no beast might stand before him neither was there any that could deliver out of his hand So he did according to his will and became great But to encounter him Behold a HE-GOAT that came from the West on the face of the whole earth none touched him in the earth and he had a notable horne betweene his eyes and he came to the RAM and ran unto him in the fury of his power and he came close to him and he was moved with choler against him and smote the RAM and there was no power in the RAM to stand before him but he cast him down to the ground and stampt upon him and none could deliver the RAM out of his hand Therefore the HE-GOAT became very great and when he was strong the great horne was broken and for it came up four notable ones towards the four winds of heaven and out of them came forth one little horne which waxed exceeding great towards the South and toward the East and toward the pleasant Land Dan 8. In which description under the type of this HE-GOAT and this RAM we are given to understand the root and cause of this opposition and division betweene these two branches of Antichrists Kingdome which is occasioned and maintained by Christ in the Ministery of his first appearance in and by which for a season he associates in principles Councels actions and interest his owne Saints in their fleshly state and as children of the first Covenant with those that in the conclusion prove Hypocrites and Apostates binding them up together in one Covenant as with a staffe of beauty and of bands Zach. 11. and making as yet no discrimination or difference betweene the servants and the true heirs that are Lords of all but embarquing them together in one common interest and exercise of power owned and supported by himself in opposition to the Rule and Kingdome of Satan under the first beast and signified by the One horne which was betweene the two eyes of the HE-GOAT which came not to be broken untill he had mastered and quite subdued the RAM and then it fell back by way of degeneration into the interest and power of the first beast making head and opposition thereby against the HOST OF HEAVEN from whom till then he had beene assisted and in the confidence of this united strength being waxed great he sets himself against this Host of Heaven the true and right Heires differenced from the state of servants by the spirit of true sonship or adoption and in his violence and rage he casts some of them down upon the earth and stamps upon them as the off-scouring of the world yea he magnifies himself against the PRINCE OF THE HOST Christ himself and bruises his heele upon the Crosse the consequents whereof are the taking away of the daily sacrifice or whole visible worship of the Jews the casting down of the place of Gods Sanctuary which God delivered up into the hand of the beast by reason of transgression whereby the truth was cast downe to the ground and the Rule of Antichrist prospered and practised against the HEAVENLY HOST to give both the Sanctuary and the Host to be trodden under foot in respect of the transgression or abomination THAT MAKES DESOLATE For no sooner does the King of the South or earthly Jerusalem oppresse the spiritual seed and prevaile against the true Sanctuary and Heavenly Host to tread them under foot but the King of the North comes up against him like a whirlwind Dan. 11. 40 41. with Chariots and horsemen and many ships and he shall enter into the Countreys and passe over yea he shall enter into the glorious Land and many shall be owerthrowne so as the first beast exercising the power of the prophane and unrenewed judgement and will of man armed with seven heads and ten hornes hath a mind put into him towards the Whore to make her desolate and naked and eate her flesh and burne her with fire to the consuming and destroying of one branch of Anti-christs Kingdome by the other Thus the King of Babylon did to Jerusalem in the time of Jeremiah and the Romanes to the Jewes inhabiting Jerusalem after their crucifying of Christ The like is foretold concerning the earthly Jerusalem that now is in the dayes of the Gospel or Holy City Rev. 11. which is given to the Gentiles to tread under foot fourty and two moneths and in the streets whereof the dead bodies of the Witnesses are to lie unburied three dayes and an halfe for saith God Zach. 14. 2 3. I will gather all Nations against Jerusalem to battel and the City shall be taken then shall the Lord go forth and fight against those Nations as when he fought in the day of battel The Nations and the earthly Jerusalem contend it long together the conquest falling sometimes to the one and sometimes to the other accordingly as Jerusalem is faithful with her God and keeps her self as a virgin daughter of Zion chast to her own husband for then she shakes her head and bids defiance unto the King of Syria and all the Nations round about her but when she revolts and back-slides from God and moves him to jealousie by that which is not God then he moves them to jealousie by them which are not a people and provokes them to anger with a foolish Nation their Rock that bought them is pleased to sell them and deliver them up into the power of the Heathen and openly prophane people Thus Antichrist wages warre with Christ serving himself of the power and interests of both his Kingdomes to advance his designes and withstand the coming in of Christs everlasting Kingdome both which are made up but of the principles of worldly wisdome and power managed upon a different account The first consisting of the Dominion and Rule which Satan exercises over the Nations Kindreds and Tongues that he works off from Christ in and under the first dispensation causing them to hold the truth in unrighteousnesse or to imprison the witnesse thereof in unholy and unrighteous walkings wherein being become subject and slaves to Satan and preferring that state before the benefit of restauration by the blood of Christ to their first purity and perfection tendered to them they envie hate and oppose all those men that are better then they and who by their holy professions and righteous walkings condemne them thinking it strange to find any that run not with them into the same excesse of riot speaking evil of them by reason thereof But now secondly because the Devil lies too much exposed to common view in the exercise of this his first Rule and Dominion and is not able to carry through his work against the righteous and holy seed of Christ under so foul a face as open prophanenesse or at best only a state of Heathenisme moralized by civil government but finds by experience that the Saints of God are able to raise up too strong a power and party against
