clearly by setting forth and shewing the Dignities of Christ First as the Son of GOD. Secondly as a King Thirdly as a Priest and as the Son of God had before his appearance a Fore-runner a great Prophet a Messenger to goe before his face to prepare his Way So the Son of Perdition shall have a great Prophet a Fore-runner a Messenger to goe before him to prepare his Way And as the Son of God was sent from Heaven by his Father endowed with Kingly and Priestly abilities to redeeme his people So the Son of Perdition shall come out of the Earth from his Father the old Serpent the Devill And shall usurpe to himselfe both the Kingly and Priestly Dominions to seduce a people from the true Worship of God to worship himself and the Dragon But first of all I will compare together Christ's true Prophet Forerunner and Messenger that came before him And Antichrist's false Prophet that shall come before him Christ's Fore-runner his Name is John so named of the Angell Luke the 1. and 13. verse Hee is a Priest also And in verse 72 and 73. hee is said to come to performe the Covenant and the Oath which he sware to Abraham and his Seed Antichrist's Prophet and Fore-runner shall be called John Presbiter but more properly his Name is John Covenanter For he shall come with a Covenant and an Oath in opposition to the Covenant and Oath of God and shall pretend to doe the Offices that Christ's Fore-runner came to doe in Preaching Repentance and pretending to a Reformation The other Offices that Christ's Harbinger did performe was to make the Way straight and to turne the hearts of the Fathers to their Children and the Disobedient to the wisdome of the Iust And to make a people to be prepared for Christ the Lord Luke the 1. and the 17. But the Offices that Antichrist's Harbinger shall performe for all his pretences shall be to make the Way crooked and to turne the hearts of the Children from their Fathers and the obedient from the wisdome of the Iust And to make ready a Rebellious People prepared for Antichrist And as the people which John Baptist did prepare did accept of the Covenant and Oath of God and was distinguished from others and became Christians So shall the people which Presbiter Iohn shall prepare accept of a Covenant and Oath which was from his Father the Devill And thereby be distinguished from others and be called Covenanters This is the first Beast which Iohn saw like a Leopard which cannot change his Spots And first for his Name it shall be Iohn Covenanter and the number of the words in his Preamble and Covenant that makes his Name is the number of his Name let him that hath Wisdome count them for they are 666. mentioned Revelations the 13. Chap. and the last verse ☞ As it is to be seene in the originall Copie of the Kirk This Covenant shall combine all his Creatures in one and unite them for Lives and Estates to serve him The Enemy of God and all good Men. And as John Baptist came with a mighty Power so that all did muse whether he were the Christ So shall John Covenanter come with a mighty Power trampling all under foot Daniell the 7. th and the 7. And with such a false Zeal So that all shall muse thinking him to be the Truth of Christ though he shall be the Fore-runner of Antichrist I have now described the Name of Christ's Messenger and his Power and Office so that he is the greatest Prophet of God that ever was amongst the Sons of Men. And the Name of Antichrist's Messenger the number of his Name his Power and Office so that he shall be the greatest Prophet of all the false Prophets that ever shall be amongst the Sons of Men For hee and the Antichristian Beast with the Dragon shall worke wonders They shall throw downe the Starres Revelations the 12. th and the 4. verse and they shall cause Fire to come downe from Heavâ—n in the sight and presence of men the 13. th and the 13. verse This is nothing else but the pulling downe of the King the learned Clergy Bâ—shops and Church Officers which is compared to Starres Fires in Scripture And it must be a mighty wonder to see this done Now it is necessary to shew unto you the Offiâ—es of CHRIST the Lord of Life and his Power his Way being prepared his Name and his Marke Also the Offices of Antichrist the Man of Death and Destruction his Name and Marke his way being prepared before him First for the Offices of Christ he is a King Mathew the 27. th and the 11. and Hebrewes the 1. and the 8. But unto the Son he saith thy Throne O God is for ever and ever the Scepter of thy Kingdome is a Scepter of Righteousnesse He is a Priest also being the Priest of the most high GOD and of the Order of Melchisadec Hebrewes the 5. th and 6. verse and his Name is Jesus so named of the Angell And his Marke or Ensigne is the Crosse which we take in Baptisme