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Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
earth_n	bind_v	key_n	loose_v	3,794	5	10.2737	5	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A66360	Ho Antichristos the great antichrist revealed, before this time never discovered, and proved to be neither pope, nor Turk, nor any single person, nor the succession of any one monarch or tyrant in any policies, but a collected pack, or multitude of hypocritical, heretical, blasphemous, and most scandalous wicked men that have fulfilled all the prophesies of the Scriptures ... and especially have united ... together by a solemn league and covenant to slay the two witnesses of God, Moses and Aaron ... that is, the supreme magistrate of the Commonwealth, and the chief pastors and governours of the Church of Christ, and the Christian world is requested to judge whether the Assembly of Presbyterians consulting at Westminster, together with the independents, Anabaptists, and lay-preachers be not the false prophet ... and whether the prevalent faction of the long Parliament ... that killed the two witnesses of Jesus Christ, 1. Charles the First ... 2. William Laud ... be not the grosse and visible body of the same antichrist / by Gr. Williams.	Williams, Gryffith, 1589?-1672.	1660 (1660)	Wing W2662; ESTC R25201	504,825	313

of Expositors to make good their own conceits Esdras 14.41 to run unto tropes and figures when we may literally without tropes expound the same more agreeable unto the truth and without violence unto the Text therefore I conceive that the two Testaments cannot with any probability be understood by these two witnesses that are said to be killed by the beast and especially because they cannot be said to be the two Olive Trees or the anointed ones nor the two Candlesticks that hold up the light when as they are the light that these Candlesticks do hold nor to be confined to such a time as 1200 and 60 dayes when these two Testaments maugre all the malice of the Antichrist shall continue to the last day And therefore I do rather expound these two witnesses to be the preservers and the interpreters or preachers of these two Testaments that being living creatures Who are these two Witnesies that is 1. The King 2. The Bishop may be killed by this Beast and these are rightly termed the two Olive Trees or the two Sonnes of Oyl that is the anointed of God and the two Candlesticks that stand before the God of the Earth that is to hold up the light of the two Testaments to inlighten the Church of God with the truth of his holy word in despight of the Devill which is termed the God of the Earth And these preservers and Interpreters of these two Testaments are as E. H. truly observeth 1 Pet. 2.13 the civill Magistrates and the Ecclesiasticall Governours of Gods Church that is Moses and Aaron or the King as the supreme Magistrate and the Bishop as the chief Pastor that hath the oversight of the rest of the subordinate Ministers as St. Paul sheweth 1 Tim. 3. c. 4.1 for the King is custos utriusque tabulae the defender of the faith and obliged to take care as well of the Church and service of God as of the Commonwealth All good Kings took speciall care to have God truly served so Moses testifieth and so David Solomon Jehosophat Ezechias Josias and all the godly and good Kings of Israel and Judah had and so Constantine Theodosius and our own pious Princes Queen Elizabeth King James and King Charles and all other good Christian Kings shewed that they took speciall care to see the truth purely preached and the service of God duly and rightly executed and therefore may most truly and literally without any trope or figure be said to be one of these two witnesses of Jesus Christ and the Bishop is to take upon him curam animarum the speciall care and charge of souls and the charge of them that are under him Act. 20.18 and undertook the charge of souls to see that they do carefully feed the flock of Christ whereof the Holy ghost hath made them overseers and therefore also the Bishops and the Ministers of Gods word may be rightly said and none can deny it to be the other witnesses of Jesus Christ and so Christ saith unto his Apostles and in them to all the Bishops that were to succeed the Apostles that they were his Witnesses Act. 1.8 and they should testifie and bear witness of him in Hierusalem and unto the uttermost parts of the Earth which they themselves could not do but in and by those Bishops that succeeded them in all the ordinary duties of the Apostles and therefore no forehead were it of Brasse can deny these to be the witnesses of Christ without blushing when Christ himself doth affirm it And so you see plainly Zechary 4.14 that these two which are indeed the Sonnes of the Olive Tree the two onely Offices and Callings that are the annointed of God and the two Candlesticks that hold up the light of the two Testaments the King by the strength of his Sword and the Bishops by the faithfull preaching of Gods word are the two witnesses of Jesus Christ and therefore well may the King and the inferiour Magistrates under him and the Bishop with his subordinate Clergy like Moses and Aaron the supreme Magistrate and the High Priest be rightly termed the two Witnesses of Jesus Christ in every Kingdom and Commonwealth Then after that the Angell had intimated unto the Apostle c. 11. v. 4. who are to be understood by these two Witnesses by terming them the two Olive Trees that is the two annoynted Officers of Gods Church and the two Candlesticks that do beare and uphold the true light of the Gospel unto the people he proceeds to shew the Power and Abilities c. 11. v. 5. 