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A67263 A discoverie of the beasts being an exposition of the XIII chapter of the Revelation of Jesus Christ : wherein all true Christians (yet in Babylon) are admonished to come out, and the anti-Christians fore-told what their plagues will be / by I.W. I. W. 1641 (1641) Wing W41; ESTC R6846 38,588 101

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society and refuseth none but the godly therefore fitly was he thus prefigured Secondly by the quallity and disposition of the Leopard was signified that this Generation should be subtile and crafty in getting their prey They boast themselves to be the Church and Spouse of Christ but if it be so whence then had they that infinite store and abundance of worldly wealth and riches wherewith they exceed in deliciousnesse of living This was not the condition of Christ and his Disciples the Lord himselfe had not whereon to lay his head but in that respect was more destitute then Foxes which have holes and then Birds which have nests his Disciples wanted gold and silver and had no certaine dwelling place whence therefore had this Generation their Lands Livings and Lordships Their Castles Mannors Houses and Princely Palaces It will be said of the donation and gift of Emperours Kings and other great States and of the charitable devotion of all sorte of people But how were people brought to be so full handed to this generation To bring this about much slight craft and nimblenesse of with was used first people were made to believe that what they gave to the Church was to the maintenance of the Ministery of the Gospell and for the comfort and reliefe of the poore and therefore should be a sacrifice so well pleasing to God and meritorious as that it should receive great reward at his hands herewith the mindes of religious and devout people was so much moved that they thought nothing too much to give to the Church by means whereof Churches began to grow rich Secondly people were made to believe that the worshiping of Images and Relicks of Saints and building of Churches Chappels Oratories c. and endowing them with Lands Tenements Parsonage and Vicarage houses c. was an effectuall way to have favour with the Saints and to procure their praiers and intercession for them By these and such like means this wylie and crafty generation deluded the people and made themselves rich and robbed Christ of his honour who onely is our Advocate to God And furthermore they gathered in heaps of wealth by Masses Pilgrimages Pursse-penance Offerings and such like Merchandises wherein their subtilty and craft was prefigured by a Leopard a Beast subtile by nature whose property is to lie in waite for her prey and slilie to catch it as the Cat doth the Mous● and in that respect doth well resemble the Antichristian Clergie that subtill generation But further it is added that the feete of this Beast were as the feete of a Beare The Leopard is more nimble to catch then the Beare but the Beare is more strong and eager to hold fast that which he hath seased vpon then is the Leopard both these properties this generation hath nimble to catch and greedy to hold they catch by slight But hold by force and therefore in catching resemble the Leopard but in fast holding the feete of a Beare To this it is added that the mouth of this Beast was as the mouth of a Lion And by this another propertie of the Antichristian Clergie was foreshewed for as the Lion when he hath taken his prey roareth vpon it at whose roaring the Beasts tremble So this generation being thus exalted and made rich and have gotten their prey they terrifie the small Beasts of the Forrests roaring with curses and excommunications against be he Prince or Pesant that shall presume to part stakes with them or meddle with their prey or diminish their portion but an Egge or an Onion That these be the properties of this Generation needs no proof it is manifest by daily experience Here therefore we may learne what to esteem and judge of the Antichristian Cleargie together with those Multitudes People Nations and Tongues out of which they have sprung and over which they are set and supported namely that they are a monstrous and beastly Generation excelling in craft covetousnesse pride cruelty and all iniquity and therefore not to be esteemed as they boast themselves to be a holy Catholike Church and Spouse of Christ which cannot erre c. And by this we may see how lamentably the Nations have been deluded and led into errour and ungodlinesse by their guides and leaders Now it followeth that unto this Monster the Dragon gave his power and his Throne and great authority Here is declared of whom the Prelates and Clergie have received their spirituall Lordships power authority and jurisdiction to devise and make spirituall Laws and Canons to erect spirituall Courts and create Officers to beare rule and exercise dominion over the Nations even from the Divell they have not any lawfull authority from God but an usurped authority from the Divell whose instruments they are to advance his kingdom and to persecute the Saints which obey God rather then men And here we may observe that they are rightly called spirtuall Lords because originally they proceed from that prince that ruleth in the aire the spirit that worketh in the children of unbeliefe but withall in stead of spirituall Lords Laws Courts and Officers call them spirituall wickednesses and so we give them their right titles and being such if we will fight the good fight of faith we must by witnessing what they be wrastle against them and not submit unto them but stand fast in that liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free and not be intangled with any yoke of bondage and that we may wrastle and prevaile we must take unto us the whole Armour of God Ephes 6. Further Iohn saith that he saw one of the heads of the Beast as it were wounded to death and his deadly wound was healed and all the world wondred after the Beast By this Head which was as it were wounded to death was signified the reviving of Priesthood the mysterie whereof in few words is this The workers of iniquity in this Antichristian kingdom having ordained this order of ministery called Priesthood whether it were in imitation of the Iews or Heathen it is doubtfull but certain it is that because it wanted externall sacrifices it came short both of the Iewish Priesthood and also of the Heathen so that it was a lame and wounded Priesthood and was not respected In time it came to passe that they found out a sacrifice as is to bee seene in their Masse-book which was the transubstantiating of Bread into Wine into the very Body and Blood of Christ really and substantially as they use to speak and teach and being so transubstantiated to offer it up unto God a sacrifice propitiatory both for quick and dead Thus the wounded head of Priesthood was cured and revived and so became the worlds wonder as now it followeth to be declared according as Iohn here witnesseth And all the world wondred after the Beast That is the people of the Nations having this Priesthood set over them and commended unto them to be of such power and dignity as that they could make them
