 Chron. 3.1. etc. 6. where you may read the Prayer that Solomon made at the Consecration of this house, and the benefits that they should reap, which served God in that house. And I desire every good Christian to read over that Chapter at his leisure, and to read it often, and then seriously to consider it, and withal to remember that of this, and the like consecrated place, that is dedicated for God's Worship, the Prophet Esay saith, it should be called of all Nations, the house of Prayer; therefore not of the Jews only, but of the Christians also; and the Prophet Jeremy saith the same; and our Saviour Christ confirmeth it; and no marvel; for God will be served. 1. In the Time. That he himself appointeth. 2. By the Persons. That he himself appointeth. 3. After the Manner. That he himself appointeth. 4. In the Place. That he himself appointeth. 1. As he will be served at all times, so specially at that time which he pleaseth to prescribe, as you may see in the 4th Commandment, where he chargeth us to remember to keep Holy the Sabbath day, and in Exod. 12.18. he chargeth the Jews to observe the 14th day of the first month, to eat unleavened bread, and whosoever neglected to observe this time, that soul should be cut off from the Congregation of Israel; and this he repeateth again in c. 13.5. 2. As God will be served in the time, that he prescribeth; so he will have his service performed, by the persons, whom he chooseth; and good reason, he should have the honour and the liberty to choose his own Servants, when a mean man will scarce endure, to have Servants of another man's choice, intruded upon him; therefore Christ did choose his 12 Apostles, and the 70. Disciples; and the Evangelist tells us, he hath chosen quos voluit, whom he would, and not those that would be, whether he would or not. 3. 3. With the service which himself prescribeth. He will be served, with that service, which himself by his Prophets and Apostles, hath prescribed in the holy Scriptures, and not as every upstart novice deviseth, which, (being not according to the received service, that is deduced by the grave Governors of the Church from God's word) is but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, a will-worship, no ways accepted by God, but rejected and reproved as Idolatrous by the Apostle, and demanded by the Prophet, quis requisivit haec? who required these things at your hands, wherein, you please yourselves, and not God. 4. 4. In the place where the Lord commandeth. As God will be served in the time, that he appointeth, and by the persons, that he chooseth, and after the manner that himself ordaineth; so he will be worshipped in the place that he commandeth; for you may see in Levit. 17.8. how the Lord professeth, that whatsoever man there be of the Children of Israel, or of the strangers that sojourneth among them, Levit 17.8. that offereth a burnt-offering, or Sacrifice, and bringeth not the same unto the door of the Tabernacle of the Congregation, i.e. the Church-door, to offer it unto the Lord, even that soul shall be cut off from among his people: Exod. 23.19. and in Exod. 23.19. he saith, That the first of the fruits of the Land, they should bring into the house of the Lord; Exod. 25.8. and in c. 25.8. he chargeth them to make him a Sanctuary, or a Tabernacle, i.e. an holy House or Temple, consecrated for his service, that he might dwell among them. And therefore, the Prophet David, before the Temple was built, desired that he might dwell in his Tabernacle, and saith, that he was glad when the people said, we will go into the house of the Lord, Psal. 27.4. that was the Tabernacle, which Moses appointed to be made by the Commandment of God, for the place where God should be worshipped, Psal. 122.1. Joh. 18.20. before Solomon had built his Temple: and when Christ came, he did frequent the Temple, and saith, I ever taught in the Synagogue and in the Temple, that is, for the most part and ordinarily, and always, when he came to the Temple, Matth. 21.14. and opportunity offered him so to do; and St. Matthew saith, that the blind and the lame came to him in the Temple, and he healed them; and so must we come to him, into his Temple, if we desire to be healed of our infirmities; and so the Apostles and Disciples of Christ after his ascension into Heaven, met and worshipped God in the Temple, Act. 2.46. etc. 5.25. and when the Christians began to be multiplied, they presently erected Churches, and consecrated them for God's service, as you may see in 1 Cor. 11.22. and from the 14th Chapter of the said Epistle, where the Apostle bids the women to be silent in the Church, which must not be understood of any other House or Congregation, but the Congregation that meeteth for God's service in God's House. And because that place was set apart from all profane uses, for to pray to God, and to preach unto the people, and to do all other exercises of Religion, as administering the Sacraments, catechising the youths, collecting the alms for the poor, and the like services of the Lord, and was hallowed and sanctified by the prayers of the Bishop, only for that end, and that God hath promised his more special presence for our help and assistance, in a most special manner, in that House, more than in any other place, 2 Chron. 6. as you may see by Solomon's prayer; therefore the true Saints and servants of God, did ever honour and reverence this very place of God's Worship, more than any Chamber of presence of the greatest Monarch in the World; and none but profane Atheists, wicked Heretics, and the members and adherents of this Beast, that are worse than the worst of worldlings, have ever abused, profaned, or blasphemed these material Churches, whereof the Prophet saith, holiness becometh thy house for ever: for Though originally, In what sense all things are alike holy. and in respect of their own nature, all places are alike holy; and so are all persons, all days, and all meats, and so all other things that are ejusdem speciei, of the same kind; they are all alike holy, and there is no difference, nor any more Sanctity or Holiness in the one then in the other, being all alike Holily created by God. Yet, if we consider God's designation of any of these things, and the Sanctification, In what sense some things are more holy than others; For the further clearing of this point, I desire the Reader to look into Mr. Mede's learned Discourse de sanctitate relativa, and his answer to Dr. Twisse. pag 660 and in Levit. 19.30. of the same, by the appointment of God for such and such uses, in the service of God, than you shall find a great deal of difference betwixt the one and the other, and a great deal of a relative accidental Holiness in and belonging to the one more than to the other: otherwise, what difference will you make, betwixt the common bread that we eat of the finest Wheat Flower, and the most Holy and Blessed bread of the Holy Eucharist? or, the Lords Supper? but the Sanctifying of it by Prayers for this use, to be the Body and Blood of Christ? this makes the difference, so that now after the consecration of it with the words of Christ, hoc est Corpus meum; we cannot without profaneness and a mighty offence give the same to Dogs, or unbelieving Jews, or any other that we know to be altogether unworthy of it, as we can give the other bread, that is made of the same lump, to either of these, without any offence: or what difference is there betwixt one day and another, but because the Lord designed the 7th day to be set apart for his Service, and hallowed it for that end, therefore it is more Holy than all the other six days; and so are the days and feasts that are appointed by the Church to honour God in them, as the Commemoration of Christ's Nativity, Circumcision, Resurrection, Ascention, and other days of Thanksgiving for some special blessings, and extraordinary favours, that, as on those days, we have received from God, which none will profane, but the neglectors of God's honour, and the prophaners of his Service; So what difference, or what Holiness is there naturally betwixt one man and another? but when the Lord chooseth one before another to be his Servant, to be sent as his Ambassador to Preach his Word, and to administer his Sacraments, and causeth him to be consecrated or hallowed by Prayers and impositions of hands, for that purpose, there is a great deal of difference betwixt them, and much additional Holiness in the one more than in the other, in so much that our Saviour saith of these men, he that receiveth you, receiveth me, Luc. 10.16. Zech. 2.8. and he that despiseth you despiseth me: and the Lord saith of them, he that toucheth you, toucheth the Apple of mine eye: and you see this difference in the Ambassadors, and other Officers of Kings, Princes and Potentates, whom we honour, and reverence more than others, because they are deputed and Authorized to be the Judges, Sheriffs, or other Officers of the Kingdom, where they are designed so to be: and so likewise what difference or what Holiness is there in one place more than in another, in the Church- ground more than in the Barn- floor? surely not any at all originaliter in respect of themselves; but when such a piece of ground is designed and dedicated for God's Service, and consecrated by Prayers for that purpose, and God promiseth his presence to be more especially there for our comfort then in any other ordinary place, then certainly there is a great deal of difference, and a great deal of Holiness in that place and Consecrated ground, more than in any other common ground whatsoever. Therefore Jacob said of the place, where God shown his presence to him, Gen. 28.17. this is God's house and the gate of Heaven, and the Lord said unto Moses, Exod. 3.5. pull off thy shoes from thy feet, for the place where thou standest is Holy ground: and why was that ground more Holy than any other ground? not in respect of any innate Holiness, but because the Lord revealed himself there to Moses, more than in any other place, and I pray you look what the Spirit of God enjoineth us to do, when we come into God's House; Eccles. 5.2. for if we make no difference of these things, but that every man that will, may intrude himself to do the Service which God requireth to be done by another, and he may do that Service any where, in any one place as well as in another, in a Common Barn as well as in a Holy Church, then surely, we need not observe any time, when any one day is as good and as Holy as another, the Monday as well as the Lords day; and so confounding persons, times and places, we shall confound all Religion, and suddenly bring Atheism, and all Profaneness among the people, which I beseech Almighty God of his mercy to keep from his Servants, and to turn away this Blasphemy of the Beast against God's Tabernacle; And I may demand if the false Prophet, the Preachers, and the adherents of the long Parliament, have not brought this contempt of God's Tabernacle, in too great measure among the simple people, and which very sin, I am confident cannot be fastened either upon Jews, Turks or Papists. CAP. IU. The Blasphemy of the Beast against the Saints in Heaven; the first despisers of them; the Blasphemy against the Godly Saints on earth; who are the Saints with whom the Beast warreth; the successes of the Beast; that we ought not to wonder at his Victories; what the successes of the Beast should teach us; and of the end and downfall of the Beast. 3. IT is said, that the Beast opened his mouth to Blaspheme, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, 3. The Blasphemy of the Beast against God's servants. 1 Perfectos. them that dwell in Heaven; and this may be understood for two sorts of God's Servants. 1. For the blessed Angels, and the Saints that are departed, and do now rest and reside with the Holy Angels in Heaven. 2. For those holy men, that do wayfare here as yet, and are the lively members of the Militant Church of Christ, 2. Inchoatos. Maledicta in Sanctos dicuntur blasphemiae, quia Deus in Sanctis maledicitur, Cajetan in Thom 22. q. 88 Artic. 5. which warreth against the Beast, and which is often to be understood by the name of heaven in this book. And the Beast hath not spared to blaspheme both these kinds of Saints, whose abuses are called blasphemies, because God is blasphemed in them, saith Cajetane; for 1. Touching these blessed souls that are with Christ, I speak not for the invocation and praying to the best of those Saints, nor the adoration of their relics and images; for that might well be thought to be flat Popery, and a sin to be punished by the Judges or at least not well to be justified; neither do I argue for the worshipping of them, no not the blessed Virgin, with any kind of Divine worship, either 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, but only for a reverend opinion, and a charitable estimation of them, free from contempt, and shown by good words, and the addition of some reverend title, and honourable Epithet added unto their names, as we use to do to the Heroes and noble persons, The Parallel. Calvinus instruct contra libe tinos, c. 9 or our honourable benefactors that are on earth, which as I conceive is but the minutest honour that can be given them; and yet this is a great deal more than this Beast can afford to bestow upon the most deserving of them; for as Mr. Calvin relates of Quintinus, the father of the Libertines in France, and a near kinsman of this Beast here spoken of, adeo petulanter in sanctos debacchabatur, he did so insolently rail against all the Saints, that he termed Saint Paul no otherwise then a broken vessel, Saint John, a foolish youth, Saint Matthew an usurer, Saint Peter a denier of his Master, and I heard say, that some one, of the spawn of this Beast; hearing a worthy Preacher citing Saint Augustine, replied, Saint Augustine, Saint Devil; and I am sure, the adherents of the long Parliament, as limbs of this Beast, do for the most part, hold it blasphemy to call the holy men departed Saints, and therefore you shall never hear any of them to say in their Sermons, or Writings, And Mr. Love gives to Mr. Greenham, the Epithet of holy Greenham. Saint Peter, or Saint Paul; but the bare naked nameof Peter, Paul, John, and so of the rest, is good enough for the best of them; though they can be pleased to give far more honourable titles to their own impure proselytes, and some of them to become so impudent, as to compare their own sinful mothers, with the unspotted mother of God, the blessed mother of Jesus Christ, whom the Holy Ghost saith, all generations shall call blessed, as they all do that love Christ, except it be this cursed generation of vipers, that gnaw out the bowels of their own mother. But this contempt of the heavenly Saints, The first despi sers of the blessed Saints. these new Scholars have learned of their old Masters, the first despisers of the Saints and Martyrs, Leo Isaurus, and Constantinus Capronimus, that said the blessed Virgin, after she was delivered of Christ, was like a purse that had been full of gold, and that made 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, an universal Law, that none of God's servants, should be called Saint, saith Cedrenus; Apud Surium to 6.28. and so Steven, the Martyr of that time showeth, that the Constantinopolitan-Council of 338. Bishops assembled by Leo Isaurus had proscribed against holy things, and had cast away in contempt this epithet Saint, from all the righteous men of God, and would give no other title to the Apostles and Martyrs of Jesus Christ, but as their Disciples do now, the bare name of Matthew, Mark, and the like, and thought it an heinous crime, to say Saint Peter; whereby you see, this new practice of the Beast, and of his followers, that have unsainted all the holy inhabitants of heaven, and Sainted all the hypocrites on earth, is but raked up out of the old dunghill of these Hagiomastices, the Saint-scourgers that I named unto you. Yet you hear what the Spirit of God saith, that to speak evil of the Saints, whom we ought to honour, as those that sit with Christ on his Throne, Rev. 21. as Christ himself doth testify, is no less than heinous blasphemy; and therefore if we will not yield them that due respect and honour that we owe them, as the friends of God, and as the brethren of Christ, and the sons of God, and for the manifold good that they have done unto us; yet I hope this will bridle all those that fear God from uttering any contumelious speeches against them. 2. For the other sort of God's servants that remain still in the world, The Parallel. 2. The blasphemy of the Beast against the inchoative Saints that are on earth. and reside in the earthly heaven, that is, the Church militant, the Beast termeth them not only sinners (which they confess themselves to be, and confess it with grief of heart, that they are so bad, and can not be better) but calleth them also Reprobates, Malignants, Members of the Beast, Sons of the Whore of Babylon, Limbs of the great Antichrist, and faggots destined for hellfire; And for themselves, that are indeed the Members of the Beast, they pretend to be the right Saints, and the only true servants of God; The strange Divinity of the Beast. In the History of Independency, part 3. p. 29. and therefore they may commit any Act, that is a sin in us, whom they deem Reprobates, and yet is no sin in them, which retain their Sanctity in the very acts of sinning; for what is sinful in other men, is not so in them, who may commit any crime against the Law of God, and yet it cannot be imputed to them for sin; because they know in their consciences what they do; and a righteous man, such as they all are, in their own judgement, is a law unto himself, as the apostles testifieth; and therefore their consciences excusing them, as being the rule and the Law whereby they square all their actions, they are capable of doing any thing, and of committing any offence against their neighbours, especially the Malignants, without the breach of the Law, either of Justice or of Charity: the which privilege is only proper unto them, and to none else; because they only and none else do hate the Assembly of the Malignants, and they only will not sit with vain persons; but their field alone hath no tares, their floor no chaff, and their net encloseth no trash, when as nothing but pure gold is built upon their foundation; therefore Dr. Featley doth merrily bid them go to New Ingland, Dr. Featlies' merry speech of these hypocritical Saints. or the Isle of providence, or to Sir Thomas Moor's Utopia, where Plato's commoner, Osorius his noble man, Castilios Courtier, Vegetius his Soldier, Tully's Orator, Aristocles his Faelix, the Jews Benchochab, the Manachees paraclet, the Gnossicks illuminat one's, the Pelagians perfect ones, the Montanists spiritual ones, the Catharists pure ones, and their own precise holy ones, may all meet at Prince Arthur's round Table, and every guest be like the Table, totus teres atque rotundus. 4. But for them thus to call light darkness, and darkness light; to justify the wicked, and to condemn the godly; to make the Members of the Antichrist, the servants of God; and the true Saints of Christ, ungodly Reprobates; and so to thrust the deserved heirs of hell into heaven, and the redeemed heirs of heaven into hell; what is it else, but as Solomon saith, an abomination to the Lord, and as the Holy Ghost saith here, to blaspheme them that dwell in heaven; and therefore shall receive, without a speedy Repentance, the woe that the Prophet denounceth, and the Scripture every where threatneth against such wicked do. Prov. 17.15. Isa. 5.20. Then it is said v. 7. that it was given to the Beast, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, Who are the Saints with whom the Beast warreth. to make war with the Saints, and to overcome them; and this war is to be understood of a bloody war, as it appeareth by the recompense that shall be rendered unto the Beast, v. 10. He that killeth with the sword, must be killed with the sword; and Mr. Mede interpreteth the same of the war, that the Church of Rome caused to be followed against the Albigenses and Waldenses: Not the Waldenses. which as I conceive, is far from the meaning of the Holy Ghost. Reason 1 1. Because the time of this Beast, continuing in his prevalency, being but three years and a half, or some short space, much about that time, and not so many hundred years, as Mr. Mede would have the Beasts 42 months to signify unto us, it can no ways agree with the Wars of the Waldenses, that as the Histories record, extended itself to a far greater time than three years and a half. Reason. 2 Alexand 3. died 1181. These were for the most part French Rebels. in Languedoc Province, and other parts of France, and the Earl of Tholous was a prime Leader of many of them against Lewis King of France, in the time of our Henry the third 2. Because this war of the Beast is said to be with the Saints; and those Waldenses, and Albigenses, being ever accounted for most obstinate heretics, and so condemned in the Council of Lateran under Alexander the third by 280 Bishops, and very stiffnecked Rebels against their Kings, it cannot be thought, that such men are here meant under the Notion and Title of Saints; And therefore I say, that although Thuanus writeth, that in the wars waged against them and the Lollards, about ten hundred thousand men were slain, yet I cannot yield these mad heretics to be the Saints here meant, nor the prosecutors, nor procurers of this war to be the Beast, that is here spoken of, and as yet had not lifted up his head out of the sea; nor can I allow, that the Duke de Alva, though a most cruel man, that slaughtered in Belgia only, as Junius and Tilenus say, 36000 men, was a Champion of this Beast, though I confess him to be like Cosroe King of Persia, a very great instrument of the Dragon, to scourge these poor Christians for their sins; because this Beast was scarce hatched, when that Viceroy acted his bloody part. Who then are the Saints with whom the Beast warreth, and whom God himself termeth Saints, and therefore can be neither Heretics nor Rebels; because the true Saints will ever choose rather patiently to suffer, then Rebelliously to resist their lawful Governors; The true and Loyal Protestants, are the Saints that are here meant. as King Lewis was to those Albigenses? and I demand, whom can they be, if they be not the true Protestants, that neither can be charged with any heresy against the faith, nor taxed for any Disloyalty against the King, as the Waldenses were both ways adjudged guilty? And therefore I believe, this is plain enough for any blind man to understand, who are meant by the Saints, that should be warred against and overcome, if he doth but confider, who overcame, and who were overcome in the last war, that hath been made against the truest Protestants on earth; for you see the Spirit of God tells you, the Beast shall be the Conqueror, and the Saints shall be conquered; and so Daniel, that typically prophesied of the Antichrist, which is understood by this Beast, saith, that he should wear out the Saints of the most High, and they should be given unto his hands. And you see who are worn out. And then having conquered the Saints, it is further added in the said 7. v. that there was given unto him 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉; Dan 7.25. Nations and tongues submit and honour the conquerors The Parallel. Power, or Authority over all Kindred's, and Tongues, and Nations: and truly I think none so blind but seethe all this most suitable every way to the long Parliament; for after they had subdued the King, have they not assumed to themselves, and so attained greater power than any of all the Kings of England ever had? when as not one of them could have so much as a small Subsidy nor power to press any Soldiers to War against foreign Enemies, without the approbation of their Peers and People; and King Charles could not have so much as one penny of money to build his Ships, to protect his Merchants, and to secure his Ports, without murmuring, without Suits in Law, and without— neither could he be suffered to borrow money of his friends, without being blamed and questioned for it. Yet the long Parliament could have, and would they not have whatsoever they desired, Loans, Taxes, Excise, and what not? men and money to make War, and to conclude peace with whom they pleased; they need no more but Vote it, and they must have it; what part soever of our estates they vote; for if they may lawfully demand the 20th part, thy may as lawfully demand the third part, or the half, or all, if they please, when their own will must be the Rule to guide them in all that they do. And did not all the people upon the sight of this great transcendent, and unlimited power of the Parliament, cry out, who is able to deal with them, and to prevail against them? Because they saw, that whosoever did not submit to them, or did seem to descent and to be (as they phrase it) disaffected to them, or else to be neuters, Judges 5.23. as the inhabitants of Meroz were, and the Gryphan, when, as the Poets feign, the Battle was betwixt the Beasts of the field, and the Fowls of the air, they plundered their goods, sequestered their Estates, imprisoned their persons, cut off their heads, and destroyed all that opposed them, and all their own Laodicean followers, that would not be as violent for them, as they are said to be virulent against both right and truth, and the true Church of Christ; and that not only in Ingland, but also in Scotland, and in Ireland; and more than this, did they not the like to the French, Dutch, Danes, Manks, Moors, Portuguese, and to whomsoever else, of what kindred, tongue or Nation soever he were, as the Holy Ghost saith, that durst stand to oppose them, either by Sea or land, Did they not all taste of the like sauce? To whom then may this Scripture be applied, if not to them? And because of their Victories and successes, more than ever seemed usual among any Princes, supra dorsum Dei fabricaverunt, did they not, as the Prophet saith, lay all their wicked acts upon Gods back? and, as Pharaoh Necho, King of Egypt, 2 Chron. 35.21. How the Parliamentarians builded their sins upon God's back. Martial l. 4. Epig. 21. said unto Josias, God hath commanded me to make this War, so did they not say, that God had done all that was done by them, and the hand of God was seen, and might easily be seen in all their do? which must needs therefore be all good, because they all were done by God, and the blessing of God followed all their proceed, and prospered all their actions. And so the Parliamentarians, Soldiers and abettors, builded their do, and laid their very sins, and all the injuries that they did upon God; which puts me in mind of Martial his Epigram. Nullos esse deos, inane coelum Affirmat caelius; probatque, Quod se videt, dum negat haec, beatum. Which is thus englished by Mr. May, accutely; That in the Heavens, no Gods there be, Caelius affirms, and proves, cause he Still thinking so, lives happily. For I think this may be applied to many of our Independent Sectaries, and admirers of the proceed and successes of the Parliament, as well as to Marshal's profane Caelius. Yet I shown you before, how the spirit of God tells us in the second verse of this Chapter, it is not God, but the Dragon, that is, the Devil, which is indeed, the god of the Beast, that hath given this power and this great authority unto the Beast, to make War with the Saints, and to overcome them; God giving leave unto the Dragon so to do, without whose leave, we know he could give no more power unto the Beast, than he himself had against holy Job, and that was none at all. But seeing the Holy Ghost tells us, that power was given unto the Beast, and that, as our Saviour saith unto Pilate, he could have no power, except it were given him from above, that is from God; so the Beast, the Antichrist, the Parliament, and all the Tyrants of this World, could receive no power from the Dragon, except God, the Fountain and the Author of all power, permitted the Dragon, as his Instrument, to give it them, we do acknowledge the hand of God in the Victories and successes of that Parliament against the Saints and Servants of Christ, which he gives them leave to obtain, but not for any blessing or love he bears to them, or any pleasure he takes in their do, but rather for a just Judgement against us; because he is angry with his Saints, and displeased with their sins, committed, or omitted in the performance of their duties, either towards God, or towards their Neighbours, or else for the trial of their constancy and faithfulness in the service of God: In which respect we know, that the more they are plundered, persecuted and vanquished by the Parliament and his adherents, the more they are loved, and continuing faithful, shall be honoured and glorified by God and our Saviour Christ. And this should teach men, That we ought not to wonder. to wonder no more to see the Parliament and their parties prevail, and to get so many signal Victories over the Saints and Servants of Christ, then to see the Inhabitants of Aj prevailing against the Israelites, or the Tribe of Benjamin, twice overcoming the 10. Tribes, and slaying at both times 40000. of them, At the Victories of the Beast. Josh. 7.5. Jud. 20.21.25. or the Philistines overthrowing the Army of Saul, or Nabuchadnezzar, a Heathen Tyrant, carrying away the Jews, that were Israelites, and Gods own peculiar people, Captives into Babylon, or Nebuzaradan leading the 10. Tribes into Assyria, or now to see the Turks, (qui dum volunt & Judae●s, esse & christianos, nec Jud●i sunt nec christiani, who patching Judaisme and Christianity together, are neither Jews nor Christians, but do embrace and uphold the abominations of Mahomet, the Son of Abdalia, Sir Walter Raleigh in his History of Mahomet. pag. 10. that by the help of a Jew Scribe, his first Master, and of Sergius a Nestorian Monk, his next instructor, penned the accursed Alcoran for his followers Bible) to make both the zealous Jews and the Religious Christians, both his Tributaries and his Galleyslaves, and to war upon many others of them, and to overcome them, even as the Beast hath done unto the Saints, and as you see, the Parliament hath done to all King Charles his true Subjects. But this aught, What the successes of the Beast should teach the Saints. as the Holy Ghost saith, to teach us patience under our present burdens, and repentance for our sins that are past, and have pulled these punishments upon us, with a constant care to shun and prevent all sins to come, and continual prayers to God, that he would make speed to save us, and make haste to help us, and to deliver us from this more than the Egyptian bondage of the Beast, supposed by the persecuted Saints to be that long Parliament. And for those that have so much wondered at the Victories and successes of that Parliament, and are thereby seduced to take them for the true Saints, and their do just and wellpleasing unto God, and the poor persecuted party to be rejected of him, and their cause displeasing in his sight, when they see them thus subdued and subjected unto them, delivered up by God into the hands of their enemies, to be rob and killed, if they submit not themselves to be ruled and governed by their Laws; I would desire them only to consider, who can deny the Jews to be Gods own peculiar people, and a chosen Generation, that made their boast of God, Psal. 44.9. and professed that they would praise his name for ever; and the Heathens to be God's professed enemies, and Idolaters that worshipped stocks and stones for Gods? v. 10. and yet in the very next verse of the same 44 Psalms, it is said, but now O God thou art fare off, and puttest us to confusion, and geest not forth with our Armies, thou makest us to turn our backs upon our enemies, which were Atheists and Idolaters, and hast scattered us among the Heathen, which had not known God's name, and they that hate us spoil our goods, which is the very case of the King's friends in these Kingdoms; Psal. 79.6. and in the 79 Psalms, the Prophet saith, O God, the Heathen are come into thine Inheritance, thine holy Temple have they defiled, and made Jerusalem a heap of stones, and we are become an open shame to our enemies, a very scorn and derision to them that are round about us. And though all this came upon them, Psal 44.18. yet as the Prophet testifieth, they did not forget God, nor behaved themselves frowardly in his Covenant, neither were their hearts turned back, (as I hope nor ours) nor their steps gone out of the way; no, not when they were smitten into the place of Dragons, v. 19 and covered with the shadow of death; but they were still God's beloved people, his Saints and his Children, when they were thus beaten and spoilt, and even eaten up like sheep, (as we are now) by those ravenous Wolves that were none of God's people, but the Rods of his fury, to chastise that people, which were his Servants, though now offending their Master, for which they are chastised. And therefore men should not judge our case, by our distress, nor approve of the Parliaments proceed by their successes, when we assure ourselves, and they might believe it, it is now with us, as it was then with the Jews; and our losses lose us nothing, nor do their get gain them any thing, being all laid up in a broken bag; for the Victories and prosperity of the wicked puffs them up with pride, and a high conceit of their own Sanctity and deserts, and so makes them far worse than they were before; but the adversities and defeats of God's Servants, their beating and their spoiling humbleth them, and causeth them to run to God, to confess how justly they have deserved the same, and to implore his pardon and deliverance, as well knowing, that there is no place, to fly, a Deo irato, nisi ad Deum placatum; and so they are made by their miseries better than they were before in their felicity; Mala quae nos hic premunt ad Deum ire compellunt. because as St. Augustine saith, pari motu exagitatum, horribiliter faetet caenum, & suaviter fragrat unguentum, the stirring of a Dunghill, or any filthy puddle raiseth stink, but the stirring up of Ointment, makes a very sweet and pleasant smell; so, though the punishment of the wicked drives them with Saul, to despair of God's help, and to run unlawful courses, to Witches and Wizards; the chastisements of God's Servants drive them with David, to cry to God both for his pardon, and for his help: and cause them, with Daniel, to behave themselves submissively, as they ought, while he was under the rule of Nebucadnezar. Therefore wise men should not judge of the equity of things by the success of things, when the very Heathen man could say, — Careat successibus opto, Quisquis ab eventu facta notanda putat; Let him want all good success, that judgeth actions by the success; for if you please to look into Jeremiah 12.1, 2, 3, & Psal. 37.7.10.35, 36. & Psal. 73.3, 4, 5. & 18, 19, and 20. verses, and Psal. 92.7. and into many of the like places of the Book of Job, you shall find, that the more men prosper in their bad ways, the more sure they are to be destroyed, and the more fearful shall be their destruction. And so, Victories and Successes, such as Daniel speaks of, the Victories of Antiochus, and such as the Holy Ghost sets down in this Chapter, the Victories of the Beast over Christ's Saints, though we confess them to come from the hand of God, without whose providence a sparrow cannot light upon the ground; yet we avouch them to be no infallible signs of God's love to the Victors, or of his approbation of their actions to be just and blameless in his fight; when as we know he gives the Victory to many men, and those Victors are neither approved by God for just, nor their do, as they are done by them, acceptable unto God; but he doth many times bate and abhor their very proceed, even in those things, and at that time, when himself gives them a power to prevail; and he will in his good time, severely punish them for those their misdeeds, which he himself, in his secret judgement, suffered them to effect, yea, and gave them ability to bring them to pass, even, as I shown, he not only prospered and gave the Victory to the Inhabitants of Ai, Josh. 7.5. against the Children of Israel, and to the Tribe of Benjamin, against their Brethren in two several Battles, but he also raised, called, anointed, strengthened and assisted Jehu, that professed himself as zealous for the Lords honour, as any man could be, 2 Reg. 10. to make him as victorious over the idolatrous House of Ahab, to root out all his Posterity, even 70. Sons at a clap, as the long Parliament hath been over the good King Charles, and his offspring, and yet the Lord saith, and I would the beast here spoken of would consider it, he Would require or avenge the blood of Ahab, and the blood of those 70. Children, Josh. 1.4. no doubt that were innocent, and causelessly caused to be slain, at the hands, or upon the house of Jehu. And so without question, the just God, in his good time, when he maketh inquisition for blood, will avenge the innocent blood of all those holy Martyrs, that hath been unjustly spilt in our last War; for as the Prophet saith, right dear in the sight of the Lord is the death of his Saints, and the voice of their blood doth cry aloud, like Abel's blood, in the ears of the Lord, from off the Earth. And so all their Narratives of their extraordinary Victories, and most fortunate successes, in Ingland, Ireland and Scotland, do not prove them to be the Saints of God, nor their do acceptable in his sight; but they do sufficiently prove, that they have made War with the Saints, and have overcome them, and as the Prophet Daniel hath typically prophesied of the Beast, The Parallel. Dan. 7.25. 2 Thes. 2.3. have worn out the Saints of the most high; and they may confirm the faith of those that believe them to be the Beast here spoken of, and the great Antichrist that is prophesied of by the Apostle. Yet, to show the weakness of flesh and blood, and the blindness of frail man, to understand and to judge of things, the Holy Ghost saith, v. 8. that the Victories and successes of the Beast, do so far prevail with all that dwell upon the Earth, that is, all earthly and worldly minded men, And as H. Grotius rightly saith, morem ejus imitari. that they are moved thereby, to worship the Beast, that is, to admire him, to adhere unto him, and to assist him, in all his projects and persecution of the Saints, which is done, as the spirit of God saith by all those, whose names are not written in the Book of life, of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the World, that is, by all carnal and worldly men, that are not enlightened with the truth of God's spirit. But I would advise both them and all men else, seriously to consider, how fearful is the condition of those Worshippers and assistants of the Beast, when as God himself doth testify, they are not in the Catalogue of God's Children, but are bletted out of his Book, as Reprobates to be tormented with the Beast, in the Lake of fire, burning with brimstone for evermore. And therefore our good God gives a Caveat to all the Servants of Christ in the next verse, saying, if any man have an ear to hear, that is, a will and desire to hear, let him hear, that is so attentively and considerately, that he might rightly understand what he heareth; for that is not a matter of small moment, and slightly to be passed over, but they that have any regard of their eternal salvation, or desire to avoid everlasting destruction, ought carefully to examine, who are meant by the Beast, and then seriously to weigh in what sad and lamentable condition the Worshippers and adherents of this Beast do remain in. Then for the comfort of the persecuted, distressed and subjugated banished Captives, and for a just reward and retaliation to the oppressing Conquerors, Of the end and downfall of the Beast that is the body of the Antichrist. the spirit of God addeth v. 10. He that leadeth into Captivity, shall go into Captivity, and he that killeth with the Sword, must be killed with the Sword, for so the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifieth; and you know the Proverb, must is for the King; truth itself hath spoken it, that it must be so, and he hath spoken it often, therefore it shall undoubtedly be performed, and the Beast shall not rule for ever, Let my Reader judge, if this Prophecy, of the downfall of the Beast, be not now fulfilled, blessed be our good God for it. nor the persecuted Saints be oppressed for ever, but the Saints shall be delivered out of the hands of the Beast; and the Beast shall be excluded out of his Dominion, and shall receive his pay, when God the just avenger of all wrongs, and specially of all blood unjustly spilt, shall render their due deserts, unto all the members, assistants and adherents of this outrageous monstrous Beast, in the time that they look not for it; only, let the Saints with patience constantly expect it, and with faith, assuredly believe it, even as the Holy Ghost hath said. Here is the patience and the faith of the Saints, i. e. patience quietly to suffer, while they are under the rule, and the rod of the Beast; and faith, undoubtedly to believe the dethroning and the downfall of the Beast, which will be but the beginning of his sorrows, when as his greater punishment and destruction is still behind; and I shall more fully declare it unto you hereafter. Liber Tertius. CHAP. I. Who is to be understood by this beast of the earth, not Mahomet, nor the Idolatrous Priests of the heathen Temple; when S. John was banished into Patmos: That the Preachers of the antichrist, and not the Bishop of Rome and his Clergy, but the assembly of Presbyters, Independants, and Lay Preachers are the Prophets of the first beast; when the seed of this beast of the earth was first sown; and when it became first apparent in these parts: and that this beast of the earth is far worse than the first beast, that arose out of the sea. THen, after that the Evangelist had expressed the forsaid particulars of the seven headed and ten horned beast, 4. The vision of the second beast, which is as the soul of the Antichrist. he proceedeth verse 11. to tell us of another vision, how he saw 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, another beast coming out of the earth; where the holy Ghost followeth the same method, as he did with the Prophet Ezechiel, Ezech. 8.6.13: 15. to show him greater abomination than he had formerly seen; in as much, as the most opposite place to heaven is the earth, and is farthest from it, and a far base Element than the Sea; so is this beast that risen out of the earth, far more wicked, more odious, and more abominable in the fight of God, and all good men, than the other, that arose out of Sea, as the Sequel of what we read in this thirteenth Chapter, will make it plain unto you. But first we are to inquire, who is to be understood by this beast, Who is to be understood by this beast of the earth. that can be worst then that beast that ascended from the bottomless pit, and is the same with the great Antichrist; And I find some Divines, as Rupertus and others, that think this beast of the earth, and the other beast of the sea, to be the same beast, that first risen out of the sea, Not the same with the beast that risen out of the sea. and then was seen again to spring out of the earth. But the description of this beast and his actions likewise, do so far differ from the first beast, that it cannot be the same; especially considering the Evangelist saith plainly, it was 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, another beast; therefore not the same with the former; And yet, as the soul and body, that are not the same, do notwithstanding constitute and make up one and the same man; so doth this beast and the other former beast make up the same man of sin, and the same great Antichrist; this being as the form, that as the matter, this as the soul, that as the body, of that grand enemy of Jesus Christ. Whence you may perceive, that as the definition of the soul, It is hard to find out this terren Chameleon beast. and the faculties thereof, is far more difficult to be explicated, then that of the body, so it is a more intricate work to find out, and to unkennel this beast, amongst the thickets of the earth, than it was to find the other, that arose ex plane, from the smooth and plain sea; Jerem. 16.16. but, as the Prophet Jeremy showeth, the Lord hath many bunters, and by the help of these divine hunters, I shall bring him out of his lurking holes, take off his mask from his face, and bring him forth to be apparently seen before your eyes, if you please to view him, and to take notice of him, who other wise may by't you sore, ere you be ware of him. Lyranus, 1. Some understand Mahomet Aureolus. and Dominicus a Soto do, by the first beast, that risen out of the sea, understand Synnochius, or Siroe, the son of Cosroe, King of Persia, that slew Anastatius and 70. other innocent Monks besides; and by this beast that risen out of the earth, they understand Mahomet, the false Prophet, that left his wicked Alcoran for his followers Bible, and was indeed worse than Synnochius, and did more mischief unto the Christians, than he, or any other single Tyrant or false Prophet did; and he reigned (as they say) until the year of Christ, 666. which is here said to be the number of the beast, and the very letters of his name, written in Greek, the language in which Saint John wrote, Zonara's annal l. 3. Montagu appello Caesar. pag. 151. do make up, (as both Cedrenus and Zonaras say) the number 666. to an hair, thus, 40. 1. 70. 40. 5. 300. 10. 200. μ. α. ο μ. ε τ. ι ς. which is in all, 666. as I shown you before, and he pretended to work great miracles, as the holy Ghost saith, this beast seemed to do; Cornel. à lapide in H. loc. The 10 miracles of Mahomet. Sicut sydus radium, profert Virgo filium pariforma, neque Sydus raaio, neque mater film, Sir corrupta, which is most true of the blessed Virgin, and most false of that impostors mother. and of those miracles of Mahomet, the Saracens, that profess his religion, do, as Cornelins a Lapide saith, set down these ten. 1. That his mother, which was a Jew, brought him forth, after his father Abdalla died, (for he was a posthumus) as the Sun shineth through a glass, without pain, as the blessed Virgin did our Saviour Christ, without the loss of her Virginity. 2. That, at his birth, assoon as ever he was born, all the idols of the Gentiles fell, like Dagon, unto the ground, as the Sibyls prophesied they should do at the birth of Christ. 3. That Lucifer was then likewise thrown down to be drowned into the depth of the Ocean. 4. That all the winds and the clouds did strive about his education and his bringing up; for his mother, left a Widow, was but a very poor woman, and died when he was but two years old. 5. That an Ass, like baalam's Ass, with humane voice, styled him sigillum Prophetarum, the Seal, that confirmed and should ratify all the prophesies of the prophets. 6. That a dark cloud, though the Heavens should be never so clear, did always hover and hang over his head. 7. That the Moon, seeming to the beholders to be divided into two parts, he compacted and joined them together. 8. That an Angel did usually talk and confer with him. 9 That a figtree, called out by him, bowed himself most lowly unto him. 10. That an Ox and a Lamb spoke unto him, as to the greatest of all the Messengers of God. These are the ten lying wonders, that are suggested by his followers to be the miracles of Mahomet. But, notwithstanding the multsplicity of these forged and feigned miracles of this great Impostor, Suarez and Perorius do sufficiently prove, that Mahomet could neither be this beast nor the Antichrist; And the Histories do show that he began his reign, Or in 631. 