Angel of the same Rank and degree with the Princes or Guardian Angels of Persia and Greece from whence it follows that those Guardian Angels were Archangels as well as he and consequently that they also had their Angels or appropriate Armies of Angels under their Conduct and Command in which Armies of theirs whose Ministry without doubt they always used in the Administration of their respective Guardianships there is no question but there was an exact Order and Regiment which cannot well be supposed without supposing in them particular Officers subordinated to each other under their respective Princes or Archangels and this seems to be implied in that distinction which the Apostle makes between these heavenly Spirits Col. 1.16 Whether they be Thrones or Dominions or Principalities or Powers where by Thrones he seems to mean the respective Princes or Archangels of the several Orders by Dominions or Lordships the Reguli or chief Dignitaries under the Archangels by Principalities their Governours of such Provinces or Cities as were within their Guardianships by Powers their inferiour Magistrates or Officers These Archangels therefore who were the Tutelar or Guardian Angels of Countries together with their respective Cohorts or Armies of Angels seem not to have been subjected to the Mediatorial Dominion of our Saviour till after his Ascension into Heaven at which time it seems God totally dissolved those Angelocracies or Angelical Governments of Countries and Nations and subjected both them and the Archangels together with their Armies of Angels that governed them to the Mediatorial Scepter of our Lord and Saviour upon which he who before was King only of the Iews vid. P. 224 225. became universal Lord and Emperour of the World for so Heb. 2.5 we are told That to the Angels God hath not put in subjection the World to come or future Age as it is in the Greek where by the future Age it is evident he means the time of the Gospel for this is the very Phrase used by the Septuagint to express the State of Christianity Isa. 9.6 where Christ is called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Father of the future Age. This passage therefore of God's not subjecting the future age to the Angels plainly implies that he had subjected the past age to them by constituting them the Guardians of Nations but that now in this age of the Gospel he hath wholly dissolved that Oeconomy by subjecting both the Guardians and the Nations they guarded to the Dominion of our Lord and Saviour so that now the whole world of Angels is in the same subjection to Jesus Christ as it seems Michael and his Angels were before Christ's Exaltation that is they are now no longer subject as Deputy Governours of Provinces and Nations who as such were impowered to do good or hurt to those who were under their Government according to their own discretion but as the immediate attendants of his person to whom nothing is left arbitrary but all they do is determined by the sovereign Will of him who imploys them for thus the Scripture declares that upon his Ascension into Heaven he was vested with a new Dominion over the Angelical World so 1 Pet. 3.22 we are told that it was upon his going into Heaven and sitting down at the right hand of God that Angels and Authorities and Powers were made subject to him and in Eph. 20.21 that God raised him from the dead and set him at his own right hand in heavenly places far above all Principality and Power and Might and Dominion i. e. above all Angels of what rank and quality soever and every name that is named not only in this World but also in that which is to come and accordingly Col. 2.10 he is said to be head of all Principality and power i. e. of all the heavenly Hierarchy as well as earthly Dominions thus also the Apostle tells us that upon his Ascension into Heaven God hath given him a name above every name that at the name of Iesus every knee should bow i. e. that every Being should acknowledge subjection either of things in Heaven or of things on Earth or things under the Earth i. e. whether of Angels or Men or Devils And as all these Angelical Powers are now subjected to Christ so do they all of them minister under him in his Kingdom for so Heb. 1.14 they are said to be all of them ministring Spirits sent forth to minister for them who shall be Heirs of Salvation and in so doing they must necessarily minister under him who is the Captain of our salvation and accordingly in Rev. 5.6 those seven Angels which in Zâ—ch 4.10 are said to be the seven eyes of the Lord which run to and fro the whole Earth and therefore stiled the Watchers Dan. 4.13 as being the chief Instruments of the divine Providence are called the seven eyes of the Lamb by whose Ministry and Agency he inspects and governs his Kingdom which plainly implies that they now minister to the Exalted Mediator in the same capacity that they heretofore ministred to God Almighty himself 2. And then secondly as the good Angels are subjected to Christ by the Ordination and appointment of God so the bad are subjected to him by just and lawful Conquest for so the Scripture assures us that our blessed Saviour subdued them to his Mediatorial Empire by pure dint of just force and violence for so we find in his life-time he frequently contested with these evil spirits and in despite of all their power and malice continually vanquished and repelled them Thus in his Temptation in the Wilderness with only that powerful Command Get thee hence Satan he put the Devil to flight Matth. 4.10 11. so also upon his approach towards the two possessed Gergesens the Devils that possessed them made a hideous outcry What have we to do with thee Iesus thou Son of God art thou come hither to torment us before the time and were forced to depart immediately upon his Command Matth. 8.29 Nor did he only vanquish them himself in all the personal conflicts he had with them but he also gave his Disciples authority over all Devils Luke 9.1 insomuch that Luke 10.17 his Disciples acquaint him Lord even the Devils are subject unto us through thy Name but these were only so many successful skirmishes with those Powers of darkness in which they fought against him sometimes in single Combate and sometimes in smaller Parties but the main Battel in which they engaged him with all their power and might and by winning of which he compleated his Conquest and finally subdued them to his Empire seems to have been that which he fought in his last Agony wherein after they had reduced him to the utmost distress he struck them with the spiritual Thunderbolts of inward horror and confusion and in a Panick Dread forced them to turn their backs and flee from him For first it is evident that before he entered the Garden where his Agony seized him he expected
find in Scripture that all Ecclesiastick Commissions were either given by the hands of some of those first Apostles who received their Commission immediately from our Saviour or else by some of those secondary Apostles that were admitted into Apostolick Orders by them which secondary Apostles as was shewn before were the same with those whom we now call Bishops for so in Acts 6.3.6 the seven first Deacons we read of were Ordained by the Apostles the whole number of the Disciples being present but the Apostles only appointing and laying their hands on them and in Acts 14.23 we are told that Paul and Barnabas two of the Apostles ordained Elders in every Church that is of Lystra Iconium and Antioch and though these two were Ordained Apostles of the Gentiles by certain Prophets and Teachers in the Church of Antioch Acts 13.1.3 yet there is no doubt but those Prophets and Teachers where such as had received the Apostolick Character being ordained by the Apostles Bishops of the Churches of Syria for otherwise how could they have derived it For so Iudas and Silas are called Prophets Acts 15.32 and yet ver 22. they are said to be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is Rulers among the Brethren or Bishops of Iudea and afterwards we find that Ordination was confined to such as had been admitted to the Apostolate for so the power of laying on of hands in the Church of Ephesus was committed by S. Paul to Timothy whom he himself by the laying on of hands had ordained the Apostle or Bishop of that Church 1 Tim. 5.22 1 Tim. 1.6 so also the power of Ordaining in the Church of Crete was by S. Paul committed to Titus whom he had also Ordained the Apostle or Bishop of that Church Tit. 1.5 for this cause left I thee in Crete to ordain Elders in every City Thus all through the whole Scripture History we find the power of Ordination administred by such and none but such as were of the Apostolick Order viz. either by the Prime Apostles or by the secondary Apostles or Bishops And if we consult the Primitive Antiquities which to be sure in matters of fact at least are the best Interpreters of Scripture we shall always find the power of giving Orders confined and limited to Bishops which is so undeniable that S. Ierom himself who endeavours his utmost to equalize Presbyters with Bishops is yet fain to do it with an excepta Ordinatione Ep. ad Evagr. Quid facit excepta Ordinatione Episcopus quod Presbyter non faciat What can the Bishop do except Ordaining that the Presbyter may not do also III. Another peculiar Ministry of the Bishops and Governours of the Church is to execute that spiritual Iurisdiction which Christ hath established in it i. e. to Cite such as are accused of scandalous offences before their Tribunals to inspect and examine the Accusation and upon sufficient evidence of the truth of it to admonish the offender of his fault and in case he obstinately persist in it to exclude him from the Communion of the Church and from all the Benefits of Christianity till such time as he gives sufficient evidence of his Repentance and amendment and then to receive him in again For that Christ hath established such a jurisdiction in his Church is evident from that passage Mat. 18.16 17 18. Moreover if thy Brother shall trespass