profaned Psal 89. 38. 39. 40. 42. 43. his Crown by casting it to the ground Thou hast broken down all his hedges and brought his strong holds to ruin Thou hast set up the right hand of his adversaries Thou hast turned the Edg of his Sword Thou hast made his glorie to cease c. Therefore this prophesied Kingdom can not be meant of the old David or any of his posterity but only of Christ in whom only this Davidical Kingdom still resteth and shall last on earth as long as the Sun endureth Of this Kingdom of Christ as he is the Son of David are those prophecies to be understood Ps 72. He shall come down like rain upon Psal 72. 6. the mowen grass or fleece of wool This is said of the secret birth of Christ of a Virgin without noyse or clamor He shall have dominion unto 8. the ends of the earth So had not any other of Davids posterity All Kings shall fall before 11. him and all Nations shall serve him This is not verified of any King but only Christ Prayer 15. shall be made ever to him or for him by his institution and dayly shall he be praised his name shall endure for ever as long as the Sun and men shall be blessed in him all Nations shall call him blessed any man that is but of meane progress in Religion may easily apprehend that these speeches can fit none other but Christ even Balaam an Heathen and a Magician Num. 24. 2 when the Spirit of God came upon him prophecied of a Star to come out of Jacob and a Scepter 17. out of Israel The Star signifieth the Heavenly or Divine part of Christ which should condescend to take flesh from Jacob. The Scepter signifieth the Kingdom of this Heavenly Star or Son of God so incarnate or as he is the Son of Jacob or Israel and so it must signifie the Kingdom of Christ Neither is the Gospel silent concerning the universal Kingdom of Christ in this world The Angel said He shall reigne over the house of Jacob Lu. 1. 33. for ever and of his Kingdom there shall be Regi Deâ— Mcrituro Naz. Ambr. no end This was said of Jesus as he is the Son of Mary therefore of the Man Christ The Wise men of the East call him King and they offer Gold Frankincense and Myrrhe as to a King and to a God and to a Mortall as the Fathers generally agree The news of this Kingdom came to Rome in the days of Nero and is reported by a Suet. in Vospat c. 4. Ioseph de Bel. Iud. l. 7. Suetonius That by an old Prophecie it was foretold That about those times there should come out of Judaea some who should have dominion over the whole world This by flatterers was applied to Vespasian though he thought it to be meant of another and not of himself and therefore caused inquisition to be made among the Jews for the posterity of David to be put to death so did his Son Domitian and when two of them were brought before him of mean condition he asked them what estates they had they answered they had but b Iugera Euseb Hist l. 3. c. 20. Paul Oros l. 7. c. 7. 39 Acres of Land then he looked on their hands and perceived them to be hard and brawny with labour and so dismissed them as contemptible Herod beleeved the Prophecy of Christs Kingdom but mistook the manner of it and therefore slew the infants to prevent it What else can be the meaning of those sayings in St. Johns Gospel The word was made Ioh. 1. 14. flesh He came into the world and the world was made by him He came unto his own therefore 10. 11. Ioh. 3. 35. the world was his The Father hath given all things into his hand This is said of the Son now incarnate Thou hast given him power over all flesh This was said before his passion and that also Mat. 11. 27. All things are delivered unto me of my Father This power was given to him as man for by his God-head all was his before there is also mention of a Kingly prerogative annexed to his manhood wheÌ„ it is said The Son of Man hath power on earth to forgive Mat. 9. 6 sins and this is so high that in the Apocalyps he is called The Prince of the Kings of the earth Rec. 1. 5 so the greatest Potentates on earth are but his subjects Neither did his Kingdom cease whilest he was dead and buried there was no Interstitium no Inter regnum or Interval of his Dominion for neither was the union of the God-head and man hood in him dissolved by death indeed the body and soul were parted each from the other but yet so that they did convene in Vno Tertio for they were both held in the hands of the Father or God head as when one draweth a sword out of the scabbard and holdeth the sword in one hand and the scabbard in the other Christ said at the point of his death Father into thy hands I commend my Spirit Lu. 23. 46. therefore neither could his soul be detained in Hell or wheresoever it was as it is said Thou wilt not leave my soul in Hâ—ll nor Act. 2. 24. 27. could the grave retain his body so as to hinder its reuniting with the soul as it is said It was impossible that he should be holden of death we find also both in his life time and in the very lowest degree of his humiliation and death all Creatures acknowledging his Soveraignity He commanded the winds of the air He walked on the Sea the Fishes brought him tribute the Earth did quake The Sun was darkned in Heaven Angels ministred unto him Divels were dispossessed by him Graves gave up their dead bodies and Paradise it self as it seems sent back the souls of sleeping Saints The Kingdom of Christ in this world is acknowledged both by Romanists and also by those Protestants that are of the Presbyterian persuasion although I conceive they both err in the circumstance and manner thereof for the Romanists place the Throne of Christ in their Roman Consistâ—rie and in the Infallible Chayr but that Throne will not agree with the words of the Psalmist because all Kings and Nations have not fain before it and many who heretofore acknowledged it have since utterly rejected it so that the Roman Catholick or universal Throne hath not increased of late nor the universality thereof doth-last as long as the Sun or days of Heaven Neither will the Presbyterian Vestry be suteable with the Universal Throne of Christ although some have said that the Presbytery is his Throne and that it is to be set up by the sword but so is not the Sion of Christ the Prophet reproves the Jews for building up Sion in blood it may be reasonably suspected that all the former Mich. 3. 10. and present indeavours and
hand of the God-head and so at the right hand both of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost that is The Son of Man is advanced to sit at the right hand of the Son of God or thus Mans nature in Christ is advanced above all Angels and Arch-angels and above all Creatures in Heaven and Earth and under the Earth and above all infernal powers and that it is in honour and power immediatly next to the supream God-head The mis-understanding of those words in the Creeds which mention Christ's sitting on the right hand of the Father hath occasioned a great abuse in mens apprehension for hereupon they haâ—e Phansied Three Seats in Heaven one for the Father and another for the Son on the right side of the Father and under both a third Seat for the Holy Ghost whereby they have advanced Christ above the Holy Ghost but we are well assured that it is both against our Christian Faith and also impossible that any one Person in the Trinity should be above the other because all are Coêqual and it is as impossible that any Creature should be above God the Creator for the humane nature of Christ is that which only is so advanced and that nature is a Creature This abuse was foreseen by St. Paul as may be thought and therefore by him care was taken to prevent it by those words He hath put all 1 Cor. 15. 