Zion in Distress

(f) This is one way whereby we may know who the Man of Sin is, viz. He shall not be revealed until there come a falling away first, as 2 Thess. 2. 3. The Revelation of Antichrist was then to be, when there should appear some eminent Defection in the Church. Now Antiquity clearly makes out when that Apostasy was; it began an very early: It is affirmed by some, The Church did not continue a pure Virgin, nor retained her Primitive Purity, longer then one hundred years. But however, all approved Historians agree, that about the beginning of the Fourth Century, the Apostasy of which the Apostle speaketh, was visible, and fully manifested: Joan. Wolfius out of Jerome, saith, That about the year 390. the Law perished from the Priest, and the Vision from the Prophet; Avarice and Corruption crept into the Church; they condemned Meats and Marriage, and yet gave themselves up to luxurious Banquets and Uncleanness. In the year 326, it was endeavored in the Council of Nice, to cause Bishops and Elders to refrain from their Wives. See Alsted in Chronologia testium Veritatis. Also the said Wolfius alledgeth a Saying out of Augustine, applying it to the year 399. who speaketh thus: That Religion about that time was corrupted with Traditions land Human Rites; that the condition of the Jews under the Law, was easier then that of Christians under the Gospel. Dionysius in an Epistle hinteth that they were burdened with Ceremonies and Traditions that were obtruded and laid upon Christians; and that the Sacraments both of Baptism and the Lord's Supper, suffered great mutation, and was grievously corrupted. Also we find Chrysostom declaiming against the Bishop of Rome, concerning Purgarory; which thing is applied to the Year 410. or there abouts. Besides, we find mention made of worshipping of Images▪ which is reprehended by one Amphilocus Bishop of Iconium, as also by Epiphanius, whom we find speaking thus: Whence is this Image-Worship, and Design of the Devil? And a little after, he saith, Be mindful, my beloved Children, that ye bring not Images into the Church, but bear about God in your hearts.

(h) The second thing that was to precede the coming of Antichrist, was the taking away of the Sixth Head, viz. The Heathen Empire, which in the Apostles time * did let or hinder his Rise; He that now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way, and then shall that wicked one be revealed, &c. The Empire (saith du Moulin) which did bear rule, must be abolished, and out of the Ruins thereof the Son of Perdition is made manifest, and exalts himself: the Emperors hindered him, but the Empire being decayed in the West, and diminished in the East by the Saracens, the Pope found means to seize upon the chief City of the Empire, together with great part of Italy, and to devour the Neighbouring Churches and Realms at his pleasure. Du Moulin, ubi supra, p. 119. That this was the general Opinion of Antiquity, may be seen in Tertullian, lib. de Resurrect. cap. 24. Chrysost, 4 Sermon on 2 Thes. The Greek Scholiast. in loc. August. de civitat Dei, lib. 20. cap. 19. Iren. 11. quest to Algasia, Lipsius, &c. He that would see more particularly how the Bishop or Rome hath made his Market by the ruin of the Empire, let him read Signonius his History of the Kingdom of Italy: In the beginning of his third Book he shows how Pope Gregory the Second, because the Emperor opposed his setting up of Images in the Church, forbad the People to pay Tribute to him, and not so much as once to name him in their Public Service, Du Moulin, p. 157. This then being out of question, to wit, That the Roman Empire whereof St. Paul speaks, is already ruined, and that the Bishop of Rome thereupon rose to that height of pride and Blasphemy, it must needs follow that the Son of Perdition is revealed, and that this is he.

(1) This Beast (saith Du Moulin) rose from a small beginning and mean estate, signified by a Little Horn in Daniel's Prophecy, and in the Revelations of St. John by his rising out of the Earth, according as the Latins call such as get up from a little, Terrae Filios, as Mushromes or Toad-stools, pag. 259. Now who is there but knows how mean and poor the Bishops of Rome were, before they came to be Earthly Monarchs? then when they had not one foot of ground, that the Emperor caused them to be whipt, imprisoned, banished, &c. but by degrees to what a mighty height did he rise? He exercised the Power of the First Beast by little and little, he took the Empire upon him, (2) sat down in his very Seat, assumed his Habit and Shoes of Scarlet, and counterfeited the actions and rights of the Roman Empire: casting off his Crosier-Staff, he takes to hisself a Crown, and is clothed in Scarlet, which was proper to the Emperor: the Emperor had a Senate • lad in Scarlet, and he hath a Senate of Cardinals clad in cloth of the same color, and in many other things he seemed to represent the First Beast.