against thee go tell him his fault between him and thee alone if he shall hear thee thou hast gain'd thy Brother but if he will not hear thee then take with thee one or two more that in the mouth of two or three Witnesses every word may be established i. e. that thou mayst be able in case he doth not then amend to produce sufficient testimony of his guilt before the Churches Tribunal to which thou art next to apply thy self and if he shall neglect to hear them i. e. to promise amendment upon their admonition take them along with thee and tell it to the Church that so she may examine the matter and upon thy proving his guilt by sufficient witness may Authoritatively admonish him to amend but if he neglect to hear the Church let him be unto thee as an Heathen man and a Publican i. e. give him over for a desperate sinner as one that is to be ejected from the Communion of the Church and no longer to enjoy the common benefits of a Christian for verily I say unto you that it is to you of the Church before whom this obstinate Offender is cited and accused for now he speaks no longer in the singular number Whatsoever ye shall bind on Earth shall be bound in Heaven and whatsoever ye shall loose on Earth shall be loosed in Heaven i. e. whomsoever ye shall for just cause eject from the Communion of the Church into the state of a Heathen man and a Publican I will certainly exclude out of Heaven unless he reconcile himself to you by Confession and promise of amendment and if thereupon you pardon him and receive him into the Churches Communion I will most certainly pardon him too if he perform his promise for that by binding and loosing upon Earth our Saviour means excluding out of the Church and receiving in again is evident from that Parallel passage Mat. 16.19 I will give unto thee the Keys of the Kingdom of Heaven and whatsoever thou shalt bind on Earth shall be bound in Heaven and whatsoever thou shalt loose on Earth shall be loosed in Heaven where by the Keys of the kingdom of Heaven is plainly meant the Authority of a Steward to govern his Church or Family for so Isa. 22.21 22. God promises Eliachim that he would cloath him with the Robe of Shebna who was over the Houshold ver 15. i. e. Steward of the Kings Family and that he would commit Shebna 's Government into his hand c. and then it follows And the Key of the House of David will I lay upon his shoulders so he shall open and none shall shut and he shall shut and none shall open that is in short I will make him the Governour of the Family and give him power to admit or exclude what Servants he pleases and accordingly by the Keys of the Kingdom of Heaven must be meant the Government of the Church for so Keys denote Authority to Govern vid. Rev. 3.7 and by binding and loosing the power of shutting out of or readmitting into it and therefore in Iohn 20.23 this binding and loosing is thus expressed whose sins ye remit or loose shall be remitted or loosed whose sins ye retain or keep bound shall be retained or kept bound for though the words are different from those in S. Matthew yet they are of the same import and signification and consequently our Saviours meaning must be the same here as there viz. whose sins you loose from the penalty of exclusion from the Church I also will loose from the penalty of exclusion out of Heaven and whose sins
participation of the blessed immortality of Heaven so also Rev. 3.21 To him that overcomes will I grant to sit with me on my Throne even as I have overcome and am sate down with my Father on his Throne And he promises the Bishop of the Church of Smyrna in particular Be thou faithful to the death and I will give thee a crown of life Rev. 2.10 In all which places he expresly declares his Royal Authority to reward his faithful Subjects when they leave this World with the joys and felicities of the World to come and this Authority he is continually exercising in his heavenly Kingdom For when ever any faithful and obedient Souls depart from their bodies he presently sends forth his Angelick Messengers to conduct them safe to the immortal Regions and there to lodge them in some one of those blissful Mansions in his Fathers House which he went before to prepare for them where free from all the disturbances of flesh and blood and of a vexatious and tumultuous World they live in continued ease content and joy wrapt up with the ever-growing delights of contemplating loving and imitating God and of the most wise and amicable Society and Communication with each other in the enjoyment of an endless bliss and pleasure for so we are assured from Scripture that the happiness of the righteous doth commence from the moment of their departure hence So Rev. 14.13 Blessed are the dead that die in the Lord from henceforth yea saith the Spirit that they may rest from their labours and their works do follow them and with St. Paul it was the same thing to depart from hence and to be with Christ Phil. 1.23 which necessarily implies that upon his departure he expected to be immediately with Christ and elsewhere he teaches that to be at home in the body was to be absent from the Lord and to be absent from the body to be present with the Lord 2 Cor. 5.6 8. neither of which can be true if the Souls of good men go not to Heaven immediately when they go from hence but that they do so is as plain as words can express it in that promise of our Saviour to the Penitent Thief Verily verily I say unto thee this day shalt thou be with me in Paradise Luke 23.43 From whence it evidently follows that even in the very Article of a true Penitents death Heavens joys do attend his departing Soul to receive it immediately when it is dislodged from the body Thus in the very moment of its departure hence the Pious Soul is transported to those blessed abodes beyond the Stars which are the proper seat and pure Element of Happiness where the blessed inhabitants live in a continued fruition of their utmost wishes being every moment entertained with fresh and enravishing Scenes of pleasure where all their happiness is eternal and all their eternity nothing else but only one continued Act of Love and Praise and Ioy and Triumph where there are no sighs or tears no intermixtures of sorrow or misery but every heart is full of joy and every joy is Quintessence and every happy moment is crowned with some fresh and new enjoyment But of this blessed state I have given an account at large Part. 1. Chap. 1. and 3. And this is that blessed reward with which our Saviour crowns his faithful Subjects immediately upon their departure hence so that he doth not permit them to lie sleeping in the dust unrewarded till the end of the World but as soon as they have finished their work upon Earth admits them to the joy of their Master to all the felicities that their separated spirits are capable of in those several degrees and measures of perfection which they there arrive to in which happy state they remain during their separation from the body expecting the farther completion of their happiness in a glorious Resurrection by which their Bodies and Souls being reunited their whole Humane Nature shall be filled with bliss to the utmost stretch of its Capacity And now having shewn what those Regal Acts are which Christ hath always performed and doth always continue to perform I proceed in the III. And last place To shew what those Regal Acts are which are yet to be performed by him before he surrenders up his Kingdom and these are reducible to three Heads First He is yet farther to extend and enlarge his Kingdom by the Conquest of its enemies Secondly He is yet to destroy Death the last Enemy by giving a general Resurrection Thirdly He is yet to judge the World. I. He is yet farther to extend and enlarge his Kingdom by a more universal conquest of its Enemies For if we consult the ancient Prophesies concerning the vast extent of our Saviours Kingdom we shall find that there are a great many of them which as yet were never accomplished So Psal. 2.8 9. Ask of me and I will give thee the Heathen for thine inheritance and the uttermost parts of the Earth for thy possession thou shalt break them with a Rod of Iron thou shalt dash them in pieces like a Potters Vessel whereas hitherto it is certain Christ was never possessed of the uttermost parts of the earth nor did he ever yet break his incorrigible opposers with a Rod of Iron or dash them in pieces like a Potters Vessel so also Dan. 7.4 it is foretold of Christ that there should be given him Dominion and Glory and Kingdom that all People Nations and Languages should serve him and that all Dominionâ— should serve and obey him ibid. ver 27. so also Dan 2.34 35 44 45. that the stone cut out without hands by which all agree is meant the Kingdom of Christ should become a great Mountain and fill the whole earth and that it should break in pieces and consume all those other Kingdoms Thus also it is foretold that the Lord should be King over all the Earth Mich. 5.4 and that there should be but one Lord and his name one Zech. 14.9 and that he should have Dominion from Sea to Sea and from the Rivâ—r to the 〈◊〉 of the Earth Psal. 72.8 and that all Kings should fall down before him and all Nations serve him ibid. ver 11. and that all the ends of the earth should remember and turn to the Lord and all the kindreds of the Nations worship before him because the Kingdom shall be the Lords and he shall govern among the Nations These and sundry other such like Prophesies there are which as yet it is certain were never accomplished according to the full import and intent of them Wherefore we may certainly conclude that there is a time yet to come before the consummation of all things wherein our Saviour will yet once more display the victorious Banner of his Cross and like a mighty man of War march on conquering and to conquer till he hath confounded or converted his Enemies and finally consummated his victories in a glorious Triumph over all the Powers