and which Christ saith all that will follow him must take up Now the Power of Christ in the exercise of Kingly Office is proved Psalme 2. and 9. verse Revelations the 19. th and 15. verse Out of his Mouth goeth a sharp Sword and with it he shall smite the Nations and he shall rule them with a Rod of Iron And shall tread the Winâ—presse of the fiercenesse of the Wrath of God And of his Priestly Office Hebrewes the 4 th and 14. Seeing therfore we have a great high Priest that is past into Heaven Jesus the Son of God Let us hold our Profession Now I shall shew unto you the Offices of Antichrist his power his Name Mark in opposition to Christ his power his Name Mark. First he shall take unto him Dominion That is Kingly power Daniell the 7. th and 25. verse the middle of the verse And he shall thinke to change Times and Lawes both Civill and Ecclesiasticall and they shall be given into his hand He shall also take upon him Dominion over Episcopall Authority which is Apostolicall that is Priestly power to command Worship As in the 13. th Chap. and 4. verse it is said They worshipped the Dragon which gave Power to the Beast also Paul saith He shall set himselfe in God's Temple as God and against him to depose and set up whom he will without Law or Example Save only exemplified by his Type that is Antiochus the Type of Antichrist under the Gospell And for his Name it shall be equall with Christ's Name that is Jesus a Saviour a Protector to his people And for his Marke it shall be a Crosse wherewith all his shall be marked and commissionated to doe his workes in the World and that none shall be permitted to buy or sell or to doe any thing of Concernment without his Name his Marke or number of
being of Brasle to Plunder and Scrape the very Flesh of the bones of Gods people Daniel the 7. th chap. and 19. verse But when men seeth these things come to passe which is Collected out of the word of GOD let them lift up their hands which hang downe and their feeble knees and make streight steps upon their feet as Paul saith Lest that which is halting be turned out of the way It shall informe weake Consciences and confirme them in the truth It shall be a Caviat for many to take Salomons counsell that is If thou hast stricken hands and been snared with the words of thy mouth make hast deliver thy selfe But more especially to doe as our Lord Saviour CHRIST coÌ„mands that is Agree with thy adversary quickly whilest hee is in the way with thee least he deliver thee to the Iudge and the Iudge deliver thee to the Iaylor It shall be a meanes to Convert the Jewes when they see Antichrist play his Pagents on the earth and God fulfill his judgment upon him Being so perfectly Marked out by his Prophets and Apostles and foretold so many hundred of yeares before he come It shall also Reconcile the great differences amongst the Christians But especially betwixt the Papists and Protestants which hath so long time contended about this thing unto Blood It shall Increase the torments and anguish of those that are still obstinate Enemies of GOD and doth not Repent And finally It shall cause all both great and small things in Heaven and things on Earth and under the Earth to bow the Knee at the Name of JESVS even so AMEN This sad Tragedy being past and gone the Saints shall live at peace and ease at home Till Gog shall make them to be sore dismay'd his wicked Pagents then that he hath play'd But Consolation great to th' Saints will come after he hath had his dreadfull Doome For finall Sentence shall not long be driven till th' Saints shall all for ever be in Heaven J will further adde this That the false Prophet when he shall first appeare shall be by Profession in his Religion a false Dependant Puritanicall who by his rigid Curiositie and Scrupulous non-Conformity Shall make way for a Toleration of Antichristian Independancy Further you may observe in 1639 That from their Covenanting and first Entrance into the Field in open force and publique Hostility against their lawfull King and Priests the Lords Deputies till the time of their Subversion shall be that is in 1660. One and twenty yeares Answerable to the time that Christ our Lord disputed in the Temple with the Puritanicall hypochriticall Pharisees till he ascended into Heaven as afore-mentioned But more for particuler Distinction of Time As neare as may be it may be observed that for the first Ten yeares and six Moneths which is three times 42. Moneths the Antichristian false Prophet shall most popularly carry on his wicked designes deceiving the People by Lies pretending to be for the King and Priests till they may utterly destroy Both And consequently Gods holy Worship and so out them as Antichristian by Lies and Scandals But for the later ten yeares and six