Rev. 19.20 So that our Saviour and his Apostles do both grant that Miracles may be done by a false Power and likewise affirm that whoever hath nothing else to alledge for his Religion but meerly Miracles that same is Antichrist For Truth stands not in need of such outward Circumstances to underprop it and according to the Scripture Miracles are not to prove the Doctrine but the Doctrine is to prove the Miracles whether they are from God or not But yet saith our Saviour with those Arts and waies he shall so far prevail as even almost to stagger the belief of the very Elect Many shall follow their destructive Doctrines 2 Pet. 2.2 Rev. 13. saith Peter the World shall wonder after the Beast saith John and he shall deceive the Inhabitants of the earth c. all which places do note an almost Universal seduction And if any ask how it comes to pass that Corruption so contrary to the received Tenets and Maximes of Christianity should be so generally embraced 2 Thes 2 10 11 the Apostle Paul hath given it Because men have not received the love of the Truth that they might be saved therefore shall God send upon them the strong working of deceit 2 Thes 2.9 that they should believe a Lye i.e. Men being unwilling to give themselves up to the guidance of Truth which shines clearly by its own Light both in Scriptures and in their own Understandings therefore shall God suffer them to be so brutish and Sottish as to quit their Reason and to be led up and down by any fond and ridiculous Errour as those Impostors shall guide them I have done with the Prediction of our Saviour concerning Antichrist V. Canenes Concil Trident. and if upon your enquiry you find that there is that Religion in the world which hath espoused and embodied into their Confession of Faith all the Opinions of Antichrist If there be that Church in the world which still pretends to do and for ought I know doth reall Miracles upon which they bottome their Plea to be the true Church if they maintain Persecution Violence and Fraud if they have dispirited and disenvigoured Religion by their worldly Pompe and Gallantry and make thriving in this world a sign that God doth love and favour them all which are Antichristian Tenets and Practices If there be that Person in the world who hath assumed the very stile of Antichrist who hath trampled upon Kings and trode upon the Necks of Emperours who in his Canon Law is called God and like God doth dispense with all both Divine and Humane Laws then first certainly Antichrist is already come and to deny it is to deny as great evidence and notoriety of fact as to deny it is day when the Sun shineth And secondly He which foretold that Antichrist should thus come with all these Circumstances that I have summed up he was undoubtedly a true Prophet the true Messiah for to repeat the Argument in my Text He told us these things before they came to pass and we find that they are come to pass and therefore he is The Use that I shall make of this whole Discourse is 1. To convince the Unresolved 2. To confirm those who are already setled Use 1 The first use shall be to convince the Unresolved I have already spoken something to awaken those that are resolute and peremptory Unbelievers but there are many who may be yet in their enquiring doubting and disputing state who are not unwilling to embrace the Faith of Christ but they find it to be so repugnant to every thing of natural Reason within them and likely to be attended with so much hazard and danger that they are either ashamed or afraid to own it but yet are not fixed in positive denial of it but through uncertainty they are alwaies Anxious and wavering Such as these ought to be tenderly and gently dealt with and two things I shall propose to them which may help to alleviate and to abate their Prejudices 1. That Christian Religion is in no part of it unreasonable for since the Proof of it in general depends upon the clearest Demonstration viz. The fulfilling of Prophesies then the belief of it must needs be rational I know very well that the things contained in the Scriptures viz. The Incarnation of the Son of God three Persons of the Godhead the Immediate Acting of the Holy Spirit upon the heart of Believers and the like are all Mysterious and no waies reconcileable to Humane Apprehension but then we must consider that these things are not proposed to our Understandings to comprehend them but meerly to our Faith to believe them which where there is a firm and demonstrable ground of Beliefe may be done even to many things that we understand not And the great hindrance that hath kept Christian Faith from entring into the minds of men is want of attendance to that distinction for many have both confounded themselves and subverted the Faith of others by pressing upon them a comprehension of what is no waies by us Intelligible And therefore all those Disputes about Predestination Trinity Resurrection Incarnation and the like are for the greatest part of them unprofitable and dangerous because they are not content barely to assert the Truth which is then best done when it is put into the plainest and most unscholastick Language of Scripture but our Arguers do over and above enquire de modo and labour to give reasons for those stupendious and amazing Mysteries which the Apostle Paul cries out 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 upon and for the most part ends the Dispute with a Reproof of the Disputer And therefore such of you as are not yet fixed in your belief set your selves purely upon this