say when the Kingdome of the Beast that Whore which yet desperatly triumpheth in the confidence of her stately Babylon x Chap. 18.7 sitting in her throne and saying in her heart I sit a Queen and am no widow and shall see no sorrow shall bee destroyed y Verse 8. whose plagues shal come in one day death and mourning and famine when she shal be utterly burnt with fire for strong is the Lord who judgeth her and so when all the Kingdomes aforesaid shall resume their power and strength from the Beast Esop and Horace and leave him naked as the Birds did the Crow when each bird tooke his owne feather wherewith the Crow had pranked himselfe exalting himself above his fellows and when they shall submit their Scepters unto Jesus Christ by receiving his government over them as aforesaid then their Kingdomes become the Kingdomes of our Lord and of his Christ and he shal reigne for ever and ever But we finde Chap. 18.9 how the Kings of the earth who have committed fornication and lived deliciously with the Whore of Babylon seeing her ruine shall bewaile her and lament for her c. and yet Chap. 17. that the ten hornes the ten Kings that gave their power and Kingdomes to the Beast shal hate the Whore and make her desolate and naked and shall eat her flesh and burn her with fire These two places seeme to contradict one another But being rightly understood there is no contradiction For first most sure it is that the ten Kings aforesaid shal hate the Whore and be the instruments of her desolation God will surely bring his word to passe But yet some of those Kings may at first bee brought to it against their wils or with an ill will having beene formerly so much enamoured on the gay painted Whore and made drunke with the wine of her fornication We see those two milch-kine of the Philistins by a strange instinct carried Gods Arke to his place yet lowed all the way after their Calves 1 Sam. 6. So the Lord will have his work done upon the whore though some of the chiefe instruments may have still a yearning of affection after the Whore for old acquaintance sake Yet though some for their own persons may doe this for a time and because the Whore fals with her goodly Babylon notwithstanding because the Kings alone shall not make Babylon desolate but their Kingdomes to wit their people taken altogether therefore the particular pitie of some for a time shall not hinder the generall hatred of the Whore and so the Kingdomes of this World mainly and universally shal become the Kingdomes of our Lord and of his Christ And this making desolate of the Whore by the Kings and their people shall be with such violence of passion and zeale which God shall kindle in their hearts and brests as when it is done they shal stand amazed to behold the smoke of her burning and spend some human compassion and pitie upon those terrible and suddaine desolations Even as Titus that noble Roman Generall when through the obdurate obstinacie of the Jews in their extreame misery his souldiers were so enraged that not only the Citie Jerusalem but the most beautifull Temple it selfe were set on fire hee beholding it wept over it to see such a goodly and glorious building so miserably destroyed the like compassion may even those Kings have in weeping over Babylon when they shall behold the ruines thereof wherein themselves notwithstanding with their people were the chief Actors Thus the same Kings whom the Lord shall employ in the making desolate of Babylon may bee moved with humane compassion when they behold even those ruines which themselves by divine instigation have made And as the same Titus though hee cryed to his Souldiers to save that glorious Monument the Temple and not to burn it and seeing it notwithstanding all on a flame cryed out the more vehemently to quench it but could not prevail to rescue it So the Kings of the earth when they shall see the smoke of Babylons burning and shall thereupon be moved to lament her saying Alas Alas that great Citiy Babylon that mighty Citie yet such is the Lords fury kindled against her that they shall not be able with all their power though they would never so fain to rescue her out of the flames For the Lord will have it so and therefore as he hath put in their minds to fulfil his wil in giving their strength and Kingdome to the Beast until the words of God be fulfilled So when the words of God shal be fulfilled he wil also put in their minds to fulfil his wil in the utter destruction of Babylon And from this time Christ shal reigne for evermore over his people when the usurping Beast with all his power shall be put downe and so when all Kings Princes and States shal submit their Scepters to Christs authority as before is shewed Then shall be great joy and thanksgiving in the Church as Verse 16.17 and in the end of this last Trumpet which how long it shall sound and the sounding thereof last he only knows Acts 1.7 Matth. 24 36. who hath reserved it in his owne brest shall come the generall judgement of quick and dead wherein God shall powre wrath upon his wrathfull enemies and shall reward all his faithful servants as Verse 18. Now there be sundry other things very mysticall and darke which seeme to come under the time of this last Trumpet as besides the remainder of this Chapter Verse 19. which gives some light of the generall conversion of the Jewes the whole twentieth Chapter of this Booke but because they be very obscure and will require longer time and stronger Prayers for assisting and illuminating grace in the opening of them therefore I will here put an end for the present till it shall please God to give a further opportunitie In the mean time a Chap. 11.17 We give thee thanks O Lord God Almighty which art and wast and art to come because thou hast taken to thee thy great power and hast reigned Even so AMEN
