A51839:307
XVIII sermons on the second chapter of the 2d Epistle to the Thessalonians containing…
XVIII sermons on the second chapter of the 2d Epistle to the Thessalonians containing the description, rise, growth, and fall of Antichrist : with divers cautions and arguments to establish Christians against the apostasy of the Church of Rome : very necessary for these times / by that late reverend and learned divine, Thomas Manton ...XVIII sermons on the second chapter of the 2d Epistle to the Thessalonians containing the description, rise, growth, and fall of Antichrist : with divers cautions and arguments to establish Christians against the apostacy of the Church of Rome : very necessary for these times / by that late reverend and learned divine, Thomas Manton ...
London: printed by J.D. for J. Robinson, 1679
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. Observe this Consumption, how it is accomplished, if we find Antichrist risen, discovered, and consumed, why should we be in doubt any longer? The pomp and height was much about 1500. years after Christ, what a Consumption hath happened since, by the reviving Religion and Learning, the Christian World should with thankfulness take notice of, by the falling of Germany, England, France, and Hungary in a great part, together with Denmark, Sweden, Poland, and other Countries; and by what means hath this been, but by the spirit of his mouth? It is profitable to know Antichrist by his rise and description, but it is comfortable to know him by his discovery and Consumption, and Gods blessing such unlikely means at the beginning, so such a wonderful effect. When Luther first appeared, the Bishop of Strasburgh told him, Abi in coelum, mi frater, & dic, miserere nostri. But God hath done great things for us too, when he first turned the captivity of his Churches, we were like unto those that dream.
2. Caution, Antichrist is consumed, but he ⟨p. 144⟩is not yet dead; what strength he may recover before his last destruction, God knoweth. Popery, after it was cast out, hath re-entered Bohemia and Austria, and the Emperors Hereditary Countries, and what havoc hath been made of the Evangelical Churches, the Book of Caraffa, the Bishop and Legate of the Pope, called Germania sacra restaurata, showeth, wherein many notable things concerning their Artifices, to replant Popery, are set down. As to England, some hope his Consumption is not desperate, and many fear, that Popery may recover again, unless God in mercy prevent it: we know not what is in the Womb of Providence, or how far the Prerogative of Free Grace may interpose in our behalf, whether England shall be made a Theatre of mercy once more, or the feat of Idolatry and superstition and Blood: But though we do not know what God hath determined, yet we may soon know what England hath deserved; And that is enough to quicken us to watchfulness and Prayer, and expectation, and serious preparation for the day of evil: and by these things, if it cometh to pass, it will do us no harm.