INtending to prove out of Scripture that the Saints ought not to governe the earth, in that sense which is now by some contended for, I shall take for the ground of my discourse those words of our Saviour to Pilate, Joh. 18.36 when he said, My kingdom is not of this world, which words are very con­siderable, whether we regard the Person who, the Time when, or the Manner how they were spoken.

1. For the Person who spoke them, it was no lesse then our Savi­our Christ, each of whose speeches, how occasionall soever, ought to be unto us so many Precepts and Obli­gations to Duty.

2. For the Time when they were spoken, it was just then when he was taking his leave of Earth, 1 Tim. 6.13. that he witnessed before Pilate a good con­fession, of which, this Assertion is the greatest Part: so that if the words of dying men do use to make the grea­test impressions, then ought these of our Saviour, even upon that account, to quicken our Attention.

Lastly, for the Manner how they were spoken, it was not only after a Resolved and seemingly Obstinate silence, Marc. 15.5. in so much as the Governour marveiled, but in direct Answer to Pilate's Question, who was very de­sirous to know, whether our Saviour was King or not; so that our Saviour's Purposed and Positive disavowing any Temporall or Earthly King­dome; [Page 3]his redoubling this Assertion in the following part of the verse, My Kingdome is not from hence; his repeating and insisting upon it againe in the next verse, as a bearing witnesse to the Truth, ought to convince us that our Saviour was in earnest, and therefore the matter is very Consi­derable.

If therefore we put all this toge­ther, viz. the Authority of the Per­son, the Exigence of the time, joy­ned with those Vehement and Reite­rated Circumstances, wherewith these words are Accompanied, we may from thence conclude, that they containe in them a lesson, of more then ordinary concernment to us.

For the more Full and cleare un­derstanding of them, Joh. 11.47 we must have recourse to one of the foregoing Chapters, where we find that the chiefe Priests and Pharisees, being in­formed of our Saviours Miracles, and of that great Resort of Follow­ers unto him, (which were enough [Page 4]at any time, if micheivously inclined to raise a Commotion in the State,) upon this they presently called a Councell, Σανέδρι­ον. or, according to the Greeks, a Sanhedrim, which was the Supreme and Highest Court of Judicature a­mong them, [...]. lib. 4. and unto which, if Jo­sephus doth rightly informe us, even their Kings were Accountable. Here being convened they fall to debate about the best Expedient, how to cut our Saviour off, for fear their to­lerating one, who was Publickly voi­ced for King, Mat. 21.5. & Job. 18. and so stiled likewise by himselfe, (though in a far other sense then they interpreted it) might be construed by the Romanes (to whom the Jewes were at that time Tributaries) as a designe to shake off their Yoke, and thereby provoke them to an utter extirpation of the Jewish Policy, which untill then, notwithstanding their Conquest, they had in great measure preserved Entire. Thus therefore we find them Argue, If we let him alone, all men [Page 5]will believe on him, v. 48. and the Romanes will come, and take away our Place and Nation.

To this Insinuation, which see­med to conclude their Necessity of our Saviour's Death, Caiphas addes something, by which he endeavors to prove that Unjust Attempt to be not only Necessary, but very Plausi­ble too; v. 50. and therefore he pleads Salus Populi, the Publick Good is urged to palliate this execrable Murther: You, saith he, know nothing at all, neither consider that it is expedient one man should dye for the People, that the Na­tion perish not: — as if he had said, You are very Weake and Unskilfull Politicians to boggle at such a Case as this, and to debate thus long upon a matter of so easie solution; for Right or Wrong the Publick Safety must be provided for; and it is a great Folly and want of Foresight to preferre one man's life, how Innocent soever, before a Nations Welfare. In which wicked speech, though Ca­iphas [Page 6]did by God's appointment Prophetically foretell that great good which would redound to the World by our Saviour's Death, v. 52. yet as to his own Intention, he meant no more then a Justifying of that Accursed, and, Rom. 3.8. in the Apostle Paul's sense, ac­counted Damnable Maxime, viz. That we may do Evill, that Good may come thereof, which Tenet, where­ever it is assented to, will be the Mo­ther of those Mischiefs which men have either Felt or Feared: I am sure it so far prevailed with that Juncto of Senators, that the Text saith From that Time they took Counsell, how to put him, v. 53. i. e. our Saviour, to Death.

Our Saviour's Death being thus agreed on by the Pharisees, and in their deep Policy resolved to be Ne­cessary in respect of the Romanes, and very Advantageous too in reference to the Jewes; the Contrivers make no long Delay, but what they had before so unjustly concluded on, we [Page 7]find them presently after as cruelly execute. For having by their own Authority apprehended our Saviour, and being it seemes debarred to judg of Capitall Causes within them­selves, ( it is not, say they to Pilate, v. 32. lawfull for us to put any Man to Death) they hale him before Pilate the Romane Praefect, and there with Loud Clamorous Outcries demand Justice against him. But lest their Noise should not prevaile with a Romane, and therein, so far as rela­ted to the Jewish Affaires, an Uncon­cerned and Dispassionate Judge, with a Formall story in their Mouths, disguising the Malice of their Hearts, they Article against him as a Malefa­ctour, i. e. κακοποιός. according to the Impor­tance of the Greek word, a seditious Person, a Disturber of the State, a Subverter of Government, an Enemy of Cesar, an Ambitious Affecter to be in Fact, as well as in Title, King of the Jewes; which False and scandalous Charge we have insinuated by John, [Page 8]but is at large expressed by Luke, ch. 23.2. we found, say they, this fellow perver­ting the Nation, and forbidding to give Tribute unto Cesar, saying, that he himselfe is Christ a King.

