CHAP. XXXVIII. Of the Signification in Scripture of ETERNAL LIFE, HELL, SALVATION, THE WORLD TO COME, and REDEMPTION.

The maintenance of Civil Society, depending on Justice; and Justice on the power of Life and Death, and other less Rewards and Punishments, residing in them that have the Sovereignty of the Common-wealth; It is impossible a Common-wealth should stand, where any other than the Sovereign, hath a power of giving greater rewards than Life; and of inflicting greater punishments, than Death. Now seeing Eternal life is a greater reward, than the life present; and Eternal torment a greater punishment than the death of Nature; It is a thing worthy to be well considered, of all men that desire (by obeying Authority) to avoid the calamities of Confusion, and Civil war, what is meant in holy Scripture, by Life Eternal, and Torment Eternal; and for what offences, and against whom committed, men are to be Eternally tormented; and for what actions, they are to obtain Eternal life.

And first we find, that Adam was created in such a condition oflife, as had he not broken the commandment of God, he had enjoyed it in the Paradise of Eden Everlastingly. For there was the Tree of life; whereof he was so long allowed to eat, as he should forbear to eat of the tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil; which was not allowed him. And therefore as soon as he had eaten of it, God thrust him out of Paradise, lest he should put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and live for ever. By which it seemeth to me, (with submission nevertheless both in this, and in all questions, whereof the determination dependeth on the Scriptures, to the interpretation of the Bible authorized by the Common-wealth, whose Subject I am,) that Adam if he had not sinned, had had an Eternal Life on Earth: and that Mortality entered upon himself, and his posterity, by his first Sin. Not that actual Death then entered; for Adam then could never have had children; whereas he lived long after, and saw a numerous posterity ere he dyed. But where it it is said, In the day that thou eatest thereof, thou shalt surely die, it must needs be meant of his Mortality, and certitude of death. Seeing then Eternal life was lost by Adams forfeiture, in committing sin, he that should cancel that forfeiture was to recover thereby, that Life again. Now Jesus Christ hath satisfied for the sins of all that believe in him; and therefore recovered to all believers, that ETERNAL LIFE, which was lost by the sin of Adam. And in this sense it is, that the comparison of St. Paul holdeth (Rom. 5. 18, 19.) As by the offence of one, Judgment came upon all men to condemnation, even so by the righteousness of one, the free gift came upon all men to Justification of Life. Which is again (1 Cor. 15. 21, 22.) more perspicuously delivered in these words, For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.

Concerning the place wherein men shall enjoy that Eternal Life,which Christ hath obtained for them, the texts next before alleged seem to make it on Earth. For if as in Adam, all die, that is, have forfeited Paradise, and Eternal Life on Earth, even so in Christ all shall be made alive; then all men shall be made to live on Earth; for else the comparison were not proper. Hereunto seemeth to agree that of the Psalmist, (Psal. 133. 3.) Upon Zion God commanded the blessing, even Life for evermore: for Zion, is in Jerusalem, upon Earth: as also that of S. Joh. (Rev. 2. 7.) To him that overcometh I will give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the Paradise of God. This was the tree of Adams Eternal life; but his life was to have been on Earth. The same seemeth to be confirmed again by St. Joh. (Rev. 21. 2.) where he saith, I John saw the Holy City, New Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a Bride adorned for her husband: and again v. 10. to the same effect: As if he should say, the new Jerusalem, the Paradise of God, at the coming again of Christ, should come down to Gods people from Heaven, and not they go up to it from Earth. And this differs nothing from that, which the two men in white clothing (that is, the two Angels) said to the Apostles, that were looking upon Christ ascending (Acts 1. 11.) This same Jesus, who is taken up from you into Heaven, shall so come, as you have seen him go up into Heaven. Which soundeth as if they had said, he should come down to govern them under his Father, Eternally here; and not take them up to govern them in Heaven; and is conformable to the Restoration of the Kingdom of God, instituted under Moses; which was a Political government of the Jews on Earth. Again, that saying of our Saviour (Mat. 22. 30.) that in the Resurrection they neither marry, nor are given in marriage, but are as the Angels of God in heaven, is a description of an Eternal Life, resembling that which we lost in Adam in the point of Marriage. For seeing Adam, and Eve, if they had not sinned, had lived on Earth Eternally, in their individual persons; it is manifest, they should not continually have procreated their kind. For if Immortals should have generated, as Mankind doth now; the Earth in a small time, would not have been able to afford them place to stand on. The Jews that asked our Saviour the question, whose wife the woman that had married many brothers, should be, in the resurrection, knew not what were the consequences of Life Eternal: and therefore our Saviour puts them in mind of this consequence of Immortality; that there shall be no Generation, and consequently no marriage, no more than there is marriage, or generation among the Angels. The comparison between that Eternal life which Adam lost, and our Saviour by his Victory over death hath recovered; holdeth also in this, that as Adam lost Eternal Life by his sin, and yet lived after it for a time; so the faithful Christian hath recovered Eternal Life by Christs passion, though he die a natural death, and remain dead for a time; namely, till the Resurrection. For as Death is reckoned from the Condemnation of Adam, not from the Execution; so Life is reckoned from the Absolution, not from the Resurrection of them that are elected in Christ.

That the place wherein men are to live Eternally, after the Resurrection,is the Heavens, meaning by Heaven, those parts of the world, which are the most remote from Earth, as where the stars are, or above the stars, in another Higher Heaven, called Coelum Empyreum, (whereof there is no mention in Scripture, nor ground in Reason) is not easily to be drawn from any text that I can find. By the Kingdom of Heaven, is meant the Kingdom of the King that dwelleth in Heaven and his Kingdom was the people of Israel, whom he ruled by the Prophets his Lieutenants, first Moses, and after him Eleazar, and the Sovereign Priests, till in the days of Samuel they rebelled, and would have a mortal man for their King, after the manner of other Nations. And when our Saviour Christ, by the preaching of his Ministers, shall have persuaded the Jews to return, and called the Gentiles to his obedience, then shall there be a new Kingdom of Heaven; because our King shall then be God, whose throne is Heaven; without any necessity evident in the Scripture, that man shall ascend to his happiness any higher than Gods footstool the Earth. On the contrary, we find written (Joh. 3. 13.) that no man hath ascended into Heaven, but he that came down from Heaven, even the Son of man, that is in Heaven. Where I observe by the way, that these words are not, as those which go immediately before, the words of our Saviour, but of St. John himself; for Christ was then not in Heaven, but upon the Earth. The like is said of David (Acts 2. 34.) where St. Peter, to prove the Ascension of Christ, using the words of the Psalmist, (Psal. 16. 10.) Thou wilt not leave my soul in Hell, not suffer thine Holy one to see corruption, saith, they were spoken (not of David, but) of Christ; and to prove it, addeth this Reason, For David is not ascended into Heaven. But to this a man may easily answer, and say, that though their bodies were not to ascend till the general day of Judgment, yet their souls were in Heaven as soon as they were departed from their bodies; which also seemeth to be confirmed by the words of our Saviour (Luke 20. 37, 38.) who proving the Resurrection out of the words of Moses, saith thus, That the dead are raised, even Moses showed, at the bush, when he calleth the Lord, the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. For he is not a God of the Dead, but of the Living; for they all live to him. But if these words be to be understood only of the Immortality of the Soul, they prove not at all that which our Saviour intended to prove, which was the Resurrection of the Body, that is to say, the Immortality of the Man. Therefore our Saviour meaneth, that those Patriarchs were Immortal; not by a property consequent to the essence, and nature of mankind; but by the will of God, that was pleased of his mere grace, to bestow Eternal life upon the faithful. And though at that time the Patriarchs and many other faithful men were dead, yet as it is in the text, they lived to God; that is, they were written in the Book of Life with them that were absolved of their sins, and ordained to Life eternal at the Resurrection. That the Soul of man is in its own nature Eternal, and a living Creature independent on the body; or that any mere man is Immortal, otherwise than by the Resurrection in the last day, (except Enos and Elias,) is a doctrine nor apparent in Scripture. The whole 14th Chapter of Job, which is the speech not of his friends, but of himself, is a complaint of this Mortality of Nature; and yet no contradiction of the Immortality at the Resurrection. There is hope of a tree (saith he verse 7.) if it be cast down, Though the root thereof wax old, and the stock thereof die in the ground, yet when it scenteth the water it will bud, and bring forth boughs like a Plant. But man dieth, and wasteth away, yea, man giveth up the Ghost, and where is he? and (verse 12.) man lieth down, and riseth not, till the heavens be no more. But when is it, that the heavens shall be no more? St. Peter tells us, that it is at the general Resurrection. For in his 2nd Epistle, 3rd Chapter, and 7 verse, he saith, that the Heavens and the Earth that are now, are reserved unto fire against the day of Judgment, and perdition of ungodly men, and (verse 12.) looking for, and hasting to the coming of God, wherein the Heavens shall be on fire, and shall be dissolved, and the Elements shall melt with fervent heat. Nevertheless, we according to the promise look for new Heavens, and a new Earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness. Therefore where Job saith, man riseth not till the Heavens be no more; it is all one, as if he had said, the Immortal Life (and Soul and Life in the Scripture, do usually signify the same thing) beginneth not in man, till the Resurrection, and day of Judgement; and hath for cause, not his specifical nature, and generation; but the Promise. For St. Peter says not, We look for new heavens, and a new earth, (from Nature,) but from Promise.

