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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A03335	Mystical babylon, or Papall Rome A treatise vpon those words, Apocal. 18.2. It is fallen, it is fallen Babylon, &c. In which the wicked, and miserable condition of Rome, as shee now is in her present Babylonian estate, and as she shall be in her future ineuitable ruine, is fully discouered: and sundry controuersiall points of religion, betwixt the Protestants, and the Papists, are briefly discussed. By Theophilus Higgons, rector of the parochiall Church of Hunton, neere Maidstone in Kent.	Higgons, Theophilus, 1578?-1659.	1624 (1624)	STC 13455; ESTC S118140	129,351	289

Antichrist therein Why because their hearts are hardned their vnderstandings are forestalled with preiudice the veile is ouer their eyes they walke in darknesse and will not see the light For such I will pray that God would open their hearts that they may entertaine his sauing Truth But for my selfe and others who haue bin in the like condition with mee whose eyes were blinded with the glorie of Babylon for as Zebul said vnto Gaal Iudic 9.36 the shadow of the Mountaynes seeme men vnto thee so the shadow of many things seemed a substance of verity vnto vs I will thanke God for that he hath opened our eyes to see this mysterie and misery of Babylon that she is fallen that she is gone into perdition that God hath destroyed her for euer Credo Domine O Lord I beleeue thy Word not my owne reason which I captiuate into the obedience of faith and therefore I pray with thine Apostles O Lord increase our faith Luke 17.5 that we may beleeue thy Word And thus much bee spoken concerning the first cause why the Fall of Babylon which is yet to come is expressed by a time alreadie past SECONDLY by this forme and tenour of speech God doth euidently declare vnto his Church the truth and certaintie of his promise in the destruction of Babylon that we may repose securely in this expectation of her ruine his dixit is a fecit it is spoken and it is done in regard of his infallible Word and constant promise And that wee may more cleerely vnderstand this point we must obserue a double kinde of Prophesie in the holy Scriptures The FIRST is a Prophesie of Commination as God did threaten the fall of Niniueh within fortie dayes but hee threatned her fall that she might not fall for the effect of such a Prophesie dependeth vpon our comportment and carriage thereupon toward God by Repentance and therefore it hath a condition implyed here though not expressed as sometimes it is Ieremie 18.7 8. vpon which the execution doth stay or go forth according as we performe or neglect the same So that this Prophesie is conditionall and not absolute it contayneth Gods sentence and not his Decree and therefore it is expressed in the future tense Nineueh shall fall In this case the Prophesie is changeable if we be changed and therefore God calleth vs to Repentance that we may escape his iudgements And though this kind of Prophesie be not now particularly directed against thy Countrey nor thy person as in the holy Scriptures it is often so directed against such a Nation such a Citie and such a man yet as the generall comminations of God against sinners doe include vs and will take hold vpon vs if wee returne not vnto God with the teares of true repentance so the particular examples of his comminations denounced and executed against some Cities and some persons doe by equall reason and a like cause appertaine vnto vs according to the rule and obseruation of our blessed Sauiour Except you amend your liues you shall likewise perish Luk. 13.3 5. When Nineueh is threatned by Ionah England is threatned when her ruine is declared by Nahum how can England be secure Pares culpâ cur impares poena why is she vnlike to Nineueh in punishment who is so like to her in sinne wee feare the destruction and not the sinne the effect and not the cause But it is the Lords Mercies that wee are not consumed The SECOND is a Prophesie of Predestination as I may call it depending indeed vpon our sinne but yet resolued by God as well as declared in which respect it is absolute and not conditionall once decreed and neuer reuoked concluded in Gods immutable counsell foreseene in his infallible prescience and it is rather pronounced then denounced by him Therefore it is expressed either in the time past as heere in my Text and Esay 21.9 or in the time present though the effect doe not yet appeare For wee may obserue that in the Prophesie of Ionah there being a commination against her at that time it is deliuered in the future tense Nineueh shall fall but in the Prophesie of Nahum there being now a resolution of God declared concerning her subuersion it is deliuered in the present tense the Horseman lifteth vp the bright Sword a multitude is slaine they stumble vpon their corpses Chap. 3.3 and then in the seuenth Verse Nineueh is destroyed So that in this kind of Prophesie these two tenses to wit the present and the preterperfect haue a coincident sense and purpose concerning an infallibilitie of the euent Whence it is that the Prophet Esay ioyneth them