Beast is no other but his Universal Power and Headship over the Church of God then I will leave any man to consider Whether one and the same thing is not here spoken by S. Paul in the Epistle to the Thessalonians He as God sitteth in the Temple of God shewing himself that he is God And hath not the Bishop of Rome for 1000 years put himself in the place of Christ as the Head and Law-giver to the Church of Christ But the Apostle goes on Vers. 5. Remember you â—…ot when I was with you I told you these things We reade in Acts 20. when the 〈◊〉 sent to Ephesus he called for the Eâ—…ders of the Church he told them that grievous Wolves should come and that they should not spare the stock The same things in effect he spake among the Thessalonians when he did foreshew the decay of the Christian faith and the revelation of the Man of Sin Now for the time of his coming and the knowledge they had oâ—… that time he hath these words Vers. 6. And now ye know what with holâ—…eth 〈◊〉 he may be revealed in his time â—…y the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the thing that doth withhold all Interpreters for the most part 〈◊〉 understand the Great Empire of the Romans For as long as the Mâ—…jesty of that Empire did stand it would keep 〈◊〉 the dominion of Antichrist who should ariâ—…e What knowledge the 〈◊〉 Thessalonians had of this is doubtful yet there iâ—… nothing more â—…ure then that the Ancient Writers 〈◊〉 as lived before the fall of the Empire did believe That when this 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 come then the Man of Sin should be revealed Among many others when Hierom heard of the taking of Rome by the Râ—…me he did make application of this Scripture that then the Man of Sin was at the doors Now whereas some Interpreters think that we cannot shew any precise time of the coming of Antichrist they divide themselves into sundry opinions And therefore some speak of his Conception some of his Birth some of his higher advancement into the Throne and some of the full Perfection of his Power Others there are that take all these together and tell us That he was conceived in the Primitive Times born about the times of Constantane set up in the Throne under the Emperor Phocas and raised to the high pitch when he did assume the Power of both Swords But all these are but conceits of mens own Commenting For the time of the revelation of the Man of Sin must not be as every one will feign it at his own pleasure but as it is positively and plainly set down in the Word of Truth Now if we go to the scope of the Context the Great Empire of the Roman the impediment that hindred must be taken away and then after that the Man of Sin must be revealed 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in his definite and determinate time There is then a precise definite and determinate time for the revelation of the Man of Sin and this must be after the fall of the old Empire Nâ—…w according to these grounds there can be no other time intended but when he was installed Oecumenical Bishop under the Emperor Phocas It is clear by the Stories of the Church That the Empire fell and the Kings arose in the fifth Century And after that in the year 606 from the birth of the Lord and in the year 666 from the beginning of the Roman as the fourth Metal-Kingdome the Bishop of Rome was declared Universal Head over all Churches in the times of the Emperor Phocas In this year he was revealed and declared to the world in such a manner as the Apostle doth describe him for in this year he did begin to sit in the Church or in the Temple of God as in Cathedrá as Oecumenical and Universal Bishop and Head of the Church And so we have the particular time when Antichrist was revealed 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in his definite time This we take to be the natural sense of the Text for if these two things be supposed First that the beeing of the Man of Sin lies essentially in his Headship over the Church and Temple of God Secondly that he did appear in his proper time after the fall of the old Empire What other thing can here be signified or decyphered but that which we speak of to wit that the Number 666 in the Revelation doth point out the time of the rising of this Spiritual Monarchy For as we have formerly shewed the year 606 according to the calculation of the times in Daniel is the Number 666 the Number of the Name or Universal Headship of the Beast And thus we see how the scope of the Apostle in this Scripture doth fully answer our Interpretation concerning the Name of the Beast and the Number of the Name Now let us go to the words of the Apostle as they follow Vers. 7 8. For the Mystery of Iniquity doth already work onely he who now letteth will let till he be taken out of the way and then shall that wicked one be revealed Here Interpreters do inquire what is meant by the Mystery of Iniquity Some do think that the Apostle doth refer to those Heresies in the first times that were previous to the bringing in of the Man of Sin But how could those gross Heresies be so called The Mystery of Iniquity did incroach upon the Church and upon godly men under the appearance of the greatest holiness Secondly suppose that in those first times there were some beginnings of Free-will Justification by the Merit of Man yet these things are not to our purpose for we are here specially to look after such a working of the Mystery of Iniquity as makes way for the Papacy or the Papal Government or the Universal Headship of Antichrist that he shall sit as Lord or chief Ruler in and over the Church and Temple of God The question is What previous workings were there in the Apostles days and so downwards towards the setting up of the Universal Headship For this is to the scope of the Text and this doth answer the matter in hand Let us therefore consult with other Scriptures S. Iohn saith Ye have heard that Antichrist shall come even so the spirit of Antichrist is already in the world 1 Joh. 4. 3. What doth he mean by this that the spirit of Antichrist was already in the world He doth explain himself in his third Epistle and the 9th verse I would have wrote unto the Church but Diotrephes who loveth to have the pre-eminence suffereth us not It appears from hence then that in those first times men did affect that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that Primacy or Headship in and over the Church of God Here then the Mystery of Iniquity did begin to work in those first times But lest any man might alledge that these incroachments were too gross and that the Mystery of Iniquity must be carried on with greater shews
Nation Yet if we seriously consider the times we shall finde That the light began to break out and the day began to dawn at the taking of Constantinople in the year 1453. For the Greek Empire being destroyed and that Eye of the Christian world being put out it pleased the Lord by this means to cast many learned Grecians into this Western World This gave occasion to the reviving of the Languages and the reviving of the Languages brought in the study of the Scriptures and other ancient Authors and things began to be cast into another mould By this means the more learned sort were brought off from the Doctrine of the School-men and the more zealous ones from Visions Dreams and Revelations and so the world was prepared to receive another kinde of light Not to mention the troubles which Reuchlin Pagnin and Arias Montanus did meet withall it is manifest by the Epistles of Erasmus how much the Monks and Friars were inraged at him He tells us how in England France Spain Italy and every-where in a manner they did both publickly and privately inveigh against him And it went for a received Maxime among many That Erasmus did more hurt then Luther How could that be He revived the Tongues he was an instrument to bring men to the study of the Scriptures and ancient Authors and by those amoeniores literae which he so often speaks of he did bring the world from Monkish darkness and foolish Revelations Campanella therefore calls the War betwixt the Protestants and the Papists Grammaticale Bellum a Grammarian War because by the study of the Languages by the Greek and the Hebrew Tongues the Reformation of the Church was introduced And it is the sentence of Melancthon Non aliam ad veterem barbariem reducendam magis compendiariam esse viam quam si studia linguarum interirent There is no more compendious way to reduce the ancient barbarism then if the studies of Languages should peresh Orat. tom 4. pag. 465. As light then as men make of Humane Learning in these times it was one chief mean under God to bring the world out of Antichristian darkness And it is the judgement of so id men that if it should be totally abolished it would occasion the return of that darkness once again Now let us come to consider the Stories and the time of the immersion how the Church came first under this darkness It is clear from the process of the aforementioned Discourse that about the time of the Emperor Phocas the Universal Headship of the Bishop of Rome was publickly proclaimed the Scriptures began to be slighted and the Traditions of the Church immoderately extol'd Now here is a great demand How is it possible that the Church could apostatize and degenerate so far in one or two Centuries seeing in the age of the Christian Caesars when Chrysostome Hierom Augustine and others lived there was so much light The answer is clear The Goths Hunnes and Vandals and other barbarous Nations came out of the North overturned Churches burned Libraries overthrew Schools of Learning and by this means the world was organized and fashioned to receive the Kingdome of Antichrist and all that whole body of false Doctrine that should be set up in the Consciences of ignorant people by Visions Dreams and Revelations From all which I do conclude If there should be a total abrogation of Book-learning it would be a compendious way means to bring the Church into its former darkness For as experience sheweth That the taking away of that Learning was one chief meâ—…n to introduce Antichristian darkness So the restoring and renewing of it again was one principal mean of the recovery of the former light Thirdly they do symbolize and come in the nearest similitude to the true formality of Antichristianism who do build their Corsciences upon men and do make men the Lords of their Faith In this sense we are to take the words of our Saviour when he saith Mat. 23. 9. Call no man your Father upon the earth for one is your Father which is in heaven Neither be ye called Masters for one is your Master even Christ. Some are so void of understanding as to take these words according to the letter as though the practise of Christianity should extinguish civil relations and distinctions betwixt man and man But these are idle conceits we are to look to the scope of our Saviours meaning The Jews in his time were divided into divers Factions into the Sects of the Pharisees Sadduces Herodians Gaulonites and the like Now it was the ambition of those times for every man to have his Rabbi and each Rabbi to have his Scholars depend upon him as the Lord of their Faith In this sense our Saviour speaks that they should call no man Rabbi Rabbi and gives this reason One is your Master even Christ and all ye are Brethren In these words he doth especially point at the formality of Antichristianism that should be in the Popes Kingdome For though there is much ado made betwixt the Criticks in the Greek Hebrew and Syriack Tongues about the true Origination of the word Papa yet I finde That all do agree in the signification that it is as much in sense as Spiritual Father Now then if we look to the practise of the Romish Church we shall finde it apparent That the Body of the People do depend upon their Teachers as their Spiritual Fathers and all the Spiritual Fathers of the lower degree do depend upon the Bishop of Rome as the Father of all And herein that Hierarchy doth directly oppose the true Church of Christ as it is described Eph. 4. ver 4. 5 6. There is one Body and one Spirit even as you are called into one hope of your calling one Lord one Faith one Baptism one God and Father of all The Apostle further speaketh how the Mystery of Iniquity did begin to work in the Church of Corinth Every one of you saith I am of Paul and I of Apollo and I of Cephas and I of Christ Is Christ divided was Paul crucified for you or were ye baptized in the Name of Paul 1 Cor. 1. 12 13. It appears by this That the Unity of that Church was broken by many divisions several Believers had their several Rabbies on whom they did depend and though Paul and Cephas would not take so much upon them to be the Lords of peoples Faith and the Heads of Parties yet the false Apostles did wonderfully affect such a kinde of Title and too many carnal Christians in those days were too forward to pin their Faith upon other mens sleeves and to come in the nearest formasity to the Antichristian practise in these last times The world is too apt to fall into Divisions and to say I am of Paul I am of Apollo and I am of Cephas And in this men must needs symbolize with them who make the Bishop of Rome the Lord of their Faith and do profess themselves
to be Members of his Church The building upon men then is that which doth bring any people in the nearest resemblance to Antichristianisme and the more they do this the more or less are they Antichristian And this I conceive to be one chief reason in Scripture why the falls of the most eminent Saints are left upon record Because others should not dote too much upon them Moses did anger the Lord at the Waters of Meribah and Massah he died before he entred into the Land of Canaan and the Angel of the Lord did bury him in obscurity No man knew of his Sepulchre because the Children of Israel should not go a-whoring after it Deut. 34. 6. And in the New Testament among all the Apostles the faults of none are left so upon publick record as those of Peter And what is the reason of all this Doubtless the Lord did foresee what Idolatry the Church of Rome would commit in owning his Universal Headship over the Church as that the Power of the Keyes was given into his hand alone For these causes I believe the great falls of Peter are left upon record that the Papists should not say I am of Peter I am of the Bishop of Rome the Head of the Church by succession from Peter Cyprian and some of the Churches of Africa fell into another extreme They thought if a man had denied the truth in time of persecution he should never be received into the Ministery again but should stand in the Body of the People as one of them onely I cannot but in the general approve the strictness of the Discipline especially against the faults and corruptions of Ministers who should be Lights and Examples to others But that they should be so strictly dealt with all never to be received no not upon terms of the greatest Repentance Humiliation and godly Sorrow I may say in this case That Cyprian and the rest of the African Fathers were too Canonical And it was well for S. Peter that he was no Minister in Africa when he denied his Master in the High-Priests Hall Surely by the rigour of such Principles they would never have received him into Office again But the Lord Christ had a better end in the permission of his fall Simon saith he Satan hath desired to winnow thee as wheat but I have prayed for thee that thy faith should not fail Luke 22. 31. Here then the reason is clearly shewed why Satan did prevail so against Peter why he was upheld meerly by the Prayer of Christ the reason is this When thou art converted strengthen thy Brethren God in great wisdome doth suffer the most eminent Ministers to fall greatly to pluck down their pride that they may be more humble and that their bowels of affection and tenderness may be greater towards the lost Sons of men and that they should preach the Grace of God more tenderly and more feelingly to the winning and saving of miserable Souls These were the causes of the fall of Peter and one special reason is also here to be remembred God did permit him to fall so foully to prevent that sin of Antichristianity as I may so speak which should be so general in the last times Now the sin of Antichristianity is to make men the Lords of our Faith to build upon Peter or the Pope the pretended Successor of Peter in matters of Faith and Salvation Fourthly they do symbolize with the Great Antichrist who use a lawful Authority Antichrist-like to serve their own pride ambition and external glory The Apostle saith I would have written unto the Churches but Diotrephes who loveth to have the pre-eminence suffered us not 3 Joh. ver 9. Here then seeing he did love to have the pre-eminence we may probably conceive That it was in the lawful Government of the Church there was an affectation of precedency even in those dayes And in what times may not the like spirit of pride be in some men when they are put into place of Rule We reade also in the Directions of Paul concerning the choice of a Bishop that he must not be a Novice lest being swollen up with pride he fall into the condemnation of the Devil 1 Tim. 3. 6. It is clear from these words as also from the whole Epistle that there must be a Government in the Church of God and whosoever S. Paul's Bishop is he must have the principal stroke in the Government For these words are immediately added If a man know not how to rule his own house how shall he take care for the Church of God The Church of God is Christs house and the Bishops Elders and Ministers of the Church have their Office by delegation from him and not from any other Authority Now such a lawful power as this is men may sinfully abuse and pervert to the setting up of their own greatness and therefore the Apostle doth give this caveat Not a Novice lest being swollen up with pride he fall into the condemnation of the Devil By a Novice he doth not intend a man yong in years for Timothy himself was but yong but he meaneth a beginner in the School of Christ a Novice in manners such a one he would not have set over the House of God lest being swollen up with pride he fall into the same sin and the same condemnation as the Devil did being sometimes an Angel of light From this instance then it is clear That a lawful Power may be used in an Antichristian manner Such beginnings of pride the Apostle probably might see in those dayes and these might occasion him to say The Mystery of Iniquity doth already work Now whereas some do impute it to this or that Government that it would be as Tyrannical and Antichristian as any that went before Let them not deceive themselves The Government may be Christs yet if any do use it to serve their own Pride Tyranny or Lordliness the fault is their own It lies in the corruption of the Person but not in the nature of the Office The superiority of Parents over their Children of Husbands over their Wives of Magistrates over the People are all by Divine Institution yet the persons may so demean themselves that they may tyrannize and if we may so speak it may Antichristianize That is a remarkable passage which the Lord hath concerning Stewards in a lawful power If that evil servant shall say My Lord deferreth his coming and shall begin to smite his fellow-servants and shall eat and drink with the drunken the Lord of that servant will come in a day when he looketh not for him and will cut him in sunder and appoint him his portion with hypocrites Mat. 24. 48 49. By a Servant or Steward we may understand Magistrate Minister or any other whom the Lord hath intrusted with a lawful Power in Church or Common-wealth Now if they use this Power illegally and tyrannically if Ministers cast those out of the Church who should be kept in
of the Old Empire behind and so going forward apply the rising of the Two-Horned Beast to what times we please No There is some particular instant of time when the Beast rose up out of the Earth when his Name or Universal Headship began And thiâ—… must needs be at the Decree under the Emperor Phocas when it was determined That the Bishop of Rome should be Head over all Churches So then if we lay these Three Principles together First That the Beast had a determinate Beginning of his Kingdom Secondly That this determinate Beginning was after the Fall of the Empire Thirdly That it was after the Fall of the Empire in such times when the Name or Universal Headship of the Bishop of Rome began first publickly and solemnly to be established If we put all these Three together we shall inevitably piâ—…ch upon that time when the Decree went forth That the Bishop of Rome should be the Head over all Churches For if we look to the Stories we shall find that presently after the Fall of the Empire the Bishop of Constantinople was to have equal Priviledges with the Bishop of Rome by the Decree of the Council of Calcedon Nay further The Bishop of Constantinople was in a fairer possibility for the Universal Headship than was he of Rome Only then in the time under the Emperor Phocas the Decree was Enacted That the Bishop of Rome should be the Head of all Churches And from that time downward this hath been a Priviledge perpetually annexed to that Chair And so then we have the true beginning of the rising of the Two-Horned Beast out of the Earth And it is rightly and Apocalyptically applied â—…o the times by the Position of the Three Principles aforenamed But here Bellarmine and Baronius deny That the Universal Headship began in the time of the Emperor Phocas For saith Bellarmine Phocas did not Ordain this by way of a new Institution but only by way of Declaration of a thing ever before Acknowledged in the Church In Answer to this Mornay in his History of the Papacie telleth us That all Historians down from that time as Paulus Diaconus Freculphus Rhegino Anastasius Sabelliâ—…us Blondus Pomponius Laetus and others agree in this beginning Progress 22. pag. 118. And for Baronius he saith An. 606. Therefore what did Phocas bestow upon the Roman Church Nothing truly Only he did Declare by his Sentence That the Name of the Oecumenical Bishop was unlawfully Usurped by the Bishop of Constantinople when it was due Romanae tantum Ecclesiae only to the Roman Church I cannot but admire at the boldness of this great Annalist that he should go so palpably against the Stories of the Church and against some chief Records of their own For if we look a little before in the times of Gregory the Great we shall finde that there was a sharp contest betwixt him and the Bishop of Constantinople about the Primacy For Iohn the Fourth sirnamed the Easter Bishop of Constantinople did begin to assume the Title of Universal Bishop about the year of the Lord 580 26 years before the matter was determined for the Bishop of Rome He was the more imboldened to do this because he saw the Seat of the Empire established at Constantinople and the City of Rome besieged by the Lombards And consequently the Bishop of that City brought to a low ebb Now these attempts of the Bishops of Constantinople they of Rome did most strongly oppose but none more than Gregory the Great as may appear by sundry passages in his Epistles at this very day In them we find every-where that he doth strongly Dispute against the Name and Title of Universal Bishop and doth say in effect That it is the Name of the Beast He doth again and again inculcate That the Title is new prophane contrary to the scope of the Gospel and the Use of the Church And whereas Bellarmine and Baronius have this creep-hole that he did only inveigh against the encroachments of the Bishop of Constantinople he doth again and again repeat That none of his Predecessours did ever use such a prophane Title Nullus decessorum meorum hoc tam profano vocabulo uti consuevit lib. 4. Epist. 80. But that which is most to our purpoâ—…e he doth everywhere place the formality of Antichristianism in the Universal Headship And they that affect so to be called he doth expresly term them the praecursors and fore-runners of Antichrist To let pass all others we will recite those words of his as they are in his sixth Book and thirtieth Epistle to the Emperor Mauritius Consider saith he that when Antichrist shall call himself God the matter it self is but small and frivolous yet most pernitious If you look to the quality of the word it consisteth only of two Syllables but if you regard the weight of iniquity the matter is very great For I may boldly say That whosoever calleth himself or desireth to be called by others The Universal Priest or Bishop is in his elation of minde the forerunner of Antichrist In elatione suâ Antichristum praecurrit Because in like pride he preferreth himself before others And in his Fourth Book Epist. 34. he writeth to Constantia the Empress Be it far saith he that your times should thus be defiled with the Exaltation of one man and then addeth In hâc ejus superbiâ quid aliud nisi propinqua jaâ—… Antichristi esse tempora designatur By this Arrogancy what else is portended but that the time of Antichrist is now at hand And more fully to Iohn himself he useth these words lib. 4. Epist. 38. Tu quid Christo Universalis scilicet Ecclesiae capiti in extremi judicii dicturus es examine qui cuncta ejus membra tibimet conaris Universalis appellatione supponere What wilt thou answer to Christ the Head of the Universal Church in the tryal of the Day of Iudgement seeing that by this Name Universal thou seekest to inthral the Members of his Bodie to thy self And that which maketh more to our purpose he telleth him That the times concerning the coming of Antichrist begin to be fulfilled and that there is â—…ow a performance of the Prophecies Omnia enim quae praedicta sunt fiunt Rex superbiae prope est quod dici nefas est sacerdotum est praeparatus exercitus All Prophecies begin now to be fulfilled and that which I dread to speak the King of Pride is at hand and an Army of Priests do attend him Now for these and such-like passages between Gregory and Iohn of Constantinople I cannot think otherwise of them but that they did happen by the singular Providence of God to excite the world to look after the Revelation of the man of sin For as when our Lord Christ was born at Bethlehem there was a hurly-burly in Iudaea the star appeared the wise men came to Ierusalem and the whole City was troubled What was the end of God in all this but to stir them
when Herod was King of the Iews Sol. The Answer is clear That though Herod was King of the Jews yet Cyreneus was the principal Agent of the Romans in the Tax and Iudea was but a Member annexed to the Province of Syria Maldonate upon the place to my apprehension speaketh satisfactorily For saith he Cyreneus was not the Governor of Judea but of Syria but because Judea did then belong to the Province of Syria as all Authors do deliver it was his Office to tax not only Syria but Judea also And in very deed much is spoken in the Roman Story That Iudea was a Member annexed and Iosâ—…phus calleth it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Apendix or the Additament of Syria If we go to the Original we shall find in the Stories That when the Seleucian Kingdom was destroyed Syria and Iudea both together came under the Power of the Romans by the means of Pompeâ—… the Great And here we set the beginning of the Roman as the Fourth Metal-Kingdom But because Spanhemius doth seem to go another way and doth stand upon it That Iudea was not a Member annexed to Syria till the time of Archelaus when Iudea was made a Province Let him now give his Answer Why the Birth of Christ is recorded by the Evangelist to be in the times of the Oecumenical Tax of the Roman World His Answer is this Ut non tantum res tam illustris Charactere temporis illustri consignaretur sed tali qui responderet vaticiniis Propheticis not only that so famous a matter should be decyphered by so famous a Character of time but by such a famous Character of time which should Answer the Predictions of the Prophets And then in particular he citeth those words of the Prophecie of Daniel In the dayes of these Kingdoms shall the God of Heaven raise up a Kingdom that never shall be destroyed chap. 2. vers 44. And then he concludeth upon the Premises in these words Descriptio enim Iudaeorum sub Augusto erat publica servitutis professio tessera Obsequii quod debebatur Principi Extero adeóque 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 advenisse 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 illud 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 quo Messias nasci debuit lapis sine manibus è monte excindi The Tax of the Iews under Augustus was a publick profession of their Servitude and a Badge of that Homage which was due to a Forreign Prince and therefore a clear Demonâ—…ation that that fulness of time was come in which the Messiah should be born and in which the Stone should be cut out of the Mountain without hands From these words of his we do conclude That in the sense of the Evangelists the Roman is the Fourth and last Metal-Kingdom For when the Lord Christ was born the Jews did yield their Homage and Obedience to the Romans as to those that were set over them But if we do enquire after the time when they came to be Homagers it was at the time of Pompey the Great Therefore in the sense of the Evangelists we must there set the beginning of the Roman as the Fourth Metal-Kingdom ARGUMENT V. That which doth necessarily spring from theâ—…r Principles who do most authentically expound the Monarchies that is the true beginning of the Roman as the Fourth Metal-Kingdom But the beginning of the Roman at the time of their Free-state when the Church came first within the Verge of their Dominion is such Ergo. The Major is plain For we cannot reject that beginning of the Roman as the Fourth Metal-Kingdom which doth necessarily spring from the Principles of the most Authentick Expositors We do in substance take that for truth which is implyed as that which is plainly expressed But for the Minor That the beginning of the Roman Monarchy was at the time of their Free-stare and that this doth spring from the Principles of the most Authentick Expositors This is proved by the enumeration of Singulars First The most approved Interpreters do hold That all the Four Tyrannical Empires are compacted into one Image and though they differ in some particulars yet they all agree in the greatness of Dominion In this sense nothing doth exclude the Roman from being one of the Four Secondly They agree That all these Tyrannical Empires compacted into one Image continue a succession of that Lordship which the first scil the Babylonian did take from the People of the Jews If this be so the Roman must begin as the Fourth of Daniel's Kingdoms at that time only when the Church of the Jews came under their Dominion For though the Romans were a mighty State and had gained to themselves a great Power in the West yet they were not the sucsessors of Nebuchadnezzar in that Monarchy which he had begun till they had taken in the Eastern Countries and brought the Jewish Church within the Power of their Kingdom But when this matter was once effected then did the Roman begin as the Fourth Metal-Kingdom And this doth necessarily arise from the Principles and Foundations of such as have best Expounded the Metal-Kingdoms Object But some perhaps may alledge You have formerly taught That the Metal-Kingdoms do not only respect the People of the Iews but the People of the Gentiles also when the Gentiles come to be the Church of Christ. Sol. This I confess to be a Truth Yet withal in the right stating of the beginning of the Four Kingdoms we must have only respect to the Nation of the Jews For when all these Kingdoms began and in particular the Fourth and the last there was no other Church in all the world but that of the Jews only Afterwards by the Preaching of the Apostles the Church did greatly encrease and the whole Empire in its just Latitude from East to West from North to South was the Seat and the Place of the Church And hence it is That the Spirit in the Revelation doth discover her State according to the changes of time in the Empire of the Romans But yet however The Doctrine of the forementioned Interpreters will strongly inforce the beginning of the Roman when Iudea came under the Power of that People seeing there was no Church in all the world but that of the Jews only Object But if it be further Alledged Why do you call this a Principle of the most Approved Interpreters seeing you your self do not Allow their Exposition in some Particulars Sol. So far forth as the Exposition is Approved I do build upon it and it doth strongly inforce the Conclusion And for the kinds of Interpreters I will shew who are the most Approved and why they are so called After such times as it pleased the Lord to Reveal to Daniel the Four Ages of the Church under the Type and Similitude of Four Metals in the Image this Discovery hath been variously received Some only having a glaring light of the Truth have turned it into Fables and it is very probable That Ovid in his Metamorphosis