Lastly, seeing it hath been already proved out of divers evident places of Scripture, in the 35. chapter of this book, that the Kingdom of God is a Civil Common-wealth, where God himself is Sovereign, by virtue first of the Old, and since of the New Covenant, wherein he reigneth by his Vicar, or Lieutenant; the same places do therefore also prove, that after the coming again of our Saviour in his Majesty, and glory, to reign actually, and Eternally; the Kingdom of God is to be on Earth. But because this doctrine (though proved out of places of Scripture not few, nor obscure) will appear to most men a novelty; I do but propound it; maintaining nothing in this, or any other paradox of Religion; but attending the end of that dispute of the sword, concerning the Authority, (not yet amongst my Country-men decided,) by which all sorts of doctrine are to be approved, or rejected; and whose commands, both in speech, and writing, (whatsoever be the opinions of private men) must by all men, that mean to be protected by their Laws, be obeyed. For the points of doctrine concerning the Kingdom God, have so great influence on the Kingdom of Man, as not to be determined, but by them, that under God have the Sovereign Power.

As the Kingdom of God, and Eternal Life, so also Gods Enemies,and their Torments after Judgment, appear by the Scripture, to have their place on Earth. The name of the place, where all men remain till the Resurrection, that were either buried, or swallowed up of the Earth, is usually called in Scripture, by words that signify under ground; which the Latines read generally Infernus, and Inferi, and the Greeks ἃδηϛ; that is to say, a place where men cannot see; and containeth as well the Grave, as any other deeper place. But for the place of the damned after the Resurrection, it is not determined, neither in the Old, nor New Testament, by any note of situation; but only by the company: as that it shall be, where such wicked men were, as God in former times in extraordinary, and miraculous manner, had destroyed from off the face of theEarth: As for example, that they are in Inferno, in Tartarus, or in the bottomless pit; because Corah, Dathan, and Abirom, were swallowed up alive into the earth. Not that the Writers of the Scripture would have us believe, there could be in the globe of the Earth, which is not only finite, but also (compared to the height of the Stars) of no considerable magnitude, a pit without a bottom; that is, a hole of infinite depth, such as the Greeks in their Demonology (that is to say, in their doctrine concerning Daemons,) and after them the Romans called Tartarus; of which Virgil says,

Bis patet in praeceps, tantum tenditque sub umbras, Quantus ad aethereum coeli suspectus Olympum:

for that is a thing the proportion of Earth to Heaven cannot bear: but that we should believe them there, indefinitely, where those men are, on whom God inflicted that Exemplary punishment.

Again, because those mighty men of the Earth, that lived in thetime of Noah, before the flood, (which the Greeks called Heroes, and the Scripture Giants, and both say, were begotten, by copulation of the children of God, with the children of men,) were for their wicked life destroyed by the general deluge; the place of the Damned, is therefore also sometimes marked out, by the company of those deceased Giants; as Proverbs 21. 16. The man that wandereth out of the way of understanding, shall remain in the congregation of the Giants, and Job 26. 5. Behold the Giants groan under water, and they that dwell with them. Here the place of the Damned, is under the water. And Isaiah 14. 9. Hell is troubled how to meet thee, (that is, the King of Babylon) and will displace the Giants for thee: and here again the place of the Damned, (if the sense be literal,) is to be under water.

Thirdly, because the Cities of Sodom, and Gomorrah, by the extraordinarywrath of God, were consumed for their wickedness with Fire and Brimstone, and together with them the country about made a stinking bituminous Lake: the place of the Damned is sometimes expressed by Fire, and a Fiery Lake: as in the Apocalypse ch. 21. 8. But the timorous, incredulous, and abominable, and Murderers, and Whoremongers, and Sorcerers, and Idolaters, and all Liars, shall have their part in the Lake that burneth with Fire, and Brimstone; which is the second Death. So that it is manifest, that Hell Fire, which is here expressed by Metaphor, from the real Fire of Sodom, signifieth not any certain kind, or place of Torment; but is to be taken indefinitely, for Destruction, as it is in the 20th Chapter, at the 14. verse; where it is said, that Death and Hell were cast into the Lake of Fire; that is to say, were abolished, and destroyed; as if after the day of Judgment, there shall be no more Dying, nor no more going into Hell; that is, no more going to Hades (from which word perhaps our word Hell is derived,) which is the same with no more Dying.

Fourthly, from the Plague of Darkness inflicted on the Egyptians,of which it is written (Exod. 10. 23.) They saw not one another, neither rose any man from his place for three days; but all the Children of Israel had light in their dwellings; the place of the wicked after Judgment, is called Utter Darkness, or (as it is in the original) Darkness without. And so it is expressed (Mat. 22. 13.) where the King commandeth his Servants, to bind hand and foot the man that had not on his Wedding garment, and to cast him out, εἰς το σκότος το ἐξώτερον, External darkness, or Darkness without: which though translated Utter darkness, does not signify how great, but where that darkness is to be; namely, without the habitation of Gods Elect.

Lastly, whereas there was a place near Jerusalem, called the Valley of the Children of Hinnon; in a part whereof, called Tophet, the Jews had committed most grievous Idolatry, sacrificing their children to the Idol Moloch; and wherein also God had afflicted his enemies with most grievous punishments; and wherein Josias had burnt the Priests of Moloch upon their own Altars, as appeareth at large in the 2 of Kings chap. 23. the place served afterwards, to receive the filth, and garbage which was carried thither, out of the City; and there used to be fires made, from time to time, to purify the air, and take away the stench of Carrion. From this abominable place, the Jews used ever after to call the place of the Damned, by the name of Gehenna, or Valley of Hinnon. And this Gehenna, is that word, which is usually now translated HELL; and from the fires from time to time there burning, we have the notion of Everlasting, and Unquenchable Fire.

Seeing now there is none, that so interprets the Scripture, as thatafter the day of Judgment, the wicked are all Eternally to be punished in the Valley of Hinnon; or that they shall so rise again, as to be ever after under ground, or under water; or that after the Resurrection, they shall no more see one another; nor stir from one place to another; it followeth, me thinks, very necessarily, that that which is thus said concerning Hell Fire, is spoken metaphorically; and that therefore there is a proper sense to be enquired after, (for of all Metaphors there is some real ground, that may be expressed in proper words) both of the Place of Hell, and the nature of Hellish Torments, and Tormenters.

And first for the Tormenters, we have their nature, and properties,exactly and properly delivered by the names of, The Enemy, or Satan; The Accuser, or Diabolus; The Destroyer, or Abaddon. Which significant names, Satan, Devil, Abaddon, set not forth to us any Individual person, as proper names use to do; but only an office, or quality; and are therefore Appellatives; which ought not to have been left untranslated, as they are, in the Latin, and Modern Bibles; because thereby they seem to be the proper names of Daemons; and men are the more easily seduced to believe the doctrine of Devils; which at that time was the Religion of the Gentiles, and contrary to that of Moses, and of Christ.

