<!DOCTYPE ETS PUBLIC "-//UMDLPS//DTD EEBOPROOF 2.0//EN">
<ETS>
<TEMPHEAD>
<REVDESCR>
<CHANGE>
<DATE>2013-12-05</DATE>
<RESPSTMT>
<NAME>Colm MacCrossan</NAME>
<RESP>MURP</RESP>
</RESPSTMT>
<ITEM>Proofed and reviewed.</ITEM>
</CHANGE>
</REVDESCR>
</TEMPHEAD>
<EEBO>
<IDG S="marc" R="OX" ID="B01207">
<STC T="S">7086.5</STC>
<STC T="C">S91767</STC>
<BIBNO T="oclc">52633179</BIBNO>
<VID>173988</VID>
</IDG>
<TEXT LANG="eng">
<FRONT>
<DIV1 TYPE="title page">
<PB REF="1" MS="y">
<P>A SERMON, Preached at Pauls Cro&s;&s;e, <HI>the 3. of Nouember</HI> 1594. intreating of the &s;econd com|ming of Chri&s;t, and the di&s;|clo&s;ing of Antichri&s;t. <HI>With a confutation of diuer&s;e</HI> coniectures concerning the end of the world, conteyned in a Booke in|tituled, The &s;econd comming of Chri&s;t. Newly peru&s;ed, corrected, and the &s;econd time imprinted. Preached by Iohn Doue.</P>
<Q><BIBL>Reu 1.</BIBL> Behold, he commeth in the Clouds, and euerie eye &s;hall &s;ee him.</Q>
<P>Imprinted by V. S. for VVilliam Iaggard, and are to be &s;old at his &s;hop in Fleet&s;treet in Saint Dun|&s;tans Churchyard.</P>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 TYPE="dedication">
<PB REF="2">
<PB REF="2">
<HEAD>To the mo&s;t vertuous and Noble Gentleman, Mai&s;ter Frances Gorges.</HEAD>
<P>_WHo&s;oeuer loueth not the Lord Ie&s;us, let him be Anathema maran atha, had in execration euen to the death. But I know that you haue loued him from your cradle, for&s;omuch as you haue bin no|ri&s;hed vp in the words of faith, and whol&s;ome doctrine, which you haue continually imbraced. Wherefore, in him, whom you haue thus loued, (&s;o long as you cea&s;e not to loue him) I al&s;o loue you as my &s;oule, and tender your &s;aluation as mine owne. The God, euen the father of our Lorde Ie&s;us Chri&s;t, whom you &s;erue, and who is ble&s;&s;ed for euermore, knoweth that I lie not. And, howbeit, the preaching of the cro&s;&s;e is fooli&s;hne&s;&s;e to them that peri&s;h: yet &s;eeing it hath plea&s;ed God by the fooli&s;hne&s;&s;e of prea|ching to &s;aue them that beleeue, you mu&s;t &s;uffer a little this my fooli&s;hne&s;&s;e, which am gealous o|uer you with a godly gealo&s;y. Therfore! charge you before God, and the L. Ie&s;us Chri&s;t which &s;hall iudge the quicke and the dead at his appea|ring, and in his kingdome, that you decline not
<PB REF="3"> to the right ha~d, nor to the left, neither to &s;chi&s;m nor poperie, but hate them both, as hitherto you haue done, with a perfect hatred. And though you be yong in yeares, yet be not a child in vn|der&s;tanding, carried about with euery wind of doctrine by the deceit of men, and with crafti|nes, whereby they lay in wait to deceiue: but fo|low the truth in loue, and in al things grow vp into him which is the head, that is Chri&s;t. And &s;o doing, a&s;&s;ure your &s;elfe, that hee which hath begun this good worke in you, will performe it, vntill the day of Ie&s;us Chri&s;t. God the father of our Lord Ie&s;us Chri&s;t, which according to his a|bundant mercie hath begotten you againe vnto a liuely hope, by the re&s;urrection of his &s;onne from the dead to an inheritance immortall and vndefiled, and that fadeth not away, re&s;erued in heauen for you, ble&s;&s;e you and guide you with his holy &s;pirit, that you may increa&s;e in wi&s;dom in &s;tature, in fauor with God and man, and &s;o multiply his graces vpon you, that you may goe forward from vertue to vertue, from grace to grace, and grant that at the length we may meet together vnto a perfect man, and to the mea&s;ure of the age of the fulne&s;&s;e of Christ.</P>
<CLOSER><SIGNED>Yours in the Lord, Iohn Doue.</SIGNED></CLOSER>
</DIV1>
</FRONT>
<BODY>
<DIV1 TYPE="sermon">
<PB REF="3">
<HEAD>A Sermon of the &s;econd comming of Chri&s;t, and the di&s;clo&s;ing of <HI>Antichri&s;t.</HI></HEAD>
<EPIGRAPH>
<Q><BIBL>1. Iohn, 2, ver&s;e 18.</BIBL> Little children, it is the la&s;t houre, and as ye haue heard that An|tichri&s;t &s;hal come, euen nowe are there many Antichri&s;tes: whereby we know that it is the la&s;t houre.</Q>
</EPIGRAPH>
<P>_A Briefe admonition, concerning the final con&s;ummation and end of the world. In which admoni|tion I ob&s;erue the&s;e two things: fir&s;t a bare and &s;imple affirmation, that it is not only in the &s;taggering &amp; declining age, but, which exceedeth dotage, at the verie vp&s;hot, and like a &s;icke man which lyeth at deaths doore, ready to breath out the la&s;t ga&s;pe, in the&s;e words: <HI>Litle children, it is the la&s;t houre.</HI> Secondly, an argument for proofe and confirmation therof, which is the com|ming of Antichri&s;t; in the&s;e words: <HI>Ye haue heard that Antichri&s;t &s;hall come, euen now are there many Antichri&s;ts, whereby we know that it is the la&s;t houre,</HI></P>
<P><HI>Litle children it is the la&s;t houre</HI> Be&s;ides the common and v&s;uall &s;ignification, an houre is
<PB REF="4"> diuer&s;ly vnder&s;tood in the holy &s;criptures, &s;ometimes for the fear and horror of death, our Sauiour being in his agonie prayeth to his father in this maner: <HI>My &s;oule is troubled:</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Iohn. 12.</NOTE> <HI>father &s;aue me from this houre,</HI> and that porti|on of &s;orrow which in Saint Mathew is cal|led a cup, is al&s;o called an houre, <HI>Father if it</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Mar. 14.</NOTE> <HI>be po&s;sible let this houre pa&s;&s;e away from me:</HI> Sometimes for the la&s;t period of mans life: <NOTE PLACE="marg">Iohn 13. Rom. 13.</NOTE> <HI>He knew that his hour was come that he &s;hould depart out of this worlde vnto his father:</HI> Thirdly for any oportunitie and fitne&s;&s;e of time: <HI>now the houre is come that we &s;hould a|wake out of &s;leepe for our redemption draweth nearer then when we fir&s;t beleeued.</HI> Fourthly, for any &s;mall moment, or in&s;tant, farre &s;horter than an houre, as, when he &s;ent his Di&s;ciples as &s;heepe among wolues, hee ar|med them with pacience, &s;aying: <HI>When they</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Matt. 10.</NOTE> <HI>&s;hall deliuer you vp, take no thought, howe, or what ye &s;hall an&s;were,</HI> for, <HI>vobis dabitur in il|la hora, It &s;hall be giuen you in that houre.</HI> But, in this place it is taken more largely, for houres, dayes and yeares, and all di&s;tance of time, betweene the fir&s;t comming of Chri&s;t in humilitie, and his &s;econd com|ming in maie&s;tie. For &s;ince this epi&s;tle was written, 1500, yeares are alreadie expired,
<PB REF="4"> and yet the hour not ended, which time &s;ee|meth to man a date very long, <HI>Which dwel|leth</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Iob. 4.</NOTE> <HI>in a hou&s;e of clay, who&s;e foundation is in the du&s;t, who &s;hall be de&s;troyed before the moth, who&s;e fle&s;h is clothed with wormes, and who&s;e memorie may he compared to a&s;hes:</HI> who neuer liueth the third part of the yeares of the Hart, which <HI>brayeth after the water</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">P&s;al. 41. Mat. 24. P&s;al. 39.</NOTE> <HI>brooke,</HI> or the rauen which preyeth vpon the <HI>dead carkas,</HI> nay rather, <HI>Who&s;e life is but a &s;pan long, and as nothing before God.</HI> To man I &s;ay, it &s;eemeth long, becau&s;e his life is very &s;hort, but to God which is euerla&s;ting, a &s;cantling verie briefe, and therefore fitly called an houre. For, what is one droppe of water to the Ocean &s;ea? one graine of Wheate to all the corne thre&s;hed on the barne floare after harue&s;t? one grape to all the clu&s;ters pre&s;&s;ed in the winefatte at the time of vintage? one acre of ground in the viewe of the mappe of all the world? the life of the abortiue and vntimely fruit of a woman, to the age of Methu&s;alem, the thoughts of a foole to the wi&s;dome of Salomon, which had a large heart as the &s;andes of the &s;ea, the knowledge of newe born babes to the experie~ce of Noah, which &s;aw two worldes, the old and the new: the
<PB REF="5"> center of the earth, to the Circumference of heauen a right line to a circle: one houre to many thou&s;and yeares: the &s;ame is this la&s;t period of the world, beeing compared with eternitie, which neuer began, and ne|uer &s;hall end. As al&s;o for two other rea&s;ons, that con&s;idering the time is &s;o &s;hort, it may be an incitement to &s;tirre vp the godly, and a con&s;olation to comfort the afflicted: to make the godly watchfull; for &s;o writeth Peter: <HI>the ende of all things is at hand, be ye</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">1. Pet. 4</NOTE> <HI>therefore &s;ober and watchfull in prayer,</HI> to arm the afflicted with patience, &s;eeing they haue but a litle tribulation to endure, &s;o &s;aith our Sauiour: <HI>When you &s;ee the&s;e things begin</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Luc. 21.</NOTE> <HI>to come to pa&s;&s;e, then looke vp, and lift vp your heads, for your redemption draweth neer.</HI> And rebuking the drow&s;ine&s;&s;e of Peter, Iames, and Iohn, he draweth argument of repre|hen&s;ion from the breuitie of the time, &s;ay|ing: <HI>could ye not haue watched with mee one</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Mar. 14.</NOTE> <HI>houre?</HI> Seeing it is but an houre, we mu&s;t not be heauie, as the Apo&s;tles which &s;lept, nor loo&s;e as Sathan, which the neerer he is to his iudgement, the more he rageth: nor enui|ous as the euill tenant, which when his lea&s;e is almo&s;t expired, maketh wa&s;t and hauock: but patient like trauellers, which are le&s;&s;e
<PB REF="5"> wearie being almo&s;t at their iourneys end: and vigilant as the faithfull &s;eruant, which when he is neere his freedom, is more du|tifull in his &s;eruice, becau&s;e he hath but a &s;hort time to &s;erue.</P>
<P>But for my better proceeding, and your edifying, in my two houres di&s;cour&s;e of this one and la&s;t houre, co~cerning the fir&s;t part, the&s;e four points in particular by Gods gra|cious a&s;si&s;tance, and your chri&s;tian patience are to be di&s;cu&s;&s;ed. Fir&s;t, of the weakne&s;&s;e of their arguments which hold this conclu|&s;ion; that the worlde &s;hall neuer haue an end. Secondly, their ra&s;hne&s;&s;e is to bee di&s;|couered, which make a &s;hew of diuinitie, but in deed &s;et abroch their owne conceits, and priuate phanta&s;ies, and &s;o vnadui&s;edly take vpon them to demon&s;trate when the world mu&s;t haue an end. Thirdly, how far we may bee bold to determin, hauing fir&s;t with iudgement and &s;obrietie looked into the &s;tate of this que&s;tion. Fourthly, after it &s;hall be made euident, that the kingdom of God is not now <HI>&egrave; longinquo,</HI> but <HI>&egrave; propinquo</HI> not a far off, but euen at our doores, how we ought to behaue our &s;elues in the meane time, expecting the mo&s;t ble&s;&s;ed comming of our Sauiour Chri&s;t.</P>
