that exerciseth their faith and patience whiles he raigns the Saints shall have little else to live upon his Government also is the same for in Dan. 11. 38. he sets up the God Mauzim the sword-power and in Revel 13. 12. he inforceth people to subject to the first Beast whose deadly wound was healed that is to a packt party of Rebels to the Common-wealth such as the Senate of Rome was when Caesar forced away all the honest men out of the Senate and set up his own party to govern this was upheld by the sword and set up by the sword he is also the same in the matter of duration for that in Dan. 7. 25. continues a time times and the dividing of time and this in Rev. 11. riseth and triumphs over the slain witnesses three dayes and a half which is both one time both making three years and a half Lastly He is the same both in Daniel and Revelation in his ruine and in the time of his ruine The time of this Beasts ruine is set-forth in Dan 7. 11. the Beast was slain and his body was destroyed this the Fathers call the 11. King because he is divers from any of the Kings that were before him under the western Empire he being the last and this was at that time v. 13. when the Son of man came in the Clouds of Heaven and v. 14. there was given him dominion and glory and a Kingdom that all People Nations and Languages might serve him these phrases we shall see Christ borrows in Mat. 24. 30. 3â— immediately after those dayes what dayes the dayes of tribulation how verse 24. there shall be false Christs and false Prophets and shall shew great wonders see Rev. 19. 20. the false Prophet was taken that wrought miracles before the Beast Mark how Matthew goeth on insomuch that if it were possible they shall deceive the very Elect. In Rev. 13. 13. and he did great wonders so that he made fire come down from Heaven on the earth By the signes which were permitted him to do in the sight of the Beast who doth not see that these expressions are all to set out this one Beast Immediately after these dayes of tribulation which are dayes of blasphemy and heresie and separation from the true Church v. 30. ye shall see the Son of Man coming in the Clouds with power and great glory and v. 31. he shall send his Angels with the sound of a great Trumpet and gather the Elect those that belong unto the election of grace from one end of Heaven to the other this is the same with that forecited place in Rev. 11. great voyces in Heaven saying the Kingdoms of the world are our Lord and his Christs and when was this this was when the witnesses were risen and stood upon their leggs v. 11. v. 13. near that hour when the great Earthquake is which time of shaking Heaven and Earth is foretold in Luke 31. 24. immediately after the time of the Gentiles is fulfilled now the time of the Gentiles is 42. moneths Rev. 11. 2. which is according to the Doctors account 1260. years which being up then the signes in the Sun and in the Moon and in the Starres that is the Antichristian state shall be shaken down and then the Son of Man shall appear in the Clouds with glory and great power and then the elect redemption draweth nigh the great voices Matth. 24. 31. allude to Christs passion when he yielded up the Ghost he cryed with a loud voice it is finished and after three dayes he arose and called his Disciples to a mount in Galâ—lee where he appeared to them and proclaimed all power in Heaven and in Earth was given to him and then the Disciples were made Apostles such are the effects of the rising of the Witnesses Oh how do I adore the infinite wisdom of the Holy Ghost in the Scriptures how clear might this truth be made to the weakest capacity were there but a worthy pen about it The time of the beasts reign is expressed in Dâ—â— 7. 22. to be when the ancient of dayes come â— when the Kingdom becomes the Lords Rev. 11. 15. and the Saints possessed the Kingdom that is the witnesses stand upon their feet Rev. 11. 11. 12. and they i.e. the godly Magistracy and Ministry did ascend up to heaven that is they possess that place of dignity from which they were cast it cannot be otherwise understood in Dan. 7. for v. 25. the Saints of the most high are they that he tyrannizeth over three years and a half so he doth in Rev. 11. 7. 9. which Saints of the most high are the Magistracy and Ministry the two witnesses principally meant There is one notable place more in Dan. 12. 45. which points at time and the place of the ruine of the Beast This Beast of the earth or this King as Daniel calls him shall plant the Tabernacles of his pallace between the Seas in the glorious holy Mountains yet he shall come to his end and none shall help him this holy Mountain learned men on all sides conclude is some eminent Kingdom for holiness therefore the Independent Pulpit-men say 't is England this day eminent in exalting the Saints and holiness certainly 't is that Kingdom which hath kept its Garments clean from spiritual fornication and hath not received the marks of the Beast nor bowed down to his Image that is engaged to be true and faithful to his unlawful new Government And of all the Kingdoms in the world I think it is Scotland where the Beast of the earth hath placed his Tabernacles where he now is where I believe he shall come to ruine But mark what imediately follows this Dan. 12. 1. And at that time shall Michael and Christ stand up and it shall be a time of trouble as in Mat. 24. and Luke 21. And at that time the elect shal be all delivered that is as much to say as all the Kingdoms in the world shall become Christs both Jews and Gentiles shall be brought to Christ this glorious day is in several places called a day of Resurrection it shall be to the Jews as a day of Resurrection now all this is to be at the 7. Trumpet sounding and therefore the ruine of Daniels Beast and Johns Beast are at one and the same time and therefore 't is but one and the same Beast that they both mention As for those that affirm this Beast is Antiochus who raigned in the time of the Grecian Monarchy was destroyed before the Roman Monarchy was in being it is so wide from the Text that 't is impossible to be true for this little horn ariseth not only after the Grecian Monarchy but after the Roman Monarchy became ten horned he riseth the last distinct from them all and therefore I will say to such men as Aquinas saith to Porferrius upon the same text holding the same opinion haec interpretatio tam fatua est ut
shall be done in this great day This I do affirm yet not I but the Scriptures 1. That the Witnesses shall arise in this day 2. That the Dragon the Beast and the false Prophet shall be overcome in this day 3. The Jews shall begin to be converted both the two Tribes and the ten Tribes and all the Kingdoms in the world shall become Christs In the generall as I have delivered them I think the Doctor and I do not much differ unlesse the Doctor differ from what he hath formerly delivered which is no strange thing if he do I affirm That the glorious day of destroying the Beast and this false Prophet and chaining the Dragon and of the Jews conversion shall be begun when the Witnesses arise from their slaying Now this implies two things when the Witnesses arise from their slaying Now this implies two things 1. That the Witnesses shall be slain immediatly before this day 2. That some enemy of the Church shall slay them So that it will not be amisse to enquire 1. Who slaies them and 2. when they are slain we shall do both together exceeding briefly In Revel 11. 7. and Daniel 7. 25. there is both 1. The Beast that slaies them 2. The Witnesses that are slain and 3. the time when this shall be in Revel 11. 