2● Sir Walter Raleigh saith, p. 24. in Anno. 620. and died in the year 630. as Cedrenns saith, or in Anne. 637. as Palmerius saith, having reigned, as all Writers do agree, just ten years; and so he continued not to the year 666. as Lyra and Soto do affirm. Others, with whom our Learned Paraphraster upon the New Testament, Dr. Hammond, following the acute Grotius, understanding the heathen idolatrous worship of the Romans to be signified by the first beast, 2. others do understand this beast to be the idolatrous Priests of the heathen temples. Philostrat. l. 5. c. 5. do conceive this second beast to signify the Priests and Prophets of the idol Temples, that gave the answers of those deceitful Oracles, who were Sorcerers and Magicians, as was Simon Magus, that grand Magician and proto-impostor, and Apollonius Tianaeus, that pretended to do very many, and very great wonders, and did call down (in appearance) fire from Heaven, as Philostratus writeth, and as the holy Ghost saith this beast should do. And that which made these learned men, as I conceive, to make Caius Caligula to be that man of sin, which the Apostle speaks of, 2. Thes 2. and Simon Magus to be understood verse 8. that should then be revealed when Caligula should be taken away. And to interpret the first beast here spoken of, chap. 13. to signify the idolatry of the Romish people, and this second beast to signify Apollon. Tyanaeus and the like Magicians, and followers of their idolatry, was; because they saw how sondly, and without any probability, or show of any solid ground, the most of our Presbyterians do expound both places of the Pope of Rome, to make him to be the great and egregious Antichrist. Therefore they found such an interpretation as is far more likely and more agreeable to the Texts, then is the interpretation of the Presbyterians. But we may not confute one error, with another error, Alios ita lego ut quantalibet sanctitate, doctrinaque prepolleant, non idea ver● putem, sed quia mihi vel per illos autores canonicos, vel probabili ratione quod à vero non abhorreat, persuadere potuerunt. Ang. ad Hierom. ep. 16. That St. John was not banished by Claudius Caesar. and bring in one falsehood to thrust out another falsehood, which is but to change one evil for another, and by shunning the fire to fall into the water. And therefore though I very much reverence Grotius, and do much love and honour our worthy Doctor for his learning, and great pains in God's Vineyard; yet I cannot assent unto him in many of his Expositions upon this book of the Revelation, nor especially that St. John was banished to Patmos by Claudius Caesar, as he would feign prove out of Epiphanius, when as the most Orthodox and the best Authors that I have read, both old and new, as well Protestants as Papists, do believe the testimony of Irenaeus, and assent to his opinion, that lived long before Epiphanius, and therefore could better inform us of the time of his banishment then Epiphanius could, that he wrote this Revelation in the later end of Domitiani reign; and Doctor Hammonds reason to confirm his supposition, doth no ways infringe the allegation of Irenaeus, which is, the banishment of all the Jews out of Rome by Clandius Caesar; for though Claudius banished them out of Rome; yet we do not find that he confined any of them to this or that place, but rather gave them liberty to go to dwell where they pleased, so they departed out of Rome, as it appeareth by Aquila and Priscilla, that were driven out of Rome, Act. 18.2. but were permitted to go to inhabit where they would; and therefore these, and the rest of the Visions of this book, that were, after the revealing of them, to be fulfiled, cannot be understood to be referred to any times or persons before Domitian's time. And though the holy Ghost saith, these Revelations were of things 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, Revel. 1.1. v. 3. which must shortly or suddenly come to pass, and that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, the time i e. of their fullfilling is at hand; yet doth not this any way prove, but that many of them might continue unfulfilled to these our times, and many remain to be accomplished after our time, in the ages that are yet to come; because all the time from the first coming of Christ on earth, to the second coming of Christ to the last judgement, which is the last Age of the World, is termed by this our Apostle, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the last hour; John. 2.18. Pet. 4.7. and by St. Peter it is called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, the last time. And he saith further, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, the end of all things is at band; and St. Paul saith, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, yet a very little little while, Heb. 10.37. he that is to come, will come, and will not tarry. And Christ, speaking of his coming to the last judgement, as appeareth plainly by the manner of his coming, with his reward with him, to render unto every man according as his work shall be, useth the very same word, as is here alleged for the speedy fullfilling of these Prophecies, Revel. ult. v 12. saying, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, behold, I come suddenly: and therefore whensoever any of these Visions is or shall be fulfilled, it is shortly and suddenly absque mora, without delay, even as the holy Ghostsaith. And he that would see this error of Grotius more fully discovered and confuted, Mares. p. 169. let him look into Maresius in his dissertati● de antichrists, where he shall find the truth of what I say more largely and most excellently confirmed. And so Hippolytus Carocotta saith, Epiphan. heresi Alogor. c. 33. that the authority of Epiphanius, who in the heresy of the Alogors, affirmeth St. John to be in Patmos, and to have written this Revelation, in the time of Claudius, is of no validity. And he further saith that solemn est Epiphanio caespitare in Historia, Epiphanius faileth often in the History, and he showeth how Petavius the Jesuit noteth in the Margin, Epiphanium mendose Claudium posuisse pro Domitiano; and then produceth St. Hierom. de script. Eccles. and Eusebius in Chron. and Baronius that putteth this his banishment in the ninth year of Domitian, Baron an. Christi 92. Sect. 1. Three others understand by this beast the preachers of the Antichrist. Bellar. l. 3. c. 15. the rom. pontifice. Junius annot. c. 13.11. & in c. 17.12. which was 35. years after the death of Claudius. But to return to this beast, other learned men, as St. Greg. Aretas, Rupertus, and as Bellarm saith, Richardus, Anselmus, and Haymo, by this 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, the beast that risen out of the earth, do understand, the Preachers and Proclaimers of the greatness, and the worthiness of the Antichrist. And so Junius likewise (in his Annotations) saith, it signifieth the Ecclesiastical Hierarchy, quam pseudo prophetissam vocat; and further addeth, that à Johanne pseudo prophetae appellatione donatur; the Evangelist St. John calleth this very beast the false prophet, as you may see in cap. 16.13. and cap. 19.20. therefore this beast must signify some Preachers that pretend to reach the ways and will of God unto the people. And truly I am in part of Junius his opinion: and I do subscribe to the judgement of the aforesaid Fathers, that by this beast, we are to understand some Ecclesiastical Persons, that undertake the preaching of God's word, either lawfully called, or illegally intruding themselves into the Sacred Function of the Ministry; and both sorts most wickedly corrupting the truth, and seducing the flock of Christ; and so Irenaeus, one of the most Ancient Interpreters of this book of the Apocalypse, hath observed; and it will so appear to any one, that will compare cap. 13. v. 13.14.15.16. where you may see, how this beast is subservient to the other beast, with the 19 chap. v. 20. where the other ten horned beast was taken, and with him the false Prophet, that wrought miracles before him, and with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast; Mr Mede. p. 65. So this beast is none other than the false prophet. And so Mr. Mr Mede. p. 65. Mede taketh this beast to signify some Ecclesiastical Persons, and so do I But with their favour, I take them not, as Junius takes them, for the Roman Clergy, nor as Mr. Mede meaneth, for the Pope and his Cardinals, which is the same that Junius meant: This second beast exerciseth all the power of the first beast. c. 13.12. but the Pope exerciseth his own power. but I say that this beast cannot signify these men; because the practice of this beast doth no ways agree with those Prelates, nor those Prelates of the Roman Church do any whit cohere with the particulars of those things, that are here mentioned to be acted by this beast; for the Pope and the Cardinals of Rome, as all men know, and our men tax them for it, do exercise their own power, and use their own authority, and not the power of the other beast, which Junius and his followers make to be the Rom. civil state, or imperial dignity; and those Prelates say, as you may obviously see it in Bellarm. Becanus, and the rest of that Church, that as the Moon borroweth her light from the Sun, so should the Civil state take and receive all her directions and form of Government from the Church, and the Governors of the Church, of which they pretend to be the chief. Object. And if you say, as our men do, that would have the Pope and his Cardinals to be this second Beast, that they exercised the Power of the first Beast, when the Empire was weakened, and the Civil State decayed, and the Power of the Emperors was so usurped and transferred unto the Pope; because this Power, which they now unjustly exercise, was the just Power of the Emperor, and of other Kings, whom the Pope and his Cardinals subjected, Volater. l 22. Authropolog in Alexand. 3. Hoveden & Math. Paris in Reg. Joh. ursburgens. in Fred. 1. as the Histories do relate, unto themselves. Sol. I answer, that the Holy Ghost meaneth not that this second Beast took away, and usurped the Power and Authority of the first Beast, but did all Acts, and exercised all his jurisdiction and his function, by virtue of the power, and under the protection and the countenance, that he received by and from the authority of the first beast; as the Sheriff exerciseth the power of the King, for the service of the King; for so the words do plainly intimate, that this two horned Beast exercised the Power of the former beast, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, in the presence of him, or before him; that is, for the service, and to the use and behoof of the former Beast; because that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, In conspectu Jehovae, saith Tremelius. 1 Sam. 2.18. is here equivalent to 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, the dative case, as when it is said that Samuel was 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, Ministering in the presence of the Lord, or before the Lord; it signifieth, as it is also expressed, Cap. 3. 1. that he was 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, Ministering to the Lord; so this second Beast exercised all the Power of the first Beast, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, to the use, service, and setting forward the practices and designs of the first Beast: and this appeareth very clear from the words immediately following; in that this second Beast causeth the Earth, and them that dwell therein, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, Cap. 13.12. that they should worship the first Beast; that is, not to ascribe any Divine Honour, but to submit themselves, to obey, and to serve, and assist the first Beast. And we know the Pope and his Cardinals, and so all the Roman Clergy, That the Bishop of Rome and his Clergy cannot be meant by the second Beast. cause all the Rulers of the Earth, and all the juhabitants thereof to worship, Honour, and serve themselves, as those that are most worthy of Honour, for the care that they take to save the souls of the people, rather and before the other Beast, that is, the Civil Magistrate, which careth only for our Temporal estates, and the things of this present life: and therefore deserves not so much worship as the other, that by the Testimony of the Apostle, are worthier of double Honour; because they labour to bring us to eternal life; in which respect we find how the Popes exacted, Plat●na in vita ejus French Epit. p. 93. and required the greatest Kings and Emperors to serve and to worship them, as Gregory the third did to Leo Iconomachus, Gregory the seventh to Henry the fourth, Pope Zachary the first, to Childerick King of France, Allexander the third, to Frederick Barbarossa, Celestine the third, to Henry the sixth, Speed, in the life of King John. Hoveden, Annal. p. 2. sub. Rich. 1. Innocent, to King John, Adrian the fourth, that made the Emperor to hold his stirrup, and the like, that you may find in the Annals, and the lives of the Kings and the Emperors; and therefore questionless the Pope, Cardinals, and Clergy of Rome cannot be understood by this second Beast. But all, that is here specified and spoken of the second Beast, The Parallel. That the Assembly of Presbyterians, and the Independent and Lay Preachers of the Parliament are the second Beast, and the false Prophet. doth in every particular point agree, and most aptly cohere with the Parliaments Heter●geniall and La●dicean Assembly of Divines, that sat at Westminster, together with their dispersed Disciples, wheresoever inhabiting within these Kingdoms, and with the swarm of Independent and Lay-Preachers, that sprang up since the beginning of that Parliament; for, these Presbyterian Divines, that, contrary to their Oaths, contrary to the Commands of their King, and contrary to their Faith, given in the presence of God, and in God's House, when they were admitted to Holy Orders; and the rest of the Independent and Lay-Preachers, have, as the Text saith, exercised all the Power of the Parliament: they sat in Westminster under the wings of the Parliament, and with the rest of their Associates, wheresoever dispersed, trusting to the Power and Protection of the Parliament, they Preached, Consulted, and Determined all things by the Power and Authority, and for the service, and advancement, and behoof of the Parliament; for the overthrowing of the King, See also what the Author of the last Will and Testament of Sir John Presbyter saith. Edward's in his Gangraena, p. 26. the rooting out of the Bishops, and the utter defacing of God's Church. And I think all the people of this Land knoweth this to be so true, that I need not use any argument to confirm it; and so the Independent Sectaries do avouch, that the Presbyterian Government is the false Prophet, and the Beast here spoken of; and the third part of the great City, Revel. 16.19. and on the other side, the proud Presbyterians do as confidently aver that the Independants and Lay-Preachers are this Beast; and so Clodius accusat moechum, Catelina Caethegum. and I out of their own mouths will take it pro confesso, and conclude them both to be parts constitutivas, the chiefest constituting parts that make up the second Beast, That the false Prophet is three fold● and the false Prophet. And this false Prophet is like the threeheaded Cerberus, consisting of three special branches, or three sort of Preachers, 1. The Presbyterians. And, to begin with the last. 2. The Independants. And, to begin with the last. 3. The Lay Preachers. And, to begin with the last. 1. The Lay Preachers may rightly be said to be one of the heads of Cerberus, and the false Prophet, in two special respects. 1. In respect of his eutrance into his Office; 2. In respect of his ignorance, to discharge the duties of his Office. For, 1. 1. The Lay Preacher a false Prophet in two respects. 1. His unjust entrance. Malach. 2.7. that the Priest is the Messenger of the Lord of Hosts; and the Apostle tells us, that no man taketh this Honour unto himself, that is, to be a Messenger, and an Ambassador sent from God, but he that is called of God, as was Aaron; and how was Aaron called? First, by the inward inspiration of God's Spirit. Secondly, lest he should be mistaken in the inspiration of the Spirit, because there are many spirits, by the appointment and Ordination of Moses, that had his Authority from God, to approve of his Vocation, and to confirm him in his Priestly Office: thus was Aaron called; and yet more than this; Heb. 5.4. the Apostle saith, that Christ himself, who is the wisdom of God, yet glorified not himself, to he made an High Priest, but he that said unto him, thou art a Priest for ever, Verse 5. after the Order of Melchisedech. And therefore none ought, like these Lay Preachers, thrust himself into the Office of a Priest, or Minister of God, but such as are Lawfully Called, and sufficiently allowed, and approved by them that have their Authority from God, as Moses had to confirm Aaron, to be Ministers of Christ; because they are, as the Apostle termeth them, Ambassadors of Christ; and you know every Ambassador must have his lawful Commission, or else he shall be taken for an impostor, and a seducer; as he that came from the King of Ingland to the States of the Low Countries, As the Answerer of W. Apollonius testifieth. and was sumptuously entertained the first day, but, being found an impostor, was clapped up in prison the next day; which is the just reward of Intruders. Therefore the Apostlos and Disciples of Christ, though filled with the Spirit of Christ, in a far greater measure than the best of these Lady Preachers, yet went they not to Preach the Gospel, Matth. 10.5.28.19. Marck 16.15. John 20, 21. until they had an outward injunction, and Commission from Christ, as you may see in Matth. 20.5, & 28.29. Mark 16.15. John 20.21. where our Saviour saith, as my Father sent me, even so send I you; which is a plain and a full Commission to them; that they were no intruders into the Sacred Function. And so, after the Ascension of Christ, we never find that any of the true Servants of God did ever undertake this calling, to be the Ambassador of Christ, and a Public Preacher of God's word, but such as were Lawfully allowed, and Canonically Ordained to that Function, by those that had a lawful Authority to admit them. And that Ordination of them consisted chief of these two parts. 2. Things requisite in the Ordination of Priests: 1. Fervent prayers. As you may see in Acts 6.6. 2. Imposition of hands. As you may see in Acts 6.6. Where the seven Deacons are set before the Apostles, and when they had prayed, they laid their hands on them: so Timothy was ordained by Prophecy, with the laying on of the hands of the Presbytery; 1 Tim. 4.14. and lest we should mistake his meaning, as the Presbyterians do, by making this place their bulwark, to protect their new erected Presbytery, St. Paul showeth what he meaneth by the hands of the Presbytery, when in the singular number, he saith, I put thee in remembrance, that thou stir up the gift of God, which is in thee, 2 Tim. 1.6. by the putting on of my hands: because he had the sole Power of Ordination residing in him; though, as the Bishops now, following his example, do use to call two or three grave Ministers for their assistance, so he called the Presbytery, that is, some other of the Elder Ministers, to lay their hands with him, as he joineth Sylvanus and Timotheus with himself, 1 Thes. 1.1. in his Salutation to the Thessalonians. And so, because Timothy was Ordained to be the first Bishop of Ephesus, as not only the postscript of his second Epistle testifieth, but also Eusebius, and all other Ecclesiesticall Writers, without any contradiction, do affirm; St. Paul chargeth him in particular, as whom it particularly concerned, to lay hands suddenly on no man; that is, 1 Tim. 5.22. not rashly and carelessly to admit any kind of men to be the Ministers of Jesus Christ; but advisedly to consider, What the Primitive Church Ordered should be done about the Ordination of Priests. and Religiously to Ordain such as he found most fitting for so High a Calling. And therefore according to this Charge of the Apostle to Bishop Timothy, the Bishops of the Primitive Church, and the immediate successors of the Apostles took such special care, to provide worthy Ministers for God's Church, that in imitation of the Apostles, Acts. 14.23. 1. They Appointed and Ordained, that the whole Church, that is, 1. Thing. all the faithful people of God, that Professed to believe in Christ, should observe four Ember weeks in every year, wherein all the Christians should Fast, and Pray to God, that he would vouchsafe to send them godly and able Ministers; because that 2. They Ordained, that each Bishop, on the next Lord's day, 2. Thing. after each Ember week, should, with the assistance of some of his Grave Clergy, Ordain such as they found most fitting, and worthy of this High Calling; and I fear that the neglect of the performance of this duty of Prayer and Fasting on those Ember weeks, among the people, have produced such defects as be in many Ministers; and perhahs the Bishops, as well as the people, were not all so careful, and so circumspect as they ought to have been, in the Ordination of their Clergy; for, as you may see in the 1 Tim. 3.10. and in Titus, 1.5.6. 1 Tim. 3.10. Tit. 1.5, & 6. those that were to be admitted Priests or Deacons, were to be proved and examined, and being found blameless, and qualified, as the Apostle requireth in the foresaid places; prayers were to be made for them, The great care taken in former times, in the Ordination of Priests and Deacons. and hands to be laid on them, and then Authority was given unto them, to execute that Holy Fuction; so great was the care, that was formerly used in the Ordination of Priests and Deacons, and no man durst presume to intrude himself into this Holy Office, nor any man was suffered to execute these Functions, but such as were thus Religiously Ordained. And no wonder; for this calling, being foe transeendently high, non collectio pecuniarum, not the gathering of Rents, or the King's Revenues, but custodia animarum the care and custody of men's souls, which are the living images of the Eternal God; The great care that should be taken in ordaining priests and Deocons. and which is, onus Angelicis humeris formidandum, a burden, saith S. Hierome, that is able to make Angels shoulders to shrink under it? so heavy, that St. Paul cries out, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉? who is sufficient for these things? And the Lord God himself showeth unto Moses, what care ought to be had, in the choosing, approving and sanctifying of them, that were to serve at his Altar; for Aaron and his sons, that were but types and figures of the Evangelical Priests, were to be consecrated seven days together, and a bullock was to be offered for a sin offering every day, Exod. 29.35. before they were admitted to administer in their office. Object. But I know that our Lay-Preachers will object, that these were Jewish Rites and shadows, that are vanished with their temple; and therefore no ways pertaining to us Christians; Sol. I answer that the Old Testament, or the Law, Heb. 10. which was the shadow of good things to come, and not the very image of the things, is acknowledged by all to be a Type and figure of the New Testament, The things of the old Test. types of the things that should be done in the New Testament. 1 Cor. 13.12. and the Gospel; not only, in the Legal Sacrifices, that were, but the shadows of the True Sacrifice Jesus Christ; but also in most of the ritual things and Ceremonies, that are mentioned to be used about the Service of God in the Old Testament, whose soul or substance should be far more transcendently employed in the service of God, under the New Testament, for as the New Testament, and the service of God under it, is the very express image of the Celestial and Heavenly things, and a figure of those things that we shall see in Heaven; as St. Paul teacheth; so those things, that chanced and were commanded to be observed in the Synagogne of the Jews, were types and figures of these things, that should be done in the Church of Christ; Gal. 3.24. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. Nazianz. inorat. de S. pas: cham. and they are termed pedagogia ad Christum; introductions leading us unto Christ: and Greg. Nazianzene calleth the Old Testament: vallum quoddam inter Deum & idola medium; a certain trench, or wall set indifferently betwixt God and idols; so as we might pass by that, from the idle unto God, and from the Law, as from the Sampler, unto the verity, from the figure to the thing, and from the shadow to the substance. And therefore the Apostle, in many places, citeth the old Law for the very figure of the New; Deut. 25.4 as where it is written in the Law, Thou shalt not muzzle the mouth of the ox that treadeth out the corn, he saith, this was written for us, 1 Cor. 9 & 9 that live under the Gospel, to teach us, that God would have the Lay men to relieve their spiritual Pastors; and where he saith, that Hagar and Mount Sinai did represent the old Law, Gal. 4.24. and Ishmael the Jewesh Synagogue; and on the other side, Sarah and Jerusalem signified the Gospel, and Isaac represented the Church of Christ; and again, where he saith, that the fathers were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea, and all were baptised by Moses in the cloud, 1 Cor. 10.1.3.4. and all did eat the same spiritual meat; and then he addeth, haec omnia in figura contigerunt illis, that all these things happened to them in a figure, to signify the baptism, that we receive, and the spiritual food, that we take in the blessed Eucharist under the New Testament; 1 Pet. 3.20. & 21. The Cerem. sanctisying of the old Test. Priests, was a type of the sanctity required in the ordaining of the priests of the New Test. and St. Peter likewise showeth how Noah's Ark, was a Type and a figure of our baptism. And so I say, that the Ceremonial sanctifying of the Priests of the old Law, was but atype and a figure of that true and real sanctity and holiness, and spiritual endowments, that are requifite to be in the Priests of the New Testament. Or, if our novices and Lay-intruders into this sacred Function, be not so learned, as to understand types and figures, nor so quick-fighted as to perceive things spoken in enigmate; then let them look into the New Testament, and they shall find there, how our Saviour Christ, Luke 6.12. before the choosing of his Apostles, continued all night in prayer: and when it was day, he called his Disciples, and out of them he chose 12. Apostles: and was not this done for our instruction, to teach us, what we should do, before we send forth Preachers, and Priests, to feed the flock of Christ? and after his Resurrection, Luke 24.50. before he sent his Apostles to preach, he lifted up his hands and blessed them; and St. John saith, he breathed on them, and said, receive ye the holy Ghost; John 20.22. and when the holy Ghost said, Separate me Barnabas and Saul, for the work whereunto I have called them, the other Prophets and Teachers, which were Simon, and Lucius, and Manaen, fasted and prayed, and laid their hands on them, Acts 13.3. and then sent them away, to discharge their Function. And so, as I told you, all the Primitive Bishops, and Fathers of the Church, in imitation of Christ and his Apostles, have observed the same course, Acts 14.23. of fasting and prayers, and imposition of hands, before they send any man to be the Preaecher and Minister of any Parish; so careful were they heretofore in this point, to see that no unlearned or unworthy person should be admitted to be the servant and Ambassador of Christ, to declare his message, to administer at his Table, to dispense his graces, and to be the shepherd to feed his flock, which are Offices of so high an esteem; for if man will not receive every kind of person, especially, such as he knoweth to be vain, vicious or idle, that offereth himself to be his servant; shall we think that God will accept of every one, Ignatius in epist ad Smyrnenses. that will presumptuously thrust himself to be the Ambassador of Jesus Christ? no, questionless, and therefore Ignatius, that was Bishop of Antioch, in the Apostles time, next after Evodius, writing to the Smyrnenses, or Church of Symrna, saith, Let no man do any thing appertaining, to the Church, Yea, let not the Administration of the Eucharist, that is the Lords Supper, be lawful, but by the Bishop, or by him that is admitted and hath his authority from the Bishop. God foretells us of these intruders, that we might shun them. Jerem. 23.21. And yet, he that before all time foresaw these times, God himself, and Christ himself tells us, that many false prophets would intrude themselves into his service, and many false Apostles would very presumptuously thrust themselves into the Ministry; for the Lord saith, I have not sent these Prophets, yet they run, that is more greedily than the true Prophets, that do know the weight of this heavy churge; and again he saith, I have not spoken to them, yet they prophesied; therefore their preaching must needs be vain and erroneous; Jerem. 14.14. and so the Lord testifieth, saying, they prophesy lies in my name, for I sent them not, neither have I commanded them, neither spoke I unto them; but they prophesy unto you a false vision, and divination, and a thing of naught, and the deceits or devices of their own bearts: And our Saviour saith, Matth. 24.24. ver. 5. ver. 11. there shall arise false Christ's, and false prophets, and shall show great signs, and shall deceive many, and if it were possible, the very Elect; for they will come, as he saith, in his name, that is, profess themselves to besent from him, and to be his most faithful servants, and the very Saints of God; and thereby they shall deceive the people, which otherwise, if they came in Mahomet's name, or in the Pope's name, they could not prevail to deceive them; and St. Paul saith, this I know, that after my departure shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock; also of your own selves, that is, questionless, among the Lay people, shall men arise, and not be sent, speaking perverse things, Act. 20.29. to draw away disciples after them; and these are the young novices and Lay Trades men, that as St. John saith, went from us, but were never of us, that is, neither called nor approved by us, but, intruding themselves into our Office, and separating themselves from the old way, which, as the Prophet saith, Jerem. 6.16. is the good way, do preach strange doctrines, to gather to themselves Churches out of the Church of Christ, and to lead them out of the fold of Christ, unto the dens of the destroyer, from whence, as out of Cacus den, vestigia nullae retrorsum; there can be no deliverance without great repentance. Saint Peter likewise saith, 2 Peter 2.1. that as there were false Prophets amongst the people of the Jews, so there should be false Teachers among us, who privily should bring in damnable heresies, and many shall follow their pernicious ways; and these be our itinerant Preachers, that wander from Parish to Parish, and go from house to house, and so privily, as the Apostle saith, do lead men into Schisms and most damnable heresies; and of these Saint Judas prophesied, saying, Judas, v. 12, and 13. that they were wand'ring stars without light, and clouds without water, carried away with the wind. Nay, more than all this, St. Paul tells us, the time would come, as we see now it is come, when men would not endure to hear sound Doctrine, but after their own lusts should heap to themselves Teachers, having itching ears, which they shall turn away from the truth unto fables: 2 Tim. 4.3, 4. for, if you search all times, from St. Paul's time to these very times, I would fain know when was there such heaps of Teachers, and such an inhibition to hear the truth, and to Preach sound Doctrine, as now it is? for, whereas before the Teachers of errors and heresies were not endured; now, very few Congregations where I live, are permitted to be content, and to enjoy their old settled, and well known Pastors, but they must have some wand'ring stars to enlighten them, and such Teachers to instruct them, as neither understand the state of the Flocks, which we should be careful to know, as Solomon saith, Prov. 27.23. nor know the diseases of the sheep; and therefore must needs be ignorant, how to apply any remedies to them, lest they should give them poison in stead of medicines. And if the old Doctors, and the Faithful Ministers of Christ undertake to Preach, they are affronted, as I foreshowed, and so threatened and terrified, that the people are afraid to hear them; whereby you may see, that, as the Apostle saith, the sound Doctrine, and True Service of God cannot be endured to be heard; by reason of such heaps of false Prophets, and wand'ring stars, that are sprung up amongst us. And yet our Saviour tells you, how these false Teachers should come unto you, How the false Prophets deal with the people, and exclaim against true Prophets. in sheep's clothing, that is, with smooth flattering speeches, pretending that they come for your salvation; but withal, he tells you, that in very deed, they are inwardly ravening wolves, and their ways lead you to destruction: for they speak you fair, and cry out against the trus Governors of God's Church, that never admitted such intruders to be God's Ministers; and they roar and rail against all the Learned Preachers of the Gospel, as if wisdom, and knowledge, and learning, were odious unto God, and to be excluded out of Heaven, where they think none shall come, but folly, and ignorance, 2 Chron. 18.23. and simplicity; and therefore they smite their Governors, and these Learned men, on the cheeks, as Zedechia did to Michaiah, that is, they throw dirt in their faces, and beslubber their reputation, with most scandalous aspersions, that they are Popish, superstitious, and the very limbs of the Antichrist: and that they have not God's Spirit, which they presume to know, as if they were of God's Counsel; and all is to no other end, then to seduce the people to renounce their true Pastors, as they have now done, and to take them for their gracious Protectors. But, How King Philip sought to seduce the Athenians, and how Demosthenes prevented him. let the people take heed, lest these new Teacher's deal with them, as Philip of Macedon intended, as Demosthenes said, to deal with the Athenians, when, before he Warred upon them, he sent unto them word, that all his quarrel was against their Philosophers and Orators, that suggested rebellions, and disobedience unto the people; and therefore, if they would renounce them, apprehend them, and transmit them unto him, he would become their true friend, and loving Patron; whereupon, the learned Orator told the Athenians, that the wolves, on a time, sent unto the sheep, to tell them, that their shepherd's dogs hunted them, and worried them, and very often bit them sore, and sometimes killed them; and therefore advised them, to lay hold upon their dogs, and send them bound to them, and so they should be freed from their persecutors, and they would become their friends, to protect them from all dangers; whereupon, the silly sheep, being glad to be freed from their dogs, and itching after novelties, and desirous to make trial of their new masters, found a way to catch their dogs, and so delivered all their faithful preservers unto the faithless wolves, who, as soon as ever they got the dogs into their hands, fell upon the sheep, without resistance, and destroyed them all at their pleasure, without pity; even so, said Demosthenes, will King Philip deal with you, when you have delivered your learned Philosophers, and grave Orators into his hands; and he was herein a very true Prophet. And I pray God these false Prophets, upstart novices, and unlawful, unlicenced intruders into the sacred calling of the Ministry, deal not so or worse with our people; for if the blind lead the blind, Matth. 15.14. both must needs fall into the ditch; if young ignorant Scholars lead old ignorant men, both must fall into new and old errors, and if the tradesmen teach the husbandmen, and the countrymen teach the citizens, and the soldiers teach them both the way to heaven; I fear they will but walk apace towards hell; when as this is but the devils new policy to obstruct the old way of verity, and a hellish trick to put out the heavenly light; for, as Moses tells the Israelites, Deut. 32.17. that their new Gods that came newly up, whom their fathers feared not, were but old devils; so I may truly say, that these new teachers are but old bereticks and false Prophets, and their new lights are but ignis fatuus, infernal torches to lead the people to everlasting darkness. Questio. But you will say, what shall we do in this case, when such men, as have not been lawfully called, shall come to preach unto us, and to do the service of the Lord? Solutio: I answer, that you should do as the Prophet Jeremy adviseth you, and as our Saviour Christ counselleth you; believe them not; and because faith cometh by hearing, the Prophet tells you, thus saith the Lord of Hosts, harken not unto the words of these Prophets, that speak visions of their own heart; Jerem. 12.6. Matth. 24.26. Jerem. 23.16. John 10.5. What the Cocarrice useth to do. and our Saviour saith, my sheep will not follow a stranger, neither will they know a stranger's voice: but they will stop their ears as the Cockatrice, that will not hear the voice of the charmer, charm he never so wisely, but will lay one ear close unto the ground, and stop the other ear with her tail, that she may not be charmed with his sweetest music; so should we deal with those Preachers, that are not lawfully admitted to be the Ministers of God's word; for as a little Colloquiutida spoilt all the pot of pottage, 2 Reg. 4.40. that the children of the Prophets cried out, mors in olla, and a little poison infects the whole mess of meat; so a few dangerous errors are able to destroy many of the hearers of these Preachers. And therefore, as it is not safe to taste of a poisoned dish, so it is dangerous to hear an heretical or schismatical Preacher; and as the Lord demands of them, quis requisivit haec? who hath required these things at your hands? Psal. 50.16, and again, why takest thou my laws in thy mouth, that is to preach them unto my people, when as thou hatest to be reform, that is, to go the right way to do thy work? so Christ bids us, to take heed how we hear, Mark 4.24. and so consequently to take heed what we hear, and whom we hear; for as it is a fin in them, to run to preach; unbidden, and unsent; without a warrant, and without commission; so it is a sin in us, to be partakers of other men's sins, and we make ourselves as guilty in hearing them, as they are in preaching to us; because they would not preach to us, if we did not hear them; and the same God that forbids them to preach that are unsent, forbids us to bear them that are unauthorised; for they that come in by the window, and not by the door, that is the usual, accustomed and ordinary way to come to any house, John 10. they are thiefs and robbers saith our Saviour Christ; and Chemnitius, whom Brightman saith was prophesied of in the Revelation of Saint John, to be the giver of a mighty wound unto the Antichrist, saith, certum est, ex verbe Dei neminem in Ecclesia audiendum esse, qui non legitimè sit vocatus; it is certain out of the word of God, that we ought to hear none in the Church, which is not lawfully called; Chemnit. loc. come. de Eccles. pag. 129.1. Clemens in epi ad Corinth. de success. ministrorum. imo Ecclesia non debent, nec possunt cum fructu audire eos, qui non habent legitimae voeationis testimonia; nay, saith he, the Churches ought not, nor can they with any fruit hear them, which have not the testimonials of their lawful calling: and if you look into Saint Clemens, which lived about the year of Christ 113. you shall find him to be of the same mind; and therefore the Church ordained, that Priests and Deacons should not departed from one Diocese to another, without letters demissary from their Diocessans, that the Churches might not be deceived by them; but be sure of lawful Ministers. O but the people are glad to be eased, and to be freed from those large Salaries and payments of their tithes and offerings, which they were wont to pay to their old Pastors, and do esteem it better to have the word of God brought unto them by these men, that do it, as the Apostles did it, freely, then by those that look so plentifully to be rewarded for it. To this Saint August. briefly answereth, that neither the covetous worldling, nor the miserable Christian shall go free, but, quod non capit Christus, rapit fiscus; Hag. 1.16. what the Minister of Christ shall not get, the soldier, and perhaps thine enemy will have; and what they have by their exchange, they may, ere long, well put it, as the Prophet saith, into a broken bag. But were it so, that the soldiers and Lay-Elders would still continue, and preach always to them for nothing; which I shall scarce believe; yet I would desire all good Christians to remember what the Prophet David said unto Araunah, when he offered as a King, unto the King, his ground and his oxen, his instruments, and his wheat, 2 Sam. 24. 1 Chr. 21.24 to bestow them freely upon him, to serve the Lord; nay, saith, King David, but I will buy them of thee, at the full price; neither will I offer burnt offerings unto the Lord, of that which cost me nothing; because the Lord commandeth us to honour God with our riches, and we ought not to love our gold better than the service of our God. And so you see by their intrusion into this sacred function, uncalled, and unauthorised, these Lay-Preachers are one especial head of Cerberus, and a principal branch of this false Prophet. And 2. 2. The inability of the Lay-Preachers, proves them to be the false Prophet. 1 Tim. 1.6, 7. As their usurpation of this office, and their false entrance into it, is one main argument to prove the same, so their ignorance and weakness, to discharge this office, is another argument to confirm it; and Saint Paul speaking of such teachers, telleth Timothy, that before his departure, divers had swarved from the true faith, and had turned aside into vain jangling, desiring to be teachers of the Law, but understanding neither what they said, nor whereof they affirmed; and so now these Lay-Preachers of the Gospel; whose office is, as the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 doth import, to publish the glad tidings of salvation by Jesus Christ unto the people, will be always jangling in the harsh music of the Law, to bring men, as they do many tender consciences, into fearful desperation; because as the Apostle saith, they understand not the right use of the Law, The twofold reason why the Lay-preachers do misinterpret the Scriptures. nor how to make the right application of it; and so the do in like manner misapply the promises of the Gospel, and pervert many places of the holy Scriptures; and the reason hereof seems to be two fold. 1. Their ignorance, and want of arts, languages, and learning, to search and to find out the truth: 2. The obscurity and difficulty to understand the holy Scripture. 1. Because they are ignorant and unlearned men. 1. The wisdom of a learned man cometh by opportunity of leisure, and he that giveth his mind to the Law of the most high, is occupied in the meditation thereof, and will seek out the wisdom of all the ancient, and be occupied in prophecies; he will keep the say of the renowned men; and where subtle parables are, he will be there also; he will seek out the secrets of grave sentences, and be conversant in dark parables. But, how can he get wisdom, that holdeth the plough, and that glorieth in the goad, that driveth oxen, and is occupied in their labours, and whose talk is of bullocks? for he giveth his mind to make furrows, and is diligent to give the kine fodder: so, every carpenter and workmaster, that laboureth night and day, and they that cut and grave seals, and are diligent to make great variety; the smith also, sitting by the anvil, and considering the iron work, setteth his mind to finish it, and watcheth to polish it perfectly; and so the potter, sitting at his work, turneth the wheel about with his feet, and fashioneth the clay with his arm, and is diligent to make clean the furnace. And all these, and all others, the like Tradesman, that trust to their hands, shall not be sought for in Public Counsel, nor sit on the Judge's Seat; Ecclesiast. 38. and 24. Vsque ad 34. fin. cap. for they cannot understand the Sentence of judgement, nor declare what is justice; and therefore they shall not be found where parables are spoken, saith the wise son of Syrach. And if such lay men, and tradesmen cannot understand justice and judgement in Civil matters, nor find out the say, aphorisms, and parables of men, how shall they be able to search out the deep things of God, and to understand the Mysteries of the Holy Scriptures? for, 2. It is not an easy matter, and of small labour, and without learning, 2. Because the Scaipture is full of obscurity, and very hard to be understood. to explain the Scriptures, to reconcile different Texts, and seeming contradictions, and to unfold the sense, and mystical meaning of the Holy Ghost, as you may find by what the Apostles say, in 1 Tim. 3.16. Heb. 5.11. and 2 Pet. 3.16. how difficult, and hard a matter it is, to expound the Great Mysteries of Godliness; and how, by reason of that difficulty, the unlearned and unstable, do wrist them to their own destruction; for, you may observe, that although Christ taught the people in the plain, yet he taught his Disciples in the Mount; Luke 6.17. Matth. 5.1. Luke 5.3, 4. and while the people stood on the shore, he bids his Apostles to launch forth into the deep; to show unto us, that as Origen saith, the Scripture consisteth of an outward bark, which is soft and tender, and may easily be plained, and of an inward substance, which is hard and tough, and cannot so easily be squared; or, as S. Gregory saith, that the Doctrine of Christ, and the Mysteries of the Holy Scriptures, are like the Ocean sea, where a lamb may wade by the shore, where the people stood, and the Elephant may swimm in the deep, where the Apostles launched forth; to Teach us this Truth; Many things in Scripture easy to be understood; as the heads. 1. To be done. 2. To be believed. that the meanest capacity, the vulgar and lay people may understand out of the Scriptures, what they should do, as to fear God, to Honour their Parents, to obey the Magistrates, not to kill, not to commit adultery, not to steal, and the like; and the chief necessary Heads of their Christian Faith, as to believe in Jesus Christ, that through him they shall have remission of their sins, and Eternal life; and that this truth is Sealed unto them by the blessed Sacraments of Baptism, and the Lords Supper: and yet, the strongest Head, the greatest Wit, and most exquisite Scholars, may find there such depth, as cannot easily be dived into; but will soon swallow them up, and like the Sun in his full strength, dazzle and confound their fight, The reasons of the difficulty to explain, and to understand the Scriptures. 1. The diversity of Languages. if they be not very careful to go the right way, and take great pains, and earnestly pray to God for his help, to understand the same. And the reason of this difficulty, to explain, and to unfold the Scripture, is manifold; as, 1. The diversity of Languages; wherein the same was written, and the great affinity of the Hebrew with the Syriac and the Chaldick tongue, with the very many equivocal words of the Hebrew Language, which made the Jews themselves many times to mistake the meaning thereof; as, 1. When Christ said, destroy this Temple, John. 2.19. Marck. 14.58. and in three days I will raise it up, they thought he spoke it of the material Temple, when he meant the Temple of his body; and the same word signified both the one and the other. 2. When he told his Disciples, Matth. 