deriver of life And both come as worshippers of him by sacrifice for cleansing and perfecting their consciences and maintaining union and communion between them and God which through the fall was lost And he that is thus prophesyed of as one to come Mich. 5. 2. is also prepared and set up from everlasting His goings forth having been of old though he takes occasion by the fall of man to reveal himself more fully who is the WORD that hath been heard from the beginning and hath caused the sound of his voice and the power of his Rule and dominion to go forth and be obeyed from the rising of the sun to the setting thereof in all ages For the government of Angels and men is upon the shoulders of this great Councellor and Prince of peace Who as he had the bounds of his Kingdoms and the confines of his dominions set out by the Father from all Eternity so was it now high time to declare himself in the administration and exercise thereof upon this foul miscarriage of the fallen Angels with all mankind in Adam and to shew himself to be He that is the possessor of all power in heaven and in earth and that hath the chief administration thereof This is he spoken of Isa 49. 2. whose mouth the Lord hath made like a sharp sword who was hid in the shadow of his hand and as a polished shaft in the quiver of the living WORD before the Lord called him from the womb of the virgin and from the bowels of his mother ver 1. and to whom God said ver 3. c. Thou art my servant whom I have raised up in righteousness and in whom I will be glorified Ask of me and I will give thee the utmost ends of the earth for thy possession for it is a light thing for me that thou shouldst be my servant to raise up the Tribes of Jacob and to restore the preserved of Israel I will also give thee for a light unto the Gentiles that thou maist be my salvation to the ends of the earth Thus saith the Lord In an acceptable time have I heard thee and in a day of salvation have I helped thee who as a Lamb slain from the foundation of the world was with God and I will preserve thee and give thee as a covenant of the people to establish the earth and cause to inherit the desolate heritages to say to the prisoners go forth and to them that are in darkness shew your selves to give bread to them that are hungry and waters freely to them that thirst for he that hath mercy on them will lead them even by the springs of water will he guide them and he will make all his mountain a way and his high way shall be exalted Behold these shall come from far and these from the North and the West and these from the Land of Sinim Thus is this polished shaft that is hidden in the shadow of his hand and in the quiver of the Living WORD provided from the beginning with all the power of a mighty Saviour and compleat Redeemer and is bringing of it into exercise upon the first occasion promising the familiar and plain discovery of himself to the very outward as well as the inward senses of man by the Words being made flesh and born of a woman whereby that which was in the beginning might be heard with our ears seen with our eyes handled with our hands of the WORD of life which was with the Father and who from the Creation downward during Moses his ministry was spoken to the Fathers by the Prophets at sundry times and in divers manners till at last he came himself to speak in his own person through whom as in Adam all died all are again revived and made to live CHAP. IX Concerning the Words being made flesh for the performance of the whole will of God in reference to mans redemption and salvation THE WORD in the sense here treated of is not to be understood simply as he is the second in the Trinity but as he is also the root of David the ancientness of whose dayes is spoken of Dan. 7. 13. whos 's goings forth were of old and from everlasting Micah 5. 2. in order to come forth unto God a Ruler in Israel by his being made flesh and so is as well the root as off-spring of David in the same blessed person of the Mediator Rev. 22. 16. having power in the fulness of time to bring forth his servant the BRANCH Zech. 3. 8. or to bring forth himself in the form of a servant as he is that righteous BRANCH Jer. 23. 5. which is promised to be raised up unto David to sit upon his Throne Christ as he is the root of David and head unto both creations is the WORD that was in the BEGINNING the image of the invisible God the first born of every creature and first begotten from the dead in which mysterie that from the beginning hath lain hid in God all men are called to see and know what fellowship is to be had for them by means of the union that is between the man Christ Jesus and the WORD between the ROOT and this BRANCH of the Lord Isa 4. 