And because by the Enemy, the Accuser, and Destroyer, is meant, the Enemy of them that shall be in the Kingdom of God; therefore if the Kingdom of God after the Resurrection, be upon the Earth, (as in the former Chapter I have shown by Scripture it seems to be,) The Enemy, and his Kingdom must be on Earth also. For so also was it, in the time before the Jews had deposed God. For Gods Kingdom was in Palestine; and the Nations round about, were the Kingdoms of the Enemy; and consequently by Satan, is meant any Earthly Enemy of the Church.

The Torments of Hell, are expressed sometimes, by weeping, and gnashing of teeth, as Mat. 8. 12. Sometimes, by the worm of Conscience; as Isa. 66. 24. and Mark 9. 44, 46, 48: sometimes, by Fire, as in the place now quoted, where the worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched, and many places beside: sometimes by shame, and contempt, as Dan. 12. 2. And many of them that sleep in the dust of the Earth, shall awake; some to Everlasting life; and some to shame, and everlasting contempt. All which places design metaphorically a grief, and discontent of mind, from the sight of that Eternal felicity in others, which they themselves through their own incredulity, and disobedience have lost. And because such felicity in others, is not sensible but by comparison with their own actual miseries; it followeth that they are to suffer such bodily pains, and calamities, as are incident to those, who not only live under evil and cruel Governors, but have also for Enemy, the Eternal King of the Saints, God Almighty. And amongst these bodily pains, is to be reckoned also to every one of the wicked a second Death. For though the Scripture be clear for an universal Resurrection; yet we do not read, that to any of the Reprobate is promised an Eternal life. For whereas St. Paul (1 Cor. 15. 42, 43.) to the question concerning what bodies men shall rise with again, saith, that the body is sown in corruption, and is raised in incorruption; It is sown in dishonour, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; Glory and Power cannot be applied to the bodies of the wicked: Nor can the name of Second Death, be applied to those that can never die but once: And although in Metaphorical speech, a Calamitous life Everlasting, may be called an Everlasting Death yet it cannot well be understood of a Second Death. The fire prepared for the wicked, is an Everlasting Fire: that is to say, the estate wherein no man can be without torture, both of body and mind, after the Resurrection, shall endure for ever; and in that sense the Fire shall be unquenchable, and the torments Everlasting: but it cannot thence be inferred, that he who shall be cast into that fire, or be tormented with those torments, shall endure, and resist them so, as to be eternally burnt, and tortured, and yet never be destroyed, nor die. And though there be many places that affirm Everlasting Fire, and Torments (into which men may be cast successively one after another for ever;) yet I find none that affirm there shall be an Eternal Life therein of any individual person; but to the contrary, an Everlasting Death, which is the Second Death: For after Death, and the Grave shall have delivered up the dead which were in them, and every man be judged according to his works; Death and the Grave shall also be cast into the Lake of Fire. This is the Second Death. Whereby it is evident, that there is to be a Second Death of every one that shall be condemned at the day of Judgement, after which he shall die no more.

The joys of Life Eternal, are in Scripture comprehended allunder the name of SALVATION, or being saved. To be saved, is to be secured, either respectively, against special Evils, or absolutely, against all Evil, comprehending Want, Sickness, and Death it self. And because man was created in a condition Immortal,not subject to corruption, and consequently to nothing that tendeth to the dissolution of his nature; and fell from that happiness by the sin of Adam; it followeth, that to be saved from Sin, is to be saved from all the Evil, and Calamities that Sin hath brought upon us. And therefore in the Holy Scripture, Remission of Sin, and Salvation from Death and Misery, is the same thing, as it appears by the words of our Saviour, who having cured a man sick of the Palsy, by saying, (Mat. 9. 2.) Son be of good cheer, thy Sins be forgiven thee; and knowing that the Scribes took for blasphemy, that a man should pretend to forgive Sins, asked them (v. 5.) whether it were easier to say, Thy Sins be forgiven thee, or, Arise and walk; signifying thereby, that it was all one, as to the saving of the sick, to say, Thy Sins are forgiven, and Arise and walk; and that he used that form of speech, only to show he had power to forgive Sins. And it is besides evident in reason, that since Death and Misery, were the punishments of Sin, the discharge of Sin, must also be a discharge of Death and Misery; that is to say, Salvation absolute, such as the faithful are to enjoy after the day of Judgment, by the power, and favour of Jesus Christ, who for that cause is called our SAVIOUR.

Concerning Particular Salvations, such as are understood, 1 Sam. 14. 39. as the Lord liveth that saveth Israel, that is, from their temporary enemies, and 2 Sam. 22. 4. Thou art my Saviour, thou savest me from violence; and 2 Kings 13. 5. God gave the Israelites a Saviour, and so they were delivered from the hand of the Assyrians, and the like, I need say nothing; there being neither difficulty, nor interest, to corrupt the interpretation of texts of that kind.

But concerning the General Salvation, because it must be in theKingdom of Heaven, there is great difficulty concerning the Place. On one side, by Kingdom (which is an estate ordained by men for their perpetual security against enemies, and want) it seemeth that this Salvation should be on Earth. For by Salvation is set forth unto us, a glorious Reign of our King, by Conquest; not a safety by Escape: and therefore there where we look for Salvation, we must look also for Triumph; and before Triumph, for Victory; and before Victory, for Battle; which cannot well be supposed, shall be in Heaven. But how good soever this reason may be, I will not trust to it, without very evident places of Scripture. The state of Salvation is described at large, Isaiah 33. ver. 20, 21, 22, 23, 24.

Look upon Zion, the City of our solemnities; [thine eyes shall see Jerusalem a quiet habitation, a tabernacle that shall not be taken down; not one of the stakes thereof shall ever be removed, neither shall any of the cords thereof be broken.

But there the glorious Lord will be unto us a place of broad rivers, and streams; wherein shall go no Galley with oars; neither shall gallant ship pass thereby.

For the Lord is our Judge, the Lord is our Lawgiver, the Lord is our King, he will save us.

Thy tacklings are loosed; they could not well strengthen their mast; they could not spread the sail: then is the prey of a great spoil divided; the lame take the prey.

And the Inhabitant shall not say, I am sick; the people that shall dwell therein shall be forgiven their Iniquity.

In which words we have the place from whence Salvation is to proceed, Jerusalem, a quiet habitation; the Eternity of it, a tabernacle that shall not be taken down, &c. The Saviour of it, the Lord, their Judge, their Lawgiver, their King, he will save us; the Salvation, the Lord shall be to them as abroad mote of swift waters, &c. the condition of their Enemies, their tacklings are loose, their masts weak, the lame shall take the spoil of them. The condition of the Saved, The Inhabitant shall not say, I am sick: And lastly, all this is comprehended in Forgiveness of sin, The people that dwell therein shall be forgiven their iniquity. By which it is evident, that Salvation shall be on Earth, then, when God shall reign, (at the coming again of Christ) in Jerusalem; and from Jerusalem shall proceed the Salvation of the Gentiles that shall be received into Gods Kingdom: as is also more expressly declared by the same Prophet, Chap. 65. 20, 21. And they (that is, the Gentiles who had any Jew in bondage) shall bring all your brethren, for an offering to the Lord, out of all nations, upon horses, and in chariots, and in litters, and upon mules, and upon swift beasts, to my holy mountain, Jerusalem, saith the Lord, as the Children of Israel bring an offering in a clean vessel into the House of the Lord. And I will also take of them for Priests and for Levites, saith the Lord: Whereby it is manifest, that the chief seat of Gods Kingdom (which is the Place, from whence the Salvation of us that were Gentiles, shall proceed) shall be Jerusalem: And the same is also confirmed by our Saviour, in his discourse with the woman of Samaria, concerning the place of Gods worship; to whom he saith, John 4. 22. that the Samaritans worshipped they knew not what, but the Jews worship what they knew, For Salvation is of the Jews (ex Iudae is, that is, begins at the Jews): as if he should say, you worship God, but know not by whom he will save you, as we do, that know it shall be by one of the tribe of Judah, a Jew, not a Samaritan. And therefore also the woman not impertinently answered him again, We know the Messias shall come. So that which out Saviour saith, Salvation is from the Jews, is the same that Paul says (Rom. 1. 16, 17.) The Gospel is the power of God to Salvation to every one that believeth: To the Jew first, and also to the Greek. For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith; from the faith of the Jew, to the faith of the Gentile. In the like sense the Prophet Joel describing the day of Judgment, (chap. 2. 30, 31.) that God would show wonders in heaven, and in earth, blood, and fire, and pillars os smoke. The Sun should be turned to darkness, and the Moon into blood, before the great and terrible day of the Lord come, he addeth verse 32. and it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord, shall be saved. For in Mount Zion, and in Jerusalem shall be Salvation. And Obadiah verse 17. saith the same, Upon Mount Zion shall be Deliverance; and there shall be holiness, and the house of Jacob shall possess their possessions, that is, the possessions of the Heathen, which possessions he expresseth more particularly in the following verses, by the mount of Esau, the Land of the Philistines, the fields of Ephraim, of Samaria, Gilead, and the Cities of the South, and concludes with these words, the Kingdom shall be the Lords. All these places are for Salvation, and the Kingdom of God (after the day of Judgement) upon Earth. On the other side, I have not found any text that can probably be drawn, to prove any Ascension of the Saints into Heaven; that is to say, into any Coelum Empyreum, or other ethereal Region; saving that it is called the Kingdom of Heaven: which name it may have, because God, that was King of the Jews, governed them by his commands, sent to Moses by Angels from Heaven; and after their revolt, sent his Son from Heaven, to reduce them to their obedience; and shall send him thence again, to rule both them, and all other faithful men, from the day of Judgment, Everlastingly: or from that, that the Throne of this our Great King is in Heaven; whereas the Earth is but his Footstool. But that the Subjects of God should have any place as high as his Throne, or higher than his Footstool, it seemeth not suitable to the dignity of a King, nor can I find any evident text for it in holy Scripture.

