the prudent Now from this demonstration of the two beasts ariseth this argument That the Antichrist could not rise up under the first beast he was his onely let And because there are but two of these beasts therefore it is left that he must rise up under this last as Antiochus Antichrists figure rose out of one of the foure horns of the goat in the end of that kingdome Dan. 8. 23. Therefore in the sixteenth of the Apocalyps he is yoked with this beast and the dragon under the title of the false prophet where is said And I saw three unclean spirits come out of the mouth of that dragon and out of the mouth of that beast and out of the mouth of that false prophet to go unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world to gather them to the battell of that great day of God Almighty By the Dragon is meant the Devil as S. John interpreteth by the Beast is understood the Turk which is the second and surviving beast because where the first beast ended there the second began therefore it remaineth that the false prophet in the last place should be the Antichrist that is that singular man whose name consisteth of these Greek letters 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and whose coming as S. Paul saith shall be after the working of Satan with all power and signes and lying wonders To these ends First to make the people to beleeve in him as the onely God the Turks as if their Mahomet were returned and the Jews as though their Messias were come And secondly as S. John testifieth to gather the world together to the battell of the great day of God Almightie which shall be at the worlds end Hence it is apparent that the second beast cannot be the Papacie as some have interpreted First because the Papacie rose up and to this day resideth where the first beast rose up that is out of the sea at Rome but the second beast as S. John sheweth rose out of the earth And secondly because the second beast and the false prophet conspire together but the Turk and the Pope are enemies one to another Thirdly because the blowing of the sixth trumpet and the pouring out of the sixth vial in Apoc. 9 and 16 as M. Fox and most interpreters do consent belong to the kingdome of Antichrist and is properly understood of the Turks dominions as appeareth from the circumstance of the river Euphrates where the foure angels were loosed to destroy the third part of men and the river dried up to prepare the way for Antichrists armie And if the Pope should be the second beast then we must make the Turk to be the third because he teareth more then the other and thus we should have one beast more then S. John saw So that now it lies between the Turk and the Pope who shall have the horns and let the wiser sort judge Lastly if the Pope should be the second beast or the Antichrist from him because all interpreters understand Antichrist to belong to the second beast as Doctor Whitakers writeth in his answer to Sanders then he must not arise at Rome which is the first beasts originall for that this is found contrary in Revel 13. and 11 verse being compared with the first verse But there remaineth a stumbling block to be removed which is the misapplying of the prophesie of the whore of Babylon in the 17 of the Revelation For all there understand the Whore to be Antichrist in regard of her cup full of abominations and fornications and the beast upon which she sitteth to be the citie of Rome or the governour thereof by a metonymie Verse 3. I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet-coloured beast full of names of blasphemie which had seven heads and ten horns These seven heads are by S. John expounded to be seven mountains in verse 9. Now it is confessed on both sides that this citie consisting of seven mountains is Rome and therefore the men which would have the Pope to be Antichrist affirm it because at this day the Pope sitteth on that seat I answer Though the Pope at this day sitteth on that citie which is called the beast because the first beast which was the devouring empire of ethnick Rome there resided yet the Pope shall not alwayes there sit except he sit beside his cushen because when the great Antichrist shall come toward the end of the world aided by the second beast which is the Mahometicall empire then shall the Pope be outed and the second beast and the Whore Antichrist shall come in where sitting by the space of three yeares and an half the Beast the Whore and the Citie for so I finde them conjoyned in this chapter as making but one bodie shall be drunken with the bloud of the saints and martyrs which they shall then shed in abundance and thus at last the second beast shall sit on the first beasts seat and so become as it were one beast as it is in the 8 verse of this 17 chapter where it is said When they shall behold the beast which was and is not and yet is The beast which was must of necessitie be understood of persecuting Rome in the time of the primitive Church That Rome at this day is not the beast is manifest because the Pope there now sheddeth no bloud Yet this first beast at this day is in his successour the second beast which is the Mahometicall empire doing all things that the first beast could as you may reade in the 13 chapter and 12 verse Thus the first beast shall be in his esse by the second beast and Antichrist the last of that wicked line in the end of the world and shall sit upon the seven-hilled Rome abounding with blasphemies spirituall fornications and bloud untill the moon be turned into bloud and the great and terrible day of the Lord be come And that Antichrist when he cometh shall sit at Rome I prove it first from S. Pauls testimonie saying that he shall sit as God in the temple of God Where by the temple of God we are not to understand the temple at Jerusalem as Bellarmine would have us for that was to cease with the old law and was long since demolished by Vespasian and Titus and when Julian the apostate would have built it again to increase the Jews and to lessen the Christians no sooner were the foundations laid but an earthquake cast them up again and fire from heaven consumed the tools of the workmen with the stones timber and other materials which is a signe that God will not have that temple to be built again But by the Temple we must understand the Temples of Christians which are our Churches because the Apostle wrote this to the Christians at Thessalonica and not to the Jews And thus Oecumenius interpreteth S. Paul saying 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 He doth not say the Temple at
