The Tombstone, Sermon · Part 1
Obſ. 1. Quale Regnum.
What manner of Kingdome, the Kingdome of Chriſt is: A Spiritual, not a temporall Kingdome.
The Conqueſt of temporall, and earthly Kings, is of Countries, Cities, Caſtles, Navies. The Conqueſt of Chriſt our King, is of the hearts of his people; he brings them into ſubjection. The Rule of Temporall, and Earthly Kings, is over the bodies, and goods of their Subjects. But Chriſts Throne is ſet up in the Soules of his people; by his Spirit he rules in the inward man. Temporall Kingdomes are obtained, & defended by force of Armes, carnall Weapons, the Arm of fleſh; but Chriſts Kingdome is won, and maintained by Spiritual Weapons; the Word, and Spirit. For the Weapons of our Warfare are not carnall, but mighty through God, to the pulling down of ſtrong holds, caſting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth it ſelfe againſt the Knowledge of God, and bringing into Captivity every thought to the obedience of Chriſt. 2. Cor. 10. 4. 5. Chriſt himſelfe renounceth all temporall, and earthly Dominion. Thus Ieſus anſwered Pilate: My Kingdome is not of this World; if my Kingdome were of this World, then would my Servants ſight, that I ſhould not be delivered to the Jewes; but now is my Kingdome not from hence, Joh. 18. 36. In reſpect of Dominion, Right, and Title; all the Kingdomes of the World are the Lord Ieſus Chriſt's. He hath jus ad rem: But in regard of Poſſeſſion, and uſe, hee abdicates all. He never owned any temporall Poſſeſſions: When they would have come, and taken him by force, to make him King, he departed alone himſelfe, and hid himſelfe in a Mountaine, Ioh. 6. 15.
The more is their folly, that by being Subjects of Chriſts Kingdome, expect chiefly temporall good things, Riches, Honours, and Pleaſures. So the Iewes, they alwaies dreamed of a worldly Kingdome, and yet expect a Meſſiah to come with outward Pomp, and worldly Glory. Yea the very Apoſtles were nibling at this. Act. 1. 6. Wilt thou at this time reſtore the Kingdome to Iſrael? And the Mother of Zebedees Children lingred after this: Grant that theſe my two Sons may ſit, the one at thy right hand, and the other on thy left, Matth. 20. 21.in thy Kingdome. She meanes a temporall Kingdome: But what ſaith Ieſus Chriſt to her? Yee know not what you ask; are you able to drink of the Cup that I ſhall drinke of, and to be baptized with the Baptiſme that I am baptized with? Can you drink of a cup of deadly Wine, with me? Can you endure to be plunged over head, and eares, in a flood of Afflictions? This you muſt look for in my Kingdome: Riches, and Honours, and Offices, theſe are not the good things of Chriſts Kingdome; no, no. The Kingdome of God, is not meat, and drink, but righteouſneſſe, and peace, and joy in the Holy-Ghoſt, Rom. 14. 17.
2. Againſt the Chiliaſts, or Millenaries: That the 1000 yeares reigne of the Saints upon the Earth, is but a meer dream, a falſhood, a groſſe error. They fancy to themſelves, that a 1000 years before the generall reſurrection, Chriſt in his humane nature ſhall come to Ieruſalem, where he was crucified: that all the Martyrs, and Saints departed of the old and new Teſtament ſhall riſe in their Bodys: and that they, and all the liviug Saints ſhall raign with him 1000 yeares. They ſhall ſubdue with bloudſhed all wicked Princes, and diſobedient Nations. They ſhall live without any diſturbance from any enemy without, or within.
That they ſhall all live without ſin, and without Ordinances: that they ſhall paſſe theſe 1000 years with all manner of earthly delights, begetting many children, eating and drinking, and making merry. This error, (firſt ſet a foot by that Arch-heretick Cerinthus) I will not enter the liſts to encounter it, I will not meddle with the controverſy. I ſhall only ſpeak a word, if it may be, to ſhame the fautors of this fond fancy. What, a Saint? and ſo addicted to carnall pleaſures? Did Chriſt ever enjoy ſuch an earthly Kingdome? Alas, alas! The Foxes have holes, and the foules of the Aire have neſts, but the Sun of man had Matth. 8. 20.not where to lay his head. He contemned theſe low things. And what muſt the Saints his followers look for upon earth? Chriſt himſelfe ſhall tell them: If any man Matth. 16. 24.will come after me, let him deny himſelfe, and take up his Croſſe, and follow me. Chriſt went through this World bearing the Croſſe; and ſhall the Saints look to weare Crownes here below? The generous Lyon will not eat any dead thing, or ſtinking carcaſe, only what is living, and ſweet: he takes his prey & eats it whileſt it bleeds, and trembles. Theſe earthly things, riches, honors, pleaſures, are but dead things, ſtinking carkaſes. Surely all thoſe whoſe hearts and affections feed upon them, they are not right whelps of the Lyon of the Tribe of Iudah.
