the beginning of it Thus 't is said 1 Sam. 23. 18. that David and Ionathan made a Covenant that is they renewed it for they had made it before So St. Iohn tells us in his first Epist chap 5. v. 13. that he wrote to those who believed that they might believe i. e. that they might increase in Faith. So that that which the Spirit of God would plainly say is that the wrath of the Dragon became inflamed and that he went to make a more dangerous war than he had made before But who are this Remnant of the Seed of the Woman which keep the Commandments of God and have the Testimony of Christ Is there any difference betwixt them and the Church Is not the Church made up of such as keep the Commandments of God and have the Testimony of Jesus Christ There is the same difference between the Woman and those who are her Seed as there is betwixt a Mother and a Daughter The Oriental or Greek Church that had been distressed for about 200 years by the Heresie of Arius is the Mother and the Western or Latine Church is the Daughter and the Remnant of the Seed of the Woman The Bishop of Bitonto used this Distinction in a Sermon which he made before the Council of Trent The Greek Church saith he is our Mother to whom the Latin is indebted for all that She hath And in truth the Terms Church Bishop Priest Deacon Baptism Eucharist and Christian it self are all Greek Terms and plainly shew that our Religion is derived from them from whom we have borrowed the Terms They then who are said to be the Seed of the Woman against whom the Serpent went to make War is the Latine or Western Church where the Dragon all along since that time hath been labouring to accompish the Mystery of Iniquity which was at work in St. Pauls days 2 Thes 2. 7. And this is nothing else save Antichristianism or the Papacy But since the time that a Church of God Separated it self from that which had received the Mystery of iniquity the Church that so withdrew is the remnant of the Seed of the Woman And particularly the Waldenses are this Seed and whose Separation is acknowledged both by Historians and Inquisitors of the Church of Rome who speak of the Waldenses as of Christians who have been Separated from the Roman Church from the time of Sylvester and of Constantine the great Claudius Sesselius Arch-Bishop of Turin tells us in a Book which he writ against the Waldenses that the Sect of the Waldenses took its rise from a most religious person called Leo that lived in the time of Constantine the great and who detesting the covetousness of Pope Sylvester and the immoderate bounty of Constantine chose rather to embrace poverty with the simplicity of the Christian Faith than with Sylvester to be defiled with a Fat and rich benefice and that all they who were seriously Religious joined themselves to him The famous Inquisitor Reynerus Sacco as he is quoted by the Jesuite Cretzer in his Bibliotheck of the Fathers speaks much to the same purpose Amongst all the sects sayth he that either are or have hitherto been there is none that hath been so pernicious to the Church of Rome as that of the Leonists and that for three Reasons 1 Because it is she most ancient and hath continued longest For some affirm that it begun in the time of Sylvester and others in the time of the Apostles 2 Because it hath spread it self farthest there being no place where it is not to be found 3 Because they who are of it have a great shew of piety live vertuously before men believe rightly of the Deity and observe all the Articles of the Creed The Frier Belvedoras in his Relation al consilio de propaganda fide de Extir pandis Hereticis printed at Turin anno 1636. pag. 37 being excusing himself and those Missionaries that were his companions why they could not convert so much as one of the Waldenses do's assign this reason for it namely that that Heresie is too firmly rooted there for any to be able to do good among them in that say's he le Valli d'Angrogna sempre ad in omni tempo hanno havuto Heretici i. e. they of the Valleys of Angrogna have been alway's and through all times accounted Hereticks So that this Woman is exactly the Church of the Valdenses which as Claudius Seysellius tells us did in the person of the forementioned Leo separate from the Church of Rome in the time of Pope Sylvester and of the Emperor Constantine There being two Wings of an Eagle given unto her to assist her in her flight into the Valleys of Piedmont which lye at the foot of the Alp's And from thence they were stiled Valdenses long before the time of Peter Valdo as John Leger hath sufficiently proved in his History These then are the Remnant of the Seed of the Woman who as in France they have been stiled Vaudois from the word Vaux that signifies a Valley so in the Low Countries they have been called Valons which is to say those of the Valleys XIV ILLUSTRATION Of Babylon the great the Mother of Harlots that Sitteth upon many Waters carrying upon her fore-head the name Mystery and having a Golden Cup in her hand REV. CHAP. 17. v. 1 4 5. HAving proved in our Fourth Illustration that Babylon can be nothing else but Rome as professing her self Christian we are now to consider the Description which the Holy Spirit hath given of Babylon and to see how that Picture of her doth agree to Rome There is such an affinity and so many exact Resemblances between Rome and Babylon of the Chaldees that we are not to think it strang that the Holy Spirit hath given unto Rome the name of Babylon They were both founded by persons that were Captains over Robbers and who were great Shedders of blood Babylon by Nimrod who is said to have been a mighty hunter before the Lord Gen. 10. 9. And Rome by Romulus who as another Cain murthered his Brother They were both of them the Seats of great Empires The one as well as the other have had Monarchs who have stiled themselves Kings of Kings For this Title the Pope doth no less claim than Nebuchadnezzar did Both the one and the other have been the Subject of the Visions in the Prophet Daniel As the Babylonish Empire was the first Beast and the Head of the Image so the Roman was the Fourth Beast and the Feet of the Image that were part of Clay and part Iron The one as well as the other hath kept the people of God in Bondage Babylon the Israelites and Rome the Christians The one and t' other have Killed and burnt such as would not worship their Gods. The one as well as the other have been overthrown and after their subversion have past from one Religion to another Babylon being become Mahometan and Rome Popish
most eminent So that this Bishop is without doubt he of Rome who from the very beginning was lookt upon as above others by reason of the City which was the Seat of the Empire and consequently the Lady and Mistriss of all other Cities This was the ground of the precedency granted to that Bishop as appears both by the Council of Calcedon and by the second Council of Constantinople Among the Bishops of Rome Gregory the first is particularly here represented by this great Star. And that not only because he was stiled great but because he truly fell from Heaven through abandoning the care of heavenly things to pursue and cleave to those of the Earth This we may the rather believe because he gives this account of himself in the fifth Epistle of his first Book writing to Theotista the Emperors Sister Under the Colour says he of a Bishoprick I am sunk into the world and am become more enslaved to the cares of the Earth than ever I was when but a Laick person Since I was outwardly advanced I am inwardly fallen And I bewaile my own state as being thus driven from the presence of my Creator He writ the same to Anastasius Bishop of Antioch namely that he was so depressed by the load of multiplicity of affairs that he could not raise his mind to heavenly things The fall of this Gregory the Great does yet more appear in that it was he who changed the Service of the Church into that which from his name is called to this day the Gregorian 'T was he likewise who most blasphemously equalled the four first Councils to the four Gospels and who in his four Books of Dialogues brought the belief of Purgatory into the Church But we are to take care that we do not restrain our selves only to one Bishop This great Star is to be taken as representing collectively all the Bishops of Rome since they first begun to depart from the Truth and from Christian Humility And indeed before Gregory the Great Mark who was elected Pope anno 335. did so highly exalt the Rights of the Sea of Rome that he had the confidence to write to the Bishops of Egypt in these prophane words that follow The Roman Church hath forever been without a Spot and through the Grace of God and the protection of St. Peter forever shall be so For says he the Lord spake thus to the Prince of the Apostles Peter I have prayed for thee that thy Faith do not fail Julius I. took upon him by his own meer Authority to re-establish several Oriental Bishops that had been justly deposed Liberius by subscribing to the condemnation of St. Athanasius subscribed to Arianism which drew upon him the curses of St. Hilary After the death of Liberius Damasius and Ursicinus caused such an effusion of blood by their struglings for the Roman Chair that Ammianus Marcellinus a Heathen Author reports that in the Temple where the Election of Damasus was held there were 137. slain at one time The greatest persons among the Heathen coveted the grandure of the Popes so that the Pagan Pretextatus being designed Consul offered to Damasus to turn Christian upon condition that he might be made Pope Siricius who succeeded to Damasus forbid Ecclesiastical Persons to marry shamefully perverting to that purpose the words of St. Paul Rom. 8. 