descripta qui soli quid in Deo sit viderunt True Religion is described in the writings of the Apostles and Prophets who onely did see what is in God Credere debemus quod Scripturae perfectae sunt quippe à verbo Dei Spiritu eius dictae Wee ought to beleeue that the Scriptures are perfect as being endited by the Word and Spirit of God His niti firma est Petra his derelictis alijs niti quibuslibet doctrinis est in effusa arena aedisicare To depend on the holy Scripture is to build on a sure Rock but to leaue them and depend vpon any other doctrine is to build vpon sand Si fidelis est Dominus in omnibus sermonibus suis fidelia omnia mandata eius manifesta est elapsio à side superbiae crimen aut reprobare quid ex his quae scripta sunt aut superinducere quid ex non scriptis Sith God is faithfull in all his words and all his commandements are true it is a manifest falling from the faith either to reiect any thing that is written or to receiue any thing that is not written Many more might be added but that it were tedious But their other assertion is much more blasphemous Is the satisfaction that Christ hath made to the Father for vs imperfect Must it be supplyed by humane satisfactions Did not the Cup which our Sauiour dranke for our sinnes in the Garden make his Soule heauy and his Body to sweat bloud Who is it that dare drinke out that which our Sauiour hath left vndrunken If the brimme of the cup so troubled him who is able to drinke out the bottome Certainely none at all If the most holy man that euer liued were appointed to beare the punishment that is due to one of his smallest sinnes it would vtterly confound him If they knew this and were touched with the smallest sense of the wrath of God they would close their blasphemous mouthes from speaking of the insufficiency of Christ his satisfaction or of any help or supply to be adioyned to his merits VERSE 3. And no man in heauen nor in earth nor vnder the earth was able to open the Booke nor to looke thereupon THE answer of the Angels Proclamation is here subioyned in a strong negation that none in heauen nor in earth nor vnder the earth could open the Booke This speech hath in it a Propheticall amplification which makes the amplification the stronger to exclude all creatures from this dignity that it may be reserued to Iesus Christ alone hee onely is worthy to open the Booke The Iesuites of Rhemes shew themselues ridiculous in the exposition of this place these are their words Hee speakes not of the damned in hell of whom there could be no question but of the faithfull in Abrahams bosome and in Purgatorie I pray you is there any question at all when he had said None in heauen could do it what needed him to subioyne Nor in earth Was there any question that could be found on earth worthy to open the Booke sith none in heauen could do it Is this spoken by way of question No but as I haue said it imports a strong negation Now as to your faithfull that you bring in here to be in Limbo which wrongfully yee call Abrahams Bosome was Abraham or any of the faithfull at this time in Limbo According to your doctrine when Christ descended to hell then hee harried hell hee left not a soule there but loosed them all out of that prison This Proclamation was more then fifty yeeres after Christs resurrection and will yee now haue any faithfull soules to bee still there euen contrary to your owne doctrine No better is your other allegation of your faithfull in Purgatorie Sith none in heauen could open this Booke I am sure it was neuer the Angels purpose to seeke any in any house of hell to do it It is your shame that in so impudent a manner against so cleere light yee abuse and deceiue the world with your forgeries VERSE 4. Then I wept much because no man was found worthy to open and to reade the Booke neither to looke thereon IN this is declared the louing affection of S. Iohn toward the Church hee mournes for that shee should be depriued of the comfort of this Reuelation all that are true and feeling members of the Church are grieued for the troubles of the Church her wants her losses and the least obscuring of her glorie is the matter of their mourning and of all losses they apprehend this most the want of the comfort of the Word for where no Vision is there the people perish Eli was not so much moued at the report of the death of his two sonnes as when he heard that the Arke of the Lord was captiued Then hee fell from his seate backeward and died And his daughter in Law when she in like manner heard that the Arke was captiued brake her heart through displeasure notwithstanding they comforted her because she had born a son yet she answered not nor regarded it but named the childe Ichabod No glorie saying The glory is departed from Israel Nehemiah was for himselfe in a good estate in the seruice of King Artashaste but when Hanani told him of the desolation of Ierusalem the sorrow of his heart made his countenance sad before the King the welfare of Ierusalem was dearer vnto him then the welfare of his owne estate But now the Church is full of bastard children who haue no compassion of her estate if they as the Prophet speakes of carnall Israelites be at ease themselues they sorrow not for the affliction of Ioseph Againe here is a plaine difference betweene such as are inspired with the Spirit of Christ and others possessed with the spirit of Antichrist the opening of the Bible to the one is a matter of their ioy to the other a matter of their griefe Iohn weepes because the Booke was closed Antichrist and his crue grudge and rage this day because the Booke is opened These are the brood of these Heretiques whom Tertullian of old called Lucifugae they hate the light because it conuinceth them of darkenesse VERSE 5. And one of the Elders said vnto me Weepe not behold the Lyon which is of the Tribe of Iuda the Roote of Dauid hath obtained to open the Booke and to loose the seuen Seales thereof VVE haue heard before S. Iohn mourning now we heare him comforted This is God his order Blessed are they who mourne for they shall be comforted Mourning must go before consolation sorrowfull teares are the seed of plentifull ioy No man putteth new wine into old bottels The consolations of the Lord are better then wine they comfort they refresh they strengthen the soule but the old heart is not capable of them we must therefore by mourning empty our hearts of our old sinnes before
in deedes secrecie in thoughts beseeming a Secretary fidelity in seruice of your Soueraigne surety in friendship modesty in all your behauiour If education of your children in true Religion If good example in the obseruance of God his publike worship euery Sabboth If indefatigable paines in your Calling for the good of the publique State wherein nothing can bee seene all the dayes of the weeke but Catenati labores mutandi semper grauioribus so that iustly it may bee admired how in so weake a body such restlesse labor of mind may be sustained If all these I say may commend any man then hath your Lordshippe witnesses enow to speake for you and needes not the testimony of others Loe now what a heape of good things hath the Lord multiplied vpon you what remaines but that you consider with Dauid What shall I render to the Lord for all his benefites towards mee Hee himselfe will giue you the answere My well-doing extends not to the Lord but to the Saints that are in the earth and to the Excellent all my delight is in them Great cause had Dauid to loue Ionathan hee could not get himselfe to requite his kindnesse but hee enquired if any man were left of the house of Saul that hee might shew him mercy for Ionathans sake and when hee vnderstood that hee had a weake sonne Mephibosheth lame of both his feete he despised him not for his inability but aduanced him for Ionathans sake to eat at his owne table as one of the Kings sonnes My Lord our Ionathan is the Lord Iesus wee haue not himselfe but for his sake wee are bound to shew mercy to his Mephibosheths these are the Leuites the Widdow the Fatherlesse the Poore the Stranger and the Oppressed Let not the Leuite want the comfort of the Law in his righteous cause Look with a tender eye to the vpright action of weake and impotent men God is a righteous Iudge to all men but he hath taken these aboue others vnder his singular protection Thinke it your honour and happinesse also to be a Protector of them So shall your Lordship prosper still and God shall stablish blessings vpon you and your posterity I will pray to God for it and so rest Your Lordships to be commanded William B. of Galloway Of my Lord of Galloway his learned Commentary on the Reuelation TO this admir'd Discouerer giue place Yee who first tam'd the Sea the Windes outranne And match'd the Dayes bright Coach-man in your race Americus Columbus Magellan It is most true that your ingenious care And well-spent paines another world brought forth For Beasts Birds Trees for Gemmes and Metals rare Yet all being earth was but of earthly worth Hee a more precious World to vs descryes Rich in more Treasure then both Indes containe Faire in more beauty then mans witte can faine VVhose Sunne not sets whose people neuer dies Earth shuld your Brows deck with stil-verdant Bayes But Heauens crowne his with Stars immortall rayes Master William Drumond of Sawthorn-denne Another REapers not few did labour in this field And it to them great store of fruit did yeeld But heere comes one apace behinde them all To gather vp what by their hand did fall Peruse his stuffe and thou shalt for thy gaining Find more then others Harust to be his gleaning I. A. PATHMOS A COMMENTARY VPON THE FIRST Prophecie of the Reuelation of S. Iohn conteined in the fourth fift sixt and seuenth Chapters Mine Helpe is in the Name of the LORD THE whole bookes of holy Scripture are of three rankes Historicall Doctrinall Propheticall they being so denominate from the principall matter in them contained Of all these coniunctly arises vnto vs a three-fold fruite the first of Conuersion the second of Consolation the third of Confirmation The first once for all is touched by the Psalmist The Law of the Lord is perfect conuerting the soule The second by the Apostle Whatsoeuer things are written are written for our learning that wee through patience and comfort of the Scriptures might haue hope It is true indeed Many are the troubles of the righteous yet against euery crosse the Lord hath giuen vs in his Word sufficient consolation The third is set downe by our Sauiour These things haue I said vnto you that yee should not bee offended that when the houre shall come yee might remember that I told you of them And this fruite of confirmation wee haue especially by bookes Propheticall Of this nature is this booke as is cleere by the titles giuen vnto it for in the first verse of the first Chapter it is called an Apocalypse or Reuelation that is an opening or vncouering of things which were hid and secret before and in the fourth verse it is called A Prophecie Thus haue we it not onely a Prophecie or prediction of things to come but a prophecie reuealed and expounded partly by Christ and partly by the Angell And this is to be noted that where other books of holy Scripture are written to instruct vs in the faith and to teach vs what wee must doe if wee would be saued this booke is written not so much to instruct vs in the faith though in part it doe that also as to confirme vs in it that for no violent persecution following it for no fraudulent heresie by deceit impugning it for no externall change befalling the Church for no prosperous preuailing of the enemies thereof as for a time will appeare to the world we should forsake that faith which the Lord Iesus and his Apostles haue taught vs in the Gospell The Author of it is God the Father from him it commeth by this order the Father giues it to the Sonne the Sonne to an Angell the Angell giueth it to S. Iohn and S. Iohn sends it to the Church The matter whereof it entreates is comprised in this short summe In it God sheweth to his seruants things which must shortly be done namely concerning the Church her persecutions by enemies the changes and mutations of the visible state thereof defections of Apostates illusions of Heretikes fearefull eclypses of the light of the Gospell All these were to fall out in that houre of tentation to come vpon all the world for tryall of them that dwell vpon the earth And in this Prophecie are distinctly fore-told by the Lord that his Saints and seruants in all ages might be confirmed against them when they should see them come to passe knowing that they fall not out by accident nor by the will or power of man but according to the determinate counsell of God who hath also letten his Church see before-hand a comfortable out-gate and end of them all And as both for the Matter and Authour this booke should bee welcome to vs so the circumstance of the time doth greatly commend it It was sent vnto vs after the Ascension of our Lord and is