and to use their own Phrase worme out godly Ministers and good people and make havock of all holinesse as is noted before and commit all manner of out-rage and crueltie upon the Servants of God And this their extream out-rage and crueltie hath continued now very neer three yeers and a halfe or fortie and two moneths I say the extremitie of it k Heb. 12.4 as when they fall to shed bloud c. though they have been playing their pranks and laying their plots a long time but more covertly and insensibly till of later days the flame of their Antichristian outrage hath broke out ready to set all in a combustion But I trust to see the expiration of these two and forty moneths to run out very shortly And were there not such a time here limited yet such hath beene the fury of these men like a hideous storme or impetuous torrent that it cannot be conceived it should last any long time but quickly run it selfe dry or out of breath And God being so desperatly and Giantlike provoked it cannot stand with his patience nor with his honour to suffer long such affronts And he hath promised to l Luke 18.8 avenge the cause of his Elect quickly And therefore certainly it will not bee long before he m Esay 59 1◠repay fury to his adversaries and the rather at this time when the Lord sees things so desperate that there is no man to stand in the gap no intercessor but that truth faileth and he that departeth from evill maketh himselfe a prey and there is no judgement as the Prophet there speaks therefore his own arme shall bring salvation when hee shall put on righteousnesse as a brest-plate and an helmet of salvation upon his head and the garments of vengeance for clothing and Zeale as a Cloake Thus n Heb. 10.37 38. he that shall come will come and will not tarry Now the just shall live by faith It followeth Verse 3. Verse 3. And I will give power unto my two witnesses and they shall prophesie a thousand two hundred and threescore dayes clothed in sackcloth Here it is to be noted that during all the hardship of Gods people under this sixt Trumpet wherein the holy Citie Christs true Church is trodden under foot by the Spirituall Babylon or by the Beast out of the bottomlesse pit yet God will not want his witnesses to prophesie and testifie his truth even against the most cruell and bloudy persecutors therof And hee will have at the least two witnesses by whose testimony n Math. 18.16 every word shall be established Nor can it be expected that in such a terrible time o Amos 5.13 an evill time wherein the prudent do keep silence there should be many witnesses to be found But that there should be some at the least two God will raise them up Christ will give them power I will give saith he power to my two witnesses To doe what To prophecie that is to preach the truth to witnesse it against all opposition to denounce judgements against the Adversaries and to comfort Gods people with his promises As the Prophet Micah saith p Mic. 3.8 9. c. Truly I am ful of power by the Spirit of the Lord and of judgement and of might to declare unto Jacob his transgression and to Israel his sinne Heare this I pray you yee Heads of the house of Jacob and Princes of the house of Israel that abhorre judgement and pervert all equitie They build up Sion with bloud and Jerusalem with iniquitie The Heads thereof judge for reward and the Priests thereof teach for hire and the Prophets therof divine for mony yet wil they lean upon the Lord and say Is not the Lord among us None evil can come upon us Therefore shal Sion for your sake be ploughed as a field and Jerusalem shal become heaps and the Mountaine of the house as the high places of the forest Thus the Prophet Now who is hee that would stand up for a witnesse against wicked Prelates Priests and Prophets against wicked Princes and Rulers against wicked Heads and Judges in a forlorne time as here the Prophet did except the Lord had first filled him with power judgement and might by the Spirit of God Therefore saith the Lord to Jeremie when he complained saying q Ier. 15 10. Woe is mee my mother that thou hast borne me a man of strife and a man of contention to the whole earth c. r Verse 18. Why is my paine perpetuall and my wound incurable c ſ Verse 19.20 Therefore saith the Lord If thou take forth the precious from the vile thou shalt be as my mouth Let them returne unto thee but returne thou not unto them And I will make thee unto this people a fenced brazen wal and they shall fight against thee but they shal not prevaile against thee for I am with thee to save thee and to deliver thee saith the Lord. And I wil deliver thee out of the hand of the wicked and I wil redeeme thee out of the hand of the terrible And Esay saith The Lord spake thus to me with a strong hand and instructed me that I should not walk in the way of this people nor to make a confederacie