of the Earth For the Scripture not only foretels this universal conquest of his but also describes and delineates the whole method and progress of it which upon laying the Scripture Prophesies together in their proper Train and Series seems to me to be this that the opening of this great Scene of Providence will be the conversion of the Iewish Nation those obstinate and hitherto implacable Enemies of our Saviour whom notwithstanding they have been a thousand times over conquered slaughtered and oppressed and do to this day continue scattered over the face of the whole Earth he hath preserved by a strange and unparalleled Providence for above sixteen hundred years together a distinct and separate people from all the Nations of the Earth to shew his mighty power in them and once more render them what they have always been the Subjects of his miraculous conduct For by a wonderful effusion of his Holy Spirit upon them such as that was on the day of Pentecost though far more extensive he will all of a sudden and in a most surprizing manner open the eyes of this blinded Nation and powerfully convince them of the error and wickedness of their infidelity and malice against him whereupon with one heart and one mind they shall return to the Lord and with penitent tears wash off the guilt of the blood of their Saviour which like an Heir-loom hath hitherto descended upon them from one Generation to another for thus Rom. 11.25 26. I would not brethren that ye should be ignorant of this mystery that blindness in part is hapned to Israel 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 till when the fulness of the Gentiles be come in and so all Israel shall be saved as it is written there shall come out of Zion the deliverer c. From whence it is plain that that blindness which then hapned to Israel and which continues on them to this day shall one day be removed viz. about that time when the Conversion of the Gentiles shall be compleated and that then all Israel and not a small remnant of them as at first shall be saved so also 2 Cor. 3.14 16. But their minds are blinded meaning the People of Israel for until this day remaineth the same vail untaken away in the reading of the Old Testament nevertheless when it shall turn to the Lord the vail shall be taken away where he first supposes that Israel that till then was blinded and that till now remains so should turn unto the Lord and then asserts that then the vail of ignorance which hindered 'em from discerning Christ in the Figures and Prophesies of the Old Testament should be removed from before their eyes And now the Jews being thus converted by the power of our Saviour shall under his victorious Banners be conducted into the Holy Land and repossessed of their ancient native Country whither they shall be close pursued with mighty Hosts of the Eastern Infidels and be reduced by them into imminent danger of utter desolation in which extremity of theirs our blessed Saviour will make bare his Almighty Arm and in a most miraculous manner confound and scatter those mighty swarms of Infidels and crown his Israel with Victory and Triumph The fame of which miraculous events spreading far and wide even to the utmost ends of the Earth shall in a little time convince all the Heathen World of the truth of Christianity and prevail with the Kingdoms of the earth to become the Kingdoms of our Lord and of his Christ And now the Kingdom of Christ in this World being arrived to its full extent and growth Truth and Peace Charity and Justice shall reign and flourish over all the Earth Now all the World shall be Christendom and Christendom shall be restored to its ancient Purity For now he who is to come with the Fan in his hand will throughly purge the Floor of his Church from all that Chaff of Superstition and Idolatry Schism and Heresie Irreligion and Immorality with which it is almost totally covered and the true Faith the sincere Piety the generous and unaffected Vertue which Christianity teaches and prescribes shall be the universal livery and cognisance of the Christian World For much about the time of this Conversion of the Iews and that glorious Call of the Gentiles thence ensuing that corrupt and degenerate Faction of Christians whom the Scripture calls the mystical Babylon and the Antichrist and which for several Ages hath been the great Nuisance of Christendom will in these Western parts of the World muster up all its Forces to destroy and extirpate the purer Professors of Christianity by a general persecution in which attempt for some time this Faction will be very prevalent and successful when all of a sudden the Kings and Princes of the Earth who have thitherto been partakers with it in its foul Impostures and corruptions being either awakened by those miraculous Conversions of the Jews and Eastern Gentiles or convinced of their errors by the powerful impressions of his Spirit in whose hands the hearts of Kings are will turn their Swords upon this Antichristian Faction whose Cause they have hitherto espoused and conspire to root it out from off the face of the Earth which being effected the Western Church will universally reform it self according to the Standard of the Church of Ierusalem which will then be in a literal sense the Mother of us all Thus partly by destroying and partly by converting its Enemies our Saviour will yet mightily enlarge the borders of his Kingdom and advance it to the utmost pitch of purity and splendour that this state of mortality will admit and in this happy state he will preserve and continue it for several Ages till a little before the commencement of the General Iudgment at which time the Devil who had been hitherto chained up will be loosed again to work in the Children of disobedience to excite them to delude and deceive the World again and to persecute the sincere Professors of Christianity with incessant cruelties when all of a sudden and while they are securely triumphing in the success of their Villanies they shall be surprized with the Day of Judgment which like a Thief in the night shall come upon them and put an end to all their mischiefs for ever II. Another of those Regal Acts which he is yet to perform is to destroy Death the last Enemy by causing a general Resurrection of the Dead which being one of the great Articles of our Creed I shall insist more largely upon it and endeavour First To prove the certainty of the Fact and Secondly To explain the manner how it will be performed I. I shall endeavour to prove the certainty of the Fact viz. that our Saviour shall raise the dead which is as plainly and frequently asserted in holy Scripture as any Proposition contained in it for so 2 Cor. 4.14 we are assured that God will
will 118. Fourthly He sealed his Declaration with his own Blood 120. Fifthly He Instituted an Order of Men to Preach what he had declared to the World 121. Sixthly He sent his Holy Spirit when he left the World to recollect and explain his Doctrine to those whom he had ordained to Preach it and to inable them also to prove it by Miracles 123 124. SECT IV. Of Christs Priestly Office. To what persons the Priesthood antiently belonged 130. What the Melchisedecan Priesthood was and in what respects Christs Priesthood is of that Order 132. what the old Priesthood was and in what acts it consisted 136. That it consisted first in Sacrificing and secondly in presenting the Sacrifice to God by way of Intercession for the People 136 c. That this ancient Priesthood was in both these acts of it intended by God for a Type of the Priesthood of our Saviour 142 c. SECT V. Concerning the first Act of our Saviours Priesthood viz. Sacrificing That the death of Christ had in it all the requisite Conditions of a Sacrifice for Sin and what those Conditions are shewed in five Particulars 147 c. these Conditions applyed to our Saviours death as first In his death he was substituted in the room of sinful Men to be punish'd for them in order to their being released from their personal Obligation to punishment 151. Secondly He dyed a pure and spotless Innocent Thirdly His death was of sufficient intrinsick worth and value to be an equivalent commutation for the punishment that was due to the whole World of sinners 155. Fourthly His death was on his part voluntary and unforced 160 161. Fifthly His death was admitted and accepted of God in lieu of the punishment which was due to him from Mankind 164. The wisdom of this method of Gods· admitting Christs sacrifice for sinners in order to the reforming Mankind shewn in five Particulars â— First That the Sacrifice of Christs death was a most sensible and affecting acknowledgement of the infinite guilt and demerit of our sin 167. Secondly It was an ample declaration of Gods severity against sin 169. Thirdly It was a most obliging expression of the love of God and our Saviour to us 171. Fourthly It is a sure and certain ground of our hope of pardon if we repent and amend 174. Fifthly It is a seal and confirmation of the New Covenant 177. SECT VI. Of Christs Intercession or presenting his Sacrifice to God in Heaven by way of Advocation for us The Nature of it defined 183. The definition explained in the several parts of it which are four First It is a Solemn Address of our Blessed Saviour to God the Father in our behalf 184. Secondly This Address is performed by the presenting his Sacrificed Body to the Father in Heaven 186. Thirdly it is continued and perpetuated by the perpetual Oblation of this his sacrificed Body 190. Fourthly In vertue of this perpetual Oblation he doth always successfully move and solicit God 193. And that which he moves him to is First to receive and graciously accept our sincere and hearty Prayers 196. Secondly to impower him to bestow on us all those Graces and Favours which in consideration of his Sacrifice God hath promised to us 199. The admirable tendency of this method of Gods communicating his Favours to us through Christs Intercession to reform Mankind shewn in five Particulars First It naturally tends to excite in us a mighty awe of the Divine Majesty 204. Secondly It also tends to give us the strongest conviction of Gods