heauen let vs contemne all worldly things let euery man cast away securitie and desire of pleasure by whose inticementes the mind is suppressed let euery man frame himselfe to learne what is good and godlines let hym prepare himselfe to the Crosse let hym profit in good woorking in true calling vppyn the name of the Lord and put on the armour of righteousnes that if the aduersarie challenge vs into combate we may by no flaterie by no force by no terrour by no tormentes be drawen and pluckt away from Christ. The almightie God be present with vs continually with his diuine asistance and defende vs euermore agaynst all the inuasions of the diuell by which he would bring vs from our faith driue vs out of hope and so bar vs from our kingdome which is in heauen ¶ Of the manner and effect of the Lordes commyng to iudgement with an exhortation to watchfulnes HEtherto by diuine testimonies it hath ben shewed that certainly the world must be destroyed and also by Oracles and probable reasons and coniectures it hath been proued that the glorious comming of the Lorde is at our doores and cannot be farre of although we knowe not the certaine yeare daye and houre of hys commyng It followeth therefore that both for the edifying of the Churche and refourming of our manners that we alledge testimonies out of holye Scripture both of the manner of the commyng of the Sonne of God to iudgement and of the effect of the same After that the Sonne of God Christ our Lorde and Sauiour by the secrete counsayle of God the Father had determyned for our saluations and satisfying the wrathe of God to suffer death he tooke vppon him the shape of a seruaunt was in the worlde poore and miserable tooke paciently all tauntes and mockes and suffred himself to be condemned though vniustly and shamefully to be crucifyed but in his seconde commyng he shall not onely appeare lyke a chiefe Monarch of thys world but shall shewe hymselfe to be a King since the begynning of the worlde and him which cast the myghtiest from theyr seate of Maiestie and exalted the humble and turned Empyres at hys pleasure Also he shall declare himselfe to be the Sonne of God coequall in dietie wyth God his eternall Father so that then the course of things shall be chaunged for he in that daye shal be iudge and iustly condemne those of whom he was iudged and against all equitie together wyth his members condemned and which haue obstinately and wythout reason persisted in impietie For the wordes of Christ in the .25 of Matthew by which accordyng to the capacitie of man the last iudgement is depainted are these Cum venerit silius hominis in maiestate sua omnes angeli cum eo tunc sedebit super sedem maiestatis suae congregabuntur ante eum omnes gentes Nemo enim qui vnquam vixit est erit hoc iudicio eximetur separabit eos ab iâ—uicem sicut pastor segregat oues ab hoedis statuet oues quidem à dextris suis. Tunc dicet Rex his qui à dextris eius erunt Venite benedicti Patris meâ— possidete paratum vobis regnum à constitutione mundi c. Et his qui à sinistris dicet Discedite à me maledicti in ignem aeternuÌ„ qui paratus est Diabolo Angelis eius That is When the sonne of man shall come in his maiestie and all his Angels with him then shall he sit vppon the throne of his maiestie and all Nations shal be gathered tegether before hm for none which euer was is or shal be from this iudgement shal be exempted and he shall separate them euen as a shepheard doth segregate the sheepe from the goates and shall place the sheepe on his right hand Then shall the King saye vnto those which are on his right hand Come ye blessed of my Father possesse the kingdome prepared for you from the beginning of the world c. And to those which are on his left hand he shall say Depart from me ye accursed into euerlasting fire which is prepared for the Diuell and his Angels Because these haue doone no deedes of charitie but haue continually rebelled against God but these haue doone much better because by reason of their fayth they haue fulfylled all woorkes of mercies and haue been with one minde with God. In which Sermon Christ dooth applie himselfe to mans capacitie and borroweth his similitude from an vpright King and Iudge of this world which dooth pronounce lawfull sentence whether it be of absolution or condemnation according to our woorkes be they good or bad and by and by dooth execute the same Lykewyse Paule dooth shewe the manner how Christ in his last comming shall appeare to al the elect which euer were or shal be in these wordes Hoc enim vobis dicimus in verbo Domini quiae nos qui viuimus quiresidui sumus in aduentu Domini non praeuentemus qui dormierunt Quoniam ipse Dominus in iussu in voce Archangeli in tuba Dei descendet de caelo mortui qui in Chriâ—â—o sunt resurgent primi Deinde nos qui viuimus simul rapiemur cum illis in nubibus obuiam Christo in aera sic semper cum Domino erimus This we say vnto you in the word of the Lord that we which liue and are the remnaunt in the Lordes comming shall not goe before theÌ„ which sleepe Because the Lord himselfe in the coÌ„maundement and voyce of an Archangle and in the trumpet of God shall descend from heauen and they which are dead in Christ shall first arise Afterwarde we which doo liue shall togeather with them be caried in the Cloudes to meete Christ in the the ayre and so shall be with God for euer Also Paule teacheth that in a moment in the twinckeling of an eye in the last sound of the Trumpet the dead shall ryse vncorrupt and those which are liuing shall vppon the suddayne be changed to incorruption and immortalitie Iohn also seeth all the dead standing before the great and whyte Throne in the sight of God and the bookes to bee opened and the dead to be iudged out of that which was written according to their woorkes And he which was not found written in the booke of lyfe was cast into a burning lake But Sybyll Erithraea in in her verses called Acrostichides which were read as it seemeth but not well vnderstoode of Cicero dooth notably depaint the last comming of Christ and destruction of the world Which verses were greatly esteemed of the Fathers as appeareth both out of Eusebius and Augustine For out of these Authors which were before the byrth of Christ as also it is euident in Varro in Virgils 4. Eglog that these Oracles were of great antiquitie in so much as they were accounted as diuine reuelations and therefore wyll wee ioyne those Latine verses vnderneath and
that by consideration of our disobedience we may turne to the Lord by repentance and lyue First we haue a notable example here in Noes preaching by which the Lord God dyd first accuse the world of disobedience before he drowned the same for lacke of repentance So lykewise he dyd not bring the tenne Tribes of Israell into captiuitie before he had sent Esay Osee and other Prophets to call them from iniquitie The lyke a hundred and foure and thyrty yeeres after happened to the Iewes when by the preaching of Ieremie Ezechiel and other Prophets of God they would not beware of disobeying Gods maiestie At the length many yeâ—res being spent our mercifull father God almyghty sent fyrst Iohn Baptist after him Christ his onely begotten sonne then the Apostles to call them to repentance and to open the way to saluation in Christ promised before by the Prophets then performed and willing to be receyued if they would imbrace him But they were so farre from beleeuing them that theyr preaching they lothed Iohn they beheaded Christ was crucified and the Apostles eyther by shamefull death cruellye murdered or at least by ill intreating miserably tormented And therefore not vndeseruedly was that famous Citie of so infamous a people by the Romanes vtterly subuerted and the Iewes made a praye to their enemyes and odious to all the world whiâ—h shame of theirs and subuersion of their citie as Daniell before and our Sauiour aâ—terward did prophesiâ— dooth and shall continue till the world hauâ— an ende After this Paule preached to the Collâ—ssiâ—â—s Laodicians and Hierapolians but they contemned and cared not for his wordes and therefore as Orosius witnesseth the earth opened and swallowed them vp And hytherto also dooth that doctrine of Paule tende teaching that the wicked sonne of perdition should be discouered and by the spirit of the month of God defaced and afterward by the glorious comming of the sonne of God vtterly destroyed Nowe who is that same desperate sonne sitting in the teÌ„ple as God himself it is easie to be knowen and how he by the preaching of the Gospell hath been discouered experience doth shew and we hereafter at large will prooue that he is and hath of long tyme continued the Byshop of Rome Now sith we behold his doctrine and authoritie by the force of Gods word to be so ouerthrowen as they are iudged almost mad meÌ„ which seeme any way to fauour him what other thing can follow but that God is ready to come vpon vs and standes at our doores And that not only his hauty courage shal be abated and his execrable crueltie altogether abolished but also that the whole and vniuersall world for all sinnes committed since the beginning be accused so condemned to eternal tormentes because wickedly they haue coÌ„temned the grace of God offred vnto them continually and wilfully refused to tast the sweetnesse of the Gospel and forsake their sinnes and wickednesse by repentance Besides Christe hath geuen many other signes and tokens of his commyng as rumors of warres famin pestilence earthquakes and that countrey shal rise against countrey and that cruel persecution shal be exercised also that in those dayes shal be signes in the Sunne Moone and Starres c. Al which cannot be tokens vnlesse the preaching of the Gospel go before For Signes except they be knowen cannot be signes because in all tymes those aforesayd euylles haue appeared eyther more or lesse and therefore of themselues can not be signes But when al those euyls immediately after the preaching of the Gospel haue come on heapes abundantly vppon vs and more than euer they dyd in any age long before vs no doubt they do prognosticate and foretel vs of the consummation of this most wicked worlde Besides that these tokens which Christ dyd recite do foreshewe the worldes destruction and not the subuersion of the Temple it is apparant because he saith that people against people and kingdome against kingdome shall arise Whiche thyng was not done