Hoc praestat timor Dei ut alios timores contemnamus and St. Ambros speaking of the burning of the Martyr Laurentius saith e Ambr. Serm. 19. n. 41 Maâ—or slamma intrinsecus est The fear of God overcometh all humane fears and the fire of Gods Spirits within us wherewith our hearts burn is more ardent then the flames of Tyrants as cruel Antiochus was told by a Martyr f Ioseph de Macab Ignis tuus frigidus est O Magister crudelitatis i. e. That the Tyrants fire was but cold in respect of this Heavenly flame Thus doth the Scepter and Kingly power of Christ appear most in our weakness and this is the method of his Kingdom in this world But of the carnal domineering insulting ruffling and ranting Kingdom which Millinarians dream of Christ saith My Kingdom is not of this World SECT III. Of Christs Kingdom and Acts in Heaven of his Melchisedechical Priest-hood there The manner of his intercession Advocate-ship and Mediatorship for us in Heaven That it is not by sacrificing or praying for us there What Priestly act he there performeth WE are next to inquire whether Christ since his ascensioÌ„ hath any Kingdom or Dominion in HeaveÌ„ what he hath done there all this while for the English Socinian Commenter on the Hebrews tells us that this Epistle is a The Preface a. 3. the History of Christ in Heaven which is true in part although himself have depraved it but so are also other parcels of Scripture as may thus appear in his ascension he was attended and proclaimed King by Angels as Justin. Origen Jerom. Ambros and Chrysost understand these words Ps 24. 7. Lift up your Psal 24 heads O ye gates or O ye Princes and the King of glory shall come in for although as he is the Son of God or God the Word he was in Heaven before yet his humane nature was not there before his ascension as is well expressed by b Ruf. in Symb. apud Cyp. Ruffinus Ascendit ad Coelos non ubi verbum Deus ante non fuerat sed ubi verbum caro factum ante non sedebat being there he is said to have a Throne and that for ever and Heb. 1. 8. ever Ps 45. 6. a Throne is Kingly but this Throne is also on the right hand of God so it is the highest Throne thence he is said to give gifts unto men Eph. 4. 8. as The Holy Ghost at Pentecost was by him shed Act. 2. 3. So he gave Apostles Prophets Evangelists Pastors and Teachers Eph. 4. 11. to those more gifts are added Gifts of healing helps in government diversities of tongues 1 Cor. 12. 28. besides many other sanctifying graces to holy men and women He â—hewed himself to be in Heaven and at the right hand of God to the Protomartyr Act. 7. 56. out of Heaven he spake to Saul and restrained him from persecuting Act. 9. He is called a Priest an High-Priest and a Bishop he maketh intercession for us in Heaven Rom. 8. 34. Heb. 7. 25. He is our Advocate with the Father 1 Joh. 2. 1. And our Mediator 1 Tim. 2. 5. c. What Act of Priest-hood and what kind of intercession Christ performeth for us in Heaven and what is meant by his session at the right hand of God we will inquire anon but first his Kingly authority is to be shewed After the Passion and Resurrection of Christ and before his ascension he said All power is Mat 28. 18. given unto me in Heaven and in Earth These words are weighty The giving is meant only of a gift to his humanity thus That all power in Heaven and Earth which was naturally in the Son or Word before his incarnation is now by the God-head even his own God-head communicated to his humane nature being personally united with his divine nature so that now the Emanuel or Christ or the Word made flesh hath all power in Heaven and Earth the whole power of the God-head is in him There is nothing done by God either in Heaven or Earth but what Jesus Christ doth because there is none other God but that God which he is for he is the one and only God The Father and the Spirit are with him but one God whatsoever the Father doth he doth it by the Son and whatsoever the Son doth he doth it from the Father and by the Spirit and whatsoever the Spirit doth he doth it from the Father and the Son Christ saith The Ioh. 5. 