hatred of Sin 206. Thirdly It secures us from presuming upon Gods mercy while we continue in our sins 208. Fourthly It encourages us to approach God with chearfulness and freedom 212. Fifthly It assures our diffident minds of Gods gracious intentions to perform to us all the good things which he hath promised to us upon our performing the condition of them 216. SECT VII Of Christs Kingly Office. Christs universal Royalty successâ—â—e to his Sacrifice and Intercession pag. 221 c. Christ had a particular Kingdom in this World viz. The â—ewish Church before his Incarnation and during his abode upon Earth 225. and therefore that which he was exalted to upon his ascension was the universal Kingdom of the World ibid. Six Heads proposed to be treated of concerning our Saviours Kingdom 226. SECT VIII Of the Rise and Progress of Christs Kingdom from the Fall to his Incarnation Of which an account is given at large in eight Propositions pag. 227. First That the Kingdom of Christ is founded in the new Covenant 228. Secondly That the new Covenant commenced immediatly after the Fall and was afterwards in a particular manner renewed to Abraham and his Posterity ibid. c. Thirdly That from its first Commencement Christ was Mediator of it and so he continued to be all along under that particular renewal of it to the People of Israel 233 c. Fourthly Christs being always Mediator of this Covenant necessarily implies his having been always King over all that were admitted into it and particularly over the People of Israel 235 c. and that he was the Divine King that reigned over Israel and who in the Old Testament is promiscuously called Jehovah and the Angel of Jehovah is proved in five Propositions 238 239 c. Fifthly That after his coming into the World he still retained this his right and title of King of Israel in particular 255 c. Sixthly That the main Body of the Jews rejected Christ from being their King and were thereupon rejected by him yet was there a remnant of them that received and acknowledged him 258. Seventhly That this remnant still continued the same individual Church or Kingdom of Christ with what it was before its main Body revolted they very much reformed and improved 259 c. Eighthly That to this individual Church or Kingdom of Christ thus reformed and improved was superadded all those Gentiles that were afterwards converted to Christianity 272 c. SECT IX Of the Nature and Constitution of Christs Kingdom The Kingdom and Church of Christ the same 275. The universal Church or Kingdom of Christ defined 277. This definition explained in the several parts of it which are eight 272 278. First It is one Vniversal Society consisting of all Christian People 278 c. Secondly It consists of all Christian People incorporated by the New Covenant 280 c. Thirdly These Christian People are incorporated by the New Covenant in Baptism 283 c. Fourthly They are incorporated under Iesus Christ their supreme Head 291. Fifthly This one Vniversal Society thus incorporated is distributed into particular Churches 292 c. Sixthly These particular Churches are distributed under Lawful Governors and Pastors 295 c. Seventhly These particular Churches thus distributed hold Communion with each other 298 c. Eighthly The Communion which these particular Churches hold is first in all the Essentials of Christian Faith 303 c. Secondly in all the
with each other And this being the standing Government and Discipline of the Catholick Church no particular Church or Community of Christians can refuse to communicate in it without dividing it self from the Communion of the Church Catholick I say refuse to Communicate in it because it is possible for a Church to be without this Government and Discipline which yet doth neither refuse it nor the Communion of any other Church for the sake of it A Church may be debarred of it by unavoidable necessities in despite of its power and against its consent and under this circumstance I can by no means think such a Church to be separated from the Church Catholick it is indeed an imperfect and defective part of the Catholick Church and if this defect of it be any way owing to its own negligence it is a very great fault in it as well as an unhappiness But though this instituted Government is necessary to the perfection of a Church yet it doth not therefore follow that it is necessary to the being of it For even in the Jewish Church wherein all things were determined by divine institution even to the minutest Circumstances there were sundry notorious deviations from that Institution which yet did not un-church them It was a great deviation in them to offer Sacrifice in their High Places after God had determined them to Sacrifice only at the Temple at Ierusalem It was another great deviation in them to make Priests out of other Families after God had determined them to the Family of Aaron and yet it is certain that neither the one nor the other did un-church them And if these deviations from divine Institution which were the effects of their negligence did not yet un-church them it is not to be imagined that such deviations from it as are the pure effects of necessity should un-church others For though no necessity can dispence with the Eternal Laws of good and evil because the observance of them depends wholly upon our Wills and there is no such necessity can happen to us as can put them out of the power of a willing mind yet as for positive Institutions there are a thousand necessities may occur any one of which may render them wholly unpracticable and then no man can be obliged to do that which is impossible as for instance the whole Family of Aaron might have been extinct and if it had it is evident that positive institution by which God required the Jews to chuse their Priests out of the Family of Aaron must have been wholly unpracticable and consequently the Obligation of it must have for ever expired and they must have been obliged notwithstanding that positive Institution either wholly to have dropt their Priesthood and with that their Publick Worship which was much more necessary to them than that their Priests should be all of such a Family or to have chosen their Priests out of other Families of the Tribe of Levi and if in this exigence they had done the later there is no doubt but that the Divine Providence which created the necessity must thereby have designedly dispensed with its own institution and so have left them free to make Priests out of other Families And by the same reason when ever the divine Providence doth by unavoidable necessity deprive any Church of its Episcopacy it thereby for the present at least and whilst the necessity continues releases it from the obligation of the Institution of Episcopacy and allows it to administer its Government and Disscipline by a Parity of Presbyters And therefore so long as it doth not renounce the Episcopacy but still continues in Communion with other Churches that enjoy it it ought to be look'd upon and communicated with as a true Member though a maimed one of the Church Catholick For the Catholick Church never denied her Communion to any Christian or Community of Christians upon any unavoidable deviation from positive Institution It was without doubt as great a deviation from positive Institution for Lay-men to Baptize as for a Parity of Presbyters to Govern or Ordain c. and yet in cases of necessity the Catholick Church always allowed the Baptism of Lay-men as deeming Baptism in it self more necessary than the administration of Baptism by persons in Holy Orders and therefore where such persons could not be had she thought meet rather to admit that Lay-men should administer it than to suffer such as were qualified for it to die unbaptized And why may we not reasonably suppose that the Catholick Church will admit Presbyters to Govern and Ordain where there are no Bishops to be had since it hath admitted Lay-men to Baptize where there are neither Bishops nor Presbyters to be had Since the later is as great a deflection from positive Institution as the former And if the Catholick Church may be reasonably presumed to allow it in such necessary cases we must acknowledge either that she hath not Authority enough to provide against her own necessities which supposes her to be very defective or that her allowance is sufficient to authorize such persons to Rule and Ordain as well as to Baptize in case of necessity as are not authorized by positive Institution But though a Community of Christians may be a true part of the Catholick Church and in Communion with it though it hath no Episcopacy yet it is plain case that if it rejects the Episcopacy and separates from the Communion of it it thereby wholly divides it self from the Communion of the Catholick Church For whether Episcopacy be of divine Institution or no this is matter of fact granted on all hands that for twelve hundred years at least all those Churches into which the Catholick Church hath been distributed have been subject to the Episcopal Government and Discipline and therefore they who now separate themselves from the Episcopal Communion as such must in so doing separate themselves from the Communion of all Churches for twelve hundred years together and then either all those Churches must be out of the Communion of the Catholick Church and consequently during all that time there must be no such thing as a visible Catholick Church upon Earth or else those Communities of Christians which separate from all those Churches must be Schisms and Separations from the Catholick Church SECT IX Concerning the Ministers of the Kingdom of Christ. HAving in the foregoing Section treated at large concerning the Nature and Constitution of Christ's Kingdom I shall in the next place shew who the Ministers are by whom he Rules and Governs it And these are all included under a fourfold Rank and Order First The first and supreme Minister by which Christ rules his Kingdom is the Holy Ghost Secondly The second and next to him are the Angels of God. Thirdly The third are Princes and Civil Governours Fourthly The last are the Bishops and Pastors of the Church I. The supreme Minister by which Christ rules his Kingdom is the Holy Ghost or
