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A77950 A measure of the times: and a full & clear description of the signes of the times, and of the changing of the times; and of the reign of Antichrist, who hath long reigned, and of his down-fall, which is at hand; and of the kingdom of Christ which is now setting up in the earth. Shewing unto all people in all nations, what the state of things hath been in ages past, and what the state of things are at this present day. ... And also, here it is manifest, concerning the teachers of this age, and the root from whence they sprang, who are manifest to be of that stock of false prophets, which Christ prophesied of should come, and which the Apostles saw was coming in their dayes, and how that the night of darknesse hath been upon all, for many generations: ... And also, the restauration is described, which shortly cometh, wherein Christ shall reign, whose right it is, and shall change laws and decrees, and the lamb shall be the light of all nations, ... and their King shall possesse the uttermost parts of the earth. By one who hath measured the times, who is come to the day that hath made all things manifest. Edw: Burrough. Burrough, Edward, 1634-1662. 1657 (1657) Wing B6012; Thomason E919_6; ESTC R207505 31,897 44

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Christ said and led aside and blinded and bewitched by him And as I have said these teachers of this generation are of them of their Root and off-spring which long hath flourished on the face of the earth But the day is at hand that the heaven and the holy Apostles and Prophets shall rejoyce over the whore and over the false Prophet for the Lord comes to avenge us on her and as she hath done so shall it be done unto her now in this day wherein Jerusalem shall be builded againe and the holy City which the Gentiles have trod under foot for fourty and two monthes which time is expired and near a full end accounting from the dayes of the coming in of the Apostacy untill this day if any have an eare to heare let him heare this I have received from God I say the holy City shall be measured and the Gentiles cast out and she shall be adorned and as a bride for her husband shall she be prepared and Gods Tabernacle shall be with men and he will dwell with them and they sh●ll be his people and God himselfe will be their God and all teares shall be wiped away and there shall be no more death nor sorrow for the former things are passed away and all things shall be made new And what I have said are the faithfull sayings of God every one that is a thirst shall drink of the water of life freely and he that overcometh shall inherit all things and shall be called the Son of God and shall dwell in the holy City which long the Gentiles foot hath troden under which shall againe be adorned and prepared as a Bride for her husband if any hath an ear to heare let them heare And the glory of the Lord is risen and his day is breaking forth more abundantly and the Lambe is given for a light and all Nations that are saved shall walke in the Light of the Lambe and the King of righteousnesse who hath been long fled into Egypt while Herod the Beast which hath sought his life and driven the woman into the wildernesse hath reigned shall againe be set upon the holy hill of Sion and rule all Nations with a rod of Iron and trample upon the necks of all his enemies the Nations hath not for many ages been ruled by him But the Beast who hath ruled over kindreds and people and said who hath been able to make war against the Beast and to the power of the Beast hath all Nations been subject and the dominion of Christ hath been troden down and despised and his holy City hath been laid wast and his Princely power hath not been felt nor witnessed in the Kingdomes of men for ages and times nor him the one head and the one horne hath not been known but many heads and hornes hath been exalted and all Nations and all the Princes and Kingdomes of the earth hath been subject unto the Rule and Law of the Beast and to the divinations of the false Prophet and darknesse hath been over all and God hath been as a stranger in the earth as one not known he hath been worshiped ignorantly and the inscription every where hath been to the unknown God but now after all this the glorious God of truth hath appeared and great and mighty hath been his hand and power in this our day in raising up a righteous branch out of the Root of righteousnesse and in gathering his scattered people up to himselfe who have been scattered by the Idoll teachers and deceived by the false Prophets and made a prey upon by the wilde Beasts of the Forrest O how hath the people been made a prey upon by their teachers and greedily devoured by dumb shepherds who have sought themselves and sought for their gaine every one from his quarter for many ages how hath people been led blind by their blind shepheards and none to this day come to the knowledge of the truth by them for these have run and was not sent and therefore the people have not been profited at all as it was in Jeremiahs dayes so is it now no profit among people in the knowledge of the wayes of God but leanesse and barrennesse and as the teacher so his people all out of the way in prophanesse and wickednesse and prophanesse is gone forth from them into many Nations yet is the Lord bringing backe his inheritance which hath been driven away into the desolate wildernesse yea and the Lord hath caused his light to shine out of darknesse and unto them that have sit in darknesse and in the shaddow of death is the marvellous light risen that the glory of the Lord may be revealed and Gods Tabernacle may be with men and the holy City is a preparing as a bride for her husband and darknesse shall fly away and sorrow and sighing shall no more be known but life and immortality shall againe be