his Church whatsoever Eclipse does befall her whether by Heresies or by persecutions And that there shall alway's be Belivers in the Earth who shall worship the one only true God in Spirit and truth even as the Angels and the blessed do adore him in Heaven II. ILLUSTRATION Of the Sealed Book which no Creature could open save the Lion of the Tribe of Judah REV. CHAP. 5. v. 1. And I saw in the right hand of him that sat on the throne a Book written within and without sealed with seven seals v. 2. And I saw a strong Angel proclaiming with a loud voice who is worthy to open the Book and to loose the Seals thereof v. 3. And no man in Heaven nor in Earth neither under the Earth was able to open the Book neither to look thereon THis Book can be nothing else but the Apocalypse which containeth every thing remarkable that was to befall either the Roman Empire or the Church of God. It is written within and without for the same reason because within it containeth the destiny of the Church and without the fate of the Roman Empire The form of this Book consisteth in seven leaves rolled after such a fashion that the second was shut up within the first and so of the rest The Seals denote the importance the Authority the stability and the obscurity of the Visions This darkness is such that no Creature how honorable soever could either open the Book or look into it That is to say who could so much as imagin the Events which it containeth v. 5. And one of the Elders saith unto me weep not behold the Lion of the Tribe of Judah the root of David hath prevailed to open the Book and to loose the Seals thereof But what no creature could do Jesus Christ hath done So St. John tells us at the very entrance in that he begun by these terms chap. 1. v. 1. The Revelation of Jesus Christ which God gave unto him to shew unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass Jesus Christ is here called a Lion because of his Resurrection as he is a little afterward called a Lamb by reason of the sacrifice of his death And a Lion of the Tribe of Judah because he sprung from that Tribe according to the flesh The Root of David because tho he be tru'ly Davids son according to his humane Nature he is nevertheless Davids Father as well as his Lord according to his Divinity III. ILLUSTRATION Of the Lamb with seven Horns and Seven Eyes and of his being worshipped REV. CHAP. 5. v. 6 c. V. 6. And I beheld lo in the midst of the Throne and of the four living Creatures and in the midst of the Elders stood a Lamb as it had been slain having seven Horns seven Eyes which are the seven Spirits of God sent forth into all the earth THis Lamb is Jesus Christ who tho risen is here represented as dead before the Throne to give us to understand that the merit of his death is alway's present before God and that his sacrifice is of an eternal vertu ' Horns according to the prophetick stile signify glory and power Psa 75. 10. The Lamb is represented having Seven which is a Mystick number to signify that nothing can be added to his glory and that his power hath no limits The seven Eyes and seven Spirits are of the same importance And do denote an omniscient knowledg and an immense wisdom by which he is every where present and conducteth all events as the soveraign Arbiter and Disposer V. 8. And when he had taken the Book the four living Creatures and four and twenty Elders fell down before the Lamb having every one of them Harps and golden Vials full of Odours which are the Prayers of Saints V. 9. And they sung a new Song saying Thou art worthy to take the Book and to open the Seals thereof for thou wast slain and hast redeemed us to God by thy Blood out of every kindred and tongue and people and Nation V. 10. And hast made us unto our God Kings and Priests c. Here is the same worship given to Jesus Christ by the four living Creatures and by the four and twenty Elders that in the preceding Chapter had been rendred to Him who created all things for his pleasure which shews Christs being acknowledged for the true God by the four living Creatures and by the 24. Elders The Harps which they have in their hands are for the singing the praises of God and the Vials full of odours are for the invocating of him which are the two Acts of Adoration These Odours are called the prayers of the Saints because the Incense offered by the Priests of old were a Symbole of prayers as appeareth in the 141. Ps v. 2. Let my prayer be set forth before thee as Incense Some may possibly infer from hence that the Saints who are in Heaven do pray for those on Earth and that they do present unto God the prayers of such as are here in the world But this is to suppose that the four and twenty Elders are in Heaven and that the Saints spoken of in this passage are to be understood of Souls received into Paradise or as men are used to speak in the world of the Saints that are in Heaven which is a supposition without any ground or foundation For those believers that are in Heaven are not in any part of the Bible called Saints but only stiled Blessed Nor is it said here that these 24. Elders are Blessed The Vision is so far from saying this that it declareth the contrary because the very same persons having Vials full of Odours do say v. 10. Thou hast made us unto our God Kings and Priests and we shall reign on Earth Which sheweth that they who offer up the prayers of the Saints that are on the Earth are themselves likewise upon the Earth and where they hope to Reign So that the four and twenty Elders do represent the Pastors and Guides of the Militant Church who are said to offer up Odours by reason of their praying publickly for all the Congregations of Believers And these Pastors are represented under the number of 24. by an allusion to rhe twelve Patriarchs of the Old Testament and the twelve Apostles of the New as they were in the Vision of the foregoing Chap. These 24. Elders and the 4. living Creatures sing a new Song saying Thou art worthy to take the Book and to open the Seals thereof for thou hast redeemed us c. Which words seem to give light to that saying of Jesus Christ in the 13. Chap. of Mark v. 32. But of that day and hour of Judgment knoweth no man no not the Angels which are in Heaven neither the Son of man but the Father Then the Son as man knew it not because he had not offered the Sacrifice of his death for the satisfying Divine Justice but now he knoweth both the day
the Adoration that all men should be laid under an obligation unto 3. The Body of Christ is according to the Papal Doctrine shut up in a Ciborium or Cupboard And this the Greek word here used doth signify 4. Nor is the Body of Christ according to the Doctrine of the Romish Church shut up meerly in one Cupboard which they call a Pix but in many which the Term here being in the plural number doth also denote 5. The Real Presence is built upon Miracles This every one knows by the many stories which we have of the Hosts having appeared in the Form of an Infant and that it hath been seen all Bloody Which our Saviour also foretold in saying that they who should teach this Real Presence should shew great Signs and Wonders insomuch that if it were possible they should deceive the very Elect. Moreover our Saviour forbids us to believe this invisible Presence of his Body Behold says he I have told you before believe it not And withal he declares that the Presence of the Son of man shall be like unto Lightning which shineth from one end of Heaven unto the other And forasmuch as he declareth that they shall be false Prophets who shall teach this Doctrine it does necessarily follow that tho the Pope through putting it into the Romish Creed and entorcing it by Anathema's is that very same False Prophet of whom St. John speaks in the Apocalypse Nor is the Real Presence of Christ's Body upon their Altars and that singular Adoration which they give unto the Sacrament the only false Doctrine in the Papacy whereby to prove the Pope to be this false Prophet But there are many more which serve to give evidence unto it And particularly that of the Worshipping of Images than which there cannot be a Doctrine more notoriously false 'T is most certain that God had forbid three things in his Law the making Images of things that are in Heaven or things that are in the Earth the bowing down before them and the serving them see Exod 20 4 5. Deut. 5. 8 9. All which the Church of Rome not only practiseth but persecutes all those as Hereticks and wicked persons who do in reference to this matter both obey the Injunctions of the Law and imitate the Example of the Jews since the time they returned from the Babylonish Captivity Is it not a false and an Heretical Doctrine to apply to the Virgin Mary in order to our being saved and to invocate her as the Gate of Paradise the Fountain of Grace and the Mother of Mercy If that Doctrine which overthroweth the Foundation be a Heresie Then it cannot be denied but that this is a gross one in that the Foundation of all Salvation is Iesus Christ alone Other Foundation saith St. Paul can no man lay than that that is laid which is Iesus Christ 1 Cor. 3. 11. And St. Peter saith that there is not Salvation in any other nor any other Name given among men save that of Iesus Christ whereby we may he saved Act. 4. 12. Beside can there be a Doctrine more evidently false than that of Popery which affirmeth the Mass to be a proper Sacrifice wherein our Redeemer is every day sacrificed Seeing the Apostle tells us expresly in the Epistle to the Hebrews chap. 10. v. 10. that we are sanctified through the offering of the Body of Iesus Christ once for all And he maketh this difference between the Sacrifices of the Law and that of our Saviour that they by reason of their imperfection were dayly offered whereas that of our Saviour because of its being infinitely perfect was offered but once And he addeth further in the same place v. 18. that there being under the Gospel Remission of Sins there is no more offering for Sin. So that here is enough to make it appear that the Pope who teacheth Doctrines so notoriously false and Heretical as these are can be no other than that False Prophet whom the Revelation of St. Iohn threatneth the World with VIII ILLUSTRATION Of the Dragon with Seven Heads and ten Horns REV. CHAP. 12. v. 3. IF we should take up with Appearances we should presently believe that this Dragon is the Devil and the rather seeing he is in the ninth verse called the Old Serpent the Devil and Satan who deceiveth the World. But yet the seven Heads and ten Horns which the Dragon is here said to have will not suffer us to doubt its being the same Roman Empire which is spoken of in the 13. Chap. because they are the same Heads and the same Horns of the Beast upon which the Woman sitteth in the 17. Chapter There is this only difference that the Horns of the Beast upon which the Woman sitteth are adorned with Crowns i. e. are Kings whereas the Horns of the Dragon have not these Marks of Soveraignty Which doth not prove them to be two different Beasts and two different Powers but only that the same Beast and the same Power is represented in relation to two different Times and two different Estates The ten Horns of the Beast upon which the Woman sitteth are according to the Explication given by the Angel ten Kings i. e. many Dominions formed out of the Ruins of the Roman Empire Which serveth to prove that Beast to be Rome and its Empire under the seventh Head and making profession of the Christian Religion Whereas the ten Horns of the Dragon are not adorned with Crowns because they were nothing save bare Provinces of Heathen Rome under the Emperors From whence it doth appear that the Dragon with his seven Heads and his ten Horns must necessarily represent the old Roman Empire and exactly denote Rome under the Emperors who are the sixth Head. 'T is called by the name of a Dragon which is a Beast because it is a Dominion and an Empire 'T is stiled Satan and the Devil by reason of the Devil 's being there worshipped under the name of Mars And from hence we see upon what ground Rome was called Martia and the City of Mars namely because the Devil was there as the Soul which acted that vast Body Even as he is called the Serpent in the seduction of the first Woman because he was as the Soul of the Serpent and that it was he that spake to Eva and who seduced her But the question is what is meant by the Tail of the Dragon drawing the third part of the stars of Heaven and casting them to the Earth They who understand the Scripture-stile of speaking cannot be detained a moment by this difficulty Seeing it appears in Isaiah chap. 9. v. 14 15. and chap. 19. v. 15. that whensoever the Scripture speaks of Head and Tail it does by Head intend a person of Rule and Authority and by Tail meaneth a False Prophet Therefore as the seven Heads signify the seven sorts of Rulers that have Governed Rome so the Tail signifieth the Lies False Doctrines Frauds and Impostures upon which the
by the 42. Moneths mentioned chap. 13 when we come to examin how long Antichristianism is to continue In the mean while that which is spoken v. 13. is worth the serious considering When she Dragon saith St. John saw that he was cast unto the Earth he persecuted the Woman There had been another Persecution of the Church for during the time of three hundred years She had been persecuted by the Pagans but this is a Persecution begun by Christians or by such who called themselves so The Devil being through the conversion of Rome and her Emperors dethroned and cast from Heaven unto the Earth he left the Church in Peace But it was only for a very short time for he suddenly bethought himself of assaulting her by Error and Superstition The first Persecution which was that by Pagans was open and avowed but this which is by the Antichristian Followers of the Beast is carried on more darkly XII ILLUSTRATION Of the Floud which the Serpent cast out of his Mouth and of the Help which the Earth gave unto the Woman REV. CHAP. XII v. 15. V. 15. And the Serpent cast out of his Mouth Waters as a Flood after the Woman that he might cause her to be carried away of the Floud V. 16. And the Earth helped the Woman and the Earth opened her Mouth and swallowed up the Floud which the Dragon cast out of his Mouth V. 17. And the Dragon was wroth with the Woman and went to make War with the remnant of her Seed which keep the Commandments of God and have the Testimony of Iesus Christ NOW Doctrine being called Prov. 18. 