2. which is beautiful and glorious and whose very earthly fruit is excellent and comely to them that are escaped of Israel Hereby that which was from the beginning kept as a secret is now made the object of open and familiar converse even that which we have heard which we have seen with our eyes which we have looked upon and our hands have handled of the WORD of life for the life which was in the WORD was there the light of men which as a mysterie or secret with the Father does by becoming the BRANCH make it self manifest unto men in their particular beings so that they see it and bear witness and shew that eternal life which was with the Father before the world began but is now made manifest unto us by the appearing of Jesus our God and Saviour God manifest in the flesh justified in the Spirit seen of Angels preached unto the Gentiles believed on in the world received up into glory Here we find the progress of this great mysterie of godliness for the making it self manifest unto Angels and men by the means of Christs incarnation life and death in the flesh and final taking up into glory through the power of the resurrection from the dead And as this Jesus in the dispensation of the fulness of time appeared and descended into the lower parts of the earth So we see that he had a heavenly place in his head and root whereby he was found in union with the WORD of life before the world began lying hid in God and was even then as a polished shaft in this quiver of the WORD ready to be sent forth as the servant the BRANCH in his proper season This union though it was mystical heavenly and invisible
having put all its Inhabitants in this sense in subjection unto the government of the Elect Angels to be a terrour unto evil works and a protection and refuge to them that do well who therefore Eccles 5. 8. are described to be those that are higher then the highest ministers of justice in this world or then the supreme powers here below and yet saith the text there be higher then they which are Christ the WORD of God and the blessed Trinty In reference to the Angels therefore in this their office and administration of justice under Christ it is said Deut 32. 7 8. The most high divided unto the nations their inheritance from the daies of old or the beginning of the world when he separated the sons of Adam according to the number of the Angels as the Septuagint renders it or under their rule and government as he separated the day from the night in this visible world by two great lights that he set up in the material heavens the greater to rule the day and the lesser to rule the night Gen. 1. 14. 16. typifying this office and ministry of Angels as to the government of the sons of Adam all the nations whereof in their earthly state God made of one blood to dwell on all the face of the earth but thought fit upon the fall and sin of the first Adam to set the bounds of their habitation according to the number of the Angels or measure of their natural perfection as subjected made subservient to Christ their head being in this respect the shadowy image of Christs first appearance in which they are able to proportion suitable manifestations of Christ to the natural discerning of men in what state or condition soever they are found whether such as are without law or such as are under the law The first of these know no higher rule at present then this shadowy image of Christs natural perfection reflected and beamed forth upon them from the face of angelical glory where the sound of the Scriptures hath not yet been heard who therefore as heathens are said comparatively to abide in darkness as under the rule of the lesser light typifyed by the moon the ruler of the night these are the uncircumcision in the flesh living remote from and as it were without Christ and God in the world as aliens from the Commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the Covenants of promise yet in a capacity to seek the Lord if haply they may feel after him and finde him though he be not far from every one of them being that light that enlightens every one that comes into the world The second sort of men are those sons of Adam that are higher enlightened by being brought beyond this first shadowy image of Christ unto the Ministry of the Law and placed under the dominion thereof becoming actually thereby of the seed of Abraham according to the flesh being made partakers of the first Covenant renewed in the blood of Christ and so called the circumcision in the flesh and in that sense Israelites children of the first Covenant to whom pertains the Adoption and the glory and the Covenants who are called Jews children of God or visible Saints resting in the Law or taking up their station in Christs first appearance or natural perfection making their boast of God as knowing his will and approving the things that are more excellent being instructed out of the Law whether considered as ministred by Moses or by the flesh of Christ who therein is the head-perfection of it who are confident that they themselves are guides unto the blind lights unto them that sit in darkness instructers of the foolish teachers of babes which have the form of the knowledge and truth of the Law or first ministry of Christ whose praise is of men Rom. 2. 