8. they who are in the flesh connot please God. After Gregory I. Boniface III. assumed the Title of Universal Bishop Boniface IV who succeeded to him consecrated the Pantheon to the blessed Virgin and to all the Saints having been before a Temple dedicated to Cybele and to all the Heathen Gods. And the Monastick life became so highly valued and advanced under all these Popes that they taught it to be the true Evangelick way of living and the most sure means of salvation These Doctrines together with others added by the Bishops of Rome and which they either themselves invented or else authorised and decreed made them to be this Wormwood that hath corrupted the saving Doctrine and which hath rendred all the Waters of Grace and the Fountains of Salvation bitter XIII ILLUSTRATION Of the fourth Trumpet The third part of the Sun and of the Moon and of the Stars smitten REV. CHAP. VIII V. 12. And the fourth Angel sounded and the third part of the Sun was smitten and the third part of the Moon and the third part of the Stars so as the third part of them was darkned and the day shone not for a third part of it and the night likewise THE wo denounced by this fourth Trumpet hath two Characters The one is Error and Superstition in that the Fountains of light are so strangely changed The other is Violence and Force because these Sources of light are smitten For the Term of Smiting is often used in the Scripture to signify killing and destroying As in Deut. chap. 4. v. 46. Ios chap. 8. v. 22. 1 Kings chap. 15. v. 29. and elsewhere These two characters do perfectly agree to the Religion of the Mahometans The Error in it is most palpable in that it denieth both Christs Divinity and the merit of his death and in that it promiseth such a felicity in the life to come as can be pleasing to none save unto Souls sunk into sensuality And its Violence is so well known that all who have heard of Mahomet do know that that Impostor boasted the being sent by God with a Sword to force the belief of his Religion And the event was according for within the space of 40. years after Mahomets death his four Successors Ebubeker Oâ—hmar Osman and Haly whom they stile Gods four sharp Swords planted that abominable Religion by force of Arms in Syria Palestine Egypt Mesopotamia Persia Africk Barbary and Numidia It was in the year 622. that Mahomet published his damnable Errors which is another character whereby to adjust it with the Wo or this fourth Trumpet For the Bishop of Rome was already fallen under the third These are the two Enemies of the Christian Religion the one a hidden Enemy and the other an avowed The one established himself as a Fox the other as a Lion. The one assaulted Religion in the West the other in the East The Bishop of Rome begun to fall away in the fourth Age Mahomet appeared in the seventh His abominable Religion followed the fall of the Roman Bishop as the Wo of the fourth Trumpet followeth the Wo of the third XIV ILLUSTRATION Of the fifth Trumpet The Key of the bottomless Pit given to the Star that fell from Heaven REV. CHAP. IX V. 1. And the fifth Angel sounded and I saw a Star fall from Heaven unto the Earth and to him was given the Key of the bottomless Pit. V. 2. And he opened the bottomless Pit and there arose a Smoke out of the Pit as the smoke of a great Furnace and the Sun and the Air were darkned by reason of the smoke of the Pit. WE have seen the Fall
hast to put it into practice which succeeded to them according to their desires Calcondyla reports that Mahomet II. being besieging Constantinople caused Canon to be cast of so extraordinary a bigness that there needed seventy couple of Oxen and two thousand men to draw one of them 7. The Third part of men killed intimateth the Progress and Spreading both of the Turkish Empire and of their Religion which reunited all their different principalities in the person of Tangrolipix To him succeeded Asan in the year 1059. just about the time that Pope Gregory VII raised the Papacy to the highest top of grandure And it was this Asan that rendred himself Master of all the Countries from the City of Laodicea in Syria even to the Hellespont of Antiochia of Cappadocia of Bithynia of Lycia of Pesidia of Lycaonia of Paphlagonia of Galatia of both the Celicia's of Pontus and of Anatolia And from that time the Sultans have alway's advanced their conquests and have destroyed the Roman Empire in the East having made Constantinople which was formerly the Imperial Seat of it to be that of the Turkish and Mahometan Empire 8. It was upon the Christians that the Turks made all their Conquests and of this the Holy Spirit gives such a reason as might serve to open the eyes of the Papists because it convinceth them of being guilty of Idolatry This accusation the Papists do account the most sensible injury that can be done them but it is a condemnation that they must bear For saith the Holy Spirit The rest of the men that were not killed by these plagues repented not of the works of their hands that they should not worship Devils and Idols of Gold and Silver and Brass and Stone and of Wood which neither can see nor hear nor walk At whose cost was it that the Mahometans erected their Empire Against whom were they the Scourges of God for the punishment of their Idolatry It was not against the Heathens for there were none such within the whole extent of the Eastern Roman Empire It was at the expence of Christians that the Turks extended both their Empire and their Religion And therefore seeing the Holy Ghost declareth that the punishing the Idolatry of Christians was the reason of loosing of the four Angels in the River Euphrates to commit so many Murders it is from thence evident that the Christians who were subdued were Idolaters and also apparent wherein their Idolatry consisted Namely in this that they worshipped Devils and Idols of Gold of Silver of Brass of Stone and of Wood. Nor can it be denied but that the Roman Church is guilty of the same crime If it shall be said that the Roman Church doth not worship Devils as those mentioned in the Text are said to have done I answer first that the word in the Original is Demons which signifieth properly inferior and lower Gods Gods who are Mediators between men and the Supream God which is a Title liberally given to the Saints in the Church of Rome And in which sense the Word used in this place ought necessarily to be expounded seeing there were never any Christians that made profession of worshipping Devils neither could the very Heathens be said to do that forasmuch as Devils were wholly unknown among Pagans I answer secondly that all Religious worship given to a Creature is judged by the Scripture to be rendred to Devils This appeareth fully Ps 106. v. 37. where it is said that they sacrificed their Sons and Daughters unto Devils The Roman Church does believe that She worshippeth God in worshipping Images of Gold of Silver of Brass of Stone and of Wood but the Prophets do instruct us by the example of the Israelites that this Worship is given to Devils They sottishly flatter and deceive themselves in distinguishing betwixt an Idol and an Image foraâ— much as the Greek Term Idol signifieth the same that the word Image doth in our vulgar languages Moreover they who were killed by the Turks worshipped not Devils They only did as the Roman Church doth towards her Images of Gold and Silver c. Yea She doth worse than those Oriental Idolatrous Christians did For she worshippeth as God the Sacrament which must therefore necessarily be a Creature because it is a Sacrament and which cannot be Jesus Christ because it is Instituted by him For that which is Instituted must necessarily be something different from him that Ordains it XVII ILLUSTRATION Of the Angel with the Book Open. REV. CHAP. 10. V. 1. And I saw another mighty Angel come down from