19.24. Luke 19.25. it was easier for a Camel to go through the eye of a needle, then for a rich man to enter into the Kingdom of Heaven; and this was a proverbial speech among the Jews, when they spoke of any hard, and unlikely thing to be done; it was easier for a Camel to go through the eye of a needle, as Caninius observeth out of their Talmud; and yet most men, and many good interpreters, and of no small learning, have understood the word of that great and large fized fourfooted beast, called a Camel, whereas the word indeed, quo hic utitur paraphrastes funem anchoratum significat, which the Paraphrast saith, our Saviour used, signifieth a Cable rope, which being untwifted, may easily pass through an needle's eye, and so may the rich man enter into the Kingdom of Heaven, if he disperseth his wealth, and give them to the poor; though, as our Saviour saith, it is easier for us to untwist the Cable rope, then to persuade the rich men to part with their goods, and give them to the poor, or to any pious uses. 3. When he cried out, Math. 27.46. Eloe, Eloe, Lamasabacthany, the Jews said, he calleth for Elias; when, as the words signified, My God, My God, why hast thou forsaken me? 4. When, John. 20.16. after the resurrection of Christ, Mary turned herself towards him, and said, Rabboli, which is, Master; Tremelius saith, that in this word, either the letter Lamed is put for Nun, and so Rabboli for Rabboni; or else it is a composition of the Noun with the pronoun, and Rabboli is put for rabbonli; and it is not properly any Hebrew word, but a Chaldaic, and Syriac; and it is said to be an Hebrew word, quia tunc temporis Syriaca lingua hebraeis esset vulgaris; because that the Syriac Tongue was then common amongst the Jews, when they had lost the use of their own Tongue in their Captivity, and had learned, in that space of seventy years, the Idioms, and the phrases of the Conquerors, and the bordering neighbours, that were either the Chaldeans, Tremel. in Joh. 20.16. or the Syrians; and this, saith Tremelius, non tantum hic observari debet, ought not only to be observed here, but in many other places of the New Testament, where these words, that are properly Chaldic, or Syriac, are said to be Hebrew words. 2. 2. The not pointing of the Scriptures. In Scriptura divina dictiones, Syllaba, puncta mysteria indicant divina. Hieron. in Epes. c. 3. & Basilius l. sexto. c. 1. The not pointing, and especially the mispointing of the Scripture-writing made many doubts, and brought many errors, even amongst the greatest Scholars; for the Hebrews, at first, used no points at all in their writings; and then, the Transcribers mispointing the same, made it to be mistaken, and misunderstood of the readers, which is easily done, when the pointing thereof is done amiss; as, Edwardum occidere noli, timere bonum est; and his keeper read it, Edwardum occidere noli timere, bonum est; and so, the misplacing of a comma, the least of all points, made the King to lose his life, the Highest of all men; so the Oracle, saying, Ibis, redibis nunquam, mala morte peribis; and the man reading the sentence of the Oracle thus; Ibis, redibis, vunquam per bella peribis; made him to miscarry, because of his mis-reading it; and the Poet wittily writing to a fair Lady, said, Women are Virtuous, Noble, and Excellent, Who can prove that they do offend? Daily to please their husbands they do intent; Never, to displease them they do purpose; commonly such qualities have women. And the husband, who knew his wife's qualities better than the Poet, read the very same verses, thus; Women are Virtuous, Noble and Exceilent, Who can prove that? they do offend Daily: to please their husbands they do intent Never; to displease them they purpose commonly; such qualities have women. And so it is in the mispointing of the Holy Scriptures, as in Act. 1.25. the placing of the comma, at the word fell, from whence Judas by transgression fell, sheweth the meaning of the Holy Ghost to be, that Mathias might go to his own place, that is, to his own proper Diocese, and allotted jurisdiction; but the omitting of that comma, which is but a small point, made many Great Scholars to commit a foul error, by referring the last sentence unto Judas, that he might go to his own place, that is, the place which God had determined for him, for his punishment, and he had justly deserved, which is, hell; as if God, ab initio, had decreed this place for him, but could not in justice send him thither, until he had fallen from his Ministry, by his transgression; Which is the Doctrine of the Presbyterians. which is derogatory to the goodness and justice of God, and far from the meaning of the Holy Ghost, that referreth this clause unto Mathias, and the words, (from whence Judas by his transgression fell) betwixt two commas, are to be read, as if they were enclosed within a parenthesis. And this reading of the place, thus pointed, teacheth two things. 1. It freeth God from the imputation of injustice, or hard dealing, 1. To free God from the imputation of injustice. All things past and to come, are present with God. that otherwise, the Heretics, from this place, might with some colour object against God, for preparing hell for men, before ever they sinned, which he never did, but as he is a pure act, with whom there is neither prius nor posterius, but forseeth all things, and acteth all things, that either were, or are, or shall be, as things present, without any aspect, either backward or forward; whereby things to come, with God, are said to be, as if they were already past. 2. This showeth, how the Apostles themselves, 2. That the Apostles, though their Commission was general, yet had they their peculiar jurisdiction. Galat. 2.7, 8, 9 Dorothaeus de vitis Apostol Abdias Histor. Apestol. l. 7. Petrusde not. l. 3. c. 149. Hieron. cate-log. Eccles. Scriptor. Titus. 2.11. whose commission was so general, as to go, in universum mundum, over all the world; yet notwithstanding, to avoid confusion, they agreed to have their commissions limited, and a proper Diocese, and a peculiar jurisdiction assigned to each of them, as the Gospel of the Circumcision unto St. Peter, and of the uncircumcision unto St. Paul; and St. Andrew was assigned to Preach unto the Scythians, and Sogdians, Philip to the Phrygians, Bartholomeus to the Indians, Thomas to the Parthians, Matthew to the Ethiopians, etc. and so the lot fell upon Mathias, that he might take part of the Ministry of the Apostles, and go to discharge that Ministry, in his own proper place and Diocese, which the Holy Ghost should assign unto him, and which was Macedenia, as Petrus de natalibus writeth, or about the Haven of Hyssus, in Ethiopia, as St. Hierom saith. So, in Titus 2.11. some read, the grace of God, which briugeth salvation unto all men, hath appeared; and from thence they conclude, that Christ hath purchased universal Grace, and salvation for all men, as well for Judas as for St. Peter; but others read it, the grace of God, which bringeth salvation, unto all men hath appeared; from whence they conclude, that Christ brought only to the true believers the grace of salvation, which by the Public Preaching of the Gospel, appeareth to be offered unto all men; but he offereth not, as he purchased not the same for all; which, were it so, it were but a mere collusion, which is far from the meaning of God; and yet you see, Which is the deceitful Doctrine of the Presbyterians. 1 Pet. 3.19. that the very self same words are made to be of very far different sense; and all by the placing, or mis-placing of a comma. And so the like difference, if not greater, arose amongst the greatest Scolars, about the right pointing, and thereupon the interpreting of that place of St. Peter, in the 1 Peter 3.19. and both the mispointing and misinterpreting thereof hath brought forth that spurious Doctrine of the Popish purgatory, that brings only a gain unto the Teachers, but no Comfort at all unto the believers; And I might collect abundance of such mispointings; both in the Greek and Laetine copies of the Bible, besides what may be found in the Hebrew, Chaldie and Syriac. 3. The confounding of names. 3. The confounding of names, when as some men having two or three names, and the same name, being far unlike itself, when it is translated to another Language, doth require a great deal of pains, study, and care, to find out the right persons that are meant, under those different names; and the neglect of that care and diligence hath produced many doubts, and bred some errors amongst the best Authors; 1. Chron. 9.4. as where, in 1. Chron. 9.4. it is said, that in Jerusalem dwelled Vthai, the son of Amihud, the son of Omri, the son of Imri, the son of Bani; of the children of Pharez, the son of Judah; and Nehemias', Nehem. 11.4. in the 11. ch. v. 4. speaking of the same persons, that then were inhabiting at Jerusalem, saith, that at Jerusalem dwelled Athaiah, the son of Vzziah, the son of Zecharia, the son of Amaria, the son of Shephatia, the son of Mahalaleel, of the children of Peres: And how can these places, that are so different, and as it seems, so fully contrary one to another be reconciled, by him that takes no care, and hath no learning, nor leisure from his secular affairs and calling, to search after it? But the learned Tremelius was able briefly to resolve this doubt, Tremel. in loc. saying, that it can be none otherwise, but that high omnes binomines erant, all these men had two names apiece; or else one of the two places of the Scripture must needs be false, which would be most absurd for any Christian to imagine. And so of the very Kings of Juda, 2 Chron. 22.6 Achazia is called Hazaria, 2 Chron. 22.6. and in another place he is called Joachas; and St. Matthew calleth him Ozias, Matth. 1.8. Jerem, 22.24 Matth.. 1.8. and so Vzzia is called Azaria; and Jehoiakim is called Jechoniah, and by the Prophet Jeremy, he is termed Coniah; and abundance of men more have two or three names apiece in the holy Scripture. And therefore it will require no small diligence, nor any less judgement, to find out the right persons, that are spoken of, by reason of this diversity and multiplicity of names that are given to the same persons. 4. 4 The different Genealogies. The different Genealogies of the persons spoken of in Scriptures, do bring more doubts, and require no less pains unto the reader, than the diversities of names; as where Jehoram is said, to have married Athaliah the daughter of Ahab, 2. Reg. 8.18. vers. 26. 2 Reg. 8.18. yet in the 26. verse, she is said to be the daughter of Omri; and if she was the daughter of Omri, how was she the daughter of Ahab? It is answered, that she was indeed the daughter of Ahab, that was the son of Omri; and she was the grandchild of Omri, and according to the Hebrew manner of speech only, she was called the daughter of Omri; for this was the customary language among the Jews, to call the Grandchilds, the sons and daughters of their Grandfathers, and to call brother's children, brethren; and this manner of speech is to be found most frequent in the holy Scriptures; as where James, Galat. 1.19. that was afterwards made Bishop of Jerusalem, is called the brother of the Lord, which made many men, mistaking the Hebrew manner of speech, to think, that he was the son of Joseph by another wife, when he was only the Cousin-German of Christ, being the son of Mary, that was called Maria Jacobi, Matth. 27.53 Mary the Mother of James, and was the sister of the Virgin Mary. And this difficulty of finding out the right Genealogy bred many doubts amongst the most learned, Aug. tomo 6. l. 23. c. 3 &. 4. cont. Faustum manichaeum. about the Genealogy of Christ himself; for he was to come of the seed of David, and of the tribe of Judah; and as St. Augustine showeth, the Manichees stiffly held, that although Joseph descended from David, yet Mary was the daughter of Joachim, the Priest, of the Tribe of Levi; Luke 1.36. because St. Luke tells us plainly, that Elizabeth, the wife of Zacharias the Priest, was her Cousin; behold thy cousin Elizabeth. To this Origen answereth, That the Priests might marry wives out of any tribe. that according to the common received opinion, Mary was the lawful wife of Joseph according to the law; and therefore of the tribe of Judah; and Elizabeth was called her Cousin, not in regard of tribe, but of nation; but I say that Elizabeth was her Cousin, not only by nation, but also by tribe; otherwise, all the Jewish women might be called her Cousins, as well as Elizabeth; for Elizabeth was of the tribe of Judah, though married to Zacharias, the Priest, of the tribe of Levi; because it was lawful for the Priests to marry wives out of any tribe, as Aaron married the daughter of Aminadab of the tribe of Judah; Exod. 6.23. 2 Chron. 22.11 and Jehoiada married Jehosabath, the daughter of King Joram, of the tribe of Judah; and so Zacharie married Elizabeth of the tribe of Judah; and to prove that Mary was of the tribe of Judah, St. Luke makes it manifest, because he saith that Joseph was the son of Heli, that is his son in law, the father of Mary his wife; as Naomi calleth Ruth her daughter, Ruth. 1: 22. Videtur Matthan pater fuisse Jacobi, Alphaei, & Heli; ex Jacobo Joseph, ex Heli, Maria descendisse. Tremel. in loc. 3.23. because she was her daughter in law; for otherwise, St. Matthew tells us plainly, that Jacob was the natural father of Joseph; and Heli, which (as St. Jerom thinketh, had two names, and was called Joachim, and Heli) was the natural father of Mary, and the son of Matthan, who was the father of Jacob, the father of Joseph, and of Heli, the father of Mary, and of Alphaeus, that were three brethren, all sons of Matthan, as Tremelius saith. And therefore also this requires a sedulous secrch, to find out the truth of such Genealogies as are useful and necessary to be found out, for the understanding of the right Line of the Messiah, that was to spring from the loins of David, and from the tribe of Judah; for though, Titus 3.9. The Apostle speaks of needless Genealogies. as the Apostle saith, it is not requisite that all Genealogies, should be looked after, yet these, and some others, are very useful and necessary to be knwon; and yet cannot be known without a great deal of care and search to find them out; 5. The 〈◊〉 Chronologies, of the ages and times therein specified, 5. The Scripture Chronologies. that, in very man respects, are most requisite for all sound Divines to know, are more difficult to be understood, and bred more doubts, and brought forth more errors, than the Genealogies have done; as the weeks, days, hours and times specified in the prophecies of Ezechiel, Daniel, and the Revelation, and as among the rest of the Chronologies, where St. Steven saith, that the children of Israel should sojourn, in a strange land, and be evil entreated there 400. years; and yet, if you do rightly compute the times, Acts 7.6. you shall find, as Helvicus well observeth, that from jacob's going down into Egypt, until they were delivered by Moses, they do scarce amount to 250. years; 215. fust. in the description of Canaan. therefore, it is answered, that St. Steven meant not from jacob's passage into Egypt to inhabit, but from the time, that Abraham went thither to sojourn, and from that time, to their deliverance out of Egypt, it is just 400. years, Genes. 15.13 as the Lord had formerly said unto Abraham. 6. The Scripture phrases, and the manner of speech, 6. The Scripture phrases. that the Hebrews used, is not an easy matter to be understood, as where Naaman said to Elisha, when the Prophet refused to receive his gifts, shall there not then, I pray thee, be given to thy servant two mules, burden of earth? whereupon, 2 Reg. 5.17. many men, and I heard some Preachers expounding it so, in the Pulpit, did think, that Naaman meant hereby, two Mules load of silver; Habac. 2.6. which he calleth earth, (as the Prophet calleth gold, red or thick clay, to show the baseness of the best kind of worldly wealth) as if he should say, seeing thou wilt receive nothing at my hands, then, I beseech thee, let me bestow it upon thy servant: which Exposition, is far enough from the true sense of Naaman's words, Naaman's words mistaken by many. and much further from his meaning, for he meant no such thing; but his thoughts were far better, and his meaning more religious; none otherwise, then, shall there not be given to thy servant, (that is, to me, who, for the favour that thou hast done me, do profess myself to be thy servant) two Mules burden, of this earth of Jury, that I may carry the same into Syria, and therewith erect an Altar there, unto the God of Israel; for so the words, immediately following, do make this exposition most plain; because, saith he, thy servant, that is, not Gebazai, but himself, whom, in a compliment, (used commonly among the Jews) as many now likewise, amongst us, use to do, he calleth his servant, will henceforth offer neither offering, nor sacrifice unto any other god but unto the Lord; therefore, I pray thee, let me carry two Mules load of this your earth to build him an Altar; otherwise, if he had meant, let me give two mules load of silver to Gebazai, what sense or coherence had been in his reason, that he allegeth for his desire; because thy servant will henceforth offer neither burnt-offering, nor sacrifice to any God but to the Lord, the Prophet might have answered, 2 Reg. 5.18. no more he did heretofore; which Naaman did in the house of Rimmon. So when Benhadad King of Syria sent Hazael unto Elisha, to inquire, whether he should recover from his disease or not, and Elisha said unto him; go, say unto him, that is, to Benhadad, thou shalt certainly recover, howbeit, The Lord hath showed unto me, that he shall surely die; and if this was the meaning of the Prophet, 2 Reg. 8.10. as the words seem to intimate, what can you make of it, but that Elisha teacheth Hazael, how to tell a fair lie, and to say to his Master Benhadad, he shall recover, when the Prophet tells him, he knew, that he should surely die? therefore, Tremellius translates it, abi, dic, non omnino revalesces, Particula negant cum antecedente verbo in Prosodia conj●●ngitur Euphoniae causa Tremel. grammat. l. 4. c. 8. Origen. in Rom. c. 1. nam ostendit mihi Jehova, eum omnino moriturum; go tell him, thou shalt not altogether recover; for the Lord hath showed unto me, that he shall altogether die; and he addeth that the negative particle is joined with the antecedent verb in the Prosody, euphoniae gratia, only for the better sound sake, to make the speech seem the sweeter; the which manner of speech, saith he, is often used in the Hebrew language, as we have showed in our Grammar. l. 4. c. 8. And so in the New Testament we find the like difficulty in the phrases thereof, as Origen hath observed upon the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, and others, upon these words, in the first Chapter of Saint John's Gospel, verse 16. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉; which our Translators turned right according to the words, and grace for grace; the sense of which words hath puzzled many of the best interpreters; but from the use and nature of the phrase, they are now found to signify nothing else, but that of his fullness we have all received, and thanks be to him for that grace, and great favour towards us; otherwise the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, and, would be such a tautology, as cold, never he brought to good sense, according to the Geneva Notes upon that place; and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 often signifieth thanks as well as grace. 7. 7. The visions of the holymen of God. The visions of Ezekiel, Daniel, and especially of S. John in the Revelation, and of the rest of the Prophets and Apostles, I hope will be acknowledged, as divers of the most learned Fathers have ingenuously confessed, to be of a greater depth, and harder to be understood, then can be easily fathomed by every unskilful Seaman, or unartificial, and unlearned tradesman. 8. 8. The predictions of the Prophets. The Prophecies and predictions of the Prophets are no less obscure, than their visions, as Aquinas saith, they are not understood sometimes of the Prophets themselves, nor infallibly of any other, though never so learned, until the time come, that we see they are fulfilled; as the prophecy of the Antichrist, 2 Thes. 2.3. the man of sin, and the child of perdition, which is the beast, that ascended from the bottomless pit; some understood it of Nero, others thought he was Domitian, and many conceived him to be Dioclesian, that was one of the bloodiest of the persecutors; and after that, Mahomet, and his successors, Prophecies never certainly and infallibly known until they be fulfilled. the great Turk must be the beast, and that great Antichrist; and now of late, our new Presbyterians will needs have him to be none other than the Pope; and at last, he is found by some others, to be none of these, but nearer home, and of a higher pitch, and greater wickedness than any of them; so hard it is to unveil the face of many a prophecy; and therefore it is most truly said of Irenaeus, satius est expectare impletionem prophetiae quam temere divinare; it is a safer course, and a surer way to expect the fulfilling of a prophecy, then rashly to expound it to be fulfilled: and if it be so, for the best Divines; 9 The divine Majesty that shineth in the Scriptures. Dan 4.19. Acts 26.29: what think you then of these lame and Lay-Preachers, when they shall undertake to expound dark Prophecies? 9 The divine Majesty that shineth in the expressions of the holy Scriptures showeth, that it is not for every mechanic to trade therein; for you may observe in it such civil compliments, as that of Daniel to Nabuchadnezzar; and that of Saint Paul to Agrippa, and the like; and also such eloquence, such tropes and figures, that neither Demosthenes among the Greeks, Dan. 4.19. Acts 26.29 nor Cicero among the Latins, nor all the Schools of Athens can equalise the excellency, and the exact language of the holy Scriptures, as Paesor truly showeth; when as no Orator could speak purer Greek, than the pure Spirit of God spoke by the tongues of his learned penmen, Saint Luke, Saint Paul, and the rest of them; and I am sure that neither Aristotle, nor Plato, nor any other Moralist or naturalist can show such pure Ethics and true Physics, or any other kind of Philosophy, as is to be found in the sacred writ. 10. 10. The many seeming contradictions of the Scriptures. The many seeming contrarieties and contradictions that are obviously found in these Scriptures, do sufficiently prove how difficult it is to reconcile the difference, and to give the right sense, and the true meaning of every place; as 1. Where in 2 Reg. 17.24. 2 Reg. 17.24. Verse 34. it is said that the men which came from Cutha and from Ava, and from Hamath, and from Sepharuaim, and were placed in the cities of Samaria feared not the Lord, and so it is reiterated in v. 34. that they feared not the Lord; And yet in the 32. verse, and in the 33. verse, and in the 41. verse it is thrice repeated, that they feared the Lord. And how can these things be, that the same spirit with the same breath, should say and unsay the same thing, they feared the Lord, and they feared not the Lord? Non benè conveniunt, nec in una sede moruntur. It is answered, that if you mark it well, and understand it right; here is no contradiction at all: for the fear of the Lord is here put for the whole service of God: and so they feared not the Lord as it is said in the 17. and 34. verse, that is, more debito, they served him not, as the Lord required his people to serve him; but yet feared the Lord and served him, as it is said in the 32, 33, and 41. verse, that is, more gentilium, as the Gentiles, Cultus Dei ex humano cerebro excogitatus. and the other nations did; and this fear of the Lord, and service of God, being but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a will-worship is said to be not the fear of the Lord, nor the service of God; because the Lord neither commandeth it, nor accepteth it, when as he tells us plainly, that he will be served as himself prescribeth, and not as man deviseth. 2. Where our Saviour saith, Matth. 6.1. & 3. Take heed that you do not your alms before men; but when thou dost thine alms, Let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doth; and when thou prayest, go into thy closet, and shut thy door, and he that seethe thee in secret, will reward thee openly; and yet in another place he saith, Let your light so shine before men, that they maysee your good works, Verse 6. Matth. 5.16. and glorify your Father which is in heaven. And how shall men see them, if I shut my door, and do them so close in my chamber, and do mine alms so secretly, that none may see them? It is briefly answered, that Christ doth not forbid you to bestow your alms, to pray, and to do the other duties of religion in the fight of men; but he adviseth you not to do them, as the Scribes and Pharisees did them, only to this end, that they might be seen of men; let men see them, but do them not, that they might be seen. 3. Where Saint Paul saith, Rom. 3.28. etc. 5. v. 1. James 2.21. we conclude a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the Law; and yet Saint James saith, that Abraham was justified by Works, and Rahab was justified by Works, and then concludes it positively, and saith, you see, how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only: And therefore Luther that was all for faith, and not finding the way to reconcile these two Apostles, rejecteth the whole Epistle of Saint James, as not Canonical, and calleth it Stramineam Epistolam, an Epistle not worth a straw, whereas he might as easily have reconciled the two Apostles, How the words of Saint Paul and S. James are reconciled. if he had considered that Saint Paul speaks of that perfect and most absolute justification, that freeth us from all sin, and is fully able to acquit us, coram Tribunali Dei, before the throne of God's judgement: and so Abraham and all the sons of Abraham can be justified no otherwise, then by a lively faith in Jesus Christ: and Saint James speaks of the manifestation of the faith, whereby we approve ourselves to be justified, coram hominibus, both to the satisfaction of ourselves and others: and this is by g●od works, which are the fruits of our faith; and so no contradiction at all betwixt Saint Paul and Saint James. Many more seeming contradictions, and many more reasons of the difficulties of the Scriptures, I might produce unto you; but out of this, that I have set down, you may very easily see, that the best divine, the quickest wit, the sharpest sight, and the greatest Scholar, when he considereth the depth of this Ocean, and the mysteries of these Scriptures, and his own shallow reach to comprehend them, 2 Cor. 2.16. may cry out with the Apostle 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉? who is sufficient for these things? And what then? shall a Tailor, or a Shoemaker, or a Weaver. or any the like unskillful tradesman, or unealled Lay man, be sufficient for these things, wherein such a mass of treasure, and so much of God's wisdom is contained? I beseech you to consider what Saint August. saith, and yourselves know to be true, that a reasonable good Scholar will not read Horace or Terence, without a Comments; and wilt thou presume to expound the deep mysteries, and the high secrets of God's word, without the help of learned Authors, that have bestowed much pains, and made many prayers to God for the help and assistance of his Spirit to understand them? Quicquid est, crede mihi, in Scriptures istis altum & divinum est; whatsoever is in these Scrriptures, believe me, saith the same Father, it is high and d●vine; and you know the Prophet David saith, thy commandment is exceeding broad; and therefore he doth often pray for understanding, Psalm. 119. that he might understand his Commandments; and yet the Commandments, which were things that appertained unto all men for to know, are the easiest to be understood, as being delivered in the plainest manner of all the Scriptures, that they might be understood of all, because they were to be observed by all. And you know likewise, that it was prophesied of Christ, Matth. 13.35. that he should open his mouth in parables, and declare hard sentences of old; so hard to be understood, that his own Apostles and disciples, who were always conversant with him, yet of themselves understood them not, as you may perceive by that reprehension of our Saviour; are ye yet without understanding? Matth. 15.16. whose apprehensions and understanding nevertheless, was as you may believe far better, than the best of our Lay-Preachers. And therefore, seeing the Apostles and disciples of Christ, and the greatest Doctors, and best Scholars in God's Church must follow Saint Augustine's rule, to understand God's word, S. Augustine's rule how we may come to understand the Scriptures. where he saith, agant orando, querendo, legendo, & bene nivendo ut intellig ant; that is, earnestly pray to God for the assistance of his Spirit, and diligently to search and seek by continual studies, in the reading of God's words, and consulting with the best learned Authors, which God hath given for our help, and constantly, to lead an upright and a holy life, that God may be entreated by these means to enlighten their understanding, that they may understand his revealed will. And now all the premises considered, I demand how dares the Lay-Preacher, the rustic Ploughman, and the City tradesman, and the bloodthirsty soldier, with their miry shoes upon their unwashen feet, approach to that place of God's presence, which Moses himself, while he was thus, was forbid to do; and there with defiled hands and profane mouths, not rightly divide the word of God, but most miserably to tear and Massacre the Holy Scriptures, so shamelessly, that it would make, not only our ears to tingle, but also our hearts to tremble, when we consider how the Divine Truth is abused, and the Name of God blasphemed, by these rude and ignorant Interpreters, that are the best Seedes-Men in the World, to sow the Tares of errors, heresies, and blasphemies among the pure wheat, in the field of God's Church? because, as St. Augustine saith; hine owns Hereses, The premises teach three things. dum Scripturae bonae intelliguntur non bene; all heresies do spring from hence, when the good Scriptures are ill interpreted. So, this that I have showed, of the difficulties of many places of the Scriptures, and how hard it is to explain, and to reconcile them, should teach us these three things. 1. It should deter, and stop the presumptuous attempts of ignorant men, from meddling with the interpreting of Holy Mysteries. 2. It should move all good people to love and honour all those learned Clergy, that are able to Teach them the Truth, and to unfold the Scripture truly unto them: and not regard the bawling and barking of those whelps, that speak against Learning, and Learned Men; for, if many of the Apostles were unlearned, God enabled them with the gifts of Tongues, and fitted them with learning Miraculously: Act 14.12. 2.1, 2, 3, 4, etc. and doth not that Miraculous descending of Learning and Languages upon the Apostles, show unto us how necessary Learning and Languages are for the Ministry? or, is the Learning of St. Paul any thing the worse, because he had it not miraculously, he needing it not so, but in an ordinary way, being brought up at the feet of Gamaliel? so, is Learning, and the gift of Tongues now any thing the worse, because we have it not as the Apostles had it, miraculously, but in an ordinary way, as St. Paul had it, and left more ample fruits of it unto the Church, than most of them that had it miraculously? But the truth is, that Learning, and the understanding of Arts, and Tongues, howsoever gotten, in an ordinary, or an extraordinary way, miraculously, or by industry, it is from above, and a special gift of God; for so the Scripture saith: the Lord hath given me the tongue of the Learned, Esay 50.4. and therefore learning is not to be slighted, nor these Lay-Preachers, that want it, to be regarded; because the Scripture cannot be understood, nor the Divine Mysteries well expressed, without a competent measure of Learning and Languages; even as the Apostles themselves could not well do it, until they received the same miraculously. 3. It doth in the second place make good my second Argument, and sufficiently prove these Lay Preachers to be one of the heads of Cerberus, and a special branch of this false Prophet here spoken of; because of their ignorance, and want of good literature to enable them to expoun●d the Scriptures. Why the Presbyterians charge the Roman Clergy to be this false Prophet. And neither of both these Arguments can be justly urged, and applied against the Roman Clergy, to prove them to be this false Prophet, as Junius, and our Presbyterians would have them to be; but, as the Fox, that being hunted for his knavery, shown a hare unto the hounds, that the dogs running after the hare, he might laugh in his sleeve, and pass away; so they, by making the people to believe, that the Priests and Jesuit●s are this false Prophet, do think that themselves may pass unsuspected, and to be taken for the true Ministers of Jesus Christ. For, though materialiter, they of Rome, may, as they do, Teach many points of false Doctrine, yet formaliter, The Roman Clergy are no● liable to these reasons, that demonstrats this false Prophet. they cannot be said to be this false Prophet, modo & forma, as he is here described. 1. Because they are by a successive unbroken line, from the Apostles time, lawfully called and Ordained, by prayers, and the imposition of the hands of those that have the Lawful Power and Authority to ordain them: none dares, in that Church, intrude himself into any of these Sacred Functions, but such as are lawfully admitted into Holy Orders. 2. The works of those Clergy men do sufficiently demonstrate, they are no ignorants, but learned enough in all arts and sciences; if they had the grace to make a right use of their learning. And here, before I pass from this point, you must know that we have now two sorts of Lay-Preachers. 1. One without any Ordination. And this 2. The other of a false Ordination. And this False Ordination, that is done only by other Presbyters, without the Bishop, is no Ordination at all; no otherwise, then when my Lord Chancellor makes one a Justice of Peace, and that Justice of the Peace will presently take upon him to make others Justices of the Peace like himself; and you know the Authority of such second Justices, is of no validity, because the one had no power to give it, nor the other any right to use it; and so it is with those Presbyters, that are made only by the Presbyters, they are none other then mere Laics. 2. 2. The Independent another branch of the false Prophet. Another head of Cerberus, and a special branch of this false Prophet, is the Independent; and this Independent is but a bastard Presbyterian, or an illegitimate child, begotten of the luxurious seed of the Prtsbyterians, and the frothy sperm of the fanatic people, that disdains as much to be subject and guided by the Classis of the Presbyterians, as the Presbyterians do kick against the Government of the Bishops; and both the one and the other do spring from the same root of pride and ambition, and they run the same way of disobedience, and opposition to their lawful Governors, and they aim at the same end, to be Masters and Rulers; themselves and therefore I need not stand any longer to unkennel this Beast, seeing that the same things that are incident to the Presbyterians, may be truly applied to the Independants, but that, in my judgement, the Independent is less rigid, more tolerable, and quiet, and of far better faith and principles than the Presbyterians. 3. 3. The Presbyterians, the first fountain, and the chief Head of this false Prophet. The Presbyterians, not as they are Presbyters, but as they now show themselves to be, under this notion, and name of Presbyterians, are the primum mobile, and the main stock from whence do spring all the branches of this false Prophet: and though I might collect many more, yet I will infist, and that briefly, but upon these four points, besides their correspondency with what the Spirit of God setteth down here, that do sufficiently show them to be this false Prophet, and they are, 1. Their Apostasy. 1. Their Apostasy. For, 2. Their Perjury. For, 3. Their Hypocrisy. For, 4. The obliquity of all their actions. For, 1. 1 John 3.19. They were with us, and as St. John saith, they went out from us, because they were not of us; for, if they had been of us, they would, no doubt, have continued with us; but, in the height of their pride they left their station, forsook their colours, and started aside like a broken bow. And so 2. 2. Their Perjury. The Oath of the Presbyters when they are made Ministers. In Apostatising from that Profession, which they made at their Ordination, and denying their Bishops and Diocessans to be their Guides, and their Governors, they became perjured, to break their faith, and to falfifie their Oath, which they made in the presence of God, and his Congregation, when they were ordained; for, when any one is to enter into the Holy Order of Priesthood, the Bishop demands of him, will you reverently obey your Ordinary, and other chief Ministers, unto whom the Government and Charge is committed over you, following with a glad mind and will their godly admonitions, and submitting yourself to their godly judgements? and he that is to be admitted Priest, answereth; I will so do, the Lord being my helper, which is a promissory Oath, that requireth performance, and may no way be dispensed with, and violated at our pleasure; as that Learned Regius Professor of Oxford, Doctor Sanderson, Vide, Dr. Sanderson, de Juramento Promissorio. in that excellent Book, De Juramento Promissorio, hath most amply declared unto us: and shall we think that they can be true Prophets to us, that have been false, and perjured to themselves? or shall we commit our souls to their custody, that have forfeited their own souls unto the Devil? or, shall we not believe, that these, rather than the Roman Clergy, are this false Prophet. For, 1. They have not refused to be subject and obedient to their Governors, nor stepped aside from their station, and therefore cannot be taxed with this Apostasy, that the Apostle ascribeth to the many Antichrists that were in his time. 2. They have not falsified their faith, and perjured themselves, in not performing their Oath, and observing their promise, which they made, when they entered into Sacred Orders; but to proceed. 3. For their hypocrisy, I leave it to the world to judge of it. And 4. For the obliquity of their actions, it is well observed by one, that in all their do, they and their Proselytes do imitate King Saul to a hair; for, first King Saul, without any respect or regard to the Office and Authority of the Priest, would presume to offer sacrifice, 1 Sam. 13.9, 10. as afterwards Vzziah would have done; so the new Presbyters, though they cannot show that they have any authority, descentive from hand to hand from the Apostles, as all, 2 Chron. 26.16, 17. and every true Presbyter ought to have; yet will they intrude themselves to do the offices of the Ministers of Christ. 2. Saul had an evil spirit, that could not abide any music, but would have killed David, when he played before him; 1 Sam. 18.10, 11. so the Presbyterians cannot endure any Organs, or Music in the Worship of God. 3. Saul made no conscience of his Oaths, but through the vehemency of his Zeal, forsooth, to God's Honour, he despised the wisdom of his forefathers, and therefore he breaks the Oath that they made unto the Gibeonites, and would needs slay those harmless Gibeonites; and the whole Nation of the Jews must smart for his foolish rashness, and his bloody act; so the Presbyterian, or Rump Parliament, and their Teachers the Presbyters, were such Zelots, and so Holy, that they despised the wisdom of our former Parliaments, and so broke their Oaths of their Allegiance and Supremacy to the King, and as I said before, of their obedience and subjection to the Bishops, and the Church of Christ, and slew the two Witnesses of God: and the whole Kingdom hath ever since smarted for the same. 4. Saul was a most malicious man, and as cruel as any one of those times, as you may read, how he persecuted and hunted after the life of David, 1 Sam. 18.11. Chap. 19.1.10. Chap. 21.1, etc. without any cause, and against all Reason, would have put his own, son Jonathan to death; and did not the Presbyterian Parliament as maliciously hunt after the King's life, and the Bishops, and abundance more of the King's Party? let my Reader judge. 5. This goodly King, for David's sake, caused fourscore and five persons of the Lords Priests, that did wear a linen Ephod, saith the Text, to be slain, and all that they had, to be destroyed: and did not the Proselytes of these Presbyters, for King Charles his sake, because they were honest and faithful unto their King, as he was loving, and like a Father unto them, run and ruinated well-near as many Bishops, besides the Deans, prebend's, and many more godly Ministers, that were Canonical, and wore the linen surplice; though they that hated the surplice, escaped their brethren's fate, and were protected and advanced by these Presbyters, as those that rejected the linen Ephod, were preserved by Saul; for it is most evident, that the Spirit of God would not have set down the garments of those Priests that were destroyed, but to intimate unto us, that some other false Priests, (that could no more abide the linen Ephod, than our Presbyters can now endure the white surplice,) were joined with Saul, and whispered in his ears, against those that did wear the Ephod, as the Presbyterians did always ring in the ears of the Parliament men, against the wearers of these holy garments; otherwise it had been enough to say, that Saul had caused to be slain, so many Priests of the Lord, without any further mention of wearing the linen Ephod: but the holy Ghost setteth not down the least title to no purpose. And, I could wish his Majesty would well consider how that very very many of the prime Presbyterians in London and the country, made such affectionate addresses, and passionate prayers for the continuance of Richard Cromwell in his Protectorship, as may be seen in their diurnals; and inquire if any one of the Bishops, or of all the Episcopal party did the same; and then to consider, whether such men that are so unjust to their King, & to their Civil Governors, be fit men to be made Governors of the Church of Christ. as they imitate this malicious King in their actions, so they are the disciples of railing Rabsheca in their Sermons; for letting pass those doctrines that derogate from the goodness, truth, and justice of God, they stuff their Sermons with most unsavoury expressions, and ridiculous things in the ears of men, as a Presbyter Preacher in Christ's Church said, that hell was paved with King's Crowns, and Bishops sculls: another said, that God might as rightly be said, to be the Author of sin, as of Monarchy; and a third said, that Monarchy was such a beast, as he would venture his life to fight against it; these, and the like were the doctrines of this beast; and yet now, who pretends to be more zealous to reduce our David to his throne, than these Presbyters? when as other men, knowing their do, think it strange, they should have the impudency to look any King in the face. And to justify what I say of these Presbyters, the chiefest branch of this false Prophet, as I will not refuse a pearl from a dunghill, so I will not disdain to allege the testimony of George Fox the younger, in the eleventh page of his book, whose copy was delivered into the hands of his Majesty, the fourth day of the fourth month, 1660. where he saith unto the King; if thou shouldst come in upon the account of the Prethyterians, or shouldst refuse to bow to what they should set up, or not Jatisfy the covetousness of their Priests, there be several of them would be ready to serve thee as they did thy Father; and a little after he saith, how abominably have these dirty, deceitful, covetous Priests, acted in all these changes, i.e. which he had formerly spoken of. Oh! it is hard to utter their deceit, who one while have prayed for a King and Parliament; and when they saw the King was like to fall, and no ways likely to maintain them, they turned against him, and prayed only for the Parliament, and asserted their authority, and cursed them that would not go out to help against the mighty; and shortly after, when Oliver Cromwell had turned out the Parliament, and set up himself; they cried him up and prayed for him, and many of them began to assert his authority to he just: and when he died, many of these Preachers began to address themselves to his Son, and fawned upon him, that he might provide for their God, which is their belly; and they appeared to be sorrowful for his Father's death, and blasphemously termed him, the Light of their eyes, and the breath of their nostrils; and they told Richard, that God had left him to carry on that glorious work which his Father had begun, and some of these Preachers compared Ol. Cr. to be like unto Moses, and Rich like unto Joshua, who should carry them into the promised land; and how soon did some of them turn to cry for a Parliament again, when the Army turned out Richard? and when George Booth made a rising, than they cried out against the Parliament, and began to curse such as would not go out against them: and when George Booth was taken, they petitioned to the Parliament to excuse themselves, and that they had no hand in the rising; and now they are for thee, O King, and if thou wilt believe them, thou art worthy to be deceived by them. But, I should be overtedious, if I should relate unto you the abundant blasphemies of their vile Doctrine, Which you may find at large in Arise Evans his Euroclydon, per totum. and obliquity of all the actious of these new Presbyters, and their Proselytes; and therefore I will pass to those things that are here mentioned, and show the description of this second beast, as the H.G. doth here set it down, and leave my Reader to judge, whether they be not all fulfilled, and every way appliable to our Presbyterians, to prove them, and none else, to be this false Prophet, here mentioned in this Book of the Revelation. Where notwithstanding I would have you to observe that there are two sorts of the now and new Presbyterians; that is, 1. Rigidi, superhi & ambitiosi. 2. Moderati, molles & timidi. 1. The proud, ambitious and rigid Presbyters, that sat at Westminster, like the Synedrion under Cayphas, an Assembly of Divines, that chalked out the way for the rest to follow them in their extravagant and exorbitant courses, and these are the parts constitutivae, the chiefest, and the principal parts of this false Prophet. 2. The moderate, remiss and fearful Presbyters are such, as to preserve their live, do unwillingly observe the Directory of the rigid Presbyters, that are here so amply described by the holy Ghost, and do in all things correspond, and are conformable to every point of the description of this two-horned beast, as hereafter I shall show unto you. The seed of this beast, though begun to be sown, When the seed of the beast was first sown in the Church. as the Apostle saith of the my tery of iniquity, by Simon Magus, Ebion, Cerinthus, Nicholas, and the like; in the first age of the Church; yet did not this beast show his horns, nor this mystery so visibly with any strength appear in our Church of Great Britain, till now of late; Indeed, when the godly professors of the Gospel in King Edward the sixth his time, and in the beginning of Queen Elizabeth's reign, began to sow good corn in the field of this our Church, and to make a reformation, and a rooting out of those weeds of superstition, that the Ministers of the said mystery had spread, and now began to be discerned among the wheat, then presently the envious man, superseminavit Zizania, that is, When Puritanisme began amongst us in these dominions, which you may see more fully showed in Mr. Fuller's History of our Church. Brightman in Revelat. c. 2. Detrahunt no●is, perimus; detrahunt Canoni, veritati non detrahant, Aug de verbis Aposteli Sermone. 