Mat. 22.30 Angels and shall not need this World since there in Heauen d Reuel 22.5 shall bee no night and they need no Candle neither light of the Sunne for the Lord God giueth them light and they shall raigne for euermore Therefore if this visible World shall then bee it shall be emptie or if it be full then it shall be idle and that is against nature this against Grace Wherevpon seeing the manner of this change is secret and the change it selfe most certaine hold we most certainely this truth for our stay that the World shall end and leaue we the manner thereof to bee reuealed by him who will very quickly performe it as now it followeth in the second Doctrine which I noted before § VI. That the end is euen now neere at hand Proofes of the second doctrine For besides the plaine testimony of Scripture recorded in my former exposition of this part of my Text the signes of the end exhibited by Christ himselfe and his holy Apostles will euidently declare it if we well perceiue first what those signes are secondly how in these dayes they are fulfilled That we may know them the better what they all are let vs with our selues at our best leisure priuately recount and peruse these places written in the 24. Mat. 25. Mat. 13. Marke Luke 17. 21. Cap. Rom. 11. 2. Thess 2. 1. Tim. 4.2 2. Tim. 3. and the whole Booke of Saint Iohns Reuelation For out of all these places the signes of Christs Comming are gathered to be twofold first the further remooued secondly the neerer conioyned signes The further remooued signes beginning long before the Comming of Christ are especially three First Warres amongst Nations as our Sauiour said e Mat. 24 7. Nation shall rise against Nation Realme against Realme there shall bee Famine and Pestilence and Earthquakes in diuers places For although there shall bee such peace amongst the Godly in the time of the Gospell that f Esay 7.4 they shall breake their Swords into Mattockes and their Speares into Sythes Nation shall not lift vp a Sword against Nation neither shall they learne to fight any more yet the g Esa 57.20.21 wicked are like the troubled Sea which cannot rest whose waters cast vp mire and dirt For there is no peace saith my God to the wicked since amongst themselues they rush heads together like mad Rammes and wild Buls and towards the Faithfull fulfill Christ his Prophesie that h Mat. 10.36 a mans foes shall bee they of his owne Houshold The second Carnall securitie such as befell in the dayes of Noah vnto them of the olde World and in the dayes of Lot amongst the Inhabitants of Sodom and Gomorrha when i Luk. 17.26.27.28.29 c. they did eate they dranke they married wiues and were giuen in Marriage till the Floud came vpon the one sort and the fire from Heauen fell downe vpon the other For k Prou. 16.18 pride goeth before destruction and an hautie spirit before the fall The third the Reuelation of Antichrist as my Text and other Scriptures to bee opened hereafter will plainely proue Now the signes which are neerer at hand vnto the latter Day are likewise three in number The first the Conuersion of the Iewes l Rom. 11.25 after that the fulnesse of the Gentiles shall come in The second the terrour m Reue. 6.15.16.17 of all Tribes and Kindreds when the Kings of the Earth and the great men and the rich men and the chiefe Captaines and the mighty men and euery bondman and free man hide themselues in the Dennes and in the Rockes of the Mountaines and say vnto the Mountaines and Rockes Fall on vs and hide vs from the face of Him that sitteth on the Throne and from the wrath of the Lambe For the great Day of his wrath is come and who shall be able to stand The third and last and the very next vnto the finall dissolution of all is the shaking of the visible Heauens when as our n Mat. 29.29 Sauiour sheweth out of the Prophet o Ioel. 21.31 IOEL The Sunne shall be darkned and the Moone shall not giue her light and the Starres shall fall from Heauen and the Powers of the Heauens shall bee shaken For God doth exhibit these signes vnto vs in his holy Word both to shew that hee shall come and also to prepare vs his Children for his comming since by these signes we see how he hasteneth it according as hee spake this Parable of the Figge Tree vnto his Disciples p Luk. 21.29.30.31 Behold the Figge Tree and all the Trees when they now shoot forth yee