followes a larger description of them who sit on the Seats they are called Elders they are said to be clothed in white Rayment and to haue Crownes of gold vpon their heads See what a glorious Court the Court of Heauen is all the Courtiers there are Seniors Kings and Priests first they are said to be Seniors not for their number of yeeres but for the ripenesse of their iudgement Here we are Infants and the little Babes of Iesus but his grace makes vs to grow till we become Seniors by this grace children now die as if they were an hundred yeeres old and the efficacie of his blessing shall complete vs there none ignorant through yong age none impotent through old age shall be there all shall attaine to the fulnesse of Christs age and be perfect in him Clothed in white rayment Their garments declare them to be Priests also This white Rayment is afterward called Finelynnen and is there expounded to be the Righteousnesse of Saints and this is two-fold one imputed by which Saints are iustified and this is perfect for it is the righteousnesse of Christ giuen vnto Saints by the free gift of God and apprehended of them by faith and in this sense it is not aliena as Papists tauntingly and ignorantly call it but propria sanctorum iustitia it is not the righteousnesse of another but their owne by as good right as any other good they haue may be called their owne namely by the free donation of God The other righteousnesse is inherent in Saints and this in such as are Triumphant is perfect as concerning their soules wherein no spot nor wrinkle remaines but in such as are Militant is imperfect yet growing and encreasing daily to perfection More concerning this white linnen and where from the similitude seemes to be borrowed see chap. 15. ver 6. And on their heads Crownes of gold This betokeneth their Royall or Kingly dignity all the Saints are Kings to their God Such as haue foughten the battell do now enioy the Crowne such whose war-fare is not yet accomplished are sure of the victorie for we runne not as vncertaine but certaine and we know that through him who loued vs we are more then Conquerors VERSE 5. And out of the Throne proceeded lightnings and thundrings and Voices and there were seuen Lampes of fire burning before the Throne which are the seuen Spirits of God HEre is shadowed to vs a two-fold operation of the Maiestie of God sitting on the Throne the one terrible to his enemies the other gracious and comfortable to his Saints his iudgements vpon the aduersaries are exprest by three names Lightnings Thundrings Voices they are compared to Lightnings because they are speedy and incuitable for this same cause also they are compared to Arrowes â—…ee sâ—… out his â—…rrowes and scattered them and hee sent out Lightnings and discoâ—…sited them Next they are compared to Thundrings because they terrifie and afray men The Lord thundred in the heauens and the Highest gaue his voice haiâ—…e-stones and coales of fire Hee proclaimed his Law with Thunder and Israel was afraid yea Moses trembled for feare If the Proclamation be so terrible what will the execution thereof be For this cause Amos speaking of God comming to iudgement vseth these words The Lord shall reare from Sion and vtter his voice from Ierusalem The two sonnes of Zebedeus Iames and Iohn were called Boanerges the sonnes of Thunder for their dreadfull and powerfull deliuery of the fearefull iudgements of God It is a beastly stupidity in man not to humble himselfe when the God of glory thundreth It is recorded of Caligula albeit he despised all Diuinity yet was hee afraid of the Thunder and that hee was wont Ad minima fulgura caput obuoluere ad maiora vero proripere se ex strato sub lectum se condere at the least Thunder to couer his head and at the noise of the greater to hurle out of his resting place and hide himselfe vnder his bed but the wrath figured heere by Thunder is much more to be feared Thirdly they are called Voices namely such voices whereby hee speakes to the wicked in displeasure Then shall hee speake to them in his wrath and vex them in his sore displeasure The other operation is figured by seuen burning Lampes of fire expounded to be the seuen Spirits of God Thus are represented the working of God in communicating by his seuenfold Spirit grace to his Saints to illuminate to quicken and to purge them That grace is compared to fire is plaine in holy Scripture One commeth after mee who shall baptize you with the holy Ghost and with fire At the feast of Pentecost the holy Ghost descended vpon the Apostles in the similitude of firie clouen tongues And this Spirit beeing one is said to bee seuen or seuen-fold to expresse that fulnesse and perfection of grace which is in him to Saints communicat by him And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest vpon him the spirit of wisedome and vnderstanding the spirit of counsel and of might the spirit of knowledge and of the feare of the Lord. There are diuersity of graces but flowing all from one Spirit Againe they are expressed by seuen to note the continuall influence and communication of grace by the Spirit vnto Saints VERSE 6. And before the Throne there was a Sea of glasse like vnto Christall and in the midds of the Throne and round about the Throne wâ—…re foure beasts full of eyes before and behind HItherto we haue heard a description of those creatures ouer whom and in whom GOD ruleth as King of Saints Now followes a description of another sort of creatures ouer whom hee rules for this Glassie sea figureth not Angels as saith Arethas nor yet Baptisme as Victorine Beda and Haymo say nor yet the holy Scripture as thinks Ioachimus Which two last opinions are followed by many late Writers but it figures this World all creatures therein who like a round Christall Globe are before the Throne That waters in this Prophecie figure people see in that place The waters which thou sawest are people Nations multitudes and tongues Sometime the Lord figureth the world by the Moone which is subiect to continuall changes The woman representing the Church is clothed with the Sunne but hath the Moone vnder her feete to shadow vnto vs how all true-hearted Christians are contemners of the world they trample vpon it contenting themselues with Iesus Christ and resting in him as in their glory Sometime also the world is figured by the Sea as here and in the fourteenth chapter the sea is alway tumbling and waltring it stands neuer stable in one estate the waues thereof which now are highest are incontinent lowest ouercome as it were with the force and furie of others thus they dash one against another
the Lord replenish them with his new consolations They went weeping and carried precious seed but they shall returne with ioy end bring their sheaues The matter of his comfort is taken from Christ so long as he looked to the creatures he found nothing but matter of mourning so shall it be with all them who seeke comfort in the creature as it was with that woman diseased of the bloudy yssue she spent all that she had on the Physicians but in vaine she was neuer healed of her disease till she came to Christ. And here we haue Christ two waies described first as Saint Iohn heares of him secondly as hee sees him The Elder who describes him speaketh of Christ out of Moses and the Prophets so do all they who speake by the Spirit of God Nec ipsi quidem Apostoli de suo arbitrio quicquam quod inducerent eligerunt Yea the Apostles themselues tooke not this liberty to bring into the Church anything of their owne but as they receiued from Christ so they deliuered to vs. Hic primum per Prophetas deinde per sâ—…ipsum postea per Apostolos quantum satis esse iâ—…dicauit loquutus est And Christ Iesus first by his Prophets next by himselfe last by his Apostles hath spoken as much as he thought to be sufficient so that now Non relictus est hominum eloquiis de Dei rebus alius praeterquaÌ„ Dei sermo There is no other speech of diuine things left vnto man but the Word of God Let no man be wise aboue that which is written That he calls our Lord The Lyon which is of the Tribe of Iuda hee takes it from Moses and againe that he calls him The roote of Dauid he takes it from Esay He is called a Lyon to the terror of his enemies and comfort of his owne Satan is called also by Saint Peter A deuouring Lyon but like the Lyon which Samson slew and that other which Dauid slew and pulled his sheep out of his mouth These were sigures of our Lord who hath ouercome the Deuill and trampleth Satan vnder the feet of his Saints It was a fearefull sight at the first which Ioshua saw at Iericho a man standing before him with a sword in his hand but when Ioshua demanded Art thou on our side or against vs and receiued this answere As a Captaine of the Lords host I am now come out of all doubt it did greatly confirme him And heere at the first it may seeme fearefull that Christ is called a Lyon but marke that in the next verse he is called a Lambe A Lyon hee is in respect of his enemies to vanquish them teare them in pieces A Lambe hee is in respect of his meâ—…knesse patience and willingnesse to suffer for his owne And therefore he is not simply called a Lyon but A Lyon of the Tribe of Iuda Naturallists haue obserued that Lyons are not cruell against their owne kind yea they spare beasts of another kind that subiect themselues vnto them If we be the true Israelites of God and submit our selues vnto him the Lyon of Iuda his Tribe shall not be terrible vnto vs the greater his power is the greater shall be our comfort The other stile giuen vnto him is The roote of Dauid where it comes to be considered how Christ is called the Roote of Dauid sith by the Prophet Esay hee is called a graffe or branch springing out of the root of Iesse Yea there in one chapter the Messia is called the roote of Iesse and Iesse againe the roote of the Messia but this is in different respects He is a branch springing out of the stocke of Iesse for from him hee tooke his humane nature and he is also a stock into the which Iesse and all his fathers according to the flesh had their being As man he tooke his flesh from them as God he gaue them their beeing This is the question which our Sauior demanded of the Pharises and they could not answer How the Messia could be Dauid his sonne and also Dauid his Lord The Lord said to my Lord Sit at my right hand vntill I make thy enemies thy foot stoole For as Man hee is the sonne of Dauid and so is the branch but as God he is Dauid his Lord and so is the root And that our Lord was made man of the seede of Dauid is most comfortable for vs hee might haue created a new nature which had neuer sinned but now he hath assumed the nature that was once sinful and hath fully separated it from sinne to ioyne it in a personall and eternall vnion with his owne diuine nature for the holy Ghost who ouershadowed the Virgine could very well discerne between the seed of Dauid in the Virgins wombe and the sinfull corruption of that seed He tooke the seed without the sinne and of it formed the body of Iesus and therefore Theodâ—…ret bringing in Flaâ—…anus expounding the Angels words to Mary speakes in this manner Non cogites corporalem contactum nec consuetudinem coniâ—…galem expecta nam tuus Fabricator templum suum corporeum quod ex te nascetur fabricabit thinke not of any corporall touching looke not for any carnall coniunction He that made thee wil make to himselfe a bodily temple which shall be borne of thee 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And this should serue to assure vs that he who hath assumed our nature and sanctified it fully from all sin that it might be vnited to himselfe shall in his own good time free our nature from all corruption of sin and present vs without spot or blame to his Father that wee may liue a happy life in holy fellowship and communion for euer with him The Papists not vnderstanding this doctrine spoyle vs of this comfort in affirming that the virgin Mary of whom our Lord tooke our nature was without sinne A false doctrine vnknowne to antiquitie It began in the dayes of Bernard hee cryes out against it in his Epistle to the Chanons of Lyons as against a noueltie a temeritie and a superstition Lubenter gloriosa Virgo talâ—… carebit honore the blessed and glorious Virgin willingly will want such an honour as this Solus enim Dominus Iesus de Spiritu sancto conceptus est qui et solus antâ—…conceptum sanctus quo excepto de câ—…tero vniuersos respicit ex Adam natos quod vnus humiliter de seipso vâ—…raciter consitetur In miquitatibus inquiens conceptus sum in peccatis concepit me mater mea For onely the Lord Iesus was conceiued of the holie Ghost and hee also onely before conception was holie hee beeing excepted that pertaines to all who are borne of Adam which one of them humbly and truly confesseth of himselfe saying I was borne in iniquity and in sinne my Mother hath conceiued mee Solus Christus dicere potuit Ecce Princeps