<PB REF="6">
<P>Concerning the fir&s;t point, two &s;ortes of men denie that the world &s;hal haue an end, Philo&s;ophers and Athei&s;ts: The Philo&s;o|phers <NOTE PLACE="marg">Phy&s;. l. 8.</NOTE> draw their proofes from naturall rea|&s;on, the Athei&s;ts from Diuinitie, both are controlled by this place. The Philo&s;ophers argue out of Ari&s;totle, that the worlde &s;hall haue no ende, becau&s;e it had no beginning; that it had no beginning, becau&s;e it was al|wayes in motion; that it was alwayes in mo|tion, becau&s;e God in whom all other things haue their being and mouing, euer moued it, for nothing els could be moued by him if the world were not, and if he did not alwais moue as nowe hee doth, he is not con&s;tant, and permanent in one e&s;tate, but &s;ubiect to chaunge, which is an ab&s;urditie, and may not be graunted. But, becau&s;e, &s;uch curio|&s;itie doth not edifie, and I am not to play the Philo&s;opher in this place, and faith is not agreeable to naturall rea&s;on, I an&s;were Ari&s;totle the mirrour of humaine witte, not by witte or humaine rea&s;on, for that I can not, but again&s;t him I oppo&s;e the doc|trine of Saint Paule: <HI>Where is the di&s;puter?</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">1. Cor. 1.</NOTE> <HI>hath not God made the wi&s;dome of this worlde fooli&s;hne&s;&s;e? &s;eeing the world by wi&s;dome knew not God in the wi&s;dome of God, it plea&s;ed God</HI>
<PB REF="6"> <HI>through the fooli&s;hne&s;&s;e of preaching to &s;aue them that beleeue.</HI> Chri&s;t &s;aith, <HI>that which is</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Iohn 3.</NOTE> <HI>fle&s;h is fle&s;hly.</HI> Ari&s;totle, though the wi&s;e&s;t a|mong the Gentiles, was a &s;en&s;uall man, and therefore vnder&s;tood not the things which were of God.</P>
<P>I come to the Athei&s;ts; which (as Beza <NOTE PLACE="marg">In anotat. in Pet. 2. Pet. 8.</NOTE> writeth) are in the courts of Princes. Of the~ &s;aith Peter. <HI>This fir&s;t vnder&s;tand, that there &s;hall come in the latter dayes mockers, which &s;hall willbe after their owne lu&s;tes, and &s;ay: where is the promi&s;e of his comming? for &s;ince the fathers &s;lept, ad things haue continued alike from the fir&s;t creation.</HI> In the which wordes, they draw a weake argument from the long continuance of the worlde, to prooue the perpetuitie of the &s;ame, and conclude this enthymem: <HI>The worlde hath euer continued alike from the fir&s;t Creation, therfore it &s;hall alwaies &s;o continue.</HI> The A|po&s;tle maketh an&s;were to the antecedent two maner of wayes. Fir&s;t, hee denieth it to be true by a notable in&s;tance, for once (&s;aith he) the world was de&s;troied by a de|luge of water, therefore all things haue not continued alike from the fir&s;t creation. Se|condly, <NOTE PLACE="marg">Gen. 7.</NOTE> be&s;ides that the long continuance of the worlde, if it were graunted, were no
<PB REF="7"> argument to proue the perpetuitie of the &s;ame: he an&s;wereth by a di&s;tinctio~, that this long continuance were long in re&s;pect of men only, &amp; not of God, &s;o that the&s;e 5500 yeares, which are commonly reckoned from the fir&s;t creation vntill this age, are but as fiue daies and an halfe in the &s;ight of God, a verie &s;hort time, which &s;aint Peter proueth by the authoritie of the Prophet, <NOTE PLACE="marg">P&s;al. 90.</NOTE> who affirmeth that a thou&s;and yeares are with God as &s;hort as one day, euen as one day with God, is as long as a thou&s;and years with men.</P>
<P>Hauing an&s;wered the obiection of the Athei&s;ts, the Apo&s;tle di&s;puteth again&s;t the~ by an argument <HI>&agrave; &s;imili</HI> in this maner. <HI>Euen as the old world</HI> (meaning the earth) <HI>which was of the water, and by the water, had her be|ing and continuance by the word of God, and by the &s;ame word of God, and the &s;ame waters it peri&s;hed: &s;o the new world</HI> (meaning both hea|uen and earth) <HI>are by the &s;ame word kept in &s;tore and re&s;erued to fire.</HI> A&s;much as if he had &s;aid: before the floud, the world continued long, yet at length it was de&s;troyed by the &s;ame thing of which it con&s;i&s;ted, which was the element of water, &s;o after the floud it hath continued longer, yet it is the &s;econd
<PB REF="7"> time to be de&s;troyed of the other element of which it con&s;i&s;teth, which is fire. When the floud had cea&s;ed, the Lord gaue the rainbow for a token of his couena~t between <NOTE PLACE="marg">Gen. 9.</NOTE> him and vs, but in the rainbow are e&s;pecial|ly to bee ob&s;erued two things, the figure there of, and the colours whereby it is made vi&s;ible vnto our eies: the figure is like a &s;e|micircle cut off in the middle by our Hori|zon, &s;o that to our &s;ight it &s;eemeth to reach from the highe&s;t arch of heauen, to the low|e&s;t foundation of the earth, to &s;ignifie, that for as much as man which dwelleth in the lowe&s;t earth, offended him which fitteth in <NOTE PLACE="marg">P&s;al. 2.</NOTE> the highe&s;t heauen, Gods mercie pierced the clouds, and de&s;cended from the highe&s;t heauen to the lowe&s;t foundation of the earth vnto the &s;onnes of men. But the co|lours where with it is beautified, are princi|pally two; the one is a Sea-colour, which be|tokeneth Water, where with it was drow|ned, the other fierie, betokening the other Element, wherunto the world vntil the day of iudgement is re&s;erued.</P>
<P>The Philo&s;ophers and Athei&s;ts beeing gain&s;aid, which affirme that the world &s;hall neuer haue an ende: it followeth that wee touch the &s;econd kinde of men, which are
<PB REF="8"> Chri&s;tians, but of two &s;orts, Prote&s;tants and Papi&s;ts, which both expect the acco~pli&s;h|ment of this la&s;t houre, but erre in this, that they go another way too far, and &s;eeming to know that which they know not, enter into the &s;ecrets of God: the Prote&s;tants di|rectly, and the Papi&s;ts by a nece&s;&s;ary con&s;e|quent, do define and determine when the world &s;hall haue an end. And therefore as the Apo&s;tle &s;aith: <GAP LANG="grc" DESC="foreign" RESP="OXF">, <NOTE PLACE="marg">Rom. 1.</NOTE> when they profe&s;&s;ed them&s;elues wi&s;e, they became fooli&s;h. Some Prote&s;tants haue publi&s;hed a booke greatly e&s;teemed of a|mong&s;t the common people, in which is maintayned this argument: That the frame of Heauen mu&s;t needes be di&s;&s;olued <NOTE PLACE="marg">The &s;eco~d comming of Chri&s;t.</NOTE> within a certainty of daies: and the princi|pall rea&s;ons whereby they vndertake the proofe of their phanta&s;ies, are the&s;e fiue which follow.</P>
<P>The fir&s;t is a blind prophe&s;ie which they father vpo~ Elias, not read of in the &s;cripturs but in the Rabbies &amp; Talmud of the Iewes, that the worlde could la&s;t but &s;ix thou&s;and years after the fir&s;t creation, two thou&s;and vnder nature, two thou&s;and vnder the law, and two thou&s;and vnder grace. The time of nature they define to be from the fir&s;t crea|tion
<PB REF="8"> to Abraham, to whom the law of cir|cumci&s;ion was giuen: the time of the law fro~ Abraham to the preaching of Iohn the Bapti&s;t, which began in the 30. yeare of the incarnation of Chri&s;t: the time of grace fro~ the preaching of Iohn to the day of iudge|ment. And (&s;ay they) as Elias liued after the fir&s;t 3000. yeares were expired, and then was taken vp aliue in his fierie chariot, &s;o af|ter the other 3000. yeares &s;hall be accom|pli&s;hed, tho&s;e that &s;halbe found at that time quicke on the earth, mu&s;t bee taken vp in the cloudes to meete our Sauiour comming to iudgement. For an&s;were whereof, be|&s;ides that they erre in their computation of yeares, which is manife&s;t to them which are conuer&s;ant in the Hi&s;tories of the bible, we vtterly denie, and renounce the authori|tie of the Rabbies and Iewi&s;h Talmud as &s;uper&s;titious and fal&s;e, not giuing credite to any thing which is written of Elias in them, more than may be proued out of the mo&s;t holy &s;criptures, and &s;o con&s;equently denying that Elias euer writ anie &s;uch pro|phe&s;ie, wee di&s;playe the weakene&s;&s;e of that argument, in this manner. It is a rule Logicke, that a &s;imilitude mu&s;t not holde in all things, but onely in that
<PB REF="9"> whereto it is applied. Wherefore fora&s;much as Paul writeth: <HI>That we &s;hall not all &s;leepe,</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">1. Cor. 15.</NOTE> becau&s;e, as it is in the article of our <HI>Creede,</HI> Chri&s;t &s;hall come to iudge both the quicke and the dead, true it is that Elias which was taken vp quicke, was a liuely tipe of them which &s;hall be found quicke at the day of iudgement: for, as he was taken vp aliue, &s;o they mu&s;t bee taken vp aliue without ta&s;ting of death, onely their corrupti|ble bodies beeing chaunged: but it is no good con&s;equent, either in Logicke or Diuinitie, that bicau&s;e Elias was a type of them in this one thing, therefore as Elias was taken vp after the fir&s;t 3000. yeares, therefore they mu&s;t al&s;o be taken vp, when the other 3000. yeares be ended. The vn|&s;ufficiencie of this argument I will &s;hewe you by the like. Henoch was a type of them which &s;hall bee found quicke at the day of Iudgement, as well as Elias, But He|noch was taken vp aliue, and tran&s;lated to a better life, in the 987. yeare of the worlde: if therefore the former argument drawne from Elias bee good, this al&s;o mu&s;t follow, that the day of iudgement &s;hould haue bin nine hundred eightie &s;euen yeares after the tran&s;lation of Henoch, &s;o that the worlde
<PB REF="9"> &s;hould not haue endured in all, two thou|&s;and yeares after the fir&s;t creation. Further|more, they affirme, that &s;ome part of the la&s;t thou&s;and yeares mu&s;t be defalcated and cut off, for the elects &s;ake, which is a meere contradiction to that which went before, for then can not the prophe&s;ie which they father vpon Elias be true, that the worlde &s;hould continue 6000. yeares. And this defalcation of yeares they proue by the an|&s;were of the Angell <HI>vriel,</HI> which beeing asked whether the time to come were &s;hor|ter then the time pa&s;t? an&s;wered: <HI>As the</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">2. E&s;d. 4.</NOTE> <HI>raine is more than the droppes, and as the fire exceedeth the &s;moke, &s;o the portion that is pa&s;t hath the vpper hand.</HI> Whereas, in deede, there is no proofe of defalcation, for, be|&s;ides that this Scripture is <HI>Apocrypha,</HI> and therefore no &s;ufficient proofe, and they erre with the Papi&s;ts, affuming that it is Canonicall: and their argumentes which they borrow of Theodorus Bibliander, a|gain&s;t Saint Ierom, a man of greater autho|ritie than him&s;elfe, to proue that it is Ca|nonicall, becau&s;e it teacheth the euerla|&s;ting kingdome of Chri&s;t, the reprobation of the Gentiles, and election of the Iewes, are not &s;ufficient proofs, becau&s;e the works