17. Father worketh and I work this because the works of one are the works of both He saith again I can of my self do nothing 30. this he said because the Father and the Son are one therefore the works of the Son are the works of the Father also This is to be understood of the Essential or Absolute works of the God head but not of the Personal or proper works of each several person he saith again The Son can do nothing of himself but what he 19. seeth the Father do This is not so to be understood as if the Father did first perform a work to be as a Sampler or pattern for the Son to work by and then the Son after him should perform such another work but that the very same individual work of the Father is also the work of the Son for example The Father made the world so did the Son make the same world If this work be not the one and self same work of the Father and the Son then as Austin argueth a Aug. in Ioan. tract 20. Da mihi alterum mundum quem fecit Filius you can not shew me two worlds one of the Fathers making and another of the Sons making Indeed before the incarnation of the Son all the power in Heaven and earth was in the pure God-head residing in the Father Word and Spirit But since the Word or Son was incarnate all that power is communicated by the same God-head to the Son incarnate who is thereupon called Christ and Emanuel There is now none other King of glory but that God which is in Christ St. Iude calls him both The only Lord God and our Lord Iesus Christ Iude 4. Ioh. 5. 22. 27. therefore himself saith That the Father hath committed all judgment to the Son that is to Christ and this Son shall therefore in the end in his assumed and visible nature judg the world If it be said that his humane nature is a creature and therefore must always be subject to his God-head we answer that it is true but nevertheless the Emanuel i. e. The Divine and Humane Nature joyntly govern all things for so the body of a King is subject to the soul or will of the King yet the King consisting of a Body and Soul with both ruleth If it be said that the Father and the Holy Spirit do also reign and govern all things as well as the Son though neither the Father
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
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
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
Trin-Unus-Deus OR THE TRINITY AND UNITY of GOD. Shewing The Co-eternity Co-essentiality and Co-equality of the Three Divine Persons The Difficulties of this and other Christian Doctrines The Reasons why the Church retaineth the Words Trinity and Person The signification and full importance of the Word Hypostasis or Person The newly raised Scandals hindering the faith of the Trinity The fifth Monarchy or The Millinarian Heresie revived and the dreadful Consequences thereof The new Millinarian-Saints and their designs In Ecclesiâ Rationem praecedit Authoritas Scripturae Audiatur ad quod Possumus Credatur ad quod non possumus Aug. de Moribus Eccles l. 1. c. 25. and in Ps 134. Tempore nec Senior Pater est nec Numine Major Prud. in Apotheos By EDM PORTEP B. D. sometimes Fellow of St Johns Coll. in Cambridg and Prebend of Norwich LONDON Printed for Humphrey Moscley at the Princes Armes in St Pauls Church-yard 1657. To the vertuous and my ever Honoured good Lady The Lady Margaret Parston the Wife of the Right Worshipful Sr William Parston of Oxnet in Norf. Baronet Peace and Truth MADAM SOme Portions of the Doctrines handled in this little book were formerly prepared for and also presented to your Ear therefore I hold my self in good manners obliged to represent the same to your pious Eyes and heart to be reviewed and ruminated Seeing now the Pulpits are secured and Plut. Mora. lib. de Garrulit Ovid. Met. 8. our Tongues silenced by a dumb Spirit So that at most we can be but Pen-preachers and that no longer then the Press will be open to us when that also shall be shut we must content our selves and others with the only refuge of him in the Poet who said At certè caelum patet ibimus illac We may Eliah-like ascend up into Heaven in the Chariot of fervent prayer which no man can hinder and others may use their Eyes instead of their Ears for acquiring and consolidating their Christian faith by perusal of such writings as formerly have been published by our true and learned Divines and thereby perceive the merciful providence of God in preordaining the helps of Books to stand us in stead when Preaching should fail which old Writers called Solacium and Medicamentum animae 1. The Solace and Medicine of our Souls For as a learned man once said a Aug. Ps 121. The Preacher is a Book to them that cannot read So a good Book is a silent Preacher to them that cannot otherwise hear necessary truths There were in old time books called b Liv. Plin. Libri Lintei i. e. linnen books written by men and there have been linnen books written by holy Women but with the pens of Needles such as the Charitable Dorcas wrote Act. 9. 