A PERFECT DESCRIPTION OF ANTICHRIST And his false Prophet WHEREIN Is plainly shewed that Oliver Cromwell was ANTICHRIST and John Presbiter or John Covenanter his false Prophet Written in the Yeare MDCLIV By ABRAHAM NELSON And now Published with an Epistle to the Kings most Excellent Majestie LONDON Printed by T. F. and are to be sold at Westminster-Hall Fleetstreet and the old Exchange 1660. TO HIS MOST EXCELLENT MAJESTIE CHARLES the Second Of England Scotland France and Jreland KING Defender of the Ancient Catholicke and Apostolicall Faith DRead SOVERAIGNE NOw after your Majesties most happie Returne to your Kingdome your poore Subject hath nothing to present to Your MAIESTY save onely in testimony of my loyaltie to your Grace and true affection which I bore to him which was made so like his Lord and Master But onely a few Observations collected out of holy Scripture Prophetically and by Vision layd downe therein which hath been hid since the world began But now most dreadfully Acted in your dayes the which Observations I drew up in the yeare 1654. and reading it over to two especiall Friends and Royalists * Mr. BRYAN NELSGN and Mr. WIL EDVVARDS of Norwich By their perswasion and mine owne Inclination I resolved to put them in Print and with a Resolution to send your Grace a Copie thereof But considering that in the last Chapter of Daniel the Angell commands him to goe his way Seeing the words are closed and Sealed till the time of the end In Obedience thereunto I have reserved it till this present But most gracious Prince I humbly Beg of Your MAIESTY so much time as to Read it over and your Majesties pardon in that I cannot give that is Eloquence with wisdome of words most proper for such a Propheticall subject and due to such a Prince But that which is your Majesties due and can give I present to Your Grace that is my Service together with this unburnished Piece proceeding from a man of little Learning yet from a true and faithfull heart and whereas I have been loyall and alwayes ayding to him whose fame is made glorious without clogging my Conscience with Protestations Covenants Judgments or Oathes of any kind which brought utter Ruine upon my estate and great affliction upon me my Wife and Children Yet I chused rather in my allegiance to expose my selfe to any sufferings the same I shall be to Your Grace till by Gods ayd I shall finish my Course Your Majesties Loyall and obedient Subject ABRAHAM NELSON To the Reader FRiendly and Impartiall READER J doe here present to your view a perfect Description of Antichrist and his false Prophet collected out of holy Scriptures which I writ in the yeare 1654. You shall find upon serious Consideration in reading hereof that the transactions that hath past since the yeare 1639. till the yeare 1660. to be the time of Antichrist his false Prophet their Increase and Reigne and their particuler actions perfectly to fulfill their whole Description set forth in holy Scriptures together with their Names Marke and Number of his Name you shall also find Antichrist's false Prophet perfectly set forth in opposition to CHRIST's true Prophet that came before him You shall also find the Antichrist himselfe in opposition to CHRIST our Lord perfectly paralleld But though that the acknowledgement thereof seeme to crosse the generall Opinion of many Grave and learned Divines which I honour who have writ heretofore and to offend some others which have too much adhered to their late actions My earnest request is that they would suspend their Iudgments till they have read it over And in so doing then parallell that which they have seen known and understood in these times to the Texts of holy Scripture quoted which deciphers him out and then they may be satisfied of the truth of what is inserted And though in my own person either for Learning or publique Esteeme can give no Lustre thereunto therefore in this I crave your favourable Construction Neither did I undertake this so great a businesse of concernment in it selfe so considerable Which hath troubled both Church and State to this day neither for any private Satisfaction to my selfe or particuler Interest But being brought into great affliction and sadnesse of heart not only for my selfe my Wife and Children through our great sufferings to the losse of all But more a great deale for the horrid Apostacy from so excellent a Government both in Church and State in the dayes of CHARLES the first the great Martyr of Iesus So that I could not be delivered from such Meditations as brought these Observations into my mind And having made it knowne to two especiall Friends in Norwitch they perswaded me to put them in Writing the which I did and hath reserved it till this present Not that I was doubtfull of the accomplishment thereof for God's Glory