mundi veniet in me nihil invenâ—…et de sâ—…o dici poterat qui non nouerat peccatum Onely Iesus could say Behold the Prince of this vvorld commeth and findeth nothing in mee It could bee said of none but of him vvho knevv no sinne Againe Licet Christi conceptio sit munda absque carnalis delectationis peccato Virgo tamen ipsa vnde assumptus est in iniquitatibus concâ—…pta est quia ipsa in Adamo peccauit in quo omnes peccauerunt Albeit the conception of Christ was cleane and without all sinne of carnall delectation yet the Virgin of whom he came was herselfe conceiued in sinne begotten and borne a sinfull woman of sinfull Parents And who can bring a cleane thing out of silthinesse there is not one to wit among men This is the onely prerogatiue of Iesus that he was conceiued of the holy Ghost VERSE 6. Then I beheld and loe in the midst of the Throne and of the foure liuing creatures and in the midst of the Elders stood a Lambe as if hee had beene killed which had seuen hornes and seuen eyes which are the seuen Spirits of God sent into all the world AS before S. Iohn heard of Christ by the eare so now he sees him by the eye Information of the Church by the Word is necessary to goe before but then get we sure comfort when God openeth our heart and our eyes to see to feele those things which we haue heard but in this age there are many Christians by outward information who as yet haue not beene taught of God by by inward inspiration these heare the Testimony of God but it is not confirmed in them Now the place where S. Iohn sees the Lord Iesus is the midst of the throne O what a comfort is heere for vs that our Sauiour and elder brother clothed with our nature sitteth now in the midst of the throne Hee hath sent his Spirit downe into the earth and carried our flesh vp into heauen and thereby hath possessed vs in our heauenly inheritance And againe since wee haue him there an Aduocate an Agent for vs what should we feare or what neede is there to seeke any other to intreate for vs A Lambe Vnder the Law was our Sauiour figured oftentimes by a Lambe and the Paschall Lambe and the Lambe offered in the daily sacrifice morning and euening these were types of Christ Iesus and according thereunto is He heere represented to S. Iohn and by this type first his meekenesse in patient suffering is expressed vnto vs for as a Lambe he was dumbe before the shearer And next the great profit and vtility redounding to vs by him is declared vnto vs for all the good that is in him is imparted and communicate vnto vs Lacte eius pascimur vellere tegimur sanguine purgamur By his milke we are nourished by his bloud wee are purged by the fleece of his wooll we are couered wee put him on as the garment of our righteousnesse Sith Iason and his Argonautâ—…e endured such trauailes for obtaining that golden fleece at Colchis so did fabulous writers call it what shame is it for vs to refuse greater paines that wee may be made partakers of this golden and indeede most precious fleece of the Lambe in whom we may haue all good things whereof we stand in need As if hee had beene slaine This speech renders no patrocinie to those phantastick men who thinke Christ was not slaine but some other for him for in the ninth verse following the chiefe reason why Saints acknowledge praise to be due to the Lambe is Because thou wast killed We are therefore to obserue that these articles do not alway import a similitude but the very certainety and truth of the thing it selfe as when Saint Iohn saith We saw his glory as the glory of the onely begotten Sonne of God 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The meaning is we saw him shining in such glory as is competent to the onely begotten Sonne of God And againe when the Apostle saith Wee are changed into the same image from glory to glory as by the Spirit of the Lord 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is according to the powerfull operation of the Spirit of the Lord. And so here when he saith I saw 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a Lambe as if hee had beene killed the meaning is I saw a Lambe who indeed and verily was killed And this manner of speech imports these things first that albeit our Lord was slaine and that Satan and his Instruments thought that by death they had vtterly vndone him yet was it far otherwise for by his resurrection on the third day Hee was declared mightily to bee the Sonne of God and not vnder the power of death and therefore in this Vision hee is represented rather like vnto one that was slaine then vtterly slaine indeed Next as our Sauiour after his resurrection appeared to S. Thomas with the scarres of his wounds in his blessed Body so may wee religiously thinke he appeareth in this Vision to S. Iohn yea euen in the last Day hee shall shew his Body which was pierced to the great terrour of his enemies and comfort of his owne Neither is this to bee thought any dishonour to Christ or impotency that hee appeares in the similitude of a wounded man but rather the high praise of his loue in that for his Church her sake hee was content to be wounded to the death And no lesse great commendation of his power who ouercame his enemies by that same death by which they thought to ouercome him Serpens mortuus viâ—…os Serpentes superabat Christus mortuus Serpentem in corde viuentem superauit That Serpent which had no life ouercame those liuing Serpents which stung the Israelites and Christ by dying ouercame that Serpent the deuill who liued in our heart Magna quidem infirmitas mori sed planè sic mori virtus immensa est It is indeed a great infirmity to die but so to die as by dying to destroy death is an exceeding great power Which had seuen Hornes Hornes in holy Scripture oftentimes signifie power fortitude and Empyring they are taken both in good and in cuill part for to the wicked are ascribed Hornes whereby they push the Saints and here seuen Hornes are ascribed to Christ figuring the perfection of his strength and power and absolute authority whereby he protects his Saints Sometime there is attributed to him onely one Horne for so the Kingdome of the Messia and his exaltation to it is compared by Dauid to the lifting vp of the Horne of the Vnicorne Thou shalt exalt my Horne like the Vnicornes and I shall be anointed with fresh oile Naturalists write of the Vnicornes Horne that of all other it is the most firme and solid secondly the most pleasant and thirdly the most profitable as being
to beleeue his Word we are strong to resist Satan and he is not able to ouercome vs but if we forget the counsell of his Word we easily become a prey to our Aduersarie If we consider that we are called to be Kings to our God and hope to raigne for euer with him in heauen we will thinke shame to render our selues captiues to Satan Let vs looke backe to our first creation Animal es O homo principatu decoratum vt quid seruis affectibus Princeps creaturarum constitutus es dignitatem tuam abiicis Thou art a creature O man in thy first creation decored with Princely power why seruest thou thy affections Thou wast made the Lord of all creatures and castest away thy owne dignity Will we againe looke forward to our future glorification Non sperare potest coeleste regnum cui supra propria membra regnare non datur What hope can he haue to enioy the Kingdome of heauen who reigneth not ouer his owne members vpon earth Thus our first creation our present vocation our future glorification all of them require of vs that like spirituall Kings wee should subdue and ouercome the Deuill the world and the flesh Hee that ouercommeth shall sit with me in my Throne Our Priesthood againe consists in offering vp sacrifices to God and these may be reduced to three sorts first that we offer vp our hearts to the Lord this is the great sacrifice without which the Lord will accept nothing from vs My sonne giue me thy heart Next that we offer vp our bodies vnto him I beseech you brethren by the mercies of God that yee giue vp your bodies a liuing sacrifice holy and acceptable vnto God which is your reasonable seruing of God and this is done when we make the members of our bodie weapons of righteousnesse to God These are two then Cor Corpus the heart and the body the Lord will haue the seruice of them both Thirdly that we offer our goods vnto him as his glory and the necessity of his Saints do require it and this third sacrifice willingly followeth where the other two go before My sonne honour God with the first fruits of all thy encrease To do good and to distribute forget not for with such sacrifices God is pleased But now the hearts of men are locked vp and their hands are linked they feare to giue lest they haue not enough for themselues and the poore also but it is farre otherwise thy portion shall neuer perish by giuing out in ordinary charitie to the poore Quic quid in pauperes contuleris in coeli thesauris reconditum inâ—…enies what-euer thou bestowest on the poore thou shalt finde it laid vp in the heauenly Treasures Clementia dum licet clementiam acquire by shewing mercy when thou mayst purchase mercy to thy selfe These are all agreeable to holy Scripture Make thee friends of the riches of iniquity that they may receiue you into the euerlasting Tabernacles said our Sauiour So also the Apostle that by distributing and giuing to the poore men lay vp in store for themselues a good foundation for the time to come And we shall raigne vpon earth Vpon this place the Chiliasts ground their errour that after the Day of Iudgement the Saints shall dwell on earth a thousand yeeres at which time that Prophecie and others like it shall bee sulfilled The meeke shall possesse the earth And with this opinion many worthy Fathers in the Primitiue Church were ouertaken The Turkes also dreame of an earthly Paradise But let them passe For vnderstanding the true sense and meaning of this place we are to know that the earth in holy Scripture is sometime taken for the men that are in it Dauid cals them the men of this world these are they who as our Sauiour saith haue their portion in this life Saint Iohn commonly cals them in this Booke The Inhabitants of the earth These men are enemies to the children of God and persecute them with all their power they account them the Off-scourings of the earth and vnworthy to dwell in it But the Lord at length shall exalt his Saints and their enemies shall be made their foot-stoole Yea the soles of their feet the Lord shall lift vp aboue the heads of their greatest enemies for the wicked shall stand still vpon the earth when the godly shall be rauished and caught vp into the Aire yea the wicked themselues shall see it and shall be vexed with horrible feare when they see the man honoured whom they despised and shall say within themselues This is he whom sometime wee had in derision wee sooles thought his life madnesse and his end without honour how is hee counted among the children of God! and his portion is among Saints Now for this benefite which the Saints are sure to enioy to wit their finall victory and glorious exaltation aboue all their enemies they here praise the Lord and so hath his Maiestie most iudiciously expounded this difficult place Wee shall raigne ouer the earth at the last and generall Iudgement And this exposition is both very comfortable for Saints now lying vnder the oppression of their enemies and agreeth well with the Analogie of faith Otherwise if we take the word properly for this same earth wherein we soiourne then S. Peter tels vs that we haue to looke for new heauens and a new earth wherein dwelleth righteousnesse They lost their originall vertue and beautie by our transgression and shall receiue it againe and more at our restitution So are we taught by S. Paul The feruent desire of the creature waiteth when the sonnes of God shall be reucaled for then The creature also shall be deliuered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the sonnes of God and then both heauen and earth renewed shall bee the proper possession of Saints renewed Where if any man demand To what vse shall this earth and visible heauens serue in that Kingdome of glorie The answer is We shall know it when we shall see it for if the Lord will restore them to stand as monuments and witnesses of that first goodnesse which hee shewed vs in the Creation and we lost in the Transgression and he hath restored againe with much more in our Redemption who can say against it But lest we seeme to pry within the Arke let our care be rather to prepare our selues then before-hand curiously to enquire of it that which now we cannot vnderstand and let vs remember that answer which Photinus the predecessor of Irenaeus gaue to the Proconsull when he demanded of him who God was He answered Et tu si dignus â—…ueris videbis Euen thou if thou be worthy or meet for it shalt see him So we if we be renewed men shall know to what vse in that Day these new heauens and new