27. things under his feet that is All creatures are by the God-head made subject to the man Christ it follows But when he saith all things are put under him it is manifest that he is excepted which did put all things under him that is Although all creatures are now under the Man Christ yet neither the God head nor any Person therein are under Christ his Manhood is next in glory to God but in no wise above him or any Person in the Trinity The Fathers also took notice of this abuse and wrote against it Origen upon these words Sit thou at my right hand adviseth a Orig. in Mat. Tract 23. Ne describas sensibiles sessiones aut Cathedras Sedentes humano Schemate Patrem Filium est de Regno Christi and after him Austin tells us upon the same occasion b Aug. de fide Symb. Tale Simulachrum Deo in Templo Christiano collocare vel etiam in corde nefas est i. e. That we should not describe the Father and the Son sitting on seats as men do for the sitting of Christ signifieth only his Dominion such a Portraiture in a Christian Church or but in our very thoughts is unlawful Thus they Fourthly What is meant by the right hand of God This phrase is not proper but figurative and mystical because no person in the God-head hath-hands except the Son who only is incarnate and he it is that is said to sit Therefore the right hand of God must signify 1. Power 2. Happiness 3. Glory Christ saith Mat. 26. 64. you shall see the Son of Man sitting on the right hand of power The Psalmist saith At his right Ps 16. 11. hand are pleasures for ever more The Apostle Râ— â— 5. Eph. 1. 21. Philip. 2. 9. tells us Christ is over all far above all principalities and powers That to him every knee must bâ—w This implieth a Kingly Majesty by the ceremony of bowing the knee The full meaning is that Christ is placed above all creatures next to the God-head and hath fulness of Power Happiness and Glory There can not be invented a better expression of Christs glory then by this phrase of the Right hand of God for it implyeth both a Soveraignty above all others and yet a subordination to the God-head as Psal 45. 9. Vpon thy right hand did stand the Queen this because the Queen is above all the Kings people but yet not above the King So Solomon placed his mother on his right hand 1 King 2. 19. When we say Christ is subordinate to the God-head we must be understood to speak onlâ— of his humane nature for when we speak of the whole person of the Emanuel then with the Apostle we say it is no robbery to affirm him to be Philip. 2. 6. equal with God If he had been said to sit on the Left hand men possibly might imagine some Creature higher then Christ for whom the right hand was reserved but this is the right hand and highest seat it can not be said to him friend go up Lu. 14. 10. higher Or if it had been said as it is Act. 7. 56. That Christ was standing at the right hand of God without any other mention of his sitting it might have been suspected that he stood as a minister or officer only but this sitting implieth Authority and Supremacy over all Creatures for To which of his Angels said he at any Heb. 1. 1â— time Sit thou on my right hand By all which promises I trust it appeareth that Christ is the Supream Lord and King over all the World and all Creatures in Heaven and Earth and therefore surely he hath a Kingdom on earth If it be yet further demanded why this Throne of Christ is not placed on earth seeing the right hand of God that is his omnipotent power is every where as well on Earth as in Heaven and why Christ did not continue his visible residence and bodily presence here on earth as he now doth in Heaven To this we Answer First There is now no need of his bodily presence on earth seeing he hath not withdrawn the Presence of his God-head of which he said Mat. 28. 20. I am with you alwayes even unto the end of the World which Austin thus expresseth a Aug. in Ioh. Tract 50. Corpus coelo intulit Majestatem mundo non abstulit nam secundum Majestatem semper nobiscum est i. e though his body be absent yet his God-head or Majesty is with us which is the most noble part of Christ for therefore Divines call his God-head his Majesty because this word signifieth the supremacy Majesty is the Title of the Supream Magistrate we say The Kings Majesty and so when the supremacy was in the Consuls at Rome and when it was in the People then was this title given to each respectively we read both of b Tul. Orat. Majestas Consulis and Majestas Populi The God head of Christ is his Supream Majesty for The head of Christ is God 1 Cor. 11. 3. And yet his body which is in Heaven is not divided or separated from his God-head which is with us for his Divine and humane natures are eternally and inseparably united and joyntly govern all as the body of the Sun is in the Firmament of this material Heaven yet by his influence and beames moderateth the seasons on earth and so doth Christ though bodily in Heaven by the influence and beams of his Majesty govern all things here below Secondly Christ
precious not an Unicorn if any were not an Elephant nor any other foul not an high neckt Swan nor a proud Peacock The Church Catholick in correspondence thereunto had their limited liturgies and set forms of publick prayer as we find in all ages since the dayes of the Apostles none might publickly in the Congregation offer the stang or wildfier of his own phansie but was confined to the form prescribed that so the congregation might knowingly joyn therein No such thing as long tedious Elephantine and tautological Orizons practized as of late as if men on purpose slighted the advice of Christ against Pharisaical long prayers Mat. 6. 7. 23. 14. This by the way Now for conclusion of this question concerning the correspondence of Christ in Heaven with the High Priest in the Sanctuary I desire the learned Reader to peruse the whole passage in that great Festival of Atonement described Levit. 16. and then judg whether there be any mention at all of the High Priests Sacrificing in the Sanctum Sanctorum he will find that the Sacrifice was by him offered not within but without the sanctuary at the Great Altar so was the Sacrifice of the body and blood of Christ offered not within the Sanctuary of Heaven but on the Gross which was his Altar on earth the denial whereof containeth more poyson then a plain Christian is aware of If our Commenter had been contented to affirm only this That Christ presenteth his holy body in Heaven which was besprinkled with his own blood here on earth wee would willingly agree with him therein for certainly his Passion on earth is and ever will be looked on in Heaven and considered by the Godhead as a full satisfaction and expiation for all his members and will ever be present and fresh in the sight of God For if Christ had not fully satisfied the Divine Justice and paid the full price of our redemption at his death he could not have ascended into Heaven nor sate at the Right Hand of God but must still have been held in Prison by death as other dead men are because he was indebted by the Covenant as being a surety for man But now that our surety is freed and out of Prison there is no doubt but that the debt was fully paid before his releasment This is all that I shall need to relate concerning the History of Christ in Heaven for if all could be written as St John said of him upon Earth The World it Ioh 21. 