see and know of your owne selues that Summer is now nigh at hand so likewise yee when yee see these things come to passe know yee that the Kingdome of God is nigh at hand The fruit saith Gregorie q Gregor Hom. 1. in Euangelia is the fall of the World for this end it groweth that it might fall for this end it falleth that it may bud againe for this end it buddeth forth that whatsoeuer it buddeth sorth it may consume by ouerthrowes For loe the first signe complete in bloudy wars not onely amongst Pagans both of old as Romans against the Gothes and Parthians and of late as Turkes and Persians but also amongst the Christians as Greeks and Latines amongst the Latines as Germanes Franks Spaniards Englishmen Protestants Papists who all fulfill that Prophesie of r Dan. 9.27 Daniel coÌ„cerning the abomination of desolation standing in the holy place applyed by our Å¿ Mat. 24.15 Sauiour vnto this purpose For as the Learned t Vid. â—uni lib. 1. parcello sacr cap. 45. well expound it it is nothing else but a most depopulating and raging Armie of Infidell people in the middest of the Church u Esa 9.21 22 Euery man eating the flesh of his owne arme EPHRAIM MANASSEH and MANASSEH EPHRAIM and both these together being set against IVDAH Secondly concerning carnall security whereby men x Amos 6.4 put farre from them the euill day and approch vnto the seate of iniquitie what need we vse many words For the Gluttonie amongst the Rich and the Drunkennesse amongst the poore and the abominable coupling of all men in Polygamie with those y Vid. Act. Monuments Jo. Fâ—x pag. 225. Edit vltimae three Daughters of King Richard the first of that Name King of England Pride Couetousnesse and Luxurie which Fulco the Bishop wished the King to marry away from his Person and Court and which vpon good experience that Great Prince then bequested presently after this order the first to the proud Souldiers of Hierusalem called Templars the second to the Monkes of the Cistercian Order the third to the Prelates of the Popish Church this matching I say of their soules and bodies vnto these three most abominable vices and crying sinnes sheweth plainely that the last Day is
neere at hand although euery z Deut. 19.19 man blesse himselfe in his heart saying I shall haue peace though I walke in the imagination of mine heart to adde Drunkennesse to thirst as if a Esay 28.15 they had made a couenant with death and with hell were at an agreement But certainly when b 1. Thes 5.3 they shall say Peace and safetie then sudden destruction commeth vpon them as trauaile vpon a woman with childe and they shall not escape For c Prou. 16.5 euery one that is proud in heart is an abomination to the Lord though hand ioyne in hand he shall not bee vnpunished Thirdly concerning the Reuelation of Antichrist we shall hereafter in this Discourse find him painted out in his colours by the Spirit of God In the meane time wee may obserue the neerenesse of the last end by the complement of the fourth signe to wit the Conuersion and restoring of the Iewish Nation vnto the faith of Christ For although in the iudgement of many d Zegedin loc comm pa. 36. Bucan Instit loc 38. q. 15. godly and learned men it is not yet knowne when and how this Conuersion of the Iewes shall be accomplished because it is not reuealed in the Word of God whether it shall be a Conuersion visible or inuisible totall or partiall made all at once or by succession yet is this certaine that many thousand Iewes by Iames his e Act. 21.20 report in the time of the Apostles beleeued and f Vid. Act. Monument pag. 886. that in euery age of the Church some of them haue bin baptized into Christ g Vid. Marlar in Rom. 11.25 that vnto the end of the World some of them shall daily be conuerted that so our Sauiour might fulfill in due time that his Prophesie h Ioh. 10.16 Other sheepe I haue which are not of this sold them also must I bring and they shall heare my voice and there shall be one Folde and one Shepheard Neuerat eos in turba furentium praeuidebat eos in pace credentium saith i August Tract 47. in Ioh. Saint AVGVSTINE hee knew them in the company of the madly roging and foresaw them in the peace of the godly beleeuing For howsoeuer their moderne Synagogues be most Satanicall and deadly Aduersaries to the truth of Christianitie as appeareth by their doctrine and customes