From this that hath been said of the Kingdom of God, and of Salvation, it is not hard to interpret what is meant by the WORLD TO COME. There are three worlds mentioned in Scripture, the Old World, the Present World, and the World to come. Of the first, St. Peterspeaks, If God spared not the Old World, but saved Noah the eighth person, a Preacher of righteousness, bringing the flood upon the world of the ungodly, &c. So the first World, was from Adam to the general Flood. Of the present World, our Saviour speaks (John 18. 36.) My Kingdom is not of this World. For he came only to teach men the way of Salvation, and to renew the Kingdom of his Father, byhis doctrine. Of the World to come, St. Peter speaks, Nevertheless we according to his promise look for new Heavens, and a new Earth. This is that WORLD, wherein Christ coming down from Heaven, in the clouds, with great power, and glory, shall send his Angels, and shall gather together his elect, from the four winds, and from the uttermost parts of the Earth, and thence forth reign over them, (under his Father) Everlastingly.

Salvation of a sinner, supposeth a precedent REDEMPTION; forhe that is once guilty of Sin, is obnoxious to the Penalty of the same; and must pay (or some other for him) such Ransom, as he that is offended, and has him in his power, shall require. And seeing the person offended, is Almighty God, in whose power are all things; such Ransom is to be paid before Salvation can be acquired, as God hath been pleased to require. By this Ransom, is not intended a satisfaction for Sin, equivalent to the Offence; which no sinner for himself, nor righteous man can ever be able to make for another: The damage a man does to another, he may make amends for by restitution, or recompense, but sin cannot be taken away by recompense; for that were to make the liberty to sin, a thing vendible. But sins may be pardoned to the repentant, either gratis, or upon such penalty, as God is pleased to accept. That which God usually accepted in the Old Testament, was some Sacrifice, or Oblation. To forgive sin is not an act of Injustice, though the punishment have been threatened. Even amongst men, though the promise of Good, bind the promiser; yet threats, that is to say, promises of Evil, bind them not; much less shall they bind God, who is infinitely more merciful than men. Our Saviour Christ therefore to Redeem us, did not in that sense satisfy for the Sins of men, as that his Death, of its own virtue, could make it unjust in God to punish sinners with Eternal death; but did make that Sacrifice, and Oblation of himself, at his first coming, which God was pleased to require, for the Salvation at his second coming, of such as in the mean time should repent, and believe in him. And though this act of our Redemption, be not always in Scripture called a Sacrifice, and Oblation, but sometimes a Price; yet by Price we are not to understand any thing, by the value whereof, he could claim right to a pardon for us, from his offended Father; but that Price which God the Father was pleased in mercy to demand.

CHAP. XXXIX. Of the signification in Scripture of the word CHURCH.

The word Church, (Ecclesia) signifieth in the Books of HolyScripture divers things. Sometimes (though not often) it is taken for Gods House, that is to say, for a Temple, wherein Christians assemble to perform holy duties publicly; as, 1 Cor. 14. ver. 34. Let your women keep silence in the Churches: but this is Metaphorically put, for the Congregation there assembled; and hath been since used for the Edifice itself, to distinguish between the Temples of Christians, and Idolaters. The Temple of Jerusalem was Gods house, and the House of Prayer; and so is any Edifice dedicated by Christians to the worship of Christ, Christs house: and therefore the Greek Fathers call it Κυριακή, The Lords house; and thence, in our language it came to be called Kyrke, and Church.

Church (when not taken for a House) signifieth the same that Ecclesia signified in the Grecian Common-wealths; that is to say, a Congregation, or an Assembly of Citizens, called forth, to hear the Magistrate speak unto them; and which in the Common-wealth of Rome was called Concio, as he that spake was called Ecclesiastes, and Concionator. And when they were called forth by lawful Authority,it was Ecclesia legitima, a Lawful Church, ἔννομος Ἐκκλησία. But when they were excited by tumultuous, and seditious clamor, then it was a confused Church, Ἐκκλησία συγκεχυμένη.

It is taken also sometimes for the men that have right to be of the Congregation, though not actually assembled; that is to say, for the whole multitude of Christian men, how far soever they be dispersed: as (Act. 8. 3.) where it is said, that Saul made havoc of the Church: And in this sense is Christ said to be Head of the Church. And sometimes for a certain part of Christians, as (Col. 4. 15. Salute the Church that is in his house. Sometimes also for the Elect only; as (Ephes. 5. 27.) A Glorious Church, without spot, or wrinkle, holy, and without blemish; which is meant of the Church triumphant, or, Church to come. Sometimes, for a Congregation assembled, of professors of Christianity, whether their profession be true, or counterfeit, as it is understood, Mat. 18. 17. where it is said, Tell it to the Church, and if he neglect to hear the Church, let him be to thee as a Gentile, or Publican.

And in this last sense only it is that the Church can be taken for onePerson; that is to say, that it can be said to have power to will, to pronounce, to command, to be obeyed, to make laws, or to do any other action whatsoever; For without authority from a lawful Congregation, whatsoever act be done in a concourse of people, it is the particular act of every one of those that were present, and gave their aid to the performance of it; and not the act of them all in gross, as of one body; much less the act of them that were absent, or that being present, were not willing it should be done. According to this sense, I define a CHURCH to be, A company of men professing Christian Religion, united in the person of one Sovereign; at whose command they ought to assemble, and without whose authority they ought not to assemble. And because in all Common-wealths, that Assembly, which is without warrant from the Civil Sovereign, is unlawful; that Church also, which is assembled in any Common-wealth, that hath forbidden them to assemble, is an unlawful Assembly.

It followeth also, that there is on Earth, no such universal Church,as all Christians are bound to obey; because there is no power on Earth, to which all other Common-wealths are subject: There are Christians, in the Dominions of several Princes and States; but every one of them is subject to that Common-wealth, whereof he is himself a member; and consequently, cannot be subject to the commands of any other Person. And therefore a Church, such a one as is capable to Command, to Judge, Absolve, Condemn, or do any other act, is the same thing with a Civil Common-wealth, consisting of Christian men; and is called a Civil State, for that the subjects of it are Men; and a Church, for that the subjects thereof are Christians. Temporal and Spiritual Government, are but two words brought into the world, to make men see double, and mistake their Lawful Sovereign. It is true, that the bodies of the faithful, after the Resurrection, shall be not only Spiritual, but Eternal: but in this life they are gross, and corruptible. There is therefore no other Government in this life, neither of State, nor Religion, but Temporal; nor teaching of any doctrine, lawful to any Subject, which the Governor both of the State, and of the Religion, forbiddeth to be taught: And that Governor must be one; or else there must needs follow Faction, and Civil war in the Common-wealth, between the Church and State; between Spiritualists, and Temporalists; between the Sword of Justice, and the Shield of Faith; and (which is more) in every Christian man's own breast, between the Christian, and the Man. The Doctors of the Church, are called Pastors; so also are Civil Sovereigns: But if Pastors be not subordinate one to another, so as that there may be one chief Pastor, men will be taught contrary Doctrines, whereof both may be, and one must be false. Who that one chief Pastor is, according to the law of Nature, hath been already shown; namely, that it is the Civil Sovereign: And to whom the Scripture hath assigned that Office, we shall see in the Chapters following.