Article viz. to enquire whether Jesus be the Christ and never give it over till it hath pleased God fully to confirm you in it And my Reasons for this Advice are these three 1. Because this is the most effectual and ready way to prove unto you the Divine Authority of the Scriptures Those who set upon this work by endeavouring to prove the Scriptures to be the Word of God as they lye in gross and in their diffused Bulk proceeding by Chapter and Verse do undertake a Tedious and Impossible Task for there those ordinary and trivial Objections of mistakes and variations in Copies mistranslations and the like are never to be assoiled but if you draw the several lines in Scripture into their Center and contract them into Christ as you use to do the Sun-beams into a burning-glass then do they cast a quick and vigorous lustre sufficient to enlighten and warm even the most stiffe and rigid Opposer He that would demonstrate the Providence of God would not I suppose begin with the Minutiae mundi the lesser things of the World as Flies and Insects but he would fix as David doth upon the Sun or some noble and conspicuous part whose Use is undeniable and
thence conclude that if Providence hath a respect to any one part of the world it cannot be imagined but it should have an Influence over all for else it must either be Finite or Partial which is absurd So in the asserting of Scriptures begin with that which they all point at and which if one place be questioned thousands of the same kind will evince viz. That the Messiah was to come which is the great design of the Old Testament That the Messiah is come which is the sum of the New and then all the other parts of Scripture will be owned as suited to the Divine and Heavenly Nature of our Messiah who took a body not only that he might dye our Price but that he might live our Pattern And almost each Line of Scripture especially in the New Testament describes either his Life or his Language 2. Here the Doubter must begin because this is the readiest way to ascertain himself whether he be guided by the Spirit of God or not So the Apostle Paul 2 Cor. 12.3 None can call Jesus the Lord but by the Holy Spirit and John 1 Joh. 4.2 Every Spirit that confesseth Jesus the Messiah to be come in the flesh is of God They do not mean that saying this in words is a sign of the Spirit for what is more easie but the owning it in heart this whoever doth may be sure he hath the Spirit And the reason is plain because where the Object proposed doth exceed any natural power there must be a new power given by which that Object is to be received Thus the Apostle John argues concerning future glory Hereafter 1 Joh. 3.3 saith he we shall be like him i. e. Christ because we shall see him as he is There will be a proportion and similitude between Christs body and ours because our visive Faculty shall be so exceedingly advanced as that we shall be able to perceive him in his utmost radiance of Glory So in belief since the soul when it doth it is heightned beyond any native Virtue of its own it is a sign that Gods Spirit hath illuminated and enlarged its Capacity Thus the Apostle We are saved by Grace through Faith Eph. 2.8 and that not of our selves it is the gift of God i. e. that very Faith by which we apprehend Christ is as much the gift of God as Christ himself that is apprehended by it I know very well this seems harsh to many who are willing to boast in themselves but if ever you come to believe indeed you will find the Difficulties your Natural Reason doth urge and vex you with to be insuperable untill the Spirit of God by infusing new light doth explain and solve them Lastly Begin with enquiring whether Jesus be the Christ because upon this depends the whole course of your future Obedience Our Saviour required no more of any that came unto him but to believe that he was the Son of God not that he did exclude good works but he knew that this was the only way to facilitate and expedite them All the while we are either uncertain that our past sins are pardoned or our present services accepted how lamely how untowardly do we set about our duty But when once we believe on Christ all that care is over and the firmer our Faith is the higher and more ardent will our Love be which like a flame shoots through the soul and carries it out with an heavenly quickness and ardency Therefore saith the Apostle Rom. 10.9 10. If thou confess with thy mouth that Jesus is the Lord i.e. If thou obeyest him and believest in thy heart that God hath raised him from the dead i.e. that he is the true Messiah of which his Resurrection is an infallible proof thou shalt be saved For with the heart men believe unto righteousness i.e. unto the justification of their Persons and with the mouth is confession made unto Salvation But to think of making confession or doing any act of Religion without Faith desire at least and the desire of Faith is Faith this is only to mock God and to undo our selves by our foolish and hypocritical presumptions in presenting unto him a Sacrifice which he abhors For without Faith i. e. reliance upon him for mercy and out of Christ God is nothing else but Justice it is impossible to please him When the Doubter hath gone thus far as to find that if he will be satisfied here he must begin his next course will be to run over in his mind those Arguments which our Saviour useth to evince his being the Messiah such are the heavenliness of his Language Joh. 8.43 Why do you not saith our Saviour know my speech i.e. Why do you not perceive