39. for vesting of poor Widows Such kind of writings have been much practised in that worthy and most charitable familie wherein God hath planted you to succeed your pious predecessors in their goodness and charity who have been for many years Nursing Mothers as your worthy consort and his Ancestors have been Nursing Fathers to poor people in many Towns round about them not only by clothing but also by feeding them and providing for them by daily Almes and large Annual Distributions and a Perpetual Hospital and a Free-School and Sermons also to feed their Souls Surely these things are gone up to Heaven for a memorial and have invited the blessings of God to rest on that Familie This is to me a pressing motive to present this Treatise to publick view adorned with your name that so it may be a thankful memorial and acknowledgement of those grand Charities which have issued from your one house to so many places about us of which my self have heretofore divers times been imployed in some part as a dispenser and truly I have often in my thoughts chid my self and others as guilty of ingratitude in that there hath not been a publick acknowledgement thereof before God and man from any of those twelve Towns which have been annually refreshed by the same Charity VVe might justly be accounted worse then Luc. 17. 17. those ten Leapers cured by Christ if one at least should not return thanks But Christian Charity is not retarded by ingratitude it is like God who giveth to the unthankful Never any age produced more unthankful wretches then this wherein it hath been often observed that the same hands which have received relief have been imployed in spoiling and plundering the goods of their relievers Such foul ingratitude spoliations must needs hinder Almes-deeds Eleemosinarios extiagunt Rapteres Aug de Temp Serm. 78. as St Austin observed that it did in his time and so it doth now with many who are thereby disabled and would so with all but that they know for whose sake their Almes are given and that the Poor are but the a Laturarij Chri. ibid lib. Ser. 50. Crickers of Christ for what is committed to them by Charity is caried into an everlasting Barn and although their wickedness may exclude their Persons nevertheless their testimony will be present with God Of such perseverance in Charity we have a memorable example in our Ecclesiastical History of Anastasius b Evag. l. 5. c. 5. Bishop of Antiocb who lived under the Reign of the covetous and griping Emperour Justinus II. Yet this good man was so far from withholding or diminishing his Almes that he increased them least said he Justinus should take all away both from me and from the poor For if men should respite their Almes until the times are quiet and stay for a cessation of Persecutions they must expect till Satan be dead for as long as he liveth c Aug. in Ps 127. As one saith there will be no cessation of oppressions There is a Fable of a King a Ovid. Met. l. 11. VVho turned every thing that he touch't into Gold This fiction was to signify that great Potentates can make all their designs and pretences serve their turns for supply of their Treasuries So we read of another a bountiful Prince b Rex Anius whose Daughters could by their touch turn all things into Corn and Wine and Oil and were therefore called c Dictys Cretens l. 1. Caenotropae This was to signify that Charitable persons in all their indeavours for acquiring Wealth do thereby but labour to enable themselves to do good to others and such if any is a good covetousness So d Cic. Or. pro Rabir. Tullie reports of C. Curius an honest Roman Publican that he acquired wealth not to feed his own covetousness but that thereby he might be enabled to do good to others as another Heathen saith e Sen. in Herc. Oet Hic Solas optat quas donet Opes Our Christian Writers oft put us in mind of Charitable thrift f Fulg. Epist. 2. Proba a noble Lady and Virgin would often fast and also wear course and cheap apparrel that so she
might save for the poor They tell us that the forbearing of one meals meat That one Jewel or Ring or one trunck of apparrel would feed and cloth many poor Christians Origen * Orig. in Lev. hom 10. pronounceth a blessing on them that imploy the parcimony of fasting for feeding of the hungry for as one of our English Arch-Bishops used to say in homely Latine but with a good meaning g Rog. Archiep Ebor. Bonus Servatius facit bonum Bonifacium i. e. Good Husbandry makes good Hospitality Charity is now when there is most need of it waxen cold among us upon another reason viz. by the Scandals of two factions for the Romanists say that our Solifidians have made men uncharitable by requiring only a bare Dogmatical or Doctrinal faith And the Solifidians say that Romanists have made Charity superstitious by their doctrine of Merit certainly both sides err for although Almes-deeds cannot merit Heaven nor deliver us from sin and eternal death so as Christ doth yet they may and often do deliver from temporal Vengeance and temporal death as the perfect works and obedience of Christ deliver from eternal punishments The advice of the Wise Dan. 4. 27. and Honourable Prophet Daniel was to this purpose O King let my counsel be acceptable to thee and break off thy sins by righteousness and thine iniquities by shewing mercy to the poor it may be a lengthening of thy tranquillity The merciful distribution of Almes is called a 2 Cor. 9. 