Princes and Cardinals above Princes and the Man of sin the Pope their head exalteth himselfe not only above Kings and Emperours but also above God himselfe John the 2. King of England by the Popes tyrannie was forced to do homage upon his knees to Pandulf his Legat and to resigne his crown Henrie the second was whipped for putting to death Thomas Becket a Traitour So also the Earle of Tulloes a Prince in eminent place was whipped for the death of a priest And the French King Henrie the fourth was whipped by a Deputie Cardinal Perron before he was accepted in favour with the Pope The Emperour Henrie the fourth was caused to stand barefooted in the cold winter three dayes and three nights at the gate of Hildebrand before hee gote accesse Frederick Barbarosso was forced to lay down his neck upon the staires of the Kirk of Saint Marke in Venice to be trode upon by that proud Man of sin and his son after the Pope had crowned him was uncrowned the Pope kicking off his crown with his foot signifying thereby that it was in his power to King and unking to crown and uncrown at his pleasure The book called the Book of 〈◊〉 onies teacheth us what are the base and servile dueties to be performed by Kings and Emperors to the Pope that they should inact the part of footgroomes in leading his bridle of supporters in holding his stirrop and mounting him upon his horse of pyoners in bearing him upon their shoulders and pages in holding water to his hands Neither doth he exalt himself above Kings and Emperours only but above the Angels commanding them to transport soules out of Purgatory Yea his pride is more then Luciferian and Divellish for the Divell when he made an offer of all the Kingdomes of the World to Christ he acknowledged that hee had received them of GOD to give to whom he pleased and in so doing would seeme to submit himself to GOD But the Pope extolleth himself above GOD for he dispenseth with the Lawes of GOD and to dispense with Lawes is a note and marke of Superioritie for no inferiour may dispense with the Lawes of a superiour but a superiour may dispense with the lawes of an inferiour This way dispensing with the lawes of God hee doeth lift himselfe up above God Yea more then this hee is daring to repeale the lawes of God tolerating and allowing incestuous marriage condemned in the Word of GOD as also lying perjuries and equivocations murthering and killing of Princes c. Joine unto this pride their crueltie for the Kirk of God may say that from my youth they have persecute mee and the plowers have plowed on my backe and drawne long furrowes Whatsoever the Kirk of God suffered by the Jewes and Herod by the ten persecuting Pagan Emperours by hereticall Emperours and Hereticks by Julian the Apostate by the Donatists Circumcellians and other Shismaticksâ— by Istigerdes and Gornoades Kings of Persia for the overthrow of their Pyrâ—um by the Gothes and Vandals in Africa by the Saracens after the dayes of Heraclius by Turks and others whatsoever I say the Church hath suffered by these former Persecutors being paraleled with these her sufferings in the last dayes shall be found not to equiponderat in crueltie the Popish and antichristian persecution Hovv many hundreth thousands of the Valdenses have beene murthered by them Hovv many Hussites and Taborites in Bohemia have suffered for the name of Christ Hovv many thousands in France Germanie Italy Pole Hungary England Scotland and low Countreyes since the reformation begun by Luther and Zuinglius have beene massacred and mutthered by them What river have they not dyed with the blood of the saints What fornace have they not made to smoake vvith their bones vvhat tovvn and citie have they not made a shambles to boutcher their bodies If the blood of one Abel cryed to heaven for a vengeance shall not the blood of so many millions whom they have martyred for the name of Iesus cry more shrill and loude in the eares of GOD for his just vengeance upon this mystick Babylon Therefore come out of Babel lest being partakers of her sins yee receive of her plagues Adde to these former the third sin of mystick Babylon which is deceit wherein they are so expert that they exceed all others mentioned in any historie The Scribes and Pharisies never did compasse sea and land to gain proselyts more craftily then they do for these fishers have baits to catch all sorts of fish these hunters have nets to insnare simple souls They delude the ignorant with lying miracles the blinde Zelotes with superstitious rites and ceremonies they spoile others with Philosophie or Sophistrie rather others with pretended antiquitie and that they may gaine what they intend O what guile and deceit have they used in falsifying the writs of the Auncients by adding changing deleting as their Trent Indices Expurgatorii do make knowne to the world And such is their policie and craft that they have found out wayes to make themselves masters of moyens lives secrets and consciences of men What bee their emunctorie and chetting arts to gain moyens and riches to themselves it is notore by their