29. who in one word are made the children and off-spring of Christ according to what he is as head and root unto the perfection of the natural Creation single yea even unto himself according to the flesh considered as a meer man or in the fashion and likeness of the first Adam in his sinless and incorrupt nature Both these sorts of men being still but the sons of the first Adam or of an earthly descent and birth fall properly under the Ministry of Angels in the hand of Christ whom he hath appointed in a twofold dispensation serving in the one to veil and in the other to unveil him in his first appearance as he is KING OF RIGHTEOUSNESSE being in the witness they give herein as two great lights in the firmament of the spirits of men the greater to rule the day and the lesser to rule the night In this latter they are as the Moon to rule the Kingdom of darkness whereinto all mankinde in their fallen corrupt state are plunged renewing and setting up something of that light in the natural spirit of man with which every man is enlightned that comes into the world however degenerate his condition be in all other respects in the other they discover the Sun that is to rule the day of mans further enlightned judgement when he is separated from amidst all the corrupt world and is clothed with a visibility of Saintship profession wherein he hath the praise of men that measure themselves by themselves and compare themselves amongst themselves without having the true Spiritual light of Christs second appearance to help their discerning therein 2 Cor. 10. 12. and so are not wise but are such children Deut. 32. 20. in whom is no faith who notwithstanding all the commendation they assume unto themselves are not they whom God commends This generation of men are Israel according to the flesh whether under the Law or under the Gospel which are not to pass away till the sufferings of the whole spiritual seed be fulfilled but shall be found in that great city Jerusalem mentioned Rev. 11. 8. which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt where also our Lord was crucified and amongst whom the dead bodies of his witnesses must lie unburied three days and an half ver 9. Thus the most High divided to the Nations their inheritance when he separated the sons of Adam not only into their several countries and local habitations but into the day and night of his administrations of Rule over them and communications of light life and power to them after their Fall when he set the bounds of the people according to the number of angels made by him ministers of his Kingdom of natural righteousness as hath been declared The third sort of people in that distribution of the Sons of Adam are the true Jacob or Spiritual Seed that are of the Faith of Abraham whether Jews or Gentiles and right Heirs of God according to the promise that are not only Sons of Righteousness as the former in the perfection of the natural man but SONS OF PEACE where of twain springs up one new man through the blood of the
cutting them again off from his living body as unprofitable branches fit to be cast into the fire Joh. 15. 6. These are they considered in the exercise of this kind of life and holy operations that are as the fruitful married wife unto Christ under the first Covenant and over whom the Law hath dominion while they are in this life short of and unacquainted with an implantation into Christs dead body not having the similitude and conformity unto his death so much as in the seed of it brought forth in them The answer which these have of a good conscience towards God under the Law is particularly stated Rom. 7. where they are in Pauls own person represented as having that workmanship set up in their hearts and minds which stands in an exact conformity to the Law or image of Christs natural righteousness and perfection which is holy righteous spiritual and good and so having that heart-work in them whereby they adhere to and approve the Law and the goodness and righteousness thereof in opposition to the contrary body of sin and death which is still in being and exercise in them and with them ready upon all occasions to return with prevalency whilst they are but upon this tenure of the Covenant of works and in the wavering unconstant principles thereof by reason of which they find by experience no good thing dwelling in their flesh that is abiding and of a continuing residence with them but such as comes to them as a stranger or a sojourner for a night or short duration and is ready upon their miscarriage to be gone and leave them again estating them but in such a wavering condition as whilst with their mind they serve the Law of God they are ready with their flesh to serve the law of sin and the good that they would do that they do not and the evil which they would not do that they do By all which uncertainty and slipperiness of this their state Christ would teach them to see the need of following the Lamb whither soever he goes and to experience themselves to be most miserable if they advance no further but abide here thinking themselves rich and encreased with goods and wanting nothing whilst they are ignorant that they are miserable and poor and blind and naked as wanting that top-stone which must compleat the whole building And therefore the right frame of spirit in the faithful subjects of Christ under this dispensation is to find no Rest here but to see that this Earthly Jerusalem is no abiding City and to cry out miserable man that I am who shall deliver me from the body of this death wherein is not only comprehended the corrupted but the corruptible state of mans nature after that he hath been renewed in this life of COMMON SALVATION by vertue of the blood of Christ From this experimental sense God would teach us patiently to lie down under the power of the cross of Christ whose saying then we shall acknowledge to be most faithful and true that if we die with him we shall also live with him and if we suffer with him we shall also reign with him our fellowship with him in his death being the only means by him appointed to translate us out of all death into life eternal and to bring us under that Law of the spirit of life Rom. 8. 2. which hath power absolutely to free us from the law of sin and of death in all the branches of it This is the spirit and conscience and these the principles of the children of the first covenant under the Dominion of the law in which while they continue using of it lawfully they are knit unto Christ by his taking unto him his two staves BEAUTY and BANDS Zach. 11. 