4. Waters of the Mouth this Floud must be a Hellish and Mortal Doctrine because it is the Serpent who casts it out of his Mouth to carry away the Woman and to destroy the Church beyond recovery Yet this Doctrine can be none of the Heresies with which the Church was exercised during the first three hundred years because the Church is here treated of after the time of the casting down of the Dragon from Heaven unto the Earth that is after the conversion of Rome and her Emperors So that it must needs be some Heresie started after the Flight of the Woman forasmuch as it is here said that the Serpent cast this Floud after the Woman as being in the pursuance of her upon her Retreat into the Wilderness Now the Woman as we have shewed withdrew into the Wilderness after the Emperors were turned Christian in that the Church begun then to decay in her purity It must therefore refer to those Errors which were condemned by the first four Councils and especially to that of Arius who denied the Eternal Godhead of Christ and taught that he was meerly a Creature made before all other things 'T is true there had arisen some Hereticks before who had vented the same Heresie in the main but it is likewise true that they never made such a considerable Body as to bring the Church into an extream danger Whereas the Arian Heresie by seising and infecting almost the whole Church had near brought it to pass that there should be no more a Christian Church and that there should be no more hope of Salvation For if Jesus Christ be not a Divine Person his Death can have no more vertue than that of Martyrs It could neither have expiated Sin nor that I may say all in one word have been any ways meritorious seeing common sense tells us that a meer Creature cannot merit at the hands of the Creator who is of infinite Majesty This Heresie prevailed over the whole Eastern Church forasmuch as it was approved by five Councils by that of Tyre that of Syrmium that of Ariminium that of Seleucia and that of Antioch But at length it was condemn'd and extinguished by the last Council that was held in reference to that matter which was that of Constantinople under Theodosius the great After which the Church hath enjoyed rest on that side and Iesus Christ hath been adored as co-essential with the Father For since then there have been no Hereticks owning this Heresie that have appeared in any Body For the Socinians are no more a Body than the Atheists and Deists are The Earth then that helped the Woman and which opened her mouth and swallowed up the Floud were all those Councils that condemn'd the Arian Heresie They are stiled the Earth because they are purely a humane Mean and one which God hath not ordained For Iesus Christ hath promised an infallibility to no Assembly of men or if he have it is to two or three who shall assemble in his Name and not to all who come together If we consider the Heresie of Arius meerly upon that foot and if we put it into the list of Heresies meerly upon the account of its being condemned by several Councils and if we believe that Iesus Christ is in all things equal to God only because Councils have so determined this Faith of ours will be but a Humane Faith and not a Divine For it is not Divine but as it hath a Divine foundation and a Divine foundation is no other thing save the Soveraign Authority of God speaking in the Scriptures I do believe that Iesus Christ is every way equal to his Father not because Councils have so decreed but because the whole Scripture doth declare it even from Moses to St. Iohn and from Genesis down to the Revelation The Councils did undoubtedly determine well when they condemned the Heresie of Arius and in that they asserted the Godhead of our Saviour but in the mean time their Decree was only so far just and true as it was conformable to the Word of God. The Councils are therefore no other but a humane Mean because Infallibility doth not reside in them but in the alone Word of God that is the Rule by which they do judg And forasmuch as they are a human mean they are the Earth that helped the Woman and that swallowed up the Flood XIII ILLUSTRATION Of the War which the Dragon being full of Wrath made against the Remnant of the Seed of the Woman REV. CHAP. 12. v. 17. THE Serpent saith St. Iohn was wroth with the Woman and this was upon the finding himself disappointed of that effect which he expected from the Floud which he had cast out of his Mouth and upon his seeing that the Earth had opened her mouth and swallowed it up And being enraged with wrath he went to make War with the remnant of her Seed which keep the Commandments of God and have the Testimony of Iesus Christ But what was not the Dragon wroth with the Woman before the Earth had swallowed up the Floud and before the condemnation of the Arian Heresie Hath he not alway's made War with those that are of the Seed of the Woman It is so nor is the contrary intended here but it is the Scripture way of speaking to express the increase of a thing as if it were
Council the Colledg of Cardinals for her Castles Convents for her Armies Monks for her Governors of Provinces Bishops and Arch-Bishops for her Ambassadors Nuucio's and Legat's for her Merchants Priests for her Merchandises Dispensations and for her Revenues Annates and Benefices So that it was with good reason that Gregorius Leâ—i begun his pleasant History of Pope Sixtus the fifth after this manner That the Popedom is the most considerable Monarchy that hath been established from the Creation of the World to this day and that no Princes whether Idolatrous or Christians have reigned more absolutely than the Roman Bishops do at whose Feet the greatest Potentates have laid down their Scepters and Crowns So that it may be said this sodering together of Temporal and Spiritual power this mingling of things Secular and Religious this conjunction of the Cross with the Sword this Union of Body and Soul and in brief this Authority over Earth and Heaven which meet and center in the Popes have raised and established a Soveraignty which almost all the People and Princes of the World do reverence Withal the Church of Rome saith I am no Widow in that She boasts of having a visible Head and spouse which is the Pope And She say's I shall see no sorrow for pretending to be the only Spouse of the Son of God how can she miscarry Or how should She be so forsaken as to be able to fall seeing it is to her alone that Jesus Christ hath made that promise the Gates of Hell shall not prevail against my Church Matth. 16. 18. XV. ILLUSTRATION Of Babylon's making all Nations Drunk with the Wine of her Fornication and of her being Drunk with the Blood of Saints REV. CHAP. 14. v. 8. THese two Actions of Babylon charactarise and mark out the Roman Church Seeing it is Idolatry that is spoken of which is Spiritual Adultery and dissolveth Gods Covenant as Adultery doth the Covenant of Marriage Now the Roman Church is guilty of too gross Idolatry to be any ways able to justify her self She worshippeth not only the Holy Virgin in giving her the Titles of the Gate of Paradise the Queen of Heaven and the Fountain of Grace but in advancing her above Jesus Christ through begging of her in one of their prayers that she would jure matris imperare i. e. use the authority of a Mother in Commanding her Son. Nor doth she only Adore Images according to the Decree of the second Council of Nice which is confirmed by the Council of Trent but she also Adores the Sacrament which Jesus Christ instituted to be a memorial of his death and which therefore must be something else than Christ himself Nor can she according to her own Doctrine have any assurance either divine or human that the Bread is the Body of Christ forasmuch as she cannot be assured of the Intention of the Priest upon which the whole Consecration doth depend To which may be added her Worshipping the Cross and that with the highest kind of worship called Latria having to this purpose set apart and assigned Good Friday The Doctrine of the Roman Church that leads men to Idolatry may be justly compared to Wine and not to water and to Wine of Wrath i. e. furious Wine because they who drink it become intoxicated and deprived of their senses So that they not only furiously pursue the Objects of their Superstition as so many mad men whom none can hinder or withdraw from it but they are transported with hatred rage against all those who do not approve their false and abominable devotion And it is worth our observing what the difference is between true Doctrine and false Wholsome and true Doctrine is usually compared to Water because it rendreth such as embrace it meek gentle patient under injuries ready to teach those who are otherwise minded with mildness and filled rather with Pity and Compassion towards them than transported with hatred But in reference to the effects of false Doctrine all is otherwise For it maketh such as entertain it violent cruel quarrelsom outragious ready to assault and fall upon those that contradict them and who refuse to follow their example And therefore it is resembled to Wine and to Wine of wrath i. e. heady Wine that inflameth and distracteth men and in a word rendreth them that are possessed with it persecutors to the outmost Nor can the Church of Rome deny but that she doth after this manner persecute all those whom she calls Hereticks and for this only reason because they will not own her to be the Empress of the world and the Mother and Mistriss of Faith and acknowledg her Bishop to be the Vicar of Jesus Christ and the Center of Christian Unity The Croisado's against the Valdenses and Albigenses of whose success Bellarmin triumpheth to that degree as to say that in one only Croisado there were a hundred thousand killed the Massacres committed in England France and the Low Countries in the forego'ing Age those perpetrated in Poland the Valleys of Piedmont and in Ireland within these forty or fifty years I say all these do make it but too evidently appear that the Church of Rome is this Woman whom St. John saw drunk with the Blood of Saints Rev. 17. 6. The Holy Scripture putteth this honor upon all those that follow sound Doctrine and of whose Faith the Gospel is the only Rule as to give them the glorious Title of Saints Nor can it be gain-said but that Rome is drunk with the Blood of Saints forasmuch as all the barbarous Croisado's against the Albigenses and all the Butcheries perpetrated upon Protestants have been for no other reason but for their making the Gospel the alone Rule of their Faith. Neither were they persecuted and destroyed but because of their disclaiming Human Traditions which are the mischievous Fountain of all Errors XVI ILLUSTRATION Of the Lamb on Mount Sion and with him the 144000. having the Fathers Name written in their Foreheads REV. CHAP. XIV v. 1. HERE we have a Description of the State of the True Church and that during the time in which Babylon was drunk with the Blood of the Martyrs For whereas one might have questioned whether the Church was not wholly lost seeing all the world not only wondred after the Beast but that they who refused to receive his mark and to worship his Image were killed therefore the Holy Spirit represents a Vision to St. John in which he might clearly see that the Church did subsist in despight both of the Victories of the Beast of the extent of his Empire and of the Violence of his Persecutions I looked saith St. John and lo a Lamb stood on the Mount Sion and with him 144000. having his Fathers Name written in their Foreheads and I heard a voice from Heaven as the voice of many Waters and as the voice of a great Thunder And I heard the voice of Harpers harping with their Harps and they sung as it were
before the last day So that it is the same that St. Iohn meaneth by the first Resurrection and by Reigning with Iesus Christ a thousand years The same Daniel says in the seventh Chap. v. 27. that after the destruction of the Roman Empire represented by the fourth Beast that the Kingdom and Dominion and the greatness of the Kingdom under the whole Heaven were given unto the people of the Saints of the most High and that all Dominions shall serve and obey him This cannot be after the general Resurrection because then there will be no Dominions nor hath it hitherto been accomplished so that it must refer to the 1000 years whereof St. Iohn doth here speak But what can we desire more plain than that Prophesie of Isaiah chap. 65. v. 17. c. where God speaketh in these Terms Behold I create new Heavens and a new Earth and the former shall not be remembred nor come into mind But be you glad and rejoice forever in that which I create For behold I create Jerusalem a rejoicing and her people a joy And the voice of weeping shall be no more heard in her nor the voice of crying There shall be no more thence an Infant of day's nor an old man that hath not fulfilled his day's for the Child shall die a hundred year old And they shall build houses and inhabit them and they shall plant vineyards and eat the fruit of them They shall not labour in vain nor bring forth Children for trouble For they are the seed of the blessed of the Lord and their offsprings with them And it shall come to pass that before they call I will answer and while they are yet speaking I will hear There are many things in this passage of Isaiah that there can be no room for in the life to come yea not in an allegorical sense Nor have they been fulfilled from the time of the Prophet till our day's so that they are to be accomplished after the first Resurrection i. e. after the deliverance of the Church from all her Enemies and during the thousand years in which she shall enjoy a perfect peace We can give no sense to these words whereby to adjust them to the state of the glorified There will not be from thence an Infant of day's nor an old man that hath not accomplished his day's Shall it be in Heaven that these words are to be fulfilled the Child shall die an hundred years old Or are the following words to receive their completion in the state of Glory They shall build houses and inhabite them they shall plant vine yards and eat the fruit of them They shall not labour in vain nor bring forth for trouble for they are the blessed of the Lord and their off spring with them And it shall come to pass that before they call I will answer If we take these words in a literal sense as they may without any difficulty it is then certain that they are not hitherto accomplished nor hath any thing like unto this been ever seen on the earth Nor can we affix unto them such a Mystical sense whereby to shew that they have been fulfilled in a state of grace from the establishment of the Gospel till this time and much less can such a sense be proved in reference to a state of Glory Nor can we avoid the fastning the like Exposition upon that other Prophesie of Isaiah chap. 11. v. 1 c. And there shall come forth a rod out of the Stem of Jesse and a branch shall grow out of his roots And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him In righteousness shall he judg the poor and reprove the meek with equity He shall smite the Earth with the rod of his mouth and with the breath of his lips shall be stay the wicked The Wolf shall dwell with the Lamb the Leopard shall lie down with the Kid the Cow and the Bear shall feed together and the Lion shall eat straw like the Ox and a little Child shall lead them They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain for the Earth shall be full of the knowledg of the Lord as the waters cover the Seas I dare maintain against the warmest Antimillenarians that this Prophesie is not yet fulfilled and that it shall be accomplished on the Earth after the destruction of Antichrist The fourth verse does plainly guide to this sense he shall smite the Earth with the rod of his mouth and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked And it evident that St. Paul had these words of Isaiah in his thoughts when he wrote the 2d chap of the 2d Ep. to the Thessalonians For after that he had described Antichrist by his principal Characters he adds v. 8. the Lord shall destroy this wicked one by the breath of his mouth and shall destroy him by the brightness of his coming Of what coming of the Lord doth St. Paul speak It cannot be of the last It must be a coming that may accord what is said by the Apostle with what is predicted by Isaiah And whensoever the Iews come to be brought home and all Nations converted it will then appear so clearly that Iesus Christ is come into the world that if he should descend from heaven unto the Earth we could not be more convinced This coming of the Lord will be magnificent and glorious forasmuch as it will make the Church from that time forward to appear as an Army glorious in holiness and victorious over all her Enemies There are three things promised in this Oracle The first is a perfect union of the Iews with all Nations This is promised under the Embleme of wild beasts dwelling and feeding peaceably with the Lamb and with the Ox. When was it that this was seen In the times of the Apostles when the Iews and Gentiles were converted by St. Peter and his fellow Apostles I do affirm that there was nothing then seen save a small pattern of the accomplishment of this prophecy Nor was that the time of the conversion of the Iews but rather of their rejection And the peace which appeared then in the Church made up of Jews and Gentiles was of too short a continuance to express all the Force and the whole extent of this Union and of this harmony of agreement which the Prophecy before us of Isaiah gives ground to hope for The 2d is an abundance and large diffusion of the knowledg of the true God. This is expresly promised in these words the whole Earth shall be full of the knowledg of the Lord as the waters cover the Sea. From the time of the Apostles till our day's there hath been nothing seen that may answer the greatness of this promise The darkness of Paganism prevailed in the Roman Empire till Constantine That of Arianism-followed soon after that of Heathenism And that of Antichristianism hath reigned for above these twelve hundred years and is not yet dissipated
