CAP .3. touchingAntichlriíl. 63y Whofe perfonwasmanifeft, but not his wickedneffc, and original! likewife. For the myfterie (hould be taken away, ifthat which lay larking within were opened unto all men. And as the Kingdome ofGod though it was foretoldby the Prophets , came not with ob- fervation, Luke 17.25. So neither did the Kingdomeof Antichrik Tares arefoWn While the huufbandmen peep, Mat. 23.25. Neither are they marked when they come to their frft growth,but were they not therefore at all, becaufe the husbandmenknew not by what degrees they grew up ? Shall we not acknowledge the Sunne to thine, be- caufe we fee not how it goeth forward ? Out ofdoubt that molt crafty enemyofmankind,had rather have his Vickar to refemblehis onditions,itc tocome creeping in clofcly, that fo hemight fiarprize the moreere they wereawareofhim, then to come ruching in with a fhout and an uproare to give menwarning to look aboutthem for their own fafety. Betides whenyou would conclude that he is not yet come,you fhouldhavecomprized allthe other times that remain toyour time you let him to come in, and not thofe few times only, which thofe ancient and later men cited byyou mentioned. Canone be laid not to be come upon a dayappointei, becaufe he came not either at the firft, ftcond, or thirdhonre? It isa faulty kinde of dif- pining, when there are many parts tobe reckoned, to paffe by any, feeing you have omitted molt ofthem, your propofition is abfurd diverfe wayes, and fo is the whole argument that dependsupon ir. Secondly, I anfwer feverally to your Authors , and firlt touching the ancient ones, out ofwhoft words we doe conclude more then probably, that Antichriff is,rne.. For fo faith Cyprian, Book4. Ep. 6.7-ou muff know (faith heybeleeve andholdfor a certain,that the day ofthe Churches opprellien is begun to come over our head, and that the endofthe lVorldtogetherWith the time ofA;,tichrift approacheth. Je- rome in an Epift. toAgerueh, about Mom/gamyfaith, He that With- held is taken aWay, and doe We not yet underftand that eflntichrifi it at the doores ? Likewife Gregory Book 4. Ep. 3 8. All things aredone Which are foretold, the King ofpride isat hand. Now itAntichri(t did approach thirteene hundredyeeres fince, or at leafi: a,thoufand, as it is manifeft by thefe teftimonies, howcan it be that he fhould not be comeas yet? Youanfw er, that the ancient FathersWere decei- vedwith anopinion which they had about theendofthe world , Which they held to be neerer then it Was indeed; and therefore that they held Chia falteopinion touching -e Antichrifts approaching nearer then it mu in truth. To which I fay, if the ancient writers founded Mmmm their
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