yeares were behind If they take the middle for that which is intermedium whatsoeuer is betweene the beginning and the ending as commonly it is taken then it was the middle immediatly after the creation and the middle shall continue vntill the last consummation and in that sense the middle is not yet past but if they take it strictly as in Geometrie it is defined Medium est id quod aequè distat ab extremis that which is of equal distance betweene the beginning and the ending if the middle were but then past when foure thousand yeares were expired it is a necessarie demonstration that there could bee no lesse than foure thousande yeares to come after Christes passion because there must bee as great distance of time from the middle to the ende as was from the beginning to the middle Fourthly all the signes and tokens which go any distance of time before the day of iudgement are alreadie come to passe that now no signe can bee looked for but onely those which must be shewed immediatelie vpon his comming to iudgement But besides that the accomplishment and fulfilling of al these prophesies cannot shew vnto vs how neare it is to the ende we denie that all these tokens and signes are come to passe for there is yet one prophesie to bee fulfilled which is the last and generall conuersion of the Iewes That they must bee conuerted Saint Paule proueth by eight reasons The first is from the end of their Rom. 11. reiection which is not that they should perish but seeing the conuersion of the Gentiles be prouoked to emulation The second à minori if their fall be riches to the world how much more shall their reconciliation be life to the dead The thirde from the condition of the Patriarch Abraham if the first fruits be holy so is the lumpe if the roote so are the branches The fourth from Gods omnipotency which is able to receiue them againe The fift à verisimili if God ingrafted the wilde oliue contrarie to nature howe much more shall the naturall branches be ingrafted into their naturall oliue The sixt from the authoritie of Esay and Ieremie which affirme the same The seuenth from a distinction concerning the Gospell they are enemies for our sake but touching the election beloued for their fathers sake The eightreason is ab analogia as the Gentiles were first reiected for vnbeliefe yet afterward receiued so the time shall come when the reiected Iewes shall beleeue and so be receyued againe 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and all Israell shall bee saued But that they shall be turned or conuerted so generally being in number so many in places so dispersed in religion so backewarde in one moment or a short time I thinke no man of iudgement will suppose much lesse affirme Lastly Henoch and Elias were the seuenth from Adam Henoch in generation Elias in computation of liues But there is a proportion betweene them and the ages of the world for as the death of the body raigned ouer these sixe Adam Seth Enos Kenam Mahaleel Iared but the seuenth which was Henoch neuer died but was translated and likewise in computation of liues Adam liued vnto Methusalem Methusalem vnto Sem Sem vnto Iacob Iacob vnto Amram Amram vnto Ahia Ahia vnto Elias which being the seuenth died not but was taken vppe so death must reigne ouer the world sixe thousand yeares and then shall bee euerlasting life But to this and such like their presumptions and humaine coniectures because they vrge vs with the answere of the Angell vriel I will refute them with the answere of the same Angel in the same place Weigh me the weight of the fire measure the blast of the wind 2. Esd 4 or call againe the day that is past but if no man borne can doe that howe shall thy vessell be able to comprehende the wayes of the most highest The Papists not directly but by a necessarie cōsequent take vpon them to point at not onely the yeare but rather the day and houre of the last iudgement For Sanders in one of his demonstrations holdeth that Antichrist after hee is reueled must reigne but three yeares and sixe monethes and then be destroyed fortie and fiue dayes before the comming of Christ which if it were true Antichrist beeing once reuealed it were no cunning to define the day and houre of the appearance of our Sauiour Christ which is a secrete not reuealed to the Angels in heauen This doctrine refuteth it selfe therefore I let it passe and come to the third poynt which sheweth howe farre wee may be bolde to determine of the propmquitie and neernes of the appearance of our Sauiour Christ The Angell Vriel sayeth to Esdras If I shoulde aske thee howe deepe dwellinges 2. Esd 4 are in the middest of the Sea or how great Springes are in the beginning of the depth or the stretching out of the Heauen or which are the borders of Paradise peraduenture thou wouldest say to mee I neuer went downe to the deepe I neuer descended downe into Hell nor clymed vppe into Heauen but nowe I asked thee of fire and wind and of the day whereby thou hast passed