14. And so may we say of these men. the devil stirred up his seeds-men, John Knox in Scotland, and Thomas Cartwright in Ingland, to mingle our wine with wormwood, and to scatter darnells and tares among our good wheat, whereby they infected very many with an epidemical, and most deadly disease, than termed Puritanisme; the offspring of the old Catharists, that is, a dissembling pharisaical purity, and pretended holiness, far excelling the rest of their brethren, both in life and doctrine, especially in the conscientious refusal to subscribe, and to submit themselves to the established Liturgy, and the orderly observation of the discipline and Ceremonies of our Church; which they spared not most loudly and lewdly to bark against, and to call it the Laodicean, lukewarm Church; and the Governors and upholders of all the good orders, uniformity, and discipline of this Church of Christ, they blushed not to style Popish Bishops and proud Prelates, and the Book of Common Prayer, (as if it had been the Turkish Alcoran) They persuaded the people to believe it was the English Masse-Book, and all the Ceremonies thereof the rags of Rome: and so belched out their poison against out Church: And to what incurable mischief this disease was like to grow, that wise and reverend Archbishop Bancraft did foresee, and with all his might endeavoured to prevent, by discovering and publishing the same unto the world; so did worthy Doctor Whitgift before him; and so did Doctor Dove, Doctor Covell, Doctor Gardiner, Doctor Leon. Hutton, and Mr. Thomas Hutton, and many other godly and learned men labour to unveil this beast his face, to show his horns, and the weakness of his reasons unto the weak and seduced people. But as the harlot said unto Socrates, ego tibi Socrates multum praesto, I do much excel thee, O Socrates, because I can sooner allure the youths of Athens, and entice far more of them to my house of lewdness, than thou canst with all thy rhetoric and eloquence, persuade to thy School of Philosophy; so these locusts, and their Proselytes prevailed more with those that were such, as Socrates answered, the harlot her customers were, proclives ad malum, inclinable to be misled, and easily drawn to evil, as we are all by nature, than all the wise Governors, and grave Doctors of the Church could do to hindet them; so that in a short space, notwithstanding the execution of Martin Mar-prelate, Penry, and some others in Queen Elizabeth's days, which did a little stop their galloping course, and the careful industry of King James to suppress them, yet multiplicati sunt super numerum, they increased exceedingly, like the frogs and rats of Egypt, that do super-faetare, beget young ones, before they be rid of their old brood; and then, being so multiplied, they that formerly pulled in their horns like a snail, did begin in King Charles his time, to set up their horns on high, and to speak with a stiff neck; and now to set their instruments, the disconteuted Nobility and Gentry, and their own seduced disciples on work, to bring their long-wished purposes to an end; for, as the soul worketh no corporeal act, but by the organs of his body; so these men, being spiritual men, could not themselves prevail to attain unto their ends, against the power of the King, but having so plentifully sown their seed among their Proselytes, and so well instructed the body that was their instrument, they can with their help produce the acts that they intended, and which they do suggest into the heads of the other beast, which is their body. And therefore, as in every sinful act, the soul, which is, actus primus corporis organici & causa actuum secundorum, Arist. de anima l. 2. c. 1. Text. 4. Is more liable to judgement, and deserves more punishment than the body; so as I said before, this spiritual beast is far the worst of the twain, and the worst of all other beasts that ever were; so bad, that I am no ways able to show unto you the badness, and to display the wickedness of this second beast; yet, as the Arian heretics gave forth of themselves, Aug. epist. 48. ad Vincent. that they only were the true Catholic Church of God, and those that were the members of the true Church indeed, they called Athanasians, Ambrosians, Joannites; and as Nestorius being a pestilent heretic, covered himself notwithstanding 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, with the cloak or veil of the Catholic faith, saith Theodoret, so I know these men think themselves to be the only true servants, and the most faithful Ministers of Jesus Christ; but indeed, as David did worse than Joab in the murder of Vriah; and as the teacher of a man to sin, is worse than he that commits the sin, as the Serpent, that enticed the woman, to eat of the forbidden fruit, was worse than the woman; so this second beast, that seduced and taught the first beast, to do all or most of the evils and wickedness that he did, is far worse than the first beast, that was but his instrument, to effect all those vile acts and mischiefs, whereof this second beast was the prime Author; instructor & instigator; and no marvel; for as corruptio-optimi est pessima, The second beast fare worse than the first beast, and so I deem the presbyterians the worst of all the men in Ingland, and the Authors of all the mischiefs done in this kingdom. Jerem. 24.23. Tertul. l. de prescript. advers. haeres. c. 42. and as Jeremy his figs were either exceeding good, or extreme bad; so are the Preachers and teachers of men, either the best of men, and so worthy of double honour, if with the true Prophets they go the right way to work, or else the worst of all men, and so worthy of many stripes, if with this second beast and false Prophet, they go about to corrupt the truth, to seduce the people, and as Tertullian saith of the heretics of his time, cum hoc sit negotium illis, non ethnicos convertendi, sed nostros evertendi, to labour more to overthrow us, then to build others in the faith of Christ; And as the Arian Prelates, and Preachers were more cruel, and greater persecutors of the Orthodox, then either the heathen tyrants, or the Arianking, that were but their instruments, and were indeed less bloody, and more conscientious than their teachers; so are these Presbyterians, and Independents, and Lay-Preachers, more proud and more cruel, and of less conscience, and less honesty, (as being the prime Authors, fomenters, and devisers of all villainies, miseries and mischiefs, that have been acted in these dominions, ever since they were hatched) then were the members of that long Parliament, as the sequel of their description, and their actions here specified, will make it plain, and the Author of the Last Will and Testament of Sir John Presbyter, in his Epitaph, that concludes too uncharitably, doth briefly paint them forth, saying, Here lies Jack Presbyter, void of all pity, Sir John Presbyter, his Epitaph. That ruin'd the Country, and fooled the City; He turned Preaching to prating, and telling of lies, Caused Jars and Dissensions in all Families; He invented new Oaths Rebellions to raise, Deceiving the Commons, whilst on them he preyse; He made a new Creed, despised the old, King, State, and Religion, by him bought and sold. He four years consulted, and yet could not tell The Parliament, the way Christ went into hell; Resolved therein, he never could be, Therefore in great hast he goes thither to see. And I would to God they had the Grace to see the mischiefs that they have done, and to repent, that they may not go thither. But, lest I should condemn all alike, you must, as I said before, distribute the whole Classis of Presbyterians into these two parts. 1. The plain, timide, unwilling and unskilful Presbyterians in the plots and practices, and cunning devises of their Elder Brethren, and the other kind of Presbyterians; for, these like well of the Episcopal Government, and could very willingly conform themselves to the former discipline of our Church; but for fear of want, and loss of Live, they are unwillingly drawn to comply, though more moderately, with the rest of the Presbyterians, and these I love, and pity, and as they are moderate men, so I would have all men moderate in their censures of them. 2. The rough, rigid, and proud polypragmaticall plotting Presbyterians, Where you may see, the Author held the same Principles in his younger years, as now he doth in his old age. that, for those causes and reasons, which I have set down in my resolution of Pilate, well nigh fifty years ago, have, and do start aside from their faith given, and from their duties, and obedience to the Governors, and Government of the Church, and with all their wits, wealth, power, and abilities, do strive and labour, rather to ruin the whole Church, and to bring all things to confusion, then to be overswayed in their opinions, and be brought to any subjection; their high minds cannot any ways bent, they are like oaks, not willows; and these are this second beast, whose ways I hate with a perfect hatred, and think them well worthy our Saviour's censure, to be heaten with many stripes; because they know their Master's mind, and do it not, and in that respect are far worse than the worst men that were in that long Parliament. And here, I would have all men to observe, how these two beasts, How the two beasts combine themselves together. the feven headed, and the two horned beast, do combine and unite themselves to effect all their purposes, and join together hand and heart, to assist each other in all their projects; whereby it appeareth most manifest, that the Great Antichrist consisteth of Tyrannising Magistrates, and false Prophets, of a secular Authority, and a spiritual or Ecclesiastical directory: all is but one grand Enemy of Christ, and one Army of the Dragon, though disposed by their Prince into two special Regiments. CHAP. II. Why this second beast is said to be risen out of the earth; what is meant by the two horns of this beast, and the two things signified by them; what it is to speak like the Dragon. Of the wonders, or miracles of the Beast, all false, in respect of the four special causes of true miracles; and of the fire that this Beast bringeth down from Heaven, what it signifieth. BUt now, having understood, who is meant, and to be understood by this second Beast, that is, as all Interpreters agree, the Preachers, and the Proclaimers of the goodness, and the piety of the Antichrist, which is conceived to be the Presbyterians, Independants, and Lay Preachers of the Long Parliament; we are to proceed to the description of this Beast, and his actions, both his words and his works, which will make the former Exposition, that showeth who he is, the more plain unto you. For, 1. Why this beast is said to be raised out of the earth. Jan. in Annot. in hero Mr. Mede. in loc. page 65. He is said, verse 11. to be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, that is, a Beast, risen 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, out of the earth, that is, saith Junius, quia haec bestia est terrae filia, id est, obscure natae, & pedetentim emergens ex âbiectione sua; because those Ecclesiastical Prelates, (he means the Pope and his Cardinals) were sprung up, out of obscure flocks, mean parentage, and poor beginnings, and by little and little erept into the height, and highest step of all earthly dignity; and with him Mr. Mede almost agreeth in words, as he doth in sense, saying, that he is sprung from the lowest condition, or rather, because he is sprung up secretly, without noise, like herbs out of the earth; Mares. p. 138. which Exposition, though among so many Popes, foam of them sprung from mean parentage, as Sixtus 5. was the son of a herdsman, Benedict. 12. of a baker, urban 4. of a shoemaker, and some others, so mean, that we know neither their Surnames, nor their Country; yet can it not be applicable to the Roman-Clergy, when, as I told you before, the men, signified by the first Beast, that risen out of the Sea, that is, from the vulgar and common people, were of meaner abstract, and of far worse breeding, than the Roman Cardinals and Bishops were, whereof divers were Princes, even by birth, and the children of Nobles, of Princes, and of Kings, as not only the Records of Spain, but also, to go no further, the Chronicles of our own Kingdom, do sufficiently testify; therefore I rather conceive, this beast is said to be risen out of the Earth, because their hearts and souls were like Demases, only earthly, glued to these vanities, and bewitched with the love of this present world, 1 Cor. 15.47. even as St. Paul saith, the first man is of the earth, earthy, and as is the earthy, such are they that are earthy; so are the men signified by this beast, earthy, and worldly, though of all others, they ought to have been, as they professed themselves to be, most heavenly; for so St. Paul tells Titus, Titus 1.12. 1 Pet 2.3. Judas v. 11. that they teach things which they ought not, for filthy lucre sake; and St. Peter saith, that through covetousness, they shall, with feigned words, make Merchandise of you; and St. Judas saith, they run greedily after the error of Bal●am, that is, for reward; and St. Paul tells us plainly, that they which cause division and offences, Rom. 16, 17, 18. The Parallel. The Assembly of Presbyters and the rest of the prebyterians most worldly. contrary to the doctrine, which you have learned, serve not our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly, that is, to get the things of this world, to satisfy their fleshly lusts; but, for their earthliness, their covetousness, and in justice, in taking, and possessing their brethren's livings and liulihoods, it is so well known, that I need not speak of it, but only to say with St. Paul, thou that teachest another, not to steal, dost thou steal? thou that wouldst have thy Parishioners to be just, wilt thou be unjust? and take the bread out of thy brothets mouth? take heed, how thou wilt answer this, at the last day. And I believe, that if the Assembly of Presbyters, and the rest of the Independent and Lay-Preachers, had not been very worldly, and most earthly minded, ambitious of greatness, and desirous to be wealthy, and to have the honour, to bear rule, and to be, as the Scribes and Pharisees coveted to be, great among the people, they would never have caused such division and offences in our Church, contrary to the Doctrine that we learned, and contrary to all the established Laws of this Land: and they would never have disdained to be Canonically subject to their Diocessan Bishops, and so make shipwreck of their faith and a good Conscience, and through their pride, that aspired to be free Masters, and no less than a Pope in every Parish, and through covetousness, and hope to share the Episcopal Revenues among themselves, so eagerly to have proceeded, to deface the most Glorious Nationall Church that was on Earth. And, as the Apostle bids us, to mark them that cause division and offences, as he did himself by name, mark, and made known unto the people, Hymeneus and Philetus, and Alexander the copper smith, and as St. John marked Diotrephes, and our Saviour Christ the Scribes and Pharisees, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. Let the Reader judge, if this be not fulfilled in the Presbyters. that the people might avoid them, as they are commanded; so I could name to you, such Presbyterians, that are so earthly, so worldly, so covetous, and such extortioners, if printed books say true of them, as would make men wonder, that any Christians should be such; but, I love not to throw dirt in any particular man's face, only I let you know, that I conceive this to be the meaning of the rising of this beast out of the earth, that he is earthly minded, as in general, I say, and am sure of it, the Presbyterians are. Then secondly, it is said in the same v. 11. 2. What is meant by the two horns of this beast. that this Beast had 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, two horns, like a Lamb, or like unto the Lamb; and that is, the Lamb, which was spoken of in the eighth v. And these two horns, saith Grotius, do signify the chastity, and the abstinence, of Apollonius, and the rest of the Magicians; by which virtues, so greatly commended by the Christians, they made themselves most acceptable unto them; but, while Grotius applieth this Prophecy to Domitian and Apollonius, as he doth the other of St. Paul, 2 Thes. 2. to Caius, and to Simon Magus, he makes the Apostles to Prophesy of things already done, and extending themselves no further than their own time, which is contrary to the sense of all Expositors, and cannot properly be said to be Prophecies, as I shown to you before. Mares. p. 139. They that mistake this Beast, and take him for the Pope, do likewise mistake these horns, for the two fold sword, the Temporal and the Spiritual Power of the Pope. Acosta saith they are insignia 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, Acosta de tempor. novis. l. 2. p. 17. the ensigns of the Episcopal Dignity, that was expressed by their Mitre, which seemed like Moses his horns, that were but the radiant beams of Glory, which, like the sunbeams, reflected from his face and forehead, when he descended from the Mountain, where he had been in conference with Almighty God: and this dignity this Beast assumed to himself, which was only peculiar to the Episcopal Function. And did not the Assembly of Divines at Westminster, The Parallel. The Presbyter challenge the Episcopal Dignity, and more. and every one of the Presbyterians, arrogate, and challenge this Dignity unto himself, when he refused to be subject, and to be directed by his Diocessan; and with the Heretic Aerius, did stiffly maintain, that there was no difference in God's word, betwixt a Presbyter and a Bishop? yes; their own writings, and the whole Kingdom are sufficient witnesses of this truth; yea, they affected indeed far more than the Episcopal Power, as it hath been fully showed in the diurnals, and the weekly intelligence of the Parliament; and as King James found it in Scotland, and the Independants and Lay-Preachers shall find it to their cost, if ever the Presbyterian Government should be established. But, Mr. Mede saith, that by these two horns, Mr. Mede. p 66. we may understand the Power of binding and losing, which Christ left to his Apostles, and to their Successors here on earth, and which this Beast doth assume unto himsef; but, if this Power had been here to be understood, the Holy Ghost had not said, these horns were like the horns of the Lamb, but that this Beast had the two horns of the Lamb; because the Power of binding and losing are the two right horns of Christ, Revelat. 3.7. that only hath the Keys of David, which openeth, and no man shutteth, and again, shutteth, and no man openeth; and this twofold Power Christ hath given to his true and lawful Ministers; Cornelius a lapide in loc. and they truly and rightly have the two bornes of the Lamb, which, this beast had not, but had counterfeit horns, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, like the horns of the Lamb, as Cornelius a Lapide, well observeth; therefore this twofold Power cannot be here understood. But, because strength and Power is commonly understood by 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, the horn, and our Saviour Christ, that is here understood by the Lamb, shown his Power, while he walked here on earth, chief in two main things; that is, The 2 things that are signified by the two horns; 1. In his Prophetical Office, of foretelling things to come. 2. In his Supernatural working of wonders, and miracles among the people. So this beast pretendeth to be endued with the same double Power of the Lamb, as, The parallel. Let the reader, judge if Presbyters do not arrogate them to themselves. 1. Of Foretelling hidden and future things. 2. Of Working strange miracles. And Though I know the Presbyterians, and their associates, will deny, that they challenge these horns, and the Power of doing these things, unto themselves; yet, res ipsa loquitur, let their do be the Judges of this point; 1. To foretell things to come. For, 1. Do they not presume, but most impiously, though not directly in words, yet obliquely, by their deeds, to tell you, who are Saints, and who are sinners; who are Elect, and who are Reprobates; who shall be the Heirs of Heaven, and who must be the firebrands of hell; not plainly, it may be, but by their deeds, I say, it is plainly seen they do it: and such knowledge is too excellent for us, we cannot attain unto it; when the Apostle tells us in plain terms, that the Lord, 2 Tim. 2.19. and the Lord only, and not any man, knoweth who are his; that is, his Elected Saints, They are so well versed in the hearts of men, and can so finely distinguish betwixt the Saint and the sinner, the elect and the reprobate, that herein no Tricotomist can be more acute. that shall inherit his Kingdom; and yet these wise eagle-sighted Presbyterians, contrary to this Testimony of the Apostle, when they Administer the Holy Eucharist, besides other times at their pleasure, can distinguish betwixt the sheep and the goats, and admitting the sheep to partake thereof, they can exclude the goats from the Lords Table; though Christ admitted Judas, whom he knew, far better, than these men do know those, whom they reject and cast away; and we can, and aught to do no more, to the lewdest offenders, but to show them the danger of the unworthy receivers, and exhort them to repent, and to believe in Christ; and upon the confession of their faults, and profession of their Faith and repentance, we ought to believe them to be God's children, and receive them among the Faithful, and leave them all for Christ to judge, which of the guest doth want his wedding garment. Yet we confess, That the Apostles had two manner of gifts. 1. Extraordinary. it is true, that the Apostles had a double qualification. 1. The one extraordinary, which was requisite for the planting of a new Church, and that consisted chief in these two things. 1. Infallibility of the Doctrine which they taught. 2. A powerful working of miracles to confirm that doctrine, and to win the hearers to give credit, and to believe the same. And when the Churches were converted, these graces determined, and ceased with the Apostles. 2. Ordinary which were either. 2. The other was ordinary, which was requisite for the instructing, guideing and ruling of the Church, so long as the Church should continue, till Christ should come to judgement. And these graces, that were thus requisite for the continuance of the Church in the service of God, were likewise of two sorts. 1. Common. 1. Common to the Apostles and Presbyters, and Deacons; as reading the Scriptures, preaching, or expounding the word, administering the Sacraments, provision for the poor, and other like christian duties. 2 Proper, which the Apostles reserved unto themselves, 2. Proper, which consisted in two things. and to the Bishops that were to be their successors, to guide and to govern the Church after them. And this proper qualification of the Apostles, which they left as peculiar to the Bishops, that were to succeed the Apostles, was, and is likewise twofold. 1. Ordination. 1. Ordination of Presbyters and Deacons, to read the word, and to preach, and to administer the Sacraments, and to do all the other common duties of the Church. 2. Jurisdiction which was twofold. 1. The lesser censure. 2. The greater censure. 2. Jurisdiction, in censuring those that were refractory, and walked disorderly in the Church; and this Ecclesiastical censure is either 1. The lesser which is a debarring of the offendor from the Lords Supper. 2. The greater censure, which was by such an excommunication, as excluded the offender quite from the Church, and was not received into it, until he had satisfied the Church by his confession of his fault, and repentance shown for the scandal he had given. Now such is the pride and ambition of every Presbyterian, that he would have nothing left proper unto the Bishop, but that all must be common as well to him as to the Bishop; How the Presbyterians do usurp the authority of the Bishop. he cannot endure to be excluded or debarred from any thing, but cryeth out, as Corah, Dathan, and Abiram did against Moses, and Aaron, that the Bishops take too much upon them; And therefore 1. They usurp and assume unto themselves the office of ordination, and do make Priests themselves; the which boldness of theirs, I intent not to stand now to confute; but do assure the people, Lay-preachers and tradesmen to execute the Ecclesiastical function, have as good authority and calling as the new Presbyterian Priests. that the Priests of their making have no better calling nor authority to enter upon that sacred function, than he, that is made a Judge, or a Justice of Peace to rule the country, by a company of highway thiefs, and robbers; and the Lay-preachers, be they what they will, husbandmen or tradesmen, Tailors, Shoemakers or Weavers, or the like; may as lawfully, and perhaps more blamelessly, do all the service of the Church, as any of them that have their ordination from these Presbyters. 2. They usurp the jurisdiction over the Church, as well as the ordination of the Priests unto themselves; and they are more rigid in their censures, that are also more illegally done, than either Bishop or Pope, See the translation of Grallae. pag 69. to pag. 90. and you shall find how these Presbyterian censures; do exceed the tyranny of the Pope. who exercised their discipline and censures in open Court, in forma juris, and secundum allegata & probata; when the Presbyterians do it secundum beneplacitum, as it seemeth good in their own eyes, because they have the discerning spirit, to know who are worthy to be received, and who ought to be excluded both from Christ, and from the Church of Christ. And yet I do not wonder so much, that the Presbyters should be so ambitious, to lay hold of this authority, as I do admire that the people should be so foolish, as to hate us for telling the truth unto them for their own benefit, and showing the other men's iniquity. But I remember a story that Sir Thomas Moor tells us of two famous Philosophers, that by their great skill in astronomy, foresaw that at such a constellation, A pretty story of Sir Thomas Moor. there would fall such a shower of pestiferous rain upon the earth, that all the men, which scaped not the drops of that rain, should presently prove frantic, and be distracted of their senses; whereupon those Philosophers concluded, that they would hid themselves in a Cave, until that shower was passed over, and so they did; and all things succeeded as they expected; for when they came out of their hole, where they were hidden, they found all the people, like madmen, playing the Antics; and therefore they being sober, thought to do them good by advising them to leave their fooleries and to follow after sobriety; but the mad people told the Philosophers, that they themselves were mad, and they would take a course with them, for saying, that they were out of their wits, and knew not what they did; and so they laid hold on the Philosophers and beat them, and they had much ado to escape from these mad people with their lives; this was the reward they had for their well-wishes, and desire to do those mad people good; to guide them and to direct them in the right courses. I wish it may not be so with us, that the people prove not themselves like those upon whom that fatal shower descended; and that they would not deal with us, It is easier to find few wise men, then to find many wise men. for telliug the truth of these men's do for their good, as those mad men did with those Philosophers. And I would the people, that are so affected to the Presbyterian government, would consider, whether it be as easy to find ten thousand wise and sober moderate men, as to find out ten. The Kings and Emperors heretofore were very careful to make choice of the best and wisest men that they could find, to put these offices, and the government of the Churches into their hands, and they thought it well, in such a kingdom, as this of Ingland, if they found 26. men, that with the help and advice of their brethren, their Deans and prebend's were sufficient to govern the Churches so wisely, and so orderly as they ought to do it: and do you think it is as easy, to find 6000. men that are fit to do it? that you may place a Bishop in every Parish? I think you will fail; and your selves, at last will see your own folly, and smart for your mistaking, when every Parish Priest will be as imperious over you, as Hildebrand was over Henry the fourth. But 2. Touching the working of strange miracles, we say it was a great miracle, 2. To work strange miracles. 1 Reg. 17.23. Acts 9.4. John 11.44. that Elias did to raise the dead child of the widow of Sarepta, and a great miracle that Saint Peter did, to raise Dorcas, an old widow, that was dead, to life again; and it was a greater miracle that Christ did, to raise up Lazarus out of his grave, when he had been dead four days. And yet besides their many meaner, miracles, that these Presbyters say they do, they pretend, if you will believe them, to do things that are far more miraculous, and greater wonders than any of these, or them either, that Moses or Elias, or any other of all the Prophets or Apostles ever did; for we are sure, that neither of all those, either did, or could raise a soul dead in trespasses and sins, to the life of grace; but this, being as it were a new creation, it must be left alone to God, for ever, whose proper work it is, to create a new heart, and to renew a right spirit within us; yet this beast, and the disciples of this false Prophet do boast and brag unto the people, of the multitude of Saints, that they have begotten to God; when as indeed, they have of late seduced them to be as false, and as rebellious as themselves. What wonderful thing the Presbyters do. Psalm 51.10. The discourse of a Presbyterian with the Author. Esay 53. ●●. And so, one of them asked me, where were the Seals of our Apostleship, the signs and evidences of our Bishops and Prelatical men's ministry? how many souls had they converted unto God? and where were those converts, whereby they might approve themselves unto the people, to be the true Ministers of God, as they could do, by the confession of their Proselytes? and I answered, that I feared their converts were but perverted, and that I conceived it was not in man's power to convert souls, when as the Prophet cryeth, who hath believed our report? and again, all day long have I stretched forth my hands unto a disobedient and a gainsaying people; and if it had been in man's poower to work faith in the hearts of the hearers, then questionless, Rom 10, 1. etc. 9.3. We have not the power to convert souls. this great Prophet would have done it in the children of Israel; and Saint Paul would have converted the Jews his own brethren according to the flesh, whom he did so dearly love, as himself doth testify, to have believed in Christ; but we know that, although the false Prophets may easily pervert men to disloyalty and wickedness; because the devil is always ready to help them, and natural men are prone to evil; yet we cannot convert men to the true faith and to goodness, Acts 15.19. unless the Spirit of God cooperateth with us, to open the hearts of our hearers, as he opened the heart of Lydia, when the Apostle preached unto her; because as Saint Hierom saith, inanis est sermo docentis, nisi intus sit qui docet, the Preacher may say with the Prophet, in vacuum laboravi, I have laboured in vain, if God by his spirit doth not preach unto the heart. And therefore their wonderful brags of converting souls, are but lying wonders, not to be regarded by any man that regards the truth: Psal. 15.12. and these horns are not the horns of the Lamb, but ungodly horns, and the horns of the ungodly; which, as the Prophet saith, shall be broken by the Lord, all to pieces. That the two horns may signify the two Testaments, Torres. in sua Philosophia morali pag. 849. Texeda pag. 6. of his miracles unmasked. Or else these two horns, as Cornelius à lapide saith, to whom I subscribe, may signify the two testaments, which are robora & ornamenta Christi, the strength and ornament of Christ, and the language of the lamb, which bring men to believe in Christ, rather than then all the miracles of Christ; for, as Torres out of Lactantius saith, non idcirco à nobis creditur Christus, quia mirabilia fecit, sed quia vidimus facta esse omnia quae nobis annuciata sunt vaticinio prophetarum; Christ is not therefore believed by us, because he wrought miracles (which Vespasian did, and the idolatets of China do, and the false Prophets, by our Saviour's testimony, may do;) but because we have seen all things accomplished, which were foretold us of him by the Prophets: The parallel. This is infallibly fulfilled in the Paesbyterians. And the beast layeth claim to these horns, and so of all the Preachers, and Prophets, Papists or Protestants, it is well known that none pretend more love, and more right to these horns, than the Presbyterians, and the Independent and Lay-Preachers do; for they reject all other learning, and all authorities, of Counsels, Fathers, Poets, Orators, Histories, and all other Books, and will allow of nothing but the pure book of the holy Scripture; they will have none other horns but these, which they say, are the horns of our Lamb, and no Christian will deny them to be so, nor gainsay the strength and authority of these horns. And yet, as A lapide rightly observeth, as I told you before of it, A good obserservation of Cornel à lapide in loc. this beast is said to have, not the two horns of the Lamb, but two horns 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, like to the horns of the Lamb; and every Sophister can tell you, that nullum simile est idem, that which only is like a thing, is not the thing; and therefore though they cry out with the false Prophets of the Jews, os Domini locutum est, the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it, for they preach nothing but Gospel, and the pure Scriptures of the two Testaments; and it is we, and not they, if you believe them, that run to the puddles of humane authorities; yet in very deed, it is no such matter; for the holy Ghost, that best understandeth, both the language of the Lamb, and of this beast, tells us plainly in the very next words, that although their horns be like the horns of the Lamb, yet in truth, Why this second beast is said to speak like the Dragon. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, the beast speaketh like the Dragon; that is, though their words are pretended to be the words of Christ, yet, that which they aim at, to effect, are the plots of the Dragon; and I beseech you mark it; the first beast had a mouth like a Lion, but this second beast spoke like the dragon; and why so? because the first spoke Magnalia, great and glorious things, what would they not do, The parallel. if they might have what they desired? so you may remember, what fair promises the Parliament made unto the King: and the second spoke mendacia, lies, and falsehood, which is the first language of the old Serpent, the devil; who is a liar from the beginning, and the father of lies, saith our Saviour, Job. 8. John 8. and so is the false Prophet; and as the Dragon clothed his lies with fair speeches, and large promises; saying, you shall be like Gods, knowing good and evil; so the Apostle tells us, Rom. 16.18. 2 Pet. 3.26. Mat. 4.6. these false teachers, that make divisions in the Church, and Rebellions in the Commonwealth, and dissensions among neighbours, do with good words and fair speeches deceive the hearts of the simple; and what are those good words, but the very words of the Holy Scriptures, than which, no words can be better; yet St. Peter tells us, the Scriptures may be wrested, abused, and misapplyed, as the Devil did to Christ: and so do the false Prophets; Trenens l. 1. c. 1. for, seeing they come in sheep's clothing, it behoves them to bring nothing but good words, even the most blessed words of the Holy Scriptures in their mouths; but, as Ireneus speaketh, adaptare ●upientes ea, quae bene dicta sunt, iis quae male adinuenta sunt ab ipfis; they are always striving to fit those things, which are well spoken in the Scriptures, to what they have misinvented; so did the Valentinians, to establish their thirty couples of Gods and Goddesses; so did the Arians, to deny the Divinity of Christ; so do the Papists, to justify their Purgatory; and so this Beast, the Presbyterians, and their Disciples do, to uphold all the wicked Tenants that they have invented; to oppose their King, to expel their Bishops, and to extirpate our Lyturgy, and service of the Church, out of the Church; and to spread many other points of their desperate Doctrine, which is, if any thing be, the Language of the Dragon, though they speak it in the good words of the Holy Scriptures, and fair speeches, which is a counterfeit show of much purity and holiness, that so, with this shadow of piety, they might the sooner make the people believe, they are the only Saints, Stap in his counter blast. and their words the very truth, and language of the Lamb. And I think the adherents of the Long Parliament, and this false Prophet, scattered as many lies in their Books and Pamphlets, as Stapleton collecteth out of Bishop Horn, if we had but such another Stapleton to pick them out; and if you can name any Pope, that published more lies than this false Prophet, I shall subscribe to the opinion of the Prosbyterians, that he is the beast which speaks like the Dragon. But, Sir John Presbyter confesseth, that although they pretend nothing but Scripture, yet, the Blasphemies, Treasons, Heresies, Incongruities, Tantalogies, and Absurdities of his brethren and children, the Presbyterians, in the large measure of their Prayers and Sermons, observed by the people, hath been a great cause of his untimely death. p. 5. 3. It is said, v. 12. that this two horned beast exerciseth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, all the Power of the first beast, or rather all the Authority, which 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 doth more properly signify; and he causeth the earth, and them that dwell therein, to worship the first beast, Bezius de regno Ital. l. 4. c. 5, 1. c. & 6. which cannot be applied to the Pope and his Cardinals, that say, the Temporal Sword is, and aught to be, subject to the Spiritual, as Bozius, Hostiensis & Bellarmine, and the rest of that Church do avouch; and I shown you before, how this false Prophet, the Presbyterians, Independants, and Lay-Preachers, did all that they acted by the Authority, and under the Power of the Parliament; Hostien. in can quod supor. his. etc. Bellarm. de rom. pontiff. l. 5. c. 5. The parallel. Of the power of the second beast, plainly fulfilled in the Presbyterians. and therefore they Preached, and persuaded all men, especially the Inhabitants of the earth, as the holy Gh. saith, all such as were as earthly, and as worldly minded as themselves, to adhere and to assist the Parliament against the King and his Party, which is just, as is the worshipping of the first beast, that is, the temporal state, and which is, and hath been always the property and practice of all false Prophets, to shelter themselves, as the Arians did under Constantius, and to further their Projects under the wings of their Powerful Protectors,, whom they do therefore magnify, & persuade all others to worship them, that they might thereby effect their own wicked deeds, and be secured from the Power of the Church. Then, 4. Of the miracles of the false prophet. 4. It is said v. 13. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉; and he doth great wonders; where I take 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, and, not for a disjunctive, or causative, as Mr. Mede takes it, but, as it is commonly used for a copulative, to that which went before, as, that this second beast used the Power and Authority of the first beast, and, being protected and furthered by the Power and strength of the first beast, they did thereby great wonders; and so St. Paul saith, 2 Thes. 2.9. the Antichrist should come, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, with signs, and lying wonders; and our Saviour saith, Bellar. Antichr. prodigia, potius praestigia daemonum mera & mira quam vera miracula statuit. de notis eccles. c. 14. the false Christ's and Prophets that are the followers and promoters of the Antichrist, should arise, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, and should show great signs and wonders; whereby you may see, that both the beast and his instruments, the Antichrist, the false Prophet, and the whole troop of his disciples, shall pretend to show signs and wonders, to deceive the people; and the signs that they show are just like the sign, that Judas gave unto his followers, a kiss, which is a pretence of love, and great kindness: but it was both destructive to Christ, and deceitful to the followers of Christ; so the beast, and the false Prophet do kiss those their Proselytes, with good words, and fair promises, whom they intent to allure to foul acts, and to betray them to evil enemies; and so the people are thereby deceived, and the Church of Chrift destroyed. But 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, a wonder, which the false Prophets are said by Christ to do, Aquinas in 2 Thes. 2. Prodigia quasi procul a digito. is a degree beyond 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, a sign; for signs are but parva mira, some strange accidents, and things done within the sphere of nature, but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, wonders, (which some conceive to be derived 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, that fignisieth to terrify, because they strike amazement in the beholders,, Stapleton. asserit illa vera miracula futura quoad actus su pernaturales, sed mendacia quoad usum, quia mendacio inserviunt. dom. 24 as things that do far exceed the reach of nature, or the second causes) are things of a higher strain, quaeque omnium naturalium causarum & creaturarum vires excedunt, which do exceed the strength of all natural causes, and the Power of all the creatures; and so there must be a supernatural Power, and a Divine virtue to effect them; And such wonders this beast would pretend to do; and not only this beast, but many other false Prophets, would pretend to do the same: as I said before; for so the Friars, and the Nuns of the Roman Church, have filled the world with such pretended miracles, Texeda. p. 23. as could not be done without Divine strength, whereof you may see divers of them in Texedas' miracles unmasked, and especially those of Mary, of the visitation, prior's of the Monastery of the Anunciada in Lisbon. Object. But you will say, the Presbyterians pretend not to do any such miracles; and therefore they cannot be this false Prophet, nor can they be justly charged for such do. I Answer, that the deceits and fallacies of the pretenders to do miracles, have been so sufficiently discovered by St. Augustine, St. Chrysostom, and others of the ancient Fathers, and specially by our learned Protestants, that have displayed the counterfeit miracles of the Roman Church, and the juggling tricks of the Nuns and Friars, that the Presbyterians have so much wit, Aug. l. de unitate Ecclesiae. The Parallel. as in plain terms, not to pretend to work miracles; yet they will tell you of such things, that the Parliament and themselves have done, which, if done, as they say, are greater miracles, than any of the pretended miracles of the false Friars; for, the do of the Parliament, slaying the Witnesses, Let my reader judge if the Presbyters have not hereby fulfilled this prophecy. changing the Times, altering the Laws, stripping the Church of her Revenues, subduing all Opposers; and the Pretensions of the false Prophet, (the Presbyterians, and the Independants, and Lay-Preachers,) to convert souls, to make Saints, to make fire to come down from heaven, to pull down the Antichrist, to overthrow the whore of Babylon, to reduce all the Tribes of Israel to the Sheepfold of Christ, as they hope to do, and the like 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, strange things, The miracles of the Presbyterians greater than the miracles of the Friars. seeming to all the people, to surpass all humane reach, and not to be done, but by the singer, and special providence of God, which they plainly Preach so to be, unto their hearers, must needs be conceived to be greater wonders than the pretended miracles of the Friars; and so accordingly (as great miracles, and strange wonders are wont to do) these very things have wrought such an admiration and amazement among the people, that they were very easily deceived, by the means of these things, that were indeed, but as the Apostle saith, the miracles of the Antichrist should be, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, lying wonders, false fignes, and deceitful miracles, in respect of all the causes of true mirales; For, 1. That the wonders of the Presbyterians are all lying wonders. Bellarm de. to. Pontif. l. 3. c. 15. Corn. Alapide in h. loc. Whereas the end of a true miracle, and the proper use of it is to confirm, and justify an extraordinary calling, and the truth of the Doctrine of them that are so called, as Elias, and the Apostles did, and the Pharisees requested of Christ to do the like, to show them a figue from Heaven, to justify his extraordinary Office; the end of Antichrist his wonders, and of this false Prophet, is not to justify their extraordinary calling, which they do not challenge, lest that should discover them, but to deceive the people, and to cheat them into a compliance with them in their wicked ways; and to that end, saith Gerhan, the man of sin, Vtitur, sapientia verborum, will be as eloquent as Domosthenes, Guhan, in 2 Thes. 2. and he useth simulatione virtutum, a dissimulation of much virtue in his life and conversation, seeming as courteous as Titus, the son of Vespasian, The differences betwixt true miracles and false. 1. Difference. and as Religious as St. Antony, or Mark the Eremite; he will also use the Testimony of the Scripture, and Preach, and allege Scripture, as readily, as the Devil did to Christ; and he will pretend to do, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, strange things, and to make large promises of Preferments to his adherents, as, blessings here, and happiness hereafter, if they follow him and his ways; and all this he useth but to deceive the people, and to entice them to be his Proselytes; and if neither of these things, nor all these can do the deed, then as the King of terrors, he will roar out his threaten and persecutions like a Lion, no less than hell and damnation remaineth for them; and are not the do of our Presbyterians just thus? as if Gorran had been alive, to have seen them, he doth so lively, and so punctually describe them under the person of the man of sin. 2. Difference. 2. Whereas true miracles are done, by the help and operation of God's Spirit, as Nicodemus saith to Christ, no man can do those things which thou dost, John 3.2: except God be with him; the lying miracles of the beast, and the wonders of the false Prophet, are done by the help of the Devil, as the Holy Ghost saith, Revel. 13.2. the Dragon gave him his Power, and his Seat, and great Authority, whereby they were furthered, and enabled, to do those great things, and wonders that they did; and St. Cyrill affirmeth, antichristum esse magum, & veneficiis, & malis artibus instructissimum, the Antichrist to be a Magician, and most expert in all kind of witcheries, Cyrill●s Cate● che 15. and wicked arts; I know not, whether any of the Long Parliament were such or no, though many men suspected them to be such; but, I have often heard, that those enthusiasts, that were Presbyterians, and Lay-Preachers, pretended Revelations from God, which were indeed the delusions of the devil, 2 Thes. 2. and as the Apostle saith, strong delusions. 3. Difference. 3. Whereas true miracles are really the things that they seem to be; these wonders of the beast, and his followers, the pretended do of our Presbyterians, videntur & non sunt, are but phantasms and illusions, and a kind of seeming to be, what they are not; and therefore Bellarmine well observeth, out of Ar●thas, this beast is said to do his wonders, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, in the sight of menj that is, so appearing to men, whose sight and judgement are thereby deceived; for that they do nothing, of what they pretend and seemed to do: but, the things that they do, are no such things indeed, in the sight of God. 4. 