7. when the Witnesses have finished their testimony that is when their 1260 daies i. years of prophesying in sackcloth is out v. 3. Then the Beast ascending or that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit shall make warre with them overcome them and kill them After three daies and an half i. three years and an half these Witnesses must rise v. 11. and immediatly after the seventh Trumpet soundeth and then the Kingdoms of this world became the Lords and his Christs v. 15. This all men will grant is the beginning of the great day of Reformation which immediatly follows upon their rising And this is worth the noting also v. 13. the same hour the eminent enemies of the Church are slain these men of name who are numbred by their name those painted outside Saints but inside devils they shall fall and then v. 19. the Temple of God is opened and the vials are poured out this you have in Revel 11. Now mark how that in Dan. 7. answers to this Daniel in this chapter had a vision of the four Monarchies the Assyrian the Persian the Graecian and the Roman Monarchy After these four Monarchies are extinguished Christ will set up his Monarchy v. 18. The Saints of the most high shall take the Kingdom and possesse it for ever and ever that is untill the day of Judgement this is the beginning of the glorious day of Reformation which shall be when the Roman Monarchy shall be destroyed which is the last of the Kingdome or Monarchies this is to be done at the sounding of the seventh trumpet Rev. 7. 15. when all Nations and Kingdoms shall become Christs But mark how inquisitive Daniel is when he comes to the Roman Monarchy Dan. 7. 9. he would fain know the truth of this Beast and of the ten Horns and of the other mark that which came up after the ten Horns before whom three fell even of that Horn that had eyes and a mouth that spake great things whose look was more stout then his fellow v. 20. I beheld and the same horn made warre with the Saints and prevatled against them Here is the Beast that slaies the Witnesses for 't is one that riseth in the end of the Roman Monarchy Quando râ—gnum Romanorum est distruendum saith Hierome Fabritius Paulutius Hugo Cardinalis Theadoretus and Hector Pintus with others and he shall throw down three of the ten Kingdoms subject to Rome he shall throw down three Kings that is saith Viega tres reges purè profitentes evangelium three Kings purely professing the Gospel But Theodoretus puts this question Quomodo tres superiores â—odem tempore humiliabit how will he throw down three Kings at one time Certainly we of this age can give the best answer to his question for thus he shall cut off Regem trium Regnorum ita tres Reges in una persona humiliabit or thus by pulling down at once the three Estates of King Lords and Commons who make the supream Power of the Nation where he usurps this Power but this question is needlesse and therefore we passe it by The main thing we intend to prove by Daniel is That this Beast is he that slaies the Witnesses and the same with that in Rev. 11. 7. because he is of the same time for that in Daniel riseth when the Roman Monarchy is going to destruction and that in Rev. 11. 7. ariseth when the raign of Antichrist is drawing to an end which Antichrist is the last head of the Roman Monarchy the Pope as this beast is of the same time so he doth the same things with that in Rev. 11. 7. for there he makes war with the Saints prevails against them and slayes them and in Dan. 7. 24. this other little horn that riseth after the ten Kings belonging to the Roman Monarchy this little horn that is an upstart base fellow say the Fathers a man of no repute amongst the Kings of the earth shall subdue three Kings this horn must necessarily be some new upstart fellow who riseth in the western Empire distinct from other Kings this horn shall speak great words against God and shall wear out the Saints of the most high and think to change times and Laws These words need no comment since the times we live in are a sufficient comment on them and they shall be given into his hands untill a time and times and the dividing of times that is three years and a half say all Interpreters which is just that space of time in which the Beast that starteth up out of the bottomlesse pit domineers over the slain bodies of the Witnesses so that these places do but explain one another and both set forth one and the same Government and bloudy enemy But this that makes it most cleer of all other is that which immediatly follows the horns raign an exercise of Tyranny over the Saints Dan. 7. 26 27 the Judgement shall sit and they shall take away his dominion to consume and destroy it unto the end and the Kingdom and dominion and greatnesse of the Kingdom under the whole Heaven shall be given to the people of the Saints of the most high here begins the glorious day after the horns tyrannicall government and dominion is destroyed this answers to Rev. 11. 13. where the men of name are destroyed and then as in Daniel the Saints possesse the Kingdom under the whole Heaven So the seaventh trumpet soâ—nds and all the Kingdoms in the world become the Lords and his Christs that is they all submit to his scepter and become Christians bating their old profanesse so that here in both places you have cleerly discovered the Beast that
shall this beast cause sore prosecution to fall upon the Saints of God yea this beast shall be farre more cruel then any of the enemies of the Church before him he shall be more monstrous in his attempts against the Church and he shall reach higher then ever any enemy before him the tallest we reade of before was but 66. but this is 666. all the enemies the most hellishest Traytors could never yet root up the Protestant Government in England they could never blowe up King Lords and Commons by their most secret plots but this beast doth it at noon-day in the face of all the world Oh that I had but room here to write his History I should make the eares of all that heard it tremble to remember these horrid unnatural villanies that this beast of the earth whose nummber is 666. hath committed all the conspiracies of Rome and Spain though they have not now been idle could never yet do the tenth part of that mischief to the Magistry and Ministry of England as he hath done how hath he overthrown them even when they had finished their Testimony how miserably is our covenanted Reformation broken in pieces by the prevailing Treason and rebellion of this beast As for those who seek to find the beast in the number of his name I conceive they stumble upon these two grosse mistakes they take the word number in a literal sence which is to be interpreted in another sence it signifying there the due proportion of the beast in number weight and measure thereby shewing he is an usurper a thief and a robber none of Gods appointment 2. There is another stumbling-block at which Interpreters not a few fall they go about to find the number of this beast in his name whereas the Holy-Ghost doth not bid us number his name for that the fooles of the world do but he bids them count the number of the beast count him in his rising he rose by his Lambs horns and Dragons tongue by flattering and hypocrisie blasphemies and deceits count him in his acting he acts by the Devils and the Popes Commission count him in his power he sets up his Sword-power a tyranical unlawful power count him in his means of obtaining that power and 't is his signes and wonders whereby he cheateth the people into a compliance with and subjection to his Power and Dominion Look upon him and count him in his several Acts of power and he is extreme tyranical he makes it death speak against the new Government and then he forceth men even against their own Consciences to subscribe to his new Government or publickly to own it by observing his publick edicts and keeping and solemnizing his Fast-dayes and Feâ—st-dayes and if not to deprive them of the priviledge of buying and selling to out-law them and God only knowes what worse thing