cheefe instrument in persecuting the members of the church those that haue the testimony of Iesus And to that end aduanceth his power throne and authoritie in this wicked world 3 And I sawe one of his heades as it were wounded to death and his deadly wounde was healed and all the world wondred at the beast These heades seeme vnto me to haue three significations two of them are laide downe by the Angell in the seauentienth chapter where they are expounded to bee mountaynes or hilles as heretofore we haue taken them and also kings or gouernors as hereafter we shall shewe them But in this place it semeth to bee taken neither for the one nor for the other but for a chiefe and principal parte of the estat euen for Roome and Italy it selfe Which aswell by the ciuill warres of Caesar and Pompey Augustus and Anthony as by the loose and execrable gouernments of Claudius Tiberius Caius Caligula Claudius the brother of Germanicus Nero the sonne of Domitius and Aulus Vitellius was as it were wounded and that most greeuously Which in the time of Flauius Vespasianus Titus Nerua Traiane and the Emperours succeding it recouered whereby the deadlye wound was healed And all the world wondred at the beast Such was the might and maiestie the force and fortune of the Romaine Empire that all men wondred and maruailed at it had it in admiration regarde and reuerence as an estate most happye sacred and in a manner diuine 4 And they worshipped the Dragon which gaue power vnto the beast and they worshipped the beast saying VVho is like vnto the beaste VVho is able to make warre with him By reason of the false religions and Idolatries of the Romaine Empire the Dragon that is to saye the Deuill was worshipped And by reason of the might and puissance of the forsaid estate it was of al nations feared and honored insomuch as they thought that none other was like vnto it nor any able to make warre against it 5 And there was giuen vnto him a mouthe that spake great things and blasphemies and power was giuen vnto him to doe 42. moneths The pride and blasphemye of the Romaine Emperors wee haue somewhat declared before The time of their persecuting power heere expressed by two and forty months is the same that in the former chapter is resolued and a thousand two hundred threescore daies which gathered into sabbaoths of yeares after the account of Daniell contayneth the whole time of the primitiue persecution from the first of Herod to the last of Licinius the particularities of their pride and blasphemies as to be called Gods to haue their images placed in temples and to haue diuine rites ceremonies done there in their honor The histories of their times doe disclose the sundry persecutions in great crueltye by them and their authority executed against the professors of the truth the Ecclesiasticall histories doe mention at large Whereby the interpretation of this place and of the verses following is very cleare and manifest 6 And he opened his mouth vnto blasphemy against God to blaspheme his name and his tabernacle and them that dwell in heauen The blasphemous speeches and actions of the Romaine Empire being corrupted with all kinde of Idolatry and impietie was bent first against the name of God secondly against his tabernacle thirdly against them that dwell in heauen Against the name of God that is to say against the essence maiestye worde and wisedome of God Whereas in steade of the creator they honored creatures in steade of one true God they serued many false Idols and adored them in corporall rites and ceremonies in steade of him that was to be worshipped in spirit and truth against his tabernacle that is to say his church for of the church it is spoken beholde the tabernacle of God is with men and he will dwel with them and they shalle his people and God himself shalbe their God with them Against them that dwell in heauen that is to say against the members of the Church for that wee are no more forrenners and strangers but citizens wtih the Saintes and of the houshould of God And therefore may be well termed dwellers in heauen For that as the Apostle saieth in the Epistle to the Hebrewes In that we are members of the misticall bodie of Christ we are come to the mount Sion and to the Citie of the liuing God the caelestiall Hierusalem and to the companie of innumerable Angels and to the congregation of the first borne which are written in heauen And to God the iudge of all and to the Spirites of iust and perfect men and to Iesus the Mediatour of the new Testament to the bloud of sprinkling that speaketh better thinges then that of Abel Wherefore as in the former chapter the Dragon that is to saye the Diuell persecuted first the man childe that is Christ Iesus Then the woman clothed with the Sunne which is the Church And lastlie the remnant of her seede which keepe the commaundementes of God and haue the testimonie of Iesus that is to saye the members of the church So this principall instrument of the Deuill the Romaine Idolatrous Empire blasphemeth gainsayeth and persecuteth first the name of God that is his worde and wisedome Christ Iesus Secondlie his tabernacle that is his church Thirdly those that dwell in heauen that is to say the faithfull that are the members and seede of the church 7 And it was giuē vnto him to make war with the saints and to ouercome them and power was giuen him ouer euerie kindred and tongue and nation They that before were tearmed dwellers in heauen are heere tearmed sainctes against whome this Romaine Empire hath made warre raysed persecution and preuailed in all cruell tormentes and rigorous kindes of death that not in one contrie or prouince alone but throughout all the worlde for the authoritie therof and power did reach in effect ouer euery kindred and tongue and