and our Good at the time specified But in obedience to the Angels command to Daniell to goe his way seeing the words was sealed up till the time of the End For I had gone into Flanders this last Winter in February but that I wanted Money and there to have presented my Service to my Soveraigne with these Observations knowing that the time was to be accomplished in 1660. But so it is now with me that in writing of this poore Epistle to you I cannot doe it without teares Considering Gods miraculous Goodnesse to us so wretched Sinners as to accomplish his Worke in such Mercy and Gentlenesse and goodnesse to all As that all faults may be buried in oblivion in a little time and all the loyall Party which was wronged prevented of bringing a great Sinne upon themselves in their own Vindication O this great Mercy of God! Our King restored to us our Lawes executed Gods worship revived to the admiration of all the World all fulfilled according to his Word Let us walk worthy of his Mercy in love to one another This shall be the Prayers of your Servant as one of the Sons of the Church of England praying God that I may be found faithfull before him and acceptable to you Yours ABRAHAM NELSON A DESCRIPTION OF ANTICHRIST REading in the holy Scripture of truth the Vision which the holy Prophet Daniell saw in the dayes of Balshazar King of Babilon I find in the 7. th Chap. the 7. verse a description of a most dreadfull and terrible Beast First hee describes him by his Strength to be exceeding strong Secondly by his Teeth to be of Iron Thirdly by his Hornes to be in number Ten and also in the 8. th verse he speaks of a little Horne that came up before whom three fell Fourthly he describes this Beast to have Nailes of Brasse in the 9. verse This monstrous Beast being described by his Shape he also tells us what he shall doe But of that hereafter Also reading in the 13. Chapter of St. Johns Revelation I find the same Beast described and looke what Markes of
his Name afore spoken of Revelations the 13. th Chapter and the 17. th verse Now ye see what a Combination Antichrist when he commeth shall make All that are for him must have his Name others must have his Mâ—rke And some must have the Name and number of his Name and some shall have all But before this Tragedy shall be acted we shall find that our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ shall seal his obedient ones least they should be deceived by the policy of the false Prophet and the prosperous successe of the Man of Sinne For it is said If it were possible they would deceive the very Elect. In the 7. th Chap. and the 2. verse I saw an Angell ascend out of the East having the Seal of the living God and in the 4. verse it is said There was sealed 144000. I have made it appeare what Power the Man of Sin shall have and Offices he shall usurpe Now I shall further shew you the Exercise of his power what he shall doe I have showne how he shall trample all under foot and change Lawes both Civill and Ecclesiasticall now I will shew you how he shall make Wars and against whom In the 7. th of Daniell and the 21. it is said I beheld and saw the same Horne make War with the Saints and prevaile against them And in the 13. th of Revelations and the 7. verse and it was given unto him to make War with the Saints and overcome Them In overcomming the Saints he shall first take away the chiefe Officers of the Church that iâ— the King and Bishops and their lawfull Officers and prohibit the true Dâ—ctrine and Discipline Apostolicall to be used and when he hath taken away the Church Officers to suppresse the Professors is easie For the King that then shall be shall fall before him which exerciseth the Power of the three Hornes Daniel the 7. th and 8. verse in the middle of the verse I considered the little Horne saith hee before three of the first were plucked up and in the 24. th verse he saith He shall subdue three Kings or Kingdoms and there he shall plant himselfe Now for the continuance of the time he shall have to stand in his Power It is requisite I should speake of it That after he appeares in his splendor we may hope for his end lest we should faint in the length of our sufferings In the Exercise of this wofull Tragedy against the Saints of GOD we find he shall speake great Words against the Most High and weary out his Saints the 7. th of Daniell and 25. And in the latter part of the verse it is said he shall continue a Time Times and the deviding of time John saith the 13. th Chap. and 5. verse He hath Power to continue 42. Moneths which is three yeares and an halfe that is to measure and account his Time by And I find that upon the increase of his Power he shall be so prevalent in opposition of God's word persecuting the Regall and Apostolicall Officers of CHRIST as that the