both together in the Passion of Christ and Mysterie of our Redemption saying of him that he is despised he is a man full of sorrowes he is brought as a sheepe vnto the slaughter Esay 53.3.7 as well as hee was oppressed he was afflicted c. Thus wee see by the conference of Scriptures that the fall of Babylon here certified vnto vs in the time past it is fallen doth truly import an ineuitable euent a sentence neuer to bee recalled proceeding from a decree neuer to bee changed because God hereby doth insinuate vnto our knowledge that shee would not bee renewed by repentance and that hee would not conferre that grace vpon her but leaue her to perish in the course of her owne sinnes And this truth is farther assured and amplified by al the circumstances preceding her ruine accompanying her ruine following her ruine in three seueral chapters 17.18.19 in such large and ample termes that the very Image of Babylon in all these things is effectually and liuely exhibited thereby vnto our eyes as a matter of present action rather then future accomplishment rather to be seene then to be beleeued Wherefore the promise of God being thus verified vnto vs in this forme and manner of speech let vs by the way make a little reflection vpon this point for our vse and obseruation as being of so great consequence for the benefit of Gods children and aduancement of his truth First then the fidelitie of Gods promise herein doth exclude and confute their errour who suppose that this is a prophecie of Commination onely and not of Resolution against Romish Babylon as though shee might turne from her sinnes and consequently God might turne from his wrath In which opinion S. Hierome himselfe was involued as it appeareth in his darke vncertaine and perplexed discourse touching Babylon and her ruine in the conclusion of his second book against Iovinian whose errors did then begin to possesse many in Rome and to intangle them in his snare composed artificially out of sundry passages of the Scripture Wherevpon S. Hierome maketh a patheticall Apostrophe vnto Rome in this manner I will speake vnto thee O Rome which by the confession of Christ hast blotted out of thy forehead the blasphemy written therein There the name Babylon is laid vpon Ethnicall Rome as if Rome were afterward to bee discharged

Nineueh vpon her repentance Should I not spare Nineueh that great Citie Ionah 4.11 Now therefore since Ethnicall Rome is past and that state is abolished saith Parsons for which cause she did beare the name of Babylon and Saint Hierome hath assured vs that Rome by her confession of Christ hath blotted out the blasphemie written in her forehead which point the Babylonians doe greedily embrace to their vnhappy excec●ation since Rome hath turned from her former sinnes and done righteousnesse since she hath had a glorious name by her renowmed Faith after the time of Paganisme Idolatrie and Persecution vnder her ancient Emperours since in our opinion she was a glorious member of the Church and in their opinion shee is still the Head Queene and Mistresse thereof embracing and propounding the truely Catholike Faith and finally since her ensuing repentance hath cleered the score of her preceding sins how can it consist with Gods Truth that in regard of her sinnes so long past and so deepely repented of he should lay a destruction vpon her in the time yet to come for it is yet to be fulfilled and that in so terrible and vnexemplifiable a manner Apocal. 18. Her ruine therefore and such a ruine which is yet to come when her Ethnicall estate is so long past doth sufficiently proue that later sinnes in a future age should renue and reuiue her old name if Babylon euer were the name of ancient Rome according to the tenour of the Scriptures and bring her vnto this lamentable end it being one of the last Tragicall acts of Gods Iustice vpon the great Theater of the world as it appeareth in the historicall predictions of this Scripture Secondly I make farther remonstrance of that position by the IVSTICE of God For he will not punish the children for their fathers sins euery one shall die for his owne Ezek. 18.4 Since therefore Rome is yet to be destroyed this destruction doth not attend her ancient sinnes committed in her Ethnicall estate and done away by her repentance in her Christian estate but for latter sinnes in latter ages wherein she was to beare the scandall of this name and to suffer ruine for the same Innocent Rome shall not perish for nocent Rome not the latter for the former not the Papall for the Imperiall not the Church for the State there cannot bee iniustice in God Shall not the Iudge of all the world doe right Yet I confesse that in succeeding ages God doth sometimes remember the sin of ages past and so it is said of Babylon Apocal. 