7. signifying the fruits of his presence with them and amongst them as he is their husband by this covenant until by slighting his greater glory and selling him for thirty pieces of silver they come to discover themselves to be the flock of slaughter and such as he at last departs from and leaves to draw back unto perdition whilst he carries on the poor of the flock that bear him company in his sufferings unto the saving of their souls keeping them through the power of faith unto his Heavenly Kingdom This generation of men are witnessed unto by the Scriptures under a twofold consideration First as they were under the Law as the Law was the figure and shadaw of the good things to come consisting in meats and drinks and divers washings and fleshly rites ceremonies and divine Ordinances under Moses his ministry imposed until the time of reformation or to the coming of Christ in the flesh who in that sense was the end of the Law and of the observance of it as considered in that fleshly commandment and Mosaical administration that pointed at the very image itself that was to be manifested in the flesh of Christ where the same Law was to begin again and become the holy commandment spoken and delivered unto men by the son himself requiring a conformity in and from all men unto the natural righteousness and perfection of man shining forth in his flesh who was made like unto us in all things sin only excepted In this second sense as the Law is now given by Christ the true MINISTER OF CIRCUMCISION Rom. 15. 8. Issued forth by his first appearance immediately written in the fleshly tables of the heart by his spirit whereby the children of it are taken into marriage-union and made one flesh with himself branches of this vine Joh. 15 are we to understand the subjects of this kingdom of Christ that live under this dispensation in the times of the Gospel since his coming in the flesh and putting down the Temple-worship and Service Acts 7. that was in force before his incarnation introducing in the room thereof a spiritual Temple-worship and Service in the conformity which he takes them into with himself in his flesh and living body making them his own Temple house and habitation the first Tabernacle or worldly Sanctuary built up together with him in his natural righteousness and perfection Such principles and such a birth as this of holy and righteous operations and actings are required in him and of him that is made by Christ under the law or a child of the first covenant which Deut. 32. Jer. 3. 21. compared with Chap. 11. 15. and Isa 5. and Ezek. 16. do in express terms testifie shewing how perfect they are as they come out of his hands to whom he is a Father and Redeemer in this covenant planting them wholly a right seed and that together with the choisest vine causing them to grow together for a while in himself the true vine John 15. and thereby renewing in them and upon them a state of holy flesh natural righteousness and holiness and as thus qualified taking them into his own house as his beloved spouse and married wife who yet after all this
most cruel and fierce like Leopards Beares and Lions to flie upon devour and tread under foot all opposition whatsoever that does stand in their way or would weaken and take away this interest and power of theirs which as it is put forth in a way of Magistracy worldly Rule and Dominion is described by the seven heads and ten hornes which this beast wears as the Ensigne of its universal Dominion over the whole world and that throne which Satan under all the variety of forms and administrations of Rule and Government hath gained unto his interest and made instrumental to accomplish his furious designes against the people of God in all ages of the world This seven headed and ten horned beast that is here described in the likenesse of a Leopard having the feet of a Beare and the mouth of a Lion is the same with the four great beasts that came up from the sea divers one from the other Dan. 7. The first like a Lion the second like a Beare the third like a Leopard and the fourth dreadful strong and exceedingly terrible having ten horns and these beasts are said v. 2. to be brought upon the stage or into their actings by the striving of the four winds upon the great sea This great sea signifies the wavering unstable principles of the first creation which is here presented as the matter the Devil works on for the raising up of his throne intimated by the striving of the four winds thereupon to the bringing up of the four beasts which this old Dragon or universal evil spirit that evil one signified by the four winds for the comprehensivenesse of evill nature that is in him by his contestings and strivings in the hearts and consciences of men does forme to himself and set up as instrumental to his designes in all generations from the beginning of the world to the ending thereof The greatnesse of the growth and extent of this Dominion reaching unto heaven and to the ends of the earth was signified unto Nebuchadnezzar Dan. 4. under the similitude of a great tree which grew and was strong whose height reached to the heavens and the sight thereof to all the earth whose leaves were faire and the fruit thereof much and it was meat for all upon whose branches the fowls of the heaven had their habitation which was interpreted to signifie this universal Rule and Dominion throughout the whole earth capable to be corrupted and wrought over as it were out of the hands of Christ through God's permission as the meanes whereby to bruise the heele of Christ and his members throughout all the ages of the world and suffered to be actuated by the Devil and his Angels living in the several branches of it and keeping it up over the Nations as that