Pilate hearing this Accusation, which, if True, strook so immediate­lyat Cesar's power; and the Gravity and seeming Sanctity of our Saviours Accusers, would not let him suspect it to be False, he therefore, waving all other suggestions, hastily askes our Saviour, whether he was King or not, v. 33. Art thou, sayes he, the King of the Jewes? To which Question our Saviour returnes an Answer in the words I have already alleaged, wherein he intimates that he was in­deed a King, and that he had a King­dome; but that his Kingdome was of such a Nature, as Pilate need not be Jealous of, nor apprehend any dan­ger from it; as if it were intended to enterfere or Justle with Cesar's So­veraignty; for, saith he, my Kingdome is not of this Word. As if he had said, [Page 9]I am indeed a King, and I have a Kingdome, but you need not fear any Disturbance to your Secular Inte­rests, by setting up of my Kingdome amongst you, for though it be in the World, it is not of the world; nor hath any Commerce or Society, either with the Power or Policy thereof.

This being the Plaine and Direct meaning of our Saviour's words, I shall briefly explaine what Kingdome it is that our Saviour meanes, when he saies, my Kingdome, &c.

I find in Scripture that our Savi­our is called a King upon a four-fold account,

1. By Power. Thus he is King of the World, Heb. 1.1, 2. and hath a sover aign­ty Paramount, being one God with the Father, and the same. Power, by which he made the World, he daily exerts for the continuing and preser­ving of it.

2. By Birth: thus he was King of the Jewes, being Heire apparent to the Crown, and lineally descen­ded [Page 10]from David, in whom the King­dom was vested with a promise of its perpetuity; from him, according to the flesh, our Saviour came, and there­fore had a Star to adorn and declare his Nativity; God herein seeming to comply with the Opinions of those, who think the Heavens are more then ordinarily concerned in the Af­fairs of Princes, and therefore strange Appearances, and unusual Comets do attend both their birth and death, For nothing else, for ought we know, but the Prodigy of that Blazing Star (without any more immediate In­stinct) did excite the curiosity of the Eastern Magi, to go and see that Person, whose Nativity was in so wonderful a manner celebrated: Where is, say they, he that is born King of the Jews? for we have seen his Star in the East: i. We have descryed a Star of an unusual Aspect, but yet such an one, as, according to the rules of our Art, discovers that a Prince is born in Judea, and we are come [Page 11] [...], i. e. To bow to him, and pay him homage. Orig: contr: Cels: lib. 1. p. 45. Attri­butes their coming to a response of the Devils, upon their do­ing their Rates of Conjuration: but I conceive the opinion, I mention, is more probable.

3. By designation and appointment of his Father: Thus our Saviour Christ is King of all the Heathen, ac­cording to that Prophesie of Jacob, When Shiloh comes, unto him shall [...] the obedience or gathering of the Gentiles be: And many Predictions there are of the same importance, which if they are to be meant of eve­ry Individual Heathen (and not rather signifie that the Heathen shall not be excluded from being reckoned a­mongst our Saviours subjects, now in times of Christianity) we have no ground from Scripture to expect that they shall be actually accomplished until our Saviours second coming, at which time the Saints shall reign with him: Which is the meaning of that promise of our Saviours, He that o­vercomes, i. all difficulties, and keeps [Page 12]my words unto the end, i. perseveres in the Christian Faith, I will give him power over the Heathen, &c. even as I have received of my Father, i. Here­after, he shall reign with me, not in this life, but when he hath exchanged this for a better.

Lastly, By Pact or Covenant: thus our Saviour is King of Believers one­ly; as a Prince he gives us Laws, in­vites us with Rewards, deters us by Punishments, and hath left nothing unassayed, which may either perswade or enforce obedience; governing of his People by his Word and Spirit, unto a complyance with his com­mands; and this Dominion he will always exercise to the Worlds end. Of which inward, invisible Kingdom it is, that our Saviour is to be under­stood, when he saith, My kingdom is not of this world, i. not a Political, vi­sible, and earthly one.

From all that hath been said, I infer this Conclusion, That if Christs king­dom be not of this world, there is none [Page 13]can, Thesis. upon the account of their interest in Christ, plead any Right or Title unto earthly Soveraignty: or more briefly thus, That inward Saintship is not a ground of outward Empire.

This collection which I make is very easie and natural, for if our Sa­viour did disclaim all earthly Juris­diction in himself, then sure none can, upon pretence of their interest in him, put in their Plea for it: If our Savi­our, as he lived an humble, self-deny­ing life, so dyed in an utter abhor­rence of temporal Soveraignty; and spent those few last words he vouch­safed to utter, in a direct denyal of worldly greatness: then certainly his example weighs little with us, and his latest breath was spent in vain, if we, upon a Christian account, still affect Empire, or make our Religion the way to outward preferment. It is our Saviours own reasoning, and bottom­ed upon the inalterable nature of things, that the servant is not greater then his master: If therefore our Ma­ster [Page 14]would not be called Lord, cer­tainly the servants ought not to de­sire it; if Christ refused Empire, with what face can Christians ambiti­on it? or how can they call them­selves Saints, and yet seek to be ad­vanced in power above their Savi­our?

Now though the bare authority of our Saviour might alone serve to con­vince those that are Christians in­deed (for so far as they are such, they are to be imitators of Christ) yet be­cause the matter is of so much weight, and hath of late been too unhappily disputed, I shall therefore endeavour more at large to demonstrate it, from these two Heads of Arguments.

1. From the nature of Civil Go­vernment in general.

2. From the nature of Christian Religion in particular.

First, That Saintship is not the ground of Soveraignty, appears from the nature of Civil Government in general: for this belongs to men, [Page 15]as they are Christians, but as they are men; and is a consequent, not of our spiritual, but of our naturall Birth.