nation 8 Therefore all that dwell vppon the earth shall woorshippe him whose names are not written in the booke of life of the lambe which was slaine from the beginning of the worlde Such therefore as are not the elect of God whose eyes are not illumined with his heauenly light and whose mindes are not sanctified with his holy spirit whereby they may discerne trueth from falsehoode but are whollie led with earthly conceites worldly considerations and terrestriall appetites and therin doe as it were dwel and inhabite vnwilling any way to be weaned from it They shall worshippe obey reuerence and followe in all Idolatrie and naughtinesse this Romaine Empire iudging it to bee the best way for their saftie benefit and aduauncement although in truth it worke their ruyne ouerthrowe and euerlasting destruction 9 If any man haue an eare let him heare if any leade into captiuitie he shall goe into captiuitie if any kill with a sworde he must be killed by a sworde Here is the patience and
nō negabit Therefore it is not of vs that we doe vnderstande but of him which maketh vs to comprehende those thinges which would not be knowen Therefore of him knowledge is to be hoped which will open to them which knocke will shewe to them that seeke and will not denie to them that craue Hereof Saint Bernarde writeth right well Quo spiritu scripturae factae sunt eo spiritu legi desiderant ipsae etiam intelligendae sunt Nunquam ingredieris in sensum Pauli donec vsu bonae intentionis in lectione eius studio assiduae meditationis spiritum eius imbiberis sicque de reliquis By the same spirite whereby the scriptures are reuealed do they require also to be reade by the same also they are to bee vnderstoode Thou shalt neuer enter into the vnderstanding of Paule vntill with a good intent thou mayest sucke out his spirit by continuall reading and daily meditation and so of the rest And we may well say that both the roote and frute of prayer and meditation in the worde of God is the spirite of God which openeth our vnderstanding and leadeth vs vnto all truth For from Gods grace these godly exercises doe proceede and by the continuall vse of them his grace is increased augmented in vs to the outwarde hearing of the word of God and meditation thereof the inward working and operation of the holie Ghost being ioyned and vnited which is both promised and performed to all the faithfull euen to all the children of God We reade in the 59. of Esay Spiritus meus qui in te est verba quae posui in ore tuo seminis tui in perpetuum non deficient My spirite which is in thee and my words which I haue put in thy mouth and of thy seede shal not depart for euer Christ saith in the 14. of Iohn Spiritus sanctus docebit vos omnia suggeret vobis omnia quae dixi vobis The holie Ghost shall teach you all thinges and minister all things which I haue spoken vnto you S. Iohn saith Vnctionem habetis a sancto nostis omnia vnctio docet vos de omnibus You haue your annoynting of the holy and knowe all thinges the annoynting teacheth you all thinges Saint Paul saith Animalis homo non percipit ea quae sunt spiritus Dei at spiritualis diiudicat omnia Spiritus enim omnia scrutatur etiam profunditates Dei The carnall man perceaueth not the thinges which are of the spirit of God but the spirituall discerneth all thinges euen the depth of God To conclude we learne of S. Paul that faith commeth of hearing and hearing of the worde of God for the study and obseruation thereof hath the working of the holy ghost ioyned therewith which produceth faith which is not of our selues but is the gift of God as the same Apostle teacheth vs in the 2. Chapter of his Epistle to the Ephesians so that by the outwarde hearing of the worde and the inwarde operation of the holie ghost faith is in vs kindled Christ thereby apprehended his iustice and righteousnesse to vs deriued God reconciled our sinnes pardoned his mercie obteined we in Christ Iesus adopted to be the children of God and inheritors of euerlasting saluation Therfore the Diuell our mortall enemie that euermore laboureth our confusion by his chiefe instrument Antichrist his adherents and by his owne false and slie suggestions woorketh all he may to stay men from reading and hearing the worde of God and from comming to those places where it is read and taught that is from publike seruice and sermons whereby such as are skilfull in the tongues and haue trauelled in the study of the scripture the circumstances of places are laide open the sence made manifest the proportion of the doctrine taught and declared conference collation of places vsed and applied the vse fruite thereof signified the breade of life deuided and destributed for the nourishment of our soules our faith thereby kyndled and confirmed lastly the holy Ghost therewith powred and bestowed vpon vs for our further comfort and enstruction Thus haue I briefly answered your two propositions whereby you may somewhat be induced to the consideration of your estate of the corruption of the church that you follow of the weakenes of the grounds that you stand vpon of the daunger that thereby you are in and of the meanes whereby you may escape it And that I may yet more amplie satisfie you in the question of the Church the mistaking whereof is the roote of your error I haue herewith sent you a historie of the Church of Christ from the natiuity of our Sauiour to the end of the world laid downe by the holy Ghost by the pen of S. Iohn in the twelfth thirtenth fourtenth of the Reuelation where unto I haue added such light of interpretation as my small talent hath enabled me vnto wherein I fore see I shalbe assayled by the maleuolent with two bitter obiections the one of curiosity the other of presumption it shall suffice me to shield my selfe against