which is argued to be better then no Rule and Government at all as conteining the meanes for the giving of meat in due season and maintaining orderly life and conversation amongst men upon grounds of common equity just and right The countenancing of all which is no way inconsistent with the Magistrates subserviency to him in the exercise of that enmity and implacable rage with which he is prosecuting Christ and his seed by his Lawes and Decrees for that purpose whereby the throne of iniquity growes and spreads it selfe throughout the whole earth By comparing these Scriptures we shall find it evident that this universal Monarchy or Dominion exercised upon these principles and interests and made the throne and seate of the Dragon in all times of the world from beginning to end is that which we are to understand by the four Monarchies nor are we to think it strange that one Monarchy which as in the four parts of it it does comprehend all worldly Rule and Dominion should be described as by four distinct Monarchies since the Scripture it self leads us hereunto when the four beasts mentioned Dan. 7. are summ'd up into one beast Rev. 13. 1 c. signifying but the same Antichristian Rule and Power comprehensively in the one which is to be found distributively in the other four in its successions variety of formes and administrations wherein it hath had its being in the world propagating and continuing it selfe in the same spirit and interest which neverthelesse is still in and under all that variety but one and the same evil spirit and corrupt interest in and by the meanes of civil Rule and Government domineering over the Saints in the world and alwayes making warre with them as that one beast that hath seven heads and ten hornes in which way of interpretation I would not be understood to exclude the literal or historical sense and common acceptation of the four Monarchies which very well consists with this in the fall of which universal Monarchy and Government the four beasts do all of them expire and the Rule of the fourth Monarchy determines as the thrones that are to be cast downe that the Ancient of dayes may sit and set up an everlasting Dominion a Kingdome that shall receive no end And whereas Dan. 4. 23 25. by the Decree of the watchers that strong and beautiful tree under which also this universal Monarchy is represented was to be hewen downe and destroyed yet so as to leave the stumps of the roots thereof in the earth with a band of Iron and Brasse in the tender grasse of the field to be wet with the dew of heaven and have its portion with the beasts of the field till seven times passe over him this signifies the depraved degenerated state of this Government as it is left in the hands of Satan and managed by him and his instruments during the time that the Saints heele is to be bruised thereby which continues so untill it be renewed and restored in subordination unto Christ and his Kingdome at his second appearance when seven times will have passed over it and the seventh Angel will have sounded to the bringing in of Christs Kingdome whereby he is to rule the Nations with a rod of Iron reigning with his Saints upon the earth a thousand years when it shall be knowne that the most High rules in the Kingdomes of men and not the Prince of darknesse giving them to whomsoever he will in a subserviency unto himselfe as restored to their Primitive constitution and perfection Thus we have taken notice of that first beast coming up out of the sea in the constitution designes and periods thereof Rev. 13. 1. comprehending all Nations kindreds Tongues and Languages as they deteine the TRUTH in unrighteousnesse or in opposition to just and holy operations and stand armed with the power of worldly thrones and Civil Judicatures for their greater instrumentalnesse unto Satan in rage fiercenesse and cruelty fitted for the use he makes of them in bruising of the holy people and redeemed ones of God CHAP. XXII Shewing in particular the workings of the mystery of iniquity in the consciences of the children of the first Covenant
therefore armed with the same power which the first had for publick acting in and by the use of civil Rule and Government exercising all the power of the first beast before him or in superiority to him and by way of greater eminency causing the earth and them that dwell therein to worship the first beast or the old Adams image and perfection as having the deadly wound thus healed In which administration great wonders are wrought so that he maketh fire to come downe from heaven upon the earth in the sight of men presenting to the judgement of man the fire and zeale of holy actings and righteous operations of the right impression exactly answering unto Rule whereby they that dwell on the earth are deceived taking this image of God in which they appeare and shine forth for the highest and best discovery of God they are to arrive at which thus mistaken and abused is compared Rev. 13. to the making of an image to the beast which had the wound by a sword and did live having power to give life to that image in righteous and holy actings in which to cause the old Adam or first beast to speak and go forth in such vigour and perfection as not to beare with any that will not receive the image of the beast and take his mark in their right hand or in their fore-head in their actings or professions denying liberty to any to buy or sell to have any worldly commerce that have not the mark or name of the beast or the number of his name All this he does from the great credit he hath gained in the sight of men by giving plaine evidence and visible testimony of the life that is brought into this image and of the spiritual gifts and enlightnings from heaven that accompany it as a fruit and effect of Christs owne