4. Difference. Whereas true miracles do exceed all natural causes, tam occultas quam manifestas, as well the hidden secrets of nature, as those causes that are known to us, and are done only by the hand and Power of God; and therefore they are wonders, and not only in the fight of men, but also in the sight of Angels and Devils; the wonders of the Antichrist, and his adherents, the Presbyterians, and Lay-Preachers, have all of them their natural causes, though they be hidden from the sight and understanding of the people; as, the victories of the beast, and his successes, are obtained merely by his subtle tricks, his cunning carriage of the war, and the desperate valour of his soldiers; God giveth them leave so to prevail over the pufillanimity, and security of his children that offendeth him; and they are not obtained by the immediate hand of God's active Power, The Presbyterians gaining so many Proselytes, to what it is ascribed. and a miraclous effecting Providence from heaven, as the beast pretendeth, and so desperately blasphemeth God, in making him the author of all his bloody cruelties, and the shedding of all the innocent blood that was spilt, which can no ways stand, either with the goodness, or justice of God; and the Presbyterians winning of so many simple men to follow after them, and to become their disciples, to believe their erroneous heresies, and damnable positions, it is to be ascribed to their sedulity, vehemency, and good oratory, wherewith Aeschines, Demosthenes, and Cicero, persuaded their Auditors to follow them, and not to the powerful working of God's Holy Spirit, who, though for their sins, he permitteth the simple people to believe strong delusions, and to be misled into most damnable conclusions by this beast, yet he never worketh, and leadeth them into the same. And therefore, what Vulteius Remensis saith of some Franciscan Monks, that played many juggling tricks in Orleans, Anno 1534. the same may be rightly applied to these Presbyterians. Cum clamat larvas furiosa caterua leonum Infestare suam nocte dieque domum; Res vera est; falsi larvati denique fratres, Quos vestis sanctos prodigiosa facit, Sunt lemures, larvae, furiae, vulpesque lupique, Qui infestant vitiis seque suamque domum. Which I may very well thus translate. When Presbyters do cry, that schism and heresy Do spoil the Church of Christ; The thing is true; for so these Saints in show Are furious Fiends, the limbs of Antichrist, That with their Lies and Heresies, given in a golden Cup, Have poisoned all the whole Flock of Christ. And so themselves are the Mischief that have spoilt all things, both in the Church and Commonwealth. But though all the wonders and workings of this false Prophet be but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, lying wonders, and no truth in them; yet hereby he deceiveth the people, and especially when, as the Holy Ghost saith, He maketh fire to come down from heaven on the earth: Touching which fire, What is here meant by the fire, that the beast maketh to come down from heaven. 1 Reg. 18.38. we must not understand it to be such a fire as Elias brought down, to consume the two fifty men that the King sent to fetch him: nor such a fire as by his prayers came down to consume the Sacrifice upon Mount Carmel; because those fires were true fires, and truly miraculously brought down by the Prophet: when as the sire that this false Prophet pretendeth to bring down, is no such thing: neither must we take it for such a fire, as Philostratus saith, Apollonius Tyanaeus fetched down from Heaven, in the fight of many people; because this was some elfe-fire that he procured to appear, as the flash of a Meteor, by the help and procurement of the Devil: when as this false Prophet pretendeth not to bring down any such a fire; neither yet can I yield it should be taken, as Mr. Mr. Medes Expofition rejected. Mede and others of our late Writers do expound it: for the lightnings and thunders of the Pope's Bulls and Excommunication, against those that submit not themselves to him and to his Decrees: because, as I shown to you before, the Pope and his Cardinals cannot be understood by this false Prophet. But I take it as a proverbial Hyperbole, for the application of that which was said before, That this Beast doth great wonders; so that he maketh fire to come down from Heaven: The parallel. The fire that Christ came to send on earth, the Beast pretendeth to bring from heaven. because the Jews do commonly attribute so much to the miraculous fire of Elias, that they use for all wonderful works, proverbially to say, He bringeth down fire from heaven, saith Graserus: Or else it must be taken, as I rather conceive, in that sense as our Saviour takes it, when he saith, I came to send fire upon the earth: because this Prophet would fain seem to imitate Christ, and to do all the things that he should do, and can do, as Christ did; and therefore he pretendeth to bring the same fire that Christ brought down, and that is, the fire of zeal, and a most ardent affection to Christ, and to the truth of his Religion: and this fire the Presbyterians and the Independent and Lay-preachers pretend to bring down from heaven to the earth, & above all other men whatsoever: but in very deed, this fire of their is but an ignis fatuus, a deceitful fire, and their seeming zeal, as well as all the rest of their do, is but as the Apostle saith, a lying-wonder; for the true fire that these men do bring, is of another kind, from another place, and to another end; and that is, the fire of hatred and persecution, which they bring from Hell, Not the fire of persecution. and not from Heaven, and they bring it into the Church, and upon the true Members of Christ, and not on the earth: but this their fire is not to be understood in this place. Reason. 1 1. Because the Holy Ghost saith, The Beast bringeth the fire upon the earth; that is, the earthly minded men, whom only he persuadeth to worship the Beast, and to adhere unto him, as being deceived by his false wonders; and this he doth by the fiery zeal of God's worship, which he pretends to bring unto them: and the persecution of the Beast is against the Saints, and not against these earthly men, that by the sight of this fire, are persuaded to serve and assist the beast, and to afflict the Saints. Reason. 2 2. Because it is immediately said, that hereby he deceiveth them that dwell on the earth: that is as I said, the earthly and worldly minded men; for the true Saints he deceiveth not, but he deceiveth them that dwell on the earth, and they worship the beast, and assist him and adhere unto him; as being seduced and beguiled through the feigned and dissembled zeal of the false Prophet; and the Sight of persecution, from them that profess themselves Divines, could no more deceive the Beholders, and cause them to worship the beast, than the persecutions of the Heathens deceived the people, How the dissembling zeal of hypocrisy deceives many men. that saw the Primitive Martyrs suffering for the faith of Christ: when as that sight converted many of the Pagans to become Christians, as Sozomen writeth, and could do no more than terrify the fearful from christianity, but never deceive any, to think well of the Persecutors, or ill of the persecuted: but the dissembling zeal of hypocrites hath deceived many good men; and therefore much sooner could the fiery zeal of this false Prophet deceive the carnal and earthly men, and make them believe such zealous Professors, to be none other than heavenly Saints. Nor the fire of false prestigies. But Janius in Annotat. in loc. And as this fire cannot be taken for the fiery persecution of the Saints; so no more can it signify those falsa praestigia, the lying wonders, and the juggling tricks of the Romish Priests and Friars, which Junius saith, they used, to justify their Doctrine of Purgatory, Indulgences, Transubstantiation, and other like Popish Trumperies, whereof you may find store in their Legends, in Vin ceutius his Speculum historiale, and some in Stapleton's moral Promptuary, and in divers others: because these fiery Meteors, or rather sulphurous fire, and feigned wonders from the Souls in Purgatory, and those lying fables of their Images sweeting blood, and their wonderful Narratives of their Saints Relics, and the Revelations of S. Bridget, and the like holy Matrons, do bear no Analogy or correspondency with fire from heaven: when as all such Prestigia's or prodigies, either of the Magiciaus, or of the idolatrous Priests of the Gentiles, and so the feigned miracles of the Roman Clergy are well known, not only by the learned, but even by all rational men, to be all framed and forged upon the Devil's Anvil, and do spring from Hell, and not from Heaven; as all the honest Papists do confess: Teneda in his miracles unmesked, pa. 13. but the fiery zeal which the Presbyterian beast pretends to have to Christ, to his Religion, to the propagation of his Gospel, and to the pure worshipping of God, above all other Saints of God, may without any absurdity, and without incongruity be said, A fiery zeal to Christ and his sarvice. and may be thought to be fire from Heaven; because such a zeal, if they truly had it, as they pretend, could spring from no place else, and from no other Fountain, then from the Spirit of God: and this fire of such a zeal, the false Prophet pretendeth to make it to come down from Heaven on the earth; that is, on the earthly, carual, and worldly men, to make them their Proselytes, and so to come to eternal happiness: and by their persuasion and the opinion that the people have of thiis fire, and this their zeal, they are the sooner and the more easily deceived, to become followers of their pernicious ways, and to be the Assistants of the first beast. Out of all which that I have showed, of their blasphemy against God, and their tyranny over the Consciences of men, which is every way far worse than tyrannising over their bodies, it is apparent; 1. That although the Tenets of the Church of Rome, touching Purgatory, 1. The doctrine of the Presbyterians more derogatory to the truth, justice, & goodness of God than the doctrine of the Romish Church praying to Saints, and adoration of Images, and the like stuff, be very frivolous and fantastical: yet none of all the Doctrines of the Romish Church is so scandalous, and so derogatory from the justice, truth, goodness, and mercy of God, as are the Doctrines which these Presbyterians, Independants and Lay-preachers do preach, and publish in Print, concerning Original sin, the cause of evil, , and the absolute irrespective Decree of God, touching Election and Reprobation, and other the like points depending hereupon, without any just distinction or expression of the foresight and knowledge of God, which is so fully and so excellently set down by Doctor Stern, in his learned Discourse, De medela animi, and by divers others. 2. 2. The discipline and government of the Presbyterians, moro tyrannical over the consciences of men, than the discipline and government of the Court of Rome. Matth. 11.28. nor yet the Court of Rome hath ever exercised such an absolute power, and domineering Authority over the consciences of Christians, as this false Prophet useth to do; for neither of the foresaid Courts did ever Excommunicate any member of the Church, but either for apparent contumacy, and a wilful contempt of the Power and Authority of the Church; or upon the proof of two or three witnesses at the least, of such crimes, as were most scandalous unto the people of God; and yet every petty Priest of our Presbyterians, either upon his own malicious discontent, or some other private dislike to his neighbour, will debar him from the Blessed Sacrament, and exclude him from the Body and Blood of Christ, and so cut him off, as a rotten member, from his Saviour, (that doth so lovingly invite him to come unto him) and deliver him unto Satan, as a lively limb, to be tormented for ever. And, what is this discriminating of the sheep from the goats, this admitting of whom we like, to be of our Church, and refusing whom we hate, or do distaste, to any society, or fellowship with the faithful? is it any other thing, then to fit in the Temple of God as God? & oftentantes se esse deos, and every one of them showing himself, that he is God, when he takes upon him to do the proper work of God, to distinguish the reprobate from the Elect, the vile from the precious, and those, that have not on their wedding garments, from them that had them on, which the true inviters of Christ his guests durst not presume to do, until the Master of the Feast came himself to see his guests, and to turn him out, that had not on his wedding garment; how then dares every Presbyter do the same? Is not this to have a Pope in every Parish? and, whether is it better to have one Pope, or a thousand Popes, and every one of them more tyrannising over their Flock, than the Pope of Rome? And therefore, if these Presbyterians, Independants, and Lay-Preachers, that gather Churches unto themselves, out of the Church of Christ, and exclude many true members of Christ, from the Communion of Christ, be not the false Prophet, that hath two bornes, like the Lamb, but do speak like the Dragon, I know not who can be the true Prophet of Jesus Christ. But, If you look into the translation of Grallae, that was made in vindication of Vedelius, to answer Apollonius, and his Wallacrian Classis, which are the Transmarine Presbyterians, you shall see, if that Author proves them not to be all Popes, in every point: but the ignorant people are not yet acquainted with them; for, he demandeth, if their pride and arrogancy, as is seen in the Wallacrian Classis, be settled in their Classis, how much will the world be eased of the Roman Antichrist, that is the Pope; because they are such birds, so like the Romish Pope, that they deservedly fall into Aesop's fable of the Cuckoo, which asked the rest of the birds, why they did all fly about him, and peck at him, as if he were a hawk, that did often molest them; whereas he was a weak, and feeble bird, that neither did, nor wished them any hurt at all? to whom the birds answered, they did it, because that in his feathers he was so like an hawk, that they were afraid, and believed, that in a very short time he would become an hawk; so the actions, and the do of these Presbyterians, like the Cuckoo's feathers, are so agreeable to the pride and presumption of the PoPe, and all the rest of his practices over God's Flock, that you may assure yourselves, assoon as ever they shall have their Classes settled, Puerilis Sapientiae cothurnus pag. 43. and their Government established, you shall have so many imperious Popes amongst you, as will vex you more, than ever the Pope of Rome hath done; & qui ante non cavet, post dolebit. CHAP. III. Of the image of the first Beast; what is meant thereby: what it is to give life to the Image of the Beast; the two things, that the Beast, animated by the false Prophet, immediately acted; and the two things, that the Long Parliament Acted, immediately after they were justified, encouraged, and animated by the Assembly of the Presbyterians; of the mark of the Beast, and of the engagement, and of the great iniquity of the engagement. ANd therefore it followeth in the next v. 14. that by the means of these their pretended miracles, 5. Of the Image of the first beast. that they do, that is, to convert souls, and to bring this fiery zeal out of Heaven, unto their followers, they deceive them that dwell on the eartth, and being thus deceived by them, they persuade them to make an Image to the first Beast, that had the seven heads, and ten horns; for this was the usual Honour, and the worship, that the people in those days, and in the eastern Countries especially, did use to do unto their Emperors and Kings, or chief Governors, whom they chief honoured and obeyed; which was the first step, and occasion of the idolatry of the Gentiles, when they began to ascribe Divine Honour unto these images, as they did to the image of Belus or Nimrod, which was the first Image that we read of; Rubenus de idolatry. l. 1. so the false Prophet persuaded the people to make an Image to the beast, and so to honour, and to worship the beast. And the Image of any thing must be a special resemblance of them, whereof it is an Image, and f the Image be perfect and natural as the Son is the Image of his Father, then must it have a likeness, not only representative, but also in nature and being of existence; and if the Image be imperfect and artificial, as the Image of a man drawn by the Painter on a Tablet, then, though it be different, from the thing whereof it is an Image, in nature and being; yet it must have a representative form of likeness, to the thing it representeth; as the Image drawn by the Painter, doth resemble the person or thing that the Painter draweth; therefore I say the making of this Image to the beast, is not, That the Empire caused to be set up by the Pope, is not here meant, as the image of the old Caesarem Empire. (as Mr. Mede, and all those, that would have the Pope and his Cardinals to be this false Prophet, do say,) the setting up of the Roman Empire in the ten horns, or ten Kings, that revolted from the Caesarean Empire, as the image of that former Caesarean Empire, that was wounded, but now is healed and revived in this image, that the Pope and his Cardinals caused to be set up, and to be obeyed. Reason. 1 1. Because, as I shown to you before, the old Caesarean Empire is not meant by this beast, that risen out of the sea, and the Pope and his Cardinals cannot be meant by this second beast, and the false Prophet. Reason. 2 2. Because, as I said, there must be some proportionable similitude betwixt the image, and the person, or thing represented by the image; but there is small resemblance, and abundance of difference and dissimilitude, as much and more than was betwixt Pharaohs lean kin and his fat ones, or Hector's Ghost to the living Heros, betwixt the old Caesarean Empire, and the other new Empire, that was settled in the ten Kings; that being the most glorious Monarchy that ever was upon earth; and this, that was established by the Pope, but a skeleton, a shadow, and the bare name of an Empire only, of far lesser power than some Kings of this small Island; and therefore, if by the beast, that was wounded, we understand the old Caesarian Empire, and this new settled Empire by the Pope, to be the image of it; I say, the wound is but very ill and meanly healed, in that which is thus revived by the Pope, that gave a shadow, and lost the substance; and the Pope is a very bad Painter, that can draw his images no better. But, the making of this image to the first beast, signifieth nothing else, What the making of an Image to the beast, signifieth. but the abetting, furthering, and setting forward of the do, proceed, and impieties of the first beast; because the works and acts, the plots and practices of the beast, are the very image, and the most lively representation of the beast, as by and by I shall make it plain unto you. But so, the Pope and his Cardinals never furthered and assisted the Emperonrs or civil State in their tyranny, or impiety; but they required all Kings and Emperors to aid and assist them, for the advancement and enlargement of the Church. Yet it is notoriously known, The Parallel. the Presbyterians and Lay-preachers persuaded all men to adhere to worship, and to do all the honour and service that they could do unto the Parliament, and seduced the people so far, that the very women were ready to part with their rings, their thimbles, and their bodkins, to make money for to help and to further the proceed of the Parliament, Exod. 32.2, 3: even as the Israelites parted with their earrings, and their Jewels, to erect their Golden Calf; and therefore this beast, this Ecclesiastical beast, who may be said to be the Assembly of Presbyters and Independants, and Lay-preachers, is only said in this 14. verse, The mischievous persuasions of the false Prophet. to dcceive them that dwell on the earth, that is, all those that are like to themselves, risen 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉; from the earth, and are worldly minded men; and no marvel, for it is most consonant to reason, and more likely, for the false Prophet, than it is for the violent soldiers, that dispute the matter with the sword, and will compel, rather than persuade, or the City Senators, that trade only in worldly Merchandise, To deceive the people; poor people, that are deceived by their leaders, and carried on the right way to bell, when they think they are led straight to heaven. But O thou false Prophet, thou deceitful Presbyterian, and the lawless lay-preacher, how wilt thou answer for all the injuries that have been done, and all the blood that hath been shed in our last war, through thy deceitful persuasions, cum surrexerit ad judicandum Deus? when God shall come to make inquisition for blood? for it is more than most likely, plain enough to them that have their eyes open, the Parliament had never prevailed as they did, to overthrow the King, to destroy the Bishops, to rob the Church, and to gain so many victories; to make so many poor widows and Fatherless children, and distressed infants, if thou hadst not most perfidiously and spitefully used all the rhetorical art, to persuade the simple worldly men, to adhere, and to assist that long Parliament, as the only Patroness of their liberty, protectors of their estates, and the true propagators of the Gospel, against a King, that invaded upon their estates, and encroached upon their privileges, and such a Hierarchy of Bishops, and Episcopal Clergy, as did most palpably aim and strive to bring in Popery like a deluge among the people, which was the string, that the Presbyterians perpetually harped upon, and the only song, the false song of their Zion. And therefore 6. 6. What is meant by the image of the beast. ver. 15. Doctor Sbelden pag. 13. Junius in annot in loc. Mr. Mede. pag. 67. It is said verse 15. that this second beast gave 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, life, or breath, or spirit, which 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifieth, to the image of the beast; where the question is, what is here meant by the image of the beast; and some Expositors, not much amiss, do understand hereby the representation of the State and government of the first beast; Junius means the setting up of images to be worshipped, in the second Council of Nice; Mr. Mede saith, the Roman Empire in the seventh head, that is under the ten Kings, is the image of that Empire, as it was under the sixth head, that is, the Caesarian Empire, which had the wound by the sword, whose mistake herein, I have showed unto you even now, The impieties and wickedness of the beaff eat the image of the beast. that the present Germane Empire is but a very ill Image, of the old Roman Empire; therefore I conceive, that to give life to the image of the beast, signifieth nothing else but to be a special means, and the chiefest instruments to uphold and justify the Practices, impieties, and proceed of the beast, which is indeed to maintain the State and Government of the beast, as Doctor Sheldon saith; because the injustice, impieties, and wicked practices of the beast; do most fully resemble, and are the very perfect image of the beast; for, as an image showeth the similitude and likeness of a thing to the life, Geu. 1.27. and as a man is said to be made in the image of God, which must not be understood of any external form, or outward shape, which God, being a pure spirit, Ephes. 4.24. cannot have, but must be understood of that holiness and true righteousness, wherein man was created, as the Apostle showeth, like unto God, Levit. 12.44. Luke. 6.36. and whereunto, we are now exhorted, to conform ourselves, when the Lord biddeth us to be holy, as he is holy, to be merciful, as our heavenly Father is merciful; and so in all other imitable points and attributes, of goodness and piety, whereby we may renew the lost image of God in ourselves; so the wickedness, the rebellion, the ungodliness, injustice, subtlety and cruelty of the beast, John 8 44. may as well be said to be the image of the beast; even as our Saviour saith, the Jews were of their father the devil, that is, the very image of the devil; Gen 5.3. because they were liars, and murderers, and replenished with all other wicked conditions, like unto the devil; and as Adam is said to have begotten a child in his own image, that is, not only in the feature and liniaments of his body, but especially in the deformity, mortality and corruptibility, that Adam by his disloyalty had brought upon himself, and upon all his posterity; and as you know, it is a common thing to say, that a subtle crafty fellow is, a fox; a cruel man, a Tiger; an innocent man, a sheep; a foolish fellow, an ass; and so forth: because of the likeness and similitude they bear, not to the shapes and figures, but to the properties and conditions of these beasts. And so, in this sense, What it is to give life to the image of the beast. taking the image of the Beast for the wicked Government, and lewd practices and proceed of the beast, the second beast, that came out of the earth, is said to give life to the image of the first beast; that is, to the wickedness, and impieties of the first beast; because that, as the true Preachers, and the Orthodox Ministers of Christ do, together with the inward help of God's Spirit, renew, and revive the image of God in men, in bringing the life of Grace unto them, and destroying the image of the beast, and of the devil in them, by killing their vices, and rooting out their impieties, and the lustful corruptions of the flesh; so, the false Prophet, and the apostatical earthly beast, together with the help of the Devil, doth give life and breath unto the impieties, and wickedness of the first beast; even as the true Propets of God tell us, the Priests of Baal did animate, The parallel. and give life to the Idolatry of the Jews. And thus, it cannot be said, that the Pope and his Cardinals did animate, The Presbyterians animated all the proceed of tha Parliament. and give life, to the Tyranny and cruelty, or any other impiety, of any Civil State, either of Kings or Emperors, that I read in any History; but, I suppose, it is not unknown to any man in these parts, how the presbyterians, and Independants, and Lay Preachers, did animate, and give life to all the injustice, and the impieties, and all the unjust proceed that were done by that Long-Parliament; or otherwise, their attempts against the King, Bishops, and Church, had sooner died, had they not received life, from, and by the pens and tongues of that beast, that sat at Westminster, and spread his Arms over all the Kingdom, most unjustly to rob, and to take away their live, from all the poor, and honest ejected Clergy. And therefore, what was hyperbolically said of Pope Clement the eighth, with the changing of a word or two, may far more justly and orthodoxally be said of this false Prophet, the Assembly, and whole company of Presbyterians, as a just Epitaph upon their Tombs, when the Church shall be freed of them. Hunc caetum eripuit nobis clementia fati, Humanum toto gaudeat orbe genus; Hic est qui fuerat iam dedecus orbis & urbis, & fuit aetatis magna ruina suae; Hic est, si nescis, qui jam tibi multa paravit, Excidium, pestem, funera, bella famem; The Presbyserians Epitaph, when the Church shall be freed of them. Hic est, qui fuerat regnans infamia mundi, Imperii labes, spurcitiesque sui; Contemptor divum, scelerum vir, publicus hostis Perfidus, ingratus, raptor iniquus, atrox, Videbit mortis centum tormenta futurae, Paena tamen mortis non erit aequa suis; Ex ista tandem, migravit urbe tyrannus, Quo nullus toto pejor in orbe fuit; And therefore their impiety and wickedness herein, as in all other their do, exceedeth the possibility of my expression, which makes me to borrow it from better pens: and I profess to speak this, out of no partiality, or disaffection to any particular man, of all the Presbyterians; because they are all alike unknown to me, either by benefits, or injuries; but I speak it out of a bitter distaste, and hatred to their Pharisaical by pocrifie, and blind leading of the simple people, to no simple sin; when, as here, they are said, to give life to the image of the beast, 1. c. as I said, to egg ou the first beast to all wickedness, and to justify the same unto the people; and if these forenamed things be not sufficient to make a perfect Antichrist, let Lucifer send him out of hell. Or else, the image of the beast may signify, not the actions, but the actors of those injuries and impieties, Mr. Mede, pag. 6. clavis apocal. That the image of the beast, and the seven headed and ten horned beast, are the same thing, that is, the image of the two horned beast. Revel. 19, 20. 1. justance. 2. justance. that are committed, and that is, the first 10. horned beast is said to be the image of the second two horned beast; for, Mr. Mede hath rightly observed, as I conceive, that the first 10. horned beast, and the image of the beast, are voces convertibiles, and equivallent, and do signify not two things, as a man and his picture, or his statue, but the very self same thing; which he proveth by three special instances. 1. In that, where the beast and the false Prophet are mentioned together, which is three times at least, by the beast is understood the 10. horned beast, and by the false Prophet is understood the two horned beast. 2. Where the Beast, and the image of the beast are coupled together, which is six times at least, as Chap. 14.9. and ver. 11. Chap. 15.2. Chap. 16.2. Chap. 19, 20. Chap. 20.4. there, by the beast is understood, not the first 10. horned beast, but the second two horned beast; and by the image of the beast is understood the seven headed, and ten horned beast; as being now revived, and healed of the wound that it had formerly gotten, by the means, that is, by the pens, and tongues, the and writings of the false Prophet; and therefore, as receiving in himself the Divinity, and direction, and the very platform of his proceed, from this Prophet, he might very well be said, to be the image of the false Prophet: and that appeareth the more plain; because this image, when it had received life and breath, by the means of the false Prophet, doth now begin to speak, and to make orders and Ordinances, that whosoever would not worship the image of the beast, that is, serve, and obey him, which is nothing else, but the very image, and the lively representment of this Prophet, whom he deems, as the Oracle of God, and whose instrument he professeth himself to be, to act according, as this Prophet, out of God's word, doth prescribe unto him, should be killed; v. 15. 3. 3. Instance. In that, wheresover the beast is present, together with the false Prophet, the image of the beast, in the same construction of words, is not to be found; as if the name of the beast should serve the turn; to let us understand, that the first 10. horned beast is there, by the beast, to be understood. And therefore, as the impieties and wickedness of the first 10. horned beast, is rightly said to be the image of that beast; so, that beast himself is, and may be as truly said to be nothing else, but the very image of the two horned beast, the false Prophet, that gave life unto this image, that is, the impieties of the first beast, to do all the mischief that was and is done. And whereas Ludovicus de dieu, Objects, and saith, that the 14. v. of this thirteenth Chap. seems to contradict this that I have said; because the two horned beast, or false Prophet, is there said, to say, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast, that had the wound; whereas, it should have been said, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that they should make an image to him, if it were the image of the two horned beast, and false Prophet; but the two borned beast, bids them make an image to the beast, that was wounded, and healed; and if this image of the beast, be the very first ten horned beast, it doth not appear, how the inhabitants of the earth should be enjoined, to make that, which was, and was seen to arise out of the sea before. Sol. To this Mr. Mede answereth right, as I conceive, that where the conjunction 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of the beast, and of his image, does meet; there, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, his, is to be taken actively, and not passively; that the sense might be, the image, which the two horned beast required to be made; Judge 18.1. as Micha's idol is said to be, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, his image, and Nebuchadnezars Statue, is said to be, the image of Nabuchadnezzar; but where that copulation is not found, as in that 13 Chap. v. 14, 15. there it is taken passively, and, as I formerly said, for the impieties, iniquities, and wickedness of the first ten horned beast, as they do most lively represent that very beast. Indeed the conceit of Arise Evans, that the little Parliament, was the image of the first long Parliament, is pretty, but not right; because his Highness, the Lord Protector gave life, and being to that pettyte Parliament; but the false prophet, the assembly at Westminster, and their disciples, gave life, and breath to the other, the long Parliament, and to their impieties, which were but the very image of this false prophet, which was the primum mobile, the first author, and the first wheel, that moved all the rest, to act and do all the evil that hath been done in these Kingdoms; and therefore, as the teachers of all wickedness, are by our Saviour's testimony, to be accounted the least, that is, none at all, in the kingdom of heaven; but the greatest, and well deserving the greatest punishment, in the place that is provided for them; so are they, if they pray not for grace to repent. And yet, notwithstanding all these transcendent impieties of these Presbyterians, it is a wonder to me, that the people should be so affected, and so wedded to the new Presbyterian government, that never yet attained to the age of some men. The inconstancy of the people. But as the people in the beginning of the long Parliament, were mad to have Monarchy rooted out of the world, and to erect a Commonwealth, and to have a state government; yet when they had it, they were soon weary of it; and were as mad, and more mad, to have it cashiered; so, though they be now mad after that Presbyterian government; yet, I doubt not, but after they have it a while, and felt the smart of it, they will he soon weary of it and be as mad to have it changed; for that, at the last, they shall perceive their own error, and find, that those were the leaders, and the Teachers of them that murdered our King, destroyed the Bishops, and did all the mischief that hath been perpetrated. And, will the People, or Parliament, as they have done most justly, condemn the Actors, that were but the scholars; Remember whose auditors were the murderers of the King. and not only suffer the Teachers to go free, but also magnify them to be their Masters still? or will they punish the poor hares for their trespass, and gratify the crafty Foxes, for their wickedness? for, I beseech you, tell me; whose Scholars, and whose Auditors were those King murderers, the Bishops, or the Presbyterians? the whole Kingdom knoweth, and the setting up of these Teachers may prove to be the setting forward of the like tragedy; Verbum sapienti sat est. But to proceed, it is said in the same ver. 15. that the image of the beast, The first ten horned beast, animated by the false prophet acteth two things. 1. thing. that is, the first seven headed, and ten horned beast, having received life and breath, by the means of the false Prophet, the two horned beast, whose image the the first beast was, as I shown unto you, did presently act and work these two observable things. 1. To speak, and to make orders, and ordinances, that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, as many as would not worship, that is, himself, which was nothing else, hut the very representation, of the false prophet, should be killed. 2. To cause all, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, both small and great, 2. Thing. rich and poor, free and bond to receive, a mark; or as the original hath it, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, as some copies read it; that he should give them a mark, or marks, in their right hand, or wrist, or arm, Rhodiginus l. 5. c. 53. saith servants were branded in their foreheads; soldiers in their hands Vege●. l. 2. c. 5. which 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifieth, all, from the hand to the shoulder; and which aludeth to the custom of Syria, and the neighbour countries, that used, even as our own Country formerly did; and yet sometimes, do; to wear badges on their arms, to demonstrate whose servants, they were; or in their foreheads, as the Roman servants did, and the Soldiers used to do; to signify to what Master, or Captain they did belong; and that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name; for so Lipsius saith, that they were branded in the hands, and marked with the name of their their general or the Emperor, Lipsius' de milit. rome l. dialog. Revel. f 14 1. that they served; and so the followers of the Lamb, as contrary to the followers of the beast, are said to have his father's name written in their foreheads; which was likewise done, to show to whom they belonged; that so by the sight of these marks, and tokens, they might buy and sell, and have all the other privileges, and benefits, that belonged to such servants. De Sheld. pag 15. Yet, you must not think this mark of the beast, to be a corporeal mark, to be engraven by incision, or to be burnt by inustion (as the fashion of men is to do with their cattles;) in the heads or upon the foreheads of the followers of the beast; for to dream of such a mark, were to contemn all learned antiquity, and to fall into a labyrinth of contrarieties, absurdities, and impossibilities; but as the marks of Christ his flock, and his father's name written in their foreheads, are not any real marks, by incision, or inustion; but the profession of his faith, and obedience to his law, with the acceptance of some godly Sacraments, King James in his premotion. haeg. 111. and religious Ceremonies, for the testifing of the same; so the mark of the beast must be conceived to be metaphorical, as King James showeth by some rite of profession, and mystical, by some rite of obedience, and subjection unto the beast; as that in the forehead, must be some plain and public act, or thing whereby the authority, and government of the beast is professed, & that in the hand, must be likewise, some mpious act, or Ceremony, The parallel. I only demand if that the Parliament after it received life from the false Prophet acted not the foresaid things that the beast is said to do. 1. The first thing. either accepted of in our hands, or subscribed to, under our hands, whre by subjection and obedience to that beast is professed to be performed. And here I would feign know if the long parliamtnt did not act and do those two forenamed things that this image of the beast is said to have done, and thereby to have imitated the Romans, and Syrians, in the main point, and to have fulfilled this prediction, of the do of the beast, to a hair; For 1. Did they not speak, and speak loud enough, by their votes, orders, and ordinances, that as many as would not worship them, (the image of the beast, and the actors of all things, according as the Presbyterian assembly, out of God's Word, do prescribe and approve of their do,) i. e. contribute to their war, submit unto their power, and assist them against the King, their goods should be plundered, their estates sequestered, and themselves if they resisted them and assisted, the King, should be killed, as disaffected, and malignants against the Parliament, and enemies to the State and Commonwealth? and was not this their voice, and their act, an act, I am sure, bad enough to undo so many, 2. The second thing and to kill so many, as they did; and yet their second act is far worse; For 2. After they had killed as many as they could find opposing them, and their proceed, did they not make and frame an Engagement, in January 3. 1649. that is, an injunction, for all persons to subscribe, to be true and faithful to the Commonwealth of England, as it is now established, without a King or House of Peers? Camerar. l. 5. c. 4. pag. 333. A most malicious enemy. and did they not likewise vote, that whosoever did not subscribe, and take this Engagement, this mark of his subjection unto them, should be totally deprived of all benefit, and protection of the Law? A mischief far greater, and worse, than the former; for as I read in Camerarius of a most malicious enemy, having taken his adversary by some wile, and being desirous to be throughly revenged on him, for some wrongs, that he conceived, he had done unto him, he said; he would most cruelly butcher him, if he did not swear unto him, that he would for ever afterwards, deny his Baptism, and renounce Christ for his Saviour; which if he did, that should preserve his life; and the poor captive, fearful of his cruelty, and desirous to save his life, did swear, as his adversary required; but as soon as he had sworn to his enemy's engagement, he drew out his sword, and said, now I shall be fully revenged on thee, seeing I shall both kill thy body, and damn thy soul; and so he run him thorough, that he died; and then he bragged, that he had made his adversary to lose both body, and soul; and so I demand if the Parliament by this engagement, did not endeavour to destroy the souls of those good Christians, that had formerly sworn, and taken the oath of allegiance to the King, to his heirs, and to his lawful successors; and by this suare, and gi'en, to bring them to the pit of perjury and perdition? But, The damnability of the Engagement. to make the damnability of the mark of the beast (that exposeth the liberties, of the non-engagers, that is, the not takers of it, to false imprisonments, their estates to rapine, spoil, and injustice, and their lives and persons to wounds, and murders, at the will and pleasure of such as will engage to take the mark of the beast) to appear more manifest unto you, from the extent, and generality of those, that must receive this mark, it is said, that both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, must receive this mark in their right hand, or in their forehead; that is, either privately or publicly; privately, by those in whom the beast confided, and whose heart he knew to be as Jehu said to Jonathan, as himself was; or publicly, by all those, Three special things to be observed. whom the beast suspected, and was jealous of them; and no man might buy, or sell, but he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name; where you are to observe two or three several things. 1. The mark of the beast, or the name of the beast; The mark of the beast, by what note known. for the mark is properly of his name, and therefore it is said, no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast; and in Chap. 14.11. it is called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, the mark of his name; and this mark of the beast is expressed, by the effects, and attributes thereof, that none might buy or sell, without the taking of that mark, which is the only note, that the Holy Ghost giveth us, to know the mark of the beast; Apud viegam, in c. 13. Apoe. and therefore the conceit of Primasius, and Ansbertus, that think the mark of the beast shall be composed of three Greek letters, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. which being joined, and framed into one form, and figure, do compendiously represent the name of Christ, which the beast pretendeth to honour above all men, is but a mere fancy, without any ground in Scripture. 2. The name of the beast, is not where, that I find, set down in all the Scripture, but is left, unill the beast should come to assume it unto himself; for, as we name not the child, until he appears in the Church to be Christened; so the Antichrist is not named, till he appears in the world. Yet, 3. For the number of his name, which the Beast taketh to himself, when he cometh, the Holy Ghost tells us, (that we might mark the beast, and avoid him, when he cometh) it is 666. And truly, if my life did lie upon it; I cannot find by any search, to whom all these things do fit, and agree, so well, and so aptly, as to the Long Parliament; For, 1. As the Arians, under King Hunericus, Victor Vticencis. l. 3. compelled the Orthodox to be rebaptized, and thereof gave them a Chirography, that is, a Testimonial under their hands, as Victor Vticensis, writeth; and as Dioclesian did set forth a most cruel Edict, that no man might sell, or administer any thing unto the Christians, unless the Christians would first offer Sacrifice unto the idols, and heathen Gods, as venetable Beda testifieth in the hymn of S. Justin, saying, Non illis emendi quidquam, aut vendendi copia, Nec ipsam haurire aquam dabatur ●oentia, Beda in Hym. Sti. Justini. Ante quam thurificarent detestandis idolis. So, those many Dioclesian's, that were in one house, when as before, The Parallel. the Devil had but one Dioclesian in all the world, they have imitated that great Colonel, or rather General of the Dragon, and made an Act agreeable to his edict; that whosoever subscribed not his name, or put not his mark to the engagement, The Act for the engagement. June 2. 1649. Agreeable to the mark of beast. (which is done, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, with the right hand, as the holy Ghost saith, should have no benefit of any law, in any Court in the kingdom, so that he can neither buy nor sell; or if he doth, he can neither recover what he bought, nor the moneys, for which he sold his commodities, nor any other debts, that are due unto him; except he hath taken this engagement, and so received this mark, this new invented trick that they devised, to hook in men into their faction, and to conglutinate them unto their impieties. Neither is this all the iniquity of this infernal engagement, The great iniquity of the engagement. that, as the Text saith, no man might buy or sell, save he, that had received the mark of the beast, but this goeth a note beyond Ela, and a step further than Dioclesian's Edict. quia facile est inventis addere; for, let the not ingagers be plundered, rob, beaten, slandered, abused, imprisoned, and killed, they are to expect no remedy, no relief, no benefit of Law, but they are exposed to the mercies of their merciless adversaries, and to the wills of the needy soldiers; whom, notwithstanding, we, the non ingagers, found, (blessed be God for it) more favourable than this cruel Parliament imagined, when at first they have devised it; yet this they have done; and this, neither Turk nor Pope, nor any other recent, nor ancient Tyrant, (besides the forecited, whom they far exceeded) that I remember to read of, did ever the like, nor did any of them deny, but that I might have the benefit of civil Commerce, as the Jews had with the Gentiles, and the Christians have now at Constantinople, with the Turks, and in the Indies, with the Insidels, and the Protestants with all Papists, Bellarm. de Rom. Pontif. l. 3. c. 11. pag. 733. Et in ipsa urbe roma, ubi Romanus Pontifex sedem suam habet, plurimi Judaei negotiantur publicè, emunt & vendunt; and as Bellarmine saith, in the very city of Rome, where the Pope hath his Seat, many Jews do publicly trade and traffic, and buy and sell without restraint; and so among all other nations, every man, of what country soever, of what Sect or Religion soever he be, may have civil commerce, and the benefit of the Country Law, where he tradeth, which, without subscribing to that engagement, could not be had, in all the territories of that Parliament; And how that Parliament can free themselves from this charge, of setting forth the mark of this beast, viderit utilitas; it passeth my understanding to do it; when I can have the benefit of Law in Rome, in Babylon, in Aleppo, in Japan, and in all other parts of the civil world, but not in any part of the dominions of that Parliament. And I think, if Junius had lived to have seen this course, he would never have made the mark of the beast to be Chrysma illud, quo in sacramento confirmationis, personas & actiones, obsignande corum frontem manumque, maneipant sibi Pontifices; because that neither this, nor the not-receiving of this, did either further or hinder the civil commerce of buying and selling, and all sociable dealing, with the benefit of law for that end, among men; whom God hath made sociable creatures; and this Engagement excludeth them quite from all society; but the unlawfulness of it, and the injustice of the obtruders thereof, hath been so sufficiently showed, by the Cheshire and Lancashire Ministers, The History of Independents. Part. 3. pag. 15, 16, 17. in their plea for Non-subscribers, that I need say no more of this, which doth so correspond with the mark of the beast here spoken of: and if any man desire further insight into this mystery, I refer him to that plea, and to the history of Independency. CHAP. IU. Of the name of the beast; what it is; and of the number of his name; how agreeable it is to the name of the long Parliament. 