to fall asleep again afterwards when their Lord was apprehended condemned and crucified At all which times they were doubtless rather more sorrowful than they were in the Garden and therefore it seems very probable that there was a much more powerful cause than sorrow in the case viz. a preternatural stupâ—faction of their senses by some of those malignant spirits that were then conflicting with our Saviour who perhaps to deprive him of the solace of his Disciples company did by their Diabolical Art produce that extraordinary stupor that oppressed them that so having him all alone they might have the greater advantage to tempt and terrifie him Fourthly and lastly If we consider the warning our Saviour gave his Disciples when they entered the Garden with him of the extraordinary danger they were in of falling into temptation it seems very probable that he expected and found there an extraordinary Concourse of Tempters or evil Spirits for as soon as they were entered with him into the Garden S. Luke tells us that he bid them pray that ye enter not into Temptation Luke 22.40 and when notwithstanding this admonition they fell asleep the first time he bids them again watch and pray that ye enter not into Temptation Matth. 26.41 which words plainly imply our Saviour's apprehension of some extraordinary danger they were in of being tempted in the very time and place of his Agony and what more probable account can be given of this apprehension of his than this that he â—ound vast numbers of evil spirits there by whom he himself at that very time was furiously tempted and assaulted and that therefore having experienced their power and malice in himself he thought meet to admonish his Disciples who were much less able to resist them than he to stand upon their guard lest they should tempt them as they had tempted him For these reasons it seems highly probable that this last Agony of our Saviour was nothing else but a mighty struggle and conflict with the powers of darkness who having by God's permission mustered up all their strength against him intending once more to try their fortune against him and if possible to tempt or deter him from prosecuting his design of redeeming the World were in the end gloriously repulsed by his persevering resistance and forced to flee before him and of this his glorious victory over them he made an open shew upon the Cross where in despite of all those terrors and temptations they had exercised him with if possible to divert him from laying down his life for the World he freely and voluntarily poured out his Bloud as a Sacrifice for the sins of mankind And hence the Apostle tells us Col. 2.15 that on his Cross he spoiled Principalities and Powers viz. in that victorious Act of laying down his life to ransom us from their power in despite of their most exquisite temptations to the contrary and made an open shew of them triumphing over them And by this glorious Victory he finished his Conquest of those Infernal Powers so that from thenceforth they never durst assault him more but like vanquish'd Slaves were forced to yield their unwilling Necks to the yoke of his Empire and though with infinite Reluctance to obey his Will and execute his Orders and hence we are told that by his Death our Saviour hath destroyed him that hath the power of Death that is the Devil Heb. 2.14 so that now at his powerful Name every knee must bow or every Being yield obeisance not only of things in heaven and of things on earth i. e. of Angels and Men but of things under the earth too i. e. of Devils who notwithstanding they are incensed with an implacable animosity against him and would gladly pull him down from his Throne if they had but Power answerable to their Malice yet having long since experienced the might of his victorious Arms even then when they had him at the greatest advantage and being thereby driven into everlasting despair of prevailing against him they have from thenceforth been forced by the mere dread and terrour of his power to submit themselves to him and to become his Servants and Ministers in his heavenly Kingdom so that now whatsoever they do it is by his Permission or Order who holds their mischievous power in Chains and lets it loose or restrains it as he pleases And thus having proved at large that both the good and bad Angels are Christ's Subjects and Ministers I proceed in the second place to shew wherein their Ministry to Christ in his Kingdom consists And in the first place I shall shew wherein the Ministry of good Angels consists And secondly wherein consists the Ministry of bad Angels And because the Philosophy of the Nature and Operations of Angels is far above the ken of our short-sighted understandings I shall not presume to inquire any farther into the Ministry of either good or bad Angels than the Scripture gives me light in which we find these seven following instances of the Ministry of good Angels under Christ. First They declare upon occasion his Mind and Will to his Church Secondly They guard and defend his Subjects against outward dangers Thirdly They support and comfort them upon great undertakings and under pressing Calamities Fourthly They protect them against the rage and fury of evil spirits Fifthly They further and assist them in all their Religious Offices Sixthly They conduct their separated Spirits into the Mansions of Glory Seventhly They are to attend and assist Christ in the great solemnity of the day of Iudgment I. One instance of the Ministry of Angels in the Kingdom of Christ is their declaring upon occasion his Mind and Will to his Church and People for thus most of those Prophetick Messages which God from time to time sent to the World were conveyed to the Prophets by the Ministry of Angels so Daniel for instance had all his Visions from an Angel of God vid. Dan. 8.16 and Chap. 9.22 23. as also Chap. 10.11 so also the Prophet Zechariah vid. Chap. 1.9 14 19. and Chap. 2.3 4. and sundry other instances there are of it in the New Testament vid. Matt. 1.20 21. as also Chap. 2.13 20 22. and Luke 1.13 30 31. and many other places and it was an ancient and Catholick Doctrine among the Jews that all Prophecy was communicated by the Mediation of Angels whence the Pharisees describing St. Paul as a Prophet thus pronounce concerning him We find no evil in this man but if a Spirit or Angel hath spoken to him let us not fight against God Act. 23.9 And accordingly we find our Saviour sending forth his holy Angels on Prophetick Messages to his Church for so St. Iohn received his Revelations from Christ by the hand of an Angel Rev. 1.1 Rev. 22.16 And an Angel is sent from Christ to Philip to bid him go to the Ethiopian Eunuch to expound to him the Prophecy of Isaiah Acts 8.26 And Cornelius received a Message from Christ
them whether it be Fear or Sorrow or Ioy and it being in their power to excite our Passions to what degree they please there is no doubt but that being ministring Spirits they can and do minister Ioy and Comfort to us when ever our case and circumstances require it IV. Another instance of the Ministry of Angels in the Kingdom of Christ is their protecting his Subjects against the Rage and Fury of evil Spirits for considering with what a fierce and indefatigable malice those malignant spirits which in vast numbers rove about in the Air are animated against mankind and especially against the Subjects of Christ their most dreaded and implacable enemy and considering also the mighty power they have as they are Angels to do mischief it is not to be imagined but that were they not opposed and restrained by a mightier power than their own they would never be able to forbear exercising their direful rage and cruelty upon us till they had converted this Earth into Hell and made this School of our Probation the place of our Torments and as for the Kingdom of Christ whose Subjects have so solemnly renounced their Yoke and Dominion to be sure they would never cease infesting it with the fiery darts of their malice till they had utterly ruined and destroyed them and therefore to prevent their mischievous attempts God in mercy hath thought meet to commit us to the Guardianship of his holy Angels and to send them forth under the Conduct of Iesus our Mediator to fight against these Hellish powers in the defence of his Church and People for so God promised Ierusalem Zech. 2.5 that he would be as a wall of fire round about her i. e. as the most learned Expositors suppose by surrounding her with a Guard of Angels whom in the defence of his People against evil Angels he maketh a flaming fire as the Psalmist expresses it Psal. 104.4 and in Rev. 12.7 we read of a War in Heaven or the airy Region of which the Devil is called the Prince Michael and his Angels fought against the Dragon and the Dragon fought and his Angels which War Michael undertook as the foregoing verses tell us in the defence of the Woman that was cloathed with the Sun which all agree was the Christian Church so also in verse 9. of Iude's Epistle we read that Michael the Archangel contended and disputed with the Devil about the body of Moses or Jewish Church so called for the same reason that the Christian Church is called the Body of Christ. And it is very probably supposed that that Hedge which the Devil complained God had set about Iob and about his house by which he was hindered from breaking in upon him was no other than a Guard of Angels by which he was driven back as oft as he attempted to execute his Rage and Malice upon him Chap. 1.10 Now by what means or instruments the good Angels war against and repel the evil ones is I conceive an enquiry beyond our Cognisance Revelation from whence we receive all our notions of the state and Oeconomy of the invisible world being wholly silent in the case only thus much we may say without any way presuming beyond our Capacity that spiritual Agents can as easily strike upon spirits as bodily