<PB REF="10"> of men do teach the &s;ame things, wheras no workes of men are Canonicall. E&s;dras liued about 3600 years after the creation, &s;o that then the time to come might bee &s;horter than the time pa&s;t, without any defalcation of yeares or dayes.</P>
<P>Secondly, they di&s;pute in this maner: A thou&s;and yeares with God, are as one day. <NOTE PLACE="marg">P&s;al. 90. 2. Pet.</NOTE> But as God labored &s;ix dayes and re&s;ted the &s;euenth: &s;o &s;hal God be in action (as it were) for the pre&s;eruation of the &s;ame, and ga|thering togither of his Church &s;ixe thou|&s;and yeares, proportionably to tho&s;e &s;ixe dayes, and then &s;hall be a perpetuall Sab|both. And as in time pa&s;t they began the celebration of the Sabboth, at the mid&s;t of <NOTE PLACE="marg">Exod. 20.</NOTE> the &s;ixt day, making halfe holy day, and &s;o laboured the weeke daies but fiue daies and an halfe: &s;o halfe of the la&s;t thou&s;and years mu&s;t be cut off. It &s;hall not be needfull to an&s;wer the pre&s;umptions of men, which are not grou~ded vpon &s;cripture nor &s;ound rea|&s;on, but the weaknes of that argument &s;hall appeare by the like, 1500. years before god, are not &s;o much as one hour. For &s;o writeth the Apo&s;tle: <HI>Babes, it is the la&s;t houre.</HI> Fifteen hundred years are expired, &amp; yet the houre <NOTE PLACE="marg">1. Iohn 2</NOTE> is not ended, but 24. hours make one day, &s;o
<PB REF="10"> that if 1500. years be reckoned but for one houre, &s;ixe and thirtie thou&s;and yeares are but one day before god, &s;o that, if the world continue &s;ix dayes, it mu&s;t indure, by that computation, two hundred and &s;ixteene thou&s;and yeares. This is as good a rea&s;on out of Saint John, to proue the continu|ance of the worlde two hundred and &s;ix|teen thou&s;and yeares, as that is out of S. Pe|ter, to proue that it &s;hall &s;tand 6000. years.</P>
<P>Thirdly, thus they co~clude: <HI>Chri&s;t was ma|nife&s;ted</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">1. Pet. 1 Heb. 2</NOTE> <HI>in the fle&s;h in the la&s;t time.</HI> And, <HI>He was offered once in the end of the world.</HI> But, if the~ were the end of the world, the middle was pa&s;t, therefore but 2000. yeares were be|hind. If they take the middle for that which is <HI>intermedium,</HI> what&s;oeuer is betweene the beginning and the ending, as commonly it is taken, then it was the middle immediat|ly after the creation, and the middle &s;hall continue vntill the la&s;t con&s;umma|tion, and, in that &s;en&s;e the middle is not yet pa&s;t: but if they take it &s;trictly, as in Geometrie it is defined: <HI>Medium e&s;t id quod aequ&egrave; di&s;tat ab extremis,</HI> that which is of equal di&s;tance betweene the beginning and the ending: if the middle were but then pa&s;t, when foure thou&s;and yeares were expired,
<PB REF="11"> it is a nece&s;&s;arie demon&s;tration, that there could bee no le&s;&s;e than foure thou&s;ande yeares to come after Chri&s;tes pa&s;sion, be|cau&s;e there mu&s;t bee as great di&s;tance of time from the middle to the ende, as was from the beginning to the middle.</P>
<P>Fourthly, all the &s;ignes and tokens, which go any di&s;tance of time before the day of iudgement, are alreadie come to pa&s;&s;e, that now no &s;igne can bee looked for, but onely tho&s;e which mu&s;t be &s;hewed immediatelie vpon his comming to iudgement. But be|&s;ides that the accompli&s;hment and fulfil|ling of al the&s;e prophe&s;ies, cannot &s;hew vn|to vs how neare it is to the ende, we denie that all the&s;e tokens and &s;ignes are come to pa&s;&s;e, for there is yet one prophe&s;ie to bee fulfilled, which is the la&s;t and generall con|uer&s;ion of the Iewes. That they mu&s;t bee conuerted, Saint Paule proueth by eight rea&s;ons. The fir&s;t is from the end of their <NOTE PLACE="marg">Rom. 11.</NOTE> reiection, which is, not that they &s;hould pe|ri&s;h, but &s;eeing the conuer&s;ion of the Gen|tiles, be prouoked to emulation. The &s;econd <HI>&agrave; minori,</HI> if their fall be riches to the world, how much more &s;hall their reconciliation be life to the dead? The thirde from the condition of the Patriarch Abraham, if
<PB REF="11"> the fir&s;t fruits be holy, &s;o is the lumpe, if the roote, &s;o are the branches. The fourth from Gods omnipotency which is able to receiue them againe. The fift <HI>&agrave; veri&s;imili,</HI> if God ingrafted the wilde oliue contrarie to na|ture, howe much more &s;hall the naturall branches be ingrafted into their naturall o|liue? The &s;ixt, from the authoritie of E&s;ay and Ieremie, which affirme the &s;ame. The &s;euenth, from a di&s;tinction, concerning the Go&s;pell, they are enemies for our &s;ake, but touching the election, beloued for their fa|thers &s;ake. The eightrea&s;on is, <HI>ab analogia,</HI> as the Gentiles were fir&s;t reiected for vn|beliefe, yet afterward receiued, &s;o, the time &s;hall come when the reiected Iewes &s;hall beleeue, and &s;o be receyued againe, <GAP LANG="grc" DESC="foreign" RESP="OXF"> and all I&s;raell &s;hall bee &s;aued.</P>
<P>But, that they &s;hall be turned or conuer|ted &s;o generally, being in number &s;o many, in places &s;o di&s;per&s;ed, in religion &s;o backe|warde, in one moment, or a &s;hort time, I thinke no man of iudgement will &s;uppo&s;e, much le&s;&s;e affirme.</P>
<P>La&s;tly, Henoch and Elias were the &s;e|uenth from Adam, Henoch in generation, Elias in computation of liues. But there is a
<PB REF="12"> proportion betweene them and the ages of the world, for as the death of the body raig|ned ouer the&s;e &s;ixe, Adam, Seth, Enos, Ke|nam, Mahaleel, Iared, but the &s;euenth which was Henoch, neuer died, but was tran&s;la|ted, and likewi&s;e in computation of liues, Adam liued vnto Methu&s;alem, Methu&s;a|lem vnto Sem, Sem vnto Iacob, Iacob vn|to Amram, Amram vnto Ahia, Ahia vn|to Elias, which being the &s;euenth died not, but was taken vppe; &s;o death mu&s;t reigne ouer the world &s;ixe thou&s;and yeares, and then &s;hall bee euerla&s;ting life. But, to this, and &s;uch like, their pre&s;umptions, and hu|maine coniectures, becau&s;e they vrge vs with the an&s;were of the Angell <HI>vriel,</HI> I will refute them with the an&s;were of the &s;ame Angel in the &s;ame place. <HI>Weigh me the weight of the fire mea&s;ure the bla&s;t of the wind,</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">2. E&s;d. 4</NOTE> <HI>or call againe the day that is past, but if no man borne can doe that, howe &s;hall thy ve&s;&s;ell be able to comprehende the wayes of the mo&s;t highe&s;t?</HI></P>
<P>The Papi&s;ts, not directly, but by a ne|ce&s;&s;arie co~&s;equent, take vpon them to point at, not onely the yeare, but rather the day and houre of the la&s;t iudgement. For <HI>San|ders</HI> in one of his demon&s;trations, holdeth
<PB REF="12"> that Antichri&s;t after hee is reueled mu&s;t reigne but three yeares and &s;ixe monethes, and then be de&s;troyed fortie and fiue dayes before the comming of Chri&s;t, which, if it were true, Antichri&s;t beeing once reuea|led, it were no cunning to define the day and houre of the appearance of our Sauiour Chri&s;t, which is a &s;ecrete, not re|uealed to the Angels in heauen. This doctrine refuteth it &s;elfe, therefore I let it pa&s;&s;e, and come to the third poynt, which &s;heweth howe farre wee may be bolde to determine of the propmquitie and neernes of the appearance of our Sauiour Chri&s;t.</P>
<P>The Angell <HI>Vriel</HI> &s;ayeth to E&s;dras: <HI>If I &s;houlde aske thee howe deepe dwellinges</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">2. E&s;d. 4</NOTE> <HI>are in the midde&s;t of the Sea, or how great Springes are in the beginning of the depth, or the &s;tretching out of the Heauen, or which are the borders of Paradi&s;e, peraduenture thou woulde&s;t &s;ay to mee: I neuer went downe to the deepe, I neuer de&s;cended downe into Hell, nor clymed vppe into Hea|uen: but nowe, I asked thee of fire and wind, and of the day whereby thou ha&s;t pa&s;&s;ed, and from whence thou canst not bee &s;epara|ted, and yet thou can&s;t giue me no aun&s;were of them. Howe then &s;hall thy ve&s;&s;ell bee able</HI>
<PB REF="13"> <HI>to comprehend the wayes of the highe&s;t?</HI> Why &s;hould fooli&s;h man, which is made of the <NOTE PLACE="marg">Gen. 3.</NOTE> ba&s;e&s;t mould enter into the &s;ecretes of his God, who <HI>is wi&s;e in heart, mightie in</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Iob. 9.</NOTE> <HI>&s;trength, who remoueth the earth out of her place, cau&s;eth the pillars thereof to &s;hake, com|maundeth the &s;unne and it ri&s;eth not, clo&s;eth vp the &s;tarres as vnder a &s;ignet, createth Arcturus, Orion, and Pleiades, and the climates of the South, &s;preadeth out the heauens, walketh on the</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Iob. 11.</NOTE> <HI>height of the Sea, who&s;e perfection is higher than heauen, deeper than hell, longer than the earth, broder than the Sea.</HI> Our &s;auiour Chri&s;t &s;aith: <HI>Watch ye therefore, becau&s;e ye know not what houre your Mai&s;ter will come:</HI> And to <NOTE PLACE="marg">Mat. 24.</NOTE> that ende may we not knowe, becau&s;e wee &s;hould alwayes watch. We are taught by the Scriptures, that God hath two bookes, and both of them are written for vs to read, and in tho&s;e bookes are contained al things concerning this argument, which are either conuenient for vs to knowe, or lawfull for vs to &s;earch. The one is the booke of grace, which is the volume of the olde and newe Te&s;tament, though euer lying open, yet &s;ealed vp to many wi&s;e, learned, and di&s;|creete men of the world, becau&s;e reading they vnder&s;tand not, for, they read as did