even by my manner of discourse that I am come from heaven full of that God in whose Name I speak Joh. 10.21 For as some of the Jews said these are not the words of him that hath a devil These are not the words of one that came to deceive the world and to boast of himself to be that which he was not Another Argument our Saviour urges is the holiness of his Life Joh 8.46 Joh. 10.32 Which of you saith he doth convince me of sin and many good works have I done amongst you for which of them do you stone me An holy humble self-denying man who forbad even his Miracles to be published cannot without intolerable malice be supposed to assume a title which did not belong to him Add to this the God-like Patience and Resolution of his Death dying in defence of this very Tenet unprovoked with injuries breathing out his soul in charity to men Father forgive them Luk. 23.34 for they know not what they do at the same time both praying and pleading for his bitterest Enemies and then giving up himself unto his Father with perfect Affiance Father Ibid. v. 46. into thy hands do I commend my Spirit Add yet farther the Testimony of his Followers who saw him after he was risen the success of his Doctrine in spite of Persecution and above all the fulfilling of Prophesies as I have already mentioned Truly then if he that doubted be not satisfied if he that was almost doth not become altogether a Christian he is strangely wanting to himself for God is not wanting to assist those who do but begin to enquire after him every doubt that ariseth being nothing else but a Motion of Gods Spirit whereby he would draw us unto himself Having thus cleared that to believe is not unreasonable as the Unbeliever supposeth the next thing I shall propose is this That 2. To obey is not dangerous for though we may lose our Lives yet sure we shall be sufficient gainers if we save our souls And therefore let the Doubter strengthen himself with representing Heaven in its fulness of Joy alwaies before his eyes That Doctrine which teacheth that we are not to have an eye to the
of the Holy Spirit which was to be upon the Messiah for that of him and not of Solomon that Psalm was written is clear from the foregoing Verse where speaking of the same Person he saith Ver. 6. Heb. 1.8 9. Thy Throne O God is for ever and ever And therefore by the Author of the Epistle to the Hebrews is rightly applied unto our Saviour Joh. 3.34 of whom John Baptist gives this Testimony That God gave unto him the Spirit 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i.e. not in that stinted and limited measure wherein formerly it was dispensed but suited to the Largeness of an Immence Donor and to the Capacity of an Infinite Receiver who was God as well as Man and by that neer Union did infuse into his Manhood whatever is conceiveable of Power Purity or Perfection And that this is the meaning of Jesus being the Christ i.e. anointed with the Spirit two places amongst many other will clear one is that of our Saviour in his Sermon Luk. 4.18 wherein he applies unto himself that passage in the Prophet Isay The Spirit of the Lord is upon me wherefore he hath anointed me i. e. By putting his Spirit upon me he hath abundantly fitted me for my employment Another place is that of the Disciples in their Prayer to God Act. 4.27 where applying Davids words in the second Psalm unto our Saviour Herod say they and Pilate together with the people of Israel were gathered against thy holy Child Jesus whom thou hast anointed i. e. as Peter explains it in another place Whom thou hast anointed with the Holy Spirit and with Power Act. 10.38 thereby enabling and qualifying him for so great and weighty an undertaking And so much for the first Observation Doctrine 2 The second Observation is this That the way infallibly to prove that our Saviour is the true Messiah is impartially to weigh the truth of his Predictions Before I address my self to the proof of this I must answer an Objection which many may be ready to make viz. That this is a thing sufficiently believed already and therefore it will be only lost labour to go about to prove it To which I answer 1. That the greatest part of those who call themselves Christians are not so indeed For as the Apostle saies of his Thessalonians so may we say of most in our respective Auditories 1 Thes 3.2 All have not Faith There being in all places many too many whose Conversation should the Apostle have seen he would have told them as he did the Philippians weeping That they were enemies of the Cross of Christ for their belly was their God and they gloried in their shame Phil. 3.18 19. For let us not deceive our selves as if Viciousness and Pravity of Life could be reconciled with Sincerity and Truth of Faith but rather let us argue with David The wickedness saith he Psal 36.1 of the wicked saith in my heart there is no fear of God before his eyes i.e. when I see the Actions of wicked men I do as evidently perceive that inwardly they fear not God as if they did in express terms proclaim and avouch it So may we without any uncharitableness conclude from the Lives of most Christians that their hearts are full of Unbelief For there is so necessary so inseparable a Connexion between Faith and Obedience that they can no more be severed than Fire and Heat And therefore since the fruits of Unbelief are so apparent every where it is our duty not only to Preach but to Prove Jesus to be Christ that so we may root out those innate and soul-destroying Seeds 2. My second Answer to that Objection