CHAP. XL. Of the RIGHTS of the Kingdom of God, in Abraham, Moses, the High Priests, and the Kings of Judah.

The Father of the Faithful, and first in the Kingdom of Godby Covenant, was Abraham. For with him was the Covenant first made; wherein he obliged himself, and his seed after him, to acknowledge and obey the commands of God; not only such, as he could take notice of, (as Moral Laws,) by the light of Nature; but also such, as God should in special manner deliver to him by Dreams, and Visions. For as to the Moral law, they were already obliged, and needed not have been contracted withal, by promise of the Land of Canaan. Nor was there any Contract, that could add to, or strengthen the Obligation, by which both they, and all men else were bound naturally to obey God Almighty: And therefore the Covenant which Abraham made with God, was to take for the Commandment of God, that which in the name of God was commanded him, in a Dream, or Vision; and to deliver it to his family, and cause them to observe the same.

In this Contract of God with Abraham, we may observe three points of important consequence in the government of Gods people. First, that at the making of this Covenant, God spake only to Abraham; and therefore contracted not with any of his family, or seed, otherwise than as their wills (which make the essence of all Covenants) were before the Contract involved in the will of Abraham; who was therefore supposed to have had a lawful power, to make them perform all that he covenanted for them. According whereunto (Gen. 18. 18, 19.) God saith, All the Nations of the Earth shall be blessed in him, For I know him that he will command his children and his household after him, and they shall keep the way of the Lord. From whence may be concluded this first point, that they to whom God hath not spoken immediately, are to receive the positive commandments of God, from their Sovereign; as the family and seed of Abraham did from Abraham their Father, and Lord, andCivil Sovereign. And consequently in every Common-wealth, they who have no supernatural Revelation to the contrary, ought to obey the laws of their own Sovereign, in the external acts and profession of Religion. As for the inward thought, and belief of men, which human Governors can take no notice of, (for God only knoweth the heart) they are not voluntary, nor the effect of the laws, but of the unrevealed will, and of the power of God; and consequently fall not under obligation.

From whence proceedeth another point; that it was not unlawfulfor Abraham, when any of his Subjects should pretend Private Vision, or Spirit, or other Revelation from God, for the countenancing of any doctrine which Abraham should forbid, or when they followed, or adhered to any such pretender, to punish them; and consequently that it is lawful now for the Sovereign to punish any man that shall oppose his Private Spirit against the Laws: For he hath the same place in the Common-wealth, that Abraham had in his own Family.

There ariseth also from the same, a third point; that as none butAbraham in his family, so none but the Sovereign in a Christian Common-wealth, can take notice what is, or what is not the Word of God. For God spake only to Abraham; and it was he only, that was able to know what God said, and to interpret the same to his family: And therefore also, they that have the place of Abraham in a Common-wealth, are the only Interpreters of what God hath spoken.

The same Covenant was renewed with Isaac; and afterwards withJacob; but afterwards no more, till the Israelites were freed from the Egyptians, and arrived at the Foot of Mount Sinai: and then it was renewed by Moses (as I have said before, chap. 35.) in such manner, as they became from that time forward the Peculiar Kingdom of God; whose Lieutenant was Moses, for his own time: and the succession to that office was settled upon Aaron, and his heirs after him, to be to God a Sacerdotal Kingdom for ever.

By this constitution, a Kingdom is acquired to God. But seeing Moses had no authority to govern the Israelites, as a successor to the right of Abraham, because he could not claim it by inheritance; it appeareth not as yet, that the people were obliged to take him for Gods Lieutenant, longer than they believed that God spake unto him. And therefore his authority (notwithstanding the Covenant they made with God) depended yet merely upon the opinion they had of his Sanctity, and of the reality of his Conferences with God, and the verity of his Miracles; which opinion coming to change, they were no more obliged to take any thing for the law of God, which he propounded to them in Gods name. We are therefore to consider, what other ground there was, of their obligation to obey him. For it could not be the commandment of God that could oblige them; because God spake not to them immediately, but by the mediation of Moses himself: And our Saviour saith of himself,If I bear witness of myself, my witness is not true; much less if Moses bear witness of himself, (especially in a claim of Kingly power over Gods people) ought his testimony to be received. His authority therefore, as the authority of all other Princes, must be grounded on the Consent of the People, and their Promise to obey him. And so it was: For the people (Exod. 20. 18.) when they saw the Thunderings, and the Lightnings, and the noise of the Trumpet, and the mountain smoking, removed, and stood a far off. And they said unto Moses, speak thou with us, and we will hear, but let not God speak with us lest we die. Here was their promise of obedience; and by this it was they obliged themselves to obey whatsoever he should deliver unto them for the Commandment of God.

And notwithstanding the Covenant constituteth a SacerdotalKingdom, that is to say, a Kingdom hereditary to Aaron; yet that is to be understood of the succession, after Moses should be dead. For whosoever ordereth, and establisheth the Policy, as first founder of a Common-wealth (be it Monarchy, Aristocracy, or Democracy) must needs have Sovereign Power over the people all the while he is doing of it. And that Moses had that power all his own time, is evidently affirmed in the Scripture. First, in the text last before cited, because the people promised obedience, not to Aaron but to him. Secondly, (Exod. 24. 1, 2.) And God said unto Moses, Come up unto the Lord, thou, and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and seventy of the Elders of Israel. And Moses alone shall come near the Lord, but they shall not come nigh, neither shall the people go up with him. By which it is plain, that Moses who was alone called up to God, (and not Aaron, nor the other Priests, nor the Seventy Elders, nor the People who were forbidden to come up) was alone he, that represented to the Israelites the Person of God; that is to say, was their sole Sovereign under God. And though afterwards it be said (verse 9.) Then went up Moses, and Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the Elders of Israel, and they saw the God of Israel, and there was under his feet, as it were a paved work of a sapphire stone. &c. yet this was not till after Moses had been with God before, and had brought to the people the words which God had said to him. He only went for the business of the people; the others, as the Nobles of his retinue, were admitted for honour to that special grace, which was not allowed to the people; which was, as in the verse after appeareth) to see God and live. God laid not his hand upon them, they saw God, and did eat and drink (that is, did live), but did not carry any commandment from him to the people. Again, it is every where said, The Lord spake unto Moses, as in all other occasions of Government; so also in the ordering of the Ceremonies of Religion, contained in the 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, and 31 Chapters of Exodus, and throughout Leviticus: to Aaron seldom. The Calf that Aaron made, Moses threw into the fire. Lastly, the question of the Authority of Aaron, by occasion of his and Miriams mutiny against Moses, was (Numbers 12.) judged by God himself for Moses. So also in the question between Moses, and the People, who had the Right of Governing the People, when Corah, Dathan, and Abiram, and two hundred and fifty Princes of the Assembly gathered themselves together (Numb. 16. 3.) against Moses, and against Aaron, and said unto them, Ye take too much upon you, seeing all the congregation are Holy, every one of them, and the Lord is amongst them, why lift you up yourselves above the congregation of the Lord? God caused the Earth to swallow Corah, Dathan, and Abiram with their wives and children alive, and consumed those two hundred and fifty Princes with fire. Therefore neither Aaron, nor the People, nor any Aristocracy of the chief Princes of the People, but Moses alone had next under God the Sovereignty over the Israelites: And that not only in causes of Civil Policy, but also of Religion: For Moses only spake with God, and therefore only could tell the People, what it was that God required at their hands. No man upon pain of death might be so presumptuous as to approach the Mountain where God talked with Moses. Thou shalt set bounds (saith the Lord, Exod. 19. 12.) to the people round about, and say, Take heed to yourselves that you go not up into the Mount, or touch the border of it; whosoever toucheth the Mount shall surely be put to death. And again (verse 21.) Go down, charge the people, lest they break through unto the Lord to gaze. Out of which we may conclude, that whosoever in a Christian Common-wealth holdeth the place of Moses, is the sole Messenger of God, and Interpreter of his Commandments. And according hereunto, no man ought in the interpretation of the Scripture to proceed further than the bounds which are set by their several Sovereigns. For the Scriptures since God now speaketh in them, are the Mount Sinai; the bounds whereof are the Laws of them that represent Gods Person on Earth. To look upon them, and therein to behold the wondrous works of God, and learn to fear him is allowed; but to interpret them; that is, to pry into what God saith to him whom he appointeth to govern under him, and make themselves Judges whether he govern as God commandeth him, or not, is to transgress the bounds God hath set us, and to gaze upon God irreverently.