Christ shall Reign after an eminent manner upon the Earth for a thousand years 'T is this second Marriage which is spoken of here in the 19. chap. Which Chapter may be called an Epithalamium or a Wedding Song because St. Iohn say's that he heard as it were the voice of a great multitude and as the voice of many waters and as the voice of mighty thunders saying Alleluja for the Lord God omnipotent Reigneth Let us be glad rejoice give honor to him for the Marriage of the Lamb is come his Wife hath made her self ready to her was granted that they should be arayed in fine linnen which is the Righteousness of the Saints The Spouse of this Marriage is the Christian Church being filled up with the fulness of Iews and Gentiles The Iews refused to come to the Marriage of the Son of God Matth. 22. 2. c. but they are here represented coming with joy And that is doubtless the reason why the Term Allelujah is four times used in this chapter as a Term familiar unto the Iews and ordinarily used by them in their Synagogues This Marriage is stiled a Supper blessed are they who are called unto the Marriage Supper of the Lamb v. 9. Because it is to be celebrated in the evening of the worlds duration The Marriage to which the Iews were first invited by their Lord is called a Dinner Matth. chap. 22. v. 4. but here at this second Marriage they are called to a Supper as being the last Invitation The Iews rejected the first Invitation because Christ left the Roman Empire in the state he found it whereas the Iews had strongly hop'd that the Messiah would have delivered them from its domination And now the same Roman Empire become Papal doth as much and more keep them off from Christianity because they cannot imagine that Idolaters can be the people of the Messiah and they have reason for it But when the Papal Empire shall come to be destroyed as it assuredly shall upon the Effusion of the Vials and when the Beast and the False Prophet shall be cast into the bottomless pit in a word when the Papacy shall be abolished with all its Idols then the Iews will be no longer deaf to Gods call but will come to the Supper of the Marriage of the Lamb shall unite with Christians to worship together the God of Abraham and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ The Church of Rome boasteth herself to be the Church of God but her vanity therein doth appear after such a manner that she might blush if she were capable being so vastly different from the Church which Jesus Christ acknowledgeth for his Spouse and which is called here the Spouse of the Lamb. There is as great a difference between the Church of Rome and the Church of Iesus Christ as there is between Babylon and Jerusalem between a Harlot and the Spouse of the Lamb. She discovereth herself by her gaud'ries and costly habit 's which serve for nothing but to gratify the sight and please the senses The Church of Christ manifesteth her self by another kind of Dress which is nothing but Righteousness and holiness For to her was granted that she should be arayed not in purpl ' and scarlet as Babylon but in fine linnen which is the Righteousness of the Saints XXIV ILLUSTRATION Of the holy Jerusalem REV. CHAP. 21. v. 10. ALL Interpreters do agree that this Ierusalem described Chap. 21 is the Church of God but they differ in this that some do believe it to be the Church of God glorified in Heaven whereas others do take it to be the Church Militant on Earth but victorious over all her Enemies and enjoying an universal peace during the 1000 years which have been spoken of This last opinion is the truest 1 Because the Angel entreth upon this description of the Church of God as he had entred upon the description of Babylon chap. 17. 'T is there said v. 1. One of the seven Angels which had the seven Vials talked with me saying I will shew thee the whore and her judgment The same is said here One of the seven Angels which had the seven Vials talked with me saying come hither and I will shew thee the Bride the Lambs Wife After the same manner that the glory of Babylon is represented there is the glory of the Church of God described here but such as she shall have afier the destruction of her Enemy 'T is in the prospect and hope of this that the Church do's rejoice Mica 7 8. c. Rejoice not against me O mine Enemy tho I be fallen I shall arise tho I sit in darkness the Lord shall be a light unto me I will bear the indignation of the Lord because I have sinned against him until he plead my cause then she that is my Enemy shall be covered with shame and mine eyes shall behold her troden down as the mire of the streets 2 The Church of God is here called the great City a Title which had been given to Babylon in the 16 17 and 18 Chapters Because the whole Earth went after Babylon while the Church of God did hardly appear being brought into a narrow compass and to a small number but now Babylon hath abandon'd the field and appeareth no more and now the Jews are brought again in and the fulness of the Gentiles is entred into the Tents of Jerusalem which being forced to stretch out her curtains by reason of the conversion of all nations is therefore called that great City This is exactly the little Stone in the Prophesie of Daniel which was to become a great Mountain And this Prophecy is to be fulfilled on the Earth before the day of judgment 3 'T is said in the 24 th verse that the Nations of them which are saved shall walk in the light of it and the Kings of the Earth do bring their glory and their honor into it Which can no way's be applied to the Church triumphant in heaven but agrees unto her as she is victorious on the Earth over the fury of the Beast and as she is in the enjoyment of her Millennian tranquillity It will be then that the Prophecy of Isaiah will be fulfilled chap. 49. v. 22 23. Behold I will lift up mine hand to the Gentiles and set up my standard to the people And they shall bring thy Sons in their arms and thy Daughters shall be carried upon their shoulders And Kings shall be thy nursing fathers and their Queens thy nursing Mothers they shall bow down to thee with their face toward the Earth and lick up the dust of thy feet Moreover the Church of God as she shall be glorified in heaven having been described in the beginning of the Chapter as well as the frightful state of the damned is in the 8th verse it is evident that in the 9. verse and forward the Angel describeth a glory of the Church different from that of heaven which
Church They are in their Hearts sealed of the Spirit but outwardly they have no other Mark save that of the profession of the pure Doctrine of the Apostles By the Mark that is in their Hearts they are known of God and by that in their Foreheads they are known of men VII ILLUSTRATION Of the Multitude which no man could number that Stood before the Lamb with Palms of their felicity and whence they came REV. CHAP. 7. V. 9. After this I beheld and lo a great multitude which no man could number of all Nations and kindreds and people and tongues stood before the throne and before the Lamb clothed with white Robes and Palms in their hands V. 10. And they cried with a loud voice saying Salvation to our God which sitteth upon the Throne and unto the Lamb. V. 11. And all the Angels c. V. 12. Saying Amen Blessing and Glory and Wisdom and Thanksgiving Honor and Power Might be unto our God for Ever and Ever Amen V. 13. And one of the Elders answered saying unto me what are these which are arayed in white Robes and whence are they V. 14. And I said unto him Sir thou knowest And he said to me these are they which came out of great Tribulation and have washed their Robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. V. 15. Therefore are they before the Throne of God and serve him day and night in his Temple and he that sitteth on the Throne shall dwell among them V. 16. They shall hunger no more neither thirst any more neither shall the Sun light on them nor any heat V. 17. For the Lamb which is in the midst of the Throne shall feed them and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters and God shall wipe away all tears from their Eyes THis multitude that could not be numbred are the companions of those Souls who cried under the fifth Seal How long O Lord before thou avenge our blood and white Robes were given unto them and it was said unto them that they should rest yet for a little season untill their fellow servants also and their bretheren that should be killed as they were should be fulfilled chap. 6. v. 10 11. These Martyrs are represented innumerable and there are two reasons intimated for it First because they were of all Nations kindreds people and Tongues 2ly because they were come out of great Tribulation And this great Tribulation is so called from the long duration of it Nor could it be otherway's for that it was to continue as long as the Papal Kingdom namely two and fourty months or a 1260 day 's which are 1260 years as we shall afterwards see They are represented clothed in white Robes as they under the fifth Seal were to intimate both their dignity and their Joy. But besides this they are represented standing before the Throne and before the Lamb with Palms in their hands whereas they under the fifth Seal were represented under the Altar and without Palms The reason of that difference is this because under the fifth Seal the Enemies of the Martyrs had the upper hand of them and persecuted their memories to that degree as to dig their bodies out of the ground and to throw their ashes into the wind as accounting them an abominable crew whereas in the place of that these here their great Tribulation's being finished and the 1260 years expired and the Beast and the false Prophet being cast into the bottomless pit are represented standing before the Throne of God and with Palms in their hands as conquerors over all their Enemies They shall be acknowledged blessed in Heaven and such who after the End of this Tribulation shall be found on the Earth walking in their faith shall Reign with Christ a thousand years So that the Holy Spirit doth by way of Anticipation describe here the felicity of the Church of God on the Earth whereof we have spoken upon the Subject of the first Resurrection that the terrible calamity which is to be represented under the Trumpets might not discourage believers being strengthened and fortified before hand by a promise of the victory which the Church shall at last obtain over her Enemies The Prophet Isaiah hath promised the same happiness to the Church of Israel For he hath said chap. 25. v. 8. that God will wipe away tears from off all faces And he hath said chap. 41. v. 10. that they shall not hunger not thirst neither shall the heat nor Sun smite them 'T is likewise to the Church made up of Iews and Gentiles that the Holy Spirit doth here promise the same felicity The Terms used by Isaiah do equally agree with the happiness in Heaven for the Souls of the Martyr's and with the happiness on Earth for those who shall have part in the first Resurrection and who shall Reign a thousand years VIII ILLUSTRATION Of the Silence in Heaven for half an hour REV. CHAP. 8. V. 1. And when he had opened the Seventh Seal there was silence in Heaven about the space of half an hour V. 2. And I saw the Seven Angels which stood before God and to them were given seven Trumpets AFter that the Idolatry of the Roman Empire was overthrown and after that the Christian Religion was established by publick Authority and that an end was put to persecution St. Iohn saw heresies and superstitions breaking in upon the Church But this did not come to pass immediately there was a space before that had the face of a peace or truce In a word there was a a short intervall That is it which had been already represented by the holding back of the four winds whereof we have spoken in the fifth Illustration And it is the same which is represented by the silence mentioned here at the opening of the 7 th Seal For when no wind blows there is a general calm And a great silence in the Air which is called Heaven in Scripture But in this place Heaven signifies the Church and Silence denoteth the peace that was established under the Reign of Constantin Called a Silence for half an hour because that peace continued only for a few years So that if the holding the winds from blowing signifies a general peace the Silence for half an hour marks the short while that it lasted IX ILLUSTRATION Of the seven Angels with the seven Trumpets and of the Angel who cast the Censer into the Earth REV. CHAP. 8. V. 2. And I saw the seven Angels which stood before God and to them were given seven Trumpets V. 3. And another Angel came and stood at the Altar having a golden Censer and there was given unto him much incense that he should offer it with the prayers of all Saints upon the golden Altar which was before the Throne V. 4. And the Smoke of the Incense which came with the prayers of the Saints ascended up before God out of the Angels hand V. 5. And the Angel took the