If you be not aſhamed of the love of the World, The luſt of the fleſh, the luſt of the 1 Joh. 2. 16.eyes, and the Pride of life; The worlds Trinity, Pleaſures, profits, preferments; Yet be aſhamed to affect a temporall reigne, becauſe Chriſt renounced it. I ſhall ſay no more to them that expect ſuch a carnall raigne with Chriſt on earth, but what Saint Auguſtine ſaith to the Theife upon the Croſſe, in his elegant Proſopopoeia, Lord, ſayes the Malefactor to Jeſus, remember me when thou comeſt into thy Kingdome? Luk. 23. 42.Kingdome, ſayes Auguſtine, Quid Regium vides? What royalty, Oh! wretched man, doſt thou behold? what Crown doſt thou ſee, but a Crown of Thornes? what Robe? what Purple? but a Common Souldiers Matth. 27. 29.tattered Red-coat? what Scepter but a Reed? what homage, but the mocks and taunts of the raging multitude? what throne but the Croſſe? what guard, but the barbarous executioners?
Here's Chriſts raigne upon earth; hee raigned in ſuffering, he conquered by dying, he tryumphed in the Croſſe: go thou and be content to do likewiſe.
Obſer. 3. The Lord Jeſus Chriſt is the Lyon of the Tribe of Judah, the King of his Church.
Then, the government of the Church is Monarchicall. This is the happineſſe of the Church: Monarchy is the beſt Government, and Chriſt is the beſt King: And no King of the Church but Jeſus Chriſt. God hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the Church, which is his body, Eph. 1. 22, 23.
Here at one blow, off goes the triple Crowne. The Popes Kingdome is overthrowne, and the High Prieſt of Rome, the Univerſall Biſhop is depoſed; if the Pope be King, then there are two Kings of the Church, and Jeſus Chriſt is not THE Lyon, the onelyonly King.
Bellarmine grants it, that Chriſt is the onelyonly King, and Monarch of the Church, which doth ſpiritually and inviſibly govern it: yet ſaith he, the Church being corporall and viſible, it ſtands in need of ſome one to be the viſible and higheſt judge to decide controverſies, to compoſe all ſtrifes about Religion, to ordaine all inferiour Officers, Biſhops, Paſtors, &c. To containe them in their duties, and keep them in unity; and the viſible government of the Church muſt be Monarchicall. The Church of Rome hath found out other Lyons, beſides the Lyon of the Tribe of Judah. They uſually called their Popes Leones. In 440. they had their Leo Magnus, and ten ſince him have borne the ſame name. But the Pope muſt change his kind, and be content to be another Beaſt. A roaring and a devouring Lyon we will allow him to be, who rents and teares the Saints of God. But Chriſt is the onelyonly Lyon of Judah, the onelyonly King of his Church.
That there is a viſible, and externall government of the Church, diſtinct from the Politicall, by the word and diſcipline we affirme: But Jeſus Chriſt hath ordained it, not Monarchicall, but Ariſtocraticall, Matth. 18. 17. Acts 20. 17, 28. 1 Tim. 5. 17. It muſt be governed by the Biſhops, Paſtors, Teachers, Elders, and Deacons; in the ſeverall Precincts. The whole world is too large a Dioces for any one mortall Creature to take care of. The care of all Churches is beyond the ſtrength of any one man. OnelyOnly the Lyon of the Tribe of Iudah can open the Book, and read it to all Churches: Hee onelyonly can rule, and govern all Churches. Chriſt himſelfe is preſent to all his Churches; namely, by his Spirit, which is more to the advantage of all Churches, then his bodily preſence would be, Ioh. 16. 7. And therefore none of the Churches ſtand in need of the Pope, to give Lawes to them, or to govern them. He is an Uſurper, and muſt down; Chriſt is the Lion, the onelyonly King of the Church.