18.5 God hath remembred her iniquities but in this case latter ages doe renew imitate and increase the sinnes of the former And so I grant that for her old sinnes of Idolatrie Persecution c. renewed afterward Rome shall suffer this ruine as Ribera and Viegas the Iesuites doe confesse Meane while this is the point which I commend here vnto your prudent obseruation If Rome were sinfull Babylon here spoken of onely in her Ethnicall estate which is a plausible delusion she should haue suffered her fatall punishment here threatned during that Ethnicall estate and not in her Christian condition whereas the speciall calamities of Rome since the time of this prediction ensued vpon Christian Rome not Ethnicall Rome by the furious incursions and impressions of the Goths and Vandalls which were castigations of Christian Rome and not of Ethnicall nor Antichristian Babylon whose finall and vtter subuersion being yet to come and neerer vnto the end of the world therefore Gods Truth and his Iustice doe cleerely euince that shee was to bee Babylon againe if shee were so once before and to bee stamped with this hatefull name after the time of her entertainment of Christian Religion and after the expiration of her Ethnicall estate this name arising out of a latter condition of sinnes for which shee should fall and in latter times in which shee should perish by the iust indignation of God and Man And so much for the second remonstrance THIRDLY I make remonstrance of my position by the ingenious and faire confession of two learned Babylonians themselues they also being Iesuites of eminent qualitie publike Readers in their Schooles who by diligent inquisition into the very Text of this Scripture and carefull obseruation of the circumstances thereof oppose themselues against the common errour of their owne side and cleerely deduce out of the coherence of many circumstances in this Scripture that this BABYLON doth signifie Rome not in her Ethnicall estate onely as the Papists doe more ordinarily conceiue but neere the conclusion of the world that then shee shall by her great sinnes deserue this name and therefore come to ruine Neither doe I make vse of their confession because it commeth from aduersaries but because they make it out of the conscience of truth grounded vpon the cleere euidence of the Scripture For I should thinke meanely of my cause if the truth and certaintie of my assertion stood vpon the falshood and errour of their confession and had no better strength to support it selfe The first Babylonian is Ribera a man of no vulgar note as being a Doctor of Diuinitie and professour thereof in Salmantica a famous Academy of Spaine This man wrote a Commentary vpon the Reuelation of Saint Iohn where treating vpon these words Apocal 14.8 Babylon that great Citie is fallen hee proueth by sundry infallible circumstances of the Scripture Apoc. 17. that this Babylon is not the generall societie of wicked men but a particular Citie and finally the Citie of Rome and therefore he concludeth his disputation as I noted before vpon that point in these words Omnia profectò nisi in Romam non conueniunt certainely all the circumstances in the Text cannot agree vnto any other place but vnto Rome alone in cap. 14. num 31. Then he commeth num 32. to explicate the state and condition of Rome in regard whereof this name Babylon and this ruine shee is fallen belong vnto her in this sacred Reuelation And here suspecting the scandall and offence of his owne brethren he entreth vpon this discourse with a preoccupation in this sad and graue manner Offensionem pio Lectori amoueri volo I will that no pious Reader a Romane Catholike that is to say a Babylonian should take offence at my exposition as if it were aduantagious vnto the Heretickes the Protestants who assume vnto themselues an occasion vpon this name of Babylon ascribed here vnto Rome to lay an imputation vpon the Church of Rome and our holy Father the Pope Wherfore num 34. hee saith that this name of Babylon agreed vnto Rome as shee was in her Ethnicall State an Idolatrous persecuting Citie but now saith hee the case is altered for shee is and long hath beene the Mistresse of Faith and the Mother of Christians Then hee addeth immediately Si quando haec eadem fecerit quae Iohannis tempore faciebat iterum Babylon vocabitur if Rome shall commit the same things hereafter which

shee committed in the time of Iohn shee shall bee called Babylon againe marke this well good hearers for now the Iesuite draweth neere vnto the point as it was in the case of Ierusalem which of a faithful Citie once became afterwards a Whore So he But let vs heare the man tell out his tale hee hath yet more to say to acquit his Mother Church and Father-Pope and therefore num 38. hee affirmeth That this name of Babylon is neuer applyed vnto the CHVRCH of Rome but onely vnto the CITIE howbeit not as the Citie long hath beene vnder the Pope and now is vnder him nor indeed shall haue this name while the Pope is Lord and Gouernour thereof but as shee was Babylon in her Ethnicall state so she shall be hereafter againe vpon her defection from the Pope and from Christianitie neere the end of the world Now because Ribera feared another censure here hee maketh another preoccupation num 40. in this manner diuinare me dicet quispiam Some man perhaps will say that I take vpon me to be a Prophet and to foretell things to come but saith hee I would intreate that man to lay aside his preiudice to examine the whole matter with mature iudgement