To clear up this, I shall not unra­vel the whole Mystery of Policy, as some too unwarily, (if not design­edly) do, who lay down such Princi­ples of Politicks, as give just occasi­on to make their Religion suspected: I shall therefore insist onely upon those Grounds which the Scripture affords, onely those being sufficient to convince a gainsaying, or to satis­fie a scrupling conscience. And to begin with the first Original of man, we finde, when God made man, it is said, Gen. 1.28. that in the Image of God created he him, and thereupon blessed him, and gave him dominion over the Crea­tures. Now there is a twofold Image of God, Supernatural, and Natural: Supernatural, I call those impressions of Sanctity and Holiness, which are now lost: Natural, is that resem­blance which the soul of man hath to [Page 16]the nature of God, as to its being and operation: viz. As God is a Spirit Immortal, Invisible, &c. so the soul of man is of a Spirituall, Immortall, Invisible nature; which Image yet remains entire in the worst of men: Of this Image it is that God speaks, when he forbids Murther, Gen. 9.6. Who so sheddeth mans blood, s;aith he, by him shall mans blood be shed, because in the image of Gad created he man; i. e. he put a Spirit of life and understanding into him, the consideration of which invaluable Jewel within, ought to make us preserve the Casket without, i. e. the Body, sacred and inviola­ble.

Which of these two Images it is that external Dominion over the Creature belongs to, is clear out of the same Chapter, where God renews his grant to all the Sons of Noah: The fear of you, [...], 2. saith he, and the dread of you, fall upon every beast of the earth, &c. into your hand, i. e. power to dispose of as you please, are they [Page 17]delivered: In which general grant, there are none of the sons of men ex­cluded, because it is a Birth-privi­ledge; and profane Cham had upon that score as large a share in, and as true a title to the free use of all out­ward things, as any of his more Re­ligious Brethren.

This is that Civil Right which A­braham acknowledged in the King of Sodom, (and what kinde of abomin­able sinners the Sodomites were, I need not mention) when he refused to be enriched by him; I will not, saith he, Gen. 14.23 take any thing of thine; by which word Thine, he owns that the King of Sodom had a True, Legal Propriety, even in those goods, which Abraham might have challenged as the Fruits of his Victory: This Right after­wards Abraham confessed to be in Abimelech, Gen. 21.23 when he made a League with him not to hurt or injure him, i. not to deprive him of any thing which was his. But most of all this appears in the bargain and sale which Abra­ham Gen. 23. [Page 18]made with the Sons of Heth; when Abraham, though by Gods ab­solute grant, the undoubted heir of all the Land of Canaan, yet the time for the accomplishment of that pro­mise not being yet come, he refused to receive the Cave of Macpelah, to make use of it for a burying place, un­til he had paid a valuable considerati­on in money for it.

Obj. If any shall here object that Abraham at that time wanted power to make good his claim, and therefore was content to buy, what otherwise he might have forced.

Ans. The vanity and falshood (I will adde too, the impiety) of this Plea appears from hence, in that we finde David afterwards using the ve­ry same terms of observance and re­spect unto Araunah a Jebusite, 2 Sam. 21. one neither of the same Nation nor Reli­gion with himself: Which instance serves very much to clear the question in hand, for David was not onely a Saint by priviledge (if that signified [Page 19]any thing to give a right) but a King by power, and might have forced it: nay, he was commanded by God, to make use of that very place to sacri­fice in, and therefore might have pre­tended an inspiration to justifie his vi­olent seizure; and besides, to make the matter a little more fair and plau­sible, he, whom David dealt with, was an Heathen, and for ought we know, an Idolater: Yet all these ad­vantages did not make David swerve from the Rules of common Justice, but up he went with all his Retinue to Araunah, in a suppliant posture, that he might buy his threshing floor: And when Araunah frankly offered to give it him, the Spirit of God hath recor­ded it, not as an act of Justice in him, but of Royal Bounty: Araunah, ver. 23. as a king, gave unto the King.

Obj. It useth to be urged against this, that the Israelites, which were Gods People, did destroy the Canaanites, and inherit their Land.

Answ. But the Answer is easie, [Page 20]That as God did not choose them to be his people, because they were more holy then others, but meerly because he had set his heart upon them. So neither did he give them the Land of Canaan, upon the account of their Saintship, but onely to make good his promise unto Abraham, and by their hands to avenge himself of the Canaanites, whose iniquitys were then full and ripe for vengeance.

This reason is expresly given by Moses himself, Deut. 9.5. Not for thy righteous­ness, saith he, or for the uprightness of thy heart, doest thou go to possess their Land; but for the wickedness of these nations, the Lord thy God doth drive them out from before thee, and that he may perform the word which the Lord sware unto thy Fathers. God indeed is the great Proprietor of all things, but yet he hath given the Earth, without distinction, to all the Sons of Men; onely reserving to himself this Right, That when they do ingratefully abuse his gift, he doth always dispossesse [Page 21]them, and give their inheritance unto others: but though this be the method of Gods Judgements, yet it doth not excuse any people from a tran­scendent Crime, who take upon them to be the executors of Gods Decrees against the wicked. Joshuah therefore, whilest he was in the hottest pursuit of that promised Possession, never pleaded any thing to justifie his act­ings, but the particular command of God, who bad him go and destroy those Nations: this alone made it a pious War, which otherwise would have been nothing else but a publick Rob­bery: We finde also, that when God, as the supream Disposer, gave to the Israelites the Land of Canaan, he, at the same time, expresly forbids them to meddle with the Land of the chil­dren of Ammon; but had relation to God given them any right, that Land would have equally belonged to them with the other: Deut. 11.17. When thou comest, saith he, nigh unto the chil­dren of Ammon, distress them not, [Page 22]nor meddle with them; for I will not give thee of the Land of the children of Ammon any possession, because I have given it unto the children of Lot for a possession. Where we see the chil­dren of Lot, though Idolatrous, yet were not to be disturbed in their pos­session, because the same God who said to the children of Israel, Goe, Pos­sesse Canaan, said to the Children of Lot, Goe, Possess the Land of Ammon. Whereby, as to their civil Claims, and temporal Rights, God makes no distinction betwixt the one, though his own peculiar, and the other, though a profane and Idolatrous people.