Roman Obedience or that all had the Mark of the Beast who were Subjects under that Jurisdiction To speak properly they sin onely against the Kingly Power of Christ and his Regal Office as Mediator that submit to the Roman or rather to the Antichristian Dominion in these last times Princ. 12. The Mark of the Beast ought so in special to be expounded that the whole Company which câ—…rrieth the Mark may be set in direct opposition to the 144000 who had their Fathers Name written in their Forehead This is clearly proved from the collation of two Scriptures Chap. 13. ver 16 17 18. with Chap. 14. ver 2 3 4 5. In the former Scripture we have a description of those that worshipped the Image and received the Mark and immediaiely after them there is the description of those that were with the Lamb upon Mount Sion and had their Fathers Name written in their Forehead It is plain then That there is an immediate Antithesis or Contraposition betwixt the Lamb and the Beast the Name of the Lamb and the Name of the Beast the Followers of the Lamb and the Followers of the Beast There is then a perfect contrariety betwixt these two as may be seen in the whole Body of the Prophecy They therefore who will rightly expound the Book of the Revelation must diligently observe the Contraposition and by the one expound the meaning of the other contrary But withall this Rule ought to be remembred That oppositio must be in eodem circa idem the opposition must be in the same and about the same matter And therefore to apply the matter to particulars I cannot see how Mr. Potter doth proceed by this Rule in that Contraposition of his between the Number of the Beast and the Numbers of the New Ierusalem First whereas he opposeth the Number 144 to the Number 666 he should have proceeded in eodem and made the opposition in the same matter If therefore 144000 be the Characteristical Number of the Subjects of the Lambs Kingdome then 666000 should be the Number of the Subjects of the Beast and so Subject will be opposed to Subject and Number to Number Secondly Mr. Potter opposeth the Number of the Beast to the Numbers of the New Ierusalem which cannot properly be said to be oppositio in eodem an opposition in and about the same matter For in the true Apocalyptical method the Beast is not so much opposed to the New Ierusalem as to the Lamb his Riâ—…al in Kingly Power If we will speak plainly the New Ierusalem is opposed to the Whore of Babylon the gospel-Gospel-Church to the Roman Idolatrous Church For after that the Saints had sung their Halelujahs at the destruction of the Great Whore these words are immediately added Let us be glad and rejoyce for the Marriage of the Lamb is come and his wife hath made her self ready Chap. 19. ver 1 2 3 4 c. Therefore the contrariety standeth more immediately betwixt the Lamb and the Beast the New Ierusalem and the Whore of Babylon Therefore the Number of the Beast is not so immediately opposed to the Dimensions of the New Ierusalem And yet further in the opposition between the Lamb and the Beast between the Whore of Babylon and the New Ierusalem we must go so far onely as may be well warranted by Scripture or by necessary deduction from Scripture And therefore whereas Mr. Potter layeth down this Maxime The description of the New Jerusalem is not for this reason onely set down in Scripture that by it the knowledge of the true Church of Christ might be described but that the false Church of Antichrist by way of Antithesis might by the same description mutatis mutandis be also manifestly revealed pag. 122. This Position of that learned Author I do in part receive but yet I do not think that we are to extend it to every particular without any restriction We reade in the description of the New Ierusalem of 12 Gates 12 Apostles 12 Angels 12 Foundations and yet I do not think that we have warrant to look after such a set Number of Gates of Angels of Apostles of Foundations in the City of Rome And yet further if we could finde such certain Numbers in the City aforesaid it were not to the purpose in hand For in the true sense of the Prophecy not Rome within such Walls or Gates but the Romish Church in such a largeness and compass of Territories is immediately opposed to the New Ierusalem or the gospel-Gospel-Church that shall be in the latter times at the end and destruction of the Beasts Kingdome We reade in the slaughter of the Witnesses that they did lie slain in the streets of the great City spiritually called Sodom and Egypt and where our Lord was Crucified Chap. 11. ver 8. Now there is none that will say that they did lie slain in the streets of Rome literally so called but within the verge and precincts of the Romish Church This properly is the Great City that is opposed to the New Ierusalem to the Holy City to the Lambs Wife that comes from God out of Heaven Princ. 13. The Number ought so in special to be expounded that it may appear to be 666 in that method and way of account which is called the Number of a Man For so it is expresly said Let him that hath wisdome count the Number of the Beast for it is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Number of a Man They therefore who will have Lateinos or some such Grammatical word to be the Number of the Name how do they make it appear That this is the Number of a Man or that it is the manner of men to calculate States and Governments by Anagams or Numeral Letters of any Grammatical Name whatsoever Princ. 14. The Number ought so in special to be counted not according to the subtilties of humane invention but according to the nature of the subject matter and the manner of the Holy Spirit in such-like descriptions For the nature of the subject matter the great sin of the world is in receiving the Name and the Mark of the Name And shall we think when the Lord Christ speaketh to his Churches concerning these things that only they who have skill in the subtilties and mysteries of Art shall have ability to understand his meaning Surely though the Number it self may be more mysterious yet the Matter Numbred must be in more open view Secondly for the manner and use of the Spirit in such-like descriptions his use is to speak Parabolically and Typically and yet we finde no one instance of the discovery of a Government by the extraction of the square-root Very often we finde when he speaketh of the rising of a Government or the destruction of a State he doth usually Number such a Chain or Line of years to each such remarkable occurrence and he doth refer us either to the Chronologie of the Bible or to the Stories of the Church These
Dead and the taking up of those that should remain to meet the Lord in the air Hereupon certain among the Thessalonians mistaking the meaning of the Apostle did conclude That the Day of Judgement and the general Assembly of the Saints was then at hand Now to diminish this opinion the Apostle doth exhort them in these words I beseech you Brethren 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for the cause of the coming of Christ to Iudgement 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for the matter or cause of our gathering together unto him that ye be not soon shaken in minde nor be troubled either by Spirit by word or by letter as from us as that the day of Christ is at hand This sheweth plainly That they did mistake the Apostle in his former Epistle and did understand his words as though Christ should come presently to Judgement Now for their better information he proceedeth Vers. 3. Let no man deceive you by any means for that day shall not come except there come a falling away first and the Man of Sin be revealed the Son of Perdition He plainly sheweth what things should precede the coming of Christ to wit A general defection from the Faith and the revelation of the Man of Sin And this I take it doth fully open the meaning of our Saviours words in the Gospel concerning the woful state of the Church in the latter times He speaketh plainly that many false Christs shall arise and shall deceive if it were possible the very Elect Matth. 24. 5 23 24. Now to what times can we better refer this then to the times of Antichrist to the times of the Apostacy in which men shall depart from the Faith and shall give heed to the Doctrine of Devils 1 Tim. 4. 1. Now whereas the Apostle saith That there shall come a falling away first Some of the Ancients as Hierom did understand this of the defection from the Roman Empire Though this be a truth yet it is not the meaning of the Text For the falling away here meant is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a falling away from the true Faith or from the pure Worship of God So the word is used commonly in the New Testament and the sense of the Text doth plainly shew That God gave men up to delusions to believe lies because they did not receive the love of the truth that they might be saved The words then do not intend a Civil but a Spiritual apostacy or falling away Further whereas it is said And the Man of Sin shall be revealed the Son of Perdition Here is a great question Whether the times of the Apostacy and the Revelation of the Man of Sin do begin all at one instant Some will have this to be a Figure which the Rhetoricians call Hendyadys But they are deceived for the words are plain that a falling away from the Faith should be by degrees and when this Apostacy should come to some ripeness and maturity then the Man of Sin should be revealed For how is it possible that the Christian Church should degenerate so far from Christ to take Antichrist for her Head but she must be moulded prepared and wrought by degrees for such a rebellion And for that expression The Man of Sin whereas the Romish Interpreters and Hugo Grotius in his Tract de Antichristo do take this for one individual Man herein they are monstrous absurd For if he be one Man as they suppose then the Apostle tells us That he was secretly conceived in those first times the Mystery of Iniquity did then begin to work And he further addeth that he shall continue till the last times whom the Lord shall consume with the word of his mouth and shall abolish with the brightness of his coming Upon these grounds if the Man of Sin be one individual Man he must needs be very long-lived he must live in a manner from the first to the second coming of Christ. But leaving them to make good their own conceits to speak positively The Man of Sin meant in the Text is A State or a Succession of Men in a State or Government for Iohn in the Revlation doth call this Tyrannical Empire by the Title of a Beast which all do know in the sense of the Prophets doth intend an Idolatrous or a persecuting Empire He is called The Man of Sin by a singular Emphasis as being exceeding sinful and the cause of sin to others for so it is said in the Scriptures Ieroboam the son of Nebat that made Israel to sin And if he be the Man of Sin it is no hard matter to render a reason why he should be called The childe of Perdition This Title was sometimes given to Iudas While I was with them in the world I kept them in thy Name those that thou gavest me have I kept and none of them is lost save the Son of Perdition Joh. 17. 12. In the next words the Apostle doth describe him according to his nature Ver. 4. Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God or is worshipped So that he as God sitteth in the Temple of God shewing himself that he is God For his opposing himself this is spoken in relation to Christ as he is King Priest and Prophet So the Beast in the Revelat. is set in immediate opposition against the Lamb as if he were another Christ the Rival of his Kingly Power and Dignity And whereas he doth exalt himself above all that is called God Interpreters do ordinarily take this for Magistrates whether Inferior or Superior above all which Antichrist must advance himself The expression above all that is called God is a style too diminuent to express the true God by There be maâ—…y that be called Gods yet to us there is but one God 1 Cor. 8. 5. This is spoken of Magistrates that they are called Gods and above all these Antichrist as he doth pretend himself Universal Head of the Church shall exalt himself Further whereas it is said that he sits in the Temple of God this is meant of the Church of God where God is worshipped in the time of the New Testament as he was in the Temple of Ierusalem of old Now that the Church is called The Temple of God is clear from that of the Apostle Know ye not that ye are the Temple of God and The Temple of God is holy which ye are 1 Cor. 3. 16. The result of the whole speech is this That Antichrist shall sit in the Universal Church as in his Episcopal See for so the word in the Original doth signifie Cathedraticâ potestate praesidere By these words it is plain That the formality of Antichristianism lies in the Universal Headship For when the Apostle doth describe the Great Antichrist by his nature he saith That he sitteth in the Church of God as the supreme Lord and Ruler Therefore if that be true which I have so largely dispured in the Body of the Treatise That the Name of the
of holiness that very godly men themselves might be deceived by it For the clearing of this let us consider That the Universal Headship of the Bishop of Rome is built upon the Primacy of Peter over the rest of the Apostles and for the Primacy of Peter there were some beginnings thereof in the very Apostles days His Authority was so great that it seemed to be a Law Paul chargeth him that he did compel the Gentiles to be circumcised Gal. 2. 13 14. I demand then How did he compel them Not by Precept or Command not by any coercive Power but by his Example His Authority was so great in the Consciences of the People of those times that is seemed to be a Law And Barnabas himself also was drawn away with their dissimulation S. Paul also an eminent Apostle seemed to be nothing in comparison of Peter for so he expresseth himself Iames and Iohn and Cephus which seemed to be Pillars Gal. 2. 9. Such credit had Peter with the Faithful in those first times And truly after his death it was not diminished for the ancient Fathers of the Church conceiving him to be Bishop of Rome did ascribe more then too much to his Successors and to that Succession for his sake At least the Bishops of Rome themselves did take too much upon them under that consideration And this did go on and increase so by degrees that it did never leave till it came at that pitch at last that the Bishop of Rome was declared Universal Head of the Church And this Universal Headship we call the Name of the Beast and the time of the Institution and remarkable appearance thereof the Number of the Name And look as the ancient Church having a Promise of the coming of Christ were held in expectation about the time of his coming So the Christian Church being forewarned of the coming of Antichrist were also buâ—…ied about the times of his coming Now for the means to understand the time when it should be First they were to look to the Revolution of Empires Secondly to the Number of years to the setting up of that State or Government For the Revolution of Empires the Apostle saith He that letteth will let till he be taken out of the way All the Ancients did understand this of the fall of the Empire and when the Empire should be removed then they did believe that the Man of Sin should be revealed in his time Again we have further proved That the time of his coming is not onely discoverable by the Changes and Revolutions of Empire but by the Number of years For if you reckon 666 years from the beginning of the Roman as the fourth Metal-Kingdome you will come punctually precâ—…ely and determinately to the Universal Headship of the Bishop of Rome under the Emperor Phocas And this is that which the Apostle dâ—… mainly treat of in this Chapter That when Aâ—… 〈◊〉 â—…e shall sit as God in the Temple of God that is he 〈◊〉 sit in the Church as in his Epâ—…opal â—…ee From the â—…ope of the whole it is clear That the formality of 〈◊〉 dâ—…h lie in the Universal Headship And for the time of the revelation thereof the Apostle saith It must be after the removal of the old Empire and then the Man of Sin shall be revealed in his time Now this time can be no other but in the decree of the Universal Headship under the Emperor Pâ—…ocas 666 years from the beginning of the Roman as the fourth Metal-Kingdome And so Iohn in the Revelation and Paul in the Thessalonians do agree in one and the same sense and both Scriptures do facere paria Now then to gather up all into one sum Seeing the truth of our Interpretation is verified in all the particulars of the Text Rev. 13. Seeing also it is confirmed by the whole sense of the Chapter Rev. 17. Seeing also it agreeth with all the Principles and Grounds throughout the whole Prophecy And last of all seeing it doth fully conâ—…ent with the scope of the Apostle in the Epistle to the Thâ—…ssalonians We may safely conclude That we have given a right Exposition of the meaning of the Spirit and have truly shewed what is meant by the Beast his Name Image Mark and the Number of his Name Now we will come to the practical part to the use of the Point CHAP. XII The Application of the whole 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is made first of those things tâ—…at are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 HEre if we apply our selves to the Times we shall finde That the term â—…ntichristian is used by sundry sorts of men for sundry kindes of Intereâ—… â—…ome do use it aright and others do dangerouslâ—… and schismatically traduce by the misapplication thereof For seeing the great sin of the world hath consisted in this In subjecting themselves to an Anti-Christian Authority and to the Laws maâ—…e by that Power And seeing iâ—… is the duty of all true Christians to separate and depart from such an Authority as being so diametrally contrarâ—… to the Crown and Dignity of Christ their Soveraign Lord In this point it is not to be doubted but the Protestant Churches have rightly rejected the Beast his Name Mark Image and the Number of his Name as they have cast away the Authority of the Bishop of Rome and the Laws as they stand by that Power and Headship In all the passages of the â—…atise afâ—…regoing we have largely proved That the Universal Headship of the Bishop of Rome is the Name directâ—… opposed to the Name Pâ—…wer and Headship of the Lamâ—… And therefore the Protestant Churches as formerly so now â—…ave just Reason to depart from the Church of Rome as she haâ—…h departed from Christ. Now the Friends and the Followers of the Separation do endeavor in these times to go in tâ—…e same method for by this they think to free themselves from Schism When they are put upon it to give a Reason Why they depart from the Ministery from the Ordinances and the Publick Worship they tell us The Ministery is Antichristian they have not renounced their Calling by the Bishops In a word they call all that Antichristian which hath been used in Antichristian times and hath a conveyance and transmission down to us by the means of Antichristian men Which Position of theirs as it is most erroneous and false so it doth draw many dangerous consequences along with it Therefore to prevent such cunning Tricks of Legerdemain we will lay down the truth distinctly First we will shew the things that are directly Antichristian Secondly the things that are Anti-Christian by Analogie and Reduction Thirdly the things that are Antichristian by the Position of some Circumstances as they are truly Christian by the Position of others Fourthly the things that are Antichristian falsly so called For that which is â—…ruly Antichristian all such are said to have the Mark of the Beast in their Forehead and Right-hand For the Mark in the Greek it is said He caused all to
the Church of God doth come too near to the formality of Anti-Christianism Antiochus Epiphanes in the Prophecy of Daniel is described as a mighty King or Potentate in the Seleucian Line but when he was not contented with his Power which was great enough but would exalt himself against the Prince of the Host and tread down the Sanctuary and do all things after his own will in this he was a figure of the Antichrist to come Dan. 8. 12. But that we may speak more distinctly in a matter of so great moment we do desire to lay down this necessary caution in the beginning Let us then distinguish betwixt the Essence and the Exercise of the power For the Essence we do willingly acknowledg that the Lord hath ordained Magistrates to be over the people for his own glory and the publick good and that Magistracy is the Ordinance of God Rom. 13. v. 1 2 3. And though he hath not tied any Nation or People so strictly and precisely to this or that particular Form of Government yet his pleasure is That the People should obey the Government that is set over them In this case If they resist the Power they resist the Ordinance of God and draw great guilt upon their Souls for their resisting If we look to the Nation and People of the Jews they did meet with the greatest Changes and Alterations of State yet in each Alteration the will of the Lord was that they should obey the Civil Authority set over them for the preservation of the Publick Peace The hardest Change that they ever met withal was the translation of their State from the house of David yet they were to pray for the peace of the King of Babylon seek the good of the City whither they were carried Captive All this plainly sheweth That Magistracy is the Ordinance of God and the Lord would have his own Command to be observed by his People though they did live under Heathen Kings Secondly we are to consider the Exercise of the Power And here First is the lawful execution and Secondly the exorbitancy and excess of the Power above Law For the lawful use of the Power we do willingly yield That the Supreme Magistrate hath not onely Authority in the Common-wealth but he hath also great Power in and about the affairs of the Church And this thing we have often incuâ—…cated in the Body of the Treatise to wit That the Reign of Christ doth begin upon the Earth when the Kingdoms States and Governments of this World become Nursing Fathers to the Church And so we do affirm That it doth appertain to the Higher Powers to take order that Unity and Peace be preserved in the Church that the Truth be kept pure and intire that horrid Blasphemies be supprest that the Ordinances of God be duly setled that the profane the ignorant and rude body of the People who of themselves would never call upon the Name of the Lord be brought by their Power and Authority to the publick places of Worship For the better effecting of which they have Power to call Synods to be present at them and to provide That whatsoever is transacted in them be according to the minde of God In this sense we may not doubt to say That the Chief Magistrate in every Common-wealth is the Supreme Head in Causes Ecclesiastical that is to say The Supreme Head in Causes Ecclesiastical that do of right appertain to him and do fall under his cognizance by the Law-Divine In the forementioned cases he is the Delegate and Vice-gerent of Christ upon the Earth And this we take to be the lawful Exercise of the Power Thirdly there is the Hyperbole or Excess of the Power when the Magistrate is not contented with his own limits or bounds but shall further endeavor to carry all by Will and Prerogative in the Church of Christ. This is that which comes nearest to the formality of Antichristianism for Antichrist is said to sit in the Temple of God shewing himself that he is God If therefore the Supreme Magistrate shall do the same in the Church of Christ if he shall controll and do all things after his own Will in the house of Christ this is to resemble the Great Antichrist and to do the same in effect which he doth But for this we have a clear example in Steven Gardiner Bishop of Winchester who of all others is noted by Forraign Divines to cry up such an excessive Prerogative of the Kings of England in Causes Ecclesiastical For he did not shun to maintain That it was at the pleasure of the King to abrogate Statutes and institute new Rites in the worship of God yea he further said That it was lawful for the King to forbid the people the use of the Cup in the Lords Supper and the use of Marriage to the Ministers And the â—…round of all this was Because the King was Supreme Head in Causes Ecclesiastical Now in way of opposition to this the Forraign Divines have risen with great indignation These are the words of Dr. Rivet in his Explication of the Decalogue Edit 2. pag. 203. Qui enim Papatus doctrinam adhuc fovebat ut posteà apparuit novum Papatum in personâ Regis erigebat For he meaning Steven Gardiner aforesaid who did as yet nourish the Doctrine of the Papacy as after it appeared did erect a new Papacy in the Person of the King And Calvin in his Commentary upon Amos Chap. 7 ver 13. speaking of them who did ascribe the Title of Supreme Head in Causes Ecclesiastical to Hen. 8. King of England hath these words Hoc me semper gravitèr vulneravit quum vocarent ipsum summum Ecclesiae Caput sub Christo. This hath grievously wounded me always when they called him the Supreme Head of the Church under Christ. He did take this for no other then an incroachment upon the Prerogative of Christ. And he might well do so if we look to the Interpretation of Steven Gardiner aforementioned with whom he had to do But the learned man doth proceed in these words It is certain if Kings do their duty they are both Patrons of Religion and Nursing Fathers of the Church as Isaiah calls them Chap. 49. ver 23. This therefore is principally required of Kings That they use the Sword wherewith they are furnished for the maintaining of Gods Worship But in the mean time there are inconsiderate men who make them too Spiritual and this fault reigns up and down Germany yea spreads too much in these Countries And now we perceive what fruit springs from this root viz. That Princes and all that are in the place of Government think themselves to be so Spiritual that there is no other Ecclesiastical Government And this Sacriledge creeps amongst us because they cannot measure their Office with certain and lawful bounds but are of opinion they cannot reign unless they abolâ—…sh all the Authority of the Church and become the Chief Iudges both in
the house upon his Children by a violent wind he could do any thing when he was let loose And so truly the times of Antichrist were the times of the loosing of Satan God did permit him to do great things to deceive that kinde of people who had forsaken the plain way to Salvation written in the Word to look after dispensations of a higher light by Visions Dreams and Revelations Now then to make Application of all these things to our times my speech and exhortation is to them who amongst us have departed from Ordinances and from Scriptures and are now for extraordinary Revelations my earnest desire is to them That they would lay these things to heart If they go on if they build upon such uncertain grounds let them seriously consider whether they may not be deluded by the power of Satan and whether God in his just Judgment may not deliver them over to believe lies I will not make mention of that Sect which goeth under the Name of the Quakers what they are and who they are God knows I do desire to contain my self in such things as I have some experience of There have been some friends of my familiarity heretofore whom I did conceive to be people of good hope these as I have observed have departed first from the Ministery and then have come to slight the Written Word and then last of all to hang upon Revelations and extraordinary Enthusiasms of the Spirit I have seen a Book scattered abroad by these men it beareth the Title of Gerard Winstanley his new Law of Righteousness The argument of the Treatise is That the Propriety of Goods is the Curse laid upon the Creature That all things should lie in common and that the whole earth should be brought to a Publick Treasury For probation of this as he doth make some mention of the practise of the Apostles in the Primitive times and that which shall be in the future glorious estate of the Church so for the more special confirmation of this he doth depend upon an extraordinary Revelation as it is expressed pag. 57. In the beginning of the Treatise he doth distinguish three Ministrations the Ministration of Moses of Christ and of the Spirit And saith he as the worshippers in Moses Ministration envied those that worshipped the Son of Man So those who now worship Christ at a distance in their several Congregations and Forms and are most zealous these are the bitterest enemies to the Ministration of Christ in the Spirit pag. 14. But further when he comes to expound himself concerning the Ministration of the Spirit he slights all outward Forms and doth look onely to inward Teachings Now I will speak a word or two to the followers of this way I will not say in positive terms that they are led by the delusions of Satan neither will I judge of their final estate they stand or fall to their own Master yet nevertheless I may be so bold seeing they have so often in their mouths the Whore of Babylon and Come out of Babylon my people and that every thing is Antichristian not onely in Mâ—…nistery Magistracy but also in the propriety of goods to desire them to look home to their own hearts whether they are not most Antichristian themselves or whether that Spirit which did so strongly deceive the Antichristian world doth not deceive them also when they do believe and profess such things as are directly and diametrally contrary to Scripture For these men though I do desire to speak moderately of them yet in some particulars they are delivered over to deep delusions when they go so palpably against the written Word and pretend extraordinary Revelation It were good in this case that they would judge themselves that they do not prove in the event the greatest promoters of the Kingdome of the Beast I am perswaded that Gregory the Great was in the main a godly and zealous man yet it appeareth by his Dialogues that he did run into foul errors into Idolatry into wil-worship and the like when he left the Scriptures to follow Revelations This is the only word which I do desire to speak to them Secondly here is also a word of Admonition for all those who endevour in these times to extinguish Book-learning For though it is a most certain truth and much to be lamented that men have looked too much to Scholarship and have made an Idol of it for they have not regarded the inward teachings of the Spirit in the heart nor the Spiritual understanding of the Mystery of Salvation which are the principal qualifications to prepare and fit men for the Ministery These things I confess have been too much slighted and the slighting and neglect of them hath been a great cause of hurt to the Church of God and damage to the Souls of men This shall never be denied by me For how may we probably conceive that a Minister will come home with the Demonstration and Evidence of the Spirit so powerfully at least to the Conscience of the Hearer when he himself is altogether a stranger to these inward workings How can he so effectually bring home the lost Sons of men to Christ when he himself never had a true feeling of his lost condition They must needs then run into a great extream who dote so much upon Secular Learning and do neglect the chiefest thing But yet on the other side they go as far out of the way who would have this kinde of learning to be extinguished in the Church of God This I much fear may be one mean to throw the world back again upon Visions Dreams and Revelations to set up the Kingdome of Antichrist once more Now whereas it is alledged That there were excellent Preachers in the Apostles times when there were no Universities nor was there any Humane Learning acquired by study Though this should be granted those extraordinary Revelations are now ceased Therefore we must be contented to go in the ordinary way and not to look for those extraordinary distributions which were in the first times They who are for the dissolving of Universities and for the total cashiering of Humane Learning let them stay untill there be a renovation and a return of these extraordinary gifts unto the Churches Some are of opinion that such times shall come if that be true let them be patient till they do come However as the case doth stand for the present I believe they who take away Humane Learning do what in them lies to reduce the Antichristian times All do agree that in these times the Church was in an eclipse or great darkness Now let us inquire after the time of the emersion how the Church came out and the time of the immersion how she was brought into this darkness For the time of the emersion most do pitch upon it that she waded out of obscurity at the time of Luther when the eternal Gospel began to be preached to every Kindred Tongue and
