A LETTER OF A Protestant Clergy-man TO THE Reverend CLERGY OF THE Church of England AND To all other good Protestants advertising them from the sacred Revelation of St. John of the Evil which he apprehends to be coming upon THE PROTESTANT CHURCH c. Written by DIGBY BULL M. A. and late Rector of Sheldon in Warwickshire London Printed for the Author and are to be sold by the Booksellers of London and Westminster 1695. Reverend Brethren both of the Clergy and Laiety I Am apprehensive and very confident than an Evil Time is at hand and that Popery is ready to come in upon us for the great Abuse of that blessed Light of the Gospel which we have so freely enjoyed And I doubt that first and last there will be a great deal of Bloodshed in this Nation and I would have you all advertised hereof That you may make all the due Preparation against such a Dreadful Time that may be and may do all that lyes in your Power to preserve your selves and the Flocks that are committed to your Care that you may not fall to Popery nor be taken in any other great Wickedness and so be swept away with the Beesom of Destruction I would have you to peruse Archbishop Usher's Prediction and to make the best use of his Advice that may be For I take it to be of a Divine Nature and do believe that there is Truth in it and that the dismal Time which he speaks of is now at hand And I am perswaded that this Day will come in a surprizing manner as he saith and that such as give themselves up to a carnal and vain Security will be wrapt up in Misery and Destruction before they are well aware of it And therefore it behoveth all Men to look well to the grand Concerns of their Souls and Lives and to be continually upon their Watch and Spiritual Guard that they may not be taken in a vain Confidence like the rich Fool in the Parable Luke 12.16 And from Rev. 11. I do believe that Popery will prevail over us for three Years and an half and that then to the great wonder of the World and like Men from the dead the Protestant Religion shall rise up again and be as Glorious as it was before if not much more so And from the comfortable expectation of this lightsome and joyful Morning we may be the more encouraged with Patience and Perseverance in the Truth to weather out this dark and dismal Night And by the blessed Help and Assistance of Almighty God we shall be able to do it and his Divine Help will never be wanting to us if we seek it with that diligence and care that we ought And the more to keep us from falling to Popery we may remember how strictly we are commanded to keep the Faith and Doctrine of the Gospel pure and uncorrupt and how severely the Violators thereof are threatned And we may sufficiently see that Popery is not at all consistent therewith First We may see that we are strictly enjoined to keep the sacred Commands of Almighty God and to contend earnestly for the Faith of the Gospel and at our Baptism we did solemnly engage to do so by our Sureties Upon our love to him doth our blessed Lord require of us that we should keep his Commandments If ye love me saith he Joh. 14.15 keep my Commandments St. Paul also in sundry places doth strictly charge both Timothy and Titus and in a Solemn manner before God to keep the Precepts and Commandments that he gave them 1 Tim. 5.21 and 6.13 And he sheweth that the Philippians were to strive together for the Faith of the Gospel Phil. 1.27 That ye stand fast in one spirit with one mind striving together for the Faith of the Gospel and in nothing terrified by your adversaries And this St. Jude presseth also Jude 3. It was needful for me saith he to write unto you and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the Faith which was once delivered unto the Saints And to the Angel of the Church in Sardis saith our Saviour Rev. 3.3 Remember therefore how thou hast received and heard and hold fast and repent By the Angel here we are to understand the Bishops and Pastors of the Church and the Flocks under them the Angel seems to be put for the whole Church but especially for the Governours and Pastors of it And this place as Dr. More sheweth respecteth our own times And here we are admonished to remember how we have been Instructed in the sacred Scriptures and also how we have been taught by the blessed Reformation to lay aside all the sinful Errors and Practices of the Romish Church And here we are also strictly enjoined to retain and hold fast all that is good and agreeable to the sacred Scriptures and upon our neglect herein we are severely threatned with Judgment as the following words shew Secondly We may see that such as any ways make void the sacred Word of God are sharply rebuked and severely threatned for it Our blessed Lord himself doth sharply rebuke the Jews upon this account and shews that such Religion is vain when Men leave the Divine Laws and Commandments of Almighty God to follow the Traditions and Precepts of Men. Mar. 7.7 In vain do they worship me saith he teaching for doctrines the commandments of men For laying aside the commandment of God ye hold the tradition of men And saith he Mat. 5.19 Whosoever shall break one of these least commandments and shall teach men so he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven St. Paul also doth shew that he that disannulleth the Gospel of Christ and setteth up any thing in opposition to it is to be had accursed yea tho' he were an Angel from Heaven Gal. 1.8 But tho' we saith he or an Angel from heaven preach any other Gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you let him be accursed And this the Apostle doubleth that it might be the more heeded and minded and that none might presume to do so And saith St. John 2 Joh. 9. Whosoever abideth not in the Doctrine of Christ hath not God And saith he again Rev. 22.18 For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the Prophecy of this book If any man shall add unto these things God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this Book And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this Prophecy God shall take away his part out of the book of life By these plain places of Scripture we may see how closely we ought to keep to the Sacred Word of God and that it is in vain to pretend to worship and serve Him except we do so And we see that it is a cursed thing to make void the Gospel and to preach up any thing in opposition to it and that such as do so must expect the Wrath and Judgment of God