pardons purgatorie messes merits indulgences At what rate doe men buy Heaven upon the opinion of the merite of good works What will any spare to lay out for remission of his sins And what charges will any refuse to give who is demented with their superstition to relieve his own soul and the souls of his fathers friends and familiars from the parching flammes of their supposed purgatorie By these cousenages they have enriched themselves wonderfully As they this way catch the moyens of men they have brought the lives or men within the compasse of their power for such is their opinion of their Tarpeian God the Pope whom they worship that they esteeme it proper to him to canonize and make saincts whom he pleaseth whereby they are emboldned to adventure upon the killing of Princes and other such flagitious facts the promises being made to them of life everlasting by the Pope or in his name by their superiours It is therefore most probable that the monstrous parricides committed against the royall and sacred persons of Henrie the 3. and 4. Kings of France were hatched by the Pope and some other at his command For Thuâ—nus recordeth that Pope Sixtus the fifth was so rejoiced at the murther of Henrie the third that he gave thanks to God in full consistorie for that treacherous and bloudie fact and was so excessive in extolling it that hee was not affrayed to compare the same to the mysterie of the incarnation of Christ and was about to have canonized the Actor of that bloudie treason if hee had not beene disswaded for weightie respects Such was that Poulder-plot transcending in crueltie all other in former ages conceived in the Consistorie of Rome extinguished at the
but in regard of us for though the authoritie of John the baptist the miracles of Christ the testimonie of one sent from the dead the voice of an Angell from Heaven and the voyce of GOD heard of the disciples in the Mouâ—â— were of themselves divine and infallible yet in respect of us as testifieth Peter GOD will have his word to be of a more certaine authoritie In it God hath judged and determined all contraversies and his decision registrate by the Prophets and Apostleâ— continueth to the end of the world and the duetie of the Kirk is to search out his decisive sentence conteined in the holy Scriptures and apply the same Our adversaries to â—id this divine authoritie of Gods written word have forged four deceit full rules Antiquitie Councels Traditions and the voice of the Church which being tryed shall be found no rules for the rule of faith must be infâ—llible these are not so the Phaâ—â—sees pretended Antiquitie which Christ rejected tradition which also he rejected the voice of the Church even of the doctors that sate in Moses chair the Lord bids the people beware of it calling it the Leaven of the Pharisees which he interpreteth to be the Doctrine of the Pharisees Shall they alleadge Councels Christ His Apostles and their doctrine were condemned in themâ— yea and even by the testimonie of our Adversaries these rules shall prove no rules The ancient Doctors and Fathers of the kirk have erred in many things which the Adversaries themselves confesse The like they affirme of Councels On traditions they never yet could agree And as for the voice of the Church which by their glosse and commentarie is the voice of the Pope it hath beene by many of themselves condemned for heresie Therefore let us come out of Babel least we be pertakers of her plagues By these plagues is understood her destruction which shall not bee speedie but a lent destruction and by degres as the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is a consumption importeth a Thess 2 till at last she be totally and eternally destroyed For as the mysterie of iniquitie did grow and advance by degrees so shall it fall by degrees It was conceived as holy Scripture witnesseth in the dayes of the Apostles it was quickned in the time of Victor and did stirre more powerfully under Stephanus and Cornelius bishops of Rome more yet under Damasus and others following most strongly did it move in the time near the birth under Leo the first It was borme and brought to the view of the World by Boniface the third upon whom the title of universall bishop was conferred by Phocas Emperour as a sythment and satisfactorie price for the bloud of his Master Mauritiâ—â— cruelly and treasonably shed This bruid of iniquitie did grow and was advanced much by the decay of the Greeke impire and donations of the western Emperours till at last it came to the full hight and maturitie in Hildebr and in whom the Antichrist was so visible that many of the Cleargie in France and Germanie and others did avow him to bee the Antichrist This destruction GOD shall bring to passe three wayes as Wee learne out of holy Scripture First by the sword of the Spirit 2 Thessâ— chap. 2. vers 8. Next by the sword of the Kings on Earth Revel 17. chap. 16 and 17. verse Lastly by the brightnesseof the Lords coming 2 Thess 2. 