and from whence thou canst not bee separated and yet thou canst giue me no aunswere of them Howe then shall thy vessell bee able to comprehend the wayes of the highest Why should foolish man which is made of the Gen. 3. basest mould enter into the secretes of his God who is wise in heart mightie in Iob. 9. strength who remoueth the earth out of her place causeth the pillars thereof to shake commaundeth the sunne and it riseth not closeth vp the starres as vnder a signet createth Arcturus Orion and Pleiades and the climates of the South spreadeth out the heauens walketh on the Iob. 11. height of the Sea whose perfection is higher than heauen deeper than hell longer than the earth broder than the Sea Our sauiour Christ saith Watch ye therefore because ye know not what houre your Maister will come And to Mat. 24. that ende may we not knowe because wee should alwayes watch We are taught by the Scriptures that God hath two bookes and both of them are written for vs to read and in those bookes are contained al things concerning this argument which are either conuenient for vs to knowe or lawfull for vs to search The one is the booke of grace which is the volume of the olde and newe Testament though euer lying open yet sealed vp to many wise learned and discreete men of the world because reading they vnderstand not for they read as did the Eunuch the prophesie of Esay but it is very easie to be vnderstoode of all beleeuers Acts 8. for whose saluation it was written by the holy Ghost which is the finger of gods Exod. 8. hand The other is the booke of nature that great frame and engine of the worlde alwayes lying open to the view of naturall men and
neuer shut vp because it is nothing else but epistola scripta ad humanum genus a long letter or a large epistle written not to the faithfull onely but to al mankind to all which bee illuminated by the light of nature not such a letter as is sealed vp with his priuie signet Multi vocati pauci Matt. 20 2. Tim. 2. electi many are called and few are chosen and solus deus nouit suos only God knoweth his but his letters patents wherein is written Domini est terra plenitudo eius the Psal 24 Psal 8 earth is the Lordes and all that therein is and Quid est homo quod memor es illius what is man that thou art so mindefull of him alwayes lying open that euery man may read and written in folio that standing a far off they may reade and in great capital letters that running they may reade And vpon more than we can finde written in these two bookes wee may not presume But as for the third booke which is called the booke of life and the booke sealed vp Phil. 4 Dan. 12 Exod. 32 Apoc. 22 Apoc. 5 with seuen seales which is the secrete will of God it is not reuealed to Angels much lesse to men in that booke are written gods secret counsels concerning the election of Iacob and reprobation of Esau the calling of the Gentiles and reiecting of the Iewes which go beyond the capacitie of man and finallie of this last and dreadfull iudgement the time whereof the Apostles desired to knowe but no directer aunswere was giuen them than this Of the day and houre Mat. 24 knoweth no man c And it is not for you to knowe the times and seasons which the Acts 1 Father hath appoynted in his owne power Daniel desired to knowe but it was saide Dan. 12 vnto him But thou O Daniel shut vp the wordes and seale vp the Booke till the ende of the time Nowe out of the booke of nature concerning this time though we cannot discipher vnto you the houre day moneth or yeare because it is not there reuealed yet in that booke we do read that it is very neare For nature beginneth generally to intermit her woonted course the mother Elements of the worlde whereof things in this lower world are made doe loose their qualities and naturall vigour which they had before the Starres and Planets of heauen waxe dimme and olde not so well able to preserue our earthly bodies the celestiall spheres bee almost wearie of their woonted motions and regular volubilitie the prince of the lights of Heauen which Psal 19 before came as a bridegroome trimmed out of his chamber dooth not looke vppon vs with so chearefull an aspect and that giant which before did runne his vnwearied race dooth as it were by a languishing faintnesse beginne to stand and rest himselfe the times and seasons of the yeare doc blend themselues with disordered and confused mixture the windes are in a readinesse to breath out their last gaspe our mother the earth defeated of that aboundance of heauenly influence which at the first shee had is out of heart waxeth barren and dead like the wombe of Sara the herbes and simples which are appointed Gen 11 Rom. 4 for medicines for mans bodie haue almost lost their operation and vertue and man himselfe whom all these things do serue is of lower stature lesse strength shorter life than at the first he was so that there is a generall decay of natures and in euerie leafe of that booke it is written that the