men shall dream dreams and your young men shall see visions In this vision Moses saw a bush burning with fire and yet was not consumed The bush burning expresseth the manners of Gods people in his house who are to him as thorns to his sides yet so mercifull is he that he doth not consume us though we be wood and he A consuming fire Can he ever be praised enough For his mercy endureth for ever After this God spake to Moses and bad him to put off his shoes because the place whereon he stood was holy ground From hence Gods house is called A Sanctuary that is to say a holy place and why in regard of Gods speciall presence and conference between him and man as God here spake to Moses and Moses to him about the delivering his people from the hand of the Egyptians Thus afterward the Tabernacle and the Temple were called Gods sanctuary because there was the visible signe of Gods presence called the Mercy-seat from whence God spake to the high priest and the high priest to the people So again to this day all our churches are called Sanctuaries as in many other regards so especially in regard of the Lords table or high Altar at the upper end of them which is Jesus Christs Mercy-seat because there the memorie of the everlasting sacrifice is made and presented to the holy Trinity But why was Moses here commanded to put off his shoes To teach us that when we come before God in his sanctuary we should reverence him by putting off our vices and especially our covetousnesse and earthly affections which cleave to our souls as the dust of the earth cleaveth to our shoes And according to this every sunday and holiday we shift our common and worldly clothes to insinuate that we should put off our secular thoughts and be endued with heavenly and spirituall thoughts not doing our own will nor speaking our own vain words but Gods words and his ordinances Fourthly Gods house is set forth in the old law by the Tabernacle which was a tent or pavilion to be pitched and taken up as they travelled to the land of Canaan the figure of heaven which signifieth that Gods Church in this life is a pilgrimage and a passing to the place above for which the 15 Psalmes of steps or degrees were made and used in the Temple to teach that we ought continually to travell from the valley of tears to the heavenly Jerusalem by all the holy paces of vertues and especially of charitie The Psalmist speaking of this travell saith They go from strength to strength till every one appeare before God in Sion Which if we apply to their Tabernacle and to our going into Gods house every time we go an holy strength and refreshing is supplied unto us toward heavens Sion In this Tabernacle first was a laver of pure water set at the doore of the Tabernacle of the congregation for the priests to wash before they executed any part of their service to which answereth our holy Font placed at the doore of our Sanctuaries to wash all Christs people with the water of regeneration before they be admitted to be of his number And this is to teach us that ever after we should come to this place with pure hearts to worship God and the holy Font is to put us in minde of it Next to this was the Altar of burnt-offering which continually burnt not with common fire but with fire sent from heaven as appeareth Lev. 9. But because the law is now altered from materiall things to spirituall things therefore our Altar next under the Altar of Christs sacrifice once offered is the Altar of our hearts and our fire is the heavenly fire of charity sent down into us from Christs Spirit and whosoever offereth with any other fire his sacrifice shall be no better accepted with God then Nadab's and Abihu's incense was Levit. 10. Besides this was the candlestick full of lamps shining with great light which signified the exceeding light of the Gospell prophesied Isaiah 30. 26. when the light of the moon should be like the light of the sunne and the light of the sunne should be seven-fold and like the light of seven dayes which cannot be understood but of the spirituall light of the Gospell in holy doctrine Wherefore to mend this among our selves let our light be the light of faith kindled with charity and not the light of idle and proud knowledge which can profit nothing Further there was the table of shew-bread and the pot in which Manna was put signifying the heavenly bread of Christs body from whence comes unto us the bread of his grace in holy charity by which all good desires and endeavours are fed and maintained in our souls as naturall heat is maintained by materiall bread Lastly there was the Altar of incense which figured the most pleasant and sweet sacrifice of Christ for us whereby we are brought into Gods favour after our many offences toward him And thus much for the Tabernacle Fifthly Gods house is described by the Temple at Jerusalem which was situate upon mount Sion the mountain of holinesse expressed in the 48 Psal. 1 2. Great is the Lord and greatly to be praised in the city of our God in the mountain of his holinesse Beautifull for situation the joy of the whole earth is mount Sion Again in Psal. 87. 1 2. God layed his foundations among the holy mountains The Lord loveth the gates of Sion above all the habitations of Jacob. Lastly in the 48 Psal. 3. Gods house is described by a kings palace God is well known in her palaces for a refuge from hence the fathers call our greater and mother churches Basilicae the palaces where the high King of heaven dwelleth and where God is a refuge to his people that call upon him there in any trouble or difficultie As when the subjects of a king are by their enemies assaulted if they can get into their kings palace then they think themselves safe enough so is it with Gods people who flie to his house for refuge But some will say I can pray and serve God as well at home in mine own house Thou mayest serve God there but not so well because God hath made choice of this house before all private houses in regard of his solemne and publick worship Therefore the Psalmist saith The Lord loveth the gates of Sion above all the habitations of Jacob. In this house God hath put his name and made promises to it above all places I have hallowed this house which thou hast built to put my name there for ever and mine eyes and mine heart shall be there perpetually If Gods heart be here then my heart shall be here too and if his eyes be here then will I humble soul and body before him lest I offend him Again God hath commanded his house to be a house of prayer by way of excellency Isa.