6. Sowing to signify that as the Earth returneth us our seed with increase so much more will God to our profit at least by with-holding deserved vengeance and giving us a longer time for amendment and happily will add b Joh. 1. 16. Grace for grace so that if the Grace of Charity be improved he will add the grace of faith and perseverance as he did to the Centurion Act. 10. 4. But then our Almes must be done without looking on our selves as if we were benefactors and doners unto God but as humble Debtors or Farmers paying and returning his due rent not with any presumption of redeeming or buying off our Sins but in the form of an humble Suppliant and Petitioner and with tears of Compunction just as a good man will give some recompence such as he can to his injured Brother as a Testimony and acknowledgement of the offence of his sorrow So a good Christian considereth his Almes as a part of his repentance Such Charitable distributions are of greater concernment then some will take notice of seeing our Saviour himself vouchsafed to be ministred unto by those devout Women Mary Magdalen Joanna Luc. 8. 2 3. Susanna and others not for any personal need that himself had for he did Miraculously feed more then 5000 at one time but as a pattern to us and for an encouragement he hath declared that what is given for his sake to his poor members is really given to himself He adviseth us a Luc. 6. 30. to give to every man that asketh this we should do least that poor Creature that is denied prove to be a poor Christ and then no marvel if our God stop his Ears at our supplications when we have stopped our Ears at his for the greatest and most honourable Christians are but beggers to him and every day do or should of him beg their daily bread This Christian duty is moreover sweetned by most gracious promises of reward as high as any other even with the inheritance of heaven when it is said Come ye blessed of my Father c. A great purchase for a small price and this not because Heaven is Vile or Cheap but because our Lord is gracious The old Testament calleth this Charitableness a lending to the Lord so doth the new Testament where Christ saith Do good and lend hoping for nothing again for if it be demanded Prov. 19. 17. Luc. 6. 35. how that can be called a lending which is an absolute gift the answer is that though it be a free gift to the poor yet it is a lending to God because he doth ingage himself to re-pay The Fathers translate the word Lend by faeneratur as lent to God upon Usury or increase which they call a Aug. Epist 215. immortal Usury as if the Scripture took notice of our covetousness thereby to invite us to works of Charity for our own profit The holy Woman Hannah said truly The Lord 1 Sam. 2. 7. maketh poor and maketh rich There is no doubt but that one grand reason why God permitteth so many poor to be in the World is to give us occasions and objects of Charity and this for the great benefit of the charitable giver for God needeth not our gifts no more then he doth our prayers We have more need to give then he hath to receive by the hands of the poor he could and can make all rich his great house the World is stored with provision sufficient for all his creatures If it were not he can supply defects and as Chrysostome notes he can rain down showers of Gold and all necessaries as we read in our own and forrain Histories of showers of flesh of Milk of Wool and of Rivers of VVine and Fountains of Oil as in Scripture of Manna and Quailes whereby it is apparent that the precept of Almes was intented for the benefit of the giver This is the reason that the Scriptures promise Treasures in Heaven and that the merciful are blessed and shall obtain Heb. 14. 13. mercy that our Almes are Sacrifices and Jam. 1 27. well pleasing to God certainly if Almes be Sacrifices then the Poor the Sick the Widow the Orphant and aged are the Altars on which his Sacrifices are to be laid The Apostle tells us That pure Religion is to visit the Fatherless and VVidows verily that Religion which neglecteth these duties is an impure Religion The ancient Fathers have left us many comfortable incouragements for it They say a Ambr. The man is blessed from whose house the poor never returns empty b Aug. That the charitable Almes-giver when he dies he departs with firm security and consolation c Chryst That at the great judgement the Saints and Angels will take notice of and commend their Charities That the poor whom they have relieved shall then openly declare them to have been their Patrones and Preservers as is intimated Luke 16. 9. That then Mercy will stand between them and Hell and will not suffer any of the merciful to pass that way Thus they But though neither Men nor Angels should then take notice of them yet it is most certain that the God of men and Angels will acknowledge and reward their persons and mercifulness And least we should be tired with long expectation of reward The Word of God seemeth to provide for that by promises of temporal requitals and those Mar. 10. 30. very considerable as we read Psal