before the destruction of Hierusalem that euer I could reade For then what kingdome against kingdome what people against people what and howe great warres were then All which we do not onely see to haue been done but also to our paine feele them besides more greeuous things not yet heard of but more to be feared and circumstances bring vs to that mynd to thinke that more intolerable things are prepared to vexe vs both of Turke and Papist And that also in the same place as appeareth the Lord vnderstoode the last preaching not the beginnyng of his Gospel thereof it is euident because by and by he adioyneth That the Gospell beginnyng to shine euery where a visitation shal come and end of all thyngs Otherwise if this place were to be vnderstoode of the first openyng of the Gospel by the Apostles no doubt this ende had been come many hundred yeares agoe Besides the Euangelist returneth to the former question of the Temples and Hierusalems destruction from whence he digressed Peraduenture also the Euangelistes haue confounded these two that not by the same wordes they might finish nowe that now this particularly because peraduenture they were of this opinion that they thought that after the subuersion of Hierusalem should immediately follow the destruction of the world whose ende as Christ said should be so sodaine as nothing coulde be more But Christ our Lorde coulde of his owne accorde disioyne those things to make them darke for a tyme which he would not haue to be knowen and could make them manifest when it were for his glory and our profite at a tyme conuenient But to make of these tokens foretold of Christ any long discourse it were a great labour and peraduenture tedious to the Reader because the thing it selfe and experience do sufficiently proue these signes after the manifesting of the Gospel to haue been fulfylled except onely those in the Sunne and Moone and other Starres as yet haue not appeared whiche Christe doth tel should eyther shew them selues a litle before or in his very comming The Mathematicians and Astronomers iudgement notwithstanding is that in many hundred yeeres past were neuer seene so manye Eclipses in the Sunne and Moone nor yet so strange copulations of Planets as wyll appeare within fewe yeeres which no doubt are to threaten vnto vs daungers and miserable dayes as hereafter shal be shewed Here I will not speake of the prodigious Comets and Meteores which many tymes haue been marked in this our age Neyther wyl I call to mynde the iudgement of Astronomers and chiefest Diuines vpon that Starre whiche within these three yeares shewed her selfe certayne monethes togeather as the very messenger and warner of Gods comming to iudgement and the rather bicause it seemed to be of the same nature and qualytie wyth that which foretolde the birth of Christ the king of the Iewes vnto the wysemen Also I will in silence passe ouer the straunge
Ierusalem but the sonne of God much mightier than all Emperours an euerlasting king can bring to naught Which thing Melancthon seemeth plainly to point at in the lyfe of Vespasian in his Chronicles and the like reason is here which is in the former comparison of nuÌ„bers if things to come may be gathered by things past already The figure doth altogether in this place agree the chiefest signe of Christes comming to wit the preaching of the Gospel hath gonne before and we to sticke in the midst of all the other foretolde calamities and euery yeere expect more miserie Finally also the Astronomers write if euery skilfull man in his owne facultie is to be credited that the starres in the beginning of the thousand fiue hundred eightie foure yeeres which almost altogether doth agree with the number aboue mentioned doo threaten very fearefull and horrible things eyther a greeuous alteration of Empires and other wonderfull things or els an vtter destruction of this world The wordes of Cyprian Leouitius a Bohemian a most excellent Mathematician in a certaine booke of Prognostications for twentie yeeres from the yeere sixtie foure to the eightie foure be these Anno Domini .1583 mense Maio. c. Which is In the yeere of our Lord 1583. in the moneth of May there shall happen a great coniunction of the superior Planets in the last ende of Pisces after which straightwayes in the yeere eightie foure shall ensue a wonderfull mixture of all the Planets almost in Taurus about the ende of March and beginning of Aprill And which is more a little after that shal be seen an Eclypse of the Sun in the twentie degree of Taurus about the head of Algol a most cruell and hurtfull fixed starre gouerned by Venus which shal be linked to fiue Planets in Aries tending toward the twelfe Here sayth he must we watch and I thinke it meete that all earthly cogitations be cast of least we be destroyed beyng vnreadie for this great coniunction is of all the laâ—t which shall happen in the ende of watrie Trigon and watrie Trigon shall perish and be turned into fire Neyther any more it the space of eyght hundred yeeres the end of watrie Trigon shall be nigh But because about the ende of watrie Trigon this Monarchie shall begin it is likely that the same also in the ende of the same â—rigon shall haue an ende sith the sonne of God himselfe Iesus Christ our Lorde euen in the ende of watrie Trigon tooke vppon him the nature of man For sixe yeeres before his most glorious Natiuitie the same verie coniunction in the extremitie of Pisces and in the beginning of Aries happened Neither came the lyke from since that time but when Charles the Great helde his Empire which was in the yeere of our Lord seuen hundred eightie and nyne And now the second tyme such a great and straunge coniunctioÌ„ shal come which vndoubtedly doth foreshewe the other comming of the sonne of God man in Maiestie of his glory at which time wee must render an accompt of our lyfe and conuersation And a little after he sayth But vnder Charles the great the ende of the world could not be because at that tyme fiue thousand yeeres were not expired But now the operations of this great coniunction continuing the number shall tende to sixe thousand yeeres which agreeth with the holy Prophet affyrming that this world should stand sixe thousand yeeres of which summe of yeeres the sonne of God shal take somwhat saying the last time for the elected of God shal be shortned But if there remained yet another coniunction of the former Planets like to the first then should there be required almost eight hundred yeeres moe which added to the tymes of this great coniunction do make the nuÌ„ber of sixe thousand almost foure hundred yeeres which is plainly against that prophesie These coniectures howsoeuer they are I thought good to recite which doo agree with the learned Prophesies of most auncient Astrologers Hytherto Cyprian which also by his Latine verses doth showe that old and common prophesie turned into Germanical Rhythmes by Iohn Stoffler which also aboue nineteene yeeres agoe I haue heard recited by Melanthon The wordes in the Germane tongue be these Tawsent fnuffhundert achtzich acht Das ist das Iar das ich betracht Geeth im dem de Welt nitt vnder Geschicht doch grosz mercklich wunder The Latine verses are thus Post mille expletos à partu virginis annos Et post quingentos rursus ab orbe datos Octogesimus octauus mirabilis annus Ingruet is secum tristia fata feret Si non hoc anno totus malus occidet orbis Si non in nihilum terra fretumque ruet Cuncta tamen mundi sursum ibunt atque retrorsum Imperia luctus vndique grandis erit In Englishe thus When after Christes birth there be expirde Of hundreds fifteen yeeres eightie and eight Then comes the tyme of daungers to be ferde And all mankind with dolors it shall fraight For if the world in that yeere doo not fall If sea and land then perish ne decaie Yet Empires all and Kingdomes alter shall And man to ease himselfe shall haue no way Now by this it appeareth howe the number of yeeres of Moses gouernment which endured a thousand fyue hundred eyghtie and three yeeres and of this yeere a thousand fyue hundred eyghty and foure in whose beginning that prodigious coniunction of the Planets in the ende of watry Trigon dooth happen agree togeather so that the quantitie and number of the tymes foretold the signes and starres seeme to agree togeather and without all doubt to pretend the same thing In lyke manner may we bring foorth other comparisons of tyme which by reason of lyke euentes agree togeather wonderfully Of which this one is not of least wayght To witte that same tyme from the natiuitie of Christ vnto the ouerthrow of Hierusalem is almost equall with that when Luther first of all set himselfe agaynst rhe Popes Indulgences and began to preach the Gospell to this yeere eyghty and eyght in which or about the same by this marueylous ioyning togeather of Planets which shal be foure yeeres before by the singuler prouidence of God so direful destinies of the world shall meete togeather For from the byrth of Christ vntyll the destruction of Hierusalem are numbred seuentie and three yeeres and from the tyme Luther and others first began to preach Christ and his Gospell vntill the eyghtie and eyght yeere are acompted seuentie and one The number is iust with that before and speaking allegorically theÌ„ may Christ be sayd to be born againe when as his doctrine so long by Papisticall dreames darkened fond illusions so deeply buried is as it were borne anewe and doth clearely shine among vs But if those yeeres from the birth of Christ vntill his preaching and suffering of death with that generall persecution done by Charles the fifte and the Pope