both with that notable sentence and censure of Iesus the sonne of Sirach in the 39. of Ecclesiasticus 1 He onely that applieth his mind to the Law of the most high and is occupied in the meditation thereof seeketh out the wisedome of all the auncient and exerciseth himselfe in the prophesies 2 He keepeth the sayings of famous men and entreth in also to the secrets of darke sentences 3 He seeketh out the misterie of graue sentences and exerciseth himselfe in darke parables 4 He shall serue among great men and appeare before the Prince he shal trauell through straunge countries for he hath tried the good and the euil among men 5 He will giue his hart to resort early vnto the Lorde that made him and to pray before the most high and will open his mouth in prayer and pray for his sinnes 6 VVhen the great Lord wil he shal be filled with the spirit of vnderstanding that he may powre out wise sentences and giue thankes vnto the Lord in his prayer 7 He shall direct his counsell and knowledge so shall he meditate in his secrets 8 He shall shew forth his science and learning and reioice in the Law and couenant of the Lord. 9 Many shall commend his vnderstanding and his memorie shall neuer be put out nor depart awaie but his name shall continue from generation to generation 10 The congregation shall declare his wisedome and show it 11 Though he be dead he shall leaue a greater fame then a thousand if he liue still he shall get the same The exposition vpon the 12. 13. and 14. Chapters of the Reuel CHAP. 12. Verse 1. And there appeared a great wonder in heauen A woman clothed with the sunne and the Moone was vnder her feete and vpon her head a crowne of twelue starres 2. And she was with child and cried traueling in birth and was pained ready to be
that you came of curtesie to see me I must thanke you and am right sorye my leisure did not serue me to haue further speches with you You deliuered vnto me two Propositions as the grounde-worke of your opinion the one that the principles of your doctrine are grounded firmelie vpon the catholike Church which antiquitie vniuersalitie and consent doe plainelie make manifest vnto you The other that the signes giuen of a true Church by theÌ„ of the reformed religion which are the sincere preaching of the worde the right administration of the sacraments religious prayers holesome discipline are no true signes of a true Church but so to affirme them is an error in Logique for that the Church is a signe of them and not they of the Church For your first proposition that the errors thereof may better appeare I will brieflie handle these 3. points First that neither the Catholike Church nor the doctrine antiquity vniuersality or consent thereof can otherwise be knowne then by the scriptures Secondly that sundry principles of your religion are not at all grounded vpon the catholike Church Thirdly that the Romaine Church vpon the which your principles are grounded is neither the Catholike Church nor a sounde member of the catholike church For your 2. proposition that the errors thereof may likewise be seene I will in few words deale with â—â—â—se three points First that of a particuler Church no better iudgement can be giuen whether it be sounde or vnsound or of two particuler Churches which is the sounder then by the worde and doctrine that they preach by the sacraments that they minister by the praiers that they vse and by the discipline that they exercise for where these are moste pureliest and perfectliest done that Church is to be thought the purest and perfectest member of the Catholike Church Where these are impurest and corruptest that Church is to be iudged the impurest and corruptest member where these are not at all there is to bee accompted no visible Church to be at all Thus to affirme is an error in Logike but a truth in diuinitie Secondly that of the truth of the doctrine of the right administration of the sacraments of the sinceritie and puritie of the praiers of the godly exercise of the discipline in any Church the onelye perfecte absolute and true touchstone is the holy scripture which ought diligently to be read of all men Thirdlie that for the true vnderstanding of the Scripture in those things that are necessarie the circumstance of the place the conference of other places the proportion of the doctrine the summary of our faith and the holy Ghost working in our harts doe sufficiently enable and enlighten vs. The holy Catholike Church wee define to bee the congregation companie and societie of all those that haue beleeued in Christ from the beginning of the world to this present time all that nowe beleeue in him and all that from henceforth shall beleue in him to the end of the world It is called Sancta holy because it is sanctified hallowed by the holy ghost it is called Catholica catholike or vniuersall because it conteyneth all ages all places al persons that beleeue it is called Ecclesia because it is a calling out or euocation of people out of ignorance and error vnto the faith and knowledge of God This Church is the misticall body of Christ who is the true and onely heade of it which gouerneth it in omnipoteÌ„cie and is ioyned vnto it in charitie Saint Augustine vpon the 56. psalme confirmeth this our definition of the Church Corpus Christi est Ecclesia non autem ista aut illa sed toto orbe diffusa nec ea quae nunc est in hominibus qui praesentem vitam agunt sed ad eam pertinentibus etiam ijs qui fuerunt ante nos ijs qui futuri sunt post nos vsque in finem soeculi tota enim Ecclesia constans ex omnibus fidelibus quia fideles omnes sunt membra Christi habet illud caput positum in coelestibus quod gubernat corpus suum si seperatum est a visione annectitur Charitate The body of Christ is the church yet not this church or