with them Thus there And thus here the Lord gives power to his two witnesses to prophesie and beare testimony against the wicked and terrible enemies of his Church here under the Sixt Trumpet In the next place is set down the time how long these two witnesses shall prophesie and that is a thousand two hundred and threescore days And this answeres to the forty and two moneths of Antichrists oppressing of gods people which is three yeeres and a halfe For a thousand two hundred and threescore dayes make up within one weeke just three yeers and a halfe So as their prophecy continueth during the great affliction of Gods People under this Sixt Trumpet Whence we may note here God never leaves his people in affliction without comfort nor his truth without testimony nor his adversaries without conviction but he sends his witnesses to prophesie evē in most forlorn times Then follows here the estate and condition of these two witnesses expressed by their outward habit they are cloathed in sackcloth sutable to Elias and Iohn Baptist And sutable to their habit was their prophecying preaching repentance and remission of sins to the penitent and believers and denouncing judgments to the obstinate And as was their habit such were their affections men crucified to the World forsaking all and accounting all things to be losse and betaking themselves to their Sackcloth It was no time now as the Lord saith to Ieremie t Jer. 4.5.5 to seeke great things to themselves It followeth Verse 4. Verse 4. These are the two Olive-trees and the two Candlesticks standing before the God of the Earth In these words is couched a great mystery and a great worke
that despise mee shall be lightly esteemed Now blessed bee our God for evermore for this his great and glorious worke and hee ever blesse his King that as hee hath made him a mighty instrument thereof so hee would strengthen him to the finishing of that work which yet remaynes to be done in the purgation and reformation of his other Kingdomes that so hee may prove the most glorious Prince that ever raigned in the Christian World And it is said here And great feare fell upon them which saw them That is when they on the Beasts side saw those witnesses whom the Beast had cruelly slaine and whose dead bodies they had barbarously used not suffering them to have common buriall but insulted and triumphed over them now to be as it were revived and raised from the dead againe when they behold such a wonderfull increase to come of their bloud so cruelly shed such a spirit of life from God so to possesse many other witnesses as those slain seem 1 1 Here let the Reader still remember that this Treatise was written before his returne from banishment and so towards London on that Saturday the solemnitie whereof was so conspicuous and glorious as it doth without any other application even naturally apply it self as if it were the most proper fulfilling of this Prophecie if either wee consider the manner of that return or the effect it wrought in the adversaries thereof which caused in them extreame indignation and rage even unto gnawing of their tongues and gnashing of their teeth And yet feare so possessed them that all â—heir power and policie could not help now to live againe in them they are struck with terrour they are surprized with feare For whereas they fondly imagined that the slaying or cruell handling of two or three prime witnesses making them sure as dead men would so have queld all the rest that not one durst ever after peepe contrary to their expectation they see a generation of witnesses to rise up after them and so to affright their enemies as if they saw an apparition of the Ghosts of the former witnesses returned from the dead And if a man did now but feele the pulse of those Prelates in England who have seene their brethren Prelates late of Scotland to bâ— cast out of Church and Countrey and utterly cashiered without all hope of restitution should he not trow you find the spirit of trepidation leaping and panting as it were for life as if their owne turne should be next But it followeth Verse 12. And they heard a great voice from heaven saying unto them Come up hither And they ascended up to heaven in a cloud and their enemies beheld them They that is the two witnesses thus raised and restored to life as before heard a great voice from heaven Here Christ either by an extraordinary voice inwardly calling or by the ordinary voice of his word outwardly cals his servants to take Sanctuary as in heaven Now heaven here may bee taken for the Church of God hereupon earth So it 〈◊〉 often taken in this Booke As in this Chapter Verse 19. So Chap. 12.1 the woman there in heaven is the Church Militant here on earth as appeareth plainly in the whole Chapter as Verse 3. 7. 