25. self would not contain the Books By what hath been said I trust the Reader perceiveth That neither the Intercession nor Advocateship nor Mediatorship nor Priest-hood of Christ in Heaven doth in the least derogate from his Almighty power and Soveraignty both in Heaven and Earth For his Priest-hood there is Melchisedechical and that was a Royal or Kingly Priest-hood I fear that I have wearied the Reader in this long Chapter which though I have marked for the Tenth he may justly call it Caput Decumanum CHAP. XI More of Millinarism of the dreadful consequences thereof of new Saints and the new Elect and new Meek that these Titles unduely placed are abuses of the Holy Ghost The Conclusion BY what hath been said the Reader may in part perceive what evil consequences attend this Millinarian Doctrine even to the denial of the eternal Kingdom of the Son of God in Heaven and verily if it take place it probably may extend to the demolishing of all earthly Monarchies and to the dissipating and levelling of most private mens interests and taking away properties of Estates and that Meum and Tuum which hath been so much agitated and instead thereof as one said to bring in a Suum that is to settle all earthly goods and possessions upon those men that call themselves Saints and which is worse upon the Millinarian principles it may proceed to the bloody Massacres of many millions of people in the World and at best to the vassallage and slavery of those that escape death which will be a woful restitution of the long expected liberty of the Subject and such as Plutarch observed at â—lut in vita â—yllae Rome that after the outragious fury of Marius when Sylla succeeded the people saw there was a change but yet no freedom from oppression but a proceeding from naught to worse and as one saith a Terent. in Heaut Deteriores omnes sumus licentia as if some men did construe this liberty to signify a licentiousness for one party to do whatsoever they please against another and to quite themselves from all subjection to Magistrates and Laws both humane and Divine such revelling and domineering will not become the mild Kingdome and easie Yoâ—k of Christ nor can such hard task-masters be accounted raigning Saints but Saints Rampant nor can the exorbitant litenciousness of one party be called publick liberty Upon those words Psal 119. 125. I am thy Prosper in Ps 119. Servant Prosper thus confesseth Neque enim mihi bene cessit quando esse volui liber meus non servus tuus i. e. That it never was well with him since he would take his own liberty and not be Gods Subject We now perceive the reasons why some Preachers have heretofore taught the people 1. That wicked man have no right to the Creature 2. That God cannot see sin in the Saints Gangren haer 43. 52 153. that know themselves to be in Grace 3. That Christ shall live again on this Earth and put down Monarchies 4. That all the Earth is the Saints 5. That with them there ought to be a community of goods be like they so expound the Article of the Communion of Saints Now we can guess at the cause why we have of late such a numerous Canonization and Apotheosis or Apocolocyntosis of Saints for if all the Earth must be in the possession of Saints only what Earthly man will not at least pretend to be a Saint although in old time as Theodoret tells us men called Saints b Theod de Cur Graec affe lib 3. Luc 4 6. Hagios quasi Ageos because they were not earthly minded If Satan had not lyed when he said that all Kingdoms of the World were at his dispose he might have hired a great part of mankind to stand for his designs but Satans rewards of his Servants are in another Kingdom indeed one of the Romane Saints St Francis was voted at Rome to that place in Heaven which Lucifer lost but if this Millinarian Tyranny be put into practise some for their great deserts may hereafter dispute with Beelzebub for the upper hand in his infernal principality for as there are many Saints in Heaven which are not registred in the Catalogue of Saints on Earth as Erasmus said so Mr Fox reporteth as the saying of St Jerome that many are reverenced for Saints on Earth who are now tormented in Hell when our English Becket was Sainted at Rome one
Hypostases the Stations or Mansions of the God-head wherein it dwelleth and resideth for ever for this reason it is said Joh. 10. 38. The Father is in me and I in him i. e. The God-head of the Father is in in the Son and the God-head of the Son is in the Father and the God-head of the Father and the Son is in the Holy Ghost One God-head is communicated to all the Persons But it cannot be said that the Person of the Father is in the Son because the Persons are incommunicable wherefore as young Logicians reading or hearing of Vniversals and by their senses perceiving no things but Individuals upon inquiry where to finde these Genera Species they are taught that the residence or existence of Universals is only in particulars so young Christians are to know that the Abiding Mansion and Residence of the God-head is only in these Three Persons no where else If it be said that the God-head is every where and therefore not to be limitted or confined to residence in the Three Persons To this we answer that although it is certainly true that the God-head is every where yet the Existence or Residence of the God-head in the Three Persons doth not exclude it from any place nor confine or limit it within any bounds or in the least hinder its Vbiquity for albeit the God-head is really present in all places and more also although all places are contained inclued in the infiniteness of the God-head yet this God-head is no where but where it resideth in the Three Persons for these Three Divine Persons are also every where The Prophet saith of the Father Do not I fill Heaven and Earth And the Psalmist saith of the Spirit Joh. 10. 38 Jer. 23. 24. Psalm 139. 7. Joh. 3. 13. Whether shall I go from thy Spirit c. And the Son of God saith of himself The Son of man which is in Heaven and this he said in respect of his Divine Person when his body was not in Heaven but upon the Earth And when he was about to ascend into Heaven even then he said Lo I am with you always even unto the end of the world Mat. 28. 20. Neither doe those other passages in Scripture any way contradict the Ubiquity of the Divine Persons as when it is said Ex. 19. 20. The Lord came down upon Mount Sinai and of Sodom Gen. 18. 21. I will go down now and see c. And in the Gospel where it is said of the Father and the Son Joh. 14. 23. We will come unto him and make our abode with him As if the God-head or Divine Persons were not there before But these Speeches are to be understood of Gods appearing or manifesting himself in such places or to such persons where he is always really present but doth not alwayes shew or manifest his presence And in this the Ancient Expositors agree Chrysostom saith a Chrys Serm. de Spirit To. 6 Divinitas non migrat a loco in locum sed est de apparentia corporea i. e. God doth not go from place to place but those sayings signifie his visible appearance in some assumed body So St. Ambrose upon those words Gen. 3. 8. God walked in the Garden b Ambr. de Paradiso c. 14. Ambulatio Dei est praesentia apparens i. e. The walking of God signifieth only the appearing of his presence where he was truly present before and after them Fulgentius more home and cleerly saith c Fulg. ad Thrasim l. 2 Substantialiter ubique est Trinitas sed adventus Descensus sâ—gnificant manifestationem ejus i e. The Trinity is really or substantially every where but when it is said they came or descended these words signifie that God manifested his presenee there This is the reason of that Scripture-phrase so often used of the Lords appearing as Gen. 17. 1. The Lord appeared to Abram to signifie that God then manifested his presence there where he was before although he did not there appear before to Abraham This I trust is enough to shew the meaning and full importance of this considerable and weighty word Hypostasis Now touching the Coeternity of the Three Persons both the old and new Hereticks deny it for the Arians said d Athan in Decret Nicaen Concil Pater non semper Pater nec filius semper filius i. e. That God the Father was not always a Father and that the Son was not always a Son But St. Austin often opposed this Error and thus expressed his determination e Aug. de Temp. Serm. 131. 