to be laid aside And because they reade when the Beast did bear rule that he did compel all the world to receive a Mark and that none might buy nor sell but they that had the Mark in their Forehead and in their Right-hand thereupon they gather That all Coercion in matters of Religion is after the Antichristian form And because they would stand far enough from that Patern they think it best and most comporting with the future glory of the Church to leave all to a boundless Toleration Nay some learned men of good note have gone so far that they look upon the Edicts of Constantine and the succeeding Princes as upon the Bottom-stones of the Tower of Babel And their ground is this Because the Laws which the aforementioned Princes did make for the suppressing of Blasphemies and Idolatries were afterward perverted and turned against the true Members of Christ in all Antichristian times We willingly yield That great care is to be used in this matter yet withall we are to consider That the use of the Coercive Power as it is truly Christian by the Position of some Circumstances may be Antichristian by the Position of others the Circumstances do vary the case The Papists are not Antichristian in this as they compel men to come to the Publick Worship of God for some godless and wretched men would never worship God nor call upon his Name but their Antichristianity lieth in this as they compel men to an Idolatrous Will-worship of their own devising They are not Antichristian in that as they hold the Government of the Church to be Monarchical or that there is one Oecumenical Bishop of all so Christ is the true Head of the Church and the great Bishop of our Souls 1 Pet. 2. 25. and Chap. 5. v. 3. But their Antichristianism lieth in this as they make the Bishop of Rome Universal Bishop and do compel all men to be subject to his Laws as to the Laws of Christ. We must distinguish the Coercive Power for it may be either Christian or Antichristian as the Circumstances do stand Nebuchadnezzar did set up an Image and commanded all the States of his Empire under pair of death to fall down and worship it In this act of Compulsion he did come in the nearest resemblance to the Beast in the Revelation and was no doubt a Type and Figure of the Antichrist that was to come But this doth not hold in every kinde for afterward we reade that the same Nebuchadnezzar did make a Decree That every Nation and Language that should speak any thing against the God of Shadrach Meshach and Abednego should be cut in pieces In this case we cannot say That the exercise of the Compulsory Power is Antichristian unless we will make it Antichristianism to restrain Idolaters that they should not blaspheme the Name of the true God I might here take occasion to make mention of the Law made by the King of Nineveh and his Nobles That all under that Government should fast and pray and that they should turn every one from the evil of his ways Though here was the use of the Compulsory Power yet none can say that they did symbolize with Antichrist in his Tyranny over the Consciences of men The Lord did turn from the greatness of his wrath and the commendation of their Repentance is upon record in the story of the Gospel From all that hath been said we may conclude As the exercise of the Coercive Power about matters of Religion may in some cases be Tyrannical and Antichristian so the practise of it in others may be holy and truly Christian and men do unadvisedly jumble and confound those things together which should be distinctly laid down Secondly many in these times think the Doctrine of the Reign of Christ for 1000 years and the glory of the Church too nearly to resemble the Antichristian Pomp and Magnificence Now say they these things cannot be applied to the Christian Church for as long as she is in this vale of tears she is liable to continual sufferings And indeed the practise of men hath been some way sutable to this opinion for seeing the great riches splendor magnificence and state of the Church of Rome that her Merchants are the great men of the earth they have set upon such a way of Reformation in casting out Romish Idolatries and Superstitions that they have left the true Church of Christ poor enough In many places the Maintenance is so bare that the Ministers have scarcely wherewithall to keep them upon the work In their Conscience the glory of the gospel-Gospel-Church must stand in penury and want of outward things because the Romish Antichristian Church hath enjoyed these things in so great plenty But in this point to my understanding they are greatly deceived for the Prophets and Iohn in the Revelation do everywhere speak of the glory of the Church that shall be that the Kings shall come to the beauty of her rising that they shall be Nursing-Fathers that they shall bring their glory to her Mr. Burroughs in his Lectures upon Hosea is very solid and copious upon the point And if these things be truly explained we may finde great comfort in the predictions of the Prophets But let us come to the Book of the Revelation and we shall there see things more clearly made cut It was the speech of the Saints at the destruction of the Whore of Babylon Let us be glad and rejoyce and give honour to him for the Marriage of the Lamb is come and his Wife hath made her self ready Rev. 19. 7. Now in the next Chapter it is explained what is meant by the Lambs Wife These are the words of the Angel to Iohn v. 9. Come hither and I will shew thee the Bride the Lambs Wife And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great high Mountain and shewed me that great City the Holy Ierusalem descending out of Heaven from God Here then it is clear that the New Ierusalem or the gospel-Gospel-Church in relation to her felicity in the latter days is termed 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that Great City in opposition to the greatness and magnificence of the Church of Rome or the Whore of Babylon which hath everywhere in the Prophecy such a transcendent Title ascribed to her The scope of the Text doth plainly shew that the Church upon the Earth shall injoy times of great glory But the great Question is concerning the New Ierusalem Whether this be meant of the state of the Church upon the Earth To the clearing of this let us look to the scope of the whole Prophecy In the Twelfth Chapter of the Revelation we reade and the first Verse That a Woman was clothed with the Sun and the Moon was under her feet and upon her head a Crown of twelve stars And she being with childe cried travelling in birth and pained to be delivered By the woman is meant the Primitive Church as she was in travel with
the other side I conceive That it is too high to call Hen. 8. or any other Supreme Magistrate an Head much more a good Head of the Church the eminency transcendency and sublimity of that Prerogative belonging to Christ alone Our Princes have used such a Title and in the sense of the Statute in a moderate way the people have ascribed it to them to wit a Spiritual Power Authority and Jurisdiction that ever have belonged to Kings and Princes which David Solomon the Kings of Iudah and Christian Emperours have ever exercised in their respective Dominions This no doubt hath been the sense of well-meaning men and so Mr. Bedel doth expound it in the forementioned place and pag. 56. But for my part being inlightned and better informed I pray God such Titles be no more used and let that passage Next under thee and thy Christ in all Causes Ecclesiastical in these His Majesties Dominions Supreme Head and Governour Let the exuberancy of such a Title pass among the iniquity of our holy things Our godly Friends have been offended at it our Enemies have insulted Experience hath shewed much danger in the use of it and the present Treatise I doubt not will shew what an evil thing it is to take away the Prerogative of Christ and to make other Heads of the Church in his room Of all men living the Erastians have greatest cause to look to this For let Princes be once told That there is no Church-Government in the Word of God and that they themselves are the sole Fountains of Church-Power By this means it will be effected That the Name and Power of Christ over his own Church will be plucked down and the Name and Headship of Princes will be onely set up In matters of this nature if you give an Inch men will take an Ell. Rather for acts past we should often think upon that expression of the Prophet I will pour upon the House of David and the inhabitants of Ierusalem the Spirit of grace and supplication and they shall look to him whom they have pierced Zach. 12. 10. Christ is not onely pierced in a literal sense when his body is run thorow with a Spear but he is pierced also when his Name and Headship is taken away from him and given to another So far as a whole Nation have been mediately or immediately directly or indirectly implicated and involved in such a sin so far I believe they ought to mourn If this be not done God perhaps may rebuke us when our Armies go forth against those that Worship the Beast and uphold his Name and Headship in enmity to the Government of Christ. Though not in the favour of the enemy yet we may be chastised for our own faults and the Lord may be provoked to appear against us When the Lamb went forth on his white Horse against the Beast and his Armies the Armies that followed were upon white Horses cloathed in fine linen white and clean Rev. 19. 14. Further also by the process of this Discourse information may be given to certain in these Times who being led by the meer shew and colour of some passages in the Prophesies do think it a part of their duty to level Magistracy abolish Laws and to turn all things up-side down in Church and Common-wealth Of such I may say That they mingle the precious Truths of God with Fables of their own commenting In the Metamorphosis of Ovid we reade of the Beginning of the World of the Chaos of the Giants heaping of Pelion upon Ossa of Deucalions Flood of the Four Ages of the Golden the Silver the Brazen and the Iron Age. These things are not all Fictions because they have some ground of truth in the Scripture neither are they all truths because they are mingled with Fictions of the invention of man Of the same kinde are some Authors who are for the Fifth Monarchy they think that the setting up of the Kingdome of Christ will be the Dissolution of all Earthly Kingdomes But by the purport and whole drift of the present Discourse they may understand That the Kingdome of Christ is not contrary to Governments Powers and Authorities purely as such but onely to Governments as Idolatrous as Tyrannical as contrary to the Laws of Christ and of his Church In the Prophecy of Daniel the Empire of Babel is resembled to a Lyon of Persia to a Bear of Greece to a Leopard of Rome to a Beast of divers shapes All these Monarchies erected and set up on the ruines of the Davidical Kingdome are parallell'd to so many Beasts Buâ—… to what Beast shall we resemble in its right constitution the Davidical Kingdome it self In the Book of the Revelation the Angel doth expresly say That there were eight Kings and yet the Beast had but seven Heads Chap. 17. How can this be I have fully proved That the Dynasty Race and Succession of the Christian Caesars do make the seventh Roman King but no Head of the Beast Therefore the Mediatoriâ—…n Kingdom of Christ is not contrary to Governments as such neither is nor ever shall be built upon the ruines of Governments as Governments but upon the ruines of Governments onely as Tyrannical and opposite to the Laws of the Gospel There is no such cause then why solid and judicious men in these dayes should set aside this kinde of Learning which is so much for the Credit Authority of the Christian Magistrate And for the Government of the Church in some Points if I am not mistaken there is in this Prophecy as strong if not stronger proof then in any other Book of the New Testament As for Example Though Bishops are put down the Service-Book taken away the Ordination of Ministers brought neerer the Rule all this being done men are not pleased What is the cause of the Difference The difficulty lies in the Church-state Robinson and others of that way do plead That we have no Example for a National Church in the New Testament and the bringing in of whole Nations by the power of the Magistrate this is the principal Rock of Offence I confess it is true that we have no Example of a National Church in the Apostles time For how could all Nations come in at that particular instant when the greater part of them did still remain in their Idolatries and the Emperors themselves were the greatest Enemies of the Church Now if we apply our selves to the Book of the Revelation we shall plainly see how the Spirit doth foretel That after the Preaching of the Gospel the Church should fall under grievous Persecutions in all the times of the Pagan Caesars when that time is ended the Empire it self shall become Christian. What else should be the meaning of that expression Now is come Salvation and Strength and the Kingdome of our God and the Power of his Christ Rev. 12. 10. This doth note no other but the setting up of the Gospel in the Throne in the times of
Constantine the Great After these things he sheweth the fall of the Empire and the rising of the Ten Kings by the Emblem of a Beast with ten Horns that came up out of the Sea Chap. 13. ver 1. This Beast doth signifie the Roman Tyranny in the last and the Antichristian Edition And he further addeth in the latter times of this Kingdome that the Eternal Gospel shall be preached to every Kindred Tongue and Nation Chap. 14. ver 6. 7. Then also the deceived Kings shall be undeceived and The Kingdomes of this world shall become the Kingdomes of our Lord and of his Christ Chap. 11. 15. That is those Kingdomes which formerly were the Kingdomes of the Beast shall become subject to the Laws of Christ and of his Gospel Here is a plain Example though not in the Age of the Apostles of whole Christian Nations in the times of the Gospel I willingly yield That the preaching of the Gospel is that by and through which primarily and immediately Churches are gathered yet by the Authority of the Magistrate the same Gospel also is countenanced Laws are made Parishes are divided Ministers maintained and the Body of the Nation brought to attend to that which is or at least may be the mean of their Salvation I cannot think but with great horrour what would ensue if the Designs of some men should take place It would be the very Abaddon and Apollyon to the Church of God But let us look what is spoken of the Kings of Europe They shall hate the Whore and make her desolate and naked and shall burn her flesh with fire Chap. 17. If they shall hate the Whore then they shall destroy the Idolatries and Superstitions of that Church which they did formerly so love and admire and on the contrary part they shall countenance the Gospel bring in their People and do as much for the Church of Christ which they did formerly persecute and hate Of the New Ierusalem it is said The Kings of the Earth shall bring their glory to her Chap 21. But lest any should think That this is meant onely of the Glory of the Church in Heaven Let sundry passages of the Prophet Esay be considered The scope of all whiâ—…h is to shew That the Kings of the Earth shall bring their Glory unto the Church There is much spoken also of the coming in of whole Nations of the Conversion of Kings and the adorning of the Church by the bounty of Kings Reade Chap. 60. per totum with many other places If these things were rightly considered men would not have such prejudices against a National Constitution and setting up of the Gospel by the Authority Power and Command of Kings and Princes What shall we make of the Reign of Christ upon the Earth Is it not directly and diametrally opposite to the Reign of the Beast And the Reign of the Beast let the Angel himself together with our own experience shew wherein the formality and the being thereof doth consist So he speaketh The Horns which thou sawest are ten Kings which have received no Kingdome as yet but receive power as Kings one hour with the Beast These have one minde and shall give their power and strength unto the Beast These shall make war with the Lamb but the Lamb shall overcome them for he is the Lord of lords and King of kings Rev. 17. ver 12 13 14. The effence of the Kingdome of the Beast lyeth in the Confederacy of Kings and in their yielding themselves to the Name and Headship of the Bishop of Rome This is the Reign of the Beast upon the Earth So by the Rule of Proportion the Reign of Christ and of the Lamb shall be in the holy association and concurrence of Christian Princes to set up the Gospel of Christ his Name and Headship as the Regent-Law among the Nations From all that hath been said it is cleer That this Doctrine is not contrary to the Authority of Magistrates nay it is most forcible and effectual to establish the Laws and Government of the Church Upon the same grounds I do here desire to speak a word or two and Oh that I could speak it with tears The Reformation in Germany and now lately in England hath been and yet is much deformed by abalienation of the Churches Revenue and in passing away that which former Ages have bestowed I may speak of a great part at least upon the preaching of the Gospel These are Scandals to the Enemy Let our Consciences in the mean while judge Whether this be not a Scandal given rather then a Scandal taken Whether we do not open the mouthes of the Enemies of the Lord to speak evil of the Reformation And whether we are not faulty in this Point Moses went in Gods way and by his Command and it was a glorious work to deliver Israel from the Bondage of Egypt yet withall when he was in the discharge of so excellent a work then the Lord stood in the Way to kill him Exod. 4. 24. Our Armies are going forth against the Enemies and the Proteâ—…ant Armies are like to go forth more and more These are the times or at least do border upon the times of the Suâ—…per of the Fowls of the great Vintage of thâ—… Batâ—…el of Armageddon There are like to be great Commotions of State Army against Army in the times of the end of the Beasts Kingdome And therefore by collation of all Circumstances we cannot be fat off from the performance of all that hath been foretold It is meet for us to see our own sins and specially that which I have hinted before we go on in the Lords work These things I have thought good to annex by way of Appendiâ—… My purpose is not to speak any thing to please or diâ—…please any Party Neither can I tell how any Party will be pleased with me it may be I may displease all However I do desire to please mine own Conscience in delivering that which I conceive to be a Truth of God There is one thing whiâ—…h I think meet more â—…ully to explain my self in I have in the preceding Treatise made it a good part of my work to prove the Roman to be the Fourth and the last Metal Kingdome and that the Roman doth begin in the consideration and notion of such a Kingdome when the Church and the Conâ—…inent of the Church came under the Dominion and Soveraignty of the People of Rome This I know the followers of Iunius will not away with and many learned men in these times do follow this way of Interpretation But because we will not unnecessarily controvert and make our selves more enemies then needs we will be content to say That the Roman doth begin at the end or ending of all four Metal-Kingdomes and where they end in the method order and way of account the Roman doth begin And whereas we have endeavored Chap. 6. pag. 116. to prove the beginning of the Roman as The fourth Metal-Kingdome to be at that instant of time when the Church came under the Dominion of that People the same Arguments mutatis mutandis will prove the beginning of the Roman at the end of all four Metal-Kingdomes And so the followers of Iunius and we shall agree in the substance of the Interpretation Let us compute the Name or Universal Headship of the Bishop of Rome as Decreed and Enacted under the Emperor Phocas and in that series and way of account it will be 666 years from the beginning of the Roman as that great Empire doth succeed at the end of the four Metal-Kingdomes Here is the Name of the Beast and the Calculation according to the Number of a Man according to the Divisions and Parts of the Body of Man in Daniels Image If we go either way the Account will be made good FINIS Hier. in Levit. Quot verba tot mysteria quot syllaba tot sacramenta 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Iren. lib. 2. c. 39. l. 3. c. 3. â—…us l. 3. c. 23. Epiph. Haeres 51. Rev. 16. Acts 1. 7. * In his Treatise concerning the Kingdom of Christ upon the Earth Note Note Note Note * And besides the Testimonies of Josephus Dio the Historian 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Iews 〈◊〉 Taxâ—…d by Gabinius 〈◊〉 3â—… Note
Reproof and Instruction in Righteousness I shall do it the rather because many in these times are preoccupated with prejudice Paraeus in his Commentary upon the Revelation and in the Preface of the Work hath these words Apocalypsin interpretari non est nodos aenigmatum omnium solvere apices omnes aâ—…u fodere nihil omnino ignorare vel quid Imago quid Character quid Numerus Nominis Bestiae quid Bestia ipsa c. By this it is evident what the forenamed Interpreter doth judge concerning these Points to wit The Beast the Name the Mark the Number of the Name He taketh them to be but Punctilio's and Niceties in this kind of Learning But saving the great worth of so judicious an Author I shall now endeavour to make good the Contradictory to his Assertion and shall prove these to be Points very Momentous and much conducing to the knowledge of the whole Prophecie First If you take the Book of the Revelation in the main Scope it is for the most part carried on in the Description of the Kingdom of the Beast in the time of the beginning and continuance of that Kingdom as it standeth in Diametral opposition to the Kingdom of the Lamb and of his Saints The Lord Jesus Christ that sent his Angel of â—…et purpose to sigâ—…e to the Churches things that must shortly come to pass â—…endeth a great part of the Prophetical Narration in the description of the Beasts Kingdom and in the delineation of the Name Mark and Number the essential Badges and Characters of the Kingdom Therefore it must needs be a matter very behooveful to the right understanding of other parts of the Prophecie to define in the beginning what is signified under these Emâ—…ems or typical Expressions Secondly The holy Spirit speaking of the Image of the Beast 〈◊〉 Name Mark and the Number of his Name 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 That iâ—… giving worship to the Image and in 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Mark the great sin of the world hath consisted in these latter times chap. 13. vers 11 12 13 14 15 16. Now then if the great sin of the world hath primarily and chiefly consisted in these things it is a most material Point to finde out what the holy Spirit doth mean by these symbolical and figurative expressions I cannot mourn for a sin privately in heart neither can I publickly reprove it in others but I must first know what the sin is But that this Idolatry may more fully appear let us amplifie it by two Circumstances First By the Circumstance of Place where and how far it hath been used And here it is plain in all the parts of the Dominion of the Beast none may buy nor sell but he that worshipeth the Image and receiveth the Mark He causeth all both small and great rich and poor free and bond to be subject to his Laws If you look to the Latitude of the Dominion the Scripture speaketh of a very large and ample Dominion that the Beast hath For the Nations were deceived chap. 20. vers 3. All the world worshiped the Beast chap. 13. vers 8. The Kings of the Earth did also agree to give their power to the Beast chap. 17. vers 17. Therefore the Dominion of the Beast must be very great and by consequent the sin must be an Oecumenical sin practised in all the parts and precincts of so large a Dominion Seeing also it is not the sin of one particular Nation City or Church but in a manner the general and the common Apostacy of the times therefore it is of great moment to be considered The sin of Ieroboam is much spoken of in the Scripture that it was a sin of departure from the true God and that it continued long after his death yet for all this it was only practised within the compass of the Ten Triâ—…es so long as they continued a Kingdom But now the worship of the Beast and the receiving of his Mark have overspread all Nations in the Christian world only there have been some faithful Witnesses which have stood for the Truth and have been slain for the testimonies sake Secondly For the Circumstance of time how long shall it be that men must worship the Beast and receive his Mark This must be in all the times of the Kingdom of the second Beast For though I do not fully agree with Mr Mede as may appear by that which I shall afterwards deliver That the ten-horn'd the two-horn'd Beast are exact contemporaries in all their times yet in substance and in the main they are said to be of equal continuance The time of the ten-horn'd Beast is 42 months or 1260 prophetical dayes or ordinary years So then some small proportion being deducted this period will be the time also of the two-horned Beast and of the worlds receiving the Mark and the Image which he made Therefore seeing this sin shall continue many ages together it behoveth us to make the more diligent search into the matter Nebuchadnezzar set up a great Image as the type of the Babylonian Majesty he caused all the States of that Empire to come together to the Dedication of the Image he commanded them all under pain of death to fall down before it He had a note of distinction also to discern between the worshipers of the Image and those that refused that worship Yet all this was done as it were in an instant of time But for the Image of the Beast set up in honour of the Roman Majesty this hath continued many ages Here all Nations Languages and People are required to worship here is a penalty laid upon all that shall refuse to yield Obedience to the Command and here is a mark to distinguish between those that are the Beast's and those that are none of his These Tyrannical and Idolatrous practises have continued by the fore-appointment and counsel of God for many generations Therefore considering the largeness of the place and the long continuance of the time that the world hath sinned and doth yet continue sinning against Christ in these very things we may conclude That it is no nice curiosity to finde what is meant by the Beast his Name Mark and the Number of the Name Thirdly If we consider the grievous Judgements of God denounced against all those that worship the Beast his Image and receive his Mark in their Forehead and their Right hand that they shall drink of the Wine of the wrath of God which is poured out without mixture in the Cup of his Indignation Also that they shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy Angels and of the Lamb and the smoak of their burning shall ascend for ever and ever chap. 14. vers 9 10 11. The learned Grasserus rightly observeth That in the whole Canon of Scripture there is nowhere a more terrible judgement threatned than that which is here denounced against the men that worship the Beast and receive his Mark. And shall
we account it but a curiosity to finde out the meaning of Christ in these things in which also the precious Souls of many thousands are so deeply hazarded and that for ever to their eternal perdition if they repent not Our Saviour fore-seeing the great Calamities that should befal the Church and People of the Iews at the Destruction of Ierusalem had great tenderness of heart toward them At the instant of his Suffering he said Daughters of Ierusalem weep not for me but weep for your selves and for your Children For the dayes are coming in which they shall say Blessed are the barren that do not bear and the Papps that never gave suck Luk. 23. 28 29 30. Even so at this present day though the friends and followers of the Church of Rome are the greatest Enemies that we have yet nevertheless had we the heart of Christ and did we see the greatness of their sin and the grievousness of the wrath to come we would have tender Affections towards them we would mourn over them with many tears But how shall we do this if we our selves do not understand what this sin is and what judgment the Lord will bring upon them for these things Therefore it is no idle Speculation to meditate on this subject which concerneth the sin of the world and the great judgment of God because of the sin Fourthly If we consider the special Cause of the Martyrdom and the Sufferings of the Saints it was specially for these things And therefore in the beginning of the Beasts Kingdom and Edict was made That all who would not worship the Image should be put to death chap. 13. vers 15. The Victory of the Saints also that stood upon the glassie Sea mingled with fire was of them that had overcome the Beast his Image Mark Name and the Number of his Name chap. 15. v. 2 3. At the beginning of the thousand years also those Souls saâ—…e upon Thrones and judgment was given to them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus and for the Word of God that had not worshiped the Beast nor received his Mark. We may conclude then That these were the special Causes of the Martyrs Sufferings in all the times of the Beasts Kingdom and were the eminent object of their Victory and Crown in the end of the Kingdom Now shall we think the knowledge of these things to be a nice Speculation I think that there is nothing more seriously to be thought of and I believe also that it is the minde of Christ that we should so judge of the matter Fifthly If we consider the object of the Vials upon what kind of persons they are poured out They are poured out upon a People that are distinguished by such Badges and Cognizances as these That had the Mark of the Beast and worshipped his Image chap. 16. vers 1 2 10 13. Now then if we would know what the Vials are and wherein the justice of God doth appear in his pouring forth of them in these times for these are the times of the Vials it would be a Point very necessary and material to the opening of this Doctrine to shew what is meant by the Image of the Beast and the Mark of his Name for the Vials full of the wrath of God have their several and respective operations upon these kind of men Therefore it is no matter of light curiosity to discover what these things are and what kind of persons are deciphered and set forth under these Characters Sixthly Considering the Promises that are made to the Church That after the time of the Beasts Kingdom then the Dragon shall deceive the Nations no more chap. 20. v. 3. That wherein the Nations have been deceived in all the times of the Beasts Kingdom is in the matter of worshipping the Beast in adoring his Image and in receiving his Mark as may appear chap. 13. v. 13 14. chap. 20. v. 3. Further whereas it is said that the two-horned Beast did deceive them that dwell on the Earth by the means of those Miracles he had power to do Here we must not think that this deceiving of the Nations was only at that instant but he hath deceived them and doth deceive them and will deceive them in all the times of his Kingdom And it is particularly said of the Kings of the Earth to wit The deluded Kings that they shall agree to give their Kingdoms to the Beast till the words of God shall be fulfilled When those times are once fulfilled the Dragon shall deceive the Nations no more For though he and the Beast are two yet in this business they are but one The Dragon deceiveth the Nations by the Beast the Beast is the Dragons Vice-gerent in deceiving the Nations When the Beast is destroyed the Dragon also shall be bound up that he shall deceive the Nations no more If we descend to particulars and enquire wherein the Nations have been deceived the whole Scope of the Prophecie doth direct us to the worship of the Beast and to the receiving of his Mark. It is no frivolous study then to dive into the Sense and to search into the Meaning of these things seeing they are the subject-matter of such an universal Delusion And who can tell when these things shall come to be more clearly known to the Consciences of them which have been formerly seduced When they shall come also more perfectly and fully to know what the Spirit meaneth by the Name of the Beast his Mark and Image and how they have greatly sinned against Christ in yielding to these things Who can tell what a mean this may be of their undeceiving We may probably suppose that the States and Governments of this world may more easily be brought off from their subjection to the Beast when we shall define the true natural meaning of the Spirit and lay the definition before the Conscience In the great Controversies betwixt the See of Rome and other States it is remarkable what the Champions of that Church do usually propound they speak much of the stability of that Seat grounded upon the Promise Tues Petrus c. And in very deed if we look to experience how many Kingdoms how many Churches in the East and in the West have totally perished and have come to nothing when that Church and See hath continued in the greatest Glory and that for many Ages Now this being laid as a Foundation is not here great reason alledged to the Conscience that the States of Christendom should yet continue their Obedience to the Catholick Apostolick Romane See as they call it None can deny but That Authority hath been wonderously and miraculosly preserved in all times and in all changes of time And for mine own part I do openly confess That to me it is a great wonder to see a State oâ—… Government to continue so many Ages and yet to abide one and the same still But when I read the Scriptures I find that the