8. God also hath wounded her by the sword of the Spirit first in raising up the Valdenses against her of whom Frier Reinerius who wrote against them thus reporteth saying That they were of all the most pernicious sâ—ct for Antiquitie some holding they were from the Apostles time for generality there scarce being any nation where they are not And tastly for shew of piety in that they live justly before men and believe all things touching GOD aright and all the articles of the Creed only they blaspheme and hate the church of Rome By these Vaidenss the Romane beast gote so deep a wound that though by all meanes they laboured to cure the same yet shall it not bee cured but waxeth more and more incurable for the publick and open reformation begun by them did not so wound that Beast as the reformation by Wickleph who did more clearly espie and more sharply refure the Mysterie of iniquitie then others before him and that reformation by Husse made the wound yet deeper and after him by Luther and Zuinglius it was deepest of all so this wound is incurable And as the mysterie of iniquitie rose by degrees so doeth it fall by degrees Neither doth the article ' O help their cause as if the Antichrist were one singular man seing it is usuall in Scripture under one to comprehend many The woman in the Revelation cloathed with the Sun having the Moone under her feet though shee be but one representeth the Church which is a collective body and comprehendeth many So the Angels in every one of the seven Churches is interpreted by many collectively for many Pastors and Messengers of God And every one of these four beasts recorded by Daniel doth signifie not onâ— singular King only but a race of many Kings and Kingdomes as is clear by the 23. and 24. verses of the seventh chapter of Daniel Yea the Popes of Rome abuse the name of Peter pretending his name to all their usurped tyrannie Therefore it is that their large possessionm Italy are calleds Peters Patrimonie their Pole-money collected sometimes out of England Peters pence And their Plenâ—tude of jurisdiction they claime over the whole church Peters keyes and that one rocke in a popish glosse upon which they will have the church to be built is a lawfull succession of the Bishops of Rome which they affirme to have descended from Peter the blessed Apostle notwithstanding they be as far different from Peter in a doctrinall succession which is the only true succession as Cajaphas that condemned Christ was from holy Aaron first high Priest of the Jewish nation It may be haplie objected that many Bishops of Rome were godly and suffered martyredome for the Christian faith I answere that it is the antichrist and the antichristian Kingdome and not every person in that line that is appointed for destruction for what is recorded of Victor Lee the first and others who being tickled with the itch of ambition aspired to a supremacie over the church doth not argue them to be reprobates but men compassed with infirmities Who were building Babylon not knowing that they were building Babylon even as faithfull Gideon when he was making his Ephod of the ear-ring given him of the spoile of the Midianites was erecting a monument of idolatrie to the destruction of his house and knew not he was so doing So the Bishops in affecting Soveraignitie were ignorantly promoving the antichristian Kingdome which God appointeth to destruction Therefore Come of Babylon the
the same lyking better the Mosarabick and that of Isidorus then the Romane Liturgie The religious Votaries of Bangor resisted the Romane liturgie till blood and death What opposition was made against single life of Church-men in Germanie England and many other places it is notore to all that are not strangers in historie When images were received in the Kirk with a relative worship about the seven hundred year of GOD the Germanâ— and French bishops did resist the same and a Councel was holden by Charles the great in Germanie at Franksurd where images with their worship were condemned and the books yet extant called Libri Caroli magni do evidence the same A little after this there arose some disputes about the manner of Christs presence in the Sacrament when the seeds of Transubstantiation were in sowing Bertram stirred up by GOD did oppose the same The like did Scotus Erigena Rabanus and after these Beringarius till Pope Innocentius the third with his prevailing faction in the 1215. year of GOD did determine that monstrous errour of Transubstantiation A litle before this time Hildebrand bishop of Rome was not only content to liberat himself from the investure of the Emperours but also did subject the Imperiall crown to this Priestly mitre and thereby put the Christian world in a combustion which he effectuat not without great opposition even of the Cleargie for the Cleargie of Germanie did resist and many Divines did account him to be the Antichriâ—â— And in this his more then sacrilegious jurisdiction usurped over the Kirk of Christ in councels not only the Cardinall of Arles Sorbonists of Parise but the generall councel holden at Constans did oppose and condemne And in late dayes Valla Erasmuâ— Beatus Renanus with many others though they lived in the societie of the Romane Kirk did condemne many errours and abuses therein Besides these publick Opponents there were many thousand private Opponents who were as these seven thousand in the Church of Israel who bowed not their knees to Baal but if not openly yet secretly did oppose the same as Nicodemus lived amongst the Pharisees and Joseph of Arimathea amongst the Counsellours who condemned Christ and these who had not defiled themselves but followed the Lamb mentioned Revel 14. 