some shall depart from the fayth lystening to false spirites and to the doctrine of Diuels by the hypocrisie of vayne speakers whose conscience is marked with a hot iron they forbyd to marrye they commaund to abstaine from meates which are created of God to be eaten of the faythfull and of those which knowe the truth with thankefulnes And a little before he taught a Byshop must be the husband of one wyfe To these woordes of the Apostle the decrees of Popes are cleane opposit which doo forbyd Byshops Priests and all the Clergie to marrie with this interdiction that if they doo so they must be remoued from the Ecclesiasticall calling and which is more if they haue alreadye contracted Matrimonie without any respect of irregularship they must be seperated and shal be compelled by the Ordinarie and remedies of excommunication to refuse their wiues c. By which it is apparant that the Papistes are those which in the latter dayes should depart from the faith and by the Diuels prouoking vnder hypocrisie and with many of the chiefest of them haue not vnder the cloake of ouermuch chastitie forbyd pure and chaste Matrimonie which the holye ghost dooth singuâ—arly commend and also receyuing of certaine meates which as Paule dooth witnes God hath created for the faithfull to be eaten with thankesgeuing And yet notwithstanding these as I said before decrees of Popes although they be cleane contrarie to the wyll of God haue had more aucthoritie among men than the eternall woord of god Bycause those although in deede wicked and vngodly yet haue been called holy and Catholike and they which haue been conuersant in them our chiefe masters and doctors were counted to whom the sacred Scripture was most vnsauerie So that to take an honest woman to wyfe which Paule commaunded his Byshops to doo was dishonestie and more dishonestie than either openly to vse a concubine or secretly to commit adulterie Also on the Friday to eate flesh was a great sinne and heresie and yet on that day to follow drunkennes and carnalitie was no shame but highly commended Likewyse to heare the blasphemous Masse to reuerence an Idolatrous peece of breade and to carry the same about with a pompous Procession was no impietie but good Religion and yet to celebrate the Supper of the Lord soberly according to his institution was no godlynes but great abhomination At a woord the doctrine of Christ a good and godly conuersation was of them suspected as erronious yet forsooth their deuilish decrees and damnable doctrine was holy and nothing pernicious Their impuritie great pietie their hypocrisie great holynes their damnable ceremonies was the diuine seruice of god So that all Christian Religion was vtterly banished and no token of the true seruice of God could be seen But now in the yeare of the Lorde a thousand fyue hundred ninetie and three after Christes birth which is the fyue thousand fyue hundred and fiue yeare after the world was made that expiring of fyue hundred yeares draweth nygh in which these decrees of Popes gathered together by publike aucthoritie to the great defacing of Gods woord and the merites of Christ shall haue theyr ende Wherefore a woonderfull and vndoubted hope of things to come may be conceyued of things past that about that tyme shal be that vniuersall destruction of all the worlde and glorious comming of the Lorde by which all these Popishe decrees shall come to naught and by the iust iudgement of God as erroneous and blasphemous be cast into eternall fire because they haue wickedly burned all the true interpretations of the Propheticall and Apostolicall scriptures and cruelly martyred the learned ministers and true professors of Christes Religion Vndoubtedly that number of fyue hundred yeeres in lyke manner as the others spoken of before doo presage the same lyke thing the Prognostications of the starres as may be gathered by that which is spoken take their effect about the same tyme The preaching of the Gospell and other tokens mentioned of Christ is gonne before and the Iustice of God especially dooth exacte the same ¶ Of the double equalitie of numbers which is represented in the number of yeares of the worlde happening â—n the eyghtie eyght and ninetie thâ—â—e yeare next ensuing NOwe what should I thinke and saye of that course of yeares from the beginning vntill the ninetie three nowe at hand Which is the yeare of the world fyue thousand fyue hundred fiftie and fyue dooth it foreshowe any wonderfull or signifie any perfect thing or no Certainly I find the same to be altogether of lyke proportion as by that which is spoken may appeare euen with the eightie eyght now at hand because it is in his qualitie the fiue thousand fiue hundred and fiftie yeere The Pythagorians and Platonistes men of great aucthoritie haue thought many things to consist in these and haue wondred therat for the lowest number in the highest hath in it selfe a perfect Arithmeticall proportion and from the lowest to the highest it comprehendeth with in it a perfect Geometicall equalitie And Plâ—to in another place greatly dooth wonder at the Arithmeticall and saith that the same dooth make the mynd apt for alâ— speculation and practise And he dooth adde moreouer that numbring is giuen of God himselfe to man as a necessarie instrument of reasoning and discoursing without whiâ—h the mynde should appeare without a mynde and all artes and knowledge would vanish Here I confesse my selfe to haue certaine singular imaginations those not vayne but of waight and agreable to the woord of God as I thinke And thereâ—ore for the profit of all and that I may giue an occasioÌ„ to the learned more deepely to thinke of this matter I will not bury this my talent whatsoeuer it be but wyll set it abrode for commoditie and bring it foorth without any regard of the ouer curious the rather because I knowe that these things if els where perchance I slide doo containe no daunger or heresie within them but rather by occasion many profitable instructions and those sweete and necessarie And that we may returne to Plato he sayth in another place very well That God is an eternall spirit and cause of all goodnes in the world Because in the creation of good things he shewed his vnspeakeable power wisedome and goodnes and iâ— the conseruatioÌ„ of things created his eternal prouidence a wonderful consent and order of al things that by the contemplation thereof man which was made to the image of God should also continue according to the woord reueâ—led in acknowledging and calling on his Maiestie and not as a brute beast beholding the earth should seeke after vayne and transitorie things but should in minde ascend into heauen to beholde things celestiall and of continuance as also the Scripture euerie where doth teach vs Also what kind of meÌ„ would Plato in his Phedrus and Phedon haue in his common weale Forsooth euen such as through contemplating of
to a yong to a learned than to an ignorant Also we ought more entirely to loue our wyues and children than other folkes as likewise according to the doctrine of Paul we should more make of and cherish those of the houshold of faith than straungers from the Church But alas we to too well doo know that no equalitie according to the Arithmeticall proportion is kept at all no not of those which are accompted the most holy among the members of Christ and in the same greatly delighting themselues as though then they were the best Christians if they leade a câ—uil and politike lyfe without any publike reprehension The which as it is rare so is it much to be commended because to doo so is the propertie of a good citizen But it followeth not by and by that they are good Christians because they are good Citizens For godlines humanitie bounteousnes fidelitie vprightnes and true religion stretche farder than doth outward behauiour the rule of the lawe and hypocrisie For the true disciple of Christ being of one minde and meaning wyth his master Christ will be so farre from enriching hymself by empouerishing another and hyding that which may hurt his neighbour that by no meanes he wyll preferre his owne priuate prosperitie before the common profit And rather will forgoe life and liuing then doo that which is not seemely for any man much lesse for him which is by calling holy and by professing a Christian. Good God how farre from this mynde and purpose are most of our buiers and sellers estranged For as yet we talke not of those which are well knowen to deceyptfull faithlesse abhominable and common vserers but of such as in the sight of al men seeme and be accompted honest and good Citizens For euen these doo perswade themselues that they deale vprightly if onely they giue true measure for their money not considering at all that to take excessiue gaynes is to doo wrong and altogeather agaynst iustice not considering that it is all one in respect of equalitie from which all iustice dooth spring to set too great a price and to sell by false waightes and measures by which reason the vnequalnes of price and and ware may well be called false measure for if it were demaunded of them whether it were meete to bring him into the right way which is out of the way or to shewe him the ready way which is altogeather ignorant of the same or if he were not much to be blamed which seeing his neighbour goe astraye will without calling him backe let him goe on forward I am sure they wil confesse both him to be a noughty man and this no honest man for his labour And yet forsooth is it a false opinion which we are in when froÌ„ a general propositioÌ„ we come to a particular contrary to their minds in deede it is more agreeable to iustice not to hurt a maÌ„ by the purse or losse of goods than to shew him the ready way which knowes it not But I pray you what is the cause of these sinister opinions sith the reason is alone and nothing more agreeing with iustice Truely selfe loue couetousnes and an ouer great care of this lyfe from which Christ earnestly dooth call vs But let vs thinke that saying of Cicero to be most true Quum quid quispiam sciat c. Iâ— is not the part of a plaine simple ingenious innocent and honest man but rather of a subtile vile wyly deceiptfull malitious craftie and dubble dealer for his owne profit sake to hyde that which he knoweth from any man which should vnderstand the same And moreouer he sayth Si vituperandi sunt qui reticuerunt quid de his existimandum est qui orationis vanitatem adhibuerunt That is If they are to be dispraised which keepe a thing close what shall we thinke of those which haue vsed vaine woordes And therfore sayth Syrach very well As a naile in the wall sticketh fast betweene two stones so dooth sinne sticke betweene the buyer and the seller Likewise much lesse is the Geometrical proportion kept in this wicked world For the wicked vnlearned beyng in face impudent and in behauiour egregious Parasites are exalted to great honour glorious offices when as men famous as well for learning as Religion be eyther in Court coÌ„temned or of Sycophants defaced or vnworthely disgraded for some light offence as happened to Beliserius who by Iustinian lost his eyes For darknes cannot abyde the light and bold ignorance