discouered by the learned man k Buxtorf in Synagog Iudaic. Buxtorfius yet some may be true Israelites and in their time also bee truely conuerted vnto the faith of Christ since as Petrus l Galat. lib. 1. de arcanis sid Cathol cap. 4. Galatinus hath well distinguished the condition of the Iewes after Christs Resurrection some of them follow Christ fide opere both in saith and in worke as old m Act. 5.39 Gamaliel in the Talmud famous and the great Rabbi Haccanas Nehumiae filius other some cleaue to him fide nō opere by faith not by work because they are zealous of the Law withall as the Iewes in the n Act. 21.20 Acts and the Historian Iosephus but others will not follow Christ nec side nec opere neither by faith nor by worke although they cannot deny the Truth which they seeing to bee fulfilled will yet in the obstinacie of their hearts conceale And may not some of these last sort returne Lodouicus Carettus Iohannes Isaacus Immanuel Tremellius and diuers other most famous Conuerts of the Iewish Nation are euident proofes of a present reconciliation of Israel vnto Christ euen in these last dayes wherein the Gentile fulnesse is past since Mahomets Musulmans doe now possesse the middest true Christians being extruded into the outmost parts of this our Hemisphere as is plaine by the o Apud Petr. Plaut Io. Magin in Tabul Ptolom de Asia Africa Maps both of the Turkish and Persian Kingdomes But howsoeuer this Conuersion of the Iewes shall be the end is neere since the first signes are past and the second sort begin to approch in the first of them that now wee may daily looke for the complement of the two last to wit the amazement of the Reprobates and wrapping vp of the visible Heauens for our happy deliuerance out of this miserie that we may bee partakers of the onely blessed Kingdome in greatest glory as p Titus Bostre in Luc. 21. Aquin in Caten ibid. one said well Ipse aduentus Domini climinans omnium principatum potestatem praeparat Regno Dei The comming of Christ destroying the rule or chiefedome of all others prepareth a power for the Kingdome of God § VII Wherefore hence I conclude with the Apostle Saint Peter that now q 1. Pet. 4.7 since the end of all things is at hand we therefore must bee sober and watch vnto Prayer For this is the double vse of the Doctrines proposed first for Sobrietie and secondly The first vse of the two former doctrines and the first part of it for Watchfulnesse For Sobrietie both in opinion and life In opinion and iudgement as the Apostle doth warne that r Rom. 1◠3 No man thinke of himselfe more highly then he ought to thinke but that hee thinke soberly according as God hath dealt to euery man the measure of faith For as Salt seasoneth euery thing and therefore by the ſ Leuit 2.13 Law they were to season with Salt euery Oblation of the meate Offering euen so a sober discretion in iudgement is the most wholesome condiment to all our Meditations since it maketh the minde peaceable and the tongue seasonable as therefore our Sauiour speaketh for the former Haue t Mark 9.50 Salt in your selues and haue peace one with another and Saint Paul for the latter u Coloss 4.7 Let your speech be alwayes with grace seasoned with Salt that yee may know how yee ought to answere euery man For as x Bernard Ser. 3. de Circumcis Dom. Bernard sayth well The light of discretion is the Mother of Vertues and the consummation of perfection when according to the y Horat. de Arte poetic Poets rule Singula quaeque locum teneant sortita decenter Every thing keepeth his owne proper place in a comely sort as z Prou. 16.23 The heart of the wise teacheth his mouth and addeth learning to his lips For that we may apply these things vnto this very particular a question is made when our Sauiour shall come at the end of the World but omnino importunè altogether vnseasonably saith Saint a August lib. 18 de Cim Dei c. 53 Augustine because if it had beene expedient for vs to haue knowne it of whom should it haue beene spoken better then of God himselfe the Master to his Disciples demanding the question since he plainly professed vnto his Disciples that b Ioh 15.15 because they were his friends all things that he had heard of his Father he had made knowne vnto