as Christ is 1 2. Chapt. The Difficulties of apprehending the Mystery of the Trinity and other Christian Doctrines Of Philosophers Jews and Christians professing their ignorance in matters of Nature and Religion 8 3. Chapt. More concerning those Difficulties and of our ignorance in Theological Doctrines of the Trinity and Predestination and of the over-great boldness of some in handling those Mysteries 16 4. Chapt. That the Doctrine of the Trinity is obscurely delivered in the Old Testament Why the Septuagint concealed it The resemblance of the Trinity in things Natural and Moral The distinct proprieties of the Three Persons and their Unity Of the use of some Words in Religion which are not found in the Scriptures 25 5. Chapt. More of Words not Scriptural Of the Word Trinity and of the Word Person Why the Trinity is called Three Persons VVhy Baptism is administred in the name of the Trinity 34 6. Chapt. Of the Scriptural VVord Hypostasis The Grammatical and Theological signification thereof VVhy the Three Divine Persons are called Hypostases That the God-head resideth only in these Three Persons and not otherwise The Ubiquity both of the God-head and of these Three Persons 43 7. Chap. Of the Holy Ghost That he is one of the Divine Persons That he is to be prayed unto is shewed by Scripture and by practise of the Church That he is confessed in Creeds and invocated in Baptismes and Doxologies 53 8. Chapt. Of Scandals hindring the faith of the Trinity 1. By forbidding the corporal worship of the Lord Jesus 2. By disuse of the Doxologies and Creeds even in Baptismes 3. By dissolving the Order Episcopal ordained by the Holy Ghost Of Presbytery That it is no Scriptural order of Sacerdocy St Jerom's Epistle to Euagrius explained 63 9. Chapt. More of Scandals 1. By scandalous Ministers 2. By dis-use and abuse of the Lords Prayer Of Christs Earthly Kingdome and his corporal return before his coming to the last Judgment That prosperity in unjust causes is no sign of Gods approbation Of the Regal Stile Gratia Dei Something concerning publick Thanks-givings 78 10. Chapt. Of Millinarians and their imaginary fifth Monarchy That it is an Heresy against the faith of the Trinity Mr Mede's Argument for Christ's Earthly Kingdome is answered That Christs Kingdome shall last after the final Judgement and continue for ever 87 Sect. 2. Of Christ's Kingdom over all the World and every Creature That it ceased not at his death That neither the Roman Consistory nor the Presbyterian Vestry can be called Christs Throne How it is in this World and yet not of this World That the Policy of Christ's Kingdome is altogether unlike and divers from worldly Policy 96 Sect. 3. Of Christ's Kingdome and Acts in Heaven Of his Melchisedechical Priest-hood there The manner of his Intercession Advocateship and Mediatorship for us in Heaven That it is not by Sacrificing or praying for us there What Priestly Act he there performeth 110 Sect. 4. Of Christ's Session at the Right hand of God The difference between the Right hand of God and the Right hand of the Father with the abuses of that Article VVhy Christ withdrew to Heaven Of the re-building of Ierusalem and the Temple Of the Jewish Monarchy and their Pseudo-Messiah or the great Antichrist 122 Sect. 5. The signification of the Jewish feast of Atonement and of the High-priests entring the Sanctum Sanctorum and of the Mercy-seat sprinkling of blood Scape-goat and Jewish Sacrifices why God disliked them The signification of the Altar Of Jewish and Christian Liturgies 135 11. Chapt. More concerning Millinarism The dreadful and bloody Consequences thereof Of new Millinarian Saints and the Meek VVhat Earth or Land is promised to the truely Meek The Title of Saint unduely placed is an abuse of the Holy Ghost The Conclusion 146 The Preface HAving formerly discoursed concerning the absolute Godhead of Jesus Christ and shewed that he is the only and most high God and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as Divines use to say and the I am i. God absolutely and independently for an Antidote against the late Socinian commentary on the Hebrews It seemeth requisite and seasonable to consider the same Lord Jesus in his Relative Personality as he standeth in relation to the Father and so is the Eternal Son of the Eternal Father In the contemplation whereof I shall be necessitated