Heaven clothed with a Clowd and a Rain-bow was upon his Head and his Face was as it were the Sun and his Feet as Pillars of Fire V. 2. And he had in his hand a Little Book Open and he set his right foot upon the Sea and his left foot on the Earth THe Rain-bow which appeared upon the Angels Head doth place Him out of the rank of created Angels and gives us to understand that this is the Angel of the Covenant the Angel who is the Creator of whom there is mention at the opening of the Seventh Seal namely Iesus Christ And whereas it is added that his Face was as the Sun and his Feet as Pillars of Brass that is a demonstration that he is the same with him who revealed himself to St. Iohn in the first Chap. to wit the Son of God. He appeareth having in his hand a Book open Which Book is not that of the Apocalypse but that of the Holy Scripture in general For the Six Trompets having represented the spoil which popery had done in the Western Church and Mahometanism in the Eastern this Vision doth foretell how this ravage shall be repaired by the preaching of the Gospel For this is an open Book to all such as do in sincerity seek to be instructed in what it revealeth and who seek for nothing besides what is there If our Gospel be hid saith St. Paul it is hid to them that are lost whom the God of this world hath blinded 2 Cor. 4. 3 4. Mahometanism and Popery have shut this Book by exacting a blind Obedience by forbidding the examination of their Doctrine and by interdicting people from reading of the word of God. But the time will come that this divine Book shall be opened and when all men shall be allowed to read it in order to the Reforming those abuses which through the impudence of Mahometanism in the East and the craft of the Papacy in the West have abounded in the Church XVIII ILLUSTRATION Of the Voice of the Angel that had his Right Foot upon the Sea and his left upon the Earth and of the seven Thunders REV. CHAP. 10. V. 2. And he set his right Foot upon the Sea and his left foot upon the Earth V. 3. And cried with a loud Voice as when a Lion roareth and when he had cried Seven Thunders uttered their voices V. 4. And when the Seven thunders had
A NEW SYSTEME OF THE APOCALYPSE OR Plain and Methodical ILLUSTRATIONS Of all the VISIONS in the Revelation of St. IOHN Written by a French Minister in the year 1685. and Finisht but two days before the Dragoons plunderd him of all except this Treatise To which is added This Author's Defence of his Illustrations concerning the NON-EFFUSION of the VIALS In answer to Mr. JURIEU Faithfully Englished London Printed in the Year 1688. THE TRANSLATOR To the READER AS the knowledg of things to come not visible in their Causes is the alone priviledg of God and which he so peculiarly challengeth as to distinguish himself thereby from all those Beings to whom thro the fallacy of the Devil and their own ignorance the sottish and deluded part of Mankind had ascribed a Divinity so the predicting those things before their accomplishment and the Events coming afterward to correspond with the Prophecy is an infallible evidence of the Divine Original of that Book wherein they are foretold recorded In which respect as the Scripture only can lay claim unto boast of God as its Author so upon that account as well as many other it ought to be received and submitted unto with a humility veneration and faith due unto writings that proceed from divine Inspiration But tho many other Books of the Sacred Scripture do sufficiently proclaim whose Oracles they are by this divine and infallible Signature yet there is not one all whose parts and every line do so eminently carry this heavenly character and impression upon them as the Apocalypse of St. Iohn doth For God being to shut up the Declaration which he thought fit to Vouchsafe unto mankind for the Regulation of their Faith Worship and Obedience and for encouraging them unto self-denial patience hope hath been pleased by these Prophesies not only to affix his Seal to all the other parts of the Scripture so as to acknowledg himself for the Author of them but to compensate for denying the Spirit of Prophecy any more unto men in order to their guidance and conduct of the Church he hath left us in this Divine Book an unerring account of all things that were either eminently to befall the Empires of the World or to be the lot and portion of the Church till the time of the consummation of all things And tho it be no extenuation of the neglect of those with whom our Lord Jesus Christ had intrusted with the care and instruction of Believers and to whom he had committed the Pastoral office that these Prophetical Visions were not anciently more studied and efforts made to explain and enlighten them yet the Wisdom of God display's and magnifies it self in the sloath and omission of men and his tender compassion towards his people manifests it self in th neglect of their overseers seeing had the many tragical things here predicted with which the Saints were so long to conflict and wrestle been clearly known and understood before they were hastening towards their period these blessed Oracles which administer comfort to us might have disanimated and discouraged those whose lot was cast in the first and more early times And among other evidences that the persecutions with which the Church hath been so long exercised are drawing towards an End we have this considerable proof of it that so many persons of Eminent learning and singular piety have of late applied themselves to the Explication of these Prophesies and who have not only with so much pains and industry but with so much success inquired into the sense and meaning of them In which list this Author deserveth not the last place who as he hath given us a compleat Systeme of the Revelation so he hath done it with wonderful succinctness coherence and perspicuity Nor do I know any who seemeth to have more happily guessed at the meaning of the Visions which are still to be accomplished or who enforceth his conjectures with more probable reasons and all accompanied with such a modesty as became an Inquirer into things not only future but extreamly Mysterious The presenting my countrymen with it in their own language cannot be ungrateful unto them it being the glory of the English that their piety as well as Genius have disposed them to researches of this natute of whom some have had the happiness of affording that light into these Mysteries that Forraigners are not asham'd to acknowledg the having kindled their Torches at their Lamps 'T is true there are some things wherein our Author differs from the Eminent Mr. Jurieu who hath so well merited of the Churches of Christ by his many accurate and learned writings particularly by his late Treatise of the Accomplishment of Prophesies But as their harmonising in so many and material things is much more to be admired than their differing in that particular about the Effusion of the Vials so their managing the difference with that Christian meekness with that deference to one anothers learning and worth is a singular commendation to themselves and ought to be a pattern for all others to Imitate The present posture of affairs in great Brittain as well as elsewhere render this discourse and others of the like complexion exceeding seasonable For while the Factors for Rome are endeavouring to put such a varnish upon the Papal Church as may serve to allure and delude the silly into her communion behold she is here represented in lines and colours originally drawn by the H. Spirit that are fit to excite and kindle all mens loathing and abhorrency of her And while the Popish Missionaries flatter themselves with hopes fright others with menaces of their bringing the world into slavery and bondage again to the Triple Crown lo we have not only the approaching downfal of Babylon here demonstrated unto us but an account both of the ruin of all that would support her and of the speedy and triumphant resurrection of the Witnesses that lye slain for the Testimony of Jesus and the word of his patience To whose glorious revival in other parts I do not doubt but that the stedfastness courage and victory of the Witnesses in England and Scotland over the Beast will be found not only conduceable but instrumental Which I pray God to grant Farewel THE AUTHOR'S PREFACE 'T Is reported of a great person that being reading Persius and not able to comprehend what he meant by reason of the obscurity which that Poet seems to have studiously affected he thereupon threw away the book in anger and disdain saying that it was not worth his pains to imploy himself about an Author who had writ in so dark a stile as if he had a mind not to be understood non vis intelligi debes negligi There are many and even good men who treat the Revelation of St. John much after the same manner They complain that this Divine Book is full of unintelligible Mysteries and of Ridles darker than that of Samson That is resembleth the Tabernacle into which
