A34679:760
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.
And for a fifth thing, there is this further to be observed in it, that it is not the number of the followers of the beast, but the number of the beast: If it were the number of his followers, then it would be less then the number that followed the ⟨p. 251⟩Lamb; for they are said to be an hundred forty and four thousand, in Chap 14. 1. And had the beast had no more but 666. then he had a less number to fight for him, then the Lamb had to fight for him: but in Verse 8. of this chapter, he tells you, All that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the Lambs book of life: And the world was never so happy, as to leave but 666. reprobates in it in any generation, therefore that cannot be the meaning.
And for a fifth thing, there is this further to be observed in it, that it is not the number of the followers of the beast, but the number of the beast: If it were the number of his followers, then it would be lesse then the number that followed the ⟨p. 251⟩Lamb; for they are said to be an hundred fourty and four thousand, in Chap 14. 1. And had the beast had no more but 666. then he had a lesse number to fight for him, then the Lamb had to fight for him: but in Verse 8. of this chapter, he tels you, All that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the Lambs book of life: And the world was never so hapy, as to leave but 666. reprobates in it in any generation, therefore that cannot be the meaning.
Sixthly, whereas he saith, this number is the number of a man, and the number is six hundred threescore and six, he doth apparently put a difference between that and the name of the beast; for he doth expressly distinguish them in the former verse, for he saith, The mark of the Beast, and the name, and the number of his name, Verse 17. They are three distinct things: So in Chap. 15. 2. where he saith, They got victory over the beast and his Image, and over his mark, and over the number of his name: And more yet, expressly in Chap. 14. 9, 10, 11. He denounceth vengeance to them that receive his mark or name, and yet not damnation to all that receive his number; so that the number is not his name, it is a distinct thing from the name, as the adjunct is from the subject. Then it will follow, me thinks (but I refer it to men of better judgement) it cannot be that either Latinus should be the number of the name, or (Ecclesia Catholica) the Roman Catholic Church; yet upon these points do our chief and late Expounders run: But (leaving them their due honour) it doth not satisfy me, because Ecclesia Catholica is the name of the first beast; and the name is one thing, and the number is another thing. And Latinus is one of the names of the second beast, of Latinus Episcopus, the name of the Bishop of Rome; therefore it being his name, it is not the number of his name: So then all these things be considered, these observations being laid down, attend to a seventh observation for the clearing of the meaning of the text, and for opening the true […] of it;