through her marueilous impudencie doth set her selfe against learnyng and knowledge For as Quintilian dooth witnes Quo quisque minus valet hoc se magis attollere et dilatare conatur The least of power the most vaineglorious And againe Quo minus sapiunt minus habent pudoris The more foole the more impudent Nowe therefore sith among the learned or as Plato saith among Philosophers the contrary dooth happen no marueyle if the vnlearned haue them in contempt Yet Plato woulde haue it otherwise in his common Weale where either Philosophers shoulde beare the sway or those which ruled should be learned in Philosophie or which we doo adde at the least haue such about them whose counsaile they might vse and folow Moreouer sith the Lord God for his electes sake for whose cause all things are kept hath created all things it foloweth out of the woorde of God and his diuine Iustice that al things in the world are due vnto the elect and godly not to the wicked and reprobate But it falleth out farre otherwise in the world where the wicked doo flourish in riches and are preferred but the godly doo perish with pouertie and are left as a pray to their enemies Also Christ the onely begotten sonne of the euerlastyng God which is the maker both of heauen and earth and Lord of Lords hath witnessed of hym selfe that in this world he had not where to hyde his head but was before the world a very abiect and made away by a most odious death euen the death of the Crosse Yet notwithstanding his aduersary that sonne of perdition sitteth as God in the temple ruling with two swords flourishing with riches power and glory and is with all reuerence called our Holy father and worshipped as the deputie of Christ him self And therfore by these we plainly perceyue that in this world no Geometricall equalitie according to the distributiue iustice which is the best is any where obserued But yet sith God is iust all kinde of iustice necessarily to all must be extended so that to the worthy all things must be giuen but from the wicked all things which falsely they haue taken to themselues and abused to the molesting of the godly shall vtterly be taken away Wherefore needes must there be another lyfe after this and therfore for those reasons alledged we set downe that the Lorde God dooth foreshowe to the studious by this dubble proportion or
men liuyng So that all mistrust and vnbeliefe the Quagmyre of all maner of wickednesse in which many men lye tâ— great slumber and sleepe securely may earnestly be cast away true fayth in diuine promises may be râ—ised our hope of attaynyng an happy life and deliuerance from all troubles may be nourished and we the more vigilant least vpon a sodaine that great day of the Lord horrible to the vngodly but to the godly comfortable vnawares oppresse vs and the spouse find vs sober wise and prepared to the feast not without oyle in our Lampes For his commyng in this last age of the world without doubt is not farre and maketh great hast and wyll not as many suppose linger Wherfore in this litle woorke I haue determined by some euident places of the Scripture first to proue that there shal be one day a generall destruction of this world and an vniuersall and last iudgement of our Lord Iesus Christ the sonne of God in which all the promises of God shall to the vttermost be fulfilled and his great threates shall take effect Then by the testimonies of holy Scripture we wil shew that the age of this world shall not be more then sixe thousand yeres that the sixt thousand in which we now liue whose tyme is more than halfe past because of intollerable wickednesse and shamelesse securitie of men shall not be fully finished And to this shal be added certaine singuler signes by course of tyme and yeares woonderfully agreeing with the inclinations of the Starres if credit may be geuen to Mathematicians which things notwithstaÌ„ding I referre to the iudgement of the Church and doctors of more discretioÌ„ Last of al certain proofes out of Scripture shal be brought of the maner of Christ his commyng and of the effect of the last iudgement with an exhortation to watchfulnesse for that most ioyful commyng of our bridegrome ¶ That there shal be a destruction of this worlde a resurrection of the fleshe and a generall iudgement of all mankynde ESpecialy setting apart al other darke significations of the world which in holy Scripture are to be founde euerye where in this place talkyng of his destruction we take the same as Aristotle dooth in his booke of the World for a knittyng togeather of celestiall and inferiour bodyes disposed by Arte which dooth containe liuing creatures and all other things which are ingendred and remaine in euery part And because in the same is to be seene a wonderfull shewe therfore doo the Latines very well take his denomination from fayrenes so that they cal the world as the Grecians doo 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a goodly shew or ornament from the perfect excellencie therof as Plinie writeth which woonderful peece of woorke as appeareth by the manner of his creation and holy Scripture dooth plainly and sufficiently auouch the same was only to that ende buylded that it should be a house or dwelling place for mankinde For when our most mighty and eternall God by his woord of power had created of nothing all things as wel senslesse as hauyng life at length he made Adam whom he appoynted Lord of al creatures and possessor of Paradise situated in the mydst of this goodly and glorious world and fashioned him also vpright and innocent according to his owne likenesse that the Lord God of him might worthely be worshipped Here the vnspeakeable loue of God towards mankind is most diligently to be considered For if the Lorde God for our sakes hâ—th erected this famous and excellent peece of woorke to be an abiding place for mankynd of which he would gather to hym selfe a perpetual Church howe fayre and glorious shal we thinke that euerlasting Temple to be which he hath prepared for his elect in Christ and for his heauenly and celestial warriours In which place we shall enioy the sight of our euerlasting God and shal knowe hym in maiestie and glory euen as he is Truely no comparison of excellencie betwene these can so much as in imagination be conceyued although the beautie of this world and vniuersitie be such as mans wit cannot sufficiently thinke of the same Because as betwene the creature and the creator there is no equality so great is the oddes betweene visible things created and supercelestiall to vs altogether inuisible where the sonne of God wyth all Sainctes in the circuite of all Angels with God the father hath his eternall seate and continuall abiding But all men through the fall of Adam are become vnworthy of that place which was appoynted for Adam being pure from sinne and vnspotted Neither had the world any more borne him according to this immutable senteÌ„ce of God at what tyme thou shalt eate of the tree of kâ—owâ—ledge of good and euill thou shalt die the death had not that ouer merciful God through his deep secrete counsayle receyued him al the elect into fauor by the promised seed of the woman by Christ the sonne of God which was to come in the flesh And therfore if the world haue hitherto and as yet shall continue it is onely done for their sakes which are chosen in Christ whose number being full the world must of necessitie fayle and fall downe flat for which cause the Lord hath a certayne tyme of the worlds destruction because by the sinne and wickednes of vngodly men being marueilously polluted and accursed it dooth together wyth all other creatures as Saynt Paule sayth subiect to the same corruption desire a deliuerance from euil And therefore that this vniuersall world maye be brought to his former integritie it must of necessitie be consumed and burne with fyre in the comming of the Lord as Esay witnesseth saying Beholde the Lorde wyll come in fire and his chariot shal be like a whyrlewynde that he may render his indignation in heate and his correction in flames of fire because the Lord wyll iudge in fire And S. Peter saith The day of the Lord wyll come like a thiefe at which tyme the heauens with great speede shall vanish the Elementes with that heate shal be dissolued and the earth with all contayned in the same shal be consumed with fire No marueile then though Ethnikes and most famous Philosophers folowing the deuises of their owne braine straungers altogeather and ignorant in Scripture haue had very many prophane cogitations of the world Aristotle the Prince of Philosophers dreameth that the world neuer had beginnyng because as he saith the gods in this infinite eternitie haue not been idle But Plato beyng of another mynde will that the world was made yet he thinketh the same to be Animal immortale A creature which shall not dye but remayne for euer Plinie beleeueth the world to be an eternall and vnmeasurable godhead neither begotten at any tyme nor shal be destroyed Others as Epicures imagine that there is not one world onely but infinite whereof some take place as others auoyde Plato also iestingly sayth that