thus count the number of the beast and his number is none of Gods but the Devils number he is full weight no where but in the Devils scales In plain truth he is a hydeous monstrous Tyrant against the Church exceeding all that went before him for the Popes they only drove the witnesses into Sackcloth but this beast slayes them Thus have I tediously though not impertinently shewed thee Reader the beast that slayes the witnesses and the time when he doth slay them and by this time I doubt nor but thou seest that those whom the Dr. my Antagonist makes the holy ones are those that slay the witnesses and those for whose destruction he impudently gave thanks are the slain witnesses I meane the lawful Governours and Government in the State and the lawful Governours and Government in Church for 't is the Offices of both which being destroyed may justly be called the slaying of the Witnesses all rational sober-minded Protestants may easily find the slain witnesses if hee 'l but look to the casting down of the Covenant-Reformation and the Instruments of that Covenant In the Covenant he may find their testimony the which both Magistrate and Ministers having finished that is fully agreed upon and resolved effectually to put in practice up comes this beast of the earth and with his Sword-power slayes them and their reformation and this is the time of slaying of the witnesses now this as we have proved he did when he set up his God Mauzzim Dan. 11. 38. that is his Sword-power the which was set up in Anno 1647. about August or December when he got the strength of the Kingdom by Sea viz. the Navy into his hands and 〈◊〉 Cinque-ports Castles Strong-Holds and fortifications of the Kingdom Together with the general Command of all the forces in the Kingdom of England and Wales at which time he seized on the royal perâ—on of the King of England marched up in Arms against the Lords and Commons assembled in Parliament charged illegally persumptiously and unjustly the chief of the Members of the House of Commons with Treason put them to flight imprisoned divers of the Lords and several of the Commons and the chiefest and honourablest of the Magistrates of the City of London and by his Sword-power set up his packt party of fagitive Members which fled from the Parliament and openly subscribed to live and die with this fellow whose designs were to blow up King and Parliament as since all the world hath seen it true I humbly conceive we may reckon the name of this beast to begin then and the slaying of the witnesses then to begin so that the next conclusion or proposition for me to prove will be this That the beast of the earth that did slay these witnesses shall be destroyed the witnesses that he slew shal rise again about this year 1651 by slain witnesses rising again I do not mean the same persons that were slain but the same Offices that were pulled down shall rise again the lawful State Government and lawful Church-Government shall rise again for the more plain and clear demonstration of this we must lay down some few Propositions to be premised 1. That as the former part of the Revelation sets forth the enemies of the Church and the Church her sad condition under those enemies especially these 3. enemies the Dragon the Beast and the false Prophet so from Rev. 14. to the end you have the vision of the Raign of the beast the Dragon and the false Prophet and the rising of the Church to a glorious State 2. That the beasts distruction that slayes the witnessests and the witnesses rising again are at one and the same time for as the beasts rising and the witnesses ruine were at once Rev. 11. 7. so the witnesses rising and the beasts ruine shall be at once as the cause and the effect The beasts rising was the cause of the witnesses falling and the witnesse rising again is the cause of the beasts ruine 3. That those witnesses are a goodly Magistracy and a goodly Ministry which are called Rev. 4. 4. 6. 7. 24. Elders
he is a coming the enemies gathering together with great strength and force is a true signe of Christs coming But how doth he come The text answers Behold I come as a thief Latro quia latenter insidiatur that is suddenly before a man expects him he is up with a man on a sudden before he is provided for him So will Christ fall upon his enemies in a day when they look not for him and in an hour when they are not aware of him When they were gathered together v. 17. then the seventh Angell powred out his viall and then a loud voice coms out of the temple saying 'T is done that is as Rev. 10. 7. the mystery of God the great mystery is finished as he hath declared by his servants the Prophets so that of the sounding of the seventh trumpet it seems the Prophets have prophesied The seventh trumpet sounding Rev. 11. 5. Christ sitting on the white cloud Rev. 14. 14. crowned the seventh Angell powring out his viall into the ayre Rev. 16. 17. and Christ riding on a white horse Rev. 19. 11. who had on his head many crowns v. 12. and was cloathed with a garment dipt in bloud v. 13. and had an host cloathen in white linnen and out of whose mouth goeth a sharp sharp sword to smite the Gentiles withall v. 15. whose name is written on his vesture and thigh the King of kings and Lord of lords v. 16. and the great battell from v. 17. with the effects of it to v. 5. of chap. 20. these all set out one and the same thing viz. The destruction of three grand enemies of the Church within the Church and the restoring of a godly Magistracy and Ministery to its former lustre and beauty to the thorough carrying on of a reformation which the Dragon the Beast and the false Prophet the three grand enemies destroyed in destroying the two Witnesses i.e. the godly Magistracie and Ministery that lead the people out of spirituall Babylon These things will be cleered in due place The second is that which I suppose most Englishmen will oppose because it opposeth most English writers and opposeth the Doctor in his new Thanks-giving book P. 2. who saith we are under the sixth Seal and the sixth Trumpet of that Seal and under the fourth Viall of that Trumpet if not under the fifth I 'le run after his fantastick stuffe no farther by way of repetition but return to my second Proposition and prove that none of the Vialls are yet powred out because they are not powred out untill the seventh Trumpet sound that 's Argument of it self sufficient for the seventh Trumpet hath not yet sounded ergo no vialls are as yet powred out Argument I prove that none of the Vialls shall be powred out untill the seventh Trumpet sound from Revel 15. 5. and Revel 11. 15. 19. The Vialls are not powred out untill the Angells come out of the Temple Rev. 25. 16. and they come not out untill the Temple of the Tabernacle of the Testimony in heaven was open v. 5. but the Temple of God was not opened in heaven untill the seventh Trumpet sounded Rev. 11. 15. 19. ergo the Vialls cannot be powred out untill the seuenth Trumpet sound 2. Argument I may argue thus from Revel 16. 