Censer and filled it with fire of the Altar and cast it into the Earth and there were voyces and thundrings and lighnings and an Earthquake TRumpets were used under the Law for two uses One was for War and to encourage the people to fight The other was for peace and to stir up the people to a holy rejoicing Those spoken of here are of the first sort The Seven Angels are the denouncers of those Evils which God was to pour out upon the Church to punish her decay in zeal and Charity The other Angel who stood before the Golden Altar with a Golden Censer is Jesus Christ that appeared in the 7. Chap. with the Seal of God and appeareth now as a Priest with a Censer that is to say as an Intercessor And his Intercession appeareth here with two different effects one for his people in obtaining their prayers to be accepted and his giving value to them is figured by incense The other against false Christians upon whom he scattereth fire from off the Altar This is the fire of division whereof Christ speaks Luke 12. 49 51. I am come to send fire on the earth Suppose ye that I am come to give peace on Earth I tell you nay but rather division 'T is said that this fire was taken off the Altar because it was to be kindled in a Church destitute of zeal and charity and because this fire of division was to be about Religion as the subject of it and by reason that Jesus Câ—rist was to be the cause of it or at least the pretence The voices thundrings lightnings and Earthquake that ensued upon the Scattering of this fire do plainly represent the strifes quarrels and troubles which under the Reign of Constantin and his Successors broke out among the Bishops and Pastors Who being given up to covetousness luxury and ambition raised such troubles as shook the Christian Religion and opened a door to Antichristianism which did appear under the Trumpets X. ILLUSTRATION Of the first Trumpet and of the Hail Fire and Blood. REV. CHAP. 8. V. 1. And the seven Angels which had the Seven Trumpets prepared themselves to sound V. 7. And the first Angel sounded and there followed hail and fire mingled with blood and they were cast upon the Earth and the third part of the Trees was burnt up and all green Grass was burnt up WE find not in History any change that befell the Church so near to the withholding the winds and to the Silence for half an hour i. e. so near to the peaceable Reign of Constantin which either more opened a door to Antichristianism or which better correspondeth to this Hail to this fire and to this blood caused by this first Trumpet than that so much noted Heresie of Arius 1 Arianism begun to lift up its head under the Reign of Constantin The Church had no sooner peace than the Devil let loose this Heretick to trouble her 2 This Heresie infected the whole Empire The world saith St. Ierom trembleth and is amased to see it self become Arian It lasted near three hundred years Many Councils were assembled to stop its course And it was in these Councils that the Bishop of Rome laid the foundation of that Supremacy which made him afterward to be considered and feared as the Head the judg and the absolute Monarch both of the world and of the Church 3 The hail the fire and the blood do admirably agree to that Heresie 'T is called Hail by reason both of its violence and of the noise which it made and because of the barrenness and coldness which it begot in mens hearts out of which it drove away godliness and charity 'T is stiled Fire because of the contentions which it kindled And it is called Blood by reason of the bloody persecutions which it raised And whereas she third part of the Trees and every green Herb are said to have been burnt up it is because more than one half of the Pastors who are designed by Trees and the generality of the people signified by all green Grass were infected with it XI ILLUSTRATION Of the second Trumpet A Mountain Burning cast into the Sea and a third part of it became Blood. REV. CHAP. 8. V. 8. And the second Angel sounded and as it were a great Mountain burning with fire was cast into the Sea and the third part of the Sea became blood V. 9. And the third part of the Creatures which were in the Sea and had life died and the third part of the Ships were destroyed 'T Is certain that Mountains do in the language of the Prophets signify the Kingdoms of the Earth Thus Mount Sion signifieth the Church which is the Kingdom of God. And thus 't is said Isaiah chap. 2. v. 14. that the day of the Lord shall be against all the high Mountains that is against all Nations tho' never so fierce and against all Kingdoms how powerful soever So that this burning Mountain thrown into the Sea cannot be better explained than of the Nations of the Goths Visigoths Ostrogoths Vandal's and Gepid's that under the Reign of Valens about the year 378. broke in like an inundation upon the Roman Empire destroyed Rome and who abolished the very Name of the Roman Empire in the West about the year 547. These Nations are stiled a burning Mountain because of their violence and of their swiftness This Mountain was cast into the Sea because it was an effect of the wrath of God that these Nations broke in upon the Roman Empire which was a great Sea a heap of many peoples which the Scripture useth to express by waters Now this burning Mountain is not said to dry up the Sea tho that be the proper effect of fire but it is said to have caused the third part of the Sea to become blood the H. Spirit having a respect to what is here signified by this Mountain namely the fierce and bloody humour of these Nations who drowned a part of the Roman Empire in blood infected the people of this Empire with Errors and destroyed a part of its Cities designed here by Ships XII ILLUSTRATION Of the third Trumpet A great Star fell from Heaven REV. CHAP. VIII V. 10. And the third Angel sounded and there fell a great Star from heaven burning as it were a Lamp and it fell upon the third part of the Rivers and upon the Fountains of Waters V. II. And the Name of the Star is called Worm-wood and the third part of the waters became Worm-wood and many men died of the waters because they were made bitter SEeing Jesus Christ hath in the first chap. v. 20. expounded the seven Stars which he had in his right hand to represent Pastors it must necessarily be that by the Star spoken of here some Bishop or Pastor should be intended And forasmuch as it is a great Star it must be a great Bishop that is designed and the Pastor of some Church which men esteem'd to be the
of time betwixt the sounding of the sixth Trumpet and the sounding of the seventh Seeing 't is said chap. 11. v. 14. The second Wo is past and behold the third Wo cometh quickly For we are to observe that this is not said in the prediction of the two first Wo's under the fifth and sixth Trumpets All that is there said is only that they shall come but this quickly is not added save in the prediction of the third Wo. Whence we may conclude that the seventh Trumpet shall immediately follow the Resurrection of the two Witnesses Whose Death as it fell out in 1685. so their Resurrection shall ensue within three years and a half from that time because the three days and a half wherein they are to lie dead being prophetick days are equivalent unto so many years And then in a short time after the Resurrection of the Witnesses whom the Beast hath killed we shall see the arrival of the third Wo that is to avenge the Lambs Wife for all the evils which the Mother of Harlots hath made her to suffer Nor ought we to forget that the Term in the Original which signifieth a Vial signifieth also a Cup in which sense the Term is undoubtedly here used For besides that it is the Judgments of God which are here treated of and which are expressed in the Scripture by the word Cup as appeareth both Ps 75. v. 8. and by the prayer of our Saviour in his Agony Let this Cup pass from me Matth. 26. v. 39. I say besides this it is evident that the vengeance wherewith Babylon is threatned is expressed by the same Term Rev. chap. 18. v. 6. Reward her even as she rewarded you and double unto her double according to her works in the CUP which she hath filled fill to her double So that the Cups of God's Wrath are set in opposition to the golden Cup with which Babylon made drunk the Nations of the Earth Babylon's Cup is full of the furious Wine of her fornications Rev 17. 2. These Cups which are to be poured out are full of the wrath of Almighty God by which he will make her desolate I will again repeat that seeing these Vials or Cups contain Judgments yet to come and which cannot be explained from the Events as hath been done in expounding of the Visions of the Trumpets that therefore I design not to speak otherway's than by way of Conjecture This is a deference which should be pay'd to the Author of Prophesies Howsoever we shall see what may be best alledged and what carrieth the greatest probability by having our eye upon remembring the Explanations that have been already given The first Vial. V. 2 And the first Angel went and poured out his Vial upon the Earth and there fell a noisome and grievous sore upon the men which had the mark of the Beast and upon them which worshipped his Image The Earth upon which the first Vial fell is the Antichristian Church the Christian Church become Earthly which is no longer constituted of those that are Citizens of Heaven as the true Church of Jesus Christ is but is made up of worldly persons who have nothing else in their aim but to satisfy their ambition avarice and carnal desires These will be fretted and grieved to see the loss of their Church Revenues and to be deprived of the means of gratifying their Iusts This vexation and sorrow which is the noisome and grievous sore upon them will increase their rage against the Church of God. They who have the mark of the Beast represent the Clergy the Prelates and the Priests who are not only distinguished by their Habits and shaving their Crowns but who likewise boast of an indelible Character that is to say of a mark which nothing can efface These who worship the Image of the Beast signifie the false zealots who are intoxicated with the belief of the Infallibility of the Romish Church as the ancient Romans were with the Eternity of Rome which they stiled the Eternal City These are the Bigots who are transported with a blind zeal the Ignorants who are swallowed up in Superstition and who yield a greater and a more submissive obedience to their Guides than that which God requireth of his People For God doth not require a blind Obedience which is that which they do render to their Clergy The second Vial. V. 3. And the second Angel poured out his Vial upon the Sea and it became as the Blood of a dead man and every living Soul died in the Sea. The Sea is the Papal Kingdom in its utmost extent not only the countrey whereof the Pope is Soveraign but likewise all those Princes who acknowledg him for their Spiritual Head and Father This Empire shall become as the Blood of a dead Man so that every Soul which liveth in it shall die That is the Government of Popish Princes shall grow so intolerable that their people shall not be able to endure their Yoke As the Fish cannot live in waters which are turned into Blood. The third Vial. V. 4. And the third Angel poured out his Vial upon the Rivers and Fountains of Waters and they became Blood. V. 5. And I heard the Angel of the Waters say thou art righteous O Lord which art and wast and shalt be because thou hast judged thus V. 6. For they have shed the blood of Saints and Prophets and thou hast given them blood to drink for they are worthy The Rivers and the Fountains are beyond all peradventure the Doctrines wherewith they nourish Souls The Doctrine of the Romish Church is a Doctrine of Blood against all those whom they account Hereticks And it is very probable that the same Doctrine shall prove bloody against themselves And that their Maxims such as that Faith is not to be kept with Hereticks that men are to be compelled to go to Mass because it is written compel them to come in and that it is lawful to do evil that good may come of it together with others of that kind shall one day serve to make their members arm against and tear one another And by that means like shall be returned unto them for like The fourth Vial. V. 8. And the fourth Angel poured out his Vial upon the Sun and power was givrn unto him to shorch men with fire V. 9. And men were scorched with great heat and blasphemed the Name of God which hath power over these plagues and they repented not to give him glory This Sun is in all likelyhoood the Ottoman Emperor who is the Sun of the Eastern Empire For as the fourth Trumpet raised and established him so the fourth Vial shall shake him and pull him down The Subjects of that Empire shall be mortally afflicted but instead of being thereby converted they shall blaspheme the Name of God through not acknowledging his providence as the Supreme and righteous cause of their Judgments The fifth Vial. V. 10. And the fifth Angel poured out
he cometh he must continue a short space And the Beast that was and is not even he is the Eighth King and is of the seven and goeth into Perdition He of whom the Angel saith one is was the Roman Emperor who was Master of the Empire in St. Iohn's time He of whom it is said the other is not yet come is the Pope who was not in the time of St. Iohn but hath been since the fifth Century The Angel predicteth concerning the Elevation of this Bishop to his Grandure when he cometh i. e. when he shall usurp the Soveraignty and Domination that he must continue a short space The Pope became Master of Rome and Temporal Lord over it when Gregory the second excommunicated Leo the Emperor Then saith Sigonius Rome past from the Greeks by reason of their Heresie about Images into the hands of the Pope And for seventy years it remained in the same condition under the Popes that it had been formerly under the Emperors and was the subject and Slave of these new Lords But that Form of Government continued not above seventy years for so saith the Angel it must continue for a short space Afterwards the Soveraignty became divided betwixt the Pope and the City of Rome For if the Pope was Temporal Lord and Master Rome was also Lady and Mistriss And this is exactly what the Angel says to St. Iohn and the Beast that was and is not even he is the eight King. This bears no difficulty because he adds he is of the Seven For seeing the Pope is the seventh Head and the seventh King and that the Angel says that the Eighth King is of the seven it cannot otherways be but that he understandeth the Pope as exercising his Domination after two different manners The first alone in the quality of Temporal Lord of Rome and after the manner of the Emperors whose Seat with all their Rights and Soveraignty he had usurped The other in conjunction with Rome which continueth to this day and hath from the time of Pope Leo the third in whom the first sort of Domination ended 'T is in vertue of this union between the Pope and the City of Rome in their Government that upon the one hand Rome is reverenced as the Chair of St. Peter as the Mother and Mistriss of all Churches the Guardian of Faith having her Senate made up of Cardinals qualified with the Title of Cardinals of the Roman Church and by whose Counsel as Affairs are managed so it is by their votes that the Pope is chosen and it is from this upon the other hand that the Pope is worshipped as Successor of St. Peter as Vicar General of Iesus Christ the Husband of the Church as God on Earth and as Soveraign Iudge of all and who can be judged by none This is what we have represented in the 13. Chapter v. 12. where it is said That the second Beast excrciseth all the power of the first Beast and that he causeth them that dwell on the Earth to worship the first Beast For upon the one side Rome and her Senate do all they can to maintain the Soveraign Authority of the Pope and upon the other side the Pope useth his utmost endeavour to make all men Reverence the Church of Rome as the Mother of the Christian Faith and the Mistriss of all Churches Thence it comes also to pass that as the Pope is not stiled the Christian Bishop but the Roman Bishop so Rome is not called by the name of Christian Church but by the name of Roman and Apostolick which is as much as Papal Church For according to the stile of the Court of Rome Apostolick signifies the same that Papal doth so that the Popes Miter his Slipper his Mule his Habit his Bulls his Notaries and in a word all that relates to the Popes Person are called Apostolick There is not one from the highest to the lowest that belongs to him even to the Buffoons that accompany his Nuncio's and Legats but affects to be so stiled He that attended the last Legate into France said to the Dorekeeper of the Playhouse Io sono il Bouffono Apostolico Moreover these two kinds of Government that of the Pope alone and that of the Pope in conjunction with Rome are clearly marqued and recorded in History It was Gregory the second saith Sigonius that took away the Dominion of Rome from the Greeks Gregory the second saith Onuphrius being more couragious than his Predecessor Constantine took from Leo the Emperor all that he had left of the Kingdom of the Lombards in Italy which was done in the year 729. And this Domination of the Pope alone lasted to the year 798. But then saith Vignier certain Citizens being incensed against Pope Leo the third they did under pretence of restoring Rome to its ancient Freedom flirr up the people who seising upon the Pope at a procession put out one of his Eyes and threw him into prison whence being delivered by the Duke of Spoletto and brought to Charlemain that Prince carried him back to Rome the year following and reconciled him with the Romans This reconciliation being made the Popes travelled so well for the re-establishment of their lost Soveraignty that they recovered it but in conjunction with Rome having to this purpose setled there before hand the Primacy and Chair of St. Peter so that if the Pope was from thenceforth respected as the Soveraign Bishop the Head and Royal Judg of the Christian Church Rome also was honoured as the Mother of the Faith and Mistriss of all Churches So that this point cannot be rendred clearer seeing both the seventh and the eighth King appear so plainly in History and particularly in the Popish Historians Sigonius Vignier and Onuphrius do exactly marque the two ways wherein the Popes have exercised their Domination The first from Gregory the second till Leo the third who was so ill handled upon that account and the second from the re-establishment of that Pope by Charlemain upon the condition that Rome should Reign in conjunction with him VII ILLUSTRATION Who the False Prophet is THE False Prophet is spoken of in two places of the Revelation First in the pouring out of the sixth Vial Rev. 16. 13. Three unclean Spirits like Frogs came out of the Mouth of the Dragon and out of the Mouth of the Beast and out of the Mouth of the False Prophet And then in the 19. Chapter where it is said that the Beast was taken and with him the False Prophet and they were cast alive into a Lake of Fire burning with Brimstone Now this False Prophet is nothing else but the Beast with two Horns mentioned in the 13. Chapter but the seventh Head of the Beast with ten Horns and the eighth King that are spoken of in the 17. Chap. v. 11. The Beast with two Horns is the Pope with his twofold power the one over that which is Spiritual the other over that which is Temporal The