Obſerv. 4. Chriſt is the Lyon of the Tribe of Judah; that is, lineally deſcended from the Patriarch Iudah. That may ſeem ſtrange; why ſhould not the Meſſiah have ſprang rather out of Reuben? Becauſe he was the firſt-born: Iudah was the fourth Son of Iacob. The reaſon hereof Gen. 35, 22, 23, &c.you have, Gen, 35. 22. Reuben went and lay with Bilhah his Fathers Concubine. He committed this foule ſin, and Iſrael heard it: And for this cauſe he diſinherited Reuben, and the bleſſing of the Birth-right fell upon Iudahs head. He became the Lyon; the Soveraignty and Princedome was his. Obſerve then, Sin diſinheriteth: See this, Heb. 12. 16. Leaſt there be any fornicator, or prophane perſon, as Eſau; who for one morſell of meat, ſold his Birth-right, 17. For ye know that afterward when he would have inherited the Bleſſing, he was rejected. Here you have 2 diſtinct examples to confirm this truth. Firſt, the Fornicator, namely Reuben, who defiled his Fathers Concubine, and for that was diſinherited. Secondly, Eſau was the firſt-born, yet loſt the Inheritance, the Lordſhip, and Dominion, becauſe of his prophaneneſſe; For the ſentence was paſſed from the mouth of God: The Elder ſhall ſerve the younger, Gen. 25. 23.
Haply, ſome vile, and deſperate Sinners will make nothing of this. Tuſh, ſay they, let them looke to this that are borne to Lands, and great Poſſeſſions; our Fathers have not a penny to leave us, we have no Inheritance to looſe: What, no Inheritance? Then are you Baſtards and not Sons. Then God is not your Father; all the true Children of God have a two-fold Inheritance. The grace, favour, and bleſſing of God in this life, and eternall glory in the life to come. They be Heires of God, Rom. 8. 17.and joynt-heires with Chriſt. But to the ungodly the Lord ſaith: Know yee, that the unrighteous ſhall not inherite the Kingdome of God: Be not deceived, neither Fornicators nor Idolaters, nor Adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abuſers of themſelves with mankinde, nor theeves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, ſhall ever inherite the Kingdome of God.
Obſerv. 5. For our inſtruction: How miſerable, deplorable, and deſperate our condition is by nature: ſo loſt, as that nothing in Heaven or Earth could recover us, but the power, ſtrength, wiſedome, goodneſſe, and courage of ſuch a Lyon as the Lyon of the Tribe of Judah. We are all borne dead (as you have heard) and ſhould never have revived, if this Lyon had not roared over us. We are blinde by nature: The naturall man receiveth not 1 Cor. 2. 14.the things of the ſpirit of God, for they are fooliſhneſſe unto him, neither can hee know them: He is ignorant of God and of Chriſt, and of the will of God concerning mans ſalvation: and in that ignorance muſt have periſhed everlaſtingly, if the Lyon of the Tribe of Judah had not opened the Book, and unlooſed the Seales thereof. No man hath ſeen God at any time, the onelyonly begotten Son, which is in the boſome of the Father, he hath declared him, Ioh. 1. 18. We were all by nature under the guilt of ſin, under the wrath of God: we could never have been acquitted, we could never have been reconciled, but muſt have lain under Gods fierce anger for ever, if the Lyon of the Tribe of Judah had not ſtepped in between the party offended, and the party offending, and made peace: For Jeſus Chriſt is our peace. And to effect this, the Lyon was forced to change his Kinde, and to become a Lambe: a true Paſchall Lambe, and to be ſacrificed for us. I beheld, ſaith Saint Iohn, verſe 6. and loe! in the midſt of the Throne and of the foure Beaſts, and in the midſt of the Elders ſtood a Lambe as it had been ſlaine. Behold the Lambe of God, which taketh away the ſin of the World, Joh. 1. 29. For he is our peace, having aboliſhed in his fleſh the Enmity. And that he might reconcile Eph. 2. 14, 15. 16.both unto God, in one body by the Croſſe, having ſlaine the Enemy thereby.