1. If no Vialls be powred out untill John heard a voice out of the Temple then none are as yet powred out for no voice coms out of the Temple untill the Temple be open and the Angells come out which we have clearly proved is not till the seventh Trumpet sounds and the seventh Trumpet sounds not untill Christ come in the cloud crowned to possesse the Kingdomes and to destroy the three grand enemies the Beast of the Sea which kept the Witnesses in Sackcloth and the Beast of the Earth which â—lays the Witnesses and the Divell who raigns and rages against the Gospell with his crue of Traytors blasphemers heretikes and the like which is not yet fulfilled therefore no Vialls are powred out 3. Argument If no Vialls be powred out untill the Viall be powred out on the earth which causeth a noysome and grievous sore upon the men which had received the mark of the Beast and upon them which worshipped his Image then no Viall is as yet powred out for by earth is here meant the Beast of the Earth and his followers Now the Beast of the Earth and his followers we proved already were not in being untill 1647. and no Viall hath been powred out upon him as yet for he is now raging over and trampling under the slain Witnesses therefore none of the Vialls are as yet powred out nor can we expect them untill the three years and an half of his raign be expired which we hope is not many moneths longer 4. Argument But to take an Argument ad hominem there are many learned Divines of these later dayes who hold that the Witnesses are to powre out the Vialls the slain Witnesses rising do it this is most probable if so then I bring a double argument thus If the Witnesses rising powre out the Vialls then no Vialls have yet been powred out for as a learned Divine November 5. last said The Witnesses are not yet risen their rising will be conspicuous when they rise the Saints shall sing the Song of Moses Rev. 15. 3. and they shall be a terrour to all their enemies round about them who shall see their rising and tremble at it Revel 11. 11. they shall put on white linnen which is another Argument Revel 15. 6. before they go to powre out the Vialls but from the time of the Popes raigns to the time of the Beast of the Earths raign the Witnesses were in Sackcloth and therefore could not powre out the Vialls and since they have been slain and now are dead dead in Law out-lawed persons dethroned degraded secluded sequestered and dissipated them so that untill the slain Witnesses rise there can be no Vialls powred out and by consequence none are powred out for the Witnesses are not risen I am not ignorant how there are very many and learned Protestants who say that at least an hundred years ago some of the Vials were powred out but what ground have they from Scripture to say so every Scholler positively concludes none at all what then is their ground but only the strength of their fancy in crooking sacred texts to corrupt histories as for example Pareus is of opinion that Luther powred out the first Viall upon the earth when he preached against Pardon-Mongers and Indulgences and all the ground he hath for it is because he finds that Luther was a stout opposer of Pardon-mongers and Canonists whereas he that reads but with an impartiall eye the history of the German Churches since Luther will rather conclude that the Pope powred out a Viall on the German Churches then the German Churches on him 't is the most senselessest thing and the most rediculous in the world for wise men to affirm
matter to the text there we may see Christs coming to repay vengeance to the Enemies in the Islands that the West may fear God and this shall be done ver 19. when the Enemy comes in like a floud and how it shall be done the Spirit of the Lord shall lift up a standart against him this is absolutely prophesied of that time when the fulness of the Gentiles is come in that is when the time of Antichrists Raign is accomplished I am not ignorant how far I am from the common interpretations of this text but I am confident upon Scripture-grounds I come neerer the mind of the Holy Ghost then they that say by the fulness of the Gentiles is meant the glorious time of the full coming in of the Gentiles to the Gospel Blindness is hapned in part to Israel until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in here is the measure of the time of the Jews rejection from the Gospel so long as till the fulness of the Gentiles be come in If by fulness of the Gentiles be meant their full conversion then the Jews shall not be converted until the full conversion of the Gentiles be accomplished but this is contrary to the Apostles words in the same Chapter for ver 12. Now saith he if the fall of them be the riches of the world and the diminishing of them the riches of the Gentiles how much more their fulness So that by this text it is clear that the rising of the Jews shall be the bringing in of a far greater number of Gentiles to the Gospel then their fall could do and therefore 't is that the Prophet saith In this day people shall flock in to the Gospel as the Doves to the windows and ten women shall take hold of the skirt of a Jew and go after him that is embrace his Religion being a Christian And hence it is that at the sounding of the seventh Trumpet a voice is heard crying aloud That all the Kingdomes in the world are become the Lords because of the great conversion of Soules throughout the world that shall be when the Jews begin to come in to Christ So that the fulness of the Gentiles in that place cannot mean any other then as Luke 21. 24. expresseth it the fulfilling the times of the Gentiles which Rev. 11. 2. is 42 Moneths and that is 1260 years the full time of Antichrists raign and so long the true Church which is Jerusalem shall be trodden under foot Cajetan well observes though few of the Romish Writers which quote him observe it that donec plenitudo gentium intret is the mystery which Paul would have the Romans not ignorant of lest they should think too well of their Church and doubtless this is the mystery which the Holy Ghost Rev. 10. 7. saith shall be finished in the dayes of the voice of the seventh Trumpet as the Prophets have declared So that we must look iâ— to the prophesies concerning this mystery and the seventh Trumpet as well as into the Writings of the Apostles Beda on Luke 21. 24. saith that it is the same with Rom. 11. 25. and many of the Popish Doctors agree with him which is as much as I will desire to make good my assertion The Ancients and many of the Romish Doctors conclude that Israel shall be converted to Christ about the end of the World Saith the ordinary glosse in the end of the World when Antichrists falshood shall be detected and saith Abelardus in the end of the world they shall be converted per the Witnesses So saith Remigerus Now the Witnesses rise not untill the full time of Antichrists raign be accomplished Rev. 11. Therfore when the fulness of the Gentiles shall come in that is Antichrists raign shall be accomplished Israel shall be converted Of this opinion I suppose learned Protestants are That the Romish Apostacy is the cause of the Jews Obstacy untill the destruction of which they shall continue in their blindnesse This opinion Contzenus the Jesuit cries out of as the opinion of Hereticks I conceive he cryeth most against learned Melancthon who on that text tels us of the ruine of the Gentiles Church by heresies and apostacy which apostacy being fulfilled the Jews shall be converted To this purpose he speaketh excellently and truly but mark what follows in Luk. 21. 25. After the time of the Gentiles is fulfilled then there shal be signs in the Sun and in the Moon and in the stars and upon the earth distress of Nations with perplexity the seas and the waves roaring mens hearts failing them for the powers of heaven shal be shaken These are the vials that shal be poured out on the Churches enemies and what then ver 27. Then shall they see the Son of Man coming in a cloud and then ver 18. When they see these things begin to come to pass let the Jews lift up their heads for their redemption draweth nigh compare Matth. 24. and Mark 13. with this text this day must be meant of the Jews conversion therefore it sets forth some Gospel-day for should it be the day of Judgment it would be the day of their Damnation therefore when the vials are poured out they shall see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory this leads me back to the text that I have run away so long from Revel 14. 