<PB REF="13"> the Eunuch the prophe&s;ie of E&s;ay, but it is very ea&s;ie to be vnder&s;toode of all belee|uers, <NOTE PLACE="marg">Acts 8.</NOTE> for who&s;e &s;aluation it was written by the holy Gho&s;t, which is the finger of gods <NOTE PLACE="marg">Exod. 8.</NOTE> hand. The other is the booke of nature, that great frame and engine of the worlde, alwayes lying open to the view of naturall men, and neuer &s;hut vp, becau&s;e it is no|thing el&s;e, but <HI>epi&s;tola &s;cripta ad humanum genus,</HI> a long letter or a large epi&s;tle writ|ten, not to the faithfull onely, but to al man|kind, to all which bee illuminated by the light of nature, not &s;uch a letter as is &s;ealed vp with his priuie &s;ignet <HI>Multi vocati, pau|ci</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Matt. 20 2. Tim. 2.</NOTE> <HI>electi,</HI> many are called and few are cho&s;en, and <HI>&s;olus deus nouit &s;uos,</HI> only God knoweth his; but his letters patents, wherein is writ|ten, <HI>Domini e&s;t terra &amp; plenitudo eius,</HI> the <NOTE PLACE="marg">P&s;al. 24 P&s;al. 8</NOTE> earth is the Lordes and all that therein is, and <HI>Quid e&s;t homo quod memor es illius?</HI> what is man that thou art &s;o mindefull of him? alwayes lying open that euery man may read, and written in <HI>folio,</HI> that &s;tanding a far off they may reade, and in great capital letters, that running they may reade. And vpon more than we can finde written in the&s;e two bookes, wee may not pre&s;ume. But, as for the third booke which is called
<PB REF="14"> the booke of life, and the booke &s;ealed vp <NOTE PLACE="marg">Phil. 4 Dan. 12 Exod. 32 Apoc. 22 Apoc. 5</NOTE> with &s;euen &s;eales, which is the &s;ecrete will of God, it is not reuealed to Angels, much le&s;&s;e to men: in that booke are written gods &s;ecret coun&s;els, concerning the election of Iacob, and reprobation of E&s;au, the calling of the Gentiles, and reiecting of the Iewes, which go beyond the capacitie of man, and finallie of this la&s;t and dreadfull iudgement, the time whereof the Apo&s;tles de&s;ired to knowe, but no directer aun&s;were was gi|uen them than this: <HI>Of the day and houre</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Mat. 24</NOTE> <HI>knoweth no man, &amp;c:</HI> And <HI>it is not for you to knowe the times and &s;ea&s;ons which the</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Acts 1</NOTE> <HI>Father hath appoynted in his owne power.</HI> Daniel de&s;ired to knowe, but it was &s;aide <NOTE PLACE="marg">Dan. 12</NOTE> vnto him: <HI>But thou, O Daniel &s;hut vp the wordes and &s;eale vp the Booke till the ende of the time.</HI></P>
<P>Nowe out of the booke of nature, con|cerning this time, though we cannot di&s;ci|pher vnto you the houre, day, moneth or yeare, becau&s;e it is not there reuealed, yet in that booke we do read that it is very neare. For, nature beginneth generally to inter|mit her woonted cour&s;e, the mother Ele|ments of the worlde, whereof things in this lower world are made, doe loo&s;e their
<PB REF="14"> qualities and naturall vigour which they had before, the Starres and Planets of hea|uen waxe dimme and olde, not &s;o well a|ble to pre&s;erue our earthly bodies, the ce|le&s;tiall &s;pheres bee almo&s;t wearie of their woonted motions and regular volubilitie, the prince of the lights of Heauen, which <NOTE PLACE="marg">P&s;al. 19</NOTE> before came as a bridegroome trimmed out of his chamber dooth not looke vppon vs with &s;o chearefull an a&s;pect, and that gi|ant, which before did runne his vnwea|ried race, dooth as it were by a langui|&s;hing faintne&s;&s;e beginne to &s;tand and re&s;t him&s;elfe, the times and &s;ea&s;ons of the yeare doc blend them&s;elues with di&s;ordered and confu&s;ed mixture, the windes are in a rea|dine&s;&s;e to breath out their la&s;t ga&s;pe, our mother the earth defeated of that aboun|dance of heauenly influence which at the fir&s;t &s;hee had, is out of heart, waxeth bar|ren and dead like the wombe of Sara: the herbes and &s;imples which are appointed <NOTE PLACE="marg">Gen: 11 Rom. 4</NOTE> for medicines for mans bodie, haue almo&s;t lo&s;t their operation and vertue, and man him&s;elfe, whom all the&s;e things do &s;erue, is of lower &s;tature, le&s;&s;e &s;trength, &s;hor|ter life than at the fir&s;t he was, &s;o that there is a generall decay of natures, and in euerie
<PB REF="15"> leafe of that booke it is written, that the frame of that heauenly arch erected ouer our heads mu&s;t very &s;hortly lo&s;e &amp; di&s;&s;olue it &s;elfe. In the other booke, which is the ho|ly Bible, are many prophe&s;ies concerning that la&s;t houre, and all the &s;ignes and tokens which in the&s;e prophe&s;ies are foretold to go any di&s;tance of time before the day of iudg|ment, are already come to pa&s;&s;e, onely one excepted, which is the la&s;t and generall vocation of the Iewes, which when, and in how &s;hort &s;pace it &s;halbe fulfilled, the Lord onely in his wi&s;dome knoweth. But among all tho&s;e tokens, this is principally to be no|ted, which Chri&s;t foretold. <HI>As the dayes of Noah were, &s;o &s;hal the comming of the &s;on of ma~ be.</HI> In the daies of Noah I note two things, <NOTE PLACE="marg">Matt. 24 Gen. 6.</NOTE> fir&s;t, great oppre&s;sio~, in that there were gi|ants vpon the earth, &s;econdly, a general cor|ruption of all fle&s;h, in&s;omuch that God re|pented him that he had made man vpo~ the earth, and he was &s;ory in his heart. And by that prophe&s;ie it is plaine, that the &s;onne of man now &s;tandeth knocking at our doores, becau&s;e the like times to the daies of Noah are come againe. Touching the fir&s;t, the gi|ants are nowe more in number, prouder in heart, loftier in their lookes, &s;touter in their
<PB REF="15"> gate and pace, than they were in the dayes of Noah: for almo&s;t euery rich man is a gy|ant in the place where he dwelleth. The potters ve&s;&s;ell &s;aid to the brazen caldron. <HI>Tua mihi vicinitas non placet &s;oror:</HI> I will not come nigh thee for feare of a knocke, nei|ther dareth the poore man dwell by the rich for feare of a check. It is not &s;afe for the poore man to co~tend with the rich though his cau&s;e be good, no more than it is for the earthen pitcher to iu&s;tle with the brazen cauldron &s;wimming down the &s;treame, le&s;t it be broken all to pot&s;herds. Better it is to lo&s;e his right, with peace and quietnes. Re|port is made of an Emperor which de&s;ired to marry his owne daughter, he asked coun|&s;ell of the lawyers, whether the marriage were lawfull or not? they aun&s;wered, that they knew no law in particular which al|loweth a father to marry his daughter, but neuerthele&s;&s;e they had found out a law in generall which would permit the &s;ame, be|cau&s;e euery mighty ma~ might do what him li&s;ted. I wi&s;h that all men to who~ the &s;word of iu&s;tice is committed, would remember the prophe&s;ie of the poet Chaucer.</P>
<Q><L>When faith failes in in prie&s;ts &s;awes,</L>
<L>And Lords hests are holden for lawes,</L>
<PB REF="16">
<L>And robberie is holden purcha&s;e,</L>
<L>And lecherie is holden &s;olace,</L>
<L>Then &s;hall the lond of Albion,</L>
<L>Be brought to great confu&s;ion.</L></Q>
<P>We reade of Nimrod which was a great hunter vpon the earth. But I feare lea&s;t in <NOTE PLACE="marg">Gen. 10</NOTE> our dayes, in &s;tead of that one, we haue ma|ny Nimrods, which hunt as the Lion did with foxes and a&s;&s;es, which when they had taken their prey, the Lion beeing able by force to take all to him&s;elfe, woulde &s;eeme verie iu&s;t, and take no more than by right was due vnto him, and to impart the re&s;t to his fellow hunters. Wherefore, becau&s;e it is a rule: <HI>Cuius e&s;t partitio, eius non e&s;t e|lectio:</HI> The &s;ame may not bee both a di|uider and a choo&s;er, he cau&s;ed the A&s;&s;e to diuide the &s;poyle. The A&s;&s;e like a &s;im|ple <HI>animal,</HI> as an A&s;&s;e would doe, diuided it verie iu&s;tly into three equall portions, the Lion mi&s;liking the diui&s;ion, tore the A&s;&s;e in peeces, then he bid the Fox mend the diui&s;ion; the Foxe allotted the grea|te&s;t part to the Lion, and little or nothing to him&s;elfe: whereupon, the Fox was com|mended to be the be&s;t geometrician. As for the &s;econd, God may now repent him, as he did in the dayes of Noah, that hee made
<PB REF="16"> man vppon the earth, for the prophe&s;ie of Chri&s;t is fulfilled: <HI>Charitie waxeth colde,</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Luke 13 Mat. 24</NOTE> <HI>iniquitie doth abound: faith is not found vp|on the earth.</HI> There is a ripene&s;&s;e of &s;inne, <NOTE PLACE="marg">Apoc. 14</NOTE> and what can bee expected but an harue&s;t, that the Angell thru&s;t his &s;harpe &s;ickle on the earth and cutte downe the clu&s;ters of the Vineyard, and ca&s;t them into the great wine fatte of the wrath of God. Sinne is not now <HI>Peccatum habitans,</HI> but <HI>regnans,</HI> not making his abode with vs, but raig|ning ouer vs, it hath gotten a longer and larger iuri&s;diction ouer the world, than Iu|lius Cae&s;ar had ouer the Senat, which obtai|ned <HI>Perpetuam Dictaturam:</HI> An euerla&s;ting Dictator&s;hip, the like not heard of before. The &s;innes which now raigne are &s;o gene|rall, that it may well be &s;aid: <HI>Vir bonus e&s;t a|nimal rarum:</HI> He which will find a iu&s;t and vpright man vpon the earth, mu&s;t take a candle at noone dayes, and &s;eeke in the ru&s;hes as it were for a pinne or a needle that is lo&s;t, and &s;ay with Diogenes: <HI>Quaero ho|minem,</HI> I &s;eeke a man. And which is more, they be <HI>Clamantia peccata,</HI> Crying &s;innes, becau&s;e the crie of them a&s;cendeth vp into <NOTE PLACE="marg">Gen. 4.</NOTE> heauen, as did the bloud of Abell for vengeance again&s;t vs, and the &s;oules of the
<PB REF="17"> martirs vnder the altar, v&s;ury, &s;imony, bribe|rie, <NOTE PLACE="marg">Apoc. 6 Gen. 3 P&s;al. 32</NOTE> and contempt of the mini&s;ters of God, &amp; pride which was the fir&s;t cau&s;e of the fal of man. The prophet Dauid &s;aid, <HI>beati quoru~ iniquitates &s;unt tectae, &amp;c:</HI> Ble&s;&s;ed are they who&s;e iniquities are couered, and to whom the Lord hath imputed no &s;in, but now it is become a prouerbe among vs, <HI>Happy is that child who&s;e father goeth to the deuill.</HI> The Iewes which were accounted the extreme&s;t v&s;urers in the world, tooke intere&s;t only of &s;trangers, and not of their owne nation, but our countrimen wor&s;e than Iewes, &s;pare none, and which is the greate&s;t hypocri&s;ie, no man maketh more account outwardly of them which preach again&s;t v&s;ury, than doth the v&s;urer, and tho&s;e which wil hear 3. Ser|mons in a day, thinke thirty pounds intere&s;t in the hundred to be too little. And, how|&s;oeuer they &s;eeme outwarly zealous, yet haue they within them, that I may v&s;e the &s;peach of the apo&s;tle, <HI>con&s;cientiam cauteria|tam,</HI> a con&s;cience feared with an hot iron, <NOTE PLACE="marg">1. Tim. 4</NOTE> and, notwith&s;tanding their diligence in fre|quenting &s;ermons, and reading the Scrip|tures, they forget what is written there, that it &s;hall be harder for any rich man to enter into the kingdome of heauen, than it &s;halbe