the perfection of all apostasie This falling away began in the reigne of Heradius the Romane Emperour who lived in the yeare of our Lord 637. And from that time to this the issue of defection hath continued spreading it self over Asia and Africa being aided by the great Turk the successour of Mahomet who daily increaseth the monarchie of this defection by captiving of Christians making them his Basshaws and Janizaries and by taking in of Christian kingdomes to more then the third part of Europe And if Christian Kings do not by divine providence combine themselves against this beast 't is greatly to be feared that he will lick up all Christian kingdomes as an ox licketh up the grasse of the field Polychronicon sheweth that by the Christians discord this beast was bred of the Hagarenes And M. Fox in his historie of Turks affirmeth that the first letting in of Turks into Europe was by dissension of the Princes of Greece Discordiâ cuncta ruunt Be wise now therefore O ye kings be instructed ye judges of the earth And you Christians leave off your divisions which are the bridge for the Beast and Antichrist to passe over to us The river Euphrates was a famous defence unto Babylon but after that king Cyrus had divided it into foure hundred and threescore chanels the enemie at ease went in at the emptie and drie hollow and wonne the citie before invincible And right so if we Christians shall cut our main current into many small creeks by dividing our selves into divers sects of religion there is great likelihood that the Turk will overrunne us all That speech of some Christians hath alwaies been held of me for profane and heathenish that they had rather live under the Turk then under the Pope or the king of Spain But what is their reason because under the Turk they may have the libertie of their conscience And what will their conscience-libertie unbounded bring them to to break open hell gates to live without faith without law to do what they list to dispute of the Trinitie and to denie Christs divinitie as the Transilvanians and Hungarians Turkishly and Jewishly have begun For the passion of Christ good Christian brethren let us give over our hostile dissensions When two of the Hebrews in Egypt fought and quarrelled what said Moses unto them Sirs ye are brethren why do ye wrong one to another The Papists and we call one God our Father one Lord our Saviour one holy Ghost our Sanctifier and we have but one mean to unite us into this heavenly Unitrinitie which is holy Baptisme how then should we not be brethren and why then should we wrangle and fight one with another Said not Abner to Joab in that hot conflict of brethren Shall the sword devoure for ever knowest thou not that it will be bitternesse in the latter end how long then shall it be ere thou bid the people return from following their brethren If we shall fight and quarrell so long that Ottoman come in to make us his slaves because we will not enjoy Christs peace will not this be bitter Oh blessed Jesus raise up one to bid the people return Blessed be that peacemaker among men as the holy Marie is blessed among women Oh sweet Jesus smell a savour of rest Nulla salus bello pacem te poscimus omnes There is no health in warre saith the Poet we all desire peace Otium bello furiosa Thrace Otium Medi pharetrâ decori Shall furious Thracians and barbarous Medes desire rest from warre and we Christians delight in combates and quarrells are we not yet full with more then fourescore yeares bloud If we withdraw not will not Christ withdraw from us Oh that the prophesie were revived to beat our swords into plow-shares and our spears into pruning-hooks that we might unlearn to fight that the wolf might dwell with the lambe and the leopard lie with the kid and the lion and the fat beast might feed together Seek peace and ensue it saith David the sweet singer and the blessed Paul saith If it be possible as much as in you is have peace with all men Is it not possible that Christians should agree There be differences which hinder What then In the bodie though one leg be lame yet if the other set forward that will dragge after as well as it can Among the Greeks there were divers dialects and yet they had but one language they held together in the main So though Papists have a letter more then we or we one letter for another yet we may hold together in the radix If they sing Gloria Deo inexcelsis we may say Glory be to God in the high heavens The founder of Churches S. Paul he could bear with differences expecting Gods reformation Let us therefore as many as be perfect be thus minded and if ye be otherwise minded God shall reveal even the same unto you Then for the present let us be patient and afterward God will shew where the errour lieth Why should we presume so much of our skill while we are in our non-age and know but in part and prophesie but in part Have not better men then we been deceived Did not Elias say Lord they have killed thy prophets and digged down thine altars and I even I onely am left and they seek my life to take it away Yet God told him that he had reserved seven thousand men that had not bowed their knee to Baal And did not that blessed vessel Saint Paul say that he verily thought in himself that he ought to do many contrary things against the name of Jesus of Nazareth Then let neither side be too stiffe but let us trie all things let us follow our leaders let us hold that which we have till we see better But above all things let us put on charitie which is the bond of perfection Then as the clear eye helps the blear eye the sound hand aids the withered hand and the comely parts cover the uncomely so shall we Christians cover one anothers infirmities and help each other till Christ mend us all Let Protestants love the Papists because they have kept the holy oracles and sacred mysteries for them and let Papists love the Protestants because they are descended from them wear the badge of the covenant with them and by a light and oblique dissent provoke them to better life and more refined learning Have not dissenting Fathers and sliding Scholists been alwaies born with in points of religion To come again to the defection it is a matter not unneedfull to know by what means the falling away was first broacht and then disperst And this was by preaching of heresies and false doctrines Never were so many heresies set on foot as in the first five hundred yeares after Christ when preaching was at the most Then preaching of its own nature is indifferent and