and to beleeue me no farther then reason and truth shall perswade him in this case Then hee addeth num 42. That for as much as Rome in her Ethnicall state was so idolatrous so wicked and so cruell against the Christians for that all the Martyrs throughout the Romane Empire were put to death by the authoritie of Rome and by the power of Romane Magistrates therefore it is iust and meet that she her selfe should once suffer for her impious courses which being not yet done according to the purport of this Scripture shall be done hereafter when she shall be no lesse wicked then she was in former times Then num 43. he proceedeth in a faire and ingenious manner of Theologicall discourse saying Whereas this extreame desolation shall fall vpon Rome neere the end of the world it is very iust and equall in good congruitie of reason Why Because the Citie is still the same which being once so defiled with sin must one day be purged with fire Besides saith he there are many Citizens in Rome at this day who by their name and stock boast of their descent from the ancient Romans who alwayes increased there in great number Then hee addeth further that as a Citie built out of the ruines of a former is reputed to be one and the same Citie with it so here in this case the latter Citizens of Rome when she shall be destroyed may be accounted the same Citizens with the former though they be not of their bloud and kindred because they ioyne themselues vnto the former and become as it were one body and one common-wealth with them but specially by their imitation of the facts and sins of their Predecessors This saith he Num. 44. is the cause therefore why the latter Romanes neere the end of the World following the impieties of the ancient shall be punished and the more grieuously also in that regard So that saith hee though her old sinnes committed in her Ethnicall state were forgotten by God in regard of her Christian profession which shee entertayned afterward yet now vpon her new and like Impieties neere the end of the World the old are remembred againe and therefore she shall be burned for them both together Excellently and diuinely spoken according to the true tenour of the Scriptures elsewhere and particularly of the Reuelation it selfe and therefore Ribera began to grow warme in the conclusion of this discourse protesting in this manner We know this truth so perspicuously by the words of this Reuelation VT NE STVLTISSIMVS QVIDEM NEGARE POSSIT so that the veriest foole in the world cannot deny the same Then hee addeth Since Babylon shall be the shop of all IDOLATRIE and of all impieties therefore it cannot be doubted but that this shall be the condition of Rome hereafter And thus hauing made his explication of the Text he propoundeth a very fit question in the end of his discourse Num. 51. namely By what meanes the Citie of Rome neere the end of the Vorld should attaine vnto so great a power and abundance of riches He answereth first that no man can certainly know the reason thereof and secondly that this may come to passe partly by reason of the tenne Kings who shall make a conquest of the whole World and diuide it amongst them and partly in regard of Antichrist who shall bee aduanced in this time by meanes whereof Rome shall shortly returne vnto her ancient power and shall haue these tenne Kings vnder her gouernment who a little after shall reigne in the whole World but finally these Kings shall destroy Rome Apoc. 17.17 Here the coniecture of Ribera founded vpon the vaine speculations of some ancient Fathers not vnderstanding the nature of this mysterie nor the sense of the Scriptures in this behalfe failed him very much as not knowing that Ecclesiasticall Rome is this Babylon and that the Pope is the second Beast therein by which meanes truly Rome hath beene eleuated in a new and second greatnesse in the World in some sort excelling the former in her Ethnicall estate as by due remonstrance it shall hereafter appeare Meane while good hearers excuse my tedious declaration taken out of the Commentarie of this learned Iesuite as contayning much varietie of matter of very markeable obseruation for my purpose My second Babylonian Authour is Viegas a Iesuite also and a Doctor of Diuinitie and Professor thereof first at Conimbrica then at Ebora two Vniuersities of Portugall who framed a more copious and elaborate Commentarie vpon this sacred Booke of the Reuelation insisting very often in the steppes of Ribera and especially in this point whereof we now intreat Therefore though it bee materiall to expresse the iudgement of Viegas also vpon the same yet I may contract his long Discourse into a few words This Viegas then in Apocal. 17. § 2. confesseth that the destruction of this Babylon foretold cap. 18. shall be in the last times before the end of the World Afterwards § 3. he saith that this Babylon is the Citie of Rome howbeit not as she is now vnder the Pope but as she was heretofore in her Ethnicall condition and as she shall be hereafter in the time of Antichrist vpon her defection from the Pope and from her Christian Faith and then he sheweth in many words the qualitie of her sinnes and manner of her ruine conformably with the iudgement of Ribera and that for old sinnes ioyned with the latter God shall execute his wrath vpon her by these ten Kings as hee doth more largely deduce also in cap. 18. § 6. Thus you haue heard the consonant exposition of these two learned persons the second treading in the steps of the first and both for the maine point now in question in the steps