14. there immediatly the witnesses were slain John looked and behold a white cloud and on the cloud one sitting like the Son of Man having in his hand a crown there 's his glory and with a sharp sickle there is his power and then there are the Angels the Angel out of the Temple and the Angel from the Altar and they make supplication that the harvest of the earth which is ripe may be reaped by Christ who had the sharp sickle in his hand and at their supplication Christ goes to work with the Vines of the Vineyard of the Earth and cuts them down and then the bloud of the Vines of the Earth that is the power of the beast of the Earth is broken and their bloud in a great measure shed at the same time Revel 15. John saw another sign in Heaven great and marvellous this great sign is that in Matth. 24. and Mark 13. the sign is seven Angels with the seven plagues the great sign is Gods eminent wrath against the Roman Monarchy in all its power and strength for by clouds trees waves of the Sea and stars Jude 13. tells us are meant hereticks in the Church they shall be cast from heaven that is out of the Church or else by Sun Moon and Stars are meant the higher powers in a State So Jacob interprets his son Josephs dream but observe what John sees before the Vials be poured out he saw ver 2. a glassie sea mingled with fire The sea in the Temple was made of brass it was not to be seen through onely they that looked into it saw what
himself judgment and everlasting destruction Therefore Brightman reads it thus He shall plant the Tabernacle of the wroth of his judgment between the seas in the Mountain of holy delight and there shall he come to his end and none shall help him He shall pitch his Tabernacles in the Mountain of delight that is in that part of Mount Olivet to the North On that Mountain that is in Scotland there he shall pitch his tent that is lead an Army into that Kingdom against the Covenanters and he shall pitch betwixt the seas in Scotland This seemeth to tell the place where this Beast shall be destroyed it is betwixt the seas some where in that Kingdom and there shall he come to his end and none shall help him Observe how this illustrates and confirms Zach. 14. 1 7. the time of the Rent betwixt the North and the South shall be but one day that is one year and in the evening of that year it shall be light Now I am fully perswaded that this is the year I argue à posteriori from events this year the tydings out of the East and the North fetched him out of Ireland and made him march into Scotland which made the great Rent between the two Kingdoms of England and Scotland This year is that year which is neither dark nor light to the Church it is a gloomy day no sun nor stars appear to direct or comfort the Church They know not whether the sun be rising or setting upon them paleness is in all faces 't is a cloudy sad melancholy day therefore we wait hoping and longing for the fulfilling of the promise that in the evening of the day that is in the latter end of the year it shall be light though the year speaks terrible things against the Church yet the end of the year shall speak comfort and salvation to the Church Or else it shall be in the Evening that is when all is still and quiet when the Enemies think all is their own and when the Church thinks the Evening of dark and sad desolation is coming on her In the Evening when the Enemies of the Church are lying down have drawn the Curtains of security over them when like the glutton they begin to say soul take thy rest eat drink and be merry thou hast enough laid up for many years then their unexpected desolation and utter ruine cometh then on a sudden the seventh Trumpet sounds and the dreadful cry is made behold the bridegroom cometh then shall Christ come with deliverance for the Saints when they were even ready to dispond with swift destruction against his Enemies who were in deep security Observe how both Daniel and Zachary agree in this for in Dan. 12. 1. there Michael stands up that great Prince which standeth for the children of thy people and then shall follow the time of great trouble to the Enemy and in Zach. 14. 5. the Lord shall come and ver 9. the Lord shall be King over all the earth the same with Rev. 11. all the Kingdoms at the sounding of the seventh Trumpet in the world shall be the Lords so that all these places of Scripture prophecying of the sounding of the seventh Trumpet and the things that shall immediatly precede the powring out of the Vials seem to tell us that God will mightily appear in the raising up of a distressed persecuted despised Magistracy and Ministery in Scotland and give them unexpected success against their Enemies to the overthrowing of Popery and Independency and the establishing of the three Kingdoms speedily in a Covenant-Reformation Confident I am that Scotland is the place where the Enemies of the Church shall be gathered together to destroy them and most confident I am that there the Enemies that go against them shall be broken there will Christ appear for his Churches deliverance and his Enemies confusion and this is one great argument with me viz. the great distresse and sad affliction that the Church at this present time is in In England the very foundations are cast down and the righteous know not what to do their eyes are onely up to God the poor Church is drove up into a dispersed corner of the world it hath lately had a sore and deadly wound in the defeating of a stately Army they have lost their chief City they are banished from their habitations they have lost one of their chief Sea-Port Towns and the chief Castle and strongest Hold in that Kingdom they have a potent a bloudy a subtil and a resolved Army to encounter withall they every day grow stronger and stronger and by their power and policy infeeble and weaken the poor Church in Scotland by their policy they have bred division among the Scots they are but a little number that are called and faithful and chosen and that little flock are like to be surrounded with Enemies for if the Pope and his party can possibly incite any of the great family against the Kirk they will and in great measure the Scots this day have experience of it now when they have enemies and dangers round about them and are but feeble and weak and in the eye of the world and of their Enemes utterly lost Then is the time yea then the set time is come for their deliverance and this I prove from Rev. 15. 2 3. When the Church was delivered which is spoken of this time of deliverance from the Beast of the Earth for they ver 2. got the victory over the Beast and his Image and his Mark and the number of his name Now this is none other then the Beast that goes to pull down Kingly Government and set up his Image or Government and make that Nation receive his mark i.e. subscribe to his Ingagement Now when this victory is gotten over the Beast v. 3. they sang the song of Moses Exod. 15. which was a tryumphant song after their deliverance from a potent malicious resolved Enemy that had the Church of God at the greatest disadvantage that might be for he had them all in a valley on one hand the Forts and strong Holds of the Egyptians on the other hand an unpassable Mountain before them the deep sea and behind them◠furious Enemy compleatly armed and fully resolved utterly to ruine them Now in this distress the Lord looks upon them and visits them with a cloud there was the visible power of God seen and after that cloud came the Sea was divided the Church was preserved and the Enemy drowned and then Moses composed his song which is altogether to magnifie the glorious and magnificent power of God in the deliverance of his Church in so great a straight and destroy the proud and potent Enemy with so terrible and swift destruction Now this song the Church must sing when God gives her victory over her Enemies therefore her deliverance shall be glorious and her Enemies destruction terrible that is that new song the Saints of God shall sing Rev. 14.