brought to light as it was in the dayes of the Apostles This I have received from God and the Lord shall be known to be the God of his people and for this cause hath he called and chosen faithfull witnesses and given his powerfull ministry by the gift of the holy Ghost as it was in the Apostles dayes and now many are called to declare abroad the things which we have heard and seen and handled and the Gospel of Christ is received by the Revelation of Gods eternall Spirit and Son in our hearts and the power is made manifest and the forme of godlinesse is denied and judged and Christ the one head is exalting and the one horn of Gods salvation is revealing and the many heads and many hornes must be broken to pieces and be confounded in this the day of the Lord for his purpose is powerfull in carrying on his own work against all his enemies so that none is able to hinder But they that set themselves even the Beast and his power which is now struck at and his Kingdome is invaded hath raised the force of his power and the policie of his arme yet shall they be confounded and no formed weapon shall prosper against the Lord and his way who is now arisen to avenge himselfe of the Beast and his power and the whore and her fornications and the false Prophet and his divinations which all must into the wine-presse of Gods dreadfull wrath to be troden and all that worship the Beast and repents not shall partake of the plagues of the Beast and of the whore and though the false Prophet gather Gog and Magog together to fight against the Lamb and to compasse the beloved City about yet he shall and them that he gathers be broken to pieces and driven as dust before the wind and as stubble before the fire for the purpose of the Lord shall stand Great Babylon is come into remembrance before the Lord to reward her according to her deeds and the Lord will cause his truth and his salvation to be known in the earth
mouth and the church of Thyatira suffered that woman Jezabell to prophesie and to teach and seduced the servants of the Lord to commit fornication and to eat things sacrificed unto Idolls and she and her lovers was to be cast into a bed of torment and her children should be killed with death and all the churches should know that God searched the reines and the hearts and every one should receive according to their deeds and the church of Sardis had only a name to live but was dead and her work was not perfect before God and upon them would the Lord come as a thiefe and they should be in darknesse and not know what houre he would come And the church of the Laodiceans were luke warme and neither hot nor cold and the Lord would spew her out of his mouth for she was wretched and miserable and poore and blinde and naked and the shame of her nakednesse did appeare and if any had an eare to heare they might heare these things were spoken by him that lives for ever the first and the last the beginning and the Amen so that hereby the Lords soul was vexed and his spirit grieved and his wrath was suddenly kindled against them who were revolters and backsliders from his way of salvation which he had made manifest to them through the mouth of his servants so that his fury went out against them to overthrow them and to break them to pieces and they being turned from his Law and from his statutes he gave them up unto their own hearts desire and brought in the heathen upon them to confound them who broke them asunder and trod down many of their Cities and gained great Ports of their dominions and made them slaves by multitudes and overthrew their worship and subjected their power even the Turks and base uncircumcised people made a prey upon them and possessed their habitations and set up abominable Idolatries in the place where Gods honour had dwelt and their dominions and treasures without became spoyle to the teeth of devourers for they having lost the terrour of the Lord he brought up the heathen to be a terrour unto them whose power was mightier then they and overcame them they being without the power of God and this justly came upon them according to the purpose of the Lord because of their backslidings And others of them who was not so given up to the will of an outward enemy yet were they given up to strange Idolatries and subversion and setting up images and worshiped that which is not God but abomination to him to this day so that the holy City which had been full of glory was given to the Gentiles to be troden downe and under their poluted feet hath it been stamped and to their mouth hath it been a prey for such a time even since these things came to passe unto this day as you may read and the Beast and false Prophet hath ruled in oppression and the great whore hath made all Nations drunke with the wine of her fornication All the great men and Princes and nobles and all the people upon earth have been made drunke by her and touched her uncleannesse and ever since the day wherein the backsliding entered she hath fit upon nations and kindreds and tongues and people and hath been decked in divers colours to deceive the hearts of all people and all Nations have been deceived by her and the beast and his power whose dominion hath been great hath upheld wickednesse by a Law and established Idolatry by decrees and all have been out of the way and wandring in blindnesse and darknesse even the whole world have worshiped the Beast and gone after the false Prophet which sits upon the Beast and his power protects him till they be both overthrowne into perdition and cast alive into the Lake which now the Lord is comeing to doe in power and dominion and great Babylon is coming into remembrance before the Lord and as she hath done so shall it be done to her her children is dashing against the stones and her offspring is withering away and the darknesse is vanishing and the Sun is appearing and the beastly