the cloud not only hindred men from entring but which made that they who went in could discern nothing save darkness In a word they say it is in vain to study Prophesies which it is impossible to know the meaning of unless illuminated by the same Spirit which Revealed them or without attending till we see their completion which is that alone whereby they come to be infallibly interpreted Nor ought we to wonder that a person of parts and abilities and who can spend his time about something else should decline to wast his Spirits in searching out the sense of a Book to whose composition there concurred nothing save human wit and Industry and which eontained only picquant Satyrs upon the brutal Vices of Nero and the profligacies of other depraved Monsters of that unhappy Reign and wherein the best that was to be met with were only some Moral Instructions and a little diverting Railery upon Fools and Villains But the Revelation contains in it the great Mysteries of Divine Providence the Destiny of the Roman Empire the Fate of the Kingdom of Jesus Christ and gives us not only a Description of the Romish Church which is the Mystical Babylon and the Spouse of Antichrist but Vouchsafes us a Representation of the True Church which is the Heavenly Jerusalem and the Spouse of the Son of God. All which are matters so Holy and of so great importance to the Consolation of every Believer that knows how to read that none ought to be discouraged from studying it by the darkness wherewith it is envelop'd The Holy Spirit foreseeing the dislike which the obscurity of the Apocalypse might occasion took care to Invite Christians to the reading of it by a most alluring promise registred at the beginning of this Book Blessed is he who readeth and heareth the words of this Prophecy 'T is a matter worthy to be remarked that tho' the Revelation be not the alone Book which is dark and hardly to be understood there being divers parts of the ancient Prophets incircled with no less obscurity yet this is the only portion of the Divine Writings which the Holy Spirit hath tanqa particular care to recommend unto our perusal and study Which doth unquestionably intimate two things 1 That of all Divine Revelations there are none of more Importance than those which are the subject matter of the Apocalypse 2 That whosoever shall read this Book with all due regard and application and in order thereby to be rendred holy and wise he shall not find the study of it useless and unprofitable nor miss the being in some measure and degree guided into an understanding of it For were it otherways the Holy Spirit would not have been guilty of so unaccountable a thing as to tempt and oblige our searching into it by so signal a promise Moreover the Apocalypse like the Cloudy Pillar that conducted the Israelites tho it be dark on the one side yet it is luminous on the other Where the Spirit of God hath given no Explanation of the Prophetick Schem's and where the Event hath not illustrated them there we are still upon the dark and cloudy side of it But where either the Holy Spirit hath expounded any of the Visions or where the accomplishment hath interpreted them we are there furnished with such a light that it is impossible to miss the understanding those portions of this Divine Book without a wilful shutting of our eyes and a chosen muffling of our Intellects When we are to learn crabbed and abstruse Sciences we begin with Common Notions and with principles which are the most evident and so we proceed by degrees till we have advanced unto and have conquered that which is more sublime and difficult This Method is natural and good By obsâ—rving of it the greatest Doctors and the most celebrated Philosophers have arrived both at their knowledg and their renown And if we take the same course in our search into the Apocalyptick Mysteries there will remain little but what we may master and unravel There are some Visions which the Angel who revealed them to St. John Vouchsafed also to explain There are others which the Event hath expounded And there are a third sort in the sense of which all men are agreed So that being first assured of the Scope and meaning of those which are explained and then of the signification of such as there is no contest among Authors about we may afterwards proceed to the rest By this method we shall enter upon the darker places with a Torch in our hand and thereby come to discover all the Mysteries of this Book as far as is either necessary or profitable 'T is evident that there are but three principal Visions in the Revelation in which are contained both all that was to befall the Kingdom of Jesus Christ which is the True Church and all that hath relation to the Papal Empire which is the false These Visions are those of the Seals those of the Trumpets and those of the Vials The rest are only Tablets and Draughts wherein what had been represented in those of the Seals Trumpets and Vials is reassumed inlarged and more particularly deduced and explained The number Seven being Mystical and marking perfection serveth to inform us that these three Visions do comprehend all For it is found in the Seals in the Trumpets in the Vials and in the Thunders which are the Fore-runners of the Vials Moreover these three Visions are so link'd one to another that the Second which is that of the Trumpets begins under the seventh Seal and the third which is that of the Vials commence under the seventh Trumpet Finally 't is upon the Effusion of the Vials that the Mystery of God is to be finished whereof there is mention chap. 10. which consisteth in the deliverance of the Christian Church from all that She suffered by and under the Roman Empire and in the reduction of all the Kingdoms of the World to Jesus Christ which will usher in the Millennian peace of the Church Being fully perswaded that this Division which I have laid down is the true Key of the Apocalypse I shall therefore distribute this Work into two parts The first shall explain the Visions of Chapters 12 13 14 15 17 18 19 20 21. The second shall illustrate those of Chapters 4 5 6 7 8 9 11 and 16. By this means there will be found here an entire Systeme of the whole Apocalypse where one may see the Disposition of all the Visions and the Order of the several Events therein fore-told and all this in so compendious a manner as is not to be met with elsewhere For whether they be Commentaries or other Tracts in which all these Visions are explained they are either of a length sufficient to weary and discourage the Reader or if they be so short as by reason of their brevity to invite one to peruse them they do at most but expound a part of these Visions and afford
his Church whatsoever Eclipse does befall her whether by Heresies or by persecutions And that there shall alway's be Belivers in the Earth who shall worship the one only true God in Spirit and truth even as the Angels and the blessed do adore him in Heaven II. ILLUSTRATION Of the Sealed Book which no Creature could open save the Lion of the Tribe of Judah REV. CHAP. 5. v. 1. And I saw in the right hand of him that sat on the throne a Book written within and without sealed with seven seals v. 2. And I saw a strong Angel proclaiming with a loud voice who is worthy to open the Book and to loose the Seals thereof v. 3. And no man in Heaven nor in Earth neither under the Earth was able to open the Book neither to look thereon THis Book can be nothing else but the Apocalypse which containeth every thing remarkable that was to befall either the Roman Empire or the Church of God. It is written within and without for the same reason because within it containeth the destiny of the Church and without the fate of the Roman Empire The form of this Book consisteth in seven leaves rolled after such a fashion that the second was shut up within the first and so of the rest The Seals denote the importance the Authority the stability and the obscurity of the Visions This darkness is such that no Creature how honorable soever could either open the Book or look into it That is to say who could so much as imagin the Events which it containeth v. 5. And one of the Elders saith unto me weep not behold the Lion of the Tribe of Judah the root of David hath prevailed to open the Book and to loose the Seals thereof But what no creature could do Jesus Christ hath done So St. John tells us at the very entrance in that he begun by these terms chap. 1. v. 1. The Revelation of Jesus Christ which God gave unto him to shew unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass Jesus Christ is here called a Lion because of his Resurrection as he is a little afterward called a Lamb by reason of the sacrifice of his death And a Lion of the Tribe of Judah because he sprung from that Tribe according to the flesh The Root of David because tho he be tru'ly Davids son according to his humane Nature he is nevertheless Davids Father as well as his Lord according to his Divinity III. ILLUSTRATION Of the Lamb with seven Horns and Seven Eyes and of his being worshipped REV. CHAP. 5. v. 6 c. V. 6. And I beheld lo in the midst of the Throne and of the four living Creatures and in the midst of the Elders stood a Lamb as it had been slain having seven Horns seven Eyes which are the seven Spirits of God sent forth into all the earth THis Lamb is Jesus Christ who tho risen is here represented as dead before the Throne to give us to understand that the merit of his death is alway's present before God and that his sacrifice is of an eternal vertu ' Horns according to the prophetick stile signify glory and power Psa 75. 