a new Song before the Throne and before the four living Creatures and the 24. Elders and no man could learn that Song but the 144000. There is nothing difficult in this Vision The Lamb is Jesus Christ Sion is a Mountain separated from Jerusalem and is a Figure of the True Church The 144000. who have the Fathers Name written in their Foreheads are Believers who compose the True Church and who by keeping themselves separated from the Romish Church have this comfort that they do enjoy the gracious presence of their Saviour as Sacrificed for them and they will hearken to no other Saviour but him He then who would know the True Church in order to join himself into Communion with it needs no more but to consider this Portraiture which the Holy Spirit hath vouchsav'd us and wherein he hath given us six Characters of her that so we may not be deceived First 't is said that they were redeemed from among them or from among those of the Earth Now it had been said in the 13. Chap. that all the Earth went or wondered after the Beast 'T is then from this Earth that is from among the Followers of the Beast that they who constitute the True Church are redeemed and separated In the second place they are those who are not defiled with Women for they are Virgins Which words cannot be understood of the Romish Ecclesiasticks without a manifest injury to the Text. Forasmuch as the term Virgin agreeth only to Females nor is the word in the Original used of any but of those of that Sex. We are not then to take the Phrase in a Literal sense but in a Mystical for he speaketh of a Chastity and of a Virginity that is Mystical of a purity of Soul that abhorreth Idolatry as spiritual Adultery For they who are Virgins and who are not defiled with women are set in opposition to those whom the Woman hath made drunk with the Wine of the Wrath of her Fornication that is with Idolatry whereof the Papal Church is manifestly guilty 3. 'T is said that they follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth Which is as much as that the Members of the True Church are united to Jesus Christ by indissoluble Bonds and that they follow him on Mount Calvary as well as Mount Tabor in a Wilderness as well as in a Land that flows with Milk and Honey on the raging Sea as well as upon firm ground and as S. Paul says through honor and dishonor through evil report and good report 2 Cor. 6. 8. 4 They are those in whose mouth there is found no Guile for they are without fault before the Throne of God. Which is the language wherein St. Paul speaketh of the Church Eph. Chap. 5. v. 25 26 27. Christ says he loved the Church and gave himself for it that he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of Water by the Word that he might present it to himself a glorious Church not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing but that it should be holy and without blemish So that it is not true that worldly and wicked persons do constitute the true Church 5. They are those who could learn the new Song that is sung by the 24. Elders and by the four living Creatures What Song can this be which they of the Earth could not learn Forasmuch as that we do not learn Songs but in order to sing them there must be some Mystery contained under this new Song We learn not but in order to practise and they who do not practise do not know nor have they learned So that in a word this new Song is the Mystery of denying our selves and or resolving to bear the Cross Worldlings might learn the Mysteries of Religion if they would The Theory doth not exceed their capacity But to be obliged to deny themselves and to take up the Cross is unintelligible to them or at least that which they will not submit unto and practise Finally they are those who are built upon the Doctrine of the twelve Apostles Therefore they are said to be of the number of the hundred and forty four thousand because twelve thousand multiplied twelve times makes up the number of 144000. Besides it is a definite number put for an indefinite to shew both that God knoweth all those who are his and that they cannot be diminished notwithstanding all the attempts that the Dragon makes against them XVII ILLUSTRATION Of the three Angels of the Everlasting Gospel and of the Denunciation against Babylon and her Followers REV. CHAP. 14. v. 6 7 8 9. GOD hath not only alway's preserved a number of true Believers who as we have already shew'd never worshipped the Beast nor his Image but he hath moreover raised up Teachers who have both openly condemned the Idolatry of the Romish Church and have exhorted the People to withdraw from her Communion And that is this which is here represented in the Vision of the three Angels Forasmuch as the Pastors of the seven Churches are in the second and third Chapters of the Revelation stiled by the name of Angels These Angels are represented in the person of him who appeared the first of the three with the Everlasting Gospel because there is no other Rule whereby to Reform the Church when she is corrupted nor to restore the purity of Gods Worship when it is degenerated into Superstition So that the Eternal Gospel is the same with the Reed wherewith the Temple was measured in the 11. Chap. The Followers of the Beast have alway's used to accuse those of Novelty that have condemned their Errors But the Gospel which they preach in its purity doth fully vindicate them against this accusation because it is the same Gospel which was written and preached by the Apostles and which shall be preached to the consummation of all Ages and is therefore called the Everlasting Gospel There are Three Angels spoken of to intimate Three different Times wherein God raised up Teachers who declared against the Errors and Idolatries of the Romish Church Now these three different Times were the twelfth the 14 th and the 16 th Centuries In the twelfth Age about the year 1126. there arose Peter du Bruit and soon after him in the year 1147. there appeared one Henry of Tholoss whose Disciples were cried down for Hereticks under the name of Petrobrusians and Henricians Tho' they taught nothing but the Everlasting Gospel thro preaching against the Sacrifice of the Mass Transubstantiation Prayers and Offerings for the Dead Invocation of Saints the Adoration of Images the Celibate of Priests and against other Errors and Superstitions of the Roman Church In the same Age there arose also Arnoldus de Bress who upon going into Italy to preach against those Errors was by the command of the Emperor Frederick Barberossa apprehended and to gratify the Pope whose Friendship he sought burnt in the year 1155. In which year Valdo appeared who was had in so great
esteem that they who before had been called Arnoldians Henricians and Petrobrusians are supposed to have gotten from him the name of Valdenses Tho that is a mistake forasmuch as long before the time of Valdo they who made profession of the true Doctrine had been so stiled from the name of the Valleys of Angrogna and Piedmont where the Church of God had been harboured from the day 's of Constantin as hath been already observed These Teachers are represented crying with a loud voice Fear God because at that season Babylon alone was dreaded it being the common language of every one at that day Who is like unto the Beast who is able to make war with him as the Holy Ghost hath marked Rev. chap. 13. v. 4. They are farther represented crying Give Glory to God because then the Honor due to God was transferred to Creatures which according to St. Paul is a with-holding or a not-giving Glory to God. For that Apostle being speaking of the Pagans he accuseth them of not having glorified God by reason of their giving that honor to the Creature which belonged to none save to the Creator Rom. 1. 21 23. Moreover they are here introduced threatning the men of that Age with the Judgments of God The hour say they of his judgment is come Which Denunciation was fulfilled in the same Century For the Quarrels between the Emperor Frederick and the Pope filled all Christendom with Civil Wars and overwhelmed it with Desolation Besides the Voiage of Louis the seventh into the Holy Land proved most unhappy and then Saladin towards the end of that Age conquered the Kingdom of Jerusalem so that all the Christians became defeated and droven out of Palestine They are further introduced preaching the Gospel to every Nation and kindred and Tongue and People that is through all parts of the Papal Kingdom which in these Visions is signified by the Kingdom of the Beast Of whom it is said Chap. 13. v 7. that power was given unto him over all kindreds and Tongues and Nations and that all who dwelt upon the Earth worshipped him Which can be meant of nothing else but of the Roman Papal Empire In the fourteenth Age about the year 1360. Iohn Wicklif assaulted the Pope and both called him Archheretick Antichrist the Impostore of the Church and proved him to be so by Scripture History and his own Actions He preached likewise against the Sacrifice of the Mass against Indulgences and against the Worship of Images Relicks and Saints The voice of this Angel was so powerful and efficacious that Edward the third King of England ordained in Parliament that from thence forward Bishops should not go to Rome for confirmation but be confirmed at home by their own Metropolitans This Wicklif upon his withdrawing into Bohemia had Iohn Hus for his Disciple Which Hus by the alone power of his Doctrine drew the Kingdom of Bohemia off from obedience to Rome And thence it is that this Angel is introduced crying Babylon is falling is falling Because that was a presage of the falling away of Nations from her which should ensue in the next Age. John Hus was burnt by the Council of Constance contrary to the publick Faith and the safe Conduct that had been given him by the Emperor Sigismond And History reports of him that he should say to his Judges ye are putting a Goose to death for so Hus in the Bohemian Language signifies but a hundred years hence God will raise up a Swan whom tho ye would never so fain destroy ye shall not be able Which Prophecy was exactly fulfilled at the time For as Iohn Hus was burnt anno 1415. so Luther begun the work of the Reformation by writing against Indulgences in the year 1515. And tho the Court of Rome did all they could both to stop his mouth and to destroy him yet they could never effect it It was therefore in the 16. Century that the voice of the third Angel was heard saying loudly If any man worship the Beast and his Image and receive his mark in his Forehead or in his Hand the same shall drink of the Wine of the Wrath of God c. This Angel is Luther who writ with that strength and preached with that efficacy and with such success against the Errors Idolatry and Tyranny of the Church of Rome that near one half of the Nations and People who reverenced her as their Mother and feared her as their Queen withdrew from her Communion and look't upon her with detestation as the Mother of uncleanness and Abominations And as Rome could not behold the success of the voice of the third Angel but with despite and rage so Believers could not escape suffering a great deal from a power which saw it self so dangerously weakned by their Separation This is what the H. Spirit declareth was to be when he saith Here is the patience of the Saints here are they that keâ—p the Commaudments of God and the Faith of Iesus But the Holy Spirit in the message directed thereupon to St. Iohn do's likeway's animate and fortify them against all those evils that Babylon should be able to do unto them And I heard a voice from Heaven saying unto me write Blessed are the Dead which die in the Lord from henceforth yea saith the Spirit that they may rest from their labours and their works do follow them There being no where else and express command given unto St. Iohn to write except in the first Chap. v. 19. It serves to shew the great importance of this Doctrine both in discovering the falsehood of the Romish Doctrine about the State of Dead about the Worship given unto them about Purgatory to which they are adjudged and about the Mass which is made use of for fetching them thence and also for the comfort and encouragement of those who assert the dignity of the Everlasting Gospel and who are persecuted by the Beast for defending of it XVIII ILLUSTRATION Of the Harvest and the Vintage REV. CHAP. 14. v. 14 15 c. THese two Visions do without doubt signify the Judgments of God against his Enemies and the Persecutors of his Church Accordingly Ieremiah useth the similitudes of Vintage and Harvest against Babylon of the Chaldees Chap. 51. v. 33. The Daughter of Babylon saith he is like a threshing floor it is time to thresh her yet a little while and the time of her Harvest shall come Ioel also makes use of them both Chap. 13. 3. Put in the Sicle saith he for the Harvest is ripe come get you down for the Press is full the fats overflow for their wickedness is great There are some who do think that the Harvest respecteth and threatneth the Mahometan Empire but all are agreed that the Vintage referreth unto and threatneth the Papal Kingdom As for me I think it most probable that both these Judgments do threaten the Papal Empire And that the Harvest signifies an Initial Judgment or a Decision as to some