power shall be subdued and the false Prophet confounded even the old Dragon shall be bound and chained never more to deceive for the Beast hath had a long reigne with his false Prophet who have prophesied lies and false divinations and led away the minds of all people For marke and consider Christ Jesus who came into the world with glad tidings of good things even with peace and salvation he said the glorious day was come and even that day which many Prophets and wise men had desired to see but had not seen the earth was filled with light as I have said yet he farther prophesied and said that the night would come when no man could work and that in the last dayes false Prophets should arise and deceive many and should come into the world and should cry loe here and loe there is Christ and and if it were possible should deceive the very elect and the Apostle John in his time who had been an eye-witnesse of Jesus and had handled and tasted and felt the word of life and had been with Jesus and bore a true testimony unto him in that very age and generation he saw the false Prophets and antichrists come and coming in and aluded to the very sayings of Christ by this we know said he that it is now the last time for there are now many false Prophets and antichrists gone out into the world they were not of the true Apostles but went out from among them being gone out from the light in their own particulars and beguiled the hearts of the simple by good words and faire speeches and went in Balaams way for gifts and rewards and in Caines way to envy and murder as you may read in the Scripture so that in Johns time the false Prophets which Christ foretold off were come and they did deceive many according as Christ had said and they drew many from the wayes of God and subverted many from the truth and made havocke of the flock and were grievous wolves according as Paul had said and truth began to perrish from among men and the power thereof ceased and the apostacy came in and the forme was set up for a season so that John farther saw and said the whole world went after the Beast and false Prophet whom he saw before was come and worshiped the Beast and his image But a few whose names were written in the book of life and as I have said the holy City with the outward Court was troden down by the Gentiles foot and darknesse surprized all and wickednesse abounded more and more and the night came upon all as Christ had prophesied and the Beast grew in his dominion till there was hardly any man left to beare witnesse in the truth and in the power of God unto the name of
and spoyling of their goods to the ruine of families almost for their maintenance as tythes and such like which if their consciences were not seared they could not doe also some of them cryed to the rude wicked people in their Idoll Temples fight lads for the Gospel and many who have borne witnesse to the truth and against their deceits have been beat and abused and knocked downe as for dead in their presence and their consciences are absolute seared else they would tremble at these things Also the Apostle Peter he saw false Prophets would come in 2 Pet. 2. And false teachers who would bring in damnable heresies even denying the Lord that bought them and many should follow their pernicious wayes and through covetousnesse with feigned words they would make merchandize of people and they would walke after the flesh in the lust of uncleanesse and despise government and be presumptuous and selfe willed and not afraid to speak evill of dignities and they would speak evill of things they understand not and their hearts are exercised with covetous practises and were cursed children and they sport themselves with their own deceivings and these had forsaken the right way and are gone astray following the way of Balaam who loved the wayes of unrighteousnesse and these are clouds that are carryed with a Tempest and they speak great swelling words of vanity and while they promise to others liberty themselves are the servants of corruption And such were scoffers and mockers which would come after the Apostles dayes and they would walke after their own lusts And now according to this prophesie of Peter who saw false teachers coming in he gave these characters of them whereby it doth plainly appeare that this generation of teachers are they and of that stock which then came in for these brings forth the very same fruits which they did which he spoke of and we knowe them by their fruits as Christ hath said for these have filled the world with damnable heresies as holding forth that sprinkling infants with water is baptisme into the faith of Christ and that a sleeple-house is the church and that singing Davids experiences in the world among wicked people in rime and meeter is singing to the praise of God and these are damnable heresies even to the denying the Lord that bought them for they deny the light of the Lord Jesus Christ given to every man to be the only teacher and the only guide of man and they that doe deny the light of Christ with which every man that comes into the world is lighted to be sufficient to lead to Christ and to the Kingdome of God as these teachers in this age doe they deny the Lord that bought them and many even whole Nations all the world as John saw in the revelations have followed their pernicious wayes and run after their Idolatry and pernicious wayes of superstitions and they doe make merchandize of soules through covetousnesse with their feigned words for where they can make their bargaine to have the most money there they will preach and no where else and if any will give them more the next yeare they will sell that people and goe to another for very covetousnesse by feigned words and they doe walke after the flesh in the lust of pride and covetousnesse which is uncleanesse of the flesh and they despise