the great Sin of the Christian world for many Ages hath been in worshipping the Image and receiving the Mark. Thirdly The grievous Judgements of God denounced against men for these things Fourthly The Cause of the Martyrs Sufferings because they would not worship the Beast nor receive his Mark. Fifthly The object of the Vials they are poured out upon a People distinguished by these Characters Sixthly The deceiving of the Nations in the matter of the Mark of the Beast and the worship of his Image Seventhly The Reign of Christ upon the Earth which will be the more demonstratively understood by the right Stating of the Reign of the Beast â—…ver those that worship the Image and receive the Mark All these Considerations laid together plainly shew the Use and Profitableness of the Discovery Now let us proceed to the second Point to the Possibility thereof CHAP. II. Concerning the Possibility of the Discovery and how that there are certain Demonstrative Principles to bring the Truth to light THere are now living in these times many who think that there is no medling with this Prophecie especially in the matter of the Beast and the Number of his Name But I would entreat all such seriously to ponder in their own hearts Whether by this Opinion of theirs they do not secretly accuse the Lord Christ either for want of Truth or want of Wisdom For what man of Truth will call that a Revelation which is no Revelation at all And what man of Wisdom will say Blessed is he that readeth and keepeth the words of the Prophecie when there is no possibility to reade it so as to understand And particularly Shall the Lord Jesus give serious warning to his Church and People shall he shew them so long before-hand the great sin of the world which shall consist in the worship of the Beast and in receiving of his Mark and when all comes to all shall it be presumption to shew what is the meaning of Christ in these things To what end were they Revealed if there be no use of the Revelation at all and there is no use if it be so difficult that it cannot possibly be understood It was a special part of Love in Christ to send and signifie to his Servants things that must come shortly to pass But what part of Love is it to signifie it in that manner that they cannot possibly understand what he meaneth You will say It was revealed to some Select ones I grant that some of the Servants of Christ have a peculiar Gift to understand the Typical Expressions in this Prophecie as every Member in the Church hath his peculiar Gift dispensed to the edification of the whole Body and therefore they are bound to lay out their Talent this way for the common good But what shall we say of them that account it curiosity in any whosoever to meddle with these studies and are absolutely for the concealing of these things from the People But if it be alledged That Experience sheweth how they have been deceived who have bestowed their pains in this kind of study I Answer The same Experience plainly sheweth That they who have come with a sincere mind to finde out the Truth to study the whole Body of the Prophecie to compare Time with Time Vision with Vision and the Prophecies with the Stories have had a good return of their Labours I may say without prejudice to those that went before That Bullinger in his time Brightman in his time Grasserus in his time Mede in his time each of these have made their several and respective Additions to the clearing of the Prophecie If we endeavour to carry on the Work where they left it at least with the same Industry and Fidelity we may by the blessing of God be the instruments of bringing those Mysteries to light that were not discerned in former Ages And for my part I do firmly believe That God will not cease to raise up such in the times following as shall clear the things that have layen dark in the Prophecies and do yet remain hid to us But for the present because many think that the Name of the Beast and the Number of the Name are unsearchable Mysteries let me lay down some Reasons to prove the Possibility and the Evidence of the Discovery First The Name of the Beast and the Number of his Name are the Essential Characters of a State or Government obvious to the view of men It is said of the Writings of S. Paul that there are many things in them hard to be understood 2 Pet. 3. 16. There may be good Reason given for this to wit The sublimity and the spiritualness of the matter for a Natural man that hath no Experience in his own heart how can he judge of the meaning of the Apostle when he speaketh of the Life of the Spirit of the leading of the Spirit of the Comfort of the Spirit of the putting off of the Old man and the putting on of the New When a man hath no experience how can he understand these things that are so largely spoken of in the Epistle to the Romans Now it is not so with the Name of the Beast and his Mark these are the Badges of a Government obvious to the Senses of all men If there be any difficulty it lieth only in the typical and figurative way of expression Secondly The Name of the Beast and the Number of the Name are the essential Characters of a State or Government which the Church hath had long experience of for many Ages For the Monarchical Kingdom of Christ that shall be over Jews and Gentiles in the latter times though there are many things spoken in the Scriptures concerning this Dominion yet there are sundry passages hard to be determined because the event hath not yet shewed the meaning of the Prophecie Now there is nothing wanting so far as it concerneth the event to make known to the Church what is meant by the Name of the Beast and the Number of the Name Thirdly The Name of the Beast and the Number of the Name are such Characters that the Church in Being hath the present Experience of Many things are dark in the Old Prophets because the Stories of those times are lost to us The Jews could better understand the meaning of some Prophecies than we can And I believe the greatest Knot in Expounding the 70 weeks of Daniel lieth principally in this To shew precisely and determinately where that Number of Time doth begin There is an excellent agreement between the Greek Historians about the respective times of the Kings of Persia But the Knot lyeth in this Rightly to determine who that Darius was in whose times the Temple was built and the City repaired This thing was better known to the ancient Jews than it is to us But now for the Name of the Beast the Mark and the Number of the Name there is not the like Reason of darkness in these because they
of its Heads c. Now then let us say That the Roman Majesty revived again from the dead that this is the Image how shall the Name Lateinos or any other such like Name consisting meerly of Letters and syllables be answerable to such an Image as this What Equipage or Correspondence can there be between quid nominis quid rei Shall we once imagine that the repair of the Roman Majesty in these latter times is only of a Name that consisteth of Letters and syllables and such like elements of the Greek and Hebrew Alphabet Away with such a conceit But if you take the Name for the Universal Headship you shall have a Name truly correspondent to the Image and to the Mark. For when the Decree went forth that the Bishop of Rome should be Universal Head of the Church then was the ancient Roman Sovereignty repaired in the Popes which was formerly lost in the Caesars Here both the Name and the Image are equivalent each to other and do differ only in a certain consideration And the Mark also agreeth with both the former seeing it is but the publick profession of subjection to that Name or Power The Fourth Argument is drawn from the Antithesis or Contraposition of the Name of the Lamb to the Name of the Beast By the description of one Opposite we may finde out the Nature of the other For the Name of the Lamb it is described Revelation chap. 19. vers 16. He hath on his vesture and on his thigh a Name written King of Kings and Lord of Lords Here then in this Scripture we do not look after a literal Name but after his Power or Sovereignty as he is Lord or Head of the Church We reade also Phil. 2. 9. Because he humbled himself to the Death of the Cross God highly exalted him and gave him a Name above every Name that at the Name of Iesus every kâ—…ee should bow c. Here many in darker times have taken this for a literal Name and therefore it hath been a great use to bow the knee when the Name of Jesus was mentioned But the ground of the mistake is this They have not looked to the main scope of the text and the Nature of the Expression For the Name in the text is not the word Jesus consisting of Letters and syllables but the sublime Power Authority Headship Dominion and Sovereign rule that God the Father did give to his Son after the suffering of Death And this is so expounded by the Apostle himself in another place Which he wrought in Christ when he raised him from the dead and set him at his own right hand in heavenly places far above all Principalities and Powers and Might and Dominion and every Name that is named not only in this world but in that which is to come And hath put all things under his feet and gave him to be head over all things to the Church Eph. 1. 20 21 22. Therefore the Name is no other but the Sovereign Power that God the Father did give to his Son the Lord Jesus as Head of the Church By the rule of contraries then the Name of the Beast must needs be his Universal Power and Headship seeing in all respects he is emulous of the Dignity of the Lamb. By the Nature of the one we may understand the Nature of the other contrary If the Name of the Lamb be his Sovereign Dominion King of Kings and Lord of Lords the Name of the Beast ex adverso on the other part must be his Universal Headship over all Lords and Kings and earthly Dominions The Fifth Argument is drawn from the parallel and resemblance with the Name of the Whore It is a good Observation of some Modern Interpreters That the State or Government described chap. 13. under the Type and Similitude of a Beast with two Horns is again more largely repeated under the resemblance of a Woman riding upon a Scarlet-coloured Beast Râ—…v 17. Now seeing there is such a parallel between the descriptions in both Chapters as to the substance of the matter let us then more diligently consider what is meant by the Name of the Woman Upon her Forehead was a Name written Mysterie Babylon the Great the Mother of Harlots and the Abominations of the Earth vers 5. Here I think none will be so void of Judgement as to look after a literal Name and a literal Inscription in the forehead of the Woman The Name is no other but that Universal Maternity or Motherhood as I may so say of her that professeth herself the Head or Mother-Church of all the Christian world but is indeed and in truth the Mother of all the Abominations and Idolatries of the Earth In like manner when we reade of the Name of the Beast we are not to look after a literal Name as Lateinos and the like but his Namâ—… must be his Universal Paternity Fatherhood Power and Dominion By the Analogie of one Expression we may â—…e out the meaning of the other If the Name of the Great Whore be not a literal and syllabical Name but in the figure doth only denote her general Motherhood so proportionably the Nâ—… oâ—… the Beast is not a literal Name but in the Trope iâ—…â—…oth only signifie his Universal Dominion and Authority If we transfer Matters to Experience we shall finde the eveâ—… of things doth fully Answer these Characters of the Propâ—…ecie It hath been a general received Maxime in many Ages together That out of our Holy Mother the Church of Rome as they call it there is no Salvation to be had she is the Mother of all true Catholicks with them that are her Admirers But in the Scripture-language she is called Babylon the Great the Mother of Harlots and the Abominations of the Earth So it hath been as generally received That all are bound to submit to the Authority of our Holy Father the Pope But this in the Scripture-language is the Name of the Beast and the Mark of the Name I think it is not done without the special Wisdom and fore-knowledge of God that these two things in which the Christian world should erre so greatly should be set forth with such remarkable Characters to draw the admiration of all that read But leaving these things for a deeper enquire it is sufficient for my present purpose to note that the Name of Mystical Babylon is not a literal Name but the general Motherhood of that City and Church So the Name of the Beast by way of parallel is not a literal Name but it is the Universal Headship of the Beast as Lord and Potentaâ—…e The Sixth Argument is drawn from the Ground and Reason of the Imperial Edict chap. 13. vers 16 17. He causeth all both small and great bond and free to receive a Mark in their Forehead and their right hand and that none might buy nor sell but he that hath the Mark of the Name Now then if the Name be a Title or
Appellation that consisteth only of Letters and syllables how will this redound to the benefit or perfection of the Beasts Kingdom if men of all Degrees and Orders shall receive a Name meerly consisting of Numeral Letters and such-like trifles But if you take the Name for the sovereign Power and Headship there is nothing more rational and common than for the Kingdoms of this world to make Laws that all should live in subjection to their Power and Authority And Experience plainly sheweth That in all the Kingdoms of the Christian world stricter Laws have been made for the Preservation of the Dignity of the Catholick Apostolick Roman See as they call it and for the maintenance of the Decrees made by that Authority than there have been for the support and Defence of their own Communities Among many take this one Instance of the Statute Ex Officio made here in England in the times of Hen. 4. In which Statute it was provided That all they should be Burned publickly in the sight of the People that did maintain teach inform openly or in secret any thing contrary to the Catholick Faith and the determination of the Holy Church And so in the times following by vertue of this Law the faithful Martyrs under the Title of Lollards have been publickly burned for speaking preaching writing and declaring against the Decrees and Superstitions established by the Authority of the Church of Rome And it is as plain That neither the Scripture nor any Article of the Creed nor any other Point of the Christian Faith is received among them but that which is warranted by this Authority From whence we may easily collect what is meant by the Law and Injunction of the Beast That none might buy nor sell but such only that had the Mark and the Number of the Name We are not to take the Name Alphabetically For to what end should he command men to receive such a Name as this But if you take the Name for the Universal Headship and the Mark for the publick owning of subjection to this Headship there is great Reason given for the making of such a Statute and it is fully proved by the event The Seventh Argument is taken from the Essence of the great Antichrist as he is set forth 2 Thess. 2. For the Pith and Marrow of the Apostle in this description is to express the great sublimity of Power that the man of sin should assume to himself in and over the Church of God These are the words of the Text He as God sitteth in the Temple of God shewing himself that he is God vers 4. From these words we may gather the Essence of the Antichristian Kingdom lieth in the affectation of a kind of godlike Dominion and Headship in and over the Church of God Now then as the â—…on of God hath merited of his Father to be only Head and only Lord So must our subjection be rendered to him without communicability of such a prerogative to any other For though there be gods many and lords many there is but one Universal Head on whom the whole Body of the Church doth depend In this sense as the Son hath merited of the Father to be the Supreme Lord and Head there is none de jure can be but himself only Now then when Paul in the Thessalonians doth describe the Essence of the Beast's Kingdom he doth shew that it doth chiefly confist in the Headship and Dominion over the Church And this is that which Iohn in the Revelation calls the Name of the Beast And so far we have gone in the Discovery of the Subject of the Number We have shewed by many Reasons That the Name is The Headship of the Beast Now we shall in the next Chapter endeavour to Calculate and Compute the Number CHAP. IV. Concerning the Number of the Name of the Beast where it is shewed That the Name or Universal Headship began publickly to be Established under the Emperor Phocas 666 years from the beginning of the Roman as the Fâ—…th Metal Kingdome FOr the carrying on of this Complicate Proposition we are to make Two things clear First That the Name or Sovereign Dominion of the Beast began precisely at that time of the Universal Headship under the Emperor Phocas Secondly That there is a Câ—…in of 666 years from the begining of the Roman as the Fourth Metal Kingdom to the Name or Universal Headship afcreâ—…aid First Concerning the Eâ—…sion of the two-horned Beast out of the Earth I find a great consent in the Commentaries Controversies and Stories of the Church That the Two-Horned Beast began in the Universal Headship under the Emperor Phocas Crackanâ—…orp in his Treatise against Spalaâ—… calleth it the Câ—… one of the Building And in very deed though many Authors do stiffly maintain That the Name is the word Lateinos and that the Number is made out of the Numeral Letters of that Name yet if you put them upon it to state the Original of the Beast's Kingdom they do generally in a manner pitch upon the year aforesaid But we will not depend upon Authority Therefore to the right computing of â—…he true Apocalyptical time we will Observe these ensuing Principles Principle 1. There must be some particular instant of time when the Antichristian state Typed by the Beast with Two Horns had its first visible rising out of the Earth This is proved from the words of the Text And I beheld another Beast coming out of the Earth and he had Two Horns like the Lamb and he spake as the Dragon Rev. 13. 11. And therefore as there was a certain and determinate time when the Babylonian Lyon and the Persian Bear came up out of the Sea that is As there was a certain time when the Babylolonian and Persian Monarchies began so there must be a particular and certain term of time when the Antichristian Monarchy must come up out of the Earth also If this be well observed it will cut off a multitude of superâ—…luous Diâ—…putes concerning the Infancy Childhood Middle age and other degrees of the Antichristian state In these points every man may abound in his own Fancy but sure I am according to the true Apocalyptical process there is mention made but of one visible and remarkable beginning of the Two-Horned Beast And this is at the time of his rising ouâ—… of the Earth Princ. 2. Secondly The time of the rising of this Beast must be after the dissipation of the old Empire and the beginning of the Ten Kings Typed and Figured by the rising of the Ten-Horned Beast out of the Sea There are Two Branches in this Principle The First is this That the time of the beginning of the Two-Horned Beast must needs be placed after the Fall of the Empire This is clearly proved from the Scope of the 13 and 17 Chapters of the Revelation Both these Scriptures do pitch upon this that there must be a taking away of the Imperial Majesty and a kinde of Chasm
the Church To let pass the ambiguity of the phrase let us seriously ponder the circumstances of the text The Lord did reveal to Nebuchadnezzar things that should come to pass in the latter times But the great Question is in specie What latter times are here intended It is confessed by all That the Monarchical Kingdoms were to continue to the Coming of Christ and the words of the text are clear that the Kingdom of Christ shall begin in the times of these Kingdoms Now our Saviour was born his Gospel was preached and his Kingdom began when the Earth and particularly that part of the Earth was under the Sovereign Dominion of the Romans To me therefore it is an infallible Reason That the Roman must be one of the Monarchical Kingdoms and the Fourth in particular because the Kingdom of Christ did then begin when the Earth was under the Authority and Dominion of that People But let us go on Junius They which follow the latter Opinion do well to end Daniel's Prophecie at Christ. But this they ought to consider that the Lord doth not declare the State of the world universally but only so far as it concerneth the Iewes and the People of God And therefore in our judgement we cannot approve it that the Roman is the Fourth Kingdom Answer For the Maxime That the Four Monarchies are described only in relation to the Iewes I do yield it to be a truth so far as the Jewes were the only people of God But when the Gentiles also became his people the Monarchies are described in relation to them So then the Metal-Kingdoms are not related to the Jewes only nor to the Gentiles only but to the People of God both of Jewes and Gentiles Among many this one Argument may be sufficient to clear the Truth of that which we affirm At the end of these Kingdoms it is mentioned That the Kingdom and the Dominion and the greatness of the Kingdom under the whole Heaven shall be given to the people of the Saints of the most High chap. 7. vers 27. Who are they that are the People of the Saints of the most High Shall we say That they are only the People of the Jewes Then it will follow That the People of the Jewes only shall Constitute and make up the Kingdom of Christ and his Saints And how contrary is this to all colour and shew of truth Secondly Admit it should be granted that in the description of the Metal-Kingdoms the Lord should only have respect to the People of the Jewes this doth not exclude the Roman from being one of the Four Kingdoms For as the Jewes were somtimes under the Babylonians somtimes under the Persians somtimes under the Graecians so sixty years before the Birth of our Lord they came under the Dominion of the People of Rome who were the particular Nation and State of whom the Prophet speaketh The people of the Prince that shall come shall destroy the City and Sanctuary Dan. 9. 26. If you Number the times from that instant when the Dominion of the Romans began you shall finde that there were 130 years to the destruction of Ierusalem by Titus and Vespasian So long the Jewish Church and Nation were under the Roman Obedience So then we Conclude If the Monarchies be Numbred only in relation to the Jewes the Roman may be one of the Four as well as the Babylonian Persian oâ—… Graecian what should hinder Junius They that so Number must of necessity confound the popular State with the Sovereign Command of one which is here only mentioned Neither did the Romans any wayes afflict the Iewes till the times of Cleopatra or Herod Answer This is most true That the Jewes came under the Dominion of the Romans in the times of their Free-State And therefore in these times we begin the Roman as the Fourth Kingdom Now whereas it is alledged that in so doing we do confound the Popular State and the Government by One To this I Answer We are not here so much to look after the several forms of Roman Dominion as upon one whole Roman Kingdom opposed to one Babylonian to one Persian to one Graecian going before The Scripture looketh to Four kinds of People who in their respective Seasons and Successions should have absolute Dominion over the Earth and specially about the Confines of the Church according to this Difference we ought to distinguish each Monarchy as the Dominion pass'd from one people to another and not by the particular forms of Government observed by one people Therefore it doth fully Answer our purpose That the Church of the Jewes came under the Dominion and Lordship of the people of Rome 60 years before the Birth of the Lord. Now what Form of Dominion the Romans then had is not to our purpose Further Whereas it is said That the Romans did not afflict the Church of the Jewes till the times of Herod Give me leave to Argue after the same manner Cyrus did not afflict the People of the Jewes Therefore the Persian tyranny did not then begin Alexander the Great did not persecute the Jewes Therefore the Graecian Monarchy did not begin in his times This way of Reasoning is contrary to Scripture and Experience For to speak positively Though Cyrus did not afflict the Church of the Jewes yet he brought that Church and People within the Verge of the Persian Dominion which in all its times was a Tyrannical State So Alexander the Great did not persecute the Church yet he was the Founder of the Graecian Empire which in the whole time thereof did more or less afflict the Saints of the Jewish Church The like may be said of the Romans though there was no eminent Persecution in the time of their Free-State yet then the Church was brought within the compass of that Kingdom in which under which and by which there were the sorest Persecutions that ever were as appeareth by the Stories of the Evangelâ—…sts the Acts of the Apostles and the whole Book of the Revelation Now let us Consider what is spoken by Mr Broughton Mr Broughton The Book of Daniel handleth principal points of the Iewes thraldom in Babylon for 70 years and seven times that space unto Christ's Ascention and the destruction of the City and Temple So that Ierusalem surprized by the Chaldâ—…an and razed by the Roman is the limit of the Story Answer If it could be proved That Ierusalem seized by the Chaldaean and razed by the Roman that this is the limit of some of Daniel's Visions and namely of the 70 weeks it doth not follow that this is the boundary of all his Visions and particularly of all the Four Kingdoms typed in the Metals of the Image I shall endeavour in the process of this Discourse to make it appear that these Kingdoms do continue to the time of the glorious Kingdom of the Saints Rev. 20. But let us go on Mr Broughton The Kingdom of Babel is figured by a Tree touching in
troubles of the Christian Church Now it is evident That the Holy Iewish Nation was never troubled in their whole State but in the times of Antiochus Epiphanes And therefore it is clear that the Angel speaketh of those dayes And this one speech might have kept Daniel in his true meaning that we should not draw him beyond Christ. Answer If â—… may speak what I find by Experience there is not any one place either in Daniel or the Revelation that seemeth to me to be more intricate than the Number of time mentioned in this Chapter It may be the Lord will have the time to lie doubtful and to be sealed to the time of the end vers 4 9. However it be though I cannot positively prove the meaning of the text yet we may firmly conclude That the periods of time do lead us to the end of the world and that they cannot possibly be restrained to the Persecution of Antiochus Epiphanes and to the times of the suffering of the Jews under that tyranny But let us look to the Text By the Children of thy people we do willingly acknowledge That the People of the Jewes are here meant But we do not yield that Mr Broughton doth make a true Deduction from the meaning of these words He doth infer That in the time of Antiochus Epiphanes his persecuting the Church Michael may stand up because the whole Nation of the Iewes suffered more eminently for Religion in those times Now here I say This cannot be the time of the great Tribulation of the Jews nor the time of the standing up of Michael seeing the Tribulation here spoken of is after the destruction of the Seleucian Kingdom For I would gladly know what the Angel doth mean by these words He shall come to his end and none shall help him vers 45. Is it not clear by the whole tenor and scope of the text That he speaketh of the King of the North or the Seleucian Kingdom That this Tyranny shall come to its end without help or remedy And then afterward the Seleucian Kingdom being destroyed the great Calamity shall fall upon the Nation of the Jews in the following times Secondly Our Saviour himself that best knew the meaning of Daniel's Prophecie doth expresly speak of the standing up of the Abomination of Desolation mentioned by Daniel the Prophet he doth speak of the greatest wrath that ever was from the foundation of the world that it should fall upon the Nation of the Jewes and that for the Elects sake only those dayes should be shortened Now then how doth he apply these Predictions not to the times of Antiochus Epiphanes which Mr Broughton here speaks of but as all the Evangelists do agree to the last and fatal destruction of Ierusalem by the Romans Matth. 24. 21 22. Mar. 13. 14 15 c. Luk. 21. 20 21 c. Now whereas Daniel did put the Question partly out of a desire to pry into these Mysteries and partly to give information to the Church he received an Answer sutable to the Question which he did propound The Question is this Then said I O my Lord what shall be the end of these things vers 8. And the Answer of the Angel is this From the time that the daily Sacrifice shall be taken away and the Abomination that maketh Desolate shall be set up there shall be 1290 daies Blessed is he that waiteth and cometh to the 1335 dayes But go thy way till the end be for thou shalt rest and stand in the lot at the end of the daies vers 11 12 13. From the scope of these words if we take it for granted That the setting up of the Abomination of Desolation was at the last and fatal destruction of Ierusalem for so our Saviour doth expound the words of Daniel then we do infer from the destruction of that City there will be 1290 dayes and then again 1335 dayes to the time of the end And so we may conclude That this period of time will not extend only to the times of Christ but very far beyond his times toward the end of the world But it may be alledged seeing that I undertake to shew the length of the period How long it shall continue and the beginning from whence it shall commence why do not I speak Determinately concerning the time where it shall end I do only so far undertake to speak of the length of this period to shew that Daniel's Prophecie containeth a great Number of years beyond the destruction of Ierusalem And this is enough to Confute Mr Broughton and other Interpreters of this way though for my part I am not able to determine the Question why it is said 1290 dayes and then after that 1335 dayes There is a special reason of doubling the Number but yet for the accommodation of the time I must confess my ignorance Only for the present purpose it is enough to say in the general That there is a great Chain of years to begin after the destruction of Ierusalem and that the times of Daniel and the times of the Revelation do both run parallel together to the glorious Kingdom of the Saints But for the true concord of the times I do profess that I lie in the mire Whereas the holy Prophet is commanded to seal and to shut up the Vision we are not to take this simply as though there shall be a perpetual inclosure and an absolute concealment of the sense for ever but only that the disclosing is referred to the time of the end They that shall live neer upon the accomplishment of the Prophecie upon the borders of the glorious Church at the times of the Calling of the Jewes perhaps they shall see that which hath lain hid in the Scriptures for many Ages Though Daniel was to seal up the Vision for the time present yet in the latter dayes many shall run to and fro and knowledge shall be encreased vers 4. Object But if it shall be said That the great Question doth lie in this From what beginning are we to fetch this period of time or where is the date thereof Some place the beginning of these years in Antiochus Epiphanes some in the Abomination of the Desolation set up by Iulian the Apostate Sol. For the setting up of the Abomination of Desolation there is no question but that this is meant of the Calamity under the Romans for so our Saviour doth expound the meaning of the Prophecie And there is good reason wherefore we should rest in the Authority of such an interpreter As for the setting up of the Abomination of Desolation by Iulian the Apostate I marvel that such a judicious Interpreter as Mr Brightman should rest upon so groundless a conceit But as groundless as it is I find that many men are carried away with his Authority But first of all how was Iulian a taker away of the daily Sacrifice He rather countenanced the Jewes against the Christians Socrat. lib. 3. Secondly how