state of Religion to depend vpon the oracle of his mouth corrupteth the Sacraments mutilateth them depriueth the people of Gods allowance vnto them in the holy Cup peruerteth the condition of the Church maketh himselfe a Monarch therein trampleth vpon the Crownes of Kings dispenseth against Gods Word maketh that lawfull which God made vnlawfull in subiects to rise against their Souereignes maketh that vnlawfull which God made lawfull in the Cleargie to haue their wiues and so in these and other courses setteth himselfe against God and aboue God as some doe vnderstand that Scripture 2. Thessal 2.4 Both these expositions are true and according to both the Papall Monarch doth so aduance himselfe that hee is adored with diuine worship rather then ciuill and humane The Fourth and last instance concerneth their inuocation of Saints which hath sundry ingredients of Idolatry of which it is compounded as you may obserue by foure particular points The First point is by taking away that right which is incommunicably proper vnto God alone as the tribute of Mankind payable onely vnto him in the two duties of Prayer and Thankesgiuing so that this very terme of Inuocation without iniurie vnto the diuine Maiestie cannot bee impropriated vnto Saints as the Papists doe commonly vse the same de sanctorum Inuocatione beeing the title of Bellarmines dispute Li. 1. de Sanct. c. 15. Which word the Scripture contayning the Mother-language of the children of Gods Church doth peculiarly attribute vnto our Religious seruice of God Inuoca mae c. Call vpon me in the day of trouble and I will deliuer thee Ps 50.15 And quemodo inuocabunt c. how shall they call vpon him in whom they haue not beleeued Rom. 10.14 For this cause the Scripture directeth vs euer vnto God in the Old Testament and thus according to the tenour of the New all our petitions are framed in the name and mediation of Iesus Christ our Lord neither is there any one syllable in all the New Testament teaching by precept or by example any other course of Prayer vnto or by any other Mediator of Redemption or Intercession there being but one of both then onely by Iesus Christ As for the Old though some inconsiderate and more dull Babylonians did heretofore produce sundry passages out of it to prooue their inuocation of Saints yet the latter and more circumspect haue vtterly forsaken that course as implying a contradiction because the soules of the ancient Fathers being then in limbo and secluded from the vision of God which vision of God is the ground of their petitions vnto Saints as therefore hauing a knowledge in him of our requests vnto them c. they were then incapable of our requests So then neither in the Old Testament as they confesse nor in the New as I dare confidently auouch is there extant one precept one example one proofe directly or indirectly by any plaine assertion or cleere deduction that any such prayer is to bee made by vs vnto Saints or that any such was euer made vnto them by any Apostle Euangelist Pastour Doctour or any faithfull Christian whatsoeuer till at length either vncertaine tradition was pretended without the written word or humane perswasion guided by carnall affection and a peruerse but pleasing imitation of the Gentiles gaue an entrance vnto this errour at the beginning which standing rather by example of men then by the Law of God gained a daily increase and finally from a lesser to a greater degree is come vnto such an exorbitancie that the Mother of Christ hath ten petitions made vnto her in stead of two that are made vnto her Sonne besides innumerable requests tendered vnto inferiour Saints The Second point is that Papists take hereby Gods authoritie from him and conferre it vpon the Saints which is to make them Idolls by aduancing them in the place and office of God and this appeareth in all kinds of things which wee can desire of God In things Spirituall as increase of grace faith defence from the Deuill c. which they intreate of Saints not onely as suitors for them but as collators of these benefits Wherefore they pray thus vnto the blessed Virgin Tu nos ab hoste protege Et horâ mortis suscipe Da nobis virtutem contra hostes tuos Defend vs from the enemy receiue vs in the houre of death giue vs strength against thine enemies So that in and vpon the point of death the mouthes of the sicke if able to speake sound still Iesus Maria ioyning them both together and it is well that they giue the precedencie vnto the Sonne since they often call vpon her with these blasphemous words Monstra te esse Matrem Iure Matris impera Shew thy selfe a Mother command him by the right of a Mother c. or others standing by sound it in their eares with their loudest voyce and strongest sides which I haue