8. Chap. 13.6 and in other places Now the Church of God here on earth is compared unto and called Heaven as in many other respects so specially in this because it is holy and pure being purged both for Doctrine and Discipline from all damnable Heresies and errours in faith and from the vain Inventions and Traditions of men in the worship of God m Revel 14.4 following the Lambe whithersoever he goeth that is in all things obeying Christ and observing his Ordinances and subjecting their souls and consciences to none other King but only Christ They from this Heaven heare a great voice this is Christs voice in his word calling his witnesses from having any more to doe with the Beast and his brood having sealed this their testimony with their bloud which the Beast hath sucked and drunk up So as hee now being found to be incorrigible and incurable so as hee grows worse and worse is to be utterly abandoned As the Lord saith in Jeremy n Ier. 51.6.45 Flee out of the midst of Babylon and deliver every man his soule be not cut off in her iniquitie for this is the time of the Lords vengeance he will render unto her a recompence And the reason of Gods peoples thus abandoning of Babylon is rendred Verse 9. Verse 9. We would have healed Babylon but shee is not healed forsake her and let us goe every one into his owne Countrey for her judgement reacheth up to heaven and is lifted up even to the skies And the like warning God gives to his people Revel 18.4 concerning the spirituall Babylon where Iohn saith I heard another voice from heaven saying Come out of her my people that ye be not partakers of her sins and that ye receive not of her plagues for her sins have reached unto heaven and God hath remembred her iniquities So here the witnesses heare a great voice from heaven saying Come up hither as much to say as Have no more to doe with Babylon nor with the Beast and his members who will heare no reason but have now filled up the measure of their cruelty not only to you but to all my witnesses that went before you so as now there is no more hope of them o 2 Kings 17. See also 2 Chron 36.16 no remedie for them being like those incorrigible and obstinate revolted Tribes of Israel or like the Jews that persecuted my Apostles and p Acts 13.46 drove them away to the Gentiles therefore come out from among them admonish them no more but come up hither keepe you close to my Church which I have altogether purged and purified from the dregs of Babylon and there only hold your communion Come up hither And as it followeth they ascended up to heaven in a cloud and their enemies beheld them Wee read that Elias was carried up to heaven in a fiery Chariot And Christ ascended up to Heaven in a cloud Here these witnesses ascend up to heaven in a cloud But to Heaven as before is shewed namely from their enemies to take Sanctuary as in the Church of God here on earth it being compared to a high and holy Mountain to which we must ascend So as this ascending in a cloud and that in the enemies view sets forth the admirable providence of God who will miraculously make his Church a sure and safe Sanctuary as Heaven to his persecuted ones under this Trumpet from the power and fury of their enemies who may behold them afarre off but are not able any more to touch them for they are now out of their reach as being in Heaven For in this Trumpet God is preparing a way to the seventh and last Trumpet wherein hee will
take full vengeance upon Babylon And therefore before the storme come God hath a hiding place to secure his As hee saith in Esay q Esay 4.5 6. The Lord will create upon every dwelling place of Mount Sion and upon her assemblies a Cloud and Smoake by day and the shining of a flaming fire by night for upon all the glory shall be a defence And there shall be a Tabernacle for a shadow in the day time from the heat and for a place of refuge and for a covert from storme and from rain r Exod. 12. Thus the Lord did when he was about to destroy the first-born of Egypt he shut up his people in their houses sprinkling them with the bloud of the Paschall Lambe Exod. 13. 14. that the Avenger should not touch them And when the Egyptian host pursued them as farre as the Red Sea the Lord separated them by the pillar of a Cloud by day and of fire by night untill hee had overwhelmed the Hoast in the Sea And when he was about to destroy Sodome he first separates Lot from among them So before hee destroy Babylon hee Å¿ Revel 18.4 c. cals his people out of her and then quickly after in the same Chapter follows her ruine and desolation So here the Lord calling his witnesses away and they ascending up to their Sanctuary in a cloud in the fight of their enemies it is a sure and certain signe and immediate forerunner of the destruction of this Babylon that great Citie which is spiritually called Sodome and Egypt And it is very remarkable that before the destruction of all these three Sodome Egypt and Babylon the Lord doth immediatly before separate his people and provide a Sanctuary for them Yea not long before the utter and finall u Iosephus Of the wars of the Iews destruction of Ierusalem which was once Gods true Church but now was become the Synagogue of Murtherers and Persecutors of Christ and his Saints there was a voice heard in the Temple as from Heaven Migremus hinc Let us depart hence whereby Gods small remnant yet there being warned presently fled to Pella a Coast-Citie in Iudea and not long after followed the sacking and burning of the Citie and Temple with the inhabitants therein Thus by these many famous examples we may cleerly see what God is now about in this Trumpet to doe when he cals away his Servants out of Babylon and Egypt and Sodome and the Synagogue of Antichrist and puts them in a safe Sanctuary even because he will speedily bring destruction upon those his enemies It followeth Verse 13. Verse 13. And the