and praise THe fourth circumstance in this second thanksgiuing made by Angels onely is the song it selfe wherein we haue to consider two things the matter and the manner For the manner of their singing it is said to be with a loud voice How voices are ascribed to them they being spirits we haue spoken before onely now the loud voyce noteth their intention readinesse and great feruencie in praising the Lord. The matter of their song is subioyned Worthy is the Lambe Where still it is to be remembred how both Angels and elect Men denude themselues of all worthinesse and ascribe it to the Lambe to the great shame of these wretched wormes vpon earth who dare vsurpe to themselues the praise of worthinesse and glory in the merite of their works These Angels differ in place and order from the first company but all agree in one song Worthy is the Lambe And againe that Angels worship the Lambe but refuse to be worshipped of men condemnes that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of the blind Papists who will inforce a worship on Angels which they refuse and acknowledge onely to be due to the Lord. As before the Lambe appeared with seuen Eyes and seuen Hornes so now a seuen-fold praise doe Angels giue vnto him 1. Of power 2. Riches 3. Wisedome 4. Strength 5. Honour 6. Glory and praise They vnderstood the types which they saw they make their song respondent to his apparition In his Eyes they acknowledge his wisedom in his Hornes power and strength and riches and for these praise and honor and glory they giue vnto him Hee is a full and complete Sauiour woorthy of seuen-fold praise because of his seuen-fold that is his manifold yea his full and complete grace which superabounds in him and is powred forth abundantly vnto vs. He hath not loue but hee hath also power what craue we more but that he is most willing because of his loue He was killed for vs and most able because of his power to helpe vs in all our necessities Againe this redundant speech in praysing of God naming one thing many manner of waies is to teach vs how Saints inflamed with the loue of God cannot find words enow nor satifie themselues in praysing of God And this was shadowed before when it was said They sung with a loude voice for what is the loud voice of a spirit but â—…ruens desâ—…erium the feruent desire of it et tantò maioreÌ„ voceÌ„ in aureÌ„ incircumscripti spiritus exprimit quantò se in eius desiderium plenius â—…undit And here that one thing is named many manner of waies as power and strength praise honour and glory their like feruent desire in praysing God is declared And all this may most iustly rebuke our coldnesse in praysing God we discharge all that whole seruice many a time with one word which were yet tolerable if our affections were greater though our words are few but in these exercises how readily faint we we pray as if we desired not to preuaile and wee praise as if wee were not carefull whether the Lord heare or not and therefore wee send our thanksgiuing away but our feruent affection goes not with it such a prayer cannot pierce the cloudes farre lesse bring downe an answere Is there any thing thou shouldest thinke more vpon in prayer then that thou art speaking vvith God or is there any thing thou shouldest desire more then to finde thy selfe accepted of him Quomodo te à Deo audiri postulas cùm te ipse non audias How canst thou desire the Lord to hear thee in praying when thou hearest not thy selfe Vis Deum memorem esse tui cùm rogas cùm tuipse memor tui non sit wilt thou haue the Lord mindfull of thee when thou requestest him and thou in requesting him hast no mind of thy selfe This is a common sin of this age the Lord remoue it VERSE 13. And all the creatures which are in heauen and on the earth and vnder the earth and in the sea and all that are in them heard I say Praise honour and glory and power be to him that sits on the Throne and vnto the Lambe for euermore THe third part of the thanksgiuing is sung by creatures and that of all sorts and vvith one common consent for this distribution of the creatures in these which are in heauen in earth vnder the earth and in the sea is a propheticall amplification frequently vsed in Scripture to shew the coÌ„course of all creatures to praise God in their kind as ye may see Psalme 148. Now these creatures here are such as are without sense or reason to wit the Sunne the Moone the Fire the Aire the Water the Earth and all that in them is after their sort doe praise the Lord and they haue a voice of their owne which is well enough vnderstood by him that made them As they grone for the bondage vnder which our sin hath subdued them so long they to see the sonnes of God restored to their liberty for then shall they be restored also and for this benefit the creatures haue by our Redemption as they were cast into bondage by our transgression they haue their owne reioycing and praysing of God But for this we referre the willing Reader to that which we haue written on the eighth to the Romanes and now proceed to the conclusion of this Song VERSE 14. And the foure liuing creatures said Amen And the foure and twenty Elders fell downe and worshipped him that liueth for euermore NOw are wee come to the conclusion of the Song they who beganne it to wit Angels and redeemed Saints coniunctly doe also conclude it In all this heauenly action we still see that the example of one prouokes another to prayse God teaching vs our dutie not to be silent when others beside vs are praising the Lord. If we cannot with our mouthes at least let vs with our harts make melodie to the Lord and say Amen to the song of our brethren The Angels ratifie the praises giuen to God by saying Amen This particle is sometime a note of affirmation as when our Sauiour saies Amen Amen I say vnto you all these things shall come vpon this generation that is certainly and without doubt they shall come Sometime againe it is a note of confirmation or comprecation as when the Apostle reproues preaching or praying in an vnknown language he vseth this reason How shall hee that occupies the roome of the vnlearned say Amen at thy giuing of thanks seeing he knowes not what thou saist Of this it is cleare that in the Primitiue Church after preaching and prayer the custome of the people was to say Amen in token that not onely they consented but also wished from God the same good things which hee before had either mentioned in the Preaching or desired in the Prayer But this many of our
the right way that he go not where-away he will himselfe but as the rider directs him So is it with Preachers we are many times inclined to faint and loyter in our calling to waken vs some Cananites must be stirred vp to bee pricks in our sides or else within vs God stirreth vp our owne Conscience to put vpon vs. And as to the other he bridles the mouthes of his seruants he opens them to speake how and when he pleases In that houre it shall be giuen you what ye shal say for it is not ye that speake but the Spirit of your Father that speakes in you Againe he closeth their mouth when he sees it expedient So said he to Ezekiel I shall cause thy tongue cleane to the roofe of thy mouth In a word as I said before that hee carries Preachers from place to place according to his pleasure so in preaching hee carries them from purpose to purpose hee puts in their heads that which they intended not to haue spoken hee makes them forget that which they thought sure to haue deliuered and so ouer-rules their memorie and bridles their mouth that still hee makes them his owne purpose Happy yea thrise happie are they who this way are ruled by the Lord. A notable example heereof wee haue in Augustine for Possidonius records of him that in a certaine Sermon his memory failed him and that beside his intention and purpose hee fell out into a discourse against the Manichaeans When he was come home hee demaunded of them who dined with him if they had marked it They said indeed they had to whom he answered Credo quod forte aliquem errantem in populo Dominus per nostram obliuionem et errorem doceri curari voluerit It may be as I thinke that by my obliuion and miscarrying from my purpose to speak against that heresie GOD will haue some among the people to be taught and cured of it Nam in eius manu sunt et nos et Sermones nostri for in his hand are both our selues and our speeches to frame them as he will And so indeed it was as the man of God tooke it for within two dayes Firmus a Manichaean came to him and shewed him how by the same Sermon he had been conuerted Vnde stupentes glorificauimus sanctum eius nomen qui cum voluerit et vnde voluerit et quomodo voluerit et per scientes et nescientes salutem Sanctorum operatur Whereupon they who were in Augustines company much astonished glorified the holy Name of God who when he will and as he will by witting vnwitting Preachers works the saluation of Saints Let this glory be reserued to the Lord he works saluation oftentimes by Preachers that Preachers know not of themselues The Preacher knowes not your troubles your tentations nor the estate of your soules yet euery Professor prepared reuerently to heare thinks that the Preacher speakes vnto him but this as I haue said is the finger of God who by the ministery of one speaketh and worketh in many as he will The third point is the colour of the horse he is said to be a white horse the white colour noteth two things first puritie and holines that should be in Preachers the Lord will not ride vpon vncleane beasts nor haue his Name carried through the world by profane men he will not he cannot worke with an vnsanctified Ministerie A fearfull example whereof we haue â—…in Ophni and Phinees two sonnes of Eli with the wickednesse of their liues they had made the people to abhorre the sacrifices of God yet thought they to couer the iniury vnder the garment of God and to saue themselues in battell against the Philistims by bearing the Arke of God on their shoulders yet was the Lord so displeased with them that hee chose rather to suffer his Arke to be captiued of vncircumcised Philistims then to maintaine it in the hands of so profane men as they were they suffered their iust deserued punishment but the Lord pleaded the cause of his owne glory and brought home the Arke againe Let them therefore be cleane who carry the vessels of the Lord let vs study to be holy the Lord will not ride but vpon white horses Vita munda ipsa est luce fulgentior a holy life is brighter then light it selfe Secondly the white colour signifies the ioyfulnesse of the message which they bring there is no black nor dolefull thing in it In holy Scripture when Angels appeared to bring good tydings we find them clothed in white and among men it hath been customably vsed for a signe of gladnesse The Emperours of Rome in their solemne triumphs had their Chariots drawne with white horses Pomponius writes of the horse which drew Dioclesian his Chariot Quòd candore cum niue certabant that in whitenes they contended vvith the snow So then by the white Horse the Gospell is declared to be a ioyfull message Reioyce O Sion for thy King commeth riding vnto thee and that vpon his white Horse in token of ioy to his owne and triumphant victory ouer his enemies Great ioy was in Ierusalem when Dauid brought the Arke into it Great ioy in Samaria when Philip preached the Gospel vnto them Beautifull are the feet of them who bring the glad tydings of peace But miserable are they who find neither peace nor ioy in the preaching of the Gospel these may be sure that dolefull tydings abide them The fourth point to be considered here is his Armour He had a bowe No mention is made here of arrowes but in the 45. Psalme arrowes are ascribed to him without mention of a bowe Thine arrowes are sharpe to pierce the heart of the Kings enemies Thus collation of Scripture is the best interpretation of Scripture In old time the chiefe weapons vsed in warre were bowes and slings the one we may see out of the Psalmist The children of Ephraim being armed and shooting with the bowe turned back in the day of battell the other out of the booke of Iudges The Beniamites had seuen hundred chosen men who could sling stones at an haire breadth and not faile Our Lord then is a man of warre an expert Archer he hitteth the mark whereat he shooteth and faileth not it is long ere hee bend his bowe and when he hath bended the longer he drawes the deeper he fastneth his arrow quò diutiùs expectat districtiùs iudicabit Let not wicked men please themselues in their sinnes because the Lord spares to shoote at them The Lord laughes the wicked to scorne because he sees his day comming Let the patience of God lead men to repentance for except they turne he hath bent his bowe and made it readie he hath prepared him deadly weapons will ordaine his arrowes for them that persecute his Saints Two sorts of arrowes shootes the Lord