sometimes heard and doe now remember with vnspeakeable griefe In things Eternall for they pray vnto Saints that they would open heauen vnto them and receiue them into their ioyes and particularly vnto the blessed Virgin to whom all the petitioners doe especially resort euen with the plaine neglect of Christ by reason of fabulous stories and fond visions In things Corporall for as particular Saints in the simple dotage of these blind Babylonians haue a particular care of certaine creatures and a gift of cure for their maladies so S. Anthony is for Hogs S. Roch for Dogges S. Low for Horses whereof I haue seene a faire company tyed about his Chappell in the time of Masse celebrated therein that came for helpe vnto that Hospitall so they haue a facultie or power to heale particular diseases in men for here againe S. Anthony is a speciall Saint for the fire which therefore beareth his name but not to be tedious also in so ridiculous a point S. Mumlyn is the onely Saint for teeth neere the Citie of S. Omer thither the tender Infants vexed with breeding their young teeth are carried in their mothers armes and commended by them vnto the pittie of that obscure Saint from whom vpon my certaine knowledge one Infant neuer obtained remedie but dyed without any compassion or reliefe from any Saint eyther hee or shee The Third point is that hereby the Babylonians take Gods priuiledge from him and bestow it vpon others by granting vnto Saints the knowledge of our cogitations hearts which are the Sanctum Sanctorum into which God alone and no man liuing in earth or in heauen can enter But say they the Saints haue a fruition of God and so in him a vision of our hearts and of other things of which silly pretence and wittie delusion I will speake more in the fourth point which doth presently ensue Meane while if this fruition of God bee the cause that they doe so confidently inuocate the Saints in heauen then may the Father make a petition vnto his Child-Saint who deceasing after baptisme wherein originall sinne

beareth rule therein as in the very Seate and Center of his Dominion The SECOND obseruation which from thence I frame and tender vnto your religious hearts is a Morall truth namely that God doth often punish our sinnes by such meanes and instruments as were seruiceable vnto vs therein to the accomplishment of our desires So wee read Ezek. 16.37.39 c. that whereas the Iewes committed spirituall fornication with the Idols of Aegypt and Assyria and reapposed more in the helpe of the Aegyptians and Assyrians sometimes then in the protection of God therefore he threatneth to giue them into their hands who being instruments of their sinnes against him should bee also instruments of his iudgements against them Sundry are the examples in this kind which I cannot now produce but leauing the ponderation of this point vnto your owne hearts I aduise you in the tender feare of God so to please him in all your wayes that not onely all men but all his creatures may bee disposed and inclined by him to our incolunitie and preseruation So saith the Wiseman When the wayes of a man please the Lord hee will also make his enemies at peace with him Prou. 16.7 To this purpose spake Eliphaz in Iob. 5.23 The stones of the field shall bee in league with thee and the beasts of the field shall be at peace with thee But if wee sinne impenitently against him euery creature in heauen and earth is readie prest by his instinct and motion to reuenge the iniurie done vnto him who is the Creator of heauen and earth And so much concerning the first question I come therefore vnto the second The SECOND Question SECONDLY if you require of me what are the causes for which these ten Kings shall take vp their Armes against Babylon I answere partly out of the euidence of the Scripture and partly out of the demonstration of reason that three principall causes concurre in this behalfe The FIRST is a meritorious cause by congruitie and condignitie as they vse to speake of the merit of their workes in regard of her sinnes which I haue touched heretofore in the comparisons betwixt the Misticall and the Literall Babylon which being a burthen vnto the earth cry for vengeance vnto heauen And now here is a collection of her sinnes the old and the new come into one reckoning and account They were past in act but remained in guilt wherefore it is said Apoc. 18.5 Her sins are come vp vnto heauen and God hath remembred her iniquities for though hee alwayes remembred them in his prouidence and knowledge yet now hee declareth his remembrance by the execution of his Iustice Thus we perceiue that God hath a time to permit sinnes and a time to punish sinnes the former and the latter sinnes together of any state or of any person when our repentance bindeth not vp the hands of his iustice but our continuance addition and renouation of sinne draw the sword out of the scabbard and compell him vnto the manifestation of his wrath as it is here in the fall of Babylon whose sins are bound vp together in this great and fearefull iudgement But since she will make no benefit of this instruction as being obdurate in the course of her