of the celestiall euerlasâ—ing life his force and sting being lost he shal vtterly be abolished To which thing Iudas in his Epistle had respect which saith that this Henoch the seuenth after Adam dyd foretell of the last iudgement Which iudgement is giuen of Elias that he should be a type figure of his owne prophecie And it is said that as Henoch in generation so Elias in coÌ„putation of yeres was the seueÌ„th after Adam For it is reported that next vnto Adam was Methusalah next to Methusalah Sem to Sem Iacob to Iacob Amram to Amram Ahia and to Ahia Elias the Prophet Now if this accompt of Elias be altogether true as many do coniecture there is no doubt but the Lord God would in his wonderfull woorks declared to his Saintes and chosen haue many secret mysteries that in the consideration of them we might be inflamed with desire of the celestiall and most blessed life Here let vs coÌ„sider that before the seuenâ—h thousand yeare we shal be taken vp to meete the Lord in the cloudes euen as Elias by a fâ—rie chariot and horseâ— was lifted vp to heauen Finallie also the Euangelists and Apostles call the tyme from Christes incarnation vntill the ende of the world the laste howre or laste tymes Saint Peter saith Christ was manifested in the laste tymes And to the Hebrewes Paule writeth Christ once was offred in the ende of the world Neither is this tyme of the Apostles therfore called the last bycause that certainly the ende of the world is at hande but because according to Elies distribution it is the laste of the three ages of the world which without all doubte they respected Neither is it to be deemed that this prophecie was vnknowen to them but rather that by reuelation of the holy Ghoste it was singularly renued and therefore in deede they call this last age of two thousande yeeres in the beginning of which all prophecies and visions by Christ were to be fulfilled the laste tymes and howre These nowe be the testimonies and coniectures by which I haue studied to proue and haue satisfied my selfe that this world shall not continue aboue the space of sixe thousande yeeres Nowe followe those things by which I meane to shewe that the sixt thousande yeere shal not be expired That the world shall not endure sixe thousande yeeres NOwe that the sixt thousand yeere shal be shortened it is apparant and maye be prooued for order sake firste by those woordes of Elias the Prophete aboue recited in this manner And for our sinnes which are many and marueylous some yeeres which are wanting shall not be expyred VVhich words do not much disagree froÌ„ those of Christ where he saith And except those dayes were shortned all flesh should perish but for the elects sake they shall be cut of And although there peraduenture the Lorde doth properly talke of the ruine ouerthrowe of Hierusalem as may easely be gathered by the circumstances of that place yet may it seeme that he would speake the same of the vtter destruction of the world because in that place he giueth certaine and moste euident signes thereof of which hereafter more at large and also dooth foretell both of the ouerthrowe of Hierusalem and by a certaine confusion of wordes of the worldes destruction so that for the perfect vnderstanding thereof greate iudgement is to be required And bycause the former is a figure of that which is to followe I perswade my selfe that as well by the woordes of Christ as by the prophecie of Elias it may be gathered that for the electes cause those miserable dayes of the vtter ouerthrowe and ending of this wicked world shal be shortened and cut of Others by probable reason endeuour to proue the same through consideration of the Sabboth daie which is a true figure of the eternall Sabboth For in the Lawe it was prescribed that about the euening of the sixt day the Sabboth should take his beginning And therefore their coniecture is not vnlike to be true which thinke that the eternal superexcelleÌ„t Sabboth of the Lord shal begin not at the end of the last thousande yeere but a litle before Here be some other coniectures brought foorth which willyngly I passe ouer and the rather bycause I know them to be of no great force But those tokens are dilgentlie to be marked which Christ did foretel should goe before the coÌ„summatioÌ„ of the world that by them we may the more certainly thinke and perswade our selues tyme present and tokens foretolde being compared together that the ende of the woâ—lde hangs ouer our neâ—kes Among othâ—r signes in my iudgement the preaching of the Gospell is not the least but moste cheefely to be noted as rhat by which all other tokens both going before and following in those wordes of Christ are knowen to bee true tokens of his comming The wordes of Christ telling vs howe to knowe when the Gospell is preached are these And this Gospell of the kingdome shal be preached through the vniuersall world for a witnes to all nations and then shall the ende come By which words the sonne of God Christ doth playnly teach that about the time of the worlds destruction the true doctrine of Christ should be preached By which is gathered that the same was obscured defaced and almost not spoken of by reason of false prophets before that tyme And Christ saide that in those dayes should arise many false Prophets and by saying themselues to be Christ should seduce many Nowe what is more euident in these our dayes Hath not the true and sincere doctrine of the free pardoning our sinnes by Christ lien hid these many yeeres and vnder the tyrannie of Antichrist maruelouslie been obscured And the Pope arrogantlie vaunted himselfe to bee Christ or at leaste his vicar What promising of pardoning sinnes and redeming soules out of their fained purgatorie by theire wicked Bulies and blasphemous Masse what idolatrie in woorshipping and impietie in receiuing Christ in the sacrament Finally what diuers and diuilish supeâ—stitions haue been practised so well it is knowen vnto all men that I neede not to recken them And nowe againe â—y the vnspeakeable grace and mercie of God we plainlie perceiue such a cleare light of the Gospell to shine ouer the whole world that in spight of the diuell and all his adherentes it castes his bâ—ames ouer all nations And therefore what other things shall we looke for but as Christ did foretel a sodaine downfall of this wretched world For if we reade eyther the holy Byble of God or historicall bookes of prophane men we shall finde that God hath alwayes followed the example of a ryghteous iudge which before he condemne a man for his offences will first accuse by witnesse so God before he send plagues and punishment for our transgression dooth first put vs in minde of our wickednes by preaching of the Gospell and declaring his diuine pleasure
dissentions of people and continuall warres of Princes to the ouerthrow of the Gospell by the Popes setting on will subdue all kingdomes But I trust the Lord God by his speedie comming will bring to naught these endeuours of Turke and Pope agaynst his Church and will cast that beast with the litle horne which hath mightely encreased and all those vngodly and dragonish kingdomes arising from the sea and that false Prophet into that fornace which burneth with fire and Brimstone Many reasons and probable coniectures from the course of tyme. HEtherto by meane diligence I haue recited those fore tokens of the induring of times which Christ hath taught vs And also I haue showeÌ„ other signes and coniectures out of Gods worde and condition of the tyme that now is by which we may know the oldnes and sodayne finishing of tymes to which when they come to passe the Lord commaundeth vs to looke backe and lyft vp our heades For in that the Lord God declareth his most ardent goodwill towardes vs in that he would not signify the day and hour but foreshewed the tokens going immediatly before the same And therefore sith by these it is manifest that it is the expresse will of our Sauiour that out of the written word of Christ we should with all diligence search out the last tyme of our redemption I doubt not but I shall doo a good deede and gratefull both to God and his Church if I vtter foorth some cogitations of myne fetcht from the course of tyme yet agreeing to thâ— holy Scripture for the proofe of the opinion about the speedye conclusion of tyme Not that I am in that mynde that I thinke these to be Demonstrations which through a necessitie of that which is to come must needes be but as probable things so long to be imbraced tyll we learne more certayne And therefore in these and the lyke things I submit my selfe to the better iudgement of the Church and of the learned and I perswade my selfe that these and other singuler Prognostications which followe whereby somewhat â—igher I approch than as yet I haue doone to shewe the sodayne comming of the Lord shal be so farre from terryfying of the godly that the consideration of these things will be most pleasaunt and comfortable But yet I take not vppon me as before also I haue protested to know the day which Christ sayth himselfe he dooth not know as he lyke a man beareth the office of an Apostle For the signes foretold we may know but not the day and houre not the very moment of his comming but the tokens of that moment doo we search out as farre foorth as it is lawfull for man so to doo The holy Scripture euery where maketh some collation between the first Adam the sinner the sonne of God Christ our Sauiour the second Adam also betweene the floud the vtter ouerthrowe of the world euen as Christ dooth signifie in these woordes Et erit sicut in diebus Noe c. And it shal be as in the dayes of Noe c. Wherefore I fell first into this consideration and afterwardes from one to another into those which ensue whether the tymes past in equalitie of the same nomber aunsweared alike For the Lord God hath ordayned all things by a singuler and euerlasting wisdome and experience dooth teach by a certaine concurring of the Starres that in such things e great lykenes of tymes is woont oftentymes to happen as in the birth of Isaac and of his offering which is a figure of Christ there is a great concent of the tyme For from Isaac vntill Christ were two thousand yeeres fully expired But when from Adam orderly vntill the floud we doo consider the yeeres of the generations of all the fathers and gather them all into one summe laying aside the false computation of Eusebius and others following the Greeke translation of the seuentie Interpreters from the first yeere of the worlds foundation to the floud are iudged to be a thousand sixe hundred fifty and sixe yeeres From this number the yeeres of Christes birth vnto this present yeere a thousand fiue hundred seuentie and fiue doo differ eightie and one yeere if truly that number were filled But I doo not thinke the world shal continue so long that the latter time should in number exceede the former for many coniectures which follow but what may come to passe the Lord knoweth Lykewyse Moyses is a figure of Christ that marueilous deliuering of Israell by Moyses out of the handes of Pharao is a figure of the victorie of Christ which in our behalfe he hath by his death on the Crosse and resurrection from the dead obtayned agaynst the diuell and death and the whole gouernment of Mâ—yses is a shadowe of Christes kingdome His destruction and the Iewes is no doubt a token of the worldes ouerthrowe And here we shall see a wonderfull concente and agreeing of tymes that so by things past we may looke for the euent of things to come vndoubtedly by the singular prouidence counsayle and ordinance of god For no other reason can I render sith I cannot perswade my selfe that these things can by