Saints untill Constantine came Revel 12. And then after Constantine the Devil was not chained though he were cast out of the Romane Throne For Revel 12. 13. 15. 17. after his casting down he persecuted the Church and cast a Flood of Arrian Heresie after her and he was wrath with the Church and went to make war with her so that after Constantine he was not chained For in Rev. 13. 2. there the Devill gave the Pope his power and great Authority Neâ—ther was the Dâ—vill chained up nor sealed in the bottomlesse pit afterwards for if we look downward into Histories we shall see the Popes the Devils familiars or the devill their familiar how many of them were Conjurors and how frequently was the devill called to their greatest enterprises the devill was as t were sole Monark throughout the world a great while from the year 500 to 1000. how did Ignorance raign throughout the world and afterward when the sight of the Gospel began to look through the Clouds again how did the devill and his Instruments bestir them to suppresse that light by cruell persecutions and so they have continued untill this day Germany France Holland England and Scotland at this day know how busie the Devill is to overthrow the Church by heresies to seduce them by temptations of all sorts to insnare them and by his inhumane Butchers with a potent hand to murther the poor Church so that I suppose no man will say that since the Incarnation of Christ the devill hath been bound a 1000 years no scarce a thousand dayes so that neither History nor Scripture hold out any such thing as that Satan since Christs incarnation hitherto hath been bound a 1000 years they are so far from it that they absolutely prove the contrary so that now it falls happily in my way to discourse of that 6th proposition which long since I laid down viz that the 1000 years binding of Satan and the 1000 years Raigning of the Witnesses doth not begin untill the great Battel be fought against the Beast and the false Prophet It is cleer from the Text that Satan is not bound untill the Battel be fought against the Beast and the false Prophet Rev. 19. 20. And at that time Sathan is bound for Rev 20. 1. 2 3. is coupled with a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to the former to shew that the Beast the false Prophet and the Dragon go to destruction at one and the same time Indeed Beza translates 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 deinde after that I know no reason for it but in Bezas sence I have this advantage that he proves the Devill is bound after the Beast and the false Prophet are destroyed not before but the Beast and the false Prophet are not yet destroyed therefore the Devill hath not as yet been bound but I shall follow the vulgar translation of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and read it and Rev 20. 1 2 3. In the first verse you have the Angel that binds him who is discribed by his power he hath the key of Hell and a mighty chain that is irresistable force this is none other but the Lord Jesus he that fought the Battel against the Beast and the false Prophet and destroyed them irrecoverably the same binds the Devil with an inviolable chaine for a 1000 years this binding with a chain is an expression setting forth the glorious Conquest that Christ shall get in the fight over all his Enemies the Devill shall be bound in a great chaine and cast into Prison and sealed up there and an inviolable lock shall be hanged on the Prison door for a 1000 years v 3. You have the end of his shutting up it is that he should deceive the Nations no more untill a 1000 years be expired and after that he must be loosed a little season hence you may know that the devils kingdom is where it is it is amongst the kingdoms professing the Gospel t is that of heresie and blasphemy and hipocrisie and lies and deceit Observe now what immediately John saw after the binding of Satan v 4. And I saw thrones and they sate upon them and judgement was given unto them and I saw the souls of them that were cut off with the Ax for the testimony of Jesus and for the word of God and some certain Souls which had not worshipped the Beast nor his Image neither had received his mark upon their forheads or in their hands and they lived and raigned with Christ a thousand years Three things this Text cleerly holds out 1. The seventh Trumpet sounding 2. The slain witnesses rising 3. The Church her happy state on earth after the seventh Trumpet sounding and the witnesses rising And I saw Thrones and then sate upon them and judgement was given unto them This John saw after observe the time the Beast and the false Prophet and the Dragon were overcome The same we shall find in Dan. 7. 14. 22. and 27. There the little horn that v 27. speaks great words against God wears out the Saints and thinks to change times and laws all which are given into his hand a time times and the deviding of times after which the Judgment shall sit v 29. and shall take away his dominion this Judgment v 22. is given to the Saints in v 27. the kingdom and dominion and greatnesse of the kingdom under the whole Heaven shall be given to the people of the Saints of the most high this is the immediate consequence of the destruction of the little horn which we have proved is the same with the Beast of the earth Rev 13. 11. and Rev 11. 17. in Rev 11. you find the same thing expressed that hower that the Beast that slew the witnesses was with his party destroyed v 13. 7000 that is many thousand men of name that is of those that were numbred by their name or accounted Saints for their good successe and great repute that they have gotten by their Victories or men that received the number of the beast name in their hands and foreheads the ingagers when those were destroyed the same houre the Witnesses v 12. arose were called up and ascended into Heaven in a Cloud though the expression differ yet the thing intended in the expression is the same for it sets forth the high degree of exaltation to which the slain Witnesses should attain they shall be above the reach of their enemies both in glory and power throughout the world at the same time when all the kingdoms of the world are become the Lord and his Christs ver 26. The 24. Elders sit in their seats and rejoyce that Chriâ—â— hath received his kingdom and at the same time Rev 19. v 4 5 6. You have the same song from the Throne and the Elders the meaning is they keep Thanksgiving dayes for the rising of the Witnesses this is all one with Dan 7. 14. which is the immediate consequence of the little horns destruction for there the kingdoms of
which Banner he leads his troops of Traitors and squadrons of blasphemers and Hereticks how shall all these be overthrown at one set battell about this yeer 1651. since t is impossible all these three Enemies shall be at the battell in person The Question is somewhat hard to be determined positively yet this is clear from the Scripture that this great battell Revel 19. 19 20. is that battell that shall be fought by the Witnesses after they are risen from their slain condition and this battell is fought against the Beast that slays the Witnesses that is the Beast of the Earth that little Horn in Dan. 7. 26 27. and Dan. 11. 4 5. and against the Beast of the bottomlesse pit and his company which makes merry Rev. 11. 10. for the destruction of the Witnesses now how can it be said that when this Beast and his party are overcome that then the Beast and the false Prophet and the Dragon are over-come A. 1. To this we answer in two words 1. They may virtually and potentially all three fall when one fals so the whole hosts of the Philistines fell when Goliah fell 2. Then when this Beast of the Earth fals all the three begin to fall and from that day never rise more their chief plots and devices shall be discovered and broken and their villanie shall be discovered to the whole world which shall make the ten Horns to hate the Whore and burn her with fire Or who can tell but that at this battell the cheif strength of the Pope the grand Hereticks who are the devils Esquires and the cheif and grand Traitors against the Laws and Religion of England may be all in that battell overcome Or thus at three Kings in one person by the Beast of the earth were overthrown so the three grand enemies of the Church in that one person of the Beast of the earth may be overthrown And to me it is very probable in Revel 17. where John saw Rome in that year when she was to go to destruction in v 3. He saw the last Beast that did bear up Rome and uphold her in her pomp the Beasts is called v 8. the Beast that cometh out of the bottomlesse pit to let us know that that Beast which slaies the Witnesses bears up Rome when she is going to damnation this Beast v 3. is called the Beast bearing up Rome because he slays the Witnesses that would have pulled down Rome he is called therefore a scarlet coloured Beast because of his bloody cruelty against the true Church and then he is said to have seven Heads and ten Horns because he supports