But if Heathen unregenerate men have, upon the account of their be­ing men, a Title to other things, then certainly to Dominion much more; which serves onely to secure our o­ther Priviledges, and is, if rightly stated, nothing else but a consequent of Propriety.

I shall therefore conclude this first [Page 23]Argument, which I think abundantly convincing, with that remarkable Controversie between God and the Jews, concerning their obedience to Nebuchadnezzar. The Jews, though undoubted possessors of Canaan, yet after they were by Nebuchadnezzar conquered, and, to preserve some little remains of Liberty and Lively­hood, had taken an Oath of Fealty and Allegiance to him; we finde, up­on some reason of State, they were presently induced to break it, and God as speedily threatens to avenge it severely upon them. Ezek. 17. The sad con­dition of that Oath, how it was a Covenant only to enslave themselves and their Posterity for ever, God himself doth declare, thereby to pre­vent their Objection: v 13 14. The King of Babylon, saith he, hath taken of the Kings seed, i. Zedekiah, and made a Covenant with him, and taken an oath of him, that the Kingdom might be base, that it might not lift it self up, i. e. that it might for ever quit the [Page 24]pretence of being a Free People, and truckle under the Dominion of the Chaldeans: This Yoke, then which nothing can be more insupportable, and to which the Jews had been so long unaccustomed, they presently shook off; for it follows in the next Verse, But he, i. Zedekiah, rebelled, with what success, we have too much reason in this Nation to read and tremble [...]. Ar­mies Plea, &c. v. 18, 19.: Seeing he despised the oath, by breaking the Covenant, when loe, he had given his hand (i. with hands lifted up, had solemnly ratified it) he shall not escape: Therefore, as I live, saith the Lord, my Covenant which he hath broken, and my Oath which he hath despised, will I recompense upon his own head: From which sad place, others perhaps will draw other infe­rences, but I shall collect onely these three things.

1. That in every Oath God is a Party, and will be sure to punish the violater of it; though men may break their Oathes, with as much ease as [Page 25] Samson did his Withs, yet God will be sure to keep his, and he hath sworn to Punish.

2. When once a man hath sworne, he cannot resume againe that naturall Liberty, which he was before posses­sed of, because by his owne voluntary Act he hath devested himselfe of it, and thereby bound himselfe over to Divine vengeance, if he do not per­forme the Condition of his Cove­nant.

Lastly, if the Jewes, who had so much to plead for themselves, both upon a Civil and Religious Account, as being not onely a Free, but like­wise a Godly People, might yet passe away their whole Liberty unto an Heathen Prince, and by vertue of their Oath be debarred for ever from forceable seeking a Re-envestiture; but were obliged, not onely to sub­mit unto him as their Conquerour, but after Faith given, to obey him as their Soveraigne; if I say, the Case stood thus with them, then certainly [Page 26]no Pretence of Sanctitie can absolve us now from such Ties of Obedience, in the Times of the Gospell; which doth as farre transcend the Jewish Politie in Peaceablenesse of Disposi­tion, as in Purity of Doctrine, there­fore,

Arg: 2 Secondly, that Saintship is not the ground of Soveraignty will yet far­ther appeare from the Nature of Christian Religion in particular, whe­ther we respect, 1. Its Precepts. 2. Its Promises. 3. The manner of propagating it. 4. The Practise of the Apostles, and other Professours in the purest and most Primitive Times.

First, This appeares from Gos­pell Precepts: for there is nothing more frequently or vehemently in­joyned by our Saviour, then selfe de­nyall. The command doth not run, Take a Kingdome, Mat: 16.24 but, Take up your Crosse and follow me. Learne of me, saith our Saviour, he doth not adde, For this is the way to Honour, for I [Page 27]can point you out a Path to Prefer­ment, but Learn of me, Mat: 11.26 for I am mecke and Lowly. i. I have equalled my selfe to the meanest of the sons of men, I have not where to lay my head, and am so little desirous of worldly Greatness, that I have vo­luntarily devested my selfe of a great­er Royalty, then the world can comprehend; and all this I have done, to show you a Patterne of Humility. Therefore when the Disciple, (who before our Saviours Resurrection, did as much mistake the meaning of his Kingdome, as some amongst us now do) did contend amongst them­selves who should be greatest, how sharply doth our Saviour reprehend this Ambitious strife? Mat: 18.3. [...] If you be not turned, i. quite chang­ed, as it were, into another Nature, and become as little Children, as care­less and secure of greatness, as little swelled and leavened with Ambition, you shall in no wise enter into the King­dome of Heaven: whereby the King­dome [Page 28]of Heaven: whether we under­stand Grace or Glory, whether it meanes Initiall or Compleat Happi­nesse, it is all one to the Question in hand, for it clearly proves, that to affect Temporall Greatnesse and Pro­motion, is utterly inconsistent either with holinesse here, or with our hopes hereafter. I need not multiply more Texts, for the whole designe of the Gospell is aimed at nothing else, but to levell, and lower our Thoughts unto the size of our Saviours meek­nesse, to beat down the tumour and swelling, and agitation of our Spirits in reference to worldly things, to em­pty and devest our soules of all that wind of Ambition, wherewith poore miserable men, who have no better Hopes, are constantly tossed and per­plexed. And the reason for this is unanswerable, for, if, as our Saviour hath stated it, None can serve God and Mammon, then none can serve God & Honour, we cannot serve God, and gaine a Kingdome; much lesse are we [Page 29]to make one, prepare the way for the other: for this would be to invert the Intent of the Gospell, and make it a setter up of what it was principally discovered to beat downe; whereby it would become nothing else, but a Ladder for Ambition to climbe by.