that but that whiche is dispersed throughout the whole world neither yet that alone which is in men that liue at this present but that vnto which they likewise appertayned that haue bene before vs and that are to come after vs vnto the worlds end For the whole church consisteth of all the faithfull for all the faithfull are members of Christ hauing that head placed in the heauenly places which gouerneth his bodye though it be separate from the sight it is adioyned in charitie It is deuided into two parts the militant and triumphant the triumphant already in blisse and glory ineffable the militant hoping for the like happinesse and in the meane time vnder the banner of Christ Iesus warfaring heere on earth against the world the flesh and the Diuell This church for antiquitie so auncient for number so great for estate so diuers for situation so vniuersall no mans age coulde serue to knowe no mans knowledge were able to conceiue no mans conceit were of sufficieÌ„cy to comprehend if the holy Scriptures wherein the spirit of God hath deliuered these thinges for our instruction were not extant amongst vs. In them we are taught that the churche began in Adam that the first Martyr was Abel the first persecutor Cain that by the Breach of Gods commaundement mankinde fell into that miserable and corrupt estate that it was not able to performe that Law of perfect obedience and righteousnesse that GOD had giuen and grauen in the hartes and mindes of men by the accomplishment whereof they were to haue life and by the impeachment whereof they were to haue death eternall and that then GOD in his infinite goodnesse and mercie graunted a remedie for vs in the promised seed which should restore mankinde and treade down the serpents head which was the first preaching of the Gospell published by God himselfe apprehended by faithe beleeued by Adam Afterward of God reiterated to the holye Patriarches by them imbraced and taught to their children and families preached and foretolde by the Prophetes shadowed out in the Lawe written in the Leuitical ceremonies performed in Christ testified and published by the Apostles confirmed with signes and miracles beleeued of al nations maligned by the Deuill persecuted by the wicked in all ages and yet continued to the end of the worlde by Gods especiall grace prouidence These things wee plainely see conteyned from the first of Genesis to the last of the Reuelation which otherwise coulde neuer haue come to our knowledge In them wee may see the beginning increasing continuance and perpetuation of the church the estate and condition of it in tyme past at this present in time to come the doctrine deliuered by the holy Ghost to the Patriarches to the Prophets to
deliuered HEERE is first laid downe vnto vs by the holye Apostle a description of the true Church of God the true spouse of Christ the true mother of all the faithful which hath bene one and the very same euen from the beginning of the world vnto this day she is described in the forme of a woman clothed with the Sunne this sunne is the sunne of righteousnesse Christ Iesus the whiche the church his spouse hath put on with whom only she thinketh her selfe adorned beautified in so much that she nether seeketh nor coueteth any other mans righteousnesse to clothe her or deck her withall but accompteth her self in him and by him to haue sufficient beauty and purity the which she knoweth acknowledgeth to haue altogether of his mercy and goodnesse and not by her desart or merit And the Moone was vnder her feete By the moone may be vnderstood al worldly earthly things which are subiecte to changes and alterations whiche haue their diminishinges and increasings their waxines and wanings as honor riches power authoritie dignitie and suche like with all the vaine pleasures and delightes of this world all the which this true church and spouse of Christ doth despise contemne and treade vnder her feete The Moone also may put vs in remembrance of the chāges and alterations which the church is subiect vnto in this world some times being in quiet sometimes in prosperity sometime in aduersity sometime consisting in many sometime in few Further it geueth vs to vnderstand that as the Moone receaueth all her lighte and beautye from the Sunne so the churche receaueth all her puritie righteousnesse and glorye from Christ Thus the Moone was vnder her feete and vppon her head a crown of twelue starres This number of twelue is the number of perfection or fulnesse and by the starres shynings in the church are ment the Patriarches the Prophets the Apostles the Martirs the godly ministers of al ages which shine in the church both in life and doctrine which all doe receaue their lighte of the sunne of righteousnesse wherewith the church is clothed 2 And shee was with childe and cried trauelling in birthe and was pained ready to be deliuered This place is to bee referred to those times of the church that were before the incarnation of Christ When as the congregation of the faithful that is to say the church did maruelously longue and as it were trauailed in minde to haue that promised seed borne and brought to light that should repaire the miserable ruine of mankinde and treade downe the serpents head the which seed was our Lorde and Sauiour Christ Iesus who was born within the church and of a blessed member of the church 3 And there appeared another wonder in heauen and behold a great red dragon hauing seuen heads and tenne hornes and seuen crownes vpon his heads 4 And his taile drew the third part of the starres of heauen and cast them to the earth Hauing described the church now he falleth to the description of the principall enemie of the church which is Sathan he is described in the forme of a dragon that is to say full