181. Deus non anteà Deus caeperit esse posteà pater sed sine initio Deus semper pater semper fuit pater semper habuit filium i. e. God was not first God and afterwards Father but ever God and ever Father he was always a Father and had always a Son Indeed Tertullian noteth that God was not always to be stiled * Tert. cont Herm. Dominus i. e. Lord though always God and Father and he observeth that in Scripture God is not called Lord until man was made And true it is that although the Father be from Eternity the Father of the Son or Word yet he could not be called either the God or the Lord of the Son but upon supposition of the Sons Incarnation and therefore not until man was created for as soon as man was made the Son of man was in the Loins of Adam John Crellius thus intituled his Book which he wret against the Trinity De uno Deo Patre i. e. Of One God the Father If his meaning were hereby to acknowledg God-head and Paternity to be Coeternal then it must needs follow that God must have an Eternal Son othewise he cannot be an Eternal Father for so St. Basil noteth g Bas cont Eunom l. 4. Si pater ante filium erat cujus pater erat si non filii i. e. If the Father were before he had a Son whose Father was he if not the Sons And although he be an Eternal Father of his Eternal Son yet he cannot be called the Eternal God or Lord of the Son as Epiphanius hath evidently shewed by distinguishing these two Appellations of Father and God thus h Epiph. in Ancor Deus vocatur Pater Filii propter aeternam generationem and Deus propter incarnationem i. e. God is truly called the Eternal Father of the Son because the Son was begotten from Eternity but he is called the God or Lord of the Son in respect only of the Incarnation of the Son just so the holy Psalmist speaketh cautelously in shewing that the Father cannot be called either the God or the Lord of the Son but only with respect had to the humane generation of the Son Psal 22. 10. Thou art my God from my Mothers belly as I have formerly shewed elsewhere King Solomon delivereth the very same Doctrine of the Coeternity of the
r. Deor. p. 34. l. 8. r. hom 46. 31. p. 46. l. 6. r. Ascet p. 131. l. 1. r. Ioh. p. 147. l. 1. r. 118. p. 149. l. 6. r. haer THE DOCTRINE OF THE Holy Trinity CHAP. I. How Christ is the Son of God peculiarly by Eternal generation and not only by his Miraculous humane Birth How he is the first begoâ—ten and the Only-begotten Son That the Holy Ghost cannot be called a Son nor any Creature so as Christ is Why Heresies are permitted TO this Discourse following I am led by our Commenters inconsiderate if not malicious Exposition of that place Heb. 1. 2. Where it is said He hath spoken to us by â—or in his Son upon which words Heb. 1. 2. he tells us that Christ is therefore called the Son of God Because he was wonderfully born of a Virgin without the co operation of man and only by the miraculous Power of God 2. Because he was appointed to reveal the will of God c. This he learned of the old Arians who did just so expound those words as we find related by a Ath. de Decret Nic. Concil Athanasius Thus he wilfully leaveth out the grand and most principal reason of Christs Son ship and fasteneth on such shifts as are but frivolous in respect of the main and indeed are not proper to Christ but common to divers others For how is the Creation of Adam and Eve less Miraculous and Divine then this that the Commenter affordeth to the Son of God Is it not as wonderful to make a man of earth as of a woman And as much a Divine work to make a woman of a man as Eve was as to make a man of a Virgin And truly as much may be said of Isaac and Jâ—hn Baptist both conceived by Divine Power by such Parents as were naturally disabled from child-bearing both by age and sterility for Sarai was barren Gen. 11. 30. and she was ninety years old before she conceived Gen. 17. 17. So Elizabeth was both barren and stricken in years Luk. 1. 17. that is naturally indisposed for child-bearing so that their child-bearing must be confessed to be miraculous by Divine Power as well as Christs humane generation By this reason the Heathens might have called meer men the Sons of God for they affirmed that the first men did grow out of the earth or that they sprang from Trees and are therefore called by them Autecthones Aborigines indigenae and Terrae-filii as is expressed by the Poet. Juvenal sat 6. sat 13. Qui rupto robore nati Compositique luto nullos habuere parentes And Quondam hoc indigenae vivebant more Pers sat 3. Diodor. Sic. lib. 1. lib. 3. And another alluding to this fiction calls a lazy young Boy Vdum molle lutum Of which Heathenish error we read much in Diodorus who seriously and Historically affirmed the first men to have grown out of the earth and this in Ethiopia And to make this report credible he tells us that some Ethiopians must needs be so bred because they were seated in such a place as was inaccessable by any Forrainer and without any possibility of egress by the Inhabitants by reason of the steep Rocks and Sea wherewith this Land was inclosed when they had not any Boats or Ships for Ingress or Egress Therefore these Heathens upon this conceit might as well boast themselves to be the Sons of God as either Adam or Christ if we will beleeve this Commenter yet they ascribed the Original of men only to nature not to God And indeed our ordinary forming in the Womb and natural Births are as much to be accounted the Work of God and Wonderful as was the forming of Christ or our first Parents and would be so esteemed if it were not so common and ordinary The Psalmist Psal 139. 16. saith I am wonderfully made and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth The like may be said of the whole world which was so wonderfully created by God yet we call not the world the Son of God The Scriptures call Christ Priâ—ogenitum the first begotten Son of God because by his Eternal and Ineffable Generation he was before all the other Sons of God whether men or Angels who are also call'd the Sons of God The same Scriptures call Christ Vnigenitum The Only begotten Son of the Father because none other were so begotten as this Eternal Son of God was being by this Generation of the same Essence Nature Substance and Godhead that the Father is God of God Even as the sons of men are of the same specifical humane Nature and Essence with their Progenitors But men are not so the Sons of God as they are of their natural Parents because they are not of the same Essence and Nature with God for if they were then it must follow that man should be and properly be called God just as a son of man is called man To the second Reason That Christ is the Son of God because he was appointed to râ—veal the wâ—ll of God We say this is a so common to others for so Moses was Appoiâ—ted and did reveal the will of God so did the holy Prophets and after them the holy Apostles did the same And S. Paul who was most signally so appointed from Heaven tells the Asians Acts 20. 27. I have nâ—t shunned to declare unto you all the Councell of God Angels also declared and revealed the will of God and so doth the Holy Ghost as fully as ever the second person did and rather more because the Revelation of the will of God is by Christ himself referred and respited until the Holy Ghost should come and teach it as we read But the Comfoâ—ter Joh. 14. 26. 16. 13. which is the Holy Ghost whom the Father will send iâ— my name he shall teach you all â—hings and He will guide you idto all truth Yet Angels are not for this cause to be so called the Sons of God and to say that the Holy Ghost is the Son of God the Father or God the Son was long ago adjudged Heresie as we are told by Athanasius a Athan. Epist ad Serapion Hâ—retici aiunt filium spiritumâ—e â—e fratres quod pater est avus spiritus est nâ—pos patris filius fiâ—i quia spiritus a filio est filius a Pater â—e Hereticks say that the Son and the Spirit are brethren and that the Father is the Grand-Father of the Spirit and the Spirit is the Son of the Son and such conceits are by Epiphanius said to be Heresies of the b Ephiph haer 19. haer 53. Osseni and the Sam saei Finally those Anti Trinitarian Hereticks who heretofore taugâ—th the same which this Commenter doth although they would afford no better appellation to the Holy Ghost then to call him Ministâ—um Apostolum and Mâ—ttendarium i. e. a Minister an Embassador and Emissary of God yet they