briefly to discourse the Sacred Doctrine of the whole blessed Trinity and each several Person thereof And because this profound and mysterious Doctrine is far above the reach of our Natural reason and comprehension and therefore to be not only Reverendly but also Warily and Circumspectly handled it being confessed both by Heathen and Christian Writers a Tacitus Sanctius reverentius visum est de actis Deorum credere quam scire and b Cicero De Potestate Deorum timide pauca dicamus i. e. it seemeth more reverend to believe the power of God then to presume to pry into it and to speak sparingly and timerously thereof because as Origen saith c Orig. in Eze. hom 1. De Deo vera dicere periculosum est i. e. It is dangerous to speak of God albeit we speak nothing but the Truth I therefore do here most earnestly implore the assistance of the Father of Lights to illuminate the hearts both of the Writer and Reader that from him we may receive all needful evidence for our apprehension and for our faith in the holy Trinity which now we are to discourse of and to shew that there are Three Persons in the Godhead and that they all are Coëssential Coëqual and Coëternal Errata Page 5. l. 17. r. patre p. 9. l. 9. r. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 p. 17. l. 19. r. Salvianus p. 21. l. 16. r. ipse p. 23. l. 9. r. Abulenses p. 24. l. 9. r. 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Father and the Son under the name of Wisdom Prov. 8. 22. The Lord possessed me in the beginning of his way before his works of old I was set up from everlasting I was brought forth just so doth the Psalmist express the Eternal generation of the Son Psalm 1103. Ex utero ante Luciferum genui te so was the old reading of those words in Jerome and Austin Brought forth and from the womb these words signifie that by Wisdom the Son is meant and the mention of the Womb of the Father doth signifie that this Son is of the same substance with the Father as children of the womb are of the same substance with their Parents and Before the morning Star signifieth that the Son was before time or any other Creature And that it may appear that by Wisdom the Son of God is meant the words of the Apostle will declare 1 Cor. 1. 24. where he calleth Christ The wisdom of God And as the Psalmist tells us that God made all things in wisdom So the Gospel tells us who this wisdome is viz. The Son The Word The Father created all things but he created them by the Son which St. John expresseth in these words Joh. 1. 3. All things were made by him that is by the Son or Word and this St. Paul doth clearly apply to Christ Col. 1. 16. For by him were all things created that are in Heaven and that are in Earth visible and invisible whether they be Thrones or Dominions or Principalities or Powers so that even the most glorious Arch-Angels and Angels are but the Creatures of this Son of God and this Wisdom of God Finally These men that tell us That God hath not always a Son may as well tell us that God had not always Wisdom But as they dare not deny the Wisdom of God to have been from Eternity so neither can they without very great impudence deny the Word or Son of the Father to have been from everlasting I will conclude this Chapter with the words of St. Basil who thus argued against the Anti-Trinitarians out of the words of St. John k Basil Hom. 16. To him that shall say There was a time when the Son or Word was not you may answer If this speech be true which the Gospel delivereth In the beginning was the Word I pray when was that time when he was not CHAP. IIII. Of the Holy Ghost That he is one of the Three Divine Persons and that he is to be prayed unto which is shewed both both by Warrant of Scripture and by the practice of the Primitive Christians and of the Church of England wherein he is confessed in Creeds and invoked in Baptisms and Doxologies THe Macedonian Hereticks confessed the Divine Personality of the Father and the Son but they denied the Person of the Holy Ghost and there are some among us who although they will not openly deny the Divinity and Person of the Holy Ghost yet they are doubtful and suspensive therein And this because they cannot or will not finde that any Prayers in Scripture are used or directed to the Holy Spirit as they are both to the Father and the Son They finde the Son of God praying to the Father Father into thy hands I commend my Spirit And Forgive them Father they know not what they do They Luk. 23. 46. 34. find also St. Stephen praying to the Son Lord Act. 7. 