them and yet when they asked of him saying c Act. 1.6.7 Lord wilt thou at this time restore againe the Kingdome to Israel he said vnto them It is not for you to know the times or the seasons which the Father hath put in his owne power For d Mark 13.32 of that day and that houre knoweth no man no not the Angels which are in Heauen neither the Sonne but the Father Non filius ipse saith e Gregor lib. 8. Registr Ep. 42. GREGORY ex natura humanitatis licet in natura humanitatis Not the Sonne himselfe by the nature of his humanitie although in the nature of his humanitie For although hee may know it as hee is God and Man yet doth hee not know it as hee is man onely And therefore hee would not reueale vnto men because as Saint f August lib. 83 quaest cap. 60. Augustine doth glosse it and g Vid. Zanch. li. 1. Misc loc de fine saeculi cap. 4. Bucan Instit loc 38. q. 18. Polan lib. 6. Syntagmat cap. 65. many other good Diuines approoue it Nescit filius id est facit homines nescire quia non prodit hominibus quae inutiliter scirent The Sonne knoweth it not that is hee maketh not men to know it because he bewrayeth not those things vnto men which they would know vnprofitably For h Vid Durand in 4. s dist 47. q. 1. art 10. the Creation of the World from nothing to something is knowne to God only who alone did accomplish it and therefore must the dissolution of the World bee knowne and done by God alone seeing it is a changed ab ente ad non ens from something to nothing betweene which two termes the space is infinite solum percurribile perceptibile to be runne thorow and perceiued onely by the infinite God And therefore those who thrust themselues into this secret are deseruedly conuicted for lying spirits as those men of Bethshemesh i 1. Sam. 6.19 were iustly smitten with the plague of God for looking into the Arke For what else may we esteeme those men to bee who presumed to shew in former times that k Vid. Lactant. lib. 7. c. 25. August li. 18. de Ciuit. Dei ca. 53. Zanch. lib. 1. Miscell vbi supr the Day of the Lord should come first in the time of the Apostles secondly in the yeere of our Lord three hundred sixtie fiue thirdly some two hundred yeeres after CONSTANTINE the Great fourthly in the foure hundred or in the sixth hundred or in the thousand yeere after Christ yea by the computation of Arnalduâ— de nouâ villâ and Iohannes Regiomontanus it must be in the yeere of our Lord * It was from these coniectures said Octuâ—gâ—ssimus octauus miâ—abilis annus one thousand fiue hundred eightie and eighth the Men l 2. Tim. 3.13 deceiuing and being deceiued m Theognis 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is A lye at first doth find small grace In the end soule losse with heauie case But yet there are two coniectures of the last Day very much esteemed by some men of note amongst the learned the former concerning the Millenary the latter concerning the Centurie wherein the last Day must befall as they thinke certaine although the day and houre as our Sauiour said cannot bee knowne But good Saint Augustine n August Epist 78. quae ad Hesychium doth answere here plainely that no time at all neither 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 nor 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is neither time of continuance nor of oportunitie wherein our Sauiour shall come to iudgement can be knowne by any man For in what Millenarie or thousand yeere will they haue CHRIST to come They say in the sixth thousand yeere after the Creation of the World according to that sentence of Orpheus in o Plutarch lib. de Eâ— apud Delphos Plutarch 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Aetate in sexta studium finite canendi that is In the sixth Age the World of harmony shal cease both because the World was finished vpon the sixth day for as S. Peter saith p 2. Pet. 3.8 One day is with the Lord as a thousand yeeres and a thousand yeeres as one day and also according to the tradition of Elias q Talmod lib. Sanheâ—rm cap. helec apud P. Galatinum lib. 4. de arcan fid Cath. cap. 20. there were two thousand yeeres before the Law two thousand yeeres in the Law and two thousand yeeres after the Law Indeed I find this opinion concerning the thousand yeeres to bee very much set by amongst some Fathers of the Primitiue Church as r Lib. q. ad gentes q. 17. Iustine Martyr Å¿ Lib. 5. cap. vltimo Irenaeus t Lib. 7. cap. 7. Lactantius u Jn exposit Psal 89. Hierome and x Apud Sixtum