minded first of our Adoption by the Son of God and whereby we say Our Father and it was by the best Primitive Christians dayly used and of such reverend esteem by the faithful that none might presume to use it until they were Christened that is until in Baptism they had received the Sacrament of Adoption as we are informed by e Chrys Hom. Antioch 58. Aug. de Temp. Serm. 126. Theod. Haeret. Fab. lib. 5. Chrysostom Austin and Theodoret. It may go for a Riddle that this Prayer is not only omitted but Preached and declaimed against by those men that would have us beleeve that Christ will come down from Heaven corporally and raign here upon earth with his Saints that is with themselves a thousand years before the last judgment which Doctrine if these men do beleeve and desire his so coming it may be wondred why they refuse to pray Thy Kingdom come In this they seem not to be their Crafts-masters because this omission giveth occasion to the other party to suspect that these Saints do not themselves believe this Millinarian fancie which they pretend and also that they do really fear lest Christs Kingdom should indeed come Because if his Kingdom come then his Will must be done On earth as it is in Heaven that is Cheerfully willingly and charitably according to his own Evangelical precepts without Blood-shedding or Rapine then no covetousness no hypocrisie no slandering or malicious lying and envying wil take place and then there wil be a restitution of all things Acts 4. 21. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i. e. a re-establishment or restoring so that all ill gotten possessions must be parted withall and the wrong-sufferer and wrong-doer shall have their rights This is the grand Jubile Christs coming hath in Scripture a double signification 1. By his Spirit ruling in our hearts this is his Kingdom of grace and the Kingdom of God which is within us 2. It signifyeth his coming in particular judgment in wrath and vengeance upon a sinful and rebellious people neither of these do necessarily imply his corporal coming Verily it is not unprobable that Christs Kingdom may come upon us in this Land and that speedily and before his final judgment by reason of our grand impieties I mean his coming in wrath and vengeance to bruise us with his Rod of iron mentioned Ps 2. 9. for so he came to the Jews at their last and terrible destruction of which Kingdom John Baptist spake Mat. 3. 2. Repent for the Kingdom of God is at hand The Axis layd unto the root of the Trees as if he had pointed to the Roman destroyers whose Ensign of Magistracy was an Ax and some after our Savior tels them of their hewing down Mat. 7. 10. Mat. 42. 34. This generation shall not pass till all these things be fulfilled i. e. that some then alive should live till the destruction of Jernsalem should be finished And when he foretold that Peter should be crucified even then he said of St. John If I will that he tarry till I come what is that to thee the meaning was that Christs coming in vengeance Joh. 21. 22. upon that City and Nation should be before the death of St. John as indeed it was for he lived many years after the destruction of Jerusalem In this sence Christs Kingdom may come and his Reigning as a King justly taking revenge and punishing his rebellious people and we may justly fear that this Kingdom is already begun among us for our crying sins even the sins of the Afflicting as well as the afflicted party I do well remember that at the beginning of our late wars an order from the Parliament commanded the London Preachers to declare in their Pulpits that these troubles came upon this Land for the sins thereof Neither should those men who are imployed in executing the wrath of God upon others think that themselves are Gods favorires or Saints any thing more for this because they may find that most wicked men have been so ordained by God and by him acknowledged to be his instruments of vengeance for of the idolatrous King of Assyria God saith Isa 10. 5. O Assyrian the rod of my anger the Psalmist also observeth Psal 17. 13. The ungodly is Gods Sword and Austin tells us more also Aug. in Ps 36. Serm. 1. De peccatore fecit Deus flagellum ei dedit honorem Potestatem i. e God useth the sinner as a scourg and moreover he giveth him both honour and power even Attila the cruel Scythian Tyrant called himself Flagollum Dei i. e. the rod of God And no marvel for Beares Lyons Fiery Serpents Winds and Storms Frogs Flies Caterpillers Thunder and Lightnings Famines Pestilences and evil Angels are used by God to execute his wrath yet these are not Saints indeed as Origen saith b Orig. in Iosh Hom. 4. Peccatori omnis creatura hostis est i. e. every creature may be an enemy and scourg to a sinfull people and to put it out of doubt the Prophet Ieremie tells us of The Hammer of the whole earth Ier. 50. 23. which both c Aug. in Ps 97 glos ord in loc Austin and the Gloss affirm to be meant of the Devil Neither will any man say that the Roman Idolaters were Saints although God permitteth and prospered them with victorious success in subduing the Iews because they did not attempt that war with any intent of serving God but to serve their own lusts and coveteousness and surely successfulness in causes unwarrantable and ungodly which an heathen man did call d Sen. in Here. Eur. Prosperum Scelus is so far from excusing or ingratiating us with God that it argueth a greater wrath and curse of God upon us as Prosper noteth e Prosp Sent. 42. Quando malè vivis si parcit Deus mag is irascitur in Psal 65. Aug. Nihil est infelicius felicitate peccantium qua mala voluntas nutritur i. e. Nothing is more unhappy then the happiness and success of a sinner because thereby he is hardned in wickedness I confess something may be said for the Saint-ships of such instruments of wrath even from the mouth of God reported Ierem. 22. 7. where in St. Ieroms translation Hier. in Jeremiam c. 22. Sanctus vocatur Nabuchodonosor omnis ejus exercitus Sanctus Numa Mart. lib. 11. Epig. 16. Sanctissima Sibylla virg in lib. 6. it is thus read of Nebuchadnezzar Sanctificabo Super te interficientem virum i. e. That God would Saintifie or prepare a slaughter-man against the King of Iuda so in this sence Nebuchadnezzar was a Saint or a Set-apart Neither can Tyrant-Persecutors or usurpers in their dominions unrighteously acquired justly use the Ancient stile of lawfull Christian Princes viz. Gratia Dâ—i But yet they may truly write Permissione Divina because God doth permit the worst of men to usurp yet without any allowance or gracious acceptance of his And surely it is a great
hypocrisie and mocking of God to ascribe successes in wicked courses as to be demonstrations of his approbation thereof for to set up solemn Thanksgivings for unwarrantable achievements is as if we should give thanks to God for our Prosperous wickedness and power of oppressing others The heathen Alexander a great and prosperous robber when he had taken the City Tyrus Faelix praedo Lucan lib. 10. commanded that the Tyrians God should be called a Diod. Sic. lib. 17. Philalexandros i. e. The friend of Alexander The Anabaptists at Munster made a solemn thanksgiving for the beheading of one of the Queens or Queans of b Surius Comment ad An. 1534. Iohn a Leyden so was there at Rome an Oration congratulatory made by Sixtus Quintus himself An. Dom. 1589 for the barbarous murther of King Henry the third of France by a Dominican or rather as one saith a Demoniacan Frier as if God had been the author and favourer thereof But he had a Roman precedent for it for when the noble Empress Octavia was by Nero's command beheaded a solemn thanksgiving was appointed for it and this as c Tacitus Annal lib. 14. Tacitus saith by a decree of the then flattering and wicked Senate Our learned d Camd. in Hibern Camden tells us that the Irish robbers before they went out to rob used to fall to prayer that God would send them a prey and after a robbery they called that prey the gift of God This kind of profane impiety was taken notice of and reproved by the Fathers One saith e Aug. de vitae Christiana c. 11. To. 9. Quidam cum furtum fecerint gratias deo agunt putant Deum sceleris participem and another saith f Ambr. Serm 66. To. 5. Milites viduas orphanos indefensos persequuntur cum sacculos fraudihus impleverint loeti ad Ecclesiam currunt gratias agunt Deo