4. There were thirdly many whose eyes GOD did illighten in the article of death who not finding any comfort in the intercession of Saints and doctrine of merits and therefore leaving these impure cisternes had their recourse to the living fountaines of waters which did spring out of the intercession and merits of Christ to the eternall refreshment of their souls If it bee replyed how the Romane Kirk being as we call an adulterous Church could beget Children to GOD as also being a false and corrupt Church how shee could bring furth Orthodoxe and true professors I answer An adulterous woman may bring surth Children to her Husband and to her Paramours as is evident Hos chap. 2. vers 2. Pleade with thy mother saith the LORD That shee put away her whoordomes from betwixt her breasts c. Here sons of GOD and yet their mother is an adulteresse Sons of GOD they are because they plead for GOD against their mother for her adulteries So an adulterous Kirk may beget children to GOD as also a false and corrupt church may beget true professors As the Jewish Church in the dayes of Christ for the leaven of the Scribes and Pharisies did infect the same and Christ commandeth his Disciples to beware of that leaven and yet to obey the Scribes and Pharisees as they sate in the chaiâ—e of Moses By their leaven Pharisees did poyson the soules of many to their destruction and sitting in the chaire of Moses teaching the Law of Moses and not their owne inventions did beget children to GOD. After this manner the voice of Christ and the voice of the Antichrist sounding in the church of Rome thereby children was begotten to Christ and the Antichrist Thevoice of Christ was heard in holy Scriptures written for our consolation the voice of the Antichrist is heard in his traditions The voice of Christ is heard in the administration of Baptisme and the Lords Supper the voice of the Antichrist in the administration of his five bastard sacraments The voice of Christ is heard in the saving doctrine of his merite and righteousnesse the voice of the Antichrist is heard in the doctrine of the merite and righteousnesse of man The voice of Christ is heard in the blood of Christ that speaketh better things then the blood of Abel the voice of the Antichrist in the forged satisfactorie blood of Martyres If it be demanded how in the Romane church the voice of Christ was known and distinguished from the voice of the Antichrist I answere That Gods children have a discretive judgement given unto them whereby they know the voice of Christ from the voice of the Antichrist My sheep hear my voice sayeth Jesus Christ and they follow me And this should not seeme strange for if the lambe amongst the bleeting of ten thousand sheep can discerne the voice of her mother much more the lambs of Christ Jesus can discerne the voice of their Father and Sheepheard Christ Jesus And since GOD hath given by a naturall instinct unto the beasts by smell and taste to discerne what hearhes are wholesome and convenient for their food and what noysome shall wee not think that GOD much more will enable by his grace and Spirit his owne children bought with no lesse price then the blood of his Son to discerne what is hurtfull what conduceable for their salvation Neither will it follow by any necessare inference that the Romane kirk is a true Kirk because by it children are begotten to God seeing this falleth out not properly but accidentally for Papacie tendeth not to beget children to Christ but to Antichrist Therefore obey this voice from Heaven and come out of Babylon The reasons to move us to come out of Babylon here mentioned are two her sinnes and her plagues for her sins Sins and plagues are copulative Who so sinneth shall bee plagued Therefore if we partake of her sins we shall partake of her plagues If it be asked what be these her sins I answere what sins do not reigne in her But passing the generall I will mention five sins in speciall for the which Babylon shall bee plagued and destroyed viz. Pride Crueltie Deceit Idolatrie Heresie Such is her pride that although there be besides her the Kirkes of Grece Syria Africa and Ethiopia which disclaime her power as Antichristian yet shee arrogantly usurpeth the title of the Catholick church as proper and due only to her when in effect shee is neither the Catholick Kirk nor a sound member of the same Pride also in a high degree possesseth all her Cleargie The meanest Priest is stiled as a Knight and the meanest Nunne as a Ladie of Honour Bishops and Archbishops are as Lords and