Senensâ—m lib. 5. annot 190. Germanus Patriarke of Constantinople which yet some other of sounder iudgement as y Lib. 7. in locuÌ„ Ambrose and z In exposit Psal 90. Augustine altogether disprooue as wanting good ground to be settled vpon For first that anagogicall interpretation of the sixth dayes Creation is besides Gods intent and Saint Peters meaning who by comparing of one day with a thousand yeeres and of a thousand yeeres with one day did but shew as saith Saint Augustine contemnendam futuri temporis breuitatem the contemptible shortnesse of future time Secondly that Rabbinicall and beggerly tradition falsly fathered vpon Elias doth not agree to the truth of time in the two former termes since according to the computation of the a Hen. Buntingus in suâ Chronologiâ Clariss Ioseph Scaliger l 5. de emendat temporum Christoph Helwicus in suis tabuliâ— Chronologicis best Chronographers the Law was giuen in the two thousand foure hundred fifty and third yeere of the World or at the most in the thousand foure hundred fiftie and fourth betweene which time and the comming of Christ there haue runne onely one thousand foure hundred ninetie and foure yeeres or at the most one thousand fiue hundred and fifteene yeeres Can it therefore bee probable that hee shall hit the marke in the third terme of time which is now after the first comming of Christ Since his credit is crackt in the former two thousands we may very well mistrust his truth in the last terme not yet fulfilled Another b Napier proposit 14. 15. Time-searcher of the like curiositie concerning the Centurie absolutely defineth the Day of Doome within these two yeeres of our Lord one thousand six hundred eightie and eight and one thousand seuen hundred But since as c Vid. Aristo de Jnterpret cap. 7. Logicians say de futuris contingentibus non est scientia there is no kind of knowledge concerning things to come I maruaile at his boldnesse who vpon so vncertaine a ground durst reare so high a building For
they no place at all in determining of the second point Who is this great Antichrist because they liued before the time wherein that great Antichrist who lurked in those Fathers dayes vnder a mysterie was to be detected disclosed and found to sit at Rome and by his deeds to fulfill all those Prophecies which the holy Ghost had deliuered concerning him in the Scriptures So that our holy Brethren who yet expect a more full expressement of Antichrist in some one particular vile Monster that should if it were possible surpasse the Pope in villany are not so much against vs as they seeme to bee in show seeing it is not any good liking they haue of the Pope whom they confesse to be Antichrist but onely the iust detestation of so wicked a Monster as is Antichrist that draweth them to imagine the further deferring of his most dangerous and accursed approach They are in hope Wee are in faith and both in loue They expect a farre off Wee behold euen at hand the end of all these miseries by the fore-past reuealing the present rage and raigning the future happy ruine of Antichrist and his Kingdome now settled in Rome Wee agree both in the maine not much differing in the Bye As wee yeeld to them in the iust execration of the odious nature of this abominable Antichrist so farre as they prooue what they speake from the Scriptures euen so in like manner are they bee they neuer so learned and wise with patience and loue to heare and to iudge vs their deare Brethren speaking with some knowledge in true zeale concerning the maner of the reuealing of Antichrist which they hold yet to be in futuro We finde to be fully finished in praeterito in praesenti both in times before and now If any x 1. Cor. 14.30 31. thing bee reuealed to another that sitteth by let the first hold his peace For yee may all prophesie one by one that all may learne and all may be comforted y Homer 2. Odyss 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 weake men combined may worke much good since z Ouid. quae non prosunt singula multa iuuant what one cannot many may Proofes of our Assertion from the ancient Fathers § XXVII And yet I speake not this in diffidence of our cause For wee want not the authoritie of ancient Fathers either prophesying beforehand or zealously publishing vpon his appearance that the Great Antichrist is alreadie come and the Pope of Rome is hee I will produce no Babes but onely such as without exception are either produced by a Canis Catechis cap. de nouiss quaest 3. Canisius and b Coccius tom 2. Catholicism lib. 10. art 30. 