that City Rome with seven Heads and ten Horns Popery by the Covenanteers had long â—ince been in the dust but that he broke the Covenanteers and their Reformation by his bloody treason and his blasphemous troops So then as this Beast is said to bear up Rome though he be far distant from Rome by his slaying Romes enemies so Rome may be said to fall and the Pope may be said to fall and the Devil who is said to be the father of Hereticks and blasphemers may be said to fall when he that hath supported them fals And in this sence at this battell when this Beast is overthrown the Beast and that false Prophet and the Dragon may be said to fall and be sure of it when the Witnesses have got their victories over this Beast down goeth Popery and blasphemie and heresie so that though in the downfall of this Beast of the earth it cannot be said that the Pope and the Devil shall personally and universally in their power be overthrown yet it may truly be said that virtually they are overcome it may well and truly be said that the Pope and the Devil are overcome when this Beast is overcome because the Beast is the support of Popery by which Romes pomp is supported and the support of Hereticks and blasphemers by whom the Devils kingdom is upheld hath he not caused those to fall who went about to overthrow Rome and hath he not granted a toleration to all Hereticks to lord it over the orthodox Christians Who is so blinde as doth not see that he doth support this day the state pomp and Religion of Rome and of the Divels kingdom there Satans throne is where the Witnesses are slain Rev. 2. 13. In a word it may truly be said when the Beast of the earth is overthrown that then the Popes cause and interest and the Devills interest will with him be overthrown in these three kingdoms for who is it but he that hinders the Covenant-reformation and if he shall by the Covenanteers as I do undoubtedly believe he will when his three years and a halfs Raign is up be overcome be assured that the rising Witnesses prosecuting the ends of the Covenant will be the ruine of the Popes and the devils Kingdom in England Indeed the Tenor of the Covenant is nothing else but to establish the Witnesses and throw down Popery and Heresie that is the Pope and the Devils kingdom Shall I yet go a little further I am confident that when this Beast of the earth is overcome his cursed Hellish conspiracies with the Court of Rome and the Court of Spaine to overthrow the Kings of Europe that acknowledg not the Popes supremacie will be made so apparent that all the Kings in Europe especially France and Portugall and these thre Kingdoms England Scotland and Ireland will both abominate and utterly reject the Romish Court as a den of abominable Theeves and Murtherers And I trust utterly forsake that accursed Religion which can change it self into any shape and pretend any interest on purpose to overthrow kingdoms and murther Kings Now put all these together consider but from the time of the Popes rising when he got to be the head of Rome to be independent which as on all hands is concluded was about the yeer 390. and consider but the time of the Beasts of the earth who riseth out of Independency and slaies the Witnesses in the yeer 1647. consider how cleerly the holy Ghost holds out the Beast in his rising in his government in his time of duration and in the manner and place of his ruine compare but Scripture with Scripture compare Dan. 7. and 11. and Matth. 24 Mark 13. Luke 21. Rev. 11. the 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. Chapters and Zach. 14. together with severall other Texts in Ezek and Isiah I say compare the severall texts as we have set them one with another and compare with these texts the occurrences of these three yeers last past in England Scotland and Ireland and from all it may be concluded I would fain say positively probably that immediately after 1650. is ended when the Beast of the earth hath â—aged a Prophetick day that is one year in Scotland then comes the ruine of the Church her enemies for then the Church of Romes time of keeping the Witnesses in Sackcloath is expired and the three years and an half of the great Independent Beast that shall slay the Witnesses is expired then he and his Poliarchy of Senators who Raign as Kings must go to their eternall graves and then the Witnesses must rise and take possession of their seats from which they were thrown and the Covenanted-reformation by them must be carried on to the utter destruction of the Pope and his faction and the binding of the devil and utter casting of him out of the Church with his faction All which the Lord of his infinite mercy through Jesus Christ for his elect sake both of Jews and Gentiles unconverted and alreadie converted hasten Even so come Lord Jesus Come quickly Amen FINIS
the force of the Enemy then God ariseth Q. But after what manner or by what means will God convert the twelve Tribes A. The Holy Ghost tells us Esay 49. 21 22 23. the whole chapter is a description of the glorious Gospel-day when Christ shall deliver both Jews and Gentiles from the Devils bondage and Antichrists yoak in v. 6. there 's Christs Commission to raise up the Tribes of Jacob God hath appointed him for that end that he may call the scattered Tribes from the North and from the west from the land of Sinim but the Jew shall say in his heart Who hath begotten me these seeing I am barren and desolate a captive and a wanderer to and fro and who hath nourished them Behold I was left alone whence are these This is the question that the Jews ask at the time of their beginning to be converted and brought from the North and from the West and from the Land of Sinim But observe the Answer the Holy Ghost gives v. 22. Thus saith the Lord God Behold I will lift up my hand to the Gentiles and set up my standart to the people and they shall bring thy sons in their armes and thy daughters shall be carryed on their shoulders The meaning is God will command the converted Gentiles the Ministers of the Gentile Church and they shall hold out the white flag of the Gospel of reconciliation by Jesus Christ for that 's Christs Standart and this shall be the way of their conversion but that 's not all for in the next verse v. 23. and Kings shall be thy nursing Father and Queens shall be thy Nurses converted Gentile-Kings shall invite the Jews into their Kingdome and give them leave fairly to bring in their scruples they have against Christ and appoint men to satisfie their doubts give them leave which the Pope will not do to read the New Testament and compare Christians principles with the ir principles For so the Prophet saith They shall be converted they shall see eye to eye that is by the Eye of the Old Testament they shall see into the New and by the Eye of the New they shall see into the Old Testament-prophecies fulfilled so that the godly Magistracy those are Kings and the goldy Ministery amongst the Gentiles shall be instruments of converting the Jews Hereupon my hopes and grounds are that God will by affliction so mould and frame the heart of the King of Scotland and then raise him to so great a power as that he will not only be the great instrument of throwing down Antichrist but also a great instrument in converting of the Jews in the West-Indies and East-Indies where the people thirst abundantly after the Word but there are few to deal the bread of life to them I have great hopes that God will yet again by an English Monarch do mighty things against Rome-Antichristian and for the propagating of the Gospel and my reasons are Because God chose the first Monarch in the world to be a Christian and a Defender of the Faith in this Kingdom Lucius was King of England and he that God chose to make the Vicar as Elutherius Bishop of Rome styled him this was Anno Christi 180. Abou 120 years after God raised up out of this Kingdom a Christian Emperour Constantine who was the Son of Hellena that beautiful Brittish Princess This Constantine God made the great Instrument of throwing down the Heathen Emperours turning the whole Empire from Paganism to Christianity He freed the Christians from their prisons and saved them from being any more tortured for Christ Since that time Religion was never quite extinguished but the Brittish people notwithstanding their afflictions kept their Religion amongst them after Rome apostatized from its primitive purity so far as from Rome-Christian to become Rome-Antichristian We shall find in History that the English Monarchs were the first that opposed the Popes Tyranny William the Conquerour was one that shewed himself an Enemy to the Popes pomp and tyranny and usurpation It may truly be said that the Normans despised and abhorred the Popes wicked usurpation The Plantaginets curbed the Pope's insolency The Tudars likewise unhorsed the Popes Observe here how the Tudars came in Henry 7. married Elisabeth the eldest daughter of Edward 4. and hereby unites the two Houses of York and Lancaster In the person of this King saith Sir Robert Naunton