under these Tyrants But in this matter let us Answer Mr Hayne with Mr Hayne In the first Page of his Book he speaketh of the Eternity of Christ's Kingdom and of its extent to the end of the world And afterward in the second Page he speaketh as followeth Of this Extent saith he is Christ's Kingdom yet in regard that God hath soâ—…etimes permitted Satan and wicked men in extraordnary manner to domineer and to exercise their worldly and ungodly Power and that at other times he hath made his own Sovereignty by remarkable Mercies and Iudgements to appear God and Christ upon this more glorious expression of their more Over-ruling Might are then especially said to have a Kingdom and to Reign Because in such times their Glory and Majesty doth more manifestly shew it self Exod. 15. 18. 1 Sam. 12. 12. Obad. vers 21. Rev. 12. 10. In like manner I may say Though at the Ascension of Christ there was given to him a Kingdom far greater than all the Kingdoms of the world yet in regard that it hath pleased God the Father for many Ages together to permit Rome Imperial and afterwards Rome Papal in an extraordinary manner to exercise their worldly Power And seeing also it is his pleasure after some Ages to make his Sovereignty known in the destruction of the Tyranny of these States and in setting up the Gospel as the regent Law in this respect the Reign of Christ may be said to begin at the Dissolution of the Fourth Kingdom in the last and Antichristian State thereof But a little further to open the meaning of the Scriptures When Michael and his Angels i. e. Christ and his Primitive Martyrs had conquered the Dragon presently and immediately upon the Conquest this Acclamation was heard I heard a loud voice saying in Heaven Now is come Salvation and Strength and the Kingdom of our God and the Power of his Christ for the Accuser of our Brethren is cast down Rev. 12. 10. Here I demand what is meant by 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 by that Kingdom of God and Power of Christ You are to Note That the scope of the place is concerning the Fight between the Lord Christ and his Primitive Martyrs on the one side and the Powers of the Persecuting Empire of the Romans on the otherside After a long and terrible Fight the Dragon was overcome by the Faith and Patience of the Martyrs by the Prayer of Faith grounded upon the Promise of God And in the times of Constantine the Great when the Christian Faith as the best Expositors will have it became Religio Imperii the Religion of the Empire then at that time the Kingdom of God and the Power of his Christ was revealed to the world The Deliverance and Salvation of the Church from under the Ten first Persecutions was much desired before but it was not effected till the dayes of Constantine the Great To his times then that notable expression the Kingdom of our God and the Power of his Christ is come is more immediately â—…o be applyed By that which the Church hath had Experience of already we may learn what is the meaning of the Spirit when he speaketh of her Deliverance from under Antichristian sufferings and of the future Reign of Christ upon the Earth for 1000 years And though there was some beginning of his Monarchical Reign in the dayes of Constantine yet that was but radiatura vel specimen Regni Christi a glympse or a handâ—…el as it were of the Kingdom of Christ and of the future liberty of the Church that shall be For that glory was Eclipsed and the Church fell under Persecution in all Antichristian times When those times shall be fulfilled the Kingdoms of this world shall become the Kingdoms of our Lord and of his Christ. And so they shall continue and remain for many years when Jews and Gentiles both together shall make a glorious Church under Christ their Head and King in the latter dayes After the destruction of the Fourth Beast it is expresly said The Dominion under the whole Heaven shall be given to the Saints of the most High and that this Dominion is to continue for ever Dan. 7. 27. Now then If the Monarchical Kingdom of Christ did begin at the Incarnation and so forward to continue for ever what shall we make of the Reign of Antichrist for so many Ages together Christ hath Reigned but a little if we look to an exteriour Reign Mr Hayne The Reign of Antichrist and of other Tyrants is no impeachment to Christ's absolute Sovereignty The wickedness of Sons taketh not away the Fatherhood and Authority of Parents Nor a Debauched Servant's ill carriage argue his exemption from the Master he is subject to David was and continued a King though Ishbosheth and Saul's House though Absolon his own Son though Sheba a Benjamite and many of Israel rose up against him and submitted not to his Scepter Answer We agree That the Tyrannical States and by Name the â—…ntichristian cannot be such impeachments to Christ's Kingdom so as absolutely and finally to obstruct it in every part and point of Power We yield also That the Right belongeth to Christ to be Universal Head of the Church though Antichrist hath Usurped his Right for many Ages together And further Though his Jurisdiction hath been detained by others a long time yet he hath Power enough in himself to recover it again when the time appointed for the Dominion of the Tyrannical States is once fulfilled But to say for the present That the Antichristian State is no impeachment to the Kingdom of Christ this is a marvelous thing When a Usurpet is in the place of Government is this no impeachment to the lawful power All the world did agree together to worship the Beast and to receive his Mark and was this no impeachment to the Kingdom of Christ The great Whore corrupted the Earth with her Fornications and the Kings of the Earth agreed together to give their Power to the Beast and was this no impeachment to the Kingdom of Christ Though David was anointed King over Israel and though by vertue of his Unction he had true Title to the Kingdom yet so long as Saul and Ishbosheth did bear Rule the Kingdom was not his In like manner Though the Lord Christ by suffering Death and by his Unction had Title to all the Kingdoms of the Earth yet as long as the Tyrannical States of this world and particularly the Antichristian Kingdom do continue the Kingdoms of this world in that form and manner as they shall be are not his And therefore at the Fall of the Great City this expression is used The Kingdoms of this world are become the Kingdoms of our Lord and of his Christ. Here is a tacite implication That they were none of his Kingdoms before in that sense which the text intendeth Mr Hayne You much debase and vilifie Christ and his Kingdom in comparing it and counting it Inferiour to
the same time of the Roman Kingdom under the Type of a Beast with Ten Horns This being once explained the Doctrine of the Number 666 and other Apocalyptical Mysteries will begin to be made clear But seeing that Dr Willet in his Commentary upon Daniel and in his Appendix against Grasserus is somthing more copious in this matter we will therefore more diligently enquire Whether the Fourth Beast in Daniel be the Seleucian or the Roman Kingdom The Queries are of Three sorts The First From the Nature of the Fourth Beast The Second From the Ten Horns The Third From the description of the little Horn. The Queries from the Nature of the Fourth Beast are these Querie 1. How can the Seleucidae be the Fourth Kingdom upon the Earth under the Type of the Fourth Beast seeing they are one of the Four Heads of the Third Beast going before chap. 7. vers 6. chap. 8. vers 8 22. If they make one of the Four Heads with the rest of the Successors of Alexander they cannot be the Fourth Kingdom The Fourth Beast must necessarily be the Roman seeing the Third with Four Heads is the Graecian going before But Dr Willet thus replieth Alexander's Four Captains were at the first Regents under him and his Successor Aridaeus but they became the Fourth Beast when they erected the Kingdom to themselves If we put Alexander and his Successors together we can give a cleer Reason why the Third Beast may be said to have Four Heads because in the times of the Monarchy of the People of Greece that Nation became divided into Four Kingdoms as appeareth Dan. 8. 8 22. But if we take Alexander and his Successor Aridaeus asunder from the Four Successors I cannot see possibly how the Kingdom of Alexander in that abstract consideration may be said to have Four Heads or that it may be decyphered properly by such a character The Four Heads do signifie the Four Divisions of the Greek Monarchy and can this be a Character of Alexander's Kingdom which in it self considered had no Heads Parts or Divisions at all The Scriptures speak plainly That the Graecian was one intire Kingdom in him and after his eradication the Dominion began to be divided into Four parts Therefore his Successors quatenus Heads had no being at all in all the times of his Dominion Much less could they be the Characters of his Kingdom at whose only extirpation they were to begin as Heads of the Graecian State Besides it would be a great work to prove out of the Stories That the Kingdom of Alexander was Governed by Four principal Regents in his time And further If it could be made appear still this would be a great Question Whether in the Description of the Monarchies the Scripture would look to such inferiour Administrations Darius the King set over the Mede-Persian Kingdom 120 Princes Dan. 6. 1 2 3. and yet we do not reade that this Number of Regents is set forth as the special Character of that Monarchy We have a clear Reason in the Scriptures wherefore the Graecian State is figured by the Type of Four Heads scil in relation to the quadri-partite Division of Alexander's Kingdomâ—… after his death Therefore the Notion of the Four Regents of Alexander during his life time I take rather to be an evasion than a just Truth grounded upon the Prophecie or the civil Stories Querie 2. How can the Kingdom of the Seleucidae be the Fourth Kingdom upon the Earth that shall be different from the former and shall devour the whole Earth and tread it down and break it in pieces chap. 7. vers 23. How can this be applied to them The Seleucidae were far inferiour to the Kingdom of Alexander Four Kings or Kingdoms did arise out of him but not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in his Strength chap. 8. vers 22. Further The Seleucians were far inferiour to the former Monarchies of Babel and Persia in greatness of Power and largeness of Dominion On the contrary If we apply the Fourth Beast to the Roman all the properties of that Beast will be verified iâ—… him First The admirable condition of the Fourth Beast above the former Secondly His multi-form and various shape Thirdly The greatness of terrour Fourthly The highest degree of strength Fifthly His Iron-Teeth and Brazen-Nayles Sixthly His Actions to devour and to break in pieces Seventhly The object of his Victory to subdue the whole Earth Eighthly The time of the continuance And so the Earth hath longer continued under the Dominion of the Romans than under any nay under aâ—…l the Metal-Kingdoms All these properties agree to the Roman and I cannot possibly see how they may be applicable to the Seleucian Kingdom But Dr Willet replieth That the Kingdom of the Seleucidae make the Fourth Beast not so much in respect of greater strength as in respect of greater cruelty and hardness of disposition against the People of God the Iews And therefore when it is said of this Kingdom That it did devour the whole Earth this is not simply the whole Earth but the whole Earth about the Confines of the Iewish Church If we should grant this Principle of cruel Disposition against the People of the Jews this would strongly prove the Roman to be the Fourth Kingdom For the Jews suffered much from the Babylonians much from the Persians more from the Graecians yet most of all from the Romans They were under the Roman Tyranny for the space of 130 years together and then last of all the Nation and Church was destroyed by their means The Sufferings of the Jews under Antiochus were great but they were not to be compared with the last and fatal destruction of Ierusalem Our Saviour himself doth testifie as much when he speaketh concerning the great calamity that should come by the Romans Luk. 21. vers 20 21 22 23. And this also is well observed by a certain nameless Writer in a Tract concerning Antichrist and the Four Monarchies For saith he Quamvis Antiochus graviter afflixit Iuâ—…aeos tamen ea afflictio ad tempus tantum duravit cum illa 〈◊〉 quae a Romanis facta est nequaquam conferenda Therefore if the greatest degree of Cruelty against the People of the Jews doth give denomination to the Fourth Beast the greatest Sufferings of the Jews have been under the Romans Secondly In the case of the Monarchies in the Chaldee Visions I see no reason why the Jews should be called The only People of God In Dan. 2. there is mention made of the beginning of the Kingdom of Christ and how that Kingdom should break the Metal-Kingdoms Now is this verified in the Nation of the Jews Do they only make the Kingdom of Christ Or have they been only used as Instruments to the Dissolution of the Fourth Kingdom Again It is mentioned That the little Horn did wear out the Saints of the most High till the Saints took the Kingdom Now what warrant is there to take them only for the Saints of
the Jewish Church True indeed in the Hebrew Visions there is some mention made of the People of God but then commonly you shall see some circumstances in the text to decypher the People of the Jews only As for ensample You shall read somthing spoken of the Tsebi or the pleasant Land of the daily Sacrifice of the Sanctuary of Daniel's People and the like But in the Chaldee Visions there is no such thing mentioned which maketh me to think That the Saints there mentioned are of a more general Nature and concern the People of God both Jews and Gentiles Indeed it is often spoken concerning the Saints of the most High That the little Horn did wear them out and consume them and that at the time appointed they shall take the Kingdom But yet it is not specified in Daniel what these Saints are Whether they be the Saints of the Jews or the Gentiles or both Dr Willet seemeth to me to give a good Reason why they should be called The Saints of the most High scil in reference to their most High Prince the Lord Christ. The words of the text are fair for this Interpretation And the Kingdom and Dominion under the whole Heaven shall be given to the People of the Saints And then in the words immediately following His Kingdom 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is an everlasting Kingdom and all Dominions shall obey him vers 27. The Kingdom is given to the Son of man as to the Head and by him it is communicated to his People and Subjects after their Sufferings By all that hath been spoken we may conclude That the Subjects of the Kingdom of Christ the Members of his Mystical Body are the Objects of the Tyranny of the Fourth Beast Thirdly The great Power and Cruelty of this Beast is not only against the Saints but against all the former Metal-Kingdoms for as Iron it shall break them all in pieces vers 40. Therefore this Kingdom is said to be more Mighty than any going before in respect of the exercise and imployment of strength upon the former Kingdoms and not only in respect of the particular exercise of cruelty against the People of the Jews If this be so we cannot say That the Seleucian was such but to the Roman all things agree Fourthly I do yield also that this Expression is used specially for that part of the earth about the Confines of the Church of the Jews yet it is not the whole meaning of the text When the Lord gave Nebuchadnezzar the Head of the Image a Kingdom Power Strength and Glory And wheresoever the Children of men dwelt he gave them all into his hands we cannot say That he made him Ruler over all in Iudea only but he made him Ruler over all the Eastern Countries far and near round about the Confines of that Church and Nation In like manner when the Fourth Kingdom arose and brought the Earth into a more absolute subjection we must not only confine this to the Countries of Iudea but we must also expound the whole Earth by some Analogie to the former Metal-Kingdoms According to this sense when the Fourth Kingdom cometh to the times of its Monarchical Dominion it will be the most potent Kingdom that ever was about the Confines of the Church and it will bring the former Kingdoms into the greatest subjection If you apply this to the Kingdom of the Seleucidae there will be no correspondence at all but to the Roman all things do agree For that Kingdom was absolutely the most mighty and the most powerful that ever was about the Church of the Jews And as the People of Rome had Iudea under their Obedience so they had the greatest Empire about Iudea from East to West that ever was All these Reasons laid together shew plainly That the Fourth Beast is the Roman Kingdom and so consequently the Ten-Horned Beast in Daniel and the Revelation is all one It is not only one and the same in Analogie and similitude of Expression but it is Literally and Historically one and the same The Roman Kingdom is described in both Prophecies by the same Emblems and similitudes And thus much concerning the Queries of the Fourth Beast in the more general Nature thereof We will now descend more particularly to the Ten Horns And here we will shew that they cannot be the Ten Kings lineally succeeding in the Seleucian race but they are so many inferiour Realms of the Roman Empire Querie 1. If the Ten Horns be Ten Seleucian Kings there will be Eleven Horns in all and how can Ten Horns be the Character of the Beast If in the whole succession the Number of Kings be Eleven in all the Beast is more properly called Undeâ—…em Cornupeta the Beast with Eleven Horns The words are plain The ten Horns are ten Kings that shall arise and another shall arise up after them that shall be diverse from the first vers 24. Therefore if in the whole succession there be Eleven Kings first Ten and then another that came up after them why is the Beast set forth by the special Character of Ten Horns The little Horn must needs be the more cruel and more eminent according to the text And yet by this rule that which is more principal shall be excluded from the denomination But Doctor Willet hath this evasion to wit That the little Horn did not come up after the ten but it came up as the last of them And so Piscator rendreth the words Et Cornua decem ex illo Regno nempe decem Reges exsurgent postremus resurget post illos is diversus erit à prioribus And in his Scholia upon the 8 verse he thus speaketh Vox Chaldaica 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 quae versu sexto septimo significat alium hic valet ultimum seu postremum Nam Antiochus Epiphanes qui per Cornu illud figurabatur fuit ultimus inter decem illos Reges qui hîc per decem Cornua figurantur But let it be supposed that the Chaldee word may indefinitely be taken yet it is to our purpose to consider what the scope of the text will admit In the former verses when the description of the Babylonian-Lyon was ended it is there mentioned I beheld 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 another Beast like a Bear not a latter Beast that came up out of the Sea For the scope of the Spirit is to shew the rising of Four several Monarchies each one diverse from other So in the present case after the description of the Ten Horns the little Horn is said to be another that came up after them to shew the notable diversity between it and the Horns that came up before And so this is the meaning of the text That another Horn much differing from the former Ten in Nature and Condition came up after them in order of time Secondly Suppose we should let this Translation pass Postremum exsurget post illa a latter shall arise after them Here I
mingling one with another to preserve the Union of a Kingdom On the contrary if we take the Ten Horns for Ten Kings or Kingdoms at one and the same time there is nothing more ordinary than to establish Leagues and Confederacies betwixt Kingdoms and States that are contemporary each with other For that which they Alledge concerning the Division betwixt the Seleucidae and the Lagidae we have spoken thereof already and therefore we will not repeate the same things again Let us now in the last place come to those Queries concerning the Collation of the little Horn mentioned Dan. 7. and that little Horn spoken of chap. 8. For they that differ from us stand much upon this That Antiochus Epiphanes is signified in both Scriptures under the same Emblem Here we agree with them in Two Points First That the Prophecie of Daniel doth repeat one and the same thing for the better understanding of the Visions But then there must be some good evidence from the text to prove the things repeated to be the same though the Expression is divers Now what good proof is there to make it appear that the little Horn chap. 7. and that little Horn chap. 8. are one and the same Secondly We agree That Antiochus Epiphanes the Graecian Antichrist doth resemble the Roman Antichrist in many things and that the one is the express Image and Type of the other In these particulars then they do agree and are parallel Antiochus the little Horn Dan. 8. The Papacie the little Horn Dan. 7. 1. Out of the Graecian Kingdom there came forth a little Horn vers 9. 1. After the Ten Kings a little Horn did arise out of the Fourth Kingdom vers 8. 2. He did destroy the Mighty the Holy People vers 24. 2. He shall wear out the Saints of the Most High vers 21 23. 3. He shall magnifie himself in his heart against the God of gods vers 25. 3. He shall speak great things against the Most High vers 25. 4. By him the daily Sacrifice shall be taken away vers 11. 4. He shall think to change Times and Laws and they shall be given into his hand vers 25. In these several Particulars it is manifest That the little Horn mentioned chap. 7. and chap. 8. do both agree But yet whosoever he is that diligently considers the Scriptures he shall finde them to differ in the most remarkable circumstances First They differ in the State or Government where they arose the little Horn chap. 8. rose out of one of the Four Divisions of the Graecian State but the little Horn chap. 7. arose out of the Kingdom Typed by the Fourth Beast which all our Arguments asorementioned prove to be the Roman Kingdom Secondly They differ in the preparation and moulding of the State before the rising of either of them For the little Horn chap. 8. arose out of one of the Four Divisions of the Greek Empire But the little Horn chap. 7. arose after the Division of the Roman Empire into Ten inferiour Realms Thirdly They differ in their Actions For the little Horn chap. 8. is only said to rise out of one of the Four Kingdoms of the Graecian Empire but the little Horn chap. 7. is said to arise after the Ten Kingdoms of the Roman Empire And that he did pluck up Three of the former Kingdoms by the roots This is cleer from the scope of the text Fourthly They differ in the object of their Tyranny For though the little Horn chap. 8. is said to destroy the Holy People vers 24. yet the whole scope of the text sheweth that only the People of the Jews are here intended Now for the little Horn chap. 7. he is said to wear out the Saints of the Most High but there is no circumstance in the text to prove that these are the People of the Jews There is not one word of taking away the daily Sacrifice or of the setting up of the Abomination of Desolation or of Daniel's People or the pleasant Land or any such passages which the Prophet useth when he speaketh of the Jews All that can be said is this That he shall change Laws and times But from hence we cannot infer That these must be the Laws and Times of the Jewish Church For the Apostle when he speaketh of the Great Antichrist doth use such an expression He shall sit in the Temple of God shewing himself that he is God 2 Thess. 2. And yet he doth not mean the literal Temple in Ierusalem Fifthly They differ in the time of the Continuance of their Tyranny The little Horn chap. 8. shall prevail and the Sanctuary shall be troden down unto Evenings Mornings 2300 vers 14. Now for the little Horn chap. 7. he shall wear out the Saints a time and times and half a time till the Saints themselves take the Kingdom How this time and times and half a time should be all one with the 2300 Evenings Mornings I cannot discern If you apply this to the Roman Antichrist a time and times and half a time is the full sum of the Antichristian Tyranny Rev. 12. 14. Sixthly They differ in the Event For after the 2300 Evenings Mornings the Temple was cleansed vers 14. and after that the little Horn had finished his times he was broken without hand vers 25. All these things were truly fulfilled in Antiochus Epiphanes But if you apply the little Horn chap. 7. to Antiochus there can be no right accommodation First That little Horn did wear out the Saints till the Son of Man came in the clouds of Heaven but so did not Antiochus Epiphanes Secondly The little Horn did wear out the Saints a time and times and half a time till the Dominion under the whole Heaven was given to the Saints but so did not Antiochus Epiphanes Thirdly The little Horn shall continue till the time of the Destruction of the Fourth Beast But the Kingdom of the Seleucians ended not at Antiochus many of that line succeeded afterwards in the Kingdom And there was a good space of time from the death of Antiochus to the destruction of the Seleucian State by Pompey the Great But Dr Willet replieth Though the Kingdom was not utterly ruined yet the Glory of it was much abated at Antiochus his death By the like Reason I might argue That there was an end of the Babylonian Kingdom at the death of Nebuchadnezzar because the Glory of that Kingdom did afterwards abate in Evilmerodach I might argue also That the Graecian Kingdom ended in Alexander because the Kings that arose after him did not arise in his strength Others there are that do Alledge the words of the Eleventh Verse I beheld then because of the voyce of the great words which the little Horn spake I beheld even till the Beast was slain and his Body given to the burning fire From hence they gather That the little Horn was first broken off and when the Beast was Hornless and harmless then he was destroyed
the latter dayes Dan. 10. 14. From all which we gather That the Monarchies are specially Numbred according to Church-relations And therefore the Roman began as the Fourth Metal-Kingdom when the Church came first under the Obedience of that People Let us now proceed to the Second Argument ARGUMENT II. Where the Graecian Kingdom Typed by the Brass-Metal and the Third Beast made an end there did the Roman typed by the Iron-Metal and the Fourth Beast begin But at the overthrow of the Seleucian Kingdom in Asia and at the Conquest of Judea the Graecian Kingdom typed by the Brass-Metal and the Third Beast did make an end Therefore at the Overthrow of the Seleucian Kingdom and at the Conquest of Judea the Roman typed by the Iron-Metal and the Fourth Beast began The Major is evident it being a ruled case in the Body of the Metal-Kingdoms That where the former ceaseth the latter doth begin All the Question is concerning the Assumption Whether the Graecian ended as the Third Metal-Kingdom at the destruction of the Seleucian Here I finde that Interpreters are greatly divided They agree in it That the Graecian is the Third Kingdom but they are divided about the particular time when that Empire ended For all the Successors of Alexander came not under the power of the Romans at one and the same time His Successors in Greece ended when Macedonia was made a Roman Province by Aemilius the Consul 166 years before the Birth of our Lord. His Successors the Seleucidae in Syria and Iudea ended when all that tract of Land was brought under the power of the Romans by the means of Pompey the Great this was done about 60 years before the Birth of our Lord. His Successors the Lagidae in Egypt were made a Roman Province by Augustus Caesar this was done 28 years before the Birth of the Lord. So then it is plain That all Alexander's Successors fell into the hands of the Romans yet all fell not under the Roman Obedience at one time The great Question is Where we shall set the Ending of the Graecian Kingdom as typed by the Third Beast and the Brass-Metal And this I say must needs be at the overthrow of the Seleucian 60 years before the Birth of the Lord. First In the Original distribution of Alexander's Kingdom Iudea is pleaded to belong to the Seleucian Polyb. lib. 5. And therefore the Seleucian is that Successor to whom the Title of the Monarchy doth principally appertain I do not Deny but the Lagidae somtimes made their Incursions into Iudea as may be seen Dan. 11. But in the Original Constitution of the Kingdom Iudea was allotted to the Seleucian And that which may strengthen our Argument if you reade Iosephus the Book of the Macchabees and such-like Stories you shall find That the Sufferings of the People of the Jews have been wholly in a manner from those Successors of Alexander that were of the Seleucian line And this to me is a great Reason wherefore the Graecian Kingdom typed by the Brass-Metal is rather to end at the destruction of the Seleucian Kingdom Secondly At the Overthrow of the Successors of Alexander at several times the Fall of the Seleucian was only at that time when Iudea Ierusalem and all that Continent of Land fell under the Power of the Romans Mr Mede and some Historians do look principally when Greece the Head-Province was brought into subjection to the Romans by Aemilius the Consul they look here more specially to the ending of the Greek and beginning of the Roman Empire But at this very time Iudea was under the Tyranny of Antiochus Epiphanes and the true Graecian Kingdom typed by the Brass-Metal and the Third Beast in great vigor and sulness of strength For though in those times Greece their Native Country was taken away from the Graecians yet nevertheless that People had still the sovereign Dominion in and about the Borders of the Church And this continued for the space of 106 years till the time of Pompey the Great then the Selcucian Kingdom and together with it all the Lands of the Jewish Church fell under the Dominion of the State of Rome And that which may adde to the force of this Reason let us Consider First The limits of the Land of Promise Secondly The Governments that there should be erected For the limits of the Land of Promise the Seat of the Church for 2000 years these are the words of the Charter to Abraham Unto thy Seed have I given this Land from the River of Egypt to the great River Euphrates Gen. 15. 18 19 20. This was performed in the dayes of Ioshua who brought Israel into the Possession thereof Secondly For the Governments here erected The Scriptures do take notice that these Countries were under the Government of the Judges and then after that under the Kings of the Line of David to the times of the Captivity And then it was revealed to Nibuchadnâ—…zzar in the Image of Persecuting Empires what Succession of Tyrannies should be in and over those Countries For as somtimes the Kings of the Line of David did bear Rule in the Land of Promise so they continued the Government till the People of Babel got the Dominion So the People of Babel carried on the times of the Golden-Metal till the People of Media and Persia did take the Kingdom And after that the People of Media and Persia did continue the times of the Silver-Metal till they were subdued by the People of Greece under the Conduct of Alexander the Great And after the Victories of Alexander the People of Greece went on with the sovereign Dominion over all the Territories of the Church from the River of Egypt to the great River Euphrates till the destruction of the Seleucian Kingdom by Pompey the Great And then all that tract of Land came under the Dominion of the People of Rome So then we may conclude As the Seleucian is the immediate Successor of Alexander in and over the Continent of the Church So where he ended as the Third Metal-Kingdom over the Church there the Roman did begin as the Fourth Object But some perhaps may Reason That the Lagidae the Successors of Alexander in Egypt were not made Subject to the Romans till the times of Augustus Sol. Grant this to be true That Augustus did extinguish the last Successor yet the Monarchy was taken from the People of Greece before when the Romans came into Asia and brought all those Eastern Countries about Iudea within the compass of their great Empire It is one thing for the People of Greece to have a Fragment of the Kingdom of Alexander remaining and another thing for that People to have the sovereign Dominion over the Continent of the Land of Promise And this they had till the Overthrow of the Seleucian Kingdom by the Roman State But Helvicus in a little Treatise intituled Chronologia Universalis doth stiffly argue the Point That the Graecian Kingdom did not end as long
and Power But yet further They that stand for such a Beginning of the Roman Empire at Iulius Caesar I desire they would Answer this Question In the Tables of the Consuls it is manifest That there is the space of 17 years from the Conquest of Iudea to the Empire of Iulius Caesar. Now concerning this Number of years it must be either reckoned as a Chasme in the Prophetical Chronologie or else it must be applied to some one of the Four Metal-Kingdoms But it cannot be reckoned as a Chasme in the Prophetical Chronologie For it is clear from the Scriptures That these Four Monarchical States must continue one after another in a lineal succession and when their times are in flux and succession then the Kingdom of Christ shall begin Therefore this portion of time from the Conquest of Iudea to the Monarchy of Caesar must necessarily be reckoned as appertaining to one of the Four Kingdoms If so it must either appertain to the Graecian Kingdom typed by the Brass-Metal or to the Roman typed by the Iron-Metal For none will be so absurd as to apply it either to Babel or Persia which were destroyed long before Now they that apply this term of time to the Graecian Kingdom how can they make their Position good seeing that People were brought under the Power of the Romans But if you apply this to the time of the Roman typed by the Iron-Metal you give up the Cause to wit That the Roman began as the Fourth Metal-Kingdom in the time of their â—…ree-state Object 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 will Reply The Four Persâ—…uting States of the world are compacted together into one Image but the Romans in the time of their Free-State did not Persecute the Church Ergo. Sol. By the like Reason you may argue That Cyrus did not begin the Persian Kingdom nor Alexander the Graecian because neither of these Monarchs did actually afflict the Church But if you shall say Though they raised no actual Persecution in their own persons yet they did first bring the Church within the verge of that Dominion which in its times did notably afflict her I may say the same of the Romans For if it may be supposed That they did not afflict the Church in the times of their Free-state yet then she came first within the verge of that Dominion where were the â—…orest Persecutions that ever were In the Book of the Revelation there is again and again mention made of the Sufferings of the Church under Roman Tyranny And when she was to bring forth her Man-Child that should Rule all Nations with a Rod of Iron when she cried in pains to be Delivered a great red Dragon with seven Heads and ten Horns did lie in wait to Devour her Child chap. 12. All do agree That this noteth the Sufferings of the Church under Roman Tyranny There must then be some particular instant of time when the Church first came under that Tyranny and there we must set the date of the Tribulation Secondly Whereas it is Affirmed That the Romans did not Afflict the Church in the times of their Free-state this I do plainly Deny For let us hear what is spoken by Iosephus for he I presume in this matter is able to give us the best information Thus saith he Hircanus and Aristobulus through their Dissentions and civil Broyles were the cause of that Servitude that fell upon the Iews For we have lost our Liberty and have been subdued by the Romans Antiq. lib. 14. ch 8. And further he addeth That which is to be lamented the Romans in a little time have drawn from us more than 10000 talents and the Royalty which before was an Honour reserved to the High Priests hath been bestowed upon men of obscurity Antiq. l. 14. c. 8. But if we go to Particulars it is a thing famously known to all Posteritâ—… how Crassus did rob the Temple at Ierusalem And when all this is done shall we say That the Jews suffered nothing from the Romans during the times of their Free-state If we look to the times of Nehemiah we may well conceive that these were some of the best times of the Jewish Church Yet mark what is expressed in the Confession of the Leviâ—…es Behold we are Servants this day and for the Land that thou gavest unto our Fathers to eate the Fruit thereof and the good thereof behold we are Servants in it and it yieldeth much encrease unto the Kings whom thou hast set over us because of our sins Also they have Dominion over our Bodies and over our Cattel at their pleasure and we are in great distress chap. 9. vers 36 37. Here was then no publick Persecution for Religion only their Vassalage under the Persian Kings is here noted And may not all things be rightly applied to the Romans when they came to have supreme Dominion in the Land of Promise Were not the Bodies Lives Goods Cattel of the Jews and all that they had at the Roman devotion Nay further if we will compare the times that went before with those that come after we shall find before the Romans came into Iudea that the Jews had indifferently well asserted their Liberty against the Tyranny of the Seleucian Kings as may appear in the Stories of the Macchabees that rose up for the defence of their Country But from that time as the Roman Legions entred Ierusalem and a Conquest was made over the Churches Continent the Jews did totally and finally lose that Liberty to the destruction of their City and Temple And that which is to be noted The Christian Church also hath been under Roman Tyranny more or less to this very day as may appear by the Book of the Revelation and the Stories of the Church Now then if we put all together we may conclude That all things neeful to the beginning of the Fourth Kingdom in Daniel's Image began to be applicable to the Roman State at the destruction of the Seleucian Kingdom and at the subduing the Territories of the Church And therefore we do here fix the beginning of the Roman as the Fourth Metal-Kingdom ARGUMENT IV. Where the Story of the Gospel doth insinuate the beginning of the Roman to be that is the true beginning of the Roman as the Fourth Metal-Kingdom But the Story of the Gospel doth insinuate the beginning of the Roman to be in the time of their Free-state when the Churches Continent came first within the Verge of their Dominion Therefore within the time of their Free-state when the Churches Continent came under the Verge of that Dominion is the true beginning of the Roman as the Fourth Metal-Kingdom The Major is plain for we cannot but think that the Story of the Gospel doth rightly expound the true beginning of the Fourth Kingdom And for the Minor That the Story of the Gospel doth insinuate the beginning of the Roman to be in the time of their Free-state we have these Instances that follow The Evangelist being to write the