Bookes of the Prophets and Apostles together with the two Candlesticks of the Church of Christ his two Officers is said to be slaine and lye dead in the streets and in the sight of all men for three dayes and an halfe Revelations the 11. and the 7. th And by reason of the Toleration that the Man of Sinne shall grant upon the suppressing of the true Worship and Worshippers of GOD and taking away the publique Liturgie of the Church there shall be a very great joy So that they shall give and send Guifts one unto another and make merry Chap. 11. th and 10. verse Because thereby they were hindred of their Liberty that they could not exercise their severall Idolatrous Fantasticall and Hereticall Opinions And during the time that these two Prophets and two Witnesses lies slaine and dead in the streets in open shame and contempt The true Professors of the Gospell shall be clothed in Sack-cloth 1260. Chap. 11. th and 3. verse According to the number of the Dayes the vertuous Woman that is the Church is hid by God in the place which he hath provided for Her the 12. th Chap. and 6. verse And then after the time limited be over shall their Sackcloth be put off and the Woman come out of her place to help forward the Iudgement of the Man of Sin But during the Time of the hiding of this Chast Woman and the Persecution of her Children There appeareth another Woman Chap. the 17. th and the 3. verse A Great Whore a Jezabel wonderfully Dâ—cked By whose Glory Thousands are bewitched By this Whore is set forth unto us Antichrist's superstitious Whore and the City where he shall keepe and the Idolatrous Brood he shall beget Now all men know or will confesse that Men are naturally subject to Idolatry and therefore is fitly compared to a Whore and Antichrist when he commeth will tolerate men thereunto Now if an arrant Whore be tolerated by Law what Wickednesse is it that she will not commit with a Brasen face And also abuse the most Godly Vertuous and Chast Woman that can be found Now I will but speake a very little of his Power more least I digresse too farre Jn the 13. th Chap. and 4. verse it is said And they worshipped the Dragon which gave Power to the Beast and they worshipped the Beast and said Who is like to the Beast Who is able to make warre with him Also hee shall extend his power a great deale farther then his owne proper Dominion which he hath usurped For his Name and his Marke shall goe through the earth Revelation the 13. th and the 8. th verse For it is said All that dwell on the Earth shall worship him For he shall extend all power into the Channels of the Sea and great waters So that Nations shall maintaine their Traffique by him and shall doe it by his Name and Marke wherewith his Patents shall be sealed and Articles of Peace or Warre marked and sealed He shall be like that Leviathan spoken of by Job that walloweth in the great deepe Now I thinke it necessary to the making of this great Tragedy plaine to speake of the matter of Worship a little as it commeth in order Kings and Princes and chiefe Priests in holy Scriptures are called Gods being sanctified by divine Power and also the same Scripture doth command worship and honour to be given them Now we may read in the 13. chap. Revelation the 3. verse That one of the beasts Heads was wounded to death and his wound was healed You may remember that I said before That the heads of the beasts were Nobles and great Men or such as is of the Kings Councell and the hornes are Kings now when the Hornes by force falls off aforementioned the Head on which it doth stand will receive a wound But when the little Horne growes great hee shall cause the beasts
being of Brasle to Plunder and Scrape the very Flesh of the bones of Gods people Daniel the 7. th chap. and 19. verse But when men seeth these things come to passe which is Collected out of the word of GOD let them lift up their hands which hang downe and their feeble knees and make streight steps upon their feet as Paul saith Lest that which is halting be turned out of the way It shall informe weake Consciences and confirme them in the truth It shall be a Caviat for many to take Salomons counsell that is If thou hast stricken hands and been snared with the words of thy mouth make hast deliver thy selfe But more especially to doe as our Lord Saviour CHRIST coÌ„mands that is Agree with thy adversary quickly whilest hee is in the way with thee least he deliver thee to the Iudge and the Iudge deliver thee to the Iaylor It shall be a meanes to Convert the Jewes when they see Antichrist play his Pagents on the earth and God fulfill his judgment upon him Being so perfectly Marked out by his Prophets and Apostles and foretold so many hundred of yeares before he come It shall also Reconcile the great differences amongst the Christians