There was no Prophet in the time of Moses, nor pretender to theSpirit of God, but such as Moses had approved, and Authorized. For there were in his time but Seventy men, that are said to Prophecy by the Spirit of God, and these were of all Moses his election; concerning whom God said to Moses (Numb. 11. 16.) Gather to me Seventy of the Elders of Israel, whom thou knowest to be the Elders of the People. To these God imparted his Spirit; but it was not a different Spirit from that of Moses; for it is said (verse 25.) God came down in a cloud, and took of the Spirit that was upon Moses, and gave it to the Seventy Elders. But as I have shown before (chap. 36.) by Spirit, is understood the Mind; so that the sense of the place is no other than this, that God endued them with a mind conformable, and subordinate to that of Moses, that they might Prophecy, that is to say, speak to the people in Gods name, in such manner, as to set forward (as Ministers of Moses, and by his authority) such doctrine as was agreeable to Moses his doctrine. For they were but Ministers; and when two of them Prophesied in the Camp, it was thought a new and unlawful thing; and as it is in the 27. and 28. verses of the same Chapter, they were accused of it, and Joshua advised Moses to forbid them, as not knowing that it was by Moses his Spirit that they Prophesied. By which it is manifest, that no Subject ought to pretend to Prophecy, or to the Spirit, in opposition to the doctrine established by him, whom God hath set in the place of Moses.

Aaron being dead, and after him also Moses, the Kingdom, asbeing a Sacerdotal Kingdom, descended by virtue of the Covenant, to Aarons Son, Eleazar the High Priest: And God declared him (next under himself) for Sovereign, at the same time that he appointed Joshua for the General of their Army. For thus God saith expressly (Numb. 27. 21.) concerning Joshua; He shall stand before Eleazar the Priest, who shall ask counsel for him, before the Lord, at his word shall they go out, and at his word they shall come in, both he, and all the Children of Israel with him: Therefore the Supreme Power of making War and Peace, was in the Priest. The Supreme Power of Judicature belonged also to the High Priest: For the Book of the Law was in their keeping; and the Priests and Levites only, were the subordinate Judges in causes Civil, as appears in Deut. 17. 8, 9, 10. And for the manner of Gods worship, there was never doubt made, but that the High Priest till the time of Saul, had the Supreme Authority. Therefore the Civil and Ecclesiastical Power were both joined together in one and the same person, the High Priest; and ought to be so, in whosoever governeth by Divine Right; that is, by Authority immediate from God.

After the death of Joshua, till the time of Saul, the time between is noted frequently in the Book of Judges, that there was in those days no King in Israel; and sometimes with this addition, that every man did that which was right in his own eyes. By which is to be understood, that where it is said, there was no King, is meant, there was no Sovereign Power in Israel. And so it was, if we consider the Act, and Exercise of such power. For after the death of Joshua, & Eleazar, there arose another generation (Judges 2. 10.) that knew not the Lord, nor the works which he had done for Israel, but did evil in the sight of the Lord, and served Baalim. And the Jews had that quality which St. Paul noteth, to look for a sign, not only before they would submit themselves to the government of Moses, but also after they had obliged themselves by their submission. Whereas Signs, and Miracles had for End to procure Faith, not to keep men from violating it, when they have once given it; for to that men are obliged by the law of Nature. But if we consider not the Exercise, but the Right of Governing, the Sovereign power was still in the High Priest. Therefore whatsoever obedience was yielded to any of the Judges (who were men chosen by God extraordinarily, to save his rebellious subjects out of the hands of the enemy,) it cannot be drawn into argument against the Right the High Priest had to the Sovereign Power, in all matters, both of Policy and Religion. And neither the Judges, nor Samuel himself had an ordinary, but extraordinary calling to the Government; and were obeyed by the Israelites, not out of duty, but out of reverence to their favour with God, appearing in their wisdom, courage, or felicity. Hitherto therefore the Right of Regulating both the Policy, and the Religion, were inseparable.

To the Judges, succeeded Kings: And whereas before, all authority,both in Religion, and Policy, was in the High Priest; so now it was all in the King. For the Sovereignty over the people, which was before, not only by virtue of the Divine Power, but also by a particular pact of the Israelites in God, and next under him, in the High Priest, as his Vicegerent on earth, was cast off by the People, with the consent of God himself. For when they said to Samuel (1 Sam. 8. 5.) make us a King to judge us, like all the Nations, they signified that they would no more be governed by the commands that should be laid upon them by the Priest, in the name of God; but by one that should command them in the same manner that all other nations were commanded; and consequently in deposing the High Priest of Royal authority, they deposed that peculiar Government of God. And yet God consented to it, saying to Samuel (verse 7.) Hearken unto the voice of the People, in all that they shall say unto thee; for they have not rejected thee, but they have rejected me, that I should not reign over them. Having therefore rejected God, in whose Right the Priests governed, there was no authority left to the Priests, but such as the King was pleased to allow them; which was more, or less, according as the Kings were good, or evil. And for the Government of Civil affairs, it is manifest, it was all in the hands of the King. For in the same Chapter, verse 20. They say they will be like all the Nations; that their King shall be their Judge, and go before them, and fight their battles; that is, he shall have the whole authority, both in Peace and War. In which is contained also the ordering of Religion: for there was no other Word of God in that time, by which to regulate Religion, but the Law of Moses, which was their Civil Law. Besides, we read (1 Kings 2. 27.) that Solomon thrust out Abiathar from being Priest before the Lord: He had therefore authority over the High Priest, as over any other Subject; which is a great mark of Supremacy in Religion. And we read also (1 Kings 8.) that he dedicated the Temple; that he blessed the People; and that he himself in person made that excellent prayer, used in the Consecrations of all Churches, and houses of Prayer; which is another great mark of Supremacy in Religion. Again, we read (2 Kings 22.) that when there was question concerning the Book of the Law found in the Temple, the same was not decided by the High Priest but Josiah sent both him, and others to enquire concerning it, of Hulda, the Prophetess; which is another mark of the Supremacy in Religion. Lastly, we read (1 Chron. 26. 30.) that David made Hashabiah and his brethren, Hebronites, Officers of Israel among them Westward, in all business of the Lord, and in the service of the King. Likewise (verse 32.) that he made other Hebronites, rulers over the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half tribe of Manasseh (these were the rest of Israel that dwelt beyond Jordan) for every matter pertaining to God, and affairs of the King. Is not this full Power, both temporal and spiritual, as they call it, that would divide it? To conclude; from the first institution of Gods Kingdom, to the Captivity, the Supremacy of Religion, was in the same hand with that of the Civil Sovereignty; and the Priests office after the election of Saul, was not Magisterial, but Ministerial.

Notwithstanding the government both in Policy and Religion,were joined, first in the High Priests, and afterwards in the Kings, so far forth as concerned the Right; yet it appeareth by the same Holy History, that the people understood it not; but there being amongst them a great part, and probably the greatest part, that no longer than they saw great miracles, or (which is equivalent to a miracle) great abilities, or great felicity in the enterprises of their Governors, gave sufficient credit, either to the fame of Moses, or to the Colloquies between God and the Priests; they took occasion as oft as their Governors displeased them, by blaming sometimes the Policy, sometimes the Religion, to change the Government, or revolt from their Obedience at their pleasure: And from thence proceeded from time to time the civil troubles, divisions, and calamities of the Nation. As for example, after the death of Eleazar and Joshua, the next generation which had not seen the wonders of God, but were left to their own weak reason, not knowing themselves obliged by the Covenant of a Sacerdotal Kingdom, regarded no more the Commandment of the Priest, nor any law of Moses, but did every man that which was right in his own eyes; and obeyed in Civil affairs, such men, as from time to time they thought able to deliver them from the neighbour Nations that oppressed them; and consulted not with God (as they ought to doc,) but with such men, or women, as they guessed to be Prophets by their Predictions of things to come; and though they had an Idol in their Chapel, yet if they had a Levite for their Chaplain, they made account they worshipped the God of Israel.