10. The Lamb is represented having Seven which is a Mystick number to signify that nothing can be added to his glory and that his power hath no limits The seven Eyes and seven Spirits are of the same importance And do denote an omniscient knowledg and an immense wisdom by which he is every where present and conducteth all events as the soveraign Arbiter and Disposer V. 8. And when he had taken the Book the four living Creatures and four and twenty Elders fell down before the Lamb having every one of them Harps and golden Vials full of Odours which are the Prayers of Saints V. 9. And they sung a new Song saying Thou art worthy to take the Book and to open the Seals thereof for thou wast slain and hast redeemed us to God by thy Blood out of every kindred and tongue and people and Nation V. 10. And hast made us unto our God Kings and Priests c. Here is the same worship given to Jesus Christ by the four living Creatures and by the four and twenty Elders that in the preceding Chapter had been rendred to Him who created all things for his pleasure which shews Christs being acknowledged for the true God by the four living Creatures and by the 24. Elders The Harps which they have in their hands are for the singing the praises of God and the Vials full of odours are for the invocating of him which are the two Acts of Adoration These Odours are called the prayers of the Saints because the Incense offered by the Priests of old were a Symbole of prayers as appeareth in the 141. Ps v. 2. Let my prayer be set forth before thee as Incense Some may possibly infer from hence that the Saints who are in Heaven do pray for those on Earth and that they do present unto God the prayers of such as are here in the world But this is to suppose that the four and twenty Elders are in Heaven and that the Saints spoken of in this passage are to be understood of Souls received into Paradise or as men are used to speak in the world of the Saints that are in Heaven which is a supposition without any ground or foundation For those believers that are in Heaven are not in any part of the Bible called Saints but only stiled Blessed Nor is it said here that these 24. Elders are Blessed The Vision is so far from saying this that it declareth the contrary because the very same persons having Vials full of Odours do say v. 10. Thou hast made us unto our God Kings and Priests and we shall reign on Earth Which sheweth that they who offer up the prayers of the Saints that are on the Earth are themselves likewise upon the Earth and where they hope to Reign So that the four and twenty Elders do represent the Pastors and Guides of the Militant Church who are said to offer up Odours by reason of their praying publickly for all the Congregations of Believers And these Pastors are represented under the number of 24. by an allusion to rhe twelve Patriarchs of the Old Testament and the twelve Apostles of the New as they were in the Vision of the foregoing Chap. These 24. Elders and the 4. living Creatures sing a new Song saying Thou art worthy to take the Book and to open the Seals thereof for thou hast redeemed us c. Which words seem to give light to that saying of Jesus Christ in the 13. Chap. of Mark v. 32. But of that day and hour of Judgment knoweth no man no not the Angels which are in Heaven neither the Son of man but the Father Then the Son as man knew it not because he had not offered the Sacrifice of his death for the satisfying Divine Justice but now he knoweth both the day
and the hour and every thing that shall befal either the Church or the World because he hath been sacrificed Which is the reason of the four and twenty Elders saying unto him Thou art worthy to open the Book and to loose the Seals thereof for thou hast redeemed us It ought here to be carefully observed that this New Song containeth the whole Mystery of Gospel worship For here we have the death of Christ which is the foundation of all we have them whom his death hath redeemed we have the fruits which believers receive by his Death namely the dignity of being Kings and Priests and we have the Glory which accrueth to Jesus Christ himself For he is thought worthy to know all the Secrets of providence and to receive the Adoration of all Creatures low middle and high Which Adoration is here set before us in a form that is most perfect and which alone is that where with God is pleased that which all the Angels with the four and twenty Elders publish aloud that worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and blessing This is moreover what every Creature in Heaven and on Earth and under the earth and such as are in the Sea say likewise in their turn Blessing and Honor and Glory and Power be unto him that sitteth upon the Throne and unto the Lamb for ever and ever And the four living Creatures said Amen and the twenty four Elders fell down and worshipped him that liveth for ever and ever It is repeated again because it can never be said enough All worship that is not conformable to this pattern is unlawful and displeaseth God. Nor can we give the least worship to a Creature whatsoever degree of glory it hath arrived at without a departing from this divine model and falling into Idolatry Here we have a Sentence that condemneth the worship of the Roman Church in their addressing their Hymn's and their Prayers to Angels and to Saints IV. ILLUSTRATION Of the Opening of the first six Seals REV. CHAP. 6. AS to the Six Seals of the opening whereof the sixth Chapter treateth the four first differ from the two other in two things One is that at the opening of the four first there appear four Horsemen four living Creatures The other is that at the opening of these St. John is called upon to consider the things which are there declared to be hereafter to come There is doubtless some reason for this difference and this reason is in all probability nothing but this namely that every one of these four Seals containeth things which respect the whole course of the prophetick History both of the Roman Empire and of the Church which the two following do not This reason appeareth to be true in that in the first Vision of Zechariah chap. 1. v 8. it is said that the men which the Prophet saw riding upon red bay and white Horses were those whom the Lord sent to and fro through the Earth And in that the four living Creatures signify as we have proved the four Archangels set over the four parts of the world which marketh Universality And by consequence that the four first Seals at the opening whereof they do appear contain the things that respect the whole series of the History of the Roman Empire and of the Church Which observation if we duly attend unto we shall the more clearly understand the opening of these Seals V. 1. And when the Lamb opened one of the Seals i. e. the first I heard one of the four living Creatures that is the first saying as if it had been the voice of Thunder Come and see V. 2. And I saw and behold a white Horse and he that sat on him had a Bow and a Crown was given unto him and he went forth conquering and to conquer This first living Creature is the Lion whose Roaring is the most terrible voice of all the noises of Brutes If the Lion doth Roar shall we not tremble saith one of the Prophets It is compared also to the noise of Thunder which is the thing of the world that is most frightful to men This is exactly the preaching of the Gospel They who preach it are Boanerges Sons of Thunder they carry dread along with them wheresoever they are heard Jews and Gentiles were equally frighted at the beginning and the Papal Kingdom doth dread nothing so much at this day Which is the reason that the Pope and his Clergy use all the power and industry that they are able to stiffle this voice