frame of that heauenly arch erected ouer our heads must very shortly lose dissolue it selfe In the other booke which is the holy Bible are many prophesies concerning that last houre and all the signes and tokens which in these prophesies are foretold to go any distance of time before the day of iudgment are already come to passe onely one excepted which is the last and generall vocation of the Iewes which when and in how short space it shal be fulfilled the Lord onely in his wisdome knoweth But among all those tokens this is principally to be noted which Christ foretold As the dayes of Noah were so shal the comming of the son of mā be In the daies of Noah I note two things Matt. 24 Gen. 6. first great oppressiō in that there were giants vpon the earth secondly a general corruption of all flesh insomuch that God repented him that he had made man vpō the earth and he was sory in his heart And by that prophesie it is plaine that the sonne of man now standeth knocking at our doores because the like times to the daies of Noah are come againe Touching the first the giants are nowe more in number prouder in heart loftier in their lookes stouter in their gate and pace than they were in the dayes of Noah for almost euery rich man is a gyant in the place where he dwelleth The potters vessell said to the brazen caldron Tua mihi vicinitas non placet soror I will not come nigh thee for feare of a knocke neither dareth the poore man dwell by the rich for feare of a check It is not safe for the poore man to cōtend with the rich though his cause be good no more than it is for the earthen pitcher to iustle with the brazen cauldron swimming down the streame lest it be broken all to potsherds Better it is to lose his right with peace and quietnes Report is made of an Emperor which desired to marry his owne daughter he asked counsell of the lawyers whether the marriage were lawfull or not they aunswered that they knew no law in particular which alloweth a father to marry his daughter but neuerthelesse they had found out a law in generall which would permit the same because euery mighty mā might do what him listed I wish that all men to whō the sword of iustice is committed would remember the prophesie of the poet Chaucer When faith failes in in priests sawes And Lords hests are holden for lawes And robberie is holden purchase And lecherie is holden solace Then shall the lond of Albion Be brought to great confusion We reade of Nimrod which was a great hunter vpon the earth But I feare least in Gen. 10 our dayes in stead of that one we haue many Nimrods which hunt as the Lion did with foxes and asses which when they had taken their prey the Lion beeing able by force to take all to himselfe woulde seeme verie iust and take no more than by right was due vnto him and to impart the rest to his fellow hunters Wherefore because it is a rule Cuius est partitio eius non est electio The same may not bee both a diuider and a chooser he caused the Asse to diuide the spoyle The Asse like a simple animal as an Asse would doe diuided it verie iustly into three equall portions the Lion misliking the diuision tore the
is interpreted in the Chapter following All nations haue drunk Apo. 18 of the wine of the wrath of her fornication But where he saith An aduersarie that exalteth himselfe aboue all that is called God and sitteth as god in the temple of god by the figure Synechdoche he meaneth only the head and prince of that Apostacie and reuoltment from Christ Wherfore Antichrist is to be vnderstoode in this place in the first diuision according to the third signification only for him that is opposed against Christ and an aduersarie vnto his truth not euerie aduersarie but one more singular and notorious than the rest not politicall but Ecclesiasticall not in the proper signification for the whole bodie or kingdome but by a Synechdoche for the head prince of that Antichristian Apostacie and rebellion Hauing by distinctions vnfolded vnto you the ambiguitie of this name Antichrist and shewed howe it is to be vnderstood in this place I define him in this maner Antichrist is a succession of Bishops disciphered out by certaine notes and marks in the holy Scriptures which professing the name of Christ doe oppose themselues agaynst him in many chiefe points of Christian religion That he is not one particular man but an whole succession of many men I prooue by these two reasons first it was prophecied that Antichrist that purple harlot should make drunke with the wine Apo. 18 of her formicatiō al the nations of the earth And that Antichrist that two horned beast should giue life to the Image of the beast Apoc. 13 which was destroied that is he should restore the decaied state of the Roman Empire by setting vp new Emperours in the West which in respect of the former Emperors are but Images and very shadowes that he should make many peoples kingdoms subiect vnto himself But these things could not bee brought to passe in one mans age therefore Antichrist is not one man but a succession of many Secondly no one Methusalem could liue from the Apostles time vnto the end of the world but Antichrist is described in the Scriptures to bee such a one as must liue from the Apostles time vntill the end of the world as it is euident by S. Paul For of his beginning hee saith The misterie of iniquitie doth alreadie worke so that albeit he was not then reuealed Thes 2. 