sinnes and prepared for destruction let vs obserue it brethren for our owne vse since wee know the iust seueritie of God which leadeth vs vnto speedie repentance least he arraigne vs at the barre of his Iustice for our ancient for our latter sins This obseruation pertaineth first vnto a Kingdome and State hee doth not forger her sins though he remember them not presently in iudgement After many hundred yeeres he called Amalek vnto an account I remember saith he vnto Saul what Amalek did vnto Israel how they laid wait for them in the way as they came vp out of Egypt therefore he sent Saul vpon an expedition against the Amalekites to destroy them from the face of the earth O that my natiue Countrey would take notice of this at the heart and not adde sin vnto sin new vnto the old prouoking God vnto great indignation against her But two things comfort me here the one that God will spare the Land because hee hath many faithfull seruants therein that mourne for the sins of England and that as Eliphaz speaketh in Iob 22.30 the innocent shall deliuer the Iland For it is not the Sea that can defend vs from inuasion it is not any Castle that can saue vs from the enemy and sin within the Land is of greater force to destroy it then any foe without but some righteous men are in the Iland and God doth spare it for their sake The other is that according to Dauids option and choyce wee shall rather fall into the hands of the Lord then of men for the punishment and castigation of this Land This obseruation pertaineth secondly vnto the Church which falling in her inward puritie cannot stand long as Gregorie noted in her outward glory If wee haue not a place in the conscience of men by our effectuall doctrine and our exemplarie life that wee haue a mansion in their very hearts then the Law our Gouernment our Temporalties all outward prouision for the Ministers of the Church shall make them but a weake consistencie and a feeble station in the world Let not our sins preuaile against vs to prouoke God and we shall not feare the complotments of any mortall man whose breath is in his nostrills This obseruation pertaineth thirdly vnto euery particular person of whatsoeuer qualitie or condition rich or poore high or low For for if thou addest the sins of thy age vnto the sins of thy youth for which Dauid intreateth pardon of God Psalm 25.7 and makest an accumulation of thine iniquities of latter vnto former without remorse of thy conscience and feare of Gods displeasure saying I shall haue peace although I walke according to the stubbornenesse of mine owne heart thus adding drunkennesse to thirst know then that the Lord will not be mercifull vnto thee but then the wrath of the Lord and his iealousie shall smoake against thee and euery curse that is written in his booke shall light vpon thee and the Lord shall put out thy name from vnder heauen Deut. 29.19 20. yea out of heauen also that is hee shall declare that thy name was neuer written there according to that in the Psalme Let them be put out of the booke of life Psa 69.28 And so much concerning the first cause why these ten Kings assemble against Babylon to worke her fall The SECOND is an efficient cause and that is God by his iustice his iustice being prouoked by her sins according to that of the Prophet Esay 42.24 Who gaue Iacob to the spoile and Israel to the robbers Did not the Lord because wee haue sinned against him Thus we haue a connexion of the first and second cause in this one sentence which meete in Babylons case For first wee heare of the

which wee haue not already found FOVRTHLY and lastly wee may obserue that as the mysticall condition of this Babylonian Rome is by cleere remonstrance made by learned and iudicious men notoriously discouered vnto all the World so the hornes of the Papall Beast haue begun to fall from his head his power being thereby much abated and neuer likely to bee recouered againe but one horne after another shall be plucked off Wherefore as I may certainly conclude that the Turke shall not destroy the states and dignities of these ten Kings whatsoeuer Zanchius a learned and profound Diuine did conceiue to the contrary for which he suffered some opposition as in the second part of his Miscellanea it may appeare and whatsoeuer Melancthon himselfe deliuered in his publike Lectures that all Germanie should bee possessed by the Turke and my reason is grounded vpon the Scripture shewing that the ten Kings which arose with the second Beast in Rome shall destroy Rome at the last and therefore if the Turke obtaine their Kingdomes it must be after the fal of the Rome which they must first ruinate so I may very reasonably and probably affirme that the Kings which are alreadie fallen from the Beast the Pope shall neuer returne vnto him againe to giue their power a second time vnto him and to submit their Royall States vnto the Papall Crowne But if Babylon should aduance her selfe in England againe which wee haue no cause to feare nor Papists reason to hope yet that shall not hinder the accomplishment of this worke for Babylon must fall it is decreed by GOD it shall bee performed by these Kings Notwithstanding