(1.) This is notorious to the World, though the brevity of Notes admit not room for many Examples.

(2.) Pius the Fifth, sent a Bull to depose Qu. Elizabeth. See Jewel's View of Sedition, and Cambden's Eliz 1570. Tom. 1. Gregory the 13 labor'd secretly to rnine her, Id. ibid. Anno 1378. Tom. 1. Sixtus 5. gave her Kingdom to the king of Spain, Anno 1588. ibid. Clement 8. Strictly commands that none should inherit the English Crown, how good soever his Title be, unless they be sworn and resolved Papists, he words are thus: Nisi ejusmodi esset, qui fidem Catholicam non modo toleraret, sed omni opp & studio promoveret, & studio promoveret, & more majorum jurejurando se id praestiturum susceperet. Camb. Ann. 1600. Tom. alter.

(3.) Pope Adrian 4. made the Emperor Frederick 1. to hold his Stirrup, and chid him for holding the wrong one, Balaeus in Act. Rom. Pont. in Vit. Adrian 4.

(4.) Gregory 7. made the Emperor Henry 4. his Empress and Child, to wait 3 days and 3 night, in a Frosty Season, bare-footed and bare-legged, before his Gates, before they could get Audience. Id. In vit. Gregor. 7.

(5) Alexander 3. Made the Emperor fall upon the ground, in the Temple of St. Mark at Venice, the whole People being present, and puts his Foot upon his Neck, uttering the Psalmists words, Psal. 91. 13. Thou shalt tread upon the Lion and the Adder, the young Lion and Dragon shalt thou trample under feet, Id. in vit. Alex. 3. see 40 Examples of this in the Learned Dr. White's Way of the Church. p. 18, 19, 20, 21.

'It is expressly latd down by the Apostle, as an undoubted Mark of the Man of Sin, viz. That he should sit in the Temple of God. Chrysost. is very express, Hom. 3. 2. Thes. 8. 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 , that is, not in Jerusalem but in the Church, so Oecumenus, de Rom, lib. 3. cap. 13. and Theoph. Theodor. Ambrose. Primus Anselm. Severian. apud imsum. Besides it was to be in a C • with 7 Hills, and where 7 kings of supreme Magistrates were or had been, which agrees to no City ty but Rome, as is demonstrated by peter du Moulin and others; if it be objected, That the Church of Rome at the time of Antichrists Rise, could not be the Temple of God, because upon the Great Apostasy that denomination ceases, it is answered▪ It might be called the Church and Temple of God then, though the Presence of God and the true Religion and Power of Godliness was gone it might retain the Name; as Royal Palaces keep their names when ruined; 'its said, I sa. I. 2 I. How is the Faithful City become an Harlot? Could she be a faithful City and a Harlot too? The meaning is, she was so, but now thus; so Matth. II. 5. Mark 7. ult 'tis said, The blind see, the deaf hear, the dumb speak, the lame walk, &c. that is, they were so, but now otherwise; a Woman keeps her Husbands Name though divorced for Whoredom; so Rome (*) was God's Temple & Christ's Church, but when she espoused another Head, and cast off her first Husband (†) and the true Faith, she became an Harlot and Synagogue of Satan, though bearing still the name of Church and Christian also. See an excellent Treatise, Intituled, The Man of Sin, Printed 1677. pag. 40. &c.

(*) So he carried me away in the Spirit into the Wilderness, and I saw a Woman set upon a Scarlet colourd Beast, full of Names of Blasphemy, having seven Heads and ten Horns, Rev. 17. 4. I will show the Mystery of the Woman, and the Beast that carrys her, verse. 7.