59. Jesus receive my Spirit For the satisfaction of such as these who are neither maliciously nor obstinately wedded to this error I will endeavour to shew both the Personality of the most Holy Spirit and also that he is to be prayed unto and both these by the evidences and precedents of holy writ and by the practice of our of our owne Church and also of the Primitive Christians First That the Holy Ghost is a Divine and distinct Person in the Trinity as well and as truly as either the Father or the Son We find that the Scriptures record and report many diverse actions and operations of the Holy Ghost which must needs be the performances of a Person for He appeared as a Dove And as fiery Tongues He teacheth He leadeth into all truth He brought into the Apostles memories whatsoever Christ had said He decreed in a Council Acts 15. He forgiveth sins by the Apostles by whom he was received and entertained for that purpose Joh. 20. 22. He is an Advocate or Comforter He distributeth gifts He spake by the Prophets and in the Apostles He calleth and maketh Ministers Act. 13. 2. And Bishops Act. 20. 28. where the very Original word is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which I know not why our Translators rendred Overseers when in other places they Translated the very same word Bishops which is the very Text word without any alteration but only as it is formed to out English Idiom In a word this Holy Spirit is produced by St. John as a witness that Jesus is the Christ 1 John 5. 6. Secondly for Prayer We say that the Scripture doth evidently set down a Warrant and a Precedent of Prayer to the Holy Ghost which you will finde if you observe the words of St. Paul 2 Cor. 13. 13. The Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the communion of the Holy Ghost be with you This is a Prayer and here is not only a mention of the Holy Ghost but indeed all these words Grace Love and Communion do relate principally if not only to the Holy Ghost for the Spirit is the Grace and the Love of the Father and the Son and the grace of Jesus and the Love of the Father are conveyed unto us only by the Communion and Inspiration of the Holy Spirit The Spirit is the Conduit of them and the Cement or Ligament by which our conjunction fellowship Union or Communion is wrought and by which we are joyned and united in one Mystical body or corporation with the whole Trinity and this is the meaning of that saying of St. John Baptist concerning the Baptism of Christ He shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost for those that are Mat 3. 11. baptized into Christ are by this Spirit united to him in one mystical body and so become One with him and by this Union with Christ they are united with the whole Trinity and therefore there is mention of the Holy Ghost in the formal words of Baptism because our Union is wrought only by this holy Cement of the Spirit for this reason it is that the Apostle prayeth for the Communion of the Holy Ghost Communion signifieth a mutual union of the Spirit with us and of us with the Spirit Communio is as much as Counio or uni◠cum The Scriptures are so plentiful in precedents of Prayers to the Holy Ghost that you may find them at least in thirteen of St. Pauls Epistles and at the beginning of every one of them for thus we read Rom 1. 7. Grace
or Advocation is Authoritative in Plenitude of power so that now the presenting of his glorious Person in Heaven is a sufficient Advocate his performance of the Law together with his Passion Death are the Plea and the tongues that effectually move for us because the vigor and efficacy thereof is and for ever will be looked on by the God-head as a full satisfaction to Divine Justice which Doctrine is singularly expressed by the great Apostle Ro. 8. 3. Who shall lay any thing to the charg of Gods elect It is God that justifieth it is Christ that dyed That is risen again who is at the right hand of God who also maketh intercession for us of which Right hand we are next to consider SECT IV. Of Christ's Session at the right hand of God The difference between the right hand of God and the right hand of the Father with the abuses of that Article why Christ withdrew to Heaven Of the rebuilding of Jerusalem and the Temple of the Iewish Monarchy and their Pseudo-messiah or the great Anti-Christ NO one Phrase in Scripture doth more express the Kingly and omnipotent power of Christ in Heaven and in Earth then this of his sitting at or on the Right hand of God for the understanding whereof I shall offer to the consideration of the Reader the four questions following First What it is in Christ that is so exalted To this we say That Christ consisteth of two ingredients viz God head and Man hood and that this sitting at the Right hand is not to be understood of his God-head but of his Man-hood as he is the Son of Man the Son of David the Son of the Virgin-Mother for by this humane nature he became passible subject to poverty hunger and thirst weariness injuries buffetings scourging and death therefore as by this part only he is said to be humbled to death the Death of the Cross so in this part only may he be said to be exalted for by his God-head he ever was at the Right hand of God and God over all blessed for ever As he Rom. 9. 