in all places but it is in vain The Gospel hath been victorious over Iews and Gentiles and will be so over the Papal Empire This is what is promised to the man upon the white Horse going forth conquering and to conquer For this Man is Iesus Christ the Lion of the Tribe of Judah who hath overcome He established his Gospel through the whole Pagan Roman Empire The worshippers of false Gods being pierced by the Arrows of our Saviour became converted to the Faith. And he will do the same to the Papal Roman Empire V. 3. And when he had opened the second Seal I heard the second living Creature say come and see V. 4. And there went out another Horse that was red and power was given unto him that sat thereon to take peace from the Earth and that they should kill one another and there was given unto him a great Sword. This second living Creature is the Ox the Symbole of patience and of being designed for slaughter which denoteth the persecutions which believers who are the Mystical Sheep of Jesus Christ were to suffer And he that sat upon this red Horse is no other than Satan the red Dragon that Murderer from the beginning who is armed with a Sword to presage the Blood which for the sake of the Gospel and to hinder the victories of Jesus Christ he should shed through the whole extent both of the Pagan and Papal Empire V. 5. And when he had opened the third Seal I heard the third living Creature say come and see and I beheld and lo a black Horse by that sat on him had a pair of Ballances in his hand The word in the Original signifies a Yoak as well as a Ballance And that it ought to be here translated a Yoak the sequel doth demonstrate V. 6. And I heard a voice in the midst of the four living Creatures say a measure of wheat for a penny and three measures of barley for a penny and see thou hurt not the Oyl and the Wine This undoubtedly denoteth a great plenty of all things necessary to the comfort of life Which sheweth that this Horseman carrieth a Yoak not a Ballance Here is indeed a change from white to black The first Horseman who sat upon the white Horse to wit Jesus Christ spread the light of his Gospel in order to establish a spiritual Religion
of the Bishop of Rome under the third Trumpet The fifth discovereth unto us the growth and the accomplishment of the Mystery of Iniquity For this is the same Star which St. Iohn had called great and of which he had said that it was already fallen from Heaven The Key is a Symbole of Power and Authority When the Nations were to be brought out of Idolatry into which they were plunged as into a bottomless pit and to be introduced into the Kingdom of Heaven Iesus Christ gave to St. Peter the Keys of that Kingdom And it was that Apostle who first made use of those Keys when he preached the Gospel to Cornelius who was a Gentile But now when the same Nations are to return to Idolatry the Key of the bottomless Pit is given to the pretended Successor of St. Peter by the Dragon Rev. chap. 13. v. 2 4. The Bottomless Pit being opened with this Key which the Bishop of Rome received from the Dragon there came forth a smoke out of the Pit as out of a great Furnace and the Sun and Air were darkned The Sun is Jesus Christ The Air is Religion For Jesus Christ is the Sun of Righteousness and Religion which consisteth in Doctrines Worship and Ceremonies is with respect to Salvation what the Air is with respect to the Animal life which no longer endureth than while we suck in and breath out the Air. Nor can it be denied but that the Bishop of Rome hath darkned the Sun of Righteousness in that he hath assumed to himself all the Offiâ—es of our Saviour his Kingship his Priesthood and his dignity of Supream and infallible Teacher And in that he hath added the Sacrifice of the Mass to the Sacrifice of the Cross and humane Satisfaction to the merit of Christs Blood which is the price of our Redemption Neither can it be gainsaid but that he hath darkned the Air of Religion by a mixture of Heathen Ceremonies with those which Jesus Christ had ordained Such as Altars the different Habits of Priests Agnus Dei's Chappelets Scapularies Holy Water Abstinences and Fastings Finally he hath corrupted the Discipline and Government which fence and preserve Religion by changing it into a Monarchy like unto that of Earthly Princes contrary to the express Declaration of our Saviour to his Apostles The Kings of the Gentiles exercise Lordship but ye shall not be so Luks 22. 25. And also contrary to the advice of St. Peter whose Vicar and Successor he vainly boasts himself to be For he enjoins Ministers to feed the Flock of God and not to carry it as being Lords over God's Heritage 1 Pet. 5. 2 3. This Change was not all made at once but by little and little The Smokt came not all out of the bottomless Pit at one and the same time but successively and by degrees answerable to the nature of the Mystery of Iniquity which hath established it self by fraud and subtility Before Gregory I. about the end of the second Century Victor upon the subject of what day Easter should be kept was so rash as to excommunicate all the Churches of Asia as if he had been the Soveraign Master of all Churches Upon which account St. Ireneus rebuked him according as he deserved Siricius condemned the Marriage of Priests abusing to that end the words of St. Paul They that are in the Flesh cannot please God as if by being in the Flesh the Apostle had understood the state of Marriage Boniface III. Successor of Gregory I. challenged the Title of Universal Bishop which Gregory had condemned in Iohn Bishop of Constantinople as the Title of the Forerunner of Antichrist Boniface IV. consecrated the Pantheon to the Holy Virgin and to all the Saints which the Pagans had dedicated before to Cibele the Mother of the Gods. And the Controversie about the Worship of Images grew so hot in the eighth Age that Pope Gregory the second excommunicated the Emperor Leo for opposing it In the ninth Age Paschasius the Monk of Corby was the first that taught the Corporal Presence but Rathramu writting against it by the command of Charles the Bold the question remained undetermined But the Truth becoming darkned by the Smoke that arose out of the bottomless Pit in the tenth Age which Baronius stiles an Age of Iron and Lead and which all Writers acknowledg to have been an Age of Ignorance and Darkness it came to be decided in the eleventh Age by Nicolas the second Who made it be prescribed to Berenger in his Retractation that believers did not only eat Christ Sacramentally but that he was really broken by their teeth In the same Age Gregory the seventh made come out of the bottomless Pit these propositions mentioned by Baronius Anno 1076. num 31. namely that the Pope of Rome alone hath Right to be called Universal That all Princes ought to kiss the Popes Feet That his name only should be mentioned to the Churches That he hath an Authority to depose Emperors That without his command no Council ought to be called General That no Book nor Chapter ought to be held for Canonical without his Authorisy That he may discharge Subjects from their Oath of Allegiance And many other such as these which Baronius calls Dictata Papae Out of the same Pit came forth the Adoration of the Holy Sacrament under Pope Houorius the second The Feast of God or of Corpus Christi under Pope Eugenius the second Auricular Confession under Pope Innocent the third The first Crusado with promise of forgiveness of all their sins under Urban the second Anno 1095 The first Jubilee with a promise annexed to it of universal pardon to all that should go to Rome and visit the Churches there was instituted by Boniface the eighth Anno 1295. Finally Eugenius the third about the year 1149. did ordain that the Decretals collected by Gratian should be read and explained in the Schools Which Decretals treat of nothing save of the Power of St. Peter and of the Pope of the excellency of a Monastick life of Celibate of Transubstantiation of the Mass and of such like Doctrines which are this Smoke arisen out of the bottomless Pit by which the Sun and the Air have been darkned XV. ILLUSTRATION Of the Locusts REV. CHAP. 9. V. 3. And there came out of the Smoke Locusts upon the Earth and unto them was given power as the Scorpions of the Earth have power V. 4. And it was commanded them that they should not hurt the Grass of the Earth neither any Green thing neither any Tree but only those men which have not the Seal of God in their Foreheads V. 5. And to them it was given that they should not kill them but that they should torment them five moneths and their Torment was as the Torment of a Scorpion when he striketh a man. V. 6. And in those days shall men seek death and shall not find it and shall desire to die and death shall flee from them V.