Agents do upon bodies and though we who are Spectators only of corporeal motion can give no account of the manner how one spirit acts upon another yet there is no reason at all to doubt but that they have some way of impressing one another and communicating to each other a mutual sense and feeling of each others pleasures and displeasures and if so then it is easie to suppose that the more powerful any spirit is the stronger and more exquisite impressions of its displeasure it can make upon other Spirits and consequently that the Good Angels who by preserving their innocence and improving their perfections have augmented and redoubled their natural strength and vigour are much more powerful than the bad ones who have rather impaired it and so are much more able to withstand and repel the violent impressions of the bad Angels than the bad Angels can theirs so that though the bad Angels may and oftentimes do resist and oppose the good yet they can never conquer them but in the conclusion are still forced to flee before them as being unable to withstand their more powerful impressions Since therefore we wrestle not with flesh and bloud i. e. only with flesh and bloud but against Principalities against Powers against the Rulers of the darkness of this World against spiritual wickednesses in high Places i. e. against the several Ranks of Devils that are in the Air under the Command and Conduct of Beelzebub their Prince Eph. 6.12 And since these Apostate Spirits are by much too strong and powerful for us so that were we left to grapple with them alone by our own single strength they would infallibly vanquish and lead us captive to eternal ruine God hath thought meet to subject his holy Angels to the command of our compassionate Mediator that so when ever we are too hardly beset by these evil spirits he might send them forth to guard and protect us against them and either to assist us in our conflicts with them or to chase them away from us when we are no longer able to withstand them and accordingly we have a sure word of promise that if we resist the Devil he shall fly away from us Iam. 4.7 not that our weak resistance is in it self sufficient to put those daring and mighty Spirits to flight but the meaning without doubt is that if when they assault us with any temptation to sin we do but oppose them with a sincere resolution God will not permit us to be vanquished by them but when ever they press too hard upon us will be sure to send down some good Angel to us to repel and drive them away from us for so he hath promised that he will not suffer us to be tempted above what we are able but will with the Temptation also make a way to escape that we may be able to bear it 1 Cor. 10.13 which plainly implies that should God suffer him the Devil can tempt us above what we are able and this without doubt he is ordinarily hindered from by the timely interpositions of the holy Angels who when our strength begins to fail are always ready to second us and with their victorious arms to encounter and put to flight those evil spirits that do so importunately tempt us V. Another instance of the Ministry of Angels in the Kingdom of Christ is their furthering and assisting his Subjects in the Works and Offices of Religion for since they are said to minister to them who shall be heirs of salvation there is no doubt but that they minister to them in the discharge of their Religious Obligations upon which their Salvation depends and since as our Saviour assures us there
their visible profession of Christianity have actually submitted themselves to the Scepter of Christ have yet together with Christianity espoused the Interest of sundry Antichristian Principles in pursuance of which they have been as inveterate Enemies and Persecutors of the truth as it is in Iesus as any of the Heathen Kings or Emperors yet these also notwithstanding their male-administration are the Subjects and Ministers of our Saviour and it is by his Authority and Commission that they Reign and by his Omnipotent Providence that all their wicked designs and actions are over-ruled to gracious ends and purposes so that all the Sovereign Powers of the Earth are subjected by God to the Dominion of our Saviour and in their respective Kingdoms and Empires are only his Substitutes and Vicegerents for so we are told not only that all judgment is committed to him and that all power is committed to him in heaven and earth and that he is Heir of all things and hath power over all flesh but also that he is King of Kings and Lord of Lords the only Potentate the head of all Principality and Power and the Prince of all the Kings of the Earth vid. P. 810. and so the Fathers of the Council of Ariminum tell Constantius the Arrian Emperor that it was by Christs Donation that he held his Empire 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 by him i. e. Christ thou art appointed to Reign over all the World upon which account Liberius advises him 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 do not fight against Christ who hath bestowed this Empire upon thee do not render him Impiety instead of Gratitude and to the same purpose Athanasius tells us 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i. e. that Christ having received the Throne hath translated it from Heathen to holy Christian Kings to return them back to the House of Iacob So that both from Scripture and the current Doctrine of the Primitive Church it is evident that all the Sovereign Powers upon Earth are subjected to our Saviour and are only the Ministers and Viceroys of his universal Kingdom But for the farther prosecution of this Argument I shall shew in the first place that by this their subjection to Christ they are not deprived of any natural Right of their Sovereignty and secondly that they are obliged by it to certain Ministries in the Kingdom of Christ. First That by their subjection they are not deprived of any natural Right of their Sovereignty for when our Saviour pronounced the Sentence Give unto Cesar the things that are Cesars he thereby renewed the Patent of Sovereign Powers and reinvested them in all the natural Rights of their Sovereignty which doubtless are included in the things that are Cesars for upon the Pharisees asking him that captious question Is it lawful to pay Tribute to Cesar He doth not answer yes it is lawful which yet had been a sufficient reply to their Question but calls for a Tribute Peny and having asked them whose Image and Superscription that was upon it and being answered Cesars he returns them an Answer much larger than their Question Give unto Cesar the things that are Cesars i. e. it is certain that you are obliged not only to pay Tribute to Cesar but also to render him whatever else is due to him by vertue of his Sovereign Power for Sovereign Power being immediatly founded on the Dominion of God hath from thence these two unalienable Rights derived to it to which all the essential Rights of Sovereignty are Reducible First to Command in all things as it judges most convenient for the publick good where God hath not Countermanded for the Power of Sovereigns descending from God can only be limited by God or themselves for if they are limitable by any other Power they are Subjects to that Power and so can no longer be Sovereigns and if they are limitable only by God or themselves then where they are not limited either by God or themselves they must necessarily have a right to command Secondly The other unalienable Right that is derived to them from God is to be accountable only to God for by deriving to them Sovereign Power God hath exalted them above all Powers but his own and therefore since no Power can be accountable but to a superiour Power and since Sovereigns have no Superiour Power but God it is to God only from whom they received their Power that they are accountable for the administration of it These therefore are the natural Rights of Sovereign Powers and these Rights remain intire and inviolate in them notwithstanding their subjection to the Mediatorial Scepter of our Saviour as I shall endeavour to shew in the particulars First Therefore by this their subjection to Christ they are not deprived of their natural Right of Commanding in all cases as they shall judge most convenient for the publick Good where God hath not countermanded them For the Christian Religion is so far from any way retrenching the power of Princes that it abundantly confirms and enforces it by requiring us to submit to every Ordinance of man for the Lords sake to be subject to the higher Powers and that not only for wrath but for conscience sake to submit to Principalities and Powers and to obey Magistrates to render Tribute to whom Tribute is due Custom to whom Custom Fear to whom Fear Honour to whom Honour i. e. to submit to all the lawful impositions of our Princes whether it be of Taxes or of any other matter whatsoever and in all the New Testament there is only one limitation made of our obedience which is a natural and eternal one and that is that we ought to obey God rather than Man that is when Mans Command and Gods do apparently clash and interfere with each other for in this case the Magistrate hath no Right to be obeyed because his Will is countermanded by a Superiour Authority by which Exception this general Rule is confirmed that in all cases whatsoever whether Temporal or Spiritual Civil or Ecclesiastical Sovereign Powers have an unalienable right to be obeyed For if their Right to be obeyed in the Kingdom of Christ extended only to Civil and Temporal causes their Authority would be very much lessened and Retrenched by their subjection to our Saviour since before their subjection to him it undoubtedly extended to all causes whatsoever because being Sovereign under God it could have no other bounds or limits but what God had set to it and therefore since before their subjection to Christ God had bounded their Authority by no other Law but that of Nature it must either be made appear that the Law of Nature did then limit their Authority only to Civil causes which I am sure is impossible or it will necessarily follow that it extended also to Spiritual and Ecclesiastical and if it did so then it must do so still unless it be made appear that Christianity hath retrenched and lessened it It is true Christ hath erected a standing form of