same houre was there a great Earthquake and the tenth part of the Citie fell and in the Earthquake were slaine of men seven thousand and the remnant were affrighted and gave glory to the God of Heaven See here no sooner have the witnesses taken Sanctuary but by and by even the same houre there is a great Earthquake Now though there have been in the World and still fall out sundry great Earthquakes in diverse Countries as in Asia and other places yet in this place under this Trumpet this great Earthquake here is not to be taken literally no more then heaven in the former Verse for the place of the highest heaven But the great Earthquake here is to be understood of the great and terrible shaking of the Kingdomes of the earth under the sound of this Trumpet as namely by great Commotions Wars and the like especially in Christendome throughout the Kingdome of the Beast And when was Christendome ever more embroyled in wars then at this day But here it is said that the tenth part of the Citie fell This is joyned to the former as an effect of this great Earthquake First what is meant by the Citie here Surely that great City mentioned V. 8. Which we have before described even the Kingdom of the Beast And still all the plagues and woes which both the Trumpets sound forth and the seven Vialls powre out fall upon the Beast and his Kingdome So as there is no questiâ—n but this Citie here is that great Citie Antichrists large Kingdome And what is meant by the tenth part of the Citie For resolution hereof wee read that the u Chap. 17.7 Beast with seven heads hath ten hornes And these x Verse 12. ten hornes are said to be ten Kings These ten Kings are said to be the ten hornes because they are the strength of the Beast And the ten Kings have their ten Kingdomes which make up the Beasts Kingdome or his great Citie Now what Kingdoms are those which are said to be of this great body of this great Citie Surely those which doe admit and maintaine the Papall power The Papall power is maintained by Civill States or Kingdomes two ways Either when they directly and professedly subject their Thrones and Crowns to the Pope as to the Head of the Church by vertue of which title he arrogates to himselfe a Supreame power over Kings and Princes which is to y 2 Thess 2.4 exalt himselfe above all that is called God to depose and dispose at his pleasure or when they doe it only implicitly or by some privy compact or league or otherwise by admitting in their Kingdomes the Popes Hierarchie for the Hierarchie is meerly Papall where ever it be erected which Hierarchie consisting in the Prelates as it is in it selfe a proper and principall member and prop of his Kingdome So it is a mighty and maine instrument of bringing into Subjection to the Pope those Kingdomes and people wherein and over whom they are exalted in their Episcopall Thrones as they call them And although in a Civill Kingdome or State where the Gospel is professed the Popes Supremacy disâ—lamed and the jurisdiction of Prelates by Law limited as being of humane institution meerly and not by divine authoritie Prelats when they are pinched and held close to it may perhaps pull in their hornes and arrogate no more unto themselves then the Laws of the Land or pleasure of the Prince do allow unto them yet when their inbred pride and ambition an inseparable accident or rather essentiall qualitie of a Prelate findes opportunitie meeting with a debonaire and benigne Prince into whose gentle brest they can easily insinuate themselves and by their dexteritie in the art of flattery and nimblenesse of tongue and wit perswade and work upon his sweet nature so as to draw it to conceive a reverend opinion of their counterfeit sanctitie which they set out in a goodly garbe of their superstitious guises in their wil-worship and by this means to a credulitie in believing all to be Gospel which they say as for the purpose that they are the true Church that they have a power to ordain Ceremonies in the Church that Christ ordained them to be his x Reprinted Conference p. 200. 210. 211 Vice-roys that they are the only Judges in controversies of faith
word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the text is not altogether to be slighted for it signifieth not only names but men of fame and m Gen. 6 4. renowne such as were the Giants and Tyrants of old and those n Gen. 11.4 Babel-builders who would get them a Name by building that Towre And such are those men we speak of these Giants Tyrants Babel-builders they are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 men of Renown terrible men yea not only the Lord-prelates themselves but their whole retinue for not a Pursuivant and Apparitor and the least Boy in their Kitchin but he is a mickle man Well all these 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 even seven thousand the whole generation of them in Scotland is slaine in that Earthquake that is utterly cast out as dead men For still I say these plagues fall only on them that have the Beasts marke or the number of his Name as the Prelats and their followers And if any here stand strictly upon the just Number of seven thousand I answer whether there were more of them or whether fewer the Number of seven thousand being a perfect and compleat number is sufficient to comprehend all of that ranke in