A DISCOVERIE OF THE BEASTS Being AN EXPOSITION OF THE XIII Chapter of the Revelation of JESUS CHRIST Wherein All true Christians yet in Babylon are admonished to come out And the Anti-christians fore-told what their plagues will be By I. W. Revel 16. 15. Behold I come as a thiefe blessed is he that watcheth and keepeth his garments lest he walke naked and they see his shame Printed in the year M. DC XLI CHRISTIAN READER AMong the many excellent helps which the Lord at this present time hath given unto his Elect for to discover the Mystery of Iniquity and to direct them in the way which Ieadeth to eternall life this little Treatise is a choice and chiefe one Thou art therefore desired to peruse the same with an understanding and impartiall heart and so doing I doubt not through Gods blessing on they labor but thou shalt reap much comfort and good thereby I have set it forth for the publike good and do desire the Father of our Lord Iesus Christ that it may prove so every where even a means to raze down the false Churches and to help forward the buildlng up of Gods House And so prayes he who is thine if thou be Christs I C. AN INTERPRETATION OF THE XIII CHAPTER OF THE REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST THe Eternall whose power is over all from the beginning hath put enmitie between the Serpent and the Woman Gent. 3 15. and between the seed of the Woman and the seed of the Serpent whereupon it hath come to passe in all ages that the seed of the woman hath laboured to break the Serpents head that is to destroy his works tread him under foot and triumph in victory over him He on the contrarie hath laboured as earnestly to resist God to deceive the Nations and to bring all into condemnation and destruction with with himself And amongst the manifold waies and means which Satan hath devised and practised to manifest his malice against God and his Saints none hath been more dangerous nor more availeable to further iniquity and cause destruction then the Antichristian generation which under the title of the Church and Spouse of Christ and Ministers of the Gospell have corrupted the earth and brought the Nations into miserable bondage and slaverie In this 13 Chapter is declared the state policy and proceeding of the Antichristian Dominion and Kingdom as the same was signified and foreshewed to Iohn the servant of Jesus Christ in a threefold forme First by a Beast rising up out of the Sea having 7 heads and 10 hors ver 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10. Secondly by a Beast comming up out of the earth having two ho●●es like the Lamb but spake like the Dragon vers 11 12 13 14 Thirdly by an image of the first beast which the second beast caused them that dwelt on the earth to make as in vers 14 15 16 17 18. As the Dominion of the Medes Persians and Grecians which persecuted and destroyed the holy people of God the Iews were signified and foreshewed to Daniel in a vision under the formes of severall beasts according to the qualities of those Dominions so here the Antichristian dominion which persecuted the Churches and people of Christ was foreshewed to Iohn under the formes of such Beasts as are here described whereby we may learne that as reason and judgement is not to be expected in a beast so equitie and right is not to be expected in this dominion but the contrarie Concerning the first of these beasts John sayth That as I stood upon the sea sand I saw a beast rise up out of the sea hauing seven heads and 10 hornes and upon his hornes 10. Crownes and upon his heads the names of blasphemy And the beast which I saw was like unto a Leopard and his feet as the feet of a Beare and his mouth as the mouth of a Lion and the dragon gaue him his power and his seat and great authoritie That by this first beast was signified and represented some state of people and body politique I presume no reasonable man exercised in the Scriptures will deny because as it hath been sayd it is there to be seene that such states and dominions as God hath used as rods and scourges to chastise and correct his Church and people withall have been represented by beasts States and dominions they are of two sorts either Ecclesiastical or Civil but of which sort the State here meant is there hath been and is great opposition Many understand it to be the Romane Empire to which I cannot consent because the Romane Empire is ordeyned of God and is therefore a lawfull Dominion But the Dominion here represented is sayd to be from the dragon that old serpent the Deuill who is sayd to giue his power and his throne and great authoritie unto it and therefore unlawfull neither can I conceave it to be any other ciuil dominion for the same reason But to be short I vnderstand it to be an Ecclesiasticall State or Dominion and in perticular that Dominion which is called the Catholike Church representatiue consisting of the Prelacy and Preisthood of many Nations as Patriarches Cardinalls Archbishops Bishops with divers other elected persons who being called and gathered into Counsells or Synods usually called generall Counsells did usurpe and take on them the office of Iesus Christ in making lawes and Canons erecting Courts instituting offices and officers in matters of Religion as for the government of the Church and for the worship of God to be of all men observed and obeyed These generall Counsels or as the Catholicks call it the Catholicke Church representatiue haue challenged and exercised spirituall authoritie and dominion According to the text ouer all kindreds tongus and nations By their laws and canons they guided and governed them as one uniuersall or Catholicke Church made them also to observe their decrees and commaundements for doctrine this thay haue done both before and also since the Pope was exalted to his dignitie as all histories of the Church do testify So that it hath been and is a great question among the Catholicks whither the authoritie of the Pope or the Catholick Church in cases of Religion be the greater And whereas it is said in the 12. verse that the second beast exercised all the power of the first Beast before him thereby is confirmed the trueth of this exposition For the second Beast being the Pope as hereafter is shewed hath exercised the whole power of the Catholick Church or generall counsels and not of any other state or Dominion Further that this is the first beast here presented that which followeth through Gods helpe shall make manifest and apparant But before I doe proceed I desire the reader to observe that I do not condemne all vse of counsells and Synods but doe hold that divers churches may lawfully be assembled together to consult and advise of matters concerning Religion and the worship of God for their