since Babylon is full of malice and indignation playing first the Foxe to enter into the Lords Vineyard that shee might be a Lyon afterwards to kill the Keepers thereof let vs not be secure in obseruing her courses nor fearefull to sustaine her conflict Let vs be prepared for that which may not perhaps be prepared for vs Wee must not bee wanting to Martyrdome though it may bee wanting vnto vs ne desit animus Martyrio saith Saint Cyprian Let vs not want a mind to die for the truth of Christ hee may be an habituall Martyr euer that is an actuall neuer in preparation of mind not in passion of bodie in will and not in worke as Saint Bernard speaketh of Saint Iohn the Euangelist that hee was a Martyr in will though not in worke whereas the Innocents were Martyrs in worke but not in will and Saint Stephen in both But here let no man deceiue himselfe with a sudden apprehension of Martyrdome as a matter of little difficultie to vndergo but let him consider rather that multi ante persecutionem Leones in persecutione cerui many are Lyons in the time of peace but Harts in the time of persecution as one of the Ancients spake by experience of those times that many who speake gloriously of their resolution appeare cowards in their performance as the historie of Doctor Pendleton and Master Sanders may testifie and finally that they whom God calleth vnto so great a worke shall bee prepared by him with gifts conuenient for that purpose Therfore Saint Ambrose writing vnto his sister Marcella Epist 44. saith modestly of himselfe because God knew me to be weake hee hath not yet giuen the Deuill power ouer my bodie And though I should desire martyrdome and offer my selfe vnto it perhaps he doth iudge mee yet to be vnable for so great a strife and therefore doth exercise mee with other labours and diuers afflictions but hath not tried mee in this kind O the rare humilitie of such an excellent spirit Let vs then by his example bee willing not boasting readie not desirous to dye for the cause of God if Babylon should yet againe try vs in the fire of her persecution before shee come to the fire of her owne ruine And so much of the third point namely the time when Babylon shall be destroyed by these Kings The FOVRTH Question THe FOVRTH and last question concerneth the state of the Pope of Papists and of Poperie vpon this fall of Babylon whether hee and they and it shall come vnto a finall extirpation with Babylon or what may bee conceiued probably of each in the discourse of iudgement and reason by deduction out of the sacred Scripture it selfe This question then hath three seuerall branches as you heare and therefore I will treate of them all in order as it shall please God to assist mee with the celestiall illumination of his blessed Spirit The FIRST Branch of the fourth Question concerning the POPE WE doe not now enquire concerning the Person of the Pope whether a Iohn as many were or a Iohne as one was supposed to be but concerning the State place office and dignitie of the Pope and as hee is the Second Beast in Babylon inuading there the Imperiall Seat and by another forme or colour of gouernment vsurping the Imperiall power as the ancient Fathers doe vsually speake of Antichrist according to the tenour of the Scripture it selfe in this behalfe and as the experience of latter ages doth really verifie and exhibite the truth of their iudgement herein vnto our eyes I answere then that as Bellarmine doth vainely flatter himselfe lib. 4. de Pont. Rom. cap. 4. concerning the time of this ruine of Babylon namely that it shall not be vntill the end of the world and in the time of their chimericall and imagined Antichrist whose reigne enduring three yeeres and an halfe is ended by the second comming of our Lord Iesus Christ as they simply pretend so hee doth delude himselfe and others when he saith that in the time and after the time of her ruine the Pope shall bee called and indeed shall be Romanus Pontifex the Bishop of Rome For the truth is apparant by the tenour of the sacred Booke of the Reuelation that the Papall Beast is the cause of the expedition made by the tenne Kings against Babylon that this warre made vpon Babylon is in regard of the pride oppression and other sinnes in Babylon as shee is borne vp and supported by the second Beast whose Dominion was aduanced by their submission vnto him and shall bee suppressed by their concurrencie against him It is not then a quarrell against the Citizens or the edifices of Rome but against her vsurpations exercised by the Triple-crowned Beast therein Neither had these Kings performed their designe if when they burnt the Citie of Rome the Beast should still remaine Therefore as Babylon it selfe shall fall so the power of her Beast shall be destroyed by these Kings as being coupled and commixed with the same For as the ruine of Literall Babylon was accompanied with the ruine of the Chaldaean Empire so the fall of Mysticall Babylon shall bee accompanied with the fall of her Beast whom these Kings will now permit no more to tyrannize with Papall dominion in the Ciuill or Ecclesiasticall State for as the power of the Beast standeth