apt to believe that many who have been driven out of this World with the Fire of Persecution and with the merciless Torments of cruel Men have departed hence with as much if not more ease than many that have died quietly upon their Beds and undisturbed by the sinful and restless Troublers of this World And if so then we have no great cause to draw back or to be sore afraid even in the worst of Times and Dangers To animate us the more then herein let us remember how victoriously many Saints have gone out of this World to those unspeakable Joys that are prepared for them in the next And as Paul saith Rom. 8.37 have been more than Conquerours thro' him that loved them in all the Tryals and Combats that they have been exercised with And seeing that we are listed Souldiers under Christ Let us follow them in a meek and patient suffering of all the Adversities and Injuries that befal us here for keeping the Faith of Christ and a good Conscience towards God Let us be perswaded as St. Paul was Rom. 8.38 39. That neither Death nor Life nor Angels nor Principalities nor Powers shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord Let us look unto Jesus the Captain of our Salvation the Author and Finisher of our Faith who endured such contradiction of Sinners against himself Who for the joy that was set before him endured the Cross despising the shame and is set down at the right hand of the Throne of God Heb. 12.2 Let us consider him that we may not be wearied and faint in our minds but be faithful unto death that we may not lose our Crown of Life But if we will not be prevailed upon by all these powerful Arguments and Persuasions to keep Faith and a good Conscience and to stick close to our Profession even in the worst of Times If the glory of such sufferings and the unspeakable Reward that doth await them If such assurances of Divine Help and Assistance that Almighty God will never be wanting to us but will have us always under his watchful Eye and will always grant us Succour and Strength answerable to our needs If these will not prevail with us Then we may farther take notice what a miserable condition such Revolters will be in that for fear of Persecution shall forego their Profession Such are like to lose their Lives as our Lord sheweth Mar. 8.35 For whosoever will save his life shall lose it And such as are ashamed of him and his words must expect the same measure again to their great and eternal Reproach as our Lord shews ver 38. Whosoever therefore shall be ashamed of me and of my Words in this adulterous and sinful generation of him also shall the Son of man be ashamed when he cometh in the glory of his Father with the holy Angels And those that deny him must look for the same return again to their utter confusion Matt. 10.33 But whosoever shall deny me before men him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven The Apostle's words also are now especially to be heeded and laid to heart Heb. 6.4 For it is impossible for those saith he who were once enlightned and have tasted of the heavenly gift and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost and have tasted the good Word of God and the powers of the world to come If they shall fall away to renew them again unto repentance seeing they crucifie to themselves the Son of God afresh and put him to an open shame And saith he again Heb 10.26 For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the Truth there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins But a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery Indignation which shall devour the adversaries And if we Protestants should turn to the Popish Religion we may expect that this will be our condition And to conclude we may see that all Cowards that are not at all valiant for the Truth are like to go to the Lake that burns with Fire and Brimstone Rev. 21.8 But the Fearful and Unbelieving shall have their part in the Lake which burneth with Fire and Brimstone And this consideration also will be of great use to keep us from Backsliding and falling away from our Christian Profession to any Idolatrous or to any other sinful Practices that are not consistent with the Truth of the Gospel when we so plainly see as here we do That such Revolters must bid adieu to all the Bliss and Happiness that is promised in the Gospel and are like to go to the grand Apostate and to that everlasting Fire that was prepared for him and his Angens Matth. 25.41 And if these Arguments will not prevail with us I know not what will Seeing then that the Concerns before us are so very great the avoiding of Eternal Woe and Misery and the obtaining of Eternal Life and Happiness depending upon our good Behaviour and Christian Carriage here Let us be wise then betimes and shew our selves Men and not be like Solomon's Fool that had a price in his hand to get Wisdom but had no heart to it Prov. 17.16 Let us not to avoid a little Suffering here forfeit our Title to the Crown of Life and the blessed Kingdom above and run into endless Misery and Destruction For this will be prodigious folly and madness But seeing it is the Lord alone that must keep and uphold us all or else we shall be sure to fall and all the Watchman's care without his good Protection is to no purpose Ps 127.1 Let us then be careful and diligent to call for his blessed Help and Succour at all times and never trust to our own strength and abilities but let us always be mindful of that Divine Instruction of our blessed Lord and put it in practice Luke 21.36 Watch ye therefore and pray always that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass and to stand before the Son of man And now that all men may be the more sensible of the heavy judgment of God which I affirm to be at hand I shall here add the Eleventh Chapter and some other places of the Revelation of St. John which do particularly treat of the second grand Woe of that sacred Book which is the judgment that I speak of And that this Eleventh Chapter may be the better understood of all men I shall add a short explication of it according to that little Insight that I have into this great Mystery wherein through God's help I intend to be plain that the meanest Capacities may in a good measure understand it if they will and may clearly see that this judgment is there foretold and therefore will certainly come to pass Revelation Chapter XI 1. And there was given me a reed like unto a rod and the Angel stood saying Rise and measure the