5. is God the word he can not be said to be exalted but as the word was made flesh It is our nature only that the Son of God ennobled and carried to the right hand of God and we have shewed before that the prophecies of Christ's exaltation were said only of the Son of David that is of Christs humane nature for otherwise he is not the Son of David If it be said that we may not seperate his God-head from his Man-hood for this is to make two Persons of one and was the heresie of Nestorius To this we answer That it is true that the two natures of Christ neither can nor may be severed or divided asunder by any Real separation but yet they may and must be distinguished separated or abstracted mentally or Mathematically as School-men say that is we may in our mind consider one part alone without considering the other although both do really consist together as a Mathematician considereth the longitude of a body without considering the matter of it So we in this exaltation of Christ consider only his humane or assumed nature This is the judgment of the Ancient Church delivered by Theodoret a Theo. Dialog â—â—confu Sede De homine Christo dicitur i. e. That this Sitting is meant only of the Man Christ Secondly Who it is that so exalted Christ Whether the Person of the Father only or the Person of the Holy Ghost or whether the Son exalted himself To this we answer that the whole God-head and every Divine Person therein exalted Christ even the God-head of the Lord Jesus exalted the Manhood of the same Lord Jesus for there is but one God-head in all the Three Persons therefore all the Three Persons exalted the humane nature of the Son This truth the Scripture often sheweth though something mysteriously for David saith of Christ The Lord said unto my Lord sit Psal 110. 1. thou at my right hand That is The God-head of the Son of God said to Christ for David calls Christ His Lord only for this reason because the Lord Christ was to be the Son of David by taking flesh from David for otherwise how is not the Lord that said it Davids Lord as well as the Lord to whom it was said This is that Scripture wherewith Christ posed the Pharisees If David call him Lord how is he his Son David Mat. 22. 45. calls Christ The Lord in respect of his God-head but he calls the same Christ his Lord because he was to be the Son of David by his assumed humane nature His Divine Nature was Davids Lords his humane Nature was Davids Son The same David had said before of Christ God thy God hath anoynted thee with the oyl of gladness The meaning is that the God-head Psal 45. 7. of Jesus was to be the Anoynter and the Oyl and Unction of Jesus and therefore the God-head is called his God because the Lord Jesus by his God-head anoynted Christ or The Son of God anoynted and exalted the Son of Man So Christ on the Cross said My God my Mat. 27. 46. God why hast thou forsaken me Now did Christ speak to his own God-head The Son of Man spake to the Son of God which he therefore calls his God The forsaking here mentioned is not so to be construed or understood as if now in this agonie his God-head had quite departed from him or that the union of the God-head and Manhood were then dissolved far be it from us to think so but the meaning is that his God-head did now expose and give up and deliver the Manhood to death and left it to the will and fury of that People The God-head suspended and with-held protection from the manhood and did not send Legions of Angels to deliver him although the God-head was still united with the Manhood Thirdly At whose Right hand Christ is said to sit Whether at the Right-hand of one or of all the Persons of the Trinity This I conceive requisite to be examined because all our Liturgical Symbols or Creeds mention Christ's sitting at or on the Right-hand of the Father which is certainly true because every Person in the Trinity is the Creator and therefore the Father of all Creatures although only the Person of the Father is to be acknowledged to be Father of the Word or Son of God But yet this Symbolical expression doth not so cleerly declare this Mystery as the words of the holy Scriptures do wherein Christ is never said to sit at the right hand of the Father but at the right hand of God Now the right hand of God is the right hand of every Person in the God-head and not only the right hand of the Person of the Father So that the meaning of this sitting of Christ must be this That the humane nature of Christ is advanced to sit at the right
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