But especially betwixt the Papists and Protestants which hath so long time contended about this thing unto Blood It shall Increase the torments and anguish of those that are still obstinate Enemies of GOD and doth not Repent And finally It shall cause all both great and small things in Heaven and things on Earth and under the Earth to bow the Knee at the Name of JESVS even so AMEN This sad Tragedy being past and gone the Saints shall live at peace and ease at home Till Gog shall make them to be sore dismay'd his wicked Pagents then that he hath play'd But Consolation great to th' Saints will come after he hath had his dreadfull Doome For finall Sentence shall not long be driven till th' Saints shall all for ever be in Heaven J will further adde this That the false Prophet when he shall first appeare shall be by Profession in his Religion a false Dependant Puritanicall who by his rigid Curiositie and Scrupulous non-Conformity Shall make way for a Toleration of Antichristian Independancy Further you may observe in 1639 That from their Covenanting and first Entrance into the Field in open force and publique Hostility against their lawfull King and Priests the Lords Deputies till the time of their Subversion shall be that is in 1660. One and twenty yeares Answerable to the time that Christ our Lord disputed in the Temple with the Puritanicall hypochriticall Pharisees till he ascended into Heaven as afore-mentioned But more for particuler Distinction of Time As neare as may be it may be observed that for the first Ten yeares and six Moneths which is three times 42. Moneths the Antichristian false Prophet shall most popularly carry on his wicked designes deceiving the People by Lies pretending to be for the King and Priests till they may utterly destroy Both And consequently Gods holy Worship and so out them as Antichristian by Lies and Scandals But for the later ten yeares and six Moneths the Antichrist himselfe by the assistance of his bloody Crew shall advance his Dominion For the first 42. Moneths of the later Ten yeares and an halfe the Antichrist shall be made Generall and give a Toleration to all his Antichristian Impes And for the second 42. Moneths Antichrist shall take upon him to be the peoples Saviour and Protector And his false Prophet shall comply with him and be protected by Him And for the last 42. Moneths he shall actually be confirmed in his Jesus-ship And his false Prophet with all their deluded Spirits shall give Honour unto him as lawfully installed in his Jesus-ship for ever both for Him and His. Yet before the 42. Moneths be expired a great darknesse of Confusion shall be in his Kingdome that they shall knaw their Tongues for paine Revelations the 16. th and 10. verse And also before the last 42. Moneths be out The right Heire shall come to possesse his Kingdome as is afore-mentioned This they shall see All those that lives in the Dayes of Antichrist the 42. Moneths of Antichrist's Dominion And his false Prophet spoken of by the Angeâ—l to John And the Time Times and the dividing of Time spoken of by the Angell to Daniell Really fulfilled to the Sight and perfect Knowledge of all the Observers thereof If they will but count And if Pharoah's Dreame was doubled twise much more shall Antichrist's 42. Moneths be doubled thrice for the Ratification thereof before all the World But courteous Reader looke what thou hast here read is none of Mine only collected by me out of holy Scripture therefore give God the Glory But it is so briefe that it is far short of what may be observed by the judicious Reader out of holy Writ Though it be promiscuously laid downe therein as we may observe in all Prophesies that Men as naturall may see and not perceive and heare and not understand for if it were by way of History then it were no Prophesie as we may observe in the 24. th of Mathew and such like Propheticall places they be Mysteriously laid downe But I would have you to observe that every Spirit that pretends to stand for Christ and doth oppose his Dominion here upon Earth by his Deputies Kings and Episcopall Priests doth therewith deny the true Doctrine and Discipline of Christ's Church The same must undoubtedly be the Antichrist Antichristian Spirits there was from the beginning by the Enemy of Mankind in opposition to the promised Seed Christ But they never prevailed to set up a Dominion as aforesaid to fill up the whole Latitude of his Description Read for your Satâ—sfaction the 26. of Numbers what became of Core and his accompliceâ— And read the Epistle of Jude his Prophesie of Antichrist whereof Cores Rebellion against Moses their King and Aaron their Priest was a Type of Antichrist's Rebellion under the Gospell Read also the 10. th of Leviticus The History of Nadab and Abihu offering stâ—ange Fire to the