And afterwards when they demanded a King, after the manner of the nations; yet it was not with a design to depart from the worship of God their King; but despairing of the justice of the sons of Samuel, they would have a King to judge them in Civil actions; but not that they would allow their King to change the Religion which they thought was recommended to them by Moses. So that they always kept in store a pretext, either of Justice, or Religion, to discharge themselves of their obedience, whensoever they had hope to prevail. Samuel was displeased with the people, for that they desired a King, (for God was their King already, and Samuel had but an authority under him); yet did Samuel, when Saul observed not his counsel, in destroying Agag as God had commanded, anoint another King, namely, David, to take the succession from his heirs. Rehoboam was no Idolater; but when the people thought him an Oppressor; that Civil pretence carried from him ten Tribes to Jeroboam an Idolater. And generally through the whole History of the Kings, as well of Judah, as of Israel, there were Prophets that always controlled the Kings, for transgressing the Religion; and sometimes also for Errorsof State; as Jehosaphat was reproved by the Prophet Jehu, for aiding the King of Israel against the Syrians; and Hezekiah, by Isaiah, for showing his treasures to the Ambassadors of Babylon. By all which it appeareth, that though the power both of State and Religion were in the Kings; yet none of them were uncontrolled in the use of it, but such as were gracious for their own natural abilities, or felicities. So that from the practise of those times, there can no argument be drawn, that the Right of Supremacy in Religion was not in the Kings, unless we place it in the Prophets; and conclude, that because Hezekiah praying to the Lord before the Cherubins, was not answered from thence, nor then, but afterwards by the Prophet Isaiah, therefore Isaiah was supreme Head of the Church; or because Josiah consulted Hulda the Prophetess, concerning the Book of the Law, that therefore neither he, nor the High Priest, but Hulda the Prophetess had the Supreme authority in matter of Religion; which I think is not the opinion of any Doctor.

During the Captivity, the Jews had no Common-wealth at all:And after their return, though they renewed their Covenant with God, yet there was no promise made of obedience, neither to Esdras, nor to any other: And presently after they became subjects to the Greeks (from whose Customs, and Demonology, and from the doctrine of the Cabalists, their Religion became much corrupted): In such sort as nothing can be gathered from their confusion, both in State and Religion, concerning the Supremacy in either. And therefore so far forth as concerneth the Old Testament, we may conclude, that whosoever had the Sovereignty of the Common-wealth amongst the Jews, the same had also the Supreme Authority in matter of Gods external worship; and represented Gods Person; that is the person of God the Father; though he were not called by the name of Father, till such time as he sent into the world his Son Jesus Christ, to redeem mankind from their sins, and bring them into his Everlasting Kingdom, to be saved for evermore. Of which we are to speak in the Chapter following.

CHAP. XLI. Of the OFFICE of our BLESSED SAVIOUR.

WE find in Holy Scripture three parts of the Office of theMessiah: The first of a Redeemer, or Saviour: The second of a Pastor, Counsellor, or Teacher, that is, of a Prophet sent from God, to convert such as God hath elected to Salvation: The third of a King, an eternal King, but under his Father, as Moses and the High Priests were in their several times. And to these three parts are correspondent three times. For our Redemption he wrought at his first coming, by the Sacrifice, wherein he offered up himself for our sins upon the Cross: our Conversion he wrought partly then in his own Person; and partly worketh now by his Ministers; and will continue to work till his coming again. And after his coming again, shall begin that his glorious Reign over his elect, which is to last eternally.

To the Office of a Redeemer, that is, of one that payeth the Ransom ofSin, (which Ransom is Death,) it appertaineth, that he was Sacrificed, and thereby bare upon his own head, and carried away from us our iniquities, in such sort as God had required. Not that the death of one man, though without sin, can satisfy for the offences of all men, in the rigour of Justice, but in the Mercy of God, that ordained such Sacrifices for sin, as he was pleased in his mercy to accept. In the Old Law (as we may read, Leviticus the 16.) the Lord required, that there should every year once, be made an Atonement for the Sins of all Israel, both Priests, and others; for the doing whereof, Aaron alone was to sacrifice for himself and the Priests a young Bullock; and for the rest of the people, he was to receive from them two young Goats, of which he was to sacrifice one; but as for the other, which was the Scape Goat, he was to lay his hands on the head thereof, and by a confession of the iniquities of the people, to lay them all on that head, and then by some opportune man, to cause the Goat to be led into the wilderness, and there to escape, and carry away with him the iniquities of the people. As the Sacrifice of the one Goat was a sufficient (because an acceptable) price for the Ransom of all Israel; so the death of the Messiah, is a sufficient price, for the Sins of all mankind, because there was no more required. Our Saviour Christs sufferings seem to be here figured, as clearly; as in the oblation of Isaac, or in any other type of him in the Old Testament: He was both the sacrificed Goat, and the Scape Goat; He was oppressed, and he was afflicted (Esay 53. 7.); he opened not his mouth; he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep is dumb before the shearer, so opened he not his mouth: Here he is the sacrificed Goat. He hath born our Griefs, (ver. 4.) and carried our sorrows: And again, (ver. 6.) the Lord hath laid upon him the iniquities of us all: And so he is the Scape Goat. He was cut off from the land of the living (ver. 8.) for the transgression of my People: There again he is the sacrificed Goat. And again, (ver. 11.) he shall bear their sins: He is the Scape Goat. Thus is the Lamb of God equivalent to both those Goats; sacrificed, in that he dyed; and escaping, in his Resurrection; being raised opportunely by his Father, and removed from the habitation of men in his Ascension.

For as much therefore, as he that redeemeth, hath no title tothe thing redeemed, before the Redemption, and Ransom paid; and this Ransom was the Death of the Redeemer; it is manifest, that our Saviour (as man) was not King of those that he Redeemed, before he suffered death; that is, during that time he conversed bodily on the Earth. I say, he was not then King in present, by virtue of the Pact, which the faithful make with him in Baptism: Nevertheless, by the renewing of their Pact with God in Baptism, they were obliged to obey him for King, (under his Father) whensoever he should be pleased to take the Kingdom upon him. According whereunto, our Saviour himself expressly saith, (John 18. 36.) My Kingdom is not of this world. Now seeing the Scripture maketh mention but of two worlds; this that is now, and shall remain to the day of Judgment, (which is therefore also called, the last day;) and that which shall be after the day of Judgement, when there shall be a new Heaven, and a new Earth; the Kingdom of Christ is not to begin till the general Resurrection. And that is it which our Saviour saith, (Mat. 16. 27.) The Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father, with his Angels; and then he shall reward every man according to his works. To reward every man according to his works, is to execute the Office of a King; and this is not to be till he come in the glory of his Father, with his Angels. When our Saviour saith, (Mat. 23. 2.) The Scribes and Pharisees sit in Moses seat; All therefore whatsoever they bid you do, that observe and do; he declareth plainly, that he ascribeth Kingly Power, for that time, not to himself, but to them. And so he doth also, where he saith, (Luke 12. 14.) Who made me a Judge, or Divider over you? And (John 12. 47.) I came not to judge the world, but to save the world. And yet our Saviour came into this world that he might be a King, and a Judge in the world to come: For he was the Messiah, that is, the Christ, that is, the Anointed Priest, and the Sovereign Prophet of God; that is to say, he was to have all the power that was in Moses the Prophet, in the High Priests that succeeded Moses, and in the Kings that succeeded the Priests. And St. John says expressly (chap. 5. ver. 22.) The Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment to the Son. And this is not repugnant to that other place, I came not to judge the world: for this is spoken of the world present, the other of the world to come; as also where it is said, that at the second coming of Christ, (Mat. 19. 28.) Ye that have followed me in the Regeneration, when the Son of man shall sit in the throne of his Glory, ye shall also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.