We were in the Jaw, and Paw of the 1 Pet. 5 8.roaring Lyon: who could have ſnatched us out of his Fangs? We had been the Bond-ſlaves of Satan for ever: wee had been Captives in the Priſon, in the Dungeon of Hell for ever; we had been utterly devoured, if the Lyon of the Tribe of Judah had not conquered the Lyon of the infernall Pit. But when he ſaw that there was no man, and wondred that there was no Interceſſor, therefore his arme brought Salvation unto him, and his Righteouſneſſe it ſuſtained him. O the depth of our miſerie, in our naturall, in our loſt condition!
Obſerv. 6. That from Geneſis to the Revelation, the Church of God gives the ſame coat: viz. The Lyon: the Armes were given, Gen. 49. 9. And the ſame Enſigne is advanced here again in the Text more plainly. The Iewes, and the Gentiles have all the ſame Chriſt. One, and the ſame Lyon. Jeſus Chriſt is the Lyon of the Tribe of Iudah: And he is the Lyon of the Gentiles alſo; Jewes, and Gentiles are all under one Prophet, Prieſt, King, and Captain. All that are ſaved, from the beginning of the World, to the end thereof, they obtaine Salvation by Ieſus Chriſt. There was never any way of Salvation but one. The ancient Patriarches, and Prophets: the ancient Iewes were all Chriſtians; when Moſes was perſecuted in Aegypt, he bore the reproach of Chriſt, Heb. 11. 26. When the Iſraelites ſinned in the Wilderneſſe, they tempted Chriſt, 1 Cor. 10. 9. The Prophets from the beginning preached Chriſt, and Salvation by the Meſſiah onelyonly. Chriſt began at Moſes, and went through all the Prophets, and expounded unto them in all the Scriptures: viz. Of the old Teſtament, the things concerning himſelfe, Luk. 24. 27. All the Jewes beleived in the ſame Chriſt that wee do. There is one, and but one faith, Eph. 4. 4. And they were all ſaved by the ſame faith, in the ſame Chriſt; who was revealed by Oracles from Heaven, foretold, and propheſied by the Prophets, typified in the Sacrifices. Though Chriſt were not manifeſted in the fleſh, till the fulneſſe of time; though he was crucified in the laſt age of the World, yet the vertue of his death was effectuall, and available for the Salvation of all the Elect, from the beginning of the World, to the end thereof; Jeſus Chriſt is the ſame yeſterday, and to day, and for ever, Heb. 13. 8. He is the Lambe ſlaine from the foundation of the World, Revel. 13. 8. The old people, and the new people, they are all of one Houſe, and Family, and ſo have all one coat of Armes; The Lyon of the Tribe of Judah. All this Saint Peter ſhortly concludeth in the Counc… Jeruſalem. But we beleive, that through the grace of our Lord Ieſus Chriſt, we ſhall be ſaved even as our Fathers were. Act. 15. 11.
Obſerv. 7. The Lyon is a growing creature. Chriſt's Kingdome is a growing Kingdome. This is to be noted from Gen. 49. 9. to which this Text relates. The Patriarch Jacob there uſeth three ſeverall words, to ſignifie three degrees of the Lyons growth. 1 foreign Catulus a Lyons Wh… ▪ 2. foreign Leo perfectus; a Lyon in full ſt…gth, he couched as a Lyon. 3. foreign Leo Major, as an old Lyon. Thoſe ſeverall words do ſet forth the beginning, Progreſſe, and complement of Chriſts Kingdome. Of the increaſe of his Government, and peace there ſhall be no end. Eſa. 9. 7. The bounds of Chriſt's Kingdome ſeemed at firſt but ſmall. In Judah was God known, his name was great in Iſrael: In Salem was his Tabernacle. Pſal. 76. 1. Salvation was of the Jewes only: John 4. 22. They were a very ſmall people in compariſon of the reſt of the Nations of the World. But afterwards Chriſt comming in the fleſh, he brings light to the Gentiles. And all the Luc. 2. …32ends of the earth have ſeen the ſalvation of our God. Pſal. 98 3. Chriſt is the ſtone which is cut out with out hands: (which being at firſt but ſmall) became a great Mountaine, and filled the whole earth. Dan. 2. 34. 35.
Theſe Obſervations I have propounded to you for inſtruction, and information. Now I ſhall paſſe on to