1. Prophesying before Coccius as if they were on their side or else registred for eye-witnesses by good Historians For those who beforehand prophesied of Antichrist and of his seat or kingdome agree vpon these two points The first that Antichrist shall sit at Article 1 Rome rearing vp his Kingdome vpon the ruines of the Romane Empire For to this Article speaketh First Tertullian when c Tertullian in Apâ—loget cap. 32. hee saith that Christians pray for the safetie of the Romane Empire because by the course thereof the great Persecutions which must come by Antichrist are put off and hindred Secondly Cyrill of Hierusalem when d Cyrill Hierosolymitan Catechesi 15. hee saith that Antichrist shall violently take vnto himselfe the power of the Romane Empire Thirdly Ambrose when e Ambros in 2. Thes 2. hee saith that Christ shall not come till the Romane Empire faile and Antichrist appeare who must kill the Saints giuing libertie to the Romanes yet vnder his owne name Fourthly f Chrysost hom 4. in 2 Thes 2. Chrysostome followed by g Theophylact. in 2. Thes 2. Theophylact h Oecumenius in 2. Thes 2. Oecumenius and i Radulphus Fluuiac lib. 18. in Leuit cap. 1. Rudolphus Fluuiacensis when both he and they after him ioyntly affirme that Antichrist by trecherie must destroy the Romane Empire The second that Rome is Babylon the proper seate of Antichrist which shall be destroyed before the end of the World For to this Article Article 2 speaketh First Tertullian who in full assurance of what he speaketh oftentimes k Tertullian lib. in Iudaeos cap. 9. lib. 3. in Marcion cap. 13. vseth these words Babylon in our Apostle Saint IOHN beareth the figure of the Citie of Rome therefore great and proud by her Kingdome and a destroyer of the Saints Secondly Hierome who liuing at that time when Rome was wholly Christian vnder Constantius Iulian and Valentinianus the First yet in foresight of future Apostasie therein there beginning vnder a Mysterie but afterward openly to be complemented very l Hierony tom 1. Ep. 17. ad Marcellum Ep. 151. ad Algosiam qu. 11. in Praefat. ad translat Dydimi de spirit Sanct. Omnia secund Editionem Parisiens 1609. often termeth that Citie Babylon and the purple Whoore spoken of in the Reuelation wherein sometimes hee was an inhabitant Now this cannot bee spoken of Babylon in Mesopotamia which then was desolate and where Hierome neuer liued Thirdly Lactantius who m Lactant. li. 7. Instit cap. 25. alluding to the Sybilline Oracle saith that when that head of the World shall fall and beginne to be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is but a street or Impetus for it is deriued either of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 sluo or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 traho who can doubt but that an end is at hand vpon all humane affaires and vpon all the World The words of the Sybill to which he alludeth are these as learned n Xistus Betuleius in Annot. in Lactantium Betuleius doth cite them 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. Rome shall bee a street and Delus vnknowne c. But let vs leaue these Prophesies and come to performances For Antichrist did no sooner appeare in his likenesse but God in his mercie to wards his Elect sent forth his faithfull Witnesses of euery sort Publishing his present approach by open Verdit to publish abroad vnto the World that the Mystery was reuealed and Antichrist was then come and seated in Rome It is odious to say it and idle if wee prooue it not Therefore that Papists especially in England may at length see and marke how their Pope was reputed off in former times euen before Iohn Wickliffe spake against him in Oxford the Pope shall haue faire play his Cause shall bee tryed by a Grand Inquest of twelue good men and true according to the o Sir Thom. Smith de rep Anglor l. 2. c. 18. onely most laudable custome of the Common-wealth of England whereof foure shall be Kings and Princes foure shall be Arch-bishops A Iurie Impanneled and Bishops and foure shall bee Abbots or Monkes Behold now the Prisoner standing at the Barre who because hee is become a Peere in the World shall