ten kings which stood up out of the fourth kingdome as Daniel expoundeth in the 24 verse This fourth kingdome or fourth beast was the reigne of the Seleucians in Asia from which the holy nation received many mischiefs and the little horn was Antiochus who plagued the Jews above all the rest From whence ariseth this argument that if Antiochus the figure of Antichrist was but one man then Antichrist which must answer to his figure must be but one man too And to this agreeth S. Johns prophesie in Apoc. 13. 17. where a particular name and a particular number is given unto him Lastly this is shewed from the circumstance of time For Antichrist is to reigne but three yeares and a half as appeareth in Dan. 7. 25. where Antiochus is foretold to reigne over the holy nation untill a time and times and the dividing of a time which is three yeares and a half And with this consenteth the prophesie of Antichrists reigne under the Dragon in the 12 of the Revelation where the woman that is the Church is said to be nourished in the wildernes for a time and times and half a time To this is added the treading down of the holy citie by the same Antichrist for the space of fourty two moneths and the prophesying of the two witnesses in the same time by the space of a thousand two hundred and threescore dayes as it is manifest in the 11 chapter of the same book All which severall accounts by yeares moneths and dayes make but three yeares and a half as that most judicious Father S. Austine most boldly delivereth And with this further agreeth the prophesie of Christ concerning Antichrists end of dayes as appeareth by alluding to Daniel about the abomination of desolation set in the holy place that is to say of the sitting of Antichrist in the temple of God as S. Paul expoundeth it And except those dayes should be shortened no flesh should be saved But here we see these dayes to be shortened by the last yeare cut asunder in the midst And this is more illustrated by reason of congruitie for as Christ preached but three yeares and an half so it is not meet that Antichrist should preach more lest he should seem to prevail upon Christ. The testimonies of Fathers confirm this Irenaeus in the end of his 5. book hath these words Antichrist shall reigne three yeares and six moneths and then shall the Lord come from heaven Hierome upon the 7 of Daniel hath these Tempus annum significat Tempora juxta Hebraici sermonis proprietatem qui ipsi dualem numerum habent duos annos praefigurant Dimidium autem temporis sex menses quibus sancti potestati Antichristi permittendi sunt ut condemnentur Judaei qui non credentes veritati susceperunt mendacium A time signifieth a yeare times according to the propertie of the Hebrew speech which hath the duall number prefigureth two yeares but half a time six moneths during which time the saints shall be permitted to the power of Antichrist that the Jews might be condemned who beleeving not the truth have received a lie S. Augustine in his 20 book of the citie of God and 23 chap. saith The most cruel reigne of Antichrist against the Church that it is to be sustained for a very short time he that readeth these things though he be half asleep and half awake is not suffered to doubt because A TIME AND TIMES AND HALF A TIME is one yeare and two yeares and half a yeare and so three yeares and an half This also appeareth by the number of dayes afterward put down and sometime in Scripture this is declared by the number of moneths From these testimonies it is cleare that if Antichrist in his reigne shall not exceed this prescribed time then it is not probable that he should be more then one man But against this computation it is objected that the foresaid prophesies of yeares moneths and dayes are to be multiplied and understood according to the prophesie Ezek. 4. 6. where is said I have given thee a day for a yeare Then these yeares moneths and dayes will fetch in a long succession of Popes into Antichrists chair I answer Then the foresaid Fathers and all the rest for all in this point agree in one were much overseen in not seeing this prophesie to be so much against them Next I answer This is a particular prophesie and no generall rule to rule other prophesies I have given thee a day for a yeare and so I have not done to the rest of my prophets for if times should be understood of yeares and then every day in the yeare should be multiplied again into so many yeares more as there be dayes in every yeare then where it is prophesied of Nebuchadnezzar that seven times should passe over him in his expulsion from his kingdome it should follow that he was banished two thousand five hundred and fiftie five yeares which are more yeares then he ever lived by a thousand at the least and thus the prophesie of his restauration should be utterly false But these times in Daniel must be understood onely of yeares as Tremellius and Junius note upon Dan. 4. 13. after our division of chapters but upon the 16 as they begin their chapter Again in the 11 of Daniel verse 13 in the text he readeth exactis illis temporibus id est annis following the Hebrew original And thus again it is noted in our Church-bible in the margine of the same chapter and verse at the end of times of yeares Therefore Revel 12. 14. during the great persecution of Antichrist caused by the devil the old serpent the woman that is the Church is provided for but for a time and times and half a time that is but for three yeares and an half as both ancient and modern interpreters consent The second prophesie of the durance of Antichrists reigne is by moneths Revel 11. 2. And the holy citie shall they tread under foot two and fourtie moneths This the opponent will not understand of bare moneths as the Fathers expound which make but three yeares and an half but they will alter the propertie and turn moneths into so many daies as be in fourty two moneths and then they will turn dayes again into yeares that is 1260 dayes which are in fourty two moneths into 1260 yeares Here I would demand of these men what rule or warrant they have in any part of Gods word to turn moneths into dayes and then dayes into yeares I reade in Levit. 25. 8. where God gave this rule to the Israelites to number yeares by weeks or sabbaths Thou shalt number seven sabbaths of yeares unto thee and the space of seven sabbaths of yeares will be unto thee nine and fourty yeares Now let them in like manner shew where God hath given a rule to number yeares by moneths resolved into dayes as here we