the one to expresse the horror of the other Now because this is a speciall note and maine point the right vnderstanding whereof will giue light to the method of the vvhole Prophecie we are to know that the reason mouing sundry learned Interpreters to thinke that this seale cannot be expounded of the Day of Iudgement is for that there are many Prophecies following which must be fulfilled before that Day but this difficultie shall easily be remooued if they consider the ground we haue already laid out of Primasius that the Reuelation is Prophetia saepius repetita a Prophecie sundry times repeated and diuers wayes diducing the estate of the Church from the daies of Christ to his second Comming againe And euen they vvho vvill haue it one continued Prophecie the later Chapter beeing alway posterior in time to the matter of the Chapter preceding as they thinke are forced to interrupt that course and change their mind when they come to the twelfth Chapter for there they are drawne backe again to the first beginning of the daies of Christ. But to returne this sixt seale concludes this first generall Prophecie with a Propheticall denuntiation of the Day of Iudgement and so wee expound it for these reasons besides others which we haue shewed before First the seuenth seale hath no proper prediction of it owne as the preceding sixe haue but containes in the bosome thereof seuen Trumpets proclaiming for matter a new Prophecy different from the former Next heere is an vniuersall change of all creatures in Heauen and Earth vvhich neuer was nor neuer will be but at the day of Iudgement Thirdly all the persons of the wicked are here vniuersally iudged without exception no Babylonians nor Egyptians nor Israelites onely but all the wicked Euery free man euery bond man Fourthly it is expresly called in the Text The great Day of the Lords wrath And lastly the like prediction made by our Sauiour serues for a cleer Commentary to lead vs to expound this of the day of Iudgement For after our Lord hath foretold of great persecutions apostasies heresies of false Christs which were to come he subioynes And immediatly after the tribulation of those daies shall the Sun be darkned and the Moone shall not giue her light and the starres shall fall from heauen and the powers of heauen shall be shaken Now that these speeches are not to be taken allegorically but properly as contayning a prediction of that fearefull concussion of this Vniuerse which shall be made in that great Day of the Lord is most euident by that which followes Then shal appeare the signe of the Sonne of man in the heauen c. And he shall send his Angels with a great sound of the Trumpet and they shall gather together his Elect from the foure winds and from the one end of heauen to the other Thus is our Commentary made cleare that this mutation of the creature foretold here shall fall out in that great Day wherein the Lord Iesus shall iudge the quick and dead This terror of the day of Iudgment is described from two-fold terrible effects thereof first vpon the creature insensible Earth Iles Mountaines Heauen Sun Moone Stars ver 12. 13. 14. Next vpon the creature reasonable but reprobate of all sorts ver 15. 16. 17. For the first it is said There was a great Earthquake The word in the Originall imports more 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a cōcussion of the Vniuerse or whole fabrick of the world As to earthquake it is either ordinary proceeding of naturall causes ayre enclosed in the bosome of the earth or else extraordinary an angry and fearefull God shaking the earth with his powerfull hand as was that when Christ our Lord was crucified The darkning of the Sunne in like manner is either naturall whē by interposition of the Moone between the Sunne and the Earth the light of the Sunne is eclipsed and cut off from some parts of the earth or else it is supernaturall such as vvas that darkning of the Sunne when our Lord was crucified For when the sixt houre was come darknes arose ouer all the Land vntill the ninth Which moueci Dionysius Areopagita then an Ethnick Philosopher but after conuerted by Saint Paul and made a Christian after he 〈◊〉 considered that the darknesse could not be naturall hee guae out this sentence of it Aut Deus nature patitur an t mundi machina dissoluetur Either the God of nature now suffereth or the world now must be dissolued And the Moone was like bloud As the Sunne in that day shall cast downe his countenance vpon the wicked and refuse to giue them light because they refused the most comfortable light of the Gospel so shall the Moone persecure them with the terrible lookes of a bloudy face because they shed the bloud of the Saints of God VERSE 13. And the starres of heauen fell vnto the earth as a fig-tree casteth her greene figges when it is shaken of a mighty wind THe iudgement still increases terror thereof wherin we may see how all creatures both in heauen and earth offer their seruice to the Creator for the execution of his iust vengeance vpon the wicked Euery one of them sights in their course against the enemies of the Lord the earth tembles vnder them and reeles to and fro as vnable any longer to beare the burden of their iniquitie and shall not rest till at length shee open her mouth and swallow them The Sunne the Moone the Starres shall refuse to comfort them with their light Thus at one time shall they finde the Creator and all his creatures against them It is true that euen now the wicked are vnder wrath yet thinke they their estate good enough for they loue the creature more then the Creator So long as they enioy the comfort of the creature feele not the indignation of the Creator as shortly they will doe in their misery they blosse themselues but in the end when all creatures shal forsake them and the Lord the righteous Iudge of the world shall come in anger to pursue them yea and their owne conscience shall also witnesse against them Then shall their vnhappy estate be discouered to themselues and they shall cry as after followes Rocks and Mountaines fall vpon vs and couer vs. And this should serue for a warning to vs sith the comfort of all creatures will faile vs yea thy own heart and flesh will faile thee Let vs seek the Lord in time then shall wee be sure of Dauid his comfort God the portion of my soule will neuer faile mee Set our hearts vpon that which is permanent but let vs not rest in things vanishing Who will dwell willingly in a ruinous habitation Si in habitaculo tuo parietes vetustate nutarent tecta desuper tremerent domus iam fagitata aedificiis
Lord. But consider the end let all flesh looke into this Mirror and in time learne to embrace the counsell of God Be wise now therefore ye Kings be learned ye Iudges of the earth serue the Lord in feare and reioyce in trembling kisse the Sonne lest he be angry and ye perish in the way when his wrath shall suddenly burne Blessed are all that trust in him VERSE 16. And said to the Mountames and Rocks Fall on vs and hide vs from the presence of him that sitteth on the Throne and from the wrath of the Lambe TWo things here we haue first to whom doe the Reprobates runne in this desperate estate next what doe they craue They run to the creature Rocks and Mountaines But haue they eares to heare or can they protect when the Lord pursues This is their blindnesse they loued the creature more then the Creator In their necessitie they seeke comfort in the creature but can finde none a iust recompence of their error But why doe they not cry to the Lord Surely because they dare not they see nothing in him but vvrath vvhich their owne consciences tell them they haue most iustly deserued they find within themselues a condemnatorie sentence which they knowe cannot be recalled Let vs in time seeke mercy so long as it may be found the day before the Trumpet blowe mercie will be preached vnto men but they who receiue it not yet then shall neuer find it afterward By their folly let vs learne wisedome The onely rocke of our refuge is the Lord Iesus Christ if wee runne to him in time hee shall hide vs and saue vs from that fearefull vvrath which is to come The Romane Doctors vpon this place build vp as they thinke a sure ground for their inuocation of creatures they said to the Mountaines that is to the Saints and to the Rocks that is to the confirmed Angels Hide vs from the Lambe And hitherto they abuse that place of the Psalmist I lift mine eyes to the Mountaines from whence commeth mine helpe that is to the Saints VVhat a grosse ignorance is this Will Saints and Angels goe between the Lord and the wicked when they shall be iudged Shall they not rather assist the Lord in iudging them Know ye not that the Saints shall iudge the world Or what doe they meane to propose that vnto them for imitation vvich is here condemned in the wicked as vttered by them in their desperation These and such like are the sundry foundations vvhereupon stand the pillars of Papistry A twofold error in them is here manifest They lay another foundation then that vvhich is layd vvhich is Iesus Christ. And againe pretend of Christ what they will sure it is they build not vpon him gold and siluer but stubble and hay which will not abide the triall of the fire But now what craue they that the Rocks and Mountaines would fall vpon them and hide them from the presence of him that sits vpō the throne O desperate folly can Mountaines hide thee from the Lord Are they not a part of that Chrystall Globe which is before the Throne and is transparent to the Lord they liued all their dayes out of Gods presence not that his eye did not behold them and marke them in all their waies but their eyes looked not vp to him and therefore now may they not abide his presence Let vs leaue them and learne at Dauid when he had considered with himselfe that there was no flying from the Lord Whither shall I go from thy Spirit or whither shall I flee from thy Presence He betooke him to this resolution I set the Lord alway before me hee is at my right hand therefore I shall not slide Sith we cannot flee from the Lord let vs flee to him there is no defence against his vnsupportable wrath but to hide vs vnder the mantle of his mercy There are two feares which trouble two sorts of men the feare of Sin and the feare of Death which is the punishment of sinne the godly in their life feare nothing so much as sinne they fight continually against it they desire nothing more then to be quit of it O wretched man that I am who shall deliuer me from this body of death And therefore is it that hauing ouercome sinne they feare not death when it commeth more then a Serpent that wants a sting The wicked on the contrarie in their life feare nothing but death they flie it as the center of their sorrowes because they cannot eschew it all their care is to prolong it as for sinne they feare it not It is a pastime to a foole to doe wickedly But when their Terme-Day commeth and conscience wakens against them to pursue them for their sinnes and lets them see wrath due to their sinnes then seeke they Death as a remedy of their sorrowes but shall not find it yea they would vndergoe the most painefull death euen to bee pressed quicke to the death by the weight of Mountaines that they might bee freed of the heauie burthen of their sinnes VERSE 17. For the great Day of his wrath is come and who can stand THe day of Iudgement is called A great Day of wrath First because all the children of wrath shall be iudged in that Day none excepted Next because all the Vialls of Gods wrath shall then be powred vpon them an vniuersall deluge of all the plagues of God shall then ouerflow them The wicked put the euill day farre from them the vnfaithfull seruant thinkes his Master will not come Mockers will say Where is the promise of his comming As the kinsmen of Lot regarded not his praediction of Sodoms destruction ab vno dicebatur à multis ridebatur it was spoken by one and scorned by many but they felt the force and fury of that scorching fire shortly after so no lesse assuredly shall all the wicked who repent not feele the weight of that terrible wrath both on their soulos and bodies they shall confesse at length The great Day of his wrath is come that Day which wee despised that Day which we scorned that Day which we thought would neuer be That Day of the Lord is now come Two things perturbe and confound the wicked The one is without them the terrible presence of the Iudge or wrath of the Lambe Hee that is a Lambe to his owne lookes to the wicked like a deuouring Lyon And not without cause is the name of a Lambe here attributed to the Iudge for sure it is that iudgement iustly inflicted will not torment the wicked so much as mercy wilfully despised Terrible will it be to them when they looke to the Lambe who hath giuen mercy to so many and so many times offered mercy to themselues and now see him refuse all mercy to them because they despised it iustly shall the meek face of
