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A15370 An exposition of the 13. chapter of the Revelation of Iesus Christ. By Iohn Wilkison Wilkinson, John, dissenter. 1619 (1619) STC 25647; ESTC S103078 38,953 38

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of the Beast which is 666. By this number I do not understand any set number and that the parts and members of the Beast are no more nor lesse but thereby I understand is meant a full and compleate number as before was shewed As all the parts and members of a man ioyned together make a whole perfect man so doe the particular parts and members of the Beast make a perfect and entire Beast Thus briefly according to the ability which God hath given me I haue gone over this chapter wherein is briefly set forth the workers of iniquitie which haue and yet still doe prevaile over Gods people under the title of Ministers of the Gospell and Church of Christ as they were represented under the forme of three severall Beasts The first Beast representing the Generall Councells or as the Papists call it the Catholick Church The second Beast representing the Pope And the third Beast the Provinciall Councels which were established by the Pope The which three Beasts bearing rule and dominion in these times whereinto wee are fallen and being enemies and opposers of Christ and his Kingdome it doth behooue us to know them to end that wee may eschew them and their evill wayes and seek after the truth making straight steps unto the Kingdome of God Now that we our selues may make particular use hereof it is necessarie for us to examine the Nationall Synode or Convocation confisting of the Prelacy and clergie of this Land who whilst they remained under the yoke and bondage of the church of Rome and whilst they exercised their power which was first given them by the Pope for and in the behalfe of that church and dominion they were they very Image of the first Beast before mentioned But being now separated from the Pope and Church of Rome they thinke as it should seeme that their spirituall Pontificall power and authority which they exercise is lawfull and warrantable and to bee submitted unto They being gathered together boast themselues to bee the representatiue body of the Church of England and the true Church of Christ and that they haue power to make Lawes and Canons for governement thereof and for the worship of God which all men ought to yeeld obedience unto as appeareth by divers of their books of Canons But wee are not to take this upon their word but to make triall thereof by the word of God whether it be true or false If the word of God did giue them such power and authority then indeed wee were bound in conscience to yeeld all ready obedience to their Lawes and Canons But the most wise God and disposer of all things who knoweth the vanity of mens mindes would not haue his people to hold their faith in respect of mens persons and at their pleasure to alter and change the same and therefore did not giue to any of his Ministers power to make Lawes in matters of Religion and for the worship of God but gaue them power onely to teach the Nations to obserue the things which hee had commanded them as in the eight and twentieth chapter of Mathew the nineteenth twentieth verses And the Apostle Paul biddeth the Corinthians 1. Cor. 11. 1. to bee followers of him as hee followed Christ And in the same Chapter hee also saith That which hee had received of the Lord hee delivered unto them Acts 15. Also the Assembly of the Apostles and Elders of the Church of Ierusalem they would not impose any yoke of bondage upon the Churches of Christ but held it to be a tempting of God so to doe as before hath been shewed And this agreeth with that in Deutr. 12. 32. Whatsoever I command you take heed you doe it Thou shalt put nothing thereto nor take ought therefrom By which Scriptures it is plaine that the chiefest Ministers of the Gospell had no such power as these Prelates presume to haue as we shall finde by examining their particular Canons and Constitutions of which for examples I will onely note some few of their late and best reformed Book made An. 1603. in the first yeere of the Kings Maiesties raigne by which it will be apparant that they passe the bounds of the subjects of Christ and that they haue no power from him to make such lawes but by so doing they usurp the place of God to reigne in mens consciences for unto him onely it doth belong to make Lawes in matters of Religion and for the worship of God to which men are onely bound to yeeld obedience without adding or detracting and that for this their presumption they are liable to the curse of God being indeed the Image of the Beast here spoken of that is originally sprung from the Dragon and hath received power of Law-making from him Concerning the first and second Canons wherein they pretend their zeale for the abolishing of all forrein power repugnant to the jurisdiction of the Kings Majestie over the Ecclesiasticall estate he being the highest power under God to whom all men owe most loyall obedience and that his Maiesty hath the like authority in Causes Ecclesiasticall as the godly Kings had amongst the Iewes To these I do● most willingly assent and agree And further doe desire that as the Pope so the Prelacie with all their Antichristian Adherents which usurp spirituall power and superiority aboue the Maiesty of Christ Iesus being a strange and forraine generation brought in and established in this Land by the Pope of Rome may also bee abolished and cast out after him for by them the Pope liues in hope hereafter to be served as he hath been heretofore to the great vexation of the Kings and Princes of this Land yea to the losse of their Crowne and liues But to be short I will proceed to mention some few of their canons whereby iniquity is established for a Law and their beastlinesse discovered In the third canon it is enacted that whosoever shall affirme the Church of England by Law established not to be a true and Apostolicall Church teaching and maintaining the doctrine of the Apostles that person shall be excommunicated ipso facto That there are some yea many doctrines of the Apostles maintained in the Church of England I do not deny so there are in the Church of Rome But that the Ecclesiasticall state or spirituall body politick which is called the Church of England which consisteth of Arch bishops Diocesan Lord Bishops Suffragans Deanes Arch-deacons Prehends Canons Chancellors Commissaries with the rest of the Clergie as heads and guides of that body to go before and the whole multitude of the Layitie as they call it which is as the Tayle to follow those Heads that this politicall Body is the Spouse and church of Christ as they affirme in their seuenth eigth and ninth canons that I do deny For first if it were true that they are the Ministers of Christ and members of the Body of Christ which is his Church we should finde warrant for them
