A34679:730
An exposition upon the thirteenth chapter of the Revelation by that reverend and eminent…
An exposition upon the thirteenth chapter of the Revelation by that reverend and eminent servant of the Lord, Mr. John Cotton ... ; taken from his mouth in short-writing, and some part of it corrected by himself soon after the preaching thereof ; and all of it since viewed over by a friend to him ... wherein some mistakes were amended, but nothing of the sense altered.
London: printed for Tim. Smart, 1656
Title page typeset from the transcription.
AN EXPOSITION Upon the thirteenth Chapter of the REVELATION. › Part
Modern spelling is a reading aid: the words are the author’s, only the spelling is modernized. Original shows the page as printed, with the transcription marks.
1. By his Original; He came out of the earth.
1. By his Originall; He came out of the earth.
2. By his resemblance; which is three-fold; To the Lamb in his horns; To the Dragon in his tongue and speech, and to the first beast in his power; He exerciseth all the power of the first beast.
2. By his resemblance; which is three-fold; To the Lamb in his hornes; To the Dragon in his tongue and speech, and to the first beast in his power; He exerciseth all the power of the first beast.
3. As he is described thus by his Original, and by his resemblance, so he is described by his great power, and his power exerciseth it self in divers acts. First, He exerciseth all the power of the first beast. Now the first beast being the Roman Catholic Church, he exerciseth all the power of the Roman Catholic Church, that look what the Roman Catholic Church can do, the Pope can do with them, or without them: He can call Councils, and make their Canons authentical; He can make Laws to bind Conscience, he can make Laws to bind whole Churches, as well as the Aecumenicall power of the whole Council: He can forbid any other doctrine, or worship, or government, but what himself establisheth: He can add to the Scriptures the Apocrypha, and he hath infallible power to judge Controversies: He can bind and loose ⟨p. 244⟩Conscience; he can depose Kings, and dispose of their Kingdoms, and he can absolve Subjects from the oath of Fidelity: He hath power to pardon sin, and to sell out pardons to them that buy them. All that the first beast can do, he will do, and more; but yet he doth it (as the Text says) in the sight of the first beast; that is, in the face and countenance of the first bast; He is so modest, that he will not take all that honour to the head, but the whole body, and derives all that honour expressly to himself.