the Saints government and order for they will not suffer the Saints to prophesie one by one in their assemblies according to the Saints government but doth despise that and persecute it by the government of the Beast unto whose government they are subject and not to the government of Christ and the Saints and thus they are presumptuous and selfe-willed presuming to afflict and cause the children of God to be cast into prison and suffering them to be beat and abused by their flock out of their wicked selfe wills and they are not afraid to speak evill of dignities and doth speak evill of the wayes of God and of his truth which they understand not and their hearts are exercised with covetous practises and are cursed children for they make poor people that hath but ten eggs give them one and that hardly can get any fewell for the fire pay them a penny for the smoake with such many other exceeding covetous practises as suing men two hundred mile to answer for three shillings claimed by them for tithes And these sport themselves in their vanities in their own deceiving and when they have oppressed people for their wages and makes people pay them for whom they doe no work and forces wages from them that never hired them which is unheard of covetous practises they sport themselves in their pride and lustfullnesse and they are out of the right way and gone astray from the wayes of God which are holy and are in the way of Balaam who went after unrighteous wages who sought for enchantment against Jsrael as these doe and these loves unrighteous wages by taking maintenance from people by force unto whom is nothing oweing by them and these are carried with a Tempest of every wind according as the powers of the earth blowes these are carried sometime under such a government and sometime against it and so are clouds carried about and are unsetled on the foundation and they speak great words of Christ and God and the Scriptures which are but words stolen by them because they are not spoken by the Spirit of God but by a lying Spirit and they promise to others liberty that they shall receive the Kingdome of God after death and that Christ hath taken away their sins with such like promises of liberty but themselves are the servants of corruption living in pride and hatred and covetousnesse and these serve sin and are servants of corruption and they are scoffers and mockers and walkers after their own lusts as it is evident in all mens sight So that according to the judgment of truth we judge these teachers of this generation to be of the same root which then sprang forth for these brings forth the same fruites as they in that time did and in the apostacy they have over-spread the whole world and also the Apostle Jude gave a description of them according as Peter had done he saw certaine men creeping in who turned the grace of God into wantonnesse and they were filthy dreamers and knowes nothing but what they know naturally as bruit Beasts and in that they corrupt themselves and they have gone in the way of Caine and run greedrly after the errour of Balaam and they are trees whose fruit withereth rageing waves of the Sea foaming out their own shame wandering Starres they are murmurers and complainers walking after their own lusts having mens persons in admiration because of advantage and these seperate themselves sensuall having not the Spirit and of this sort which Jude describeth are these teachers in this generation whose fore fathers crept in in the Apostles dayes and
Jesus but all was subverted into dead formes and shaddowes and likenesses without life and the Lord left the earth as it were and covered himselfe in the darknesse and became a stranger in the world and did scarce openly speake by vision nor dream nor Prophet but all were left in the darke and ignorance abounded and superstition was exalted the Saints spirit and ●se which they were in and guided by was lost and then they began to worship the Saints names and dayes and words without the life and power and that nature and that same seed which had persecuted the Saints to death and gainsayed the pover and lost the holy ghost turned it selfe into the professi●n of the Saints words which were left upon record and confirmed it selfe into the Saints practises without the life power and holy ghost And having lost the power from which the Sripture was given forth and not being guided in the life whic● they were in which spoke it forth then from the Scripture 〈◊〉 mens own conceptions and thoughts and by their reason w●●hout Gods Spirit they set up likenesses and images and sects and formes and many heads and many hornes grew upon the beast which all the world worshiped and went after for they had lost Christ the one head wherein the union stood and grew into Idollitry under the many heads which was upon the Beast who had many hornes which pushed one against another as it is witnessed unto this day doe not the Papists and Protestants so called and other sects risen out of them push one at another to break and teare one another and these have many heads The Pope he is a head and the others they have a head which every one bowes down under his own head the Pope will not bow to the Protestants head nor will the Protestants bow to the Papists head the Presbiterians and Independants and Anibaptists and the rest every one of them bowes to their own head and will not bow to anothers head and all these with their hornes pushes one against another to rend one another and all these are from Christ and knowes not him the one head of the whole body and the one horn of Gods salvation unto all people for Christ which is but one is the head and the horne which all the Saints who are now gathered out of this apostacie and dark night unto whom the Light againe is risen worships Christ the one head and knowes him the one horn which pushes against the