<PB REF="17"> for a camell to pa&s;&s;e through the eie of a <NOTE PLACE="marg">Luke 18</NOTE> needle, but, that no v&s;urer &s;hall dwell in the Lords tabernacle, nor re&s;t vpo~ his holy hill. <NOTE PLACE="marg">P&s;al. 15</NOTE> William Rufus, once king of England, is no|ted for pride, which pride in re&s;pect of the&s;e dayes were great humilitie. His chamber|laine brought him in the morning a newe pair of breeches, the be&s;t that could be got|ten, the price was foure &s;hillings. The king &s;wore no &s;mall oath, that he would haue a paire which &s;hould co&s;t him a marke in &s;il|uer: no breeches were the~ of &s;o high a price, the chamberlaine to &s;atisfie the kings mind, brought a wor&s;e paire then the fir&s;t, affir|ming that they co&s;t a marke. I mary, quoth Rufus, here are a pair of breeches for a king. Four &s;hillings the~ &s;ufficed for a pair of bree|ches for a king, but I feare &s;hortly it will be a prouerbe: 500. pounds for a paire of pan|taples for a &s;ubiect. Euery man can bee con|tent to goe in &s;oft rayment, as they doe in <NOTE PLACE="marg">Luke 16</NOTE> the courts of princes, &amp; to be clothed with purple, as was the rich glutton which is bu|ried in hell, euery man can take delight in the Babilonian garme~t, which is framed ac|cording to the fa&s;hio~ of this world, but few will put on the wedding garment, which is <NOTE PLACE="marg">Mat. 12</NOTE> charitie, and a good con&s;cience; men will be
<PB REF="18"> clothed like women, and women like men, not regarding the cur&s;e denounced of the Lord. But as for the girdle of truth, the bre&s;t <NOTE PLACE="marg">Deut. 22 Ephe. 6</NOTE> plate of righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e, the &s;hield of faith, the helmet of &s;aluation, the &s;worde of the &s;pirit, and the &s;hooes of peace, they are layde a&s;ide as olde &s;hooes, and neuer come within our Wardrops. You will not bee clothed as the kings daughter which is glo|rious <NOTE PLACE="marg">P&s;al. 41</NOTE> within, but like painted &s;epulchres which are faire without, and within are full of dead mens bones.</P>
<P>Offices are commonly &s;olde, and there|fore it is no maruaile though the officers be corrupt. Who&s;oeuer can bee entertay|ned in the &s;eruice of a noble man, is in re|putation for his mai&s;ters &s;ake, be he neuer &s;o ba&s;e; but the mini&s;ters of Gods worde, which &s;erue the king of kings and Lord of Lords, who&s;e &s;eruice is perfect freedome, in who&s;e hou&s;e it is better to bee a doore keeper, than to dwell in the tabernacles of princes, euen him whome all other kings and lords ought to &s;erue, are de&s;pi&s;ed for their &s;eruice &s;ake, be they neuer &s;o nobly di&s;cended. But I haue text for them: <HI>Who&s;o|euer</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Mat. 10 Iohn 10 Luke 13 Luke. 21</NOTE> <HI>heareth you, heareth me: and who&s;oeuer de|&s;pi&s;eth you, de&s;pi&s;eth me, and hee that de&s;pi&s;eth</HI>
<PB REF="18"> <HI>me, di&s;pi&s;eth him that &s;ent me.</HI> Our Sauiour Chri&s;t tolde his Apo&s;tles that they &s;hould be hated of all men for his &s;ake, and at that time it was no great marvaile, becau&s;e they liued among Iewes and infidels; but nowe we are in maner hated of chri&s;tians, &amp; mo&s;t of al of them which make the greate&s;t &s;hew of zeale, and profe&s;sion of religion, and are the greate&s;t frequenters of &s;ermons. They are as cruell as Pharao of Egypt which <NOTE PLACE="marg">Exod. 5</NOTE> woulde compell the children of I&s;rael in their bondage to make brickes and tyles, but denied them &s;traw and morter to work withall, &s;o they call vpon vs for ho&s;pitali|tie, but detaine from vs our tithes and com|modities, which are as due to vs as their lands are to them, and without which it is as vnpo&s;sible to keepe ho&s;piralitie, as it was for the Hebrues to woorke without &s;traw. I deny not, but in &s;om &s;ort, the reue|nues of the church are competent, but they are in the hands of lay me~ to maintain their pride: we beare the name, and they reape the commodity, and yet &s;lander vs, becau&s;e we keepe not ho&s;pitalitie. Wil. Rufus was wont to &s;ay, that the Church breade was &s;weet bread, and Iulian the apo&s;tata would rob the mini&s;ters pretending con&s;cience,
<PB REF="19"> becau&s;e &s;o much liuing was a burden vnto them, &amp; an hinderance vnto their mini&s;te|rie, we haue many as hungry as Wil. Rufus, and as con&s;cionable as Iulian the Apo&s;tata, vpon whom, though God doth not pre&s;ent|ly &s;hew tokens of his wrath as he did vpon them, which cau&s;ed one to be &s;troken with a dart vpon earth, and the other with an ar|row from heauen, yet, there is an heauie iudgement re&s;erued for them, &amp; their dam|nation &s;leepeth not. I be&s;eech you pardon me though I refrain not to &s;peak, for I feare lea&s;t being &s;ilent, I &s;hould be guilty of their &s;ins, and incur the reprehen&s;ion of the pro|phet Dauid: <HI>When thou &s;awe&s;t a theefe, thou</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">P&s;al: 50</NOTE> <HI>did&s;t run with him.</HI> Salomon though a king, not a&s;hamed to bee a preacher, &s;heweth vs that all things haue a time. But one thing e|&s;pecially I note, where he &s;aith: <HI>There is a time to gather &s;tones, and a time to ca&s;t &s;tones a|way.</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Eccle. 3</NOTE> The time of gathering &s;tones was a time of deuotion, and it continued in Eng|land about 900. yeares, and now that time is ended, the time of ca&s;ting away &s;tones is gaped after, to &s;uppres that in one age which was, not erected in many: which time, in vaine do they looke for, as long as our mo&s;t gracious lady and mi&s;tre&s;&s;e, our dread &s;oue|raine
<PB REF="19"> Queene Elizabeth reigneth, and mo&s;t humbly I be&s;eech God, that if it be his mo&s;t ble&s;&s;ed will, &s;he may reigne ouer vs to the worlds end. But, when that time &s;hall come, it will be manife&s;t to all the world, that ini|quity hath got the vpper ha~d, that nothing can then be expected, but fire and brim&s;ton to raine from heauen as it did vpon Sodom, or el&s;e, it wil be high time for vs to crie: <HI>Etia~</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Gen. 19. Apoc. 22.</NOTE> <HI>veni Domine Ie&s;u, venicito, Come Lord Ie&s;us, come quickly.</HI> I know my &s;harp reprehen&s;ion doth offend them which be guiltie, but I con&s;ider that I am &s;ent as a &s;heepe to hunt after wolues, and I know the wor&s;t that ra|uening wolues can do; they can but deuour. I mu&s;t do my mai&s;ters me&s;&s;age, and if you <NOTE PLACE="marg">Matt. 10 Acts. 12. and 8</NOTE> regard it not. I &s;hake the du&s;t off my feet a|gain&s;t you, and your blood bee vpon your owne heads, I am cleare, I feare not man which hath power ouer the bodie only, but God which is able to de&s;troy both body and <NOTE PLACE="marg">Matt. 10</NOTE> &s;oule in hell fire. The crying &s;in of &s;imonie reigneth euery where, and patro~s of benefi|ces chu&s;e their mini&s;ters, not as the gods cho&s;e their trees into their patronage for good qualities: Iupiter the oke, becau&s;e it was good for building: Neptune the pine becau&s;e it &s;erued to make &s;hips: Apollo the
<PB REF="20"> bay, becau&s;e it was greene: Hercules the popple, becau&s;e it was &s;treight and tall like him&s;elf, notwith&s;ta~ding all the&s;e trees were without fruit, becau&s;e the gods were hono|rably minded, and would not <HI>Fructu honore~ vendere,</HI> &s;ell promotions for commoditie: but as the godde&s;&s;e Minerua, which cho&s;e the oliue tree, becau&s;e it was fat. At the fir&s;t the patronage of benefices was committed to Gentlemen vpon tru&s;t, becau&s;e great confidence was in them repo&s;ed, but nowe they haue gotten it into their hands, they do as it was &s;aid of pope Alexander:</P>
<Q><L>&V;endit Alexander claues, altaria Christum.</L>
<L>Emerat ille prius, vendere iure pote&s;t.</L></Q>
<P>They acco~pt the lords portion their own fee &s;imple and inheritance, they bought the patronage, &amp; therfore they wil &s;ell the pre|&s;entation, &s;o that they which vpo~ e&s;peciall tru&s;t repo&s;ed in the~ aboue other men were cho&s;en patro~s &amp; defenders, are become rob|bers &amp; &s;poilers of the church. They cry out for a learned mini&s;tery, wheras in deed they pick but quarels with vs, intending nothing les tha~ a learned mini&s;tery, for they wil wil|lingly pre&s;ent none, but &s;uch as are ba&s;e, ig|nora~t, &amp; beggerly, becau&s;e &s;uch per&s;ons wil ea&s;ily accept of benefices vpo~ vnlawful co~|ditio~s. Many painful &s;tude~ts do earne&s;tly de|&s;ire
<PB REF="20"> to enter into the lords harue&s;t, but they ca~not be &s;et a worke, for they know no way but one, to be &s;et ouer a flocke, which is in right, the gift of the holy gho&s;t, but by the &s;orcery of St. Magus, who&s;e art magick is &s;o common throughout the land, that there be few patrons which are not bewitched with the &s;ame, they haue forgot the text: <HI>he that taketh coun&s;ell of a &s;orcerer &s;hall die the death.</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Leui. 20</NOTE> The voice of Iudas to the high prie&s;ts, whe~ he &s;old Chri&s;t, is co~mon in their mouthes, <NOTE PLACE="marg">Mat. 24</NOTE> <HI>quid mihi dabitis, &amp; ego trada~ vobis?</HI> What wil you giue, &amp; I wil giue you the pre&s;enta|tion, but they reme~ber not the an&s;wer of Si. Peter to Si. Magus, <HI>thy mony peri&s;h with thee,</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Acts 8</NOTE> <HI>which thinke&s;t, &amp;c.</HI> This corruptio~ wilbe the decay of al religio~. Wherfore it is now high time that Mo&s;es a&s;si&s;t his brother Aaron. But haue ye not hard the fable of the hors &amp; the a&s;&s;e, which were loded togither &amp; ready to go their iourny? the a&s;&s;e being ouerladen made his mone to the hor&s;e that he would ea&s;e him, but was neied at by the hor&s;e that caried the lighter burde~: the A&s;&s;e tired &amp; died by the way: wherupo~ the husbandman laid the dead a&s;&s;es pack vpo~ the hors, &s;o that wheras before he bore but I. burde~, he was con&s;traind to cary 2, &amp; when his backe was broken, hee could but lament his mi&s;erie.