received some hints of the Four Metals of Daniel's Image when he spake of the Golden Age under Saturn and of the Silver Age under Iupiter c. We must not think whatsoever is spoken by this Poet to be altogether a Fable That which he saith concerning Deucalion's Flood in many particulars it was a Fable of his own making yet in the general ground we all know that it is a Scripture-Truth that there was a Deluge to drown the world So he speaketh of the Gyants and of their heaping of Pelion upon Ossa we may conceive that in this he had some respect to the Gyants before the Flood and to the building of the Tower of Babel So in the present case when he spoke of the Four Ages of the world of the Golden the Silver the Brass and the Iron-Ages though in this matter to use the Apostles Expression he turned the Truth of God into a Lye yet in the ground it is true That the times of the Church are divided into Four Ages and these Ages are figured by so many Metals of the Image In after times they that lived in the Church and had the right Experience of things did expound the Babylonian to be the Head of Gold the Mede-Persian to be the Silver the Graecian to be the Brass and the Roman to be the Iron This is a true Exposition in the main but in some particulars they have gone too much after Ovid in his Metamorphosis It is true that the Babylonian Monarchy is represented by the Golden-Metal but it is a common Error in the Ancients and now generally among the Historians Chronologers and Writers to begin the Babylonian Monarchy at Ninus Upon the front of many Chronological Tables you shall find That Ninus is Pictured as the Founder of the Babylonian Cyrus of the Persian Alexander of the Graecian Iulius Caesar of the Roman Monarchy This distribution though it may take in a greater compass of time yet it doth not agree with the sense of the Holy Ghost in some chief Circumstances For the beginning of the Babylonian at Ninus Historians have taken this out of thâ—…ir own Heads and not out of the Word of God And from hence Bodin in his Method of History ch p. 7. hath taken occasion to Dispute against the Scriptures and to strike out the Truth because some have mingled their own Inventions with the Word of God He hath taken this Advantage upon the private Errors of some who have stood for the Truth in the main But the latter Expositors do decline this Error of Ninus and do pitch upon this That Nebuchadnezzar is the Head of Gold and that the Babylonian Kingdom doth begin from his Monarchy They find by Experience That the Scriptures do chiefly point to those several Empires that were to stand in fulness of Power one after another in those Countries where somtimes the Kings of the Lineage of David did bear Rule These are the most approved Interpreters which I so call because they go according to the minde of the Scriptures Now according to their grounds it followeth by necessary consequence That the Roman must begin as the Fourth Kingdom in the time of their Free-state when the Church and all the Countries adjoyning came under the Lordship and Dominion of the People of Rome And whereas in the Chronographical Tables Iulius Caesar is set forth as the Founder of the Roman Empire this is as false an imagination as that of Ninus First It is clear That every Metal-Kingdom did rise and encrease by the destruction of the Empire that went before Now what part or parcel of the Graecian Empire did Iulius Caesar bring under the Power of the Romans Secondly What part or parcel of the Nations about the Borders of the Church did he bring under the Roman Obedience If we speak in a Latitude Caesar did change the Free-state into the Government by One yet to speak accurately The Roman did not begin then as the Fourth Metal-Kingdom but in the times of Pompey when the Jewish Church came under the Obedience of that Nation And so our Argument is Founded upon the Principles of the best Expositors for the true beginning of the Roman Kingdom Now then to gather all into one sum we may conclude the Roman to begin as the Fourth Metal-Kingdom when the Church came under the Dominion of that People This is demonstrated First By the Analogie of the Three former Metal-Kingdoms which did begin each one as the Church came under their Dominion Secondly By the end of the Graecian Kingdom typed by the Brass-Metal Where the Graecian endeth there the Roman beginneth Thirdly By that which is necessary to the Being of the Fourth Metal-Kingdom which began to be applicable to the Roman in the time aforementioned Fourthly By the Testimony of the Evangelist S. Luke which doth insinuate such a Beginning Fifthly By the Principles of the latter and most Approved Interpreters which being rightly laid do necessarily prove such a Beginning also Having thus laid the Foundation I should now proceed to the Building But there are some few Objections that yet remain to be Answered Object 1. Mr Mede standeth upon it That the Roman came up by the same degrees as the Graecian went down Therefore there can be no determinate and set time of the Beginning of the Roman as the Fourth Metal-Kingdom Sol. What he speaketh in his Apostacy of the latter-times concerning the gradual encrease of the greatness of the Romans we do yield to be a truth in the main But we here speak of the beginning of the Roman in a more strict sense in that acception as it is in the Fourth Metal-Kingdom And here as there was a determinate time of the beginning of the Babylonian Persian and Graecian Empires So there must be a determinate beginning of the Roman as the Fourth Metal-Kingdom Secondly Daniel saw in the Vision the Four Beasts come up out of the Sea one after another and the Fourth Beast last of all There must then be some determinate time of the beginning of the Fourth Empire Thirdly It is the plot of the Spirit by the Four Empires to decypher so many periods of time According to this Rule If there be no certain beginning of the Fourth Metal-Kingdom there will be a Chasme There will be some part of time which will be long to no Metal of the Image For as Mr Mede himself doth allow The Image doth comprehend Four great Revolutions of time to begin one after another in an orderly succession These are his own words Apost pag. 69. For the true account of the times in Scripture we must have recourse to that Secret Kalendar and Great Almanack of Prophecie The Four Kingdoms of Daniel which are a Prophetical Chronologie of times measured by the Succession of Four Principal Kingdoms from the beginning of the Captivity of Israel until the Mysterie of God should be finished A course of time during which the Church and the Nation of the Iews together
not to reveal this only to the Jews but to the People of the Gentiles also This latter may be proved from the person of Nebuchadnezzar to whom this secret was revealed For if it had only concerned the National Church of the Jews That the God of Heaven will raise up a Kingdom that never shall be destroyed Why was this delivered to Nebuchadnezzar an Heathen Man and an Enemy of the Church When the Lord did reveal to Pharoah the Dream of the seven fat Kine and after the Dream of seven lean Kine this was not only discovered for the good of the Church but for the preservation of mankind So the Succession of the Four great Empires and the beginning of the Kingdom of Christ in the times of the last Empire these things were not revealed only to Nebuchadnezzar that the Jews might understand the truth but that the whole habitable world under Nebuchadnezzar's Dominion might take notice of that which God did intend to do Secondly This appeareth by the manner of the Revelation to Nebuchadnezzar which was to this end That the whole world might observe it First If you consider the Person Nebuchadnezzar dreamed a Dream Secondly The way of God's dealing with him he forgat the Dream and therefore a great trouble fell upon his Spirit Thirdly His calling for the wise-men of Babylon which City in these times was the Eye of the world and the seat of the Empire Now it is not to be imagined but all that lived within the Verge of so large a Dominion would be apt to hearken after such a thing Specially when they should hear of the trouble of the King and of the Edict to kill all the wise-men of Babylon Here was a matter set out in the view of all Asia as it were to prove Three Particulars First That the God of Israel was the true God Secondly That he would set up Four great Changes of Empire in the world Thirdly That in the last Succession of Empire he would set up a Kingdom that never should be destroyed These things were propounded not only for the Church but for the Observation of the whole habitable Earth under the Babylonian Empire that then was and for the Ages following Thirdly If we look to the Story of the Evangelists we do read that the Evangelist S. Matthew doth tell us That when the Lord Christ was Born in Bethleem in the dayes of Herod the King wise-men came to Ierusalem Matth. 2. 1 2 3 4. Here Interpreters upon the place do raise many Questions First Who these wise-men were Secondly Why was it Revealed to them by a Star Thirdly Why did the Star guide them to Ierusalem and then vanish out of 〈◊〉 These Questions are propounded by Interpreters and they do give very learned and solid Answers to them Only there is a Question to which I do not yet finde a satisfactory Answer and that is this Why was this matter Revealed to wise-men in the East rather than to any other Nation Profession or Sect among the Gentiles Spanhemius doth handle this Point in his Dubia Evangelica part 2. dub 31. pag. 326. and he doth come to this issue in the close Concludimus itaque causum vocationis Magorum nequaquam in illis suisse sed in solâ Dei vocantis bonitate illos ex merâ ejus gratiâ vocatos sive absolutè eorum vocatio consideretur sive comparatè Quod enim vocati vocati prae aliis Dei miserentis fuit illorum potius quam aliorum Et haec causa causarum est summa ratio pag. 329. Here I do agree That the Call of the wise-men doth chiefly depend upon the Grace and Mercy of God This is the Cause of causes and the chiefest Reason why they were called and why they were called before any other But yet with submission to a better judgement I think there lies a plain reason in the Scriptures why the Birth of the King of the Jews was revealed to the wise-men of the East rather than to any other Gentiles For when the Lord had a purpose to Reveal Four great Changes of time to the world and particularly the time of the setting up of the Kingdom of his Son he had appointed in his Providence that the wisemen of Babylon whose Profession it was to understand the changes of time that they should come to take notice of these things but more specially of the time when the Kingdom of Christ should be set up But because they could not know this by their own strength the Lord did Reveal it to them by the Ministery of Daniel That he would set up Four Kingdoms over the Earth whereof the Babylonian in Being was the first and then in the latter end he would set up a Kingdom that never should be destroyed In a word This is the Cause wherefore these changes of times were revealed to the wise-men of the East because it did suit with their Profession to take notice of such things And the Lord having once revealed in particular the time of the setting up of the Kingdom of his Son to the wise-men of the East when the Lord Christ was born at Bethleem in Iudea in the days of Herod the King he did Call that sort of men in special to take notice of that which was foretold Because these things were revealed to them they were called in a special manner to take notice of the Birth of the Messiah and of the beginning of his Kingdom From all that hath been said we may conclude That the Vision of the Metal-Kingdoms doth concern both Jews and Gentiles Therefore there is no necessity that Brightman Grasserus and other learned men should take the little Horn for Mahomet because the Country of Iudea is now under the Turks Many other Arguments might be brought to prove That neither Mahomet nor the Turk can possibly be resembled by the Type of the little Horn. The scope of the text and the whole collection of Circumstances do altogether pitch upon the Papacy which arose after the division of the Roman Empire into ten inferiour Kingdoms in the time of the Emperor Phocas 666 years from the beginning of the Roman as the Fourth Metal-Kingdom This is the true Application of the times to the Stories of the Church and this is the natural sense of Iohn in the Book of the Revelation That the Number of the Name of the Beast is 666. Now for the truth of this Interpretation we will prove it First From the whole scope of the text Rev. 13. Secondly From the drift of the Spirit Rev. 17. Thirdly From the whole Harmony of the Prophecie in the chief and remarkable Circumstances Lastly From the scope of the Apostle 2 Thess. 2. And of these in their Order CHAP. VIII The Truth of the Interpretation is proved from the remarkable Circumstances of the Text it self Revel 13. 16 17 18. THere be many excellent and precious Truths in the general which we cannot alwayes avouch That the Spirit
hath been introduced in the latter times But now it is not so with the Universal Headship of the Bishop of Rome this hath been in hatching in all Ages almost down from the times of the Apostles till in the 666th year from the beginning of the Roman as the Fourth Metal-Kingdom it began publickly to be established under the Emperor Phocas And here was the true beginning of the Name or Universal Headship of the Beast and of the Mark of the Name Fourthly The Mark in the Forehead and in the right Hand is a convertible and reciprocal Note to distinguish the Subjects of the Beast's Kingdom from other men and such a convertible Note is the publick Profession of a Roman Catholick And therefore many of their chief Writers do lay down Three Notes to prove a true Church by Verae fidei Professione by the Profession of the true Faith Sacramentorum Communione by participating of the Sacraments Pontifici Romano tanquam legitimo Pastori subjectione by subjection to the Bishop of Rome as to their lawful Pastor Fifthly The Mark in the Forehead and the right Hand must be such a thing as is in open view and in common use for so do these figurative Expressions import It is not said That he causeth all to receive a Mark in their Arm or Breast or Foot or Leg or any other Member of the Body but in the Forehead which is in open view and in the right Hand as being that part of the Body which is of most common use Now what is there among that Society of men which is of more common use and publick view than the Profession of a Roman Catholick Experience doth plainly shew That none can buy nor sell nor hold Land and Possessions but such a one as doth acknowledge this Universal Headship Sixthly The Mark in the Forehead and in the right Hand is in express and significant terms called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Mark of his Name They have no rest day nor night that worship the Beast and his Image and receive the Mark of his Name chap. 14. vers 11. Now if you apply this to the Profession of a Roman Catholick all things will agree For what is a Roman Catholick but such a one as doth make it the chief and main Article of his Faith to acknowledge the Universal Headship of the Bishop of Rome and to subject his Conscience to the Laws made by that Authority And this we have already proved in the Third Chapter of this Treatise to be no other but the Name of the Beast For if there were no such thing as the Universal Headship Sovereign Power and Supreme Dominion of the Bishop of Rome what would become of the Faith and Profession of a Roman Catholick The Name or Universal Headship is that which giveth foundation to the Mark or Profession à priori and the Mark or Profession is that which declareth the Name or Universal Headship à posteriori And therefore in significant terms it is called the Mark of the Name Seventhly The Mark in the Forehead and in the right Hand is that which the Subjects of the Beast's Kingdom do assume to themselves as a matter of the greatest Honour and Dignity It is not a brand or nick-Name put upon them by their Enemies but that which themselves do voluntarily profess as may be seen in the whole Book of the Revelation Now such a Name is the Profession of a Roman Catholick The Roman Church comprehendeth all those Nations Languages and People that agree in the same Unity of the Faith under the Pope the Head And every Member of this Church of what sort soever maketh this as the principal Badge of his Profession to adhere to the Bishop of Rome as to the visible Head of the Church Eighthly The Mark in the right Hand and in the Forehead must be so expounded That in receiving of this men must be guilty of great sin against Christ and so consequently lyable to most grievous Judgements except they repent And therefore it is expressed That such shall be tormented day and night that worship the Beast and receive his Mark. Surely then that act of receiving the Mark of the Beast must needs be a grievous sin because the Lord Christ doth threaten it with so heavie a Judgement Now if you take the Profession of the Faith of a Roman Catholick as he professeth his subjection to the Bishop of Rome this is the greatest derogation that can be to Christ to supplant him in his Universal Headship For it is his peculiar and incommunicable Priviledge to be the only Head of the Church his Mystical Body Therefore whosoever he is that doth ascribe this to himself or to any other doth sin against the Kingly Office of Christ and doth what in him lies to dethrone and put Christ from his sovereign Dignity A Wife may be guilty of many Offences against her Husband but that is one of the most capital when she doth take another in his room for that is in a sense To break the bond and to cast him off from being her Husband when she doth give her self to another man A Roman Catholick then when he doth profess his Allegiance to the Bishop of Rome as to the visible Head of the Church this publick Profession of his is Rebellion and high Treason against the Lord Christ the true Head of the Church this doth supplant him of his Kingly Power and Dignity and therefore he doth threaten this sin with such grievous Judgements Those words therefore that are added as an Epiphonema in the end of the Revelation Whosoever shall adde to the words of this Book God will adde to him the Plagues that are written in this Book And if any man shall take away from the words of the Book of this Prophecie God will take away his part out of the Book of Life and out of the Holy City and from the things which are written in this Book chap. 22. vers 18. 19. Interpreters do usually apply this place to those that bring in Traditions but I think that here is a more special sense intended sutable to the nature of the Book for the principal scope of the Book of the Revelation is to speak of the Kingly Office of Christ and therefore they that set up another Head of the Church they do adde to the words of the Prophecie of this Book and God will adde to them the Plagues that are written in the Book So they that take away from the Kingly Office of Christ they do in a more special sense take away from the words of the Prophecie of this Book And therefore God will take away their part out of the New Ierusalem and from the things that are contained in the Book If these things are so I cannot but admire at Hugo Grotius a man of great Learning in these last times who in his Tract de Antichristo doth speak very favourably of the Universal Headship of the Bishop of Rome
of men that had persevered and held out for Christ against the Power and Headship of Antichrist in all the time of that Tribulation And yet as this matter is one it is branched into several Considerations First If you speak of the Papacy as a State or Government afflicting the Saints so it is called a Beast like to one of the Beasts in Daniel Secondly If you speak of the Universal Headship wherein the form and essence of the Kingdom doth consist this is the Name of the Beast Thirdly If you speak of that Universal Headship as a Representative of that Soveraign Majesty that was formerly lost in Rome Imperial and now repaired in Rome Papal this is the Image of the Beast Fourthly If you speak of the publick profession of this Universal Headship in the society of men this is the Mark of the Beast Fifthly If you speak of the time when this Universal Headship began visibly and remarkably to appear this is the Number of the Beast and more specially of his Name and Headship All these are so many distinct Apocalyptical Considerations which agree in one main Truth in the general And thus having spoken of the Law of the Beast in the three branches thereof we will now come to speak more briefly of the other particulars because they are more easie to be understood Secondly For the Law-maker the Power by and through which he caused all to receive the Mark this is a Spiritual Christ-like efficacy prevailing in the Consciences of men to make them subject to his Laws It is said of the Monarchy of Nebuchadnezzar that the most High God did give to him a Kingdome And for the Majesty that he gave him all People Nations and Languages trembled and feared before him whom he would he slew and whom he would he kept alive Chap. 5. ver 18 19. So the Beast in the Revelation hath the same transcendent power he causeth all to receive a Mark whether rich or poor bond or free male or female he compelleth all to yield obedience as they sometimes did that were under the power of Nebuchadnezzar But here is the difference The power of Nebuchadnezzar was more external over the bodies of men this is more internal over their Mindes and Consciences and by consequence over their bodies also Secondly They thaâ—… were under the Jurisdiction of Nebuchadnezzar had they been left to their free choyce they would have been glad to have enjoyed their liberty but now for those that lived in subjection to the See of Rome for the most part the matter was far otherwise with them they would not be free if they might The Kings of the Earth divided in Interests and in many Civil respects all of them could agree in this one thing To give their Power to the Beast Rev. Ch. 17. They thought they could not be saved unless in all Realms there was a Universal subjection to this Headship given by Christ himself as they thought to Peter and his Successors And for the time of the publick Institution of this Universal Headship there were some preparations and previous workings towards the setting up of this Power but there was no publick Establishment thereof till the time of the Emperor Phocas Let us hear what Mr. Fox in his Acts and Monuments speaketh concerning this matter Pag. 108. Col. 2. But Rome saith he would not so soon lose the Supremacy once given as the giver lost his life For ever since from that day she hath holden defended and maintained the same still and yet doth to this present day by all force and policy possible And thus much concerning Boniface whom by the words of Gregory we may call the Fore-runner of Antichrist For as Gregory brought in the style Servus Servorum So this Boniface brought into their heads first Volumus Mandamus Statuimus Praecipimus that is We Will and Command We Injoyn and Charge you The same is mentioned by Paraens in his Commentary upon the Revelation Chap. 6. ver 12. From whence I gather As the Bishops of Rome have had a Mandatory Power in and over the Church so this first began in the time of the Emperor Phocas in the Decree of the Universal Headship Thirdly Let us consider the persons who they are that are subject to his Power He commandeth all both small and great rich and poor to receive a Mark. The greatness of rich men cannot procure a toleration neither can the meanness of poor men exempt them by their poverty Bullinger upon the place speaketh very pithily We see saith he that Emperors Kings Dukes Marquesses Earls Barons Realms Countreys Cities Patriarchs Archbishops Bishops Prelates Doctors Clerks and Lay men obey him And also men of the greatest Power Riches Wisdome together with the poor people There is no such Kingdome and so diversly compact in the whole world no not among the Mahometans And all these are willingly subject to the Seat yea they have perswaded themselves that they cannot well live and that they cannot be saved unless they be subject to the See of Rome So far Bullinger From hence we gather that the event doth fully answer the Prophecy for we see by experience how all the world hath worshipped the Beast and received his Mark. And whereas some to illude this truth have pleaded that the Popish Churches in France do not own the Pope for Head of the Church We will easily grant that they may not be so strictly obliged to the Popes Chair in some temporal respects yet it is too plain that his Authority is set up in their Consciences and that they are subject to his Laws Fourthly Let us consider the punishment to be inflicted upon those that have not the Mark in the Forehead and in the right-hand they are forbidden to buy or sell. Mr. Mede doth take this for Excommunication or casting out of Church-fellowship But rather the words signifie a cutting off from all civil commerce among men Yea if we compare the Scriptures we shall finde that it was present death for any man to refuse to have the Mark in the forehead and in the right-hand Therefore when Iohn saw the Souls of those that were beheaded for the Word of God and the testimony of Iesus that had not worshipped the Image nor received the Mark Chap. 20. ver 4. he doth plainly shew that the beheading was for the Non-worship of the Beast and for the not receiving of the Mark We may conclude then when men are exempted from buâ—…ing and selling this is a Synecdoche By this one all other kindes of punishment whatsoever are understood And thus we have seen the matter of the Law the Law-maker the persons subject to the Law and the penalty upon all such as shall refuse subjection Let us now come to the several particulars which concern the right calculation of the Number First For the Person who it is that must make the discovery It is such a one as hath wisdome 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉
the Spirit saith to the Churches There are many excellent things that he speaketh to the Churches in the way of Reproof in the way of Advice and in the way of Comfort yet onely he that hath an ear to hear will understand the meaning of his words And so in the present case when it is said Here is wisdome let him that hath understanding count the Number of the Beast This implieth That this matter must be found out by some subtilty of observation The person that doth inquire must be such a one as hath wisdome Secondly For the manner of discovery it must be by calculation of the Number and therefore it is said 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Let him count the Number of the Beast The word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifieth such a kinde of Numbring as is by Counters or Stones of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Lapillus Calculus But in the ordinary and common use it doth promiscuously note any kinde of reckoning And therefore it is said concerning the man that went about to build a Tower 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 he counteth or reckoneth the cost Luke 14. 28. And so in the present case there is a computation or way of account to finde out the mystery of the Number But here is the difference betwixt Interpreters some go to the extraction of the root some to the numeral Letters of the name Lateinos But of these we have spoken in part already and we shall further shew the vanity of this way in the process of the Discourse We will therefore come positively and plainly to set down the meaning of the Spirit And we shall finde That there is nothing more familiar in the Predictions of Prophetical Scriptures then for the Spirit to foretel remarkable occurrences by a definite number of years to every such occurrence Of many Examples that may be given take these few When the Lord would give Noah warning concerning the Flood he told him That such a Number of years should fulfil their course and then the Flood should come My Spirit shall not alway strâ—…ve with man yet his dayes shall be an hundred and twenty years Gen. 6. 3. So when he made a Promise to Abraham that he would give to his Posterity the Land of Canaan for an Inheritance he told him That 400 years should run compleat to the performance of the Promise Thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs and shall serve them and they shall afflict them four hundred years and afterwards they shall come out with great substance Gen. 15. 13 14 15. Further when the people of the Jews were carried captive into Babylon in the times of Ieâ—…kims Captivity to these the Prophet Ieremy did send a Consolatory Letter in which he did declare two things of eminent note Their remarkable deliverance and the overthrow of the Babylonian Empire Yet withall â—…e did declare That seventy years must first be fulfilled and accomplished at Babylon before their deliverance wiâ—… come And these Nations shall serve the King of Babylon seventy years and when seventy years are accomplished then will I visit the King of Babylon Jer. 25. ver 11 12. And again Thus saith the Lord After seventy years be accomplished at Babylon I will visit you and perform my good word towards you in causing you to return unto this place Jer. 29. 10 11. Last of all when Daniel himself was mâ—…sing on the truth of the Promise of God and gave himself to understand the Times and to pray in faith for the accomplishment of the Promises he had a further discovery of the seventy weeks that should lead him to the times of the Messiah to his Passion to the Preaching of the Gospel among all Nations and to the destruction of Ierusalem Now to the performance of these things it was shewed to him That there must be seventy Sevens or seventy weeks of years or 490 years in all to begin and commence from the building of the second Temple which line of years if he followed it would bring him to that time when all these things should be fulfilled By these Examples it is manifest That it is a frequent thing in Prophetical Scriptures to foretell future occurrences and to shew the Number of years that shall pass before the event If this be so we have a rational ground to build upon when we make 666 the Number of years to the setting up of the Name or Universal Headship of the Bishop of Rome But for the further clearing of the truth That the study and the calculation of the Prophetical years is said to be wisdome we can make this appear by some special Examples out of Scripture We reade in the the Prophecy of Daniel In the first year of Darius the son of Ahashuerosh of the seed of the Medes which was made King over the Realm of the Caldeans in the first year of his reign I Daniel understood by books the Number of the years whereof the word of the Lord came to Ieremiah the Prophet that he would accomplish seventy years in the desolations of Ierusalem Dan. 9. 1 2 3. Concerning Darius the Mede there is a great Controversie among Chronologers whether he came to the Kingdome of the Caldeans by Conquest or by free Election But let that point be what it will be all do agree in it That Darius the Mede raigned immediately before Cyrus the Persian And it is as clear also by the stories of the times That the first year of Darius the Mede was upon the very dawning of the Churches deliverance In this year then Daniel gave himself to study by books the Number of years that the Lord would accomplish in the Churches desolations In him then by the way let us note That they who have the greatest fulness of Spirit are chiefly imployed in the meditation of the Scriptures And they who are conversant in the Prophetical Scriptures are many times helped out in the knowledge of these things by the Sacred and the Civil Stories But now let us take notice of the process and order of his meditations First he did lay it as a general ground That seventy years must be expired before deliverance will come But now saith he the seventy years of the desolations of Ierusalem begin almost to be fulfilled Therefore in these times we are almost come to the promised deliverance And thereupon he did pray with great faith in the Promises of God as appeareth by the scope of the Chapter Here now in this Syllogism Daniel did 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 by two known Numbers he did finde out a third unknown His major Proposition was the Prophecy of Ieremy his Assumption was his own experience and the Chaldee Registers of the Time and his Conclusion was the approach of the delivery of the Church And the whole operation in computing the times was by wisdome For these are the words of the Text I Daniel 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 understood by books Piscator