Devils Kingdome which hath long been set up and ruled in the earth among all these who have many heads and many hornes who are all of them the very chiefest but in the night fallen in the apostacie and darknesse since the beginning of the reigne of the Beast and the comi●g in of the false Prophet which came in as I have said when the churches backslided with the whore also who have mad● all Nations and people drunk with the wine of her fornic●tion and the Beast hath reigned over all Nations in his dominion and authority and the false Prophet hath prophesied through all nations And all these came in since the dayes of Christ or he prophesied that it should be so as it is come to passe and they were coming in in the dayes of the Apostles as you may read Paul saw them coming and largely describes ●heir character in severall epistles And Peter he saw them coming in and described them what such they were and should be and Jude he saw them also and John more fully then any both in his epistles and revelations as I have hinted at And when the Apostles were taken of the earth some by cruell death and others was banished then they sprung in more fully and grew through all Nations and to this day hath the Beast with his many heads and hornes ruled in Nations and been worshiped and his false prophet hath ever since been defended and riden on the Beast through Nations and hath deceived the Nations with vanity and errour and at this very day the Nations and people are deceived and lies under darknesse in the slavery and bondage under the authority of the Beast and subject to the doctrine of his false Prophets And as I have said darknesse hath been over all and fancies and liknesses without life have been bowed under and the power being lost the forme hath been set up one after this sort and another after that according to mens vaine conceits and apprehensions upon the Scriptures and not according to the manifestation of the Spirit of God which fulfills the Scriptures and brings to live the life of them So in divers colours and in divers appearances and Robes in severall formes and shapes of garments hath the great whore been decked who hath sit upon the Beast haveing the false Prophet serving as a boy or servant to doe whatsoever the whore listeth And the false Prophet this servant to the whore under the power of the Beast hath moved and turned as the Beast would And according as the whore hath changed her selfe into other garments and colours even so hath the false Prophet changed his doctrine and prayers to please the whore and to keepe people under the goverment of the Beast It 's knowne in this our day that some who preached and prayed for the King and Bishops doe now preach and pray for others even for them who destroyed King and Bishops so the false Prophet with all his children is but the whores servant who hath made drunk Kings and Princes and great men and people and Nations with the cup of fornication and abomination in the severall sects and formes of worships which hath been set up without the power of godlinesse for the Babtisme of the Spirit being lost and not known then from the letter by imaginations were severall sorts of Baptisme brought forth as sprinkling of infants that darke folly and vaine vanity which all these Nations have been deceived withall by the exercise of the false Prophet And when the gift of the ministery through the holy ghost which the ministers of Christ had was lost and not any more received Then began men to make Ministers by naturall learning and artes and languages and humane pollicie and when the gift of preaching by the eternall Spirit was lost through the coming in of the Apostacie then began men to study from Books and writings what to preach and say not having the holy ghost received in them which none is a minister of Christ without marke that and when men had lost through ignorance the knowledge of God dwelling in them and that their bodyes was his temple and that he dwelled and walked in his people then began they againe to build Temples without and to set up their false worships in them for having lost the sense of Gods true worship which the Saints worshiped in in the Spirit and in the truth Then they began to worship in set dayes and set times and set places
and outward observances which is not the worship of God in the Spirit and in the truth but superstitious and Idolatrous and when the word of God was not received immediately from his mouth nor the Gospel by the revelation of Jesus Christ as it was in the dayes of the Apostles then darknesse being come in they used their tongues when the Lord had not spoken to them as the false Prophets did before Christs time and long have they said the letter is the word and that the letter is the Gospel and that it must be received by the Scriptures and by naturall learning and artes and that none can be ministers of Christ but such who are learned in the languages and knowes the originall of Scriptures Latine and Greek and Hebrew not any of these have received the Gospel by revelation or the word of God from his mouth And when singing in the Spirit and with understanding was ceased and not knowne then began people to get the forme of singing of Davids experiences in rime and meeter and when the pure power of godlinesse was lost which was in the dayes of the Apostles manifested and known then in the Apostacie the deceit grew into the forme of every thing which the Saints had enjoyed in the power and so was shaddowes set up instead of substance and death instead of life and the forme without the power which in many branches sprang forth some into one appearance and some into another but all under the power of the Beast with his many heads and hornes defended and untill this day since the dayes of the Apostles thus it hath been and those very teachers and supposed ministers which now are