of venome full of poyson wherewith he infecteth corrupteth the world of a red colour to declare his bloudines his cruelty his spite and malice hauing seauen headdes that is to saye being full of deuises subtilties craftes and deceipts to entrappe and destroy men withall He hath also ten hornes seuē crownes his hornes signify his mighty force power and violence his crownes his dignity honor and authority in this wicked world wherof he is called Prince and chiefe potentate of this darkenes 4 And his taile drew the third part of the stars of heauen and cast them to the earth The dragons taile are false prophets hypocrites and such as by a shew of holines deceaue men teaching false doctrine drawing men from heauen to earth from worshipping God in Spirite and trueth to earthlye adorations Imaginations and conceiptes Of this tayle were the Scribes and Pharisyes and other religious folke of the Iewes of the same also are all such as by false doctrine haue drawen any out of the firmament of Christes church that were once there placed as stars by baptisme and regeneration Hereunto the Prophet Esay doth allude saying the false prophet is a verye tayle but such starres were not fixed in the firmament therefore the dragons tayle had power ouer them And the dragon stoode before the woman which was ready to be deliuered to deuoure her childe when she had brought it forth So she brought a man childe which shoulde rule all nations with a rodde of yron and her sonne was taken vp vnto God and to his throne This childe that the church brought foorth whom the Dragon sought to deuoure was Christ our Sauiour against whom the Dragon stirred first Herode then the chiefe of the Iewes the Scribes the Pharesies the highe Priestes lastlye the whole multitude to the ende to deuour this man childe that the church had brought foorth to her euerlasting comforte and to the Dragons eternall ruine 5 She brought forth a man childe which should rule all nations with a rodde of yron This was that childe whom Dauid by the spirite of prophesie speaketh of in the second Psalme I will preach the law whereof the Lord hath sayde vnto me thou art my Sonne this day haue I begotten thee desire of me and I shall giue thee the heathen for thine inheritaunce and the vttermost partes of the earth for thy possession thou shalt bruse them with a rodde of yron and breake them in peeces like a potters vessell And her Sonne was taken vp vnto God and to his throne Thus when the Dragon had spitte all his venome had vsed all the deuises and subtilties of his seauen heads al the force and violence of his ten hornes all the authority dignity of his seuen crownes finally when he had shewed al his spite crueltye malice he preuailed no whit at all for the childe whiche hee persecuted Christ Iesus ascended into heauen was taken vp vnto God and to his throne and there sitteth at the right hand of the father in most glorious and eternal maiestie 6 And the woman fled into the wildernes where she hath a place prepared of God that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and three score daies And the woman that is to say the church the cōgregation of the faithfull fledde and was dispearsed into the wildernes of the world among the Gentils in that huge and waste forrest wherof the Romaine Emperour was chiefe Foster who is the beast that in the beginning of the next chapter is described there remained the church in this wildernes subiect to the iniuries of the Emperours and other his vnder officers yet notwithstanding fedde by Gods especiall prouidence in myddest of all persecution with heauenly and spiritual foode by godly and sincere ministers And this state did she continue in a
the decaye of falshoode and lastly the glorification of the godly and condemnation of the wicked at the finall iudgement The methode is first a description of the church of God in the forme of a woman out of whose wombe Christ is borne Sathan is described in the forme of a dragon seeking to deuour this childe which the church had brought foorth Thirdly the ascention of Christ is declared and the persecutions raised against the Churche after Christes ascention Fourthly Gods prouidence is layde downe in preseruing the vniuersall church from ruyne which was doone by three meanes by the generall dispersing of the church by the two Testamentes which preserued the trueth of the doctrine and by the mortalitie of the persecutors Fiftly Sathans endeuours are manifested against the members of the Church when as hee sawe that hee coulde not preuaile againste the whole bodie that hee might the more violentlye afflicte the members hee vseth principally two instrumentes the first the Romaine Empire the seconde the Popedome The Romaine Empire is described in the forme of a beast most vglye and cruell The pryde and proceedinges thereof are layde downe and also the decaye which was wrought by another beast that hadde two hornes like the Lambe but spake like the Dragon Which by the iust iudgement of God partly by fraude partly by force inuaded the greatnesse and authoritie of the former and so brought it to ruine which other beast is the Popedome whose pride and tyranny is likewise declared and finally the fall thereof which is wrought by the restauration of the puritie of the doctrine by the woorde of God and shall throughly be accomplished by Christes comming in iudgement And this is it that Saint Paule teacheth vs that the man of sinne the sonne of perdition shall bee consumed by the spirite of the Lordes mouth and abolished by the brightnesse of his comming Nowe the next verse which is the first of the next chapter beginneth to expresse the restauration of the doctrine Christ manifesting himselfe in his Church in mount Sion accompaned with those whome the former