Moneths the Antichrist himselfe by the assistance of his bloody Crew shall advance his Dominion For the first 42. Moneths of the later Ten yeares and an halfe the Antichrist shall be made Generall and give a Toleration to all his Antichristian Impes And for the second 42. Moneths Antichrist shall take upon him to be the peoples Saviour and Protector And his false Prophet shall comply with him and be protected by Him And for the last 42. Moneths he shall actually be confirmed in his Jesus-ship And his false Prophet with all their deluded Spirits shall give Honour unto him as lawfully installed in his Jesus-ship for ever both for Him and His. Yet before the 42. Moneths be expired a great darknesse of Confusion shall be in his Kingdome that they shall knaw their Tongues for paine Revelations the 16. th and 10. verse And also before the last 42. Moneths be out The right Heire shall come to possesse his Kingdome as is afore-mentioned This they shall see All those that lives in the Dayes of Antichrist the 42. Moneths of Antichrist's Dominion And his false Prophet spoken of by the Angeâ—l to John And the Time Times and the dividing of Time spoken of by the Angell to Daniell Really fulfilled to the Sight and perfect Knowledge of all the Observers thereof If they will but count And if Pharoah's Dreame was doubled twise much more shall Antichrist's 42. Moneths be doubled thrice for the Ratification thereof before all the World But courteous Reader looke what thou hast here read is none of Mine only collected by me out of holy Scripture therefore give God the Glory But it is so briefe that it is far short of what may be observed by the judicious Reader out of holy Writ Though it be promiscuously laid downe therein as we may observe in all Prophesies that Men as naturall may see and not perceive and heare and not understand for if it were by way of History then it were no Prophesie as we may observe in the 24. th of Mathew and such like Propheticall places they be Mysteriously laid downe But I would have you to observe that every Spirit that pretends to stand for Christ and doth oppose his Dominion here upon Earth by his Deputies Kings and Episcopall Priests doth therewith deny the true Doctrine and Discipline of Christ's Church The same must undoubtedly be the Antichrist Antichristian Spirits there was from the beginning by the Enemy of Mankind in opposition to the promised Seed Christ But they never prevailed to set up a Dominion as aforesaid to fill up the whole Latitude of his Description Read for your Satâ—sfaction the 26. of Numbers what became of Core and his accompliceâ— And read the Epistle of Jude his Prophesie of Antichrist whereof Cores Rebellion against Moses their King and Aaron their Priest was a Type of Antichrist's Rebellion under the Gospell Read also the 10. th of Leviticus The History of Nadab and Abihu offering stâ—ange Fire to the Lord A Type of the abominable Worship and Sectaries tollerated by Antichrist in the time of the Gospell But though these did not prevaile to set up a Dominion yet Antichrist the Typified shall prosper prevaile and set up his Dominion as aforesaid And all his evill Spirits shall prosper with him all that ever were or shall be and shall doe what is written of Him But the antichristian Spirits that shall assay to set up a Dominion before the Time of the Antichrist the Son of Perdition cannot For Paul saith to the Thessalonians 2. Epistle and 2 Chapter only he who letteth shall let till he be taken out of the Way and in the 8. verse Then shall the Wicked be revealed And it is to be understood that He who hath let and doth let is the Angell of the Church And the King Christ's Deputy where this Man of Sinne shall arise who is appointed by GOD to protect his Church from such Malignant Spirits according to his Promise made to his People as to the Patriarchs and to Moses to aid them That for their and the Churches safety his Angell should goe before them The like assistance doth attend Christian Kings under the Gospell but when Gods Angell is restrained from ayding the King in protecting of Christ's Church then shall Antichrist appear and prevaile * The King and Bishop and the two great Witnesses of GOD shall be murthered in the Street and lye A Bishop may be Antichristian being against Monarchy slaine in that City which is spiritually called Sodom and Aegypt Revel the 11. chap. and 8 and 9. A Monarch may be Antichristian being against Episcopacy But he that is the Antichrist must be above and against both verses For be assured Christian Reader he shall be against Christ when he commeth and against Christ's annointed Ones Such as are commissionated consecrated and set apart for his most especiall Service under the Gospell And will presume to be above