quasi ab eo haec pecunia conferatur i. e. Some give thanks to God for their thefts as some Souldiers plunder Widows orphans and unarmed people and when they have filled their Knapsacks they run to Church joyfully and give thanks to God as if he had bestowed that mony on them There hath been another witty practise among such Cacocharistical thanksgivers to manage their affairs so as that the injured and afflicted parties shall give thanks for their own sufferings as some mothers make the child to kisse the rod wherewith he hath been whipped to prevent a further danger as an old courtier once said a Sen. de Ira. l. 2. c. 33. Senectutem in aula consecutus sum injurias accipienao gratias agendo i. e. That he continued so long in Court by receiving injuries and giving thanks The hope of escaping future mischiefs hath induced many to joyn in the jolly festivals of thanksgiving with those that have spoiled their country ruined their estates slain their parents children or friends and destroyed their Lawes Liberties and Religion and this least some Fimbria should accuse them as ill affected b Cic. Orat. per Roscio Amerin Quod non totum telum corpore recepissent The Troian Horse was brought into that City by the Citizens themselves as c Dictys Cret â—e Bello Troi. lib. 5. one observeth with great jollity yet to the utter ruine of Old Troy So when the Kingdom of Hungarie was taken by the Turks a certain Courtier said d Surius Comment ad An. 1539. Nunqu im vidi Regnum quod majori gaudio tripudio perierit i. e. He never saw any Kingdom so joyfull at its own ruin although I beleeve many innocent but ignorant people in such cases do as one in e Plaut in Capt. Act. 4. Sc. 2. Nulia verier miscria quam falsa laetitia Bern. Aug. in Ps 85. Plautus saith Gaudeo etsi nihil scio quod gaudeam i. e. they rejoyce with others though they know no cause of joy Such joy is but Risus Sardonius which alwayes endeth in sorrow When Burrhus a noble and valiant Gentleman and a faithfull Counseller and lover of his Prince saw the great Emperor Nero singing and fidling in the Theater like a common player he beheld him as Tacitus saith f Tac. Annal. l. 14. Mâ—rens laudans i. e though with others he must applaud yet it was with pitty and tears in his eyes It falleth out many times that the Thanksgivings Bell-ringings and Bonefires which to some are signes of joy to others are a certain argument of some publick mischief as St. Austin observed of the Schismatick Donatists a Aug. in Ps 132. Vos Donatistae nostrum Deo Gratias ridet is Plorant homines vestrum Deo Laudes and again b Aug. cont Iulian. Pelag. l. 4. c. 3. Vester risus fletum commovet intelligentibus ut risus phreneticorum Sanis i. e. When the Church solemnizeth a thanksgiving though for a publick benefit the Donatists deride them but when the Donatists celebrate their thanksgiving it makes understanding men mourn as when mad men laugh their wiser friends are sorry for them Finaly those that do really rejoyce at the evils and afflictions of their quiet and innocent brethren and at the ruine of Religion and desolations of their own Country their joy is that passion which by Philosophers is called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i. e. a rejoycing in evil which is quite contrary to Christian charity The Apostle saith 1 Cor. 13. 6. It rejoyceth not in iniquity And that himself rejoyced not that his Corinthians were made sorry 2 Cor. 7. 9. As many now a dayes do Heavenly Angelical joy is at the conversion not at the ruine though of a sinner c Aug. in Magnificat Qui exultant cum male fecerint gaudium suum in malignitate constituunt non in Deo See how the man of God weepeth when he only foresaw the cruelties of the Tyrant Hazael 2 Reg. 8. 11. and see even an heathen King fasting praying and watching for good Daniel while he was in the Lions den Dan. 6. 16. but for professors to triumph and insult at the ruine of religious men is hellish as Prosper saith d Prosper Resp ad Gall. c. 11. Diaboli gaudium est ruina Sanctorum i. e. If there be any joy in Hell it is for the ruine of godly men CHAP. X. That the Millinarian heresie is scandalous against the Trinity because it is a disparagement of the Son of God Mr. Mede's argument for Millinarisme is answered THere is yet another Scandal or stumbling block against the Divinity of the second Person lately laid again by a new revival of an old heresie of the Chiliasts or Millinarians who taught that Christ shall return to earth corporally a thousand years before his coming to the final and universal judgment and then his Saints which shall rise from death and those Saints which he shall find living shall begin their reign in this world as in a new earthly Paradise
evers are for continuance of this world and for that which is promised after the end of this world But then it must be inquired what is meant by Christs delivering up the Kingdom And in what sence it is said that Then shall the Son himself be subject To which inquiries the reader may find a full and I trust a satisfactory answer in my former book printed An. Dom. 1655. Lib. 2. c. 10. If he peruse the tenth chapter of the second book intituled The God-head of Iesus Christ which I shall not need to reherse in this place fully but only briefly to touch First Christs delivering up the Kingdom doth not signifie his relinquishing or resigning but only a presenting of his Kingdom that is his Church his Spouse his Members and Elect so saith the Expositer c Aug. de Trin. l. 2. c. 8. Non sic tradet ut adimat sibi i. e. he will not so deliver it up as if he had deprived himself of it Just so the Father is said to have delivered all things to the Son Luc. 10. 22. as he was man and the head of his Church yet for all this delivering the Fathers Dominion over all did not cease As when a Prince committeth a Province to the Goverment of one of his Captains the Prince doth not thereby lose his Soveraignity as the Father delivered his people to the Son to be governed so that the Son re-deliver the same people to the Father but in better condition then he found them for he will present them righteous holy pure just and free from all sin or matter of reproof Christ received them to govern and he governed them so well that in the end he will present them to the just God-head to be rewarded and crowned The Church on earth whilst it is Militant is said to be Black and comely Cant. 1. 5. viz. Black by reason of some pollutions of sin and Comely because it is adorned with many graces but when Christ shall present it to the Father at the end of the world it shall be delivered up Comely and not Black So that this delivering is only a presenting of his Church which is his Kingdom as good Students after their labours are presented to the University as Candidates to be rewarded with the honour of Degrees or as Queen Esther when she was purified was so Esther 2. presented to King Ahasuerus This is all that reasonably can be gathered from the phrase of Delivering up the Kingdom Secondly The Subjection of the Son is thus to be understood We know that Christ as he is man is called the head of the Church Ephes 5. 23. And the Church is called The body of Christ Col. 1. 18. of this great body all holy Christians with Christ himself are members and parts for the head is but a part of the whole body so that Christ the head and all his Saints and members are joyntly but one mystical body or Corporation and so but one Christ So we read We are members of his body of his flesh and of his bones Ephes 5. 30. And Ye are all one in Christ Jesus Gal. 3. 28. from these and the like sayings the Ancient Fathers collected this true and excellent Doctrine That Christ the head together with all his members or Church are to be accounted but one Christ which they called Christum universum and Christum totum and Christum diffusum and Christum plenum and Plenitudinem Christi i. e. The universall whole diffused and the full Christ or fulness of Christ as I have formerly shewed at larg Now when the Apostle saith that Then shall the Son himself be subject 1 Cor. 15. 