Secondly, This appeares likewise from Gospell Promises; for these as they are constantly annexed to the Poore, the Humble, the Mortified, the selfe denying Christian, so they are alwayes about such things, as are most remote and distant from Tem­porall Enjoyments Blessed, saith our Saviour, are the poore in spirit, he doth not adde, Muth. 5. for theirs shall be the Kingdome of Earth, but, Theirs is the Kingdome of Heaven. Accor­ding to the Analogie of which Pro­mises, must that Text be understood, which while they fixe onely upon the Literall meaning, hath deluded so many, Blessed are the Meek, for they shall Inherit the Earth. i. [...] illam Terram, That Earth, which was [Page 30]promised in a Type, and is Figura­tively Heaven, as the Author to the Hebrewes hath elegantly proved. For that neither that place, Heb: 11.13 16. nor any other in the N. T. can be understood absolutely of any outward and Earth­ly Happinesse, is cleare, because all that we Christians can certainly ex­pect in this world, by virtue of a Promise, Joh: 16.33 is onely Afflictions. In the VVorld, saith our Saviour to his Di­sciples, and therein to all who will be like them, you shall have Tribulati­on: this was the last Legacy he left them, 2 Tim: 3.12 and therefore, saith he, ye shall have it, rest ye as certaine of it, as of your Inheritance or Patrimony. And the Apostle, who very well un­derstood our Saviour's meaning, laies it down as a Fundamentall in Religi­on, All that will live Godly in Christ, must suffer Persecution; they must suffer, there is no avoiding it. For this Fatall attendance of Persecution upon Piety it is, that our Saviour hath provided us so many Cordialls [Page 31]and Comfortable Receipts in Scri­pture, as when he bids us to rejoice, Mat: 5. &c. Heb. 12. and be exceeding glad: nay [...], to skip and dance for Joy, when such Afflictions do most beset us; for they are evidences of our Sonship, and as­sured signes that God hath a Care of us: all which Expressions would have been very vaine and uselesse, if ever Religion should be abused to those Ends, that the suffering might become the Afflicting Party; if a Christian could not only exempt himselfe from Injuries, but returne them upon others, and challenge Au­thority here, as a Reward of his Pie­ty. For this would not only deprive us of the Priviledge (so the Apostles counted it) of Martyrdome, but would have none fit to be Persecuted, but onely the Wicked; and this is an Honour, which I hope no true Christian but envies them. [...], To you, saith the Apostle, it is gi­ven of grace, Phil: 1.15 not only to believe on Christ, but likewise to suffer for his [Page 32]Name. We are mistaken, whilst we so much dread Affliction: for it is not a Judgment, no nor an Evill neither to suffer, but [...], a Gift, a peculi­ar Boone, a choice Indulgence of God unto his Favourites. So the Apo­stle Peter bids those he writes to not be discouraged, or count it strange, if the Fiery Tryall had its effect upon them, 1 Pet. 11.21. [...]. as well as upon others; for, faith he, unto this were ye called: as if he had said, be sure you look, nay long for it; for if you misse of this, you have some reason to doubt the Truth of your Calling. All which places, with many more to the same purpose, how any can reconcile to an Affecting of Temporall Greatnesse, let them resolve who love a Secure, an Easie, a Specious, a Prosperous Religion, such an one as Christ never came to teach, nor any of his Followers died to establish.

Obj. It is very true, what some, with a little too much gust and relish of worldly-mindedness, alledge, That [Page 33]every true Christian is heir of a King­dom, and ought to live in expectation of such Glory and Greatness, as what­ever the world hath, can but imper­fectly shadow out: With this our Saviour doth buoy up, and revive the sinking spirits of his Disciples: Be of good comfort, saith he, for it is your Fathers good pleasure to give you a Kingdom: It is this we pray for, this we are to be in a readiness for daily.

Answ. But yet it is as true too, that, so long as we live here, this is a Kingdom in expectation onely; Flesh nor Blood, neither shall nor can inherit it. As we must first put off Mortality, before we can put on E­ternal Life; so we must put off earth and earthly-mindedness, before we can expect any share in that blessed Inhe­ritance.

There are, amongst many other, two very remarkable places to clear this: The one is our Saviours answer to Peter, upon his Discourse with the young man: For our Saviour having [Page 34]pronounced so severe, and yet so per­emptory a doom against rich men, as that a rich man could scarcely be saved; [...]. he repeats it again, and makes it to be altogether as great a Moral Impossi­bility, for a man that is clogged with Wealth, and loaded with worldly Cares, to enter into the Kingdom of Heaven, (that [...], the nar­rowed, pressed, and streightned way) as it would be a natural impossibility for a Camel to go through the eye of a needle. Upon this we finde the Di­sciples were exceedingly amazed, not onely as missing of their hopes, but likewise as being conscious to them­selves, that though they were not, yet they did all desire to be rich; whereupon Peter, in the name of the rest, replies, Behold, we have left all and followed thee, what shall we have therefore? As if he had said, Shall we venture to loose all, and yet be so great losers by the bargain, as to be altogether unprovided of a recom­pence? our Saviour therefore to quit [Page 35]them, and to take them off from such sensual desires, which he saw posses­sed them: Verily, saith he, ye that have followed me, in the regeneration, when the Son of man sits upon his Throne of Glory, shall sit upon twelve Thrones, judging the twelve Tribes of Israel: In which words our Saviour doth promise them a great and a glorious reward, viz. to be Kings and Judges with himself, but yet defers the frui­tion of it, until the [...], i. The restauration of all things, when nei­ther Mortality nor Misery shall be any more, but every thing shall be resto­red unto that Primitive Integrity and Lustre, wherein they were at first cre­ated.