Christ as he is a Saviour administring his Power here upon Earth till his second Comming by his lawfull JESVSES his Deputies here And so he will set himselfe in Christ's Dominion or above Him Absolutely to take away the Regall and Sacerdotall Officers of CHRIST And to suppresse the true Professors Till the Antient of Dayes sit and Judgment be given to the Saints of the Most High as aforesaid All which for the Glory of our God and of his Son our Lord and Saviour in the right understanding hereof for our availes I referre unto God And for the Performance of his most Sacred Word wee ought not to doubt Therefore as I said before let us all both great and small bow the Knee at the Name of JESVS Even so AMEN Now I doubt not but I shall have the favorable Construction of all the Sons of the Church of England herein But for such as hath not knowne it through want of yeares and those that through weaknesse have been seduced from it My Desire is that they should returne and professe the Catholick Faith established in England and professed in the Dayes of Charles the first the Great Martyr of JESVS This shall be the Prayers of him that wisheth Grace and Peace till the finishing of his Dayes Your Servant ABRAHAM NELSON of Garsdale in Yorkshire FINIS
his Name afore spoken of Revelations the 13. th Chapter and the 17. th verse Now ye see what a Combination Antichrist when he commeth shall make All that are for him must have his Name others must have his Mâ—rke And some must have the Name and number of his Name and some shall have all But before this Tragedy shall be acted we shall find that our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ shall seal his obedient ones least they should be deceived by the policy of the false Prophet and the prosperous successe of the Man of Sinne For it is said If it were possible they would deceive the very Elect. In the 7. th Chap. and the 2. verse I saw an Angell ascend out of the East having the Seal of the living God and in the 4. verse it is said There was sealed 144000. I have made it appeare what Power the Man of Sin shall have and Offices he shall usurpe Now I shall further shew you the Exercise of his power what he shall doe I have showne how he shall trample all under foot and change Lawes both Civill and Ecclesiasticall now I will shew you how he shall make Wars and against whom In the 7. th of Daniell and the 21. it is said I beheld and saw the same Horne make War with the Saints and prevaile against them And in the 13. th of Revelations and the 7. verse and it was given unto him to make War with the Saints and overcome Them In overcomming the Saints he shall first take away the chiefe Officers of the Church that iâ— the King and Bishops and their lawfull Officers and prohibit the true Dâ—ctrine and Discipline Apostolicall to be used and when he hath taken away the Church Officers to suppresse the Professors is easie For the King that then shall be shall fall before him which exerciseth the Power of the three Hornes Daniel the 7. th and 8. verse in the middle of the verse I considered the little Horne saith hee before three of the first were plucked up and in the 24. th verse he saith He shall subdue three Kings or Kingdoms and there he shall plant himselfe Now for the continuance of the time he shall have to stand in his Power It is requisite I should speake of it That after he appeares in his splendor we may hope for his end lest we should faint in the length of our sufferings In the Exercise of this wofull Tragedy against the Saints of GOD we find he shall speake great Words against the Most High and weary out his Saints the 7. th of Daniell and 25. And in the latter part of the verse it is said he shall continue a Time Times and the deviding of time John saith the 13. th Chap. and 5. verse He hath Power to continue 42. Moneths which is three yeares and an halfe that is to measure and account his Time by And I find that upon the increase of his Power he shall be so prevalent in opposition of God's word persecuting the Regall and Apostolicall Officers of CHRIST as that the Bookes of the Prophets and Apostles together with the two Candlesticks of the Church of Christ his two Officers is said to be slaine and lye dead in the streets and in the sight of all men for three dayes and an halfe Revelations the 11. and the 7. th And by reason of the Toleration that the Man of Sinne shall grant upon the suppressing of the true Worship and Worshippers of GOD and taking away the publique Liturgie of the Church there shall be a very great joy So that they shall give and send Guifts one unto another and make merry Chap. 11. th and 10. verse Because thereby they were hindred of their Liberty that they could not exercise their severall Idolatrous