imaginable But in truth after that I had throughly examined the vision of St. Iohn and the juncture of time where the Holy Spirit placeth the Reign of a thousand years to wit between the destruction of Babylon and all the Enemies of the Church upon the one side and the War of Gog and Magog as a fruit of the loosing of Satan after he had been imprisoned for a thousand years upon the other side I must declare that I find my self conquered and that I am forced to believe that the Church of God is to enjoy for some Ages an entire and uninterrupted peace here on the Earth I am confirmed in this opinion by a vast number of Prophesies both of the Old and New Testament which cannot be expounded without violence offered to them and are if I may so speak so many inexplicable riddles unless the Church of God be to enjoy that peace in this world of which those promises give us assurance And finding not the least danger in embracing that opinion I have closed with it without any further hesitation For what danger can it be to believe that the Church of God shall enjoy a thousand years Tranquillity here on the Earth I do see none unless it be that the believing so will give offence to the Orthodox who are of another mind and who affirm that the Cross is to be the Banner and Livery of the Church of God thro all Ages But these very Gentlemen do acknowledg that the Church had rest and peace during the Reign of Constantine And there are some who place the thousand years here spoken of under the Reign of that Emperor And do understand by them the Tranquillity that the Church enjoyed from the conversion of Constantine till the time that She became disturbed and persecuted by the Arrians So that the Orthodox Antimillenarians do confess that the Church had at least a twenty years calmness and serenity Why then should they be offended that others who are Orthodox make the peace which the Church is to enjoy to be of a greater length and duration And they cannot but own that the Cross is not essential to the Church of God. It is an accident without which the Church may very well subsist God can as well sanctify the Church in prosperity as in adversity in a calm as well as in a tempest Iob was righteous and rich in good works in the time of his affluence as well as in the time of his misery And why may it not be so in reference to the Church of God If the world be to last seven or it may be eight thousand years what danger will there be in allowing the Church of God one thousand years peace for the six or seven thousand that She is be in trouble and sufferings But let us without prejudice hearken unto what God saith to us upon this subject both by the Ministry of St. Iohn and that of the ancient Prophets Lo what St. Iohn tells us Rev 20. V. 1. I saw an Angel come down from Heaven having the Key of the bottomless Pit and a great Chain in his hand V. 2. And he laid hold on the Dragon that old Serpent which is the Devil and Satan and bound him a thousand years V. 3. And cast him into the bottomless Pit and shut him up and set a Seal upon him that he should deceive the Nations no more till the thousand years should be fulfilled and after that he must be loosed a little season V. 4. And I saw Thrones and they sat upon them and judgment was given unto them and I saw the Souls of them that were beheaded for the Testimony of Iesus and for the Word of God and which had not worshipped the Beast neither his Image neither had received his mark upon their Foreheads or in their right hands and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years V. 5. But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished This is the first Resurrection V. 6. Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first Resurrection on such the second death hath no power but they shall be Priests of God and of Christ and shall reign with him a thousand years V. 7. And when the thousand years are expired Satan shall be loosed out of his prison V. 8. And shall go out to deceive the Nations which are in the four Quarters of the Earth Gog and Magog c. The Church of Jesus Christ hath a right to say as Iob did I know that my Redeemer Liveth and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the Earth Chap. 19. v. 25. And that not only to raise and gather together my Bones which are scattered about the Graves mouth when he cometh from Heaven with his Glorious Angels to judg the quick and the Dead at the general Resurrection but also to deliver me from the misery wherein I have been in this world and to cause me to enjoy an entire peace after the destruction of all my Enemies For Iob was as well a Type of the Church of Christ as of Jesus Christ himself who is her adorable Head. This is that peace of the Church which St. Iohn doth here represent after that he had described her sufferings For he saw her Rising after the ruin of Babylon and injoying the gracious presence of her Redeemer after the imprisonment of Satan and the conversion of the unbelieving and Idolatrous Nations If we will give credit to some Divines this is the most obscure passage in the Revelation but this obscurity does arise from themselves and from three prejudices wherewith they are possessed 1. That the world is not to last any long time because St. Peter says that the end of all things is at hand 1 Epist chap. 4. v. 7. 2. Thar the opinion of the Millenarians who conceived that Jesus Christ should come from Heaven down here upon the Earth to converse visibly with his people and to cause them enjoy all sorts of pleasures for a thousand years hath been condemned as a carnal opinion tending to sensuality 3. That the Cross is to be the Livery of Christs Disciples through all Ages because Jesus Christ hath said if any man will come after me let him take up his Cross Matth. 16. 24. and because the Apostles have declared that through many tribulations we must enter into the Kingdom of God Acts 14. 22. But we deceive our selves if we do believe the World to be fo near its end seeing before that the Jews are to be converted the Kingdoms of the world are to be brought in to Jesus Christ Babylon is to be destroyed and who knoweth how long time there is to be between the destruction of Babylon and the ruine of her King and of her Religion without reckoning what time there may be to run out from the end of the thousand years Reign to the end of the War of Gog and Magog and from thence to the
consummation of all Ages They have reason to disclaim the opinion of the ancient Millenarians as carnal and absurd But there is no cause of counting it a carnal opinion to believe that the Church shall enjoy Tranquillity and Peace for a thousand years during which time she shall have no visible Enemies by whom to be oppressed Antichrist being totally destroyed and all the Nations of the world enlightned with the knowledg of the Truth In a word to believe as is the common opinion now that the thousand years Reign shall be spiritual and that it will consist in this that the number of true Christians shall be greater than ever it hath been their knowledg more large their Assemblies more holy their Love more strong their Zeal more ardent and that there shall be a most perfect peace both inward and outward Neither hath Jesus Christ nor have his Apostles said that the Cross and Tribulations shall be the Livery of Christians and the path to Paradise to the end of the world nor have they any where declared that the Church is never to enjoy any long peace here on the Earth For both St. Iohn and the Prophets give us ground to hope for such a calm and Tranquillity As for St. Iohn it was not possible for him to speak of it in a more express manner than he hath here done For after he had foretold the destruction of Babylon of the Beast and of the false Prophet whose rage had wearied the Church with so many persecutions and for so many Ages he doth now represent Satan's being cast into prison that he might not deceive the Nations for the space of a thousand years How can the Church be persecuted during this whole time wherein Satan shall be bound and the Nations no more deceived the Papacy being either wholly abolished or so weakned that it cannot lift up its head This peace of the Church is then a natural and an infallible consequence of Satan's being cast into Prison St. Iohn further added I saws say's he the Souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Iesus and which had not worshipped the Beast and they reigned with Christ a thousand years this is the first Resurrection This Reign can be nothing but a State of Tranquillity and of a profound Peace of the Church because it is set in opposition to her state of Bondage Trouble and Oppression during the cruel and bloody Reign of Antichrist As to this first Resurrection it cannot be meant of that from the Grave of Sin which is the Souls Conversion and Sanctification For St. Iohn designs it by the Relative This because of its reference to what he had said Now he had not spoken one word of the Resurrection from Sin but had discoursed only of living and Reigning with Christ a thousand years and of Thrones that were given whereon to judg i. e. to reign which expresseth a flourishing condition of the Christian Church and that she is to have sway and Authority over all the world for a thousand years But it can no way 's agree to that Resurrection which consisteth in Sanctification Is it then to be thus that the Martyrs are to be raised and to live on the Earth a thousand years with Jesus Christ It is certain that this opinion containeth nothing that interferes either with Reason or with Faith. For this being the only place of the Bible wherein this particular Resurrection of the Martyrs is spoken of and that in all other places the general Resurrection is mentioned 't is most safe and most agreeable to the Analogy of Faith as well as most conformable to the Stile of the Prophets to understand by this Resurrection the deliverance of the Church from all her Enemies and her State of peace and Tranquillity For Afflictions being called a Death Ezek. 37. 2 3. Isaiah 26. 14 19. and 2 Cor. 1. 9 10. by consequence Deliverance from Afflictions may be called both a Resurrection and a first Resurrection not only because it goes before the general but because it is a pledg and a forerunner of it They whom Babylon had condemned to death as Hereticks were esteemed by her Followers to be damned and to undergo the second Death But when the Church shall come to be delivered from her Enemies her Martyrs shall then be fully justified And when she comes to Reign a thousand years her Martyrs shall then be acknowledged to be happy and to be Reigning with Christ Thus it is clear that they shall be blessed who have part in this first Resurrection And herein the Martyrs will have a part because their Honor shall be established and their Memory universally blessed But it may be said that this seems to import that all who shall live in the Communion of the Christian Church during the time of the 1000. years Reign shall be saved and that all they who have part in this first Resurrection shall be delivered from the power of the second Death If one should believe so it would be no Heresie nor can the will of God concerning this be known by any nor how far he will extend the effusion of his Grace It may be that he will then pour out his Spirit upon all Flesh and that all Christians then shall be really and in truth a willing People in the beauties of Holiness a Holy Nation and a Royal Priesthood And it would seem as if St. John favoured this opinion in that he saith not meerly blessed is he but Blessed and Holy is he who hath part in the first Resurrection At the least we may truly say that whereas hitherto Worldlings and Hypocrites have exceeded the number of sincere Christians the thousand years Reign will shew us the contrary and that more than a third part of the seed of the word shall then fall into good and honest Hearts and shall bring forth eighty and a hundred for one Nor is there any thing carnal in this Millenarian opinion but all doth become the magnificency of the Prophecies and all is suteable to the wisdom of God and to the infinite riches of his Grace Nor is it St. Iohn alone who hath promised this Reign of a thousand years but Daniel and Isaiah have also promised it tho' less clearly than this Apostle as there was reason Daniel says in his second Chap. v. 35 44 45. that the Image which appeared to the King of Babylon in his Dream was broken in pieces by a little stone cut out of a Mountain and that this little Stone cut out without a hand became a great Mountain and filled the whole Earth This little Stone is the Christian Church the Kingdom of Jesus Christ which is to out-live the destruction and ruin of the Papal Roman Empire represented by the Feet of the Image and that after the subversion of all Empires which are contrary to this of the Son of God it is to spread it self throw all Nations This is not yet fulfilled but it must be
can be no other save that of the Reign of the 1000 years Nor is there any doubt but that this Ierusalem which St. John describes is the very same with that whereof the Prophet Ezekiel hath given a description together with that of the Temple and that there are very many things in that description which cannot be perfectly understood till after the conversion of the Iews A NEW SYSTEME OF THE APOCALYPSE OR An Explanation of all the Visions Of the REVELATION of St. JOHN The SECOND Part. I. ILLUSTRATION Of the Throne the 24. Elders the Sea of Glass and the 4 living Creatures REV. CHAP. 4. THe most difficult part would be yet to do if the ten last Chapters of the Revelation were not as I have supposed an explanation of the Visions contained in the eleven first So that we must have recourse to the Explications given in the first part of this work if we would clearly see into the meaning of the Visions that remain to be explained in the second v. 2. Behold I saw a Throne set in heaven and one sate on the Throne v. 3. And he that sat was to look upon like a Iasper and a Sardine stone and there was a Rainbow about the throne This is a lofty description of the Majesty of God. And his not being named is an advancement of his Glory For God said to Manoah Iudg chap. 13. v. 18. why askest thou after my name seeing it is secret or wonderful The Iasper Stone represents the unchangeablness and eternity of his Essence The fiery Sardine represents his inaccessible Majesty And the Rainbow in heaven signifies the unalterableness of his Covenant v. 4. And round about the Throne were 24 Seats and upon the Seats I saw 24 Elders sitting cloathed in white rayment and they had on their heads Crowns of gold These are the Pastors and Guides of the Church militant under the name of the twelve Patriarchs of the Church of Israel and of the twelve Apostles of the Christian Church because it was in favour of the Church Militant that God revealed his Glory and Majesty to St. Iohn The Title of Elder is a Title of dignity whereof also the whiteness of their Garments and their Crowns of Gold are marks and indications And this gives us ground to hope that they who are Israelites after the Spirit and who through a true faith follow the doctrine of the Apostles shall one day come to be advanced to a glory like unto this v. 5. And out of the throne proceeded lightnings and thundrings and voices and there were seven lamps of fire burning before the throne which are the seven spirits of God. This is a terrible threatning against the Enemies of Gods Church The Seven Spirits are the Spirit himself expressed by the number seven which is a Mystical number and which represents the variety the unexpressible number and the perfection of his Graces v. 6. And before the throne there was a Sea of Glass like unto Chrystall In the Scripture Waters signify people And the Sea is a heap of waters So that this is the Church composed of multitudes of people But to distinguish her from other Societies of the world that are Muddy filthy she is compared to Crystal which is as well pure as it is Solid and transparent She is said to be before the throne because She is ever under the eye and care of her Creator who carries her as the Scripture elsewhere speaketh engraven upon the palms of his hands Isa 49. 