is That the firmest and best rooted Faith is yet capable of an Encrease and Progress He that believeth a little ought to believe much and he that believeth much may believe more and therefore Arguments which do enforce grounds of Faith can never be unseasonable for which reason it is that though these Disciples did believe on our Saviour had confessed him and in token of firm affiance did promise to dye with him rather than to forsake him yet our Saviour thought fit to fortifie and strengthen them by yet more urging this new Motive Sc. the event of his Predictions Having thus cleared my way to the Doctrine and shewed the necessity of preaching it I affirm That the way to be infallibly assured that our Saviour is the Messiah is to observe the Event of his Precitions Because First Reason 1 This is the way which our Saviour laies most stress upon both here and in other places here it was the very scope and design of his foretelling the Treachery of Judas I tell you saith he before it comes to pass that when it doth come to pass you may believe that I am And again when he had told them of his own departure Joh. 14.29 and that he would send the Comforter that is the Holy Spirit to supply his room and to make up their Joyes he adds And now I tell you before it come to pass Joh. 16.4 that when it doth come to pass ye might believe Again when he had told his Disciples of that violent and inhumane Usage they should meet with These things saith he have I told you that when the time shall come ye may remember that I told you of them i. e. And from thence gather a full and peremptory assurance of my Truth and Veracity So in those many Predictions which we have in Mat. 24. our Saviour subjoyns 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Mar. 13.23 but you look to it behold I have foretold you all things So that our Saviour so often urging and insisting upon his Prophesies seems to intimate that he was not unwilling to venture his whole Cause upon the force of that single Argument Secondly Reason 2 This is the way which God himself did long before point to and warrant us in the Use of For he foretels by Moses I will raise them up a Prophet from among their Brethren Deut. 18.18 like unto thee and I will put my words in his mouth and he shall speak unto them all that I shall command him This Prophesie our Saviour hath a peculiar respect to throughout all this Gospel of John as Ch. 5.46 Had ye believed Moses ye would have believed me for he wrote of me And Chap. 6.38 I came down from heaven not to do my own will but the will of him that sent me And Chap. 7.16 My Doctrine is not mine but his that sent me which he oftentimes repeats from whence many of the people Ver 40. who heard him conclude This is of a truth the Prophet i. e. That Prophet whose coming Moses had foretold So in that last Prayer which our Saviour made on earth in behalf of his Disciples Joh. 17.6.8 he useth these words I have manifested thy Name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the World For I have given unto
according to the description of Iosephus for the State Magnificence and strength of them were the goodliest buildings in the World our Saviour replies to them See ye not all these things Verily I say unto you there shall not be left here one stone upon another which shall not be thrown down And accordingly Josephus tells us Lib. 6 7. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that the first thing which was burnt down to the ground and that utterly against the will of Titus was the Temple upon that very month and day as he observes wherein it was formerly burnt by Nebuchadnezzar And concerning the City 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 saith he 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i. e. Destroying the rest of the City and digging down the Walls Titus left only two Towers standing to be monuments of the Romane Prowess And that that Prophesie might to a scruple be fulfilled our Historians tell us Socrates lib. 3. c. 20. that in the Emperour Julians time when the Jews upon his entreaty went to rebuild their Temple that they might offer sacrifice again an Earthquake in the night tore up the very Foundations of it and made them leave off their Enterprize 2. The second particular is the terrible slaughter of most of them and the utter dispersion and captivity of the rest When ye shall see Luk. 21.20 24. saith our Saviour Jerusalem compassed about with Armies which explaines that that in Daniel and Matthew is called The abomination of desolation i. e. the abominable destroying Army of the Romans then know that the desolation thereof is nigh For these are the daies of vengeance And they shall fall by the edge of the Sword and shall be led away captive into all Nations Lib. 6. c. 17. Which slaughter the Historian relates 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 saith he 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i. e. The number of the slain exceeds all Humane or Divine Vengeance which though it be Hyperbolically spoken yet he reckons up a Million and ten Thousand which were killed in that year of the Siege a number great enough to justifie his Passion at least abundantly sufficient to verifie our Saviours Predictions and for the other part of the Prophesie namely their Captivity this was partly fulfilled by Titus who carried away and sold near an hundred thousand Prisoners but more particularly by Adrian in whose time the Jews rebelling under the conduct of an Impostor who called himself