2. FOr the name of the beast, 2. What is the name of the beast. I shall be no Priest to give it to the long Parliament; for they have suppressed our calling, and intruded themselves into our office, but after very much debate, what name, they should give and take unto themselves, it was concluded at last, that it should be unchristened, and rebaptised, and therein named custodes nostrarum libertatum; and in English, not the Parliament, but, The Keepers of the Liberties of Ingland, by the authority of our Parliament; where you see first, that liberty is the thing they chief desire, liberty they profess, and Libertines they have upheld; and as the Poet saith. Sua cuique Deus fit dira lihido; Their lust, and their liberty is every man's God, whom he serveth; and when liberty is abused, obedience, which the Prophet saith is better than sacrifice, is trodden under foot; 1 Sam. then rebellions and wars, mischiefs and miseries will follow, as they have done amongst us, ever since the Birth of this beast, which is lust and Liberty. But 3. The holy Ghost proceedeth to set down a mystery to be observed, 3. The number of the beast his name. and yet not observed by all, not by the favourers, and the followers of the beast, but by them that are wise; that is, with the wisdom of God; which the worldly wise regarded not; and by that mystery, well and truly understood, they might perceive and know, as by the most proper, and the most infallible Mark that is set down, besides the proper acts and do of the beast, who is chief meant by this beast. And the mystery, or secret sign, that is given, only to the godly wise, The nama of the beast must be the name that he assumeth to himself. whereby they might know the beast, that they might avoid him, and not be deceived by him is; that his name or title, which he assumeth to himself, and not the name, that was given to him at his Baptism, or afterwards by lawful authority, but the name, which in the pride of his heart he affecteth, and unjustly arrogateth unto himself, as Rupertus long ago, hath most rightly observed, should make up the Arithmetical number of 666. which also should be the number of a man, a man 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, some eminent, and most principal man, no doubt, either belonging to the beast, or every way opposite unto the beast: touching which point, I may truly say, as Saint Augustine did in the like case, that, Alii atque alii, aliud atque aliud opinati sunt. but, 1. Omitting those to no purpose, and passing over what Junius saith, Junius in annotat. c. 13. that this expression of the holy Ghost, of the number of the beast his name, betokeneth the decretals of the Pope, as they were set forth with the sixth Book, that was added to the former five books, by Boniface the eighth, & summum gradum juris Canonici, as an explication, that cloudeth this mystery, and maketh it more mystical; and letting pass what Bellarm. Bellarm. de Rom. Pontif. l. 3. c. 10. Magdeburg. Centur. 1. l. 2. c, 4. to as little purpose, saith of the other side, against our Protestants, that the name of Martin Luther in his own Germane tongue, and the name of David Chytraeus, doth make up the number of 666. I say that Bullinger and the Magdeburgenses, that were great learned men, to whom also Thomson in his arraignment of Antichrist, page 90. and many others do assent, are of opinion, that this number noteth the time of the coming of the Antichrist, and the rising of the beast; and therefore they do say, that Vitalianus, a Musical Pope, that in the year 666. turned the service of God into singing of Hymns, by which confused noise of many voices, ignorance sprang among the people, and the Antichrist began to appear in God's Church: but if it be so, that it is to denote the time of his rising, it agreeth far better with the long Parliament; for, omitting one thousand, which is a full and a perfect number, and which is not an unusual thing in Scripture to omit one part, and to set down the other, especially to make the matter mysterious, and not to be understood by all, but, as our Saviour saith by them only, Matth. 13.11. In page 109. to whom it is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven. Et exploratum est atque compertum, habraes & alios numerum mille narium in calculis ratiocinisque suis omittere solitos, ut Munsterus Calendario suo haebraico, p. 6. optimè indicat. Basil. edit. 20. Au. 1527. And as a late Divine saith very well, a thousand years, being the number of perfection and eternity, it is seldom used to be expressed in our ordinary computes, but it is usually left out, for brevity's sake, as we say, the Spanish Armado, was in 588. for 1588. and the Gunpowder plot was in 605. for 1605. and so forth of the like; and then consider, that in Anno 1646. the great Sunedrion, the Parliament, A thing, which I believe never any subject in any other kingdom durst presume to ask. Balaeus makes it to begin in the time of Boniface the third. about 607. l. 3 fol. 39 and expounds the 666. to be expired after Jerusalem was taken by Pompey. l. 3. fol. 37. Fevard. in notis in Iraen. l. 5. c 30. & Sixt. Senensis Bibl. l 2. pag. 9 and others have collected 12. names, that contain 666. Vide Thomson de Antich. pag. 44. etc. Chytr. in Apoc. c. 13. Bibl. ad Chronolog. tabula 11. Bellarm. de Rom. Pontif. l. 3. c. 10. Names that do contain the number of 666. demanded of the King to have the Militia, that is, the strength and Sovereign power, and rule over the King and kingdom, whereby they might unmake and make, what Laws, what Wars, what Peace, and whatsoever else pleased themselves, for the full space of 20. years: which 20. years being added to 1646. and we shall find that they do make the just number of 666. And therefore this their demand cohereth with the fulfilling of this mystery, if it be to be referred to the time of the birth, and coming of this beast, as all the Divines of Magdesborough, and many other learned men think it is; though they do not all agree about the beginning of that time. But you will say, the Holy Ghost telleth us, it is the number of a man, therefore Luther and Calvin do think that Boniface the third, who first took the name of Universal Bishop from the Emperor Phocas, the murderer of his own Master Mauritius, about the year 600. to be the first original of this beast, and the great Antichrist; but Cornel, à lapide answereth, that the taking the name of Universal Bishop, doth neither show the number of the beast, nor prove the Pope to be the Antichrist, because we find that Leo the first, in the Council of Chalcedon, and other Bishops before Boniface were called Papae aecumenici, Universal Bishops; therefore Alcazar saith, the name that in the Greek letters containeth the number of 666. and showeth the natural properties of the beast, is, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, the pride of life; and truly I know not how the Parliament and Presbyterians can quit themselves from this mark, when it was their pride and haughty spirits, that spurned them on to do all the mischief that they did: but that excellent Chronologer Chytraeus and Bibliander and others, do collect out of Irenaeus, l. 5. c. 30. that first found out this number in the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, that the Pope, which is now the Latin Prince, and rules in Italy, must needs be this beast, and the Antichrist; to which charge Bellarmine answereth, and confutes this conceit, because the word Latinus, as it signifieth Romanus, a Roman, is not, and ought not to be written with et, but with a single iotu; and than it wanteth five of the number; and besides, Latinus noteth rather the name of the country, then of the person; and I have showed you many reasous to Prove, that the Pope cannot be meant by this beast, and therefore the beast cannot be signified by Latinus, unless you mean, that he is the greatest enemy to Latinus, that is, to the Pope, and to the Latin service, as the Parliament professed himself to be; Rupertus and Haymo say 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, is like to be the name of the beast; because 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, signifieth Seductor Gentium, a deceiver of the Nations, as the Holy Ghost saith, the beast should do; and it containeth the just number of 666. and this likewise agreeth very well with the late long Parliament, who, as I believe, hath many ways deceived the people, and the nations round about him, more, and worse than any beast living; Hyppel in orat. de Consume. Mundi. Hippolytus, and Primasius say, the beast taketh his denomivation from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, Nego, which containeth 666. and signifieth to deny; because that, as Trajan and Decius requireth the Christians to deny Christ; so the beast, the Antichrist would have them that were Christians to deny their Baptism, which is the badge and them mark of Christ, and of our incorporation into Christ; and now we see all the Parliament Anabaptists, and most of their Independants, which both together, I think, were the most prevalent party of that Parliament, deny their former Baptism very stiffly; and therefore must needs be the beast, according to Primasins and Hippolytus. Anselmus, Richardus, and Tyconius say, that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, doth agree with the number of the beast, and signifieth honori contrarius, because the Beast should trample all Honour, and even the honour and reverence that we own to God, underfoot; and doth not this 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 agree passing well with that Parliament, that hath put down, King, Dukes, Lords, Bishops, And all of them may fitly be applied to the Long Parliament. and the House of Peers, and all other Titles of Honour, and hath placed all Titles of Dignity, Rule and Authority in the plebeians, the common and the vulgar sort of people? and have they not also thrown away, and hindered any Reverend gesture, and decency of behaviour, to be used in the Service of God? and therefore in this respect, I suppose, that Parliament might justly be termed 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, and so, the beast, according to these men's judgement; because that, like a beast, they have showed themselves contrary to all Honour, which the Apostles do require to be observed of all Christians; Arethas, and some others, say, that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 containeth 666. Rom. 12.10. 1 Pet 2 17. Hefiod in Theog & Natalis Com. Mytholog. l. 6. c. 20. and signifieth a Giant, to show, that this beast should, like the Giants of the former age, that the Poet's mention, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, make war against Ghost, that is, against the Honour, Service, and Servants of God; and so 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 pravus dux, the Captain, or General of the Beast, and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, the victor, or Conqueror in the Wars of the beast, do contain the same number of 666. and do meet at the same end; and so 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, and some other names have been observed, by the diligent search into this Mystery, to contain the number 666. and all these, and the like to these, may be very well said, to cohere with that Parliament, that hath acted whatsoever any of those names hath signified. But, though all these are very near the mark, yet they do not fully come home to the point; because, as Rupertus well observeth, nomen quod Johannes hic insinuat, non erit nomen antichristo ab adversariis impositum,— the name of the beast, that St. John understandeth here, shall not be any name, that his adversaries shall give unto the Antichrist, as are most of the aforesaid names, but the name, that the beast assumeth to himself, and glorieth in it, and requireth it to be ascribed unto him, and used by all his subjects and adherents: that is the name that is here meant by the Evangelist; and therefore, it is nomarvell, that the name of the beast could not be known, to any of the foresaid Authors, before the beast assumed it to himself, God giving notice of this name, mystically, under this number only to be discerned, that it might not be known, and expressed, until the beast should be discovered, which should be manifested unto the Saints, when they see him called by that name, that should contain the number of 666. For, if God had plainly told us his name, the beast would never have assumed it, because all men should then have known, who had been the Antichrist. And therefore now, let us examine, what name the Parliament assumed to itself, and whether that name containeth the just number of 666. The parailele and I told you before, that the name and title, which that Parliament challenged to be given unto itself is, custodes nostrarum libertatum, or, as it was to be used in all writs, and in all judicial Cours, The Keepers of the Liberties of Ingland, The proper name affumed by the Parliament. by the Authority of our Parliament; This was the name, and this was the Title, and the Inscription, which by a secret instinct of God's Providence, unaware unto themselves, that Parliament took, and appropriated, as all men know, unto themselves; and this name, both in Latin, and in English, doth make the full and just number of 666. for omitting the m. which is the number of perfection and eternity, Haymo, in Apoc. l. 7. as Haymo, and others do very rightly observe, and which is usually omitted in our computes, as I shown to you before, you shall find the Arithmetical letters of custodes nostrarum libertatum, to be, c. u. d. u l. 1. u. which makes up just 666. Object. But you will say, it was custodes libertatis, and you ad nostrarum; so you make their name, to fill up the number, otherwise than they took it, or, that it was indeed. Sol. I answer, with the old rule, that cannot be denied, quod necessario subintelligitur, Compare Mat. 4. & 10. v. with Deut. 6.13. etc. 10.12. & ●0 etc. 13.4. the word only, is not in any of them. In the whole Trial of Mr. Live. p. 2. & 3. non deest; as the word, only, (which our Saviour addeth to the texts of Moses, when he saith, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, and him only shalt thou serve, which is not found in any Text of Moses,) showeth, that it must necessarily be understood in those Texts of Moses; so I add nothing, but what of necessity must be added, and understood, or we shall never understand what they mean; because they meant not that they were the keepers, patroness, and defenders of any one particular liberty, but of all the liberties of the Parliament and people. And so their Attorney General, every where, terms them, the Keepers of the Liberties of Ingland, as you may see it, in his Charge of High Treason against Mr. Love; and it must not be thought, they meant the Liberties of the French, Italians, Spaniards, or of any other Nation, but of us, the Freeborn Subjects, and Natives of this Kingdom of Ingland. But, because they like not the Latin name, though Latin be one of the three authentic Languages, L●desima de sacra Scriptura quavis passim lingua non legenda. that we find in Scripture, as Ledesima showeth, but say, it is not their speech, but the Language of the beast, whom they abhor; Let us examine their name and title in their own native Language, and that is, The Keepers of the Liberties of Ingland, by the Authority of our Parliament; this is the name that they took, and appropriated to themselves, by an Act of Parliament; and omitting in, as I said before, the numerical letters of this name are l. 1.1.1. l. d. u. 1.1. u. l. 1. which make up just 666. Object. If you say, that I add the word our, to Parliament, which they do not: but, by the Authority of Parliament. Sol. I Answer, as before, that the word, our, must of necessity be understood; because they mean not the Parliament of Paris, nor any other Parliament, as I take it, but our Parliament of Ingland; and therefore, if you will understand their name right, the word our, must, without question, be added unto it. And that very Long Parliament, summoned by the Writ of the late King Charles the first, is called Parliamentum nostrum ad tractandum nobiscum super arduis negotiis regni nostri; our Parliament, to Treat of the hard Affairs of our Kingdom; therefore the word (our) ought, and must be supplied here unto the word Parliament, as the word, only, is added by our Saviour Christ to the words of Moses. And, Object. Mar. 4.10. If again you Object, that Ingland is more commonly written with an (e) then with (i) as rather England then Ingland, Sol. I Answer, that a common error, or an erroneus custom, doth not nullify the truth of any thing, nor doth it tie all men, neither should it tie any man, either to follow it, or to justify it: but, a single truth ought to be embraced, and followed, before the most general custom of mistaken truth; when, as we know, that an error once received, is often times so generally followed, that it can very hardly be reclaimed; and I say, that the orthography, and right writing of this word, should be Ingland, and not England; and, I refer this matter, and the orthography of this word, to be decided, and adjudged by any judicicus, and unpartial Grammarians, that are to write all words, either according to the derivation of the words, which is least usual, as a thing that is only understood by the learned, in the Language: or else according to the proper, and most accustomed sound, and pronunction of the words, which is the common, and most usual course of writing; if Ingland ought not, according to the prownciation, be written rather with and, then with an e: and if so, as it is, and aught to be so; then have you the number, of the name of the beast, in the name of the Parliament; and the Holy Ghost tells you, here is wisdom, for him that hath understanding, to count the number of the beast. And, besides this, whereas it is conceived, that this Kingdom was called England from Hengist, that came hither out of Saxony, with his brother Horsus, to assist the Britain's against their Enemies, as if it were Hengist-Land, and by contraction, England, I say, this is a mere fiction; Sam. Daniel. in his History, p. 7. because Hengist had at first but the Isle of Thanat, assigned for his Colony, and it was an Heptarchy, seven Kingdoms, a long time after Hengist, until Egbert reduced the same into a Monarchy; but, I find it was vulgarly called Ingland, and not England, from a Queen, called Angles, from whence, and for whose Honour, in Latin, it is called Anglia to this day. And Anglia may as well be translated Ingland, as England; when the common writing is not according to the common sound of our pronunciation of it. And I am not the first that did write it Ingland, and not England: but I have read it so divers times in good Authors; and, as you may see it in the three conversions of Ingland, page 51. and in Epistle dedic. and in other places of that book, and in many other old Authors besides, if you do well observe it; and if any out landish Alien, that knoweth not the custom of writing England with an e, were to write the same, you may be sure, that the sound of the word Ingland, would presently make him to write it with an I, and not with an e. But, as you have the name of the beast, The Keepers of the Liberties of Ingland, by the Authority of our Parliament, which contain the just number of 666. So we must examine, who they were, that took upon them to be those Keepers of the Liberties of Ingland; and we shall find them to be; The House of Commons, with the Lords; or the House of Lords with the Commons; and herein omitting them, as I said before, the numerical letters we find to be. u. c. u u. 1. l. d. just 666. A strange thing to me, that such things should thus succeed in every thing, unless you do ascribe them to the secret influence of the all disposing Providence of him, qui disponit omnia suaviter, which disposeth all things wisely, and bringeth all things to pass by secret, strange, and wonderful ways. And then, the Holy Spirit addeth, that this number of the beast, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, is the number of a man; a man, no doubt, either eminently bated, and persecuted by the beast, or else exceedingly advanced to some eminent place, and Authority under the beast, or both; and it hath been showed, by Arise Evans, that Will. Laud: a man, whom all men know, how the Parliament affected him, contained the just number of 666. and I do assure you, that I have found this just number of 666. in the Latin name of another eminent man, that belonged to the Parliament, and loved not the Latin Beast, who is no other than dominus Crumwelus, wherein you may find, d. 1. u. c. u l. u that make 666. Object. If you object, that he wrote his name Cromwell, and not Crumwel, and so five is wanting to make 666. Sol. I Answer to this, as I did for Ingland, that the Spirit of God might mean, that the number of the name of the beast, should be taken, as it is commonly pronounced, and so known of all, and not as it is written, and so known only of those that are Scholars, and thus should make up 666. and so Dominus Crumwelus doth. And besides all this, I will not here omit, to proceed to show unto you, how it is observed, that this very number of 666. is found out, of their newdeviced Covenant, as you may see it in querela Cantabrigensi, page 24. where those Learned and judicious Divines say, it will not be more, than what upon trial, Mr. Jest, a learned Divine and a prisoner for his conscience sake. will be found true, if we here mention a Mystery, which many, (as we conjecture) will not a little wonder at, that this Covenant of these Rebels, for which all this perfecution hath been raised, consisteth of six Articles, and those Articles consisting of 666. words: and this is not the first time, that persecution hath risen in Ingland upon fix Articles; Mr. Fox, in his acts and Mon. vol. 2. p. 443. Edit. Lod. 1631. as witnesseth those in the Reign of Henry the eighth, the which Master Fox will show you more at large; but, as for the number of the beast, that they should so directly answer to the number of words, in those six Articles of their Covenant, if we consider God's Blessed Providence, in every partitular thing, it hath made many of us (and so many others no doubt) seriously, and often to reflect upon it, and I wonder, that it is not more generally and more seriously thought upon. And therefore; though I profess with Master Calvin, that I am no Pythagorean, for matters of number, nor a Jewish Talmudist, to set my Faith, and to ground my Religion upon them; yet I say, that, seeing it hath pleased the Spirit of God, to take up the same terms of numeration, for days, months, years, and times, in the case of the Christian Church, which he made use of in the Jewish Church, and to set down his Mysteries, which he would have his children to understand, in numbers; and seeing 1. the cause, that is, the Covenant, for which the Parliament prosecuted his war so eagerly; 2. the time, for which they demanded the Militia; 3. the Name, which they assumed to themselves; 4. the Name of a special Man, both persecuted by them, and advanced under them; and 5. all the other particular words and names, which the Father's , and other Learned Divines have observed, to contain the number of 666. do so fully, and so punctually cohere and agree with the impudence, cruelty, impiety, and all other the wicked practices of that Parliament, is it not apparent, that this Mystery, of the Name of the Beast, which is set down for our instruction, that we might take notice of the Beast, when he came into the World, if ever it was any where discovered, or accomplished in any Persons, is now plainly, and evidently seen to be fulfilled in that Long Parliament, which is therefore concluded, and believed by many good Christians, and of no small Learning, to be the Beast here spoken of, and the great Antichrist, that was so much Prophesied of, and so long expected, with great fear of his coming into the World, to slay the Witnesses of Christ, and to do all the other Projects that I have showed unto you? let the Reader, and the Christian World Judge of it. And I suppose, none of the foresaid names that contain 666. or, but very few, not all of them, I am sure, are applicable to the Pope, as, I believe, most of the best judgement, will confess them to be the inseparable characters of our late usurper, and the Rump, which was the prevalent faction of the Long Parliament. CHAP. 5. Of the interpretation of Mr. Potter, that would prove the meaning of the Holy Ghost, in this mystery, to be, by extracting the root of this number 666, which is 25, and is in all particulars, answerable to the Hierarchy and Church of Rome, plainly, and briefly answered; of the name of Independent; the great persecution of the long Parliament, and of their gross and palpable hypocrisy, that are two infallible marks of the great Antichrist. SO you have the mark of the beast; the name of the beast, and the number of his name; touching which number; before I proceed any further- I must yet say somewhat, in answer to Mr. Potter's interpretation of this number of the beast, which is 666; for I have with a great deal of delight, read over the same, and I must truly confess, he hath done it with a great deal of industry, sobriety, and variety of reading; sufficienty commending, the ingenuity, and the learning of the man, which the very adverse party, without blushing, cannot deny; yet pace sua, I must crave leave to say, that this whole discourse, how exactly soever composed, doth not seem to me, to be sufficient, by an apodictical, and unanswerable necessity, to manifest his conclusion, to be infallibly believed for truth; and therefore though the Parliament hath dealt with me, and the rest of Christ his servants, as the Philistines did with the Israelites, take away their weapons, and left no Smith in Israel to make them new ones; that is, plunder us of our books, and leave us not any means to provide any more; yet, as Samson slew a thousand of those uncircumcised Philistines, with the Jawbone of an Ass, so may a bookeless man, and weaponless man, with the strength of truth, and good reason, answer and overthrow the sutlest arguments, and most seeming probabilities of the most famous, yet mistaking, Scholars; and so I hope I shall plainly, and yet sufficiently, declare the misapplication, and sinister interpretation of that learned man's discourse; For 1. Whereas he saith, Epist. ad lect: page 4. that this his interpretation supposeth the number 666. to be animage, and a typical representation of the whole body of Antichrist; that is, of the whole body of his kingdom, state, and Hierarchy; what if I deny this supposition? it is but Marcus ait, Scaurus negat; sit penes lectorem sides; the reader may as well believe my denial, as his affirming of it; and if it be but a typical representation of the body of the Antichrist, than I say with the Schools, that typica theologia nihil point in esse, neque est argumentativa, types and similitudes, quae non currunt quatuor pedibus, which hold not in all points, and run not, as they say upon all four, may serve only for illustrations, secundum materiam subjectam, but not for an undeniable confirmation of a most necessary truth; so this foundation, and groundwork being undermined, as not sufficiently proved, but only barely supposed, tota machina ruit, the whole frame of the superstructure, must, like the house built upon the sand, fall to the ground. 2. Whereas he saith eadem epist. pag. 6. that the following interpretation of this number 666, and the effect thereof dependeth chief upon the extraction of the root, of the number, 666. and saith pag, 5. that the text saith, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. let him that hath underderstanding count the number of the beast; i.e. such arithmet. understanding, as can find out the root and figure of the beast, by extracting the root of 666. I utterly deny this to be the end of counting the number of the beast, to find out the root of this number 666. but he that hath any spiritual understanding, let him count the number of the beast, that so he may find out the beast, that is, the Antichrist, and not find out the root of the number; otherwise the holy Ghost, which desireth not, and useth not to amaze his children, would set down obscurum, per obscurius, a mystery to be understood, and found out, by a far obscurer and by a more enigmatical mystery, that none but Pythagoras, and a most skilful Arithmetician could find out; therefore I say that the Holy Ghost, in bidding the understanding men to count the number of the beast, meaneth not those, that had such a high measure of arithmetical understanding, as, could extract the root & figure of this number of 666. which in respect of the fractions, and the diversity of opinions about it, would prove a most intricate labyrinth; but that we should do it according to the usual custom among men; for which cause perhaps the text saith, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, for it is the number of a man, or the number, or manner of numbering, that a man commonly useth to number, which is not by extracting the roots and figures of any number, which but very very few can do, but by counting the number, that the numerical letters, Which are the letters that arithmeticians count by. 1. u. x. l. c. d. m. which we find in the beast and in his name, do make up, which I am confident, is the manner and common custom of numbering among men, and hath been so understood, to be here meant by all former interpreters, since the time of Ireneus, that first understood it, as I do, of the numerical letters of the name of the Antichrist, which he thought might be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, and not of the extracting the root of 666. which is 25. and which may be as well the root of many other numbers as of 666. as Mr. Potter himself confesseth, and all arithmeticians do know. This then, being the meaning of the Holy Ghost, (that we finding this number of 666. in the beast, and in his name, that should contain this just number of 666, might thereby understand, who is the beast and the Antichrist, and not by the extracting of the root of this number, thereby to know the beast,) the whole frame that is built upon this his conceit falls to nothing. 3. Whereas he saith, eadem epist. pag. 7. that it may be very well acknowledged, that this his interpretation, is dark, and obscure in some degree, and as it is dark and intricate, so must it also be acknowledged to be new and unheard of in former times; therefore I say the difcovery of the Antichrist, being a point of such great concernment to the whole Church, it should be very well, plainly, and sufficiently proved, and manifested, and not darkly and improbably demonstrated, or else it ought hardly to be received, and not at all to be believed. 4. Whereas pag. 2. of this interpretation, he saith, that because, oppositorum eadem estratio, and that the mystery, of 144. to which this number of 666, is opposed, is contained in the root thereof, which is 12, therefore the mystery of this 666. must be contained in the root thereof; which is 25. I say; that the mystery of 144. is indeed interpreted to consist in the root thereof, which is 12. which being 12 times multiplied do make up just 144. and yet the Holy Ghost, maketh no such interpretation of it, but that those spirits, which believe nothing but the express text of scripture, may as easily reject it, as receive it; but being granted, that this is rightly interpreted, because the twelve Apostles (St. Paul left out, that laboured in the building more than any, if not, than most of them all) were the foundations of the wall of the new and spiritual Jerusalem; yet, it followeth not, that because this mystery, must be explained by the extraction of the root of 144. therefore the other mystery, that denoteth the beast, must consist in the root of 666, no more than the mysteries of many other numbers, expressed in scripture, can be said to consist in their extracted roots; and, though the beast be opposite to Christ, and the Synagogue of Satan opposite to the Church of Christ, or Babylon to Jerusalem; yet this doth not in any understanding, prove that 666, is more opposite to 144. as it is a set number, than it is to 444, or to any other definite number; 333, being, as I conceive a more oppofite number, in respect of division, to 666. Only this 666, is said to be the number of the beast, in direct, and plain terms; and the other number, of 144, is interpreted by some authors to be understood of the Church militant, here on earth; and by others, of as good repute, to be the typical expression of the Kingdom of Heaven. Besides, the twelve Apostles, were but the foundations of this wall, as having their names in them, v. 14. the wall being made up of other stones, that is, of all the believing christians, and so it comprehendeth the whole Church; and then the opposition must be, not betwixt the Hierarchy of the Pope and his Cardinals, and the Hierarchy of the Christian Church; but betwixt the whole Church of Christ, whose wall, and not whose foundation, v. 17. was 144, cubits, and the whole Synagogue of Satan, that is made up of thiefs, infidels, and all other wicked reprobates; therefore, the Pope and his Cardinals, cannot be the the beast, that, by this exposition of opposites, must signify all the whole company of reprobates, which is far contrary to the meaning of the Holy Ghost, that plainly differenceth the beast, and the worshippers and followers of the beast, as the Lamb and the followers of the Lamb are not the same. But indeed, contrary to the opinion of Mr. Forbes, and some other that make this vision of the new jerusalem, to be typus presentis ecclesiae, a type of the militant Church, I shall, with many of the most ancient interpreters, deny this description of the new jerusalem to be the type of the Christian militant Church, and say, that ad captum nostrum, that can reach no higher, than demonstration, this admirable explication of this city, is thus set down, to show unto us, those ineffable excellencies, and most glorious estate, which the servants of Christ, shall enjoy in the kingdom of Heaven; for if you observe the coherence of this 21, c. with the former, you shall find there, c. 20. that the beast, and the false prophet, and the devil, are cast into the lake of fire, to be tormented for ever, and ever, v. 10. and the dead, both small and great, were all judged according to their works, v. 12, and death and bell, and all that were not written in the book of life, were cast into the lake of fire, which can be no other than the last judgement against all the reprobates; this is the end of them. And then, after St. john had showed the end of them, and their sad condition for ever; he proceeds in the 21: c. to show unto us according to the best of our apprehension, the most happy state and condition of the children of God in heaven, which he expresseth under this type, that he saw a new heaven, and a new earth, even as St Peter, and before him, the prophet Esay long ago, had prophysied, and foretold the servants of God, how happy they should be; and because that which is not where, is not at all, as St. Aug. Tolle spatia locorum corporibus nusquam erunt et quia nusquam erunt, non erunt. saith; therefore he describeth the place, where they shall remain in bliss, under this type of the new jerusalem, whose excellent frame, and figure, he doth here so amply describe, unto us; wherein you may observe, that the things attributed to the Citizens of this new jerusalem, are incompatible with the members of the church militant; for it is said, that God shallwipe away all tears from their eyes, and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain, v. 4. which cannot be referred, and applied to the members of the purest church on earth; and so many other things are set down, c. 22. to be in this heavenly City, which cannot, without apparent violence, unto the text, properly be thought to be in the militunt church, but are most elegant expressions, by way of allusion, of those incomprehensible excellencies, that the saints shall find in the kingdom of heaven. 5. Whereas he saith pag. 3. that it is not said (as it is observed by many) let him that hath understanding count the name of the beast, but count the number of the beast; I answer that in c. 13. v. 17. it is said, that no man might buy or sell, but he that had the mark or the name of the beast 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, or the number of his name; therefore the number of the beast, and the number of his name, are all one, and so both the one and the other, both signifying the same thing, are said to contain therein, the just number of 666, when as the number of the beast, is put down for the number of the name of the beast. 6. Whereas he saith, c. 2. pag. 5. that the mystery of 144. consisteth in the square root of it, which is 12. I answer as before, that I do not gainsay it, but for the oppositio of 666, to this 144, that the mystery of the 666. must consist in the square root of it, which is 25. as the mystery of a 144, consisteth in the square root of it, which is 12, I utterly deny, until he can bring me some intimation thereof, from some text of Scripture, as the Scripture doth for the root of 144. c. 21. v. 14. Now for all that he saith, c. 6. c. 7. and 8. touching the measuring of the wall of the new jerusalem, and the mystery of that measuring, I say nothing, but that he hath most rationally, and learuedly confirmed, what no man, that I read of, hath so clearly, before him expressed. But 7. whereas c. 9 pag. 46. he blameth those that extracted the root of 144. to find out the mystery thereof, because they did not likewise extract the root of 666. to find out the mystery of that also; I say they are not only to be excused, and justified without blame, but indeed to be commended for it; because, as I said before, they had some intimation in the text for the one, but nothing at all for the other. Then 8. whereas he saith, c. 10. pag. 51. the first beast with the wounded head, to be the temporal power of the Roman Emperors; which since Constantine's time hath been usurped by the Pope; and in pag. 54. that he believes the Bishops of Rome, before they usurped any unlawful ecclesiastical power, to be the Antichrist, not in respect of their ecclesiastical or Episcopal power, but in respect of that, their unlawful temporal power above mentioned, which they had from Constantine, when he left Rome, and translated the seat of the Empire to Byzantium; I say this is contrary to the plain text of Scripture; for the whole time of the beast his continuance, especially in any Power, prevaiencie, and authority, is said to be but 42 months, which by all interpreters are expounded, either literally for 3, years and a half, or as it is by them that understand it mystically, and take a day for a year, for 1260 years; which is the largest number, that any man hath made of his continuance; and if the Pope, in respect of this usurped temporal power, which he attained unto, by the means of Constantine, that was about the year, 300, be the beast and the Antichrist, then hath he continued above 13 hundred years already, and God knoweth how many years he may continue yet, before the Presbyterians, and their scholars of the long Parliament can pluck him out of his seat; and sic mentita est iniquitas sibi. Then 9 whereas he saith pag 58. that there is no other way whereby men usually do, or properly can be said to count numbers, but by such a kind of computation, which either is, or is reduicible to addition, substraction, multiplication, division, ot the extraction of the root of any number; I answer, that by counting the number of the beast, and his name, I understand, neither of these five ways, properly taken, as the Arithmeticians do, but for counting of the number, that the numeral letters, 1. u. x. l. c. d. m. which we find in the beast and in his name, by adding them together, do make up, as the numeral letters of jobannes Calviws are 1. c. l. u. i. u and do make up 162. so the numeral letters, that shall befound in the name of the beast, will make up just 666. and therefore by this counting of the number of the beast, it is not necessary, that some other number must be found out by it, as Brocardus supposeth. 10. Whereas he saith, c. 11. pag. 63. that this number of the beast must be counted by extracting the root of 666, and that the root of this number is, just 25. and the fractious 41. which root being multiplied by itself, maketh 625. to which, if you add the fractions, which are 41. it maketh the just sum of 666. and from hence he concludeth, that the number, which is principally intended, to manifest the beast unto us, is 25. and this is the cardo, the hinge, whereupon all this interpretation runneth, and turneth every where, and is the substance of the whole book. To all which I say, first in general, that all these Arithmetical, and Geometrical discourses of numbers and measures, are very obscure and weak pross to win credit, and to make men believe, upon such intricate ratiocinations, that the Popish Hierarchy is the great Antichrist; when as points of such great moment, aught to have plain and perspicuous proofs, and easier to be understood, than these enigmatas, and dark riddles are, unless it be to such, qui facile credunt, quae volunt, as will easily believe, what they greatly desire to be true; for mine ownpart, I must say, as St. Hierome did once in the like case to the letters of jovinian. Non lectore tuis opus estsed apolline scriptis: I am no Pythagoras, so perfectly able to understand these enigmatical speculations; but I can say they are very unsufficient to make me, or any other unprejudicate, and impartial reader, as I conceive, 10 believe the conclusion; for he confesseth in pag. 69, that 25, is the root of 625, and p. 70, that the same number of 25, may be the the root of divers other numbers; and pag. 71. that there be divers other numbers, besides 666, by any one of which we might be infallibly directed to this number of 25, and also that the root of 666, is nearer to 26, then to 25, and the like; therefore I see no reason to perswade belief, that the number 666, or 25, should be rather applicable to Rome, and to the Pope's Hierarchy, then to any other City, or Hierarchy, to whom those numbers, in many particular respects, may be as rightly applied unto, as unto Rome and the Pope. But to this he answereth c. 13. pag. 83. that there be a greater number of particulars, in which this fatal, and unfortunate number of 25, is rather applicable to the Romanists, than it is to any other state, Church, or Sect; or then any other number is to themselves and to their estate. To which I say, that, for the fatality, and unfortunateness or unluckiness, of this number of 25, which he setteth down c. 12, though I might answer, that as one day, or one place simply considered in their own nature, as being all alike, made good by God, is no more unfortunate than another; so no more is one number more unfortunate than another, Luke 13.4. when we find the Tower of Siloah fell upon 18. and Eliah twice called down fire from heaven to consume 50, the like of either of which disasters, cannot be found to happen to any 25, in all the Scriptures; and the Poet saith numero Deus impari gaudet; which will conclude 24. to be more unfortunate than 25; yet I will not stand to gainsay those Authors, that he produceth, to confirm this point; but I say, that if I did as diligently search all other cities, and states, Churches, and sects, as he, and others of the Presbyterians have searched after the City of Rome, and the Pope's Heierarchy, it is very probable, I should find this number 25, to be in as many particular things applicable to them, as he found it to be in Rome; for as the Prophet saith, that the Lord would search jerusalem with candles; so have our men searched every corner of Rome, that there is not a stone of it unfound out, but every point of the Pope's faith, Zephan. 1.12 and every act of his Court, and of his Council, are all discovered to the world; and if I did the like to Constantinople, or Paris, or Antwerp or London, or any other such great City, as Rome is, Perhaps I should find as many 25, Particular things therein, as he finds in Rome, and as many 25, things in other Churches as he found in the Church of Rome. But, let it be granted, that Rome is answerable to jerusalem; and the Pope and his Cardinals to Christ and his Apostles, which is the sum of of his 14. c. yet take it not in his sense, but as Aleazar saith, utque successit antiquae Hierosolimae, in co quod fidelium omnium eaput et metropolis sit effecta; and so take the Pope and his Cardinals, not as enemies, but as successors unto the Apostles and Vicegerent unto Christ; then all that he saith, is rather an argument to approve and commend them, for their desire to imitate Christ and his Apostles, than any ways to condemn them for the Antichrist; and for the 25, number of their Cardinals, (which at first in the time of Clemens were but 15, and then were augmented by Anacletus, the 3 Pope, or the 2, as some count him, and a most holy Martyr, within the 1 century, in anno, 94, to 25,) and the 25 number of the articles of the Roman faith, into which Pope Pius the fourth reduced the sum of the Tridentine Council, as Mr. Potter reckoneth them, (even as the articles of our Church, which we believe, are augmented to 39) and the 25 gates of Rome, which notwithstanding, are not agreed by the best authors, to be just so many, when pliny saith there be but 24, and Livius saith there be 27. and the 25, figures and characters, that he saith are engraven upon their chiefest Altar, and all the other 25 particulars, that he collecteth from his authors, to belong to any thing, either in their City, Church or religion, as 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, contrary positions to all the 12 things, that are found in the new jerusalem, as the 12 gates, 12 angels, 12 Tribes, 12 foundations, 12 thousand furlongs, 12 fruits of the tree of life, do no way convince, and prove the Pope and his Heirarchie to the beast and the antichrist, no more than the Mayor and the four and twenty Aldermen, and if I should find 25 gates, and 25 Presbyters, and some other 25 particulars, either in London, or Lisbon or Paris, to be the very seat of the Antichrist. But I have been too long in the pursuance of these things, that he saith are to be found in Rome, and we are better to believe him, then to go there to see; but I believe few wise men, upon such an implicit faith of things, not apparent nor approved by any of the ancient authors, nor understood by very good scholars, except perfect arithmeticians, as I take Mr, Potter to be, will make this inference, to conclude the Pope and his Hierarchy to be the beast and the antichrist, that is more perspicuously and plainly deciphered and showed unto us in the holy scriptures, which I have applied to nothing, but to what we have seen with our eyes, and all men know to be true, except the actors of these impieties, and those, that will be wilfully blind. And so to proceed upon plainer evidences, than these arithmetical riddles, to discover the beast unto you, 4. The name of Independents is most proper to the antichrist. I demand, if the very name of Independants, (that is usaully, and generally given them, and by which the prevalent faction of that Parliament was best known, and distinguished from the rest of the House, and of all other true Christians, & apostate heretics, and wherein both themselves, and their adherents do so much glory,) doth not sufficiently mamanifest the same thing, and evidently prove them to be this beast and the antichrist 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, that was prophesied by the Apostles, and expected by the Church to come into the world? for though in the days of Aurelius, Bishop of Carthage, that lived in the fift century, there were some, that as the Cannon saith, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, lest their absurdities, and novelties should be discovered, refused to submit themselves unto the Council, and so became Independants from the Church of Christ; for which cause Aurelius caused them to be removed by the Council, as obstinate and rebellious, from all rule and authority over the people; yet these men never assumed the name of Independants, neither was it given them for aught I read, by any others; because they persisted not in their obstinafie, to draw more proselytes after them; but our Independants of these times, as flat, and fully oppsite to the Church of Christ, are, and are so generally termed and taken, Independants from the Catholic Church, and from every particular national Church; and therefore they do gather Churches and congregations unto themselves, and in that respect, are most properly styled Independants, as fit a name, as any is in the world for the followers of the antichrist, when as, all other creatures, men and Angels good and bad, and not any of all the former heretics excepted, but that they acknowledged themselves to be entia dependentia, not only depending upon him, Heb. 1.3. that beareth up all things by his mighty word, or the word of his power, that is Jesus Christ, but also desired to be received into that unity, and to depend upon the communion, and society of the Church, as Arius, that arch heretic made great friends to be admitted into the communion of the Church of Alexandria, as Theodoret writeth. Theodor. haret. fabul. l. 4. The parallel. But these men, as A- per se- A or as the arctic pole is from the antarchtick, so are they fully opposite, ex diametro, to their head, and have assumed, and let them have it, this antichristian name of Independants, they say, not from Christ, but I say certainly from Christ, because it is from the Church of Christ; for whosoever hath not the church for his mother, 1 pet 3.20. shall never have God for his Father; but as all perished by the deluge, that were not in Noah's Ark, that was the type of the church, as St. Peter showeth, so shall they perish everlastingly, that are not the members of Christ, and of his church, and within the communion of Saints, which is a special article of the christian faith. Then 5. The ancient Fathers, as St. Aug. upon the words of Christ, 5. The great persecution of the Parliament a concomitant sign of the antichrist. Aug. the civet Dei, l. 20. c. 8. and 9 Hypol. in erat. de consumwat. mundi. Cyrillus cateches. 