way's agreeth to the last Judgment when all Kingdoms shall come to an End. We must therefore by the Term Dead understand the Church of God but as afflicted by reason of the War which the Beast was to make against her for the space 1260 years ere he came to be destroyed For Afflictions are in the Scripture stiled a death 2 Cor. 1. 10. and 2 Cor. 11. 23. And by the Term to judg we are to understand to deliver In which sense David say's to God Ps 35. v. 24. Judg me according to thy rightoousness that is deliver me because he addeth and let not mine Enemies rejoice over me To which purpose there are many other places in the Scripture Because therefore the Church shall be delivered from all her Persecutions at that time when Babylon comes to be destroyed and the Kingdoms of this world brought in to Jesus Christ it is here said upon the arrival of these two great Events that the Dead shall be judged But if we have a mind to retain the natural signification both of the Term Dead and of the Term judged the sense will be that when Babylon shall be destroyed and the Kingdoms of this world converted to Jesus Christ then the Martyrs shall be judged and have justice done them through the whole extent of the Papal Empire Whereas they are now accounted of as damned Hereticks they shall be then reckoned and esteemed blessed and to have died true Martyrs So that this is exactly the first Resurrection whereof we have spoken in the Illustration about the thousand years and of the judgment which is there mentioned The opening of the Temple which this Seventh Trumpet promiseth accordeth fitly with the Sense that we have given Under the Reign of Ahaz when the Apostacy was Universal the Temple was shut But when a Reformation came to be made by Hezekiah the first thing that was done was the opening of the Temple 2 Chron. 29. 3. Thus the Mystical Temple which had been shut up under the Reign of Antichrist shall be opened and the worship of God shall be restored And which is worthy of our observation 't is not said that a new Temple was built but that the ancient Temple was opened So that the Church which is the Mystical Temple hath in despight of the attempts of Antichrist alway's subsisted That which we are to see in the great and general Reformation which the Seventh Trumpet promiseth is not a new Church but a re-establishment of the old As for the Ark which was seen at the opening of the Temple it may be either considered as a figure of Iesus Christ or as containing the two Tables of the Law of God. With respect to the first the sight of the Ark signifies that Jesus Christ who had been obscured during the Reign of Antichrist through an addition of copartners with him both in offices and in the work of Redemption and through the joining another sacrifice to that of his death shall be perfectly revealed to all the world as the word represents him when once the Kingdoms of the Earth are converted and brought in With respect to the second the Sight of the Ark signifies that the Word of God the reading whereof had been forbidden by Antichrist as of a Book dangerous and hurtful to Salvation shall be put into all mens hands and every one shall be allowed and have full liberty to read it and meditate upon it Moreover the Sight of this Ark does also fore-tell and promise the Conversion of the Iews For the Ark having been lost since the Captivity in Babylon of the Chaldees the Sight of it do's promise that when Gods people shall be delivered out of Antichristian Babylon that the Iews shall be converted and recalled The opening of the same Temple is spoken of chap. 15. v. 5. as we have observed in the 20th Illustration of the 1st part But there are two differences between the opening of the Temple in that place and the opening of it in this One is that the Ark doth not appear there as it doth here because at the first Reformation the Iews were not Converted as they shall be at the second The other is because the Smoke that proceeded out of the Temple upon the first opening of it hindred all from coming into it because the time of the conversion of all Nations was not then come whereas upon the opening of it now and that time being come there is mention of no smoke whereby any should be indred to enter Finally the Lightnings the Voices the Thundrings and the great Hail which accompanied this opening of the Temple comprehend the third Wo which was not to arrive till under the Seventh Trumpet and which design nothing else save the judgments that are to be inflicted through the pouring out of the Vials XXVI ILLUSTRATION Of the Pouring out of the Vials REV. CHAP. 16. THere are some who think the fifth Vial is poured forth and consequently that the four first are likewise poured out and this because of that conformity which seems to appear betwixt the fifth Vial that denounceth Darkness that is to say some great disaster to the Seat of the Beast and between that which befell the Papal Empire from the time of the great Schism till the time of the Council of Constance which put an End to that Schism Seeing the Seat of the Beast was during that whole time as it were smitten and his Kingdom was become full of darkness through the great decay of the Papal Authority which Decay of Authority was much increased by the Reformation that begun under the Popedom of Leo X. But this Reason is not of that strength as to perswade me that the fifth Vial was at that time poured out Forasmuch as the Affliction signified by Darkness which befell the Papal Empire through the Reformation begun by Luther hath not been so great as to answer fully the force of the Terms used in reference to that Vial namely that the Kingdom of the Beast was full of darkness and they gnawed their tongues for pain Rev. 16. 10. Besides it was only the Seat of the Beast it was the City of Rome which is the Beasts Seat that was afflicted by Luthers Reformation but the Papal Kingdom was not so afflicted on the Contrary great part of that Empire rejoiced at the Reformation Whereas it is to be observed that it is not said that the Seat of the Beast but that the Kingdom of the Beast was full of darkness So that the fifth Vial doth as once threaten both Rome and its Empire with another Affliction that shall befall them when the general Reformation shall be accomplished when all the Western Nations shall come to be delivered from the Papal Tyranny and to be perfectly inlightned with the Light of the Gospel And therefore the fifth Vial is not poured out nor by consequence the two last 'T is expresly said chap. 15. v. 1. that the Seven Vials are the seven last
had therein done amiss Otherwise the fault were in the Angel in rebuking that as a sin which was an action that ought not to have been blamed Which is a thing that we are neither to say nor to think of an Angel of light But what was this fault of St. Iohn Can we say that he failed in reference to the Law and to matter of Right Certainly this Apostle was sanctified to the knowledg of the Truth by that Spirit which inspired him in his divine Writings yet sanctification being not perfect save in heaven there is no danger in confessing him to have been liable to infirmities and the rather because he himself saith 1 Epist chap. 1. v. 8. that if we say that we have no sin we deceive our selves and the truth is not in us Nevertheless seeing that if St. Iohn had failed in matter of Right he must have been guilty of Idolatry a thing he was not capable of committing neither as he was a Iew by his birth and less as he was a Christian who had received a greater measure of the light of Grace and least of all as he was an Apostle that had preached against Idolatry and who had shut up his first Epistle with that Exhortation Little children keep your selves from Idols it is therefore safest to say that he failed in matter of Fact and that being struck with the luster of the Angel he took him for one of the Persons of the Godhead for which the Angel doth rebuke him And what the Angel saith in his reprehending of him do's plainly favour this account See thou do it not say's he for I am thy fellow servant and of thy Brethren that have the Testimony of Iesus Worship God. The Angel saw that he took him not for a Creature but for the Creator For he doth it in the same manner that St. Paul and Barnabas reprehended the Lycaonians Act. 14. 15. when they would have sacrified to them as unto Iupiter and Mercury why do ye these things we also are men of like passions with you The Relapse of St. Iohn into the same fault chap. 22. v. 8. for which he was again rebuked do's invincibly prove that his sin was a faileur in matter of Fact. For who can with any probability believe that St. Iohn would have worshipped a creature if he had known him to be such or who can think but that if the Angel had thought so of him he would have rebuked him with greater severity than he did Whereas even upon that miscarriage he contenteth himself with producing the same reason a second time thar he had alledged unto him before That which the Angel addeth for the Testimony of Iesus is the Spirit of Prophecy is nothing but an Illustration of the reason which he had assigned for not suffering St. Iohn to worship him namely that I am thy fellow Servant For it is all one as if he should have said the Testimony of Iesus which is in thee as an Apostle is the same thing with the Spirit of Prophecy that is in me We are equal and therefore you deceive your self in taking me for an object which ought to be worshipped The Bishop of Rome is not so Scrupulous as the Angel was nor do's he carry it after that manner forasmuch as upon the day of his Election he suffereth himself to be set upon the high Altar where he is worshipped by all the Cardinals and by all the people By which we come to know what agreement there is between the Bishop of Rome and an Angel of light And that there is a great deal more betwixt him and the Angel of