reade of a sabbath of yeares that so there might be a moneth of yeares too and then am I confined Otherwise they make rules out of their own brain and adde unto Gods word The third prophesie of the durance of Antichrists reigne is by dayes Revel 11. which dayes are there expressed to be 1260. and these dayes they turn into so many yeares to serve their own turn Here again I require their rule They offer Gods direction to Ezekiel I have appointed thee each day for a yeare I reply God did not appoint Ezekiel this rule to be a generall rule to number by but to lie and sleep upon his left side and upon his right For because it had been too long for him to lie and sleep openly for a signe to the Israelites three hundred and ninety yeares on his left side and again to lie fourtie yeares on his right to signifie so many yeares of punishment according to the yeares of their sleeping in sinne because I say this had been too long a time if not impossible for the Prophet to make this signe therefore God for his ease appointed him a day for a yeare And because these dayes were not given to Ezekiel to number by but to signifie by therefore both Tremellius and Junius and our Geneva translatours upon the 8 of Daniel and 14 vers do not take dayes for yeares as Moulin others would have us but for naturall dayes where when the question was asked how long the vision of taking away of the daily sacrifice and the desolation and treading down should continue it was answered Unto the evening and morning two thousand and three hundred that is unto two thousand and three hundred dayes as it is in the Church-bible agreeing to that Gen. 1. 5 And the morning and the evening were the first day Now if these two thousand and three hundred evenings and mornings which make two thousand and three hundred dayes should be taken for two thousand and three hundred yeares as these men would have it the Universitie of Divines would cry shame upon it because it is palpably known that Antiochus by whom this abomination of desolation was set up and the holy citie troden under foot did not live the tenth part of these yeares Therefore our Geneva note upon this text saith honestly and truly that is untill so many naturall dayes be past which make six yeares three moneths and an half and with this Tremellius and Junius do for the most part agree expounding thus annos sex tres menses dies ferme octodecim Again in the last chapter of Daniel where is prophesied not of the whole time of treading down of the holy people as before but onely of the taking away of the daily sacrifice and setting up of the abomination of desolation which was the statue of Jupiter Olympius as we reade in 2. Mac. 6. 2. there is put down in the text a thousand two hundred and ninety dayes this Tremellius and Junius interpret anni tres menses septem dies quasi tredecim that is three yeares seven moneths and as it were thirteen dayes But if you shall number the thousand two hundred and ninetie dayes for a thousand two hundred and ninetie yeares then nothing will fit and then you must extend the abomination and desolation many hundred yeares after the death of Antiochus the text in the next verse being against it saying Blessed is he which waiteth and cometh to the thousand three hundred and thirty five dayes that is to say to fourty five dayes after as Tremellius and Junius interpret because Antiochus Epiphanes should then be dead and then Antiochus Eupator his sonne granted to the Jews full peace and free libertie of their religion as you may reade in 2. Mac. 11. 22. Which thing was done the same yeare that his father died in From these two examples out of Daniel the numbring of dayes for yeares to crosse the Fathers and to serve their private desires is found to be very false and that Ezekiels rule was peculiar to himself And from the last prophesie to the comfort of Christs people I observe that when Antichrist shall come his time shall not be long as is before declared by S. Augustine because under Antiochus the temple was profaned but 1290 dayes and in the Apocalyps it is prophesied that under Antichrist the court of the temple and the holy citie should be troden under foot but 42 moneths which are 30 dayes fewer And here it is worth the observing how neare Antiochus time over the Synagogue Christs time over the Church and Antichrists time in the end of the world do conspire in one all being about three yeares and a half as Scriptures have expressed and the learned computed But against this computation it is objected that if it be admitted to stand so neare to Christs coming to destroy Antichrist as in 2. Thess. 2. 8. is expressed then the day of Christs coming to judgement may be known which in Matth. 24. 36. is denied I answer This consequent is not good First because we have no warrant in Gods word when this account of yeares moneths and dayes is to begin wherefore the beginning being but conjecturall the end can be but conjecturall too and so nothing certain Secondly no Scripture hath revealed that the day of Christs coming shall be tangent to these three yeares and half as if it were to follow the next day after because the Gospel hath interjected certain signes and prodigies between Antichrists persecution and the end of the world saying And immediately after the tribulation of those dayes the sunne shall be darkened and the moon shall not give her light and the starres shall fall from heaven and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken And then shall appeare the signe of the Sonne of man To return to the demonstration of Antichrist one man this is further proved from the name Antichrist which signifieth an opposite to Christ. Now a sect or kingdome is not so proper an opposite to Christ as one person is opposite to another Should the opposition be in a kingdome or sect then the Mahometicall kingdome and the sect of Arius should be the Antichrist because these principally oppose Christ in denying him to be God But the Fathers understand Antichrist of one man opposite to Christ in person and qualities in whom shall inhabit the devils malice and nature corporally as in Christ doth inhabit the Godhead corporally Thus properly shall person be opposite to person one Christ one Antichrist The description of Antichrist Vers. 3. And that man of sinne be revealed that sonne of perdition who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God or that is worshipped so that he doth sit as God in the temple of God shewing himself that he is God These words are the description of Antichrist in which as in a table ye may see his stature complexion and portraiture