persecutions of the Romaine Empire and Popedome had consecrated as martyres vnto him and sendeth an Angell with an euerlasting Gospell to preach vnto them that dwell vppon the earth to euerie nation and kindred and tongue and people which verse beginneth thus Then I looked and loe a Lambe stoode on mount Sion c. Which intimateth this muche vnto vs that when that man shall come whose name shall be sixe hundred sixtie and sixe If it be wittily accounted that then Christ shall manifest himselfe that then the euerlasting Gospel shalbe preached to them that dwell vppon the earth that then the puritie of doctrine shalbe restored that then the will and word of God shall be published by the which Babylon shall fall and the popedome bee wasted and consumed These circumstances do leade vs to Paulus tertius whose name being well accompted contayneth this number of sixe hundred sixtie sixe if wee alter the numerall letters to Arithmeticall figures and reacon it thereafter thus PAVLVS III. 555 111. For Paulus containeth three numerall letters vz. VLV. the firste V is 5. the L and V is 55. which layd downe arithmeticallye thus 555. is fiue hundred fifty and fiue then III which in numerall letters signifieth the thid in arithmeticall account is one hundred and eleuen And both these numbers holde an equall proportion as one ten a hundred fiue fifty fiue hundred which both summes being added together do make vp a third number of the same proportion which is 666. In the time of this Pope the Gospell began to take roote in many countries sundry learned men both by wordes and writinges preaching and professing the sinceritie and truth of the doctrine For the suppressing wherof in this Popes tyme the councell of Trent was assembled and no practise omitted by confederacies leagues and complattes to withstand the progresse of the truth and to persecute the professors thereof but so had Gods goodnes ordayned thinges that now the riuer of Euphrates was dryed vp that the way of the kinges of the East might be prepared Euphrates the glory strength of Babylon the power and authoritye of Rome was so decayed by the euil opinion that many princes and potentates iustly conceiued of it that the way of the kinges of the East was thereby prepared So that as at the birth of Christ there came wyse men out of the East vnto Hierusalem to worshippe him falling downe before him and presentinge vnto him their giftes of golde incense and myrhe Euen so at the second birth as it were of Christ by the restitution of the true doctrine manye noble wise and learned men who by allusion to the former storie are tearmed kinges of the Easte embrased the Gospell fell downe and worshipped Christ and bestowed the talents of their power learninge wisedome iudgement and industrie vnto his glorye and aduauncement of his truth In this Popes time the societie of the Iesuits was constituted and ordayned hauing added to their vowes of single lyfe and pouertie the vowe of obeydience to a chiefe head and principall president cui omnes in terris tanquam Christo parerent cuius in verba iurarent cuius sibi nutum voluntatem instar diuini cuiusdam oraculi ducerent This gouernour was as it were their chiefe prophet and they as the children of the prophets To these three vowes they ioyned a fourth which is that whether so euer the Bishop of Rome shall please to send them thether without any gaynesaying without any rewarde or allowance sought towardes their iorney they must immediately go Whereupon this Pope enlarged their societye with his priueledges firste to the number of threescore and afterwardes vpon experience of their faithfull seruice vnto him he made it sans number These Iesuites are the three or threescore or many folde spirites or frogges that come out of the mouth of the Dragon that is by the direction of the deuill out of the mouth of the beast that is by the direction of the Pope and out of the mouth of the false Prophet that is by the direction of their preposite or president For they are the spirites of deuils that is to say deuillish voyde of all trueth and charitie which worke miracles by their hypocrisy illusions and ostentation of learning and go to the kinges of the earth and of the whole worlde whether soeuer it pleaseth the Pope to sende them to gather them to the battaile of the great day of god almightye that is to moue them to the affliction and persecution of the true christians in the which they shall confederate band combine themselues by these mens perswasions but shall be destroyed vanquished and ouerthrowne in the middest of their mischiuous enterprises by the omnipotent power of God Thus hauing declared by these premises how this misticall number is the number of a man whose number is 666. we will here impose an ende
good Lord more and more to consume her and shortlye to abolish her with thy moste glorious comming and in the meane tyme O Lord thunder into the innermoste eare of the deafe papistes the threatninges of thy thirde Aungell that if any man worship Antichrist his romish church made to the Image and representation of the olde Romayne Empire and receaue his Character or doctrine in his forehead and in his hande that is in his fayth and practise in his conceite and conuersation to be both beleeued and boulstered with his counsel and execution the same shall drinke of the Wine of the wrath of God yea of the pure wine which is powred into the Cup of his wrath and shal bee tormented in fire and brimstone before the holy angels and before thee and the smoke of their tormentes shall ascende for euermore That with the consideration hereof they may be strooken in conscience harken vnto thy voyce go out of her my people that you be not partakers in her sinnes that you receaue not of her plagues and for