If then Christ whilst he was on Earth, had no Kingdomin this world, to what end was his first coming? It was to restore unto God, by a new Covenant, the Kingdom, which being his by the Old Covenant, had been cut off by the rebellion of the Israelites in the election of Saul. Which to do, he was to preach unto them, that he was the Messiah, that is, the King promised to them by the Prophets; and to offer himself in sacrifice for the sins of them that should by faith submit themselves thereto; and in case the nation generally should refuse him, to call to his obedience such as should believe in him amongst the Gentiles. So that there are two parts of our Saviours Office during his abode upon the Earth: One to Proclaim himself the Christ; and another by Teaching, and by working of Miracles, to persuade, and prepare men to live so, as to be worthy of the Immortality Believers were to enjoy, at such time as he should come in majesty, to take possession of his Fathers Kingdom. And therefore it is, that the time of his preaching, is often by himself called the Regeneration; which is not properly a Kingdom, and thereby a warrant to deny obedience to the Magistrates that then were, (for he commanded to obey those that sate then in Moses chair, and to pay tribute to Caesar; but only an earnest of the Kingdom of God that was to come, to those to whom God had given the grace to be his disciples, and to believe in him; For which cause the Godly are said to be already in the Kingdom of Grace, as naturalized in that heavenly Kingdom.

Hitherto therefore there is nothing done, or taught by Christ,that tendeth to the diminution of the Civil Right of the Jews, or of Caesar. For as touching the Common-wealth which then was amongst the Jews, both they that bare rule amongst them, and they that were governed, did all expect the Messiah, and Kingdom of God; which they could not have done if their Laws had forbidden him (when he came) to manifest, and declare himself. Seeing therefore he did nothing, but by Preaching, and Miracles go about to prove himself to be that Messiah, he did therein nothing against their laws. The Kingdom he claimed was to be in another world: He taught all men to obey in the mean time them that sate in Moses seat: He allowed them to give Caesar his tribute, and refused to take upon himself to be a Judge. How then could his words, or actions be seditious, or tend to the overthrow of their then Civil Government? But God having determined his sacrifice, for the reduction of his elect to their former covenanted obedience, for the means, whereby he would bring the same to effect, made use of their malice, and ingratitude. Nor was it contrary to the laws of Caesar. For though Pilate himself (to gratify the Jews) delivered him to be crucified; yet before he did so, he pronounced openly, that he found no fault in him: And put for title of his condemnation, not as the Jews required, that he pretended to be King; but simply, That he was King of the Jews; and notwithstanding their clamour, refused to alter it; saying, What I have written, I have written.

As for the third part of his Office, which was to be King, Ihave already shown that his Kingdom was not to begin till the Resurrection. But then he shall be King, not only as God, in which sense he is King already, and ever shall be, of all the Earth, in virtue of his omnipotence; but also peculiarly of his own Elect, by virtue of the pact they make with him in their Baptism. And therefore it is, that our Saviour saith (Mat. 19. 28.) that his Apostles should sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel, When the Son of man shall sit in the throne of his glory: whereby he signified that he should reign then in his human nature; and (Mat. 16. 27.) The Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father, with his Angels, and then he shall reward every man according to his works. The same we may read, Mark 13. 26. and 14. 62. and more expressly for the time, Luke 22. 29, 30. I appoint unto you a Kingdom, as my Father hath appointed to me, that you may eat and drink at my table in my Kingdom, and sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel. By which it is manifest, that the Kingdom of Christ appointed to him by his Father, is not to be before the Son of Man shall come in Glory, and make his Apostles Judges of the twelve tribes of Israel. But a man may here ask, seeing there is no marriage in the Kingdom of Heaven, whether men shall then eat, and drink; what eating therefore is meant in this place? This is expounded by our Saviour (John 6. 27.) where he saith, Labour not for the meat which perisheth, but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life, which the Son of man shall give you. So that by eating at Christs table, is meant the eating of the Tree of Life; that is to say, the enjoying of Immortality, in the Kingdom of the Son of Man. By which places, and many more, it is evident, that our Saviours Kingdom is to be exercised by him in his human nature.

Again, he is to be King then, no otherwise than as subordinate,or Vicegerent of God the Father, as Moses was in the wilderness; and as the High Priests were before the reign of Saul: and as the Kings were after it. For it is one of the Prophecies concerning Christ, that he should be like (in Office) to Moses: I will raise them up a Prophet (saith the Lord, Deut. 18. 18.) from amongst their Brethren like unto thee, and will put my words into his mouth, and this similitude with Moses, is also apparent in the actions of our Saviour himself, whilst he was conversant on Earth. For as Moses chose twelve Princes of the tribes, to govern under him; so did our Saviour choose twelve Apostles, who shall sit on twelve thrones, and judge the twelve tribes of Israel: And as Moses authorized Seventy Elders, to receive the Spirit of God, and to Prophecy to the people, that is, (as I have said before,) to speak unto them in the name of God; so our Saviour also ordained seventy Disciples, to preach his Kingdom, and Salvation to all Nations. And as when a complaint was made to Moses, against those of the Seventy that prophesied in the camp of Israel, he justified them in it, as being subservient therein to his government; so also our Saviour, when St. John complained to him of a certain man that cast out Devils in his name, justified him therein, saying, (Luke 9. 50.) Forbid him not, for he that is not against us, is on our part.

Again, our Saviour resembled Moses in the institution of Sacraments, both of Admission into the Kingdom of God, and of Commemoration of his deliverance of his Elect from their miserable condition. As the Children of Israel had for Sacrament of their Reception into the Kingdom of God, before the time of Moses, the rite of Circumcision, which rite having been omitted in the Wilderness, was again restored as soon as they came into the land of Promise; so also the Jews, before the coming of our Saviour, had a rite of Baptizing, that is, of washing with water all those that being Gentiles, embraced the God of Israel. This rite St. John the Baptist used in the reception of all them that gave their names to the Christ, whom he preached to be already come into the world; and our Saviour instituted the same for a Sacrament to be taken by all that believed in him. From what cause the rite of Baptism first proceeded, is not expressed formally in the Scripture; but it may be probably thought to be an imitation of the law of Moses, concerning Leprosy; wherein the Leprous man was commanded to be kept out of the camp of Israel for a certain time; after which time being judged by the Priest to be clean, he was admitted into the camp after a solemn Washing. And this may therefore be a type of the Washing in Baptism; wherein such men as are cleansed of the Leprosy of Sin by Faith, are received into the Church with the solemnity of Baptism. There is another conjecture drawn from the Ceremonies of the Gentiles, in a certain case that rarely happens; and that is, when a man that was thought dead, chanced to recover, other men made scruple to converse with him, as they would do to converse with a Ghost, unless he were received again into the number of men, by Washing, as Children new born were washed from the uncleanness of their nativity, which was a kind of new birth. This ceremony of the Greeks, in the time that Judaea was under the Dominion of Alexander, and the Greeks his successors, may probably enough have crept into the Religion of the Jews. But seeing it is not likely our Saviour would countenance a Heathen rite, it is most likely it proceeded from the Legal Ceremony of Washing after Leprosy. And for the other Sacrament, of eating the Paschal Lamb, it is manifestly imitated in the Sacrament of the Lords Supper; in which the Breaking of the Bread, and the pouring out of the Wine, do keep in memory our deliverance from the Misery of Sin, by Christs Passion, as the eating of the Paschal Lamb, kept in memory the deliverance of the Jews out of the Bondage of Egypt. Seeing therefore the authority of Moses was but subordinate, and he but a Lieutenant to God; it followeth, that Christ, whose authority, as man, was to be like that of Moses, was no more but subordinate to the authority of his Father. The same is more expressly signified, by that that he teacheth us to pray, Our Father, Let thy Kingdom come; and, For thine is the Kingdom, the Power, and the Glory; and by that it is said, that He shall come in the Glory of his Father; and by that which St. Paul saith, (1 Cor. 15. 24.) then cometh the end, when he shall have delivered up the Kingdom to God, even the Father; and by many other most express places.

Our Saviour therefore, both in Teaching, and Reigning,representeth (as Moses did) the Person of God; which God from that time forward, but not before, is called the Father; and being still one and the same substance, is one Person as represented by Moses, and another Person as represented by his Son the Christ. For Person being a relative to a Representer, it is consequent to plurality of Representers, that there be a plurality of Persons, though of one and the same Substance.