to base Compliances with the lusts of men and the iniquities of times for a maintenance and that so Religion it self may not be exposed to contempt through their wretched Poverty and indigence who are the Ministers of it and who for want of a fair and honourable subsistence can never obtain Credit and Authority enough to do any considerable good in the World. And this is the food and sustenance of the Church without which it cannot long flourish either in true Knowledge or true Piety but must insensibly wither away and degenerate into Barbarity and Ignorance And accordingly if you consult Ecclesiastical History you will find that it was ever the practice of Pious Princes and Emperors to take care both for the erecting of decent and convenient Churches in all parts of their Dominions for the Celebration of Divine Worship and to furnish them with all the decent Accommodations and Ornaments that were proper thereunto and also for the endowing the Bishops and Pastors of the Church with such honourable subsistences as becomes the Port and Dignity of their several Orders and Offices in which they did no more than what they stood obliged to as they were the Viceroys of Jesus and the foster Fathers of his Church by vertue of which Relation to it they are bound in duty to supply it with decent Raiment and convenient Food And now having explained the subjection of the Sovereign Powers of the Earth to our Lord and Saviour and shewn what those Ministries are which they are obliged to render to him in his Kingdom I proceed to the Fourth and last sort of his Ministers by which he governs his Kingdom viz. the Spiritual or Ecclesiastical Governours in treating of which I shall endeavor these three things First To shew that Christ hath erected a spiritual Government to minister to him in his Church Secondly To shew in what hands this spiritual Government is placed Thirdly To shew what are the proper Ministries of this Government I. That Christ hath erected a spiritual Government in his Church And indeed supposing the Church to be a regular and formed Society subsisting of it self distinct from all other Societies it must necessarily have a distinct Government in it because Government is essentially included in the very notion of all regular Society which without Rule and Subjection is not a formed Society but a confused multitude for what else do we mean by a Humane Society but only such a company of men united together by such and such Laws and Regulations But how can any company of men be united by Laws without having in it some Governing Power to rule by those Laws and exact obedience to them So that we may as well suppose a compleat Body without a Head as a Regular Society without a Government Now that the Church is a Regular Society utterly distinct from all Civil Society is as evident as the truth of Christianity which all along declares and Recognizes the Law or Covenant upon which it is founded and by which it is united to be Divine and consequently to be superior to and independent upon all Civil Laws and if that which constitutes the Church be Divine Law and not Civil then the Constitution of the Church must be Divine and not Civil for that which makes us Christians at the same time makes us parts of the Christian Church and that which makes all the parts of the Church makes the Church it self which is nothing but the whole or Collection of all the parts together and therefore as we are not made Christians so neither are we made a Christian Church by the Laws of the Commonwealth but by the Laws and Constitutions of our Saviour which were promulgated to the World long before there were any Laws of the Commonwealth to found a Christian Church on for there was a Christian Church for three hundred years together before ever it had the least favour or protection from the Laws of Nations In all which time it subsisted apart from all other Societies and was as much a Church or Christian Society as it is now and as it is now it is only a continued Succession of that Primitive Church and therefore as to the Constitution of it must necessarily be as distinct now from all other Societies as it was then when it subsisted not only apart from but against the Laws and Edicts of all other Societies in the World in short therefore since the Church of Christ is founded on a Charter and incorporated by a Law that is utterly distinct from the Charters and Laws of all Civil Societies it hence necessarily follows that it self is a distinct Society from them all because that which individuates any Society or makes it a distinct body from all other Societies is the Charter or Law upon which it is founded and accordingly our Saviour tells Pilate when he asked him whether he was a King that he was a King indeed but that his Kingdom was not of this world Joh. 18.36 i. e. though my Kingdom be in this World yet is it not of the World for neither are the Laws of it Humane but Divine nor the powers of it external but invisible nor the Rewards and Punishments of it temporal but Spiritual and eternal From the whole therefore these two things are evident First That Government is Essential to formed and regular Societies Secondly That the Church of Christ is in the Nature and Constitution of it a formed and regular Society distinct from all other Societies from both which it necessarily followeth that it must have a distinct Government included in the very essence and being of it And accordingly in the New Testament besides the Civil Magistrates we frequently read of Spiritual and Ecclesiastical Governors so Heb. 13.17 there is mention made of the Rulers that watch for our souls and a strict injunction to obey and submit our selves to 'em and so again in the 7th and 24th Verses and in 1 Tim. 5.17 The Apostle speaks of the Elders that Rule well who are to be accounted worthy of double Honour And indeed the Greek Word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which signifies a Bishop or Overseer doth in Scripture always import a Ruler or Governour Vid. Hammond Acts 1. Note 1. and therefore being applied as it is frequently in the New Testament to a certain Order of Men in the Christian Church it must necessarily denote 'em to be the Rulers and Governors of it and this power to 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i. e. Oversee and Rule and Govern the Church was derived to 'em from Christ the Supreme Bishop of our Souls even by that Commission he gave 'em John 20.21 As the Father hath sent me so send I you i. e. so I Commission you with the same Authority in kind to Teach and Govern in my Kingdom as I my self have received from the Father and accordingly as Christ is called the Pastor or Shepherd which name imports Authority to Govern his Flock for
rewarded accordingly with the Government of ten Cities ver 16 17. the other had been faithful though not altogether so diligent and by his one pound had gained five and accordingly he is made Lord of five Cities ver 18 19. By which he plainly declares that by so much as we fall short of those improvements we might have made in Piety and Vertue so much he will substract from our furure reward So that the sense of the Law of perfection is this as you would not incur the forfeiture of some degrees of your happiness in the other life be sure you imploy your utmost diligence in this to improve your selves in every grace and vertue of Religion II. There is the Law of sincerity which requires the being and Reality of all Christian Graces and vertues in us together with the proper Acts and Exercises of them as we have opportunity and doth no farther forbid those gradual defects of them which are within our possibility to supply than as they are the effects of our gross continued and wilful neglect and so inconsistent with sincerity Now the Reality of these Christian Vertues in us consists in the universal and prevailing consent and resolution of our Wills to regulate our practice by them so as not wilfully to admit of any thing that is contrary to them upon any occasion or temptation whatsoever and so long as this resolution continues firm and prevails in our practice we are just in the eye and judgment of this Law of sincerity though we do not always exert it to the utmost of our possibility He therefore who hath so submitted his Will to God as to be throughly resolved without any reserve to obey him and not to do any thing that is contrary to his Will either against knowledge or through affected ignorance or inconsideration hath in this resolution the real being of all Christian vertues in him and so long as this holds he stands uncondemned in the judgment of the Law of sincerity But though this resolution includes in it the being and reality of all Christian vertue yet doth it not include the utmost possibility of it nor doth it at all follow that because I am sincerely resolved to conduct my life by the Laws of Piety and Vertue therefore I must be in all respects as Pious and Vertuous as it is possible for me to be considering my present state and circumstances I may be sincerely resolved and yet not be always equally diligent and active I may now be exceeding vigilant and watchful and what I am now I may always be if I always exert the utmost of my possibility yet it may so happen anon that though I am sincerely resolved still I may be more remiss supine and inadvertent and in this posture a temptation may surprize me before I am aware and hurry me into an action against which I am firmly resolved And there is no doubt but even the best of men might have beâ—n much better than they are had they always 〈…〉 their possibilities and applied themseâ—â—â—◠〈◊〉 their utmost skill and diligence to the methods and Ministries of improvement Now though not to