16. And round about the throne were four living Creatures full of eyes before and behind v. 7. And the first living creature was like a Lion and the 2d like a Calf and the 3d had the face of a wan and the 4th was like a flying Eagle v. 8. And the four living Creatures had each of them six wings and they were full of eyes within and they rest not day nor night saying holy holy holy Lord God Almighty which was and is and is to come These four living Creatures are beyond all exception the same with those in the Vision of the Prophet Ezekiel chap. 1. For that Prophet stiles them in his 10 chap. v. 5. Cherubims which signify Angels These are then four chief Angels as they are called in the 10 chap. of Daniel v. 13. and they are elsewhere called Archangels as having Angels under them And thence it is said Rev. 15. 7. that one of the four living Creatures gave unto the seven Angels seven Vials full of the wrath of God who liveth for ever ever Which cannot agree but to Archangels These Archangels are represented by the number four either with respect to the four parts of the world according to which the four gates of the new Ierusalem are disposed which was represented by the Mystical Temple of Ezekiel or else with respect to the four Empires under which the Church of God hath been in subjection and afflicted In Ezekiel these living Creatures are represented each of them having the four resemblances of a Lion of an Ox of a Man and of an Eagle but here each is represented as having but one because St. Iohn saw them in a posture of standing whereas Ezekiel saw them in a posture of motion together with their wheels The Lion is an Emblem of invincible courage The Ox is a Symbole of strenth and patience The Man of meekness And the Eagle of promptitude swiftness All which serve to declare the qualities of these Angels in their Execution of divine Orders As their being full of eyes expresseth the knowledg and wisdom wherewith they execute them V. 9. And when these four living Creatures give glory and honor and thanks to him that sat on the throne who liveth for ever and ever V. 10. The four and twenty Elders fall down before him that sat on the throne and worship him that liveth for ever and ever and cast their Crowns before the Throne saying V. 11. Thou art worthy O Lord to receive glory and honor and power for thou hast created all things and for thy pleasure they are and were created Here we have the exact form of true Religion and of lawful worship The Mystical living Creatures do adore none but God the 24 Elders do worship none besides the Lord it is before him that they do alone bow and it is only at his feet that they cast down their Crowns 'T is to him alone that they ascribe honor and glory and they themselves assign the reason of it For say they thou hast created all things Whence is it that the Holy Virgin is not here named if She be also the object of Religion and of worship And why ought we not to be content with that form of Adoration which the Angels of Heaven practice especially seeing we every day say thy will be done in Earth as it is in Heaven Moreover the Scope of this Vision is to assure Christians that God will be alway's in the midst of
and the hour and every thing that shall befal either the Church or the World because he hath been sacrificed Which is the reason of the four and twenty Elders saying unto him Thou art worthy to open the Book and to loose the Seals thereof for thou hast redeemed us It ought here to be carefully observed that this New Song containeth the whole Mystery of Gospel worship For here we have the death of Christ which is the foundation of all we have them whom his death hath redeemed we have the fruits which believers receive by his Death namely the dignity of being Kings and Priests and we have the Glory which accrueth to Jesus Christ himself For he is thought worthy to know all the Secrets of providence and to receive the Adoration of all Creatures low middle and high Which Adoration is here set before us in a form that is most perfect and which alone is that where with God is pleased that which all the Angels with the four and twenty Elders publish aloud that worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and blessing This is moreover what every Creature in Heaven and on Earth and under the earth and such as are in the Sea say likewise in their turn Blessing and Honor and Glory and Power be unto him that sitteth upon the Throne and unto the Lamb for ever and ever And the four living Creatures said Amen and the twenty four Elders fell down and worshipped him that liveth for ever and ever It is repeated again because it can never be said enough All worship that is not conformable to this pattern is unlawful and displeaseth God. Nor can we give the least worship to a Creature whatsoever degree of glory it hath arrived at without a departing from this divine model and falling into Idolatry Here we have a Sentence that condemneth the worship of the Roman Church in their addressing their Hymn's and their Prayers to Angels and to Saints IV. ILLUSTRATION Of the Opening of the first six Seals REV. CHAP. 6. AS to the Six Seals of the opening whereof the sixth Chapter treateth the four first differ from the two other in two things One is that at the opening of the four first there appear four Horsemen four living Creatures The other is that at the opening of these St. John is called upon to consider the things which are there declared to be hereafter to come There is doubtless some reason for this difference and this reason is in all probability nothing but this namely that every one of these four Seals containeth things which respect the whole course of the prophetick History both of the Roman Empire and of the Church which the two following do not This reason appeareth to be true in that in the first Vision of Zechariah chap. 1. v 8. it is said that the men which the Prophet saw riding upon red bay and white Horses were those whom the Lord sent to and fro through the Earth And in that the four living Creatures signify as we have proved the four Archangels set over the four parts of the world which marketh Universality And by consequence that the four first Seals at the opening whereof they do appear contain the things that respect the whole series of the History of the Roman Empire and of the Church Which observation if we duly attend unto we shall the more clearly understand the opening of these Seals V. 1. And when the Lamb opened one of the Seals i. e. the first I heard one of the four living Creatures that is the first saying as if it had been the voice of Thunder Come and see V. 2. And I saw and behold a white Horse and he that sat on him had a Bow and a Crown was given unto him and he went forth conquering and to conquer This first living Creature is the Lion whose Roaring is the most terrible voice of all the noises of Brutes If the Lion doth Roar shall we not tremble saith one of the Prophets It is compared also to the noise of Thunder which is the thing of the world that is most frightful to men This is exactly the preaching of the Gospel They who preach it are Boanerges Sons of Thunder they carry dread along with them wheresoever they are heard Jews and Gentiles were equally frighted at the beginning and the Papal Kingdom doth dread nothing so much at this day Which is the reason that the Pope and his Clergy use all the power and industry that they are able to stiffle this voice in all places but it is in vain The Gospel hath been victorious over Iews and Gentiles and will be so over the Papal Empire This is what is promised to the man upon the white Horse going forth conquering and to conquer For this Man is Iesus Christ the Lion of the Tribe of Judah who hath overcome He established his Gospel through the whole Pagan Roman Empire The worshippers of false Gods being pierced by the Arrows of our Saviour became converted to the Faith. And he will do the same to the Papal Roman Empire V. 3. And when he had opened the second Seal I heard the second living Creature say come and see V. 4. And there went out another Horse that was red and power was given unto him that sat thereon to take peace from the Earth and that they should kill one another and there was given unto him a great Sword. This second living Creature is the Ox the Symbole of patience and of being designed for slaughter which denoteth the persecutions which believers who are the Mystical Sheep of Jesus Christ were to suffer And he that sat upon this red Horse is no other than Satan the red Dragon that Murderer from the beginning who is armed with a Sword to presage the Blood which for the sake of the Gospel and to hinder the victories of Jesus Christ he should shed through the whole extent both of the Pagan and Papal Empire V. 5. And when he had opened the third Seal I heard the third living Creature say come and see and I beheld and lo a black Horse by that sat on him had a pair of Ballances in his hand The word in the Original signifies a Yoak as well as a Ballance And that it ought to be here translated a Yoak the sequel doth demonstrate V. 6. And I heard a voice in the midst of the four living Creatures say a measure of wheat for a penny and three measures of barley for a penny and see thou hurt not the Oyl and the Wine This undoubtedly denoteth a great plenty of all things necessary to the comfort of life Which sheweth that this Horseman carrieth a Yoak not a Ballance Here is indeed a change from white to black The first Horseman who sat upon the white Horse to wit Jesus Christ spread the light of his Gospel in order to establish a spiritual Religion
uttered their voices I was about to write and I heard a voices from heaven saying unto me Seal up those things which the seven Thunders uttered write them not ACcording to the Stile that the Scripture useth to speak in the Earth signifies the East and the Sea signifies the West that is the Isles and countreys that ly near unto the Sea. The Roman Empire was divided into that of the East and into that of the West So that when it is said that Jesus Christ being come down from heaven Set his feet the one upon the Sea and the other upon the Earth the meaning is that he took hold of these two Empires in order to make the light of his word shine there and to establish in them the purity of his worship Moreover according to the Scripture stile whensoever the Earth and Sea are spoken of the Earth is named before the Sea but here the stile is changed and the Sea is both mentioned first and Iesus Christ sets his right foot upon the Sea. Which is as if he would assuredly tell us that he will make the light of the Gospel break out in the West sooner than in the East and that he will begin the work of Reformation in reference to Popery sooner than in reference to Mahometanism This the Event will clear And what we shall see fall out in the West in relation to Popery will be an Earnest of what we may expect will come to pass in the East in relation to Mahometanism The great Cry of the Angel as when a Lion roareth doth threaten all the Enemies of the Gospel alike and the seven Thunders do presage their total ruin The great cry was heard in the work of the Reformation but the entire destruction of the Enemies of the Gospel is put off till another time namely until under the Effusion of the Vials And this is the reason why St. Iohn is forbid to write the things declared by the seven Thunders because there was a considerable space of time to elapse between the cry of the Angel that was heard at the Reformation and the time of pouring out of the Vials For that the Seven Thunders are the same with the seven Vials of the 16th Chap. appeareth evidently from this in that the Thunders do necessarily signify the Judgments of God by which his Enemies are to be overwhelmed and in that the seven Vials do denote the same thing According as it is said chap. 15. v. 1. that the seven Vials are the seven last plagues by which the wrath of God is consummated XIX ILLUSTRATION Of the Angels Oath and of the finishing the Mystery of God. REV. CHAP. 10. V. 5. And the Angel which I saw stand upon the Sea and upon the Earth lifted up his hand to heaven V. 6. And sware by him that liveth forever and ever who created heaven and the things that therein are and the Earth and the things that therein are and the Sea and the things which are therein that there should be Time no longer V. 7. But in the day 's of the voice of the seventh Angel when he shall begin to sound the Mystery of God shall be finished as he hath declareth to his Servants the Prophets IT must needs be that what is treated of under the 7 th Trumpet is both great against all appearances to the contrary and a thing hard to be believed because it is nor only called a Mystery and a Secret but because to render it credible the Lord would give assurance of it by an Oath But this withall do's give us to understand that it is not the last Resurrection nor that Trumpet of the Arch-Angel which is here spoken of to be done under the sound of the Seventh Trumpet is to be understood It must then be the 1000 years Reign as hath been already shewn and that which consisteth in the destruction of Babylon in the calling of the Iews in the reuniting of Iews and Gentiles and in that renowned State on Earth which the Prophet Isaiah hath promised to the Church in his 62 Chap. that these great things which seem to be above all Belief above all Imagination are here meant intended For indeed who of the Papists can imagine that Rome and her Religion are to be destroyed how few Protestants can believe that the Jews are to be united with the Gentiles and that the Church of God shall have an intire peace on the Earth for many ages Nevertheless this is that Mystery which the Angel hath promised with an Oath shall be fulfilled soon after the sounding of the seventh Trumpet And this is the Reason why he declared that there shall be time no longer that is there shall be no more a deferring and a delay but that the seventh Angel shall have no sooner finished to sound the seventh Trumpet than that we shall see the consummation of the Mystery of God. XX. ILLUSTRATION Of the Angel's giving the Book to St. John to be Eaten and of the Effects which Ensue thereupon REV. CHAP. 10. V. 8. And the voice which I heard from heaven spake unto me again and said Go and take the little Book which is open in the hand of the Angel which standeth upon the Sea and upon the Earth V. 9. And I went unto the Angel and said unto him Give me the little Book And he said unto me Take it and eat it up and it shall make thy belly bitter but it shall be in thy Mouth Sweet as honey V. 10. And I took the little Book out of the Angels hand and ate it up and it was in my mouth sweet as honey and as soon as I had eaten it my belly was bitter V. 11. And he said unto me thou must prophesie again before many people and Nations and Tongues and Kings ST Johns taking the little Book from the Angel representeth those whom the Lord shall raise up to re-establish the purity of divine worship through preaching of the Gospel 'T is for this that St. Iohn took the Book out of the hand of the Lord because it is the Lord who gives Ministers theiâ— Mission nor are they to go till they have received it from him according as he himself told the Apostles go teach all Nations teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you Matth. 28. 19 20. It was also for this that he not only took the Book but that he eat it up because no one is properly a holy Minister if he be not full of the Word of God and if he be not possessed of all Truths through having well meditated upon them This Book meditated upon and well understood produceth necessarily two effects One is a consolation that ravisheth the Soul through the knowledg of the Mysteries of salvation and the hope of an happy eternal life The other is the mortification of the flesh by that Law which God hath prescribed of denying our selves and of dayly taking up the cross St.