Prophets and seeing these Witnesses are sent out as his special Heralds and have such a weighty Charge upon their hands to Proclaim his coming in judgment and to give warning that this second Dreadful Woe is now at hand and coming upon all such as will by no means be Reclaimed and brought to Repentance 6. These have power to shut heaven that it rain not in the days of their Prophecy and have power over waters to turn them to blood and to smite the earth with all Plagues as often as they will This seems to be spoken in allusion to the Miracles that God wrought by Moses and Elijah Elias saith St. James 5.17 was a man subject to like passions as we are and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain and it rained not on the earth by the space of three years and six months And this was in Ahab's time as we may see 1 Kings 17. and 18. Chapters And Moses at God's command bid Aaron to stretch his rod over the waters and they were turned into blood Exod. 7.19 And many other Miracles did God by their hand in the land of Egypt as we may see in the Book of Exodus And with respect to these do these words here seem to be spoken And by these Witnesses having power to shut Heaven c. we are to understand I conceive That Almighty God will in an extraordinary manner order and Over-rule the Affairs of the world during the time of their Prophecy and will do little less than work Miracles upon their account while they are executing their Offices and fulfilling his Will that they may not be interrupted in the doing of it and others may have the greater opportunity to mind them and that with an high Hand and an outstretched Arm he will keep out Popery till they have done their great Work and the 1260 days of their Prophecy are sulfilled For if God had not with a high Hand kept out Popery it had been here before this time 7. And when they shall have finished their Testimony the Beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless Pit shall make War against them and shall overcome them and kill them When these Witnesses shall have finished their Testimony and fully executed their Office in Proclaiming the coming in of Popery and the Dreadful Woe that is at hand and have given other seasonable Instructions and Admonitions for such a great juncture of time as this is And when the 1260 days or three years and about an half that are allowed them for this work are ended Then the Beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless Pit that is the Papacy the Pope and his Agents shall assault them and those of the Romish Religion shall prevail over them and will quite put them to silence and deprive them of all the Rights and Priviledges of living men and pass the Sentence of Excommunication and Death upon them perhaps as seems probable and will then put a stop to all outward appearance of the Protestant Church This seems to be the meaning of Killing them here And here in these sacred Oracles we may see what a sinful Religion Popery is and what a sinful Church the Romish Church is to wit That it is Diabolical and Hellish enough that it comes from the Infernal Pit of Darkness and that it is promoted and carried on by the Devil and his Agents and is a grand Enemy of Christ's Church and the Killer of his faithful Servants Here we may see with what black Characters and Marks our Saviour hath Stigmatized and branded the Papacy and Church of Rome And let no good Protestant then ever any more presume to say that there is any hope of Salvation for such as are of the Romish Church and continue therein and so help to deceive the Papists and such as turn to the Romish Church And Rev. 13.5 6. And there was given un to him a mouth speaking great things and Blasphemies and power was given unto him to make war forty and two months And he opened his mouth in Blasphemy against God to blaspheme his Name and his Tabernacle and them that dwell in Heaven Here we may see that the Popedom and Romish Church is flatly charged with Blasphemy against Almighty God himself thas the Religion and Practice of the Papists is no better in God's account than down-right Blasphemy against him And how then can any man be saved by joining with those that Almighty God hath declared to be Notorious Blasphemers of him and grand Rebels against him For it is clear that the Popes of Rome and the Popedom are meant by this Beast as I have shewed before by the deadly Wound that was given him in the Reformation and the healing of it up again now when Popery is to be extended as far as it was before and the Pope and his Ministers are like to Lord it over all the Protestant Church again And as for the Beast with two Horns Rev. 13.11 It is clear that he is a Creature subservient to the Popes and Popedom and perhaps these late western Emperors may be meant by him Horns denote Principalities and Power and these Empero's have been some times Kings of France or Spain and Emperors and some times Princes or Dukes and Emperors And the cursed Courts of Inquisition their merciless Racking and Tormenting of poor Souls that are unwilling to join in their Idolatrous and sinful worship and their threatning of men with Fire and Sword and the most terrible Deaths that can be invented may look like the doing of great Wonders and making of Fire to come down from Heaven on the earth in the sight of men ver 13 when by these Terrors in a manner like thunder from Heaven they fright and drive men to fall down and worship this Beast of Rome and own him as it were for a Deity And again Rev. 14.9 And the third Angel followed them saying with a loud voice If any man worship the Beast and his Image and receive his mark in his forehead or in his hand that is shall own the Pope to be the Head of the Church and join in the Popish Religion and any ways publickly declare himself to be a Papist which we are to understand by worshipping the Beast and his Image and receiving his mark The same shall drink of the wine of the Wrath of God which is poured out without mixture in the Cup of his Indignation and he shall be Tormented with Fire and Brimstone in the presence of the holy Angels and in the presence of the Lamb And the smoak of their Torment ascended up for ever and ever And can any man now say that Papists may be saved that continue in the Romish Church except he will flatly contradict these sacred Oracles of Truth For all men that will seriously mind this book of the Revelation may see that these things are spoken of the Church of Rome by the Angels interpretation Rev. 17.9 and other places And the more these