6. the gifts and Endowments that God would bestow upon them both for to inable them to build up the Temple that was measured that is to edifie and to enlarge the Christian Church and also to protect themselves against their Enemies and to punish those that should be refractory and to shew for how long a time they should freely and fairely enjoy this power and liberty to build this Church for saith the Angel these two Witnesses shall have power to poewr out fire out of their mouth Numbers 16. 2 Reg. 1. Jerem. 5.14 Their power was the same as Christ gave to his Apostles and God to Moses to destroy their Enemies that go about to hurt them and they shall have power to shut the Heavens that it raine not in the dayes of their Prophesie and they shall have power over waters to turn them to blood and to smite the earth with all Plagues as often as they will And these powers and Abilities are the very same that Christ had formerly given unto his Apostles and their successors the Bishops and Governors of his Church and the very same powers and abilities that God long before had given and granted unto Moses and to all his successors that supply his place and office the Kings and cheif Magistrates that are as he was to rule over and to govern Gods people for our Saviour tells St. Peter that he will give to him the Keyes of the Kingdome of Heaven that is of the Church which is the way that brings us to the Kingdome of Heaven and whatsoever he shall bind on earth shall be bound in Heaven and whatsoever he shall leose on earth shall be loosed in Heaven and this power he gave not only to St. Peter but also to all the rest of the Apostles and their Successors for ever as you may see in Math. 18. v. 18. and John the 20. v. 23. Math. 16.19 so Mr. Mede part 2. pag 11. And so according to this power granted unto the Apostles and Bishops that are the Governours of the Church and have the Keyes thereof the sentence of Excommunication or the shutting out of the Church and the delivery of the lewd and wicked refractory person unto Satan as the Apostle speaketh 1 Cor. 5.5 The sentence of excommunication is the fire and the key is the fire that proceedeth out of the mouth of

given to this eighth which are not attributed to any of the other seven and therefore makes it plaine that none of all the Emperors or Kings can be understood by this eight for first It is said that this eight is the beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit and this is said of none of the other seven Secondly It is said that they that dwell on the earth shall wonder when they behold the beast which is not said at the beholding of any of the others For so the Originall is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Kings or Emperors Thirdly It is said of this eight that he is of the seven and not one of the seven as our English Translation hath it and this is not said of any of the other seven Fourthly It is said of this eight that he shall goe into perdition which in like manner is not said of any of the other seven and Fifthly As I noted before when the Holy Ghost speaketh of this 8th he saith and the beast that was and is not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which our Bible renders even he and none other is the eighth mark it well Therefore I conclude that this eighth can be none of the foresaid Emperours nor any of all the Kings or Emperours of the world of whom none of these things is said that are said of this eighth who is no where said to be a King or to weare a Crown or to have any speciall Ensign either of King or Emperour and I conceive Who were the five Kings that were fallen 1. Caligula that by the 5 Kings which were then fallen we may understand the 5 greatest persecutors that lived and reigned after Christ his ascention and before this Prophesie was revealed unto our Evangelist and I take them to be 1. Caius Caligula that most vitious and bloody Tyrant who wished that all the Citizens of Rome had but one neck that he might chop it off at one blow and whom Grotius makes the man of sin and others do assent unto him 2 Claudius Tiberius 2. Claudius that banished both the Jewes and the Christians out of Rome 3. Domitius 3. Nero Nero that Monster of men that crucifie St. Peter and beheaded St. Paul within a year one of another and when he had burned a great part of the City of Rome that he might see how Troy burnt when it was taken by the Grecians to put off the blame from himself he layed the fault upon the Christians and persecuted them for the same 4. 4. Vespasian Vespasian that besieged Hierusalem and first began the Warre against the Jewes that brought abundance of miseries upon the Christians 5. 