ail Cl.vrcl Power, y Not ſay..., 22h his mouth, as 0ecumentus ſaith, bus 1:3\;inz ſuch a ſkew before men. Though Belarmin interprets it of 2n 0pzn hoafting and vaunting himſelf to be God, which faith he, the Vone doth nor ; but by pretended Miracles, Signs, and Wonders, by Voriicns, Indulgences, Canonizing Saints, Dominion over Princes and Kin doms, he ſhews himlelf as a God before Men,and claiming a pow- &r 1 he judged of no man, and to be judge of all men. A /ecu}ar? po- t: {cre 707 ſolvi peſſe nec ligari pmntificem,quem conſtat 4 Confſtantino De- un trpelratumgum nee Deun ab bomintbus judicarl manifeſlum ſit. Decret. diſtin, g6. C. 7. Yea, laftly, he exalteth himſelf above God himſelf, when he maketh the Scriptures to derive their Authority more from the Pope's Canonizing, than God himſelf; and without it no man is bound ro bulieve them. D-crer. lib. 2, Tir. 23. Again, if the Pope ſhould err to mmantding Vice, and forbidding Vertue, the Church was bound to believe Viie tobe good, and Vertue to be evil, Beliarm, lib, 4. de ſunne pr. £5. And it is frequent among their Divines and Canonifts to ſay] that the Pope can diſpenſe againſt the Apoſtles, and the Old Teftzmenr, and the Scriptures are interiour to his Decrees,and without the Authority of the Church, are a Noſe of Wax, Paper, and Parch- ment, ſo that upon the whole, as Fobr's Diſciples asked concerning Chriſt, Art thou he that ſhould come, or muſt we Jook for another ; ſo may we not ſay to the Pope concerning Antichriſt ? Art thou he, Tc, I wil! ſpeak boldly, either there is no Antichriſt, or the Biſhop of Rome is he, Chamter, 1. 16, C. 8.
5 Remember you not, that when I was with you, I cold
you theſe things z.
7 The \\ - file facitly upbraids them for their forgetfulneſs, To for: get the thinz< that have been taught us, is a great evil : Solomon often cautions againft it, Prov. 3. 1, 4, $. and it is often reproved, 5.12.5, Fam, 1, 24. and the contrary required, Mal. 4. 4. Fob. 16, 4. Fuds 17. Rev. 2. 3. David hid the wordin his heart, P/al. 119. 11. and the Vir- gin Mary kept the Angels ſaying, Luk, 2. 19, the Apoftles did take care to tell the Churches of the Apoſtacy that would come,and of falſe
rophets and Teachers that would ariſe, as Paul the Elders of Epheſus, As 20, 29, 30. and Peter 2 Per. 2, 1, and St. Fokn of the coming of Antichriſt, x Fohn 2, 13, and more fully, though obſcurely in the Book of the Revelation, and the Apoſtle here in this verſe minds theſe Theſſalonians that he told th>m of the coming of the Man of itn before the coming of Chrift, i that they ſhould not have been ſhaken in their minds about Chrift's coming in that preſent Age. And they told the Churches of theſe things that they might not be ſurpriſed by them, or offended at them when they came.
| Or,k4- 6 And now ye know what || withholdeth a, that he
*IÞ, might be revealed in his time b.
2 The Apoſtle it ſeems had told them as of his coming, fo of what at preſent withheld the revealing of him, And what this was, is difficult to -now now, though it ſeems theſe Theſſalonians knew it, there are niany conjeQures about it, This I ſhall ſay in general, 1, It was ſoime- thing that the Apoſtle thought not ſafe openly to declare in Writing : elſe te would not have «vrit of it ſo obſcurely. 2. It was both a thing, and 2 perſon, a thing, 73 z«723ev, in this verſe, that which withbolderb; and a perſon, as in the next verie, 6 xa7#0y, be which letteth, 3, Tt was 21ſo ſuch a thing and ſuch a perſon as were to be removed out of the way, not totally, but as they were hindrances of this revelation, Expofitors both Popith and Proteſtant pitch upon the Koman Eimperour andEmpireas moſt probably meant here h7 theApoitle, And therefore he virote not plainly, Icft by writing of the taking away that Empire which theRomans thought to be cternal,he might ſtir up their hatred againſt the Chriſtians, Some underſtand it of the removing only the ſeat of the Empcerour from Rome to Conſtantinople,whereby the Biſhop of Rome had opportunity to grow up into greater power. The Popiſh Writers un- derſant it of the total deftruttion of the Empire, which becauſe they ſec act yet denethey concluce the Man of fin is not yet revealed.Our Pro- teſtantW riters underitand it only of{uch a weakening of the Empire and Imperial Dominion, as gave the Biſho p and Clergy of Kome adyantage |
IL THESSALONIANS.
to riſe up into power both ſpiritual and ſecular ; as ſome learned \;.. ters have given an account thereof, W hen the Empire was broken nro ten Kingdoms, the Imperial Power of the Emperours was mich weat;. ncd : and being afterwards united in the Pope 25 an Eccleſiaffica Mo- narch he grew up, and the Imverial power declined, the grandeur of them both could not ſtand together, And this is the Beaſt with the ten Horns, and ten crowns upon the Horns which is ſpoken of, Rev.to,r whereupon this Beaft ts worſhipped, and the voice is, who zs like LG te beaſt, who 1s able ts make War with bim ? ver, 4. ſome of the ancient Fathers had this ſenſe of the Text, See Term, 1. 4 de reſurre@, c. 24 Chry/oft, in locum, ug. de Civ, Dei, 1. 19.c. 20. Ferom when he hea-4 of the taking of Rome by Alariczs, expected the coming of Anticly ilk not far off, Whercupon the ancient Church did pray that the Roman Empire might continue long,that his coming might be delayed, Ter: Apol.c. 32. 39. but it is now evident how it is faln from what onc- i+ was. The Eaſtern part is under the dominion of the Turk, The Ws. ſtern divided into ten diftin&t Kingdoms under diftin& Government, And in Germaxy where it is moſt remaining, the Empire is little more than Titular, And 7raly and Rome wholly in the Pope's Poſſeſſion : and hence this man of fin hath heen long ſince revealed. 6 As God appoints ſeaſons tor all his works,ſo for the revealing of him,as alſo tor his ruine, 7 For the myſtery of iniquity doth already work c, on- ly he who now letteth will let until he be taken out of the way d.