in his book called Fragmenta Regalia the royall scepter fell back into the current of the old British bloud which by the invasion of the Saxons and afterwards by the conquest of the Normans had discontinued almost a thousand years so that all the German Norman Burgundian Castalian and French atchievements with the intermarriages which eight hundred yeares had acquired and incorporated were all brought back into the old royall line of the ancient British Christian Kings This being so which I verily believe as 't is one of the remarkablest passages in the world so 't is that which makes exceedingly for my purpose viz. That the Kings of England are the lawfull Magistracy of England and that they are no usurpers and therfore one of the Witnesses This Henry 7. married his eldest daughter Margaret to the King of Scots The Tudars expiring in Q. Elizabeth the off-spring of Margaret who was matched into the royall Family of the Stuarts succeeded Q. Elizabeth in the English throne by a title cleer and unquestionable Now as the Tudars unhorsed and banished the Pope so the Stuarts stabbed the Pope so that as England had the first King that subjected this Kingdom to Christ and the first Emperor that subjected the Roman Empire to Christ and the first Kings that opposed Antichrist And as King Iames was the first that proved the Pope to be Antichrist so his son was the first King that ever was openly put to death for finishing his testimony against Antichrist Hence it appeares that as Monarchy before Christ was visible in the Church from Adam untill Christ so it hath been visible in this Kingdom since Christ from Lucius in a Christian line of unquestionable succession unto this distressed King of Scotland now persecuted by Antichrist This King was begot by a Protestant King baptized by a Protestant Mininister a Bishop he was born the heire of three Protestant Kingdoms and is the successor of a Martyr who laid down his life for the maintenance of the Protestant Religion and this King hath covenanted to maintain the Protestant Religion all which could never be said of any King before and therfore my hope and trust is that King Iames his Grandchild shall be the King that shall throw down Rome Antichristian and be the great Instrument of making both Jews and Gentiles bow down to a reall reformation especially when in all probability these three Kingdoms are the Kingdoms where the Witnesses shall be slain by the usurpation of a mean fellow who shall arise and set up a new government and take upon him to be
Lord of the three Kingdoms this all the Fathers have told us from Dan. 7. 24 25. and we see it fulfilled in our eys Now they say this vile fellow shall reign but three years and an half and then he shall fall with an utter ruine I have proved that in all probability 't is this year that he shall fall and have shewed from Scripture what probability there is of his fall in Scotland it being the mountain of delights and no other Kingdom in the world maintains such a lawfull Magistracy and rightly constituted Ministery and so reall right and glorious a reformation as Scotland doth It hath been shewed also what probability there is from the time alotted to Antichrist the Pope the Beast that keeps the Witnesses in sackcloth to reigne which is 1260. years which time is up about 1651. and then from the time of the Beast of the Earth the Beast that coms out of the bottomlesse pit his reign which began in 1647. and continues three years and an half so that 't is probable his reign will be expired in 1651. about the middle of this year then 't is probable from his actions for he throws down a lawfull and unquestionable Magistracy and then he most bitterly and violently persecutes the Ministery which lawfull Magistracy and Ministery shall have a mighty victory over him and so rise up to their former dignity again but immediately before this victory they must be in an exceeding low condition and in the eyes of the people of the world past recovery All this we have made out clearly from Scripture and how clearly and manifestly these Scriptures are in part fulfilld hastning to be accomplished I leave to every sober-minded man to judg so that my merry Dr. that is so confident of his holy Democracy and holy Army unlesse he can prove them to be the slain Witnesses that were slain and persecuted by the Beast arising out of the bottomlesse pit and thrown down and worn out by the little horn Dan. 7. that riseth and reigneth over three kingdoms where the Gospel is purely professed three years and an half in which time he changeth their Lawes and Customs unlesse he prove them so out of his own mouth we shall clearly overthrow him for p. 33. 34. there he undertakes to prove from Dan. 7. 14. v. 27. that Monarchy shal be thrown down and now 't is on the tragicall stage for that end and all to make way for Christs visible Kingdom on earth This honor of throwing down Monarchy and exalting Democracy is given he saith to his holy ones according to that text Dan. 7. 27. the kingdom and Dominion and greatnesse of the kingdom under the heaven shall be given to the people of the Saints of the most high Let me intreat the Reader to observe but the time when the kingdom shall be given to the Saints in Dan. 7. it is at that time v. 8. when the little horn that riseth after the other states subject to Rome and plucks up three of the first hornes or kingdoms observe this the Doctor confesseth is in the end of the Roman Monarchy if so which is undeniable then let all the world judge what little horn is lately rose to usurp three kingdoms is not this text visibly fulfilled in the sight of all Europe But then observe v. 9 10. Christ comes is in Rev. 10. 1 2. and in v. 11. this little horn was slain and given to the burning flame 't is the same with Rev. 19 20. where he was cast into the lake burning and then v. 13 14. Christ set up his Kingdom which is both a glorious and everlasting kingdom and v. 24 25. this little horn is cleerly described to be the Witnesse slaying Beast who shall continue three years and an half and then immediately followes Christ v. 26 27. coming forth to destroy this Beast and then as in Rev. 11. all the kingdoms in the world become Christs Rev. 20. 4. thrones are set then the Saints i. e. the Witnesses sit upon them so that the meaning is not that Christ will throw down Kingly Government or Monarchy in the Church but that he will raise a godly Magistracy and a godly Ministery to a higher degree of power then ever before and thereby the reall Saints of God shall have greater freedome then formerly The two Witnesses shall goe no more in sackcloth but put on white linnen 'T is true Usurpers and Tyrants shall bee throwne downe the Tyrannicall Independent Monarcy of Rome shall be thrown down and the tyrannicall usurped Democracy of England shall be thrown down who give the Beast of the Earth their power and strength Rev. 17. 13. and with that strength go forth against the Lamb and the Lamb shall overcome them for he is the King of kings and Lord of lords that 's his Motto in Rev. 19. 19. When he fights against this Beast and overcomes him 't is one and the same battel these shall be overcome and overthrown for ever but the Witnesses though they are slain and the Doctor and all the Antichristian Rabble make merry and keep Thanksgiving days yet they shall arise again stand upon their legs and ascend in power and authority and glory above their Enemies But why do I stand to confute the Doctor when he confutes himself in his own book in p. 9. He approves that there was Kingly Government from Noah for Sem he saith was King of Salem and yet in p. 39. of the same book he accounts of Kings as Antichristian and saith that they that uphold Kings uphold Antichrist so that by this account as p. 22. confirms it for there he useth this as a motive to prase because Monarchy is turned into Democracie it seems Antichristian power was in the World as soon as Abraham if Kings be Antichristian in the Church But why do I say so much when I have heard the man within this these two years in a publick Auditory profess himself no Enemy to Kingly Government or Monarchy but onely to the excess of Monarchy and tyranny of Kings and yet here he puts on with all vehemency the people to praise God for the destruction of Kingly Government and the promotion of Democracie But why did I meddle at all with him who knoweth not what he saith For if we begin with him we shall find him in a gross mistake he saith in p. 2. that we are now under the sixth Seal and sixth Trumpet of that Seal and under the end of the fourth Viall of that Trumpet or the fifth Whereas the sixth Seal was opened Revel 6. 12. when Constantine the great overthrew the Pagan Empire and cast out of office all the persecuting Tyrants both in Rome and throughout the Romane Empire which was at least 1300. yeers since and yet we are but under the opening the sixth Seal whereas none of the Trumpets sounded untill the sixth Seal was past and the seventh Seal was opened as is manifest