5. Titus Titus that utterly destroyed both their Temple and their City and therein many Christians as well as Jewes The Holy Ghost omitting the other three Emperours Galba 7. months Otho 4. M. Vitellius 8. M. Galba Otho and Vitellius as men that although they had been never so wicked yet in so short a space as they raigned when as all three raigned but one year and 7 moneths they could do no such great mischief unto his Church as deserved to inrole them in the Catalogue of the most noted persecutors And by that one 6. Then in being Domitian which is said then to be I do with Junius understand Flavius Domitian who caused this our Apostle to be throwen into a Tunne of boyling Oyl at Rome and afterwards seeing how the goodness of God preserved him therein 7. Julian the Apostata so that he took no more harm then the three Children did in the fiery Furnace or Daniel in the Lions Den he spared his life but banished him into the Isle of Patmos where this Revelation was shewed unto him and by the 7th I do absolutely conclude him to be Julian the Apostata Reason 1 1. Because that although Dioclesian was the cruellest the bloodiest of all the former persecutors yet the Holy Ghost saith the other that is not yet come which was the 7th when he cometh must continue but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a short space and we find that Dioclesian reigned 19 years before his persecution began and in all 25 years whereas Julian continued but 3 years at the most and therefore Dioclesian that continued so long cannot be meant Reason 2 2. Because that although the Christians under Deoclesian Decius Trajan and the other persecutors endured more cruel tortures and were far more in number * Scribit Damasus in vita Marcellini ut Supra 17 millia Christianorum intra unum mensem a Diaclesiano inter fecta tormented by these Tyrants then they were to be at any time either before or after yet quia sanguis martyrum semen Ecclesiae because the blood of the Martyrs is the seed of the Church and causeth it to bring forth fruits more abundantly when as the cruelty of the Tyrants made the Christians the more constant in their profession and so could not do so much prejudice to the Christian Faith and Religion as Julian did for though Julian was not so bloody and so cruel as Dioclesian that forbad Charity to be shewed to the Christians that were in prison and even to those Vide Eusebium lib. 8. c. 2.3 et deinceps that they were bound to pitty by the Law of nature their Kindred nor did put the Saints to such ceuel deaths and tortures as the other his preceding persecutors were wont to do yet was he more devillish and far liker to overthrow Gods Church and to root out Christianity from off the earth then all the former Heathen persecuters were for as I said the more cruel they were against the Christians The two things that increased the Christian Religion 1. The constancy of the Martyrs 2. The Charity of the Christians the more did Christianity increase insomuch that as Sozomen saith Christiana religio propter constantiam martyrum Christianorum erga omnes cujusvis religionis beneficentiam longe lateque propagata est the Christian Religion by reason of the constancy of the Martyrs and the Charity of the Christians towards all men of what Religion soever they were spread it self far and neer when as the beholding of a poor Christian Woman so constantly and so manfully suffering Martyrdome for the faith of Christ moved a King and all his Family to become Christians which very point might be the Reason that all the other bloody Tyrants that were so succeed Domitian were pretermitted and not mentioned here by the Holy Ghost as upon the maine bringing no great detriment to the whole Church that gaineth thus much and more one way as she looseth another way But when the Tiger Julian that dealt like a Fox in all his wayes and perceived the issues of the former cruelties well enough and therefore with-held his hands from blood Socrates lib. 3. c. 10. and used his wit to root out the Christian

and offences in our Church contrary to the Doctrine that we learned and contrary to all the established Lawes of this Land and they would never have disdained to be Canonically subject to their Diocessan Bishops and so make shipwrack of their faith and a good Conscience and through their pride that aspired to be free Masters and no lesse then a Pope in every Parish and through covetousness and hope to share the Episcopall Revenues among themselves so eagerly to have proceeded to deface the most Glorious Nationall Church that was on Earth And as the Apostle bids us to marke them that cause division and offences as he did himselfe by name marke and made known unto the people Hymeneus and Philetus and Alexander the copper smith and as St. John marked Diotrephes and our Saviour Christ the Scribes and Pharisees 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Let the Reader judge if this be not fulfilled in the Presbyters that the people might avoid them as they are commanded so I could name to you such Presbyterians that are so earthly so worldly so covetous and such extortioners if printed books say true of them as would make men wonder that any Christians should be such but I love not to throw dirt in any particular mans face onely I let you know that I conceive this to be the meaning of the rising of this beast out of the earth that he is earthly minded as in generall I say and am sure of it the Presbyterians are Then secondly it is said in the same v. 11. 