because our eyes are more conversant in beholding inferiour and nearest causes therefore the Apostle directeth us to this here and thus onely the Romane empire was the letting cause One tyrant will not suffer another tyrant to rise because he would be tyrant still But one must not alwayes continue the worlds race requireth this One generation passeth and another cometh When one Comedian hath acted his part he goes off the stage and another cometh on Let Christs little flock therefore be of good comfort for when the whole generation of Antichrist have played their parts they shall all be taken away in the end As Moses said to the children of Israel Exod. 14. 13. The Egyptians whom ye have seen this day ye shall never see them again And this demonstration is confirmed by S. Chrysostome upon this chapter 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 As those kingdomes were destroyed which were before the Romane Empire as the kingdome of the Medes by the Babylonians the Babylonians by the Persians and the Persians by the Macedonians and the Macedonians by the Romanes so the kingdome of the Romanes shall be destroyed of Antichrist and he again of Christ and after that he shall obtain no more The discoverie of Antichrist Vers. 8. And then shall that wicked be revealed That wicked in the Greek text is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 id est exlex that outlaw for he shall live without law And herein is verified the prophesie of him in his type Antiochus Dan. 11. 36. And the king shall do what him lust His will shall be his law as if he were a God Here is the patience of the saints for what he will they must undergo Then shall that wicked be revealed that is to say disclosed Before this time Antichrist was in his egge as you may see in the seventh verse he was closed in a mysterie the dragon then sat upon it now here he breaks forth But here we must observe that which Anselm and Carthusianus do upon this place that the Apostle doth not define the time of Antichrists uncovering but leaves it at large saying That he may be revealed in his time setting down no speciall time again in saying For the mysterie of iniquitie doth alreadie work but he doth not expresse how long it shall work Yet certain it is that after the falling away Antichrist shall come though it be not known how soon or how long after And as Carthusianus saith Verisimile est quòd post discessionem statim veniet Antichristus vel nascendo vel publicè praedicando It is likely saith he that after the falling away Antichrist straightway shall come either in springing up or in publick preaching And upon this he saith further Ideo de adventu Antichristi qui est secundum quod praecedet diem judicii subditur ET REVELATUS FUERIT id est manifestatus mundo Therefore saith he of the coming of Antichrist according to that he is to precede the day of judgement it is added AND THAT HE SHOULD BE REVEALED that is to say manifested unto the world Thus that judicious writer maketh a double coming of Antichrist one in his preparation and another in his corporall presence the one immediately after the defection and the other immediately before the worlds end The first that is of his preparation I cannot better apply then to the preaching of the Alcoran in the Turks empire First because as I have alreadie shewed there is the absolute apostasie And next by comparing Mahumetisme with Papisme For in the Papacie there as Calvin saith Ecclesiae fundamenta manent the foundations of the Church remain but in Mahumetisme there is all rent up and overturned in the Papacie he saith there Christ is semisepultus that is but half buried but in Mahumetisme he is whole buried in the Papacie he saith there is semirutum aedificium the house of God half ruinate but in Mahumetisme there is not so much as a groundsell or a raft to be seen neither stick nor stone Moreover because in the Alcoran there Mahomet Antichrists immediate forerunner is preached and expected And lastly because Antichrist is called of the Apostle 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the man without law and the Turk hath no other law to rule his people by but his own will Wherefore from his kingdome we are to expect the great Antichrist And with this agreeth S. Pauls sequel which is That the man of sinne could not appeare till the Romane Empire were removed And it is known that the Turkish kingdome grew upon the ruine of the Romish in Heraclius time The two Beasts These two kingdomes the Romish and Turkish are the two beasts that S. John writeth of Revel 13. and are to precede the Antichrists coming The first beast is the Romane Empire which rose out of the sea that is to say from the citie of Rome because that famous arm of the sea Tybur flows through it And this beast is described in this monstrous shape in the form of his bodie to be like a leopard for his various government by Kings Consuls Decemvirats Dictatours Cesars c. in his feet to be like a bear to lay hold and in his mouth like to a lion to devoure and tear And by this beast was the Church most lamentably rent and torn during the time of the ten persecutions as we reade in Ecclesiastical histories The second beast is the Turkish Empire which is there said to rise out of the earth that is out of the drie rockie and desert land of Arabia Regio aquarum inops inculta as Sturmius saith Out of this countrey as historie affordeth Mahomet sprung up And this beast by his original in Greek is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 id est terrae filius the sonne of the earth in regard of his base birth which fitteth well with Mahomet that scum of the earth Again he is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is to say a giant in regard of his monstrous and huge dominion spread so farre over the earth And this beast is compared to a lambe in the frame of the Alcoran which praiseth religion and offers content to every sect as being patched up of all the pleasures of hereticks in assoiling the nations that dwelt nigh him as Ranulphus testifieth and in doing by craft and guile what he might not do by deeds of arms But after he had raised his kingdome by flatteries as Antiochus did his then he spake like a dragon saying that he was sent of God to compell men to his religion by the sword and that they which will not obey his law must pay tribute or be put to death for so be the words of the Alcoran And this beast exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him that is in speaking great things and blasphemies in making warre with the saints and overcoming them and in having power over all kindreds tongues and nations as