exert our utmost power in the avoidance of evil and the improvement of our selves in vertue and goodness is doubtless a sin yet it is only a sin against the Law of perfection the Penalty of which is only deprivation of some degree of our future reward but so long as we keep up a prevailing resolution in our Wills to govern our 〈◊〉 by the Laws of Piety and Vertue we stand â—â—ear in the eye of the Law of sincerity the Penalty of which is no less than everlasting Exile from the presence of God into the dark and horrible Regions of endless misery and despair only this proviso it admits that if after we have sinned against it we reassume our good Resolution and heartily repent and amend we shall be released from the obligation to this dreadful Penalty and be restored to that happy state of grace and favour from whence we fell by our transgression So that the great difference between the Law of Perfection and the Law of Sincerity is this that the penalty of the later is much more severe but the duty of the former much more comprehensive Having thus given this brief account of our Saviours Legislation and Laws I proceed to the II. Of those Regal Acts which Christ hath performed in his Kingdom once for all and that is his Mission of the Holy Spirit to subdue Mens minds to the Obedience of his Laws and to govern them by them For so the Apostle makes the Mission of the Spirit to succeed the Triumphal progress of our Saviour to his Coronation in Heaven Eph. 4.8 He ascended up on high he led captivity captive he gave gifts unto Men where by the gifts which he gave we are to understand the Holy Spirit and in him all those extraordinary Gifts which he poured out upon his Church on the day of Pentecost for so Acts 2.33 S. Peter makes the effusion of the Spirit by Christ to be the consequence of his advancement to his universal Royalty therefore being by the right hand of God exalted and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost he hath shed forth this which ye now see and hear Now the end for which he sent his Spirit was to supply his room when he went from earth and in his absence to preside as his Vicegerent in his Kingdom below Since therefore this blessed Spirit acts as our Saviours Agent whatsoever he doth that our Saviour doth by him So that all those operations he performs in order to the subduing us to the obedience of Christ and to the governing of us when we are subdued are truly the operations of Christ himself It is he that conquers and governs us by his Spirit our hearts are the Territories which Christ invades by him and his inspirations are the victorious Arms by which Christ conquers and subdues them Our Wills are the Thrones on which Christ sits and rules and governs by him and his holy suggestions are the awful powers by which Christ himself commands our obedience But what it is that this blessed Spirit doth and hath done in order to the subduing Men to Christs Laws and governing them by them hath been already shewn at large and therefore of this I shall need say no more at present III. And lastly therefore another of those Regal Acts which Christ hath once for all performed in his Heavenly Kingdom is his erecting in it an external Polity and Government What this Polity is and what are the functions of it hath been shewn at large and it is as well by this external Government as by the internal Ministry of his Spirit that Christ now rules his Kingdom for in all just and lawful things the lawful Governours of his Church do act by his Commission and Authority as being substituted by him the visible representatives of his
all things under him and when all things shall be subdued unto him then shall the Son also himself be subject unto him which did put all things under him that God may be all in all the whole sense and meaning of which passage I shall cast into these Propositions First That the Kingdom or Dominion here spoken of was committed to him by God the Father Secondly That he is to possess this Kingdom and Dominion so long and no longer as till all things are actually subdued to him Thirdly That during his possession of it he is subject to the Father Fourthly That after his delivering it up to the Father he will be otherwise subject to him than he is now Fifthly That he being thus subjected to the Father all Power and Dominion shall from thenceforth be immediately exercised by the Deity I. That the Kingdom or Dominion here spoken of was committed to him by God the Father and this is expresly affirmed vers 27. For he i. e. the Father hath put all things under his feet which words are a quotation of Psal. 8. ver 6. Thou madest him to have Dominion over the works of thy hands thou hast put all things under his feet which words are to be understood literally of the first Adam but mystically of the second as is evident not only because 't is here applied to Christ by S. Paul but also by the Author to the Hebrews Heb. 2.7 8. where he expresly tells us that it was God the Father that crowned Christ with Glory and Honour and that did set him over the works of his hands and put all things in subjection under his feet and accordingly our Saviour himself declares that all Power in Heaven and Earth was given him i. e. by the Father and that it was the Father that committed all judgment to him and the Apostle expresly tells us that it was God that exalted him with his own right hand to be a Prince and a Saviour Acts 5.31 From all which it is evident that the Dominion which the Apostle here treats of is not the Essential Dominion of Christ which as he is God Essential is Co-eternal with him but that Mediatorial Dominion which was committed to him by the voluntary disposal of his Father and which once he had not and will hereafter cease to have II. That he is to possess this Kingdom or Dominion so long as and no longer than till all things are actually subdued unto him So vers 24. you see the time of his delivering up this Kingdom is then when he shall have put down all Rule and all Authority and Power i. e. till he shall have converted or destroyed all those Powers of the Earth that oppose themselves against him for so vers 25 26. For he must reign till he hath put all Enemies under his feet the last Enemy that shall be destroyed is Death which plainly implies that when he hath conquered all Enemies and destroyed Death which is the last Enemy by giving a glorious Resurrection to his faithful Subjects then and not till then his Mediatorial Reign is to conclude For so Psal. 110.1 to which the Apostle here refers the Psalmist brings in Iehovah the Father thus bespeaking Iehovah the Son The Lord said unto my Lord sit thou at my right hand until I make thine Enemies thy footstool now to sit at the Right Hand of God when ever 't is applied to our Saviour doth in Scripture always denote his possessing and exercising this his Mediatorial Kingdom so that the meaning of the Psalmist is this the Father hath Commissioned his Son to continue the exercise of his Mediatorial Dominion till such time as either by the dint of his Almighty Vengeance he hath trampled all his Enemies under foot or by the power of his Grace reduced them voluntarily to prostrate themselves before him and indeed the end for which this Kingdom of our Saviour was erected was to subdue the Rebellious World to God and either to captivate men into a free submission to hâ—s Heavenly Will which is its first intention or if they will not yield to make them the Triumph of his everlasting vengeance which end at the day of Judgment will be fully accomplished for then the fate of all the rational World will be fixed and determined then the faithful Subjects will be crowned and the incorrigible Rebels condemned and executed and so one way or t'other all things will be subdued unto him So that from hence-forth the end and reason of this his Mediatorial Dominion will cease and when the end of it ceaseth he who never doth any thing in vain will immediately deliver it up into those hands from whence he received it For when he shall have put down all Rule and all Authority and Power i. e. conquered and subdued all that resisted and opposed him then cometh the end when he shall have delivered up the Kingdom to God even the Father III. That during his possession of this Kingdom he is subject to the Father So Ver. 27. But when he saith all things are put under him it is manifest that he i. e. the Father is excepted which did put all things under him As if he should say Do not mistake me for when I say all things are put under him my meaning is all things except God the Father for it was he that did put all things under him and it 's manifest that he who gave him this superiority over all things must himself be superior to him and indeed considering Christ as Mediatorial King he is no more than his Fathers Viceroy and doth only act by deputation from him and rule and Govern for him and hence the Father stiles him his King Psal. 2.6 Yet have I set my King upon my holy Hill of Zion So that now he is subject to the Father in the capacity of a Vice-King to a supreme Sovereign and whatsoever he doth in this capacity he doth in his Fathers Name and by his Authority for he Mediates as for men with God in doing which he is our Advocate so for God with men in doing which he is our King. Gods part is to Govern us and our part is to sue to him for favour and protection and both these parts our Saviour acts as Mediator between God and us He acts our part for us in being Advocate and Gods part for him in being King. So that in that Rule and Government which he now exercises over us he is only the supreme Minister of his Fathers Power and Dominion and as the Father reigns by his Ministry so he reigns by the Fathers Authority But tho now while his Mediatorial Kingdom doth continue he is subject to the Father in the Admistration of it yet from this passage of S. Paul it is evident IV. That when he hath delivered it up to the Father he will be otherwise subject to him than he is now for so ver 28. and when all things shall be subdued unto him that