<PB REF="21"> The hor&s;e betokeneth the nobility, becau&s;e he is fit for warre, and is <HI>genero&s;um animal,</HI> a noble bea&s;t. The &s;ily a&s;&s;e becau&s;e he is &s;im|ple, fit by nature to beare heauy burdens, beaten, kicked, &amp; &s;purned at by euery one, doth repre&s;ent the cleargie, which are &s;ore loaded with &s;landers and manife&s;t wrongs, being &s;trooken on the right cheeke turne <NOTE PLACE="marg">Mat. 5</NOTE> the left, being robbed of their cote, giue al|&s;o their cloke, being cur&s;ed, they ble&s;&s;e, re|uiled, reuile not againe. I need not tell you the morall of this fable, for <HI>Verbum &s;apienti dictum &s;at e&s;t,</HI> A word &s;poken to a wi&s;e man will &s;uffice.</P>
<P>Ye haue heard how the &s;onne of man &s;tan|deth knocking at your doores, and that now it is not an houre to his comming to iudge|ment, and come he will &s;uddenly when he is not looked for. What then? Shall the foo|li&s;h <NOTE PLACE="marg">Mat. 25</NOTE> virgins &s;lumber in the darke while the bridegroom pa&s;&s;eth by? Shal Samp&s;on &s;nort in Dalilaes lap in the midde&s;t of the Phili|&s;tins? <NOTE PLACE="marg">Iud. 16 Mat. 3 Luke 12</NOTE> Shall the di&s;ciples &s;uffer Chri&s;t to &s;leep while the &s;hip is couered with waues? &s;hal the couetous man enlarge his barnes &amp; &s;ay to his &s;oule take thy re&s;t for many years, whereas that night his &s;oule &s;hall be taken from him? &s;hall Loth build &s;tately towers
<PB REF="21"> in Sodom being warned by the Angell to depart thence with &s;peed, becau&s;e it &s;halbe de&s;troyed with brim&s;tone from heauen? why then doe we purcha&s;e lands as if wee would dwell alone, and lay vp money as if we would liue alone vpon the earth? why do we erect &s;uch loftie buildings, the ground+worke whereof is laid of &s;trife and di&s;cord, the morter whereof is tempered with the tears of widowes, the windowes beautified with the &s;poile of Orphanes, the beams and &s;upporters, of the fal of good yeome~? Why do we &s;ay (with the Idumea~s) of gods hou&s;e, <HI>Downe with it, downe with it, to the ground.</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">P&s;al. 137</NOTE> <HI>Ra&s;e it vp, ra&s;e it vp to the pauement,</HI> and rai&s;e our own hou&s;es as high as the wals of Troy, or rather, if it might be, as the tower of Ba|bel? &s;eeing that we cannnt inioy them lon|ger than an houre. Galen maketh mention of a melancholy man, which reading in po|ets, how Atlas &s;upported heauen with his &s;houlders, receiued &s;o deepe an impre&s;sion of the &s;ame in his mind, that he was in a bo|dily feare lea&s;t Atlas &s;hould faint, and let heauen fall vpon our heads. And, &s;hall we which be Chri&s;tians liue in &s;uch carnall &s;e|curity, that when we &s;ee, as it were with our eies, and heare dayly with our eares, that
<PB REF="22"> heauen cracketh, haue &s;o little feeling as to think heaue~ would &s;tand for euer? let vs ra|ther with Noah enter into the arke, let vs with Lot depart &s;peedily out of Sodom, &amp; that as Lot him&s;elf did, which we~t forward, not as his wife which looked backe, and was turned into a pillar of &s;alt, let vs with Eze|chias prepare our &s;elues to die, and bid the world adue. Let vs as Chri&s;t willeth vs gird vp our loines, haue our lamps lighted in our hands, that we may be ready to meete the bride. Let vs rather folow the example of &s;ir <HI>Tho. More,</HI> of whom it is &s;aid, that being of|fered a petition by a woman, as hee went to his execution, aun&s;wered: Woman, I am now going about the kings bu&s;ines, I haue no ley&s;ure to read petitions; than of Richard the third in Bo&s;worth field, who being him &s;elfe as a deadman, prepared to execute the L. Standlies &s;on, his friends told him, it was not then any time to do execution, but high time to looke to him&s;elfe. I wi&s;h that the great Polititians and Wizards of this world, who intend as much &s;acriledge as he did murther, would begin to be as wi&s;e to|wards God, as they are towards the world, and at the la&s;t con&s;ider, that it is nowe no time to co~mit &s;acriledge, but it is high time
<PB REF="22"> for them to think on their owne &s;aluation. S. Peter putteth them in mind of two god|ly meditations far more fit for the&s;e times, and mo&s;t profitable for the health of their &s;oules, Fr&s;t, &s;aith he, <HI>Seeing all tho&s;e things</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">2. Pet. 3</NOTE> <HI>mu&s;t be di&s;&s;olued, what maner of per&s;ons ought you to be in holy conuer&s;ation and godlines, loo|king for, &amp; ha&s;tning to the comming of the day of God, by the which the heauens being on fire mu&s;t be di&s;&s;olued, and the elements &s;hall melt with heat?</HI> Secondly, <HI>we mu&s;t looke for a new heauen and a newe earth, according to his pro|mi&s;e, wherein righteou&s;nes doth dwel: land &s;ee|ing that wee looke for &s;uch things, wee mu&s;t bee diligent, that we may bee found without &s;pot or blamele&s;&s;e.</HI></P>
<P>Some what remaineth to be &s;poken of the &s;econd part, which is, of the co~ming of An|tichri&s;t, who&s;e co~ming the Apo&s;tle taketh for a mo&s;t &s;ure ground to prooue that it is the end of the world, where hee &s;aith: <HI>Yee haue heard that Antichri&s;t &s;hal come: euen now there are many Antichri&s;ts, whereby wee knowe that it is the last houre.</HI> In my di&s;cour&s;e of the comming of Antichri&s;t, fir&s;t, becau&s;e that name hath many &s;ignifications, I will by foure di&s;tinctions take away the ambi|guitie of the word. Secondly, I will define
<PB REF="23"> what Antichri&s;t is. Thirdly, I will de&s;cend to particulers, to di&s;couer vnto you that ma~ of &s;inne, and to point out who is that Anti|chri&s;t whom the Apo&s;tle meaneth in this place, which &s;halbe a &s;ufficie~t proof again&s;t our countrime~ of Rhemes, that his co~ming is not now to be expected, but that he was 900. yeares &s;ince reueled to vs. Such as haue learned the rudiments of Grammer, are not ignorant, that this propo&s;ition <GAP LANG="grc" DESC="foreign" RESP="OXF">, &s;ignifi|eth the&s;e things: likene&s;&s;e and equalitie, in which &s;en&s;e no man can be Antichri&s;t, be|cau&s;e no man can be like him, or equal with him: any one which is in the place &amp; &s;teed of another, according to which &s;ignification the pope fal&s;ly taketh vpon him that he is Antichri&s;t, which is, Chri&s;ts deputie, or vi|car generall ouer his Church: contrarietie, and &s;o euery one is Antichri&s;t, which is an aduer&s;arie vnto Chri&s;t, &amp; of this Antichri&s;t only the Apo&s;tle &s;peaketh, which maintai|neth doctrine contrary to that which our &s;a|uiour Chri&s;t hath taught, and therfore is an aduer&s;arie vnto him. And this Antichri&s;t which is Chri&s;ts aduer&s;ary, is take~ two ma|ner of wayes in the &s;criptures, as Saint Iohn hath di&s;tingui&s;hed in this place, either ge|nerally for any aduer&s;ary of the truth, or
<PB REF="23"> more e&s;pecially for &s;uch an enemy as is ca|pital, &amp; notorious aboue the re&s;t. For, where he &s;aith, <HI>Euen now there are many Antichri&s;ts,</HI> he &s;peaketh not of any one per&s;on, or &s;tate, or &s;ucce&s;sion, or kingdome, aboue the re&s;t, but generally of all, which oppo&s;e the~&s;elues again&s;t any point of Chri&s;ts doctrine. But, where he &s;aith: <HI>Ye haue heard that Antichri&s;t &s;hal come,</HI> he &s;peaketh <GAP LANG="grc" DESC="foreign" RESP="OXF">, of one which is eminent, and notoriou&s;ly oppo&s;eth him|&s;elfe, not in one point, but in the chief que|&s;tions of Chri&s;tian religion.</P>
<P>Againe, this famous and notorious Anti|chri&s;t, is either political, or eccle&s;ia&s;tical, for <NOTE PLACE="marg">Apoc. 13 1 Iohn. 4. Apoc. 13 Apoc. 17</NOTE> the old empire of Rome vnder the heathe~s, which Iohn calleth a bea&s;t with &s;eue~ heads and ten hornes, is the politicall Antichri&s;t, which flouri&s;hed in the Apo&s;tles time, of which he &s;aid: <HI>he is now alreadie in the world,</HI> but the eccle&s;ia&s;ticall Antichri&s;t, which is called by 3. names, as the bea&s;t a&s;ce~ding out of the earth with 2. horns, &amp;, the harlot &s;it|ting vpon the fir&s;t bea&s;t, and the bea&s;t that was, &amp; is not, is the eight, &amp; is one of the &s;e|uen, which 3. names &s;ignifie one thing, that is, the &s;tate of Popes raigning in the place of the Emperors (for, that is to &s;it vpon the bea&s;t with &s;euen heads) and they are called a
<PB REF="24"> bea&s;t for their crueltie, a woman for their <NOTE PLACE="marg">Ezec: 23 Ho&s;ea. 2 2. The&s;. 2</NOTE> pride, an harlot for their idolatrie, which is &s;pirituall fornication. And this Eccle&s;ia&s;ti|call Antichri&s;t is taken al&s;o two manner of waies by S. Paule, either properly, or figu|ratiuely, properly for an whole bodie, or kingdome, or &s;tate, which is oppo&s;ite to Chri&s;t, where he &s;aith: <HI>There mu&s;t come a departure or a reuoltment fir&s;t, and, the mi&s;te|rie of iniquitie doth alreadie worke.</HI> In which words he &s;peaketh of a generall Apo&s;tacie from &s;ound religion. For, in Diuinitie con|trary to the rules of Logick, indefinite pro|po&s;itions in matter contingent, are almo&s;t vniuer&s;all, not to bee vnder&s;toode of &s;ome few, but either of all, or el&s;e of the greate&s;t part, as for example: <HI>Iniquitie &s;hall abound,</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Luke 18 Matt. 24</NOTE> <HI>charitie &s;hall waxe cold faith &s;hal not be found vpon the earth:</HI> not the iniquitie, or faith, or charity of a few, is to be vnder&s;tood, but almo&s;t of all the inhabitants of the earth. Againe, <HI>with the whore haue committed for|nication</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Apoc. 17</NOTE> <HI>the inhabitants of the earth,</HI> the pro|po&s;ition is indefinite, yet generally to bee vnder&s;toode, for &s;o it is interpreted in the Chapter following: <HI>All nations haue drunk</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Apo. 18</NOTE> <HI>of the wine of the wrath of her fornication.</HI> But, where he &s;aith: <HI>An aduer&s;arie that ex|alteth
<PB REF="24"> him&s;elfe aboue all that is called God, and &s;itteth as god in the temple of god,</HI> by the figure <HI>Synechdoche,</HI> he meaneth only the head and prince of that Apo&s;tacie and reuoltment from Chri&s;t: Wherfore, Antichri&s;t is to be vnder&s;toode in this place, in the fir&s;t diui|&s;ion, according to the third &s;ignification, on|ly for him that is oppo&s;ed again&s;t Chri&s;t, and an aduer&s;arie vnto his truth, not euerie aduer&s;arie, but one more &s;ingular and noto|rious than the re&s;t, not politicall, but Eccle|&s;ia&s;ticall, not in the proper &s;ignification, for the whole bodie or kingdome, but by a <HI>Sy|nechdoche,</HI> for the head &amp; prince of that An|tichri&s;tian Apo&s;tacie and rebellion.</P>
<P>Hauing by di&s;tinctions vnfolded vnto you the ambiguitie of this name Antichri&s;t, and &s;hewed howe it is to be vnder&s;tood in this place, I define him in this maner: An|tichri&s;t is a &s;ucce&s;sion of Bi&s;hops, di&s;ciphe|red out by certaine notes and marks in the holy Scriptures, which profe&s;sing the name of Chri&s;t, doe oppo&s;e them&s;elues agayn&s;t him in many chiefe points of Chri&s;tian re|ligion. That he is not one particular man but an whole &s;ucce&s;sion of many men, I prooue by the&s;e two rea&s;ons: fir&s;t, it was prophecied that Antichri&s;t that purple