Number of years this will agree with the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for in the known and most familiar use that art which teacheth us to number Periods Cycles and greater Revolutions of years is called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the art of Computation But if all this will not give satisfaction if any shall still say That this may be the sense yet it doth not prove that it must be so For the further clearing of the matter we will go to the third Circumstance to the Method or the Rule which we must number by And here we shall finde That we have not onely typical proof but true Apocalyptical and demonstrative grounds to build upon if we compare the words of Scripture with our own experience Thirdly the method by which we are to account is by the Numbers of the four Metal-Kingdoms in Daniels Image So then if we account from the beginning of the Roman as the fourth Metal-Kingdom there will be an exact line of 666 years to the setting up of the Name or Universal Headship of the Bishop of Rome under the Emperor Phocas And here the best Expositors do set the rising of the two-horned Beast out of the earth And this is the reason that 666 is called the Number of the Name of the Beast and experience also sheweth That the account is to be made by the periods of time in Daniels Image And so we have not onely probabiliâ—…y but also apodeictical proof for the Exposition of the Number But now to come to clear the point we will shew the Reasons why the account by Daniels method is called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Number of a Man and that this is the meaning of the Spirit First it may fitly be called a Number because as Mr. Mede rightly saith It is the Sacred Kalendar or Prophetical Chronologie appointed by God himself to measure the times We may therefore fitly call it a Number or as they speak in the Schools numerus numerans because it comprehendeth the four Periods of time appointed by God himself to number the special occurrences of the Church Secondly in a more special sense it is called the Number of a Man because it pleaseth the Holy Ghost by the four Regions Parts and Divisions of the Body of Man to number the four great Empires of the world and the four notable and remarkable Revolutions of Time The Image in the parts and in the divisions of it doth not as Interpreters well observe naturally signifie these things but meerly by positive and divine Institution It pleaseth the Lord by the four parts of the Humane Image to decypher so many periods of time And this is the true reason wherefore the Spirit in the figure calls this form method and way of account 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Number of a Man because it is the Number of the Humane Image Thirdly this way of expression doth agree with the manner of the Spirit in other places As for example Thou art this Head of Gold that is Thou art signified by this Head of Gold The seven kine are seven years that is the seven kine do represent seven years And The seven Heads are seven Mountains that is the seven Heads do type and set forth seven Mountains And so in the present case The Number of the Beast is the Number of a Man and that Number is 666. The plain meaning whereof is this That 666 signifieth so many years specified and declared in the accounts of Daniels Image called The Number of a Man It is so styled because the Number is such in that Calculation and it is so to be made out in that method and way of account Fourthly this method of account will agree with the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Here will be an excellent subject for a man that hath dexterity in the Calculations of the Times to imploy the art and skill of a good Accomptant For to what end did the Lord reveal this Prophetical Chronologie under the figure and similitude of the four Regions and Parts of the Body of Man but that it might be a certain and a standing rule to all Posterities to number those times and changes of times that should befall in and about the affairs of the Church Fifthly the Number of time by the account of Daniels Image is the most fit to decypher the rising of a Tyrannical State such as the Kingdome of the Beast is whereof we speak Now what is the Image of Daniel It is no other but a Systeme or body of the four great persecuting Empires which should rise up one after another in the same succession notably to afflict the Church of God Now fith the Beast with two Horns in the Revelation is such a Dominion or State that shall notably afflict the Saints in the latter days where can it be more properly or fitly placed then in the Image of Tyrannical Empires All these are of the same lineage and kindred And therefore seeing it is the plot of the Spirit to delineate these four Successions by so many Parts of the Body of Man we may well conclude That this way of Computation is the Number of a Man meant in the Text seeing it doth so notably agree with the event Sixthly the Number of Time by the account of Daniels Image in the days of Iohn and in the times immediately following was most apt to finde out the events that should befal the Church For this is to be observed That though the Beast his Name Mark and Image were not extant in the times of Iohn yet the number by and through which these were to be computed must then be not onely extant but it must be also of remarkable use As for example The Anti-Christian Church had no beeing in the days of Iohn nor in the ages immediately following yet nevertheless the Spirit in the Revelation doth decypher the place of this Church by such a Character as was famously known in the days of Iohn The seven Heads are seven Mountains where the woman sitteth Now this did more properly appertain to those first times in which S. Iohn lived That Rome was seated upon seven Mountains For the people then living though they should never see the Antichristian times yet Iohn did foreshew the place where that Church should have her beeing in the time appointed and limited by the Lord. In like manner though the Name Image and Mark of the Name had none of them existence in the days of Iohn yet the Number by which all these must be accounted must needs then be in some tolerable use For how shall a man that hath wisdome by the Number finde out the Name if the Number were no way discoverable in those times Mr. Brightman upon the place doth fully agree with us His words are these Though the Mark and the Name were not extant the Beast being not as yet Nevertheless the Number of the Name might be manifest to that age wherein John lived and not onely
〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Number of his Government is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 193 for in that year he did begin to Reign from the beginning of Nabonassar And so of the rest The like may be said in the present case of the Universal Headship of the Bishop of Rome that from the beginning of the Roman as the fourth Metal Kingdom the Number of his Name or Government is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 666 Onely the difference is in the manner of the Computation For when we account the times of Darius Nebuchadnezzar and others 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 it is the Number of Nabonassar But when we account the Name or Universal Headship of the Bishop of Rome and the beginning thereof 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 it is the Number in Daniels Image in the way of the Prophetical Chronologie figuratively called the Number of a Man Let us carry the matter to Antiochus Epiphanes the Graecian Antichrist Of the beginning of his Reign and Government it is said 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 he reigned in the 137 year of the Kingdome of the Greeks 1 Mac 1. 11. If we will draw this matter into figures the Number of his Name or Government is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 137. And for the way and method of account 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 it is the Number of the Kingdome of the Greeks for in such a year of their Kingdome he began to Reign If we apply this to the Roman Antichrist to the beginning of the Universal Headship under the Emperor Phocas we may say that he began that Dominion in the year 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 666 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 For from that time as the Church of God came under the Dominion of the Romans there is such an exact Number of years Many more instances might be brought out of Antiquity to shew how it hath been the manner of the Ancients to reckon the Times and the Changes of Government by the Characters of the Greek Alphabet But these shall suffice Now to gather all into one sum I have compared the Interpretation with all the particulars of the Text. I have shewed what is meant by the Law what by the Beast that made the Law what by the Persons that did receive the Mark in their Forehead and in their Right-hand I have largely discoursed also concerning the Calculation of the Number who the Person is that is to make the discovery what the Calculation is what is meant by the Number of a Man and what by 666 years to the setting up of the Name or Universal Heaâ—…ship of the Bishop of Rome And seeing I finde all things to agree therefore I conclude That this is a true Interpretation For the confirmation of this let us go to the next Chapter CHAP. IX The Truth of the Interpretation is further confirmed from the scope of the Seventeenth Chapter of the Revelation HEre all solid Expositors do agree That the same matter is handled again which was formerly discoursed of in the 13th Chapter The thing is not aliud aliud another and another though it be delivered aliter aliter in another and another manner That which is there spoken concerning the Beast as a King or Potentate is here applied to an Idolatrous or Whorish Church But let us hear the words of the Text So he carried me away in the Spirit into the Wilderness and I saw a woman sit upon a Scarlet-coloured Beast full of the Names of Blasphemy having seven Heads and ten Horns v. 3. This Woman is an Idolatrous Church and if we look to the whole scope of the description she can be no other but the Roman Idolatrous Church That this is meant of the City of Rome is clear from the 9th Vers. The seven Heads are seven Mountains where the Woman sitteth Now all Stories do agree That Rome was seated upon seven Hills and was famous through all the world by the title of Septi-collis or The Seven-hilled City And to put all out of question the Angel saith The Woman which thou sawest is the great City that reigneth over the Kings of the Earth ver 18. Now what was the Great City which in the days of Iohn reigned over all earthly Kings but the City of Rome There are such clear Characters in the Text that the Ancients who lived before the fall of the Empire did all agree in it That Rome was the City Babylon And the Jesuits in these days who of all men living are the most active to hide the meaning of this Scripture do yield that Rome is here intended But how Not Rome Christian but Rome Pagan To this we reply Though the Apostle doth make mention of Rome Pagan yet he doth primarily intend Rome Christian or rather Rome Antichristian Let it be considered what Title is given to her and so not onely in this Chapter but in other places she is called The Whore of Babylon In Scripture-language this Name is onely given to Idolatrous Churches We never or at least seldome reade in the Writings of the Prophets of the Whore of Egypt of the Whore of Edom of the Whore of Tyrus or of the Whore of Damascus this Title is usually given to Samaria and Ierusalem to the Churches of Israel and Iudah as they did fall away from the Worship of the true God to serve other gods And therefore Hosea in the Vision was to take a wife of fornications because the land had committed great whoredome in departing from the Lord Hos. 1. 2. So the Prophet Ezekiel being to speak of the spiritual fornications of Samaria and Ierusalem calleth the one Aholah and the other Aholibamah Ezek. 23. 4. From these and many other Scriptures it is evident That the Title is usually given to Idolatrous Churches which have departed away from Christ their lawful Husband So then if the Whore of Babylon doth signifie Rome this must needs be applied to Rome Christian as she did break her Marriage-Covenant with Christ and yield her self up to another Husband For Rome Pagan was never married to Christ and therefore though she might be called Babylon in the figure yet she is not the Whore of Babylon Secondly she is described in the Text having a Golden Cup in her hand By which amorous poâ—…ion she did entice the Kings of the Earth to commit fornication with her Now this doth not appertain to Rome Pagan but to the Romish Church which hath greatly deceived the Kings of the Earth by her Idolatries and Superditions Thirdly it is clear from the scope of the Text That the Woman doth ride the Beast in its last and renewed State in the times of the ten Kings for these shall carry the Whore and shall be wholly at her devotion till the words of God be fulfilled and after that they shall hate her as much and burn her flesh with fire If we apply this to Rome Pagan there is nothing will agree for she had no beeing in the times of the Ten Kings But all things may be
fitly applied to Rome Antichristian which is truly and properly called the Whore of Babylon in the figure But now a little to draw nearer to the Point When was it that the Whore did begin to ride the Beast and where shall we set the date of her Dominion For so the Angel doth expound the words The Waters where the Whore sitteth are Kindreds and People and Multitudes and Nations and Languages ver 17. Her sitting upon the Beast and upon many Waters doth not onely imply an ordinary sitting but a sitting in the way of Lordship Dominion and Supreme Command Such a kinde of sitting we must look after if we will truly know the time when the Whore began to ride the Beast And here I say at that time when the Bishop of Rome did begin to be the second Beast or Universal Head under the Emperor Phocas then at the same time did the Roman Church begin to be the Mother of all Churches or rather the Great Whore that rideth the Beast the Mother of all the Fornications and the Idolatries of the Earth Let us therefore more distinctly consider the times as the Angel doth give the true delineation of them And therefore speaking of the Ten Kings that should carry the Whore that should be wholly at her devotion he doth expresly speak of them They have no Kingdome as yet but receive a Kingdome as Kings one hour with the Beast ver 12. Therefore the fall of the Empire and the rising of the Kings must needs anticipate or go before the Jurisdiction and Dominion of the Great Whore And lest there should be any mistake in the time the Angel doth plainly shew That there must be eight Revolutions of State in the City of Rome and that seven of them must fall before the time cometh that the Whore shall ride the Beast These are his words There are seven Kings five are fallen one is and the other is not yet come and when he cometh he must continue a short space And the Beast that was and is not he is the eighth and is of the seventh and goeth into Perdition ver 10 11. From whence it is manifest That the Ten Kings must arise and seven Forms of Government must fall in the City of Rome before the times of the Great Whore can begin But here is a hard question to be decided by the way How can the Beast be said to be the eighth King and yet one of the seven Heads I will the more willingly take it into Consideration because I have been heretofore much puzled with the question And I finde also that the very best and most approved Interpreters do not give a certain sound To let pass how far Brightman and Paraeus have gone aside in the matter Mr. Forbes makes the Kings and Heads of the Beast to be co incident terms but in this he is greatly mistaken For the Beast in the order of Kings is expreslâ—… said to be the eighth King and in the order of Heads he is onely one of the seventh Therefore we may certainly conclude That these are not equivalent terms but that necessarily some distinction must be made betwixt the Heads and the Kings Mr. Mede therefore keeps himself in doubtful terms for speaking of the seventh Change of State to wit The Christian Caesars he saith That this Potentate because he should be of short continuance shall seem to be Dynastes alius another Ruler sed revera non alius in deed and in truth not another So likewise concerning the Beast in which State he should carry the Whore This Beast saith he in respect of the Change of the Caesars seemeth to be the eighth but revera non nisi septimus in deed and in truth no other but the seventh In which words of his so far as I apprehend there are two passages which seem to me to differ from the scope of the Text For when he speaketh of the Change of the Caesareate from the Pagan to the Christian Caesars how can he call that of the Christian Caesars Dynasten quasi alium revera tamen non alium The words of the Text are plain Five are fallen one is to wit that of the Pagan Caesars when Iohn wrote the Revelation and the other 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that of the Christian Caesars is not yet come It is clear then that the Governments of the City of Rome are eight in all and not eight in appearance onely and the Dynasty of the Christian Caesars is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 another in reality and truth and not another in shew onely as Mr. Mede will have it So likewise for the Beast it is strange that he should affirm him to be quasi octavum Dynasten as it were the eighth Potentate sed revera non nisi septimum but in deed and in truth no other but the seventh The words of the Text are express The Beast that was and is not he is octavus the eighth in reality and in truth and not the eighth in appearance only Therefore the Exposition of Mr. Mede doth contradict the words of the Text and the knot remains Upon much debate I finde that we must go another way to work and here we must distinguish the Roman Governments as they are simply so called from the Roman Governments as they are Heads of the Beast If you look upon the Roman Governments as so many Policies and Forms of Dominion then it is clear That there are eight Forms of Regency to wit The Kings the Consuls the Decemvirs the Dictators the Tribunes the Pagan Caesars the Christian Caesars and after all these seven cometh the Beast as octavus Dynastes the eighth Potentate Now on the other side if you reckon the Heads of the Beast there can be but seven Heads and therefore the Beast must needs be the particular seventh seeing the Christian Caesars from Constantine to Augustus cannot be called an Head of the Beast at all unless we will go against the scope of Scripture For it is not the manner of the Scripture to call Christian Governments by the Title of a Beast or the Head of a Beast This Character doth properly appertain to the Kingdomes and States of this World that persecute the Church and are contrary to the Laws of the Kingdom of Christ. Upon this account the Christian Caesars do indeed make a distinct Dynasty or Policy and yet are no part or Head of the Beast The words of the Text are clear for when the Spirit speaketh of the other that should come to wit the Dynasty of the Christian Caesars he doth not say 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 another Head but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 another King which sheweth plainly That the Christian Casars are a distinct Form of Government but no Head of the Beast So likewise the Beast of the last edition is not termed 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the eighth Head but he is simply called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the eighth King Touching the Kings it is spoken
of them Five are fallen one is and the other is not yet come and the Beast that cometh out of the Bottomless Pit he is the eighth To satisfie the doubt we do pitch upon this sense that the Beast is both the eighth Dynasty and the seventh Head For if you reckon by the order of Kings the Dynasty of the Christian Caesars being included he must needs be the eighth But if you reckon by the Heads of the Beast which are Pagan and Idolatrous Forms of Government then that of the Christian Caesars must be Status exâ—…resimus or exemptilis a State exempted and put out of the Kalendar From whence it comes to pass That the Beast if you reckon him among the Kings his place is to be the eighth but yet among the Heads he is but the seventh And so these words The Beast that was and is not he is the eighth and is one of the seventh are plain as I take it and the knot is untied But leaving this scruple I finde That all solid Interpreters do agree in the general sense of the Text to wit That the Antichristian times begin at the fall of the Empire and the rising of the Ten Kings The words of the Angel are so clear for speaking of the Roman Dominion and the Ten Horns of that Beast he expresly saith These have no Kingdome as yet but shall receive a Kingdome one hour with the Beast which plainly sheweth That their times shall be when the Roman Dominion shall come to the last and Antichristian edition of State The fall of the old Empire and the rising of the Ten Kings is an infallible Character of the beginning of the Antichristian times And this no man can rationally deny that doth look upon the true scope of the Angels Interpretation But our question is concerning the times of the Great Whore when was it that she did begin to ride the Beast We cannot say That it was at that time when the Kings did rise out of the ruines of the Empire For then the Kings of the Earth did not dogmatically and conscientiously acknowledge the Church of Rome the Mother of all Churches To the resolution of the case we will consider what Expositors do say to this purpose For in the 17th Chapter though there is mention made of the Beast with Ten Horns yet there is not the least word of the two-horned Beast Now the reason ordinarily given is very solid and it doth agree with the scope of the Scripture For it is plain That the description under the resemblance of a Beast with two Horns Chap. 13. is again repeated under the similitude and type of a Great Whore Chap. 17. Both Scriptures speak of one and the same matter in substance though in a different manner And if need should require we have many Arguments to prove the Parallel Now then in the present case seeing Iohn speaks of the City of Rome that in his days was the great City that ruled over the Kings of the Earth it is to our purpose to inquire when the Church came within the verge of the Dominion oâ—… that great City And here I say if we calculate the times aright and reckon 666 years from that time when that great City came to have Dominion over the Church we shall precisely come to that point and instant of time when the Church of Rome was made the Catholick and the General Mother of all other Churches The Church first came under the Dominion of the City of Rome and then 666 years after â—…hat Church her self was declared Universal Mother of all Churches And here then our Interpretation is one and the same in substance in both Scriptures And whereas the Woman hath this Inscription on her Forehead Mystery Babylon the Great the Mother of Harlots and the Abominations of the Earth The Name then on the Forehead of the Woman is not a Grammatical word consisting of Letters and Syllables but it signifieth her Universal Maternity or Motherhood when she began to be declared Universal Mother over all other Churches Now if you apply this to the times it came to pass in the 666th year from that time when the Church and the Territories of the Church came under the obedience of the City of Rome And this is the Number of her Maternity or general Motherhood or of the Name written in the Forehead of the Woman If we apply this to the two-horned Beast in the 13 Chapter his Name is no other but his Paternity or Universal Headship and the Number of his Name is no other but the Number of his Universal Headship from the beginning of the Roman as the fourth Metal-Kingdome And so the sense of one Chapter is clear by the scope and drift of the other But we go on CHAP. X. A List of Fifteen Principles drawn from the main sense of the Prophecy concerning the Beast his Name Mark and Number by the Position of which the present Interpretation is established Also the several Expositions of Mr. Potter and other Writers are brought to Tryall FOr the more full proof of the Point we must take the same method to prove the truth of our Interpretation as Divines do when they would prove the Pope to be Anti-Christ They do infallibly determine him to be so because all the Properties of the Beast do punctually pitch upon that Seat or Succession So in the present case we may say That 666 is such a Number of years to the setting up of the Name or Universal Headship of the Beast And this we take to be an infallible and undoubted Truth because all the Principles of the Prophecy do pitch and mainly centre upon such an Interpretation We can prove the truth thereof by the accumulation of Notes Wâ—… may further take in the words of the Jesuite Suarez for he himself well obserueth That it is not sufficient to decypher Antichrist by one two or three Notes but by the Concurrence of all the Properties that do appertain to him So I may say for a tight Exposition of the Name of the Beast and the Number thereof we must not rest in a few Circumstances for so many have been brought for the name Lateinos And M. Pâ—…tters Interpretation also seemeth to be very fair But this is that which I mainly stand upon That their several Interpretations will not agree with many Principles The same course then that we take to prove the Truth shall be to disprove their Error But now to the Principles in order Princ. 1. The Name of the Beast his Mark and Number do all agree to the Papall Tyranny by a special application This is proved from the whole scope of the Text. For the Beast is a Tyrannical Empire or Government and not onely so but also a Roman Tyrannical Empire in the last edition thereof Therefore these Characters are specially applicable to that Government and to the Hierarchy thereof and not to any other They erre therefore that seek after the Number in the
give them a Mark as if the intent of the Beast were by this that they should give testimony that they are his They are also said to receive a Mark Chap. 14. To have the Mark Chap. 16. Now then we are sure that to give receive or have the Mark of the Beast is no other but that Act by which the Consciences of men are obliged to the Authority of the Pope and his Church When also they do prosess That by their Swords Wits Goods Lives and by all that they have they will maintain the Decrees and Laws made by that Authority The Mark in the Forehead is the publick Profession of the Universal Headship in the view of men and the Mark in the Right-hand is the solemn Resolution and Obligation to defend and maintain the Authority of the Beast against all that do oppose it And truly the event of things doth notably answer the prediction For we see by plain experience That the Papists such is their zeal to the Catholick Cause do out-strip us by many degrees The Jesuiâ—…es are never idle they compass Sea and Land they â—…urn themselves into all forms and are still animating of Princes and People against the Protestant Cause Yea they have so wrought that almost no man among them seemeth to spare either Labour Wealth Counsel or Life it self to uphold the Name and Universal Headship of the Bishop of Rome God grant that one day they do not rise up in Judgment against us for we do not come near them in the least degree in promoting the Kingdom of Christ or in setting up the Gospel as the Regent-Law among the Nations But the Papists will not hear that they are enemies or that they go against the Lord and his Word They hold That the Bishop of Rome is the Vicar of Christ and that he hath all his Authority by delegation from him These are specious shews But in deed and in truth they are real enemies against Christ For the Scriptures and the words of the Gospel they can do nothing but meerly as the Pope and the Church of Rome do give life vigour and authority to them and as they do interpret them which always they do to their own advantage There is no truth more clearly delivered in Scripture then the Doctrine of Justification by Faith in Christ and yet the Pope saith on the contrary That there is a Purgatory after this life and that the souls there detained are freed by Masses Indulgences Pardons and such like means God and his Word say Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God and him onely shalt thou serve The Pope on the contrary saith Thou shalt worship Saints Images Crosses Reliques and the like God and Christ have commanded all men to search the Scriptures and to try the Spirits of what nature they be Now the Pope on the contrary commandeth that men should forbear the doing of this and that they should depend upon him alone God and Christ say Marriage is honourable amongst all men and the bed undefiled The Pope on the contrary forbiddeth Marriage to the Ministry By these and sundry such-like instances it is apparent That the Name and Soveraignty of the Beast is every way contrary to the Name and Soveraignty of the Lamb. For what the Lamb doth command the Beast doth countermand for the most part From hence it is clear then say the Papists what they will when they leave Christ to follow the Laws of the Pope in sense and substance they make him their Christ their Spiritual King Head and Governour and so in effect are no true Christians Now on the contrary seeing the Lord Christ is given as a Leader and Commander to his people they who refuse the Laws of the Pope to yield subjection to Christ in the times of the greatest persecution are every where mentioned in the Revelation to have the Name of the Father written in their Forehead Chap. 14. ver 15. To be the remnant of the seed of the woman that keep the Commandments of God and have the Testimony of Iesus Christ Chap. 12. ver 17. The Papists then in receiving the Doctrines and Decrees of the Bishop of Rome under that formality as they do believe him Universal Head of the Church are positively directly and immediately Antichristian This Truth being laid down a stream of excellent Uses do naturally flow from it First We may here contemplate and behold the truth and infinite Wisdome of God speaking in the Scriptures It is now above 1500 years since that Iohn wrote the Revelation in which he spake of the Beast his Name Mark Image and the Number of his Name Now if we go to experience What have all ages for this thousand years last past but verified and fulfilled the truth of that which he spake of long before He that shall diligently reade the present Treatise will finde it to be true as we have said Secondly here is matter for our prayers and tears yea for our bowels to yern over those great Countries Kingdomes and Commonweals which do as yet own the Universal Headship of the Bishop of Rome They do continue in a great sin against the Kingly Office of Christ their profession is no other but Apostacy from the true Head of the Church and unless they repent they will one day feel the great Plagues contained in the words of the Prophecy Thirdly here is cause for the Protestant Churches to be thankful to the Lord For did they rightly understand it he hath delivered them from a bondage and slavery which far surpasseth the bondage of Egypt or Babylon For in the present case if men under this Government refuse to Worship the Beast and to receive his Mark the penalty is that they shall have no liberty to buy nor sell they shall be killed with the Sword they shall have their blood spilt they shall be subjected to sundry kindes of death On the contrary if they do worship the Beast and receive his Mark the Lord Christ doth threaten on the other side that they shall be tormented day and night and the smoke of their burning shall ascend for ever and ever Rev. Chap. 14. ver 7 8 9 10. The day of the deliverance of the Churches from Romish Tyranny was a day of deliverance from a Tyranny over their Souls over their Consciences over their Bodies over their Estates But all Treatises are full of Uses of this kinde We will proceed â—…o that which is Antichristian by Analogie and Reduction for this is more immediate to our purpose CHAP. XIII Concerning that which is Antichristian by Analogie and 〈◊〉 IN the progress of the Discourse we have shewed That the formality of Antichristianism is in the Headship of the Beast By this Standard of the Market we may prove all other things that do more remotely symbolize and agree with the Great Anti-Christ First the power of the Magistrate when it hath no bounds or limits but he doth all by his Will and Prerogative in