(†) It hath been a received Opinion of some Christians of late times, that the Beast who is the Antichrist or Man of Sin, shall not arise till the Whore is destroyed, and that when he comes he shall only Reign 3 Years and a half. Which Notion may seem strange to all considerate men; because that Beast who is of the 7th. and an 8th. all confess is the Man of Sin: and how evident is it that this very Beast bears up, and carrys the Whore from first to last? Besides, Consider 'tis said, the 10 Horns of this very Beast's shall hate the Whore, and make her desolate, how could the Horns hate or hurt her, if the Beasts rise not till she is destroyed? can there be Horns and no Beast? And besides, should this Notion be received, it might seem strange that the Holy Spirit passeth by in silence, and takes no notice of this horrid Monster, or Succession of Popes, that have continued so long, having all the Marks and Characters so clearly upon him of Antichrist. If any should say, he doth not deny Christ come in the Flesh. I answer, In a Mystery he doth, and particularly, in his ordaining of Sacrifices, as it was under the Law, which cease all when the Antitype came, and by assuming the place of Christ's Supremacy and Government.

(*) This is an undeniable Mark of the Son of Perdition, viz. That he shall forbid Marriages, and command to abstain from Meats, and who it is that commands to abstain from Meats, and who it is that suffers not his Clergy to Marry, and forbids the eating of Flesh on some eertain Day and seasons of the Year, is known to all. The Council of Chalcedon saith (Conon. Cap. 16.) ut nec Deo dicata Virgo, nec Monachus nuberit; That no Nun or Monk shall marry. Bellarmine in his 34. Cap. of the Book of Monks, stiles the Marriage of Clerks and Monks by the name of Sacrilege; and affirms, That they sin less which commit Fornication after they have once taken a Vow, than they do which Marry; nay, and in the 19 Cap of the First Book of Clerks, he saith, That the Marriage of saints is not without some Sin, Pollution and Uncleanness. The General Council assembled at Trullo, to make Canons, tell us plainly in the 13 Canon, that in the Church of Rome, Whosoever will be a Deacon or Priest, must first protest that he will never anymore after that have to do with his Wife, &—If a man be found to have broke the Ordinance of the Church, by eating Flesh in Lent, especially in the Week which they call the Holy Week, the Priest, saith my Author, hath no power to absolve him, &c. This Doctrine of the Pope, as 'its a Mark of Antichrist, soits expressly called the Doctrine of Devils.

( a ) He shall oppose and exalt himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped, showing himself that he is God, 2▪ Thess. 2. He shall speak great things against the most High, Dan. 7. 25. That the Pope is guilty of opposition to, and emaltation of himself above the Majesty of God, is made appear by divers worthy Writers; the very Life and Soul of Popery seems to run in this vein. The Lord Jesus (saith one ) is made a very Lacquey to the Pope, he changes Times and laws at his pleasure. God says, Thou shalt make to thyself on graven Image, &c. The Pope takes away that Commandment, and declares 'its lawful to worship Images. The Lord bids us Search the Scriptures; the Pope opposeth this, and forbids the reading of them, nay burns to death those that do read them; and to prevent it, locks them up in an Unknown Tongue. God pardons Sins upon Repentance, the Pope without, for a Sum of Money. The Pope can invest a sorry Priest with power by uttering a few words to make a God, to turn Bread into the Real Body of Christ, and have power over him to do with him what he pleases when he hath done, and he cannot deliver himself out of his hands.

( b ) What Sin is it but the Pope takes upon him to pardon for Money; besides be makes, the detestable Sins of Treason and Murder, if it be done in Zeal, and by his Authority, for the Promotion of the Pretended Holy Church, meritorious, Canonizing black and brutish Sinners for Saints, in his Kalendar, he exalts himself above the Word of God, he usurps God's Seat, by giving what Interpretation to God's Law he pleases, which he makes of equal Authority with it.

( a ) Even him whose coming is after the working of Satan with all Power, and Signs, and lying Wonders, 2 Thes. 2. 9. Bellarmine (de not▪ Eccl. l. 4. cap. 14.) maketh Miracles one infallible Sign of the True Church; md certain I am, the false and lying Wonders of the Roman Church, clearly showeth the Pope to be the Antichrist, or Son of Perdition. I have not room here to enumer ate many of them, only take one or two, by which you may judge of the rest. One Becanus's Head being off, St. Itas Prayers made it come posting through the Air, stand by the Body, and she joined them fast again, so that in one Hours space the Man became as lively as ever be had been in all his life.