28. his meaning is only this that all the members of Christ and so the Whole Christ shall be at the resurrection fully and compleatly and perfectly subject and obediently plyable to the will of God for then all the holy members of Christ shall be delivered up or presented to God pure spotless quit and free from all the dominion of the World the flesh and the Devil which before during this mortal life had some power in them whilst they were militant and in war by the Spâ—rit against the flesh but then Christ shall have put down all Rule all Authority and Power of sin so that they shall not be any longer militant but triumphant so that then and not till then the whole Christ that is not only himself as head but all his members with him shall be perfectly obedient and subject in all things to the God-head For before this delivering up or presenting this Kingdom or Church The whole Christ or whole body of Christ as it never yet was so it never will be compleatly and perfectly subjected to the will and rule of God because all the members of Christ will not till then be fully obedient for although Christ as he is man and as he is considered only by himself in his own particular humane person without relation to us was ever obedient and subject to the God-head yet this subjection of his particular self was only in capite i. e. a subjection of one part the head only but at the Resurrection when he shall present and deliver up this his Kingdom or Church then both head and members and so the whole Christ shall be perfectly and wholy subjected Finally although Christ himself as he is the Son of Man and in the form of a servant was ever subject yet the same Lord Jesus as he is the Son of God and in the form of God Philip. 2. 6. he thought it no robbery to be equal with God and therefore as he is God the Word or the Eternal Son of the Eternal Father in this consideration of his divine Person he never was nor ever shall be subject Indeed his Man-hood or Man-head is subject but in Christ there is another head and that is his God-head as we read 1. Cor. 11. 3. The head of Christ is God This head of Christ shall never bow it self to any but all knees shall bow to it Rom. 14. 11. Philip. 2. 10. for by this head he is said to be Over all God blessed for ever Rom. 9. 5. and by vertue of his head it it said Heb. 1. 6. 8. Thy Throne O God is for ever and ever and Let all the Angels of God worship him This I trust is enough for clearing this doubt SECT II. Of Christ's Kingdom over all the world and every Creature that it ceased not at his death That neither the Roman Consistorie nor Presbyterian vestry can be called Christs Throne How it is in this World and yet not of this World That the Policy of Christs Kingdom is altogether unlike and diverse from Worldly policies Mr. Mede's argument above mentioned is grounded upon another false supposition besided the former alledged viz. That Christs Kingdom is not yet commenced or begun or that Christ hath not yet reigned as a King either in Heaven or Earth nor
shall begin his reign until his apearing 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in flaming fire mentioned 2 Thes 1. 8. which assertion I conceive to be exceedingly injurious against the divine and humane Nature of Christ and also contrary to the Holy Scriptures For to deny the Kingdom of the Son or Word considered before or without his incarnation in his pure Divinity is all one as to deny his God-head for who can doubt but that he who is the Creator and the only and eternal God both doth reigne and hath reigned from the beginning of the World and shall reigne until the end thereof and after also to eternity and that he hath and doth govern all things in Heaven and Earth working together with the Father as himself saith The Father Ioh. 5. 17. worketh hitherto and I work and both these work by the Holy Ghost which is the Spirit of both The Kingdom of the God head is by divines thus distinguished 1. The Kingdom of power which even Heathens acknowledged in their supposed God O qui res â—ominumque Deumque Virg. Aen. â— Aeteruis Regis Impâ—riis fulmine terris 2. The Kingdome of grace whereby he reigneth in the hearts of the people inclining them to obedience by the Scepter of his Spirit against their carnal inclinations either lucriferous or voluptuous for this wee dayly pray Thy Kingdom come thy wâ—ll be done as on the contrary Satan or Sin is said to reign in the disobedient drawing them to evil 3. The Kingdom of Glory in Heaven in respect whereof the Son is expresly called The Psal 24. 7. King of Glory This I presume no Christian will deny But our question now is not concerning the Son as he is in his single and pure divinity or as he is God the Word or the Son of God But we must now consider him as he is The Son of Man and since his incarnation as he is Emanuel or the Word made flesh or the Anoynted of God or Christ for the pure God-head can not be anoynted because it is the anoynting neither could the Son of God be called Christ until he was incarnate nor can Christ be said to reign until he was made Christ that is until the Son of God by his humane nativity became the Son of Man For though the Son of God hath been a Son from eternity yet he was not Christ or Anoynted from eternity but his unction and title Christ began then as the Apostle saith Gal. 4. 4. When the fulness of time was come God sent forth his Son made of a Woman By this double consideration of Jesus wee may perceive the reason why the Scripture distinguisheth between God and Christ as 2 Tim. 4. 1. I charge thee before God and the Lord Jesus Christ and why we so often read The Lord Christ and the Christ or Anoynted of the Lora as Act. 4. 26. Ps 2. 2. The Lord Jesus in respect of his God-head is called Christus Dominus and the same Lord Jesus in consideration of his humane nature assumed is called Christus Domini i. e. he is both the Lord Christ and The Christ or the Anoynted of the Lord. So that we may truly say The Son of Man is the Christ or the Anoynted of himself as he is the Son of God These considerations being premised Our Question of Christs Kingdom is thus to be stated QUESTION Whether our Lord Iesus Christ ever yet had or now hath any Kingdom in and over this World FOr if it may appear that Christ formerly had and still hath a Kingdom here there will be no need of his corporal descending from Heaven in this fag end of the World to take possession of that which he had before and still retaineth Answer The answer to this question is That Christ now reigneth on earth and hath so done ever since he was Christ that is from the time that The word was made flesh that he reigneth in this world though his Kingdom is not of this world because it is not a visible reigning after a worldly way but in a heavenly manner he beareth not the Sword Material but a Spiritual Sword he raiseth not Armies of men but commandeth Legions of Angels his strong hold is Heaven his prison is Hell as 1 Pet. 3. 19. his Jaylors Divels his executioners Plagues Famines Winds Storms Serpents Wild-beasts evil Angels Sicknesses Deaths Temporal and Eternal his Laws are mild written in Milk the easie yoak of the Gospel his tribute and taxes are faithfulness and obedience his Kingdom doth not invade or disturb other worldly Kingdoms but establisheth them for he refused a worldly Kingdom when it was offered and refused to judg or arbitrate in a petty title of inheritance between two brethren much less will he in this world judg the grand titles of Monarchies and great possessions to be taken from the rightfull possessors to the use of Pretended Saints Let us see what the Scriptures say concerning the Kingdom of this Emanuel here on earth Isaiah saith of Christ as of a child born whom Isa 7. 14. he called In manuel which must needs be meant of the Son of God considered as incarnate That the government shall be upon his shoulders of the increase of his government and peace there shall Isa 9. 6. 