chance so wonderfully agree togeather First by the true accompt of yeeres it is playne that from the comming out of Aegypt and publishing of the lawe vnto the Natiuitie of Christ are numbred a thousand fiue hundred and nine yeres Now if the yeeres from the Natiuitie of Christ vntill this time in which Christ began agayne to be borne to the world and to be brought into the light as it were through the preaching of the Gospel by Luther and other famous men were numbred they are in summe a thousand fiue hundred and seuenteene Agayne from the departure out of Aegypt vntill the death of Christ the yeeres are accompted to be a thousand fiue hundred fortie and two And this number also dooth marueilously agree with that generall Persecution in Germanye made by Charles the fift and the Pope which happened in the yeere a thousand fiue hundred fortye and seuen So that these numbers of yeeres beyng compared togeather wil be found not much to differ in quantitie of number But from these poore mentions I will goe higher to those things which especially doo agree to our purpose It is manifest that Moses gouernment vntyll the last destruction of Hierusalem by Titus did stand in all one thousand fiue hundred eightie three yeeres Neyther is it to be doubted of any but that that destruction and wasting of Hierusalem is a manifest figure of the last ruine of this world And therfore doth our Lord speake of these things together and sayth those dayes were the dayes of Noe in respect of manners and the securitie of mans lyfe Nowe at length what shall we gather of these things That the terme of the worlds destructioÌ„ should agree with the former number of yeeres of Moses gouernment Which not the sonne of an Emperour or chiefest Monarch as was
prooued by the Decrees and Decretals of the Popes if any man thinke we say not the truth Heare what his most impudent fauourers on his behalfe haue reported The Pope say they is called as it were wonderful from Pape the Interiection of woondring because he is Christes Vicar and Gods whose the fulnesse of the earth is And Iohn Andr. vpoÌ„ this woord Pope in the Proeme of Clement speaketh thus Papa dictus est quasi pater Patrum c. The Pope is called as it were the father of all fathers hauyng onely the fulnesse of power Also Thomas of Aquine saith that in spirituall matters and temporall he hath the chiefest degree equally to Peter the Apostle At a woord they make hym a Mungrell as partly God and partly man They call hym The Spouse of the Church The mother of the faythfull which cannot erre whose voyce is heauenly euen as Peters was and therfore that he is the chiefest Iudge whose wickednes as the murders of Sampson the spoyles of the Hebrues the adulterie of Iacob are to be iudged of none for there is one and the same seate say they both of God and the Pope The Popes wyl is said to be a heauenly wyll and therfore is of power to chaunge the nature of things to apply that vnto one which belongeth to another and of nothyng to make somewhat Are not these and such like Rules of the Canonistes formally recited marueilous things which with blasphemous and wicked lyppes vnder the Popes pâ—rson accordyng to Daniels Prophesie speake agaynst the God of Gods. And as the Occidentall Empyre of the great Pope in the tyme of Charles the Great was diuided from the Orientall so likewise the Empire at Constantinople which sometyme was called also the Orientall Empire of Rome afterwards was greatly diminished by the great Turke Sarasins whose power afterward increased more and more and that mightily Afterward a litle before the raigne of Carolus Caluus Cousin to Charles the Great the Tartarian Turkes by occasion they were requested to assist the Persians against the Sarasins obteyned all Asia and these embracing the Mathematicall sect at the length came to be of greatest power So that these two wicked and Antichristian kingdomes tooke their beginnyng when the Romane Empire in Phocas tyme and Heraclius was impayred and in the raigne of Charles the Great the Empyre almost subuerted they dayly more and more mightily increased in this weake and diuided kingdome whose feete were become partly of yron and partly of earth Afterward by lyes backslidings and slaughter which are the properties of the Antichristians their rulyng and Religion was confirmed and the Saintes of God by myngling earthly with heauenly things were vexed as Historiographers and the Chronicles of Iohn Auentine euery where do witnesse And therfore both of them by the glorious commyng of the Lord shall be abolished and shal receyue one and the same destruction If therfore to the consolation of all the godly and confirmation of our faith the holy Ghost hath had a great care to dâ—liuer vnto vs by the Prophets certayne foresignes by which might be coniectured when the commyng of Christ in the fleshe was nigh at hand whose commyng should yet before the world be base and very simple and yet of sufficient power to saue our soules froÌ„ the heauy curse and displeasure of God And if the holy Ghost hath been so carefull in giuyng to the Church and the chosen of God certaine signes and tokens of the commyng of Antichrist no doubt he dyd the same that the better they might shun and forsake all his vntrue teachings and blasphemies by the helpe of Gods woord And therfore hath the holy spirit of God been the more diligent to shew to the Church many and manifest signes of the Lords commyng to iudgement that so he might driue vs from all securitie of this lyfe and wake vs out of the deepe slepe of our deadly sinnes least by the speedy commyng of the Lord to iudgement we sodainly perish and that in all afflictions with which the Church is continually vexed we might haue a sure trust and confidence in the mercy of god And therfore the sonne of God him selfe in the last preaching before his death through a great goodwyll gaue vs many signes and earnestly charged vs taking his parable from the Fyg tree that beholding those tokens immineÌ„t we should carefully and readily attend the commyng of our Brydgrome For that commyng to all the godly and chosen of the Lord shal be ioyfull and comfortable In which the Sonne of God shall appeare in power mighty in glory woonderfull and shew hym selfe to his foes terrible to vs comfortable to them seuere gentle to vs to them a Iudge and condemner to vs an Aduocate and Redeemer to them an enemy and destroyer to vs an assured friend and defender so that he shall recompence them with fire continuall among the Diuels but vs he shal reward with his fauour perpetual in the societie of Angels and celestial habitation And therfore doth Ioel cal that day of the Lord a great day and terrible to the wicked when all from the worlds creation shall be made to stand before the tribunall seate of God. Aboue I haue shewed that the chiefest signe of the comming of the sonne of man was the preaching of rhe Gospell which Paule termeth the spirit of the Lords mouth also I haue declared how that signe is euident in these dayes and that Antichrist by the breth of the mouth of the Lord is ouerthrowen and strangled with lynnin as Sebyl Erithraa speaketh that is with interpretations of holy Scripture imprinted in Paper made of linen it is manifest to all godly and men instructed in true religion Now what what other thing remayneth But the consummatâ—on of the world and that glorious comming of the Lord by which that wicked and damned sonne shal be abolished according to Christes woordes Hytherto that coniunction of all Planets which was a litle before the birth of Christ and in the time of Charles the great in the beginning both of the Turkes tyrannicall dominion and rhe Popes Antichristian religion which shal ensue very shortly dooth belong As if the Lorde would say Behold the chiefest signe of my comming according to my promise the preaching of the Gospell is come already you see the power of Antichrist my sworne enemie is greatly weakned now shall you see the very signes in heauen which foretold my former comming in the flesh and the comming of my aduersary by which you may gather my commyng wherby I wil vtterly abolish his vsurped gouernment and abandon him from the godly to that bottomlesse pyt of hell And therefore take you heede and be circumspect for the tyme of your deliuerance is at hand Neither can we doubt sith the Starres are of the Lord God created for signes vnto vs but that marueilous coniunction of the Planets doth foreshew a wonderfull and incredible alteration of all things
were the seuen heades of the Beast And therefore he sayth Bestia quam vidisti fuit non est that is The Beast which thou sawest was and is not that is the Romane Empire is but not such an Empyre as that was which came of the stocke of Caesars and decayed when Nerua dyed And now iâ— the tyme of Domitian of those seuen fiue were dead but the seuenth which was Nero was not yet come And cum venerit opportet eum breue tempus manere nec diu imperare wheÌ„ he commeth he must tary a short tyme and gouerne but a whyle which also came to passe because he raigned but one yeere and three monethes But Traian was the eyght a Spaniard no Romane borne and adopted by the seuenth Wherefore to the purpose sayth the Angell to Iohn in this maner Bestia que erat The beast which was to wit the Romane Empire non est and is not the Romane but a Romanspanish Empire is octauus erit that shal be the eight from Neroâ— e septem est and is of the seuenth to wit adopted of Nerua Wherefore because of this alteration in the Empire and mournful countenance of the Church by reason that her cheife Rulers and Apostles were dead we wil here begin to accompt the fyrst fiue hundred yeres euen vnto the dayes of Heraclyus and Phocas which chanced in the .604 and .602 yeere from Christes Natiuitie About which time Boniface the third was confirmed vniuersall Bishop of all the world and manifested the forerunner of Antichrist as likewyse Gregorie the great not many yeeres before had pronounced of the Patriarch of Constantinople which ambitiously sought to be Priuate or chiefe Byshop of the rest About this time the Romane Empire was much weakened and the Turke began to be of power This first periode may well be referred to the Church of Christ in whose beginning as it were shee suffered most greeuous persecution of the Romane Empire that cruell and blooddie beast and had many godly and learned men which entred most