St. Anthony's Arm, that precious Relick at Geneva, was kissed and worshipped with great Devotion, whilst Popery kept its ground; but when the Gospel came, and the Relick was produced, 'twas found the Pisle of a Stag, Calv. de reliq. propinitium. Possibly you may have heard of the Wonders that Relick had done; and of St. Decumanus, who carried his own Head after it was cut off, to a Spring, and there washed off the Blood from it. A Country Curate, saith Erasmus, getting Crabs, and fastening Candles to their backs, set them a crawling up and down the Church-Yard at Night, and in the Morning, after he had taken them in again, persuaded the People that they were poor distressed Souls in Purgatory, you must think such that wanted Masses and Alms▪ saith my Author; ye know the Proverb, No Penny, No Pater Noster: a fit Miracle to pick the Peoples Pockets. Lib. 22. Jo. Epist. p. 1529. in Epist. Edit. Basil. A Maid coming into a Garden, and taa Lettuce to eat it, crushed the Devil between her Teeth in the Lettuce; and this poor Devil, saith Du Moulin, whom she belike swallowed down together with the Lettuce, being commanded to go out, and checked by Equitius, excuseth himself, saying, Alas! what hurt did I? I was sitting quietly upon the Lettuce, and she came and bit me, the fault was in her for not making the Sign of the Cross when she gathered the Lettuce. Moreover, these ridiculous Impostors affirm, that when the Body of Pope Formosus was carried into St. Peters Church, all the Images of the Saints that stood there, did him Obeysance; but above all, the Miracle of the ass that left his Provender to worship the Hoest, seems most ridiculous to King James: see his Apology, &c. Many of their pretended Miracles were wrought, as Writers intimate, about the 4 and 5 Century, and were contrived to confirm the Popes Headship and Universal Supremacy, together with their idle storys of Purgatory, Images, Praying for the Dead, &c. Those that would see more, let them read Du Moulin, also a late Book Intituled, the Man of Sin.

( a ) And there was given unto him a Mouth speaking great things, and Blasph • nys, Rev. 13. 5. And he opened his Mouth against God, to blaspheme his Name and Tabernacle, and them that dwell in Heaven, ver. 6. He shall speak great words against the Most High, Dan. 7. 25. This Mark of the Beast is apparently seen in the Pope, in those Insolent and Blasphemous Titles he assumes to himself; he is called Christ's Vicar, or his Viceroy and Lieutenant. Bellarm. de Rom. lib. 2. cap. 31. Foundation, Head, and Husband to the Catholic Church; Hid Holiness, that can be judged by no Man; though he draw an innumer able number to Hell, who shall say to him, what dost thou? What would you think to hear him called, The Lion of the Tribe of Judah, the Root of David? so Begnius one of his Bishops Courted Pope Leo the Tenth, and thereupon bad the Daughter of Zion not to weep, saying, God had raised to her a Savior▪ See Council Later▪ sub Leon 10. Sess. 6. ap. sur.

He is frequently called by those of the Romish Church, Our Lord God the POPE. Exter. Joan. 22. Tit. 14. c. 4.

And as touching his Blasphemies against those that dwell in Heaven, to wit, the Saints of God, 'tis evident that they are continually branded for Heretics Schismatics, and what not.

( a ) He shall wear out the Saints of the Most High, Dan. 7. and caused as many as would not worship the Image of the Beast should be killed, Rev. 13. 5. We find upon Record, That Pope Innocent the 3. within the space of a few Months, made more then 200000 of the faithful to be slain, who they called Albigeans, he had made all Europe to stream with Blood; in St. Bartholomews Massacre, in the Year 1572M more than 80000 were slain in cold blood▪ see Du Moulin p. 246. 247. The Duke de Alva (s • ith he ) played the Butcher in Flanders, and under the show of Catholic Zeal, slew Millions of People, in recompense where of the Popesent hem a Holy Sword and Consecrated Gloves; besides the infinite numbers slew in other places, by Wars, bloody Massacres, and otherwise, of which you will hear more hereafter; so that by this time sure all may conclude Antichrist is come, and that this is he in whom all the Marks and Characters do so fully meet, which the Holy Ghost hath given of him.