workmanship which therefore he would exalt above all that is called God causing all to fall downe to it and worship it as the highest and fullest discovery of God beyond which he will allow nothing to be owned or received though this image be but the number of a man of the first man made of the earth earthly as the summe of his natural perfection which all the children of wisdome know how to count finde out and unriddle This second beast is the same with the little horne Dan 78. before which there were three of the first hornes plucked up by the roots and behold in this horne were eyes like the eyes of a man and a mouth speaking proud things and v 11. I beheld sayes Daniel because of the voice of the great words which the horne spake even words against the most high v. 25. who shall weare out the Saints of the most high and think to change times and lawes I beheld sayes he untill the beast was slaine and his body destroyed and given to the burning flame v. 11. All which does lively describe the usefulnesse of this second heast as he is diverse from the first being set out and adorned with the purity and perfection of the first Adam renewed up-upon him by the blood of Christ to make warre with the true Saints of the most high and to weare them out with his cruelty and rage pretending to visible Saintship himself and by the power of his Rule and Government in the Magistracy that is subservient to him to give Lawes and Rules in Gods worship under colour of warrant from the Scriptures making himself Umpire of all controversies in matters of Religion and declarer of Heresies Blasphemies and the like in the exercise of which power he speaks great words against the most high and tramples as dust under his feet the spiritual seed or inhabitants of the heavenly Jerusalem thinking upon this faire pretext to change times and Lawes and over-turne all that stand before him in the managing of so glorious a designe as to bring in upon the prophane wicked world the Kingdome of Christ and at the same time to slay the right heirs that the inheritance may be his and that he may reigne as sitting upon Christs throne when he cannot any longer carry it as detected and laid open in the falsenesse of his owne spirit and principles This second state of Antichrist and his Kingdome is that which John Rev. 17. beheld with a holy kind of wonder and great astonishment as little suspecting so foul and unchast a spirit unto Christ should come forth in so fair and neere a likenesse and similitude to him in life and operations and therefore describes it under the name of the great Whore whom God was about to judge that is to lay open and to destroy She is found sitting upon many waters to wit people and multitudes Nations and tongues inhabitants as we have said of the holy City spiritually called Sodome and Egypt with whom the Kings of the earth or Princes of the world men in the honour and dignity of the first Adams purity and principles have committed fornication trusting to this beauty and reteining it in opposition to Christs heavenly appearance as unwilling to veil it and let it fall into the grave with Christ that the way thereby into the most holy might be set open making all the inhabitants of the earth drunk with this wine of her fornication This is the Character of that unchast spirit that acts and influences the subjects of this branch of Antichrists Kingdome under a fair shew in the flesh a likenesse and conformity in life and actings unto Christ himself But the beast that carries this Whore is the spirit of man made drunk with the wine of her fornication who in his actings of understanding and will whether in his private or publike capacity of a Magistrate and Ruler gives up himself to the service interest and love of this Whore or Antichristian spirit which beast compared with the other is set out in an adorning of scarlet colour yet full of names of blasphemy having seven heads and ten hornes the like power of man by counsel and force to carry on the designs of the old Dragon as the first beast hath The woman that rides this beast or this false spirit that influences this sort of enlightned men makes a very faire shew and is exceeding beautiful and alluring to the eye and judgement of man being arrayed in purple and scarlet colour decked with gold and precious stones and pearls many admirable and excellent spiritual gifts received from Christ having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthinesse of her fornication and upon her forehead written Mystery Iniquity or Babylon in mystery or its hidden deceit Babylon the great the mother of harlots and of the abominations of the earth But under all this tempting ensnaring glory she is famous and eminent for two things whereby Antichrists work is exceedingly advanced and carried on by her after such a dexterous manner as could not possibly be contrived by the first beast with all his power For
this woman perfumed and decked with excellent ornaments and gifts as she is described to the full Prov. 7. 10 to the 24. and Eccles 7. 26. is exceeding skilful at inveigling and drawing in numbers and multitudes into her nets and fnares and when they are once caught she leads them as the Oxe to the slaughter fatting them to destruction and Secondly this falsenesse of spirit with which she entices and ensnares men is alwayes accompanied with a fixed implacable rage and enmity against the chaft Spouse of Christ so as she is found drunk with the blood of Saints which is so sweet to none as to this sort of men under and by whom the Lord was crucified at Jerusalem and concerning whom he speaks when he sayes Behold I send unto you Prophets and wise men and Scribes and some of them ye shall kill and crucifie and some of them shall ye scourge and persecute from City to City that upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth from Abel to Zacharias and againe Oh Jerusalem Jerusalem Thou that killest the Prophets and stonest them that are sent unto thee how oft c. Luke 13. 