the Lambe be turned to them in the terrible face of a Lyon and as I said mercy despised shall torment them more then iudgement inflicted The other thing that perturbes the wicked is within them a sensible infirmity in themselues through the guiltie conscience that makes them vnable to stand before the Lord Who can stand The wicked are as the chaffe which the winde driueth away they shall not stand in iudgement Let vs beware of both these see wee despise not mercy offered let vs carefully purge our conscience Who shall ascend into the Mountaine of the Lord Who shall stand in his holy place He that hath innocent hands and a pure heart So shall that Day of the Lord fearefull to the wicked be vnto vs a ioyfull day of Redemption and of sweet Refreshment The Lord grant we may so finde it CHAP. VII VERSE 1. And after that I saw foure Angels stand on the foure corners of the earth holding the foure windes of the earth that the winds should not blow on Earth nor Sea nor any Tree THIS Chapter is a pendicle of the precedent and appertaines to the first Prophecie of this Booke which we called Generall In it per Anabasin we haue a larger explication of the fifth and sixth Seales with a notable consolation for the godly presently subioyned after the Prediction of that most fearefull desperate and comfortlesse end of the wicked which shortly will come vpon them For there we heard all manner of reprobate men sorrowfully lamenting and crying that Mountaines might couer them Here we are all told that the godly shall not be inuolued with them in their desperate estate the Lord by his owne Seale separates them from the wicked and foreshewes that happy estate wherein they shall liue for euer and euer The Chapter hath two parts the first enlarges that which hath beene briefly set downe in the fift and sixt Seale for in the fift Seale Saints cry for a dissolution of the world and for finall iudgement to auenge their bloud on them who dwell on earth there they are desired to rest vntill their fellow-seruants were fulfilled In the sixt Seale that dissolution of the world and iudgement on the wicked craued by Saints and promised by the Lord is represented to S. Iohn Both these in the first part of this seuenth Chapter are more cleerely expounded For first S. Iohn sees foure Angels standing at the foure corners of the earth ready to ouerturne the world and to fold it vp like an old Vesture as was figured in the sixt Seale and this we haue ver 1. Next these Angels are inhibited and forbidden to destroy the world vntill the seruants of God be first sealed and secured as was promised in the fift Seale and this we haue ver 2. 3. together with the number of them that are sealed till we come to the thirteenth verse From that to the end is described the happie condition of Saints set downe in plaine termes and directly opposite to that wofull condition of Reprobates mentioned in the sixt Seale so this from ver 15. to the end makes vp the second part of this Chapter The first part letting vs see how the world is conserued till Saints be fulfilled and sealed the other part shewing vs their ioyfull and happy estate Wherein it is very comfortable to obserue the opposition which is made betweene the miserable estate of the wicked in the end of the sixt chapter and happy estate of Saints in the end of this seuenth They had shed the bloud of the seruants of God and therefore the Moone with a bloudie face lookes vpon them and all creatures concurre to bee auenged of them Heere the Saints come safe through all these tribulations and make their Robes white in the bloud of the Lambe There the Sunne waxed black and withdrew his light from the wicked heere Saints haue no need of the light of the Sunne for the Lamb gouernes them ver 16. 17. And the glory of God and the Lamb is their light Againe there the wicked flie from the presence of God and may not abide it but here Saints are in the presence of the Throne of God ver 15. There the wicked cry that Mountaines might hide them from him that sits on the Throne but here hee that sitteth on the Throne dwelleth among his Saints and they serue him for euer ver 15. These things thus compared together may let the iudicious Reader see how this Chapter is a proper pendicle of the sixt explaining at length some things shortly and obscurely set downe in the former So that in these two Chapters we haue the first Prophecie of this Booke which I call generall absolued and in the beginning of the eighth Chapter we are to looke for a second Prophecie which continues to the twelfth And I saw foure Angels This Verse as I haue said lets vs see how the Angels standing at the foure corners of the earth are ready to ouerturne the world and to fold it vp like an old Vesture if the Lord did not stay them That they are said to be foure is a certaine number for an vncertaine yet imports it that they are sufficient for one at euery corner of a sheet or vesture as the Psalmist termeth this Vniuerse are able enough to fold it vp What these Angels are whether good or euill is disputed among the Diuines but without a cause for sometime by good Angels the Lord punisheth euill men as was done to the Egyptians Sodomites and Assyrians sometime by euill Angels hee exerciseth good men so S. Paul was buffeted with an Angell of Satan for maruellous is the Lord in working with his Saints Satan in his fighting against them fights for them and destroies himselfe into them But that these are good Angels appeares by the speech which Christ vseth vnto them ver 2. Hurt not the earth till wee haue sealed the seruants of our God in their fore-head hee speakes to Angels hee speakes of Saints redeemed and inuolueth them both in the fellowship of one God with himselfe Beside this the execution of that last Iudgement is commonly ascribed to the holy Angels The Lord shall descend from heauen with a showt and with the Voice of the Arch-Angell and with the Trumpet of God And againe When the Sonne of man shall come in his glory the holy Angels shall also come with him then shall the sheepe bee separated from the Goates That this shall be done by Angels is euident in the Parable of the Haruest The Haruest is the end of the world the Reapers are the Angels And to this same purpose Angels here are brought in as executors of the last Iudgement to ouer-turne the world Holding the foure windes of the earth I leaue here those allegoricall interpretations whereby this is expounded to be the restraint of the Gospell which is the breathing of the holy Spirit
leaue the Faith of the Church It is Satan his subtilty with a fable of a false Antichrist to blinde the world that they should not know the true Antichrist who indeed is come already The wiser and more learned among them are ashamed of this fable and are forced by the euidence of Scripture to confesse that Antichrist is not to sit in Ierusalems Temple but it may very well be that hee shall sit at Rome as God-willing shall be declared hereafter The true causes of Dan his omission we are rather to thinke to be these two first of all the 12. Tribes they fell first to Idolatry continued therin vntill the day of the captiuity of the Land as is plainely told vs in the eighteenth of Iudges Secondly they were carelesse to prouide for themselues inheritance in Canaan after that the remnant Tribes were all settled yet had they a great part of their inheritance to seeke Now wee must remember that earthly Canaan to them was a type of the heauenly Canaan they were carelesse of the one and now no more remembred in the roule of them that shall be in the other It is a dangerous thing to despise types of mercy when God offereth them for by so doing men depriue themselues of the Truth figured by them Carnall Iewes counted no more of Canaan and regarded nothing but the commodity of the soile for habitation and benefits temporall which they enioyed therein but such as were spirituall loued it much more because it was a type and pledge of better A necessary warning for the men of this age who esteeme it a small sinne or no sinne to neglect the holy Communion wherein the Lord giueth earthly types of heauenly things they thinke little of them with Naaman the Syrian that the waters of Iordan are no better then the vvaters of Damascus but he till hee learned to reuerence the meanes ordained by God was not healed of his Leprosy and they cannot come to the participation of the Truth so long as they despise the types therof Yet as the most generall threatning of iudgement hath included in it an exception so are we not to thinke that here all Danites are excluded froÌ„ the benefit of this seale for Samson of the tribe of Dan had the honor to be a Iudge in Israel and is reckoned by the Apostle in the Catalogue of them who were renowned for their faith Onely the omission of Dan teacheth vs how farre the Lord abhorreth and detesteth Idolatry we are not to stretch it further and to gather out of it a determinate exclusion from mercy and grace of all particular persons belonging to that Tribe Now concerning Ephraim wee know that Ieroboam who first rent the ten tribes froÌ„ the kingdom of Dauid and erected them in a seuerall kingdom in the dayes of Rehoboâ—…m was of the Tribe of Ephraim he founded his kingdome vpon idolatry fearing if the people had reforted to the Temple which was in Iuda they would in time râ—…uolt againe to the house of Dauid Hee raised vp two Calues one in Bethel the other in Dan so not onely became an Apostat himselfe but also drew all the tenne Tribes to defection and therefore is he commonly in holy Scripture remembred with this note to his shame that he caused Israel to sin That sinful kingdome as the Prophet calls it continued but two hundred fifty and eight yeers The number of their Kings all this time vvere nineteen Kings euery one of them more wicked idolatrous then another The Lord for this shooke them like a Reede beateâ—… with the wind and consumed them like a Moth. So that among ninetâ—…en Kings nine or tenne times was the bloud Royall changed yet neuer any one of them learned by example of Gods wrath vpon others to repent of their idolatry and returne to the Lord. They kept precisely the fundamentall Law of the Kingdome layd by Ieroboam and would not forsake the calues of Dan and Bethel but it was to their owne destruction Woe to him that buildâ—… his house by iniquity Ieroboam their first King had a sonne Nadab but none mo of his race enioyed the kingdom 〈◊〉 of another bloud slaieth Nadab raigneth in his stead Ela also his sonne succeedeth after him but Zimri of another bloud cutteth away Elah And hee had scarce sitten downe in the royall chaire seuen dayes when Omri of anoâ—…er bloud dispatched him Omri hath three of his race that succeedes him in his kingdome Achab the son of Omri Ochosiâ—… the sonne of Achab and Ioram the brother of Ochosiah Then commeth in Iehu of another bloud he slayes Ioram and all the posterity of Achab and hath foure after himselfe lineally succeeding him to wit Ioachâ—… his sonne againe Ioas and his sonne Ieroboam the second and his sonne Zacharias he scarce reigned sixe moneths when Shallum of another bloud slayeth him and reigneth in his stead Menahen againe of another bloud he slayeth Shallum after Menaheâ—… reigneth his sonne Pekahiah two yeares then Pekah of another bloud the sonne of Remaliah hee slaieth Pekahiah then Hoshea of another bloud he conspires against him and slaieth Pekah he is the last of the Kings for the Lord raised vp Salmaneser against him who destroyed Samaria the chiefe City of the kingdom of Israel and carried away the whole ten tribes in captiuity to Assyria Thus was their idolatry the destruction of their kingdome where they thought by it to stablish it If any man thinke this cannot be the true cause why Ephraim is omitted in this Catalogue because the other Tribes were involued in the same Apostacy with Ephraim let him consider that their first King Ieroboam of Ephraim led all the rest vnto this horrible defection and therefore as I said is alway remembred with this reproach That hee made Israel to sinne But in this I will contend with no man Sure it is it should be a warning to all States and Kingdomes to beware of Idolatry specially of Apostasie and corruption of Gods vvorshippe and namely in such a Land where God is purely worshipped beside them This sinne shaketh subuerteth houses from the foundation and makes theÌ„ to spew out their old inheritors men of a base and vncouth bloud possesse the place of ancient Nobles Proofes heereof are many in this Land whereof I cease to speake VERSE 9. After these things I beheld and â—…o a great multitude which no man could number of all nations and kinreds and people and tongues stood before the Throne and before the Lambe clothed with white long robes and Palmes in their hands HAuing spoken of the sealing of Iewes lest we should thinke the saluation of God belonged to the Iewes only here are brought in an innumerable company of Gentiles who do also belong to the election of God Concerning them 3. things are noted vnto vs first their
