SER^ilON VI.
And (hen sliall tJiat loicl-ed he revecded, lohom the Lord shcdl consume with the breath of his mouth, and dcstro// luith the hrigldness of his comiiuj. — 2 Tiies. II. 8.
These words contain both the rise and ruin of Antichrist, his revela- tion and destructiun.
1. As to his revelation, there are two things: —
[1.] The title given to Antichrist: 6 avofMo<;, the luiched. [2.] His appearing in the world upon the taking away the impedi- ment : sliad he revealed.
2. As to his ruin, three things are observable : —
[1.] The progress of his destruction, which is here considered as begun, or as consummated.
(1.) A diminishing of antichristianism : ichom the Lord shall con- sume.
(2.) The finishing thereof, in the word desliwj.
[2.] The author, the Lord.
[3.] The means.
(1.) God's word, called his hreoth, or the Spirit of his mouth.
(2.) The hrif/htness of his cominr/, namely, when he shall come to judge the world in the glory of the Father.
2 TheS. II. 8.] THE SIXTH SERMON. 57
First, Of the rising of Antichrist : ' And then shall that wicked be revealed.'
1. The title given to Antichrist, 6 ai/o/io?, that lawless one, or sou of Belial. It is the i)roperty of Antichrist to boast himself to Ijo above all laws, and to be judged by no power upon earth ; for therein he rcsenibleth Antiochus, of whom it is said, ' He shall do according to his own will,' Dan. xi. 3G. Now if this be one of his characters, it will not be hard to find him out ; for who is that infallible judge that taketh upon him to decide all controversies, and judgeth all thint^s, and is judged of no man ? and whosoever d(»th but mutter against his decrees and delusions, if a private person, he is to be destroyed with fire and sword ; if a prince, to be excommunicated, de})Osed, and his subjects freed from all allegiance to him r* Who is he that taketh upon him, with faculties, licenses, and pardons, to dispense witii the law of God, and to allow open and notorious sins ? Who is he that by his own writers is said to be y^ohUus omni kye humana,i'recd from all human law (Hostiensis), Ncc alio Jure humaiio ligari potest, that hath a paramount authority to all laws, that he cannot be bound by them, whether they concern parricide, the murder of princes ; or perjury, the obligation of oaths ; or matrimony, the bond of conjugal relations ? But one expressly saith, tliat he is.siqjra Jus, contra Jus, extra Jus, above law, against law, and without law ; a plain description of the lawless one in the text ; and another, not without some spice of blasphemy, Apud Deum et Paparii sufficit pro ratione voluntas, God and the Pope have their will for a law. Lastly, Who is he that hath brought into the church the great impiety of worshipping of God by images, and the worship of the saints and angels, with a worship which is only due to God ? which is the great avofila, the lawlessness, which the pure Christian rule condemneth and brandeth for such. If there be not such a power extant in the Christian world, then I confess we are yet to seek for Antichrist ; but if there be, none so wilfully blind as they that cannot see wood for trees, and know not where to fix this character.
2. His revelation : ' Then shall that wicked be revealed.' The word revealed noteth two things : —
[1.] His appearance in the world.
[2.] God's discovery of him.
[l.J Then he shall be revealed beareth this sense. He shall be in the world, and begin to lift up his head as soon as the Boman emperor and empire shall be removed ; this lawless one shall begin to discover him- self and set up his kingdom.
Now to understand this, consider this: —
(1.) The most learned interpreters, both ancient and modern, agree in this, that the impediment was the Roman empire, as we showed before ; and therefore as the Roman empire and emperor were removed out of the way. Antichrist was to be revealed, or the predictions of the scripture are false,
(2.) Things of great moment cannot be removed nor established in a minute. The removing of the Roman empire was not all at once, nor the rising of the pontificate, but by degrees the seat began to be made void. When Constantine began to remove the imperial throne to Byzan- tium, though the majesty of the empire continued still at Borne, yet
58 • THE SIXTH SERMON. [2 ThES. II. 8.
this was a step to tlie removing of the imped iniont, for by that means the popes grew in greatness ; but as the emperor's authority was lessened, so grew that of the popes, who still encroached to themselves more and more power, and that to promote the apostasy and deroga- tion from the pure Christian religion. But as soon as he arose, he came not to the height of his power, either ecclesiastical or temporal, nor shall he jiresently decay.
(3.) To state the progress of antichristian tyranny is not for a sermon, it tilleth whole books ; but thus in short. About the year GUO. or in that century, their ecclesiastical power began to be raised, when the majesty of the empire was low and Aveak in Italy, and therefore then was Antichrist advanced a good ste}). When John of Constantinople had usurped the title of universal bishop, Gregory the Great saith, Bex superhice ^^I'f^^c adest — the king of pride is near ; et sacerdotum eccercitus eiiyrcvparatur — an army of priests is prepared to serve him as their general ; this he — {fidenter dico, I speak confidently) and within six years or thereabouts Phocas conferred on Pope Boniface the same title, to ingratiate himself with the peoi)le of that part of the empire, after the murder of his lord and master. And then many superstitions were gotten into the church; as, about the year 688, the Pope obtained of the emperor the Pantheon, or temple of all-devils, and consecrated the same to the Virgin I\Iary, and all saints. The temporal monarchy was long in hatcliing, but yet the beginning of this mystery soon bewrayed itself. In the beginning of tlie seventh century, Constantino the Pope would have his foot kissed, like another Diocletian, and in defence of image-worship he openly resisted Philippicus, the Emperor of Greece, and encouraged Justine and Anastasius, tyi-ants and nuu- derers, who submitted themselves to him with adoration. Kebellion and idolatry have been ever continued since. In the year 720, or thereabouts, Gregory the Second and Third continued the same idolatry and rebellion, and caused all Italy to withdraw their obedience from the Emperor Leo, because he had conimanded all images to be broken and burnt, and for the same cause excommunicated him, and took to himself the Coctian Alps as the gift of tlie Lombards. In the same century, 749, Zachary encourageth and assistcth Pepin to depose his master Childeric, king of France, and to take ujwn him that king- dom. Afterward Adrian took upon him to translate the empire of the Greeks to the Latins ; and ever since deposed emperors and made broils in kingdoms.