Barcocheb or the Son of the Star they were then most miserably slaughtered and an Edict made by the Emperour that the whole Nation should be banished that saith my Author none of them Euseb l. 4.6 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 not so much as at a distance might see their Native Country Then which a more cruel and barbarous as well as unpolitick Law I think was never made to dispossess a whole Nation at a time without distinction of Innocent and Criminal or any Provision to guard those Frontiers But the more harsh and extraordinary the proceeding was against them the more clearly doth our Saviours Truth shine forth who had foretold that this should befall them Lastly The last and greatest evill that was prophesied of them That the Kingdom of God should be taken from them Mat. 21.43 Thus our Saviour The Kingdom of God shall be taken from you and given to a People that bring forth the Fruits of it This I call their greatest evil for if when the Arke was taken which was but a sign of Gods presence 1 Sam. 4.21 Elie's daughter called her child Ichabod saying the glory is departed from Israel How much more may we call that Nation now Ichabod for the Gospel is departed from them there is among them no Vision Psal 74.9 nor in the Psalmists words none that knows how long Nay as if they had lost their Reason with their Religion they are so miserably blinded and given up to such ridiculous follies as we cannot but both pity and smile at them Adv. Cels l. 2. p. 60. Origen said of them long since interpreting this Prophesie of our Saviour This saith he we may now see verified for all that is among the Jews is only 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Tales and Trifles for they have not the light of Scripture-knowledge Adv. Jud. c. 13. And Tertullian Now saith he they have left the Fountain they have hewed to themselves broken Cisterns i. e. Synagogues among the Gentiles where they are scattered in which the Holy Spirit doth not recide which alone is the true Temple And in this condition they now are fit objects only for our Prayers and Compassion and I wish that all Unbelievers would lay it to heart that to slight the Gospel is not a sin that will be expiated with a little Vengeance For I shall be bold to say that it was not the killing of our Saviour though a murder of a most execrable composition for that our Saviour prayed might be forgiven them Luk. 23.34 who we are sure was heard in whatever he requested which brought down all that storm of wrath upon them but their peremptory and obstinate Neglect of offered Mercy after it This shall come upon them Luk. 21.44 saith our Saviour because they have not known the time of their Visitation i. e. they would not lay hold upon mercy while it might be had And therefore our Saviour graciously passing by all offences after his Passion sends his Disciples first to them and bids them begin at Jerusalem and shewed how ready he was to pardon all by his acceptance of some and waiting long for the rest It was necessary saith the Apostle Paul Act. 13.46 that the Gospel should first be preached to you but seeing you put it from you and judge your selves unworthy of eternal life i.e. think your selves too good to stoop unto Gods method of saving you loe we turn to the Gentiles And when their malice stopped not there but what they refused themselves they envied unto others Who as the same Apostle observes 1 Thes 2.15 16. killed the Lord Jesus and their own Prophets and likewise persecuted us forbidding us to speak unto the Gentiles that they might be saved then God could hold no longer but gave the reins to his Justice and now saith he the wrath is come upon them to the uttermost So then that I may conclude this Prediction with the Apostles exhortation They were broke off by Unbeliefe and we stand by Faith Rom. 11.20 let us not be high-minded but fear For if God spared not the Natural branches much less will he spare us And as Gods severity to them sets off his mercy to us so the Conclusion is infallible that unless we continue in that mercy we shall likewise be cut off What was their Fate must needs be ours if we consent to and approve their sin as all the while we continue in or fall back into unbelief we own and defend that Crime of the Jews and
the World the desire of the Flesh i. e. Pleasure the desire of the Eyes i. e. Riches and the pride of Life Ver. 18. i. e. outward State and Magnificence they are not of God but of the World To which he immediately subjoyns Little children it is the last hour and as you have heard that Antichrist shall come so now there are many Antichrists Plainly intimating that there were some who by immersing themselves in the Delights and Excesses of the World did abundantly discover their Antichristian temper And accordingly in the Revelation Apoc. 12. that Woman which figured the true Church as so on as ever she had brought forth i. e. received and embraced the Faith of Christ she is said to flee into the Wilderness where she was to abide for a long time in a disconsolate and afflicted condition where it is observable that the time viz. of 1260. daies which is allotted unto the womans abode in the Wilderness is the very same time in which the Witnesses were to Prophecy 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 being arrayed with sackcloath Apoc. 11.3 to shew their indigent and needy state as likewise the Temple or true worshippers of God was so long to be trampled under food which likewise is the time limited for Antichrists Reign