dangerous and continuall conflictes for the ouerthrowe of heresies and yet notwithstanding by litle and litle many Ceremonies were brought into the Church by which at length shee was marueilously polluted the chiefest bringer of those ceremonies into the Church was Gregorie the great vntill Boniface by the helpe of Phocas did playnly declare himselfe to be Antichrist in deede From this time vntil the raigne of Henry the fourth we recken the second periode of fiue hundred yeares in which all Papisticall superstitions Idolatrie blasphemie orders of Monkes power of the Pope wyth the chiefe Senate of Cardinals dyd aboue measure encrease and in the tyme of Henry that impietie came to ripenes euen as also afterward did the Turkes tyrannie and blasphemie Before about a two hundred and fiftie yeares numbring from Phocas the Emperour which also haue their ende to wit in the dayes of the Emperours the Pope of Rome was licensed to be a ciuill Magistrate receyued his chiefe aucthoritie from Pipine and afterwardes from Charles the Great and Lodouike the Godly and was endued with many Prouinces and adorned with double power or with both Swordes both of ruling the Spiritualtie as they saye and Laitie which he obtained vnder the pretence of Religion and therefore Iohn in his Reuelation gyueth to this Beast two hornes like vnto the Lambe About which tyme both the Turkish Empire as in his place it is sayd dayly increased and the olde Romane Empire continually decayed and was diuidâ—d in the Orientall and Occidentall Empire Yet notwithstanding the Occidentall Emperours in respect of the others had full power to create and confirme what Byshops they would But in the tyme of Henrie the fourth that order was altogether chaunged Because the Byshops at the length had brought vnto themselues all power and aucthoritie both of ordaining and choosing Byshops and Emperours to and made a newe Ecclesiasticall or Cardinals Senate to the which was giuen full power to choose whom they would to the Papacie the Pope beyng dead and reserued to themselues all aucthoritie of choosing and crowning Emperours Against this vnspeakable ambition and mightie power of the Pope dyd for the maintaining of his Emperiall aucthoritie according to the decree of his father Henry the Blacke though in other things he dyd ouermuch submit himself to the Popes aucthoritie Henry the fourth stoutely as became a good Emperour resiste For which cause afterward Pope Hildebrande otherwise called Gregorie the seuenrh a wicked and infamous Magician dyd excommunicate him and raised great and greuous wars against him by others in so much that he displacing him chose a newe Emperour named Ralfe to whom he sent a crowne of Gold with this inscription Petra dedit Petro Petrus diadema Radolpho but at length vanquished by Henry hauing lost his right hand he died miserablie But Henry being dead when as now the second Period of fiue hundred yeares from the tyme of Phocas was perfeâ—tly finished the vngodly Pope by his craft and subtiltie at the beginnyng of his raigne obtayned easily of Henry the fift too wicked a sonne for so godly a father all his dâ—sire So that that diuine Reuelation of Iohn dyd fully take effect bicause that Image of the Beast with two hornes dooth exercise al the power of the former beast and calleth al kings his sonnes and slaues and earnestly dooth keepe the manner of the Gentiles in all kynd of Idolatrie only hauyng altered the names of things Lastly also to this Image of the Beast by the Dragon bycause he speaketh like a Dragon that power is gyuen that he may quicken the other image of the Beaste that is this Germanicall Empire which rather ought to be termed a shadowe of the old Empire than an image of the same For the Pope did giue life to the image of the Beast by his election For vnlesse the Pope did confirme the election none was worthy of the name of an Emperour Therfore vnder the preteÌ„ce of the keies of the kindoÌ„ of heaueÌ„ this vngratious felow hath marueilusly abused this power of the Dragon which power now by the preaching of the Gospell through the grace of God doth threaten an vtter and last destruction whose longest terme of fiue huÌ„dred yeres about the yere a thousand sixe hundred or there about is fully finished Wherefore sith this damnable childe and the image of the Beast with the Dragon in that perfect wickednes must be cut of and cast hedlong into hell a great and infallible argument is it and agreeing to Gods word and to the course of time that this certaine computation of yeeres doth signifie the Lords comming to be very nigh at hand ¶ Of things past already things to come are marueilously gathered BY that which hath ben spoken as wel as a briefe annotation of tymes and thyngs that haue been done could shewe it after a sort appeareth how after the death of Henry the fourth
Sonne of God hym selfe receyued a name from the Angell and was called Iesus that is a Lord and Sauiour redeeming the worlde from sinne which afterward receyued a name according to his office â–ª and was called Christ that is Annoynted annoynting vs with his holy spirit that so we might acknowledge him to be our christ Wherfore let it not seeme straunge vnto vs if those letters by the diuine prouidence of God doo containe many and great mysteries within them For the Lorde God by a certaine incomprehensible prouidence not according to mans wisedome or foreknowledge of things to come doth gogouerne the thoughtes and tongues of men that many men and Cities in which the Lord God wyll shewe eyther his singular fauour and marueilous woorkes of mercie or his anger and heauie displeasure should receyue fatall names accordingly And therefore by this reason it came to passe no doubt that king Dauid which signifyeth well beloued should receyue a proper name as also the Prophet Daniell his signifying the iudgement of the Lorde Because in him the Lord God dyd shewe foorth his singular kindnes manye wayes and in this his secrete iudgement concerning the Empyres of the world and their endes and of the two commings of Christ the first vyle in the fleshe the second victorious to iudgement So likewyse Babylon receyued a fit name but in a diuers respect not onely because that in her there was made a confusion of tongues but especially because of the confounding of manners and wickednes of Religion and Idolatry together Wherefore at the length it vtterly came to naught and there is become a meere confusioÌ„ in deed of all beastes and serpents By a contrary ende IerusaleÌ„ tooke her name because she should see the peace of God in Christ which afterward she dyd furiously dispise I haue heard moreouer of Melanthon which also in a certaine booke he dyd publish that that name Emda a towne of the Orientall Frisia and my natiue countrey hath her dâ—riuation from truth and firmenes according to the force of the Hebrew woord Est enim illa vrbs amans veritatis For sayth he that citie is a louer of the truth And howe this name agreeth to that Citie in these our dayes the Lord God hath abundantly declared in this that he hath myraculously kept vs among these so daungerous tempests constant in the true doctrine of hys Gospel against the manifolde subtilâ—ies of the Diuell God graunt we may perseuer to the end in all truth and simplicitie of hart and that this naturall falling may firmely be vpholden and stayed least otherwise it pretend an euill fortune and so we be called no longer Emdani that is constant in the truth but Valdarini â–ª that is Babilonians which thing God of his mercy turne away from vs Sibâ—l also Erithina plainely telleth of Rome that her name doth comprehend many wofull destinies and that in these verses translated out of Greeke into Latin by Castilion Porro quater decies complebis terque trecentos Annos atque octo cum te pertingere metam Tristia fata â–ª tuo completo nomine cogent Thy ende thy name fulfyld and fates shall cause then for to come Of yeares nine hundred fortie eyght When seene shal be the summe Nowe after what sort that Prophesie is fulfylled Castalion shewes in his annotations vppon the same place to which I send the Reader And that Rome els where hath a name according to her nature it is apparant by a certaine answere of Pasquil Roma quid est quod te docuit praeposterus ordo Quid docuit iungas versa elementa scies Roma amor est amor est qualis praeposterus vnde hoc Roma mares Noli dicere plura scio Hereof also in respect of her outward whoordome which is linked oftentymes with the spiritual fornication she is worthely called in holy Scripture an Harlot and Babylon Sodome and Gomorrhe secret malice and a people rebellyng against God. ¶ Of the round and square figure of the Climacterian yeares and of the Golden number IF nowe these and that which folowes be rightly considered and compared together they wyll sufficiently shewe themselues to be neither coÌ„trary to the Scriptures nor impertinent to my purpose but rather such as if they be compared with that before mentioned may well bring vs into the remembraunce of the latter dayes especially sith they doo as it were in colours liuely place before our eyes the perfect end of this world and commyng of the Lord to iudgement As also the fiuefold figure doth not only represent the Greeke letter χ. or being somewhat turned the crosse but also both the squate figure and the round For the crosse by equall distance in the plaine dooth fyll the circle and representes the round forme but the Greeke letter χ. rather betokeneth the quadrangle figure But this I speake by the way if vnto the fiuefolde figure noted by fiue vnities on either side contrary to the myddle number of fiue the foure figures comprehended in the fifth euen to the perfect number were set vnder then these nyne vnites may so by Art be disposed that euery way we may see fifteene as by the figure here vnderneath may appeare  15 15 15 15 15 2 9 4  15 7 5 3  15 6 1 8      15 So that this number of fyue in the threefold according to Arithmetike may seeeme the most perfect and by many figures as it were to represent those three alterations of tyme of which before we made mention whose end in a iust quantitie of numbers perfectly set of God hym selfe ought certainly to be looked for Neither can any doubt but that this figure contaynyng a marueilous equalitie and agreement of numbers in a very great inequalitie as it may seeme doth signifie some great mysteries as well Diuine as Philosophical the which least in these which may perchaÌ„ce seeme more darke then many of Platoes numbers I be ouer tedious to the Reader I leaue to the consideration of the studious But that we may somewhat returne to that we haue in hand although the circular and round figure be of all others in sight most fayre yet as is the whole world is it very vnstable subiect to alteration and full of troubles But the square forme is firme constant and stable and howe soeuer it be placed is alwayes one and the same And therefore dooth Aristotle compare the same to a good and honest man whom he calleth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the which howsoeuer with Aristotle we imagine hym we shall not finde Christ onely the Rocke and true corner stone refused of the buylders and workmen of this world onely excepted but in the lyfe to come wee shall be such with Christ hym selfe And therefore dooth Iohn describe the holy Hierusalem descending from heauen to be foure square in which her perfection constancie and continuance is noted Because by no yll fortune it shal be