15. Bellarum de, rom. Pot. l. 3. c. 7. The parallel. Whom I never read to have done things so unjustly as that Parliament did, utterly to undo so many men, and never tell them what evil they have done there shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world; no nor ever shall be; math. 24.21. and upon the words of the revelation, where satan is said to be let lose c. 20. v. and Hippolytus, Cyrillus, Isidorus, and others do collect, and avouch out of the scripture, that the injustice and the persecution of the Antichrist, will be greater, and stranger, and more grievous than any other of the persecutions that preceded it; and therefore Bellarmine, and many others, both of the Roman, and of the Protestant Church, do make the persecution of the Antichrist to be one of the two concomitant signs, whereby the saints and servauts of Christ, shall know, and understand, that he is come into the world. But the unspeakable, and unparaleled injustice, cruelty, and persecution, of that Parliament, acted against the true servants of Christ, that were loyal subjects of the civil state, and the faithful Governors of the purest church that Christ had on earth, intimated by the Apostle, in the place before cited, and lighting upon them, that I specified to you before, surpassed, in my understanding, all the persecutions that preceded it; when as I shown you, in the beginning of this book, the votes, ordinances and acts of that Parliament, are not inferior, but, as I conceive, exceeding in cruelty, injustice, and impiety the edicts of Dioclesian, or Decius, or any other of the worst of the pagan persecutors; Aod doth not this most plainly evince, and prove that the juncto of united Independants, and their adherents, and associale presbyterians in that long Parliament, and their false Prophet, that sat at Westminster to instruct them, are the beasts spoken of in the Revelation. c 13. and the man of sin, the child of perdition, and the great antichrist, that St. Paul prophesied of to come into the world, 2 Thes. 2? 6. Another undeniable, palpable sign of the antichrist is, 6. Grosse: Hypocrisy of the Parliament unfallible sign of the anti- The partlel. his more than Pharisaical hypocrisy, sitting in the Temple of God, as God, preaching the Gospel as an Evangelist, and being in all things else, as I have formerly showed; the best saint in show, and the devil in deed, and so an absolute and a perfect hypocrite, as the Presbyterians affirmed the Pope to be. And have not that long Parliament, most hypocritically, besides their other do, made an act for the propagation of the Gospel, and have nominated certain men, of their own sect, to put that act in execution throughout the thirteen shires of Wales, as where they found the people most loyal to their King, and more desirous to retain the true service of God amongst them, than any other parts of the kingdom, and therefore had more need to have their Gospel preached there amongst them: but I beseech you mark, how finely the dark fiend can change himself, into an Angel of light, that he might enlarge the kingdom of darkness; for, if you would rightly understand how these men have propagated the Gospel of Christ in those parts, where I had an occasion, to be an eye-witness of their proceeding; I do assure you, upon the faith of a christian, they have ejected, and deprived most, if not all, of the best preachers, and grave doctors, some only for receiving their just deuce, others for their loyalty, and some without once calling them to answer, or telling them why, or wherefore they were ejected; and they have set their live to Captains, and Soldiers, and have shut the Church's doors, and charged the right Incumbents, neither to pray there, nor to preach, unto the people; and so they have very formally, propagated the Gospel of Christ, by this their good service, as is conceived, unto the Antichrist; and yet, that they might seem good gospelers, to deceive the world, they have got some few novices, and young striplings, that wanted means, as much as they lacked learning, 1 Tim 3.6. jude v. 12. and 13. How the Parliament hath propagated the Gospel, in Wales. (such as St. Paul speaks of, and as wand'ring Stars, and Clouds without water, as St. jude calls them, or as the Pilgrim Jew, that was lately talked of,) & with one pocket Sermon or two, that they got, as was reported, from their brethren of Wrexam, and learned the same by rote, which were full of the doctrines & blasphemies of the times, they became, as they are termed, itinerant preachers, to bestow a Sermon upon a congregation, which they never saw before, and which in all likelihood, they should never see again. And thus the Parliament, with their wand'ring preachers, have propagated the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the clean contrary way, And who seethe not, by all this, and by all their other do like this, that, as all divines confess, the Antichrist, under the name of Christ, and upon pretence, to do the best service unto Christ, will be the greatest enemy of Christ; so these men, under the show of propagating the Gospel, have done more than all the wicked heretics, that preached, or the beathen tyrants that knew not Ghrist, to overthrow the true church of God, and to root out the right faith, and the clear light of the Gospel, from off the earth? And therefore if the Parliament be not the great Antichrist, but that a greater and a worse, shall come into the world, God, O Good God, I humbly beseech thee, for Jesus Christ his sake, take me out of this world, before he cometh into the world, that mine eyes may not see that evil. And now, being wearied in prosecuting the folly, and discovering the great great iniquity and impiety of that Parliament, suitable to the predictions of those things that should be acted by the Antichrist, and fearing that I have too much wearied my reader in the pursuit of this wild beast, I should here, end this point, What a preacher saith in a printed Sermon. but that I cannot omit what a godly preacher setteh down in a a Sermon printed at London, 1647. upon St Luke c. 18, vers. 31.24. where he saith. It hath been a long and a great dispute, whether the Antichrist be come, and who he is; and if I be not mistaken, the scripture will easily resolve this question; for they that oppose themselves against Christ, they that sit in the Temple, and set themselves above all, deposing and murdering Kings, are not these the first, and the great Antichrist? when they make themselves, what Christ alone is, King of Kings, and Lord of Lords, and therefore alone hath the power to depose Kings and to dispose of their kingdoms, are they not the Antichrist? For the Apostle saith, qui Christi sunt crucifixerunt carnem, they that are Christ's, have crucified the flesh, or fleshly lusts; but qui Antichristi sunt crucifixerunt Christum Regem, we may justly say, they are the Antichrist, that have crucified the Lords anointed, that is, their King, (and as I may say, their Priest;) so that by the beheading of our King (and of our Bishop) you have one step to the discovery of the Antichrist, and a plain step it is, so that none can step from it; thus far he; and this his stop; I shown you in the particular sin of the Antichrist more at large. Whereby, you may perceive, that although I have undertaken to prosecute this discovery at large, and followed the same to the full; yet others, whereof I might produce many, are of this opinion; that they would have the christian world to judge, Whether the long Parliament, and their assembly of instructors, at Westminster; and the rest of the Presbyterians, and lay preachers, that were the prime sticklers to have their King killed, and their Bishop beheaded, and all the rest suppressed, that are the two witnesses spoken of in the 11 c. and 7. v. of the Revelation as we, conceive, be not the two beasts that St John saw in the 13. c. of the Revelation, and the great Antichrist, that so long ago was prophesied, he should come into the world, to slay the witnesses, to persecute the Church of God, and to overthrow the Governors and Government thereof. And truly, reserving mine own judgement to myself, I have found many learned, judicious, and godly divines, that have observed, some one mark of the Antichrist, and some another, to be most properly belonging, and in every point agreeable, and fixed to that pack, and knot of the enemies of Christ that I spoke of, which for brevity's sake, my book having swollen, The recapitulation of the whole book. with the poison of these two Beasts, too big already, I must omit, and leave you to consider, what I have formerly demanded. As 1. Whether that Parliament hath not opened the door of the grand apostasy and rebellion, for the Antichrist to enter into the Church. 2. Whether it hath not seated itself in that Babylon, where the Antichrist should sit and dominere. 3. Whether it hath not fulfilled all the prophecies of the old and new Testament, that spoke of the coming and of the do of the Antichrist: As 1. The prophecy of Zacharie, touching the foolish, and the idol Shepherd. 2. The phophecie of Daniel, touching the do of Antiochus, that was the lively type of the Antichrist. 3. The prophecy of St. Paul, of the man of the sin which is the proper and peculiar sin of the Antichrist. 4. The prophecy of St. John, that the Antichrist should deny Jesus to be the Christ, that is suppress both the regal and the priestly offices of Christ. 5. The visions of St. John, 1. touching the witnesses, that the Antichrist should kill 2. The Church that he should persecute, and 3. The two beasts that were as the body and the soul of the Antichrist. 4. Whether it hath not taken upon it the name, and especially, the practice, of Independants, which is the sittest name, and the properest work of the Antichrist, to separate himself from Christ, and from the Church of Christ. 5. Whether it hath not exceedingly wronged, and extremely persecuted the Church of God, and especially the Governors of the Church, which is the infallible concomitant sign, of the Antichrist. 6, Whether it hath not showed itself so gross an bypocrite, in all his acts and proceed, that none but the Antichrist could do the same. And when you have duly read, and impartially weighed all these things, that I have set before you, as in a glass, then judge, yourself, whether the Presbyterians, and the Parliament be not the great Antichrist or not. CHAP VI Four special Objections answered; wherein the right use of all the foresaid discovery of the Beasts and the Antichrist is declared, and the precedent Discourse more fully confirmed. ANd if any man shall object, The Author of the Revelatiou unrevealed in his preface, 5 ob. 1. Sol. and think it strange, as a most reverend and learned Author, whom I much honour, seems to do; that the blessed Apostle in Patmos, overlooking all the vast Continent betwixt him and us, should have his thoughts taken up with our petty Occurrences in this other side of the World, which is not like to be. I answer, That seeing God out of all the World, did such great things for the small Kingdom of Israel, that in extent of Ground might scarce be compared to any one of these three Kingdoms, the whole length of it, from Dan to Beersheba, being not above three hundred miles, as S. Hierome witnesseth; and seeing the Holy Ghost vouchsafeth to set down in this Revelation, many particulars of jess consequence, and to fore-shew some things of far lower concernment, then are those great things, that have been acted by that Parliament, as in the 2. c. and 3. c. the Sufferings of some particular Churches, and of particular Cities; as Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamus, Thyatyra, Philadelphia, Sardis and Laodicea, and the murdering of some particular men, as Antipas, c. That it is not strange the spirit of God should foretell, the things that were to happen in this Island. 2.13. and the failing, and remissness of some Churches in God's Service, which are of far lesser note and moment, than the men that were martyred, the Churches that were profaned, the Apostasy that hath happened, the Kingdoms that have been ruined, and the horrible Impieties that have been committed here amongst us: let no man wonder, that the Spirit of God, who is no respecter of persons, nor oblivious of the meanest Countries, should likewise foretell the sad Accidents, and the like, or more inexcusable Sufferings and Martyrdom, Mat. 24 33. The right use of all the foresaid discovery of the Antichrist to; know; that should fall upon the King, and upon all the Bishops, and very many faithful Pastors, besides the multitude of Saints and godly Christians of three of the most famous and purest Protestant Kingdoms and Churches in the World; that as our Saviour saith of the like Predictions, when we see them fulfilled, we might understand and learn, how to make a right use of them; and that is, 1. 1. From whence our afflictions come, and why they are sont. To know that these our Persecutions and Afflictions come not out of the dust, nor by chance, but by the Divine Providence of Almighty God, that foresaw them, and foretold us of them, long before they came, and hath sent them to us, either as just Chastisements for our sins, and remissness in his Service and performance of our duty, or as trials of our faith and constancy in our Profession, and for an example unto others, to imitate them that do patiently suffer, or for so me other Causes best known to God himself. 2. 2. To teach us more zealously to serve God. To learn hereby to fear God, and more zealously and carefully to serve him, to pray unto him night and day, to forgive us our forepast sins both of commission and omission, to give us patience in all these our sufferings, and to assist us for our constancy and perseverance in our duties, that we neither murmur at our present condition, nor start aside one inch from the truth of our Christian Profession, Non me videre superbum prosper a fatorum nec fractum adversa videbunt. said Pompey. and how much rather should a Christian say it. either for fear of losses, or for love of gain and preferment, but to proceed on, codem vultus tenore, with the same cheerful countenance, as well in these stormy thundering days of Adversity and Persecution, as we would do in the clearest Sunshining days of pleasure and prosperity: and to remember that, Rebus in adversis facile est in contemnere vitam, Fortiter ille facit, q●i miser esse potest. 3. To abhor the ways of the wicked. 3. To abhor the ways and to fly from the service and allurements of these Beasts, as from a Serpent; because the third Angel that S. John saw, said with a land voice, so that all men might hear him, and plead no excuse, If any man worship the Beast and his Image; that is, serve and follow the two horned Beast, which is the false Prophet, and the ten horned Beast, that is, the Image of the false Prophet, and assist them in their Impieties, or imitate and follow them in their blasphemous doctrines, and their wicked ways; or receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand; that is, take an Engagement and oblige himself to assure the Beasts, that he will uphold, assist, and descend them, and so be true and faithful unto them, to further their proceed, or to justify their do, either plainly or covertly, directly or indirectly, the same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, The heavy punishment of them that assist and adhere to the Beasts. which is poured out without mixture; that is, of any comfortable thing to allay the fierceness, or to sweeten the bitterness of it, into the Cup of his indignation, and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone, in the presence of the holy Angels and of the Lamb, which will increase his Torment, to see their happiness, and himself in such extreme misery, and the smoke of that torment ascendeth up for ever and ever, to keep God still in mind of the odiousness and stinking savour of their wickedness; and they have no rest day nor night; that is, no manner of ease, or abatement of their Torment at any time, that worship the Beast and his Image; that is, serve and adhere to the false Prophet, and the ten horned Beast, Revel. 14.9, 10, 11. and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name; that is, engageth himself to adhere and to assist them: which pathetical and fearful expressions of the wrath of God, and the unspeakable Torments of them that serve and assist these Beasts, if men did believe the Scriptures (should, as I think) make all men afraid to receive the mark, The 2 Beasts often termed in the singular number, the Beast; and why? or to do any service to any that is like to have any affinity or society with these Beasts, which though they be two, as the soul and body are, yet by reason of their coberency and conjunction, like Samsons Foxes (or rather Herod & Pilate, to crucify Christ) to consume all the Corn in Joabs' field, as being subservient one to another, they are most commonly spoken of in the singular number, and termed the Beast; whose undeniable notes, and indelible characters, and whose words and works testified by the spirit of God in the holy Scripture, I have in all particulars paralleled and expressed by the doctrines and do of the Assembly of Presbyters at Westminster, and their associates, the Independent and Lay-preachers, and the long Parliament, that beheaded the two Witnesses of Jesus Christ, and is therefore believed by very many, to be the great Antichrist, and the man of the sin, that is spoken of by the Apostle; from whose impiety, iniquity, and cruelty, I earnestly and humbly beseech Almighty God night and day, to preserve me, and all the true Servants of Jesus Cstrist. Amen. Obs' 2 The pious works of the long Parliament. But secondly, Against all this that I have written, and shown in the Application of the description and do of the Antichrist, to the Actions and determinations of the Presbyterians, and long Parliament, and the just paralleling of the one with the other, to be as a man and his Image, or shadow in a Glass: I know it will be objected and demanded, how it can be possible, that that Parliament, which protested they made their War against the Antichrist, to root out Popery, Idolatry, and Superstition from the Church, and made so many Orders and Ordinances for God's Service, and Acts for the propagation of the Gospel, and to restrain the profanation of God's Name; and appointed so many Fasts to beg a blessing upon their Endeavours, and so many Thanksgivings unto God for their good snccesses, which they ascribed only to God, and not to themselves; and did many other such like acts of piety and devotion, should be the great Antichrist, and the greatest enemies that ever were to the honour of Christ and of his Church, since his ascension into Heaven, as you seem to make theworld to believe they are: Are these things the works of the Antichrist, or can they be compatiblc with the Antichrist? Sol. I answer briefly, If they had not done these things, they could not have been the great Antichrist; for Christ himself doth tell us, that the Antichrist and his false Prophets would say, Matth. 24.23. Lo here is Christ; that is, with them, and there is Christ; that is, where they meet, in the Desert, and in the secret Chambers; that is, in their private Conventicles, and not in his consecrated Church, where we pray unto him: and hereby saith Christ, they should deceive the World, and as S. Revel. 13.14. John saith, All them that dwell upon the earth: i.e. All earthly men, yea, Mar. 13 21. and if it were possible, they should, by this their great profession of Piety, deceive the very Elect, and the true Servants of Christ: and you know the old Rule which is infallible, — decipimur specie recti, Fallit enim vitium, specie virtut is & umbra. We are soon and oftenest deceived with the show of piety, and under the profession of the greatest holiness: Si. Walter Raleigh in the life of Mabomet pag. 7.8. so Mahomet the great Impostor, by embracing a solitary life, free from the ordinary conversation of men, and his speeches mixed with gravity, teaching holiness and a good life, and beating down Idolotry and injustice, gained such an extraordinary opinion of sanctity among the Arabians, that they which saw him, admired him, and they that heard of him, held him to be a Saint, and thereby he deceived the greatest part of this side of the world; and so all Hypocrites do seem to be better Saints, than the best of all the true Saints: as the Scribes & Pharises can make this good unto you; for they were the only appearing Saints among the Jews, Luke 11.42. Tything the least things, praying in the Streets, cautious of their Oaths, and very strict Observers of their Sabbath days service, and teaching as much outward holiness, as these holy men do; Matth. 23.13. yet we may believe our Saviour, that they were but holy Hypocrites, that thought they did God good Service, when they did exceedingly offend him: for as the Devil doth then most of all enlarge the Kingdom of darkness, when he transforms himself into an Angel of light, and made our Forefathers to become like Devils, Gen. 3 5. when he told them they should be like gods: so it is, as it hah been ever since, his perpetual practice to teach his Instruments, and you may be sure the Antichrist is one, The Antichrist will seen to his followers the best Christian in the world. Preponere quod delectabile, subponere quod exitiale, to give deadly poy son in a golden Cup, and to pretend and to make show of the greatest Piety, Holiness, and Devotion in the world, and with Judas to kiss Christ, to love him, and to honour him above all men, when the consequents of their actions aimand level to betray him, as Judas did, to be crucified; to overthrow his service, to kill his servants, and to lay all his honour in the dust: and the more holy the Devil seems to be, the more Devil he is, and the worse he means to be; so the more Saints, and the more pretence of Devotion and zeal of God's honour, these, or any other Actors of wickedness seem to make, the more apparent proof it is, that they are the greatest Adversaries unto Christ. But it is true, A special observation to be considered. Luke 10.22. and most worthy to be observed, that S. Paul calleth the coming and discovery of the Antichrist a mystery; that is a hidden, dark, and secret thing: and in some respects, not much unlike the coming, and believing the coming of Christ into the world: for as no man hath known who the Son is, but the Father, and who the Father is, but the Son, and he to whom the Son will reveal him: so none shall know the Antichrist to be the Antichrist, but only they to whom Christ will reveal him: for as the mystery of Christ his coming into the world, was bid from the wise men of this world, the Scribes, and the Pharises, and the rest of the Rulers of the people, that would never believe a man of such mean birth, poor friends, and so contemptible in the eyes of men, as the Prophet showeth, Isa. 53.2. And they beheld with their eyes, without form or beauty, should be the Christ, that anointed of God, to be the Messiah, that was to be the Redeemer and Saviour of all mankind: but this mystery was revealed to Shepherds, and as Christ saith, to Babes and Sucklings; that is, Luke 2.10. Math 11.25. That the discovery of the Antichrist is a mystery hardly believed by the wise men of this world. to some few that were as weak, as simple, and of as small account in the world, as are the little Children among men; and yet to these only he was revealed, and these first believed in him: so the mystery of the coming of the Antichrist is hid from the worldly wise, from the great men, the wealthy men, & the ruling Officers of the people, that shall not know him, nor will not believe him to be the Antichrist, but shall wonder after him, and worship him, and befool all those men, that shall imagine such successes, and protestations of piety, and acts to suppress Idolatry and profaneness, and to further true Religion and the service of God, can be any ways compatible with the Antichrist; yet this knowledge and this revelation of the Antichrist, by the special favour and blessing of God, shall be made known and discovered to some few, mean, despised, and dejected one's in the world, that do truly love Christ, and zealously stick to his service, notwithstanding all the affronts of the world, and do perfectly hate the bypocrisy and hypocritical pretensions and proceed of the cruel and most hateful Beasts. And therefore S. Paul calls the discovery and the knowledge of the Antichrist a revelation, saying, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, that he might be revealed, 2 Thes. 2. Emergere & patesteri, & exten●bris in lucem prodire, ut à piis pro tali cognoscatur, Maresius pag. 63. Matth. 11.25. E.H. de Antichristo part. 3. c. 5. pag. 102. Esay 6.9. Act. 28.27. Luk. 7.30. 2 Thes. 2.9.10. which is the taking away of a covering, or the putting off of a Veil, or Mask from some face, that was masked and hidden from public fight: so is the discovery of the Antichrist, a reveiling of some bidden face, and a manifesting of some secret thing, that is not commonly known, nor believed in the world: but is and shall be only reveiled, especially at his first appearing, to some few, and those of the meaner sort, or smallest account in the world, and it shall be kept secret and hidden from the world, and the generality of men in the world, especially the great men, and noted men of the world; as are the revelations of all the mysteries of God: and therefore S. Matthew speaking of God's mysteries, joineth, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, which signifieth to hid, with the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, to reveil, to note unto us, as it is well observed, that the mysteries of God and of our Religion, that are unfolded and published, are notwithstanding so made known and reveiled, as that they are believed only by some few, that truly love Christ, and earnestly desire to understand his truth, and are kept still secret and hidden from all the rest, that believe them not, which happeneth through their own fault; just as it was with the Jews, that, as the Prophet Isay showeth, had eyes and would not see, and had ears and yet would not hear: and as the Scribes and Pharises rejected the counsel of God against themselves; for so it is with these wise men of the world, that when they are told this truth, they will not understand it, when they are persuaded to embrace it, they are averse to believe it, and think we are greatly deceived, and simple men that teach it: because indeed the love of this present world hath insensibly bewitched and blinded them, and their care and search after the truth, hath been too remiss, for which cause, the Apostle saith, God shall send them strong delusions, that they should believe a lie, that they all might be damned, who believe not the truth, but bad pleasure in unrighteousness: Where I would have the great men, and the wise men of this world, to observe that this fearful expression of judgement is against such as believe not, and receive not the love of this truth, concerning the coming, the working, and the lying wonders of the Antichrist, when they are told of it, as you may see in 2 Thes. 2.9, 10, 11, 12. and in Revel. 14.9, 10. And therefore seeing the Holy Ghost hath told us how things should happen, when the Antichrist should be revealed; I wonder not, The worldlings cry up Antichrist for a Saint. that the worldly men, formal Professors, and all lose livers, should cry up the Antichrist, when he is in the height of his tyranny, for an eminent Saint, and a destroyer of the Antichrist, and his antichristian Hierarchy: but I say to all that love Christ and his truth, Let not those hypocritical do of pretended Godliness, Lake 11.42. which is but like the godliness of the Scribes and Pharises, deceive you; for, as I said even now, Luke 11.42. they fasted and prayed as much, if not more than these men, they tythed Mint and the smallest Herbs, better than these men, and they were stricter in refraining from Oaths, and observing of their Vows, and sanctifying of the Sabbath, than the precisest of the followers of the Antichrist ever were, or could be: and yet all this and much more outward godliness that they had, was but as S. chrysostom saith, Isay 29.13. Matth. 6.5. In ostentatione non in rectitudine intentionis; or as the Prophet Isay saith, to draw near unto God with their mouths, when their hearts are far from him: or as Christ himself saith, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, that they might be seen, and applauded of men, and therefore he addeth, for a truth, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, verily I say unto you, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, they have received mercedem suam their reward; that is, the esteem that they expected, and the Worship and Service that they required from those men, whom they deceived, sed amiserunt meam, but they have lost my reward, that I should have given them, had they not been such hypocrites, that is, eternal life. Therefore I say once again, and again, to you that love the truth, let not the pretences of piety, and the shadow of godliness, with the usurped name of Saints deceive you; but rather seriously consider; whether, 1. 1 Sam. 24.6. The kill of Gods Anointed, which David so much abhorred, and the very Heretics, Schismatics, and Apastatas, have heretofore confessed to be a sacred Tree, forbidden to be touched, much less than to be rooted up. 2. The destroying, beheading, and famishing of God's Ministers,. 3, The defiling of God's House, the holy place of his service. 4. The Perjuries and forswearing of themselves. 5. The robbing of God's people, of their Estates and livelihoods. 6. The kill of their brethren that were innocent, and deserved neither death nor bonds. 7. The betraying of their Countries, and those Countries that loved them, and elected them for their Patrons, of their lives, liberties, and livelyhoods. 8. The oppressing of all men, friends and foes, beyond measure. 9 The filling of Pulpits with Heresies, lies, and blasphemies. 10. The silencing of the faithful and Orthodox Preachers, for speaking truth. 11. The taking away of all restraint of lewdness and lasciviousness. 12. The abundance more of such other borrible acts of wickedness, injustice, and impieties, be the Liveries of Christ his Saints, or the marks and characters of the Antichrist. Ob. 3, 3. It is objected, that if the denial of our Baptism, which, as I said before, was the razing of the mark, The Presbyterians great opposers of the Anabaptists, & of the multiplicity of sects. and the blotting of the Seal of Christ, be an undeniable Character of the Antichrist and the confused multiplicity of all Sects, Heresies, and Errors, be the inseparable L very, and apparent evidence of the false Prophet; then certainly the Assembly at West minster, and Presby terians cannot be this second Beast, and the soul of the Antichrist; because they are no Anabaptists: and none have written and preached more fully, plainly, and learnedly against the Anabaptists, Independents, Lay-preachers, and all other Sects, Separatists and Heresies, than they have done; and they are the only men that profess themselves to be the grand enemies of the Beast, and the subverters of all Hieiarchy, the Captains of God's Host, that pulled down Episcopacy, teach parity among God's Ministers, and most strenuously fight against all the limbs of the Antichrist. Sol. The false Prophet teacheth many truths, to gain the more 〈◊〉 to his 〈◊〉. I answer, That it is not requisite that all the vices, and every particular fin of the Antichrist should be accumulated in every Member of the Antichrist, nor that every Error and Heresy should be taught and maintained by the fulse Prophet, but rather that he should bring and teach many truths, that his painful preaching and good doctrines that he teacheth, might gain the more credit to his lies, and falsehood; and the opposing of the Anabaptists, and confuting the Independants, and Lay Preachers, and other sects,, the members of the Antichrist, doth no ways free them, from being the main part of this false Prophet; for as God did set an Egyptian against an Egyptian, and divided the army of Senacherib, to cut one another's throat; Isay. 37.36. so that in one night, there fell a hundred fourscore and five thousand of them; even so God disposeth of things often times, in the army of the Antichrist, that there shall be, proditoris proditor, a traitor to betray a traitor, and one rebel to rebel against another, and as Ephraim, was against Manasses, Isay. 9.21. and Manasses a 'gainst Ephraim, and both of them against Judah; so the Independants, will be against the Presbyterians, and the Presbyterians, against the Independants, and against all other sects, that will not fall down and worship this Presbyterian Idol; and all these opposites, can be united, The Pharises compassed Sea and Land to make a Proselyte. and comine themselves together against the Governors of the Church: and for their great pains, and seeming sanctity, no false Prophet, did ever want the same; for doth not Christ tell you, that although such false Prophets, be ravening Wolves; yet they will come unto you, in Sheep's chothing? and doth not the old proverb tell you, that tuta frequensque via sub amici fallere nomen; is it not safest, and the most usual way, and readiest to deceive, for the Ministers of the Antichrist, to go under the name of the faithful servants of Christ, and the best Soldiers, that sight under his banner, against all the Limbs of the Antichrist? which hath been the practice of all heretics, as Tertul. in his prescript, and Irenaeus, contra heres. and St. Aug. against the Donat. and many others, do sufficiently show unto us. 4. It is objected, that the Pope and the popish Hierarchy, Marth. 23.15. Ob. Thomson in the Areignment of the Anrtchrist. I W. in his Romae ruina finalis Powel, Sheldon, Downam, and many others. being so puffed up with pride, that he exalteth himself above all that is called God, that is, above all Kings, and above the Emperor, and being so filled with heresies, idolatries and blasphemies, and such a cruel, bloody tyrant and persecutor of God's true servants, as our Protestants have amply showed in their books; and the Turk, directly, and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, thrusting himself into the place and office of Christ, and exalting himself above Christ, above the Prophets, and above all the Apostles of Christ, and challenging to himself, and his successors, absolute independent power over all the Kings and Monarches of the earth; and commanding his Alcoran, which is made up of Paganish, Jewish and Arian heresies and superstitions, to be received and preferred before the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and most cruelly tyrannising over those poor Christians that are under him, because they renounce not their Saviour, Bishop Montague in his Appello Casarem pag. and adore his false Prophet, and that religion, which directly leadeth them to perdition, as learned Montague showeth, it is incredible, and not possible to be believed, that the Parliament, and specially the Presbyterians, that profess themselves to be regulated, neither by Fathers, nor Councils, nor any other Canon or rule, but only, by the pure Word of God, and do so indefatigably labour to bring men to Christ, and to enlarge the kingdom of his Grace, and have hazarded their fortunes, and lost their blood, and some their lives in the defence of God's cause, should be the great Antichrist, and a greater Antichrist, more batefull, and a more abominable adversary unto God and his Church, then either the Pope or the Furke? To this I answer, that I never intended to excuse, or to lessen, Sol. The Aurhor excuseth neither Pope nor Turk. the impieties of the Pope, or the cruelties of the Turk, or to deny them to be Antichrists, and great adversaries, both to Christ, and to the Church of Christ; I am no Proctor, to plead for either of them, especially against the truth; but I say, the nearer men are to God, the more profession they make of faith, and the better christians they think themselves to be; the more faithfulness, and the more holiness and sincerity is required at their hands; for to whom much is given, of them, much shall be required, saith our Saviour; and it was wisely said of a fool, that dying, cried to God, that he would require no more of him, The wise prayer of a Fool. than what he gave him; though wiser men must employ their talents to the best advantage of their master, who expecteth a plentiful harvest of all good fruits, where he hath plentifully sown his good seed of knowledge, and of grace: and so the sins of such men, as should be Saints, are far more heinous, and more abominable in the fight of God, than the sins of those, that know not God; yea sins, less heinous in their own nature, are more heinous in these offenders, than other sins, far more odious in themselves, are in those that are further off from God, and less acquainted with his laws; and therefore, Act 17.30. Ps. 106.21.22. Rom. 3.2. the jodolatrie of the heathens, that knew not the true God, God winked at, saith the Apostle, and it was not near so odious, in God's fight, as the Idolatry of the sons Israel, that had seen his wonders in Egypt, and had the heavenly Oracles delivered unto them; and so, though Pilate, for condemning Christ to death, is branded with great infamy, by the mouth of every christian that saith his Creed, that Christ suffered under Pontius Pilate; yet Annas, John, 19.11. and Caiphas, that professed to know Gods will, and thought themselves the chiefest of God's people, majus peccatum habuerunt, sinned more, by our Saviour's testimony, for delivering him unto Pilate, than Pilate did in condemning him unto death; so likewise, though the sins of the Edomites were very great, when the Prophet saith, thus saith the Lord, for three transgressions of Edom and for four, Amos, 1, 11. I will not turn away the punishment thereof, because he did pursue his brother, (that is the seed of Jacob, that was Esau's brother, which is Edom) and did cast off all pity, and his anger did tear perpetually, and kept his wrath for ever: And so in like manner, though the sins of Damascus and of Moah also were exceeding grievous, v. 3. c. 2.1. c. 1.13. when the former threshed Gilead with threshing instruments of Iron, and the others rage was so great, that death could not satisfy his wrath, but he must burn the bones of the King of Edom into lime: How and whose sins do become most odious. and in like manner, though the sins of the children of Ammon, were no less grievous, than the sins of Moab, when they ripped up the women with child, of Gilead, that they might enlarge their borders; yet because these nations were not the peculiar people of God, nor had received so many favours from God, nor the knowledge of his laws, so as the jews had done; these horrible sins, and sins against nature, seemed not so horrible, and so offensive in God's sight, as judah's despising of his laws, and their lies, which caused them to err, and Israel's selling of the righteous for Silver, and the poor for a pair of Shoes, c. 2. v. 4. and 6. which seem to be but venial fins, in respect of the other bloody murders, and inhuman cruelties; because, as I said before, to whom God hath given much, of them he requireth much; and where he expecteth most holiness, there the fins are most sinful; and as St. Bernard saith of the Priests, and Ministers of Christ, Quae in aliis nugae sunt in illis sunt blasphemia, so the sins that are but trifles in the Pagans and Infidels, are most odious in the Christians; and therefore, after that the Lord had recapitulated both the fins of those nations and the many favours he had heaped upon the Israelites, with the rejectment of the Amorites and the rest of the foresaid nations for their former transgressions, c. ●3. 5. The sins of Israel more displeased God, than the sins of the Amorites; and why? he addeth of the Israelites; you only have I chosen of all the Families of the earth, that is, for mine own peculiar people, to serve me, and to be protected and favoured by me; therefore, seeing you have done these things, I will punish you, for all your iniquities; and when others that you think worse, and greater finners than you be, may have some savour, yet you shall have none at all; because these things in you, offend me more, and are more abominable in my fight, then are all the abominations of the Amorites. And so according to this determination of the Prophet, though the sins of the publicans, and harlots, murderers and robbers, and the like, were more flagitious, and more heinous in their own nature, than the sins and delinquencies of the Scribes, and Pharisees, that, for the uprightness, of their outward carriage, were deemed the only Saints among God's prople; yet, because they professed to know their Masters will, and did it not, our Saviour was offended with them, and denounceth more, and more beavie woes against them, then against all the enormous, horrible, and flagitious sins of others, the greatest finners, that knew not so much of the will of God as they did. Even so, though the Idolatries, and heresies, and superstitions of the Pope and his Hierarchy, and their other sins; and the abominations, and cruelties of the Turks, and Mahometans may in there own nature, simply considered, seem more odious and heinous than the sins of the Presbiterians and long Parliament; yet consideratis considerandis; all circomstances considered, that may be said for the Pope, and popish church, No sinner so hateful in the sight of God as the ypocritical saint. and for the Turk and Mahometans, and against these seeming Angels, and the grand masters of injustice and impiety in all their ways; I say no Pope, no Turk, no Tyrant, no Schismatic, no Heretic, nor any other, the like great sinner, can be so hateful in the sight of God, as are the do of these hypocritical Saints, that I have so clearly and so amply, displayed unto you in this book; so far, that the best of mine understanding cannot imagine how a greater Antichrist, more odious to God and more destructive to the Church of God, can possibly arise, then that which I have described in these books. CHAP. VII. Of the continuance, and destruction of the beast; the time of his prevalency; his utter ruin not till the day of judgement; and why? and what it should teach us; how the seven Vials of God's wrath shall be poured out; and what the three unclean spirits do signify, ANd now I should end this discourse, but that for the comfort of all the persecuted Saints and Servants of Jesus Christ, that seem in mine ears to cry to God, with the souls under the Altar, saying, how long tarriest thou holy and true, before thou comest to deliver us from the cruelty of this beast, and to avenge the blood of thy servants, that hath been spilt by them that dwell on the earth? I think it requisite, that I should say somewhat of the continuance of the beast, and the destruction of the Antichrist. Touching which, being points of things to come, it is not an easy matter, nor wisdom in any man rashly to determine; and knowing how many great Scholars, and holy men have failed in the computation of times, I am very loath to be too peremptory or positive therein; especially considering that I could not yet satisfy myself, with any thing that I read concerning this matter, in the best, either of the popish or the Protestant writers; For 1. The Papists, expecting the Antichrist, that in all probabilities, 1. What the Papists conceive concerning the Antichrist. Bellar. de rome. Pontif. 1. 3. c. 8. and 16. in demonstr. Corn a la pi de, in Apoc. c. 3. Iraeneus; Hippolytus etc. should be a Jew, risen of mean parentage, of the tribe of Dan, and by cheating tricks, should first overcome the Kings of Egypt, Lybia, and Ethiopia, and then many more, and should most cruelly persecute the Church of Christ for three years and a half, in which time Henoch and Elias, should return in their own persons, from the terrestrial Paradise, where God reserveth them, for to preach and to preserve the elect, from the deceits of the Antichrist, do say, that he is not yet come; and when he cometh, that he shall continue but as I said, three years and a half; and this shall be but a very little time before Christ cometh to Judgement; this is the generally received opinion of the Papists which is but a fancy without ground. 