Fantasticall and Hereticall Opinions And during the time that these two Prophets and two Witnesses lies slaine and dead in the streets in open shame and contempt The true Professors of the Gospell shall be clothed in Sack-cloth 1260. Chap. 11. th and 3. verse According to the number of the Dayes the vertuous Woman that is the Church is hid by God in the place which he hath provided for Her the 12. th Chap. and 6. verse And then after the time limited be over shall their Sackcloth be put off and the Woman come out of her place to help forward the Iudgement of the Man of Sin But during the Time of the hiding of this Chast Woman and the Persecution of her Children There appeareth another Woman Chap. the 17. th and the 3. verse A Great Whore a Jezabel wonderfully Dâ—cked By whose Glory Thousands are bewitched By this Whore is set forth unto us Antichrist's superstitious Whore and the City where he shall keepe and the Idolatrous Brood he shall beget Now all men know or will confesse that Men are naturally subject to Idolatry and therefore is fitly compared to a Whore and Antichrist when he commeth will tolerate men thereunto Now if an arrant Whore be tolerated by Law what Wickednesse is it that she will not commit with a Brasen face And also abuse the most Godly Vertuous and Chast Woman that can be found Now I will but speake a very little of his Power more least I digresse too farre Jn the 13. th Chap. and 4. verse it is said And they worshipped the Dragon which gave Power to the Beast and they worshipped the Beast and said Who is like to the Beast Who is able to make warre with him Also hee shall extend his power a great deale farther then his owne proper Dominion which he hath usurped For his Name and his Marke shall goe through the earth Revelation the 13. th and the 8. th verse For it is said All that dwell on the Earth shall worship him For he shall extend all power into the Channels of the Sea and great waters So that Nations shall maintaine their Traffique by him and shall doe it by his Name and Marke wherewith his Patents shall be sealed and Articles of Peace or Warre marked and sealed He shall be like that Leviathan spoken of by Job that walloweth in the great deepe Now I thinke it necessary to the making of this great Tragedy plaine to speake of the matter of Worship a little as it commeth in order Kings and Princes and chiefe Priests in holy Scriptures are called Gods being sanctified by divine Power and also the same Scripture doth command worship and honour to be given them Now we may read in the 13. chap. Revelation the 3. verse That one of the beasts Heads was wounded to death and his wound was healed You may remember that I said before That the heads of the beasts were Nobles and great Men or such as is of the Kings Councell and the hornes are Kings now when the Hornes by force falls off aforementioned the Head on which it doth stand will receive a wound But when the little Horne growes great hee shall cause the beasts
head to be healed by electing another Nobility of his owne Tribe which is set forth unto us by the word Image And well may be called an Image in comparison of the other that was before it But however it must be Worshipped For in the 13. chap. the 15. verse He had power to give life to the Image of the Beast that the Image of the beast should both speake and cause that so many as would not Worship the Image of the beast should be killed And I will shew you more things that this Man of sinne shall doe expressed by Paul his 2. Epistle to the Thessalonians 2. chap. 4. verse it is said there That he shall oppose himselfe above all that is called Gods and are worshipped Now his fore-runner shall be a man of Worship as John Baptist was when he commeth But the Man of sinne shall be a meane Man and no man of Worship neither shall any be proper for him Therefore it is truly said When hee commeth and playeth his Pagents above Kings and great Men on the earth that he exalteth himselfe above all that is called Gods unto whom Worship belongeth And in the first of Paul to Timothy the 4. th and the 3. verse hee saith He shall forbid to Marry that is He shall alter the ordinary practise of the Church of GOD in marriage which was solemnly performed by the Ministers of CHRIST according to Gods word commanding it to be done by those that are no Priests which are Commissionated by his Marke and also upon a penalty of Disinheritance as Bastardizing their posterity Hee shall also command Fasting-dayes and prohibite Festivalltimes which the Church had celibrated as the time of CHRIST'S Nativity his Resurrection and Ascention and the like farre worse then any Pagan But it is more proper to Antichrist's fore-runner which shall come like John Baptist Neither eating nor drinking