<PB REF="25" MS="y"> harlot, &s;hould make drunke with the wine <NOTE PLACE="marg">Apo. 18</NOTE> of her formicatio~, al the nations of the earth. And that Antichri&s;t, that two horned bea&s;t. &s;hould giue life to the Image of the bea&s;t <NOTE PLACE="marg">Apoc. 13</NOTE> which was de&s;troied, that is, he &s;hould re|&s;tore the decaied &s;tate of the Roman Em|pire, by &s;etting vp new Emperours in the We&s;t, which in re&s;pect of the former Em|perors are but Images, and very &s;hadowes: that he &s;hould make many peoples &amp; king|doms &s;ubiect vnto him&s;elf. But the&s;e things could not bee brought to pa&s;&s;e in one mans age, therefore Antichri&s;t is not one man, but a &s;ucce&s;sion of many. Secondly, no one Methu&s;alem could liue from the Apo&s;tles time vnto the end of the world, but Anti|chri&s;t is de&s;cribed in the Scriptures to bee &s;uch a one as mu&s;t liue from the Apo&s;tles time vntill the end of the world, as it is eui|dent by S. Paul. For, of his beginning, hee &s;aith, <HI>The mi&s;terie of iniquitie doth alreadie worke,</HI> &s;o that albeit he was not then reuea|led, <NOTE PLACE="marg">The&s;. 2. 2</NOTE> becau&s;e that &s;ame <GAP LANG="grc" DESC="foreign" RESP="OXF"> that ob&s;tacle or hinderance, which was the Roman Em|perour, was not then remoued from Rome to Co~&s;tantinople, that he might giue place to the Pope, the time was not accompli|&s;hed when the head of iniquitie &s;hould be
<PB REF="25"> ioined to the body, and &s;o made perfect: yet S. Paul doth acknowledge that he was al|readie come, when he him&s;elfe liued: and, of his ende, he faith: <HI>Hee mu&s;t be con&s;umed with the breath of Gods mouth, and aboli&s;hed with the brightnes of his comming.</HI> But, the breath of Gods mouth is his word, and the prea|ching of the Go&s;pel.</P>
<P>Sibilla the prophete&s;&s;e, foretold that he &s;hould be de&s;troyed with linnen, and paper (you knowe) is made of rags of linnen, and the Go&s;pell is written in paper, and this Go&s;pel weakeneth his kingdome, but he is not to be vtterly aboli&s;hed, but by the pre|&s;ence of Chri&s;t. Therefore he is <GAP LANG="grc" DESC="foreign" RESP="OXF"> not one man, but an whole &s;ucce&s;sion. The Papi&s;ts of Rhemes argue again&s;t vs out of this very text, where he &s;aith <GAP LANG="grc" DESC="foreign" RESP="OXF">, that Antichri&s;t, to proue that he is but one par|ticular man, and not a &s;ucce&s;sion, as though this article: &s;hould nece&s;&s;arily point at one, and demon&s;trate &s;ome certaine man. But I will &s;hew by two in&s;tances, how their argument doth not follow. Fir&s;t, this article: doth not alwayes demon&s;trate, for it is v|&s;ed three maner of wayes in the holy Scrip|ture, either <GAP LANG="grc" DESC="foreign" RESP="OXF">, or <GAP LANG="grc" DESC="foreign" RESP="OXF">, or <GAP LANG="grc" DESC="foreign" RESP="OXF">, de|mon&s;tratiuely to point at one particular, or
<PB REF="26"> emphatically, as in this place, or idlely, and to no purpo&s;e, as it is often and in euery page of the Greeke text. Let one example among a thou&s;ande &s;uffice, <GAP LANG="grc" DESC="foreign" RESP="OXF">. <NOTE PLACE="marg">2. Iohn. 3</NOTE> He that &s;inneth is of the di|uell not any one in particular, but euery one in a generalitie that &s;inneth. Secondly if it were granted, (as it is denied) that this arti|cle doth nece&s;&s;arily import &s;ome one &s;peci|al man, according to the Grammatical &s;en&s;e, yet doth it not follow, that one man there|fore were to be vnder&s;tood, becau&s;e it is the maner of the &s;criptures to &s;peake of whole &s;ucce&s;sions as if it were but of one. Daniel <NOTE PLACE="marg">Dan. 7</NOTE> de&s;cribeth three Monarchies, euery one co~|teining diuer&s;e &s;ucce&s;sions of kings, by the names of three bea&s;ts, the Empire of the Ba|bylonians by one Lion, of the Per&s;ians by one Beare, of the Macedonians by one Leo|pard, he &s;peaketh of many as if he &s;pake but of one: wherefore, although his maner of &s;peaking importeth but one, not one, but many are to be vnder&s;tood.</P>
<P>That Antichri&s;t is a &s;ucce&s;sion of Bi|&s;hops, not of Turkes or Pagans, or &s;ecular princes, it is plaine out of the text, <HI>he must</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">2. The&s;. 2.</NOTE> <HI>&s;it in the Temple of God,</HI> not in the materiall temple of Salomon, which is now no more
<PB REF="26"> a temple, but the &s;pirituall temple which is the Church, as S. Augu&s;tine doth inter|pret <NOTE PLACE="marg">De ciuit: Dei. li. 20 cap. 19</NOTE> it: and he mu&s;t a&s;&s;ume vnto him&s;elfe Eccle&s;ia&s;ticall authoritie, to excommuni|cate, to teach the worde, to ordaine Mini|&s;ters, which no &s;ucce&s;sion of &s;ecular princes euer did. The markes and tokens whereby Antichri&s;t is di&s;clo&s;ed, are to be di&s;cu&s;&s;ed in the particularizing and di&s;couering vnto you who is Antichri&s;t that &s;on of perdition, of whom the Apo&s;tle &s;peaketh.</P>
<P><HI>Littleton,</HI> a common lawier, in an Epilogue annexed to his booke, di&s;ableth him&s;elfe, and detracteth from his owne learning, &s;ay|ing, that he cannot warrant all to bee lawe which he hath written. How&s;oeuer I haue not attayned vnto that mea&s;ure of know|ledge in Gods booke which hee had in the lawes of this land, yet I am more confident and I dare warrant you again&s;t all papi&s;ts in the world, my &s;oule for yours, that albeit &s;ome learned prote&s;tants being ouer-much mode&s;t, make a doubt whether Antichri&s;t be yet reuealed or not, affirming that if he be reuealed, he is the Bi&s;hop of Rome: this doctrine which I &s;hall deliuer you, is &s;ound and currant diuinitie, that the &s;ucce&s;sion of the Bi&s;hops of Rome, which hath co~tinued
<PB REF="27"> about nine hundred yeeres, is that Anti|chri&s;t which is me~tioned in the holy &s;crip|tures. For confirmation of this conclu&s;ion, I will alledge no other proofes than the au|thoritie of the Scriptures, which do &s;uffici|ently &s;et down all the mi&s;teries of his reue|ation. As for the Fathers, though far lear|nedder than any which liue in our dayes, their iudgements are different one from a|nother, that no certaintie can bee gathered out of their writings, neither could they at|taine to anie certaine knowledge heereof, for as much as Antichri&s;t which hath al|readie di&s;clo&s;ed him&s;elfe to vs, was not re|uealed when they liued, and it was vnpo&s;si|ble to know him but by the eue~ts of things which now are, but then were not come to pa&s;&s;e. Wherefore I admit no interpretation of &s;criptures concerning this prophe&s;ie, but onely the euent which is the mo&s;t faithful interpreter of all prophe&s;ies. For, I am &s;ure there cannot be a more euident demo~&s;tra|tion than this: wee &s;ee it alreadie come to pa&s;&s;e, that all the prophecies concerning the reuelation of Antichri&s;t, are fulfilled in the Bi&s;hops of Rome, and can al be verified of none el&s;e, therfore the Bi&s;hops of Rome are Antichri&s;t. My antecedent I prooue in
<PB REF="27"> this manner: All the prophecies wherein he is de&s;cribed, are contained in the 2. <HI>The&s;.</HI> 2. and the Reuelation of S. Iohn. As for Daniel, though &s;om of the learned haue al|legorically applied his prophecies vnto an|tichri&s;t, which are properly ment of Anti|ochus, I deny that he euer writ of antichri&s;t at all. As for S. Paul, he prophe&s;ieth in this maner: <HI>That day &s;hall not come, vnles there be a departure fir&s;t, &amp; that man of &s;in be di&s;clo&s;ed, euen the &s;on of perdition, which is an aduer&s;a|ry, &amp; exalteth him&s;elf again&s;t all that is called God, or that is wor&s;hipped, &s;o that he doth &s;it as God in the temple of God &s;hewing him&s;elf that he is God, &amp; now ye know what with-holdeth that bee might be reuealed in his time, for the mi&s;tery of iniquity doth already work, only that which with-holdeth &s;hal hinder &s;till, vntil it be taken away, and then &s;hall the wicked one be re|uealed, whom the Lord &s;hall de&s;troy with the breath of his mouth, &amp; aboli&s;h with the bright+nes of his comming, euan him, who&s;e co~ming is by the work of a Sathan, with al power &amp; &s;ignes, &amp; lying wonders.</HI> In which words, I ob&s;erue 4. things which di&s;clo&s;e antichri&s;t vnto vs; his pride, <HI>He exalteth him&s;elfe aboue God,</HI> a <NOTE PLACE="marg">Esay 14</NOTE> Lucifer did; his &s;eat; <HI>He &s;itteth in the temple of God, as if he were God,</HI> the time when he
<PB REF="28"> &s;huld begin to reigne, <HI>when that which with holdeth &s;hould be taken away,</HI> which was the politicall Antichri&s;t, the Roman Emperors &s;hould depart fro~ Rome: the maner how he &s;hould e&s;tabli&s;h his kingdome, <HI>by &s;ignes and delu&s;ions of Satan, &amp; lying wonders.</HI> But that the Bi&s;hops of Rome take vpon them to be gods, and which is more, take to them&s;elues authoritie aboue God, it appeareth by the Laterane Coun&s;ell holden vnder Leo the tenth. wherein thus we reade: <HI>In Papae&s;t omnis pote&s;tas &s;upra ownes pote&s;tates tam caeli quam terrae,</HI> the popes power is aboue all powers both in heauen and earth. That he &s;itteth in the Temple of God, it cannot be denied, becau&s;e his &s;eat is Rome. The Rhe|mi&s;ts can not prooue vnto vs that the mate|riall temple of Salomon is heere to be vn|der&s;tood, for that temple is de&s;troyed, and that temple with the v&s;e wherevnto it was ordained, is vtterly aboli&s;hed by the lawe of God, &s;o that if it were reedified, it were no more the temple of God, but a place of idolatry &amp; abomination, and if any &s;u&s;pect that that temple may be builded againe, let him call to remembrance how the Iewes once obtained leaue of Iulian the Apo&s;tata to reedifie it, but God &s;hewed manife&s;t
<PB REF="28"> &s;ignes of his di&s;plea&s;ure, which cau&s;ed the fou~dation therof to be &s;hake~ a &s;under with <NOTE PLACE="marg">Ruff. li. 10 38. &amp; 39.</NOTE> earthquakes, and that which was builded in the day, to bee burnt vp with lighthing from heauen by night, Wherefore the tem|ple which is the &s;eate of Antichri&s;t is &s;piri|tually to be vnder&s;tood, as al&s;o, by rea&s;on of the wordes which goe before, where hee &s;peaketh of an Apo&s;tacie and reuoltment from true religion, which could not bee a|mong the Iewes, among whome true reli|gion then was not, and now is not profe&s;|&s;ed, &s;o that Antichri&s;t &s;itteth in the church, and indeede hee hath cho&s;en that Church for his &s;eate, which was then mo&s;t famous for the profe&s;sion of the Go&s;pell, as S. Paul him&s;elfe gaue te&s;timony, when hee writ to the Romans, that their faith was heard of <NOTE PLACE="marg">Rom. 1</NOTE> through the whole worlde. And, which is more than that, he &s;itteth in the Church of God, as if he were God, intituling him&s;elfe Chri&s;ts vicar general ouer the earth, which belongeth only to the holy Gho&s;t which is God, whome Chri&s;t did &s;ub&s;titute in his roome at his departure from vs, that hee might continue with vs, during the time of his ab&s;ence, &s;aying: <HI>The Comforter which is the holy Gho&s;t, the father will &s;end in my name,</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Iohn 14</NOTE>