Doctrine and in the whole Spiritual Government Therefore there ought to be a temper kept for this disease hath always reigned in Princes to desire to bend Religion according to their own pleasure and lust and for their own profits in the mean time So far he In which words two Points are observable First the lawful exercise of the Power of the Supreme Magistrate as it doth keep its due limits in Causes Ecclesiastical Secondly the redundancy and the excess of the Power when it doth tread under foot the Laws of the Church That which these learned men did speak concerning the Supremacy of the Kings of England in Causes Ecclesiastical and the danger of the excess of the Civil Power hath been too truly verified by some in our days not onely to the total ruine of themselves but also to the destruction of that Soveraignty it self which they did so immeasurably exalt And whereas Calvin in the place aforementioned hath these words Et hodie quam multi sunt in Papatu qui regibus accumulant quicquid possunt juris potestatis And at this day saith he how many are there in the Papacy that heap upon Kings whatsoever Right or Power they can possible So that there may not be any Dispute of Religion but this Power shall be in one King to Decree according to his own pleasure whatsoever he list and that should remain fixed without Controversie So far he But we for our parts may not onely say Quam multi in Papatu How many in the Papacy but how many in the Profession of the Protestant Religion have accumulated this great Power upon Princes that they might do what they list in the Church of God and in the determination of matters of Faith In Daniel and the Revelation these things are set down as the true causes of the destruction of Kingdomes That is a most Divine expression of Daniel and the three Children Chap. 2. ver 20 21. Wisdome and might are his and he changeth the times and seasons he removeth Kings and setteth up Kings And for the cause of these Changes it is more particularly expressed Chap. 7. v. 11. I beheld then because of the voice of the great words which the Horn spake I beheld even till the Beast was slain and his body destroyed and given to the burning fire All solid Interpreters do understand some State or Government to be typed by the Little Horn. Now the destruction of such a State or Government doth arise immediately from hence because of great words which the Horn did speak against the most High Therefore the exorbitancy of the Power against Religion Christ and his Saints is oftentimes the cause of the eversion of States and Kingdomes But that we may more fully understand how far the Power may go and whither it must not go let us consider the examples of the Kings of Iudah And here it is clear That Asa Iehosaphat Hezekiah Iosiah did great things about the affairs of the Church and had a very large testimony for their zeal in the Worship of God yet I am sure none can say that their Power was so transcendent as to abrogate any thing that was appointed or immediately commanded by God in his Word For when Uzziah the King would offer Incense that appertained not to him but to the Sons of Aaron he was imitten with leprosie and compelled to dwell alone as one that should have no commerce nor society with men So Belshazzar the King when he made a Feast to a thousand of his Lords we reade That in the time of the Feast the fingers of a mans hand did appear and write upon the wall the destruction of the King and the Kingdome And the cause of this Judgement is expounded by Daniel himself in these words Chap. 5. ver 25. Thou hast lifted up thy self against the Lord of Heaven and they have brought the vessels of his House before thee and thou and thy Lords thy Wives and thy Concubines have drunk wine in them Belshazzar and Nebuchadnezzar both by strong convictions and demonstrations were brought to understand That the God of Israel was the onely true God and that they had their Dominion from him Now when they were not contented with this which the Lord had given them but would insult over the Giver and drink wine in the Bowls of the Temple which they had taken with sacrilegious hands this was the cause of the ruine of the King and Kingdome at last There is a remarkable passage of Herodotus in his second Book where he maketh mention of a Statue that was set up to Sennacherib in one of the Temples of Egypt with this Inscription and Title upon it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Whosoever looks upon me let him learn to be pious This Testimony as it hath the greatest probability of truth so doth it singularly well agree with the Story of the Scripture We reade that 185000 were slain in one night in the Camp of the Assyrians by an Angel sent from Heaven Sennacherib himself was killed by his own two sons and that great Empire did decline and lose its vigour by degrees Now if we look into the cause of all this we shall finde That the insolency of that King against God and his Church was that which broke him all to pieces This was done in the sight of all Asia that the world might know that the insolency of the greatest Powers of the Earth against God will prove the certain cause of their destruction But we will conclude this matter with that Exhortation of the Psalmist for so he speaketh to all Princes and Potentates who do intrench upon the Prerogative of Christ Be wise now therefore O ye Kings and be instructed ye Iudges of the Earth serve the Lord with fear and rejoyce with trembling Kiss the Son lest he be angry and ye perish from the way Psa. 2. ver 10 11 12. Now why doth he exhort the Kings and Judges of the Earth to be wise rather then other men They are Gods Vicegerents and there is none greater in Power then they and through the greatness of their place none are more apt to bend Religion according to their own pleasures and lusts then they are Because this is more immediately against the Kingdome of Christ and cometh nearest to Antichristian pride the Psalmist doth advise them to take heed what they do to serve the Lord with fear and to rejoyce with trembling If not he tells them plainly their insolency against Christ and his Church will be a certain cause of their destruction This is made manifest from the beginning of the Psalm The Kings of the earth set themselves and the Rulers take counsel together against the Lâ—…rd and against his anointed saying Let us break their bonds asunder and cast away their cords from us ver 2. Now he doth direct his speech to such as these and tells them plainly That the Lord Christ will break them with a Rod of Iron and dash them
It is expresly said That his coming is after the power of Satan for as God did work by the Apostles to bring men to Salvation so shall the Devil put forth all his power in Antichrist and his followers to seduce the world to destruction Oecumenius hath a very proper expression 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Devil shall do all in the middest of him or by him as the mean or instrument The friends and followers of the Church of Rome do strongly plead the glory of Miracles as a note of their Church and so they do truly fulfil the Scripture for it is expresly said that the coming of Antichrist is with all power and signs and lying wonders and that he doth seduce the world with all deceivableness of unrighteousness And we see by experience where he hath wanted the Scripture and the colour of Divine Revelation there he hath usually confirmed his Doctrines by lying wonders that is by such wonders as the Lord doth permit him to work to establish lies and errors in the Consciences of men The Stories of the Church are full of examples of this kinde and innumerable instances may be given And although many of our Writers do take all those things in a manner for lies which are written in the Legend for it is the punishment of a liar that he shall not be believed when he speaks true yet for all this I do incline to their opinion who do distinguish the several pieces contained in that Rhapsodie Some things there mentioned were meerly invented and others there are which we may probably judge to be real operations of Satan to deceive the world The words of the Scripture come to this Emphasis and height of expression For this cause God shall give men strong delusions to believe lies Therefore the Devil must have very great power in the times of Antichrist to deceive the world how else should the Scriptures be fulfilled But passing by the multitude of examples that might be given for their sakes who in these times do slight the Scriptures and hang upon Revelations we will come to a pregnant instance in the Tenth Century This for the most part is called by Writers The dark age Bellarmine and Baronius themselves do mourn over it for the want of learning But for my part I do believe it was not so much defective in these things as it did abound in Revelations Visions Dreams and such-like by and through which Satan had a very great power in the Consciences of people In that Century in the times of the Saxon Monarchs in the year 977 well near 700 years ago there was as Speed doth relate in his Chronicle a very hot contention about the Marriage of Ministers Dunstan and the Monks stood strongly on the one part that Ministers should put away their wives and the Ministers strongly pleaded on the other side that Marriage was the Ordinance of God Concerning this matter a Councel was held at Winchester where after long dispute and much against the Monks it was greatly suspected that side had gone down had they not referred themselves to the Rood or Crucifix placed upon the wâ—…ll of the Church where the Councel sate To this great Oracle S. Dunstan desired them devoutly to pray and to give diligent ear for an answer who in as great bounty as they in devotion gave them this advice God forbid it should be so said he you judged well once and to change that again is not good This saith our Historian was Authority sufficient to suppress the Priests who now with their wives went down the wind And indeed saith he to blame they were to suspect this their Iudge who never was heard to give wrong sentence before Speed Chron. pag. 355. Saving the great worth and learning of the Historian I believe That this was not the first false judgement given by this Judge and I believe it will not be the last as afterwards shall be declared Spondanus in his Epitome of the Annals of Baronius in the year 975 doth differ somewhat from this relation These are his words Quâ de re cum à Sancto Dunstano Cantuariensi Archiepiscopo Synodus Wintoniae congregata esset deprecante ipso rege ac plerisque Episcopis ut iidem Clerici restituerentur mirandum illud contigit ut Imago Crucâ—…fixi in edito Ecclesiae affixa audientibus cunctis dixerit Non fiet non fiet judicastis bene mutaretis non bene Quod omnes Clericos eorumque fautores confusos reddidit lingues It appeareth by this passage That King Edward surnamed the Martyr and many Bishops with him did intercede very much that the Ministers might have their wives restored unto them and when all were in a suspence what answer should be made this wonder happened that the Crucifix determined the contrary and so the Priests were confounded and made speechless After these things were done the Ministers were not yet satisfied therefore the matter was brought again to Councel and a great Assembly congregated at Cleve in Wilishire whither repaired the Prelates and most of the Estates of the Land besides Gentlemen and of the Commons an innumerable sort This Synod being set and the Controversie propounded a hot and a sharp Disputation insued and was maintained for a while with many bitter invectives But whether through the weakness of the foundation or the overpress of weight or both the Joysts of the upper-Loft wherein the Councel was held suddenly brake and down fell the floor with all the people thereon whereof many were hurt and some slain out-right Onely Archbishop Dunstan then President and Mouth for the Monks remained unhurt For the Post whereon his Chair was set stood and not without miracle wholly untouched And hereupon the Historian concludeth in these words Thus by this fall fell the Cause of the Secular Priests and the Peoples affections were drawn to the Monks and the liberty of the Ministers to accompany their wives was now taken away Spondanus saith that this Councel was held at Calne but there is no great difference Calne the Market-town and Cleve a small Village are so near together In that Councel saith he Mirandum illud accidit cunctis adversariis vel extinctis vel contritis solus Dunstanus qui Synodo praesidebat illaesus evaserit That is All of the adverse party who were for the Marriage of Ministers being either killed out-right or sorely brused onely Dunstan the President of the Synod remained without hurt This is a true relation of the fact and most Historians do agree Now let us come to inquire by what power and by what efficacy these things were done And for my part I think it was very just with God to forsake the Christian world and to deliver them uâ—…to strong delusions to believe lies because they had forsaken his truth and because the Ministers were so base as to suffer their Cause to be tryed by the Rood or Crucifix it was very just that they should further
be deluded by the power of Satan What shall we think of the Oracles among the Heathen of the answer of the Gentile gods of the power which the Devil hath in those Countries that lye wholly under gross Idolatries There is no doubt to be made but that Satan had great power to deceive the world by wonders See August in his Book Of the City of God Lib. 10. Cap. 16. The Scripture also is very plain to the same purpose If there arise among you a Prophet or a Dreamer of Dreams and giveth thee a sign or a wonder and the sign or the wonder cometh to pass whereof he spake unto thee saying Let us go after other gods which thou hast not known and let us serve them Thou shalt not hearken to the words of that Prophet or Dreamer of Dreams for the Lord your God proveth you to know whether you will love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul Deut. 13. ver 1 2 3. In which words it is plain That the Truth may be set up in the Church of God according to the written Word and yet for the tryal of the sincerity of men God may suffer seducers to arise to do great things We have a large experience of this in all the times of the Beasts Kingdome For when our Saviour saith There shall arise false Christs and false Prophets and shall shew great signs and wonders insomuch that if it were possible they shall deceive the very elect Mat. 24. 24. these things are specially spoken of the times of the Kingdome of Anti-Christ when the Devil by the permission of God had great power given to him to deceive the world by wonders and signs and great variety of Revelations From hence I am induced to believe That the answer given by the Crucifix at Winchester was reall and it was done by more then an ordinary power Let us consider the meaning of that place in the Prophecy of Zachary Ask ye of the Lord rain in the time of the latter rain so the Lord shall make bright clouds and give showers of rain to every one grass in the field For the Idols have spoken vanity and the Diviners have seen a lie and have told false dreams Chap. 10. ver 1 2. Here I demand How could the Idols speak vanity The word in the Original is Teraphim Idols made after the similitude of a Man With these Idolaters did usually consult in matters of great difficulty And Mr. Pemble upon the place saith It is very probable thâ—…t the Devil used the like feats to cozen the Iews as he did to the Greeks and other simple Gentiles And we may say the same touching the answer of the Rood God in his just judgement might suffer apostatizing Christians to be deceived by the immediate delusions of Satan because they did not receive the truth in the love of it that they might be saved But of all others that place of the Apostle is most proper to the purpose The Spirit speaketh expresly that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith giving heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of Devils speaking lies in hypocrisie having their Consciences seared with a hot iron forbidding to marry and commanding to abstain from meats which God hath created to be received with thanksgiving 1 Tim. 4. 1 2 3. Seeing the Apostle doth here so plainly speak of the Apostacy of the latter times and of the Prohibition of Marriage Meats and other lawful things all do agree in it That he pointeth to the times of Antichrists Kingdome Onely the great Question lieth here Why the Prohibition of Marriage is called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 A Doctrine of Devils Mr. Mede in his learned Treatise concerning the Apostacy of the later times thinketh that this is Genitivus materiae a Genitive case of the matter because Daemons and the Souls departed are so much worshipped in the Papal Kingdome Though it is true in the general That Daemon-worship as he saith is used in that Kingdome yet it is not the meaning of this Text For here is plainly Genitivus efficientis a Genitive case of the efficient cause for the Doctrine of the Prohibition of Marriage is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 A Doctrine of Devils because it was brought into the Church by the suggestions of those impure Spirits to cast miserable mortals upon all occasions of sin If therefore we do determine the case that the Devil in the Rood did utter this voice touching the Marriage of Ministers God forbid it should be so it doth singularly agree with the words of the Apostle when he speaketh of the Prohibition of Marriage in Antichristian times that it is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 A Doctrine of Devils For to say truly The Prohibition of Marriage as it did continue for many hundred years together so it had its immediate original from the delusion of Satan Now for the fall of the house at Cleve or Calne we may probably believe That God might suffer the Devil to do great wonders for so Spondanus calls it mirandum to deceive the world What else should be the meaning of that place Rev. 20 He layed hold on the Dragon that old Serpent which is the Devil and Satan and bound him a thousand years and cast him into the Bottomless Pit and shut him up and set a seal upon him that he should deceive the Nations no more ver 2 3. By this he doth tacitely imply That the whole time of the Beasts Kingdome was a time of the loosing of Satan in which God was preased to give him leave to do great wonders to deceive the world and therefore in the two last Verses of the former Chapter these words are expressed And the Beast was taken and with him the false Prophet that wrought Miracles before him with which he deceived them who had received the Mark of the Beast and them that worshipped his Image These both were cast alive into a Lake of fire burning with brimstone ver 20. When this was done an Angel came down from Heaven with a great Chain in his hand and bound the Dragon the old Serpent that he should deceive the Nations no more All this plainly declareth That in Antichristian times the Devil had freedome to do great wonders to deceive the Nations If therefore at the fall of the house they who stood against the Marriage of Ministers were marvellously delivered and those that stood for it were slain out-right or sorely bruised we must not wonder at these things The Devil can do great things to deceive them who forsake the Scriptures and the known Will of God to hang upon Visions Dreams and Revelations There was a time when the Devil could not touch a hair of Iobs head Thou hast made an hedge about him and his substance is increased in the Land yet we see when God did give leave the Devil could cause fire to come down from heaven to devour his sheep he could blow down
if they keep in those who should be cast out if they abuse the Power of the Keyes which Christ hath committed to their custody if they use the Discipline of the Church meerly as a Rod to smite their fellow-servants In such a case as this is we may say That in respect of their persons the Elders of the Church may resemble the Great Antichrist and may symbolize with him in his Pride and Tyranny yet for all this the Office is Christs and it is from God by divine Institution It were then a very profitable point that the Friends and Followers of the Separation who to justifie their practise do call this Antichristian and that Antichristian would distinguish betwixt the several forms and kindes of Antichristianity For as I have made it appear by the course of this Chapter some things are directly Antichristian and other things are onely Antichristian by consequence and reduction So also some things are Antichristian in respect of the Office it self and other things onely have the form of Antichristianity meerly because of the evil carriage of the person in a lawful Office These things are specially to be noted And so much concerning the several particulars which are truly Antichristian by Analogie and Reduction Let us now go to the third point CHAP. XIV What those things are which are 〈◊〉 onely by the position of some Circumstances as they are truly Christian by the position of others The Conclusion of the whole THere be two things especially that here need to be inquired into The first is concerning the Compulsive Power of the Supreme Magistrate in matters of Religion whether that be Antichristian yea or no The second is Whether it be Antichristian to maintain the future glory and splendor of the Church of Christ upon the Earth For some do think that this position will bring us back again to the Riches and Magnificence of the Popish Church In these two cases we are carefully to distinguish for such may be the Circumstances that these things may symbolize with the Antichristian Patern and such they may be that they may set forth decypher and express that future glory of the Church as it shall be First concerning the Coercive power of the Magistrate we do then acknowledge his Coercion to be Antichristian when he shall constrain men to subject their Consciences to those things which are directly contrary to the Laws of Christ. And of this we have largely spoken in this Treatise when we had occasion to make mention of the two-horned Beast and of his compelling all men to receive a Mark in their Forehead and in their Right-hand There is no doubt to be made but Compulsion in this case is directly Antichristian Secondly Rites and Institutions of Humane Invention though perhaps they may seem to be more innocent yet it doth coast too near upon Antichristian Tyranny to compel the Consciences of men to these things For the Ceremonies of the Church of England when they stood in their vigour men did judge diversly of them Some did esteem them to be Antichristian others did beat them as burthens and a third sort judged them harmless and inoffensive But yet among those who did give the fairest Interpretation there were some who did think it very hard that men should be compelled that the godly Ministers should be deprived and that so many sincere Christians should be subjected to persecution in the Ecclesiastical Courts that no tears or prayers would prevail but that they must either yield or suffer the greatest extremity The instance of the curious Glasses of Pollio the famous Roman is well known It had been better they had been broken then that the Servant should have been so cruelly beaten But now that power is laid aside Thirdly in points more remote from the foundation where the Scriptures seem to run as clear for one opinion as for the other it is very hard in these lesser scruples that they who have the power in their hands should hang the Consciences of other men at their girdles Oftentimes it may come to pass that they who have the Authority have not the Truth on their side and they who have the Truth in the main may be dark in some particulars and may need a better light In this case then must they who dissent be compelled to yield or be censured as Rebels against the Laws of the State This would be an hard Censure yet I will not call it directly Antichristian though the practise may come somewhat too near that method and may resemble it very much But here an Objection may be made concerning the present Heresies which are now in the Land What should be done to the suppression of these I will not enter into the bowels of this Question it being so largely and learnedly handled by others in several Treatises which are now in the hands of all men My desire is onely to keep close to the point of Compulsion so far forth onely as it hath the formality of Antichristianism Therefore as to the present Sects I think it necessary to distinguish between the persons who are Leaders meerly upon Principles of Conscience and those who are led by them For the persons who are Leaders it is expedient also to distinguish betwixt their first Principles and the absurd Deductions and Consequences drawn from those Principles Now for those persons who are Leaders of others meerly upon Principles of Conscience I think it necessary that Compulsion should be more sparingly used and greater care should be to give satisfaction For some Doctrines I believe are now on fooâ—… which have tolerable Principles though they have ill Consequences I will give one instance The Doctrine of the Millenaries for many hundred years from the times of Hierom and Augustine hath gone for an error in the Church of God But to speak truly the error lies in the Consequences and in the ill deductions of falshoods from true Principles For in it self it is true that Christ shall reign upon the Earth a thousand years and this reign shall begin at the dissolution of the Antichristian Kingdome This is the scope of Rev. 20. and it is a hard thing to compel a man to deny such a truth so plainly delivered in the Scriptures Yet I must needs confess as heretofore so now men have mixed this truth with many falsities of their own invention Yea there is scarce an opinion which conscientious men do follow but there is some one Principle or other which doth chiefly incline them to be of that belief It were good then that the conscientious at all seasons were cited to make Confession of their Faith and to render a Reason of the hope that is in them and that there should be a more moderate use of Compulsion But this Question I leave to the large Disputes of others who have copiously handled the subject Now we will come to the other Point where Coercive Power is necessarily to be used Secondly the use
all Nations to bring forth her Christ-like issue and by the Dragon with seven Heads and ten Horns we must necessarily understand the great persecuting Empire of the Romans which for 300 years did endeavor to devour her Childe When she was delivered the next attempt was to drown her with a stood of Barbarous Nations that came out of the North. After this she fled into the Wilderness and was there fed 1260 days So many years the Church was under Antichristian persecution When these times were ended and the Whore of Babylon burned then began the marriage of the Lamb and the New Ierusalem came from God out of Heaven as a Bride adorned for her Husband All these are but Emblems and Figures of so many several changes and varieties that the outward Visible Church should meet withall upon the earth She doth very much resemble the Moon in her several forms and appearances The outward Visible Church is one and the same in substance but she is distinguished according to different relations in sundry changes of time These things are so clearly delivered in the whole body of the Prophecy that no further question may be made But to the Point in hand concerning the future glory that the Church shall injoy in the later days let us compare it with a passage in the Prophecy of Zachary The Prophet in the Vision looked and beheld a man with a measuring line in his hand Chap. 2. ver 1. Men go to measure when they build Cities and Towns and this is spoken in relation to the waste of Ierusalem mentioned in the former Chapter ver 12. How long wilt thou not have mercy on Ierusalem and the Cities of Iudah against which thou hast indignation this three score and ten years In opposition to this waste of the Church in all the times of the Babylonian captivity the Prophet in the Vision did see a man with a measuring line in his hand to measure Ierusalem to see what is the breadth thereof and what is the length thereof The same things are spoken in effect Rev. 21. 15. The Angel had a golden Reed to measure the City and the gates thereof and the wall thereof and the City lieth four-square and the length is as large as the breadth And he measured the City with a Reod twelve thousand furlongs All these figurative expressions do set forth the repair of the Church in opposition to her waste in all Antichristian times For in the beginning of these times the Angel was commanded to rise and to measure the Temple of God and the Altar and them that worship therein but to leave out the Court that was without the Temple and not to measure it for it was given to the Gentiles and the holy City should they tread under foot forty and two moneths Chap. 11. ver 1 2. The whole time of the Beasts Kingdome was the space of treading down the Holy City by Antichristian Gentiles In opposition to the waste and conculcation the Angel doth measure the walls of the New Ierusalem and doth foretel the repair of the Church and the restitution of that glorious state which she shall have in the latter times Much more might be spoken to the same purpose but this shall suffice to shew that the Tenet of the external glory of the Church will not bring us back again to Popery neither is it absolutely so in all although it may be Antichristian in the position of some Circumstances onely What if Rome Antichristian be called The Great City that ruleth over the Kings of the Earth Is not the New Ierusalem the Great City that cometh down from God out of Heaven What if Rome Antichristian be the Woman that is adorn'd with gold and silver and precious stones Chap. 17. Is the Bride the Lambs Wife altogether destitute of these Ornaments Are not the streets of the City all of gold like to transparent glass Rev. Chap. 21 What if Rome Antichristian be the City whose Merchants be the great men of the earth Rev. Chap. 18. Is not the New Ierusalem that City of whom also it is foretold that the Kings of the earth shall bring their glory to her Do not all the Prophets specially the Prophet Isaiah speak of the call of the Jews and of the glory of that Church that shall be in the latter days From all that hath been said we may conclude though the outward splendor of the Church may be Antichristian in some cases it may be truly Christian in others CHAP. XV. Concerning thâ—…se things that are not Antichristian â—…ut are onely falsly so called by the Separation VVE will not go over all the Points but insist onely upon those that are of greatest moment to wit Magistracy and Ministery By these we may judge of the rest For the standing of the Magistracy they take it to be Antichristian because they have a power over other men and the Beast his Heads and Horns in the Revelation and Daniel they finde by reading That these do signifie Empires Dominions and the Kingdomes of the world But herein they are greatly deceived For in the Prophecies aforesaid the Beasts and their Horns do not absolutely signifie Empires Dominions but Idolatrous Empires and Dominions and not absolutely Idolatrous Empires but such Empires and Dominions which do Lord and Tyrannize it over the Church of God and do try the faith and patience of the Saints By many passages of the present Discourse we have sufficiently cleared the Point That when Christ shall begin his Reign upon Earth this will not be with the abrogation of all Magistracy Power and Authority onely the Authorities and Governments shall acknowledge him as indeed he is the onely Lord and Head of the Church The Reign of the Lamb is immediately opposed to the Reign of the Beast as therefore the Beast in the times of his Empire did not disannul the Being of Governments though they were under his Power and Headship no more will the Reign of the Lamb abrogate and take away the Governments of this world though they are made subject to his Laws Magistracy is the Ordinance of God they are guilty of a foul error then whosoever they be that shall go about to pluck up Magistracy under the colour and pretence of an Antichristian Encroachment But this engine now a-days is more principally used against the Ministery the great designs to throw the Ministery out of the consciences of the people and therefore they are told again and again That the Ministers are Antichristian in their Titles in their Ordination by Bishops in their Maintenance by Tythes c. For Antichristianism in Title to make this good they reckon up a defamed Catalogue of Names the Pope Cardinals Archbishops Bishops Parsons Vicars Curats But to this abundant satisfaction is given as by others so by the old Non-conformists themselves and specially by Mr. Ball in his Answer to Canne Among many other passages these are his own words pag. 45. To contend about