Jerusalem but the Churches of Christ. And according to this sense our Saviour Matth. 24. 15. speaking of Antichrists seat doth not say When ye see the abomination of desolation stand in the temple at Jerusalem but he saith stand in the holy place that is to say in the Church which is more holy then ever was the temple at Jerusalem by reason of the time of grace And this reason also evinceth For if Antichrist should not have his residence in the Church among Christians what opportunitie could he have to tread under foot the holy citie by the space of fourty two moneths and to compasse the tents of the saints about and the beloved citie which is the Church of Christ prophesied of in the 11 and 20 chapters of the Revelation Lastly to this cometh the prophesie of Sibylla speaking of Antichrist in the 8 book of Oracles and quoted by Jewel upon the 2 Thess. 2. where she hath these words The greatest terrour and furie of his empire and the greatest wo that he shall work shall be by the banks of Tybur And to this agree the Remenses saying Credibile omnino est Romae sessurum Antichristum It is altogether credible that Antichrist is to sit at Rome Secondly this is shewed from the Fathers S. Hierome quaest 11. ad Algas saith He shall sit in the temple of God either at Jerusalem as some think or in the Church as we more truely suppose S. Chrysostome upon 2. Thess. 2. He shall command himself to be worshipped for God and to be placed in the temple not onely at Jerusalem but also in the Churches S. Augustine de Civit. Dei lib. 20. cap. 11. speaking of Antichrists persecution saith Haec erit novissima persecutio novissimo imminente judicio quam sancta Ecclesia toto terrarum orbe patietur universa scilicet civitas Christi ab universa diaboli civitate quantacunque erit utraque super terram This shall be the last persecution the last judgement hanging over our heads which the whole Church shall suffer in all the world that is to say the whole citie of Christ from the whole citie of the devil c. But to stop the mouth of these testimonies some perhaps may say that there is no Church at Rome To such will Calvin give answer in his fourth book of Inst. chap. 2. sect 12. Hinc igitur patet nos minimè negare quin sub ejus quoque tyrannide Ecclesiae maneant From hence it is plain that we denie not but that under his tyrannie the Churches may remain Likewise in the 11 section he hath Ut manebant olim inter Judaeos peculiares quaedam Ecclesiae praerogativae ità nec hodie Papistis adimimus quae superesse ex dissipatione vestigia Ecclesiae inter eos Dominus voluit As in time past among the Jews certain peculiar prerogatives remained so neither do we at this day take from the Papists the steps of the Church which the Lord would have to remain among them out of that dissipation Here again may some other ask why Antichrist may not as well make choice of some other Seas in Christendome as of Rome and namely among the reformed Churches I answer Of necessitie he must sit at Rome to fulfill the prophesie Revel 17. and because this was the seat of the first beast Reason also will runne with the prophesie for that conquerers will aim at the fairest as the Turk the second beast hath made choice of Constantinople as being the principall citie of the East Church The Papist and the Protestant strive about the seat of Antichrist the one would have it to be at Rome the other not In my judgement the Protestant sets the saddle on the right horse Wherefore if the Papist will be advised by me let him yeeld the horse and saddle too and save the rider Let him free the Pope amend his teaching especially whereby he shed so much Christian bloud and maintain peace and charitie with his brethren who dissent not from him in the main and let the devil and Antichrist take Rome when the time comes They had it at the first and they will have it again at the last sit the holy Father as sure as he can When the great deluge and overspreading shall come spoken of by Daniel and John then all shall down the Pope must stoup his Cardinals shall be off their hinges and his triple crown shall lie in the dust In the mean time God of his great goodnesse have mercie on us all Antichrists destruction Vers. 8. Whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth and shall destroy with the brightnesse of his coming In these words Antichrists destruction is prophesied to the great comfort of Christs little flock The overthrow is described to be given as it were by a double blow and a twofold weapon to shew the certaintie and inevitabilitie of it The Lord Christ shall utterly consume and destroy his enemie but how Spiritu oris sui with the spirit of his mouth that is as Carthusianus upon this place saith With his precept in commanding him to be killed by Michael the archangel or else in killing him by himself that is to say with his look or as Anselm hath it SPIRITU ORIS SUI id est invisibili virtute spiritûs sui c. WITH THE SPIRIT OF HIS MOUTH that is with the invisible vertue of his spirit which spirit is the holy Ghost proceeding from the Father and the Sonne and is the power of the Godhead In short he shall destroy him not by the preaching of his Ministers as some would have it but because he is his personall opposite he shall destroy him in his own person by his divine power and command whose command is to do not in the multitude of an armie nor in the strength of souldiers nor in the aid of angels but as darknesse is banished by the sunnes presence so by the lustre of Christs coming by the look of his countenance and by the breath of his nostrils he shall destroy him 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 By the brightnes of his presence when he shall say Ite maledicti in ignem aeternum Go ye cursed into everlasting fire Whether Antichrist be yet come I answer No because the scripture testifieth that he shall come in the end of the world for when he is come and hath reigned his three yeares and an half as is before declared then our text saith that Christ shall come to consume him with the spirit of his mouth and to destroy him with the brightnesse of his coming Some understand this of Christs spirit in his preachers by created graces but this cannot be good because the Greek hath 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which signifieth by the appearing of his substantiall or personall presence Secondly because the preachers of that time shall not kill Antichrist but be killed as appeareth in the prophesie of the two witnesses Revel 11. 3
