An exposition upon the thirteenth chapter of the Revelation by that reverend and eminent…

You may ask, why the Lord would heal such an abominable and ugly Beast, this visible Catholic Church, and this Beast that was one of the heads of this Church; for he had a beastly shape; take him alone without the other Beast, and take them together, here is a great Beast; afterwards he is called in Chap. 17. the great whore, and she sits upon this Beast, and he hath all his supportance from her; he restores the Church, and the head of the Beast to that state they were in before; The reason why God doth this is double.

You may aske, why the Lord would heal such an abominable and ugly Beast, this visible Catholick Church, and this Beast that was one of the heads of this Church; for he had a beastly shape; take him alone without the other Beast, and take them together, here is a great Beast; afterwards he is called in Chap. 17. the great whore, and she sits upon this Beast, and he hath all his supportance from her; he restores the Church, and the head of the Beast to that state they were in before; The reason why God doth this is double.

First,¹ in regard of his just displeasure against the backsliding apostasies of the Church in such times: When the Lord sees the spirits of men are bent to apostasy and backsliding, so as that they reject the simplicity of the Gospel of Christ, and if they might have it they will not; now it is a righteous thing with God to plague them with the arrogance & tyranny of Antichrist: If I come in my Fathers name, you will not receive me; if another come in his own name, him you will receive; Now it is a just judgement of God, if Christ come and offer himself in the simplicity of his Ordinances, and they think this is too mean, and doth not reach the state of an Imperial City, but they must have such and such orders in all Churches, ⟨p. 43⟩and Churches must be distinguished by such Patrons, and it is fit that one be Lord Paramount over them all, and none is so fit as the Bishop of Rome; If people dote upon such (some goodly shape, but drawn by the inventions of men) well you shall have such Bishops: This head that sometimes hath been thus wounded, that some have had cause of solemn praise for his wounding, and God hath by this means given the Churches liberty to take some better way of worship, but they would not, well you shall have enough of him. It is one of Solomons Proverbs, (Chap. 14. 14.) the Backslider in heart shall be filled with his own ways; If you dote after inventions of men, you shall be filled with vain Superstition to the contentment of your own hearts. God out of his tender faithfulness to his Church he will redeem some, and doth give them fair opportunities to undertake their own liberties out of the usurpations of men; but if they will rather sit under the shadow of Egypt, then feed upon Manna, then go you back again saith God, none of you shall eat of that which I have prepared, that is one Reason; Such backsliders that delight in such communion in such heads over their Churches, it is just with God to fill them with their own inventions.