Darkness that had the impudence to require of Iesus Christ that he should fall down and Worship him XXXI ILLUSTRATION Of Christ's directing his Epistles and his Revelation to the seven Churches And why AFter that we have explained all the Visions of the Apocalypse we are not to forget to inquire the Reason why Jesus Christ judged it convenient to direct it together with the Epistles particularly to the seven Churches of Asia Ephesus Smyrna Pergamus Thyatira Sardis Philadelphia and Laodicea There is unquestionably a Mystery in it that Jesus Christ should direct this divine Book to Seven Churches neither to more nor to fewer For 1 the number seven is a Mysterious Number through this whole Book It signifieth the universality the fulfilling of all Times as appeareth by the consideration of the seven Seals the seven Trumpets and the seven Vials Because that number denoteth the whole Train of things which the Seals Trumpets and Vials fore-tell are to come to pass till the very destruction of the Antichristian Empire 2 Christ appeareth having in his hand Seven Stars which are the Seven Pastors of the Seven Churches aud walking in the midst of Seven Candlesticks which are the Seven Churches that we have mentioned But why Seven Doth he not promise to be the Protector but of these seven Pastors and the Overseer and Defender but of these Churches 3 There is a Conformity between that Vision in the first Chapter and those of the seven Seals and of the opened Book For we there find the same pomp the sound of a Trumpet and the glorious presence of our Saviour in the midst of his Church And withal he appeareth there walking in the midst of the seven Candlesticks and sitting in the midst of the four living Creatures and the 24. Elders By which conformity we are given to understand that this first Vision is of equal weight and of an equal extension with all the other And that this of the Seven Churches reached to the End of the world as all the following together do 4 Jesus Christ saith to St. John. v. 19. Write the things which thou hast seen and the things which are and the things which shall be hereafter Which is as much as if he had said write not only things which concern the Churches that are mentioned and which ought to be instructed as these are but which also concern all Churches to the End of the world and whereof the seven that are named are a model and Type 5 The Epistles which Jesus Christ directeth to the seven Churches do contain Instructions and Reprehensions which agree unto and exactly express all the different and several conditions in which the Christian Church will be found until the end of the world The State of the Church of Ephesus doth lively represent the condition of the Primitive Church where Truth prevailed and where at the last the decay of Charity became a disposition and a step to a more doleful State. Whosoever well considers what is said to the Church of Ephesus will therein find the condition of the primitive Church painted forth to the life That of Smyrna represents the State of the Church during the fourth and fifth Ages wherein Arianism had the upperhand and wherein the Orthodox were outragiously persecuted That is the Tribulation of ten days wherewith Smyrna is threatned not
the ten persecutions of which that of Diocletian was the last That of Pergamus hath a reference to the time when Antichrist sitteth in the Temple of God and when the Church of God is hardly visible through her dwelling as the Church of Pergamus did where Satan had his Throne That of Thyatira hath a great conformity to the condition of the Church when Antichrist both begun to fall and begun to raise himself again According to the Testimony given by our Saviour to that of Thyatira Thou hast not the Doctrine of Jezebel and thou hast not known the depths of Satan That of Sardis hath a resemblance to the Reformed Church degenerating and falling into corruption of manners Thou hast a name that thou livest and art dead Yet thou hast a few names which have not defiled their Garments That of Philadelphia is a protrature of that of the Church when She shall be perfectly Reformed when Sion shall be perfectly re-established when the alone Key of David shall open and shut when the voice of Iesus Christ shall be perfectly followed and that both with respect unto manners and to faith This is the State wherein the Church will be during the time of the Millennian Reign whereof we have before spoken Lastly that of Laodicea is a Mirour wherein we may behold the State of the Church towards the End of the world When zeal shall have become cold Charity scarce to be found and corruption shall abound and be universal and thereby draw upon the world that Deluge of Fire which shall give a renovation unto it These Reflections do shew us the reason why the Lord directed the seven Epistles and all the Visions of the Apocalypse of St. Iohn precisely to the Seven Churches But it is matter of surprise that Iesus Christ hath made no mention nor spoken one word of the Church of Rome nor of the Pope How comes it to pass that he forgets his Vicar and the Mother of all Churches which either have been or are to be to the end of the world How comes he to be unmindful of the Apostolick Sea of the Seat of Infallibility of the alone Fountain of all lawful Vocation and Mission and of the Centre of Religion For seeing the Lord the Son of God is not man that he should lye or the Son of man that he should repent it is the more remarkable that he should have forgot in a Book purposely writen to mark out the destiny of the Church and to distinguish her from Babylon points which according to the Roman Catholicks are fundamental and such as men cannot be ignorant of without hazarding Salvation So that now it is not possible that the Church of Rome should be what She pretends O that God the Father of Mercy and Light would remove from the hearts of men the vail of prejudices and passions that all Christians may come to see the danger of maintaining Communion with the Romish Church the necessity of Reformation and the Conformiry of the Worship which Protestants render unto God with the sacred and inviolable Rule of the Gospel FINIS A DEFENCE OF THE ILLUSTRATIONS Upon the Apocalypse of St. Iohn Concerning the EFFUSION of the VIALS In Answer to Mr. Jurieu ' s Apology for the Accomplishment of the Scripture-Prophesies Printed in the Year 1688. The PREFACE 'TWere to be wished that all who publish their Meditations upon the Revelation were found to agree in their Explication of that Divine Book as much as they do in their Exposition of the other Sacred Writings But how desirable soever this be it hath not hither to come to pass And an uniformity of Opinions about the sense of Prophesies whose Accomplishment is yet to come is no less impossible to Interpreters that are not divinely inspired than the knowledg of those future things is which they do predict So that it is not strange that Mr. Jurieu in his Accomplishment of Prophesies and the Anonymous Author in his Illustrations upon the Apocalypse do not universally accord and that in their Exposition of the 16. Chap. they are found to contradict one another Nay it would be a kind of miracle should they upon the many various subjects of the Revelations of St. John be found in all things to have the same sentiments But possibly some will be surprised that two Reformed Divines should write against one another And probably some may not only be surprised but scandaled throw their seeing two Brethren differ and throw an apprehension that the Papists may draw some advantage from their disagreement And it must be acknowledged that if mens surprise at their difference should have that effect it had been a thousand times better that both those Authors had forever concealed their thoughts than to give the least matter of scandal to their Brethren by publishing of them The design therefore of this Preface is to obviate these two difficulties and to justify not only those two Antagonists but all others who may embark in this quarrel by espousing the one side or the other As to the first difficulty I do affirm that if any are offended at the seeing two Reformed Divines write against each other in the Exposition of the 16. Chap. about the Effusion of the Vials the Offence is taken and not given And I do withal maintain that 't is lawful for every one in his Exposition of Prophesies to pursue that way which seems best unto him If in his Explication he contradict any Article of Faith necessary to Salvation I do confess that in this case all men have reason to be offended with him who shall by his Interpretations overthrow any of those Articles and they have cause to treat that Expositor as an Innovator and to disclaim his Exposition as a Heresie But which Article of Faith is subverted or so much as opposed or any ways injured by the either saying that the Vials are poured out or that they are not poured out Mr. Jurieu apply's all the Events since the tenth Century to the Vials as if they had been all this while pouring forth and the Anonymous Author of the Illustrations applieth them to the Trumpets which have sounded and not to the Vials which he believes to be still to be poured forth Now what Article of Faith is either gain-said or wronged by these two different Expositions But one may say that it will at least beget a Dispute about the Explication of a Book which all Christians ought to pay a deference unto as a Divine Book and a Dispute which being begun at such a conjuncture as that wherein we are may in all probability not have a good issue Whereas on the contrary this Dispute will stirr up the Curiosity of divers Adversaries who by coming to read these two Works will from thence learn very important Truths which they are yet ignorant of They will thereby understand that the Pope whom they worship as a Deity is the Original Picture of the Son of perdition who is