Stâ—…la immortalitas est aeternae beatitudinis Sanctis collata It is an immortality of eternall beatituâ—…e conferred to Saints So also S. Augustine vnderstands by it Mercedem 〈◊〉 gaudium â—…oelestis patriae that eternall reward and ioy of our heauenly Countrey whereby Saints shall shine more bright and glorious then the Sun in the firmament For the better vnderstanding of this let vs consider how the Spirit of God to expresse the glory and greatnesse of spirituall things customably drawes similitudes from most excellent things that are in Nature The Naturalists write of a certaine kinde of linnen called by the Grecians 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 by the Latines Linum viuum because it cannot bee burnt with fire but rather is more cleerely purged by the fire then it can be by washing in the water the fire cannot consume it but still makes it the more cleane and beautifull Regum funera in eiusmodi adurebantur tunicis ne corporis faâ—…illa cum reliquo misceretur cinere The bodies of Kings were burnt in coats made of this linnen that the dust of their bodies should not be mingled with the ashes of the fire wherein they were burnt but might the more commodiously be conserued by themselues and laid vp in such vessels wherein they were accustomed to keep them To this purpose Plinius also records that hee saw Ex hoc line ardentes in focis conâ—…tuiorum mappas sordibus exustis splendentes igni magis quà m possent aquis in the time of great Banquets their Table-cloathes burnt and made brighter and cleaner by the fire then they could be by water He grants indeed that such linnen euen then was rare to be gotten but being once obtained it was worth the price of most precious iewels Now wee scarce heare tell of it in the world Alway wee may very well thinke that the Spirit of GOD alludes vnto it when hee bringeth Saints cloathed with white The iudicious Reader may easily consider how the comparison is proper Lastly they are said to haue Palmes in their hands The Palme Tree hath euer beene vsed for a signe of victorie Quid per Palmas nisi praemia victoriae designantur Palmae quippe dari solent vincentibus Naturalists haue obserued that there is in the Palme a certaine peculiar property agreeable to the nature of stout and Noble-men namely that it is not borne downe by any weight can be laid vpon it but rather it riseth vp against the weight and beares it vpward Aulus Gellius citeth as Authors for this Aristotle and Plutarch The same is also recorded by Plinius to be a rare and precious Tree for many other respects Alway it properly represents the fortitude of Christians who cannot be borne downe with the heauy burden of afflictions but rather are made stronger by them and more able to resist all our spirituall aduersaries till at length they become More then Conquerours through Christ. Our life said Iob on earth is a war-fare yet euen in fighting many a time God makes vs victorious Euery temporall victorie in particular temptations now is a pledge to vs that wee shall get full and finall victorie at the last Now we haue not peace without warre not yet warre without peace Sunt nobis quaedam in pace praelia in bello pax But we are sure the end of our battels shall be victorie in token whereof there are Crownes prepared for our heads white Robes for our bodies Palmes to be put in our hands But let it be marked that the white garment and the Palme go together for it is innocencie and a good conscience which maketh strength in the time of our trouble and getteth victory at the last No man is crowned except hee striue as hee ought to doe Wee forget that the Kingdome of heauen suffers violence Alas great is our security wee will not fight and yet wee looke for the Palme The Husbandman must labour before hee receiue the fruites Wee looke for the fruits and will not labour wee thinke it easie to goe into heauen as if the doore thereof were to be opened at euery on-set and remember not how the fiue foolish Virgins were excluded No vncleane thing can enter into heauenly Ierusalem Polluted hearts haue no hands that can beare the Palme Coelum res est quae vitam altam alios mores aliamque 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 postulat Heauen is a thing which requires another kinde of life other sort of manners yea and another creation VERSE 10. And they cryed with a lowd voice saying Saluation commeth of our God that sitteth on the Throne and of the Lambe THeir thankesgiuing now is subioyned wherein we haue to consider two things first the manner next the matter thereof for the manner it is said that they cryed with a lowd voyce noting how Saints praise the Lord with a feruent affection and this feruencie of their affection proceeds from the sense of their great deliuerance Alas the onely cause of our coldnesse in praysing and praying vnto God is our senslesenesse wee feele not our bondage we know not that great deliuerance and glorious liberty of the sonnes of GOD into which wee looke to bee aduanced therefore is it that we mourne not for the one and cry not as we should for the other Let vs learne at them that in praying and praysing of God there should be a lowd Voice not for the vocall sound but in respect of the intended affection Oratio multa debet esse loquntio pauca Our prayer should be much and our talke little and then is our prayer much when our heart is enlarged to desire much Et hoc lachrymis magis quà m verbis sletuque magis quà m affatu agendum est and that by teares rather then talke Vtiliores sunt lachrymarum preces quà m sermonum sermo non totum proâ—…ert negotium lachryma totum prodit affectum Better are the prayers of teares then of speech The speech cannot declare the whole matter but the teares may bewray the whole affection No Incense or sweet Odour smelleth without fire and no praise nor prayer auaileth if it be not seruent The fire that burnt Incense on the golden Altar was brought from the brazen Altar of Burnt Offering wherein was fire continually If there bee not a contrition in our heart for sinne what feruent praysing of God can bee for our deliuerance from sinne The heart must first be the Altar of Burnt Offering or else it cannot be the golden Altar for offering Sweete Incense But these Saints are said to haue come out of tribulation ver 14. They know what dangers they haue past they see to what dignity they are aduanced and therefore prayse God with feruency Crying alowd Saying We heard before of their multitude and varietie now we may see their vnitie they all sing one
house for euer Hee had said immediately before He that committeth sinne is the seruant of sinne and then terrible is that which followeth The seruant abides not in the house for euer What then shall the Lambe who is without sinne be in the house himselfe alone Shall no sinners come there Shall hee be a King and Lord without Subiects Cui haerebit caput si non erit corpus Where shall the head be if it haue not a bodie Oh but marke what immediately he subioynes Filius autem manebit in aeternum the Son shall abide in the house for euer Non sine causa terruit spem dedit It is not without cause said S. Augustine that in one sentence hee hath both terrified vs and comforted vs hee hath terrified vs that we should not loue sinne hee hath comforted vs that we should not despaire for sinne If yee demand then where is our hope sith we are sinners and the Lord hath said The seruant abides not in the house for euer for he is a seruant that commits sinne Here is your hope and hearken vnto it The Sonne abideth in the house for euer If we were but seruants and not sonnes wee had cause of discouragement but here is our comfort wee were seruants but now are become sonnes If the Sonne make you free yee shall be free indeed such seruants are wee now as are free-men also And he that sitteth on the Throne will dwell c. This is the third and last part of this verse as they serue him so hee most graciously recompenseth them noted here by this speech that hee dwels among them The phrase imports the communication of all good For among men where Kings haue their dwelling there is the aboundance of euery good thing that can be had in the Kingdome but much more is here signified yea infinitely more Ahasuerus one of the momentanean Monarchs of the earth made a feast to his Princes of an hundred and seuen and twenty Prouinces the feast lasted an hundred and foure score daies and seuen daies againe for the common people all this he did that hee might shew the riches and glory of his Kingdome and honour of his great Maiestie and his Maiesty shortly after turned into dust and ashes Why then do I bring him in To make a comparison No way What is the light of a halfe-peny candle to the Sunne Yet haue I spoken of him that if we can from small things we may ascend to the consideration of greater What a great feast must this bee which the Lord shall make in heauen to his Saints Hee dwelleth among them hee flitteth not hee is their King for euer and they are not gathered out of an hundred and seuen twenty Prouinces but out of all Nations Tongues and Languages This Feast is not for an hundred foure score and seuen daies but for euer and euer O happie habitation O dwelling full of delight The word which the Spirit of God here vseth imports all this and much more then we can conceiue 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 hee shall bee as a Tent or Tabernacle to spread ouer them to obumbrate them and protect them The like is promised in other places I will dwell among them and walke there I will be their God and they shall bee my people In this life the Lord dwelleth in his Saints and with them dâ—…rigendo ad finem adipiscendum guiding and directing them to the end whereunto he hath ordained them but in heauen he dwelleth with his Saints Conseruandoeos in fine adepto conseruing them in that end and happy estate whereunto his grace hath brought them But as I said what great glorie and ioy Saints haue by the Lord hsi dwelling among them cannot now be vnderstood Moses was but forty dayes with the Lord on Mount Sinai and his face when hee came downe shined so brightly that his people might not behold him How then shall the glory of the Lord his lightsome countenance illuminate them with whom he shall dwell for euer Alway the vse of all is they serue him and hee dwels among them to satiate and replenish them with his ioyes and pleasures their seruice wants not the owne recompence yea all the benefite of their seruice redounds to themselues where we must obserue a great difference between the seruice of God and of man other Masters seeke and entertaine seruants for some vantage to themselues for who will maintaine seruants but for their owne ease and commodity It is not so with the Lord his seruants can profite him nothing all the benefite redounds to himselfe This Dauid humbly doth acknowledge My goodnesse extends not to thee And againe when he had offered liberally for the building of the Temple then said hee Who am I and what are my people that we should bee able to offer willingly after this sort for all things come of thee and of thine owne hand haue we giuen thee The like of this hath Iob May a man be profitable to the Lord Is it any thing to the Almighty that thou art righteous or is it prâ—…fitable to him that thou makest thy waies vpright But yet more cleerely explaines hee the same in another place If thou sinne what dost thou against him If thou be righteous what dost thou to him Or what receiues hee at thine hand Thy wickednesse may hurt a man as thou art and thy righteousnesse may profit the sonne of man But the All-sufficient Maiestie of God is neither encreased by thy good nor empaired by thine euill Why then will yee demand doth hee seek seruice Onely that of his superaboundant goodnesse hee may haue occasion to blesse thee If hee craue any thing from thee it is not because hee needeth thee but because thou needest him hee seeketh to the end that hee may giue Oh that we would consider this and so be encouraged to serue our God! Euen in this life the wages which he hath already payed vs in hand should encourage vs to serue him Hee may iustly demand of vs Who among you all doth open the doore of my Temple for nothing Wee can neuer serue him sufficiently for that which hee hath giuen vs already but the wages payed are nothing in comparison of those which are promised VERSE 16. They shall hunger no more nor thirst any more neither shall the Sunne light on them nor yet any heate THE description of the felicitie of Saints in heauen hauing finished their warrefare on earth still continueth They shall hunger and thirst no more In that he saith no no more hee tells vs he is comparing that life which is to come with this which we haue now In this life the dearest Saints of God are oftentimes most hardly handled So S. Paul professes of himselfe that he was oft times in wearinesse and painefulnesse in hunger and thirst in cold and