The other place which manifests the nature of Christs Kingdom, Matth. 20.20, &c. is that Answer which our Saviour re­turned to the Mother of Zebedees Children, who, it seems, mistaking the true notion of it, and fixing her thoughts upon an earthly Empire, pe­titioned our Saviour for her two sons, [Page 36] That the one might sit at his right hand, and the other at his left, when he came into his Kingdom, i. when he had taken possession of the Throne, and was invested with the Realm of Ju­dea, she humbly begged, that then he would be pleased to look favor­ably upon her two sons, to make them the Grandees and Minions of his Court; that they, under him, might enjoy the greatest Power and Privi­ledges: But our Saviour, to take them off from such haughty Aims, presently puts them in minde of Suf­fering, v. 23. as a thing much more suited to a Christians complexion; and lest the other Disciples should be infected with the same desires, he doth for e­ver strive to suppress them, as passi­ons much more fit for Heathen, then Christian tempers: Ye know, saith he, that the Princes of the Gen­tiles do exercise dominion over them, and those that are great, do exercise au­thority upon them: But it shall not be so amongst you: As if he had said, [Page 37]The Heathen indeed, who have no o­ther hope, do place all their Heaven upon Earth; they make Fame their Immortality, and Power their Para­dise; and therefore never rest satis­fied, until they can exercise an abso­lute and an Arbitrary Dominion o­ver their enslaved Subjects. But you, who are my Disciples, and called by my Name, who have a certainty of fu­ture Enjoyments, unto whom a King­dom of a clean different nature is re­served; you ought not to be like them, but rather strive in humility to excell each other: Wherein our Savi­our clearly intimates, that it doth so little become a Saint to rule, that he is certainly not a Saint who doth am­bition it: For how can he rationally expect a Kingdom hereafter, who hath outed himself of his Plea, by putting in for a Kingdom here? which is nothing else, but to antedate the effect of Gods promise; or rather with Dives, to receive our good things in this life, and to take up with Tem­poral [Page 38]Joys, when we should patient­ly have waited for Eternal.

Thirdly, This appears farther, from the manner how Christian Religion was propagated in the World, which, as it is a Religion that doth most pre­cisely forbid compulsion and vio­lence, so it was not planted by it. Our Saviour himself that taught it, was as a Lamb that opened not his mouth, but turned his cheek to the smi­ter, and his back to the rod of the wic­ked: The Apostles, his followers, were accounted the scum and off­scouring of the world, i. the vilest of men, and thereupon were disgraced, persecuted, tormented: And all this they suffered without the return, so much as of contumelious Language; how much less do we finde them tel­ling the world, that they ought to bear Dominion over them: Yet by these Arts alone, they did at first Preach, and afterwards promote the Gospel to the conversion of thou­sands. And this, by the way, with­out [Page 39]any further Argument, will serve to evidence the Divine Original of Christianity, in that notwithstanding all these disadvantages, the least of which, in all humane probality, was enough to have stifled and suppressed it in the Womb; yet, in spite of all, it took root and prospered; which could not possibly have come to pass, without the conduct and assistance of an Almighty Power.

But had our Saviour sent a Religi­on into the World, which would have excited mens ambition, and fired our Zeal to the ruine and extirpation of it's Opposers: Quid hoc eximium? What excellence should there have been in Christian Religion, more then in other Religions? for do not even the Publicans the same? Is not this the common method of all Political Combinations, rather then Religi­ons in the World, to rise by the ru­ine of such as oppose them? But our Saviour took not this course: If, Iohn 18.27. saith he, my kingdom were of this world, [Page 40]then would my servants fight? intima­ting, that to make way for Religion by force, to lay down a Principle, which must needs imbroil the World in Blood and Confusion, is not Reli­gion, but Rapine; a Sacrilegious de­sign, to make Christianity, & the strict Professors of it, odious: For who will not suspect the truth of that Re­ligion, which despairing of its own Excellence, and hopeless of a better reward, eggs on its followers to take up with Worldly Honor? and under the notion of Sanctity, leaves the Throne exposed to the Invasion of every Hypocritical Pretender: At in initio non fuit sic? Our Saviour taught us no such Doctrine, nor did his Apostles leave us such a patern. Therefore,

Lastly, That Saintship gives no right to Civil Empires appears from the practice of the Apostles, and other Professors of Christianity in the Pu­rest and most Primitive Times. Pre­sently after our Saviours Ascension, [Page 41]when by Peters Ministry so many thousands were converted; we doe not finde him Preaching them into a Tumult, or raising a Party a­mong the People, upon the score of our Saviours being a Temporall Prince, to whom all men were to pay their Civill Allegeance, but he onely bids them, Act. 111.29. Repent and be con­verted, that their sins might be blot­ted out: And such Doctrine as this might be Preached, without any im­peachment to Caesars Power.

Again, when the chief Priests and Rulers did forbid the Apostles to Preach in the Name of Christ; as being madded with envy, that one whom they had lately so ignomini­ously Crucified, should yet finde so much reputation among his Follow­ers: The Apostles, upon this, doe not combine to strengthen them­selves, and, under pretence of set­ting up Christs Kingdom, make a commotion in the State, but they [Page 42]presently fell to their Prayers, Act. 11.29. Now Lord, say they, behold their threat­nings, and grant unto thy servants, that with all boldness they may speak thy Word. They onely beg cou­rage to speak, and patience to suffer, and as for promoting Christs Throne in any other sense, they seem altoge­ther secure and careless.

As the Apostles, so did their Pro­selytes behave themselves, so farre from aiming at greatnesse, or from seeking to improve their Conver­sion to the oppression of others; so farre from depriving others of their Possessions, because they were ungodly, that they sold their own, and therein literally fulfilled that command of our Saviour, of Sell all and follow me; which the Pro­fessors of our Times, are so farre from practising, that they are rather apt to do the clean contrary.

