chriftian Kings, if we believe the Prophecy, fhall bate the Whore, that is, the Idolatrous Church: But the Kings of the Earth, that is, of the Roman Empire, are defcribed by the Holy Ghoft as affected after a quite contrary manner towards Rome, the Mystical Babylon, Rev. xviii. 9, 10. Thefe Kings moft certainly fhall not hate her, nor with her Overthrow, much lefs contribute to it; but on the contary they fhall bewail ber, and lament for her, when they shall fee the Smoke of ber Burning caufed by the other Kings, or Potentates; and fhall fay in the Anguish and Horror of their Minds, ftanding afar off for fear of the fame Fate upon themselves and their Cities, Alas, alas, that great City Babylon [or Rome] that mighty City! How in an Hour is thy Judgment come! Now to bewail and lament over any one is a Sign undoubtedly of Love and Friendship: Therefore they fhall be the Friends of Rome; which was to be proved. And by confequence these are not the fame with them that are appointed to execute Vengeance upon her. And further, this is that which St. John alfo exprefly afferts, when according to the Heavenly Voice he fays, they committed Fornication, and lived deliciously with her: whereas the Kings that adhere to the Beast, or Antichrift, fhall be enflamed with Hatred against Rome to the utmoft degree, and fhall, having firft plunder'd her, after that burn her with Fire, as before hath been declared from the fame Divine Revelation. Now obferve here that the Kings who fhall have committed Idola

try

try, which is Spiritual Fornication,with Rome, fhall be brought to a Knowledge how that by the juft Judgment of God thefe Evils have befallen her, because of her Fornication wherewith the hath provoked the Wrath of God against her. But if this Fornication (or Idolatry) were the very Worfhip of Antichrift, or the proper Antichriftian Service, as fome do fuppofe, then the faid Kings feeing fo great Judgments of God and bewailing them, would for certain defert hereupon from Antichrift and his Service. Nevertheless these Kings that ftand by Antichrift fhall not hereupon defert from him, or leave his Party; but even after the Defolation of Rome, continuing firmly to adhere to him, fhall fight againft Chrift and his Army of Saints, Rev. xix. 19. Therefore unless Antichrift can be and not be at the fame time; or unless he can make War and bring a vaft Army with feveral Confederate Kings into the Field, after that both he and his Empire hath been for fome time brought to an utter end; or unless the very fame Perfons can be both Friends and Enemies at the fame time, can be carried with quite contrary Affections at once to the very fame Object, can love and hate together in the utmost extremes, and can exert Revenge without all Pity, and yet at the fame inftant diffolve into Tears of Pity, and moft bitterly lament; it follows evidently that Antichrift and Babylon are Two, not One: and that neither the Pope is properly Antichrift, nor the Fornication of the Church of Rome the

proper

proper Antichriftian Service or Worship. The which is further proved by the following Reason.

III. THE Angel tells St. John, That he will fhew him the Judgment of the Great Whore: But St. John faw nothing concerning the Woman [or Rome] which can at all be taken for a Judgment with refpect to the Antichriftian Beaft. Yea so far is it from this, as the Kings adhering to the Beaft, and that too while they adhere to him, fhall execute the Judgment of God upon this Spiritual Adulterefs, and burn her, according to the Law of Lev. xxi. 9. for Profanation of her Sacerdotal Pedegree. Therefore the Great Whore, who is Judged, is not Antichrist: which Antichrist is by the Sovereign Judge made ufe of to fulfil his Sentence against her and her Adherents, before his own Turn cometh to be Judged alfo. And indeed the Coming of Antichrist fhall be for this very End, that all may be Judged whether they adhere to the Truth of Chrift's Gofpel or not, and whether they have Pleasure in it more than in any Antichriftian Delusion whatsoever, or Deceivableness of Unrighteousness: and that they all might be condemned who obey not the Truth that is in Chrift, but take Pleafure rather in pursuing the Lufts of the Flesh and the Spirit; not standing faft in the Antient Faith and Practice, nor holding the Traditions which they have been taught both by Word and by Epistle from the Apostles. This fhall bring down the Judgment upon Rome, presently after the Appearance of Antichrift:

and

and as upon Rome, fo alfo upon all the Gentile Chriftians, who have a Name to live but are dead, being fallen away from their First Love and Faith, and fo having made themfelves Veffels fit for Destruction, when this fore Judgment fhall go forth.

IV. ANOTHER Reafon for the Preference of the Antient Notion of Antichrift to the Modern, and the Distinction of Babylon from Antichrist, is taken from St. Paul's Account of the Time of his Rife. For this is laid as a Foundation by him, That there must come a great Falling away, Defection, or Apoftafy, before the Time of Antichrist. And if so, then the Apoftafy of the Gentile Church, or of fome Eminent Part of it, cannot rightly be accounted the State of Antichrist which is to follow upon it. The Roman (or any other) Church may leave her First Love, and may fuffer Falfe Prophets and Teachers to feduce the Servants of God to commit Fornication, and may Defile her Garments with fundry Abominations and Spots of the Fleshly Wisdom, and may boast of being Rich in all Spiritual and Temporal Goods, and having need of nothing, at the fame time that she is in the Sight of God moft miferable and wretched: But though all this will and muft make ready the Way for the Revelation of Antichrist, that Man of Sin who is oppofed to Chrift, the Lord our Righteousness; yet is not this Falling away of the Roman, or any other Church, in ftrict Propriety to be called Antichriftian, though in a more large Sense it may take well enough that Name.

Where

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-Wherefore there may be an Apoftafy from the Primitive and Apoftolical Faith, without paffing thereby directly over to the Tents of Antichrift: And the Corrupt Worfhip of an Unfaithful Church may be Idolatrous, more or lefs; and yet not be an Antichriftian Worship, or the Worship of the Beast. Moreover it clearly appears from what Chrift revealed to this Apostle, that an Apoftafy from the Orthodox Faith fhall precede the Times of Antichrift; though neither the Place where this is to be, nor the exact Time when, be here determined at all. But moft certain it is that fuch a preceding Apoftafy there must be, fo that any true Faith fhall hardly longer be found among them that make Profeffion of it: which will be an Harvest indeed for Antichrift. For they (and only they) fhall be feduced by him who have not received the Love of the Truth; neither have believed the Truth [of the Gofpel in its Purity]; but have had Pleasure in Unrighteousness. Since this is the very Caufe for which God fhall fend them strong Delufions, that they fhould believe a Ly, that is, the Great Ly of Antichrift fetting up himfelf for God. And whereas the Apostle oppofes to ['Axndex] Truth, 'Adixia, which is tranflated Unrighteoufnefs, this manifeftly fhews it to be an Error in Practice rather than in Speculation; becaufe 'Adixia is Unrighteousness in Fact, or a Falfhood in the Nature of the Thing, called alfo a Lying Vanity, that is, Idolatry. For by this Name of Adixia is Idolatry, which is the highest Injustice