C A t' .9. ./ Îevelatioa 8_fthe Apocalyple.; 297 the reft but as fhrubs, in no roome of thofe that are to be faved, which is more fitting to that which before we fpake of Chap. 8.7. Neither is it needfull to depart from the native proprie.y of thefe particles in the other places that arc alledged, if we !hall confider of the matter diligently. Out of this then we may gather, that there are fome within the compaffe of the falfe Church, whomGod doth challenge for his by a fecret fealing ; and that this green thing, and thefe trees are men, as we have interpreted them, 7. i. The excepti- on, which doth by name noteout, men that befoaled, requiring that the green thing alto, and the trees fhould be men, out ofwhofenumber men are exempted. And indeed, there were many men, yea, many Kingdomes,as En;land,Denmarlee,Germany, &c. Whether the rage of the Saracens didnot make a forcible entry, and in thofe places where they did rage,did they exercife their tyranny upon any other, then upon thofe men that were without thefaving ChA.ratier? What other contention in thefe times and places do the Hiftorians relate, then about theSepulchre and croffe of our Lord,and inch vain things as thefe,with which the Chriftians that were filch in name onely, were bewitched?neither did the religious Lacufls torment any,but men that were devoted and chained to their fuperecition,as we faid right now. 5. And to them it rtis commanded,that theyfhould not hill, &c. Now. we "hall underftand how great this power is, by the degree of tor.- ment,the continuanceofit, and the comparing it With death. But how can this agree to the Saracens,who fpilled fo nmch Chrilfian blood? Thefe things feeme to be fpoken not limply, but by comparifon. If the slaughter which thefe men made, be compared with that which was to be made in the next Trumpet ; The Saracens may feeme to pricke, and to torture, and not to kill. At their firft original!, the G'hriflian profefTionwa -s not fohateful!, neither was there any need tomake greater (laughter, when as the nations, which they fet upon did in a manner,of their own accord, give up the bucklers,and ftrike hands of fellowship with them in their impiety. In later times, the victory was go-ten with fo much the more cruelty, and blood, by howmuch the fight was more fierce and ,harpe. But the Holy Choft hath of purpofe chofen that kindeoffreaking,which might ex- cellently agree to both the trooper of Lorufls. For the cruelty and rage of the weferne ones fhould not be fo great in killing the bodies ; fo that this comparative fpecch doth both note out the ceding of thefe Weterne ones from this bodily maffacre, and yet it Both not take away from thofe other of the Eft all bo- dily
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