that O Lorde a tyme and space is required for the vtter consuming of this hideous body of antichrist during the which he and his adherentes repining at thy trueth and iudgementes with all rage and rancor maligne and persecute thy chosen and faythfull Indue vs O Lord with patience in all troubles and afflictions giue vs grace to keepe thy Commaundementes and make vs feruent and fruitefull in thy fayth and what so euer euent thou shalte giue vnto our troubles in this worlde yea though it bee thy will that the force or furie of Antichrist preuayle agaynst the mortall bodyes and worldelye estate of our selues or of our brethren yet let that thy heauenlye voyce styll recomforte our soules Blessed are the dead which hereafter dye in the Lorde euen so sayth the Spirite for they reste from theyr laboures and theyr workes followe them Wee knowe and acknowledge O Lambe of eternall light that with thee is true rest voyde of labour true life voyde of death true felicitie voyde of all trouble and miserie Wee knowe also that our workes which thorow thy grace we do according to thy wil go not before vs to make our way and passage into heauen which thy bloud and merites only haue done but that thither by thy great goodnes and fauour they followe vs to receiue reward at thy bounteous and liberall hand Lastlye for that the tyme of thy fynall iudgement doth approach and thy Aungels are shortly to be sent to reape the haruest of the earth and to cut downe the vynes of the vyneyarde thereof endue vs O Lorde with thy grace instruct vs in thy trueth that as pure Corne wee maye bee gathered into the Barnes of thy euerlasting blisse and neither as tares or wicked weedes bee throwne into the furnace of eternall fyre nor as the vngratious grapes full of vylenesse and vanytye bee cast into the Wnepresse of thy wrath which shal be trode without the citie that is executed without thy kingdome for without shalbe doggs and enchanters and whoremongers and murtherers and Idolaters and whosoeuer loueth or maketh lyes the bloud shall come euen to the horse bridles the tortures and tormentes shall reach from the meanest man to the mightiest monarch that for the space of a 1600 furlonges which is for euer and euer for rightlye may that square number of foure times foure intimate vnto vs eternitie And syth O thou second Adam and restorer of mankind thy church hath since thy natiuitie walked here on earth nowe neere sixtene hundred yeres as it were 1600 furlongs which is in hundreds of yeres proportionable to the time that was betweene the first Adam and the floud of Noe strike into our heartes with thy remembring spirite a deepe impression of thy comming that it be not with vs as in the days before the floud wherin they did eate and drinke and marrie and gaue in marriage and knewe nothing till the flould came and tooke them all away but that casting away all carelesnes and securitie we may like wise and faithfull seruantes be founde watchfull readie and diligent in fulfilling of thy will and doing of our duties earnestly praying and dayly expecting for thy comming that thou our Lorde and master so finding vs being the author and fountaine of all blessednesse mayst truely make vs blessed Come Lord Iesus Let thy mightie hande and out stretched arme O Lorde be still our defence thy mercy louing kindnes in Iesus Christ the deare sonne our saluatiō thy true and holy worde our instruction thy grace and holy spirite our comfort and consolation vnto the ende and in the end Annotations WHereas in the tenth verse of the xiij Chapter mention is made of a beast rysing vppe out of the earth hauing two hornes like the Lambe but speaking like the Dragon wee expounded the earth to be the Church militant so taking it in the better part as conferred and layde opposite to the sea from whence the former beast did proceede taking the sea for gentilisme and the earth for Christianisme Jf it shall better please any to take the earth in that place in the worser part then doth it signifie corruption superstition terrestriall appetites and earthly conceiptes of heauenly matters and in whether soeuer part the worde be interpreted the designation of the person there expressed is the same and receiueth no alteration Whereas in the thirde verse of the xiij Chapter there beeing mention made that one of the seauen heades of the Romaine Empire was as it were wounded to death but the deadly wounde thereof was healed we there expounde that heade to be Rome and Jtalie and the wounde to bee ciuill warres which interpretation is iustified by truth of historie yet considering the course of this prophesie and the exposition of the Angell in the xvij chapter in these wordes the seauen heades are seauen hilles whereon the woman sitteth they are also seauen Kinges fiue are fallen one is another is not yet come and when hee commeth he shall continue but a short time and the beast that was and is not is the eight and one of the seauen We incline rather to this interpretation that followeth and one of his heades was as it were wounded to death and his deadlie wounde was healed The seauen heades signified seauen Kinges or soueraigne gouernours that haue ruled and borne chiefe authoritie within the citie of Rome The first were Kinges the seconde Consulles the thirde Dictators the fourth decem viri the fift were Tribunes Militare the sixt Romaine Emperours the seuenth French Emperours the head that had the deadly wound but was healed was the sixt which receiued that wounde in the death of Iulius Caesar and which wounde was twelue yeares after cured by Augustus for in Iulius Caesar the Emperours beganne and in him that heade had like to haue ended but that the deadly wounde thereof was cured by Augustus as for the triumuirate it