2. What is meant by the two hornes of this beast that this Beast had 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 two hornes like a Lambe or like unto the Lamb and that is the Lambe which was spoken of in the eighth v. And these two hornes saith Grotius do signifie the chastity and the abstinence of Apollonius and the rest of the Magicians by which vertues so greatly commended by the Christians they made themselves most acceptable unto them but while Grotius applyeth this Prophesie to Domitian and Apollonius as he doth the other of St. Paul 2 Thes 2. to Caius and to Simon Magus he makes the Apostles to Prophesie of things already done and extending themselves no further then their own time which is contrary to the sence of all Expositors and cannot properly be said to be Prophesies as I shewed to you before Mares p. 139. They that mistake this Beast and take him for the Pope do likewise mistake these hornes for the two fold sword the Temporall and the Spirituall Power of the Pope Acosta saith they are insignia 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Acosta de tempor nouis l. 2. p. 17. the ensignes of the Episcopall Dignity that was expressed by their Miter which seemed like Moses his hornes that were but the radiant beames of Glory which like the sun-beames reflected from his face and forehead when he descended from the Mountain where he had been in conference with Almighty God and this dignity this Beast assumed to himself which was onely peculiar to the Episcopall Function And did not the Assembly of Divines at Westminster The Parallele The Presbyter challenge the Episcopall Dignity and more and every one of the Presbyterians arrogate and challenge this Dignity unto himselfe when he refused to be subject and to be directed by his Diocessan and with the Heretick Aerius did stiffely maintain that there was no difference in Gods word betwixt a Presbyter and a Bishop yes their own writings and the whole Kingdom are sufficient witnesses of this truth yea they affected indeed far more then the Episcopall Power as it hath been fully shewed in the Diurnalls and the weekly intelligence of the Parliament and as King James found it in Scotland and the Independants and Lay-Preachers shall finde it to their cost if ever the Presbyterian Government should be established But Mr. Mede saith that by these two hornes Mr. Mede p 66. we may understand the Power of binding and loosing which Christ left to his Apostles and to their Successors here on earth and which this Beast doth assume unto himsef but if this Power had been here to be understood the Holy Ghost had not said these hornes were like the hornes of the Lambe but that this Beast had the two hornes of the Lamb because the Power of binding and loosing are the two right hornes of Christ Revelat. 3.7 that onely hath the Keyes of David which openeth and no man shutteth and again shutteth and no man openeth and this two-fold Power Christ hath given to his true and lawfull Ministers Cornelius a lapide in loc and they truly and rightly have the two bornes of the Lambe which this beast had not but had counterfeit hornes 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 like the hornes of the Lambe as Cornelius a Lapide well observeth therefore this two-fold Power cannot be here understood But because strength and Power is commonly understood by 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the horne and our Saviour Christ that is here understood by the Lambe shewed his Power while he walked here on earth chiefly in two main things that is The 2 things that are fignified by the two hornes 1. In his Propheticall Office of foretelling things to come 2. In his Supernaturall working of wonders and miracles among the people So this beast pretendeth to be indued with the same double Power of the Lambe as The Paralele Let the reader judge if Presbyters do not arrogate them to themselves 1. Of Foretelling hidden and future things 2. Of Working strange miracles And Though I know the Presbyterians and their associates will deny that they challenge these hornes and the Power of doing these things unto themselves yet res ipsa loquitur let their doings be the Judges of this point 1. To foretell things to come For 1. Do they not presume but most impiously though not directly in words yet obliquely by their deedes to tell you who are Saints and who are sinners who are Elect and who are Reprobates who shall be the Heires of Heaven and who must be the fire-brands of hell not plainly it may be but by their deeds I say it is plainly seen they do it and such knowledge is too excellent for us we cannot attain unto it when the Apostle tells us in plain termes that the Lord 2 Tim. 2.19 and the Lord onely and not any man knoweth who are his that is his Elected Saints They are so well versed in the hearts of men and can so finely distinguish betwixt the Saint and the sinner the elect and the reprobate that herein no Tricotomist can be more acute that shall inherit his Kingdom and yet these wise eagle-sighted Presbyterians contrary to this Testimony of the Apostle when they Administer the Holy Eucharist besides other times at their pleasure can distinguish betwixt the sheepe and the goates and admitting the sheep to partake thereof they can exclude the goates from the