2. The Protestants, whereof some, that make the succession of Popes to be the Antichrist, do say, he hath already continued ever since Boniface the third in Phocas his time, Balaeus de vit: Pontif. l. 3. Thom. Antichrist arraigned. pag. 06. E. H. de Antichrist, etc. as Balaeus saith, or since Vitalianus in 666. as Thompsom and others say, above a 1000 years already, and they cannot tell how many years more he may continue, God knoweth, it may be a 1000 yet; if their exposition be true, and the world continue so long; others think that the Antichrist is but some one single, and singular person, that should arise, or is risen from the true Church, that is, from the purest national Church, which I am sure, in King Charles his time, was the Church of Ingland; and though he springs from a small root; yet by his wars, his wits, and cheating tricks, he shall slay the two witnesses of Christ, whic they conceive to be the Magistrates, and the Ministers, that is, as I take them, the King, and the Bishops; and that man, should still prevail over God's people, and continue glorious, in all good successes, according to his own desires, until the Ministers of Christ, that through fear, shall be for a while, like Pliny's 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, mouthless men, do receive a new courage, and as it were, life from the dead, to preach him down; and God shall second them, and assist them, by raising commotions against him, and powerful armies, to overthrow both him, and his adherents; and thereby, that is, the zealous preaching of the Gospel, and the great victories of Christ his servants over the Antichrist, they shall proceed on, and reduce, not only the Jews, but also the ten tribes of Israel, that have been scattered like the dust of the earth, to be converted, to embrace the faith of Christ, and to restore them to repossess their Land of Palestina, and to make a glorious reformation of the Church of Christ, thus collected into one sheepfold, that shall continue, as some fond dream, a 1000 years more in all worddly felicity; the most of which conceits, I take to be as fabulous, and as fictitious as the fictions of the Talmudists. And therefore. I must humbly crave leave, What the author conceieth to be the truth touching the Antichrist. in many things to descent, and in some things to assent to the expositions, both of the Papists and Protestants, and out of both their assertions, to set down what I conceive to he most probable, and likeliest to be the truth; and so I say with the Protestants, that Sanders, and Bellarmine, and the rest of the Popish Writers, that take the beast for one single person, are utterly mistaken; and all that they say, of that person, are but mere fictions; because all that is here spoken of this beast, and elsewhere of the Antichrist, can never be applied to one singular man; nor all things that are to be acted, can be performed by one person; and yet I cannot assent with those Protestants, that say, he is the succession of Popes, or popish Hierarchy, or a wicked Kingdom and Polity, and the seventh head of the beast, that reigns after the Emperors in the City of Rome, as Brightman, Downam, and many others that follow them, do imagine; because not any one of all the Popes, can be justly proved to be the Antichrist, but many arguments may be produced, which I have touched in this treatise, to prove, that neither of these can be this beast, here spoken of; and much less, can I assent to the fancies of these men, that dream of the reduction of the long lost tribes, to their ancient possessions, and least of all, of the opinion of Mr. Mede, and some others, far less learned, and indeed far absurd than he, that speak of a 1000 years reigning of the Saints with Christ, here in an earthly Paradise, after the destruction of the Antichrist, and the conversion of the Jews; which unprobable paradoxes, are most gravely, and truly demonstrated, so to be, by the reverend Author of the Revelation unrevealed; but I say, as I shown to you before, that this beast, the Antichrist, must be taken for a collected multitude, and an ungodly pack, or knot of the worst, and most wicked men that could live, which do covenant, and unite themselves, like the Jewish Sanhedrim, to slay the two witnesses of jesus Christ, and so to accomplish, and to fulfil all the rest of the predictions, that are set down in Scriptures, concerning the Antichrist. And for the continuance, of that unchristians, Antichristian company, I conceive it must be considered in a two fold notion. 1. Of their prevalency and domineering successful time. The continuance of the beast to be considered 2 special ways. 1. The prevalent time of the beast: 2. Of their industry and endeavours still to rule and domineer. 1. For the prevalent time of the beast, I am clear of the Papists, and Father's mind, that say, the Antichrist shall domineer, in his full strength and power, to the terror of the true saints; but three years and a half, or some short space, expressed by that time of three years and a half, or three years and half three years, that make four years and a half; or much about, that length of time, though not precisely, such a time to a day; for as when the scripture saith, that Adam when he was an hundred and thirty years old, Gen. 53. & 5. Casman. Cos●●piae, cap. 5. pag. 269. begat Seth; and died, when he was nine hundred and thirty year old; shall we think it necessary to believe, that he begat Seth on that very day, wherein he did precisely, fulfil the hundred and thirty years? or that he died, on the last day of the nine hundred, and thirty years complete? So it is not requisite, that by these three years and a half we should understand that exact quantity of time, without more, or less; but a short space, much about those years; and no such length of time, as Balaeus, Brightman, Downam, The prevalent time of the beast much about three years and a half. and the rest of their followers, do attribute unto the Antichrist; because the holy Ghost saith the ten horns, of the beast, that is his chief generals, and captains, shall receive power with the beast, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, one bour, c. 17.12. that is, as the same spirit expoundeth it, of the predecessor of this beast in the same 17. c. v. 10. a short space, saying, that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, he must continue a short space; and that space of the beast his continuance is more clearly, and precisely explained c. 13.5. to be 42 months; which must be taken as Bellarmine, and the Fathers before him, took them for three years and a half, and as many other Protestant writers do now gramatically expound them, for that time, or some small quantity of time, much about that space, more or less; as I said before: for otherwise, if you take every day of thee 42 months, for a year, (to make them to synchronize with the 1200, and 60 days, that the witnesses should prophesy in sack cloth) as Mr. Mede doth, and as junius doth, and before them the Magdeburgenses did; and as the scriptures do set a day for a year in many places, as in the words of Ezechiel, I have set thee a day for a year, and the words of Christ, Mr. Mede in Clavi. apoc. Jun. in loc. Magdcbur. cent. 1. l. 2: c. 4. Ezech. 14. Luke, 13.33. I must walk to day, and to morrow, and the day following, that is three years, as it is generally expounded, by most interpreters; and the 40 days wherein the explorators; and searchers of the Land of Canaan, were searching the same, signified that for their false report, they should bear their punishment 40 years; and jonas his 40 day's respite for Ninive, before it should be destroyed, was extended, as the Lord meant thereby, to 40 years, and the 70 weeks of Da●●el, are by all interpreters taken for so many years as there be days in those weeks; if I say you take it so here. than these 42 months. cannot agree with one hour, nor with a short space, wherein this beasi and his horns shall prevail, when as thus taking a day for a year, the 42 months do amount to 1260. years; which is no short space, nor can any ways signify 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, one hour which is the time of the beast. Neither can I altogether assent to Bullinger, and Chytrans that say, Bulling, and Chytrans in a pox. c. 13. this certain number of months is absolutely put for an uncertain time; though we find a certain number often time put down for an uncertain number; yet this is never used, as Divines observe, but when some full and perfect number is put down, as 10, 100, 1000, and the like; as, where jacob said unto Laban, thou hast changed my wages ten times, that is several times; Genes. 37.7. Eccles. 6.3. Dan. 5.1. and when Solomon saith if a man beget a hundred children, that is, very many children; and where Daniel saith, Belshazzar made a feast to a thousand of his Lords, that is, a great many Lords; and so many Interpreters, do take the binding of Satan for a 1000 years, to signify, a long time, even from the determination, and ending of the ten primitive persecutions, to the coming of this beast, or as some think from Christ his time, to the time of the Antichrist, and so they take the 1000 years reigning of the Saints, with Christ, to signify all that indefinite time, of Satan's binding; and so likewise our Saviour saying to St. Peter, that he must forgive his brother not till seven times, Math. 18.22. but seventy times seven times, signifieth that he must forgive him, as often as he doth offend him; but though, Aug. de civitate Dei, l. 20. in these and the like places, a certain number, is put for an uncertain; Yet is it never so used, and taken, where several numbers of few, and many, are assigned and coupled together, as time, times, and half a time and here 42, months, and three days and a half, as both Bellar. and St. Angust. do observe; because the variety of numbers had been to no purpose, if an uncertain number had been to be understood thereby, when he might, as well have said 40. months as 42 months; neither shall you find, that ever the greater number signified a determinate lesser number, as a year tosignifie a month or a week; or a month to signify a week or a day. Therefore, these 42. months, wherein this beast shall reign and rage over God's servants, must be literally and precisely understood to signify, three years and a half; or as some do expound a time, and times, and the dividing of time, for three years, and half three years, or there abouts; or as I said even now, for some short time, and small space, though not so exactly, and precisely determined, as containing the just, and full measure of three years and a half, without somewhat, either more or less And thus it is observed, The prevalent time of the long Parliament just three years and a half. that the long Parliament, which is answerable to the first beast continued prevalent in their good successes, just so long, or much about that time; for Ingland, was proclaimed a free state the ninth of May, 1648. and the Dutch did beat them at Sea, which was the beginning, of their declination, upon the ninth of November, in 1651. which from their first peeping to be masters, to this first blow, that they received, is the just time of three years and a half; and in April, the 22, Anno. 1653. which was but a little more than four years and a half, the Lord general Oliver alias Crumwell disolved that Parliament, with a word of his mouth, even as the Apostle foreshowed; how easily, and after what manner, the Lord of heaven would consume, or rather, dissolve, that man of sin, and this beast, here spoken of, that signifieth a knot of rebels, which the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, that the Apostle useth, 2. Thessal. 2.8. most properly signifieth, with the breath of his mouth, saying 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, whom the Lord will unbind and separate, or scatter, as the Clouds are scattered by the wind, which both the words, And so this man by the will of God, did put an end to that long Parliament. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, betoken, with the breath of his month. The which dissolution of the long Parliament, and the suppression of their more than most bloody Engagement, that was formerly done by the same hand the Lord General Crumwel did, and was the only good deed that ever he did to the oppressed Cavaliers, and to all disaffected to that long Parliament. Ob. But is it like, that the head will destroy his body, how shall he then subfiff, when his body is lost? Sol, I answer that it is not always alike with the politic head, as it is with the natural; nor with the Head of the Church of God, as with the head of the beast, and the Synagogue of Satan; but as Christ, which is our Head, saveth his body, that is, the Church, so the head of the beast, and of the Antichrist, A special observation. Revel. 17.27. will every way destroy his body, and dissolve the knot, and scatter the pack, of those wicked reprobates; for I would have it well observed how the Holy Ghost saith, that God hath put it in the hearts of the ten horns of the beast, and I told you these ten horns may be taken for ten, or many of the Commanders, to fulfil his wall, & to agree, & to give their kingdom unto the beast until the words of God, shall be fulfilled; & no longer; but when they have fulfilled his will, they shall be no more horns of the beast, nor give their kingdom unto him, but horns against the beast, to take away their kingdom from the beast, to dissolve his members, and to sever them from their Head; so the body of the beast, shall continue together entire, and with his Head, and horns on, but 42 months or thereabouts; and after that time. it shall be disjointed, and dissolved by his head, and separated from his head, which will then become the head of another body, and to remain to fulfil more of the will of God, it may be to do further mischief, and to give the lsst death's wound, unto the witnesses, or rather to restore the witnesses against his will, and to settle the right King in these kingdoms; and the Bishops in the Church of Christ. 2. We must consider, that although the Lord, by the breath of his mouth, 2. The declining and the jected time of the beast after his dislolution. 2. Theffal. 2.8. dissolveth and scattereth this proud beast, here spoken of, as the Lord General disjointed, and dissolved the long Parliament with a word of his lips, so that now, the beast, and his adherents, are like an army routed; yet he is not quite destroyed; for as the Apostle saith, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, The Lord will destroy him with the brightness of his coming; and this can be understood, of no other time, then of his coming to the last judgement. as Faber Stapulensis, rightly collected; for howsoever, Grotius thinks that both these expressions, tend to signify the same thing, after the manner of the Hebrews, who in setting down any thing certainly, and vehemently, do often use to express the same, by a double form of speech; yet with that learned man's favour; I rather conceive that this Apostle, by these two fold expressions meaneth, two special things that should come to pass, The two fold expressions do show two things. at two several times. 1. The dissolution, and dispertion of the beast, and his members by the breath of the Lord. 2. The destruction and final dissipation, and ruin of him, 1. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, the dissipation, dissolution and scattering of the beast. and of all his adherents, at the last day, by the brightness of his coming. And for the, 1. I am of Cornelius a lapides mind, that the breath, and spirit of Christ his mouth, doth not here signify, the preaching of the Gospel, (as those interpreters, that make the Pope, and papacy to be this beast, that should be overthrown by the faithful preaching of God's truth, do imagine;) because the Antichrist, and his followets regard not the truth of any preaching, but being Sermon proof, he slayeth the witnesses, silenceth the preachers, and destroyeth all that preach anything against him, and his proceed; as you know the Parliament & Protector did; but the disjointing of the beast, with the breath of his mouth, signifieth, as Grotius well observeth, the facility of the work; Tho facility of the work. as we commonly say of a weak adversary, that we will blow him away; so easily Christ can scatter, and dissolve this beast, sooner, and easier than Alexander could untie the Gordian knot; when with his sword he cut it all to pieces; and so did Christ most easily scatter that company, which was thought so invincible, that no humane power could dissolve them; yet as you have seen, the breath of their own general, without one blow given, without one drop of blood spilt, did blow away that indissoluble conceived Parliament, whose members now are metamorphosed, from cruel Tigers to most timorous Hares that fly away from the noise of the hunters. And thus as the Psalmist saith, like as the smoke perisheth, so did the Lord drive away that cruel company; and herein the Lord our God did a work to his poor servants, worthy of everlasting thanks and praise, for remembering us when we were in troubles, & delivering us out of our distresses; and therefore I may well say with the Psalmist, O that men would therefore praise the Lord for his goodness, & show the wonders that he doth for the children of men, & specially for this favour to dissipate & scatter so many hundred tyrants, that would have entailed the mastery, both of Church & kingdoms, upon themselves, and their successors for ever; to perpetuate the slavery of these nations far worse than the Athenians under the thirty tyrants? Justin. l. 5. versus finem. 2. The final and total destruction of the Antichrist; when to be, 2. Though we acknowledge, a threefold advent or coming of Christ. The 1. In humility, when the word was made flesh. The 2. In power, when by his Spirit, he doth powerfully regenerate his elect, and protecteth them from all their enemies, and destroyeth their ungodly adversaries, and his despisers at his pleasure. And The 3. In glory and Majesty, when he cometh to judge both the quick and the dead. But for The 4. Coming, that the Chiliasts or Millenaries dream of, to overthrow the Antichrist in his own person; and after that, to convert the Jews, and then to reign a 1000 years with his Saints here on earth, it is such a fiction, as is not worthy to be thought on, and brings so many erroneous consequents with it, as are not fit to be embraced by any Christian; and though some learned Divines do hold, and understand the destruction of the Antichrist to be by the second coming of Christ, that is. his powerful coming by his spirit, which shall utterly destroy this beast, and leave not one Limb of him to remain, and that not by the faithful preaching of the Gospel, which the Antichrist shall put down, and instead thereof, raise flattering and false Prophets, and Parasites, to countenance him, in his impieties; but by some powerful strength, that Christ by his Spirit, shall work in the hearts of his servants (beyond our capacities to conceive how, as Moses saith, One man should chase a thousand, and two put ten thousand to flight) that shall rise against the Antichrist, to overthrow him; yet we find two words in this expression of the Apostle, which assure me that his utter destruction cannot be referred to any other coming of Christ, That the utter ruin, and total destruction of the beast is not to be, till the day of the last judgement. then to his third and glorious coming to the last judgement. For 1. The Apostle saith, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, whom the Lord will destroy; and the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, signifieth to abolish, to make to cease to be, and inanem reddere, and to render him void; the word being compounded of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ocior, to be at rest; and is a word seldom found in classic Authors, Two words proving the same. but often in the writings of S. Paul, as Rom. 7.6. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉; but now soluti sumus, we are loosened, or, as the Syriac hath it, aboliti sumus, we are abolished from the law; and in Gal. 5.4. he saith, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 exclusi estis, separati à Christo, you are made void, and separate from Christ, whosoever are justified by the law, saith Beza; and in 1. Cor. 15.26. he saith 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, the last enemy, qui abolebitur, saith Tremellius, or qui aboletur saith Beza, which shall be abolished, and quite taken away, that it be no more, is death; so here the Apostle by this word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 meaneth that the Lord, at his appearance, will exclude, separate, abolish, and quite take from himself, and from his chosen saints and servants this wicked Antichrist, and all his ungodly adherents, that they be no more. And this separation of the goats from the sheep, and of the tares and darnel from the Wheat, is not made until Christ shall set the Goats on his left hand, and shall say unto them, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire; because the tares shall not be weeded and rooted up, nor the wicked be made to cease to be, but shall remain as the Canaanites among the Israelites, and as the heretics, Why the limbs of Antichrist shall be still suffered to remain among the faithful. that being once sprung, were never quite rooted out of the Church but their proselytes remained, more or less, in one place, or other continually, to be as thorns in the sides of God's children, to exercise their patience, and to make them more watchful over themselves, and their own ways; while they walk, and wander among such briers; so shall the members of the Antichrist remain amongst us, and the final and total destruction and abolition of the beast, and the quite taking away of all his Limbs, head and feet, root and branch, that is, the utter ruin of the Antichrist, and all his followers, and adherents, cannot be understood, to come to pass, until Christ shall come at the last day, to make an end of them, and to evacuate, and bring to nothing, both them, and their devices, plots, and successes and to render vengeance unto them, according to their just deferts, 2. The other words that show the Antichrist shall not be quite abolished, 2. The other word is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and destroyed, till the coming of Christ to judgement, are, that the Lord shall destroy him, that is, quite take him away, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, with the brightness of his coming, saith our translation; revelatione adventus sui, by the revelation of his Coming, saith Tremellius, or illustri adventu suo saith Beza, by his illustrious, or glorious coming; and this coming of Christ, thus expressed, can be no otherwise understood, than of the last coming to judgement; for though each and every of the three come of Christ be illustrious, and glorious, in some respects; yet the proper titles and the usual Epithets of each coming, are, that his first coming, The coming of Christ to judgement is properly called, his glorious coming. Math. 16. is called his humble coming, or his coming in humility, his second coming is styled, his gracious coming, or his coming by his spirit; to offer his grace unto us all; and his third coming, is termed his glorious coming, when he cometh in the glory of his Father, with his Angels. And the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, which is derived of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which signifieth to appear, to be made manifest, or to be brought to light, because the proper signification of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is, in lucem proffer, to bring into the light, that which was not seen, doth here signify that coming of Christ, which, in the most proper sense, is called his glorious coming; The glorious Majesty of of Christ his coming to judgement: 1. In respect of the person coming. Rev. 13, 14. or his coming in great Majesty; and that is only his coming to judgement; when as his coming in the flesh, was manifested, but to few, and his coming by his spirit, is invisible to all, imperceptible, and unperceviable to most men; but his coming to judgement shall be made manifest to all the men in the world and therefore is, and may most rightly be termed 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, a most glorious appearance; and that both in respect of the person that cometh, clothed with a garment down to the foot, and girt about the paps with a golden girdle, his hairs as white as Snow, his eyes as a flame of fire, his feet like unto fine brass, his voice as the sound of many waters, his mouth sending out a sharp two edged sword, and his countenanc, as the Sun shineth in his strength, and every way glorious, as he appeared to this our Evangelist; and secondly in respect of the glorious train and company that shall attend, and wait upon him, 2. In respect of the company that attend him. which are thousand thousands of Angels, and all the heavenly saints of Almighty God. And though this 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, the glorious manifestation of him, doth sufficiently show the time of the quite rooting out, and total destruction of the Antichrist not to be till the last judgement; yet here is another word, that the Apostle useth, which putteth the matter out of all doubt; for he saith that the man of the sin shall be destroyed, by the glorious appearance 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, signifieth the coming of the Person of Christ. of his Personal presence; for so the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, being compounded of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, co vel ad sum 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, essentia, doth import, and must needs express the coming of the Person of Christ to destroy the Antichrist, which made some expositors to suppose, as I shown before, that his coming will be to begin the 1000 years' felicity here on earth; whereas St. Peter tells us plainly, that Christ never cometh in his own Person, but the heavens must contain him, until the times of the restitution of all things, which is the day of judgement; and therefore the whole body of the beast, Act. 3.21. Ob Et sic Hugo Grotius 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Christi interpretatur de ilius adventum suum ad particulare judicium i● Judaeos v. 1. and all the adherents of the Antichrist shall not be quite rooted out, till Christ shall come to the last judgement. But against this, E. H. and others, do object, that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉; doth doth not always signify the Personal presence, or the essential appearance of Christ; and to prove this, besides the judgement of Mr. Leigh, whom he rightly termeth, our noble English Greek Critic; that saith, fateor quidem 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, saepe illum juditii adventum significari, sed id perpetuum non est, this word I confess doth often signify his personal coming to judgement, but not always; & he quoteth certain places of Scripture, where the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, signifieth the powerful coming of Christ by his Spirit, and not the personal appearance of Christ, as where St. Peter saith, we have made known unto you 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, 1 Pet. 1.16. which sayeth he, signifieth his powerful coming by his Spirit, to convert the Souls of his people. But Sol. I say, that both the precedent and subsequent words, and the very scope of the Apostle in that place, doth most plainly prove, that he meaneth not his spiritual coming to work his graces in us, but rather the first coming of Christ in the flesh, which he saith, was not devised fable; because they were eye witnesses of his Majesty, which they could not be of his powerful coming by his spirit; and therefore this place is wrested to make good their sense, but clear enough to prove the word to signify his personal presence, whereof they were eye witnesses, 1 Jo. 1.3. when the word was made flesh, as St. John likewise testifieth, 1 John 1.3. Obj. 2 2. He saith, our Saviour useth the like phrase in S. Mat. c. 16, 28. There be some standing here, Mat. 16.28. which shall not taste of death, until they see the Son of man coming in his Kingdom; and that is, his powerful coming by his Spirit, to work faith in his elect, to increase his kingdom of Grace, which is his Church, and not his personal coming, to receive his Saints to the Kingdom of glory, before which time all and every one of them did taste of death; Sol. but I say, these words are no thing, and of no force to prove that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifieth this his coming in his Kingdom, or any other his powerful coming, by his Spirit, either to propagate his Gospel, as some do understand that place of S. Mat. or to execute Judgement upon the Jews, as some others do understand it, or upon any other enemies of Christ, as some of our late interpreters think; because the words which our Saviour useth, are, they shall not taste of death until they see the Son of man, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 coming in his Kingdom, where you see our Saviour doth not use the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, to signify this his Spiritual and powerful coming by his Spirit, but the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉; and we deny not the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to signify his gracious and powerful coming by his Spirits but we say that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is never found to signify such a coming or any other besides his personal coming: yet, Obj. 3. He produceth the 24 of St. Mat. v. 3. and 30. Ma●. ●4. v. 3. and 30. where in the 3. v. indeed, we have the Disciples ask the question of Christ, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉? what shall be the sign of thy coming? and and here you see they use the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for the coming of Christ: but I demand what, or which of his come do they mean? his gracious and powerful coming by his Spirit to build his Church, and to destroy his enemies, or his glorious personal coming in all Majesty to the last judgement? I hope the next immediate words that are subsequent will show you plainly, that they demand not the signe of his spiritual coming to enlarge his Church, but of his personal coming to the last judgement; for they say, What shallbe the sign of thy coming and of the end of the world? and I doubt not but you will confess he will come in his own person at the end of the World, to judge both the quick and the dead? And for our Saviour's answer unto their question in the 30 th'. ver. he useth not the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, but he tells them the sign of his coming, which I conceive to be, not the sign of the Cross, as some Papists foudly imagine, but as our Bibel notes upon the place, do say, the exceeding glory and Majesty of his coming that shall be as the light, which precedeth the rising of the Sun, and the sorrows and mournings of all the kindred of the earth, for fear of that great and terrible judgement, which formerly thy regarded not; and now they see so nearly approaching, and they must undergo it; and then he showeth the manner of his coming, how they shall see the Son of man, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, coming in the clouds of heaven, (just as the Angels say he shall come, Act. 1.11.) with power and great glory; Act. 1.12. and therefore I am confident, that whosoever transferreth either this question of the Disciples, or this answer of our Saviour, wherein he useth the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, and not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, to any other coming of Christ, then to his last and personal coming to judgement, I may justly say with Pet. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, they wrist, or as 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 properly signifieth, they do stretch them, as shoemakers use to stretch their leathers with their teeth, 2 Pe●. 3.16. that they may reach to be nailed upon their last, so do they stretch the Scriptures, to make them reach to make good their own fancies. And so Maresius proveth at large, against Grotius, that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 doth constantly almost in every place, Maresius in dissertatione de autichristo. pag. 43. signify the coming of Christ to the last judgement; and to prove the same he quoteth, Mat. 24.3. and Exo. c. v. 36, 37. 1 Cor. 15 23. and saith, sic non alia significatione usurpatur, 1 Thes. 2.19.3.13.4.15.5.23. Jacobi, 5, 7, 8, 2 Pet. 3.4. 1 Jo. 2.28. and then addeth that, semel tantum ali● sensu extat propriori Christi. adventu in carne, 2 Pet. 1.16. the which place I have so expounded to you before. Hereby than it remaineth clear, that though the Antichrist his strength and government shall be dissolved, the fierceness and violence of his persecution abated, and the combination of his members and adherets untwisted, and they made to vanish away and to be scattered and brought to nothing, very easily with the breath of Christ his mouth, as we have seen a word of the Lord general, that Christ used as his instrument, hath blown away the members of the long Parliament; yet the whole body of the beast, and all the members of the Antichrist, the generation of these vipers, and the succeeding Scholars and disciples of the false prophet, shall as they do, still continue, and oftentimes recrute and gather some kind of strength, though never as they had formerly prevailed, to vex and molest the Church and the true servants of Christ, until he that sat upon the white Cloud, and had on his head a Golden Crown and in his hand a sharp Sickle, and that is the Son of man Christ Jesus in his pure and unspoted humanity, shall come to reap and to cut down all the wicked persecutors of his servants, and prophaners of his service. And this also seems most manifest unto me, To think the Autichrist to be one single person, is the ground of many errors. because the Holy Ghost saith that in the great battle betwixt the beast and the Lamb, (which you must not literally understand, for any pitched Field betwixt Christ and the Antichrist, or betwixt the Soldiers of Christ and the followers of Antichrist, which is the error of them that understand the Antichrist to be but one single person, and is the ground and foundation of many other errors, but we must spiritually take it for that continual opposition, that the beast maketh to the honour of Christ, and to the service that the true Saints do render unto him, which is the warfare of the christians,) the beast and the false prophet are said to be taken alive, Rev. 19.20. and not killed, but cast alive into the lake of fire burning with brimstone; for so the Scripture saith, that all the wicked which remain upon earth, when Christ cometh to judgement shall be taken alive, and shall be cast alive into that burning lake. And I do likewise conceive this to be fully confirmed by the words of our Saviour Christ, when he saith, this generation shall not pass, Mat. 24.34. till all these things be fulfilled; for by this generation, we must not understand all the people that were then alive; because all those things, that our Saviour spoke of were not fulfilled within the age of the longest liver of all them, that were then alive, when Christ spoke this; as specially the preaching of the Gospel to all Nations ver. 14. and the sign of the Son of man in Heaven, ver. 30. and the mourning of all the Tribes of the earth, and the like, that came not all yet to pass; but, by this generation, we must understand, This generation shall not pass, what it signifieth. either the generation of God's Children and Christians, that then began to believe in Ghrist; or the generation of vipers the successive brood of Christ's enemies, and the members of the Antichrist, that then began likewise to spring, (as the Apostle showeth of the mystery of this iniquiy) should not pass away, and be destroyed, 2 Thes. 2.7.1. and quite hindered to profane his service and to persecute his servants, but should be suffered to be as the tares among the wheat, until they see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven, with power and great glory; v. 30. for it is well known, that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifieth not only atas, or seculum, an age, but also Gens, Natio, Progenies, a Nation, or Progeny, as where our Saviour saith, Matth, 23.36. Verily, I say unto you, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉; all these things shall come upon this generation, that is, the nation of the Jews; and again, the Son of man must be first rejected, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, à Gente ista, saith Beza, of this Nation. And therefore Saint chrysostom applies these words of Christ, This generation shall not pass away, Genti Christianae, to the generation of Christians, which he calleth; 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, the generation of them that seek the Lord; and I apply it here both to the generation of the ungodly, reprobates, and wicked persecutors; and also to the generation of them that seek the Lord, and refuse to serve the beast; because both of them shall continue, and neither of them shall pass away; the members of the Antichrist, and the false Prophet shall not be quite destroyed; nor the members of Christ rooted out by the Antichrist, do what he can; until all these things that Christ speaks of, be fulfilled, and Christ come to judgement, to defend the one sort, and to destroy the other. And this, I believe, if there were nothing else, doth sufficiently confute the charitable, yet groundless fancy of all those that dream of a general and glorious restauration of the twelve tribes of Israel, and a reformation of the Gentile Churches, after the destruction and quite abolition of the Antichrist, before the coming of Christ to judgement: for, if it be a general received opinion, that the Jews general conversion to the Gospel, shall not be until the Antichrist be quite destroyed, E. H. De Antiocho. c. 12. pag. 130. as E. H. confesseth; and the Antichrist shall not be quite destroyed till the day of judgement, when both he and the false Prophet shall be cast alive into the burning lake; then is it manifest, that the discourse and expectation of their general conversion, and especially, their replantation in Palestina, is but like a sick man's dream, that seems to enjoy many glorious things; but when he awakes, he find just nothing. But this that I have proved, videlicet, that the beast, which is the Antichrist, must not be taken for one single person, as the Papists, and some of our Protestants do conceive, The limbs of the beast remaining undestroyed, may teach the servants of Christ three things. nor for the Pope or succession of Popes, nor Turk, nor the seventh head of the Roman Empire, nor for any other Tyrant, in any polity; but for a pack, or knot, and confederacy of most wicked Covenanters, hypocrites, and prophaners of God's service, and persecutors of the true servants of Christ; and that this knot and collected multitude and assembly, in their progeny, and successive offspring in wickedness, and impiety, shall not be quite rooted out and destroyed, till Christ shall come to the last judgement, may teach the servants of Christ these three specaill Lessons. Lesson. 1 1. Not to look for a glorious world, and Haltion days of pleasure and prosperity, while they live among such Antichristian Canaanites in this vale of misery, under the frozen zone of hatred, malice, and all uncharitableness; especially considering that the Antichrist, though dissolved, and scattered, like an Army that is routed, yet shall not be quite extinguished, but shall still live to recruit and continue in most of his chief members, still to rage, afflict, and persecute the Saints of God. Lesson. 2 2. To prepare themselves for afflications, and to pray to God for patience that they may through many tribulations, arrive at last to a happy Port, and attain unto the Kingdom of heaven. Lesson. 3 3. To fear that yet the times may grow worse and worse, and troubles arise more and more; because that Satan being let lose, and the hypocritical members of the beast, mad with fury, that they should be dismembered, and the lose lives of the worldlings, wholly neglecting God's service, as the Antichristian crew does abuse and profane his service, they shall provoke the wrath of God against his people more and more, and move him at last to send his seven Angels spoken of in this book, that have the seven last plagues, in seven golden vials, that are full of the wrath of God, to pour out the same upon the earth. For as God, when he began to plague Pharaoh, and saw that nothing would prevail to work repentance in him, and to mollify his heart to let Israel go to serve the Lord, never left to send trouble upon trouble, God will not be our enemy by our wickedness. and to add plague upon plague, until he had utterly destroyed him; so will he do with the beast, and the false Prophet, that is the Antichrist, and all their adherents; when as neither their dismembering, and scattering of them, nor any other scourge, nor plague, nor token of his wrath falling upon many of them, can work repentance in the remainder, and cause them to return from their evil ways, and permit the witnesses of Christ to arise, and the true servants of God, to worship him in the right way; then will he arise as a Giant out of sleep, he will whet his glittering sword, and his hand shall take hold of vengeance, Giant. and he will raise up his witnesses in despite of the beast that hath killed them; and he will little them in their thrones, maugre all the malice of the Antichrist, and all the strength of his adherents; and, as the Holy Ghost saith, their enemies shall behold them, and shall not be able to hinder them: but a great, and a terrible fear, shall fall upon them; because now they shall begin to find, that the Almighty God will not suffer himself to be overcome by wretched man, nor forget the deep sighing of his Saints, and suffer the patiented abiding of the meek to perish for ever; but seeing they have despised his patience, and his long suff●●●●● 〈◊〉, and abused his lenity and his great goodness, he will send those sev●●●●gels with these seven vials of his wrath, that our Evangelist spoke of, and they will pour them out, one after another, upon the remaining members of the beast, and the false Prophet and their adherents, that oppose him and his witnesses, and do abuse his name, and his service, until they be all emptied. And when all those plagues shall be poured out, The method how the seven plagues shall be poured out. The first upon the formal professors. The second upon the great Cities. The third upon the Villages. The fourth upon the fruits of the earth. in that method which the Evangelist setteth down; that is, The first upon the earth, which signifieth the worldly men, and the carnal and the formal professors of his service. The second upon the seu, which signifieth the great Cities, where the most multitudes of people are, that are compared unto the sea. The third upon the rivers and fountains of waters, which betokeneth the country towns and villages, that have but few inhabitants within them. The fourth upon the Sun, to scorch and burn both men and beasts, and to dry up the fruits of the earth, thereby to bring sicknesses and famine amongst men. The fifth upon the seat of the beast, The fift upon the rule of the beast. which may signify either the city or kingdom, where the beast and false Prophet did arise, and were upheld; or upon the rule and government, the strength and domineering power, that the remaining scattered members of the Antichrist, shall exercise over those people, that they tyrannize upon, and keep under them; because a Seat signifieth the place whereupon we rest, and the power that upholdeth us in that place. The fixth upon the river Euphrates, which is to be understood not literally, no more than the other places aforenamed, but in the similitude for which the Holy Ghost applieth it; and that is, as the great river Euphrates was like a wall of brass, to the City of Babylon, to preserve it from all invasion, so will the Army of the beast, the wealth and great riches of the Antichrist, that he hath heaped together, and the wit and subtlety of the false Prophet, be as an impregnable fortress to protect them in all their impiety, tyranny and oppression, but, as Cyrus divided the mighty river Gyndes, that fed Euphrates, into 360. brooks, Hgrodotus l. 1. Clio. and then turned aside Euphrates out of her own channel, into that huge pool, which was formerly made by Queen Nitocris, and so took away the strength and confidence of the City, and having thus made way for his soldiers, he entered and took that great and famous City of Babylon, through the Channel of this mighty river; so will Christ by the ministry of the first Angel, divide all the strength, and take away all the confidence of the remnant of the beast, and will dry up, or waste all the wealth of his adherents, and befool the wit and devices of the false Prophet, and so remove all the impediments, that were like the river Euphrates, the hinderers of his servants to overthrew the kingome of the Antichrist, and to take away his Rule, and Dominion, and to suppress his tyranny over God's servants. And when all this will not avail, to cause this shaked beast, and disjointed, routed army of the Antichrist, to return from his unjust ways and most wicked courses; but that three unclean spirits, like frogs, shall come out of the mouth of the Dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false Prophet, which are the spirits of devils, working ●●●●cles, and going forth to the Kings of the earth, and of the whole world, 〈…〉 them to the battle of the great day of God Almighty, that is, a great many lying and deceitful spirits, What is meant by the war and battle, that the beast maketh with God. and false prophets, (because the number of three, as of seven hath very often none other importance than a great many) shall be still sent forth to every place, to oppose the true service of God, to lay his honour in the dust, and to suppress and trample his servants under feet, which is all the war, that the beast and all his horns, and all other beasts in the world can make against God Almighty; then saith Christ; Behold I come as a thief, that is suddenly and unexpected; and he will send the seventh Angel, with the last vial of God's wrath, and the seventh Angel will pour out his Vial into the River, and a great voice, shall come out of the Temple of heaven, Revel. 5.14. 2 Pet. 3.10. Esay 14.4. and from the Throne, saying, it is done; that is, the Preachers of Christ shall by the light of the truth, tell the people, that will not repent; the time is at hand, that Christ shall come to judgement; and that the heavens shall departed as a scroll, and the Elements shall melt, with servant heat, and there shall be an end of all things. Then the Son of a man, Jesus Christ, ere it be long, though how long, or how soon, no mortal man can tell, shall come in the glory of his Father with his Angels, to take the hest, that shall be then alive, and the false Prophet, and all his adherents, and all those that past away before, to make a final, and a total end of them, and to throw them, into the Lake of sire and brimstone, and to render unto every man, according to his deeds; to them, that by patiented conth●uance in well doing, seek for glory and honour, and immortality eternal life, but unto them that are contentions, rebellious; murderers, oppressors, idolaters, liars, and all such transgressors of God's Laws, that obey not the truth, but take pleasure in unrighteousness, indignation and wrath, tribulation and anguish, and eternal destruction to every man that doth evil. And this is the end of the Antichrist, Amen. Jamque opus est exegi— Et plena jam Margine libri, Scriptus & in tergo, nec dum finitus Orestes. But I look that some Altar & after Ecebolius, Some bold, blind, and ignorant Presbyterian Zoilus, like an Orlando furioso, will run at me, as Don Quixot ran against the Windmill, and like an angry Wasp, sting both me and my book, animamque in vulnere ponet; yet as gold is gold, though the Chemic say it is copper; and copper is but copper, though the deceitful Mountebank say it is gold; so the truth of my writings will be found true, when their lies and raylings like another Rabsheka, will appear of what stuff they are unto the world; & si tantus amor, if they have such love and longing desire of a railing digladiation, as one of them did against my Book, The Grand Rebellion, Mr. John Goodwin. they may chance to find their mate, that may fit undertake them, than it is for a man of my place and calling, & as leni fluit agmine tibris, so will I gently and charitably pray that God would give them more grace, to have less malice. Trini uni deo sit omnis laus, honour, et gloria, in secula seculorum. Amen, Amen. Jehovae Liberatori. FINIS.