We reade indeed, that when the Christians increased, there was an [Page 43]Accusation forged against them, Acts 17.6. as if they were Men, who turned the World upside down, who acted con­trary to the Decrees of Caesar, say­ing, There is another King, one Je­sus. And Paul is by Tertullus ex­presly called [...], a very Pest, i. Act 24. a Turbulent, Unquiet Spirited man, and a Raiser of Sedition; which Ca­lumny, how false and ungrounded it was, Paul shews at large in his A­pology, by averring to their faces, that they could not prove the things which they had alleaged against him. ver. 13. And afterwards, he is fully acquit­ted by Festus the Roman Deputy: They, sayes he to Agrippa, brought against him no Accusation of such things as I supposed, i. of Treason, Act. 25.8. of Sedition or Rebellion, of Preach­ing Disobedience, or non-payment of Tribute to Caesar; for such crimes as these, were properly under the Governors Cognizance; and none of these, it seems, were so much [Page 44]as imputed unto Paul: whereas had he so Preached up Christ, as to af­firm that Jesus was not onely a King, but that whoever did not submit to him, ought immediately to be put out of Office; whereby there would never be such a Crime as Treason, if Religion were once made the pretence to justifie it. Had this, I say, been Paul's Doctrine, I suppose Festus neither would, nor durst have been so favorable in his Censure.

And to put the matter out of question on that Apostles part, though none was more zealous then he, for the advancing of Christs Kingdom in the right-sense; yet none was more strict and severe in the enjoyning of Obedience unto all Powers over us, of what Religion soever; unlesse we think men can be worse then Nero and Caligula were, who Raigned about his time. And the Apostle gives a reason for [Page 45]it, which will hold true in all Ages, Rom. 13. viz. because, Authority is from God. Power, by what Arts soever it is gained, and by what persons soe­ver it is exercised, yet when it is once acknowledged and sworn too, it is to be looked upon by us, as no­thing else but a Ray of Gods So­veraignty, and therefore to be ac­counted Sacred. Nor can any pre­tence of zeal, or mask of Religion, justifie Rebellion more now then heretofore: but the more piety ap­pears to disguise it, the more mon­strous it is: Since in effect it onely sets up Christ against himself, and makes his Kingdom what he would not have it to be, a kingdome of this World.

The very same command, and to the same purpose is enforced by Peter, 1 Pet. 11.12. That they might by their obe­bedience and meeknesse, put to silence the ignorance of foolish men, who censured them as evil doers: The Word in the Original is [...], the [Page 46]very same which was charged upon our Saviour, and it signifies in the Hellenistical Phrase, State-Incendi­aries, Incompatible with Civill Go­vernment, and the like; which would have proved a very true and up­right censure, in case the Christians of those Times, had so owned Christ for their King, as, upon his account, to withdraw their obedience from their Civil Soveraigns. The more apt therefore profane men were to mis-interpret the Kingdom of Christ, the more carefull that Apostle would have Professors to be, not to give any such occasion of offence.

Suitable to the Doctrine of these two great Apostles, was the pra­ctice of the Primitive Christians, down from our Saviours, till long after Constantines time, as I could easily prove out of the most An­cient Records, Tertul. Apulog: Orig: con­tra Cels. &c. but that we live in an Age, when such kinde of Learn­ing is, by those who least under­stand [Page 47]it, accounted little lesse then madnesse; and that we may know which way the World is going, Ig­norance begins once more to be the Mother of Devotion.

I shall therefore draw to a close, for such as Scripture will not satisfie, I do not intend to confute by humane Testimony, which is not onely falli­ble, but for the most part false: And I wish all that are at leasure to peruse this short Treatise, would make this use of it, as to look after the Spirit, rather then the Splendor of Christi­anity: For it is evident to all, that know any thing of Church Story, that so much as our Religion hath got in Pomp, it always lost in Purity.

Those who are still doting upon Christs temporal Reign, in which they hope to have their share; me­thinks the very ambition of such de­sires, should convince them that they are not Christian; but if they are so far gone in their Error, as to think nothing unlawful, so they may in their [Page 48]sense set up Christ; I heartily wish them to consider, whilest they go a­bout such enterprizes, 1. Whose bu­siness they do not. 2. Whose busi­ness they doe.

1. First, Let them consider whose businesse they doe not; for, let them pretend what they will, they doe not the businesse of Christ, since he hath absolutely forbid it; and he will not thank us for exalting his Honor the wrong way: Quis requisivit haec? was Gods expostulation with the Jews, when they brought him Sacri­fices, which he himself had comman­ded, because they offered them not in a right manner. How much more will our Saviour by these words, re­prove all those, who for his sake, ven­ture upon actions which he at his death disclaimed? The question at the last day will not be, how many wic­ked we have killed, but how many we have converted? Not, how many we have destroyed for their unbelief, but how many we have turned from [Page 49]it: We shall not be asked, what Ho­nors and Preferments we have got by the Gospel, but what we have left to follow it: And don't let any think, as some argue, that God hath allowed a dispensation for these last times; for times, and men, may alter, but the na­ture of things can never alter: Since the world is as inticing, and the Do­ctrine of the Gospel as severe as self­denying, now as ever: so that to recon­cile these two together, viz. the pride of Life, with the Purity of Faith, I think no man can, I am sure no Chri­stian ought to doe.

Secondly, As they who are otherwise minded, do not the business of Christ, so let them consider whose businesse they do. To understand which, we must take notice there are in Scripture recorded, two great Pretenders unto temporal Soveraignty, Satan and An­tichrist.

First, Satan: we finde him directly claiming the glory of the world as his own: Behold, saith he to our Savior [Page 50] all this power will I give thee, Luke 4.6. and the glory of them; for that is delivered un­to me, and to whomsoever I will, I give it: Which confident speech of his, as our Saviour doth not confute, so, by calling him after, John 16. the God and Prince of this world, he seems to own it for a truth. And indeed, if we consider the manner, how; the Arts, by which the Kingdoms of the world are got and governed, we shall not much doubt of Satans veracity: Since Fraud and force, are those two Pillars, upon w ^ch almost all Empire is founded; and the great Maxime in State Policy, is that thing which God most abhors, viz. Hypocrisie and Dissimulation. So that we need not much question, but as the wisdom or policy, Ja: 11.15. so likewise the power of the world, is not onely earthly and sensual, but likewise [...], Devil­ish; and so much the more Devilish, the more Religion is pretēded to procure it; for Satan never more acts his part, then whē he becoms an angel of light.