yet fulfilled In the 12 of Daniel where the end of the world is prophesied it is said that then there shall be such a time of trouble as was not since there began to be a nation untill that time And in the sixth and seventh verses where question is moved of the time and durance of this trouble the angell sware by him that liveth for ever that it should be for a time times and an half that is to say for three yeares and an half and after this it is said in the text And when he shall have accomplished to scatter the power of the holy people that is to say when Antiochus hath made an end of oppressing the Jews and Antichrist of treading down the holy citie among the Christians then all these things shall be finished that is to say then shall be an end of the Jews persecutions and then shall be an end of the Christians oppressions when the world shall end and the day of resurrection come With this consenteth the threefold cable of prophesies in S. Johns Revelation The first of the blowing of the sixth trumpet in the ninth chapter where the foure angels bound at Euphrates were loosed to slay the third part of men And the horsemen of warre were twenty thousand times ten thousand which multitude as M. Fox saith agreeth best with the Turks armies The second of pouring out of the sixth viall in the sixteenth chapter where Euphrates is seen to be dried up that the way for the kings of the east might be prepared that is that the Scythians or Tartars might joyn with the Beast and the false Prophet in the battell of that great day of God Almightie And the third of the loosing of Satan in the twentieth chapter to gather Gog and Magog together that is the Turks and Tartars with the people of the foure quarters of the earth whose number shall be like the sand of the sea to compasse the camp of the saints about and the beloved citie which is the Church and the Christians And that this great warre is to be understood of Antichrists warre in the end of the world it is apparent both from the testimonie of interpreters and specially from the evidence of scriptures and the effects following For the interpreters I will use one for all which is S. Augustine in the 20 book of the citie of God and 11 chapter This shall be the last persecution when the last judgement shall hang over our heads which the holy Church through the world shall suffer that is the whole citie of Christ from the whole citie of the devil For the scriptures in the 24 of Matthew we reade that immediately after the tribulation of those dayes the sunne shall be darkened and the moon shall not give her light and the starres shall fall and after this the Sonne of man shall come in the clouds with power and great glorie In the 10 of the Apocalyps after the blowing of the sixth trumpet and the warre ended the mightie Angel that is Christ lift up his hand to heaven and swore that time should be no more and that in the dayes of the voice of the seventh trumpet which S. Paul calleth the last trumpet and the trumpet of God the mysterie of God should be finished In the 16. chapter after the pouring out of the sixth vial and the warre ended the seventh angel poured out his into the aire and there came a loud voice out of the temple of heaven and from the thrane saying It is done And the isles fled away and the mountains were not found Lastly in the 20 chapter after the gathering together of Gog and Magog after they had compassed the camp of the saints and the beloved citie after they had had their full pleasure over them then fire fell down from heaven upon them the devil the beast and the false prophet were cast into a lake of fire and brimstone the white throne was set up the books were opened and the dead were judged All these testimonies being testimonies of the last warres shew them to be Antichrists warres because they jump together with the abomination of desolation in Matth. 24. 15. and with S. Johns saying Little children it is the last time and as ye have heard that Antichrist shall come even now are there many Antichrists whereby we know that it is the last time Hitherto we have seen the intestine and civill warres of Christians as yet we have not seen the troups of the Ottomans we have not seen Gog and Magog the Scythian nations we have not seen the kings of the whole world gathered together by the three spirits of the dragon the beast and the false prophet we have not seen the armie whose number imitateth the sand of the sea as yet they have not spread the breadth of the earth as yet they have not compassed the camp of the saints as yet the Beast hath not imprinted his character upon us but we use our libertie we buy and sell great thanks be to our God Therefore as yet that great Antichrist is not come but we look for him to resist him in the faith and to overcome him with suffering What if he handle us as Antiochus handled the mother and the seven brethren if he kill us in the morning shall not our souls be crowned with joy in the evening shall not he for whom we suffer take away the edge of our pains is not the death of the sword shorter and easier then the death of the bed and is not the weight of the recompense above all rewards would not a man runne through a river of bloud to go to a kingdome oh this shall be the joyfullest suffering that ever was seen because our Lord Jesus shall come from heaven in person to make an end of it and to crown it When ye see these things begin to come to passe saith our Redeemer lift up your heads for your redemption draweth neare And again Know that the kingdome of God is neare even at the doores Wherefore we will not faint at Antichrists great looks nor at the multitude of his armies nor at the crueltie of his souldiers For though at first he get the field of us yet in the end the victorie and triumph shall be ours when that man of sinne shall be consumed with the spirit of Christs mouth and destroyed with the brightnesse of his coming when all his armies shall be gathered into Armageddon where were slain the kings of Canaan and into the valley of Hamon-Gog where they shall be buried to free the holy nation from their stink for ever Wherefore rejoyce ye Christians of a true heart for the overthrow is determined and the place of buriall is appointed before the enemie come Antichrists furniture Vers. 9. Even him whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signes and lying wonders Hitherto we have