7. be no end upon the throne of David and upon his Kingdom to order it from henceforth for ever Surely Davids throne must be upon this earth although it signifie the Church whilest it is Militant Consider we next what David himself saith concerning this Son of David in that memorable passage Psal 89 I have sound David my servant Psal 89. 20. 27. 29. 36. I will make hiâ— my first born higher then the Kings of the earth his Seed will I make to endure for ever and his Throne as the dayes of Heaven and as the Sun before me The David here meant must needs be this Son of David that is Christ who is often called David as Jâ—r 30. 9 They shall serve the Lord and David their King whom I will raise up and Ezech. 34. 23. My servant David shall feed them so Hos 3. 5. The children of Israel shall seek the Lord their God and David their King These Prophecies must needs be meant of Christ because the old David was dead before any of those Prophets were born Christ is called David because he was to be the Son of David and so is called by his Fathers name as o her children now are and the prophecies must needs be understood of the Man Christ because by his manhood only he is the Son of David and not otherwise nor can these sayings be verified of any other seed or Son of David Besides These speeches can not be meant of any worldly temporal Kingdom of David for that was taken of Davids posterity long before the birth of Christ and this David himself foresaw and confessed in the same Psalm But thou hast cast off thine Anoynted Thou hasi
himself gave a reason of his withdrawing from Earth â—oh 16. 7. It is expediert for you that I go away for if I go not away the Comforter will not come unto you This he said not as if he could not on earth give the Holy Ghost but because the infirmities of men would not be in a capacity to entertain him so as they should for he gave it before his ascension but their minds were otherwise busied They were so fond of his bodily presence that they thought nothing could be done to them for their benefit without it for they dreamed of his Earthly Kingdom even just at his ascension Act. 1. 6. as Jews and Millinarians now do this earthly monarchy so filled their thoughts that they were not capable of the Comforter they thought Christ could not reign except his body were present so that his God-head was not considered but altogether neglected The holy Woman Martha greatly erred in this very thing when she said Lord if thou hadst been Ioh. 11. 21. here my brother had not died as if Christ could not cure him or raise him except he were bodily present To cure them of this fond conceit Christ withdraws to Heaven as a Mother withdraws her presence from a too fond Child and as light and food are sometimes withheld from Frantick men for their good for this cause it may reasonably be thought that Christ performed some miraculous cures on earth when he was not corporally present thereby to teach men the omni-presence of his Divine Spirit for so he cured the Centurious Servant not going to Mat. 8. 13. Ioh. 4. 50. the place where he was and also the Noble mans sick Son although he did not go down to him at Capernaum as the Noble man desired To these reasons many other are added by Divines which are frequent and obvious in their writings I shall not need here to rehearse them These premises being true and all of them matters of Faith it may be wondred that any Christian should dream of removing the Court Royall of Christ from Heaven to this base and beggerly earth Faustus the Manichean thought more honorably of Christ then so and said a Aug. cont Faust l. 20. c. 2. Mat. 17. 20. That the Son of God resideth in the Sun therefore the Manichees adored the Sun They who can believe this monstrous Article of Christs removeal to dwel upon this earth have need of a greater Faith then that which can remove Mountains And yet I do not think it unprobable but that before the end of this world there will be some such thing attempted as Jews and Millinarians phansie concerning this Earthly Monarchy of Messiah the Jews possibly may be congregated to their old country Jerusalem and the Temple there may be rebuilt and that People may be the most potent upon earth Their Captain or Leader that shall so congregate them may by them be thought and beleeved to be their long-expected Messiah Those Christians that then shall joyn with the Jews and their Leader may be thought by themselves and by the Jews to be Proselite-Saints and so together they may have a Sovereignty over all other worldly Princes These things are not impossible But then when this attempt shall rake effect their great Captain will not be the true Messiah or Christ but a Pseudo-Christ such as the Jews have often heretofore been abused by nor will this Monarchy be the mild and righteous reigning of Christ whose Kingdom is not of this world But verily it will be that which the Primitive Christians so much feared even the Bloody Tyrannous and formidable raging of the Grand Antichrist so Origen thought b Orig. in Mat. Tract 29. The desolation of Jerusalem must last till the consummation of the World Si aedificabitur Templum aedificabitur illi qui extollitur supra omne quod dicitur Deus i. e. If Dan. 9. 27. 2 Thes 2. 4. ever the Temple of Jerusalem be re-built it will be for him that extolleth himself above all that is called God Thus he The Monarchy of Antichrist whensoever it comes must be set up by the sword His Pallace Royal and Hypocritical Temple must be built in blood Our own c Fitzstephen Stow. Speed Historians tel us that the Tower of London built by the Conqueror was cemented with Lime tempered with the blood of Beasts But this Babel must be cemented with the blood of men and the Tyrant himself will be such as the crafty and cruel Emperor Tiberius is described to have been d Suet. in Tib. c. 57. 59. Lutum sanguine maceratum i. e. a Lout like clay tempered with blood of whom also it was foretold Regnabit sanguine multo i. e. that his reign would be bloody so will be the dominion of the Grand Hypocrite who will be not only a blood-sucker but a blood-supper a man of blood a destroyer and drunken with blood The primitive Christians did so conceive of this Pseudo-Christ or Antichrist and therefore they prayed for the continuance of the Roman state though persecutors because they thought Antichrist could not come till that state was dissolved and they also prayed e Tert. Apol. c. 32. c. 39. Pro mora finis i. e. That the judgment of the world might be deferred because Antichrist was not to come till the day of judgment was near at hand for they feared to adventure the perseverance of their Faith to the tryal of such cruel forces The apprehension of the persecution of this Antichrist inclined some to think that it should be Nero raised from the dead as f Aug. de Ci. vit lib. 20. c. 19. Austin reports So Chrysostome thought g Chrys Serm. de 2. Adventu Christi That St. Paul meant Nero by those words 2 Thess 2. But Theodoret affirmed that this Last and greatest Antichrist shall be the Divel appearing in the shaâ—e of a man and pretending himself to be the Messiah h Theod. Haeret. Fab. l. 5. In the mean time as there have been before so there will be yet many Antichrists who will outwardly profess Christ as members of the Church as Austin saith a Aug. in 1. E. pist Ioh. Tract 3. Multi Antichristi intus sunt nondum foras exierunt Such are by St. Bernard called Christiani Antichristiani i. e. Antichristian Christians of which sort more anon Finaly as all Petty-Antichrists have had preachers suborned to deceive and mislead the vulgars so also will the Grand Antichrist St. Jerom called Sabinianus who was an Adulterer and a scardâ—lous Deacon a Hier. Epist 48. Novum Apostolum Antichristi i. e. a new Apostle of Antichrist Prosper saith as much of the Great Antichrist b Prosper de Promis p. 3. c. 11. 13. Antichristus habebit suos praecones mendacii pseudoprophetas i. e. That he will have his false Prophets and Preachers of lyes St. Jerom further addeth That Antichrist will assume to himself a Legislative power