but with a great deale of temporance and Purity to deceive though it be proper to him what the People said of Iohn That he hath a Devill Now I will speake of Antichrist and his false Prophet joyntly being united to advance each other therefore first of their beginning and so of their growth And that I may make it plaine I will compare the Lord of life and this Messenger of Death together In the 2. of Luke the 46. th 47. and the 48. verses Christ was found of his Parents disputing amongst the Doctors in Gods Temple it seemes to me to be the Puritanicall Pharisees with which hee disputed and which hee calleth so often afterwards to his Disciples Hypocrites giving them command to take heed to them This was the time of CHRIST's beginning and increase to doe his Fathers businesse till he was Baptized in Iordain of John Then being in the full Exercise of his power after his Baptisme hee continueth therein till his Ascention 42. Moneths or thereabouts in all one and twenty yeares And a little before his Suffering Mathew the 21. chap. the 12. verse Enters into the Temple and overthrew the tables of the Money changers and those that polluted his Fathers house hee drave out saying that they had made his Fathers house a denne of Thieves The same time shall Antichrist have till he come to the height of his power that CHRIST had till he was Baptized after which time hee shall thinke himselfe lawfully Installed to his Jesus ship to him and his for ever And as Christ first began his most Gracious worke in the Temple and so continued till he whipt the Prophainers out as aforesaid So shall Antichrist and his false Prophets begin they worke to doe their Fathers businesse in disputing against the true Doctors Professors and worshippers of God in his Churches and Temples till they drive out of Christ's Churches his faithfull Officers and Professors and make them Stables Courts of guard and consequently a denne of Thieves Now it is requisite hee being so perfectly marked out that it should be made knowne what shall become of the Man of sinne and what shall be his judgment It is said in Daniel the 7. th and 11. I beheld then because of the voyce of the great words which the Horne spake I beheld even till the Beast was slaine and his body destroyed and given to the burning Flame And in the 26. th verse The judgment shall sit and they shall take away his Dominion to consume it and destroy it to the end And in the 19. th of the Revelation the 20. th verse John saith That the Beast was taken and with him the false Prophet that wrought Miracles with which he designed them that had the Marke of the beast and worshipped his Image these both were cast into the Lake of Fire burning with Brimston But seeing in the same Chapter there is mention made of a whorish Woman which I have a little spoke of before J will touch it a little as it lyeth in the way In the 3 verse John was carried into the Wildernesse and there hee saw the whorish Woman riding in the same Place and upon the same Beast which persecuted the most Glorious woman the Church John seeth a Cup of abomination in her hand and in the 5. verse We saw her Name written in her Forehead Mysterie Babilon the great the mother of Harlots the abomination of the Earth This Woman was drunke with the blood of the Saints and Martyrs of JESVS which made John wonder This Woman shall be the Royall City where the Man of Sinne shall make his Seat and in which the Antichristian Representative body of the Beast and Head of the beast doth Consult and giveth Antichrist that is the Horne his power In the last verse of that Chapter it is said The Woman which thou sawest is the great City which raigneth over the Kings of the Earth sor by their prevalent Power during their Antichristian compliance both by Sea and Land they are said to Raigne over the Kings of the earth And in the 7. verse of the 17. th chap. The Angell saith He will tell Iohn the mistery of the Woman and the Beast that carrieth her And in the 8. verse hee saith The Beast on which the Woman sate was and is n c and shall descend into the Bottomlesse pit and goe into Perdition and they that dwell on the Earth shall wonder whose lives are not written in the Booke of Life from the foundation of the World When they behold the Beast that was and Is not and yet is This Beast shall be Presviter John and the first great Assembly of Republiques that aydes him which was That is hee shall be in great Power when the Man of sinne appeares with his Toleration Hee shall lose his Power and Dominion when the Man of sinne is apparently come and therefore it is said He was and Is not And it is said hee yet is Seeing he shall give himselfe and his Power to uphold the Man of Sinne after which he shall recover his Power and being and