Lord A Type of the abominable Worship and Sectaries tollerated by Antichrist in the time of the Gospell But though these did not prevaile to set up a Dominion yet Antichrist the Typified shall prosper prevaile and set up his Dominion as aforesaid And all his evill Spirits shall prosper with him all that ever were or shall be and shall doe what is written of Him But the antichristian Spirits that shall assay to set up a Dominion before the Time of the Antichrist the Son of Perdition cannot For Paul saith to the Thessalonians 2. Epistle and 2 Chapter only he who letteth shall let till he be taken out of the Way and in the 8. verse Then shall the Wicked be revealed And it is to be understood that He who hath let and doth let is the Angell of the Church And the King Christ's Deputy where this Man of Sinne shall arise who is appointed by GOD to protect his Church from such Malignant Spirits according to his Promise made to his People as to the Patriarchs and to Moses to aid them That for their and the Churches safety his Angell should goe before them The like assistance doth attend Christian Kings under the Gospell but when Gods Angell is restrained from ayding the King in protecting of Christ's Church then shall Antichrist appear and prevaile * The King and Bishop and the two great Witnesses of GOD shall be murthered in the Street and lye A Bishop may be Antichristian being against Monarchy slaine in that City which is spiritually called Sodom and Aegypt Revel the 11. chap. and 8 and 9. A Monarch may be Antichristian being against Episcopacy But he that is the Antichrist must be above and against both verses For be assured Christian Reader he shall be against Christ when he commeth and against Christ's annointed Ones Such as are commissionated consecrated and set apart for his most especiall Service under the Gospell And will presume to be above Christ as he is a Saviour administring his Power here upon Earth till his second Comming by his lawfull JESVSES his Deputies here And so he will set himselfe in Christ's Dominion or above Him Absolutely to take away the Regall and Sacerdotall Officers of CHRIST And to suppresse the true Professors Till the Antient of Dayes sit and Judgment be given to the Saints of the Most High as aforesaid All which for the Glory of our God and of his Son our Lord and Saviour in the right understanding hereof for our availes I referre unto God And for the Performance of his most Sacred Word wee ought not to doubt Therefore as I said before let us all both great and small bow the Knee at the Name of JESVS Even so AMEN Now I doubt not but I shall have the favorable Construction of all the Sons of the Church of England herein But for such as hath not knowne it through want of yeares and those that through weaknesse have been seduced from it My Desire is that they should returne and professe the Catholick Faith established in England and professed in the Dayes of Charles the first the Great Martyr of JESVS This shall be the Prayers of him that wisheth Grace and Peace till the finishing of his Dayes Your Servant ABRAHAM NELSON of Garsdale in Yorkshire FINIS
clearly by setting forth and shewing the Dignities of Christ First as the Son of GOD. Secondly as a King Thirdly as a Priest and as the Son of God had before his appearance a Fore-runner a great Prophet a Messenger to goe before his face to prepare his Way So the Son of Perdition shall have a great Prophet a Fore-runner a Messenger to goe before him to prepare his Way And as the Son of God was sent from Heaven by his Father endowed with Kingly and Priestly abilities to redeeme his people So the Son of Perdition shall come out of the Earth from his Father the old Serpent the Devill And shall usurpe to himselfe both the Kingly and Priestly Dominions to seduce a people from the true Worship of God to worship himself and the Dragon But first of all I will compare together Christ's true Prophet Forerunner and Messenger that came before him And Antichrist's false Prophet that shall come before him Christ's Fore-runner his Name is John so named of the Angell Luke the 1. and 13. verse Hee is a Priest also And in verse 72 and 73. hee is said to come to performe the Covenant and the Oath which he sware to Abraham and his Seed Antichrist's Prophet and Fore-runner shall be called John Presbiter but more properly his Name is John Covenanter For he shall come with a Covenant and an Oath in opposition to the Covenant and Oath of God and shall pretend to doe the Offices that Christ's Fore-runner came to doe in Preaching Repentance and pretending to a Reformation The other Offices that Christ's Harbinger did performe was to make the Way straight and to turne the hearts of the Fathers to their Children and the Disobedient to the wisdome of the Iust And to make