Secondly, Another pretence to [Page 51]worldly power discovered unto us in Scripture, is Antichrist; of whom there are so many Marks and Chara­cters given us, that it is no hard matter to know where his spirit works: Of him the Apostle John speaks, when having discoursed, that whatever is in the world, whether the lust of the flesh, 1 John 2.16. i. Pleasure; or the lust of the eyes, i. Pro­fit; or the pride of life, i. Honor, it was not of the Father, but of the world; he presently tells them that Antichrist was then beginning, intimating, that when ever he came to appear more manifestly, he would be very no­torious and remarkable for the setting up those three, which are, as one calls them, The worlds Trinity: And this he would do, not in so open and bare­faced a manner as Satan before him, but under the disguise and mask of Pi­ety; for thus it is said in the descri­ption of him, which all sides agree to be meant of Antichrist, Rev. 13.11 that he had horns like a lamb, but he spake as a dra­gon, i. he pretended meekness, but pra­ctised [Page 52]cruelty; as appears afterwards, in that he is said to force his Religion upon others, and to make all men re­ceive his mark, ver. 16, 17. or quit their means of living. And there are two Notes of Antichrist, which will never fail, viz. Pride in himself, and Persecution in reference to others.

Another description we have of him, in that stile he assumes to himself, viz. That he exalteth himself above all that is called God, or worshipped: The mean­ing is, that he challenges authority and pre-eminence above all Kings and Emperors: For Kings, in Scripture, are called Gods; and Σέβασμο (which we render, that is worshipped) is that name in Greek, which signifies Majesty in English, and is the title by which they did express the Grandeur of the Ro­man Emperors, whom they called Au­gusti, and the Greeks Σέβασοί. According to this aspiring disposition and nature in him, so hath he his name of Anti-Christ given him; for Αντιχριςος may either be rendred Αντι pro, or vice Chri­sti, [Page 53]that is, one who places himself in Christs stead, and behaves himself as his Vicar and Deputy: Or else Αντι may signifie contra Christum, one that op­poses and sets himself against Christ, i. not against his Person (for that he would get nothing by) but against the principal parts of Christs Doctrine and Worship; one that puts Christia­nity upon a new bottom, that inverts the design of it, and makes it, instead of being a self-denying, the most self­seeking Religion in the World.

How near this Doctrine of making Christs Kingdom an Earthly Monar­chy, comes to the nature of Anti-Christ; nay, is indeed that very ladder by which that man of sin either alrea­dy hath, or hereafter will ascend the Throne, is too apparent: For if Anti-Christ be come, as who can now doubt of it? (since the Apostle Paul tells us, that in the latter time he needs must come; and the Apostle John in­forms us, that the latter time began in his age) then we have no Character left [Page 54]to descry him by, if this be not it, viz. his mixing the Christian with the se­cular Interest; his making Piety a Pandar to Policy; his advancing Christ in shew, that thereby indeed he may advance himself; his centring god­liness and greatness in the same Per­sons; and ruling over the world as the Deputy of Christ: Which kinde of Doctrine whoever attempts to vent, let his zeal be never so fierce, and his pretences never so pious, he doth no­thing but prepare the way for Anti­christ, whose coming will not be like our Saviours, lowly and meck, but with pomp and triumph. He doth not le­vel the ways and suppress ambition, but swell it higher, until he sinks down Religion under the weight of worldly Honor.

Before therefore I doe conclude this Discourse, I shall take leave,

1. To bewail many of my deluded Brethren, who have a zeal, but so lit­tle, according to knowledge, that even then when they most fiercely oppose [Page 55]Antichrist, they onely do his work; and while they proceed upon false Principles, just draw a Circle, in which, the more they labor to go from the point they fixed on at first, the nearer they draw unto it.

2. I must lament the great stupor and in­sensibility of the Preachers of the Gospel in our days, who can be so careless in times of so eminent danger: And though others may per­haps plead something in their own excuse, yet how can they answer it, who scrupled at Ce­remonies (which were declared, and every one knows to be, in their own nature, indifferent) and yet are silent under a Principle which will certainly bring them back, in a far other man­ner then they were at first imposed? shal those who were affrighted at the shadow of a Lyon, not tremble to hear him roaring? what folly is it to flee from the tail of the Dragon, and yet not be afraid when we perceive his sting? Let us not be mistaken, it is not the garb or dress of Ceremonies, it is not this or that form of Worship, which presently makes it Antichristian, but it is the challenging a pow­er to impose them upon others. So that without fixing the name of Antichrist upon [Page 56]any party of men, which makes the Contro­versie conjectural onely, and most commonly uncharitable; this I shall be bold to affirm, that to impose by force any form of Wor­ship, and thereby deny others that liberty of choice, which, whilst we impose, we assume to our selves: To determine the indifferency of things, and, in reference to Religious ends, to make that necessary, which by nature was made, and God hath left free: And above all, to make Christ a temporal Prince, and under the notion of advan­cing him, to exalt our selves, and Lord it over others; this is nothing else but the spirit of Antichrist, since such Doctrine as this, is no way contained in our Sa­viours Gospel.

I shall speak out and end; I earnestly pray, that that excellent Principle, I mean, Liberty of conscience, which first led us out of Popery, doe not by our too wanton abuse of it, lead us back again into it. This I am sure of, that for men first to call them­selves, The Godly, (a stile which Paul, after all his Revelations, did not so boldly assume) and then up­on that score, to make themselves our Governors, is without any streining the road thither; for we know who it is, that by such Arts, hath got no small Dominion in the world: and where ever such Tenets prevail, they are onely fore-runners of Antichrists Temporal regin, and so far as he can suppress it, of Christianities ruine.