and although by meanes of their Guides which make them to erre and goe astray keeping them in ignorance of this doctrine yet it shall go well with them Such persons I say are fit stones for the building of the Church of Christ but so long as they remaine in this confusion they can no more bee said to be the true visible Church of Christ then a heape of stones fitted for a building can bee said to be a house therefore they must be separated from the wicked and placed together according to the order prescribed by Christ Iesus and practised by his Apostles as in the new Testament before they can be so esteemed As these Prelates will haue this Church of England to be accounted the true Church of Christ so they will haue the true Church of Christ to be accounted false schismaticall and hereticall as in the 9. 10. and 11. Canons by which it doth appeare that if any people separate from this corrupt Church state and ioyne together apart from the wicked and prophane to walke in all the wayes and ordinances of Christ prescribed in his Testament acknowledging Christ Iesus to be the onely King Lord and Law-giver in matters of Religion and the worship of God which is the true and right rule whereby Gods people ought to walke and by so doing they become indeed the true Church of Christ to whom hee hath promised his presence and blessing yet notwithstanding such persons are for this to be accounted Schismaticks and to be excommunicated ipso facto as holding wicked errours Thus they open their mouthes wide to speake evill of the waies of God whereby also they appeare to be the very Image of the Beast that blasphemed the Tabernacle of God as is shewed before upon the sixth verse Further whereas the Apostles did ordaine divers Elders in every Church to whom they gaue charge to feede the Flock of Christ whereof the Holy Ghost had made them Overseers On the contrary these Prelates in stead of Elders to feed one Flock they do ordaine one idle Priest to be fed of divers Flocks that is some to haue two some three and some foure Benefices and this they are not ashamed to publish as appeareth in the 41. Canon by which it is allowed that Licences and Dispensations shall be granted to Masters of Arts and other Graduates to haue pluralitie of Benefices so that they be within the compasse of 30. miles Concerning their Copes Surplices Crossing in Baptisme and other their foolish ceremonies which they themselues acknowledge to bee things indifferent yet those that refuse to use them through the tendernesse of their consciences are therefore greatly afflicted and persecuted so farre are they unlike the Apostle who would not use * 1. Cor. 8. 13. necessarie things that were offensiue to his brethren as that they themselues will not onely use those things which are unnecessarie but also in their use iustly scandalous and offensiue yea and compell their brethren also to use them which if they refuse they shall enjoy neither liberty nor worldly possessions How unworthy this their practise is for those that would bee accounted Christians let the world iudge certainely it is so contrary to Christian Charitie as that it is to be accounted Heathenish impiety and beastly cruelty and it is as a Marke in their foreheads to testifie unto the world that they are those which our Saviour Christ speaketh of that should come in sheepes cloathing that is pretending themselues to bee the Ministers of the Gospell and such as desire peace and unity but inwardly are ravening Wolues such as do sow strife and contention and by this meanes they grow rich filling themselues with the spoyle of their brethren whom they persecute as Lyons Beares and Leopards fill themselues with their prey These and many other evils by their Canon Law established and to the dishonour of God and vexation of his people daily practised haue been much opposed and the iniquity of them sufficiently manifested but as yet it remaineth like unto the Decrees of the Medes and Persians that may not bee changed yea they boast and say like their old Mother that without their Lawes the Church of Christ would run into confusion as if the Testament and Lawes of Christ were not sufficient for the governement of his Church and Kingdome Thus they open their mouthes and reproach the Almightie But hee who sitteth in the heavens laugheth them to scorne and will vexe them in his sore displeasure if they repent not By these few examples of their wicked practises I haue briefly shewed that this Church of England still remaineth under the bondage of Antichrist and is ruled and governed by the Image of the Beast mentioned in this 13. chapter which usurpeth that power which is onely proper to Christ Iesus And whereas it is objected in the behalf of the Church of England that it is fallen and separated from Babylon the universall Church of Rome and therfore it is the true Church of Christ and needs no other separation To this I answere that true it is that that great Citie is now divided into three parts as was foreshewed in the 16. chapter of this prophecie and the cities of the Nations that is the Nationall churches wherof the church of England is one are fallen from it but this is no argument that therfore they are the true churches of Christ that are divided from Rome unlesse they be united and joyned to Christ and framed and built together according to the patterne prescribed in his Testament It is indeed an argument that their kingdome shall not long stand as our Saviour Christ teacheth Mat. 12. Every kingdome divided against it self is brought to desolation and every Citie or House divided against it self shall not stand And if Satan cast out Satan he is divided against himselfe how shall then his kingdome stand Thus by the division of this great Citie Gods people may receive comfort and rejoyce in assured hope that the fall and destruction of Babylon is neere and that the Lord will shortly be avenged of their iniquities which should teach us to come out from amongst them that we partake not of their synns and so receive of their plagues and to have no fellowship with their unfruitfull workes of darknesse but rather reproove them and stedfastly resist and fight against them So shall we receive the crowne of righteousnesse which God the righteous Judge shall give at his appearing To whome be glory and Dominion for ever ever Amen Revel 20. 4. And I saw the soules of them that were beheaded for the witnes of Iesus and for the word of God and which had not worshipped the beast neither his image neither had received his marke upon their foreheads or in their hands and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand yeares