in this and other Nations are of that very root which sprang forth in the dayes of the Apostles and they are under the dominion of the Beast and moveable like unto the great whore and this may easily be proved that they are of that generation of teachers and false Prophets which Christ prophesied of should come and which the Apostles saw was coming in their dayes and of those which John saw the world to run after for Christ said by their fruites they should be known and the Apostles they described their fruits and them by their fruites And so we seeing their fruit to be the very same now which the Apostles described was the fruit of them that then was come and coming from whence we doe conclude according to sound judgment that these very teachers are of the same generation and branches of the same root which sprang forth then And in Pauls writeings you may read such they were whom he saw of whom he bad people to beware and said perilous times would come and men should be lovers of themselves covetous proud blasphemers disobedient to parents unthankfull unholy without naturall affection false accusers fierce dispisers of those that are good heady high minded lovers of pleasures more then lovers of God having a forme of godlinesse but denying the power and such of whom people were ever learning but never able to come to the knowledge of the truth for people were laden with sins and led away with divers lusts and these did resist the truth as Jannes and Jambres who withstood Moses by making likenesses without life and they were men of corrupt minds and reprobate concerning the faith Now it is plaine that these teachers in this generation are of that very stock which Paul describes such he saw would come and such we see are come and by their fruits we know them as Christ said and Pauls words are fullfilled for these teachers are lovers of themselves and covetous and proud this is plaine to all people and blasphemers who denyes Christ to have lighted every man that comes into the world and therefore they deny Scripture and so are disobedient and unholy men and without naturall affection who many of them have caused the innocent to be imprisoned and some have dyed in Prison and they the chiefe cause of this and this is without naturall affection to the creatures and they are false accusers and liers and fierce in their books and preaching as is manifest through all this Nation and they greatly despise those that are good and prepares war against such as doth not put into their mouthes and they are heady and high minded and lovers of vanities and pleasures this is evident without proofe and they have a forme of godlinesse they say all should be taught of God but when any comes to witnesse it and denyes their teaching they cry against such as Heriticks and thus they have the words and the forme but denyes the power and they are ever teaching twenty and fourty yeares and more but none able ever to come to the knowledge of the truth by them but ●●il in blindnesse and darknesse still and people cryes out who have been learning many yeares from them that they doe not know the truth and its plaine that these teachers are of that sort that Paul spoke of who brings none to the knowledge of the truth for people that followes them are laden with sins and led away with divers lusts and these have and doe resist the truth every where they deny that Christ hath lighted every man that comes into the world and so resists truth and denyes Scripture and the truth as you may read John 1. 9. And they are corrupt minded even wicked persecutors and suers at Law and earthly minded and covetous and oppressors and are wholly reprobate concerning the faith and thus it is plaine that the root of these teachers was springing in the Apostles dayes and hath growen ever since in this darke night of Apostacie and hath filled the Nations Againe the Apostle saw that many should depart from the faith giving heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of Devils speaking lies in hypocrisie having their consciences seared as with a hot Iron Now these teachers are of that stock which is departed from the true faith for they are without true faith and reprobate concerning it who are in iniquity and sin and the workes of the world which are evill now faith purifies the heart from all this but their hearts are not purified but poluted with covetousnesse and preaching for hire and persecuting and envy and therefore they have not faith and so are of that generation which departed from the faith after the Apostles times which they saw would come and these doth seduce and their doctrines are of the Devill who denyes the truth which the Scripture beares witnesse of and saith sprinkling infants with water when they are two or three days old is Baptisme into the faith of Christ this is the doctrine of the Devill and lies they speak in great numbers and in hypocrisie and writes them forth to the world in great hypocrisie with feignednesse and pretence of holinesse and its plaine many of their consciences are seared how doe many of them cause the poore people to suffer grievous imprisonment