2 because that same 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that obstacle or hinderance which was the Roman Emperour was not then remoued from Rome to Cōstantinople that he might giue place to the Pope the time was not accomplished when the head of iniquitie should be ioined to the body and so made perfect yet S. Paul doth acknowledge that he was alreadie come when he himselfe liued and of his ende he faith Hee must be consumed with the breath of Gods mouth and abolished with the brightnes of his comming But the breath of Gods mouth is his word and the preaching of the Gospel Sibilla the prophetesse foretold that he should be destroyed with linnen and paper you knowe is made of rags of linnen and the Gospell is written in paper and this Gospel weakeneth his kingdome but he is not to be vtterly abolished but by the presence of Christ Therefore he is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 not one man but an whole succession The Papists of Rhemes argue against vs out of this very text where he saith 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that Antichrist to proue that he is but one particular man and not a succession as though this article should necessarily point at one and demonstrate some certaine man But I will shew by two instances how their argument doth not follow First this article doth not alwayes demonstrate for it is vsed three maner of wayes in the holy Scripture either 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 demonstratiuely to point at one particular or emphatically as in this place or idlely and to no purpose as it is often and in euery page of the Greeke text Let one example among a thousande suffice 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 2. Iohn 3 He that sinneth is of the diuell not any one in particular but euery one in a generalitie that sinneth Secondly if it were granted as it is denied that this article doth necessarily import some one special man according to the Grammatical sense yet doth it not follow that one man therefore were to be vnderstood because it is the maner of the scriptures to speake of whole successions as if it were but of one Daniel Dan. 7 describeth three Monarchies euery one cōteining diuerse successions of kings by the names of three beasts the Empire of the Babylonians by one Lion of the Persians by one Beare of the Macedonians by one Leopard he speaketh of many as if he spake but of one wherefore although his maner of speaking importeth but one not one but many are to be vnderstood That Antichrist is a succession of Bishops not of Turkes or Pagans or secular princes it is plaine out of the text he must 2. Thes 2. sit in the Temple of God not in the materiall temple of Salomon which is now no more a temple but the spirituall temple which is the Church as S. Augustine doth interpret De ciuit Dei li. 20 cap. 19 it and he must assume vnto himselfe Ecclesiasticall authoritie to excommunicate to teach the worde to ordaine Ministers which no succession of secular princes euer did The markes and tokens whereby Antichrist is disclosed are to be discussed in the particularizing and discouering vnto you who is Antichrist that son of perdition of whom the Apostle speaketh Littleton a common lawier in an Epilogue annexed to his booke disableth himselfe and detracteth from his owne learning saying that he cannot warrant all to bee lawe which he hath written Howsoeuer I haue not attayned vnto that measure of knowledge in Gods booke which hee had in the lawes of this land yet I am more confident and I dare warrant you against all papists in the world my soule for yours that albeit some learned protestants being ouer-much modest make a doubt whether Antichrist be yet reuealed or not affirming that if he be reuealed he is the Bishop of Rome this doctrine which I shall deliuer you is sound and currant diuinitie that the succession of the Bishops of Rome which hath cōtinued about nine hundred yeeres is that Antichrist which is mētioned in the holy scriptures For confirmation of this conclusion I will alledge no other proofes than the authoritie of the Scriptures which do sufficiently set down all the misteries of his reueation As for the Fathers though far learnedder than any which liue in our dayes their iudgements are different one from another that no certaintie can bee gathered out of their writings neither could they attaine to anie certaine knowledge heereof for as much as Antichrist which hath alreadie disclosed himselfe to vs was not reuealed when they liued