Zechariah And they are withal said to be two in Allusion to their Testimony the old Testament which beareth witness of Christ to come and the new Testament which testisieth of Christ as come They are moreover stiled two because the Christian Church which had subsisted in the Valleys of Angrogna and Piedmont from the time of Sylvester and Constantin became at last divided into two Branches that are called Protestants as if you would say Attestants and Witnesses against the usurpation of the Church of Rome and these two are the Calvinists and Lutherans who together make up one and the same Body with those that were stiled the Waldenses and the Albigenses The Sackcloth in which these two Witnesses prophesied for 1260 days which is the same time with that designed by 42 Months signifieth the contempt and persecution which the Defenders of the Truth underwent all that time from and by the Antichristian party Nor was there any kind of injuries and vexations which was not put in practice to weary them and to stop their Mouths They were called Berengarians Stercorists Waldenses Albigenses Leonists Petrobrusians Henricians Wicliffists Lollards c. as they are now stiled Lutherans Zuinglians Calvinists Sacramentarians Hugonots Hereticks Schismaticks c. And to these reproaches there were added Fines Confiscations Imprisonments Banishments and Condemnations to death But if they were treated with that contempt and rage by the Antichristian Church the Angel of the Covenant who hath given them in command to Measure the Temple and to leave the outward Court of the Temple out will both advance their honor and avenge the outrages that they have suffered when he comes to pour forth the plagues of his wrath upon their persecutors The Holy Spirit do's ascribe unto these two Witnesses the vertue and power of Moses and Elijab of turning waters into bliod and of shutting heaven The Heathens used to accuse the primitive Christians of being the Cause of all the Calamities that befell the Empire And in one sense they had reason for it seeing the motive to Gods inflicting Civil wars Famine and Pestilence upon them was to punish the Empire for the miseries that they made the Church to suffer The case is the same in reference to these two Witnesses to whom God says as he did to Jeremiah chap. 5. v. 14. I will make my words in thy mouth fire and this people wood and it shall devour them Finally whereas these two Witnesses are called two Olive Trees and two Candlesticks standing before the God of the Earth it is an Allusion to the 4th Chapter of Zechariah where it is said that he saw a golden Candlestick standing between two Olive Trees which distilled down oyl into the Candlesticks The Candlestick there represents the Church and the two Olive Trees represent Zerobabel and Iehoshua by whom the Church of Israel was then conducted So that Ministers who Teach the pure word of God are the Olive Trees of Zechariah and the Flocks that hearken unto and obey them are the Candlesticks XXIII ILLUSTRATION Of the Witnesses being overcome and Slain and left unburied REV. CHAP. XI V. 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 V. 8. And their dead Bodies shall lie in the street of the great City which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt where also our Lord was crucified V. 9. And they of the People and Kindreds and Tongues and Nations shall see their dead Bodies three day's and an half and shall not suffer their dead Bodies to be put in graves V. 10. And they that dwell upon the Earth shall rejoice over them and make merry and shall send gifts one to another because these two Prophets tormented them that dwelt on the Earth THis Beast is the same with that which arose out of the bottomless pit having two horns described Rev. chap. 13. v. 11. c. It is said also of the first Beast that arose out of the Sea and which is described Rev. chap. 13. v. 1. that he should make war with the Saints and overcome them but not that he should kill them as it is of the Beast mentioned here of whom it is said that he shall slay the Witnesses But whereas 't is said that the Beast shall kill the Witnesses when they have finished their Testimony this is not to be understood absolutely as if they were not to be overcome and slain till after the 42 Months or the 1260 days which the Reign of the Beast is to continue But when they are about to finish their Sachcloath Testimony and when the Beast beginneth to fall and when the Witnesses appear in some degree of honor through the Reformation's being supported by publick Authority then the Beast growing inraged and transported with fury shall make war with them overcome them and kill them So that this War is different from that which had been during the time of the Witnesses prophesying cloathed in Sackcloth That is said to have been made against them as cloathed in sackcloth because there was no Sovereign Prince who did then protect them or gave them liberty to bear their Testimony But this War is made against them after they have put off their Sackcloth and while they are countenanced in their Profession of the Gospel by the Edicts of Soveraign Rulers In that their Enemies made use of Massacres and Gibbets and put the Witnesses actually to death in this they neither use Massacres nor Gibbets but suffer them to live only they put them to a civil Spiritual death as hath been done to the Protestant Churches in France Savoy c. I call that a Civil Death in those Churches that they have no more Pastors that they can no more assemble neither publickly nor privately neither in secret nor apart that they can no more sing Psalms nor read the Word of God that they dare neither stile themselves Protestants nor Reformed nor Hugenots For when a witnesses mouth is shut that he can no more plead for the Truth that is such a kind of death as may be termed a Civil Death I call that a Spiritual Death in those Churches to be forced by the violence of armed Troops and by Dragoons sent forth as Missionaries by the great Dragon compelled to abjure the Reformed Religion to enter into the communion of the Roman Church and to practise their Worship The present State of the Churches in France c. is then a Captivity which the Holy Spirit representeth to us under the Image and Emblem of a Death So the Prophet Hosea stiled the Babylonish Captivity in that he says chap. 6. v. 1 2. Come let us return unto the Lord he will revive us and we shall live in his sight And the Church being in that Captivity is introduced speaking in the same manner Psal 85. 6. Wilt thou not O Lord revive us again that thy people may
rejoice in thee In a word the Valley which Ezekiel saw chap. 37. v. 1 c. covered with bones was nothing save an Image of the Jews being captive in Babylon And in truth the death of the Churches in France c. is of a nature answerable to the Resurrection that is here promised to the Witnesses and which signifies no other thing but their re-establishment Which is the reason why 't is said that their Bodies lie unburied For that is as much as to say that the Beast was not able to put them into Graves because the Favourers of the Reformation hindred it and that they remain unburied that they may the more readily be restored The change of the Expression in the Text doth both favour and strongly support this Exposition For when the Holy Ghost is speaking of their Enemies he saith that the Inhabitants of the Earth shall rejoice over the Witnesses that are overcome and slain but when he speaketh of those that favour and uphold them he saith that they of the people kindreds and tongues and Nations who shall see their dead bodies shall not suffer them to be put into Graves But what is that to say will not suffer them to be put into Graves For the better understanding of it we are to observe all that the Beast was to do against the Witnesses 1. It is said that the Beast shall make war with them That is the Church of Rome or the Papacy shall make war against the Protestants This the Event hath made evident 'T is five or six and twenty years since this war begun As soon as the peace of the Pyrenees was concluded the Romish Clergy and the Iesuites took the field and begun with the Church of Montauban whose Colledg and Senate they put down In a few years after all the Churches in the Kingdom saw themselves besieged and threatned to be destroyed by a terrible battery of Edicts and Declarations But that they might not make too much noise they fell upon them by degrees and attack'd them one after another The first assault was against Ministers Habits the next against Annexes after that against the Bells in their Temples then against their Buryings next against Children that had attained to the age of seven years then against Midwives It would make a large Volumn to recount all the Edicts and Declarations But their main Engin was the matter of Summons by which they compelled them to produce the Titles by vertu of which they enjoyed the publick exercise of their Religion in their respective places This was a proclaimed War. The Table of Commissioners for execution of the Edict of Nantes the Magistrates of Justice the Parliaments and the Council were the Field of Battel where the Beast appeared fighting against the Witnesses 2. 'T is said that the Beast overcame the Witnesses This hath been seen litterally accomplished when the Churches were deprived of the Liberty of their Worship either by the Judgment of the Commissioners or by the Sentence of the Magistrates or by Arrests of Parliament if so be that any fled to the Council at last all without exception were condemned by the Edict of Fontainbleau which repealed that of Nantes 3. 'T is said that the Beast shall kill the Witnesses We have declared already that the death here intended is a Civil and Spiritual death Which consisteth in this that the Reformed Congregations are suffered no more to assemble neither publickly nor privatly and that they are not permitted to read the Word of God nor any Book of the Reformed Religion And in this that all they of that Religion are compelled by the Violence of Souldiers to abjure their belief and to promise to enter into fellowship with the Church of Rome except it be such that were able to make their escape out of the Kingdom and some Prisoners who hitherto stand it out 4 Whereas it is said that the dead bodies of the Witnesses were not buried because the kindreds Tongues People and Nations would not suffer it this must be some mercy and blessing that is promised unto them in order to comfort them under their state of death There is not one thing which they who are dead would more desire provided they could speak than to be put into graves as esteeming it a favour and an honor And thence it is that by the Laws of Nations Traitors and horrid Malefactors are deprived of the honor of burial and of rest in a grave The Spirit of God threatned one of the Kings of Israel that he should be buried with the burial of an Ass Ierem. 22. 19. which is as much as to say that he should not have the honor of a grave And if the Holy Spirit had said that they who had slain the Witnesses would not suffer them to be buried there would have been no cause to doubt but that the denial of Sepulture by those murderers were to be expounded as a continuance of their fury and to be interpreted for an addition of punishment and for something accounted worse than death But seeing they are not those who had killed them and who are designed by Inhabitants of the Earth that would not suffer their bodies to be buried but they are the Kindreds Tongues Peoples and Nations it is evident that it must be some great benefit that is procured for them by these Kindreds Tongues Peoples and Nations which is obtained in despight and to the great regret of those Inhabitants of the Earth who had killed them But how is this that the not being buried is a benefit and advantage to the Witnesses whom the Beast had killed and for the Protestant Flocks whom the Romish Church hath scattered I dare say that before the Publication of the Edict of Fontainbleau for Repealing the Edict of Nantes we could not have conceived nor have in the least comprehended this State of the Witnesses lying dead without being put into Graves But that Transaction which hath astonished all Europe hath reflected so much light upon this Article that I am perswaded that as the death of the Witnesses is fulfilled in the extinction of all the Protestant Churches in France c. so the State wherein these extinguished Churches do now continue giveth us to see the accomplishement of this that is here said concerning the Bodies of the Witnesses lying in the street of the great City without being put into Graves There are three sorts of Catholicks among the new Converts Some go willingly to the Mass These are such as have not tasted the good Word of God Children of this world Lovers of Earthly things Ready to become Turks by the same way that they are become Papists There are others who go not at all to Mass but abhor it as a prophanation of the holy Supper of our Lord. There are a third sort who do indeed go but at the same time they testify that they do it through being forced and pray heartily to God being resolved to depart the Kingdom
while he is speaking of the reestablishment of the Church Because their death was in this like unto that of Jesus Christ that they were killed and extinguished by Roman Souldiers even as our Lord was For this is a Fact as remarkable as it is notorious that they are the Prelates who have let loose the Kings Troops against the Reformed Churches and that they are the Curates who have removed them from such of the Reformed as have come to begg it under promise of abjuring their Religion So that the Death of the Witnesses bearing so great a resemblance to the death of Jesus Christ their Resurrection shall also resemble his All that is here said concerning the reestablishment of the Protestant Churches is to be considered with attention 1 'T is said that the Spirit of life from God entred into the Witnesses This Spirit of Life is certainly set in opposition to that Spirit of Death which killed them Now what was that which killed them It was the fear of men the dread of misery apprehension that they should never see an End of their torments and the Violence they were under from the Soldiers It was that fallacious and ensnaring Reasoning which they every day heard from the Mouths of their persecutors Stand out as long as you please When we have devoured you to the bone you must at last obey Flatter not your selves with hope of any ease the King will not suffer himself to be contradicted He who could take Cambray and Luxemburgh will he be withstood by a Hugonot Dog Nor shall ye be suffered to depart the Kingdom What fools are ye to suffer your selves to be devoured ye may be eased of the Dragoons by the bare saying of one word Say only I do obey the King and for the rest you may believe as you will. Do you think that the King would have you damned He purposeth to reform the Church of France as soon as he hath reduced and united all his Subjects Do ye not know what he hath done already against the Court of Rome You will suddenly see other matters Will you be they after all who shall alone make head against the King and rob him of the Title of Conqueror and of Victorious Do you not see that all do submit that young and old poor and rich Noble and Ignoble Learned and Ignorant throughout the whole Kingdom do comply This was that Spirit of Death that entred into the Witnesses It was this blast or tempestuous Wind that hath scattered and overthrown all the Protestant Churches of France And in probability the Spirit of life from God that shall enter into the Witnesses will be a way of Reasoning that is contrary to this For example what have we done unhappy creatures that we are How great is our crime We are gone over to a Religion that cannot be good forasmuch as its Ministers Bishops and Priests have let loose the Kings Troops upon us and that it is they who are the Authors of all the robberies violences blasphemies and impieties which the Souldiers have committed in order to pervert us And seeing the Bishops and Priests will have forced Consciences they cannot be the Ministers of God who requireth the heart and a willing people Nor can they be the Ministers of Christ because they have taken from us the only means of Instruction by depriving us of the Holy Scriptures together with all Books tending to piety What can that Religion be worth which reduceth the whole of Religion to the Mass where we understand nothing and where our Eyes are filled with certain ceremonies of which we comprehend nothing save that they worship an object in which we see nothing that is Adorable and where they commit that affront against the Son of God as to hale him from his throne of glory to put him into the hands of wicked persons and into the Mouths of blasphemers Can that Religion be good where we hear not a Sermon wherein they do not demand the assistance of the Holy Spirit but by the intercession of the blessed Virgin which is both a plain Idolatry and expresly condemned by those words of our Saviour I will pray the Father and he shall send you the comforter and no man cometh to the Father save by me Besides they do perform nothing of what they promised us We are not suffered to believe as we would They have not Reformed one abuse They give us no rest neither as to our bodies nor as to our Consciences They joined fraud to violence which are the two Characters of Antichrist whereby to seduce us Come let us give glory to God. Let us depart out of Babylon God will bless our Endeavours and either deliver us out of our captivity or give us strength to glorify him by our sufferings This in all likelyhood is the Spirit of life from God that after three years and a half will enter into the Witnesses 2 'T is said that the Witnesses stood upon their feet This is as much as to say that they shall come to acknowledg their crime shall forbear to go to the Mass that they shall take courage that their zeal shall revive that they shall Serve God according to his Word that they shall assemble first in secret then publickly without fearing any more either the Bishops or the Curates or the Souldiers or the Dragoons or Misery or death 3 'T is said that great fear fell upon them which saw them We are not to doubt but that the Holy Spirit do's by them that saw them understand the Authors and Executioners of the persecution For the other Papists have scarce medled in it It hath been only the Clergy and the Bigots of the Court and of the Parliaments who interested themselves in persecuting the Churches while they stood and who do now make merry upon their dissipation And they are the persons upon whom fear will fall when they shall come to see the scattered congregations gather again Nor shall they recover from that dread because the Court will be no more inclined to hearken to them but on the contrary all that will be done there shall tend to the mortifying of them and to the re-establishing the Churches 4 'T is said that the Witnesses heard a great voice from heaven saying come up hither and that they ascended in a cloud I am much deceived if this doth not signify that God who is the Master of hearts shall change the heart of the King and of his Council and that we shall see a Revolution in France of a contrary nature to what hath been seen in England As in the year 1685 we saw Popery mount into the Throne of great Brittain so after the three years and a half of the Witnesses lying dead we shall see the Reformed Religion get upon the Throne in France We have not been much surprised to see the re-establishment of Popery in England because it is long since it was known what judgment the Duke of York was of