and his name and power is declared in the hearts of his people to the overturning of all unrighteousnesse and though every horn of the Beast push against this and every head with his members set it selfe against it yet the councell of the Lord shall not be disanulled nor made voyd for the Scepter and dominion of his Son shall be exalted over all the earth and the Princes of the world and the Kings of the earth shall lay down their Crowns and become subject for the Kingdomes of this world shall be changed and shall become the Kingdomes of the Lord and of his Christ the Kingdome of the Beast must down and the Princely power of darknesse must be overthrowne and Lawes and times and things and powers of men shall be overturned and overturned till he come to reigne in the earth whose right it is to reigne over Nations and people And because of this the rage of the Heathen hath been great and the councells of the wicked many and strong from the prophane drunkards to the chiefest professed teachers of this age even all the whole body of the Beast hath joyned it selfe against the purpose of the Lord men of all conditions from the highest to the lowest have armed themselves with mischiefe to offend the way of truth This is written as moved of the Lord to go abroad through the Nations that all may understand concerning the times and the changing of times how that the Beast hath reigned in dominion over Nations tongues and people and all have worshiped the Beast and gone after the false Prophet here all may come to a good understanding what hath been and what is and what shall be how that when the power and government of Christ was lost through departing from the faith which ruled in the Apostles dayes then the whole world was as unstable in wayes and judgments as a Sea then out of the Sea one beast arose and another after him arose out of the earth and all hath been caused both small and great bond and free to worship the beast and the image of the Beast yea all the dominions of the world hath for many ages been subject to the power of the Beast in all things and not known the worship and power of God and the pure subjection to him but the Kings of the earth and all her Princes have given their power to the Beast and hath received their authority from him and acted thereby many of them in great unrighteousnesse in injustice and oppression and cruelty in pride and rebellion and vaine glory in quarilling one with another to the murdering of thousands of thousands and this hath all been brought forth under the power of the Beast and by it and his heads and hornes hath exalted themselves one against another and smitten one another and the great whore hath made them all drunke and all people upon earth with envy pride wantonnesse and all unrighteousnesse this hath been since the Apostles dayes in this night of Apostacie wherein the whole world hath been subverted by false Prophets and deceivers and the Kingdome of Christ hath not been known upon earth for many generations but the Beast hath been established in his Throne of rebellion against Christ Jesus his decrees hath been Lawes and statutes and he hath made war against all the Saints and overcome them and reigned over them untill this time and troden down their City and defaced their glory but the blood of the just hath cryed day and night under the Altar the soules of such as hath been slain for the Testimony of the word of God have cryed day and night how long Lord how long when wilt thou avenge our blood upon the heads of our enemies even the Beast the whore and the false Prophet and this hath been for many ages even while the Kingdome of Antichrist hath been set up and advanced through the world and his power and authority hath reached over Nations bond and free from the Prince on his Throne to the begger on the dunghill even all hath been subjected under the power of the Beast that nature having ruled within every particular hath given him the authority without over all and admired him and said who is able to make war with him Antichrist hath ruled over all by injustice oppression and tyranny in unrighteous Lawes and through wicked decrees old Pharoah-like he hath laid heavy yoakes and oppressive bondes upon the just for who would not be subject to him he hath had power to kill them and none was able to gainsay such hath been the greatnesse of his power and the strength of his dominion over all that none hath been able to make war against him he hath been admired in all the world not any Nation excepted where the government of Antichrist hath not borne rule and there hath been none left to bear witnesse against him or to stand up against him for the faithfull witnesses hath been killed and slain in the streets of the great City which spiritually is called Sodome and Egypt and all them that have dwelt upon the earth have made merry over their dead bodies and rejoyced in their iniquities over the slaine and been without a reprover and not tormented nor troubled but have sent gifts one to another because they have slain them who have tormented them that dwell upon the earth and the government of the Beast hath been enlarged and the whole world hath wandered after him and been in subjection under him for many generations even for fourty and two monthes he that can read let him understand so long hath it been given him to make war against the Saints and to overcome them and it hath been given him to reigne over all people in the wrath of God and in his anger because of the rebellion of all the earth and all people in it but he shall be taken away in Gods displeasure who reignes in his anger over the Nations who hath forsaken the Lord and was given up to the power of the Beast to be subjected in slavery and bondage in pain sorrow and misery and through deceit craft and pollieic and oppression and by the wisdome of this world and naturall artes and knowledge his government hath long been established and his dominion hath been upon earth times and Lawes and things and powers of men have been in his hand to change and subvert and overturne into his own image and to transforme them like to the Beast none upon earth hath bought or sold or judged or given evidence or been respected in all the world that have not had the marke of the Beast and the number of the names of Antichrist rich and poor and small and great hath received his marke as a seale of their subjection to the Beast whose many heads and many hornes hath subjected all by the force of his arme and he hath blinded the eye least men should see him and cast darknesse over all faces and the false