was no heade but a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 hauing iust in the deadly wound of the sixt head of these seauen heads when Saint Iohn wrote this prophesie fiue were fallen that is the Kinges Consulles Dictators Decem viri and Tribunes militare one was which was the Romaine Emperours an other was not yet come that is the French Emperours And when he came he was to continue but a short time it continued not the eight part of the time of the former and the beast that was that is the Popedome which was prefigured in Aegypt and Babylon and is not that is had not yet attayned to that power and authoritie Is the eight that is the eight soueraigne gouernour of Rome and is one of the seauen that is to saye Romaine Emperour This Pope Boniface the eight well declared when as in a great Iubilie at Rome he went one day in his pontificall attire as Romaine Byshoppe and the next day in his robes Jmperiall as Romayne Emperour in the one he shewed himselfe as the eight in the other as one of the seauen They that mislike this interpretation will affirme that there were either fewer soueraigne gouernours of Rome or more if they saye there were fewer they will be conuinced by the auncient histories of Rome by the which wee shall proue the first fiue so precisely as the occasion of their beginning the time of their continuance the cause of their ceasing the perticular persons that gouerned in euerie of them shall manifestly appeare Jf farther to lesser the number they shall confounde the sixth and seauenth heade that is the Romaine and the French Emperours they shal attribute more to the French then euer themselues claimed or had either in power or dignitie for Charles the great first founder of that Empire claimed but the Empire of the West and in his time the Romaine Emperours dwelling in Constantinople and gouerning Rome and Italie by an exarchant partly by the treacherous practises of Rome and Italie partly by the forces and armes of the Kinges of Lumburdie was depriued first of his tributes and after of his territories in Italie so that the King of Lumbardes possessing and inuading all the Byshoppe of Rome for his owne benefite imployed the ayde of Charles the great who accordingly came into Italie ouerthrew the Lumbardes was made Emperour of the West and gaue Rome to the Pope not to bee saueraigne of it but to hold it of him and his heires in fee. But after the line of Charles the great was extinguished which continued not aboue a hundred yeeres a shorte time inrespect of the former the Popes attained the suffraintie of Rome both as Byshoppes and Emperours so became they the eight and one of the seauen as Boniface the eight manifestlie declared A prayer and that 〈◊〉 giuing for the deliuerie of her most excellent Maiestie from the pernitious practises of Antichrist and his counterfeit Catholickes O Eternall God and heauenly Father whose might is ineffable whose mercies inestimable we thy poore creatures most vnprofitable seruants in all humblenes of minde do prostrate our selues before the throne of thy maiestie yelding vnto thee with most feruent harts and faith vnfained the Sacrifice of prayse thanksgiuing Thy might did make vs when we were nothing our lewdnesse lost vs when we were made thy mercie saued vs when we were lost thy grace preserueth vs nowe we are saued thou art our God and great is thy goodnes we are thy people but great is our weakenes thou in thy giftes art gratious and bountifull Lord let thy grace make vs as thankefull Thou openest our eyes whereby we may see thou enlightnest our mindes whereby we may iudge thou feedest our soules wherby we may liue thou giuest vs peace whereby we may rest the light of thy gospell thou makest to shine a gratious Queene thou giuest vs to raigne thou rulest in her she raigneth in thee by these thinges thou comfortest our bodies and soules Lord herein the wicked do enuy our blisse the roaring lyon would faine vs deuour and Antichrist seeketh to cut off our head that then he may tread vs vnder his feete but thou of thy mercies hast bridled his rage his shame is discouered his purpose disclosed this is the worke of thy mighty hand his nets are broken and we are escaped preserue thine annoynted O Lorde of thy grace confounde thou thy foes and comfort thy flocke let Antichrist waste with the worde of thy mouth Illumine mens mindes that al nowe may see that murther is counted religious at Rome Thy name be praysed with hymnes of our heartes the notes of obedience most pleasing to thee In thoughtes wordes and deedes let vs still resounde for this thy great goodnes so gratiously shewed Defende O most mercifull father thy seruant our Soueraigne from all such wicked and pernitious attemptes Turne the Counsailes of all Achitophels to foolishnes sustaine her with thy mightie hande in her Royall estate enrich her dayly more and more with the treasures of thy heauenly wisedome Indue her aboundantly with thy most holy spirite and to thy glorie and our gladnesse make her an olde mother in Israell Graunt these thinges O Lorde for Iesus Christ his sake thy only sonne our onely Sauiour to whom with thee the holy Ghost three persons and one God be all honor glory prayse and power world without end Amen FINIS Reuel 12. Cus ep 2. 7. Lib. 6. cap. 9. Lib. 1. de â—ri Lib. 4 Lib. 5. Lib. 9 Lib. 8. cap. 2. in Ioan. Lib. 2. de doctr Chr. cap. 6. In Epist 3. ad volus Lib. 3. de doctr Chr. cap. 28. hom 12. cap. 34. Con. in cap. sextum Ep. ad Gal. H. 11. de ciuit Dei cap. 3. De doctr Chr. lib. 3. cap. 16. Lib. 3. de doctr Chri. cap. 5. Supr exod hom 12. cap. 34. In psal 125. Iohn 2. 1. Corin. cap. 2. Daniel 7. Ioseph de bello iuda ico lib. 2. cap. 3. Cap. 10. v. 13. Durandus Roffensis Zach. 11.12 Gen. 36. 35 Esvy 66. Paul 2. Thes 2.3.8 Re. cap. 14. vers 7.8