a people to be prepared for Christ the Lord Luke the 1. and the 17. But the Offices that Antichrist's Harbinger shall performe for all his pretences shall be to make the Way crooked and to turne the hearts of the Children from their Fathers and the obedient from the wisdome of the Iust And to make ready a Rebellious People prepared for Antichrist And as the people which John Baptist did prepare did accept of the Covenant and Oath of God and was distinguished from others and became Christians So shall the people which Presbiter Iohn shall prepare accept of a Covenant and Oath which was from his Father the Devill And thereby be distinguished from others and be called Covenanters This is the first Beast which Iohn saw like a Leopard which cannot change his Spots And first for his Name it shall be Iohn Covenanter and the number of the words in his Preamble and Covenant that makes his Name is the number of his Name let him that hath Wisdome count them for they are 666. mentioned Revelations the 13. Chap. and the last verse ☞ As it is to be seene in the originall Copie of the Kirk This Covenant shall combine all his Creatures in one and unite them for Lives and Estates to serve him The Enemy of God and all good Men. And as John Baptist came with a mighty Power so that all did muse whether he were the Christ So shall John Covenanter come with a mighty Power trampling all under foot Daniell the 7. th and the 7. And with such a false Zeal So that all shall muse thinking him to be the Truth of Christ though he shall be the Fore-runner of Antichrist I have now described the Name of Christ's Messenger and his Power and Office so that he is the greatest Prophet of God that ever was amongst the Sons of Men. And the Name of Antichrist's Messenger the number of his Name his Power and Office so that he shall be the greatest Prophet of all the false Prophets that ever shall be amongst the Sons of Men For hee and the Antichristian Beast with the Dragon shall worke wonders They shall throw downe the Starres Revelations the 12. th and the 4. verse and they shall cause Fire to come downe from Heavâ—n in the sight and presence of men the 13. th and the 13. verse This is nothing else but the pulling downe of the King the learned Clergy Bâ—shops and Church Officers which is compared to Starres Fires in Scripture And it must be a mighty wonder to see this done Now it is necessary to shew unto you the Offiâ—es of CHRIST the Lord of Life and his Power his Way being prepared his Name and his Marke Also the Offices of Antichrist the Man of Death and Destruction his Name and Marke his way being prepared before him First for the Offices of Christ he is a King Mathew the 27. th and the 11. and Hebrewes the 1. and the 8. But unto the Son he saith thy Throne O God is for ever and ever the Scepter of thy Kingdome is a Scepter of Righteousnesse He is a Priest also being the Priest of the most high GOD and of the Order of Melchisadec Hebrewes the 5. th and 6. verse and his Name is Jesus so named of the Angell And his Marke or Ensigne is the Crosse which we take in Baptisme and which Christ saith all that will follow him must take up Now the Power of Christ in the exercise of Kingly Office is proved Psalme 2. and 9. verse Revelations the 19. th and 15. verse Out of his Mouth goeth a sharp Sword and with it he shall smite the Nations and he shall rule them with a Rod of Iron And shall tread the Winâ—presse of the fiercenesse of the Wrath of God And of his Priestly Office Hebrewes the 4 th and 14. Seeing therfore we have a great high Priest that is past into Heaven Jesus the Son of God Let us hold our Profession Now I shall shew unto you the Offices of Antichrist his power his Name Mark in opposition to Christ his power his Name Mark. First he shall take unto him Dominion That is Kingly power Daniell the 7. th and 25. verse the middle of the verse And he shall thinke to change Times and Lawes both Civill and Ecclesiasticall and they shall be given into his hand He shall also take upon him Dominion over Episcopall Authority which is Apostolicall that is Priestly power to command Worship As in the 13. th Chap. and 4. verse it is said They worshipped the Dragon which gave Power to the Beast also Paul saith He shall set himselfe in God's Temple as God and against him to depose and set up whom he will without Law or Example Save only exemplified by his Type that is Antiochus the Type of Antichrist under the Gospell And for his Name it shall be equall with Christ's Name that is Jesus a Saviour a Protector to his people And for his Marke it shall be a Crosse wherewith all his shall be marked and commissionated to doe his workes in the World and that none shall be permitted to buy or sell or to doe any thing of Concernment without his Name his Marke or number of