the loue humility and meekenesse of Christ that thereby we may know we are his such as bite one another and deuoure one another are as yet but carnall and strangers from the fellowship of Iesus And hee shall leade them to the Fountaine c. Waters signifie refreshing ioyes which Saints shall haue there in great aboundance Hee that drinketh of the water that I shall giue him shall neuer thirst any more but the water that I shall giue him shall bee in him a Well of water springing vp into eternall life The springing and flowing of the water noteth the aboundance of it according to that I am come that they might haue life and haue it in aboundance therefore is their exceeding great ioy called Riuers of pleasure and againe A pure Riuer of the water of life proceeding from the Throne of God runneth through the streetes of heauenly Ierusalem But here mention is made of the Fountaine from which these waters flow to shew that our ioy there shall not come mediately from the creature as we haue said but immediately from God the Author and Fountaine of all our felicity Shall leade them Euen in this life the Lord leads vs. All the sonnes of God are led by the Spirit of God they all cry to be gouerned by him Send thy Light and thy Truth let them lead mee and now we feele that he leades vs monendo monendo as we haue shewed on the eighth to the Romanes But how hee shall gouerne vs and leade vs there how we shall follow the Lambe where-euer hee goeth we shall best know when we come there it is a ioyfull thing now to be led by him we shall find it more ioyfull then Si sic bonus es quaerentibus te qualis eris assequentibus sith he is so good to theÌ„ who seeke him as we haue all cause to confess how good wil he be to theÌ„ who find him And God shall wipe away all teares c. This manner of speech imports a most comfortable change of their estate from miserie and all cause of mourning to ioy and all fulnesse of felicitie and this the Spirit of God expresseth by a most significant phrase when hee saith Mortality shall be swallowed vp of immortalitie that is it shall be deuoured and vtterly abolished as if it had neuer beene no foote-step of mortality or misery shall be seen there no voice of mourning heard there Some of the Ancients by proper similitudes do illustrate this Sicut stilla aquae modico infusa vino deficere à se tota videtur dum saporem vini induit colorem as a drop of water infused into wine lookes no more like that which it was but takes on it both the taste and colour of the wine Et sicut ferrum ignitum candens igni simillimum fit pristina propriaque forma exutum And as yron put in a hot burning fire becommeth most like vnto the fire and loseth the old and proper forme thereof Et sicut solis luce perfusâ—…s aer in eandem transformatur luminis claritatem adeâ—… vt non tam illuminatus quam lumen ipsum esse videatur And as the Aire when the light of the Sunne is diffunded through it is trans-formed into the brightnesse of his light so that it seemeth to bee not so much enlightned as a light it selfe At midnight the aire is a darke body in the day it is lightsome and lookes as if it were light it selfe so shall the Saints of God glorified in heauen be changed from that which they are now and transformed into the similitude of that glory whereunto they shall be aduanced then Alway mourning heere is meetest for Saints for how shall the Lord wipe away teares from their eyes who neuer shed them and how shall hee gather these teares into his bottell which thou neuer powredst out The world counts it a womanly affection to mourne but our Sauiour hath said Blessed are they who mourne now for they shall be comforted Dauid was a very valiant man hee slew the Lyon and ouercame Goliah the Philistim and yet Hee watered his bedde vvith teares in the night and in the day mingled his cuppe with teares Simon the Pharise at one time made a banquet to the Lord of the best delicates hee had and Marie gaue him a Desart of teares from her penitent heart Our Lord was better pleased with Marie her teares then with Simon his delicates Though wee were not compassed with many miseries and ouerladen with a heauy burden of sinnes in both which we haue great matter and cause of mourning yet our very absence from that great felicity which in this life wee cannot enioy should mooue vs to mourne Non satis futura gandia concupiscis si â—…a quotidie non postulas cum lachrymis minus tibi not a sunt si non renuit consolari anima tua donâ—…c veniant Thou desirest not as thou shouldst these ioyes to come if thou doe not craue them euery day with teares thou knowst them not if thy soule refuse not all other comfort till thou enioy them to replenish thee fruitlesse and vaine yea quickly vanishing are the greatest pleasures of this life Hardnes of heart and senselesse securitie is the Mother-sinne of this age The children of Cain by the light of nature learned how to worke in brasse and Iron and men by their wit and ingene can make the hardest metals receiue impression but cannot in like maner molliâ—…ie their hard hearts to receiue the stampe of holy Impression from the Lord. At the third stroke the Rocke rendred water vnto Moses but alas for many strokes will not our hearts render teares of contrition to the Lord. It requires a continuall care to worke vpon the heart to labour it make it soft that it may yeeld to the seale of God and receiue the portraiture of his image If wee in a good conscience vse the meanes diligently the Lord will not let vs want a blessing but wil graciously performe vnto his children that promise made in the new Couenant I shall take the stony heart away from them and giue them a heart of flesh To conclude all sith we heare so great and glorious things spoken of that Citie of our God that new and heauenly Ierusalem both here and in the twenty one and twenty Chapters of this prophesic is it not a lamentable folly to forget Sion and to sit down and sing by the riuers of Babel wherein we are but captiues Shall we neglect that life for the loue of any thing which we can enioy here It is a pretty meditation of S. Basil If thou had st sayes he two children where of the yonger by certaine knowledge were not able to liue the elder again were most liuely wouldst thou be so foolish as to spend all thy eare thy substance vpon the
dead childe and reserue nothing for the other Si melioricuncta dare nolueris diuide saltem ex aequo If thou wilt not giue all to the best and eldest at least diuide it equally between them Thy two children are thy two liues the one temporall the other eternall the eldest is life eternall it was ordained for vs before the foundations of the world were laid this childe is liuely neither subiect to death nor any kinde of disease the yonger childe is life temporall a languishing life deadly diseased is this childe and will not liue Shall wee therefore be so foolish as to care for that which cannot be conserued and neglect the other which endureth for euer and is able if it be ours to conserue vs also in a most happie and immortall fellowship with our God in Christ for euer and euer The Lord make vs wise in time to consider this that we may make choise of the best AMEN FINIS A Table of the principall points of Doctrine handled in this Treatise A ABsolute Authority due to God p. 281 Adam knew the creature by the Creator Now his sonnes are sent to the creature to learne the Creator 88 Eternity is God his proper praise and of the comfort by it cōming to the Church 106 Affliction makes a Christian stronger 302 Altars honoured with reliques of Martyrs 238. Altar vnder which soules rest what it is 239 Amen what it signifies and how vsed in the Primitiue Church Angels described 109. Why they are said to compasse the Throne 103. Their properties 105. their nature and number 104. 105. Why represented by Men Lyons Bullockes and Eagles 107. Their three-fold Eyes 105. Their sixe wings what they are 111. 112. Their function 112. Angels and men were at variance but now they sing one song 151. Angels stand and neuer fell Man fel and is raised vp to stand 180. How they praise God for Redemption 179. What benefit they haue by it Ibid. Their Order 181. Their Place 182. Their Song 183. They are our Patterns 249. Foure Angels at the foure corners of the earth what they signifie 271 Antichrist defended by Papists by such arguments as wherewith the Iewes impugned Christ. 10. He is not to come from Dan. 290. His name hated by Papists but himselfe honored 9. Then shall Iesuites get another Antichrist then the Pope when Iewes get another Christ then Iesus 290 Arrowes of iudgement and mercy 206. 207 Aire a necessary Element for all liuing creatures 273. Angustine his memory how it failed him in a Sermon 203 Atheists answered who cry for one from the dead 4. Their mouthes stopped 104. B BAnquet in heauen 334 Beasts foure signifie not Preachers nor yet the foure Euangelists 193. Two Beasts by which Satan ◅ights against the Church 50. Why the first Beast is described with seuen heads sith two of them onely persecuted the Church 51 Deuouring Beasts a plague and examples thereof 234. 235. The foure Beasts cannot be the foure Euangelists 103. 104. But are Types of principall Angels 103 Bloud of Christ medicinall ◅20 All bloud pollu◅ but the bloud of Iesus cleanseth 321. It hath a three-fold vertue 323 Bodie a burden depressing the soule 76 Booke two waies taken in holy Scripture 126. The opening thereof a ioy to Christians a griefe to Antichristians 136 Booke written within and without what it meanes 128 How God is said to haue a Booke 124. Strange opinions concerning it 125. What it is 126. Two scandals laid on the Booke of the Reuelation 6. Vse Author and time of it 2. 3. 4. 5 Booke of the Reuelation authentike 5. Obscurity thereof 6. A proper methode thereof taken out of it selfe 35. 36. 38 Bread of life 222 Brother-hood Christian. 248 C CAndlestick of gold what it sigureth 148 Catalogue of Writers on the Reuelation 13 Christ his name loued by the Iewes but himselfe hated 10 his Office◅ 133. From him commeth all comfort none from the creature 137. Why a Lyon and a Lamb. 138. 139. His description 137. Hee is the root of Iesse Iesse the roote of Christ. 139. He was made man of the seed of man once sinfull 140. Hee i◅ on the Throne with the Father 143. Christ was really slaine 194. yet liued againe Ibid. Hee hath seuen Eyes 146. Why he appeared with scarres of his wounds 145. No impotencie but power shewed therein Ibid. His Eyes of Prouidence and Eyes of Grace 147. His Diuinity 146. Hee receiued full grace that he might giue it 147. Hee is the great Doctor 149. Christ Angels and Saints redeemed are all in one fellowship 282. How he is an Angell 274 Christ keepes his Fathers priuy Seale 276. How hee commeth from the East 269. His feruent loue 281. Hee repaires euery losse that Satan hath inflicted by sinne 260. Hee is the Sacrifice the Sacrificer and the Altar 239 Christ many waies figured 205. A good Archer and what are his Bow and Arrowes 206. Two waies crowned 208 Christians by information not inspiration 142. None should ride on a Christian but Christ. 201. Hee should make sure his owne saluation 249 Christians are Lambes but Christ is a Lambe in another sense 320. They are Kings and Priests and should not serue sinne 174. 175 Church cannot be consumed by the Crosse. 215. nor hurt by her enemies Ibid. It is not bound to one place 296. 297. Churches professing Christianity in the world 298. The Church is a circle 92. Compared to the Moone 94. Prosperity thereof deare to true Christians 135. The true Church worships no creatures 119. Church on earth conserued from heauen 184 Come and see 192 Comforts and crosses intermixt 212 Corrections 229 Conscience corrupted dare not runne to God 265. 266 Condition of good and euill men contrary in this life and after it 270 Con◅ntine the Great made too great 274 Court of heauen encreaseth daily 313. The comely order of it 89. 314 Conuersion 1 Contrition 160 Concord by Christ made among creatures of most contrary kinds 152 Consolation 2. It followes mourning 137 Confirmation 2 Couenant temporall and common 86 Creatures declare that God is but define not what he is 87. They teach more then man can learne 88. What a voice the insensible creature hath 185. All creatures concurre to punish the wicked 256 Creation is a short Prouidence 120. Creation is common not so the comfort of Creation Ibid. How it bindes vs to serue God 121 Crosse a way to the Crowne 306 Crying sinnes 242 D DAN why omitted 291. 292 Day of Iudgement 247. 248. 264. Scorned by the wicked 266. Delayed vntill Saints be perfected 269. Terrible to the wicked 266 Death figured by an Horseman and why 228. His Page Ibid. 231. It is double Ibid. Comfort against it 236. It is compared to Nebuchadnezzars◅e ◅e ◅40 It ends our misery 331 Doctrine of Christ and Antichrist two Mysteries 10 Doctors of the reformed Church agree all in the matter differ onely in the Methode of the Reuelation 11 Dwelling of God