CAP.15. touchingAntichrii . 721 lem (which Chrift foretold that it fhould be demolifiaed and that fo as it fhould never bebuilt up againe) but in the Chriffian Affemblies, as we have declared abundantly, and therefore he fhall not bea kw in his Religion , neither fhall he reftorethe Ceremonies ofthe Old Law ; which being tyed unto the Temple, have no place at all out of it.Andhow doth it Rand with reafon that Anticbrif who is a ge- nerall plagueofthe wholeearth,fhould be font into the world,to pu- nifh the frnne ofthe nation ofthe /ewesonly, for riot receiving the truth, as you will have it ? It were (quail indeed and juff , that he who fhould come becaufe of the finnes of our Nation, fhould be raunged within the bounds of one Nation only. But wehave no need of newarguments to make this good. Secondly, you fay iris proved from thatplace, I John 2.22. Who is a Oar but he that denieth Icf u_ to be Chris% and he is Antichrift Whence you gather that Ant Thrift shall furpaffe all Hereticks, and therfore that he (hall deny Chrift byall means,which thing you fay is confirmed thence,becaufe the devill is faid toworkout the myffe- ry ofiniquity by hereticks,becaufe theydeny Chrift clofely.But An- coining is faid to be a Revelation,becaufe he (hail deny Chrift openly. I anfwer, as touching that place ofIohn,that I have (hewed before, that this denyallofChrift which he fpeaketh of, is not open, but clofe & crafty, as being the deniall made by men ofthe Chrittian . profefTion, who had creptin clofcly, and touchingwhom the faith- full had need to beadinonifhed, who otherwife were in dangerto be oppreffed by them before they were awareofthem. And though. Antichrift do furpaffe all Hereticks,it is not therefore neceffary,that he fhould deale more openly then the reft,feeing theprize which he is to beareaway for wickedneffe, is not to be given to hisoutward work, but to the power ofdoingmifchiefe, wherein he fhall paffe them, which if it were otherwif, men fhould overcome thedevill. in doing mifchiefe, who becaufeof their foolifhnefle in refptdf of him,do that often in the light, which this man doth moll cunningly. Moreover, Antichrifis comining isa Revelation, but to the cleft. on- ly : the others which beleevenot the truth, he (hail beguileby his crafty Ihewes, 2Thef.2.I I,I2. The Angell requireth no common wifdome to know the Beall, and theWhoresname is myaicail, as before wehave been taught. Thirdlyyou prove it by theententesofcertainFathers but no e- quail judge will not confef e , that they are rather tobe heard any where elfe, then in the matterof Antichriff. Our Lord fhould con- Zz z z fume.
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