34. Matth. 23. v 34 to 38. CHAP. XXIII Concerning the common interest wherein the Devils subjects meet and correspond under both the dispensations before mentioned which yet by the wisdome and power of Christ comes at last to be dissolved in the use which he makes of the one to destroy the other THE two sorts of subjects before spoken of are the two maine pillars and supports of Anti-christs Kingdome who are figured out in those two beasts which as two fit engines of warre the Devil makes use of in carrying on his enmity against the Saints of the Most High in the contendings of him and his Angels with Michael and his Angels from the beginning of the world to the ending thereof These two beasts in the eleventh of Daniel under the figure of the Kings of Persia and Greece have their ruling power described the one as King of the North the other as King of the South which Ezekiel chap. 20. v. 46. ch 21. v. 2 3 4 5 12. interprets to our hands where by the South he shews is intended the earthly Jerusalem as in her declining apostatizing state she is ripening her self for judgement by the hand of those that are not a people even the Heathenish Nations And by the North He shewes is to be understood the King of Babylon as Head of those Heathenish Nations who areall remote and aliens from the beauty of holinesse that like the Sun in his strength shines forth in Zion These also in the 8. of Daniel are signified by the RAM and the HE-GOAT all which places compared together do make known to us the consistencie and correspondencie wherein the Devil does at his pleasure through Gods permission retaine these two branches of his Dominion when it is for the furtherance and advancement of his work making leagues between them and strengthening them by marriage for in the end of years they shall joyne themselves together saith Daniel The Kings daughter of the South shall come to the King of the North to make an agreement or association in prejudice to the Saints of the Most High and both these Kings hearts shall be to do mischief and they shall speak lies at one table in joynt consultations against the true witnesses of Jesus those that would serve to the introducing of his everlasting Kingdome But in this combination of theirs they shall not prosper to the end though they mingle themselves thus with the seed of men and as the iron and the clay Dan. 2. 43. would faine be embodying themselves together all such attempts shall be frivolous and disappointed by God made an occasion of hastening the ruine and downfal of Antichrists Kingdome that would thus be peecing up it self in both its branches against the Kingdome of Christ For when the hypocritical Apostate-generation of Professors signified by the daugher of the KING OF THE SOVTH as having lived in the warmth and zeal of a legal spirit under the Sun shine or day of Christs first appearance shall be so put to it as to have no other relief left them but to associate themselves in combination with the prophane Heathen against the spirit of Christ in his faithful Witnesses and to espouse the interest and principles of the corrupt degerated world figured out by the first beast and by the KING OF THE NORTH as living remote from the Sun-shine of Christs first appearance under the single Ministery of Angels and by the Iron Dan. 2. as a stony-hearted generation that cannot mix with the Clay Israel with their hearts of flesh or knowledge of Christ after the flesh then is the time of the downfal of both these Kingdomes neere as is intimated by that Dreame of Nebuchadnezzar with the interpretation thereof Dan. 2. signifying to us the whole Kingdome of Anti-christ under the great Image whose brightnesse was excellent and whose forme was terrible the head whereof was of gold and his armes of silver his belly and his thighs of brasse his legges of iron his feet part of iron and part of clay to signifie his two supporters before described and as both of them consist together in one body or Universal Kingdome of Anti-christ having the adornments of spiritual gifts and all sort of natural perfections to set it self out by though ever declining decaying and growing worse and worse in its apostatizing frame of spirit from Christ who towards the end will smite both these Rules and Kingdomes of Satan as well the Iron as the Clay and by dividing them will break them and shatter them to peeces making one of them the ruine of the other So that the great Whore shall be burnt with fire by those very hands that were on her side for a season and so both of them in a manner shall fall together to make way for the stone cut out without hands which as a great mountaine is to fill the whole earth As therefore we have thus seene these two branches of Antichrists Kingdome described in their consistencie and association together so it will be requisite to consider them as in those Chapters in Daniel before mentioned they are represented also in their divided interests and fierce irreconcileable oppositions one against the other Thus we see them signified to us under the RAM and the HE-GOAT the RAM being the same with the King of the North and the HE-GOAT with the King of the South the first having a Kingdome and interest within himself which the openly prophane will and judgement of man espouses and embraces in opposition to and dislike of the rule and interest of the renewed natural man and the reformations and purity of his actions in the exercise of which power the RAM pushes Westward and Northward and Southward laying about on all hands to subdue all unto his degenerated interest and way so that