regione profana Ter tantum soluent quantum fecere malorum Igni confecti multo tum dentibus omnes Stridentes acri tabescent vique sitique Optandum mori dicent fugientque vocantes Non iam mortis enim requiem non noctis habebunt Multa quidem frustra supremi numina Patris Orabunt sed eos tunc auertetur apertè O that blyndnes of mans mynde and that madde doubting of these diuine promises of eternall lyfe O that hardned and flintie hart of ours which is not mooued no not wyth these horrible threates of Gods heauie displeasure but continuing securely in all impietie neuer asketh pardon for such wilfull offending and amendeth euen as though the scripture were but lyes and these diuine Oracles prophane fables For by those things which haue come to passe and by true demonstrations of Gods holy spirit it is apparant that nothing is more certaine than that the end of all things haÌ„geth oÌ„ our shoulders Truly great is the force of sinne and marueilous is the rage of Satan in these latter dayes he endeuoureth by all meanes that possibly he can to bring the whole world into a desperate securitie of life that so he may haue many partakers of his tormentes in hell from which there is no redemption But how much better had it been we had eyther neuer been borne or at the least been voyde of reason with beastes and serpentes or els been dispactht as soone as we were borne if either we enioy not that place for which we were created or come not to the celestyall Paradyse and to the marryage of our Spouse our Lord and sauiour Iesu Christ where shal be the ful abundance of all delightes and perfection of all pleasure Wherefore let vs cast from vs both our carelesse securitie and mistrust of the promises of God let vs renounce the diuell and all the woorkes of the flesh which are not sufferable by the word of God let vs listeÌ„ to the friendly admonitioÌ„ of our Sauiour Christ warning vs in these wordes Take heed least at any tyme your mindes be ouerladen with surfetting and dronkennes and cares of this life and so the suddayne day of the Lord take you vnawares for euen as a snare it shall come vppon all which sit vppon the face of the earth Be ye watchfull therefore at all tymes and as Matthew addeth because ye knowe not the houre in which your Lorde wyll come praying that ye may escape all these things which are to come and may stand before the Sonne of man. For if the comming of theeues and stealers of our earthly goods be to be feared with how great care with how great diligence and watchfulnes should we seeke to escape those enemies which would spoyle vs of our eternall riches and kingdome of heauen Here we vse great heede and wisedome to preserue our mortall bodyes from hurt and daunger but to saue our soules which are immortal from eternal paynes in hel we are altogeather carelesse nothing circumspect And yet more would it beseeme the children of lyght to be more carefull in seeking and keeping those things which are celestiall than are wordlings paynfull in enriching themselues with such things as they are neither sure to enioy while they are aliue nor can assure them of any ioy when they are dead Yea let vs thinke and perswade our selues that in the sight of God it is not shamefull but abhominable that the elect or chosen people of God which should be wise and circumspect shall in this care be surpassed of wicked worldlings and the more hyghly we displease our god by how much the things which we so litle esteem are more excellent than that which they so hunt after betweene which so surpassing is the treasure prepared for the godly that there is no comparison This exhortation though it pertayne to all men at all tymes yet now especially in these daungerous dayes in which euery where we see so many by suddayne and strange endes to be taken out of this world and because euery man shall dy though the certayne houre and daye none dooth knowe and shall either woofully be sent among the diuels in hell or ioyfully be receyued into the felowship of the faythfull in heauen Wherefore sith the spirit in the faythfull is willing but the flesh very weake and blinde in heauenly things we are to beseech our heauenly father in continuall prayers that by his holy spirit he would dayly more and more encrease and strengthen our weake and feeble fayth And therefore we hartely desire thee O eternall father that thou wilt not vtterly breake vs though we bowe not as we should neither deale with iustice though we doo not our duties according to thy wyll but keepe vs good God in thy welbeloued sonne illuminate our myndes with thy holy spirit by which we may be prepared to all good workes in true holines newnes of life that so with Paule we may desire to leaue this world to be with Christ and so in the coÌ„ming of the Lord being found ready with oyle in our Lamps and adorned with our wedding garmentes we may find entrance to the Lordes mariage which thou for thy son his beloued spouse the holy church hast prepared and appointed from the beginning of the world To thee therfore O heauenly father to thy only begotten sonne and to the holy Ghost our comforter be all prayse honour and glory for euer and euer Amen FINIS Matth. 14.25 Mark. 13. Luk. 21. Aristot lib. 2. Rhetor. ad Theodecten cap. 10. Psalm 10. Prouerb 1. Psalm 73. Cardanus de rerum varietaâ—e Canti Cant. Psalm 51. Roâ— 8. Apoc. 17 Lact. lib. 7. cap. 25. Matth. 24. Lactan. 9. Matth. 25. 2. Cor. 5. Rom. 8. Luc. 16. Hebr. 11. Psal. 73 â–ª The argument of the booke Gene. 1.2 Rom. 8. Esay 66. 2. Pet. â— Aristotle â–ª Plato in Timâ— â–ª Plinius nat hist â–ª lib. 2. cap. 1. Epicures â–ª Plato in Atâ—â—â—â—tico Aegiptians Saduces Esay 56. Sâ—piâ—n 2. Diuers profes â—ut of the worde of God. 1. Cor. 1â— â–ª Iohn 5. The testimonie of tâ—e â—rophets â—f Chrâ—st Apostâ—eâ— â—oâ—firmâ—d by thâ— blooâ— of Martyrs Proofe from the testimony of the holy ghost Christian aucthoritie Matth. 17. Luc. 9. Math. 3. Maâ—â— 24.25 Marke 13. Luke 21. Proofe froâ— Prophesies â—â—ay 9.11.35.40.53 Daniel câ—p â— 7.8.9.11 Daniel 2. Daniel 7. Proofe from the iustice of God. Psal. 73. Esay 66. Iob. â— 9. Esai 25. Proofâ— from the diuine tâ—uth August in hiâ— 12. booke agaynst Mat. Elias prophesie 4. Esdras 4. The iudgement of Bibliander concerning the fourth booke of Esdras The answeare of Vriell to Esdras Psal. 90. 2. Pet. â— Conâ—ectâ—re fâ—om the syx daies of creation Coâ—iecture of Hench by generation thâ— seuenth from Adam Elias 1. Peter 1. Heb. 9. Math. 24. Coniecture from the constitution of the Sabboth The preaching of the Gospell the chiefest signe of Christs comming to iudgement Math. 24. God doth first accuse before he condemne Gen. 6.7 4. Reg 17. 4. Reg. 24.25 Iâ—sephus Egesippus Iosephus Egyptus Dan. 6. Orosius lib. 7. Chap 5. Of other things following the preaching of the Gospâ—ll Maâ—h 24. Luk. 21. An answere vnto certayne obiections Luk. 21. â—om 13. From Pharoeâ— Example Exod. 14. Contempt of knowledge All gifts at the â—â—ppe of perfection Contempt of learning Contempt of the ministerie Math. 24. Securitie of lyfe Horace lib. Serm. 2. Horace lib. 1. Episto Boëtius lib. 2. ante prosam 3. Math. 7. An admonition to Princeâ— Lucan lib. Ouid. lib. 1. fast Luc. 16. Of the successâ— of the Turke Daniel 7. Epito diuinar instit Chap. 11. Rom. 5. 1. Cor. 15. Mat. 24. Melancthonin vita Vaspatiani Ciprian Lâ—ouitius of the strange coâ—iunction of Planes Prayse of Astronomie Gen. 1. Of the comming of Christ into the flesh Gen 49 Dan. 9. Of the comming of Antichrist 2. Thessa. 2. Platina Krants 2. Cap. 18. Ganguinus lib. 4. Lib. 7. Annâ—l Ioan. Auen in exemplari Enstaâ—â—i impresso an 1554. fol. 684. 685. The blasphemous aâ—rogancie of the wicked Pope 2. Distin. 44. Of the comming of Christ to iudgement Ioel. 2. Lib. 8. Plato 8. Polytic Aâ—istotelâ—s 5. pol. Apo. 13. â—usebius Apo. 17. The first Peâ—â—ode The secondâ— Period Apo. 13. Lanf de Sacra Virgi de inâ—entione libr. 4. capi 10. Krantz lib. 5. ca. 8. Blondus Krantz li. 5. ca 7. The last Peryod Apo. 13. Apo. 21. Decretâ— Pontificum Plaâ—ina Sabellicus Krantz lib. 5. ca. 6. Caus. 16. q. 7. Si quis de inceps An admonition to Pâ—inces An admonition to kings Psalm 2. Functi Chron â–ª 1. Tim. 4. 1. Tim. 3.1 paâ—s dist 32. Iâ— Epinemidâ— Philosopho De re pub lib. 2. The definitioÌ„ of Arithmetycall proportion Melant. in Epit mo Phi. Geometrical proportion whar In Gorgia Gâ—lâ— 6. A true Christian Cicerâ— lib 3. Orliâ—i Syrach 27. Quintil. lib. 2. Cap. 3. Plato de Ropub lib. 5. Matth. 8. Quintil. lib. 8. cap. 3. Of the greeke letter χ Of the woord 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Emeâ— veritâ—â— Eman stabilis Libro 8. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 948. Lo. Vulteii  2  1 5 3  4  1  2  5  4  3 Arist. li. â— Ethâ—hâ—t 3. Psal. 17. Mat. 21. Apo. 21. Apo. 21. Of the Clemitarian yeâ—es Libr. 2. ca. 10â— Of the golden number Daniel â— Luâ—ae 1. Math. 25. 1. Thes. 4. 1. Cor. 15. Apo. 20. Cice. lib. 2. de diuinatione Eâ—sebius in vita Constantini August lib. 18. ca. 25. de ciuit Dei. 1. Cor. 2. Esay 64. Apo. 21. Math. 25. Lucae 13. Mâ—tth 13. Apo. 20.21 22. An exhortation to watchfulnes Lucae 21. Math. 24. ¶ Imprinted at London nigh vnto the three Cranes in the Vintree by Thomas Gardyner and Thomas Dawson for Andrew Mumsell dwelling in Paules Churchyard