<PB REF="29"> <HI>he &s;hall teach you al trueth: the Father &s;hall giue you a Comforter which &s;hal abide with you for euer.</HI> As for the time of his reuelation, hee was then to be reuealed, when the hinde|rance was taken away, which hinderance was the abode of the Emperours at Rome, which the Apo&s;tle &s;pared to expre&s;&s;e in writing for the&s;e two rea&s;ons: fir&s;t, becau&s;e he made it &s;ufficiently knowen by word of mouth vnto the faithful: &s;econdly, becau&s;e it might haue bin dangerous to the church, for the Emperours taking offence there at, would haue per&s;ecuted the Chri&s;tians as bu&s;i-bodies in matters of &s;tate. But the hin|derance was the Romane Emperors, which were fir&s;t to depart from Rome, and giue place to the Popes, becau&s;e both Emperors and Popes could not reigne togither in one city. And that hinderance was taken away long &s;ince, when Con&s;tantine the great, tran&s;lated his imperiall &s;eate to Con&s;tanti|nople, and indowed the Popes with the ci|tie of Rome, and a great part of Italy lying about it. The emperours then being farre off, and by rea&s;on of continuall warres with Saracens and enimies in the Ea&s;t, not able to maintaine their own right in the We&s;t, the Popes incroched vpon them too farre, and
<PB REF="29"> v&s;urped &s;o much authoritie, that they di&s;|carded them cleane in Italy, and at their plea&s;ure &s;et vp other Emperours in the Wea&s;t, but &s;uch as would take an oathe to be &s;ubiect to the Apo&s;tolike See of Rome, and acknowledge the Popes to be vniuer|&s;all Bi&s;hops. So the hinderance was taken away when Con&s;tantine remoued to Con|&s;tantinople, and Antichri&s;t was manife&s;tly di&s;clo&s;ed not long after, when <HI>Boniface</HI> the third obtained the title of vniuer&s;al Bi&s;hop, which was 900. yeares agoe, for as Grego|rie <NOTE PLACE="marg">Lib. 4. e|pi&s;t. 38.</NOTE> &s;aith: none but Antichri&s;t would a&s;&s;ume vnto him &s;uch a title. As for the power of &s;athan, and &s;ignes, and wonders, whereby his kingdome was e&s;tabli&s;hed, and the ig|norant people deceiued. I referre you vnto their owne legends of lies. Al the prophe|cies of &s;aint Iohn, concerning the di&s;clo&s;ing of Antichri&s;t, are comprehended in the 13. and 17. chapters of his Reuelation. In his 13. chapter he de&s;cribeth two Antichri&s;ts, the one Politicall, which flouri&s;hed in his time, the other Eccle&s;ia&s;ticall, which was not then di&s;clo&s;ed, but now reigneth, and beganne his dominion when the politicall Antichri&s;t was taken away. The politicall Antichri&s;t he de&s;cribeth in this maner: By
<PB REF="30"> the figure <HI>Senecdoche,</HI> taking Rome which was <HI>caput imperij,</HI> the chiefe Citie for the whole Empire. He calleth it a bea&s;t, follow|ing the example of Daniel, which called 4. <NOTE PLACE="marg">Dan. 7.</NOTE> Monarchies foure bea&s;ts.</P>
<P>This bea&s;t hath the &s;hape of a Beare, a Leopard, and a Lion, becau&s;e it con&s;i&s;ted of three other Empires, of the Per&s;ians Macedonians, and Babilonians before de|&s;troyed, which by the&s;e three bea&s;ts were repre&s;ented. This bea&s;t had ten hornes, and &s;euen heads: the ten hornes are interpreted in the &s;euenteenth chapter to be ten kings or kingdomes, into which the old Empire was to bee diuided after the decay thereof, which afterward came to pa&s;&s;e: the number of ten, which is certaine, beeing v&s;ed for an vncertaine number, according to the maner of the Scriptures. The &s;euen heads, chap|ter &s;euenteene, are interpreted to be &s;euen hils, and &s;euen kings or orders of &s;upreme Gouernours. But Rome hath &s;euen heades, whether you take them for hils or Kings, The hils which it was builded vppon, are the&s;e, Capitolinus, Palatinus, Auentinus, Celius, Exquilinus, Viminalis, Quirinalis. The orders of Gouernours by whom it was ruled at &s;euerall times by rea&s;on of alterati|ons,
<PB REF="30"> were Kings, Con&s;uls, Dictators, De|cemuiri, Triumuiri, Emperours of the aun|cient Nobilitie of Rome, and la&s;tly, Empe|rors of &s;trange families. Vpon tho&s;e heads, whether yee talke them for hils or Kings, were the names of bla&s;phemie: for, vpon the hils were builded Temples, dedicated to Minerua, Saturne, and heathen gods, and the Gouernors or Kings them&s;elues, were heathens, and wor&s;hipped Idols of the Gentiles.</P>
<P>One of the &s;euen heads, which was the race of the Emperours of the auncient Ro|man Nobilitie, was wounded in the per&s;on of Nero: which beeing the la&s;t of the Fa|mily of Iulius, flue him&s;elfe; after who&s;e death, the whole e&s;tate of the Empire was in ieopardy, by rea&s;on of di&s;ention among them that did affect the Empire. But that deadly wound was healed againe by Ve&s;|pa&s;ran, which appea&s;ed all &s;trife, and him|&s;elfe &s;u&s;tained the burden of the Empyre: <HI>Fiue of tho&s;e kings,</HI> &s;aith the Angel, <HI>are fal|len, one is, the other is yet to come, and when he commeth, he mu&s;t continue but a &s;hort &s;pace.</HI> Tho&s;e fiue which were fallen, were Kings, Con&s;uls, Dictators, Triumuiri, Decem|uiri: which order of Gouernours were
<PB REF="31"> abrogated before S. Iohns time: the &s;ixt, which was of the Emperours of the aunci|ent Nobilitie of Rome, was then remay|ning when S. Iohn liued, Domitian being Emperour; the &s;euenth, which was of the Emperors of &s;traunge families, was then to come: and when it came, it continued not long after the departure of Con&s;tantine into the Ea&s;t. To which hee addeth, <HI>The bea&s;t which was and is not, is the eight, and is one of the &s;euen, and &s;hall go into de&s;truction.</HI> By which eight, hee meaneth the order of the Popes. Of the bea&s;t, meaning the whole Empire, hee &s;peaketh in this man|ner: <HI>The bea&s;t which thou &s;awe&s;t, was and is not, and &s;hall a&s;cend out of the bottomle&s;&s;e pit:</HI> meaning that the Empire was, &amp; it was not. In the time of Domitian, it was, becau&s;e it &s;tood, &amp; it was in the power of the Roman Nobility, but it was not in the &s;ame &s;tate in which it was before, becau&s;e, from Iulius to Nero, it was hereditary, and tied vnto one familie, but Nero the la&s;t of that family be|ing dead, it was deuolued to Emperours of an other &s;tocke and kindred: and it was to a&s;cend out of the bottomles pit, not in the former &s;tate vnder the Emperours, but in another &s;tate, vnder the Popes.</P>
<PB REF="31">
<P>La&s;tly, he &s;heweth the de&s;truction of the political Antichri&s;t, &s;aying: <HI>If any leade a|way captiue, he mu&s;t be led into captiuitie, if a|ny kill, he must be killed.</HI> Wherefore, nowe that hinderance is taken away which <HI>Paul</HI> &s;peaketh of 2. The&s;&s;. 2. the Emperors giue place to the popes, and the Eccle&s;ia&s;ticall Antichri&s;t is de&s;cribed in this maner: <HI>I &s;aw another bea&s;t with two hornes a&s;cend out of the earth, &amp;c.</HI> This bea&s;t with two hornes, is all one with the purple harlot, Apocal. 17. for both be token the &s;tate of the popedome, the eccle&s;ia&s;ticall Antichri&s;t. This bea&s;t a&s;cendeth out of the earth, that is, it com|meth of ba&s;e parentage, hath two horns like like the lambe, for Antichri&s;t taketh vp|on him to be Chri&s;tes vicar: &s;peaketh like the dragon, for he teacheth lies which pro|ceed from the old dragon the deuill, which was a liar from the beginning: giues life to the image of the fir&s;t bea&s;t: for, notwith|&s;tanding the ancient emperours are decea|&s;ed, the popes haue ordained new emperors in the we&s;t, which keep the &s;ame name and title, although being compared with them, they be but images or rather &s;hadows. And the number of the name of this Antichri&s;t is 666. which number, both in Greeke and
<PB REF="32" MS="y"> Hebrew, doth agree with the bi&s;hops of Rome. In the Hebrew name <HI>Romijth,</HI> is the &s;ame number, for <HI>Re&s;h</HI> &s;ignifieth 200 <HI>Vau, 6 Mem,</HI> 40. double <HI>Iod, 20. Tau,</HI> 400, which being put together, make the number of the bea&s;t 666. Likewi&s;e, the Latine name <HI>Romanus</HI> written in Hebrue characters, maketh the &s;ame numbers, for <HI>Re&s;h</HI> &s;ignifi|eth 200. as it did before, <HI>Mem, 40. Gnaiin 70. Nun 50. Vau 6. Schin</HI> 300, which make 666. Likewi&s;e, in Greeke, this name <GAP LANG="grc" DESC="foreign" RESP="OXF">, (which al&s;o is the name of the Bi|&s;hops of Rome) by adding to, according to the maner of the Greeks, in &s;uch names as are made Greeke, as <GAP LANG="grc" DESC="foreign" RESP="OXF">, for <HI>Ca&s;a|rea,</HI> <GAP LANG="grc" DESC="foreign" RESP="OXF">, for <HI>Nepthalim,</HI> &s;ignifieth 30. &agr; 1. &tgr; 300. <GAP LANG="grc" DESC="foreign" RESP="OXF"> 5. <GAP LANG="grc" DESC="foreign" RESP="OXF"> 10. <GAP LANG="grc" DESC="foreign" RESP="OXF"> 50. &ogr; 70. <GAP LANG="grc" DESC="foreign" RESP="OXF"> 200 which make 666. La&s;tly, concerning the place where this Eccle&s;ia&s;ticall Antichri&s;t doth reign, that &s;ame bea&s;t with two horns, Which is called the whore, Apo. 17 (which whore in the &s;ame place, is interpreted to be a great Citie, which reigneth ouer the Kings of the earth) &s;itteth vpon the bea&s;t with &s;euen heads and ten hornes, which re|pre&s;enteth the Empire of Rome vnder the old Emperors: wherein it is manife&s;t, that the Eccle&s;ia&s;tical Antichri&s;t, &s;ucceedeth the
<PB REF="32"> politicall, and &s;itteth in the place of the Ro|man Emperors: &s;o that Antichri&s;t further than Rome is not to be &s;ought for.</P>
<P>Thus haue you heard, how all the pro|phe&s;ies concerning the di&s;clo&s;ing of Anti|chri&s;t are fulfilled in the Bi&s;hops of Rome, and, that all tho&s;e prophe&s;ies can not bee verified of any el&s;e, it is mo&s;t euident for as much as no other Bi&s;hops or &s;ecular Prin|ces take vpon them to bee Chri&s;ts Vicars generall ouer all the world: which is, to &s;it as God in the Temple of God. No other States a&s;cribe vnto them&s;elues power a|boue all powers in heauen and earth, which is, to exalt them&s;elues aboue God. No other States haue &s;et vp Emperours in the We&s;t, which is, to giue life to the image of the bea&s;t. Finally, no States beare &s;way in a Citie builded vpon &s;euen hils, which Ci|tie reigneth ouer the Kings of the earth, but they. Therefore I may &s;afely make this conclu&s;ion: The &s;ucce&s;sion of the Bi&s;hops of Rome, which hath beene &s;ince Boniface the third, and continued the&s;e nine hun|dred yeares, is that Antichri&s;t which Saint Iohn &s;peaketh of in this place. Wherefore, &s;eeing the comming of Antichri&s;t, is an ar|gument of the latter end of the world, and
<PB REF="33" MS="y"> this great and notorious Antichri&s;t hath beene reuealed vnto vs &s;o long agoe: what remaineth, but that nowe wee lift vp our heads, for our Redemption draweth neere? and that we looke for a newe Heauen, and a new Earth, and the holy citie newe Ieru|&s;alem, comming downe from God out of Heauen, prepared as a beide trimmed for her husband? Again&s;t which comming, God grant we may be readie, our nakednes being clothed with wedding garments, our loynes girded, our &s;teps lightned with our Lamps in our hands, for the Lambe Chri&s;t Ie&s;us his &s;ake, to whom with the father and the holy Gho&s;t, be a&s;cribed all honour, power, and glorie, both now and euer|more, Amen.</P>
<TRAILER>FINIS.</TRAILER>
</DIV1>
</BODY>
</TEXT>
</EEBO>
</ETS>
