'Of the RE V EL AT I 0 N. you this Infl:ance only for an illufl:ration) ~he Book ofMartyr: is chiefly a StoryCr\..A.T) of Church Affairs, and ·the ConAtcts of tt .wtth Anttchnfl:, fn Englalfd; but bap. 3· Speed's Chronicle is chiefly a Story of the Aff.1irs Civil, falling out in that King- ~ dom in the feveral Invafions, Wars, Conquefis, and lntefime Brmls of tt. Now ihe like Method bath the Holy Ghofi been pleafed to obferve in this Prophetical Story of this Empire, and the Church fpread through the Territories and Dominions of it. Thefe two Prophecies before mentioned, (namely, the Seal and Book-Prophecy) do fhare thefe two between thetn. The on·e d·oes apart tontain (more particularly ) the fevcral Wars, Events, and Revoluttons of the Empire it !elf; and that is the Seal·Prophec~. And the other (which is tire Book·Prophecy ) contains the feveral Condtttons and States of the Church of Chrifi in all Ages. Now this difference of the Subjects of thofe two Prophecies cloth appear in the feveral Characters, and in the very place and fcituation of the Vifions themfelves. Firft, The differing Shews or Faces of the Vilions in thefe Reprefentations, do argue this difference ; for in the firfl: Prophecy, you read of feven Seals, and four Horfes, chnp. 6. and then of Trumpets, · chap. 8, and 9· noting fometimes Sealed Judgments ond Devafiattons by Plagues, Famines, and Wars; <>f which latter, Trumpets are in all Nations the Signal and Symbols, and in Scriptures ufed to fignify [Wars J; and fo do note out the feveral Judgments by Cotiquefls and Devafiations by War brought upon the Civil State of the Empire. But in the Book-Prophecy, the chtef Actors are Women i fit Em– blems of the Church. Thus, chap. 12. it fpeaks of a Woman with Child, ready to be delivered; and, chap.14. of Virgins, free from her Fornications; then of a Whore reprefcnting the £1lfe Church, chap. 17, and 18. and then, chc~p. !9. of a Bride preparing, and prepared, perfonating the State of the Church, when Chrifl fhall come to fetch her, and bed her everlaflingly in his Fathers HmiS and Kingdom. Thus artificial is the Holy Ghofl: in handling thingsof diffcritc6 Nature, apart. 2dly, Anfwerably; The differing fcituation and place whi~h thefe two Pro– phecies had, do fliew this. The Seals which contain the Propheciesof the Em– pire, were OIJ the bac4jde, as containing Matters (extra Ecc!~{iam) witho11t the Church; but the Book it felf contains things within : even as the Church is G1id to be witbin, I Cor. 5· 12. For wh.t have I todo to juc!g them a!Jo that are with– Oil/? do 1101 ye j11dg then• ·that are withiu? Whereas thofc that are not of the Church are faid to be without: Rev. 22. i 5· For witho11t are Dogs, and Sorce– rers, and Whoremonger;, and M11rdeters, and Idolaters, and whofoever loiieth and tJJab,fth a Lie. And fo the Prophecy thereof is cafi to be, as it were, without the Book, even upon the Seals of it; os denoting that the Seal·Prophecy treatsof things Outward, and of the temporal State of the Church: whereas the Book– Prophecy treats of Spiritual Things within the Church. And as in the Gene– ral Divifion thisappears, fo it will appear in the interpretation of all parttcu1M• throughout this Book: for 'Johu puts things of a fort together; as the befi Hi– fiorians ufe todo. Only take this Caution along with you ; that neither in the one nor the other of thefe Prophecies, the things of the Empire or the Church are fo handled apart, as that nothing at all of the Church-Affairs were handled in the Seal-Prophecy, or that nothing of the Affairs of the Empire were mentioned in the Book-Prophecy. But it is fo to be underfiood, as that eminently the Ecclcliaflical Story is contained in the one, and the Imperial Story in the other. For as in the Books of Kings and Chronicles, though the fir!l: does more eminently and fetly contain the Swry of the Kings of ljrael; yet fo, as Matters of ']udah are withal intermingled : And again, in the Story of ']u– dah, lfrael's Affairs arc interwoven ; even fo is it here: Some things appertain– ing to the Church, are fcatteredly mentioned in the Prophecy concerning the Empire; and fome things touching the Erupire are diffufed through the Prophe– cy of the Church, or the Book-Prophecy.
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