and Persecution Thus the true Church like Christ her Head finds no peace on Earth but is fain to seek shelter in a Wilderness But that woman which is the Embleme of the False Church Rev. 17 3. is represented to sit in goodly Array upon a scarlet-coloured Beast And the woman was cloathed with Purple and Scarlet and adorned with Gold and precious Stones and Pearls i. e. Tricked up and set out with the utmost circumstances of outward Glory and Magnificence by which she doth allure and entice her Followers making her Religion as pompous Theatricall and specious as may be that so it might be taking But we have not so learned Christ who was himself poor and his Doctrine strict and severe so that to take off from the end of Religion which is to withdraw men from Earth that they may mind Heaven and to change the Spirit and Purity of Worship into the splendour and pompe of Service this is not of Christ therefore it is Antichristian Thirdly The third and last thing in the practice of Ancichrist by which he may be descried is Persecution of all that dissent from him though never so holy or Religious otherwise which is an infallible Note of Antichrist as being directly contrary to the Meekness Mercy and Moderation of our Saviour For when the Disciples desired that they might call down for Fire from Heaven to punish those Barbarous and Inhumane Samaritans who would not so much as allow him a lodging in one of their Villages Luk. 9.55 Our Saviour sharply reproves them Ye know not saith he of what spirit you are i. e. the Christian spirit is not a bloody a self-avenging but a tender a compassionate spirit For the Son of man came not to destroy mens lives but to save them And again Ib. v. 50. when some of his Disciples told him that they found some doing miracles in his name but they forbade them because say they they followed not us Forbid them not saith our Saviour for he that is not against us is for us Thus the Apostle Paul Let every man saith he 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Rom. 14. be fully assured in his own mind i. e. of the Necessity and Lawfulness of that which he doth 16. And judge not one another but judg this rather that none do put a stumbling block or a cause of offence before his Brother And again 2 Cor. 1.24 We saith he 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 do not Lord it over your Faith or Consciencious Perswasion in things indifferent but if any be otherwise-minded God will reveal this to him Phil. 3.15 with many hundreds of Scriptures more to the same purpose which shew that nothing doth more savour of the spirit of Christianity than Mutual Forbearance and Toleration And that nothing is more repugnant to it then Harshness Rigour and Imperious Exaction But Antichrist quite contrary is all made up of cruelty and unmercifulness The false Prophets Mat. 7. saith our Saviour which come in my Name they wear sheeps-cloathing but inwardly they are ravening Wolves i.e. They seem mild and gentle but indeed are Furious and bloud-thirsty men and therefore in the Revelation Antichrist is compared unto a Beast which hath horns like a Lambe i. e. in outward appearance seems to act for Christ but speaks like a Dragon Rev. 13.16 17. i.e. in his Decrees and Impositions is Outragious and Bloudy Insomuch that he causeth all great and small rich and poor free and bond to receive a mark in their Foreheads or in their hands That no man might buy or sell save he that had that mark i. e. They were either to joyn with him in his publike Worship and by some outward Testimony manifest their Conformity or else they should not buy nor sell i.e. not so much as exercise any civill Commerce or Society with men Nor is that all that he will exclude such from the benefits of Life But saith the Text R. v. 18.13 if men will not worship the beast and that Image which he hath set up 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 he causes that they be slain which is the utmost expression of Inhumanity and therefore among the Merchandize of the False Church here are reckoned 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the souls or lives of men either bestained and poysoned with their Inventions or destroyed by their Butchery So infinitely different is Antichrist from Christ Christ would not have the least of those offended that believe on him Antichrist doth nothing else but offend them And so much for the second thing in our Saviours Prediction viz. The way how Antichrist or the False Prophet is to be destroyed in the decyphering of which I have purely followed that Method Rev. 19 10. which the Spirit of Prophesie which is called the Testimony of Jesus in Scripture hath chalked out to me without mingling the least of my own Inventions and uncharitable Presumptions with it 3. The third thing observable in our Saviours Prediction is the Time when Antichrist should arise which is implied in the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 then i. about the Time that Jerusalem was destroyed which that it was a very proper time for Antichrist to arise in will appear from these two Reasons 1. Because then the Apostles and others who planted Christianity and were infallibly inspired by God were all dead and therefore when these Suns were Set it is no wonder if Darkness and Night did speedily overspread the World This is plainly intimated by our Saviour where he tells his Disciples that before Jerusalem was destroyed They shall saith he Mat. 24.9.11 deliver you up unto Tribulation and they shall kill you whereupon