that Countrey This number here being like that Chap. 9.16 an Army of Horsmen of two hundred thousand thousand Which number comprehends all those in the Armies though they were by many degrees short of that huge number as before And so here It followeth hereupon That the remnant were affrighted and gave glory to the God of Heaven The remnant whether the whole people in that tenth part as aforesaid or whether those that were a kind of Retainers or favourers or parties siding with the Prelates faction or altogether they were struck with feare as beholding the Almightie power of God in the effecting of that great and admirable work and thereupon gave glory to the God of Heaven I will conclude this with that of David n Psal 64.7 8 9 10. But God shall shoot at them with an arrow suddainly shall they be wounded So they shall make their own tongue to fall upon themselves all that see them shall flee away And all men shall feare and shall declare the work of God for they shall â—isely consider of his doing The righteous shal be glad in the Lord and shall trust in him and all the upright in heart shall glory Even so Amen Now a word of the next Trumpet the seventh or last But by the way we find these words o Verse 14. The second woe is past and behold the third woe commeth quickly Chap. 18.13 Wee finde three woes woe woe woe The first woe belongeth to the fift Trumpet as Chapter 9.12 the second woe to the sixt and the third woe to the seventh So as the sixt Trumpet being ended it is said here The second â—oe is past and the seventh Trumpet now following is it added And behold the third woe commeth quickly That is the seventh Trumpet commeth quickly bringing its woe with it to the Beast and his Kingdome The seventh and last Trumpet Verse 15. And the seventh Angel sounded and there were great voices in heaven saying The Kingdomes of this world are become the Kingdomes of our Lord and of his Christ and he shall reigne for ever and ever c. This seventh Trumpet as it bringeth woe even the last woe that is utter ruine and destruction to the Beast and his Kingdome to Antichrist the Whore of Babylon that great p Ver. 8. Chap. 17.18 Citie and to the whole Hierarchie where ever it be in any part or Kingdome of the World so it brings great joy and triumph to all the people of God under the Sun This is that great voice from Heaven yea great voices that is generall acclamations of the whole Church of Christ in all places which is here called Heaven as q Verse 12. before Saying The Kingdomes of this world are become the Kingdomes of our Lord even of God the Father and of his Christ and he shal reigne for ever and ever That is when this Trumpet shall sound which shall be quickly as V. 14. all the Kingdoms of the World shall consent to the rooting out of Antichrist and his kingdome they shall cast downe his Throne which is exalted in and by the Hierarchie and his whole Hierarchie shall they cast out and shall set up Christs throne over them shall subject the Kingdoms to Christs Government in submitting and conforming to his Doctrine Discipline according to his Word For till they doe this so long as they uphold and take part with the Beast in admitting and mayntaining his Hierarchie in their Dominions they r Chap. 17.13 give their strength and power unto the Beast and subject their Kingdomes unto him making warre against the Lambe Jesus Christ and so their Kingdomes the while are not Christs Kingdomes but Antichrists rather A thing well to be considered of Christian Kings and Princes and States But when this seventh Trumpet shall sound which will bee shortly if not rather already begunne then is that time fulfilled which was forelimited of GOD when they even the ten Kings to wit all Christian Kings and States which before took part with the Beast against the Lambe even Å¿ Chap. 17.16 17. these shall hate the Whore and shal make her desolate and naked and shal eat her flesh and burn her with fire For God hath put in their hearts to fulfil his wil and to agree and give their Kingdome unto the Beast until the words of God shal be fulfilled And although this may seem strange and almost incredible to mans reason and apprehension yet God shall as certainly bring it to passe as his Word hath said it And that we might not be diffident herein God hath given us a famous and remarkable instance and as it were a sensible taste hereof in that late glorious worke of his in the Kingdome of Scotland which we noted before in throwing down that proud Antichristian throne of the Beast which the Prelates thought impossible to be done and which seemed at first but as a t Psal 126.1 dreame even to Gods people when the Lord brought againe the captivity of his Sion in that Land in so good a measure begun whereas now that out-cast Hierarchie hath as little hope ever to be restored as in their prosperitie they had feare or doubt ever to bee so cast out Yet wee see it with our eyes that God hath brought to passe this great thing And shall we doubt of the rest when he hath given us such a sure earnest of his never fayling word and of his invincible power Hee that hath puld off one of the the Beasts hornes shall shortly breake off all his hornes as the Lord saith u Psal 75.10 All the hornes of the wicked also will I cut off but the hornes of the righteous shall be exalted And then then I